Albanese's national security cabinet ‘dominated' by left-wing ministers
Penny Wong landed in Washington ahead of the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting – sharing a photo online alongside ambassador and former prime minister Kevin Rudd.
'It's a government dominated by the senior left-wing ministers whereas national security was always a preserve of the right within the ALP,' Mr Sheridan told Sky News Australia.
'The Australian defence effort is completely pitiful; everyone recognises that; we barely spend two per cent of our GDP on defence.'
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Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
‘Third-tier alliance partner': Australia's relationship with US in ‘shabby' condition says foreign affairs expert as rift deepens
Australia is taking all the wrong steps to revitalise its strategic relationship with the US according to a leading foreign affairs expert as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese plays down concerns of a deepening rift between the two nations. Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday in Washington DC in addition to other Quad partners including India and Japan. Ms Wong conveyed confidence in the strength of Australia's alliance with the United States and said that Mr Rubio had 'expressed his regret' after Mr Albanese's meeting with the US President at the G7 summit abruptly fell through. She also acknowledged the government's 'differences with the Trump administration,' while Mr Albanese dismissed reports of an emerging rift and said he and the President had a 'respectful' relationship. However, the foreign editor of The Australian newspaper Greg Sheridan blasted the Prime Minister for downplaying the severity of the situation and said that Australia's place as a core ally and strategic partner of the United States had all but vanished. 'We've moved from being a first-tier alliance partner to a third-tier Alliance partner,' Mr Sheridan told Sky News host Steve Price. 'So Trump has been elected for eight months, and Albanese hasn't seen him. Albanese was stupid not to go there before the inauguration because everything with Trump is a personal relationship.' Despite stating that the alliance was in the interest of both countries, Mr Sheridan reiterated that the US President's decision to meet with a litany of other global leaders apart from Mr Albanese was calculated and spurred by actions made by the Albanese government. 'You can be sure that the Americans know just what they're doing in the way they're snubbing Albanese. And Albanese has nothing of interest to say to them.' Mr Sheridan said Australia's refusal to increase its lagging defence budget, a decision to seek legal advice on the US strikes against Iran and its move to sanction hardline Israeli ministers among other factors had damaged Australia's reputation in Washington DC. 'We've got an anaemic, hopeless, pitiful defence budget. We got an economy that's going backwards, negative productivity, negative per capita living standards growth.' 'We have got the smallest manufacturing sector in the OECD, the least complex economy and Albanese is a man from the left who channels every bit of politics that Trump hates. So, there's no positive agenda there.' The international relations specialist also said defence spending was a significant point of tension in the feud and stated that Australia should follow in the direction of NATO member states and bolster its defence capacities in line with the expectations of the US. 'It's just a joke. Every European NATO partner has agreed to spend three and a half percent of their GDP on defence. We spend just over two percent. It was two percent when Albanese first came into office, it's still two percent.' 'They tell us we're facing the most dangerous strategic circumstances since World War Two. Now the Americans won't cut us adrift simply because our geography is very useful, but we are contributing nothing to the Alliance. They contribute... Everything to the alliance.' With the US recently launching a review into the landmark AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, Mr Sheridan cast serious doubt over the tenability of the agreement and said there were no concrete assurances for the Americans to follow through on their commitments. 'We're giving them 800 million and are going to give them $5bn Australian, $3bn US over several years and this is designed to get them keeping talking nice to us.' 'That's to allegedly to enhance their industrial capacity so they'll build subs more quickly. But the agreement says not until 2031 does a President have to decide whether he actually sells one to us.'
