PM actively involved in talks with Greens to broker EPBC deal
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has held talks with the Greens leader, Larissa Waters, in an escalation of efforts to land a deal to pass the government’s signature environmental protection laws.
Guardian Australia understands Albanese has not held similar leader-to-leader talks with Sussan Ley as of 1pm on Wednesday, although the environment minister, Murray Watt, has spoken with his Liberal counterpart, Angie Bell, today.
As reported this morning, the government is optimistic it can strike a deal with the Greens to overhaul the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act before parliament rises for the year on Thursday night.
Watt’s latest meeting with Bell shows the government is still pursuing a potential deal with the Coalition, although that option is considered less likely after Ley criticised Labor’s offer to them as “totally insufficient”.
Watt also met with the Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, on Wednesday.
Albanese’s direct involvement in party-to-party talks on legislation is typically a sign that negotiations have reached the pointy end.
Labor has offered concessions to both sides.
Key events
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Continuing from our last post …
The government is willing to effectively prevent the fast-tracking of coal and gas projects under a deal with the Greens, while an agreement with the Coalition would involve constraining the powers of the proposed environment protection agency.
In an email to supporters, the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN) – which has campaigned for years to fix the EPBC Act – said it preferred the government teamed up with the Greens.
The email read:
As you know, the EPBC reform bills are being debated in the Senate this afternoon, with significant negotiations underway. Murray has released his offer to both the Coalition and the Greens.
The Greens offer includes most of LEAN’s key asks, and we are hopeful this will be the path forward. The Coalition offer, while clearly inferior, does not catastrophically weaken the Labor bills. We will continue to push for amendments that address our “no exemptions” ask.
We remain positive, though understandably nervous, and we know many of you feel the same.
PM actively involved in talks with Greens to broker EPBC deal
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has held talks with the Greens leader, Larissa Waters, in an escalation of efforts to land a deal to pass the government’s signature environmental protection laws.
Guardian Australia understands Albanese has not held similar leader-to-leader talks with Sussan Ley as of 1pm on Wednesday, although the environment minister, Murray Watt, has spoken with his Liberal counterpart, Angie Bell, today.
As reported this morning, the government is optimistic it can strike a deal with the Greens to overhaul the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act before parliament rises for the year on Thursday night.
Watt’s latest meeting with Bell shows the government is still pursuing a potential deal with the Coalition, although that option is considered less likely after Ley criticised Labor’s offer to them as “totally insufficient”.
Watt also met with the Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, on Wednesday.
Albanese’s direct involvement in party-to-party talks on legislation is typically a sign that negotiations have reached the pointy end.
Labor has offered concessions to both sides.
Coalition won’t support changes to property investor tax concessions
My colleague, Tom McIlroy, is at the press club and asks Ted O’Brien whether tax concessions for property investors are making the housing market more unaffordable.
No, is the short answer.
O’Brien says the issue is supply, which is a responsibility of all three levels of government, but confirms that the Coalition does not support changes to those tax concessions like capital gains tax and negative gearing.
It is key that we have a system that encourages investment in properties. And so I don’t think that is where the problem lies. The problems are multiple. This government again as we know is falling dreadfully short of its 1.2 million target of new homes …
It’s all about supply and we need to ensure that we encourage investment and therefore if you ask capital gains tax and whatnot, to be candid we don’t support changes in that regard.
O’Brien challenged on energy prices under Coalition plan
Jumping back to the National Press Club, Ted O’Brien is asked how much energy bills will drop under the Coalition’s plan – which ditches net zero targets.
O’Brien says it’s about “trust”, and that the Coalition governments of past have brought prices down, while Labor’s promised $275 reduction in household bills never eventuated.
On how the savings under the Coalition would appear, O’Brien says their plan, which would keep coal-fired power stations open for longer by stopping the “premature” closure of plants, would not require as many transmission lines to be built.
One of the economic benefits of that is you don’t have to invest so much into transmission lines, and when all of us get our bill at home, if you have a look at it, it’s probably around 50%, is your network charges. One of the benefits of the plan we have [is] cost avoidance.
