Category: Australian News

The Albanese Government’s Climate Change Bill 2022 has passed the House of Representatives today.

The Bill will enshrine into law an emissions reduction target of 43 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050.

It has brought together business, industry, unions, farmers, community and conservation groups, all of whom have asked the Parliament to put Australia on the path to net-zero emissions.

For nine years, Australia has stumbled from one policy to another, and this overdue legislation will provide energy and investment certainty and usher the next generation of economic growth and opportunity.

It locks in 43 per cent as Australia’s target to reduce emissions and ensures a whole-of-government approach to drive towards that target.

It ensures accountability through an annual update to Parliament by the Climate Change Minister on the progress being made towards the target and empowers the Climate Change Authority to provide advice to Government on future targets.

Passing this Bill in the House of Representatives only 75 days after the election is an important step towards implementing the Albanese Government’s Powering Australia plan to create jobs, put downward pressure on power bills and reduce emissions by boosting renewable energy.

“This Bill records the Government’s ambition to take the country forward on climate action – and it reflects our determination to bring people with us,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

“It will help open the way for new jobs, new industries, new technologies and a new era of prosperity for Australian manufacturing.”

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said: “As we said in the Nationally Determined Contribution to the UNFCCC, we expect that with government, business and the community all pulling in one direction, our emissions reduction can be even greater” said

“I want to thank all members of the House of Representatives that voted in favour of the legislation and their constructive contributions in its formation.

“The passing of this bill in the House of Representatives starts a new era of climate and energy certainty, one that is well overdue.”

The Bill will now proceed to the Senate to be debated in upcoming sitting weeks.

Tonight, I will travel to Cambodia to attend this week’s ASEAN-Australia Foreign Ministers’ meeting, the East Asia Summit (EAS) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, and the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF).

I look forward to meeting with regional leaders and ministers to continue to deepen the Australian Government’s engagement with Southeast Asia.

In ASEAN meetings, I will underline Australia’s commitment to ASEAN centrality, furthering cooperation through our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in areas of shared interest including combatting climate change, building health security, and advancing the ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.

At the EAS and ARF, I will outline Australia’s vision for the region and our positions on the Myanmar crisis and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

My visit to Cambodia coincides with the 70th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. I will meet with members of the Cambodian Government to discuss economic recovery, education ties, health security, and human rights.

I will also visit the Australian Centre for Education (ACE) to open its new campus. ACE has delivered English language training to more than 500,000 Cambodians since it was established 30 years ago.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt speaking at the National Press Club today, confirmed that following negotiations with the Labor government which led to improvements to the climate bill and a commitment to pursuing other matters further, the Greens would support its passage through the Parliament.

Mr Bandt confirmed the focus would now shift to stopping new coal, oil and gas projects which would blow the government’s weak climate targets.

The Greens will push for new coal and gas to be addressed in the government’s reform of the Safeguard Mechanism and for a climate trigger in national environment laws.

Speaking at the National Press Club Mr Bandt said:

The fight against new coal and gas:

“The Greens have improved a weak climate bill and we will pass it, but the fight to stop Labor’s new coal and gas mines continues, and in this Parliament, the only obstacle to stronger climate action is Labor.

The fight begins now to get Labor to stop opening coal and gas mines.

In this Parliament where less than a third of the country voted Labor, Labor has some mandate and the Greens have some mandate, but more important is our mandate from the planet and the laws of physics. If Labor continues to open up new coal and gas, the planet will burn and that is the mandate we all need to listen to. That is why we are bitterly disappointed that Labor has made it so clear over the last few weeks that they want to continue to open new coal and gas projects.

People need to be clear eyed about the importance of this bill, and that this government is bringing a bucket of water to a house fire. Worse, even this smallest of steps along the road to tackling the climate emergency could be wiped out by just one of the 114 new coal and gas projects in the government’s investment pipeline.”

Changes to the Bill:

“While the government has been unwilling to adopt science-based targets and place a moratorium on new coal and gas, we have been able to secure improvements to the bill, ensuring the target can be ratcheted up over time and that it is now Dutton-proofed with a genuine floor which means the target can not go backwards.

Changes have also been made to put in place greater transparency, accountability and strengthened requirements on the Climate Change Authority.

Government agencies, such as Export Finance Australia, that in the past have funded coal and gas projects, will for the first time be forced to take climate targets into account, which should see them curbed from supporting fossil fuels. They join a range of other agencies with new limits, including Infrastructure Australia and the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund.” 

Next steps in the fight:

“The Senate inquiry will be critical, as we expect the Senate inquiry will show that the government cannot meet the targets in this legislation if it opens new coal and gas projects, and that a change will be required to the government’s approach.

The Greens in balance of power in the Senate here will be crucial, as the safeguard mechanism can be disallowed.

Coming out of the negotiations, I can also announce that because the safeguard mechanism will deal with the question of new coal and gas projects, the government will have further discussions with the Greens as it designs this mechanism.

