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Constitutional expert calls ‘bullshit’ on governor general

A spokesperson for the governor general, David Hurley, has said “the governor general had no reason to believe that appointments would not be communicated” but a professor in constitutional law has called “bullshit” on this defence.

Luke Beck, a professor at Monash University, appeared on ABC Radio earlier this morning expressing scepticism at the statement:

The governor general’s statement … particularly the statement where he says that he had no reason to think that these appointments would not be communicated, I call bullshit on that.

He in fact actually knew. Maybe he didn’t know for the first appointment. But after that first appointment was never publicised, he then appointed Morrison to four other additional ministries. And on each occasion the governor general knew that none of those were being made public.

So the governor general in fact knew after the first one that these were not being communicated publicly, so that part of the statement is misleading.

‘Cringeworthy’: energy minister says Morrison’s media conference was embarrassing

Circling back to Chris Bowen’s interview on ABC Radio, where the discussion on climate policy was followed by questions on the biggest story in Canberra – Scott Morrison’s secret appointment to five additional ministries.

Asked if he believes the governor general still has questions to answer, Bowen responded:

I think to be fair that the governor general was in a difficult position, he has to accept the advice of the government or the PM of the day.

He went harder on Morrison’s presser, saying teachers have received better excuses from schoolchildren.

It was pretty pathetic, embarrassing and cringeworthy to be honest.

Morrison should apologise to Karen Andrews, Bridget McKenzie says

Bridget McKenzie doesn’t believe Scott Morrison should resign, but says she believes he should apologise to Karen Andrews.

McKenzie is asked about the fact that Morrison has called male ministers, including Josh Frydenberg and Mathias Cormann, to apologise. However, Andrews who is calling on Morrison to resign, told Sky News yesterday that he had not called her.

McKenzie responded:

He should call Andrews.

The right thing to do would be to call all ministers concerned.

Nationals leader in the Senate, Bridget McKenzie, a former cabinet minister under Scott Morrison, says the former prime minister’s actions were a breach of the Coalition agreement.

My concern as the leader of the Nationals in the Senate is that the arrangements breached the Coalition agreement.

My view is that the National party would not have agreed with having one of its leaders removed.

… it shows great disrespect on behalf of the prime minister to our party.

Multinational energy giants won’t be allowed to use international carbon credits, Bowen says

Question: Will multinational energy giants be excluded from using international carbon credits?

Bowen:

They currently can’t – and I would not allow it unless the government had advice and I was very satisfied that emissions reductions under international credits were real and verifiable.

Climate safeguard mechanisms have failed because of ‘headroom’, climate minister says

Bowen is asked about how he plans to tighten the system to eliminate the “headroom” to raise emissions. He responds:

The discussion paper does go into that and points out that the headroom exists … that’s why the safeguard mechanism so far has failed.

‘Genuine’ consultation begins on climate safeguard policy

Chris Bowen, the minister for climate change and energy, is appearing on ABC radio as the government today begins stakeholder engagement on its climate safeguard policy for industry, releasing a discussion paper.

Asked how “baselines” for new and existing facilities be set, and how he will determine rates for baseline reductions, Bowen says he is looking forward to getting feedback from industry and climate groups about these finer details.

There are two options for how to calculate emissions reductions, one would be reductions in absolute terms, the other takes into account economic growth. Asked if he has a preference, Bowen says, “No, this is a very genuine consultation process”.

Perrottet rejects Hogan’s criticisms over northern NSW flood response

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, is speaking from Ballina with ABC Breakfast News and this is his response to local federal member for Page Kevin Hogan’s criticisms of his government’s response to the northern rivers floods as “too slow”.

Perrottet says he disagrees with Hogan’s criticisms:

We have put a lot of work into ensuring we’ve got people into homes and temporary homes as quickly as possible. We’ve committed yesterday to a buyback scheme. We’re opening expressions of interest for landowners in a way that looks at opportunities for relocation for future development that ensures that people are able to move into homes into the future which are free from those flood-prone areas.

The criteria for that will take some time, given the catastrophic nature of this event. And it’s not just in the northern rivers, obviously right across the state we’ve had significant flooding, and we need to do it in the right way possible. I want to get people into homes as quickly as we can. We need to do it in the right way and in a way that sets up our towns in the northern rivers for the generations to come in a more resilient and structured way.

I know that even yesterday’s announcement still creates uncertainty because the criteria needs to be finalised, but directionally the government is committed to this approach. I believe it’s the right approach. Speaking to the prime minister last night about ways in which the state government can work with the federal government on funding plans to have this occur. But, you know, we have been working very closely with all the communities in the northern rivers for the last 5.5 months. Significant progress has been made. I’ve seen that firsthand yesterday. But there’s a lot more to do and there’s a long journey ahead. But we’re very committed to making sure we rebuild our communities here in a way that ensures they stay open and are there for generations to come.

Kevin Hogan, the local MP for Page around the northern rivers, has slammed the NSW government’s response as too slow in a statement released this morning.

Hogan says the Queensland government was able to set up a scheme in weeks, not months like the NSW government.

Paul Karp

‘Dumping ground’: Chris Bowen flags emissions standards for cars

Last night the climate change minister, Chris Bowen, signalled that Labor could introduce emissions standards for cars.

In a webinar with the Climate Council, Bowen said:

I have said that emissions standards for new cars – that is on the table. I do recognise that 85% of cars sold around the world deal in a regime with emissions standards. I’ll have more to say in due course about the way forward. Obviously we want to ensure choice for Australians. We are currently a bit of a dumping ground for manufacturers who don’t have to comply with various standards. We’ll have a national electric vehicle strategy, that will be a good piece of work.

The Australia Institute and others have been lobbying Bowen to announce fuel efficiency standards at an electric vehicle conference on Friday. In June, Bowen didn’t rule out introducing such standards out when asked at the National Press Club.

Bowen told the Climate Council he was “very passionate” about electric cars, because he drives one, which he describes as the “best I’ve ever driven”.

He listed other measures to support EVs including:

• Abolishing the fringe benefit tax and the tariff on electric cars.

• Achieving 75% of the commonwealth fleet being zero emissions by 2025.

• A fast charger every 150km on national highways to combat “range anxiety”.

Bowen said there was a “sea change” when Labor’s attitude is compared with the previous government’s.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese is flying north today to the Torres Strait for talks on an Indigenous voice to parliament. The visit follows the government securing bipartisan support for the voice from states and territories yesterday.

Albanese will be joined on the two-day visit by Linda Burney, the Indigenous Australians minister, and Queensland senator Nita Green.

The government is also starting consulting industry and stakeholders on its climate safeguard mechanism. The safeguard is the centrepiece of achieving its 2030 emission targets and will place caps on the biggest emitters.

Chris Bowen, the minister for climate change and energy, will be appearing on ABC Radio shortly after 7.30am and we’ll bring you what he has to say.

The former prime minister Scott Morrison’s secret ministeries saga continues, with a spokesperson for the governor general, David Hurley, releasing a statement late yesterday saying “the governor general had no reason to believe that appointments would not be communicated”.

Luke Beck, a professor in constitutional law at Monash University, appeared on ABC Radio earlier this morning expressing scepticism at the statement. Beck’s argument is that Hurley might have had no reason to believe that appointments would not be communicated the first time he swore Morrison in, but the subsequent times he would have known this did not occur.

My name is Natasha May and if you see anything you think should be on the blog you can email me at natasha.may@theguardian.com or ping me @natasha__may.

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