Independent criticises ‘gigantic loopholes’ in Labor’s proposed nature laws
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Independent MPs are pushing for changes to Labor’s proposed new nature laws, with one claiming the bill contains “gigantic loopholes that you could drive a heavy hauler through”.
The laws to overhaul the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act are scheduled for debate on Tuesday, with the government planning to rush them through the lower house this week.
The independent MP for Curtin, Kate Chaney, is drafting amendments to address two loopholes that she fears could undermine the entire bill.
The first is the proposed “restoration fund”, which developers would have the choice of contributing to as one option to offset damage from their projects. Chaney said:
That means projects can actually just pay to destroy, they can choose to just put money into a fund, and we may end up with a lot of money but no projects that actually offset the damage that’s being done. And that would not be a good outcome for nature.
The independent MP also wants changes to a contentious new exemption that would allow the environment minister to approve projects in breach of nature laws if it was deemed in the “national interest”.
The former treasury secretary Ken Henry, the Labor MP Ed Husic and Labor’s grassroots environment action group have all called for guardrails to limit how the power could be wielded.
Fellow independent MP Sophie Scamps said she couldn’t support the laws in their current form, criticising the new loopholes and plans to devolve more decision-powers to the states.
I cannot support the EPBC Act … in their current form, because there are the most ginormous, gigantic loopholes that you could drive a heavy hauler through, which means there is no guarantee that our environment will be better protected.
Labor wants the EPBC reforms to pass the Senate this year but that hinges on a deal with either the Greens or the Coalition, neither of whom support the bill as it stands.
Key events
Coalition senator Sarah Henderson says evidence at Optus hearing ‘shocking’
The Coalition says it’s walked out of the Optus triple zero hearing with “more questions than answers”.
Sarah Henderson, a former shadow communications minister, said the evidence heard in the hearing was “shocking”.
There were ten different points of failure. There were five calls to the overseas call centre which were never escalated, the CEO sat on his hands and for many hours didn’t inform Acma, the regulator, and the minister’s office, about the true scale of the catastrophe, with three people confirmed dead as a result of what happened on that terrible and fateful day.
Henderson says the regulator and minister have also “drastically failed”, and urged communications minister Anika Wells to front the inquiry.
Liberal senator Dean Smith also said the prime minister’s office has questions to answer about what it knew and when it sought information from Optus.
Penny Wong says Australia is ‘horrified’ by reports of atrocities in El Fasher, Sudan
Foreign minister Penny Wong says Australia is “horrified” by the reports of “mass killings, sexual violence and deliberate attacks on civilians” in El Fasher, Sudan.
The reports of atrocities have emerged from El Fasher since it fell to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces last weekend.
In a statement, Wong said:
We condemn the atrocities committed by the Rapid Support Forces and call for an immediate end to the violence and unhindered humanitarian access.
All parties must uphold their obligations to protect civilians and respect international law.
Ley says Nationals ‘entitled’ to own position on net zero target
Josh Butler
Sussan Ley says the Nationals are “entitled” to make their own position on net zero, and says she and the Liberals will join their partner in developing a joint position on energy.
The opposition leader gave a quick comment on her way out of a charity event for the Kmart Wishing Tree. She said the Liberals are still working on their energy and climate policy, and would have a position of their own.
Ley said a joint Liberal-National working group is still working on a joint policy. She said she and David Littleproud had a “convivial” conversation after the Nationals dumped net zero yesterday, and that she looked forward to the two parties getting together to find a way forward.
As some in the Liberal party muse over whether the Coalition can continue, and there is some anger at the Nationals for coming out so strongly, Ley indicated her intent was still to find a joint Coalition position to work for both parties.
Independent criticises ‘gigantic loopholes’ in Labor’s proposed nature laws
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Independent MPs are pushing for changes to Labor’s proposed new nature laws, with one claiming the bill contains “gigantic loopholes that you could drive a heavy hauler through”.
The laws to overhaul the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act are scheduled for debate on Tuesday, with the government planning to rush them through the lower house this week.
The independent MP for Curtin, Kate Chaney, is drafting amendments to address two loopholes that she fears could undermine the entire bill.
The first is the proposed “restoration fund”, which developers would have the choice of contributing to as one option to offset damage from their projects. Chaney said:
That means projects can actually just pay to destroy, they can choose to just put money into a fund, and we may end up with a lot of money but no projects that actually offset the damage that’s being done. And that would not be a good outcome for nature.
The independent MP also wants changes to a contentious new exemption that would allow the environment minister to approve projects in breach of nature laws if it was deemed in the “national interest”.
The former treasury secretary Ken Henry, the Labor MP Ed Husic and Labor’s grassroots environment action group have all called for guardrails to limit how the power could be wielded.
Fellow independent MP Sophie Scamps said she couldn’t support the laws in their current form, criticising the new loopholes and plans to devolve more decision-powers to the states.
