Australian news and politics live: Anthony Albanese’s stark warning for Greens defector Dorinda Cox

Anthony Albanese wants to entrench Labor as the natural party of government in Australia according to The Nightly’s Latika Bourke.

His stunning and historic landslide win on May 3 shows he is on his way but he needs to embrace national security if he is to be truly successful.

As the celebrations over his huge victory begin to subside, the Prime Minister should look closely at the vulnerabilities that put his grand project at risk and the potential for him to cement his place in history as one of the Australian Labor greats.

National security and government spending remain his greatest weaknesses and, as Julian Leeser, the Shadow Attorney-General told The Nightly last week, the Coalition’s two greatest strengths.

The Liberals will be on life support for some time, but when they fight back — and they will — these two issues will be their primary targets.

But Mr Albanese should not wait that long. It is in the national interest, and his own party’s that he acts. Now.

Read Latika M Bourke’s full column here.

Shadow IR minister Tim Wilson has welcomed the Fair Work Commission’s decision to lift the minimum wage 3.5 per cent but slammed the government for trying to “jawbone” the independent umpire.

During the Federal Election campaign Labor had put a recommendation into the Fair Work Commission urging them to consider lifting the wage.

In a public statement after the decision on Tuesday, Mr Wilson said: “Unlike the government we respect the independent umpire and do not seek to jawbone the Commission into making certain decisions”.

“The Coalition recognises today’s minimum wage decision. We support higher wages for workers delivered through improved workplace outcomes,” he posted to X.

“Real wages have declined under Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers.

“Insolvency rates show small businesses are also paying a high price for Labor stoking inflation, and are now stuck in the middle between employees and their own future.

“The choice between paths couldn’t be clearer: Labor’s only plan for higher wages is milking vulnerable small businesses already struggling with high costs, inflation and regulation, the Coalition wants to empower and strengthen small business as a path to higher wages.”

Mr Wilson who had been re-elected to parliament as the Member for Goldstein, has returned to the frontbench as shadow minister for industrial relations, employment and small business.

The Reserve Bank picked the “path of least regret” through global trade instability by cutting interest rates in May, minutes from its last meeting show.

But the minutes — released on Tuesday morning — also gave a signal that the board will be slow and steady weighing further relief, despite markets hoping for rapid-fire cuts through the rest of 2025.

The official interest rate was lowered for the second time this year at the central bank’s May meeting, down to 3.85 per cent.

That came after core inflation — a measure of prices which strips out volatility — fell back into the 2 to 3 per cent target band. Forecasts suggest inflation will remain near the middle of that zone through to 2027.

Slowing inflation was the top reason the RBA’s policy board was comfortable to reduce interest rates, according to the minutes.

US President Donald Trump’s trade war also loomed large at the two-day meeting.

Read the full story here.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has responded to the Fair Work Commission’s decision to lift the minimum and award wages by 3.5 per cent from July 1, describing the increase as “generous” for employees but warning it will be tough for many businesses to absorb.

Speaking in Melbourne, ACCI’s CEO noted that while the rise is above inflation, it comes at a difficult time for business.

“Productivity has been weak over the past year. It’s been negative over the past year. We’ve seen profitability for many businesses going backwards over the past 18 months or so,” he said.

The CEO also highlighted a record 16,500 business insolvencies so far this financial year, with small and medium-sized businesses in sectors like retail, hospitality, and cafes particularly vulnerable.

“For those businesses that are most vulnerable... an increase of this magnitude will be very difficult for them to swallow. It will put a real challenge forward for those businesses,” he said.

The ACCI leader stressed that the decision underscores the urgent need for a national productivity agenda. “If you don’t have a plan for productivity, if you don’t have productivity going forwards, then you can’t sustain increases in real wages,” he said, calling on both business and government to focus on lifting productivity to support future wage growth.

Amanda Rishworth has defended the Fair Work Commission’s 3.5 per cent minimum wage increase as both “economically sustainable” and essential for Australia’s lowest-paid workers.

Responding to questions in Melbourne, the Minister said the Commission carefully considered inflation, business conditions, and labor productivity in its decision.

“We were very clear in our submission that we did want to see a real wage increase that was economically sustainable,” she said.

