Federal politics live: Bowen has 'egg on face' after AEMO warning, Tehan says

The Greens are pushing for a 25 per cent tax to be applied to gas exporters in a bid to funnel more gas into domestic supply. 

“We don’t have a gas shortage, we have a gas export problem,” spokesperson Steph Hodgins-May told reporters in Canberra.

“It is appalling that successive governments have overseen a tripling of gas prices since gas exports began.”

The call for a 25 per cent tax had been floated by the ACTU and Australia Institute. It would replace the petroleum resource rent tax, which the Greens say is “deeply flawed” and has “failed to collect meaningful revenue”.

“So this 25 per cent tax on gas exports will really ensure that money is going towards compensating families within Australia and helping to fund a just transition,” Hodgins-May said.

The federal government is about to unveil a sweeping overhaul of the defence department as it struggles to fight cost blowouts and major project delays while ramping up spending on the military.

The government has long flagged the restructure, with the Defence Minister Richard Marles criticising the department’s performance in June, declaring “everything was on the table” when it came to reform.

The ABC has confirmed that three groups within Defence — the Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group, the Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Group and the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Group — are set to be rolled into one entity.

It’s not yet clear if any senior defence department officials and ADF top brass will be axed, or whether positions will be abolished through natural attrition because of the restructure.

But the government has repeatedly made it clear that it wants more “accountability” from top Defence officials when it comes to delivering sophisticated military capabilities and platforms, with Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy flagging last week the government would make new announcements “shortly.”

In June, Marles bemoaned that there were “28 different projects running a combined 97 years over time” when Labor first came to office.

“Now that did represent a failure of leadership on the part of the former Coalition in government, but it also says something about the challenge which is in front of us now to ensure that the Defence establishment is fit for purpose to achieve this delivery outcome,” he said.

Defence currently has a budget of almost $60 billion a year but that figure is set to rise to around $100 billion annually by 2034 as China continues to rapidly build up its military and the Trump administration presses allies like Australia to ramp up defence spending.

Environment Minister Murray Watt says the Commonwealth will work closely with state and territory governments to ensure there is “full and reliable” electricity supply.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has warned that Australia’s energy grid isn’t ready for the closure of the Eraring coal power station.

But Watt says coal power is reaching the end of its life in Australia and will need to be replaced by renewable energy. 

“There has been no private company willing to build a new coal-fired power station in this country for decades. And that’s because they know it’s a far more expensive way to provide power than building renewables,” Watt says.

Environment Minister Murray Watt has stepped up in Tasmania to assure locals on the apple isle that its forestry industry won’t be impacted by overhauled environment laws passed last week.

The federal government struck a deal with the Greens to pass new environmental protection laws last week, agreeing to protect “high-risk land clearing” in exchange for the minor party’s support.

Under the new laws, Regional Forestry Agreements, or RFAs, will have to comply with national standards, rather than state and territory guidelines.

Labor also introduced a $300 million forestry growth fund to help the industry transition over the next 18 months.

The environment minister says the federal government is not getting rid of the RFAs.

“What the legislation says it just like every other industry in Australia, the RFAs will need to meet the new national environmental standards and that the arrangements for the RFAs will become accredited by the federal government,” Watt says.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley says the Coalition is willing to work constructively with the government on safety in childcare centres.

The federal government hasn’t ruled out ordering an independent review of national childcare standards after revelations of abuse in the sector.

Ley says the Coalition wants to see working with children checks in place and childcare centres held accountable for their workforce.

“We will work with you constructively to get this right. We stand ready to do that, but we are watching closely and we will not take a backward step when it comes to the safety of our children in childcare settings,” Ley says.

The opposition leader has been asked whether she would support extending the life of the Eraring coal-fired power station.

Sussan Ley has hinted she’s open to it, saying Coalition supports a “technology agnostic approach”, and that “baseload power” is needed in the system.

She’s taken a hit at Energy Minister Chris Bowen who has been appointed COP31 president.

“Unfortunately the part time energy minister running a part time energy grid has not recognised the realities. He’s planning his international year long tour as the COP31 president,” Ley says.

“There are two things at stake here. One is cost, which is escalating, the other is reliability. And neither of those has been properly recognised by this part time energy minister,” she says.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has stepped up for a press conference in Somerville, on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula to spurik the Coalition’s energy policy and discuss power costs.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has warned that Australia’s energy grid isn’t ready for the closure of the Eraring coal power station.

Ley says the energy market operator has warned about the possibility of blackouts.

“What is very clear now is that this government’s energy policy has not recognised that you need baseload generation in the system for as long as it takes to transition to affordable, renewable alternatives. And that’s just not happening,” Ley says.

Last year’s rapid review into how to prevent violence against women and children recommended states and territories urgently look at changing alcohol regulations.

