The Albanese government has opened a new review of KPMG Australia over revelations it leaked client information. mistreated the whistleblower who raised the alarm.
The finance minister. Katy Gallagher, has said her department will ask Ian Watt, the former secretary of the Defence department, to head an investigation of KPMG’s “ethical soundness”.
In a letter to senator Deborah O’Neill on Thursday, Gallagher said KPMG’s culture and its governance arrangements would be investigated. Evidence to a parliamentary inquiry last Friday interrogated KPMG’s management. heard its independent board directors received direct advice from the company’s chair.
KPMG yesterday announced it would appoint an independent chair and more independent directors. It also announced reviews of its policies, audit conduct. whistleblower failings, while its chair and two partners will resign, following the CEO and former head of audit out the door.
The government’s new inquiry will check whether these responses are adequate. whether KPMG disclosed and responded to the issues appropriately, according to its terms of reference. It is set to report back by 30 September. which is when the government’s blacklist on new KPMG contracts is set to lift.
KPMG partners are also being investigated by the corporate regulator and by the peak accounting body.
The departing chair, Martin Sheppard, yesterday said he supported the need to change KPMG’s governance. He is not accused of wrongdoing.
Labor’s economic model to ‘spend, tax and stoke’ inflation, says shadow treasurer
Tim Wilson ’s whipped out his favourite line. describing Jim Chalmers as an arsonist “pouring debt petrol on the inflation fire” after the release of today’s inflation numbers.
He’s blaming government spending, and says “homegrown inflation” is at 4.7%.
double quotation mark The Albanese government’s economic model is to stoke inflation, tax inflation,. spend inflation, perpetuating a cycle that ensures Australians pay higher prices at supermarkets.
Jim Chalmers is like the cosplay arsonist pouring debt petrol on the inflation fire. burning away at the future economic prosperity of Australia.
Wilson says the inflation started going up long before conflict in the Middle East. adding “Australians don’t buy his [Chalmers’] excuses”.
O’Brien pushes back against Hanson’s call to abandon United Nations
Ted O’Brien has subtly pushed back against One Nation’s call for Australia to abandon international bodies like the United Nations. World Health Organization.
The party’s platform says it would withdraw from the bodies. the Paris climate agreement which it claims would save up to $1bn a year.
O’Brien, the shadow foreign affairs minister, is addressing the National Press Club,. says the world’s major institutions are “sick” but they should be reformed, not abandoned.
double quotation mark I believe the world’s major institutions, which were created to support an international order based on liberal values, are sick. suffering a crisis of legitimacy. But I reject calls for Australia to abandon these institutions.
If liberal democracies like ours vacate the field, the vacuum will be filled by others, whose worldview. values do not necessarily align with our own. This would be against our national interests.
Australia should still fight the good fight. By working with like-minded countries to help preserve that which works. change that which can be practically fixed or improved.
Tim Wilson accuses Labor of dividing Australians over multicultural debate
Tim Wilson says Australia should be a “culturally confident country” when asked for his perspective on multiculturalism in Australia.
At a press conference in Parliament House, the shadow treasurer said the Coalition wants people to come. commit to Australia and adopt our “central values”.
He then accused Labor of “seeking to divide Australians”.
double quotation mark I believe we should be a culturally confident country … People will come from all over the world,. that’s what enriches our country so long as they commit to those underlying values, which was the original intention of multiculturalism, not what we now have, which is identity politics pushed by Labor, because they want to divide the Australian community.
What we have is a Labor government that’s seeking to divide Australians. We have other political parties on the far right seeking to divide Australians.
Have a go in the comments at what you think “culturally confident country” means.
‘We don’t support an exemption for our content creators’ for AI training, says Chalmers
A little earlier we brought you David Pocock ’s concerns that the government could consider allowing tech companies exemptions to mine data from Australian artists, journalists. authors to train AI models.
Chalmers denies the government is considering an exemption.
He also says he doesn’t believe that not providing an exemption will slow investment in Australia. The sector in Australia is currently booming.
double quotation mark We don’t support an exemption for our content creators when it comes to training by AI, my colleagues … are working through all of these sorts of challenges, but we made it really clear that we support the rights of copyright holders, content creators, to make sure that as we work through a series of really quite tricky issues when it comes to AI, that we are maximising the benefits. minimising the risks, and that includes the people who create content.
Petrol prices plunge in May, but RBA ‘vigilant’ on underlying price pressures
A nearly 12% drop in fuel prices in May helps explain why annual inflation unexpectedly eased to 4%, from 4.2%.
Petrol prices are below where they were in late February. immediately before the start of the Middle East conflict, which triggered a global oil supply shock.
The welcome fall in headline inflation masked some less welcome news in the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
Food and non-alcoholic drink prices climbed by 3.3% in the year to May, up from 2.8% in April. The food component was driven by higher prices for meals out and takeaway, which lifted by 4%.
Government subsidies have clouded the view on inflationary pressures, most obviously in the 21% jump in electricity costs versus a year earlier when federal. state government power bill rebates were in place.
Economists and the Reserve Bank will also be focusing on the underlying measures of inflation.
On that score. the story was also less encouraging, with the trimmed mean inflation rate (which removes more volatile price moves) lifting to 3.6% from 3.4%.
That was expected,. Stephen Smith, a partner at Deloitte Access Economics, said the central bank had to “remain vigilant” as inflation by any measure remained well above the 2.5% target.
double quotation mark The government’s temporary fuel excise cut has masked the extent to which inflation pressures remain a problem for the Australian economy. is delaying some of the price growth pass-through to other sectors.
O’Neil was using a ‘general description’ on housing market claim, says Chalmers
Chalmers says he agrees there’s been a “softening” on house prices,. that the housing minister Clare O’Neil ’s claim of a housing market “correction” was more of a general description rather than a technical definition.
Chalmers repeats the Treasury modelling which expects house prices to continue to grow. 2% slower (compared with a scenario without the tax changes).
He attributes the slowdown not just to the tax changes – which haven’t yet been legislated – but also rising interest rates. war in the Middle East.
double quotation mark I agree that there’s been a softening in house prices, that’s self-evident from the numbers,. the same is true of auction clearance rates, and they are for reasons which go beyond the changes in the budget … I know that there is a technical definition of a correction, it hasn’t seen the sort of percentages which are consistent with that technical definition, but I know that what Clare was describing was a general situation where house prices have softened a bit, auction clearance rates have softened a bit for reasons that go beyond the budget.
Fuel excise cut ‘part of the story’ on lower inflation rate
Jim Chalmers says the fuel excise cut, which was extended by another month at a lower rate, is part of the reason headline inflation went down,. not the only factor.
The treasurer also says the impact of war in the Middle East will continue to be felt in the economy for some time.
He adds that while the impacts were initially felt in rising petrol prices. the impacts are now “broadening in our economy”.
double quotation mark The government’s efforts to cut the fuel excise are part of the story,. not the whole story, even when it comes to this very welcome moderation in fuel costs reflected in the inflation figures today.
Inflation numbers ‘better than expected’, says Chalmers
Jim Chalmers says the second consecutive monthly drop in inflation is better than forecast,. the numbers still show the pressure on the economy from the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaking to reporters in Parliament House, Chalmers points to inflation ticking up in other parts of the world including Europe, the US. Canada.
He says the economy is “well placed” to deal with global turmoil (something he has been saying for a while).
Inflation has dropped to 4% in the year to May, from 4.2%,. after removing the most volatile price moves in the month, the central bank’s preferred measure of annual inflation climbed to 3.6% from 3.4%.
double quotation mark This is a very welcome set of numbers. which shows that inflation fell once again for the second month in a row. We’re not complacent about that. We know that there are still inflationary pressures in our economy, that’s reflected in the underlying measure, but these numbers today are much better than the market expected, much better than forecast,. that’s obviously a very good thing.
A conservation group is warning the H5N1 bird flu risks harming wetland habitat across the Murray-Darling Basin. requires an emergency response.
Poultry farms in the state have gone into lockdown this week after the deadly bird flu arrived on the country’s mainland. with tests confirming a second bird also carried the disease.
In a statement. the Murray-Darling Conservation Alliance said the impact on bird populations across the Murray-Darling could be “catastrophic” without coordinated action:
The alliance’s co-national director, Craig Wilkins, said:
double quotation mark The already vulnerable Murray-Darling Basin is set to be the epicenter for bird flu impact due to its central role as the feeding. breeding home of so many vulnerable migratory bird species.
H5 Bird Flu is known to hit migratory wetland birds particularly hard. That means some of Australia’s best loved birds like pelicans, swans, terns and herons are directly in the cross-hairs.
The alliance says urgent action is needed across the Murray-Darling Basin, including strengthening viable water-breeding events. enhancing habitat protection and restoration.
Inflation falls to 4% during May
Inflation has dropped to 4% in the year to May. from 4.2%, in an early glimmer of hope of easing price pressures.
The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed inflation remains too high, but has eased. is likely below the realms of what the RBA and economists were expecting.
After removing the most volatile price moves in the month. the central bank’s preferred measure of annual inflation climbed to 3.6% from 3.4%.
‘I’ve led the horse to water’: Taylor says Hanson hasn’t responded to his offer to meet
Jumping back into that interview on 2GB earlier. Angus Taylor said he has offered to meet with Pauline Hanson after the One Nation leader said she hadn’t spoken with Taylor in years.
Taylor said he was open to working with Hanson but that she hadn’t responded to his offer.
double quotation mark All you can do is lead a horse to water. you can’t make the horse drink … So I’ve led the horse to water. I’ve made the offer. She knows where I am, she knows where my office is. The door is always open,. in fact, the context within which I made that offer was to talk about how we oppose these toxic taxes of Labor’s, to work together to try and bring them down.
Taylor also claimed he’d “stemmed” the flow of votes to One Nation.
One Nation’s primary vote has ballooned in recent months, eclipsing both the Coalition and Labor.
2GB host, Mark Levy, was sceptical of the claim.
double quotation mark Taylor: Well I could argue with you over that because what we’ve seen is a collapse before then,. that collapse we’ve stemmed. But look at the end of the day …
Levy: Hang on, on that, Angus. I mean, it’s all well. good for us to talk about there being a collapse, are you seriously suggesting to me that there’s been an improvement in the polling for the Coalition?
Taylor: Well, can I say that, as I said, there was a collapse happening and we’ve stemmed that.
The Albanese government has opened a new review of KPMG Australia over revelations it leaked client information. mistreated the whistleblower who raised the alarm.
The finance minister. Katy Gallagher, has said her department will ask Ian Watt, the former secretary of the Defence department, to head an investigation of KPMG’s “ethical soundness”.
In a letter to senator Deborah O’Neill on Thursday, Gallagher said KPMG’s culture and its governance arrangements would be investigated. Evidence to a parliamentary inquiry last Friday interrogated KPMG’s management. heard its independent board directors received direct advice from the company’s chair.
KPMG yesterday announced it would appoint an independent chair and more independent directors. It also announced reviews of its policies, audit conduct. whistleblower failings, while its chair and two partners will resign, following the CEO and former head of audit out the door.
The government’s new inquiry will check whether these responses are adequate. whether KPMG disclosed and responded to the issues appropriately, according to its terms of reference. It is set to report back by 30 September. which is when the government’s blacklist on new KPMG contracts is set to lift.
KPMG partners are also being investigated by the corporate regulator and by the peak accounting body.
The departing chair, Martin Sheppard, yesterday said he supported the need to change KPMG’s governance. He is not accused of wrongdoing.
Taylor supports ‘a version’ of multiculturalism
Angus Taylor is still struggling to refine his messaging around multiculturalism, despite some of his colleagues offering unequivocal support.
Speaking to 2GB a little earlier this morning. Taylor said he didn’t want Australia to be monocultural, as Pauline Hanson said last week.
But he said again that he supports all Australians having “a common set of values”.
double quotation mark We need every Australian to believe in our system of law, to believe in our basic freedoms, to believe in our parliamentary democracy … enforcing that. making sure that people who come to this country contribute to this country and commit to it, that’s not a monoculture.
Now, you can call that whatever you like, but I just think that’s common sense. And I’d rather talk about common sense on this than these labels that people love to give. You know, it is a version of multiculturalism, but I tell you, what I’m talking about, it is not Labor’s multiculturalism where they simply say anyone can come here with any culture. it’s all OK.
Taylor goes on to say that Australia’s had “magnificent people coming from Italy. Greece and all over the world, over time”.
double quotation mark They all became Australian. adopted our core values even though they were still eating their food and wearing their clothes and all of those things from the place they’d come from. That’s the Australia we believe in.
