Brisbane city council ‘unlawfully discriminated’ against Extinction Rebellion, court finds
Andrew Messenger
Brisbane city council “unlawfully discriminated” against protest group Extinction Rebellion, a court has found.
Councillors voted in October 2019 to ban the group from booking meeting rooms in council libraries, on party lines. The decision followed a series of protests in which members glued themselves to Brisbane roads during peak hour, deliberately causing congestion. About 129 people were arrested, the court heard.
The decision was challenged in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2020. The council was represented by barrister Douglas Quale and instructed by law firm Wotton Kearney. Extinction Rebellion member Miree le Roy represented herself.
Qcat member Peter Roney determined that the council had “unlawfully discriminated against the applicant” on the basis of her “political belief and activity” and ordered it cease enforcing its resolution. He ruled:
The right to peaceful protest, including in ways that disrupt traffic in peak hour and cause inconvenience, even mayhem during peak-hour traffic … does not lose the protections against discrimination on the basis of political belief or activity.
Police apply acetone to the hands of activists from Extinction Rebellion after they super-glued their hands to the road on the William Jolly Bridge in Brisbane, in 2019. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAPShare
Updated at 03.47 BST
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Labor and Coalition clash over net zero repeal bill – video
You can have a watch of some of that debate on the repeal net zero bill here:
‘Nationals want to party like it’s 1999’: Labor and LNP clash during net zero repeal debate – videoShare
Updated at 03.48 BST
‘This is not Barnaby’s bill’ says Joyce on net zero repeal bill
Barnaby Joyce can’t get enough of the media, as he tries to undermine Australia’s climate targets.
He’s back on Sky News today, after the house briefly debated his bill to repeal the 2050 target this morning.
He says he’s happy to keep debating the bill during the time sectioned off in parliament to debate private members’ bills, if Labor also keeps putting its own MPs up to criticise it.
But he says the bill isn’t about him (despite commentary that the legislation will damage the leadership of both the Nationals’ David Littleproud and the Liberals’ Sussan Ley.)
It’s not about me, this is not Barnaby’s bill, this is a bill that I just happened to be the author [of].
Nationals member for New England, Barnaby Joyce, is seen during debate of the ‘Repeal Net Zero Bill 2025’ in the House of Representatives. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 03.45 BST
Housing Australia website crashes as Albanese announces October start for deposit scheme
Housing Australia is working to fix a website outage, says minister Clare O’Neil.
In a post on X, the minister said:
Please hold on while they resolve the issue ASAP.
The ABC has reported that the website had crashed, and O’Neil says she’s delighted to see there’s “so much interest” in the site, after the government’s announcement about an October start date for its 5% deposit scheme.
It’s fantastic that Australians are so interested in getting a home of their own under Labor’s 5% Deposit Program.
In fact there’s so much interest that it’s slowing down the Housing Australia website!
Please hold on while they resolve the issue ASAP. pic.twitter.com/HjBolv0jHJ
— Clare O’Neil MP (@ClareONeilMP) August 25, 2025Share
Updated at 03.25 BST
Nimbys, yimbys and the fight over who gets a back yard
There’s been plenty of pollies weighing in to the debate about development in NSW this morning, as the commonwealth government made its announcement of bringing forward the expansion of the 5% deposit scheme.
So what is going on in NSW – who are the nimbys and who are the yimbys?
My colleagues at the Guardian have had a very in-depth look for you, which you can read here:
And while you’re at it – here’s some photos of Anthony Albanese and housing minister Clare O’Neil at a housing estate in Canberra this morning. (Toto might be feeling a bit jealous right about now …)
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, with Lachlan Baker, Abbey Woods and Chilli the dog, at a new housing estate in Lawson in Canberra. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPHousing estates, like this one in Lawson, Canberra, aren’t the only solution to the housing crisis. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 03.16 BST
Brisbane city council ‘unlawfully discriminated’ against Extinction Rebellion, court finds
Andrew Messenger
Brisbane city council “unlawfully discriminated” against protest group Extinction Rebellion, a court has found.
Councillors voted in October 2019 to ban the group from booking meeting rooms in council libraries, on party lines. The decision followed a series of protests in which members glued themselves to Brisbane roads during peak hour, deliberately causing congestion. About 129 people were arrested, the court heard.
The decision was challenged in the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal in 2020. The council was represented by barrister Douglas Quale and instructed by law firm Wotton Kearney. Extinction Rebellion member Miree le Roy represented herself.
Qcat member Peter Roney determined that the council had “unlawfully discriminated against the applicant” on the basis of her “political belief and activity” and ordered it cease enforcing its resolution. He ruled:
The right to peaceful protest, including in ways that disrupt traffic in peak hour and cause inconvenience, even mayhem during peak-hour traffic … does not lose the protections against discrimination on the basis of political belief or activity.
Police apply acetone to the hands of activists from Extinction Rebellion after they super-glued their hands to the road on the William Jolly Bridge in Brisbane, in 2019. Photograph: Dave Hunt/AAPShare
Updated at 03.47 BST
NSW planning minister quizzed on ‘plan B’ housing options
Penry Buckley
Turning to state politics for a moment, the NSW planning minister, Paul Scully, is fronting budget estimates today, where he has been quizzed about “plan B” options after members of the Australian Turf Club voted against selling the Rosehill racecourse site to make way for 25,000 new homes in May.
