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Joe Hinchliffe

Queensland premier reveals Bluey animators’ Olympics mascot offer

Queensland’s premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, revealed the animators had offered their services in her opening remarks at Tuesday’s state budget estimates.

Benita Kolovos

In a September 2020 interview, Moira Deeming describes those behind Victoria’s Safe Schools program – introduced in 2010 to provide training for teachers to support LGBTQ+ students – as “pedophilia apologists” and said she “would rather lose [her] job than teach” the resources.

The excellent Cait Kelly is going to take you through for the last bit of the night, go well all!

First speeches start in the 47th parliament

Paul Karp

The Labor MP for Reid, Sally Sitou, is giving her first speech, about the need for a more representative parliament and for more “audacious dreamers” on climate change.

Sitou introduced herself as “the daughter of migrants, a proud Chinese-Lao-Australian” who grew up in Cabramatta in southwest Sydney and is “the product of good public education”.

Sitou said the White Australia Policy and the alienation of First Nations people from their identity were “decisions based on fear and a failure of imagination”, but in the past 50 years Australia has become a majority migrant nation.

She said:

As I look around our House of Representatives today, it feels like finally it is starting to live up to its name. A house made up of people who truly represent and reflect their communities. I believe it was important I put my hand up to stand for Reid, a thriving multicultural and multi-faith community. Because as audacious as this dream was – to run for our federal parliament – it has never been more important for someone like me to dream it. I grew up watching Home and Away and Neighbours. But I also grew up with a slight unease, not sure if I’d gone to the right schools, acutely aware of the postcode I grew up in, not sure of my place in this country. That’s why I think it’s important to have someone like me in our parliament, not for diversity sake. But because representatives that embody all of the Australian story make our parliament better and our democracy stronger …

This is a message I want to share with all young Australians. You are not defined by your postcode, the school you went to, or where your parents came from. In this country, you are defined by the content of your character and what you want to do for others – where the potential and promise of our nation is only limited by our imagination.

Sitou argued that at the 2021 election Australia again chose “care for country and future generations over fear” – this time in the context of climate change.

In the six years my son has been alive, he has already experienced the consequences of climate change. Events described as once-in-a-generation, experienced in just a few short years. He has now lived through the 2019 – 2020 NSW bushfire season – a “once in a generation event”. This year, he lived through a “once in a generation” rain and flooding event. And now heatwaves, breaking records across Europe – all “once in a generation events”. Surely we can no longer look at the situation before us and believe this is okay. Surely we can not say to my son and his generation that what we are doing to address climate change is enough. Surely it is time to be audacious dreamers and imagine a better way.

Natasha May

Airport baggage handlers threaten to strike

Australians flying internationally from east coast airports could see more delays as baggage handlers are threatening to go on strike due to proposed pay cuts and concerns about conditions.

Ground crew from the Emirates-owned group Dnata (the Dubai National Air Travel Agency) are taking their first step towards industrial action on Tuesday, applying to the Fair Work Commission to hold a vote on strike action.

The airport services provider supplies handling for up to 20 airlines including Qantas, Emirates, Etihad and Singapore Airlines. The federal court previously found Qantas’s outsourcing of 1,700 ground handler jobs in 2020 was unlawful. Qantas is currently seeking to appeal the ruling in the high court.

The full story is here:

Anthony Albanese moves to acknowledge Shinzo Abe in parliament

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has moved that the House of Representatives place on record its regret over the death of Shinzo Abe, and acknowledge the significant contribution the former prime minister of Japan made to regional and global affairs and to the Australia-Japan partnership. He moved that the house should “tender its profound sympathy to his family in their bereavement”.

‘Thirsty’ crops bounce back but environment still missing out on water

About 800% more water was used to irrigate rice last year than the year before, and about 250% more was used for cotton, a report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics has shown.

The increase in crop irrigation came after higher rainfall in 2020-2021 drew an end to three “exceptionally warm and dry years”, the ABS reported on Tuesday.

From the drier environment of 2019-20, water for cotton went from about 380,000 megalitres up to more than 1.3m megalitres last financial year. Rice went from 61,000 megalitres to more than 538,000.

That short-term gain in water for irrigation comes as the federal government prepares to hand down the latest audit of environmental water for the Murray Darling Basin, which is expected to show that only a fraction of the promised 450 gigalitres is likely to be delivered.

While the wet conditions of La Niña saw an increase in water storage last year, “in many parts of the country, groundwater levels remained below average”, according to the ABS.

A separate ABS report yesterday showed that as well as a “dramatic increase” in crops such as cotton and rice, there was also increased production in grapes (28%), mandarins (40%) and almonds (17%). These and other crops are at record levels, the ABS said, with nut crops flourishing thanks to “orchard expansions and extensive new plantings in recent years”.

Cotton and rice are often criticised for being “thirsty” crops, sucking up valuable water resources. As annual crops, their size can be controlled and increased or decreased each year depending on water availability.

That’s not true for crops such as almonds, which were singled out in last week’s shocking State of the Environment report. There has been a more than 900% increase in almond production in the Murray Darling Basin, that report found.

That growth has happened “despite their substantial water requirements in a geographical area with severe and catastrophic water security issues”. The almond industry says it is a high value, sustainable industry that uses only water already allocated for agriculture.

