‘We’re back to the same old climate wars in the Coalition,’ Murray Watt says
Murray Watt says the opposition has “started the new climate wars” after Barnaby Joyce and Keith Pitt, two senior Nationals, called for Australia to pull out of the Paris agreement. You can read more on this from Karen Middleton below:
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Watt said:
We’re back to the same old climate wars in the Coalition. I saw overnight that [Joyce and Pitt] openly called for the Coalition to pull out of the Paris agreement. They’ve spent the last couple of days trying to paper over the cracks in the Coalition, saying that they can withdraw the target without withdrawing from the agreement. Now it’s out there in the open for everyone to see. And you can set your clock by Barnaby Joyce causing new climate wars within the Coalition. It’s seem like we’re back to the bad old days.
He also defended the government’s progress on meeting its climate targets, saying:
We’re on track to get to 42%, which is only 1% short of the 43% target.
Key events
Putting ‘all our eggs in the EV basket’ not enough to reach transport emissions goals, study warns
Australia can’t rely entirely on electric vehicles to reduce transport emissions to safe levels, according to a new study, and governments must pursue other ways to cut pollution from the sector.
Monash University’s Climateworks Centre released modelling today that showed electric vehicles, both big and small, would need to make up 73% of all new vehicles sold by 2030 to meet Australia’s climate goals.
But if the low-emission cars and trucks only made up 56% of new vehicle sales, Australia would overshoot its transport emissions goal by 21%.
Climateworks Centre transport program lead Helen Rowe said the modelling showed electric vehicles would still play the biggest role in reducing transport pollution but there were ongoing challenges, such as supply shortages, that may necessitate a different approach.
We’ve tended to put all our eggs in the EV basket when it comes to transport decarbonisation in Australia, relying on that as the main solution. In the face of moderate uptake of electric vehicles today and quite low uptake of zero-emission trucks and light commercial vehicles, we wanted to think about the approach.
The report found efforts to avoid unnecessary travel and shifting modes of transport – like swapping car trips to public transport, plane travel for rail journeys, and truck transport for rail freight – could make deeper pollution cuts.
– via AAP
Police urge people to be careful on ‘dangerous’ rock platforms after two women drowned in Sydney
Superintendent Joe McNulty from the New South Wales marine area command has provided an update on the two women who died yesterday after being swept from the rocks on Sydney’s coast.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, McNulty outlined what occurred yesterday. He said a group of five people had been picnicking at the Botany Bay national park and went for a walk on to the rock shelf.
At that time there was a very low tide, so that rock shelf was very exposed. And when they’re exposed there’s a lot of weed, they’re very slippery, and they’re actually quite a dangerous location to be in, especially so close to the ocean.
McNulty said a large wave knocked three women into the water – two were swept out to sea, while “very luckily” the third was plucked from the water by the remaining two from the group. A police helicopter flew overhead and identified two people in the water, and a police boat responded a short time later, recovering the two women and attempting CPR.
It’s very difficult operation doing CPR over wet people on a moving boat, or moving deck.
The women were brought back to shore where paramedics were waiting, but did not survive. McNulty said it was a “tragic accident” and urged people not to turn their back on the ocean when on “dangerous” rock platforms.
Credit card gambling ban comes into force
Gamblers are now banned from using their credit cards and digital currency to fund online betting, AAP reports, in a bid to stamp down on problem gambling.
Credit cards linked to digital wallets, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and any other new forms of credit are included in the ban. It brings rules for online betting into line with land‑based gambling regulations.
The industry was given a six-month transition period, with the full ban taking force from today. Companies that don’t comply face fines of up to $234,750.
The federal government is mulling a push to phase out gambling advertising over three years, which was one of 31 recommendations that came out of a parliamentary inquiry on problem gambling.
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, said the government would have more announcements on gambling prevention in the future:
Australians should not be gambling with money they do not have. This ban builds on the significant progress to minimise gambling harm that the Albanese government has made over the past two years, which is already benefiting thousands of vulnerable Australians.
Damaging winds expected in Victoria today
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds about south-east Victoria today:
‘We have much, much more to do’ on emissions, Bowen says
Moving to the government’s energy policy, host Patricia Karvelas asked whether the government had underestimated how difficult the rollout of renewables would be?
