AUSTRALIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Three-storey new houses should be the norm: PC

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Original article by Michael Read, Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 28-Jul-26

A report to be released by the Productivity Commission today will propose measures aimed at boosting the supply of new housing. Amongst other things, the report will recommend a reduction in the minimum size of housing lots and encouraging developers to build upwards by allowing three-storey homes in most residential areas. Meanwhile, the Productivity Commission notes that it now takes the average family 11 years to save for a housing deposit of 20 per cent, compared with just eight years in 2005.

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AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION

PM moves to shore up fuel security

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Original article by Geoff Chambers, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 28-Jul-26

The federal and Western Australian governments will jointly finance a $4m pre-feasibility study into the construction of an oil refinery. The proposed refinery would be built by Perdaman in WA and would be the first new one in Australia since the 1960s. The push to boost the nation’s fuel security has coincided with the Treasury’s warning that the conflict in the Middle East is making the oil market more vulnerable; the Treasury has also cautioned that crude oil prices are likely to remain elevated in the near-term and could rise further if the war continues. Meanwhile, Opposition leader Angus Taylor has stated that the Coalition would support any new fuel relief measures, provided that they are not inflationary; the current fuel excise cut will end on 2 August.

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PERDAMAN GROUP, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Young Jews told to hide in fear

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Original article by Bimini Plesser
The Australian – Page: 2 : 22-Jul-26

Leaders of Jewish communities across Australia gave evidence to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion yesterday. Adass Israel Synagogue board member Benjamin Klein told the inquiry that Jewish professionals such as doctors and lawyers are relocating to Israel because they feel safer there than in Australia. Bialik College board president Tyson Wodak said its students have been warned against wearing their uniforms when they go on school excursions in the wake of the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel in October 2023. He added that the school’s annual tuition fee includes an $840 security levy, which has increased by more than 230 per cent since 2023.

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AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION ON ANTISEMITISM AND SOCIAL COHESION, ADASS ISRAEL SYNAGOGUE, BIALIK COLLEGE

Treasury warned Labor housing goals would fail

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 4 : 22-Jul-26

A report from the Australian National Audit Office shows that the Treasury had consistently advised the federal government that the social and affordable rental homes targets of its Housing Australia Future Fund were unlikely to be met. These warnings were issued both before and after the flagship $10bn fund had been established. The Treasury cited factors such as the bulding industry’s lack of capacity to deliver on the HAFF’s initial tartget of 30,000 homes, as well as inconsistencies in the planning and regulatory systems of state governments. Housing Minister Clare O’Neil says the government welcomes independent scrutiny of its housing targets and it has accepted all five of the ANAO’s recommendations. However, shadow housing minister Andrew Bragg says the report shows that criticism of the HAFF is justified.

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AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL AUDIT OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. HOUSING AUSTRALIA FUTURE FUND, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Coalition and One Nation’s plan to ditch net zero would not lower power prices, CSIRO report finds

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Original article by Graham Readfearn
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 15-Jul-26

The CSIRO’s annual GenCost report has found that renewables will continue to be the cheapest option for generating electricity in 2030. Both the Coalition and One Nation have advocated adding nuclear power to the nation’s energy mix, but the CSIRO has concluded that this would be the most expensive way to generate electricity among the current options. The report has also refuted claims by the Coalition and One Nation that scrapping Australia’s net-zero emissions target would result in lower electricity prices; it found that generation costs are likely to rise after 2030 regardless of Australia’s net zero policy, although prices are then likely to stabilise.

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CSIRO, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, ONE NATION PARTY

Chinese rare earths investors blocked

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Original article by Peter Ker
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 15-Jul-26

Northern Minerals’ executive chairman Adam Handley has welcomed the federal government’s latest move aimed at getting shareholders with Chinese links to divest their holdings. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has told the rare earths producer to disregard all votes cast by the three shareholders in question at any of the company’s meetings. It follows a recent warning from Northern Minerals that the three investors had failed to comply with an order to divest their holdings by 2 July. Northern Minerals’ undeveloped Browns Range deposit in Western Australia includes terbium and dysprosium; China accounts for 99 per cent of global supply of these heavy rare earths.

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NORTHERN MINERALS LIMITED – ASX NTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Chalmers’ great tax cut conundrum

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Original article by Thomas Henry
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 15-Jul-26

Analysis by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office has concluded that an eventual return to a budget surplus will be dependent on a number of factors. They include reining in the cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, a $336bn increase in personal income tax revenue, public service job cuts and the federal government’s changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax and trusts. The PBO has used its medium-term fiscal outlook to warn that the government will need to choose between providing income tax cuts and significant spending cuts if the budget is to be returned to surplus in the next decade.

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AUSTRALIA. PARLIAMENTARY BUDGET OFFICE

Right fright sees Labor go for woke

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Original article by Greg Brown, Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 8-Jul-26

The Australian Labor Party’s draft national policy platform has been amended to include a commitment to an anti-racism strategy. The revised draft platforms states that Labor will continue to oppose people who "foster extremism, hatred, ethnic division or incitement to violence". Senior Labor sources have indicated that the move to include this in the draft platform is a direct response to growing concern within the party about rising levels of racism and the growing support for One Nation. The draft platform also formalises Labor’s support for Welcome to Country ceremonies, which were not mentioned in its 2023 national platform.

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AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, ONE NATION PARTY

‘Provocative’: PM strikes back at Beijing

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Original article by Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 2 : 8-Jul-26

Chinese state media outlet The Global Times has defended the nation’s test-launch of a nuclear-capable missile in the Pacific, arguing that it was "both necessary and restrained". The daily tabloid also stated that countries in the Pacific region must "accept and get used to China’s nuclear program". The missile test has been criticised by the Australian government, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese describing it as a "provocative act" which risks destabilising the region. His comments were made during an official visit to the Solomon Islands, whose Prime Minister Matthew Wale urged China to "be our friend" but said "don’t threaten us". Former Home Affairs head Mike Pezzullo has questioned the timing of the missile test, which coincided with Albanese’s visit to Fiji to sign a defence agreement.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS

Japan’s Iron Lady caught up in PM’s Kylie gaffe podcast

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Original article by Elizabeth Pike
The Australian – Page: 2 : 7-Jul-26

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has attracted criticism over comments he made about his Japanese counterpart during a recent podcast. Albanese’s remarks about singer Kylie Minogue have overshadowed the comments about Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the same podcast, which was hosted by comedian Nikki Osborne. Takaichi visited Australia earlier this year, and presented Albanese with a gift of two prestigious Shizuoka melons. He told Osborne that Takaichi had brought a "couple of melons", and accompanied this comment with suggestive hand gestures. Takaichi is Japan’s first female prime minister, and the fruit was given to Albanese to signify Australia’s decision to lift restrictions on Japanese melon imports.

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AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, JAPAN. OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER