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So the Albanese press conference has come to an end, but not before the PM launched into another attack on the former government, saying he is “not focusing on the politics” and that he will operate with an eye on the next election:

What I’m doing is not focusing on politics. What I’m doing is focusing on good policy, because I believe that when Australians see a government that’s actually doing its job, it’s not issuing media releases don’t lead to anything that’s actually making childcare cheaper, as we said we would that’s investing in housing and creating the housing Australia Future Fund, because we said we would. That’s creating jobs and skills in Australia and dealing with the skills crisis, because we said we would that’s dealing when it comes to energy.

Can you imagine the other mob? That would have had four different policies in the last week? They would have had announcements and declarations that things were going to change. We didn’t. We got together state and territory ministers. We supported Aemo to take the action in which they did. We acted in a way that ensured that they weren’t blackouts that we dealt with a crisis that was not of our creation. That was the former government’s creation and responsibility. But we dealt with it.

And I said during the election campaign that I had my eye on two dates. One was the 21st of May. There are a range of people who made comments 18 months ago that we couldn’t win this election. I said that we had a plan.

The plan that I also said we had was an eye on the election in 2025. An election in which we will go to the people saying that we have acted responsibly, that we haven’t acted on a 24 hour political cycle basis every day that our announcements actually lead to something happening and we will go to the people including here in Tasmania with that record.

Queensland is reporting 4,802 Covid new cases and 6 deaths overnight:

Anthony Albanese has gone on here, blasting the opposition and the previous government for climate inaction and for treating Australians as “idiots”:

Seriously, the Australian people aren’t idiots. They know the sort of nonsense we have seen …

That is what Angus Taylor did. He was the minister for talking nonsense and nothing happening. He was the minister for make sure that because he was talking nonsense, the investment didn’t happen from business.

What business are saying is that they want policy certainty in order to invest. That is what we are providing them. I signed the nationally determined contribution of 43% by 2030 last week in parliament.

I signed it with, behind me, the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group, the Clean Energy Council, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Council of Trade Unions, the Australian Conservation Foundation – we are bringing people together to provide that investment certainty going forward.

And what we need is a government that is less interested in a headline that lasts for 24 hours and puts in place proper policy mechanisms that deal with the real challenges. It is time that the indulgence of the 24-hour media and political cycle ended and it ended on 21 May.

I will lead a government that actually makes a difference, doesn’t just release media releases.

‘The future is renewables,’ PM says

Asked when Australians can expect there will be enough renewables to prevent another energy crisis, Anthony Albanese repeats his line about a “decade of denial and delay”.

He says the previous government spoke many times about additional capacity, without doing anything:

The future is renewables … the market has spoken.

What hasn’t happened is the grid hasn’t been fixed and yesterday, you had the revelation that the pre-announcement that was made three years ago of $1bn for additional capacity has resulted in precisely nothing. Zip. Zero. Just a media release.

One of the things we know is that you don’t get new energy or power supplies with a media release. That is all we got from the previous government. $1bn talked about and nothing happened. Tasmania, how many times could they announce it was happening without anything being done? Without a hole being dug? On land, let alone beneath the sea for that power supply.

This is a government that is dealing with a complete failure of the former government …

Seriously, these people need to have a look in the mirror and have a think about their failure and what they did and compare that with the response, the mature response that Chris Bowen and the state and territory energy ministers have had in the last week.

Anthony Albanase has begun taking questions after discussing social housing in Hobart, and the first question is about Greens leader Adam Bandt and the decision to move the Australian flag from out of sight before a presser this week.

Albanese said he wouldn’t say much but did say Bandt should “reconsider” his position:

I saw that yesterday and I am not a commentator. I will leave others to make comment. I will make this point. I’m always very proud to stand in front of the Australian flag and I think anyone who is a member of the Australian parliament should do so as well. I was quite surprised by the comments that were made.

Reconciliation is about bringing people together on the journey that we need to undertake. It is undermined if people look for division rather than look for unity. A range of people I respect have made strong comments. I respect them. And I just say to Mr Bandt that he needs to think about the responses that have been made and reconsider his position and work to promote unity and work to promote reconciliation.

Benita Kolovos

Victorian parliament debates treaty bill

Victoria’s lower house is debating the treaty authority bill, which will establish an independent authority to oversee treaty negotiations between the government and traditional owners.

The bill comes after the government struck an agreement with the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, the body elected by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to develop a treaty framework.

Assembly co-chairs Geraldine Atkinson and Marcus Stewart addressed the Legislative Assembly on the importance of the bill.

