Australia politics live: Joyce introduces net zero repeal bill; Palestine Action Group plans march across Sydney Harbour Bridge | Australian politics

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Young Australians have much higher student debt than generations before them, data shows

The government is about to cut student debt by 20% across the board – so how much debt do young Australians have, and how much has it changed?

Labor’s student debt relief bill is likely to pass with bipartisan support and will slash the Hecs/Help debt for about 3 million graduates by an average of $5,500, according to the government.

Data from the tax office shows that the average Hecs/Help debt held by younger Australians increased by a third between 2009 and 2024, even with inflation taken into account. This coincides with a consistent increase in the time it will take to pay off the debt – now almost a decade.

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Penny Wong shares photos aboard the UK’s largest naval vessel

Foreign minister Penny Wong just shared photos aboard the HMS Prince of Wales, the UK’s largest naval vessel, which has been in Australian waters as part of Exercise Talisman Sabre, the largest exercise conducted in the Australia. Wong wrote on X:

Australia and the UK are working together to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific …

Talisman Sabre 2025 is Australia’s largest and most sophisticated bilateral military exercise, bringing together over 40,000 personnel from 19 nations. Our capability and coordination highlights the strength of our defence partnerships and our work to keep Australians safe.

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Updated at 21.13 EDT

Weekly Sydney pro-Palestine protest to march across the Harbour Bridge

The weekly pro-Palestine rally is planning to march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge this Sunday and to the US consulate, veering from its usual course through the CBD.

In a post to social media, the rally’s organisers, the Palestine Action Group, said:

At least 127 people, including 85 children, have so far died from starvation in Gaza, along with over a thousand who have been shot and killed while queueing for aid in recent weeks.

This is a genocide. Even if, under global pressure, Israel temporarily allows some food into Gaza, it will not mean the end of Israel’s goal of ethnically cleansing the strip, called by Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu “the Trump Plan”.

This extraordinary situation has led the Palestine Action Group to call for a March for Humanity over the Sydney Harbour Bridge next Sunday, 3 August, to save Gaza.

The group has submitted what is known as a “form one” to police but it is yet to be accepted.

The form is a notification to hold a public assembly that, if accepted by police, would protect attendees from being potentially charged under anti-protest laws.

The group called on the police and the government to facilitate the march. They wrote:

In 2023 the Harbour Bridge was closed for a special march to mark World Pride, which PM Anthony Albanese participated in. That same year saw the Bridge closed for several hours to shoot a scene for a Ryan Gosling film. It can certainly be closed to stop a genocide.

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Private members’ bills to tackle AI deepfakes and child abuse content to be put forward today

There are a few private members’ bills being introduced into the house this morning.

Following Joyce’s repeal net zero bill, independent MP Kate Chaney is introducing her bill to stop AI technology that trains or facilitates the production of child sexual abuse material.

You can read a bit more about that bill here.

Following Chaney, fellow independent Zali Steggall is introducing a truth in political advertising bill that will tackle “misleading or deceptive political advertising, including the growing risks posed by AI content and deepfakes.”

The government introduced its own legislation on misinformation and disinformation in political advertising near the end of the last term, but didn’t bring forward a vote on it.

Independent senator David Pocock and independent MPs Zali Steggall and Kate Chaney (L-R) will introduce private members’ bills into the upper and lower houses today. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Steggall is introducing a bill that is the same as the government’s, but is also calling on Labor to reintroduce its own bill. Over in the Senate, David Pocock will give notice to introduce the same bill in the upper house.

Steggall says:

We know there is a huge problem, the question is, is there a political will to fix it?

There is no doubt there is a consensus for this. We know deepfake videos are incredibly damaging and they spread like wildfire, unless guard rails are put in place, we are going to see a continual erosion of trust in politics and the outcomes of elections.

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Updated at 20.45 EDT

Barnaby Joyce introduces net zero repeal bill to parliament

Parliament has begun sitting for the week, and Barnaby Joyce is introducing his net zero bill to the House of Representatives.

Joyce says:

Net zero is going to have absolutely no effect on the climate whatsoever.

He says China, India, the US, parts of south-east Asia and Africa aren’t abiding by the policy, and says it’s making households in Australia poorer.

Sitting on the benches around Joyce are WA Liberal Ben Small and Nationals MPs Michael McCormack, David Batt, Llew O’Brien, Colin Boyce and Jamie Chaffey.

Barnaby Joyce presents his Repeal Net Zero Bill 2025 in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare

Updated at 21.44 EDT

Palestinian aid worker enters day 6 of hunger strike outside Parliament House

Nahed Elrays, a Palestinian writer and development manager at Unrwa in the US has been outside Parliament House in Canberra, participating in a hunger strike and calling for an arms embargo on Israel.

Elrays began the strike six days ago, restricted to just water and vitamins. He now says he’s following the diet of his relatives and friends in Gaza, only eating one piece of flatbread, or small rice bowl, 3 tablespoons of legumes, and saltwater. He says under the solidarity fast he won’t consume more than 400 calories a day.

On social media he writes, “the only words Australians will accept are ‘arms embargo’ – and we want to hear them now”.

