Labor MP accuses LNP of ‘saying the quiet part out loud’ as net zero repeal bill debate kicks off
Llew O’Brien, a Queensland LNP MP, speaks on the repeal net zero bill first, and starts by saying that climate change “is real”, but that net zero is “economic sabotage”. O’Brien supported a Queensland LNP motion calling on the federal Coalition to abandon net zero at the party’s state convention over the weekend.
He says again that not supporting the “blind obsession” with net zero doesn’t mean you don’t believe in climate change.
What is real is the lives of business people who are trying to survive in this country, who are going insolvent … it is crippling our productivity, it’s seeing our manufacturing go offshore because we’re not competitive.
In response Susan Templeman – a Labor MP – says O’Brien is “saying the quiet part out loud”.
The Nationals want to party like it’s 1999. To be fair the Howard government in 1999 was in theory supporting action on climate change but then changed its mind on supporting the Kyoto protocol.
Key events
Penry Buckley
NSW planning minister quizzed on ‘plan B’ housing options
Turning to state politics for a moment, the NSW planning minister, Paul Scully, is fronting budget estimates today, where he has been quizzed about “plan B” options after members of the Australian Turf Club voted against selling the Rosehill racecourse site to make way for 25,000 new homes in May.
Following yesterday’s announcement, questions have unsurprisingly focused on Woollahra. Scully couldn’t say when or where in government the plan to revive the suburbs train station and open up Woollahra and neighbouring Edgecliff for thousands more homes began.
In 2023, the NSW government said advice about water infrastructure constraints at Edgecliff prevented it from being part of the government’s transport-oriented development (Tod) plans. Scully says a new study by Sydney Water overturned the earlier advice: “They had a reexamination of it, and there was capacity.”
Although a metro station at Rosehill has now been ruled out, Scully says a draft rezoning plan for more density there and in neighbouring Camellia will be ready by the end of this year. In response to a question about higher density in Glebe Island and Bays Precinct, and the potential loss of marine infrastructure in Sydney Harbour, Scully does not rule out potential changes.
At the moment there’s no decision of government on any change to port operations, so the work continues on Bays West as it would ordinarily. If there is a decision of government, one way or another, that will influence any further outcomes.
But Scully rules out any current plans to relocate Long Bay jail to allow for new developments at the site. “It’s housing at the moment,” he says, referencing the prison’s 1,200 inmates.
Josh Butler
Climate change ‘a challenge and an opportunity’, PM says
Asked further about whether the government would be “ambitious” on that 2035 goal, Albanese pointed out the contrast between the positions of his Labor government and the divided approach of Coalition opposition.
What we’ll always do is to support action on climate change, and there are two vast different positions when it comes to climate change. You have a government that understands that climate change is a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity.
If you get rid of Net Zero, you are saying climate change is not real, and you do not need to do anything about it. You have Barnaby Joyce, whose private member’s bill will be debated in the parliament this morning, openly saying that climate change is not real. That’s effectively what they are saying.
Albanese noted the resolutions of Liberal and National conferences calling for an end to net zero.
My government will act on climate change. We, of course, have serious policies, but we also recognise that it’s not just about the environment. There’s an economic opportunity to acting as well, growing new industries, growing new jobs and expanding our economy as well.
Josh Butler
Albanese says Labor will announce 2035 emissions target ‘when there’s an announcement’
Anthony Albanese has taken a shot at the Coalition on climate change, saying that to scrap net zero policies is akin to “saying climate change is not real”.
The Labor government again allowed debate on Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce’s bill to junk the net zero by 2050 plan, a policy pledge the Coalition is still signed up to. Albanese said the government would announce its 2035 emissions target at some stage in future, and wouldn’t countenance what that number would look like.
We’ll announce this when there’s an announcement, and we’ll put out that statement after cabinet makes a decision, and we’ll announce it.
Josh Butler
Albanese was asked further, “what is your confidence in securing a meeting with President Trump?”
The prime minister responded:
I refer to my previous 5,324 answers to that same question.
Albanese has said he will travel to the United States in September for the UN general assembly, and also has further international trips in his calendar before the end of the year, where he will likely cross paths with Trump one or more times.
Josh Butler
Anthony Albanese says he will meet with Donald Trump “over coming months”, as questions still linger over when their long-awaited face-to-face will occur.
The prime minister held a press conference in Canberra this morning. Asked about when he would meet US president Trump, Albanese responded:
We’ll have meetings with President Trump.
A number of events over the coming months – we’re about to enter summit season, and I look forward to discussions continuing face to face, as they have been constructive when I’ve had discussions with President Trump up to now.
It’s a good thing. There are a range of ministers meeting with their counterparts. That’s a good thing.
Over in the Senate they’ve moved on from the net zero debate to other issues with One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts currently talking about sick leave in the armed forces as part of the Defence Housing Amendment Bill.
Dai Le presents bill to reduce university fees for humanities subjects
There are a few private members’ bills being put forward this morning.
A moment ago, Zali Steggall presented her bill to establish regular and independent national climate risk assessments – which you can read a bit more about here.
And just before that, as Sarah Basford Canales brought you, independents including Andrew Wilkie and Helen Haines, along with the Greens, presented a bill in response to the robodebt royal commission that would reinstate six-year limits for the recovery of government debt and place a duty of care on the department to prioritise the needs of social security recipients.
Now Dai Le, the independent MP for Fowler in western Sydney, is presenting her bill to change the Job Ready Graduates (JRG) program. Le introduced this bill in the last term – which wasn’t supported by the government, and is trying to get it up again. The bill would reduce fees for humanities subjects. She says:
This policy [JRG] hasn’t worked the way it was intended, students are not abandoning arts degrees en masse. They continue to pursue their passion, but they’re now saddled with debts that are much heavier and burdensome than before.
And who feels this impact the most, it’s students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, Indigenous students, women and those from non-English speaking backgrounds.
Luca Ittimani
Santos takeover deal delayed again as profits slump
The Australian oil and gas giant Santos has announced a profits slump and further delays in its proposed takeover by the investment arm of an Abu Dhabi state-owned entity.
The company extracted more oil from its Western Australian and Papua New Guinea projects in the first half of 2025 than the same period in 2024, more than offsetting a production slip in the Cooper Basin. Oil prices fell though, dragging net profit in the half year down by a third to $439m.
Santos is facing a $30bn takeover bid that would see Australian gas assets owned by a consortium led by a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company if successful.
It today agreed to the consortium’s request for more time to negotiate the deal, including protection for Santos shareholders in case the transaction takes even longer to go through, with agreement now required by 19 September.
Santos had already accepted a previous extension request earlier in August, which expired on Friday. The consortium told Santos it had confirmed again on Sunday it had not found reason to withdraw its proposal.
Even if the bid was agreed on by then, it would need the signoff of Australia’s treasurer, Jim Chalmers, whose “captain’s call” would be the final hurdle, analysts say. Read more from Jonathan Barrett here:
Sarah Basford Canales
Private member’s bill implementing outstanding robodebt royal commission recommendations to be introduced
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie and the Greens will introduce a private member’s bill today to implement the outstanding recommendations of the robodebt royal commission released more than two years ago.
The private member’s bill, which will be seconded by Helen Haines in the lower house, is unlikely to get off the ground without government and opposition support but would reinstate six-year limits for the recovery of government debt and place a duty of care on the department to prioritise the needs of social security recipients.
It would also restrict the type of decisions which can be made or automated without human oversight and better protection for those on welfare experiencing hardship from receiving debt notices.
Penny Allman-Payne, the Greens’ social services spokesperson, said:
This legislation is ready to go, the Greens are urging Labor to walk the walk on robodebt and end the cruelty in the welfare system for good.
In July, the federal court ruled the social services department could estimate a welfare recipient’s income using its preferred method, meaning thousands of recipients could now be liable for debts totalling more than $1bn and dating back decades.
The federal government is still considering its options, including whether it will set aside some of these debts or pursue them.
Labor MP accuses LNP of ‘saying the quiet part out loud’ as net zero repeal bill debate kicks off
Llew O’Brien, a Queensland LNP MP, speaks on the repeal net zero bill first, and starts by saying that climate change “is real”, but that net zero is “economic sabotage”. O’Brien supported a Queensland LNP motion calling on the federal Coalition to abandon net zero at the party’s state convention over the weekend.
He says again that not supporting the “blind obsession” with net zero doesn’t mean you don’t believe in climate change.
What is real is the lives of business people who are trying to survive in this country, who are going insolvent … it is crippling our productivity, it’s seeing our manufacturing go offshore because we’re not competitive.
In response Susan Templeman – a Labor MP – says O’Brien is “saying the quiet part out loud”.
The Nationals want to party like it’s 1999. To be fair the Howard government in 1999 was in theory supporting action on climate change but then changed its mind on supporting the Kyoto protocol.
The bells are ringing!
Parliament is back in action, and as we know, first up on the agenda in the House is debate on Barnaby Joyce’s repeal net zero bill.
I’ll just remind you that this debate is an entirely cynical and political move by Labor to wedge the Coalition, as it figures out its energy policy.
From first observation, the Coalition benches look pretty thin this morning ahead of the debate.
You can read a bit more background on that from my colleague Sarah Basford Canales here:
Australia’s greenhouse emissions down 28% over past 20 years, new figures show
Australia’s emissions are trending down, having dropped 1.4% in the year to March 2025, according to the government’s latest figures.
The Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory shows emissions in the year to March were 28.1% below emissions for the year to June 2005.
Interestingly, emissions per capita are 47.2% lower than in the year to June 2005.
The report, which looks at how Australia is tracking against its emissions targets, said that carbon emissions from electricity generation decreased by 0.8% in this quarter compared with the last quarter.
Why’s that? Data from the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) says that it’s due to increases in wind and rooftop solar generation and “a modest increase in hydro generation”.
Australia’s gun lobby says it’s ‘winning’ as firearm numbers surge
The gun lobby in Australia is mobilising.
The lobby claims it is “winning” the fight against Australia’s longstanding crackdown on firearms, as experts say current laws are “losing control”.
There are now more than 4m guns in the community – almost double the number recorded in the years after the Port Arthur massacre that prompted a national crackdown
You can read more of my brilliant colleague Sarah Martin’s reporting here:
Tom McIlroy
Marles headed to US to discuss Aukus with Pete Hegseth
The defence minister, Richard Marles, is headed to the United States this week, and is set to talk about the Aukus nuclear agreement with his counterpart, Pete Hegseth.
Marles said in a statement he would hold talks with the defence secretary, other senior Trump administration officials and defence industry figures during the visit.
Marles said Washington and Canberra wanted to promote collaboration and work for a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo Pacific region.
I was pleased to speak with Secretary Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue in May, and welcome the opportunity in Washington to build on our valuable discussions of shared defence and security matters.
Given the shared challenges we face in our region, I look forward to reaffirming our commitment to the Alliance and advancing our strong partnership.
Joyce’s bill to end net zero ‘defying the science’, PM says
There’ll be plenty of drama in the house this morning when Barnaby Joyce’s end net zero bill is debated.
The government voted to debate it at the end of the last sitting fortnight, to wedge the Coalition. When voting on whether to put it on the agenda, only Joyce voted with Labor to debate it, where the rest of the Coalition opposed it.
At his press conference a bit earlier, Anthony Albanese stuck the boot in to the Coalition and Joyce.
If you get rid of net zero, you are saying climate change is not real, and you do not need to do anything about it … It is defying what we see happening around us and defying the science.
But Labor’s not coming out of this debate unscathed, and is still under enormous pressure to announce an ambitious 2035 target. Albanese won’t say yet when that target will be made public.
We’ll announce it when there’s an announcement … What we’ll always do is to support action on climate change.
Lambie says nimbys should ‘get stuffed’
Jacqui Lambie says negative gearing needs to be on the agenda when we talk about housing.
Speaking to Sky News, Lambie says she doesn’t understand why the PM isn’t talking about the generous tax incentive.
Saying those people that are on it ‘you can grandfather what you have’, but any new people coming into this market, ‘[the] maximum you can have is two negative geared properties’. I don’t understand why [Albanese’s] not discussing this, apart from his lack of courage.
Asked whether it should be on Labor’s policy platform for the next election, Lambie says Albanese needs to pull more levers to temper house prices and get more houses built.
She also tells nimbys to “get stuffed”, and says that the government needs to build more public housing.
Bill for federal climate risk assessment to enter parliament today
This morning, independent Zali Steggall introduce her national framework for adaptation bill. It will require the government to undertake independent national climate change risks assessments every five years, develop a national adaptation plan, provide an annual progress report and release a report into the security threats of climate change by the Office of National Intelligence.
Be prepared for a bit of whiplash because that introduction will come soon after debate on Barnaby Joyce’s end net zero bill.
The government has been working on a climate risk assessment – but Steggall wants a more regular one.
Australia’s approach to climate risks is piecemeal and left to the whims of whichever party is in power. While we wait for the government to release its ‘one-off’ National Climate Risk Assessment, this bill ensures future climate risks assessments are independent of government and released in a timely and transparent manner.
The Greens will be pushing for that risk assessment, which is being worked on by assistant minister for climate change and energy, Josh Wilson, to be released through the Senate this morning. Greens senator Barbara Pocock told a doorstop a bit earlier:
We’ve been waiting for nine months for this detail to be released, and we hear it’s bad news. News of more frequent floods, more frequent droughts, and an end to our coral reefs.
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