What happened today, Wednesday 17 March 2021
And so we shall leave it there for today. Here’s what went down today:
- Health Minister Greg Hunt said he was “surprised” that the vaccine booking site faced problems today, as the second phase of the rollout begins on Monday.
- Four people in Queensland have experienced allergic reactions to AstraZeneca vaccine, with authorities saying all four had a history of allergic reactions.
- Three people were arrested in a terrorism investigation, with authorities saying they were motivated by an “ideology based on religious extremism”.
- The government’s industrial relations bill is closer to passing today, with One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts confirming that if the government backs their amendments, he and Pauline Hanson would vote for the bill.
- Race discrimination commissioner Chin Tan has today called for and proposed a national anti-racism framework, with minister for multicultural affairs, Alex Hawke welcoming the proposal.
- The prime minister held his first press conference since the the Women’s March 4 Justice, and announced that the PNG government will be receiving 1m vaccine doses.
Updated
An Adelaide based GP was on ABC just now, discussing the vaccine rollout and he gave some very interesting insights into the process.
Dr Daniel Byrne said that his clinic will only receive 320 doses on Friday, and mentioned that some practices had gotten as little as 40 doses, which he would probably be gone by Monday.
He also said that he expected to receive the next batch of does in four to five weeks (!!)
If you are a practice only getting 40, you will use them up and you know for the next four weeks you are only going to get 40 or 50 – we’re stuck at that for the first four weeks until the CSL comes online.
Updated
I really don’t think much needs to be added to this:
A picture paints a thousand word etc etc etc. Here's @ellinghausen photographing @NicolleFlint in the House of Reps a short while ago. pic.twitter.com/G6xBtbdQAH
— Stephanie Peatling (@srpeatling) March 17, 2021
GPs around the country have lashed out at the government over their “unrealistic exceptions” that people will be able to be vaccinated at their local clinics.
The botched launch today included the national vaccine booking website crashing and culminated in “inundated” clinics forced to turn people away.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Association spoke out about the launch, saying the government needed to provide clarity on the rollout, especially as many GPs claim they can’t take appointments when they still don’t know how many doses they will receive.
RACGP president, Dr Karen Price said the government needs to “better communicate” their strategy:
It’s clear from the calls many general practices have received this morning that the government needs to better communicate with the community on the vaccine rollout process, and not build unrealistic expectations, particularly at this early stage.
You can read more on the launch from my colleagues Elias Visontay and Christopher Knaus here:
Updated
So, minister for multicultural affairs Alex Hawke has released a statement, saying he met Race Discrimination Commissioner Chin Tan, and welcomed the proposal of a National Anti-Racism Framework.
The Commissioner has made a detailed set of proposals for Government to consider. That’s why I have asked the Department of Home Affairs to work further on these proposals with Commissioner Tan and agencies including the Attorney-General’s Department.
I am undertaking a comprehensive consultation program as we develop Australia’s new Social Cohesion Strategy and I have invited the Commissioner’s contribution to this process.
That is a lot of words to say that he is going to consider the proposal.
Hawke also mentioned he will be convening a “Federal-State Multicultural Ministers’ Roundtable” where the commissioner is expected to present the Framework.
Updated
Good evening everyone, and we begin again by thanking the peerless Amy for her work throughout the day.
As always, there is much still to get through, so let’s get stuck in.
I am going to hand over to Mostafa Rachwani for the evening – a reminder that the Asio annual threat assessment will be delivered later today (it’s the second time they have done it).
Daniel Hurst will report on that, when he knows more.
Paul Karp is keeping an eye on the government’s IR bill – if the government accepts One Nation’s amendments, it just needs one more vote.
We’ll bring you up to speed with everything tomorrow as well – it’s the last joint sitting day until 1 May, when the budget is handed down. So tomorrow will be a very, very busy one.
I’ll be back early tomorrow – until then, take care of you.
Updated
Any legislative changes which need to be made for the Kate Jenkins inquiry into how complaints are handled in Parliament House, (as laid out in this story from Murph) will also have to be done very, very quickly – or there can be nothing passed until at least 11 May.
Updated
Also in the Senate.
I’m currently moving a Senate motion listing all the March4Justice petition asks and calling on Gov to act on them. Gov has cynically asked to vote for the bit which sets out the petition asks, and is now voting AGAINST the bit which says ACT ON THEM. Srsly. #auspol
— Larissa Waters (@larissawaters) March 17, 2021
Updated
Attorney general assistant minister Amanda Stoker has introduced amendments to the royal commission bill, which will increase privacy protections for witnesses in the disability royal commission
This comes after Greens senator Jordon Steele-John introduced his own private members bill on the same issue, and pressure from Labor to support it.
Any legislation which doesn’t go through the Senate by tomorrow night won’t be able to be passed until budget week, when both chambers sit again.
Updated
South Korean company Kepco has lodged another appeal to the NSW Independent Planning Commission’s (IPC) decision to reject its proposal for a coal mine in the state’s Bylong valley.
Kepco are seeking to overturn a decision by the NSW Land and Environment Court in December which upheld the IPC’s refusal of the mine on the grounds it would have an unacceptable impact on the environment, including through greenhouse gas emissions.
Kepco has lodged a fresh legal bid in the state’s court of appeal.
In the Land and Environment Court case last year, a community group, the Bylong Valley Protection Alliance, successfully argued to join the case and defend the IPC’s ruling after the commission itself declined to take an active role in proceedings.
The Environmental Defenders Office, which acted on behalf of the alliance, said the latest appeal was disappointing.
“We will be speaking with our clients in the coming days to discuss next steps as they continue to defend the rejection of this mine through the courts,” managing lawyer Rana Koroglu said.
Philip Kennedy, of the Bylong Valley Protection Alliance, said the community would like to see Kepco sell the properties it purchased back to farming families.
Kepco is predominantly owned by the South Korean government, so for it to pursue this coal mine while that government talks up its so-called green new deal is the height of hypocrisy.
Guardian Australia has sought comment from Kepco.
Updated
Prof Kim Rubenstein from the University of Canberra, who is an expert in constitutional matters, is speaking to the ABC about some of the potential issues in Christian Porter’s defamation action against the ABC.
(These are all hypothetical issues at the moment and the government is seeking the advice of the solictor general in relation to what parts of his portfolio Porter may have to delegate to his assistant minister, Amanda Stoker.)
Q: Given there clearly is a conflict of interest issue, the government has identified it, if there are issues carved out as they have said, does that settle the issue?
KR:
Look, I don’t think it settles the issues in terms of ministerial responsibility. How that will work in the cabinet room, we have a system of collective responsibility where ministers deliberate together, will he recuse himself from deliberations over matters to do with the federal court?
Indeed, the appointments he’s made to the federal court in – since the Coalition have come into power, all of the appointments for instance in Melbourne, all nine appointments have been of men, any future decisions about future appointments to the federal court, having to recuse himself and then a collective decision being made, it makes very very difficult unpacking of ministerial responsibility.
So it will be one thing to share the load, having a man and a woman being attorney general, but they both have to be collectively responsible for every decision.
Distemper knack can’t be responsible for decisions that the federal court placed directly for his concern, and there are 24 mentions of the attorney general in the Federal Court Act, in terms of responsibilities under the Act. That can’t be fulfilled while he is attorney general, and even if an assistant attorney general fulfils them, the whole cabinet is compromised by his position as a member of the cabinet.
Updated
Police say men arrested in terrorism investigation motivated by 'religious extremism'
The two men and 16-year-old boy arrested by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team in Victoria today were motivated by an “ideology based on religious extremism”, police have said.
As we told you earlier, the 19-year-old and 20-year-old remain in custody and are currently being interviewed by police. A 16-year-old boy has been released but police say they will “continue to engage” with him.
At a press conference just now, assistant commissioner Michael Hermans, the head of the Victoria Police Counter Terrorism Command, said the two men may face terror related charges in relation to a fire in bushland near Epping last month and an assault in the Melbourne metro area.
Hermans said police suspected that both incidents may have been motivated by Islamic extremism, and that the arrests had been made because officers believed the “risk profile” of the men was “increasing”.
“Without going into that detail there are certain aspects to the lighting of the fire which leads us to suspect it was a terrorism motivation.”
While the two incidents had not initially been investigated by counter terrorism police, Hermans said police had received “intelligence in relation to a person of interest” which “led us to believe that perhaps [it was] more serious than initially”.
We received information that suggested their ideology would be of concern to the Victorian community and as a result conducted investigations into one [person] which led to three [persons of interest].
Updated
That section of the interview ends with these questions:
Patricia Karvelas: And do you think that has been achieved at this stage, based on what we have read there?
Richard Marles:
I think we have a long way to go is really the answer to that question. We have processes in place for sure, and we seek to make them the best processes they can be. They have been in place for a number of years and we have updated them recently. But not for a moment am I telling you I think we have got the culture right here.
I think there is a long way for us to go. I think there is a long way for the culture to go across the parliament. And, that is what the Jenkins inquiry is going to be.
That’s why all of us need to own the behaviours within our own party. We do need to take responsibility for that. And that’s our advice to Labor as well.
PK: When you read those complaints, did you think, “I think I recognise some of those blokes in that story?”
Marles:
When I read those claims? I, you know, well ... the first thing to say is I absolutely believe the thrust of them.
And there is something in that which is completely heartbreaking – for the women involved, obviously, and, it’s talking about the party that we have all devoted our lives to and we love.
And it’s just not – it’s just like, it’s not what it should be. And we need to fix this. We really need to fix it.
And, you know, we mean to.
But part of that is making sure that we take these allegations seriously. And we will.
Updated
Patricia Karvelas: What do you mean by “may be”? Isn’t that a standard thing now? Wouldn’t you expect that?
Richard Marles:
What I would expect and what is really important here, is that all allegations are taken completely seriously.
And we have sought to do that.
That they are taken seriously when they are made by a complainant, with the complainant’s interests forefront in the minds of how we deal with this. And it may well be that where this ends up.
Ultimately, it’s going to be - a question of that kind will be a matter for the leader of the Labor Party, and it will be dependent, you know, on what the circumstances of the allegation are.
And it’s difficult to answer that in the context of a hypothetical, or in the abstract, but let me say this, Patricia. I absolutely accept the thrust of what has been reported by Sam Maiden in relation to the private Facebook group. I am appalled by what was said there.
I have said this before but as the Deputy Leader of the Labor Party and on behalf of the party, I am really sorry to women who have experienced what has been described in those posts.
We need to be encouraging women to be a part of our movement, obviously serving the Parliament, but to work in Parliament here and do so in a way which is safe, and the sorts of things that were described there should not be a part of a woman’s experience in working in the building, or working for any member of the Labor Party.
... And I acknowledge this is about our house, Labor’s house, and we need to make sure we’re getting our house in order, and it’s really important that we are shouldering the burden of the cultural change in this building, but within our own party as well, that we make it a party where women want to work and want to serve, and do so safely.
That interview with Patricia Karvelas continues:
Q: Liberal Senator Sarah Henderson also says that she’s been subjected to abuse from the left side of politics. If you are serious about improving the culture of politics, should she be apologised to? Does the need to be a concerted effort to deal with the fact that the left is sometimes responsible for some of this sexism, too?
Richard Marles:
Well, I am not sure what the substance of Senator Henderson’s claims are in the context of whether she is making a claim that those criticisms or campaigns against her have been sexist in nature.
The simple point here is this: that the way in which we conduct politics needs to be done in a way which is completely free of sexism. At no point have we sought to say that this is a partisan issue.
