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Australia politics live: embassies and consulate in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Tel Aviv closed; two Queensland protesters arrested under ‘from the river to the sea’ ban | Australia news
Embassies and consulate in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Tel Aviv physically closed
Sarah Basford Canales
Over in Senate question time, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has confirmed embassies in Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv and the consulate in Dubai all physically closed in the last week.
Wong said the government’s number one priority is to “keep Australians safe at home and abroad”.
She continued:
The dangerous and destabilising attacks by Iran put civilian lives at risk, including Australian lives.
More than 3,200 Australians over 23 commercial flights have returned to Australia since the US and Israel attacked Iran, setting off a regional conflict and grounding thousands of international flights.
Wong criticised Nationals senators for “winding up people and stoking fear” to panic buy fuel.
The senator said:
Petrol companies are telling us that fuel stock continues to arrive as expected and on time but there has been a large change in the pattern of demand and that is having an effect on the supply, particularly in regional communities. We have seen jerry cans coming off the shelves at Bunnings and lines at the pump.
Key events
New Nationals leader Matt Canavon on Afternoon Briefing
New leader of the Nationals, Matt Canavan, is speaking on ABC’s afternoon briefing.
PK asks what Canavan thinks about Barnaby Joyce saying the party is “essentially a million miles away from where the Liberals are.”
Canavan says:
It’s just factually not true.
The Liberal Party last year decided overwhelmingly to dump net zero, to return our country to a more sensible use of our energy.
Things are tough for the Australian people, but the good news is we have everything at our fingertips to solve these problems
We are with enormous amounts of energy and now the Liberals and Nationals are all on the same page to do that I’m looking forward to working with Angus.
Andrew Messenger
Second protester arrested in Queensland
A second protestor has been arrested for allegedly violating Queensland’s ban on the phrase “from the river to the sea”.
Witnesses say the second person was placed under arrest at the end of the march, in King George Square, seemingly for for wearing a shirt which said “from the river to the sea”.
An organiser was arrested at the start of the rally for allegedly saying the phrase.
Andrew Messenger
Queensland protester arrested for allegedly saying ‘from the river to the sea’
A protester has been arrested in Queensland for allegedly saying “from the river to the sea” at a rally at Brisbane parliament.
Queensland parliament voted to ban the phrase, and also “globalise the intifada”, last week. The bill went into effect today.
Liam Harry led the small rally outside Queensland parliament as part of the students strike movement. There was a large police presence, including the PSRT, the state riot squad.
He allegedly spoke the phrase at the end of a speech, which he said was done for educational purposes.
Krishani Dhanji
That’s all from me today, thanks for following along on another very busy day!
I’ll leave you with the wonderful Ima Caldwell to take you through the afternoon.
Tl;dr here’s what happened in question time
Fuel was again the focus of the day from the Coalition, pressuring the government to do more to address shortages in regional areas.
The government took things a step further today in their criticism of the Coalition, accusing them of “undermining the national interest” by escalating concerns.
Chris Bowen also said the ACCC will be handing down greater penalties for those who exploit the fuel supply chain issues.
Tony Burke told the House one of the two women from the Iranian football squad granted a humanitarian visa overnight has changed their mind and decided to go back to Iran.
Ed Husic was the first to be kicked out of question time today for a jab at Tim Wilson on his Billy Joel rendition last week. Later on in QT Liberal MP Phil Thompson was also booted by Milton Dick.
Question time ends
With a final dixer to Anthony Albanese, where he manages to compare the leadership changes in the Coalition to the reality tv show Married at First Sight (he’s used that one before), the PM then calls time on QT.
Just one more for the week!
LNP MP Garth Hamilton is next and says fuel supplier Transwest has said it has zero petrol supply at Newcastle and Brisbane and warns, “Once our servos run out of petrol, that is it, there is no more”. Hamilton asks if the government can assure Transwest that there are no fuel shortages.
Bowen says he can “certainly assure” Transwest and the House that fuel supplies are secure and more fuel is coming to Australia every day.
I can assure Transwest and the member for Groom that 18 vessels have arrived this month to unload fuel and crude oil in Australia. Thirty-three more are on the water and scheduled for the rest of the month.
He says again that demand is skyrocketing which is the basis of the problem, not supply.
Katter asks about cleaner fuel availability in Australia
Back to the crossbench and Bob Katter asks the government if it will increase the availability of ethanol in fuel as the conflict in the Middle East escalates. Ethanol is a biofuel, and Katter points out that Brazil and India have rapidly increased supply of high ethanol petrol blends.
Jim Chalmers says the government is investing in low carbon liquid fuels, and also shoring up broader fuel security in Australia.
We have taken a number of steps including trying to rebuild and build our own local supply capacity when it comes to low carbon liquid fuels F other steps are required, we will consider them in the and build our own local supply capacity when it comes to low carbon liquid fuels F other steps are required, we will consider them in the usual responsible way.
Katter tries to make a point of order but is shut down by Milton Dick who says he can’t stand up just because he doesn’t like the answer.
Pat Conroy questioned on strait of Hormuz closure
Shadow industry minister, Andrew Hastie, is up next and asks the acting defence minister, Pat Conroy, how long he expects the military effort to take to reopen the strait of Hormuz. He adds that 20% of the world’s oil flows through the strait as well as gas and alumina.
Conroy says that question is best put to others, including “President Trump, the rulers of Iran and the prime minister of Israel.”
He’s effectively asking me to predict when the conflict between Iran and the States and Israel will end.
On the issue of potential interruptions to Australian supplies that flow through the Strait, Conroy says the government has “doubled the fuel holdings for the Australian defence force.”
And the latest advice from the chief of defence force is that our fuel supplies to the ADF including from the Middle East are uninterrupted.
So, instead of scaremongering, they should ask constructive questions of the people who have responsibility for the interruptions.
‘Patently absurd’ to say there isn’t a fuel supply problem: Joyce
Over to the crossbench and it’s One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce who now says that it’s “patently absurd” to say that there’s not a fuel shortage issue in the regions and asks how quickly the government can meet with independent distributors and the ACCC to fix the issue.
The treasurer Jim Chalmers says he doesn’t need Joyce’s help to consult with the ACCC and that they’ve been talking constantly.
He says the government has just announced increased penalties that the consumer watchdog can now use for unscrupulous players taking advantage of the fuel panic.
We are taking additional action to help consumers get a fair go at the with more scrutiny and surveillance of the fuel sector, bigger penalties for misconduct and action to shore up fuel supply.
Joyce tries to make a point of order, but that doesn’t fly with Milton Dick. Chalmers adds that Bowen has also been meeting with independent suppliers.
