TASMANIA POLL DEADLOCK; PM IN CHINA PUSH

PM pushes free trade expansion in China

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has formalised a review of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (FTA) during his meeting with Chinese leaders in Beijing. In a statement issued after the PM’s meeting with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, the two nations signed memoranda of understanding on the implementation and review of the FTA, tourism, and trade in a range of food products. China and Australia agreed to continue or expand engagement on areas including climate change, energy and environment, and political dialogue. They also agreed to greater engagement on border enforcement issues, building on current cooperation against counter-narcotics, transnational and organised crime, and cyber-telecom scams. In a later media conference at the Great Wall of China, Mr Albanese said the issue of the lease of the Port of Darwin was not raised in his talks with Premier Li; the PM said he maintained his long-held opposition to the port’s lease by the Chinese-based Landbridge Group.

Tasmania votes again for minority government

Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff is poised to be returned in Tasmania after Saturday’s state election, but he will again need the support of crossbenchers in a deadlocked parliament. Early figures have the Liberals on track to win up to 15 seats in the 35-seat House of Assembly, ahead of Labor (up to 10 seats) and the Greens (up to five seats). Mr Rockliff would therefore require the support of most of the five potential Independent or minor party candidates elected on Saturday. Tasmania was forced into a snap election after the minority Rockliff government lost a no-confidence vote in the previous parliamentary term. It was the state’s second election in 16 months.

Unemployment edges up to 2021 levels

Unemployment in Australia has risen to its highest national level in three and a half years, but with a wide variation in the jobless rate across states and territories. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that in June, the rate of unemployment, seasonally adjusted, edged up to 4.3 per cent – the highest monthly rate since November 2021, as the nation emerged from Covid-19. In the latest figures, the Australian Capital Territory (3.6 per cent), Tasmania (3.8 per cent) and Northern Territory (3.9 per cent) all recorded an unemployment rate under four per cent. Victoria, however, registered an unemployment rate of 4.6 per cent.

King’s assurance on gas exports

Resources Minister Madeleine King has declared that any establishment of a domestic gas reservation on Australia’s east coast will not impact the nation’s contractual relationships with gas export partners. Ms King said both the Prime Minister and the Energy Minister had been clear that changes to the gas market would not affect existing long-term contracts with partners such as Japan, Singapore and South Korea – all of whom had made substantial capital investment into gas industry facilities. She said Western Australia’s domestic gas reservation policy had worked well to keep energy prices stable for industry and for domestic consumers.

Sustainable investment labelling under review

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has opened public consultation to develop a framework for the labelling of sustainable investment products. Dr Chalmers and Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said investors should be given more confidence to put more capital to work in sustainable products. They said the framework would help to tackle greenwashing – the use of misleading or deceptive conduct – in promotion of investments. A consultation paper released by Federal Treasury cited that around $1.6 trillion of financial assets in Australia used a responsible investment approach.

Air Force steps up specialist Space recruitment

Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh has announced that for the first time, the Australian Defence Force would establish a purpose-built Space workforce. Mr Keogh said the ADF would soon begin targeted recruitment and training for highly specialised roles; from 2026, Air Force direct entry would be available for roles including Space Operations Specialist and Space Operations Officers. Fields to be eventually covered would include satellite communications; position, navigation and timing; space domain awareness, and missile warning.