Cricket Australia postpones T20 series against Afghanistan over human rights record
A second Australian men’s cricket series against Afghanistan in as many years has been postponed due to the country’s poor record on human rights for women and girls.
Australia had already cancelled a one-day international series last year due to “a marked deterioration” in the treatment of women and girls.
An improvement in the situation was anticipated since then and it was hoped a three-match T20 series would be given the green light to take place in August this year. But Cricket Australia on Tuesday said the conditions were getting worse rather than better and decided to again call off the series.
CA made its decision after consulting with the Australian government.
A statement read:
The government’s advice is that conditions for women and girls in Afghanistan are getting worse. For this reason, we have maintained our previous position and will postpone the bilateral series against Afghanistan.
CA continues its strong commitment to supporting participation by women and girls in cricket around the world and will continue to actively engage the International Cricket Council and work closely with the Afghanistan Cricket Board to determine what actions could be taken to support the resumption of bilateral matches in the future.
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Public Interest Advocacy Centre calls on Labor to keep promise to protect LGTBQ+ students and teachers
The Public Interest Advocacy Centre has called on the Albanese government to keep its promise to protect LGBTQI+ students and teachers and not shelve two draft bills on changes to religious discrimination laws.
Earlier today, the prime minister threatened to shelve the two draft bills, citing concerns about divisive debate amid heightened Islamophobia and anti-semitism unless the opposition agrees to its “balanced” approach.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has refused to offer any commitment before seeing the proposed legislation, describing the move on Tuesday as a “set-up” to allow Labor to dump its election commitment.
The director of policy and advocacy at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Alastair Lawrie, said:
Labor went to the May 2022 federal election with clear commitments to remove the special legal privileges that allow religious schools to discriminate against students and teachers on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
The Albanese government must fulfil their promise to protect LGBTQ students and teachers in religious schools against discrimination, rather than give a veto to Mr Dutton.
LGBTQ teachers, and especially students, have waited far too long already to enjoy their rights to teach and learn free from the fear of mistreatment on the basis of who they are.
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What we learned: Tuesday 19 March
And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. Here’s a wrap of what we learned today:
Australian borrowers have been granted some additional breathing space today with the RBA holding interest rates steady for the third month in a row.
The Albanese government has threatened to shelve two draft bills on changes to religious discrimination laws, citing concerns about divisive debate amid heightened Islamophobia and anti-semitism, unless the opposition agrees to its “balanced” approach.
Mega donations of more than $1.5m would be banned under a crossbench plan to get big money out of politics.
The government has quietly removed from the notice paper for this week a controversial offshore gas bill introduced by resources minister, Madeleine King.
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has emphasised the ABC’s editorial independence, in response to complaints from the Ukrainian ambassador about last night’s Four Corners program spotlighting the perspective of Russian troops on the frontline.
New laws are set to be introduced to Victorian parliament to force career criminals to repay any wealth that they cannot prove was lawfully acquired.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says she expects “a frank exchange of views” when she welcomes China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, to Canberra tomorrow.
Energy minister Chris Bowen says today’s default market offer on electricity - with the energy regulator saying consumers can expect price cuts of up to 7.1% - is “encouraging” but that there is “a long way to go”.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) have urged the Victorian government to follow coronial recommendations and introduce a pill-testing trial at fixed and mobile sites.
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Government quietly removes offshore gas approvals bill after warnings from environmental groups
The government has quietly removed from the notice paper for this week a controversial offshore gas bill introduced by the resources minister, Madeleine King. The bill seeks to preserve approvals for offshore gas projects, exempting them from reassessment if environmental laws are tightened.
First Nations advocates including Mardudhunera activist Raelene Cooper, environmental groups, the Greens and Senator David Pocock have all warned the bill will effectively allow the resources minister, not the environment minister, to set the rule of offshore gas approvals and water down consultation requirements.
The Greens have called on Labor to withdraw the controversial amendment in return for their support for vehicle emissions standards. A spokesperson for King said:
The government is continuing to engage on the bill across the parliament. We look forward to passing this important reform which will bring much needed clarity to offshore regulations.
At an inquiry hearing on Thursday, departmental officials said the government was open to clarifying the intent of the bill. Asked if this was the reason the bill had been withdrawn, King’s spokesperson said:
As we have said, we are open to further strengthening to give everyone confidence about the intent of the bill.
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If you’re just catching up on today’s news, Mike Hohnen has our top stories here in our afternoon update:
Cyclone Megan downgraded to tropical low, but severe weather warning in place
Ex-Tropical Cyclone Megan has been downgraded to a tropical low after crossing onto the Northern Territory, although a severe weather warning is now in place for rain and wind.
Some 700 residents in the town of Borroloola faced the worst of the cyclone on Monday evening when it crossed the coast on the south-western side of the Gulf of Carpentaria as a category 1 storm.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the NT had seen rainfall totals in areas in the path of the cyclone of up to 289mm in the last 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday.
In the next 24 to 48 hours, a BoM spokesperson said some parts of the territory could see rainfalls of up to 300mm:
While Megan has been downgraded from a tropical cyclone to a tropical low, she’s still a significant weather system that is expected to bring heavy rainfall, flooding and damaging wind gusts to the Northern Territory over the coming days.
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Earlier we brought you news on the Albanese government’s threat to shelve two draft bills on changes to religious discrimination laws, citing concerns about divisive debate amid heightened Islamophobia and antisemitism.
If you missed it, Sarah Basford Canales has the story here:
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Good afternoon, everyone. I’ll now be with you until this evening.
The parliament is beginning to wind down, so I will hand the blog over to Jordyn Beazley to take you through the evening.
Thank you so much to everyone who joined along with us for the second day of the sitting. We will be back early Wednesday, where we will be hearing the same arguments we have been hearing for the past 10 years. Can’t wait! In the mean time, take care, A x
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Guiding principle on religious freedom should be whether any proposal protects people of faith, Cash says
Michealia Cash has released an official statement on the religious discrimination kerfuffle:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being unrealistic if he expects a commitment to bipartisan support for religious discrimination laws the Coalition has not even seen yet.
The briefing released following the government’s caucus meeting indicates they will not proceed with changes to the laws without bipartisan support.
Senator Cash:
We have not seen Labor’s draft Religious Discrimination bill and we have not seen their changes to the Sex Discrimination law. It is impossible to provide bipartisan support for bills we have not seen.
The Attorney-General hasn’t even released the Australian Law Reform Commission report this legislation is guided by.
Stakeholders have been telling me there are some very concerning aspects to the proposed legislation.
From what we are hearing, Labor’s laws will severely weaken protections for religious schools and how they operate. We are also very concerned with reports of a vilification clause, with a test set so low, it will threaten freedom of speech.
This legislation must be put through a rigorous parliamentary inquiry so all Australians can understand all the issues involved.
The guiding principle here should be whether any proposal the government puts forward actually protects people of faith, or whether it takes religious people and institutions backwards.”
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Major donor cap would apply equally to all donors, says independent Kate Chaney
The independent MP, Kate Chaney, has rejected Labor’s claim the crossbench is being hypocritical on donation reform.
Chaney says:
Under the bill I will be introducing, a major donor cap would apply equally to all donors, no matter who they donate to or how they donate, whether directly or through an aggregator. This simple cap model would take more than half the private money out of the system and stand up to constitutional challenge.
People should be able to support their candidate by donating their time or money. A spending cap would stop people from being able to participate by donating. It’s hard to structure a spending cap that is actually fair to new challengers, because of the significant incumbency and party advantages. I’m open to considering a cap proposal from the government that is fair, but I haven’t seen one yet.”
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Queensland deputy premier says byelection results show opposition leader could lead the state
The Queensland deputy premier, Cameron Dick, has pilloried the Liberal National Party for refusing to reveal its position on the government’s plan to upgrade Suncorp Stadium for the Olympic Games ceremonies.
Labor MPs ditched their ministerial statements in parliament on Tuesday morning with only the premier addressing the house to defend the government’s decision to reject a proposal to build a $3.4bn stadium at Victoria Park.
The government will instead go with the cheaper option of upgrading Suncorp Stadium and the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre.
Dick told reporters on Tuesday the government’s strategy was to force the opposition leader, David Crisafulli, to reveal his party’s position.
This weekend, the by-elections demonstrated that David Crisafulli could truly become the premier of Queensland. The question for David Crisafulli, it really is simple. Does he support the plan for good value games or does he support a new $3.4bn stadium at Victoria Park?
The Labor government came to parliament today to fight ... We came to ensure that David Crisafulli could no longer run away from the most important question of today.”
His comments came after LNP deputy leader, Jarrod Bleijie, said on Monday that if elected the party would go back to the drawing board and ask a planned independent infrastructure authority to make a plan.
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Labor’s Farrell says some teal MPs hypocrites on political funding
The special minister of state, Don Farrell, has accused some teal independents of hypocrisy for proposing a cap of $1.5m on political donations but no cap on spending on election campaigns.
Farrell said:
Labor is committed to this reform. We need to stop billionaires throwing their money around and trying to buy our elections. Some of the teals are saying to us that they agree with banning big money, just not theirs.”
Earlier today, teal MPs including Kate Chaney, Allegra Spender, Zali Steggall and Zoe Daniel rejected any suggestion of hypocrisy, noting that many of their donations were from smaller donations.
We’ll bring you a full news story shortly.
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ABC to meet Ukrainian ambassador to discuss Russia-Ukraine documentary
A spokesperson from the ABC has responded to criticism from the Ukrainian ambassador to Australia (which Daniel Hurst reported on earlier), saying the ABC will be meeting with the ambassador to discuss his concerns.
The ABC on Monday broadcast a documentary from film maker Sean Langan on its Four Corners program, which presented the Russian side of the experience at the frontlines in the months following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The spokesperson says:
Ukraine’s War: The Other Side is a challenging but legitimate documentary made by reputable journalist Sean Langan and first aired last month on the UK’s ITV, that offers a rare insight into the lives of Russian soldiers during the war. It adds to our understanding of this tragic conflict and shows the full, horrific impact of the war. The reporter challenges the Russian soldiers and civilians featured in the film about their beliefs and opinions.
The documentary is being seen internationally and is considered an important contribution to the reporting of the war. We believe Australian audiences also have the right to watch it and make up their own minds.
Four Corners has broadcast several programs exploring aspects of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, such as:
The ABC will be meeting with the Ukrainian Ambassador to discuss his concerns.
