Thanks for following today’s blog. Here is a wrap of the major headlines.
The government has struck a deal with the Greens to pass its anti-vaping legislation, which will see medicinal vape products available over the counter at chemists.
The Victorian government has opened expressions of interest on a huge parcel of land near Melbourne’s CBD it says could be home to up to 20,000 people by 2051.
See how Australia’s new voting maps mean entire electorates are disappearing
The Australian Electoral Commission has redrawn the voting map for parts of Western Australia, Victoria and New South Wales ahead of the 2025 federal election.
Matilda Boseley explains what the new map could mean for Australia’s democratic fault lines:
From 1 October, vapes will be available in pharmacies over the counter without a prescription; buyers will have to have a conversation with a pharmacist, who can provide information on the health risks, and give access to health advice and guidance about other tools to quit smoking.
Buyers will have to show ID to buy the products. These vapes will not be available over the counter to children; if under-18s genuinely need access to vapes as a tool to quit smoking, they would still require a GP prescription.
Therapeutic vapes will be restricted to mint or menthol flavour and tobacco flavour. They will have to come in child-resistant packaging, and will be plain packaged also.
There will be limits on the concentration of nicotine in the vape products.
The amended laws also make it clear that individuals should not be criminalised, with the upgraded penalties only targeting commercial vendors.
The pharmacy products will have to meet high product standards from the government, and can only be imported into the country with a government licence.
Health minister challenges opposition to back the changes to vaping bill
Butler said in a statement the changes came after “constructive engagement with the crossbench.” They’ve now got enough Senate support to pass the bill this week, ahead of the 1 July changes.
From that date, vapes will only be available with a doctor’s prescription. However, from 1 October, the laws will change again to allow vapes to be bought over-the-counter after a discussion with a pharmacist at the chemist - similar to access to pseudoephedrine. They will remain in plain packaging, and without appealing flavours, only as a therapeutic tool.
Butler told us in a statement:
Our world-leading laws will return vapes and e-cigarettes to what they were originally sold to the Australian community and to governments around the world as: therapeutic products to help hardened smokers kick the habit.
From Monday next week, it will be unlawful to supply, manufacture, import, and sell a vape outside of a pharmacy setting. These laws protect young Australians and the broader community from the harms of recreational vaping, while ensuring that those who really need access to a therapeutic vape for help to quit smoking, can get one from their local pharmacy.
Butler said he hoped “the Opposition supports these world leading reforms and that this Bill can be met with multi-partisan support.”
We brought you news this morning that the Australian Medical Association had slammed the Nationals in a blistering letter to leader David Littleproud, accusing them of taking the advice of the tobacco lobby over health experts.
Health minister Mark Butler. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Peter Dutton and all Liberal Senators now have a choice: will they side with the Nationals and Big Tobacco against the concerns of parents and teachers, or will they join with a majority of the Parliament in protecting the health of young Australians for generations to come?
The best time to have done this was five years ago. The second-best time is right now.
Treasurers’ budget night hospitality spending ‘failed to comply with the rules’
Almost $25,000 spent on budget night hospitality for Labor treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and former Coalition treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, failed to comply with the rules, a fresh audit report has found.
The probe by the Australian National Audit Office into whether the Department of Treasury has been following the rules of its gifts, benefits and hospitality policy found four instances of non-compliance, totalling $34,123.
In particular were two occasions on budget nights in March 2022 and May 2023. The audit office said $14,990 was spent on hospitality expenses for the event in Frydenberg’s then office.
The funds were spent with “no written record of approval prior” in a move contrary to the federal government’s accountability rules and the department’s internal policy.
“Verbal approval that was provided by an official from the Treasurer’s office did not have sufficient delegation,” the report, released on Monday, said.
A later budget night event in Chalmers’ office occurred in May 2023, under the Albanese government, where $9,502 was spent “with no written record of approval prior”.
Under the rules, a written record of approval needs to be made “as soon as practicable”.
The report said:
The written record of approval was provided on 28 June 2023 which was 55 days after the expense was incurred on 4 May 2023.
Labor MP Josh Burns has said the deal the government struck with the Greens to pass its anti-vaping legislation was sensible and not a radical change to the original scheme.
The deal will see medicinal vape products available over the counter at chemists - a slightly relaxed version of the government’s original scheme to make them available only after a GP’s prescription - and an eight-month amnesty period for people possessing vapes which will soon be made illegal.
Speaking on ABC Afternoon Briefing Burns said:
There are a number of safeguards that have been built into the amendments that the minister for health has announced, so I think that this is a sensible thing…
We’ve seen the smoking and vaping rates go through the roof. They try to get people addicted via a whole range of flavours and I think that this is a sensible reform to reduce the number of people vaping and smoking and not increase it.
‘Duttonheimer’: Qld protesters lash LNP’s nuclear plan
Protesters have rallied outside a major Liberal National party office to slam the federal opposition’s nuclear energy plan.
More than 50 people gathered at Queensland’s LNP headquarters in Brisbane on Monday as the fallout over Peter Dutton’s controversial policy continues.
It marked one of the biggest protests since Dutton pledged on 19 June to build seven nuclear plants across five states on the sites of coal-fired power stations, if elected.
Queensland Conservation Council’s Paul Spearim said First Nations communities had not been consulted on the nuclear energy plan, sparking fears about its impact on the environment and people.
Stuart Traill, from the Electrical Trades Union, called the opposition leader “Duttonheimer” and queried why nuclear was now suddenly a priority.
“If they wanted nuclear power they could’ve done it when they were in power for 10 years,” he told the group of protesters.
The Coalition says its nuclear plants will run for 100 years. What does the international experience tell us?
The federal Coalition’s pledge to build nuclear reactors on seven sites in five states if elected has continued to raise questions this week.
Ted O’Brien, the shadow energy minister, says the plants can operate for between 80 and 100 years, providing “cheaper, cleaner and consistent 24/7 electricity” compared with renewables.
That claim comes despite the CSIRO’s Gencost report estimating each 1-gigawatt nuclear plant could take 15-20 years to build and cost $8.4bn. The first may be double that given the high start-up costs.
But what does the state of the nuclear energy internationally tell us about the Coalition’s proposal?
And on that note, I will hand the blog over to Jordyn Beazley who will take you through the evening.
We will be back with more parliament first thing in the morning – it is party room meeting day, where no doubt the nuclear chats will continue in earnest.
Littleproud says ‘be calm’ as Coalition pushed for more details on nuclear policy
For those people asking for the detail on the opposition’s nuclear policy, the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, says to chill. It’s coming. Sometime before the next election (due in May):
You’re going to see the details. You’re going to see the details before people go and vote. Before referendum day, call it referendum day or election day this time around. You’re going to see the details. Anthony Albanese didn’t answer the questions.
We are going to take the Australian people on this journey.
We have done the first stage. Now the second stage will be about those costings – about the modelling, so that we’re very upfront and honest.
So there’s a big difference – a big difference between what you might call as vague, what you might think here is a bubble, but what’s playing out at the tails of households around the country every time they see their energy bill go up.
What’s an alternative way to achieve this and give sustainability to the future.
That’s a vision that Peter Dutton and I are going to show in detail. We’re prepared to do it.
And I think that you just need to be calm and I’ll just say to everyone in the [press] gallery – I know that you wanted [the answers] tomorrow, because it helps the new cycle.
But you’ll get your turn. You just need to be calm.
There would be a review of this legislation after three years, an expanded framework for disposals, and extra funding to support young people trying to quit vaping.
Health spokesperson for the Greens, Jordon Steele-John, said: ““The Greens do not support prohibition, that is why we have successfully secured changes to this legislation to ensure that vapes remain out of the hands of kids, but adults can access them via a pharmacy, and there’s no chance of individuals being criminalised for possessing a personal vape.”
We must ensure that no one is incentivised to return to cigarette smoking and that people can get support when they need it. That’s why the Greens have focused on making sure adults can get access to therapeutic vapes when they need them. We’ve moved the government from a cost-prohibitive prescription model to a model where adults can pick up a vaping product from their local pharmacy without a prescription.”
Labor and Greens strike deal to pass anti-vaping legislation
Josh Butler
In news breaking just now, the government has struck a deal with the Greens to pass its anti-vaping legislation, which will see medicinal vape products available over the counter at chemists - a slightly relaxed version of the government’s original scheme to make them available only after a GP’s prescription - and an 8-month amnesty period for people possessing vapes which will soon be made illegal.
We can bring you some information about changes the Greens say they’ve negotiated with the government. We’ve reached out to health minister Mark Butler for comment. The Greens say the change to the GP-only model was a consideration around cost for people who may need the products for legitimate health reasons, and an effort to avoid criminal issues for people still possessing now-outlawed vapes.
The Greens’ amendments include making vapes available from a chemist as a Schedule 3 pharmacist-only medication for adults over 18. The products will still be plain packaged and regulated, with only mint and menthol flavours - no bubblegum or fairy floss flavouring.
We’re also told that possession of personal use quantities of any form of vape will not be subject to criminal charges, and there will be an 8-month personal possession amnesty period.
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