Midday News Bulletin 15 September 2023

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  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has outlined his vision for the future of energy in Australia;
  • Campaigns around an Indigenous Voice to Parliament intensify on both sides;
  • The Matilda’s Kyra Cooney-Cross has signed with Arsenal.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has outlined his vision for the future of energy in Australia and promised a transition to clean, affordable and reliable resources.
The Prime Minister has spoken at the New Corp Future Energy Forum in Sydney today about the potential for Australia to become a “renewable energy superpower” if it acts now to make the most of exports of “green” hydrogen and lithium for rechargeable batteries.
The federal government is due to shortly release its National Battery Strategy to increase investment in the industry, with Australian lithium exports set to equal the value of Australian coal exports by 2027-28.
The Prime Minister, whose government has legislated tax cuts to make electric cars more affordable for Australian families, says that the transition to renewable energy will also take pressure off consumers.
“There’s no question that renewables will reduce prices, that’s why the investment is going there. There’s nothing to stop people putting in a plan for a new coal fire power station to be built except the market and common sense.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has backed an Indigenous senator who claims colonisation had a “positive impact”, urging Australians to listen to her rather than “capital city views”.
Coalition senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is warning that the voice to parliament would divide the nation, using a National Press Club speech to say the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians was not caused by systemic racism.
She also rejected suggestions British colonisation had a negative impact on Indigenous people, resulting in intergenerational trauma.
“There is no ongoing negative impacts of colonisation. If we keep telling Aboriginal people they are victims, we are effectively removing their agency and then giving them the expectation that someone else is responsible for their lives.”
The opposition leader praised her courage saying Senator Price’s comments represented a broad range of views as she had grown up in Alice Springs.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney has said that Senator Price’s comments on the impact of colonisation are a “betrayal” to First Nations peoples.
Minister Burney has said while out campaigning for the ‘Yes’ vote this morning that the Senator’s comments are “simply wrong” and offensive to those affected by historic injustices like the Stolen Generation.
Minister Burney says that a Voice to Parliament will seek to remedy the “long and far-reaching effects” of colonial policy for Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders.
“Things like life expectancy, things like educational outcomes, overcrowding, incarceration rates, they are the issues that the Voice will be dealing with, and it is so important to recognise the full story of Australia.”
And you can find comprehensive information about the referendum visiting the SBS Voice Referendum portal at
Victorians are the country’s biggest consumers of the deadly “super drug” fentanyl as authorities warn of its potentially disastrous consequences.
Melbourne has the highest level of heroin, ketamine and fentanyl consumption of any Australian capital city, the latest wastewater data from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission shows.
In regional areas, Victoria tops the national list for heroin consumption and is second for fentanyl and oxycodone use.
Crime Stoppers Victoria chief executive Stella Smith warned fentanyl and other harmful drugs had the potential to devastate the state.
She said just 2mg of fentanyl was enough for a deadly overdose and the drug contributed to the deaths of almost 110,000 people in the US last year.
Kyra Cooney-Cross’s impressive showing at the World Cup has earned the Matildas midfielder a dream move to Arsenal.
The English heavyweights announced they had signed the Australian on a two-year deal, with head coach Jonas Eidevall calling her “one of the best young players in world football”.
Cooney-Cross, an A-League Women title-winner with Melbourne Victory, was super delighted to move from Swedish club Hammarby.
The move took place late yesterday on the final day of the transfer window.
Arsenal have reportedly paid $270,000 to sign the 21-year-old, a hefty sum in the women’s game.

Cooney-Cross joins fellow Matildas stars Steph Catley and Caitlin Foord at the Gunners, who finished third in the Women’s Super League last season.

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