2m agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 4:25am
Bowen concerned by Santos methane leak
Monique Ryan has the first crossbench question today. She gives Sam Rae a rest, asking Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen about the methane leak at the Santos LNG hub in Darwin.
The facility, as the ABC reported yesterday, has been leaking methane for almost 20 years.
Bowen says he’s concerned by the reports.
“I asked my department to ensure the expert review of methane emission management which I commissioned, the Government commissioned, led by the forum chief scientist Dr Cathy Foley, examines
the matters, ensures it is considered,” he said.
“I will update the honourable member and the House when I have received the report from the forum chief scientist.”
9m agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 4:18am
Rae says govt working to reform aged care system ‘from the ground up’
Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie is up now asking a question about aged care and home care packages.
McKenzie has asked whether the aged care minister will continue to withhold the delivery of 83,000 home care packages until November 1.
Aged Care Minister Sam Rae is up again, and he says the government’s reforms to aged care will ensure elderly Australians get the care they need in their home for as long as possible.
“The new system will make it simpler for older Australians to access the right level of care when and where they need it, especially as their needs change over time,” Rae says.
He says the median wait time for an aged care needs assessment from when a referral is issued to when a support plan is completed is currently 25 days.
McKenzie has stepped up on a point of order, asking the minister to answer why he won’t roll out 83,000 aged care packages.
Rae hasn’t responded to the question directly but says it’s the reason why the government is reforming the system “from the ground up”.
“Big reforms don’t happen overnight but we are working hand in hand with assessment organisations, including states and territories, to minimise impacts to older Australians and get them the care they deserve,” he says.
19m agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 4:09am
Another day of questions for Aged Care Minister Sam Rae
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley is up first and directs her question back on Aged Care Minister Sam Rae.
“Was the home care package rollout delay a decision of the minister, a decision of the health minister, or was it endorsed by the cabinet?” she asks.
It’s the second day in a row the opposition has targeted the new frontbencher over a delay in the rollout on home support packages from July to November (the wider aged care reforms were also delayed as well).
The issue has come to a head this week after the Coalition joined up with the Greens and independent David Pocock to put forward amendments to a government bill that would require additional home support packages for older Australians be made available before the planned November rollout.
Back to Rae, who I’m sure is absolutely thrilled (sarcasm) to be getting all this attention.
He repeats much of what he said yesterday. The tl;dr version being: the reforms were passed on a bipartisan basis last year, and the government is delivering “more care to people than ever before”.
“When
the support at home program commences from 1 November this year, the Albanese government will release more than 80,000 additional new home care places in the first 12 months of the program. In the meantime, my priority, as I said before, is ensuring that every older person across our country continues to
receive the services they need,” Rae says.
26m agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 4:01am
Question Time is about to start!
31m agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 3:56am
Wells deflects questions on gambling advertising
Communications Minister Anika Wells has pointed to her colleague Tanya Plibersek for the second day in a row when questioned about the government’s lagging response to a parliamentary inquiry into the harms of online gambling.
It’s been more than two years since late Labor MP Peta Murphy handed down her 31 recommendations, which includes a phased ban of online gambling advertisements, but the government has still not formally responded.
When asked, Wells wouldn’t specify what steps she had to take before officially responding to the inquiry recommendations, but said the responsibility to respond rests beyond her.
Even when specifically asked about online gambling advertising, she deflected and pointed to the responsibilities held by Plibersek and states and territories.
“I am doing the work, in my spaces, about putting a pathway forward and I look forward to giving you an update on that as soon,” she said on Tuesday, adding her office was meeting “regularly” with Plibersek’s.
When asked similar questions on Monday, she again pointed to her colleague.
“Minister Plibersek and I have to pick-up the work that we took over from Ministers Rishworth and Rowland last term,” she said.
“Most of the federal recommendations sit within the social services platform and some sit with me, and so we’ve been continuing that work.
“I’ve got to keep working on it and so does Minister Plibersek.
