‘She’s not correct’: Littleproud contradicts deputy on nuclear vetos from community
Karen Middleton
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has contradicted his deputy’s claim that any unhappy communities earmarked for nuclear reactors under the Coalition’s energy policy would be able to veto their selection.
Littleproud told the ABC on Wednesday afternoon that his deputy, Senator Perin Davey, was wrong to suggest a future Coalition government would not proceed with planned reactors at sites where the locals objected.
“No, she’s not correct,” Littleproud said.
He said there would be consultation but no negotiation because “Peter Dutton and David Littleproud, as part of a coalition government” were “prepared to make the tough decision in the national interest”.
He continued:
We’re going to consult and we’re going to give plenty of time and that’s why we announced it today - to have two-and-a-half years to work through this, and in fact a little bit more than that, to be able to work through this with these communities, to make sure that we can ease the burden and design local solutions about not just the infrastructure but the opportunities that flow from it, not just from jobs but attracting industry.
But ultimately we need strong leadership in this country, to have the courage of its convictions, to follow through and to make the tough calls in the national interest.
Earlier on Wednesday, Davey told Sky News that the proposed reactors would only go ahead where communities were not agreeable.
“If the community is absolutely adamant, we will not proceed,” she said.
The seven sites named are the locations of current coal-fired power stations: Liddell and Mount Piper in New South Wales; Loy Yang in Victoria; Callide and Torang in Queensland; Collie in Western Australia; and Port Augusta in South Australia.
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has contradicted his deputy’s claim that any unhappy communities earmarked for nuclear reactors under the Coalition’s energy policy would be able to veto their selection.
Woman shot dead and police searching for man in Mackay
We’ve now got more information on the situation unfolding in Mackay.
A woman has been fatally shot and officers are searching for a man allegedly involved in the shooting incident, police say.
Police were called to Robb Place in Mackay shortly after 4.30pm to respond to reports a woman had been shot. Upon arrival, police found a deceased woman and a man with non-life threatening injuries to his hand.
An emergency situation was declared in the area about 5.20pm.
Members of the public have been told to avoid the area – which encompasses Robb Place, Paradise Street, Archibald Street, Kindermar Street and Denton Street – and residents have been advised to stay indoors.
The police operation is continuing while they search for a man allegedly involved in the shooting incident:
Police wish to thank affected residents for their patience and understanding while this matter is ongoing.
Emergency incident unfolding in Mackay as residents told to stay indoors
Queensland police have declared an emergency in relation to an incident unfolding in Mackay.
The force haven’t yet released information on the cause for the emergency, but here’s the information they’ve released so far:
Emergency services were called just after 4.30pm to the Robb Place address.
An emergency situation was declared at approximately 5.20pm, with boundaries encompassing Robb Place, Paradise Street, Archibald Street, Kindermar Street and Denton Street.
Members of the public are advised to avoid the area and those within the exclusion zone are asked to remain indoors until further notice.
Traffic diversions are in place.
Police have made an emergency declaration under the Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA) in relation to an incident taking place at South Mackay.
Bruce Lehrmann knew Brittany Higgins did not consent to sex, Lisa Wilkinson’s lawyers tell court
Bruce Lehrmann was not “indifferent” to Brittany Higgins consenting to sexual intercourse, but instead knew she was not consenting, Lisa Wilkinson’s lawyers have told the federal court in fresh arguments ahead of the former Liberal staffer’s defamation case appeal.
In April JusticeMichael Lee found the former Liberal staffer was not defamed by Wilkinson and Ten when The Project broadcast an interview with Higgins on Monday 15 February 2021 in which she alleged she was raped in Parliament House.
Earlier this month Lehrmann filed an appeal claiming that he was denied procedural fairness by the judge who rejected his defamation case against Network Ten and Wilkinson.
In new arguments filed on Wednesday, Wilkinson’s lawyers said Lee was correct when he found Higgins was so heavily intoxicated and passive she was “like a log”.
