Federal politics live: Environment minister heads to SA to inspect toxic algal bloom

(AAP: Lukas Coch)

Anthony Albanese has kicked off his Monday morning with a short walk through the streets of Canberra ahead of parliament’s return tomorrow.

The prime minister was accompanied by his son Nathan (and his security detail) on the stroll from The Lodge. He told reporters its a walk he does quite often when parliament isn’t sitting.

He stopped briefly, telling reporters he was excited for parliament to return tomorrow.

The Labor caucus is expected to meet later today. The Coalition will also hold a joint party room this morning.

The toxic algal bloom, first detected off the Fleurieu Peninsula, has been ravaging marine life across the state over the past four months, threatening coastal ecosystems and disrupting local tourism, fishing and aquaculture industries.

“I urge the prime minister and [SA Premier] Peter Malinauskas to not allow this to become their, ‘We don’t hold the hoses, mate,’ moment,” South Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said on Friday.

Hanson-Young wants Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to declare the algal bloom a “national disaster” — a move supported by the SA government.

But what difference could such a declaration make?

According to Hanson-Young’s office, a “national disaster” declaration is akin to a “national emergency” declaration.

Federal laws which passed in 2020 allow the governor-general to declare a national emergency if the prime minister was satisfied an event was “causing harm that is nationally significant in Australia or in an Australian offshore area”.

The legislation has a broad definition of what constitutes nationally-significant harm, listing “harm to the life or health of animals or plants” and “harm to the environment” among the criteria.

State and territory governments can request a national emergency declaration in writing and, if granted, a declaration can last up to three months.

The Netherlands’ chief of defence has warned Australian leaders the country needs to counter China’s military rise by increasing its defence capability.

General Onno Eichelsheim, in Australia for the Talisman Sabre defence exercises, warned that China poses a threat to the Indo-Pacific similar to Russia’s threat to Europe.

And he says “naivety” should not allow Australia and other countries to avoid preparing for the risk of conflict in future.

“You should look at the facts that are around you … if Russia tells us that they want to have more, more influence, then take that seriously,” he said.

“And if you see in this case in this region, China building up, take it seriously, and get ready for something that you hope will never happen.

“If you prepare for war, you can avoid war. And that’s how we look at it.”

Read the full story in the link below.

Walkley award-winning ABC journalist Peter Ryan is being remembered as a great friend and mentor following his death aged 64.

The former Washington correspondent and business editor retired in June after more than 40 years at the national broadcaster and went into palliative care over a decade after being first diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers took to social media this morning to pay tribute to Peter’s legacy.

“This is a devastating loss for Australian journalism and economics,” he wrote.

“He had an unrivalled talent for drawing out the vital elements of each day’s economic news, a remarkable ability to separate the consequential from the trivial.

“We will miss him, we mourn him, and our hearts go out to his loved ones and many admirers.”

Peter is survived by his wife Mary Cotter and daughter Charlotte.

Liberal MP Alex Hawke sits with arms crossed in the House of Representatives chamber. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

Alex Hawke, the manager for opposition business, says the economy is the “top priority” for the Coalition as it seeks to rebuild following its election loss.

The opposition is currently reviewing all of its policies, drawing a line under the offering it made to voters at the May 3 election.

Speaking with ABC Radio National Breakfast, Hawke said despite the opposition’s reduced numbers, it still has a “very important job to do” to keep the government on track.

Of immediate concern is the economy.

“We see the economy as our top priority,” Hawke said.

“You can see the unions are off the leash … calling for further industrial restrictions on businesses, calling for all kinds of productivity harming measures like reducing work hours.

“The Labor Party is talking about increasing taxes. I mean these measures will further reduce productivity, and mean the government will have less money and revenue because record insolvencies are coming at us.”

Mark Butler was also asked about the toxic algae bloom that is threatening costal ecosystem and and killing marine life.

The South Australian MP says he’s been walking the beaches for decades but he’s never seen scenes quite like this.

“I was taking a walk and I saw a dead shark, a number of dead rays, dead fish, dead cuttlefish, scenes I’ve never seen in all of my decades walking along Adelaide beaches,” he says.

He called the bloom “deeply concerning and distressing” noting it was a “new situation, not just for South Australia, but for the country”.

“We stand willing to, give careful consideration to some of the requests, the South Australian government made towards last week,” Butler said.

Environment Minister Murray Watt is heading to Adelaide later today to inspect the harmful algae bloom.

Health Minister Mark Butler says the government is seeking clarity about Donald Trump’s plan to slap tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

Trump has flagged a possible 200 per cent tariff on pharmaceuticals — one of Australia’s biggest exports to the US — threating to impose it as soon as August 1.

That is despite the US president previously saying manufacturers would have at least a year before they came into affect.

Butler told ABC Radio National Breakfast it’s been hard to get a clear picture from the US.

“We’re having a little difficulty in understanding the nature and the timing of the plans that the US administration has. Last week, they changed a little bit, even between a couple of interviews I’d given only three hours apart,” he says.

He says at the end of the day the tariffs will just mean US patients will be paying more for “the blood and plasma products in particular that constitute the vast bulk of the exports we send from Australia to the United States”.

Butler reiterated the government would not negotiate on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

“It’s no surprise that big pharma want higher prices because that means bigger profits, but our position is absolutely rock solid. We will not be negotiating around that,” he says.

Health Minister Mark Butler has given us a little bit of an insight into the message the PM has given to the Labor troops ahead of the first parliamentary sitting fortnight.

Butler says the government’s top priorities will include cutting student debt by 20 per cent, strengthening childcare safety and protecting penalty rates and overtime pay for workers.

“The prime minister’s just reminded all of us, whether it’s the newest backbencher or relatively senior ministers like myself, the time now is for delivery,” he told ABC’s Radio National Breakfast. 

“It’s about repaying the confidence that the Australian people gave to the Labor Party and re-electing us with an increased majority.

“Our job is now to deliver on those promises.

“I think we all have the weight of that responsibility on our shoulders.”

Nationals backbencher Barnaby Joyce wants the Coalition to draw a line in the sand on policies to claw back public support as a fresh opinion poll paints a blunt picture of the opposition’s electoral fortunes.

The latest Newspoll, conducted for The Australian, has suggested the Coalition’s primary vote is now sitting at 29 per cent.

Joyce said MPs could kiss themselves goodbye if that was replicated at a federal election (which, to be clear isn’t due for some 1,000 more days, aka in 2028).

The former deputy prime minister urged the opposition to “find issues which are binary” and “find a point of division”. In a move that will probably surprise nobody, Joyce named dropping its support for the net zero emissions target as one of the key issues.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek, who was also on the panel, said she was “alarmed” by Joyce’s take.

“I’m a bit alarmed that Barnaby thinks that the lesson from the last election was that they weren’t negative and combative enough,” she told Sunrise.

But he argued the opposition agreed on too many things, such as net zero.

(ABC News: Keane Bourke)

Environment Minister Murray Watt will travel to Adelaide today to inspect the toxic algal bloom off the South Australian coast.

Watt says he’ll brief federal cabinet on the incident this morning before travelling to see the bloom, which is killing wildlife.

He says the government response is being run by the state government but he’s answered calls to see the devastation for himself.

“We’ve said consistently that we’re willing to support the South Australian government as they manage this event and the visit that I’m paying today will ensure that I can keep the cabinet well informed about what the situation is, and what support may be required,” he says. 

Hi friends, welcome to our politics live blog.

I’m Courtney Gould, logging in from the ABC’s Parliament House bureau in Canberra, ready to bring you all the news as it comes in.

Can you feel the buzz in the air? No, it’s not the unmistakable buzz of my beloved Melbourne Vixens doing the unexpected and winning their first final. It’s the parliament eve!

Politicians are slowly making their way back to the capital for the first sitting fortnight since the election.  Can you believe it’s here already. I sure can’t!

Are you pumped? No? Okay then! Let’s dive into it. 

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