Senior Liberals meet to decide fate of net zero target
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Liberal members of the shadow ministry are meeting this morning to decide the fate of the party’s commitment to a net zero emissions target.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is expected to agree to dump the climate goal after the majority of MPs supported abandoning it during an almost five-hour party-room meeting in Canberra on Wednesday.
Senior Liberals including Angus Taylor, Ted O’Brien, Michaelia Cash, James Paterson, Alex Hawke, Jonno Duniam and James McGrath all argued in favour of ditching the 2050 target during the marathon meeting, putting enormous pressure on Ley as she fights to retain authority over the party room.
The shadow ministers are expected to retain a commitment to the Paris agreement, which could be enough to prevent an exodus of moderate Liberals who have threatened to quit if the party walks away from all of its climate commitment.
On Wednesday, the party room backed a set of “principles” to underpin the party’s climate and energy agenda, which included backing coal, gas and nuclear and opposing most of Labor’s emissions reduction policies, including changes to the safeguard mechanism to curb pollution at major industrial sites.
After Thursday’s meeting, three Liberals and three Nationals will be tasked with thrashing out a joint Coalition position, which will be put to the joint party room on Sunday.
Key events
Sydney’s new fish market one step closer to completion, with opening date set for January
The mammoth new Sydney Fish Market is closer to opening after the NSW government said today construction on the structure is now finished, with the keys in the hands of the company that operates the market.
The new building will be open to the public on 19 January after individual vendors finish their fitouts inside, allowing one final holiday season trading period at the old market nearby.
NSW premier Chris Minns said in a statement the new fish market would be a “magnificent building” for Sydney’s harbour:
From when it opens, this world-class building will attract millions of visitors each year and provide an enormous boost to our economy.
Thank you to everyone who has slogged away at completing this incredible building that we can all be so proud of.
Tory Shepherd
Bill to restrict late-term abortion defeated in South Australia after emotional debate
A bill to restrict access to abortion after 22 weeks and six days has been defeated in the South Australian parliament.
The former One Nation MLC Sarah Game, who is now an independent, worked with the controversial anti-abortion activist Joanna Howe on the legislation that went before the SA parliament on Wednesday night.
It was voted down by 11 votes to eight.
Several MLCs became visibly distressed and tearful during the debate on Wednesday evening.
The attorney general, Kyam Maher, referred to comments from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Ranzcog) that the bill was premised either on an ignorance of reality or a wilful misrepresentation of the facts.
“I can only imagine the pain and anguish that mothers and families must experience when having such a difficult decision so late in a pregnancy for a variety of complex and very deeply personal reasons,” he said.
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NSW government supports 11th-hour compromise on controversial workers compensation reforms
Penry Buckley
The NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, says the government will support an 11th-hour compromise from the crossbench, as it attempts to pass controversial workers compensation reforms in the final sitting weeks of the year.
They reforms to the scheme, which the government says is costing it billions, passed the lower house in June, but were sent to a parliamentary inquiry by the upper house. The Coalition and the Greens oppose the proposal to raise the threshold at which workers would receive compensation for psychological injury, or “whole of person impairment” (WPI), from 15% to about 30%.
The inquiry report, released this month, found this left workers at risk of self-harm or suicide.
The compromise, proposed last week by crossbenchers including lower house independent MP Alex Greenwich, would see the WPI threshold increasing gradually from 25% in July next year to 29% by 2029. The NSW chief psychiatrist, Murray Wright, would also be tasked with devising a tool to determine psychological impairment within 18 months.
Asked if the government would commit to the chief psychiatrist’s recommendations irrespective of cost, Mookhey said:
We’ll have to wait to see what the chief psychiatrist says, but we are absolutely committed to working with the chief psychiatrist to see the result of it.
We’ve made the point all along – this is as much a task of modernisation as it is a task of … taking old concepts, updating them, fixing them, changing them, creating new ones if that’s what’s necessary.
Luca Ittimani
Limits on landlord loans no surprise, but not yet, economists say
Economists say they “wouldn’t be surprised” if the financial stability regulator moved to limit banks’ lending to property investors, after data yesterday showed landlord loans hit record highs in September.
The surge in lending shocked banks and markets and saw the Greens urge the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority to pull the brakes on investor lending.
An Apra spokesperson confirmed they would respond to the letter. The regulator has since July been engaging with banks on options to curb lending, including new investor loans, in case limits are needed.
