Greens, Coalition promise to challenge Labor's agenda in the Senate
The Prime Minister commands a massive 94-seat majority in the House of Representatives, but the Senate is another matter.
Labor will need to work with either the Greens or the Coalition to pass legislation through the chamber – a task far easier said than done.
For many of the Albanese government's more progressive items, such as legislating penalty rates, the Greens are more natural partners, but Senator Nick McKim said on Monday his party would hold Mr Albanese 'to account'.
'The results were pretty clear in the Senate and I wasn't that happy with the PM telling the Senate and the Greens to get out of the way shortly after the election,' Senator McKim told Nine's Today.
'We haven't been put into the Australian parliament to get out of the Prime Minister's way.
'We've been put in there to hold him to account.
'And we do expect him to deliver, and we expect him to engage in some of the really meaningful issues, whether it's climate change, whether it's protecting nature, whether it's the housing crisis in Australia.'
He went on to say the Greens needed 'to see solutions that are commensurate with the scale of the challenges facing the country'.
'We're here to work constructively and cooperatively with Labor,' Senator McKim said.
'We hope that they would take the same approach to us.'
Meanwhile, demoted Liberal senator Jane Hume took a similar line.
She was opposition finance spokeswoman under Peter Dutton and championed some of the Coalition's most controversial policies.
Senator Hume was booted from the frontbench after Labor's federal election landslide decimated the Liberal Party.
Acknowledging the Coalition had 'hit a low point in their primary vote', she pledged to 'work every day' to claw back support.
'We're going to work every day to rebuild trust with the Australian people, to make sure that they know that we're listening to their concerns and responding to them, sticking with our values,' Senator Hume told Sky News.
'Of course, those important values of reward for effort, lower taxes, growing the economy, managing the budget responsibly.
'But at the same time, we have to make sure that this three years we are holding this very bad government to account, because the last three years delivered nothing other than a cost of living crisis where people saw their standard of living go backwards and economic growth stagnating.
'The last thing we need is another talk fest – we need an economic plan.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
7 minutes ago
- ABC News
Regional communities look for banking solutions as major banks leave town
Since Bendigo Bank announced it will be closing 28 agency services across the country, residents in the small town of Cunderdin, 160 kilometres east of Perth, face the prospect of a 120km round trip for some banking services. Bendigo Bank's decision has left Cunderdin Shire president Alison Harris "hugely concerned and deeply disappointed". The agency was run out of the town's co-op service and was set up after Westpac left town. Cr Harris said many people transferred to Bendigo Bank at the time and now faced the prospect of having to transfer again. "A bit like doctors and grocery shops, the bank is vital in a small community," she said. In a statement, Bendigo Bank said it would shut down its agency model across 28 locations by October, citing "decreasing customer use". The bank's service in Cunderdin provided the community with cash, floats for the footy, and other general banking. Residents' closest branch will now be either the town of York or Northam — a nearly two-hour round trip. Bendigo Bank said customers would be connected with their closest alternate service. Cr Harris said the decision to shut the Bendigo Bank agency would have ripple effects despite the town being able to access post office banking services. "And once people do travel out of town, they may shop out of town, they may go to the doctor out of town," she said. Cr Harris said that while some physical locations might be unprofitable for banks, she was concerned about elderly residents who lacked the digital know-how to conduct their banking online. It is a problem the founders of the Indigenous-owned Traditional Credit Union (TCU) encountered 30 years ago in the Northern Territory as the big banks started to leave. "If you go into any community that has lost a bank, they will tell you exactly how devastating it is," TCU CEO Simon Lyons said. The credit union was formed on the island of Milingimbi after remote communities in the Top End had no access to banking facilities. "Big banks have got shareholders and they've got to answer to them," he said. "It's costly to operate in remote communities. "It's very difficult, particularly up here in the Northern Territory, where a number of these communities are cut off in the wet season and access to them is limited quite often to fly-in." Mr Lyons said communities suffered when banks pulled out, and getting cash into those areas could become difficult for local businesses and groups. "It sounds like a minor thing, but it is actually a major thing, along with the ability to actually go and talk to someone." Mr Lyons said services, such as opening or cancelling accounts or handing deceased estates, could only happen in branches, and closing locations could impact local jobs. He said the community banking model worked, but also needed support. "We're the smallest bank in the country, but we're regulated in exactly the same way as a Commonwealth Bank or a National Australia Bank," he said. "That regulation and compliance with that regulation come at a cost, and it isn't proportional." Mr Lyons said smaller banks like TCU had the same regulatory requirements and the same cost impost without the same revenue flows and profit. In February this year, Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced a moratorium on regional banking closures from the big four banks until July 2027. Banks were also asked to increase their "commitment to and investment in regional banking", with Bank@Post, that is banking at a post office, being one of the preferred options. "Communities, despite their remoteness or the fact that they are regional, shouldn't be deprived of that." One solution that border communities in Victoria and New South Wales have adopted is the partnership between smaller banks and councils. Hume Bank has partnered with Hume Council since 2005 and runs a branch inside the council office in Holbrook, New South Wales. Hume Bank's CEO, Stephen Capello, said residents in Holbrook would have to drive 45 minutes to the next town after the last bank closed down. He said while customer behaviour was evolving, regional communities were seeking "equitable banking services" alongside their metro counterparts. "[There is a] strong belief that these services are required to underwrite the future of these small towns," he said. "I think regional Australia needs a socially responsible banking industry, and that needs to reflect some of the heavy lifting that small regional banks and community and customer banks are doing at the moment." In a statement, the Finance Sector Union said it had "deep concerns" about banks "unilaterally" making significant cuts to their service and regional communities. The union said it was continuing to pressure the federal government on the issue of regional banking. The union's assistant national secretary, Nicole McPherson, said it had been 14 months since a Senate inquiry handed down a report calling for banking to be regulated as an essential service. "It is critical that the federal government step in and protect bank workers and customers, given that the banks have proven themselves to be incapable of doing anything other than putting profits and shareholders first," she said. The Australian Banking Association declined to comment.
