What we learned: Wednesday 1 December
With that, we’ll wrap things up for the evening. Stay dry, wherever you are. Here were today’s major developments:
- Christian Porter has announced his retirement at the next election via a lengthy Facebook post. He has informed the prime minister of his decision.
- There has been significant flooding across Queensland south with an emergency declared for Inglewood and residents told to evacuate on Tuesday night. The state has recorded its second death linked to the flooding.
- Victoria recorded 1,179 new Covid cases and six further deaths, while NSW recorded 251 cases including a sixth case of Omicron. Queensland has recorded one new case this evening. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg says “cool heads” must prevail in regards to the new Covid strain.
- The marathon debate on Victoria’s pandemic bill is finally over and will return to the lower house to be debated once more. Everyone is very tired.
- An Indigenous woman has died in custody while being treated at a hospital in Melbourne’s west.
- And government MPs crossed the floor to vote for Craig Kelly’s vaccine mandate motion following a speech littered with inaccuracies about vaccination.
I'll always remember this day.
— Kimberley Kitching🇦🇺🦘 (@kimbakit) December 1, 2021
It took years & so many dedicated people who dared dream big about Australia's commitment to human rights.
All our parties, who disagree so much, Labor, Liberals & the Greens all voted in the Senate to pass Australian #Magnitsky laws. #auspol pic.twitter.com/UDFCpeXJ6H
Also in the Senate:
What a farce. Flagrant Senate filibustering just happened so that we hit the 6:20pm gag for rolling guillotine and have NO CHANCE for debate on the Political Campaigners bill - which Lab has done a deal with Libs on - to ram thru, without inquiry, to silence charities. #auspol
— Larissa Waters (@larissawaters) December 1, 2021
Charities have welcomed the passing of the Autonomous Sanctions Amendment Bill through the Senate today, calling it a “positive step” in enabling Australia to respond to serious human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law.
Save the Children head of policy and human rights lawyer, Simon Henderson:
Australia needs a wide range of measures to be able deter and respond to violations against children in war. For too long, states, entities and individuals have been able to escape accountability for their involvement in some of the most heinous crimes imaginable against children. Save the Children is especially pleased to see the incorporation of an amendment that ensures that violations against children in war are adequately covered.
The organisation has been calling for an amendment throughout the course of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry. Save the Children appeared before the committee.
Globally, grave violations against children in conflict – killing and maiming, recruitment, abduction, sexual violence and attacks on schools and hospitals – continue to increase. Just yesterday, Save the Children released a new report highlighting the increase of recruitment of children globally. This new Bill helps provide part of the answer as to what Australia can do to deter and respond to such violations of children’s rights.”
In implementing the Act, it is important there is appropriate consultation with civil society and oversight mechanisms.
Human Rights Watch’s Australia director Elaine Pearson on the targeted sanction amendments:
“At long last, the Australian government has passed amendments to enable Magnitsky-style targeted sanctions for serious human rights abuses, serious violations of international humanitarian law, and activities undermining good governance and the rule of law, and serious corruption. This is a significant step to promote accountability for human rights in foreign policy, and we welcome the bipartisanship on this important issue.
People who commit serious abuses or corruption with impunity should not be able to travel to Australia or hide their assets in Australian bank accounts. Targeted sanctions raise the cost of serious human rights violations.
Australia is joining other democracies such as the US, UK, European Union, and Canada in adopting such measures and sending a message to abusive leaders everywhere that there are far-reaching consequences for their actions.
The new human rights sanctions regime offers victims a chance to see a measure of justice for the harms they suffered. Now, it is up to the government to use these provisions without delay and sanction serious human rights abusers in a consistent, principled fashion.”
Updated
The defence minister, Peter Dutton, says Australia’s like-minded partners across the region are “loud and clear” in their desire for ensuring continued peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.
Dutton has been active in recent weeks, making a range of public statements about the threat posed by China and attempting to paint Labor as weak on national security in the lead-up to next year’s election. But he will not directly name China in an address tomorrow to the Lowy Institute’s conference on the Indo-Pacific Operating System.
The minister’s office has already distributed the transcript of his prerecorded speech, which will be played at 12.30pm tomorrow. He describes the regional trends as follows:
“Today, our region – the Indo-Pacific – is of course far-more complex and far-less predictable than at any time since the Second World War. We are facing challenges including rapid military modernisation, tension over territorial claims, heightened economic coercion, undermining of international law, including the law of the sea, through to enhanced disinformation, foreign interference and cyber threats, enabled by new and emerging technologies. In the discussions I have with our like-minded friends in the region, the message comes through loud and clear: They share our interest in ensuring continued peace and prosperity. They want to see the Indo-Pacific Operating System characterised by order and stability.”
(This language about the complex environment largely echoes last year’s defence strategic update.)
Dutton says the Aukus deal with the US and the UK is about “more than submarines”, given that it also covers cyber, quantum and AI cooperation. He says it will “enable deeper practical cooperation in developing leading-edge military capabilities and technologies” - which will help to ensure Australia “remains a responsible and highly capable security partner in the Indo-Pacific region for decades to come”.
But implicitly rejecting the criticism that some (including China) have made of Aukus as a retreat into the Anglosphere, Dutton says Aukus is just one example of a broader deepening of Australia’s partnerships with others in the region. He argues the strength and durability of some partnerships are “often underestimated and their development as defence security partnerships often overlooked”. He cites Australia’s relationship with Japan, saying their soon-to-be-finalised reciprocal access agreement will pave the way for joint exercises and disaster relief operations between the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Australian Defence Force.
Dutton says Australia wants to be seen across the Indo-Pacific region as a strong and reliable partner “that more than lifts its weight in securing peace in our region”. He says the Coalition has lifted defence spending to above 2% of GDP “because that’s what’s required to equip the Australian Defence Force with the kit it needs and to keep Australia safe and secure”.
He says Australia is maintaining investment in its core military capabilities and continuing to develop new ones “to hold a potential adversary’s forces and infrastructure at risk from a greater distance, capabilities which send a clear deterrent message to any adversary that the cost they would incur in threatening our interests outweighs the benefits of so doing”.
Updated
Queensland records new Covid case
A Covid case has been detected on the Gold Coast.
BREAKING: New case of COVID-19 detected in Queensland. A public health alert is being issued for contact tracing locations on the Gold Coast: https://t.co/ilutBp00WY. pic.twitter.com/GzllqvXMCL
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) December 1, 2021
⚠️ Public Health Alert ⚠️
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) December 1, 2021
New contact tracing locations in:
📍Gold Coast
Full details: https://t.co/rujm8F3qL4 pic.twitter.com/DzQy4ex3YR
Updated
Man dies in flood waters near Toowoomba
Queensland has recorded its second flood death in five days.
NEW: A man has drowned after his car was washed off a causeway by floodwaters at Yalangur, north of Toowoomba, in southern Queensland.
— @MartySilk (@MartySilkHack) December 1, 2021
It's the second flood death in the state in five days after another man's body was found in a submerged ute at Hibernia on Friday.
Queensland Police has issued a statement about the death.
The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating after a man died when his car became submerged in flood waters at Yalangur, near Toowoomba earlier today.
About 8.20am, police and emergency services received a report of two utility vehicles that were both swept into a creek from Kelvinhaugh Yalangur Road.
The driver and sole occupant of one of the vehicles managed to escape and is safe and well.
Following an extensive response involving specialist police and emergency services, the driver and sole occupant of the other vehicle, a 73-year-old Roma man, was located deceased inside the ute.
Updated
Liberal MP's react to @cporterwa's resignation LIVE on @2GB873 with @JimWilsonMedia :@PaulFletcherMP "I haven't seen Christian's announcement so ill confine myself to saying he's made a great contribution..."
— Lucy Gray (@LucyPGray) December 1, 2021
.@JoshFrydenberg "I'm just looking at the headlines as you are so I don't want to comment until I've seen any comments that Christian may or may not make..."
— Lucy Gray (@LucyPGray) December 1, 2021
The NSW government has released a statement regarding the Industrial Relations Commission order earlier this week for the NSW Teachers Federation to stop strike action planned for Tuesday next week, and confirming the strike is likely to still go ahead.
It says the order extends to any form of industrial action related to the federation’s current wage claims:
I want to reassure you that we are doing all we can to ensure teaching and learning continues without disruption – especially given the difficulties and challenges students, parents and families have experienced during the course of this year.
The current teachers’ award expires on 31 December 2021 and the department has been negotiating a new award with the Teachers Federation, with the assistance of the Commission. We have been unable to reach agreement on a final Award and the matter will be arbitrated by a Full Bench of the Commission, scheduled for May 2022.
It says the department has made an application for an interim award to deliver a 2.5% salary increase for teachers and related employees as soon as the award expires.
This is the maximum amount allowed per annum under the Industrial Relations Act. It would be effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 January 2022, ensuring our teachers and related employees don’t miss out.
The department is strongly encouraging the Federation and its members to comply with the Commission’s orders. But we are also working to make sure our students and their families are supported should industrial action proceed. We will keep you updated as developments come to hand, both on our website and social channels. Principals will also be in contact about plans for your local school.
Updated
Thanks as always to the splendidly switched on Amy Remeikis for guiding us through this afternoon’s turbulent news. I’ll be with you for the rest of the evening.
And that is pretty much the second-last sitting day done and dusted. Cait Cassidy will take you through the evening like the absolute trooper she is, and make sure you check back on the site for what the Guardian’s Canberra team are working on to keep you informed tonight and into tomorrow morning (as well as the rest of the Guardian brains trust who have been beavering away on all the non-federal political news).
You’ll have the wonderful Tory Shepherd with you early tomorrow morning, but I will still be around and I’ll catch you in the afternoon. And as always, Mike Bowers will be with you.
We have almost made it – just one more day to go and then the parliament rises until at least February – unless an election is called before that.
Greg Hunt is expected to make his retirement announcement official tomorrow, and we’ll be keeping an eye out on whether there are any more little surprises (the last sitting day of the year tends to be the day for those kinda things).
There is also any clean up which has to be done – so keep an eye on last minute scrambles and deals as the government tries to put a full stop of the year.
We’ll carry you all through it and beyond as it all unfolds.
A very, very big and grateful thank you to everyone who came along with us today. We truly appreciate it – and mean it – when we say thank you. Your comments, messages and support get us all through. For all those going through a bit of a rough time, or struggling with some of the news, we see you too – and we hope you know you matter.
We’ll be back tomorrow – until then, as always – please, take care of you.
Updated
Update on that previous post:
The government’s new sanctions legislation has just passed the Senate (after the Greens’ amendment failed).
Updated
The Greens are trying to amend the government’s new sanctions legislation to require the minister to consider imposing sanctions on Myanmar military figures and others involved in the 2021 coup.