In fact, from the outset we have made it really clear that this needs to be seen in a bipartisan context in the sense that we need to be dealing with the cultural politics as a whole across the political spectrum.
I would be the first to say that Labor needs to own its share of that, and we have been pretty clear about that from the get-go. But it’s really important that we are actually working together in terms of trying to change the culture of politics so there isn’t any sexist overtones in the way in which - the way in which we go about the business of politics.
Q: There have been dozens of anonymous complaints made by current and former Labor staffers as you know, that have been alleged, unwanted touching, forced kissing, bullying, an older Labor man getting a young woman drunk before having non-consensual sex. If a male frontbencher is named, right - because at this stage it is an unnamed allegations - should he stand aside?
Marles:
Well, that may be where this goes.
If there is a credible and substantiated allegation, well, then, that may be a cause that is taken.
Richard Marles is on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing. He’s asked about Nicolle Flint’s speech from last night:
Q: Let’s talk about Nicolle Flint’s treatment and what she has been talking about. She calls it “a coordinated sexist campaign”. But it was pretty well-known, wasn’t it? Why hasn’t Labor denounced it earlier – doesn’t it demonstrate there was a double standard here?
Marles:
I don’t think it demonstrates a double standard. Let me be clear: it’s an appalling campaign. And Nicolle Flint should not have been subject to this. And every woman in public life, every woman full stop needs to feel safe in the work that they do. And Nicolle Flint should not have been subject to the kind of campaign that she was subjected to.
But I think it’s not fair to try and wrap Penny Wong and Tanya Plibersek into this. They have also been very clear in their condemnation of the campaign that was run against Nicolle Flint. And it’s really important that, you know, we are working across the aisle to make sure that all of us, women in politics, women in general, can do their jobs. Nicolle Flint’s point is that it’s only today that we have heard this response from Labor.
Q: Why not earlier?
Marles:
Well, I am not, I not sure that that’s - that that’s right in terms of when responses were.
Q: When else have you condemned the sexist rhetoric?
Marles:
But the point is as soon as the question was raised, with both Penny Wong, and Tanya Plibersek, they were completely unequivocal, as we have all been, in our condemnation of this.
Updated
The South Australian parliament has already initiated something, and now, as AAP reports, the NSW parliament is reviewing how sexual harassment and abuse complaints are dealt with:
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian has announced a review into the way sexual assault, bullying and harassment is handled in state parliament, following rape allegations plaguing Canberra.
Berejiklian has told parliament she privately commissioned a review on 18 February to be conducted by former sex discrimination commissioner and Liberal minister Pru Goward after hearing Brittany Higgins’ story.
Higgins alleges she was raped by a colleague on a couch inside defence minister Linda Reynolds’ office in 2019.
She says her complaint was handled insensitively and she was made to feel like a political problem.
Berejiklian said during question time on Wednesday:
Given the actions and courage demonstrated by Ms Higgins and the absolute horror all of us felt when she explained what occurred to her ... I chose to take this action to make sure that we stress test every single practice we have in place.
I want to make sure that every single staff member who works in this place, or works in the ministerial office or within the electoral office knows that they will be protected if they come forward with any level of allegation.
The review will look at who should receive complaints, how best to handle them and what the standard for triggering an internal investigation should be, and a report will be handed directly to the premier within the month.
It will consult with the presiding officers of both houses of parliament, the parliamentary services department, and any relevant bodies that specialise in addressing misconduct in the workplace.
Updated
As Mike Bowers saw question time.
Updated
Victorian police are not getting into specifics, but said the terrorism arrests relate to extremist Islamic ideology.
The read out from the prime minister’s call with John Kerry is out:
The PM had a constructive call with US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry this morning on ways the US and Australia will work together on technological advances that can enable us to address climate challenge and the transition to a new energy economy. They had last seen each other at the inaugural quad leaders’ meeting on the weekend, when Quad leaders recognised addressing climate change as one of a series of issues, including Covid-19, where liberal democracies can provide leadership and deliver practical solutions.
Australia’s strong record of meeting and beating our emissions reduction targets was recognised, noting we have reduced emissions by 19% since 2005 – our benchmark year under the Paris agreement – far exceeding the OECD average and many other advanced western economies. He added that the climate discussion must, importantly, focus on what nations are achieving in emissions reductions to date, not just future ambition.
The PM reiterated his commitment to reaching net zero emissions as soon as possible, and preferably by 2050, and the work that needed to be done together to achieve such a goal while protecting jobs and livelihoods, especially in regional areas, that rely on energy intensive industries.
They discussed the critical role that technology, such as hydrogen breakthroughs, had to play in reducing global emissions, particularly in developing countries.
They agreed that there was increasing momentum in business and finance in driving economic opportunities from the transition to the new energy economy and that Australia is keen to be a part of.
They spoke about further collaboration between Australia and the US on research, innovation and clean technology, including through our new bilateral working group
Updated
A 19-year-old man has been arrested in Victoria over “suspected terrorism offences”.
Ahead of a press conference at 4pm, Victoria police have confirmed that the joint counter terrorism squad - which includes the Australian federal police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation – arrested the 19-year-old this morning.
Two others – a 20-year-old man from Epping and 16-year-old boy from Pascoe Vale - were also arrested. The 20-year-old remains in custody while the 16-year-old has been released “pending further inquiries”.
In a statement released just now, Victoria police say it is alleged the 19-year-old, also from Epping, “attempted to engage in a terrorist act”.
Police said:
It will be alleged that a 19-year-old Epping man attempted to engage in a terrorist act.
He is being interviewed by police in relation to suspected terrorism offences.
The operation is ongoing, however at this time police do not anticipate further arrests.
Furthermore, the arrests are not linked to any previous operational activity.
Updated
Victoria police, the Australian federal police, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) and other agencies that form part of the joint counter terrorism team (JCTT) have put out this release on the terrorism arrests:
Police arrested three males and executed two warrants in Epping and Pascoe Vale this morning.
It will be alleged that a 19-year-old Epping man attempted to engage in a terrorist act. He is being interviewed by police in relation to suspected terrorism offences.
A 20-year-old Epping man also remains in custody while a 16-year-old Pascoe Vale youth was released pending further enquiries.
The operation is ongoing, however at this time police do not anticipate further arrests.
Furthermore, the arrests are not linked to any previous operational activity.
Victoria police would like to reassure the community that it continues to work collaboratively with JCTT partners to ensure the safety of all Victorians.
Victoria has well tested, cooperative, counter terrorism and emergency management plans in place and constantly monitor and assess our preparedness to respond to a range of emergencies.
The Victoria joint counter terrorism team comprises of Victoria police, the Australian federal police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
Anyone with information about extremist activity or possible threats to the community should come forward, no matter how small or insignificant you may think the information may be.
Report any suspicious activity to Triple Zero (000), Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or the national security hotline on 1800 1234 00.
Updated
The government read out of the phone call should be out soon, but here is one of John Kerry’s most recent tweets.
We know women often bear the brunt of climate-induced disasters. They are also powerful agents of change and activists in the climate crisis, leading climate policy, teaching the next generation, and spearheading incredible initiatives. #WomenofCourage.
— Special Presidential Envoy John Kerry (@ClimateEnvoy) March 16, 2021
Updated
AAP has an update on the Greens investigation into whether or not Brittany Higgins’ alleged rapist was signed into parliament after his employment was terminated:
A confidential inquiry has been launched into legal issues around Parliament House access following rape allegations raised by Brittany Higgins.
Higgins alleges she was raped by a colleague inside a ministerial office in 2019 after the pair were granted access to the building after hours.
The alleged perpetrator was sacked for a security breach linked to the alleged sexual assault.
The Greens have been pursuing the government over whether the man has ever been signed into parliament following the incident.
A confidential inquiry has now been launched to investigate legal issues around publishing names linked to people signed into the building.
House of Representatives speaker Tony Smith and Senate president Scott Ryan said security had an overriding responsibility to uphold parliamentary privilege.
Parliament’s presiding officers said publishing details of politician or staff member signing a person into the building may prompt questions about privilege.
Greens Senate leader Larissa Waters said it was deeply inappropriate for the matter to be scrutinised in private.
She told the upper house on Wednesday:
It looks an awful lot like sweeping this under the carpet and sending it to a committee that is not conducted in public and presumably can’t be spoken about.
Senator Ryan was caught offguard by the criticism. He said:
I wasn’t aware you were going to make those particular comments that, in my view, unfairly impugn my motive or actions over the past few weeks
I do reject the motives or implications that you said in your statement, given at all times with respect to you and your questions I have acted in good faith.
Senator Ryan said he was still seeking details of any event the accused man could have been signed in for.
He said he was bound to act under parliament’s rules, which meant he could not unilaterally make decisions about releasing the information.
Government upper house leader Simon Birmingham said he understood Senator Waters’ concerns but also noted the presiding officers were following the rules.
He said:
We have to date provided as much information as is actually available in relation to passes, in relation to access, and we will continue to do so.
Asked by Greens leader Adam Bandt in parliament whether the alleged rapist had met with ministers or staff at any time after the incident, prime minister Scott Morrison said:
The scale of what the member is asking is not something that we can give a definite response to.
We have looked into this matter and I have no information to suggest what that what the member suggests is true.
Updated
Peter Dutton sometimes gives those updates in parliament during question time, as part of a “I can announce...” dixer. He didn’t do that today.
Updated
Three arrested in Victoria terrorism investigation
We will have more on this very soon – the press conference will be held at 4pm, but Victorian police have announced three people have been arrested as part of an investigation by the Victoria joint counter terrorism team.
Updated
So the most interesting things from that QT:
The solicitor general is being asked for advice on what Christian Porter can work on as part of his portfolio, given his defamation action against the ABC – not just the government solicitor now, as was announced yesterday.
I imagine that is to make sure that is airtight, in the case it is ever challenged.
We also learned the measure, first put forward by Kelly O’Dwyer two years ago, to add domestic and family violence to the list of hardships people could withdraw their super for, is under review. There were concerns raised at the time that women would be adversely financially impacted, but now that it is part of draft legislation those concerns have become louder.
Scott Morrison can’t say whether or not anyone of his MPs or ministers met with the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins after he was sacked from Linda Reynolds’ office
The prime minister has also not yet received the report from his departmental head on who knew what about Higgins’s allegations.
Updated
Scott Morrison calls time time on question time.
Dixers “with alternative approaches” included at the end will eventually be what ends me.
Updated
Kate Thwaites to Scott Morrison:
Yesterday, the prime minister said the attorney general would not perform certain functions of his office.
If the prime minister intends to allow the attorney general to reduce his duties without an independent inquiry, will the attorney general be responsible for the Sex Discrimination Act?
Morrison gives the same answer that Simon Birmingham gave to the Senate:
I can advise the member that advice has been sought in response to the defamation lawsuit. Once that advice is received, arrangements will be put in place that are consistent with that at the time of the attorney general’s return.
Updated
Peta Murphy to Scott Morrison:
I refer to reports that the government will allow legislation for domestic violence victims to take $10,000 out of their superannuation. Can the prime minister confirmed that he is asking victims of domestic violence to fund their own escape plans, increasing the likelihood of retiring in poverty, but will not support 10 days of paid domestic violence leave?
Morrison:
The measures she refers to was part of the first women’s economic security statement. There has been a second statement in the most recent budget.
The purpose was to provide as much security as we can through the various measures that were put in a place through both of those packages.
