Category: MIL-OSI

Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry

The International Monetary Fund has today backed Australia’s budget and fiscal strategy at a time of global uncertainty.

The IMF’s Statement highlights Australia’s soft landing, strong economic foundations and our ambitious reform agenda.

It is a powerful endorsement of Labor’s responsible economic and fiscal management.

“Australia is managing a soft landing amid global uncertainty: inflation has declined significantly, the labor market is still strong, and private demand is recovering,” the IMF finds in its Concluding Statement for its 2025 Article IV Mission to Australia.

“The Commonwealth’s fiscal strategy has been effective over the post‑pandemic period,” the Statement says.

Under Labor, inflation is around a third of its peak, debt is down, real wages are growing, unemployment is low, we’ve overseen the creation of more than 1.2 million jobs and interest rates have already fallen three times this year.

This is the soft landing we have been planning for, preparing for and hoping for.

Together we have made remarkable progress in the economy, but we know there is still much more to do because the international economic environment is so uncertain.

We know the best way to build on all the progress we’ve made is to make our economy more resilient and more productive.

The Statement acknowledges the Government’s ambitious agenda across productivity, dynamism and competition.

“The authorities are implementing a series of reforms to modernize competition policy to better support business dynamism, innovation, and investment.”

“Going forward, the authorities’ multi‑pronged agenda as recently discussed at the August 2025 Economic Reform Roundtable, marks an important initiative, but it is essential to maintain momentum with clear implementation plans.”

The IMF also concludes the net zero transformation is a golden opportunity for investment and productivity in Australia.

“The green transition, including the authorities’ recently announced 2035 commitments, offers opportunities for enhancing investment, productivity, and diversification while contributing to Australia’s climate goals,” the Statement says.

We’ve made substantial progress on productivity reform since our Roundtable in August, across housing, environmental approvals, better regulation, artificial intelligence, and simplifying trade, with more underway.

We know the job is far from over because people are still under pressure. That’s why our economic plan is all about helping with the cost of living at the same time as we modernise Australia’s economy to boost living standards.

The best defence against global volatility and the best way to lift wages and living standards over the long term is with a more productive and resilient economy and a stronger budget, and that’s our focus.

Source: Government of Queensland

Issued: 19 Nov 2025

As the 2025–26 turtle nesting season begins across the Great Barrier Reef, new results from the world’s largest green turtle rookery are offering fresh hope for this threatened species.

In an Australian first at this scale, more than 3,000 green turtle eggs were successfully relocated last summer from Raine Island to Sir Charles Hardy Islands (Wuthathi National Park (CYPAL)) to test whether large numbers of turtle eggs can be moved in remote locations to achieve better hatching outcomes.

While Raine Island is the world’s largest green turtle rookery, its nesting beach can be inundated during high tides—drowning eggs when nests are submerged for long periods. Beach reprofiling at the island has been highly successful in mitigating this threat, however risks remain under projected sea level rise. In addition, climate change has caused sand at Raine Island to become too warm for male hatchlings to develop. The sex of baby green turtles is determined by nest temperature—leading to a shortage of juvenile males in the northern Great Barrier Reef.

The 70% hatching rate at the Sir Charles Hardy Islands showed relocation was a viable method. The trial sets the stage for new cooling techniques aimed at producing more males. Building on this success, a second egg relocation trip has just returned, transferring 50 clutches of eggs. Shade structures have been installed over the relocated nests to lower sand temperatures and boost male hatchling production.

This trial is part of the Raine Island Recovery Project—a collaboration between the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation), the Wuthathi and Meriam Nation peoples, and project partners. The project is part of the Reef Joint Field Management Program.

Source: ACT Police

Last update: Wednesday, 19 November 2025 4:36pm

Original publication: Wednesday, 19 November 2025 4:36pm

Source: ACT Police

Last update: Wednesday, 19 November 2025 8:40am

Original publication: Tuesday, 18 November 2025 12:21pm

Source: ACT Police

Last update: Tuesday, 18 November 2025 9:36am

Original publication: Tuesday, 18 November 2025 9:36am

Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry

Zaneta Mascarenhas:

Hi, and welcome to Specialty Metals and thank you to Grant Sinnott, who has been very generous and has showed us some of the amazing critical minerals that have been provided to local manufacturers. My name’s Zaneta Mascarenhas, I’m the federal member for Swan, and I’m here with Minister Amanda Rishworth, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, and of course the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers.

The Albanese Labor government is a government that backs industries and backs jobs, and I’m so glad to be able to be here and stand here with my talented federal colleagues, and I will now hand over to Amanda.

Amanda Rishworth:

Thanks Zaneta and thanks for the advocacy you do in the Labor caucus. It’s great to be here, of course, with the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers. The ABS has just released its wages growth figures, and really good news that there’s been solid wages growth now at 3.4 per cent across the country.

What this demonstrates is 8 consecutive quarters of annualised real wages growth. Australians at the last election voted to keep wages moving and our government is delivering on that. I would note that WA in particular has led the wages growth at 4 per cent. This is great news for Western Australians in terms of making sure that they earn more, and of course, with our tax cuts, keep more of what they earn.

I would note also that our government made a real commitment to re‑energise enterprise bargaining, and I would note that a key contributor of the growth in wages that we’ve seen released today has been enterprise bargaining. Indeed, in the most recent enterprise bargaining data, we saw new enterprise agreements delivering a 4.2 per cent annual wage increase. This is great news and demonstrates our government’s commitment to getting wages moving. In addition, of course, the most recent data includes our advocacy for a real wage increase for the lowest paid workers in terms of the minimum wage.

So, this is good news for Australian workers and importantly delivers on our commitment to ensure that wages are moving in this country. This of course comes out after a decade of neglect from the Liberal government. When they were in office, they had a deliberate design feature to put downward pressure on wages and make Australians worse off. Well, that’s not what this government’s about. I’m very pleased to hand over now to Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Jim Chalmers:

Thanks Amanda. Thanks Grant for having us at your place. Thanks for the very compelling offer to buy the truck out the front as well. Very good of you to have us, thanks so much. And we couldn’t come to Perth without coming and saying hello to Zaneta as well, part of our unbelievably good WA team in the federal parliament. So, thank you Zaneta for having us once again back in your beautiful part of WA.

