Fund for clean energy apprenticeships remains untouched

By Jake Evans

A $50 million fund to support students wanting to study clean energy trades is yet to pay out a single dollar, nearly a year and a half after it was funded in the budget.

The training fund was committed in the federal government's 2024-25 Budget last term to pay for upgrades to equipment and facilities for apprentices training in wind, solar, pumped hydro, battery storage, hydrogen and other projects.

The funding is intended to be for training facilities already at capacity, preventing people from entering apprenticeships, and for regional communities at the coalface of the energy transition.

In budget papers from last year, money had been allocated over five years from 2023-24.

But even the eligibility guidelines for that funding are yet to be released, and there are no listings on the government's grants website.

The ABC asked Skills Minister Andrew Giles whether any of the $50 million fund had been spent, when guidelines would be published, and whether any unforeseen issues had delayed its deployment.

Giles did not directly address those questions, instead saying in a statement that the government was "working to ensure" people would have the skills to support the growing clean energy sector.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-01/federal-politics-live-oct-1/105836802

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Clare O'Neil has conceded it will be difficult for the government to reach its "ambitious" 1.2 million new homes target by mid-2029.

But the housing minister isn't contemplating lowering the goal to something more realistic.

"I'm still focused on trying to get to 1.2 million but I say again this is a target that is shared with the Commonwealth, state and local government, and the private sector," she told ABC Radio National Breakfast.

"We are all going to need to lift. The Commonwealth will need to do more, the states will need to more, local government will need to do more, and so will the private sector.

"But I certainly won't be contemplating lowering the national ambition. I don't think that is the answer here."

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Communications Minister Anika Wells finds herself in the eye of Optus political storm

By 7.30 political editor Jacob Greber

Touted in some insider circles as future Labor leadership material, self-identified millennial Anika Wells has found herself in the midst of an ongoing storm over the nation's emergency triple-0 system.

Asked on Tuesday by a reporter whether Australians could feel confident that the deadly failure of the Optus emergency call system would not happen again, the communications and sports minister deflected.

"That's a question you should put to the Optus CEO," she replied.

A few moments later, challenged on whether telecommunications regulators have sufficient clout to enforce rules against phone companies, she drew attention to her inexperience in the portfolio, which she has held since the May election.

"I'm still a new minister to the industry, so I would say I'm listening to everybody at the moment."

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Over on ABC Radio National Breakfast, Clare O'Neil has addressed concerns about the decision to remove income caps from its home guarantee scheme.

She rubbished "out-of-touch" criticism from the Coalition that by doing so, children of billionaires will flood the scheme.

"We've got housing issues facing our country that are affecting Australians in every single demographic," she said.

O'Neil reiterated the government knew the only way to address housing affordability was to increase supply.

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The Albanese government has quietly racked up a consulting bill almost five times its original size, spending $12.1 million on an independent review of the agency delivering Australia's $368 billion AUKUS nuclear submarine program.

What began as a $2.7 million contract for Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to review the Australian Submarine Agency (ASA) amid persistent reports of low morale and high staff turnover has stretched into an 11-month, multi-million-dollar engagement. It is one of several lucrative deals awarded to global firms as Labor promises to curb Canberra's reliance on consultants.

Former senior bureaucrat Dennis Richardson was separately commissioned to conduct a review into the ASA's governance, which was delivered to Defence Minister Richard Marles in the middle of this year.

An ASA spokesperson said the BCG review was commissioned after the agency's first year to ensure its operations were "fit-for-purpose".

"Australia is on track to seeing the establishment of Submarine Rotational Force-West in 2027, when US nuclear-powered submarines will begin rotating out of HMAS Stirling," they said.

"After the first year of operation, the ASA considered it timely and appropriate to consider how to optimise the ASA's ability to deliver the nuclear-powered submarine program."

They said the contract was extended in April and July 2025 and pointed to the body's progress on boosting its workforce and infrastructure since its creation in 2023.

"The ASA engages a range of externally sourced specialist expertise to assist implementation and delivery of the AUKUS nuclear-powered submarine program," they said.

