David Pocock calls new gas strategy ‘morally bankrupt’
The independent senator David Pocock has lashed the government’s new future gas strategy as “morally bankrupt, negligent and just plain stupid”.
Pocock said the strategy ignores advice from climate scientists, writing on X:
Climate scientists and global energy experts tell us opening new gas projects is disastrous for our climate, our children and future generations…
Backing the expansion of the fossil fuel industry in 2024 is morally bankrupt, negligent and just plain stupid given we export 75% of our gas. We could legislate a domestic reservation policy and have enough gas for our transition, rather than locking in emissions for decades.
This shows a tragic lack of imagination and ambition – speeding up electrification of households and businesses should be the response to warnings of potential shortfalls. Electrification could save the average [Australian] household $2-5k per year, every year.
Key events
Benita Kolovos
Prime minister announces $3.25bn for Victoria’s North East Link in budget
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is in Melbourne announcing a $3.25bn from next week’s budget will go to developing the state’s North East Link.
The boost from the commonwealth will bring its total contribution to the project, which will connect the M80 Ring Road at Greensborough with the Eastern Freeway at Bulleen, to $5bn.
It will be welcome news for the state government, which late last year announced the project had blown out by more than $10bn from its original cost.
Albanese and the premier, Jacinta Allan, are touring the site and will address media shortly.
Sharlotte Thou
Doctors call for greater support to increase after-hour GP consultations
Australia’s peak body for doctors has called for greater support to increase the number of after hour GP consults.
The Australian Medical Association says current arrangements discourage GPs from offering in-clinic services after 6pm on weeknights and on weekends. Patients who fall sick after hours are forced to consider other avenues, including hospital emergency departments, the peak body said in a submission to the department of health and aged care.
39% of all presentations to the emergency department occurred between 6pm to 7.59am, according to a 2022 report from the Australian College for Emergency Medicine.
The AMA has estimated the cost of greater incentives for GPs to stay open for extended hours would total $339.7m over the next three years.
AMA’s president, Prof Steve Robson, said:
There is a golden opportunity to further address some of Australia’s cost of living pressures by improving access to general practice after hours and making after hours GP appointments much more affordable.
China accuses Australia of ‘spying’ after navy flare-up
China has accused Australia of spying, claiming this was what led to an incident where flares were dropped in front of a Navy helicopter, forcing it to take evasive action, AAP reports.
The federal government has said the action of the Chinese J-10 jet, which launched the flares directly ahead of the Seahawk helicopter, was unprofessional and unsafe.
But China’s ministry of national defence spokesperson, Snr Col Zhang Xiaogang, said HMAS Hobart sent the helicopter up three times to conduct “close-in reconnaissance and disturb the normal training activities of the Chinese side”.
China responded with a “vocal warning” before taking “legitimate, reasonable, professional, and safe operations to expel it”, he added, while making a statement late on Tuesday Beijing time.
We urge the Australian side to truly respect China’s sovereignty and security concerns, cease spreading false narratives, strictly constrain the operations of its naval and air forces, stop all dangerous provocations and avoid undermining the overall relationship between the two countries and the two militaries.
Jennifer Parker, an Australian naval expert, disputed the claim, saying defence was unlikely to send a helicopter to monitor drills when satellite-based capabilities would be more effective. She told the ABC:
It would be highly unlikely for an Australian ship helicopter to provoke China like this during a naval exercise for limited to no benefits.
Anthony Albanese has not directly responded to the spying claims, but has said there was “no question” that defence was operating in international waters and airspace.
Peak body for gas industry welcomes government strategy
The peak body representing the gas industry has welcomed the Albanese government’s new future gas strategy.
It says the strategy will provide “clear direction on national energy policy that supports the central role of gas in the economy and Australia’s energy transformation” – including progressing new supply projects.
Australian Energy Producers’ chief executive, Samantha McCulloch, said:
The strategy needs to be backed by clear, tangible actions that urgently unlock new gas supply to address looming shortfalls and provide an unequivocal signal to the market that Australia is committed to ensuring sustainable gas supply to the Australian economy and the region …
The success of the strategy will be determined by whether it delivers meaningful policy reforms that address the barriers to new gas supply and investment, and that recognise the central role of gas in the energy transformation.
Graham Readfearn wrote this great analysis piece on the role of gas-fired power in Australia late last year:
Jonathan Barrett
Bank customers fall behind on loan and credit card repayments
Consumers are increasingly falling behind on personal loan, credit card and home loan repayments, according to a Commonwealth Bank trading update, as elevated borrowing rates and high living costs push more households into debt.
The stress is most evident in personal loans, with 90-plus day arrears spiking well above CBA’s historical averages over the past 12 months.
CBA’s chief executive, Matt Comyn, said:
We recognise that all households are feeling the impact of higher inflation and higher rates, however immigration is providing a structural tailwind for the economy.
He said the “fundamentals of the Australian economy remain sound” due in part to low unemployment levels.
Many households have been insulated from the impact of the Reserve Bank’s rapid-fire interest rate hikes, and rocketing living costs, by large cash buffers saved up early in the pandemic.
Those buffers have kept arrears in check, but they are fast eroding in the absence of interest rate relief.
CBA reported a cash profit of $2.4bn for the quarter, down 5% from last year’s strong result.
The value of home loans in arrears by more than 90 days increased from 0.44% to 0.61% over the past year, which is still slightly below CBA’s historical average. Credit card arrears jumped from 0.51% to 0.68%.
Arrears for personal loans, which are sometimes taken out to consolidate debt or pay for renovations or holidays, lifted from 1.09% to 1.34%, well above the historical average of 1.25%.
Caitlin Cassidy
Shadow minister seeks to establish Senate inquiry into antisemitism on uni campuses
The shadow minister for education, Sarah Henderson, will seek to establish a Senate inquiry into antisemitism on university campuses following a series of roundtables with Jewish students and community members.
It is time for prime minister Anthony Albanese to show leadership and for his education minister to step up … Allowing the establishment of encampments opens the floodgates to round-the-clock occupation by extremist protestors, including those who have no connection with a university.
A motion to establish the inquiry, which would be chaired by Liberal senator Matt O’Sullivan, will be lodged in the Senate next week.
The Zionist Federation of Australia called on the federal government to support the inquiry. Its president, Jeremy Leibler, said the situation on campuses was “untenable”.
A joint statement by 10 Australian university encampments, published today, said the protest encampments were peaceful and established to stand with the people of Gaza.
Our opposition to the state of Israel and to Zionism as an ideology is not antisemitism. Many of the student leaders of our protests are Jewish, and we see ourselves as standing on the shoulders of a long line of Jewish pro-Palestine and anti-war activists.
Environmental groups lash government’s gas strategy as ‘kick in the guts’
Environmental groups have also spoken out against the government’s new gas strategy – which argues Australia needs new sources of fossil fuels to meet demand “to 2050 and beyond”.
The Australian Conservation Foundation said the strategy is a “blueprint for climate disaster and should be abandoned”. Its national climate program manager, Gavan McFadzean, said it “beggars belief” the government would release this plan amid grave warnings from climate scientists about global heating.
The Albanese government’s future gas strategy resembles the Morrison government’s ‘gas-fired recovery’ and reads as if it was written by gas giants Woodside and Santos. This strategy is a kick in the guts to the millions of Australians who voted in the Albanese government in May 2022, believing it signalled a new dawn for climate action.
McFadzean also argued the strategy is “incompatible” with the government’s Future Made in Australia vision – to help regions that have traditionally relied on fossil fuel production to transition to clean energy.
Climate action group 350 Australia says “more gas means more pollution, and that means worse fires and floods”. CEO Lucy Manne said:
This is an absolute betrayal of communities who are feeling the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events now.
Meanwhile Greenpeace has labelled the strategy as a “betrayal of Australian and Pacific communities”. Its CEO, David Ritter, said Labor won the federal election on a promise of delivering on climate action, and today’s announcement is a “betrayal of that commitment” and “a step closer to a more unsafe future for us all”.
This is no better than a smoker saying they are giving up, but in reality just swapping one brand of cigarettes for another…
The light on the hill cannot be powered by gas. [Resources minister Madeleine] King is wrong on the science, doing wrong to the people of Australia, and is undermining the Labor government’s standing, at home and abroad.
Greens say government has ‘utterly caved to fossil fuel lobby’ with new gas strategy
The Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, says the government’s new gas strategy shows they have “utterly caved in to the fossil fuel lobby”. In a statement this morning, the senator argued Labor has thrown “any climate credibility out the window” and said:
On the same day the world’s scientists are sounding the alarm that we’re heading off a climate cliff, Labor has slammed it’s foot on the gas, in a naked attempt to pander to big gas …
Only days ago Labor dumped their promise to fix our environment laws to protect wildlife and nature. Today they’ve utterly caved in to the fossil fuel lobby. Labor simply can’t be trusted on climate and the environment.
Minister defends Australia’s ability to meet climate targets amid new gas strategy
The assistant defence minister, Matt Thistlethwaite, defended Australia’s ability to meet its climate change targets while on ABC News Breakfast earlier. He was asked about the government’s new gas strategy, and responded by saying “gas-fired power is cleaner than coal-fired power”.
So gas will be a very important transition fuel as Australia makes that orderly and steady transition to net zero by 2050 and 43% renewables by 2030.
I’m in the Northern Territory. I announced a couple of days ago at Robertson barracks in Darwin a new solar farm that will power about 1,800 homes in the local community here and power about 40% of that basis needs and reduce their energy costs by about half a million dollars a year.
We’re making those investments in renewables, but what’s important is we have a steady transition and gas will be part of that transition.
Victoria police to apologise for Stolen Generations role
Victoria police will apologise for its role in the Stolen Generations as part of reforms stemming from the state’s truth-telling inquiry, AAP reports.
The chief commissioner, Shane Patton, has confirmed the force’s commitments will include improved processes for Aboriginal people dealing with police. This will involve expanded cultural awareness training across the organisation and upgraded reporting of police statistics about Aboriginal people.
In total, Victoria police will carry out 79 reforms by the end of 2025 as part of the its response to the Yoorrook justice commission.
Patton’s announcement came on the first anniversary of his apology in front of the inquiry for the mistreatment of First Nations people by police.
A Victoria police spokesman said Patton’s Stolen Generations apology will take place on 24 May in front of survivors and relatives of those impacted. Yoorrook’s final report is expected to be handed down in 2025.
Teal MPs criticise government’s new gas strategy: ‘We should be angry’
A number of teal independents have spoken out against the government’s new gas strategy.
The independent MP for Mackellar, Sophie Scamps, pointed to a Guardian report from overnight showing the planet is headed for at least 2.5C of heating with disastrous results for humanity. You can read the full report below:
Writing on X, Scamps said:
As one top climate scientist said – ‘the world’s response to date is reprehensible – we live in a world of fools’. 80% of IPCC scientists believe we’ll see 2.5C of warming over next 5 yrs. In the meantime Aust[ralia] is massively expanding gas [extraction] for export… Madness.
Independent MP for Wentworth Allegra Spender also pointed to the Guardian’s report, and wrote:
On the same day world leading climate scientists say global heating is blasting past 1.5 degrees, Labor has announced a “future gas strategy” to accelerate major new fossil fuel projects. We shouldn’t be despairing. We should be angry.
Independent MP for Kooyong Monique Ryan also responded to the new strategy:
Australia is blessed with abundant renewables. We need to develop our solar and wind energy and expand storage and transmission capacity – not do deals with the multinationals for more gas exports.
Man arrested following alleged stabbing outside gym
A man has been arrested after allegedly stabbing a woman outside a Sydney gym yesterday.
At midday yesterday, emergency services were called to Alexandria following reports of the alleged stabbing.
On arrival, police were told a man believed to be in his 40s had allegedly stabbed a 39-year-old woman. Police believe they are known to each other.
The woman was treated by paramedics and taken to hospital in a stable condition. A crime scene was established and an investigation commenced.
About 7.50am today, a 45-year-old man presented to Dee Why police station where he was subsequently arrested and taken to Manly police station.
Police say inquiries are continuing.
David Pocock calls new gas strategy ‘morally bankrupt’
The independent senator David Pocock has lashed the government’s new future gas strategy as “morally bankrupt, negligent and just plain stupid”.
Pocock said the strategy ignores advice from climate scientists, writing on X:
Climate scientists and global energy experts tell us opening new gas projects is disastrous for our climate, our children and future generations…
Backing the expansion of the fossil fuel industry in 2024 is morally bankrupt, negligent and just plain stupid given we export 75% of our gas. We could legislate a domestic reservation policy and have enough gas for our transition, rather than locking in emissions for decades.
This shows a tragic lack of imagination and ambition – speeding up electrification of households and businesses should be the response to warnings of potential shortfalls. Electrification could save the average [Australian] household $2-5k per year, every year.
