Australia news live: states agree to forgo GST windfall for further fuel tax cut; ASX tumbles after Trump speech | Australia news
Albanese announces a further cut to fuel tax
Albanese:
double quotation mark This morning, importantly, we have reached agreement with the states and territories to deliver a further cut in the fuel tax, by returning their GST windfall to Australians.… This will mean a combined saving of 32 cents on every litre.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has already signed that change into law.
Key events
Petrol prices have fallen 20 cents a litre since the fuel excise cut
Luca Ittimani
Petrol prices have now fallen about 20 cents in every capital city over the last two days, after the government cut the fuel excise by 26.3c on Wednesday.
Every capital’s average prices are back below 240c a litre for unleaded and 310c for diesel, new data from NRMA shows.
Perth is feeling the excise cut’s effect today, after unleaded fell only 7c a litre yesterday but dropped another 14c today on average, to average 230.9c a litre.
Some cities saw most of the reductions in price yesterday, like Adelaide, where average unleaded prices fell 24c yesterday then 4c today, now sitting at 230.4c, 28.8c cheaper than they were before the excise reduction. Darwin has also seen unleaded prices fall by about 28.8c per litre.
Unleaded prices are averaging 236.6c per litre in Sydney, 237.7c in Melbourne, 236.4c in Brisbane, 232c in Hobart and 234.5c in Canberra.
Diesel prices fell about 10c a litre yesterday and about another 5c a litre today, varying by city.
‘Partial bans do not work,’ AMA says of Labor’s new gambling ad crackdown
Australia’s peak medical body has criticised the government’s new gambling advertising reforms, stating “partial bans do not work”.
The government’s package includes caps on advertising volume, extended blackout periods around sporting matches, opt-out tools for social media and streaming platforms, a phased ban on stadium and jersey advertising, and restrictions on ads around school pick-up times.
The Australian Medical Association says it is concerned the reforms do not include a national independent gambling regulator or a pathway to a total ban on online gambling advertising, as recommended by the Murphy review.
Vice president Assoc Prof Julian Rait said the measures announced today acknowledge the scale of the problem but don’t go far enough, with more comprehensive protections needed.
double quotation mark Australians lose more to gambling than any other country in the world. Gambling addiction is a serious health issue linked to mental illness, substance abuse, family breakdown and severe financial distress.… Partial bans do not work. We have seen this repeatedly across public health. Anything less than a comprehensive ban will continue to expose Australians – especially children – to relentless gambling promotion.
… A full ban on online gambling advertising is the only effective way to reduce harm. The government must strengthen these reforms and implement a comprehensive ban without delay.
Tom McIlroy
Liberal federal director to step down
Andrew Hirst, the federal director of the Liberal party, has announced plans to step down in June.
Hirst said on Thursday he had told the party president, John Olsen, of his intention to quit at the next federal council meeting, and after the Farrer byelection on 9 May.
Since taking the top job nine years ago, Hirst has served under leaders Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton, Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor.
Credited with leading Morrison’s come-from-behind election win in 2019, Hirst said it was the right time to hand over to new organisational leadership and allow planning ahead of the next federal election.
In a statement, he thanked party officials and said he wanted to pay particular tribute to Morrison, saying: “History will judge Scott well.”
double quotation mark Our party faces significant challenges that must be confronted with renewed energy and determination.I have great confidence in the leadership of Angus Taylor and Jane Hume as the custodians of our party, and I wish them and the parliamentary team well for the future.
Ben Smee
Queensland under pressure on cost-of-living relief
Queensland’s decision to sign on to the national GST fuel deal will leave the state under increased pressure to find a way to fund further cost of living relief.
On Thursday, the Labor opposition said the state would likely bank another windfall – via royalties in high coal and gas export prices. The opposition leader, Steven Miles, says this should be passed directly back to taxpayers.
double quotation mark We are calling on the Crisafulli government, we are demanding they put those funds to much-needed cost of living relief for Queenslanders.This government shouldn’t profit from those increased royalties.
Queensland ‘played our part’ in GST deal to lower fuel prices, state treasurer says
Ben Smee
The Queensland treasurer, David Janetzki, says the state has “played our part” in striking a federal GST deal to further lower fuel prices.
Queensland had been the holdout state, having previously said it wanted to use additional GST windfall from higher fuel prices on direct cost-of-living relief for locals.
It signed on to the national fuel deal on Thursday. Janetzki said:
double quotation mark From the beginning it has been Queensland’s position to forgo windfalls from higher fuel prices and how this can be calculated, collected and distributed has been facilitated following today’s meeting.Work will continue through the budget process to keep delivering targeted cost-of-living measures Queenslanders can rely on.
ASX falls sharply in response to Trump address
Jonathan Barrett
The Australian share market has turned sharply lower in response to Donald Trump’s address to the nation after the US president failed to articulate a clean exit strategy from the Middle East conflict.
Australia’s benchmark S&P/ASX 200 started the day positively but started to lose those early gains during Trump’s address.