He doesn’t say exactly how much prices will go down.
On the government’s modelling that it would cost $17bn to keep coal-fired power stations open for an extra ten years from 2028, O’Brien counters to say Jim Chalmers hasn’t told the public how much the government’s plan will cost.
Adeshola Ore
‘Pressing need for action’ on national anti-racism framework, civil society groups say
A coalition of civil society groups are urging the Albanese government to fully fund and implement the national anti-racism framework one year after it was released.
A group of almost 50 organisations, including Reconciliation Australia, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and the Australian National Imams Council, have supported a joint statement calling for the government to prioritise the framework’s first two recommendations.
The framework, released by the Human Rights Commission last year, includes 63 recommendations.
The first two recommendations are for the government to commit to the framework and establish a national anti-racism taskforce to oversee and advise on its implementation.
The statement says:
At a time when racism and division are deepening, there has never been a more pressing need for action. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to experience systemic and everyday racism, which has only intensified since the referendum. There can be no racial justice in this country without racial justice for First Nations peoples.
Across the country, anti-migration rallies and racially-charged demonstrations are testing the limits of our rich multicultural identity.
O’Brien won’t yet reveal where the Coalition would cut government spending
At the National Press Club, Ted O’Brien is asked how the Coalition would pay for proposed income tax cuts and balance the budget.
The shadow treasurer says broadly that to spend “you have to find offsets”, but won’t reveal what those offsets would look like – promising that they’ll come before the next election (which is about two and a half years away).
It is not the responsibility of an opposition to find the offsets for a government’s spending priorities. To Jess*, I would say before the next election you will see our priorities and the extent to which that requires more spending we’ll be the ones to tell you how we will be making room for the budget to pay for it.
*Jess is a case study in O’Brien’s speech.
On whether the opposition would extend the electricity rebates (that Jim Chalmers has also been asked about), O’Brien also remains coy.
We will wait to see if the treasurer wishes to put something on the table than we will do what we always do, weight it up constructively and we will respond.
Chalmers talks up electricity rebates’ impact on inflation
Chalmers is speaking to reporters in parliament after the latest inflation data (and perhaps not so coincidentally at the same time that his shadow counterpart, Ted O’Brien, speaks at the press club).
Chalmers talks up the impact that the cutting of state energy rebates has had on inflation, and how important those federal rebates are.
What the October monthly figure, which showed a fall of 10% in electricity costs, what that shows is that the introduction and removal of the energy rebates at the commonwealth level and at the state level do have an impact on these figures. We’re seeing that in the monthly figures and also in the annual figures. One of the reasons why inflation was flat in the month of October is because electricity is down 10% and we’ve also seen the price of fuel go down as well.
Earlier this morning Chalmers said a decision on whether the rebates would be extended would be made within “the next few weeks”.
Chalmers blames higher inflation on ‘temporary factors’ as O’Brien warns borrowers can ‘kiss goodbye to any rate cut’
The treasurer has again blamed the lifting of state energy rebates and volatile items such as travel costs for the higher inflation numbers released this morning.
Inflation increased 3.8% in the year to October.
In a statement, Jim Chalmers has said the figures are “higher than we would like”, but still “lower than what we inherited”.
The tick up in annual terms in part reflects temporary factors such as the timing of state energy rebates and volatile items such as travel prices. We know that households are still under pressure and that’s why our responsible cost of living relief is so important.
Over at the National Press Club, the shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, said the inflation uptick is “extraordinary”.
With just 29 days until Christmas, this is the worst possible news for struggling mortgage holders who can now kiss goodbye to any rate cut – any rate cut at all.
Caitlin Cassidy
Australian Tertiary Education Commission a ‘starting point’ for future funding certainty, Universities Australia says
The peak body for universities says the formal introduction of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec) should be a “starting point” for future funding certainty in higher education.
The education minister, Jason Clare, today introduced a bill to formally establish the body that has been charged with looking at the job-ready graduates program, among other university reforms.