"The ASA is committed to developing Australia's broader submarine enterprise to safely build, operate and maintain Australian conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines. The ASA has transitioned from a Taskforce in a large Department to a growing Agency that is working to deliver the single biggest investment in defence capability in Australian history."

Beyond BCG's ballooning contract, the ASA has also inked multi-million-dollar deals with McKinsey, Deloitte, KPMG and EY. McKinsey alone secured $9.5 million to help draft an "industry plan" to boost Australia's submarine industrial base and workforce — a key tenet of delivering AUKUS.

The scale of outsourcing has fuelled fears the ASA is contracting out its core functions as it manages the most expensive defence project in Australian history.

Greens senator David Shoebridge said the ASA was "sucking in hundreds of millions of dollars" despite not having a submarine.

"While it doesn't have any submarines, it is producing review after review after review — at unknown public expense. It goes to show what a dangerous gamble this AUKUS project is and how much public money is being wasted on nuclear submarines we are likely never to get," he said.

Defence Minister Richard Marles has previously pointed to "progress in Western Australia, progress at HMAS Stirling … and progress in relation to the Henderson Defence Precinct", saying the work "is all happening, and it is happening on time".

He also praised Dennis Richardson's governance review, saying its insights were "very much informing the decisions that we will take".

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-30/submarine-agency-consultant-review-blows-out-aukus/105831752

;D

Nuclear Dan Tehan with some words of wisdom for us all after spending some time in the US on a “nuclear fact finding” mission.  "Thank God the Adults are in charge” I think was the saying
                     **********************
"94 seats later, and the Federal Opposition is now deciding what and who were responsible for their 2025 Federal election bloodbath.

While most reasonable people can admit that calling Chinese-Australians spies – and demanding that women get paid less for working from home – isn’t really the best way to win over middle class voters, the Liberals still think that they went into the election with some good policies.

The problem was, just, communication. They didn’t communicate well enough that Nuclear power can be implemented without creating a Fukushima or Chernobyl disaster.

But can it be implemented by the same Australian government that struggled to even roll-out an online census in 2016. The same country where you can sometimes call 000 and the phone won’t even ring? The same country that took ten years to roll out a national broadband network that downgraded from fibre to the node to copper wire half way through.

Yes, it can. According to the Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan, who has just completed a nuclear facilities tour of the United States after nearly losing his regional Victorian electorate to a former Triple J announcer.

Mr Tehan says his US trip convinced him there is a “nuclear renaissance” underway in that country that the Liberal Party made the mistake of trying to emulate in the lead up to the 2025 Federal Election, before having their middle Australian base gutted by Labor – who are now making inroads into the bush as well.

“There is huge investment going into nuclear. There are huge developments that are taking place,” he said.

And the only way to convince Australians to have faith Nuclear is to use buzzwords that generate trust.

“given the use of AI, given the use of quantum, that they will continue to make rapid developments with nuclear technology.” said Tehan.

After briefing his colleagues about what he learned on his overseas jaunt, Mr Tehan said the Coalition would refine the policy it took to the election, and hope to fight the ‘disinformation’ that apparently hijacked their last attempts to pitch this stigmatised this technology that saw them lose so many seats that they now have nameless former backbenchers trying to sell it again.

LNP are absolutely gone next election  :)

Memories of Joe Hockey

---

‘We found a better way’: Treasurer’s super tax backdown
Jim Chalmers has caved and changed his planned super tax, doing away with the controversial move to tax unrealised gains, which had provoked widespread condemnation. The Treasurer said the new plan was ‘better and fairer’.

https://i.imgur.com/KM3TeTg.jpeg
Jim Chalmers says the superannuation tax increase proposal will be reworked. (AAP: Dan Himbrechts)

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has announced the federal government's stalled superannuation tax increases will be reworked after criticism over the plan.

Alongside the $3 million threshold at which the tax rate on earnings had been doubled, a new threshold of $10 million will also be created at which a 40 per cent tax rate will be applied.

