PM stands by mandate for 43% emissions reduction target
Anthony Albanese is also asked about the Coalition’s refusal to budge on climate and says:
They need to basically mature a bit. Really. They had 22 policies. They didn’t land one of them. To argue there’s no mechanism that can be described in that way, where indeed using the safeguard mechanism has been established under the Abbott government.
… We have our mandate. It’s for 43% by 2030. We said of course the nature of these targets are that it’s a floor, not a ceiling.
But we actually need to have a plan to get change. You can’t just come up with a figure or come up with a sort of thought bubble.
Our policy is well thought through. It was announced, it was campaigned upon, indeed, it received a mandate. And I lead a government with a majority in the House of Representatives and I say to all those who are thinking of voting against this legislation, that’s a matter for them. We’ll get on and implement the policy which we don’t need to legislate for.
But they should have a look back at the last 10 years where there’s been a lost decade. And they should think about the fact that our policy is being supported by the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Australian industry Group, on the business side. All of the business peak organisations.
That should be something the coalition think about. But on the other side, the Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace, and mainstream people in the environmental movement are also saying vote for this bill.
Key events
Anthony Albanese:
We have to seize that opportunity and we need to seize it in this term, because it’s now more than five years since Indigenous people came together with those remarkable words that say so much. It’s not easy sometimes to bring together this Parliament.
It’s not easy to bring together First Nations people with a common view either. But that hard work was done.
It was done. And Voice, Truth, Treaty is … the result. And we need to seize that opportunity, because the uncomfortable truth of our history isn’t something that, you know, is about blame. It is about, though, acknowledging reality and what has occurred and the great thing about the Uluru Statement from the Heart is that it doesn’t seem to do that. It’s not a negative statement.
It’s incredibly positive in the way that it advances. And we’ve seen that. I think it’s no accident either, that since 2008, we have seen such a record number of First Nations people represented here, six members alone in my caucus, but members of the Coalition, members of the crossbench, members of the Greens party.
There has been that change occur and that should be celebrated, celebrated.
Anthony Albanese:
And we in this Parliament and as leaders of this country have another moment before us.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a generous offer, generous. It’s a handout just saying please hold it. Hold it.
That’s all people are asking for. When I was raised, I was raised – my Mum was very strong about manners.
And the Uluru Statement from the Heart is, to my mind just should be seen as good manners. That when you have issues that are affecting people, particularly people who have history going back 65,000 years at least, the holdest continuous civilisation on the planet, a source of great national pride here in Australia, why wouldn’t you, why wouldn’t you grasp that generous and gracious offer, which is about reconciliation, which is about acknowledging dispossession and colonisation, and all of the tragedy and in justice that occurred to First Nations people as a result of the First Fleet arriving in 1788.
Now, I know that Australians, in the way that they deal with their lives, are generous – towards their neighbours, towards their community and towards the whole country.
We’ve seen that and we see it replicated by the fact that people are wearing masks here today – people making decisions to look after each other, to look after the community. That’s what we’ve seen.
What the Uluru statement from the heart represents is an opportunity that must be seized because if it isn’t seized, it will be lost and we will be diminished.
Anthony Albanese:
I thank you, Paul, and Aunty Matilda, for the wonderful Welcome to Country, and honouring us with your presence here.
I acknowledge Peter Dutton, the Leader of the Opposition. I acknowledge other members and senators who are here, but in particular I acknowledge the record number of First Nations people who have been elected to represent their local constituencies in the House of Representatives and the Senate. It is a very good thing indeed.
As Paul was re counting the heroes of reconciliation, going back since… Really, since people walked to the opening of Parliament down the road here, the old Parliament, in 1927, the temporary one, but going through the history of struggle it strikes me that, with every one of those historical events there is no-one in this room – and I doubt whether there’s anyone in Australia, who would say, “Gee, I wish that hadn’t have happened. I wish that person hadn’t have walked that journey.”
And here in today’s ceremony, I’m reminded, as I walked here, that as leader of the House of Representatives in 2008, with the incoming Government, we were told that this ceremony originally couldn’t take place, because there was nothing in the standing orders to provide for it.
And we went ahead and we did it, and today, you have, I’m sure, every member of the house and reps and Senate across the political spectrum who can be here, is here. We have record numbers of the public are here. And no-one says that shouldn’t have happened.
When Kevin Rudd delivered the apology, some said that that also shouldn’t have happened, but there’s no-one today says that that did anything other than bring our nation together, that it was a unifying moment that was important, not just for the Stolen Generations, not just for First Nations people, it was important for our nation, it was a moment.
