Low gender pay gaps at Australia’s biggest public sector employers are the result of structures and accountability, but the union says equity measures must be prioritised to ensure fair workplaces.

Well-known employers have had their pay gaps published for the first time, including Australia Post (8.6 per cent), the Australian Tax Office (4.8 per cent), Reserve Bank (11.5 per cent) and the CSIRO (11.3 per cent).

Public broadcasters the ABC and SBS had a gap of 9.8 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency was able to publish the data after law changes in 2023, with private sector gaps published earlier in 2025.

Half of Commonwealth public sector employers have a median total remuneration gender pay gap lower than 4.8 per cent, compared to 8.9 per cent in the private sector.

Nearly half have a median total remuneration gender pay gap in the target range of within +/-5 per cent, compared to 31 per cent in the private sector.

More than half of employers improved their median total renumeration gender pay gap in the past 12 months.

The results showed how progress could be achieved when employers used long-term and deliberate actions that addressed gender equality, agency chief executive Mary Wooldridge said.

“Pleasingly we have also seen large rises in the number of employers conducting a gender pay gap analysis, acting on the results and consulting with employees to understand their experience at work,” she said.

“These actions are crucial steps to help employers gain greater understanding of the drivers of their individual gender pay gaps and to implement relevant and evidence-informed actions to address them.”

The public sector was leading the way on closing the gender pay gap in Australian workplaces, Community and Public Sector Union national secretary Melissa Donnelly said.

“This data shows that when you measure and prioritise achieving gender equality, the outcomes will follow,” she said.

“The public sector is leading the way on closing the gender pay gap because it’s had the structures and accountability in place to make progress possible.

“(But) the job isn’t done – too many public sector employers still have a significant gender pay gap and the private sector is clearly lagging behind.”

When compared to the private sector, women and men have more balanced representation in the upper pay areas of the Commonwealth public sector.

Women also comprise 47 per cent of the highest-paid positions.

Although progress had been made, Ms Wooldridge said there was still work to do to improve gender equality.

Men accounted for just 11 per cent of all primary carers leave taken and 49 per cent of employers had a gender pay gap in favour of men.

“Workplace gender equality benefits everyone, so it is important that barriers for men are also addressed,” she said.

She said public sector employers needed to “ensure more men have confidence to take primary carer’s leave”, urging them to “drive cultural change that removes real or perceived penalties for taking time out for caring roles”.

Australians are being assured the nation is well-placed to avoid a recession as the Reserve Bank expresses alarm over Donald Trump’s trade war “rollercoaster”.

Forecasts released by the Reserve Bank of Australia have painted a bleak picture of the economic blowback from a scenario in which the world descends into all-out tariff wars.

“Uncertainty” was cited 132 times in the central bank’s quarterly economic update, with forecasters forced to war-game different scenarios to help guide the board’s decision-making in an era of heightened volatility.

“It’s been a complete rollercoaster,” RBA governor Michele Bullock said of the US president’s ever-changing tariff pronouncements.

The bank had been “completely blown out of the water by the scale and the scope” of the trade shock, she said, admitting there was an outside chance Australia could tip into a recession if the bank’s worst fears came to fruition.

A burst of growth at the start of the year has all but disappeared, according to Westpac and the Melbourne Institute.

Their leading index, which indicates the likely pace of future economic activity, slowed from 0.5 per cent to 0.2 per cent in April, it revealed on Wednesday.

“The shift reflects heightened uncertainty around global trade and a less supportive commodity price backdrop,” said Westpac forecaster Matt Hassan.

“The overall picture is consistent with some stalling in what was already expected to be a gradual growth recovery for the Australian economy in 2025.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers assured Australians that an economic downturn was unlikely.

“In fact, the revised Reserve Bank forecasts that they released yesterday have growth stronger next year than this year, and so do our own Treasury forecasts,” he told ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday. 

“And so our expectation is that our economy will continue to grow and that growth will strengthen next year.”

The RBA downgraded its forecast for GDP growth this year from 2.4 per cent to 2.1 per cent – a loss of about $8 billion from the national economy. 