As Amanda said, we’ve got some very good news on the economy today. This is the longest period of real wages growth in almost a decade. This means 8 consecutive quarters of real wages growth. It means 2 full years of real wages growth so that more Australians are earning more and keeping more of what they earn. And that’s this Albanese Labor government’s reason for being. More people in work, more people earning more, keeping more of what they earn and retiring with more as well.

And it speaks really to the strength of our jobs market under this government. Under this Labor government we’ve seen the lowest average unemployment of any government in the last half a century, 1.2 million jobs created, 4 in every 5 of those are in the private sector, and we’re seeing these very encouraging wage outcomes at the same time. Two full years of real wages growth, 8 consecutive quarters of real wages growth.

As Amanda also said, this is deliberate, not accidental. What we’re seeing when it comes to real wages growth is because we have made getting wages growing again a central objective of our economic strategy. And we’re very pleased to see that that strategy is working with this real wage growth that we’re seeing.

Now never forget that when we came to office our opponents had just overseen 5 consecutive quarters of real wages falling. Real wages were falling around 3.5 per cent when we came to office. We’ve turned that around with these 2 years of continuous real wages growth, and that’s a very, very encouraging development in our economy.

Now whether it’s getting inflation down to half what we inherited, getting real wages growing again, keeping unemployment low, getting the debt much lower than what we inherited as well, getting the AAA credit rating from the 3 major credit ratings agencies, the economic fundamentals of the Australian economy are strong. But we know that there’s more work to do, and we’re very focused on that work that we’re doing.

One of the reasons we’re in WA, why I’ve been spending so much time with the business community, the employers of WA in particular, is because we know we’ve got more work to do to make our economy more productive and resilient, to make our budget more sustainable, and also to deal with all this global economic uncertainty.

Now Western Australia has a lot to gain from our agenda, whether it’s reforms to the EPBC Act, whether it’s our other efforts to make our economy more productive and more efficient. WA has a lot to gain from the economic plan of this Albanese Labor government. They also have – Western Australia has a lot to lose when it comes to the Coalition’s crazy idea of abandoning net zero. When the Coalition abandoned net zero, what that meant was they would swing a wrecking ball through the WA economy. They’d swing a wrecking ball through the energy market, they would push power prices up, not down, and they would swing a wrecking ball through investor confidence and investor certainty as well. And so, for all of these reasons, what the Coalition is proposing is an act of economic insanity. Primarily it will push prices up, not down, but it will also decimate investor confidence and investor certainty at the worst possible time.

Australia’s got a very good story to tell the world. WA as a very export focused economy has a lot to gain from Labor’s agenda, a lot to lose from the economic insanity at the core of the Coalition’s proposal to abandon net zero.

With that, happy to take some questions.

Journalist:

Just on wages growth, 0.8 per cent for the September quarter, headline inflation 1.3, I think. Is that a real increase or is it a decrease?

Chalmers:

We compare the annual figures, 3.4 versus 3.2. And what we’ve seen is that when it comes to annual real wages growth, which strips out some of the lumpiness from quarter to quarter, what we’ve seen now is 2 full years of continuous real wages growth in our economy. 3.4 versus 3.2 on this occasion. It’s been stronger in earlier quarters as well, and this is a very welcome development.

It does mean that our efforts to get wages moving in our economy in a substantial way, but also in a sustained and responsible way, sustainable way, those efforts are bearing fruit.

Journalist:

On EPBC, you made a pretty direct plea to business this morning ‑‑

Chalmers:

I did.

Journalist:

– at breakfast. Did you have anything in particular in mind, like sectors, resources, what – who do you want to see leaning on the Opposition to support your reforms?

Chalmers:

Our EPBC reforms will be good for the economy and good for the environment and good for Western Australia. And that’s why we want to see them passed next week. Next week is a really important week, the final sitting week for the parliament for the year, and an opportunity for the Senate to do the right thing by our economy and by our environment.

The message I had to the WA business community was that if they want to see a good, sensible, considered, heavily consulted outcome in the Senate next week, then I ask them, respectfully, to encourage, to urge and to pressure the Coalition and the Greens to do the right thing in the Senate.

Now, we’ve done the right thing, we’ve consulted heavily, Murray Watt’s done a mountain of work, and Tanya Plibersek before him. The government has come up with, I think, a set of reforms which makes the EPBC regime better for the economy, better for the environment, faster, more efficient, more robust, more transparent. These are all good developments which will help our economy become more productive at the same time as we safeguard our environment.

So, I encourage the Senate to do the right thing next week, and I encourage all sensible business leaders here in WA and around the country, and environmental leaders, to lobby the Coalition and the Greens to do the right thing.

Journalist:

Is that the big miners that you’re speaking to directly?

Chalmers:

Not exclusively. I’m speaking to the business community broadly. But I do engage enthusiastically with the leaders of the mining sector here in WA, in my own home state of Queensland and around Australia. I had an opportunity to speak directly to a number of various senior leaders yesterday and today, and later today I will as well. And my message to them, whether they’re in the mining sector, whether they are in housing and construction, whether they’re in other really crucial parts of our economy, is I ask them respectfully to pick up the phone and call the Coalition, call the Greens, and make sure that we can get a sensible outcome.

Now, from time to time people will ask about what’s happened since our Economic Reform Roundtable a couple of months ago, and one of the most important developments out of that Roundtable was that instead of passing this EPBC legislation next year, we try and pass it this year, and next week is a really good opportunity for us to do that.

I say to the Senate, do the right thing. I say to the business community and others who are interested in getting a sensible outcome here to lobby the other parties in the Senate to get that good deal that we need to see.

Journalist:

According to the World Bank global growth’s at the lowest level since 2008. What do G20 leaders need to achieve when they meet this weekend?

Chalmers:

A couple of things about that. I mean the global economy’s choppy. We’re seeing a lot of global economic uncertainty. The world has more or less muddled through the last 6 or 9 months and dealt with some of these escalating trade tensions in a way that is a little bit better than what many had feared. But that doesn’t mean there’s not still a lot of global economic uncertainty, a lot of risk, a lot of volatility and a lot of unpredictability.

