A Dutton government would support older Australians, who choose to work more, by doubling the amount of income age pensioners and veteran service pensioners can earn without reducing pension payments.
This change will make it more worthwhile for older Australians to pick up an extra shift or work extra hours and help small and regional businesses deal with labour shortages.
The Leader of the Opposition the Hon Peter Dutton MP calls on the Albanese Government to implement the policy immediately to help relieve pressure on a very tight labour market.
“Employers can’t find staff – thousands of jobs across hospitality, agriculture, tourism and retail remain open,” Mr Dutton said.
“This policy ensures that pensioners and veterans, who want to work, are not financially penalised. It puts more money into their pocket.
“There are around 80,000 age pensioners and veterans who are choosing to work who will likely benefit from this change,” Mr Dutton said.
Currently, age pensioners and veteran service pensioners can earn $300 of income each fortnight without impacting pension payments. Under the proposed change, age pensioners will be able to earn up to $600 a fortnight and still receive the maximum pension payment. Pensioners will continue to accrue unused pension work bonus amounts up to a maximum of $7,800, which can exempt future earnings from the pension income test.
Well targeted policy, designed to increase labour supply, will ease workplace shortages and put downward pressure on inflation and interest rates.
Labor’s big spending agenda, which includes $18.3 billion of direct spending, and $45 billion in off-budget funds, and ill designed policies, which discourage Australians from working and earning more, will achieve the opposite: put upward pressure on inflation and interest rates.
The proposed change is expected to have a cost to the Budget of $145 million in 2022-23.
A Dutton government would review, on an annual cycle, the merits of extending the policy change to future years taking into account changes in overseas net migration levels, the unemployment rate and the workforce participation rate.
The Labor Government must outline its plan to ease cost of living pressures and put downward pressure on inflation. Australians can’t afford to wait for Labor to get its act together.
Tomorrow I will depart for a visit to Vietnam and Malaysia, my second trip to Southeast Asia since becoming Foreign Minister one month ago.
Australia’s future is tied to the future of Southeast Asia, a region we share.
It’s more than geography that binds us – we have genuine links in Vietnam and Malaysia: family, business, education and tourism.
My visit seeks to deepen these ties, building on our existing partnerships for the benefit of our countries and the region.
It’s important we work closely together to capitalise on shared economic opportunities, strengthen regional security, and address climate change.
In Vietnam I will meet with President Nguyen Xuan Phuc, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Foreign Minister Bùi Thanh Sơn.
Ahead of next year’s 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations, our discussions will focus on climate change cooperation, our shared trade and investment ambitions and Australia’s continued support for Vietnam’s COVID-19 recovery.
On the 28th, I will travel onto Malaysia, where I look forward to meeting Minister for Foreign Affairs Dato’ Sri Saifuddin bin Abdullah, as well as Defence Minister Dato’ Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Minister for International Trade and Industry, Dato’ Seri Azmin Ali.
I will reaffirm our commitment as Comprehensive Strategic Partners and discuss economic recovery, climate action, education ties and health security.
I will also travel to Sabah. It’s a region with longstanding ties to Australia, and it’s the region where I am from. Having spent my early years in Kota Kinabalu, I look forward to the great honour of returning to the city as Australia’s Foreign Minister.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will travel to Europe from Sunday 26 June for the NATO Leaders’ Summit in Madrid. The Prime Minister will then travel on to France to accept President Emmanuel Macron’s invitation to meet in Paris.
The NATO Leaders’ Summit comes at a critical time. The conflict in Ukraine has significant consequences that reach far beyond Europe. Australia’s attendance also allows for engagement on strategic priorities for NATO engagement in our region.
Australia has been invited to attend the Summit as an Enhanced Opportunities Partner. In this role, Australia has worked closely with NATO on interoperability, military training and exercise programs, and other issues of mutual interest.
Through this partnership, the Prime Minister will engage with our Asia-Pacific partners and attend official engagements including bilateral meetings with NATO member countries.
At the conclusion of the NATO Leaders’ Summit, Prime Minister Albanese will travel to Paris, to meet with President Emmanuel Macron.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles will be Acting Prime Minister while Prime Minister Albanese is overseas.
the Prime Minister said:
“I look forward to attending the NATO Leaders’ Summit. It could not come at a more critical time.
