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Albanese and Allan heckled at News Corp bush summit
Josh Butler
Prime minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian premier Jacinta Allan have been heckled at the News Corp bush summit in Ballarat this morning, with participants strongly criticising and interrupting both leaders over their environmental and climate change policies.
Albanese, responding to the heckling, said “I won’t bullshit people” as he backed in his government’s climate change and clean energy policies.
The PM said:
I understand some people have a different view, but what I won’t do is come and, out of convenience, say what is convenient and people want to hear.
Albanese noted it was the former Morrison Coalition government that had adopted a net zero target.
The crowd in Ballarat booed, laughed and jeered as Albanese talked about coal-fired power stations not stacking up economically.
To loud opposition from the crowd, Albanese said:
There hasn’t been a new coal fired power station started this century. That’s the truth. There’s been no regulation stopping that… It hasn’t happened because the market has determined it doesn’t stack up.
The News Corp moderator at several points tried to calm the crowd, saying “please, audience” and “we’ll have to stop if you keep going”.
Albanese had been criticised by the Greens for attending a separate bush summit event earlier in the week, calling it “climate disinformation spreader News Corp’s bush summit” and claiming the events “give a platform to some of the country’s most extreme and disturbing anti-net zero, anti-climate action rhetoric”.
Key events
Eva Corlett
New Zealand’s house prices are finally falling. Could this happen elsewhere?
Three years ago, New Zealanders would have it found it almost impossible to imagine the country’s sky-high house prices falling.
The market was deemed one of the least affordable in the world, with house prices nearly nine times the average income and supply dismally low. Desperate first home buyers were being squeezed out of the market by cashed-up investors.
Some of those in low paid or no work were thrust into homelessness and waitlists for social housing ballooned. In mid-2021 the crisis reached fever pitch, with the national average house price exceeding NZ$1m.
But now, those prices are trending downwards.
Read more:
Nine demands Bob Katter apologise for ‘aggressive behaviour’ towards reporter and ‘unacceptable’ threats
Amanda Meade
Nine Entertainment is considering legal action against Bob Katter after the independent MP called Nine’s Queensland reporter Josh Bavas a racist and threatened to punch him at a press conference.
The Brisbane outburst came after Katter expressed support for anti-immigration “March for Australia” protests planned for the weekend. Bavas asked: “You’ve got Lebanese heritage yourself … ”, before Katter cut him off.
The member for Kennedy walked up to the Channel Nine reporter and shook his fist at him.
“Don’t say that, because you’re a racist. You’re a racist. You cannot say what you just said without being identified as a racist … this man is a racist,” Katter said. The exchange was filmed.
Nine executives were discussing taking defamation action against Katter, sources said. The company has demanded an apology from Katter.
Read more here:
Cait Kelly
Roadblock back up near Dezi Freeman’s old home in Porepunkah
As Porepunkah braces for wild weather, the roadblock near the property where alleged gunman Dezi Freeman was living has been set up again.
This is the third afternoon in a row that police have blocked off this part of the area.
There is low cloud cover, and the helicopter, which usually flies overhead, is not around. It is unclear if they are currently searching in the area.
Benita Kolovos
Battin condemns planned anti-immigration ‘March for Australia’ rallies
The Victorian opposition leader, Brad Battin, has put out a statement with his spokesperson for multicultural affairs, Evan Mulholland, condemning the anti-immigration “March for Australia” rallies planned for this weekend.
The duo said they were particularly concerned about the “anti-Indian sentiment in some of the promotional material for the events published by the anonymous organisers”.
Battin said:
We condemn these rallies and the abhorrent messaging associated with them. Victoria is a proudly multicultural and multifaith state, and the Liberals and Nationals will always stand with all Victorians, no matter their background. Our state has been built on the contributions of generations of migrants who have made Victoria their home, and we are stronger for it. Any attempt to incite hatred or division against any community is completely unacceptable.
Battin told ABC Radio Melbourne yesterday he had told his MPs they shouldn’t attend the rally.
Adam Morton
Windfarm project likely to face criticism from green groups and scientists
Despite the conditions, the Robbins Island windfarm approval decision is likely to face criticism from environmentalists and scientists who have said the area should be a no-go zone site due to its environmental importance.
Watt said the windfarm had the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.4m tonnes a year, equivalent to taking more than 1m cars off the road each year. He said:
There will obviously be some people who support [the decision and] some people who criticise it … The reality is we need more renewable energy being built in Australia to tackle the climate change challenge that we have.
