Dutton says Thorpe should ‘resign in principle’
Josh Butler
As we mentioned earlier, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has said Lidia Thorpe should “resign in principle”, calling her interjection at the parliamentary reception for King Charles and Queen Camilla “predictable”. Dutton said on Sunrise this morning:
I think there’s a very strong argument for somebody who doesn’t believe in the system, but is willing to take a quarter of a million dollars a year from the system, to resign in principle.
If you were really truly about your cause and not just about yourself, then I think that’s a decision that you would make.
The Nine newspapers reported this morning some Liberal politicians are considering whether to seek a censure of Thorpe in parliament.
On Radio National, as we brought you earlier, Thorpe claimed “every time I see him [Dutton] in Parliament he walks in the opposite direction, so he never wants to sit down and have a conversation”.
The opposition leader went on to criticise Thorpe’s interruption in his Sunrise spot:
My reaction was that, ‘here we go again’. It was entirely predictable, all about herself. It doesn’t advance any cause that she’s interested in. It’s really just a self-promotion thing, which is why I don’t think we should give it any attention. Unfortunately, it overshadowed what I think’s been a very successful visit so far. I think it was disrespectful, and most Australians dismiss it on that basis.
Key events
Adeshola Ore
Victorian premier labels Thorpe protest ‘deeply disrespectful’
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, had described Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe’s protest against King Charles as “deeply disrespectful.”
Speaking to 3AW, Allan says Thorpe’s interjection of a parliamentary reception “does not represent the the respect that Victorians have for the king”:
Lidia Thorpe’s behaviour is deeply disrespectful. It’s unacceptable.
When you’re elected to parliament … you should recognise that there is a standard to which you should behave. That is not what we saw from Lidia Thorpe yesterday.
Allan was also asked about her decision, alongside other state premiers, to decline an invitation to meet with the king during his visit. She said:
I think it’s great that the king is visiting the country. We would have loved to have seen him here in Melbourne and Victoria, but we know his schedule was such that his trip was focused around Sydney and Canberra.
Faruqi says calls from Dutton for Thorpe to resign are ‘contemptible’
The deputy leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi, has labelled calls from Peter Dutton for Lidia Thorpe to resign as “contemptible”. She said:
Peter Dutton and the Liberals calling for Senator Thorpe to resign for telling the truth is contemptible. That’s what should be condemned, not a protest against the monarchy.
Colonial forces that inflict huge suffering and have committed horrific atrocities on First Nations peoples can’t then complain about protests against them.
It is a fact that the British committed genocide here, it is a fact that their racist legacy lives on in Australia today and that should absolutely be resisted and confronted.
Faruqi said Australia “need[s] to move forward to a republic that comes with truth telling and treaty.”
In a statement before her protest yesterday, Thorpe called for a “treaty republic” and said that Australia had “unfinished business that we need to resolve before this country can become a republic” – and that this “must happen through treaty”.
Peter Hannam
Coalition claims Albanese government plans to force coal plants to close early
Following not so far behind the energy minister Matt Kean’s comments critical of nuclear energy, the federal opposition energy spokesperson, Ted O’Brien, has fronted the AFR energy summit in Sydney. Perhaps not surprisingly, O’Brien has gone on the offensive.
He says the opposition will release costs for the planned seven nuclear plants “by the end of this year” and that he’s “very excited about releasing it”.
It’s up to Labor, O’Brien says, to reveal the total cost of the transition for the grid to net zero emissions by 2050. However, perhaps the novel aspect of today’s speech is to try to turn the tables on Labor by saying the Albanese government is “forcibly” shutting coal-fired plants early.
What he’s done is to take one of the scenarios of the Australian Energy Market Operator‘s integrated system plan on when it thinks the plants will shut and compared it with the declared closure dates by the plant owners. It looks like this:
O’Brien also listed the plants and their size, and says the government should tell each community when they will close. However, they are commercial decisions, and it will be up to their owners (mostly private, save for those in Queensland) to set their dates based on the market.
In other words, it’s a red herring.
Meanwhile, as it happens, Aemo has this morning posted on social media a fresh record for the penetration of renewable energy in the grid. Clearly, it’s been windy and sunny in most of eastern Australia.
Big news for renewable energy in Australia yesterday, when a new minimum demand record of 10,305 MW was set at 12:30pm (AEDT) for the National Electricity Market (NEM)!
