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Independent Sophie Scamps welcomes preliminary refusal of Pep11 gas project
Ed Husic has issued a preliminary refusal of the Pep11 project.
Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps says it brings the community one step closer to victory:
Industry minister Ed Husic has formed a ‘preliminary view’ that the Pep11 permit should not be renewed.
Asset Energy, the company behind the project, now has an opportunity to make submissions to address the minister’s concerns and I respect the need for due process.
But a preliminary decision to reject this project is an amazing step forward in this decade-long fight and vindication of the stance of community independents in fighting for communities.
Myself and the independent MP for Warringah, Zali Steggall have fought long and hard to ensure that the federal government understands why the community wants to stop oil and gas development off our pristine beaches.
This project was roundly rejected by the millions of people who live along the coast between Sydney and Newcastle, including the people of Mackellar.
This project poses unreasonable risks to the environment, to marine life and to other activities such as tourism that depend on our pristine coastline and now the federal government has acted.
Key events
Albanese says the government ‘will have another crack at it’ after housing bill delayed in Senate
Credit to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese. He’s on Nova Drive at the moment, and doing the usual FM radio banter about a concert at Parliament House where Pauline Hanson was also in attendance, and managed a pivot from the banter to saying Hanson and the Greens and the Coalition had blocked the government’s housing bill in the Senate today.
Asked what happens from here, Albanese says the government will “have another crack at it”, noting three days of sitting of the Senate and nothing has passed. He says Australians deserved better and there should be a debate and vote on the legislation.
Daniel Hurst
Australia continues efforts to ‘address concerns’ with draft UN resolution regarding Israeli presence in Palestinian territories
The Australian government has not yet locked in its position on a Palestinian-drafted UN general assembly resolution, but is still pressing to pare back aspects of the draft wording.
The resolution is in response to the international court of justice’s ruling in July that Israel’s continued presence in the territories it has occupied since the 1967 war was “unlawful” and must end “as rapidly as possible”.
The advisory opinion – which Israel rejects – also said all other countries were “under an obligation not to recognise as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence”.
Guardian Australia understands that Australia has been working with several other like-minded countries to “address concerns with the draft resolution”, which is due to go to a vote this week.
The Australian government’s position is that it respects the ICJ and wants a resolution that reflects the court’s opinion. But sources said the Palestinian mission did not yet appear willing to consider further amendments.
A spokesperson for the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said this afternoon:
We want as many countries as possible to agree a practical path to a two-state solution and self-determination for the Palestinian people. We want this resolution to give Israel and the international community a practical way to respond to ICJ’s advisory opinion.
We’ve engaged constructively in the hope of achieving that.
Jane Hume says ‘more needs to be done’ as Meta announces new restrictions on teen accounts
Hume says she is “a little bit cynical” that Meta is moving on new restrictions for teens on Instagram, considering they’ve had plenty of time to do before governments are acting on it now.
She says more needs to be done and today’s announcement is not enough.
Separately, the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has responded welcoming the announcement from Meta, but saying that the government will still forge ahead with raising the age limit. You can read more below:
Hume comments on help-to-buy bill delay after Greens vote
The shadow finance minister, Jane Hume, says the Coalition voted to delay the vote on the government’s housing bills with the Greens because the Greens “were the ones that moved a motion to not have the bill go to a vote if that’s what they want, if they’ve got more time to consider that’s what the Senate is for”.
Hume told the ABC she is questioning the urgency given the bill could have been brought back in February.
On whether it could result in a double dissolution election, Hume says the Coalition has been saying there should be an election for months.
Amy Remeikis
Josh Taylor is going to guide you through the evening as we all go and take stock of three days of intense focus on the Senate. We might all need to go touch some grass and just stare at a wall.
We will be back for the ongoing housing wars (although that is now just a verbal-too-and-fro after the Greens won the Senate vote to delay the help-to-buy vote for another two months), Gerard Rennick’s tax policy announcement (can’t wait) and more on the secret ADF review which was published, pulled down, and then tabled as the government has to make an explanation on how that all happened.
Until tomorrow – take care of you.
Estimated 16,400 people trapped in modern slavery in NSW, report says
AAP reports that temporary workers are still at risk of modern day slavery, according to a new report:
Migrant women escaping exploitative work conditions are delivering babies prematurely then being slugged with hefty medical bills, while their male counterparts are sleeping in tents in parks in regional NSW. A landmark report from the independent NSW anti-slavery commissioner, James Cockayne, found there are an estimated 16,400 people trapped in modern slavery in NSW.
