Night-time politics
We largely remained in a holding pattern today, as the government worked to convince people it had made headway in its campaign to convince AGL to either keep the almost 50-year old Liddell coal-fired power station open, or sell it on to an investor who will.
But AGL boss Andy Vesey only promised to take a proposal to the board and return in 90 days with a plan to fill the baseload power shortfall for when the plant is slated to close in 2022.
This made it hard for the government to move the debate too far forward, but that didn’t stop them from trying.
Which is why, for the second day in a row, energy completely dominated the corridors of power, with just a few brief forays onto other issues. Here is what we learnt today:
- Energy minister Josh Frydenberg believes there is “no other option” other than keeping Liddell going.
- Frydenberg and Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon engaged in a verbal scuffle over energy policy in the hallways of parliament.
- Most voters want the government to step in and regulate power prices.
- Labor remains ahead of the Coalition in the polls, but Malcolm Turnbull has staged a slight comeback in terms of voter approval.
- Energy completely dominated question time, where Labor changed tact and prosecuted the government over how it plans to solve rising power prices, given it is now in its “fifth year of governing”.
- The ABS began sending out the marriage equality postal survey forms.
- 14-year-old Eddie Blewett returned to parliament to lobby for the yes vote. He came to question time a year ago with his mums, asking why marriage equality still had not happened.
- Labor and the Coalition have come close on agreeing on safeguard legislation for the campaign.
- The government appears to be a hair’s breadth away from striking a deal with the crossbench on its media reform legislation.
- Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop called on China to use its influence to pull North Korea into line, while welcoming further sanctions on the secretive state.
- Justice minister Michael Keenan announced plans to introduce the ‘toughest laws in a generation’ for child sex offenders, which will include punitive measures for internet providers who do not report abusive materials.
- Construction has begun in earnest on the security fence parliament had to have - but won’t say why.
Tomorrow the Senate will be kept busy with media laws and the higher education funding changes the government is hoping to work through. But don’t expect energy to go anywhere soon. It’s one issue where both sides think they are on a winner.
That’s it for us today – thank you for coming along on my first solo keyboard ride. I couldn’t have made it without the Guardian Australia political brains trust, Katharine Murphy, Gareth Hutchens and Paul Karp and of course, a massive thank you to Mike Bowers and his ability to catch our honourable members, particularly Bob Katter, just perfectly.
We’ll be back bright and bushy-tailed tomorrow morning –questions, queries or complaints to @amyremeikis and appreciation to @mpbowers. And speaking of Mr Bowers, he’s off to photograph Olivia Newton-John who is making a special guest appearance in parliament tonight to discuss the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute and ‘her personal experience with breast cancer’.
We’ll have that – and a lot more – for you tomorrow.
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Tony Abbott has written on why he believes marriage equality will ‘fundamentally’ change society for Fairfax Media. Here’s a taste:
Love might be love but it’s striking how little love the supporters of same sex marriage are showing for anyone who disagrees with them. It’s paradoxical how respect has flown out the window in the fight for yet more respect. It’s hard to see, at least from the tenor of the campaign to bring it in, how we would be a more decent society with same sex marriage than without it.”
If you want to read more, you’ll find it here.
Malcolm Turnbull is hitting the airwaves again, with a nice little swipe at earlier comments he is a Johnny-come-lately to the FM band.
He's now becoming a regular on the @HughesyAndKate show! We're chatting to Prime Minister @TurnbullMalcolm on air just after 5pm. @thepmo pic.twitter.com/FoQ0NtJiMs
— Hughesy & Kate (@HughesyAndKate) September 12, 2017
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Barnaby Joyce is a lot more comfortable talking about energy than he is about marriage equality. Asked why the anti-vilification legislation was needed, Joyce couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
Look I think people have heard my comments, I support the current definition of marriage – that’s it. I’ve made up [my mind], I’ve bet you have made up yours, I bet your listeners have made up theirs.
I am sort of sick of people screaming at you. Everyone has made up their mind. I think the sooner this survey gets [done] the better.
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After getting a break in question time, with Labor abandoning its citizenship prosecutions, the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, is out and about on Sky News, talking energy with David Speers.
More specifically, Liddell. And who might like to buy it.
Joyce says he “knows people out there and they are not fools and they want to buy it.”
I know of two entities – I am not going to disclose them – I’d have to ask them do they want me to give their information on Sky to you, but I absolutely know two.
If AGL put it on the market – see they are going to pull it to pieces, it is going to hit the deck, so they must think it is not worth anything. So let’s get a bidding process going and see who wants to buy it. AGL don’t want to sell it, they want to basically pull it down. That would suggest if they want to pull it down, what do you think they value it at.
If I have a car that I am going to chuck off a cliff and put in the ocean, what do you think my value is on that car?
But as for price, Joyce believes there are people within the market “who know exactly what they are walking into” – which includes the rehabilitation costs. Speers puts that figure at “half to one billion dollars”.
I am not going to – I would say you are in a good range there,” Joyce said.
... If it is such a dog of an asset, and we all suspect what the answer to this question is, if it is such a dog of an asset, if it is so terrible, then why not put it out there. Seeing as you are going to pull it to pieces, hit the deck, blow it up, whatever you are going to do? Then why not find someone out there who wants to buy it?
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Australia once again calls on China to do more on North Korea
Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop have released a joint media statement once again calling on China to pressure North Korea into falling into line.
Australia encourages all members of the international community to fully implement the UN Security Council resolutions. We urge China in particular to use its unique economic leverage over Pyongyang to place further pressure on the North Korean regime.
Australia will move quickly to implement the measures under the new resolution and will continue to work with our partners to uphold global peace and stability.
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Tanya Plibersek had a little more to say about those safeguards while talking to David Speers on Sky News this afternoon.
