Latest news with #MurrayWatt
Perth Now
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
Tech speedbumps may frustrate social media ban for kids
There is no guarantee that technologies aimed at blocking young kids from social media will always work, according to early trial results. A ban on children younger than 16 from accessing platforms like Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram is expected to commence in six months, and yet, there are glaring questions about how and whether the plan will work. While the early findings of a federal government-commissioned trial found age assurance technologies are available, there's no silver bullet. "Age assurance can be done in Australia and can be private, robust and effective," the report found. "We found a plethora of approaches that fit use cases in different ways. "But we did not find a single ubiquitous solution that would suit all use cases, nor did we find solutions that were guaranteed to be effective in all deployments." Under the social media ban, platforms will have to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from creating new accounts and could face millions in fines for systemic breaches of the new rules. Cabinet minister Murray Watt maintained the need for restrictions around social media. "The Australian people believe that we do need to see some restrictions around social media use when it comes to young people," he told ABC News on Friday. "Unfortunately, it has become an insidious force, both for young people and more widely." Australia's ban is world-leading and, in the aftermath of the November passage of federal laws, other nations indicated a desire to emulate the measure. However, the legislation does not indicate how exactly the ban will be executed. The report found parental control and consent systems could be effective when first introduced. But there is "limited evidence" that they would be effective as children grow up or allow kids the right to participate in the breadth of digital experiences. Even after the coalition helped secure an amendment to ensure Australians wouldn't have to provide any form of government identification to verify their age, the trial found there was a risk of privacy breaches. Some age assurance service providers had over-anticipated the needs of regulators and built tools that led to an "unnecessary and disproportionate collection and retention of data". Opposition communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh has urged Labor to confirm what technology or verification tools will be used to protect kids online. "No more young lives can be lost or families destroyed because of the toxicity of social media," she said in a statement. The Age Assurance Technology Trial's final report is expected to be published later in 2025.
AU Financial Review
a day ago
- Business
- AU Financial Review
ASX to open lower; Oil rises, Wall St closed
Australian shares are poised to open lower again. Wall Street was closed for the Juneteenth public holiday. S&P 500 contracts retreated 0.9%. Europe's Stoxx 600 index closed 0.8% lower, falling for a third session. Asian shares dropped 1.4%. Brent crude advanced past $US78 a barrel, extending gains in a week where market reaction to the Middle East conflict has been most concentrated in oil. The dollar rose 0.2% Market highlights ASX futures are pointing down 41 points or -0.5 per cent to 8478 All US prices are as of 1.30pm New York time. AUD -0.8% to 64.56 US¢ Bitcoin +0.5% to $US104,611 On Wall St: Dow -0.1% S&P flat Nasdaq +0.1% VIX 2.03 to 22.17 Gold +0.1% to $US3,371.85 an ounce Brent oil +2.5% to $US78.63 a barrel Iron ore +0.5% to $US92.90 a tonne 10-year yield: US 4.39% Australia 4.21% Today's agenda Wall Street is closed for the Juneteenth holiday. Top stories Family trusts and electric vehicles in tax review spotlight | Higher taxes on family trusts and electric vehicle drivers are likely to be proposed by Treasury for Jim Chalmers to help pay for income tax cuts. | There's a growing sense of urgency within government about the need to secure a meeting with the US president. The $300 billion fund has only just been approved to manage assets internally. Dexus is already fighting with Australian Pacific Airports Corporation investors. Climate won't be central to Labor's environment law overhaul | Environment Minister Murray Watt said there were already mechanisms to deal with emissions from Australian coal and gas burnt overseas.
West Australian
a day ago
- Business
- West Australian
Industry wary but confident of environmental law overhaul after talks with new minister
Business leaders remain wary of environmental reforms following the nature positive disaster but new minister Murray Watt is doing a better job of earning their trust than his predecessor. Industry sources who attended an initial consultation on Thursday told The West they got a much better vibe from the new environment minister than Tanya Plibersek, who some said was more likely to take an 'it's my way or the highway' approach. The main sticking points to landing the reforms within Senator Watt's ambitious 18-month timetable are the scope of a Federal environmental protection agency and whether climate impacts should be added as a consideration for project approvals. The minister told the 30 groups represented at the roundtable — half in Canberra and half attending virtually — that he was determined to get the deal done and all sides would have to compromise. 'I think that people understand that we had a lost opportunity in not being able to reach agreement as a country about where these rules go,' Senator Watt said afterwards. 'If we don't pass these laws, then our environment faces more destruction. Businesses face more cost and delay in their projects.' Business Council Australia chief executive Bran Black backed the aim to get the changes through in the first half of this term. 'We need more projects approved and more homes built, and the closer we get to an election the harder it can sometimes get to achieve consensus,' he said. Peak bodies for resources, construction, agriculture and energy attended along with a range of environmental groups and key figures from Rio Tinto, BHP, AACo, Mirvac, Origin, Stockland and Lendlease. Industry representatives described the talks as a 'strong start', productive, and a 'constructive reset' although acknowledged there was a long way to go yet. It was the first time during Labor's efforts at overhauling the Howard-era laws that stakeholders from all sides had been in a room together and were able to put their views to the minister. Senator Watt told those gathered for the EPBC Act consultations that he had deliberately mixed up the seating around the large table in one of Parliament House's committee rooms so that 'we don't have an industry corner and an environment corner' in order to better encourage people to work together. He said there appeared to be genuine commitment from everyone to get something done. The view was echoed by one stakeholder, who said most of those involved had already been through several iterations of talks and no longer wanted to go through the motions and let it die. They thought Senator Watt was preparing to put forward something more achievable and acceptable than Ms Plibersek had tried. She had split the establishment of an EPA out from the environmental protection rule changes and proposed a model that went further than the Samuel review proposed. Ultimately, the nature positive legislation couldn't find support for either the Coalition or the Greens to pass. Others were encouraged that the minister's starting point seemed to be working with the existing Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act rather than seeking to write an entirely new Act. He also committed to a more transparent process and a comprehensive package that incorporated both the proposed new watchdog and the rule changes. Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA chief executive Rebecca Tomkinson said a 'robust and transparent consultation process that allows stakeholders to provide input at each stage and, crucially, to see the proposed legislative changes in their entirety before they are introduced to Parliament' was integral to achieving the objectives of better outcomes for the environment and business. Association of Mining and Exploration Companies head Warren Pearce said while there were still differing views, there was a clear desire on all sides to get this done. 'Minister Watt is pretty frank, he is seeking a package of reforms that can find broad support – and that will pass the Parliament – and to get it done in the first half of the new term,' he said. A top priority resources groups is removing the duplication between State and Federal processes, which will come down in part to the role of the new federal EPA and whether the Federal minister retains the powers to make ultimate approvals decisions. 'While a national EPA is clearly a key priority, questions remain around decision-making accountability,' Minerals Council of Australia head Tania Constable said. Environmental groups are pushing for a climate trigger to be included in the new laws, which many on the industry side see as a deal-breaker, pointing out that it would stop far more than just coal and gas projects. But Greenpeace's Glenn Walker said the environmental framework was already failing and needed fixing urgently. 'Central to all of this is an independent national environmental watchdog with teeth to enforce the laws and make decisions on approvals or large projects,' he said.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Labor's new environment laws won't be ‘credible' unless new projects consider climate change, advocates warn
The latest attempt to rewrite federal environmental protection laws won't be 'credible' unless it forces decision-makers to consider climate change when assessing projects, advocates have warned, as consultation on the changes begins. Select environment groups, miners, business and farming chiefs joined the new environment minister, Murray Watt, for a roundtable in Canberra on Thursday. The Climate Council chief executive, Amanda McKenzie, said the laws would remain 'broken' without some mechanism to account for climate impacts, which she described as the 'biggest concern for Australia's environment'. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter 'It is not good enough for the Australian government to push climate change out of the frame,' McKenzie said. 'This is the biggest impact on the Australian environment, and the law simply won't be credible if it does not consider the biggest impact on the Australian environment.' While not ruling it out, Watt again played down the idea, as he insisted emissions from heavy polluting projects were already managed in other ways. 'My argument is that there are a range of mechanisms already in place, both domestically and internationally, to manage the climate impacts of developments,' he said. 