THIS WEEK the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick MP is in Tasmania as part of the Parliament in Schools program.

Students will learn about federation, democracy and the Australian Parliament, as well as hear first-hand from the Speaker and their local member on what a typical day looks like in their electorate and when they are in Canberra for sitting weeks.

Over three days, the Speaker will visit:

• King Island District School, Currie – with the Member for Braddon, Gavin Pearce, on Monday 5 June,
• Perth Primary School, Perth – with the Member for Lyons, Brian Mitchell, on Tuesday 6 June,
• Westbury Primary School, Westbury – with the Member for Lyons, Brian Mitchell, on Tuesday 6 June,
• Ravenswood Heights Primary School, Ravenswood – with the Member for Bass, Bridget Archer, on Wednesday 7 June, and
• Riverside Primary School, Riverside – with the Member for Bass, Bridget Archer, on Wednesday 7 June.

"All students, regardless of their location should have the opportunity to experience a Parliamentary Education Office (PEO) program," Speaker Milton Dick said.

"One of my biggest priorities is to increase the accessibility of civics education.

"These are our future leaders. It is so important we empower school students with the knowledge, skills and values so that they can go on to be active and informed citizens."

About the Parliament in Schools program

Launched last year, the Parliament in Schools program is a bi-partisan initiative to make civics education accessible to students regardless of their location. In collaboration with local federal members, the Speaker is visiting schools across Australia to bring parliament to them.

The program is an extension to well-established PEO onsite, digital and outreach education programs available to schools across Australia.

It also complements the existing PEO online and print resources that are curriculum-aligned, for Australian teachers and students.

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REGIONAL Queenslanders are facing a double blow over the Queensland Government’s decision to impose the world’s highest royalty taxes on coal producers, accordingf to the Queensland Resources Council (QRC). 

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said regional Queenslanders would bear the full brunt of the loss of investment and jobs in the resources sector, and at the same time are still waiting on the promised spending boost to services and infrastructure from the extra billions the coal royalty tax is delivering to the State Government. 

Mr Macfarlane said the fact that mayors from resources regions have started speaking out about missing out on the benefits from the billions of dollars generated by the new royalty scheme should be a concern for every Queenslander. 

“If the Queensland Government is going to rip billions of dollars out of the resource sector, it should be making sure resources communities don't pay the price twice,” Mr Macfarlane said. 

“The regions have been poorly funded for government services and infrastructure for decades and are entitled to ask for their fair share. 

“While the government has publicly announced a long list of major regional projects, from hospitals to pipelines and community facilities, so far there’s been very little specific funding committed to these projects over the next four years. 

“Increasing Queensland’s coal royalty tax rate to five times that of New South Wales is already causing great uncertainty in many regional towns and resources communities that rely heavily on the ongoing prosperity of the resources sector for their jobs and livelihoods,” he said.

“The pipeline of future resources projects to secure local jobs and economies is now at risk from a government decision to substantially increase royalty taxes which has made our sector globally uncompetitive. 

“The latest conservative estimates indicate Queensland’s excessive new coal royalty rates will generate more than $5 billion extra for the Qld Government this financial year.  

“That’s more than six times the Qld Government’s original forecast of $800 million, which sounds great at first glance for Queensland, but as we all know if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. 

“The cost to long-term investment and jobs in Queensland’s resources sector over the next five to 10 years from this decision will be absolutely devastating.” 

Mr Macfarlane said the government’s sudden huge increase of the royalty regime without consultation has sent a shudder through the international investment community and damaged Queensland’s reputation as reliable place to invest in new and established resources projects.

“This very real threat extends beyond coal to projects involving rare earths, critical minerals and hydrogen,” he said. 

“The sugar hit from the royalty increase will be long gone in five to 10 years from now, when the full impact of the royalty tax increase will be evident.  

“As Queensland’s existing, large-scale resources projects reach their end of mine life, there will not be a strong pipeline of investment in new projects to replace them -- or the thousands of jobs that come with them.

