Simon Birmingham to swap the Senate for the boardroom as he joins ANZ Bank in new year — as it happened

Thanks for hanging out with me for some or all of your day. Here is what we learned.

• Treasurer Jim Chalmers was out and about today, on the defensive about Labor's economic management. 
• He says he's not planning on handing down a mini budget when delivers the mid year budget update later this month.
• But an extension to Labor's energy bill relief hasn't been ruled out. 
• Opposition Peter Dutton vowed to rip up plans for a wind farm on the NSW Hunter coast. 
• He also reiterated it would be 'irresponsible' for him to make cost of living pledges when he hasn't seen the full state of the budget books. 

I'll be back bright and early tomorrow morning for more fun! See you then.

… I just wanted to give a big blog shoutout to Greg Jennett, who is saying farewell to Afternoon Briefing.

As you can imagine it's been a bittersweet day here in the bureau as we say goodbye to a giant of our newsroom.

Don't worry, he'll still be with the ABC presenting the ACT's 7PM news.

And I have it on good authority he'll also be popping up during the election campaign too.

So don't miss Greg's final innings this afternoon, from 4pm today via the ABC News Channel or on iView.

Shadow Foreign Minister Simon Birmingham will join ANZ after leaving politics.

Senator Birmingham surprised many in Canberra last month when he announced he would leave parliament.

ANZ has now announced he'll take up a new role as the bank's Head of Asia Pacific Engagement and Chairman, South Australia.

There's an interesting intersection with some key government foreign policy initiatives as well – the announcement of this appointment comes as the government finalises a key agreement with ANZ to ensure it keeps its remaining Pacific branches open.

A mobile missile launcher transported by Bushmaster vehicles is a step closer to being operated by Australian soldiers, with Defence to formally examine whether the locally designed weapon system can soon be brought into service.

Known as StrikeMaster, the Australian-developed product utilises a pair of Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) mounted on top of the domestically produced Bushmaster, which can be fired at enemy targets on land and sea out to at least 250 kilometres.

First unveiled in 2022 by defence companies Kongsberg and Thales, the StrikeMaster and its ship-killing NSMs is being touted as a sovereign and cost-effective option for delivering a potent "area denial" capability across Australia's top end.

You can read more of this exclusive report below.

Thousands of jobs would be on the chopping block if a planned offshore wind farm at Port Stephens, in the NSW Hunter region, is scrapped by the Coalition, Jim Chalmers says.

"Peter Dutton, in the usual destructive and risky way, wants to put those thousands of jobs and all of that renewable energy at risk," he said.

Chalmers demanded the Liberal leader "come clean" on the cost of his nuclear power plans.

It's understood the Coalition will release the price tag next week.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he is always looking to see if there is more the government can do to help people doing it tough.

But he says Labor hasn't made any decisions around energy bill relief yet.

The energy bill relief — $300 for households and $325 for around 1 million small businesses — was announced as part of the May budget. It went straight onto bills, meaning people didn't receive the cash but received a discount.

Chalmers says the government has shown a "willingness" to "make room" to help people under pressure.

If you had any doubt we are well and truly in election season, Treasurer Jim Chalmers just gave us an insight in where the government's attacks might go: Medicare.

Long-time election watchers will remember Labor's successful "Mediscare" campaign at the 2016 election. It capitalised on the Coalition's track record on Medicare to allege it would privatise Medicare if elected.

The campaign was reheated in 2019 and again in 2022 to less success. So it's no surprise that Labor is again looking to Medicare to differentiate itself with the opposition.

Chalmers was in Logan, south of Brisbane, alongside Assistant Mental Health Minister Emma McBride to (as the alert said) "speak about the government's investment in Medicare".

He accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of dismissing the government's investments as "wasteful spending".

Chalmers said Dutton was a "risk" to Medicare.

"We know how important out-of-pocket health costs are to household budgets," he says.

"That's why we're strengthening Medicare, and that's why we can't afford to see these really important services cut."

Peter Dutton also remained coy on what the Coalition's plans are to provide voters with cost of living relief.

The opposition leader told reporters in Port Stephens he wants a "fairer, simpler" tax system and to "reduce taxes wherever possible" but the Coalition was waiting for the pre-election economic and fiscal outlook (PEFO) first. 

What is the PEFO? It's a neutral budget update (so minus the spin) released ahead of an election.

"It's irresponsible to start committing to huge systems reform, which come at a huge cost, if we don't know what money is in the system, or we haven't identified the savings to offset that expenditure," he says.

He says the best thing they can do is release pressure on inflation so interest rates can come down. 

Peter Dutton is asked if he would support another round of energy bill relief, as is speculated could be consider as part of the mid-year budget update to be handed down later this month.

The opposition leader says he'll look at what the government proposes but says it'll be a band-aid.

"What they've done so far is not provided support to families at all," he says.

For the second day in a row, Dutton declared a vote for a teal  independent was a vote for Anthony Albanese. 

He ramped up that rhetoric today, saying a vote for a teal was a vote for the "continuation of the destruction of the Australian economy."

On the Coalition's nuclear plan, which involves using taxypayer funds to build a reactor in the Hunter region, Dutton is asked if recent earthquakes near Muswellbrook were a cause of concern.

He says it hasn't affected the Coalition's plans to build a plant on the site of the Liddell power station, quickly turning the focus back on the PM.

"He signed up to a nuclear propulsion system in the submarines with our sailors sleeping alongside the reactor. So the prime minister has no concerns about safety," he says.

"They'll run their scare campaigns and they'll do the whisper campaigns but Australians are smarter than that."

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is holding a press conference alongside Shadow Energy Minister Ted O'Brien and the Liberal candidate for Paterson, Laurence Antcliff. 

The Housing Industry Association operations manager is trying to win the seat from Labor's Meryl Swanson. She holds the seat with a 3.3 per cent margin.

They're in Port Stephens today, where it is no surprise they are rallying against the development of offshore wind farms off the coast of the Hunter region.

It's one of six regions that have been selected by the government as offshore wind zones. Eight companies are in the early stages of working out they can construct offshore wind farms.

The government is banking on, as part of its energy plan, offshore wind being connected to the grid from 2030 onwards.

Dutton says if the Coalition is elected, the wind farm will not go ahead. He says the consultation process has been a "sham".

"Tanya Plibersek and Anthony Albanese are more interested in saving their own seats than they are in saving this community," he says.

Would the Coalition cancel the other offshore wind projects? Dutton says they need to look at each project on its merits.

- with Jane Norman

Following on from the last post, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says there won't be any changes to the definition of small business until at least the second half of next year.

Eight independent federal MPs are calling for the definition of a "small business" to lift from 15 employees, to at least 25.

But Chalmers says he won't be making any decisions until a Fair Work Ombudsman hands back its review.

"We've got this review from the Fair Work Ombudsman looking at this particular issue, and as I understand it, if memory serves, the deadline for that consideration has been pushed back to the middle of next year, so people shouldn't expect any movement on that before then," he says.

Teal MPs are proposing to cut "red tape" for smaller businesses in a pitch to owners, as a federal election looms.

Eight independents have joined a push to change the definition of "small business" from 15 employees to at least 25.

In practice, it would mean businesses now classified as "small" could delay implementing right to disconnect laws and wind back unfair dismissal rights so only employees who had been on the books for at least 12 months could apply.

You can read the full story below.

Abuse survivors are facing further delays to redress payments after negotiations over how to fund compensation for victims of sexual abuse in sporting institutions stalled.

State and territory governments have been under pressure to step in to fund the compensation owed by organisations that refuse to join the National Redress Scheme for victims of institutional sexual abuse.

The ABC has confirmed all states and territories except the Northern Territory supported the move during a virtual meeting on Tuesday.

Without all jurisdictions on board these cases can't be finalised.

Senior Australian defence figures have helped to celebrate South Korea's Armed Forces Day at a function in Canberra, held just hours after an aborted declaration of martial law by the president.

