Dumping net zero will do ‘generational damage’, former Liberal candidate warns
Roshena Campbell, the deputy mayor of Melbourne, has warned the Liberal party’s moves to reject net zero emissions targets will do “generational damage” to the party.
The Liberal party is on track to dump the Coalition’s net zero target and align the pace of Australia’s emissions reduction with that of other countries, in line with the Nationals’ approach, Guardian Australia reported today.
Campbell warned that move would suggest to young voters that Liberals were not interested in urgent climate action:
For so many young voters that will be a gamechanger. They will not look at the Liberal party, not at the next election, [or] the next election after, and this is the sort of generational damage that can keep a major party out of government …
When we’re talking about softening language, speaking to aspirations instead, speaking to emission reduction over a longer time period, that is so out of step with the views of younger voters, that this is an urgent issue that deserves an urgent response.
Campbell, a former Liberal candidate for the outer-suburban Melbourne seat of Aston, said the party would never regain inner-city seats like Kooyong and struggle to hold on to Goldstein.
Liberal infighting over whether to abandon support for the net zero emissions target has destabilised Sussan Ley’s leadership of the party, with the backbench MP Sarah Henderson today claiming the leader is “losing support”.
Key events
Ballot box intimidation and misinformation at 2025 election
Politicians and campaigners have told a parliamentary committee they faced growing intimidation and bully tactics at May’s election, AAP reported.
Helen Haines, the independent MP, also expressed concerns about violence, saying one booth required a police presence. She told the inquiry today:
It was dangerous and our volunteers did not wish to return to that polling booth because they felt so threatened.
Nicolette Boele, who won the Sydney seat of Bradfield from the Liberals, said she had to hire private security.
The Greens deputy convenor, Jonathan Parry, spoke of intimidation tactics at polling booths, with a volunteer from another party coming and standing over him at the federal election in May.
Parry also attributed more brazen misinformation to a lack of consequences without laws on truth in political advertising.
Kevin Bonham, the election analyst, said prominent social media users played a role in posting constant disinformation. He told the inquiry:
They’re usually not bots, it’s particularly right-wing accounts that are outside the Liberal Party mainstream, the sort of Sky News-oriented types, some of the supporters of minor right parties.
You can read more about the inquiry here:
Minister defends military purchases from Israel
Pat Conroy has continued to defend the Albanese government’s purchase of military equipment from Israel.
The defence industry minister first said it was important to get “the best equipment” for the armed forces on Tuesday, speaking at a weapons expo in Sydney.
This afternoon, Conroy stood by his remarks. He told the ABC:
I make no apology for getting the best possible equipment for the Australian Defence Force … That’s about giving the best equipment to our soldiers, sailors and aviators so they can defend Australia.
Conroy said the government was working to build more military equipment in Australia as well.
He brought up and denied, unprompted, claims that Australia has exported military equipment to Israel. Critics of the government say Australia has continued to import machine components:
Dumping net zero will do ‘generational damage’, former Liberal candidate warns
Roshena Campbell, the deputy mayor of Melbourne, has warned the Liberal party’s moves to reject net zero emissions targets will do “generational damage” to the party.
The Liberal party is on track to dump the Coalition’s net zero target and align the pace of Australia’s emissions reduction with that of other countries, in line with the Nationals’ approach, Guardian Australia reported today.
Campbell warned that move would suggest to young voters that Liberals were not interested in urgent climate action:
For so many young voters that will be a gamechanger. They will not look at the Liberal party, not at the next election, [or] the next election after, and this is the sort of generational damage that can keep a major party out of government …
When we’re talking about softening language, speaking to aspirations instead, speaking to emission reduction over a longer time period, that is so out of step with the views of younger voters, that this is an urgent issue that deserves an urgent response.
Campbell, a former Liberal candidate for the outer-suburban Melbourne seat of Aston, said the party would never regain inner-city seats like Kooyong and struggle to hold on to Goldstein.
Liberal infighting over whether to abandon support for the net zero emissions target has destabilised Sussan Ley’s leadership of the party, with the backbench MP Sarah Henderson today claiming the leader is “losing support”.
Hot housing market boosts News Corp’s realestate.com.au
REA Group, the News Corp-controlled real estate listings behemoth that runs realestate.com.au, is making millions on the booming activity in Australia’s property market.
REA today reported 12.6 million people visited realestate.com.au on average in July, August and September and buyer inquiries were up 19% compared to the previous year, averaging 2.7m each month.
Fewer homes are going up for sale compared to last year, though, with listings 8% lower on the previous year.