But those thresholds will now be indexed, meaning it will no longer capture more people over time due to bracket creep.

The tax increase will also no longer apply to unrealised capital gains, a key criticism of the proposal.

The treasurer said the government was prepared to rework the bill to see it through parliament.

"We have always had in our back pocket indexation, or an indexation like this, in order to get it through parliament," Mr Chalmers said.

A tax offset for low-income earners would also be increased from $310 to $810, and would be offered to workers earning up to $45,000, which Mr Chalmers said would give those people about an extra $15,000 at retirement on average.

Mr Chalmers said the new plan would raise slightly less than the government's original proposal.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-13/treasurer-announces-rework-of-stalled-super-tax-increase/105884568

.. but doesn't include politicians etc, you say?  what are they?  Teacher's pets or something?

Vic - those working from the office simply get a travel and clothing allowance and hazard money for driving the roads or using the trains and such ... no biggie - they actually use those things and it's hardly fair that sheilas are paid more to 'work' from home and do all their other stuff on their 'free time' between work ...... if we keep it up one day everyone will get the same perks as business does.. home base off your tax....travel expenses and vehicles... holidays as research and business trips .... LAFO allowances... what a disaster that would be with everyone on the same playing field... no taxes left to speak of...

An "uptick" in unemployment?

The number of Australians out of work hit 684,000 in September – nearly 13 per cent higher over the year – pushing the unemployment rate to 4.5 per cent.

https://i.imgur.com/ctgEAWv.jpg

Shock jump in jobless puts pressure on RBA to cut rates
Unemployment jumped to 4.5pc last month, its highest level in almost four years, pressuring the RBA to consider cutting interest rates. The shock result follows an earlier warning from Michele Bullock that the labour market was ‘possibly a bit tight’.

So much for the Albo Government's environmental credentials.   ;D


'Climate trigger' formally ruled out of environment laws
Exclusive by political reporter Jake Evans

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Murray Watt says changes will include emergency powers for regulatory agencies. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)

A rewrite of Australia's environment laws will not include a "climate trigger" that could block coal and gas projects, the minister has confirmed.

Instead, proponents of major projects will be required to disclose their expected emissions and provide a plan for how they intend to reduce them.

A "climate trigger" that could be used to block coal and gas projects has been formally excluded from the government's overhaul of Australia's environment laws, minister Murray Watt has confirmed.

The decision not to write a "trigger" into the laws that could block projects that would worsen carbon emissions will anger the Greens and likely cut off that pathway for the government to pass its long-awaited rewrite of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.

The government instead will force major projects to report their carbon emissions under the laws for the first time, as well as provide plans for how they intend to reduce those emissions to net zero by 2050.

"This is an important step forward to provide the community with confidence that proponents are taking their greenhouse gas emissions seriously," Senator Watt said.

"This is [also] officially ruling out, in print, a climate trigger. But at the same time requiring proponents to do something they haven't got to do currently."


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Draft laws would require projects expected to emit more than 100,000 tonnes annually to disclose in their project proposals expected emissions, and a plan to reduce them.

The ABC understands the minister met again with his Coalition counterpart, Angie Bell, on Tuesday and negotiations have been progressing quickly.

Shadow Environment Minister Angie Bell said the Coalition was yet to see the full draft bill, but welcomed the government's decision to rule out a climate trigger "after sustained pressure".

She indicated that the government had also conceded to demands to ensure the environment minister had the final say over decision-making.

"Other critical Coalition-commissioned Graeme Samuel review recommendations that the Coalition has successfully fought for is ensuring decision making powers remain with the minister, along with an [Environment Protection Agency] limited to assurance, compliance and audit only — meaning the minister will be fully accountable," Ms Bell said.

"By removing duplication, limiting climate reporting that is already included in other legislation and pushing for a Commonwealth offset, the Coalition has held this government to account when negotiating the right balance for the industry and environment."

The Greens have responded furiously to the proposed overhaul.

"We need environment laws that protect our forests and the climate; these laws do neither, they are not worth the paper they’re printed on," Greens Environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said.

