Australia news LIVE: Colleges told to stop recruiting fake overseas students; RBA holds rates steady

Staying with the opposition’s home affairs spokesman, who said actions of a Chinese fighter jet that dropped flares near an Australian Navy helicopter showed “malign intent”.

Yesterday, the Chinese government has fired back at Australia over a dangerous military incident in the Yellow Sea, accusing Australia’s military of behaving in a provocative and threatening way by operating in international waters near China.

Beijing’s first official response to the incident came as a top United States diplomat joined Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in condemning China for dropping flares in front of an Australian Navy helicopter, declaring it part of a pattern of increasingly aggressive behaviour by Beijing that could cost lives.

But James Paterson told RN Breakfast this morning that was “not consistent with our understanding of what happened”.

“It was not only not in China’s territorial waters, it wasn’t even in China’s exclusive economic zone, and so it appears to be way out of the bounds of behaviour from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force,” he said.

The opposition’s home affairs spokesman said it was part of a pattern of behaviour from China, and said the government labelling it unprofessional didn’t go far enough.

“This is far worse than unprofessional because it’s done [with] malign intent … and we shouldn’t tolerate that,” Paterson said.

“We want the prime minister to raise this at the highest levels, to use what he claims to be good a relationship with [China’s premier] Xi Jinping, to make representations on behalf of our country and our service personnel.”

The opposition’s home affairs spokesman James Paterson has spoken about the government’s proposed deportation laws.

In a Senate inquiry report on the deportation bill that Labor attempted to rush through the last parliamentary sittings, the opposition criticised the government’s “flagrant disregard” for legal groups and Iranian, South Sudanese and Zimbabwean communities who condemned the bill.

Paterson told ABC Radio National earlier there was a public policy problem in Australia where people who were not genuine refugees refused to cooperate with their removal.

“That means they can languish in Australia for many years longer than they should, and the government doesn’t have powers to deal with that.

Senator James Paterson.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“But we’ve got two buckets of concern, one is the potential unintended consequences of this bull … it could people to get on boats again … we’re really concerned about that. The second thing is this bill does grant extraordinary powers to the minister for immigration that has very little checks and balances, oversights or restraints on those powers.”

He told the program the Coalition wanted to be constructive on the bill, when asked whether they would vote it down if the changes weren’t accepted.

“We proposed amendments which we think can improve the bill, the ball is in the government’s court,” Paterson said.

“We’ll wait and see what they have to say before we examine our final position.”

Returning to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who says there will not be tax reform in the housing space and is unprepared to go into whether there will be rent assistance.

During his interview on ABC Radio National Chalmers said there will be tax reform in other spaces but not housing.

“Not the kind that some people have been calling for, there’s no changes for example to negative gearing, or those kinds of changes,” he said.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“But there will be tax reform, there’ll be income tax reform and there’ll be some additional measures as well, which recognises that the tax system can be a good way to incentivise the kind of private investment that we want to see in the future of our economy.”

While rental inflation was nearly 8 per cent, Chalmers cited the “substantial increase” in rent assistance last year, saying he did not want to get further into that area of reform this week.

“I think people recognise that because of the substantial increase in rent assistance that we budgeted for last year, those rental figures that you cite are still too high, but they are lower than they would have otherwise been had we not stepped in with that rent assistance,” he said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and her opposition counterpart Simon Birmingham will travel to Tuvalu for talks on security and climate change.

Wong will lead the second bipartisan Pacific visit of the government’s term and visit the Pacific Island nation’s capital Funafuti on Wednesday.

She said Australia and Tuvalu were working together to manage the effects of climate change and protect the nation’s future.

“Australia’s partnerships with our Pacific neighbours are critical to Australia’s security and to the security, safety and prosperity of our region as a whole,” she said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong will travel to Tuvalu.Credit: Getty

“The government and opposition visiting together is a clear statement to the region that Australia is a steadfast partner in ensuring a region that is peaceful, stable and prosperous.”

Birmingham said Australia’s commitment to Tuvalu was based on mutual respect and deep friendship.

“Australia is stronger when we speak with one voice, which we emphatically do through these displays of bipartisan commitment to our Pacific Island neighbours,” he said.

The trip is a demonstration of Canberra’s deep commitment to Tuvalu, as regional tensions soar over China’s expanding influence.

