Ley holds the line on climate as Nationals go rogue
But the handful of moderate Liberals still left after the May 3 election have all but accepted the Nationals will not stop until they get their way, regardless of the official process, and cost the Liberal Party the last few seats it holds in metropolitan Australia.
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The Australian
an hour ago
- The Australian
Kerrynne Liddle Marion Scrymgour
The Coalition has renewed calls for an audit of commonwealth-funded Indigenous service providers after Labor MP Marion Scrymgour urged Anthony Albanese to audit the Northern Territory government's spending on Indigenous affairs. Ms Scrymgour, Labor's special envoy on remote communities, said on Friday it was time for the commonwealth to 'show some leadership' in order to examine where generous federal grants to successive NT governments had been spent and why the outcomes were so poor. On Sunday, opposition spokesperson on Indigenous affairs Kerrynne Liddle pointed to her own various attempts to scrutinise spending within the portfolio. In August 2024, Senator Liddle asked colleagues to support an inquiry into Aboriginal land councils and corporations, including their consultations with communities, declarations of conflicts of interest and transparency in their decision making. That proposal failed when Labor, the Greens and independents Fatima Payman, David Pocock and Tammy Tyrrell voted against it. 'The Coalition has long called on the Labor government to investigate the spending of commonwealth money to ensure the most effective application for improving lives but each time we have asked for an inquiry Labor and the Greens have rejected it,' Senator Liddle told The Australian on Sunday. 'The Coalition will continue to push for an audit into commonwealth-funded Indigenous service providers and monitor the impact of the Better, Safer Future for Central Australia Plan. Every individual relying on these services, and every taxpayer dollar, matters,' she said. 'The Albanese government must explain why it has rejected persistent Coalition calls to improve outcomes and why it has failed to demand transparency from the services it funds. 'Labor seems to have forgotten that they have been in power in the Northern Territory for eight of the past nine years, and the Country Liberals are still in their first year of government. 'Labor is hiding from its own accountability.' Senator Liddle's multiple efforts to force an inquiry into government spending in Indigenous affairs have not singled out the NT government, although she has previously said government agencies and any organisation – Indigenous or non-Indigenous – must be accountable for the services they are paid to deliver to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The NT's consistently poor results in the Closing the Gap national agreement were among key reasons why the Albanese government announced it would contribute an additional $4bn for public housing in the NT in a partnership with the then Labor Fyles government. Five months later, the Finocchiaro-led CLP won government with a mandate to crack down on crime and lower the age of criminal responsibility in an effort to intervene earlier in the lives of trouble youth. The NT has a population of just over 260,000, about 30 per cent of whom are Indigenous, and receives the highest GST share of any jurisdiction in recognition of challenges such as the poor health of many of its residents. The NT generates little income and its debt climbed above $11bn last July. Ms Scrymgour claimed last week that many more families in Central Australia should be on welfare management plans that effectively quarantine portions of their payments. She said the NT department responsible for child protection – Territory Families – was supposed to refer families to the commonwealth for welfare management orders called family responsibility agreements but the department had made 'very few' referrals. Ms Scrymgour said on Friday that Aboriginal organisations were required to submit to audits while the NT government was unaccountable for poor outcomes. 'The commonwealth needs to step up and say 'we can't continue to have a lot of the commonwealth's money being thrown into the Northern Territory and not see the outcomes that we should be getting',' Ms Scrymgour said. Read related topics: Anthony Albanese Paige Taylor Indigenous Affairs Correspondent, WA Bureau Chief Paige Taylor is from the West Australian goldmining town of Kalgoorlie and went to school all over the place including Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory and Sydney's north shore. She has been a reporter since 1996. She started as a cadet at the Albany Advertiser on WA's south coast then worked at Post Newspapers in Perth before joining The Australian in 2004. She is a three time Walkley finalist and has won more than 20 WA Media Awards including the Daily News Centenary Prize for WA Journalist of the Year three times. Nation Zempilas noted Peter Dutton's emphatic defeat in explaining why the WA parliamentary party would not be adopting the positions Indigenous An academic who said 'Blak activists' were turning Melbourne University into 'an ideological re-education camp' has been mocked for using anti-discrimination laws in a bid to save his job.