"The Greens have been very clear from the start. We will not rubber stamp laws that fail to protect our native forests, wildlife and climate.

"While industry will no doubt say they haven’t got enough, their grubby fingerprints are all over it. These laws are written to help big business and the mining companies, at the expense of nature."

https://i.imgur.com/BM3Vebh.jpeg
Sarah Hanson-Young claimed the proposed laws had been compromised by business interests. (ABC News: Stuart Carnegie)


...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-22/climate-trigger-formally-ruled-out-of-environment-laws/105919546

Good one Nemo.

Going by all this. The ALP is running on a renewable energy called thin air.

Was it an "uptick" in inflation minister?

https://i.imgur.com/KM3TeTg.jpg


Stocks have fallen after inflation registered its highest quarterly rise in more than two years — driven by higher electricity prices — dashing hopes of a Melbourne Cup day rate cut by the RBA.

$7 Million per person!!!!!!!

First NZYQ cohort member deported to Nauru under opaque deal potentially worth billions
Exclusive by political reporter Maani Truu

In short:
The first member of the so-called NZYQ cohort has been quietly deported to Nauru under an opaque deal struck by the Australian government.

Both the Coalition and the Greens have taken aim at the "secrecy" of the removal, urging the government to share further details about the agreement that could end up costing Australia $2.5 billion.

What's next?
The timeline for the bulk of the deportations remains unclear.

The first member of the so-called NZYQ cohort has been quietly sent to Nauru, marking the start of the government's plan to deport hundreds of convicted criminals to the tiny Pacific island.

Nauruan President David Adeang told his parliament on Friday that the first person had arrived under the new deal.

It comes about eight months after the Australian government announced Nauru had agreed to take hundreds of former detainees released in the wake of a landmark High Court ruling that found indefinite detention was unlawful.

This third-country resettlement agreement — which the government has repeatedly refused to release publicly — is separate from a pre-existing and ongoing arrangement for Nauru to run Australia's offshore processing regime.

https://i.imgur.com/kGWf8HS.jpeg
Nauruan President David Adeang and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in 2024. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

"Nauru confirmed last Friday that the first transfer has occurred," Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told the ABC on Tuesday.

"When someone's visa is cancelled, they should leave."
Both the Coalition, which supports the deportation of the cohort, and the Greens, which have loudly opposed it, criticised the "secrecy" of the removal after it was revealed on Tuesday.

In a statement, Shadow Home Affairs Minister Jonno Duniam called on his counterpart to "be open with Australians about the rest of its plans for the NZYQ cohort".

"He must stand up and answer why it took so long and what its plans are to expedite further deportations, exactly how much it costs and whether the community is safe from these dangerous individuals," he said.

"The Coalition is urging the minister to deport all remaining NZYQ members as soon as possible. And it must not further bury any information that Australians deserve to know."

Greens senator David Shoebridge said it was shocking that deportations had begun before key details of the deal had been made public.

"This is part of a cruel $2.5 billion deal paid for by the Australian taxpayers and we get crumbs of information from the president of Nauru with nothing but contemptuous silence from Minister Burke," he said in a statement.

"Failing to treat our neighbours as friends and equals will come at a cost."

NZYQ cohort's visas cancelled
About 358 former detainees have been released into the Australian community since the High Court ruling in 2023, the bulk of whom have been convicted of crimes or had their visas cancelled on character grounds.

More than a dozen have since been re-detained in Australia after being issued visas by Nauru, but deportations have been delayed by legal challenges.

https://i.imgur.com/3lAWZAV.jpeg
"When someone's visa is cancelled they should leave," Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said. (ABC News: David Sciasci)

Under the deal, members of the group are expected to be granted a 30-year visa that allows them to live and work in the community among Nauru's 12,000 or so residents, and to leave and re-enter the country.

Mr Burke said he had "personally" inspected the accommodation and health facilities that would be available to the deportees.

