What we learned today, Wednesday 26 November
With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening. Thanks for reading. Krishani Dhanji will be back first thing tomorrow to keep you company.
Here’s what made news:
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has held talks with the Greens leader, Larissa Waters, in an escalation of efforts to land a deal to pass the government’s signature environmental protection laws.
Inflation has climbed to 3.8% in the year to October, from 3.6% the month before, as the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, flagged he could announce further energy bill subsidies for households in the upcoming midyear budget.
The independent MP Andrew Wilkie has moved a motion in the House on gambling advertising, calling on the prime minister to respond to the Murphy gambling review and bring on a free vote on the issue.
Labor could cut some public service budgets by as much as 5% as it looks for major savings in next year’s federal budget. But Jim Chalmers denied it would mean “big jobs cuts” for the sector.
Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, has defended police plans to expand search powers in Melbourne’s CBD for six months.
See you tomorrow morning.
Updated
Victorian government sets date for formal apology to First Nations people
The Victorian government will make a formal apology in parliament to First Nations people for the harm inflicted upon them by the state and colonisers.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, released a statement on Wednesday confirming the apology will take place in parliament on Tuesday 9 December.
The apology is a key recommendation of Victoria’s nation-leading Yoorrook Justice Commission and was agreed to in the first statewide treaty, recently signed into law.
She said the government had worked with the First Peoples’ Assembly to deliver the apology through the first statewide treaty process:
We are addressing the systemic injustices of the past to build a better future for all Victorians, grounded in mutual respect and understanding.
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Coalition is worried about ‘high risk of failure’ of under-16s social media ban
The Coalition communications spokesperson, Melissa McIntosh, says she is worried about a “high risk of failure” with the looming social media ban for under-16s, holding out the prospect the opposition could withdraw support for the scheme if there were “unintended consequences”.
Appearing on Sky News and the ABC this afternoon, McIntosh said she and the Coalition backed the intent of the legislation – which, remember, was initially proposed by Peter Dutton and then supported by the opposition in parliament – but claimed there were problems.
She told Sky she felt there was a “high risk it won’t fulfil its intent”, raising concerns about children getting around the ban, as well as data privacy.
Asked if she reserved her position to oppose the scheme in future, she said “of course”.
On the ABC, McIntosh was critical of the “rushed nature” of the program, noting new platforms had recently been added only weeks out from the 10 December start date.
Updated
Labor agrees to beneficial ownership register legislation in 2027
The Albanese government has agreed to establish a register of beneficial ownership for unlisted companies with draft legislation expected in 2027, increasing transparency of shareholdings.
The change in policy was outlined in a letter from the assistant minister for productivity, Andrew Leigh, who said the government would make its “best effort” to pass the reforms in this term of parliament:
The government will produce exposure draft legislation that establishes a public beneficial ownership scheme for unlisted companies in 2027.
In the letter, addressed to the Greens senator Nick McKim, Leigh said the government would soon authorise Asic “to work to develop the technology roadmap to incorporate beneficial ownership into the companies register”:
This element had not been included in the technology roadmap.
McKim welcomed the change and said that in return, the party would support the government’s broader changes to Treasury laws.
A beneficial ownership register with teeth will ensure far greater accountability for corporations and individuals who use shadowy corporate structures and trusts to obscure their identity.
Labor first committed to implementing a public register as part of their 2022 election campaign, but failed to do so in their first term.
This letter holds Labor to account to deliver a public register.
Updated
Welfare advocates respond to ‘heinous’ new police powers to cancel payments
Welfare advocates have also responded to the government passing controversial new powers to the police minister to cancel welfare payments for people on the run accused of a serious, violent or sexual offence.
The Antipoverty Centre spokesperson and disability support pension recipient Kristin O’Connell said:
Labor have chosen to adopt a Turnbull policy they previously renounced in 2022 that entangles policing and the welfare system, undermining the rule of law and separation of powers. It is a policy that fuels prejudice towards welfare recipients in the precise way that Robodebt Royal Commissioner Catherine Holmes warned politicians against.
These extreme new laws, which involve police and government ministers in individual social security decisions, are an attack on the presumption of innocence, which we are all entitled to – regardless of our income level.
Welfare recipients have a right to be treated equally under the law, and should not be subject to punishment before having access to legal advice for any reason, ever. This heinous new law must be reversed.
Updated
Delays across Sydney trains network after wild weather
There are widespread delays across Sydney’s train network after severe weather has caused power supply issues at locations across the city.
In a statement, Transport for NSW has said trains are not running between Parramatta and Richmond, or between Parramatta and St Marys on the T1, T5 and Blue Mountains lines.
Passengers on those lines, as well as the T2 and T3 lines, are being advised to consider alternative travel arrangements, allow plenty of time and check service updates.
On the light rail, L4 services are not running between Carlingford and Rosehill due to fallen overhead wires.
It is unknown what has caused the power supply issues. Richmond recorded a high of 36.2C this morning, according to the BoM, with temperatures soaring into the 30s across NSW before thunderstorms started to roll into Sydney this afternoon.
Updated
Economists tip RBA will raise rates in May
Economists at Barrenjoey now think the next move from the Reserve Bank will be to hike rates at its May board meeting – and then again in August.
The trigger for the new outlook was this morning’s inflation report, which showed consumer price growth accelerated to 3.8% in the year to October, pushing it way above the RBA’s 2-3% target range.
While wild moves in some prices – including electricity as government subsidies roll off – will settle down over coming months, the investment bank’s chief economist, Jo Masters, said “we are seeing more inflation persistence than we had expected”.
In particular, “housing inflation is simply running too fast to be consistent with inflation at target”, Masters told clients, pointing to re-accelerating rents and construction costs .
While “clearly the bar to rate hikes is very high”, Masters said underlying inflation was likely to stay above 3% over the coming year:
There is the potential that the (RBA) board acts as soon as February.
Analysts at UBS are reportedly also now predicting a rate hike in late 2026 and again in early 2027, while financial markets are pricing in an about 10% chance of a move higher towards the end of next year.
The next two-day RBA monetary policy board meeting begins on 8 December.
Updated
Emergency fire warning for residents near Corowa
The NSW Rural Fire Service has issued an emergency warnings for residents near Corowa, which is north-west of Albury.
Here’s the alert:
There is a fast-moving grass fire burning in the vicinity of Whitehead Street, north-west of the Corowa township. If you are in the area north of Redlands Road and west of Honour Avenue, you are at risk. Seek shelter now or as the fire approaches to protect yourself from the fire. It is too late to leave.
Updated
Greens say Senate inquiry into CSIRO job losses is ‘critical’
The Greens have welcomed a Senate inquiry into job losses at the national science agency, the CSIRO.
The party’s spokesperson for science, senator Peter Whish-Wilson, says the inquiry presents an opportunity to consider the impact on the workforce and the impact on research.
The shortsightedness of the Albanese government’s job cuts to the CSIRO is negligent. Everybody needs science, and we need to defend it from attack.
Scientists deserve better and they deserve answers, indeed all Australians do.
It is critical the Senate examines how the CSIRO ended up in this position, who knew about the dire state of the agency and for how long, and why senior executives took bonuses while funding cliffs were obviously approaching.
Earlier today, minister Tim Ayres said he would support the CSIRO during this “difficult time” for the organisation.
This is a government that believes in science. We believe in investing in science. We will continue to invest in science …
I’ve watched the management and leadership of the CSIRO working through these issues with their staff.
There’s still more work to do, but they have come forward with that announcement. It is obviously a difficult time for the organisation, but with prioritisation from a government that believes in our national science institution and its capacity to serve the national interest, that is a necessary process, and I support them working their way through those questions.
