Peter Dutton: Australia opposition leader clarifies he believes in climate change after debate
Australian opposition leader Peter Dutton has clarified he believes in climate change after facing backlash for comments made during an election debate on Wednesday night.Dutton and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were asked about the increasing impact of climate change, to which Dutton replied he would "let scientists and others pass that judgment".He had previously said that flooding and natural disasters were "part of the history of our state of this country". The comments generated outrage from climate groups and mockery from Albanese."I believe in climate change, and that it is a reality" Dutton said while campaigning on Monday.
During Wednesday's debate, Dutton responded to the moderator's question on whether flooding and natural disasters were getting worse by saying, "I don't know because I'm not a scientist". "I can't tell you whether the temperature has risen in Thargomindah because of climate change or the water levels are up," he added.Meanwhile Albanese, who had said Dutton's words showed "no acceptance of the science of climate change" continued mocking his opponent on Thursday, asking "does he believe in gravity?" Environmental organisations have reacted to Dutton's debate remarks with dismay.Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie told the Guardian "it's outrageous for a senior political leader to be so out of touch that they claim they "don't know" the risks Australians are facing."A report from the non-profit released earlier this month stated one in 23 properties across the country were found to be at high risk from climate change.Australian Conservation Foundation Chief Executive Kelly O'Shanassy called Dutton's words "a serious concern" in an interview with the Canberra Times, adding that "the next parliament is the last parliament that can get Australia's massive contribution to climate change under control."Albanese was also questioned on his climate policy during the debate, though for different reasons. The prime minister has championed renewable energy throughout his time in office, but has faced backlash for rising power bills.Asked when fees would fall, the prime minister did not directly reply. Instead, he stressed renewables were the "cheapest form of power".In March, Labor announced it would extend a relief system for the bills, providing a further automatic $150AUD ($95;£72) rebate to households and small businesses. The hour-long debate also saw the two party leaders pressed on other hot button issues for Australia including housing and foreign policy, in particular Australia's relationship to the US.
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The Guardian
9 hours ago
- The Guardian
Labor has promised 1.2m new homes in its second term. Is it possible?
Anthony Albanese has conceded it is 'too hard' to build housing in Australia and promised the government will tackle regulation to fulfil its target of 1.2m new homes by June 2029. At the national press club on Wednesday, the prime minister said his government would go further to bring down the cost of building by targeting red tape and pushing the states to build more. Experts say state planning laws and red tape are two of the biggest barriers to building more housing, but if Labor pulls out 'all the stops' and addresses them, they say the government could get close to its housing targets. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The opposition remains unconvinced, saying the Albanese government's approach of paying states to build more housing 'has not been a success' so far. So how achievable is the goal, and what needs to happen? Labor has promised to support the build of 1.2m homes, and 55,000 social and affordable homes, by June 2029. Alongside the housing targets, the government has promised $10bn to help fund 100,000 new homes for first home buyers, including through concessional loans for states. It has also committed $2bn to states to provide new or refurbished social housing, legislated fee-free Tafe to respond to construction skill shortages and introduced incentive payments for apprentices in construction. But whether or not Labor can deliver is unclear. The latest figures from the 2025 state of housing report by the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council (NHSAC) forecast 938,000 dwellings being completed during the period to June 2029; factoring in demolitions, the net new supply will be 825,000. Even so, the target of 1.2m homes will bring Australia closer to building 'equilibrium' by June 2029, the target deadline, according to NHSAC chair and former Mirvac boss, Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz – even if NHSAC's modelling predicts a shortfall. That's because, 'new supply and new demand will be roughly in line at around 175,000 new homes for 175,000 new households.' Labor should focus on two policy areas, Lloyd-Hurwitz says: planning reforms and building more social housing. Reducing approval times would make a 'real difference', pointing out that government was able to effectively fast-track other areas of regulation during the Covid-era without 'cutting corners'. Since the election, the housing minister, Clare O'Neil, has been handed responsibility over the building and construction code and will now lead the planning ministers' council, to help streamline planning and development processes under the one minister. (The planning ministers' council used to be under the purview of the infrastructure minister.) She says the new responsibilities give her 'more levers to improve the broader problem of construction productivity'. The NHSAC chair also called for 'continued investment' in housing for those who most need it: 'roughly four times the amount of social and affordable housing than is currently planned'. O'Neil is 'confident' 55,000 social and affordable homes would be delivered by June 2029, pointing out 28,000 of those homes were already in the planning or construction phase. O'Neil, has also promised to slash red tape, though she hasn't said how. 'We've created a regulatory environment that says we don't want builders building the type of new homes we need most,' O'Neil told Guardian Australia. 'We've got so much red tape, and this is a real barrier … builders face a thicket of rules and regulations.' Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders' Australia said in October there was 'no chance' Labor would achieve its target, but has since changed her tone, with the most recent policy changes, now saying it is 'not insurmountable'. 