THE Joint Standing Committee on Treaties held a public hearing today for its inquiry into the Nauru-Australia Treaty.

The Treaty enhances cooperation between Australia and Nauru in relation to strengthening Nauru’s economy, security and social resilience. The agreement also enables mutual agreement and consultation on Nauru’s partnerships including in the areas of security, telecommunications and banking.

Committee Chair, Lisa Chesters MP, said, "As Pacific partners, Australia and Nauru have shared close relations for many years in trade, investment and security. This agreement affirms Australia’s position as Nauru’s primary security and development assistance partner and is evidence of our bilateral relationship, shared history and cultural affinity.

"This Treaty follows other agreements with Nauru and similar treaties with Pacific nations, like the 2024 Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union. Alongside increasing collaboration with Nauru, the agreement reinforces Australia’s commitment to developing and supporting the Pacific region and its security, stability and resilience," Ms Chesters said.

The committee heard evidence from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade at the public hearing.

Public hearing details

Date: Monday, 25 August 2025
Time: 11am to 12.30pm AEST
Location: Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House Canberra

The hearing was broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

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THE Department of the House of Representatives and Y Australia have called for expressions of interest in the National Youth Parliament 2026.

Through this program, young people from all walks of life will engage directly with civics and the Parliament. The program aims to equip 16–17-year-olds with the knowledge, confidence, and skills to actively participate in Australia's democratic and parliamentary system.

Through hands-on learning experiences, including simulated parliamentary debates, workshops with political leaders, and real-world policy challenges, students will gain a deeper understanding of how Parliament works and the process by which bills are drafted, debated and passed into law.

Youth members will travel to Canberra for a five-day (four-night) program held across Australia’s Parliament House and the Museum of Australian Democracy, Old Parliament House. All costs associated with the program including travel and accommodation are covered by the program.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick MP, said, ‘The establishment and delivery of a National Youth Parliament program was a major priority for me as Speaker.

"I am proud to be giving young Australians a brand-new opportunity to learn about civics and our parliamentary system. The future of Australia’s great democracy is in the hands of our young Australians, and this is one way they will be able to shape it for future generations."

The Department of the House of Representatives is working with experienced Youth Parliament program provider, Y Australia to deliver the program. The Y has been running Youth Parliament programs for more than four decades.

CEO of Y Australia, Alexandra Ash, said, "We don’t just want young people to vote when they turn 18, we want them to understand why their vote matters, how decisions are made, and how they can influence them. Education in civics and democracy is key to that, and we’re thrilled to work with the Department of the House of Representatives on this initiative."

Why it matters:

• Research shows that young Australians are increasingly disengaged from traditional politics yet remain deeply passionate about social issues.
• Civics education has been declining in curriculum focus, leaving many young people unaware of how laws are made or how Parliament functions.
• This program helps close that gap by giving students real opportunities to see behind the scenes and learn how the system works.

Expressions of interest are now open. Young people who will be aged 16 or 17 in August 2026 are encouraged to submit an EOI at Home - National Youth Parliament.

No prior political experience is required – just curiosity, commitment, and a desire to learn.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are strongly encouraged to apply, as are young people from rural and regional areas or those from marginalised backgrounds.

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THE Housing Industry Association (HIA) has welcomed yesterday's announcement to bring forward the start of the expanded Federal Government Home Guarantee Scheme to October 1.

"This promises to open doors for more people and is an important boost for aspirational home buyers in Australia,”  HIA managing director Jocelyn Martin said.

“This will make homeownership more accessible to those who may have previously been locked out of the market and something HIA successfully advocated for in lead up to this year’s election.

“Since its inception, HIA has been strongly supportive of the Home Guarantee Scheme. To date the scheme has helped more than 210,000 Australians get into a home of their own," she said.

“Previously the scheme has been capped at 50,000 new places each year, but today’s announcement will mean there are no caps or income limits and property prices have been adjusted in line with average house prices in both metropolitan and regional areas.

“This will mean more Australians can access the scheme and get into housing sooner," Ms Martin said.

“Under the First Home Guarantee, an eligible first home buyer can purchase a property with a deposit of as little as five percent.

“The guarantee offers help to those Australians looking to buy their first home, recognising that saving for a deposit is the largest obstacle to achieving home ownership.

“With the current cost pressures on households, a first home buyer is facing years to save a deposit and in that time they risk being priced out of the market.

”Recent analysis of the scheme shows that more than one third of all guarantees were issued to buyers in regional areas. It also showed an increasing proportion of younger buyers participated in the scheme each year since its inception highlighting its importance to a broad range of Australian’s.

“HIA has always maintained that owning your own home is the best form of financial and personal security a person can have. The expanded Home Guarantee Scheme goes a long way to helping that dream become a reality,” Ms Martin said.

www.hia.com.au

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REWIRING Australia has welcomed the Federal Government’s announcement to boost the development of renewable energy projects by proposing new guidelines for research and demonstration licenses. 

Energy Minister Chris Bowen today unveiled the plans to offer the updated licenses, which would encourage researchers, scientists and others to research new wind technology to ensure Australia is at the cutting edge of the sector. 

