Alex Hawke calls out Labor for trying to send FoI bill to ‘legislation clearing house’
Looks like the drama won’t just be reserved for the Senate today, there’s some early shenanigans going on in the house too.
The government has tried to move debate on the highly controversial freedom of information bill to the much smaller federation chamber, which the opposition has called a “secondary chamber” where there will be less scrutiny of debate.
Manager of opposition business, Alex Hawke, tries to suspend standing orders to stop it going to the chamber, and has a go at the government. He says too many bills are being sent to the federation chamber for debate and that, “the federation chamber has become a legislation clearing house”.
I can assure the prime minister that their changes to freedom of information are highly controversial and deserve a serious examination by this parliament.
This is not a debate that should be sent somewhere to ram it through … it should be scrutinised by this house.
Hawke says the opposition is also standing up for the media, who have deep concerns over this legislation.
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Updated at 20.26 EST
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Penry Buckley
Turnbull says defence expo demonstrators have a right to protest
Returning to the Sydney defence conference, Guardian Australia has run into the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is attending as part of the New South Wales delegation.
Turnbull says he did not see protesters when he came to the conference this morning, but says “they’ve got a right to protest”.
Asked about the appropriateness of the attendance of Israeli weapons companies, amid warnings the Australian government may be breaching its international obligations by trading with them, Turnbull says: “I don’t buy into that.
“Today is about A, defending Australia, and B, supporting technology,” he says.
Guardian Australia has also been able to speak to a representative from Rafael Systems, one of two Israeli companies that NSW MPs and human rights experts have called to be removed from the conference. They say the company has no comment to make on this morning’s protest.
Asked about the company’s presence today following links to alleged war crimes by Israel’s military in Gaza, they say: “We don’t deal with politics.”
We’re here to talk about how to help Australia, how to help New Zealand, how to help our other allies increase their security … We have a lot of meetings scheduled today.
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Updated at 20.50 EST
Catie McLeod
G8 Education says it ‘welcomes scrutiny’ and is committed to regulatory reform
In today’s ASX announcement, G8 Education also said it “welcomes the scrutiny and changes that are aimed at providing better outcomes for children and our team”.
In July a former childcare worker was charged with more than 70 offences involving children, including at a Melbourne centre managed by G8 Education. He has yet to enter a plea. The accused worked at the centre in early 2024. G8 Education has repeatedly apologised for “the pain this has caused”.
During a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry in September, Greens MLC Abigail Boyd read a series of confirmed, unrelated breaches at centres owned by G8 Education. These included a child being slapped on the face in 2023 and others being exposed to mould in 2024.
G8 Education said in its ASX statement today that it was working with state and federal governments and the relevant regulators, and that:
We remain committed to implementing all regulatory changes effectively and, in addition, continue to invest in strengthening the recruitment, training and development of our team, and improving our safety, quality and educational practices.
Furthermore, we have committed to the rollout of CCTV across our network, commencing in 2026.
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Updated at 20.51 EST
Catie McLeod
G8 Education downgrades revenue forecast after failing to turn around drop in enrolments
G8 Education has told shareholders it has failed to turn around a drop in enrollments and is on track to make less money than it expected this year, after multiple safety breaches at its centres and its past employment of a childcare worker now facing multiple child sex abuse charges.
Australia’s largest for-profit childcare provider posted an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange today, saying it had downgraded its revenue forecast for this financial year to between $91m and $98m due to “subdued occupancy”.
G8 Education noted it had said in August that it was experiencing lower occupancy rates but expected its full-year revenue to be similar to the 2024-2025 financial year.
The company conceded its “focus on initiatives to support traditional seasonal occupancy growth” in the second half of the year had not been successful, saying that:
The operating environment has remained challenging, with families continuing to face cost of living pressures, lower enquiry levels compared to last year and ongoing sector-wide challenges.
As a result, the expected seasonal increase in occupancy in October did not occur.
The company said that, as of 2 November, its year to date occupancy rate was 65.7%, which is 4.5 percentage points lower than it was in the year before.
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Updated at 20.50 EST
Alex Hawke calls out Labor for trying to send FoI bill to ‘legislation clearing house’
Looks like the drama won’t just be reserved for the Senate today, there’s some early shenanigans going on in the house too.
The government has tried to move debate on the highly controversial freedom of information bill to the much smaller federation chamber, which the opposition has called a “secondary chamber” where there will be less scrutiny of debate.
Manager of opposition business, Alex Hawke, tries to suspend standing orders to stop it going to the chamber, and has a go at the government. He says too many bills are being sent to the federation chamber for debate and that, “the federation chamber has become a legislation clearing house”.
I can assure the prime minister that their changes to freedom of information are highly controversial and deserve a serious examination by this parliament.
This is not a debate that should be sent somewhere to ram it through … it should be scrutinised by this house.
Hawke says the opposition is also standing up for the media, who have deep concerns over this legislation.