Surging buyer demand more than offset the fall in listings, though, and REA earned $429m in the three months to September, $16m higher than the same period in 2024. The company’s revenue on rent listings also grew as prices rose and listings declined.
REA predicted listings to stabilise after a pickup in Sydney and Melbourne sales, which analysts at RBC said would further boost REA’s revenue. It noted limited stock in the other cities meant some sellers were delaying the listing of their properties – a vicious cycle, further limiting supply.
Guardian Australia has previously investigated REA, the biggest real estate listings company in the country, over its heavy fees and market dominance. You can read more here:
Commonwealth Bank’s ‘sour taste’ as Choice leaves lemons
In lighter news, consumer advocacy group Choice has handed Commonwealth Bank a basket of lemons and a letter for its chief executive, Matt Comyn.
CBA was the recipient of “a special prize” in Choice’s 2025 Shonky awards on Wednesday for charging low income-customers a collective $270m in unfair fees, making it Australia’s most awarded business.
Choice invited Comyn to a trophy presentation event next week at CBA’s Sydney headquarters:
Dear Matt,
Commbank’s refusal to refund 2.2 million customers who were charged $270 million in unfair fees has left a sour taste …
We want to give you a special trophy for Commbank’s 4th Shonky, and a petition signed by more than 25,000 Australians who think you should pay this money back. In the meantime, please enjoy this basket of lemons, the official symbol of the CHOICE Shonky Awards.
We hope this is where the bitterness ends. By facing up and refunding your customers, you could still make lemonade.
In response to receiving the award on Wednesday, a CBA spokesperson said the bank had paused overdraw and monthly account-keeping fees for eligible concession customers and committed to making goodwill adjustments where appropriate to customers who have incurred unusually high fees.
Read more about CBA’s record-setting prize here:
Tom McIlroy
Bowen agrees with UK PM that the ‘consensus is gone’ on fighting climate change
Chris Bowen has endorsed Keir Starmer’s grim assessment of the international consensus on limiting global temperature increases, insisting net zero emissions by 2050 policies represent the “bare minimum” needed to protect the globe.
The UK prime minister told world leaders on Thursday at the Cop30 climate summit in Brazil that the “consensus is gone” on fighting climate change around the world, a decade after the landmark Paris agreement in 2015.
Starmer said green energy policies were a “win-win” for the globe and for economic growth, even as Donald Trump retreats from global cooperation and labels climate change “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”.
Bowen, who is leading implementation of Australia’s 2035 emissions target and will travel to the summit in Belém next week, said Starmer was right.
The climate change and energy minister said:
It’s a contested space, but that makes supporting action in keeping with the science more important, not less important.
Read the full story here:
Or listen to the interview on the Australian Politics podcast here:
Kate Chaney backs Nine’s call for gambling ad ban compensation
Kate Chaney, the independent MP, has backed Nine Entertainment’s calls for any ban on gambling ads to include compensation for media companies and apply across the board.
As we reported earlier, Nine’s chair, Catherine West, said the company had asked the government for financial support if it restricts ads on wagering. Chaney supported that call today:
Gambling ads make up a small part of the total advertising revenue for media companies, as Ms West acknowledges, so finding a workable solution is not as difficult as the government is making out.
The crossbencher was a member of the parliamentary committee that recommended restrictions on gambling ads in mid-2023, led by the late Peta Murphy, a Labor MP.
Chaney in October proposed a levy of 0.5% on every dollar wagered, following similar proposals by that committee, and from the Australia Institute and the Public Health Association.
Gambling ads could be replaced by public health messages, funded by the levy and covering the media and sporting code revenue lost to an ad ban, Chaney told Guardian Australia.
I have a problem with the gambling debate being framed by the Albanese government as a difficult balancing act between companies who want gambling revenue, and everyday Australians … If it’s about media revenue, that’s a problem that can be solved.
Macquarie Bank sheds $6bn in market value
Luca Ittimani
Macquarie Bank has lost almost $6bn in market value after disappointing investors with its financial results – though its efforts to break up the big banks’ party have seen some success.
The challenger to the big four banks enjoyed double-digit growth from April to September in home lending and household deposits. Mortgage brokers are responsible for most of the boom in Macquarie borrowers, while its condition-free savings account has attracted households’ cash.
Profits in its banking and financial services exceeded market expectations, but net profits across the group were less than $1.7bn for the six months to September, $200m lower than expected.
John Storey, an analyst with UBS, said the market would need to trust in management to deliver a much stronger next six months. The market has shown no such trust, dumping Macquarie shares to a six-month low, with the big bank now valued at less than $77bn.
