What we learned, Monday 20 June
And with that we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big stories from today:
- Prime minister Anthony Albanese says he intends to ‘engage appropriately’ with the US on the Julian Assange case as former foreign minister Bob Carr said Australia should demand the Wikileaks co-founder’s release
- As the energy crisis continues, minister Chris Bowen says ‘every bit of existing technology’, including coal, will be needed in the short term to prevent power shortages
- The Albanese government released the parliamentary sitting calendar for the remainder of 2022, which the Coalition quickly criticised as ‘remarkably light on’
- The United Australia party has claimed the sixth Victorian Senate spot, with Labor winning three seats in WA
- Deputy prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles announced he will visit India this week
- At least 13 Covid deaths were recorded across the nation.
Thank you for spending the day with us – we will be back tomorrow!
Updated
Energy economist says market blueprint is ‘not credible’
From AAP:
An energy market blueprint that would pay generators to guarantee electricity supply has come under fire.
Existing coal and gas power plants as well as renewable energy providers would be eligible for extra peak period payments under a proposed “capacity mechanism” put to energy ministers.
The draft plan prepared by the Energy Security Board of regulators says the scale of investment to maintain reliability of supply over the coming decades is “dramatic”.
A draft mechanism prepared last year under former energy minister Angus Taylor was tagged “CoalKeeper” by critics, who rejected it as extending the life of high-emitting coal-fired plants.
“What the ESB has come up with is the reheated version of the nonsense that they came up with before,” energy economist Bruce Mountain said.
“It’s simply not credible.”
Updated
Coalition criticises Labor’s sitting calendar
The Coalition has criticised Labor’s new sitting calendar, upset that the new government is only sitting for 8 weeks between now and the end of the year – even though the Coalition’s own proposed sitting calendar was to run to nearly the same schedule.
Anthony Albanese will bring federal parliament back on 26 July, with eight sitting weeks planned. The Coalition manager of opposition business, Paul Fletcher, claimed this was “remarkably light on” and accused Labor of being on a “go-slow”.
Labor Government on a parliamentary go slow, says @PaulFletcherMP #auspol pic.twitter.com/i9z7yDg7SL
— Political Alert (@political_alert) June 20, 2022
But let’s step through it. Parliament can’t return until the election writs are returned, which the Australian Electoral Commission said will occur by 28 June. Labor’s sitting calendar proposes 30 sitting days between 28 June and the end of the year, plus two more days where only budget estimates will be held.
A comparison to the Coalition’s proposed sitting calendar shows the former government had planned to sit just 34 days over the same period from June 28 to the end of the year. Another difference is that Labor is planning to hold its own federal budget in October, a parliamentary set piece the Coalition wouldn’t have followed after already handing down a budget in April.
And don’t forget that the Coalition held just 14 sitting days in 2022 before the election – so Fletcher’s criticisms of the total number of sitting days this year have to be taken with the rather large grain of salt that the Coalition was in charge of the calendar for the first half of the year.
The ABC’s Matthew Doran laid it out in a Twitter thread:
Manager of Opposition Business, Paul Fletcher is accusing Labor of being on the "Parliamentary Go Slow" by only having 40 sitting days in 2022.
— Matthew Doran (@MattDoran91) June 20, 2022
Let's compare the pair - a thread (1/6)
Of course, a returned Coalition government may have totally rewritten the sitting calendar to add more days – but we’ll never know.
Compare the pair, you be the judge.
Updated
Labor government releases parliamentary sitting calendar
The new parliament will descend on Canberra for the first time on 26 July, after the Labor government detailed its new sitting calendar.
The leader of the house, Tony Burke, tweeted the new schedule on Monday afternoon:
Here’s the sitting pattern for the rest of the year for the House of Reps and the Senate.#auspol https://t.co/m2Dwcsdgzt
— Tony Burke (@Tony_Burke) June 20, 2022
The 47th parliament will sit for two weeks from the end of July, with a total of eight weeks scheduled before year’s end. A special federal budget will be handed down by the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, on 25 October. The budget is usually held in April, but this will set out Labor’s spending priorities after the May election win.
There will be an accompanying week of budget estimates hearings from 7 November and parliament will wrap for the year on 1 December.
Updated
Vanuatu races to boost Covid vaccination rates before border opens
From AAP:
A former Australian cruise ship converted into a floating Covid vaccination clinic is in a race against time as the island nation of Vanuatu prepares to reopen to the world.
As of mid May, 82% of adults in the Pacific country had received at least one vaccine dose, with 75% fully vaccinated.
The Omicron variant has also “spread rapidly” through affected islands, according to Vanuatu’s ministry of health.
With some natural immunity and vaccination rates being what they are, authorities are happy to reopen to tourists on 1 July.
But the director general of health, Russel Tamata, admitted vaccination rates differ between major centres and more remote areas.
The logistics of cold chain management, distance to fixed health posts and reduced availability of healthcare workers all factor in.
“The geographical nature of Vanuatu, with 83 islands scattered across an archipelago 1300km long, makes it quite challenging to coordinate a vaccination effort,” Tamata said.
“On top of that, access to some villages in remote islands is quite difficult with access via boats only and no road access.”
Updated
The federal government is attempting to cast “unusual” secrecy over a battle for documents that would shed light on its handling of an investigation into the illegal destruction of critically endangered grasslands by a company part-owned by former energy minister Angus Taylor.
On Monday, the administrative appeals tribunal (AAT) began hearing a case relating to freedom of information requests made three years ago by Guardian reporter Lisa Cox, who is seeking internal departmental documents relating to the poisoning of 28.5 hectares of Monaro grasslands at a property in Corrowong.
Victoria Police are warning a toxic opioid is being sold as ketamine:
Yellow powder containing the potent opioid ‘protonitazene’ has been mis-sold as ketamine in Melbourne. Even small amounts can be toxic. Signs of overdose include tiny pupils, slow breathing, unconsciousness. Info: https://t.co/qeNC3oqFAa pic.twitter.com/9BNtpLUFcZ
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) June 20, 2022
Seven NSW climate activists facing charges after police raid
From AAP:
Seven climate activists are facing charges including assaulting police after a raid on a rural property northwest of Sydney where police say unauthorised protests were being planned.
NSW Police say when they arrived at a property in Colo about 8.30am on Sunday they were surrounded by a group of people and the tyres of an unmarked police vehicle were damaged, rendering it undriveable.
Police minister, Paul Toole, said officers feared for their lives and called for back-up from PolAir, the dog unit, the public order and riot squad, police rescue, the raptor squad and operations support group.
“They feared for their life because these extreme protesters surrounded them, they pushed them and they even slashed or let down the tyres of a police vehicle,” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Monday.
The group of about 30 were using the rural property as a training camp for more climate protests in Sydney, Toole said.
“I’m absolutely furious about the way these protesters think they can shut down Sydney for a whole week,” he said.
NSW Police established Strike Force Guard in March to prevent, investigate and disrupt unauthorised protests after activists from Blockade Australia demonstrated on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Spit Bridge and Port Botany.
Updated
Australian Energy Market Operator says power supplies have stabilised:
The current position has improved due to softer electricity demand driven by increased temperatures, the return to service of several large generating units, and other measures implemented in collaboration with network businesses to ensure maximum availability of critical transmission infrastructure.
Despite this, AEMO continues to manually direct a large number of generators to be available to meet consumers’ energy needs.
The wholesale electricity spot market remains suspended in all regions of the NEM.
We’re continually assessing the ability to lift the suspension. This will be confirmed as early as possible, giving market participants time to appropriately prepare.
