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Greens Leader Adam Bandt and Treasury spokesperson Senator Nick McKim have said the Greens will fight the proposal to remove the Treasurer’s power to overrule the RBA’s decisions to set interest rates.

The government has given in-principle support to Recommendation 1.1 of the RBA Review released this week, which proposes removing the democratic safeguard that currently exists in Section 11 of the Reserve Bank Act 1959.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt said:

“It seems Labor wants to use this review to further shirk its responsibility to deal with the housing crisis. Labor needs to keep the government’s power to override the Reserve Bank’s interest rate decisions, especially in a crisis.

“In the middle of a housing and rental crisis, there is a real risk the Reserve Bank is going to ruin lives and undermine our collective future with further rate rises. 

“If Labor washes its hands of the inflation problem and outsources it to the Reserve Bank, it risks more pain for people already doing it tough.

“Tackling the cost of living and housing crises needs more government intervention, not less.

“Instead of shifting towards social democracy, Labor’s change further entrenches neoliberalism.”

Greens Treasury spokesperson Nick McKim said:

“Instead of getting rid of his existing power to set interest rates, the Treasurer should be using this power right now to help renters and mortgage holders by freezing interest rates.

“The Greens will vigorously oppose this fundamentally anti-democratic policy.

“This safeguard was put in place by Ben Chifley and kept in place by Robert Menzies.

“But Jim Chalmers has swallowed the technocratic kool-aid.

“If the Section 11 safeguards are removed the government would have no recourse over an RBA board that goes rogue.

“Removing democratic oversight would be the final capitulation to neoliberal groupthink and would totally cede monetary policy to the central banker’s club that has done nothing to stop rising inequality or the breakdown of the planet’s climate.”

This week I (Penny Wong) will travel to New Caledonia and Tuvalu for the first time as Foreign Minister to listen first-hand to their priorities and build on our close relationships.

The Albanese Government has shown its strong commitment to working with the Pacific family to deliver Pacific priorities, including action on climate change and recovery from Covid-19.

This visit will be my tenth to the Pacific as Foreign Minister and fulfills the Government’s commitment to visit all 17 of our fellow Pacific Islands Forum members.

Australia’s longstanding relationship with New Caledonia spans people, economic and commercial ties, environmental protection, as well as strong defence cooperation with French authorities in New Caledonia.

I will meet the High Commissioner of the French Republic in New Caledonia Mr Louis Le Franc, and President of the Government of New Caledonia Mr Louis Mapou.

I am honoured to have the opportunity to address the Congress of New Caledonia on Australia’s regional vision and the value of New Caledonia’s regional engagement since it became a full member of the Pacific Islands Forum in 2016.

In Tuvalu, I will meet with acting Prime Minister Ampelosa Tehulu and his cabinet colleagues to discuss Australia’s ongoing partnership and development support for Tuvalu’s social, economic and security priorities.

Tuvalu is on the front line of climate change, and I will reiterate Australia’s commitment to climate action, including our bid to co-host COP31 with other Pacific countries in 2026.

A strong and united Pacific Islands Forum is central to supporting a region that is peaceful, prosperous, and resilient.

If the Prime Minister truly believes Senator Lidia Thorpe is struggling with mental health issues, he should begin removing her from the Parliament.  

One Nation leader Senator Pauline Hanson said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s comments about Senator Thorpe were a transparent attempt to distance his proposed indigenous voice to Parliament from the radical black nationalists represented by the exGreens senator.

“Over the last two days, the Prime Minister has made statements claiming radical Aboriginal campaigner and Victorian Senator Lidia Thorpe’s behaviour is symptomatic of mental health issues,” Senator Hanson said. “Senator Thorpe has hit back at the claims as ‘misogynistic’ and ‘racist’.

“The aim of Mr Albanese’s statements about mental health is to try and distance his proposed voice to Parliament from Senator Thorpe. “The Prime Minister’s claims that Senator Thorpe suffers from a mental health condition are entirely unfounded.

“If the Prime Minister truly believes Senator Thorpe has mental health issues and is unfit for Parliament, he must start having her deemed ineligible to hold a Senate position.

“If not, the Prime Minister must immediately stop denigrating the Senator and admit that his voice to Parliament risks increasing the number of like-minded people like Senator Thorpe to the voice.”

It is ‘no secret’ to hard-working Australians that housing costs in recent years, whether owning or renting, are out of control. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) official statistics published in Trading Economics, housing inflation rose nearly 40% from January 2021 to January 2023.

Even the ABC gets the twin housing inflation problems and general inflation. Or at least finance reporter David Taylor does. In his recent piece entitled From high inflation to the housing crisis and a possible recession, Australia’s economic problems need meaningful solutions. He stated that: 

“The fundamental economic problem of our time is inflation, or the rising cost of living. … Low wage growth, a surge in migration and a chronic housing shortage have now produced both a cost-of-living crisis and a housing crisis.” 

