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Q: Your candidate for Flynn, not too far from here, has said there is room on your commitment to net zero. Matt Canavan, your former Resources Minister has backed that in this morning on Sky News. Can you be trusted on climate change?

Scott Morrison:

Our candidate was talking about how we get there. He wasn’t talking about the commitment itself, he has clarified that. Our commitment to net zero by 2050 is a commitment of the Australian government that I made in Glasgow. It is the government’s absolute policy.

What he referred to is our pathway to it.

As technologies change and improve, we are going to get there and we will get there by the best method possible. I tell you how we won’t get there, we won’t get there by taxing Australians. We won’t get there by shutting down businesses like this and industries like this.

The carbon credits scheme that Labor has put in place, just to be clear, it not only effects the coal industry, it effects mining and oil and gas production. It effects rail freight, it effects cement production, it effects fuel refining and many other sectors are caught up in those arrangements which would see them penalised and taxed.

Our approach is to incentivise the change, our approach with the hydrogen hubs, carbon capture use and storage, $22 billion of investment under the plan that Angus Taylor has put together to get us to net zero by 2050 through technology, not burden some taxes on the Australian people, which has always been Labor’s way. As you will see, Labor would govern with the Greens and it will be Greens that will be pulling Labor’s strings. They will certainly never be pulling my strings, ever

On the south China Sea, Scott Morrison says:

We will continue to work closely with our allies and partners, ensuring that the south China sea is free and open. We work as part of a partnership.

We work with Japan, we work with India, with European nations, UK, Germany has undertaken sales through the South China Sea as we have, 12 nautical miles is a separate issue and these are options that Australia always has.

We will work closely with our allies and partners about the best way to ensure we work together to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific.

One of the key things there is the South China Sea code of conduct. That is a topic of, I would say, every single bilateral leaders I have had with every Asean nation.

Australia was the first country to achieve a comprehensive strategic partnership with ASEAN. They are the South-East Asian nations. That was before the Chinese government were able to achieve that.

A core issue in our engagement with those South-East Asian partners is about a free and open Indo-Pacific and, in particular, the QUAD relationship with Australia, India, Japan and United States, a free and open Indo-Pacific is a key part of that discussion which we have led the development of, in particular in Japan, we have the reciprocal access agreement, a Status of Forces Agreement with Japan.

We are the only country in the world to have such an agreement with the Japanese government. That was a landmark agreement that took us and under my Prime Ministership, three years to land and we worked through three Prime Ministers.

As part of his introduction to his press conference, Scott Morrison continues with what has become a habit – reminding people that he speaks to international leaders and has been involved in global discussions about major events, before moving on to claims about what he thinks Labor’s policies mean.

In my recent discussion a couple of months ago now with the German chancellor and we were discussing the terrible issues in Ukraine, but after we discussed those, the first thing he wanted to talk to me about was our clean energy partnership with Germany and what we are doing in hydrogen. This is how you achieve your net zero by 2050 commitments.

You don’t do it by taxing*, as Labor is doing under their new carbon credits scheme**. You don’t do it by forcing choices. You make the investments in technology. You put the incentives in place which enables hydrogen hubs to be established, carbon capture use and storage technology to be developed.

*No one is talking taxes

**The Coalition already has a carbon credits scheme

Anthony Albanese continued his morning proof-of-life radio rounds with a combative 27-minute stoush on Ray Hadley’s 2GB program. Covering a veritable “greatest hits” roll call of past criticisms of Albanese (his unemployment rate slip-up, going to Perth while parts of Sydney flooded), Hadley also cajoled the Labor leader to follow former PM Julia Gillard’s pledge for there to be “no carbon tax under a government I lead”.

Hadley, playing the audio of Gillard’s 2010 pledge (which was broken when Labor introduced a carbon price in 2011), asked Albanese “can you say that today?”
Albanese answered “absolutely”, but Hadley pushed: “Could you say it for me so I’ve got it on record please.”

Albanese: we will have no carbon tax”.