The commissioner called for an urgent inquiry on Wednesday after the report, Be Our Guests: addressing urgent modern slavery risks for temporary migrant workers in rural and regional NSW, was tabled in state parliament by the attorney general.
The study looked at modern slavery risks that temporary migrant workers face in agriculture, horticulture and meat processing in more than 15 rural and regional NSW towns, talking with 80 Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (Palm) scheme workers.
Modern slavery includes everything from debt bondage, deceptive recruiting and forced labour to extreme cases such as sexual servitude and human trafficking.
Mark Dreyfus questioned on the second pillar of Aukus
Earlier today the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, was asked about the second pillar of Aukus – where other countries, including Japan, are invited to play a role in the security arrangement.
Dreyfus kept to the lines:
This is a partnership with the United Kingdom and the United States. Of course, as has been reported, there are some other discussions going on, but clearly this is a very, very important arrangement. It’s going to provide submarine technology to Australia. It’s going to give access to Australia for technology in the future. We’re looking forward in coming years to Aukus developing.
Angus Taylor on ‘Coalition’s approach to financial services’
So what does “back on track” and “back to basics” for the financial tech industry look like?
Angus Taylor says:
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We will drive investment through lower, simpler, fairer taxes – and have announced that we would make the instant asset write-off permanent for small businesses as a downpayment on that agenda;
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor has addressed the FinTech conference with a speech titled:
“Back on Track and Back to Basics – The Coalition’s approach to Financial Services”
If back on track sounds familiar, it is because it was a favourite Coalition slogan when it came to the budget in the Morrison treasurer years and is emerging as the Coalition slogan for the coming election.
Jenny McAllister comes back to her first answers to Sarah Henderson about whether or not communications minister Michelle Rowland has asked for a briefing about what happened in regards to this story:
The answer is “yes”.
People First founder Gerard Rennick asks about tax reform
The founder of People First, former LNP senator Gerard Rennick, asks Katy Gallagher about tax reform. This is ahead of him announcing his tax policy tomorrow.
(Rennick apparently surprised former prime minister Scott Morrison with his knowledge of the “holey dollar” at a dinner Morrison threw for new LNP MPs at the Lodge, so his tax policy should be interesting.)
Rennick asks about Pfizer profits:
Will the Albanese Labor government lift withholding taxes to stop profit shifting by foreign multinationals?
Gallagher:
I think we have been clear about the tax arrangements we’ve put in place to address multinational tax and some of the changes this parliament has proposed – in terms of tax reform agenda, we dealt with the revised income tax arrangements which gave every taxpayer in the country a tax cut. And in a fairer and better way.
We have also got our super tax that is before this parliament that we would like to do for those high-balance super accounts and we have moved some legislation – in fact this year the Treasury laws amendment making multinationals pay their fair share, integrity and transparency act passed the parliament which limited interest deductions for multinationals, and improving corporate disclosures on subsidiaries and delivering on a key part of the October budget multinational tax integrity package.
That is what the government has announced, that’s what we’ve done. We don’t have the plans as outlined by Senator Rennick.
Independent Sophie Scamps welcomes preliminary refusal of Pep11 gas project
Ed Husic has issued a preliminary refusal of the Pep11 project.
Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps says it brings the community one step closer to victory:
Industry minister Ed Husic has formed a ‘preliminary view’ that the Pep11 permit should not be renewed.
Asset Energy, the company behind the project, now has an opportunity to make submissions to address the minister’s concerns and I respect the need for due process.
But a preliminary decision to reject this project is an amazing step forward in this decade-long fight and vindication of the stance of community independents in fighting for communities.
Myself and the independent MP for Warringah, Zali Steggall have fought long and hard to ensure that the federal government understands why the community wants to stop oil and gas development off our pristine beaches.
This project was roundly rejected by the millions of people who live along the coast between Sydney and Newcastle, including the people of Mackellar.
This project poses unreasonable risks to the environment, to marine life and to other activities such as tourism that depend on our pristine coastline and now the federal government has acted.