Following yesterday’s announcement, questions have unsurprisingly focused on Woollahra. Scully couldn’t say when or where in government the plan to revive the suburbs train station and open up Woollahra and neighbouring Edgecliff for thousands more homes began.
In 2023, the NSW government said advice about water infrastructure constraints at Edgecliff prevented it from being part of the government’s transport-oriented development (Tod) plans. Scully says a new study by Sydney Water overturned the earlier advice: “They had a reexamination of it, and there was capacity.”
Although a metro station at Rosehill has now been ruled out, Scully says a draft rezoning plan for more density there and in neighbouring Camellia will be ready by the end of this year. In response to a question about higher density in Glebe Island and Bays Precinct, and the potential loss of marine infrastructure in Sydney Harbour, Scully does not rule out potential changes.
At the moment there’s no decision of government on any change to port operations, so the work continues on Bays West as it would ordinarily. If there is a decision of government, one way or another, that will influence any further outcomes.
But Scully rules out any current plans to relocate Long Bay jail to allow for new developments at the site. “It’s housing at the moment,” he says, referencing the prison’s 1,200 inmates.
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Updated at 03.05 BST
Josh Butler
Climate change ‘a challenge and an opportunity’, PM says
Asked further about whether the government would be “ambitious” on that 2035 goal, Albanese pointed out the contrast between the positions of his Labor government and the divided approach of Coalition opposition.
What we’ll always do is to support action on climate change, and there are two vast different positions when it comes to climate change. You have a government that understands that climate change is a challenge, but it’s also an opportunity.
If you get rid of Net Zero, you are saying climate change is not real, and you do not need to do anything about it. You have Barnaby Joyce, whose private member’s bill will be debated in the parliament this morning, openly saying that climate change is not real. That’s effectively what they are saying.
Albanese noted the resolutions of Liberal and National conferences calling for an end to net zero.
My government will act on climate change. We, of course, have serious policies, but we also recognise that it’s not just about the environment. There’s an economic opportunity to acting as well, growing new industries, growing new jobs and expanding our economy as well.
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Updated at 02.33 BST
Josh Butler
Albanese says Labor will announce 2035 emissions target ‘when there’s an announcement’
Anthony Albanese has taken a shot at the Coalition on climate change, saying that to scrap net zero policies is akin to “saying climate change is not real”.
The Labor government again allowed debate on Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce’s bill to junk the net zero by 2050 plan, a policy pledge the Coalition is still signed up to. Albanese said the government would announce its 2035 emissions target at some stage in future, and wouldn’t countenance what that number would look like.
We’ll announce this when there’s an announcement, and we’ll put out that statement after cabinet makes a decision, and we’ll announce it.
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Updated at 02.31 BST
Josh Butler
Albanese was asked further, “what is your confidence in securing a meeting with President Trump?”
The prime minister responded:
I refer to my previous 5,324 answers to that same question.
Albanese has said he will travel to the United States in September for the UN general assembly, and also has further international trips in his calendar before the end of the year, where he will likely cross paths with Trump one or more times.
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Updated at 02.28 BST
Josh Butler
Anthony Albanese says he will meet with Donald Trump “over coming months”, as questions still linger over when their long-awaited face-to-face will occur.
The prime minister held a press conference in Canberra this morning. Asked about when he would meet US president Trump, Albanese responded:
We’ll have meetings with President Trump.
A number of events over the coming months – we’re about to enter summit season, and I look forward to discussions continuing face to face, as they have been constructive when I’ve had discussions with President Trump up to now.
It’s a good thing. There are a range of ministers meeting with their counterparts. That’s a good thing.
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Updated at 02.23 BST
Over in the Senate they’ve moved on from the net zero debate to other issues with One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts currently talking about sick leave in the armed forces as part of the Defence Housing Amendment Bill.
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Dai Le presents bill to reduce university fees for humanities subjects
There are a few private members’ bills being put forward this morning.
A moment ago, Zali Steggall presented her bill to establish regular and independent national climate risk assessments – which you can read a bit more about here.
And just before that, as Sarah Basford Canales brought you, independents including Andrew Wilkie and Helen Haines, along with the Greens, presented a bill in response to the robodebt royal commission that would reinstate six-year limits for the recovery of government debt and place a duty of care on the department to prioritise the needs of social security recipients.
Now Dai Le, the independent MP for Fowler in western Sydney, is presenting her bill to change the Job Ready Graduates (JRG) program. Le introduced this bill in the last term – which wasn’t supported by the government, and is trying to get it up again. The bill would reduce fees for humanities subjects. She says:
This policy [JRG] hasn’t worked the way it was intended, students are not abandoning arts degrees en masse. They continue to pursue their passion, but they’re now saddled with debts that are much heavier and burdensome than before.
And who feels this impact the most, it’s students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, Indigenous students, women and those from non-English speaking backgrounds.
Dai Le. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 02.01 BST