The measure which the Member refers to, there is some draft legislation which has been issued, and we have been consulting with various groups around the country about their views about that. And they have raised strong concerns, Mr Speaker, about the nature of that measure. We are listening to those concerns, Mr Speaker, and that measure is under review.
Updated
Tanya Plibersek to Scott Morrison:
Over a year ago, the sex discrimination commissioner, Kate Jenkins, delivered her Respect@Work report to the government. When will the government formally respond to all 55 recommendations?
Morrison:
Together with the many other responses the government has been putting in place on these matter, and I particularly refer to the implementation of the fourth action plan, which I can report is on track, Mr Speaker; 85% of measures meeting projected timelines and dealing with the many issues. Mr Speaker, I appreciate that I’m referring to a different program!
If the members opposite are not interested in programs which are interested in primary prevention to stop violence before it starts – to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their children and the diverse response of women there. This is the fourth national action plan.
In the process of the fourth national action plan, Mr Speaker, we’re also moving through the assistant minister to the attorney general. She will be concluding her recommendations to the government on the response of that report and we hope to be able to do that in the not too distant future. So, Mr Speaker, that is what the assistant minister is doing right now as we speak, Mr Speaker
There has already been a response in the budget of over $2 million in measures for supporting the response to the Respect@Work program. But what I am pleased to say is that the fourth national action plan for protecting women against violence is on track, Mr Speaker. They’re important projects and work is already under way on the fifth national action plan, Mr Speaker.
Some $1 billion has been invested by the government in implementing these measures that are designed to support women and to be protected against violence wherever that may occur, Mr Speaker.
And these programs I note, because I note the interjections from those opposite. The fourth national action plan is a bipartisan initiative. It was supported by both sides of this house, Mr Speaker ... That has been a key factor in its success since the first national action plan was put in place by prime minister Gillard.
Supported by the Coalition and opposition at that time, and on coming to government, we’ve invested a further $1 billion in the action plans that have followed. We are now working together, I hope, to put in place the fifth national action plan and that’s a national action plan which is done together with the states and territories who are keen...
(The speaker tells him to get to the point.)
Morrison:
I already came to it when I set out that the assistant minister to the attorney general is preparing that response and it will be released shortly, Mr Speaker.
I’ve addressed that in my earlier remarks and I framed my response in the context of the more than a billion dollars that the government has invested in protecting against violence, protecting violence against women, Mr Speaker, which we will continue to pursue in a bipartisan way. We will continue to pursue those measures in a bipartisan way and I would encourage the leader of the opposition to bring the opposition to a bipartisan approach.
Updated
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has asked Simon Birmingham, the minister representing the prime minister, about which functions Christian Porter can and can’t perform when he returns as attorney general.
Birmingham confirmed that Porter will not be responsible for the ABC and administration of the federal court, as Scott Morrison noted on Tuesday.
He revealed the PM has asked the solicitor general for advice on how to manage potential conflicts - and promised the government would make transparent the new arrangements before Porter returns (on 31 March).
Birmingham said Porter was not on the expenditure review committee (so doesn’t make ABC funding decisions) but promised any potential conflicts in cabinet deliberations would be dealt with appropriately.
Labor’s Katy Gallagher then asked why Morrison sought the solicitor general’s advice on Porter’s potential conflicts but not whether he is fit to stay in cabinet.
Birmingham said it was normal to seek advice about the former but did not answer about the latter.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
A month ago, the prime minister told this house he asked his former chief of staff, Phil Gaetjaens, what his staff knew about the reported assault of Brittany Higgins only metres from where he works.
Has that report been delivered and told the prime minister if he can trust his own staff. If not? When will it be received? And when will it be released?
Morrison:
No, I have not received that report, Mr Speaker and I’ll report further once I have received that report.
... As I have said in this place and my own inquiries on this, Mr Speaker, then no is the answer to the question in relation to what ... in terms of what my office knew, Mr Speaker. I’ve set out very clearly when my office learnt about the matters.
I inquired about the matters with my office, Mr Speaker, and we’ve gone through a process that we’ve gone through on other occasions with the department secretary. And when he’s completed that report, he will provide it to me.
Updated
Katharine Murphy has just published this:
A bipartisan group of political staff, including Brittany Higgins and Fiona Sugden – a former senior adviser to a number of Labor leaders – have written to Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese urging them to ensure that submissions to the looming Jenkins review are kept confidential.
According to the letter seen by Guardian Australia, the bipartisan group, which also includes Lucy Turnbull and Thérèse Rein, the spouses of former prime ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd, urges Morrison and Albanese to legislate to ensure that submissions to the review can’t be obtained under freedom of information legislation, or released under the Archives Act.
The letter reads:
As you have both said publicly, it is important that as many people as possible participate in the review.
To do this, current and former staff must have confidence in the sex discrimination commissioner’s ability to ensure privacy for the participants in the immediate future and in the long term.
Updated
Catherine King to Scott Morrison:
Given it’s now been more than 48 hours since Brittany Higgins told the Women’s March4Justice, the Prime Minister’s Office had sought to undermine her loved ones, has the Prime Minister asked his staff if this is true? If not, why not?
Morrison:
I refer the member to my answer yesterday.
What was Morrison’s answer yesterday?
I refer the same answer I gave yesterday.
What was Morrison’s answer on Monday?
I’ve no knowledge of that and I would never instruct that. I would never instruct such a thing. I would never do that. The apology that I offered in this place to Brittany Higgins was sincere and was genuine, and I’m happy to restate it. (He did not repeat it)
Josh Frydenberg is still talking about the 2019 election campaign, and Labor’s then-tax plan.
If that tax plan is wiped at the upcoming national conference, Josh Frydenberg is going to be really, really sad.
Josh Frydenberg yells a few times about jobkeeper.
He’s still impersonating a LinkedIn directory when he yells about jobkeeper in dixers.
All round, they are some very long three minutes.
Updated
The current deputy prime minister is once again talking about the ‘move to more’ which is the latest in a long line of campaigns to get people to move out of the cities and into the regions.
This is something the coalition has been talking about since coming to government. It’s not a new policy. And it hasn’t worked - because the regions do not have the infrastructure to support growing populations. Plus, I don’t know if anyone has looked at house prices in the regions lately, but be in mining regions, coastal regions or anything in between, it’s not exactly a renter’s market. And don’t get me started on house prices when it comes to buying.
Adam Bandt has the crossbench question today and asks Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister regarding the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins. Almost four weeks ago, I asked you whether the alleged rapist of Brittany Higgins had meeting with staff at any time since it occurred. You undertook to make inquiries and report back. Given it’s been 23 days to make such inquiries, can you please advise whether the alleged rapist met with your ministers or the staff after the alleged rape?
Morrison:
You’ll recall, and the member for Melbourne will recall, that I reported back to the house very soon after that matter andI reported on the inquiries that were made ...
In terms of the broader actions of the ministry, there is an incredible array of activity that goes on across the government and the sheer scale of what the member is asking, Mr Speaker, is not something that we can give a definite response to. We have looked into this matter, Mr Speaker, and I have no information to suggest that what the member suggests is true.
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Richard Marles to Scott Morrison:
The prime minister said economic confidence will be reinforced by the rollout of the vaccination program. What will be the economic confidence and jobs impact of ripping away jobkeeper while a vaccine rollout falls behind schedule. Why is the prime minister so quick to rip away jobkeeper but so slow to roll out the vaccines?
Morrison talks about the success of the jobkeeper program and the vaccination rollout and ends with:
The economy is coming back, Mr Speaker. And Australians are getting up on their feet again, Mr Speaker.
And the last thing that they need, Mr Speaker, is a negative Labor leader and negative Labor party who wants to pull the rug from under from them by seeking to undermine the most important vaccination program that this country has ever seen.
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So far it has only been members of the Coalition who have raised concerns about the vaccine. One was so worked up about not being able to speak out on discredited and unproven research about Covid treatments and the vaccine, he quit the party so he could do it at will.
It was only yesterday that Matt Canavan, a Nationals backbencher, called for the AstraZeneca vaccine rollout to be suspended.
Questions about the vaccination program are not undermining the vaccine. Having actual MPs in the party raising questions about the vaccine does.
Plus – given the reports I have had from people trying to access the program as announced by the government today, I’m sure people care about politics. They just want to be able to get the vaccine.
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The prime minister is quite cranky today.
Ged Kearney to Scott Morrison:
On January 7, the prime minister said about the vaccine rollout, and I quote: “We have set out cautious timetables.” And: “We don’t want to make promises that we can’t keep. That is incredibly important.” Why was the prime minister failed to deliver on his promise of 4 million vaccinations by the end of March?
Morrison:
Mr Speaker, there have been many Covid tests that Australians have undertaken over the course of this pandemic.
But there is a test for the opposition when it comes to national unity. On the availability of the vaccine program, Mr Speaker.
The Labor party in this chamber is facing the test of national unity to support the national vaccination program. Mr Speaker, as we have learnt, as the government that has led Australians out of the Covid-19 crisis, Mr Speaker, both the pandemic and the economic recession that it caused, Mr Speaker, to put Australians in the forefront of the world. As we emerge, Mr Speaker, as there is chaos and crisis around the world, in Europe, in the United States, in the United Kingdom, all around the world, here in Australia we have proved to be a safe haven for Australians in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic storm.
Mr Speaker, as we have learned as we led the country in that way, it is important to continue to respond to events as they occur.
It may be lost on the Labor party, but when you order 3.8 million vaccines from Europe, and 700,000 are able to be delivered because of the crisis in Europe, this is something that the Labor party seems to overlook.
What they also failed to overlook, Mr Speaker, is that it was this government, this government, in August of last year, that knew that supply chain vulnerabilities would be present.
So we put in place, in August of last year, the commencement of a program to create a domestic manufacturing capability for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Were it not for that, Mr Speaker, were it not for that strategic decision, just like our decision to close the borders at the outset of the program, Mr Speaker, and to call a global pandemic two weeks before the World Health Organisation, were it not for that, Australia would not have a vaccination program. Were it not for the foresight of the minister for health and aged care and, Mr Speaker, the secretary of the Department of Health, Professor Brendan Murphy, the chief medical officer, Professor Paul Kelly, who those opposite now seek to undermine, Mr Speaker, in seeking to undercut and undermine confidence in the national vaccination program.
This is the leader of the opposition who only has political bones in his body. You won’t find any other bones, Mr Speaker, and you certainly won’t find a spine.
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Mark Butler to Scott Morrison:
The prime minister’s long-awaited announcement to launch the booking system for Covid vaccinations was executed with precision – in every newspaper and media outlet this morning. But there are already widespread reports of the system failing. If the government can get the media strategy right, why can’t it get the vaccine delivery right?
Morrison:
Mr Speaker, I’ll ask the minister for health to make further comments.
As I said in this place yesterday, Mr Speaker, that characterisation of that question in that way has only one purpose, and that is to seek to undermine the vaccination program in this country.
[The assertions] ... by the shadow minister are false. They’re disingenuous and seek to undermine one of the most important vaccination programs this country has undertaken for the good health and the recovery of this country.
I would urge members to engage in this national project of such great importance to this country rather than continuing to stoop into the partisanship of playing politics with the Covid pandemic.
Greg Hunt says the program is being rolled out and it is going fine.
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The condolence motion moves to the federation chamber.
Question time will start soon.
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Question time begins
A condolence motion for Chris Hurford, a former Labor MP for Adelaide who died in November, is being held first. He held the seat from 1969 to 1987.