'I won't be negotiating': Victorian premier vows to stop Dutton's nuclear plan
Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, has told Peter Dutton that if the Coalition wins the next election she will do everything in her power to stop the party’s nuclear energy plan.
In a letter to the opposition leader, Allan wrote:
You say you will negotiate with the states. I won’t be negotiating.
I won’t allow a lurch backwards to nuclear power that sends bills skyrocketing, nor will I allow the Latrobe Valley to become your dumping ground.
‘She’s not correct’: Littleproud contradicts deputy on nuclear vetos from community
Karen Middleton
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has contradicted his deputy’s claim that any unhappy communities earmarked for nuclear reactors under the Coalition’s energy policy would be able to veto their selection.
Littleproud told the ABC on Wednesday afternoon that his deputy, Senator Perin Davey, was wrong to suggest a future Coalition government would not proceed with planned reactors at sites where the locals objected.
“No, she’s not correct,” Littleproud said.
He said there would be consultation but no negotiation because “Peter Dutton and David Littleproud, as part of a coalition government” were “prepared to make the tough decision in the national interest”.
He continued:
We’re going to consult and we’re going to give plenty of time and that’s why we announced it today - to have two-and-a-half years to work through this, and in fact a little bit more than that, to be able to work through this with these communities, to make sure that we can ease the burden and design local solutions about not just the infrastructure but the opportunities that flow from it, not just from jobs but attracting industry.
But ultimately we need strong leadership in this country, to have the courage of its convictions, to follow through and to make the tough calls in the national interest.
Earlier on Wednesday, Davey told Sky News that the proposed reactors would only go ahead where communities were not agreeable.
“If the community is absolutely adamant, we will not proceed,” she said.
The seven sites named are the locations of current coal-fired power stations: Liddell and Mount Piper in New South Wales; Loy Yang in Victoria; Callide and Torang in Queensland; Collie in Western Australia; and Port Augusta in South Australia.
Tucker Carlson kicks off Australian tour with press conference at Clive Palmer's mansion
Andrew Messenger
Tucker Carlson has kicked off a speaking tour of Australia with a press conference at Clive Palmer’s gigantic Brisbane mansion home in which the former Fox News host urged one journalist to hop the border at “Tijuana” to vote Republican, called another reporter a liar, and finished by imitating smelling a koala.
Former Fox News commentator Tucker Carlson. Photograph: Marco Bello/Reuters
He also compared Australia’s vaccine mandates to Nazi Germany and said he would make a “big effort to vote for” Donald Trump in November because his fraud convictions were part of a conspiracy to “take out” the former president.
Palmer’s company Mineralogy is bankrolling the 10-day “Australian freedom conference” speaking tour.
Their first event kicks off in Cairns this week, before they head to Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Melbourne. They’ll also be joined by Queensland GP Melissa McCann, who launched a lawsuit over Covid-19 vaccines and former Republican political adviser Dinesh D’Souza, who was incarcerated for making illegal campaign donations before being pardoned by Donald Trump.
Carlson was asked about a 1999 comment that Trump was “most repulsive person on the planet” by a reporter from channel nine. He had earlier asked about a private texts by Carlson criticising the president which were released in a lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems.
“Is your point and of course these are not questions and I’ve been around and in your profession my whole life – I think I’m older than you,” he said.
He then made the reporter tell him his age before continuing:
I understand what you’re trying to say, which is that I actually secretly hate Trump but I’m pretending to like him for the money or something … but you don’t have the balls to actually say it. I get how this works.
I’ll tell you exactly how I do feel, which is frustrated with Trump at times over the wall, affectionate for Trump, personally, always have been.
But more than anything grateful for what Trump has done which is to reveal whose lying – you, but many other people other than just you, it shows sort of like who’s on the side of entrenched power – in you and many like you – and who isn’t.
Carlson later demanded the same journalist tell whether he had spoken out when governments “put people in camps” during the pandemic.