“I look forward to engaging on the strategic priorities for our region.
“Australia has been unequivocal in its support for Ukraine and its condemnation of President Putin. We will continue to stand up for freedom and democracy.
“I am also honoured to accept an invitation from President Macron to visit Paris.
“France is an important partner and friend to Australia, particularly in our shared vision for peace and stability in the Pacific.”
Yesterday, the Western Australian Governement pardoned and apologised to the Yamatji family of a baby who was brutally murdered in 2013. After domestic violence left Tamica Mullaley naked and bleeding in a Broome street, police were called and she was arrested.
Police left baby Mullaley’s 10-month-old baby, Charlie, at the crime scene. The man who assaulted Mullaley returned to the scene and kidnapped the child. Police were told several times that he had threatened to kill the baby, but took nine hours to act on the information.
Baby Charlie was tortured, sexually assaulted and murdered.
In 2015, Tamica Mullaley was charged and convicted of two counts of assaulting a public officer and one count of obstructing officers. Her father, Ted Mullaley, was found guilty of obstructing police for trying to stop them from arresting his daughter.
Yamatji Noongar Senator for WA: Dorinda Cox said:
“I went to see the Mullaley family yesterday. When I hugged Tamica and Uncle Ted, it was in that moment I knew the pardon they had just receive was a small comfort for the harrowing experience that has been 9 years in the making after losing Charlie Boy.
“This is only the first step in the long line of many reforms required for their justice and healing.
“It is this case and so many others like it across this country why myself and Senator Lidia Thorpe co-signed the motion for the Senate inquiry into Missing and Murdered First Nations Women and children.
“The inquiry will open for submissions in the first six months of the 47th Federal Parliament so we can pursue justice, healing and peace for our people.”
Gunnai, Gunditjmara and DjabWurrung Senator Lidia Thorpe, the Greens spokesperson for First Nations said:
“A CCC review found that there was “no serious misconduct” by police. The Greens are calling for independent police and prison oversight through the full implimentation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture. “
After such a horrific crime, this family was dragged through the courts and their fight for justice continues to this day. Their calls for an inquest into baby Charlie’s death was rejected by the WA supreme court in 2020.
“The press have spent a week writing about flags, where is the national outrage for this family? Where is the anger for the injustice that First Nations people face everyday? How many more apologies will our governments need to deliver before they change their behaviour?”
“The Greens are shocked, disgusted, and appalled to learn today of the staggering rates of sexual assault, violence and predatory behaviour against women on mining sites across WA today.
“This is the mining sector’s #MeToo moment. The culture of abuse has to stop. The culture of secrecy has to stop. “The mining sector now has a choice – they can choose to see this culture of violence continue and sweep this issue under the carpet, or they can step up and end this horrific culture of abuse.
“We need this sector to take abuse in all its forms seriously – to invest in prevention education – and for structural change, and urge the sector to implement all 24 recommendations of this review as a matter of urgency.”
Senator Larissa Waters, Australian Greens spokesperson on Women said:
“This report recognises the vulnerability of women working on FIFO sites and has come about because of their bravery in sharing their stories. Its recommendations must be implemented.
“There are many recommendations in this report that Federal parliament should also take note of. When parliament resumes, we will be pushing for parliament to set the standard for safe and respectful workplaces.
“Every person in every workplace should expect to be safe and respected.”
“Commissioner Jenkins laid out a clear pathway for reform in the Respect@Work report, including a positive duty on employers to make workplaces safe. Labor has promised to implement those recommendations and the Greens will hold them to that pledge.
Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has welcomed the Fair Work Ombudsman’s priority investigation of wage theft and casualisation at universities, following revelations of underpayments at dozens of campuses.
Senator Faruqi said:
“Wage theft is widespread in our universities and it is clearly linked to casualisation and job insecurity, which has been allowed to run rampant.
“I’m glad to see Fair Work take this seriously following years of complaints by university staff and unions, as well as the shocking evidence provided to multiple Senate inquiries.
