Australia news live: Scott Morrison apologises to Karen Andrews after secretly swearing himself into her former portfolio

Scott Morrison apologises to Karen Andrews

Scott Morrison has apologised to former home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, for secretly swearing himself into her portfolio, after she revealed he hadn’t previously contacted her in the wake of the growing scandal.

It’s understood the former prime minister has now contacted to Andrews and given an apology, after she earlier told Sky News she hadn’t heard from him yet – despite Morrison having contacted Mathias Cormann and Josh Frydenberg since news broke of his covert ministerial appointments.

We’ve contacted Andrews’ office for comment .

Andrews told Sky:

I understand that he’s made a broad apology to his colleagues and I’m entirely fine with that, so it’s not an issue with me… he hasn’t spoken to me. The last discussion that I had with Scott Morrison was during the last sitting week in Canberra.

In response to an article about Morrison’s previous failure to call Andrews, resources minister Madeleine King tweeted this morning “stay classy”.

Former home affairs minister Karen Andrews. Photograph: Trevor Collens/AAP

Updated at 22.39 EDT

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Sydney to host NRL grand final

This year’s NRL grand final will be played in Sydney, after a NSW-Queensland stoush over the showpiece event.

Updated at 23.36 EDT

Labor trying to fix ‘leaks’ in ‘broken system’ left by previous government ‘trying to drive wages down for a decade’

Burke:

If you look historically at the numbers we have now, there is clearly something broken in the system. Compare where we are now to August 2008. Both were periods when unemployment was low, where participation was high. But with very different wages outcomes.

The hydraulic pressure of unemployment being low … upward pressure on wages, the pressure is still there. But it’s coming through in pipes that have all sorts of leaks coming out of them. Leaks off the back of the previous government trying to drive wages down for 10 years, leaks in terms of loopholes in the system that allow what would otherwise be minimum rates of pay to be undercut, and usually in the system, a bargaining system that is largely stalled. On the deliberately keeping wages low, we change that from the day we came into office.

Minister for employment Tony Burke. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 23.32 EDT

Tony Burke reflects on the employment data

I’m pleased to report on the jobs figures that have come up. Unemployment is down. Underemployment is down, youth unemployment is down.

Unemployment is now a 3.4, coming off a 3.5 figure… the lowest unemployment rate we have had August 1974.

Underemployment is down significantly, down to seven, down from 7.9, the lowest youth unemployment figure that we have had that series began when it was first added to the stats.

There are some other figures which require a bit of explanation. There has been a fall in the total number of jobs, a fall of 40,000, but that follows eight consecutive increases totalling 750,000.

Updated at 23.25 EDT

Employment minister speaking

The shadow employment minister, Michaelia Cash’s, press conference is over and now the current employment minister, Tony Burke, has taken to the microphone in Sydney.

The media conferences come after the release of employment data today and wages data yesterday.

Updated at 23.23 EDT

Cash will not comment on Porter’s responsibilities in Morrison saga

Cash was asked if Christian Porter should have told her about the instruments Morrison was using, but said she would not deal “in hypotheticals.”

Cash was attorney general in 2021, when Morrison took on additional powers in home affairs and treasury and the resources portfolio, and she said she didn’t know that Morrison had gained those additional powers.

Porter was aware of what was going on when he was attorney general in 2020 and Morrison took on the additional portfolios.

Updated at 23.20 EDT

Cash accepts Morrison’s “global apology”

Cash says she isn’t disappointed Scott Morrison didn’t apologise to her personally, because she wasn’t a minister “concerned personally.”

I accept Scott’s global apology yesterday but again, I can assure you this is not something that I dwell on. The reasons are actually issues that are out there affecting people’s ability to run their businesses on a daily basis.

Updated at 23.16 EDT

Cash says jobs and electricity prices should be focus, not Morrison saga

Quite frankly, as someone who has been on the ground for the last few days in Tasmania – ground, listening to in particular small businesses, I can tell you, not one person raised this issue with me but what they did raise was what we are seeing today, the loss of full-time jobs across Australia, the inability to get access to the labour they need … The other policy decision they keep raising with me is that when he went to the election he said to Australia, if I am elected, I will ensure your electricity, our prices are reduced by $275 a year. People voted in good faith on that process. That has really been gone, thrown away by the now prime minister so when it comes to talking to Australians about the issues that matter for them, they are the two main issues raised with me.

