![\"Sarah](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1761793331_878_Sarah_Basford_Canales.png\")
Sarah Basford Canales<\/p>\nBarnaby Joyce denies allegations of ‘verbal tirade’ after formal complaint by Nationals stafferSarah Basford Canales<\/p>\n
A formal complaint has been filed against Barnaby Joyce after media reports alleged he launched a \u201cverbal tirade\u201d against a female Nationals staffer on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Joyce, a Nationals MP who could run as an independent or for One Nation at the next federal election, denied the allegations and said he respected the process now in train.<\/p>\n
Sky News reported on Thursday morning that Joyce had raised his voice at a staffer within Michelle Landry\u2019s office shortly before question time yesterday. Joyce had reportedly visited the office to request leave for this morning to attend a funeral. He was asked to complete a leave form, which prompted Joyce\u2019s alleged outburst.<\/p>\n
The female staffer filed the formal complaint today with the Parliament Workplace Support Service<\/a>. The parliamentary HR body can offer support services to affected staff and management training courses to politicians but cannot punish MPs for their behaviour unless the complaint is also filed with the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.53 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Minister says court decision not a basis for NSW correction officer strike<\/p>\n The New South Wales corrections minister has said a decision by the independent judiciary should not be a basis for industrial action after prison officers state-wide walked off the job.<\/p>\n Anoulack Chanthivong said:<\/p>\n I understand this industrial action has been taken following the sentencing of an inmate in the Local Court of NSW over an assault on correctional officers, amid disappointment at this sentencing decision.<\/p>\n Corrective Services NSW has an urgent hearing before the Industrial Relations Commission today to resolve this.<\/p>\n The Government values the hard work of correctional officers, often in difficult and hostile circumstances. Correctional officers deserve to be safe on the job. While I understand staff are angry, a decision of the independent judiciary is not a basis for industrial action.<\/p>\n Centres remain secure and are being operated by a reduced number of staff.<\/p>\n NSW corrections minister Anoulack Chanthivong. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi\/AAPShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.51 EDT<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m not going to spoil the fun\u2019 in Senate QT, says Watt<\/p>\n Asked about the prospect of a lengthier question time today in the Senate, and whether the government will \u201cplay ball\u201d, Watt indicates that he will.<\/p>\n The self-professed lover of question time said:<\/p>\n I\u2019m not going to spoil the fun this afternoon! There might be more interesting Senate question time than there usually is.<\/p>\n Moderator Tom Connell joked that there\u2019s \u201cprobably a low bar\u201d there.<\/p>\n Watt didn\u2019t comment on the threats the government has made to sack Coalition MPs from their deputy chair positions on House committees.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.47 EDT<\/p>\n Is WA premier on board with the EPBC reforms?<\/p>\n You might remember that a big factor in the EPBC\u2019s demise last term was that WA was not on board with the reforms.<\/p>\n What about this time around?<\/p>\n Watt says that the state was the very first place he visited after being sworn in as minister, and all of his discussions with the WA premier, Roger Cook, have been \u201cconstructive\u201d.<\/p>\n Every time I\u2019ve met with the premier it\u2019s been a really constructive meeting. He supports reform. There\u2019s no doubt about that. He can see the damage that\u2019s happening to the environment and the hold up of approvals. We will continue to talk about the detail but he\u2019s broadly supportive of reforms.<\/p>\n With the new legislation, the commonwealth will sign a series of bilateral agreements with the states to fix up project approvals. So far, Watt says there\u2019s only been a function bilateral agreement with New South Wales.<\/p>\n The WA premier, Roger Cook, speaks to media during a press conference in Perth. Photograph: Aaron Bunch\/AAP<\/p>\n So rather than someone having to roll up to the NSW government, get an assessment, approval, come to us and get an approval, we can cut through and have one assessment. That\u2019s where we\u2019d like to get to with WA. That\u2019s where we\u2019d like to get to with a lot other states.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.38 EDT<\/p>\n \u2018Really high bar\u2019 to approve projects in national interest under nature laws, Watt says<\/p>\n My colleague, Dan Jervis-Bardy is at the press club, and asks Watt whether the government will make it explicit in the legislation that projects approved in the national interest \u2013 that might not meet environmental standards \u2013 won\u2019t include certain projects like fossil fuel projects.<\/p>\n Watt says the legislation will give a \u201cflavour\u201d of the type of decisions that could be in the national interest.<\/p>\n While he doesn\u2019t indicate that the government itself would put that carve out forward, he says he\u2019d listen if another party called for it.<\/p>\n The decision we made was to set out the framework for how one of those national interests decisions could be made. As I say, to give a flavour of the types of decisions that pathway would attract. We haven\u2019t gone about sort of saying what can\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n I said we\u2019re at an early stage of the debate and haven\u2019t received amendments from anyone yet and I\u2019m open to listening to all parties that think about what changes are needed.<\/p>\n A little earlier Watt said any intervention by a minister to approve a project in the national interest would have to have \u201ca really high bar\u201d.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.30 EDT<\/p>\n Watt confident in federal environmental reforms despite initial pushback<\/p>\n Jumping back to press club, Watt seems to be pretty positive about how the negotiations with the Coalition and the Greens will progress, saying he expected them both to pushback initially.<\/p>\n But he says everyone will have to make concessions to get something worthwhile over the line.<\/p>\n You would hardly expect them to be rolling over day one and saying we\u2019re going to back in the bill. They would be poor negotiators if they did that. Inevitably they\u2019ll be seeking concessions, changes.