Updated
New BHP mine should go ahead, Queensland environment department recommends
Queensland’s department of the environment has recommended the green light for a new BHP mine in central Queensland.
The Saraji East underground mine would mine a seam adjacent to its existing open cut mine in Dysart. The company announced the closure of another mine in the complex earlier this year, blaming what the industry calls the world’s highest coal royalties.
BHP has three mines working through the environmental assessment process.
A spokesperson for the company said the decision helps it “preserve future development options in Queensland”:
Any future decisions on capital investment or development are separate to the assessment process.
As previously announced by BHP, we are not committing to investing in any expansion or growth of our operations in Queensland, under the Queensland Government’s unsustainable royalty regime.
Lock the Gate Alliance Queensland coordinator, Maggie McKeown, said the mine would clear hundreds of hectares of koala and greater glider habitat, drain 8,857 megalitres of groundwater, emit 320m tonnes of C02 and operate until 2045:
This new coalmine exposes BHP as crying poor over royalties. BHP can’t claim Queensland’s royalty rates are stymying investment while at the same time building new polluting coalmines.
Updated
Gus Lamont: search turns up no new information on missing four-year-old
The latest search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont has wound up without finding any more information about what happened to him.
On 27 September, Gus disappeared from the family homestead in remote South Australia.
SA police have used aerial and foot patrols, drones, dogs and other resources to search for him with no luck.
This week, police learned of six uncovered, unfenced mine shafts on the property and began a new search.
But today they said they “did not locate any evidence” in the shafts, several of which were relatively shallow, others of which were up to 20m deep.
Police said in a statement:
The family of Gus have been advised of the results of the renewed searching and are being supported by a victim contact officer.
The broader investigation is continuing.
Updated
University of Sydney to divest from equity holdings that violate international law
The University of Sydney will divest from equity holdings that are in violation of international law after facing backlash from student protesters over its ties to weapons companies.
In September last year, the university established an Investment Policies Review Working Group to conduct an independent review of the position of defence and security industries in its investment policy, as well as its commitment to human rights.
The review, released in July, made a string of recommendations, including adopting a human rights commitment, divesting from any investments that derive revenue from the Defence Strategic Goods List and report to the Senate on its progress.
On Wednesday, the university’s chancellor, David Thodey, wrote to staff confirming all but one recommendation had been agreed to:
After careful consideration, the university has not accepted the IPRWG’s recommendations that it use the Defence Strategic Goods List as the basis for making divestment and investment decisions, and for reporting purposes.
The university’s investment policy currently excludes investments in entities directly involved in the manufacture of cluster munitions.
We will update this policy to extend this exclusion to include investments in direct equity holdings and publicly traded investment instruments that are in violation of international law … or involved in weapons that are banned or restricted under all international treaties to which Australia is party.
Existing direct and publicly traded investments will be reviewed and assessed against this policy with the view to divest from these holdings over the forward years.
Updated
Thank you all for following along on the blog with me today, I’ll be back with you tomorrow for the final sitting day!
I’ll leave you with the wonderful Henry Belot for the rest of the afternoon – we’ll be keep our eyes peeled for any developments on the government’s environmental reforms – it’s getting very close to crunch time for Labor.
Tl;dr here’s what happened in question time today
The opposition started on inflation, and then quickly pivoted to energy, describing Chris Bowen as a “part-time minister, full-time president” again – but this time without breaching standing orders.
Standing orders were breached – and Garth Hamilton was kicked out – when he directly called Bowen “El Presidente”. Hamilton’s exit was just after his colleague Angus Taylor was also booted for being too noisy.
The lights went out halfway through QT, cue lots of shouting and pointing at Bowen from the opposition benches, who also turned their phone lights on. (The lights came back on not too long after.)
Helen Haines pushed the PM on when he would act on gambling advertising – he wouldn’t say.
The government confirmed it would increase funding for the CSIRO, who have announced 350 science and research job cuts.
Updated
Santos says it is time for people to move on and back Narrabri gas project
Santos has responded to today’s statements by the NSW Farmers’ Federation about exploring avenues for legal action against the company’s Narrabri gas project due to concerns about impacts on groundwater.
The company says it is time for everyone to move on. A Santos spokesperson said:
In 2020, the NSW Department of Planning found in its assessment report, that it is“ difficult to reconcile the significant community concerns about the Narrabri Gas Project with the technical advice from experts that the risk of any significant impacts occurring is generally low and can be controlled using standard engineering practice and imposing strict conditions on Santos.
The spokesperson said the project had been approved by the state’s independent planning commission after consideration of the state planning department’s assessment report and other expert evidence on groundwater. They said a legal challenge to the approval was dismissed by the land and environment court in 2021:
It’s time for everyone to now move on and respect the outcome of the extensive approvals and litigation processes that have been carried out for the Narrabri Gas Project under NSW and federal laws, including recognising that the project is in the public interest and is necessary to ensure energy security and reliability for east coast gas and electricity consumers.
Updated
Question time ends
The workplace relations minister, Amanda Rishworth, gets the final dixer today, and with that, question time is over for another day – just one more to go for this year.
Updated
Government to provide additional funding for CSIRO
Will the government invest the $75m needed to stop the CSIRO cutting up to 350 science and research jobs, asks independent Rebekha Sharkie?
Michelle Rowland (representing the minister for science, senator Tim Ayres) says the government will provide the national science body additional funding through the mid year economic and fiscal outlook (Myefo), but won’t yet say how much that will be.
She also distances the government from the job cuts, saying they’re a decision for the CSIRO management.
There has been a decision taken by the government through the Myefo process to provide additional funding for the CSIRO, details of which will be communicated to the public at the appropriate time. The CSIRO continues to receive significant base funding of close to $1bn per annum from the government.
Decisions on staffing and the prioritisation of resources are a matter for the CSIRO’s board and management, and the government respects the CSIRO’s operational independence.
Updated
Bowen confirms asbestos found in some wind turbines
Nationals MP Michael McCormack takes the next question and asks Bowen (who’s getting a lot of airtime again today), about reports of asbestos being found in several wind turbines.
Bowen says he’s aware that asbestos has been found in brake pads supplied by Goldwind Australia, first identified at the Cattle Hill windfarm.
He says that windfarm was completed in 2020 – which was when the Coalition was in power.
Bowen says state regulators are currently investigating whether any other windfarms have been affected.
They may well be. There are a number of windfarms that use 3S industry lifts.
It’s the responsibility of importers and exporters to ensure that they do not import or export prohibited goods such as asbestos. We are currently working with the states, the state regulators are the primary regulators of this but, of course … we are working with WorkSafe Australia and any other agencies to work with the states to ensure every possible check is being undertaken.
Updated
Albanese still won’t say when the government will act on gambling advertising
Today is day two of the 16 days of activism to end gender-based violence, and independent Helen Haines asks the PM when the government will act to ban gambling advertising. Family violence is three times more likely to occur in families where there is problem gambling.
Yesterday the PM was asked if he would allow a free vote on the issue – he said no.
Anthony Albanese starts saying activism to end gender violence should happen 365 days a year.
Haines rises to make a point of order – the PM is more than two minutes into his three allocated minutes, and he hasn’t yet said anything about gambling advertising.
Albanese acknowledges that gambling is one of the causes of violence.
There is no question, as well, that the cause of violence can never be excused but, in many cases, that is one of the issues – along with alcohol abuse, along with so many issues that cause violence.
But he still won’t say when the government will act on gambling advertising.
Updated
Garth Hamilton joins Angus Taylor … outside the chamber
Liberal MP Garth Hamilton takes the next question and asks Chris Bowen a similar question – saying that the resources minister, Madeleine King, recently said Australia coal and gas resources will be “essential” across the Asia-Pacific for “decades”. So he asks Bowen whether he spoke to King before signing that declaration to phase out fossil fuels.
