Capital cities across Australia could face scorching temperatures exceeding 50C alongside a surge in extreme fire days unless the nation urgently slashes climate pollution and adopts a strong 2035 emissions target, the Climate Council warns.

The independent climate science organisation finds climate change is accelerating faster than previously predicted, and global efforts to combat it are falling dangerously short.

The Climate Council’s Stronger Target, Safer Future report published on Wednesday calls for Australia to cut climate pollution by 75 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and reach net zero by 2035.

Chief executive Amanda McKenzie told AAP the federal government needed to step up and tackle the crisis when delivering its 2035 targets in the coming months.

A weak climate target was not a passive choice, she said.

“We found the weaker the target, the more risk of damage and disaster. We wanted to emphasise that if you’re advocating for weak targets, that is an active commitment to greater global disruption and damage,” Ms McKenzie said.

“Those who advocate for weak targets must articulate clearly their costed plans to support, relocate or protect the Australian community through unprecedented social and economic breakdown.”

The report revealed that Australia has already warmed by an average of 1.51C since national records began in 1910.

If global temperatures rise by 3C, the country would become unrecognisable after suffering catastrophic impacts.

Days reaching 50C could be common in cities such as Sydney and Melbourne and the number of extreme fire days could double.

A one-metre rise in sea levels, which is possible by the end of the century could put 160,000 to 250,000 properties at risk of coastal flooding.

“The combination of rising sea levels and increasingly intense low-pressure systems and cyclones greatly increases the damage from storm surges, inundation and coastal erosion,” the report says.

“Extreme heat, bushfires and severe storms put mounting pressure on urban infrastructure and dwellings, rendering many properties and businesses uninsurable.”

The report reveals strong targets are essential to protect Australians from worsening climate harm, open economic opportunities in clean industries, and enhance security relationships in the region.

It noted any target set lower than this raises the level of risk for families, community, economy and national security.

Australia also faces a staggering $4.2 trillion economic hit over the next 50 years if climate continues unchecked, the report found.

The federal government will set an “ambitious and achievable” 2035 emissions reduction target and commit to achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, with its Net Zero Plan due in late-2025.

The pledge aligns with the Paris agreement, which Australia and 195 other parties adopted in 2015, which aims to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C and less than 2C.

Hannah Thomas, who may lose her eye after being injured in a ‘police interaction’ (got to love the legal terms has spoken to journalist Amelia Brace at 10 News+ about what happened last month:

It all happened very fast, and I remember feeling like that impact on my head and just thinking, ‘Oh my God, like, what was that?’” Thomas told Amelia Brace.

Then I was dragged away to another point. And at that point, I realised the extent just because of the throbbing. And I was like, ‘Oh, my face just does not feel normal.’

And I think at that point I was already like, ‘Oh my God. I think my sight might be affected.’”

Thomas says that “even if I don’t lose the eye, I don’t know how much vision I’m getting back.”

You can read more on that, here in The New Daily.

The Guardian reported last week that police were yet to withdraw the protest charge against Thomas

The Voices for Gaza vigil continues outside the parliament.

Organised by Action Aid Australia, Amnesty International Australia, Caritas, ChildFund Australia, MAA International, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Oxfam Australia, Plan International Australia, Save the Children Australia, the vigil has seen people read out the names of the 17,000 children killed by Israel in Gaza.  

That was the full list before all health and civil infrastructure collapsed in Gaza.  The list would be much longer now.

People read names in the pouring rain last night and continued this morning.  They will keep going until the book is completed.  It is hard going, but necessary. 

Australia has signed up to the statement calling for an immediate end to Israel’s slaughter, but Australia also still sends weapon parts that end up in planes and weapons being used to kill Palestinian civilians.  Australia has not sanctioned Israel, it maintains diplomatic relations, and while the language has become stronger, it is still not clear. 

The Coalition meanwhile sees anything other than full throated support for Israel’s genocidal acts in Gaza as an attack on Israel.

The CSIRO has some fun news this morning – it has launched Genome Tracker, a world-first tool tracking Australia’s progress in sequencing the full genomes (genetic blueprints) of the nation’s 250,000 or so known and catalogued animals.

What that means is that it is working towards getting a full genetic blueprint of all the plants and animal species in Australia, which should provide insights into not just our environment, but what keeps it alive.

From the statement:

CSIRO’s Dr Kathryn Hall, ARGA project lead, said Genome Tracker is a step change in how genomic data coverage can be tracked, assessed and prioritised.

“Whole genome sequencing for plants and animals provides insights for ecology, conservation biology, agriculture and biosecurity,” Dr Hall said.

“It lets us peer back through evolutionary time to understand how species have adapted to the unique landscapes of Australia.