AEMO can confirm that electricity supply for today and tomorrow morning has improved across all NEM regions, but conditions remain volatile. Our latest statement: https://t.co/Q6fPMofCeX pic.twitter.com/QN5bCTF6rk
— AEMO (@AEMO_Energy) June 20, 2022
Updated
Pastoralist takes supreme court action against Beetaloo Basin fracking
One of Australia’s largest pastoral landholders, Rallen, has taken its battle to stop fracking in the Beetaloo Basin to the Northern Territory supreme court.
Fracking company Tamboran is seeking to explore gas reserves at sites in the Beetaloo Basin, a site which the Morrison government helped open up using tens of millions of dollars in exploration incentives. But the company has met resistance from Rallen, owned by the wealthy Langenhoven-Ravazzotti families, who sought to block access to Tanumbirini Station, a vast pastoral holding it holds in the Beetaloo.
Rallen initially went to the Northern Territory civil and administrative tribunal (NTCAT) in an unsuccessful attempt to block Tamboran from accessing the site. The NTCAT ruled that Tamboran should be given access, but Rallen has now appealed to the NT supreme court, which began hearing the matter on Monday.
Speaking before the hearing, Rallen Australia director, Luciana Ravazzotti said:
We are looking to the legal system to secure fair treatment because the government has given Tamboran the upper hand in negotiations and allowed the fracking industry to ride roughshod over our rights.
The cattle industry in the Northern Territory is facing an unprecedented challenge from fracking which risks contaminating and depleting precious water sources and damaging the country all Territorians value.
But Tamboran managing director and chief executive, Joel Riddle, said Rallen, as a pastoral lease holder, had “no right to attempt to block lawful exploration activities”. He said Rallen had purchased the pastoral leases after the lifting of the gas moratorium in the NT, meaning it should have known that the Beetaloo Basin would be developed.
Tamboran Resources has been granted an Approved Access Agreement to the tenement under NT law as determined by the NT Civil and Administrative Tribunal, has secured all necessary approvals and is continuing with the proposed works fully approved under the terms of the Agreement.
Tamboran has been working closely with all stakeholders, including pastoral leaseholders and traditional owners through the Northern Land Council.Pastoral lease and exploration lease holders are granted overlapping tenures by the Northern Territory.
These lease holders have come to agreements across the Northern Territory and Australia successfully over many decades to manage their dual rights over public land and will continue to do so to the mutual benefit of industry, traditional owners and the environment.
Updated
Albanese urged to sign up to Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Australia will attend – as an observer – a UN meeting of countries that have outlawed nuclear weapons, parties to a treaty Anthony Albanese championed in opposition and committed Labor to ratifying in government.
Government backbencher Susan Templeman’s attendance at the meeting in Vienna on Tuesday comes as a group of 55 former Australian ambassadors and high commissioners have written an open letter to the prime minister urging the government to sign up to the treaty, which outright prohibits the development, testing, production and use of nuclear weapons.
“We hope … that Labor’s commitment to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons will be swiftly realised. Making meaningful gains in eliminating the most destructive weapons ever invented is as crucial for Australia’s security as it is for the security of people everywhere,” said the letter, signed by the former diplomats including Stephen FitzGerald, John McCarthy, Neal Blewett and Natasha Stott Despoja.
Updated
On this #WorldRefugeeDay we are pleased to hear that Ms Fatima Payman, an Afghan 🇦🇫Refugee, now an Australian 🇦🇺 citizen, has made her path towards the Senate of the @Aust_Parliament
— Afghanistan in Australia (@AfghanEmbassyAu) June 20, 2022
Many congratulations, Senator Fatima Payman! pic.twitter.com/MSExD38mpp
NSW upper house to probe John Barilaro appointment to trade job
The appointment of former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro to a highly paid trade job that he created while in government will be probed by an upper house inquiry.
Barilaro was tapped for the $500,000-a-year senior trade and investment commissioner to the Americas on Friday. He created the position when he was trade minister.
The state’s treasurer, Matt Kean, defended the appointment and insisted proper process had been followed.
The opposition leader, Chris Minns, accused the premier, Dominic Perrottet, of making a “captain’s pick”.
“He will be held accountable for it,” he said.
“How can you get appointed to a high-paying trade commissioner job – a job set up by John Barilaro before he left office – without that appointment going to cabinet?”
Updated
Potential fall in petrol prices as global oil prices dip
From AAP:
Petrol prices have returned to the levels experienced at the time of the March federal budget, but would be a lot higher if not for former treasurer Josh Frydenberg halving fuel excise for six months.
Last week the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said the cut in fuel excise saw petrol prices fall 39 cents per litre in the nation’s five largest capital cities.
However, this will come as little comfort for motorists with prices back around the $2 a litre mark and eating into their already strained household budgets.
The Australian Institute of Petroleum said the average for national petrol prices rose 6.5 cents to 205.5 cents a litre in the week to 19 June.
All states and territories saw petrol prices above $2 a litre, apart from South Australia at a whisker below at 199.7 cents.
Commonwealth Securities chief economist, Craig James, said record high wholesale petrol prices point to a 216 cents a litre retail price, just one cent below the all-time peak set three months ago.
However, he said there may be some relief for motorists ahead after global oil prices dropped on Friday on fears that interest rate hikes would slow global economies and reduce demand for oil.
“(But) prices are also being boosted by Covid-driven supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine. And political upheaval in Libya - a key oil producer - has also supported oil prices,” James said.
Updated
Former federal MP Craig Kelly’s office manager told a young female employee she was “very selfish” and “self-centred” for refusing to give him a “little thank you kiss”, a Sydney court has heard.
The trial of Francesco “Frank” Zumbo, 55, also heard covert recordings where he repeatedly referred to himself as an “ultimate feminist”.
Australian Electoral Commission makes initial election funding payments
The Australian Electoral Commission has paid a total of $713,952 in initial election funding payments to political parties and candidates. Parties and candidates who received 4% of the first preference vote will each get an initial payment of $10,656.
Participants of federal elections are eligible for public funding based on the number of votes they get, currently $2.91 per vote.
The initial payments are automatic, but parties can claim more if they can demonstrate electoral expenditure beyond $10,656. This is essentially an integrity measure to prevent people profiting off elections, for example by running dummy campaigns and receiving funding despite not incurring expenses.
The political parties receiving a payment were:
The independents receiving a payment were:
Updated
Christopher Dawson said his wife was living in a commune, court hears
At a living wake for a family friend, Christopher Michael Dawson said his wife was living in a commune west of Sydney more than 25 years after she disappeared, a judge has been told.
Giving evidence at Dawson’s murder trial on Monday, a woman said she bumped into twin brothers Chris and Paul Dawson at a wake for Phillip Day who was sick with cancer and died in 2007.
Updated
Study shows Australians back current or higher refugee intake
New research, released on World Refugee Day (20 June) shows Australians strongly support welcoming refugees into the country, and into communities.
The survey result, commissioned as part of Amnesty’s annual Human Rights Barometer, shows that 72% of Australians support either maintaining or increasing Australia’s humanitarian intake - currently below 20,000 a year - and that the majority of Australians support refugees being settled here.
“As we saw from the election result, Australians have embraced a kinder and fairer approach to refugee policy – now it’s time for the Albanese government to make good on its promise to abolish temporary protection visas as well as increasing the humanitarian intake to 30,000,” Amnesty International Australia Refugee Rights Campaigner, Zaki Haidari, said.
The research also showed support for community sponsorship of refugees, and while a new and fairer program was announced at the end of 2021, Amnesty continues to call for community sponsorship to be additional to the humanitarian intake.