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Australia, UK to discuss defence, climate, clean energy, cyber, and economic security
The Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, isn’t the only international visitor to Australia, this week.
The Australian government has confirmed it will welcome the UK’s foreign secretary (and former prime minister) David Cameron and the UK’s defence secretary, Grant Shapps. The pair will be in Canberra on Thursday for one-on-one talks with their direct counterparts, Penny Wong and Richard Marles. The four will then fly to Adelaide for annual all-in talks on Friday known as Aukmin. That’s not Aukus; it’s stands for the Australia-United Kingdom Ministerial Consultations.
They will discuss ways to deepen cooperation between Australia and the UK “across defence, climate action and clean energy, cyber, and economic security”, a statement issued by the Australian government says.
Marles says it is “an increasingly complex strategic environment” and he looks forward to “working with our United Kingdom counterparts this week to progress ambitious new initiatives to deepen our defence partnership”.
Wong says Australia and the UK are “working together, including in the Indo-Pacific, for a world that is peaceful, stable, prosperous and respectful of sovereignty”.
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Dutton says Labor election promise of religious freedom bill now ‘a lie’
Peter Dutton is now saying the government “went to the election with a promise that has now turned into a lie” which is an interesting line to take, given that the voice was also an election promise, but Dutton and the Coalition called on the government to scrap the referendum because there was no bipartisan support.
One of the reasons the government is shelving religious freedoms is because it does not want to have a debate on religion in the current climate of heightened Islamophobia and antisemitism when there is no bipartisan support for the bill.
The government has learnt, through what happened in the voice referendum, what can happen when there is no bipartisan support in areas of great community sensitivity.
But Dutton is saying the government should press on, regardless, because it was an election commitment.
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Dutton protests Labor call on religious freedom legislation
Peter Dutton walked out of the house of reps chamber and into the opposition courtyard where he and Michaelia Cash held a press conference criticising the government for preparing to not move ahead on religious freedom legislation.
Essentially, Dutton is saying how dare Anthony Albanese not move forward with this, because he told religious leaders before the election he would move forward with this, and now he isn’t. The Coalition says it can’t offer bipartisan support because it doesn’t know what the government is putting forward.
But none of this is different to the position the former Coalition government took to the 2019 election. They said they would do it, but then it turned into religious freedom legislation and the Coalition ended up having to pull its own bill from the senate because it couldn’t get it past its own party room. Coalition MPs, including Fiona Martin, Bridget Archer, Trent Zimmerman, Katie Allen and Dave Sharma crossed the floor to support an amendment, which abolished the right of religious schools to discriminate against gay and transgender students.
After a marathon battle, my amendment to help protect students from all forms of discrimination has been passed. Ultimately, I could not support the Religious Discrimination Act but I am proud to have played a small part in making bad legislation better.
— Rebekha Sharkie MP (@MakeMayoMatter) February 9, 2022
Rather than have that version of the bill go through to the senate, the Morrison government pulled it.
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Inflation still high, too soon to rule ‘anything’ out, RBA’s Bullock says
The RBA governor Michele Bullock is holding a press conference on the RBA rate decision. She lays out what the board considered:
First of all, we’re making progress in our fight against inflation but it does remain high. As we have discussed before, in fact at previous press conferences, it is a challenge. It hurts everyone, inflation. And that is why it is so important that we get inflation back into a target band of 2%-3%. Recent data suggests we are on the right track but to best ensure it gets back to target remains uncertain.
We want to hold onto as many gains in the labour market as we can. What we need is a greater confidence that inflation will return to the target band in a reasonable timeframe and stay there so domestic data over recent weeks has been larger as expected.
The board believes the risks in the outlook are finely balanced and it is too soon to rule anything in or out.
The data shows a slowing in GDP growth in the December quarter, … slightly higher unemployment, slightly higher wages growth and a further moderation and inflation.
We understand that households are still bearing the brunt of this inflation challenge. We see the weak consumption data and we know there is a big cost-of-living squeeze on households. Unemployment has also picked up a bit.
Employment is continuing to grow but these are firmly on the board’s radar and that is why we are being cautious. Wages growth picked up a little further and it is expected to moderate but it may take some time.
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Question time ends with unedifying name-calling across the house
Dan Tehan then rose to complain that the terms ‘thug’ and ‘coward’ were used in heckles and he wants them ruled unparlimentary.
Tony Burke points out that in the last term of government, Peter Dutton used the term ‘thug’ 15 times.
The chamber moves on.
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Dutton says no surprise Albanese shows himself as ‘weak’ and ‘pathetic’
Question time ends but there is a bit of a mess around a personal explanation.
Peter Dutton stood up to make a personal explanation against the sledges that Anthony Albanese made in his dixer answer.
He said he had advised his Coalition colleagues at this morning’s party room meeting that the Labor party would be “completely hypocritical” in attacking the opposition on nuclear power, including on waste and safety, in light of Labor’s support for Aukus.
Dutton said he had also told his colleagues that Labor would find it hard to criticise the Coalition about the location of proposed reactors because the opposition would restrict them to the sites of “end-of-life” coal generators.
Dutton said he also made the point the Coalition had “a little more work to do” in relation to the cost aspect of nuclear power. He told parliament:
For the prime minister to come in here today to again show how weak he is as a leader, how pathetic he is as a prime minister, should come as no surprise to anyone.”
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Albanese slams opposition’s nascent – very nascent – nuclear energy policy
Anthony Albanese takes a dixer on energy just so he can line up the opposition for some sledging.
He says the opposition was telling some members of the press gallery yesterday it would announce its nuclear policy today (we wouldn’t know, as we appear to have dropped off the opposition’s list. So sad) and that today in the party room, Peter Dutton said:
There are a few details that were outstanding. Just four.
Safety, disposal, cost and location.
So apart from safety, disposal, apart from the cost and apart from where they are going to go, it is all sorted out!
Good news, team, good news.
Other than that, everything is ready to go.
We just need to buy the land, build the walls and then put the roof on and then we have a new house. Unbelievable.
In fact, it is a lot like the Liberal Party, no help to anyone today, and a waste that takes forever to clean up.
Well, we have been cleaning up their ways and it should not come as a surprise. This is a mob who thought the NBN should be built not with fibre but with copper wire.
This is the mob that were promising commuter car parks where there were no train stations.
Mr Speaker, the climate is changing but they never will. They have had 22 policies in energy in opposition and now they have come up with [some] they cannot land. They could not land in government and they cannot land in opposition.
Despite the fact they had a prime minister who would come in here with a lump of coal saying it was all OK, they did not need to act, the truth is that they left a mess when it came to … a proper energy policy. We have one and we look forward to them announcing their policy when they sort out those four little issues.
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Kevin Hogan quotes Toyota on fuel efficiency standards impact but it would say that, wouldn’t it?
Nationals MP Kevin Hogan continues to beat the completely ridiculous fuel-efficiency-standards-are-bad drum, asking:
Three of the top six selling vehicles in regional Australia are made by Toyota and will cost families up to an extra $20,000 to purchase after the new tax. Toyota’s vice president of sales Sean Handley stated it would have an impact on regional Australia and it would reverberate through the Australian economy. Will the minister concede the price of existing cars will increase [under the fuel efficiency standard]?
Missing is the context that other cars will become cheaper. Which is why this debate is so ridiculous.
Chris Bowen, who may actually now say these words in his sleep, responds:
As we said before, it is time for Australia to catch up with the rest of the world. These standards were introduced in the US in 1975, in Japan in 1995, in China in 2005, in South Korea 2006, in the EU 2009, in Canada, a country with similarities with Australia and differences, 2011. Mexico 2013. India 2014. Saudi Arabia 2016. New Zealand 2023. It is also the case that those opposite could ask why we’re not going further, because the model we are proposing has lesser standards than those in New Zealand and Europe.
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Andrew Leigh, that quiet Australian, sent to the sin bin
During that answer, Labor MP, Dr Andrew Leigh, who is perhaps respected as the biggest nerd in the parliament, was booted under 94A.
He has only published one book this year, so perhaps he needed to steal a little extra time to finish another one before the financial year is out.
But one of the quietest MPs in the parliament getting the boot for being rowdy has tickled the funny bone of the entire chamber.
(We too had to double check that Milton Dick did indeed say the member for Fenner)
Graham Perrett is next up to ask a dixer and can’t contain his mirth. He is usually on the receiving end of a 94A booting, so he’s enjoying the boot being on the other foot.
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Greens challenge Labor to take on Australia’s supermarket duopoly
Greens MP Stephen Bates continues his one man crusade to NEVER wear a tie in the house of representatives and you have to respect the commitment.
It all started when the Nationals complained Bates wasn’t wearing a tie, shortly after he was elected. Bates doesn’t have to wear a tie and to continue to trigger the tie police, vowed to never wear one during his time in parliament. It is these petty vengeances which help us all get up in the morning.
Bates:
Tomorrow the Greens will introduce a bill to create divestiture powers so we can finally break up the Coles and Woolworths duopoly and end the price gouging, powers that already exist in Europe and the US. Will your government stand on the side of Australians and take on the big supermarket corporations or will you just trot out your weak excuses about the Soviet Union and let the giant supermarkets continue to ride rough shot over Australians?
Anthony Albanese:
I’ve been waiting to get a question about the Soviet Union and I’ve got one from the Queensland Greens. Who would have had that on their bingo card?
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Hastie attempts gotcha! moment with nuclear argument but Marles fights back
Andrew Hastie is back with the Coalition’s new line of questioning ‘all nuclear is the same’.
Can Richard Marles confirm HMAS Stirling will be the home of Australia’s future nuclear reactor powered submarine fleet? Is the minister aware of any safety concerns for local residents?
The strategy here is if there are no safety concerns with the nuclear submarines, than there will be no safety concerns for a nuclear power plant – GOTCHA!
Marles:
… There will be an enormous effort in terms of putting in place safe regulation of the nuclear establishment and safety of that site. We are of course talking about nuclear reactors which are of a size that they will ...
There is a point of order on relevance after 30 seconds which is barely enough time for me to swallow a gulp of tea.
Marles continues:
We are of course talking about a nuclear reactor of a size which will power a single machine.
That’s what we’re talking about in terms of the nuclear reactors that are within the submarines.
And we understand the sensitivity involved here and the safety that needs to be put in place. These are not nuclear reactors of the size, for example, which would power cities.