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Mike Bowers has been out and about ahead of question time.
Joel Fitzgibbon has chosen “Failures of Command” as his book troll this week.
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IR law closer to passing if government takes on One Nation amendments
Senator Malcolm Roberts has given a briefing about One Nation’s industrial relations amendments - confirming if the government backs them, he and Pauline Hanson will vote for the bill.
In fact, Roberts wants the bill voted on this week and is prepared to sit on Friday if needed to get it done. What’s needed is actually one more vote - not one more day in the parliamentary week.
To the non-exhaustive list of amendments, Roberts added One Nation wants:
- The length of project life pay deals for new projects to be shortened from a maximum of eight years to six
- Yearly wage increases in pay deals for new work sites in line with increases in the national minimum wage
Small businesses (15 full-time equivalents or fewer) would be exempt from requirements to inform casuals about their right to convert to permanent work, but employees can still ask to convert.
One Nation is not asking for arbitration of refusals to convert a casual. Roberts confirmed that One Nation is fine with the definition of who is classified as a casual being determined by agreement at the start of a job, because it was a “minefield” of complexity tinkering with the definition.
Misclassified casuals would be eligible for backpay, but it will be reduced by the amount of the casual loading already paid. Roberts said “as an Australian we don’t double dip, we don’t expect to be paid for something twice”.
Asked about bargaining changes - such as the 21 day time limit for FWC to approve a pay deal - Roberts said One Nation had already opposed changes to exclude the better off overall test. It seems they’re on board with the other procedural changes.
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The secretary of the department of health, professor Brendan Murphy spoke a little about the anaphylaxis reports with the AstraZeneca vaccine in Queensland (it was four people and they had a history of allergic reactions):
In talks of the recent concerns from Queensland about anaphylaxis, we know vaccines have an association with anaphylaxis.
One in 10 million people can have an anaphylactic reaction is there are components that can cause it.
People with anaphylaxis generally know they have had it in the past and the advice is people with anaphylactic reactions vaccine components should be vaccinated under medical supervision with a doctor present in the facility.
And they should stay for 30 minutes rather than the recommended 15 minutes.
Sometimes you do see a greater than what made the expected incidence of reports, this will be investigated by the TGA, but there is to my knowledge, no reason at all for concern at.
We have seen anaphylaxis with the Pfizer vaccine, we have seen it with the AstraZeneca vaccine, and they have all been expertly treated.
We would expect to see anaphylaxis, and we would have adrenaline on hand and know how to manage the condition at. We are confident the program should continue to go ahead as it has. I have had the AstraZeneca vaccine a week ago, more than a week ago, with Minister Hunt, and I am very confident this is a very safe and very, very effective vaccine.
Question time is coming up, so Greg Hunt won’t have too much time to answer questions.
We are still in the slideshow part of the press conference.
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Greg Hunt is giving a Covid update with the start of the 1b vaccination phase (as Elias Visontay has reported, it’s still a little confused).
Health Minister @GregHuntMP is in charge of the slides today - 203,557 Aussies have so far been vaccinated against Covid-19. @10NewsFirst #auspol pic.twitter.com/Ffxe1kaW6c
— Tegan George (@tegangeorge) March 17, 2021
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This campaign is continuing.
CEO of @ASRC1 @Kon__K asks why are are giving tax cuts to billionaires, and breadcrumbs to people on the lowest incomes? #JobSeeker #RaisetheRateforGood #auspol pic.twitter.com/PAoRp4c7m2
— ACOSS (@ACOSS) March 17, 2021
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The chief scientist says she has full confidence in the AstraZeneca vaccine:
As far as I know from the TGA, there isn’t a scientific basis for that. If you go through looking at statistics, you have to be really careful looking at them relating to epidemiological studies, which is part of what has to happen when dealing with any trial or anything like that.
You have to be very careful and I won’t pretend to be an expert at this. The evidence, to date, says the work done on the vaccine and AstraZeneca and the trials has shown there is no possible, no evidence of this being a major issue.
Statistically, the number of people who have things like blood clots is lower in the test pull of the normal population.
There are questions about whether or not the different profiles of people are to cross-sections and that is what they are looking into because you are taking it seriously, not saying talk to the hand, but saying we look at it and take it seriously.
I think the thing that is most important is recognising when you go through that whole process of delivering a vaccine, the checks and balances are something where you can assure the government does not want to create something which is creating a bad outcome. But when you look at what has happened in the UK, Patrick Vallance, the chief scientist, told me that they are amazed at the fact that they have had over 90% of their elderly having had a vaccine and the impact of, using AstraZeneca the impact of that has been far in excess of what they had imagined
Death and severe illness has dropped in that age group and I think as we see the AstraZeneca one rolled out, especially the one made in Australia, we should be very confident and the government will immediately jump to changing something if there is a reason for it.
At this stage, we have full confidence that there is no reason for it.
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Dr Cathy Foley, Australia’s chief scientist, is asked how the scientific community can reshape the debate around science and climate, given how much people turned to science during the Covid pandemic. She says:
I think, first of all, the whole issue with climate and the research around it has been recognising how you actually take that science and turn it into something actually take the science and turn it into something that is understood, and being able to translate it into a way that is able to be addressed to.
And the problem is, to address it requires quite massive changes in the whole of the economy.
We are looking at shifting the way we deliver energy, that means shifting the sorts of exports that we have, it also means shifting the way all of us operate our transport, the way we build buildings, we all breathe out carbon dioxide, so it is something that is really visceral for all of us.
So I think the thing of which we have taken some time to do is work out how we actually take that into account.
And what I think has taken a long time is to work out that we have two live with something and take a risk approach.
It doesn’t matter which company you work in, you always have to take a whole range of things that could potentially happen, which could be a small percentage, but you have to be ready for something that could be a large percentage of possible activities to be and you need to address how you are going to mitigate that.
I think it has taken us a while to mature into what that looks like but I am uplifted with what is happening at the moment.
In 2012, when Arena was set up, which is finding by new technologies for creating energy, the - no-one thought within eight years we would have solar panels on so many grooves all over the world, and the same with wind power.
So, the ability of linking the science with the energy and the government license support and business models, I don’t think we have done that so well over the past but I think we have begun to see in the last five years, the lifting up, and I hope we will be able to take that further so we’re looking back at the previous 20 years is something which was lessons learned as opposed to the beginning of a dark future.
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One Nation has unveiled its amendments to the Coalition’s industrial relations omnibus bill.
It is a suite of mostly minor changes. If the government agrees to these and One Nation votes for the bill, then it is just one vote away from passing. The Coalition needs the vote of Stirling Griff.
Rex Patrick and Jacqui Lambie want to block the whole bill except the wage theft chapter.
The One Nation amendments:
- Remove the provision for the minister to allow eight-year pay deals for new projects that are under $500m
- Exempt small businesses from the requirement to offer casuals the right to request conversion to permanent work
- Require a review of new casual provisions after 12 months
- Require zombie pay deals to be terminated by mid-2022
But the amendments are more significant for what they leave in place. Misclassified casuals’ backpay can be reduced if they’ve been paid a casual loading. Changes to the bargaining process requiring the Fair Work Commission to approve deals within 21 days are still in place.
These elements of the bill were opposed bitterly by unions. I expect they won’t be happy.
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Coalition urged to look at bringing Darwin port back under Australian control
A parliamentary committee looking into Australia’s trade links with China has called on the Morrison government to consider bringing the port of Darwin back under Australian control.
The joint standing committee on trade and investment growth, which is government-dominated and chaired by LNP backbencher George Christensen, has tabled a consensus report containing 21 recommendations.
They include calling on the government to establish a clear, consistent definition of national interest and guidance on how it is applied when it assesses foreign investment applications. Such a move would provide confidence to investors and the Australian community.
The report also calls on the government to maintain relationships with existing close trading partners, while expanding trade with other countries. Other suggestions are increasing domestic funding for universities and considering establishing a national development bank to help build Australian manufacturing capacity.
The committee also raised concerns about the Northern Territory government’s long-term lease of the port of Darwin to a Chinese company in 2015, saying:
The committee recommends that the Australian government provide a report on whether the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to a foreign company will be subject to the Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020 (the act) and, if so, consider taking measures to have the port of Darwin brought back under Australian ownership if current arrangements are not deemed to be in the national interest. Further, the committee recommends that other ports and strategic infrastructure owned by, or leased to, foreign corporations also be reviewed under the act.
Christensen said Australia needed to pivot away from China. In his own foreword to the report, Christensen said the risk of putting too many eggs in one basket was “exacerbated when the basket is woven by a totalitarian communist state that uses trade as a political weapon”.
Christensen said the recommendations addressed “serious concerns regarding state-owned enterprises and state-linked enterprises funding our universities and owning or leasing our strategic infrastructure, including the port of Darwin”.
There is no dissenting report, but the report included additional comments from Labor members describing the events relating to the Port of Darwin lease as “a catalogue of failures on behalf of both the Country Liberal Northern Territory government and the federal Liberal National Coalition government”.
Updated
Australia’s chief scientist, Dr Cathy Foley AO, is delivering her first major speech since taking up the role and the theme is taking science to impact – making Australia’s scientific breakthroughs more accessible.
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Health minister 'surprised' at vaccine booking site problems
The health minister, Greg Hunt, has said he is surprised by reports the government’s vaccine booking website has been plagued by technical issues, and instances of eligible Australians being rejected for appointments, hours after it was launched on Wednesday morning.
Since the launch, the Guardian has been contacted by multiple eligible vaccine recipients claiming several different issues with the website, ranging from a technical error barring them from accessing the booking system to being rejected for a booking because many of the clinics listed will only accept bookings from existing patients in an effort to manage their limited vaccine supplies.
Others have complained the website instructs them to call their nearest vaccinating clinic to book an appointment, but when they did call, receptionists told them they could not take any bookings as they had not yet been told by the government how many doses they would be receiving.
Australians eligible under phase 1b of the rollout – due to begin Monday and include people aged over 70, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged over 55, healthcare workers not covered in phase 1a and adults with underlying medical conditions – can use the Department of Health’s eligibility tool to book an appointment at their closest GP.
However, when Hunt spoke to Melbourne radio station 3AW on Wednesday morning, host Neil Mitchell read out repeated issues of eligible Australians encountering the errors. Asked if there were any problems with the site, Hunt said:
Well, that would be a surprise.
Regarding clinics rejecting bookings because they are unclear on their dose supplies, Hunt said:
Every clinic that has been listed is only listed because they have made and had confirmed an order. Whether the person on the front desk hasn’t been provided that, but GPs will have 400, 100 or 50 a week ... Be calm this morning. This is a process that’s going to take some months.
Meanwhile, Hobart’s the Mercury newspaper is reporting GPs in the state are saying they are not ready to begin the rollout next week, but the government’s website has listed clinics as being ready.
The Mercury also reported that Hunt’s office sent it a list of 36 GP clinics in Tasmania participating in the rollout, but that the booking website only lists 20 of the practices.
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Here is some of the additional support being provided to PNG.
Australia is also providing the following new targeted support:
- Supply of PPE and other equipment for Port Moresby general hospital and other facilities, as well as 200,000 facemasks;
- Working with the WHO on expanding warehouse capacity to increase storage for PPE and streamline its distribution;
- Supply of hospital tent facilities outside Port Moresby general hospital for safe triaging and referral and transfer of patients;
- Supporting St John’s PNG and national capital district provincial health authority to establish Taurama Aquatic Centre as an isolation facility for mild to moderate cases with up to 120 bed capacity.