We are keen to see protections for people from vilification, we are keen to see things like proper authorisations, but, given the party room bill was still being negotiated this morning, we do reserve the right to move amendments and so on as well.
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Just a little more on some things the parliament can agree on.
Paul Karp reports on the penalties of breaching the anti-vilification safeguards surrounding the marriage equality campaign.
Penalties of up to $12,600 and court-ordered injunctions will be available as remedies for people who are vilified, intimidated or threatened for participation in the same-sex marriage postal survey under a new proposed law.
Although the vilification provision would extend to both sides of the debate, Labor has warned a new bill will only provide limited protections and hurtful material will not be stopped.
Paul Karp has more on that here.
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Seems like the prime minister has recovered from the “outrage”* from the last time he was caught “multitasking”.
*Sarcasm. A few social media posts from people annoyed that the prime minister held his baby granddaughter at the same time as a beer at the football does not outrage make.
Multitasking. Parliament edition. pic.twitter.com/deqtt6APHf
— The PMO (@thepmo) September 12, 2017
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All good things must come to an end.
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Barnaby Joyce at his mercurial best.
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At least some people still find the joy in question time.
We saw a change in tactics from Labor today. Instead of prosecuting the government over citizenship, it moved on to energy – focusing on how long the Coalition has been in power. The line “given this government is in its fifth year of office” will stick.
For its part, the government has moved on from direct name-calling to the more passive-aggressive approach of “their constituents aren’t laughing when they can’t pay for the blackout bill (lowercase intended)”.
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Another question on energy policy to the prime minister, with Bill Shorten asking whatever happened to the clean energy target, and we are done with another question time. Malcolm Turnbull keeps the holding pattern on that in place:
The clean energy target proposed by Alan Finkel in his report – 49 recommendations of which have already been accepted and are being worked through by the relevant energy minister’s council. That 50th recommendation, we have under consideration. I’ll be very plain with the honourable members – all honourable members – we need to make sure that we get the energy market right this time. Because there has been a consistent failure in policy.
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Really surprised.
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Barnaby Joyce seems just as surprised as the rest of us he got through an entire answer without interruption.
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Tanya Plibersek to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull: Yesterday, the attorney general blamed Labor for not supporting gas reservation earlier. So why did the minister for energy attack Labor’s gas reservation policy last year when he said, ‘It will kill investment, destroy jobs and, ultimately, lead to less gas supply’? Given this government is now in its fifth year of office, when will this government stop blaming everyone else and take responsibility for the mess that this Liberal government has made of energy policy in this country?”
Turnbull flicks the question to Josh Frydenberg, who is quite excited at the chance to answer it.
The Labor party never had a gas reservation policy! The only ideas you put forward is that future developments may be reserved for some domestic use! That would do nothing for the immediate issue we have today, which is the supply shortfalls – as indicated by Aemo and others.
Only Prime Minister Turnbull’s response – which is to put in place these export restrictions – can have that effect to meet the supply shortfalls. We’re already seeing the positive impact of the discussions and the actions that we are taking.”
Plibersek attempts to table Frydenberg’s comments from when Labor announced its gas policy, but is denied. But no matter – she has made her point.
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But being in accord in that chamber is quite rare
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Foreign Minister Julie Bishop takes advantage of a dixer to update the House on the North Korea situation:
The new additional sanctions target very important parts of the North Korean economy. There will be a complete ban on the export of all North Korean textiles – that’s worth about $950 million a year to the regime.
The amount of oil that North Korea can import will be reduced by a third. There will also be a prohibition on the importation of natural gas. All joint ventures with North Korean individuals and entities are banned.
No North Korean worker will be permitted to work overseas once their current contracts are completed. And no new work visas will be issued.
Again, this will deny the regime of hundreds of millions of dollars that it has been channelling from remittances to fund its illegal programs, also the power to stop and search vessels that are carrying cargo to and from North Korea will be greatly expanded.
Australia continues to fully implement all sanctions, including those that were imposed on 5 August, and we will implement fully the latest sanctions.
On this, the Coalition and Labor are in perfect accord. Bill Shorten:
Later this month, I will travel with Senator Penny Wong to South Korea and Japan to discuss the security situation on the Korean Peninsula.
All of us in this parliament should do do what we can in a united fashion to be able to contribute to greater world peace and dealing with the threat of North Korea.
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It’s only Tuesday, but it’s been a long week.
Barnaby Joyce gets through a whole dixer answer without any bells ringing for a division. It’s a question time miracle (thanks to Speaker Smith who told Labor yesterday they had already tested their gag motion and failed, so he was putting a stop to it).
It all falls to a common theme within the Labor Party – that is, they’ve given up on blue-collar workers and they’re now residing with the basket weavers. They’re the party of the basket weavers. They have given up. They managed to change their allegiances,just like the member for Maribyrnong – once upon a time he used to support South Melbourne. He believed in South Melbourne. He barracked for South Melbourne. He followed the Swans. Then all of a sudden, he decided it doesn’t work with South Melbourne anymore - he’s now with Collingwood! He can change his allegiances. He is a crazy leopard that can change his spots. He can change his spots! And now we find... manufacturing workers, they’ve given up on the manufacturing workers!
We’ve got the member for Hunter – the member for Hunter, he’s a knight in Newcastle, but he’s a coward in Canberra!
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Jason Clare combines two of the government’s headaches – citizenship and energy – into one question to Malcolm Turnbull: On 24 January, Senator Canavan made a legal instrument which notified the government’s intention to pull the trigger on gas exports controls, even though he was already aware he might be an Italian citizen. The next day, Senator Canavan resigned from cabinet. Why did the government put the reservation of Australian gas for Australian households and businesses at risk of legal challenge when it was already fully aware there were problems with Senator Canavan?
This is a simple one for the PM:
The answer is the government did not do so.
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Nigel Scullion, representing the energy minister (Barnaby Joyce) in Senate question time, is being grilled about the gas export restriction mechanism.
Labor is asking: why is the government claiming to have imposed export restrictions, when it hasn’t pulled the trigger yet?
It’s part of the opposition’s ongoing attack on Joyce’s possible ineligibility to sit in parliament because of dual citizenship, since section 64 of the constitution could leave his ministerial decisions vulnerable to attack if the high court rules him out.
Scullion responds that the government has “instituted a trigger” and now it’s just a matter of timing of when to pull it. He said the government has until 1 November to impose the restriction and there’s no disadvantage to waiting since the gas export controls won’t come into effect until 1 January.
Scullion: “You’re just going to have to wait to open your presents. Take a chill pill about this.”
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It’s all in the delivery
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Shorten to Turnbull: “My question is to the prime minister: The government is now in its fifth year in office. In that time, seven coal-fired power stations have closed, removing over 4,000 megawatts of capacity. This is equivalent to nearly 6m households’ power, or more than enough energy to power every home inSydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Why has the government done nothing to replace the energy which has been progressively switched off since 2013?”
That just gives Malcolm Turnbull a chance to talk about his new favourite topic.
It is my government that is set out to build the largest battery in the southern hemisphere, Snowy Hydro 2.0 – which will make renewables reliable. Now, I hear all the laughing and carry-on the other side. The leader of the opposition described Snowy Hydro 2.0 – the largest renewable project in the country’s history since Snowy 1, The largest single project since Snowy 1 – he described it as just a stunt for helicopter trips. There he is – the member for Isaacs calls out – ‘That’s right.’ That’s the vision you’ve got on the Labor party.
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Bob Katter sure knows how to engage the House
Bob Katter's question was a particularly theatrical performance #qt @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus #politicslive pic.twitter.com/HYlMjbTWvW
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) September 12, 2017
Moving on, we are back to the dixers and Queensland’s Luke Howarth wants to know what Josh Frydenberg is doing on base-load power, and my personal favourite dixer disclaimer – does the minister know of any alternative approaches?
Frydenberg is very aware of an alternative approach and once again prosecutes the government’s now well-worn argument for keeping Liddell open, before moving on to Labor’s desire to “close coal-fired powerstations”.
His interaction with Joel Fitzgibbon in the parliamentary hallway this morning must still be smarting, as he takes the opportunity to dig up what Fitzgibbon said earlier this year in an op-ed to his local paper, the Newcastle Herald
Listen carefully. This is what the member for Hunter says: ‘The coal industry remains strong. And it can continue to count on my energetic support’.
Frydenberg looks like he wishes he had a microphone he could drop after that one, but here is a little context around what Fitzgibbon said. He does say the coal industry can count on his support, but caches the statement around the arguments for energy transition.
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Bob Katter has the independent question, and well, it takes us places.
“Minister for the environment: Mission Beach, the jewel in the crown, jungle, waterfalls, 14km beach – Harold Holt’s refuge from Coal Victoria, home to actress Diane Cilento, wife of 007, acclaimed artist Tom Wilkshire – Australia lost its innocence when Helen Mirren lost her clothes...”
He runs out of time before he can finish the question, which ends up being about a breakwater in north Queensland, but Josh Frydenberg after a little prodding from Speaker Smith, who asks that preambles not be “a series of unconnected sentences”, answers that it remains in the hands of the state government.
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Chris Bowen has a question for Scott Morrison recalling a treasured moment from earlier this year:
The Australian Financial Review reports that at a private function at Wombat Hollow, the Treasurer said that the era of cheap, coal-fired power is coming to an end, and anyone claiming that it’s the sole solution to the nation’s energy was propagating a myth.
Does the Treasurer stand by his Wombat Hollow declaration, or do his views change depending on whether or not he’s carrying his pet rock?
The answer from Morrison is more of what we have heard from the government, attacking Labor’s record on energy. But he does give us a new name in the ideology wars.
We’ve got Richo, [Graham Richardson] who’s described the Labor policies on energy as ‘an absolute farce.’ And they say, ‘Oh, Richo’ - well, you made him a life member the other day.
He knows a lot more about the Labor party than this mob of neosocialists ever will!
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Labor tries again with its $1,000 figure, with Mark Butler picking up the mantle and taking it back to the prime minister: “Before coming to office, the Liberal party promised families they would be $550 a year better off because of lower power prices. But isn’t it actually the case that the average Sydney household is paying almost $1,000 more for their power bills every year since this Liberal government came to office?”
Turnbull seems excited to continue his earlier attack against Joel Fitzgibbon and quickly deals with Butler’s question by saying the $550 figure was confirmed by the ACCC in a report to the minister dated July 2015.
(Side note on that – that is not exactly right – here is the ABC Factcheck on where that figure came from.)
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Following on from yesterday’s strategy, the first dixer is also on energy, this time on how the government is working to maintain base-load power.
It gives Turnbull a chance to prosecute his government’s “keep Liddell open” argument a little longer. He then takes a slight turn off the beaten track to tackle the “bullying” allegation Labor has levelled against the government in regards to AGL, by quoting from Joel Fitzgibbon’s interview on ABC radio this morning.
Andy (Vesey) was bullied in taking this proposal to the board, he said, ‘of course when the prime minister stares you down’ – most people would regard that as a compliment, by the way – when the prime minister stares you down …”
Turnbull runs out of time before we can work out where exactly the compliment was.
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Question time has begun – and Labor has been banned from suspending standing orders, at least in regards to Barnaby Joyce gag attempts. Let’s see if the opposition has another trick up its sleeve.
First question is Shorten to Turnbull on – yup, energy: “This government is now in its fifth year in office. The state Liberal government in New South Wales has been in office that entire same time. Can the prime minister confirm that the average Sydney household is paying almost $1,000 more in power bills since this federal Liberal government was elected to office?”