"The standard there is good," he previously told the ABC.

https://i.imgur.com/rz8UOGW.gif

But human rights lawyers and advocates have fiercely denounced the government's deportation plan, warning it may breach Australia's human rights obligations.

Human Rights Law Centre associate legal director Josephine Langbien, whose organisation is representing members of the cohort, accused the government of wielding secrecy as a "deliberate tool".

"There have been widespread concerns raised about both the lawfulness and safety of this Nauru deportation plan … and some of those questions are still before the courts," she said.

"All the government has sought to do is legislate its way around these concerns, rather than addressing them."

Payment due upon first arrival

Australia agreed to pay Nauru $408 million when the first deportee arrived on the island under a memorandum of understanding signed by officials last Tuesday.

That included $20 million to be paid directly to the government to cover set-up costs, and $388 million to be deposited into a long-term trust to be jointly managed by Nauru and Australia.

Australia will also pay an additional yearly sum of up to $70 million, depending on how many people have been transferred to the island.

If the deal is upheld in full and all members of the cohort are transferred, it means Australia will end up spending more than $2.5 billion over the 30-year lifetime — or more than $7 million per person.

...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10-28/first-nzyq-member-deported-to-nauru/105919846

It’s far cheaper than the conalition paid for the 4 in Cambodia.  Well negotiated

Spoken like a true "rusted-on".  ;)

Anthony Albanese writes to states, telling them to rein in public hospital spending
Exclusive by national health reporter Stephanie Dalzell

https://i.imgur.com/DDcsqQH.jpeg
Anthony Albanese has written to state premiers to say they must cut growth if they want a public hospital funding commitment implemented. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

In short

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote to the states and territories in September saying they must rein in public hospital spending if they wanted a deal honoured.

States have reacted angrily, declaring the request "almost beyond belief".

The federal government says it has made "significant commitments" for public hospitals and will continue negotiations to get a deal done.


The states and territories are on a collision course with the Commonwealth over public hospital funding, with health ministers expressing white-hot anger over a letter from the prime minister demanding they rein in spending if they want a funding deal honoured.

Anthony Albanese made the request in September, writing to state and territory leaders saying they must slash growth if they want a public hospital funding commitment implemented.

"For states and territories to realise a Commonwealth contribution of 42.5 per cent of public hospital costs by 2030-31, under the capped glide path model, it will be necessary for your government to work to reduce growth in hospital activity and costs to more sustainable levels," the letter states, according to two separate sources.

The intervention has prompted an angry response from states including Queensland, which said the prime minister was trying to "pass the buck".

"Upon reading the letter, my immediate response was that it was almost beyond belief that the prime minister would write to us saying we have to work to reduce growth in hospital activity," Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls told the ABC.

"Does he want us to go out there and close the front door to our emergency departments or stop taking ambulances delivering sick patients to our emergency wards?

"Demand is growing with an older and growing population with more severe acuity and presentations, it's just unrealistic to expect the states to say, 'oh, well, we can control demand.''"

Other health ministers, who did not want to be identified for fear of retribution, said the letter went down like a lead balloon.

"To say they were frustrated is underselling it … they were exercised,"  one said.

In 2023, national cabinet agreed to a new funding deal for public hospitals, which are run by the states and territories but partly funded by the Commonwealth.

The deal promised the federal government would increase its share of funding to 42.5 per cent by 2030, and 45 per cent by 2035.

In exchange, the states and territories would co-fund some new disability services outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to ease some of the pressure on the rapidly growing scheme.

But negotiations have stalled, with state and territory leaders last month releasing a scathing statement suggesting the government had walked back its initial commitment.

The federal government has repeatedly insisted it wants a deal done by the end of the year, but federal Health Minister Mark Butler now faces an uphill battle to get the agreement over the line, as tensions with the states and territories continue to rise.

Tasmanian Health Minister Bridget Archer said for an agreement to happen soon, the Commonwealth would need to "come to the party".

"If there's to be a deal by the end of the year, the federal government is really going to have to step up their negotiations and have to sharpen their pencil … is the bottom line," she said.

