Key events
Environment minister Tanya Plibersek outlines new water plan
Environment and water minister Tanya Plibersek was on ABC RN earlier this morning to discuss the National Water Initiative – started 20 years ago to align state, territory and federal water policies through a set of objectives.
The government has released a plan to readjust the water policy, which Plibersek says will “look at climate resilient water management, much more evidence-based decision making and of course, really transparent and strategic water investments rather than a scattergun approach”.
A 2021 review found the initiative was outdated and an overhaul was needed to explicitly recognise climate change. The review also called for much more meaningful recognition of Indigenous rights to water. You can read out piece from 2021 below:
Plibersek said these concerns would “absolutely” be addressed with the new plan:
The very reason that we’re doing this upgraded approach is because so much has changed in the 20 years since the first National Water Initiative and you’ve pointed out that the Productivity Commission has looked at the way that we allocate water in Australia, that is one of the most important inputs to this new work – taking what the Productivity Commission has found about the way the Commonwealth government and the states and territories manage water resources, and using that work to make sure we make better decisions in the future.
New rules for telcos to provide financial hardship assistance
Josh Butler
Phone providers will have to offer expanded assistance measures for customers struggling to pay bills, with new rules coming into effect tomorrow that will help those facing hardship issues.
Communications minister Michelle Rowland says the new rules mean that telcos “must take all reasonable steps to proactively identify customers who may be experiencing financial hardship, ensure they provide appropriate support, and prioritise keeping customers connected”.
Telcos will have to offer at least six different options for customers who are struggling, including payment plans, extending or deferring payments. The rules broaden the definition of hardship, in order to take in more customers, and require the companies to do all they can to keep customers connected.
They’ll also have to better promote their hardship support, and train staff to better recognise hardship.
Statistics from 2023 found a quarter of Aussies had experienced payment difficulties in the previous 12 months, and half of them had trouble with their phone or internet bills. But other stats showed fewer than 4,400 customers were in hardship programs in 2022, some 0.03% of customers – far fewer than those actually in trouble.
Rowland said:
Staying connected is an essential part of everyday life in 2024.
These new rules will mean telcos have to do all they can to keep customers connected if they are experiencing financial hardship, with disconnection the last resort.
The government acknowledges the work of the regulator in developing these new rules, and the constructive engagement of the telco industry through this process.
Paul Karp
73 people released from detention now without ankle bracelets
Last night at estimates, home affairs officials revealed that 73 of the 152 people released as a result of the high court’s NZYQ decision are not required to wear ankle bracelets.
The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, then asked whether any of the seven murderers or 37 sex offenders were not required to wear ankle bracelets.
Michael Outram, the Australian Border Force commissioner, said he had taken on notice questions at the last estimates hearing, and will respond in writing. He said that he has concerns about privacy because of the small numbers involved, and the potential to identify people.
Paterson accused officials of appearing to “cover up” to protect the government’s interests because they were unable or unwilling to say whether any of the 73 without ankle bracelets had committed serious offences.
Labor’s Murray Watt said this is an “outrageous” accusation to make about independent public servants.
Clare O’Neil did not verbally abuse me: home affairs chief
Paul Karp
At the Senate estimates spillover session last night, senators grilled home affairs secretary, Stephanie Foster, about reports that the government was concerned that in February she tabled a document detailing the criminal record of people released as a result of the high court’s NZYQ decision.
Foster said:
The [home affairs] minister [Clare O’Neil] and I will always discuss the estimates process in a routine way. The reports that the minister verbally abused me are absolutely baseless. I would like to echo comments made by the ministers, that my relationship with both [O’Neil and immigration minister Andrew Giles] is very close, very constructive … At no point, on that occasion, or ever, has minister O’Neil verbally abused me.
Senator James Paterson asked if O’Neil had “raised concerns”, while senator David Shoebridge asked if there had been any “negative responses” to her tabling the document.
Foster replied that she would not “discuss private conversations with my ministers” but O’Neil, Giles and their offices had “never attempted to interfere” in her evidence at Senate estimates.
Foster said:
The strength of relationships [between ministers and public servants] depends on having trusted conversations. [What matters is] not whether or not who said what to whom, but whether I felt or feel any sense of pressure or influence to behave in any way other than with complete integrity.