Westpac is less optimistic, predicting historically “sub-par” annual growth of 1.9 per cent.

But that’s still a marked improvement from the 1.3 per cent the economy grew by in 2024.

Australia was in a unique position of having inflation back on target, at the same time as the economy was growing and unemployment was low, Dr Chalmers said.

“What that means is we are well placed and well prepared for this global economic uncertainty, which is coming from decisions taken in Washington DC, but also from a slowing Chinese economy and conflict in other parts of the world.”

Mortgage holders can be consoled by the promise of more rate cuts this year if the Reserve Bank’s baseline forecast is correct and inflation and the economy grow slower than previously expected.

There was little doubt about the RBA’s decision to slash the cash rate by 25 points to 3.85 per cent on Tuesday.

Markets had fully priced in the central bank’s second interest rate reduction of 2025 ahead of its board meeting, given inflation was back in its two to three per cent target band and the diminished outlook for the economy.

Futures traders grew more certain of further cuts after Ms Bullock’s revelations that the board considered a bumper 50 basis point cut.

NAB chief economist Sally Auld was alone in predicting a 50 basis point cut ahead of the meeting.

While that didn’t happen, bond yields swooned following Ms Bullock’s revelation. 

The “jolt” sent through the market showed traders were surprised by the board’s dovishness, Ms Auld said.

Following the announcement, the market was pricing in almost three more cuts before the end of the year, which Ms Bullock did not push back against, unlike after the board’s first move down in February.

The road to Labor’s election triumph was paved with ambition, practice and countless coalition missteps, the party’s campaign architect says.

Labor’s national secretary Paul Erickson has outlined the secret ingredients behind a campaign that delivered one of the largest majorities in Australian history while ousting two rival party leaders.

Mr Erickson said Labor had been written off months before the May 3 election due to a global voter movement against incumbents.

“There was a conventional wisdom that undervalued Labor’s capacity to use our record … and it underestimated the capacity of the Australian electorate to assess how their leaders were responding to changing circumstances,” he told the National Press Club on Wednesday.

He said five critical factors contributed to the eventual victory: first-term delivery and second-term ambition, placing Medicare at the heart of the campaign, Labor’s ascendancy on the economic front in a cost-of-living contest, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s performance, and the risk Opposition Leader Peter Dutton represented.

The coalition’s strategy was wrapped up in a rhetoric of “fear and myopia” and was held together only by a hostility to Labor, Mr Erickson said.

“While the prime minister was telling a positive story about who we are and where we’re going, Peter Dutton was gloomy about the country, downcast about the future, and most animated when magnifying the problems facing Australia,” he said.

“The contrast was as clear as night and day: the prime minister offered authentic, measured and firm leadership, and Peter Dutton never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

He said Mr Albanese was in the “form of a lifetime” as he campaigned across Australia’s schools and pre-polling booths.

The secretary also took a swipe at the Greens, whose leader Adam Bandt lost his seat to Labor in one of the election’s biggest upsets.

“Perceptions of the Greens were defined by blocking tactics and aggressive attacks on Labor,” he said.

“Until late in the piece, they seemed confident of a dividend from this behaviour.”

The Greens’ success was a sore point from the 2022 election and Labor responded by confronting the challenge posed by the minor party, Mr Erickson said.

Mr Albanese was on hand for the speech after arriving back in Canberra from his first overseas visit since being re-elected.

The trip included stops in Singapore, Indonesia and the Vatican City, where he met with the Pope and other world leaders including Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy.

As the conservative New Zealand government hits the halfway mark, Finance Minister Nicola Willis is poised to deliver a hugely consequential budget: no BS.

She will reveal her second budget – which she has badged as the “growth budget” – on Thursday, promising to unleash the Kiwi economy from regulatory burdens and get GDP moving again after a dire 2024.

The Labour opposition, environmental groups and unions fear further cuts which will shrink the government and services that Kiwis rely on.