News.com.au
7 minutes ago
- News.com.au
‘Nightmare': Meriton resident faces ‘unrelenting' noise from Woolworths loading dock metres away
A Sydney apartment owner says he is at his wits' end after enduring months of 'deafening' and 'unrelenting' noise coming from a Woolworths loading dock located just metres away on the other side of his bedroom wall. Yang Yuan, 32, has questioned how building standards allowed the unusual layout of Mascot Central, where he claims his family is exposed to 'severe industrial noise', including reversing trucks, heavy metal impacts and rolling pallet jacks, from 7am to 11.40pm every day. 'It's a nightmare,' he told 'The noise is very intermittent, very random and very loud. The workers on the loading dock work on shifts — we are there, we don't have shifts. When they're working, I put my hand against the bedroom ceiling and I can literally feel it shaking. It feels as if we're living inside the loading dock.' The software engineer purchased the $750,000 one-bedroom unit in November last year and moved in with his wife and two cats straight away. The mixed-use Meriton development, located in Sydney's inner-south, was completed in 2016, and the developer says it has never received any noise complaints until now. But Mr Yuan, who has recorded multiple videos of the loud banging and industrial noise reverberating through his bedroom, says he feels abandoned by Meriton, Woolworths and Bayside Council, accusing them of repeatedly 'deflecting or denying responsibility' despite repeated complaints. 'They have put a lot of effort into denying the problem but if they had put the same amount of effort into investigating the issue it might already have been solved,' he said. Mr Yuan said the noise made it 'impossible' to work from home, 'rest or live comfortably', and left the couple's mental health in tatters. 'I've previously lived in some of the noisiest environments imaginable — next to highways, above bus stops, near construction sites, even beside neighbours playing instruments,' he said. 'None of that ever bothered me. When I say this loading dock noise is unbearable, it's not about sensitivity, it's genuinely extreme.' He and his wife, who works as a freelance digital artist, are now 'suffering from chronic sleep deprivation, heightened anxiety and constant anger'. 'Most of our free time is now spent fighting this — countless hours filming, recording, investigating and contacting different parties for help,' he said. Mr Yuan and his wife have now moved their bed into the downstairs living room to escape the worst of the noise. 'In the living room we can also hear the noise but it's like 10 per cent better,' he said. He added that he felt the build quality contributed to the noise penetration. He said the building materials were 'definitely not good for isolating the noise considering you're building next to the loading dock.' After his initial complaints to Meriton, the developer obtained a noise testing report in April, which found no issues. In May, Mr Yuan hired a professional acoustic engineer at his own cost. Over a two-day period, KR Acoustic recorded more than two dozen instances at nearly double the limits prescribed by the Association of Australasian Acoustical Consultants (AAAC) for 'impulsive' noises such those as generated by weight dropping in gyms. The sample identified 10 noise events measuring 61dBA during the day, versus the 35dBA limit, nine measuring 58dBA during the evening, when the limit is 30dBA, and six at night measuring 50dBA, double the 25dBA limit. The noise events were 'both loud and frequent, regularly exceeding allowable limits at all hours of the day', the report said. KR Acoustic concluded that noise was 'structure-borne, originating from activities at the Woolworths loading dock, and it consistently exceeds the impulsive noise limits set by the AAAC, particularly in relation to gym weight drops but also relevant for similar structure borne impulsive noise in general'. 'The measurement results substantiate residents' concerns, providing sufficient grounds for authorised officers or enforcement personnel to further investigate and to classify the noise as offensive,' it said. 'It is very likely that the noise contributes to elevated stress levels of the residents.' Mr Yuan provided the report both to Meriton and Bayside Council in June. The council said it was investigating the noise complaint, but in July informed Mr Yuan that Meriton had provided its own acoustic report which countered his, and declined to pursue the matter. Mr Yuan said he had only been provided a summary of the conflicting report. 'No one is trying to help us,' he said. A Woolworths spokesman said the Mascot Central store was operated 'like any one of our supermarkets'. 