Latest news with #Plibersek
7NEWS
10 hours ago
- Automotive
- 7NEWS
Politicians Tanya Plibersek and Barnaby Joyce break out into a stoush as electric vehicle owners are dealt major blow
A proposed road tax for eclectic cars sparked a massive fight between Albanese minister Tanya Plibersek and Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce on Monday, with the latter accusing Plibersek of trying not to upset her inner-city electorate. Ahead of the federal government's productivity roundtable next week, the idea of a road tax for electric vehicles has been floated as a way to set aside money for road upkeep. Treasurer Jim Chalmers said in June he intended to work with state and territory governments 'on the future of road-user charging' for EVs. Currently, money from the fuel excise is allocated for fixing roads. On Monday, Plibersek was quizzed on the introduction of a road user tax. Plibersek told Sunrise: 'This is a discussion that the states and territories have been leading for some time. 'It's no secret that as the number of petrol vehicles and diesel vehicles goes down, the take from fuel excise decreases, that means less money for building and maintaining roads.' She continued: '(But) I don't think anything is happening tomorrow. 'But I do think it's sensible to look long-term for the states and territories at what they do to make sure that there's enough money to build the roads that people want to drive on and to make sure they're maintained as well after all this rain we've had. 'People would have noticed that there's a lot of potholes around. It's an expensive thing to build and maintain the road network we've got. We've got to make paying for that.' Joyce took aim at the number of electric vehicles in Plibersek's electorate of Sydney. The federal Sydney seat has 2725 registered electric vehicles, with the fourth highest in the entire country. Joyce replied: 'I got a sense there's a lot of EVs in Tanya's electorate, so she doesn't want to jump right in there, got to be careful about that, but we (in regional NSW) are overwhelmingly combustion engines because as you can see it is different terrain.' Joyce added there is a difference in tone between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer, Jim Chalmers. He said the Chalmers was clearly eyeing off a new tax for EV-owners. Joyce continued: 'Remember Tanya said, 'look, we're only going to bring in the taxes that the Prime Minister talks about before the election.' Fine. (But) that's not what the Treasurer is doing, he is doing something else. 'There is a bit of a conflict going on there — there's two balls (in) the paddock on that one.' Plibersek shot back that Joyce didn't vote for tax cuts. Barr, however, pressed Plibersek on the possibility of a new tax. In 2023, Victoria tried to put in place a 2 cent per kilometre charge on EV users, but the proposal was overruled by the High Court. New Zealand has a scheme in place for road-user charges for EVs, with petrol cars soon to be added to the tax. Barr said: 'Call it what you will, but if EV drivers have to pay more. It's an increase. Isn't it?' Joyce shot back, 'absolutely' Plibersek chimed in: 'Nothing is happening tomorrow. It's a sensible conversation to look at long term. You're all getting very excited over one conversation. 'I think it's a very sensible discussion for the state and territories to be having at the moment. But it's a long-term discussion. Nothing is changing tomorrow.'
Perth Now
13 hours ago
- Automotive
- Perth Now
Barnaby's shot at minister over ‘new' tax
Coalition maverick Barnaby Joyce has welcomed chatter of a road tax for electric vehicle owners, saying that EV drivers are freeloading off fuel levies paid by other road users. State and federal officials are meeting with motor industry leaders at a summit in Sydney on Monday, where they will discuss a tax as part of brainstorming to fund future roads. Senior minister Tanya Plibersek played down the talks when appearing on a morning show, saying it was 'a discussion that the states and territories have been leading for some time'. The Albanese government is mulling a road user charge for electric vehicles. Martin Ollman / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia 'It's no secret that as the number of petrol vehicles and diesel vehicles goes down, the take from fuel excise decreases,' the former environment minister told Seven's Sunrise. 'That means less money for building and maintaining roads.' She added 'the Treasurer will be interested in the discussion today' but also noted that Anthony Albanese 'has made clear that our tax priorities are delivering on the tax cut for every Australian that we've promised and making sure that multinational companies pay their fair share'. Ms Plibersek also said: 'I don't think anything's happening tomorrow'. Appearing opposite her was Mr Joyce, who put a different spin on Ms Plibersek's support for 'sensible' canvassing of road-funding options. A hardcore opponent of the Albanese government's green transition, he said it was about time. Nationals heavyweight Barnaby Joyce has welcomed chatter of a road user charge for electric vehicles. Martin Ollman / NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia 'I have a sense there's a lot of EVs in Tanya's electorate, so she doesn't want to jump right in there,' Mr Joyce said. 'But we out here are overwhelming combustion engines because, as you can see, it is different terrain. 'I feel we are paying the excise that a lot of people are getting away with.' He also claimed there are no electric utes used in the country after Ms Plibersek said there were. 'Not out here, there isn't. I assure you, not out here. Haven't seen one,' Mr Joyce shot back. There is precedent for an EV charge. New Zealand last week captured EVs in plans for a blanket road usage duty for light vehicles. The duty would be based on distance travelled and vehicle weight rather than a tax at the bowser.
