Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

The Northern Territory Police Force has arrested a 26-year-old male after he escaped NT Corrections custody in Tennant Creek on Saturday evening.

At 7:40pm, police received a report that the male had absconded from an NT Corrections work placement on Peko Road.

All available police units responded, and the male’s electronic monitoring device was located removed at an address on Griggs Street.

The male was sighted nearby by an off-duty police officer who apprehended the offender in Boag Court after a short foot chase. He was subsequently arrested at 8:01pm by responding police.

He has since been charged with Escape custody, Trespass and Damage to property.

Superintendent Katie Hatzismalis said, “I commend the excellent work of responding Tennant Creek police, including the off-duty police member who apprehended the offender, ensuring he was returned into NT Corrections custody swiftly.”

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

The Northern Territory Police Force has charged a 17-year-old male in relation to multiple property offences in Karama on Saturday morning.

About 8:10am, police received reports of a robbery at a service station on the corner of Kalymnos Drive and Koolinda Crescent. It is alleged the male entered the premises armed with an edged weapon and stole food before fleeing. 

A short time later, police received further reports that the alleged offender went on to damage a residence with the edged weapon on Dorrigo Crescent.

General duties located and arrested the male nearby without issue. Strike Force Trident took carriage of the investigation and has since charged him with:

• Going equipped for theft (Weapon)
• Aggravated Robbery
• Theft
• Going armed in Public
• Damage to Property

He was remanded to appear in Court today.

Source: Workplace Gender Equality Agency

The Albanese Government continues to prioritise safety and resilience measures for natural disaster-prone communities with an additional $14 million to extend critical community Wi-Fi services at evacuation centres across Australia.
 
The Strengthening Telecommunications Against Natural Disasters (STAND) program has already installed NBN Co. Sky Muster satellite connections to 1068 locations Australia-wide. Interactive map available here.
 
This includes emergency sites across areas in northern New South Wales and south east Queensland which were impacted during ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
 
The additional $14 million will add community Wi-Fi capability to a further 500 emergency sites, and extend services at existing sites for an additional four years, beyond 2025.
 
The Albanese Government will work closely with states and territories to prioritise disaster-prone areas that do not have emergency connectivity solutions to ensure this investment delivers where it is most needed.
 
Since coming to office, the Albanese Government has committed more than $340 million to improve mobile coverage and the resilience of communications networks against natural disasters.
 
This includes through the Mobile Network Hardening Program, the Telecommunications Disaster Resilience Innovation Program, and the Broadcasting Resilience Program, with more than 900 resilience projects delivered this term, and many more to come. 
 
A re-elected Albanese Government will also introduce legislation for a Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation (UOMO) in 2025. This world-leading reform will provide near continent-wide outdoor mobile coverage, essential during emergencies and natural disasters which disrupt power and land-based networks.
 
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Communications, the Hon Michelle Rowland MP:
 
“The safety of Australians is the number one priority of the Albanese Government – particularly during natural disasters which are becoming more frequent and severe.
 
“Resilient communications and broadcasting networks are vital for keeping communities safe, informed, and connected during emergencies. It can be the difference between life and death.
 
“Hundreds of thousands of people, homes and businesses in southern Queensland and northern NSW were left without power in the wake of ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
 
“Sky Muster satellite internet services can operate off a portable generator even when local ground-based communications networks are down – keeping communities connected when they need it most.”
 
Quotes attributable to the Minister for Emergency Services, Senator the Hon Jenny McAllister:
 
“Whether it’s to call a loved one or get the latest information from an alert, staying connected during a disaster can be critical.
 
“This $14 million investment to expand STAND will help more communities stay safe and informed at evacuation centres even if the main communications network goes down.
 
“While no network is ever 100 per cent disaster-proof, the Albanese Government is determined to do what we can to improve the resilience of communications networks against natural disasters.”

Source: Allens Insights (legal sector)

The QAR recommended that superannuation fund trustees should be able to provide personal advice to their members about their interests in the fund, taking into account the member’s personal circumstances, including their family situation and social security entitlements if that is relevant to the advice. The review also recommended removing the restrictions on collective charging of fees.

