![\"Nick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Nick_Visser.png\")
Nick Visser<\/p>\nEnvironmental group paints \u2018Tax Me\u2019 on coal ship in Newcastle named Climate JusticeNick Visser<\/p>\n
The environmental group Rising Tide painted a large message on the side of a coal ship in Newcastle, NSW this morning: \u201cTAX ME\u201d.<\/p>\n
Rising Tide said the chalk-based missive is meant to be a call on the federal government to introduce a 78% fossil fuel export profits tax, with the funds generated used to back the community and industrial transition away from fuels such as coal.<\/p>\n
The coal ship targeted by the group is named Climate Justice. Alexa Stuart, a spokesperson for Rising Tide, said in a statement:<\/p>\n
It is laughable that a coal ship is called \u201cClimate Justice\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n
Real climate justice is about heeding the dire scientific warnings, and committing to an urgent and just transition for coal workers and communities. We\u2019re demanding a 78% tax on coal export profits to do exactly that.<\/p>\n
![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4935.jpg\")
This morning in Muloobinba\/Newcastle, members of Rising Tide painted \u2018TAX ME\u2019 on a coal ship named Climate Justice. Photograph: Rising Tide<\/p>\n
Despite major profits, coal companies regularly pay low rates of tax.<\/p>\n
Crossbench MPs also recently revived calls for a mining rent tax amid the country\u2019s potential critical minerals boom. Independent MP David Pocock recently said Australia\u2019s natural resources belong \u201cto all of us, and if they\u2019re going to be exploited, then we need to get a fair cut of that\u201d.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.50 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Optus awarded best network availability and reliability in network experience report<\/p>\n Ahead of an expected grilling by senators over last month\u2019s triple zero outage<\/a>, Optus will be buoyed by news it has won the most awards for its mobile network coverage in the latest Opensignal mobile network experience report<\/a>, including a shared win for network availability and reliability.<\/p>\n The telco\u2019s executives will appear before a Senate inquiry into the outage on Monday morning, but can take heart in Opensignal awarding Optus joint winner for network availability and reliability with Vodafone, as well as overall winner in six categories covering experience of video streaming and gaming on the mobile network on both 4G and 5G.<\/p>\n The reliability experience measures the ability of users to connect to and complete basic tasks on the operators\u2019 networks. Availability is not a measure of the geographic extent of a network – which Telstra would have won – but what proportion of time people have a network connection in the places they most commonly frequent.<\/p>\n Vodafone picked up four categories on its own, including 4G and 5G upload speeds, 5G availability and consistent quality.<\/p>\n Telstra won best coverage experience, and best 5G coverage experience.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Conservationist groups speak out against \u2018half arsed\u2019 federal nature laws<\/p>\n Conservationist groups fear the federal government\u2019s nature laws contain too many loopholes to properly protect the environment, with one warning there is \u201cno point doing this half-arsed\u201d.<\/p>\n The heads of Greenpeace, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) held a press conference in parliament house before laws to re-write the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act were introduced on Thursday morning.<\/p>\n The green groups are concerned the legislation does not address exemptions for native forest logging and agriculture and won\u2019t create new requirements for the minister to consider climate change when assessing projects.<\/p>\n The acting chair of the ACF, Paul Sinclair, said:<\/p>\n These laws need to be strengthened to end deforestation. As they stand, these laws have too many loopholes. They risk more bush being put under the bulldozer. This is the biggest test the Albanese government has faced. We call on the Prime Minister to pass that test, to work with the parliament to strengthen these laws and end deforestation.\u201d<\/p>\n The chief executive of Greenpeace, David Ritter, said:<\/p>\n There is no point doing this half-arsed. The protection of our national environment requires that the loopholes that enable the bulldozers and the chainsaws to destroy our forests are closed, and requires climate considerations to be embedded.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a020.20 EDT<\/p>\n Labor accused of \u2018playing games\u2019 in Senate<\/p>\n The government is being accused of \u201cplaying games\u201d in the Senate this morning, as the opposition tried to debate a private senator\u2019s bill to increase oversight over the government\u2019s housing programs.<\/p>\n While speaking, Liberal senator Jane Hume was interrupted three times by government calls for quorum (ensuring that a minimum number of senators are present in the chamber). Hume claimed Labor senators were leaving the chamber to force that quorum call.