Opinion Piece – Beware a Labor PM bearing a plan to save the economy – The West Australian

Last month, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers stood in front of the Australian people to deliver his “plan” to bring down inflation. But if there’s one thing the past two years have taught us, it’s not to trust a Labor Government with a plan. Remember PM Anthony Albanese’s plan to build more than 40,000 affordable homes? How about Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s plan to reduce energy bills by $275? I call it Labor’s First Law of Economics: any part of the economy they plan to improve only gets worse. In delivering his third Budget, Dr Chalmers said Labor’s economic plan would take three-quarters of a percentage point from inflation this year, and another half of a percentage point next year. “Treasury is now forecasting inflation could return to target earlier, perhaps even by the end of the year,” Dr Chalmers said. There was just one problem with Labor’s plan: reality. As soon as the Budget was delivered, economists warned rather than bringing down inflation, Dr Chalmers had inflamed it. Not that you needed to be a professional economist to see record government spending, record taxation and record net overseas immigration would create one of the worst inflation crises this country has seen. On cue, inflation rose to 3.8 per cent a far worse figure than in the UK, US and much of Europe. Under Dr Chalmers, government spending has reached 27.6 per cent of GDP, exceeding even pandemic-era spending, and still going up. Much of this spending has been frivolous when constraint, for the sake of households, was needed. Travelling across the country, I’ve yet to meet an Australian who thinks we need an extra 30,000 bureaucrats in Canberra, or it was prudent to spend nearly $500 million on the Voice to Parliament campaign. We can throw in the $40m of your money Dr Chalmers is spending to sell you his broken promise over stage three tax cuts. As a result of surging inflation, the Reserve Bank of Australia who, unlike the Treasurer, has to deal with reality confirmed during Budget Estimates what Australians were fearing: a 13th rate rise is on the cards. The cost of Dr Chalmers’ plan has, as always, fallen on Australian households. Australians now pay 62 per cent more on their mortgages than before the election. In WA, we’re cumulatively spending an extra $1 billion per year on mortgage repayments. It’s $1b not being spent in hospitality, entertainment even medical care and school fees. That’s some plan. Last month, along with “moderating inflation”, Dr Chalmers championed Labor’s plan for increasing wages and “expanding business investment”. Again, that pesky obstacle reality got in the way. In the same week, it was confirmed inflation had gone up, not down. National Accounts data revealed the economy had contracted for five consecutive quarters and had entered a per-capita recession. This means, per person, the economy is shrinking. The figures showed how personal savings (down 9.9 per cent), disposable income (down 7.8 per cent) and productivity (down 7.8 per cent) have collapsed. Independent economist Chris Richardson put it better than most when he said: “There is pain leaking out of every number in these accounts.” Business investment, instead of expanding, has been decimated. ASIC data shows that in WA, Australia’s economic powerhouse, business insolvencies are double what they were last year. Just this week, the Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman said 43 per cent of businesses had not made a profit last year, while calls to the Ombudsman’s helpline had risen 20 per cent. Instead of responding to reality, Dr Chalmers is blaming it. In response to the alarming figures revealed this week, he said the “primary reason” for Australia’s economic stagnation was the RBA, rather than his own policies. It’s a long way from his confidence of last month, when he told the nation only Labor could be trusted with “an economic plan where growth and opportunity go together”. On behalf of the country, I have a simple request for Dr Chalmers and Labor: please, no more plans.