Stewart said:

We’re asking you to pass the bill and breathe life into this agreement. Show the rest of Australia that Victoria is ready to right the wrongs of the past and create a better future … The sad truth is there are not many indicators that show positive outcomes of government involvement in Aboriginal people’s lives.

On the flipside, there’s overwhelming evidence that shows when Aboriginal people are in charge of the programs, the policies that affect our lives, that they succeed. If you believe that Aboriginal people should succeed then vote for this bill. If you believe that Aboriginal people should have the ability to make the decisions that disproportionately impact our lives, support this bill …

The journey to treaty might not always be easy. It might push some beyond their comfort zones. But it’s a journey we need to take and it’s a journey best taken together.

Yesterday the opposition announced it will be supporting the bill but Liberal MP Tim Smith has vowed to cross the floor and vote against it.

Here’s yesterday’s story:

We are expecting the PM to step up for a presser in a couple of minutes.

Benita Kolovos

Victoria to criminalise ‘outrageously’ offensive conduct

New laws criminalising grossly offensive conduct will be created in Victoria after a campaign by the husband of Leading Senior Constable Lynette Taylor, one of the four police officers killed on the Eastern Freeway in 2020.

Attorney general Jacyln Symes today announced the introduction of the crimes legislation amendment bill 2022, which creates a new statutory offence of engaging in conduct that is grossly offensive to community standards of behaviour.

The new offence will carry a maximum penalty of five years in jail.

She said the Eastern Freeway tragedy highlighted a gap in responding to instances of grossly offensive conduct.

Taylor, Senior Constable Kevin King, Constable Joshua Prestney and Constable Glen Humphris were detaining driver Richard Pusey for speeding offences when they were struck by a truck and killed.

Pusey went on to film the officers as they lay dying while making vulgar comments. He was ultimately sentenced to 10 months’ jail after pleading guilty to drug possession, reckless conduct endangering serious injury, speeding and outraging public decency – an extremely rare charge.

Only three months of his sentence was related to his actions in filming the dying officers.

Symes said the common law offence of outraging public decency that was used in that case was archaic, unclear in its scope and did not have a clear maximum penalty. It will be abolished as part of the new offence’s introduction.

She told reporters outside parliament:

What we had in the Eastern Freeway tragedy was conduct that Victorians were appalled by, and what police officers and the director of public prosecutions found was there wasn’t an offence that fit that behaviour. So they drew back to the old common law offence that hadn’t been used for a long time … There was very little guidance on how to apply it, what sentence to apply and there was disappointment, particularly from Lynette Taylor’s husband, Stuart Schulz, in relation to that sentence. He came and saw me, I gave him the commitment that I will not be in a position of just creating a rule for the sake of creating a law.

So we’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what sort of events could be brought into the statute. To give the courts a bit more guidance … This is not designed to target low-level offensive general behaviour. In Victoria we have very high thresholds for offensive language, offensive behaviour … [It is for] such a high level where everyone pretty much agrees that that is just outrageous, and there should be some consequences for that.

The new offence will apply to the conduct of any person in a place where their behaviour can be seen or heard publicly. It will also require an accused person to know, or that a reasonable person would have known, that their conduct was grossly offensive. Being intoxicated or using only indecent, obscene or profane language will be excluded from the offence.

Opposition leader Matthew Guy and shadow attorney general Michael O’Brien support the bill, so it will easily pass parliament.

The law also includes safeguards to ensure that the offence is not used to target anyone unfairly, including the director of public prosecutions’ agreement to a charge being brought.

Crown Resorts has been granted a conditional licence to operate its Barangaroo casino.

This comes just days before shareholders, including James Packer, will pocket a multibillion-dollar payout from the gambling giant’s new owners, Blackstone.

NSW Independent Liquor & Gaming Authority chairman Philip Crawford said Crown will be able to operate the casino on a “conditional basis”:

After more than one year’s work with Crown, the Authority is pleased to have reached a stage where Crown can open its casino operations on a conditional basis.

Given the need to observe the changes in operation as well as ensure changes are embedded in the business, the Authority will consider approval of Crown’s suitability until the end of the conditional gaming period, which could run between 18 months and two years.

In an interesting appointment, the Australian National University has announced it has hired former attorney general George Brandis to “help drive the University’s vital work on national security and the law”.

Brandis has been appointed a “Professor in the Practice of National Security” and will be primarily based at the national security college in the ANU college of Asia and the Pacific. He will also be teaching at the ANU’s college of law.

ANU calls the appointment an “opportunity” for students:

The position of Professor in the Practice of National Security brings to ANU the opportunity for students to engage directly with former senior officials who have practical experience at the highest levels of national security policymaking and law reform.