Sussan Ley says changes to environmental laws would be a ‘handbrake’ on investment
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, said the Albanese government’s long-promised revamp of national environmental laws would stifle industry and undercut Australian jobs.
She said during a press conference this afternoon that the changes would counter any promises made in the critical minerals deal the prime minister signed in Washington DC earlier this week:
Industry is genuinely concerned that under Anthony Albanese’s environment laws, these wouldn’t even get a start.
What is clear is that these laws are a gift to our overseas competitors. They’re a red light to jobs and they’re a handbrake to investment and development, the sort of investment and development this country has always needed and always relied on.
Key events
Nick Visser
That’s all from me, thanks for sticking with us. I’m going to make like a Christmas Island red crab and hand over to Penry Buckley. See you!
Penry Buckley
More from the tragic drownings of a British surfer and his friend who jumped in to save him
An “inexperienced” British surfer and a friend who jumped in to save him have been identified as the two men who died in rough waters off a popular pier in Victoria during wild winds on Wednesday.
Emergency services were called to Frankston beach in Melbourne’s south-east after reports of two men in trouble in the water about 5pm, as the state was lashed by intense wind gusts.
In a press conference on Thursday, Victoria police inspector Mel Nixon said the men, who were found unresponsive in the water, were a 36-year-old British national and his friend, a 43-year-old man, whose nationality was not specified.
The pair have not yet been formally identified.
Read more here:
Eva Corlett
100,000 public sector workers demand better conditions during New Zealand ‘mega strike’
An estimated 100,000 nurses, teachers and public sector staff walked off the job in New Zealand on Thursday to call on the government to better fund and resource public services, in one of the country’s largest ever strikes.
The so-called “mega strike” brought together workers from multiple sectors, including more than 60,000 school teachers, 40,000 nurses and salaried medical specialists and 15,000 public service staff.
Despite extreme weather forcing the cancellation of events in Wellington and other regions, tens of thousands gathered at rallies across the country, where they held signs, chanted and demanded the government invest in education and health.
Members from multiple unions voted to strike after collective bargaining with the coalition government stalled. While each union has demands specific to their sector, the complaints were broadly consistent: inadequate pay, unsafe staffing levels, not enough resources, and poor working conditions that put the wellbeing of workers, patients and children at risk.
Read more here:
Sussan Ley says changes to environmental laws would be a ‘handbrake’ on investment
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, said the Albanese government’s long-promised revamp of national environmental laws would stifle industry and undercut Australian jobs.
She said during a press conference this afternoon that the changes would counter any promises made in the critical minerals deal the prime minister signed in Washington DC earlier this week:
Industry is genuinely concerned that under Anthony Albanese’s environment laws, these wouldn’t even get a start.
What is clear is that these laws are a gift to our overseas competitors. They’re a red light to jobs and they’re a handbrake to investment and development, the sort of investment and development this country has always needed and always relied on.
Sarah Basford Canales
Hastie says Trump’s jab at Kevin Rudd was ‘theatre’
Andrew Hastie says US president Donald Trump’s jab at Kevin Rudd earlier this week was “theatre” and “really good TV” but praised the US ambassador for copping it on the chin and getting on with the job.
The Liberal backbencher told 2GB there was no need to “relive the humiliation” when asked if the former prime minister should get sacked from his Washington DC posting.
Hastie said:
Well, I think Kevin Rudd got the job done in the end. He got the minerals deal and he got a seat at the table with President Trump and the prime minister, and frankly he made some unwise comments prior to becoming the ambassador, and we all make unwise comments.
And he sat there and he was humiliated by Donald Trump, first by [Trump] pretending not to know who he was, and then secondly by saying ‘I don’t like you and I think I never will’. But [Rudd] copped it on the chin for the country and we don’t need to relive the humiliation. We got the deal and let’s move on.
Asked whether he thought Trump really might not have known who Rudd was, Hastie disagreed:
That was theatre. This guy [Trump] does really good reality television and trolling the Australian ambassador was good TV, but in the end, Kevin Rudd copped it on the chin for the country and we move forward.
Andrew Hastie rules out switch to One Nation
Sarah Basford Canales
Andrew Hastie has ruled out any switch to One Nation and urged his Coalition colleague, Barnaby Joyce to stick to the major party amid speculation he will soon announce the jump.
The former shadow defence and home affairs minister re-emerged on 2GB for an interview ahead of the parliamentary sitting fortnight next week.