<\/p>\n It all feeds into issues of transparency and accountability, said Hume, linking the interruptions to yesterday\u2019s move by David Pocock, the crossbench and Coalition to put pressure on the government to release a report handed to Labor on \u201cjobs for mates<\/a>\u201d appointments to government boards (which Labor are still refusing to do). Hume said:<\/p>\n Not only are they hiding, they are playing games in the chamber \u2026<\/p>\n Unfortunately I keep getting disrupted, and the reason I keep getting disrupted, can I be very clear, because Labor are refusing to produce a document that we\u2019ve requested to see for two years, they\u2019re refusing to produce a document which ironically is a review into jobs for mates.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a020.05 EDT<\/p>\n Environmental group paints \u2018Tax Me\u2019 on coal ship in Newcastle named Climate Justice The environmental group Rising Tide painted a large message on the side of a coal ship in Newcastle, NSW this morning: \u201cTAX ME\u201d.<\/p>\n Rising Tide said the chalk-based missive is meant to be a call on the federal government to introduce a 78% fossil fuel export profits tax, with the funds generated used to back the community and industrial transition away from fuels such as coal.<\/p>\n The coal ship targeted by the group is named Climate Justice. Alexa Stuart, a spokesperson for Rising Tide, said in a statement:<\/p>\n It is laughable that a coal ship is called \u201cClimate Justice\u201d \u2026<\/p>\n Real climate justice is about heeding the dire scientific warnings, and committing to an urgent and just transition for coal workers and communities. We\u2019re demanding a 78% tax on coal export profits to do exactly that.<\/p>\n This morning in Muloobinba\/Newcastle, members of Rising Tide painted \u2018TAX ME\u2019 on a coal ship named Climate Justice. Photograph: Rising Tide<\/p>\n Despite major profits, coal companies regularly pay low rates of tax.<\/p>\n Crossbench MPs also recently revived calls for a mining rent tax amid the country\u2019s potential critical minerals boom. Independent MP David Pocock recently said Australia\u2019s natural resources belong \u201cto all of us, and if they\u2019re going to be exploited, then we need to get a fair cut of that\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.50 EDT<\/p>\n Tony Burke introduces Labor\u2019s nature bill<\/p>\n Tony Burke is introducing Labor\u2019s bill for the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) in the House now.<\/p>\n The leader of the house starts by saying, \u201cLabor is the party of the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n Why isn\u2019t the environment minister, Murray Watt, introducing the bill? He\u2019s a senator \u2013 and the bill is being introduced in the House \u2013 but Watt is sitting in the House while it\u2019s introduced. Burke is a former environment minister himself.<\/p>\n Our environment laws are broken. They\u2019re not working for the environment, for business, for the economy or for the community. That was a clear assessment delivered by Prof Graeme Samuel when he handed down his independent review [EPBC] Act, a review that was delivered five years ago today.<\/p>\n This package of bills remains faithful to our commitment to follow the spirit of the Samuel review. In reforming this legislation, in crafting these reforms, we\u2019ve looked into three pillars, firstly, stronger environmental protection and restoration \u2026 Secondly, more efficient and robust project assessments and approvals \u2026 and finally, greater accountability and transparency in decision making.<\/p>\n Labor still hasn\u2019t secured itself a path to pass this through the Senate.<\/p>\n Tony Burke in the House of Representatives at parliament house on Tuesday. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a020.22 EDT<\/p>\n Shadow finance minister warns Australia could face \u2018stagflation\u2019<\/p>\n Looping back to James Paterson on Sky News a little earlier, the shadow finance minister warned that if current inflation trends persist, and unemployment keeps ticking up, Australia could face \u201cstagflation\u201d.<\/p>\n We\u2019re not there yet, he said, but he\u2019s \u201cnot convince\u201d the government can turn it around.<\/p>\n Yesterday\u2019s figures showed inflation jumped to 3.2% <\/a>in the year to September, from 2.1% in June \u2013 just over the Reserve Bank\u2019s target inflation range of 2-3%.<\/p>\n The treasurer said yesterday that underlying inflation is still within that range, but Paterson was sceptical.<\/p>\n \u201cStill within the target range\u201d is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. It\u2019s at the top of the target range. It is at 3%. The RBA wants it to be at 2.5% \u2026<\/p>\n And if these trends continue, then the annual rate of inflation will be closer to 4% than 3%. And we\u2019ll have a really disastrous situation on our books \u2026 we also have increasing unemployment in this country. Unemployment is ticking up, and inflation is ticking up. Now, the last time that happened in a sustained way was in the 1970s. It created a phenomenon called stagflation, and that was utter economic misery for Australians. Now we\u2019re not there yet, and I hope we don\u2019t get there, but I\u2019m not convinced that this government has a plan to turn that around.