Housing, superannuation and tax reform targeted in leaked Treasury advice
Treasurer Jim Chalmers speaks to 7.30's Sarah Ferguson.
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ABC News
8 minutes ago
- ABC News
Reputation hit from 2021 state election caused WA Electoral Commission to outsource polling day staff recruitment, documents suggest
The WA Electoral Commission took the unprecedented step of outsourcing almost all of its election workforce recruitment, in part because it was concerned the previous state election had damaged its reputation. In reality, the 2025 poll experienced far more reported issues, including reports of long wait times at polling booths and some locations running out of ballot papers. Those problems were so great the government ordered a special inquiry to probe what went wrong and why the commission contracted labour hire company PERSOLKELLY. Documents released to the ABC under Freedom of Information laws show, for the first time, why that decision was made. The documents also highlight how the WAEC and PERSOLKELLY downplayed the scale of the outsourcing in the days following the election. It comes after the ABC revealed the chaos inside the commission in the lead-up to the state election, with one senior official saying they had warned of issues with the labour hire company as much as four months before the poll. In a procurement plan compiled in the first half of 2023, the WAEC set out its reasons for wanting to outsource its temporary election workforce. It noted an audit after the 2021 election, which found there were "some issues", including with a different labour hire company used in a limited capacity under a government-wide contract. "Service delivery expectations were not met, [temporary election workforce] staff expressed deep dissatisfaction and the WAEC's reputation and performance suffered," it reads. The plan noted the commission did "not have the internal resources available (human resources and systems) to best manage projects of this size". "The aim of this [tender] is to address the recommendations made to the WAEC … to ensure that elections are run cost effectively and to a high standard into the future," it reads. But a senior WAEC source who worked both the 2021 and 2025 elections said the earlier poll was "positively functional". "Delivery of materials was underdone, the logistical side of things," they said. WA's Shadow Electoral Affairs Minister Shane Love agreed while there were a few issues in 2021 it was "nothing like the collapse that we saw in 2025". "What I can see here is a commission just outsourcing, washing their hands and saying, not our problem. Well, it is your problem," Mr Love said. In the days after the election, as the full scale of problems came to light, both the WAEC and its contractor sought to play down the role outsourcing could have played. "There have been a number of election events where the WAEC has engaged contractors for the provision of recruitment services," a spokesperson told the ABC about a week after the election. Do you know more about this story? Contact Keane Bourke. "This is not a new or uncommon practice. Previous state and federal electoral commissions have appointed recruitment companies to provide support staff in a similar way," a PERSOLKELLY spokesperson said the following day. But the procurement plan shows that was not the full picture. While it noted other states have had similar issues trying to staff elections themselves, none had outsourced the entire job. "The approach of the WAEC to outsource a significant part of the requirement is new and is not currently being undertaken in any other jurisdiction," the plan reads. In a statement to the ABC, PERSOLKELLY maintained its position that the scale of outsourcing was not new or uncommon. The WA Electoral Commission said it would be inappropriate to comment until the special inquiry report was released publicly. The tender document rated the overall risk of outsourcing as "low/moderate". But it noted one of the most significant risks was "contractor unable to provide sufficient staff at relevant locations" and that potential impacts included "public unable to vote" — with some voters complaining that long delays and a shortage of ballot papers discouraged voting. The plan identified one of the controls for that risk was "the contractor has experience in an electoral process, preferably in WA", which it said would help reduce the risk from "significant" to "moderate". PERSOLKELLY said it had supported the Australian Electoral Commission to run federal elections in WA in 2013, 2017 and 2025, as well as the New South Wales state election in 2015, on top of decades of experience providing staff to all levels of government. "This includes support to government agencies, including elections, locally and nationally along with similar experience in multiple countries outside of Australia," the company said. In a statement following the election, the WAEC said PERSOLKELLY had "deployed the personnel requested … in line with the project's requirements" and that all 682 polling locations were staffed and operational. It said its role was limited to recruiting and onboarding staff. The document also indicated "appropriate funding has been confirmed by Robert Kennedy — Electoral Commissioner" to cover the estimated total value of $30 million. But government records show the value of the contract awarded was more than double that at $86.9 million. The WAEC said the initial figure "reflected all relevant information available to the Western Australian Electoral Commission at that time". "The final contract award estimate … reflects the maximum value of the contract if all extension options are exercise based on the agreed pricing structure with PERSOLKELLY Australia." An earlier version of the procurement plan, also released to the ABC, shows the commission had initially planned to offer a six-year contract for the outsourcing, which would run until after the 2029 state election. However, a Department of Finance staffer managing the tender noted that would require an "internal exemption" to go over a five-year limit. Future versions of the document refer to a four-year contract with the option of a two-year extension. The future of the contract is uncertain though, with the Acting Electoral Commissioner telling budget estimates earlier this month the contract would be reviewed after local government elections in October. "Part of that process will involve looking at what the future looks like with PERSOLKELLY," Dennis O'Reilly said. On Monday, Premier Roger Cook confirmed the contract was "addressed in the context of the report" without providing specific details. "We certainly need to make changes to ensure that the WA Electoral Commission can conduct the local government elections which will take place in October this year, but we'll table the report first and then our response," he told reporters. Questions have been raised about the commission's ability to conduct those elections after its Director of Election Operations resigned. Commissioner Robert Kennedy and Deputy Commissioner Courtney Barron are on leave. Both commissioners have been temporarily replaced by senior public servants, with staff brought in from the Australian Electoral Commission to help run local government elections. "We look forward to the outcome of the special inquiry into the planning and delivery of the 2025 WA state election, and welcome learnings that will come as a result," a PERSOLKELLY spokesperson said. That report is expected to be released when parliament next sits in mid-August.