Regarding the problem of general inflation, Taylor delved deeper: 

“Easing inflation pressures means there is less of a chance interest rates will continue to climb, which makes it easier for companies to churn out a profit. This helps explain the stock market’s flirtation with a new record high — especially when…many companies have managed to ride the inflation wave without letting go of their profit margins. … You see, while easing inflationary pressures are welcome, the evidence continues to point to so-called ‘sticky’ inflation — both overseas and here.” 

He then went into some of the policy drivers of general inflation: 

“The [GFC] produced a trauma that’s still with us. Indeed the remedies to [that] — taxpayer bailouts of corporations too big to fail and cheap funding for those with assets — helped entrench deep inequality[.] … The pandemic led to huge amounts of government stimulus…stoking inflation.” 

Taylor then ‘circled back’ to housing inflation and it’s policy-drivers when he concluded: 

“The economy is dominated by large monopolies with unprecedented power over wages growth and the prices they charge consumers. You can add to that a housing market that’s been propped up by a favourable tax environment, cheap money and investor speculation. … Looking ahead, surging migration may prevent Australia from entering a technical recession…but it’s also leading to soaring rents and entrenching the housing affordability crisis.” 

What is ‘somewhat a secret’ nowadays (long after the common sense reforms of the 1980s and 1990s) regarding housing, inflation, and the economy is, as American President Ronald Reagan once quipped: 

“Government is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem. … Government does not solve problems; it subsidizes them.” 

Moreover, ‘the dirty little secret’ is that government problem subsidies are not just sometimes unintentional but often intentional and that these are not just fiscal in origin but also regulatory and monetary. The three key and intentional policies driving-up housing inflation, in particular, are #1) open-border immigration, #2) climate-alarmism green tape, and #3) money-and-credit printing. Policy #1 is a mix of fiscal and regulatory policies, whereas #2 is regulatory and #3 is monetary. 

Australian housing demand is regularly ‘pump-primed’ by the federal government through a combination of #1 and #3. This happens through #1 more people plus #3 more money to demand more housing services. However, at the same time, the Australian housing supply is regularly constrained by federal, state and local governments through #2 many restrictions on housing stock. In short, high demand and low supply growth equal housing inflation and, thus, the housing crisis. 

As the 1980s cartoon, G.I. Joe used to say, “And knowing is half the battle.” The other half of the battle is, of course, doing. And this starts with asking both the PM and RBA, “Please explain?” 

The Greens are calling for the Albanese Government to immediately mandate waste reduction targets following a report out today revealing Australia will miss its 2025 National Packaging Targets.

Australia set a national target to recover 70% of plastic packaging by 2025, but a review by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation shows just 18% of plastic packaging was recycled or composted in the 2020-21 financial year. 

The review confesses governments will need to pursue harder regulation if plastic producers cannot do better under the current voluntary system of waste reduction. Yet after decades of big plastic producers failing to clean up after themselves, why wait? 

Greens spokesperson for waste and recycling, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson said: 

“The idea that Australia could reach its 2025 National Packaging Targets under a system that hinges on weak, consumer-obligated, voluntary targets has always been a complete farce. 

“It is mind-blowing that the government is still kicking this can down the road. Big producers of plastic have been operating with impunity, free from any serious penalties or regulation. 

“Voluntary approaches to waste reduction do not work – it’s that simple. Big companies will never care about the planet as much as their profits, which means mandating waste reduction targets is the only way to get them to take the matter seriously.

“Plastic production makes up 45% of the petrochemical sector, which is projected to account for over a third of growth in oil demand by 2030, and remain one of the biggest drivers of oil extraction over coming decades. 

“Multinational oil and gas corporations are eyeing a rapid expansion in the production of plastics to generate demand for fossil fuels in a decarbonising world. If we end plastic, we can end fossil fuels.

“It is absurd that our waste reduction targets are not legally binding given what we know about the dangers of plastic pollution. To stop the insidious scourge of plastic from intruding into our lives and the environment, the Albanese Government must mandate our nation’s waste reduction targets.”

Australian Greens Deputy Leader and Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has welcomed the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce’s recommendations that the Government scrap the activity test and give early childhood education and care workers a pay rise in the May budget.The Australian Greens’ have long called for these measures.Senator Faruqi said:“The activity test is a disgrace of a policy. It is cruel, punitive and beyond repair. “The activity test denies access to early childhood education and care for the most disadvantaged children and punishes families with insecure, casual work.“Many thousands of children from disadvantaged families are missing out on early childhood education and care because of the activity test- it should be abolished now. “Dumping the activity test would represent significant progress towards the Greens vision of free, universal early childhood education and care.“The treatment of early childhood education  and care workers is a national shame. They continue to be paid well below what they deserve.“The government can’t keep delaying action. Early childhood education and care workers deserve a pay rise now and recognition and respect for the important work they do. They have been undervalued for far too long.