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve said I will talk with them about that. I\u2019ve said from day one and Graeme Samuel said this, no one will get 100% of what they\u2019ve want. If everyone wants 100% of what they want, we will get nothing and stuck with a bill that\u2019s failing everyone. If we get 80% of what people want, then we\u2019ll have a pretty good set of laws that deliver for both the environment and for business.<\/p>\n Watt also tells us that the bill won\u2019t suddenly mean nature regenerates immediately, or as he puts it, \u201cwe won\u2019t have beautiful birds and bees on every street overnight\u201d.<\/p>\n Graeme talked a lot about the current situation managing decline and that\u2019s why we\u2019ve embedded these really important principles like net gain, the national environmental standards, to not just [stop] that ongoing decline but to start seeing nature recover.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.54 EDT<\/p>\n NSW prison guards walk off the job after four prison officers assaulted Prisons across New South Wales will soon have barebones staff after corrective service officers declared a state-wide strike over the assault of four guards earlier this year.<\/p>\n Officers have so far walked off the job at Cessnock prison, and at Bathurst prison, and officers at the remaining 36 prisons will soon follow suit.<\/p>\n The Public Service Association has said the strike will also leave local, district and supreme courts \u201cunable to function\u201d.<\/p>\n Stewart Little, the general secretary of the union, told Guardian Australia that the walk-off was over an inmate at Cessnock assaulting four prison officers earlier this year, leaving them all with serious facial injuries.<\/p>\n The inmate went before a magistrate over the assault. He was found guilty but did not get any additional time added to his sentence. Little said:<\/p>\n My phone has gone into meltdown, I\u2019ve had prison officers ringing me all day absolutely incandescent with rage at the signal this magistrate has sent to the community.<\/p>\n Little said the man has a history of violence and is now in an isolated cell.<\/p>\n Asked how long he expects the strike to last, Little said: \u201cI can\u2019t see them going back to work today\u201d.<\/p>\n Little was also asked if he thinks the issue is symptomatic of any broader issues inside the state\u2019s prisons. He told Guardian Australia that a number of the ballooning inmates inside for domestic violence offences were not getting \u201cthe wraparound services they need to deal with their violent behaviour\u201d.<\/p>\n He said this was specific to offenders that spend most of their time on remand<\/a> or only serve a short sentence which can limit their access to rehabilitation programs.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.14 EDT<\/p>\n \u2018No extinctions\u2019 under new nature laws, Watt says<\/p>\n On to questions, Watt is asked about unacceptable impacts of a project, and what happens if a project could result in a species going extinct.<\/p>\n Watt, at first, gives us the couple of extreme examples he\u2019s so far used, like no mining under Uluru and no drilling of the Barrier Reef.<\/p>\n But when pressed on whether there would ever be a project in the national interest that would result in an extinction, Watt says:<\/p>\n Our government has a policy of zero new extinctions to begin with. My view is the way these laws would apply is that if a project is going to drive a species extinct, it will get a no. I reckon I\u2019d be confident I\u2019d be 99% support in the community for that.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a022.17 EDT<\/p>\n Murray Watt speaking at press club<\/p>\n Murray Watt is pitching his environment reforms at the National Press Club today \u2013 after the legislation was introduced<\/a> to the house this morning, five years after Graeme Samuel first handed the reforms to the former government.<\/p>\n The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, holds up the \u2018Environment Protection Reform bill 2025\u2019 as he prepares to address the National Press Club in Canberra. Photograph: Lukas Coch\/AAP<\/p>\n The environment minister still has an uphill battle trying to get the legislation through the Senate (which just slighted the government by forcing the bill through a lengthy committee process).<\/p>\n He says the reforms will create national environmental standards, and will be a positive for the environment. He also pushes back against \u201cfalse choice\u201d that some have characterised.<\/p>\n Many commentators and politicians want to frame this legislation as a tug of war between the environment and the economy. Assert a false choice you can have one but not the other.<\/p>\n You don\u2019t have to choose between the environment and jobs and business. We can protect and improve our environment, while removing duplication and speeding up approvals. That was the secret sauce of professor Samuel\u2019s report.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.57 EDT<\/p>\n Surprise amendment to give police power to cancel welfare payments Regular readers of the blog will know yesterday parliament was discussing amendments to the income apportionment bill, which the government is trying to pass this week.<\/p>\n A quick recap on that: the bill will give about 3 million people affected by the unlawful debt calculation method up to $600 in compensation.<\/p>\n But the government, at the very last minute, have slipped in an amendment that would give the federal police minister the power to recommend the suspension or cancellation of a person\u2019s Centrelink benefits before they are convicted.<\/p>\n This would apply to a \u201cserious violent or sexual offence\u201d and only if an arrest warrant has been issued.<\/p>\n Where has this come from?<\/p>\n Well, the amendment stipulates \u201cit is not appropriate that a person wanted for a serious offence, including a person who is evading arrest by the police, should be able to benefit from Government payments.\u201d<\/p>\n So, of course, there is a lot of speculation involving Dezi Freeman, and reports that he was on the disability support pension.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a021.46 EDT<\/p>\n Greens, crossbench and Coalition team up again in the Senate<\/p>\n The government has faced another defeat in the upper house \u2013 with the opposition, Greens and crossbench teaming up to force the environment bill into an inquiry which will only hand down its report in March 2026.<\/p>\n The inquiry doesn\u2019t change when the legislation can pass \u2013 as long as Murray Watt is still able to secure a deal with the Coalition or Greens, which he\u2019s said he wants to do before the end of the year.<\/p>\n![\"Jordyn](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Jordyn_Beazley,_L.png\")
Jordyn Beazley<\/p>\nJordyn Beazley<\/p>\n![\"Cait](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Cait_Kelly.png\")
Cait Kelly<\/p>\n