Specifically, things like mandating a delay of two hours between ordering alcohol online and when it is delivered to the home.

But advocates, including one of the rapid review’s own panel members, have criticised most states and territories for not following through on their promises around preventing alcohol-related harm.

Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek says while some jurisdictions — the ACT and South Australia — are moving in the right direction, others like the Northern Territory and Tasmania have taken “concerning steps backwards” since last year’s review.

“I’d say the Northern Territory, in particular, making alcohol cheaper and available in areas where there currently aren’t liquor licenses, I would say that’s a really concerning step backwards,” she said.

The Tasmanian government is currently overhauling its liquor licensing system, which Premier Jeremy Rockliff says is focused on “cutting red tape”.

Plibersek is urging her state and territory counterparts to “take this issue seriously” on how alcohol accelerates violence against women and children.

“Any common sense and all of the research tell us alcohol doesn’t cause domestic violence, but it can contribute to and exacerbate domestic, family and sexual violence.”

It is hard to imagine a better end to the prime minister’s year than this one.

2025 was punctuated by a thumping election victory, an implosion of his main political rivals, the Coalition, and at the end, a pivotal piece of legislation clearing parliament by the deadline he set himself.

To cap off the year, Albanese had a spectacular, fairytale wedding in his main residence over the weekend. And it’s important to put that wedding into context. A wedding like that can only be held if a political leader is at the peak of their power. The idea that this wedding was held with no evaluation of its political ramifications is fanciful.

Read more of this analysis at the link below. 

Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan has seized on warnings about potential blackouts, arguing that it’s an example of how the energy “transition is failing”.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has warned the energy grid is not ready for the closure of the Eraring coal plant in the NSW Hunter Valley.

”Chris Bowen has completely ended up with egg on his face. His transition is failing,” Tehan told Sky News.

“He’s wanted coal out of the system as quickly as he possibly could get it, and now we find out that we actually are going to need coal for longer.”

AEMO warned that while there were enough renewables in the pipeline to cover its closure, supporting infrastructure to keep the grid stable is not expected to be ready.

Tehan said he doubted the infrastructure would be “ready in time”.

Housing prices continue to climb across the country but the pace of growth is easing slightly as the Sydney and Melbourne markets lag the mid-sized capital cities.

Cotality’s monthly Home Value Index increased 1 per cent nationally in November, the third month in a row of values rising by 1 per cent or more.

Greens senator Barbara Pocock told ABC’s News Breakfast Labor’s 5 per cent deposit scheme for new homebuyers is “feeding the beast”.

“It really is a scary circumstance and I think a lot of Australians will be sharing my alarm at the third month in a row … of more than 1 per cent increases,” she said.

“That is really rapid increase of house prices out there.

“In a situation where supply is limited, where we’ve got big tax breaks for investors, what we’ve got Saturday morning, in every city and many regional towns as well, wealthy property owner who can own many investment properties alongside that first home buyer trying to get into the market and it’s just not fair.”

Artificial intelligence developers have been told they should “watermark” content so that people can clearly tell it is AI-generated, as the government seeks to address concerns the technology is being used to mislead and harm Australians.

There is no legal requirement to identify content as AI-generated, which has allowed generated content to be confused as real, known as deepfaking.

In guidance to developers and content creators, the federal government has advised that AI content should be “clearly identifiable” by including labels that note content is AI-generated or embedding information to trace the origins of content — a process known as watermarking, which is more difficult to manipulate or remove than labels.

Read more of this report by Jake Evans at the link below. 

Internet-connected cars are being weaponised for abuse by perpetrators of family and domestic violence, prompting calls for manufacturers to embed more safety features in their systems.

There has been a surge in reports from frontline service providers in Australia of coercive control through smart cars linked to apps and cloud accounts that can show the vehicle’s location, start the engine, lock or unlock and send alerts.

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant says she’s concerned cars could be turned into “weapons on wheels”.

“We’ve found over the years that predators have countless creative ways to misuse technology, often the technologies [we] rely on every day,” she told ABC News Breakfast. 

“I think sometimes we don’t expect it because often we use our car as a form of independence, as a form of solace, or even as an  escape.”

The energy grid is not ready for the closure of the Eraring coal plant, the energy operator has warned, raising the threat of widespread blackouts in eastern Australia.

The Hunter Valley coal plant’s life had already been extended from a planned closure of 2025 to 2027, at a cost to taxpayers of up to $225 million a year.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has warned, however, that while there are enough renewables in the pipeline to cover its closure, supporting infrastructure to keep the grid stableis not expected to be ready.

”Coal-fired power stations are retiring, and this is not new news. Ten have retired since 2012, and the remaining fleet are getting old,” AEMO chief executive Daniel Westerman told ABC’s AM.

