Nuclear is a technology ‘we should consider for the future’, Sussan Ley says
Opposition leader Sussan Ley is speaking in Tomago, NSW, where she is attacking the government’s energy policy. Rio Tinto has suggested its aluminium smelter in the region could cease operations once its current contract expires, without government support.
Ley says:
This government needs to acknowledge that its energy policy is causing manufacturers to go out of business …
How dare we suggest to the generations that follow us that they should have a lower standard of living than we have and pay back a debt that we have accrued. I want the next generation to inherit opportunity, not debt.
When asked if nuclear would be the answer to keep manufacturing in Australia, Ley said:
Nuclear is a technology that we should consider for the future. We are technology agnostic. It is not about one technology over another.
Key events
Jordyn Beazley
Former NSW MP Gareth Ward sentenced to almost six years in prison for sexually abusing two men
Former New South Wales MP Gareth Ward has been sentenced to five years and nine months in prison after he was found guilty in July of sexually abusing two young men.
Ward was sentenced by judge Kara Shead on Friday in the Parramatta district court. Ward, who had been remanded in custody while he awaited sentencing, appeared via video link from Cessnock prison.
Shead sentenced Ward to a maximum term of five years and nine months with a non-parole period of three years and nine months.
The sentence was backdated to late July 2025, meaning he could be released in April 2029.
Read more here:
Dan Tehan all but confirms nuclear to be part of Coalition energy plan
Josh Butler
More from that Coalition climate meeting: asked whether nuclear energy would feature heavily in their power plan, Dan Tehan all but confirmed it would play a role.
“I think I would be speaking for pretty much every single one of my colleagues, we don’t think Labor is serious about reducing emissions if they won’t look at nuclear technology,” he said, adding:
Chris Bowen and the Labor party are absolute relics when it comes to their views on nuclear energy, because the rest of the world is seeing it as a key way that we’re going to be able to reduce emissions.
Josh Butler
Coalition overhaul of net zero commitment continues
The Coalition meeting on climate and energy has finished and, as expected, there’s been no formal change to policy on net zero – yet. But shadow energy minister Dan Tehan has made stronger indications that the Coalition could be edging away from its net zero commitment made in 2021 under the Morrison-Joyce government, and at least making big changes to the policy.
As Krishani brought you earlier, around 30 Coalition members attended and were invited to make contributions to the meeting. It was the latest in a series of regular meetings by Coalition backbenchers on energy and the economy, and though no final policy outcome was expected today, many Liberals are itching to have the issue resolved one way or another.
Tehan, speaking after the meeting, said there was “really constructive discussion” which was “incredibly respectful”. He said the policy review he’s undertaking had been slated for a six to nine month timeframe – indicating a final position could come by the end of this year or early 2026.
He wouldn’t commit to keeping or dropping net zero by 2050, but said the guiding markers for the party room were “everyone is committed to us reducing emissions so that we’re playing our part when it comes to climate change” but also “our number one focus and number one priority has to be addressing energy costs.”
Luca Ittimani
Six people now caught in Queensland rat poisoning cluster
A sixth person has been found to have consumed rat poison in a cluster case in south-east Queensland, with homemade dough revealed as another vector in the poisoning alongside a homemade chilli paste.
The dough, along with capsicum and chilli paste and marinated eggplant, were made in a home kitchen and were gifted or sold locally in the Logan area from mid-September, Queensland Health has said.
The sixth person was a relative of some of the other five previously found to be exposed to brodifacoum, the active ingredient in rat poison. All six are well and receiving treatment at home, Queensland Health has said.
The state’s chief health officer, Dr Catherine McDougall, said there was not believed to be an ongoing risk to the broader community. No further cases outside the family clusters have been identified and the products were not still being made or distributed, she said.
Authorities were still investigating how the foods tested positive for brodifacoum and asked clinicians to watch for symptoms that may indicate brodifacoum poisoning, particularly those related to bleeding.
You can read more about the cluster here:
Sarah Basford Canales
Jacinta Price says Victoria’s treaty with traditional owners a ‘defiance of democracy’
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has accused the Victorian government of a “defiance of democracy” after the state parliament passed the country’s first treaty with traditional owners on Thursday.
