Canavan says Ley can take her time on net zero policy because Coalition is ‘irrelevant right now’
Matt Canavan, one of the loudest climate action critics in the Coalition, says the Coalition is “irrelevant” right now as it continues to debate its position on net zero.
The senator from Queensland is currently undertaking a review of the emissions-reduction policy for the Nationals, but has pushed hard from the start to ditch the 2050 target.
Asked whether Sussan Ley needed to come out and state her position on net zero (she’s said she’ll allow a committee led by shadow energy minister Dan Tehan to review the policy), he said there’s “no particular rush” for her to do so.
We’re irrelevant right now, who cares what it looks [like] right now. We have got to get the results. That’s what’s important. It doesn’t have to be neat or tidy or pretty, it has to be effective.
Canavan and fellow conservative Liberal senator Alex Antic voted in favour of Pauline Hanson’s motion on repealing net zero in the Senate last night.
He said that when Barnaby Joyce told him about his private member’s bill to repeal net zero he thought, “Jeez why didn’t I think about that, and I think Pauline had the same view.”
Key events
Andrew Messenger
Queensland premier can’t recall if he discussed gender-affirming care ban with director general
Queensland premier David Crisafulli has told parliament he can’t recall if he discussed a ban on gender-affirming care with the public servant who made it in advance.
Under state law, the decision was required to be made by department of health director general, David Rosengren.
Crisafulli met with Rosengren five days before it was announced, without health minister Tim Nicholls.
In a parliamentary estimates hearing on Tuesday, Greens MP Michael Berkman asked Crisafulli if he discussed the ban at the meeting. The premier responded:
I can’t say to the member whether or not we discussed that or not, because I can’t recall.
That was a decision taken by cabinet. So ultimately, I accept that decision. Whether or not I discuss it with the director general, I’m not certain, member, I genuinely am not.
Crisafulli was also asked if he viewed a copy of the directive before it was made, but didn’t answer the question.
The ban covers to the state’s public health system, but does not apply to cisgender children seeking puberty blockers.
Benita Kolovos
Jacinta Allan condemns ‘shameful’ behaviour of pro-Palestine protesters outside NGV on Sunday
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said some of the behaviour a pro-Palestine protest being held out the front of the National Gallery of Victoria on Sunday, which forced the gallery into lockdown for a brief period of time, was “disgraceful”.
Some protesters said they targeted the gallery because it is supported by well-known Jewish philanthropists John and Pauline Gandel. Allan says the criticism of the Gandels was “shameful”.
We are blessed to have the philanthropic generosity from families like the Gandels … That behaviour that we saw on Sunday, where antisemitism came to the street, the National Gallery was just disgraceful. It is shameful.
It was shameful behaviour, and those people who choose to cloak their extremism under the conflict of the Middle East are shameful and should be condemned.
Allan says she is concerned both about the starvation crisis in Gaza as well as the “extremist behaviour” at protests.
We can condemn, and I do condemn in the strongest terms, that behaviour on Sunday, but we can also share the grief of the community of what we are seeing at the consequences of this ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
She says the images coming out of Gaza are “devastating”. Asked whether it was time to recognise Palestine, the premier says she would “follow the lead of the federal government” on the issue, and said there must be a permanent ceasefire in the region.
It comes as Victorian Labor members will use this weekend’s state conference to demand the federal government “immediately” recognise a Palestinian state and impose sanctions on Israel – in what will be their strongest push to date on the issue.
Graham Readfearn
Bigger hailstones and more hailstorms expected as world heats up
As the Nationals row about net zero, research adds “bigger hail” to the list of threats from the climate crisis.
With some in the Nationals pushing for the party to scrap its commitment to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and One Nation again reminding Australians they don’t believe the climate crisis is even a thing, comes another reminder of the risks of global heating.
Now we can add bigger hailstones and more frequent hailstorms to the very long list of risks from global heating.
