Australia news live: law enforcement committee chair calls for investigation of Lidia Thorpe’s handling of potential conflict

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‘My government is stable’, Albanese reflects on UK political turmoil

Next question from reporters is about the news out of the UK.

Albanese:

First, I would say to Liz Truss and to her family, on a personal level, I wish them well. I met with Liz Truss … met members of her family as well, and this will be a very difficult time. We need to remember that these are real people we are talking about. It would be very disappointing how her prime ministership has ended so soon. So on a personal level, I wish her well.

I am concerned about any delay that would occur to the Australia UK free trade agreement. I have discussed with prime minister Truss the fast tracking of that, we discussed trying to get it concluded before the end of this year to make sure that the appropriate parliamentary processes went through, our respective parliaments, and I will of course speak to whoever it is that will become the next prime minister of the United Kingdom about doing that.

I must say I’ve been in office for five months, I have met with two British prime ministers so far, and I obviously will have contact with a third, at some time, when those issues are concluded. Here in Australia, my government is stable, the adults are in charge, and I look forward to the handing down of our first budget by the treasury next Tuesday.

Updated at 23.31 EDT

Greens ‘need to change their procedures’, PM says following Thorpe revelations

Albanese is taking questions and is asked about further steps in addressing the undisclosed relationship of Lidia Thorpe with a former bikie while on a law enforcement committee.

We will examine any proposals should they be moved. My understanding is that the committee of which the senator was a member is examining what details went before the committee to make sure that there has been no conflict there. It is appropriate that that action takes place.

And it is appropriate that Mr Bandt respond with a full explanation of the circumstances here, the fact that he apparently wasn’t aware of this information from senator Thorpe even though it was reported to his office, clearly shows that they need to change their procedures that are in place.

Updated at 23.29 EDT

PM commits $50m to critical minerals initiative

The prime minister Anthony Albanese has stepped up to speak in Perth about a budget commitment to accelerate the critical minerals sector. He says one of the lessons of the pandemic is that Australia needs to be more self-sufficient and not “sit back at the end of the global supply chains”.

We have some of the world’s best reserves of critical minerals and it will set a new vision for the sector and complement other initiatives including the national battery strategy and the electric vehicle strategy which we are rolling out.

A major component of the election campaign where we were successful five months ago … the National Reconstruction fund. One of the lessons of the pandemic is that we need to be more self-reliant, we need to be more resilient, we cannot sit back at the end of global supply chains.

That we need to make more things here – not export minerals and import them back at much higher values. We have the capacity here, the capacity to create jobs. A national reconstruction fund will include $1m for the value adding resources fund and it will work alongside the $2m critical minerals facility and next week’s budget will include include $30.5m over five years for the Australian critical minerals research and development hub, combining expertise from agencies to work with industry to address challenges and support research.

$50m over three years to the critical minerals development program through grants for projects, building on the $50m that were recently committed to six projects around Australia.

Updated at 23.28 EDT

New Australian record as kelpie sold at auction for $49,000

The record price paid for a working dog in Australia has been broken by Eve the kelpie.

The classic black and tan working dog, from Capree Stud at Newbridge in central-west NSW set a new Australian record for kelpies when she sold at auction for $49,000 yesterday.

The previous record was set last year by the sale of a two-year-old male kelpie for $35,200 at the Casterton Kelpie Association’s annual working dog auction in Victoria.

Eve’s breeder, Chris Stapleton said it appeared to be his lucky number as he celebrated 49 years of marriage to his wife Pauline on the same day, AAP reports.

She was no accident, she was bred to be as good as she is.

Eve’s bloodline goes back 50 years to some of Stapleton’s original dogs.

She’s a very nice dog to have around because she’s not hyperactive and when you need a job done, she’s willing and able to do it. She’s the perfect dog.

When the bids reached $46,000 from buyers onsite at Newbridge and online through AuctionsPlus, auctioneer Jason Pearce joked: “It’s fair to say she’s on the market.”

Pearce, from Elders in Mudgee, said working dogs were in high demand due to skills shortages across agriculture.

With demand comes increasing price, like any commodity. There’s more emphasis on there being fewer workers, less skills, so there’s a requirement for a dog to potentially do more.

Eve’s fit physique and her unique ability to work with cattle, sheep and goats attracted buyers.

She had pedigree bloodlines, the physical attributes, she was trained at 20 months, which is quite rare.

Eve’s new home will be at a sheep stud in nearby Oberon.

