Winemakers cautiously optimistic about Chinese tariff removal
There are growing expectations of a breakthrough for Australian wine exports to China, after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said a decision was “imminent” about the next steps on the matter.
Guardian Australia understands the Chinese ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, met with the trade minister, Don Farrell, at Parliament House late yesterday to discuss the trade issues.
The end of March was the original deadline for China to decide whether to remove prohibitively high tariffs on Australian wine (these tariffs were first introduced in 2020 at the height of the diplomatic dispute between the two countries). Earlier this month, the Chinese commerce ministry published an interim decision suggesting that the tariffs were likely to be scrapped. Under last year’s “offramp” deal, Australia suspended its complaint against China at the World Trade Organization in return for China agreeing to fast-track a review of the tariffs by the end of March.
Not even Taylor Swift could revive retail sales growth in February
Retail sales rose 0.3% last month from January levels in seasonally adjusted terms, a weaker result than the 0.4% pace expected by economists.
Turnover was also 1.6% higher than a year ago but given we learnt yesterday consumer price inflation in February was 3.4%, retail spending was going backwards in real terms at almost a 2% clip.
ABS staff being the trendies that they are, couldn’t avoid a reference to a certain US singer who visited a couple of cities last month.
Ben Dorber, ABS’s head of retail statistics, said:
Seven sold-out Taylor Swift concerts in Sydney and Melbourne boosted retail spending this month, with over 600,000 Swifties flocking to these events. This led to increased spending on clothing, merchandise, accessories and dining out.
Taylor Swift performing at the Sydney Eras Tour. Photograph: David Gray/AFP/Getty Images
Still, the underlying growth in retail turnover was only 0.1% in trend (that word again) terms. Dorber:
After a period of higher volatility from November through to January, underlying spending has stagnated.
Not a great sign for the economy, then. That said, the RBA has cited household spending as one of the “risk factors” in its interest rate calculations.
If we keep trimming our consumption, the central bank will be more likely to bring forward an interest rate cut. Something for many to cheer about.
Curfew a ‘required circuit breaker’: Alice Springs health provider
The Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, an Alice Springs-based community health provider, says the youth curfew in the town is a “necessary circuit breaker” to address growing violence – but admitted it’s “sad” to have gotten to this point. Its CEO, Donna Ah Chee, says the root causes can be traced to alcohol issues, and a lack of government investment in remote areas.
Ah Chee said in a statement:
The emergency situation is a required circuit breaker that will lead to an immediate improvement.
This emergency situation has been immediately caused by a family dispute due to recent tragic deaths in Alice Springs. However, these deaths have occurred on a backdrop of the decision by the Police Minister to walk away from full coverage of the take-away outlets with PALIs which has again led to an influx of remote people to town.
It has further been caused by many years of lack of investment by successive governments, especially out bush, on the broader social determinants of the unacceptable behaviours we have seen from young people and related adults over recent days.
Ah Chee said “parents need to take responsibility” for their kids, backing Family Responsibility Agreements which sometimes require income management and other protections if alcohol is a factor in issues. Congress has welcomed recent spending announcements on education, housing and employment in remote areas, but said more of the money should have been targeted solely at Aboriginal children.
It is really unfortunate that a decision was made to not target the $40 million announced for education in Central Australia only on the Aboriginal children and young people who are at the centre of our town’s social concerns. Amongst other unmet needs, there is a vital need to ensure there is access to long term, secure care rehabilitation for young people who are only likely to respond to this type of service.
Indigenous legal body critical of ‘punitive policies’ and ‘continued fearmongering’
Natsils, the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services, warned against “dangerous” responses that would see more children detained. Its chair, Karly Warner, claimed in a statement today that the situation in places such as Alice Springs and Moree would get worse, if governments didn’t put more focus on the Closing The Gap initiative to address social and economic discrepancies between Indigenous Australians and the broader community:
Less than a year after the Voice referendum, various governments have now been spooked by fear campaigns. Their failure to progress Closing the Gap commitments results in further dislocation, trauma, and the anxiety we are seeing play out in some communities.
Governments have a clear choice and it should be an easy one. They can opt for what they see as political fixes that make the problem worse, or they can go to the policies and solutions that are evidence-based and already well-established.
Using ‘but, we have to do something!’ as an excuse for punitive measures against children is itself juvenile intellectual reasoning. Policies that result in children being locked up and make problems worse are not solutions – they are dangerous and will result in further tragedy for communities and children.
Warner was critical of “punitive policies” in the NT and NSW, and “continued fearmongering”.
Michael Murphy is describing how the curfew will also be managed using common sense. Police will be able to operate under the Emergency Management Act “to exercise powers to control movement and basically unlawful conduct in the CBD district”.