Turnbull recycles the government’s attack against Mark Butler and his “confession” that Labor should have quarantined some of the gas exports for the domestic market. It is nothing we haven’t heard before.
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In the Coalition party room on Tuesday, energy prices and the same-sex marriage postal survey were the main topics.
The party room approved the postal survey additional safeguards bill and was given these extra details:
- The bill bans vilification, intimidation and threats to cause harm based on sex, sexuality, gender identity, intersex status, religious convictions or views people hold on the survey
- Penalties include fines of up to $12,600 and the power to seek an injunction in the federal court to prevent publications or acts that breach that law
- The attorney general will have a gatekeeper role, meaning he will have to give approval for suits claiming a penalty, and will have a right to be notified and appear in any case seeking an injunction
- The acting special minister of state, Mathias Cormann, suggested the attorney general, George Brandis, would approach that gatekeeper role “with a bias towards freedom of speech”
- The provisions only last during the period of the postal survey
On energy prices, Malcolm Turnbull said AGL has a “vested interest” in a tight energy market, because a seller’s market means prices would increase.
“Mr [Andy] Vesey has obligations to his shareholders to make AGL as profitable as he can, but our obligation is to our shareholders, who are the Australian people,” Turnbull said.
The deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, said AGL’s refusal to sell Liddell “shows that they are shorting the market” and the electricity provider would probably make more money from operating one power station rather than two.
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While we are on media reform, the Australian Conservatives senator Cory Bernardi is planning his own bit of mischief in the Senate this afternoon.
He intends to amend the broadcasting bill to try and add the changes to the ABC being sought by One Nation during their protracted media reform negotiations with the government, and some similar changes sought by the Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie in a separate private member’s bill.
The government came to terms with One Nation weeks ago, but the deal is basically meaningless, because there is not broad parliamentary support to amend the ABC’s charter or cut its funding (which is the One Nation ask). That would need to be done in separate legislation, and the numbers aren’t there.
Bernardi’s actions, I suspect, are designed to flush out the hollowness of the deal One Nation has struck with the government. It will be interesting to see whether One Nation votes with Bernardi to try and implement its own deal, or whether it sticks with the deal being a deal in name only.
As they say in the classics, only time will tell.
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Lunchtime politics
Just before we buckle in for question time, let’s recap the morning.
- The Coalition is powering on with its energy agenda, but still doesn’t have all the answers.
- Labor has accused the government of attempting to ‘bully’ AGL into doing what it wants and keeping the aging Liddell power station open, while Greens MP Adam Bandt has accused Malcolm Turnbull of acting like a “petulant child” on the issue.
- Josh Frydenberg and Joel Fitzgibbon had a clash in the corridors over the energy issue, pumped up by the fact they were surrounded by cameras.
- Tony Abbott remains against a clean energy target.
- Labor and the Coalition have come to a consensus on the safeguard legislation for the marriage equality campaign.
- The government looks very close to striking a deal on its media reforms package
- Justice Minister Michael Keenan flagged new, tougher penalties for child abusers and internet providers who do not report abuse.
- Construction has begun in earnest on the fence around Parliament House.
Media breakthrough?
There are early reports the Turnbull government has secured its media reform package – but I think the truth is the Coalition is now close, but not quite there.
If the government gets there today, and I reckon that’s more likely than not, it will have the numbers to scrap longstanding controls on media ownership, and trigger a range of consolidations in the Australian news landscape which are likely to lead to further market concentration.
After weeks of negotiation, the Nick Xenophon Team has been offered quite limited concessions designed to enhance media diversity, particularly a new $30m innovation fund which will be made available to some independent publishers.
After signalling publicly they would consider a broad range of diversity enhancing measures, like introducing a new tax break for smaller publishers to encourage them to employ more journalists – the government has recently backtracked, and taken tax breaks off the table.
The NXT is yet to sign off on the government’s offer. That technical inconvenience notwithstanding, debate has kicked off in the Senate chamber. NXT senator Stirling Griff has just told the chamber the party is reserving its position “for now”.
The core of the government’s reforms, which have been pursued since the first Coalition took office in 2013, will see the scrapping of the two out of three rule, which means media moguls will be able to own television, newspapers and radio stations in the same market.
As well as scrapping the two out of three rule, the government’s package also includes scrapping the 75% reach rule, which prevents Nine Entertainment, Seven West Media and the Ten Network from owning their regional affiliates, due to restrictions on a TV network broadcasting to more than 75% of the population.
More from the ‘things you never thought you would be discussing in Auspol’ files, Treasurer Scott Morrison compared himself to a power station when talking to Sunrise’s David Koch this morning. Kochie pointed out the Liddell power station, which is almost 50 years old, had broken down twice this summer, which was part of AGL’s argument it had reached the end of its lifespan. Morrison was having none of that, mostly because he is still working.
They would say that. I’m older than it and is we are still doing alright. You are too.”
The justice minister, Michael Keenan, has announced what he called the “strongest crackdown on pedophiles in a generation”.
The new measures, include tougher fines for internet companies that don’t report abusive material, mandatory minimum sentences and stronger bail conditons.
Current sentencing practices for commonwealth sex offenders often result in manifestly inadequate sentencing, which does not sufficiently recognise the harm that has been caused to the victims – in this case, children.
Since 2012, only 58% of convicted commonwealth child sex offenders have spent time in prison.
For those who did, the most common period of actual imprisonment was just six months.
This represents a staggering and unacceptable number of offenders who are released into the community without them being monitored, posing an unacceptable risk to our children.
The community expects that appropriate sentences will be handed down to the worst criminals and it’s up to all governments around the country to ensure that that is the case.
Keenan plans on introducing the new legislation on Wednesday.
