Dutton discredits renewables when asked about energy policy
Peter Dutton was also asked about the role of domestic gas production in the energy mix – will this be enough, or should there be more coal in the mix? The opposition leader pointed to state government’s decisions to extend the life of coal fired plants and said:
At the moment, the problem is that the government’s got this view of trying to please inner-city Green voters with the renewables-only policy which has driven uncertainty into the market.
So gas is going to be required, and every serious commentator from Aemo down says that gas will play a very significant role in shoring up and providing the base load power that we need to shore up the renewable energy and system.
He went on to discredit renewables, and said:
Renewable energy is great, but we can’t pretend that it operates 24/7, it doesn’t … There are very serious concerns about disruption to power and a modern, functioning economy can’t survive on part-time power.
Is Dutton correct? Read on and decide for yourself:
Key events
Butler says Australia’s relationship with Israel is close
Mark Butler said he was “horrified” and “distressed” by an increase in instances of antisemitism.
As we flagged earlier, counter-terrorism police have taken over the investigation of a swastika vandalism attack at a Sydney synagogue. You can read the full story below:
Butler told ABC RN the government was “ready to do everything we can to support the states, including NSW, in their policing efforts to bring these people to justice.”
We’ve changed laws to criminalise the use of Nazi hate symbols, which we hope will also bolster the efforts of police agencies. And of course, our agencies … are working very closely with agencies like NSW police.
He was asked if the government needs to do more to “strengthen and advertise its ties with Israel”, and pointed to Mark Dreyfus’ visit as significant:
[This is] a close relationship, it has been since Australia supported the creation of the state of Israel, something I’m so proud of still and will always be. So you know, we speak frankly with governments, of Israel, of all political persuasions. That’s always been a hallmark of a close relationship between allies, democratic allies, and I’m sure that will continue in the future.
Butler calls Dutton’s pre-election speech ‘38 minutes of empty rhetoric’
Earlier this morning, the federal health minister, Mark Butler, spoke with ABC’s RN about Peter Dutton’s pre-election campaign pitch. He described Dutton’s speech as “38 minutes of empty rhetoric” and said there was “not a single policy or promise that would help Australian households”:
It’s one thing to oppose every single cost-of-living measure that we’ve tried to put in place … but it’s another thing in your signature campaign speech to offer not a single policy to help Australian households. It reflects this extraordinary arrogance that Peter Dutton thinks he can skate to victory at the upcoming election simply on rhetoric and sledging.
Butler took aim at Dutton for labelling Labor’s cost of living measures as sugar hits or “Panadol policies”.
Motorists leave $140m in toll relief unclaimed: NSW government
The NSW government has urged Sydney motorists to access its toll road relief scheme, with $140m unclaimed over the first 12 months of the cost-of-living support measure.
As AAP reports, drivers who spend more than $60 in tolls weekly can claim the excess back under the so-called “toll cap” introduced by the Minns government in January 2024 to help highly-tolled residents in western Sydney.
The state roads minister, John Graham, today said while $75m had so far been paid to motorists, $140m was yet to be claimed.
More than 276,000 claims were paid since the scheme started on an average claim of $277, the government said.
There were 115 suburbs where the average claim was $300 or above, including Parramatta, Lidcombe, Schofields, Westmead, Toongabbie, Merrylands and Auburn.
Some 720,000 road users were now eligible to make a claim, according to the government.
Search resumes for man in rain-swollen dam
A search is under way after a man leapt into the water from the wall of a swollen dam and failed to resurface in Queensland’s south-west, AAP reports.
Emergency services rushed to Beardmore dam at St George after a man was reported missing yesterday afternoon. It is understood he jumped from the dam wall and attempted to resurface but was pulled into a strong current.
Police, SES, swift water rescue crews and aerial teams immediately began searching for the missing man. The search was called off late yesterday before resuming at 6am today, with police divers also called in to help.
Authorities have also pleaded with locals to leave the search to emergency services. Police said in a statement:
Police kindly ask locals to avoid attempting to search the area due to the potentially dangerous terrain and to trust that emergency services are doing everything they can to locate the missing man.
After months of heavy rain across Queensland, the dam is currently 102.4% full.
Albanese responds to claim Dutton made during speech on antisemitism
Anthony Albanese was asked about comments made by Peter Dutton in his speech yesterday, regarding antisemitism. Dutton said:
Shockingly, antisemitism surged by more than 700% and every incident of antisemitism can be traced back to the prime minister’s dereliction of leadership in response to the sort of events on the steps of the Sydney Opera House [after 7 October].
Responding to this, Albanese told ABC Radio Melbourne this was an example of Dutton being “just plain nasty.”
On Sunday, October 8, at 9am I was on the Insiders program. I had already spoken to the Israeli ambassador to Australia, who was in Israel at the time. We unequivocally condemned that action. The next day, on October 9, the day that the Opera House event happened, I called for that to not go ahead …
Once again, on an issue that shouldn’t be one where Peter Dutton seeks to divide politically, it should be one where he acknowledges that anyone of any decency opposes antisemitism, anyone with any decency says it was entirely inappropriate for that demonstration to go ahead, as I said before it happened. Before it happened. And yet he seeks, once again, everything is a political opportunity for Peter Dutton, rather than an attempt to bring the country together …
Albanese said he is “horrified by antisemitism” and “we call it out each and every time.”
Albanese says Dutton represents ‘shift to a hard-right version of the Liberal party’
Anthony Albanese accused Peter Dutton of building “a career on dividing people, and I want to bring the country together”.
I don’t think that providing support for people is just a sugar hit. I think it is worthwhile … [Dutton has] built a career on targeting people, particularly people who are vulnerable.
He’s never sought to bring people together, which is why his own party rejected him and elected Scott Morrison as leader, even though Scott Morrison had a very small base of support, because they understood that he represented a shift to a hard-right version of the Liberal party.
‘We do need leadership in this country, but we need leadership with a heart’: Albanese
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking on ABC Radio Melbourne after Peter Dutton’s pre-election campaign pitch yesterday.
He has been taking questions on the rising cost of living and outlined a number of measures the government has taken:
We understand that people have done a tough with global inflation, and that’s why we provided cost of living relief, that’s why we provided additional dollars into every taxpayer’s pocket through our tax cuts for every taxpayer, energy bill relief, cheaper childcare, free Tafe, the tripling of the bulk-billing incentive for Medicare and the urgent care clinics.
Albanese highlighted comments by Dutton yesterday that described cost of living measures as sugar hits:
[Dutton] refused to support energy bill relief. We do need leadership in this country, but we need leadership with a heart. Peter Dutton represents a cold hearted, mean spirit[ed and] just plain nasty response, and that’s not going to help people.
Open letter calls for climate duty of care to be legislated
A group of well-known Australians have signed an open letter urging the federal government to legislate a climate Duty of Care for future generations. The letter, addressed to Anthony Albanese, Tanya Plibersek, Chris Bowen and Anne Aly, reads:
We know that climate change will have a disproportionate impact on current and future generations, as the world continues to warm and climate disaster increases in frequency and severity … We call on you to acknowledge your duty of care to us. We call on you to ensure that the decisions you make today are made with our health and wellbeing at the forefront of your minds, and that this is guaranteed by law.
The letter was written by four young people, including teenage climate crisis campaigner Anjali Sharma. It was signed by Lucy Turnbull, John Hewson, Craig Foster, Peter Doherty, Emma McKeon and Grace Tame, among others.
Hewson, a former leader of the Liberal party, said in a statement that it is a “very sad commentary” on the “poor state” of governance there should be any doubt about the “responsibility to recognise a duty of care to safeguard the health and well-being of future generations of Australians, especially in relation to climate change”:
Even more embarrassing has been the willingness of Sussan Ley as minister for the environment in a previous LNP government being prepared to contest this responsibility in the courts, and that as a consequence it is now necessary to seek to have parliament legislate this responsibility.
Paterson questioned on prospect of tax cuts
Q: Will we hear about any tax cuts, because David Littleproud said yesterday the Coalition won’t commit to it before the election. Will you commit?
James Paterson responded that “it has to be sustainable.”
The truth is the government has a lot of money and we do have a very big budget deficit looming. The mid-year economic and fiscal outlook predicted this budget deficit this year will be $28bn. That is massive deterioration under Labor’s watch. But we will always be fiscally responsible, but wherever we have the opportunity to reduce taxes, we will do so.
Paterson on energy relief: ‘our priority is taking the pressure off inflation’
The shadow home affairs minister James Paterson spoke with ABC News Breakfast earlier about Peter Dutton’s pre-election campaign pitch. He was asked if energy bill relief would be off the table under a Coalition government, and said:
When you are paying $50,000 more on on your mortgage, then $250 or even $500 off the energy bill won’t even touch the sides. So our priority is to take the pressure off inflation so that rates can come down and things can become more affordable.
Asked where the Coalition would make cuts, Paterson said it had opposed $90bn of Labor spending since the election and “we’ll have more to say on the savings as we go to the next election”.
He pointed specifically to an increase in public servants in Canberra, as Peter Dutton did earlier, and was asked what the Coalition would cut this by?
Paterson again said this would be announced closer to the election:
It adds up to $6bn a year, so I think we do need to find efficiencies in the federal government. Frontline services will obviously be protected … but we don’t think value for money has been obtained by hiring those 36,000 extra public servants in Canberra.
Dutton questioned on campaign slogan
Peter Dutton also spoke with Sunrise, where he was questioned about his campaign slogan, “let’s get Australia back on track”.
The host noted its similarity to Make America Great Again, and said during Dutton’s speech yesterday there was also a slogan borrowed from Joe Rogan, that “weak leaders create hard times”.
On the similarity, Dutton said:
I saw a quote that I used in May and I think it was used in the American campaign, and somehow then it was written up here that we were borrowing something from the Trump campaign.
I think there are some pretty basic principles that are around that are shared across countries … and one of them is that we do need to stand up for our values and what we believe in, and yesterday was about outlining our 12 priority areas of getting our country back on track.