He said another Australian journalist should enrol to vote illegally in the US to cast a ballot for the Republicans:
I’m voting against what they’re doing to my system. And I would urge all people to do the same – including you by the way. You could sneak over our border from Tijuana right now … and vote against this garbage.
He later told the press conference he “sniffed a Koala this morning”.
“I didn’t just touch it and run my hands through its luxurious fur but I went like that and inhaled its musky odour,” he said, while imitating holding the marsupial to his face.
“That was a lifelong dream for me.
“It’s not a big deal to you guys; you’ve sniffled a million koalas, but I never have.”
Nuclear plan would make power more expensive: SA premier
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, says nuclear power is safe and has “an important role to play in the global energy mix as we pursue a decarbonised future”. But, he says, the question is whether it’s economical:
And what we know is that from report after report is that in the Australian context, it will make power more expensive. So why on Earth would we pursue it?
Malinauskas says it’s also “normal” to announce the cost of policies, which the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, failed to do:
That means one of two things. Either Peter Dutton knows how much it’s going to cost and he’s refusing to tell people. Or, he’s making a massive policy commitment without knowing how much it’s going to cost. Either way, it’s an extraordinary position.
Dutton’s nuclear plan makes ‘absolutely no sense’: WA energy minister
Tory Shepherd
Western Australia’s energy, environment and climate action minister, Reece Whitby, says opposition leader Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan makes “absolutely no sense to Australia, and particularly to WA”. It would lead to “massive, massive increases in power bills”, he said.
Whitby said building a nuclear power industry would be hugely expensive and take a long time, and that WA had plentiful renewable resources in the meantime. He said:
In Australia you have no legislative or regulatory landscape or infrastructure for nuclear, you have no workforce. It’s going to take a long, long time – I think at least 20 years or more – and we don’t have time to waste. This is the worst possible case you can imagine. Peter Dutton, I think, is lacking courage … he must know this is a crazy plan. He must know that it won’t work.
Nuclear energy was a “unicorn that will never arrive” and a way for coal supporters to keep the coal industry going, Whitby said.
Pawnbrokers are increasing the hardship of highly vulnerable consumers and are poorly regulated by governments, according to new research by Melbourne Law School.
Lead researcher and post-doctoral fellow Dr Lucie O’Brien said they found pawn lenders can charge extremely high interest rates – sometimes the interest on a short term loan can be equivalent to 420% a year:
We surveyed 1,472 consumers, including 582 who had used pawn loans, along with others who had used payday loans and Buy Now Pay Later products.
We found that pawn loan users were the most vulnerable group – the most likely to earn less than $25,000 a year, the least likely to own their own homes or hold credit cards, and the most likely to rely on social security.
Consumers who can’t repay their loans often lose their belongings for good, having borrowed only a fraction of their market value.
For many of those surveyed by Melbourne Law School, pawn loans made their financial problems worse, she said.
Some had to borrow from friends or family. Some said they had gone without or cut back on essentials. Others had been forced to sell a personal possession as a direct result of taking out a pawn loan.
Victoria premier shuts down nuclear in question time
The premier, Jacinta Allan, is the final member of the government to speak in question time – and you guessed it – she has reiterated her opposition to the federal opposition’s nuclear energy plan for Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, in the centre of the state’s Gippsland region. She says:
Gippsland is one of the most beautiful regions across our state. Not only that, it also produces some of the finest produce that you’ll find anywhere around the world – good milk, cheese, award-winning wine, some of the best beef and lamb you will find. But this morning, speaker, we’ve heard that there’s something else that is potentially going to be added to the list of things that are produced in Gippsland, and that is nuclear waste … There are some that want to dump not only toxic and risky nuclear sites into Gippsland, speaker, they also want to see the results that will affect households and businesses across the state, with prices skyrocketing.
