Franco-Australian relations rebooted as foreign ministers ink security deal

Tensions between Australia and France following from the AUKUS deal appear to have all but disappeared after a new agreement to share military bases and training facilities between the two countries was inked.

It is understood the reciprocal access agreement will grant Australian forces the ability to use French bases in the Pacific, while France will be provided access to Australian facilities.

The European nation is seeking to establish a greater presence in the Indo-Pacific in an attempt to fend off influence from China which has sought to enhance its presence in the region.

On Monday, Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong met with her French counterpart Catherine Colonna before she Ms Colonna heads to New Caledonia for scheduled security talks.

The bilateral relationship between Australia and France deteriorated under former prime minister Scott Morrison after his government pulled the pin on a multi-billion dollar contract for French submarines, instead opting for a nuclear-powered US model under the AUKUS partnership with the UK and the US.

Speaking at the National Press Club in Canberra earlier on Monday, Ms Colonna said while the Morrison government’s decision to nix the submarine contract with France’s Naval Group was not “pleasant”, the French government had “decided to move on”.

Jeers over Christmas ham cost demand

Labor frontbencher Murray Watt has renewed his call on the major supermarkets to freeze the cost of the traditional Christmas ham.

But his call in senate question time was met with jeers and heckling from the opposition, a move Senator Watt criticised.

“I’m surprised that the opposition don’t think that’s a good idea, sneering at the idea of freezing the price of Christmas – how concerned about (the) cost of living are you?” Mr Watt asked.

“I really would have thought that this is something that the opposition could get behind but apparently not.

“It’s always politics for them, not caring about the average Australian who’s trying to save some money.”

Wong and Hume trade barbs over inflation

Foreign Minister Penny Wong and opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume have traded barbs over comments made by Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock that inflation was becoming increasingly “homegrown”.

“Does the Prime Minister and the Albanese government accept any responsibility for the pain and mortgage stress being felt by a record number of Australians?” Senator Hume asked Senator Wong.

But Senator Wong said the government had acted to provide cost-of-living relief while price pressures had eased.

“We’ve seen some moderation in the most recent inflation figures,” Ms Wong said, citing monthly CPI numbers that showed the annual inflation rate had fallen to 4.9 per cent in October, down from 5.6 per cent in September.

 “Obviously, much more is required but we are committed to fighting inflation,” Ms Wong admitted before adding the government understood “the effect that inflation has on families on the cost of living”.

Wong addresses Senate over Labor MP’s death

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has paid tribute to her former colleague, Labor MP Peta Murphy, who died on Monday morning aged 50 after losing her battle with breast cancer.

“It is my sad duty to inform the Senate that a short time ago, the Prime Minister confirmed the death of our beloved colleague Peta Murphy,” Ms Wong told senators assembled for question time.

“We offer our deep sympathies to her loving husband Rod and all her family.

“This is the saddest of days for the Labor family.”

PM announces Peta Murphy’s death

Anthony Albanese has announced Labor MP Peta Murphy has died after a lengthy battle with cancer.

The Prime Minister confirmed the news at a snap press conference in Canberra.

“The Labor family is broken-hearted by the death of our beloved Peta Murphy,” Mr Albanese told reporters.

“At this saddest of times, we offer our deepest sympathies to her loving husband Rod, they were together for 24 years, and all her family.

“Peta Murphy was brave, she was courageous, and she was loved.”

Ms Murphy, who represented the division of Dunkley since 2019, had long suffered from cancer, having been first diagnosed when she was 37.

Major blow to cash-strapped Aussies

Households grappling with the nation’s cost of living crunch shouldn’t expect any major relief in the mid-year budget to be handed down next week, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.

The mid-year economic and fiscal outlook (MYEFO) will be handed down by Dr Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.

It’s widely anticipated to show a further improvement in the budget bottom line due to soaring commodity windfalls, near-record low unemployment and burgeoning tax collections from workers and businesses.

Last week, Dr Chalmers met with disgruntled Labor backbenchers who pressured the Treasurer to provide further support in the MYEFO. However, their calls appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

Speaking to reporters in Canberra, Dr Chalmers said the government would focus on rolling out existing measures to ease the pressure on family budgets, rather than additional relief.

“People shouldn’t anticipate big new measures in the mid-year update next week,” Dr Chalmers said.

However, Dr Chalmers foreshadowed consideration would be given to funding extra support measures as it prepared for the 2024-25 budget to be handed down in May.

“Obviously, as we get closer to the budget in May, if there’s more that we can do which is consistent with our budget constraints, and is right for the economic conditions at the time, then obviously, as we have always said, we’re prepared to contemplate it,” he said.

Call to waive 100k Centrelink debts

More than 100,000 miscalculated Centrelink debts could be waived after a scathing new report blasted two federal agencies for failing to remediate historic unlawful behaviour.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman said both Services Australia and the Department of Social Services had taken inadequate action over the tens of thousands of miscalculated debts it placed on customers between 2023 and 2020.

In a detailed review, released on Monday, the watchdog found that despite being aware of the issue for more than three years, both government agencies were “still unable to advise how many people have been affected by unlawful income apportionment”.

“When errors happen, agencies owe it to the public to act promptly to assess the impact of the error and develop and implement fair and proportionate remedies,” it said.

“Services Australia and DSS should also be considering as one of those options whether the most appropriate as well as fairest way forward to remediate the impacts on customers with unlawful debt might be an approach involving large-scale waiver of debts rather than seeking to recalculate over 100,000 individual debts.”

2026 Games up in air

The Gold Coast has ditched its bid to host the 2026-27 Commonwealth Games after the city’s mayor confirmed it could not generate support from state and federal governments.

Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said he would withdraw his $700m bid to host a “streamlined” games with Perth that he claimed would have “saved Australia’s tarnished reputation” and “delivered billions into the national economy”.

“We did our best and that’s all people can expect,” Mr Tate said in a statement on Sunday.

“Sadly, at the same time, our country’s reputation as a place that reneges on a global sports contract remains in tatters.”

No state in Australia has expressed interest in hosting the games after Victoria withdrew its bid to host the event earlier this year, citing overblown costs.

The Queensland government said it had no interest in hosting the international event after Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was “100 per cent focused” on hosting the 2032 Olympics.

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie said the state’s controversial $2.7bn plan to knock down and rebuild a stadium for the Olympics would come back to bite the Premier at next year’s election.

“I think people are sick of seeing money spent when it doesn’t need to be spent,“ Senator Lambie said on Monday.

“The multitude of sports grounds and whatever else you already have in Brisbane and the Gold Coast region, and this is the best solution you can come up with and this is supposed to be cost-effective? I seriously think they’ll probably pay for it in the next election.”

Australia splits on nuclear

Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien has called for an “all-of-the-above’’ approach towards clean energy after criticising Australia’s decision to shun a global declaration to triple nuclear energy capacity.

More than 20 countries, including France, Britain and the US, signed an agreement during climate talks on Sunday, calling for a tripling of zero-emissions nuclear energy by 2050.

While agreeing to triple global renewable energy generation capacity and double global average annual energy ­efficiency improvements, Australia rejected the pledge, citing its natural advantage in the renewables space.

“There is no credible pathway to reach net zero without zero-emissions nuclear energy, it’s so important,” Mr O’Brien told RN.

“This is certainly not a comment against renewables, and we need renewables too. In fact, we need an all-of-the-above approach where every technology is considered.”

Mr O’Brien said he would announce the Coalition’s energy policy before the next election.

Super changes on the horizon

The government will look at new ways to reform Australia’s superannuation system, as the number of retirees with a super account is forecast to double over the next decade.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said most retirees weren’t maximising their compulsory savings largely due to uncertainty about expenses and a lack of access to appropriate super products.

He has released a discussion paper seeking public input on how to support people navigating the system, how to help funds deliver better products and services, and how to make lifetime income products more accessible.

“It’s clear more work needs to be done. Government and industry, along with the wider community, need to work together to form a complete understanding of the issues to inform and deliver better solutions,” Dr Chalmers said in a statement.

“Australians will increasingly retire with higher balances, as they will benefit from receiving the super guarantee for a longer portion of their careers and at a higher rate.

“However, on reaching retirement, Australians often lack the support they need to make the most of their super nest eggs.”

About 84 per cent of super savings are held in account-based or allocated pensions, while 3.5 per cent are held in annuities that offer the option of receiving regular payments for life.

There are 1.6 million people aged 65 and over receiving income from super. This number will more than double by 2035, with a further 2.5 million people expected to retire.

New detainee laws

Convicted criminals released in the wake of the NZYQ ruling could be sent to prison for rolling three-year stints under new laws the government wants to push through this week.

The amendments, set to be introduced to the Senate later this week, will enable the Immigration Minister to apply to the courts to re-detain a cohort of offenders of a serious violent or sexual offence punishable by either life imprisonment or a maximum seven year period.

But the government can’t say just how many within the cohort would fall under the new regime beyond an assurance a vast majority would.

Nor will it release the legal advice from the Solicitor-General about its constitutional risk in a bid to reassure MPs and Senators the laws are sound before they vote on it.

The new laws will establish a community safety detention order to send individuals to jail for up to three years if a court found a person posed an unacceptable risk of committing a serious violent or sexual offence.

The Coalition was briefed on the legislation on Monday morning, with the government holding out hope it will vote alongside it in order to avoid horse trading with the crossbench.

Speaking to reporters in Sydney, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he wanted assurance the legislation was constitutionally sound to avoid another High Court challenge. “We need to make sure that the government has given it proper consideration because if not, they’ll then be back up in the High Court,” he said.

Mr Dutton said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese needed to “show some leadership” and sack both the Immigration Minister and Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil. “Minister Giles here and Minister O’Neil are completely out of their depth and the Prime Minister should sack Andrew Giles and sack Clare O’Neil and put ministers who are competent into those roles to clean this mess up,” he said.

“That’s why the Prime Minister needs to show some strength, show some leadership instead of being weak and woke, he needs to stand up and be strong and stand up for our country’s interests.”

Pass immigration laws now: Lambie

Earlier, Jacqui Lambie fired off on the ongoing political dogfight over the new immigration detention laws, telling Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton to put the safety of the community ahead of their parties’ interests.

This came before federal cabinet met to discuss Labor’s new laws that aim to redetain violent offenders.

“I would ask the two grown-up leaders out there to actually get to the table and get this sorted because both of them, if they don’t get this sorted, will be held responsible if anything happens to the safety of Australians over the Christmas period,“ Senator Lambie told Sky News.

Earlier, opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan said he wanted to grasp the details of the new laws before throwing his support behind them.

“We are not going to vote towards a bad piece of legislation, so let’s see how the government goes about it this time,” he said.

Sharma’s in

Former Liberal MP Dave Sharma has officially returned to federal politics after being sworn into the Senate on Monday morning.

Mr Sharma, who secured a preselection victory against former state treasurer Andrew Constance last week, replaces former foreign minister Marise Payne in her highly contested NSW seat.

Mr Sharma lost his Wentworth seat in Sydney’s east to teal Allegra Spender at last year’s federal election.