And so that strikes me as the most important thing for the G20 leaders to focus on, how we have agendas in our own economies and work in a coordinated fashion to deal with this global economic uncertainty, which is impacting us all. And here in the West, I mean 50 per cent of Australia’s goods exports come out of the West, WA makes a huge contribution to our national economy, and so it’s very exposed to shifts in global sentiment, and so the G20 leaders have an important role to play, bolstering confidence, bolstering certainty and clarity to help countries navigate what are very choppy waters in the global economy right now.

Journalist:

When can we expect a decision on Hanwha v Austal?

Chalmers

I’m working on that as we speak. And I hope to make a decision before long. But I want to be really upfront about that and say that one of the reasons why we have missed that original September deadline is because I had more questions that weren’t yet answered, and I take my responsibilities as the decisionmaker in the FIRB regime very seriously. And if there’s more information that I need to make the best decision that I can, then I ask for that information, whether it’s internal to government or consultation external to government.

So we’ll make that decision as soon as we can, we’ll make that decision in our usual considered, methodical and consultative way, conscious that it’s a complex case, and we know that there are a number of players sweating on an outcome here, I acknowledge that. I’ve acknowledged that privately as well, and I’ll come to a decision as soon as I can.

Journalist:

What do you make of Japan’s concerns over that potential increase?

Chalmers:

I think to be fair to the Japanese, I think a number of interested parties have made their views known, that’s a good thing. One of the reasons why we’ve got this FIRB regime, which I’ve reformed to substantially speed up the low risk cases, but to give ourselves the ability to deal with these more complex cases in a more robust way, one of the good things about those developments is that people have an opportunity to express a view. This is a government that welcomes that, rather than dismisses the genuine views that people raise.

That’s not the only view. Obviously, there are a range of views about this particular approval. As I said before, I’m spending a lot of my time weighing up the pros and cons, and I’ll come to a decision as soon as I can.

Journalist:

Can you elaborate at all in terms of the additional questions or matters you want to resolve before making the decision?

Chalmers:

The short answer is no. There are good reasons to, consult, for example, our agencies inside government, there are good reasons to consult with others as well, and to not engage in a kind of a running commentary on that.

I assure all of the interested parties that I will make a really considered decision, I’ll ask all the necessary questions, and I’ll come to a conclusion before long.

Journalist:

Should Austal be nervous [indistinct]?

Chalmers:

I think that you would appreciate that I wouldn’t put it that way. I think Austal and the other relevant players can be assured that I’m taking my responsibilities in this case very seriously, I’m thinking about it very deeply, making sure I have all the information to make a good decision.

Journalist:

South Australia’s Education Minister has called for an urgent national inquiry into how imported sand with asbestos was brought into the country. Do you agree that they should have a national inquiry for that?

Rishworth:

First, I would say that I’d like to really acknowledge the regulators in this space. They have all acted in a really coordinated way to respond to this. I would note that Home Affairs has now ensured that any imported kinetic sand is now considered high risk, and any importer will have to demonstrate that their product is asbestos free.

So, we’ve taken action, as have the states and territories. I think this is a really important action and really recognise everyone’s hard work in this.

Journalist:

So, what about South Australia’s call for a national inquiry?

Rishworth:

Well, we’ve taken action, as I’ve said, we have – Home Affairs has clearly indicated that they will now consider the import of all kinetic sand as high risk, and therefore, any importer will have to demonstrate that it is asbestos free before it comes into the country. States and territories have responded swiftly, as has the ACCC in getting it off the shelves. This has been a very well‑coordinated response.

We’ll keep working with states and territories. But the most important thing, I think, to reassure people is, firstly, that every agency has been working together, both federally, and state‑wise in a very responsive manner, and now there is the import restrictions in place where importers will have to prove that their product is asbestos free.

Journalist:

Just a few questions for the Treasurer on the GST, just as a surprise. Rita Saffioti –

Chalmers:

It took you longer than usual, you usually begin there.

Journalist:

Rita Saffioti and Roger Cook are lobbying very hard on this. Do they know something that we don’t, or they’re grandstanding?

Chalmers:

Neither of those options. We’ve had a number of really good discussions. I met with Premier Cook and Treasurer Saffioti in Canberra a couple of weeks ago. We met with Premier Cook yesterday. And the position of the WA government is well known, and well supported, frankly, by the Albanese government.

We support the deal that’s been struck with the people of Western Australia to ensure that WA gets its fair share of the GST. And for as long as this government is in office, WA will get a fair share of the GST. And the review that’s been put in place by our predecessors back in 2018 will give people the opportunity to express their views about that around the country. But our position has been made really clear on every occasion that we’ve been here, publicly and also privately, including in discussions with those 2 good colleagues that you mentioned.

Journalist:

Just to be clear, so the ‘no better off’ test for other states, would that stay?

Chalmers:

I think I’ve been extremely clear in saying we support the deal, we want to make sure that WA always gets a fair share of the GST. We recognise that this is a huge contributor to our national economic success. We’re big believers in WA, big supporters of WA, and that extends to us making sure that the deal is adhered to and that the people and industries of WA continue to get their fair share under this Labor government.

Journalist:

When you were asked this morning as whether states would be equalised to the wealthiest state, or to Victoria or New South Wales, you kind of dismissed it as being a detail. Is that a detail, or are you committed to retaining that?

Chalmers:

Again, I don’t agree with the way you’ve described that. I don’t dismiss any of these important issues. The point that I was making, the new information I was conveying to you was that the Productivity Commission will be releasing an issues paper on some of those considerations, certainly before the end of the year, but ideally quite soon, and that will give people an opportunity to express a view.

But our fundamental position is not changed by any of those considerations of those sorts of details. Our position is, as I’ve said on numerous occasions on the last few days I’ve been here and on every occasion that I’ve been here, and the PM as well, we support the deal, we believe in the deal, we will stick with the deal, and that’s because WA needs and deserves its fair share of the GST, and it will always get it from us.

Journalist:

What does fair share mean to you? Is it 75 cents, like a floor, like it’s kind of a subjective term.

