Natalie Barr:
The Israeli Prime Minister has slammed Anthony Albanese in a scathing social media statement posted overnight. Benjamin Netanyahu said, ‘History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.’ It follows a government decision to recognise Palestine as a state and a fiery tit‑for‑tat over rejected visas for diplomats.
Mr Netanyahu also penned a letter to the PM accusing him of pouring fuel on an antisemitic fire.
For their take, let’s bring in Housing Minister, Clare O’Neil, and Nationals Senate leader, Bridget McKenzie. Good morning. Clare, we’ll start with you. This was a scathing attack on our Prime Minister. How does the government react to this post?
Clare O’Neil:
Nat, these comments are disappointing, but the Australian Government’s not going to get into tit‑for‑tat here. You know, Anthony Albanese is unfailingly polite in his dealings with international leaders and he takes a strong stance, as he’s done here with this particular matter.
Now we’ve got a really clear agenda here as we involve ourselves in this conflict in the Middle East. We know that the Australian people want to see an end to senseless violence and killing and they particularly want to see an end to the forced starvation and killing of innocent children who have absolutely nothing to do with this conflict. And the government is plotting a course with countries around the world like Canada, France and the UK to try to bring that about.
Now you mentioned the comments off the top, I know that the Israeli Prime Minister has had some similar things to say about other global leaders with whom he has a disagreement. This kind of diplomacy is never very effective, and that’s why the Australian Government doesn’t engage in it.
Barr:
Okay. Should the government engage in it, Bridget, or do we sort of think that’s something to ignore?
Bridget McKenzie:
Well, I think the Israeli Prime Minister’s right, the Prime Minister is weak. He has been slow to act on the abuse of Australians who are Jewish, he’s been slow to act on the advice from his own antisemitic envoy who handed her recommendations to him a while ago, I’m looking forward to seeing that. And his decision to recognise a Palestinian state without the hostages being returned, without Hamas surrendering, actually rewards terrorists and makes our world less safe. And polling out this week shows that over 70 per cent of Australians don’t agree with his decision.
Now our government decided to cancel the visas of an elected Israeli member of parliament. And so obviously Israel has reacted to that.
We need to make sure that our country remembers that Israel’s been a very good friend to Australia. We fought battles together in Beersheba – our grandparents and great grandparents, and it was the Israeli’s intelligence services who helped us uncover home‑grown terrorists right here in Australia.
So I think it’s a really disappointing turn of affairs and the responsibility for it lays at the Prime Minister’s feet.
Barr:
Okay. Let’s move to Australia now. 64 per cent of Aussies support legislating a right to work from home. According to new polling, data from Resolve Strategic, and when broken down by political affiliation, have a look at this, voters from both major parties are actually in favour; 74 per cent support from Labor voters, 51 support from Coalition voters.
Clare, should we take this seriously; do you need to legislate the ability to work from home?
O’Neil:
Well, Nat, I’m not at all surprised to see those results because work from home has been an absolute game changer for Australia’s working families.
In my community there are people I talk to who are saving sometimes 2 hours or more of travel time every day. And that’s enabling them to be better workers and commit more to their workplace, but also to do our most important job of all, which is in many instances caring for our young children.
So I think work from home is absolutely awesome. You know, for any family out there who’s got 2 parents working full‑time, it is hard to just make it through to the end of the week. And anything that helps families cope with that is, you know, something that our government’s fiercely in support of.
With regard to the legislation, what we see at the moment is that largely bosses and workers are working this through on a case‑by‑case basis. But Nat, you’d be aware that the Victorian government is looking at a legislative pathway here, so we’re just going to be watching that really closely.
The one thing I want people to understand at home is, we get it. We are going to protect your work‑from‑home rights and make sure that we have a situation where you can continue to get that fantastic flexibility both in your workplace and in your home.
Barr:
Bridget are you surprised, give what happened in the election campaign, that 51 per cent of people who support the Coalition are in favour of working from home; and to legislate this. Do you think that should be the next step?
McKenzie:
Not at all. Not at all, Nat. I think flexible‑working arrangements between workers and their employers is exactly the way we need to go. Modern times, like Clare was saying, we need to balance caring responsibility. If you want to live in the regions, travel into the city to work for a couple of days, work‑from‑home arrangements can really assist there, when they’re agreed by both the employer and the worker, ‘cause we still want businesses obviously to stay open, and –
Barr:
Even government workers, Bridget?
McKenzie:
Well, like Clare, I am not surprised that Australians that are asked, would they like a 3 day weekend for the same pay say, ‘Hell yes, I need some of that.’ What I am concerned about though –
Barr:
So yes, you’re referring to 2 studies that were quoted.
McKenzie:
Unlike Clare is the legislative –
Barr:
Do you think people are asking –
McKenzie:
Is the legislative –
Barr:
The workers, they’re not actually talking about productivity, whether this increases productivity. Whether people in surveys are just asked, ‘Do you want this?’ And they say, ‘Yes’.
McKenzie:
Yeah, of course they do. Like I would love that. But the point is the legislative aspect. And I think for Victorian workers, if the Victorian government goes through with this, some workers are going to be more equal than others in Victoria. Chippies – to build the homes that Clare wants and I want built – coppers, nurses and the like can’t work from home. And so we're going to see a real disparity between those workers who have a job that enables those arrangements and those who legitimately can’t. And so I’m not sure how legislating that will actually work. And you’re right on the productivity measure, economists say it won’t lift productivity and get our economy moving, which is what we need.
Barr:
So as Clare said, we’ll and see how that Victorian move goes through. Thank you very much. We’ll see you next week.