In its response, the Government said it would clarify the topics for which superannuation funds can charge for advice and the circumstances they can consider in providing advice about a member’s interest in the fund, and to allow collective charging for advice on these topics. The Bill amends section 99F of the SIS Act to enable regulations to be made to specify circumstances in which advice will be taken to relate to the member’s interest in the fund.

The ‘Advice through superannuation’ document released with the draft Bill sets out proposed permitted advice topics (superannuation contributions, investment options, insurance held through superannuation, and retirement income), and permitted circumstances that may be taken into account in giving advice (household cashflow and income, household assets outside super, financial position of spouse, household debts and liabilities, and eligibility for government benefits). It also lists proposed ‘disallowed topics’ that are taken not to relate to the member’s interest in the fund (purchase or disposal of assets held outside super, ‘holistic financial planning’ and estate and tax planning).

The proposed rules broadly align with the existing position under the law, although having the topics specified in regulations might give trustees more confidence about giving intra-fund advice.

however, as is the case now, the intra-fund advice rules will continue to be a prohibition, not permission, and they will continue not to provide any relief from other obligations. Therefore, trustees will also need to continue to comply with the other charging rules, the best financial interests duty, the sole purpose test and the requirement to allocate costs in a fair and reasonable manner across members.

Source: Australian Attorney General’s Agencies

This transcript has been redacted in accordance with Digital Transformation Agency guidelines.

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Rory McClaren: In a time of growing global uncertainty, my next guest is currently charged with trying to navigate Australia’s international trade relationships. Federal Minister for Trade and Tourism and South Australian Senator Don Farrell. Good morning to you.

Trade Minister: Good morning, Rory.

Rory McClaren: Minister, ABC News is reporting today that a lobby group representing the big tech sector in the US Is encouraging the Trump administration to try and put pressure on Australia to change its policies. And the group has attacked the way that social media, streaming services, and artificial intelligence is being regulated. How do you respond to that criticism?

Trade Minister: Well, every day, Rory, you get reports of things happening in the United States. I don’t panic about them and try and work through all of these issues, in a calm and consistent way. On this particular topic, of course, we are not singling out United States companies. We treat all companies from all countries equally, and that’s how it should be, and that’s how we’ll proceed to deal with these issues. We have been working to try and improve online safety for all Australians and of course, ensure that we’ve got a diverse and sustainable news media sector. So, that’s our objective out of all of this. And we’ll keep working in the interest of Australians on that online safety and that diversification of the media sector.

Rory McClaren: But is this intervention from this lobby group just another example of how volatile this trade relationship is becoming with the United States?

Trade Minister: Look, again, I don’t think we should be overreacting to everything that comes out from the United States. We’ve had a very long standing and good relationship with the United States. Sure, things have started to change in the last few weeks and the last few months. But the goodwill that we have towards the Americans and that they have towards us is still on display. I spoke with my counterpart, the United States Trade Representative, on Tuesday morning. We had a very good discussion. He got to explain what their objectives are. And I explained to them just how important we think we are to the American economy. We have an interesting trade relationship with America. We roughly have $100 billion worth of trade. We buy $70 billion worth of product off them and we sell them $30 billion worth of product. So, we say to them, look, why would you impose a tariff on a country where you have a trade surplus? He pointed out to me that there are only a few other countries in the world where the United States has a trade surplus. One is Hong Kong and the other one is the Netherlands. So, as best we can, we are trying to explain to the highest levels of the United States government just how our trading relationship works. And we’ll continue to do that over the days and the weeks ahead. Obviously, there’s going to be some developments next week. The American government is going to announce what it’s going to do across the board on tariffs on that.

Rory McClaren: Have you received any reassurances from the Trump administration about Australia and how Australia will be impacted?

Trade Minister: We’re continuing to talk with them, Rory. I think that’s the most appropriate thing I can say at this stage. We want to engage with the Americans. We want to understand what it is that they want out there, out of the relationship. We’ve had 20 years of our free trade agreement. We think it’s been beneficial to both countries. We want that relationship to continue. Obviously, we have a very important relationship, particularly in South Australia with the AUKUS arrangement. We continue to talk to them about that and we have good, strong, friendly relationships with the United States and we want to keep it that way.