Labor’s Senate leader, Penny Wong, says she agrees “there is a case for additional targeted sanctions against those responsible” for the coup and the violence in Myanmar – but Labor won’t support this amendment, as it goes to the relationship between the parliament and the executive.
Wong says Labor may not agree with government decisions on particular sanctions “but we do think in our system that the government of the day has to make that decision considering all of the information available to government”.
The Greens senator Janet Rice defends her amendments: “This does not take away the power of the minister to be making that decision … It lays out a transparent pathway.”
The amendments would require the foreign minister to prepare, within 30 days, a statement on whether or not sanctions will be imposed in relation to those responsible for the 2021 coup in Myanmar. More generally, under the Greens’ proposal, the minister would be required to make a statement to parliament on whether or not they agree with proposed sanctions against individuals proposed by a resolution of either house of parliament.
The foreign minister, Marise Payne, tells the Senate that decisions are already subject to parliamentary scrutiny: “Senator Wong has made some salient points particularly in relation to the role of the executive.”
The Greens’ amendment will fail, given that the Coalition and Labor are not supporting it.
Payne says:
The clear and plain fact that from time to time governments will need to exercise judgment in relation to these matters based on all of the information that is available to them … which is obviously a very serious and considered decision to be taken by government.”
Payne says she shares the frustrations of a number of Asean members about the situation in Myanmar.
Updated
Of the 105 comments on Christian Porter’s Facebook resignation post only 10 are visible.
He has limited who is able to post on his content.
Updated
Tony Burke is pretty happy with the screen producer offset win:
Jobs have been saved and small businesses have been spared from a Morrison government tax increase because of a successful Labor amendment supported by the crossbench.
Labor has always supported an increase to the screen producer offset to support the creation of more Australian TV content.
But the government’s bill as it was originally drafted would also have doubled eligibility thresholds for many smaller firms – a tax hike that would have put those businesses and the jobs they create at risk.
Labor on Wednesday moved amendments in the Senate to strike out this part of the bill. Those amendments passed.
Minister Paul Fletcher then attempted to bully Labor into abandoning the amendments before the bill came back to the House of Representatives. But mere hours later the Government was forced into a humiliating backdown.
The government has now adopted Labor’s changes because it knew it did not have the numbers in the lower house.
The Morrison government abandoned the arts and entertainment sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.
With their original bill they showed they were incapable of supporting one part of the arts sector without smashing another part.
Labor’s sensible and responsible amendment has saved jobs and businesses.
Updated
NSW Health confirms sixth case of Omicron
NSW Health has confirmed the sixth case of the Omicron Covid variant in the state:
NSW Health can officially confirm a sixth traveller has been infected with the Omicron Covid-19 variant of concern.
The fully vaccinated traveller, who recently visited southern Africa, arrived on flight QR908 from Doha to Sydney on 25 November and tested positive to COVID-19 yesterday. They are isolating in Sydney.
Everyone on the flight has already been deemed a close contact and has been instructed to get tested immediately for COVID-19 and isolate for 14 days, regardless of their vaccination status.
NSW Health is contacting all passengers and flight crew to advise them of their isolation requirements. They can also call NSW Health on 1800 943 553 for further advice.
At this point in the investigation, NSW Health is aware of at least six people on this flight who had been in southern Africa in the previous 14 days.
There is currently no evidence that transmission occurred on the flight. However, investigations into the five COVID-19 positive passengers on the flight, which includes two confirmed cases with the Omicron variant, are ongoing.
NSW Health advises the following venue was visited by the sixth Omicron case.
Liverpool
Chemist Warehouse, The Grove
Units 3 - 6, 18 Orange Grove Road
Monday 29 November
8:10pm – 8:15pm
Anyone who attended the venue at the times listed is a casual contact who must immediately get tested and isolate until a negative result is received. You should continue to monitor for symptoms and if any symptoms occur, get tested again.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg was speaking with Sydney radio 2GB when Christian Porter’s retirement announcement came through:
“He’s a valued colleague and friend, and has done a lot of good work in this place,” he said.
The Senate is debating a bill to give the government the powers to impose international sanctions for a wider range of conduct, including malicious cyber activity and serious human rights abuses. See our story from August.
Interestingly, the government is backing some amendments moved by Labor and the Greens. It is expected to pass today.
The government introduced the Autonomous Sanctions Amendment (Thematic Sanctions) Bill 2021 in response to cross-party calls for Magnitsky-style laws to slap travel bans and bank account freezes on people over human rights abuses and serious corruption. Rather than proposing a standalone Magnitsky sanctions law, the government opted to amend existing sanctions legislation to add “thematic sanctions”.
These measures “may address the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; threats to international peace and security; malicious cyber activity; serious violations or serious abuses of human rights; and activities undermining good governance or the rule of law, including serious corruption”.
The foreign minister, Marise Payne, said it was a “significant reform” that would allow Australia to “define, defend and demonstrate” its values.
Labor’s Penny Wong moved to amend the bill to also add serious violations of international humanitarian law. She also sought to change the title of the legislation to include Magnitsky-style and other thematic sanctions.
Payne replied: “The government supports both these amendments.”
The government is also backing the Greens’ amendment to require a review of these powers after three years.
Updated
Labor, the Greens and the crossbench in the Senate have had a win – amending a Treasury Laws Amendment to include support for Australian screen content (for smaller producers) – something the government was against just a few hours ago, based on this statement from Paul Fletcher (as Tony Burke has just pointed out in the house):
Labor’s political games are putting the Australian screen production sector at risk.
— Paul Fletcher (@PaulFletcherMP) December 1, 2021
I call on Labor to provide certainty to Australian businesses and pass our Bill as it stands.
Read my full statement: https://t.co/rUDqfm3HNe #auspol pic.twitter.com/gN7xYkv7NZ
Labor moved the amendments, got the support, and the Senate amended the bill. It went back to the house, where the government was unsure of whether or not it had the numbers to fight the amendments – so it is agreeing to them to avoid a vote loss on the floor.
So a victory for a long campaign Burke has been waging there, as well as Greens MPs, including Sarah Hanson-Young – and smaller Australian content makers will receive the benefits.
Updated
Jim Chalmers was asked on the ABC about the SMH report that Labor was dropping its fuel standard policy:
First of all, we said about a range of policies, not just in this area, that obviously a political party doesn’t take exactly the same agenda to one election that they took to the last election.
We’ve said it right across the board, including in my portfolio. We’ll announce a comprehensive plan to get our emissions down, but to get our energy costs down, to get the cleaner and cheaper energy, so we can grab more of the jobs and investment and opportunity that come from the right approach to climate change.
... Look, we’ll [have] a comprehensive plan for climate change and all the policies which are necessary and we will make that clear in the coming weeks.
It will be led by Anthony Albanese and Chris Bowen and the shadow cabinet and I’ll make my contribution there.
We’ll strike the right level of ambition that grabs the opportunities and investment that have gone begging. We believe in doing something meaningful here. We think we can do something which shows good climate policy is good economic policy.
There will be different components of that plan. It won’t just be like the pamphlet the prime minister handed down a couple of weeks ago.
Updated
Five refugees and asylum seekers have been released from detention in the Park hotel in Melbourne, some after more than eight years in detention and held by Australia offshore.
Five men, from Iran, Sri Lanka and Sudan, have been released, leaving 41 still in the hotel.
The vast majority of those still detained in the Park hotel – commandeered as an “alternative place of detention” by the federal government – were brought to Australia in 2019 from offshore processing islands under the short-lived medevac laws. They were brought to Australia because doctors judged they required urgent medical attention for serious conditions. Most have not received the medical care they require.
#HeartwarmingNews
— Thanush selvarasa (@Thanus79084726) December 1, 2021
Today few of my friends released from detention after beings 8 of detention
This victoryreally belongs to those ppl who continuously work for our freedom we won't forget your help until our last breath.
The Park hotel was the site of a Covid outbreak in October and November. At one stage almost half of the people detained there tested positive for Covid. At least one was taken to hospital by ambulance.
Before it was a detention centre, and under its former name, Rydges, the hotel was used for hotel quarantine and was the epicentre of Victoria’s second Covid wave. A government inquiry found, “around 90 per cent of Covid-19 cases in Victoria since late May 2020 were attributable to the outbreak at Rydges”.
Updated
Christian Porter announces retirement at next election
Christian Porter has just put up this statement on his Facebook page:
A message to the people of my electorate
In 2013, you entrusted me to represent you in our nation’s Parliament.
Between 2008 and 2013 I also had the honour of serving in the Parliament of Western Australia and before that I started in public service as a Crown Prosecutor at the Western Australian Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in 2002.
Since joining the DPP 20 years ago, with a few short breaks, I have spent the best part of the last 20 years in public service.
This week however, I made the decision that I will not recontest the seat of Pearce at the next Federal Election and I have informed the Prime Minister of that decision.
It was at the DPP 20 years ago that I learned the great value in public service, of committing yourself to work that you believe in and that you believe is important. Some people spend long political careers working incredibly hard but nevertheless remaining distant from the great responsibility and honour of being in a ministry or representing their Nation in its Cabinet.
In the years since 2008 I have been deeply fortunate to spend 11 years in ministries and only a few months in opposition.
It has been a remarkable privilege to have been a State Attorney General and State Treasurer in Western Australia and to have been the Commonwealth Minister for Social Services, Industry, Science and Technology and serve as Commonwealth Attorney General and Industrial Relations Minister and Leader of the House of Representatives.
Looking back at my time as a Minister the trust that was placed in me by Premier Colin Barnett and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, meant that for much of my time in Cabinet I was entrusted with multiple senior portfolios at once. That was a challenge that I always gave everything to and when working for the Australian public in these roles I never left anything in the tank.
When you are an obsessive compulsive type and entrusted with work that you believe in and that you believe is deeply important, the by-product becomes that people in your life that deserve more from you, especially your family, get much less than they deserve.
My little boy was born one day before I first became a Commonwealth Minister.
He and his little sister have never known anything but their father’s regular absence and so the next part of my working life will be anchored around being close to them and being there for them.
There are few, if any, constants left in modern politics. Perhaps the only certainty now is that there appears to be no limit to what some will say or allege or do to gain an advantage over a perceived enemy.
This makes the harshness that can accompany the privilege of representing people, harder than ever before.
But even though I have experienced perhaps more of the harshness of modern politics than most, there are no regrets.
It has been the experience of a lifetime to work with great teams of men and women to drive change and to govern during remarkable times, including the most demanding time for Government since WWII.
I feel that not a moment of the last 14 years was wasted and I am thankful for the opportunity and friendship provided by my Parliamentary colleagues and the men and women of the Liberal Party.