Dr Tim Raupach of the University of New South Wales used climate models to work out what might happen to hail in a warmer world – one that would be about 2.8C hotter than before the industrial revolution.
Raupach’s projections – published today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters – found an increase in the frequency of hailstorms in the areas around Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane.
The research also found the models forecasting the size of hail would get bigger around Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Kalgoorlie and Perth.
A reason for the potential increase in the size of the hail could be down to changes in the strength of the updraft in thunderstorms which keep hailstones in the cloud for longer, allowing them to grow larger before gravity eventually wins and the stones drop. Raupach said:
We looked at changes in hailstone size between simulations of historical and future periods and we can see increases in hail size produced by the model around Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Perth.
For example, in past simulations, very large, 10cm hailstones were expected once every 20 years around Melbourne. But in a warmer future, it’s once every three years.
How to cut the risks? Raupach says two obvious steps are to cut greenhouse gas emissions and allow for the increased risk in the design of the urban environment.
Patrick Commins
Pocock and Ryan want exporters to divert uncontracted gas for domestic use
Senator David Pocock has joined fellow teal independent, Monique Ryan, in calling on the government to force exporters to divert uncontracted gas for domestic use.
Amid soaring energy prices and fears of supply shortfalls on the east coast, Labor has commissioned a review of the gas market to be conducted over the next six months.
Australian Institute analysis released this morning shows that electricity prices have doubled and wholesale gas prices on the east coast have tripled since exports began in 2015.
The government has opened the door to an east coast gas reservation scheme.
But Pocock said there was no need to reserve extra gas as there was more than enough of the resource to play its part in the clean energy transition without opening new gas fields.
We’re paying international prices for our own gas, and we’re not even getting a return through things like the PRRT (petroleum resource rent tax), which the latest forecasts show is actually going to decline.
This is a scam.
Ryan said that “in the last four years of the slow-dawning realisation from Australians of how significantly we have been duped by our government by decades of policy failure, particularly on gas”.
Every time one of us opens up bills for electricity or for gas, we are seeing evidence of government failure.
Minns opposed to Gaza protest on Harbour Bridge: we ‘can’t close down the central artery’ of Sydney
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says he’s “particularly concerned” about the number of innocent children that have been killed in Gaza, and doesn’t question the motives of people wanting to protest against the conflict.
The NSW government has blocked a pro-Palestinian demonstration from protesting on the Sydney Harbour Bridge that was planned for Sunday.
Minns told ABC radio this morning this he acknowledges the widespread community concern, but “can’t close down the central artery” of Sydney.
Many people are worried about aid and humanitarian care getting into Gaza, and I want the killing to stop as well, and I’m particularly concerned, like a lot of people, about the number of innocent children that have been killed. So, I’m not questioning the motives of many of the protesters …
I wouldn’t [close the Harbour Bridge] for any circumstances. I mean, I think that you have to appreciate that there are, and has been major community protests in relation to this issue in New York City, for example, completely understandable, and it occurs on a weekly basis, like it does here in Sydney. But they don’t close down the Brooklyn Bridge to traffic for that to happen.
Canavan says Ley can take her time on net zero policy because Coalition is ‘irrelevant right now’
Matt Canavan, one of the loudest climate action critics in the Coalition, says the Coalition is “irrelevant” right now as it continues to debate its position on net zero.
The senator from Queensland is currently undertaking a review of the emissions-reduction policy for the Nationals, but has pushed hard from the start to ditch the 2050 target.
Asked whether Sussan Ley needed to come out and state her position on net zero (she’s said she’ll allow a committee led by shadow energy minister Dan Tehan to review the policy), he said there’s “no particular rush” for her to do so.
We’re irrelevant right now, who cares what it looks [like] right now. We have got to get the results. That’s what’s important. It doesn’t have to be neat or tidy or pretty, it has to be effective.
Canavan and fellow conservative Liberal senator Alex Antic voted in favour of Pauline Hanson’s motion on repealing net zero in the Senate last night.