“We’re having a look at all 31 recommendations, most of which sit in social services, some of which ask state and territories to do particular thing.”
Wells is leading the response to the inquiry.
52m agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 3:35amCrackdown on AI deep-fake pornography apps a ‘line in sand’
Anika Wells. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Communications Minister Anika Wells has described a planned crackdown on apps that use generative AI to create deepfake pornographic images as a line in the sand.
The government doesn’t have a timeframe in mind about when the restrictions will take place but have committed to working with the industry to enforce the restrictions.
She says it will be up to the platforms on how to comply.
“Where I feel like we must go next is shifting the responsibility from people having to report harm after the harm has occurred to stopping the harm from happening in the first place and putting the onus on tech platforms who conduct business in our country’s, use that data, make enormous profits,” she told reporters.
Wells met with representatives of the Let Them Be Kids campaign, alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this morning.
1h agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 3:13am
Transparency advocates wary of plan to weaken FOI
Two experts have weighed in on the plans, which we’ll learn more about tomorrow.
Kieran Pender of the Human Rights Law Centre said:
“Transparency is integral to improving Australia’s democracy, but right now Australia’s freedom of information system is not working. Any steps to the FOI regime must be carefully scrutinised.”
Greg Barns of the Australian Lawyers Alliance said:
“It is undemocratic and will particularly create difficulties for those who cannot afford the fees to access information… Australians are entitled to transparency from government even if it means the release of information that is embarrassing.”
1h agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 2:44am
Greens lash Labor’s plan to make it harder to access government information
(ABC News: Matt Roberts)
The Greens have criticised the government’s plan to make it harder to access government documents through Freedom of Information.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland will introduce legislation this week that would make it harder for journalists and members of the public to access documents related to government “deliberations”.
The proposal would also introduce a mandatory fee to lodge requests.
Greens senator David Shoebridge says Labor is worse on secrecy than the former Coalition government.
Shoebridge says the Greens will not support the government’s changes in the Senate.
“Instead of opening up and having increased transparency today, the Albanese government says that they want to charge people to access information. They want to make it tougher to get access to information,” Shoebridge says.
“We say to the government that using some argument about Russian bots is not going to cut it if you want this legislation through the Senate. We need more transparency not less,” he says.
1h agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 2:41am
Greens urge government to rollout home care packages for elderly Australians
(ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne says delays to new home care packages are pushing elderly Australians into hospital.
More than 200,000 elderly Australians are waiting to receive a home care package, with 120,000 still waiting to be assessed.
The implementation of the Aged Care Act has been delayed until November 1 because Labor says the industry needs more time to get ready for the government’s reforms.
Allman-Payne says her mother died waiting for a home care package after having an assessment.
“I remember her going for her assessment and being told how long she was going to have to wait, and telling me that she felt like she was thrown on the scrapheap,” Allman-Payne says.
“That’s what it feels like for an older person in this country to know that their government will not look after them in their old age,” she says.
She says there’s no reason why the government cannot roll out home care packages despite the act being delayed.
“Minister Rae needs to act, Minister Butler needs to act, Labor needs to act on this national emergency. And if they won’t act, then the Senate will do it for them,” she says.
1h agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 2:29amPM says not everyone who attended anti-immigration protests were neo-Nazis
Meeting with his colleagues this morning, the prime minister spoke about the rallies on Sunday and stressed that not everyone who attended was associated with neo-Nazis.
That said, he urged politicians to call out racist behaviour and said he was shocked to see people in the black uniform.
Anthony Albanese also raised concerns about how the Jewish and Indian communities appeared to be particularly targeted over the weekend and encouraged MPs and Senators to meet with different multicultural communities when they headed back to their electorates.
Albanese was asked about the active recruitment of people to the neo-Nazi cause.
He said people should be given space to move away from the group and not push them “further down that rabbit hole”.
He also noted that net overseas migration is going down, responding to some of the concerns raised during the rallies on Sunday.
