Revealed: Labor’s offer to get Greens to back EPBC overhaul
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Guardian Australia has obtained the separate sets of concessions that the Albanese government is prepared to make to its nature laws to secure the Greens or the Coalition’s support.
The proposed concessions to the Greens, circulated on Tuesday morning, include:
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Limiting the fast-tracking of fossil fuel projects under bioregional plans
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Limit the new “streamline assessment pathway” to restrict fossil fuel projects
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Limit the proposed new “national interest” exemption to exclude fossil fuel projects
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Reversing proposed changes that would have handed the so-called “water trigger” to state governments
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Require that the minister retain the power to declare that a project requires Commonwealth approval, even under deals to devolve decision-making powers to the states.
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Require that the states have agreements to assess projects under federal nature laws before allowing them to have power to make decisions under the laws
The government has also offered to subject native forest logging to national environmental standards within three years, although the detail of that amendment is still being worked through.
The Greens will no doubt discuss its position on the EPBC laws at their regular Tuesday morning party-room meeting although it’s unclear if a final position will be settled.
Key events
Andrew Messenger
Queensland’s teacher’s union president Cresta Richardson has defended today’s strike action.
Richardson said tens of thousands of teachers would be walking off the job today, but said schools had plenty of time to prepare, given seven days’ notice:
This is the strike that the premier has wanted.
We have been reasonable in our requests as we’ve been going through this process, our members have voted against the last, final, best offer from the government’s conciliation. This is really about continuing to stand up. Our members have had enough of teacher shortages. They’ve had enough of occupational violence, not being resourced enough.
Richardson said the government’s threat to go after issues outside the conciliation process was an attempt to punish members for refusing their conciliation offer. She called on the premier or education minister to resolve the dispute before it goes into arbitration at the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission next year at the latest.
Ben Doherty
Nauru president floats returning NZYQ refugees to home countries
Nauru may seek to return refugees from the NZYQ cohort to their home countries, the Nauruan president has said in a new translation of a February interview that has been the subject of months-long controversy.
David Adeang’s interview erroneously claimed those being sent to Nauru were not refugees and said Nauru may seek to return them to their countries of origin where possible.
Guardian Australia has confirmed members of the NZYQ group have had refugee protection claims recognised by Australia. It is understood some of the men already transferred to Nauru are among those who are refugees.
The Guardian has previously reported a partial transcript, which was corroborated by the full transcript read into Hansard by senators David Pocock and David Shoebridge late on Monday.
New BoM boss defends $96.5m website overhaul
The newly minted boss of Australia’s national weather agency has tried to shut down a brewing political storm, defending its $96.5m website overhaul.
Bureau of Meteorology chief executive, Stuart Minchin, who is two weeks into the job, defended the cost on Tuesday, saying the website redesign was part of a broader system overhaul, prompted by a 2015 cyber-attack.
Minchin said the entire system had to be replaced following the attack carried out by foreign cyber spies:
It has repeatedly been part of the budget updates. The website component is about 10 per cent of a much larger program replacing all of the bureau’s back end systems and processes.
That has been visible to the government all the way through.
The bureau’s new-look “modern and sleek” site launched on 22 October but quickly came under fire after savage storms left a trail of destruction across the eastern seaboard.
– AAP
Labor’s offer to the Coalition to get it to back nature laws revealed
Dan Jervis-Bardy
As for the Coalition, the government has offered five concessions.
They include:
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So-called “stop-work” orders that halt projects can only be in place for a maximum of 14 days
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Clarify that maximum fines for breaches of nature laws ($1.6m for individuals, $825m for businesses) would only apply in the “most serious and egregious cases”.
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Allow the minister to sack the chief executive of the independent environment protection agency (EPA) for poor performance.
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Allow the minister to set “directions” to the chief executive of the EPA
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Retain one of the existing project assessment pathways that requires proponents to submit “preliminary documentation” ahead of a decision.
The list of amendments does not include any changes to a new “unacceptable impact” definition that would, if met, result in the immediate refusal of a project.
Joyce says politicians too quick to jump on the ‘offence microphone’
Staying on that 2GB interview, Joyce says politicians are quick to take the “offence microphone”, and singled out Penny Wong over her comments in the Senate condemning Hanson.
He added that Hanson wouldn’t have pulled the burqa stunt if she hadn’t been shut down from introducing her bill.
I find it annoying where everyone makes this mad dash for the offence microphone.
If you want to give someone publicity, just shut them down, and then they’ve got all the publicity they want.
The argument echoed Hanson’s public comments this morning, that she wouldn’t have worn the burqa if the Senate had debated her bill.