He said that when Barnaby Joyce told him about his private member’s bill to repeal net zero he thought, “Jeez why didn’t I think about that, and I think Pauline had the same view.”
Benita Kolovos
150 offences excluded from Victoria’s second strike rule
Following from our last post …
Kilkenny says 150 offences will be excluded from the second strike rule, such as “low- level drug possession and petty crimes that we know are often driven by homelessness or other forms of disadvantage”.
We know from experience in the past that vulnerable cohorts were caught up in various changes. So we’re making sure we’re taking a much more nuanced approach.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, says the bail changes strike the right balance and the government will take a similar approach when they introduce long-awaited protest laws to parliament. She says:
This is all about having that focus on community safety coming first here in Victoria. Repeat serious offending is what we are focused on here today … We’re [also] focused on strengthening police powers to crack down on that extreme behaviour at protests.
Allan says the protest laws are still being worked through but will include outlawing “face masks, attachment devices and the display of terror symbols and signs”:
It’s not protest that’s the issue here. It is shameful extremist behaviour, and that is what we are zeroing in on, bringing new laws and toughening powers for police.
Benita Kolovos
Victoria’s attorney general confident vulnerable people won’t be caught in proposed bail law changes
Victoria’s attorney general, Sonya Kilkenny, says she is confident vulnerable people will not be caught up in the proposed bail law changes she will be introducing to parliament today.
As we brought to you earlier, the Victorian government has announced further changes to the state’s bail laws that will see people charged with six serious offences such as aggravated burglary, carjacking and armed robbery while on bail will be subject to the nation’s “toughest bail test”.
Kilkenny says the test will see people “denied bail unless they can prove to the court that there is a high degree of probability that they will not commit” further offences.
A new “second strike” rule is also proposed in the bill, which will make it harder for people to get bail if they are accused of committing another indictable offence while already on bail.
This will apply to charges such as theft, assault, sex offences and serious drug offences. Kilkenny says:
They will face a tougher, stricter bail test, a test that reverses the onus and requires the approved person to show to the court there are compelling reasons why bail should not be denied. In order to ensure that we are not scooping up vulnerable cohorts, there will be some carve-outs of these indictable offences.
Natasha May
Butler clarifies maths around 90% bulk-billing promise
The health minister, Mark Butler, has shed some new light around how the government’s bulk-billing figures square with other reports you may have read about GPs being reluctant to take up their offer.
In February Butler announced the government’s $8.5bn investment would mean nine out of 10 GP visits will be bulk billed by 2030, but at the same time Butler has confirmed a department brief provided to the government after the election showed almost a quarter of clinics won’t join the program.
Butler has cleared up how the department’s maths works on last night’s ABC 7.30 program:
I said that about three-quarters of general practices we were confident would go to full bulk billing because it would be in their financial interests as well as in the interests of their patients. The other quarter, we think, will probably continue to mix bill, so they’ll bulk bill their pensioners, the kids who come through their door.
On average, a practice that doesn’t fully bulk bill is still bulk billing about 70% of their consults. Three-quarters at 100%, a quarter at about 70% gets us to 90% over the course of the coming years.
Queensland police union says it’s secured ‘largest ever’ pay rise to the state’s police service
Leaving federal politics for a moment, the vast majority of Queensland police will receive bonuses of $8,000, with cops in rural and regional areas receiving thousands more, under a deal signed on Monday night.
Police will also receive an increase in base pay of at least 8% over the next three years.
Union leader Shane Prior described the agreement as the “largest ever pay deal for Queensland Police in its history”, with improvements to wages and conditions to cost $562m.
The state government has also agreed to changes to the function of the department, in response to pressure from the union.
The state government is currently negotiating with nurses and teachers unions; both unions have balloted members for industrial action.
Asked if the retention bonus would serve as a precedent for other EBAs, the premier, David Crisafulli, said the police pay was promised before the election.
We aren’t going to be able to do the things that we have to when it comes to dealing with law and order unless we have a properly resourced police service, but one that also feels respected and valued. And that’s why this was targeted. We spoke about it before the election, and we’ve delivered it after.