The legislation won’t pass this week (with only one more sitting day to go after today), despite the government initially planning for it to be established by 1 January.
Universities Australia’s CEO, Luke Sheehy, said if legislated, Atec would represent a “major change in Australia’s higher education landscape”.
In our view, the Atec needs to be a genuinely independent body to the existing Department of Education with a clear, evidence-based remit and stable and predictable funding settings.
The bill introduced today by minister Clare is a starting point. We will now work constructively across the parliament to ensure the legislation is robust, fit for purpose and ensures long-term policy stability, planning and funding certainty of the sector.
Act of vandalism behind latest Optus outage
An act of vandalism has caused the latest significant Optus outage, affecting emergency service calls for more than 14,000 people, AAP reports.
The issue was triggered by vandals who damaged an aerial fibre line, affecting users in the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula areas, south-east of Melbourne.
The Optus spokesperson Jane McNamara said crews were working to restore coverage, with five of the six impacted sites back online.
She hoped the remaining customers would be reconnected in the coming hours.
McNamara told ABC Radio Melbourne the incident was frustrating, adding that criminals had cut the fibre that provides vital connectivity to customers.
Our technicians have been on site since early this morning. We do have that photo evidence and it’s clear that there had been a cut made.
We know copper has been removed from the pit and we have contacted police.
The embattled telco’s website still lists 14,322 services that have been impacted.
Lisa Cox
Academic experts criticise Go8 support for Business Council position on nature laws
Ninety leading academics have written a complaint to Australia’s group of eight universities for backing the business and mining lobby’s position on negotiations over reforms to nature laws.
The Business Council of Australia went public last week with an alliance of industry groups urging the Coalition to work with the government to pass business-friendly environment reforms.
The Go8 – representing the nation’s elite universities – was one of the groups that backed the BCA campaign.
More than 90 researchers from those institutions have criticised that position and warned it would result in a weakening of Australia’s nature protection laws.
The letter says the BCA statement “does not reflect the world leading conservation research being carried out at our institutions”.
It also does not reflect the extensive evidence-based advice provided by experts based at Go8 institutions during the review and consultation processes over the past five years.
Justine Bell-James, a professor of environmental law from the University of Queensland, said:
Our institutions are global leaders in conservation research … It is disheartening that the peak body for our institutions has taken a stance on this issue, particularly one that is counter to the work so many of us do.
Prof Brendan Wintle from the University of Melbourne and the Biodiversity Council said it was “disappointing and bewildering” that the Go8 would sign on to the letter “without talking to their own experts who have worked for six years on nature law reform”.
Andrew Wilkie calls on PM to respond to Murphy gambling review
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie is moving a motion in the House on gambling advertising, calling on the prime minister to respond to the Murphy gambling review and bring on a free vote on the issue. It’s been two and a half years since that landmark, Labor-chaired report was handed down.
Wilkie, who has been a long-time advocate of gambling reform, says the parliament has been “paralysed” despite a “strong majority” of members in the House being in favour of a phased ban on gambling advertising.
There is an urgent need for this parliament to decide on whether or not to allow individual members to exercise their personal judgment informed by their communities on the matter of whether or not there be a free vote … on a phase-out of gambling advertising.
Not only is the community sick to death of the endless gambling advertising, the community is sick to death of the way that advertising is normalising gambling, the community is sick to death at the way advertising is effectively grooming children to start gambling as soon as they can, that’s not an exaggeration.
Wilkie and independent Kate Chaney, who has also been pushing hard for the government to take more action, both asked the PM to put forward a free vote on the issue in question time yesterday. The PM refused.
Lisa Cox
Following on from our last post …
The potential legal action would be the latest in a series of obstacles for the Narrabri gas project, which received its state and federal environmental approvals several years ago.
A legal appeal by Gomeroi traditional owners is before the full federal court after the native title tribunal twice overruled their opposition to the project going ahead. That case was delayed this week after one of the judges, Justice Natalie Charlesworth, recused herself from the case due to a potential perception of bias.