Josh Butler
More on Albanese’s visit to the Hunter region today
The government will talk up the employment and economic benefits of such programs, as part of Albanese’s “future made in Australia” policy. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency will be tasked to design the initiative, including planning how to produce solar panel components and finished products.
Albanese will be joined by industry minister Ed Husic and energy minister Chris Bowen for the announcement. There are likely to be other questions facing the PM, however, when he hits the ground.
For the second parliament sitting week in a row, Albanese did not hold a press conference in Canberra or conduct any media interviews. The PM has held only one media appearance since announcing plans to sideline promised changes to religious freedoms, last week travelling to Eugowra in the NSW central west. He has not yet taken any media questions on the controversial deportation bill and the government’s attempts to ram it through parliament, nor on the NDIS changes, or this week’s amendments to the government’s fuel efficiency standard.
PM to announce $1bn for solar panel manufacturing in Hunter region
Josh Butler
The prime minister Anthony Albanese will today announce $1bn for solar panel manufacturing in Australia, travelling to the Hunter region to spruce the government’s new Net Zero Economy Authority.
We expect Albanese will be peppered with questions about his government’s tense week in parliament, with the PM not having taken any media questions in Canberra for either of the past two sitting weeks.
Albanese will be in the NSW Hunter today, announcing a $1bn investment in the Solar Sunshot program. The government says it will “help ensure more solar panels are made in Australia, including in the Hunter region”. The PM will visit the old Liddell coal-fired power station site, with the decommissioned site a very symbolic choice.
Albanese said ahead of the announcement:
I want a future made in Australia. And I want a future made in our regions. Places like the Hunter that have powered our nation for more than a century will power our future.
We have every metal and critical mineral necessary to be a central player in the net zero transformation, and a proven track record as a reliable energy producer and exporter.
Jodie Belyea calls for ‘political courage’ to deliver gambling ad restrictions during maiden speech
Josh Butler
New Labor MP Jodie Belyea says the government must have the “political courage” to follow through on further restrictions on gambling ads, as championed by her predecessor, the late Peta Murphy.
Belyea won the Dunkley byelection, succeeding her friend Murphy, who died of cancer last year. Murphy had pushed for restrictions on gambling ads, a cause the government has cautiously backed in principle although it has not yet outlined its next moves.
The new MP gave her first speech in parliament on Wednesday night. She spoke of Murphy’s legacy, and suggested what the government could do next:
Australians lose $25bn to gambling each year, the highest amount per capita in the world. Families in communities like Dunkley feel the brunt of gambling, magnifying cost-of-living pressures and exacerbating disadvantage.
I will advocate for the recommendations of the ‘You win some, you lose more’ report.
That report, led by Murphy in 2023, called for the government to “implement a comprehensive ban on all forms of advertising for online gambling”, among numerous other safety measures around gambling. Belyea said:
Peta drove this report’s common sense recommendations with great empathy and care.
She is no longer here to fight this good fight and so it falls on us to meet her political courage with a little bit of our own.
Welcome
Emily Wind
Good morning, and happy Thursday. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be with you on the Australia news live blog today.
Making news: new Labor MP Jodie Belyea said the government must have “political courage” to follow through on further gambling ad restrictions during her maiden speech on Wednesday night. Belyea won the Dunkley by-election and succeeded her friend, the late Peta Murphy, who had championed these restrictions – which the government has backed in principle, but not yet outlined its next moves.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese will today announce $1bn for solar panel manufacturing in Australia, travelling to the Hunter region to spruce the government’s new Net Zero Economy Authority. We’ll have more about both these stories from Josh Butler shortly.
Paul Karp will also bring us some updates from Senate estimates last night, including news that 73 of the 152 people released as a result of the high court’s NZYQ decision are not required to wear ankle bracelets. Meanwhile, the home affairs chief told estimates that reports suggesting Clare O’Neil had verbally abused her “are absolutely baseless”. Amy Remeikis covered the debate around this during question time in yesterday’s blog.
If you see something that needs attention on the blog, you can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: [email protected].
Let’s get started.