Cameron Kusher, an independent property expert, said Apra could have reason to act by early 2026:
We’ve seen intervention before and it’s happened when investor lending has been at similar levels to what it’s at now … I’d be surprised if we got it this year but I wouldn’t be surprised if early next year there was some sort of intervention.
Ashwin Clarke, a senior economist at Commonwealth Bank, noted the sharp rise in investor loans would raise worries but was yet to reach the 2014-15 highs that last triggered Apra’s intervention:
This print will likely add to their concern, but we don’t think the threshold for macroprudential policy has been reached.
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Sarah Basford Canales
What’s the mood like in Parliament House amid the Coalition’s net zero policy debate?
The mood was much more subdued this morning in the corridors of Parliament House ahead of a shadow ministry meeting to settle on climate and energy policy.
Unlike yesterday, when streams of Liberal frontbenchers and backbenchers filed into the party room for a five-hour marathon meeting on whether to keep net zero by 2050, no journalists or photographers crowded to observe the frowns or smiles on the faces of Liberal MPs entering.
Held in one of the Senate’s committee rooms, media activity is restricted and this journalist was politely reminded of those rules by Liberal staffers and shooed away. Yesterday, my colleague, Dan Jervis-Bardy, reported 49 MPs spoke, with 28 speaking against net zero entirely, 17 expressing a desire to keep it in some form while four were on the fence.
The meeting’s outcome – to make it official – seems all but written in stone at this stage, but anything can happen in Canberra.
The shadow cabinet is expected to meet for a much shorter period today, a relief to most who waited hours for a resolution yesterday only to be fed breadcrumbs of information by the late afternoon. But the implications could be long-lasting for a party already rife with internal division, struggling to attract inner-city and suburban votes and broadly shunned by younger voters.
ACCC issues recall notice for children’s sand that may be contaminated with asbestos
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has published a recall notice for children’s sand products that may contain asbestos.
The products include colourful sand sold at several retailers, including Officeworks, Educating Kids, Modern Teaching Aids and Zart Art. The sand is brightly coloured and labelled as Kadink Sand (1.3kg), Educational Colours Rainbow Sand (1.3kg) and Creatistics Coloured Sand (1kg).
The products were sold between 2020 and 2025, and were recalled because they may contain a naturally occurring asbestos called tremolite asbestos.
ACCC deputy chair, Catriona Lowe, said:
We have engaged with Officeworks who is a major supplier of these products and they advised that the products have been removed from sale. We expect they will take all the necessary steps to alert their customers.
We continue to engage with suppliers and expect all to provide appropriate support to consumers including responding to queries and providing advice about arranging a refund.
Anyone who purchased the sand is advised to stop using it immediately and secure it away from children. Do not throw it in general waste, but look up asbestos disposal facilities in your area here.
Donna Lu
Aurora australis the result of ‘cannibal’ solar storm
The aurora australis that lit up the sky across large parts of Australia and New Zealand last night resulted from what has been dubbed a “cannibal” solar storm.
Dr Laura Driessen from the Sydney Institute for Astronomy said:
There’s a really strong and magnetically active sunspot on the sun at the moment.
Since 9 November, the sun has released two strong coronal mass ejections – bursts of high-energy plasma – towards Earth.
Driessen said:
They happened at two different times on the ninth and the 10th. Basically, the one on the 10th was a bit faster, so it caught up with the one on the ninth.
Experts from the British Geological Survey told CNN:
The second one caught up with the first one and they amalgamated together by the time they reached Earth. Hence, the term ‘cannibalised’, as the second one gobbled up the first one.
Penny Wong says Australia still advocating for climate summit, adding Pacific voices ‘should be elevated’
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, spoke earlier about the ongoing tussle over next year’s UN climate summit, the annual Cop.
Wong told ABC News this morning that conversations surrounding the event, which Australia would like to host in Adelaide in partnership with Pacific nations, remain “difficult” as Turkey has maintained its own hopes of hosting it. She said:
Turkey has been very focused on maintaining its bid.
What we are saying is that the Pacific is at the frontline of climate change. We are saying that Pacific voices and the Pacific experience should be elevated the Pacific’s agenda should be more prominent in the global agenda.
That has been really the impetus behind Australia’s bid to host this and we’ll continue to work with others and to engage with Turkey to try to get the outcome that we want for Pacific island nations.
