Just six months on from the election and party tensions are rising over the leadership’s response to the crisis. Meanwhile, Senate estimates resumes and calls ramp up for greater press freedom. All the days events, live
Speaking of press freedom, that will continue as an issue today.
Following the cross media campaign yesterday, Mark Dreyfus said Labor had shifted on its position, and now believed legislative changes needed to be brought in to give exemptions to public interest journalism.
And we say that that’s an appropriate legislative change, and the government ought to be bringing in legislation into the Parliament to do that, because clearly this government hasn’t understood the discretions that are there,” Dreyfus told David Speers yesterday.
It hasn’t understood conventions that have been in place in Australian law and Australian politics for decades because otherwise we wouldn’t have this threat hanging over the three journalists. We wouldn’t have had the referral take place in the way that it has.
I think where this issue starts to become more difficult is at the edge where media organisations have said they want two things. One is exemptions – I’ll use their words – ‘for journalists from all laws that would put them in jail for doing their job.’
And the second exemption they want is from all warrants which would allow a law enforcement agency with a warrant that has been given by a judge to access data possessed about a journalist.
<
p class=”block-time published-time”>
Zali Steggall will officially present the climate emergency e-petition to the parliament today – at 404,538 signatures, it is a new record for online parliamentary petitions.
From Steggall’s office:
The petition stated that the overwhelming majority of climate scientists around the world have concluded that the climate is changing at unprecedented rates due to anthropogenic causes. The result of these changes will be catastrophic for future generations, and so we must act now to minimise both human and environmental destruction. The petition will be presented by Zali Steggall MP to the House of Representatives at 1.30pm Tuesday 22 October.
Read More Nationals under pressure over drought response – politics live