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Climate politics comes back to haunt Coalition with divided party room meeting – politics live
Climate politics comes back to haunt Coalition with divided party room meeting – politics live
(35 minutes later)
2.20am BST
02:20
Manus update: Damages to detainees in excess of $100m and could be much higher
Ben Doherty reports the Australian government has settled a class action with more than 1,900 Manus Island detainees and will pay damages for alleged physical and psychological injuries believed to be in excess of $100m.
The terms of the settlement have not been disclosed nor finally agreed upon by a judge. But Guardian Australia understands that the compensation will be more than $100m, which would mean each claimant would receive at least $52,000.
Updated
at 2.22am BST
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02:16
In the senate, the Indigenous Land Use Agreements (Iluas) amendment is in committee stage, where senators get to ask the minister lots of questions.
This is what the bill does:
confirms the legal status and enforceability of agreements which have been registered by the Native Title Registrar on the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements without the signature of all members of a registered native title claimant (RNTC);
enables the registration of agreements which have been made but have not yet been registered;
and ensures that area Indigenous Land Use Agreements can be registered without requiring every member of the RNTC to be a party to the agreement.
The attorney general George Brandis is in the hot seat and much of the questioning has been around the representations made by mining companies to the government.
Senator Larissa Waters sums up the Greens position.
This bill is being rushed through to save Adani’s hide.
1.55am BST
01:55
While Tim Wilson was busy, this happened.
Thanks to the Parliamentary Friendship Group for 🌈 Australians for having the EqualityCampaign for ☕️ and launch the multicultural resources pic.twitter.com/KwaMdXqe2a
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Marriage Twitter debate.
Except it isn't a marriage. Telling the truth is a good start to any debate.
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01:51
Government settles on Manus detainees class action
Government settles on Manus detainees class action
Ben Doherty reports:
Ben Doherty reports:
A class action seeking damages for more than 1,900 Manus Island detainees has been settled.
A class action seeking damages for more than 1,900 Manus Island detainees has been settled.
Lawyers for the detainees told the Victorian supreme court in Melbourne on Wednesday that they have reached a settlement with the Australian government and the operators of the Manus Island regional processing centre.
Lawyers for the detainees told the Victorian supreme court in Melbourne on Wednesday that they have reached a settlement with the Australian government and the operators of the Manus Island regional processing centre.
The 1,905 class action group members were seeking damages for alleged physical and psychological injuries they argue they suffered as a result of the conditions in which they were held on Manus, as well as for false imprisonment.
The 1,905 class action group members were seeking damages for alleged physical and psychological injuries they argue they suffered as a result of the conditions in which they were held on Manus, as well as for false imprisonment.
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Updated
Updated
at 1.34am BST
at 1.34am BST
1.29am BST
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01:29
01:29
Labor’s energy and environment shadow Mark Butler points out that Labor has shifted significantly in the past two weeks in an effort to be helpful.
Labor’s energy and environment shadow Mark Butler points out that Labor has shifted significantly in the past two weeks in an effort to be helpful.
Only 10 days ago the market, the Climate Change Authority were commissioned to do a report from the government reaffirming an emissions intensity scheme was the best model, the model supported by CSIRO, by the Business Council and every energy group in the country.
Only 10 days ago the market, the Climate Change Authority were commissioned to do a report from the government reaffirming an emissions intensity scheme was the best model, the model supported by CSIRO, by the Business Council and every energy group in the country.
We are willing to put that aside and consider what everyone has described as a second-best model, the clean-energy model. If that’s the price of bringing in investment and getting a policy, we have said we will sit down and do that but it has to be a clean energy bill.
We are willing to put that aside and consider what everyone has described as a second-best model, the clean-energy model. If that’s the price of bringing in investment and getting a policy, we have said we will sit down and do that but it has to be a clean energy bill.
You can’t rig the definition to include new coal fired power stations. It’s like trying to pretend day is night.
You can’t rig the definition to include new coal fired power stations. It’s like trying to pretend day is night.
Updated
Updated
at 1.44am BST
at 1.44am BST
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01:17
Bill Shorten says Labor would not automatically put the Finkel recommendations in the bin.
Bill Shorten says Labor would not automatically put the Finkel recommendations in the bin.
