GRACosway Weekly Policy Wrap Up
24 July 2015
Addressing the Party Conference on Friday morning, Mr Shorten encountered hostility from some members of the audience for earlier declaring he would support the Government’s controversial boat turn back policy. Mr Shorten also used the speech to declare his support for an Australian Republic, declaring the Party was ready to govern and challenging the Government to bring on an election. Read the speech in full here (subscription service).
Meanwhile, the Federal Government faces a by-election in the Perth seat of Canning following the death of Don Randall from a heart attack on Tuesday. Parliamentary colleagues described him as a hardworking and dedicated local member. Mr Randall was first elected to the seat of Swan in 1996, but lost the seat at the 1998 election. He was elected to Canning in 2001.
Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane will provide an explanation of the ‘nature and scope’ of changes to the national electricity market rules in the $2.5 billion legal dispute between the Australian Energy Regulator and three NSW state-owned electricity distribution firms; Ausgrid, Essential Energy and Endeavour Energy. However, the Minister has pledged not to reflect on the merits of the case or support higher electricity prices for NSW.
Australian Greens Senator for South Australia, Penny Wright, announced she would be stepping down from the Senate due to illness in her family. Senator Wright was elected at the 2010 Federal Election and took her seat in the Senate in July 2011. A competitive preselection is expected in coming weeks as the Greens fill the casual vacancy created by Senator Wright’s departure.