The Australia Institute’s water expert, Kate McBride, said the water use statistics show that the irrigation industry bounced back, and that it did so faster than the environment following dry conditions. She said:

That is, in part, because, in certain areas such as the Darling Baaka river system, mass extraction is allowed to occur before significant flows are delivered downstream.

McBride said the long-term health of river systems needed to be taken into account after major rain events, especially considering climate change will lead to more variable conditions and extended dry periods.

The federal government is set to table the much-delayed Water for the Environment Special Account report in this sitting period. It will give the latest update on the promised delivery of 450 gigalitres by the 2024 deadline.

Deputy speakers elected

The member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon, and the member for Moore, Ian Goodenough, have been elected deputy speaker and second deputy speaker respectively.

No foreign interference was identified during the 2022 federal election, the Australian Electoral Commissioner has been told.

In a statement, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) said the board of the Electoral Integrity Assurance Taskforce had provided the formal advice to Australian Electoral Commissioner, Tom Rogers.

Rogers said taskforce agencies, which include the Australian Federal Police, Australian Signals Directorate, and Office of National Intelligence, did not identify any foreign interference, or any other interference, that “compromised the delivery of the 2022 federal election and would undermine the confidence of the Australian people in the results of the election”.

Rogers added:

The work of the taskforce plays a vital role in protecting and preserving Australia’s electoral integrity and I am pleased to be able to share this advice with all Australians.

Jolly good then.

Josh Butler

Assistant treasurer says he warned Coalition of under-budgeting business registry program

The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, claims the former Coalition government was “fiddling the budget books” in search of a surplus when it budgeted less than $500m for a business registry program.

Further to the earlier post on the Australian Business Registry (ABR), Jones told Guardian Australia he had previously warned the Coalition it had budgeted too little for the renovation of the online system.

The changes will combine 30 distinct systems into one registry, including processes for financial advisors, corporations, the Australian Business Number (ABN) system and company directors.

Jones said that after examining spending in his own portfolio area, he’d found several other underfunded programs – which he said he would share further detail on in future. But with work on the ABR upgrade already underway, he said the Labor government was trying to find cost savings or extra funding to meet the cost blowout.

Jones said:

It’s the equivalent of getting a builder in to renovate your house, he pulls the roof off and says ‘sorry mate, this is going to cost you three times more than the original’. It’s not like you can say ‘don’t worry about it’, you’ve got the roof off your house, you’ve got to fix it.

I’d like to get the number [$1.5bn] down, but they’re saying that’s what it’s going to cost.

Jones said he had identified several similar cost blowouts, separate to a “line by line” audit that the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, are running ahead of their October budget.

Benita Kolovos

New Victorian Liberal candidate previously attacked LGBTQ+ rights

Newly preselected Victorian Liberal candidate Moira Deeming once claimed schools were actively trying to change children’s gender and sexual identity, while encouraging gay and transgender students to be “really narcissistic”.

In interviews posted on YouTube, the teacher and Melton councillor described transgender laws as “my number one issue”, casts doubt on Covid-19 vaccines and claims LGBTQ+ students get “all the attention” at school.

Deeming was endorsed on Saturday to replace outspoken Victorian upper house MP Bernie Finn ahead of the November state election. Finn was recently booted from the parliamentary Liberal party after he called for abortion to be banned, even for rape survivors.

The full story is here:

The NSW treasurer, Matt Kean, has weighed in to the ongoing furore surrounding Manly players in the NRL refusing to wear a pride jersey.

An incredible feat of web logging as always, Amy Remeikis. Onwards!

Nino Bucci stands ready to take you through to the early evening.

There are first speeches and a little bit more business to get through – we will also cover off the main events early tomorrow morning when the first official sitting day gets underway.

Mike Bowers is still out and about with his cameras at the ready, and Paul Karp, Josh Butler, Katharine Murphy and Tory Shepherd are all still at their keyboards filing on the day’s events. Blake Sharp-Wiggins and Rafqa Touma, our special guests from the Guardian brains trust, are also still working away. So make sure you check back to see what they are up to.

A very big thank you to everyone who has followed along with me today – it is an absolute honour to helm Politics Blog and the best part about it is all of you. So thank you. Make sure you get a rest and some switch off time (after 7.30) and I will see you back here in just over 14 hours.

Take care of you.

Just on that, Jim Chalmers will provide an economic update to parliament on Thursday.

He has been previewing that for some time – he and Katy Gallagher have spent the time since being sworn in going through the government accounts and information from Treasury and the departments on how much has been spent and where, and what the actual state of the budget is.

Labor accuses Coalition of budget blowout on business register reform

Josh Butler

The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, has accused the former Coalition government of presiding over a $1bn cost blowout in plans to update a key government register.

The Australian Business Register, which is meant to reduce administrative burden on business in complying with government regulation, is undergoing a reform process to update outdated technology, including combining 30 databases into one central platform. On Tuesday, Jones said the process – which had been budgeted at $500m by the former government – had blown out to $1.5bn.

Jones claimed the former government had significantly underprovisioned funds for the reform.

They had known for at least a year now there was going to be significant cost overruns.

We’ve got to get the job done, but we’re going to have to find some ways to bring the cost in.

In warning of dire economic circumstances facing Australia, the new Labor government has claimed their predecessors left behind significant budget issues, with the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, and the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, saying their departments are conducting a “line by line” audit of Coalition spending.

Anthony Albanese will be the guest on ABC’s 7.30 tonight.