Updated at 23.03 EDT

Call to investigate Thorpe handling of potential conflict on law enforcement committee

The chair of the joint law enforcement committee, Helen Polley, has called for an investigation into Lidia Thorpe’s potential conflict of interest by sitting on the committee while in a relationship with a former bikie.

Polley said:

As chair of the joint committee on law enforcement I am of the opinion that there should be an examination of senator Thorpe’s potential conflicts of interest to protect the integrity of the committee process.

This is an appropriate course of action and I won’t pre-empt what that investigation finds. The parliament has an independent committee system which plays a vital role in our democracy.

This committee deals with highly classified and sensitive material in relation to security information. Therefore the integrity of the committee must be upheld at all times.

As the prime minister said yesterday – this isn’t simply poor judgement by the Greens party senator. These are serious matters of disclosure and potential conflicts of interest that deserve to be looked into.

Updated at 22.52 EDT

Severe thunderstorms moving into NSW

Queensland’s south-east has been cleared of the threat of thunderstorms, but the Queensland bureau of meteorology says severe thunderstorms are now moving into NSW.

Updated at 22.45 EDT

‘I think what she did was so mad’: Turnbull on Truss

At a press conference in Sydney, former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has cut straight to the point on UK politics:

At the moment the place looks like a shambles. It is very sad.

“I think what she did was so mad,” Turnbull added in reference to Truss’s mini-budget that crashed the markets and triggered a domestic financial crisis.

I was just staggered. I knew Boris was wild and woolly but Liz Truss appeared to be a more sensible person…

Updated at 22.28 EDT

‘Dog act’ if Medibank information made public: cybersecurity minister

The cybersecurity minister, Clare O’Neil, was on Sunrise news breakfast program this morning speaking about the latest cyberattack hitting Australians with Medibank revealing customers’ sensitive medical information has been stolen.

Yesterday Medibank revealed that the criminal claiming to have 200GB of data had shared a sample of the data with the private health provider for the purpose of verification.

This morning O’Neil said:

At the end of the day, you can replace a credit card. This is health information. It is private and personal information of people that has no place being put into the public realm.

It will be a dog act if any of these cyber thugs make a decision to make any of that information public.

Updated at 22.02 EDT

Victoria announces $77.3m health and education recovery fund

Victorian minister for emergency services Jaclyn Symes has stepped up for a press conference to provide an update on the flooding in the state, beginning by announcing a $77.3m health and education recovery fund to support local infrastructure and services.

Approximately 320 schools and 28 health services have been affected by the floods, with Symes reminding residents of the support currently available to residents:

On the immediate emergency payments, we have received 22,000 applications for that support and as of this morning, we have processed over 8,000 of those.

This is more than $6m that has gone into the pockets of those people that have been displaced or impacted directly through inundation in their homes, so important additional payments ensuring they can go and buy necessities such as food, clothing, medication and the like and we have a lot of staff on hand to process those applications as quickly as possible.

I do want to remind everyone that there is a lot of support available.

Updated at 21.52 EDT

Sussan Ley calls for Lidia Thorpe to resign from Senate

I just wanted to return to a press conference deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley held earlier today, where she called on Greens senator Lidia Thorpe to resign from the Senate.

It follows revelations yesterday that Thorpe did not disclose she was in a relationship with Dean Martin, a former president of the Rebels bikie gang. Martin, who has no criminal convictions, was associated with the Rebels but stepped down as Victorian chapter president in 2018.

Ley was scathing in her assessment, at one point saying it was inappropriate for Thorpe to be on law enforcement committees “by day” and “in bed with bikies at night”.

Lidia Thorpe is not fit to be in the Australian parliament. It’s pretty clear: you can’t vet law enforcement agencies by day and be in bed with bikies at night. Let’s remember this transgression is not an isolated incident for senator Lidia Thorpe.

Her rap sheet is pretty lengthy. Lidia Thorpe had to retake her oath of office because she used it as a stunt to insult the late Queen Elizabeth II. She’s insulted our national flag and she’s participated in protests where the flag has been defaced and burnt. While occupying a seat in our Senate, she said that Australia’s very system of government is illegitimate. She’s abused Indigenous elders.

She’s trashed our institutions every day and every day since entering the parliament. This is a serious test for Adam Bandt and the Greens. Adam Bandt must ask senator Thorpe to resign from parliament.

You can read Thorpe’s statement on yesterday’s blog.

Updated at 22.40 EDT