These are not nuclear reactors of those sites. And they do not generate the same amount of material of a nuclear reactor which might, for example, power a city.
And we understand the sensitivity that would be involved in giving assurance to the Australian people about where reactors which power cities might reside and where the nuclear material that comes from those reactors would be stored.
That is on a completely different scale to what we’re describing in terms of a nuclear reactor which powers a single machine. Those opposite are trying to draw some comparison to them and nuclear reactors which power cities. That is the difference here. It will be completely safe. They’re positing something entirely different.
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Telcos ‘on notice’ to solve Triple Zero 3G/4G problem, Rowland says
Michelle Rowland takes a dixer on the switch from 3G networks to 4G and what this means for people who rely on the 3G network, particularly when it comes to being able to call Triple Zero. Some handsets use 4G for voice calls and data but are configured to switch to 3G for 000 calls. Rowland has asked the big telcos to identify those customers who would be impacted and says that so far, the response from the big telcos has not been good enough, so she has asked for a new plan.
I’ve asked Telstra, Optus and TPG to give me their action plans by March 25 and fortnightly updates and told CEOs directly they must have easier ways to check if their handset is affected.
The government takes this issue extremely seriously and will continue to monitor the switchovers and note options exist in law, including potential proposals to delay 3G switchovers if that is in the public interest and subject to consultation processes.
Australians rightly expect the 000 service can be relied on when they need it. It’s one of the most critical public interest requirements for mobile carriers. The industry is now on notice to resolve this as an absolute priority.
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Housing support program starts next week, says King
Indi independent Dr Helen Haines asks:
Last year I welcomed the government’s announcement of the $500m housing support program to fund housing enabling infrastructure. It’s what I’ve been calling for for almost two years. Now more than seven months later, there are no guidelines, no applications, no dollars, no new houses. When will housing supports program money actually start to flow?
Catherine King takes this one:
I am very pleased to advise the member that it is the intention of myself and my colleague, the minister for housing, to open this program next week. In terms of this, it will be the first round of the program in addressing planning capacity, with the second round to be focused on infrastructure and services to be opened shortly. This program of course forms part of the commitment to addressing housing supply and affordability.
And it includes the $10bn housing Australia future fund to support the delivery of new social and affordable rental homes, the $3bn through the new homes bonus to incentivise states and territories to build 1.2m homes [and] $2bn to permanently increase the stock of social housing.
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Labor won’t rule out any state or territory for nuclear waste dumps
Andrew Hastie is up next and asks:
When will the government announce where the nuclear waste and end-of-life reactors of the nuclear submarines will be stored? Can the minister rule out any state or territory?
Defence minister Richard Marles says:
We won’t rule out any state or territory. But in answer to the first part of the question, the first nuclear reactor that we will need to be dealing with comes in to play in about the 2050s.
So we do have time in which to go through a process by which we determine where that nuclear waste will be stored. Part of being a responsible nuclear steward in the context of Aukus is that we take responsibility for the full nuclear cycle, which includes the disposal of the reactors. We take that very seriously.
We have indicated that we will go through an exhaustive process to assess where that will occur.
The one statement that we’ve made about where is that it will happen on the current or future defence estate.
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Monetary policy tightening is working, CreditorWatch economist says
CreditorWatch’s Chief Economist, Anneke Thompson has some thoughts on the interest rate decision, saying it comes as “no surprise given the lack of any meaningful data pointing to the economy continuing to overheat and further threaten inflation rises”.
In fact, national accounts data released earlier in the month provided solid evidence that monetary policy tightening is having its intended impact on domestic demand. Gross domestic product (GDP) only grew by 0.2% over the December quarter, and by 1.5% through the year. On a per capita basis, GDP has been negative now for three straight quarters, indicating that we are in a ‘per capita’ recession.
So if you are feeling like things are particularly tight, it is not in your head. It is.
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Jim Chalmers has responded to the RBA rates hold announcement:
This decision is a reflection of the good progress we’re making as a country in the fight against inflation. It gives us confidence that inflation is moderating in welcome and encouraging ways.
Coalition moves on the hot topic of nuclear waste
Sussan Ley has the next non-dixer and asks:
The Minister has previously applauded Lucas Heights as the home of Australia’s nuclear capabilities.
In 2023 he declared, “Australia will celebrate 70 years of safe and practical stewardship of nuclear reactors and associated technologies.” Can the minister inform the house where the nuclear waste from Lucas Heights is stored?
Yup. We are going here.
Ed Husic gets a rare non-dixer appearance. (A dixer is a question written by the government, usually the tactics committee, for a government backbencher to ask a government minister.) he says:
As the deputy leader of the opposition knows, this has been a long running issue. Some of that waste is being stored on site while we’re waiting to actually find a location to store it long term. You heralded in the last parliament a proposed solution about how this would all work out and then the courts found that was all non-workable and all stuffed up.
All as a results of those opposite. ANSTO has informed me they are quite able to store in the short term those low levels of radio affected waste, while a longer term answer is found. We’re welcome but are not holding our breaths for a bipartisan response or approach to that. In the absence of that, we’ll get the job done.
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Angus Taylor has entered the building!
Angus Taylor has been spotted! The shadow treasurer hasn’t been the most prominent member of the shadow ministry lately, which is unusual for both Taylor and for the person who holds the shadow treasury position.
He asks Jim Chalmers:
The latest national accounts confirm that Australia is in an entrenched per capita recession or a family recession. At the same time, disposable income per person, living standards, have collapsed by 7.5% under Labor. Right now, population growth is the only thing left growing the economy. Treasurer, why are hard-working families paying the price for this government’s failed economic management?
Chalmers responds:
To those of you watching at home who thought that the shadow treasurer had been replaced, the good news, particularly for me, is that he hasn’t.
The member for Hume survived the reshuffle on those opposite, not that you would know, Mr Speaker. That is the second question I’ve got in about seven months, so I’m pleased for the opportunity to be able to answer it.
The shadow treasurer asked me about economic management and I am absolutely delighted to get a question from him about economic management because it gives me the opportunity to explain to him and to the house and to the country the progress that has been made in cleaning up the mess that he and his colleagues on the front bench. If we take, for example, real wages, they are growing again in our economy.
They were going backwards 3.4% when we came to office and now they’re growing ahead of schedule. When we came to office, quarterly inflation was three times higher than it is now. It’s now a third of what those opposite left behind, Mr Speaker. When it comes to productivity, we’ve had a couple of welcome quarters of productivity quarters in the national accounts that the shadow treasurer referenced.
It goes on, but you know where it is going.
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RBA leaves cash rate unchanged for third time in a row
As expected, the Reserve Bank has left the cash rate unchanged for a third meeting in a row at 4.35%.
The central bank’s decision was widely expected by economists. We’ll hear more from RBA governor Michele Bullock at the RBA’s outlook in a media conference starting in about an hour’s time.
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Albanese defends talking to Coalition about political donations reform
Anthony Albanese:
We have had a long position in the Labor Party, something that was overturned by the former government, something that goes back to the period of the Hawke and Keating governments, indeed that was then overturned by the Howard government.
Then there was reform under the Labor government, then those were overturned further on.
We are consulting very broadly, including with members and representatives of the crossbench and the major parties as well as across the major parties to see if reform, as proposed by Minister Farrell, can receive very broad support.
Because one of the objectives that we have here is to land reform that stays, not reform that comes and then goes with changes of government. My view has been very clear, that there needs to be transparency when it comes to political donations, that there needs to be a stopping to give just one example, of the sort of largesse that we saw from Clive Palmer during the last two election campaigns.
I don’t think it is tenable at all to have the sort of dollars washing around the system such as occurs in the United States. I think that is unhealthy. I think it undermines our democracy and I think that – though I make no apologies for the fact that we will engage, as I have engaged with the member for Curtin and other crossbenchers at meetings that have been held about these issues. I’ll continue to do so. Senator Farrell, as the minister, will continue to make himself available to see if we can, indeed, en trench greater support for our democracy. I realise there are a range of changes in technology and changes in practice that are undermining faith in our democracy.
We promised to have a National Anti-Corruption Commission up and running. We did that in record time. Promised previously by former governments, delivered by this government, consistent with our approach of cleaning up politics.
Labor has been making the case for bipartisanship and making a virtue of the Coalition coming on board for its reforms, as Paul Karp has been reporting. Which gives you some indication of where these reforms are going.
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Independent Kate Chaney questions whether major parties colluding on donations bill
Independent MP Kate Chaney has the first of the crossbench questions and she asks Anthony Albanese:
You’ve said you’ll make political donations transparent, ban lies in political ads and limit financial influence in elections. The next election is looming. Given the high public interest in this issue, will the parliament and the public have an opportunity to comment on an exposure draft? Or will we be presented by a bill by the major parties that’s designed to lock out political competition?
Albanese opens with a tone he usually reserves for Max Chandler-Mather as he says:
With respect to the member for Curtin, I say to the member for Curtin that the lobbying on this issue has not been exclusively from people in the major parties and if the member for Curtin wants me to talk about some of the lobbying that’s going on, including from the crossbenches, I’m happy to do so ... because one of the issuesthat does need transparency is the issue of political donations.
Not sure what the point of that is, given that the government has made a point of working with the crossbench, because electorally it aids the government for the teal crossbenchers to keep their former blue ribbon Liberal seats.
Albanese then switches gear and goes back to his usual way of speaking to a teal MP – quite conciliatory, while promising nothing.
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Melissa McIntosh tries to raise a point of order on relevance, but Milton Dick says no point of order and Chris Bowen finishes his one-man monologue: ‘Power prices – good news today, more work to be done’.
Having seen several performances this morning, I will spare you the rest.
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Coalition’s Melissa McIntosh deploys another BBQ stopper – energy prices
Melissa McIntosh, who is new to the shadow front bench (which now has more people sitting on it than the backbench) asks Chris Bowen a question with her new title of shadow minister for energy affordability and shadow minister for western Sydney:
This government promised Australians a $275 cut on their electricity bill by 2025, but households in my electorate of Lindsey are owed a $1,027 cut to deliver on this promise. Today’s release of draft regulator prices for electricity confirm this government’s failure to deliver, with annual bills in western Sydney up 37% on early 2022. Will the minister admit this promise will never be delivered?
Chris Bowen brings in his script from his media appearances this morning:
I thank the honourable member for her question and what the announcement by the Australian Energy Regulator today shows is that energy prices are stabilising and falling after the biggest energy crisis the world has seen in 50 years.