In early afternoon trading, the Australian index was down 0.8% to hover near the 8,600 point mark, representing a sharp reversal.
The ASX has been pulled around by sharp moves in the oil price, with rising energy prices fuelling global inflation, which drags down equity markets.
Oil prices jumped back above US$100 a barrel this afternoon in response to Trump’s address to the nation, the first delivered by the president since the start of the Iran war.
While Trump said the conflict was “nearing completion” and set a timeline of “two to three weeks”, investors are concerned that oil supplies could remain disrupted.
Chris Minns welcomes states’ agreement to return extra GST on fuel
With that press club address over, we’re now hearing from the states and territories welcoming the news on lower fuel prices.
NSW premier Chris Minns says:
double quotation mark We welcome the agreement to return the extra GST collected on higher fuel prices back to motorists.It’s some relief to drivers and helps take the edge off higher fuel costs.
‘I will take every opportunity to talk to the Australian people,’ Albanese says
Albanese is being asked about a comment which appeared underneath the video of his national address last night, voicing a view that in trying to deliver a message to calm people down, in the eight-hour window leading up to the address it inadvertently caused greater anxiety.
double quotation mark The truth is that the demand spike in fuel had occurred, was continuing to occur.There hasn’t been a single ship that was due to arrive in Australia in March that had not arrived.
… I will take every opportunity to talk to the Australian people directly, because that is showing them respect.
‘Australia wasn’t consulted’ before war in Iran, Albanese says
Trump was thoughtful enough to time his speech just before the Australian leader’s, but Albanese says he hasn’t yet heard his US counterpart’s message.
Asked about the timeframe Trump laid out, Albanese said:
double quotation mark To be clear, as I said, Australia wasn’t consulted before this began. The United States, as a sovereign state and they are the world’s largest economy, and President Trump I think will continue to make announcements.What I have said very clearly though is that I do want to see a de-escalation and I want there to be a recognition as well, greater clarity, about how this ends, and I haven’t seen, to be fair, the timing of President Trump’s speech so I am reluctant to talk about the content, but I have been pretty consistent about this as well, that we need to account for what the endpoint is here and what the objectives are, and that the objectives that were originally put forward by President Trump I think have largely been realised.
Albanese is asked about the Murphy report recommendations
Now moving on to questions, Albanese is facing pressure on the announced gambling reforms, being questioned why recommendations in the Murphy report remain unaddressed, including many around harm minimisation.
double quotation mark We’ll be tabling a response to the Murphy report on the first day that parliament comes back, when it returns.Cabinet adopted these positions today.
This is the position that we will take forward in legislation, when parliament resumes.
And the government decides positions, not committees.
Government can be informed by committees, but the government determines positions.
And one of the things that sporting codes need, dare I say it, here at the National Press Club, TV channels that have broadcasting deals, all of that, is tied up with certainty going forward.
And what we’ll do is present a final position that we have, it’s informed as well by the key elements going forward, some of it is about the Murphy report, but the Murphy report isn’t [where] it started and ended.
‘We know the mindset that left Australia exposed to this global shock,’ Albanese says
Albanese had earlier in his speech also criticised the Coalition’s approach to economic policy putting “our nation in this position of vulnerability” in comparison to his government’s “future made in Australia” approach:
double quotation mark We all know the mindset that left Australia exposed to this global shock. That said it was OK to cut Tafe and training. To dare manufacturing and industry to go offshore. To put multinational firms ahead of Australian gas users. To close our refineries, store our fuel reserves in Texas, and run the national energy grid [to the] ground, and that Australia could get away with this because there would always be someone else who would sell us what we needed cheaper than we could make it ourselves.This approach put our nation in this position of vulnerability. It certainly will not take us out of that. That’s why our government is taking a different path, investing in a future made in Australia, creating the reconstruction fund to back manufacturing.
‘We are getting the balance right,’ Albanese says
Albanese speaks of the need to make sure children don’t believe gambling and sport are “inextricably linked”:
double quotation mark We are getting the balance right, letting adults have a punt if they want to but making sure that our children don’t see betting as everywhere they look because we don’t want kids growing up thinking that gambling are inextricably linked, we want Australians to love sport for what it is.
Albanese announces new restrictions on gambling advertising
Albanese:
double quotation mark We legislated against subscription traps, and today I announce we will build on the reforms that we have already delivered to combat gambling harm.Between 6am and 8:30pm, we will cap the number of TV ads for agencies at a maximum of three per hour, we will ban all gambling ads on radio during school pickup and drop-off.
We will ban cross promotion content that mixes commentary with odds, and advertising on jerseys and jumpers and in stadiums. And we will ban online advertising unless the user is verified as being over 18 and has the ability to opt out. Just as importantly we will block illegal offshore gaming sites and bad online keynote byproducts, the so-called pocket pokies … and we will keep building on the success of Betstop, promoting and strengthening a program that is changing lives.
