ENERGY WARS: LIBERAL EDITION
NSW Energy Minister Don Harwin has slammed the Morrison government for “out of touch” energy and climate policies ahead of today’s COAG Energy Council meeting in Adelaide.
According to the Australian Financial Review ($), Don Harwin argued that abandoning carbon emissions targets and the National Energy Guarantee has prevented new investment, and therefore price falls, and will today move that the Energy Security Board provide federal policy options for NSW’s “net-zero by 2050” goal.
Harwin’s comments and full op-ed ($) demonstrate a significant rhetorical shift for the Berejiklian government, which came third last in the Climate Council’s 2018 state and territory rankings and, post nationwide Liberal losses, isn’t looking great ahead of a March election.
WINNER WINNER, LABOR DINNER
ICAC’s raid on NSW Labor yesterday morning has been linked to an investigation into allegedly undisclosed or illegal party donations in 2015 and, reportedly, a high-profile Chinese Friends of Labor fundraising dinner.
The Australian ($) reports that the raid, which came during the third and final day of Labor’s national conference, is focused on a dinner that included federal leader Bill Shorten, then-NSW opposition leader Luke Foley and prominent Chinese property developer Huang Xiangmao. ALP’s head office had claimed the raid related to “historical” political donations and, with NSW Labor’s full cooperation, had already been investigated by the NSW Electoral Commission.
WELCOME TO THE CAR-T
Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved a revolutionary cancer therapy that genetically modifies a patient’s own immune cells and, compared to conventional treatments, has delivered incredible survival rates.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the first-of-its-kind CAR-T therapy works by re-engineering a patient’s immune cells and infusing them back into the body. On the back of two global clinical trials, CAR-T has now been approved for use with paediatric, young adult and adult patients with specific conditions who have failed treatments such as chemotherapy.
[free_worm]
THEY REALLY SAID THAT?
And the Labor party’s had all the Emma Husar revelations and she being overlooked for Labor preselection again. So these things happen on both sides of the parliament…
Josh Frydenberg
The Treasurer responds to questions over Barnaby Joyce, Andrew Broad and Nationals hypocrisy by pointing the finger at a Labor MP whose allegations of sexual harassment were investigated and not upheld.
CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY
Yael Stone, Geoffrey Rush and the risky maths of defamation
“When Eryn Jean Norvill walked out of the Federal Court, having been subjected to a hammering by Geoffrey Rush’s barristers in their quest to destroy her credibility, it felt as if a pivotal moment in Australia’s version of the Me Too moment had arrived. The mysterious Witness X, who had promised to drop a second bucket on Rush, was excluded from his defamation case, leaving a big question mark dangling as the judge called time and commenced his deliberations.”
Why do the Nats keep behaving badly? Because they can get away with it.
“Barnaby Joyce’s affair was a personal matter; its revelation was an abhorrent invasion of privacy without public interest, however much the media wants to pat itself on the back about its exposure. But Andrew Broad’s is a rolled-gold, old-fashioned sex scandal deserving of revelation. This is the bloke who demanded Joyce step down over his affair. This is the bloke who compared same-sex couples to mounting farm animals. He even appears to have used taxpayer money for part of his travel to Hong Kong.”
And the Gold Wankley for 2018 goes to… Seven
“Of the Wankleys awarded this year, three were awarded to programs on Seven (plus one special mention in a collective award). That list doesn’t even include Seven’s increasing tendency to go for the most racist content possible. We didn’t award Wankleys to the network for having neo-Nazi Blair Cottrell as a guest on the news last summer, or for that Sunrise panel about Indigenous children’s welfare (which was found by the regulator to incite contempt based on race), or apparently providing talking points for Pauline Hanson.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
A majority of Australians surveyed support pill testing, but only a minority of politicians do
Derryn Hinch loses one of his three Victorian Upper House MPs
Cops seek powers to control ISIS generation of terrorists ($)
Kaldas: expand planning corruption safeguards
David Leyonhjelm struggling to find colleague support in Sarah Hanson-Young defamation case
Shane Flanagan set to be banned indefinitely from NRL
Service providers call for Parents Next overhaul after families left without food
China will ‘never seek hegemony,’ Xi says in defiant reform speech
THE COMMENTARIAT
Labor conference: Rudd deal cements Shorten’s position as leader of unified party ($) — Simon Benson (The Australian): “Kevin Rudd’s faux rehabilitation at the ALP conference may have been a superficial choreography of Labor unity but it presented a powerful image for Bill Shorten. While Rudd received the validation and acclaim from those who had dumped him before trying to airbrush him out of Labor Party history, Shorten was bestowed the appearance of a party that had learned the lessons of the past and had reconciled the tribal wars under his leadership.”
MYEFO rips A$130 million per year from research funding despite budget surplus — Margaret Gardner (The Conversation): “In truth, most of Australia’s regional universities will lose millions of dollars more under the 2017 funding freeze than will be redistributed to them via this latest research cut. And under this new research freeze, they, too, will lose scholarships for PhD students – our next generation of brilliant research talent.”
Staying safe over the festive season should include teaching kids to use electronic gifts wisely ($) — Mitch Fifield (The Daily Telegraph): “With the festive season here, many of us will close our catch-ups with friends, families and loved ones with a simple message to stay safe. It’s an almost automatic thing we do at this time of year. ‘Stay safe’ we say as we send each other off after a barbecue or a party.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Adelaide
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Energy Minister Angus Taylor will hold a press conference before speaking with state and energy counterparts for a COAG Energy Council meeting.
Melbourne
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Members for the Victorian Parliament will be sworn-in or affirmed, before both houses resume proceedings.
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Judgment is due in a civil case between VICT and the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union, over a protest which left 1000 containers stranded at Melbourne’s Webb Dock for more than two weeks.
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Former Greens MP Lidia Thorpe will host a rally calling for a First Nations treaty before constitutional recognition.
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Refugee supporters will rally outside Australian Federal Police calling for detained footballer and refugee Hakeem Al-Araibi to be brought home from Thailand in time for Christmas.
Canberra
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The ANU Climate Change Institute will host a panel of experts and climate negotiators who attended the 2018 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Council of Parties (COP24), held last weekend in Katowice, Poland.
Perth
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Former West Coast Eagles captain Ben Cousins will appear in court on 16 charges including aggravated stalking, breaching violence restraining orders and possessing illegal drugs.
Dubbo, NSW
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NSW Roads Minister Melinda Pavey, Member for Dubbo Troy Grant and Nationals candidate for Dubbo Dugald Saunders will announce the development of the world’s first automated ute, designed to map kangaroo movement.
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