⏱️This edition of the National Account’s newsletter is a six-minute read.
👋 G’day everyone, Archie here.
We’re gonna crack straight into the news today 🗞️, as my darling mother has come to visit me from New Zealand and I need to show her the sights and sounds of Sydney!
We're very happy to dismantle the structures and the regulation and the policies, if you can call them that, that this Labor government has put in place
🗣️ Why did she say that?
In case you missed it, Sussan Ley and the Liberal Party have crumbled under pressure from the Nationals and their own conservatives to abandon Net Zero.
South Australian Liberal Senator Andrew McLachlan said those wanting to scrap the targets were “wrong”.
Liberal Dan Tehan hinted at using public money to “support the states” in extending the life of Australia’s coal-fired power stations.
Did they have a clear plan to bring energy prices down in the short or long term? Not really - only that they would be technology agnostic, which is code for supporting coal and nuclear.
So the real question now is, have the Liberals just made themselves unelectable?
For my full breakdown, check out yesterday’s video:
📧 The Nationals respond…sort of
Staying with the Coalition’s desertion of Net Zero, I asked all 19 MPs and Senators from the National Party if they were aware of the many flaws in the report they used to justify dumping the target.
One of the most egregious errors in the final report handed to MPs is that there is no explicit inclusion of the upfront cost to build new “ultra supercritical“ coal power stations.
That cost, by the way, is $103 billion…not a small number to leave out.
This is important because these are the power stations the Nats are using to say “coal is cheaper than renewables“.
So did the Nats know about the error? Or do they just not care?
For my full breakdown, check out today’s video:
⏳ Deadly sand in the capital’s schools
As of midday Friday, 30 schools in the nation’s capital had either been fully or partially shut down, after it was discovered the brightly-coloured sand children were playing with contained traces of chrysotile asbestos.
The sand, sold by Officeworks, was recalled by consumer watchdog the ACCC on Wednesday.
The ACT government says the sand is used at some schools for sensory play, and arts and crafts.
Asbestos is a banned substance in Australia.
It says it will follow advice from WorkSafe ACT and recommendations from licensed asbestos contractors.
WorkSafe ACT said the exposure risk was low.
Twenty-three schools and preschools were fully closed on Friday, with another seven partially closed.
The Territory government said the “situation is evolving and we will keep this page updated with the latest information”.
💵 Rent’s due!
The median rent is now eating up nearly half of a typical Australian’s pre-tax income, with Sydney and Perth leading the surge.
Thanks for catching up with me. I hope you enjoyed this issue, and I’d love to hear your thoughts. Just reply to this email and I’ll be on the other side 👋.
I’ll be back on Monday.
Cheers, Archie