The Point Live: Barnaby keeps the Nats guessing on his future. As it happened.

Former Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Admiral Chris Barrie, says inaction has left Australia “dangerously exposed” to  climate change.

Speaking at the Climate Crisis Summit, Admiral Barrie called allowing the expansion of fossil fuels a “failure of national duty.” 

He pointed to the Climate Risk Assessment Plan, which he said shows “how unprepared we are to face the climate shocks that are already in motion.” 

Security analysts are blunt, cascading climate impacts will drive instability, insecurity and conflict,” he said. 

Admiral Barrie painted a bleak picture of what climate change means globally. 

He said hundreds of millions of people will be “displaced”. 

(Climate change has) fueled civil wars, government collapse and mass migration,” he said. 

Hundreds and millions of people will be displaced due to food security.

The consequences will be profound.”

Here is some more of how Mike Bowers has seen the morning:

Barnaby, Barnaby-ing:

Labor women behind Rebecca White to announce a new contraceptive for the PBS and the new bulk billing funds from 1 November

Barnaby Joyce has made the choice to go and sit all alone in the house of representatives.

Mike Bowers was there to capture it:

Meanwhile at the Climate Crisis Summit, we are hearing more and more about the impacts of climate change – including some things that people may not have considered before. 

“Droughts constrain the availability for water for fire-fighting,” said National Secretary of the United Firefighters Union of Australia, Greg McConville. 

That means there is more of a reliance on chemical fire retardance in large landscape fires. 

He said there have been calls for more firefighters for more than a decade, and the same calls are being made today. 

Serena Joyner, CEO of Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, has addressed the Climate Crisis Summit, sharing stories of those who have been on the front line of extreme weather events caused by climate change. 

We don’t need an imagination to know how bad it can get,” she said. 

I hoped (the Black Summer bushfires) would be a wake up call for Australia”. 

She spoke about the ongoing effects from extreme weather events, such as being unable to insure your home, or rebuild. 

As co-CEO of the Australia Institute, Dr Richard Denniss, wrote in July: 

The scientific reality is that sea level rise and increased storm damage will make heavily populated parts of Australia uninhabitable, and the economic reality is that houses in those areas will be uninsurable.”

Ms Joyner said her organsiation has a list of five asks: 

1. Unite behind 1.5 aligned climate target and put the policitcation of the climate crisis behind us 
2. Stay the course on the renewable rollout and ensure the community benefits
3. Commit to a total phase out of fossil fuels and make a plan to do so 
4. Invest deeply in communities and be guided by them so they can plan for and recover from future disasters (which we know are going to happen) 
5. Raise the money required by making big corporations pay for the damage they are causing for their climate 

If you’re interested in that last point, here is a link to a petition for a levy on fossil fuel producers: https://nb.australiainstitute.org.au/climatedisasterlevy

Back at the Climate Crisis Summit:

Climate Scientist, Dr Sophie Lewis has highlighted a “catalogue of climate change impacts” and says that things are only set to get worse unless there is urgent action. 

Speaking to the Climate Crisis Summit in Canberra, Dr Lewis said what seems like a small increase in temperatues as a result of global warming, has in fact led to: 

• Black summer bushires
• Repeated flooding in New South Wales and Queensland
• The algal bloom in South Australia 

Just to name a few… 

Dr Lewis says as tempeatures rise, extreme events will “change in timing, distribution and severity,” Dr Lewis said.

“Time between events will decrease… concurrent events will occur.” 

Dr Lewis also pointed out, terrifyingly, that these events will occur in other places. 

Over at Crikey and Cam Wilson has a story about One Nation and the ACL being listed as Australian ‘hate groups” on the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, created by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

From the story:

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and the Australian Christian Lobby are among 20 groups identified as Australian far-right hate and extremism groups in a new report by a global anti-hate think tank.

The Global Project Against Hate and Extremism (GPAHE) is an international group created by veterans of the civil rights group Southern Poverty Law Center, which seeks to identify and chronicle transnational hate groups.

On Wednesday, the group published the report “Far-right Hate and Extremist Groups“, which includes research on the major groups operating in Australia, their history and beliefs. 

The Greens plan on using the parliament sitting to try and get debate going on housing – the party wants the housing affordability crisis to be treated as a matter of public urgency.

It is putting forward a motion to have the senate recognise the dire straits of the housing market – this comes after house prices rose at the fastest rate in four years, while home ownership rates continue to decline.

From Barbara Pocock’s statement:

One in three property markets across Australia now have a median value of $1 million plus, a new record-high, according to Cotality. While Domain data shows Sydney house prices jumped by $58,148 (3.4 per cent) in just 90 days, the fastest quarterly growth in more than two years.

The Greens say Labor is making the crisis worse as their policies, such as the $180 billion tax breaks for landlords and the 5% deposit scheme, are spiking prices and putting home ownership further out of reach for renters and first home buyers.

With 89% of voters agreeing that Australia is in a housing crisis, the Greens are calling on the government to listen to voters and address the root causes rather than turbocharge our housing and homelessness crises through minor interventions.

Pocock says the Australian dream of home ownership is “dead” for younger generations:

This government needs to start treating housing as a human right instead of a game of monopoly. 

Australia is in a housing crisis that is spiralling out of control. House prices are soaring and Labor’s $180 billion tax perks for rich property investors are pouring fuel on the fire, locking renters and first-home buyers out.

The Australian dream of home ownership is dead. Rates of home ownership are falling especially among those under 35, with 25-29 year olds dropping from 50% in 1971 to 36% in 2021. 

Home ownership is out of reach for so many Australians. Thirty years ago it took 4 years of average weekly earnings to buy a house, now it’s on track to be more than 8 times the average. How do first-home buyers stand a chance?

We mentioned a little earlier today that the SDA was in the Fair Work Commission arguing for an end for fast food and retail employers paying over-18s the junior rates of pay.

ACTU president Michele O’Neil said the whole union movement was backing the SDA in the case:

If you’re 18, you’re legally an adult. You can vote. You can drive. You can work the late shift. But in retail and fast food, you’re still paid like a kid.

Right now, 18-year-olds earn 70% of the adult rate. At 19, it’s 80%. At 20, 90%. You only get full pay at 21 – even when the job you are doing is still exactly the same.

That pay gap isn’t small. An 18-year-old needs 50 plus hours a week to earn what an adult makes in 38. The bills don’t get reduced because you’re younger. The rent doesn’t care about your birthday.

The SDA – the union for retail and fast-food workers – has asked the Fair Work Commission to fix this. Once you’re legally an adult, you should be paid the adult wage. It’s straightforward and fair.

Employers argue adult pay for 18-year-olds will kill jobs. We’ve heard it before. They said equal pay for women would kill jobs. It didn’t.

They said cutting penalty rates would create jobs. It didn’t. Fair pay doesn’t kill jobs, but ill-founded employer scare campaigns can and do.

O’Neil also said the world didn’t end when this change was made in other nations:

Other countries have fixed this already. In New Zealand, young workers move to full pay after six months. In most Canadian provinces, youth rates don’t exist. Australia is behind, and young workers are paying for it in every shift.

Most 18-year-olds in these sectors aren’t new to their jobs. They often started at 15 or 16. By 18, they know the systems, the customers, the weekend rush. Many can run a close. They often supervise older workers. Paying them less just because they’re younger doesn’t reward work. It unfairly discounts it.

Employers may say now isn’t the time, but for them it’s never the time. Meanwhile, young workers choose between topping up their phones or topping up their travel cards.

They skip dinner to cover rent and bills. They take extra shifts and fall behind in their studies because of the need to put in more hours at work. That’s not a fair start to adult life.

This simple change won’t fix everything young people face. But it would send a clear message – your time is worth what the job is worth. Adult responsibility should come with adult pay.

The ACTU supports the SDA’s case to end junior rates for 18–20-year-olds. When you turn 18, you’re an adult. You should be paid like one.”

At the Climate Crisis Summit, Aunty Barb Ibuai from the Western Islands for the Torres Strait, has painted a harrowing picture for what climate change looks like on the pacific islands. 

“Our planet is dying,” she said. 

“The impacts are being felt right now, we are not waiting for the disaster.” 

Aunty Barb said climate change is having a profound impact on the physical health of her island and the mental health of her people.

She said that her people are running out of time. 

Less than 30 years to go until we have to cut the cord,” she said.  

Imagine being told you had to leave your home, because it will drown. This is the reality that many pacific are facing right now.”