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PM says Sussan Ley comparing the First Fleet to SpaceX was ‘very strange’
The prime minister has responded to Sussan Ley’s comments yesterday, in an Australia Day address, in which she compared the arrival of the First Fleet to Elon Musk’s SpaceX seeking to reach Mars.
“I thought when someone said that to me yesterday they were making it up,” Anthony Albanese said.
He continued:
This is the second most senior person in the Coalition – the deputy leader of the Coalition has suggested that there is an analogy here.
Well, there weren’t people – there aren’t people that we know of on Mars. Australia was not terra nullius when Captain Phillip and the First Fleet came through Sydney Cove.
And I thought that was a very strange analogy to draw, and one that was disrespectful of the fact that there were people here. Of course First Nations people here for tens of thousands of years and that we have a great privilege of sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on Earth.
You can read more about Ley’s comments here:
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Chalmers touches on the recent weakness of the Australian dollar, which has been hovering between US$0.61 and US$0.63 in the last few weeks, noting that it is “a reflection of what is going on around the world more so than a reflection on our own economy”. The Reserve Bank, when they make their next decision on interest rates, will “consider all of the data that they have on the economy”, he says.
Jim Chalmers defends Labor’s record on inflation
The federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to media in Queensland this afternoon. It is essentially part of Labor’s election pitch – the gist is that inflation has gone down, that if it is down on Wednesday, when we see the next set of numbers, then that was a consequence of the Labor government’s work but under the Coalition it will be the opposite.
Chalmers says:
Any headline inflation with a two in front of it shows that inflation has more than halved since we came to government. Any headline inflation number with a two in front of it shows that the inflation rate is within the Reserve Bank’s target band. Any progress on underlying inflation is welcome as well. This is a substantial, sustained progress that Australia has made when it comes to the fight against inflation.
Australia has got inflation down and wages up, unemployment low and created 1.1 million jobs under this Albanese Labor government. We also know that Australians would be thousands of dollars worse off if Peter Dutton had his way, and they would be worse off, still, if he wins the next election. Because of the position that Peter Dutton has taken on tax cuts, energy bill relief, and on wages, we know that Australians would be thousands of dollars worse off if he had his way. And those household budgets are at further risk if he wins the next election.
This comment piece from George Taleporos, on Neale Daniher’s receipt of the 2025 Australian of the Year award and the conversation we need to have around the NDIS, is worth a read this afternoon. Here’s a sample:
[Despite] its transformative impact, the national dialogue around the NDIS has become alarmingly negative. Media headlines are dominated by stories of cost blowouts, fraud and inefficiencies, overshadowing the real stories of lives changed and opportunities created. This persistent focus on the scheme’s financial cost has contributed to a public discourse that too often portrays people with disabilities as financial burdens and the NDIS as an unnecessary and out of control strain on taxpayers and our economy.
The consequences of this narrative are dire. People with high and complex needs are already experiencing the impact of this negative rhetoric … NDIS supports are not luxuries – they are necessities such as wheelchairs, support to get out of bed, to have a shower, to survive. Without adequate funding, people are forced into unsafe living arrangements, such as group homes, where incidents of abuse and neglect are far too common. The emphasis on cutting costs fails to acknowledge the human toll of inadequate support and the systemic challenges faced by those who rely on the NDIS.
Daniher’s platform as Australian of the Year presents a unique opportunity to change this conversation.
Read the full article here:
Andrew Messenger
Ellie Smith says the reason she decided to try to unseat Peter Dutton in his Brisbane electorate is simple.
For me it was just about having a local MP who reflects our community. It just kind of didn’t make sense to me that we had an MP that was so divisive.
If she does it, it will be a first. Just seven Australian opposition leaders have lost their seat at an election – all of them at state and territory level.
But then again, nobody thought it was possible to defeat the Coalition in the federal electorates of Kooyong, Warringah, Goldstein, Curtin or Wentworth before the so-called teal wave emerged as a political force in Australia.
