Politics live updates: Lidia Thorpe captured making obscene gesture to Senate floor after storming out

This story has had more twists and turns than a rollercoaster.

Earlier this week we had the surprising news that Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek was in last-minute talks with the Greens to get the Federal environmental protection agency across the line.

But that seems to have been short-lived, with news today revealing the PM had intervened to ensure no deal was reached.

Mr Albanese has made no secret of his silike for the Greens, and it’s the second time he has overruled Ms Plibersek, a potential futue leader, on the Government’s controversial Nature Positive legislation.

Full story here.

The blow-up between Fatima Payman and Pauline Hanson in the Senate took a turn today when Lidia Thorpe stormed out in disgust.

AAP’s Canberra photographer Mick Tsikas captured this shot of the controversial senator walking out of the chamber after throwing papers at Ms Hanson.

She even took the time to raise her middle finger on her way out the door.

ABC chair Kim Williams says the public broadcaster must get better at “exposing misinformation, correcting disinformation, and arming Australians with the skills needed” to counter the rising phenomena.

In a speech at the national press club, Mr Williams said there was a “collective sense” that Australia needed to adapt and focus on the “dangers of the information age”, especially on the risk it posed to young people.

“As the poison waters of the tsunami rise, it’s good to get the young, especially, into lifeboats,” Mr Williams said.

“They are particularly vulnerable to the flood. Their minds are precious assets needed for our future success. But lifeboats are always flimsy protections against surging tides.

“And one day, our young will have to swim for themselves in the poison seas. So they and everyone else will need to be better prepared.

“We must, therefore, get better at exposing misinformation, correcting disinformation and arming Australians with the skills needed to counter both. Just as the founding of democracy in the industrial age required an aspiration to universal literacy, its continuation in the digital age requires universal media literacy.”

Senator Pauline Hanson has asked why Independent Fatima Payman should be treated “totally different than any other Senator” as she pursues her over an alleged citizenship breech.

Ms Hanson triggered a procedural vote in the Upper House on Wednesday morning as she sought to refer Senator Payman for investigation over an alleged section 44 issue for her Afghan citizenship.

The Government and Coalition voted yes, the Greens and crossbenchers Tammy Tyrrell and Lidia Thorpe voted no (she also threw her papers at Ms Hanson and stormed from the chamber, middle finger raised).

After the vote, Ms Payman accused Ms Hanson of racism and said she brought “disgrace to the human race”.

Ms Hanson accused the Greens of creating a “protection racket” around the Independent senator.

In a statement issued after the dramatic scenes, Ms Hanson said: “Try as they might,” referring to the Greens and crossbenchers’ opposition, “they can’t wish this matter away.”

She continued, saying Ms Payman had not been held to the same strict standards as other elected representatives in the 2017 eligibility crisis.

“If she’d been elected in 2016 instead of 2022, she would have been referred to the High Court like all the others. If she’d been elected as a conservative in 2022, I suspect she’d be referred right away.”

Dodgy taxi drivers will be banned from NSW roads after the Minns Government announced its latest crackdown on those who rip off customers.

Drivers who don’t use their meter, overcharge or refuse short trips will be banned from the industry if they’re twice convicted of fare misbehaviour.

The NSW Taxi Council says rogue drivers have been on the loose in recent years following deregulation that made it more difficult to find and remove them from the sector.

The new laws come into effect on December 6 and will extend to rideshare apps such as Uber and Didi. A driver must be found guilty of fare misbehaviour by a court on two separate occasions to be banned.

Drivers who have previously breached the rules will be told they are on their final warning before the crackdown starts.

Read more.

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that inflation has failed to drop in the month of October in a sign that prices are yet to come under control.

The headline figure of 2.1 per cent is broadly in line with economist forecasts but the more important trimmed mean, which excludes one off items has ticked up to 3.5 per cent from 3.2 per cent.

Inflation has been the key concern of Australia Reserve Bank in determining when to cut rates, with the latest minutes from the November meeting showing that the Board was concerned that underlying inflation had still remained too persistent over the year to give them comfort.

See what it means here.

The legislation, passed overnight, is an important win for Labor to uphold its promise to four states and territories that it would increase funding share to 22.5 per cent from next year.

Labor’s legislation would ensure under-resourced public schools, according to the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), would not have funding commitments reverse.

Education Minister Jason Clare said the Liberal Party, whose Coalition government enforced the former legislation, had “ripped the guts out of public school funding”.

The former funding model put 80 per cent of the SRS funding for non-government schools on the Commonwealth and 20 per cent on the states.

For public schools, it is reversed: the Commonwealth covers 20 per cent, while 75 per cent is funded by states - leaving a 5 per cent gap.

Victoria, Queensland and NSW have held out from agreeing to Labor’s plan, demanding the Commonwealth fund the full 5 per cent increase, as teachers unions and the Greens have called for.

If they do not get on board, the current funding arrangements will continue for another 12 months.

Moderate Liberal MP Bridget Archer has crossed the floor to vote against banning children under 16 from social media, joining with the Greens and independents to air concerns about a rushed process.

Ms Archer, who has crossed the floor on multiple issues, flagged the move late on Tuesday night before the vote on the legislation was held on Wednesday morning.

But she said it was out of concerns about the rushed process to legislate the ban inside of a week.

“My very strong preference would be for this bill to be deferred for proper scrutiny and consultation, as we’ve heard from other members here today, that would give an opportunity for that process to be corrected and to take more of our community along with us, but disappointingly, it is clear that there is no appetite for that,” she told Parliament.

“Because of that, I won’t be supporting … this bill under these circumstances, but I reiterate that this is an important space and it is something that we need to do something about.”

Ms Archer pledged to engage constructively on the issue of helping protect children from the harms of social media.

​​Get the latest from Parliament here.​​

A fired-up Fatima Payman says Pauline Hanson brings “disgrace to the human race” as the One Nation leader continues to hound the Afghan-born senator over her eligibility to sit in Parliament.

Senator Hanson wants an investigation into whether Senator Payman falls foul of section 44 of the constitution, which prevents foreigners and dual-citizens from sitting in Parliament.

Senator Payman - who was eight when her family fled Kabul - addressed the issue before 2022 election, explaining that her attempts to renounce her Afghan citizenship could not be completed because the Afghanistan embassy in Australia had no contact with the new Taliban regime.

She received legal advice at the time confirming she took “all reasonable steps” to hand back her Afghan citizenship, meaning she was eligible.

But Senator Hanson has continued to hound Senator Payman on her citizenship status, sparking dramatic scenes in the Senate on Wednesday morning as she sought to refer the Independent for investigation.

Get the full story here.

The election of Donald Trump will factor in to Australia’s thinking as it prepares to set its 2035 emissions reduction target.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen will release new modelling showing Australia is on track to meet its 2030 target of 43 per cent, but questions are dogging the Government over what’s next.

Mr Bowen on Wednesday morning refused to guarantee the 2035 target would be released before the next election, but said the final number will come when the Climate Change Authority is “ready”.

He said it would take into account “all international developments”.

“Not just the election of Donald Trump. There are other developments in other countries,” he said.

“Australia is an integral part of the world’s energy supplies, so obviously what other countries are doing does impact on us.”

Mr Trump has indicated he will pull the US back out of the Paris Agreement, and wind back crucial clean energy investment.

Mr Bowen said even if that eventuated, it wouldn’t impact Australia’s current trajectory.

“We’re on track (for 2030),” he said.