Federal Election live: Interest rate hike fear for PM, homeowners; Labor unveils tax crackdown
The PM has an anxious six day wait to see if a rare pre-election interest rate hike will hit his campaign, as Labor announces its plan to target multinationals hiding their money offshore.
Federal Election
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Homeowners, economists and even Prime Minister Scott Morrison face an excruciating six-day wait to see whether the strongest inflation print since the introduction of the GST will be enough to trigger an RBA interest rate hike.
Consumer prices surged by 2.1 per cent during the March quarter, with the annual rise now at a more-than 20-year peak of 5.1 per cent, easily outstripping what the market expected on Wednesday.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the figure was a reminder that Australians lived in a “complex and volatile economic environment” and he pointed to the war in Ukraine as a key reason that fuel prices, for example, have leapt 11 per cent.
However, the most immediate question for borrowers and analysts is undoubtedly whether prices are hot enough for Governor Philip Lowe and his board to announce a controversial pre-election interest rate hike on Tuesday May 3.
Many believe the case for an immediate rate rise from the record low level of 0.1 per cent is rock solid, regardless of the timing of the May 22 federal election or how strong upcoming wage growth data is.
Rates were last raised in 2010, and the previous election campaign hike came in 2007, something that was seen as a definitive moment in the defeat of Prime Minister John Howard.
The central bank is often said to have an unwritten rule that prevents them from making rate decisions during an election campaign.
But many say the situation is now out of their hands.
“There’ll be talk about the RBA waiting for wage growth next month. But that’s not its mandate,” markets analyst Kyle Rodda said.
“It’s job is to manage inflation (and support full employment). Everything is in place now for rate hikes next week, whatever happens in WPI.”
IMF chief economist Alex Joiner went one further, stating that anyone who sought to politicise a rate hike should be condemned.
“These data make it abundantly clear that the RBA should raise interest rates at its May meeting,” Joiner said on Twitter.
“Economists from all quarters should condemn anyone who seeks to politicise such a move. Should it not happen they should condemn the RBA for doing same.”
The RBA has held interest rate at an emergency setting since November 2020 to help keep borrowing costs low and cushion the economy through the coronavirus pandemic.
But an unexpectedly strong increase in consumer prices – stoked by conflict in Ukraine and ongoing supply chains bottlenecks – has seemingly prompted the central bank to come around to a view held by analysts and financial markets: rates will need to rise sooner than expected lest prices get out of control.
Core inflation increased to 3.5 per cent over the three months to March, a figure that hasn’t been seen since December 2009, while an underlying figure of 3.7 per cent is well above the RBA’s target band of 2 per cent to 3 per cent.
READ THE INFLATION EXPLAINER HERE
LABOR’S TAX PLAN
A crackdown on multinational companies avoiding tax under a Labor government would raise $1.9 billion over four years, the party’s Treasury spokesman says.
Unveiling Labor’s economic plan on Wednesday, Jim Chalmers said the multinational tax crackdown would “ensure multinationals pay their fair share of tax where they make their profits, and in our case here in Australia”.
The policy would clamp down on companies using debt to avoid paying tax, and introduce transparency measures to reveal links to tax havens.
“Our changes to multinational tax are about levelling the playing field for Australian businesses,” he said.
He said the changes add “barely 0.1 per cent to tax receipts”.
The tax crackdown is part of a three-pillar approach unveiled in Labor’s economic plan, including cutting spending on contractors and undertaking an “audit of waste and rorts”.
Meanwhile, Labor has seized on skyrocketing inflation rates, which jumped to 5.1 per cent in the 12 months to March.
“This inflation number should be a wake up call for a government which is out of touch, out of plans, and out of time,” he said.
“Australians are getting absolutely smashed by the rising cost of living on Scott Morrison watch.
“This is Scott Morrison’s triple whammy of skyrocketing cost of living, rising interest rates and falling real wages,” Mr Chalmers said.
Companies who operate in tax havens are “rubbing shoulders with criminals,” Labor’s Assistant Treasury spokesman has claimed.
Andrew Leigh said Labor’s policy to increase transparency for companies using tax havens is “carefully calibrated” and “responsible”.
“They target the scourge of tax havens like the Cayman Islands (and) Bermuda,” he said.
“We know the tax havens are the hidey holes for ill gotten gains ... if you’re doing business in a tax haven, you’re rubbing shoulders with criminals.”