Dave Sharma says Israel must ensure aid goes into Gaza
Earlier this morning, Liberal senator Dave Sharma, a former ambassador to Israel, told the ABC that reports of malnutrition in Gaza are credible.
He also said Israel must ensure food and humanitarian aid goes into Gaza, to improve its international reputation.
I think the evidence is pretty overwhelming that there’s a high, you know, there’s malnutrition, there’s shortages of food …
Parts of the Israeli government would say, well, Hamas is using this as a sort of propaganda tool, but I think the way to stop that being used as a propaganda tool is to make sure that there is no food insecurity in Gaza, to make sure that the population is fed, to make sure that Hamas cannot use this to portray you as cruel or uncaring or insensitive.
His comments, like those from Paterson, are different to some of the more hardline statements their colleagues like Tehan and Cash.
Israel harming its ‘international standing’ by delaying aid to Gaza, says Paterson
Paterson says Israel is harming its own international standing by the delays in providing essential food and humanitarian aid for Gaza.
He tells Sky News that the world is seeing a “very serious, very dire” humanitarian situation, and that innocent civilians “should not be made to be punished” for Hamas’s crimes.
Although I’m a strong supporter of Israel, and I strongly support the campaign to disband Hamas and free the 50 hostages, or bodies of deceased hostages that Hamas is still holding, I also accept as the military power in the region which has effective control of Gaza, Israel does have a responsibility to ensure that the civilian population is fed, and they need to do all reasonable steps to make sure that’s the case.
And it is doing harm, in my judgment, [to] Israel’s international standing that so far in recent months, [they] have not been able to do that.
Paterson’s language today is a fair bit stronger than his colleague Dan Tehan’s on RN Breakfast yesterday, who defended Israel’s actions in Gaza and questioned whether Israel is breaching international humanitarian law as the government has said.
Recent statements by shadow foreign affairs minister, Michaelia Cash, have also suggested that any “moral outrage” should be placed on Hamas.
James Paterson ‘concerned’ Trump keeps taking Australia by surprise on tariffs
The shadow finance minister, James Paterson, says any new tariffs from the US would be “enormously disappointing”, but is “concerned” the Trump administration keeps taking the government by surprise on tariffs.
Paterson tells Sky News there’s growing evidence that there’s a “problem” in the bilateral relationship between Australia and the US.
The Trump administration is threatening tariffs of 15 to 20% for countries – far higher than the current 10% baseline tariff that has been placed on Australia.
Paterson says Anthony Albanese should have sat down for a face-to-face meeting with Trump by now.
I am concerned by the way in which the Australian government continually seems to be surprised by these developments …
I absolutely concede this is an unconventional US administration that changes its policy, often at short notice, but I think there’s enough evidence now in the public realm that we do have a problem in the bilateral relationship between Australia and the United States.
Trump’s threat to double tariffs for countries including Australia ‘bad policy’, says shadow trade minister
The shadow trade minister, Kevin Hogan, says Donald Trump’s threat that countries including Australia could face even higher tariffs from the US is “bad policy”.
Trump said on Tuesday morning he plans a new tariff that could be “somewhere in the 15 to 20% range”.
Hogan said Anthony Albanese should seek a meeting with the US president to push back on behalf of Australia.
If Trump is looking to put tariffs higher, I think that is damaging not only to the US consumer, which means their inflation rate will go up, but it has a real danger to slow global growth.
We’ve seen a bit of it, but this could accentuate it, almost like a global trade war. Especially a country like China, if they were to retaliate to these higher tariffs, what would that mean? That would mean slower global growth.
Hogan said as much as $650bn worth of Australian exports could be put at risk from a further breakdown in trade rules.
[It] accentuates in my belief the importance that our prime minister secure a face-to-face meeting.
He has to put a very strong sovereign case to America that their policy is bad … this has to be put very forcefully and has to happen.