You might notice that whenever Taylor talks about growing up with multiculturalism, he talks about the Europeans – Italians. Greeks – that migrated last century.
Pocock criticises government secrecy over AI copyright deliberations
David Pocock is sounding the alarm after receiving information from a whistleblower. the government could consider changing copyright laws to allow tech giants to mine Australian data to train AI models.
Pocock said – according to the whistleblower – there are two submissions going to cabinet, one which would allow an exemption for data mining,. the other which would enforce a licensing arrangement.
The independent senator tells Sky News the tech companies want to mine data from Australian artists, authors. journalists in exchange for billions of dollars of investment in data centres.
double quotation mark [I] got, I think, pretty solid information that there are two different submissions going to cabinet. One is a full out exception, a text and data-mining exception. They’re basically exempt. Go for it. Don’t worry about copyright.
The other option is some sort of extension of copyright where there’s a licensing arrangement, which, you know, I think, depending on how it’s done, artists. others could come round to it, if it was on fair terms, and you could actually negotiate your copyright.
The thing I take exception to is there’s just so much secrecy with this government. Why aren’t we having this conversation with the rights holders themselves? This is their copyright. They should have a place at the table.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says shark safety measures will include the greater use of drones,. not in every beach in the state.
At yesterday’s state budget. the government flagged that shark safety measures, following multiple attacks in the past 12 months, could come be funded from a $1.1bn contingency fund.
Asked this morning if that would include the daily use of shark-spotting drones on beaches, the premier said:
double quotation mark The short answer is, we are looking at that. I’ll be, I’ll be honest with you, it won’t be every beach, we just can’t cover them. There are hundreds of beaches in NSW, but we think that we can make a measurable difference to the number of beaches. the hours of operation. We hope to announce something pretty soon. We’re getting the final stages of how much it will cost, how who will operate it, it’ll be surf life saving,. how we can roll it out as soon as possible.
I just want to make the point that we’ll be using technology that’s available,. hasn’t been rolled out at scale anywhere in the world.
Send me your questions in the comments!
The comments on the blog are open, and I’d love to see your comments and questions.
If you want to know what’s going on. or you have a question about political process, please mention my name in your comment so I can find it more easily.
There’s often a lot of chatter in the section (which is great!). so when I have some time I’ll go through as many as I can.
‘No one has been consulted’: Hume puts spotlight on extra provision in workplace relations bill
Jane Hume. her colleagues were actually at the press conference to talk about concerns over a workplace relations bill they said would have serious consequences around government contract procurement.
Stay with me, there’s some technicalities here.
The opposition says part of the bill – being debated in the House right now – is to help improve the efficiency of the Fair Work Commission in dealing with issues like unfair dismissal claims (where there’s a long backlog) –. the Coalition supports.
But they claim Labor has snuck in an extra provision that would allow the commonwealth to “discriminate in favour of businesses that have union agreements in procurement, in contracting,. in grants.”
double quotation mark We’ve already seen ACCI [Australian Chamber of Commerce. Industry], we’ve seen the BCA [Business Council of Australia], we’ve seen the Master Builders Association, HIA [Housing Industry Association], all come out and say that this is an outrage, that no one has been consulted on this change, that it has gone through, it has been rushed.
It is going to fundamentally change, fundamentally affect the way the commonwealth deals with the private sector,. yet Labor, true to form, has tried to sneak this into a piece of legislation which we would otherwise support.
‘We are a multicultural society’: deputy leader of the opposition
Shortly before her appearance on Sky News. Jane Hume stood up in front of journalists at parliament to talk about workplace laws.
Of course the questions quickly turned to Angus Taylor ’s fumble on multiculturalism yesterday.
For those who have been following diligently, I won’t go back through the whole saga. But if you need to catch up, have a read here:
double quotation mark This is a ridiculous argument … I reject the politics of identity of the left on multiculturalism,. my goodness, I also reject the policy of cultural sphere from the right. We are a multicultural society. Let’s face it, we already are.
We are a multicultural society. I don’t really care where you came from. I don’t give two hoots what your country of origin is. What I care about is whether you’re going to contribute to building our nation that’s worth fighting for.
Asked why she could give such a coherent answer when her leader couldn’t, Hume says the pair are “pretty aligned on this”. that Taylor cares about Australian values.
Discussion
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