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Funding support for the re-opening of the Rita Flynn testing and isolation facility to relieve pressure on the Port Moresby general hospital; funding St John’s Ambulance’s Covid-19 operations in Port Moresby, including patient transport, Covid-19 testing and PPE distribution to clinics;
- Supporting the Covid-19 national control centre with information management, risk communications, quarantine management and health financing; and scaling up surveillance, testing and clinical care capacity in Port Moresby and provinces with known outbreaks, and testing of samples in Australia.
The Australian government will also provide essential PPE supplies to the PNG government including:
- Surgical masks – 1 million
- P2/N95 respirator masks – 200,000
- Gowns – 100,000
- Goggles – 100,000
- Gloves – 100,000 pairs
- Hand sanitiser – 100,000 bottles
- Face shields - 20,000
- Non-invasive ventilators (plus appropriate quantity of consumables) - 200
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The shadow minister for multicultural affairs, Andrew Giles, has responded to the race discrimination commissioner Chin Tan calling for a national anti-racism framework.
Giles told Guardian Australia it was a “significant step” that Alex Hawke has said the government will consider the call.
Giles said:
But what Hawke hasn’t done is commit to do anything,
To recognise the challenge of racism is significant, but there was no commitment to act on racism and develop a national anti-racism strategy, despite mounting evidence of an increased incidence and severity of racist attacks.
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Mike Bowers was down in the PM’s courtyard.
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A small development in the Brittany Higgins case over in the Senate. We reported several weeks ago that the alleged perpetrator in that matter had returned to parliament, and been signed in by a passholder after he ceased employment with Linda Reynolds’ office and had his own pass revoked.
Sources told us he had been signed in while working for a Sydney-based lobbyist firm to attend a small gathering related to the 250th Captain Cook Endeavour voyage in the latter half of 2019.
Greens senator Larissa Waters has been attempting to establish who signed the man in to parliament and made requests for information from both the Senate president and the speaker of the House of Representatives.
Their joint response has been tabled in both houses this morning, and says they think such information might be “privileged”.
The matter has been referred to a confidential committee for further advice on how to proceed.
Waters was scathing of the response, telling the Senate:
Well, it looks an awful lot like sweeping it under the carpet and sending it to a committee that is not conducted in public and presumably cannot be spoken about publicly. I also question the fact that the clerk will be sought advice from. Well, you could have asked the clerk for advice a couple of weeks ago, and we could all have benefited from the response to that advice. I am concerned about the lack of transparency that will now be associated with this process.
Waters has also asked what event the alleged rapist was in parliament to attend. No answers have yet been provided to that question, but the government still has two weeks to respond.
Updated
Q: You’re saying that you’re in that privileged position, why have you not called out that behaviour?
Wong:
I haven’t been asked about it and I’m now responding. I have always, whenever I’m asked – regardless of who the person is – about these sorts of behaviours, I would say they’re unacceptable and that women have a right to be safe.
Q: Were you aware of that kind of behaviour at the time?
Wong:
I remember some public reports about, that were in the media during the campaign. I wasn’t aware of the full gamut of what Ms Flint is reporting until after the election and I think she made a submission to the...
Q: And you didn’t play a hand in that?
Wong:
Of course not. I mean, can I just say it is deeply unfair to make that accusation. Do you honestly believe that I would be part of a campaign of that kind of targeting and harassment of a woman, after all my years in public life and the positions I have taken?
So I’d say to Ms Flint, rather than making these sorts of accusations in public, and through Twitter, let’s have a discussion about how we can work, use our positions, which do carry some privilege, to improve the situation for all women – not just ourselves but for all women.
Q: What do you say to her broader point that Labor, more generally, allowed an environment like that, an environment of hate, as she described it, to flourish against her?
Wong:
I’m not quite sure how to respond to that. What I can say is that the sorts of behaviours she described are not acceptable, end of story.
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Penny Wong was also asked about Nicolle Flint’s speech and said:
I want to make a few comments about Ms Flint. I want to say, first, every woman has a right to be safe. Every woman. Nicolle Flint has a right to be safe. You have a right to be safe. All of us have a right to be safe. Brittany Higgins had a right to be safe. We all have a right to be safe.
What Ms Flint reports as having happened to her is utterly unacceptable. It is unacceptable. It is also unfair of her to seek to tie me and Tanya Plibersek to it.
Now, I would say to Ms Flint, I agree with you. Let’s work together to make this a better place for women, let’s use our positions, which have a certain degree of privilege, to make things better not just for ourselves but for all women in this workplace.
So I’ve spoken to Tanya Plibersek and I’ve said I’d make this offer to Nicolle Flint: if she genuinely wants to sit down with Tanya and I to talk about how we can work together to make this a better place for women, a safer place for women, and how we can make workplaces across Australia safer for women, I’d be very happy to do so.
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Penny Wong has responded to the PNG Covid assistance plan. She says Australia should have acted earlier:
This is a deeply serious, deeply concerning situation which has ramifications not only for Papua New Guinea, but also for Australia. Greg Hunt is right to describe it as a clear and present danger. It is a clear and present danger not only to the people of Papua New Guinea, but also to Australia.
We all know this is a porous border. We all know how close we are to PNG. And we’ve seen this highly risky situation unfolding for some time now. I would say the government’s response hasn’t reflected that clear and present danger. It has been uncertain. It has been tardy. And I would urge the government to act promptly and swiftly to provide PNG with the support with the vaccines, the personal protective equipment that are required.
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The Queensland health minister, Yvette D’Ath, steps up:
I just want to reiterate what Dr John Wakefield has said. Any other vaccine in this country, there are reactions to it, they are treated and we never hear about it.
We put out a notice to the vaccination hubs today, simply saying you should make people aware if they have had a severe allergic reaction or anaphylaxis in the past that they may choose to delay the vaccination, and that for everyone else we will just be extending their observation for a little bit of extra time.
We put that up this morning, so we are standing up today as a matter of transparency and letting the public know that we have told our vaccination centre staff that that is the conversation they should be having with people when they come in to get their vaccinations today.
Photograph: Jono Searle/Getty Images
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To be very clear: people can, and have, had allergic reactions to other vaccines. It’s not new. Vaccines can be made from a whole range of things which promote an immune response, and for people who have an over-active immune response to those materials, it can mean they will have an allergic reaction when receiving any medication.
If you have allergies, or a response to anything, tell your health professional before getting any medication.
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Queensland Health chief Dr John Wakefield talks a little more about the national approach for people with allergies:
We expect with vaccinations that a small number of people, it is fairly rare but a small number of people will get anaphylaxis. That is not a surprise.
We report them and treat them and so on.
The thing about this vaccination program is, nationally, if you are having the flu vaccine or any other type of vaccine and you have anaphylaxis, it is treated and you will never hear about it. Because there is so much focus on this, appropriately, on this vaccination, you are hearing about every single case that arises.
So yes, we have had an anaphylaxis with Pfizer and we expect to get more. The issue with this is, you know, getting four within a 48-hour period, we think we probably need to have a closer at that.
Updated
That’s four allergic reactions out of 3,000 AstraZeneca doses – and again, the people who had those allergic reactions had a history of allergies.
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Four people experience reactions to AstraZeneca vaccine
Queensland health authorities are holding a press conference after reports of four allergic reactions from people after they received the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine. All four people have a history of allergies.
The director general of Queensland Health, Dr John Wakefield, says:
In the past 48 hours we have had four cases of anaphylaxis. One case in Bundaberg, one in Toowoomba and two in Ipswich.
As the minister said, we expect with a vaccination program to see allergic reactions.
What is anaphylaxis? Just so everybody is clear what it is, it is an emergency, but it is the sort of response that someone has like when they have a bee sting – certain people have a bee sting, or if they are allergic to seafood or something similar like that. So it is not something unknown, we know about it and you will know yourselves that certain people carry around an EpiPen to cover for that, so that is the type of reaction we are talking about.
Having seen four of these in the last two days, all of those cases had treatment immediately – we’re trained in that, very skilled in providing that. They have all gone home after a period of monitoring, so they are all safe.
So what we put in place – just while there is, certainly while the national cabinet, the TGA and nationally they just explore this – is just an extra blanket of safety, which is monitoring people for an extra 15 minutes.
And if people do have that strong history of anaphylaxis, we will talk to them individually and recommend that they perhaps hold off until we get the further information.
So, is there anything to worry about? We have kept Queenslanders safe for this pandemic. We will keep people safe during the vaccination program. It is essential that people get vaccinated, but that trust that Queenslanders have in us, we want to preserve and we do that by making sure we have absolute transparency.
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China has blamed “Australia’s wrong words and deeds” for driving the relationship to a low point, as Beijing rebuffed the Biden administration’s call to cease its trade actions against Canberra.
After a top US official signalled that America’s own relationship with China would not improve unless Beijing stopped its “economic coercion” of Australia, China’s foreign ministry said it was Canberra that had jeopardised trust.
Zhao Lijian, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, said:
The root cause of the current difficulties in bilateral relations is Australia’s wrong words and deeds on issues concerning China’s sovereignty, security and development interests, which have undermined the foundation of mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries.
The Australian side knows the ins and outs better than anyone else.
The US expressed support for Australia – which has been the target of trade actions against export sectors worth more than $20bn – as senior Biden administration officials prepare to meet with their Chinese counterparts in Alaska on Thursday and Friday.
Ahead of those meetings, Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific co-ordinator, Kurt Campbell, told the Nine newspapers the US was “not prepared to improve relations in a bilateral and separate context at the same time that a close and dear ally is being subjected to a form of economic coercion”.
The Biden administration, Campbell said, had made clear to the Chinese government that “we are not going to leave Australia alone on the field”. He disclosed that Biden had made that commitment to Scott Morrison during the first leaders’ summit of the Quad countries on Saturday.
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Oh God.
The Palmer Coolum Resort redevelopment will include replicas of the Wonders of the World and famous landmarks including a full-size Trevi Fountain.
— Clive Palmer (@CliveFPalmer) March 17, 2021
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GetUp has released a statement after Nicolle Flint named the organisation as being partly responsible for the campaign of abuse she experienced during the 2019 election:
“The harassment experienced by Nicolle Flint as the member for Boothby during the 2019 election campaign is abhorrent to GetUp as an organisation. We condemned the behaviour at the time and went to great lengths to confirm our members were not involved.
“We conducted a thorough investigation that confirmed that our staff or members were not involved in any of the alleged behaviour levelled against us in this long running effort to smear our reputation.
“We campaigned in the seat of Boothby and other key seats with hard right Liberal MPs, but it is simply wrong to characterise our campaign as harassment or misogyny.
“In May 2019 GetUp issued the following statement condemning the attacks, and we stand by it today:
We absolutely condemn this kind of behaviour, it is deplorable and not how election campaigns should be conducted. Sexist bullying like this needs to be condemned by everyone. It is never ok. It degrades women and gender non-conforming people, and makes it harder for them to stand in parliament.
“In late 2020 GetUp appeared before the joint standing committee on electoral matters (JSCEM) inquiry into the 2019 federal election, where we went on the public record again to condemn the behaviour and reject that GetUp had any involvement.
“GetUp volunteers campaigned in Boothby to champion climate action by singing alongside children’s entertainer Peter Combe, having heart to heart phone calls with their neighbours about important issues, and volunteering on election day.