Princess Anne to arrive in Australia tomorrow
Princess Anne will land in Melbourne tomorrow for a tour of Australia taking in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
Anne is visiting from 8 to 11 November in her role as colonel-in-chief to the Royal Australian Corps of Signals, which is marking 100 years since its formation.
The visit, one of more than 20 by Anne to Australia, is the first royal visit since King Charles’s in October last year.
It comes almost immediately after Charles officially stripped their brother, now Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, of his HRH style and his prince title.
A US congressional panel has written to Mountbatten Windsor to ask that he submit to questioning as part of its investigation into Jeffrey Epstein’s criminal operations.
Weekend thunderstorms forecast for much of the east
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting rain storms for much of eastern Australia this weekend, with severe weather possible for parts of NSW and southern Queensland on Saturday.
Severe thunderstorms are possible across the east coast tomorrow from Wollongong up through Sydney and into southern parts of Queensland and Brisbane’s western suburbs.
The BoM meteorologist Jonathan How says thunderstorms are more likely in some areas, bringing heavy rainfall, damaging winds and large hail.
We also do have an area of red where severe thunderstorm is likely. That extends from Newcastle and the Hunter, up into the mid-north coast and then southern parts of the tablelands … We may also see the additional risk of destructive winds gusts which can cause significant damage.
A cold front, a low pressure system and a warm front moving through eastern Australia will also bring rain and the risk of minor flooding to South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania, before conditions ease into Sunday.
Sussan Ley goes on to say she values “every single member of my team”, including Henderson.
In order to interrogate her view, you should probably ask her … What I am saying is that every one of my team is absolutely united behind the focus that we have right now, which is to hold this Labor government to account for an energy policy that is destructive of households, businesses and, indeed, harming the economy.
Asked about backbencher criticism, including of her recent calls for the US ambassador, Kevin Rudd, to be sacked, and her decision to go after Anthony Albanese for wearing a Joy Division T-shirt, Ley says:
I’m proud of my team and I know that every single member of that team is contributing to the serious credible policy agenda that I spoke about.
Asked about how she plans to fix disunity in the Liberal party, including around net zero emissions policy, Ley says:
I’ll clearly have more to say after the Liberal party meets, and I’m not going to presuppose the outcome of that meeting. Because I made it clear when I became leader that every single member of my party room would be enfranchised to contribute to the policy discussion about energy, and they have. That includes the working group, led by Dan Tehan, that has heard from industry and experts. It includes backbench committees.
Ley won’t ‘comment on commentary’ amid leadership concerns
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is speaking now in Canberra, after the Liberal senator Sarah Henderson expressed concern about her hold on the Coalition in an interview with Sky News this morning.
Asked about Henderson’s comments, Ley says:
I’m not going to comment on commentary. You wouldn’t expect me to. Because I’m not focused on comments that other people relay to me, or that might be made in a variety of contexts. The only thing I care about is working hard for the Australian people, and I lead a team of very … a very proud team.
Police appeal for information after four found dead in Queensland house fire
Police are appealing for information after four people were found dead after a house fire in Emerald, a town in central Queensland, yesterday.
Emergency services were called to the address just before 7am on Thursday and found a property fully engulfed in flames. The blaze was extinguished shortly afterwards, but four people were found dead inside the property.
Formal identification is ongoing, but police say a man, 36, a 15-year-old girl, a one-year-old girl and a five-month-old boy were killed in the blaze.
Two other women, aged 25 and 38, escaped the fire and were treated at a nearby hospital. Det Acting Insp Brett Richard said in a statement:
It has been a very sad and tragic scene, and we have a lot of families gathering around to provide support to each other.
A crime scene has been established and an investigation is ongoing. Police said during a press conference today there is not yet a known cause for the fire.
Penry Buckley
NSW government considering changes to legal protection for 10 to 14-year-olds
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says the government is considering legislative changes to the common law presumption of doli incapax, under which children between 10 and 14 are protected from criminal prosecution.
The centuries-old presumption, from the Latin for “incapable of evil”, offers protection on the basis 10 to 14-year-olds don’t understand the difference between right and wrong, although it can be rebutted.
The premier, speaking in Tamworth earlier to announce an investment to tackle regional youth crime, said the government was also considering changes to “the situation as it’s currently constituted”.
It’s not necessarily about driving high conviction rates, it is the current situation. But for many youth, there is no consequences at all … we just can’t be in a situation where we’re asking the police to arrest the same person over and over and over again, because it’s not good for anyone.
