Australia news live: Barnaby Joyce vows to wind back ‘lunatic crusade’ of net zero in private member’s bill once parliament resumes
Barnaby Joyce vows to wind back ‘lunatic crusade’ of net zero once parliament resumes
Sarah Basford Canales
The Nationals MP and former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has vowed to wind back the “lunatic crusade” of net zero in a private member’s bill once parliament resumes later this month.
Joyce, who now sits as a backbencher within the Nationals, described the policy to reduce carbon emissions by 2050 to net zero as “treacherous” to Australia’s security in a post on Facebook this afternoon.
Private member’s bills are often not considered or debated and Joyce is certainly no stranger to climate change and net zero scepticism.
In 2023, Joyce labelled the estimated cost of net zero “utterly untenable” ahead of a Nationals motion to ditch the policy at the party conference. In 2015, Joyce teamed up with his now-retired colleague Keith Pitt to urge the Coalition to walk away from the Paris agreement and its associated climate targets.
In this afternoon’s post, Joyce claimed committing to net zero was akin to self-immolation unless the majority of countries “authentically” participated in it:
There is no more time to assess, to ponder, to nuance or to amend. Net Zero must be repealed and as such, I will, at my first opportunity [sic] bring forward a bill to do that.
Key events
What we learned, Friday 11 July
It’s time to wind down our live news coverage for the day. Here’s what’s been keeping us busy this Friday:
Thanks for unpacking the day with us.
Barnaby Joyce vows to wind back ‘lunatic crusade’ of net zero once parliament resumes
Sarah Basford Canales
The Nationals MP and former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has vowed to wind back the “lunatic crusade” of net zero in a private member’s bill once parliament resumes later this month.
Joyce, who now sits as a backbencher within the Nationals, described the policy to reduce carbon emissions by 2050 to net zero as “treacherous” to Australia’s security in a post on Facebook this afternoon.
Private member’s bills are often not considered or debated and Joyce is certainly no stranger to climate change and net zero scepticism.
In 2023, Joyce labelled the estimated cost of net zero “utterly untenable” ahead of a Nationals motion to ditch the policy at the party conference. In 2015, Joyce teamed up with his now-retired colleague Keith Pitt to urge the Coalition to walk away from the Paris agreement and its associated climate targets.
In this afternoon’s post, Joyce claimed committing to net zero was akin to self-immolation unless the majority of countries “authentically” participated in it:
There is no more time to assess, to ponder, to nuance or to amend. Net Zero must be repealed and as such, I will, at my first opportunity [sic] bring forward a bill to do that.
Melbourne man accused of stealing van struck by police car before arrest
Victoria police has described the moment a man accused of stealing a car and evading officers jumped from the vehicle, before being struck by a police car.
According to police, the accused stole a vehicle on St Kilda Road in Melbourne while a man was washing it at a car wash. The vehicle was later spotted in Footscray and followed by a police helicopter.
A police spokesperson has alleged the man was driving erratically through several suburbs including Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Spotswood, Carnegie, Sunshine, Dandenong and Point Cook:
The van was involved in collisions with several parked and moving vehicles. At this stage, it is understood there are no serious injuries.
The spokesperson said the vehicle came to a stop after crashing into a street sign at an intersection in Point Cook.
The force said the man then leaped from the vehicle and was “struck by an unmarked police car”:
Looking at what happened, I don’t think anyone would have expected [him] to bail out of the window like he did when he did.
The 36-year-old Point Cook man sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Police say he was arrested and transported to hospital under police guard.
Democracy in Colour urges government to tackle all forms of racism
Democracy in Colouran advocacy organisation led by people from racial and ethnic minorities, has urged the federal government to combat all forms of racism with equivalent urgency.
The group has raised concerns that the antisemitism’s envoy Jillian Segal’s recommendations to the federal government may be “ineffective in tackling racism comprehensively”.
Here’s the group’s national director, Noura Mansour:
Democracy in Colour stands firmly against all forms of discrimination: from systemic racism against First Nations people, to antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian racism.
We also stand resolutely in defence of our civil rights as individuals, groups and communities to exercise our freedoms without fear of defunding, smearing, demonisation, or physical harm.
We call upon all marginalised communities to reject draconian measures designed to protect the powerful while suppressing dissent. Instead, we must work together to build bridges and unite behind the principles of human rights, equality, and justice for all.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-terrorism, Ben Saulsays Jillian Segal’s plan to combat anti-semitism goes “ too far in some ways, and not far enough in others”.