Media Release – Labor hides critical Productivity Commission report

SENATOR DEAN SMITH SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA MEDIA RELEASE  5 June 2024 LABOR HIDES CRITICAL PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION REPORT The Albanese Government is hiding a report expected to shape the future of religious charities and private and public schools – leaving them and their communities in limbo. Under questioning from Senator Dean Smith in Budget Estimates, Productivity Commission officials revealed the report on overhauling Australia’s DGR (Deductible Gift Recipient) regime was handed to the Government on 10 May. This means it has been with Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh for nearly a month, while anxious organisations await news of their fate. The report is expected to reflect an earlier draft, recommendations of which included slashing the DGR status of religious charities and school building funds. Officials confirmed that the report must be released within 25 sitting days, a date in mid-August, but Senator Smith urged Labor to make it public immediately. “I have been meeting with organisations who expect to be impacted by these changes – so has Andrew Leigh, so he knows precisely how distressed they are,” Senator Smith said. “It makes Labor keeping them waiting even more unacceptable. “Andrew Leigh should release the report now and, while he’s at it, commit the Albanese Government to rejecting any recommendations that jeopardise giving to religious charities and school building funds.” It was also uncovered that the Productivity Commission has not modelled the effect of the proposed DGR changes. As a result, there is no way of knowing if it will – or can – achieve its aim of increasing charitable giving in Australia. There is also no way of knowing the scale of the damage it might do. Senator Smith said it cast further doubt on the Albanese Government’s ability to achieve its target of doubling philanthropic giving by 2030. “The work religious charities are doing is more needed than ever in Labor’s cost of living crisis and the Government’s reward is to consider denying them charitable status in favour of groups it prefers ideologically,” he said. “And Labor’s approach makes no sense. “You cannot hope to double giving if you remove the incentive for donating to some of the country’s most established charities.” ENDS

Opinion Piece – Fears among Jewish community as Anti-Semitism on the march – The West Australian

There is a great fear among the Australian Jewish community that, not for the first time in history, they stand at the edge of a precipice. On one side, the security of tolerance and an understanding of the evil of anti-Semitism, and on the other, the dangerous abyss of ignorance and racial hatred. For weeks, Australian universities have been overrun by anti-Israel encampments, where chants of “intifada” and “from the river to the sea” have transformed places of learning into centres of fear. Anti-Semitism is on the march in Australian cities, whether it be anti-Semitic chants on the steps of the Sydney Opera House in October or the alleged targeting of an 84-year-old Jewish woman in Melbourne, who said she was poked and called a “Zionist pig” at a recent Never Again is Now event. It remains one of the most perplexing and disturbing consequences of the October 7 attack that the greatest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust has led not to an outbreak of sympathy for the victims but the opposite. In these dark times, Jewish Australians are taking measures they had never dreamt would be necessary in this country. Jewish students are not attending lectures, Jewish schools are hiring extra security, and Jewish parents are having conversations with their children about what to do if they are abused or even assaulted. The words of the great-grandmother harassed in Melbourne, who said she “can’t believe this is the Australia I grew up in,” captures the distress felt across her community, and in particular those who lived through the Holocaust. Adding to this distress is a sense of confusion: why is it acceptable to treat Jewish Australians in a way that would be unacceptable if it were any other minority group? This confusion was articulated by the president of the Perth Hebrew Congregation, Michael Levitt, in this newspaper. “We all know that similar public displays of hatred directed at Indigenous Australians, people of colour more broadly, homosexuals, Muslims, transgender people, foreign students — almost any subset of Australian society other than Jews, whether on our streets or on campuses — would be condemned and closed down speedily, and with firm intent,” he wrote. When any community in our country feels under threat, they should be able to look to their political leaders for moral clarity and guidance. Worryingly, Australia’s Jewish community felt abandoned by Labor at the time their public support should have been the Government’s first priority. For evidence of this, we need only look at the events of the past week. When the International Criminal Court sought the arrest warrant of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, along with Hamas’ leadership, they were met with a clear rebuke by the political leadership of our closest allies. US President Joe Biden labelled the ICC’s decision as “outrageous” and confirmed his view that there is “no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas.” UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “There is no moral equivalence between a democratic state exercising its lawful right to self-defence and the terrorist group Hamas”. Opposition Peter Dutton described the decision as “repugnant” and an act of anti-Semitism. The most Anthony Albanese could bring himself to say was that he didn’t comment on court proceedings — a weak response from a Prime Minister who, before the last election, promised that “Australia needs leaders who show up and then step up”. Just this month, Labor Senator Fatima Payman accused Israel of genocide in the Senate and repeated the slogan “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. Anyone in possession of a map can see that the “liberation” of Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea is itself an incitement to genocide, as it could only be brought about by the destruction of the state of Israel. Clearly, Anthony Albanese doesn’t think it’s a problem if a member of his own political party thinks this is a desirable outcome, as he is yet even to reprimand Senator Payman. Nor has he formally reprimanded Ged Kearney, a member of his own front bench, for publicly supporting Senator Payman. In an attempt to break this cycle of fear, Peter Dutton and Liberal Senator for Victoria, Sarah Henderson, wrote to Mr Albanese seeking a judicial or Senate inquiry into antisemitism on campuses. But Labor, it seems, is reluctant to support any inquiry focussed only on anti-Semitism. Time and time again, at moments when the country needed moral leadership, Anthony Albanese has been sly and equivocating. As a result, anti-Semitism has a foot in the door in Australia. While Anthony Albanese continues to shy away from responsibility on this critical issue, which goes to the heart of Australia’s multicultural character, he could do worse than reflect on the words of Nobel Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel. In his 1987 acceptance speech, Wiesel said: “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.” He went on to say: “Action is the only remedy to indifference: the most insidious danger of all.” On behalf of the country, it’s time for Anthony Albanese to get off the fence.

Opinion Piece – Migrant boom’s housing bust – The West Australian

Anthony Albanese is learning the hard way that it’s much easier to promise people the world than deliver practical outcomes. Despite pledging to reduce power bills by $275, Labor’s policies have caused them to increase by 30 per cent on the east coast since May 2022. Anthony Albanese swore to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart “in full” but his referendum was rejected by a sweeping majority in every Australian State after he refused to explain how it was going to work, what it would do, and how much it would cost. These hollow promises, to which we could add cheaper mortgages and more affordable homes, go a long way to explaining the recent nosedive in support for Labor in WA. But what Anthony Albanese didn’t say before the last election is starting to discredit him in the eyes of voters just as much as what he did. Namely, overseeing the biggest influx of immigrants this country has seen since the end of World War II. Last week’s Australian Bureau of Statistics data confirmed that is exactly what has happened on Labor’s watch. And its impact is totally unmodeled. For WA, which has now recorded the fastest-growing population in the country for four consecutive quarters, the ramifications of this are being more widely felt than any of Anthony Albanese’s policies. According to the ABS, net overseas immigration to Australia soared to 548,000 arrivals in the 12 months to September last year, the most recent reporting period. WA’s population grew to more than 2.9 million people and on current projections will exceed 3 million people by Christmas of next year — quite possibly sooner — with our annual growth rate of 3.3 per cent outstripping east coast capitals significantly. The ABS data sets, released every three months, show that WA’s population has now grown at a faster rate than any other capital city since December 2022, beginning at a 2.3 per cent growth rate. These record immigration levels have been a godsend for Jim Chalmers and Labor, as they remain the only thing keeping the national economy from entering a technical recession. For the rest of the country, however, it’s a very different story. Take housing, for example. The median price to rent a home in Perth is now a record $640 a week, up from $520 a week in December 2022. It’s a result of Perth having the most restricted rental vacancy market in the country at a crippling 0.4 per cent. The problem of finding a home has been so severe that we have seen press reports in recent weeks of Perth real estate agents leasing out rooms in empty homes for as much as $450 per week, and people paying $120 a night to sleep in someone’s backyard through Airbnb. And while WA might be copping the brunt of it, the housing crisis is well and truly a national problem. Despite the 900,000 permanent and long-term overseas arrivals who entered the country between July 2022 and December 2023, only around 265,000 new homes were built, meaning immigration is outstripping the supply of new dwellings by almost four-to-one. Thanks to an economy saddled with planning bottlenecks and Labor’s pipeline of green infrastructure projects, approvals for new homes across the country are at their lowest level in 12 years. Median house prices are at record levels in three of Australia’s capital cities, including Perth at $660,000. Anthony Albanese’s solution to this urgently pressing concern, Labor’s Help to Buy Scheme, has been treated like an afterthought. Nearly two years since Labor was elected, the legislation is still being debated in Parliament. And, unlike the Coalition’s policy of allowing first home buyers to access their super to get a foot on the property ladder, Labor’s policy will at best apply to no more than 10,000 people each year. The Help to Buy Scheme’s restrictions, such as cutting off eligibility to people with an income of more than $90,000, and capping eligible homes to roughly half the average house price in cities such as Sydney, means the policy is shuffling deck chairs as the Titanic sinks. On Labor’s own projections, it will only help 40,000 people at most over four years — that’s if it ever gets legislated. As a proud WA Senator, and long term supporter of planned immigration, I begrudge none of the nearly 100,000 people who have decided to call WA home in the past 12 months. Our country, and our State, one of the best places in the world. But unplanned, unmodeled and, most importantly, unasked-for immigration policy on this scale will only bring a loss of support for immigration, a phenomenon we are witnessing in many parts of the world. For the most successful multicultural country on earth, such an outcome would be a tragedy. And Anthony Albanese needs to remember that his first priority is to Australians, who he will have failed if he risks — as he is currently — preventing an entire generation of working Australians from owning their own home.

