As it happened: Unemployment rate holds steady; Pressure on RBA after US cuts interest rates

In a report for the Super Members Council released today, Eslake says allowing Australians to raid their superannuation accounts to buy a home would also make it harder for low-income earners to own a home, reduce retirement incomes and lead to significant long-term budget costs.

Earlier this week, this masthead revealed a Coalition-commissioned Parliamentary Budget Office report found the policy would save $2.7 billion from the budget by 2034-35 by reducing the cost of Commonwealth Assistance.

But today, Eslake said this was misleading as the PBO was unable to consider that the policy would result in less tax gained from super and higher payments to the aged pension.

He put it up there with some of the “dumbest” policy decisions of his lifetime, including John Howard’s raising of the capital gains discount to 50 per cent in 1999.

Eslake also criticised Labor’s Help to Buy scheme, which allows first home buyers access to cheaper deposits through shared equity. He said it would also increase house prices by fuelling demand.

AAP with Lachlan Abbott

Australia’s mining heavyweights pushed the sector to the top of the local bourse, with BHP climbing 2.6 per cent, Rio Tinto jumping 3.5 per cent and Fortescue up 1.2 per cent.

Laboratory testing company ALS plummeted 8.6 per cent after it issued a profit warning. Toll road operator Atlas Arteria lost 3.6 per cent after announcing its dividend distribution.

Read the full market wrap here.

But the retailer says the board will not be supporting a resolution to dump Macquarie Harbour salmon from Coles own-brand products by April.

In a notice about its AGM, published today, Coles says only a portion of its own-brand salmon comes from Macquarie Harbour.

It says it would be inappropriate to act while there is a federal government review underway into salmon farming in the harbour, and while other work is pending including a fresh look at population projections.

“Coles is monitoring these government processes closely. We will consider any recommendations and adapt to any regulatory changes as they arise as part of our regular reviews of our procurement policies,” it said.

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“It’s just hyper-partisanship and student politics. People who want to do student politics should enrol in a course at university. It is always embarrassing, the mature age student who gets involved in student politics.”

Afternoon Briefing host Greg Jennett asked whether Labor could alter the Help to Buy bill to get it through the Senate, saying that during question time Penny Wong had referred to a reintroduction of a second version.

Ayres responded: “Well, we’ll make some judgments about the best approach. I haven’t been taken to those issues. We are on the sides of young people who want to buy a home.”

“This is about banning advertising so gambling stops being normalised for children,” he told AAP. “Kevin Rudd had the guts as prime minister to take on Big Tobacco and legislate plain packaging. Anthony Albanese needs to show the same courage here and ban gambling advertising.”

In August, Mr Albanese said the status quo on gambling ads was “completely unacceptable” and vowed further reforms.

But Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has accused the prime minister of walking back his position further with his latest comments.

“He’s dead wrong, and it is extremely disappointing to see him backtracking,” she told reporters in Canberra on Thursday.

The Greens plan to introduce legislation in the Senate to ban gambling advertising across the board.

“We can debate this bill, we can get the laws changed and we can make it happen,” Senator Hanson-Young said. “The prime minister doesn’t have the guts to act.”

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But Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said support had to be given in a “structured way” that doesn’t drive up taxes or impact economic competitiveness.

“Ultimately activity testing is about ensuring that places and funding are going to people who are working, looking for work or studying, not people who don’t need those places,” he told reporters today.

Commenting on the proposal of free childcare, Dutton said at a press conference in Queensland this morning: “Well, I mean, everyone’s in favour of providing support, but we need to understand where the money is coming from. What taxes will increase?”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said Labor was yet to commit to making universal childcare an election pledge.

AAP with Lachlan Abbott

“They were deliberately engineered because they don’t care that it means that Australians on low and middle incomes now have to wait longer to buy a house. It doesn’t affect them so it doesn’t matter to them.

“Mr Dutton and the Liberals created the housing crisis. The Albanese government is trying to fix it, and the Liberals and the Greens are deliberately getting in the way.”

The Greens are holding out for cuts to tax breaks on investment properties as a key condition for their support for the Help to Buy scheme, which would allow the government to contribute up to 40 per cent of the purchase price of a new home, or 30 per cent for an existing home, for up to 10,000 selected applicants each financial year.

Greens leader Adam Bandt has said he still wants to negotiate with Labor to pass legislation, but said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was displaying “sheer arrogance” in refusing to budge. The minor party has also argued Labor’s Help to Buy plan doesn’t tackle the true causes of unaffordable housing and doesn’t help most people who don’t own a home.

In question time today, Senator Nick McKim reiterated the Greens’ criticism of Labor as having a “bulldozer approach” to the Senate.