“[And] there are 4 million homes out there with rooftop solar that have been the driving force of the energy transition. Sometimes the flood of that power from rooftops can create a bit of a challenge for how the system operates.

“We need to make sure that the grid has a steady heartbeat.”

Shadow Resources Minister Susan McDonald has denied the opposition sent mixed messages amid negotiations on the government’s environment reforms.

The government had opened the door to either the Coalition or the Greens, but struck a deal to pass the laws with the minor party after Environment Minister Murray Watt described the opposition as a “shambles”.

Speaking with ABC Radio National Breakfast, McDonald said that wasn’t the case.

“I can guarantee there was no mixed messaging,” the senator said.

“We had a very short but important list of changes, that we believe needed to be made to ensure that this legislation was not about just making it a ‘law-fare’ and a law-feast, rather than about actually improving the straight line for mining companies, for farming families, for environmental groups to be able to simply and easily navigate our environmental laws to get better outcomes.”

More on that pay rise for early childhood educators. An additional 5 per cent boost, on top of the 10 per cent added last December, will flow into workers’ pay packets from today.

Pay and conditions were highlighted in a pair of reviews by the ACCC and the Productivity Commission, with low wages flagged as a reason for turnover in the sector.

Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh said the workforce had been “underpaid and undervalued for far too long”.

“When we took office, that meant that early educators were leaving the sector in droves. We wanted to see a strong, stable workforce to deliver quality early education, and that’s why we’ve committed to this pay rise,” she told ABC’s Radio National Breakfast. 

The government says the pay boost will put an extra $160 per week in educators’ pockets.

“When combined with our support for minimum wage rises, this means wages are up by $200 per week for a typical full-time ECEC educator and $316 per week for an early childhood teacher compared to the award rates a year ago,” Labor said in a release.

The government hasn’t ruled out ordering an independent review of national childcare standards after the ABC exposed cases of abuse, neglect and injury within the sector.

An independent review was a recommendation of the Productivity Commission’s report, A pathway to universal childhood education and care, handed down last year.

Speaking with ABC Radio National, Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh says the review is “something that could happen in the future”, but stopped short of offering support for any such review.

Instead, she said the government was focused on “urgent actions” to strengthen the sector, such as an increase in workers’ pay.

Asked why the government was moving with urgency on childcare deserts and changes to the activity test but not on an independent review, Walsh said:

“We’re investing in mandatory child-safe training for our educators. We’re developing the first-ever register of early childhood educators. We are providing more information to parents. We’re strengthening the penalties. We’re improving the regulation of the sector. So we’re focused on the urgent actions to keep children safe.”

Migration is shaping up to be the next policy battleground for the Coalition, as the opposition promises to outline some of their pitch ahead of Christmas.

Over the weekend, the opposition flagged it was mulling over whether to adopt tougher values and language tests for aspiring migrants as part of their policy.

Speaking with Nine this morning, deputy Liberal leader Ted O’Brien said there was an “enormous common ground” to get the proposal right.

“There’s almost like there is this unwritten compact in Australia. Australians are very welcoming, especially of new Australians, but once a government loses control of the borders in any shape or form, Australians fold their arms and say, ‘Hang on, get your act in order here,’ and that’s what is happening now,” he said.

O’Brien dismissed the suggestion voters could struggle to have confidence in the Coalition after the protracted saga it went through before ditching net zero.

“Australians can have confidence because we get it right. That’s why we have these debates,” he said.

A warning about the future of Origin Energy’s Eraring plant has Barnaby Joyce insisting the previous Coalition government should have built more coal-fired power stations.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has reportedly warned that the east coast could face a heightened blackout risk if equipment to keep the grid secure is not installed in time for Eraring’s closure in 2027.

Joyce, who twice served as the nation’s deputy prime minister, said it was a “mistake” not to have built more coal-fired power stations when the Coalition was last in government.

“We should be building new coal-fired power stations. I can say that now,” he said.

He argued that the private sector would be interested in building the plants but only if Labor removed the safeguard mechanism.

The federal early childhood education minister won’t say whether the government will establish an independent review of childcare standards, despite concerns that sexual predators have infiltrated the system.

Jess Walsh refused to say if there would be an independent review as recommended by the Productivity Commission, despite being repeatedly asked in an interview with the ABC.

“When it comes to new bodies or new inquiries or new commissions, we are really focused on doing the work today to strengthen our system,” she said.

The Productivity Commission recommended an independent review of national childcare standards, which covers child safety, governance and rules around quality assessments, among other issues.

Earlier this year, Four Corners investigations revealed paedophiles had infiltrated the childcare system and exposed cases of child abuse, neglect, and injury, highlighting critical gaps in childcare safety and accountability.

Walsh said Labor was still working through the Productivity Commission recommendations from September last year.

Read more of this story at the link below.