But Smith, an environmental consultant, says she is in the fight for the Brisbane seat of Dickson to win it.
But please, don’t call her a teal; she’s a community independent, Queensland-style.
Read more about Smith’s campaign here:
Man charged after reports of inappropriate behaviour at Sydney beach
NSW police have charged a man after he was arrested after reports of inappropriate behaviour on a beach in Sydney’s east on Australia Day.
In a statement, NSW police said:
About 3.40pm Sunday 26 January 2025, officers attached to eastern suburbs police area command were called to Bronte Beach, Bronte, following reports of inappropriate behaviour.
Police arrived and arrested a 63-year-old man before taking him to Waverly police station.
He was charged with three counts of intentionally record intimate image without consent and three counts of behave in offensive manner in/near public place/school.
The man was refused bail and is due to appear at Parramatta local court today.
Petra Stock
Severe thunderstorms possible in Victoria and NSW
In addition to the hot weather forecast for much of the country, the Bureau of Meteorology has flagged the potential for severe thunderstorms in parts of Victoria and New South Wales.
Storm activity had already been observed in parts of Victoria, according to the bureau, with severe storms possible in the state’s central and eastern districts.
In NSW, severe thunderstorms could impact western Sydney along with the southern and central ranges.
Storms were also possible across broad areas of Queensland and eastern South Australia.
Extreme fire danger to worsen in Victoria
Extreme fire danger in parts of Victoria is to rise throughout the day as high winds combine with very hot conditions.
The CFA’s state agency commander, David Harris, told the ABC that firefighting efforts were currently focusing on Wimmera, Mallee and south-west areas.
He said:
The winds are going to be problematic. They are increasing from north-west through the afternoon and as the wind change comes through this afternoon, we are going to see wind gusts up to 70km/h with that wind change from the south-westerly direction.
That could mean some difficulty for firefighters in trying to suppress fires. That is why the total fire ban is in place.
He said the Grampians national park fire had been burning for 40 days and was contained.
PM says Grace Tame’s ‘Fuck Murdoch’ T-shirt was ‘disrespectful’ to Australian of the Year event
Anthony Albanese said a T-shirt that read “Fuck Murdoch”, worn by the 2021 Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, when she was greeted by the prime minister at the event for recipients of this year’s awards on Saturday, was “disrespectful of the event and of the people who that event was primarily for”.
Albanese said:
It was clearly designed to get attention. I don’t intend to add to that attention because I do think that it takes away from what the day should be about – which is the amazing people who were nominated as Australians of the Year.
PM says Sussan Ley comparing the First Fleet to SpaceX was ‘very strange’
The prime minister has responded to Sussan Ley’s comments yesterday, in an Australia Day address, in which she compared the arrival of the First Fleet to Elon Musk’s SpaceX seeking to reach Mars.
“I thought when someone said that to me yesterday they were making it up,” Anthony Albanese said.
He continued:
This is the second most senior person in the Coalition – the deputy leader of the Coalition has suggested that there is an analogy here.
Well, there weren’t people – there aren’t people that we know of on Mars. Australia was not terra nullius when Captain Phillip and the First Fleet came through Sydney Cove.
And I thought that was a very strange analogy to draw, and one that was disrespectful of the fact that there were people here. Of course First Nations people here for tens of thousands of years and that we have a great privilege of sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on Earth.
You can read more about Ley’s comments here:
Albanese says WA Labor a ‘stark contrast’ to Coalition
Albanese has called the Coalition in WA “a rabble” as he reiterates his support for Cook’s state Labor party before the WA state election.
Albanese said:
[WA Labor] stands in stark contrast with the Coalition. The Coalition are a rabble here as well. You got the situation in Moore where they have got a bloke who was the member for Stirling, then wanted to be the member for Cowan, and then knocked off the member for Moore to try to get back into the House of Representatives and the sitting member for Moore who used to be a Liberal, who was endorsed by Peter Dutton, didn’t seem to count for much, is running as an independent. It is chaos here.
