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Albanese says he still intends to proceed with nature positive laws despite killing Greens deal
Sarah Basford Canales
Anthony Albanese says it’s still his intention to pass its nature positive laws after a deal with the Greens was scuppered by him during the last sitting week.
The Western Australian premier, Roger Cook, said he had spoken to the “highest level” of the federal government on Tuesday to reiterate his view that the bills in their current form “should not be progressed”.
The government’s legislation would have established two new agencies: an environmental watchdog to manage compliance with national environmental laws and an information agency to manage environmental data.
Negotiations between the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, and the Greens senate leader, Sarah Hanson-Young, had been progressing through the week, which would have secured the necessary support to pass it.
On ABC’s Insiders on Sunday morning, the prime minister said he had told the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, Hanson-Young, and finance minister, Katy Gallagher, in a meeting but had also informed Plibersek.
Albanese said:
It’s our intention to proceed with them but we’ll proceed with them on the basis of our values that we put forward. These laws could have been carried at any time over recent months if the parliament had the numbers to vote for them … we will hold to our values. We won’t allow any tail to wag the dog. We want to make sure that that happens.
Key events
Woman discovers snake crawling up her leg while driving on Melbourne freeway
A Melbourne woman was forced to flee her car barefoot after discovering a deadly tiger snake was slithering up her leg while driving.
According to Victoria police, the woman had been travelling at 80km/h on the Monash Freeway when she felt something on her foot:
Remarkably, she was able to fend the snake off her and weave through traffic before pulling over and leaping out of her car to safety.
Police were called to the scene after reports the woman, who was stranded on the side of the freeway, was trying to flag down other cars:
Still in a state of shock and needing to ensure she wasn’t bitten; the driver was assessed by paramedics while police pondered on how to deal with the snake.
The tiger snake is the fourth most venomous snake in the world. It was eventually removed from the car by Melbourne Snake Control.
Passing motorists were left in bewilderment as the massive snake was safely removed from the vehicle.
Sarah Basford Canales
Tony Burke dismisses concerns about mass deportation of non-citizens under new laws
Earlier this morning, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, dismissed concerns about a mass deportation of non-citizens after tough new laws were introduced as “bizarre speculation”.
The migration law changes, which passed parliament late on Thursday night, allow Australia to pay third countries to take non-citizens.
In November, home affairs department officials confirmed about 80,000 people in Australia are on a removal pathway, but stressed many return to their home countries voluntarily.
Burke told Sky News on Sunday the new powers were simply an “extra tool” for the government.
I’m not about to make some big, grand announcement of a mass deportation, or anything like that. This is an extra tool that we should have had, that we now have available, and I’m glad we got the support to get that through the parliament.
Aukus acting as a form of ‘Asian Nato’, Taiwan says
The Aukus partnership is a form of “Asian Nato”, the Taiwanese government says, after welcoming further transits of Australian warships through the Taiwan Strait to counter China’s military activity.
The Taiwanese deputy foreign affairs minister, Francois Wu, said that the proposal floated by the Japanese prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, for a Nato-like security pact in Asia would probably anger Beijing.
Here’s what Wu told a group of Australian reporters at the ministry of foreign affairs in the capital Taipei:
Maybe it’s not good for the stability of the region. But having said that … Aukus, in some way, is another form of an Asian Nato.
You just don’t need to call [Aukus] Nato, but it is a real Nato.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is an alliance of 30 European and two North American nations set up to defend each other against attacks by third parties.
In a joint statement, Australia, the UK and US earlier this year said they were consulting with New Zealand, Canada and South Korea to identify possibilities for collaboration on capabilities under Aukus Pillar II, which covers advanced capabilities.
– AAP
Melbourne tobacco store allegedly set alight after being rammed by car
A tobacco store in Melbourne’s northern suburbs was allegedly rammed by a car in the early hours of Sunday morning, before being set alight.
Fire Rescue Victoria says the fire, which “extensively damaged” the store, will now be investigated by Victoria police:
Crews arrived on scene within five minutes to find a car had penetrated the front of a single storey brick shop, with flames issuing from the building.
Wearing breathing apparatus, firefighters worked quickly to attack the fire with hose lines. Crews successfully prevented the fire from spreading to the neighbouring apartment building.
No one was injured by the fire, which was extinguished about 4.40am by 25 firefighters.
Residents living next to the store were evacuated as a precaution.
Vanuatu climate envoy says bid for ICJ ruling about delivering ‘the results we need to survive’
Vanuatu’s special envoy on climate change, Ralph Regenvanu, has spoken to the ABC about the country’s historic bid for the international court of justice to rule on the climate crisis.
The UN’s top court will begin hearings on Monday, with 15 judges to determine on the obligation of nations to prevent climate breakdown, as well as consequences for inaction.
Regenvanu, who has written a piece on this issue for Guardian Australia, told the ABC that industrialised nations were “not doing what needs to be done to maintain a positive future for the world”.
The voices of smaller states in vulnerable nations – the ones that have not been responsible for climate change but are suffering the worst effects – are always overshadowed in climate negotiations. The results we need to survive are not being achieved.
You can read Regenvanu’s piece here:
Sarah Basford Canales
Albanese tight-lipped on discussions with incoming Trump administration
As we’ve mentioned, Anthony Albanese kept a lot of cards close to his chest during his interview this morning on ABC’s Insiders. Another one of those was on interactions with the incoming US president, Donald Trump.
The US president-elect has been creating a storm of headlines around the world over his intention to impose heavy tariffs on imports into the US. As Insiders host, David Speers, noted, the Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, paid Trump a visit to his Mar-a-Lago resort recently to discuss the proposed 25% tariff on Canadian and Mexican goods.
Heavy tariffs could also be placed on Chinese imports, which the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has already warned will have economic flow-on effects for Australia.
Asked whether Albanese might pay Trump a snap visit over the summer, the prime minister stayed mum:
I’m doing the job I was elected to do. I’ve had a productive discussion with President Trump and it was very positive.
Albanese was also asked about Trump’s pick for the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. Trump’s decision to choose the former US congresswoman has been scrutinised due to her history as a vocal critic of “warmongering” US foreign policy and sympathetic commentary on Russia.
So, should Australia be comfortable with sharing national secrets with the US if Gabbard is confirmed as its top intelligence official?
Albanese said:
The relationship between Australia and the United States is a strong one. It’s never been stronger than it is right now, and as Five Eyes partners, we cooperate through our intelligence agencies, and I’m sure that we’ll continue to do so in the future.
Endometriosis drug Visanne added to Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme
The health minister, Mark Butler, is holding a press conference in Adelaide to announce the endometriosis drug Visanne will be added to the pharmaceutical benefits scheme. It’s the first listing of an endo treatment in three decades.
This is a condition that impacts more than 1 million women – one in seven women and teenage girls – and for too long, too many women have been made to suffer in silence.
[They’ve] been told by many healthcare professionals, it has to be said, that this is “normal”. That it is a normal part of period pain or many other explanations for debilitating, crippling pain.
Butler said endometriosis was responsible for as many as 40,000 hospitalisations each year. He said the number of hospitalisations has increased by 40% in the last decade.
This is all about providing cheaper medicines and cutting-edge treatment to Australian patients generally, but [particularly] in the area of endometriosis, which has attracted such inadequate support for hundreds of thousands of Australian women.
This listing is beyond time.
Brisbane records warmest spring on record
Brisbane has recorded its warmest spring in 75 years of record keeping, with day and night temperatures almost 1C above the long-term average.
Weatherzone analysis says this is mostly due to an increase in minimum temperatures, in addition to a mid-season heatwave:
The major contributor to the record has been the minimum temperatures, which averaged 17.2ºC over the spring season for the site, and were elevated by cloud cover, precipitation, and most notably, humidity.
Sarah Basford Canales
‘Certainly our intention’ to resume parliament in March, Albanese says, with election ‘between now and May’
We’re still none the wiser when the federal election will be after the prime minister’s appearance on ABC’s Insiders this morning.
It’s a major conversation topic in Canberra circles whether there will be an early election in March or earlier, or whether Anthony Albanese will send Australians to the polls in May as long predicted.
Albanese said his “starting point” in government is to lead for three years and then “work back from that”.
The prime minister said three-year terms are “too short” and believes Australia should have fixed four-year terms.
So will parliament resume in March as scheduled? Albanese said “that’s certainly our intention”.
Keep your eye on the white car with the flag on the front. At some point between now and May it will go to Government House. But there won’t be an election on New Year’s Day or New Year’s week on 3 January. I can confirm that.
Sarah Basford Canales
Albanese refuses to say which countries Australia would pay to take non-citizens
Anthony Albanese has remained tight-lipped on which third countries the federal government could send non-citizens to after the laws were passed with Coalition support this week.
The powers allow the government to pay third countries to receive non-citizens, as well as create criminal penalties for non-citizens who refuse to cooperate with their own deportation, and new powers to search for drugs and confiscate phones in immigration detention.
But the countries they could be sent to remain unknown.
Albanese declined to give any further details on ABC’s Insiders:
What we won’t do is make those announcements on Insiders on a Sunday morning. What this does is give the government power to engage with third countries to make sure that we protect Australia’s national interest.
Albanese said “we’ve done what’s necessary” when asked why mobile phones were also banned in detention centres:
Before the last election, there was some questioning of our resolve, what we’ve been determined to do is to show our strong commitment to keep Australians safe. We have kept Operation Sovereign Borders fully in place. No one who has arrived here by boat has been allowed to settle here. We’ve done what’s necessary.
Sarah Basford Canales
‘Technology changes really quickly’: Albanese says social media ban details to be worked out over coming months
Speaking on ABC’s Insiders, Anthony Albanese says the details of the under-16s social media ban will be worked out over the next 12 months before the laws kick in, noting “technology changes really quickly”.
The laws passed parliament on the final sitting on Thursday, preventing Australians under 16 from accessing social media platforms including TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, X and the message board Reddit. Some messaging apps, including Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, are expected to be excluded.
How the laws will work, including how social media platforms will be able to determine users’ ages, is yet to be revealed.
The prime minister said:
We have 12 months but what we will do is [what] we’ve outlined in the legislation. One of the things the legislation makes clear as well is that because technology changes really quickly, we’ve made sure that the legislation doesn’t have to be adjusted every time there’s a shift in technology, so there are some powers with the minister.
As for whether Australians will have to hand over identification to social media sites to access them, Albanese said the “obligations will be on them” to figure it out.
Albanese says he still intends to proceed with nature positive laws despite killing Greens deal
Sarah Basford Canales
Anthony Albanese says it’s still his intention to pass its nature positive laws after a deal with the Greens was scuppered by him during the last sitting week.
The Western Australian premier, Roger Cook, said he had spoken to the “highest level” of the federal government on Tuesday to reiterate his view that the bills in their current form “should not be progressed”.
The government’s legislation would have established two new agencies: an environmental watchdog to manage compliance with national environmental laws and an information agency to manage environmental data.
Negotiations between the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, and the Greens senate leader, Sarah Hanson-Young, had been progressing through the week, which would have secured the necessary support to pass it.
On ABC’s Insiders on Sunday morning, the prime minister said he had told the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, Hanson-Young, and finance minister, Katy Gallagher, in a meeting but had also informed Plibersek.
Albanese said:
It’s our intention to proceed with them but we’ll proceed with them on the basis of our values that we put forward. These laws could have been carried at any time over recent months if the parliament had the numbers to vote for them … we will hold to our values. We won’t allow any tail to wag the dog. We want to make sure that that happens.
The endometriosis drug, Visanne, is about to become the first endo treatment to be subsidised by the federal government in 30 years.
The health minister, Mark Butler, will announce the listing of Visanne on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS) at St Andrews hospital in Adelaide this morning.
The drug is taken daily and works to shrink and suppress the growth of abnormal tissue. Without a subsidy, it can cost Australians with endometriosis about $750 a year.
Butler said the PBS listing would be “a gamechanger” for the roughly one in seven Australian women who suffer from endometriosis:
For too long, women living with endometriosis have had to struggle in silence.
Women are suffering unnecessarily. They’re having their experiences dismissed, being called hysterical and accused of drug shopping. Women’s pain is real and it’s time we stop telling women to just suck it up.
Man charged after two found dead in Sydney’s west yesterday
A 31-year-old man has been charged for the alleged murder of a man and a woman at a shop in western Sydney.
The bodies of the 69-year-old man and a 68-year-old woman were found with “significant injuries” on Saturday morning, with police describing the scene as “confronting”.
NSW police allege the man and woman were known to the accused, who was arrested at a home in Canley Heights, in the city’s west, in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The man was taken to Fairfield police station where he was charged with two counts of murder (DV). He was refused bail to appear at the Parramatta local court later on Sunday.
NSW police were called to the shop on Oxford Street in Cambridge Park about 9.40am on Saturday after reports of an alleged assault. The bodies were first discovered by a family member, police have said.
Det Acting Supt Michael Cantrell told reporters on Saturday the family of the couple were “obviously devastated” and “assisting police”.
Major funds boost for mental health, addiction services
Children, pregnant women and people with mental health conditions will receive better support for alcohol and drug issues in a major funding boost, AAP reports.
The $235m package, expanding or establishing more than a dozen services, comes as policing, health and political leaders prepare to chart a new course for drug policy in NSW.
Some $6.4m across four years has been set aside to provide early intervention for 11 to 17-year-olds with moderate to severe substance use.
Funding will also be directed to programs targeting pregnant women, Aboriginal people, people with mental health conditions and people in the criminal justice system.
The NSW health minister, Ryan Park, said the funding would significantly boost the alcohol and other drug workforce including those with Indigenous or lived experience backgrounds:
The programs we are investing in will ensure that people with complex needs receive wrap-around support and care to help people recover and rebuild their lives in the community.
Good morning
Welcome to our live news coverage of 1 December. Is that really the date? December!
We’re starting the day with news that NSW police has arrested a 31-year-old man in Sydney’s west for the alleged murder of a man and woman in their late 60s.
Being a Sunday, there’s going to be the usual round of federal politicians on morning media shows. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will be on Insiders shortly after 9am.
Stick with us throughout the day!