Chris Bowen said the targets set were “clearly ambitious, as they should be, but also achievable.” He said that “a lot of the policies we put in place take time to work [and] we’ve never pretended otherwise” – pointing to the new vehicle efficiency standards as just one example.
Q: In the last two years we haven’t seen the results, right?
Bowen responded:
We have seen some emissions reduction but I agree we have much, much more to do. I’m pleased with what we’ve done in our first two years. I’m not yet satisfied because we have much more to do and we have to stay the course.
Now if you rip up the capacity investment scheme, if you rip up new vehicle efficiency standards, if you say – as the opposition has – we’re going to pause the rollout of renewables so we have time to do nuclear sometime in the 2040s of course, you’re not going to meet targets … you’re not trying to meet targets. And that’s the point: they don’t want to meet the target.
Chris Bowen says opposition’s climate stance ‘a terrible mess’
The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, has criticised the opposition’s stance on the Paris agreement, and its general energy policy, as a “terrible mess”.
Bowen just spoke with ABC RN and said:
The opposition has been a mess all weekend. Peter Dutton didn’t just say we wouldn’t meet the target, and of course confirmed under his policy they certainly wouldn’t meet the target with the nuclear fantasy and ripping up the new vehicle efficiency standards and everything else – he actually said he would oppose the target and rip it up…
Since then, [the Coalition has] tried multiple formulations to try and retrofit some sort of coherence. All of those have failed.
Ted O’Brien, on your show yesterday and elsewhere, was implying ‘oh we’ll have a 2030 target but we’ll announce it after the election’. Now that either shows incompetence that they can’t look at what the impact of their policies are, or dishonesty that they know they’ll have terrible impacts, but they just won’t share them with the Australian people before. So this is all a terrible mess.
Monique Ryan: ‘Young people deserve politicians ready to tackle climate change’
The independent MP for Kooyong, Monique Ryan, has responded to the Coalition’s energy stance in a post to X, stating:
Australia can be a clean energy superpower.
Instead, the Liberals/Nationals want us to abandon climate targets & the Paris Agreement.
Young [people] deserve politicians ready to tackle climate change & the [business] community needs confidence their clean energy investments are worth it.
Australia can be a clean energy superpower.
Instead, the Liberals/Nationals want us to abandon climate targets & the Paris Agreement.
Young ppl deserve politicians ready to tackle climate change & the biz community needs confidence their clean energy investments are worth it.
— Dr Monique Ryan MP (@Mon4Kooyong) June 10, 2024
Steven Miles says today’s Queensland budget designed to address rising household costs
The Queensland premier, Steven Miles, says the state budget – set to be handed down today – is a “cost of living budget” designed to address household costs, defending the high debt.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, he said:
This projects our debt will remain far far lower that comparable states, particularly NSW and Victoria. And we’ll even be able to confirm today that we’ll finish this year in surplus, even though it was projected to be a deficit.
You’re right, to fund the initiatives we go into deficit next financial year but we return to surplus in years three and four, and that is a reasonable step for a government to take when households are struggling with the cost of living like they are right now.
‘We’re back to the same old climate wars in the Coalition,’ Murray Watt says
Murray Watt says the opposition has “started the new climate wars” after Barnaby Joyce and Keith Pitt, two senior Nationals, called for Australia to pull out of the Paris agreement. You can read more on this from Karen Middleton below:
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Watt said:
We’re back to the same old climate wars in the Coalition. I saw overnight that [Joyce and Pitt] openly called for the Coalition to pull out of the Paris agreement. They’ve spent the last couple of days trying to paper over the cracks in the Coalition, saying that they can withdraw the target without withdrawing from the agreement. Now it’s out there in the open for everyone to see. And you can set your clock by Barnaby Joyce causing new climate wars within the Coalition. It’s seem like we’re back to the bad old days.
He also defended the government’s progress on meeting its climate targets, saying:
We’re on track to get to 42%, which is only 1% short of the 43% target.
Watt questioned on live sheep exports
Murray Watt was also asked about the ban on live sheep exports – with a committee now to look into this before the legislation goes through.
Is there anything that would change the government’s mind on this, given the pushback from the industry in WA?
Watt responded that the government had promised to phase out live sheep exports at the previous two elections and “we intend to proceed with that policy”.