Bowen says,“ I thank the Coalition member for the bravery on asking a question about unity in this house.”
Hamilton makes a point of order, but moves off script and calls Bowen “El Presidente” which gets him pretty promptly booted out of the chamber. Bowen continues:
The member for the opposition herself said just last year, “I’m very pro-renewables because we all need to make the renewable energy transition,” said the leader of the opposition.
Perhaps it will be helpful to the opposition if I explain what a transition actually is. It’s a gradual move towards more renewable energy. It’s happening in Australia … It takes time. As it happens, the same transition is happening around the world. Now, for the first time, globally, we have more energy from electricity than coal.
Updated
ABS inflation report shows childcare costs up a whopping 11%
Jumping out of question time for a moment, the 37% rise in electricity prices in the year to October was a highlight of this morning’s inflation report, but there were plenty of other noteworthy movements.
For example, the cost of accessories jumped by 12%, which the ABS said was “due to an increase in jewellery prices as retailers passed on record high gold and silver prices”.
While most (some?) of us can handle not buying more expensive trinkets, there was plenty of pain in areas where households have no choice but to pay:
Childcare costs were up a whopping 11% in the year, as operators upped their fees to reflect higher operating costs and wages, the ABS said.
Rents rose by 4.2% annually, accelerating from 3.8% in September.
Water and sewage prices were up 7.1% annually. The impact of annual price reviews was much greater in Sydney, where prices jumped by 19.4%.
Servicing or fixing your car costs 5% more than it did this time last year, although petrol prices were only 1.9% higher.
Finally, higher medical fees and private insurance premiums drove a 5.1% annual rise in medical and hospital services.
Updated
Angus Taylor kicked out of question time
The deputy Nationals leader, Kevin Hogan, again asks Chris Bowen about the international declaration to phase out fossil fuels. Hogan asks:
Whilst working as a part-time minister, did the full-time Cop president consult the minister for trade before signing this executive order?
(Again, the question skirts around Milton Dick’s rule yesterday.)
Before Bowen gets up, Angus Taylor, who’s spent most of QT shouting from the opposition frontbench, gets kicked out. Meanwhile David Littleproud is on his final warning.
Bowen says Australia signed the international declaration back in 2023:
Yes, Australia did join with other countries in the declaration on the transition away from fossil fuels. I can understand, while this is offensive to those opposite, because it says, “We reaffirm that the best available science must guide the implementation of the transition.” That’s what Australia agreed with those countries. I know the word “science” triggers those opposite, because they find that offensive.
Updated
Lights go out briefly in house during question time
It’s been a relatively tired few question times this week, but things livened up just now when (some of) the lights unexpectedly went out – sparking the Coalition to erupt in laughter, pointing at the energy minister Chris Bowen.
You need to remember some of the recent parliament lore around the Coalition’s attacks on Bowen and reliability of the energy grid, to connect the dots that a few lights going out in parliament would become a source of mirth.
As the health minister, Mark Butler, was at the dispatch box, mid-answer, some of the overhead lights flickered off. Some stayed on, so the room wasn’t plunged into darkness, but it surprised people before the Coalition realised it fed into their attacks on the energy grid’s reliability.
Most of the opposition benches laughed and jeered, pointing at Bowen – one bright spark pulled out their phone and flicked on their torch light, soon followed by more than a dozen others, waving their illuminated screens around like they were at a concert.
It was a brief moment of levity before the house was brought back under control. Some Coalition members continued the gag, joking that they couldn’t see in the dimmer-than-usual chamber, and calling out that Bowen was sitting “in the dark”.
Updated
Bowen accuses Ley of ‘misleading’ house on full-time president claim
Sussan Ley is trying on the “part-time” minister line again – but learning from Milton Dick’s ruling yesterday (that ministers should be referred to their proper title), she changes her wording to, Bowen “in his capacity as full-time Cop president, and an energy minister working part-time”.
Chris Bowen says it is government policy that Australia supports a “just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels.”
Are you against the “just” part, “the equitable” part, or the “transition” part?
He then accuses Ley of “misleading the house”:
The leader of the opposition went on to repeat her false allegation, which she’s done now on multiple occasions, that somehow the office of president of the COP negotiations is full-time …
The leader of the opposition is either deliberately or not deliberately misleading the house. Because it is not true and has never been true.
He then goes on to call the opposition “anti-Australian” for not wanting the government to have a stronger role internationally.
Updated
Agriculture minister says bill to stop construction of windfarms on farmland would override states’ responsibilities
Over to the crossbench, Andrew Gee asks the agriculture minister about farmland that’s being used to install renewable energy projects.
Gee has a bill before the house that would stop windfarms being built on prime agricultural land, and asks if the government will support it.
Minister Julie Collins says land use is the prime responsibility of the states, and that Gee’s bill would “override” that power and responsibility.
Your proposed bill does seek to override those laws … raising significant property rights and constitutional concerns. Such implications do require careful consideration.
Australia is in a fortunate position where we can actually feed Australia more than 2.5 times over in terms of our food production. We can produce almost all of the food that we need in Australia, but we certainly understand food security is important
She adds that the government has launched a food security strategy.
Updated
Shadow treasurer and PM spar over inflation and interest rates
The shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, has made a quick dash from the National Press Club over to the house, and continues to push the PM on today’s inflation figure.
He says the treasurer’s been on a “spending spree” and today’s figures will mean the Reserve Bank will keep interest rates on hold “indefinitely”.
Anthony Albanese goes on the attack and says the opposition describe cost-of-living assistance as creating a “culture of dependency”.
In the Coalition’s opinion, if you’re an Australian who is getting cost-of-living help, we know that you’re opposed to that. Working in the public sector – well, we know that you’re opposed to them continuing to work in the public sector. Or if you’re working in essential services, you’re an economic burden …
For those opposite, they think everyone but them is a leaner.
For those playing at home, it’s a reference to former treasurer Joe Hockey’s infamous line that Australians are either “lifters” or “leaners”.
O’Brien tries to make a point of order, saying his question went to government spending. Albanese bats it away and points to the 41,000 workers the Coalition proposed to sack at the election (interesting timing bringing that up, when the government has told the public service to find savings).
Updated
Question time begins
It’s question time!
Sussan Ley is starting on today’s inflation numbers – she says the PM said the economy had “turned a corner” in recent months, but there have now been inflation increases in the last two months.
Anthony Albanese reiterates the lines from Jim Chalmers, that the lift in inflation is in part due to the end of state energy subsidies, and again points to the figures being lower now than they were when Labor first came into power in 2022.
We’ve produced one budget surplus and then a second budget surplus, and then a reduced budget deficit. And in May of this year, the Coalition managed to come up with the extraordinary formula of commitment to increase everyone’s taxes but, at the same time, increase the deficit. Quite an achievement from those opposite.
Updated
Continuing from our last post …
The government is willing to effectively prevent the fast-tracking of coal and gas projects under a deal with the Greens, while an agreement with the Coalition would involve constraining the powers of the proposed environment protection agency.
In an email to supporters, the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN) – which has campaigned for years to fix the EPBC Act – said it preferred the government teamed up with the Greens.
The email read:
As you know, the EPBC reform bills are being debated in the Senate this afternoon, with significant negotiations underway. Murray has released his offer to both the Coalition and the Greens.
The Greens offer includes most of LEAN’s key asks, and we are hopeful this will be the path forward. The Coalition offer, while clearly inferior, does not catastrophically weaken the Labor bills. We will continue to push for amendments that address our “no exemptions” ask.