Cash – calling out Albanese for breaking election promises – is then asked about Morrison’s dishonesty:

Question: Morrison went to the nation saying Karen Andrews was the only home affairs minister. Should he resign?

He was overwhelmingly elected by the people in his electorate and that was only but a few weeks ago. The people of Cook voted for Scott Morrison to represent them in the parliament. I do not believe he should resign but what I would also say, I am very proud to be proud of the former government literally got Australia through Covid-19 because of the decisions the former government made we saved around 40,000 lives. I don’t think that should ever be forgotten by the Australian people.

Updated at 23.18 EDT

Michaelia Cash accuses prime minister of acting like an opposition leader

Cash says Anthony Albanese should be waiting for legal advice, instead of criticising Scott Morrison.

Instead of acting like a leader of the opposition, act like the prime minister of Australia, await the outcome of the advice from the solicitor general.

Updated at 23.11 EDT

Scott Morrison’s secrecy a ‘great disappointment’, Michaelia Cash says

Cash says she first found out about the Morrison secret ministries saga in the media.

She says that Morrison yesterday explained his decisions but admits it was nevertheless disappointing he didn’t tell his colleagues.

Like so many colleagues and my leader, Peter Dutton, he has expressed disappointment. The decision itself, based on what appears to be section 63 and 64 of the Constitution, is a legal one, but of course the transparency and the not telling the relevant colleagues at the time is a great disappointment and Mr Morrison yesterday, in addressing the media, here acknowledged this, he apologised to colleagues and in particular those affected by his decisions and that was certainly the right thing to do.

Updated at 23.08 EDT

Michaelia Cash calls for government to allow veterans and pensioners to work without affecting their pension

The shadow employment minister says she has recently come back from being “on the ground” in Tasmania where she says the inability to get access to the labour they need is a big concern for small business owners.

They cannot understand why prime minister Albanese has not already implemented the very sensible policy that the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, has put forward in relation to allowing veterans and pensioners to work one additional day without affecting their pension.

Updated at 23.05 EDT

Shadow employment minister says loss of jobs and participation rate drop should be ringing “alarm bells” for Albanese government

Shadow minister for employment, Michaelia Cash, is speaking in Perth after the release of the latest job figures today.

When you look at the figure, a reduction to 3.4%, it is just that, a headline figure.

When you actually go behind the figure itself, alarm bells should start ringing for the Albanese government. We saw a loss of full-time jobs of around 80,000.

But what we also saw – which again the alarm bells should start ringing for the Albanese government – is a drop in the participation rate.

Shadow minister for employment Michaelia Cash. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated at 23.04 EDT

South Australian records 12 Covid deaths and 240 people in hospital.

There were 1,170 new cases in the last reporting period, and eight people are in intensive care.

Average earnings growth slow

If the headline jobless rate at 3.4% might not be telling the full story on the labour market, wages numbers out today from the ABS help to fill in more of the tale.

As we saw yesterday, the Wage Price Index for the June quarter was weaker than expected, with the 2.6% annual rate of increase barely higher than the 2.4% pace recording in the March quarter. (And that as the jobless rate kept edging lower.)

Well, average weekly ordinary time earnings are out for the period to the end of May too, and “ordinary” is how many workers will view the figures.

According to the ABS, adults working full time collected $1770 in May, up 1.9% or $33, from the same month a year ago. That’s modest, of course, given CPI was actually running at 6.2% for the month, we learned this week.

More to the point, though, that 1.9% increase was actually lower than the 2.1% annual increase in AWE recorded in November. That decline came even though average monthly employment grew by 46,000, the ABS noted.

This discrepancy will probably get more scrutiny. The ABS puts it down to more people working in lower paying jobs, dragging the average lower.

Bjorn Jarvis, head of labour statistics at the ABS said:

Over the past six months there has been increasing employment, including full-time employment, in some lower paying industries, such as accommodation and food services, placing some downward influence on changes in average earnings.

If that’s the case, we can expect extra emphasis at next month’s Jobs and Skills Summit on how to lift the number of well-paying jobs to keep many households from falling into poverty amid soaring bills for most things.

The ABS says more people working in lower paying jobs, dragging the average wage lower. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Updated at 22.57 EDT