Wong and Birmingham will both meet Prime Minister Feleti Teo and his cabinet to discuss the landmark Falepili Union.

The section of the union that says Australia must “mutually agree” to any security deals the Pacific nation inks with other countries has been controversial.

Under the agreement, Australia will offer permanent residency to up to 280 people from Tuvalu every year, due to the threat climate-fuelled disasters posed to the low-lying island.

AAP

There will be additional tax reform in the budget beyond the government’s reforms to stage 3, says Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Speaking on ABC Radio National, Chalmers is asked if there will be more tax reform beyond what is known.

“There will be in the budget, and what you’ll see is an emphasis on tax reform that will incentivise the kind of investment that we want to see in the future of our economy and in a Future Made in Australia,” Chalmers answered.

“We have indicated that we are prepared to use the tax system in the service of our big national economic objectives.”

He said the budget would help with the cost of living and there would be a tax cut for every Australian taxpayer.

“The tax system does have a role to play there,” he said. “There’ll be some other tax changes as well. In all of the budgets we’ve done so far, there has been modest but meaningful tax reform and that’s because I believe in doing these things in a sequenced and orderly and methodical way and people should expect to see more of that on Tuesday.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the budget will be responsible and restrained while also helping people through the cost-of-living crisis.

Yesterday, the Reserve Bank kept the cash rate at 4.35 per cent which Chalmers acknowledged was because inflationary pressures still existed.

“One of the reasons why inflation has moderated so substantially in our economy, it’s almost half what we inherited,” he said on ABC Radio National this morning.

Jim Chalmers said this is not the time for budget austerity.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Chalmers said he had spoken to Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock as they both work towards tackling inflation.

“We speak pretty regularly. I think as people would expect us to; we have scheduled conversations, and we speak from time to time when that’s necessary and that’s something that I really appreciate,” he said.

“We don’t tell each other how to do each other’s jobs, but we are on the same page when it comes to getting inflation down because it is inflation which is punishing people and that’s why the progress we’ve made is so important and that’s why it’s so important that we shoot for the second surplus and that we design our cost-of-living policies in a way that put downward pressure on inflation.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will commit $566 million to a new program to search for mining deposits in what he is calling a “new era of mineral exploration” to find raw materials for global markets.

Albanese plans to announce the spending today in remarks that strongly back the mining industry and emphasise the role of gas in the transition to renewables.

“Gas is playing an important role in … energy security, as our economy transitions,” Albanese says in a draft of the speech, which was released to the media ahead of delivery.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is heading to Perth, after visiting Queensland.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

While he does not elaborate on that point in the draft, the message comes at a time when Western Australian gas company Woodside is facing strong opposition to the development of the Scarborough gas field off the state’s coast.

Another gas company, Santos, faces objections to its Barossa gas field off the coast of the Northern Territory.

Albanese is planning to set out the plan at a speech in Perth today, after flying west from Queensland, where he attended Beef Week in Rockhampton on Tuesday.

Labor won crucial seats in WA at the last election but its primary vote has since fallen in that state in the Resolve Political Monitor, raising doubts about whether Labor can retain its majority in parliament.

“Today I announce that next week’s budget will invest in a new era of mineral exploration,” Albanese says in the draft speech.

“We will fund the first comprehensive map of what’s under Australia’s soil – and our seabed. Meaning we can pinpoint the new deposits of critical minerals and strategic materials we need for clean energy and its technology. As well as traditional minerals like iron ore and gold. And potential storage sites for hydrogen.”

The funding for the plan will start on July 1 and continue for a decade.

The parents of two Australian brothers shot dead in Mexico have spoken publicly for the first time, saying from the US it’s time to bring their sons home.

Debra and Martin Robinson have urged people to hold their loved ones closer, following the alleged murder of their sons Callum, 33, and Jake, 30.

Debra and Martin Robinson’s sons Jake and Callum were killed in Mexico.Credit: Nine News

The Robinson brothers were on a surfing trip with American friend Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, when they were allegedly killed by Mexican nationals trying to steal parts of their ute.

Debra and Martin Robinson travelled from Western Australia to Mexico on Friday. They identified the bodies of their sons this week.

“Now it’s time to bring them home to families and friends and the ocean waves in Australia,” Debra said.

“Please live bigger, shine brighter and love harder.”

Here’s the latest on this tragic news.