I am forever grateful for the support of my family, friends and the dedication of staff (some who started with me 20 years ago).
Ultimately, it has always started and finished with the people of my electorate. I started with the promise to fix the GST for the people of my electorate and while it took years I was part of the small group in Federal Cabinet that made it happen for WA. Since 2013 I have been dedicated to securing critical funding for projects that had been long neglected and would improve the lives of people in our local community.
This included hundreds of millions of dollars to extend and widen the Mitchell Freeway, over a billion dollars to fund the Yanchep and Ellenbrook rail lines, completion of the $1 billion Northlink project (WA’s biggest ever road project), the Beverley Cornerstone project, the Northam Aquatic Centre and the Toodyay Sport and Recreation Precinct just to name a few.
Before each election I have always asked myself whether I could absolutely guarantee another three years of total commitment to the electorate because people deserve that commitment, free of any reservations.
After a long time giving everything I could to the people of Pearce it’s now time to give more of what is left to those around me whose love has been unconditional. The Federal Liberal Party have done great things for the electorate of Pearce and I know a new Liberal candidate can continue the trusted record of serving the needs of the electorate under a re-elected Coalition Government.
The Hon Christian Porter MP
Federal Member for Pearce
1 December 2021
Updated
Back to Amanda Stoker, and we are getting a new straw man argument for the government’s voter ID laws; just because there are not a lot prosecutions, doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem, is what Stoker is arguing on the (yet to be proven or explained) need to show ID before voting. Then she cites a joke as proof:
You hear the old Labor slogan ‘vote early and vote often’ and references to the symmetry turning out to vote.
Just because that couldn’t be documented because it’s very hard to run investigations against people who are in the cemetery, then it doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t a problem to deal with here.
The accusations that [it amounts] to voter suppression are really I think something of, something of a misleading line in the sense that there is such a long list of ways available to identify yourself, that it couldn’t possibly do anything but empower people to vote.
And to suggest, particularly the suggestion it operates in a racially biased way I find particularly galling. It is fair minded and anyone who’s serious about the integrity of Australian elections should have no problem with this bill. But that said, we do what we need to do to get stuff done.
...The fact there hasn’t been prosecutions doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem. All it means is that the problem that we are trying to deal with is one that isn’t being captured by the things we currently measure.
But ultimately let’s go back to the essence of it here. All Australians have some form of ID. The list of ways you can identify yourself is extraordinarily long. And in circumstances where there is no exclusion of any Australian as a consequence of the requirement to show ID, then having better accountability around double voting or people who have since passed voting is something that is in everyone’s interest, particularly when seats can often turn by double digits.
Updated
Over in the senate Larissa Waters is giving notice that she will be moving this motion:
I give notice that on the next day of sitting, I shall move—That:
a) the Minister representing the Prime Minister attend the Senate at 12pm on the first sitting day of 2022 to provide an explanation of the Government’s response to the Australian Human Rights Commission report, Set the Standard: Report on the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces, including implementation of the recommendations in the report; and
b) any senator may move to take note of the explanation required by paragraph (a); and
c) any motion under paragraph (b) may be debated for no more than 60 minutes, and senators may speak to the motion for no more than 10 minutes each.
The minister assisting the attorney general, Queensland senator Amanda Stoker has been asked on the ABC whether the government will be adopting all 28 recommendations in the Kate Jenkins report (as Jenkins wants).
The short version is – TBA.
It’s something that the government is very seriously considering. We haven’t rushed our response to it because it is serious and sobering reading that we want to work collaboratively with those across the aisle on.
So we are giving that the serious consideration it deserves because I think everybody accepts that what is in her report is of great concern and in some respects it was expected after some of the matters that have come out of Parliament House over the course of the last year, that is nothing but impetus for action.
Updated
Here is how that Craig Kelly motion played out, as caught by Mike Bowers:
Updated
The Australia Institute is not happy with the reported deal having been done on the political campaigner deal (which Paul Karp reported on just before QT).
The reported deal between the Government and the Opposition to pass the political campaigner bill with amendments is a terrible democratic outcome,” said Ben Oquist, executive director of the Australia Institute.
In a bad day for Australian democracy, this deal to pass legislation will only serve to strangle charities with red tape.
This legislation represents a huge attack on charities, a sector that makes a $129 billion per year contribution to the economy, including the direct employment of over 800,000 people.
It was a bad process, and a bad outcome. There has been no notice, little public explanation, no sector consultation, and now a bill set to be rammed through the Senate with a guillotine. Today we are seeing the biggest attack on the Australian charity sector the public has never heard of.
This outcome means the legislation will have faced no Senate inquiry. The irony of legislation that is supposedly aimed at increasing transparency, having no transparency itself seems to have been completely lost on the Government and Opposition.
This change represents an attack on charities, our democracy and the right to advocate for positive change.”
Updated
The government has named foreign policy analyst and writer Peter Cai as the new chief executive of the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations. This is quite the assignment, given the fact the relationship between Australia and China is at its lowest point in years. As the release issued by the foreign minister, Marise Payne, explains:
“The Foundation brings together state, territory and local governments, business, education institutes, community and cultural sectors, and Chinese Australian communities to further build and strengthen Australia’s engagement with China. The Foundation is an important demonstration of the Government’s commitment to invest in people-to-people ties and practical cooperation between Australia and China.”
Payne says Cai “has extensive experience in business, media, academia and government, including as Group Chief Advisor and General Manager for strategic relations at Virgin Australia, Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy, as a journalist with The Australian, The Age and Sydney Morning Herald and at the Australian Treasury Foreign Investment Review Board Secretariat”.
He has also served as a committee member of the Australia-China Business Council (NSW).
Cai replaces Michaela Browning, whom Payne thanked “for her leadership of the Foundation during its establishment phase since early 2020”.
Updated
Government MPs cross the floor for vaccine mandate motion
OK, Amy Remeikis back with you – just after question time, Craig Kelly tried to move a motion to end vaccine mandates.
He was able to give his speech, without anyone shutting it down – that seems part of a strategy to a) not make him a martyr and give more attention to anti-vaxxer causes and b) because some members of the government don’t want to scare too many of those voters completely out of the “tent”.
So the motion was held and at least two government MPs crossed the floor to vote with Kelly:
George Christensen and Llew O’Brien.
We assume both of them will be dragged into the prime minister’s office for a friendly but frank discussion anytime now.
Updated
Thank you to Tory for that – she will be back with you tomorrow as well.
Question time ends
Now, as we unwind a little, here’s some of Mike Bower’s magic from question time.
Thanks again, and now it’s back to Amy Remeikis! See you all tomorrow.
Updated
Another one from Labor’s Bill Shorten:
Single mum Sarah, who lives in Perth, has said publicly that a shock $70,000 cut to (her) 11-year-old autistic son Jonah’s NDIS plan means she will not only not be able to support a support worker once a week, she will probably have to quit her job to care for him. Why did the Morrison government cut Jonah’s plan?
And Liberal minister Stuart Robert again:
I will speak to the member to get the details in full confidentiality of the participant in question and will chase it up and have a look. The law has a requirement for a plan to be reviewed and updated as required. It is important for the House to understand the Morrison government over the last 12 months have put in $70n extra into the NDIS. It could be the largest estimate variation of any program of any government in our nation’s history. That gives an indication ... of the commitment of the entire House to the scheme.
(Back and forth about whether the minister should know about this specific case).
Robert again:
The beauty of the NDIS is the scheme started in a bipartisan way and has continued. To everyone’s credit. The parliament should be proud of what we have achieved together with NDIS. It is an extraordinary world first, and a scheme no other country in the world has tried to put together, and the timeframe and in the way that collectively we have done it, over 470,000 participants, with permanent and significant disability, a social insurance scheme that every Australian can rely on, a scheme that enjoys the support of everyone in the House.
A scheme whereby Australians find themselves in difficulty, they know there is a social insurance policy there to assist them. The issues of this particular case will certainly be looked into by the minister and the department because with over 470,000 Australians being cared for ... there are always opportunities to improve and to look at particular matters.
The Morrison government is behind the NDIS and built the NDIS, the Morrison government finalised agreements with the states and continues to work cooperatively and collaboratively towards. This world first is something we should all collectively be proud of.
Updated
Former Labor leader Bill Shorten is up now, asking prime minister Scott Morrison about NDIS funding and a specific case of a boy with Batten’s disease:
Harper’s five years old. He has been diagnosed with Batten’s disease. Batten’s disease is a degenerative neurological condition that gives children living with (it) an average life expectancy from seven to 10 years. Harper had been funded for 24/7 home care under the NDIS but his funding was cut in half to only allow for three overnight care visits a week. Why is this, prime minister?
The question goes to Stuart Robert, who is representing NDIS minister Linda Reynolds.
I thank the member for bringing the matter to the House’s attention. The scheme is designed to provide funding (that is) reasonable and necessary. It sounds reasonable and very necessary. It is designed to go up and down the stages of someone’s life. I will speak to the minister directly to ensure the funding necessary for the various stages of this little child’s life, and if need be we will get the situation reviewed as is provided for under the law.
Updated
Labor’s Brendan O’Connor to prime minister Scott Morrison:
The Herald Sun revealed this week that border force officials are failing to even look at the vaccine certificates of (international) arrivals. Baristas need to see a vaccine certificate when people buy coffee in Sydney. So why don’t border force officials demanded the same thing from people entering Australia?
Morrison says:
I have tremendous respect and confidence in our border force, Mr Speaker. It was our government that established the border force and did an amazing job, but equally following on from the great work of stopping the boats and ensuring that Australia’s borders were secure, and they continue to do the job every single day. And in these practices, Mr Speaker, the border force put in place arrangements with international airlines to ensure that proof of vaccination is provided at the point of (arrival) and the border force was undertaking compliance activities with arrivals.
Mr Speaker, that was further upgraded last week to ensure that not only is that done at the point of embarkation, but on arrival, with all of those arrivals coming through. So it is just simply false ... for those opposite to come and cast aspersions on the fine work done by our border force, Mr Speaker, in the middle of a pandemic.
Updated
Shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus to prime minister Scott Morrison:
Last night a senator told the Senate, and I quote: ‘Those who resist the introduction of an effective federal integrity body raise people’s curiosity. One has to ask, are they conflicted, why are they resisting the implementation of such a body?’.
What conflicts are preventing the prime minister establishing an effective anti-corruption commission?
Morrison brandishes a stack of papers, which looks very much like the government’s exposure draft, and says it’s a well-designed bill.
