What we learned today, Tuesday 29 August
Thanks for joining us – that’s where we will leave our live coverage for today.
Here’s a summary of today’s news:
The former ACT director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, has filed legal proceedings against the board of inquiry that issued damning findings about his conduct.
Former freedom of information commissioner Leo Hardiman has made explosive allegations in the Senate about his former agency and its most senior leader, saying his efforts to solve a vast FOI backlog were deliberately frustrated.
The independent senator David Pocock has ruled out voting for Labor’s petroleum resource rent tax changes.
The Albanese government announced the “rewiring the nation” deal between the federal and WA governments. The deal will provide up to $3bn to expand and modernise the electricity grids in the south-west and north-west of WA.
The Bureau of Meteorology has declared Australia is not yet in the grip of an El Niño climate pattern, keeping the nation on an alert for the system that can increase the risk of a hot and dry summer.
Facebook has suspended a key fact-checker which monitors and debunks online claims after repeated criticisms from Indigenous voice no campaign leaders and some conservative media outlets about the fact-checker’s work.
Qantas has acknowledged it has been scheduling more domestic flights than it can actually operate, but has denied it is doing so deliberately to shut out competition.
A council in Sydney’s north will investigate banning gas in new businesses and homes after the City of Sydney took similar action earlier this month.
A Victorian parliamentary inquiry has recommended that the state abolish stamp duty and replace it with a broad-based land tax in a bid to tackle housing affordability.
Steel manufacturer BlueScope has been ordered to pay $57.5m for attempted price fixing, representing the highest penalty ever imposed for cartel conduct.
The Australian defence force will purchase new, smart sea mines with delivery expected to commence this year. In a statement, defence says the smart sea mines will reinvigorate its maritime mining capability, with the mines deployable from submarines, ships and aircraft.
Updated
Climate change to present ‘acute’ challenges, RBA’s Bullock says
Michele Bullock, the soon-to-be next Reserve Bank governor, is presenting a lecture at ANU in Canberra on climate change (streaming here).
The RBA, of course, is set up to deal with uncertainties but global heating is going to amplify many risks for a nation that already has one of the most variable (especially for rainfall) climates in the world.
Bullock, now deputy RBA governor before her elevation to the top post on 18 September, said monetary policy makers were familiar with dealing with supply shocks – such as Covid or Russia’s war on Ukraine – but the potential for prolonged disruptions posed new challenges.
On the other hand, there were also uncertainties about technology and the speed with which climate, economic and social systems could adapt.
“Climate change and the actions taken in response will have broad-ranging implications for the economy, the financial system and society at large,” Bullock said, including affecting price stability, employment and stability of the financial system.
The timing and intensity of effects are uncertain, and these could be severe and irreversible if tipping points are reached.
The energy sector, meanwhile, is one sector with “much uncertainty”. Can renewables be added to the grid fast enough, and if not, will coal-fired power plants have to be extended - with the increased risk of breakdowns of ageing equipment.
We may get some views about near-term interest rates in the Q & A session. In the meantime, here’s our running article:
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