“The Commission, in its reasoning for why it settled on 3.5 per cent, was very clear that it took into consideration the needs of our minimum-wage workers and also the business conditions as well.”

Addressing concerns about productivity, Rishworth argued that “paying our minimum workers less does not help with productivity growth.”

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Amanda Rishworth has welcomed the Fair Work Commission’s decision to award a 3.5 per cent increase to the minimum and award wages, calling it a real wage boost for nearly three million Australian workers.

Standing with essential workers in Melbourne, Rishworth said the increase is consistent with the government’s submission for an “economically sustainable real-wage increase for our lowest-paid workers.”

She highlighted the impact on workers like retail staff, early educators, and cleaners, saying, “This decision will not just help them get by, but will start to help them get ahead.”

“For those on the minimum wage, for those working full-time, it’s close to a $1,700 annual increase,” Ms Rishworth said.

“Since we’ve been elected, it has been our top priority to get wages moving again. This decision is another step in that journey.”

In a flurry of questions to Anthony Albanese in Perth on Tuesday he has been asked if Australia should follow the UK’s lead in lifting defence spending.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged to make the largest increase in military funding since the end of the Cold War, by spending 15 billion pounds ($31 billion) before the next election in 2029.

It will include a new fleet of up to 12 “next-generation” attack submarines, which are nuclear-powered but carry conventional non-nuclear weapons.

When the UK’s commitments were raised at a press conference, the PM said:

“Good on them”.

“He’s a good fella, Keir Starmer.”

He said Australia had a good working relationship with the UK and US on AUKUS but also on the multi-nation response to the war in Ukraine.

The PM said himself, Sir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron were working on a potential Coalition of the willing to support the Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

It comes after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth conveyed to his Australian counterpart Richard Marles at a Singapore conference last week that the nation should boost defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP.

“We determine our defence policy here,” Mr Albanese said, sticking up for Australia’s decision making.

“We’re a sovereign nation that needs to have pride in our sovereignty and in our capacity to make decisions in our national interest.

“That is what we will do.

“We have increased our defence investment by more than $10 billion over the forward estimates.

“Our recent budget in March, brought forward additional investment forward as well.”

Anthony Albanese said his new Senator Dorinda Cox is “an adult” and he would “engage constructively” with the Party around her views on the North West Shelf.

Senator Cox made a shock defection from the Greens to Labor on Monday, saying the major party better aligned with her values.

It came after last week criticising Labor’s Murray Watt for approving the gas project to 2070.

Asked if he had spoken to Senator Cox to reign in her commentary, the PM said he hadn’t.

“No. She’s an adult,” he said.

“The Greens political party (is) not capable of achieving the change that she wants to see in public life.

“And that’s not surprising, given that the Greens have lost their way.

“I’ll engage constructively, as I did in the last Parliament.

“If you’re serious about social change in Australia, the Labor Party is where you should be.”

Anthony Albanese says the WA Government had “good vision” when they put in place a gas reservation policy.

The reservation means 15 per cent of the gas produced in WA is retained for the domestic market. It makes gas bills cheaper in WA than the east coast which doesn’t have a reservation.

Asked in Perth on Tuesday if he would support a reservation for the east coast, the PM spruiked his plan for a renewables energy future.

“WA, frankly, showed good vision going forward when they put that in place,” he said.

“WA has a plan for renewables backed by gas, backed by batteries… on the east coast and, in some places, the backing of hydro is the third element for which you can provide support for as well.

“That is consistent with the plan that both WA have which we have nationally as well.

“It’s a very different position from the one that the Coalition advanced during the election campaign, which seemed to have been plucked out of a Coco Pops packet one morning.”

Anthony Albanese has declared his continued support for WA to keep its share of the GST.

Speaking in Perth ahead of his travelling Cabinet meeting on Tuesday afternoon, he was asked about possible changes to the share formula.

The PM said it was “important” the guarantee remained in place.

“We support the position on WA that I took to the election,” he said.

“And that we enshrined at the National Cabinet. A year ago we enshrined that going forward.

“Importantly, as well, part of that is that no State’s been worse off that guarantee, and that guarantee is in place.”