This record beats the previous record of 11,009 MW set last spring.
ℹ️ https://t.co/i3OBExGJXL pic.twitter.com/MEPmmklLCS
— AEMO (@AEMO_Energy) October 21, 2024
Royals continue their Australian tour in Sydney
King Charles and Queen Camilla are continuing their tour of Australia today, with a number of events planned in Sydney.
The king will meet with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives and groups, while the queen will visit a library and meet children taking part in a Queen’s Commonwealth essay competition workshop.
They will be guests of honour at a community barbecue in western Sydney and also meet Australians of the Year and cancer researchers Prof Georgina Long and Prof Richard Scolyer and learn about their work addressing melanoma.
This afternoon, the king and queen will reconvene at the Sydney Opera House before conducting a fleet review of the Royal Australian Navy in Sydney Harbour.
Those wishing to see the royals at the Sydney Opera House forecourt can arrive from 3pm and should be in place by 4pm.
The king and queen and their entourage leave Australia tomorrow. For more details, you can read more from Daisy Dumas below:
Dreyfus marks six years since national apology to victims of institutional child sexual abuse
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has released a statement on the sixth anniversary of the national apology to victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.
In the statement, Dreyfus said the apology stands as “an enduring reminder of the profound impacts of child sexual abuse, as well as our collective responsibility to take action to prevent it”.
I acknowledge the strength and courage of victims and survivors, their families and loved ones. Thank you for sharing your stories and paving the way for change. I say to you: we are sorry, we believe you and we will do better.
Here is the full apology speech delivered in October 2018 by the then prime minister, Scott Morrison:
Minns says Thorpe protest was ‘grossly disrespectful’
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has said Lidia Thorpe’s protest against King Charles yesterday was “grossly disrespectful”.
As AAP reports, Minns is set to host a community barbecue for the royal couple today. He told 2GB radio:
Everything that particular senator does seems to revolve around herself, as if she’s attempting to make herself, that senator, the focus of all attention.
Macquarie comes in last in climate strategies rankings for Australia’s big five banks
A report from the Australian Conservation Foundation has ranked Macquarie Bank last when it comes to the climate strategies of Australia’s five biggest banks.
Out of 100, Macquarie scored 50.19. ANZ was only slightly above at 50.85, and next in line were NAB (58.1), CommBank (57.86) and Westpac (61.85).
Some of the report’s key findings included:
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All major banks lacked clear policies to end support for new oil and gas projects.
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Banks are beginning to close loopholes on fossil fuel lending by restricting bonds facilitation for polluting projects.
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Banks are starting to align executive remuneration with climate change metrics.
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CommBank, NAB, Westpac and ANZ have all set some form of requirement for fossil-fuel intensive companies to implement a transition plan by 2025, but details on how the plans will be assessed remain unclear.
Jonathan Moylan, ACF’s corporate campaigner and a co-author of the report, said there has been progress across the sector but “it needs to accelerate rapidly to spur on the decarbonisation of our economy that’s needed to address the climate crisis”:
The majority of progress made by banks this year was due to the tightening of lending policies to environmentally harmful industries, but bank lending policies remain the area requiring the most action for banks to meet their net zero commitments.
More reactions to Thorpe
AAP has more reactions to Lidia Thorpe’s comments at King Charles’ parliamentary reception yesterday.
Labor government minister Amanda Rishworth told the Today program Senator Thorpe’s actions were “pretty disrespectful and not just to the King, but to the many great Australians that had gathered in the Great Hall”:
We’re pretty shocked and didn’t quite understand why this was going on, so it was very disrespectful. But it didn’t put a dampener on … the very positive rest of the welcome ceremony, which I think was really very positive.
Nationals MP Bridget McKenzie said she was appalled and told Nine:
If you’re not a fan of King Charles and Queen Camilla, don’t accept the prime minister’s invitation.
As we flagged earlier, the federal opposition is considering raising a censure motion against Thorpe in the upper house when it next sits on 8 November.
Statue of Queen Victoria reportedly vandalised in Sydney CBD
A statue of Queen Victoria in the Sydney CBD has reportedly been vandalised with red paint.
NSW police said it was called to reports the statue had been vandalised about 5.30am today, with a crime scene established and investigation commenced.
A photo sent to 2GB shows streaks of red paint across the base of the statue.