It’s not good for the community. It’s not good for the families involved. And lastly, perhaps most importantly, it’s not good for the child involved either.
Following a high court decision in 2016 clarifying the presumption, the proportion of 10 to 13-year-olds prosecuted in court fell from 76% in 2015-16 to 16% in 2022-23.
A review into doli incapax commissioned by the NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, has recommended the common law presumption be made statutory law, although Minns says the review shows the principle is “not working”.
The review said while youth crime was a concern, only a small proportion in the 10 to 13 age group engaged in serious or persistent offending, and the principle remained an “important safeguard against the possibility of inappropriate findings”.
Liberal party to head to trial over Pesutto loan after mediation fails
Benita Kolovos
A dispute over the $1.5m loan issued to the former Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto is set to go to trial after attempts to settle the matter outside court failed.
Five members of the Victorian Liberal administrative committee – recently renamed the state executive – launched supreme court action against the directors of the party’s finance vehicle, Vapold, and the remaining 14 members of the executive over the loan.
They argued that the party’s constitution prohibited the loan, which was approved by the executive after a vote in June.
The loan was used to help cover $2.3m in legal costs after fellow MP Moira Deeming successfully sued Pesutto for defamation.
If he had failed to pay, Pesutto would have had to declare bankruptcy, forcing a byelection in his marginal seat of Hawthorn.
Senior Liberal sources confirmed that formal mediation, ordered by the supreme court, came to an end on Thursday after the parties were unable to reach an agreement.
It means the case will now proceed to an expected five-day trial, which has been set down to begin on 16 March, just eight months out from the state election.
The opposition leader, Brad Battin, will be among defendants likely to take the stand to be examined over his role in approving the loan.
Defence submissions, seen by Guardian Australia, argue that the interpretation of the constitution is not a matter for the courts.
Three pedestrians seriously injured after being struck by car in western Sydney
Three people have been taken to hospital in a critical condition after being struck by a car at an intersection in western Sydney.
In a statement, NSW police say emergency services responded to reports just after 9am following a crash in Blacktown.
Police say the three men, believed to be aged in their 30s, were standing outside a business when the cars collided, causing one to mount the curb and allegedly strike the pedestrians.
NSW Ambulance paramedics treated the men at the scene for multiple injuries, with all three taken to Westmead hospital. A crime scene has been established.
The drivers of both vehicles, believed to be aged in their 20s and 30s, have been taken for mandatory testing. No charges have yet been laid.
Nine asks for compensation if gambling ads are banned
Luca Ittimani
Nine Entertainment has asked the Albanese government to pay it compensation if it bans gambling advertisements, and not to limit any ban to broadcast media.
The Albanese government has resumed negotiations with the wagering industry to restrict ads, with industry sources expecting to see legislation by the end of the year, Guardian Australia reported in October.
Nine chair Catherine West confirmed the company had been discussing ad restrictions with the government, seeking “some type of compensation” and a commitment to make any ban apply broadly across all media types. She told Nine’s AGM:
We believe that gambling across the society is a collective responsibility … We already have a lot of regulation.
It would not be fair for us to not be able to do gambling and gambling companies to be able to sponsor word searches on Google. That will just mean that the revenue is diverted away from us across the board.
West did not directly answer when asked whether Nine had asked the government to resist moves to limit gambling ads. She said the ads accounted for the “low single digits” of Nine’s revenue, which was nearly $2.7bn in the year to June.
West said Nine was not considering allowing viewers to opt out of gambling ads, a method pioneered by SBS in 2024.
The Guardian has not accepted gambling advertising across all of its global platforms since 2023. You can read more about the decision in this piece by Guardian Australia’s editor Lenore Taylor:
Tory Shepherd
New neurotechnology gets $54m investment from federal government
A brain-computer interface (BCI) that promises to help paralysed people control digital devices with their minds has scored a $54m investment from the federal government.
Synchron, which started at the University of Melbourne, has developed neurotechnology that has been described as “miles ahead” of Elon Musk’s Neuralink.
The federal funds come from the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) as part of its latest $305m funding round.
The NRFC said in a release “the company’s status as an industry pioneer means that it will likely set the standards for BCI integrations with products such as iPhone, Apple Vision Pro, and Chiral AI – the world’s first cognitive AI”.
Synchron founder Tom Oxley said the investment would help the company fund their final clinical trials.
Overnight, Unesco adopted new guardrails for the “wild west” of neurotechnology amid ongoing concerns about mental privacy and freedom of thought.
Read more here:
