ABC journalist calls Marks’ comments on strike ‘utterly offensive’

ABC journalist Michael Slezak, co-chair of the MEAA ABC national house committee, has described managing director Hugh Marks’ comments this morning as “utterly offensive”.

As we reported earlier, Marks said he felt that ABC staff saw taking industrial action as “a bit of a game”, and said “if they want the audiences to suffer more, of course it’s their right to take protected industrial action.”

Slezak, an environment reporter and also the president of the media section of MEAA, urged Marks to retract the comments.

He told the Guardian:

The idea that ABC staff see this as a game is utterly offensive. We have been at the table with management for nine months trying to reach an agreement that allows us to continue our work and deliver quality news and content to the audiences that we love.

The claims that we have are all about creating a strong ABC with a bright future. The suggestion that ABC staff want to hurt audiences is beyond offensive. It’s outrageous, and he should retract those comments immediately.

Slezak said Marks’ recent claims that the ABC was not an insecure place to work “shows he’s not listening to the staff”.

What we are saying is that you cannot do fearless journalism if you’re fearing for your own job. That is just not conducive to quality news. He needs to come to the table and address these major issues.

What’s happening in the house?

Ok, so after the Coalition introduced a motion to bring on debate and expedite a vote on the ACCC bill to increase penalties on fuel price gouging, the government made an amendment to also include expedited debate and a vote for their legislation to help truckies with fuel price spikes.

The second piece of legislation – an amendment to the Fair Work Act to help truckies – was only introduced this morning, and the Coalition says it hasn’t had any time to read it.

Under that legislation, truck drivers and transport operators will be able to make an emergency application for a contract chain order, cutting down the current wait time of six months.

The Coalition voted against the whole motion that they brought on (with the government amendment), but the government, with its big majority, got it over the line.

Now, the house is debating both bills (which the parliament calls in cognate), and each member only gets five minutes to make their argument.

Debate will be guillotined at 1pm, at which point the two bills will be voted on (and they’re guaranteed to pass).

The shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, says the Coalition supports the ACCC penalty bill but bringing a vote on the Fair Work Act is a “dangerous precedent” after the amendment was only just introduced.

[The government] has allowed time to drift, we are simply asking that that matter which is simple, straightforward and clear be resolved.

Instead what the government is now doing is a shambolic process to try and shut down parliamentary scrutiny, shut down parliamentary accountability … It was introduced this morning, a copy has not even as far as I am aware been available to the opposition or [if] it [has] I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.

Media union refuses to rule out further industrial action

The deputy chief executive of the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance, Adam Portelli, has refused to rule out further industrial action if ABC management does not make an offer that meets staff needs.

Speaking to ABC Sydney this morning, Portelli criticised ABC management for prioritising “a significant amount of money on court cases” and “other payment” which “we would say have been unnecessary”.

Portelli continued:

What they don’t seem to have done is budgeted for-cost of-living increases. Now for the national broadcaster not to have in its budget a cost-of-living increase that meets inflation, we say simply isn’t good enough.

On insecure work, Portelli gave the example of a staff member at the ABC who had, over their 3.5 years with the broadcaster, been on “no less than 19 contracts”.

Now, that’s an outrageous situation and goes to really the heart of one of the significant concerns our members have. But it also doesn’t seem to be something that would be particularly cost-effective to the ABC.

ABC staff taking industrial action today are members of either the journalists’ union, MEAA, or the non-journalists’ Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which represents staff in technology and control systems.

Portelli would not rule out further industrial action, but said ABC staff were not taking action unnecessarily.

Our members would rather not take action. They would rather get back to work and do what they love doing, which is delivering for their audiences. But ultimately, if the offer on the table doesn’t provide those sustainable jobs that they need, we certainly wouldn’t be closing the door to further action.

Opposition flip on their own motion in the house

There’s been an interesting turn of events in the House of Representatives this morning, with the opposition moving a motion – and then backflipping on it after the government added an amendment.

Let’s go through it.

The opposition moved a suspension of standing orders to bring on Labor’s bill that doubles penalties the ACCC can dish out to fuel companies which are price gouging. The manager of opposition business, Dan Tehan, said:

The government made a big deal about this ACCC bill, said it was urgent, we had the minister saying that it was urgent, yet here we are on Thursday of this parliamentary sitting week in the middle of a national fuel crisis and all we’ve had is this bill introduced …

It brings me no joy doing the government’s job for them.