The treaty will establish the First Peoples’ Assembly as a permanent representative body to provide advice to government, under a new statutory corporation called Gellung Warl. It will also include a truth-telling and accountability body to keep Victoria on track with its commitments to closing the gap.
Nampijinpa Price, a National-turned-Liberal senator who stood as the face of the anti-voice referendum, criticised the state premier, Jacinta Allan, for giving “her middle finger” to all Victorians who voted no in the 2023 referendum.
In Victoria, 54.15% voted no while 45.85% voted yes to an Indigenous voice to the federal parliament.
In her statement on Friday, Nampijinpa Price said:
We all know where this treaty leads: Victorians will be divided by race.
The activists will be empowered to pursue their goals of reparations and segregation, driven, as they are, by retribution and resentment – not reconciliation and forgiveness.
And Victorian children will be taught a distorted and revisionist view of history so they are indoctrinated to feel national guilt instead of the national pride they should feel for Australia – a country where our achievements and successes far outweigh our wrongdoings and failures.
Australians urged to get flu vaccine as flu deaths exceed Covid deaths for first time since 2020
Death data shows the flu is killing more people than Covid-19 for the first time since the height of the pandemic, AAP reports.
The figures have prompted one of the country’s top doctors to urge people to be vigilant against rising vaccine complacency, saying it was a wake-up call. The president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), Michael Wright, said:
This highlights the need for Australians to get the flu vaccine, particularly those at higher risk of complications … If fewer people receive the influenza vaccination, more people end up getting sick.
August saw 265 people in Australia die from or with influenza compared with 195 deaths associated with Covid-19, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday. It was the first month since February 2020 where influenza was more deadly than Covid-19.
This year’s flu season also produced a record 410,000 lab-confirmed cases of influenza, according to the RACGP.
More than 10% of Australia’s flu infections occurred in children under five, which Wright described as a “wake-up call” after estimates of falling vaccination rates, with just one in four children under five given a flu shot in 2025.
Nuclear is a technology ‘we should consider for the future’, Sussan Ley says
Opposition leader Sussan Ley is speaking in Tomago, NSW, where she is attacking the government’s energy policy. Rio Tinto has suggested its aluminium smelter in the region could cease operations once its current contract expires, without government support.
Ley says:
This government needs to acknowledge that its energy policy is causing manufacturers to go out of business …
How dare we suggest to the generations that follow us that they should have a lower standard of living than we have and pay back a debt that we have accrued. I want the next generation to inherit opportunity, not debt.
When asked if nuclear would be the answer to keep manufacturing in Australia, Ley said:
Nuclear is a technology that we should consider for the future. We are technology agnostic. It is not about one technology over another.
21-year-old dies in Queensland after being struck by lightning at sports complex
A 21-year-old woman died on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast yesterday after she was struck by lightning, emergency officials said.
Queensland Ambulance Service said paramedics were called to the scene in the suburb of Cooroy just after 5pm yesterday. Officials said:
One patient, a female in her 20s, was treated in a life-threatening condition and transported to Nambour hospital with a critical care paramedic onboard.
Cooroora United Football Club said the incident occurred on its grounds, in a post on social media. The club said it would not share any further details about the incident out of privacy of those affected, but said “it is important to share that those in and around the grounds, including both members and emergency services, showed admirable action, respect and care for each other”.
Police said a report would be prepared for the coroner.
Lidia Thorpe welcomes first treaty with traditional owners and says PM ‘needs to take notice’
Victoria senator Lidia Thorpe welcomed the passage of Australia’s first treaty with traditional owners, as we reported in the blog earlier.
Thorpe, a Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman, said in a statement:
I congratulate the First Peoples’ Assembly on this historic milestone. And the whole country should recognise the decades of first peoples’ resistance, organising and activism that brought us here.
This treaty is welcome progress and a good start towards real self-determination.