We remain positive, though understandably nervous, and we know many of you feel the same.
Updated
PM actively involved in talks with Greens to broker EPBC deal
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has held talks with the Greens leader, Larissa Waters, in an escalation of efforts to land a deal to pass the government’s signature environmental protection laws.
Guardian Australia understands Albanese has not held similar leader-to-leader talks with Sussan Ley as of 1pm on Wednesday, although the environment minister, Murray Watt, has spoken with his Liberal counterpart, Angie Bell, today.
As reported this morning, the government is optimistic it can strike a deal with the Greens to overhaul the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act before parliament rises for the year on Thursday night.
Watt’s latest meeting with Bell shows the government is still pursuing a potential deal with the Coalition, although that option is considered less likely after Ley criticised Labor’s offer to them as “totally insufficient”.
Watt also met with the Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, on Wednesday.
Albanese’s direct involvement in party-to-party talks on legislation is typically a sign that negotiations have reached the pointy end.
Labor has offered concessions to both sides.
Updated
Coalition won’t support changes to property investor tax concessions
My colleague, Tom McIlroy, is at the press club and asks Ted O’Brien whether tax concessions for property investors are making the housing market more unaffordable.
No, is the short answer.
O’Brien says the issue is supply, which is a responsibility of all three levels of government, but confirms that the Coalition does not support changes to those tax concessions like capital gains tax and negative gearing.
It is key that we have a system that encourages investment in properties. And so I don’t think that is where the problem lies. The problems are multiple. This government again as we know is falling dreadfully short of its 1.2 million target of new homes …
It’s all about supply and we need to ensure that we encourage investment and therefore if you ask capital gains tax and whatnot, to be candid we don’t support changes in that regard.
O’Brien challenged on energy prices under Coalition plan
Jumping back to the National Press Club, Ted O’Brien is asked how much energy bills will drop under the Coalition’s plan – which ditches net zero targets.
O’Brien says it’s about “trust”, and that the Coalition governments of past have brought prices down, while Labor’s promised $275 reduction in household bills never eventuated.
On how the savings under the Coalition would appear, O’Brien says their plan, which would keep coal-fired power stations open for longer by stopping the “premature” closure of plants, would not require as many transmission lines to be built.
One of the economic benefits of that is you don’t have to invest so much into transmission lines, and when all of us get our bill at home, if you have a look at it, it’s probably around 50%, is your network charges. One of the benefits of the plan we have [is] cost avoidance.
He doesn’t say exactly how much prices will go down.
On the government’s modelling that it would cost $17bn to keep coal-fired power stations open for an extra ten years from 2028, O’Brien counters to say Jim Chalmers hasn’t told the public how much the government’s plan will cost.
Updated
‘Pressing need for action’ on national anti-racism framework, civil society groups say
A coalition of civil society groups are urging the Albanese government to fully fund and implement the national anti-racism framework one year after it was released.
A group of almost 50 organisations, including Reconciliation Australia, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and the Australian National Imams Council, have supported a joint statement calling for the government to prioritise the framework’s first two recommendations.
The framework, released by the Human Rights Commission last year, includes 63 recommendations.
The first two recommendations are for the government to commit to the framework and establish a national anti-racism taskforce to oversee and advise on its implementation.
The statement says:
At a time when racism and division are deepening, there has never been a more pressing need for action. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to experience systemic and everyday racism, which has only intensified since the referendum. There can be no racial justice in this country without racial justice for First Nations peoples.
Across the country, anti-migration rallies and racially-charged demonstrations are testing the limits of our rich multicultural identity.
Updated
O’Brien won’t yet reveal where the Coalition would cut government spending
At the National Press Club, Ted O’Brien is asked how the Coalition would pay for proposed income tax cuts and balance the budget.
The shadow treasurer says broadly that to spend “you have to find offsets”, but won’t reveal what those offsets would look like – promising that they’ll come before the next election (which is about two and a half years away).
It is not the responsibility of an opposition to find the offsets for a government’s spending priorities. To Jess*, I would say before the next election you will see our priorities and the extent to which that requires more spending we’ll be the ones to tell you how we will be making room for the budget to pay for it.
*Jess is a case study in O’Brien’s speech.
On whether the opposition would extend the electricity rebates (that Jim Chalmers has also been asked about), O’Brien also remains coy.
We will wait to see if the treasurer wishes to put something on the table than we will do what we always do, weight it up constructively and we will respond.
Updated
Chalmers talks up electricity rebates’ impact on inflation
Chalmers is speaking to reporters in parliament after the latest inflation data (and perhaps not so coincidentally at the same time that his shadow counterpart, Ted O’Brien, speaks at the press club).
Chalmers talks up the impact that the cutting of state energy rebates has had on inflation, and how important those federal rebates are.
What the October monthly figure, which showed a fall of 10% in electricity costs, what that shows is that the introduction and removal of the energy rebates at the commonwealth level and at the state level do have an impact on these figures. We’re seeing that in the monthly figures and also in the annual figures. One of the reasons why inflation was flat in the month of October is because electricity is down 10% and we’ve also seen the price of fuel go down as well.
Earlier this morning Chalmers said a decision on whether the rebates would be extended would be made within “the next few weeks”.
Updated
Chalmers blames higher inflation on ‘temporary factors’ as O’Brien warns borrowers can ‘kiss goodbye to any rate cut’
The treasurer has again blamed the lifting of state energy rebates and volatile items such as travel costs for the higher inflation numbers released this morning.
Inflation increased 3.8% in the year to October.
In a statement, Jim Chalmers has said the figures are “higher than we would like”, but still “lower than what we inherited”.
The tick up in annual terms in part reflects temporary factors such as the timing of state energy rebates and volatile items such as travel prices. We know that households are still under pressure and that’s why our responsible cost of living relief is so important.
Over at the National Press Club, the shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, said the inflation uptick is “extraordinary”.
With just 29 days until Christmas, this is the worst possible news for struggling mortgage holders who can now kiss goodbye to any rate cut – any rate cut at all.
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Australian Tertiary Education Commission a ‘starting point’ for future funding certainty, Universities Australia says
The peak body for universities says the formal introduction of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec) should be a “starting point” for future funding certainty in higher education.
The education minister, Jason Clare, today introduced a bill to formally establish the body that has been charged with looking at the job-ready graduates program, among other university reforms.
The legislation won’t pass this week (with only one more sitting day to go after today), despite the government initially planning for it to be established by 1 January.
Universities Australia’s CEO, Luke Sheehy, said if legislated, Atec would represent a “major change in Australia’s higher education landscape”.
In our view, the Atec needs to be a genuinely independent body to the existing Department of Education with a clear, evidence-based remit and stable and predictable funding settings.
The bill introduced today by minister Clare is a starting point. We will now work constructively across the parliament to ensure the legislation is robust, fit for purpose and ensures long-term policy stability, planning and funding certainty of the sector.
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Act of vandalism behind latest Optus outage
An act of vandalism has caused the latest significant Optus outage, affecting emergency service calls for more than 14,000 people, AAP reports.
The issue was triggered by vandals who damaged an aerial fibre line, affecting users in the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula areas, south-east of Melbourne.
The Optus spokesperson Jane McNamara said crews were working to restore coverage, with five of the six impacted sites back online.
She hoped the remaining customers would be reconnected in the coming hours.
McNamara told ABC Radio Melbourne the incident was frustrating, adding that criminals had cut the fibre that provides vital connectivity to customers.
Our technicians have been on site since early this morning. We do have that photo evidence and it’s clear that there had been a cut made.
We know copper has been removed from the pit and we have contacted police.
The embattled telco’s website still lists 14,322 services that have been impacted.
