Australia politics live: Liberals under pressure after Nationals abandon net zero target; Labor spruiks rise in bulk-billing GPs | Australian politics
Welcome
Krishani Dhanji
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji We are here with you for another busy session week (and the second last joint session week of the year).
The Liberals have faced some pressure after the National Party came out and rescinded their commitment to net zero. Liberals are still considering their stance on policy.
The government kept a slightly lower profile earlier this week; they are still making good on their pre-election promise to increase bulk billing incentives, which went into effect over the weekend.
And the Optus boss will today face a parliamentary hearing into the September outage. The Greens and the Coalition are pressing for a full investigation into the incident.
It’s going to be another busy week, stay with us!
important events
To stay Sarah Hanson-Young On ABC News Breakfast, the Green senator did not hold back in slamming the National Party for their decision to cut support for net zero, accusing the Coalition of having “misleading and dangerous” climate policy.
It calls on Labor to “rule out” working with the Coalition on any environmental or climate policy (i.e. the government should negotiate with the Greens on the EPBC bill).
The coalition proved that it was a party This is not a serious situation for the Government.
In Australia you cannot pretend to care about the future of our country, the safety and security of Australia. If you don’t have a credible policy on climate change, you can’t even pretend to care about bushes and territories. The climate crisis is already here.
It reminds me of Logan Roy “You are not serious people,” he tells his children in turn.
Greens and Coalition say SingTel should come forward before Optus investigation
The Greens and the Coalition will grill Optus over the cuts at a parliamentary hearing earlier this year.
shadow communications minister Melissa McIntoshHe had just told ABC News Breakfast that the investigation would “get to the heart of” what happened.
When we met with the CEO of Optus, he said it was human error and I said, ‘How can human error lead to an outage where lives are lost?’ I asked. This is not good enough.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-YoungHe has also been heavily critical of Optus and told News Breakfast that the investigation would call on SingTel’s CEO and board members to face questions.
I’ve been worried for a very long time that Optus is more concerned about their profits than people’s safety. And now we have a situation where people are dying because Optus put profit over safety, and SingTel needs to take responsibility for that.
‘I have more to ask’ says Joyce on Nationals’ energy policy
Barnaby Joyce Despite being one of the most vocal advocates of scrapping net zero (and still having a bill in the House to do so), the Nationals’ energy policy is not fully adopted.
On Sunrise this morning, Joyce said he still had concerns about the Capacity Investment Scheme (CIS), which funds renewable projects. The Nats have decided to continue with the project but will also expand it to take on fossil fuel projects.
Joyce says he will review fine print with senator Matt CanavanLeading national competition review Ross Cadell.
I have more to ask and I will do my job and ask.
Few staunch net-zero supporters in the Liberal party fear this could be the end of the Coalition. When asked if the coalition is “over”, Joyce says:
I don’t know, that’s above my pay grade. I have opposed splitting the Coalition in the past.
One third of metropolitan and regional GPs to be fully bulk billed
Only a third of all metropolitan GP practices will be fully bulk billed under the increased bulk billing incentive that comes into force on 1 November, as the government promises no out-of-pocket costs for 90% of all GP visits by 2030.
Overnight, Labor released new data showing how many clinics have indicated they will now fully bulk bill.
Of the 4,720 practices in metropolitan areas, 1,557 will be fully bulk billed (33%). There is an increase in 622 clinics saying they will now bulk bill due to the incentive.
Of the 620 practices in regional centres, 209 will be entirely bulk billing (33%); This is an increase of 108 clinics.
But in remote communities, nearly half of practices will now be fully bulk billed; 51 of 110 practices indicate they will not charge patients out-of-pocket fees.
The top ten electorates that will see the largest number of mixed billing practices transition to full bulk billing include: worker-held Ballarat in regional Victoria; Rankin, a worker-owned suburb in Brisbane; LNP-held Hinkler and Flynn are in regional QLD; Workers-owned Hawke outside Melbourne; Labor-held Calwell and Hotham in metropolitan Melbourne; LNP-held Spence in South Australia, LNP-held Parkes in regional NSW and LNP-held Cowper in regional Victoria.
Welcome
Krishani Dhanji
Good morning, Krishani Dhanji We are here with you for another busy session week (and the second last joint session week of the year).
The Liberals have faced some pressure after the National Party came out and rescinded their commitment to net zero. Liberals are still considering their stance on policy.
The government kept a slightly lower profile earlier this week; they are still making good on their pre-election promise to increase bulk billing incentives, which went into effect over the weekend.
And the Optus boss will today face a parliamentary hearing into the September outage. The Greens and the Coalition are pressing for a full investigation into the incident.
It’s going to be another busy week, stay with us!