What we are offering Mr Turnbull is we’re not pushing down a series of demands, you must do this, you must do that, we’re trying to do the best we can and we need the government to tell us what they think and come up with a proposition. Are they going to make a clean energy target? We aren’t trying to make Malcolm Turnbull’s life harder.
What we are offering Mr Turnbull is we’re not pushing down a series of demands, you must do this, you must do that, we’re trying to do the best we can and we need the government to tell us what they think and come up with a proposition. Are they going to make a clean energy target? We aren’t trying to make Malcolm Turnbull’s life harder.
*Live blogger falls off chair*
*Live blogger falls off chair*
1.12am BST
01:12
Clean energy target with all forms of coal is a con, says Shorten
Bill Shorten says a clean energy target needs to be fair dinkum, when asked if Labor would support clean coal in any target.
Coal is part of our current energy mix and it will be in the future but if we going to have a discussion about clean energy, the proposition that includes all forms of coal is just a con.
1.09am BST
01:09
Bill Shorten is speaking off-site about climate policy.
We like an emissions-intensity scheme. We think that is the best way to help drive more jobs and renewables, downward pressure on energy and electricity prices and of course tackle climate change.
But the Finkel report has proposed a clean energy target. We are prepared to give it full and fair consideration and analysis. A coalition of business, Acoss [Australian Council of Social Services], environmental groups, the unions, have all asked the parliament of Australia to give fair and full consideration to a clean energy target and examine if it can work.
Labor is prepared to work in the national interest. The climate change wars of the last 10 years have got to end. We need to have certainty about our energy policy and our climate policy.
Updated
at 1.12am BST
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01:05
Backroom bipartisanship.
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12.58am BST
00:58
Labor intelligence and security committee deputy calls for Chinese donation inquiry
The allegations over Chinese linked donations continue as Fairfax’s Nick McKenzie et al report:
Labor is reeling after an adviser resigned amid revelations that the party bankrolled its 2016 federal election campaign with the help of up to $140,000 in donations from gold dealers linked to a multimillion-dollar tax scam.
The resignation from NSW Labor of rising star, 2016 Senate candidate and gold trader Simon Zhou, comes as respected ALP MP Anthony Byrne called for a full parliamentary inquiry into foreign interference and donations, with public hearings by the joint parliamentary intelligence committee, of which he is deputy chair.
Byrne is not prone to outbursts so this is quite significant for him to call for public hearings.
He told the ABC’s Chris Uhlmann that it was critical to address the issues at the heart of these ongoing stories in a public inquiry.
We must expose what has been happening in the political system for more than 10 years. Our laws have let foreign state actors into our country to subvert our political process.
12.47am BST
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First up in the house, Barnaby Joyce is introducing the bill to establish a Regional Investment Corporation – otherwise known as the Barnaby Bank. There is a flock of National party MPs around him.
It aggregates government agriculture concessional loans into one bucket.
According to his office:
The RIC will administer the government’s $2bn farm business concessional loans and $2bn water infrastructure loans. The RIC will deliver a streamlined and nationally consistent application process for farm business concessional loans, with flexibility to act swiftly to respond when hardships like drought or an industry crisis hit.
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Meanwhile, Katharine Murphy reports on the latest Guardian Essential poll.
These are the two key points:
Australian voters would back a new low-emissions target over emissions trading as a policy to reduce carbon pollution, but are not sure about including “clean” coal in the mix, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
74% of the sample said the threat level in Australia had increased over the past few years, and 46% believe the Turnbull government should be spending more on counter-terrorism measures.
The main two-party-preferred measures:
Labor is still ahead of the Coalition: 52% to 48%.
The gap between the major parties narrowed in the month following the May budget, but within the poll’s margin of error, which is 3%. This week’s two-party-preferred result was the same as last week.
Updated
at 12.40am BST
12.22am BST
00:22
Finkel farnarkling 3: pissant lists and leakers
There has been a list circulating in the press gallery leaked from the meeting purporting to show who spoke against the Finkel review.