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Updated at 20.26 EST
Sarah Basford Canales
Anti-nuclear weapons group founder calls for timeline on Australia signing treaty
Dr Tilman Ruff, co-founder of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican), said the minister’s comments “gave the impression” the federal government would no longer go forward with signing the treaty after Marles said it was a “decision of government” and that it already follows the “Non-Proliferation Treaty” – a separate treaty that aims to prevent the buildup of nuclear weapons.
Ruff said:
As Australia pursues nuclear-fuelled submarines under Aukus, it is essential that we send a clear message to our nation, our region and the world that nuclear weapons are a red line. We call for the government to set a timeline for the signature of the TPNW in this term of parliament.
In a statement to Guardian Australia, the assistant climate change minister, Josh Wilson, who is a co-convener of the Parliamentary Friends of the TPNW (Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons), said the government’s position had not changed.
The government’s position hasn’t changed. We continue to actively support disarmament and non-proliferation measures as part of our commitment to a world without nuclear weapons, and Australia recognises and values the contribution that the TPNW has made to that vital cause in terms of global focus and momentum. The Albanese government has engaged as an observer with the TPNW process, and continues to consider how the TPNW can interact with and reinforce foundation agreements like the NPT.
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Updated at 20.45 EST
Sarah Basford Canales
Marles’ comments spark concerns Labor will renege on promise to sign nuclear weapons ban treaty
An anti-nuclear weapons group has raised concerns the Albanese government is walking back its promise to sign and ratify a nuclear weapons ban treaty, after comments made by the defence minister, Richard Marles, on ABC’s Four Corners last night.
Countries who sign up to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons would be prohibited from developing, testing, producing, acquiring, possessing or using nuclear weapons. Since 2017, 94 countries, including Ireland, Mexico and New Zealand, have signed the treaty with many having also ratified it since. Notably, the US, China, Russia, France and the UK join Australia as countries who’ve yet to sign it.
At Labor’s 2018 national conference, Anthony Albanese, then shadow infrastructure minister, passed a resolution that Labor, in government, would sign and ratify the treaty. It was seconded by Marles. The footage of Labor’s commitments in 2018 was aired in an episode of ABC’s Four Corners last night.
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Updated at 20.19 EST
Well, I have received update from the government on their motion to force all senators to be present and in the chamber for Senate question time.
A government spokesperson clarified senators can leave for bathroom breaks and emergencies.
It’s not yet clear whether the motion will go through – the government would need either Coalition or Greens support. Or the Coalition and the Greens could team up with the crossbench and vote against it.
ShareTom McIlroy
Coalition tearing themselves apart over net zero again, PM says
Anthony Albanese has lashed the Coalition over its plans to dump support for net zero by 2050 emissions policies, urging Labor MPs to maintain focus on the economic opportunities from the renewable energy transition.
Speaking to a closed-door meeting of the Labor caucus at Parliament House on Tuesday, Albanese said the politics were bad for the opposition leader, Sussan Ley.
“It is all about investment certainty,” Albanese said.
“We need investment certainty to deliver reliable energy. This is a commonsense approach.”
Of the Coalition, Albanese said:
Those opposite have torn themselves apart before and they’re doing it again.
It’s important we keep our focus on what we are doing for jobs and the economy.
Albanese noted that 24 out of 28 coal-fired power stations in Australia had announced their closures under the former Coalition government.
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Updated at 20.07 EST
Andrew Messenger
Queensland treasurer vows to continue good faith negotiations with teachers’ union
Queensland’s treasurer, David Janetzki, has vowed to continue good faith negotiations with the state’s teachers union, in the face of threatened strike action.
QTU delegates voted on the weekend to take their second strike action of the year within the next three weeks. The first is estimated to have disrupted learning for 600,000 school students across the state.
At a press conference in Rockhampton, Janetzki said “we believe we’ve made a good offer”:
Well, we’ll remain good faith negotiators, and we’ll continue to work with them [the union].
We’ll let the process take its course now. We want to see teachers well paid and safe in the classroom, and that’s what we’re working towards through some of the red tape reduction and work that the education minister [is taking].
More than two-thirds of teachers voted down an 8% pay rise offer last week. The state government hopes to take the union into industrial arbitration to resolve the dispute.
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Updated at 19.55 EST
Penry Buckley
Sydney defence expo continues uninterrupted by protest
Inside the Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition, outside which police arrested at least 10 protesters and used pepper spray on crowds, the atmosphere is relaxed.
Thousands of people, including hundreds of white-uniformed Australian navy personnel, are packed into the International Convention Centre in Darling Harbour. A naval band is playing classical flute music, while attenders are being given out free doughnuts and lollies by organisers and exhibitors, including some of the world’s largest weapons companies.
Inside the main exhibition hall, people are flocking to stalls run by the likes of Lockheed Martin and the Australian federal and state governments, as attenders pose alongside scale models of ballistic missiles and unmanned drones.
Among the exhibitors is Israel’s largest weapons company, Elbit Systems, and the Israeli state-owned company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems, who both have large, centrally located stalls.
Former member of the UN commission of inquiry, Chris Sidoti, has criticised the companies for being “key enablers of the Israel Defense Forces in its commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza over the last two years”.
Guardian Australia has approached Rafael and Elbit for comment.
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Updated at 19.44 EST
