News and politics live: Barnaby Joyce makes embarrassing on-air backflip on One Nation migration policy

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has insisted comments he made before handing down his State Budget on Thursday were not a jab at the Federal government.

The Premier vowed at the time his Budget would not reveal any surprise tax hikes.

“We are not increasing taxes in a way that’s unexpected by anybody. It’s an important principle. Not politically but as a matter of policy,” Mr Malinauskas told reporters, after handing down a budget projecting $1.4bn in forecast surpluses through to 2030,” he said on Thursday.

When asked about the comments by ABC Radio on Friday morning, Mr Malinauskas denied the comments were a shot at his Federal Labor colleagues.

“Anyone that looks at everything that I have said at every Budget that … my government has handed down has largely adopted that position and used the exact language that you quote there … so it’s not particularly new or surprising to anyone,” he told the program.

“Look, it is true that we’ve been very deliberate and focused on making sure that any changes to tax policy we make aren’t causing any sort of friction or shock waves — We do want to create a stable investment environment for capital flowing into our State.”

The Premier added that he had no intentions of publicly critcising the Albanese government, despite people being “desperate” for him to do so.

“I’m not going to do that, because I feel as though we’ve got great partners in the Albanese Labor government that are delivering a lot for South Australians,” he said.

Australia will likely be lumped with higher tariffs by the US, as analysts warn the nation doesn’t stand a good chance of negotiating an exemption.

The US has proposed a 12.5 per cent tariff on Australian goods as part of plans for new levies on 60 countries, drawing condemnation from the nation’s political leaders.

The White House says the taxes are in response to inadequate anti-slavery laws, but the move is widely considered to be a work-around after the Supreme Court struck down Donald Trump’s original “Liberation Day” tariffs.

But Australian beef and gold will maintain their exemptions from the American levies.

While Australian diplomats would voice their concerns over the new measures, it would unlikely result in a carve-out, United States Studies Centre director of economic security Hayley Channer said.

“The tariffs will most likely apply to us, given so many countries in the group include close US allies such as Japan who have not been made exempt,” she told AAP.

“There’s no real way to negotiate our way out of this.”

- with AAP

Newly recruited One Nation candidate Barnaby Joyce was forced into an extraordinary backflip on live TV during an interview with Sky News after appearing uncertain about the party’s policy on home ownership for non-citizens.

Questioned by the program’s host, Andrew Bolt, on Pauline Hanson’s proposal to prevent permanent residents from buying homes unless they become Australian citizens, Mr Joyce initially suggested the policy could require some migrants to sell their properties.

“That’s my belief in the policy, it does,” Mr Joyce replied when asked if the policy would mean 400,000 Australian permanent residents would be kicked out of their houses.

“We want to make it, that you become … an Australian citizen … and that will, that’s going to deal with the issue, isn’t it? Become an Australian citizen.”

But after the interview wrapped up on Thursday night, Mr Joyce made several urgent phone calls to clarify the policy before returning to the studio and asking to record a revised answer.

The broadcaster then played the footage of Mr Joyce reversing his earlier position.

“This policy is formative, but on further investigation and discussions with One Nation, no, we are not going to be kicking permanent residents out of their house,’’ Mr Joyce said.

​Read the full story.​

New boats, old boats, no boats. The debate over AUKUS has touched a new low since Labor inherited the program in May 2022.

The government remains steadfast in support for seeing through the program, as it should.

But it should take the new furore over the fairly unremarkable revelation that Australia will acquire three used Virginia-class submarines from the United States, as opposed to two second-hand and one brand new boat as a serious wake-up call that it’s commitment to progressing the program and advocating it publicly, have slipped.

There is nothing wrong with three old boats, and in fact, many advantages, as the government is belatedly pointing out.

Indeed, as Vice Admiral Jonathan Mead from the Australian Submarine Agency told Senate Estimates, Australia has been lobbying the US for this outcome for 18 months.

So it is a major failure from the government not to have educated the public about why this is a better choice well ahead of time.

Once again, whether it is complacency, arrogance, incompetence or a combination of all three, it is another mistake of their own making. The result is a vacuum which critics are now exploiting.

​Read Latika M Bourke’s opinion piece in full​.

Housing policy has become a fresh battleground between Labor and the Coalition, with both parties taking different positions on permanent residents accessing first-home buyer assistance.

Appearing on Sunrise on Friday, Health Minister Mark Butler was forced to defend Labor’s decision to allow permanent residents access to the First Home Guarantee scheme, arguing many migrants spend years building their lives in Australia before becoming citizens.

“We don’t want temporary residents to access programs like this, and they can’t,” Mr Butler said.

“But permanent residents are here forever. They’re building careers, they’re building businesses, they’re having children, and we want them to enjoy the full Australian dream, which includes getting into housing.”

The debate comes after figures revealed about 51,000 permanent residents have accessed the scheme since eligibility was expanded by Labor in 2023.

Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party Jane Hume said the program was originally designed for Australian citizens and argued taxpayer-funded benefits should prioritise those who have formally taken up citizenship.

“I think Australians would rightly expect, when taxpayer funds are subsidising a scheme or supporting a scheme, that that scheme is there for Australian citizens and Australian citizens first,” Senator Hume said.