Rory McClaren: Just on that, we’ve had a text with a question for you, Senator Don Farrell. Do we have a free trade agreement with the U.S. and if so, have they broken it? Do these free trade agreements really mean anything?

Trade Minister: Well, answering that final question, yes, yes, they are important. You might recall three years ago when I first came into this job, we had $20 billion worth of tariffs and impediments imposed on us by the Chinese government. Despite the fact that we had a free trade agreement with the Chinese. Over that three year period, we – one by one – managed to remove all of those tariffs and all of those trade impediments. The last of them, interestingly, was crayfish just before Christmas last year. And already in that first month we’ve sold $33 million worth of crayfish back into the Chinese market. A record amount. But what did we use? We used our free trade agreement to take issues to, for instance, the World Trade Organization. And we were able to, by combination of diplomacy and other remedies, we were able to resolve each and every one of those issues. So, yes, we do have a free trade agreement with the United States and yes, we are able to use those free trade agreements to progress issues if there is a dispute. Now, obviously first point is we’re trying to resolve issues with the United States by discussion. That’s the first starting point. What we might do subsequently to that. Well, let’s, let’s see what happens. But my ambition is to do what we did in the China situation, that is sit down, open the dialogue, start talking, try and understand what their issues are, but also explain to the Americans what our issues are.

Rory McClaren: Minister, could that also see you travel to the United States ahead of that decision?

Trade Minister: Well, I’ve been taking video conferences in the post Covid world. That’s a pretty good way to talk to people and to communicate with people. I don’t want to predict just how we’ll conduct those negotiations, but the listeners should be, should rest assured that we’re open to dialogue and we are having dialogue with the Americans as we speak. And we’ll continue to do that because I think that’s the way you resolve issues. That’s how you resolve issues. Between other people. And that’s how you resolve issues between countries. And that’s what I’d like to do.

Rory McClaren: Don Farrell, Federal Trade Tourism Minister, thank you for your time.

Source: Workplace Gender Equality Agency

“We’re giving Victorians the infrastructure they deserve after being short-changed by the former Coalition government.

“This will be transformative project for Melbourne’s north, better connecting these growing suburbs with the city and the region.

“We are committed to delivering critical projects across Victoria that will help keep people moving, which is why we’re investing in Kalkallo.”

Quotes attributable to Victorian Minister for Transport Infrastructure Gabrielle Williams

“As Melbourne’s population continues to grow, we are investing in critical projects that will create better journeys for motorists – just like this upgrade.

“After ten years of neglect from the Federal Liberal Government, it’s great to have a partner in Canberra that can find Victoria on a map and help deliver critical projects that people rely on every day.”

Quotes attributable to Member for McEwen Rob Mitchell:

“Our community deserves the infrastructure that will provide safer and faster travel and the Albanese Labor Government is investing in projects that build our future.”

Source: New South Wales – News

Operation Adelaide Fringe Festival 2025 was held from 21 February to 23 March and saw the deployment of foot and bicycle patrols, along with police horses, dogs and Public Transport Safety Branch members to focus on behaviour, liquor licensing compliance, and public safety.

The ‘Adelaide Fringe Festival 2025’ Declared Public Precinct (DPP) was also in place for a 12-hour period from 6pm to 6am every night during the Fringe period, in addition to the city-west DPP already in place.

“The event appears to have been extremely well attended, and I am pleased, as the Police Commander, to report that despite a few minor behavioural matters, most people in attendance were extremely well behaved,” Superintendent Scott Denny said.

“A combination of additional police, the Declared Public Precinct, the extremely well organised event and great behaviour by the public saw a very successful and entertaining Fringe event yet again.

“Police reported that the interactions with the public were friendly which again highlights how wonderful this event is. Pleasingly there were no significant incidents of note.”

