16 February 2021
16 February 2021
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Opposition leader Elizabeth Lee has been nominated for the 2020 McKinnon Emerging Political Leader of the Year award. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee has been nominated for the 2020 McKinnon Emerging Political Leader of the Year award for speaking out against sexual harassment and racism.
Ms Lee came out in June last year and said that she had been persistently sexually propositioned by former High Court judge Dyson Heydon at the 2013 University of Canberra law ball.
She chose to speak out about the incident after being inspired by the actions of the judge’s associates who came forward with allegations of sexual harassment by Mr Heydon.
Just before the House adjourned for the evening, Joyce told the chamber he would be moving an amendment to his own government’s policy because he was willing to put his “name to the paper” and stand up for jobs in the coal sector.
To quell a potential rebellion within its own ranks, the government withdrew the bill from the order of business for Wednesday.
Craig Kelly said on Wednesday morning he was interested in the amendment. He told Guardian Australia he was yet to see the wording, but he was “absolutely interested”.
Kelly said if the government was prepared to allow investments in gas to stabilise the grid, then it should be prepared to countenance investments in high efficiency coal as well.
16 February 2021
The federal Labor opposition will seek to block many of the Morrison government’s proposed changes to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation that would see the green bank opened up to investments in fossil fuel projects, and would grant federal energy minister Angus Taylor new powers to direct its investments.
Taylor, also the emissions reduction minister, introduced the legislative amendments in August to establish the $1 billion Grid Reliability Fund, which the Morrison government intends to use to finance planned investments in new gas and energy storage projects shortlisted through the stalled Underwriting New Generation Investments (UNGI) program
Debate on the legislation finally commenced in the House of Representatives on Monday.
Peter Dutton defied guidelines to award cash in marginal seat
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Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton defied the guidelines for the $180 million Safer Communities program by granting cash to projects that had failed the criteria for funding, undercutting his public claims about the scheme.
Mr Dutton’s department told him the two projects in the marginal electorate of Braddon “do not represent value for money” because they had scored too poorly under the eligibility criteria, but he awarded the cash anyway.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton approved funding for two projects in a marginal seat before the funding guidelines were available.
“I’ll know my song well before I start singing it,” Bob Dylan wrote in 1963. When it comes to Queensland, federal Labor is still working on its song. But the party is hopeful Anthony Albanese and the party machine at least have a tune. Albanese’s sortie north had been in the works for more than a year, but the pandemic played havoc with everybody’s plans. The Labor leader then planned to use the summer to make up for lost time campaigning in.