'You will be punished': PM condemns antisemitic actors as MPs return for first sitting week — as it happened

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Australia's big end of town is warning all sides of politics to shun "populist" election promises, including any move by the Coalition to backtrack on national 2030 climate targets or Labor's "scapegoat" crackdown on international students.

Chief executives from some of the nation's biggest companies will visit parliament on Tuesday to urge politicians to instead support reforms that strengthen economic growth and boost living standards.

Business Council of Australia (BCA) chief executive Bran Black will also warn that Donald Trump's return to the White House, which may include cuts to US corporate tax rates, means Australia will need to do more to adopt an "active pro-business" approach that lures investment to the country.

"If we want to compete with the countries that seek to drive investment away from us and to their own shores, our fundamental priorities must be productivity, productivity and more productivity," Mr Black said.

The lobbying push comes amid ongoing speculation that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could call an election as early as this month, putting fresh pressure on all parties to ease the cost of living, build more homes and develop skills across the economy, according to the BCA.

Come election night, independent candidate Alex Dyson's seat of Wannon  will be among the most keenly watched contests in the country.

The Coalition is also being forced to play defence in at least five of its own electorates.

Seats like Bradfield on Sydney's North Shore, Cowper on the NSW north coast, and regional Victorian seats like Monash, and Wannon are all on margins of less than 4 per cent.

If the Coalition were to lose any of these, the arithmetic becomes even harder to form government.

But Dyson frames the contest very differently.

His pitch is that both the major parties have ignored Wannon and if the predicted hung parliament eventuates, an independent like himself will have significant leverage.

Read the full story from Four Corners below: 

The panel has also been quizzed about Peter Dutton's potential move to Donald Trump-style politics.

Last Friday, Dutton said he wanted to remove some cultural diversity roles, in a move similar to Trump's DEI culls.

Stevens says this statement is consistent with Dutton's longtime leadership.

"What he said on Friday was completely in line with what people should expect from a Dutton government if we are elected," he says.

Asked how many culturally diverse public sector positions there were, Stevens says "possibly too many".

"I think we have got 36,000 new public servants that have been employed under Labor and I don't feel like we have a 20 per cent enhanced and improved government."

Burns said going after diversity was a "classic playbook" from the far-right movement.

"I think in Australia we can be more mature about the sort of people that we want and the diversity of opinion...that we get from our public service," he says.

Today's pollie panel is Labor MP Josh Burns and LNP MP James Stevens.

They've been grilled about Jacqui Lambie's accusation that the Coalition made "antics" in relation to her antisemitism motion.

Stevens instead brushed a lack of unity off to the Greens.

"There are some political participants, the Greens party in particular, that are impossible to sensibly deal with on this," he tells Afternoon Briefing.

"They would not even support the motion after October 7 condemning the act of terrorism in the parliament.

"It was absolutely shameful.

"I want to work with everyone that is a good-faith participant in genuinely addressing these concerns."

Burns, who is Jewish, agreed he wanted a "united front", and has given a personal response as to whether this would become an election issue.

"Politics is the last thing on my mind," he says.

"I will work with whoever. I don't care.

"I just want it to be fixed."

Jacqui Lambie has ended her Afternoon Briefing chat by saying "no-one wants to talk politics" ahead of the election.

She says her constituents want instead to talk about cost-of-living pressures.

"They want to talk about how tough they are doing it," she says.

"They want to talk about what will happen when their rates come in at the end of March.

"They want to talk about their credit card bills and energy bill coming in and they say they can't afford it."

Asked if interest rate cuts or inflation coming down was a sign for optimism, Lambie seemed uncertain.

"Everything is up in the air right now," she says.

"But I will continue to say keep your money close to your chest because you are going to need it."

Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie has been asked about her decision to raise a motion condemning antisemitism in the Senate.

She said she moved the motion in tandem with Independent MP Allegra Spender to show unity.

"It came across in the last 24 hours and I wanted to make sure that we were all politically aligned on it to show there was no division," she tells Afternoon Briefing.

"I don't think it quite worked out."

She accused the Coalition of pulling "antics" in the Senate to disrupt the motion.

"They wanted to go into law and order. It was not about that," she says.

"It was to let the Jewish community know we've all got your backs."

She says this low ebb of antisemitism is reflective of wider disharmony across Australia, highlighting the booing of Novak Djokovic during the Australian Open. 

"We need to do something about society and we need to do early intervention and the only way we're going to it through a generational change," she adds.

She ends by saying Peter Dutton needs to move towards Anthony Albanese on this issue of antisemitism.

"It looks much better and much stronger when two leaders are standing together."

Adam Bandt has also been grilled about his party's stance on a spate of antisemitic attacks across Australia.

He called that violence "extremely concerning" and "deplorable".

"ASIO warned us a few years ago now, prior to this government, about the rise of the far right and white supremacy in Australia," he says.

"It is why we have been consistently calling for very, very clear national approaches to stamp out all forms of racism and to stamp out antisemitism."

Asked about pro-Palestinian rallies, Bandt says a lot of those protesters at those events "denounce antisemitism".

He adds there are people of Palestinian and Jewish background in attendance.

"Even though there has been a ceasefire, the occupation is still ongoing," he adds.

"There is still people calling for a just and lasting peace there. 

"I make the point people have the right to protest peacefully, but it has to be done in a way that respects people's right to feel safe as well."

Greens leader Adam Bandt has been quizzed about the Greens' agenda for 2025.

He says he's hopeful the party can work with Labor to reform a "number of areas" and put other issues "on the table".

This includes Labor's promise of free childcare.

"We are up for legislating that this fortnight," he tells Afternoon Briefing.