Chalmers:

I don’t think so, I mean it’s been legislated what a fair share looks like. And we’ve made our views incredibly clear on every occasion that we support that deal.

Now the PC Review and the questions that Aaron was asking me earlier this morning are about some of the considerations that the PC will put in the public domain, the review that our predecessors put in place was about making sure that all states and territories had an opportunity to put forward their view, but the fundamentals of our position haven’t changed, and won’t change. A fair share of the GST for WA is really important, and that’s why we’re committed to it.

Journalist:

Just one on age verification for social media. The online game Roblox announced this morning that they’ll add a verification to their game, and as Treasurer, is this proof that it can be done, and as a parent, is this welcome news?

Chalmers:

Well, as a parent, we know it’s called Roblox. But apart from that – apart from that, I mean, our colleague, Anika Wells is doing a heap of work on all of this. I’m not aware of those new developments that you’re talking about today, but we’re very serious about protecting our kids online. And Anika and before her Michelle Rowland have done an absolute mountain of work to make sure that we get this regime right. It launches quite soon, and I’m confident that we’ll get all of these various considerations right. But I haven’t seen that most recent development.

Okay. Thanks very much everyone.

Source: Australia Government Statements 2

The Albanese Government today announced a major new investment to strengthen digital connectivity and resilience in the Pacific, launching the second international submarine cable project in Solomon Islands – the Adamasia Cable.

The Solomon Islands’ first submarine cable, the Coral Sea Cable, was also funded by the Australian Government and doubled as an essential upgrade for Papua New Guinea.

The Adamasia Cable will provide critical redundancy and enhance the resilience of Solomon Islands’ international fibre optic network.

The project will be delivered in partnership between the Solomon Islands Government, the Solomon Islands Submarine Cable Company, and the Australian Government, through the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific (AIFFP).

This investment of more than $100 million will interconnect the Adamasia Cable with the Bulikula system, which is part of Google’s Pacific Connect initiative linking Guam to Fiji. This connection will ensure Solomon Islands maintains international connectivity even if one cable is damaged.

This secure, high-capacity system will unlock economic opportunities and support digital empowerment in Solomon Islands – improving access to services in government, education, health and tourism and opening up global information and commercial opportunities for Solomon Islanders. It will also strengthen Solomon Islands’ telecommunications resilience to natural disasters and severe weather events.

The Adamasia Cable is just one of the Australian Government’s investments delivered through the AIFFP in Solomon Islands that include the Tina River Hydropower Transmission System, the Tulagi Shipyard Rehabilitation, and five off-grid renewable energy projects under the Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership.

These projects reflect a shared commitment to delivering climate-resilient infrastructure that supports local communities, drives national development, and strengthens regional connectivity.

For more information about the AIFFP or this project, visit aiffp.gov.au

Quotes attributable to Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Pat Conroy:

“The Albanese Government acknowledges the importance of listening and acting on the priorities outlined by our regional partners.

“We work in close partnership with the Pacific family to strengthen connectivity and unlock economic opportunities that drive inclusive growth and long-term resilience.”

“Better connectivity can support services in government, education, health and tourism and is crucial to linking Pacific Islands communities to the rest of the world.”

Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Senator the Hon. Nita Green:

“Australia’s investment in the Adamasia Cable, and other infrastructure across the Pacific, reflects a shared commitment to support local communities, drive national development, and strengthen regional connectivity.”

Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry

There’s something about WA – there’s always introduction music. I love it, but it’s very noticeable.

Good morning, everyone. Can I thank Len very much, Professor Collard very much, for the wonderful Welcome to Country a moment ago. I said to Len at our table that when he said he ran into one of my former constituents and he asked me what he thought of me, my heart stopped beating for a moment. I was pleased and relieved to hear that he had a good experience in our electorate.

And Len mentioned the 6 degrees of separation, the JP that would have done his paperwork is actually almost certainly my mum’s husband – my stepdad – who used to JP volunteer in our office. So, if you see him again, thank him for staying open for that wonderful haircut that you got, Len, but also thank him for the kind words and the kind memory.

Nicki, thank you for the terrific introduction and for getting really to the nub of some important issues that I’m going to try and cover in my contribution at the start. But no doubt as well, Aaron will want to talk to me about in a moment. But thank you for the opportunity and for the very efficient way that you ran through the issues that we’re all grappling with in the ways that we support this wonderful economic juggernaut which is WA and the WA economy, in particular.

To all of you who are members of this terrific chamber, thanks for being here this morning. But much, much more importantly than that, thank you for the jobs and opportunities that you create in this part of the country. This – as I said a moment ago – is genuinely an economic juggernaut this side of the country. And our job as a national government is not to be just kind of beneficiaries of the effort and the opportunities that you create but to be contributors to it. To be helpful partners in the prosperity that you create. And that begins by recognising the risks that you take as business leaders, the jobs and opportunities that you provide people in WA, and I wanted to make sure I begin really by conveying our gratitude for all of that.

And there are a few other people who really understand that and will want me to share as well their appreciation for everything that you do. First of all, the absolutely outstanding Small Business Minister Anne Aly, who is a proud product of WA. A very, very valued colleague of ours and of mine in the Cabinet and in the Treasury portfolio as well. And to speak out of school a little bit about how our Cabinet operates, there wouldn’t be a Cabinet meeting where Anne isn’t there really prosecuting the interests of the small business community but also the business community of WA. And so, I acknowledge Anne and I thank her for her leadership but also for her friendship.

Similarly, Varun Ghosh, who’s here at my table as well. A relatively new senator, a great friend of mine. I’m having lunch with him today because seeing Varun once in one day in a trip to the west is not enough. So, I’ll be seeing him at lunch as well. But Varun’s really has only been there a short while but very, very influential colleague of ours. A very, very important player in the Albanese government. And that’s because, as most of you know who’ve known him over the years, the way that he goes about his job – thoughtful, considered, methodical – all of the things that you want in a Senator from this really important part of the country. And so, I acknowledge his work as well.

And similarly, Ellie Whiteaker who has become known to so many of you over a longer period of time. In fact, a number of occasions that I’ve spent time with you, the familiar faces that I see around the room, it’s been organised by Ellie. And she, again, is just extraordinarily committed to the success of this WA business community, and already, like Varun, an extremely influential senator.