Barnaby Joyce to make decision about One Nation defection by ‘end of the week’
Barnaby Joyce says he’ll make a decision on whether he leaves the Nationals and defects to One Nation by the end of this week.
The widely anticipated move has been speculated for more than a month, while Joyce has held meetings with Hanson and sits outside the Nationals party room.
Speaking to 2GB radio this morning, he called himself a “front row forward” and said he’s been “put in a corner”.
I just don’t want much of a circus … I’ll get to the end of the week and we’ll make a decision then.
Nationals MPs have been imploring Joyce to stay with them this morning, including Matt Canavan, who said the speculation was turning into a long “Days of our Lives” saga.
Despite appearances, Joyce said the steak Pauline Hanson cooked on a sandwich press tasted “brilliant”.
Andrew Messenger
Queensland teachers strike after rejecting pay offer
Queensland’s education minister has warned teachers might get a worse industrial deal after arbitration, flagging that the government will look at “other elements” of their industrial agreement.
Members of the Queensland Teachers’ Union are going on strike today after rejecting a government pay offer last month made during conciliation at the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission. The dispute will now go to a full bench of the commission for arbitration.
The education minister, John-Paul Langbroek, said on Tuesday that the conciliation offer, which included an 8% pay rise was now “off the table”.
He told media this morning that the government wouldn’t be seeking to roll back class sizes “but it is true that we’ll be looking at other elements of the industrial agreement” in the commission.
Langbroek said Tuesday’s strike would affect year 10 and 11 exams and a variety of extracurricular activities. Almost all state schools would be open, aside from a handful affected by storm damage, he said. Langbroek also dismissed the risk of a threatened third strike.
It will make no difference to what we’re trying to achieve, which is fair pay, a fair pay rise for teachers dealing with the issues of conditions that they’re concerned about, and all they’re doing is impacting parents and caregivers across the state, as well as costing themselves wages.
Revealed: Labor’s offer to get Greens to back EPBC overhaul
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Guardian Australia has obtained the separate sets of concessions that the Albanese government is prepared to make to its nature laws to secure the Greens or the Coalition’s support.
The proposed concessions to the Greens, circulated on Tuesday morning, include:
-
Limiting the fast-tracking of fossil fuel projects under bioregional plans
-
Limit the new “streamline assessment pathway” to restrict fossil fuel projects
-
Limit the proposed new “national interest” exemption to exclude fossil fuel projects
-
Reversing proposed changes that would have handed the so-called “water trigger” to state governments
-
Require that the minister retain the power to declare that a project requires Commonwealth approval, even under deals to devolve decision-making powers to the states.
-
Require that the states have agreements to assess projects under federal nature laws before allowing them to have power to make decisions under the laws
The government has also offered to subject native forest logging to national environmental standards within three years, although the detail of that amendment is still being worked through.
The Greens will no doubt discuss its position on the EPBC laws at their regular Tuesday morning party-room meeting although it’s unclear if a final position will be settled.
An average of nine posties a day being attacked by dogs, Australia Post says
Moving away from politics for a moment, Australia Post is warning that nine posties a day are being attacked by dogs, on average.
They’re urging pet owners to secure their dogs, particularly as households rush to make online orders ahead of Christmas.
AusPost say 46 posties a week have “fallen victim to dog-related incidents”, with NSW the worst state, followed by Queensland and Western Australia. Nationwide, 1,194 attacks have occurred in the last six months alone.
Australia Post general manager of safety, Russell Munro, said in a statement:
Our Posties want to be able to deliver for our customers without fear of being attacked or chased by a dog. Regardless of breed or temperament, we urge all owners to keep their dogs safely contained when expecting deliveries.
This is a video Australia Post released last year of dogs attacking posties:
Pauline Hanson says burqa stunt a response to not being allowed to introduce bill to ban garment
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has defended her stunt in parliament yesterday, telling 4BC radio this morning that she did it because she wasn’t allowed to introduce her bill to ban the burqa.
Hanson said the bill was in response to “national security” concerns, for “assimilation” and for women “being controlled by men”.
She called her critics in parliament “hypocrites” for not allowing her to wear the garment, while refusing to debate the bill.
I couldn’t introduce it, that’s the problem, is they wouldn’t allow me to introduce it and I thought, well, OK, if you don’t want to debate this and you’ve got no problems with not banning the burqa, so I thought, no, I’ll go and put it on … Now they’re complaining because I’m wearing the burqa. You don’t want to ban it. So you’re whinging about it and I’m wearing it in the parliament. So what’s the difference? A bunch of hypocrites.
Speaking separately to ABC radio Sydney this morning, Hanson could not name a single national security incident in Australia that involved a burqa, because she hasn’t “had that briefing from Asio or the AFP”.