The licenses would be offered in all six declared offshore wind zones, including the Hunter region in New South Wales.

Rewiring Australia’s founder and chief scientist, Saul Griffith has spent years across Australia and the USA developing and engineering innovative renewable energy technologies, including floating offshore wind.

“The development and testing of this kind of technology is critical if we are going to get the most out of it in Australia. We need to encourage investment and innovation and this is one important way to do that,” Dr Griffith said. 

The Federal Government today said the projects might include monitoring technology to examine the feasibility of offshore wind for a region, or projects designed to demonstrate the viability of new technologies. 

Importantly, it is expected to slash the cost of the initial R&D license, making early-stage projects for proving deep-water technologies more financially viable and de-risking larger-scale investment.

“Australia is in a unique position; we not only have abundant sun to support solar, but with the sixth longest coastline in the world and 85% of our population within 50km of that coast, we’re well placed to scale up our offshore wind capabilities.

“A diverse mix of renewable energy will make Australia less reliant on imported fuels and expensive and aging fossil fuel plants," he said.

“We have the ability to become a renewable energy superpower in Australia, and supporting our innovators is one of the best ways to do that. Harnessing the strong winds out to sea will help deliver clean energy around the clock, and help us close down our expensive, ageing coal power stations on time, which is good for the energy bills of all Australian households,” Dr Griffith said. 

The Federal Government today said it was seeking feedback on the proposed new guidelines from today until October 3. 

“I commend the Federal Government for opening up the gates to crucial investments in offshore wind technologies with this license proposal. With the right framework to get this industry established, Australia can be a leader in this global energy opportunity,” Dr Griffith said. 

www.rewiringaustralia.org

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THE Joint Standing Committee on Treaties has commenced an inquiry into the Nuclear-Powered Submarine Partnership and Collaboration Agreement between the Government of Australia and the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The treaty, signed in Geelong on July 26, 2025, forms a key component of the AUKUS partnership and outlines collaborative efforts to support Australia’s acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines.

The committee has invited interested individuals and organisations to make submissions addressing the treaty and its implications. Submissions are due by Tuesday, September 2, 2025, and can be lodged online via the Committee website.

Committee Chair, Lisa Chesters MP said, "This inquiry is a vital opportunity for the public to engage with one of the most significant defence and strategic agreements in Australia’s recent history. We encourage stakeholders to share their views."

Detailed guidance on preparing and submitting submissions is available on the Committee’s website.

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THE National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) and Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) have warned of serious risks to freedom of expression stemming from a code of conduct adopted by the Bendigo Writers Festival.

The festival issued a code of conduct to participants in La Trobe University-sponsored events directing them to “avoid language or topics that could be considered inflammatory, divisive, or disrespectful”.

It also mandated adherence to La Trobe’s Anti-Racism Plan, which adopts the Universities Australia definition of antisemitism. 

More than 50 writers, academics and hosts including NTEU and MEAA members withdrew from the festival over the code. 

“It’s especially galling that La Trobe University management has used its role as a sponsor of the festival to stifle academic freedom and freedom of expression – the very principles universities are built on," NTEU national president Alison Barnes said.

“This is exactly why the NTEU strongly argued against Universities Australia’s definition of antisemitism – it risks conflating uncomfortable criticism of government policies with discrimination.

“The NTEU will always unequivocally oppose all forms of racism and discrimination including antisemitism and Islamophobia," Dr Barnes said.

MEAA acting chief executive Adam Portelli said, “MEAA supports creative and media workers' right to freedom of expression, even when uncomfortable or inconvenient. In fact, it is in the very nature of artistic expression to be disruptive.

“These workers deserve the freedom to express opinions without fear of being silenced or censored," he said.

“This can be done while ensuring an environment free from discrimination and vilification.”

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“It’s not a choice between the economy and nature; you can have both or you can have neither,” ACF CEO Kelly O’Shanassy, who will attend the roundtable session on Better regulation and approvals said.

“The Great Barrier Reef, which supports 64,000 jobs and injects around $6.4 billion a year into the economy, is in serious strife because of repeated coral bleaching from hotter oceans.

“The Murray-Darling Basin, which supports more than 30% of Australia’s food production, is in a dire state, with some ecologists describing the ecosystem as on the brink of collapse," O’Shanassy said.

“Faster decisions are crucial, as is stronger nature protection. Australia’s failed national nature law facilitates neither. 

“The national nature law contains a series of convoluted processes with no defined outcomes or transparent institutions – a recipe for slow, unpredictable decisions and ecological and economic decline. 

“Three elements of environmental law reform are essential to faster decisions and stronger nature protection. 

“National environment standards are needed to define the rules on nature protection and guide project proponents on where they can build and where nature needs to be protected because of high conservation value habitat," Ms O’Shanassy said.

“An independent national EPA is needed to administer the standards through making assessment and approval decisions, ensure compliance and enforcement and oversee any accredited arrangements that allow for further efficiencies.

