Marles continues breakfast rounds to discuss defence spending
The defence minister, Richard Marles, has been making the rounds this morning and has also spoken to ABC RN about yesterday’s defence announcement.
He reiterated talking points about the announcement that he made during yesterday’s press club speech: that Australia wasn’t trying to be a peer to the US or China, but to ensure capability for a “less certain world in the future” and “resist coercion [to] maintain our way of life”, which was what the $50bn funding was about.
Asked if Australia would be vulnerable over the next 10 years, Marles pointed to previous governments (as he did during yesterday’s speech) and said: “It would have been better for that work to have been done a decade ago, but the next best thing is that we act now.”
He was asked to give a specific example on what constituted “resisting coercion” and, like earlier, pointed to sea trade operations.
The reason why we make the observation that an invasion of Australia is a very unlikely scenario, no matter what happens, is because any adversary that wished to do us harm could do so much to us before ever setting foot on Australian soil – and disrupting those specific sea lines of communication, which I’ve described, would obviously achieve that. That that is where the risk of coercion lies, as one example.
And in order to protect ourselves in respect of that, we do need the ability to [project], because if you think about it, … the geography of our national security when seen through those lands is not the coastline of our continent. It in fact, lies much further afield.
And so having long-range submarines, having a much more capable surface fleet for our navy, having much longer-range missiles that we can bring to bear, is what we need to do to give any adversary pause for thought, to be able to hold the assets of any potential adversary at risk further from our shores.
That projection is what we are trying to build.
Deputy prime minister and minister for defence Richard Marles. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Getting into specifics about the upcoming legislation, Michelle Rowland flagged significant fines for social media platforms:
We’re looking at a substantial increase on what’s already in the Online Safety Act. So not only a large amount – so for example, a $3m fine for an offence and ongoing fines, but a percentage of turnover as well.
We know that the revenues of some of these online platforms exceed those of some nations and so it needs to be a meaningful and substantial penalty system that’s put in place.
Rowland discusses misinformation online after Wakeley stabbing attack
Communications minister Michelle Rowland spoke to ABC AM just earlier and discussed what it would take for social media platforms to stop hosting misinformation and prevent videos from being shared, like that of the stabbing attack in Wakeley on Monday night?
She said eSafety had the ability under the Online Safety Act to issue notices for platforms to remove certain content, which she had done in this instance:
Misinformation was a separate issue, she said, because there was only a voluntary industry code on platforms to detect, trace and prevent the spread of mis- and dis-information.
The government announced new laws to address this last year but these were put on hold. Rowland said the consultation process was ongoing and the plan was to introduce legislation “this year”.
Communications minister Michelle Rowland. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
But what will be done immediately to stop this? Rowland:
[Social media platforms] will need to comply with existing law, that is already their obligations. eSafety has issued [those] notices…
Because if we needed to see any case study about what can happen when misinformation spreads at speed and scale, we only need to look at what happened in western Sydney the other night. The destruction, the damage to public property threats to life and health.
We know that platforms have incredible powers and abilities to be able to examine content on their platforms, their algorithms are opaque, they need to do more, and that’s precisely what the government has been pursuing with our mis- and dis-information rules.
Wealth inequality growing among households aged below 35, data shows
Wealth inequality is growing among households aged under 35, even though they hold just 5% of all wealth, new research from Australian Council of Social Service and UNSW Sydney has revealed.
“Inequality in Australia 2024: Who is affected and how?” shows the average household wealth of Australia’s highest 10% is growing much faster than the lowest 60%, from $2.8m to $5.2m (an 84% increase) over the past 20 years. Meanwhile, the average wealth of the lowest 60% has risen from $222,000 to $343,000 (a 55% increase).
Nearly half (45%) of the increase in household wealth since 2003 went to the highest 10% (those with at least $2.6m) and half of this increase to wealthy older people (over 64 years).
Wealth inequality is also growing among households aged under 35. The average wealth of the highest 10% rose from $928,000 to $2m (an increase of 126%) since 2003. At the same time, the average wealth of the lowest 60% of younger households – largely excluded from home ownership – rose just $68,000 to $80,000 (39%).
Acoss chief executive Dr Cassandra Goldie. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Acoss chief executive Cassandra Goldie said:
These disturbing figures show that people with the lowest income and least wealth are being left behind by the increasing inequality in Australia.
Without major reform to housing, superannuation tax breaks and income support, the divide between those with the most and those with the least will continue to deepen. The fastest and most efficient way to support those worst affected by income inequality is by raising the rate of JobSeeker to at least the pension rate of $80 a day.