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Academic experts criticise Go8 support for Business Council position on nature laws
Ninety leading academics have written a complaint to Australia’s group of eight universities for backing the business and mining lobby’s position on negotiations over reforms to nature laws.
The Business Council of Australia went public last week with an alliance of industry groups urging the Coalition to work with the government to pass business-friendly environment reforms.
The Go8 – representing the nation’s elite universities – was one of the groups that backed the BCA campaign.
More than 90 researchers from those institutions have criticised that position and warned it would result in a weakening of Australia’s nature protection laws.
The letter says the BCA statement “does not reflect the world leading conservation research being carried out at our institutions”.
It also does not reflect the extensive evidence-based advice provided by experts based at Go8 institutions during the review and consultation processes over the past five years.
Justine Bell-James, a professor of environmental law from the University of Queensland, said:
Our institutions are global leaders in conservation research … It is disheartening that the peak body for our institutions has taken a stance on this issue, particularly one that is counter to the work so many of us do.
Prof Brendan Wintle from the University of Melbourne and the Biodiversity Council said it was “disappointing and bewildering” that the Go8 would sign on to the letter “without talking to their own experts who have worked for six years on nature law reform”.
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Andrew Wilkie calls on PM to respond to Murphy gambling review
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie is moving a motion in the House on gambling advertising, calling on the prime minister to respond to the Murphy gambling review and bring on a free vote on the issue. It’s been two and a half years since that landmark, Labor-chaired report was handed down.
Wilkie, who has been a long-time advocate of gambling reform, says the parliament has been “paralysed” despite a “strong majority” of members in the House being in favour of a phased ban on gambling advertising.
There is an urgent need for this parliament to decide on whether or not to allow individual members to exercise their personal judgment informed by their communities on the matter of whether or not there be a free vote … on a phase-out of gambling advertising.
Not only is the community sick to death of the endless gambling advertising, the community is sick to death of the way that advertising is normalising gambling, the community is sick to death at the way advertising is effectively grooming children to start gambling as soon as they can, that’s not an exaggeration.
Wilkie and independent Kate Chaney, who has also been pushing hard for the government to take more action, both asked the PM to put forward a free vote on the issue in question time yesterday. The PM refused.
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Following on from our last post …
The potential legal action would be the latest in a series of obstacles for the Narrabri gas project, which received its state and federal environmental approvals several years ago.
A legal appeal by Gomeroi traditional owners is before the full federal court after the native title tribunal twice overruled their opposition to the project going ahead. That case was delayed this week after one of the judges, Justice Natalie Charlesworth, recused herself from the case due to a potential perception of bias.
Proposed pipelines in the Narrabri and Hunter regions are also facing significant community opposition. Mike Guerin said:
It’s a sad reality that governments, politicians and mining giants seem to be deaf to these genuine and real concerns about protecting this critical water source.
They don’t appear to care about the environment or the communities that will be impacted or the billions of dollars’ worth of food that won’t be grown because of contamination.
Guardian Australia has sought comment from Santos.
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Farmers ponder legal challenge to Narrabri gas project
The peak body for farmers in New South Wales is exploring avenues for a legal challenge to Santos’s Narrabri gas project in the state’s west.
The NSW Farmers’ Federation said it had engaged legal counsel “because the risks with the Narrabri Gas Project are simply far too great to let it proceed”.
Acting chief executive Mike Guerin said the federation had engaged the same legal firm – Holmann Webb – that Queensland farm organisation AgForce used to successfully oppose mining company Glencore’s proposal to inject CO2 from a coal-fired power station into the Great Artesian Basin.
That case settled and the Queensland government legislated a ban on the Great Artesian Basin being used for carbon capture and storage.
Guerin said the federation was concerned about the potential impacts of the Narrabri project on the basin:
NSW Farmers has engaged the same senior legal counsel we used to defeat the federal government and Glencore a couple of years ago, and we are actively exploring the best way to defend Australia’s precious groundwater from mining giants.
The people who depend on the Great Artesian Basin for their water are living in fear that this project will go ahead and go wrong, like many of them do, creating tens of thousands of water refugees and forcing farmers to abandon half the continent because it’s been contaminated forever.
I’m happy to be getting the band back together on this one, because the risks with the Narrabri Gas Project are simply far too great to let it proceed.
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Jacinta Allan defends police plan to expand Melbourne CBD search powers
Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, has defended police plans to expand search powers in Melbourne’s CBD for six months.
Victoria police on Tuesday declared the CBD and its surrounds a “designated area” from Sunday, until 29 May 2026, meaning police and protective service officers (PSOs) will be able to randomly stop and search anyone without a warrant or reasonable grounds.
The decision has been criticised by human rights and legal groups who have described it as a “vast overreach”, while independent Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe said it would lead to racial profiling.
However, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Allan said Victoria police were simply “doing its job and keeping the community safe”. She went on:
Whether you’re coming into the CBD to work, to shop, to enjoy our major events or go out for a meal, you deserve to do so safely, and this is Victoria police doing everything it can to keep you safe.
She said the declaration was consistent with the new chief commissioner Mike Bush’s plan to reduce crime and “see more police out on the streets”.
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Inflation rises, hitting hopes for interest rate cuts
Inflation has climbed to 3.8% in the year to October, from 3.6% the month before, as Jim Chalmers flagged he could announce further energy bill subsidies for households in the upcoming mid-year budget.
Electricity prices were 37% higher in the year to October, which the Australian Bureau of Statistics said mostly reflected the end of state government power bill rebates.
The ABS released its first “complete” monthly consumer price index, a milestone moment that will eventually lead to the more frequent inflation number superseding the quarterly figure.
It confirmed an unwelcome upswing in price pressures that has crimped hopes for more Reserve Bank interest rate cuts, and even raised the potential that the next move could be up.
Underlying inflation, which removes the impact of large, temporary price swings like in electricity prices, lifted from 3.2% in September to 3.3% in the year to October.
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Sarah Hanson-Young urges inquiry into Optus’ licence
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says there should be an urgent inquiry into Optus’ licence.
Australia’s second-largest telco has faced significant scrutiny over mobile outages since September, when several people died during an outage that prevented them from dialling triple zero.
Hanson-Young says “Optus has failed the Australian people again”:
There must be an urgent review of Optus’ licence. They are clearly not capable of providing this essential service and keeping Australians safe.
Big telcos continue to put profit over their obligation to safely deliver the Triple 0 service and Australians are sick of it.
The minister needs to take control of this. The regulator is failing to uphold the interests of the community. ACMA can not be trusted to carry out investigations on this on their own.
Optus has been contacted for comment.
Acma asked to potentially build database of devices that can’t call triple zero
The triple-zero custodian, a newly established government role that oversees Australia’s emergency call system, has told a Senate inquiry into the September Optus triple-zero failure that it has asked the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma) to look at device compatibility issues and a potential database of all affected devices.
A Lebara customer died earlier this month after their Samsung device was one of dozens that were unable to call triple zero on the TPG mobile network due to compatibility issues.
The telcos will be disconnecting an estimated 50,000 devices that have the compatibility issue in the coming weeks, but the government has faced calls from the federal opposition to be doing more to ensure those affected are aware and have access to devices that will work.
In its submission to the inquiry, the communications department said the custodian wrote to Acma earlier this month on its focus for the end of this year and early next, including “working with the Acma surrounding device compliance and possible databases”.
The custodian also held a large-scale simulation exercise with 130 participants in late October testing the emergency call system.
Optus has also been asked by Acma, on behalf of the custodian, to hand over information on outage policies and procedures, and outage testing prior to system changes.
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Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says there should be an urgent inquiry into Optus’ license.
As Josh Taylor told you a few moments ago, Optus mobile services are out in areas of Frankston and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria following an aerial fibre break.