Already, the government has caused huge alarm among Kiwis by axing 33 wage rise claims affecting 180,000 workers in women-dominated workforces.

The surprise move prompted protests across the country, and will result in a substantial saving to the government coffers, rather than being paid out to hospice workers, midwives, teachers and others.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins argues the government’s priorities are wrong, citing the pay equity claims and reinstated tax breaks.

“The government has chosen to pay for its budget off the backs of working women. That’s not the right choice, now or ever,” he said.

“Last year we saw job cuts and rising unemployment. This year we are seeing cuts to women’s future pay.

“Budgets should be good for all New Zealanders, not just landlords, multinationals and tobacco companies.”

Ms Willis retorts that extravagant spending during the COVID-19 era under Labour meant savings needed to be found.

“This week’s budget is going to be a no BS budget,” she said, as reported by Wellington newspaper The Post.

“… New Zealanders had enough of people promising rainbows. That’s not where we’re at.

“We’ve been left with very little cash in the account … what I’m not promising to New Zealanders is that the budget we deliver this week will make everything better. That would be an unrealistic commitment.”

The Council of Trade Unions fears additional savings in health, while Greenpeace has lashed conservation cuts that have led to the public body crowdfunding to save species from extinction.

Prime Minister Chris Luxon dismisses criticism as noise from the “Wellington bubble”, saying Kiwis want him to “right-size” the government.

“It’s a growth budget … it’s the right budget for the right time and it’s responsible, and I’m really excited about it.”

The government has “pre-announced” much of the new spending that will be confirmed in the budget, including one billion dollars in new defence spending and $750m for state care abuse survivors.

There is around $800m going to a prison redevelopment in Christchurch, $600m to new cancer treatments, $577 million to lure film productions to NZ, and $600m for railway upgrades.

Mr Luxon leads a three-party coalition of the right, including his conservative National party, the free-marketers ACT and populists NZ First.

ACT is a leading force for budget savings, but was left disappointed by the scale of cuts in the government’s first budget last May.

This budget also comes a week before ACT leader David Seymour ascends to the deputy prime-ministership as part of a unique coalition deal in which he job-shares the role with current deputy Winston Peters.

The end of the federal coalition won’t stop the Nationals from working with their ex-political partner to target their common enemy – a rampant Labor government.

Nationals leader David Littleproud has pulled the party out of coalition with the Liberals for the first time in almost 40 years, citing policy disagreements following an election drubbing.

But Mr Littleproud also said he won’t be “unrealistic or stupid” and plans to work with the Liberals to target the federal government, which has a strong majority.

“The enemy is still Labor,” he told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday.

“This isn’t a split of the coalition in anger or vengeance, this is one on principle and a time for Liberal Party rediscovery.

“I want them to succeed and I want us to succeed but there are principles that we can’t walk away from.”

Leaders of both the Liberals and the Nationals insist the “door is open” to discussions and possible reunification ahead of the next federal election.

But until then, neither party has a path to power in their own right, effectively smoothing the road for the government.

Former Liberal prime minister John Howard said getting the coalition back together was “more important than anything else” as a prolonged separation would solidify policy differences, making them harder to resolve.

Though the decision to pull out of the coalition was not unanimous within the Nationals’ party room, Mr Littleproud said he needed to stand up for the voters who sent him and his colleagues to parliament.

“It’s a simple game of arithmetic – as John Howard has always said – but to get that arithmetic in your column, you actually have to stand for something and you have to protect and serve the people who put you here,” he told Sky News.

The party leader notified Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the coalition’s split on Tuesday and will meet with him in the coming days to work through the impact on the Nationals’ new, and reduced, status in parliament.

Seven Nationals, including Mr Littleproud, will take a haircut worth tens of thousands of dollars from their base salary rates of about $230,000 after walking away from leadership positions in a future shadow cabinet.

Five are actively taking pay cuts, while the other two will forego promotions.

The two parties are expected to get back together in the long term as pressure will build when the next election looms, political expert Henry Maher told AAP. 