It needs to be tempered with some common sense and discretion. While there is a curfew in place and a curfew can be controlled and … doesn’t stop people coming into the CBD.
NT police commissioner Michael Murphy in Darwin on Wednesday. Photograph: Neve Brissenden/AAP
If you are a family and you have got young kids coming to have dinner in the CBD you can still do that. You can go about your lawful business.
It is about the unlawful conduct and the crimes we are trying to control and put those measures in place under the provisions of the Emergency Management Act.
Curfew aims to ‘keep kids out of the criminal justice system’: NT police
The NT police commissioner, Michael Murphy, is speaking about the leadership of the Arrernte people who have been involved in the decision to implement the curfew. He says the objective of the curfew is to “keep kids out of the criminal justice system”.
I’m really inspired with the leadership of the Arrernte people in the local traditional owners are stepping into the space and creating a narrative to engage with young people and everyone that comes to Alice Springs to try and understand what behaviours are acceptable and respect the culture and the land on which we stand today.
It’s incredibly important that this isn’t just a police issue, it is not just an enforcement issue, the fact that the curfew exists doesn’t mean we’re going start locking up kids.
The objective is to keep kids out of the criminal justice system relating to a curfew. But if they do commit violent crime they will be arrested and taken to the court where they can answer to a judge and go through the justice system.
Murphy says they are working “incredibly” closely with the children’s commissioner.
Lawler said the curfew has had its desired effects so far with reports of a “quiet night” last night:
From my reports and my discussions with the Commissioner of police it was a quiet nice young people in Alice Springs and that’s what Springs people want to see.
Alice Springs curfew based on ‘sound legal advice’, says NT chief minister
The Northern Territory’s chief minister, Eva Lawler, has just stood up to say more about the curfew in place from 6pm to 6am in Alice Springs’ CBD.
Eva Lawler is meeting with people in Alice Springs to explain why the curfew is needed. Photograph: Neve Brissenden/AAP
She says the decision was taken quickly but was based on sound legal advice.
I’m here … to talk to the stakeholders because the decision yesterday was made quickly. It was based on sound legal advice, but it gives me the opportunity today to meet with a range of people in Alice Springs to have the conversation, to talk to them about what the curfew means for them in Alice Springs and our vision and our direction for our government.
Defence chief says complaints of wrongdoing increasingly emailed to him
The chief of the Australian defence force, Gen Angus Campbell, says he receives complaints about alleged wrongdoing within Defence, usually within an email chain, “once every couple of months”.
Campbell is giving evidence on the final day of hearings of the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide. He has been asked about whether he sees a need for people to report misconduct outside the chain of command.
Campbell said there should be “a range of reporting pathways for any form of behaviour or conduct that is inappropriate, unacceptable, that is not in keeping with Defence values and behaviours”. He told the royal commission:
Currently there are mechanisms to report to your chain of command, or to report jumping levels of your chain of command if you think that individuals in that chain may be involved or may not be as perhaps sympathetic to your concerns as you might wish … We also have a number of other mechanisms.
Anyone across the organisation, and this happens sufficiently regularly for me to be confident that people will do it, will report concerns to myself or to one of the other chiefs or to their service headquarters or to one of the four ministers of the Defence portfolio or to, indeed, the prime minister and on occasions the governor general and to the media.
Gen Angus Campbell says there are various ways Defence members can report bad behaviour. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Campbell argued these were “all treated as reports of allegations of unacceptable behaviour” and maintained that “no one in the higher echelons is concerned about the pathway [used] – they are concerned about dealing with the question of unacceptable behaviour”. He said the email mechanism was “informal” but one “increasingly I see utilised by people”.
Asked how often it was used, Campbell says:
I think either to me, or me in a chain, usually it’s in [en email] chain, I think maybe once every couple of months.
People skipping meals to feed children properly, according to ACCC survey
Some people are skipping meals to feed their children properly, an ACCC survey has found.
The consumer survey, which is part of the ACCC’s supermarkets inquiry, found that many younger Australians and those on lower incomes are spending up to one-quarter of their net income on groceries.
Households have told the ACCC that to reduce their grocery bills they are substituting fresh food with frozen food and are cutting back on non-essentials.
More than 13,000 people have responded to the survey so far. ACCC deputy chair Mick Keogh says they are hoping to hear from more adults under the age of 30, people whose first language is not English, and people living in regional and rural areas.
A clear theme in the survey responses so far is that consumers consider the price of groceries to be a major factor in the cost-of-living crisis.
The consumer survey is open until 2 April and takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete.
Many Australians spend a quarter of their net income on groceries. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