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.30 EDT<\/p>\n Australia and China at start of \u2018exciting new education chapter\u2019, Universities Australia chair says <\/p>\n Universities Australia chair, Prof. Carolyn Evans, says China and Australia are at the start of an \u201cexciting new education chapter\u201d as she concludes a trip to the Asian superpower.<\/p>\n Delivering a keynote speech at the 2025 China Annual Conference and Expo for International Education, Evans pressed that Australia and China must expand their partnership on research and student flows:<\/p>\n Our countries, China and Australia, have much to gain by expanding cross-sector partnerships in areas from food security to global health to the transition to net zero.<\/p>\n We must encourage the flow of students between our countries, including short-term exchanges and internships \u2026 We must expand joint research \u2026 And we must share innovation ecosystems when appropriate, bringing together universities, start-ups and industry across both nations to create shared hubs of creativity and entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n A delegation of vice chancellors, senior university leaders and Universities Australia representatives have been in China this week to strengthen ties amid improved diplomatic relations as part of the inaugural Australia-China University Leaders Dialogue.<\/p>\n Also on Wednesday, Universities Australia and the China Education Association for International Exchange renewed a longstanding memorandum of understanding for shared policy objectives and increased engagement.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n James Paterson condemns Labor\u2019s \u2018authoritarian\u2019 threats to remove Coalition MPs from committee positions<\/p>\n The shadow finance minister, James Paterson, did not mince his words this morning, calling the government\u2019s threats to remove Coalition MPs from deputy House committee positions \u201cpetty\u201d and \u201cextraordinary\u201d.<\/p>\n Speaking to Sky News a little earlier, Paterson accused the government of being \u201cauthoritarian\u201d.<\/p>\n The government\u2019s response has been utterly extraordinary, completely petty, and much more consistent with the behaviour of an authoritarian government than a democratic one. In return for having to answer extra questions in the parliament, they\u2019re proposing to strip the opposition of deputy chair positions in the House of Representatives. That is an utterly petulant response from the government, and it reflects very badly on them.<\/p>\n The environment minister, Murray Watt, accused senator Pocock of a \u201cdummy spit\u201d and \u201cupending decades of tradition\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a018.33 EDT<\/p>\n \u2018Jobs for mates is a real problem in this place\u2019: Pocock<\/p>\n Independent senator David Pocock has the government on the back foot, pushing Labor to release a report it commissioned to look at \u201cjobs for mates\u201d appointments by politicians.<\/p>\n Yesterday, Pocock \u2013 with the Coalition and the Greens \u2013 passed a vote to add five non-government questions to Senate question time until minister Katy Gallagher tables the report.<\/p>\n And now \u2013 as we brought you a moment ago \u2013 the government is threatening to pull Coalition MPs from senior positions on House committees.<\/p>\n This morning, the independent ACT senator was still extremely unimpressed with the government\u2019s behaviour, telling journos:<\/p>\n We\u2019ve seen a flat-out refusal to release a document that they said would be released, that I think is really important and in the public interest.<\/p>\n You know, jobs for mates is a real problem in this place, and we\u2019ve even seen that over the last couple of years \u2026 we\u2019re ratcheting up the pressure until they release it.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a019.29 EDT<\/p>\n Senate showdown looms after Watt labels Pocock revolt against government secrecy a \u2018dummy spit\u2019 A major showdown in the Senate is looming and question time in parliament will be extended by a huge amount, after senator David Pocock led a revolt against government secrecy to punish Labor for sitting on a key report.<\/p>\n In response, the government could retaliate by stripping Liberal MPs of their positions on parliamentary committees. The environment minister, Murray Watt, accused Pocock of a \u201cdummy spit\u201d and \u201cupending decades of tradition\u201d.<\/p>\n Bear with us a moment to explain. Pocock has been seeking a report into government board appointments, which was submitted to the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, two years ago. Pocock, angry at the delay, sought to change the standing orders (or rules) in the Senate to add extra questions to the daily question time, giving the non-government senators more chance to ask questions.<\/p>\n Gallagher said the report would be released \u201cwhen that work is finished\u201d but opposed Pocock\u2019s actions, claiming senators were \u201cabusing\u201d Senate orders to seek \u201cunreasonable\u201d amounts of government documents. The Coalition and crossbench teamed up with Pocock to pass the motion, which will see the Senate question time extended by about half an hour.