News and politics recap: Marles says US will determine length of AUKUS submarine deployments

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen has announced a review of the Safeguard Mechanism, the main government policy for curbing emissions across Australia’s heavy industrial sectors.

Established under the Abbott government and reshaped by Labor since winning office, the mechanism applies to 219 major facilities spanning mining, energy, logistics, and manufacturing, while electricity generators are exempt.

Facilities in the scheme must maintain emissions beneath individual baselines that lower over time, or they can purchase credits if they exceed those thresholds.

In launching a review of the scheme, Mr Bowen has released a consultation paper to assess whether it is achieving its “emissions reduction objectives” and remains fit for purpose beyond 2030.

“Importantly, the review is not intended to fundamentally redesign the Safeguard Mechanism,” Mr Bowen said in a statement.

“Rather, it will examine how the existing framework can continue to deliver effective emissions outcomes beyond 2030, consistent with its contribution to the 2030 target.”

Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson says there is “serious risk” the installation of a statue honouring former Victorian premier Dan Andrews would become “a public urinal”.

Mr Wilson on Friday joined mounting public outrage concerning the proposal, with a new poll this week revealing most Victorians, including Labor voters, want it scrapped.

“The first minor public project that should be cut should be Dan Andrews’ statue because that does not sit on any hierarchy of a single Victorian and their priorities,” Mr Wilson said on the Today show.

“You know, I don’t think Dan Andrews should want this statue, frankly, because I think there’s a serious risk of it becoming a public urinal.”

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The ABC’s managing director, Hugh Marks, has declared he wants the broadcaster to strive for a “higher standard” after controversy over an aired skit about Gina Rinehart.

In an interview on ABC Radio North Queensland late Thursday afternoon, Mr Marks said the aired segment by Race Around the World contestant Kate McGuinness was “not fair” and “wrong”.

While the ABC ombudsman found it did not breach editorial standards related to harm and offence, Mr Marks apologised on Thursday, saying the segment fell short of “community expectations”.

“Everybody is entitled to the same treatment by the ABC,” he said.

“Ultimately, we felt the treatment of Mrs Rinehart was not fair and so we apologised and we’ve edited and changed the program.

“I think the ABC has to hold itself to a higher standard.

“I think it’s really important we make that change.

“It’s also important that we acknowledge we got this wrong, that we issue the apology, and we make the relevant changes so that it doesn’t happen again.”

Australia’s longest-serving foreign minister Alexander Downer has flatly rejected Nigel Farage’s hopes of using the Navy to turn back migrant boats in the English Channel, saying they can’t work as they did in Australia.

The Reform UK leader this week seized on the scenes of thousands of migrants swarming the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, who have all but been returned, to propose the drastic measure for the UK.

He proposed using the military to turn back migrant dinghies coming from France in what he said would be the biggest military operation for Britain since the Second World War.

“Under a Reform government, within a fortnight, there would be no more boats,” Mr Farage said, unveiling his Operation Fortress policy.

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott praised the idea as a “carbon copy” of his own Operation Sovereign Borders, which he implemented after winning power in 2013 to stop boat journeys that restarted after the Rudd government unwound the Pacific Solution of offshore detention.

But Mr Downer, who sat alongside Mr Abbott in Cabinet during the Howard Government and crafted the first Pacific Solution to offshore asylum seekers, said the same methods could not work, because the French would not accept boats back.

“The French would never accept it,” Mr Downer, who served as High Commissioner to the UK after he finished up as Australia’s longest-serving foreign minister, told The Nightly.

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One Nation have seized on the controversy over an ABC aired segment which included imagining the torture and rape of Gina Rinehart to call for it to be a “subscription pay service”.

The minor party’s Senator Sean Bell said the skit aired on the broadcaster’s “Race Around the World” segment was “absolutely disgusting” and insisted “the ABC took too long to apologise”.

Artist Kate McGuinness had said in the aired scene of a guided retaliation exercise: “Because when the revolution comes, will you hide under your bed or will you know exactly how to shove a stick right up Gina Rinehart’s butthole, stirring it round, mixing her guts up nice and smooth, making her into one big sausage roll, to make something outta nothing”.