The Australian
3 hours ago
- The Australian
Coalition calls for Senate inquiry after Labor backflips on US beef exports ban
The Coalition wants a Senate inquiry into the government backflip to allow US beef exports into Australia, citing the 'concerning' timing of the decision amid stalled tariff negotiations. Labor has rejected claims the link to ongoing tariff discussions, stating the decision follows a lengthy review undertaken by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, which found new tracing protocols eliminated risks posed by beef sourced from Canada and Mexico but slaughtered in the US. However Nationals Leader David Littleproud says an inquiry is required to give 'assurance' that 'Labor isn't sacrificing our high biosecurity standards'. Nationals Leader David Littleproud said there needed to be 'assurance' behind the process which reversed the partial ban on US beef imports. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman The probe would look at the threat of importing beef which has potentially been exposed to diseases, the risk assessment taken by the government, standards and protocol for US beef imports and the risk posed by future outbreaks. 'The timing of this decision, just as the Prime Minister seeks to obtain a meeting with the US President, is concerning,' Mr Littleproud said. 'Our biosecurity cannot be a bargaining tool. The protocol outlining the import conditions, only released today, provide little detail on the science and the traceability requirements.' Nationals senator Matt Canavan said an inquiry was needed to 'fully understand the urgency and advice behind the government's decision'. 'It's imperative we understand what impact Labor's decision will have on Australia's reputation as having the world's best and safest beef,' he said. 'Our biosecurity standards are world-leading and our beef producers deserve to know whether they are being sacrificed at the political alter.' The Coalition has questioned the timing of the announcement, with Anthony Albanese still attempting to negotiate an exemption. Picture: NewsWire/ Monique Harmer Speaking during question time on Monday, Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said Labor had 'not compromised on biosecurity at all, in any way, shape or form,' and said Mr Littleproud a former agriculture minister, would be aware of the review processes. 'He would know about the industry engagement that has occurred throughout this process,' she said. 'The other thing that he would know is that the US and Australia traceability systems are equivalent and that the decision has been taken based on science … and of course all food imported into Australia must be safe and compliant with our food standards. 'The member opposite would know that the department's security assessment is done in the usual manner as it is done for every other imports into this country.' This comes after Trade Minister Don Farrell mistakenly said US President Donald Trump had directly asked Mr Albanese to remove the ban on US beef exports. Moments later Mr Albanese clarified that the issue was not directly raised in either of the three phone calls he's had with Mr Trump. Instead, he said Mr Trump had made the statement during his Liberation Day tariff announcement. Announcing the levies, which hit a 10 per cent levy on general Australian imports in April, Mr Trump singled out Australia's treatment of US beef. Jessica Wang NewsWire Federal Politics Reporter Jessica Wang is a federal politics reporter for NewsWire based in the Canberra Press Gallery. She previously covered NSW state politics for the Wire and has also worked at and Mamamia covering breaking news, entertainment, and lifestyle. @imjesswang_ Jessica Wang
The Australian
3 hours ago
- The Australian
The state Coalition's policy on net zero is up for review, says Brad Battin
Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin has signalled the state Coalition's policy on net zero is up for review, with the needs of farmers and local communities impacted by large-scale renewables projects set to be prioritised. The Liberal leader's comments come as the Allan government prepares to introduce legislation that could see farmers fined as much as $12,000 for refusing to allow public officials on to their land. Less than 18 months out from the November 2026 state election, Mr Battin refused to say when he expected to announce the Coalition's energy policy, and would not be drawn on a private member's bill being put forward by Barnaby Joyce to repeal the federal government's net-zero target. The state opposition's website currently details the policy announced by then opposition leader Matthew Guy ahead of the 2022 election, which included legislating the government's emissions reduction target of 50 per cent by 2030 – something not even Labor had committed to do. Asked whether that commitment was up for review, Mr Battin said: 'All of our policies from 2022 are up for discussion.' 'The result from the election highlighted the fact that we need to go back and review those, and we'll be reviewing them. 'But the most important thing right at the moment, we're talking about net zero and environment impact, is one of the conditions at the moment the government's trying to force through, where they can go through and bulldoze through private properties, through farmers' properties and communities, to deliver on the infrastructure they're trying to put in place for the net zero they're targeting at the moment. 'We'll have a focus to make sure farmers and communities are protected.' Victorian Energy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio in June announced that the government would legislate to 'further strengthen VicGrid as the body responsible for the planning and development of Renewable Energy Zones and transmission infrastructure in Victoria', with a bill dubbed the 'National Electricity Victoria Amendment, Stage Two VicGrid Bill'. Under the legislation, landholders caught 'hindering, obstructing or delaying authorised activity' on their own land face fines of up to $12,210. Farmers are expected to rally against the proposed legislation outside state parliament next Wednesday, amid concerns it will be used to gain access to properties impacted by the proposed VNI west transmission line in Victoria's northwest. Opposition energy spokesman David Davis said the new legislation amounted to a 'serious overreach … The government has in a draconian and authoritarian way overreached through the introduction of these planned new penalties'. 'These are new laws, on top of existing powers, that allow the imposition of fines of more than $12,000 for each individual offence and up to $48,000 for corporates,' he said. 'This will give the citycentric Victorian government powers to cut locks, to move farmers and their equipment from their land.' The new legislation comes after the Allan government last year opted to accelerate the planning approval process for renewable energy projects, in a move that concentrates power in the hands of the planning minister, removing the requirement for applications to go before a planning panel, and blocking third-party appeals to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Mr Battin said Mr Joyce's private member's bill was 'totally a federal issue'. 'They can do whatever they like up there, but down here, my focus isn't that,' he said, detailing policies related to childcare and crime. Asked multiple times when the public could expect him to unveil his policy on net zero, Mr Battin refused to commit to a timeline other than to say it would be between now and the November 2026 election. Read related topics: Climate Change Rachel Baxendale Victorian Political Reporter Rachel Baxendale writes on state and federal politics from The Australian's Melbourne and Victorian press gallery bureaux. During her time working for the paper in the Canberra press gallery she covered the 2016 federal election, the citizenship saga, Barnaby Joyce's resignation as Deputy Prime Minister and the 2018 Liberal leadership spill which saw Scott Morrison replace Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister. Rachel grew up in regional Victoria and began her career in The Australian's Melbourne bureau in 2012. Mining & Energy Environmental regulators have ordered NSW coal mines to dramatically cut emissions or face penalties, with fears the state will miss its climate targets. Politics The steelmaking giant will have access to rival proposals for the SA facility under a 'right of last offer', giving it a significant advantage over competitors.
