Australia news LIVE: Albanese sells stage 3 tax cut changes ...

The Guardian’s political editor Katharine Murphy has confirmed her departure from journalism to join Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald’s Paul Sakkal broke the story this morning, with Guardian editor Lenore Taylor confirming the news.

Murphy has now taken to X, formerly Twitter, writing that she is “deeply grateful to so many people for the opportunities [she’s] had and for the generosity that has been extended to [her] by mentors, colleagues and readers” in her 28 years in the press gallery.

Murphy called her involvement in the establishment of the Guardian’s Australian brand the “greatest privilege of [her] professional life”, but said it was time for a “new chapter”.

Deirdre O’Connor, the first woman appointed to the Federal Court of Australia, has died.

The University of Sydney-educated O’Connor was appointed to the court in July 1990 and retired in March 2002.

Deirdre O’Connor in 1986.Credit: Craig Golding/ Fairfax Media

She was also the first woman to be appointed president of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (1990-94) and Australian Industrial Relations Commission (1994-1997) and chair of the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal (1986-1990).

O’Connor died on January 27, aged 82.

In state news, the RSPCA has slammed the Victorian government for its decision, due to be announced today, that it will not ban duck hunting despite a recent parliamentary inquiry recommending an end to the practice.

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Victorian state ministers will meet today to discuss harsher penalties for hunters who break the law and further mandatory training, but not a total end to the sport.

This masthead was the first to report on the measures yesterday afternoon.

This morning, RSPCA Victoria boss Dr Liz Walker said the Victorian government was going against public sentiment and “clear evidence”:

“The evidence is there, with other states like Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia all having banned it up to three decades ago with people still enjoying the great outdoors.

“Instead of sanctioning the injury, pain, suffering, distress of our native birds, the Government should have listened to the Inquiry, and millions of Victorians who also want to see it banned.

“This decision simply leaves us asking when it comes to duck and quail hunting, why is Victoria different?

“We urge the government to hear the millions of Victorians who have made clear their support for a duck hunting ban in Victoria and to reverse this decision.”

WA banned duck hunting in 1990, NSW followed suit in 1995 and Queensland banned the practice in 2005.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says revised tax cuts were never intended as a substitute for decent wages, rebuking the business lobby’s request to the workplace tribunal for a lower minimum wage increase this year in light of the reformed stage 3 tax cut package.

This masthead reported today that employers will argue to the Fair Work Commission that by keeping the safety net lift closer to its current level of $23.23 per hour when it is reviewed in June, the industrial umpire will reduce the need for future rate rises and increase employment.

Jim Chalmers in Canberra on Monday morning.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Asked about this at a Canberra press conference, Chalmers said the government’s reformed package for stage 3 was never about substituting wage increases.

“Our tax cuts should be on top of a decent increase in the minimum wage, not instead of one,” he said.

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“This is not an either or here. You know, we want to get wages growing in our economy at the same time as we provide additional cost of living relief via the tax system.

“One of the reasons why we’ve got wages growing again after a decade of deliberate wage stagnation and wage suppression is because there have been a couple of decent pay rises granted by the Commission.

“We will make our submission in the usual way, but our tax cuts are never intended as a substitute for the decent wages that workers in our country need and deserve.”

Returning to Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ press conference this morning, he was asked if any state or federal government employees should keep their jobs if they are found to be neo-Nazis, to which he said they had no place in a civilised society.

On Sunday, NSW Police said they concluded an operation in Artarmon just after 11am when pictures were posted by social media users showing men dressed in black, some wearing balaclavas.

Jim Chalmers on Monday morning.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

It comes after police stopped a group of men in similar attire at North Sydney station on Friday while they were on their way to Australia Day events in the CBD.

“There’s no place for these kinds of grubs in a civilised society and obviously that applies to government agencies as well,” Chalmers said when asked about the events.

“Australians would have been shocked by those scenes that we saw in Sydney in recent days and we commend the NSW Police.

“I commend the NSW premier and also as a federal government. We’ve taken a number of steps to stamp out this kind of hate being expressed on our streets, but there’s no place for these kinds of people.”

Guardian Australia political editor Katharine Murphy, one of the Canberra press gallery’s most senior journalists, is joining Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s office.

The move was confirmed by Guardian management on Monday morning.

Murphy is a former Fairfax journalist and joined the Australian arm of the Guardian at its inception last decade.

Katharine Murphy on the set of Insiders in 2017.Credit: Meredith O’Shea/Fairfax Media

The prime minister’s office has been shaken up since late last year when head of media Liz Fitch departed.

Former Kevin Rudd staffer Fiona Sugden has also joined Albanese’s media team, which came under scrutiny last year as Labor lost the Voice referendum and struggled to manage other fast-moving political issues.

Guardian Australia boss Lenore Taylor said she was sad to let Murphy go.

“[Guardian Australia] has succeeded beyond anything we imagined back then and Murphy’s dedication, tireless work and brilliant political analysis have played a significant part in that success,” Taylor wrote in an email.

“We’ll all miss her terribly and so will our readers.”

Murphy will depart on Friday and her role in Albanese’s office is not yet clear.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers is not concerned about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese being booed at the Australian Open final on Sunday night.

Albanese attended Rod Laver Arena for the men’s singles tournament final at the Australian Open between Jannik Sinner and Daniil Medvedev.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers speaks in Canberra.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

When the prime minister’s name was announced, he received boos from the crowd. Chalmers, at a press conference this morning, congratulated Sinner for his win, saying the reception given to Albanese was not concerning.

“I think it’s a well-worn Australian tradition at sporting events for that to happen, and I don’t think we should read too much into it,” he said.

The government is not contemplating negative gearing policies that were first brought to the 2019 election.

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers, at a press conference this morning, shut down a question on reports Labor MPs would support revisiting the government’s negative gearing policies, saying their current housing policies are the priority.

“We’re not contemplating or considering resurrecting the policies that we took to the 2019 election. Our focus when it comes to tax and housing has been on incentivising build-to-rent properties with the tax breaks that I budgeted for in the May budget,” he said.

“I know that our opponents will want to focus on what we aren’t proposing because they want to distract from the position they’ve taken on the tax changes that we are proposing, and that’s because their position on stage 3 is indefensible and untenable.”