“The outpouring of love and support from the Australian and Biloela community for the Nadesalingham family and the joy at seeing them going home to the community who loves them shows how passionate communities are to support people in need of safety, and how integral they become to those communities,” Haidari said.
“Australia has rejected the scare campaigns and have seen how devastating detention is on people whose only crime is to seek safety that we as a country are obliged to give them.”
The full 2022 Human Rights Barometer report will be available in the coming months.
Updated
What is the new Australian government’s position? What options does it have? And what are the next steps in the legal process?
United Australia party claims Victorian Senate seat
From AAP:
A candidate backed by billionaire Clive Palmer will join the Senate crossbench after the declaration of the vote count in Victoria and Western Australia.
Labor picking up a third seat in WA taking its numbers to 26, requiring one minor party or independent vote on top of the Greens’ 12 votes to pass legislation in the upper house with 39 votes required.
Ralph Babet took the sixth spot for the United Australia party in Victoria from Liberal Greg Mirabella, who was only sworn into the Senate in February after filling a casual vacancy left by former president Scott Ryan.
Palmer spent upwards of $100m on his national election campaign, dominating the airwaves and installing bright yellow-themed billboards around the country.
The Victorian Senate seat was the mining magnate’s sole electoral success.
Babet, also known as Deej Babet, worked as a Melbourne real estate agent before taking a tilt at the upper house.
He ran on an anti-big government platform, criticising Victoria’s lockdowns and attacking the media for being alarmist in posts on his social media page.
Updated
Australia to send $50m in aid to Sri Lanka
The minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, has announced Australia will provide $50m to Sri Lanka to help meet urgent food and healthcare needs.
Sri Lanka currently faces its worst economic crisis in 70 years, leading to shortages of food, medicine and fuel.
Australia has a close and long-standing relationship with Sri Lanka. Not only do we want to help the people of Sri Lanka in its time of need, there are also deeper consequences for the region if this crisis continues.
We will contribute an immediate $22m to the World Food Programme for emergency food assistance to help three million people in Sri Lanka meet their daily nutritional needs.
Australia will also provide $23m in development assistance to Sri Lanka in 2022-23.
This will support health services, and economic recovery, with a strong emphasis on protecting those at risk, especially women and girls.
These contributions are in addition to $5m recently provided to United Nations agencies for Sri Lanka.
Updated
The WA Senate results have been announced, with three from Labor, two Liberals and one Green to join the upper house.
The final Senate results are in - for Western Australia. WA has elected the following people:
— AEC ✏️ (@AusElectoralCom) June 20, 2022
1. Sue Lines
2. Michaelia Cash
3. Glenn Sterle
4. Dean Smith
5. Dorinda Cox
6. Fatima Payman#auspol pic.twitter.com/zUu1IkFvqA
Sue Lines, Glenn Sterle and new senator Fatima Payman will represent the government, with Michaelia Cash and Dean Smith re-elected for the Coalition, and Dorinda Cox for the Greens.
WA was the last state to confirm its Senate result, so we now know the final state of play in the upper house. Combined with the senators continuing from the last parliament, there will be 26 Labor senators, 32 from the Coalition, 12 from the Greens and six crossbenchers.
In the 76-seat Senate, it means the Labor government will need all 12 Greens plus at least one crossbencher to get a 39-vote majority.
Updated
WA Senate results finalised
The final Senate results for WA are in:
The final Senate results are in - for Western Australia. WA has elected the following people:
— AEC ✏️ (@AusElectoralCom) June 20, 2022
1. Sue Lines
2. Michaelia Cash
3. Glenn Sterle
4. Dean Smith
5. Dorinda Cox
6. Fatima Payman#auspol pic.twitter.com/zUu1IkFvqA
2022-5 Senate
— Kevin Bonham (@kevinbonham) June 20, 2022
Coalition 32 (-4)
Labor 26 (=)
Greens 12 (+3)
One Nation 2 (=)
Jacqui Lambie Network 2 (+1)
United Australia 1 (+1)
David Pocock 1 (+1)
Centre Alliance 0 (-1)
Rex Patrick Team 0 (-1)
Updated
Bandt:
What the public has just rejected, that take it or leave it policy, especially on an issue as important as climate, the greens are prepared to work with Labor in the Senate to ensure we can pass laws, but so far Labor is refusing to consider even the most sensible of changes, saying it is take it or leave it.
Well, the public has had enough of that approach and it wants political parties and independents to work together to get good climate laws to start cutting pollution.
I reiterate, the Greens are up for a conversation to see how we can land on the same page, including on targets, mechanisms, how we can bring more renewables into the system quickly, but we are waiting to hear from the government whether they are willing to talk. At the moment all the signs from the prime minister down is that the government is refusing to consider even the most sensible of changes to its climate legislation.
Updated
Bandt says Labor’s target is not consistent with the Paris Agreement:
Scientists have been very clear that Labor weak target does not do what is necessary to protect the Great Barrier Reef or Australia from the worst ravages of global climate (heating).
The United Kingdom has a 68% target because they have listened to the target. Labor is now an obstacle to greater climate action and they are refusing to listen to the will of the people who have just delivered a big mandate for climate mandates at the election.
The Greens want to be constructive and are prepared to work with Labor and negotiate around its climate legislation to ensure that we can pass laws that would start cutting pollution, but so far Labor’s approach of take it or leave it, they are not interested in talking at all.
Updated
Bandt:
These big gas cooperations often pay no tax at all and now they are making huge windfall profits out of this energy crisis and out of international events.
These big gas cooperations need to start paying their fair share of tax, including a windfall tax on their obscene profits. That money should go into helping homes and businesses get off gas and expensive power and onto cheap renewables, including by buying batteries and having greater ways of storing the renewable energy that is produced for free from the sun and the wind.
Energy ministers should not prop up the coal and gas industry. It is time ... to hold these coal and gas corporations to account, make them pay their fair share of tax, stop them from fleecing homes and businesses and fast track renewable storage by making it cheaper for homes and businesses to get solar batteries.
Updated
Greens address media on energy crisis
The Greens have been holding a press conference about the energy crisis in Sydney.
Adam Bandt says the party does not support the plan to pay coal and gas corporations to ensure there is enough energy:
Australia is in an energy crisis that has been caused by the big coal and gas operations that have taken an essential service, made billions of dollars in profit out of it and are now holding homes and businesses to ransom.
Coal and gas co-operations are the cause of this energy crisis, they are not the answer. Paying coal and gas cooperations to stay in the system for longer is not (only) flowing good money after bad but also making the problem worse.
The answer’s to stop these cooperations gouging the public and businesses and instead fast track the switch to renewables but help businesses and homes get off gas and onto cheap renewable electricity.
Updated
NSW to spend $400m on fast tracking elective surgery
From AAP:
More than $400m has been committed to fast track thousands of elective surgeries in NSW which were delayed due to Covid-19.
NSW Health secretary, Susan Pearce, says the waiting list for elective surgery has blown out to around 18,000.
Health Minister, Brad Hazzard, says $408m has been allocated in Tuesday’s budget to clear the backlog of patients who have been waiting for elective surgery, since procedures were suspended during the Delta and Omicron waves.
“What this does for the health system is add an enormous amount of additional funds to help us try and address some of those delays,” he said on Monday.
The funding will go to employing 267 full-time equivalent staff and allowing operating theatres to open at some hospitals on weekends and evenings.
NSW treasurer, Matt Kean, said the funding would ensure people could get elective surgery when they needed it.