Fringe DPP results included:

• Number of people removed from Fringe DPP- 50
• Number of people issued with Licensed Premises Barring Orders within DPP- 0
• Number of expiation notices issued for Offensive/Disorderly in Fringe DPP- 8
• Number of people searched with a metal detector in the Fringe DPP- 83
• Number of weapons located from a metal detector search in Fringe DPP- 0
• Number of people arrested for breaching of Fringe DPP- 1
• Number of people arrested/reported in Fringe DPP- 6

Anecdotally, police reported large numbers of the public in the CBD each night, swelling extensively in the East End on Friday and Saturday nights being the peak times for the demand of police resources. Festival organisers announced the sale of one million tickets for the 2025 event.

“Thank you to all involved in keeping festival goers safe for another year,” Superintendent Denny added.

“It’s great to see the city come alive with many locals and visitors, and we look forward to being part of next year’s event.”

Source:

2025 Championships winners team Melton

The Urban Juniors battled it out over the weekend (22-23 March) in the 2025 CFA/VFBV State Firefighter Championships with ‘Melton A’ once again taking reign in Mooroopna.

Thousands gathered for the historic event and were welcomed to the competition with an opening parade, remarks from CFA Board Chair Jo Plummer and VFBV State President Samantha Collins, before the event was officially opened by Emergency Services Minister Vicki Ward MP.

The Urban Junior competition kicked off around 9.30am on Saturday 22 March and concluded in the afternoon of Sunday 23 March, with the ‘Melton A’ team crowned Urban Junior champions for the fifth year in a row, making it their sixth overall win in seven years.

Melton Fire Brigade 2^nd lieutenant Bailey Rhodes took over the role as coach of Melton A from his father Anthony who had been in the role for around 20 years.

Bailey who led the winning team, alongside his brother Cooper and brigade member Denzel as assistant coaches, said the victory was very emotional after a rocky start to the competition over the weekend.

“The team struggled in the first few events but the comeback was incredible to watch,” Bailey said.

“I shed a few tears after the last event which we had to win to win the championship, I’m not usually an emotional person but I’m immensely proud of the juniors and all their hard work.

“The team has been training since last October around 4 hours a week. It’s also nice to see so many siblings and family connections to Melton Fire Brigade in the team.

“The Championships are all I’ve known since I was born, I’ve watched Dad run in them for many years and competed with my whole family, so to take reign of the team and see them put in all the hard work is an honour to be a part of and a moment I’ll never forget.”

The Junior Championships was a weekend full of traditions and some surprises, with Stawell being announced as the new location for the State Firefighter Championships next year.

Stawell Captain Mal Nicholson said the brigade is chuffed to have the championships move to their town in 2026.

“We ran the State Championships in Stawell in 1995, 2000 and 2006 so it will be great to have people back in the town, supporting the area especially after the bushfires over the Christmas period,” Mal said.

“The Championships are also a great opportunity to showcase the area and local community to several other CFA volunteers from across the state.

“We are a strong brigade with over 40 members and more than 200 call-outs per year.

“We know the Stawell community and Northern Grampians Shire will get behind us to make the 2026 State Championships a fantastic event. See you all in Stawell next year!”

Chief Officer Jason Heffernan congratulated all the competitors and thanked those who worked hard behind the scenes in the lead up and during the event.

“It was fantastic to see the juniors battle it out over the weekend but more importantly, it’s great seeing the camaraderie between brigades and the skills of our future firefighters being showcased to thousands of spectators,” Jason said.

“I look forward to seeing everyone this weekend for the final weekend of competition. May the best team win!”

Grand Aggregate result

1st place: Melton A – 80 points

2nd place: Echuca A – 73 points

3rd place: Grovedale – 48 points

A full list of results can be found on the VFBV website. Members can find out more information on the Urban Senior, Rural Junior and Senior State Firefighter Championships taking place next weekend at www.cfa.vic.gov.au/champs.

Keep up to date with everything that’s happening across the event on our CFA Champs Facebook page.

The 2025 State Firefighter Championships are supported by the Victorian Government.

Submitted by	CFA Media

Source: Allens Insights (legal sector)

Stays granted even if contractors are not insolvent 6 min read

The Queensland Supreme Court has granted a stay preventing enforcement of a judgment debt obtained by a contractor in reliance upon an adjudication decision pursuant to the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld) (BIF Act).