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While the fence goes up around Parliament House, soccer is still being played out the front. While the politicians spoke, the children of the families who have arrived in Canberra to lobby for the yes vote had a short game on the lawns.
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Still on energy policy and Labor’s Linda Burney took aim at Malcolm Turnbull’s renewed love of the Snowy hydro scheme, while speaking to Sky News.
I mean it’s almost like an episode out of Utopia with the prime minister down you know clambering around Jindabyne and Tumut saying we’re going to have the Snowy Mountain come back. It is a feasibility study. I mean, please.
This government is all over the place on energy.
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The Greens are feeling bolshie.
They say they are tired of Peter Dutton telling voters how crucial his controversial citizenship bill is, while simultaneously withholding it from the Senate so it can’t be debated.
They’re going to be moving a motion in the Senate tomorrow to strike the bill from the notice paper.
If they’re successful, and the bill is struck from the notice paper, it will be a major embarrassment for the government. The government would have to move a motion to restore it to the notice paper if it wanted to put it back in the Senate, but if it found itself in that situation it may not have the numbers to do so anyway.
The Greens will need Labor and the Nick Xenophon Team to support its plan, and it’s too early to say how they would vote. Both parties have told Guardian Australia they will need time to think about it and discuss it with their colleagues.
But the Greens will be speaking to both parties over the next 24 hours.
The government is still in negotiations with the crossbench about the bill, because Labor and the Greens have declared they won’t support it.
The NXT last week also said they couldn’t support the package in its current form, which derailed Dutton’s attempt to enact tough new citizenship laws quickly.
It means the government has been forced to consider either dumping its package or making substantial changes.
NXT senator Stirling Griff has suggested the government could split its bill into two or more pieces of legislation.
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The fence is not exactly winning hearts and minds.
it's appalling https://t.co/oWeTtOqCwB
— Michelle Grattan (@michellegrattan) September 12, 2017
Worth remembering the reason behind parliament's fenceless design - 'This building does not turn its back on anyone' https://t.co/QoGjIDHH6u
— Christopher Knaus (@knausc) September 12, 2017
First the trees were cut down, now the iconic lawns are being ripped up for the Parliament House fence #auspol pic.twitter.com/SAp0UYFaf6
— Bevan Shields (@BevanShields) September 12, 2017
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Here is another look at the much maligned security fence currently under construction at Parliament House. Plans for the 2.6m fence were rushed through parliament just before the Christmas break last year. The reasons for the fence remain under lock and key, with the powers that be citing national security concerns.
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‘Low visual impact’
The new security fence takes shape on the front slope of Parliament House @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus #politicslive pic.twitter.com/ZVKjfMwy3L
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) September 12, 2017
Arise, Sir Tony
Katharine Murphy has an update on the renewable energy target discussion – or lack of discussion, as the case may be.
Despite energy dominating the political discussion, government folks tell me it didn’t get much of an airing in today’s Coalition party room meeting.
But Tony Abbott had a view. As the government has been preparing its response to the Finkel review of the national electricity market, Abbott has been here there and everywhere saying a new clean energy target is not the way to go.
The former prime minister intends to be a fly in the ointment as the government continues its deliberations. Today he told colleagues the government should not graft a new clean energy target on top of the existing renewable energy target.
Abbott’s party room commentary was prompted by an observation from the foreign minister Julie Bishop that Australia needed “affordable” energy – that was the imperative, not renewable energy.
Abbott agreed with that proposition, and said if affordable energy was the imperative, the government should not be putting a new clean energy target on top of a RET.
Let’s call that a bit of front running.
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Christopher Knaus has an update on the welfare system reform the Turnbull government is attempting to get through the Senate.
The bill contains the controversial measure to drug test 5,000 welfare recipients at three trial sites in NSW, Western Australia and Queensland.
The votes of the Nick Xenophon bloc could prove crucial in the senate, but the party’s sole lower house MP, Rebekha Sharkie, on Monday voted against the legislation, which she earlier described as “devoid of logic”.
Despite Sharkie’s strong criticism, NXT have confirmed they are still in negotiations with the government.
“There are certain aspects of the bill the NXT senators - like Rebekha Sharkie - are yet to be convinced about - including the drug testing trials,” a NXT spokesman said.
“However, they are still negotiating in good faith with the government on it.”
Greens Senator Rachel Siewert praised Sharkie’s stand and called on her Senate colleagues to follow suit.
Drug testing of income support recipients is poor policy grounded in ideology and has been overwhelmingly condemned by drug and alcohol experts, doctors and social service providers.
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We have come full circle on the energy debate, with Labor calling on the government to solve the issue by naming a clean energy target.
It’s the Finkel review recommendation the government is yet to take up and Labor is now looking to wedge Malcolm Turnbull on the issue. Labor is also pushing the government on quarantining gas exports for domestic use. Jason Clare spoke a little earlier at a media conference with Mark Butler, which might give us a little hint of what fun and games await us during question time.
We’ve got to make sure that businesses get access to the gas they needed. And that’s why we’re saying pull the trigger.
Stop mucking around. Pull the trigger today, making sure that we’ve got access to more gas for generation purposes. It’s not good enough for Malcolm Turnbull just to criticise and harass Labor states.
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Labor Senator Penny Wong had a bit to say about those safeguards – and the need for them – during this morning’s caucus meeting
This is a difficult time for our community. Already there are hateful things that are being said. There are hurtful things being said. They might be said politely but they are hurtful and inaccurate. About our families, about our children.
This is a direct result of this flawed survey the government is imposing against the will of the parliament and the Australian people. This bill won’t protect against all of the hate speech we already see. It will provide some limited protection. But the real leadership has to come from the parliament and this government. They have to stand up and speak out against those who engage in hate speech.
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In the last few minutes, Paul Karp has been hitting the phones and has an update for you on those urgent safeguards for the marriage equality campaign:
I’ve confirmed that the Coalition party room has approved a bill for ground rules for the postal survey, including anti-vilification provisions that will apply to both sides of the debate.