'There is the capacity to get to those targets. The only reason why you won't get to those targets … is an unwillingness at government level and industry level to collaborate to remove some of those impediments,' she said. Wawn added fee-free Tafe would help ease critical skills shortages, and said she was also pushing the government to bring in more overseas construction workers on skilled visas. Brendan Coates, Grattan Institute's housing program director, said the government also should push the states to change more zoning laws and update the national construction code saying it is 'illegal' to build higher density housing in some parts of inner Sydney and Melbourne where it's needed most. 'It's things like state land use planning controls that have the biggest impact on construction,' Coates said. 'It's not economic, for example, for a developer to knock down a free-standing home to just build three townhouses. Because you've got to buy the house, [and land] and that house is worth a million dollars before you knock it down, so the economics don't always stack up.' Lloyd-Hurwitz says states including NSW and Victoria had started changing zoning regulations to get more medium and high-density housing near transport nodes, but added that the cost pressures for developers in recent years have been 'too great'. 'We have this perfect storm of high interest rates, low pre-sales, high costs, which makes feasibilities very difficult to stack up for developers,' she says. '[It's] why we see, particularly in the high-rise space, we're at a historic low in terms of the number of completions of apartments, and they've got a very long lead time.' Federal incentives for states to build more housing also need to change, Coates says. 'The government is rightly trying to pay the states to get more housing built … They [the commonwealth] need to bring forward when the payments are made to pay them each year, rather than at the end of the five-year period of the national housing accord.' The opposition's new housing spokesperson, Andrew Bragg, told Guardian Australia the current incentives for states are not working and that Labor should rethink its policies, for example, tying payments for states to certain conditions around housing targets. 'There are large financial transfers from the commonwealth to the states … and there are significant payments made for transport and infrastructure projects and the like that are made without conditions,' he says. The Productivity Commission's damning report in February found productivity in the construction sector had dropped 12% over three decades, with the average time to complete a home increasing from 6.4 months to 10.4 months over the last 10 years. It said the construction code contributed to poor productivity and imposed unnecessarily high costs on building construction, and needed to be changed. Wawn says the complex code, which has more than 2,000 pages, has been hampering construction, and that additional varying state regulations make it more difficult for builders working across state borders to operate. 'When you have to read [the code] in conjunction with 120-odd regulated standards, of which people still have to pay for access, they're very hard to read, and there's inconsistencies,' she said. She also warns the code is hampering investment into more modern building practices, like modular housing, and says the cost is too high for businesses. O'Neil says Australia is lagging behind in modern construction techniques – the government has promised $54m for states and territories to invest in local programs developing prefabricated and modular housing. Lloyd-Hurwitz says that investment is a good start, but a 'very small amount of money', and suggested the government should lean into procurement to support the modular supply chain and increase investor confidence. 'Construction innovation and modular construction, something that Scandinavian countries do very well and we do very poorly, would make a difference to cost and speed as well as sustainability.' Bragg says the opposition, which will reconsider all its housing policies, will look at reforming the code. 'We need to look at how we can make it easier for people to build houses, all forms of housing.'
Reuters
20 hours ago
- Reuters
US warship arrives in Australia ahead of war games, summit
SYDNEY, June 14 (Reuters) - A key U.S. warship arrived in Australia on Saturday ahead of joint war games and the first summit between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Donald Trump, which is expected to be dominated by military issues. The America, the U.S. Navy's lead amphibious assault ship in the Indo-Pacific, entered Sydney Harbour as the first of three ships in a strike group carrying 2,500 sailors and marines, submarine-hunting helicopters and F-35B fighter jets. More than 30,000 personnel from 19 militaries have begun to arrive in Australia for Talisman Sabre, the largest Australian-U.S. war-fighting exercise. It will start next month and span 6,500 km (4,000 miles), from Australia's Indian Ocean territory of Christmas Island to the Coral Sea on Australia's east coast. The commander of the America, Rear Admiral Tom Shultz, said exercising in Australia was critical for the U.S. Navy's readiness, while the Australian fleet commander, Rear Admiral Chris Smith, said the "trust and robust nature" of the bilateral relationship allowed the two allies to deal with change. "The diversity of how we view the world is actually a real great strength in our alliance," Smith told reporters, adding that Australia also had strong relationships with nations across the region. Albanese and Trump are expected to meet on the sidelines of a summit in Canada of the Group of Seven economic powers, which starts on Sunday. Washington's request for Canberra to raise defence spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product from 2% is expected to dominate the discussion. The Pentagon said this week it was reviewing its AUKUS nuclear submarine partnership with Australia and Britain. Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday this was "not a surprise", adding the two countries continued to work closely. But Michael Green, a former national security adviser to President George W. Bush, said it was unusual for the review into AUKUS to be conducted solely by the Pentagon and that Trump might link it to the spending request or to tariffs. "It is unusual to make the review unilateral and public right before a summit, even if the Australian side knew. That is not good alliance management - it jams the Australian side," said Green, president of the United States Studies Centre in Sydney. Support for AUKUS in the Congress and U.S. Navy is considerable, however, and the review is unlikely to result in the submarine program being cancelled, he said. India will participate for the first time in Talisman Sabre, along with a large contingent from Europe, said the exercise's director, Brigadier Damian Hill. Australia, Singapore, the U.S. and Japan will hold large-scale live firings of rocket and missile systems, he said. "It is the first time we are firing HIMARs in Australia, and our air defence capability will work alongside the United States Patriot systems for the first time, and that is really important," Hill added.