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Updated at 20.00 EDT

‘We may get to the same position’: Nationals leader on Joyce’s anti-net zero bill

David Littleproud says he “respects” Barnaby Joyce’s decision not to wait for the Coalition’s review of net zero policy by introducing his anti-net zero bill.

Asked whether Joyce is undermining the review process, Littleproud tells Sky News it’s a “determination for Barnaby”, and doesn’t believe it makes the policy process more difficult.

Barnaby didn’t want to wait, I respect that. He didn’t want to wait for the rest of the party room. But we may get to the same position, I don’t want to pre-empt it.

So what about the future of the Coalition if the Nationals decide to scrap net zero and the Liberals want to keep the policy? Moderate Liberals have voiced concerns that abandoning net zero would destroy the Liberals’ credibility with mainstream voters.

Littleproud says the Nationals’ position can feed into the broader Coalition process on energy.

The political reality is we have to win our seats. We won them all at the last election, but we can’t turn our back on, on what’s been happening in our communities …

If we have an informed policy decision, we can then, as we did with the voice [referendum], be able to say and feed into the process the Liberal party and the Coalition wants to run more broadly.

David Littleproud. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare

Updated at 19.44 EDT

Coalition’s energy priority is gas, says Liberal leading energy review

Dan Tehan says the group reviewing the Coalition’s energy policy had a “very good discussion” at their first meeting last week, and will focus on gas policy.

Tehan was tasked by leader Sussan Ley to review all of the Coalition’s energy policies, to help determine the way forward. On all policies, including net zero, the party is going back to the drawing table.

Asked on Sky News, whether Barnaby Joyce’s bill to end net zero is making his job more difficult, Tehan says:

I’ve always had difficult jobs when it’s come to my role, whether it be in shadow ministry or in ministry. And I love the challenge of those of that job. I look forward to seeing what Barnaby has to say in his bill. Like everyone who’s a member of the coalition, he has a right to express those views.

Tehan was also asked about barbs traded last week between him and Joyce, where Tehan referred to Joyce and McCormack as “steers fighting”. That prompted a swipe from Joyce who said, “The people say they’re from the country, get it right. Steers don’t fight”.

Tehan said jokingly:

I think there might have been some surgical precision to the use of my language, but we had a joke about that. And we’ll, we’ll, we’ll continue to smile about it and and have a laugh.

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Joyce says ‘billionaires’ benefiting from net zero policies

Barnaby Joyce is outside parliament speaking on his bill to reverse net zero by 2050.

With him are Nationals MPs Matt Canavan, Michael McCormack and Colin Boyce – all of whom have publicly called to end the policy.

Also with Joyce is Liberal MP Garth Hamilton, a conservative backbencher from Queensland who’s becoming increasingly outspoken.

Joyce says it’s “billionaires” who are benefiting from programs like the capacity investment scheme, designed to boost major renewable energy projects.

Coalition MPs (from left) Llew O’Brien, Colin Boyce, Garth Hamilton, Barnaby Joyce, Matt Canavan and Michael McCormack outside Parliament House on Monday morning. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare

Updated at 19.57 EDT

Coalition should consider amendment to cap Hecs indexation, Jane Hume says

Former Liberal frontbencher Jane Hume says an idea from her colleague Sarah Henderson to cap Hecs indexation at 3% has “merit” and should be considered by the party room.

Hume and Henderson were both booted from the frontbench after the 3 May election.

The Coalition has said Labor’s Hecs bill, to cut 20% of debts and increase the income threshold to begin paying the debt back, will pass through parliament.

Henderson announced her amendment, to cap indexation, in the Australian newspaper this morning.

Asked on Sky News whether the policy should have been canvassed first internally, rather than aired to the media, Hume said it shouldn’t be a “surprise” that backbenchers bring policy like this forward.

What Sarah’s proposing is that, essentially, if governments can’t control inflation, well, students shouldn’t have to pay the price that there is a cap on what it is that they should have to pay. I think that’s something that has merit and should be considered. So I look forward to Sarah taking that to our party room for further discussion.

Liberal backbenchers Jane Hume (left) and Sarah Henderson. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Dan Tehan, in a separate interview on Sky, said Ley has set up internal processes to include backbenchers in policy creation.

When [anyone’s] got their policy ideas, they should be able to bring them forward, and that’s what that’s what we’re seeing. Then we’ve got to have the internal debate. We resolve our way forward, and then in unity, we put that case to the Australian public.

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Updated at 19.07 EDT

Kate Chaney says ‘the time may well be right’ for Israel sanctions

Independent MP Kate Chaney says recognition of a Palestinian state will happen in “good time” but now could be the right time for sanctions against Israel.

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast a bit earlier, Chaney said the immediate priority is to stop children from starving, and getting humanitarian aid into Gaza.

She adds, Hamas should have “no role” in establishing a Palestinian state.

I think the immediate priority is stopping children from starving and making sure they’re not being shot when people are trying to access food. So my focus really is on how we get the humanitarian aid organisations in there, doing what they do best, and making sure that starvation is not being used as a tool of war. Recognition will happen in good time …

Given it looks very likely that Israel is breaching international law, and it’s really important that Australia plays its part in upholding international law, and the time may well be right for sanctions at this point.

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Updated at 19.04 EDT