Labor also discussed the negotiations with the government in its party room this morning but did not have a final version of the bill. A separate group including Bill Shorten, Tanya Plibersek, Penny Wong, Mark Dreyfus, Tony Burke and Terri Butler will have final sign-off on the Labor side.
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Earlier Labor accused the government of ‘bullying’ AGL – now the Greens have added their two cents, with Adam Bandt comparing Malcolm Turnbull to a child playing make-believe.
AGL has treated Malcolm Turnbull like a toddler. When you’ve got a toddler who’s screaming on the floor insisting that they’re Batman you say, ‘yeah yeah, you’re Batman now come on let’s get out of the house and get on with what we’ve got to do anyway’.
That’s how AGL has treated Malcolm Turnbull, like a petulant, petulant child.
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While we are on legislation, the government has listed five bills it would like dealt with today - keep in mind this is an evolving beast and can be switched around, amended or turned completely upside down, depending on how those backroom negotiations are going.
Paul Karp has an update on where Labor stands in regards to legislation and policies currently before the parliament.
Labor caucus met on Tuesday and discussed negotiations with the government for anti-vilification provisions.
There are also reports the Coalition party room has given the bill the thumbs up, more on that soon.
On Tuesday Guardian Australia reported the laws will be modelled on New South Wales laws that ban material that incites hatred, serious contempt or severe ridicule of protected groups.
In Labor caucus the shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, and equality spokeswoman, Terri Butler, confirmed vilification provisions will apply to both sides, and the law contains a mix of civil and criminal penalty provisions.
Labor’s leader in the Senate, Penny Wong, said:
This is a difficult time for our community. Already there are hateful ... and hurtful things being said. They might be said politely but they are hurtful and inaccurate [statements] about our families and children. This is a direct result of this flawed survey the government is imposing, against the will of the parliament and the Australian people.
This bill won’t protect against all of the hate speech we already see. It will provide some limited protection but the real leadership has to come from the parliament and the government. They have to stand up and speak out against those who engage in hate speech.
As I reported this morning, University of Queensland free speech expert Katharine Gelber said it was “very likely” crude epithets such as “stop the fags” would be found to be vilification, as would material “stereotyping almost an entire group as child abusers”.
Coalition for Marriage ads linking same-sex marriage to gender education of children were “part and parcel of normal debate”, Gelber said. Even factually incorrect claims that marriage equality encouraged gender fluidity would not amount to vilification.
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Bill Shorten, Mark Dreyfus and Tanya Plibersek are holding a media conference with a special guest – Eddie Blewett, who stole question time back in September last year, when Plibersek told his story to Malcolm Turnbull. You can read more about Eddie and what happened last year, here.
Eddie has travelled to Canberra with his two mums, Claire and Neroli, from Tathra in coastal NSW, to help promote the yes vote with Labor and other LGBTI families, who Shorten said “just want the same deal everyone else has”.
Now 14, Eddie is frustrated that he’s back and having the same conversations.
People who know my family, know that there is nothing wrong with us. We play soccer in the winter and we volunteer with the surf club in the summer. I have two parents. They love me and they love each other. All couples and all families deserve the same respect and value.
Twelve months ago I came here. Nothing has changed, the marriage equality is still unresolved. I feel like people aren’t going to vote. I feel like they are going to throw their ballot papers in the bin.
I also wanted to thank all those people who tried to keep this matter in parliament. People are saying stuff about my family. They are saying they are not normal. They are saying they are second rate.
Don’t listen. Be yourself. Vote yes.
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It may not seem like it, but the parliament is dealing with more than just the government’s hunt for an energy policy this week.
The media reform legislation, which was shunted off the agenda yesterday, should make a reappearance. Communications minister Mitch Fifield has been working behind the scenes trying to shore up a deal with the crossbench. Late yesterday, the Greens’ Sarah Hanson-Young said she didn’t believe they were quite there yet – there being support for the dumping of the 2/3 and 75% reach media ownership rules in exchange for better support for smaller media companies – but there was movement.
Still on the Greens and leader Richard Di Natale plans to introduce a private senator’s bill which aims to “secure terminally ill patient access to medicinal cannabis”. Melissa Davey explained the context in this morning’s story. Di Natale says:
Our disallowance motion that was supported by the Senate on the 13 June was very, very clear. If somebody has a terminal illness, they should be able to get access to imported medicinal cannabis under Category A of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) Special Access Scheme (SAS).
This made it illegal to prevent medicinal cannabis importation via category A of the SAS. Yet, just three days later the government wrote to importers, telling them that despite the law, they would be blocked from importing medicinal cannabis under category A.
It is simple cruelty from this government. These patients are dying and their doctors believe medicinal cannabis may alleviate their suffering. The Greens will keep fighting to ensure the government can’t continue to draw out the suffering of terminally ill patients.
For it to have any hope of surviving, it will need the support of either Labor or the government.
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Malcolm Turnbull's (net) approval rating his best since October
The back and forth between the Coalition and Labor has heated up in recent months but it is having an impact.
The latest Guardian Essential poll shows that while Labor is still well ahead with voters, Malcolm Turnbull has staged a small comeback over the last month.
How long that lasts is anyone’s guess – a day is an absolute eternity in politics these days. But the polls shows Labor ahead 54% to 47% on the two-party preferred measure. Last week, it was 53% to 47%.
Echoing the Fairfax Ipos poll, Turnbull is still seen as the better performer, despite Labor’s stronger showing.
Katharine Murphy reports:
Voters in the Guardian Essential sample have a higher regard for Malcolm Turnbull than they did a month ago, with 41% of the sample saying they approved of the prime minister’s performance (up from 38% in August). Disapproval remained steady on 46%.
