Politics live updates: Lidia Thorpe suspended from Parliament after throwing papers at Pauline Hanson,

From Ellen Ransley in Canberra: Lidia Thorpe will be suspended from the Senate for the rest of the week after she tore up papers and threw them at Pauline Hanson during a tense debate.

Senate President Sue Lines invoked a standing order that deals with disorderly conduct, describing Senator Thorpe’s actions earlier on Wednesday as “not acceptable” and behaviour that “will not be tolerated”.

Senator Thorpe had repeatedly heckled speakers during the debate, including shouting, “You’re a convicted racist” at Senator Hanson, referring to a court case brought by Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi against the One Nation leader.

Senator Lines said she had informed Senator Thorpe of the discussion to take place at 6pm, but the independent senator declined to attend the Senate where she could have offered an explanation, apology, or voted on her suspension.

Government Senate leader Penny Wong said Senator Thorpe should be suspended until the end of tomorrow - the last scheduled sitting day of the year - because she had engaged in “aggression” and “hateful personal attacks”.

Senator Wong said there had been “multiple instances of senator Thorpe making inappropriate, sometimes abusive comments towards other senators”, and accused her of having “increasingly engaged in such behaviour”.

She said all senators had a right to feel safe in their workplace.

Senator Thorpe’s actions were sparked after a fired-up Fatima Payman told Senator Hanson she brought “disgrace to the human race” as the One Nation leader continues to hound the Afghan-born senator over her eligibility to sit in Parliament.

Canberra reporter Dan Jervis-Bardy has revealed some fascinating details about the Prime Minister’s move to kill off a Greens deal that would see the creation of a Federal environmental protection agency.

He reports:

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese personally intervened to kill off a deal his Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek, had sewn up with the Greens and David Pocock to create a Federal environment protection agency.

The Nightly can reveal the agreement was so concrete that discussions were underway for Greens environment spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young and Senator Pocock to announce their support on Wednesday — before Mr Albanese stepped in.

The now-scuttled deal would have involved extra investment for research to combat invasive species and a legislated timeline for the promised suite of national environmental standards, according to multiple sources briefed on negotiations.

Read the full story here.

Sydney Airport was the hottest place in the world at 12.15pm this afternoon, according to ​Weatherzone​.

The weather website recorded a temperature of 37.5C at Sydney Airport at midday, rising to 38.2C by 12.15pm.

According to Weatherzone this made the airport “not only the hottest place in NSW or Australia, but the hottest place in the world at that time”.

The wesbite explains that the warm weather is being caused by a low pressure trough sitting over the country’s eastern inland.

Given the northern hemisphere is heading into winter and other heat-prone areas in the southern hemisphere (such as Africa and South America) were at cooler points during the day or evening, Sydney Airport took the mantle as the hottest place in the world.

Even if just for a moment.

NSW Premier Chris Minns’ warning to locals to turn off their dishwashers has been slammed by the Coalition as the State braces for blackouts amid a sweltering heatwave.

It comes as the Australian Energy Marker Operator (AEMO) promised to use its emergency powers to ensure NSW had sufficient electricity supply as it swelters through the heat.

Temperatures across NSW soared on Wednesday — up to 12C above average with readings in the high-30s — putting additional strain on the energy grid at the same time that a number of coal-fired power stations are offline with a range of approved maintenance services.

“We are asking you not run your dishwasher, not to run your washing machine this afternoon... and you’ll be helping the grid,” Mr Minns said.

But Federal shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the answer to blackout was to increase supply.

Read more here.

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.