I cannot support the EPBC Act … in their current form, because there are the most ginormous, gigantic loopholes that you could drive a heavy hauler through, which means there is no guarantee that our environment will be better protected.
Labor wants the EPBC reforms to pass the Senate this year but that hinges on a deal with either the Greens or the Coalition, neither of whom support the bill as it stands.
Canavan comments on pregnancy terminations ‘beyond disappointing’ says Labor senator
The government, with some of the crossbench and Greens, has voted to debate Baby Priya’s bill, and vote on it by 1pm today.
The opposition says it supports the bill but did not support the guillotine motion to put a time limit on debate.
Labor’s Michelle Ananda-Rajah, who is a medical doctor, disputes the claims from some including Canavan around late-term pregnancy terminations.
It has been beyond disappointing to see the arguments peddled in this chamber …
[These are] not trivial matters, they are not done on the whim of a mother or father, they are a medical decision made by doctors and a wider medical team, usually in a special hospital for women.
Ananda-Rajah also brings up the reports of women who are having homebirths and freebirths, and urges families to listen to medical professionals.
As Melissa Davey brought you a bit earlier, the Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Ranzcog) and the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) have called for legislative changes to restrict labour and birth management to registered practitioners such as obstetricians, gynaecologists, GP obstetricians or midwives. Ananda-Rajah says:
There are disturbing reports in the media of women who are not listening to their trained midwives or doctors but instead choosing to be influenced by doulas or social media influencers around having homebirths or freebirths. This has led to numerous deaths, both of babies as well as women in Australia … I would urge women of Australia to seek your advice from trained professionals, either midwives or obstetricians.
Josh Butler
Net zero debate continues in parliament
Another Liberal is calling for the opposition to junk its commitment to net zero, with Western Australian MP Rick Wilson up in the House of Representatives now, speaking in support of Barnaby Joyce’s bill to scrap the climate commitment.
He claims his electorate of O’Connor, a vast area in the south-east of WA, is “ground zero for net zero”, and raises criticisms of renewables projects, including solar and windfarms. Wilson is unhappy about agricultural land being concerted into renewable projects, and voices concerns about “visual and noise pollution, and potential adverse health effects” of renewables.
Wilson draws a line between the closure of mining and renewables projects, claiming higher emissions reduction targets and energy prices will see such facilities shut down.
Joyce, who remains sitting as a National but still isn’t participating in their party-room meetings, is sitting behind Wilson as he speaks.
Labor MP Dan Repacholi, representing the working-class electorate of Hunter, speaks next and says he “feels like a kindergarten teacher” when he speaks about net zero with Coalition MPs.
He rejects claims that net zero would see the closure of coalmines, calling that allegation “rubbish”, and says net zero is good for the Hunter.
Net zero isn’t about shutting up shop. It’s about running mines, keeping people in work and reaching net zero through offsets and better technology.
Liberal frontbencher says net zero target must be retained ‘in some form’
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The senior Liberal frontbencher Andrew Bragg says net zero must be retained “in some form” and is confident the Coalition will agree on such a position – despite the Nationals’ decision to abandon its commitment to the climate target.
The Liberals are under fresh pressure to settle their position on net zero after the Nationals unanimously decided to walk away from the goal at a special party-room meeting on Sunday.
If the two Coalition partners cannot agree to a compromise, some Liberals believe the party should be prepared to break up the Coalition.
A leading moderate and net zero supporter, Bragg says net zero must be retained “in some form”.
He told reporters in Parliament House:
You have to have net zero in some form. I mean there’s no doubt that Australia has very serious treaty obligations. So my point is we’re a serious country, we’re a trade exposed nation. We’re not going to walk away from international agreements. Never.
But I would say that the domestic rules have made life harder for Australians and so Labor’s net zero has been a complete disaster.
Asked if he would need to reconsider his position on the frontbench if net zero was dumped entirely, Bragg was confident it would not come to that.
I’m confident we will maintain fidelity for our international agreements. How we implement those domestically is a matter we need to work through, but I think we can do it better than Labor.
Labor tries to bring forward Senate debate on paid parental leave after stillbirth
Over in the Senate, the government is trying to bring forward debate and a vote on Baby Priya’s bill today, which would force employers to give parents who have experienced a stillbirth their paid parental leave entitlements.
Several conservatives, including Barnaby Joyce and Andrew Hastie, have been accused of playing politics by using the debate to argue that the leave should not be given to parents who have a late-term abortion.
Medical experts have said the argument shows a lack of understanding about stillbirths and labelled the comments as “terrible, cynical, awful”.
Senator Matt Canavan, who didn’t speak in the federation chamber, has been making the same claims as his colleagues Joyce and Hastie this morning, and says the government has “blindsided” the Senate by trying to move up the vote to 1pm.