I think there’s an argument to be made that the new people elected at the most recent election, whether it’s from WA or from around the country – there were a few handy Queenslanders elected for the first time in the most recent election as well – probably the best intake of new talent that we’ve seen maybe since the early 80s, that first Hawke government. And Varun and Ellie are a really big part of that. So, thank you for them for being here this morning as well.

There are a number of leaders here from the chamber, obviously nationally – Andrew. I work very closely with Andrew. That’s why he’s sitting a metre from me, I’ve just discovered. He asked for that seat. He kind of eyeballs me and makes sure that I say the right things. So, thank you, Andrew, in all seriousness, for the way that we work together. I really value that and appreciate that.

Also, Matt, Esme, the sponsors, another Matt, Tony, the sponsors of today, thank you very much.

Now, I left Aaron till last partly because I know that he is changing teams and going from this chamber to the other chamber. I’m not quite sure, I don’t quite know whether that’s like going from Freo to West Coast or from West Coast to Freo. But I do know that the mighty Brisbane Lions went back‑to‑back this year, and so please put your hands together for the mighty Brisbane Lions.

But this is a perfect time to have a good conversation amongst all of you this morning for a number of reasons. First of all, the Cabinet met in Bunbury yesterday. That’s actually the sixth time that the Albanese Cabinet in 3 and a half years’ time has met in Western Australia. We’ve met 4 times in Perth, we met in Bunbury yesterday, we’ve met in the Pilbara. We actually met twice just since the election in May.

And so this is a good opportunity to make sure that the deliberations around the Cabinet table – or in yesterday’s case, around the council chamber’s table at the Bunbury Council – to make sure that it’s before and after and in the ongoing discussions that we have at the Cabinet level that you are part of that, of all of our considerations.

So, we met the Cabinet yesterday. We’ve got parliament coming back next week. And Nicki mentioned the EPBC reforms, that’s really the main order of business in the final sitting week of the Commonwealth parliament next week. We don’t take any outcome for granted in the Senate, especially those of us who don’t speak fluent Senate. But we do know that these reforms are really important, and next week is an opportunity for the parliament to do the right thing by all of you, by the economy and by the environment, and I’ll come back to that in a moment.

It’s also a good time to spend time together because the mid‑year budget update will be probably about a month from now. We haven’t quite settled the date for what’s called the MYEFO – the Mid‑Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook – but it will probably be about a month from now. We like to use the September National Accounts data that we get in the first week of December to feed into our forecasts. And so it will be some time after that at a date to be determined, but before Christmas.

And the reason I’m sort of starting the main part of my contribution there is because that mid‑year budget update, it won’t be a mini budget. There won’t be heaps and heaps of new initiatives. It will be about delivering and funding the commitments that we’ve made over the course of the last year or so, or certainly since the March Budget. But it’s also an opportunity to update our forecasts.

It’s an opportunity to take into consideration what are some fairly extreme spending pressures when it comes to estimates variations and the like, but also a chance to make sure that our forecasts take into consideration the developments in the economy over the last little while.

And what it’s really done in updating our forecasts, in doing a lot of international engagement the last 5 or 6 weeks, speaking with a lot of business leaders like yourselves, engaging this week with the International Monetary Fund, who are finalising their report card on the Australian economy which will be out I think tomorrow morning, in doing all of that, it has really been a pretty stark reminder that the global economic environment is choppy – quite choppy – right now, but also that the Australian economy is performing relatively well in those circumstances.

Inflation is a bit higher than we would like, but it’s about half of what we inherited when we came to office. Underlying inflation has been in the target band now for 3 quarters in a row. We’ve had 3 interest rate cuts this year already. And so inflation over the last few years has come down quite considerably.

Unemployment fell last week – 4.3 per cent, 4.1 here I think in WA. That’s a reminder of how strong our labour market is. Since we’ve been in office 1.2 million jobs created, about 4 in every 5 of those jobs in the private sector. And the lowest average unemployment of any government in the last half century. So, the labour market has been really strong even as we’ve made that progress on inflation, we haven’t paid for it with higher unemployment like other countries have, or much higher unemployment.

Real wages have grown for 7 quarters in a row. Very, very shortly we get an indication of whether those 7 quarters are 8 quarters. It will probably be line ball when we get that wages data very soon. But real wages have already grown 7 quarters in a row, and that’s a good thing as well.

We’ve got the debt down almost $200 billion. We’ve got the AAA credit rating affirmed by all 3 major credit ratings agencies. And so that’s all a long way of saying in the soft landing in our economy that we were planning for and preparing for and, frankly, hoping for, we’re seeing that unfold in our economy. We’ve had these 4 enormous economic shocks in the last 15 or 20 years – GFC, COVID, post‑COVID inflation spike, escalating trade tensions – and despite all of that, we have managed to achieve together, engineer together, what looks like a soft landing in our economy.

Our economic fundamentals are good, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t much more work for us to do together, and that’s really our focus. Not to rest on the laurels of the progress that’s been made together in the course of the last few years but what we do from now which will matter most. And the work that we do together from now is especially important when you consider those global circumstances.

Some evidence, including in recent data, about softness in the Chinese economy. Obviously, a lot of uncertainty in the US economy. A lot of fallout from the way that these escalating trade tensions are playing out. And the global economy has kind of muddled through to here, which is better than what some of the worst fears that people had for the global economy, but that doesn’t mean necessarily that we’re out of the woods. There’s so much global economic uncertainty. And that’s why our economic plan is really important and it’s also why Western Australia is so important.

You all know the massive contribution that you make to the national economy. But I suspect you probably also know that when you look at what is playing out around the world and how things are playing out around the world, you’re also exposed to big shifts in global sentiment. And partly because you’re so export focused, which is a wonderful thing – half of Australia’s goods exports come out of the West and that’s a terrific thing – but it does mean that global sentiment, I think, weighs more heavily on your thinking as business leaders and as decision makers, and it weighs heavily on our thinking as well.

And that’s why what we’ve done since the election is to deliberately put productivity front and centre in our economic agenda but also to make sure that you are front and centre as we think through some of these difficult challenges in our economy.

And that really brings me to the Economic Reform Roundtable that I hosted a couple of months ago in Canberra. I thank Ben for the very constructive, influential role that he played representing your interests at the Roundtable. And also Andrew for the role that he played as well. You’ll read from time to time from the conservative commentators that not a lot of progress was made at that Roundtable.

And obviously I beg to differ. More than that, that commentary is frankly wrong. We made more progress than I think a lot of people were anticipating. And let me just give you a sense of the things that have already been done as a consequence of the very productive discussions that we had around the cabinet table in Canberra.

We’ve paused and streamlined the Construction Code. We’re accelerating housing approvals under the EPBC Act, already there’s more than 8,000 homes approved since August. We’ve fast tracked the introduction of that EPBC legislation into the parliament. We said we would do it next year; we brought it forward to this year. If the Senate does the right thing by the economy and the environment, we could pass it in the coming week.

We’ve launched the investor front door pilot. We’ve slashed a thousand nuisance tariffs to help get your compliance costs down. We’ve introduced the first round of regulatory reform legislation, the better regulation legislation. I introduced that to the House. The Council of Financial Regulators is shaping up 400 ideas to cut the clutter when it comes to the regulation in our financial system. We’re strengthening and streamlining our foreign investment regime, a second round of FIRB reforms underway. We’re doing a heap of work with Rita here and the other state and territory treasurers on a Single National Market, National Competition Policy. We’re making progress on our National Productivity Fund.

All of this is happening because of the consensus and the direction set by the reform roundtable. We’re finalising our AI plan. We’ve already released our AI plan for government. We’re doing more work on tertiary harmonisation. We’re consulting on the performance test for our big institutional investors.

And so, there is a lot of progress that has been made, a lot of progress being made. And the roundtable will really be the primary influence on the Budget that I hand down in May as well. The main game for the budget will be May, not December. And the main focus will be some of the directions that were set at the reform roundtable. And I know how important that is to all of you in the West – that we make our economy more productive, we make it more resilient, we get the budget into better shape building on the progress that we’ve made already. And so those are our motivations.

What I wanted to say about our agenda, economic agenda, is I think you can make the case that us getting this agenda aright around productivity, resilience, budget repair – I think WA has the most to gain from the economic agenda that we’ve put forward. You can see it in very specific areas like EPBC reform, but you can see it more broadly as well. WA has the most to gain from our agenda.

But frankly – and if you forgive me just a brief political reference here – I also think Western Australia has the most to lose if we follow through with this madness that the Coalition is proposing, which is to abandon net zero. And it’s hard to think of a dumber outcome than abandoning net zero when it comes to the certainty and the clarity and the confidence that people need and deserve to invest in our industries.

We commissioned a whole bunch of Treasury modelling around our 2035 targets and the net‑zero opportunity more broadly. And the very clear conclusion is that an orderly transition is the best for jobs and living standards and investment and for our economy more broadly. A disorderly transition will cost us jobs and investment and living standards and growth. But the only outcome worse than a disorderly transition in the Treasury modelling analysis was to abandon net zero completely.

If we as a country were to abandon net zero it would make energy prices higher, not lower. It would decimate investor confidence. And that means it would damage the WA economy and the national economy more broadly as well. If we were to abandon net zero as being urged by our political opponents that would swing a wrecking ball through the energy market, through investor certainty and through the WA economy in particular. And I think WA has arguably the most to lose from that madness which is being urged by our political opponents. And so, I wanted to make sure that I was clear and upfront about that while I was here as well.

Now, Aaron wants to ask me a few questions, and people will want to get on the app and ask me a few questions as well. I’ve already banned Ben Wyatt from participating in that act of participatory democracy. But before we get to Aaron, I really just hope that what I’ve said today and how we’ve carried ourselves here in the West and consulted heavily in the West, I really hope that it leaves you with 2 impressions of this Albanese Labor government and the way that I’m going about my job as your Treasurer.

And the 2 impressions I hope it leaves is, first of all WA is genuinely front and centre in the way that we think about our economy. We don’t want to just be beneficiaries of the prosperity that you generate in the west, we want to be partners in it. We want to make a contribution to it. We want to be a part of you finding the solutions to some of these very difficult challenges, whether it be in energy or technology or in other parts of what we are confronting together. We are being enthusiastic, willing partners in the prosperity that you generate here.

We don’t want to just be content to understand that WA has been a huge part of the national economic success story to here, we want it to be a big part of the story from here. And if you think about where our national opportunity lies at the intersection of energy and technology, advanced manufacturing, critical minerals and resources more broadly, then obviously WA is an incredibly important part of that story. That’s the first impression. You are front and centre genuinely in all of the ways that we think about our economy and the opportunities that lie ahead in uncertain times.

And the second impression, related, is that what we are trying to do – and again I feel there’s a contrast here with our political opponents – is to work through these challenges in a consultative, considered, methodical, responsible, mature way. And in order to do that that means making sure that your voices are heard and not because we have unrealistic expectations about unanimity on every issue, but we know that we make better policy when we genuinely listen to you and engage with you. And that’s why I’m really pleased to be here with you this morning.

Thanks very much.

Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry

Aaron Morey:

My question for you, Treasurer, is given that the outcomes from this package of reforms will have a significant impact on the scope to get up future projects and generate royalties and revenue for the country, to what extent have you and Treasury had significant input into that process? Because it will have a significant impact on your portfolio if we end up with a set of reforms that means that it’s harder to get projects up.

Jim Chalmers:

Deeply engaged and incredibly supportive of the great work that Murray is doing. Murray has basically moved here over the last few weeks in an effort to try and land this. It’s a difficult policy area to land but I think he has and we have put a lot of effort into making sure that our objectives here – a regime which is better for our economy, better for our environment, more efficient and quicker, more robust, more transparent – that we can deliver those objectives in a way that takes into consideration all of the feedback that’s been provided to us in good faith. And so I appreciate you mentioning Murray’s good work, because it has been tireless.

