asia. live coverage of that starting at 1:00 p.m. eastern. all those hearings on c-span3, online at c-span.org or on the free c-span radio app. c-span's "washington journal" live every day with news and policyi issues that impact you. tuesday morning, florida democratic congressman darren soto will discuss his recent trip to puerto rico and president trump's upcoming visit on tuesday. then we're live in charleston, west virginia, for the next stop on the c-span bus 50 capitals tour. lieutenant governor mitch car michael win join us to talk about the top issues facing west virginia including the economy and the opioid crisis. watch "washington journal" live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on tuesday morning. join the discussion. during the september session of the australian house and senate, prime minister malcolm

turnbull and members of his cabinet took questions on combatting terrorism, climate change, and marriage equality. the australian public affairs channel provides the highlights from the session. >> hello, and welcome to this edition of question time rap. during question time, one of the questions, a lot more action happening in the high kout. that gave a tick of approval to the government's plan for a postal survey on same-sex marriage. just after that decision, the opposition leader asked the prime minister would he be campaigning strongly for a yes vote, and that question put strongly to all australians. >> the leader of the opposition -- >> before i go to my question, mr. speaker, i wondered, it's been an important -- >> if the leader of the opposition come to his question or resume his seat.

>> okay, not a reporter for the high court. members on my right, i have already cautioned the minister from immigration and border protection. he's warned as well. >> i note the high court's decision moments ago in relation to the prime minister's $122 million postal survey on marriage equality. will the prime minister work with the community to show its active support for marriage equality? and will the prime minister now accept my invitation to write a joint letter to every australian to support voting yes in the survey? >> the leader of the house will speak interjecting. members on my right. the prime minister has the call. >> the leader of the opposition

must be relieved that the promise you gave to the australian christian lobby in 2013 is now being delivered by the coalition. he went there. to the australian christian lobby and said i think every australia should have their say. he did. i mean, i assume that was his heartfelt conviction. or was he simply telling people what they wanted to hear? you know, mr. speaker, i fear it might have been the case that he was just being his old disingenuous self, telling people what they want to hear. and here he is, here he is now, having done everything he could in this parliament to stop australians having their say, much to his disappointment now. every australian will have their say. and that is as it should be. and we encourage every

australian to vote in this survey to have their say, and mr. speaker, as i have said in this house and in many other places, lucy and i will be voting yes. and i'll be encouraging others to vote yes. but mr. speaker, above all, i encourage every australian to have their say because unlike the leader of the opposition, i respect every australian's view on this matter. and i thoroughly reject the way in which he's sought to vilify and demonize people who have a different view to him. this is a great example, where every australian can have a say and we can. we can. as a commonwealth. as a commonwealth of australia, of grave important social change, consider it and make a decision.

>> the member will withdraw that remark. and you'll now withdraw from the chamber. member from mcewan, you better be very careful what you say. you know the rules very well. the prime minister will resume his answer. he's concluded his answer. >> there's also been an increased focus on this crisis in ruhinga. refugees leaving their country and hundreds of thousands now, the government asked if it's going to consider putting in more money than the $5 million to assist this crisis. >> several mckim. >> thank you, president. my question is to the leader of government in the senate representing the prime minister. minister, i refer you to the humanitarian disaster currently unfolding in myanmar and the ongoing persecution of the ruhingen people by the myanmar military. the most recent figures, i'm

sure you will agree, show that almost 300,000 ruhingen people have fled raqqah in the last ten days. that's 30 down a day. minister, and across the border into bangladesh. is the funding up to $5 million announced on the weekend the entirety of the australian government's response to this crisis? and when will the prime minister follow the lead of other global leaders and personally express concern about the situation in myanmar? >> the attorney general representing the prime minister. >> i think you're wrong. the prime minister, i understand, has already expressed on behalf of the australian people his concern about the humanitarian issues of the people in raqqah and state. and the foreign minister as well on behalf of the government on saturday sent out the australian government's response including a commitment up to $5 million to