Mr Chalmers said an “audit of rorts and waste” would target “structural problems in the budget” rather than individual election commitments being made by the Coalition ahead of the May 21 poll.
He said Labor will support local commitments if they “have merit”, and a proposed audit of wasteful spending will “get to the bottom” of a government that “has made rorting and wasting taxpayer money an art form,” he said
CANAVAN: NET ZERO ‘DEAD’
Outspoken senator Matt Canavan has doubled down on his claim net zero is “dead”, sparking outrage from his colleagues and threatening to derail the Coalition campaign.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said his commitment to a carbon neutral future was absolute.
But it hasn’t stopped Senator Canavan and his National colleagues from reigniting the climate wars, with Mr Canavan saying he’s not concerned his view might be at odds with the Coalition.
“The rest of the world is doing nothing to go towards net zero emissions,” Senator Canavan said from a cattleyard in Gracemere.
“If net zero is alive and kicking, show me what countries are doing that. If net zero is alive and kicking, why are European countries desperate for our coal right now?”
Mr Morrison denied the Coalition is at odds on climate, saying nobody should be surprised by Mr Canavan’s comments.
“That's his view, it's no surprise. He's held it for a long time, that debate has been done,” he told reporters in Rockhampton.
He stressed Senator Canavan’s views were not the position of the government and denied the emission reduction target could cause a rift between the cities and the regions.
But he did concede the Nationals backbencher had a point over Labor’s plan to beef up the safeguard mechanism – a benchmark that requires Australia’s largest greenhouse gas emitters to keep their net emissions below a set limit.
“It is a sneaky carbon tax which Labor is putting in place and it's not just on the coal mining industry … it's on fuel supplies. It's on petroleum, on gas, it's on the transport sector, it's right across-the-board,” Mr Morrison said. The safeguard mechanism was legislated by the Abbott Government.
But Mr Morrison denied a “carbon tax” scare campaign was misleading.
“The difference is, as you know, how the thresholds work,” he said.
“The fact we put incentives in place. What Labor is doing is binding them on this and issuing penalties on those companies so they couldn’t be more different.”
As to if Australians could trust him to follow through on net zero, Mr Morrison said he takes the commitment “very seriously” but declined to say he would legislate the target.
“This has been an issue that has been very difficult for our side of politics,” he said. “I was the first leader of our party to actually get our Coalition together on the same page on this issue. And that was no simple challenge.”
PM FACES QUESTIONS ON TAX, COST OF LIVING
The Prime Minister has failed to outline how much more tax Australians will pay when the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset wraps up in the coming months, despite him spruiking the government’s cost-of-living measures.
In Rockhampton, Mr Morrison has welcomed the beginning of the rollout of $250 payments to about six million Australians, including pensioners, concession card holders and veterans. “This was an important part of our budget,” he said.
Homeowners, economists and Mr Morrison are on tenterhooks as to whether stronger-than expected inflation data will trigger an RBA interest rate hike next week.
Consumer prices rose by 2.1 per cent to a more-than decade high during the March quarter and were 5.1 per cent higher through the year, easily outstripping the market’s expectations ahead of Wednesday morning’s data.
The key question for borrowers and analysts now is whether this is hot enough for Governor Philip Lowe and his board to announce a controversial pre-election interest rate hike on Tuesday.
Westpac economist Bill Evans – expect the RBA to lift the rate by an unusually large 40 basis points to 0.5 per cent on Tuesday.
Betashares ETFs senior economist David Bassanese previously excepted the RBA to hold off until June but the prices pressures roiling financial markets have changed his mind.
Mr Morrison faced questions about how else his government would help with the mounting cost of living – all while holding a graph demonstrating how much better Australia is performing compared to other countries.
“These (economic) pressures are real, and they’re very, very apparent to Australians today,” Mr Morrison said.
“That’s why we have delivered the cost of living relief for now because we can, because of how we managed the economy.
“We have … ensured wherever possible we have been putting downward pressure on those rising cost of living.”
But, when pressed on what the government would do when the $250 payments are long spent, all Mr Morrison could say his government would do to help with cost of living is “to continue to manage our finances well”.
“That’s what put downward pressure on inflation,” he said.