Further, the government will also consider Greens proposals to support coal and gas workers and communities, including the establishment of a transition authority. This was a crucial part of our election campaign and this has to be the Parliament that provides job and wage security to coal and gas workers as we do our part to tackle the climate challenge.

We will comb the entire budget for any public money, any subsidies, handouts or concessions going to fossil fuel corporations, and we will amend the Budget to remove them. 

We will push to ensure the safeguard mechanism safeguards our future by stopping new coal and gas projects. 

We will push for a climate trigger in our environmental laws. 

And we will continue to fight individual projects around the country, like Beetaloo, Scarborough and Barossa. 

And I call on all Australians to join this battle. This battle to save our country, communities and indeed our whole civilisation from the climate and environmental crisis.”

Today the Albanese Government announced details of the Defence Strategic Review, including the Terms of Reference and the independent leads who will conduct this Review for government.

In 2020, the Defence Strategic Update identified that changes in Australia’s strategic environment are accelerating more rapidly than predicted in the 2012 Force Posture Review. As our national security landscape changes, it is vital that our defence force remains positioned to meet our global and regional security challenges.

To meet these challenges, the Review will examine force structure, force posture and preparedness, and investment prioritisation, to ensure Defence has the right capabilities to meet our growing strategic needs.

This is a large task, and it is for this reason we have appointed two eminent leads to conduct the Review; former Minister for Defence, Professor the Hon Stephen Smith and former Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston AK AFC (retired).

The Albanese Government is committed to ensuring we have a capable and sustainable Australian Defence Force, which is informed with the best possible strategic assessments.

As independent leads, Professor Smith and Sir Angus will ensure the Review’s recommendations to government meet this criteria.

Professor Smith and Sir Angus will deliver the Review and its recommendations to government in early 2023.

Submissions to the Review from all interested parties are welcome until noon AEST, Sunday 30 October 2022.

For more information or to submit a paper for consideration as part of the Review, visit Defence Strategic Review.

A copy of the Terms of Reference can be found on the Defence website.

The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese said:

“This work will help ensure that the Australian Defence Force is well positioned to meet the nation’s security challenges over the next decade and beyond.”

“Professor Smith and Sir Angus bring a unique blend of knowledge and experience to their role as independent leads.

“Their depth of expertise will be invaluable in informing the Review.

Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles said:

“In 2020, the Defence Strategic Update identified that changes in Australia’s strategic environment are accelerating more rapidly than predicted in the 2012 Force Posture Review.

“This necessitates an immediate analysis of where and how Defence assets and personnel are best positioned to protect Australia and its national interests.

“It also requires an assessment of Defence’s force structure and Integrated Investment Program.

“Exploring how our capabilities can better integrate and operate with the United States, the United Kingdom and other key partners will also be an important element of the Review.

This week I welcome Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs His Excellency Edgars Rinkēvičs to Australia.

Australia and Latvia enjoy warm relations based on strong people-to-people links and the pursuit of common interests.

Our countries are firm supporters of multilateralism, human rights, gender equality and free trade.

Minister Rinkēvičs and I will discuss our shared interest in supporting Ukraine and holding Russia to account for its unilateral, illegal and immoral aggression against the Ukrainian people.

We will also discuss the urgent challenge of climate change and the how an Australia-EU free trade agreement can accelerate our clean energy transition.

Minister Rinkēvičs will open Latvia’s first embassy in Canberra. Australia welcomes Latvia’s growing footprint in the Indo-Pacific.

The Greens say a proposal by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership to parachute inexperienced staff into classrooms and give pay rises to a mere handful of teachers is an insult to hard-working educators across the country and will do very little to address teacher shortages.

“It’s also incredibly insulting to the thousands of hard-working teachers across the country who are forever being told to do more with less, while their real wages continue to shrink.

“Over the past ten years, government funding for private schools in Australia has increased at nearly five times the rate of public school funding. By the end of the decade, private schools will be overfunded relative to the Schooling Resources Standard benchmark, while public schools won’t even hit 91%. 

“It’s really quite simple: If we want to attract more teachers to public schools and provide a world-class education for our kids we need to properly fund all public schools and pay all public school teachers more.

“And we could pay for that simply by canning the stage 3 tax cuts that will rob the public coffers of $224 billion and deposit $9,000 a year into the pockets of the super rich.

“Ahead of next week’s Education Ministers Meeting I urge federal, state and territory education ministers to reject proposals that merely fiddle at the margins and commit to genuine investment in teachers and schools.”

Greens Treasury spokesperson, Senator Nick McKim, has responded to today’s decision by the RBA to increase interest rates.

“The RBA is smashing workers, renters and recent homebuyers to try to bring down inflation that is being driven by supply shocks and corporate profiteering.

“We are hearing plenty from the government and the RBA about supply pressures.

“What we aren’t hearing from the government or the RBA is about the role of corporate profiteering.

