The Point Live: Coalition net zero saga drags on. As it happened.

The immediate future of the Southern Hemisphere’s first aluminium smelter is more secure, after the signing of a power agreement. 

Tasmania’s Bell Bay Aluminium, which is owned by Rio Tinto, was under a cloud amid stalled discussions for a new deal with state-owned electricity provider Hydro Tasmania. 

The smelter in the state’s north employs more than 500 people – its decade-long deal with Hydro was set to expire on December 31.

The state government on Wednesday said a 12-month agreement had been reached allowing time for work to continue on a long-term plan for the smelter. 

“The smelter is a cornerstone of Tasmania’s economy,” Premier Jeremy Rockliff said in a statement. 

“We are doing all we can to make sure the business continues to have a strong future in the state.

“It is important all governments continue to work together with Rio Tinto to secure the future of Bell Bay Aluminium, one of Australia’s greenest smelters.”

Mr Rockliff said his government would continue to lobby Canberra for money, after recent lifelines were provided for several major industrials. 

The Australian and Queensland governments in October unveiled $600 million in support for the Mt Isa copper smelter and Townsville copper refinery over three years.

Federal government support was necessary to provide Bell Bay Aluminium with a sustainable operating trajectory, Tasmania’s Energy and Renewables Minister Nick Duigan said.

“It would be a perverse outcome for the federal funding arrangements to exclude the nation’s principal green aluminium smelter,” he said. 

Mr Duigan said he expected Hydro Tasmania to provide a competitive, commercial energy price consistent with its obligations to put Tasmanian jobs and the economy first.

The smelter began operating in 1955 and exports more than 90 per cent of its output, primarily to southeast Asia, east Asia and India. 

The country’s top spy has put three nations on notice after sensationally revealing there was a “realistic possibility” a foreign government would attempt an assassination on Australian soil.

The trio were not directly named by Australian Security Intelligence Organisation director-general Mike Burgess in the 2025 Lowy Lecture on Tuesday night.

But identifying them may not have been necessary.

“The countries that I didn’t mention by name know who I’m talking about,” he said in conversation with Lowy Institute executive director Michael Fullilove.

“We know who they are.

“By mentioning them publicly I’m also putting them on notice that we know some of you are prepared to do this and we will do our damnedest to stop it before it happens.”

During his speech, Mr Burgess said the degrading trajectory of Australia’s security environment alongside regimes’ growing willingness to do harm had formed the foundation of ASIO’s assessment.

“There is a realistic possibility a foreign government will attempt to assassinate a perceived dissident in Australia,” he said.

“We believe there are at least three nations willing and capable of conducting lethal targeting here.

“This threat is real.”

Some could try to hide their involvement by hiring criminal cut-outs, Mr Burgess said, pointing to a similar tactic used by Iran when it ordered the 2024 firebombings at Melbourne’s Addas Synagogue and Sydney’s Lewis Continental Kitchen.

He also mentioned recently uncovered links between between pro-Russia influencers in Australia and an offshore media organisation that “almost certainly” receives orders from Russian intelligence.

Another incident included a foreign intelligence service attempting to recruit Australians to gather information on the economy, critical minerals and the country’s nuclear submarine agreement with the US and UK.

Though Mr Burgess’s address did not name China, the spy chief was asked about the country’s absence.

“I did not mention China in my remarks today,” he said.

“But how do you know I wasn’t talking about things China did, in my remarks today?”

He chose not to name China primarily because his address was about factors that fray Australia’s social fabric.

“At the extreme end of that, that isn’t China,” he said.

“Although we do have some concerns there too.”

The internet’s ability to incubate disaffection, international conflicts like the war in the Gaza Strip, and extremist groups such as the National Socialist Network were all said to have played a role in the country’s deteriorating social cohesion.

Glenn Connley

New Australia Institute polling research shows most Australians, regardless of who they vote for, think most university degrees are too expensive.

Polling also found only 3% of Australians think making a profit should be a primary purpose of universities – however more than half believe that it currently is a primary purpose.

Meanwhile, fewer than half of Australians believe educating students is currently a primary purpose of universities, despite 80% thinking it should be.

Key findings: 

• Three out of four Australians (77%) think university degrees should cost $10,000 or less per year.
• About three in five Australians (58%) think university degrees should cost $5,000 or less per year. 
• Less than one in 20 (3%) of Australians think that making a profit should be a primary purpose of universities, yet more than half (54%) believe that it currently is a primary purpose.
• Four in five (80%) Australians think that educating students should be a primary purpose of universities, yet 44% believe it is currently a primary purpose of universities.

“University fees are totally out of step with community expectations. Despite about three in five Australians believing degrees should cost $5,000 or less a year, most university degrees are more expensive than this. Highly popular degrees such as arts, commerce, and law now cost about $17,000 per year,” said Jack Thrower, Senior Economist at The Australia Institute

“High university fees are leading to mounting student debts, which are taking ever longer to pay off.

“The university sector’s rolling scandals and ongoing governance crisis are causing it to lose the trust of the general public. Over half of Australians think that making a profit is a primary purpose for universities.

“To regain public trust, the sector needs to fix its governance, such as by making sure universities are overseen by those with the most at stake in their future: students and staff.”

How is it only Wednesday?

How are we still here?

How has it we have a lived three lifetimes and it is only Wednesday?

All of that is to say, hello and good morning and welcome back to The Point Live.

We start today where we have started every day – talking about Sussan Ley’s leadership. I have read all the thought pieces and the columns and I just wonder why anyone is surprised. Ley has stood for nothing. She has no principles to point to that she can say ‘well, you knew this was important to me’. She has flipped and flopped and now she’s floundering. So here we are. If it’s not now (and honestly, given how much of a mess the party is, who would want the responsibility of owning that) it will be as soon as the party has a direction. Tim Wilson is being floated as a potential ‘moderate’ deputy for Angus Taylor. And down and around it goes.

ASIO chief Mike Burgess has given a Lowy lecture where he says much the same things he always say and each media outlet picks out the narrative that suits their particular line the most.

He has said three nations have a “realistic possibility’ of attempting an assassination in Australia, but did not name them.

The countries that I didn’t mention by name know who I’m talking about.

We know who they are.

By mentioning them publicly I’m also putting them on notice that we know some of you are prepared to do this and we will do our damnedest to stop it before it happens.”

The amendment that would give police powers over welfare is still floating around – the unrelated bill it has been tacked on to seems a bit of a mess, so there might be some further action in addressing the whole thing today, but maybe don’t hold your breathe. There seems to be a lot of people worried about ‘perceptions’ rather than what is actually at stake. These slides into further authoritarian powers are usually because all of these incremental fights were seen as too difficult or not worth the discomfort. So it is always a death of a thousand cuts, rather than one big swoop, but you only need look at the protest laws to see how these things creep up over you. It doesn’t stop.

We’ll cover it all off as the day goes by. It’s a solid three coffee morning. Hope you have yours.

Ready? Let’s get into it.