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Labor’s climate bill passes lower house
By Katina Curtis and Angus Thompson
Labor’s climate bill has passed the lower house with 89 votes to 55, enshrining the government’s commitment to reduce Australia’s emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 in law.
“This is a good day for our country,” Climate Minister Chris Bowen told parliament.
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has said the bill’s success in the lower house is a great day for Australia.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
The historic vote occurred after the government supported a number of amendments put by the crossbench.
These were Curtin MP Kate Chaney’s changes to make clear the legislation was aimed at urgent action on climate change; Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel’s requirement that the target be a floor rather than a ceiling; Indi MP Helen Haines’ requirement that benefits to regional communities be taken into account in assessing the effectiveness of legislation; and Member for Warringah Zali Steggall’s move that future updates to targets under the Paris Agreement must draw on expert advice from the Climate Change Authority.
Separate bids from the Greens and Andrew Wilkie to lift the emissions cuts to 75 per cent were defeated.
Greens leader Adam Bandt urged the government to “act quicker to fix it” after the Coalition’s inertia.
“We’re doing this to stop going over a cliff,” he said. “If we hit 2 degrees, say goodbye to the Great Barrier Reef, and parts of Australia may become inhabitable if we go beyond that.”
The voting process on the amendments took more than three hours.
In the final vote, the overwhelming support for the bill came from Labor, the four Greens MPs and crossbenchers Zoe Daniel, Monique Ryan, Sophie Scamps, Rebekha Sharkie, Allegra Spender, Zali Steggall, Kylea Tink and Andrew Wilkie.
Kate Chaney and Helen Haines were absent because they caught COVID-19 earlier in the week and are isolating.
Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor to support the legislation.
The rest of the Coalition voted against it. Crossbenchers Bob Katter and Dai Le abstained.
Bowen thanked members across parliament for working constructively with the government on changes to the legislation.
‘Simply useless’: Le Pen calls for end to EU sanctions against Russia
By Rebecca Rosman
Paris: Marine Le Pen has called on Europe to put an end to sanctions against Russia, arguing the economic consequences for the bloc are too extreme.
Speaking during a parliamentary press conference on Tuesday, the right-wing French politician said Europe’s sanctions “serve no -purpose” and should “disappear”.
Far-right friend of Russia: Marine Le Pen.Credit:AP
“Otherwise Europe is going to face a blackout, notably on the question of Russian gas imports,” she said.
“These sanctions are simply useless. All they do is make Europeans suffer. And that, incidentally, includes French people.”
“You’d need a huge dose of bad faith not to realise that, contrary to the inflated claims of our government, the Russian economy is not on its knees. They are not on the brink of bankruptcy.”
Read more here.
Afternoon news summary
By Nigel Gladstone
Here’s a quick summary of the headlines so far today.
Three dead in regional Queensland shooting, manhunt ongoing
By Toby Crockford
Three people have been killed in a shooting on a rural cattle property in north Queensland, while a fourth victim has been flown to hospital in a critical condition.
The shooting happened on Thursday morning near Bogie, north of Mackay.
Police District Superintendent Tom Armitt said the “killer or killers” were believed to still be in the area, with police having established an extensive exclusion zone.
Superintendent Tom Armitt.
The survivor was “in a very distressed state” and gave police “scant information” initially regarding exactly where the shooting took place.
Police have since updated their exclusion zone.
Superintendent Armitt said there was no indication why the shooting occurred, and he refused to give information regarding the victims or potential persons-of-interest in the manhunt.
He did describe it as “an extremely rare event”.
Heavily-armed Special Emergency Response Unit officers are involved in the search, with non civilians - such as State Emergency Service volunteers - allowed in the area.
Independent Fowler MP says cost of living crisis hitting hard
By Angus Thompson
Independent MP Dai Le says her electorate of Fowler, in Sydney’s south-west, a large migrant community, “bears the brunt” of the cost of living and skills shortage crises.
“How will the prime minister commit to working with me to lower the unemployment rate and lower the cost of living for struggling families of Fowler?” Le asked.
Independent Fowler MP Dai Le.Credit:James Brickwood
The prime minister said he has encouraged Le to host a local forum to feed into the government’s jobs and skills summit, adding the government will provide advice and speakers, “which is on offer to anyone around this chamber as well”.
“What we need to do is to work with the local business community, to work with TAFE, the three levels of government, and I discussed with Premier [Dominic] Perrottet today at the National Cabinet and along with other premiers how we can make sure arising out of that we give Australians more opportunities for jobs through better TAFE funding, better training, making sure that we identify those opportunities which are there,” Anthony Albanese said.
“One of the things we know is that long-term unemployment can be a scourge, in particular I am aware that in south West Sydney, there are pockets of housing estates, whereby disadvantage is entrenched.”
Australia’s trade surplus swells to fresh record in boost to GDP
Australia’s trade surplus hit a fresh record high, driven by strong prices of key exports from grains to metals and gold, in a result that’s likely to boost second-quarter gross domestic product.
The surplus swelled to $17.7 billion in June, surpassing economists’ estimate of $14 billion, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed on Thursday. Exports jumped 5 per cent, while imports rose 1 per cent as more Australian holidaymakers travelled overseas.
“We estimate that net exports provided a boost to second-quarter GDP growth of a large one percentage point, which supports our view that Australia’s economy is holding up better than most anticipate,” said Marcel Thieliant, a senior economist at Capital Economics.