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Federal public service bloats to record level highs under Anthony Albanese, despite Labor vowing to improve stagnating productivity
The federal public service has expanded to record levels under Labor, despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pledging to bolster lagging productivity growth. New Australian Public Service (APS) data has revealed the federal bureaucracy is set to balloon to a record-breaking 213,000 staff, up from a 14-year low of 144,704 workers at the end of 2019. It was also uncovered that a considerable number of the workforce was made of up compliance, regulation, administrative, and human resources officers tasked with supervising the mammoth public service. The compliance category, which makes up HR, policy and regulation employees among others experienced the steepest bump, surging by more that 41,000 workers over five years to December 2024. Despite Mr Albanese vowing to lift lagging productivity and reduce the workforce's dependency on government support, Australian Bureau of Statistics data released last week showed that the almost one million workers were employed in federal, state, territory, and local governments positions. This makes up a staggering 6.8 per cent of the Australian workforce. The shocking revelations come ahead of the government's widely-anticipated economic roundtable on productivity, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers set to gather with business, industry and union bodies to discuss how to best kickstart the nation's concerning productivity levels. Service delivery skyrocketed by 28 per cent to 39,742 employees, while strategic policy and portfolio, program and project management sectors grew by 154 per cent and 153 per cent respectively. Human resources also grew by 48 per cent to 6,381 employees, with administration and communications and marketing employees also rising by 74 per cent and 89 per cent. The APS data also revealed, that while female and culturally diverse representation had grown, the number of indigenous Australians in the government's bloated workforce has dropped to a nine-year low of 3.4 per cent in 2024. This comes in well below the government's target of 5 per cent first nations representation in the federal bureaucracy by 2030. Mr Albanese made the topic of the federal bureaucracy a central talking point in the recent election and defended his government's hiring spree while criticising former opposition leader Peter Dutton's plan to cull over 41,000 civil servants in the nation's capital. During the 2022 federal election, Mr Albanese was critical of the former Coalition's dependency on external consultants and outsourcing service delivery schemes following the shocking Robdebt debacle, with in house service delivery jobs now soaring by 8,610 since 2019. The vast bulk of the 193,503 strong APS is based in Canberra (70,000) with Victoria and New South Wales coming in next at 32,621 and 25,573, respectively. However despite the startling findings, Mr Chalmers has repeatedly stressed for the private sector to serve at the chief national employer, with business and industry magnates criticising the government for its continuous expansion.
The Advertiser
4 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Uni debt relief set to benefit richer students more
Wealthier students are set to benefit more from future plans to cut university debt levels than those on lower incomes, research has shown. Analysis into a federal government proposal to slash HECS debts by 20 per cent found more than half of the financial relief offered will go to the top third of earners. Meanwhile, the study by the e61 Institute found less than 20 per cent of the measure will flow through to those in the bottom third. The plan to cut tertiary education debt will be the first legislation introduced by the federal government in Anthony Albanese's second term when parliament resumes on July 22. The cuts will be backdated to June, when debts increased by a further 3.2 per cent due to indexation. The institute's research economist Matthew Maltman said modelling showed the cut would do little to speed up the repayment of student debt. "If you simulate the effects of a 20 per cent cut on HELP debt holders, you find that for 80 per cent of recipients, the year in which they repay their debt is unchanged," he said. "In terms of delivering cost-of-living relief or easing financial pressures on young people, the benefits of the policy are likely to be modest." The average student debt is about $27,600, meaning $5520 would be cut off repayments. The benefits of the debt reduction would also be dependent on when students completed their university degree, the institute's Jack Buckley said. "Individuals who left university in 2024 will on average receive twice as much debt relief as those who left only four years earlier in 2020 and two and a half times as much as those who will leave four years later in 2028," he said. "Two very similar people will receive very different amounts of debt relief simply because one finished their degree in 2024 and the other finished a few years earlier or later." The institute has called for the 20 per cent reduction to be changed to a flat amount of about $5500 per student. "Each former student with a HELP debt receives the same amount of support, or has their debt wiped, regardless of whether they studied law or teaching," Mr Buckley said. Wealthier students are set to benefit more from future plans to cut university debt levels than those on lower incomes, research has shown. Analysis into a federal government proposal to slash HECS debts by 20 per cent found more than half of the financial relief offered will go to the top third of earners. Meanwhile, the study by the e61 Institute found less than 20 per cent of the measure will flow through to those in the