Final budget outcome better off than forecast, but still $10bn in the red
Krishani Dhanji
The final budget outcome will show the budget is $10bn in the red, more than $17bn better off than forecast at the pre-election outlook.
A strong labour market has been credited by the government as the main driver of the budget improvement.
The pre-election economic and fiscal outlook, released in April, forecast an underlying cash deficit of $27.9bn for 2024-25, which the treasurer and finance minister will today announce has been improved to $10bn.
But the budget will remain in the red over the next decade.
The government says the fiscal position is now $209bn better off over the three years to 2024-25, and has returned almost 70% of revenue upgrades since coming into government. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the deficit is “a fifth of the forecast we inherited from the Coalition”:
In dollar terms, we’ve made more progress on the budget in three years than any government in history. It’s a reminder that we have one of the strongest budgets in the G20.
Key events
Opposition says triple zero outages ‘putting Australian lives at risk’
Melissa McIntosh, the shadow communications minister, said the string of outages on the triple zero network was putting Australian lives “at risk”, saying the government had an obligation to ensure the network was “always fully operational”.
McIntosh responded to reports Optus had another outage in the NSW Illawarra region yesterday, with nine calls to triple zero not going through. Police have since confirmed those callers are all OK. She said in a statement:
The Government has a responsibility to ensure the triple zero network is always fully operational, and when there is a fault communities must be notified immediately – not after the fact. …
While Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister, Annika Wells [sic] have been overseas at taxpayers expense, we have a crisis unfolding here at home that is being ignored. On behalf of the Coalition, I am calling for an urgent, independent investigation, into not just Optus but the full triple zero ecosystem.
Australians must have confidence they can call Triple Zero, our most essential telecommunications service, when they need it.
Police recover man’s body from boat in Sydney harbour
NSW police discovered the body of a man on board a boat in Sydney harbour on Sunday evening.
Officials said they were responding to reports or a concern for welfare when they found the body of a man, thought to be in his 60s, aboard the vessel that was moored in Little Sirius Point, near Taronga zoo.
Police are investigating the circumstances of the incident and will prepare a report for the coroner.
SA police continuing search for missing 4-year-old boy
Police in South Australia are still searching for a missing four-year-old boy who was last seen at his home near the town of Yunta on Saturday night.
Police say Gus, who has long, blond curly hair, was last at his homestead around 5pm on Saturday wearing a grey sun hat, a blue T-shirt with a yellow Minion on the front and light grey pants and boots.
Officials have been searching the area since that night with the assistance of PolAir and infrared cameras, but they have not been able to locate him. A large ground search began yesterday with the aid of SES volunteers and a drone, looking at a 2.5km area around the site he was last seen.
Water operations police will head to the scene this morning to search dams and tanks on the property as the effort continues.
Woman dies after unit fire in Sydney
A woman died yesterday after a unit fire in Sydney’s west.
Police said emergency services were called to a unit in the suburb of Kingswood around 5.45pm on Sunday amid reports of a fire. On arrival, firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze before pulling the woman, 50, from the unit in an unresponsive condition. The unit suffered what’s described as “extensive” damage.
She was treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to a local hospital in critical condition. She could not be revived and died.
Two police officers were also taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and have since been released.
Officials have established a crime scene and have opened an investigation into the cause of the incident.
Tom McIlroy
Starmer says his relationship with Albanese ‘really matters’
Sir Keir Starmer lavished praise on Anthony Albanese at the UK Labour conference in Liverpool.
Starmer called Albanese “a real inspiration” to politicians on the left and praised his landslide victory at the 3 May election, saying:
Our two nations don’t just share history and values, a monarch and even our language, but Albo and I are actively working together to make our world more secure and to improve the lives of people in our countries.
From our Aukus partnership, to the Australian soldiers who are standing shoulder to shoulder with British troops training Ukrainians for the frontline, from our free trade deal and our investment in each other’s countries, creating wealth, jobs and opportunity and boosting our economies.
Starmer said his relationship with Albanese and federal Labor “really matters”.
Tom McIlroy
Albanese speaks at UK Labour’s annual conference
Anthony Albanese addressed UK Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool overnight, seeking to buck up his friend and fellow prime minister, Keir Starmer, and defend government and institutions as the best way to solve complex problems.
Albanese received a standing ovation from delegates at the conference, which comes against a backdrop of tricky political waters for Starmer and Labour. Outside, hundreds of supporters of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party demonstrated against the Labour government.
Former prime minister Julia Gillard was present, along with former treasurer Wayne Swan and Labor’s national secretary, Paul Erickson.
Albanese said the hard road was essential for governments, “because it is the only one that takes us anywhere”:
In Australia, our election came against the backdrop of the worst global inflation since the 1980s and the biggest international energy crisis since the 1970s.