News.com.au
17 minutes ago
- News.com.au
Anthony Albanese stares down tough talks with Xi Jinping
The big moment of Anthony Albanese's state visit to China is upon him — a face-to-face with Xi Jinping. The Prime Minister has had a cruisy two days being wooed by Chinese officials and business leaders in the glitzy beauty of central Shanghai. He and his hosts have been keen to boast the boons of deep bilateral trade and tourism ties, emerging from meetings starry-eyed about the future of an economic partnership despite the spectre of an increasingly militaristic regional rivalry. But when Mr Albanese meets the Chinese President on Tuesday, there will be no escaping the touchy topics. The Chinese have already indicated they will raise the Port of Darwin, which is leased to Chinese logistics giant Landbridge Holdings. A former state media propagandist-turned influencer warned of 'countermeasures' if the Albanese government follows through with its election vow to break the 99-year lease. But speaking to reporters on Monday, Mr Albanese doubled down on the promise, saying his government has 'a very clear position' and that Mr Xi 'is very clear and knowledgeable of that'. 'We have a very clear position that we want the port to go into Australian ownership,' he said before departing for Beijing. 'We've been clear about it, we've been orderly about it, and we will go through that process.' Mr Albanese has been careful not to pre-empt how his meeting with the world's second-most powerful leader will go. 'I'll treat him with the respect that I would any leader of another country and not foreshadow everything today,' he said in his Monday remarks. But he did give some hints on what touchy topics he might have of his own, such as the detention of detention of Australian writer and pro-democracy activist Yang Hengiun. Mr Yang was given a suspended death sentence last year after spending five years behind bars on espionage charges – charges he denies. 'We always raise issues of Australian citizens, and if you look at my record, it's not too bad,' Mr Albanese boasted when asked about Mr Yang. 'I'll put my record there of successfully advocating for Australian citizens, some of which has been criticised when we've been successful.' Human rights more broadly could also be on the agenda. Aside from detaining Australians on trumped-up charges, Canberra has protested China's enslavement of Uighur Muslims in its Xinjiang province and demanded it implement recommendations made in a UN report. Speaking on Chinese soil in the presence of Chinese officials, Mr Albanese simply repeated his China mantra, saying his government 'will co-operate wherever we can' and 'disagree where we must'. 'We disagree where we must and we put forward our position clearly where we have disagreements,' he said. He flatly refused to say if he would mention the Chinese warships that carried out live-fire drills as they circumnavigated Australia earlier this year. He also would not comment on whether he would bring up China's support for Russia in its years-long war on Ukraine. There will be space for positives, though, with Mr Albanese eager to quell concerns of a future conflict through trade – an approach Europe took with Russia under Vladimir Putin. He said it was 'important to recognise … that the economic relationship is obviously based on upon a stable and secure region'. 'We've seen the disruption that occurs when there is conflict in the world,' Mr Albanese said. 'That's why we need to make sure that we do everything we can to promote peace and security in the region.' He added building people-to-people ties was key to keeping the peace. It is a stark contrast to warnings from Washington that China could up-end regional peace by invading Taiwan as early as 2027.
ABC News
38 minutes ago
- ABC News
As federal parliament returns, here's what was promised to ACT residents in the election
Much of the federal election campaign in the ACT was focused on the Coalition's plan for cuts to the public service. Now that Labor has been re-elected, what exactly is the party promising for Canberra over the next three years? Parliament will resume next week, but the government's commitments will not require much in the way of legislation. For the most part, it is money on the table, from new civic infrastructure to improved health services. This is not necessarily an exhaustive list, but covers the main items announced in the lead-up to the election in May. The big ticket promise — unveiled at Labor's campaign launch — was the money to build a new aquatic centre in Commonwealth Park, making way for a new national convention centre on the current Civic pool site. Federal Labor has put up $100 million, about two thirds of which will go to the pool, with the remainder set aside for feasibility and design works on the convention centre. That commitment has been matched by the territory government, after ACT Labor made it the centrepiece of its own campaign launch in September last year. At the time, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he hoped the design work on the pool would be done by the end of 2026, with construction to commence shortly after. Since the new pool has to be finished before the existing site can be freed up, a new convention centre could still be a while away. The ACT's low bulk billing rate for GP visits was a key campaign issue, particularly when the Interchange Health Co-op went into administration. Labor pledged $3.8 million to keep it afloat, alongside $10.5 million to attract new GPs to three new bulk billing practices. The money for the ACT is on top of Labor's national commitments on Medicare, which it hopes will triple the number of fully bulk billing practices in Canberra. But while the government's national target is for 90 per cent of GP visits to be bulk billed by 2030, the ACT is unlikely to hit that figure. The party also responded to the potential closure of the Burrangiri Aged Care Respite Centre, by promising $10 million for more respite beds. Yet that commitment has become slightly less urgent since the election, with confirmation Burrangiri will stay open for another two years. Labor had also promised one of its 50 new Medicare urgent care clinics would be in Woden. Before the campaign proper kicked off, the government announced it would "finish the NBN." It pledged fibre-to-the-node connections for more than 600,000 premises by 2030, including about 97,000 in Canberra. Labor also put $3.5 million on the table for seven new crisis accommodation dwellings in the ACT, for people fleeing domestic and family violence. Later on, it offered localised commitments either side of the city: $1.5 million to upgrade Margaret Timpson Park at Belconnen; and just shy of $1 million to revitalise the Chisholm Cricket Oval.