“Politicians have incredible power to impact our lives, our families and our environment and it is an important part of a healthy democracy for people to hold politicians to account on the issues that matter to them.”
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Further to this story from Ben Butler yesterday:
Greensill has announced it will sack all its Australian staff and cut back its UK operations.
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The minister for immigration, citizenship, migrant services and multicultural affairs, Alex Hawke, has “welcomed” race discrimination commissioner Chin Tan’s call for a national anti-racism framework.
Tan has said that racism is a “significant economic, social and national security threat” in a speech proposing a framework to fight racism.
Hawke said:
On the eve of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Commissioner has highlighted the importance of our whole society working together to address and counter racism. The Government agrees.
The commissioner has made a detailed set of proposals for Government to consider. That’s why I have asked the Department of Home Affairs to work further on these proposals with Commissioner Tan and agencies including the Attorney-General’s Department.
I am undertaking a comprehensive consultation program as we develop Australia’s new Social Cohesion Strategy and I have invited the Commissioner’s contribution to this process.
Additionally, on Friday I am convening a Federal-State Multicultural Ministers’ Roundtable at which Commissioner Tan will discuss the Framework.
The Morrison Government remains committed to continue building on existing successful arrangements, in order to ensure Australia remains the most successful multicultural country in the world.
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We have confirmed that the international call Scott Morrison referred to before leaving the press conference is one with John Kerry, the US special presidential envoy on climate, who is leading Joe Biden’s effort to rally countries to increase their level of climate action.
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Penny Wong has briefly responded to Nicolle Flint’s speech, which named her and Tanya Plibersek as not doing enough to stop the abuse and harassment:
What happened to Ms Flint is utterly unacceptable – utterly unacceptable.
It is also unfair of her to seek to tie me and Tanya Plibersek to it.
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Scott Morrison has just given his first press conference since Sunday – meaning his first since the Women’s March 4 Justice and attorney general Christian Porter’s decision to return to work and to sue the ABC and Louise Milligan for defamation.
But Morrison was only asked about the PNG vaccination announcement, and one question from Channel Nine’s Chris Uhlmann about the Liberal MP Nicolle Flint’s impassioned speech about sexism. The question was selected by Morrison after a staffer stood behind Uhlmann, pointing to indicate to give him the call.
Morrison began his answer:
Look, I’d like to stay on PNG matters, to be honest, but given I’ve got to go in a couple of minutes because I have an international call that I have to attend to, I will say I think she’s an incredibly brave woman.
Of course, when Morrison is more determined to stay on the subject of the day’s announcement, he often refuses questions about other topics, sometimes cycling back to them, but sometimes refusing to give a substantive answer at all – such as in March last year when he rejected a question on sports rorts because “the coronavirus is an issue of much greater concern to Australians”.
So he wasn’t too reluctant to take it, and it was certainly convenient for Morrison to be able to give a grab about Flint’s claims of sexism but nothing about Porter’s return to work and the government’s handling of the sexual assault allegation against him (which Porter strenuously denies).
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Government vaccine booking website hit by errors after launch
The government’s vaccine booking website has encountered technical issues hours after it was launched on Wednesday morning, just five days before 6 million Australians become eligible to get the jab from GPs and local clinics.
Australians eligible under phase 1b of the rollout – due to begin from Monday and include people aged over 70, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged over 55, healthcare workers not covered in phase 1a and adults with underlying medical conditions – can now use the Department of Health’s eligibility tool to book an appointment at their closest GP.
However several users have received errors when attempting to click through to make a booking.
The Guardian also understands MPs have begun fielding complaints from constituents this morning attempting to book through the website, as many of the clinics listed will only accept bookings from existing patients.
The booking website’s launch follows criticism from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Association, who were concerned that doctors were left “ill-equipped” for the rollout without the booking system, and that clinics might have to reject requests for appointments in the first weeks of phase 1b.
This is because so few doses have been provided to individual GPs that they would likely be limited to providing it to their oldest and most at-risk patients, rather than accepting appointments from new patients whose GPs are not participating in the initial rollout.
The Guardian has contacted the Department of Health for clarification.
The phase 1b rollout will include AstraZeneca vaccines, and from next week, vaccines produced in Melbourne by CSL are set to be distributed, after the government reaffirmed its support for the Oxford university-linked jab in the face of an investigation into reports it causes blood clots.
Announcing the booking website’s launch, health minister Greg Hunt acknowledged the number of available appointments would at first be limited. Hunt said:
“Appointments on the service finder will increase as general practices establish their systems and vaccine supply. More appointments will become available as more clinics come on-board.
There will be six million Australians in Phase 1B, and not all will be able to be vaccinated immediately. We recognise that every Australian will have the opportunity to be vaccinated over the coming months and we thank you for your patience.”
Have you tried booking a vaccine appointment this morning? Let me know how it went, elias.visontay@theguardian.com
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Paul Karp was at that prime minister’s press conference:
The govt is determined to create a false equivalence between its fumbling the Brittany Higgins allegation, failure to investigate allegation against Porter (which he denies) and Flints complaints about GetUp. #auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) March 16, 2021
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If the EU doesn’t agree, will Australia divert some of its domestic supply? And will Australians accept that?
Scott Morrison:
Twofold. I expect and would hope to get the cooperation out of Europe for this. We’ve all said that we need to get vaccines where they’re needed.
This is not Australia seeking to do this for our own direct benefit, although we’ve contracted them and you would expect them to be supplied.
We’re not factoring additional supplies into the vaccination program that Professor Murphy and I outlined to you on Sunday. So this would enable us to direct supplies into Papua New Guinea and other parts of the Pacific if needed.
Those vaccines and their deployment would therefore, I think, be following through on the very public statements that have been made in the European Union about their commitment to ensure there is no vaccine protectionism and that vaccines do go to those most in need and that’s why we’re putting that forward.
And on the question of diverting from Australian supplies, those supplies wouldn’t be, but we have already, as I outlined on Sunday, indicated that we would be doing that.
There was a supply of our own produced vaccines that were already factored into the distribution in the weeks ahead and that will continue.
So – and I don’t think Australians have a problem with that. I think when we’re talking about our own home, which PNG is part of, our own family, our Pacific neighbours, I think Australians understand that that is one of our responsibilities and as an advanced nation that has had such incredible success in managing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, I think they would be generous in spirit.
I mean ... We all know the Kokoda story*. They were there for us. We will be there for them.
*Scott Morrison spoke of the Kokoda Trail yesterday in the party room, in terms of the Coalition navigating current politics, saying the path was narrow and the Coalition had to stick together, so it is on his mind.
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Scott Morrison is asked about his response to Nicolle Flint’s speech last night:
Look, I’d like to stay on PNG matters, to be honest, but given I’ve got to go in a couple of minutes because I have an international call that I have to attend to, I think she’s an incredibly brave woman.
I think she’s incredibly brave. I know how brave she was because I was there with her as she endured one of the ugliest campaigns I’ve ever seen besieged against not just a woman but anyone in this country, and her determination to stand up to that in the face of the most vitriolic of abuse, stalking and threats to her own public security was absolutely appalling and I just am amazed at the Labor party and the unions and GetUp just standing by to let that happen.
They were aware. They saw it. They were happy to be advantaged by it and I think she’s called it out well and I think she’s an incredibly strong woman.
We’re sad she won’t run again at the next election. I can understand after having gone through such a traumatic experience that she would form that view. She indicated that to me last year when we were shuffling the cabinet and the ministry and she asked not to be considered at that time. I think she has been an outstanding member of the community. She’s has blazed a trail, I think.
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Scott Morrison is asked about some of the challenges with the PNG response:
This is a significant challenge, no doubt about that and we’re seeing these challenges experienced in many developing countries within our region.
Our response is twofold. One is to provide as much support in partnership
The second is to ensure that we’re protecting Australia’s borders and access into Australia to prevent any transmission from these areas into Australia and in particular into Queensland, so I think the forward deployment of vaccinations, particularly into the treaty villages, a key point of interaction, I think, will be a very achievable and very practical way of addressing that immediate need to provide [assistance].
Extending the ring of containment beyond the Torres Strait Islands on our part of the border, into more sensitive parts of the Western province.
But there is no doubt that as time goes on, we will be increasing further support into Papua New Guinea and wile be doing that in partnership with them.
But our expectations are realistic.
We’re seeing this in many developing countries around the world.
I’ve said consistently going back to the G20 last year when we first discussed these matters, that we need to be mindful but the severe limitations with this virus and as we’ve seen in Africa and other parts of the world, we need to ensure vaccines get to these places. I’ll be appealing to the European Union to let the vaccines go that we have contracted for so we can get that help to Papua New Guinea and every other vaccine we can get out of Europe, that’s where we’ll send it.
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Scott Morrison stresses that the response is being led by Papua New Guinea, and Australia is there to assist and answer questions, not lead.
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Marise Payne talks a little more on the diplomatic work being done on the ground:
Our high commission in Port Moresby is participating in Papua New Guinea’s Covid-19 technical working group and attending meeting at the most senior levels with the high commissioner and his senior counsel staff. Our independent centre for health security is coordinating our health security response in the situation including with Papua New Guinea.
I want to emphasise that the work we are doing and the work we’re announcing today is in partnership with Papua New Guinea, based on their priorities and their needs and we have identified four immediate measures that the prime minister has spoken about in terms of the vaccine response and a number of other supplies – tests, PPE and the Ausmat team.
The Ausmat team will be in country on Monday next week, we expect will also do the ground work for the clinical response team, which will follow then.
The 8,000 doses of vaccines that we have referred to this morning will fill a critical gap in advance of Papua New Guinea’s receipt of its vaccines from the Covax facility.
They are expected in Papua New Guinea in April and then further doses in May, so this gap for frontline workers will be absolutely essential for those people to be able to continue to do the job that they are doing.
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Australia’s chief medical officer Prof Paul Kelly steps up to talk about the PNG plan:
Over the last couple of weeks, and very rapidly, the situation has changed in Papua New Guinea.
Of the cases diagnosed in PNG, half of them have been diagnosed in the past couple of weeks, from the beginning of the pandemic. Recognising that they did not have the resources for mass testing like we have in Australia, so any number you see out of Papua New Guinea of cases and even deaths will be a major underestimate. There is a big outbreak of Covid-19 in Papua New Guinea. We know this from the places that are able to be doing testing.
The PM has mentioned the mine. They’ve done mass test entering and almost half the samples are positive.
They’re finding the same when people are being admitted into hospitals in Port Moresby. Half of women who are coming in due to pregnancy are positive.
We’re seeing a large number of healthcare workers on the frontlines in Papua New Guinea now coming down with Covid-19. These are all signs that there is a major epidemic in the community.
That’s what’s happening in PNG. We are concerned about that because an uncontrolled pandemic is how variants of concern come to light.
That would be not only a major problem for PNG but also for us and the region, if there was a PNG strain to develop, for example. We don’t have any indication of that at the moment. The genomics analysis we’ve done does not show a variant of concern but it is important for us to assist to get that outbreak under control.
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Scott Morrison:
With the agreement of PNG government we are deploying a critical-planning Ausmat team to PNG next week to establish and prepare plans for Covid healthcare needs in PNG and set the grounds for further deployment of a clinical healthcare team in coming weeks.
We’ll seek assistance, pursuant to the quad meeting we had last week, from our quad partners, to provide assistance, technical and otherwise, with the rollout of this program.
