As it happened: Lidia Thorpe defends protest after criticism; Former ...

Coal will power Australia for decades to come under a Coalition government, as opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien calls for a “coal-to-nuclear” transition and ramps up attacks on Labor’s renewables targets.

The burning of coal is Australia’s largest source of greenhouse emissions and the Peter Dutton-led opposition’s push to ensure its role at the centre of the electricity grid is a significant escalation in Australia’s climate wars.

Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien speaks on Tuesday.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

Australia’s coal-fired power stations are increasingly bringing forward closure dates as their ageing equipment becomes less reliable and less competitive against cheaper renewables, with half scheduled to shut before 2035.

However, the Coalition on Tuesday said under its energy plan, coal generators will continue supplying the grid until emissions-free nuclear power stations are up and running which, on the opposition’s schedule, will only start with two plants from 2035 and reach seven by 2050.

Catch up on the full story here.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out paying reparation or formally apologising for transatlantic slavery and colonialism ahead of this week’s meeting of Commonwealth leaders amid growing calls to address historical wrongs.

Starmer was again forced to weigh into the fraught debate on Monday as he praised King Charles for doing a “fantastic job” after he was heckled by Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe, who demanded a treaty and has been a prominent member of the “pay the rent” campaign for reparations.

The UK press, travelling with the King, was quick to jump on the incident, with The Sun’s royal photographer Arthur Edwards labelling it “appalling behaviour” and the London Telegraph’s royal editor, Hannah Furness, writing the overriding sense, “apart from frustration” among Australians, will be embarrassment.

British PM Keir Starmer speaks after King Charles was heckled by Senator Lidia Thorpe during his visit to Australia.Credit: AP

“Even avowed republicans promised to be on their ‘best behaviour’ and did just that, extending the hand of friendship and keeping up the honoured Australian tradition of hospitality,” Furness wrote.

“The fact that it may now appear they have fallen short on the world stage, thanks to one lone protester, is painful.”

Starmer said the King was an “incredible ambassador” for the UK and the 56 independent countries that comprise the Commonwealth. Except for four recent admissions, all Commonwealth members are former British colonies.

Read more about it here.

Two women have been arrested at Sydney Airport, in two separate incidents, allegedly trying to import a combined total of 177,000 hits of what police have branded “dangerous and devastating” drugs.

American traveller Leanne Anderson, 25, was picked up by Border Force officers at Kingsford Smith on Thursday as she arrived in Sydney from her homeland, allegedly in possession of 12 kilograms of methamphetamine.

The AFP will allege the drug, which is Australia’s most used, was impregnated in clothing and concealed inside a suitcase.

“The woman was subsequently arrested and charged,” the AFP said in a statement.

Anderson briefly appeared in the Downing Centre Local Court on one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug on Friday.

She did not apply for bail and will remain behind bars until at least December 18.

An x-ray allegedly revealed “an anomaly” in the hammock’s support poles, where police say 10 kilograms of heroin was concealed.Credit: Police Media

In a separate incident, Cabramatta woman Thi Ngoc Huong Ly, 41, was arrested at the airport on Wednesday last week as she arrived from Singapore.

An X-ray of her luggage, which contained a hammock, “revealed an anomaly in the support poles”, the AFP said. It will be alleged that the hammock contained 10 kilograms of heroin.

Ly was charged with importing a commercial quantity of heroin and faced the Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday, where she did not apply for bail.

It was formally refused, and she will reappear in the same court in December.

The two drug imports represent $16 million in street value, or 177,000 individual hits, according to the AFP and Border Force.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has predicted Australia has moved beyond “peak woke” in a speech at a conservative conference in Sydney, at which Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price argued the vote against the Voice represented a vote “for love”.

The pair were speaking in Sydney at the forum of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, a global group of right-wing politicians, authors and other influencers.

Abbott and Price cited the 60-40 vote against the Voice to parliament as evidence of Australians’ aversion to creating special rights for certain groups of Australians. Neither commented on the similarly resounding referendum losses for less politically contentious constitutional reforms.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott speaks at the ARC conference in Sydney.Credit: Nick Moir

“That wasn’t the government protecting us from harm, but democracy protecting us from our government,” Abbott said of the referendum, which was put up by Labor.

“My sense is that the Australians are waking up to the travesty that’s been foisted upon us, and that we are finally passing peak woke.”

Price, who led the successful No campaign, said the vote did not represent a rejection of Indigenous Australians.

“It was a ‘yes’ to love and acceptance and being unified as a country,” she said.

Price said the result also prompted a much-needed conversation about the relevance of what she described as tokenistic gestures, such as Welcome to Country ceremonies.

“[They occur] at the beginning of every meeting, on every airplane flight. It’s just become nonsensical.

“I feel the outcome did reignite the Australian spirit.”

