Australian news and politics live: Albanese defends call not to convene national cabinet on anti-Semitic hate

Building on recent improvements in June, the latest NAB survey reveals further encouraging signs of growth and optimism among Australian businesses.

Encouragingly, profitability had improved. Previous data suggested businesses were hampered from raising prices due to sluggish demand, so a lift in trading conditions is a welcome sign for future growth. It’s too early to declare a full turnaround, but the signals are better than they were earlier in the year.

“Overall, the survey is encouraging that sluggish momentum in early 2025 will improve into the second half, with a notable increase in conditions in the month,” Head of Australian Economics at NAB Gareth Spence said.

“An improvement in confidence is also welcome given the raft of negative headlines globally over recent months. While we know that the monthly survey can be volatile, the hope is at least some of these trends will be sustained over coming months.”

New data from the National Australia Bank suggests businesses are starting to see signs of life after a rocky start to the year, a positive sign that coincides with the Reserve Bank’s deliberation on interest rates.

The latest NAB Business Survey shows a surprisingly strong bounce in June, with conditions rising showing the biggest monthly lift in over a year.

Confidence also edged higher, marking a third straight monthly rise and reaching its highest trend level in more than 12 months. That’s despite global uncertainty, soft household spending, and renewed trade tensions.

“After a volatile but soft year for business confidence, we have seen a trend improvement over the past three months,” said NAB’s Gareth Spence. Confidence is still weakest in retail and wholesale, but construction has taken the lead.

June’s gains were broadly based. Capacity utilisation, a key indicator of underlying demand, rose again and remains well above its long-run average. Capital expenditure increased too, and forward orders are now sitting just shy of their normal levels. Input cost pressures remain a factor, with labour and purchase costs still elevated, though retail price growth eased slightly.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has been visiting the East Melbourne Synagogue that was hit with an alleged arson attack on Friday.

She and Shadow Attorney-General Julian Leeser spoke with Jewish community members there.

Ms Ley said afterwards that people were concerned the laws supposed to protect them were failing.

“There’s always a question about whether the laws are strong enough, but if the laws are failing they’re certainly not strong enough,” she said.

Mr Leeser said there should be a fresh look at “what’s happening in our cities” regarding protests.

“People have the right to protest, but people in the city shouldn’t have to put up with the nature of violent protests, where people smash up shops and burn down buildings and call for the death of people,” she said.

Anthony Albanese has accused a reporter in Tasmania of fishing for a headline on GST and refusing to budge on providing answers to his questions.

REPORTER: Prime Minister, just on the GST, can you give an undertaking to Tasmanian voters how you will do everything you can to commit to extending the no-worse-off guarantee?

PM: We’ve already made the position clear.

REPORTER: Can you just remind us?

PM: We have our position, which we’ve put out there. It’s very clear that there’s a no-worse-off guarantee in place.

REPORTER: But it’s due to expire. Will you extend it?

PM: There’s a no-worse-off guarantee in place.

REPORTER: So if there’s no guarantees that you’ll extend it…

PM: Like, seriously. That’s the sort of question that is looking for a story that isn’t there.

REPORTER: But with respect, Prime Minister, that has an end date on it.

PM: We’ve extended it. I’ve answered the question.

Anthony Albanese has spruiked the work the Federal Government has done under his leadership to repair Australia’s relationship with China ahead of his trip.

The relationship had been strained under his predecessor, former Prime Minister Scott Morrison, after the Liberal leader called for an inquiry into the origins of COVID.

It prompted a freezing of key trade for Australian industries, including wine, beef, barley and lobsters.

“We have a free trade agreement with China. What we have done is to get rid of the more than $20 billion of impediments of goods that were stopped from going to China,” he said.

“It’s made an enormous difference. Products like wine and barley have not just bounced back. They’ve bounced back higher than they were before.”

Anthony Albanese has confirmed his trip to China, saying he looked forward to strengthening Australia’s relationship with the Asian superpower.

“I look forward to going to Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu, which I will visit from Saturday,” he said in Tasmania on Tuesday.

“China’s an important trading partner for Australia. Twenty-five per cent of our exports go to China. What that means is jobs, and one of the things that my government prioritises is jobs.”

Anthony Albanese has spoken publicly on the US President’s trade tariffs, saying Australia is in a better position than most countries.

“Australia has a tariff rate of 10 per cent, which is at least as low as any country in the world,” he told reporters in Tasmania.

“No country has a better deal than Australia. And we’ll continue to put our case that tariffs are an act of economic self-harm and that we should be entitled to reciprocal tariffs, which is zero.”

Anthony Albanese has been snappy with reporters in Tasmania on Tuesday, hitting back at questions about what the Jewish community has called for after a spate of attacks in Melbourne on Friday.

A reporter asked about whether the Federal government would provide more funding for the safety of places of worship, citing that “Jewish community leaders” say the previous commitment was “insufficient”.

“Who is saying that?” the PM quizzed the journalist.

“I spoke with Jewish community leaders on Saturday.

“Every time there has been a request, it has been met, expeditiously.

“On Saturday, one of the reasons why this gentleman has been caught so quickly is because the CCTV that was in place there was as a direct result of Commonwealth Government funding.”

Anthony Albanese was asked about the Opposition’s call for a dedicated National Cabinet on antisemitism. The PM has said he’s focused instead on action.

“Every time an issue comes up, people say, ‘Let’s have a National Cabinet’,” he told reporters in Tasmania.

“Let’s be clear. People don’t want a meeting. They want action. Action is what they want.”

Mr Albanese has defended his decision not to convene a national cabinet on anti-semitism, declaring people “don’t want a meeting, they want action”.

The attacks in Melbourne over the weekend were “reprehensible”, the PM said, and “deserve condemnation”.

“The gentleman concerned at the synagogue deserves the full force of the law,” he said.

He said his Government had already responded substantially with increasing security for synagogues, Jewish schools and community organisations.

“We’ll continue to engage constructively with the community to make sure they get the support they need,” he said.

“Anti-Semitism is a scourge. It has no place in Australia.”