Transcript – Interview with Nadia Mitsopoulos, ABC Radio Perth

2 March 2024 Topics: Armaguard, ACCC, Regional Banking Inquiry E&OE   Nadia Mitsopoulos Dean Smith is a WA Liberal Senator. He has some questions to ask about this in parliament. Senator, good morning.   Dean Smith Good morning to you Nadia.   Nadia Mitsopoulos How do you see the situation that Armaguard is in now?   Dean Smith Well, I suspect we’re at the beginning and not the end of this issue. I think it is important to reassure West Australians, your listeners, that it’s the Reserve Bank of Australia’s view that there must be cash in the Australian economy and there must be access to that cash. So, people do not need to sort of unnecessarily worry that there might be restrictions on the availability of cash at post offices or at Coles or Woolworths or at the local ATM. But there are a couple of issues to be answered here. Armaguard and Prosegur, which is the other merger partner, went to the ACCC in 2022 asking for special permission to merge together in what we call cash in transit services.   The ACCC gave them that special approval as a special authorisation because as you have identified, it created a monopoly service provider in this new merged entity. Part of the ACCC’s process was to forensically examine whether or not the financial viability of this merged entity could be met and sustained. And on the basis of that, the ACCC gave permission for the merged entity to operate. And very shortly after that, the merged entity then put up their hand and said things are much more severe than we thought they were. We can’t run the business with a viable financial structure. And then went to Coles and the supermarkets and banks and others looking for a very significant cash injection originally of $190 million over three years to make the entity viable.   So, for me, a couple of important questions: Why did the ACCC find it necessary to allow the merge structure to exist given the necessary authorisations? If we are going to find ourselves in a situation where we did last week where there was a risk to cash delivery services in the economy?   Nadia Mitsopoulos At the time that permission was given, did you accept the reasoning that the ACCC was given giving and the reassurances?   Dean Smith Yes, in February of this year at the Senate estimates, I had the opportunity to ask the governor of the Reserve Bank, but also the ACCC chair, whether or not this merger proposal was properly founded in the ACCC’s merger process. They reassured me that they had gone through all the necessary due diligence and satisfied themselves that the new entity would be viable. But that doesn’t make sense now, because we know that last week Lindsey Fox made a personal injection of $10 million.  That’s after he asked others to make a $26 million injection.   Nadia Mitsopoulos Which he then rejected.   Dean Smith Which he then rejected because, because the banks and Coles and Woolies and others asked to see Armaguard’s books   Nadia Mitsopoulos And he said no.   Dean Smith And he said no.   Nadia Mitsopoulos So, what do you read into that?       Dean Smith I think that there is something going on here that deserves much greater scrutiny. In the last week of parliament prior to Easter, I had the opportunity again to inquire with the ACCC and the RBA where negotiations were up to. And they were particularly cagey with me, not wanting to reveal or respond to some of the questions that I had asked in public in Canberra. So, when we return back to the regional banking inquiry on the 16th of April, these are the same sorts of questions that I’ll be asking the RBA and the ACCC because I think there’s a very significant question to be answered here.   Nadia Mitsopoulos What is going on? Dean Smith is my guest this morning Liberal Senator for WA what do you specifically want to know?   Dean Smith I want to know what authorisations have actually been met. So, the ACCC in granting the merger to proceed would have asked Armaguard and Prosegur to comply with a number of undertakings and authorisations. I want to know, have they all been met? If they haven’t been met, why have they not been met? Secondly, I’m keen to understand what level of confidence the banks currently have, but also big retailers and organisations like Coles and Woolies and others, whether or not they are confident that cash in transit services can be sustained over the medium to longer term in this country.   Because there’s a very, very important issue for many people in Australia, despite the very significant uptake in digitization and digital payments. There are still many in our economy, people living in regional communities, the elderly, that use cash. 15% of people in Australia use cash for 80% or more of their transactions still. We also know that access to banks has been declining with bank closures.   Nadia Mitsopoulos And ATMs!   Dean Smith And ATMs closing, we know that the level of withdrawals from ATMs is also fallen significantly. So, there’s absolutely a change happening in the economy in terms of how cash is used. But as the RBA has made very, very clear, there must still always be access to cash available to people. And that’s, I suppose, at the end of the day, what am I seeking to achieve: a greater level of certainty and security that cash will be available on a day-to-day basis to people throughout the Australian economy.       Nadia Mitsopoulos Senator Dean Smith, do you have confidence that Armaguard is viable moving forward?   Dean Smith Well, I’ve not seen the books. I’ve not seen the books and they are really the questions for the RBA and…