<\/p>\n Independent senator David Pocock. Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAP<\/p>\n The government is livid about this. Guardian Australia understands that the government may seek to retaliate against the Coalition for supporting Pocock\u2019s motion, which could include stripping Coalition members of deputy chair positions on committees.<\/p>\n Liberals believe that threat is still live today. This could be a fast-moving situation with negotiations behind the scenes, so we\u2019ll bring you updates as they happen.<\/p>\n Watt, a senior minister in the Senate, said he hadn\u2019t been involved in those discussions \u2013 having been focused on the environmental law package to be introduced today \u2013 but was scathing of Pocock\u2019s move.<\/p>\n What David Pocock did yesterday, with the support of the Coalition and the Greens, was upend decades of Senate tradition and procedure in a grab for power \u2026 David Pocock was always in here lecturing the rest of us about the importance of Senate tradition and Senate convention, and he\u2019s just gone and chucked the toys out.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a018.21 EDT<\/p>\n Lidia Thorpe calls for justice after August neo-Nazi attack on Camp Sovereignty<\/p>\n Lidia Thorpe has tabled a petition with more than 400,000 signatures calling for justice following an attack of the Camp Sovereignty<\/a> Indigenous site in Melbourne by neo-Nazis in August.<\/p>\n Thorpe, speaking to ABC News Breakfast this morning, says the attack needs to be called a \u201chate crime\u201d and wants the federal police to thoroughly investigate the incident.<\/p>\n It\u2019s caused fear in our community. I know that children didn\u2019t want to go to school after that attack because of the effect, the ripple effect that that has through families and communities. We know that racism is real in this country. And the racist neo-Nazi attack was a good example of how bad it can be against our people.<\/p>\n We need to send a clear message to the rest of this country that this is a hate crime and neo-Nazi attacks are not tolerated. So, you know, the prime minister needs to come out also and back the federal police to investigate this as a hate crime. To charge these neo-Nazis for hate crimes.<\/p>\n Thorpe says she has had one meeting with state and federal police who said it doesn\u2019t meet the threshold for an investigation, \u201cbut that I haven\u2019t been given information as to why it doesn\u2019t meet the threshold\u201d.<\/p>\n Neo-Nazis attacked Camp Sovereignty after Melbourne\u2019s anti-immigration protest on 31 August 2025. Photograph: SuppliedShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a018.16 EDT<\/p>\n Victoria forced to rely on One Nation and others to pass voluntary assisted dying bill After two days of debate, changes to Victoria\u2019s voluntary assisted dying laws passed parliament last night.<\/p>\n The amendments, which allow doctors to initiate conversations <\/a>about voluntary assisted dying and expand the eligibility timeframe<\/a> for all terminal illnesses to 12 months, passed 67 votes to 13.<\/p>\n MPs were granted a conscience vote, with Labor MPs Anthony Carbines, Natalie Suleyman, Iwan Walters, Anthony Cianflone and Kathleen Matthews-Ward all voting against their own government\u2019s bill.<\/p>\n Liberal MPs Kim Wells, Brad Rowswell, Richard Riordan, David Hodgett, Michael O\u2019Brien, Nicole Werner, Chris Crewther and Nationals MP Peter Walsh also voted against the bill.<\/p>\n The bill will now head to the upper house, where Labor doesn\u2019t have a majority but should be able to pass the bill with the support of a motley crew including One Nation and Liberal MPs. Here\u2019s our story from yesterday:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.48 EDT<\/p>\n Shadow environment minister says no \u2018rush\u2019 to pass environment bill<\/p>\n While Murray Watt wants the bill passed this year (and says there\u2019s a \u201cstrong national interest\u201d in getting the reforms passed ASAP), Angie Bell is now asking \u201cwhat the rush is\u201d.<\/p>\n As we mentioned earlier, it\u2019s five years to the day since Graeme Samuel laid out his reforms to the former Coalition government. On ABC RN Breakfast, Bell says the bill needs to be balanced, and needs to be done right.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t really understand what the rush is. Originally, the minister said he would pass this bill in 12 to 18 months, and now it\u2019s been expedited after the treasurer\u2019s roundtable.<\/p>\n A quick recap here: the government pledged at the economic roundtable in August<\/a> that it would introduce the environmental reforms before Christmas.<\/p>\n When Bell says the government \u201cfailed\u201d in the last parliament to get this done, Sally Sara points out that the Coalition and then-environment minister Sussan Ley also couldn\u2019t get it across the line.<\/p>\n Bell says Ley brought two bills forward which were blocked by Labor and the Greens, and accuses Watt of only consulting with a select few stakeholders on the reforms.<\/p>\n Our environment is going backwards, and we need to stop that. But we also need to make sure that this bill is balanced \u2026 we don\u2019t think it\u2019s balanced at this point in time.