In the Torres Strait Islands, we will continue as a matter of urgency to support the efforts of the Queensland health department in the vaccination of the Torres Strait and we’ll be increasing the visibility of the presence of the Border Force in managing that border but porously, after I think very good discussions with the Queensland premier last night – and I thank her for her cooperation – as we worked out the details of – and also in cooperation with the PNG government – to support a vaccine rollout in PNG’s Western province with a focus on supporting vaccinations in what is known as the treaty villages.
They’re the villages that are literally just on the other side of the Torres Strait. And those treaty villages are acting a single community effectively with the communities of the Torres Strait Island.
There is much back and forth in that part of the world and we want to extend the protection of the vaccinations that are going across the Torres Strait Islands into those treaty villages.
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PNG to receive 1m vaccine doses
In terms of the health response, Scott Morrison says:
We will be beefing up the medical support we’re providing by gifting essential PPE to PNG.
That includes 1m surgical masks, 200,000 P295 masks, 100,000 gowns, 100,000 goggles, 100,000 pairs of gloves, 100,000 bottles of sanitiser, 20,000 face shields and 200 non-invasive ventilators.
Our government will also be moving immediately to gift 8,000 doses of our Covid-19 vaccine stocks from our domestic stocks to support the vaccination of front frontline health workers in PNG from next week.
With the support of the PNG government we’re making a formal request to AstraZeneca and the European authorities to access 1m doses of our contracted supplies of AstraZeneca not for Australia, but for PNG, a developing country in desperate need of these vaccines.
We’ve contracted them. We’ve paid for them and we want to see those vaccines come here so we can support our nearest neighbour, PNG, to deal with their urgent needs in our region.
And we’ll be seeking the support of the European Union and AstraZeneca to achieve that as soon as possible.
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Non-critical flights suspended between Australia and PNG
Scott Morrison details the actions being taken:
On the basis of medical advice and the on the basis of discussions I’ve had with prime minister Marape over the last few days and with the premier of Queensland, we are taking the following actions to support the initiatives in Papua New Guinea and also to protect Australians from the spread of the virus from Papua New Guinea to Australia, and in particular protect Queenslanders. Queenslanders, particularly in north Queensland, are most at risk from this.
We’ve been very conscious of that, and these measures are decide very much with them in mind.
Starting at midnight tonight, we will further reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission from PNG to Australia by suspending passenger flights from Papua New Guinea into Cairns.
We will do that for a fortnight and reassess the situation over the next fortnight.
Freight, though, I stress, will continue, and be supported to ensure that necessary supplies are able to get from Cairns to Papua New Guinea.
We’ll be suspending all charter flights from Papua New Guinea to Australia, with limited exemptions for medevac and other critical flights.
We’ll be reducing passenger caps by one-quarter from flights from Port Moresby to Brisbane, effective at midnight tonight.
We’ll be suspending all outbound travel exemptions by Australians to Papua New Guinea, except for essential and critical workers, including humanitarian and medevac-related activity.
This will include no general Fifo workers.
You FI or you FO. If you’re there, you stay.
If you’re here, you stay. We cannot risk people going into those areas and back to Australia.
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Scott Morrison press conference
The prime minister has stepped up for his press conference:
Throughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have always been extremely concerned for our Pacific family, for our neighbours, and over the course of this last year, the Pacific community has done such an extraordinary job to substantively keep their islands free of Covid-19. But we’ve known that that challenge was always going to be too great for Papua New Guinea as time went on.
And that, indeed, is proving to be the case now. Now, I’ve become in contact with prime minister Marape very consistently over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic and particularly in recent days and the events we’re seeing there are of great concern, great concern for them and the challenges that they now face, but I want to assure the people of Papua NewGuinea and my dear friend James Marape that Australians always will stand with them as they meet this challenge and support them in every way that we possibly can.
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Bridget Archer also spoke out against expanding the cashless debit card. She ultimately abstained from the vote.
Before the prime minister steps up for his press conference, it is worth having a look at what Liberal MP Bridget Archer spoke about in her speech on the jobseeker changes last night.
The government is moving the base rate by $50 a fortnight. For people who are now receiving the unemployment payment, that’s a $100 cut from what they are receiving – the Covid supplement is worth about $150 a fortnight at the moment. That ends on 31 March and the new rate will mean people will have $44 a day to live on – instead of the pre-pandemic level of $40 a day. With that $4 comes a whole slew of increased mutual obligations, as well as a business narc line, if someone turns down a job.
Archer questioned her government’s strategy on those mutual obligations:
Whilst the Coalition government is working to deliver some change, I still believe there is much more work to be done. You’ve heard me say it in this House before, but it bears repeating again: we can’t and we won’t move the dial on long-term unemployment or intergenerational unemployment if we don’t have wider reform – in particular, reform that addresses the barriers preventing a jobseeker recipient looking for or accepting meaningful work, such as access to childcare; reliable transport; mental and physical health challenges; trauma; and disadvantage.
The consequent changes to mutual obligation are, in my view, very unhelpful.
There is an opportunity to ensure that we look at how mutual obligation can be a more useful tool for those seeking work, rather than the increasingly meaningless burden it puts on both the potential employer and the potential employee. I fail to see how encouraging jobseekers to apply for jobs that they are in no way able to fill is helping anyone …
While I certainly accept that there are a portion of jobseekers who don’t want to engage, they make up an incredibly small minority of jobseekers. So where’s the gap? When we talk about making someone job ready, what does this really mean? It needs to be about ensuring that someone is ready, beyond just having skills. What are the other barriers that may stop them from accepting work?
We can’t be expected to fix every challenge faced by an individual when they’re looking for work. But when many of our population who need employment and want employment are bumping into one or more roadblocks, I do believe that as a government we have a responsibility to address some of the broader issues.
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Anthony Albanese spoke about Nicolle Flint’s speech in a doorstop interview this morning:
Well, no abuse should happen of any parliamentarian or any staff member. And I condemn any abuse Nicolle Flint was subject to, it’s terrible treatment. I must say that the people who have been named – and some of them actually seem to be proud of their work – in Extinction Rebellion, they were occupying my office every week, harassing staff during not just the campaign but six months before the election. Every week at the same time they occupied the office a number of times, including on one occasion, they got left in the office because they clearly want the police to be called and they were in a secure area of the office so it was just left unlocked and then a staff member had to go back later on.
We need to in this country be able to have disagreements about political views and put them forward in a civil way and that should be the case.
He’s then asked about her point that Labor leaders didn’t call it out at the time:
I think it’s is a political comment from Nicolle Flint. The fact is that in terms of inappropriate behaviour, I call it out whenever I’m asked to do so, whenever I’m aware of it. I do it consistently each and every time, regardless of who it’s directed at. Nicolle Flint was subjected to very bad behaviour and that shouldn’t have happened.
Updated
Scott Morrison will hold a press conference at 9.20am to detail the PNG health response.
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First Nations women are 35 times – 35 times – more likely to experience violence than non-Indigenous women.
Malarndirri McCarthy spoke about it on the ABC this morning and said it was not a new problem:
Well, it always has been [an issue]. It’s not something that just occurred this week. The concerns of First Nations women we’ve been raising for decades, really. You only have to go even as far back as the Bringing Them Home report with the stolen generations when you could see what occurred during that period. So it’s not new to First Nations women, sadly …
What has been done over the many, many years is that you’ve had First Nations women’s organisations across Australia and you’ve had women’s shelters across Australia working with First Nations women and funding for those organisations has decreased quite rapidly. And even the women’s legal services and, you know, Aboriginal legal services have had their funding cut so considerably. And I think we have to point out consistently to not only the federal government, but to governments across the country that if you’re going to do that, you are going to see the less help for those women who need it, in particular in those areas of domestic and family violence.
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The interview moved on to the allegations female Labor staffers have levelled against the party.
Fran Kelly: [Nicolle Flint] told you in that speech last night in the parliament to get your own house in order. And there have been dozens of anonymous complaints made by current and former Labor staffers of unwanted touching, bullying, forced kissing, an older Labor man getting a young woman drunk before having non-consensual sex. These are the anonymous complaints on this website, on this Facebook page. Tanya Plibersek says Labor men need to be held to account. What are you doing as Labor leader to put a stop to this kind of behaviour, to make the Labor party a safe workplace for women?
Anthony Albanese:
Well, what I’ve done is update, through the ALP national executive, a comprehensive plan to stamp out sexual harassment and bullying. We have four policies that have been adopted. A comprehensive anti-sexual harassment policy, an anti-bullying policy, a complaints process that provides for independent processes and the code of conduct. And it applies not just for members of parliament, it applies to any activity where the ALP is involved. For example, any campaign, any function across the board. We need to do better and will continue to work. That was a policy that was developed under the chairmanship of Sharon Claydon, the chair of the caucus, and was adopted unanimously by the ALP national executive.
Kelly: Since it was released a couple of weeks ago, there are some reports that some Labor women don’t believe it gives them still enough confidence and comfort to come forward. I think women listening now would want to know what you will do if an allegation of bullying or sexual harassment was made that isn’t anonymous, if the perpetrator is named. What action will you take against that man?
Albanese:
Well, we’ll act, Fran.
Kelly: What does act mean? What would you do? Would you suspend them?
Albanese:
For example, one of the issues that’s been raised publicly was a complaint against a staff member. And that was made by someone who wasn’t a federal staff member. That person is no longer employed. It was dealt with in conjunction with the woman who made the complaint. And action was taken to the satisfaction of the woman involved.
Updated
But it did happen. So did politics triumph safety when it came to the Boothby election contest?
Anthony Albanese:
Well, it shouldn’t have happened. Full stop. It shouldn’t have happened to anyone in any campaign. Full stop. I condemn. I can’t do more than that. I wasn’t visiting Boothby in those last couple of weeks. Anytime that I got asked about behaviour, I would have said exactly the same thing.
I said the same thing when my office had broken windows every week.
Eventually the person was arrested who engaged in that behaviour. And during this period of time, I’ve got to say, the people who answer phones have been subject to a really difficult period over the last few weeks.
We have had to get mental health support for a range of staff members.
I’m sure that applies absolutely across the board. So I stand with Nicolle Flint.
Her story is one that is appalling that that sort of behaviour was directed at her.
Anthony Albanese was asked about Nicolle Flint’s speech in parliament last night (you’ll find it below) while speaking to the ABC’s Fran Kelly this morning:
Nicolle Flint deserved to be safe as a member of parliament. And we must listen to her story and all the stories about women’s involvement and, indeed, people’s involvement in politics. We must learn to have disagreements in a civil way. The people who have been named in articles as being involved in this are organisations like Extinction Rebellion and some people at GetUp. At the same time, they were, of course, protesting against Labor MPs in some seats, including mine that was being occupied every week at the same time. And certainly, the women staff who worked for me, and my electorate office is all female staff, felt intimidated by occupations of the office. It shouldn’t happen. It shouldn’t happen to anyone.