Total fire ban for parts of NSW
A total fire ban has been announced for parts of NSW tomorrow. The Rural Fire Service says:
The Total Fire Ban, commencing at midnight tonight, covers the following council areas:
Greater Sydney Region (EXTREME), The Hills; Blacktown; Blue Mountains; Burwood; Camden; Campbelltown; Canada Bay; Fairfield; Hawkesbury; Hornsby; Hunters Hill; Kogarah; Ku-ring-gai; Lane Cove; Liverpool; Mosman; North Sydney; Parramatta; Penrith; Randwick; Ryde; Strathfield; Sutherland; Sydney; Waverley; Willoughby; Woollahra; Bayside; Canterbury-Bankstown; Central Coast; Cumberland; Georges River; Inner West; Northern Beaches
Illawarra/Shoalhaven (HIGH) – Shellharbour, Kiama, Wingecarribee, Wollondilly, Wollongong, Shoalhaven
Jacqui Lambie:
After more than 30 minutes yesterday debating this in this place where I was told I could not have the report it was found publicly available. 20 minutes later it turns out it was deleted. The government says it was accidentally uploaded and I said that was rubbish. Who gave the order to remove the report from the royal commission website yesterday?
Penny Wong:
Can I say, the time we were debating this we might have had conversations about the matter being tabled soon. I wasn’t aware and I don’t think any of us were that the report had gone on to the commission website. I am not familiar with a sequence by which that decision occurred and I assume these were decisions the commission made but I will get further advice on that about how that process came about.
Jacqui Lambie asks about review of Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force
Jacqui Lambie asks Penny Wong:
Over one year ago I called for an audit of the office of the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force, which would have been the first in 20 years. The audit was blocked but there was a review. A report was delivered to the defence minister in March this year and the minister has sat on it since.
… The government told me that report would be released once consultations were complete. After six months, how many consultations have been completed?
Penny Wong:
The advice to me is that the government had indicated it would release the report into the review soon after the release of the royal commission and that is what the government has done.
My recollection is the defence minister’s ministerial statement in relation to the latter last week. The advice to me is that the reason for this was to respond to both reports in a holistic way and a desire to co-ordinate our response about what the future of the ADF looks like as we respond both to the review and the royal commission. Obviously the government tabled the report, as I discussed with you earlier today.
Lambie says she was asking about consultations. Wong says she will take advice on the consultations.
Pauline Hanson is asking about migration numbers and trying very hard it seems to create some outrage, but Murray Watt is not biting.
Greens senator Steph Hodgins-May tried asking Murray Watt whether the government would commit to scrapping the activity test as recommended by the Productivity Commission report today three times.
She received answers about the Greens holding up the housing bills.
Victorian electrical union threatens more action if EBAs not signed
Paul Karp
At the Melbourne rally the Victorian Electrical Trade Union secretary, Troy Gray, reportedly threatened a 3-day strike from next Wednesday if employers don’t stop an “attack” on working conditions.
Gray told Guardian Australia that some employers are refusing to allow union representatives onsite and to sign new pattern pay deals, which he labelled a “sustained, orchestrated attack” on workers pay and conditions.
He said:
I’m sick of hearing about John Setka and 1%ers. If there are employers who are going to use these circumstances to attack wages and conditions by not signing new [enterprise bargaining agreements] there will be a third rally called, and the rally can decide [on unprotected action]. It is in the hands of industry … We don’t want a third rally or a third stoppage but we’re not going to allow 100 years of unionism to go down the drain. The message today was a line in the sand: we’ve had enough … We’d prefer not to have a stoppage but the ball is in employers’ court.
Asked what employers would have to do in the next week to demonstrate good faith, Gray said that so far only six pay deals have been sealed out of 800 who would normally sign up, partly due to employers refusing to sign, and partly due to delays at the Fair Work Commission.
Gray claimed credit for the Master Builders Association and CFMEU administrators speaking to Fair Work to speed up the pay deals. He suggested unions would “want 200-300 EBAs processed in the next six weeks or so”.
Anne Ruston continues the line of questioning, without referencing that the comments she is referring to were reportedly from someone who founded the group but is not running it.
Will the minister for home affairs intervene to ensure no taxpayers’ money will go to an organisation promoting extremist antisemitic views. And will the minister counsel Mr [Julian] Hill over his extreme lack of judgment?
Murray Watt:
As I said, the United Muslims of Australia has a strong track record of helping many young Muslims in Sydney. This is a time when all government and political parties should be encouraging social cohesion within our community as I understand that the concept may be foreign to the Liberal party.
And we should be [acknowledging] organisations like United Muslims of Australia regularly bring [communities] back together to directly tackle prejudice and hate.