address immediate needs. the government has spoken directly to myanmar, and we have called for protection of civilians and unfettered access to humanitarian workers. we have also spoken directly with our regional partners. the prime minister -- the foreign minister, i should say, personally spoke with the president and we'll continue to closely engage with indonesia and others. we, like everyone in our region, are very focused on this crisis. now, at the moment, senator, what australia like other regional partners needs to do is to focus on immediate issues. our focus must be on meeting the urgent needs of food and shelter and supporting agencies like unncr, australia recognizes the heavy burden placed on bangladesh. we have committed up to $5 million for our immediate response to the crisis.

that funding will bring australians assistance for ruhinga and other affected communities to over $50 million since 2012. we also welcome myanmar's commitment to insure assistance reaches communities through the red cross, but this must be expanded to other agencies including u.n. agencies. >> thank you, attorney general. senator mckin, supplementary question. >> yes, thank you, president. i would just like for the attorney to resume his seat. we welcome the response to date from the australian government. but could you explain, please, what steps the government intends to take to resettle or assist in resettling the ruhinga people who have been displaced and do you agree that australia has a leadership role to play in our region and a much greater capacity to assist the ruhingen people than most other countries in the world? >> the attorney general.

>> before i respond, can i just correct something i said in answer to your primary question? so the conversation which i referred was a conversation between the prime minister and the president, i think i said the foreign minister and the president. senator, i have outlined what the australian government's response is to this humanitarian crisis. and it is an aspect of the broader assistance that australia has provided since 2012, as i said, for the ruhinga and other affected communities. another $50 million. that's been a generous response. it has been a response in which australia has been one of the leading regional participants. and that is the response that the government proposes to make. >> thank you, attorney general. senator, follow supplementary question. >> i'll refer you to the letter written in may to the prime minister over the weekend calling for a special impact of 20,000 ruhinga refugees over and

above our current annual hum humanitarian intake. could you please advise whether the government will at least consider this request in good faith, noting the urgency of the situation? >> attorney general. >> well, first of all, the urgency of the situation demands the urgent response which i have outlined. in answer to your primary question, the government is not lined to exceed to calls including from senator denutally and yourself for increases in the humanitarian intake, but we do, as you know, senator, operate most generous humanitarian refugee program. >> to another global issue, the continuing battle against isis. the force is still there in the middle east in which australia is playing a part in trying to rid the middle east of these extremists and the defense minister asked exactly how progress is being made. >> thank you, mr. president. my question is to minister of defense, senator payne.

could the minister update the senate on the progress of the campaign to defeat daesh in iraq and syria? >> the minister for defense, senator payne. >> thank you, mr. president. i thank the senator very much for her question. mr. president, after what has been an extended period of extremist and terrorist activity in iraq, in the past few months, the iraqi security forces have won a number of decisive victories and have now liberated more than 90% of the territory that was once held by daesh. indeed, following the lib rashz of mosul in july, the momentum against daesh has continued to increase. just at the end of august, the iraqi security forces with the support of the membership of the international coalition liberated the strategic city of tell afar, which is west of mosul, but the liberation of mosul and talafar don't mean that daesh is defeated. they still retain other strongholds that need to be liberated. these include the towns in the

euphrates river valley. in syria itself, more than 60% of raqqah, their self-proclaimed capital, has been liberated by syrian democratic forces. however, daesh continues to use what are barbaric and illegal tactics to slow their inevitable defeat. as we saw in mosul, they're again preventing civilians from leaving and they're using them as human shields. recently in raqqah, they used a children's hospital as a fortified headquarters. the stabilization efforts in mosul and in talafar are ongoing and they will take some time. the reestablishment of both institutions and essential services are critical to insure that residents are able to begin to rebuild their lives. this has been a particular focus of the counter-isil defense ministers meetings that have occurred in relation to progress, mr. president. australia's commitment to the

