Australia news live: Anthony Albanese praises Sally McManus and Michele O’Neil as ‘giants’ as they step down from ACTU

Prime minister pays tribute to secretary and president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions after surprise announcement. Follow updates live

ACTU president says now is the ‘right time’ to leave

Michele O’Neil, the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, said it’s the “right time” to leave after she announced her departure alongside ACTU secretary Sally McManus .

We thought about this and we just think that it’s time for renewal. The union movement is in good shape. We’ve seen changes in workers’ rights that have made a big difference in workers’ lives. We’ve seen the union movement starting to grow for the first time in decades. And next year will be the 100th anniversary of the ACTU. So we think it’s time for a new leadership team to come in.

We have a debt heading towards $200bn in this state. We have teachers out striking in the streets because the state government and Ben Carroll can’t secure a pay deal. We have holes in the roads. You need a majority government to fix those problems, and you need someone with a plan.

Now he might performatively call a royal commission tokenistically, now that he’s become leader, but that’s not out of sincere concern about corruption. That’s out of sincere concern about the polls and what that means for Victorian Labor.

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