“Genome Tracker clearly shows which parts of the family tree of life have strong representation and which are under-sequenced or entirely missing.

“It helps researchers map existing genomic coverage and highlights under-represented areas for research.”

The ultimate goal is to have genomes published for a wide cross-section of Australian biodiversity.

Here is some of what we know so far:

• Tasmanian Devil (Sarcophilus harrisii): Australia’s first published genome.Released in 2011, it was critical for research into Devil Facial Tumour Disease, conservation, and as a model for cancer resistance studies.
• Tammar Wallaby (Notamacropus eugenii): The first kangaroo genome, fullypublished in 2012 after three years of work. It revealed the genes for encoding special antimicrobial proteins in its milk and around 1,500 smell-related genes.
• Regent Honeyeater (Anthochaera phrygia): The first honeyeater genome was published in 2019. It showed only a 9 per cent loss of genetic diversity despite low population numbers, highlighting the need to preserve remaining genetic diversity and prevent inbreeding.
• Numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus): Published in 2022, the genome showed they have reduced bitter and sweet taste receptors, but enhanced umami receptors, as an adaptation to their specialised termite diet.
• Orange-bellied Parrot (Neophema chrysogaster): Genome published in 2025, the first for a critically endangered parrot. It will help strengthen captive breeding programs. The first parrot genome was only published in 2024.
• Southern Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree): Published in 2025, this genome is three times the size of the human genome. The genome will help researchers understand which genes affect resistance or susceptibility to the chytrid disease. Ultimately, the conservation goal is to breed frogs’ resistance to the chytrid fungus for release back into the wild.

Ali France spoke about a lot of the people who helped her in life, personally, professionally and politically, but it is obvious a love for her sons is her true guiding force. She spoke of Zac, and of Henry, who died last year and how her grief was the undercurrent for her third campaign to unseat Peter Dutton.

The 2025 campaign was obviously my best,
And that is quite a bizarre thing because behind the curtain I was grieving and desperately wanting to hold my son Henry. 
He passed on February 20 2024, after an 18 month battle with Leukemia.
The week before, he was able to come home for a couple of nights.
He asked to sleep in my bed, next to his mum, like he did for years when he was little.
I watched him breath all night, in awe of him, his courage and his ability to smile every day despite unbelievable pain and the never-ending hospital stays and treatment.
I am so grateful for those hours.
He told me many times, that this election was my time.
He was convinced I would win and said a number of times, ‘don’t make me the excuse for you not doing important things’.
His words, his courage, were with me every day of the campaign.
Henry was instrumental in getting me to this place. 

When asked ahead of the campaign, I said I didn’t think that France would be able to win – that she had come close and Dutton could never bank on a safe seat, but that he had always managed to pull it off in his local community. I underestimated not just France, but the people of Dickson and their desire for change. It’s a good reminder that all politics is local, and there is only so much people will take.

We mentioned a little earlier that Ali France’s first speech to the parliament led to some tears in the chamber and beyond. Here is a small taste:

My journey to this place is not a sad story, nor is it a happy one, it is a human story.
It will shape me as a representative and has narrowed my focus…but it is not especially unique.  Most of the people I represent in the electorate of Dickson share a life of ups, downs, success, hardship, loss and happiness.  Winning Dickson was highly unlikely… and to some an insurmountable mountain.  With the very best Labor Party branch members, it took 7 years to climb, as a single mum, with one leg, battling one of the most prolific politicians of our time.

Highly unlikely, was also how the doctors described the death of my darling boy Henry from Leukemia last year, aged 19.  Despite the very best public healthcare, he is not with us… and he is so desperately missed. 

People often ask ‘how are you standing’.

I say, on one leg.

In that same interview, Penny Wong described diplomacy as a “tightrope” particularly when it came to balancing the US and China:

In terms of the United States, they are our ally. They’re our principal strategic partner. They are also our largest investment partner. None of that changes.

China is our most important trading destination. And it is such an important power in our region. We know that there are times where we will disagree with what China articulates.

But the world is not only those two relationships.”

Perhaps 2025 Wong should have a chat to 2020 Wong who wrote the essay, the ‘End of Orthodoxy’

Then, Wong argued:

Australia must take risks and have the confidence to shape the outcomes it seeks, she says, “rather than being caught in the slipstream” of US-China competition.

Australia will need to work harder to manage the risks and consequences of escalation, with “a greater premium on self-reliance and the preparedness to assert our interests”.

Perhaps a start would be reviewing the Aukus agreement (Australia is the only major party who isn’t reviewing it) to see whether the deal concocted in political interests rather than national ones, actually is a good move for Australia.

Late yesterday afternoon, after the blog was closed, Penny Wong gave an interview to Sky News where she discussed the statement she signed on Australia’s behalf calling for the immediate end of Israel’s war on Gaza. (As you can imagine the language in the statement was more passive).
The US didn’t sign the statement and the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, is having conniptions over it. Wong said:

First, it’s good to remember that President Trump has been a very strong advocate for a ceasefire and hostage deal, and so are we. The second point I’d make is, I think, the statement, which was signed by a number of U.S. Allies, so the United Kingdom, Italy, Canada, Japan, as well as us. You know, I was one of 28, actually, Foreign Ministers representing our nations who signed up to the statement. You know, I think that statement reflects the real distress that Australians, so many Australians, feel about what they’re seeing in Gaza. You know, they are concerned, distressed, by the catastrophic humanitarian situation that we are seeing.

… I speak for Australia, and what I can say to you is that we are where so many in the international community are, which is, you know, we are clear in our condemnation of Hamas. We are clear in our condemnation of their ideology and their actions. We call for the release of hostages. We also say that civilians must be protected. We say aid must be delivered unimpeded. And these are all important to the Australian people.

Wong said she believed “President Trump has the greatest chance of any political leader of brokering a ceasefire”, using the Israel-Iran ceasefire as proof of his effectiveness.

…The U.S. President is the one who can most deliver the ceasefire that he and others, including Australia, have called for.

And on the Coalition’s criticism of Anthony Albanese not yet meeting with Trump, Wong said:

My criticism of the Coalition, which I have to say was not only accurate before the 2022 election, but also in the last term, and appears to be accurate this term, is that they don’t learn, and they always seek to create domestic politics in circumstances where you really need to be adult and mature and navigate a diplomatic relationship. That’s my criticism.

Barnaby Joyce has helpfully said he would vote for Michael McCormack in any future Nationals leadership tilt in an interview with the Australian newspaper, and McCormack says he will be voting for Joyce’s bill to scrap net zero (the bill that has no chance of getting anywhere in the parliament, but sure will suck up a lot of headlines and help hasten the end of this Coalition)

You can read the Australian article, here.

It includes this gem:

Mr Joyce said he would “happily back Michael for leader” but he was not agitating for a leadership change, despite admitting his relationship with Mr Littleproud had “broken down”. “Was I making calls on Michael’s behalf? Yes, I was,” Mr Joyce said. “If someone said ‘would you back Michael for leader? Yeah, I would. But am I going to move to create a change? No, I’m not.”

Hello and welcome to the actual first day of business in the 48th parliament.

There was quite a bit of emotion late yesterday as the first speeches began being read in the chambers. Ali France, the Labor MP for Dickson’s speech brought quite a few people to tears – in and out of the chamber.

We’ll have some of the first speeches a little later. We can also bring you more from the chamber thanks to Mike Bowers and The New Daily.

Today is the day business starts in the house of representatives (and the chamber).

Barnaby Joyce will be introducing his private members bill (co sponsored with other LNP MPs) to scrap net zero which is just the laugh we all need. Joyce likes to think of himself as a conviction politician – the conviction being whatever serves his own political needs best at the time being the conviction he’ll hold.

Lyle Shelton (there is a blast from the past) who is now with Family First has welcomed Joyce’s switch away from net zero (because there is one way to win voters back to the Coalition – appeal to fringe parties like Family First!) but says Joyce also owes Australians an apology for ever supporting it:

It was Joyce, as Deputy Prime Minister, and his Nationals’ party room who signed off on sending Scott Morrison to Glasgow in 2021 to pledge Australia to net zero by 2050. The consequences of that Coalition decision — soaring power bills, an unstable electricity grid, vandalised farmland, and economic pain — are now plain for all to see. Even current Nationals leader David Littleproud admits net zero is “almost impossible”.

Joyce is right to say the Coalition must stop copying Labor and offer voters a clear alternative. But Australians deserve an explanation: what has changed since 2021? If net zero was bad policy then, why support it? If it’s bad policy now, why not admit it was a mistake and say sorry?

Why didn’t he put up a private members’ bill in the last Parliament?

Just poetry.

Labor is focusing on lowering HECS/HELP debt by 20% for those with existing university debt (but again, it must be noted not doing anything to lower the cost of the degrees the Morrison government increased), legislating the new penalty rate regime and introducing legislation to address child care worker safety concerns.

The Coalition is still trying to pretend it is relevant (great sport) and the Greens are finding their feet.

And the world remains on fire.

The Voices of Gaza protest continues with people reading out the names of children who have been killed by Israel during its unrelenting slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza. They read through freezing rain and wind last night in Canberra and are still going this morning. The weight of the book of 17,000 names should weigh on all of our consciences.

We’ll continue to cover what happens in the parliament, as well as outside, as the day unfolds.

Ready? It’s a three coffee day. Let’s get into it.