“Better coordination across federal, state and territory governments is needed, but the simplistic idea of handing over Commonwealth responsibilities to State and Territory governments for ‘single touch approvals’ won’t work," she said.

“Research by ACF shows roughly half Australia’s GDP (49% or $896 billion) has a moderate to very high direct dependence on nature. Speeding up decisions without boosting nature protection will simply accelerate extinction and put the brakes on our economy and jobs.”

www.acf.org.au

Read ACF’s submission to the Economic Reform Roundtable.

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WITH the Albanese Government’s Economic Reform Roundtable kicking off today, Weld Australia is calling out the false promise of deregulation.

According to Weld Australia, the Productivity Commission’s push to 'slash red tape' completely misdiagnoses Australia’s productivity challenge.

"The problem is not standards," a Weld Australia spokesman said. "It is non-compliance and weak enforcement. Regulations like the National Construction Code (NCC) and Australian Standards exist to protect people, property and the environment and underpin economic resilience".

Geoff Crittenden, CEO of Weld Australia, said,  “What the Productivity Commission calls ‘red tape’ are the very rules that keep people alive and our major infrastructure and assets safe and standing.

“Let’s be honest about what’s in the firing line: the National Construction Code, building codes, and Australian Standards. These are not there to stifle growth or productivity. They exist to protect people, property and the environment. Deregulation is not reform. It’s negligence.

“If anyone thinks safety standards are ‘excessive’, ask the family of the worker who fell through a roof and never came home. Ask the parents of a young apprentice who died in a confined space. Ask the owners staring at cracking walls in non-compliant apartments, or households whose homes burned to the ground because a cheap battery exploded.

"Ask the state governments forced to rebuild infrastructure at more than double the initial construction price because it wasn’t built to Australian Standards in the first place,” Mr Crittenden said.

“Removing regulations and standards boosts margins and profits for corner-cutters. It doesn’t build a safer, more productive nation; it builds risk.

“Australia’s problem is not too many rules. It is too little compliance; too little enforcement of the rules. In construction particularly, too many players only worry about standards if they get caught. Compliance and enforcement are chronically under-resourced. Against that reality, calls to ‘slash red tape’ are not only laughable, they reveal a complete misunderstanding of what is going on in this country.

“If we want to go the American way — weak compliance, big profits for a few, and catastrophic failures for the rest — keep talking deregulation,” Mr Crittenden said. “If we want a productive, modern economy, look to the countries that actually top the global productivity tables. Some of europe’s most productive economies like Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, are also among the most regulated. They don’t cut standards to grow. They enforce standards to grow.

“Talk of freezing the NCC or watering down Australian Standards is dangerously naïve. The right response is enforcement: certify fabricators against recognised standards, inspect before steel is erected, and hold everyone to the same rules, including overseas suppliers. That’s how you lift quality, extend asset life and truly improve productivity.”

Weld Australia said Australia has already been paying the price of weak compliance. Recent cases include a Brisbane rail footbridge installed despite 1,150 welding non-conformances; a major recreation centre roof collapse during construction; and a flood of low-quality imported heat-pump water heaters in the absence of a clear performance standard. These are not isolated incidents. They are systemic red flags that shorten design life and push unplanned costs onto governments and communities.

Weld Australia’s is calling on the Economic Reform Roundtable to:

1. Enforce a level playing field for all fabricated steel: Mandate and enforce that all fabricated steel erected in Australia complies with AS/NZS ISO 3834, whether fabricated locally or overseas. This is the minimum to ensure quality and safety without disadvantaging Australian fabricators.
2. Adopt a harmonised procurement framework that bakes in compliance: Incorporate the South Australian ST-SS-S1 model into the NCC and state government specifications (including clause 7.7 for overseas fabrication) so that inspection and competence requirements are clear before steel is erected.
3. Establish a National Fabrication Authority: Create an independent, not-for-profit body to certify Australian and overseas companies to the same standards and to inspect fabricated steel before installation, mirroring Canada’s successful approach via the Canadian Welding Bureau. This can be implemented without new legislation by aligning State Government technical regulations.
4. Measure what matters: whole-of-life cost and economic resilience: Shift procurement and policy settings from lowest-price wins to asset life, maintenance burden and safety outcomes. That is how productivity genuinely improves.

“Standards enable safe innovation, consistent quality and predictable markets. The choice is not growth or safety. It is growth through safety and compliance. Where Australia is falling down is not the rule book. It is the absence of a capable, independent system to check and enforce the rules before failure occurs,” Mr Crittenden said.

“Australia needs courage and conviction to enforce regulations and Australian Standards. If the round table delivers one thing this week, let it be a commitment to compliance: one set of rules for everyone, verified independently, with safety and whole-of-life value front and centre.”

Weld Australia represents the welding profession in Australia. Its members are made up of individual welding professionals and companies of all sizes. Weld Australia members are involved almost every facet of Australian industry and make a significant contribution to the nation’s economy.

The primary goal of Weld Australia is to ensure that the Australian welding industry remains locally and globally competitive, both now and into the future. Weld Australia is the Australian representative member of the International Institute of Welding (IIW).

https://weldaustralia.com.au/