PORTER DOWNPLAYS TUDGE'S ACTIONS

Attorney-General Christian Porter has downplayed the Federal Court’s finding that Acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge engaged in criminal conduct by detaining an Afghan man seeking asylum for five days in spite of a tribunal order.

While shadow home affairs minister Kristina Keneally has called for Tudge to be dumped from cabinet, the ABC reports the minister has denied wrongdoing and Porter has claimed that it’s “not the first time that in the robust environment of the law surrounding visa approvals, that there’s been strong words said about what is in effect government undertaking its duties through the minister”.

PS: For an update on Tudge’s current pet project, check out The Signal’s explainer on the government’s push to take phones from refugees, asylum seekers and other detained migrants.

CREDIT WHERE CREDIT'S DUE

According to the ABC, the Morrison government has flagged changes to credit laws that would reduce verification procedures for borrowers such as homeowners and small businesses seeking loans and, consequently, remove some global financial crisis-era liabilities on banks lending to people who cannot afford them.

As The Australian ($) notes, the move comes after the ­Reserve Bank warned of a credit freeze because banks are becoming too scared to lend, and Josh Frydenberg has argued in an op-ed ($) that, “the provision of and access to credit will be critical to rebuilding every sector of our economy, from hospitality to tourism, construction to retail”.

Still, maybe be wary of anyone slashing “red tape” liabilities for banks, considering the plan can’t help but read like the exact cause of both the GFC and banking royal commission.

OUT OF BORDER

In the latest from the state border border wars, The Brisbane Times reports that Peter Dutton has called Queensland’s Deputy Premier Steven Miles a “schoolchild”, after he implied the Morrison government was using the ADF as a bargaining chip ahead of a planned withdrawal from the state’s borders on September 30.

As the ABC explains, the Queensland government has pushed for the deadline to be extended after the Department of Defence confirmed the withdrawal and planned redeployment ahead of a high-risk weather season.

AAP reports that Greg Hunt denied the withdrawal is “payback”, while Dutton has told his friends at 2GB that, “the fact is we don’t support their Queensland border closures, which have been done for political reasons, and we’re not going to have military officers there supporting that cause, particularly when you have a higher need to support Australians coming back from overseas.”

PLUG LIFE

The ABC reports that California has announced a ban on the sale of new petrol-powered passenger cars and trucks from 2035, just a day after The Guardian revealed that the UK will bring forward their ban from 2040 to 2030.

For context, the share of plug-in sales (all-electric, plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles) in California hit 8.26% in 2019, while the UK hit 9.7% in August 2020; Australia grew from 1.4% in 2018 to 3.5% in 2019.

As The Driven explains, the Morrison government’s Technology Investment Roadmap puts electric vehicle and hydrogen fuel cell recharging stations as second order priorities, to be supported “where possible” with no outlined policy initiatives, ranking after main priorities carbon capture and storage etc but ahead of “mature” technologies i.e. solar, wind, gas and coal.

PS: In case anyone had any doubt, The New Daily reports that UK-based think tank InfluenceMap has found that Australia’s failed history of climate and energy policies have been driven by “insidious” lobby groups and vested interests.

R.I.P. DEAN JONES

Finally, The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Australian cricketer and commentator Dean Jones has died, aged 59, after a suspected heart attack in Mumbai as part of the Indian Premier League’s official broadcasting crew.

The paper also notes that Brett Lee has returned to TV just hours after trying to save Jones’s life in their hotel, describing the batsman as “an absolute legend”.