We have done the work to ensure an ... effective integrity commission can be implemented in this country and there is only one obstacle to that being passed in this parliament – the Labor party. The Labor party don’t support this model, they don’t want this model, they want to be able to turn these matters into some sort of kangaroo court, where it can be used for politicking and game playing. The shadow attorney general on nine occasions has previously referred matters and wasted the time of the Australian federal police and has been dismissed ... So I do not take a proposal which is only two pages long from those opposite and consists of a couple of points as a serious proposal ... if you wish to support a serious proposal, here it is, I tabled it.
(See further down the blog for the context of the palaver with the government blame-shifting to Labor).
Updated
Labor leader Anthony Albanese to prime minister Scott Morrison:
Australia is the only country in the OECD that doesn’t have a dedicated centre for disease control ... In March 2020 Labor pledged it would establish an Australian centre for disease control, why won’t the prime minister?
Health minister Greg Hunt picks it up, and calls the idea an “American response”.
The Australian outcome was one of the strongest outcomes in terms of saving lives and protecting lives and vaccination rates in the world. I understand that the opposition has a different approach, we have seen that pretty much throughout the pandemic, very little support for the measures that this government have taken that have saved lives on a scale that are seen around the world as one of the finest and strongest and most profound outcomes in terms of lives being saved – 30,000 lives being saved. And they may wish to propose the US response or the European response because that is what the CDC is.
Oh dear, another point of order, followed by defence minister Peter Dutton again accusing Albanese of having a “glass jaw”. Speaker Andrew Wallace has a crack at Albanese. Here’s Katharine Murphy’s take on that:
Albanese actually did state the point of order, at least on this occasion, so this is all a bit strange #qt
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) December 1, 2021
And then back to Hunt:
If Australia had the rate of loss of life of the OECD, there would have been 30,000 lives lost. If Australia had the loss of life, sadly, of the UK, or the US, upon which the model of the opposition is based, the loss of life would have been 45,000.
By contrast, we have gone down the Australian way and it has saved lives and it has protected lives, and that Australian way has been based on very simple principles, that we have a national incident centre where – with the chief medical officer co-opted for the duration of the pandemic to all of the discussions and a national security committee the prime minister has chaired – and all of the big decisions have been made based on medical advice, directly to the prime minister and the national security committee.
(Then more, as before, on the Australian model, and he’s rightly proud of the current vaccination levels – you can see the latest at the top of the blog).
Updated
Zali Steggall, the independent member for Warringah, asks prime minister Scott Morrison about “the allegations of abuse, assault, and bullying exposed yesterday”.
They were “revolting and a stain on this place”, she says:
It took the courage of Brittany Higgins to speak up publicly about an alleged rape in one of your own minister’s offices and condemnation for you and your government to take action ... despite a number of people in ministerial offices knowing about the allegations for two years. Will you implement in full and without delay, before the next election, all the recommendations of the report?
Morrison responds:
I was pleased to stand with the minister for women yesterday, Mr Speaker, and pleased to stand with the minister for finance and respond to that report and welcome it, Mr Speaker, and I’ll (look) forward to working through the multi-party process to ensure we can follow through on the report that was provided.
And, as is his way, Morrison emphasises that it’s a problem for the whole parliament, not just his government:
This whole parliament has this problem. And everyone in this building has this problem. And I think (human rights commissioner Kate) Jenkins has done an outstanding job in identifying many of the drivers that have led to this behaviour, not just recently, but over a long period of time.
And those of us who have been in this building, I have absolutely no doubt the women who have served in this building, whether as members or senators or staffers or those who have been in the media gallery or other parts of this building, because the commissioner looked at all of the employees of this building and surveyed all of the employees of this building and she has laid out, I think, a very good and broad ranging report which addresses all of the issues that we will (need to take forward).
Updated
Labor leader Anthony Albanese to prime minister Scott Morrison:
Does the prime minister take responsibility for the fact that his failure on vaccines and purpose-built quarantine because the worst downturn in the OECD?
Morrison responds:
Thank you, Mr Speaker, I thank the leader of the opposition for his question. The policies that were put in place by the government as part of the cooperative arrangements we had with the states and territories ensured that back in March of 2020 we were able to quickly put in place a system of quarantine, Mr Speaker, that enabled Australia to have one of the lowest fatality rates in the world in relation to Covid.
And, Mr Speaker, those quarantine arrangements were of course agreed with all the states and territories, strongly supported back in March, Mr Speaker. But it wasn’t just the state and territory leaders who supported those arrangements on quarantine, because, Mr Speaker, on 27 March the leader of the opposition tweeted this: “Australian Labor supports new quarantine laws using hotels for overseas arrivals.”
Mr Speaker, that is what the leader of the opposition says. That is what he says, Mr Speaker. As usual what we have from the leader of the opposition is he supports hotel quarantine ... when we are announcing it, and then he comes into this place and says it is not appropriate, Mr Speaker, an each way bet on every single position.
(Brief pause, a point of order on relevance from Albanese, and on we go...)
Outbreaks occur and as a result of those outbreaks, as the member will recall, as a result of a limousine driver not wearing a mask in Sydney, that is where it started, and then went to other states, that is what we know. And we know the national vaccine strategy (we) had in place (to reach) high levels of vaccination rates by the middle of October this year, and that was reached. What we see from those opposite, Mr Speaker, is they want to support measures on the pandemic and on the other hand they oppose measures on the pandemic and they have each way bets.
What they know about the Australian economy, Mr Speaker, as we have one of the strongest economies coming through this pandemic of any advanced nation in the world. And what is happening now is 350,000 jobs came back into that economy in the last five weeks, as we have opened up the economy.
Updated
Former deputy prime minister Michael McCormack is talked over while he’s asking his replacement Barnaby Joyce a dixer. He’s asked to repeat the question and responds: “Do I have to?”.
Speaker Andrew Wallace is having a snark at Labor for being “unruly”. We’ll see if the unruliness hits yesterday’s levels.
Updated
Labor’s Jim Chalmers asks about the Australian economy’s contraction rate compared to other OECD countries. For treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s response, you can just copy and paste the chunk of text below, with some added comments about former Labor treasurer Wayne Swan and Chalmers riding his coattails.
Updated
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is outlining the government’s economic credentials after the latest national accounts were released. He says:
I can confirm to the house that (compared to other) major advanced economies, Australia has had the strongest recovery, Mr Speaker, across the world. A stronger recovery than we have seen in the UK, a stronger recovery than we have seen in Canada, a stronger recovery than we have seen in Germany, stronger recovery than we have seen in Italy, and a stronger recovery than we have seen in Japan.
And the credit is due to the Australian people. To the hard work of 26 million Australians. They have faced the biggest economic shock since the great depression ... the first pandemic in a century, and we all remember those images last year, last March, of thousands of our fellow Australians lining up outside Centrelink, either having lost their jobs, and businesses were fearful of losing not only their business but also their homes.
And the Morrison government responded with the strongest economic support this country has ever seen! Around $300m of economic support, more than all the states and territories put together. Programs like jobkeeper that saved 700,000 jobs, Mr Speaker, and the cash flow boost in the business and support payments, pensioners and carers and veterans and others on income support.
So today the national accounts see business investment 9.1% higher through the year. In programs like homebuilder which was ridiculed by those opposite, but together with our other policies have seen 320,000 Australians get into a home over the last three years. We saw in the national accounts today, we saw dwelling investment up in the national accounts and dwelling investment is 11.4% higher through the year.
And all that time we are providing economic support to Australians, what else are we doing, something those opposite would never do, providing tax cuts, the biggest tax cuts Australians have ever seen. Taxes cuts for families, tax cuts for small business and business investment incentives.
While those opposite took $387bn of higher taxes to the Australian people, we have been supporting them with lower taxes, income, and business support and the net result is that unemployment today is lower than when we came to government.
Updated
Question time begins
And the second-last question time of the year has begun, with treasurer Josh Frydenberg on his feet, coming in hot.
Updated
Labor has done a deal to pass the political campaigner bill, with amendments, and has secured agreement from the government to drop the voter ID bill, which will now not be voted on before the 2022 election.
Labor confirmed it did a deal to increase the threshold at which organisations such as charities have to declare electoral spending.
The crossbench believes the deal includes:
- A threshold of $250,000 (up from $100,000)
- A new name of political campaigner, now to be called “large third party campaigners”; and
- Shifting liability from organisation officials, such as a secretary, for breaches of disclosure requirements to the entity itself.
The deal is of great concern to the charity sector, which opposes the bill due to the expanded definition of electoral expenditure and the retrospective effect of the bill.
Senator Stirling Griff told Guardian Australia he “never would have supported” the bill if retrospectivity stayed in, so he believes the deal was unnecessary.
Labor claims that Griff, Jacqui Lambie and Rex Patrick would not commit to block the bill, so they’ve secured a watered down bill in the face of it possibly passing unamended.
But the voter ID bill seems dead and buried. Earlier we reported Lambie is against it, and Griff still wants to send it to an inquiry.
Updated
Liberal senator Hollie Hughes is telling the ABC she is one of the lucky (and rare) ones who’s never spotted any of the bad behaviour outlined in yesterday’s report into parliamentary workplaces. She said things have changed, and (in relation to reports of bullying, sexual harassment and sexual assault):
I personally haven’t experienced it, have never witnessed it.
(77% of people in commonwealth parliamentary workplaces have experienced or witnessed incidents).
It’s an “absurdity” to say Labor is holding up the process of getting an integrity commission in place, shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus tells the ABC. As Katharine Murphy writes here, prime minister Scott Morrison is trying to shift blame for slow progress on the bill to the opposition.
Shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus says the revelations in yesterday’s report into parliamentary workplaces were “shocking” and that the whole parliament has “more work to do”.
If you haven’t caught up yet, a good place to do just that is political editor Katharine Murphy’s piece. I’m going to share it again in case you missed it:
People always want to claim they got the political scalp...
Ran into Greg Hunt at Parliament House this morning. I think I must have spooked him. https://t.co/nfwgK0FIQ4
— Mark Humphries (@markhumphries) December 1, 2021
Marathon debate on Victorian pandemic bill ends
The debate on Victoria’s pandemic bill is over. Finally.
Upper house MPs sat through the night and worked their way through each of the bill’s 58 clauses and 83 amendments.
It will now return to the lower house – where the state government holds a commanding majority – to be debated once more.
Marathon ends: Upper house finishes with pandemic bill after 21-hour, all-night debate https://t.co/jR1FrC1yfl
— Sumeyya Ilanbey (@sumeyyailanbey) December 1, 2021
Updated
And now to the National Press Club, where a panel is talking about the case for a federal integrity commission.
As always, an eloquent and multi-faceted question comes from the ABC’s Laura Tingle about what a commission could do that the audit office cannot.