Australia has posted monthly trade windfalls for 4-1/2 years, underpinned by sales of iron ore and coal. It’s also a key exporter of LNG and has benefited from surging prices for the fuel, along with commodities like wheat amid fears of supply disruptions from Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Thursday’s data showed earnings from metals jumped 27% in June while cereal and grains climbed 21.1%. Australians travelling overseas boosted services imports by A$2 billion from an upwardly revised A$1.6 billion in May.
Treasurer Jim ChalmersCredit:Alex Ellinghausen
The figures will be welcomed by new Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who is struggling to contain a budget deficit and rising government debt after a fiscal stimulus to support the economy through the pandemic. Chalmers will release his first budget in October.
Bloomberg
Pay rise for aged care workers will be supported
By Angus Thompson
Aged Care Minister Anika Wells has announced the government is lodging its highly anticipated submission supporting a pay rise for aged care workers on August 8, the deadline given by the Fair Work Commission.
Wells acknowledged several workers from the sector sitting in the gallery of the House of Representatives during question time, before announcing the date of the submission, which will fulfil a key election commitment of the government.
Minister for Aged Care and Sport Anika Wells.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Labor promised during the election that it would lodge a submission endorsing the Health Services Union’s push for a pay rise before the industrial umpire.
The union is seeking a 25 per cent wage rise for the workforce; however, Labor has steered clear of endorsing a figure, saying it was up to the Fair Work Commission.
Wells also acknowledged on Tuesday that care workers were undervalued in Australia as the government started reforming the troubled aged care sector following the success of a bill that responded to the Aged Care Royal Commission.
“Until they feel that value we will not get enough people in the sector,” she said.
Monkeypox vaccine not the only tool to slow it spreading
By Angus Thompson
Health Minister Mark Butler has expanded on this morning’s announcement of securing 450,000 of the third-generation monkeypox vaccine.
“We have also been working over recent weeks to increase clinical awareness and clinical capability to identify, isolate and treat cases as quickly as possible,” Butler told Question Time.
“It is important to say any person can contract monkeypox, but it has particularly affected people across the world, gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men.
Health minister Mark ButlerCredit:Alex Ellinghausen
“We have been closely engaged with organisations like the federation of AIDS organisations, the clinicians, leveraging their networks and the capability that they have built up over the last four decades to make sure that communities across Australia have maximum awareness and are able to take up the opportunities that we have been able to secure over the course of this week.”
Watch: question time
Federal parliament convened for question time earlier, you can watch it below.
Labor promises ‘no stone unturned’ in bid to improve foot and mouth plans
By Mike Foley
In other news, the federal government has announced a four-week review of the country’s plans to keep foot and mouth disease out of Australia.
The risk of a local outbreak has been increasing due to cases being recorded in neighbouring Indonesia, including on the holiday island of Bali.
Agriculture Minister Murray Watt. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt says a new exotic animal disease preparedness taskforce will review the current regime that was developed between industry and government.
The government has estimated a large outbreak of the disease, which affects cloven-hoofed animals including cows, pigs and sheep, would shut down red meat exports, force widespread livestock culling and cost the economy $80 billion.
“We’ll leave no stone unturned to ensure that we are ready should an outbreak occur here,” Watt told reporters.
“Good governments plan for the best and prepare for the worst. This will ensure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities if there were to be an outbreak, and that there are no gaps in our response.”
The taskforce will include officials from a range of government departments including the Defence Force, Border Force and the Animal Health Australia agency.
It will review the current measures contained in what’s known as the “Ausvet plan”. That plan says a foot and mouth incursion will trigger an immediate nationwide halt of livestock transport, quarantining of hotspots and tracking and tracing of the virus.
Keating has a ‘sharp tongue but short memory’, Greens leader says
By Angus Thompson
Greens leader Adam Bandt says Paul Keating has “got a sharp tongue but a short memory” and has challenged him to a Press Club debate in a counter-strike against “choice words” from the former Labor prime minister.
“Paul Keating is Labor’s patron saint of privatisation. Paul Keating boasted about selling off the Commonwealth Bank, Qantas, our vaccine manufacturer CSL, he’s proud of having kept wages low while giving the very wealthy and big corporations a tax cut. He still boasts about cutting government spending,” Bandt told journalists during a press conference.
“I am happy to debate Paul Keating anywhere, any time about Labor’s record in bringing economic rationalism and next-year liberalism to this country. Paul Keating has never seen a public asset that he didn’t want to privatise.”
Greens leader Adam Bandt speaking during the debate over amendments to the government’s climate change bill.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Keating savaged Bandt for branding Labor a “neoliberal” party in a row over the environment after Labor secured the numbers to legislate its 43 per cent cut to greenhouse gas emissions.
The former PM denounced the Greens as the “enemy of Labor” and accused Bandt of distorting the truth by ignoring Labor achievements including Medicare, compulsory superannuation and the safety net for wages under workplace laws.
Returning fire, Bandt said Keating was entitled to his views “but he’s not entitled to rewrite history”.
“If he wants a debate, bring it on. I suggest we meet at the National Press Club to have a debate about Labor’s role in cutting public spending and bringing in tax cuts for the very wealthy and big corporations in this country,” he said.
“Because right now, in a cost-of-living crisis, Labor is proposing to make it even worse - by getting tax cuts to billionaires like Clive Palmer, ripping $220 billion plus out of the budget, leaving less money in there to get dental into Medicare.
“There’s not one single thing that Paul Keating can say in defence of this current government’s budget because this government is sounding far too much like the old government with their talk of budget cuts [and] when people remain with low wages and incomes below the poverty line. Bring it on, Paul Keating. He’s got a sharp tongue and a short memory.”
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2022-08-04 05:29:11Z
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