Transcript – Interview with with Greg Jennett, ABC Afternoon Briefing

28 February 2024 Topics: Sydney Mardi Gras Police attendance, Airline competition, Pay on Delay Bill E&OE GREG JENNETT: Liberal Senator Dean Smith has been keeping an eye on this for reasons that he might soon explain to us. He joins us now live in the studio. Senator, welcome back. The update we brought to our audience only in the last 15 or 20 minutes was from the board of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, saying New South Wales Police officers will participate in this year’s parade in a reduced capacity to the originally planned full float, and that they will also be participating out of uniform. Does that address any concerns you might have had about the decision to uninvite them? DEAN SMITH: Well, as you alluded to Greg, I do speak from a unique position, not only as a parliamentarian who is a member of the LGBTI community, but as the son of a Police officer and the brother of a Police officer in the West Australian Police Force. So, I hope that this is a decision that will be welcomed not just by the LGBTI community but also by the broader Australian community. I think it does speak to the high level of cooperation and unity that has characterized New South Wales policing and LGBTI matters for a number of years. Now, I’m sure it will not satisfy everyone, but I think that we can trust that the cooperation we have seen in the past will remain, and that the decision to keep a close eye on the importance of demonstrating unity at Saturday’s March is maintained. So, I welcome the decision. GREG JENNETT: Obviously, we are awaiting word and I imagine it is being considered right now by the Australian Federal Police whether they would follow suit and restore some sort of contingent presence in this weekend’s Mardi Gras. Any views on where this leaves them? DEAN SMITH: Well, I can’t see a compelling reason why the Australian Federal Police will not follow the decision, the agreement that’s been reached by New South Wales Police and the Mardi Gras organizers. I do think that Police forces across our country should be acting in a uniform and cooperative way. And again, it speaks to the cooperation and unity that both Mardi Gras and the New South Wales police have established. So, I welcome the New South Wales police decision, but I also hope that the Australian Federal Police will follow suit. GREG JENNETT: As you alluded to in your first answer, Dean, there are historical reasons for some tensions, I suppose, between the gay and lesbian community around Sydney with a special commission of inquiry having been held in that state. And then there are more recent events, obviously the tragic killing of Luke Davies and Jesse Baird. when some of the more immediate pressure points have dissipated, do you in general think it a healthy thing that formal Police presence via a float is a regular fixture at these events? DEAN SMITH: Again, people’s attitudes to the Sydney Mardi Gras are varied. When I look at the Mardi Gras, I see demonstration of Australia’s commitment to anti-discrimination measures. I’m not someone who finds the Mardi Gras offensive. I’m not offended by the political statements that some people choose to make. It is a free country. But for me, what I see in the Mardi Gras events are Australia’s commitment to ending discrimination, a greater acceptance of LGBTI people across our community in every forum. GREG JENNETT: Well, look, thank you for putting that on the record and coming at it at least in the Federal Parliament from what I imagine is a, a unique perspective for the reasons that you outlined. Why don’t we just switch over to your daily work here, and you are behind a Coalition Bill called “Pay on Delay” that would seek to impose penalties on airlines when they seriously delayed or cancelled in this country. Why not leave this to the ACCC which has already got a few broad policies in this area? DEAN SMITH: Greg, you won’t be surprised to hear me say that the Government’s reaction so far to meeting increasing levels of demand for better service from airline consumers has been characterised by inertia and defensiveness. I think the context is very, very important. 5 million commercial flights in Australia in December last year, 5.5% level of cancellations, double the average. And of course we’ve seen in the most recent ACCC report an almost 200% increase in the number of complaints to airlines. So clearly Australians, Australian airline consumers, are demanding action. I’m delighted that Senator McKenzie and myself have put forward a bill to Parliament, a bill that’ll bring some of those questions to resolution. GREG JENNETT: Finally, we don’t have a lot of time left, but there’d be a pile of exemptions, wouldn’t there, before a penalty was actually paid to a passenger? For instance, uncontrollable weather events, air traffic delays circling around a city, all of that would have to be taken care of. DEAN SMITH: One of those things is not within the control of the Government, and that is the weather. The other is absolutely in control of the Government. Air Services Australia is a Government agency. So, I think the Government has a greater level of responsibility on this issue than it wants to accept at the moment, and we hope that our bill will put a change to that. GREG JENNETT: Well bills initiated from your side of the Parliament are pretty hard going but… DEAN SMITH: To be fair, though, Greg, to be fair, Senator McKenzie and I had some recent success, just a few months ago, with a similar bill to force the Government to reintroduce the ACCC monitoring regime. And we had some success. GREG JENNETT: Alright, well that one’s chalked up on the board. We wish you good luck with whatever lies ahead on that one.…