Transparency International Australia chief executive Serena Lillywhite says Australians might not think Australia has a corruption problem, but that it does happen. A commission would bolster the existing powers to investigate corruption, she says, and it would need to be properly resourced to do that effectively.
Geoffrey Watson, barrister and director of the Centre for Public Integrity, adds that he doesn’t think people in federal parliament are “taking brown paper bags” ... but that there are issues “across the board”.
Updated
House prices have never been so hot. Frydenberg skips over the complicated interplay of factors that have seen affordability dive – historically low interest rates, supply and demand issues, etc – and says:
I have been concerned about the heat in the housing market and that is why when I met with the council of financial regulators I was very supportive of what APRA (the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) did in increasing the serviceability buffer from 2.5% to 3%.
That’ll take the risk out of the system by making sure people can pay their mortgages, he says.
Updated
A question to Josh Frydenberg from the SMH’s Shane Wright, who wanted to know when the government would start thinking seriously about budget repair. Frydenberg reminds us that there is fiscal fun due before the budget:
Obviously we will update those numbers for you, Shane, on December 16, which is the day of MYEFO (mid-year economic and fiscal economic outlook).
Updated
Afternoon, all. I’m just stepping in for the lead up until question time, when I’ll hand you make to the inimitable Amy Remeikis. Wish me luck!
Small announcement: Tory Shepherd will take you through the next hour – I’ll be taking a small, pre-planned break over the next couple of months, and Tory will be running the politics blog in the meantime. She’ll be great.
I’ll be around this afternoon and will take you through the second half of the last day tomorrow.
Have fun with Tory and I will see you soon. Amy x
Updated
As has been roundly speculated (but not stacked up as yet, because nothing can be until the member either confirms it, or stands up themselves), Christian Porter is expected to announce his future before the parliament rises tomorrow.
Like I have said, there are a lot of reports, and a lot of speculation, but there is no confirmation and Porter himself has said nothing either way.
Updated
Senator Jacqui Lambie has released the results of her survey about whether to support the voter ID laws. Lambie said:
Overall, nearly two-thirds of voters opposed the laws. In every state and territory, a majority of voters opposed the bill. In the Northern Territory, which is one of the jurisdictions people have focused on during the debate around this bill, the numbers were overwhelming.
And on her position, Lambie said:
I want to make it clear — when I do a survey, I don’t hand over the wheel and say whichever side gets the most votes decides how I’ll vote. On balance, I don’t think the laws do the job. I’ll be voting no on the Morrison government’s laws.
Here’s the big reason why. I can accept that there might be a problem here. I don’t think there’s evidence that there is widespread voter fraud. I don’t think there is evidence that it’s becoming widespread. But it doesn’t take widespread fraud for it to potentially decide the election result.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg is asked about Greg Hunt’s retirement at his press conference:
I will wait to see but details of Greg Hunt’s comment you have referred to. Greg is my closest friend in this place. The godfather to his beautiful daughter Poppy, and he is the godfather to my daughter.
We are very dear friends and he has been an outstanding health minister through this crisis.
The fact that Australia has one of the lowest mortality rates in the world and the fact that we have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world is in due to no small part to the incredible work that all health professionals have done across Australia, and Greg as the health minister in this once in a century pandemic has been outstanding. I will leave any further comments to see exactly what statements you are referring to.
Updated
Here was the exchange on 14 November between David Speers and Greg Hunt:
Speers: Just finally, speaking of next year. I’m pretty sure I’ve asked you this before, but the speculation continues. Will you still be around? Will you be running again?
Hunt:
Pre-selected and running.
The shorter the answer, the more there is in the space around it.
Greg Hunt to retire from politics: report
This is not unexpected – when David Speers asked Greg Hunt about his future a couple of weeks ago, Hunt didn’t exactly give a ringing endorsement.
Now it is official:
Greg Hunt set to quit politics https://t.co/BthSm1PMpj
— Phillip Coorey (@PhillipCoorey) December 1, 2021
Updated
'We must hold our nerve and cool heads must prevail': Frydenberg on Omicron
Here is the bit Josh Frydenberg has practiced in the mirror this morning. You can tell because he repeats the line he thinks is the most statesman like, just in case the TV cameras didn’t catch it the first time:
There will be challenges ahead, but with vaccination rates here in Australia having reason to be among the highest in the world, we can and we must live with the virus and its variants.
Omicron is not the first, and is unlikely to be the last variant that we face.
But we must hold our nerve and cool heads must prevail. We must hold our nerve and cool heads must prevail.
With world leading health and economic outcomes, Australians have put themselves in a very strong and indeed, the best possible position, going into 2022.
Updated
And in Victoria, there is still no vote on the pandemic powers bill – despite an entire night of debate.
The Upper House has adjourned after a marathon 21.5 hours of debate on the pandemic bill. The bill will now go to the Lower House for a vote (where gov has majority), but will need to come back to the Upper House for final vote on Thursday @abcmelbourne #springst
— Bridget Rollason (@bridgerollo) December 1, 2021
Updated
The treasurer is running through the latest economy figures – Peter Hannam has taken you through the highlights a few posts down.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg and his power point presentation will be coming up next.
The only thing more awkward than one of the treasurer’s social media videos is when he is pointing to graphs on a screen.
Updated
NT quarantine escapees found
Northern Territory police have found the three people who escaped from Darwin’s Howard Springs Covid-19 facility earlier this morning.
All three tested negative for Covid-19 yesterday and have now been taken into custody.
The trio allegedly jumped the fence at the centre for national resilience just before 4.40am, Northern Territory police said earlier.
Enquiries are continuing.
Updated
Sharp fall in NSW, Victoria and ACT spending behind GDP contraction
While the tea leaves get scanned, here are a few interesting elements in the national accounts data that’s just landed.
Blame households in NSW, Victoria and the ACT for the 1.9% contraction in the September quarter, since those in the rest of the economy kept spending. Household spending in these three jurisdictions fell 8.4% compared with a 0.7% rise for the rest of Australia, the ABS said.
And thank the governments for increasing their spending to keep the economy ticking along.
Private demand lopped 2.4 percentage points from GDP growth, which was partly offset by public outlays that cushioned some of the drop, adding 0.7 percentage points to growth.
The record current account surplus nudging $23.9bn also did some heaving lifting, adding 1 full percentage point to the growth. Thank some high energy prices for much of that result.
Economists, you may recall, were all geared up to “look through” this GDP drop because the focus is on a rebounding economy in the December quarter.
The fact the drop of 1.9% was significantly better than the expected 2.5-3% fall will worry some, though, that we now run a risk of excessive economic exuberance since public spending continues to be strong.
And those households that were locked down are loaded with cash. The ratio of household savings jumped to 19.8% in the September quarter from 11.8% in the June quarters.
Also, household gross disposable income rose 4.6%, the fastest rise since December quarter 2008, the ABS said.
That’s why there’s that risk of an overshoot in the quarters to come - unless Omicron or other Covid variants spoil the party.
Updated
'Albo's got a unicorn, I've brought the GraviTrax': MPs give to Christmas appeal
Scott Morrison made some remarks at the launch of the Wishing Tree Appeal in his office. It goes places:
I’m looking forward to Christmas, I think we’re all looking forward to Christmas. I think Australians are coming together for Christmas and that’s really exciting. I think we’re looking forward to this Christmas, like few up until now, and this weekend I’m putting the lights up on the house. I’m looking forward to that and the ritual with the girls and with Jen, and I’m wishing everybody here a Merry Christmas. Anthony, Penny and Adam and of course, Barnaby and the great team at the Salvos and the wonderful support we get in the community for the Salvos.
An interesting mixture here. Albo’s got a unicorn, I’ve brought the GraviTrax. That got me through quite a few lockdowns this year, I’ve got to tell you, as others went through puzzles and various other things.
So the other thing I’m looking forward to, I think it’s going to be a bumper Christmas for our retailers who have been doing it really tough. So when you’re out shopping for Christmas, shop local, support your local small businesses, they’ve had a tough year. So why not give them a great Christmas present by doing your local shopping in your local shops, supporting the local businesses who stood by you during the course of this pandemic. And it’d be great to see them also having a bumper Christmas and as their staff are coming back and also looking forward to that great period of time.
But Christmas is an important Christian religious festival as well, and something that’s very important I know to so many Australians and it is a great time of family and coming together. But for those of the Christian faith, it is a very important time of the year and we celebrate the birth of Christ. So enjoy the season and wishing everybody a very merry Christmas. And I’ll ask the Salvos to say a few words.
Updated
The Greens are also pushing for this fund:
We need a First Nations Legal Defence Fund, so Traditional Owners have the resources to fight for Country. The Government rammed through changes to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act of the Northern Territory to fast track mining applications to destroy Country. pic.twitter.com/uzMLxh4C3D
— Senator Lidia Thorpe (@SenatorThorpe) December 1, 2021
Josh Frydenberg will hold a press conference at 12.30pm today.
It’s in the Blue Room, which means – yup.
Power point slides.
Updated
Jim Chalmers has responded to the GDP figures.
BREAKING: National accounts show third-biggest economic downturn on record (-1.9%) and Australia had worst-performing economy of the 28 advanced countries which have reported Sep qtr so far – the costs of Morrison’s mistakes & mismanagement #auspol #ausecon pic.twitter.com/WGia42qLHX
— Jim Chalmers MP (@JEChalmers) December 1, 2021
Question time will be a mess.
Updated
You may notice that Scott Morrison didn’t actually answer the question there – he spoke about what had been done, and changed the question into one about what his government had ‘stood up’ against.
But he didn’t answer the question – what could the latest inquiry into social media tell people that we don’t already know. It’s not a new issue, and there has been a lot of evidence put on the public record already.
Scott Morrison is speaking about social media.
Q: What could the government possibly learn about social media that hasn’t already been highlighted in things like the Facebook US Senate hearings, whistleblowers and the like?
Morrison:
Well, I think that’s very disappointing that you’ve put it in that way. I’m a parent. I’m worried about my kids online.
The parents I’ve spoken to today are worried about their kids online. You know, Canberra sometimes can get really cynical, really cynical, and this is an issue that is burned in our hearts and in our actions over the course of our government. And we have stood up to the biggest tech companies in the world.
You know, when you’re a prime minister you’ve got to have the strength to stand up to those who threaten Australia.
You’ve got to have the strength to stand up to the big tech companies. We’ve done that on tax. We’ve done that even to protect the freedom of our own media and ensure that media companies could survive through this world.
There are many journalists today employed, not just in this town but around the country, who are in those jobs because our government had the courage to stand up to big tech where other governments didn’t.
It was our government that stood up to big tech after the Christchurch attacks, the massacres there, the terrorist attacks by right wing extremists, that ensured that we introduced laws which outlawed this violent extremist content online. It was our government that set up the first eSafety Commissioner.
