TRANSCRIPT
- The federal government approves ANZ's attempted acquisition of Suncorp
- Meta refuses to rule out pulling news from its platforms in Australia...
- $283 million in funding pledged for Australia's elite athletes and coaches.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has announced approval for ANZ's attempted acquisition of insurer Suncorp.
ANZ's pursuit of the business under a deal worth up to $5 billion has been chaotic after the competition watchdog last year rejected the deal first proposed in 2022.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had criticised the deal after raising concerns it would worsen the market dominance of the big four banks.
But Treasurer Jim Chalmers has announced it has been approved by the federal government.
"This decision comes after very careful consideration and march deliberation and consultation, and a long and thorough process. This was an on balance call, but it was consistent with the advice that I received from treasury and from the regulators as well. It comes after nearly two years of scrutiny and input from industry, from the finance sector union, the Queensland government, and other key stakeholders as well."
The government says increasing wages aren't to blame for Australia's sticky inflation.
From July 1st, workers on an award or minimum wage will see a 3.75 per cent increase to their pay, whilst annual inflation was up to 4 per cent in May.
Government data shows the average full time wage for an award worker has increased by $10,400 a year since Labor took office.
Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Tony Burke says increased wages aren't driving inflation.
"When we first started pushing for wage increases, there was some fairly hysterical commentary from our opponents saying it would cause a wage price spiral, that somehow 11% of Australia's payroll, which is what we're talking about here. 11% of Australia's payroll was somehow going to be to blame for inflation. The reality is people on more modest incomes and people on low incomes are the people who are under the most pressure whenever inflation goes up."
In France, residents will head to the polls this weekend after an election was called by President Emmanuel Macron.
Mr Macron called the election after his party was defeated by the far-right National Rally in the European parliamentary vote.
The National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen, is leading all polls ahead of the two-round elections.
However, the outcome remains highly uncertain due to France’s complex, two-stage voting system and potential political alliances.
Meta has revealed all options are on the table in relation to whether the company will pull news from its platforms in Australia if it was designated under the news media bargaining code to pay for news.
During a parliamentary committee on social media, Regional Director of Policy for Australia Mia Garlick admitted although the government has not announced its plans, compliance would look somewhat different if the law was applied to Meta.
She says what people do on Instagram and Facebook has changed in the past few years, with 50 per cent of the time spent on Instagram now spent on the company’s short video product, Reels.
For the vast majority of people using Facebook, less than 3 per cent of their feed is news links and there's been an 80 per cent drop in the use of Facebook news.
Ms Garlick confirmed all options are being considered in relation to the accessibility of news on Facebook.
"At the moment, all options are on the table. We have made the announcement that we are deprecating the Facebook news product, that we're still paying out the deals that supported that product, and news continues to be available, but we haven't had any indication from the government about any potential next steps, and so not in a position to be able to share more details around hypotheticals."
And in sport,
The federal government has announced Australia's elite athletes, coaches and support staff will receive an additional $283 million in funding over the next two years.
It's in an effort to improve Australia's chances of striking Olympic and Paralympic gold, creating more opportunities and better development pathways for aspiring Olympians.
The funding includes an uplift in direct sport funding, access to more domestic and international competitions, training, and wellbeing and preparation support.
Minister for Sport Anika Wells says one of the most exciting parts for her is that funding for Paralympians will more than double.
"This record funding also means that finally a government has begun addressing the imbalances between able-bodied and sport. For years, government funding for sports has been around 85 per cent to able-bodied sports and 15 per cent to para, and I know when I learned that stat that really weighed on me, as I know it has weighed on many people who love Australian sport and have loved Australian sport for decades. But when I took it to the pm, he didn't hesitate. He backed us."