“Since 2020, I have referred many universities to give evidence to the Senate, compelling senior university management to front up and be accountable for systemic underpayments they had presided over.
“I’m hoping in the new parliament we can take decisive action. Piece rates must be abolished immediately, and universities must introduce publicly available targets for increasing permanent employment and reducing casualisation. The federal government has a clear role to play in making sure this happens.
“More broadly, we need a big injection of public funding for our universities, and to overhaul university governance. The corporate university has been built to serve management, not staff and students. Universities must be reimagined on principles of democracy and equity.”
The Federal Court bid by the Australian Conservation Foundation to stop Woodside Energy’s Scarborough gas project until its impact on the Great Barrier Reef is assessed, highlights the need for a climate trigger to assess the impact of polluting projects, the Greens say.
Greens Environment Spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:
“We must stop making climate change worse and that means we stop making pollution worse. Yet environmental approvals don’t even consider the impact of a polluting mine or development on the climate.
“Our environment laws are broken and any suggestion by mining companies and their political mouthpieces that a project can stack up environmentally ignores this fact.
“It’s time to fix these broken laws with the insertion of a ‘climate trigger’ that assesses the climate impacts of a mine, development or land clearing proposal.
“It shouldn’t take a not-for-profit environmental organisation taking a gas giant to court to get a proper assessment of the environmental damage a polluting project could cause.
“The deeply precarious status of the Great Barrier Reef, and many of our other World Heritage sites and iconic natural places, as well as our wildlife, is well documented. Doing more to provide proper protection is a no-brainer.
“The heritage values of the Reef are already under strong scrutiny globally. It’s clear climate change is smashing the Reef, and a new big polluting project like Woodside’s is only going to make that worse.
“All new fossil fuel projects, onshore or offshore, should be assessed under the EPBC Act that properly examines the consequences on our climate and environment.
“Better yet, the Albanese Government should rule out any new coal and gas projects and focus on accelerating the transition to clean, green renewable energy.”
The Greens Leader Adam Bandt says a windfall tax on gas corporations profiteering from the current crisis could be imposed simply by closing loopholes in the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) in the government’s first budget in October.
The PRRT was designed to tax super-profits, but gas corporations figured out how to avoid paying it by building up a backlog of tax credits to the tune of a jaw-dropping $282 billion. This means that gas companies have to burn through $282 billion in profits until they start paying tax.
If we stop the use of these credits, Australia could reap major revenues which are currently going offshore during this global energy crisis. The Greens have been pursuing a fix to the PRRT that would generate $59 billion in revenue over the next 4 years.
Adam Bandt MP said:
“On paper Australia already has a windfall tax, but it is broken and being exploited. A simple legislative fix could ensure we raise the billions we need to help people and businesses suffering from the gas crisis.”
“Gas export operations in Australia are 95.7% overseas-owned. We’re giving our resources away for next to nothing, even as these big corporations put pressure on the country and drive inflation.
“The PRRT is the key. If we fix the PRRT, we could make big gas corporations pay their fair share and use that revenue to help struggling households and businesses.
“The government’s first Budget should fix the PRRT and put an end to the free ride of big gas corporations paying zero tax and zero royalties.
“The Greens are proposing a windfall tax on fossil fuel corporations, with the money used to support households and businesses dealing with skyrocketing energy bills, including by helping them switch from gas to electric, install batteries and make their premises more energy efficient.”
Today, I am announcing my intention to recommend to the Governor-General the appointment of four new secretaries of Australian Public Service departments.
Jim Betts will be appointed as Secretary of the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts. Mr Betts has extensive experience in the New South Wales and Victorian public services, including as Secretary of the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, Secretary of the Victorian Department of Transport, and CEO of Infrastructure NSW. He will bring to the Federal level a deep understanding of the priority challenges facing Governments in this space. Mr Betts’ appointment will commence on 11 July 2022.
Jan Adams AO PSM will be appointed as Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Ms Adams is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and is currently Australia’s Ambassador to Japan. She has previously served as Ambassador to China, as a senior trade negotiator and as Ambassador for Climate Change. Ms Adams has also had postings to Washington and to the OECD Secretariat in Paris. Ms Adams will commence her appointment on 1 July 2022.