“The ABC took too long to apologise, as they always do,” Senator Bell told News24 on Friday.

“I mean, this goes to exactly why One Nation is of the opinion that the ABC needs to be turned into a subscription pay service.

“Everyday Australians don’t want to see their taxpayer dollars being used to fund disgusting material like that.”

Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie has slammed the “ridiculous” time it took the Australian Broadcast Corporation to apologise for an aired skit which mentioned assaulting Gina Rinehart.

The four-minute short film featured a character played by Kate McGuinness described as a “Scottish forest warrior ninja” undertakes relaxation exercises which included imagining the torture and rape of Mrs Rinehart.

ABC managing director Hugh Marks apologised for the skit on Thursday and said it had been removed from their platforms.

“It’s ridiculous that it did take long enough. I think the more concerning issue is that the editors at the ABC thought it was okay to put it to air in the first place,” the Senator told News24 on Friday.

“It was appalling. It should never have been put to air.

“I hope something’s been done in the back room to make sure the editors don’t allow this to happen again because that was a political hit job, not a gendered one.”

Coles is set to shift hundreds of jobs offshore after partnering with a consulting and digital management firm to ensure it can “meet customers’ growing expectations” amid ongoing store wars with its rival grocers.

The supermarket giant reportedly started informing staff of its tie-up with Accenture on Friday morning, which could see up to 1000 back-office roles moved to India.

The bombshell revelation comes just days after Qantas also announced it was in talks with Accenture to offshore hundreds of finance, marketing, human resources and other administrative roles, also to India.

Similar roles at Coles will be affected.

“The retail sector is becoming increasingly competitive as new global players entering the market and technology reshapes how customers shop and what they expect from retailers,” a Coles spokesman told media.

“To meet our customers’ growing expectations for seamless, personalised, digital experiences, Coles needs access to the global skills and resources essential to delivering those experiences.

“This partnership (with Accenture) will give Coles access to that capability at a greater scale and pace, allowing us to better support our teams, move faster, and deliver for our customers.

“The partnership will also help reduce costs in order to continue delivering value for our customers at the checkout.”

The spokesman said the decision was “not taken lightly” and it would offer redeployment or upskilling opportunities where possible.

Coles is the latest of Australia’s big corporate giants to look at offshoring jobs to beat rising wage costs.

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Pauline Hanson has come under fire after reports she used One Nation donations to fund a luxury stay at a five-star London hotel during a recent trip to Europe.

The report alleges the One Nation leader left the premium hotel room vacant for several nights while travelling to Sicily to meet mining billionaire and party donor Gina Rinehart.

Asked about the claims, Opposition Treasury spokesman Tim Wilson accused Senator Hanson of betraying her supporters.

“Well, we have people who donate to her party from their limited savings, they’re struggling to get ahead, and now we find it’s going towards luxury hotel rooms in London, Dolce and Gabbana fashion shows, luxury hotel stays in London,” he said.

“I’m starting to see images of global elite, and this seems like a pretty clear betrayal of the people she claims to represent.”

A worsening bird flu outbreak has sparked debate over whether vaccination is the key to protect Australian wildlife from the deadly strain.

While the Australian government is conducting pilot studies in non-poultry birds, New Zealand has already begun vaccinating some of its rarest birds after completing a world-first research trial last year.

About 300 breeding birds were targeted from five species: kakapo, takahe, black stilt, orange-fronted parakeet and shore plover.

But questions have been raised over whether a similar approach would be viable with Australian birds and other animals as the deadly strain’s national toll soars past 100.

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Foreign Minister Penny Wong has flagged that a Pacific-wide security pact is likely to be a key topic of discussion as regional leaders prepare to meet later this year, following Australia’s recent defence agreement with Fiji.

Speaking ahead of the Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers’ meeting in Fiji, Senator Wong said Australia was continuing to strengthen security ties across the region and remained focused on expanding partnerships.

“We’ve announced that we do want to engage with and negotiate with both Tonga and Solomon Islands. Obviously, there’ll be a lot of work there that we want to do with them in partnership,” she said.

Senator Wong added that discussions around a broader regional security arrangement were likely to feature as Pacific nations continue to deepen cooperation.