Joint Media Release with Senator Bridget McKenzie – Protecting Airline Passengers

SENATOR THE HON BRIDGET MCKENZIE SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEADER OF THE NATIONALS IN THE SENATE SENATOR FOR VICTORIA SENATOR DEAN SMITH SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA 27 February 2024 MEDIA RELEASE PROTECTING AIRLINE PASSENGERS – BECAUSE LABOR WON’T Australians deserve an aviation industry where planes take off and land on time, their bags arrive with them, and they are not left shouldering the costs associated with these service failures. That is why Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development, Senator Bridget McKenzie, and Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, Senator Dean Smith, have today tabled in the Senate the Airline Passenger Protections (Pay on Delay) Bill. This Private Senator’s Bill requires the Minister for Transport to establish and airline Code of Conduct within 12 months, bringing Australia into line with best practice in the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada. The Pay on Delay Bill also builds on the Coalition’s push for greater transparency in the domestic aviation market, after it compelled Labor to reinstate ACCC monitoring last year following months of its characteristic inertia. Coalition Competition Spokesperson, Liberal Senator Dean Smith, said consumer protections were especially needed while a lack of competition dogged the aviation industry. “With nearly 95% of the market share, Qantas and Virgin have a tighter grip on Australian aviation than Coles and Woolworths have on our supermarkets,” Senator Smith said. “For too long, this lack of competition has favoured airlines over customers and this Bill begins the process of correcting that imbalance – and giving consumers some confidence when they travel.” “Once again, the Coalition has been forced to act in this space because Labor has not.” Shadow Minister for Transport, Senator Bridget McKenzie, said the Bill was wholly necessary given the Albanese Government had failed to ensure travelling Australians were not taken advantage of by our airlines. “A recommendation of last year’s Aviation Senate Inquiry was to review airline consumer protections, and this Bill will ensure passengers are being treated fairly by the airline industry in the future,” Senator McKenzie said. “If the Minister won’t act in the face of the egregious behaviour from Australian airlines on the behalf of travelling Australians, the Coalition will.” ENDS.

Opinion Piece – Compensating travellers for cancelled flights long overdue – The Australian Financial Review