'I recognise there are groups who still want us to go further, there are groups who don't want us to go further, and we'll be listening to that feedback on the way through.' The issue of inserting climate into federal nature laws shapes as a major challenge for Watt as attempts to win broad support for a long-awaited overhaul of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act. Five years after Graeme Samuel's review of the EPBC Act, stakeholders from across the board are generally optimistic that changes to the John Howard-era laws can finally be enacted. Labor's proposal to create a federal environment protection agency collapsed in the final months of the last parliament after Anthony Albanese pushed it off the agenda amid concerns about a pre-election backlash in Western Australia. Speaking after Thursday's roundtable meeting, Watt said Labor's thumping federal election win created a 'very clear mandate' to establish the EPA 2.0 and fix the nature laws. The new minister wants to push changes through federal parliament within 18 months, likely as one package of laws rather than in multiple stages as his predecessor Tanya Plibersek attempted to do. Watt said there was support among the invited stakeholders on five broad principles: national environmental standards, streamlined approvals, regional planning, a more 'robust' offsets regime and better data on environmental impacts. However, Watt acknowledged disagreements between industry and environmentalist in other areas, including the powers of the EPA and the issue of adding climate to nature laws. The Greens and climate activists have long advocated for a 'climate trigger' – a mechanism to account for a project's pollution in environmental assessments – as a vehicle to stop new fossil fuel projects. In 2005, Albanese himself – then a shadow minister fighting the Howard government – said 'the glaring gap in matters of national environmental significance is climate change'. Sign up to Clear Air Australia Adam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisis after newsletter promotion The now prime minister has long since changed his tune, firmly rejecting the idea after the Greens pushed it during negotiations with Plibersek in the previous term. The provisional approval of a 40-year extension to Woodside's North West Shelf gas plant has ignited fresh calls for 'climate considerations' to be added to the laws, including from the Labor MP, Jerome Laxale. Watt didn't shut the door on the idea after Wednesday's meeting, saying it was 'too early to be committing to particular things in the legislation'. However, he reiterated the government's view that emissions from major projects were already regulated under the safeguard mechanism. Watt also argued that an export project's scope three emissions – pollution from Australian fossil fuels after they are sold overseas – was managed through other countries' commitments under the Paris climate agreement. Speaking after the roundtable, McKenzie and the Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive, Kelly O'Shannessy, stressed they were not wedded to a specific 'climate trigger' model – just the firm view that climate impact must be considered in the environmental assessment process. The Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, called for a moratorium on the clearing of critical habitat and approval of fossil fuel projects until the new nature laws were in place. Miners staunchly oppose the introduction of a 'climate trigger', fearing such a provision could torpedo the approval of projects. Peak mining groups the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA (CME) and Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) were among the invitees to Wednesday's roundtable in Canberra. The chief executive of AMEC, Warren Pearce, said a 'pretty frank' Watt was clearly intent on legislating changes in the first half of the new parliamentary term. 'There are still differing views, but there is a clear desire to get this done from all stakeholders,' he said. 'AMEC will continue to advocate for greater efficiency, a removal of duplication between State and Federal processes, and a workable process that can be implemented to provide improved environmental protections.'
The Advertiser
a day ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Second wind for long-promised nature law reforms
Long-delayed reforms to nature protections could be knocked over within 18 months under a timeline mapped out by the federal environment minister. Murray Watt flagged broad support for new national environmental standards, a key ask of the now five-year-old Samuel review, which declared the legislation ineffective and outdated. Environmentalists, industry, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders gathered in Canberra to restart discussions after the Labor government failed to pass reforms in its first term. The previous minister, Tanya Plibersek, came close to a deal with the cross bench in late 2024 for a federal environmental protection agency but pressure from West Australian mining interests was thought to have influenced Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's intervention to scuttle it. Federal nature protections are designed to kick in when renewable energy, mines and development threaten vulnerable species and other "matters of national environmental significance". Senator Watt said everyone agreed the current laws were broken. "They're not adequately protecting the environment," he told reporters after the meeting. "They're not delivering for business in terms of certainty and timeliness of approval." He did not expressly rule out a climate trigger in the reworked rules, but pointed to the safeguard mechanism and other existing legislation driving down domestic industry emissions. "The other point is that the scope three emissions - so emissions that are generated when fossil fuels developed in Australia are burned and used overseas - are managed under the Paris Agreement that almost every country has signed up to," he said. Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie, who attended the roundtable, welcomed the "renewed energy" behind the reforms and reiterated her call for climate to be included. "In terms of the approvals of large fossil fuel projects, climate should be included in the act so those projects can be prevented," she told AAP. Ms McKenzie said the minister appeared to have grasped the importance of a more efficient, streamlined environmental approval system for the clean energy transition. In May, conservation groups and the clean energy industry joined forces to urge the government to hurry the reforms, with "faster yeses and faster nos" a key ask for renewables developers. Senator Watt expressed his desire to deliver new environmental protections in the first half of the parliamentary term and his willingness to work with either the Greens or the opposition to pass them. The plan is to develop a full package of reforms in one go, rather than break it into pieces as happened in 2024 when time ran short before the election. Long-delayed reforms to nature protections could be knocked over within 18 months under a timeline mapped out by the federal environment minister. Murray Watt flagged broad support for new national environmental standards, a key ask of the now five-year-old Samuel review, which declared the legislation ineffective and outdated. Environmentalists, industry, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders gathered in Canberra to restart discussions after the Labor government failed to pass reforms in its first term. The previous minister, Tanya Plibersek, came close to a deal with the cross bench in late 2024 for a federal environmental protection agency but pressure from West Australian mining interests was thought to have influenced Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's intervention to scuttle it. Federal nature protections are designed to kick in when renewable energy, mines and development threaten vulnerable species and other "matters of national environmental significance". Senator Watt said everyone agreed the current laws were broken. "They're not adequately protecting the environment," he told reporters after the meeting. "They're not delivering for business in terms of certainty and timeliness of approval." He did not expressly rule out a climate trigger in the reworked rules, but pointed to the safeguard mechanism and other existing legislation driving down domestic industry emissions. "The other point is that the scope three emissions - so emissions that are generated when fossil fuels developed in Australia are burned and used overseas - are managed under the Paris Agreement that almost every country has signed up to," he said. Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie, who attended the roundtable, welcomed the "renewed energy" behind the reforms and reiterated her call for climate to be included. "In terms of the approvals of large fossil fuel projects, climate should be included in the act so those projects can be prevented," she told AAP. Ms McKenzie said the minister appeared to have grasped the importance of a more efficient, streamlined environmental approval system for the clean energy transition. In May, conservation groups and the clean energy industry joined forces to urge the government to hurry the reforms, with "faster yeses and faster nos" a key ask for renewables developers. Senator Watt expressed his desire to deliver new environmental protections in the first half of the parliamentary term and his willingness to work with either the Greens or the opposition to pass them. The plan is to develop a full package of reforms in one go, rather than break it into pieces as happened in 2024 when time ran short before the election. Long-delayed reforms to nature protections could be knocked over within 18 months under a timeline mapped out by the federal environment minister. Murray Watt flagged broad support for new national environmental standards, a key ask of the now five-year-old Samuel review, which declared the legislation ineffective and outdated. Environmentalists, industry, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders gathered in Canberra to restart discussions after the Labor government failed to pass reforms in its first term. The previous minister, Tanya Plibersek, came close to a deal with the cross bench in late 2024 for a federal environmental protection agency but pressure from West Australian mining interests was thought to have influenced Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's intervention to scuttle it. Federal nature protections are designed to kick in when renewable energy, mines and development threaten vulnerable species and other "matters of national environmental significance". Senator Watt said everyone agreed the current laws were broken. "They're not adequately protecting the environment," he told reporters after the meeting. "They're not delivering for business in terms of certainty and timeliness of approval." He did not expressly rule out a climate trigger in the reworked rules, but pointed to the safeguard mechanism and other existing legislation driving down domestic industry emissions. "The other point is that the scope three emissions - so emissions that are generated when fossil fuels developed in Australia are burned and used overseas - are managed under the Paris Agreement that almost every country has signed up to," he said. Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie, who attended the roundtable, welcomed the "renewed energy" behind the reforms and reiterated her call for climate to be included. "In terms of the approvals of large fossil fuel projects, climate should be included in the act so those projects can be prevented," she told AAP. Ms McKenzie said the minister appeared to have grasped the importance of a more efficient, streamlined environmental approval system for the clean energy transition. In May, conservation groups and the clean energy industry joined forces to urge the government to hurry the reforms, with "faster yeses and faster nos" a key ask for renewables developers. Senator Watt expressed his desire to deliver new environmental protections in the first half of the parliamentary term and his willingness to work with either the Greens or the opposition to pass them. The plan is to develop a full package of reforms in one go, rather than break it into pieces as happened in 2024 when time ran short before the election. Long-delayed reforms to nature protections could be knocked over within 18 months under a timeline mapped out by the federal environment minister. Murray Watt flagged broad support for new national environmental standards, a key ask of the now five-year-old Samuel review, which declared the legislation ineffective and outdated. Environmentalists, industry, Indigenous groups and other stakeholders gathered in Canberra to restart discussions after the Labor government failed to pass reforms in its first term. The previous minister, Tanya Plibersek, came close to a deal with the cross bench in late 2024 for a federal environmental protection agency but pressure from West Australian mining interests was thought to have influenced Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's intervention to scuttle it. Federal nature protections are designed to kick in when renewable energy, mines and development threaten vulnerable species and other "matters of national environmental significance". Senator Watt said everyone agreed the current laws were broken. "They're not adequately protecting the environment," he told reporters after the meeting. "They're not delivering for business in terms of certainty and timeliness of approval." He did not expressly rule out a climate trigger in the reworked rules, but pointed to the safeguard mechanism and other existing legislation driving down domestic industry emissions. "The other point is that the scope three emissions - so emissions that are generated when fossil fuels developed in Australia are burned and used overseas - are managed under the Paris Agreement that almost every country has signed up to," he said. Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie, who attended the roundtable, welcomed the "renewed energy" behind the reforms and reiterated her call for climate to be included. "In terms of the approvals of large fossil fuel projects, climate should be included in the act so those projects can be prevented," she told AAP. Ms McKenzie said the minister appeared to have grasped the importance of a more efficient, streamlined environmental approval system for the clean energy transition. In May, conservation groups and the clean energy industry joined forces to urge the government to hurry the reforms, with "faster yeses and faster nos" a key ask for renewables developers. Senator Watt expressed his desire to deliver new environmental protections in the first half of the parliamentary term and his willingness to work with either the Greens or the opposition to pass them. The plan is to develop a full package of reforms in one go, rather than break it into pieces as happened in 2024 when time ran short before the election.