In this Insight, we consider Taringa Property Group Pty Ltd v Kenik Pty Ltd [2024] QSC 327 and similar cases in NSW and Victoria, with a focus on two key questions:

• can contractors in liquidation benefit from security of payment legislation?
• how do courts approach stay applications made by the principal where the contractor is solvent, but in a precarious financial position?

Key takeaways 

• Taringa Property Group is a welcome development for principals in Queensland as it lays the foundation for seeking a stay, even when a contractor is not in liquidation.
• Insolvency remains a major challenge for contractors, who may now experience more difficulties in enforcing payment of adjudicated amounts which can, in turn, exacerbate cash flow problems.
• Courts maintain a wide discretion and will consider each stay application on its own facts and circumstances—however, a major consideration is how long the stay will likely be.
• We expect to see an increase in security of payment adjudication and related court litigation as a result of the likely reforms in Victoria.

Taringa Property Group Pty Ltd v Kenik Pty Ltd [2024] QSC 327

TPG (Principal) engaged Kenik (Contractor) to design and construct a retail complex at Taringa.

The contract ended in August 2023 and the Contractor made a final payment claim in September 2023 for $9.7 million. Following the Principal issuing a payment schedule (with a scheduled amount of nil), the Contractor made an adjudication application under the BIF Act, where the adjudicator awarded the Contractor $4.2 million. The Contractor obtained judgment in respect of the adjudicated amount.

The Principal commenced two applications in the Queensland Supreme Court:

• First, seeking to have the adjudication decision declared void for jurisdictional error or, in the alternative, a stay of the judgment debt.
• Second, seeking final relief relating to the contract (specifically, that the Contractor is not entitled to retain the adjudicated amount).

The court warned that considerable caution should be given to the granting of the stay as it detracts from the primary purpose of the BIF Act in enabling a contractor to be paid.¹ Any risk of non‑recovery of payments made under the BIF Act as a consequence of the financial failure of the contractor after the receipt of the BIF payment is generally to lie with the principal.²

The court gave three examples of circumstances of when a stay might be granted:³

• where the contractor has taken steps to make the task of recovering any BIF payment more difficult for the principal by way of restructuring its financial affairs;
• where the contractor engages in tactics to delay the resolution of the substantive proceeding;⁴ or
• where the contractor is in liquidation or in some form of external administration due to liquidity issues at the time the BIF payment would otherwise be made.

Essentially, there needs to be a real risk that the Principal will suffer prejudice or damage if a stay is not granted. However, Justice Hindman rejected the proposition that the risk must reach the level of certainty before a stay might be granted—in other words, the threshold is not so high that the contractor must actually be in external administration or must be positively proved to be hopelessly or otherwise insolvent.⁵

Justice Hindman found ‘undisputed’ evidence of serious financial instability and that, if a stay is granted, the Contractor is most likely to financially fail.⁶ It was further observed that, even if it received the adjudicated amount, the Contractor was still likely to go into external administration as it would be insufficient to satisfy its debts.

The court concluded that if the stay was refused, there would be a very high risk that the Contractor would not be able to repay the adjudicated amount should the Principal succeed in its claim for final relief. The practical effect of refusing the stay would be to transform the Contractor’s interim entitlement under the BIF Act into a final payment, unable to be recovered by the Principal, and at odds with the intended operation of the BIF Act.

In a separate proceeding following this decision, a creditor of the Contractor successfully obtained an order that the Contractor be wound up.⁷

The decision is currently under appeal.

Discussion 

Insolvency has been a major challenge for contractors, who are experiencing obstacles at every turn—high inflation, regulatory reforms, supply-chain issues, delayed effects of the pandemic, labour shortages etc. The main purpose of the BIF Act (and equivalent acts) is to help contractors be paid for the work they do, so stays to delay payment to contractors may have significant consequences and could potentially increase insolvency rates in the industry.

New South Wales

Since 2019, NSW has had a prohibition on companies in liquidation using the security of payment process⁸—the only jurisdiction in Australia to have such an express carveout. Companies in liquidation may not serve or enforce payment claims, or make applications for adjudication of a payment claim.