Saul believes the anti-semitism envoy’s call for the widespread adoption of the definition of antisemitism prepared by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) in 2016 is problematic:
Firstly, it was intended to be a non-binding monitoring and awareness raising tool, not an operational definition for disciplining staff or students, cutting funding to universities or arts institutions, censoring the media or excluding immigrants – strategies which appear similar to the Trump Administration’s.
Secondly, the IHRA approach is not consistent with human rights and excessively infringes on legitimate freedom of expression.
The IHRA approach is divisive and controversial, including among Jews.
This alone makes its adoption counter-productive, because it can never build the consensus necessary to unify national efforts to effectively combat antisemitism.
You can read the full piece from Saul here:
Tom McIlroy
Nacc architect calls for public update on robodebt investigation
A key architect of the National Anti-Corruption Commission has called for a public update on the investigation into the illegal robodebt scheme, warning community confidence in the watchdog and its commissioner, Paul Breretonis on the line.
The independent MP Helen Haineswho helped craft legislation to establish the Nacc and has sat as a member of a parliamentary oversight committee, said it had been “too secretive” in the first two years of operations, including over its investigation into the Coalition’s welfare payment recovery scheme.
As many as 440,000 Centrelink recipients were hounded over alleged incorrect payments, based on faulty income averaging algorithms.
Haines, the MP for the Victorian seat of Indi, said it was disappointing the commission had not provided transparency over its U-turn on a decision to investigate six individuals referred by the robodebt royal commission, after an independent review into its initial refusal.
We need more women in our party, Kovacic says
The Liberal senator Maria Kovacic says the party must consider whether its base reflects modern Australia and consider changes.
Here’s what she told the ABC a few moments ago:
One of the issues we need to look at is how our broader party base reflects modern Australia and then how that then leads into our parliamentary representation.
We need more women in our party. That’s an absolute fact. We only have six women in the lower house of our federal parliament.
Government has recognised stronger regulation of childcare is needed, Thistlethwaite says
Matt Thistlethwaite has also told the ABC the federal government has recognised that stronger regulation of the childcare sector is needed to protect children:
Obviously we’re going to have to do more. We’ve realised that as a government.
The education minister, Jason Clarehas convened a meeting of state education ministers. That was the major topic of discussion.
We know we need to strengthen the regulations [and] look at things like a register of childcare workers, greater checks on their backgrounds and the like. We’ll do what it takes to ensure the safety of children and the welfare of parents.
‘PBS is off the table’ in Trump trade talks, Thistlethwaite says
The assistant foreign minister, Matt Thistlethwaitehas continued to outline the federal government’s commitment to safeguarding the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
Donald Trump has threatened to impose 200% tariffs on drug imports to the US, amid growing warnings the president’s growing trade war will seriously damage the global economy.
Thistlethwaite says Australian diplomats will try to negotiate to remove those tariffs, but will not negotiate on the operations of the PBS, which he described as “off the table”. Here’s what he told the ABC:
When you look at the Australian healthcare system, there’s two fundamental foundations: Medicare and the PBS.
They have produced one of the best healthcare systems in the world, where Australians enjoy relatively high living standards and healthier outcomes compared to the rest of the world.
We’re not going to jeopardise that in any way. So we’ve said we’re happy to negotiate on other issues, but the PBS is off the table.
Police rule out foul play in search for missing German backpacker
Eelemarni Close-Brown
Western Australia police are ruling out foul play as they continue searching for the missing German backpacker Carolina Wilgasaying they believe she may have walked into inhospitable bush after her van broke down.
Police on Thursday found Wilga’s abandoned Mitsubishi van about 150km from Beacon in the Karroun Hill area, which has been described as remote and inhospitable country.
The van is believed to have suffered mechanical issues, and police believe Wilga may have walked away from her vehicle.
The 26-year-old last had contact with friends on 29 June after travelling through the towns of Toodyay and Dowerin, south-west of Beacon, earlier in the day.
Acting Insp Jessica Securum said that an inexperienced person could easily become lost in the remote location.
Securo told ABC News:
The terrain is outback country and there are large, rocky outcrops.
So although there’s a number of tracks, you can see how it would be easy to become lost or disoriented in that area if you didn’t know it well.
