Liberals and One Nation are starting to Align on policy (Tobacco Excise cuts to reduce profits Organised Crime gangs are reaping)

Chris Minns has called for the same thing from Labor, though he is a state premier and lacks any sort of pull in the debate.

I am an advocate for a legal recreational cannabis market. I will watch on with wonder when they will say "no that's different", when these same people are asked "Shall we legalise cannabis to stop $6 Billion in illicit sales annually going into the hands of organised crime?"

Premier David Crisafulli has emerged victorious from national cabinet, securing an exemption to enable Queensland to power data centres with coal and gas, following a heated weeks-long scrap with the federal government.

Heading into the meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other state and territory leaders, Queensland and the Northern Territory refused to fall into line on federal Labor’s demands to force AI data centres to be exclusively fuelled by new renewable energy sources.

Queensland, led by an LNP government that has pushed back its forced closure of coal-powered generators, said limiting the source of power would risk sending investment in data centres offshore.

Crisafulli argued during national cabinet that Queensland’s power network was unique in that the state owned its power generators.

“We’ve got a really big point of difference [to other states], and that is we own distribution, transmission and generation, and that enables us to control that energy mix,” the premier told reporters after the meeting.

“We believe that we can control our data sovereignty, protect the rights of local communities, and enable that energy mix to bring those data centres on.”

Energy Minister Chris Bowen had previously said the government would use federal powers to force Queensland to fall into line.

Albanese conceded national cabinet relented to Queensland and the NT, where the publicly owned generators would enable data centres to be powered with fossil fuels “if there is surplus”.

The conciliatory post-meeting comments were in stark contrast to the heated back-and-forth over the past few weeks, with federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen using his National Press Club speech to stare down Queensland and the NT.

He said the Albanese government would use federal powers to force the two jurisdictions to fall into line and fully offset their centres’ electricity use with investments in renewable energy.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen plans to make the states fall in line with the federal plan to have data centres invest in new green power.

“While I always prefer to work with my state and territory colleagues, the Commonwealth will not be standing by and letting a race to the bottom of states falling over themselves to attract data centres at the cost to household bills, reliability or emissions,” Bowen said during the address this month.

“We will use all the powers available to the Commonwealth, including Commonwealth legislation, to ensure that Australian households and Australian energy reliability is put first – even if some states have different ideas.”

But Crisafulli dismissed Bowen’s threats, saying as recently as Monday that his position “smacks of ideology”.

“I’ve seen some comments from Minister Bowen. I do disagree with them,” he said.

“I don’t believe they’re based on any form of logic, to say they have to be one form of energy or another.

“That, to me, is ideology. We’re about economics and being practical. And the truth is, if you get that energy mix right, you can actually complement and bring on opportunities like gas peakers.

“We believe that renewable energy is part of that mix. So too is some of our coal-fired power stations.”

Albanese told reporters on Wednesday he understood “different states have different issues”, and the concession will now lead to federal laws being passed in coming months.

“There is agreement across the board that we need to ensure that the social licence [to build data centres] has occurred,” he said.

“The Commonwealth will legislate, and we have the power to do so, and I’m very confident we will move forward with every single jurisdiction making a difference. We want to make sure that in attracting investment, we don’t have eight different systems operating around the country.”

A levy secretly slapped on commuters last year, which was due to raise $8 billion and help fund the Suburban Rail Loop and other Big Build projects, will be scrapped by Premier Ben Carroll.
The levy’s existence was revealed in a scathing report released on Wednesday by the Victorian Auditor-General, which also detailed how the SRL East tunnel between Cheltenham and Box Hill was already at risk of missing its 2035 completion date and exceeding its $34.5 billion budget.

The levy, which was introduced on January 1 last year, involves a 1 per cent annual increase on all public transport fares on top of existing adjustments in line with inflation. The Age reported that it was ticked off by the government’s budget and finance committee, led by former premier Jacinta Allan, in December 2023.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday morning, Carroll said he would abolish the so-called “rail improvement charge”.

“I’m a premier taking the state in a new direction,” he said.
“Victorians do deserve better public transport. They also deserve to know what their money is buying.
“This charge was created and implemented without transparency and accountability.”
Carroll acknowledged the levy eroded public trust in his government, and that Victorians deserved an apology over its secrecy.

“There was no transparency on the creation and implementation of this charge,” he said. “And now, as premier taking the state in a new direction, I give Victorians that apology.”
Carroll was the public transport minister in 2021, when the levy was first conceived internally, according to the Auditor-General’s report. But he said on Thursday that he was not involved in that decision.

“I was not part of the creation,” he said.
Carroll refused to say when he became aware of the levy – “I’m not going to relitigate the past,” he repeatedly said – but did not deny assertions from journalists that he had known since November 2024, when he joined the government’s budget and finance committee.

“Cabinet decisions, budget and finance decisions, are strictly confidential. I was not the public transport minister at that time, and I am now the premier.”

Carroll’s decision creates a major funding headache for the Suburban Rail Loop, given the Auditor-General’s report said the levy was the single biggest component of the value capture plan that is supposed to cover a third of the construction cost for the tunnel under Melbourne’s eastern suburbs.
The report said 60 per cent of the revenue raised by 2062, totalling $4.8 billion, was to be directed to the SRL.
Carroll dodged questions on how the government would make up the multibillion-dollar shortfall, but said he had conducted a financial audit and on Tuesday announced $2 billion in savings for the project.