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Also yesterday, Malarndirri McCarthy gave this speech:
Three years ago, women from the Tangentyere Women's Family Safety Group in Alice Springs travelled to Canberra to urge the Govt to listen to their voices on family & domestic violence issues. We still have a government that won't listen and won't act on violence against women. pic.twitter.com/oSqQJV4C8p
— Malarndirri McCarthy (@Malarndirri19) March 16, 2021
This was very quickly clipped up yesterday – Kristina Keneally was doing a speech on government accountability, and this happened
That moment when you are listing all the ways @ScottMorrisonMP and the Liberals have turned their backs on Australians and @Birmo literally turns his back…
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) March 16, 2021
The Liberals are #NotOnYourSide pic.twitter.com/OClUda56Eb
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The head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Dr John Skerritt, was on the ABC this morning, where he was asked if there was anything he had seen since approving the AstraZeneca vaccine for use in Australia which has given him pause for thought:
No, it hasn’t. In fact, we were on several – several of us were on video conferences until almost midnight last night with about 15 or 16 countries. It’s quite clear that the largest countries have rolled out the vaccine – the UK with 11m doses where they haven’t seen any problems and even some left-field countries such as SaudiArabia who have rolled out a million doses and have quite a sophisticated monitoring system, have not seen any problems. The problems seem to have been limited to reports in Denmark, Germany and perhaps Norway and it’s important to emphasise that Europe as a whole, the European medicines regulator is still strongly promoting that the rollout should continue.
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The finance and public administration committee has recommended that the Greens “dirty donations” bill be voted down – the legislation aimed to ban donations from mega corporations and cap total annual contributions at $1,000.
The committee said the ban would be unworkable. Labor added a report, saying it wanted more transparency. The Greens added a dissenting report, saying the bill should be passed.
Larissa Waters said the major political parties were missing the point:
These companies don’t fork over tens of millions of dollars because they’re passionate about our democracy. They do it because it gets results. Because it makes them money.
Political parties in Australia received $168 million in donations in the 2019-2020 financial year, and just 5% of donors accounted for half of declared donations. Donations to the two major parties tripled between the 2016 and 2019 elections.
Our dirty donations bill would stop all political donations from industries with a track record of seeking to influence decisions: the mining, banking, gambling, alcohol, pharmaceutical, defence, tobacco and property development industries.
It also caps all other donations at $3,000 per parliamentary term, so wealth doesn’t equate to influence.
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Tanya Plibersek spoke to Katharine Murphy last night about the allegations and complaints Labor staffers have raised:
The shadow minister for women, Tanya Plibersek, has urged women inside Labor to come forward with any complaints about sexual assault or harassment, and has flagged efforts to ensure any submissions to the Jenkins inquiry will remain confidential.
Plibersek told Guardian Australia on Tuesday people who had suffered inappropriate conduct in Labor offices needed to “come forward, disclose [and] we will support you”.
“We want this to be a safe workplace,” Plibersek said. “We want everybody who works here to be safe from sexual assault or harassment.
“If people are engaged in unacceptable behaviour, they need to be called to account.”
The head of spy agency Asio is set to reveal his latest assessment of security threats facing Australia later today. Violent extremism and foreign interference are likely to be among the topics when Mike Burgess, the director general of security, delivers Asio’s second annual threat assessment later today.
While the details are not being released ahead of time, Burgess used a similar speech in February 2020 to warn that the extreme rightwing threat in Australia was “real” and “growing”, with small cells regularly meeting “to salute Nazi flags, inspect weapons, train in combat and share their hateful ideology”.
Burgess also used last year’s speech to argue that the threat Australia faced from foreign espionage and interference activities was “higher now than it was at the height of the cold war”.
The new speech comes just days after the second anniversary of the far-right terrorist attack in Christchurch, in which an Australian white supremacist murdered 51 Muslim worshippers.
The update also comes as the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security prepares to conduct hearings on the threat posed by extremist groups in Australia. In a submission to that inquiry, Asio said while Islamist extremism “still comprises most of ASIO’s counter-terrorism workload”, the “threat from the extreme right-wing has grown”.
Asio said the 2019 Christchurch attack “continues to be drawn on for inspiration by right-wing extremists, both in Australia and internationally”.
We will bring you the details of the speech once it is delivered.
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Outside the parliament:
A grouping of embassy cars at the representatives entrance to Parliament House. Later today PM expected to outline Covid response to PNG crisis. #auspol @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/AtKsL8DSuZ
— Naveen Razik (@naveenjrazik) March 16, 2021
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Gladys Berejiklian:
Overnight we did have an additional case. It was a person in the hotel on the same floor, on the 11th floor, the same floor as the guard as the overseas traveller who had the original virus.
The person obviously is in quarantine is already in isolation. Whilst every single case is a concern, it does not change anything here in Sydney.
There are further easing of restrictions here in Sydney taking place and that will continue. Although as always, during a pandemic, we are ask all of our citizens to be on high alert.
Updated
NSW confirms new Covid case in hotel quarantine
Gladys Berejiklian has just confirmed that another Covid-19 case has emerged from the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth hotel.
The person is now quarantined on the 11th floor of the hotel. The premier says it’s unclear just how they caught the virus.
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Nicolle Flint finished with:
In my evidence to the joint standing committee on electoral matters, I stated the following: Here is a quote from former deputy leader Tanya Plibersek, from January 2019 – so in the lead-up to the last federal election: Women deserve to be safe and valued at home, on the streets, in our workplaces and in everything they do. And a quote from Senator Penny Wong … of course bullying and intimidation in any workplace are unacceptable. Senator Wong responded to my committee evidence by attacking me.
Today in this place, the member for Sydney said she was “unaware of any harassment by GetUp of the member for Boothby until very recently”.
I find the member for Sydney’s claim hard to believe, as I was one of only seven Liberal party members on GetUp’s federal election hit list. I was the only woman, the only backbencher and the only one who was not a current or former cabinet minister.
I find it hard to believe that Senator Wong and the Labor members on the committee did not tell the member for Sydney that I had named her in my evidence in September last year.
But, although I find the member for Sydney’s personal explanation today more than a little disingenuous, I don’t want to attack her.
What I say to the Labor party today is that they may not have held the spray can to vandalise my office with sexist slurs and they may not have held the camera pointed at me by the stalker or called me evil in GetUp’s phone calls, but they did create the environment in which hate could flourish.
So I say to the leader of the opposition: what will you do about this? I say to the leader of the opposition: get your own house in order.
And I say to the leader of the opposition: this can’t be about politics any more.
We all bear the responsibility for change.
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Nicolle Flint continued:
I ask the leader of the opposition: where was he and where was his predecessor and where were the senior Labor women when GetUp, Labor and the union supporters chased, harassed and screamed at me everywhere I went in the lead-up to the 2019 election?
Where were they when their supporters were abusing me time after time on Twitter and on my Facebook page?
Where were they when I was stalked by a creepy old man who worked hand in hand with GetUp?
Where were they when the same was done to my fellow candidate Georgina Downer by a different but abusive, aggressive old man?
Where were they when I was subjected to the horrendous sexist and misogynist abuse scrawled all over my campaign office?
Where were they saying, “This has to stop,” when the incidents were all extensively reported on radio, television and in print?
The fact that Senator Penny Wong has claimed that I was not subjected to a coordinated sexist campaign and that my claims of sexism have no basis in fact says it all.
This is the woman who was paired with my seat and who was on the ground giving almost daily press conferences throughout the 2019 election campaign.
She knew exactly what was going on. Is it any wonder that we now find that Labor female staff have been subjected to horrific treatment within the Labor party as well?
Is this the way they’ve been treated and listened to as well?
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Nicolle Fint stood up in the chamber last night and delivered a speech during the adjournment debate, and spoke about some of the abuse she experienced in the last election – and she had some words for Labor’s leadership:
Yesterday I sat in this place and listened to the leader of the opposition express outrage at the treatment of women in politics and suggest that we all need to listen to what women are saying.
He directed almost all of his outrage at my party and my government.
I heard him say almost nothing about his own. I sincerely hope that the leader of the opposition and all the senior Labor women are listening to me right now. The safety of women in this place – female staff, and female MPs and senators – should be above politics.
The need to change the culture of our parties and of this place should be above politics.
It is an issue for us all to address through the bipartisan independent review by the sex discrimination commissioner, Kate Jenkins.
Despite all this and despite the bipartisan support for the review and the change, yesterday the leader of the opposition decided to crawl down into the gutter and make this about politics and turn this into an ugly political fight.
I say to the leader of the opposition: I will not be lectured by you. I will not be lectured by your side of politics about the treatment of women in this place.
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Good morning
We’ve made it to Wednesday. Huzzah.
After Scott Morrison admitted yesterday there would be duties Christian Porter could not perform as part of his role as attorney general, because of his defamation action against the ABC, Labor stepped up the “Porter should step aside” rhetoric.
As Paul Karp reports:
On Monday, the assistant minister to the attorney general, Amanda Stoker, told Guardian Australia the government was “in the process” of determining how to manage “any potential conflict of interest” in Porter’s return to work.
Asked which functions Porter would be unable to perform when he returned to work, Morrison told the lower house “in an abundance of caution and to avoid any perception of conflicts of interest the attorney general will not perform certain functions that may relate to the federal court and the ABC”.
This will require Porter to recuse himself whenever the ABC is discussed in cabinet, including legislative and funding changes.
Mark Dreyfus said Porter should aside:
I don’t know how it is said that you can draw some kind of line around parts of the attorney general’s job but that seems to be what the prime minister is proposing. What he should be doing, what the prime minister should be doing, is showing some leadership for once, trying to clear the air, trying to restore the confidence of the public in this high cabinet office and stand Christian Porter aside.
But Labor is also being made to address allegations of abuse and harassment of female staff on its own side. No one has been named, as yet, with former and current staffers highlighting the abuse in a private group and demanding action. Labor has updated its reporting practices but part of it means it is all confidential – even if there are official complaints, you can’t find out, because the fact that there is a complaint is itself confidential.
Tony Burke has said that any male Labor MP accused of a serious issue should stand aside while an investigation is carried out and the party leaders, including Anthony Albanese, have acknowledged more needs to be done. But there is still dancing around the issue, despite the fact it has dominated politics for the last month. The Liberal Boothby MP, Nicolle Flint, who has announced she will not be re-contesting the next election, called out Labor overnight for not speaking up about the abuse she experienced on the last election campaign.
Meanwhile, on the Covid front, the government was trying to hose down flames started by one of its own, after the Nationals backbencher Matt Canavan publicly called for Australia to suspend its AstraZeneca vaccine rollout, in line with some European countries. Germany, France and Italy are investigating concerns that the vaccine could be linked to blood clots. The World Health Organization has declared the vaccine safe, and the UK has vaccinated millions of people with no problem. There is no official link to blood clots, and the Australian health authorities have declared it safe to use – and still do. The oral contraceptive pill actually has a higher risk of blood clots and it is still prescribed to millions of people, because on the whole, it is safe.
So it’s a headache the government didn’t need and came as the situation in Papua New Guinea, Australia’s closest neighbour (a LNP state politician once said you could walk from PNG to Queensland in low tide) reached crisis point. An Australian health team has been sent to PNG but the government has acknowledged that more needs to be done to help.
As Aaron Smith reports:
Covid cases in Papua New Guinea have jumped alarmingly over the last fortnight. The Pacific nation has reported a total of 2,269 cases and 26 deaths over the course of the pandemic but there are fears that the true rate of community transmission is much higher and is masked by low testing rates.
Fears about the spread of Covid have led to the fast-tracking of the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the Torres Strait this week, including on the island of Saibai which is only a short dinghy ride south of PNG’s Western province.
A Queensland Health spokesperson said this week 40 people on Saibai had been vaccinated, with plans to start vaccinating people on Boigu and Dauan islands next week.
We’ll bring you all of that and more as this Wednesday never seems to end. You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day, with Mike Bowers out and about in parliament. Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst are ready to cover off everything in detail, and the entire Guardian brains trust is keeping an eye on the country outside parliament.
I’ve had three coffees and about four hours of sleep, so it’s going to be amazing.
Ready?
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