The key to that is that, in the approvals process, we put in place strong environmental protections to avoid and reduce environmental damage. That’s what I believe we’ve done with this decision.
Watt said construction of the farm was not expected to commence until 2031. He said the project would support up to 350 direct jobs in construction and up to 50 ongoing operational jobs.
You can read more about the windfarm proposal from a recent story here:
Watt gives green light to Tasmanian windfarm project
Adam Morton
The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, has given the green light to the Robbins Island windfarm, a contentious and long-proposed development in north-west Tasmania that could lead to 100 turbines being built in an area environmentalists say is a haven for migratory shorebirds and threatened species.
Watt said he had approved the construction of the windfarm proposed by the renewable energy company Acen Australia, a bridge between the nearly 10,000 hectare island and the Tasmanian mainland wharf and four quarries.
A decision on the windfarm had been repeatedly delayed. Watt said his approval came with strict conditions to protect the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot, endangered Tasmanian wedge-tailed eagle, protected migratory shorebirds and the Tasmanian devil.
The conditions include a requirement the company:
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Conduct comprehensive parrot surveys for three years before construction.
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Provide funding for a Tasmanian government parrot conservation program.
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Develop and implement a bird and bat management plan to “evaluate, mitigate and manage the risk of turbine collision for threatened birds”. Watt said the plan may need to include “curtailment or shutdown of all or some turbines” at certain times.
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Install barriers to avoid Tasmanian devils from the mainland crossing to the island and potentially affecting the local disease-free population.
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Not build turbines within 1km of a wedge-tailed eagle nest.
Benita Kolovos
Heckling forces Jacinta Allan to stop midway through speech at bush summit
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has been forced to stop midway through her speech a the News Corp bush summit in Ballarat this morning due to loud booing and heckling from the crowd, including one man telling her to “fuck off”.
She told the crowd:
I could just request, I know there’s differences of views. One of the things that makes me proud of living in regional Victoria is I turn up and we turn up and listen and respect one another, and I simply ask, [that] I can conclude my remarks.
But her pleas to “show the best of country Victoria” to those tuning in online were largely ignored. The loudest boos came as the premier spoke about her government’s support for renewable energy projects.
During a Q and A segment, the Herald Sun’s Tom Minear was forced to repeatedly ask the crowd to quieten down. Asked whether there needed to be better consultation with landowners, Allan replied:
One of the challenges we have in this discussion is there’s a lot of loud voices, but there’s also a lot of people who want the information. Out of respect to people who are seeking the information, they deserve to hear that, not just from politicians but from experts and advisers.
One of the things that we need to do differently is better engage with landowners, and it’s why, whether it’s through the support that landowners can receive in hosting transmission lines on their property, whether it’s the compensation arrangements that are being made available. This is one of the challenges that we can have to work through these issues together.
Allan appeared at the event immediately after prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who was also jeered by the crowd.
Comedian Dave Hughes taken to hospital after AFL Legends Game
Comedian and radio presenter Dave Hughes has been hospitalised with five broken ribs and a punctured lung after participating in the AFL Legends Game, a charity match raising funds for prostate cancer research.
Hughes called in to Melbourne radio stations on Friday morning from his hospital bed, confirming he was severely injured and on strong painkillers but making light of his situation. He told Fox FM:
I knew that when I slowed down, this was going to happen, but I didn’t realise to this extent. I was groaning in the morning. My wife said, we’ve got to go to the hospital. I said, I can’t get out of bed, can they come here?
Reportedly the oldest person on the field, Hughes was playing for the Victorian team against the All Stars. He believed on-field collisions from Andrew Embley and Mitch Robinson were responsible for his injuries.
He told Triple M:
At half-time, I was coming off the ground and I was like, ‘I feel like I have a punctured lung’, and I was joking, but no, I do.
Asked “who got you?”, Hughes said:
Andrew Embley. Hodgey [Luke Hodge] kicked it to me, I dropped a chest mark – it was the lights, there’s too many lights at that ground – and Embley came in from the side. It was the first collision, and from that moment I was struggling. [Daniel] Gorringe slammed me in the ruck.
Butler says any report of foiled potential hijacking plan ‘sends shivers down the spine’
Health minister Mark Butler said any report of a potential hijacking plan “sends shivers down the spine of every Australian” after the Australian reported yesterday on an allegedly foiled plot to take control of a commercial jet.
