‘Governments have not done enough’: PM reflects on death of Kumanjayi Little Baby
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was asked in question time by Labor MP for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour how the government and parliament were standing with the family and community of Kumanjayi Little Baby in her electorate.
Albanese said it had been an “extraordinarily difficult period” and he extended his deepest condolences to her family.
They are trying to bear what must be unbearable.
Amid their devastation, they have asked for the space to allow Sorry Business to occur, so the memory of their beautiful child can be cherished and honoured.
He said the tragedy had shattered a family and shaken a community, and amid the pain, there was also anger.
Governments of all persuasions have not done enough to deal with what are generational challenges.
Every Australian child has the right to grow up safe and loved.
With the security of a roof over their head, with the opportunity of a great education, to be empowered to make the most of their potential their life.
Kumanjayi Little Baby deserved all of that.
Key events
Union proposes package to WiseTech for AI job cuts
Last week, Guardian Australia reported that staff at the ASX-listed software company WiseTech had been waiting several months to learn if they are among the 2,000 of 7,000 staff to be cut from the company as a result of AI advancements.
The union representing the sector, Professionals Australia, has told Guardian Australia on Tuesday that it has put a redundancy package to WiseTech management since our report.
Professionals Australia director, Paul Inglis said:
Professionals Australia has put forward a redundancy package that reflects the scale of this decision, including enhanced redundancy payments, additional pay based on years of service, protection of share and equity entitlements, waiver of clawback obligations and access to outplacement and retraining support.
He said employees had “serious doubts” on whether AI systems are capable of reliably performing the full scope of work undertaken by employees whose roles are being cut
Workers are concerned that experience, judgement, accountability, and deep technical knowledge are being undervalued in decisions driven by short-term cost reduction and AI hype.
We are also increasingly concerned about the psychosocial health and safety impacts of a redundancy process that has now stretched across several months with ongoing uncertainty for employees.
Workers have described significant stress, anxiety and fear about their future, their workloads and whether they will still have jobs from week to week.
He said there are real human consequences when workers are left in limbo.
Australian technology professionals helped build this company and continue to underpin its success to this day and they deserve to be treated with the utmost respect.
WiseTech was approached for comment.
Liberal deputy leader suggests party could vote against CGT changes
Liberal deputy leader Jane Hume has indicated the party could vote down expected changes to negative gearing and capital gains taxes in tonight’s budget.
Hume told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that the party’s instinct “will always be to vote against higher taxes”.
Higher taxes mean you get less of something, we want to see more houses, not fewer.
We instinctively will say if this is just a tax grab, a cash grab, because the Labor government cash-strapped, well, that is not something we can support.
Asked if a future coalition government would repeal it, Hume said we would have to wait and see for opposition leader Angus Taylor’s budget reply speech on Thursday night.
We want to see more productivity injected into the economy so that we can grow the economy and everybody can benefit.
This idea of pitting one group, one demographic, against other demographic, we don’t think that is a recipe for not just economic growth, but a better society.
‘Hard not to be cynical’ of timing of government response to gambling report, Chaney says
Independent MP Kate Chaney has said it is hard not to be cynical about the government delivering its full response to the Peta Murphy inquiry report on gambling reform in parliament while most of the country’s political journalists are in budget lockup.
She told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that it took 1051 days for the full response, and “literally most of the political journalists in the country are locked up, so it’s hard not to be cynical about the government not wanting to draw attention to this.”
She said the reform package refers to at best three or four of the total recommendations.
Chaney said the issue is not neutralised, given polling suggests that three out of four Australians want a total ban on online gambling advertisements.
These things take time, but there is no doubt it is directionally correct to move towards a total phaseout.
On the Farrer byelection, Chaney says the Liberal party preferencing One Nation “will not go down well in my electorate”.
It is a sign that the Liberal party really doesn’t know who they are, and seem to be shifting more to the right, which will not be popular in seats.
Times are changing, but the one thing that isn’t changing is we are seeing a continuation of that long-term decline in support for the major parties.
One Nation gas proposal an ‘equity stake’, Joyce says
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce says Pauline Hanson’s proposal on gas is not a tax – as some have called for – but an equity stake for the government.
He said the government would be “equity partners” with the gas companies, and would make money from the gas they sell.
He told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing:
It’s like me saying well if I am a 30% owner of your pie shop am I entitled to 30% of the profits if we make money?
Yes, you are, because you’re 30% owner of a pie shop.
It gives the people a chance to have a real asset on the balance sheet.
He said the Australian people want a better return, and an equity partnership is the best way to go.
Botched Bass Strait ferries $717m over budget
A bungled delivery of two Bass Strait ferries, in which the vessels were finished before a berth was ready, has cost $717mn more than an original business case, AAP reports.
And the overall cost to taxpayers will be even higher, with bailout money and the price tag for ongoing temporary berths not included in the figure.
The new, bigger, Spirit of Tasmania ships are expected to begin operating between the island state and Victoria in October, years behind the original schedule.
In 2024 the Tasmanian government and state-owned ferry operator TT-Line were left red-faced when it was revealed a new, larger, berth in Devonport would not be ready in time for the vessels.
TT-Line chair Ken Kanofski on Tuesday told a parliamentary committee examining the project, which began in 2018, that its cost overrun was $717m.