Speakers at the morning segment of the conference, including former deputy prime minister John Anderson and historian Sir Niall Ferguson, railed against identity politics and called for a revitalisation of ideas underpinning the Enlightenment and Western civilisation.

Liberals John Howard and Peter Costello will speak later in the day.

South Australia Police Commissioner Grant Stevens and his wife Emma have thanked the community for their support, as the young driver who fatally struck their son Charlie avoids jail time over the hit-run tragedy last year.

Dhirren Randhawa, 19, from Encounter Bay, was sentenced on Tuesday in the SA District Court to one year, one month and seven days in jail, suspended on the condition of good behaviour for two years. You can read more about the incident in the previous post.

Outside court, Stevens agreed with the judge’s summary that “no matter what happens in the courtroom, it’s not going to change anything for our family”.

He continued:

We’re grateful that this part of the entire process is over. Each court date that’s come up has been difficult, stressful and emotional for our family, but we’re grateful that Dhirren chose to plead guilty to the offence because that brought this part of it to a conclusion much more quickly.

It’s one of those things that we are continuing to learn to live every single day without Charlie. It’s not getting any easier, as I am sure people who have lost a child would appreciate. We’re very grateful for the support and sympathy we have received from the South Australian community and we continue to receive that every single day. There’s no way we can acknowledge or repay that in any other format other than just by thanking people for their support. We do appreciate it.

It’s not that we now move on, we’re learning to live life without Charlie. We are always reminded of his absence and we are grateful that Dhirren has taken responsibility for his actions. We’re grateful this part is over.”

The young driver who fatally struck South Australian Police Commissioner Grant Stevens’ son Charlie has avoided going to jail over the hit-run tragedy during Schoolies week.

Dhirren Singh Randhawa, 19, from Encounter Bay, was sentenced on Tuesday in the SA District Court to one year, one month and seven days in jail, with a non-parole period of seven months – suspended on the condition he’s of good behaviour for two years.

He has also been banned from driving for 10 years.

He had pleaded guilty to aggravated driving without due care and leaving the scene of a crash at Goolwa Beach, south of Adelaide, on November 17.

Grant Stevens’ son Charlie Stevens, 18, died in hospital.Credit: SA Police

The circumstances of the tragedy were revealed during sentencing submissions.

Charlie Stevens, 18, and three friends were celebrating Schoolies at a Goolwa Beach shack owned by his family, the court was told.

They had flagged down Randhawa at 9pm to ask for a ride to Victor Harbor but he declined, explaining that he did not want to risk demerit points on his P-plates.

He performed a U-turn and struck Stevens, causing irreversible brain damage. Stevens died at Flinders Medical Centre the next day. Randhawa drove away in “shock and disbelief” but stopped when he saw a police car and told them what happened.

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In court on October 3, Randhawa addressed Stevens’ family, telling them that learning Charlie’s life support had been switched off “was the most difficult thing I’ve heard in my life”.

“To Charlie’s mum and dad, seeing you on TV, talking about Charlie brought out deep sadness within me,” he said.

“There’s so much I’d like to say, but mostly I want to say I’m sorry. And I’m sorry Charlie.”

In his victim statement, Grant Stevens told Randhawa he could “not possibly understand what you have taken from us”.

“There is not a day when we don’t shed a tear thinking about our son and how much we miss him,” Stevens said in court, with his wife, Emma, by his side.

“Charlie was a vibrant, caring, fun-loving, generous young man with a love of life and plans for the future. Now all we have are the memories of him and that is not enough.”

AAP

Australia is set to acquire a $7 billion stockpile of long-range missiles from the United States to strengthen its defence capabilities, with Defence Industry Minister Patrick Conroy warning that the world is facing the biggest arms race since World War II.

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The deal, announced by Conroy overnight in Washington DC and approved by Congress, allows Australia to acquire a suite of hundreds of SM-2 IIIC and SM-6 US-made long-range weapons for the navy that can be fired from land or ship.

Defence Minister Richard Marles described the suite as “the most advanced air and missile defence weapons in the world”.

The SM-2 IIIC missiles have a range of 160 kilometres, while the SM-6, with a range of 370 kilometres, was already tested on Australia’s fleet last year.

Both the Victorian and NSW premiers have spoken out against independent senator Lidia Thorpe after she heckled King Charles at a parliamentary welcome ceremony on Monday.

Victorian premier Jacinta Allan told Melbourne’s 3AW radio that the protest was “deeply disrespectful” and “doesn’t represent the respect Victorians have for the King”.

“When you’re elected to parliament … you should recognise that there is a standard to which you should behave. That is not what we saw from Lidia Thorpe yesterday,” Allan said.

Similarly, NSW Premier Chris Minns called the protest “grossly disrespectful”.

“Everything that particular senator does seems to revolve around herself as if she’s attempting to make herself the focus of all the attention,” Minns told Sydney’s 2GB radio.

“I’d expect her to do it again and again and again.”