Updated
Julian Assange ‘needs to be busted out of prison’, says Andrew Wilkie
One of Julian Assange’s most vocal advocates in the Australian parliament, the independent MP Andrew Wilkie, thinks the time for quiet diplomacy is over.
Wilkie told Sky News in an interview broadcast a short time ago it was time for the government to be more “forward-leaning” and assertive in making the case publicly for the Australian citizen who is facing extradition from the UK to the US in connection with the publication of classified information:
I think if Anthony Albanese made an unambiguous and strong public comment in support of Julian Assange I think that would be helpful at this point in time.
Wilkie added:
He needs to be busted out of prison.
Wilkie acknowledged the new government’s changed tone as “good” (it says the case has dragged on too long and should be brought to a close). But Wilkie said this changed tone “hasn’t amounted to anything” because the UK’s home secretary had on Friday signed off on the extradition.
Updated
Funding for social housing construction in Queensland state budget
Up to 1,200 new social and affordable homes will be built in Queensland as the state government faces pressure to ease housing stress on the eve of the budget.
Public funding for the new homes will come from the returns of the state’s $1bn housing investment fund, announced as part of last year’s budget.
Updated
National Covid summary
Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 13 deaths from Covid-19:
ACT
- Deaths: 1
- Cases: 837
- In hospital: 89 (with 2 people in ICU)
NSW
- Deaths: 5
- Cases: 6,076
- In hospital: 1,470 (with 58 people in ICU)
Northern Territory
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 165
- In hospital: 11 (with no people in ICU)
Queensland
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 3,055
- In hospital: 480 (with 7 people in ICU)
South Australia
- Deaths: 5
- Cases: 2,141
- In hospital: 237 (with 11 people in ICU)
Tasmania
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 495
- In hospital: 33 (with 2 people in ICU)
Victoria
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 5,661
- In hospital: 418 (with 21 people in ICU)
Western Australia
- Deaths: 2
- Cases: 4,097
- In hospital: 268 (with 12 people in ICU)
Stella Moris, Julian Assange’s wife, sees “shift” in Australian government’s approach
From AAP:
Julian Assange’s wife Stella Moris says there been a “shift” in the federal government’s approach to her husband’s case following Labor’s election win.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the extradition of Assange to the US at the weekend.
The Wikileak founder’s legal team has 14 days to lodge an appeal in the UK high court.
Moris, a human rights lawyer, said she was “feeling a shift”.
“It feels like we’ve been running a marathon for a long time, and you know, that’s hard, mentally and physically,” she told ABC radio on Monday.
“But now it feels like we have many people running alongside us and at the finish line.”
Moris said she had been “preparing for the worst” and was worried for Assange’s life while being held in Belmarsh prison.
Speaking from Melbourne, prime minister Anthony Albanese stood by comments he made late last year, where he said he didn’t see the purpose of the “ongoing pursuit” of Assange.
However, he said the government would deal with the matter through diplomatic channels.
Updated
South Australia records 5 deaths and 2,141 new Covid cases
SA has recorded 5 deaths and 2,141 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours.
There are 237 people in hospital, and of those 11 are in ICU.
South Australian COVID-19 update 20/06/22.
— SA Health (@SAHealth) June 20, 2022
For more information, go to https://t.co/XkVcAlWPSN or contact the South Australia COVID-19 Information Line on 1800 253 787. pic.twitter.com/kjZn639Bdn
Richard Marles announces visit to India and first bilateral defence meeting
The deputy prime minister and minister for defence, Richard Marles, has announced he will visit India from 20-23 June 2022.
He said:
Australia and India are comprehensive strategic partners. I am committed to strengthening Australia’s defence and security cooperation with India.
I am looking forward to meeting with my counterpart, defence minister, Rajnath Singh, and holding our first bilateral defence ministers’ meeting.
Minister Singh has been instrumental in advancing India-Australia defence ties and I look forward to working with him to enhance the defence pillar of our comprehensive strategic partnership.
Marles said India was one of Australia’s closest security partners and the government is focused on revitalising Australia’s historically deep engagement with our partners across the Indo-Pacific.
The rules-based international order that has brought peace and prosperity to the Indo-Pacific for decades is experiencing pressure, as we face shifts in the geostrategic order.
Australia stands ready to work closer with India in support of an open, inclusive and resilient Indo-Pacific.
Updated
Bowen says ‘consumers come first’ in energy market
And we are back on energy – with Bowen being asked what he thinks of the behaviour of the generators:
Consumers come first. The regulator has actioned to ensure that consumers come first. As you know, the Australian Energy Regulator wrote to all generators, I think it was last week or late the week before ...
Also, the Australian Energy Regulator is on the public record, made her expectations clear and direct last week, and she has my 100% support in doing so.
Updated
We are pivoting away from the energy crisis for a second – Bowen has been asked about Assange and gives this (wishy-washy) answer:
I’ll leave most of that commentary to the foreign minister other than to say, as you would expect, the actions and activities of Government occur in many ways and occur in many forms and I know that the Albanese government will, within the powers that we have, ensure that all Australian citizens, regardless of where they are in the world, receive our due care and attention.
Updated
Capacity mechanism will achieve ‘more renewables in the system’, Bowen says
Bowen is asked if the national plan will prioritise renewables or will coal and gas still be in the mix?
If you read the paper, it runs through the options available. It runs through, for example, the potential to provide longer term contracts to new technologies which is not coal and gas, but to new technologies to provide them for certainty and stability to get into the system.
Everybody wants to see more renewables in the system, except for, I guess, the federal opposition, who just consistently show that they didn’t get the memo from the electorate a few weeks ago.
The fact of the matter is that we’ll get on with the job because everybody sensible and serious in the conversation wants to see more renewables in the system. And that what the capacity mechanism essentially will achieve.
It will provide that underpinning so that we can ensure that the system remains reliable as we undertake this massive transformation. Much more than a transition – this massive transformation of more renewables into the grid. That’s what we were elected to do.
Updated
Bowen is asked about the Greens’ stance that coal and gas staying in use will prolong climate change:
What I’ll be focused on is getting on with the job. The Greens can have their position, but those in charge of implementing this are the ones who will get on with the job of delivering a capacity mechanism.
Which as I said, to perhaps go directly to your question, will underpin emissions reduction, assist and complement emissions reduction. That’s what we’ll do. The Greens can have their position but we’ll get on with the job of reducing emissions.
Updated
Chris Bowen says capacity mechanism will provide framework with states able to make their own changes
Bowen says the capacity mechanism will work as a national framework – but states will be able to implement energy changes of their own accord.
The states are working cooperatively with me. I said that the states could implement this in a way suitable to their needs, which they will be.
And I said that there’s a different mix of [energy] in each state ... which is a statement of fact. What we will do is provide the framework through the capacity mechanism, and that’s exactly what we’ll do in relation to the previous answer, so that there’s a national framework for that action to occur in.
That’s what’s been lacking in this country – a national framework.
Updated
Coal plants still ‘play a very important role’, Bowen says
Bowen has been asked how important coal plants are in the short term?
In the short-term, they play a very important role, absolutely. And their failure has been by and large ... There have been many factors including geopolitical, by and large what is driving the factors in recent weeks.
Updated
‘Every bit of existing technology’ needed in short term including coal, Bowen says
Bowen is asked if the best thing to do is to fix the coal power plants:
The Energy Security Board are saying that the mix of technology should be in the mix. Of course, existing coal-fired generators have to be repaired and are being repaired.
It’s the size of the challenge that we have, that they’re in such disrepair and that this has been a crisis primarily led by the failure of coal-fired power generation. And all of us have been working to fix that – private companies, states and territories and myself and Aemo. All of us.