The figure includes a rise in the new Devonport berth build, from $90m to $493m, announced in 2025.
The $717m does not include the costs to keep the new ferries in berths while they await the completion of the new berth.
It cost roughly $6m to berth Spirit of Tasmania IV in Scotland for several months – both new vessels are now being held in Australian ports.
TT-Line also received a $75m cash injection from the state government in November.
It appears likely to get further money from the state government when the 2026/27 budget is delivered on 21 May.
TT-Line has put its financial position to the state government but neither the company or government ministers have speculated on whether more money is on the way.
Graham Readfearn
Datacentres could be forced to invest in new solar and wind generation
Power hungry datacentres that are growing to meet the energy demand of artificial intelligence could be forced to invest in enough new solar and wind generation to completely cover their electricity needs.
State and federal energy ministers agreed at a meeting last week that datacentres across the country should “fully offset” their electricity demand through investments in new renewable generation and energy storage.
The push, backed by all ministers except Queensland’s, also said datacentres should provide “demand flexibility services” – steps that allow a datacentre to control the amount of electricity being drawn from the network.
Andrew Messenger
Brisbane mayor halts plans for Airbnb permits; opposition calls it ‘total capitulation at the expense of renters’
Brisbane mayor Adrian Schrinner has halted a plan to require a permit to rent a house on Airbnb “at this time”.
The policy has been three years in the works. A taskforce established in 2023 recommended in 2024 that a property should only be allowed to be rented on the short-stay market with planning approval, the support of its body corporate and a 24-7 property manager.
Schrinner told a Brisbane City Council meeting on Tuesday that the idea would “not proceed at this time,” blaming the federal budget, which he said is expected to include changes to property taxes, and rising interest rates.
He said just 1% of Brisbane homes were used for short-term accommodation, and they represented just 100 complaints in the last 12 months.
Consultation revealed that short-stay accommodation services provide a broader purpose over and above tourism.
You will not tax your way out of a housing crisis and you will not regulate your way out of a housing crisis. Only building new homes will change this.
Council opposition leader Jared Cassidy accused the mayor of “total capitulation to the short-stay accommodation industry at the expense of renters”.
Considerable time and money have gone into these reforms, and it’s all been for nothing.
This LNP council’s earlier reforms promised more than 300 new rentals would go back into the market. That hasn’t happened. Now the lord mayor is using the federal budget as cover to admit his failure.
‘Governments have not done enough’: PM reflects on death of Kumanjayi Little Baby
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was asked in question time by Labor MP for Lingiari Marion Scrymgour how the government and parliament were standing with the family and community of Kumanjayi Little Baby in her electorate.
Albanese said it had been an “extraordinarily difficult period” and he extended his deepest condolences to her family.
They are trying to bear what must be unbearable.
Amid their devastation, they have asked for the space to allow Sorry Business to occur, so the memory of their beautiful child can be cherished and honoured.
He said the tragedy had shattered a family and shaken a community, and amid the pain, there was also anger.
Governments of all persuasions have not done enough to deal with what are generational challenges.
Every Australian child has the right to grow up safe and loved.
With the security of a roof over their head, with the opportunity of a great education, to be empowered to make the most of their potential their life.
Kumanjayi Little Baby deserved all of that.
Users report issues with Google search
Google search seemed to be suffering intermittent issues this afternoon, with a massive spike in user reports to the tracking website DownDetector.
It seems to have resolved after about half an hour, and Google’s status page doesn’t appear to note any issues.
We’ll keep you posted if it keeps happening, but a mild moment of panic for users across the world.
Nick Visser
That’s all from me. Josh Taylor will be your guide into the evening. Take care.
Canberra teen charged with terrorism offences
ACT teen charged with new terrorism offences, including planning an attack
The Australian federal police have charged a Canberra teenager with new terrorism offences, including acts in preparation for a terrorist act.
The AFP said today the 17-year-old is the first person to be charged with planning a terrorist act in the ACT. The teen is alleged to have planned an attack on people not known to him, motivated by views aligned with nationalist or racist extremism, the AFP says.
The teen appeared in ACT children’s court today, where they faced one charge of preparing or planning a terrorist act, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted. They also faced a charge of transmitting violent extremist material, which can be punished by up to five years in prison.
Peter Crozier, the AFP assistant commissioner on counter-terrorism, said it was alarming to see young Australians exposed to such material, adding in a statement:
We strongly emphasise the important role that parents, schools, social services and technology companies have in preventing access to violent extremist material by our youth.
Read more here:
Albanese pledges budget will help make Australia ‘even more resilient’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking during question time ahead of the release of the budget later tonight.
He says the budget is focused on making the economy “even more resilient”, pointing to plans to increase Australia’s fuel reserve and his efforts across the world to secure fuel shipments for the nation. He said:
All we can do is to put in place every measure at our disposal, to protect Australia’s national interest, that’s what I’ve been doing.
Albanese has also been facing questions about plans to slash the capital gains tax discount and how Australians can trust the Labor government. The prime minister responded to a question from Angus Taylor, saying:
Our budget tonight will build on everything that Australia is doing to shield Australia from the worst of the global fuel crisis, but also to ensure that we come out the other side a stronger, fairer, more resilient economy.
Our budget will be true to Labor values and Australian values: fairness and aspiration as we go forward.
