Politics live: Clive Palmer hires Christian Porter to help him sue Australia for $300bn

Key events

Coalition calls for ban on TikTok on government phones

The Coalition did not ban TikTok from government phones while it was in government, but now wants the Labor government to IMMEDIATELY announce the ban.

And if not immediately, then yesterday.

The former home affairs minister Karen Andrews held a doorstop on the issue this morning:

It’s now been several weeks that the Coalition has been asking the government to make some definitive announcements in relation to TikTok. We are very strongly of the view that at the very least, TikTok should be banned from government devices. We have the minister for cybersecurity who has been noticeably absent from this particular debate. The time has well passed for action.

We are hearing extraordinary concerns being raised overseas about TikTok. And the information that we already know that is publicly available is that TikTok as an app can get your contacts, it can get access to your calendar, to facial recognition, to the characteristics of your voice, to your keystroke patterns. This is hugely concerning for people in Australia to know that effectively a foreign government can have access to that information.

Now, national security is a significant issue and the government of the day has the responsibility to keep Australians safe. That means that in the cyber world in which we live, they need to take definitive action to protect Australians. Now, the least that the government should be doing is banning TikTok on government devices, but so far we have the minister responsible deep in a cyber slumber.

I don’t know what a cyber slumber is, but it sounds nice.

A smartphone with the logo of social network TikTok. Photograph: Loïc Venance/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 18.17 EDT

Greg Jericho has already anticipated the “we can’t afford it” cries that will come with calls for a minimum wage increase.

Updated at 18.07 EDT

‘Security requirements’ led to changes to the Welcome to Country at Obama event in Melbourne

Growth Faculty, who hosted last night’s event with former US president Barack Obama, have said in a statement that “security requirements” led to changes to the Welcome to Country.

Aunty Joy Murphy was scheduled to welcome Obama to Wurundjeri land before the event in Melbourne on Wednesday night on the latest leg of his speaking tour of Australia.

But reports emerged yesterday that she was allegedly removed by the event’s organisers, Growth Faculty, after she asked them to provide a support person to help her at the event at John Cain Arena and also asked them to provide Obama with a gift in line with cultural practice.

In a statement this morning, a spokesperson for Growth Faculty said that there were changes to last night’s ceremony due to “security requirements” with a Welcome to Country instead delivered by Wurundjeri-Willam woman, Mandy Nicholson.

The statement reads:

Growth Faculty had been working with Aunty Joy and the Wurundjeri community for many weeks ahead of last night’s event.

Due to security requirements, the organisation was unable to accommodate last minute changes to the agreed upon ceremony.

Growth Faculty has apologised to Aunty Joy that last night’s ceremony could not be changed.

The spokesperson said that Aunty Joy has accepted an invitation to perform the welcome to country at a business lunch taking place in Melbourne today.

Aunty Joy Murphy performs a Welcome to Country on 28 March in Melbourne. Photograph: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Updated at 18.04 EDT

Clive Palmer reportedly hires Christian Porter to help him sue Australia for $300bn

Clive Palmer’s Singapore based company Zeph Investments is suing Australia for US$198bn (A$296bn) in damages and costs over his iron ore project in the Pilbara.

The $300bn law suit has been lodged under international trade law, the West Australian reports.

And Christian Porter is listed as one of the lawyers representing Palmer.

You can find some of the history over the lawsuit, here, after the high court ruled against Palmer in one of his cases against the WA government.

Clive Palmer. Photograph: Jason O’Brien/AAP

Updated at 18.20 EDT

Businesses can afford to give workers a pay rise, McManus says

And what about the arguments that small business won’t be able to afford to give its workers a pay rise (unions are advocating for a wage increase in line with inflation with the Fair Work Commission).

Sally McManus says:

Small business are also doing way better than minimum-wage workers. There is 20% increase in their profits which isn’t as big as big business who are really doing well and unfortunately are doing well at a time when people are really feeling the pain.