The National
a day ago
- The National
The left needs to act more boldly or we are all doomed
According to immigration lawyers, agents arrested people – including families with small children – and held them in a stuffy office basement for days without sufficient food and water. Given the brutal nature of these raids, and the failure to uphold basic human rights (such as the right to due process and the right to legal representation), it is no wonder that protests have taken place. However, unlike the 1992 LA riots, the protests sparked by the actions of ICE have been overwhelmingly peaceful, and have been confined to a six-block stretch of downtown LA. READ MORE: Israel launches second wave of major strikes on Iran Yet, despite this, Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to be deployed against the California governor's wishes – the first time since 1965 that a president had deployed National Guard troops to a state without a governor's request. Although it is heartening to see ordinary Americans beginning to make a stand against the inhumane, illegal, and downright cruel actions of the Trump administration, we cannot forget the path that led the United States here – corruption, obscene inequality, and the deliberate fanning of the flames of racism and bigotry. I find myself grateful on a daily basis that I do not live in America, only to be reminded that these issues are much closer to home than many of us care to admit. Over the last several nights, Ballymena in Northern Ireland has been rocked by racist riots. They began after a vigil held for a teenage girl who was allegedly sexually assaulted by two 14-year-olds. (Image: Brian Lawless/PA Wire) When rumours spread that a Romanian interpreter was in the court, it was enough to ignite the racism that has long been simmering away. Police said the unrest escalated into racially motivated violence, with mobs targeting foreign residents by breaking their windows, and setting fire to their homes. The justification given for these racist riots is that residents feel their community is being 'overrun' by foreigners, and that it has happened very quickly. For context, 3.4% of Northern Ireland's population are from ethnic minority backgrounds compared to 12.9% in Scotland and 18.3% in England and Wales. Northern Ireland is the least diverse part of the United Kingdom. The rioters claim immigrants are 'freeloading' off taxpayer-funded resources, and are committing crimes. Again, this is an age-old claim which barely masks the racism motivating it. But when a young, white, Irish or British person moves to somewhere like Australia or Spain to start a new life, we encourage them and wish them the best. We do not assume they are scroungers looking to suck resources away from native Australians, so why is it different when people come to the UK for a better life? Equally, the vast majority of sexual assaults in the UK are committed by white men born in the UK – where are the riots then? The anger and despair that people feel when they see their communities decline, their opportunities disappear and their national institutions disintegrate is completely understandable and justified. The problem comes when that righteous anger is manipulated and aimed at entirely the wrong people. While standards of living in the UK continue to decline, while social security is dismantled piece by piece – no matter which party is in government – when the waiting lists for NHS appointments and decent housing seem to only ever grow, it is fair to feel angry and attacked. However, when the richest people in society are getting richer while ordinary people are simultaneously told that they must, again, tighten their belts, it seems obvious to me where that anger should be directed. And it certainly is not at immigrants just trying to live their lives. This same manipulation of that anger and despair that we have seen in the US, and in Northern Ireland, can also be seen much closer to home in Scotland. Nigel Farage's Reform UK came third in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse by-election. It was once unthinkable that Farage would ever enjoy even close to that level of success in politics, never mind in Scottish politics. As I have said previously, something is going to eventually give way. People are desperate for change from the status quo, and they will vote for whoever they perceive to be deviating the most from it, no matter how false that perception is. Given that the status quo has been moving increasingly further to the right, it is the perfect time for left-leaning political parties to think and act boldly. If they don't, then we are all doomed.
