Key events
Chalmers is continuing his media appearances down the parliamentary corridor. He’s on ABC News Breakfast now, talking trade and Trump.
The lines that the government is using are tight – they’re very focused on the call being “productive” and “positive” and not straying from the words that the US is willing to consider exemptions for Australia.
He’s asked whether he agrees with Democratic representative Joe Courtney, who yesterday called potential tariffs on Australia an “insult”.
I wouldn’t use those words, no. I know Joe Courtney, I’ve met him on a couple of occasions. He’s a wonderful guy and a great friend of Australia. But we don’t necessarily see it that way.
What Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was able to do yesterday was to point out how mutually beneficial this economic relationship is, how close we are as partners in the economy, in national security, and in other ways. We obviously don’t take any outcomes for granted here, but it was a good, productive and positive conversation between the two leaders yesterday.
Ben Doherty
PM and Trump talked ‘mutually beneficial trade’ – US
The White House has released a ‘read-out’ of prime minister Anthony Albanese’s phone call yesterday with US president Donald Trump.
The White House said:
President Donald J. Trump spoke with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of Australia. Among other topics, they discussed cooperation on US and Australian defense industrial capacity, mutually beneficial trade and investment, resilient critical mineral supply chains, and concerns about China’s aggressiveness.
The leaders emphasised their commitment to advancing the U.S.-Australia alliance and upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“Mutually beneficial trade” is a phrase that will be forensically parsed in the days ahead, with mixed signals emerging from the Trump White House over whether Australia would be exempt from newly imposed steel and aluminium tariffs.
Trump signed an executive order on Monday, imposing 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports, saying they would apply to all countries with “no exemptions, no exceptions”.
But he then said he was giving “great consideration” to carving Australia out of the tariff regime.
Labor tells banks to ‘take a more reasonable approach to student debt’
Jim Chalmers has this morning announced the government is changing rules so banks won’t consider student debt when granting home loans.
Home ownership among young people is low. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, data from August shows the home ownership rate of those born during 1992–1996 was 36% in 2021 (when they were aged 25–29), a whole 18 percentage points lower than the 1947–1951 cohort at the same age.
So they’ve definitely gone backwards.
AM host Sabra Lane asks Chalmers how many young people have been knocked back due to these rules. He doesn’t have the number, but says:
We’ve asked the regulators and the banks to take a more reasonable approach to student debt.
Earlier Sussan Ley was asked about the announcement on Sky News, she didn’t confirm if she supported it:
It taken Jim Chalmers three years to work out it’s really hard to buy a home if you’re a young person… and we do have to make the environment that everyone lives in much more affordable and get the economy back on track.
Treasurer says Labor prefers private sale of Rex
Jim Chalmers is doing the media rounds this morning.
On ABC AM radio, Chalmers says the government would still prefer a private sale for regional airline Rex.
Our preference here is for a private sale. We’ve indicated to the bidders in the sale process that we are prepared to negotiate with them packages of support subject to strict conditions
We have already … helped out with some of the debt and in other ways as well, and that’s because we really want to see these flights continuing into regional Australia.
Chalmers says if that doesn’t work, the government is still considering contingency plans to keep the airline alive.
‘Governments shouldn’t own airlines’ – Ley
Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley says the government shouldn’t buy regional airline Rex, as it struggles to find a buyer.
Ley says the government could “crowd out competition” by having a stake in the market, and Labor should instead be looking at the policies in the sector.
Governments shouldn’t own airlines, because that does mean that taxpayers own them, and taxpayers pay for them … The most important thing for a government with airline policy is to get the policy and regulatory settings right so that you do have a sustainable and competitive aviation sector.
You can read more on that story here:
Dan Jervis-Bardy
R&D review makes for ‘sobering reading’ – Husic
Australia is at risk of “being left behind” because of a failure to leverage research and development for economic gain, an expert panel has warned.
The industry and science minister, Ed Husic, will release an overview of the state of the nation’s R&D sector ahead of a speech to the National Press Club on Wednesday.
Husic last year commissioned Tesla chair Robyn Denholm to lead a review into R&D amid warnings Australia’s performance was “slipping”.
The panel’s first piece of work was a “reconnaissance” of the R&D landscape that made early observations about the industry’s problems and areas for improvement.
In excerpts of the press club speech supplied to Guardian Australia, Husic said the panel’s preliminary findings made for “sobering reading”.
The panel says there’s an over-reliance on our good fortune, leaving us unprepared to achieve sustained economic growth.
They describe our economy as one of the least differentiated in the world.
And an R&D system that’s siloed and barely engaged with the national need.
At the national level there is little planning to maximise the value of our scientific output and minimise the inadequacies in the system.
The sector overview will inform the panel’s final advice, which will be presented to the government later this year.
Krishani Dhanji
Good morning,
Krishani Dhanji here with you as we continue our way through the sitting fortnight.
The will they or won’t they on tariffs on steel and aluminium from the US has been quite the journey so far, and we’ll probably be hearing more reaction to that today.
The government has said they could put in for regional airline Rex as they struggle to find a buyer.
And the prime minister will be standing up shortly, so it’s all starting early this morning.
Put your seatbelts on, it’s going to be a big one!
More on that home loans story from AAP:
The treasurer also asked Apra to clarify a misconception that had limited housing supply by preventing developers from accessing finance for apartment projects.
That was apparently due to a misinterpretation of advice given by Apra in 2017 which some lenders misconstrued as preventing them from handing out loans to builders who had not yet pre-sold all properties in a development.
The regulator will tell the banks that, while it expects them to consider the extent of pre-sales as part of prudent credit risk management, it does not expect 100% pre-sales for them to approve a loan.
Chalmers said:
By unlocking more finance from the banks we’ll see more housing projects get off the ground more quickly
Home loan guidance on Hecs debt to be clarified to help more Australians get into homes, treasurer says
Home ownership will be made easier for Australians with outstanding student debt after financial regulators promised to update their guidance on lending restrictions, reports Australian Associated Press.
Regulators Asic and Apra have agreed to clarify their guidance to lenders, along with reducing serviceability and reporting requirements for Hecs debts, at the request of the treasurer, Jim Chalmers.
The “commonsense clarifications” would help more Australians into a home, Chalmers said.
“People with a Help/Hecs debt should be treated fairly when they want to buy a house and we’re working with the regulators to make sure they are,” he said.
Banks had indicated they were unsure about how to interpret the existing requirements, which were holding them back from providing mortgages to some prospective borrowers with student loans.
Apra will tell banks they can exclude Hecs repayments from serviceability assessments if they expect a borrower will shortly pay off their debt.
The prudential regulator will also ensure Hecs is not treated as a debt for debt-to-income reporting purposes, recognising that the size of a person’s Hecs repayments depends on their income.
Asic will also change its guidance on Hecs debts after consultation.
Caitlin Cassidy
Marles ‘confident we will be able to pursue a productive relationship’ between Australia and America
Marles was asked if Australia would use upcoming Aukus payments as part of a leverage to the United States regarding potential tariffs. He said Australia would “walk down the path of pursuing the Aukus arrangement as we have been”:
We want to maintain a sense of momentum that we have in the way in which we have been engaging with the Trump administration … We’ve now just had the second conversation between President Trump and Prime Minister Albanese. And we really have hit the ground running in the way in which we’re engaging with the Trump administration.
Pointed to comments by the opposition leader that tariffs on Australia would “damage the relationship” with the US, Marles replied “let’s work on pursuing the exemptions that we are seeking”.
Let’s take the fact that the president has agreed to give active consideration to an exemption in relation to Australia that he acknowledged today in his statements that it is a trading relationship where America has the surplus … And I am confident that we will be able to pursue a productive relationship between Australia and America under the Trump administration.
Marles describes ‘positive’ US talks
Caitlin Cassidy
Australia should take “at face value” what the prime minister and US president, Donald Trump, have said about potential tariff relief, the deputy prime minister and minister for defence, Richard Marles, has said after his trip to Washington.
Speaking on ABC 7.30 on Tuesday evening, Marles said both Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump had “made clear” an Australian exemption from tariffs put in place under the US administration was under active consideration after their conversation today.
That’s not said lightly … that was the agreement they reached in their conversation this morning which, having spoken with the prime minister himself, he said was very positive, very constructive. And we will obviously now work diligently to put forward our case for those exemptions to apply.
Pointed to accusations Australia had disregarded their commitments to restrain aluminium exports, Marles said he couldn’t speak for the former government which was a “matter for them to explain”.
We do roughly over $100bn of trade every year. It’s about two to one in favour of the US. In that sense, having that trade in a manner which is tariff-free is very much in the interests … of the US.
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
Richard Marles says the government has “hit the ground running” with the Trump administration as he returned from talks in the US amid the threat of tariffs being imposed on Austraian goods exported to the States. The deputy prime minister told the ABC last night that voters should take at “face value” comments by Anthony Albanese about positive talks with Donald Trump and the possibility of exemption from the proposed US levies. More coming up.
We have an exclusive story this morning on how Coalition frontbencher Bridget McKenzie and Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming, along with key figures from News Corp, are set to attend a UK conference next week led by the right-wing figure Jordan Peterson which aims to “re-lay the foundations of our civilisation”. The former prime minister Tony Abbott will speak at the gathering in London.
Attendance at school in Australia is falling and fewer children are going through to complete year 12. These are the two main takeaways from the Productivity Commission’s latest report on education services. The numbers showing attendance and retention at a 10-year low, while there is a record low number of children (63.9%) enrolled at public schools. A separate report revelas that almost half of school age children have trouble sleeping.
