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‘Vindictive, mean, nasty’: Fatima Payman attacks Pauline Hanson in Senate
By David Crowe
Independent senator Fatima Payman has launched a furious attack on fellow senator Pauline Hanson by accusing the One Nation leader of racism, bringing the Senate to a halt.
Hanson was seeking to table documents in the Senate on Wednesday morning when Payman and the Greens moved to stop her, igniting an acrimonious debate and forcing a vote that led Labor and the Coalition to side with Hanson to try and stop the crossbench dispute.
“You’re not just vindictive, mean, nasty. You bring disgrace to the human race,” Payman told Hanson in the Senate.
“I kept on giving you the benefit of the doubt, Senator Hanson, despite your repetitive attempts to be racist to anyone who does not look like you.”
Victorian independent senator Lidia Thorpe backed Payman and called Hanson a “convicted racist” in an extraordinary moment of direct confrontation between crossbench senators.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe throws papers towards One Nation senator Pauline Hanson, as independent senator Fatima Payman watches on.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Hanson requested for Payman to be asked to withdraw her remarks because it is in breach of the standing orders of the Senate for those in the chamber to call each other racist.
“I want these comments about calling me a racist withdrawn,” Hanson said, without responding further to Payman’s comments. The argument triggered a vote on whether to allow Hanson to table the documents, forcing the major parties to decide where they stood on the crossbench dispute.
Labor, the Coalition and independent senator Jacqui Lambie voted to allow Hanson to table the documents. The Greens and Thorpe sided with Payman.
Blackout risk warning escalates for this afternoon
By Mike Foley
An urgent warning of electricity blackouts has been issued for NSW this afternoon between 3.30pm and 5pm.
The heightened risk of blackouts is due to high energy use for air conditioning as temperatures soar.
Short energy supplies have been exacerbated by four of the 12 power-generation units at the state’s ageing coal-fired plants being offline due to maintenance and breakdowns.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has kicked off negotiations with large power users like smelters and factories, who can be paid to reduce energy use, so blackouts are not triggered for households.
If AEMO cannot secure an agreement, it may be forced to intervene in the market to cut energy use.
AEMO has issued a lower-level blackout risk warning that kicked off on Tuesday and remains in place until Friday.
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“AEMO remains focused on maintaining electricity reliability in both NSW and Queensland this week, as high temperatures are expected to drive strong energy demand amid significant generation unavailability in NSW,” a spokesman said yesterday.
“If electricity supply forecasts deteriorate, AEMO will take all necessary measures, including the activation of off-market reserves, to ensure supply reliability.”
New emissions target analysis proves climate policies are working: Bowen
By Josefine Ganko
Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen says new analysis showing Australia is nearing its 2030 emissions targets is proof that the government’s climate policies are having the intended impact.
The target of a 43 per cent reduction on 2005 emissions levels by 2030 is within reach, as a new report finds the government is on track to hit a 42.6 per cent reduction, a jump on the forecast of a 37 per cent reduction this time last year.
Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“We’re not saying this is game over and there isn’t more to do. But we are saying it shows we’re on track for those emissions reduction targets that we went to the election with, and we aim to be beating,” Bowen told ABC News Breakfast.
Bowen said the targets are not a ceiling, and the government will do what it can to beat them, but that they had to be “realistic” by being “ambitious, but also achievable”.
The minister also confirmed Australia is on track to reach its target of 82 per cent renewable energy supply by 2030, touting the growth of the Capacity Investment Scheme.
“Just in the last quarter, we’ve seen more investment in renewable energy than we did in all of last year”.
The bills that have been dropped or delayed
Following on from the last post, here’s a reminder of the friendless bills that the government dropped or delayed ahead of the final sitting week.
The status of the key bills the government wants to pass this week
By David Crowe and Josefine Ganko
Before another day kicks off in parliament, let’s look at the status of the key bills the government is attempting to pass in the hectic final sitting week of the year.
On the brink
Social media ban for children under 16
The Coalition confirmed its support for the bill at a party room meeting on Tuesday, paving the way for the law to pass before parliament rises for the year, despite concerns raised by independents and outspoken Coalition MPs.
Labor will pay countries to accept convicted criminals it has been unable to deport and revive its travel ban on nations that don’t take back citizens against their will, under a package of laws the Albanese government wants to rush through parliament in a last-minute deal with the Coalition.
Establishment of Environment Protection Australia agency
The Coalition is opposed to the EPA, which means the government must secure the Greens’ support to deliver on its 2022 election promise to set up the agency, but the minor party is holding out for changes to the plan in a tussle over the scale of the powers to protect wildlife and native forests.
Future Made in Australia policy
On Monday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers introduced part of the scheme, a bill to offer production tax credits to mining companies that produce critical minerals needed for high-tech devices and batteries. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has refused to back the changes out of concern at the cost, but Labor is seeking to turn that against him in mining states such as Western Australia.
The Coalition has agreed to changes to political donations laws to require faster disclosure of donations, cap the amount a candidate could receive from a donor at $20,000, and set an $800,000 limit on the amount a candidate could spend in a single seat.
Passed
Help to Buy and Build to Rent schemes
In a stunning backdown, the Greens “waved through” the government’s key housing policies on Tuesday, voting to pass the Help to Buy scheme to support home buyers and the Build to Rent policy to spur investment in new homes through the Senate.
Laws to ease student loans for 3 million Australians by scaling back the indexation of their debts gained Senate approval on Tuesday night.
Improved public school funding deals with states
Tuesday saw the passage of laws to back the $16 billion funding boost for public schools.
Pay increase for early childhood education and care sector
The $3.6 billion wage increase for childcare workers also passed the upper house on Tuesday.
The Coalition helped the government pass one of its most important changes last week, approving a package of aged care bills in the Senate.