Where contractors are not in liquidation, courts have been cautious in light of the policy of the statute and have undertaken a close analysis of the extent or certainty of the risk of prejudice or damage if a stay is not granted. Nevertheless, courts have been ready and willing to grant stays if the failure to do so would have the practical effect of making permanent that which, clearly enough, the legislature intended to be only interim.⁹

Recently, the NSW Supreme Court noted that, although it does make it harder to obtain a stay when the contractor is not in liquidation, it by no means follows that a stay cannot be obtained unless it is.¹⁰

The court further observed that:

‘up to a point, the more financial difficulty the contractor is in, the less reason there is for granting a stay, as the more likely it will be that the grant of such a stay will result in the contractor being deprived of the cashflow which is needed to sustain its operations. It is only when insolvency becomes inevitable, or at least highly probable, that the dynamics reverse because of the possibility that an interim payment will effectively become final.’¹¹

Indeed, in another recent decision, the court considered that even a ‘significant risk’ was not sufficiently certain of financial difficulty such that a stay should be granted.¹² We note, however, in that case the contractor continued to trade, unlike the contractor in Taringa Property Group.

The decision in Taringa Property Group, although the first of its kind in Queensland, is consistent with the approach taken in NSW.

Victoria

Victorian principals can still run the argument that contractors in liquidation may not use the payment regime, though this is unlikely to be without serious consideration by the courts due to conflicting decisions on this issue.¹³

There is also a question of whether, in seeking a stay against a contractor who is not in liquidation, a principal is required to show that there is more than a real risk the contractor would not be able to repay the adjudicated amount in order to succeed.¹⁴

At least one decision has granted such a stay, without requiring that higher standard.¹⁵ In that case, the stay was justified—save the fact of the parlous financial circumstances of the contractor—on the basis that it would be limited in time, and therefore minimal in the prejudice it caused the contractor.¹⁶ The likely takeaway is that, where the court is able to grant the stay on conditions or for a limited time period, application of a higher standard in the form of more than a real risk may be less relevant.

On a wider note, principals in Victoria should be prepared to engage in more and broader adjudications in the near future as a result of the likely reforms to the current Victorian act. Consequently, it is expected that there will be an increase in proceedings seeking final determination of rights under contract and corresponding stay applications.

To read more about Victoria’s proposed reforms, including the removal of Victoria’s unique ‘excluded amounts’ regime, removal of the concept of ‘reference dates’, an introduction of a blackout period and the introduction of a new provision allowing notice-based time bars to be declared unfair, see Government support for security of payment reform in Victoria.

Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry

Mark Riley:

Treasurer, thank you for speaking to Weekend Sunrise.

Jim Chalmers:

Thanks very much, Mark.

Riley:

About your fourth budget, quite a feat in itself. The energy rebate extension, $150, half the amount of the first rebate. Why?

Chalmers:

This is hip pocket help for households, and that’s because we know that the cost of living is front of mind for most Australians and it’s front and centre in the Budget. This is another 2 quarters of energy bill relief, which recognises that even with all the progress we’ve made together on inflation, people are still under pressure and the Budget is designed to respond to that.

Riley:

Does that mean that after these 2 quarters, say the end of the year, people won’t need further assistance on their energy bills, they’ll start coming down?

Chalmers:

It means that there’s another 6 months worth of assistance and relief. We’ve provided 2 rounds of energy bill relief already. That’s played a really important role, taking some of the edge off these cost‑of‑living pressures.

What we’ve tried to do here, in the most responsible way that we can, is to continue that for another 6 months. $150 off people’s power bills, more hip pocket help for households, because we know people still need it.

Riley:

Will you review it after that 6 months and see if it’s needed for another 6 months?

Chalmers:

Yeah, we keep these cost‑of‑living measures under more or less constant review. One of the defining features of the first 3 budgets, and will be again in the fourth, is doing what we responsibly can to help people with the cost of living. We know, as I said, that cost of living is front of mind for a lot of people and that’s why it’s front and centre in the Budget.

Riley:

So, this isn’t all the cost‑of‑living relief in the Budget? There will be more?