From being one of life’s pleasures, flying in Australia has become an anxious business, which sees us reloading Qantas or Virgin apps throughout the day, expecting the worst, while having to make contingencies for possible delays or cancelled flights. Australians who fly for work, visit family, for medical appointments, holidays, and a host of other reasons, have the right to say enough is enough. Last week’s Domestic Airline Competition in Australia report from the ACCC confirms why. The report found that, in December 2023, 5 per cent of flights were cancelled, representing more than 2200 departures – more than double the long-term average of 2.2 per cent. Just 63 per cent of flights arrived on time, well below the long-term average of 81 per cent. We also heard in Senate estimates last Monday that when two air traffic controllers at Sydney Airport called in sick, flights across the eastern seaboard of Australia had to be cancelled, an indicator that at least some of the cancellations and delays are the responsibility of the federal Minister for Transport to fix. In November last year, 45 per cent of flights were cancelled or delayed on the “golden triangle” routes between Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, meaning one of the busiest routes in the world is also one of the most unreliable. And if you happen to find yourself at Broome Airport in WA’s Kimberley region, there’s only a 50 per cent chance your flight will leave on time. Customer service is also headed in the wrong direction. The ACCC says it has seen a dramatic increase in the number of inquiries on airline matters. In the first nine months of 2023, they were 179 per cent higher than 2018 and 100 per cent higher than 2019. We expect an affordable airline system where your flights take off and land on time, and your bags arrive with you at your destination. Domestic airfare prices are trending down, falling 13.4 per cent in the year to November 2023. But they remain far too high. This reality is even harder for air travellers to swallow when they think back to the record profit of $2.47 billion announced by Australia’s largest carrier, Qantas, last August. Former ACCC chairman Allan Fels recently pointed out that this profit coincided with Qantas’ flight cancellation rate more than doubling. The February 2024 Domestic Airline Competition in Australia report is the first published since the watchdog resumed airline monitoring late last year. It was originally a Coalition government initiative, but Labor allowed the regime to lapse, due largely to pressure from Qantas. This decision went against the advice of the ACCC itself and the sentiments of every other industry stakeholder, including airlines, airports and travel agencies. It was characteristic of the Albanese government’s stifling of airline competition, both domestically and internationally – the highest profile example of which was the decision of Transport Minister Catherine King to block Qatar Airways’ application to add extra flights into Australia. Coalition pressure in the form of a private senator’s bill from us as the respective shadow ministers for competition (Smith) and transport (McKenzie) forced Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ hand. In November 2023, he reluctantly restored this vital monitoring process and the clarity it provides consumers in an environment that’s currently stacked against them. Now we are having to do it again. We are co-sponsoring a second private senator’s bill, aimed at delivering Australian airline consumers the protections they need. The draft bill requires the establishment of long overdue minimum standards of service for travellers and – importantly – compensation for those who have had their plans upended. Similar laws exist in Europe and the US, where Qantas is bound to adhere to them, so why not in Australia? Neither the airlines nor the airports are likely to embrace this bill, but unless there are serious efforts by the Albanese government to improve flight reliability, including reforming the slots system at Sydney airport, changing the culture at AirServices Australia, and improving competition within the aviation sector, nothing will change. It’s clear that there has not been a sufficient disincentive that would prompt airlines to improve their operations until this point. They have had free rein to cancel flights and lose baggage while passengers, in most cases, bear the expense and inconvenience. We are now in a cycle where the Coalition acts proactively where Labor will not. Our “Pay for Delay” legislation will be another step in tilting the balance of power back in favour of consumers, rather than airlines. Because that is the way it should be.

Opinion Piece – Newly engaged Anthony Albanese must show WA some love too – The West Australian