Former Queensland Legislative Assembly speaker John Mickel and former WA Liberal premier Colin Barnett have gone further, calling for a formal amalgamation at a federal level to solve the parties’ problems.

It could model the Liberal-National Party merger in Queensland in 2008, Mr Mickel said, adding it would stop competition between the two in some federal seats such as Bullwinkel in Western Australia, where they ran against each other.

The split comes after Mr Littleproud and Liberal leader Sussan Ley failed to reach an agreement on four key policies.

The Nationals remain committed to nuclear energy, divestiture powers to pressure big supermarkets against anti-competitive behaviour and a regional investment fund which the coalition took to the last election.

Senior Liberal James Paterson hoped the coalition could re-form before the next election.

“It’s not in the Liberal Party’s interest for us to be fighting the National Party… It’s not in the National Party’s interest to find any new political opponents,” he told FIVEAA radio.

“We already have to fight the Labor Party, the Greens, and the teals, we are not looking for any other political opponents.”

Asian equities edged higher on Wednesday, with risk appetite contained by elevated bond yields as investors remained nervous about the fiscal outlook of major developed economies and the lack of progress on fresh trade deals.

Crude prices rose more than $US1 ($A1.60) a barrel after a CNN report said Israel was preparing a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, raising supply concerns out of the key Middle East producing region and bringing geopolitical concerns back into focus.

All eyes are also on the Japanese bond markets, a day after yields on super-long tenors surged to record highs on worries about demand for the country’s debt after a weak 20-year auction.

In early trading on Wednesday, the yield on 20-year bonds edged up two basis points, while those on the 30-year JGB slipped 1.5 bps.

In stocks, China’s blue-chip index was muted in early trading, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.58 per cent.

China said it could take legal action against any individual or organisation assisting or implementing US measures that advise companies against using advanced semiconductors from China.

The MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan crept up 0.5 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei was down 0.18 per cent.

“The markets are hungry for new catalysts to pique further risk appetite,” said Kyle Rodda, senior financial market analyst at Capital.com.

“The US’s backflip on trade policy and the damage control that it went into to clean up the mess it created with the Liberation Day tariffs signals a determination to get all of this done. That’s what is keeping equity valuations well supported.”

Data on Wednesday showed Japanese shipments to the US fell in April even as exports rose for the seventh straight month, highlighting the toll President Donald Trump’s tariffs could take on the fragile economic recovery in Japan.

Fiscal woes were also reflected on Wall Street, with the benchmark S&P 500 snapping a six-day winning streak on Tuesday, limited by a rise in US Treasury yields, which were steady in Asian hours on Wednesday.

A tax bill that could add about $US3 trillion ($A4.7 trillion) to $US5 trillion ($A7.8 trillion) to the US federal government’s mushrooming $US36.2 trillion ($A56.4 trillion) debt load is expected to be voted on later this week in Congress, just days after Moody’s became the latest agency to lower the country’s credit rating.

Analysts also noted that any progress on new trade deals between the US and its trade partners could fuel risk appetite, although concerns were that Trump’s policies could have already damaged the global economy.

On Tuesday, US Federal Reserve officials said that higher prices were coming on the back of rising US import tariffs and counselled patience before making any interest rate decisions.

Traders were also wary of US officials angling for a weaker greenback at Group of Seven finance minister meetings currently under way in Canada.

In Europe, STOXX 50’s futures were steady while FTSE 100 futures were muted, with caution setting in ahead of a consumer inflation report expected later in the day out of the United Kingdom.

Economists polled by Reuters forecast the consumer price index to rise 3.3 per cent in April from the previous month’s 2.2 per cent.

The dollar index, which measures the US currency against six other units, edged down 0.03 per cent to 99.938, following a 1.3 per cent two-day decline. The Japanese yen strengthened to 144.27 per dollar, hovering near its strongest level in two weeks.

Gold prices rose on Wednesday as the dollar weakened and investors flocked to safe-haven assets. Spot gold was 0.14 per cent at $US3,293 ($A5,130) per ounce, the highest in more than a week. 

