Wilson says time and trust needed to win the public back
The latest Essential poll reveals the Coalition remains in a precarious position, with its vote share being eroded by One Nation.
The poll also provides intriguing insights regarding One Nation, indicating a slight decline in public support for some of their key policies. While One Nation's primary vote decreased from 28% to 26%, and Labor's vote increased marginally from 29% to 30%, the Coalition continues to lag in third place with a notably low primary vote of just 23%. This prompted host Pete Stefanovic to question Tim Wilson on why the Liberal party's message is not resonating with voters.
Wilson emphasized the importance of time and trust in regaining public confidence.
"There’s absolutely policies we need to get right, to articulate and to articulate to the Australian people. We’ve put out a series of policies already around the tax back guarantee to actually protect Australians against Jim Chalmer’s active inflation agenda.
And every time we talk to people about it, they see the benefit and the advantage of it, but this is going to take time. No one’s pretending otherwise.
The key thing we’ve got to do is solidify trust … and part of the challenge is we’ve got to be a sustainable alternative that clearly articulates a vision for the country."
Albanese says charges against EY employees who accessed PM’s bank account details ‘appropriate’
In addition to KPMG facing scrutiny, Ernst & Young (EY) is also under the spotlight following allegations that two of its graduate employees on secondment at the Commonwealth Bank accessed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's personal bank details without authorization.
Albanese addressed the issue on ABC News Breakfast, refraining from commenting on ongoing legal proceedings but affirming that it is appropriate for charges to have been laid.
"It’s before the courts and I’m not about to go into the detail of that. It’s appropriate that charges have been laid …accessing anyone’s privacy, any Australian’s privacy, is alarming, let alone someone from a contractor who’s not an employee of Commonwealth Bank being able to access that information."
More broadly, Albanese stated the government is intensifying efforts to hold consulting firms accountable for misconduct.
"We’ve cracked down on that and we’ll continue to examine these issues. Quite clearly, the behaviour of some of these big accounting firms has been completely unacceptable. In some cases, it has involved breaches of the law. And they need to be held to account."
Mulino lists options to crackdown on audit firms after scandal
Daniel Mulino, the financial services minister, condemned the conduct of the big four accounting firms as "simply isn’t good enough" and outlined government considerations to prevent breaches of trust and misuse of confidential information.
Following revelations that KPMG staff leaked confidential information from Lendlease and Optus to colleagues competing for lucrative audit contracts at Westpac, Dexus, and Telstra—with at least three partners implicated—Mulino discussed potential regulatory reforms on ABC RN Breakfast.
He mentioned options such as capping the number of partners to reduce firm size, or structurally separating auditing and non-auditing services, either partially or entirely.
When asked by host Mel Clarke why it has taken several years to release an options paper since the PwC scandals three years ago, Mulino responded:
"Since I’ve come into this role, I’ve really tried to prioritise drawing together a lot of strands of work that were already in play. And especially now that we’ve seen what’s happened with KPMG, we’re now accelerating a lot of the government’s work."
Regarding the possibility of terminating existing contracts with KPMG, Mulino stated: "I’m not aware of any specifics on that front."
Cooling housing market a ‘crisis of confidence’, says Wilson
Shadow Treasurer Tim Wilson attributed the recent decline in house prices—the largest drop in three years during June—to Treasurer Jim Chalmers and his budget measures.
Wilson criticized Chalmers for "crashing the confidence of the Australian economy" following the passage of key budget changes affecting capital gains tax, negative gearing, and the working Australians tax offset.
Speaking to , Wilson disputed government claims that the cooling market would enable young people to enter the housing market, stating that banks report little new debt being issued to younger buyers.
"What’s happened is crisis of confidence in the Australian economy, we’ve had record, small business instalments, is record low, small business confidence, record low, consumer confidence.
Despite all the claims that it’s about young people getting into housing, I’m told that banks are saying there’s not a lot of debt being issued to young people trying to buy home."
‘It’s all a bit befuddling’: Butler bats away leadership questions
Health Minister Mark Butler was questioned about speculation regarding his potential as a future Labor leader following Anthony Albanese.
