Key events
Is the government reconsidering stage three tax cuts in light of UK U-turn?
The question of whether the government will continue to pursue stage three tax cuts is more pressing in light of the parallel that is being drawn with the situation out of the UK, where the government has just made a U-turn on new PM Liz Truss’ tax cut for high earners.
Karvelas asks Plibersek:
On stage 3 tax cuts, can we really afford these – look at the UK?
Plibersek:
These tax cuts haven’t come in they won’t until 2024, I think it’s important for us to have a look at the October Budget statement and have a good look at the state of the economy there and Labor’s plans to repair it. We’re in a pretty tough economic position.. we’ve got to have all of the information in front of us before making any further decisions.
We’re now getting to the pointier end of Plibersek’s interview.
RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas asks the environment minister about the criticisms that have come from the Greens that the government cannot continue to approve new fossil fuels projects if it is serious about climate change.
Do you admit that climate change is increasing the rate of species decline?
Plibersek:
It sure is, climate change is significant, the natural disasters we’ve experienced… land clearing … all of these are putting enormous pressure on our natural environment.
The first and most important measure of our new government was to set higher ambition on carbon pollution reduction, just recently I introduced new laws strengthening our ozone layer protections and of course our prime minister signed up to the international leaders pledge to protect 30% or our oceans and 30% of our land by 2030 – these are all very ambitious targets.
The Greens have introduced amendments to the EPBC Act to create a climate trigger – will Plibersek support it?
I will respond to the Samuel review, we’ll consider all of those recommendations and any other changes we need to make to our environmental laws.
Threatened species protections have ‘halo effect’ for the whole ecosystem
Plibersek said the plan’s to protect threatened species will have a positive “halo effect” on the whole ecosystems they reside in.
Threatened species action plan to involve more First Nation’s knowledge and leadership
We mentioned in our first post, the environment minister Tanya Plibersek is today launching the new government’s threatened species action plan.
Plibersek is now speaking to ABC Radio about this new plan, which she says is more ambitious than the previous Coalition government’s five-year plan for threatened species last year.
It’s more ambitious and it’s more focused, it includes an objective for zero new extinctions.
A stronger ambition to protect more land … if we don’t protect the habitat for threatened plants and animals then it’s impossible to protect the plants and animals.
Plibersek also said the new plan is differentiated because it involves more First Nations knowledge and leadership in environmental conservation.
Multinational tax reform gets under way
The Albanese government has kicked off the multinational tax reforms it promised during the federal election, AAP reports.
Labor pledged to support the OECD’s “two pillar” approach to crack down on multinational tax avoidance, which includes a 15% floor rate for corporate tax globally to help eliminate tax havens.
The OECD reforms also involve a new mechanism allowing multinationals to be taxed in part based on where they sell products and services rather than where they situate their headquarters and intellectual property.
The Labor government has now opened consultation on its tax reform agenda.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said:
This is all about consulting widely on the proposed OECD multinational tax changes and what they’d mean for Australia.
Chalmers said the reforms would ensure multinationals paid their fair share of tax and would help fund critical services.
OECD secretary general Mathias Cormann, a former Western Australian senator, said he was “quietly optimistic” about the global corporate tax reforms.
Speaking at the OECD’s Forum on Tax Administration Plenary in Sydney on Friday, Cormann said the global minimum would become “self-perpetuating” once most countries were signed up. He said:
As it will not be in any country’s interest to leave money on the table for other jurisdictions to collect at their expense.
Young Australian women more disenfranchised by politics than global average
Tory Shepherd
A global survey has found Australian young women and girls have a worse opinion of politics than the global average.
60% of those aged 15 to 24 don’t think politicians act in the best interest of girls, compared to a 43% average around the world.
Plan International surveyed almost 30,000 females for the report Equal Power Now: Girls, young women and political participation.
Plan chief executive officer, Susanne Legena, said:
It has been a tumultuous couple of years for women in Australian politics. But, even so, these results are disappointing.
Australian girls feel irrelevant and disenfranchised when they should be being encouraged to take part in political discourse and the political process.
This new report found that a clear majority of young women and girls care deeply about politics, with 97% of those surveyed agreeing that participating in politics is important and 83% saying they have personally done so.
We have to do more in Australia to remove the barriers to entry and make women feel like they have a place in parliament.
In better news, a separate survey found young Australian women felt more hopeful after the 2022 election, which saw more women and people from diverse backgrounds elected to parliament. 42% of women and gender-diverse people aged 18 to 21 said they were now more likely to consider a career in politics.
Good morning!
The environment minister Tanya Plibersek is setting the goal of no new extinctions in an overhaul of its threatened species action plan.
The plan will prioritise 110 species and 20 places and deliver flow-on benefits to other threatened plants and animals in the same habitats.
Fifteen species and three ecological communities have also been added to the threatened species list, many of which were badly affected by the black summer bushfires.
Plibersek said:
These are the strongest targets we’ve ever seen.
Our current approach has not been working. If we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we’ll keep getting the same results. Australia is the mammal extinction capital of the world.
The need for action has never been greater. I will not shy away from difficult problems or accept environmental decline and extinction as inevitable.
Plibersek has also pledged to conserve at least 30% of Australia’s land mass, which firms up Labor’s election promise to protect 30% of land and 30% of sea areas by 2030.
You can read the full action plan here.
In economic news, the Reserve Bank of Australia is meeting today where it is expected to raise interest rates for the sixth time in as many months.
The aggressive rate hikes from the central bank has brought rates from record low levels during to the pandemic to now 2.35%, with today’s decision expected to see the rate go up another half a percentage point to 2.85%.
Also today, Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott will hand a report to NDIS minister Bill Shorten, which will suggest overhauling the funding model for NDIS providers, elevating employment outcomes for people with disabilities and handing NDIS participants greater autonomy over the services they need, according to the Australian.
Shorten said it was a “quality report” and that he supported its principles.
I’m Natasha May – I’ll be with you on the blog through to lunch and if there’s anything you think I may have missed feel free to ping me @natasha__may on Twitter or email me at [email protected].
Let’s jump in!