coalition continues. and we will continue to support iraq and its security forces so that they can defeat daesh, keep their people safe -- >> thank you. the time for answering the question has expired. >> supplemental question. >> can the minister advise the senate how the defense force is contributing to the campaign against daesh. >> i want to particularly acknowledge the men and women of the atf who continue to make a very significant contribution to the international counter daesh coalition in support of the iraqi security forces, mr. president. over 26,500 iraqi army trainees have graduated from our building partner capacity partnerships and that includes 4,000 police trainees following a train to our activity there. following the iraqi security forces liberation of mosul and talafar, our special operations task group continues to work to

support the counter support system. currently, our f-18 hornets continue to provide precision air strikes against terrorist targets. our tankers have offloaded more than 30 million kilograms of fuel and we continue to provide what is critical battle state management in both northern raerk -- >> thank you. senator mckenzie, your final supplementary question. >> can the minister tell us why it important that australia contribute to the international coalition to defeat daesh at its source? >> minister. >> mr. president, it is vital for global security and for stability that we defeat daesh in iraq and in syria to deny it a base of operations and a narrative for its success or a narrative of its success. this narrative has been used as a key social media recruitment tool to attract foreign fighters from around the world, and we

know that that has included australia. it's also used that narrative to radicalize vulnerable youth in many countries to act with appalling violence against their fellow citizens and we have seen that most recently in spain, in finla finland, in the united kingdom as a number of kexamples. we know fleeing daesh fighters will seek refuge, and our region is vulnerable to that. recognizing this threat and the challenges that we face, the member nations have for example agrees to strengthen their focus on counterterrorism as a recognition of the regional challenge. that's why australia continues to make -- >> thank you. the time for answering the question has expired. >> overshadowing that threat, at least for now, north korea and those continued tests of nuclear weapons and threat that poses not just of course to south korea, to japan, but also to australia. this is something within australia's region. and government today asked about

exactly what's happening in terms of escalating some of the various elements that the world is trying to take against north korea in terms of sanctions. >> can the minister out update the house on how the government as part of international efforts is stepping up pressure on north korea? >> the minister of foreign affairs. >> thank you, mr. speaker. i thank the members for this important question. the australian government welcomes and strongly supports the u.n. security counsel resolution that was passed overnight by all 15 permanent temporary members of the security council, imposing further sanctions on north korea five days after north korea conducted its sixth illegal and most powerful nuclear test. last thursday, i spoke at length with u.s. secretary of state rex tillerson about the contents of the proposed resolution, and we

noted that while north korea is isolated diplomatically, it is not self-sufficient economically. particularly in relation to basic commodities including energy. as secretary tillerson and i agreed that ever increasing economic pressure on north korea is an essential pillar of the collective international strategy to compel north korea to return to the negotiating table and to abandon its illegal missile and nuclear programs. we noted the special responsibility of the permanent five members of the security council, particularly those who maintain an economic relationship with north korea, to uphold the authority of the security council in face of the repeated violations by north korea. and to impose maximum economic pressure on the north korean regime to make it change course.

mr. speaker, the new additional sanctions target very important parts of the north korean economy. there will be a complete ban on the export of all north korean textiles. that's worth about $950 million a year to the regime. the amount of oil that north korea can import will be reduced by a third. there will also be a prohibition on the importation of natural gas. all joint ventures with north korean individuals and entities are banned. no north korean workers will be permitted to work overseas once the current contracts are completed. and no new work visas will be issued, again, this will deny the regime of hundreds of millions of dollars that it has been channeling from remittances to fund its illegal programs. mr. speaker, also the powers to

stop and search vessels that are carrying cargo to and from north korea will be greatly expanded. australia continues to fully implement all sanctions, including those that were imposed on the fifth of august, and we will implement fully the latest sanctions. we also had our own regime of more permanent sanctions against 31 entities and 37 individuals from north korea. and if the international community remains united and resolute, we can deter north korea from its course. >> closer to home, the 48th pacific island forum recently had been held. the minister asked about the talks there and exactly what's happening in terms of concrete decisions. >> senator mckenzie. >> thank you, mr. president. my question is to minister for international development and the pacific. can the minister update the senate on australia's participation in the 48th pacific island forum?

>> the minister for international development and the pacific. >> thank you, mr. president. can i thank senator mckenzie for her question and her interest in the pacific. australia's engage lt in the pacific is one of our highest priorities. as i have said on different occasions after australia, the stability and security of our region is our highest priority. and the pacific island forum is the preeminent political body in the pacific region. it brings together heads of government to address those shared challenges. as we know, working together in the pacific as we did in ramsey and the regional assistance mission to the solomon islands, we work best when we work together. the 48th pacific island forum leaders meeting enabled australia to advance some of our collective efforts, addressing climate issues, preparing for natural disasters, managing

illegal unregulated and unreported fishing, improving economic opportunity in the region, addressing old and new security challenges, including transnational crime. disease outbreaks and cyberattacks. these are the shared challenges that our neighborhood faces and it's important that we address them together. the theme of this year's pacific island forum was blue pacific. we focused on oceans, on issues related to economic returns from fisheries. the pacific island forum aimed to encourage more effective and stronger coordination in our region through our pacific regional framework. and at least year's pacific island forum, prime minister turnbull indicated we would be stepping up our engagement in the pacific, and we are delivering on this commitment in terms of security, labor, and pharmaceutical that was signed.

and of course, the nature and the complexity of the challenges that are faced in the pacific shows the diversity of the engagement. >> thank you, the time for answering the question has expired. senator mckenzie. supplemental question. >> thank you. can the minister advise the senate of the outcomes achieved at the 48th pacific island forum meeting. >> minister. >> thank you. pacific island leaders agreed to comenls work on a new regional security declaration. to position the region better to deal with those new and emerging security challenges, transnational crime, people smuggling, cyberattacks, health security, illegal unreported, and unregulated fishing, and to the same, australia is funding a new aerial surveillance mission to help us detect and disrupt illegal fishing and flights are expected to commence before the end of the year. this will, of course, help us address transnational crime and people smuggling. this, of course, enhances also

our $2 million pacific maritime security program and the replacement of the 19 patrol boats. our new pacific labor scheme will give pacific island countries the opportunity to work in australia and meet important remittances which are so vital to their economy. >> thank you. senator mckenzie, final supplementary question. >> thank you, can the minister explain how australia stands to benefit as a result of the meeting? >> minister. >> thank you, mr. president. we are committed to continuing our cooperation. security and stability in our region are vitally important. and the turnbull government is focused on identifying a range of new measures to increase the integration into the pacific. our security measures, we signed new security mous with a number of countries. and this follows on from the post-ramsey security agreement that we had with the solomon

islands. we had new mous with different countries in relation to pharmaceutical laboratory testing. and these, of course, initiatives bolster the common security challenges and bolster the measures to address common security challenges and integrate our pacific economies more, and of course, building up that very important resilience in the pacific and helping them. and can i conclude by congratulating the government and especially the samoan police force for the absolutely fantastic job. >> thank you. the time for answering the question has expired. >> the focus to climate and energy, australia is one of many countries to sign on to reduce its carbon emissions by the year 2030. but since then, the focus on policy here switched from climate and emissions to affordability and supply. prices have spiked significantly, there's also a gas shortage, and amidst that, the government is considering whether or not to keep some of the coal fired power stations

going. the green is asking what will that do to meeting the paris target. >> he used to say that politics is governed by the iron law of arithmetic. well, minister, climate science is no different. by extending the lives of coal-fired power plants is no way that australia can meet pollution targets that we have agreed to in paris. minister, when will the government formally notify the signatories to the paris agreement that it has no desire to honor its side of the agreement to keep global warming at a level where we at least have a fighting chance of saving the great barrier reef? >> the minister for education and training representing the minister for the environment and energy. >> thanks, mr. president. it seems like an eerily familiar sort of story here that every time australia has set climate reduction targets, the australian greens have predicted that australia would not meet