Optus advised on its website that it affects approximately 14,096 services, and is currently under investigation.
Australia’s second-largest telco has faced significant scrutiny over mobile outages since September, when several people died during an outage that prevented them from dialling triple zero.
Hanson-Young says “Optus has failed the Australian people again”:
There must be an urgent review of Optus’ licence. They are clearly not capable of providing this essential service and keeping Australians safe.
Big telcos continue to put profit over their obligation to safely deliver the Triple 0 service and Australians are sick of it.
The minister needs to take control of this. The regulator is failing to uphold the interests of the community. ACMA can not be trusted to carry out investigations on this on their own.
Optus has been contacted for comment.
Pocock questions logic of stripping fugitives of welfare payments before proven guilty
ACT independent senator David Pocock is on his feet in the Senate questioning the logic of the government’s plan to strip fugitives of welfare payments, before they have been proved guilty by a court:
We can’t even understand what sort of problem you’re trying to solve here.
I’m no expert in this space, but you’d think if someone is on the run, you probably want them to be withdrawing money so you can see where they are if you’re looking for them? But you’re going to cut off their money like this. It makes no sense. You surely want them to be going to an ATM?
I just do not understand what the Labor party is trying to do here.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, says the federal government has taken advice from the federal police and several other agencies:
It has been a gap identified in the social security legislation that needed to be addressed. It is an extremely rare set of circumstances that would see this power being used.
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Ley questioned about Andrew Hastie amid leadership speculation
Despite raging speculation, Sussan Ley has survived the final sitting week (so far) from a leadership spill, and says her team is “united”.
During an earlier interview on Sky News, Ley sidestepped questions on whether Andrew Hastie – one of the main leadership challengers – should be returned to the frontbench.
While not inviting him back with the offer of a shadow portfolio, Ley says she has promised as leader to “enfranchise” all her backbenchers.
My frontbench is my frontbench, but every single member of my team, every single member of my team has value to add …
And I said when I became leader that I would enfranchise every single member in policy development, I did that with energy. It took time. We got it right.
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More power bill rebates could be announced soon
Jim Chalmers says the government will decide in “the next few weeks” whether to extend household energy bill rebates beyond the end of this year.
The treasurer has said there will be no major policy announcements in the mid-year budget in three weeks’ time, but in a Sky television interview this morning opened the door to further relief.
With the Coalition hammering the government on energy prices in question time this week, Chalmers said: “We’ve been very clear and very upfront for some time now, this electricity bill relief is really important.”
It is taking some of the edge off power prices for families and pensioners and people in our communities right around Australia.
He repeated his mantra that energy rebates “won’t be a permanent feature of the budget”, but left the door open to extending the measures beyond December.
We’ll take a decision about that in the next few weeks.
The March budget extended the commonwealth’s energy bill relief fund for six months, which gave another $150 to all households and about one million small businesses, split into two quarterly instalments.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, in an interview this morning repeatedly dodged questions of whether the Coalition supported extending the power bill subsidies.
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PM grilled by school students on social media ban
The PM is facing the heat from Australia’s teenagers today, with a group of school students pressing Anthony Albanese and the communications minister, Anika Wells, on the upcoming social media ban for under-16s. It’s for an episode of the ABC’s Behind the News youth program.
The social media ban is due to take effect from 10 December – just a fortnight from today.
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Senate debates Hanson’s bill for plebiscite on immigration
The Senate are currently debating Pauline Hanson’s bill for a national plebiscite that would ask Australians if the rate of immigration is “too high”.
Due to her suspension yesterday – where senators across the political divide heavily condemned her actions – she’s not in the Senate to debate on her own bill.
It’s not the first time this has been introduced – it was first brought into parliament back in 2018, and has been reintroduced over several parliamentary terms. All legislation that isn’t passed during a term is automatically lapsed.
Once again it won’t get through – there’s no support from Labor, the Coalition or the Greens, and there’s plenty of criticism of it, including from independent Fatima Payman:
Days after reheating a stunt from 2017, the spirit of senator Hanson now reheats a bill from 2018 … nothing says serious policymaking like asking Australian to vote on a question that won’t actually change a single law.
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Optus outage hits Frankston, affecting 14,000 users
Optus mobile services are out in areas of Frankston and Mornington Peninsula in Victoria following an aerial fibre break, the telco reported on Wednesday.
Optus advised on its website that it affects approximately 14,096 services, and is currently under investigation.
Customers who need to call triple zero will need to be within coverage of another mobile network, or able to call via wifi, the telco said.
Optus has been approached for comment.
Australia’s second-largest telco has faced significant scrutiny over mobile outages since September, when several people died during an outage that prevented them from dialling triple zero.
A Senate inquiry has been examining the cause of the outage, with the next hearing to be held early next month.
In its submission to the inquiry, Optus noted there was a network uptime of 99.45% for the past quarter. Local outages are not uncommon, however. There were 332 significant local outages between the end of June and 11 October this year, the company said.
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Ley says Liberal focus remains on reducing personal income tax
Sussan Ley has promised a “compelling” economic agenda, as the latest ANU Australian electoral survey reveals Labor are now seen as the better economic managers, a mantle the Coalition has held for years.
Appearing on Sky News this morning, the opposition leader says she’s focused on reducing personal income taxes.
I said we would develop a serious, compelling policy agenda around the economy that includes … living within our means, and the next thing I said was we would deliver personal income tax cuts to low and middle-income earners, we would have a substantial package in the lead-up to the next election.
You might remember the Coalition said it would reverse Labor’s personal tax cut promised at the last election. On whether Ley would admit that was a mistake, she says, “We pretty much acknowledged that.”
She doesn’t directly address that finding by the ANU that the Coalition is no longer trusted as the better economic manager.
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Department budget reprioritisation ‘moving deckchairs on the Titanic’, says Hume
The Coalition has accused the government of “lying” by telling the public service to find savings, but it has been skirting questions over whether there should be cuts to department budgets.
On Sky News this morning, Jane Hume, who was shadow public service minister at the last election when the Coalition promised to cut 41,000 public service jobs, won’t say whether the opposition supports the move, just that she’ll be asking questions of the finance minister at estimates next week.
Where are these cuts going to take place? Because when we know, when this government talks about efficiency and reprioritisations, what all that simply means is that they’re moving they’re moving the chess pieces around, moving the deck chairs on the Titanic, but they’re not actually making the savings that they need.
These are the questions that we’re going to be asking the finance minister next week at Senate estimates. Because, quite frankly, this is the first that we’ve heard of this in February this year, finance minister Katy Gallagher came out and said, the public service is the right size.
Hume says the public service has grown “unsustainably” and wants to know where any jobs will be cut – whether in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Social Services or other frontline services.
They’re the exact same questions the government was asking of the opposition during the election campaign.
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‘Unprecedented’: Lidia Thorpe criticises Victorian police over expanded search powers
Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe has criticised a decision by state police to expand search powers in Melbourne’s CBD and surrounds from Sunday, until 29 May 2026.
The declaration of the city as a “designated area” for six months will give police and protective service officers (PSOs) the ability to randomly stop and search anyone without a warrant or reasonable grounds. The decision has been criticised by human rights and legal groups who have described it as a “vast overreach”.
Thorpe told ABC Radio Melbourne this morning it was “outrageous”. She went on:
This is unprecedented police powers. And I think [Victorian premier] Jacinta Allan is throwing us all under the bus. We know that racial profiling is a massive problem in Victoria. There’s been a recent report which the premier has seen from the Centre Against Racial Profiling that clearly points out that police profile black and brown people in Victoria. So I see a lot of harm being done from these ridiculous powers. Police have enough powers, and we see through that report that Aboriginal people, particularly, are 15 times more likely to be searched than white people.