"Given that it seems that we are now talking about bringing forward some things, we would like to see that 20 per cent cut to student debt put forward as well.

"That should not be held ransom to the outcome of an election. Let's do that this fortnight."

Stay tuned because we've got a packed schedule ahead of us!

Everyone is very aware that this is possibly, if not probably, the last sitting fortnight before the election.

That's probably why the Coalition is asking more questions about its own policy than anything the government is doing.

And why some of the dixers are even vaguer and more vibe-ey than usual (see: "addressing the challenges of today").

The pre-election strangeness is also visible in a quite literal sense, as a few figures move around the room.

Paul Fletcher is spending his first question time on the Coalition backbench in a very long time, after announcing he's quitting parliament at the election.

Anika Wells is spending her first question time on the government’s front bench, after she was promoted to cabinet.

On the other side of the chamber, Melissa McIntosh is also down the very front for the first time.

And the star of the press gallery's favourite calendar, Ian Goodenough, is cutting a lonely figure spending his first question time on the crossbench.

He lost a preselection battle for his seat of Moore to former MP Vince Connelly, and quit the Liberal Party late last year.

It's all got a bit of a sense that the room is very ready to pack up and get on the hustings. The arguments ironed out, the lines are ready, and it's all just a matter of time.

The PM gets up next to add to a previous answer. Earlier in QT, Anthony Albanese ducked and weaved a question on the rate of food inflation.

But huzzah someone in the prime minister's office has finally crunched the numbers.

He says food prices have increased 3 per cent in the past year. Helpfully, he tells us it was 5.9 per cent in the last year the Coalition was in office.

The PM then calls time on QT.

The $275 power price promise has been one of the Coalition's main lines of attack over the past three years. Why? Because the war in Ukraine had a pretty substantial impact on power prices, making it pretty difficult for Labor to deliver on the pledge.

Labor had a self imposed deadline of 2025 to cut prices. It's now 2025, and that hasn't occurred.

But what has? The government handing out $300 as part of the budget last year to subsidise power prices. That answer from the PM was as clear as we've probably got to Labor linking the two.

Important to note though that the $300 was a one off.

Shadow Energy Minister Ted O'Brien has asked the PM about whether he can give a single example of an Australian family who have received a $275 power bill cut.

Anthony Albanese gives a short and sweet answer.

"I note that all Australian households, including that of the honourable member, got $300, as a direct result of our Government's policy."

Warringah MP Zali Steggall has the next crossbench question. She asks if the PM will convene a  round table to bring together construction, insurance, banking, local government, civil society to ensure better investment in climate resilience and adaptation.

The PM thanks the independent for her "genuine commitment to action on climate change".

"The member should be pleased to know that we're doing precisely along the lines in which she asks in her question. We're developing both a national adaptation plan, as well as national risk assessments as we speak," he says.

"We're addressing the issue of insurance availability.

"We also are working with insurance companies through, for example, the hazards insurance partnership brings together the Australian Government and the insurance sector, creating that forum so we can talk about how we can reduce those insurance premiums, because we know that it is having a real impact."

Manger of Opposition Business Michael Sukkar has asked the PM when he was first advised of a planned mass casualty terror attack against Sydney's Jewish community.

His question relates to the grilling Anthony Albanese has faced since explosives were found in a caravan near Dural last week. 

Albanese says it goes to "national security issues" and balancing the dual priorities of public safety and the advice from AFP and the ASIO Director-General.

"This isn't some game and it should not be about politics," he says.

"There are some people who, in the past, have understood why these issues are important, that we back up our national security agencies rather than seek to undermine them."

Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie has the second crossbench question today. She wants to know if the government will lift the number of Commonwealth supported places to study medicine to address the doctor shortage in Australia.

Education Minister Jason Clare says the government did this two budgets ago.

But he adds the matter is always under consultation and consideration alongside Health Minister Mark Butler. 

"As I have said in this chamber many times, I want more people to get a crack at going to university or go to TAFE," he says.

Ok, Angus Taylor has come to the PM with a different question.

That is: "Will the Prime Minister now apologise for promising Australians they would be better off and admit that Australians can't afford another three years of Labor?"

Anthony Albanese takes a bit of a cheeky answer, saying he'll explain it for the Shadow Treasurer.

"See...when inflation's going up but wages are going down, people are worse off," he says slowly, with some hand gestures for the crowd.

"Now, inflation's going down and wages going up.

"That's what lifts people up."

Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley is next up. She asks the PM if he can tell the chamber by what percentage has the cost of food increased since Labor was elected.

It's an attempt to recreate one of the defining moments of the 2022 election campaign, when a flustered Anthony Albanese had to admit he couldn't name the cash rate.

The PM pads for time. He talks about inflation coming down over the Labor's time in power. But he doesn't name the actual figure.

Ley jumps up for a point of order. "These figures are readily available," she says.

Speaker Milton Dick says its up to the PM to "release that figure or perhaps talk about the topic regarding the impact of that figure" but acknowledges the question is pretty direct.

Albanese still doesn't name the figure. Ley asks the Speaker to make a ruling on the matter, but is dismissed.

The call returns to the PM, who talks about the "stronger action" the government has taken against the supermarket giants.

But no food inflation figure, though. 🤷‍♀️

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor isn't giving up with the Coalition's tax-free lunch proposal, asking for the cost of Labor's tax policy.

Jim Chalmers says if Taylor wants to be Treasurer he should know the numbers he's asking for aren't itemised in the budget.

"That's because they are part of the tax base, and we're not proposing to change it," he says.

"The only party in here proposing to make it easier for bosses to claim long lunches, paid for by workers and taxpayers, is those opposite."