LABOR OFFER ‘ZOOLANDER’ POLITICS
Mr Morrison and Mr Joyce put on a united front in a campaign pitch to regional voters at a Rockhampton pub, where they did not mention Mr Canavan’s climate change commentary.
Both delivered speeches to the local chamber of commerce event on Wednesday, which focused on plans for regional jobs and economic growth and accused Labor of neglecting the regions.
Mr Morrison in his speech described the Coalition as an "enduring" and "honest" political partnership.
He also spoke of his pledge to create 450,000 more regional jobs over the next five years, if the Coalition is re-elected.
In his speech, Mr Joyce accused Labor of "Zoolander politics".
"They think if they can do Blue Steele a bit better than us that somehow they'll get the gig," he said.
He repeated statements that it was "totally and utterly irrelevant" whether voters liked the government, and it was instead its competency that mattered
"The Australian people don't want a popularity contest, they want strong government," he said.
Asked why the leaders were not holding a joint press conference, Mr Joyce told reporters "I don't even know the program and how it works".
‘WORLD’S MOVED PAST MATT’
Nationals deputy leader David Littleproud says "the world has moved past" Queensland Senator Matt Canavan when it comes to climate change policy. Mr Littleproud said the target had been "sorted before Christmas" despite fierce opposition from Senator Canvan at the time.
"His views were contrary to that. That's nothing new. And while he may want to prosecute it, the world's moved past Matt Canavan," he said.
"We're moving on with this. Had we not signed up to this you would have had a carbon tax, a plan that would not have protected traditional jobs the way we will have."
Mr Littleproud said he had spoken to Senator Canvan on Wednesday morning and that it was the "culture of the Nationals Party" that people could voice differing opinions.
CANAVAN TOLD TO PULL HIS HEAD IN
Earlier, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also played down the significance of his colleagues' comments.
“This is not breaking news, this is old news. Matt Canavan’s position has been pretty consistent. He hasn't been a fan of net zero emissions for some time,” he told Sky News.
“But the Coalition's policy is very clear. It's very firm, and it's non-negotiable.”
Nationals MP Michael McCormack called for Senator Canavan to pull his head in, warning his outbursts could hurt the Coalition’s re-election chances.
“He needs to be talking about jobs. He needs to be talking about the good things that we’ve done and the delivery that we’ve done,” the former Nationals leader said.
Mr McCormack insisted “a deal is a deal” when questioned if the majority of Nationals MPs stood by the government’s net zero policy.
“It was Sunday, 24 October 2021 when the Nationals agreed that we would go to net zero by 2050,” he said.
“I was in that meeting. Colin Boyce, the LNP candidate for Flynn, was not. Matthew Canavan was. But when country people make a deal – a deal is a deal is a deal.
“Once you give somebody a pledge that you’re going to do it, you have to stick by it. That’s what country people do, that’s what they’re renowned for.”
The former leader was rolled by Barnaby Joyce last year amid concerns he could not stand up to Mr Morrison on climate policy.
Meanwhile, Dave Sharma – who is fending off a strong challenge from climate independent Allegra Spender – said Senator Canavan needed to accept he had lost the argument.
“He didn’t win that argument. The government and the Cabinet adopted a net zero target … and that’s the commitment,” he told the ABC.
The rift between the Liberals and the Nationals kicked off after Flynn candidate Colin Boyce declared the government’s net-zero policy was a flexible plan that left “wiggle room”.
Five Liberal MPs are currently under threat from high profile independents, who are campaigning on a platform for stronger climate action.
Labor has seized on the split, questioning whether Mr Morrison had the heart to follow through with net zero.
“The Liberal and National parties are in open warfare about their net zero emissions policy, in the middle of an election campaign,” senator Murray Watt told the ABC. “Can anyone actually believe Scott Morrison on this? We know he hasn't got his heart in it.”
CLIMATE CHANGE MORE IMPORTANT TO NATS
Tension over the net zero emissions target within the Coalition comes as a new nationwide survey finds climate change is a higher priority to Nationals voters than it is to Liberal supporters.
A team from Griffith University surveyed almost 4000 people in September-October 2021, asking Australians for their views on climate change.
Just over three in four voters (76 per cent) said climate change would be important to them when they vote in this federal election.
Concern was highest among Greens voters (90 per cent), followed by ALP supporters (72 per cent).
But interestingly, 54 per cent of Nationals voters said climate change was important to their vote, compared to 45 per cent of respondents who support the Liberals.