Albanese adds he is ‘concerned’ about neo-Nazi rally outside NSW parliament
The prime minister was asked about the neo-Nazi rally outside NSW parliament last weekend, and reports that members of a group that promotes white supremacist views intend to register as a political party.
Albanese said:
I am concerned about the gathering that was there. I condemn it unequivocally. There’s no place in Australia for the antisemitic display that we saw outside New South Wales parliament house.
The prime minister said the New South Wales government was “responding” to reports of the party registration. He would not comment on any individuals at the rally having their visas reviewed, but said:
I do note that people who come to Australia and then say that they are anti-migrants coming to Australia, I think that speaks for itself.
Albanese says Coalition ‘choosing to take Australia backwards’ with net zero debates
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is speaking about the Coalition’s debates on its net zero policy. He just said during a press conference:
The Coalition are choosing to take Australia backwards. They’re walking away from jobs for Australians, and investment certainty for business. …
They’re walking away from climate action because they fundamentally do not believe in the science of climate change. …
Australians cannot afford to keep paying the price of Coalition infighting when it comes to climate policy and energy policy.
Senior Liberals meet to decide fate of net zero target
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Liberal members of the shadow ministry are meeting this morning to decide the fate of the party’s commitment to a net zero emissions target.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is expected to agree to dump the climate goal after the majority of MPs supported abandoning it during an almost five-hour party-room meeting in Canberra on Wednesday.
Senior Liberals including Angus Taylor, Ted O’Brien, Michaelia Cash, James Paterson, Alex Hawke, Jonno Duniam and James McGrath all argued in favour of ditching the 2050 target during the marathon meeting, putting enormous pressure on Ley as she fights to retain authority over the party room.
The shadow ministers are expected to retain a commitment to the Paris agreement, which could be enough to prevent an exodus of moderate Liberals who have threatened to quit if the party walks away from all of its climate commitment.
On Wednesday, the party room backed a set of “principles” to underpin the party’s climate and energy agenda, which included backing coal, gas and nuclear and opposing most of Labor’s emissions reduction policies, including changes to the safeguard mechanism to curb pollution at major industrial sites.
After Thursday’s meeting, three Liberals and three Nationals will be tasked with thrashing out a joint Coalition position, which will be put to the joint party room on Sunday.
Victoria signs first formal treaty with Indigenous traditional owners
The state of Victoria has officially signed the first formal treaty with Indigenous traditional owners.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, signed the document this morning alongside the co-chair of the First Peoples’ Assembly, Rueben Berg, and Natalie Hutchins, the minister for treaty.
The document establishes the First Peoples’ Assembly as a permanent representative body to advise the state government. The assembly will be able to make representations, provide advice and question ministers.
Ministers and departments will also be required to consult the assembly on laws and policies related to first peoples.
Fortune teller arrested for alleged role in multimillion-dollar fraud scheme
Two women, including one claiming to be a feng shui master and fortune teller, have been arrested and charged for their alleged roles in a multimillion-dollar fraud and money-laundering operation in Sydney.
NSW police said the arrests are part of a growing investigation into a scheme to purchase luxury “ghost cars” that did not exist using allegedly stolen personal information to apply for false loans.
The two women, 53 and 25, were arrested yesterday in Sydney’s Dover Heights.
Police said the older woman “allegedly exploited vulnerable clients within the Vietnamese community by persuading them to take out financial loans – while taking a share herself – based on her prediction that there was a ‘billionaire’ in their future”.
The alleged fraud is estimated to total nearly $70m.
The older woman was charged with 39 offences, including 19 counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. She was refused bail and will appear in court today. The younger woman was charged with multiple counts, but was granted conditional bail to appear in court in January.
Seventeen other people have been arrested as part of the broader investigation, Strike Force Myddleton, and remain before the courts. The NSW Crime Commission has now frozen $75m in assets linked to the alleged syndicate.
Catie McLeod
Real estate agents face $110,000 fine for underquoting under new laws in NSW
Real estate agents in New South Wales could be fined $110,000 or more if caught underquoting properties under proposed new laws intended to stamp out misleading price estimates and increase transparency for buyers.
The Minns Labor government has started consultation with the property sector as it prepares to draft legislation to enact tougher underquoting laws, which it expects to introduce to parliament next year.
Underquoting is a tactic used by some agents who advertise a property for less than the estimated selling price or the owner’s asking price in order to lure buyers and drum up competition.
It is against federal consumer law to underquote, and most states, including NSW, have additional regulations to further discourage the practice.
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