We also see a record low number of bankruptcies and a record increase in the number of new businesses opening. Businesses whether they be small or large can cope with this pay increase. It is a much bigger risk to small business if people who buy from their shops have even less money to spend. If you don’t have healthy people, you don’t have a healthy economy.

Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Sally McManus. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 17.49 EDT

RBA ‘should stop increasing interest rates’, Sally McManus says

ACTU secretary Sally McManus was speaking to the ABC and was asked about the RBA review which Jim Chalmers will receive tomorrow. There have been suggestions a workers’ representative is added to the board, with some people saying that person should be McManus.

What does she think about what needs to happen with the board?

Firstly, the RBA definitely needs shaking up. There is a narrow group of people on the board. Whenever you have people with a narrow set of experiences and they’re not representing or have the perspective of the whole of community, they are going to have blind spots.

The biggest blind spot, or inability to understand what is happening with wages, they have been wrong every time, they tried to predict wage increases.

That is a bad thing because they base those predictions on what they do. That is because they don’t have anyone who actually understands what is going on. That is a big problem.

They should stop increasing interest rates. It is already hurting people far too much. As we can see, inflation is coming down as it is around the world, simply because the supply chain issues are resolving themselves.

The other issue is that some companies are putting up prices more than they need to.

This is also a problem around the world because of the concentration of some big businesses and it would be really good if there was calling out of that particular issue rather than saying to workers you shouldn’t ask for pay rises.

Updated at 17.45 EDT

People on welfare increasingly worse off, Antipoverty Centre finds

The Antipoverty Centre, which advocates for those living in poverty, with researchers, advocates and activists who have direct, contemporary experience of poverty and unemployment, have been calling for an increase to Centrelink payments since its establishment in May 2021.

They report that things are worse than ever for people on welfare.

Updated at 17.26 EDT

25.3% of mortgage holders at risk of mortgage stress

Meanwhile, new research from polling company Roy Morgan shows an estimated 1.23m mortgage holders (25.3%) were at risk of mortgage stress.

(At risk is judged as spending 25% to 45% depending of income on the mortgage.)

The number of Australians ‘at risk’ of mortgage stress has increased by 514,000 over the last year as the RBA increased interest rates for 10 consecutive monthly meetings. Official interest rates are now at 3.6% in March 2023, the highest official interest rates since June 2012 over a decade ago.

It’s still below the GFC, but it is getting there.

An estimated 1.23m mortgage holders in Australia are at risk of mortgage stress. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

Updated at 17.21 EDT

Acoss’s cost of living report paints dire picture of poverty in Australia

Cost of living relief may be the focus of the government’s budget, and Jim Chalmers also told Patricia Karvelas that Katy Gallagher is reviewing Sam Mostyn’s women’s equality report (which recommended allowing single parents to stay on the parenting payment until their youngest child was 16).

But those living on jobseeker and associated payments were already in poverty before inflation became an issue. And the Australian Council of Social Service’s latest cost of living report paints a dire picture for people trying to survive on jobseeker ($18,000 a year) and youth allowance ($15,000 a year).

Not that it should be a surprise. None of this is new.

Among the cost of living report key findings:

68% are eating less or skipping meals while 81% are cutting back on meat, fresh fruit, vegetables and other fresh items.

68% have had difficulty getting medication or medical care due to the increased cost of living. 99% said that the inability to cover the cost of living harmed their mental health and 94% said it harmed their physical health.

93% of people renting privately are in rental stress, paying more than 30% of their income on rent. 75% have received a rent increase in the past 12 months, with 50% reporting a rise of $30 or more a week.

76% said they use their car less than normal, and a further 11% don’t use their car at all.

65% are cutting back on cooling/ heating and 45% are taking fewer hot showers to reduce energy costs.

Updated at 17.14 EDT

Jim Chalmers says he will announce RBA governor Dr Phil Lowe’s decision in the middle of the year – after the review is done.

Updated at 16.55 EDT