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You can read the latest edition of The Nightly below:
Bowen side-steps gas exports question
Independent MP Dr Monique Ryan has asked Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen why the Labor Government is supporting more gas projets when there are “enough already”.
Dr Ryan said that only 16 per cent of Australian gas was sold on the domestic market in 2024.
“More than enough gas for our domestic needs is sold daily on the spot market and exported,” she said.
Mr Bowen said the Government’s review into its gas policy is “very necessary”.
“We will continue to make the point that gas is necessary to underpin our transition to renewables. It is a flexible type of fuel, gas fired power stations can be turned on and off at short notice unlike coal and nuclear,” he said.
Israel-Gaza conflict should not be ‘brought here’: PM maintains position
Greens MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown asked the PM in Question Time if the Labor Government would “acknowledge that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza”.
The PM referred to the International Court of Justice, before which there is an application from South Africa against Israel based on the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
The PM said a responsible government must allow legal processes to take their course.
“What Australians want to see is two things - they want to see the killings stop. They want to see that, whether they be Israelis or Palestinians - and the second thing they want is for the conflict to not be brought here.”
Chalmers says Labor has ‘turned around’ Aus economy
New Labor MP Trish Cook has asked Treasurer Jim Chalmers what today’s national accounts say about the Australian economy.
“The big story in the national accounts today was the pick-up and recovery in the private sector,” Dr Chalmers said.
“This is the recovery in the private sector that we have been planning for and preparing for and hoping for. To see the private sector make the contribution to growth in the numbers today again was very welcome.
“Consumption is recovering in our economy because incomes are recovering in our economy.
“We know that there is still more work to do.”
Attorney-General says FOI reform needed to thwart ‘online trolls’
Labor MP Ron Mitchell has asked Attorney General Michelle Rowland what the Albanese Government is doing to improve efficiency, effectiveness of integrity and transparency frame works.
Ms Rowland said Freedom of Information is a vital feature of democracy, but the current system is not working
“You will not find a stakeholder who says the system works well, so clearly reform is needed,” she said.
“That is why the legislation introduced today seeks to ban anonymous requests, stop abuses of the framework by vexatious and frivolous requests, make the law clearer when it comes to Cabinet and deliberative material exemptions and establish procedures for the handling of records of former ministers.”
Ms Rowland said the system is currently overrun with online trolls who take up most of the workload of eSafety.
“Hard working taxpayers who already fund over a million hours a year on FOI processing would expect eSafety to be focused on their task of protecting children rather than processing a mountain of frivolous FOI requests from online trolls.”
PM says freedom of information system is ‘broken’
Independent MP Allegra Spender has asked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese when the Labor Government will commit to freedom of information reforms as a step towards greater transparency.
The PM said the current system is “broken”.
“Freedom of Information is a vital part of our democracy but right now the system is broken. The current framework is stuck in the 1980s and this was before new technology was there,” Mr Albanese said.
“There are real issues with the current system. One is the anonymous nature of requests in FOI applications. Anyone can set up a Gmail address, it could be someone backed by a foreign government seeking interference and we do not know.”
Aged Care Minister swerves Ley’s exclusion probe
Question Time has kicked off with Liberal leader Sussan Ley asking Aged Care Minister Sam Rae why he was excluded from today’s negotiations between Labor and the Coalition.
Mr Rae swerved the question, and said the Labor Government is “proud to be delivering our once in a generation reforms to the aged care sector that will see more Australians get better care faster than ever before”.
He went on to affirm the Government’s agreement to pass the new aged care bill that is currently before the Senate.
Police warn that if anyone is helping the alleged cop killer, they will face charges
Victoria Police say they are considering “all possibilities” in the hunt for fugitive Dezi Freeman, including that he may be receiving help from friends or associates.
Asked directly if he was being harboured, police acknowledged it was “a real possibility” but refused to go into intelligence detail.
“If we knew where he was, he would be with us,” a spokesperson said.
Police are appealing not just to Mr Freeman, but to anyone who might be shielding him.
“He does not deserve to be protected,” police warned, stressing that anyone assisting the armed fugitive risks facing charges themselves.
Investigators believe Mr Freeman could still be moving between locations with help, as the search for him stretches into its second week.
Victoria police issue a warning to cop killer Dezi Freeman
Victoria police say their determination is only growing as the massive manhunt for fugitive Dezi Freeman stretched into its second week.
Chief Commissioner Mike Bush urged Mr Freeman to surrender before the funerals of the two slain officers, warning, “Your destiny is in your hands.”
The Commissioner said more than 450 officers, with support from the Australian Defence Force, are committed to bringing the crisis to a safe conclusion.
Detective Superintendent Jason Kelly revealed police have searched more than 100 properties across the rugged Hume region, piecing together Freeman’s movements and associates.
With hundreds of tips pouring in from the public, including from people linked to the fugitive, police say it is only a matter of time before he is caught.
“We will find the person responsible,” Mr Kelly said.
“We will locate them and put them before the courts.”
Albanese remains tight-lipped again on $400m NZYQ Nauru deal
Anthony Albanese has remained tight-lipped again on the deal Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke struck in Nauru at the weekend to offload Australia’s NZYQ cohort to the Micronesian nation.
Asked at a Canberra press conference for further details on the MoU, which is costing taxpayers more than $400 million, he gave a vague response — similar to his remarks in Question Time yesterday.
“We have arrangements with governments. We have arrangements between governments and those arrangements are ones we enter into across-the-board,” the PM said.
The NZYQ cohort, made up of about 280 non-citizens, was saved from indefinite detention in a 2023 High Court ruling, which said that would be unlawful.
The Coalition this week launched a snap inquiry into Labor’s secretive Nauru deal, with a hearing on the bill that allows their deportation to Nauru expected between 5-7pm on Wednesday evening.
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