Anyone with information was urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Wine Australia says exports have increased by 34% in value
Wine Australia says Australian wine exports have increased by 34% in value to $2.39bn in the 12 months to September.
China dropped tariffs on Australian wine in March, and the latest levels of shipment by both volume and value are the highest since the 12 months ending August 2021, Wine Australia said.
The value of shipments to mainland China increased by $604m to $612m, while volume increased by 58m litres to 59m litres.
Wine Australia’s manager of market insights, Peter Bailey, said:
While the export figures to mainland China are very positive, the impact on total export value is much larger than volume due to the premium price point of most wine entering the market. As such, this increase is unlikely to reduce the oversupply of red winegrapes in the warm inland regions … Export levels are not equivalent to retail figures, and it will take time before it is evident how Chinese consumers are reacting to having Australian wine back in market.
Josh Butler
Birmingham argues Thorpe would ‘revel in being censured’
While there is discussion this morning about whether the parliament may censure Lidia Thorpe after her interruption of the reception for King Charles, the Coalition’s Senate leader is already hosing down the prospect.
Simon Birmingham, the shadow foreign minister, said this morning at a doorstop:
One of the problems is Lidia Thorpe would probably revel in being censured by the Senate.
And so, we’ve got to think carefully about how we respond to this in ways that try to prevent such behaviour in the future, but don’t give her the oxygen that she so desires for these types of antics.
Birmingham is the opposition leader in the Senate, where Thorpe sits, so his comments go some way to the Coalition’s position on this issue.
Clare O’Neil, the housing minister, was asked on Radio National earlier whether the government would support a censure. She would only say that they wanted to “see what the Liberals come forward with specifically”.
Dutton says Thorpe should ‘resign in principle’
Josh Butler
As we mentioned earlier, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has said Lidia Thorpe should “resign in principle”, calling her interjection at the parliamentary reception for King Charles and Queen Camilla “predictable”. Dutton said on Sunrise this morning:
I think there’s a very strong argument for somebody who doesn’t believe in the system, but is willing to take a quarter of a million dollars a year from the system, to resign in principle.
If you were really truly about your cause and not just about yourself, then I think that’s a decision that you would make.
The Nine newspapers reported this morning some Liberal politicians are considering whether to seek a censure of Thorpe in parliament.
On Radio National, as we brought you earlier, Thorpe claimed “every time I see him [Dutton] in Parliament he walks in the opposite direction, so he never wants to sit down and have a conversation”.
The opposition leader went on to criticise Thorpe’s interruption in his Sunrise spot:
My reaction was that, ‘here we go again’. It was entirely predictable, all about herself. It doesn’t advance any cause that she’s interested in. It’s really just a self-promotion thing, which is why I don’t think we should give it any attention. Unfortunately, it overshadowed what I think’s been a very successful visit so far. I think it was disrespectful, and most Australians dismiss it on that basis.
Watch: the moment Lidia Thorpe was sworn in as senator
As we reported earlier, Nova Peris, the first Aboriginal woman in the Australian parliament, has criticised Lidia Thorpe’s actions at King Charles’ parliamentary reception yesterday.
Novis pointed to Thorpe affirming allegiance to the Crown and said if she “was not on board with this, she should not have accepted her position and made her affirmation in the first place”.
When Thorpe was sworn in, in August 2022, she was told to repeat the oath of allegiance after she initially described the Queen as a coloniser.
Speaking to ABC RN this morning (see earlier post), Thorpe said she had sworn allegiance “under duress” and it was “a very, very difficult thing to do as a Blak, sovereign woman.”
However, I was told that if I didn’t do it, I couldn’t be a senator to bring Blak issues into this space and around the world…
You can watch the moment Thorpe was first sworn in as a senator below:
Great Western Highway closed at St Marys after fatal Sydney crash
NSW police have declared a critical incident after a fatal car crash in western Sydney early this morning.
About 4am, two officers in marked vehicles saw a dark-grey Holden Insignia sedan stopped. Police stopped near the sedan when the driver allegedly accelerated towards the Great Western Highway and police lost sight of it.
Police followed and found the sedan had hit a silver Toyota Corolla hatchback. Police allege the driver of the sedan fled the scene on foot.
The driver of the hatchback – who is yet to be formally identified, but is believed to be in his 40s – died at the scene.
A 43-year-old man, alleged to be the driver of the sedan, was arrested a short time later and taken to Nepean hospital under police guard for mandatory testing.
A crime scene has been established and a critical incident team is investigating. The investigation is also subject to an independent review. Anyone with dashcam footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
The Great Western Highway is closed in both directions at St Marys, between Glossop Street and Sydney Street.
Government announces $7bn missile acquisition deal with the US
The Albanese government has announced a $7bn agreement with the United States to acquire long-range missiles, aimed at bolstering Australia’s air and missile defence.
The acquisition of the Standard Missile 2 Block IIIC (SM-2 IIIC) and Standard Missile‑6 (SM-6) is a “significant milestone” in the government’s progress in boosting long-range capability, a media release from the defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, said.
The missiles will be progressively deployed across the Navy’s Hobart-class destroyers and in the future, the Hunter-class frigates, the statement said.
Conroy said Australia is facing “the most complex geostrategic environment since the second world war” and the acquisition was about “moving fast to keep Australians safe, deter any adversary, and defend Australia’s national interests in the missile age”:
Australia was the first country, other than the United States, to fire the SM-6 missile, underscoring the strength of our alliance.
‘Delay-mongers have latched onto nuclear power,’ climate authority head Kean says
Peter Hannam
Matt Kean, the new chair of the Climate Change Authority, has told the AFR’s energy conference in Sydney that “we simply can’t afford to wait” for energy breakthroughs over the horizon as coal is phased out of the grid.
Kean, a former NSW energy minister, took particular aim at nuclear energy, a policy being advocated by his erstwhile federal Coalition counterparts, dubbing it an “illiberal drive in a market-led energy transition [that] has been elevated from internet chatrooms and lobby groups to the national stage”.
“The delay-mongers have latched on to nuclear power, despite the overwhelming evidence that [it] could drive up energy bills and can only be more expensive” with no aid for the present cost-of-living crisis, he said.
I suspect that even those arguing for nuclear don’t believe that we’ll ever build one of these reactors in Australia, and certainly not in time to help manage the exit of coal from the system.
Perhaps the biggest cost of nuclear is time. It is precious time that neither our economy or our environment can afford.
Those pushing the technology were really trying to “squeeze out profits” from their existing energy assets, he said, referring particularly to coal, it would seem.
Ted O’Brien, the federal opposition’s energy minister, will speak at the conference in about an hour, and presumably won’t welcome Kean’s warmup speech.
On the issue of when the authority will deliver its advice to the government on what Australia’s 2035 targets should be, Kean would not be drawn on whether they are likely to be this side of the federal elections. (It’s likely they will be after the polls, if this correspondent were to put down a wager.)
Thorpe apologises for now-deleted social media post from staffer
Late last night, independent senator Lidia Thorpe apologised for a now-deleted social media post, depicting a carton King Charles being beheaded.
It was posted without her knowledge to her Instagram story by a staff member, and promptly deleted as soon as she saw it, Thorpe said.
An apology on her Instagram story reads:
Earlier tonight, without my knowledge, one of my staff shared an image to my Instagram stories created by another account. I deleted it as soon as I saw. I would not intentionally share anything that could be seen to encourage violence against anyone. That’s not what I’m about.
Communities in far west NSW facing prolonged power outage
Communities in far west NSW are being urged to prepare for a prolonged power outage, after a backup generator tripped yesterday afternoon.
A severe storm rolled through the area last week, flattening transmission towers and leaving thousands without power or running on diesel generators.
The NSW DCCEEW (Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water) said crews worked through the night to investigate a fault with the generator, with repairs expected to continue today:
Additional generators will arrive in Broken Hill today, and teams from Transgrid and Essential Energy will work to safely connect them to the network. More generators are also on their way to provide additional back-up supply, while emergency work continues to rebuild the transmission network damaged in severe storms.
Six public schools are closed amid the power outages, including:
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Alma public school
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Broken Hill public school
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Burke Ward public school
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Morgan Street public school
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Railway Town public school
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School of the Air
Drone footage of the area where a short burst of high-speed winds and heavy hail battered an area south of Broken Hill. Transgrid says it could take weeks for repairs to be completed, and the region will run on generators in the meantime. 📹@billormonde_2 pic.twitter.com/A4hUjr5Mty
— Sarah McConnell (@SarahJMcConnell) October 17, 2024