Fresh off his engagement to long-term partner Jodie Haydon, no one will begrudge the Prime Minister having a spring in his step when he arrives in WA in a few days. And while he can expect a warmer reaction — who doesn’t love a wedding — Anthony Albanese must also be ready for some tough questions. West Australians are not gullible. We can see past the knee-jerk political reactions, such as Labor’s decision to abandon stage three tax cuts, and whistle-stop tours of our State. And we realise that, despite promising to “stand up for WA” before the last election, Labor’s policies seem to be pulling our State backwards instead. Firstly, Anthony Albanese can be certain that he will be asked to explain his position on live exports. Labor’s plan to outlaw this industry will not only be catastrophic for the WA economy, it will also decimate livelihoods and erase the generations of achievement of our farming communities. When an industry is worth more than $120 million to WA and feeds hundreds of thousands of people around the world, it’s only a weak leader that would bow to the demands of extreme animal rights activists — even if many of them do live in his own electorate. Labor’s damage to our farming communities hasn’t stopped there. Less well known by many is that our farmers raise hundreds of millions of dollars every year in compulsory industry levies. Yet, Labor has just re-committed to a new levy that forces Australian farmers to pay for the biosecurity costs of international importers. The new tax will punish WA farmers, push up prices at supermarkets, and add to the cost-of-business challenges for our grain growers, meat producers and fruit and vegetable farmers. Farmers are already dealing with labour shortages, climate and cost-of-living challenges. Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers’ answer — to impose more taxes — needs to be called out. We can also expect the Prime Minister to try to justify the $10 million Labor has donated to the now-discredited Environmental Defenders Office. This body, whose current target is Woodside’s $16 billion dollar Scarborough gas field off the northwest coast, is a direct threat to 120,000 West Australians employed in the resources sector. It’s also a threat to the roads, schools, and hospitals across the country who rely on royalties from WA miners. Anthony Albanese should follow Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s example and promise to shut it down after the next election. Then we come to the housing crisis — now the worst in the country. While there are many factors that go into housing, what is hurting WA renters the most is Labor’s record, unmodelled immigration policy. In three years Labor will bring in 1.5 million people from overseas, with no plan to manage its impact. In 2023 alone, more than 500,000 immigrants came to Australia. This put significant strain on WA. Per capita, our population grew more than any other State last year. Unsurprisingly, in December the average price to rent a house in WA hit $600 a week for the first time, and rental availability shrunk to below 1 per cent. Finally — and this list of grievances is far from complete — the Prime Minister can expect to be held accountable for his Government’s failures in Indigenous affairs. Despite spending more than $450 million on a referendum that was overwhelmingly rejected by WA voters, Anthony Albanese and Minister Linda Burney have been silent on the epidemic of alcoholism, violence and sexual abuse that scars too many remote indigenous communities. If the Prime Minister cares so deeply about improving health and education outcomes for Indigenous Australians, he should include Broome, Derby, Halls Creek and Kununurra in his itinerary. No one is saying it’s an easy issue, but the PM’s symbolism-over-substance policy, combined with a refusal to see first hand the communities worst impacted by this current scourge, is insincere at best. With speculation growing the election will be later this year instead of early next year, WA voters are watching closer than ever and are asking themselves whether Anthony Albanese really has WA’s back or is in fact going behind it. So far, the evidence says it’s the latter.

RADICAL LABOR IR CHANGES THREATEN CHARITIES

  SENATOR DEAN SMITH LIBERAL SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY   MEDIA RELEASE 23 January 2024   RADICAL LABOR IR CHANGES THREATEN CHARITIES   Thousands of jobs in Australia’s charity sector risk being plunged into uncertainty thanks to Labor’s industrial relations agenda. As reported in The Australian newspaper this week, the Albanese Government’s attack on fixed-term contracts will have very real consequences for the more than 60,000 registered charities across the country that deal in short, often transitory, funding arrangements. David Crosbie, CEO of the Community Council of Australia, raised the alarm on broader impacts for the sector in Monday’s article. Mr Crosbie said restricting fixed-term contracts would burden charities with the extra costs associated with full-time permanent contracts, such as redundancy entitlements. He said charities were at a greater risk of trading insolvent if they couldn’t use fixed-term contracts to match their funding streams, which typically operate on two-year cycles. Although its broad impacts will be felt throughout the economy, Labor’s union-led industrial relations crusade is a particularly unwelcome blow to the charities sector. Coalition Charities spokesman Dean Smith said its essential to remember that charities and not-for-profits employ more than 10% of the country’s workforce, and generate nearly $200 billion in revenue. “As a result of the indifference of Minister for Charities Andrew Leigh, Labor has done nothing to advance important reforms such a superannuation bequests and more structured tax returns, which were advised by the Productivity Commission more than a year ago,” Senator Smith said. “Minister Leigh and Labor also twiddled their thumbs for months when it came to appointing new members of the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit Commission’s Board.” Senator Smith said Andrew Leigh needed to stand up against the extreme policy positions of his colleagues for the sake of his portfolio. “Thousands of jobs in the charity sector are at potential risk – it’s shameful that they can’t rely on the federal Minister for Charities having their back,” Senator Smith said. “Labor failed to live up to his promise of bold and productive reforms in the national charity space.” “And, with charities working overtime to support Australians through the cost of living crisis, this is insult to injury.”   ENDS.