“The QRC is once again calling on the Queensland Government to review its decision to introduce higher taxes on the coal sector, and to sit down and work with the resources industry and the communities who rely on us for jobs and business opportunities.” 

www.qrc.org.au

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THE SUPPLY of new homes is set to continue to decline under the weight of rising interest rates, according to Housing Industry Association (HIA) senior economist, Tom Devitt.

The ABS released the Lending to Households and Businesses data for April 2023 on Friday of last week.

“The number of loans issued for the purchase or construction of a new home has fallen to a new low,” Mr Devitt said.

“The last time so few loans were issued for the purchase or construction of a new home was in September 2008, when the GFC caused a contraction in building.

“Lending for the purchase and construction of new homes in the three months to April 2023 was 31.5 percent lower than at the same time last year.

“There are very long lags in this cycle and the full impact of the RBA’s rate increases are still to fully hit the housing market, let alone the broader economy," he said.

“These low lending numbers reflect a lack of new work entering the pipeline at the same time that population growth is surging.

“There needs to be a structural increase in the number of homes being built across Australia, a fact recently acknowledged by the RBA.” Mr Devitt said.

In original terms, the total number of loans for the purchase of construction of new homes in the three months to April 2023 declined in all jurisdictions compared with the same quarter a year earlier, led by the Australian Capital Territory (-67.5 percent), and followed by New South Wales (-34.9 percent), South Australia (-32.1 percent), Tasmania (-31.6 percent), Western Australia (-31.3 percent), Victoria (-29.5 percent), Queensland (-27.4 percent) and the Northern Territory (-5.1 percent).

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CONCERNS are mounting in the building community with building approvals hitting their lowest levels since April 2012, impacting Australia’s ability to meet its housing targets, according to Master Builders Australia acting CEO, Shaun Schmitke.

“According to the ABS, new home building approvals sank by 8.1 percent over the month with a total of 11,594 dwellings approved in seasonally adjusted terms," Mr Schmitke said.

“The reverses in new home building approvals come in the aftermath of 12 months of rising interest rates and inflation at its highest in over 30 years.

“The data reflects the cautious approach being taken by developers and consumers in the face of economic uncertainty and high building costs," he said.

“The biggest drops were in higher density home building approvals and home renovations falling 16.9 percent and 26.6 percent respectively.

“Although demand for medium and high-density housing is surging, the pipeline of new stock is rapidly diminishing.

“The fall in new builds will exacerbate pressures in the rental market at the worst possible time with media reports today showing the portion of income needed to pay rent lifting to the highest level since June 2014.^[1]

“Builders recognise the importance of a healthy and vibrant building and construction sector in supporting economic growth and addressing the housing needs of a growing population.

“To ensure we continue to supply enough homes to house all Australians, governments need to look at what impact their regulations and policies have on the cost of building homes and on the cost of building social infrastructure," Mr Schmitke said.

“The upcoming planning ministers meeting provides an opportunity to address these challenges."

Master Builders has published its priorities for delivering Australia’s housing needs which can be read here.

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Reference [1] https://www.afr.com/property/residential/worsening-affordability-hits-poorer-renters-hard-20230526-p5dbid

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THE Select Committee on Workforce Australia Employment Services will seek evidence from service providers and from peak bodies representing Australia’s multicultural, migrant, and refugee communities at a public hearing in Brisbane on Tuesday, June 6, 2023.

This follows site visits in Brisbane and far North Queensland, which will enable the committee to gain further insight into the design and delivery of the employment service system in regional Australia.

Committee Chair, Julian Hill MP, said, “Frankly, Australia can do much better in engaging multicultural communities to boost the country’s economic prosperity. I represent one of the most diverse electorates and am particularly concerned at evidence that employment services are not adequately supporting migrants in securing skilled work to harness their talents.

“The committee will also continue to listen carefully to the insights of employment service providers — including Sarina Russo, yourtown, and Workways Australia — to identify elements of the system which drive behaviours incompatible with high quality services and meaningful employment outcomes.”