But it’s important the house of representatives committee “has an opportunity to review the legislation before any vote is taken”, he said.
We need to remember that there are massive opportunities for Western Australia and the country as a whole to increase the onshore processing of sheep. At the same time that we’ve seen live sheep exports plummet over the last 20 years, we’ve seen massive booms in the amount of sheep meat that we’re exporting right around the world, as well as domestic consumption. And that’s where the value-adding will be in the future. That’s where the jobs will be in the future and that’s what we want to deliver to Western Australia.
Here is more from the government’s initial announcement to phase out live sheep exports, from last March:
Australia’s egg supply not impacted by bird flu, agriculture minister says
Agriculture minister Murray Watt says Australia’s egg supply is not at risk from bird flu.
Speaking on ABC News Breakfast just earlier, Watt said:
I know that there was a little bit of alarm yesterday prompted by Coles making a pre-emptive decision to limit egg sales to two cartons per customer. Obviously, many other retailers have not followed suit. So people are able to shop around if they do need to buy more than two dozen.
He said there were five poultry farms in Victoria infected with a particular strain of avian flu – but not the “highly dangerous strain … that we have seen circulating in other parts of the world”.
But the bottom line is that every day, Australia produces 18m eggs every day and there’s no risk to that supply stopping any time soon …
Of course, when you have this kind of an outbreak, there is always the possibility that it becomes bigger. But what I’ve seen and observed and spoken with the Victorian minister about is that the Victorian government has done a fantastic job in getting on the front foot early to limit the spread of this disease.
Our rural and regional editor Calla Wahlquist has more on this below:
Grants for homes ‘save billions on big energy projects’
Each household should be offered up to $6,500 to install grid-connected solar batteries and landlords should be incentivised to join the renewable energy revolution, a report has found.
As AAP reports, the Clean Energy Council made the recommendations in a study released today that investigates the impact solar panels, home batteries and other consumer assets could have on Australia’s electricity market.
The report, which includes modelling from Oakley Greenwood, also found failing to adequately support household renewable energy investments could cost the nation more than $22bn and 18,200 extra jobs by 2050.
The council’s Powering Homes, Empowering People report examined how consumer energy resources could reduce costs in the electricity system.
It found that supporting households to take up renewable energy generation and storage devices, at the rate recommended by the Australian Energy Market Operator, would save $20bn otherwise spent on large-scale projects and more than $2bn on network infrastructure.
The report also found reaching the market operator’s consumer energy resources target would lead to 3.6m more homes installing solar batteries, save all electricity users between $35 to $71 a year, and create thousands more jobs in manufacturing, installation and maintenance.
Good morning
Emily Wind
Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duty. Many thanks to Martin for kicking things off! I’ll be bringing you our rolling coverage throughout the day.
See something that needs attention on the blog? You can reach out via X, @emilywindwrites, or send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s go.
Man shot as eight masked men force entry into Sydney home
A man has been shot during a home invasion in Sydney’s south-west by eight masked men.
NSW police said that about 12.45am this morning emergency services responded to reports of a man being shot in a house in Carnes Hill.
NSW Ambulance paramedics treated a 25-year-old man for a gunshot wound to the right leg. He was taken to Liverpool hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Officers from Liverpool police area command were told that eight men wearing face coverings had forced entry into the premises.
The men were confronted by the 25-year-old man – a resident of the home – before he was shot twice.
Petrol was then poured through the home – but not ignited – before the men left in two separate vehicles.
Shotgun damage was sustained to a vehicle parked in the driveway of the home.
A crime scene has been established as investigations begin. Police said they believe it was a targeted attack and have appealed for anyone with information to contact them.
Palestinian footballers ‘want to bring joy’ to their people
Joey Lynch
Palestine’s football side is refusing to be distracted from their World Cup qualifier against the Socceroos this evening.
Already dealing with the shadow cast by the Israel-Gaza war, another diversion was thrust upon the squad on Saturday when 7 News reported that Palestine Football Association president Jibril Rajoub had been denied entry into Perth over a “technicality” in his visa application.
Prime minister Antony Albanese distanced himself from the decision on Monday, saying:
These decisions are made at arm’s length by the bodies, by the immigration department.
