Australian news and politics live: Albanese must use AUKUS to secure Trump tariff carve-out, Kevin Hogan says
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Morrison’s King’s birthday honour divides
Former prime minister Scott Morrison’s King’s birthday honour has been welcomed by many, but not all.
Entrepreneurial and Small Business Women Australia founder Amanda Rose said it was an “insult” he had Australia’s highest civilian honour.
“I think Scott Morrison should give it back, because essentially they’ve said he should be rewarded because of how he handled the COVID pandemic,” she told Seven’s Sunrise program on Monday.
“It’s an insult to people and small businesses that were shut down during the lockdowns.
“You’ve got things like robodebt and all these other things that are on his list of things that he should not be rewarded for.”
$1.5m worth of parliamentary furnishings sitting in off-site storage
A $60,000 lounge is among $1.5m worth of Parliament House furnishings wasting away in off-site storage, officials have revealed.
The Department of Parliamentary Services’ spending came under a spotlight in February when it was grilled on a $3.8m furniture bill.
It sparked concern at the time by disclosing a $20,000 desk sitting in storage.
“My concern, of course, is that there is this pervasive culture of waste and now there is numerous evidence that this has been an ongoing problem,” former opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume said during senate estimates.
Hogan: Australia deserves tariff carve-out over AUKUS commitment
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese should leverage the AUKUS defence arrangement to try to carve-out an exemption from the Trump trade tariffs, said shadow trade minister Kevin Hogan.
Mr Hogan told ABC Radio National Breakfast he was “very optimistic” Mr Albanese could secure a better tariffs deal for Australia when he meets President Trump, as expected, on the margins of the G7 summit in Canada later this week.
“I’d be reminding President Trump of two things - primarily, one is that his policy is a bad policy for Americans,” he said.
“But I’d certainly be pushing the AUKUS arrangement. We have an agreement with them, with our national security and we are going to invest a lot of money with them,” he said.
“If he wants to do tariffs for certain things. That’s his economic policy. But there should be for trusted friends, for good national security arrangements, there should be carve outs.”
‘No sacred cows’ in Coalition’s housing policy review
The new shadow housing minister insists there are “no sacred cows” in the Coalition’s policy review, including the superannuation for home deposits scheme that he strongly backed.
Andrew Bragg says while new policies are a way off, boosting housing supply is a key focus for him and there should be more attention paid to the “sticks” to punish underperforming States.
The Federal government has a target of building 1.2 million homes in the five years to mid-2029 but efforts so far are falling short.
Four in seven years: Another election looms for poll weary Tasmanians
A state election is inching closer as an embattled premier refuses to stand down to spare voters the pain of returning to the polls.
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff is preparing to call an early election as soon as Tuesday after narrowly losing a no-confidence motion in state parliament.
The state Liberal leader could have stood aside or been removed to allow his party to continue to govern in minority with crossbench support.
But he is forging ahead with plans to recall parliament on Tuesday to pass a bill to ensure government workers can keep getting paid, before asking Governor Barbara Baker to call an election.
She could approve his request or ask another Liberal MP or Labor leader Dean Winter to try to form minority government.
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