those emissions reduction targets. and every time the deadlines for the targets come around, lo and behold, not only has australia met the targets, but we have exceeded those targets. and we are absolutely confident in the government that once again the commonwealth's government, australia, will meet and honor its commitments. and indeed, may well exceed those commitments again. australia, of course, has made strong commitments in relation to an emissions reduction to reduce emissions between 26% and 28% below 2005 levels by 2030. that's the equivalent to a 52% reduction in their per capita emissions, among the highest of any g-20 party. but the labor party promises they would commit to something even more without of course detail as to how they would see it achieved or what the impact of that would be. australia is a country that

makes international commitments, honors those commitments, and delivers on those commitments. that is precisely what we have done in relation to every emissions reduction target today. indeed, in relation to our 2020 targets, to be 5% below 2000 levels, we say that we are well and truly on track. well and truly on track, and indeed, likely to exceed that. just as we beat our first kyoto target by some 128 million tons. so this trajectory is a hoax by the green. they say targets are insufficient and they say targets won't be met. the truth, is of course, the government, the country, does meet its targets. we will do so again. >> thank you, minister. senator. >> minister, we have seen unprecedented weather related disasters around the world. we've got wind speeds from hurricanes in the atlantic that are off the charts. we've got fires. two weeks out from winter, two weeks out from winter. of course, record breaking

temperatures. given that your only energy plan is to keep open the oldest, dirtiest coal fired power plants in the country, has your government raised the white flag when it comes to tackling climate change. >> we continue to deliver on our policies. on our commitments, in relation to emissions and energy affordable and reliability. we also listen to climate science and we listen to it all. we don't cherry pick like those in the greens do. we don't decide every extreme weather event is therefore attributable to changes in the cliept. we know credible scientists point out this is the time of year when major storms occur. it is not surprising to see multiple events occur at once. that the doctor from colorado or dr. jeff weber, meteorologist at the national center for atmospheric research, all in relation to events in the united states, have highlighted that

the truth is we have seen this before, but we accept that climate science does indicate there are changes. there are eventualities we ned to deal with, which is why the government we have not only invested in policies to address emissions but also investments in adaptation policies to insure australia deals with those challenges. >> thank you. senator. >> thank you, minister. you say you listen to experts. the experts, the business community, they're all saying that the only credible energy plan is one that replaces dirty, polluting coal-fired power with more solar, more wind, with battery technology and energy efficiency. they say it's a plan that brings down pollution, energy prices. it's good for jobs, for the economy, for people. minister, when will your government adopt a plan that is backed by experts and not the coal companies? >> thank you. >> our government will make sure that australia meets its

emissions reduction target. we'll do that while insuring we keep energy affordable and reliable in australia as well. we're not going to be driven by the ideology of the green, we're not going to be backed into some viewpoint that you must shut down coal plants to meet those targets. we will make sure that the targets are met in a way that guarantees the affordability and reliability of energy around australia. now, that means listening to energy experts as well as the idelodges the greens ascribe to. that means the policies we apply are balanced to meet the emissions reduction targets and also to make sure we don't triple the economy at the same time, that we must insure that our economy continues to have reliable base load susceptible energy, and that the green policies, as i said the other day, if they had their way, we wouldn't have any reliability in our energy grid left. the problems that we're seeing would have been multiplied across the country. we will not allow that to occur. >> the time for the question has

expired. >> you have been watching question time wrap. former chair and ceo of equifax richard smith testifies about the company's massive data breach. today tuesday, he's before the house energy committee. wednesday, he'll take question from the senate banking committee. live coverage starts at 10:00 a.m. eastern on c-span3. also tuesday, defense secretary james mattis and joints chief of staff chair general joseph dunford will testify at a house armed services committee hearing on military strategy in south asia. live coverage starting at 1:00 p.m. eastern. all those online at c-span.org or on the free c-span radio app. >> the