Farmers pile pressure on Labor over buried climate report
The groups, which include the National Farmers Federation, GrainGrowers and state bodies in Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, say the release of the government's National Climate Risk Assessment is urgent for farming businesses on the front line of climate change.
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ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Tasmanian Liberals face challenge implementing policies with new crossbench
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff says his minority government remains "committed to working across the parliament", as it plans to make inroads on budget repair, a new state-owned insurance agency, and allowing pets in rentals early in the new term. The state's net debt, which is projected to reach $13 billion by 2027-28, was one of the key reasons the state went to the polls. The budget outlook was a key policy platform for Labor and most members of the crossbench. "It'll be a lot of work," Mr Rockliff said on Wednesday. Within the first week, the government intends to consult with Treasury and government agencies, ahead of the November budget. Mr Rockliff said using the original 2025 budget as a baseline, the party would "work across the political divide" to bring it into shape. Independent MP Peter George said the party needed to show transparency and accountability. "The big problem is going to be whether the Liberal government is prepared to share the information that's necessary for making decisions, and whether it's also prepared to take the responsibility for the state of the budget that we've got now," he said. "I don't have a lot of faith in this Liberal administration. "It takes a long, long time to build trust, confidence and faith, and it can be very easily destroyed. "We need to do this very slowly." Within the first 100 days, the government wants to introduce legislation to advance state-owned insurance agency, TasInsure, planning to have it set up in 2026. The plan was slammed by the opposition, prominent economist Saul Eslake, and the Insurance Council of Australia during the campaign, but heralded as game-changing by the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Also a priority is amending the Residential Tenancy Act, to give tenants more secure right to keep pets in rentals — a promise the Liberals took to the 2024 election. Labor campaigned this time around with TassieDoc, pledging to deliver five fully bulk-billed clinics across the state. The Liberals quickly matched it, but did not follow on when Labor bumped the number up to 10. Now, the government plans to run an expression of interest for four new bulk-billed clinics within the first 100 days, "based on evidence of need". The Liberals have also promised to release updated costings on the leasing arrangement for Spirit of Tasmania IV, which was docked in Scotland from late 2024 and is due to reach Tasmanian waters this week. Without a majority in parliament, the Liberals have made a number of policy concessions to win over crossbenchers, including phasing out greyhound racing, abandoning a plan to release more native forest for logging and, most recently, a pause on salmon farming expansions while an independent review of the industry takes place. And the Liberals will need to continue appeasing the crossbench if they want to stay in power for a full four years. "There's no time for hubris. There's no need or want for hubris," Mr Rockliff said. But they remain at an impasse when it comes to Hobart's proposed Macquarie Point stadium. Independent MP Kristie Johnston said she did not expect the premier to abandon the project, but "the reality is we are in a power-sharing parliament now". The Project of State Significance (PoSS) process for assessing the project continued throughout the election campaign, and the premier said regardless of whether the PoSS or enabling legislation came before the parliament, everyone in the chamber would have their vote. Shooters, Fishers and Farmers member Carlo di Falco, one of the most conservative crossbenchers, told ABC Mornings he planned to push back on the concessions made that he did not agree with, such as the greyhound racing ban. He said he was "blindsided" by the move. "I'm not going to give Jeremy a free ride, and I've got a better chance of getting a better outcome for my constituents being inside the tent rather than outside, so every time Jeremy gets comfortable in his sleeping bag, I'm going to be kicking it," he said. On Wednesday, Minister for Business, Industry and Resources Felix Ellis announced a $20 million bridging loan to Liberty Bell Bay owner GFG Alliance to ensure the "bright future" of hundreds of Tasmanians. "It will provide a shipment of ore so that workers on site can get on with what they do best and produce manganese through the smelter," he said. Australian Workers Union president Robert Flanagan welcomed the support, but remained disappointed by the salmon review. "What we want to see is a government that supports job opportunities in Tasmania, and we think that [with] the crossbench the government has to work with [it] will be very difficult to achieve that outcome," he said.
Sky News AU
5 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Matt Canavan delivers stark warning about Australia's poor growth, large debt after Sky News Real Economic Round Table
Australians are in for a 'major economic shock' if action is not taken to bolster growth and productivity while slashing government spending, Nationals Senator Matt Canavan has warned. Mr Canavan and Sky News convened leading experts for the 'Real Economic Round Table' in response to the Albanese government's closed-door economic reform roundtable. While Labor's roundtable ruled many topics off the table, the Sky News forum left nothing out of bounds. Following the roundtable, Mr Canavan said changes to boost Australia's flailing productivity and efforts to reel in government debt and spending, which is $300b more annually than pre-pandemic, were both crucial to the health of the nation's economy. 'If we continue to have this stagnant productivity performance - in the last few years it's fallen off a cliff - (and) if that continues, we're going to suffer a major economic shock of some kind,' he said on Business Now. 'We're going to have a reckoning. There will be an economic reckoning of all the debt that's been built up over the last 20 years - both public and private - that can no longer be serviced if we don't have a strong growing economy.' He highlighted Australia's strong growth throughout much of the time since the start of the century which has allowed the nation to borrow. 'But not right now,' Mr Canavan said. '(Over the) last few years we haven't had that high growth so if that continues there's only so long it can continue before it ends.' Mr Canavan warned the writing may already be on the wall for Australia's economic downturn, as he pointed to major Australian companies that have recently announced job cuts or major layoffs. 'I do think our economy is hurtling down the pathway where it could look fine for a while and then suddenly it's off a cliff,' he said. 'This week, you've seen 3,000 jobs lost at CSL, we see the rise of AI, we see earnings fall for BHP (and) Woodside. 'There is a certain drum beat here that things aren't going that well and we'd be much better off fixing those issues while unemployment's still got a four in front of it and our economic growth is still positive, rather than in a year's time.' Alongside the discussion about debt and the nation's growth, the experts at the Sky News roundtable also laid out four actions the government needs to take to restore productivity in the economy. These were scrapping bracket creep, cutting government spending by four per cent, curbing new NDIS entrants and ditching net-zero emissions targets.
Sky News AU
5 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Co-chair of Labor's new Thriving Kids program Frank Oberklaid pushes for 'evidence based, fairer' system after autistic children diverted from NDIS
The co-chair of Labor's new Thriving Kids program, Frank Oberklaid, will push the government to design an "evidence based, fairer and more transparent" system for autistic children diverted off the NDIS. Join for rolling news and political coverage. The co-chair of Labor's new Thriving Kids program, Frank Oberklaid, will push the government to design an "evidence based, fairer and more transparent" system for autistic children diverted off the NDIS. Catch up with all of the day's breaking news and live interviews from politicians and experts with a Streaming Subscription.