It was our government that ensured that we had the Online Safety Act. It is our government, which is one of the first in the world, the legislation we released today, which will come into the parliament when the committee comes back, which will ensure that publishers, so that digital platforms are treated as publishers and they must unmask the online trolls. So, when it comes to this issue, we’ve got a strong track record of standing up to those who would threaten Australian safety. And, frankly, it’s not just there. To those who would seek to coerce us in the region, we’ll stand up to them.
As treasurer I stood up to the big banks, as treasurer we stood up, and as prime minister, to the big energy companies. I have a record of standing up to those who will seek to threaten Australia’s interests, whether they’re outside this country or inside this country, whether in the online world or within the real world. And that’s the strength that is required to lead this country.
Updated
Angus Taylor has announced negotiations with gas suppliers and users over a voluntary code of conduct have concluded:
The Code will apply to the negotiation of gas supply agreements in the east coast domestic market, and will provide:
· standards to govern the conduct of gas suppliers in their interactions with gas consumers;
· pricing principles, referencing the ACCC LNG netback price series;
· increased transparency and certainty for gas consumers regarding negotiation processes;
· an equitable dispute resolution process, overseen by the appointment of an independent arbiter;
· a regular review process of the Code by an independent reviewer; and
· the promotion of good faith dealings between suppliers and consumers.
The voluntary Code forms one part of the Government’s gas-fired recovery measures that aim to unlock supply, deliver an efficient transportation network and empower consumers.
This follows on from recent announcements, including the delivery of the first full National Gas Infrastructure Plan and Future Gas Infrastructure Investment Framework to ensure more supply can be unlocked and delivered to where it is needed.
The Code will commence on 1 June 2022.
Updated
Economy shrinks by 1.9% in September quarter
The GDP data for the September quarter has just dropped from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, and it’s not so bad.
The economy shrank by 1.9% in the quarter, which is better than the 2.5-3% drop expected from most economists. On an annual basis, the economy was steaming ahead at a 3.9% clip.
Of course, the lockdowns in Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT were to blame for the September quarter drop.
“This fall followed four consecutive rises since the 6.8% fall recorded in June quarter 2020 when the entire country was in lockdown,” the ABS said.
“GDP in the September quarter 2021 was 0.2% below December 2019 pre-pandemic levels.”
More to come, as they say...
Updated
Greens senator Larissa Waters wants to amend the sitting calendar for 2022 to add in another sitting to allow for debate on a federal Icac and also the recommendations of the Jenkins review into parliamentary culture (the Greens are in support of all 28 recommendations).
Waters has circulated this amendment:
To add 28 February to 3 March and 8 March to 10 March 2022 to the 2022 sitting calendar.
To move—That the days of meeting of the Senate for 2022 be as follows:
Autumn sittings:
Tuesday, 8 February to Thursday, 10 February
Monday, 28 February to Thursday, 3 March
Tuesday, 8 March to Thursday 10 March
Budget sittings:
Tuesday, 29 March and Wednesday, 30 March
Winter sittings:
Monday, 9 May to Thursday, 12 May
Monday, 16 May to Thursday, 19 May
Tuesday, 7 June to Thursday, 9 June
Monday, 20 June to Thursday, 23 June
Monday, 27 June to Thursday, 30 June
Spring sittings:
Tuesday, 9 August to Thursday, 11 August
Monday, 15 August to Thursday, 18 August
Monday, 5 September to Thursday, 8 September
Monday, 12 September to Thursday, 15 September
Monday, 17 October to Thursday, 20 October
Monday, 21 November to Thursday, 24 November
Monday, 28 November to Thursday, 1 December.
As listed on page 4 of today’s Notice Paper
Updated
Sixth case of Omicron variant confirmed in NSW
A sixth case of the Omicron variant has been (most likely) found in NSW – but again, there is no need to panic or worry.
It is a variant of concern, yes, but there is nothing to suggest we are going to see the same issues we saw with Delta.
NSW health minister Brad Hazzard said NSW Health is going through older tests (from before it was found in Australia) and so far has not identified any other cases.
He says it is just a case of keeping an eye on the evidence:
There are lots of discussions going on at senior levels in the government. But yesterday was national cabinet and I think it’s fair to say that there is a unity ticket with the national government, with Victoria and New South Wales, we’re not keen to see a return to lockdowns. And we’re just watching closely.
Updated
It’s the first of December, which means it is World Aids Day.
Greg Hunt has announced $50m in funding, which will extend access to HIV treatment in Australia:
The theme of World AIDS Day 2021 is ‘End inequalities. End AIDS’
This year is the 40th anniversary of the first official report of the immune illness that would be later recognised as AIDS. In 2020, there were 633 new diagnoses of HIV in Australia and more than 29,000 people living with HIV.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt said, the Morrison Government was investing more than $39 million over 5 years to support people living with HIV in Australia, who are not eligible for Medicare, to access the treatment they need …
“Our Government will also provide more than $11 million in new funding to Australia’s blood borne viruses and sexually transmissible infections peak bodies to continue their important work across the country,” Minister Hunt said.
Updated
Nothing like a goodwill non-partisan seasonal gesture to make political points.
Photos from Mike Bowers:
Updated
Indigenous woman dies in custody in Melbourne
AAP reports that an Indigenous woman has died in custody in Melbourne:
An Aboriginal woman has died in custody while being treated at a hospital in Melbourne’s west.
Corrections Victoria said the 30-year-old was transferred from a maximum security women’s prison in Deer Park, the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, to Sunshine Hospital last week. She died at the hospital on Monday, surrounded by family.
“The death of any person in custody is a heartbreaking tragedy and the team at Corrections Victoria sends its deepest condolences to the woman’s family,” Corrections said in a statement.
“The Coroners Court of Victoria will formally determine the time and cause of death, in accordance with usual process.”
The women at Dame Phyllis Frost Centre are being supported and a smoking ceremony is being arranged.
Corrections said it recognised that all deaths in custody impacted family, friends, victims and the broader Aboriginal community and said staff were working to ensure they are supported.
“Corrections Victoria has been providing support to the deceased woman’s family to ensure culturally appropriate notification and grieving processes are followed,” Corrections said.
“The Aboriginal Justice Caucus was advised, and Corrections Victoria staff continue to work closely with the Caucus and the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria.”
Updated
Kurt Campbell also said Joe Biden raised China’s economic coercion of Australia with Xi Jinping in their meeting. Campbell told the Lowy Institute event:
Yeah. The president just briefly mentioned activities that China was undertaking that President Biden felt were antithetical to China’s interests. So there was a period in our discussion where the president, President Biden, tried carefully to say that some of the steps that China was taking, in his view, were backfiring. I think our assessment is that maybe some of the feedback loop in China is not working as effectively as it was in the past. And frankly, what better way to reach the leader – who may be a bit isolated at the top – than have a direct conversation with his No 1 counterpart. So President Biden was very clear and animated about what we had seen in Australia, border issues with India, all the things that I’ve mentioned, and just basically said, we were concerned. We’re concerned by some of these steps and what it signals with respect to China.
Updated
House prices rise – but climb is starting to slow
Australia’s property prices have risen for a 14th month but the pace of the rise has begun to slow, according to CoreLogic’s national home value index.
Housing values were 1.3% higher in November than the previous month, or the slowest rate of growth since January. From a year ago, prices are up 22.2%, adding $126,700 to the median value.
“Virtually every factor that has driven housing values higher has lost some potency over recent months,” Tim Lawless, CoreLogic’s research director, said. “Fixed mortgage rates are rising, higher listings are taking some urgency away from buyers, affordability has become a more substantial barrier to entry and credit is less available.”
Echoes then of this forecast twilight in the house price boom, as we reported a week or so back.
The pace varies, as you’d expect, and Brisbane and Adelaide prices are still accelerating. The Queensland capital reported a 2.9% rise in “home values” in November, the most in about 18 years, while the South Australia capital’s 2.5% jump was the highest since February 1993.
In Sydney the median value rose 0.9% in November to $1,090,276, while the next most expensive city was Canberra. The nation’s capital reported a 1.1% rise in prices last month, bring the median value to $882,519.
Melbourne, meanwhile, reported a 0.6% advance, bringing the median price of a place to call home at $788,484. Darwin was the only city to report a retreat last month, with a 0.4% drop in prices.
Updated
Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific adviser Kurt Campbell has carefully avoided weighing into Australia’s domestic political debate regarding Taiwan.
But he has stressed that as far as the US is concerned, it is a “very delicate matter” and the US will seek to be purposeful, determined, and clear in its messaging.
At the Lowy Institute event, Campbell was asked about comments by the defence minister, Peter Dutton, that it was inconceivable that Australia would not join the United States in any conflict across the strait, and Penny Wong’s comment that this is out of step with the long-held US policy of strategic ambiguity.
Campbell did not respond directly to those comments. But he said he wanted to underscore that US policy “has not changed”.
He said the US effort was multifaceted, including taking the “necessary steps to ensure that we modernise, that we engage appropriately, that we have the right forces that we can bring to bear if we faced a crisis of that sort”.
The US was also ensuring Taiwan had “the appropriate defensive articles to be able to deter aggression”.
“You will have seen in the last several months, a number of countries speaking out more directly, including Japan, including Australia, Great Britain and others. The maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in the strategic interests of all concerned. And that this is not just a narrow matter but a broader issue that has to be consulted and engaged more directly. I do just want to underscore that this is a very delicate matter. We understand the delicate role it plays in US-China relations. But we also believe that if the United States is purposeful, is determined, and is clear in its messaging, that we can maintain peace and stability and to secure the status quo in the future.”
Earlier this week Taiwan’s ministry of foreign affairs told the Guardian it was sincerely grateful for comments by Dutton and Scott Morrison. Last week the Chinese embassy in Beijing accused Dutton of fanning conflict and division.
Campbell said over time he believed China would re-engage with Australia, but on Australia’s terms:
I think China’s preference would have been to break Australia, to drive Australia to its knees, and then you know, find a way forward. I don’t believe that’s going to be the way it’s going to play out. I believe that China will engage because it is in its own interest to have a good relationship with Australia. I believe that will happen naturally, and I think that China is a country that deep down, fundamentally respects strength fortitude and resilience. And I can’t imagine a country that has demonstrated that more clearly than Australia.
Updated
The annual Kmart Wishing Tree event was held in the prime minister’s office this morning – it is meant to be an occasion where all the MPs come together and give gifts to children.
Mike Bowers was there and said that this year it was used as a trolling exercise.
Barnaby Joyce bought a “gem mining kit”.
Anthony Albanese brought a trolley full of gifts – among them, an Eiffel Tower puzzle and a submarine.