Concern about climate change was lower among One Nation voters, with just one in three (33 per cent) saying it was an issue of concern.
TREASURER WARNS OF ‘CHAOS’ IN HUNG PARLIAMENT
Mr Frydenberg has warned of “chaos” with a hung parliament if Australians vote for “fake independents”.
Speaking on Nine’s Today on Wednesday, Mr Frydenberg was grilled by host Karl Stefanovic on the impact of Mr Canavan’s declaration that net zero is “dead”.
“Be honest with me, Treasurer,” Stefanovic said.
“I mean, when you’re up against the Climate 200 candidate and she’s tracking well, you’re behind in the polls, this from Matt Canavan could not have come at a worse time for you.”
The Treasurer said a vote for Dr Monique Ryan, “a fake independent who is a former member of the Labor Party”, was “a vote for Anthony Albanese”.
“Like I said, [Matt Canavan’s views are] old news,” he said.
“He’s held that position. What really matters is the position of the Coalition and both the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister reaffirmed that commitment just yesterday.
“So we are on track to meet and beat our emissions reduction targets. But, if you vote for these fake independents, you’re more likely to get a hung parliament and the chaos and the confusion that comes with that.
“And, to be honest with you, Karl, you have seen that movie before. You saw it with Labor and the Greens with Oakeshott and Windsor and there was chaos and confusion. [National security and the economy], these are big issues, important issues that can’t be decided by a hung parliament.”
CARBON TAX BY STEALTH CLAIMS ‘RUBBISH’
The political fracas over Labor’s emission reduction policy is a “conspiracy” and “absolutely rubbish” cooked up by a desperate Coalition, according to campaign spokesman Jason Clare.
Opposition campaign spokesman Mr Clare, in an impromptu press conference in the marginal seat of Reid, went on the attack when asked if Labor’s carbon emissions policy was a “carbon tax by stealth”— as alleged by Whitehaven Coal.
He clarified that the “safeguard mechanism”— which is the base of Labor’s policy — was created by former Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
“Tony Abbott apparently created a carbon tax. If you believe that I've got a harbour bridge, I'd like to sell you,” Mr Clare said.
The so called ‘Safeguard Mechanism’ was put in place during the Abbot years, with Labor’s plan boiling down to stricter enforcement to reduce emissions in order to hit 43 per cent emissions reductions by 2030.
“These companies (impacted by the policy) under us (are the same) as under them,” Mr Clare said.
“Most of them are represented by the Business Council of Australia and the Business Council of Australia has given us recommendations how to make it work better.”
Mr Clare also addressed the apparent contradiction between Labor’s plan to be bipartisan on skilled migration while also needing overseas nurses to deal with immediate labour shortage issues — signalling it could be done within the limits in place.
Anthony Albanese will recruit overseas health workers as a “stopgap measure” after conceding immediate labour shortages will impact on his election promises to deliver 24/7 nurses in aged-care homes and emergency Medicare clinics.
But his Deputy Richard Marles on Friday signalled Labor would not be raising the skilled migration cap.
“They're not inconsistent. It's a mixture of both,” Mr Clare said.
“Part of it is going to involve people coming through skilled visas, always have always will.”
In terms of joining the United States in conducting patrols 12 nautical miles from disputed features of the South China Sea, Mr Clare said any decision Labor made on the activity would be based on national security discussions.
Mr Morrison on Tuesday did not commit to joining the US in those freedom of navigation exercises.
HOCKEY SAYS SOLOMONS CORRUPTION TO BLAME
Joe Hockey has given a blunt assessment of Australia's failure to prevent the Solomon Islands' security deal with China, saying the reality is officials in the Pacific Islands are “corrupt”.
Australia's former Ambassador to the US said contrary to Labor's claims, foreign aid to the Pacific had been "pretty consistent" over the past 15 years.
“The issue is you've got officials in these countries that are corrupt, let's call it as it is,” he told Seven's Sunrise.
“We don't pay money to elect an official or to appoint an official the same way other countries might, so we don't have the same sort of influence that other countries do, nor does the United States.”
Mr Hockey was asked directly whether the Chinese had “paid bribes” to the Solomon Islands.
“I don't want to end up in defamation hearings," he said, but added Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare was “not acting with universal support or even majority support”.