Sky News AU
6 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
NSW mine stalled by former environment minister Tanya Plibersek costing Regis $1.5 billion a day in potential revenue, CEO reveals
The boss of one of Australia's biggest mining operations has told a conference that a decision by then environment minister Tanya Plibersek to effectively halt a mine in regional New South Wales is costing it $1.5 million a day in potential revenue. In 2023, Ms Plibersek halted the development of a spill water dam on the site of the proposed McPhillamys mine, near Blayney, under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Native Title Act. The decision was based on highly contested testimony from Indigenous advocates, who claimed the dam would have been placed on a sacred site, with Regis subsequently saying they could not complete development of the mine without approval for the spill water site. The local registered land council said they did not have a problem with the development and the NSW government said they wanted the dam to go ahead. Speaking at the Diggers and Dealers conference in Western Australia, CEO of Regis, Jim Beyer, said that 300 jobs would have been created if the mine was operational. He added the company had expected the project to generate around $1.5 billion in free cashflow a day once complete. 'What we're trying to do at the moment is focus on getting a clear pathway to being able to approve the project and get it going,' he told attendees, adding the company was still committed to the project. The miner has since launched legal action to challenge the decision, with Mr Beyer citing the potential windfall as justification for seeking a judicial review. Regis worked for years to gain approvals for the mine from state and federal governments, until a contested claim under the Native Titles Act was made in 2024. In their claim, Indigenous activists claimed the land upon which the tailings dam would have been built was culturally significant to them, citing Dreamtime stories and mural painted on a Bathurst post office. Siding with the group, Ms Plibersek said: 'I was satisfied that the proprietary and pecuniary impacts to the proponent and others do not outweigh the irreversible damage and permanent loss to the Aboriginal cultural heritage in the declared area.' The former environment minister also acknowledged her decision "would make the proposed mine unviable in the state in which it is currently proposed and approved", essentially forcing Regis to seek an alternative location. On Tuesday, Mr Beyer suggested the company would not be entitled to compensation, even if a court ruled in its favour under the terms of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act. He also said he was yet to meet Environment Minister Murray Watt, who took over the portfolio from Ms Plibersek in a cabinet reshuffle after the federal election. Speaking on Regis' ambitions generally, Mr Beyer confirmed the miner was seeking to expand its operations and was interested in potentially acquiring a third site.
Perth Now
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Huge call on new Aussie WFH laws
Senior Labor MP Tanya Plibersek has been grilled on if Labor will look to overturn new work-from-home legislation being introduced in Victoria to enshrine two days of WFH per week as a right or introduce it themselves. Ms Plibersek said the government supported working from home as long as it could be done 'sensibly', but the legislation was ultimately a matter for the Victorian government. 'We're making it very clear that we support work from home at a federal level as long as it can be done sensibly in negotiation between employers and employees,' Ms Plibersek said on Sunrise. 'We've got a lot of public servants, for example, who work a couple of days a week from home. It's supported productivity.' Tanya Plibersek said the legislation was a matter for the Victorian government, but Labor supported work-from-home policies. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced plans to legislate WFH protections for workers who could 'reasonably' carry out their duties from home. Ms Allan said the reform was about recognising modern work patterns and protecting employees from having flexible arrangements arbitrarily revoked. 'It's working now, but we know that we need to protect it,' Ms Allan said on Today. 'We need to protect it for workers but also make it really clear for employers as well who are already doing this that working from home should be a right, not a request.' When asked if the federal government supported or would overrule the proposed legislation, Ms Plibersek said how the plan would work was up to the Victorian government. 'That's up to the Victorian government. We're not going to put a tick or a cross,' she told Sunrise. Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan announced the bold plan to legislate work from home two days a week as a legal right. NewsWire / Nadir Kinani Credit: News Corp Australia Ms Plibersek acknowledged remote work wasn't possible for some professions, but the benefits were clear where it could be used. 'If you're a nurse in emergency, you can't work from home. If you're a bus driver, you can't work from home. But we support work from home for Australian workers where it's practical, that fits in with the requirements of their job,' she said. 'Our position as a Commonwealth government is very clear. We support work from home.' The Victorian Chamber of Commerce has raised 'major concerns' on whether the plan could create 'inequality' in the workforce due to the small percentage of people being granted such a right. Concerns have also been raised by the chamber about whether the WFH proposal is unconstitutional if enterprise bargaining agreements are already in place, as they operate under the federal jurisdiction. Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said legislating WFH rights was 'silly'. NewsWire / Martin Ollman Credit: News Corp Australia Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce criticised the idea of legislating WFH rights, calling it 'silly' and warning against government interference in workplace agreements. 'I think it's something that's got to be worked out between the employer and the employee, and legislating that you can is just as silly as saying you're not allowed to,' Mr Joyce said on Sunrise. 'It's not for us to jump into that space, but the government legislating is doing precisely that … I don't think the government should be there.' Despite the concerns, Ms Plibersek said support for WFH remained high. 'We know that Australians value it and when Peter Dutton tried to get rid of it in the last election, there was quite a backlash,' she said.
West Australian
18-07-2025
- Politics
- West Australian
Tanya Plibersek claims Mark Latham's behaviour in the workplace ‘completely unacceptable'
Tanya Plibersek said the only time she remembers crying in her 27-year career in politics was when Mark Latham was elected as the leader of the Labor Party. It comes as Ms Plibersek revealed discussions were underway about whether to remove Mr Latham's portrait from a wall of photos of past leaders hanging in the Labor caucus room. Salacious allegations have come to light about the NSW independent MP this week, including that he took secret photographs of female colleagues in the upper house of NSW Parliament and shared them in messages with his former partner. Along with the photos, he made inappropriate and sexually-charged comments, including that one MP 'looks pregnant' and that he had 'pinched her bum lightly and she smiled.' His former lover, Nathalie Matthews, has also made other extraordinary allegations against Mr Latham, including that he subjected her to domestic abuse and degrading sex acts, including defecating on her before sex. Mr Latham has vehemently denied the claims. Another claim that Mr Latham recorded a sex video in his Parliamentary office has also come to light. Ms Plibersek, who was elected in 1998 and served in the Labor caucus with Mr Latham until 2005, said she did not see any evidence of behaviour alleged against Mr Latham but said she always had 'doubts about him as a political figure.' 'Do you know, I've been a Member of Parliament for a long time, and the only time I remember going home and having a little cry after work was the day that Mark Latham was elected as leader of the Australian Labor Party,' she said on Friday. 'I always had my doubts about him as a political figure, and I think those doubts have only increased in recent decades as his behaviour has become worse and more extreme.' Ms Plibersek said the fact he has been described as a 'pig' was 'perfectly justified.' 'I think the behaviour is the sort of behaviour that will get you sacked in any other workplace, but it's probably consistent with what we've seen from Mark Latham over the last few decades,' she told Today. 'And he is the guy that said of Rosie Batty, who was Australian of the Year, who suffered the most horrendous domestic violence murder of her son. 'He said she was waging a war on men. He's the guy who said that men hitting women are doing it because they need a kind of stress release. 'He's the guy that picked on high school students when they made an International Women's Day video saying that the boys, you know, making fun of the boys for doing that. 'He just really doesn't get it and he hasn't for many decades. I think, you know, the criticism is perfectly justified. 'In any other workplace, this behaviour would be completely unacceptable. Of course it's unacceptable in the State Parliament. Of course it is. People, taxpayers, are paying his wages to represent them, not make videos in his office.' Ms Plibersek then revealed the party was in discussions about whether it was appropriate Mr Latham's portrait stayed on the caucus room wall. Asked if she would take it down, Ms Plibersek said 'that's not a decision for me alone.' 'But I can tell you over the last couple of decades, looking at that photo on the wall, I scratched my head at times and thought, you know, this guy doesn't represent the Labor Party,' she told ABC Radio. 'He doesn't represent what we stand for. I don't think he represents mainstream Australia. And I think the people of NSW are getting a bit of buyer's remorse for the fact that he's actually in the NSW Parliament.' Latham left Federal Parliament in 2005 after losing the election to John Howard at the 2004 election. He returned to politics and was elected into the NSW Parliament for One Nation in 2019, before resigning from the party in 2023 and sitting as an independent.