Proposed pipelines in the Narrabri and Hunter regions are also facing significant community opposition. Mike Guerin said:
It’s a sad reality that governments, politicians and mining giants seem to be deaf to these genuine and real concerns about protecting this critical water source.
They don’t appear to care about the environment or the communities that will be impacted or the billions of dollars’ worth of food that won’t be grown because of contamination.
Guardian Australia has sought comment from Santos.
Lisa Cox
Farmers ponder legal challenge to Narrabri gas project
The peak body for farmers in New South Wales is exploring avenues for a legal challenge to Santos’s Narrabri gas project in the state’s west.
The NSW Farmers’ Federation said it had engaged legal counsel “because the risks with the Narrabri Gas Project are simply far too great to let it proceed”.
Acting chief executive Mike Guerin said the federation had engaged the same legal firm – Holmann Webb – that Queensland farm organisation AgForce used to successfully oppose mining company Glencore’s proposal to inject CO2 from a coal-fired power station into the Great Artesian Basin.
That case settled and the Queensland government legislated a ban on the Great Artesian Basin being used for carbon capture and storage.
Guerin said the federation was concerned about the potential impacts of the Narrabri project on the basin:
NSW Farmers has engaged the same senior legal counsel we used to defeat the federal government and Glencore a couple of years ago, and we are actively exploring the best way to defend Australia’s precious groundwater from mining giants.
The people who depend on the Great Artesian Basin for their water are living in fear that this project will go ahead and go wrong, like many of them do, creating tens of thousands of water refugees and forcing farmers to abandon half the continent because it’s been contaminated forever.
I’m happy to be getting the band back together on this one, because the risks with the Narrabri Gas Project are simply far too great to let it proceed.
Jacinta Allan defends police plan to expand Melbourne CBD search powers
Benita Kolovos
Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, has defended police plans to expand search powers in Melbourne’s CBD for six months.
Victoria police on Tuesday declared the CBD and its surrounds a “designated area” from Sunday, until 29 May 2026, meaning police and protective service officers (PSOs) will be able to randomly stop and search anyone without a warrant or reasonable grounds.
The decision has been criticised by human rights and legal groups who have described it as a “vast overreach”, while independent Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe said it would lead to racial profiling.
However, speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Allan said Victoria police were simply “doing its job and keeping the community safe”. She went on:
Whether you’re coming into the CBD to work, to shop, to enjoy our major events or go out for a meal, you deserve to do so safely, and this is Victoria police doing everything it can to keep you safe.
She said the declaration was consistent with the new chief commissioner Mike Bush’s plan to reduce crime and “see more police out on the streets”.
Inflation rises, hitting hopes for interest rate cuts
Patrick Commins
Inflation has climbed to 3.8% in the year to October, from 3.6% the month before, as Jim Chalmers flagged he could announce further energy bill subsidies for households in the upcoming mid-year budget.
Electricity prices were 37% higher in the year to October, which the Australian Bureau of Statistics said mostly reflected the end of state government power bill rebates.
The ABS released its first “complete” monthly consumer price index, a milestone moment that will eventually lead to the more frequent inflation number superseding the quarterly figure.
It confirmed an unwelcome upswing in price pressures that has crimped hopes for more Reserve Bank interest rate cuts, and even raised the potential that the next move could be up.
Underlying inflation, which removes the impact of large, temporary price swings like in electricity prices, lifted from 3.2% in September to 3.3% in the year to October.
Sarah Hanson-Young urges inquiry into Optus’ licence
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says there should be an urgent inquiry into Optus’ licence.
Australia’s second-largest telco has faced significant scrutiny over mobile outages since September, when several people died during an outage that prevented them from dialling triple zero.
Hanson-Young says “Optus has failed the Australian people again”:
There must be an urgent review of Optus’ licence. They are clearly not capable of providing this essential service and keeping Australians safe.
Big telcos continue to put profit over their obligation to safely deliver the Triple 0 service and Australians are sick of it.
The minister needs to take control of this. The regulator is failing to uphold the interests of the community. ACMA can not be trusted to carry out investigations on this on their own.
Optus has been contacted for comment.