Further information about the inquiry, including Terms of Reference, future public hearings, published submissions and hearing transcripts, is available on the inquiry website.

Public hearing details

Date                
6 June 2023

Time               
1pm – 3.30pm

Location         
Committee Room 3, Queensland Parliament
2A George Street, Brisbane City       

Witnesses     
Multicultural Australia
Ethnic Communities Council of Queensland
Sarina Russo Job Access
yourtown
Workways Australia

A live audio broadcast of the hearing will be available via the Parliament’s Watch, Read, Listen website.

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BUILDING approvals in April 2023 remained at their lowest level in over a decade, with declines continuing for both houses and multi-units, according to Housing Industry Association (HIA) senior economist Tom Devitt.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics today released its monthly building approvals data for April for detached houses and multi-units covering all states and territories.

“Detached house approvals declined by 3.6 percent in the month of April and multi-units fell by 16.9 percent,” Mr Devitt said.

“On a quarterly basis, this leaves detached house approvals 15.4 percent lower than the same time the previous year, and multi-units down by 38.9 per cent.

“This continues the long-lagged response of Australian homebuyers to the RBA’s interest rate hiking cycle, with further declines expected in the coming months," he said.

“The combination of construction cost blowouts, labour uncertainties, increased compliance costs and taxes on investors has seen approvals for multi-units fall.

“These disappointing approvals numbers are occurring as population growth surges with the return of overseas migrants, students and tourists.

“This imbalance will see the affordability and rental crisis deteriorate further,” Mr Devitt said.

Total building approvals were down across all the jurisdictions in the three months to April 2023 compared to the same period last year. In seasonally adjusted terms, decreases were led by Victoria (-35.3 percent), followed by New South Wales (-28.7 percent), Western Australia (-14.6 percent), South Australia (-12.1 percent), Queensland (-4.2 percent), and Tasmania (-2.2 per ent). In original terms, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory saw declines of 49.8 percent and 27.3 percent respectively.

www.hia.com.au

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THE Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) will appear at a House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics public hearing on Thursday, June 2.

APRA will be discussing the Review of the APRA Annual Report 2022 as well as giving evidence to the Inquiry into promoting economic dynamism, competition and business formation.

Chair Daniel Mulino MP said with the committee investigating issues including competition, business formation and productivity, APRA’s perspective on how these issues play out in Australia’s financial system would be invaluable.

"APRA must balance the benefits of efficiency, competition, contestability and competitive neutrality with financial stability — something that can be challenging to do as new technologies are introduced at rapid pace and great scale," Dr Mulino said.

"Australia is a world leader in FinTech, and APRA plays a critical role in balancing risk with the opportunities, such as broader consumer choice, that these technologies provide."

The committee will also be discussing the wider activities of APRA as part of its review of the agency’s 2021-22 Annual Report.

"APRA is an essential pillar of our regulatory environment. Strong and proactive prudential supervision and the promotion of financial system stability is one of the reasons Australia’s financial system is one of the safest in the world," Dr Mulino said.

"Superannuation, insurance and banking are central elements of Australians’ lives — and understanding the challenges facing APRA in these areas is of continual interest."

More details about the inquiries and upcoming public hearings are available on the committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date : 2 June 2023
Time : 9am to 11.30am
Location : Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra

The public hearing will also be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

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THE Defence Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade will conduct its second public hearing in support of its inquiry into the Department of Defence Annual Report 2021–22 on May 30.

The Subcommittee will hear evidence from an academic panel on the inquiry’s second focus item: Space Command and capability. Witnesses will also be invited to contribute to Defence workforce recruiting and retention issues.

Chair of the Subcommittee, Julian Hill MP, said, "Space is now a contested domain. Defence must be able to rapidly adapt to the ever-changing operating environment as well as ready itself for future competition and conflict.

“Leading experts will publicly share their views on Australian Space Command’s relationship and interoperability with coalition partners, its evolving mandate, space-based operations, and its approach towards capability realisation in light of the Defence Strategic Review.”

Further information is available on the inquiry webpage.

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