Slow project approvals, energy storage gaps and investment uncertainty are proving hurdles to cutting greenhouse gas emissions from heavy industry.

For the Hunter, a region eyeing off green industrial exports as global demand for its coal wanes, the transition has not been all smooth sailing.

Government support for clean tech innovation and steps to retrain workers for future careers are bright spots in a thorough assessment of the NSW region led by industry think tank Beyond Zero Emissions.

Yet the Hunter was lagging on 17 of the 19 indicators of a successful shift towards an economy powered by decarbonised industrial exports, such as green iron and clean technology.

Slow-moving clean energy projects are a big problem, with 74 per cent of renewable energy capacity in the pipeline yet to receive planning approval and facing delays of up to eight years.

Much hinges on the timely rollout of the Hunter Transmission Project, key infrastructure for unlocking supply from renewable energy zones but still in its early phases and struggling to get full community buy-in. 

Local company commitments to cut emissions and shift to clean energy could be in jeopardy without faster progress, according to the report.

Tomago Aluminium, a major energy user as the nation’s biggest smelter, is in danger of missing its 100 per cent renewables by 2030 target without securing reliable, affordable clean energy soon.

BZE chief executive officer Heidi Lee said if the Hunter Transmission Project was not delivered on time, the region would continue to rely on “expensive and polluting” coal. 

“It’s time for action,” she said.

“The region understands the importance of good planning to keep the shift happening quickly here, because local advantages will be lost if we take too long.”

Electrical Trades Union national secretary Michael Wright said workforce, training and project proposals “spending nearly a decade in consultation hell” were interrelated problems.

“There’s no certainty for developers, and hence no reliable pipeline of work to support the workforce and train apprentices on anywhere the scale we need – an extra 42,500 electricians in the next five years,” he said. 

Several Hunter industry figures voiced their support for the think tank’s assessment of the region and recommendations to get things moving. 

Founder of Australian battery manufacturer Energy Renaissance, Brian Craighead, said accelerating investment, building a strong local workforce and progressing the energy transition were key.

“Unlocking the Hunter’s full potential requires collaboration across government, industry, and communities – guided by clear, consistent policy,” he said.

Gender pay gaps at Australia’s biggest public sector employers have been revealed for the first time, showing lower gaps compared to the private sector.

However, men account for just 11 per cent of all primary carers leave taken and 49 per cent of employers still have a gender pay gap in favour of men.

Well-known employers such as Australia Post, the Australian Tax Office, Reserve Bank, CSIRO and dozens of federal government departments have had their pay gaps published.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency was able to publish the data after law changes in 2023, with private sector gaps published earlier in 2025.

Half of Commonwealth public sector employers have a median total remuneration gender pay gap lower than 4.8 per cent, compared to 8.9 per cent in the private sector. 

Nearly half have a median total remuneration gender pay gap in the target range of within +/-5 per cent, compared to 31 per cent in the private sector.

More than half of employers improved their median total renumeration gender pay gap in the past 12 months. 

The results showed how progress could be achieved when employers used long-term and deliberate actions that addressed gender equality, agency chief executive Mary Wooldridge said.

“Pleasingly we have also seen large rises in the number of employers conducting a gender pay gap analysis, acting on the results and consulting with employees to understand their experience at work,” she said.

“These actions are crucial steps to help employers gain greater understanding of the drivers of their individual gender pay gaps and to implement relevant and evidence-informed actions to address them.”

When compared to the private sector, women and men also have more balanced representation in the upper pay areas of the Commonwealth public sector. 

Women also comprise 47 per cent of the highest-paid positions.

Although progress had been made, Ms Wooldridge said there was still work to do to improve gender equality.

“Workplace gender equality benefits everyone, so it is important that barriers for men are also addressed,” she said.

She said public sector employers needed to “ensure more men have confidence to take primary carer’s leave”, urging them to “drive cultural change that removes real or perceived penalties for taking time out for caring roles”. 

The mastermind behind Labor’s decisive election victory will lay out how the party secured one of biggest wins in history.

