Australia news live: we can be renewables superpower, Chalmers says; NSW Liberals to choose new leader | Australia news

The government will roll out a new tool for Australians to identify how energy efficient their homes are, and help compare with other homes in the market.

Husic says the pilot program between CSIRO and CoreLogic Australia will provide the data needed to bring down emissions which come from Australian homes:

We’ve got about nearly 12% of the country’s emissions are as a result of what’s happened in our homes. There are about 10 million residential buildings in the country. And we haven’t had data – particularly for the banking and finance sector – that they can see how energy efficient homes are.

And we’ve got a we are doing a lot of work as a government to try and improve that efficiency. And I chair the building ministers meeting that sets future building codes for new homes, but to be able to use artificial intelligence from the CSIRO working with firms like CoreLogic to be able to crunch the numbers and inform ways in which to build much cheaper products potentially, is a really big deal.

So being able to have that set up for the first time is a terrific initiative is something that I think will be important in trying to bring down emissions.

The ministry for industry, Ed Husic, says he believes new appointments to the RBA board alone isn’t enough to bring diversity to the central bank – he says there need to be “deeper structures” put in place.

Speaking to ABC Radio this morning Husic says:

As a government, I can give you this assurance. We do like to take into account people’s views from different vantage points. I do think it is important that where decisions have an impact – not just in terms of investors or industry but the people that work in them or the broader community – I think it’s a healthier decision …

Some people will fix on ‘well, someone should have a seat at the board’ for that to occur and I understand why they’ll make those arguments. I’m not necessarily convinced that that specifically guarantees that will occur, just having one person on the board. There need to be a lot deeper structures for people to have that sense that they’ve had a say and that they can have an ability to influence and inform decision making.

Penny Wong calls on both sides of Sudan conflict to cease hostilities

The minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, says Australia condemns the violence in Sudan and changed the travel advice warning Australians against visiting the country.

Violence broke out in Sudan when two generals turned rivals after a faltering transition to civilian-led government.

Wong has called on both parties to cease hostilities.

If you want to read more about the situation in Sudan, this explainer tells you what’s behind the fighting, how the military rivalries developed, and what’s at stake in the region:

Angus Taylor says government doesn’t need to raise taxes

Two weeks out from the budget, Taylor says if the government “gets it house in order” it shouldn’t need to raise taxes.

Following Taylor’s calls for the government to manage its finances in a way that takes pressure off Australian households, Rowland asks:

Managing [the] budget and, by definition, bringing down the deficit involves two things pretty much: cutting spending and raising taxes, do you support both of those?

Taylor:

No, firstly it means having a strong economy. That is the single most important thing you can do. Then you need to make sure that your economy is growing faster than your spending. This is an objective that we had when we were in government.

We achieved it between 2013 to 2019, in the lead-up to the pandemic. It is achievable and it should be a goal for this government. In doing that you repair the budget, take pressure off inflation, interest rates and in the process you avoid having to raise taxes.

The government shouldn’t be raising taxes. It doesn’t need to if it gets its house in order.

Chalmers ‘completely ignored’ RBA review’s recruitment process, Taylor says

Yesterday Jim Chalmers also named two new appointments to the existing nine-member board: Iain Ross, a former Fair Work Commission president and former assistant secretary of the ACTU, and Elana Rubin, who has also worked with the ACTU. But Angus Taylor is this morning criticising the appointments for ignoring the recruitment process:

We were disappointed that the first two appointments that have been made by the treasurer, he completely ignored the recruitment process, the merit-based rigorous process that is laid out in the review. We do think it is important that the government is going to say it supports the recommendations of the review, it walks the walk and doesn’t just talk the talk.

Michael Rowland:

Aren’t those appointments we speak of Ian Ross and Elana Rubin all aimed to bring greater diversity views to the Reserve Bank board. The board is dominated by RBA officials and the Treasury secretary and big business leaders?

Taylor:

We want intellectual diversity. The review laid that out plainly and I endorsed the need for that. There is a clear process, a rigorous merit-based process that is laid out in recommendation 14.2 of the report and the government hasn’t followed it with its first two appointments. We want the government to get serious about the recommendations that are laid out in this report.

Chalmers ‘jumping ahead of himself’ on RBA review, Taylor says

The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, believes the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is “jumping ahead of himself” accepting all 51 recommendations of the RBA review.

Taylor, speaking to ABC News, is asked if he has endorsed all 51 recommendations like the treasurer:

No, I think [Chalmers] is jumping ahead of himself. We are working closely with the government. I worked closely with the review panel and we very much welcome the report.

We think there is some very good features of this. The sharp focus on the 2% to 3% inflation target. The clear focus on accountability and transparency of the Reserve Bank. We are very open focus on that monetary policy board and a merit-based recruitment process for board members for that board and the pre-existing board, all these things we think are a step in the right direction.

We are working through the recommendations. We will do it in a spirit of bipartisanship.

Good morning! Natasha May on deck with you.

‘Australia has the world’s best combinations of wind and solar energy resources’

We’ve also got former ACCC commissioner Rod Sims writing for us today and he agrees with the treasurer that Australia can become a green energy superpower.

In fact he argues that green energy represents an even bigger opportunity for Australia than the resources boom of the past 20 years because it’s more sustainable:

Australia has the world’s best combinations of wind and solar energy resources, and it has enormous sources of biomass for a zero emissions chemical industry.

Think about that.

The world is moving to a zero emissions economy – albeit at an uncertain speed – and we can have the lowest-cost zero emissions electricity available for large-scale economic development in the world.

Second, we have among the largest resources of the minerals needed in the energy transition. Renewable energy is not easily exported so it makes sense for industry to relocate to the source. Put simply, more of Australia’s minerals should now be processed in Australia.

Read his whole piece here:

Australia has potential to be a renewable superpower, Chalmers says

Martin Farrer

NSW Liberals to decide new leader

Martin Farrer

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