That’s quite separate to a capacity mechanism going forward, which will need to encourage new technologies and to encourage technologies which will need the capacity mechanism to support them. I’m thinking there, particularly, of pumped hydro, which has a huge role to play, but a capacity mechanism could underpin the investments.
In the short-term, yes, of course, we need every bit of existing technology firing.
Updated
Chris Bowen says capacity mechanism will ensure reliability while energy system undergoes ‘massive transformation’
Bowen:
I’m very, very confident that the goodwill that has been displayed around the table between state and territory energy ministers and myself will continue to be reflected, and we will develop a capacity mechanism which works for the task at hand, which is to ensure reliability as we undertake this massive transformation in our energy grid to being much more renewable focused, to being focused on achieving the climate ambitions, but also achieving so in a way which does, in no sense, undermine reliability for Australians.
That’s what a capacity mechanism must do and will do. And it’s what we’ll be for in the coming weeks and months to catch up on the decade of delay. We’re working hard and fast to make sure that we get it right and that’s exactly what we’ll continue to do.
Updated
Energy minister Chris Bowen gives press conference
The energy minister, Chris Bowen, is speaking live in Sydney now.
Updated
Hello everyone! This is Cait Kelly and I will be with you for the rest of the day. You know the drill – you can ping me on Twitter @cait__kelly or email: cait.kelly@theguardian.com.
Let’s get into it!
Updated
With that, I will hand the blog over to Cait Kelly, thanks for reading.
Analysis: A look at Anthony Albanese’s past comments on Julian Assange
Returning to the prime minister’s comment that he stands by what he has said in the past about Julian Assange:
Anthony Albanese’s answer suggests he will pursue the issue behind the scenes. But it may be worth reminding readers about the comments he made while in opposition about Assange.
In mid-December last year, Albanese responded to an earlier British court ruling by suggesting Assange had already paid the price for the publication of classified information. Albanese told ABC Radio Northern Tasmania on 15 December:
Well, I’ve said for some time that enough is enough. The fact is that you have the circumstances whereby the person who has actually leaked the classified information to WikiLeaks is free, is walking around, isn’t incarcerated.
But the person who published that information remains in jail in Britain awaiting the extradition procedures that the United States is taking place.
That was a reference to former army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who was released in 2017, when Barack Obama commuted her 35-year military prison sentence in one of his final acts as president.
Albanese went on to say in the 15 December interview:
I don’t always agree with Barnaby Joyce. But what he’s spoken here is consistent with what we argued when the trial in the UK of Julian Assange found that he was at risk in terms of his mental health circumstances.
He has paid a big price for the publication of that information already. And I do not see what purpose is served by the ongoing pursuit of Mr Assange. He is an Australian citizen as well. And with that should come an obligation of the Australian Government to ensure that he receives appropriate support.
In April, Assange’s father, John Shipton, said the election of a Labor government would be a “great opportunity” to free the WikiLeaks co-founder.
Shipton said he had had several lunches with Albanese and had been assured the then opposition leader would do “whatever he can” to free his son.
On Friday two of Albanese’s ministers – Penny Wong and Mark Dreyfus – issued a statement saying the Australian government believed the Australian citizen’s case had “dragged on for too long and that it should be brought to a close” and that the government would “continue to express this view to the governments of the United Kingdom and United States”.
A recap on the push from Labor backbenchers for Albanese to remain true to his values:
Updated
David Hicks example shows Albanese could act on a ‘more justifiable case’, says Bob Carr
Sticking with Carr for a moment, I thought he also gave an interesting answer as to how instructive the David Hicks case was to Julian Assange’s situation?
(Hicks was detained by the United States and placed in Guantanamo Bay detention camp from 2002 to 2007 after attending al-Qaida training camps and meeting Osama bin Laden. He was later transferred to Australia after an intervention fro the Australian government).
Here is what Carr had to say:
If a conservative prime minister of Australia, John Howard, raised this with George Bush – ‘we’re a very good ally, we’re entitled to a bit of consideration about the legal status of an Australian citizen caught up in the ferocious and very punitive American justice system’ – then Anthony Albanese is entitled to do it about an all the more justifiable case.
This guy is not accused of terrorism. Assange is accused of publishing material given him by an American citizen who has enjoyed a commuted sentence from Washington. That’s it. That’s his offence.
And the injustice of that, and the effect it would have on Australian public opinion would be enough, I think, to have Joe Biden say, well, listen, I’m reluctant, but you guys are such good allies, out of respect for you and the great Australian people, and recognising their support for our alliance relationship, I will - I will grant your request.
But then I think Australia comes in behind that to protect the president that does the right thing by us. Let the Republicans in Washington know it was done by Australian request and don’t make an issue out of it.
I don’t think it will be an issue because it’s not front-page news. You’re more likely to have important components in American opinion, New York Times, Washington Post, say it’s the right decision because it has a bearing on the freedom of the media.
Updated
Carr says Assange case 'simmering issue with Australian public'
Just before the PM stepped up for his press conference, former NSW premier and foreign minister Bob Carr was on ABC News talking about Julian Assange.
Carr said he believed Albanese had a good enough relationship with Washington to call the US president, Joe Biden, and have a discussion on Assange.
But interestingly enough, Carr said the reason to do this was to preserve “Australian public support for the US alliance”. He said that if Australians saw Assange “in chains”, there would be a “big reaction”:
The key argument is about Australian public support for the US alliance. And all that goes with that. If the Australian public see an Australian being persecuted in this fashion, if they see footage of Assange in chains, taken out on the tarmac to be put on a CIA aircraft and taken to the US for trial, one that will be allegedly stacked against him, and then imprisonment in a very harsh US federal penitentiary, there will be a big reaction.
This will be reflected in the teal and third party sentiment revealed in the last election. You would see how Australians would see that Chelsea Manning got off with a pardon, a commutation, but the Australian who published material given to him by the brave Chelsea Manning is being persecuted and will face life in prison.
That will ignite Australian public opinion. If you want to see the demonstrations and the questions of how the alliance is working in practice, proceed with this.
My strong advice to American friends is quietly let this go, otherwise you’ll feel a hostility to the way the Australian-American alliance works, that isn’t in the interests of either country.
This is a simmering issue with the Australian public.
And I think the new government is politically astute enough to realise if this comes to a trial in Virginia somewhere, and a conviction of Assange, the sheer injustice of an Australian being treated like this, where his American partner, Chelsea Manning, being pardoned, will ignite Australian public opinion in a way that would hurt the government if it were to happen.
Updated
Issue of transgender athletes is up to sporting bodies, Albanese says
And the final question was on transgender athletes in elite sports, with Albanese only saying that the issue should not have been brought up during the election:
This is one of the reasons why this issue shouldn’t have been – there shouldn’t have been an attempt to make this a political issue during the last federal election campaign.
Guidelines are very clear that it is up to sporting bodies. They will make their decisions based upon their assessments and that is appropriate. We shouldn’t use vulnerable people, put them in a situation whereby one side or any side of politics tries to seek a political advantage over that.
Updated
Daniel Andrews says experience with Bowen 'night and day' compared to Angus Taylor
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, is next asked about the energy crisis and capacity mechanisms, and while he reiterated that he believed the future was in renewables, he added an interesting comment on his dealings with the new energy minister:
Coal and gas are still part of our mix. Are they part of our future? I can tell you I have these companies coming to me all the time. They can’t get finance for maintenance.
We can’t have them run to the exits and leave us without the base load we need, but the time has come to stop talking about transition and to get on and make it. That is why we have a partner in Canberra who knows climate change is real, knows that the cheapest and best and most reliable form of new energy is renewable energy, [which] is so, so refreshing and so critically important.
