Australia news LIVE: Ley avoids leadership challenge, formally dumps net zero target; Fishing boats at centre of controversial Border Force operation

3 weeks ago 12

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What’s making news this morning

By Emily Kaine

Good morning and welcome to the national news blog for Friday, November 14. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our live coverage throughout the first half of the day. Here’s what is making headlines this morning.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley announced yesterday afternoon that the Liberal Party were formally abandoning its net zero by 2050 climate target. In making the announcement, Ley said her party would dismantle the Labor government’s environment and energy policies if elected, scrapping targets on reducing emissions and renewable energy generation. The party would not withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
Exclusive footage obtained by 9News Perth has revealed the Australian Border Force’s largest ship leaving Broome Port carrying four fishing boats, in stark visual evidence of its secretive and controversial program of purchasing old boats to give to illegal fishers and people smugglers that sail into Australian waters in unseaworthy craft.
The Allan government’s plan to introduce a single super-regulator to oversee Victoria’s social services network has been labelled an incredibly dangerous and brutal move that will leave vulnerable Victorians exposed to danger and exploitation, critics have warned.

7.29am

Second BBC program edited Trump speech

By Tom Housden

A second BBC program edited a Donald Trump speech to make it appear he was inciting his supporters to riot, it has emerged.

On Monday, the corporation’s director-general, Tim Davie, and news chief executive Deborah Turness resigned over doctored footage of Trump’s January 6, 2021 speech shown on the Panorama program in 2024 which spliced two sections to show the president directly urging his supporters to act violently.

The BBC’s Newsnight program showed a similarly edited clip in 2022, and was challenged over it on air by a guest, former White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

Trump has lashed out at the BBC for a documentary featuring his January 6, 2021 speech on Capitol Hill, threatening to sue the public broadcaster for $1.5 billion.

According to the London Telegraph, concerns over the clip were raised inside the BBC at the time, but were brushed aside.

A spokesman for Trump’s legal team told the Telegraph it was “now clear that BBC engaged in a pattern of defamation against President Trump”.

Trump has threatened to sue the corporation, and has demanded an apology and a retraction.

7.08am

‘She is a tough Opposition Leader’: Independent MP on Ley

By Emily Kaine

Independent MP Dai Le has expressed her sympathy for Opposition Leader Sussan Ley this morning, labelling her “tough” for surviving the “decimation” of the Liberal Party in recent weeks.

“She is tough. She survived. She is a tough opposition leader and the Liberal Party has kind of been decimated so much, and it takes so much work, you know, to rebuild a party, and people have to give her a chance,” Le told Nine’s Today show this morning.

She said it was important for the Liberals to take this opportunity to reflect on cohesion.

“I just think the whole party needs to really look at how you want to be a really good opposition, and you have to be united in order to keep fighting... I feel like the cross bench is trying to keep the government accountable, but I think [we need to] have a strong opposition to keep the government accountable.”

Ley has escaped a leadership challenge, for now, after formally announcing the Liberal Party’s plans to dump Australia’s legislated net zero by 2050 climate targets yesterday.

6.50am

What’s making news this morning

By Emily Kaine

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley announced yesterday afternoon that the Liberal Party were formally abandoning its net zero by 2050 climate target. In making the announcement, Ley said her party would dismantle the Labor government’s environment and energy policies if elected, scrapping targets on reducing emissions and renewable energy generation. The party would not withdraw from the Paris Agreement.
Exclusive footage obtained by 9News Perth has revealed the Australian Border Force’s largest ship leaving Broome Port carrying four fishing boats, in stark visual evidence of its secretive and controversial program of purchasing old boats to give to illegal fishers and people smugglers that sail into Australian waters in unseaworthy craft.
The Allan government’s plan to introduce a single super-regulator to oversee Victoria’s social services network has been labelled an incredibly dangerous and brutal move that will leave vulnerable Victorians exposed to danger and exploitation, critics have warned.

6.45am

Exclusive footage reveals boats at the centre of controversial Border Force scheme

By Hamish Hastie and Rachael Clifford

Exclusive footage obtained by 9News Perth has revealed the Australian Border Force’s largest ship leaving Broome Port carrying four fishing boats, in stark visual evidence of its controversial program of purchasing old boats to give to illegal fishers and people smugglers that sail into Australian waters in unseaworthy craft.

The footage shows the ABF’s 110-metre Ocean Shield sailing out of the port on Wednesday evening, carrying the boats which had their identification numbers removed.

It is the first visual evidence of the ABF transporting privately purchased fishing boats to the north of the country, where illegal fishing rates have ballooned and people smugglers have managed to reach the Australian coast.

The boats are transported to Darwin, then towed behind ABF vessels, where they are then passed onto fishermen or people smugglers using unseaworthy boats before they are turned back from Australian waters.

Read the full report.

6.45am

Liberals dump net zero climate targets

By Paul Sakkal and Mike Foley

Returning to one of yesterday’s biggest stories, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley announced that the Liberal Party was formally abandoning its net zero by 2050 climate target.

Ley said her party would dismantle the Labor government’s environment and energy policies if elected, scrapping targets on reducing emissions and renewable energy generation. It would not withdraw from the Paris Agreement.

Climate change and energy spokesman Dan Tehan said that, if elected, the Liberals would guarantee that the nation’s emissions would fall year by year, but the Albanese government’s ambitious climate goals would be wound back.

The Liberals would also scrap the government’s existing emissions reduction measures, such as the fuel efficiency standards and electric vehicle tax breaks, the safeguard mechanism that forces big polluters such as factories to cut their greenhouse output, ditch the controversial $20 billion “rewiring the nation” fund and repeal Australia’s renewables target to deliver 82 per cent clean electricity by 2030.