bottom third. The plan to cut tertiary education debt will be the first legislation introduced by the federal government in Anthony Albanese's second term when parliament resumes on July 22. The cuts will be backdated to June, when debts increased by a further 3.2 per cent due to indexation. The institute's research economist Matthew Maltman said modelling showed the cut would do little to speed up the repayment of student debt. "If you simulate the effects of a 20 per cent cut on HELP debt holders, you find that for 80 per cent of recipients, the year in which they repay their debt is unchanged," he said. "In terms of delivering cost-of-living relief or easing financial pressures on young people, the benefits of the policy are likely to be modest." The average student debt is about $27,600, meaning $5520 would be cut off repayments. The benefits of the debt reduction would also be dependent on when students completed their university degree, the institute's Jack Buckley said. "Individuals who left university in 2024 will on average receive twice as much debt relief as those who left only four years earlier in 2020 and two and a half times as much as those who will leave four years later in 2028," he said. "Two very similar people will receive very different amounts of debt relief simply because one finished their degree in 2024 and the other finished a few years earlier or later." The institute has called for the 20 per cent reduction to be changed to a flat amount of about $5500 per student. "Each former student with a HELP debt receives the same amount of support, or has their debt wiped, regardless of whether they studied law or teaching," Mr Buckley said. Wealthier students are set to benefit more from future plans to cut university debt levels than those on lower incomes, research has shown. Analysis into a federal government proposal to slash HECS debts by 20 per cent found more than half of the financial relief offered will go to the top third of earners. Meanwhile, the study by the e61 Institute found less than 20 per cent of the measure will flow through to those in the bottom third. The plan to cut tertiary education debt will be the first legislation introduced by the federal government in Anthony Albanese's second term when parliament resumes on July 22. The cuts will be backdated to June, when debts increased by a further 3.2 per cent due to indexation. The institute's research economist Matthew Maltman said modelling showed the cut would do little to speed up the repayment of student debt. "If you simulate the effects of a 20 per cent cut on HELP debt holders, you find that for 80 per cent of recipients, the year in which they repay their debt is unchanged," he said. "In terms of delivering cost-of-living relief or easing financial pressures on young people, the benefits of the policy are likely to be modest." The average student debt is about $27,600, meaning $5520 would be cut off repayments. The benefits of the debt reduction would also be dependent on when students completed their university degree, the institute's Jack Buckley said. "Individuals who left university in 2024 will on average receive twice as much debt relief as those who left only four years earlier in 2020 and two and a half times as much as those who will leave four years later in 2028," he said. "Two very similar people will receive very different amounts of debt relief simply because one finished their degree in 2024 and the other finished a few years earlier or later." The institute has called for the 20 per cent reduction to be changed to a flat amount of about $5500 per student. "Each former student with a HELP debt receives the same amount of support, or has their debt wiped, regardless of whether they studied law or teaching," Mr Buckley said. Wealthier students are set to benefit more from future plans to cut university debt levels than those on lower incomes, research has shown. Analysis into a federal government proposal to slash HECS debts by 20 per cent found more than half of the financial relief offered will go to the top third of earners. Meanwhile, the study by the e61 Institute found less than 20 per cent of the measure will flow through to those in the bottom third. The plan to cut tertiary education debt will be the first legislation introduced by the federal government in Anthony Albanese's second term when parliament resumes on July 22. The cuts will be backdated to June, when debts increased by a further 3.2 per cent due to indexation. The institute's research economist Matthew Maltman said modelling showed the cut would do little to speed up the repayment of student debt. "If you simulate the effects of a 20 per cent cut on HELP debt holders, you find that for 80 per cent of recipients, the year in which they repay their debt is unchanged," he said. "In terms of delivering cost-of-living relief or easing financial pressures on young people, the benefits of the policy are likely to be modest." The average student debt is about $27,600, meaning $5520 would be cut off repayments. The benefits of the debt reduction would also be dependent on when students completed their university degree, the institute's Jack Buckley said. "Individuals who left university in 2024 will on average receive twice as much debt relief as those who left only four years earlier in 2020 and two and a half times as much as those who will leave four years later in 2028," he said. "Two very similar people will receive very different amounts of debt relief simply because one finished their degree in 2024 and the other finished a few years earlier or later." The institute has called for the 20 per cent reduction to be changed to a flat amount of about $5500 per student. "Each former student with a HELP debt receives the same amount of support, or has their debt wiped, regardless of whether they studied law or teaching," Mr Buckley said.