In an address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Labor’s national secretary and campaign director Paul Erickson will say the government’s economic narrative and ability to adapt was crucial to its expanded majority.

Labor boosted its ranks to have at least 93 seats in the next parliament, one of its largest majorities in history, with Mr Erickson credited as the architect behind the result.

“The conventional wisdom undervalued Labor’s capacity to use our record as the foundation for our second term policy offer,” he will say in the speech.

“Over three years, Labor’s record and Peter Dutton’s opposition built up an advantage for Labor as the best party to provide cost-of-living relief.”

The speech as comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived back in Canberra on Wednesday after a successful overseas trip to Indonesia, the Vatican and Singapore, where he met with the Pope and other world leaders including Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy.

Mr Erickson said the key to the election success was using Labor’s first term in office to sow the seeds of long-term reform and cost-of-living help.

He said it stood in contrast with the promises of former opposition leader Peter Dutton, who ended up losing his seat in the election.

“When it came to the campaign, Peter Dutton said that Australians would have to wait until after the election to find out where a Dutton government would cut,” he will say.

“Instead of campaigning on the details of his plan, he left a vacuum.”

Many commentators had written off Labor’s chances of forming a majority at the start of the year when the coalition were ahead in the polls.

However, Mr Erickson said Mr Albanese and Labor were able to adapt to challenging conditions, such as the imposition of tariffs by US President Donald Trump or the impact of Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

“The contrast was as clear as night and day. The prime minister offered authentic, measured and firm leadership, and Peter Dutton never missed an opportunity to miss an opportunity,” he will say.

“While the prime minister was telling a positive story about who we are and where we’re going, Peter Dutton was gloomy about the country, downcast about the future, and most animated when magnifying the problems facing Australia.”

Nationals MPs have put their money where their mouth is as they abandon a coalition arrangement.

Half a dozen members have taken a haircut worth tens of thousands of dollars to their pay packet after walking away from leadership positions. 

Party leader David Littleproud has pulled the Nationals out of a partnership with the Liberals after they failed to agree on the retention of policies following an election defeat.

With the Liberals now holding all the cards in opposition, the shadow cabinet – made up of just over 20 of the opposition’s top generals with portfolios shadowing government ministers – will not contain any Nationals.

The two parties carve up spots in government and opposition on a proportional basis dependent on seats won.

Seven Nationals will step back from shadow cabinet, including Mr Littleproud, meaning they lose their 20 to 25 per cent loading on their base salary rates of about $230,000.

Five are actively taking pay cuts, while two others will forego a promotion.

There was an expectation the two parties would get back together, political expert Henry Maher said. 

The time apart would give the Liberals the opportunity to develop policies without pressure from the Nationals as they fight to win back inner-city seats lost to teal independents and Labor.

But they were ultimately stronger together, Dr Maher said.

“The closer we get to the election, the more pressure there will be to rejoin,” he told AAP.

Former Queensland Legislative Assembly speaker John Mickel went further, calling for a formal amalgamation at a federal level to solve the parties’ problems.

It could model the Liberal-National Party merger in Queensland in 2008, he said, adding it would stop competition between the two in some federal seats such as Bullwinkel in Western Australia, where they ran against each other.

Former WA Liberal premier Colin Barnett has also made the case for a federal amalgamation.

The first coalition split in nearly 40 years comes after Mr Littleproud and Liberal leader Sussan Ley failed to reach an agreement on four key policies.

The Nationals remain committed to nuclear energy, divestiture powers to pressure big supermarkets against anti-competitive behaviour and a regional investment fund which the coalition took to the last election.

Ms Ley hasn’t ruled any policy in or out as her party rebuilds after an electoral drubbing cost them at least a dozen seats.

The coalition’s nuclear energy policy, where seven plants would be built at the cost of hundreds of billions of dollars, was a bandaid solution to get the Nationals to sign up to an emissions reduction target, Dr Maher said.

A compromise could be an agreement to end the moratorium on nuclear power without committing to funding power plants, he said.