If I can finish with this – I wasn’t at the meeting, but I have had a pretty good briefing from our energy minister. Night and day, compared to however many meetings she had to be subjected to with Angus Taylor as the minister, night and day. Chris Bowen in one meeting has done more to secure our energy future than the previous government did in nine years.
Updated
Albanese says message to Sri Lanka is still that arrivals by boat 'will not be settled'
Albanese has been asked what his government will be saying to Sri Lanka (currently going through a deepening economic crisis), and what his government wants to tell people smugglers (this is how the question was framed).
The PM reiterated his position on people who arrive by boat:
That people who arrive by boat will not be settled here. Very clearly, our system is in place, of Operation Sovereign Borders.
People smugglers seek to trade in misery. They seek to mislead, [are] often run by criminal syndicates, and that is why it is so misleading to behave in that way.
We will be strong on borders, without being weak on humanity – but we will be strong when it comes to our borders. We will do, as Australia has done for a long period of time, we will look after our international obligations to do the right thing.
The right thing is not having a free for all, whereby people who turn up will be settled. We understand that there are issues in Sri Lanka and that the wrong messages are being given by people smugglers. Our message will be very clear.
Updated
Albanese says he intends to 'engage appropriately' on Assange case
The PM is asked whether he has spoken to the US president on Julian Assange, and gave a bit of a spiky response:
I have made clear on what my position is publicly. I made it clear last year. I stand by my comments that I made then.
I make this point as well, there are some people who think that if you put things in capital letters on Twitter and put an exclamation mark, that somehow makes it more important. It doesn’t.
I intend to lead a government that engages diplomatically and appropriately with our partners.
Updated
Albanese says energy policy was constrained by 'government at war with itself'
The PM is next asked about a timeline on introducing a capacity mechanism, and Albanese lashes the previous government, as well as comments in the media that have blamed Labor for the crisis:
We will work towards making sure that these issues are dealt with in a timely manner and that energy security is improved in the shortest time possible.
Let me say this – we have had almost a decade of delay and denial. We had 22 policy announcements and none delivered when it came to energy. For the first time in a decade, Australia now has an energy policy.
What has been the big constraint is a government that has been at war with itself, the Liberal party with other members of the Liberal party – including, if Josh Frydenberg’s proposal had been approved, the [National Energy Guarantee] – and it was approved by the Liberal party caucus not once, but twice. But then they decided they would knock off Malcolm Turnbull, rather than have an energy policy. That is what happened here.
The National Energy Guarantee disappeared off the platform and wasn’t replaced by anything. I note we have had one former senior minister say on the weekend: ‘Labor has had nine years in opposition to prepare for being the government and they should have solved this problem in the one month that we have been in office.’
The truth is we want to put in place measures as soon as possible. We will work ... with the energy ministers, and I contrast the work that Chris Bowen has done, sitting down with energy ministers from state and territories across the political spectrum and getting an outcome, an outcome that was never achieved in a decade under the former government.
Updated
Energy Security Board are in ‘mode neutral’ on proposed capacity mechanism, Albanese says
OK, we have moved on to energy, with Albanese asked his opinion on the Energy Security Board saying coal and gas should be included in the proposed capacity mechanism:
What the Energy Security Board have said is that they are mode neutral in terms of what goes forward and that will be left up to states, depending upon their particular circumstances. The Energy Security Board chair has an op-ed that I encourage people to read, today in the Financial Review – it outlines what the proposal is going forward.
They are also going through a consultation process that is about making sure that there’s security – if you like, it is an insurance scheme into the energy system, and that seems to me to be a bit of common sense.
States will make their own decisions and what I will do as prime minister is consult and work collaboratively with state and territory governments.
Updated
Albanese says biggest regional health issue is access to GPs
First question to Albanese is on regional health, specifically on whether a new hospital will be built in Albury-Wodonga, which the PM avoids directly answering, instead discussing wider infrastructure funding:
From my experience, the biggest issue coming to me, in terms of regional health and the crisis that’s there, is with regard to GP access. There are real issues on the ground in our regions and that’s something that has got to be addressed. It has got to be addressed, in terms of those people graduating from medical schools, who are much more likely to go into specialist services rather than to go into being GPs.
It is one of the reasons why, during the election campaign, we had a commitment in a range of areas to improving the number of GPs and where they are located as well, and in addition to that ... the former government withdrew support for telehealth for mental health service delivery in rural and regional areas. [Telehealth is] something – another way that we can take pressure off the health care system.
There will always be more demands for infrastructure than can be met in one budget but we are looking at a comprehensive way in which we can deal with these things cooperatively.
Updated
Anthony Albanese gives press conference
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has stepped up for a press conference alongside the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, just after announcing a new melanoma and cancer centre as part of The Alfred hospital which will be named the Paula Fox Melanoma and Cancer Centre.
The PM started by discussing health funding and working with state premiers:
One of the pressures that is on our emergency departments is people fronting up to hospitals because of other failures in the healthcare system. One of those is in aged care. The federal government has primary responsibility for that.
That is one of the reasons why our five point plan for aged care had 24/7 nurses at the front of it. If you are an elderly resident of an aged care facility, and you have a health issue but there is no nurse or health professional on-site, often you will be put in an ambulance and taken to an emergency department at great cost to the healthcare system than if there was someone on site, who may well be able to take what is a small or medium health issue, not an acute healthcare issue, and deal with it on-site in real time.
It’s one of the issues that we need to examine, in terms of the healthcare system. Similarly, a lot of people ... with disabilities find themselves in hospital because they haven’t got the care that they need, either in their home or through an appropriate service.
For many of these issues, the solutions are obvious and that is why Premier Andrews has identified, for example aged care but he is not the first person to do so, with respect. It’s been known for some period of time and yet when we raised 24/7 nurses in my budget reply, all we got from the former government was that it’s all too hard. It’s too important to ignore and my government won’t ignore it.
It doesn’t mean we can solve all the problems overnight but we can work constructively and that is what I will do with every premier and chief minister.
Updated
Queensland reports 3,055 new Covid cases
Queensland has recorded 3,055 new Covid cases overnight, and no deaths:
Today we have recorded 3,055 new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) June 20, 2022
We have reported 0 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Full details➡️ https://t.co/rKHIwroZeI pic.twitter.com/Qn9l7scPic
Australia sends armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine after calls for further military aid
The AAP is reporting that Australia has sent the first four of 14 armoured personnel carriers to Ukraine as part of a $285m aid package.
The M113AS4s were loaded into a Ukrainian aircraft last week after the Australian government promised the personnel carriers and 20 additional Bushmaster protected infantry vehicles in May.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, called for further military aid, particularly long-range missiles that can strike targets at a range of 150km as well as ammunition as stockpiles dwindle.
“For us to move forward we need a steady supply of weapons,” Myroshnychenko said.
Australia continues to assess further military and humanitarian aid for the war-torn country.
“We will continue to look at ways we can best help the people of Ukraine. Australia stands with Ukraine, and again calls on Russia to cease its unprovoked, unjust and illegal invasion of Ukraine,” the defence minister, Richard Marles, said.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, again condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as he pledged further support.
“Australia, like many nations, condemns the continuing unwarranted aggression of Russia against the people of Ukraine,” he said.
Our nation has stood by Ukraine since the beginning of this unlawful conflict and we are proud to be able to provide access to significant capabilities such as the armoured personnel carriers that have travelled in the past week.