The motion Tehan was trying to bring on would have shortened debate on the ACCC bill and allowed it to be voted on and passed today.

The government then moved an amendment to tack on the legislation that it announced earlier this week to protect the trucking industry from fuel price spikes.

The opposition doesn’t support that amendment, but the government – as we know – had the numbers to add their amendment.

But now, with that amendment, the opposition didn’t want to support its own motion any more! So it feels like we’ve gone in a bit of a circle here.

Minns says Australia needs energy autonomy ‘across the board’

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says Australia should have energy autonomy “across the board”, including but not limited to its oil and liquid fuel needs.

At a press conference this morning, Minns provided an update on fuel shortages in the state, including the establishment today of its fuel emergency operations centre today.

The NSW government has used an emergency power to compel major fuel companies to advise where they are sending reserves released by the federal government. Minns says the use of additional powers, including rationing, will follow a “graduated approach” with particular attention paid to the number of inbound fuel tankers to Australia.

Asked if he supported more domestic oil production and refining, he said:

We’re going to have to look at our strategic returns in the months ahead. We’ve got to deal with the acute issues as they land today, but we’re more than willing to work with the commonwealth government about what I would call autonomy and having a strategic ability, the independence when it comes to energy.

Now, we are an energy producing economy, whether it’s coal, whether it’s gas, that’s something that we want to see exploited here in New South Wales, particularly in Narrabri or whether it’s renewable energy, which is rapidly expanding and hugely important for our economy. But this crisis is evidence that economies need to have their own access to energy, and I wouldn’t put it specifically or only as it relates to oil or diesel or petrol, it has to be across the board.

Australia relies on imports for 90% of its liquid fuel needs, with oil production at its lowest since the late 1960s.

‘We can only do what we can afford’: NSW negotiates with commonwealth over Tomago bailout

There’s a split between the commonwealth and NSW governments over a proposed rescue package for the Tomago aluminium smelter, after the state received a smaller share of GST revenue.

Speaking to Sky News this morning, the NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, weighed into the row and said his states resources are “even more limited than before”.

Yesterday the federal government announced it would go 50/50 with the Queensland government on a $2bn subsidy package for Rio Tinto’s Boyne aluminium smelter.

Mookhey warned that GST revenue NSW has been cut to the “lowest level since GST was introduced” 26 years ago, which would impact how much the state could contribute.

Mookhey said:

We want to help save the jobs at Tomago ,we do think there’s a strong case, we know how important that is for the Hunter but we’re just making the point here that we can only do what we can afford, and after the GST carve-up we can afford a little less than we could before.

Mookhey said NSW is talking to the federal government and “we’ve made it pretty clear what we can do”, but would not say how much money he was willing to chip in.

Labor faces defeat in the Senate over housing bill

The Greens and Coalition have teamed up this morning to support shadow housing minister Andrew Bragg’s bill to create parliamentary oversight of the Housing Australia body, which controls the housing guarantee scheme and housing Australia future fund facility.

The government – without parliamentary oversight – expanded access to its home guarantee scheme which gives people access to 5% home deposit without paying lenders mortgage insurance. Labor last year lifted property price caps, and scrapped caps on places and income limits.

Bragg’s legislation would force the government to make changes like the scheme expansion, through the parliament.

The government faced defeat in the Senate this morning, with the bill passed through the upper house.

Bragg says it’s the first private senators’ bill to pass the Senate in two years.

But – and there’s a big but here – the bill won’t pass through the House, where the government has a huge majority.

ABC muddles through strike action

Local ABC radio stations are being hosted this morning by the manager at 702 ABC Radio Sydney as the 24-hour strike heads into its final straight.

Battling through a few technical glitches, Nick Lowther was heard in most states including NSW and Victoria, although some markets did host their own breakfast shows.

Former AM presenter Sabra Lane read the radio news bulletins from Hobart where she is based as a Tasmanian reporter and presenter.

As we brought you earlier, the ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, gave a second interview in as many days to local radio, repeating his position that the ABC could not afford to pay the staff any more.

Marks said every 1% in additional pay to staff added $7m to the annual budget, and accused staff of making unrealistic demands.

A talkback caller in her 70s was scathing about Marks’ description of industrial bargaining as a “game”.