“The problem for us is under the document that has been leaked into the media … the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands can call in police or Chinese soldiers to help him quell domestic unrest and that is where it gets very difficult, because we could have Australian police on the ground right next to Chinese police or military,” he said.
Mr Hockey said Australia must “continue the dialogue” with the Solomon Islands and engage with other Pacific nations to “pressure them to pull back”.
“Kevin Rudd had the same problems,” he said, when asked whether things would have been any different under a Labor government.
Meanwhile, Mr Morrison has sidestepped questions over whether assurances China will not be allowed to establish a naval base in the Solomon Islands extend beyond the word of the country's prime minister.
Asked whether he was relying only on the statements of Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare, Mr Morrison said: “that's the position of their government".
AD PORTRAYS LABOR’S AVENGER ‘AMATEURS’
The Liberals have switched gears in its latest attack ad, taking to the form of a parody movie trailer to hit out at Labor’s team of “amateurs”.
The ad, set to hit TV and cinema screens within days, features Anthony Albanese, Bill Shorten, Tanya Plibersek, Penny Wong and Jim Chalmers in various awkward situations.
Beginning with a rating card, the ad warns the trailer had been “rated risky” by the “flip-flop association of Australia'' and people over 18 “required (an) accompanying Liberal voter”.
"There was an idea to bring together a group of inexperienced people to see if they could become something, anything," the mock voiceover begins.
“This May, get ready for no economic plan, un-costed policies, weak leadership.”
The Marvel’s Avengers spoof even comes with its own audience reviews, with the ABC and the Guardian dishing out five stars, while “the Australian people” held back with just half a star.
It comes a week after Labor unveiled its first negative attack ad of the election, which zeroed in on Scott Morrison’s holiday to Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires.
PM TO TARGET ‘GREEN LEFT’
Mr Morrison will seek to put the election focus back on jobs and the economy, targeting the ‘green-left’ for looking down on regional workers.
He is expected to rekindle memories of Bob Brown’s anti-Adani coal mine convoy in 2019 to remind voters of what could happen if Labor were to need the support of the Greens to win government.
The PM will deliver his pitch to regional voters while in the heart of Central Queensland, Rockhampton in the crucial seat of Capricornia, speaking of a widening divide between city and country.
He will pledge that almost 450,000 of the 1.3 million jobs the Coalition pledged to deliver in the next five years, or almost one in three, will be in regional areas.
Mr Morrison will say many regional people “feel looked down on”.
“Their jobs and lifestyles derided or seen as somehow unworthy, in a world where the big talkers all seem to work in government, or finance, or the tech industry or the media,” Mr Morrison is expected to say.
“You witnessed this sort of thing first-hand at the last election – courtesy of Bob Brown and the Greens and their convoy to central Queensland. A convoy against coal jobs.
“This was the Green left in this country basically saying – ‘We’re more virtuous than you and we think you need to change’.
“Now that is not the country I know.”
Former Greens leader Bob Brown led a convoy into central Queensland protesting the Adani coal mine, which in turn sparked pro-Adani protests in Clermont.
ALBO PROMISES ‘NO CARBON TAX EVER’
Mr Albanese has promised “there will be no carbon tax ever”, even as a major mining company accuses Labor of wanting a “carbon levy by stealth”.
The Labor leader made the pledge on Tuesday, following days of confusion over Labor’s emissions reduction policy, which uses a “safeguard mechanism” require the nation’s 215 highest emitters to reduce their CO2 or purchase carbon credits.
Whitehaven Coal, a mining company with interests in Queensland, accused some in Labor of wanting to turn its emissions policy into “carbon levy by stealth”.
The Coalition seized on comments from retiring Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon earlier this year who described the safeguard mechanism as a “carbon tax”.
But Labor’s Climate Change and Energy spokesman Chris Bowen pointed to the safeguard mechanism being an Abbott Government policy – implemented when Prime Minister Scott Morrison was Treasurer – and said that no facility will face a carbon constraint that leaves them internationally uncompetitive.
Mr Albanese said the party would have no climate tax while defending the policy confusion on Tuesday, speaking on radio from Covid isolation.
“Absolutely. We will have no carbon tax … There will be no carbon tax ever,” he told 2G.
$250 ELECTION SWEETENER TO HIT BANK ACCOUNTS
Cost-of-living relief will be paid out to Australians within days with six million eligible Australian low income earners set to secure the government’s $250 this week, with just 25 days to go before the election.