The announcement comes after Russia sanctioned 121 Australians, including journalists, media heads, resource magnates and defence officials for promoting a “Russophobic agenda”.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, invited Albanese to visit Kyiv in a hand-signed letter after Myroshnychenko returned to Kyiv for eight days and met with top political and military officials.
Albanese has yet to announce whether he would accept the invitation, citing security concerns when asked by reporters on Friday.
The prime minister will be in Spain next week for a Nato meeting and may make a trip to France to meet with that country’s president, Emmanuel Macron.
Peace talks between the neighbouring countries are slated to resume at the end of August after Ukraine carries out a series of counter-attacks, Kyiv’s chief negotiator says.
Updated
David Pocock says Julian Assange’s case should be resolved ‘with appropriate urgency’
Last night, new independent ACT senator David Pocock said he believed the legal case against Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, should be resolved “with appropriate urgency”.
Pocock was speaking to the Canberra Times, and said he was mindful of the complexity of the situation, but added that it had been going on for too long:
The new Albanese government obviously has to navigate appropriate diplomatic channels with our key allies in resolving Mr Assange’s case among many other things.
But it’s also the case that this matter has dragged on for more than a decade now and I think there is a real need to resolve this with appropriate urgency.
Updated
So the Albanese government's legislative agenda could now rest on who wins the final Senate seat in WA. If Labor's 3rd candidate is elected, Labor + Greens have 38 Senate seat, 1 more for majority. Lose the seat and it's 37 seats and multi-party negotiations. #auspol
— Antony Green - elections (@AntonyGreenElec) June 20, 2022
UAP claims lone parliament seat with sixth Victorian Senate spot
The United Australia party’s Ralph Babet has won the sixth Senate spot in Victoria, at the expense of Liberal Greg Mirabella.
This follows Pauline Hanson winning the sixth spot in Queensland over the LNP’s Amanda Stoker.
The Senate is still quite favourable for the Albanese government, which can pass legislation with their 26 senators, 12 Greens, and then either one of the Jacqui Lambie Network (which has two seats, Lambie herself and Tammy Tyrrell), or David Pocock.
The Liberals and Nationals are now down to 32 seats, while One Nation has two and the UAP one.
Updated
NSW health system to get $408m to aid return of elective surgery
The 18,000 New South Wales residents waiting for elective surgeries that have been delayed due to the pandemic will be assisted with an extra $408m in funding to get services back on track.
The investment will seek to cut wait times for surgeries with an additional 267 full time equivalent staff.
NSW treasurer, Matt Kean, said:
Covid slashed our health system these past few years, and elective surgeries have been in the firing line. We’re getting elective surgery back on. This is about ensuring that people can get access to elective surgery when they need it.
The health minister, Brad Hazzard, said getting surgery back on track was a challenge:
What this does for the health system is add an enormous amount of additional funds to help us try and address some of those delays for people. There will be a challenge. Let’s say that upfront – there will be a challenge. Staff are very tired.
Health secretary, Susan Pearce, said:
We will be doing absolutely everything we can to recruit more staff into the NSW health system. That is clearly what we’re aiming to do. It’s what every state in the country is doing at the moment and indeed, across the world.
Updated
Victorian senators decided
And the AEC has also announced the winners of senate spots in Victoria, with the noteworthy inclusion of the United Australia party’s Ralph Babet over the Liberals’ Greg Mirabella:
1. Sarah Henderson – Liberal
2. Linda White – Labor
3. Bridget McKenzie – Nationals
4. Jana Stewart – Labor
5. Lidia Thorpe – Greens
6. Ralph Babet – UAP
Updated
Paying generators for guaranteed energy supply ‘only going to prolong problems’, Bandt says
I just wanted to return to Greens leader Adam Bandt’s appearance on the ABC earlier this morning, because he made some comments on the energy crisis.
Bandt was critical of a plan to pay generators for guaranteed supply, saying it would be rewarding companies who “held us ransom”:
Coal and gas are the causes of not only the climate crisis but also the problem that we’re finding ourselves in at the moment.
The idea of paying coal and gas to stay in the system for longer isn’t just going to make the climate crisis worse, but it’s rewarding those big coal and gas corporations that have been holding us to ransom.
Paying them to stay in the system for longer is only going to prolong the problems and also prolong the transition to renewables.
Updated
Perrottet says he will 'review' $25m quote for adding Aboriginal flag to Sydney Harbour Bridge
The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, was grilled this morning on 2GB about the quoted price for adding the Aboriginal flag to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Perrottet was first asked about a quote he gave yesterday, where he joked that he didn’t know why it would cost $25m to add the flag, adding he’d go to Bunnings and do it himself if he could.
But host Ben Fordham didn’t think it was amusing, demanding to know if the premier thought it was funny spending that much money on a flag pole. Perrottet said he was trying to express his frustrations:
The whole process to me is incredibly frustrating and it’s not just the time that the tape or the advice I’ve received for the department has been at the initial stage. We’re going to take a couple of years to achieve and now the cost is coming back at $25m. And from my perspective, as I was saying yesterday, it just doesn’t it seems that doesn’t seem to pass the pub test when it comes to putting up a flag.
Now the advice that I’ve received has been that it’s complex. That there are heritage concerns. All the poles will need to be replaced and that all three of them are the equivalent size of that six-storey building.
So I said that that’s it’s a it’s not it’s a simple process. It’s not a simple construction, but like your listeners are like most fair amount of people across the state, I would say that it seems to be a pretty ridiculous and outrageous cost.
Once again, I was surprised by it and I’ll be sitting down and going through line by line to make sure that taxpayers in New South Wales get value for money. This is an important project.
Updated
We are expecting the PM to step up for a presser in Melbourne soon:
Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is in Melbourne today with the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, and will launch The Alfred’s Melanoma and Cancer Centre, 10am #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) June 19, 2022
NSW senators decided
The Australian Electoral Commission has declared the winners of senate spots in NSW:
1. Marise Payne – Liberal
2. Deborah O’Neill – Labor
3. Ross Cadell – Nationals
4. Jenny McAllister – Labor
5. David Shoebridge – Greens
6. Jim Molan – Liberal
Updated
Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is in Melbourne today with the Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, and will launch The Alfred’s Melanoma and Cancer Centre, 10am #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) June 19, 2022
Home affairs minister Clare O’Neil travels to Sri Lanka
In a statement released this morning, the minister for home affairs and cyber security, Clare O’Neil, will be visiting Sri Lanka today to meet with president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and foreign minister GL Peiris.
The statement says the meetings come after a phone call between Peiris and O’Neil last week, and that the meetings today will coincide with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and Australia.
O’Neil will be discussing how Australia can deepen cooperation and assist Sri Lanka as the country faces very difficult economic times, as well as strengthening engagement on transnational crime, including people smuggling.
Updated
Good morning Australia!
— AEC ✏️ (@AusElectoralCom) June 19, 2022
We have a big morning of button-pushing ahead of us - we'll be producing results for not one, but TWO state Senate elections.
🗳️ NSW: 9:30am
🗳️ Vic: 10am
We'll be doing our best to publish a list of elected Senators ASAP after each event. Stay tuned!
Julian Assange's wife says she is 'extremely worried'
Julian Assange’s wife and human rights lawyer, Stella Moris, says she is “extremely worried” about what will happen to Assange next, while noting there has been a “shift” in sentiment towards the WikiLeaks founder.
Moris was on RN Breakfast earlier, and says she has also welcomed reports Australia are in discussion with the United States on Assange, and that she intends to appeal against Britain’s decision to approve his extradition to the US to face criminal charges:
I’m feeling definitely there’s a shift.
It feels like we’ve been running a marathon for a long time. And you know, that’s hard – mentally, physically. But now it feels like we have many people running alongside us, and we might see the finish line.
