Australia news live: Godwin Grech drama resumes at Senate estimates as Bragg accuses Labor of ‘grubby’ questions | Australia news

Tory Shepherd

Paterson asks Wong if government is ‘less supportive’ of Israel than previous one

Earlier in Senate estimates, the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, asked foreign affairs minister Penny Wong about a range of UN votes on Israel and Palestine, and how Australia’s position had shifted (short answer: it’s nuanced).

Now, after the lunch break, he gets to the nub:

Do you think it’s fair to say that the government’s position is less supportive of or less close to Israel than the previous government?

Wong says Australia’s position is more consistent with most of the international community and progress towards a two-state solution.

Paterson asks if there’s a substantive difference between the two major parties. Wong says opposition leader Peter Dutton hasn’t expressed support for the two-state solution.

Paterson protests. It continues.

Thousands of NDIS customers estimated to be impacted by fraud

Cait Kelly

In Senate estimates, the chief executive officer of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIS), Rebecca Falkingham, said 140 active cases of NDIS fraud are now being investigated, up from 100 in December.

She was answering a question from Labor senator Louise Pratt, who wanted to know how the fraud taskforce was going. Falkingham said:

At the 31st of December 2024, there were 100 active fraud operations being led by the NDIA, the NDIS Commission Services Australia and the Australian Skills and Quality Authority.

530 investigators, including 50 persons [who were] referred to the commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions or are currently before the courts. And over 18,000 customers of government services are estimated to be impacted.

Police confirmed the suspicious device that washed ashore a Gold Coast beach this morning was a practice army torpedo.

As AAP reports, police confirmed the device was an inert practice torpedo that had been used in a recent army drill off the Queensland coast.

The acting inspector, Leon Wort, said the ADF has boxed up the device and returned it to its depot.

It’s been recovered and we’ve got no further concerns for public safety. The ADF will … work out what went wrong and why they couldn’t recover it.

Wort thanked the members of the public who alerted police and urged people not to handle suspect devices on the beach. Main Beach has since reopened.

First national ecosystem accounts released by the ABS

Petra Stock

Australian ecosystems stored more than 34.5m kilotonnes of carbon in 2020-21, a service valued at $43.2bn, according to the first national ecosystem accounts released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The experimental accounts – which quantify and value the country’s environmental assets – estimated that in 2020–21, climate regulation through carbon storage was the most valuable service provided by Australian ecosystems, a value that doubled in five years thanks to a higher carbon price and inflation.

Perhaps surprisingly the ABS found grasslands stored more carbon (14.4m kilotonnes of carbon) than forests (14m kilotonnes of carbon). Together these two ecosystems comprised the vast majority (80%) of Australia’s carbon storage.

Jonathon Khoo, ABS’ head of environment statistics, said grasslands contributed $18.1bn in carbon storage, followed by native forests at $17.8bn, and savannas at $7.1bn.

The accounts – which covered land, ocean and freshwater systems – found more water was used for hydroelectricity (48.3m megalitres) than for drinking (1.5m megalitres), although high rainfall in 2020-21 meant the monetary value of freshwater for drinking fell by more than a third from $307 to $198m.

In the five years between 2015 and 2020, 126 new species were added to the list of threatened species under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (with many more added since) and found average populations of threatened species, across all groups, had declined across the country.

The new experimental estimates also revealed the importance of natural landscapes like mangroves and saltmarsh, in protecting coastal properties against tidal and storm surges, a service the ABS valued at $65m.

Caitlin Cassidy

Shadow education minister accuses minister of lying in media release

The shadow minister for education, Sarah Henderson, has accused the education minister of a “complete and utter misleading … and misrepresentation of the facts” in a media release, and subsequent statements, that said the Liberal party “ripped the guts” out of public school funding.

Appearing before education estimates, the department of education’s secretary was asked if the media release had been fact checked before it went public.

The assistant education minister, Anthony Chisholm, interjected that it “was a fact” the former Coalition “ripped the money out of public schools” when it came into government:

Billions have been ripped out of public schools and if you doubt me, let me point you to the 2014 budget overview page 7, there it is in black and white.

Henderson said it was “misleading representation” and annual school funding had increased year on year, requesting the department of education review its website and make any “appropriate corrections”. She said the claim had been debunked in the media, including ABC RMIT Fact Check.

Chisholm requested her to withdraw her request, and again pointed her to the budget:

There’s no corrections to be made … I’m very surprised you’re coming in here and justifying your future cuts already … it’s extraordinary.

Henderson later said the Commonwealth would match public school funding arrangements Labor had forged with states and territories if it were elected.

Krishani Dhanji

More on the Godwin Grech drama

After the break, the Asic chair, Joe Longo, wouldn’t speak about Godwin Grech specifically, but talks separately and more generally about the complexity in prosecuting cases related to insider trading.

Market sensitive information and trading on it ahead of that information being published or made known isn’t necessarily information [that] is going to prohibit you from trading, because there’s so many factors that go into an insider trading prosecution.

