Politics live updates: Donald Trump election will factor into Australia’s 2035 emissions reduction target

The election of Donald Trump will factor in to Australia’s thinking as it prepares to set its 2035 emissions reduction target.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen will release new modelling showing Australia is on track to meet its 2030 target of 43 per cent, but questions are dogging the Government over what’s next.

Mr Bowen on Wednesday morning refused to guarantee the 2035 target would be released before the next election, but said the final number will come when the Climate Change Authority is “ready”.

He said it would take into account “all international developments”.

“Not just the election of Donald Trump. There are other developments in other countries,” he said.

“Australia is an integral part of the world’s energy supplies, so obviously what other countries are doing does impact on us.”

Mr Trump has indicated he will pull the US back out of the Paris Agreement, and wind back crucial clean energy investment.

Mr Bowen said even if that eventuated, it wouldn’t impact Australia’s current trajectory.

“We’re on track (for 2030),” he said.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen says NSW is unlikely to have a blackout even as demand soars in line with heatwave temeratures and despite a handful of coal-fired power plant units being offline.

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) has issued a level 3 lack of reserve (LOR) market notice this morning, and warned that NSW is at an “elevated risk” of blackouts by the afternoon.

It warned that unless there was a response from generators, there could be an “interrupted load” (a blackout) in NSW at about 4.30pm AEDT today.

The warning comes as Western Sydney claims the title of the hottest point in Australia on Wednesday morning, with the Bureau of Meteorology recording 32.4C at 9am.

Tops of 39C are expected in some inland NSW regions, Sydney can expect tops of 34C.

The heatwave has come when the grid is already under strain, with a handful of coal-fired power plants working at reduced capacity due to maintenance.

But Mr Bowen was confident, “providing no other coal-fired power units break down today, there should be enough power in NSW”, The Australian reports.

He said “AEMO is managing that carefully”.

Campaigners for Julian Assange hope Anthony Albanese can put pressure on US President Joe Biden to deliver a pardon for the WikiLeaks founder.

Assange’s wife Stella and his brother Gabriel Shipton will be in Canberra today to lobby MPs for support in putting diplomatic pressure on the US to pardon Assange in the dying days of the Biden administration.

A multi-partisan group of MPs had been instrumental in helping to raise the plight of Assange and secure his release from custody on espionage charges after years behind bars.

Mr Shipton said time was running out for a pardon to be secured before Donald Trump was sworn in as president in January.

“The parliament was integral to getting Julian out and they were the key to unlock his cell basically, and they can continue and finish the job and push for this pardon,” he told AAP.

“There’s a ticking clock going on for when the president can make the decision to pardon Julian.”

He said a pardon would be “a real coup for the prime minister”, and that the power to unwind the precedent set during the first Trump administration lies with Mr Biden.

Get the full story here.

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has welcomed the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah, saying she hopes it’s a “catalyst for a broader ceasefire in the region”.

“We look forward to the day when there is a ceasefire too in Gaza,” Senator Wong said.

“We’ve been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for over 11 months now. And we see every week the death toll rising - more children, more women.

“We again join with the overwhelming majority of the international community to urge a ceasefire in Gaza.

“But today we are very pleased to see that there is a ceasefire with Hezbollah and that the people of Lebanon and Israel can know some peace.”

She said Australia would continue to advocate for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Joe Biden reaffirmed the US’ commitment to securing a similar ceasefire deal in Gaza.

“Just as the Lebanese people deserve a future of security and prosperity, so do the people of Gaza,” the President said.

“People of Gaza have been through hell, their world is absolutely shattered.”

Mr Biden said the US would push Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar, Israel and others to achieve a ceasefire in Palestine in the coming days.

The outgoing president called out Palestinian militant group Hamas for refusing to negotiate a good faith ceasefire and said the “only way out” was to release Israeli hostages.

Get the full details of the Israel-Lebanon ceasefire deal here.

US President Joe Biden has confimed the Israeli and Lebanese governments have accepted a US Proposal to end the “devastating” conflict between Hezbollah and Israel.

Speaking form the White House Rose Garden, Mr Biden said the deal would be effective from 4pm Wednesday, local time.

“This is designed to be a permenant cessation of hostilities,” he said.

“What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel.”

Over the next 60 days, the Lebanese army and security forces will take control of their own territory as Israel withdraws its remaining forces from the region so that civilians can return to their communities.

Mr Biden said the US, with support of France and its allies, will work with the embattled nations to “make sure this deal is implemented fully and effectively”.

The NSW Government will scrap more than 20,000 fines that were issued during the Covid pandemic, and refund about $5.5 million, after fresh legal advice suggested the notices could be non-compliant with the Fines Act.

More than 60,000 fines were issued for breaching public health orders during the pandemic.

In 2022, Revenue NSW withdrew more than 36,000 fines for similar non-compliance reasons after the NSW Commissioner of Fines Administration found the penalty notices did not sufficiently details the offences committed.

At the time, the NSW government said the remaining 23,539 fines would stand because they had a clearer explanation of the offence and were “formulated differently”.

On Tuesday, the commissioner withdrew those notices because they contained insufficient details.

Commissioner Scott Johnston said Revenue NSW would be “reaching out to all affected customers to support them through the finalisation of their matters”.

However, those who have taken their fines to court (and/or had them finalised through court) will not be eligible, because they have been taken out of the government’s oversight.

Millions of Australians will have hundreds of dollars wiped from their HECS debts after the Government passed laws which change how the loans are indexed each year.

About $3 billion will be wiped from more than three million HECS-HELP loans - translating to a refund of about $1200 for the average $27,000 debt balance.

The refunds will now be automatically processed by the ATO.

The new laws were introduced after Australian HECS holders were hit with a whopping 7.1 per cent annual indexation fee on June 1, 2023 amid soaring inflation.

From June 1 next year HECS loans will be indexed in line with either the Consumer Price Index (CPI) or the Wage Price Index (WPI), whichever is smaller, to ensure rates are not outpaced by wage growth.

The 2023 indexation rates of 7.1 per cent will change to 3.2 per cent, and 2024 rates of 4.7 per cent wil chance to 4 per cent.

Students who paid off their loans after June 1, 2023 will receive a refund to their bank account, as long as they don’t have any other tax debts.

Israel’s Security Cabinet have agreed to a ceasefire deal with Hezbollah.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an address to the nation confirming the deal on Tuesday evening local time, saying his cabinet had agreed to end fighting with the terrorist group in Lebanon.

Details of the deal are yet to be formally released, however it is understood that a 60-day term has been agreed to in a US brokered truce deal to stop fighting in Lebanon.

Get the latest here.

The Albanese Government is in a mad dash to chalk up as many political wins as possible before Parliament breaks for the final time this year - what may be the last time before the federal election.

Debate on Bills will be truncated, politicians will be kept back late, and Senators could be asked to sit an extra day in order to deal with the Government’s legislative logjam.

Even if Parliament does come back for two weeks in February, there’s a feeling of “now or never” this week.

​Read Ellen Ransley’s ful analysis of the mad dash here.​