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Stop undermining Jim Chalmers, environment minister urges Labor colleagues

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Cite

editor, T. M. P. (2026, November 9). Stop undermining Jim Chalmers, environment minister urges Labor colleagues. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/nov/09/stop-undermining-treasurer-jim-chalmers-environment-minister-urges-colleagues

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Guardian · collected 2026-11-09 · by Tom McIlroy Political editor

Quick Summary

Environment Minister Murray Watt urged his colleagues to stop undermining Treasurer Jim Chalmers as the Labor government faces pressure to cut budget expenditures amid rising inflation concerns. This comes after recent meetings of the cabinet's expenditure review committee and a Reserve Bank interest rate hike. Polls show declining support for Labor, with their primary vote dropping significantly since last year’s election. Watt specifically criticized internal undermining within Labor and accused opposition parties of blocking government savings measures worth $10 billion.
Written by AI on 2026-11-10, from this article's own text only.

AI analysis

Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.30, but 1 quote(s) could not be found in the article and the other 2 are attributed speech rather than the article's own narration, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 137758: no verified evidence · logged 2026-11-10

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 9% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 28 claims Outlet record 67/100
“The articles cover different aspects of political dynamics within the Labor party and do not describe the same specific incident.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
65/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
unclustered
not grouped into a story yet
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-10 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 3174 article(s) · 7 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 7 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Tom McIlroy Political editor
24 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
“Yes, I would,” Watt said.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has warned an expected interest rate increase will force job losses and cause businesses to close, insisting the federal government and states should rein in spending to take pressure off the economy.
Privately, Labor MPs admit the strong likelihood of the Reserve Bank delivering the year’s fifth interest rate increase next week will compound the government’s political problem over the high cost-of-living, with some calling for radical moves from the federal government.
The co-host of popular podcast The Rest is Politics, Campbell said Haines’ eventual return to parliament would help bring about change.
“I did not feel that Angus Taylor read the room when it comes to the lesson that Helen would like us all to learn.
The cost of Snowy Hydro 2.0 has blown out to as much as $25bn, with a major reassessment finding the long-delayed renewable energy project will not be completed until the end of the decade.
“She is a determined person who will do her best with our support and love to recover, and that is what we hope for,” he said.
What happened will urgently change how MPs assess their personal safety, not least because local settings are no longer free from danger.
Paul Brereton, the first boss of the commission, quit in May, saying criticism of him was “drawing attention away” from the body’s purpose.
After sustained criticism of the government’s handling of the ban on tax bills being paid by credit card, Chalmers last week announced new funding for the ATO to ensure card payments could continue until the end of the financial year.
Also by Tom McIlroy Political editor
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 24 articles by Tom McIlroy Political editor →

Topics

Age Coalition Labor One Nation the Resolve Political Monitor

Subjects

Labor ORG · 6× Watt PERSON · 5× Coalition ORG · 4× Jim Chalmers PERSON · 3× Chalmers PERSON · 2× One Nation ORG · 2× Age ORG · 1× Anthony Albanese PERSON · 1× Murray Watt PERSON · 1× the Resolve Political Monitor ORG · 1×

Narrative

“I think that Jim Chalmers is doing an excellent job as a treasurer in what are very difficult economic times; many of the features that are impacting on our economy are sort of well outside any treasurer’s control, and I very much support Jim Chalmers in his efforts.”
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-10
“Yes, I would,” Watt said.
2026-11-10 · The Guardian
Stop undermining Jim Chalmers, environment minister urges Labor colleagues · assertive framing

Claims (22 extracted, 2 hedged)

The environment minister, Murray Watt, has urged ministers to stop undermining the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, as Labor struggles to sell its budget and looks to cut popular clean energy subsidies to help with the fight against inflation. asserted
Labor → urge → inflation
Cabinet ministers met again on Monday to discuss potential budget savings to be included in next month’s mid-year update, part of efforts to reducing spending to ease pressure on the economy. asserted
ministers → meet → economy
Watt was asked about speculation of tension between the treasurer and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and whether he’d like to see an end to “undermining and leaking” against Chalmers. asserted
he → ask → Chalmers
“Yes, I would,” Watt said. asserted
Watt → say → ?
“As a member of the government, I take seriously the responsibility to work together to support government policies and also to get our work to support each other in what are very difficult times. asserted
what → take → other
“I think that Jim Chalmers is doing an excellent job as a treasurer in what are very difficult economic times; many of the features that are impacting on our economy are sort of well outside any treasurer’s control, and I very much support Jim Chalmers in his efforts.” asserted
I → think → efforts
Watt conceded Chalmers was being undermined from within Labor. asserted
Chalmers → concede → Labor
“It’s pretty obvious that there are all sorts of people making all sorts of comments.” asserted
It → ’ → comments
A new round of opinion polls added to Labor’s political pain on Monday, with the Resolve Political Monitor in the Age and Sydney Morning Herald showing Labor’s primary vote falling to 28 percentage points, down from 34.6% at last year’s election. asserted
vote → add → election
The Coalition also dropped one point to 22%, while One Nation was steady at 25%. asserted
Nation → drop → %
A Redbridge poll in the Financial Review showed Labor’s primary vote slipped two percentage points to 26%, while the Coalition’s jumped four points to 25%. asserted
Coalition → show → %
Monday’s meeting of the expenditure review committee of cabinet comes after last week’s interest rate hike from the Reserve Bank. asserted
meeting → come → Bank
The governor, Michele Bullock, said while it is up to governments to manage their budgets independently of the RBA, public and private spending had caused “excess demand” in the economy. asserted
spending → say → economy
Watt accused the Coalition and minor parties of leaving existing spending proposals to linger in parliament, including savings from changes to the private health insurance rebate for over 65s. asserted
Watt → accuse → 65s
“Let’s not forget that for all of their demands that we find more savings, the Coalition currently are blocking the government from saving $10 billion in measures that are before the parliament,” Watt said. asserted
Watt → forget → parliament
Albanese has confirmed spending in the public service will be scrutinised as the government looks for savings in the budget update, expected in the middle of December. asserted
government → confirm → December
Last year, departments and agencies were asked to identify potential savings of as much as 5% from their annual budgets, part of the government’s efforts to cut lower-priority spending. asserted
departments → ask → spending
Spending on Labor’s $7bn home battery subsidy program and incentives for electric vehicle purchases could be reined in. uncertain
Spending → rein → purchases
Announced in April 2025, the batteries program was originally designed to cost about $2bn. asserted
program → announce → 2bn
More than 600,000 systems have been installed, but the program could have means testing rules added. uncertain
rules → instal → ?
Separately, subsidies designed to promote uptake of electric vehicles has cost the budget far more than originally anticipated. asserted
subsidies → design → more
Angus Taylor announced an opposition “red tape razor gang” on Monday, designed to reduce the burden on business from costly regulation. asserted
Taylor → announce → regulation
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