‘Absolutely appropriate’ for police to investigate alleged raising of Hezbollah flags, minister says
Katy Gallagher was also asked about calls from Peter Dutton to recall the parliament and give the AFP powers to arrest people who allegedly held Hezbollah flags at protests at the weekend.
Is this something the government would consider? Gallagher said:
I think that the leader of the opposition knows that the police are and have indicated that they are investigating the matters on the weekend, including the [alleged] raising of those flags of a listed terrorist organisation.
It is appropriate, and in this country, we do have law enforcement agencies that actually undertake the investigation. The investigation is not undertaken by the leader of the opposition.
Parliament is sitting next week. I think the leader of the opposition understands what he’s doing here, which is trying to raise and create further division at a moment where people are feeling extremely concerned about what’s happening in the Middle East.
Gallagher said the alleged raising of Hezbollah flags “is absolutely inappropriate, and it is absolutely appropriate that the police investigate that matter”.
Key events
Prescription no longer needed to buy vapes from pharmacy to help quit smoking
Natasha May
From today, people 18 years or older will no longer need a prescription to buy vapes from a pharmacy for the purpose of helping to quit smoking or manage nicotine dependence.
Vapes will have similar restrictions to other pharmacist-only products like allergy and asthma medications, with pharmacists required to sight photo ID for age verification purposes and have a conversation around the health harms of vaping.
If you need a quick recap of why the government – which has wanted to crack down on vaping – is easing the laws around access, let me take you back to June.
The government had been pushing for world-first reforms that would have meant vapes would only be available at pharmacies with a prescription from a GP or nurse practitioner, a move backed by more than 50 public health organisations, peak doctor groups, and groups across social work and education.
However, to get the support in the Senate needed to pass the reforms into law, the government reached a last-minute deal with the Greens under which the prescription model was abandoned.
BUT to give pharmacists enough time to prepare for the last minute change in the legislation the original prescription model was put in place for the first three months – which brings us to today where the deal agreed with the Greens kicks in and no prescription needed for vapes with a nicotine concentration of 20 mg/mL or less. However, those aged under 18 will need a prescription, no matter what.
Labor taking ‘comprehensive approach’ to gambling ads
Q: Will there be an outright ban on gambling advertising? That’s what the report recommended. It was very comprehensive.
Michelle Rowland said the government was consulting on a model addressing the three key areas she had outlined (see previous post):
This is an area in which the government is taking a comprehensive approach. We’ll continue to work through this because we know that Australians want change in this area, and the government’s made it clear that the status quo is unsustainable.
Communications minister discusses prospect of gambling ad ban
Michelle Rowland was on ABC News Breakfast earlier and was asked about the prospect of an outright ban on gambling advertising.
She responded that the government is pursuing “a very comprehensive suite of reforms” in response to the late Peta Murphy’s report.
The minister said three key areas needed addressing – protecting children, breaking “that nexus between sport and online wagering” and dealing with the saturation of ads:
Particularly that targeting of ads towards one of the most vulnerable cohorts, which is young men aged 18 to around 35. So we’re working through that comprehensively.
Rowland said a large number of the recommendations deal with state and commonwealth relations, “so we need to work through those carefully”:
We’re doing this as expeditiously as possible, but I can obviously appreciate that your viewers would have wanted action in this area some 10 years ago.
We know that Australia, unfortunately, suffers some $25bn a year from gambling losses. Of course, the vast majority of that comprises land-based gambling – both pokies and casinos – for which there is little or no advertising. But we do know that online wagering is an area of growing harms.
We want our response to be forward-looking, we want it to be effective, and we want it to ensure that there are limited unintended consequences, that they can be dealt with, and that it is an effective approach.
Amy Remeikis
Confidential RBA briefings should stay confidential, Chalmers says
If you pay any attention to political news, you have probably heard the term “a wide-ranging press conference/interview”. That is usually code for a politician trying to address several fires at once.
This is a “wide-ranging” press conference.
Jim Chalmers turns to reports in the AFR that the Reserve Bank has banned a global investment bank from private briefings, after leaks.
(The RBA, like all central banks, offers private off-the-record briefings to a range of stakeholders, where it explains some of the thinking behind its actions. It also does this publicly now, with the press conference after each of its board meetings.)
The background briefings though, are supposed to stay in the background. On the AFR report, Chalmers says:
If the commercial banks are going to receive confidential briefings from the Reserve Bank, they should be kept confidential. And I have some sympathy for the Reserve Bank in when it comes to the issue reported today in your newspaper.
People should respect the process and the agreements, and where that hasn’t happened, there will be consequences, and I will leave them in the capable hands of the independent Reserve Bank. It’s not for the treasurer to manage or police agreements between the Reserve Bank and the commercial banks when it comes to private briefings, but I do share the concern reported today in your paper that some elements of confidentiality may have been breached, and I’m sure that our colleagues at the bank are working through what that means for the way that they conduct those briefings and who’s involved.
Amy Remeikis
Chalmers ‘gravely concerned’ about human cost of conflict in Middle East
Jim Chalmers has also spoken on the situation in Lebanon after the news Israel has launched what it is calling a “limited” ground invasion.
The treasurer said the “situation in Lebanon has escalated overnight” and this is “deeply concerning”:
We are gravely concerned for the human cost of an escalation of this conflict. We continue to urge restraint and de-escalation, because further hostilities put the lives of tens of thousands of civilians at risk.
The global community has been really clear that the destructive cycle in this part of the world must stop. We call again on parties to agree to the comprehensive ceasefire deal brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt, and endorsed by the UN security council. Delays in agreeing ceasefires are costing lives, and Lebanon, as Penny Wong said, cannot become the next Gaza.
Chalmers added that “we do not mourn the death of a terrorist leader responsible for all of that destruction in the Middle East”:
We do mourn the loss of so many innocent lives in the Middle East. Too many lives have already been lost to this conflict. An escalation of this conflict risks even more innocent lives, too many families, too many children have already been lost to the conflict in the Middle East, and the escalation risks making that worse.
Amy Remeikis
Treasurer holds press conference in Canberra
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is holding an early-morning press conference in Canberra, where he has pre-empted questions about the proposed Qatar stake in Virgin.
Qatar Air is proposing to buy a 25% stake in Virgin Australia, which would allow it broader access to the Australian domestic market. Chalmers says it is a matter for the ACCC:
It wouldn’t be appropriate for me to pre-empt that process or comment further. We expect that components of the deal related to international flights will also be subject to ACCC merger authorisation consideration.
As I understand it, the ACCC hasn’t yet received an application …
My role in it is on the Foreign Investment Review Board. And when I get that advice, I will consider it in the usual methodical way. I will say, more broadly, we do want to see a strong, competitive airline industry that delivers for consumers.
Amy Remeikis
‘These people should be locked up,’ Littleproud says
Continuing from our last post: Nationals leader David Littleproud spoke to Brisbane radio 4BC where he expressed a different view:
Unfortunately, I think many Australians are just blindly getting on with their day and not understanding the gravity of exactly what is happening on the streets in our cities.
These people should be locked up if they want to support a terrorist organisation, they are importing hate to this country and we should be alive to that and we should do something about that. The core responsibility of any government is to keep its people safe.
And shortly after that, Liberal leader Peter Dutton appeared on Sky with what he thought should happen:
Enforcement of the law is required. And if there are laws that need to be passed to make sure that our values are upheld, the prime minister should be doing that.
Amy Remeikis
Mass arrests won’t help fight extremism, Canavan says
Hello and good morning from Canberra. The political attention is split today, with Queensland premier Steven Miles about to officially ask for an election to be called, but the federal MPs are still doing what they can to claim a bit of space.
One of those MPs is Queensland LNP senator Matt Canavan, who appeared on Sky News early this morning where he took a slightly different view to handling protesters, compared with his party leadership.
Canavan, who has previously said he flirted with communism while at university, said he wasn’t sure if threats to “mass arrest” people were winning hearts and minds:
I don’t know if just mass arresting people is going to help here. I mean, we’ve obviously got a huge problem in our society over extremism. These are abominable displays we’ve seen on our streets. But this is ultimately a battle of ideas, and ideas that include an end-of-days extreme ideology.
And I just don’t know if just mass arresting people is going to defeat that. I mean, I’ll draw the comparison to communism.
‘Absolutely appropriate’ for police to investigate alleged raising of Hezbollah flags, minister says
Katy Gallagher was also asked about calls from Peter Dutton to recall the parliament and give the AFP powers to arrest people who allegedly held Hezbollah flags at protests at the weekend.
Is this something the government would consider? Gallagher said:
I think that the leader of the opposition knows that the police are and have indicated that they are investigating the matters on the weekend, including the [alleged] raising of those flags of a listed terrorist organisation.
It is appropriate, and in this country, we do have law enforcement agencies that actually undertake the investigation. The investigation is not undertaken by the leader of the opposition.
Parliament is sitting next week. I think the leader of the opposition understands what he’s doing here, which is trying to raise and create further division at a moment where people are feeling extremely concerned about what’s happening in the Middle East.
Gallagher said the alleged raising of Hezbollah flags “is absolutely inappropriate, and it is absolutely appropriate that the police investigate that matter”.
Gallagher reiterates call for ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, spoke to ABC News Breakfast just earlier to discuss the crisis unfolding in Lebanon.
Asked if there is a plan to evacuate citizens if it comes to it, she said Dfat and the government have been “working hard over the last few months around contingency planning [and] people should be assured that that work is being done”.
She was asked what message Australia is sending to Israel at the moment, with the Israeli government not appearing to be heeding international calls for it to pull back from a ground offensive and agree to a ceasefire. Gallagher responded:
Last week you saw that Australia – along with a number of other nations like the US, the UK and the European Union – had issued a statement which called for a ceasefire, for further humanitarian assistance, which Australia is providing to Lebanon. And certainly, calling for de-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
So that remains our message. That remains our message to Israel. We don’t want to see loss of life that we have been seeing in the Middle East over the past year, particularly in Gaza, about now in Lebanon as well.
You can follow the latest developments on our separate live blog below:
Liberal senator speaks up for negative gearing
Andrew Bragg was also asked about reports that the Treasury is looking at options on negative gearing reform.
What’s wrong with looking at it, he was asked? Bragg said:
We don’t think that increasing taxes on houses is going to result in more … houses. That’s pretty simply our view. And as you know, about half the cost of a new house in NSW already goes in taxes and regulatory charges.
So, increasing the tax burden on housing is not a very good approach and, unfortunately, it’s been held out by some like the Greens as a silver bullet to the housing crisis when, unfortunately, there isn’t a silver bullet other than building more houses and finding ways to tilt the scales in favour of first home buyers.
But why shouldn’t it be on the table to explore? Bragg said, “because even if you changed it, you still have a massive housing problem.”
And asked if there should be any limits on how many negatively geared properties people can have, Bragg responded:
The deduction of rental losses is a pretty standard tax principle that applies across the economy. And at the end of the day, I think this is a massive distraction from the core issue, which is that the government have not built enough houses, and they haven’t been creative in ways to help first home buyers.
Banks should loosen credit laws to help first home buyers, Liberal senator says
Liberal senator Andrew Bragg was on ABC RN earlier to discuss an idea being pushed by some Liberals – to loosen credit laws to help first home buyers. He made the case for the changes and said:
[At] the moment, you have basically [a] very low level of delinquencies in Australia, and so the banks aren’t able to take on any risk – and frankly, we want banks to take on some risk, particularly in relation to first home buyers.
And a lot of people who are listening today, who may be older Australians, would probably have never received a loan under the current arrangements if they were in place 20 or 30 years ago.
So we need to balance risk management against our objective of growing first home ownership in Australia. And in other countries like Singapore, the equivalent regulator has to consider the impact on the economy and on people, whereas [the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority] only has one very narrow objective.
Asked if this could push house prices up further, Bragg said this was “a conversation about getting more first home buyers into the market”.
Queensland premier launches bid to oust controversial mayor in final hours in office
Joe Hinchliffe
Queensland premier Steven Miles has launched a last-gasp bid to stand down the controversial Townsville mayor during his final hours in office before embarking upon an uphill re-election campaign.
This morning, Miles’ office confirmed it had sent a late-night show cause to Troy Thompson while the corruption watchdog investigates claims he embellished his military service during his mayoral campaign.
Thompson will have three weeks to respond. He has been contacted for comment.
Miles’ Labor government goes into caretaker mode today.