Butler, a senior member of Labor’s left faction from South Australia and a close ally of Albanese, who is 63, is among several names mentioned alongside Jim Chalmers, a right-faction Queenslander.
Butler dismissed the speculation as confusing and premature.
"It’s all a bit befuddling.
We’re only a year into a term where our prime minister, Anthony Albanese, won a really significant victory with a really big agenda … Our job as a team that has the privilege of governing this country is to work together under a leader in Anthony Albanese that I feel privileged to support."
‘We’re very confident in Treasury’s forecasts’: Labor defends tax reforms against cooling housing market
Labor faces pressure to defend its tax reforms as new data reveals Sydney and Melbourne house prices experienced their largest one-month decline in three years.
Treasury had forecast a 2% slowdown in prices due to government budget measures affecting capital gains tax and negative gearing. However, CoreLogic data showed Sydney prices falling 1.2% and Melbourne prices declining 1% in June.
Health Minister Mark Butler addressed the issue on ABC News Breakfast, expressing confidence in Treasury’s forecasts.
"You’ve got to wait more than a few weeks. As I said, there’s a lot happening in the economy and the housing market – much of it as a result of global factors, as we’ve seen now for a few years. I’m very confident that Treasury’s forecasts are well-based, they’ve thought about it very carefully. The history of house prices in Australia is one of growth. And it doesn’t mean there won’t be a week here or a week there that you get particular numbers. But we’re very confident in Treasury’s forecasts."
Good morning
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you for another busy sitting day, following Martin Farrer’s initial coverage.
Today, gambling reforms will be on the government’s agenda, though advocates continue to push for stronger measures to curb online gambling advertising.
It is also 1 July, marking the implementation of several changes including a minimum wage increase, expanded paid parental leave, and social services indexation, which Labor is expected to highlight.
Tonight is Canberra’s Midwinter Ball, a significant social event, which may cause some distraction among attendees this afternoon as preparations begin.
Labor moves to clean up consulting industry
The federal government has released an options paper aimed at enhancing regulation of accounting, auditing, and consulting firms in Australia, following a recent scandal involving leaked client information and mishandling of a whistleblower complaint.
KPMG staff leaked confidential information from Lendlease and Optus to colleagues competing for audit contracts at Westpac, Dexus, and Telstra, with at least three partners implicated.
The options paper, released by Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino on Wednesday, proposes imposing quality management and ethical obligations on major firms, as well as potential operational or structural separation of business functions.
Measures under consideration include reducing partnership limits, introducing new governance rules, mandatory periodic testing for audit services, and regular rotation of contracts.
"In recent years, we have seen behaviour from some large accounting, auditing and consulting firms in Australia that is not fair and honest.
This has undermined trust in the firms themselves and raised broader questions about the resilience of the frameworks meant to uphold market integrity.
It is time to return trust and integrity so that the government, taxpayers and other businesses can rely on the services of large accounting, auditing and consulting firms."
Independent MP Boele backs childcare reforms
Independent Member for Bradfield, Nicolette Boele, has expressed support for establishing a national early childhood education and care commission to manage supply and enhance safety regulation in the sector.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday evening, Boele highlighted a mismatch between supply and demand, describing it as indicative of a market requiring proper oversight.
The proposed commission has backing from a range of childcare groups including Thrive by Five, The Parenthood, Early Childhood Australia, and Minderoo.
Boele urged the government to provide a firm timeline for the commission and expedite the Deloitte pricing review, noting the impact on families awaiting childcare subsidy increases.
"If you’re in that position, hearing that the government is waiting for Deloitte to finish a report before they can increase the childcare subsidy, doesn’t hold up. Families can’t budget around a maybe. I’ve written to the minister, and I want the government to commit to a national commission with a firm timeline – not keep it on the “considering” pile."
Good morning and welcome
Welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories, followed by Krishani Dhanji with the main coverage.
Among the key developments, Labor has revealed proposed actions to tighten regulation of the consulting industry following the latest scandal involving KPMG.
