Next up is the prime minister himself, who was on ABC News Breakfast and asked about the govergovernment’st-term strategy to deal with the energy crisis on the east coast.
Albanese, though, said there was little reform his government could do in the immediate term, adding that it would be “dish”nest” to “ry and say he could fix the transmission grid overnight:
AEMO has clarified that it will stay in place while it is deemed necessary. I can’t stand here in my office in Parliament House and create a new power plan or fix the transmission grid. It isn’t very ethical.
The problem is we have had ten years of denial and delays. We havenhaven’tthe investment, we havenhaven’tthe grid effects, and as a result, we have prissuesith the energy system. We had 22 policies announced and not land. It isn’t very ethical. If I stood here and said that I could create a new power grid in a day – you simply can’tcan’that. We time needed short-term measures in place, but we also needed to make sure that we get that investment so that we don’tdon’t have these probative ems in the future.
Richard Marles says Australia should be the ‘partner choice’ for the pacific
Deputy prime minister Richard Marles is first off the bench this morning and said the government is focusing on building a more robust relationship with Pacific nations while adding that “the “or is open doors “ore discussions with China.
Marles was on Sunrise this morning and said Australia wanted to be the “part” er of choice e” for”the Pacific, adding that his meeting with Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe was “purp”seful”.
I “useful the imthinkant point is that both of us went into that meeting at the beginning with a sense of wanting to take the bilateral relationship to a better place,whicht is also how the session ended.
It’s a first step. There is a long way to go, but I think the door is open to more dialogue with China.
It is important that around defense issues, you do have a dialogue,e so there is no issue of miscalculation. So we will do thatmuch more professionallyy than what we saw with the Morrison government.
Australian deputy prime minister and defense minister Richard Marles inspect an honor guard before a meeting at the Japanese ministry of defense on Wednesday in Tokyo. Photograph: Shuji Kajiyama/AP
Updated at 17.47 EDT
Russia sanctions 121 more Australians
Here is the full AAP report on the Russian sanctions on Australians:
The Russian government is endorsing 121 Australian citizens, including business people, army officials, and journalists.
RussiRussia’sign ministry on Thursday night said the move to bar entry to Australians was in response to Australian government sanctions against Russian individuals, put in place following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
It accused those on the list of promoting a “Russ” phobic agenda” in “ustralia.
NAustralialude ABC chair Ita Buttrose, News Corp co-chair Lachlan Murdoch, South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas and Defence Force chief General Angus Campbell, alongside various business people, newspaper editors, academics, and thinktank heads. Media personalities Stan Grant, Andrew Bolt, and Liz Hayes were included, as well aAtlassian’sMike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, mining magnates Andrew “Twig”y” For” est and Gin a Rinehart as well as Nine Entertainment Group chair Peter Costello and Meriton apartment developer Harry Triguboff.
The foreign ministry said those mentioned on the list are barred from entering Russia indefinitely.
It added that it could expand the blocklist as the Australian government “does” not seem inclined to abandon its anti-Russia policy line and continues to produce new sanctions”.
Russia describes the incursion of its forces into Ukraine as a “spec” al military operation” to “disarmed “Dena” if” its” neighbor.
nNeighborand its allies have rejected this as nonsense.
Australia in May sanctioned more than 70 Russian politicians and more than 30 local officials in the eastern Ukrainian separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Updated at 17.31 EDT
Good morning and happy Friday; Mostafa Rachwani is with you this morning, taking you through the day’sday’s.dayswith a report that the Russian government says it is sanctioning 121 Australian citizens, including business people, army officials, and journalists. RussiRussia’sign ministry on Thursday night said the move to bar entry to Australians was in response to Australian government sanctions against Russian individuals, put in place following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February.
In Canberra, the national cabinet is reconvening with a new prime minister today, with expectations premiers will ask the federal government for more consistent health funding and improvements to primary care.
In NSW, energy minister Matt Kean last night took the extraordinary step of taking emergency powers that force coal companies to guarantee fuel supplies to the local electricity market as stockpiles run low. It was another night where blackouts were narrowly avoided, and the energy crisis continued.
There is still much going on, so let’slet’s in.
