Australia news live updates: Queensland on brink of power outage as eastern states battle big chill; WA to shut state-owned coal plants

Peter Hannam

Lack of reserve notice from energy regulator

It’s going to be a long day by the looks of it when it comes to “lack of reserve” notices and intervention by the Australian Energy Market Operator, such as this early one in NSW:

As mentioned in this article, the price caps result in a lot of generators dropping out, and then the regulators are going to have to ask them to jump back in. Seems like an odd way to run things, but Chris Bowen, the federal energy minister, says that’s the market we have to work with.

(Cue: perhaps we need to review how the market operates.)

As for the mix of what’s in the market overnight, and at the start of the day across the National Electricity Market (NEM), here’s the scene:

The NEM, of course, is really only the eastern states and most of South Australia. Western Australia operates its own grids. Still that’s about 80% of the population, and hence, I suppose, the “national” tag still works.

Updated at 18.55 EDT

Theft on a large scale

In a very interesting story this morning, Western Australia Police are appealing to the public for information on a burglary from December, where three people stole a sea container with approximately $100,000 worth of mining equipment inside it.

Police say two men and a woman gained entry to into a commercial yard on Wellard Street in Bibra Lake on 28 December, and used a sea container handler to load a 6-metre (!!) sea container onto a truck (that they also stole in August 2021).

It is believed the truck used to transport the sea container was stolen from a commercial yard in Naval Base in August 2021. The truck was later found burnt out on a rural property in Oldbury on Wednesday 8 June 2022.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online at crimestopperswa.com.au

Updated at 18.54 EDT

Robert Hughes due to be deported

Convicted paedophile and former star of Hey Dad! Robert Hughes, is set to be deported to the UK today.

Hughes was granted parole earlier this month by the NSW State Parole Authority, which determined he be released from Long Bay correctional facility no later than Tuesday.

The 73-year-old renounced his Australian citizenship in 2020, becoming a non-lawful citizen requiring deportation upon release.

Australian Border Force, who usually handles the deportation of convicted criminals who are not Australian citizens, told AAP it does not comment on operational matters.

Updated at 18.24 EDT

World Cup joy

Between politicians discussing energy and childcare, we still had the joy of the Socceroos winning their World Cup qualifier this morning, and I felt the ABC’s Tony Armstrong captured the mood pretty perfectly:

Updated at 18.12 EDT

Shorten calls for less ‘argy-bargy’ from opposition on energy crisis

Next off the bench is government services and NDIS minister (and former Labor leader) Bill Shorten, who is blaming the cold for the energy shortfall in NSW and Queensland.

Speaking to the Today Show, Shorten also added that “dispatchable power” was essential to combating the energy crisis. He also urged the opposition to join Laor in ending the “energy market operator wars.”

The very cold weather, combined with let’s face it, 10 years of delay and denial about investing in our energy market operator grid, and the chickens have come to roost.

You need what’s called dispatchable power. That’s power that you don’t need to be paying for seven days, 24 hours a week but when it’s really cold, that’s when you need it.

(Australians) want to hear that the government and opposition are working together. The truth is we need more dispatchable power (and) renewable energy is cheaper.

Let’s move forward. Less of the argy-bargy and more of the action.

Updated at 18.01 EDT

Matt Kean on NSW’s $5bn childcare package

Kean has gone on to spruik the state government’s new $5bn childcare policy, which he says will grow the state’s economy by $17.4bn.

What it will do is see up to 95,000 women be able to enter the workforce or take on more hours. I mean, childcare costs are attacks on the dreams of women and families right across New South Wales, indeed right across the country.

We believe that families should have access to quality affordable childcare no matter where they live … And these reforms will deliver a middle-income family in New South Wales who have one child full-time care savings of up to $3,900 per annum.

When asked if the state was stepping in to fill a role usually reserved for the federal government, Kean avoided the question:

This is one of the biggest productivity reforms that we can have that will grow our economy. And obviously lift living standards in this state.

Our policy is focused on providing additional childcare – accessible and affordable childcare across New South Wales – will grow the overall size of the economy by $17.4 billion.

Updated at 17.47 EDT

NSW treasurer says he is confident in ‘reliability’ of energy system

NSW treasurer Matt Kean says he has confidence in the “reliability of the system,” indicating he is not expecting any blackouts in the coming days.

Speaking to Patricia Karvelas on RN Breakfast, Kean said the government was monitoring the situation, but asked people to be conscious of their power usage.

We’re obviously monitoring the situation very closely. But this situation has arisen because the wholesale prices of electricity have gone above a point which triggers the market cap. That cap is in place to protect consumers.

And because the price of electricity that the generators can get for supplying electricity into the market is too low to cover their costs, they’re not bidding into the system. So this is a market failure issue.

We’re not telling people to turn off the heaters, we’re not telling people to turn down their air conditioners or anything like that. But people should just be conscious that where they can reduce their use of electricity, that’s a good thing for them. It’s going to lower their power bills, and it’s also going to take a bit of pressure off the system.

Updated at 17.48 EDT

Socceroos qualify for the World Cup

Before we jump into the inevitable flow of politicians making the media rounds this morning, I wanted to point to Emma Kemp’s ongoing live blog of Australia’s World Cup qualifier.

Earlier this morning, Australia beat Peru on penalties to make their fifth consecutive World Cup:

You can also read the match report, linked here.

Updated at 17.48 EDT

Good morning

Good morning, and happy World Cup qualification day! Mostafa Rachwani with you this morning, to take you through the day’s news.

We begin in New South Wales, where energy authorities are on high alert for possible power shortfalls hitting homes and businesses tonight. It comes after Queensland only narrowly avoided blackouts last night, after the Australian Energy Market Operator worked to head off a gap projected at one stage to be 1,454 megawatts.

In federal politics, deputy prime minister Richard Marles will be in Tokyo today, maintaining the jet-setting ways of this new government. Marles will be calling for stronger military ties between Japan and Australia, emphasising the need to strengthen the relationship between the two countries.

Back in NSW, the state government there has unveiled its signature budget policy, which will allow private childcare operators to expand or build new centres, in the hopes of creating an extra 47,000 places across the state.

Finally, prime minister Anthony Albanese is considering whether to attend a NATO summit in Madrid at the end of the month, and to support the alliance toughening its stance against Russia.

There is still much going on, so let’s dive in.