And there was no quick fix, no easy answer. These same circumstances had brought about the defeat of incumbents around the world and had some predicting that our first-term Labor government would be defeated, or reduced to minority.
But one of the reasons we won re-election and, indeed were able to increase our majority is because in difficult times, we offered people real hope.
We didn’t pretend that we had solved every problem in just three years. But we could point to an economy that was turning the corner: inflation down, wages up, unemployment low and interest rates starting to fall.
And we offered a second-term agenda that built on the patient and disciplined work we had done in our first term.
Latest Optus triple zero outage ‘disappointing’, finance minister says
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said news of the latest Optus triple-zero outage was “disappointing” but said Australians should still have faith in their ability to call emergency services.
Gallagher spoke to ABC News this morning:
I imagine for many Optus customers this is more disappointing news off the back of the major disruption that happened the week before. Look, I understand it is slightly different to the major outage that you’ve been covering over the last week but, yes, it’s still disappointing and, although I understand Optus did make the necessary reports over the weekend, there’s clearly more work to be done.
The minister said government reviews of telcos were meant to ensure the triple-zero system was “in the best shape possible”:
It’s not satisfactory at all to have people unable to connect in their time of need … We need to make sure that’s as strong and robust as possible. That’s the work that minister [Anika] Wells and the regulators are leading.
Final budget outcome better off than forecast, but still $10bn in the red
Krishani Dhanji
The final budget outcome will show the budget is $10bn in the red, more than $17bn better off than forecast at the pre-election outlook.
A strong labour market has been credited by the government as the main driver of the budget improvement.
The pre-election economic and fiscal outlook, released in April, forecast an underlying cash deficit of $27.9bn for 2024-25, which the treasurer and finance minister will today announce has been improved to $10bn.
But the budget will remain in the red over the next decade.
The government says the fiscal position is now $209bn better off over the three years to 2024-25, and has returned almost 70% of revenue upgrades since coming into government. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the deficit is “a fifth of the forecast we inherited from the Coalition”:
In dollar terms, we’ve made more progress on the budget in three years than any government in history. It’s a reminder that we have one of the strongest budgets in the G20.
Two sailors rescued after catamaran goes missing off NSW coast
Two sailors suffering from extreme exhaustion were rescued off the coast of NSW after the catamaran they were on went missing this weekend.
Police said they were called on Saturday evening after the two men, aged 50 and 68, reportedly left Yamba harbour earlier that morning en route to Southport, Queensland. When they did not arrive as scheduled, emergency services began a search of the area.
The men were able to call for help about 9pm last night, saying they were about 22 nautical miles offshore from Sandon, NSW, about an hour south of Yamba.
A search aircraft was able to locate the catamaran and volunteers with Marine Rescue NSW have been towing it back to Yamba, and were expected to arrive this morning. The two men are reportedly uninjured, but suffering from extreme exhaustion.
Optus reports new triple zero outage, this time in NSW
Optus said it is investigating a fresh triple-zero outage, this time in the Illawarra region of NSW yesterday.
The telco said an issue with a mobile phone tower in Dapto had affected calls made between 3am and 12.20pm on Sunday, including those to the triple zero network. Nine triple-zero call failures were identified, including a caller who required an ambulance and used another phone to contact emergency services.
One person tried to call emergency services but could not get through. Police have since confirmed they are OK. Four of those calls were referred to NSW police to undertake welfare checks.
The telco said all callers who tried to use the triple-zero network have been reached and are fine.
Optus said in a statement:
We have investigated the impact of the issue on calls made between 3am and 12.20pm yesterday, including calls made to the Triple Zero network, and have confirmed with police, all callers who attempted to contact emergency services are OK.
We sincerely apologise to any customers who were impacted.
The communications minister, Anika Wells, is set to meet with Optus executives today.
Good morning
Nick Visser here. It’s Monday, welcome to the first live blog of the week. Here’s what’s on deck:
Optus reported more triple-zero outages overnight, this time in the Dapto region of NSW. The telco said it identified nine triple-zero call failures in a coverage area with a population of about 4,500 people. Police confirmed all callers who attempted to reach emergency services are OK.
Two sailors who went missing off the NSW coast after their catamaran failed to reach its destination have been found and were expected to arrive home this morning. Police said the pair never reached the end of their trip in Queensland after leaving Saturday, but were found off the coast of Yamba, NSW late last night.
The final budget outcome will show the nation’s finances about $10bn in the red, a far better figure than the pre-election economic outlook, release in April, that estimated a cash deficit of nearly $28bn for 2024-25. The budget will still remain in deficit for the next decade.
Stick with us.