Media Release

Vanadium miners will be afforded significant royalty relief with the Cook Government delivering a major election commitment which will support Western Australia's resources industry and help the State's economy remain the strongest in the nation. From today, a 2.5 per cent royalty rate will apply to vanadium products in a move to incentivise production of the critical mineral in WA and encourage its emerging vanadium battery industry.

Victorian livestock producers in bushfire-ravaged parts of Victoria are reporting more wild dog attacks after devastating fires destroyed critical infrastructure such as exclusion fencing, leaving farm animals more vulnerable to attacks.

New legislation to be introduced this week will amend the Sentencing Act 1995 to impose a life sentence with a mandatory minimum non-parole period of 25 years’ imprisonment for the murder of a current or former partner. Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby said the reform reflects the scale of harm caused by domestic and family violence in the Territory – particularly for Aboriginal women who comprise 89 per cent of all DV victims and who are 7 times more likely to die.

Delivering on its promise to reduce crime and restore the Territory lifestyle, the Finocchiaro CLP Government is cracking down to hold public housing tenants accountable for anti-social behaviour and damage to taxpayer funded housing.

Minister for the State Electricity Commission Lily D’Ambrosio has visited the SEC Delburn Wind Farm site, where construction will begin in March ahead of operations starting in 2028. The 33-turbine wind farm will have a generation capacity of up to 205 megawatts of renewable energy to the electricity grid, enough to power more than 130,000 homes with renewable power. The SEC will hold 100 per cent ownership of the project.

The Albanese Labor Government is committed to a strong horticulture industry in Australia and is today announcing that Mr Chris Leptos AO will lead an independent review of the Horticulture Code of Conduct ... The Code regulates trade between growers and traders of wholesale unprocessed fruit, vegetables, nuts and herbs, to ensure transparency and clarity of transactions.