As it happened: Treasurer hoses down big-spending plans; Labor pushes for truth in political ads

Thanks for reading the live blog, that’s where we’ll call it a day.

To finish up, here’s a look back at the headlines we reported.

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he has “no plans” to ban TikTok in Australia after the US legislated a deadline for the social media company to either divest from China or be banned from American app stores.
• Treasurer Jim Chalmers says a second surplus is within the government’s reach, but warns voters should not expect major new spending, and only limited new cost of living relief, in the upcoming May budget.
• Opposition Leader Peter Dutton proposed a clamp down on youth gangs who ‘glamorise’ crime on social media, while backing Nationals leader David Littleproud’s suggestion to send young offenders to camps in the outback.
• Australian pharmacies have negotiated an extra $3 billion from Labor in a peace deal struck after almost a year of protest over the government’s 60-day medicine script scheme.
• In NSW, the stoush between the federal and state Labor governments over the GST carve out has escalated, as Albanese dismisses NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey as ‘new to the job’.
• In Victoria, the man who died in the Ballarat gold mine collapse has been remembered as a loving father of four.

Transcripts of US President Joe Biden’s five-hour interview with special counsel Robert Hur recount a “meandering stream of consciousness” that touches on everything from shooting bow and arrows in Mongolia, to “saving Obama’s ass” as vice-president.

And Australia even got a brief mention in the lengthy transcript.

One portion read as follows:

When I put together what they call AUKUS and the ability of, of Australia [RETRACTED] really changes the whole dynamic in the Indian Ocean. When I was able to bring together the quad: India, Australia, Japan, the United States, there were just had 16 Pacific Island leaders here that were heads of state. We have a chance to fundamentally change and make different and more secure that part of the world. In which China’s influence is seeking to be profound.”

For more details revealed in the interview, which was ostensibly about classified documents, read the New York Times analysis here.

The man who died in the Ballarat gold mine collapse has been remembered as a loving father of four.

Kurt Hourigan, a 37-year-old miner from Bruthen in Gippsland, died and a 21-year-old colleague from Ballarat is fighting for his life in hospital after rock collapsed on them 500 metres underground at the Ballarat Gold Mine on Wednesday afternoon.

Read the full breaking story here.

Also on Afternoon Briefing, Labor Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care Ged Kearney was asked to answer for the government on the cancellation of refugee visas to Gazans who were already en route to Australia, and the continued suspension of funding to UNRWA, the UN body that provides aid to Palestinians.

On the first issue, Kearney wouldn’t be drawn on the specifics:

It’s very difficult for me to comment on the individual cases and I cannot do that as you could imagine, but I can acknowledge that this must be incredibly distressing for many Australians who have families in Palestine.”

Kearney had a more detailed response to questions on when the government would follow allies like Canada and the European Union in reinstating funding for UNRWA.

I think we should reinstate the funding as soon as possible. I think UNRWA are an important organisation. Nobody else can do the work that they do in the area, and I think that, generally speaking, we need to make sure that aid is going into the country. That needs to be a priority.

The images ... hospitals not being able to provide care and women giving birth in terrible situations, the aid situation is dire and we need to make sure that the aid is getting into Gaza.”

When asked if the government’s decision would be conditional on the conclusion of the investigation into allegations that UNRWA workers participated in the October 7 attacks on Israel, Kearney had this to say:

We have seen some of our close partners resume funding to UNRWA. I understand that and I understand the complexities around reinstating that funding and the investigations that are ongoing.

But I would hope that they can be overcome and that funding can be restored very soon.”

Coalition frontbencher Paul Fletcher says it is “richly hypocritical” for the government to propose truth-in-advertising electoral reforms in light of Labor’s 2016 election campaign popularly known as the “Medi-scare”.

On the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, host Greg Jennet highlighted Labor’s 2016 suggestion that the Coalition would defund Medicare and the Coalition’s 2019 suggestion that Labor would introduce death taxes as examples of political scare campaigns that would be targeted by the reforms.

In his response, Fletcher focused on the former:

We will look at what is proposed on its merits, but we do view, I think, with the measure of well justified scepticism, claims to some sort of moral virtual issues from the Labor Party, which has rich form in suddenly peddling outrageous mistruths and also in favouring third-party organisations which will fund them.