And really, if I could push the friendship here and ask people for a favour, is if you think that we need to resolve this thing and get it bedded down and come up with a good, responsible way to get faster yeses and faster nos and a better system and capture these win‑wins which I think are available to us, the Senate is going to be – next week there’s going to be a lot of negotiations. And if you want a good, sensible outcome here and you have a way to lobby our political opponents, I think that would be a very good use of your time. Because everyone in this room and I believe the country more broadly has an interest in us bedding this down as soon as we can.

It’s why at the roundtable one of the key conclusions was let’s not mess around into 2026 if we can avoid it, let’s try and get this done in 2025. The Senate will determine whether that happens or not. There are a lot of influential voices in this room. I would encourage people, respectfully, to use them if they can.

Morey:

Thank you. Thank you, Treasurer. Going to Slido – there were some problems with Slido earlier, but we’re all up and running now – now, a topic that I reckon that you thought you’d never get a question on, quite extraordinary. I was there last night – you’ve witnessed 2 Welcome to Countries in about 12 hours, and both of them included a bit of lobbying on the GST. So only in WA, right? So, look, I mean, you’ve been consistent – yourself, the Prime Minister – you are protecting WA’s GST deal.

I see David Janetzki potentially announcing that Queensland will run its own PC inquiry into the GST deal, because they’re not happy with the scope of your terms of reference to the PC. So, I mean, you’ve said that you’ll protect WA’s GST deal. I assume by that you mean particularly the 75 per cent floor.

The other significant reform that occurred in 2018 was changing the equalisation standard. So we used to bring everyone up to the strongest state. Now we bring everyone up to the strongest of New South Wales and Victoria due to their historical strength. Is that sort of fundamental architecture of the system on the table or not?

Chalmers:

Well, a couple of things about that. First of all, to be very clear we’re committed to the deal and we’ve said that. I think when I come to WA, I think I probably end up saying it on 20 or 30 different occasions over 2 or 3 days, and happy to say again, we’re committed to the deal.

The Prime Minister, and the Cabinet and I are big believers in the deal that was struck because it’s important to us as it’s important to you that you get a fair share of the GST. And so under this government – any government that Anthony’s a part of and that I’m a part of – WA will receive its fair share.

When you go down a layer or two of technical detail, as you have, Aaron, what the Productivity Commission has tried to do in good faith – David’s complaints notwithstanding – is to give all of the states and territories an opportunity to make their views known, including on some of those sorts of issues.

And what I’ve asked of the PC – obviously a very sensitive area, every state and territory has very strong views about it – what I’ve asked the PC to do is to put out an issues paper on some of these issues that you have talked about. And I would anticipate that that happens actually quite soon – certainly by the end of the year but hopefully quite soon and so people will have an opportunity to express a view about that.

But again, to finish where I started, we’re committed to the deal. You will always get a fair share under us. And I admire, frankly, the extraordinary message discipline that has people Welcoming to Country also finding an opportunity to segue into the GST deal. And I will continue to engage with all of you in good faith on this because I believe in WA getting its fair share.

Morey:

Thank you, Treasurer. Another – yeah, another popular theme coming through on Slido is around our defence sector and a really important opportunity for WA’s economic diversification and something that we’re all incredibly excited about. A couple of popular questions around the funding of Henderson and when that starts.

And also, in particular, a lot of the recent press about Hanwha and Austal. My understanding is that there was a deadline to make a decision on this. There’s a lot of questions coming through on when that uncertainty can be resolved, which is really important for industry. When can we expect a decision there Treasurer?

Chalmers:

So on both of those things, on Henderson funding, a lot of the discussions that we’ve been having over the last couple of days have been about that and the Prime Minister and the Premier will be talking about defence investment today as it turns out, so I don’t want to kind of steal his thunder. But it’s front of mind because we’ve made this important commitment at Henderson and we will do what we need to do to fund that commitment. So we’ve been grappling with that, almost in real time the last couple of days.

On your question about Austal and Hanwha, I want to be really clear and say that, yes, there was a deadline at the end of September, we missed the deadline, and that’s on us. And the reason I put it like that is because when we’re dealing with proposals which are this complex and have a number of issues associated with them, sometimes it takes us a bit more time to consult, whether it’s internal to government or external to government, to make sure that we take the right decision.

Now, these are an extraordinarily limited number of cases where it takes us a bit longer. In fact, the first round of FIRB reforms that I put in place has actually dramatically quickened the pace of FIRB approvals but there is from time to time an exception like this one where we want to do some more work. So I’ve been very upfront about that.

We’ll make a decision as soon as we can, we didn’t make the end of September deadline. I’ve been upfront about that on earlier occasions as well and that’s because I take my responsibilities as the decision maker in the FIRB system incredibly seriously and I want to make sure that I get this one right. It’s a complex decision, as I’ve said before, we’re taking a bit more time as I’ve said before, hopefully we can come to a decision soon.

Morey:

Thank you, Treasurer. Appreciate that. Appreciate that honesty. Another issue I wanted to touch on was something else that’s come through the Productivity Commission in recent times, and that’s their idea around cash flow tax. Now, the PC, they’re basically proposing an additional 5 per cent on company cash flows while keeping the existing rate at 30 per cent for the business. But they basically admitted themselves that this will increase the tax burden on our biggest companies in our economy.

Unfortunately, generally those companies are the ones that are sort of weighing up whether they, you know, undertake a marginal investment in Australia or whether they invest in Africa or the Middle East or wherever it might be. So there’s obviously deep concern around increasing that overall taxation burden and impacting on those marginal investment decisions. Is this something that you’re willing to rule out, or where’s your head at when it comes to that sort of idea being put forward?

Chalmers:

Well, I hope Matt from Rio doesn’t mind me saying we’ve just been discussing this at our table along very similar lines, so maybe Matt has had a second dig on the app.

Morey:

We didn’t plan this.

Chalmers:

I mean, I understand the issues that you’ve just raised, Aaron, and that Matt raised earlier as well. What the PC has done, we asked them to give us 5 pieces of work on productivity. We asked them to think about the role of the tax system in that. We also asked them to be conscious of – it’s easy to think of great tax reforms that might cost $10 or $20 or $100 billion which doesn’t take into consideration the very real fiscal pressures that we’re under.