'The store is open between 7am and 10pm, and receives deliveries throughout the day,' he said. 'We've been operating in the community for close to 10 years. If there's any further questions about the operation of the shopping centre, they're best directed to Meriton.' A Meriton spokesman said Mascot Central was a 'well established development now over 10 years old, and to date, this is the only complaint Meriton has received regarding noise from the loading dock'. 'The concern was raised by a new owner who has only recently moved in,' he said. 'It's important to note that the previous owner of the same apartment did not report any noise issues over a nine-year period, nor have we received similar concerns from other residents within Mascot Central, which comprises 1200 apartments. Nonetheless, Meriton took the matter seriously and engaged an independent acoustic engineer to conduct a thorough assessment. Noise monitors were installed over a period of time. The investigation confirmed that noise levels were well within the acceptable range and did not exceed any regulatory thresholds.' Bayside Council said in a statement it was 'working with Woolworths and Meriton to identify any additional noise mitigation measures that could be implemented, while still supporting the approved use of the site'. 'Under the current development consent, Woolworths is permitted to operate until midnight, with loading dock use allowed until 10pm,' a spokesperson said. 'An acoustic report was submitted by one resident in early June 2025. Meriton, who manage the retail complex, provided an acoustic report in response and their findings conflict with the resident's report. Council will continue to work to find a suitable resolution for all parties.'
News.com.au
36 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Melbourne's fastest-selling housing hotspots, buyers run out of time
Melbourne's housing market is picking up pace, with the speed of home sales accelerating in the past year — particularly in areas that had been struggling the most. Latest PropTrack data shows the average days on market for the city's houses has dropped from 37 days in June 2024, to 36 days now. A likely contributor to the fall is homes selling closer to their scheduled auction day, which along with rising median prices for the first six months of the year hints sellers are starting to find themselves in a stronger position than they were last winter. Plenty luxury home breaks suburb record It's good news for the 775 auctions scheduled this week, which is down 13 per cent on the same time last year, and the about 760 homes slated to test the market next week. But the news is even better in coastal and lifestyle suburbs, with PropTrack data showing the time it takes to sell in Frankston North, McCrae, Baxter and Capel Sound has been slashed to as little as three weeks. McCrae led the Mornington Peninsula with the biggest drop in days on market, down from 62 to 41, while its median price reached $1.2m. Frankston North's median jumped from $545,000 to $610,250, with days on market shrinking from 31 to just 22. Baxter and Capel Sound also saw prices rise and days on market fall, while Langwarrin held firm with a $859,000 median. Across Greater Melbourne, PropTrack figures show a broader uplift in activity, with 61,913 houses sold in June 2025, up from 55,774 a year earlier. M R Advocacy director and broker Madeleine Roberts said coastal homes under $1m were being snapped up quickly. 'In Frankston North, homes are snapped up in under a month,' Ms Roberts said. 'Many buyers are frustrated and getting priced out if they hesitate even a week.' Ms Roberts added that investors were back in the mix as rental yields remained strong and vacancies low: 'We're not in a boom, but we're in a correction,' she said. 'Days on market are a leading indicator, and the market is beginning to heat up again.' Prominent Melbourne buyers advocate Cate Bakos said interstate investors were targeting suburbs like Frankston North for strong yields and capital growth. 'There's enormous pressure building at the lower end,' Ms Bakos said. 'We're not in a boom, but we are in a correction.' Belle Property and HockingStuart Victoria director Anthony Webb said the subâ€'$750,000 entry point was rapidly shrinking, squeezing firstâ€'home buyers even as investor demand returned. 'There's a lot of interest in Frankston and Langwarrin,' Mr Webb said. 'With rate cuts expected, savvy buyers are trying to get ahead of the curve.' On winter buying dynamics, Mr Webb said at entry level FOMO is kicking in: 'Move-in ready homes in the $750k –$1m range are still attracting strong interest, even in winter,' he said. This weeks busiest spots for auctions will be Mt Waverley, with 19 auctions, followed by Wollert, 18, Mickleham, 16, Reservoir, 15, and Craigieburn, 13.