RBA assistant governor says energy shock ‘making us all poorer’

The Reserve Bank’s assistant governor, Chris Kent, says soaring fuel prices will “make us all poorer”, but that the central bank was focused on making sure the initial energy shock did not lead to “extended inflationary pressures”.

The RBA’s monetary policy board earlier this month delivered a second straight interest rate rise, and warned that the spike in global oil prices would push already elevated inflation even higher.

Kent, speaking in Sydney this morning, said the RBA was monitoring the “countervailing forces operating on the economy”: that the energy shock risked embedding an inflationary mindset that would be hard to shake, versus the uncertain impact of a Middle East conflict. He said:

The longer the conflict persists, the larger the economic impact will be, and the greater the risk of a material repricing of assets.

A negative supply shock pushes up prices and leads to weaker economic activity, making us all poorer. Central banks cannot change that.

But they can ensure that the initial rise in prices does not lead to a rise in longer-term inflationary expectations and extended inflationary pressures.

Financial markets are pricing in a 64% chance of a third straight rate hike when the RBA board next meets in early May, and has fully priced in an increase by June, with another expected by September.

Continuing from our last post …

ABC staff are protesting what they say is a low pay offer that puts them behind inflation, unfair work conditions including the use of rolling and short-term contracts, and the broadcaster’s refusal to rule out replacing journalists with artificial intelligence.

The ABC has lodged an application with the Fair Work Commission to resolve the dispute.

The managing director, Hugh Marks, said he believed the offer made to staff was “fair and reasonable”. He said use of contractors was “an unavoidable part of being the size of the organisation we are,” but also suggested they were mostly used for maintenance-type roles.

Marks said he expected some forms of industrial action to continue, though he wasn’t aware of plans for another strike.

At the end of the day, the people that are suffering are our audiences. So, you know, if they want the audiences to suffer more, of course it’s their right to take protected industrial action. That’s their right and we should respect that. Respect, I think, is a really important thing when you get into these discussions.

ABC managing director says some ABC staff treating industrial action like ‘a bit of a game’

The ABC strike continues this morning, with the ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, saying he feels like the members of the ABC workforce currently taking industrial action have treated it like “a bit of a game”.

Speaking to ABC Sydney this morning (hosted, today, by Dubbo chief of staff Nick Lowther), Marks claimed the request for pay increases from staff was “unmanageable”, and that “[overindexing] certain payments to staff would put us at peril”.

More than 2,000 ABC staff around Australia walked off the job yesterday for 24 hours, forcing ABC services across TV, radio and digital to use BBC World Service and repeat programming. It follows nine months of enterprise bargaining that had not reached an agreement.

Marks said:

I’m sure there will be continual action in the workforce. You know, there are little things like email, you know, changes in Teams usage, and to the extent, Nick, sometimes it feels like a bit of a game to me. And I don’t think this is a game. I think this is really serious. And I think both sides need to say, you know what, the audience comes first and we need to stop playing games and focus on that and get to an outcome …

Minns threatens petrol companies blocking supply from independent retailers

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, says his government will use “extraordinary powers” against fuel companies if they are unlawfully blocking independent retailers from purchasing fuel.

Speaking to the media this morning, Minns says distributions are clearly impacting independent retailers, and that he’s speaking with oil companies to fix the situation.

Independent petrol station operators and miners are currently urging the federal government to crack down harder on major fuel wholesalers hoarding supply and withholding deliveries from smaller operators.

Minns says:

We’re speaking with the oil companies to give us greater clarity. And I want to make it clear that if there’s not a lawful reason why independent petrol stations can’t purchase that petrol, we will take extraordinary actions, and the New South Wales government has access to those extraordinary powers.

Barnaby Joyce calls for fuel rationing, saying a ‘plan is better than panic’

One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce who yesterday called on the government to pull the trigger on the Liquid Fuel Emergency Act, is today calling for the government to start rationing fuel.

Speaking to reporters on his way into parliament this morning, Joyce said the fuel crisis is already impacting farmers and food producers, and would soon lead to food shortages.

This is going to ripple through. It’s going to start with a few sort of peculiarities. Isn’t that interesting? I don’t seem to have any eggs today. And then it’s going to build up and up and up and up. But by the time it arrives, it’s too late …

[The government] should be having rationing now, and he should be brave enough to say to the Australian people, look, you’re not going to like this, but you’re going to appreciate it. A plan is better than panic, and panic is where we’re going.

Correction note: a previous version of this post said food rationing, not fuel rationing.