Dozens of officials, military leaders and diplomats gathered at the South Korean embassy on Wednesday evening for the formal event to also mark the country's National Foundation Day.

Defence Chief Admiral David Johnston told the gathering that the military relationship between both nations remains close because of shared security challenges and values.

"Australia's commitment to peace and stability on the Korean peninsula remains steadfast and our partnerships continue to support regional stability and the rules-based international order," he said.

South Korea's ambassador and retired Admiral Sim Seung-seob said his embassy remains completely focused on strengthening bilateral ties with Australia despite the unfolding political turmoil in Seoul.

"You may have some concern regarding the developments in Seoul, however I'd like to assure you that the Korean embassy remains purely committed to address the development of bilateral relations between Korea and Australia," the former navy chief said.

Quite the list. One has to wonder if it's his personal account, or one curated for the office.

How did your Spotify wrapped go? Let me know in the comments!

Apparently I listened to Taylor Swift for an impressive 13,000 minutes this year. Friend of the blog Tom Crowley informs me this equals something like nine days all up.

Jim Chalmers says he's live to the possibility voters could turf Labor out of office after just one term.

"The people have got an important choice to make, and we make no assumptions about the outcome," he says.

The treasurer is asked even if Anthony Albanese wins the next election, if the PM should retire so Labor can regenerate.

Chalmers says Labor has the capacity to renew under Albanese's leadership.

"My expectation and my hope is, if we do win the election next year, that Anthony Albanese serves a full term and runs again, that's what I would expect to happen. That's what I would hope would happen," he says.

He says he wants to continue to be the treasurer.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the government won't use the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook as a chance to spend up big.

But there is one figure hidden in the budget update that will give the game away for Labor.

It's the figure labelled "decisions taken not yet announced and not yet for publication".

The government will be quick, as they have in the past, to say some of the funds squirrelled away will relate to contracts or provisions of payments.

However, as we saw back in 2021 when then-treasurer Josh Frydenberg handed down the pre-election MYEFO, much of it will be used as election sweeteners.

Chalmers is currently putting the final touches on the mid-year budget update. It's due to be handed down in the coming weeks.

But it won't be presented as a mini budget, the treasurer tells RN Breakfast.

"There will be some measures and some initiatives accounted for in the mid year budget update, but it will be largely an update of the budget from May," he says.

He says it won't be a "big spending … new opportunity to announce a whole bunch of stuff".

Speculation is rifle the government will call an election after Australia Day, scrapping plans to return to parliament in February and deliver a budget in March.

Chalmers laughs as he says he's still planning on handing down a budget next year.

"We're working more or less simultaneously on a March budget at the same time (as MYEFO)," he says.

"We've been meeting the expenditure review committee around the clock and doing all kinds of engagement with the colleagues to try and put two things together, more or less at once."

Jim Chalmers is speaking with ABC's RN Breakfast right now.He's asked if he agrees with the EY chief economist Cherelle Murphy that the GDP figures released yesterday painted the picture of a "sad economy without much hope".

The treasurer says he doesn't share that assessment.

"I don't share the bleakest of those assessments of the national accounts," he says.

"I do acknowledge that the economy is very weak and people are under a lot of pressure."

But he says the figures around incomes were encouraging.

"When you look at the national accounts, you can see that wages are growing, inflation is coming down, and the tax cuts are playing a helpful and meaningful role as well," he says.

"So for all those reasons, what we saw was the main measure of living standards actually ticked up a bit."

Nationals leader David Littleproud says the Australian economy must "get back to basics" as he whacked Labor for its economic management.

Australia's economy is growing at its slowest pace in decades, the latest GDP figures revealed on Wednesday, propped up by government spending

Speaking with Nine, he accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of slamming the economy "into a wall".

"You've got to get back to basics. You've got to fix the fundamentals," he says.

Littleproud says that instead of fixing the problem of energy prices, the government has just spent billions on subsidies providing bill relief.