Another sitting Monday, another morning of Labor MPs wringing their hands in delight as the Coalition implodes over net zero.

Federal parliament will sit for four days this week before adjourning until October 7, and Labor is allowing the start of each sitting week to be taken up debating Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce’s private member’s bill until every willing speaker has had their say, “in an aim to showcase Coalition divisions on the issue,” The Australian reports.

The paper leads this morning’s coverage of the never-ending climate debate with a piece suggesting Liberal heavyweight Andrew Hastie (“considered by many to be the next conservative leader of the Liberal Party”) has been told by Joyce not to vote for his bill to abolish the government’s commitment to net zero. Joyce is reportedly concerned that Hastie’s capacity to affect change on the matter would be compromised if he voted for the bill, as it would lead to him being dumped to the backbench.

Meanwhile, Liberal backbencher Jane Hume told ABC News Breakfast this morning “that ship has really sailed” on net zero, urging her party to commit to backing the government’s move to unveil a new emissions-reduction target of 65% or more below 2005 levels by 2035

“Net zero is 25 years away. I have absolutely no doubt that the technology will be there to be able to deliver a zero-emissions future,” Hume told the national broadcaster.

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Also on the agenda this morning is Queensland Liberal MP Henry Pike proposing a bill to legally enshrine January 26 as Australia Day. It’s not the first time Pike has tried this, with a previous attempt being defeated in 2023. Pike’s proposal would mean that any change to the date of Australia Day could only happen with a (presumably cheap and easy) national plebiscite. 

Independent Sophie Scamps went for a short bicycle ride for the cameras this morning, with fellow crossbenchers Monique Ryan, Kate Chaney and Nicolette Boele on foot, to spruik Scamps’ private members’ bill that she says will deliver overdue reforms to make e-bikes safer.

Housing is shaping up as a big issue this week, with independent Senator David Pocock well and truly centre stage of two separate issues. The progressive senator has formed an “unlikely alliance” with the Greens and the Coalition in an attempt to force the government’s hand on providing 20,000 extra home care packages for elderly Australians.

The ABC reported last week that around 200,000 people are either waiting to be assessed for home care support or awaiting increased support, having already been approved. Debate on the extra packages is expected to occur today.

Also in Pocock’s sights this week is negative gearing for short-term rentals, with a report from Everybody’s Home saying it could be costing the country up to $556 million per year.

The senator, who has been an advocate for capping negative gearing to a single property, told the AAP that removing the privilege for short-term rentals is a “no-brainer”.

“That seems the height of intergenerational inequity, where you’ve got people who can’t find a rental or can’t afford a rental and you’ve got other people who have holiday homes who we’re allowing them to negatively gear.” The AAP also reports this morning that Australia has seen its strongest level of house price growth since May 2024.

Lastly, it’s just not a sitting week without a little colour, which this morning is being brought to you by Patricia Karvelas. The ABC journalist has raised the question of whether a parliamentary censure should be considered for Bob Katter after the independent MP threatened to punch a Nine journalist in the mouth for suggesting (factually) that he was of Lebanese heritage.

“If Lidia Thorpe, the Aboriginal senator from Victoria, had threatened a journalist with violence, the condemnations would likely have come in thick and fast and in real time. Perhaps there would have even been a clamour to pass a motion to condemn her,” Karvelas wrote.

“The way the parliament responds will set the standard as to who we want to be as a country.”