And I would have thought that is welcome news for the house.
Now, nobody should underestimate the cost-of-living pressures that the Australian people are under and the need to be constantly vigilant to do more to help Australians with those prices, but it is a welcome fact that the honourable member’s constituents are on the Endeavour Energy network and they would have received a residential reduction in prices of up to 7% and small businesses on the Endeavour network, which covers the honourable member’s electorate, received a reduction of 4.4%.
That’s a good thing and we welcome it, while recognising that there is much, much more work to do. Now, these announcements today by the Energy Regulator are a result of several events. They are a result of the coal and gas caps put in place by this government, which those opposite voted against.
They are the result of reducing international pressure. We pointed to the international pressure when prices went up and we point to those when prices go down. They’re the result of getting more renewables into the grid, because renewables are the cheapest form of energy. Always sets them off, but it’s true. And it’s also the result that myself, as the federal minister, supported by state ministers, went to the Energy Regulator to prioritise the needs of consumers, which overturned a previous request from the former minister for energy changing that direction to the Australian Energy Regulator, and that has been reflected in the results today and these are all positive developments and a welcome development in the face of ongoing pressures.
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Sky didn’t ‘fall in’ after 60-day dispensing rule introduced, Butler quips
Mark Butler is having a good day.
Maybe not an Ice Cube style good day, but a ministerial good day – which is less MTV and more nerdy.
In Butler’s case, it is about what has happened since the government changed regulations to allow for 60-day dispensing, which the Pharmacist Guild (fancy name for a pharmacist union) and the Coalition said would bring about the end of community pharmacy.
Butler:
Of course, the opposition voted against those cheaper medicines measures and they said the sky would fall in if we proceeded with them.
Instead, I’m happy to report the number of applications to open a new pharmacy has been 50% higher since we announced that measure than the same period before and I am delighted about that because our government wants cheaper medicines and a strong community pharmacy sector, a pharmacy sector in strong financial health delivering even more services to Australian patients.
And that’s why I’m also delighted that 3,000 pharmacies so far have signed up to become providers of the national immunisation program since we allowed them to do that since January 1 and that’s why I’m delighted that we signed a heads of agreement with the Pharmacy Guild last week for a new community pharmacy agreement to start in July, delivering cheaper medicines, better patient outcomes and a strong community pharmacy sector, underpinned by an investment from this government of up to an additional $3bn, which we were able to do because of the strong budget management of this government and this treasurer.
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Question time begins, Dutton kicks off by linking migration and housing
Peter Dutton is up with no ceremony:
In January of this year, a record 125,410 visa-holders arrived in Australia, far outstripping the housing stock available here in our country. Given permanent and long-term overseas arrivals are outpacing the construction of new homes at a rate of almost four to one, can the Prime Minister tell the house how many new homes or units were built in January?
Sigh.
Anthony Albanese:
I’m asked a question about migration and, indeed, just last week, the Centre for Population put out a population forecast which showed that the Australian population is now expected to be smaller in 2030-32 than the pre-pandemic forecast published by the former government when this bloke here was the minister, when he was the cabinet minister responsible for migration. Here’s what the population statement said: for 2030-31, the expected population is 600,000 people, or 2.1%, below what was projected prior to the onset of the pandemic in 2019-2020. But it’s not just when he was the minister, Mr Speaker, because this is what the leader of the opposition has said with his current title of leader of the Opposition. He has said this on 2 September, 2022: “We do need an increase in the migration numbers.”
Michael Sukkar interrupts with a speech dressed up as a point of order and then Tony Burke has had enough and asks the speaker to make a ruling on whether MPs need to state their points of order first. Milton Dick agrees, making a new ruling:
Moving forward, if you don’t get up and say the standing order, you’ll leave the chamber immediately. Just so everyone is crystal clear, no more coming to the despatch box, giving a speech, asking a question. Under the standing orders there is time to take a point of order on relevance. It’s pretty easy to do. You get up and say, “I’m taking my point of order on relevance”. So, this is the warning shot. It is happening more and more. Question time is not going to operate like that. If you do that, you won’t stay.
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Tuning into the chamber and it is the airing of the MP grievances (90-second statements)
Labor MPs are celebrating the energy draft offer and then linking that to the Liberals nuclear debate.
RBA board rates decision at 2.30pm: when will it start cutting?
Question time will be at 2pm but then 30 minutes later we will get the latest RBA board decision on interest rates, followed by an RBA press conference at 3.30pm. It is the second of the RBA press conferences under the new regime. Hard to see how the questions will be that different from the first and the main question remains: when will the RBA start lowering rates (it is widely expected to hold today)
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Dutton identifies cost of living, housing, migration as ‘BBQ stoppers’; says won’t be ‘Labor lite’ on car emissions
Peter Dutton has flagged an “alternative policy” on vehicle emissions standards, telling his Coalition party room that the opposition won’t be “Labor lite” on such issues.
But the opposition leader has backed in his push for more serious consideration of nuclear energy, outlining a four-point rebuttal to the Labor government’s position that we expect to hear more about in future from the Coalition.
The opposition party room meeting in Canberra was a short one this morning, with Dutton nominating cost of living, housing and migration as the “BBQ stopper” issues most Australians were focused on. He went on to say the Coalition was “very much in favour” of emissions reductions and fuel standards policies, according to a party room spokesperson, but claimed the government’s policies would “reduce choice”.
The spokesperson went on to say that Dutton had said an alternative Coalition policy would not be “Labor lite”, which we took to mean, it wouldn’t just be the same as Labor’s policy with small changes.
Dutton’s address to the party room outlined how the Coalition will address opposition to its yet-to-be-detailed nuclear energy plan. He said there were four issues that were “outstanding” on the topic: safety, disposal, cost and location. On safety and disposal, Dutton pointed to the Aukus nuclear submarine deal, claiming that Labor having signed up to the nuclear-powered boats (along with the safety and waste disposal issues associated) meant those issues had been dealt with.
We should point out, at this juncture, that nuclear weapons and nuclear energy use different designs, require different fuel, and leave behind different waste.
Dutton told colleagues there was a “very compelling argument” for building nuclear power stations on “brownfields” coal stations - “in the long term”.
There was only brief mention of the religious discrimination issue in the party room, the spokesperson said, with one colleague praising an op-ed written by shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash. Dutton apparently didn’t talk about the meeting with Albanese on the bills, where the PM said he wouldn’t advance the push without bipartisan cooperation.
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Communications minister defends ABC’s editorial independence following Ukraine criticism
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has emphasised the ABC’s editorial independence, in response to complaints from the Ukrainian ambassador about last night’s Four Corners program spotlighting the perspective of Russian troops on the frontline.
In a statement issued a short time ago, Rowland said:
The ABC has operational and editorial independence. Questions or concerns about ABC editorial content should be directed to the ABC.
I have received the Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia’s correspondence, and have provided him with information regarding the ABC complaints process and relevant contact details.
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China’s shift on wine suggests it realises retaliatory trade measures don’t work, Asia expert says
Leigh Howard, the chief executive of Asialink Business at the University of Melbourne, has offered this take on the relationship with China ahead of the visit by the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, to Canberra tomorrow:
China’s recent shift on wine and other export categories suggests an acknowledgement that retaliatory trade measures have faltered as tools of economic strong-arming.
More fundamentally, and perhaps positively, it underscores the enduring demand for high-quality Australian products among Chinese businesses and consumers, transcending issues of diplomatic statecraft.While “Brand Australia” might have fallen out of favour at a political level, it’s retained its status with Chinese consumers, who prioritise quality and trustworthiness.
The revival of Australia’s wine exports to China appears increasingly likely but to reclaim their former market position, Australian exporters will need to reinvest in honing their Asia capabilities – enriching their skills, knowledge, and understanding of the contemporary business landscape.
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Plenty of bills to be debated before autumn break, including on religious discrimination
The Greens have welcomed the support of the Nationals on their push for divestiture powers to break up the big supermarket duopoly, but have concerns that parliament won’t get through a slate of bills scheduled for the next two weeks.
The Greens party room met this morning. The minor party is expecting the Australian Law Reform Commission’s report on religious discrimination to land tomorrow, ahead of the Thursday deadline. Sarah reported earlier that the Labor party room was told that Anthony Albanese said the bills would only proceed to parliament if there was bipartisan support from the Coalition.
A Greens party spokesperson told a media briefing after the meeting that the party hoped the government would take up the crossbench unity ticket on political donations reform, with concerns raised that the parliament was running out of time to pass such changes before the next election.
Speaking of running out of time, the Greens reckon there’s about 27 bills the government wants to get through parliament in this sitting fortnight, before the autumn break ahead of the budget. Parliament is currently scheduled to rise on Thursday 28 March, and not return until 14 May. The schedule has been cut down even further, with a late change to cancel the House of Representatives sitting next Thursday, to allow MPs to get home earlier for Good Friday, as Amy reported earlier (it’s unclear why it’s taken this long for people to realise that parliament was sitting on Thursday, when Good Friday has been known for quite a while).
The Greens thought the Senate may either not sit next Thursday, or at least finish early. Watch this space.
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Legal issues around high court detention decisions remain contentious
There have been reports that the Coalition wrote to immigration minister Andrew Giles disputing that it had failed to take up a briefing on legal issues involving releases from detention.
The Coalition also queried whether the government is preparing new laws in the event it loses ASF17, a high court case we revealed in February that will determine whether the government has to let out people refusing to cooperate with their deportation. We’re also chasing the government on this.
In the meantime, a spokesperson for Giles says:
We successfully defended this in the federal court and will continue to argue this forcefully in the high court. The high court will make its decisions independent of government. No government, no parliament, no minister is above the law.
Community safety is the first and foremost responsibility of government. We have not sat idly by as the former government did. We engaged legal and security experts through the community protection board. We are getting the best advice so we are ready to respond.”
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Albanese pays tribute to Linda White, who made ‘life better for working Australians’
Beyond potential religious discrimination changes, Labor’s caucus meeting this morning covered a few of the other usual suspects.
Cost of living will be a focus for the party ahead of the budget and Anthony Albanese told party members to talk up the stage three tax cuts and news of falling energy prices in the lead up to May.
There were also condolence motions for the former Victorian senator, Linda White, who died last month, and for Jack Fitzgibbon, the son of former defence minister, Joel Fitzgibbon, who tragically died during an ADF training exercise.
Albanese remembered his “dear friend”White and her legacy with this address to caucus:
Last week, we farewelled our beloved friend, Linda White, who was in our Senate for far too short a time but served our movement over an entire lifetime. What will long outlast our sadness is our pride in all that she was and all that she did. A formidable supporter of working Australians, in particular women, she inspires us and reminds us about what we are here for: to use our time to make life better for working Australians ... I will miss her enormously as a generous colleague and source of advice but most importantly, as a dear friend.”
Albanese also referred to White as being a “champion of affirmative action” and said the party’s high number of women was her legacy.
Updated
The parliamentary sitting officially began at midday, following the party room meetings (Tuesday is always party room meeting day).
Parliament sitting shortened so all MPs can make it home for Good Friday
I missed this yesterday – but the parliament sitting has been shortened by a day.
Tony Burke moved a motion yesterday in the house, which was passed, saying the Thursday sitting next week should be dropped to allow regional and rural members to make it back to their electorates for Good Friday services.
Burke said:
It’s one of those issues where the different perspectives of people from all around the country can lead to different conclusions. For me, as someone who gets into my car, drives on the M5 and is home back at Punchbowl within three hours at the end of a parliamentary sitting week, the concept of us sitting on Holy Thursday, the day before Good Friday, made no difference to my being able to attend particular events and services on Good Friday.
It’s a completely different world for regional members, and I want to acknowledge the regional members.
Out of respect, I will say this challenge, with what that Thursday sitting would mean, was first raised with me by some very senior members of the opposition.
Conversations have taken place between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
While I may be in the minority in this house, I’d love it if we sat every day. That’s how I feel about the chamber. But this does avoid a problem that was going to put some members, particularly regional members, in an impossible position with what the sitting week was like for next week.
So I thank those members from the opposition, the crossbench and my own caucus who’ve raised this with me.
Updated
Labor drafts two bills on changes to religious discrimination laws
The Albanese government has drafted two bills on changes to religious discrimination laws that will protect the right of schools to employ on the basis of faith while protecting staff from discrimination.
The debate last took centre stage during the dying months of the Morrison government in early 2022 when proposed discrimination law amendments included protections for gay and lesbian students but omitted trans students.
The divisive proposal resulted in five Liberal MPs, including Bass MP Bridget Archer and then Wentworth MP Dave Sharma, crossing the floor against their own party.
In a caucus meeting on Tuesday, Anthony Albanese told party members the bills would only proceed to parliament if there was bipartisan support, adding now was not the time to have a divisive debate amid heightened Islamophobia and antisemitism. Albanese said he had already briefed the opposition leader, Peter Dutton.
A caucus member asked the leader whether Dutton had given an indication of how the opposition would respond. Albanese said he didn’t know yet.
A long-awaited report from the Australian Law Reform Commission on how best to approach changes to the discrimination laws to balance the rights of religious schools with protections for staff and students against discrimination was handed to the government in December. It is expected to be tabled on Thursday.
The shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, on Sunday said she had heard “very concerning things from stakeholders”.
There is a real risk here that religious schools will not be able to conduct themselves in accordance with their values,” Cash said.
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Steven Miles grilled over ‘misleading’ how-to-vote cards
The Queensland premier has been grilled over whether a review into electoral laws is required to prevent third-party groups from handing out “misleading” how-to-vote cards.
The question, posed by Liberal National party MP Fiona Simpson in parliament on Tuesday, comes after media reports that members of a union had asked Labor volunteers to hand out how-to-vote cards for the Legalise Cannabis party in the Ipswich West byelection.
The Australian reported Labor had hoped the strategy would bolster their preferences in the absence of the Greens who didn’t have a candidate running in the state electorate last weekend.
The Labor premier, Steven Miles, said his government respects “the rights of unions to speak up for their members ... and to campaign on issues of concern to their members.”
We also respect ... that there are third parties that are entitled to be registered and to campaign in elections.
Labor lost the safe seat of Ipswich West to the LNP after a two-party swing of about 18%, while Legalise Cannabis secured a primary vote of about 15%.
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Victoria’s opposition leader calls for ‘fair treatment from the media’ after leadership spill rumours
Victoria’s opposition leader, John Pesutto, has hit back at the coverage of an impending leadership spill, and has accused the media of bias against “the centre right” of politics.
At the weekend, the Herald Sun reported Pesutto could be facing a possible leadership spill at a party room meeting on Tuesday, which did not eventuate . He said MPs raised the reporting – which he described as “about nothing” – rather than leadership concerns.
To be honest with you, it’s about the coverage which doesn’t apply the same level of scrutiny to the government. And there are things that I see reported on – and I will be candid with you all ... [about] the centre right on which, frankly, those standards of journalism are not applied to the government. The government is getting away with being the worst government. It doesn’t disclose anything. It refuses to be transparent, to allow proper scrutiny. I think you can say this about me, I’ve always been upfront about that. I’ve demonstrated my position here. We just want fair treatment from the media. There are standards applied to outside of politics that simply aren’t applied to the government, you would never and tell me if I’ve got this wrong, you would never run some of these stories against the government, you wouldn’t.
A journalist asks: are you seriously saying the media is biased against the opposition, compared to the way the Andrews Labor government has been reported on?
Pesutto:
We get treated differently. You might disagree, I understand, but I am just telling you – we feel like we are being treated less fairly than the government.
Pesutto says he doesn’t want to tell journalists how to do their job but then proceeds to tell journalists how to handle information it receives from sources.
You can have a source but isn’t there an obligation to interrogate the source and the credibility and the credence which you – who have enormous power and importance – as journalists? My argument was, you asked us how we feel. And I know that this is not a view that I share alone, other Liberals feel it and people on the right side of politics. It’s not enough just to have a source ... interrogate that source, and the information that you’re being given. I’m not doubting it and given that information. My concern is and the concern of others on my team is to then elevate that without testing whether it’s actually happening and that’s my only point. I’m not saying beyond that. I’m just looking at the last five days, which really has meant that the government’s got away with a lot.
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Wong anticipates ‘frank exchange of views’ when she meets China’s foreign minister
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says she expects “a frank exchange of views” when she welcomes China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, to Canberra tomorrow.
The trip was confirmed last week, and Wang is travelling to Australia after talks in New Zealand. But the inclusion of Paul Keating – a trenchant critic of Aukus – on the schedule at the end of Wang’s visit to Australia has raised eyebrows.
Wong issued a statement this morning confirming she would hold the seventh Australia-China Foreign and Strategic Dialogue with Wang. She described the dialogue as “a long-standing mechanism to discuss the bilateral relationship and regional and international developments”.
Wong added:
I look forward to a frank exchange of views on our shared interests, points of difference, and our respective roles in upholding a region that is peaceful, stable and secure ...
The Australian government continues to pursue a stable and constructive relationship with China, which is in the interests of both countries.
Australia’s approach is consistent; we seek to cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest.
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James Paterson responds to reports head of Asio and Asis not attending government’s National Security Committee meetings
There have been reports the heads of Asio and Asis (the internationally focused and domestically focused spy agencies) are not (automatically) attending the National Security Committee meetings under this government.
Those meetings were originally for ministers, with briefings from whatever security agency needed to give one, but Ray Hadley says in September 2001, John Howard decided that the heads of the agencies should be part of the NSC.
Liberal senator and security hawk James Paterson spoke to Hadley this morning about the reports, with Hadley wondering why the government would overturn something “probably one of our most remarkable prime minister[s]” had decided.
Paterson:
I confess, 2001 National Security Committee of cabinet meetings are well before my time. But it is very worrying that the Albanese government doesn’t think it needs the most up to date, in-person, expert advice on national security from Asis, which is our principal foreign intelligence collection agency, human intelligence collection agency, and Asio, which is our pre-eminent domestic security collection agency.
The whole point of having them in the room is that you don’t always know when they’re going to have something of value or insights to add, and you have them there so that they can speak up and convey their expertise when needed.
Now they’re not in the room. You’re making decisions uninformed with the best advice that you should be having to make critical decisions in national security. And, I guess in a way, this doesn’t come as a surprise. I mean, this has been a government which has been consistently weak and incompetent on national security. And this is perhaps one of the reasons why.
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GPs urge Victoria to introduce pill-testing trial
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) have urged the Victorian government to follow coronial recommendations and introduce a pill-testing trial at fixed and mobile sites.
Two Victorian coroners released new recommendations in the last week that the government trial a pill-testing service. From the release:
Victoria has witnessed a spate of illicit drug overdoses in recent months, including a 23-year-old man dying after being airlifted from the Pitch Music and Arts festival in western Victoria and eight people put in a critical condition following an overdose at the Hardmission Festival.
RACGP Victoria Chair, Dr Anita Munoz, said the government should follow the advice:
Let’s do all we can stop these pointless overdose deaths from happening again and again. The Government should introduce a pill testing trial in Victoria as soon as possible.
It seems like every other week we hear reports of young people overdosing at events such as music festivals. Now, we have yet another set of coronial recommendations urging the Government to act and introduce pill testing. We know that pill testing saves lives, so the time for talk is over, we need action.
There is a precedent – Queensland introduced pill testing last year and the ACT has also implemented pill testing at some events.
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Quick readers may have seen two posts from a Chris Minns speech which was given in November. Due to a communication error, I thought it was new and posted it as such, but we have made the decision to remove the posts to cut down on confusion. Apologies for that – and an oops on my part. The perils of live coverage (you can see all my mistakes in real time).
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Crossbench launch push to ban big political donations
The crossbench have officially launched their electoral reforms push, where they will be moving to ban big political donations.
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Anthony Albanese will be meeting with anti-family violence campaigner Rosie Batty a little bit later this morning.
While we await the ABC’s response to the Ukrainian ambassador’s complaints about last night’s Four Corners, it might be worth taking a look at this recent Guardian piece looking at the same documentary when it went to air in the UK:
Ukrainian ambassador furious over Four Corners episode: ‘total garbage’
The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, has demanded a meeting with ABC management to protest last night’s Four Corners program, which he alleged “was the journalistic equivalent of a bowl of vomit”.
The program was titled Ukraine’s War: The Other Side. The ABC’s blurb said it was “a rare insight from the other side”, adding that “filmmaker Sean Langan’s groundbreaking documentary offers a human perspective on life on the Russian frontline”.
In a statement issued this morning, Myroshnychenko said the program “unquestioningly repeated and aired countless blatant lies, historical distortions, racist claims and propaganda narratives emanating from the Kremlin” and therefore “completely served the interests of Russia’s dictator, Putin”.
Myroshnychenko said:
It also minimised and denigrated the deaths of thousands of innocent Ukrainian men, women and children who have been killed by Russian soldiers in an illegal and brutal invasion strongly condemned by Australia and the majority of countries through the UNGA resolution in March 2022.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation should be ashamed that it put such total garbage to air.
Through the Minister for Communications, I will ask for a meeting with the Managing Director of the ABC and the Executive Producer of Four Corners to understand what process led to the airing of this pro-Putin and pro-violence propaganda piece by Australia’s national broadcaster. I will share with them the facts that the program totally disregarded.
Comment is being sought from the ABC.
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For those who didn’t see it this morning, here is Chris Bowen defending Paul Keating’s meeting with China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi.
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The Labor caucus meeting has officially welcomed new MP Jodie Belyea
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RBA cash rate verdict looms
The Reserve Bank board wraps up its two-day meeting this afternoon and will release its interest rates verdict at 2.30pm AEDT.
Anything but a third “hold” in a row would surprise everyone, not least because the few public outings by RBA officials have left the distinct impression that they are fine with current settings.
The main interest, so to speak, will be whether the board members considered another rate rise (likely) or a cut (unlikely at this point).
RBA governor Michele Bullock will add detail to the bank’s thinking and may even introduce Andrew Hauser.
Houser joined the RBA as deputy governor from the Bank of England last month so this week marks his first board meeting (and the first with the full nine members since Bullock was elevated to the top job in September).
Markets were pricing only a 5% chance of a rate cut from 4.35% to 4.1%, as of yesterday, according to the ASX’s rates tracker. Investors were only “fully pricing in” that first cut by October (which actually means November since there’s no board meeting in October).
Of course a lot can change between now and then: the federal budget, the impacts of revised stage-three tax cuts from 1 July, a Chinese economic slowdown/rebound … and a US presidential election that could turn ugly.
Only so much the RBA with its single tool – its cash rate – can tinker with.
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New Victorian laws aimed at crime bosses to target ‘ill-gotten gains’
Victoria’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, and police minister, Anthony Carbines, are holding a press conference now on their “unexplained wealth” laws, to be introduced to parliament today, aimed at crime bosses.
Carbines begins:
Organised crime bosses who think they can hide their wealth with their partners or with others, that will no longer be the case under this legislation. Police will only need a reasonable suspicion … [of] where crime bosses are hiding their wealth, and they’ll be able to pursue them.
This also will go to assets. Where organised crime bosses think they can have the fancy cars, the flash yachts, spend their money on hotels and strippers, you’re drawing attention to yourself. Victoria police will be after you. They will be able to use these laws to crack down and reclaim that stolen wealth, that ill-gotten gains.
Symes explained how the laws will close a loophole:
What we’ve heard from Victorian police and there’s been an independent review in relation to our laws, is there are gaps and there are barriers for police pretty well know that the assets obtained by the individual has been obtained through illegal means, through spending money that they obtained illegally. What the barrier has been is that we’ve had to demonstrate that that is connected to criminal activity, the onus now will be flipped under this legislation, you will have to demonstrate that you obtained by legal means … it’s very likely unless they won Tattslotto and they can show their winning ticket, they probably were doing illegal activities to obtain their wealth.
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Bowen shrugs off push for ACCC supermarket powers: ‘Not something we’re contemplating’
Staying with Chris Bowen’s press conference, the energy minister seemed to shrug off the Greens calls for the competition regulator to get new powers to bust up the supermarket duopoly.
The Greens senator Nick McKim will introduce a private senator’s bill on divestiture powers this week. Nationals leader David Littleproud has already this morning backed the idea in a radio interview.
Bowen noted the Liberal party hadn’t backed the idea (yet), saying: “What’s the position of the Coalition? I don’t know. I’d be interested to hear what Mr Dutton thinks.”
Bowen pointed out ongoing treasury reviews of supermarkets, saying “we’ll go through things in a normal, methodical, careful way, not the sort of haphazard National party way”.
“It’s not something we’re contemplating.”
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Power prices ‘encouraging’ but ‘long way to go’: Bowen
Energy minister Chris Bowen says today’s default market offer on electricity - with the energy regulator saying consumers can expect price cuts of up to 7.1% - is “encouraging” but that there is “a long way to go”.
As reported earlier, the Australian Energy Regulator is forecasting price falls as generation costs reduce from previous peaks. Bowen said there continued to be “real pressures” in the energy market but claimed the falls were in part due to the government’s coal and gas price caps, as well as more renewable cheaper energy coming into the system.
The government faces other looming fights on both its vehicle emissions standards, and plans to change consultation on new gas developments, in Bowen’s energy sphere. At a Parliament House press conference, Bowen seemed to downplay the prospect of taking up the Greens’ offer for the minor party to back the emissions standards in exchange for scrapping the gas changes - the Greens are furious about those changes, raising major concerns about the voices of local Indigenous groups and traditional owners being shut out of consultation on major fossil fuel developments.
Bowen said the emissions standards had “been in the too-hard basket for 20 years”, noting the support of major motoring groups for the change.
“I don’t think the Greens want to seriously contemplate standing in the way of that important change,” he said.
Updated
Bowen drives point home on nuclear: ‘The market hasn’t sorted it out anywhere in the world’
There has been increased commentary that if the government is so sure that nuclear is not economically viable, it should just change the laws stopping nuclear exploration in Australia and let the market prove their point. (Unless the government is too chicken, and worried nuclear will take off is the unspoken part of that commentary)
This is just the latest version of “the opposition has said something and instead of just letting the facts that it is all bupkis speak for itself, we are all going to be forced into a pointless debate debunking the Coalition’s claims, because the Coalition said it, and therefore it must be treated very seriously”. This is how political debate is hijacked in this country – no matter how many experts say something is not worth the time it takes to discuss something, and that there are many actual viable alternatives, or solutions, if the Coalition says something often enough, it gets treated with equal seriousness.
Bowen addressed some of the commentary in his press conference this morning:
I hear this argument – “Just lift the moratorium and let the market sort it out.” The market hasn’t sorted it out anywhere in the world. What sorts it out is big transfers of taxpayer wealth from the taxpayer to nuclear developers. We’re not doing it. We’re not going to do that. So why lift the ban? Because it would send the signal that we might contemplate that.
Updated
Dutton should ‘check his facts’ on nuclear, Bowen says
Chris Bowen was also asked about the Coalition’s latest obsession with nuclear energy. He says:
Peter Dutton might want to turn up at the Press Club for a change and answer some of your questions.
I’m sure there’ll be plenty of questions for all of us to debate, and perhaps at some of the six sites that Peter Dutton’s going to reveal as the sites for nuclear power stations.
He’s welcome to do that as soon as he likes. We can do it today. And then there’ll be plenty of opportunities for debates.
The fact of the matter is … the alternative prime minister of Australia disparaged Australia’s peak scientific organisation, the CSIRO, in a way which was not becoming or befitting the alternative prime minister of Australia.
Just ‘cause he doesn’t like the report, just ‘cause it doesn’t support his ideological premises against renewable energy and in favour of nuclear, is not an opportunity for him, as the alternative prime minister of Australia, to say a report by CSIRO and AEMO is discredited when it’s not.
He was factually wrong when he says it doesn’t include transmission costs. He needs to check his facts and be more respectful of the CSIRO.
Updated
Bowen repeats that Keating meeting ‘singularly unsurprising’
A little bit ago, Chris Bowen held a press conference where he repeated his answer about Paul Keating’s meeting with Wang Yi, China’s foreign minister.
In an almost word for word copy of what he said to the ABC this morning, Bowen told reporters:
It’s singularly unsurprising that they would meet with a former prime minister. Former prime minister Keating is deeply respected across Asia as the man who first pointed out that Australia would seek its security in Asia, not from Asia.
Wang Yi’s visit is important. It’s a symbol of a stabilisation of the relationship which this government has fostered and which China has reciprocated.
That’s important, as our largest trading partner. I think most people would understand that. Minister Wang Yi will be meeting with serving current ministers, and it’s singularly unsurprising he would meet with a former prime minister, particular one such as former prime minister Paul Keating, who has championed deeper ties with Asia.
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Victorian education minister: ‘There is no teacher out there at the moment teaching that shouldn’t be’
Victoria’s education minister, Ben Carroll, has responded to a report in the Herald Sun, which says the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) has not finalised the misconduct cases of 39 teachers.
An investigation by the Herald Sun found teachers, even those who have been convicted in court of serious crimes, are still under “interim suspension” by the VIT.
But Carroll says these teachers are not able to return to classrooms. He tells reporters outside parliament:
I can give assurances to all parents … there is no teacher out there at the moment teaching that shouldn’t be. Under the VITs powers, they do not renew teaching certificates if there is an investigation and the VIT are doing most cases within six months.
He said only one misconduct case has been dragging on for four years.
That is before the courts. It has involved an overseas jurisdiction as well. So unfortunately, we are a little bit bound by the court processes … But teachers that are before the courts do not teach.
Updated
Victorian energy minister ‘delighted’ by power prices draft decision
Victoria’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, says she’s “absolutely delighted” with the Essential Services Commission’s draft decision, announced this morning, which proposes to reduce the state’s default offer for electricity bills.
Speaking outside parliament, she says under the offer, residential customers will see their bills go down by about $112 (or 6.4%) and small businesses will see theirs go down by $266 (7%) from 1 July.
D’Ambrosio says:
This is very exciting news. I’m absolutely delighted with the draft decision.
[It] is open for consultation, but I expect that come the final decision, Victorians will absolutely be receiving the benefits of cost of living relief that are very, very important to them.
She says about 360,000 residential and 58,000 small business customers are now on the Victorian default offer but it also provides a “benchmark” for energy retailers. D’Ambrosio says:
The benefits will flow on by putting downward pressure and greater competition on energy retailers to sharpen their pencils and further and cut bills.
Updated
Keating’s China meeting ‘somewhat insulting towards Penny Wong’: Birmingham
On Paul Keating’s meeting with China’s foreign minister, Simon Birmingham says:
You have a look at what Paul Keating’s had to say about Penny Wong and the Albanese government. And he’s been highly, highly critical of them and indeed of anything other than a pretty cosy relationship between Australia and China.
Now, we welcome Wang Yi’s visit to Australia. It’s an important visit, and it is welcome that China is no longer imposing the type of ban on dialogue that was so counterproductive between the relationship.
But it is quite pointed and somewhat insulting towards Penny Wong for the Chinese embassy to have sought this meeting with such a vocal critic of Penny Wong.
(Just wait until Birmingham hears what Simon Birmingham has said about Penny Wong and the Albanese government!)
Updated
Birmingham says PM should haul trade minister ‘into line’
Simon Birmingham continued:
Look, our Kiwi cousins are family. They are absolutely a close and trusted partner. But let’s be very clear about the degree of sensitivity that exists in the Australia-United States relationship in terms of sensitive material and information that is exchanged, and that is only intended to escalate in terms of the level of sensitive information and material being exchanged between our countries.
And we are embarking through Aukus on the closest and most trusted of partnerships and prime minister Albanese and the defence minister, Richard Marles, have sought to be clear about that.
Why is their trade minister at odds with them, and why is he seeking to talk down the US relationship in this way?
That’s why he ought to be pretty quick to correct the record or have the prime minister haul him into line.
Apparently, by this reasoning, our most trusted and closest ally, the United States, would be most grievously injured by the statement that New Zealand, another trusted and close ally might rank higher in Australia’s bestie list, if you consider all history.
This is apparently the diplomatic version of learning your best friend refers to another person as their best friend.
Updated
‘Insulting to the US’: Birmingham on Farrell’s ‘most trusted ally’ comments
The drama around Don Farrell’s comments though comes because of their timing. China’s foreign minister Wang Yi is visiting Australia this week (after visiting New Zealand) and there are suggestions Farrell made the comments downplaying the US relationship because of that pending visit.
Simon Birmingham told Sky News this morning:
I can’t get inside Don Farrell’s head to say for sure whether or not you’re right. But what Don Farrell did was quite insulting to the United States, and he ought to apologise for it. He ought to set the record straight.
Let’s be very clear. Under the Five Eyes agreement, the United States shares its most sensitive intelligence with Australia. Under the Aukus partnership, we’re expecting the United States to share its most sensitive defence technologies with Australia. So, we are asking them to put enormous trust in us and we should reciprocate that trust. Every single Albanese government minister should be crystal clear about that. Not dismissive of it.
(Just an FYI, New Zealand is also a member of Five Eyes).
Updated
Who is Australia’s closest friend? The US or New Zealand?
As Daniel Hurst reported, trade minister Don Farrell caused a little ruckus in the Senate yesterday when he said that New Zealand, and not the US, was Australia’s most trusted ally.
Farrell said:
I’m not sure that United States is our most trusted ally. I would have said New Zealand in the whole history of time.
… But we are very close to the United States, I freely concede that.
Now that has caused OUTRAGE among the Coalition who think that America should be number one.
But Australia and New Zealand have always been close allies and were before the US was in the picture. For starters, there is the whole Anzac thing – Australia New Zealand Army Corps, which was formed in Egypt in 1914. It was disbanded in 1916 and then re-established in 1941.
As Anthony Albanese said in April 2023:
We are absolutely close allies, and will remain that in perpetuity. I can’t imagine a circumstance where Australia and New Zealand aren’t the closest of friends.
And in a joint statement with then-New Zealand prime minister Jacinta Ardern in 2021, Scott Morrison said:
The Australia-New Zealand relationship is unique in its closeness; we are partners and allies, and we share a relationship of family, of whānau. Through our single economic market, our people-to-people ties and our shared interests in the region and the world, Australia and New Zealand stand together.
Now, it is true that Australia’s first visit from a non-royal navy came in 1908 when the “Great White Fleet” was invited to sail to Australia by Alfred Deakin. The American ships prompted Australia to order their first modern war ships which royally annoyed the British. But Australia and the US had some pretty major disagreements including the peace terms after the first world war as well as the reparation agreements after second world war.
New Zealand and Australia have had their disagreements – including the deportation of New Zealand-born citizens from Australia, no matter how long they had spent in Australia – but in terms of strategic relationships, the geography and shared colonial history has linked the two nations together throughout modern history. While the official history has trade between Indigenous Australians and Māori beginning in 1793, there is evidence it started much earlier.
All of this is to say that Australia has always claimed a close relationship with New Zealand, even before the US was in the picture.
Updated
Energy retailers should ‘do the right thing’ on prices, consumer body says
The reactions to the draft default market offer have been coming in and the CEO of Energy Consumers Australia, Brendan French, is happy the Australian Energy Regulator has reduced the retail margins allowed as part of the offer.
We were also very pleased to see that the AER’s media release mentions the legal obligation for retailers to offer assistance to consumers when they are in hardship. People living in Australia have a right to ask their retailer for assistance, and we encourage people to seek help if they are having difficulty paying their energy bills.
But French thinks they could have gone further:
Retailers regularly move customers on to offers that are higher than the Default Market Offer once their market contract ends. We believe strongly that the onus should not be on people to have to switch at that point, it should be on retailers to do the right thing and not charge a loyalty tax, particularly when most customers aren’t really aware it’s happening. We would like to see retailers actively looking to do better for their customers.
Updated
(continued from previous post)
The new orders will allow prosecutors to apply to a court for an order if there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a person’s total wealth exceeds their lawfully acquired wealth by at least $200,000.
If a person can’t satisfy a court that they have lawfully obtained their wealth, a court may order them to pay the state the value of anything they cannot prove was lawfully acquired.
In a statement, Symes said:
“This strengthening of our unexplained wealth laws is all about disrupting organised crime and making sure there’s no pay day for criminals.”
“It doesn’t matter if you spend your money on yachts, mansions or fancy hotel rooms – if you get it from doing a crime, we’re going to take it off you.
We’ll have more on this announcement after a press conference at 9.20am.
Updated
Victoria announces ‘unexplained wealth’ laws aimed at crime bosses
New laws are set to be introduced to Victorian parliament to force career criminals to repay any wealth that they cannot prove was lawfully acquired.
The state attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, and police minister Anthony Carbines will on Tuesday announce the new laws they say are “aimed at depriving crime bosses of the use and enjoyment of their unexplained wealth”.
They said while authorities can currently confiscate wealth they believe has been illegally acquired, it must be in the criminal’s name.
Under the bill, a new pathway will be created for an “unexplained wealth order” that will allow authorities to seize an asset purchased due to the proceeds from crime in someone else’s name.
The changes will also capture “consumable wealth and wealth that has been gifted, disposed of or expended” – such as the hiring of a yacht, a hotel penthouse or sexual services.
Updated
Easing power prices ‘encouraging’, Bowen says
But don’t expect to see a massive decrease in your power bill just yet. And also, don’t accuse Chris Bowen of “trumpeting” that there has been a massive decrease.
One of the Nine network hosts did that and Bowen responded:
As I as I started this interview, with respect, I pointed out that there are ongoing pressures. I pointed out that this is encouraging. I didn’t come in here and say, this is the finishing line. I said, this is an encouraging post. I said that right at the beginning.
Karl, with respect, don’t put words in my mouth. You can say you’re trumpeting it. I haven’t been trumpeting it. I’ve been saying it’s encouraging.
Updated
Renewables help ease power prices but ‘long way to go’
As Peter Hannam explains, the reason for the falling costs is more renewables coming on to the grid and the coal and gas price caps the federal government negotiated with the state and territories (as well as some of those supply chain issues from 2022-23 easing).
Chris Bowen is making sure the government’s role is mentioned, telling the Nine network:
Also a request from me and the state ministers to prioritise consumers, has led to these reductions.
The biggest reductions for small business in South Australia and New South Wales. Small businesses getting the biggest reductions, which is welcome.
We’ve a long way to go though. You know, nobody’s suggesting that this is over or the cost of living pressures don’t continue to exist as they do around the world.
Updated
Power regulator expects price cuts of up to 7.1% for households
The reason Chris Bowen has a bit of pep in his step today is because of the release of the latest default market offer on electricity prices.
As Peter Hannam reports, there could be some relief in store on power:
Millions of households could see power prices fall in the coming year as falling costs for generation have declined from the “extreme peaks of 2022”, the Australian Energy Regulator says.
The regulator released its draft default market offer for the 2024-25 on Tuesday, setting a guide for electricity prices in New South Wales, South Australia and south-east Queensland. Victoria was expected to reveal its equivalent default prices soon.
The majority of residential customers can expect price cuts of between 0.4% to 7.1%, while most small business customers could see reductions between 0.3% and 9.7%, the AER said. Price changes, though, may hinge on location and type of load demand.
Updated
Pocock takes on the press – at rugby
A few times a year there are a variety of sports games between the politicians and the press gallery before parliament begins, which is an old tradition that probably should be questioned more than it is.
This morning it was touch football and the politicians team is now pretty much the former Wallaby David Pocock taking it very easy around a small field, while the people around him go flat out trying to keep up.
Mike Bowers was there this morning and capture some of the game. He said the politicians (Pocock) won by a “large margin” (I think he stopped counting fairly early on).
Updated
ABC Canberra building painted with ‘tell the truth on Palestine’
Guardian Australia’s political editor Karen Middleton has been at the ABC Northbourne studios early this morning and reports the building has once again been painted with “tell the truth on Palestine”.
That is about the third time the building has been vandalised with the phrase.
The clean up has already begun.
Updated
Let’s unpack the immigration detention situation
Dan Tehan’s alternative minister solution to the legal quagmire left by the high court decision is to sack Andrew Giles (which obviously, they are in different parties), listen to the legal advice (which both Giles and Clare O’Neil say they are doing and that is why they are having to take their time because they need to find a pathway the high court won’t reject), keep Australians safe (which Giles and O’Neil say they are doing with operation Aegis, which involves AFP, Border Force and state and territory police) and be more transparent (the government is about to start reporting on what is happening with the cohort publicly).
Tehan knows what the government is doing – because it is public. But the opposition relies on the public not knowing what the government is doing and just taking soundbites.
The issue here is that this high court decision would have impacted any government, regardless of political stripe. Maybe the former government would have handled the defence case in the court a little differently, but the high court would have still have made its decision on the actual facts of the case – a stateless person, with no immediate prospect of deportation, had been held in long term detention, and was going to remain there indefinitely, after completing a custodial sentence handed down by a court. The high court bench found that amounted to the government crossing the separation of powers and handing down its own sentence.
So that leaves the parliament now having to make laws around people it can not remove to other countries for whatever reason (human right laws still apply to people who have committed crimes) with a pretty narrow pathway, because it can not just lock people up. The high court has ruled that it is courts who make decisions about that sort of thing.
Which Tehan knows. And ordering that everyone in the cohort of people covered under the high court decision – which could increase, if the high court rules the way people think the court will rule about some current cases in front of it (which will decide what a ‘reasonable prospect of removal’ means and how long someone has been locked up for counts as ‘indefinite detention’) just be locked up again immediately is not helpful – from a legal sense, it is actually making the situation worse.
Because a smart lawyer can use all of that as proof of prejudicial attitudes towards their client – that individual cases were not considered, and rather it was an all-in. Which the courts frown upon.
All of this is to say the opposition know there is no easy fix here. But they are trying to pretend that there is. Asked what it is, they have no answers, which is an answer in itself. The opposition is counting on people hearing the bluster, and not the substance.
Updated
The case which sparked this high court decision, NZYQ, involved a refugee convicted of a crime who, once they completed their custodial sentence, was placed in indefinite detention.
While in indefinite detention, there did not seem to be a lot of attempts to remove the stateless man from Australia by the previous government. That is part of the reason the high court case was brought.
Dan Tehan says though that the former government does not carry any blame for the situation, as it had hope it could remove NZYQ:
We were trying to complete that task and we never gave up hope
Updated
Tehan asked if he rejected briefing on high court case months ago
Asked about whether it is true that he rejected an offer for a briefing on the high court case for 106 days, Dan Tehan says that is the government playing games, because he accepted an offer for a briefing yesterday, before question time.
Tehan:
And yesterday, I can confirm this to your listeners, we once again wrote to the attorney general to the home affairs minister and to the immigration minister saying that we look forward to a briefing as a matter of fact, we said we would like to do that briefing before question time.
We then contacted the minister’s office and of course we got no response because all this is about is trying to score low political points when they should be focusing on their number one job, which is keeping the Australian community safe. Instead, what they tried to do is just play politics and it’s not working.
But what about 106 days ago? Or any day in between?
Tehan says:
This is a complete and utter smokescreen to make up for the minister’s gross incompetence. The first time they raised this issue around this briefing, the attorney general said that it needed to be a briefing which was held on a Monday morning, I was in my electorate, a three and a half hour drive away. I said I’d be happy to do the briefing.
I just needed to do it in my electorate office. And they said all right, we’ll look into see whether we can do that. They never got back to me as to whether it could be done in my electorate office or not.
Updated
Tehan claims Giles not being ‘upfront’ on immigration detention situation
Shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan is the guest on ABC radio RN Breakfast.
He wants the government to “outline its options to the Australian people” about what it is going to do about the high court decision which has made indefinite detention unconstitutional.
What we’re calling for is for minister Giles for the first time to be transparent, to be very clear to the Australian people. What is the scale and size of this mess that he’s got us into? And what is his plan to get us out of it? And so far and we’ve seen this in question time now for six months. He just refuses to be upfront with the Australian people on this issue
(The minister Andrew Giles did not “get us into the mess”. The high court made a decision that said indefinite detention was unconstitutional. That would impact whatever government was in place.)
Tehan’s solution is to sack Giles.
He then focusses on legal briefings on the case that Giles did not attend (Giles has been briefed, obviously).
As minister, I would take those legal briefings, and I would look at all the information. I would make sure that we’re being upfront with the Australian people as the size of the challenge that is confronting the government and then work through it with my number one priority in place, keeping the Australian community in place.
Updated
Independents move to ban huge political donations
The teal crossbenchers will continue their push to try to bring more transparency and lessen to influence of big money in politics, as Paul Karp reports:
Mega donations of more than $1.5m would be banned under a crossbench plan to get big money out of politics.
Lower house independents, including Kate Chaney, Zali Steggall, the Greens, David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and the Jacqui Lambie Network, will present a united front by introducing the fair and transparent elections bill in both houses of parliament.
The bill contains a suite of reforms including truth-in-political advertising, a ban on donations from socially harmful industries including fossil fuels, and tightening the definition of gifts to capture major party fundraisers, including dinners and business forums.
The bill legislates Labor’s election promises to lower the donation disclosure threshold to $1,000 and real-time disclosure of donations within five business days.
Updated
Keating meeting with Chinese minister ‘singularly unremarkable’: Bowen
Asked whether Paul Keating should meet China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, Chris Bowen says:
Certainly if he chooses to.
I mean, this is a very important visit by the Chinese foreign minister. I think it reflects the efforts of the government and of the Chinese government to be fair, to stabilise relations.
There’ll be important meetings with serving government ministers. It is entirely usual for a visiting foreign minister to seek out a former prime minister, particularly one who played the role he did in Australia finding security in Asia, not from Asia, as Paul Keating did all those years ago.
He’s deeply respected across Asia and a meeting of that nature is, I think, singularly unremarkable.
Updated
Bowen says nuclear ‘most expensive form of energy in the world’
Energy minister Chris Bowen is on a bit of a media blitz this morning.
More renewables are coming on to the grid, which is lowering the default price of energy, but this is Bowen’s main message (he is speaking to ABC radio RN here)
Nuclear is the most expensive form of energy in the world at the moment. There will be a real choice at the next election between the cheapest form of energy and the most expensive.
Updated
Good morning
Welcome back to politics live for the second sitting day of the session. Thank you to Martin for kicking things off this morning. Amy Remeikis will be with you for most of the day.
It’s going to be a busy one – so let’s get into it.
Updated
(continued from previous post)
One senior executive told Guardian Australia power bills would triple if the nuclear path was pursued.
Speaking of power bills, households and businesses in Australia’s east will today find out the price that electricity providers will be able to charge as the energy regulator releases it’s draft determination for the year.
The default market offer (DMO) is a price cap on how much retailers can charge its customers on their default plans and will come into effect from July.
The Australian Energy Regulator will release its draft DMO for 2024/25, which applies to consumers in NSW, SA and parts of Queensland, this morning.
Victoria’s Essential Services Commission is also expected to release its offer on Tuesday.
In it’s last update released in January, the regulator said wholesale electricity prices had fallen in NSW, Victoria and South Australia but increased in Queensland and Tasmania.
The price drop was due to coal and gas-fired generation hitting a record low and renewable energy taking a bigger load.
Victoria had the cheapest prices, averaging $34 per megawatt hour, while Queensland was the most expensive at $79 per MWh.
Updated
Big electricity generators say nuclear not viable for at least a decade
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is expected to soon announce a new energy policy involving nuclear reactors in Australia.
But the big private electricity generators are ambivalent. Energy Australia called nuclear a “potential option” for the “late 2030s or 2040s”, but said green hydrogen could also play the role of controllable generation on the road to net zero.
Alinta said nuclear was “not something we’re exploring” and AGL said there was “no viable schedule” for the technology – and what’s more, the cost and build time would be “prohibitive”.
For more on what the private sector thinks of Australian nuclear ambitions, read Peter Hannam’s piece here:
Updated
Sexual harassment survivors to share stories
Survivors of sexual harassment in the workplace will be encouraged to share their stories and solutions as part of a new project being launched by the Australian Human Rights Commission today.
The Speaking from Experience project – another recommendation from the landmark 2020 Respect@Work report – will allow victim-survivors to voluntarily share their experiences so the commission can better understand how common workplace sexual harassment is and come up with ways to prevent it from happening.
The sex discrimination commissioner, Anna Cody, said those who had experienced sexual harassment while on the job could offer “invaluable insights into the challenges and solutions needed to create safer workplaces”.
In particular, Cody wanted to hear from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers, culturally and racially marginalised workers, young workers, workers with disability and LBGQTI+ workers.
Cody told Guardian Australia:
We know that, very sadly, sexual harassment pervades every industry and every workplace. We’ve had a national inquiry. What are the areas now that we need to really focus on to shift the experience of sexual harassment within Australian workplaces?
A number of in-person consultations will also be held, kicking off in Perth this week.
Coalition slams Keating for China meeting
The Coalition has taken aim at former prime minister Paul Keating for accepting a meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, who is visiting Australia later this week.
The Coalition’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, said the idea of the meeting was “pointed and somewhat insulting” in light of the extent of Keating’s past commentary directed towards the Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong:
Paul Keating’s reckless and irresponsible comments since the Albanese government was elected demonstrates an underlying division within the broader Labor party
Whatever their personal views, our former prime ministers carry with them a special responsibility to be cognisant of changing security challenges and judicious in the use of their office. Paul Keating’s running commentary has been neither, and is clearly welcomed for propaganda purposes elsewhere.
Keating yesterday rejected criticism of his decision to accept Wang’s meeting invitation, saying the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet had offered “to facilitate the meeting and to make appropriate arrangements”.
Despite his outspoken criticism of the Aukus pact, Keating said he was pleased Australia had “moved substantially from the counterproductive baiting policy the Morrison government applied to China to now something much more civil and productive”.
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to today’s politics live blog. My name is Martin Farrer and first I’m going to flag up the best overnight stories before Amy gets into the hot seat.
Ever since Clive Palmer spent $117m at the last election, there have been growing calls for curbs on political donations. Now an alliance of independents want to outlaw gifts of more than $1.5m. Lower house crossbenchers including Kate Chaney, Zali Steggall, the Greens, David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and the Jacqui Lambie Network will present a united front by introducing their fair and transparent elections bill in both houses of parliament to outlaw large donations.
In addition, the Greens plan to introduce a private senator’s bill to give the ACCC powers to “smash the supermarket duopoly”. The idea of divestiture powers allowing the breakup of big businesses after a court finds a serious breach of competition law has been backed by former ACCC chair Allan Fels.
The Reserve Bank is widely tipped to leave its key interest rate on hold at this week’s board meeting, which winds up today. But economists are split on how soon borrowers can expect rate relief. The central bank will announce the results of its second board meeting for 2024 at 2.30pm and while pundits and investors alike expect the RBA will leave its cash rate unchanged at its 12-year high of 4.35%.
The Coalition has criticised former prime minister Paul Keating for accepting a meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, who is visiting Australia later this week. Simon Birmingham called Keating’s decision “reckless” and irresponsible” while the former Labor PM continued to hit back at his critics. Keating, an outspoken opponent of the Australian government’s plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines, accused News Corp’s national broadsheet The Australian of being “trenchantly anti-Chinese”.