She said as long as Labor were in government they would oppose nuclear energy – and criticised the state opposition for not doing the same:
We will stand up for the Gippsland community and say no to the federal Liberal National party’s plan to bring toxic, risky, expensive nuclear power to Gippsland … But there are some who are refusing to rule out building a nuclear plant in our state. There are some who we know have a secret plan … to join arm in arm with their federal Liberal National colleagues to support this nuclear plan but we will stand with Gippsland.
Coalition’s nuclear policy a ‘distraction’: mining union
The Mining and Energy Union, which is more open to nuclear energy than other unions, has said it is disappointed the Coalition announced its nuclear policy without consulting coal power regions.
In a statement on Wednesday, the union’s general secretary, Grahame Kelly, said the Coalition’s plan was a “distraction”.
“We need to be acting to deliver an orderly transition that focuses on jobs, economic activity in affected regions and positive social outcomes for affected workers while we still have the chance. We are also disappointed the Coalition has announced this policy with no consultation with these coal power regions about whether they want a nuclear future.”
Kelly pointed out the “clock is ticking” on several coal power stations the Coalition is proposing to convert to nuclear power stations will close in the next five years – such as the Collie power station in Western Australia in 2027 or Callide power station in Central Queensland in 2028 – years before the opposition says the first nuclear power plant will come online.
“Power stations in the proposed sites for nuclear would be long closed before the plants would become operational, and if no support is provided, those workers and communities will have already packed up their lives and moved on.”
The Smart Energy Council says the Coalition’s nuclear plan threatens the renewables rollout and investment in Australia, calling the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, a “vandal” for the policy.
The group, which advocates for clean energy programs and companies, said the nuclear plan now injected uncertainty into the Australian market, at a time when renewables projects are searching for investors to back them. Smart Energy Council CEO, John Grimes, warned Australians may have to pay more for their energy, and that nuclear power would not be cheaper.
Grimes told a press conference today:
Peter Dutton is a climate investor vandal. These announcements today already have a material impact on Australia’s rateability as a destination for investment in the transition. Australians today will start paying more because of this vandalism, and this absolute nuclear fantasy.
Grimes pointed to the recent CSIRO GenCost report which stated nuclear power was more expensive than renewables – contradicting Dutton’s claims today that nuclear power would be cheaper.
Grimes also pointed out that some of the sites pencilled in by Dutton for a nuclear plant have already outlined their own plans to house renewables projects like solar manufacturing – and that the nuclear plan created uncertainty for those plans.
Grimes said:
The power companies know that the game is up for coal, coal is done and dusted … that’s why those plants have put in large energy storage facilities, big batteries, because we’ve got permanent solar and wind across the network.
The sovereign risk in this announcement today is staggering. The lack of engagement with the market and with competition is unbelievable, coming from the leader of the conservative side of politics. The damage done to jobs, but more importantly, the increased power bills that ordinary Australians will pay. This is unacceptable and has to be ruled out.
Nuclear ‘not part of our plan’: QLD opposition leader
The Queensland opposition leader, David Crisafulli, has told cameras nuclear is “not part of our plan” 10 times in a Townsville press conference.
Federal Liberal leader – and fellow Queenslander – Peter Dutton announced plans for two nuclear plants in the state.
Queensland opposition leader David Crisafulli. Photograph: Darren England/AAP
Crisafulli said he hadn’t had any recent conversations with his commonwealth counterpart about the policy “but Peter knows my position on it … it’s not part of our plan”.
He said:
I want Queenslanders to know we’ve been consistent throughout this, it’s not part of our plan; Queenslanders need to know that we’re focused on the issues they’re talking to us about.
I understand that’ll be a debate in Canberra, that’s where it should be.
Queensland has state legislation banning nuclear power generation and connection. Yesterday, Crisafulli ruled out repealing the legislation even if presented a nuclear project that stacked up.
He said the state party had its own plan mapped out for energy, with the first priority being to reopen the Callide coal fired power station that blew up in 2021.
Dutton announced that one of the seven nuclear plants he plans to build by 2035 would be constructed at Callide.