"We have been collectively very loud and clear that we want a new hospital agreement, but we want one that does what the federal government says they want it to do, too."

South Australian Health Minister Chris Picton said while the states wanted certainty around public hospital funding, the "devil was in the detail" of the negotiations.

"Over many, many years, we've seen the federal government's share of funding those public hospitals going down and states and territories just can't agree to a deal which would see that continue to decline, particularly as we face increasing demands and increasing aging of the population," he said.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said while he was determined to negotiate with the federal government, it was imperative the Commonwealth paid "its fair share".

"The Commonwealth has deeper pockets than the states," he said.

"Unless the Commonwealth honours its commitments, hospitals will be left underfunded and overstretched. Families in NSW deserve timely, quality health care, and that requires both levels of government pulling their weight."

'Their maths doesn't make sense to us'

The states and territories have an agreement with the Commonwealth in which public hospitals are funded based on how many and what type of patients they treat, which is then adjusted for cost increases.

But to put the brakes on spending, the Commonwealth caps annual funding growth at 6.5 per cent on the previous year.

As part of the 2023 deal, national cabinet agreed to replace that cap on funding growth with a more "generous approach"

... ABC

Labor to squeeze public service, sparking warnings of job losses
By political reporter Tom Crowley

https://i.imgur.com/oMONmfw.jpeg
Katy Gallagher confirmed Labor was conducting an "exercise in discipline" by asking government departments to find large savings. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

In short:

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has confirmed Labor has asked federal departments and agencies to find further efficiencies and find "things we don't need to continue doing".

Senator Gallagher denied this amounted to a cut, but did not dispute a report in the AFR that the public service would need to find savings of as much as 5 per cent in a year.

It comes after Labor campaigned against Peter Dutton's pledge to wind back the 41,000 extra public service jobs created in Labor's last term.

Katy Gallagher and Jim Chalmers have put the squeeze on the federal public service to avoid a budget blowout, asking departments and agencies to save as much as 5 per cent of their costs in a move that has sparked warnings of further public service job losses.

The finance minister confirmed a report in the Australian Financial Review that she had asked senior bureaucrats to search for "things we don't need to continue doing".

"It's an exercise in discipline," she told ABC Canberra.

"The budget is in deficit. We have a lot of pressures on it. We can't just keep adding on to everything."

Asked about the reported 5 per cent figure, Senator Gallagher said it was a "re-prioritisation" rather than a "cut" but did not dispute the magnitude. Re-prioritisations balance out other new spending, rather than reducing funding in absolute terms.

https://i.imgur.com/W3WlRG9.gif

But that still leaves agencies needing to find 5 per cent of their current activities to discontinue.

"We've asked agencies to think about all the things they're doing and make room for re-prioritisation within budget," the minister said.

...

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-25/labor-to-squeeeze-public-service/106050668

Anika Wells hits taxpayers with $100k airfare bill

Wells spent almost $100k of taxpayers’ money on flights to New York for her and two staff, Senate estimates has revealed, as the triple-zero crisis unfolded back in Australia.

https://i.imgur.com/bUziFNF.jpeg

[media width =500]https://youtu.be/GoLerKmXQhU[/media]

A 100k to deliver a six minute speech written by someone else is completely ridiculous.

Cost of living?

Not something Anika needs to worry about as we the taxpayers fund her lavish lifestyle and first class travel?

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/wells-billed-taxpayers-3681-for-trip-that-included-friend-s-birthday-20251204-p5nkvl

“ Wells billed taxpayers $3681 for trip that included friend’s birthday”

She needs to explain herself  and pay the money she has stolen from taxpayers back!

Laughs in 94 seats

Daves2017 wrote on Dec 5^th, 2025 at 2:30pm:

A 100k to deliver a six minute speech written by someone else is completely ridiculous. Cost of living? Not something Anika needs to worry about as we the taxpayers fund her lavish lifestyle and first class travel?

Nice work if you can get it – all taxpayers hard earned money.

They should be sent economy class, stay in 3 star hotels and
take Uber taxis.