Chalmers:

We’ve already made it clear last Thursday, the Prime Minister announced that we’ll make medicines cheaper as well. What people will see on Tuesday night is really that the primary focus of the government’s fourth Budget, just like the first 3, is easing cost‑of‑living pressures, but also at the same time as we strengthen our economy and make it more resilient in the face of all of this global economic uncertainty.

Riley:

So, a couple of things have been suggested. Household battery subsidies for people to install them in their homes. Is that on the cards?

Chalmers:

First of all, I’m not going to foreshadow all of the elements of the Budget. We’re obviously aware that people have put that proposal to us.

Riley:

Of course. Is it a good one?

Chalmers:

The focus of the energy elements of the Budget is this energy bill assistance. $1.8 billion, a very substantial investment, but a responsible one as well, which recognises the pressure people are under.

Riley:

Some months ago the PM said he was looking at a fixed fee model for childcare. So, parents didn’t pay more than about $10 or $20 a day. What’s happened to that idea? Is that something that’s being accepted by the government?

Chalmers:

What we’ve announced already at the end of last year and what will be funded in the Budget is what’s called our 3‑day guarantee. That’s an important step towards that universal early childhood education system that we want. We can’t get there from A to B in one step when it comes to universal childcare. And that’s why we’re investing more money in building more childcare centres, especially for not‑for‑profit providers and especially where areas where there’s a real need, the so‑called childcare deserts. So the Budget will have that money for new childcare centres, it will have money for the 3‑day guarantee. These are important steps towards that universal system that you’re asking about.

Riley:

And just checking, that’ll be it for childcare in this Budget?

Chalmers:

There won’t be the fixed fee model that you’re talking about. That’s because we need to get there in interim steps. We know that the Prime Minister, the Minister, myself and others, we are real enthusiasts for early childhood education. We think it’s a game changer for families and especially for children. It also helps people to work more and earn more if they want to. That’s why we’re big believers, that’s why it’ll be an important feature of the Budget.

Riley:

Ok. A pre‑election Budget, which is interesting in itself. So, you’re going to empty the bank? Are you throwing the kitchen sink at it?

Chalmers:

No, it won’t be some kind of free for all of public money as I’ve made clear on a number of occasions. Cost of living will be the primary focus, but we’ll provide that cost‑of‑living relief in the most responsible way that we can. And we’ll also do it in a way with it where we’re not neglecting our responsibilities to the future.

We know that there’s a lot of global economic uncertainty. What’s happening in the US and China, Europe and the Middle East casts a shadow over this Budget. There’s a lot of unpredictability and volatility in the global economy. So, in addition to that cost‑of‑living help, we’ll also be investing in making our economy more resilient because that’s the best way to build Australia’s future.

Riley:

And will there be measures in this Budget that we won’t hear about on Tuesday night that will be released during the election campaign?

Chalmers:

As I made clear, I think last week from memory, a lot of what’s in the Budget has been announced already. I mean, the big game‑changing investment in strengthening Medicare because more bulk billing means less pressure on families. That will be an important feature of the Budget – one of the most important features of the Budget already announced. There’ll be a small number of announcements to be made during the course of the election campaign, as you would expect. You’ve seen a few of these, Mark, over the years.

Riley:

Just a couple.

Chalmers:

But there’ll be some important initiatives announced on Tuesday.

Riley:

In the cost of living space as well?

Chalmers:

We’ve made it clear already cheaper medicines and some extra help with electricity bills. We’ve also got in the Budget the cuts to student debt, which is about cost of living as well. People will see a real focus on Tuesday night on the cost of living, but also making our economy more resilient in the face of this global uncertainty.

Riley:

Are you confident this is going to be enough to get you re‑elected?

Chalmers:

It remains to be seen. You know me, Mark. You know that I don’t take outcomes for granted when it comes to elections. What I am confident about is that we’ve made the right decisions for the right reasons. And I genuinely believe that if you have the right values and the right priorities, and if you take those right decisions for the right reasons, the politics will take care of themselves.

Riley:

Treasurer, thank you very much for speaking with Weekend Sunrise.

Chalmers:

Thanks.