We’re sure the kids will just love them.
Updated
Joe Biden’s top Indo-Pacific adviser, Kurt Campbell, has moved to clarify his comments about Aukus leading to a “melding” of US, Australian and UK forces.
He says the deal will lead to “strategic intimacy” but Australia won’t lose its sovereignty and independence. Campbell is addressing a Lowy Institute event, The Indo-Pacific Operating System.
The discussion about Aukus led to this exchange between Michael Fullilove, the Lowy Institute executive director, and Campbell:
Q: You recently suggested that Aukus could lead to almost a melding of US, Australian and UK forces in the Indo-Pacific. What did you mean by a melding – and what implications does that have for Australia’s national sovereignty and its national freedom of decision and freedom of action?
Campbell:
Look, I’ve followed the Australian debate carefully. I fully understand how important sovereignty and independence is for Australia. So I don’t want to leave any sense that somehow that would be lost. That’s not the – this arrangement is meant to be additive and create new capacities. I think what I’m suggesting is that Australian sailors will have the opportunity to serve on American vessels and vice versa. I think you can expect American submarines to port more commonly in Australian ports. I think we’re going to operate and share perspectives much more than we’ve done in the past. And we’re already close allies. I think our overall capacities and our training will be much more common as we go forward. And for Australia to learn and to become, and to master of nuclear technology of the kind that is presented in submarines will require the deepest, most profound kinds of engagements with submariners in the United States and Great Britain, who work on nuclear submarines. That’s going to be extraordinarily important. And it ultimately is going to lead to a kind of strategic intimacy that we think is going to be very important in the time ahead.
Updated
The NT police have put out a statement:
Northern Territory Police are searching for three people who absconded from the Centre for National Resilience earlier this morning.
At 4:40am, it was reported that three people from the Centre for National Resilience scaled the fence and fled the area.
Police and staff at the Centre for National Resilience are currently confirming the absconder’s identities prior to releasing further information.
Anyone who may have witnessed the incident or has any information is urged to contact police on 131 444.
NT police searching for 'multiple' people who escaped quarantine facility
Northern Territory police are searching for “multiple” people who escaped from Darwin’s Howard Springs Covid-19 quarantine faculty this morning.
A large number of police are searching the facility, and vehicles in the area.
It is unclear how many people were involved in the escape but Guardian Australia understands facility management are confirming a headcount of those staying there.
The incident is the second escape from the facility within a week, after a 27-year-old man allegedly absconded from quarantine last week before being found on Darwin’s main strip.
Police checkpoints established around Howard Springs as they work to track down escapees. They’re checking vehicle registration numbers and even inside boots. Large traffic delays @9NewsAUS @9NewsDarwin pic.twitter.com/DUN2pB04vj
— Tahlia Sarv (@tahliasarv) November 30, 2021
Updated
Here is how the House sitting is shaping up for the second last day:
Good morning. The House resumed at 9.30am. After notices 1-8 of government business, the first order of the day is the resumption of debate on the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Annual Disclosure Equality) Bill 2021. Find the full program here: https://t.co/pWJxbQVHJK. pic.twitter.com/troq57YJWf
— Australian House of Representatives (@AboutTheHouse) November 30, 2021
Updated
Liberal senator Jane Hume says she wants to see more women in the parliament but doesn’t think quotas is how you get there.
It has taken Labor about 20 years to *almost* reach gender parity in its representation – and it took quotas to make it happen.
Hume says that doesn’t make sense for the Liberal party, because it is not a “top-down” organisation. (Perhaps she missed the reports Scott Morrison is considering using special powers to install his chosen candidates into seats, overruling the branches, as he prepares for the election – particularly in NSW, where the election at this stage, looks like being won and lost.)
Hume:
I think having more women in parliament is always a good thing and I would like to see the Liberal party put significant effort into putting more women in parliament.
Are quotas the right way to go about it? I’m not entirely convinced yet.
Quotas are something that work very well in the corporate sector and in an organisation that has a top-down and authoritarian approach. In the Liberal party we are a grassroots organisation where the culture needs to change from the bottom up. As female leaders in the Liberal party we have a real responsibility to make a difference with the grassroots part of our organisation to demonstrate to them the value of having more women in parliament and how the culture can change that way.
Updated
And on the other issue the government was pushing:
The religious discrimination bill is now 6th on the House notice paper - so still no sign of it getting to a vote this week. It has crept ahead of the voter ID bill though.#auspol #ReligiousDiscriminationBill pic.twitter.com/R4JjbY1grC
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) November 30, 2021
Updated
Here are some of the explanatory notes on what the bill plans on doing:
The bill will address the issues raised by the High Court’s decision in Fairfax Media Publications v Voller [2021] HCA 27 (Voller), which made clear that individuals and organisations with social media pages that allow third party commentary may be publishers of comments posted by third parties for the purposes of defamation law, even if they were not aware of the comments.
The bill will also provide new mechanisms for Australians to ascertain whether a potentially defamatory comment on a page of a social media service was made in Australia and, if so, to obtain the relevant contact details of the commenter. This will empower Australians to institute defamation proceedings in relation to the comment.
In particular, the bill will:
- deem a person who administers or maintains a social media page not to be a publisher of third-party comment and thereby be immune from potential liability under defamation law
- deem the social media provider to be the publisher of material posted on their platform for the purposes of defamation law, which is consistent with the outcome of the Voller decision
- create a conditional defence for providers of social media services in defamation proceedings if the provider:
- has a complaints scheme that meets certain prescribed requirements, and complies with the scheme, and
- provides information to assist prospective applicants to identify and commence proceedings against an anonymous user
- empower courts to issue end-user information disclosure orders, which require providers of social media services to give the applicant the commenter’s relevant contact details and country location data in certain circumstances
- require social media companies to have a nominated entity incorporated in Australia that will be able to discharge key obligations under the Bill, and
- enable the Attorney-General to intervene in defamation proceedings on behalf of the Commonwealth, in certain circumstances.
Updated
The exposure draft for the social media legislation the government is putting forward has just gone live.
Updated
The Labor candidate for Reid, Sally Sitou has taken to social media to combat assumptions and rumours she is hearing about her candidacy, because of her Chinese heritage.
In 2021.
There’s also an assumption I have divided loyalties b/w Aust & China. I am an Australian citizen, I was born & raised here. I’m also incredibly proud of my Chinese heritage. I am standing for Federal Parliament because I love this country. I want it to be the best it can be. 3/7
— Sally Sitou 陈莎莉 - Labor for Reid (@SallySitou) November 30, 2021
Updated
La Niña is really making itself known.
AAP has an update on what is happening in NSW:
Severe thunderstorms delivering heavy rain and large hail have again hit north and western NSW overnight.
The Bureau of Meteorology warned on Tuesday evening a “tropical airmass with abundant moisture” was in place and severe thunderstorms were likely to produce heavy rain that could cause flash flooding, damaging winds and large hailstones.
In the hours before the warning a 100km/h wind gust was detected north of the Queensland border. The storms were expected to impact as far south as Griffith in the Riverina region.
Further rain expected on Wednesday threatens to add even more water into catchments at risk of flooding in the northern rivers region of NSW.
A flood watch was issued on Tuesday for rivers there and on the mid-north coast, with possible renewed river level rises in the northwest slopes as well.
Renewed river level rises and subsequent flooding possible along the Upper Macintyre, Gwydir and Namoi rivers are also of great concern.
Updated
Documents reveal Australia was warned of worsening situation in Afghanistan
Daniel Hurst has an important story about when the government was warned about the worsening Afghanistan situation:
The Australian government was warned in mid-July that the worsening security situation in Afghanistan and Covid restrictions were making it “extremely difficult” to help former Afghan employees escape the country, previously secret documents reveal.
At least five weeks before the Afghan capital fell to the Taliban in mid-August, government officials predicted more people would seek to flee the country and they were discussing the possibility of chartering direct flights from Kabul to Australia.
Guardian Australia can also reveal the governor general, David Hurley, sought a private briefing from the immigration minister in July about the program to assist former Afghan colleagues – as the government was facing increasing public criticism about its handling of the longstanding scheme.
Updated
Economic update
A bit of economic news out today. The ABS will release September quarter gross domestic product figures at 11.30am.
Here’s how it looked for the June quarter when the economy was hurtling along at a 9% clip, year on year, and 0.7% versus the March quarter.
Today’s “print” of the national accounts, as the industry likes to call it, will be less awesome and more awful, with an annual pace pared to about 3% growth as half the economy (Victoria, NSW and the ACT) was locked down.
The headline figure, though, will the quarter-on-quarter dive, which is expected to be about 2.5% to 3%, making the July-September period the country’s second-worst on record. Only the 7% contraction in the June quarter of 2020 was worse.
But, more than most, the numbers are very much in the rear-view mirror, as the economy is hurtling along. As the ANZ noted this morning, the third quarter is “old news now”.
Data to date suggest that Q4 GDP growth will be very strong, with retail sales up a massive 4.4% month on month in October, consistent with our view that the recovery will be consumer led.
The biggest risk to the outlook continues to come from the health front, and the new Omicron variant highlights the unpredictable nature of these risks.
It’s those health risks that central banks, including Australia’s, have cited as among the reasons why they are inclined to tolerate higher inflation longer, rather than jacking up rates.
Whether that leads to an overshoot on the current leg of the “W-shaped recovery”, or there’s another downward leg to come, remains to be seen.
Updated
We are looking into this as well.
#BREAKING Nine News has been told several people have absconded the Howard Springs quarantine facility early this morning. A police investigation is right now underway @9NewsDarwin @9NewsAUS
— Tahlia Sarv (@tahliasarv) November 30, 2021
Updated
South Australia has opened its booster program to anyone who is eligible – which means anyone who had their second dose of the vaccine at least six months ago.
Updated
Rex Patrick is leading the charge to overhaul how freedom of information requests are dealt with by the government.
As Paul Karp reports:
Victoria reports 1,179 new Covid cases and six deaths, NSW records 251 cases
Victoria and NSW have reported their daily Covid cases. There have been six deaths in Victoria.
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) November 30, 2021
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAtS1P#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/zn924m6FDy
NSW COVID-19 update – Wednesday 1 December 2021
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) November 30, 2021
In the 24-hour reporting period to 8pm last night:
- 94.6% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 92.5% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/WuOZX0KsyK
Updated
That also means you are going to hear a lot during question time about how well the economy is doing, through government dixers (and non-answers to opposition questions).
The government really, really, really wants to make economic management one of the issues of the coming election, so prepare yourself for all of the economic talk.
Updated
It’s national accounts day (huzzah) which we will bring you as soon as it drops (Peter Hannam will be all over it for you).