Finance minister and minister for women, Katy Gallagher, doesn’t address Canavan’s claims, but says three hours of debate is enough and defends the bill.
It recognises that the loss of a baby is devastating for parents and if there is a way to respond … to seek legislative reform that would allow a mother in the exact same experience as what baby Priya’s mother endured to grieve and have an entitlement to grieve through that period of what would have been her parental leave, that’s what this bill is about.
Independent Kate Chaney to introduce bill on voter data mining
Independent MP Kate Chaney is introducing a bill this morning to stop political parties mining voter data through postal ballot applications.
What’s the problem?
It’s one the Australian Electoral Commission is also not pleased about – where the major parties send unsolicited postal vote application forms to voters, they’re filled out and sent back to the major parties – who are accused of harvesting that data – before they send it on to the AEC.
It’s not a new problem, the AEC warned the major parties about the issue during the 2022 election, and the Liberals were accused of doing it ahead of the voice referendum campaign.
To parliament, Chaney says:
This loophole is particularly bad, because political parties, their contractors and volunteers are exempt from the Privacy Act … not only can [major parties] store and use this data for micro-targeting, profiling or future campaigning without consent, but they can also sell this personal data to third-party data brokers or analytics firms. We have no idea if they currently do this because there’s no oversight.
It’s a private member’s bill, and unlikely to get picked up by the government.
Melissa Davey
Call for legislation to prohibit unregulated practitioners managing labour and birth
In the wake of several recent tragedies linked to freebirth, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Ranzcog) and the Australian College of Midwives (ACM) have called for legislative changes they say are necessary to prevent harm and loss of life.
Ranzcog and the ACM want consistent legislation across jurisdictions to restrict labour and birth management to registered practitioners such as obstetricians, gynaecologists, GP obstetricians or midwives.
Freebirth is the intentional practice of giving birth without a registered healthcare professional, such as a midwife or doctor, present. It is different from a homebirth, which is a planned birth at home with a registered healthcare provider.
The colleges want unlicensed or unregulated people to be prohibited by law from undertaking the management of labour and birth. Regulatory frameworks need to be made consistent across all states and territories to ensure women receive the same protections regardless of where they give birth in Australia, the colleges have said in a statement.
Ranzcog president Dr Nisha Khot said:
While choice and model of care are important, such choice must operate within frameworks that ensure safety, quality and accountability. This proposed legislation would affirm that principle.
Nick Visser
Optus company chair says there were ‘10 failures’ in triple zero outage
Optus chairman John Arthur was asked about the failures behind the triple zero outage. He said CEO Stephen Rue was brought on to make sure episodes like the outage never happen, and that he expected Rue to finish the job he was brought onboard to complete. Arthur told senators:
There were I think 10 failures here, 10 failures. And if you’re asking me whether I am alarmed at that, I can assure you I am. However, this man was brought into this company to make sure we became a company that didn’t have 10 failures like that. Now that’s his job, and I’m expecting him to finish it.
Arthur assured senators that there would be fallout from the investigations into the outage “when we have all the facts” and the “dust settles”.
I never in my life want to be in the position I’m in today where I have to answer these sorts of questions about a company I’m associated with.
When the dust settles … when we have all of the facts … the board will, as is its duty, deal with accountabilities.
The bells are ringing in Parliament House
First up in the House this morning is debate on private members’ bills – that means we’ll see a bill from Kate Chaney on postal ballot data harvesting (more on this shortly), one from independent Andrew Gee on stopping windfarms in state forests and, of course, more debate on Barnaby Joyce’s repeal net zero bill.
I’ve said this before, but the government is milking Joyce’s bill for all its worth – it’s a political play that wedges the Coalition, and Labor has so many backbenchers it can just keep putting them up to debate the bill – even if Joyce runs out of supporters to spruik his bill. We’ll see who stands up on it today.
What is underpinning the Nationals’ net zero decision?
The Nationals have promised to scrap net zero by 2050 targets and scrap the Climate Change Act under their policy – so where has this come from?
Yesterday’s announcement followed a process led by senators Matt Canavan and Ross Cadell with modelling by the Page Research Centre.
The Page report says power prices have gone up almost 40% since net zero was legislated, and recommends prioritising reducing power bills, tying Australia’s emissions reduction to the OECD average, lifting the moratorium on nuclear energy, and reinstating the Abbott-era emissions reduction fund.
Littleproud has said the Nationals’ position is in line with the work of Page, but hasn’t said exactly which recommendations will be undertaken.
And what is Page? Page is a think tank that says it works “closely with the Nationals”.
It’s led by Gerard Holland, who wrote the report and is a former electoral officer to former deputy Nationals leader Fiona Nash. The chair of Page is former Nationals leader and former deputy prime minister John Anderson.
