Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has made numerous announcements during his address at the National Press Club. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
The Federal Government will deliver a financial ‘shock absorber’ to businesses deemed essential to helping get Australia through the crisis caused by the war in the Middle East.
It is extending credit to businesses struggling with costs due to the war’s far-reaching impacts.
Anthony Albanese announced the initiative during his speech to the National Press Club on Thursday (2 April), the day after his televised address to the nation.
The Prime Minister said under the $1 billion Economic Resilience Program, truckies, freight companies and fuel and fertiliser producers will be better supported to continue their “critical work”.
“These firms are not just being affected by this crisis; they are essential to Australia getting through this crisis,” Mr Albanese said.
“So our government will extend their credit to help them, and the farmers and producers who rely on these supply chains, to weather the storm.
“This is just another way we are acting to get ahead of issues. No government can promise to eliminate the pressures this crisis will impose.
“But we can be a buffer against the worst of it – a shock absorber – in a time of global shocks.
“We will do everything we can to protect the Australian people from what the world throws at us.”
The program will be funded through the National Reconstruction Fund and will be rolled out within a fortnight.
The PM also announced a further cut in the fuel excise to a total saving of 32 cents on every litre of petrol and diesel at the bowser.
“This morning, we have reached an agreement with the states and territories to deliver a further cut in the fuel tax by returning their GST windfall to Australians. This will mean a combined saving of 32 cents on every litre,” he said.
“The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has already signed that change into law because we want this added relief to start showing up at petrol stations, straightaway.”
The Prime Minister was at pains to stress that his government’s approach to war was starkly different to that taken by the former Coalition government to the COVID pandemic.
“This will not be like COVID, partly because the nature of this crisis is very different, but also because we’ve learned from that time,” he said.
“We are deliberately taking a different approach … We all know the mindset that left Australia exposed to this global shock that said it was OK to cut TAFE and training, to dare manufacturing and industry to go offshore, to put multinational firms ahead of Australian gas users, to close our refineries, store our fuel reserves in Texas and run the national energy grid into the ground, and that Australia could get away with this, because there would always be someone else, somewhere else, who would sell us what we needed cheaper than we could make it ourselves.
“This approach put our nation in this position of vulnerability; it will not take us out of it.
“That’s why our government is taking a different path.”
In another announcement, the Prime Minister said he was acting on reforms to combat gambling harm.
Between 6 am and 8:30 pm, the number of TV ads for betting agencies will be capped at a maximum of three per hour.
All gambling ads will be banned on the radio during school pick-up and drop-off times.
“We will ban cross-promotion content that mixes commentary with odds, end advertising on jerseys and jumpers and in stadiums, and ban online advertising, unless the user is verified as being over 18 and has the ability to opt out,” Mr Albanese said.
“Just as importantly, we will block illegal, offshore gaming sites, and ban online Keno-type products, the so-called ‘pocket pokies’, which represent a huge percentage of Australian gambling losses.
“And we will keep building on the success of BetStop, promoting and strengthening a program that is changing lives.
“We are getting the balance right. Letting adults have a punt if they want to, but making sure our children don’t see betting ads everywhere they look, because we don’t want kids growing up thinking that footy and gambling are inextricably linked.
“We want Australians to love sport for what it is. Its joys, its heartbreak, its highs and lows. Because that is more than enough for any of us.”
Original Article published by Chris Johnson on Region Canberra.