Jim Chalmers was on Sky this morning, where he was asked about it:
This is a really important snapshot of the national economy. The national economy is defined by skyrocketing prices and falling real wages, and in the September quarter by the second biggest fall in economic growth since these records were kept. You listen to the prime minister and the treasurer and they always want to talk about international comparisons, well of all the countries that have reported so far, Australia is expected to be absolutely last when it comes to economic growth.
These are the costs and consequences of a Morrison government which got the initial vaccine rollout, quarantine and economic support so badly wrong. At this time last year, they were talking about a big recovery. We’ve heard all of this before.
Instead, they delivered the second biggest downturn in the history of the national accounts. So we can’t be complacent. The Omicron virus strain is something that we need to be very attentive to. Complacency is what stomped on the green shoots of the beginnings of the last recovery and we don’t want to see that again.
Updated
'Significant flooding' across Queensland town of Inglewood
Meanwhile, we are thinking of all of those in the Queensland flood zones.
As AAP reports:
A town in Queensland’s south is facing rising flood waters, forcing the evacuation of more than 900 residents.
An emergency was declared for Inglewood, in the Goondiwindi local government area, in the Darling Downs close to the NSW border on Tuesday night.
Residents were told to head to an assembly point at Inglewood cemetery ahead of widespread flooding expected on Wednesday.
“Significant flooding is expected to occur across the township in coming hours,” police said.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services assistant commissioner Stephen Smith said about 950 people had been moved to safety.
“Our crews were working through the night assisting that operation,” he told Nine Network on Wednesday.
Mr Smith noted there had been widespread flooding across central Queensland, the northern parts of the state and through the southeast and southwest.
“Overnight there were areas that got up to 180mm of rain,” he said.
Updated
What did Richard Marles think of Anthony Albanese calling Peter Dutton a “boofhead” in parliament yesterday? (Dutton accused Albanese of being “weak” and having a “glass jaw”.)
Albanese made the comment just hours after the Kate Jenkins report was handed down, calling for more respect in the parliament.
Marles:
I don’t think that comment is of concern. But I think it is right that we need to be looking at culture across the parliament, and that includes the way in which we relate to each other. And I come back to the starting point that this is about ultimately trying to make sure that this is the example in the country of providing a safe and respectful workplace for those people who work here, and particularly women. And we need to be making sure that coming out of this report, we take this moment to change the culture of parliament forever.
Updated
Richard Marles says Labor is all for the inquiry into social media giants (the prime minister announced that today).
Marles told the ABC:
We think that it’s important to be looking at the question of social media and the role that big tech plays in that. Obviously we absolutely support the thrust of what the government’s trying to do here, which is to stamp out behaviour or trolls on social media and to make that a safer place for the Australian community.
Scott Morrison was asked about his senator David Van’s interjections in the Senate yesterday and he had this to say:
I expect all parliamentary leaders to be seeking to be uphold those standards have been in the parliament a long time. Just last week the interjections that I was hearing in the chamber coming across, I mean, these are things that all parliamentary leaders continue to have to uphold the standards of and I expect that of my team and I was very, very disappointed about that.
Updated
Those who resist an integrity commission 'raise curiosity', Liberal senator says
Still in the senate, Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells spoke during the adjournment debate about the need for a federal integrity commission that people could trust:
In February this year, I spoke about integrity and conduct. Politics is about perception, and, regrettably, the public perception of our politicians is not good. Repeatedly, politicians from local, state and federal ranks have acted without integrity and contributed to the ongoing and deteriorating perception of the body politic.
In any survey about the most trusted professions in our society, politicians usually rank amongst the lowest, and why wouldn’t this be the case, given the continued exposure of questionable activities over the years? Whether it’s alleged lies in election campaigns, dodgy preselections, misappropriation of public monies, personal benefits resulting from insider information, monies sequestered in overseas tax havens, abuse of office for personal advantage, dodgy land deals or connections with foreign governments, the list goes on and on.
Negative public perceptions are compounded when politicians dig their heels in, spin the story and fail to take responsibility for their actions. They rely on the fast-moving media cycle and wait for the next story to take over the front page, and this frustrates the public even more. Modern democracies and the operation of open government must be accountable and transparent, thereby obviating any suspicion of skulduggery.
In conclusion, those who resist the introduction of an effective federal integrity body raise people’s curiosity. One has to ask the question: are they conflicted? Why are they resisting the implementation of such a body? And when we speak of integrity, I’m once again reminded of the words of Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor and philosopher: “If it is not right, do not do it. If it is not true, do not say it.”
Updated
Here is what Liberal senator David Van told the Senate yesterday (he made a personal explanation later in the afternoon, but didn’t stand up at the time when president Slade Brockman asked if anyone wanted to withdraw their interjection at the time of the incident):
As you asked us to reflect, I reflect on my behaviour in question time and I acknowledge that interjections are always disorderly. I acknowledge I was making interjections while Senator Lambie was asking a question during question time.
And while I do not accept the characterisation of my interjections in the manner raised in points of order in that time, by other senators, I do regret the interjections and I apologise to Senator Lambie and to the Senate unreservedly. Mr President, I commit to holding myself to the highest standards in the future. Thank you.
Updated
If you want to know how some government MPs are treating the government’s own social media law proposal, here’s just one example.
Victorian Liberal senator David Van has apologised for interjecting while Jacqui Lambie asked questions in the sSenate yesterday, but has denied he made dog noises. He told journalist Samantha Maiden it may have sounded like an animal noise because he was wearing a mask. His colleague, Hollie Hughes had said on Twitter it didn’t happen at all (before Van’s apology for interjecting) and sarcastically praised Penny Wong’s “bionic hearing”.
Here’s how Van responded to Labor MP Graham Perrett as part of an ongoing thread on the incident:
How so curious, Graham? I did not make a ‘noise’ I spoke when making an interjection & I certainly did not make any kind of animal noise at all. Are you alleging otherwise? At least I won’t need our excellent new anti-troll laws to unmask you #justsayin
— Senator David Van (@VanSenate) November 30, 2021
Updated
Social media crackdowns must be playing well in focus groups: now there is an official inquiry.
From the release:
The Australian Parliament will put big tech under the microscope as it examines toxic material on social media platforms and the dangers this poses to the wellbeing of Australians.
The inquiry, which will be chaired by Robertson MP Lucy Wicks, was announced today by prime minister Scott Morrison and minister for communications, urban infrastructure, cities and the arts Paul Fletcher.
Prime minister Morrison said the inquiry builds on the world-leading legislation the government announced earlier this week to unmask anonymous online trolls.
“Mums and dads are rightly concerned about whether big tech is doing enough to keep their kids safe online,” The prime minister said. “Big tech created these platforms, they have a responsibility to ensure their users are safe.
Updated
Meanwhile, Labor isn’t confirming anything at this point, but the SMH is reporting the fuel emissions standards policy the opposition took to the last election is gone.
That shouldn’t come as a surprise; Labor has been working up its 2030 emissions policy for a while and part of that has been shedding parts it faces government attack over. With all the talk of “mandates” back (the government has claimed Labor wanted to mandate what vehicles people could drive, which isn’t true) as well as “taxes” (the government has also claimed things like the fuel emissions standard was a tax on family) Labor has been working on minimising as many attacks as possible (which doesn’t always lead to the best way to build policy, but here we are).
As Murph has been reporting, a 2030-35 target from Labor is expected very soon and it will be more ambitious than the Abbott-era policy the government is holding on to. With Labor starting its pseudo campaign this weekend (a campaign rally has already been announced) you can expect that policy announcement sooner rather than later. Once parliament is over, it’s game on for both sides.
Updated
Scott Morrison wants to make today about his social media bill, which is actually just a defamation bill, containing elements already available in state jurisdictions (social media platforms have always been publishers, for instance).
So you’ll be hearing a lot from the government about protecting young people and women from “anonymous trolls” on social media platforms. The legislation doesn’t do that though. It gives avenues for *some* people to be able to go to court to get an email address associated with an anonymous account. (And let’s not forget that when an actual pile-on is on, a lot of it comes from accounts with names and not everyone can afford to sue for reputational damage.)
(Plus, just yesterday, the same day the Kate Jenkins report was handed down, the Senate didn’t exactly cover itself in glory when it came to respect.)
Updated
We’re international news again:
A report on the workplace culture in Australia’s Parliament paints a damning picture of widespread sexual harassment, with employees sharing harrowing stories of an alcohol-fueled environment where powerful men violated boundaries unchecked.https://t.co/KyLELQxPpi
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 30, 2021
Updated
Turns out those in the Victorian parliament are probably the most sleepy in the country:
Soooo you know how we thought the pandemic legislation would pass overnight? MPs have sat ALL night - and they’re still going! https://t.co/DqZvI4672i
— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) November 30, 2021
Good morning: NSW increases fines for Covid breaches
It’s the second last sitting day of the year and the government still has things like the voter ID legislation to get through, so it’s beginning to cut things a little fine.
There won’t be any federal integrity commission legislation from the government. We know that. Scott Morrison is blaming Labor for his government not bringing on the bill (which is now just an exposure draft) because for some reason, Labor not supporting the government’s proposal is a stumbling block for a government which carries a majority in the House and has brought on countless bills the opposition does not support. But that’s the logic we’re being offered up on this one.
Labor doesn’t support the voter ID laws but, at this point, the government is pushing ahead with those. There’s also religious discrimination, which is off to a joint committee, which will meet over the summer holidays to report back by early February. Morrison wants that one wrapped up before the election, hence the rush. So we’ll probably at least squeeze in the February sitting before the next election, but again, there’s no guarantees on that.
National cabinet met late yesterday and all the leaders agreed to hold the line on keeping domestic borders open, most likely anticipating a whole of country meltdown if Christmas is cancelled for the third year in a row. That, and no one knows enough about the Omicron Covid variant yet to want to make a decision which could end up looking a bit panicked. So far, there is no information warranting any other action than watch and wait (domestically at least).
But there are a few more obligations for returning international travellers; in NSW those who don’t comply with quarantine/isolation rules face a $5,000 fine, up from $1,000, while Victoria is mulling whether to reintroduce a 14-day quarantine for returned travellers (no change as yet though).
Speaking of Victoria, it should pass its pandemic laws today, after securing the votes it needed from the crossbench.
We’ll keep you up to date with all the political news (and a little more, given Covid is still with us) with Mike Bowers, Katharine Murphy, Daniel Hurst, Sarah Martin and Paul Karp at your service. The entire Guardian brains trust is also chipping in, as usual, to make sure you know everything you need to know to stay up to date across the nation. It being a sitting day, Amy Remeikis is on the blog. Will there be enough caffeine? Probably not. But onwards anyway.
Ready?
Updated