The September result gives the prime minister a change in his net approval rating from -8 to -5, which is Turnbull’s best net rating since October last year.
Approval of the Labor leader, Bill Shorten, was up one point from August, on 36%, but the Labor leader’s disapproval rating was up five points to 47% (42% in August).
That result represents a change in Shorten’s net approval rating from -7 to -11.
Turnbull also retains a clear lead over Shorten as preferred prime minister, with 43% preferring him compared with 29% for Shorten. In August, the measure was Turnbull 41% to Shorten 27%.
The results were split by party, with 79% of Coalition voters saying Turnbull would be a better prime minister and 62% of Labor voters saying Shorten would.
Greens voters preferred Shorten (42%) to Turnbull (25%). Men prefer Turnbull to Shorten (47% to 30%), as do women (39% to 28%).
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The prime minister’s recent “FM assault” has not gone unnoticed by the hosts of that band’s breakfast shows.
While chatting to Bill Shorten, Melbourne Nova 100 hosts made a point of mentioning Malcolm Turnbull’s recent availability to the FM band: “We have noticed, all of a sudden Malcolm Turnbull is doing FM, which is your stomping ground ... He is on your turf. You were first, he was clearly not interested in anything on the FM dial.”
Turnbull has done more FM radio appearances in the past six weeks than almost the last five months combined, while maintaining his “more serious” regular media commitments with talkback radio and the ABC.
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Looking ahead to some of what this day will bring, debate wise, Paul Karp has this update.
With the government’s higher education bill coming up for debate in the lower house, Universities Australia is lobbying the crossbench to oppose the $2.8bn in cuts. The bill would impose a two-year 2.5% efficiency dividend on universities, lower the Help debt repayment threshold to $42,000 and increase fees by a cumulative total of 7.5% by 2021.
The Nick Xenophon Team’s education spokeswoman, Rebekha Sharkie, told Guardian Australia she “can’t support the bill at this stage”, although talks with the government are continuing.
I don’t see the bill, as it is, as a reform of higher education. Really, it’s just a budget savings measure.
I’m worried this will deeply hurt regional universities. The bill looks at universities as if they are homogenous entities but regional universities have a different experience.
Sharkie said South Australia’s three universities could lose up to 750 jobs as a result of cuts.
Sharkie said the government should consider a wider review, including looking at the demand-driven system. She suggested students may be opting for university as a fallback because they’re told their job of the future “hasn’t been invented yet” despite Australia having a shortage of apprentices.
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Before the political battle royale begins in earnest for the day, let’s take a look of some of what the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said at the R U OK event this morning.
I am firmly of the view that our reluctance to talk about mental health issues, whether you call it a stigma or call it a taboo, has been a very real barrier to addressing this issue. You can’t deal with a problem that you can’t acknowledge.
The PM’s comments come just a day after his benched resources minister, Matt Canavan, said anyone worried about the campaign around the marriage equality survey should “grow a spine” and “stop being delicate little flowers”.
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In the latest edition of “things you never thought you’d be discussing in Auspol”, the Liberal MP Tim Wilson has spent the morning defending a colouring-in book of his local community.
Wilson funded it through his parliamentary communications budget, Joe Kelly from the Australian reports, and it is due to be dropped off around schools.
But along with the cartoons, one of which is Wilson walking his pugs with his partner, Ryan, the book includes Liberal party branding, which may be against the Victorian education department’s policy.
But its the cartoon of Wilson and his partner which has captured attention. The Goldstein MP has taken to social media to showcase the other images in the book.
Anyone interested in the #Goldstein #ColourInCommunity and #CommunityReflections colouring books, these are the images pic.twitter.com/bXdvXQlkxe
— Tim Wilson MP (@timwilsoncomau) September 12, 2017
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Party room meetings have begun, so we’ll have a little bit of a lull to catch up on the morning’s events.
The government is really hoping “Blackout Bill”, it’s newest nickname for Bill Shorten, will catch on. Brownout Butler is another moniker the government is pushing, with both being salted across question time and press conferences.
But they managed to put at least some of that aside for a short time this morning at the R U OK event, where Malcolm Turnbull gave a speech about the importance of mental health and reaching out to your mates.
We’ll get some of that to you in a little bit but it had an impact on Shorten.
It’s a galling thing when you are leader of the opposition and the prime minister yells slogans at you one day and you think ‘Oh, why did he do that?’
But then occasionally he gives a speech like that and I think, ‘You’re not too bad, are you?’
Mind you, by question time that thought will be erased.
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The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has also been out and about. He was at the same R U OK event as Malcolm Turnbull and has been spoken to no less than six FM radio breakfast shows this morning, where it was all about energy prices, marriage equality and, as is par for the course these days, Game of Thrones.
For the record, he told Mix102.3, Shorten believes he would be Jon Snow and Turnbull would be the King of the White Walkers. Why Snow? “He’s true to himself,” Shorten said with a laugh.
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That awkward feeling when the person you have been speaking about is right behind you ...
Malcolm & Bill at the R U OK? breakfast in P/H this morning @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus #politicslive pic.twitter.com/hDtocVxKRD
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) September 11, 2017
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The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has started his day at a R U OK Day event at parliament but at the press conference that followed it was all about – you guessed it – Liddell.
I think the approach we are taking is common sense, it is practical, it is business-like. This is not a question of ideology, the way that Labor is going on.
It just reminds you of the idiocy that they continue to bring to energy policy. There is no clearly set out plan to replace Liddell.
Now you can either, if you are Labor, if you are with Bill Shorten, with old Blackout Bill himself, he says that is an issue for down the track. Well I am sorry, that is how we ended up with the problem with Hazelwood, with the very late notice of closure.
We know they say they want to close it in 2022. It is five years away, that is not a very long time in fact in terms of putting in place new infrastructure. So we need to get the options on the table right now and the most obvious option is to keep it running.