<\/p>\n We\u2019re open to continuing to talk with the minister on how these bills can be improved to make sure that there is a balance struck and that industry, jobs and investment don\u2019t get a raw deal out of this.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.25 EDT<\/p>\n \u2018Not our job to make a bad bill better,\u2019 says shadow environment minister<\/p>\n The shadow environment minister, Angie Bell, is doing the media rounds this morning, and sits in the \u201chot seat\u201d \u2013 as she calls it \u2013 on RN Breakfast after Murray Watt.<\/p>\n The Coalition says its chief concerns lie in the \u201cwide-ranging powers\u201d of the new environment protection body that will be set up, along with the fact that the head of the EPA will not report directly to the minister.<\/p>\n It will be a statutory appointment that will not report directly to the minister. The minister won\u2019t be able to sack that individual. It\u2019ll have to be the governor general that does that. And so, that is a problem in terms of what that outcome might look like in terms of broad-sweeping powers, definitely.<\/p>\n Bell said earlier this morning that Australians should be \u201calarmed\u201d if Labor go to the Greens to pass this bill. So, host Sally Sara asks, how much the Coalition is willing to compromise in their negotiations to ensure Labor keeps talking to them? Bell says:<\/p>\n Certainly it\u2019s not our job to make a bad bill better but there are some areas that we have concerns on, and we\u2019ll continue to put those areas forward as a problem.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a017.36 EDT<\/p>\n Following on from last post \u2026<\/p>\n Watt is facing a lot of questions about how the new act would define a project that has an \u201cunacceptable\u201d impact on the environment which would trigger an immediate refusal. Along with that comes another power in the draft act which would allow the minister to override some environmental rules if a project is in the national interest.<\/p>\n Watt tells RN Breakfast an unacceptable impact would be something like a project wanting to mine under Uluru or clear a habitat that would \u201cdrive a species to extinction\u201d.<\/p>\n On the issue around national interest, Watt says the legislation gives a \u201cflavour\u201d of what that might look like \u2013 and emphasises it was an explicit recommendation of Graeme Samuel.<\/p>\n Governments of the day should, in very rare circumstances, have the ability when something is in the national interest to approve a project proceeding, even if it doesn\u2019t meet the usual environmental standards. What we\u2019ve said in the bill is to try to give a flavour of the types of projects that we\u2019re talking about would be most likely defence or security projects, actions that may be undertaken in responding to a natural disaster. We have made the point that that should be rarely used, that there\u2019s got to be transparency with the minister of the day issuing a statement of reasons justifying why they\u2019ve done that. And just to be clear, that decision to approve a project in the national interest would occur after a full assessment was done.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.52 EDT<\/p>\n Third time\u2019s the charm? Watt says so<\/p>\n After two failed attempts by parliaments past to legislate the EPBC reforms, Murray Watt, the latest minister to tackle the challenge, says he\u2019s \u201cvery confident\u201d the government will pass the reforms.<\/p>\n But, he adds, the real question is with whom and how soon \u2013 with neither the Coalition nor the Greens willing to pass the legislation without considerable concessions.<\/p>\n In somewhat poetic timing, today, Watt says, marks five years to the day since Graeme Samuel handed down his landmark review into the current EPBC Act to then environment minister Sussan Ley. Speaking to ABC RN Breakfast this morning, he says:<\/p>\n It really is now or never, if we ever want to pass these reforms we\u2019ve got to get moving with them. We can\u2019t let this go around in circles for five more years because every time we wait and every time we get delayed, we see the environment suffer and we see really important housing, renewables, and other projects get held up in red tape.<\/p>\n Minister for the environment, Murray Watt. Photograph: Mick Tsikas\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a016.46 EDT<\/p>\n Question mark remains over future of Tomago aluminium smelter<\/p>\n There\u2019s still a question mark over the future of the Tomago aluminium smelter in NSW, as the commonwealth negotiates with the state and Rio Tinto.<\/p>\n![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761783970_994_Josh_Taylor.png\")
Josh Taylor<\/p>\n![\"Dan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Dan_Jarvis-Bardy.png\")
Dan Jervis-Bardy<\/p>\nNick Visser<\/p>\n![\"Caitlin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Caitlin_Cassidy,_L.png\")
Caitlin Cassidy<\/p>\n![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761783970_903_Josh_Butler.png\")
Josh Butler<\/p>\n![\"Benita](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Benita_Kolovos.png\")
Benita Kolovos<\/p>\n