AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Flood farmers face big stock losses

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Original article by Brittney Levinson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 7-Jan-26

The federal and Queensland govenments will jointly provide $38m in disaster relief assistance for farmers who have been affected by severe floods in the state’s northwest. Grants of up to $75,000 will be available, including upfront payments of $10,000. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the package during a visit to Cloncurry, which is one of the regions that have been hit by the heavy rains since late December. Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries has advised that the number of livstock that is dead or missing now exceeds 20,000.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, QUEENSLAND. DEPT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES

Politicians paying off Canberra mortgages thanks to taxpayers

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Original article by Jessica Wang, Eliza Barr
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 7-Jan-26

Independent senator David Pocock has called for a review of federal politicians’ travel allowances, amid revelations that some are using their expense claims to help finance a mortgage. Interstate-based MPs and senators receive a nightly travel allowance of $322 to cover accommodation, food and incidental expenses during weeks when parliament is sitting. However, the rules allow them to receive the allowance even if they are staying at a home that either themselves or their partner own in Canberra; they can therefore redirect this money to paying off the mortgage on this home. Pocock, who lives in Canberra, says the allowance is necessary but must be in line with community expectations.

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Labor accused of breaking law on migration rules

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Original article by Luke Kinsella
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 7-Jan-26

The federal government is under scrutiny over the growing backlog of visa applications for the partners of Australian citizens. This reached a record high of 96,839 in June 2025, and it has increased by 72 per cent since Labor took office in May 2022. Both Labor and Coalition governments have capped partner visas, but migration expert Peter McDonald contends that this is illegal and applications for such visas should be processed when they are received. Former immigration department bureaucrat Abul Rizvi says the government will eventually have to abide by the law on partner visas; however, he concedes that this would result in a higher permanent migration intake and an increase in net overseas migration.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Take this expert advice, PM

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Original article by Greg Brown, Sarah Ison
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 7-Jan-26

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese may yield to the growing pressure to hold a federal royal commission into the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. While Albanese has stated that Labor’s priorities are a review of the nation’s intelligence agencies and passing new hate speech and gun control laws, he has expressed willingness to "examine anything else required" in response to the terrorist attack. Sources have indicated that the government may formally announce a national public inquiry within days. Meanwhile, 32 intelligence and security experts have released a joint statement urging the government to hold a royal commission into both anti-Semitism and Islamist extremism.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Fix cruel taxes for younger workers: Kelty

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 7-Jan-26

Former ACTU secretary Bill Kelty has urged the federal government to pursue tax reform, contending that the current tax system disadvantages younger workers in particular. Amongst other things, Kelty has advocated reducing the tax rates of wage earners who do not receive income from capital gains, trusts and negatively-geared properties. The Parliamentary Budget Office has forecast that the average tax rate for workers will rise to 27.8 per cent of their income over the next decade; this compares with about 24.5 per cent at present. Kelty notes that in contrast, investors who receive income from property and shares incur a maximum capital gains tax rate of just 23.5 per cent for assets that they have held for more than 12 months.

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ACTU, AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

Labor’s changes to listing hate groups will target Islamist and far-right extremists operating just inside the limits of law

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Original article by Josh Butler
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 24-Dec-25

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke says the federal government’s proposed legislation will crack down on hate groups that do not currently meet the criteria for being listed as a proscribed terrorist organisation. Burke has indicated that Hizb ut-Tahrir and the National Socialist Network are among those that will be targeted, stating that such groups hate Australia and should not be operating in this country. He adds that both Hizb ut-Tahrir and the National Socialist Network "have gone right to the limits of the law" but avoided prosecution under existing hate laws. Dr Josh Roose from Deakin University says the new laws should also target individuals who operating outside of established groups and extremist online ‘influencers’.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, DEAKIN UNIVERSITY

Santos-led GLNG export venture most vulnerable to new gas reservation rules: RBC

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Original article by Perry Williams
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 24-Dec-25

RBC Capital Markets analyst Gordon Ramsay says the federal government’s proposed domestic gas reservation scheme will have more impact on GLNG than its two rival Gladstone-based gas export projects. Ramsay notes that the GLNG project is highly reliant on third-party gas to meet its export contracts, while it also has lower gas reserves compared with the Australian Pacific LNG and Queensland Curtis LNG projects; Santo has a 30 per cent stake in GLNG. Meanwhile, Hamish McKenzie from the Grattan Institute contends that shipping extra gas from Queensland to the southern gas market will be challenging given that the existing pipeline between the states is already near full capacity.

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RBC CAPITAL (AUSTRALIA) LIMITED, GLADSTONE LNG PTY LTD, SANTOS LIMITED – ASX STO, AUSTRALIA PACIFIC LNG LIMITED, QUEENSLAND CURTIS LNG PTY LTD, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Do everything you can, Herzog tells PM

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Original article by Noah Yim
The Australian – Page: 5 : 24-Dec-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese invited Israeli President Isaac Herzog to visit Australia in 2026 during a telephone call between the two leaders on Tuesday. Herzog has been Albanese’s main point of contact with the Israeli government in recent times, following criticism of him by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Albanese’s office has released a statement noting that Herzog stressed the need to take action to combat anti-Semitism, extremism and jihadist terrorism in Australia. The Bondi Beach terrorist attack was a key focus of the Christmas messages of both Albanese and Opposition leader Sussan Ley.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Eyes wide shut on extremist threats

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Janet Albrechtsen
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Dec-25

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has defended his relationship with law-enforcement and intelligence agencies in the wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. However, he has declined to confirm whether Labor has implemented all of the recommendations made in Dennis Richardson’s 2019 review of the legal framework of the national intelligence community. The former head of ASIO will undertake a new review of federal law-enforcement and intelligence agencies as part of the government’s response to the terrorist attack. Meanwhile, a senior law enforcement figure has accused the government of "wilful blindness" on the issue of anti-Semitism and extremism, contending that it had been repeatedly warned of the "growing and foreseeable threat" in the last several years.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Budget bottom line improves but is still bright red

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Age – Page: Online : 17-Dec-25

The federal government’s Mid-Year Economic & Fiscal Outlook is expected to include a revised 2025-26 budget deficit of $36.8bn. This compares with the government’s forecast of a $42.2bn deficit ahead of the federal election in May. The MYEFO is also expected to show that the cumulative budget deficit over the next four years will be $143.5bn, down from the pre-election forecast of $151.9bn. Government revenue has been boosted by a range of factors, including a surge in the gold price, higher-than-expected iron ore prices and an increase in personal income tax.

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