And so what the PC has done in its interim report – it hasn’t released its final report yet on that, it will before long – what they’ve tried to do is to work out, okay, how do we incentivise investment over here and how would we fund it? And that’s their model. Now, we haven’t – we’ve tried to be respectful to their model, they’ve put it out there for all of you to interact with, and people have, in a good way. And they’ll release a final report soon.

I think separate to the PC model – and Andew and Ben were part of these discussions in the Cabinet room as well – I am interested in trying to find a way, an affordable way, a responsible way, that we could incentivise more investment using the tax system. I’m up for that. But as we grappled with in the room and subsequently, we have to work out a way that that’s fiscally sustainable and fiscally responsible. And so we’re genuinely open to people’s ideas. If you don’t like the PC model, that’s fine.

We’re open to other ideas about is there an affordable way that we can incentivise more investment. Because if you think about our productivity challenge, probably the most important way that we can come at that is to try and attract more investment into our economy. We are becoming more and more attractive in the world for a lot of the reasons I ran through in my introduction before, but we’re interested in finding ways to become even more attractive. If there’s a way we can do that in the tax system, I’d love to hear your ideas.

Morey:

Great, thank you, Treasurer. And obviously, that productivity roundtable was quite the event. We’ve got an image from that roundtable that I was keen to bring up, if we can, DJ Flynn. So this is an image from the productivity roundtable. And, look, I’m obviously in a WhatsApp chat with my old boss. Gee whiz, what on earth is going on when you’re carrying this bloke’s coffees around? He won’t stop talking about it. You’ve created a monster. Not sure what was going on there Treasurer. Just a nice guy?

Chalmers:

Well, first of all, I mean, the context for this is that Ben and I used to be mates.

Morey:

Used to be? Used to be? Yeah, used to be.

Chalmers:

And the reason why I use the past tense is I invite him to my roundtable, I give him a wonderful seat as far away from Ted O’Brien as I can, I buy him what looks like 8 coffees, I carry those coffees for him, and still I’m in Perth for 3 days and I can’t get an invitation to his running club this morning. You’d think after I did all of those things for Ben I could get an invitation to run with the Pig Runners this morning, but that invitation never came. And so that’s a question for Ben.

Morey:

He’s become too big. Too big. All right. Let’s get that on. So you got young kids, right, Treasurer? I mean, I remember talking to you on stage, we were talking about, you know, how much the tooth fairy pays and all this sort of thing, so I assume your kids are sort of getting to an age. Now, this question will be lost on those that do not have children between the ages of 4 and 14, but my question is – are you going slowly mad with this constant phrase, 6‑7?

Chalmers:

No, I think quickly mad.

Morey:

Yeah.

Chalmers:

It’s so bizarre, isn’t it. You discover in your life how many times the numbers 6 and 7 are next to each other, and you know, grinning like an idiot during a Treasury [inaudible] because a Treasury official has said, 6‑7. Look, the main thing I would say about this is if you were on the fence about our social media reforms – the ban on social media reforms for under‑16s – this is the most important reason I can think of, because it’s maddening.

Morey:

Your heard it here first. And just finally, there’s one other sound that supposedly – supposedly – follows you everywhere. Can we play that sting, DJ Flynn?

[Music played]

Morey:

We’ve omitted the words and the language – your very strict instructions not to have the lyrics. Can you confirm for the record, Treasurer, is this actually your ring tone?

Chalmers:

It is. It is. And it’s Still DRE by Dr Dre and Snoop Dog. And you’re very wise just to use the instrumental, as my ring tone does. But from time to time when I forget to switch the phone off in a meeting, people are a little surprised to learn that I’m a hip‑hop kid.

Morey:

Have you always been a badass?

Chalmers:

I don’t know what to say to that.

Morey:

Okay. Well, in that case, let’s leave it there. We really deeply appreciate your engagement.

Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry

New data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that annual real wages have now grown for eight consecutive quarters.

This is now the longest period of consecutive annual real wage growth in almost a decade.

This is an encouraging outcome that shows our policies to deliver higher wages for workers are paying off for hardworking Australians.

Real wages were going backwards before we came to office, they’re growing under Labor, and we see that again in these figures.

Our economic plan is designed to help Australians earn more, keep more of what they earn and retire with more and today’s data shows we continue to make meaningful progress in the economy.

The wage price index grew 0.8 per cent in the September quarter, to be 3.4 per cent higher through the year.

Real wages grew 0.2 per cent through the year to the September quarter 2025.

This latest data shows enterprise agreements continue to be a key source of wages growth for Australian workers – which is why our efforts to boost bargaining are so important.

When we came to office, real wages were going badly backwards and fell for the five quarters leading up to the 2022 election.

Real wages were going backwards 3.5 per cent under our predecessors.

Since we came to Government, average annualised nominal wages have been growing at 3.7 per cent, much higher than the 2.2 per cent under our predecessors.

Decent wages growth is not accidental, it’s a deliberate strategy of this government just like wage suppression was a deliberate strategy of our predecessors.

Annual nominal wages have grown above three per cent for every quarter we have been in office. There was not one quarter where wages grew with a three in front of it in the nine long years the Liberals were in power.

We’re acting to boost wages, close the gender pay gap, deliver workplace relations reforms and secure pay rises for some of the lowest paid workers in our community.

Our support for the lowest paid workers means minimum wage earners are now earning more than $175 per week more than when we came to government.

At the same time, we’ve overseen the creation of 1.2 million jobs and stronger employment growth than any major advanced economy.

Around four out of every five of those jobs have been created in the private sector.

The private sector recovery we have been planning and preparing for is taking place, and it’s clear that private demand has been the key driver of growth for three consecutive quarters.

Since Labor was elected, inflation has come down, unemployment has been low, the gender pay gap has hit record lows, interest rates have been cut three times this year and real wages and living standards are growing again.

We know there’s more to do because Australians are still under pressure and the global economy is uncertain and unpredictable.

That’s why the Government continues to roll out responsible cost of living relief including tax cuts for every taxpayer, slashing student debt, cheaper medicines and more bulk billing.

The best defence against global volatility and the best way to lift wages and living standards over the long term is with a more productive and resilient economy and a stronger budget, and that’s our focus.