Nick Visser
Hanson-Young asks when Optus knew of deaths related to outage and when government was informed
Staying on the inquiry, Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked a series of questions nailing down the timeline during the outage, asking when Optus knew people had died and when executives, and the government, were informed.
Stephen Rue said Optus was first advised of a fatality around 8.43pm on 18 September, but senior management was not informed until after midnight on the 19th. Rue himself was told around 8am on the morning of the 19th.
Hanson-Young noted that Rue called the Optus board and the CEO of SingTel, Optus’s parent company, less than an hour later.
But the government regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (Acma), and the government minister were not told until around 2pm on the 19th. Hanson-Young said:
What on earth were you doing between 8am in the morning and 2pm?
Rue said Optus was completing welfare checks and gathering information, but the senator was not satisfied with that answer. She said:
You weren’t doing that, you had people doing that. What were you doing? … You made sure the board knew, but you didn’t call the minister or the regulator.
You were too busy putting your ducks in order, telling your board what was going on, contacting your executives, making sure that your your company’s ducks were in order. Meanwhile, the federal government, the regulator and the minister were left in the dark.
Optus executives answer questions about triple zero outage as CEO defends his job
Nick Visser
Optus CEO Stephen Rue is being questioned over the telecommunications company’s triple zero outage, which left multiple people dead after they could not reach emergency services.
Rue, sitting alongside other Optus executives, said the call failures on 18 September during an upgrade were “unacceptable”, saying as CEO he was “accountable for Optus’s failing and I’m deeply sorry”. Rue said:
The tragic deaths of people during this outage stay with us as individuals and as a company as we investigate the incident.
I fully accept there are aspects to the way events unfolded and how they were communicated over September 18 and 19 that we should have handled better.
Rue defended his position as CEO, saying that while there were understandable questions about his position, he believes any change in leadership “could actually set back the transformation under way” at the company.
I firmly believe that another change of leader at this time is not what Optus needs, or what our customers need.
PM questioned on universal childcare promise
The PM gives us a forward sizzle on his promise to deliver universal childcare – saying we’ll be hearing more about it from early next year. But he’s reluctant to provide any details as to what that will look like.
Reporter Katina Curtis asks whether universal childcare will be in place by the next election (which is about two and a half years away).
Albanese: Well, you’ve got three years to continue to ask and follow up, Katina.
Curtis: Do you believe that for-profit childcare still has a place?
Albanese: You’ve got three years to follow that up. Well, you get the same answer. What we’re doing in child care, we’ve made a significant difference.
Power prices driven partly by ‘dysfunction’ of former Coalition government, PM says
Anthony Albanese acknowledges power prices and the cost of living are still having an impact on households, but pins some of the blame on the former government.
Speaking to reporters in Canberra this morning, the PM says his government has capped coal and gas prices and put in energy bill rebates (which are due to finish at the end of this year).
What has occurred on power prices is a product in part of the dysfunction and chaos that’s been there of the Coalition – 24 out of 28 coal fired power stations announced their closure. They [the Coalition] had no plan to do anything other than fight each other, and that’s continuing today.
‘The Coalition as we knew it is dead,’ Simon Holmes à Court says after net zero decision
Tom McIlroy
The National party’s decision to scrap its net zero by 2050 commitments is prompting a lot of reaction from within and without federal parliament this morning.
Climate 200 founder and co-convenor Simon Holmes à Court has lashed the minor party over the decision, settled in a party room meeting on Monday. It puts extra pressure on the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, as she struggles to hold the Coalition together.
“In the last decade the Nationals have evicted the Liberals from The Lodge, the city electorates, and now the national conversation,” Holmes à Court said.
The fault lines that have been papered over for years are now a chasm that cannot be breached.
He links the decision to previous policy moves by former leaders Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton, both of whom lost to Labor and Anthony Albanese.
Morrison and Dutton abandoned the centre, leaving space for independents to properly represent middle Australia, and now the Nats have taken the whole team out of contention.
The old broad church has been burnt to a cinder – the Coalition as we knew it is dead.
Littleproud says net zero decision ‘not about politics but good policy’
Nationals leader David Littleproud is continuing his media round this morning, defending his decision to scrap net zero by 2050 commitments, and do it before the Liberal party has reached its own position on energy.
On ABC News Breakfast, Littleproud says the decision to announce the policy yesterday is “not about politics”.
Littleproud says he won’t be pressuring the Liberal party to drop its commitment to net zero, and that it’s all about “respect” in the Coalition.
This is not about politics but good policy.
We’re calm and methodical about this and we’ll work with our Coalition partners when they get to their position. But we made it clear, as did the Liberal party after the election, that we had processes – individual processes – that our party would run through. We got to ours on the weekend, the end of ours. And we’ll respect and wait for the Liberal party, and do that in a respectful way.
(Commentators would probably argue that there are wide-ranging political implications though.)