Updated
Victoria reports 5,661 new Covid cases and no deaths
Victoria is reporting 5,661 new Covid cases and no deaths overnight:
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) June 19, 2022
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAtS1P#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/y9tbvHsVLn
NSW records five Covid deaths and 6,076 new cases
NSW has recorded 6,076 new Covid cases and five deaths:
COVID-19 update – Monday 20 June 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 19, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
- 96.5% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 95% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/H3eYamSEeQ
Updated
Adam Bandt criticises Labor's 'take-it-or-leave-it' approach to climate
Greens Leader Adam Bandt is urging the government to allow a “conversation” on its climate targets, saying it has so far approached the issue with a “take it or leave it” attitude.
Bandt was on ABC News Breakfast this morning, and while he kept the door open to supporting Labor’s updated 2030 emissions reduction target of 43%, he said he wanted more discussion on the topic:
At the moment, the government’s approach is it’s my way or the highway, and the government’s been very clear that they’re not going to consider amendments there.
They’re adopting it on a take it or leave it approach, and I think that kind of hairy-chested approach from the government is what the people have just rejected, and they don’t want these kinds of ultimatums being put to parliament on a take-it-or-leave-it basis.
Now, that is not a sensible approach to something as critical as climate.
Pressed on if the Greens would take a more aggressive approach and block the legislation, Bandt said he’ll wait to see the legislation:
Well, we’ll say we’ll see what’s in the legislation. We’ll sit down and have a look at the legislation.
All I can say at the moment is that we will approach this in a spirit of good faith. We know we need climate action, we’re prepared to have discussions with the government with the aim of reaching agreement.
But it takes two to tango and at the moment the government is simply saying they don’t want to talk.
Updated
Andrew Leigh wants to lift gag on charities
The assistant minister for charities, Andrew Leigh, has declared that charities are free to speak out on a range of issues, and promised that gag clauses will either be removed or not enforced.
In an interview with the Canberra Times, Leigh said he wanted to put trust back into government, and to liberate them, adding that the previous Coalition government had wanted charities “seen and not heard”:
The Liberals wanted charities to be seen and not heard. To serve in soup kitchens, but not to talk about poverty. To plant trees, but not to talk about climate change. To help out legal clients, but not to talk about law reform.
That approach to charitable advocacy is in stark contrast with the Albanese government’s approach.
We will not enforce gag clauses in social services agreements where they exist, and we’ll get rid of gag clauses in future social service agreements. So we want charities’ voices to be heard.
In a change of pace, Leigh said he was very excited to be in the role, adding he did not think any charities minister had “ever wanted the portfolio as much as I do”.
He reiterated the Labor election promise of doubling Australian philanthropy by 2030, and that a key early strategy is to lift the “unnecessary” paperwork charities need to trawl through:
Charities shouldn’t be muzzled and charities shouldn’t be wasting their time filling out unnecessary forms.
We can also work more collaboratively with charities to try and figure out how to raise their productivity.
This is a massive sector. It’s over a tenth of employment. Nearly a tenth of GDP. There’s three million volunteers in Australia. So even a modest improvement in the productivity of charities has a huge benefit right across the sector.
Updated
Tanya Plibersek says Labor didn't cause energy crisis
Environment minister Tanya Plibersek has dismissed claims the energy crisis is Labor’s fault, saying it would be impossible for this situation to emerge in only four weeks.
Plibersek was on Sunrise this morning, and placed the blame for the crisis on “Barnaby and his mob” (in reference to former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce), and criticised the Coalition for failing to implement just one of its 22 seperate energy policies:
What nonsense. Anybody who believes this is a problem that emerged in the last four weeks is fooling themselves.
This is what happens when you have parties in power who, for a decade, spent more time fighting each other than solving the problem.
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Police charge members of Blockade Australia
Five men and two women aged between 20 and 35 have been charged with various offences including affray, damaging property, and assaulting, intimidating and obstructing police this morning.
All seven people were refused bail and will appear in Penrith local court today.
It comes after police conducted a raid yesterday at a property in the Colo Valley, where a group of around 40 people from Blockade Australia were gathered.
According to the group’s defence lawyers, protesters initially noticed strangers on the property and demanded they identify themselves.
Police will allege in court that officers were surrounded by a group of people and the tyres of an unmarked police vehicle were damaged, rendering it undriveable.
Police say officers attached to Hawkesbury Police Area Command responded to the incident as well as neighbouring commands and specialist resources including PolAir, the Dog Unit, the Public Order and Riot Squad, Police Rescue, Raptor Squad and Operations Support Group.
You can read more on the raid at the story from Christopher Knaus linked below:
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Bob Carr says Australia should demand release of Assange
Former NSW premier and foreign affairs minister Bob Carr has called on the Labor government to intervene in the case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Carr has written in the Sydney Morning Herald this morning, and says prime minister Anthony Albanese should persuade United States president Joe Biden to release Assange, in the same way former president Barack Obama pardoned Chelsea Manning, who released classified information to WikiLeaks while she was a US Army intelligence analyst.
Manning, the American who slipped the material to Assange, goes free while the Australian who published it faces extradition, trial in Virginia and the rest of his life in cruel confinement in a high-security prison, likely on the plains of Oklahoma.
In the context of Australia’s role as an ally – the heft we deliver for the US empire – a decision to let Assange walk free rates about five minutes of President Biden’s Oval Office attention.
Yet as it sinks lower on the list of democracies published by Freedom House, the battered American republic can teach the world a thing or two about its First Amendment right to freedom of expression.
Its claim to be a nation of laws is stronger if Assange, this dissident publisher, has the threat of extradition lifted. If he were sentenced to die in jail, The New York Times and Washington Post would suffer a precedent against them anytime they might want to expose bad wars and the atrocities that follow in their wake.
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Richard Marles says he wants to close submarine 'capability gap'
So we begin our daily series of politicians in the media with defence minister Richard Marles, who tells the Daily Telegraph his government will prioritise the purchase of nuclear-powered submarines able to hit the water the fastest.
He said he wants to close the 20-year “capability gap” between when new submarines were first promised by the Coalition, and the expected delivery of a nuclear-powered fleet in the 2040s.
He also said he wanted more military collaboration with the United States, India and Japan:
We really need to be doing everything we can in terms of the timing of the next generation of submarines to close that gap as much as possible.
We’re looking at having that capability delivered as soon as possible.
The former government … was all about developing its bark and did nothing in respect of the nation’s bite.
We are pretty well the opposite of that … we’re all about making sure we develop that bite.
Broadly our defence force is about Australia being taken seriously in the world.
It’s right to be where we are now, much more focused on our region, but we need to be thinking about all of those elements in the way we conceive what the defence force is for.
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Good morning
Good morning, Mostafa Rachwani coming to you live from chilly Sydney, and I will be taking you through the day’s news.
We begin with the energy crisis, after the Energy Security Board released a high-level design paper that could allow coal and gas-fired power plants to be paid to stay in business, and allow states to pick technologies suited to their carbon-cutting ambitions.
It comes as energy continues to dominate discussions after a week of near misses and requests for people to reduce their energy consumption at night.
A report from the Australian Industry Energy Transitions Initiative has outlined how Australia’s industrial economy could slash their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% and become centres for multibillion-dollar investments in renewable energy. The report says the decarbonisation transition could be possible with a range of known technologies, and would bring a jobs bonanza.
It’s budget week in NSW, and we can expect more spending and more announcements today, with the government already declaring it will invest $38m to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles by building more charging sites.
There is still much going on, so let’s dive in.