Thorpe said the milestone should not be cause for congratulations to the Labor party, saying prime minister Anthony Albanese needed to “take notice” of the treaty in light of the failed voice referendum:
Labor will pat themselves on the back for this moment, but the truth is they are still destroying Country, locking up our people, and forcibly removing our children in huge numbers. I will not congratulate Labor for treaty while they continue harming our people.
Albanese needs to take notice of this. The federal government has completely stalled since the failed voice referendum. It’s for Albanese to get over it and move on.
Mine explosion that left two dead happened when ‘shot firing’ was being prepared, company says
The company that owns the Endeavour mine in western New South Wales has provided more details about an incident that left two people dead in an explosion earlier this week.
Polymetals Resources said it did not yet know the cause of the explosion but said it took place during a time when “shot firing was being prepared as a secondary detonation activity”. Shot firers are responsible for assembly, positioning and detonating explosives to break solid rock.
Patrick McMullen, 59, and Holly Clarke, 24, were killed on Tuesday. Both worked as shotfirers.
The company said this morning:
It is hoped that outcomes from these investigations will help eliminate any re-occurrence of such an incident within the industry.
Dave Sproule, the chairman of the company, said:
Words fall short of how deeply affected the Polymetals’ family is by this tragic incident. The feeling of profound sadness when life is lost is never forgotten. We’re devastated by what has happened and share our deepest thoughts and condolences with the families, their friends and our colleagues. We are doing everything we can to support those affected.
The company plans to restore operations at the mine in stages, with some work set to begin early next week.
AFP commissioner to sign new security agreement with PNG
Australian federal police commissioner Krissy Barrett will sign a new policing agreement with Papua New Guinea tomorrow meant to “improve the information flow and investigative support” with the Pacific nation.
Barrett said the new deal will focus on investigations that span jurisdictions and target organised crime networks in both PNG and Australia. She said:
This will streamline information exchange and sharing of police resources and technology, enabling them to disrupt threats earlier.
To keep Australia and PNG safe, we need to keep our region safe. And our great policing partners in the Pacific show what an important bloc of partners they are.
What’s driving the sudden explosion in flies across Sydney?
Insect populations are booming across New South Wales, with flies swarming beachgoers, catching rides on pedestrians’ backs and trying to get a drink of the tasty nectar seeping from people’s mouths.
But are there more flies than usual – or has Sydney just forgotten what all the buzz is about?
“This call happens every year,” Tanya Latty, an entomologist and researcher in insect behaviour at the University of Sydney, tells Guardian Australia.
It’s spring in Sydney, that’s kind of what’s happening. We get used to there not being a lot of flies over winter and, when they show up in the spring every year, people ask if there are more than usual.
Read more here:
Does the Albanese government have a transparency problem? – Full Story podcast
A report by the Centre for Public Integrity has accused the Albanese government of “leaning into a culture of secrecy”. Labor’s record on transparency also featured in parliament this week after independent ACT senator David Pocock led a revolt against the government for failing to produce a key report into “jobs for mates”.
Bridie Jabour talks to the editor, Lenore Taylor, and the head of newsroom, Mike Ticher, about whether the Albanese government is failing to live up to its own expectations on transparency.
Listen here:
Cait Kelly
Potential law allowing Centrelink payments to be stripped criticised as ‘shocking overreach’
Proposed laws allowing Centrelink payments to be stripped from those evading arrest while accused of serious crimes would be a “shocking overreach of police powers into the social security system”, welfare advocates warn.
The amendment to the income apportionment bill, added by Labor this week during parliamentary debate, would mean police officers would have the power to request the cancellation of Centrelink payments to those accused of a “serious violent or sexual offence” when an arrest warrant had been issued.
Some advocates and social security legal experts, including the Antipoverty Centre, the Council of Single Mothers and their Children, the Anti-Poverty Network South Australia, the Australian Unemployed Workers Union and Everybody’s Home have said the amendment represents punishment without conviction and blurs the separation of powers.
The Anglicare Australia executive director, Kasy Chambers, said the proposal was “completely at odds with the principles of fairness and justice” and called on the government to scrap the amendment. Chambers said:
This is a shocking overreach of police powers into the social security system. We’ve seen too many times what happens when governments rush through changes without thinking through the consequences. Robodebt should have been warning enough.