New bill to tackle illicit tobacco to be introduced today

The government will introduce a new bill in parliament today to crack down on illicit tobacco, creating new offences for illicit tobacco activity linked to organise crime, and expand powers for law enforcement to go after criminal profits generated from illicit tobacco.

Black market tobacco has become a significant problem for the government, not just due to the health impacts of smoking, but has burnt a hole in the budget bottom line.

Last year Australia’s crime agency warned illicit tobacco cost $3.3bn in lost tax revenue.

The government says black market tobacco seizures increased over 320% in the last financial year compared with four years ago.

The new legislation will also increase penalties for importing, possessing, buying, selling, producing and manufacturing illicit tobacco.

The assistant minister for customs, Julian Hill, said the issue isn’t isolated to Australia.

There is no one cause or single solution to tackle the illicit tobacco market. We need a multipronged and multi-jurisdictional approach to tackle the issue, including ongoing and enhanced collaboration with the states and territories.

Taylor tells government to direct fuel to empty petrol stations

Angus Taylor says the government needs to pick up the phone and get fuel companies to move fuel to areas facing shortages. It’s a similar direction to the Coalition’s line of questioning in question time yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday, the energy minister, Chris Bowen, told the house that 757m litres of petrol and diesel have now been released and moved into regional areas.

He also accuses the government and the prime minister of being “sold out”, but doesn’t clarify who they’ve been sold out to.

The fuel stocks are up. They’ve [the government] told us that. They said that yesterday, fuel stock levels are up. So move it to the sold out servos. There’s over 500 servos that haven’t got fuel. The fuel stocks are there, pick up the phone and tell the companies to move the stocks. It’s simple.

Host Sarah Abo tries to push back, and asks Taylor how that works when all states are facing a distribution problem. But he repeats that the government has said there’s more fuel stocks in the country now, so they should call the fuel companies and tell them to “move the stocks to the sold out servos”.

Once again, Abo pushes back and asks how this is a long-term solution for a crisis that will continue to impact the world for months to come.

Taylor doubles down and says the solution is continuing to move the fuel around, and reducing inflation.

The longer-term solution, clearly, is we’re going to see higher prices over the coming weeks and potentially many months, and we’ve got to keep the fuel moving … We have a budget coming up, and we need to see downward pressure on inflation.

‘We sit here without a plan’: Nationals senator

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie says the government is playing a “blame game”, while countries around the world put in place emergency plans to tackle the fuel crisis.

On what solutions should be on the table, McKenzie says the trucking industry has been calling for GST relief, but doesn’t back a fuel excise cut because she says it hurts the whole transport industry.

Speaking to the Today show this morning, she said countries such as South Korea have been implementing a range of emergency measures for households.

You’ve got the federal and the state governments blame gaming, who’s in charge, and meanwhile, we sit here without a plan. We’ve got other countries right around the world instigating emergency provisions, prioritising their own citizens and their own nation’s needs … South Korea is implementing a plan. They’re also got rationing being implemented as well, and different countries are implementing different things.

A simple cut to fuel excise won’t help our transport industry at all, and that won’t stop that flow-on impact.

Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.

It’s the final sitting day of the fortnight, which will again be dominated by the fuel crisis and war in the Middle East, and the ongoing economic fallout.

And this morning might feel a little different with fewer talking heads in the corridors. With the ABC still on strike until 11am this morning, the mics and camera remain turned off and the pollies won’t be showing up for their regular interviews.

But despite all that, it’s going to be another busy day, so let’s get stuck in!

Farmers warn fuel crisis could lead to food shortage in Australia

Farmers’ leaders have told us that the Covid era will seem like a “tea party” compared with the economic problems that could be unleashed by the current fuel crisis.

Michael Hampson, boss of dairy farmer cooperative Norco, says the disruption could be so bad that “we won’t be worried about running out of toilet paper – we’ll be worried about not having food”.

Read the full story here:

Tropical Cyclone Narelle threatening Kimberley coast

In non-politics news, Tropical Cyclone Narelle has intensified once again and this time threatens Western Australia’s Kimberley coast after wreaking havoc across northern Queensland and the Northern Territory since last week.

Communities in the state’s world heritage-listed Shark Bay are preparing for a potential direct hit tomorrow night, and although Perth is likely to escape a direct hit, the city will see heavy rainfall, forecasters think.

Read our full story here: