No public progress with Coalition or Greens on Labor’s proposed environmental laws
The government’s environment protection bill (EPBC Act) hasn’t yet made any headway publicly with either the Coalition or the Greens.
Murray Watt, speaking to Sky News a moment ago, said negotiations are ongoing, he’s ready to listen to all options and there’s no “preferred partner” to get these reforms through. He added:
But as yet, we haven’t had any amendments provided to us by other side of politics.
On whether the government can get these reforms through by the end of this year (again remembering that there’s just two joint sitting weeks including this week left in the sitting calendar), Watt says, “I’ll leave it for very intelligent commentators like you, Kieran [Gilbert], to judge that kind of thing, but I’ve certainly put everything I’ve got into these reforms.”
Key events
‘Kick him out!’
After the first couple of questions, the Speaker normally gives a few shoutouts to special guests sitting in the public gallery.
Today, former Labor MP Graham Perrett, who’s only too familiar with section 94a is watching QT.
As Milton Dick introduces him, a few Coalition MPs jokingly shout, “kick him out!” (which gets a good few laughs across the chamber).
Dick says in response, “the former member for Moreton, who I know will be silent during question time …” (which gets even more chuckles).
Albanese defends Labor’s action on cost of living
Staying on cost of living, the chief opposition whip, Aaron Violi, says research by the St Vincent de Paul Society shows 32% of households have skipped meals or gone without food to cover essentials, and 36% of Australian families are concerned about going without food.
Anthony Albanese says the government is acting on the cost of living, and takes the opportunity to dig in on the Coalition’s internal turmoil surrounding net zero emissions.
The number of times that the Coalition, in government or in opposition, has made a submission or a Fair Work case supporting an increase in real wages? Zero. Zero. Zero.
Now, we know they don’t support net zero, but we know also they are net zero when it comes to increases in real wages.
When will prices come down?
Sussan Ley’s first question to Anthony Albanese is on last week’s inflation figures which showed a higher-than-expected rate, and asks when household bills will drop.
Albanese says “everyone” knows that inflation started with a six before the 2022 election, and has been nearly halved.
Ley makes a point of order, asking the PM to say exactly when prices will come down. Milton Dick’s not convinced by the point, and lets Albanese continue.
Albanese finishes his answer taking a dig at the Coalition, for not backing Labor’s top-up tax cut pledge at the last election.
They put forward an option which said, “A vote for the Liberal party is a vote for higher taxes and higher deficits”, and the Australian people rejected them, and the Australian people are continuing to reject them.
It’s question time! With a special guest
The PM is back and today there’s another special guest in the chamber (though not of the musical variety).
New Zealand’s speaker, Gerry Brownlee, is sitting in the house today, next to Milton Dick, who says it’s the first time in 21 years that a visiting speaker has sat on the floor of the house.
Anthony Albanese and Sussan Ley both welcome Brownlee.
No public progress with Coalition or Greens on Labor’s proposed environmental laws
The government’s environment protection bill (EPBC Act) hasn’t yet made any headway publicly with either the Coalition or the Greens.
Murray Watt, speaking to Sky News a moment ago, said negotiations are ongoing, he’s ready to listen to all options and there’s no “preferred partner” to get these reforms through. He added:
But as yet, we haven’t had any amendments provided to us by other side of politics.
On whether the government can get these reforms through by the end of this year (again remembering that there’s just two joint sitting weeks including this week left in the sitting calendar), Watt says, “I’ll leave it for very intelligent commentators like you, Kieran [Gilbert], to judge that kind of thing, but I’ve certainly put everything I’ve got into these reforms.”
Josh Butler
Coalition calls for Optus to pay compensation to those affected by triple-zero outage
The Coalition says Optus should pay compensation to the families of people who died during the network’s triple-zero outage when they were unable to call emergency services, with one senator claiming the telco hadn’t answered key questions about the disruption.
Optus executives fronted a Senate inquiry today, but we didn’t learn a lot more about the emergency calls outage. The CEO, Stephen Rue, said the company “will do the right thing with compensation”, but Liberal senator Sarah Henderson told a press conference she wanted more assurances:
I don’t have the confidence at this point in time that Optus will do the right thing. And so therefore I believe we need full facts in relation to what Optus is going to do in relation to those failed triple-zero calls.
They provide a service, that service failed … So I think Optus has got huge liability, and we demand answers as to what they are going to do for these families.
She didn’t raise a potential compensation number or amount.
Henderson was unhappy that Optus had taken numerous questions on notice during the hearing, rather than answering at that point. She said she believed that behaviour was “in breach of Senate rules” and said she’d raised concerns about whether executives could be in contempt of the Senate.
Missy Higgins puts on the ol’ razzle dazzle at Parliament House
Sometimes parliament sees some very cool guests, and today, musician and Australian treasure Missy Higgins graced us with a performance ahead of the Aria awards later this month.
*I say us, I wasn’t there either so I’ll also be enjoying these pics – like many of you – from the office!
Points to you if you can spot all the pollies in the audience.
Is Tim Wilson throwing his hat in the leadership ring?
Like many Victorians, Tim Wilson doesn’t want to work on Melbourne Cup day. He’s even called the PM a “philistine” for holding a parliamentary sitting day during this sacred event.
(FYI – Melbourne cup day is tomorrow for those who don’t normally celebrate)
In a Facebook post, Wilson also jokingly throws his hat in the leadership ring:
Our philistine prime minister is forcing parliament to sit on Tuesday defying Melbourne’s traditions and way of life. I make this commitment: this will never happen under a Wilson government!
Adeshola Ore
Australian Academy of Science president warns Australia is in a race for Stem talent
The president of the Australian Academy of Science is delivering the annual Ralph Slatyer address, which honours Australia’s first chief scientist.
Chennupati Jagadish warns Australia is in a global race for Stem (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) talent:
There is a global reconfiguration of our energy systems, necessary to decarbonise our economies, whilst not weakening them. Science and technology sit at the absolute centre of these changes.
Last month’s critical minerals agreement between the United States and Australia underscores this. It wasn’t simply a trade deal. It was recognition that geopolitics now turns on access to the raw materials of the technological revolution.
Sadly, I can say with both confidence and despair that science and technology is neither positioned nor valued as the national strategic asset it is at the heart of our ability to trade, make deals, boost productivity and navigate geopolitical complexity.
He says Australia has not sought to strengthen its science and technology capability to respond to a changing world:
We cannot make good on our critical minerals promises when the number of geologists we attract, train and retain is in freefall.
Nor can we rely on importing talent when the International Union of Geological Sciences says other countries are experiencing similar declines.
Ley sticking to working group process to form Liberal position on net zero
Josh Butler
Going back to Sussan Ley’s doorstop earlier on net zero, the opposition leader says she’s still sticking by the joint Liberal-National working group process to set up a potential joint position on energy and climate.
In brief comments outside a charity event, Ley downplayed the effect of the Nationals’ solo decision yesterday to dump their net zero support.
It is currently unclear how the Liberals could come to a vastly different position to the Nationals at this point, but Ley is clearly hoping her colleagues start turning their attention on the Labor government at some point soon rather than continuing their internal bickering. She said:
I always said that the Nationals would come to their decision in their party room and the Liberals would similarly come to our decision in our party room. But our joint energy working group has done an incredibly sound job up until this point in time, it’s continuing, and we can look forward to a Liberal party energy position and then coming together as a Coalition.
I’m looking forward to the work that will happen between now and the Liberal party’s position becoming known, and then us sitting down together as two mature parties developing something that takes the fight up to the Labor party.
Because while a lot of your questions are about process and personnel, for me it is really about one thing and that is the train-wreck energy policy of this government.
Coalition senator Sarah Henderson says evidence at Optus hearing ‘shocking’
The Coalition says it’s walked out of the Optus triple zero hearing with “more questions than answers”.
Sarah Henderson, a former shadow communications minister, said the evidence heard in the hearing was “shocking”.
There were ten different points of failure. There were five calls to the overseas call centre which were never escalated, the CEO sat on his hands and for many hours didn’t inform Acma, the regulator, and the minister’s office, about the true scale of the catastrophe, with three people confirmed dead as a result of what happened on that terrible and fateful day.
Henderson says the regulator and minister have also “drastically failed”, and urged communications minister Anika Wells to front the inquiry.
Liberal senator Dean Smith also said the prime minister’s office has questions to answer about what it knew and when it sought information from Optus.
Penny Wong says Australia is ‘horrified’ by reports of atrocities in El Fasher, Sudan
Foreign minister Penny Wong says Australia is “horrified” by the reports of “mass killings, sexual violence and deliberate attacks on civilians” in El Fasher, Sudan.
The reports of atrocities have emerged from El Fasher since it fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces last weekend.
In a statement, Wong said:
We condemn the atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces and call for an immediate end to the violence and unhindered humanitarian access.
All parties must uphold their obligations to protect civilians and respect international law.
Ley says Nationals ‘entitled’ to own position on net zero target
Josh Butler
Sussan Ley says the Nationals are “entitled” to make their own position on net zero, and says she and the Liberals will join their partner in developing a joint position on energy.
The opposition leader gave a quick comment on her way out of a charity event for the Kmart Wishing Tree. She said the Liberals are still working on their energy and climate policy, and would have a position of their own.
Ley said a joint Liberal-National working group is still working on a joint policy. She said she and David Littleproud had a “convivial” conversation after the Nationals dumped net zero yesterday, and that she looked forward to the two parties getting together to find a way forward.
As some in the Liberal party muse over whether the Coalition can continue, and there is some anger at the Nationals for coming out so strongly, Ley indicated her intent was still to find a joint Coalition position to work for both parties.
Independent criticises ‘gigantic loopholes’ in Labor’s proposed nature laws
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Independent MPs are pushing for changes to Labor’s proposed new nature laws, with one claiming the bill contains “gigantic loopholes that you could drive a heavy hauler through”.
The laws to overhaul the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act are scheduled for debate on Tuesday, with the government planning to rush them through the lower house this week.
The independent MP for Curtin, Kate Chaney, is drafting amendments to address two loopholes that she fears could undermine the entire bill.
The first is the proposed “restoration fund”, which developers would have the choice of contributing to as one option to offset damage from their projects. Chaney said:
That means projects can actually just pay to destroy, they can choose to just put money into a fund, and we may end up with a lot of money but no projects that actually offset the damage that’s being done. And that would not be a good outcome for nature.
The independent MP also wants changes to a contentious new exemption that would allow the environment minister to approve projects in breach of nature laws if it was deemed in the “national interest”.
The former treasury secretary Ken Henry, the Labor MP Ed Husic and Labor’s grassroots environment action group have all called for guardrails to limit how the power could be wielded.
Fellow independent MP Sophie Scamps said she couldn’t support the laws in their current form, criticising the new loopholes and plans to devolve more decision-powers to the states.
I cannot support the EPBC Act … in their current form, because there are the most ginormous, gigantic loopholes that you could drive a heavy hauler through, which means there is no guarantee that our environment will be better protected.
Labor wants the EPBC reforms to pass the Senate this year but that hinges on a deal with either the Greens or the Coalition, neither of whom support the bill as it stands.
Canavan comments on pregnancy terminations ‘beyond disappointing’ says Labor senator
The government, with some of the crossbench and Greens, has voted to debate Baby Priya’s bill, and vote on it by 1pm today.
The opposition says it supports the bill but did not support the guillotine motion to put a time limit on debate.
Labor’s Michelle Ananda-Rajah, who is a medical doctor, disputes the claims from some including Canavan around late-term pregnancy terminations.
It has been beyond disappointing to see the arguments peddled in this chamber …
[These are] not trivial matters, they are not done on the whim of a mother or father, they are a medical decision made by doctors and a wider medical team, usually in a special hospital for women.
Ananda-Rajah also brings up the reports of women who are having homebirths and freebirths, and urges families to listen to medical professionals.
As Melissa Davey brought you a bit earlier, the Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Ranzcog) and the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) have called for legislative changes to restrict labour and birth management to registered practitioners such as obstetricians, gynaecologists, GP obstetricians or midwives. Ananda-Rajah says:
There are disturbing reports in the media of women who are not listening to their trained midwives or doctors but instead choosing to be influenced by doulas or social media influencers around having homebirths or freebirths. This has led to numerous deaths, both of babies as well as women in Australia … I would urge women of Australia to seek your advice from trained professionals, either midwives or obstetricians.
Josh Butler
Net zero debate continues in parliament
Another Liberal is calling for the opposition to junk its commitment to net zero, with Western Australian MP Rick Wilson up in the House of Representatives now, speaking in support of Barnaby Joyce’s bill to scrap the climate commitment.
He claims his electorate of O’Connor, a vast area in the south-east of WA, is “ground zero for net zero”, and raises criticisms of renewables projects, including solar and windfarms. Wilson is unhappy about agricultural land being concerted into renewable projects, and voices concerns about “visual and noise pollution, and potential adverse health effects” of renewables.
Wilson draws a line between the closure of mining and renewables projects, claiming higher emissions reduction targets and energy prices will see such facilities shut down.
Joyce, who remains sitting as a National but still isn’t participating in their party-room meetings, is sitting behind Wilson as he speaks.
Labor MP Dan Repacholi, representing the working-class electorate of Hunter, speaks next and says he “feels like a kindergarten teacher” when he speaks about net zero with Coalition MPs.
He rejects claims that net zero would see the closure of coalmines, calling that allegation “rubbish”, and says net zero is good for the Hunter.
Net zero isn’t about shutting up shop. It’s about running mines, keeping people in work and reaching net zero through offsets and better technology.
Liberal frontbencher says net zero target must be retained ‘in some form’
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The senior Liberal frontbencher Andrew Bragg says net zero must be retained “in some form” and is confident the Coalition will agree on such a position – despite the Nationals’ decision to abandon its commitment to the climate target.
The Liberals are under fresh pressure to settle their position on net zero after the Nationals unanimously decided to walk away from the goal at a special party-room meeting on Sunday.
If the two Coalition partners cannot agree to a compromise, some Liberals believe the party should be prepared to break up the Coalition.
A leading moderate and net zero supporter, Bragg says net zero must be retained “in some form”.
He told reporters in Parliament House:
You have to have net zero in some form. I mean there’s no doubt that Australia has very serious treaty obligations. So my point is we’re a serious country, we’re a trade exposed nation. We’re not going to walk away from international agreements. Never.
But I would say that the domestic rules have made life harder for Australians and so Labor’s net zero has been a complete disaster.
Asked if he would need to reconsider his position on the frontbench if net zero was dumped entirely, Bragg was confident it would not come to that.
I’m confident we will maintain fidelity for our international agreements. How we implement those domestically is a matter we need to work through, but I think we can do it better than Labor.
Labor tries to bring forward Senate debate on paid parental leave after stillbirth
Over in the Senate, the government is trying to bring forward debate and a vote on Baby Priya’s bill today, which would force employers to give parents who have experienced a stillbirth their paid parental leave entitlements.
Several conservatives, including Barnaby Joyce and Andrew Hastie, have been accused of playing politics by using the debate to argue that the leave should not be given to parents who have a late-term abortion.
Medical experts have said the argument shows a lack of understanding about stillbirths and labelled the comments as “terrible, cynical, awful”.
Senator Matt Canavan, who didn’t speak in the federation chamber, has been making the same claims as his colleagues Joyce and Hastie this morning, and says the government has “blindsided” the Senate by trying to move up the vote to 1pm.
Finance minister and minister for women, Katy Gallagher, doesn’t address Canavan’s claims, but says three hours of debate is enough and defends the bill.
It recognises that the loss of a baby is devastating for parents and if there is a way to respond … to seek legislative reform that would allow a mother in the exact same experience as what baby Priya’s mother endured to grieve and have an entitlement to grieve through that period of what would have been her parental leave, that’s what this bill is about.
Independent Kate Chaney to introduce bill on voter data mining
Independent MP Kate Chaney is introducing a bill this morning to stop political parties mining voter data through postal ballot applications.
What’s the problem?
It’s one the Australian Electoral Commission is also not pleased about – where the major parties send unsolicited postal vote application forms to voters, they’re filled out and sent back to the major parties – who are accused of harvesting that data – before they send it on to the AEC.
It’s not a new problem, the AEC warned the major parties about the issue during the 2022 election, and the Liberals were accused of doing it ahead of the voice referendum campaign.
To parliament, Chaney says:
This loophole is particularly bad, because political parties, their contractors and volunteers are exempt from the Privacy Act … not only can [major parties] store and use this data for micro-targeting, profiling or future campaigning without consent, but they can also sell this personal data to third-party data brokers or analytics firms. We have no idea if they currently do this because there’s no oversight.
It’s a private member’s bill, and unlikely to get picked up by the government.