But that wasn’t good enough for the Sydney radio shock jock, asking Albanese to repeat after him and say “there will be no carbon tax under any government I lead, ever”.

Albanese, chuckling, then answered there will be no carbon tax, ever.”

The discussion surfaced again as the Coalition claims Labor’s strengthening of the emissions safeguard mechanism – a policy enacted under Tony Abbott’s government, mind you, and which is currently already operating under Scott Morrison – was a “carbon tax”.

It isn’t a carbon tax, it’s already in place under the Coalition, and Labor’s plans would keep it applicable to the same 215 companies the Coalition does.

Elsewhere in the wide-ranging chat, Hadley accused Albanese of a “watered-down version” of Operation Sovereign Borders. The Labor leader denied this, saying that he would oversee the “same [border protection] policy as the government”, including turning back boats coming to Australia and not allowing boat arrivals to settle in Australia, instead taking them to Nauru.

Hadley played the blaring sound of a ship’s horn during the interview, to signify a boat arrival.

The 2GB host also claimed Solomon Islands PM Manasseh Sogavare would be “driving around a Ferrari in some South American country in five years”, claiming he had “his pockets lined by the Chinese”, and claimed Labor deputy leader Richard Marles wanted to have “yum cha with President Xi”.

Hadley finished the interview by thanking Albanese for his time, 27 minutes after the chat began, acknowledging the Labor leader was “still crook” from Covid.

The PM is in Townsville, with an announcement on a hydrogen hub.

Herbert wasn’t considered to be in play, so Morrison turning up is interesting – seems the Coalition feels it needs to lock it down.

For those who have actual lives and missed it, Ray Hadley just spent a good portion of his phone interview with Labor leader Anthony Albanese (who is on day five of Covid isolation) yelling at him.

Josh Butler will have an update for you soon on how that played out, but essentially, Hadley has a lot of feelpinions and can’t understand why Labor isn’t adopting them as a policy platform.

No doubt a chat with Peter Dutton later in the week will help soothe Hadley’s boo-boos as usual, but for right now, Hadley is having an absolute Garfield of a morning it seems.

Ray Hadley does not seem to be particularly enjoying today.

Daniel Hurst, our foreign affairs and defence correspondent, is having an even worse time, as he has to listen and fact check what is being said.

On Scott Morrison’s “red line” with China talk and Peter Dutton’s language, Malcolm Turnbull is not impressed:

There has been far too much bombastic and sort of belligerent talk.

Dutton’s obviously, you know, has cranked the scares, the sort of national security scares and round the track to 11 out of 10.

OK, well, he’s done that. How has that helped us?

How’s that advanced our interests?

And how does that match with the reality of what’s going on?

I mean, wouldn’t it be better [instead of spending time] chasing headlines in tabloid newspapers and on Sky after dark? Wouldn’t it be better if you’re actually focused on putting in the hard yards and ensuring the security arrangements with China were not entered into it?

Here is the whole “this is a hose you have to hold” quote from Malcolm Turnbull:

You’ve got to essentially treat this as a human exercise, pay respect and put in the time. You can’t just you know, this is you know, this is a hose you have to hold to put it bluntly, this needs time and attention, you cannot abrogate, or step away from responsibility.

The fact is, this outcome is bad, everyone from our point of view, everyone agrees with that. Even the government, they have to take responsibility for it.

The buck stops stops with the Australian government on this because it’s adverse and contrary to what our policy objectives were.

Was it a mistake not to send Marise Payne to Solomon Islands, Malcolm Turnbull is asked.

Of course,” Turnbull says.

“Everyone has said that.

Still holed up in Marrickville on day five of his Covid isolation, Labor leader Anthony Albanese sounded croaky as he called into Perth’s 6PR radio this morning. He admitted he was still “not 100%”, but said he was “doing OK” compared with other colleagues who’ve come down with the virus.

It does make you tired, but I haven’t had any of the headaches and other symptoms,” Albanese said.

The Labor leader said he agreed with former PM Malcolm Turnbull, who this morning called Peter Dutton’s comments about preparing for war “bombastic and belligerent”.

Albanese also said it was “remarkable” that foreign affairs minister Marise Payne hadn’t been dispatched to Honiara in response to the China-Solomon Islands security pact, which has exploded as a key issue in this election campaign.

China has changed its position in the region. It’s more forward leaning, it’s seeking to increase its influence,” he said.

Albanese also talked up Labor’s Pacific policy, announced this morning, including plans for more foreign aid and “soft power” influences like training Pacific defence personnel and increasing Australian broadcasting into the region.

We need a comprehensive plan of engagement with the Pacific and we simply haven’t had it. We’ve dropped the ball and as a result, Australia is less secure,” he said.

Payne and PM Scott Morrison have already rubbished Labor’s plan, saying there was “nothing new” and claiming the Coalition was already doing most of what Labor had proposed.

Albanese is due to leave Covid isolation on Thursday evening, seven days after being diagnosed. He is currently scheduled to resume electioneering ahead of Labor’s official campaign launch in Perth on Sunday.

And on how the Pacific is being spoken about, Malcolm Turnbull says:

It’s not a question of stopping the deal. This sort of bully-boy language is really unhelpful. It may actually be part of the problem.

I mean, the way Pacific is not our backyard, it’s where we live. It’s our neighbourhood. And so you’d have to use engagement. You have to use diplomacy, you have to be persuasive. You had to go and visit these countries, get to know these leaders, spend time with them.

I mean, when I was prime minister, we had for example, a proposal from the Solomon Islands, to establish or to engage with Huawei to build a fibre-optic cable.

Now, we did not think that was a great idea, to say the least.

But I didn’t just say don’t do that. I said, Right – we’ll build one for you. We’ll take it out of the aid budget.

In other words, we provided a solution. We headed off that initiative.

Malcolm Turnbull continued with his views of the security pact and the Morrison government’s role in it:

I mean, one of the key objectives, I should say, has been to ensure that Australia is the preferred security partner and that there are not security agreements or arrangements entered into with other countries from outside that outside the region and of course, China.

This is you know, this is a really unwelcome development.

The government cannot gild the lily on this. This has been a failure. This is this is an absolute failure of foreign policy.

Malcolm Turnbull did not hold back in his criticism of Peter Dutton this morning.

The former PM, who promoted Dutton to home affairs – a precursor to his defence portfolio– had some helpful contributions to the conversation on ABC radio RN:

Well, Peter Dutton’s rhetoric is becoming more and more bombastic and belligerent.

It’s just a pity that he doesn’t match it with actual preparation and work.

It’s as though he wants to have a sensation – he thinks the object to him being the defence minister is having a sensational headline in a tabloid newspaper.”

Covid restrictions are relaxing in the ACT – AAP has an update on what is happening around the nation:

Household Covid-19 contact quarantine rules have been ditched in the ACT, as a leading epidemiologist warns Australia could rue further relaxing restrictions.

The seven-day mandatory isolation for close contacts was scrapped in NSW and Victoria last week, with the nation’s capital following suit on Tuesday.

Queensland’s quarantine requirements will be eased for asymptomatic close contacts from 6pm on Thursday and South Australia will from Saturday drop the need to isolate unless showing symptoms.

Despite cases stabilising or falling across the country, University of Melbourne epidemiologist Nancy Baxter said the positivity rate for PCR tests remains high at about one third.

She believes now is not the time to ease restrictions, suggesting it would be safer to do so in a few weeks to shorten the tail of the current Omicron wave.

“Covid is not going away,” Baxter told ABC TV on Tuesday. “Right now we are in the denial phase of the pandemic where we want to live like we did before.

“Over the next two years what we’re going to find is if we actually want to live well, we do have to adapt to the virus and do things a bit differently.”

School resumes for most NSW students on Wednesday, when the week-long compulsory isolation for close contacts of pupils and teachers will also be ditched.