Australia news LIVE: Federal Labor downplays Victorian byelection results; Closing the Gap report finds only five targets on track​on February 10, 2025 at 6:37 am

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In his response to today’s Closing the Gap report, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has fondly recalled the 2008 apology to the stolen generations – without mentioning he boycotted it.

Speaking in the House of Representatives earlier this afternoon, Dutton said change was needed after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told the chamber that only five of 19 socioeconomic targets for reducing Indigenous disadvantage were on track.

He began his reply by noting that Thursday marks the 17th anniversary of Australia’s apology for government policies that forcibly removed children from Indigenous families.

“What distinguishes Australia from many other countries is that, among our overwhelming achievements as a nation, we do not shy away from our dark chapters,” Dutton said.

“We’ve accepted those chapters, apologised for them, and continue to learn from them.”

In February 2023, Dutton apologised to Indigenous Australians from the floor of parliament for abstaining from the bipartisan apology in 2008, declaring he failed to grasp the symbolic significance of the move.

In his speech today, Dutton recalled then-prime minister Kevin Rudd had said “the great symbolism of reconciliation” needed to be “accompanied by an even greater substance” in reducing the socioeconomic gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

“The latest Closing the Gap annual report provided to the Coalition a few hours ago reinforces that the current approach is not working,” Dutton said.

He called for bipartisanship so parliament could do “what’s right and effective” for disadvantaged Indigenous Australians and taxpayers.

“There’s little that we can do if safety and housing and health and education and employment are not there for Indigenous Australians. And in too many parts of the country today, those basics are missing,” he said.

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NSW Premier Chris Minns says domestic industries being slugged with 25 per cent tariffs by US President Donald Trump will represent a “big challenge” for the NSW and Australian economy, particularly the dumping of Chinese aluminium, steel and manufactured goods.

The latest round of tariff announcements by the White House this morning (AEDT) continued to fray the existing international rules-based order that had benefited Australia’s economy since the end of World War II.

A week after saying he would engage NSW Trade Minister Anoulack Chanthivong to speak to his federal counterparts about the risk of the Trump administration’s new trade policies, Minns said Australia was “match fit” because the nation did not have tariffs on imports.

“We play by the rules. Our tariffs are low. We want to do business with the rest of the world, but these trade wars are a real risk to the NSW and Australian economy,” he said.

There were two factors, Minns said. One was the dumping of Chinese goods on the Australian market, and secondly that, while this would provide a “superficial” benefit in the short run, the cost would ultimately be to Australian businesses.

“We fight with the rest of the world for market access. We’re prepared to accept goods from the rest of the world, but trade wars are in no one’s interest, particularly not Australia,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is delivering the annual Closing the Gap address to the parliament, days before the seventeenth anniversary of the national apology, where he is detailing the implementation plan for the coming year.

“We are delivering record funding in health, education and housing, as well as $842 million to fund essential services in remote communities,” the prime minister said.

“Australians want to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Australians believe in the fair go. The task before us is to build a future in which all Australians have access to the same opportunities.”

Albanese detailed the new measures that form part of the 2025 implementation plan, including the caps on 30 essential grocery products in 76 remote stores that we flagged earlier, as well as other policies including a nutrition workforce, laundry facility upgrades in First Nations communities, and other approaches aimed at boosting opportunities for Indigenous businesses and homeownership.

These new measures announced today build on previously announced parts of the 2025 implementation plan such as new houses, increased access to maternal care, transitioning health programs to community control, creation of more First Nations health care positions, prison-to-employment mentoring and delivering free community-wide Wi-Fi.

Back to today’s annual Closing the Gap statement, Opposition Indigenous health spokeswoman Kerrynne Liddle said it was not surprising targets were not being met.

Speaking to ABC TV this morning ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s address, Liddle said it had already been flagged that there was “no real improvement in this Closing the Gap report in some areas”.

The Productivity Commission report released today reveals only 5 of the 19 targets are on track, although 11 others have seen improvements.

“In those areas, we’ve seen the cashless debit card taken away, we’ve seen alcohol restrictions lifted in the Northern Territory. We’ve seen people trying to deal with this terrible cost-of-living crisis.”

Senator Liddle said the pricing of essential grocery items in remote areas was “outrageous”, as the government announces it will cap the price of 30 key items to major city prices at more than 70 remote stores.

However, she did not say whether the Coalition would back a similar policy to put a price cap in place should the opposition win the next election.

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Inflation is on track to fall even faster than expected, according to economists with one of the nation’s largest banks who believe it could slip below 2 per cent within months.

Westpac senior economist Justin Smirk said there is a real chance inflation through January alone could be negative as price pressures evaporate from the housing construction sector and other key parts of the economy.

Financial markets believe the Reserve Bank board will use its meeting next week to cut official interest rates for the first time since late 2020, due in part to a better-than-expected inflation outlook.

Inflation eased to 2.4 per cent in the December quarter, in part due to a drop in new dwelling costs. Underlying inflation for the quarter was 0.5 per cent, taking its annual rate down to a three-year low of 3.2 per cent.

Smirk said the same pattern of falling prices or easing pressures was likely to continue well into the current year.