Albanese recommits to the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart ‘in full’
Anthony Albanese then takes the podium and addresses Paul House and Aunty Matilda House for their generous welcome:
You’ve made my first task on this silting day very difficult indeed but I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet, pay my respect to their elders, past, present and emerging, and on behalf of the government of Australia, I recommit to the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.
Peter Dutton is on the stage, wearing a mask (as was Anthony Albanese)
One of Dutton’s most infamous moments was boycotting the Apology to Indigenous Australians.
He has since said he ‘made a mistake’ in refusing the apology.
Paul House finishes his Welcome to Country with this:
As local custodians we are aware that this 47th term of Parliament will be profoundly important for the First Peoples of Australia and for the nation. This government has committed to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Voice, Treaty and Truth-telling. We trust this parliament will act responsibly in embracing all three key elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
In the near future, this Parliament will consider the first element, which is legislation, for a referendum to enshrine a First Peoples Voice to Parliament.
In this nation’s founding rulebook, the constitution, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are overwhelmingly seeking a voice and every member of this Parliament should respect and act now. It can’t be delayed anymore.
But let’s remember The Voice is only the start of the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which involves much more than this. Ultimately, there must be a national treaty. There must be truth-telling.
The United Nations declaration of the rights of Indigenous people should be implemented into Australian law. On behalf of our Ngambri and Ngunnawal custodians, I’d like to gift this Parliament with a freshly minted [cutting] from Kurrajong Hill to Parliament, to the 47th opening of Parliament.
So in conclusion, I’d like to say respect shapes us and lifts up the people. Welcome.
47th parliament ceremonial opening begins
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton are on the stage of the Great Hall in parliament for the Welcome to Country.
Paul House is giving the Welcome to Country:
Paul House is a Ngambri-Ngunnawal custodian with multiple local Aboriginal ancestries from the Canberra region, however he identifies as a descendant of Ngambri–Walgulu man Henry “Black Harry” Williams and Ngunnawal–Wallaballoa man “Murjinille” aka William Lane (“Billy the Bull”), including Wiradjuri ancestries.
House:
We listen to our ancestors, the old people, they show us the right path. They take care of us, they help us, they protect us. Looking to see, listening to hear, and learning to understand. Respect, be gentle, be polite, be patient, give honour, take responsibility. Respect is taking responsibility for the now, the past, the present and the future.
With this Welcome to Country, our main aim is local custodians, establish a spirit of mutual respect through the acknowledgement of our ancestors and the recognition of our rights to declare a special place in the pre and post [settlement] history of the region.
AAP has a follow-up on this story from Caitlin Cassidy for those who have been following along:
Victoria will ban private electricity networks in new apartment blocks in a bid to drive down soaring energy costs.
Embedded networks are commonly used to supply power to multiple-customer premises such as apartment blocks, retirement villages, social housing and caravan parks, stopping consumers sourcing a potentially cheaper deal.
But they will be outlawed in new apartment buildings and existing networks will be reformed to ensure households can access more competitive deals, the Victorian government announced on Tuesday.
“All Victorians deserve to get the same competitive energy deals and have the same protections, driving down the cost of living when people need it most,” the energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, said in a statement.
The ban will begin in January 2023, with limited exemptions for buildings operating on 100% renewable energy.
Paul Karp
Earlier the shadow workplace relations minister, Michaelia Cash, gave in-principle backing to Labor’s plan for 10 days’ paid family and domestic violence leave.
Asked if the Coalition supported it, Cash told Radio National:
Yes we do. I haven’t seen the legislation yet. The devil is always in the detail. It actually was the former Coalition government that extended the 5 days unpaid FDVL [family and domestic violence leave] into the NES [national employment standards]. So we had done that.
You’d be aware the Fair Work Commission themselves actually reviewed and they, as the independent FWC, said 10 [days’ leave]. I believe the best way forward is to support the Fair Work Commission’s model. They’ve looked at it across the board, they’ve balanced the needs of employers and employees on the issue. ‘They’ve taken into consideration all of the issues put forward.
Yes certainly, our inclination is to support this, in particular based on the FWC model.
This doesn’t make a heap of sense because the Fair Work Commission model is to insert the leave in modern awards, and the government model is to include it in the National Employment Standards (so everyone gets it). In fact, the FWC is actually considering ending the review of modern awards, because once it’s legislated it’s redundant.
But still, sounds like it will pass easily.
The new opposition seating chart is out and, well – someone has a sense of humour.