The tax-free payments were announced in the budget by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and will be delivered to eligible welfare recipients, veterans, pensioners and concession card holders.
“Today the first batch of the Coalition’s $250 cost of living payments will begin hitting the bank accounts of millions of eligible Australian pensioners, income support recipients, veterans and concession card holders,’’ the Treasurer said.
“This comes on top of the halving of fuel excise, which has seen fuel prices come down from above $2 per litre to around $1.70 nationally today.”
“Under our cost of living package, more than 10 million Australians will also benefit from a new one‐off $420 cost of living tax offset. Combined with our previously legislated tax cuts, low and middle income earners will now benefit by up to $1,500 and couples up to $3,000 from 1 July this year.”
TREASURER LAYS DOWN DEBATE CHALLENGE
Mr Frydenberg has accepted an offer to debate his independent challenger Monique Ryan on Sky News.
But he said his acceptance is conditional on Dr Ryan, who he has labelled a “fake independent”, taking up the offer to debate him on Nine also. “That is the challenge: to accept both debates,” he told Sky News.
“When you're running for public office, it’s only right that you put yourself up to that level of scrutiny.” He said Dr Ryan must show “courage” and “tell the people of Kooyong how she would vote in the event of a hung parliament”.
With Mr Frydenberg expected to face a tight contest in his formerly blue-ribbon Liberal electorate, he and Dr Ryan have ramped up their social media attacks on one another.
The dispute was sparked after Mr Frydenberg refused to join Dr Ryan at the Kooyong Candidates Forum on Wednesday night organised by climate change activist group Lighter Footprints.
HOW NEXT WAR WILL BE FOUGHT
Mr Morrison said the next war Australia would face would be from “bits and bytes, not bullets” — something cyber security experts warned the nation was not ready to fight.
China threats and cyber warfare again dominated federal election campaigning on Tuesday with Mr Morrison outlining a $10b investment his government made to better protect the nation from hackers, specifically from foreign actors including China.
“The first shot fired in any conflict is actually in bits and bytes. It’s not in bullets,” Mr Morrison said, a phrase coined a decade ago with the emergence of cyberspace as a “fifth column of war fighting”.
China, North Korea and Russia nations have mounted sustained attacks, notably on Defence systems, to steal military secrets.
An internal investigation by Defence found while there have been several attempts to hack or disable their systems, it has not been breached nor compromised.
Defence has previously raised concerns with the vulnerability of their supply chains, largely civilian contractors working on military contracts with many having weak systems potentially indirectly allowing for back door access to Defence.
Mr Morrison cited Russia’s hacking of Ukraine prior to its invasion to support Defence Minister Peter Dutton’s call for the nation to prepare for war to maintain peace.
Former national cyber security advisor Alastair MacGibbon said the country’s defences to cyber warfare, attacks and espionage were “still falling behind” threats from adversaries.
China threats and cyber warfare again dominated federal election campaigning yesterday with
Mr MacGibbon, CyberCX’s chief strategy officer, said cyber attacks were now an “existential threat” to Australia, with acts of online espionage, cyber warfare, and criminal damage real possibilities.
“The Prime Minister is right when he talks about cyber security being important,” he said.
“I agree with him that cyber security failures are the things most likely to put us at risk.
“For years I’ve been saying it will be someone intentionally or unintentionally shutting down an electricity grid or telecommunications network that causes us harm.”
Mr MacGibbon said the Government’s recent focus on cyber security was important but the country was still catching up to its attackers.
“Australia, starting in 2016 to where we are now six years later, is actually in a pretty good spot compared to our peers but the threat environment we’re operating in is worse than it was back then,” he said.
“I still think we’re falling behind, we’re just not falling behind as fast.”
UNSW Cyber director Nigel Phair said compromising Defence system would be a “huge” coup for the hackers involved and highlighted the need for Australia to protect all critical networks.
Mr Phair said “nation states and those who work at their behest” would continue to target Australia for “state secrets, intellectual property” and access to infrastructure, and businesses as well as government agencies needed to be prepared.
“Culturally, we’re not prepared enough,” he said. “Where we’re really let down is the defence of small supply chains. Ninety-five per cent of businesses in Australia are small businesses and it’s those organisations that will need help. The game is being stepped up.”
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