For chief political correspondent David Crowe’s reporting on the state of play in Canberra, click here.
‘I’ve done a backflip’: MP turns against social media ban
By Olivia Ireland
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie has backflipped on supporting the government’s teen social media ban, saying he has realised “the whole thing’s a nonsense”.
Yesterday, moderate Liberal MPs Bridget Archer and Richard Colbeck threatened to vote against the ban that Opposition Leader Peter Dutton wants to ram through the parliament with Labor.
“I got it wrong and I’ve changed my mind”: Independent MP Andrew Wilkie.Credit: Mick Tsikas
Speaking on ABC Radio National this morning, Wilkie said he has changed his mind about supporting the bill.
“I’ve got a confession to make. I’ve done a backflip on this,” he said.
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“I got it wrong and I’ve changed my mind. I’ve got two teenage daughters and I’ve got three teenage stepsons. My first response to the news that under 16s would be banned: ‘I agree with joy’, I thought ‘that’s a great idea’.
“But as soon as I started to research it, as soon as I started to hear commentary from youth and adolescent mental health experts, from youth welfare experts, from technical experts to talk about the practicalities of this … I realise[d] the whole thing’s a nonsense and, frankly, I am doubtful that it will ever be realised.”
Biden welcomes Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, as Israeli cabinet approves deal
President Joe Biden on Tuesday called Israel and Hezbollah’s ceasefire agreement “good news” and expressed hope that the pause in more than 13 months of fighting will be the catalyst to also end the war in Gaza.
Biden made his comments in a Rose Garden speech. He stressed that Israel reserved the right to quickly resume operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah breaks the terms of the truce.
Biden speaks in the Rose Garden of the White House.Credit: Bloomberg
Biden added that the deal between Israel and Hezbollah “was designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities”.
The president’s comments come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet approved a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah, clearing the way for the truce to take effect.
Netanyahu’s office said the plan was approved by a 10-1 margin. The late-night vote came shortly before Biden was expected to announce details of the deal in Washington.
Earlier, Netanyahu defended the ceasefire, saying Israel has inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah and could now focus its efforts on Hamas militants in Gaza and his top security concern, Iran. Netanyahu vowed to strike Hezbollah hard if it violates the expected deal.
Read more about the ceasefire deal in the full story here.
AP
Changes to student loan indexation become law
By David Crowe
Labor has gained Senate approval for laws to ease student loans for three million Australians by scaling back the indexation of their debts.
The government has also passed laws to support a $16 billion funding boost for public schools and a $3.6 billion wage increase for childcare workers in the latest stage of a fraught negotiation in the upper house.
Education Minister Jason Clare joined Nine’s Today to discuss the passage of the bills, defending the expense as necessary to tackle the “unfair” indexation of HECS debt.
“We got a body of experts together to look at [HECS indexation] and tell us what to do, and they recommended that we set the indexation for HECS every year at either inflation or wages, whatever’s the lowest. And that’s what we’ve done,” Clare said.
“But we’ve done more than that. We’ve backdated it to June last year. So that wipes out what happened last year and makes sure that it never happens again.”
Young Australians will have to wait, however, for additional changes that could cut their debts by 20 per cent and raise the income threshold that triggers HECS-HELP repayments because Labor says the bigger reform will take place only if it wins the election.
The Coalition is opposed to the 20 per cent discount Labor is offering.
Wong pushes for ‘thorough’ investigation into Laos mass poisoning
By Josefine Ganko and Alex Crowe
The grieving families of two backpackers who died after a suspected mass methanol poisoning have returned to Australia, as Foreign Minister Penny Wong pushes for a “thorough and transparent” investigation into the tragedy.
The families of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles travelled from Bangkok to Melbourne on Tuesday night, bringing home the bodies of the two 19-year-old girls.
“We miss our daughters desperately,” Bianca’s father, Mark Jones, said.
“We cannot have our girls passing and this continue to happen.”
Overnight, Wong confirmed she had spoken to her Laotian counterpart, Thongsavanh Phomvihane.
Wong said the pair agreed that the investigation into the methanol poisoning tragedy “must be thorough and transparent”.
“I appreciate our continuing cooperation,” Wong wrote.
Eight people linked to the hostel were detained by police in Vang Vieng on Tuesday, local media reported.
Voters think Albanese government has wrong priorities, poll finds
By Josefine Ganko
Most Australians feel they are poorer now than they were three years ago, as a new poll reveals widespread dissatisfaction with the Albanese government’s priorities.
A Redbridge poll found 52 per cent of those surveyed either disagreed or strongly disagreed with the proposition that the government has the right focus. 40 per cent of voters said Peter Dutton was ready for office, slightly more than the 39 per cent who said he was not.
Asked on Seven’s Sunrise if the polling meant Australia was “in the mood for change”, Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth said the government was focused on the cost of living while the Coalition was blocking bills.
Directing her comments to Liberal senator Jane Hume, Rishworth said: “You’ve voted against our housing bills. Blocked our cost-of-living measures. Fought against our energy price measures. Everything we’ve done, the Liberal Party have fought against it…”
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Hume repeatedly interrupted Rishworth’s response, asking, “Where have you been for two and a half years?”
“You spent a year concentrating on the Voice referendum,” Hume quipped.
Meanwhile, on Nine’s Today, Nationals senator Matt Canavan also responded to the poll, saying Australians were poorer because “we’ve adopted a lot of stupid policies that deny Australians the use of their own energy resources that load our country with way too much red tape”.
Last month, the Resolve Political Monitor found Australians hold Labor accountable for the financial pain of rising prices and the cost of housing.
36 per cent believed the federal government was responsible for their rising living costs – far greater than the 13 per cent who blamed global factors outside Australia’s control.
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