He said headline inflation would likely fall to just 2 per cent when the March quarter figures are released. The underlying measure of inflation was likely to remain around 0.5 per cent in the same quarter, taking this down to 2.7 per cent.

Inflation would likely then ease even further.

“The December quarter CPI report subsequently revealed that a broad moderation in inflation seen through the final months of the year, which we anticipate will continue into 2025,” he said.

“As such, we have marked down our estimate for CPI inflation at the June quarter 2025 to 1.7 per cent and 2.4 per cent for the trimmed mean. Key to this moderation in core inflation has been the moderation in housing costs excluding energy.″⁣

Smirk said the monthly measure of inflation, to be released on February 26, is likely to show prices fell by 0.4 per cent in January.

He said while government subsidies for energy had affected headline inflation, they were having much less of an impact on the underlying measure of inflation.

The Super Bowl is under way in New Orleans, as the Philadelphia Eagles attempt to break the Kansas City Chiefs’ two-year winning streak.

Australia’s own Jordan Mailata is making his second appearance for the Eagles, in a rematch of the 2023 clash.

Mailata grew up in Bankstown and attended Condell Park High School in Sydney’s west. Education Minister Jason Clare, the local MP for the area, took to X to celebrate Mailata’s ascendance to the top of the NFL.

Follow all the Super Bowl action with our dedicated live blog.

Australians continued to snap up smartphones, appliances, laptops, TVs, fridges and cameras during the second half of last year as improving consumer sentiment boosted JB Hi-Fi’s sales.

JB Hi-Fi’s total sales for Australia rose 7.2 per cent to nearly $3.9 billion, with a strong Black Friday and Boxing Day sales period adding wind in the sails. Online sales rose by 16.4 per cent, and now make up nearly a fifth of total sales.

The ASX-listed electronics retailer notched an 8 per cent growth in net profits to $285.4 million and an 8.6 per cent uplift in earnings to $419.9 million. However, tough competition has put pressure on gross margins, which dipped incrementally.

White goods retail chain The Good Guys, which is also owned by JB Hi-Fi, saw total sales rise 9.2 per cent to $1.5 billion, driven by demand for floorcare products, TVs, portable appliances, cookware and fridges.

The company has declared an interim dividend of 170¢ per share fully franked, an increase of 7.6 per cent, set to be paid on March 7. Investors have cheered the result, sending the company’s share price 4.5 per cent higher at the open of Monday’s trading session.

JB Hi-Fi has seen a strong start to the year, with January like-for-like sales up 7.1 per cent for the Australian business (compared to 1.7 per cent in January 2024).

“Whilst we are pleased to see sales momentum continue into January, we remain cautious given the uncertainty in the retail market and the continued competitive activity,” said JB Hi-Fi chief executive Terry Smart.

“We will continue to adapt and innovate to ensure we remain top of mind as the destination for our categories.”

Nationals leader David Littleproud has suggested the government may have to replace Kevin Rudd as ambassador in Washington DC to ensure Australia has the best response to a sudden move by United States President Donald Trump to impose 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from all countries.

In the first Coalition reaction to Trump’s announcement, Littleproud said the trade move was a test for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and could require a new ambassador in the US capital.

Littleproud argued that Australia should be able to gain a carve-out from the tariffs in the same way it gained an exemption from similar moves in 2017 during Trump’s first administration when then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull negotiated the exemption and the ambassador in Washington DC, Joe Hockey, made the case for special treatment because of the security alliance between the two countries.

“If there is a decision to be made and that Kevin Rudd’s not the right person to have these discussions, then we should be mature enough as a country to send someone who can have those discussions to get that carve-out,” Littleproud told reporters in Parliament House.

Asked if the trade move was also a test for the Coalition, given it should set out any alternative approach ahead of the election, Littleproud said the US should see Australia as an ally because of the AUKUS alliance on nuclear-powered submarines.

“You’d be leading in with the right personnel, with those that have had a tried and tested relationship with the previous Trump administration, in drawing on that experience and those relationships and also reinforcing the close relationship that we’re able to tie under AUKUS, and the fact that we are doing much of the heavy lifting under AUKUS as well,” he said.

“We’re not, we’re not taking a free ride with the United States, and particularly with steel. Much of that steel is going to come back in submarines. So there is a compelling case for Australia to have those conversations with the United States. They should be having those in the United States, and we should be sending the right people to have those discussions.”

Read more about Trump’s newly announced tariffs here.

More on today’s Closing the Gap policy announcement, which will see the cost of essential grocery items in remote communities across Australia capped at the same price as major cities.

The price cap will be applied to 30 essential products such as milk, bread, rice, chicken, toothpaste and toilet paper across 76 remote stores.

Indigenous Australians Minister Malarndirri McCarthy said the price caps would help to reduce the cost of living for many in remote communities, but would also address crucial health outcomes.

“We have high rates of chronic kidney disease, rheumatic fever, we have high diabetes. What we want to see is food products that actually assist as well in healthy living,” she told ABC Radio.

“[It’s] making sure that we are concentrating not just on the costs of food, but the quality of food … we have a long way to go in terms of trying to improve the lives and the healthy lives, for First Nations people.”

AAP