2h agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 2:15amNeo-Nazi’s gatecrashing of Victorian premier’s press conference ‘horrific’: PM
The prime minister has told his colleagues that it was “quite horrific” to hear neo-Nazi leader Thomas Sewell had gatecrashed the Victorian premier’s press conference.
Jacinta Allan was forced to cut her press conference short when Sewell shouted insults and accusations at her in Melbourne.
Anthony Albanese made the comments to his colleagues this morning during the government’s usual Tuesday morning caucus meeting.
2h agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 2:03amMigration bill set for Coalition green light
Labor’s bill to remove procedural fairness for a cohort of migrants set for deportation to Nauru will pass the parliament with Coalition support, but will go to a short Senate hearing first.
That’s the main bit of news to come from a media briefing held after the opposition party room met this morning.
We’re told by a party room spokesperson that it was a short meeting with no substantial discussion on the three big issues of the week: net zero, aged care and the weekend’s anti-immigration process.
But Sussan Ley did tell colleagues she was inclined not to support Labor’s plan to water down FOI laws, although she and colleagues are yet to be briefed on that plan, set for introduction to parliament tomorrow.
And Barnaby Joyce‘s private members bill to repeal net zero will also be introduced in the Senate by fellow National and net zero opponent Matt Canavan.
2h agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 1:53am
Greens refer Katter outburst to standards committee
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has written to the Speaker of the House and the parliamentary standards committee about Bob Katter’s outburst at a journalist last week.
Katter has not apologised for his behaviour, but instead doubled down, telling Nine Newspapers he should’ve been even more aggressive.
The Greens think Katter should face consequences and have questioned how the government would act if it was a different MP.
We’ll give you more details once we’ve got our hands on Hanson-Young’s letter.
2h agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 1:43am
No change to migrant intake
Australia’s permanent migration intake will remain at 185,000 for this financial year.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke issued a short statement this morning announcing the government had set the rate to the same level as the 2024-25 financial year.
“It follows consultation with the states and territories, which recommended maintaining the size and composition of the Program, with a focus on skilled migration,” he said.
“The Department of Home Affairs has been processing visas based on last year’s level, so there has been no disruption to the delivery of the Program.”
It comes just days after anti-immigration protests took place across the country.
The permanent migration intake includes skilled, family and special eligibility visas. It doesn’t include the movements of Australian citizens, permanent and temporary visa holders, which is recorded by net overseas migration.
2h agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 1:34am
Darwin gas tank leak caused by ‘regulatory failure’, crossbench MP says
(ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Greens and crossbench MPs and Senators have joined forces to speak out about a gas leak coming from a gas storage tank near Darwin.
Documents seen by the ABC suggest the scale of the leaking pollutants could be equivalent to 8,300 new cars on the road every year it is in use.
Independent MP Monique Ryan says the leak — which hasn’t been fixed — is a “regulatory failure”.
“It is a health risk not only for territorians but for all australians but it is actively contributing as we stand here to an increase in carbon emissions,” Ryan says.
Darwin-based paediatrician Louise Woodward says the leak has been going for years and the NT Environmental Protection Agency hasn’t acted.
She’s called on Santos to fix the leak, and wants the federal government to legislate industrial air pollution to safeguard communities.
“Research from around the world shows that children living near gas operations have higher rates of serious illness, like asthma and cancer,” Woodward says.
Greens Leader Larissa Waters has called for “science-based” climate targets and a toughening of rules against oil and gas companies.
“This company cannot comply with environmental regulations, has been leaking gas for almost 20 years, can’t be bothered to fix the leaks that might cost them a bit of money. They do not deserve fresh approvals,” Waters says.
Independent Senator David Pocock has urged the federal government to “grow a spine” and force Santos to fix the leak before the tank is filled again.
3h agoTue 2 Sep 2025 at 12:33am
Crossbenchers join calls for ‘climate first’ foreign policy
(ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Members of the crossbench have joined a group of former senior defence and security leaders to call for a “climate first” foreign policy for Australia.