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Education minister to introduce bill to establish Australian Tertiary Education Commission
Later this morning the education minister will introduce a bill to formally establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec), which is the body that has been charged with looking at the job-ready graduates program – among other university reforms.
As reported a little earlier this month, the legislation won’t pass this week (with only one more sitting day to go after today), with the government’s focus on the environment legislation.
It means that while the Atec is now operating in an interim capacity, the formal legislated body will only be set up later next year – despite the government initially planning for it to be established by 1 January.
Former Labor leader and University of Canberra vice-chancellor, Bill Shorten, also urged the government to take more urgent action on the job-ready graduates program this morning.
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Pocock to lead Senate motion opposing CSIRO cuts
Speaking of the CSIRO, David Pocock will lead an urgency motion that the cuts to the CSIRO, “which have led to the loss of 1,150 jobs, have weakened Australia’s ability to diversify our economy and respond to major challenges.”
The urgency motion has been co-signed with Liberal senator Claire Chandler and Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson.
It means with the Coalition and Greens, Pocock will have the numbers to pass the motion against the government. It will be the latest of several challenges the Labor has faced in the Senate – including being forced to drop its defence honours bill this week.
An urgency motion allows the Senate to debate the issue and then vote on it being a matter of urgency.
You can catch all the action this afternoon, after question time.
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‘No funding cuts’ to CSIRO says government, as agency looks at hundreds of job cuts
Up to 350 research roles are on the cutting room floor at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), but the government says it’s not due to funding cuts.
Speaking to ABC’s AM this morning, the industry minister, Tim Ayres, says the agency is still being funded “to the tune of around a billion dollars every year”.
There are no funding cuts to the CSIRO. That is the most important point.
What’s going on in the CSIRO is after 15 years of not doing a systemic review of the CSIRO’s programs of research, this management and this board are getting on with that work to make sure that all the programs of research match very closely the federal government’s national science priorities. That’s the work that’s going on here. We have funded the CSIRO fully.
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Bill Shorten urges government to reconsider property tax reform
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten, who’s now enjoying post-political life as vice-chancellor at the University of Canberra, has made a public push for the government to reconsider property tax reform.
Shorten took a progressive approach to tax reform to the 2019 election – proposing changes to negative gearing, trusts, franking credits and capital gains tax. Since that election loss, Labor’s looked at those policies like kryptonite.
Speaking to RN Breakfast earlier this morning, the former leader hinted that it might be time to look at them again.
Oh well, people had a chance for some big tax reform in 2019 and didn’t, and 49% of people wanted it. I’m not going to give advice to the government on what they need to do there. There’s no doubt in my mind that income is taxed too heavily in Australia and property is taxed too lightly. But, you know, I’ve hung up my legislative spurs.
As a VC (and we know universities hate the job-ready graduates program), he also implored Jason Clare to fix the failed scheme, but did give the education minister credit for “ambitious” reform in other areas.
We’ve got to have the overdue discussion about reforming the jobs-ready graduate program, the unloved policy child of the Morrison era.
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Chalmers won’t put a number on public service savings
While the 5% figure has been floating around, Jim Chalmers skirts around the question and won’t confirm whether there’s a hard target on each of the departments to find savings.
Speaking to ABC’s News Brekky, the treasurer is also quick to distance the move from the Coalition’s proposed staff cuts during the election.
We’re not proposing that every department cut their staff or cut their programs or their budget by 5% across the board. We’re doing what we always do, which was – we asked for suggestions and ideas for areas where we could redirect lower-priority spending to higher-priority areas.
Asked earlier on RN to respond to Sussan Ley’s accusation that the reprioritisation of resources is a “broken promise”, Chalmers says, “We won’t be taking lectures on responsible economic management from Sussan Ley or Ted O’Brien.”
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Labor looking for ‘political fix’ on environment laws, says Ley
Jumping back to Sussan Ley’s appearance on ABC News Breakfast, the opposition leader has accused the environment minister, Murray Watt, of “mismanaging” the negotiations.
The opposition has said it’s not in a “rush” to pass the legislation this week, as the government moves closer to securing a deal with the Greens on the environment protection and biodiversity conservation laws (EPBC).
She points out just how much the government is willing to compromise by offering two very different deals to both sides.
I’ve actually said to the prime minister – through the media – I’m ready, every week through summer to take a phone call from him and have a meeting and work out how to do this.
There’s the minister with two sets of amendments. One for the Coalition, and one for the Greens. They’re completely different, and [Watt’s] saying, ‘Please, somebody agree with me.’ That is a political fix, not a proper legal approach.
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Coalition’s energy plan ‘harebrained’ and will push up power prices, treasurer says
Continuing his media rounds, and joining ABC RN Breakfast, Jim Chalmers rips into the Coalition with modelling released by the government that if Australia kept all coal-fired plants open for 10 years from 2028, it would cost the budget more than $17bn.
Pressure on energy prices comes from ageing coal-fired power, not renewables says the treasurer.
Chalmers says the modelling shows the Coalition’s energy plan is “harebrained”.
What the Coalition is proposing with this harebrained approach to net zero would push up power prices and swing a wrecking ball through the budget and the economy.
The older, traditional sources of energy are becoming less reliable as they get closer and closer to closure. I think, from memory, yesterday we had parts of six major power plants out of operation, and that puts upward pressure on prices.
The treasurer adds the Coalition’s energy policy is driven “100% by the internal party politics of the Coalition party room”.
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Ley says government has ‘lied’ or ‘mismanaged’ their budget
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, says the government has either “lied” or “mismanaged” their budget, in response to Labor directing departments to find savings.
Jim Chalmers defended the move a moment ago, saying it’s about “reprioritisation” of lower priority spending to high priority projects.
On ABC News Breakfast, Ley says Labor promised no cuts of public service jobs during the last election.
Labor promised this city that there wouldn’t be any cuts … So, are they backing away from the promise? Or have things got so bad since the election that they actually have to address savings as a matter of urgency? … Either they lied to you at the election or they really, really have mismanaged the budget.
Ley, who says she previously worked in the public service before entering politics, accuses the government of “letting Canberrans down” and questions how these savings will “solve the over $1tn debt that this country is facing”.
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What’s going to happen to interest rates?
Jim Chalmers won’t speculate on whether – if inflation continues to stay out of the Reserve Bank’s target band – the interest rate could go up or down.
The treasurer says the central bank has already cut rates three times this year, but admits it doesn’t go far enough for families still under pressure.
It’s why we’re cutting taxes two more times to provide that relief that people need and deserve. At a time where this inflation is a little bit higher than we’d like and expect to see later today, the headline inflation tick up a little bit.
Over on Sky News, Chalmers is asked whether he will concede government spending has led to inflation remaining sticky. He says “there’s no evidence of that” and that it hasn’t been brought up by the Reserve Bank either.
Pete Stefanovic also tries to push him on whether the government will extend the electricity bill rebates, but Chalmers won’t give anything away, and says decisions will be taken on that in “coming weeks”.
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Chalmers defends public service 'savings' push
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, who’s doing the media rounds this morning, is next to defend the “savings” the departments have to come up with.
On the Today show, he is asked: is the government being hypocritical here, considering the criticism they hurled at the Coalition for their proposed public servant cuts during the election?
It’s different, Chalmers says:
What the Coalition was proposing was to cut tens of thousands of jobs. What we are proposing or what we’re asking departments to suggest is ways to reprioritise their lower priority spending so that we can invest it in higher priority areas.
He argues it’s consistent with previous budgets, and “all about reprioritising”.