He said:
I wouldn’t be elected if it wasn’t for the Liberal party so I’m very grateful for the opportunity the party has given me over the last 10 years to be a parliamentarian so I won’t be switching.
As for Barnaby, I don’t know what’s in Barnaby’s mind but I hope he stays within the Coalition because I think he does have a lot of experience, and he’s got some good insight obviously so I’m keen for Barnaby to stay with us and all this speculation about One Nation, obviously, is unhelpful to our cause right now as we’re trying to rebuild post-election.
Government plans to streamline support payment programs to better help vulnerable kids
Vulnerable children and their parents will have to jump through fewer hoops as part of an overhaul of $300m in support payments, AAP reports.
The social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, announced on Thursday community organisations providing support payments to struggling families would benefit from a simpler process.
The government plans to replace five existing programs – Child and Parenting Support, Communities for Children, Family and Relationship Services, Specialised Family Violence Services and Family Mental Health Support Services – with one national program.
The reforms are designed to give providers more flexibility to tailor programs for different communities – an idea celebrated by children’s charity The Smith Family, one of the partners in the Communities for Children program. Plibersek said:
Community organisations have told us loud and clear – too much red tape and admin is holding them back.
We’re proposing to make changes so they can spend less time on paperwork and more time delivering services Australians rely on.
Australian shares slip as US mulls trade escalation
Australia’s share market is trading lower for a second session as the world’s two biggest economies proffer bargaining chips ahead of trade negotiations, AAP reports.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 fell 24 points by midday on Thursday, down 0.27%, as the broader All Ordinaries lost 21.3 points, or 0.23%.
The slip followed a weak Wall Street session amid reports the Trump administration was mulling software-linked export curbs on China ahead of trade talks over the latter’s rare earths supply restrictions.
The down-tick weighed on the raw materials sector and financials stocks, which each slipped more than 0.8% as large cap miners and the big four banks tracked lower.
Josh Butler
Anthony Albanese lands in Sydney
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has arrived back in Australia after his quick trip to Washington DC. The PM’s official plane landed back in Sydney this morning.
He will soon depart Australia again, having previously announced travel to the Asean summit in Malaysia and Apec in South Korea over the weekend.
Read more about the prime minister’s first formal visit with Donald Trump here:
Luca Ittimani
BHP bosses praise Albanese and ‘fierce’ Trump for critical minerals deal
Bosses at mining giant BHP cheered Anthony Albanese’s meeting with “fierce” Donald Trump for the pair’s push to mine and process critical minerals.
Australia and the US this week signed a critical minerals deal designed to break China’s near complete hold over materials essential to commercial, clean energy and advanced military hardware.
Ross McEwan, BHP’s chair, told the company’s AGM it was too early to judge the meeting on its outcomes but described it as “a very good meeting to start that conversation”.
Mike Henry, the chief executive, said the meeting was “symbolically significant” in showing the US was serious about mineral supply, which he said he’d already seen for himself:
Having had the opportunity alongside my peer at Rio Tinto for a an Oval Office meeting with the president of the United States and secretary of the interior, [Doug] Burgum, I was impressed on just how fierce the focus is in the US, getting more mines and processing facilities up and going in the US.
The Australian-based multinational company (which also hosted Albanese at its 140th birthday celebrations after his meeting) produces copper, a key metal for modern manufacturing, as well as iron and coal.
Read economics editor Patrick Commins’ take on the deal here:
BHP claims ‘good working relationship’ with China amid embargo standoff
Luca Ittimani
The chair of iron ore giant BHP has downplayed concerns over a reported Chinese embargo on the company’s sales, saying the company has good relationships in China.
Ross McEwan said BHP would continue to improve its partnerships with Chinese distributors but dismissed worries about the standoff, speaking at the company’s AGM. He said:
We’ve had relationships in China now for decades and we have a pretty good working relationship. This is a commercial negotiation that’s going on every year.
The state-owned China Mineral Resources Group (CMRG) in late September reportedly banned its steel manufacturers from buying iron ore from BHP, as it negotiates future contracts for purchase prices.
BHP has stayed tight-lipped as negotiations continue. Its September quarter results, released on Monday, did not mention the standoff, but flagged sales to China could slow amid as the economy weakens.
Analysts have suggested the negotiations could be a strategic bid by Beijing to reduce prices of the crucial steel-making commodity, setting a precedent for deals with other Australian exporters Rio Tinto, Fortescue Metals Group and Hancock Prospecting.
Read more here about the standoff:
