Australia news live: Nationals party room to meet after resignations of frontbenchers who crossed the floor on hate speech

Follow updates liveThree Nationals senators resign from frontbench after crossing the floor to oppose Labor’s hate speech billGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCEO of energy company behind Eraring coal power plant says extra two years will help with ‘smooth transition’Frank Calabria, the CEO of Origin energy, spoke with RN this morning after an announcement Australia’s largest coal-fired power plant, Eraring in New South Wales, would stay open for an additional two years until 2029.A lot of good progress has been made on the transition, a lot of new infrastructure, a lot of new energy assets behind the meter. This will just enable it [to be a] smoother transition. …We’ve made lots of investments, as you would imagine, in large batteries. We’ve got large wind farms underway, so do many other players in the sector. So we’re all aligned about making progress here. Continue reading...