The Australian Security Leaders Climate Group, which is led by the former chief of the defence force Chris Barrie, has issued a new report that says the government is too fixated on building alliances with its traditional allies and isn’t focusing nearly enough on the existential risks posed by climate change.
The group calls Australia’s current foreign policy settings “dangerously out of date” and says the government needs to invest much more heavily in the “diplomatic, economic, and humanitarian tools needed to respond to escalating climate-driven crises”.
Several crossbench and Greens MPs and senators are also calling for a similar foreign policy overhaul, saying the Trump administration’s assault on America’s institutions and climate science should propel the government to reconsider the alliance — and focus instead on building regional cooperation to tackle climate threats.
The group says Australia also needs to urgently ratchet up its own actions to cut emissions, as well as building international alliances to bolster international action on climate change and phase out subsidies for fossil fuels.
4h agoMon 1 Sep 2025 at 11:45pmCoalition brands FOI changes a ‘transparency tax’
Shadow Attorney-General Julian Leeser. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
A snap press conference was called by Shadow Attorney-General Julian Leeser this morning so he could give us a couple lines about the government’s proposed changes to Freedom of Information.
By his own admission, Leeser has yet to be briefed about the proposal. But he told reporters he’s concerned by what he’s read in the paper.
“This is a government that talked a big game on transparency before they came to office. But what they’ve done since is anything but transparency,” he says, referring to stakeholders signing NDA agreements and a cut in staff for the opposition.
He’s gone as far as labelling the move to charge for access to documents as a “transparency tax”.
When asked, Leeser acknowledged the FOI system could be reformed but he’s not keen on the way the government is going around it.
After a couple of quesitons he had to dash off to the Coalition’s joint party room meeting.
5h agoMon 1 Sep 2025 at 11:23pm
Labor wants to charge for FOI requests
A planned change to the Freedom of Information system will soon see the government charge for access to documents.
The government argues the changes, to be introduced to parliament on Wednesday, are designed to stop departments from “being inundated by anonymous requests”.
Under new legislation, there’ll be exemptions for people seeking information related to themselves, but media companies and journalists will be among those to be charged.
Health Minister Mark Butler defended the changes when asked in the parliamentary corridors this morning.
“We’re frankly being inundated by anonymous requests as a government for Freedom of Information and we don’t know where those requests come from,” he said.
“Many of them, we’re sure, are AI or bot generated requests. They may be linked to foreign actors, foreign powers.”
5h agoMon 1 Sep 2025 at 11:09pmNational IVF regulation on the cards
Health Minister Mark Butler stopped by the ABC News Breakfast studio. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
Health Minister Mark Butler says he’s open to establishing a national body to regulate the IVF industry after numerous cases of mix ups.
They include stories of incorrect embryo transfer and, as revealed by ABC Investigations yesterday, a white couple giving birth to a biracial baby.
Butler says he’ll meet with his state and territory counterparts next week to discuss regulation because for too long the industry has been self-regulated.
“I think self-regulation isn’t working and I don’t think that it is inspiring the confidence that parents need,” he said.
He said there was a particular eye to taking over sperm donor regulation as part of a potential crackdown.
5h agoMon 1 Sep 2025 at 10:52pm
Labor faces Senate showdown over home supports for older Australians
Labor is facing its first Senate showdown of the new term, with an unlikely political alliance pushing to expedite the delivery of home supports for older Australians languishing on a waitlist.
The Coalition, Greens and independent senator David Pocock have teamed up to pressure the government to bring forward 20,000 home support packages, after the government’s promised release of 83,000 was pushed back from July to November.
More than 121,000 older Australians are waiting to be assessed for assistance to help them live at home, the federal health department revealed on Friday, on top of at least 87,000 who have been approved but are waiting for a package or a higher level of support.
The government needs to pass its bill to tweak existing legislation to bring it in line with the aged care reforms before they are rolled out later this year, but the alliance has seized on it to bring amendments that would require additional packages to be released immediately.
Read the full story by Maani Truu and Olivia Caisley at the link below.