In our land of drought and flooding rains, better water management should feature in every federal budget. The new budget delivers it – but not everyone is happy.
Barnaby Joyce was deputy prime minister when Morrison overruled Nationals resources minister Keith Pitt over the PEP-11 gas exploration off the NSW coast.
Premier Mark McGowan (left) with Anthony Albanese at Labor’s federal campaign launch in Perth last month.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Barnaby Joyce rolled by party leadership spill, while Peter Dutton pledges to lead the Liberals with “policies squarely aimed at the forgotten Australians in the suburbs”.
Two regional seats that straddle the NSW/Victorian border, Eden-Monaro and Gippsland, are geographically close. But these seats repeatedly return very different election results.
Nationals’ concerns about the effects on regional Australia are legitimate, but greater forces in favour of a net-zero emissions target will likely push the policy over the line.
Barnaby Joyce’s pro-mining stance is at odds with the more progressive quarters of the party, and puts the Nationals in a difficult position on global carbon tariffs.
It’s in everyone’s interests to ensure our environment stays healthy – including farmers. What did the Nats think they’d gain from this destructive game of brinkmanship?
Can Annastacia Palaszczuk win another term as Queensland premier?
AAP/Glenn Hunt
The Nationals would do well to remember they have been able to wield considerable influence in Australian politics, thanks in large part to stable leadership maintaining harmony in the Coalition.
Addressing Tuesday’s Coalition party room, Morrison called for unity, reminding members they were not there as a team, and declaring the government had a “contract” with the Australian people.
Michael McCormack moves on from his near-death experience.
CC BY31.3 MB(download)
On this podcast, the Nationals leader defends his new frontbench line up against criticism it's short on women, mounts a strong pitch in favour of coal, and rejects claims that he's a weak leader.
If the PM continues to hide behind cabinet confidentiality and precedent, it won’t just be his skin that sustains bruises, but that of his right hand bureaucrat.
Natale’s shock resignation comes as former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce announced he would challenge Nationals leader Michael McCormack if there was a move for a leadership spill on Tuesday.
‘You have to think that with people like these very experienced, respected voices that the government would have to take the [climate change] debate seriously’, says Michelle Grattan about the calls from ex-fire chiefs for the government to act on climate change.
DARREN PATEMAN/AAP
Michelle Grattan and Professor Geoff Crisp discuss this week in politics.
As bushfires continue to burn across NSW and Queensland, the Prime Minister and Opposition leader have said policy arguments should be avoided until the immediate crisis has passed, but many disagree.
Dan Peled/AAP
Minister David Littleproud on bushfires, drought, and the Nationals.
The Conversation, CC BY49.3 MB(download)
In this podcast, David Littleproud says "as elected officials, we've got a responsibility" to wait for the right time to talk about the link between climate change and the ongoing bushfires.