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Clare O’Neil defends Labor’s move to make cuts in government departments
Cabinet minister Clare O’Neil has defended the government’s move to find savings in departments, following reporting yesterday that the minister for the public service, Katy Gallagher, has instructed all departments to find savings of 5%.
In the Senate, Gallagher said yesterday the reporting was “incorrect” but suggested Labor’s attempts to rein in spending was an example of “fiscal discipline” and that there would be no reductions to the average headcount in the next budget.
On Sunrise this morning, O’Neil said taxpayer dollars “are really precious”. When pushed on that (rather large) $100m spend for the BoM website, O’Neil said it was an “historic spend” and that the minister is “unhappy” with it.
There’s absolutely areas in the public service where we do need to think about making sure that we’re spending taxpayers money wisely.
On the panel with her, Bridget McKenzie accused the government of putting “Christmas job cuts” on the table.
[There’s a] trillion dollars worth of debt, $50,000 in interest repayments every single minute of every single day because they refuse to make the tough decisions and now you’ve got Christmas job cuts on the table that they’re saying won’t be cuts.
O’Neil hit back, saying the trillion dollars of debt was “racked up” by the previous Coalition government.
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Good morning, Krishani Dhanji here with you, thanks to Martin Farrer for getting us started.
As we brought to you a moment ago, time is ticking for the government to get a deal on its environmental reforms, but it seems pretty confident it can get there within the next two days – tomorrow is the final parliamentary sitting day for the year.
This morning, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is doing the media rounds, ahead of the latest monthly inflation data coming out later this morning.
Stay with us, it’s going to be another big day!
NSW doctors union case begins in Industrial Relations Commission
The NSW industrial relations commission will this morning begin hearing the doctors’ union case for a new award.
You’ll remember the state’s public system doctors took strike action in April, claiming they have the worst wages and working conditions of their profession anywhere in the country. Without a resolution reached in arbitration with the government, the commission will now be judging their case.
The union, the Australian Salaried Medical Officers Federation, says it will be the first full review of doctors’ work value, responsibilities and conditions in more than two decades and will feature testimony from approximately 100 witnesses, including 54 representing ASMOF.
ASMOF NSW’s president, Dr Nicholas Spooner, said “their evidence will show the depth of the crisis facing the NSW health system, including unsafe hours, chronic fatigue and burnout, worsening understaffing and a widening pay and conditions gap between NSW and other states.”
ASMOF will argue that the current award is outdated and no longer reflects the reality or value of modern medical work.
Our goal is straightforward. Safe and enforceable working hours. Fair and competitive pay that allows NSW to attract and retain the doctors it needs. Proper staffing levels.
This is the case that will decide the future of the NSW health system.
New bill means fines and jail time for NDIS breaches
NDIS providers who repeatedly breach a code of conduct designed to keep participants safe could face major fines of up to $16.5m in the latest federal government attempt to tighten up the scheme’s rules.
The Albanese government will today introduce a new bill to introduce tougher penalties, and even jail time, for NDIS providers who engage in misconduct and unsafe practices.
The NDIS provider’s code of conduct requires companies to take reasonable steps to prevent and respond to violence, abuse and neglect; provide services with competence and skill; and to act with integrity and honesty among other things.
The changes would increase the fine for serious breaches of the code from $400,000 to $16.5m for a company. Additionally, if passed, NDIS providers required to be registered – such as specialist disability accommodation – could face two years jail and fines up to around $16.5m if they operate unregistered.
The NDIS minister, Jenny McAllister, said the scheme must be “sustainable, effective and must operate with integrity”.
Where we see fraud, too often we see violence, abuse and neglect. This isn’t just about cracking down on the bad actors in the system, it’s also about keeping NDIS participants safe. These are common sense measures that are ready to go. We also know there’s more work to do.
Ted O’Brien to outline Coalition’s economic strategy at National Press Club
Ted O’Brien, the shadow treasurer and deputy opposition leader, is speaking to the National Press Club today, and will argue that a future Coalition government will offer a disciplined, growth-focused economic strategy to build prosperity in Australia.
O’Brien will frame his speech around Jess, a 38-year-old with two children, who he says is doing it tough under the Albanese government’s policies. In the speech, O’Brien will say Jess and her husband, Matt, live in a townhouse in the outer suburbs but can’t afford a home of their own.
According to an advance copy of the speech, O’Brien will say voters such as Jess need to be kept front of mind by politicians in Canberra.
A strong economy is not an end in itself – but a means to an end. It is the means by which Jess, Matt and their kids can aspire to a better life.
But the sad truth is that, today, our intergenerational compact is disintegrating – and all signs point to it only disintegrating further.
As Liberals in 2025, our mission must be to assure Jess and the millions of Millennials just like her, the younger Gen Zs and the younger-still Gen Alphas that we see them and we are here to serve them.
He will use the speech to highlight growing government debt, and growing government spending.
Catastrophic fire warning in NSW
A catastrophic fire warning has been issued in NSW, the first in two years, as a total fire ban is placed across Sydney and large swaths of the state.
In a statement, the NSW rural fire service said the catastrophic fire danger is forecast for the lower central west plains district on Wednesday, due to forecast high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds, making conditions dangerous:
Catastrophic is the highest level of bush fire danger and the most dangerous conditions for a fire. Your life may depend on the decisions you make, even before there is a fire.
The fire service said the safest course of action was to leave the fire risk area.
Stay out of paddocks and bushland areas during the hottest parts of the day.
Homes cannot withstand fires in these conditions. You may not be able to leave and help may not be available.
Extreme fire warnings are also in place for Greater Hunter, Greater Sydney, Illawarra/Shoalhaven, Central Ranges, North Western, Upper Central West Plains, Southern Slopes, Eastern Riverina, Southern Riverina, Northern Riverina.
Updated
Labor closer to striking deal with Greens on nature laws than Coalition
Guardian Australia understands that as of Tuesday night, the government was closer to striking an agreement with the Greens than it was with the Coalition after the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, described Labor’s offer as “totally insufficient”.
The Greens were not satisfied with their offer either, which included changes to prevent the fast-tracking of coal and gas projects, but remain in active negotiations with Labor.
Watt has signalled he is prepared to shorten the proposed three-year timeframe to subject native forest logging to national environment standards, giving further ground on one of its initial concessions to the Greens.
If Labor does land a deal with the Greens, it would mark a dramatic turnaround from 12 months ago when Anthony Albanese intervened to spike an EPBC deal with the minor party amid pressure from miners and the Western Australian premier, Roger Cook.
Updated
Labor optimistic of nature laws deal with Greens as summer break nears
Labor is growing optimistic it can land a deal with the Greens to rush through its signature environment protection laws before parliament suspends for the summer break.
The government is desperate to pass legislation to overhaul the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act in the final two sitting days of the year, finally delivering on Graeme Samuel’s blueprint to fix the nation’s broken nature laws.
The bill was not listed on the draft program for Wednesday but Guardian Australia understands it will be quickly added to the run-sheet as soon as Labor is confident it has the numbers to ram the 1,500-page bill through the upper house.
The environment minister, Murray Watt, is genuinely open to a deal with either the Coalition or the Greens and has offered a raft of concessions to both in the hope of winning the support of either side.
As we reported yesterday, those concessions failed to woo either side.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Krishani Dhanji with the main action.
Stand by for a frenetic last two days of parliament, with Labor believing it will be able to make a deal with the Greens to rush through its signature environment protection laws before the summer break. Details coming up.
And outside of politics this morning, New South Wales has woken to its first catastrophic fire warning for two years with high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds putting the lower central west plains district – covering eight local governments areas across the state’s central western river area – on alert.
A total fire ban has also been placed across Sydney and large swathes of the state.
More coming up.
