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TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to SBS News in Easy English. I'm Catriona Stirrat.
Australia's Education Minister says the nation's school system is one of the most segregated in the world, based on parents' pay packets.
An expert panel review has found nearly all public schools are failing to fulfil the standards required to meet students' educational needs.
Education Minister Jason Clare has met with state and territory ministers on the issue, and promised to close the funding gap between public and private schools.
"Public schools aren't fully funded at the moment, but not just that, what we're seeing is that children from poor families and regional Australia are three times more likely to fall behind than other children. We need to fix both of those things, we need to fix funding for our public schools but we also need to fix that funding gap."
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The National Party has criticised the government's plans to reduce migration over the next two years, saying cuts will create a shortage in essential trade workers and exacerbate the housing crisis.
It comes after the government announced plans to halve net migration over the next two years as a part of its overhaul of the immigration system.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neill says migration levels need to be brought back to sustainable levels after a post-pandemic peak of 500,000 arrivals in the last financial year.
The government has defended the proposed changes, saying they will ensure Australian workers are prioritised for job opportunities.
National Party senator Bridget McKenzie has told channel 9 the overhaul will cause shortages in much-needed construction workers and worsen the housing crisis.
"We're in the middle of a housing crisis right now you can't find a tradie for love nor money. We've seen the blowout in costs as a result of that in our infrastructure building our congested suburbs and cities. You can't rent going through the roof. You can't afford a house and the building industry has said there's a shortage of 230,000 tradies. By making it harder for them to come in from overseas, we're not going to have everyone jumping on an apprenticeship and completing in the next year. So you're just exacerbating the housing crisis and labor could have done something to fix it."
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China has further eased trade sanctions on Australian exports, with the Chinese customs agency announcing suspensions on imports from three Australian abattoirs have been lifted.
A number of Australian meat establishments remain suspended, and sanctions remain on exports including rock lobster and beef.
Bans on Australian wine are also being reviewed after Canberra agreed to suspend a dispute lodged with the World Trade Organisation.
China applied sanctions worth $20 billion dollars on Australian products during the height of diplomatic tensions in 2020.
The recent easing of sanctions follows a number of meetings between Senator Farrell and his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao over the past few months.
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The Reserve Bank says new regulatory frameworks are needed to respond to changing payment trends.
Data shows most Australians prefer digital payments over cash payments, and the RBA says this is putting new pressures on the economics of ATMs and the processes behind the physical movement of cash.
Speaking at a conference, Reserve Bank governor Michelle Bullock has said the share of consumer payments made using cash declined from 70 per cent in 2007 to 13 per cent last year.
Ms Bullock says the federal government and the central bank are committed to keeping cash as a payment option in Australia.
She says the rapid changes in the payments landscape also require new regulatory frameworks.
"We've got new business models, we've got new technologies entering the space. The industry is moving from legacy systems towards new platforms that can deliver payment systems that are faster, safer and more convenient for everyone. We therefore need to modernise our regulatory architecture and payments infrastructure to support these innovations. And we've been working with the government to update the regulatory framework."
That was SBS News in Easy English. I'm Catriona Stirrat.