Krishani Dhanji
At least 30 Coalition MPs and senators gathered for net zero meeting
The Coalition net zero meeting is about halfway through now – it started at 8am and is expected to run for three hours.
Here’s how it’s been taking shape.
It’s been called a “listening” meeting, so those in the room are given up to five minutes to say their peace about the Coalition’s energy policy and are expected to stay to hear the others.
It’s been organised by a joint Coalition backbench committee – led by Liberals Jane Hume and Simon Kennedy – but we’ve been told that so far no Nationals are in the room. The Nats federal council meeting is on this weekend, so at least a few of them are travelling for that.
Who’s in the room? I’m told there’s at least 30 people – and a broad mix of members including former energy minister Angus Taylor, moderate Maria Kovacic and conservative MP Tony Pasin.
Five-year-old girl riding scooter dies after being hit by ute in Sydney
A five-year-old girl has died after she was hit by a car in Sydney’s north-west yesterday.
NSW police said the young girl was riding a scooter on a footpath in the suburb of Rouse Hill about 3.45pm. She was allegedly hit by a Toyota HiLux ute and emergency services were called.
Paramedics treated the girl at the scene before she was taken to the hospital in a critical condition, where she later died.
The driver of the vehicle, a 42-year-old man, was taken to the hospital for mandatory testing. A crime scene has been established and an investigation is ongoing. No charges have been laid.
Josh Butler
Maria Kovacic says Coalition must ‘have a pathway to reduce our emissions’
Maria Kovacic said net zero was “an outcome of the policy and we have to have a pathway to reduce our emissions and ensure that Australians have a clean and reliable energy grid. And that includes looking at gas and renewables, obviously, and we can also look at a pathway to unlocking nuclear technologies.”
Kovacic, asked if that should include a hard target for 2050 emissions, responded:
We’re still discussing that but thank you so much.
Tim Wilson, another moderate, said the party should be focused on “how do we get to net zero price increases and of course net zero outages”. He told Channel Nine’s Today show:
When Australians go and flick the switch on to walk into a room they want to know that the power’s going to turn on but, more important, they’re going to be able to afford the bill at the end of it and so that’s going be our focus.
Of course people care deeply about emissions but they want to make sure we get the price right, they want to make we have a reliable system and then they’ll be supportive of lower emissions too.
Josh Butler
Coalition MPs meeting to discuss net zero
Coalition MPs are meeting to discuss net zero and energy today, as the opposition remains tied in knots over its climate plans. We’re told there won’t be a formal final position on net zero today – it’s a meeting of backbenchers and leader Sussan Ley is visiting Tomago today instead – but it’s likely to result in some arguments.
Liberal senator and moderate Maria Kovacic said this morning that the meeting “won’t be any different from any of our other backbench meetings”. She said:
This is something that Sussan Ley, our leader, has determined we need to do in terms of all of the policy areas and we’ll have a strong discussion, as we always do. And it’s important that all MPs and senators are able to ventilate their views on all policy areas.
Kovacic said she thought Australians wanted the Liberals “to have a credible climate policy. I think it’s important that we understand that net zero, in itself, is not a policy.”
There is a view among some inside the Liberals that they could move away from explicitly sticking to the idea of net zero by 2050 but instead endorse an emissions reduction policy that would have similar goals.
Children’s commissioner says reforms ‘very much’ the beginning
Hollonds added that she did not believe policy and accountability settings in government were right yet to best protect children in childcare. She told RN while it was “great” to see strong leadership from the government and states to address failings in childcare reform, “this is very much just the beginning”.
She said:
The truth is that, when it comes to children’s issues, we are sidelining them. And children often themselves say they feel invisible and can’t get the help that they need from service systems that are primarily geared towards protecting the adults, not the children in their care.
You know, we’ve got this mess of laws and policies and fragmented regulatory systems. And as I said, we saw that they’ve protected the adults, not the children. I think government actually does need help and that’s why I’m supporting the calls for an independent national childcare commission that would oversee the industry and design that childcare system that we want to see in the future.