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Labor has accused Malcolm Turnbull of bullying the boss of electricity company AGL into agreeing to consider extending the life of its ageing Liddell coal-fired power station for another five years.
The Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon says AGL’s chief executive, Andy Vesey, has had a well-publicised plan to close the ageing Liddell power station by 2022 and transition to cleaner forms of energy.
He says Turnbull’s request – made during a meeting in Canberra on Monday – that Vesey take a proposal to his board to either sell the Liddell plant, or keep it open for another five years, would not be taken seriously by AGL.
“I think Andy Vesey was bullied into taking the proposal to his board and I believe his board will say, ‘No, why are we doing this?’,” Fitzgibbon said on Tuesday.
“Of course when the prime minister stares you down and says, ‘Won’t you at least take this back to your board?’, of course you say yes.
“But I think we all know what the result will be.”
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Heading back to Canberra – and the corridors of power are getting a little heated over the energy debate.
Josh Frydenberg and Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon crossed paths – and words – in the press gallery hallway and had a little chat about the Liddell power station.
Fingers were pointed and smiles were forced. You can see the encounter below.
Energy min Josh Frydenberg and Labor's Joel Fitzgibbon collide for corridor argument on Liddell power plant #auspol pic.twitter.com/XFjnvrYdT7
— James Elton-Pym (@JamesEltonPym) September 11, 2017
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The ABC has broadcast some of the comments from that UN Security Council meeting – here is what Nikki Haley, the US ambassador to the UN, had to say:
Today we are attempting to take the future of the North Korean nuclear program out of the hands of its outlaw regime. We are done trying to prod the regime to do the right thing.
We are now acting to stop it from having the ability to continue doing the wrong thing.
We are doing that by stopping its ability to fuel and fund its weapons program.
Oil is the lifeblood of North Korea’s effort to build a nuclear weapon. Today’s resolution reduces almost 30% of oil provided to North Korea by cutting off over 55% of its gas, diesel and heavy fuel oil.
Further, today’s resolution completely bans natural gas and other oil by products that could be used as substitutes for the reduced petroleum. This will cut deep.
North Korea hasn’t been shy in responding to these sanctions. We await its reply.
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Australia reassures South Korea of support
Stepping out of domestic politics for a moment, the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has spoken to his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, to reiterate Australia’s support of its ally, as the threat of North Korea’s nuclear program continues to grow.
Guardian Australia’s political editor, Katharine Murphy, reports the two leaders spoke by phone overnight, ahead of the United Nations Security Council meeting, where new sanctions on North Korea were being negotiated.
Australia has already supported what the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, has called the “toughest ever” sanctions on the rogue regime, with Turnbull also previously calling on China to do more.
The Security Council did not go as far as cutting off North Korea’s fuel supply but it did vote to limit refined petroleum products to 2 million barrels a year, and ban textile exports, on top of the previous sanctions, which banned North Korea’s resources exports.
The United States managed to convince China and Russia, who hold veto power on the council, to agree to the latest sanctions, which were agreed to unanimously.
Speaking before that meeting, Turnbull and Moon agreed that China and Russia were critical to ensuring the sanctions were agreed and enforced – read more on that, and a little on how we got to this point, here.
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The marriage equality postal survey forms will begin popping up in letter boxes soon, with the mail out due to begin today. The ABS has kept the form simple – it’s a mark the box system, which should stop any arguments over whether a tick is a cross or just a squiggle.
Michael Koziol has reported on a Fairfax Ipos poll, which found of the 65% of respondents who were certain to take part in the survey, 70% planned on voting “yes”.
It’s the first time Australians are being asked to vote this way, as well as being told it’s voluntary. In a country with compulsory voting, there will be a lot of eyes watching how many people get out and have their say when there is no fine forcing them to.
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Good morning and welcome to Tuesday.
We start the morning much as we have for the past few weeks – with the government consumed by energy policy but hampered by outside factors.
The energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, and the treasurer, Scott Morrison, have been out and about making the hard sell this morning, with both attempting to claim Malcolm Turnbull’s meeting with AGL boss Andy Vesey over the future of the ageing Liddell power station was a major step forward.
In reality, Vesey committed only to taking a proposal to keep Liddell open for another five years beyond its slated 2022 closing date, or to consider selling it to an investor who will.
Following the meeting late on Monday afternoon, Vesey released a statement tempering the government’s enthusiasm, which, as Katharine Murphy reported, made it clear the company was
inclined to stick with a previously telegraphed plan to develop gas peaking plant, pumped hydro and batteries, as well as a demand response, to deal with the shortfall in NSW once the plant closes.
But that hasn’t stopped Morrison and Frydenberg blanketing the morning radio and TV breakfast shows with their plan – which includes Liddell staying open. Frydenberg told ABC there was “no other option on the table”.
The key point here is that we have a report from the Australian Energy Market Operator, which indicates that were Liddell to close in 2022, as scheduled, there would be a supply shortfall of 1,000 megawatts in the market. So our first responsibility is to help stabilise the system and ensure affordable power.
There’s no other option on the table, although AGL does want to work out and work up other options, but the current option on the table is to keep Liddell open or to sell it to another party as Andy Vesey has indicated previously.
Voters want the government to step in and regulate power prices, as well as invest in more renewable power sources, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
So don’t expect this issue to go away any time soon.
But before we kick off – a little bit of housekeeping.
It is my first day flying solo, so be gentle – but please comment away. The thread is open for business but you can also talk to the man behind the lens, Mike Bowers, at @mpbowers or myself @amyremeikis on the twitters. I’ll do my best to talk back but I’m still wrapping my head around the blog, so I may be a little slow. I’ll do my best to put as many of Magic Mike’s pics on here as possible but if you want more – and let’s be honest, you always do – check out his Instagram here .
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