Butler said he couldn’t comment on the specifics of the case, which is before the courts, but said there is no threat to the public. He spoke to Channel 7’s Sunrise this morning, saying:
Obviously, any report of a potential hijacking sends shivers down the spine of every Australian, particularly Australians who fly. But I want to be very cautious about this. As you’ve reported … this alleged hijacker is in custody, so there’s no threat to the Australian community. But there’s a suppression order on this for very good reason.
Investigations are still under way by our intelligence and security agencies, so we don’t want to speculate about other aspects of this issue. We want to let our agencies do their work and that will all come out in due course and be prosecuted in the normal way.
Albanese and Allan heckled at News Corp bush summit
Josh Butler
Prime minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian premier Jacinta Allan have been heckled at the News Corp bush summit in Ballarat this morning, with participants strongly criticising and interrupting both leaders over their environmental and climate change policies.
Albanese, responding to the heckling, said “I won’t bullshit people” as he backed in his government’s climate change and clean energy policies.
The PM said:
I understand some people have a different view, but what I won’t do is come and, out of convenience, say what is convenient and people want to hear.
Albanese noted it was the former Morrison Coalition government that had adopted a net zero target.
The crowd in Ballarat booed, laughed and jeered as Albanese talked about coal-fired power stations not stacking up economically.
To loud opposition from the crowd, Albanese said:
There hasn’t been a new coal fired power station started this century. That’s the truth. There’s been no regulation stopping that… It hasn’t happened because the market has determined it doesn’t stack up.
The News Corp moderator at several points tried to calm the crowd, saying “please, audience” and “we’ll have to stop if you keep going”.
Albanese had been criticised by the Greens for attending a separate bush summit event earlier in the week, calling it “climate disinformation spreader News Corp’s bush summit” and claiming the events “give a platform to some of the country’s most extreme and disturbing anti-net zero, anti-climate action rhetoric”.
Star Entertainment Group posts $471m full-year loss
Star Entertainment Group says it lost $471m last financial year and its soft trading conditions continued in July, AAP reports.
The embattled casino group also disclosed on Friday it had $189m in available cash as of Monday, $45m less than it had as of 30 June, although that’s partly because it paid $16m in back taxes during that time.
Star said it brought in $92.1m in revenue and incurred a $7.4m operating loss in July, slightly ahead of its June quarter average.
“There remains material uncertainly regarding the group’s ability to continue as a going concern,” the company said, citing six items that are critical to its financial outlook.
Among them is a looming money-laundering penalty from Austrac, Australia’s financial watchdog, which has proposed a fine of $400m; Star’s ability to restore its casino licenses; and completing a $300m investment from Bally’s and pub baron Bruce Mathieson.
Benita Kolovos
Victoria police set up designated area due to planned far-right protest
Victoria police will set up a designated area across Melbourne’s CBD as they prepare for “violence” at a rightwing protest on Sunday.
Supt Troy Papworth, from the north-west metro specialist operations unit at Victoria police, told ABC Radio Melbourne the entire CBD up to the Shrine of Remembrance will be declared a designated area under the Control of Weapons Act.
This means officers can randomly stop and search anyone or their vehicle without a warrant or reasonable grounds.
The designated area has been declared due to concern around some rightwing figures attending the protest near Flinders Street to “cause violence and mayhem”, Papworth said:
In a week where we’ve lost two police officers … we are having to respond to protest intended to cause violence in the city.
He says another planned pro-Palestine rally is also organised for the State Library. Organisers have been communicating with police and say they will avoid Flinders Street, but Papworth says he remains concerned there could be confrontation between the two groups.
Man charged with murder after woman allegedly kidnapped and killed in Sydney
NSW police charged a man on Thursday over the alleged kidnapping and murder of a Sydney woman in April.
Police said they responded to a home in the suburb of Bankstown in western Sydney on 17 April, where they were told a group of people had forced their way into a home before allegedly kidnapping the woman, 45, and assaulting an eight-year-old boy with a baseball bat.
The group, armed with a firearm, then allegedly forced the woman into an SUV. Later that day, emergency services responded to reports of a car fire, where they discovered the body of the woman inside.
Police claim the woman and children were targeted over her partner’s alleged involvement with an organised crime group in Victoria.
A man, 29, was arrested yesterday and charged with murder and wounding a person with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. He was refused bail and will appear before court later today.
Police will alleged the 29-year-old facilitated the alleged kidnapping and murder of the woman.
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