Then Deb O’Neill made this pretty pointed claim:

There are members of the Liberal party though who know exactly what Mr Grech was communicating to them at the time.

I believe it would be in the national interest if people of integrity who had that information and didn’t use it were able to inform the current interest.

There hasn’t been anyone named or accused in the estimates hearing.

Godwin Grech drama resumes at Senate estimates

Krishani Dhanji

The Godwin Grech drama has resumed at economic estimates today.

If you were following along yesterday, Labor senator Deb O’Neill brought evidence from a previous privileges committee inquiry that former Treasury official Godwin Grech had been “heavily involved” in the GFC bank package and had been sending emails from his Treasury account to senior Liberals. Here’s a recap of what she said:

The committee of privileges page 84, Mr Grech was heavily involved in the development of the Australian Business Investment Partnership, ABIP, including attending meetings and negotiations with the major banks.

The Treasury submission to the committee of privileges included emails from Mr Grech to senior Liberal party figures and this ran across the period from September 2008, roughly around collapse of the Lehman brothers, through to the period ending June 2009.

O’Neill has brought up this evidence from the privileges committee again today, while Asic is fronting estimates, to discuss the investigation of insider trading. Her questioning sparks an uproar from the Coalition, with senator Andrew Bragg shouting:

This hearing is not about your political grubby machine … you are out of order.

The committee promptly went into a 25-minute break, and decides like yesterday, the questions from O’Neill are in order.

Dan Jervis-Bardy

Solar panels for doctors, vets’ clinics

Doctors, dentists and vets will be able to secure cheap loans to purchase EVs and solar panels for their clinics under a new $20m investment.

The commonwealth’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) is working with healthcare lender Credabl to help medical providers cut their power bills.

Under the scheme, the businesses will be able to access loans with interest rates of up to 0.65% to purchase solar panels, electric vehicles and EV chargers. The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, said:

By providing access to cheaper loans, the Albanese Labor government is bringing energy bills down for good for Australian doctors, dentists and vets.

This CEFC investment is supporting small businesses to capitalise on the renewable revolution and play their role in the net zero transformation.

A former NSW Liberal MP has been committed to stand trial over multiple alleged sexual assaults, AAP reports.

Roderick “Rory” Amon is accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy he knew on Sydney’s Northern Beaches in 2017.

The 35-year-old former MP for the seat of Pittwater appeared at Sydney’s Downing Centre local court today, when pleas of not guilty to all of the charges were formally acknowledged.

Amon is due to stand trial in the district court on 10 separate charges, including sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 14. A bail variation was also granted unopposed, allowing him to live at a different address.

The former politician declined to answer questions from media outside court as he was ushered away alongside several supporters. One onlooker hurled verbal jabs at Amon.

Amon was arrested in August and charged with a series of offences, including five counts of sexual intercourse with a person over the age of 10 and under 14.

The matter is due to return to court on 28 March.

Tory Shepherd

Sharma questions Wong meeting with Ardern, representatives from Iran and Palestinian Authority last year

Back in Senate estimates, Liberal senator Dave Sharma has tried to take the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, to task for meeting with former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and representatives from Iran and the Palestinian Authority at the UN general assembly last year. (It has been a somewhat febrile time).

Wong said her counterpart was not there.

An official said they did seek a meeting with the then Israeli foreign minister, Israel Katz, but they were advised he was not attending.

AAP has more details about the “suspicious device” that washed up on a Gold Coast beach this morning, as we flagged earlier:

Police are on the scene at Main Beach after the object was spotted by a dog walker and surf lifesavers about 5.45am.

An exclusion zone of 100 metres has been established around the device while authorities examine it, and police have asked members of the public to avoid the area.

The Australian defence force has reportedly been notified, with media outlets saying it appears to be a military device, possibly a torpedo.

Images posted on social media by locals indicate the object is rusty and been submerged for some time.

Tory Shepherd

Dfat reviewing US freeze on foreign aid, Senate estimates has heard

The Greens senator and foreign aid spokesperson, Mehreen Faruqi, has used Senate estimates to ask about the government’s response to the United States’ freeze on foreign aid – describing it as a “catastrophic blow” for the Pacific, Gaza, the climate, sexual reproduction and LGBTQ+ communities.

The Trump administration froze funds coming from the US Agency for International Development (USAid) soon after coming into power. The move has caused chaos, health crises, job losses and deaths. It has also left climate change and poverty projects in the Pacific in limbo.

Dfat official James Isbister said they are reviewing the situation and will continue to do so after 20 April, the end of the 90-day freeze:

The situation is fluid and we’re continuing to look at how we amend our programs in response.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said Australia, as the largest development partner, takes a particular responsibility for the Pacific. But, she said, it’s “unrealistic to think a country of Australia’s size could make up the difference”:

Australia can do what Australia can do, and we will do that. But … Australia is not a great and global power so we have a set of responsibilities and we will discharge those.