Natalie James will be appointed as Secretary of the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. Ms James has an extensive career in public service and employment and workplace relations. From 2005 until 2010, she was Chief Counsel to the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, becoming a State Manager of that Department in 2010. In 2013, she was appointed the Fair Work Ombudsman for the Commonwealth. Recently, Ms James has been a Partner at Deloitte Australia. Ms James will commence her appointment on 11 July 2022.
Jenny Wilkinson PSM will be appointed as Secretary of the Department of Finance. Ms Wilkinson, currently Deputy Secretary at Treasury, has held positions across several departments and agencies. This includes running the Parliamentary Budget Office, from July 2017 to January 2020. Prior to that, she held senior positions at Treasury, the Department of Industry, the Department of Climate Change, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and the Reserve Bank of Australia. Working in these roles, she has provided advice on a wide range of economic policy issues. She was awarded a PSM in 2021 for outstanding public service in the development of fiscal policy. Ms Wilkinson will take up her appointment on 9 August 2022, on Rosemary Huxtable’s retirement.
Additionally, David Fredericks PSM will be leaving his role as Secretary of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, to lead the newly created Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. Mr Fredericks has extensive senior experience engaging on policy and Budget within the APS and ministers’ offices. As well as Secretary experience in both the Department of Industry, Science and Resources, and the Department of Environment and Energy, he has experience at the Deputy Secretary level at the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of Finance. He has held senior Ministerial Adviser roles at both the Commonwealth and state levels. Prior to that he served in the Solomon Islands’ Ministry of Treasury and Finance.
Each of these appointments will be for five years.
Dr Gordon de Brouwer PSM will return to the Australian Public Service as Secretary for Public Sector Reform. Working to the Minister for the Public Service and in close partnership with Peter Woolcott AO, the Australian Public Service Commissioner, he will lead and implement a wide range of public sector reforms which will support my commitment to place greater value on the public service and to grow its capability.
Simon Atkinson and Kathryn Campbell AO CSC will conclude their Secretary roles with effect from 1 July 2022. I thank them both for their service to the Australian Public Service over many years. They have both brought great professionalism and deep experience to the range of roles they have held, and I wish them both the best. Ms Campbell will be taking up a senior appointment in the Defence portfolio in an AUKUS-related role.
I congratulate Mr Betts, Ms Adams, Ms James and Ms Wilkinson on their appointments. The appointment of Secretary of the Department of Industry, Science and Resources will be made shortly. Acting Secretaries will be appointed by Ministers as required.
Attached is a full list of Secretaries and their Departments with effect from July 2022.
Attachment
APS Departments and Secretaries as at 1 July 2022
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Prof Glyn Davis AC
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Mr Andrew Metcalfe AO
Attorney-General’s Department
Ms Katherine Jones PSM
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Mr David Fredericks PSM
Department of Defence
Mr Greg Moriarty
Department of Education
Dr Michele Bruniges AM
Department of Employment and Workplace Relations
Ms Natalie James [from 11 July 2022]
Department of Finance
Ms Jenny Wilkinson PSM [from 9 Aug 2022]
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Ms Jan Adams AO PSM
Department of Health and Aged Care
Prof Brendan Murphy AC
Department of Home Affairs
Mr Michael Pezzullo AO
Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts
Australia will provide $50 million in Official Development Assistance to support Sri Lanka meet urgent food and healthcare needs.
Sri Lanka currently faces its worst economic crisis in seventy years, leading to shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
Australia has a close and long-standing relationship with Sri Lanka. Not only do we want to help the people of Sri Lanka in its time of need, there are also deeper consequences for the region if this crisis continues.
We will contribute an immediate $22 million to the World Food Programme for emergency food assistance to help three million people in Sri Lanka meet their daily nutritional needs.
Australia will also provide $23 million in development assistance to Sri Lanka in 2022-23.
This will support health services, and economic recovery, with a strong emphasis on protecting those at risk, especially women and girls.
These contributions are in addition to $5 million recently provided to United Nations agencies for Sri Lanka.