In their official pre-match press conference on Monday, the team was steadfast in their desire to keep their focus on their efforts to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and bring “joy” to the Palestinian people.
Midfielder Mohammed Rashid said:
“The things that are happening always have [happened]. Even if there was no war, there are certain things that happen around each player’s houses or families around Palestine that affect [them].
What’s happening right now it’s affecting all of us. Because it’s really hard to see… when you see any innocent person get hurt for no reason, you can’t you can’t help but get affected by it.
But when it comes to football, you try to, at least for the game, just get your head out of it and on your performance. Because if you’re performing well, you’re doing what you know your country deserves.
Read a full report on the buildup:
Daisy Dumas
‘Trump is a bully’
Malcolm Turnbull also spoke about how Australian leaders might deal with the “very different world” posed by a second presidential term of Donald Trump.
Speaking about his own experiences of dealing with Trump, Turnbull recalled the “big row … quite a heated one in fact” they had over the refugee resettlement deal he had made with Barack Obama.
He told ABC 7.30’s Laura Tingle on Monday:
Trump is a bully, obviously, a big domineering personality. And, most people’s instinct dealing with him is to suck up to him and be deferential and tell him what he wants to hear.
The only thing you get from a bully, if you give into them, is more bullying.
I had a very good relationship with Trump even though we’re very different politics … because I stood up to him, and he respected me for it.
Should Trump be elected, he said:
We will be dealing with a very different America … We have to deal with the hand of cards that we are dealt.
Turnbull sounds warning over nuclear energy plan
Daisy Dumas
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has taken aim at Liberal leader Peter Dutton’s nuclear energy policy, warning that it may alienate those whose votes were lost in 2022.
He told the ABC on Monday evening:
The cheapest form of new generation is solar. Renewables are not more expensive and this is the problem Peter Dutton has because he is out there saying renewables are more expensive and they’re putting prices up.
A second term of Donald Trump in the White House would not be good for the climate globally, while Australia’s rejection of the 2030 climate targets under Dutton would be a “big negative” for investment into renewables, Turnbull said on 7.30.
We need to maintain that continued momentum. The curious thing from an election point of view is why Dutton is doing it.
Because you know nuclear power is not going to deliver cheaper electricity, that’s perfectly clear, and is not going to deliver electricity any time soon. It will take decades to establish nuclear power plants and we don’t have an abundance of time.
And so it seems to me. and many other people in the Liberal party, that it’s an approach that’s going to further alienate the very people whose votes were lost in 2022. And I don’t see how it’s going to assist Peter Dutton in winning government.
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you the top stories before my colleague Emily Wind comes along to take the controls.
Australia’s commitment to global climate goals is once again being questioned by the Coalition’s leadership and MPs. Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce and Morrison cabinet colleague Keith Pitt have called for the Coalition to abandon the Paris global climate change agreement and related emissions reduction targets, claiming politicians risked getting “voted out” by backing the targets. The prime minister Anthony Albanese has accused Peter Dutton of walking away from climate action.
And it’s not just the current prime minister. Malcolm Turnbull told the ABC’s 7.30 last night that Dutton’s advocacy of nuclear power risks alienating the same voters who deserted the Coalition in 2022 and allowed independents to steal normally traditional conservative inner-city seats. Turnbull, who was ousted from the Lodge in large part thanks to Dutton, said nuclear power was too expensive and he could not see how it would help the opposition win power. Business leaders, meanwhile, have urged the Coalition not to go back to the “climate wars”, according to today’s Fin Review.
Palestine’s footballers have tried to brush off controversy before their World Cup qualifier in Perth against the Socceroos tonight by downplaying reports that the president of their FA was denied entry to Australia because of “technical” visa issue. With emotions running high in Australia about the Israel-Gaza war, the team’s midfielder Mohammed Rashid said the players just wanted to “bring joy” to people back home. More coming up.
As the Queensland government presents its budget today, the focus is on cost-of-living help. But we have an exclusive story that the Miles government will also pour $56m into establishing a forensic examination service for victims of sexual violence in public hospitals across the state. It comes after the Guardian reported last October that an alleged teenage rape victim was made to wait three hours for care because her treating doctor had no training in the field. More coming up on the Queensland budget and what to look out for.
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