Richard Marles outlines defence spending: ‘resist coercion’, protect sea trade
Defence minister Richard Marles has been speaking on ABC News Breakfast about the national defence strategy, which was launched at the National Press Club yesterday.
In case you missed it: the Albanese government will pour an extra $50bn into defence spending over the next 10 years. You can read all the details from Daniel Hurst below.
Marles was asked whether the money being delivered was too far in the future, and if Australia was prepared for what lay ahead.
He said the funding was the “biggest increase over a four-year period in defence spending that we have seen in this country in decades”. He acknowledged challenges ahead but said:
By acting quickly, by acting decisively with this very significant increase in defence spending, we can give our country agency and we can make sure that going forward in a much less certain world we’re able to resist coercion and maintain our way of life.
Deputy prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
But what does that mean – ‘resist coercion’?
Marles said Australia had a “growing economic connection to the world” and our national income was increasingly driven by trade – and there was a physical connection to this through the sea.
And that represents a vulnerability … about 85% of our fuel needs are imported, refined product from Malaysia, Singapore, Korea. You know, right there represents a vulnerability for our country. And so what we need is a very capable defence force, a very capable navy in that instance, to make sure that we can protect that …
Westfield Bondi Junction to reopen for community reflection day
The Sydney shopping centre where six people were fatally stabbed will reopen for a day of community reflection today, before retail trade resumes tomorrow, AAP reports.
Hundreds are expected to gather at Westfield Bondi Junction in the eastern suburbs to pay their respects to those affected by Saturday’s attack.
Scentre Group, which owns and operates the shopping centre, said shops would open for business on Friday with an increased police and security presence.
Today “the centre will be quiet – it will allow for reflection to occur,” said its chief executive, Elliott Rusanow.
Rusanow said the number of security guards across all Westfield centres would be increased in response to the attack.
The Bondi Junction shopping centre will resume normal trading hours tomorrow, although Rusanow said some businesses would remain shut:
It will be their [retailers’] choice when they want to reopen.
There will be a candlelight vigil at Bondi beach on Sunday evening, with a minute’s silence to honour the attack victims.
Daniel Andrews on list of Australians banned from Russia
Martin Farrer
Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is among more than 200 names on the latest list of Australians who have been banned from entering Russia, AAP reports.
Andrews is one of the most high-profile of the 235 current and former Victorian and South Australian MPs across the political divide who have made Moscow’s list over Australia’s “anti-Russian agenda”.
Other Victorians barred indefinitely range from deputy premier Ben Carroll, treasurer Tim Pallas and opposition leader John Pesutto, to Labor MP Paul Mercurio, independent Moira Deeming and former Labor deputy premier James Merlino.
Among the South Australians are deputy premier Susan Close, treasurer Stephen Mullighan, energy minister Tom Koutsantonis, health minister Chris Picton and opposition leader David Speirs.
Russia’s foreign ministry said overnight that the Australians had been handed indefinite bans “in response to politically motivated sanctions against Russian individuals and legal entities by the Australian government”:
Taking into account the fact that official Canberra does not intend to abandon its anti-Russian course and continues to introduce new sanctions measures, work on updating the Russian ‘stop list’ will continue.
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be running you through some of the main overnight stories before my colleague Emily Wind picks up the slack.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, have hailed Australia’s new position as second in the global fiscal management rankings as a “remarkable achievement”. Australia’s overall budget balance is the second strongest among G20 nations, behind only Canada, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest fiscal monitor.
A 19-year-old man has been charged with riot, affray and damage to property in connection with the unrest in the western Sydney suburb of Wakeley after a bishop was stabbed. He was denied bail and will appear to court today. We’re also looking at why that stabbing has been declared a terrorism event while the killing of six people at Bondi Junction Westfield on Saturday has not. We also have a podcast looking at why emotions are running high in both the Assyrian Christian and Muslim communities. More coming up.
The former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is among more than 200 names on the latest list of Australians who have been banned from entering Russia. Other Victorians singled out by the Kremlin overnight for Australia’s “anti-Russian agenda” are the deputy premier, Ben Carroll, and the treasurer, Tim Pallas, and the South Australian deputy premier, Susan Close, and the treasurer, Stephen Mullighan. More coming up.
A masterpiece by the Australian impressionist Arthur Streeton not seen by the public for 130 years has beaten expectations to sell for more than $1.875m. The 1894 oil painting Sunlight at the Camp went on show in Melbourne this month before an auction in Sydney yesterday, when it was expected to fetch up to $1.5m.