According to that list, those against included:
Tony Abbott
Rick Wilson
Chris back
Ken O’Dowd
Kevin Hogan
Bridget McKenzie
Rowan Ramsey
Andrew Hastie
Ian Macdonald
Ben Morton
Tony Pasin
Russell Broadbent
Craig Kelly
Angus Taylor
Andrew Gee
Tim Wilson
Mark Coulton
Andrew Broad
Damien Drum
Kevin Andrews
George Christensen
The list immediately rang alarm bells with me as some of those people were much more nuanced in their approach, according to their own words, and were not opposed per se. For example, the Nationals MP for Mallee, Andrew Broad, has been working hard with Labor’s Pat Conroy to find common ground on energy policy though the house multiparty committee on energy and the environment. He told me last night on the record there were a lot of good things in the Finkel review and the status quo on energy would not cut it. So someone has claimed him without much thought.
Mark Coulton, National MP for Parkes, was more direct this morning. He described the leaker as a pissant and underlined Finkel is a report and not government policy.
Some, well, I was going to say pissant, but that is probably politically incorrect, has leaked from a confidential meeting ...
I belong to a party where we discuss these things. We don’t drink the Kool-Aid and blindly follow on championing some sort of mantra. I thought yesterday’s discussion was very responsible.
To read my name on a list as some form of climate change denier when I consider I represent one of the most climate-aware electorates in Australia I find offensive.
Updated
at 12.34am BST
12.05am BST
00:05
The first order of the day in the Senate is the native title legislation on the Indigenous land use agreements. This is the legislation which the government says is designed to fix agreements between traditional owners and mining companies, including the Adani agreement. But a number of traditional owners have been speaking out against the bill over the past 24 hours.
That bill will be debated most of the morning and may come to a vote before question time.
This morning, 10 years of divisive climate politics is coming home to haunt the Coalition. On it goes, through John Howard, Kevin Rudd, Malcolm Turnbull 1.0, Tony Abbott, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull 2.0.
Australia desperately needs a stable energy policy FOUR YEARS AFTER THE COALITION DISMANTLED THE CARBON PRICE.
The chief scientist, Alan Finkel, has provided an acceptable path forward but the argument continued in the Coalition party room last night.
The meeting, let’s be clear, was a presentation of the Finkel report followed by thoughts and feelings about Finkel’s findings. It was not expected to land on a solution but give a chance to vent.
At the end, the only thing there seems to be consensus on is that something needs to be done.
The senior ranks of the government appear to be on the same page at this stage (all things liable to change without notice). The talking points are:
the Finkel review only landed on Friday
this is a mature and responsible discussion
we need to move to a new model to provide investor certainty
But like an old rockstar, Tony Abbott was returning to his greatest hits. Coal is good for humanity. His interventions were consistent. At one point he asked whether the government could buy the closed Hazelwood power station to which the energy and environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, said it was being dismantled “as we speak”.
Among Abbott’s like-minded MPs, there was some appetite for somehow supporting new coal power but Frydenberg said it would take years to build.
Abbott finally had a set to with a Turnbull supporter Craig Laundy, over his constant interventions.
David Crowe of the Oz reports:
Tony Abbott interjected so often throughout the meeting that Craig Laundy, a frontbench ally of Malcolm Turnbull, called the former prime minister out and asked that he show respect to those who wanted to speak.
The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, was hosing down reports this morning.
I don’t go into the specifics of party-room meetings but what I would say, I was in the meeting in the morning and I was in the meeting in the afternoon, it was a very good discussion, it was courteous and professional discussion.
The treasurer, Scott Morrison, also had his fire hose out. He told the ABC that the Finkel review had done a good job in identifying the problem that we don’t have investor certainty in energy.
He said as treasurer it was important for the economy and he asked for patience, given that the report only dropped on Friday.
It has frankly vexed governments for a decade so we are not going to have a solution nicely tied up in a bow and presented to the media, Morrison said.
Finally, Morrison was asked if the clean energy target threshold would be high enough to include so-called “clean” coal in the incentive scheme.
I believe that will be achieved.
But Bill Shorten was making hay while the sun doesn’t shine.
Mr Turnbull has been weakened and Australians are the losers. He needs to stand up to Tony Abbott.
Stay with me, talk to me in the thread, on the Twits @gabriellechan and Facebook. As you can see from the main pic, Mike Bowers has been swimming through the pea soup fog to bring you the vibe in parliament. Onwards and upwards.