“Profit’s share of national income was already at a record high and workers’ share of national income was already at a record low.

“Now big companies are using the cover of inflation to gouge prices and further drive up inflation.

“This is why raising interest rates is the wrong medicine.

“To tackle the cost of living crisis, we need government action to make big corporations pay their fair share of tax. 

“We need corporate super profits taxes to help rein in corporate profiteering and to help fund cost of living relief, such as by putting dental and mental into Medicare, building 1 million new affordable homes, and providing free childcare.”

Responding to the release of the Second Water for the Environment Special Account (WESA) Report, Greens Spokesperson for the Environment and Water, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said:

“This Report bells the cat – the Liberal-National Party have spent a decade ripping off both the taxpayer and the environment, failing to deliver water to the River and instead funnelling billions of dollars into bogus projects. 

“Billions of dollars have been wasted on efficiency measures that would never, and as the Report states, will never, deliver the 450GL water needed and promised to save the River.

“This is a massive breach of faith to South Australians. The Plan was actively undermined for the last nine years by the last government who never intended on delivering the full Plan.

“The time for draining the River and the public purse is over. We need urgent action to return flows to the environment and keep the River alive. Anything short of the 450GL is unacceptable. 

“My message to Minister Plibersek is: go and buy the water.  

“Water buybacks must be reinstated immediately. Putting up the white flag is surrendering to big corporate irrigators. The Minister has tools in her toolkit to start returning large amounts of water to the system right now with voluntary buybacks. 

“The only way to end the ‘water wars’ is to return the water to the River that it needs for the whole system to stay alive.”

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC’s) July 2022 interim report on its gas inquiry confirms the east coast energy crisis is likely to last beyond the winter of 2023.

A forecast 70 per cent increase in gas demand for electricity generation (forecast to increase by 52 petajoules (PJ) to 126 PJ in 2023) and sustained, high international gas prices means that both electricity and gas prices on the east coast of Australia are likely to remain elevated for at least the next 12 months.

While no one is blaming the Albanese Labor Government for a surge in international gas prices, it is the Government’s responsibility to come up with a plan to address this crisis.

The best the resources minister Madeleine King could muster today was a discussion paper and a promise to set in motion the process of triggering the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM).

Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Ted O’Brien MP said the energy minister Chris Bowen is in hiding and doesn’t support bringing on new gas supply because it will jeopardise his chances of a deal with the Greens on his climate legislation.

“This report shows the energy crisis is here to stay and this Labor government is unwilling or unable to make the tough decisions needed to decisively address it,” Ted O’Brien said.

“That’s why the Prime Minister has abandoned Labor’s election promise to cut household power bills by $275 by 2025.

“The best long-term fix to disconnect domestic gas prices from high global prices is more supply.”

“The report also forecasts a reduction in demand from Australian manufacturers. This could be the beginning of a jobs crisis in the manufacturing sector.”

Shadow Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Senator Susan McDonald said the Coalition had a plan in government to unlock new supply to keep prices low and the lights on.

“The Coalition’s Strategic Basin Plans and National Gas Infrastructure Plan were backed by more than $300 million of funding,” Senator McDonald said.

“The resources minister Madeleine King’s hands are tied behind her back. She knows the answer is more supply but she’s not supported by her Cabinet colleagues. The Labor Government must put aside their politics and support projects like the Beetaloo Strategic Basin Plan introduced by the Coalition.

“Short-sighted bans on developing unconventional onshore gas are coming home to roost. The Labor Government should be doing everything in its power to encourage rather than undermine new gas development.

“Yet Labor appears hell bent on halting development and reducing supply to pander to the Greens by undermining investment vehicles like the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) from supporting new gas supply projects.

In opposition, the now energy minister Chris Bowen labelled the Coalition’s plan to unlock new gas supply “BS” and “a fraud”.

Asked today whether she supported a ban on new coal and gas projects in the federal environmental approvals process, the resources minister Madeleine King could only say “I’m not going to state a view.”

While the Albanese Labor Government dithers, businesses are going to the wall and households are choosing between heating and eating.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has today raised interest rates for the fourth consecutive month in a row.

Australians with a $610,000 mortgage are now paying over $500 more per month on their repayments since May.

The Government still does not have a plan to deal with this.

Nothing outlined in the Treasurer’s economic statement last week will help Australians with these rising cost of living pressures. The Treasurer continues to sound more like a commentator than a Treasurer. Australians need a real plan, not just hollow words.

All the Government has done so far is walk away from promises abandoning its commitment to cut power bills by $275 and real wage increases.

Australians are already paying the price for Labor’s lack of a plan.

If the Treasurer fails to act, it will mean more pressure on inflation, more pressure on interest rates and higher cost of living for Australian families and small businesses.

In the absence of a plan from the Albanese Government to deal with rising inflation and interest rates, Australians will get a plan from the Reserve Bank.

That plan will be to raise interest rates even further and Australians with a mortgage will pay the price.