What happened today, Tuesday, 22 June, 2021
That’s where we will wrap up the blog for Tuesday evening.
Here’s what you might have missed today:
- Barnaby Joyce was sworn in as deputy prime minister and faced his first question time since returning to the job.
- New South Wales recorded 10 new cases of Covid-19, on top of the two previously reported, taking the total in the Bondi cluster to 21. All but two of the cases were already isolating, and six are household contacts.
- NSW has extended the mask mandate indoors for Sydney for another week
- Queensland reported one new case of Covid-19, a man in his 60s tested who visited the Portuguese Family Centre at Ellen Grove at the same time as a woman who tested positive on Sunday.
- Queensland and South Australia will open the borders to Victoria from Friday.
- The Northern Territory will require people visiting from the Waverley or Woollahra local government areas to go into quarantine for 14 days.
- The NSW government said in handing down its budget on Tuesday it expects a $466m surplus in 2024-25
Amy Remeikis will be back with you tomorrow morning for the second-last sitting day of the Winter sitting calendar.
Updated
The Morrison government is facing calls from its powerful security committee to list the entirety of Hizballah as a terrorist organisation under the criminal code.
This evening, the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security published its report on the government’s plans to re-list Hizballah’s External Security Organisation (ESO), which has been designated in that way since 2003.
The committee backed the re-listing – which will be the seventh. But the committee chair, Liberal senator James Paterson, told the Senate this evening that the committee “was concerned by the decision to, at this stage, only re-list Hizballah’s ESO”.
Paterson said the committee’s previous review in 2018 recommended extending the listing to include Hizballah’s military wing:
“In this report the committee goes a step further. We recommend the government consider listing Hizballah in its entirety as a terrorist organisation. We do so based on the expert evidence received by the committee that the distinction that we currently draw between Hizballah’s ESO and the rest of Hizballah is an arbitrary one.”
Paterson said Australia’s position of listing only the ESO was “increasingly isolated internationally”.
“Twenty-two countries and two regional organisations list them in their entirety, including our Five Eyes allies such as the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada; like-minded countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Japan; and Arab countries and groupings including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League.”
Labor’s Kristina Keneally told the Senate: “This is a bipartisan report, unanimously supported.”
Updated
NT declares two NSW hotspots
The chief health officer of the Northern Territory has declared the Waverley Council and Woollahra Council local government areas Covid-19 hotspots, following the Bondi outbreak growing to 21 cases.
Anyone who arrives in the NT from these areas from 5pm on 22 June must undertake 14 days of mandatory, supervised quarantine at the Alice Springs or Howard Springs quarantine facilities.
They must also go into quarantine if they are defined as a close contact by NSW Health.
Anyone who arrived in the NT between 11 June and 5pm 22 June from those areas must immediately get tested and isolate for 14 days in their home or a suitable place if they’re defined as a close contact.
They must remain in quarantine, except to get tested, until noon on the 14th day after they were in a case location, regardless of if they receive a negative result.
People who are considered casual contacts and arrived in the same time period must get tested and isolate until they get a negative result.
Updated
After South Australia and Queensland’s decision to remove quarantine restrictions from Melbourne this coming Friday, Western Australia could remove the quarantine requirement next week, AAP reports.
The WA premier, Mark McGowan, says that requirement will likely be removed by next week assuming Victoria remains on its current trajectory of Covid-19 cases.
But McGowan indicated the rules for NSW visitors could change in the next few days.
People who have been in NSW must isolate until they return a negative test, while anyone who has visited exposure sites must serve the full 14 days quarantine.
“We have a pretty strong arrangement in place for NSW currently but if we need to tighten it further, we will,” McGowan told reporters.
Updated
More NSW exposure sites announced
New South Wales Health has announced the following Covid-19 exposure sites. People who attended at the listed times must call NSW Health on 1800 943 553, get tested and isolate for 14 days, regardless of the result:
- Wallabies Thai Restaurant (anyone who dined in the outside area), Mascot, Saturday 19 June between 11.30am and 12pm
- Chanel fragrance and beauty, Level 4, Westfield Bondi, Friday 18 June between 12pm and 12.25pm
- ANZ 20 Martin Place (anyone on Level 2), Sydney, Thursday 17 June between 11:45am and 3:15pm
Anyone who was at the following venues must get tested and isolate until a negative result is returned:
- Wallabies Thai Restaurant (anyone who dined inside), Mascot, Saturday 19 June between 11.30am and 12pm
- Starbucks, Level 2, Westfield Bondi, Friday 18 June, between 11am and 12pm
- ANZ 20 Martin Place (Anyone on Ground and Level 1), Sydney, Thursday 17 June 2021 between 11:45am and 3:15pm
Anyone who attended the following places at the listed times should monitor for symptoms and if they appear, isolate and get tested until a negative result is received:
- Mascot Central Shopping Precinct
- Etherden Walk, Mascot
Anytime from Friday 18 June 2021 to Tuesday 22 June 2021.
NSW Health also says fragments of the Covid-19 virus have been found in the Brooklyn and Lough Park sewerage treatment plants, which cover Dangar Island, Cowan, Brooklyn, Mooney Mooney, Cheerio Point, Clovelly, Waverley, Randwick, Centennial Park, Queens Park, Bondi, Bondi Junction, Bellevue Hill, Double Bay, Woollahra.
People in those areas are being advised to monitor for symptoms and get tested if they appear.
Updated
Josh Taylor is coming to my rescue and unchaining me from the blog so I will leave you in his wonderful hands to take you through the evening.
There is a bit of a subdued feeling in the building at the moment – I think the events of the last two days are starting to settle in. Today was just a taster.
A very big thank you to my eyes, ears and the blog’s heart, Mike Bowers, for all his work today (and always) and to Katharine Murphy, Daniel Hurst, Paul Karp and Sarah Martin for all their brains, work and humour.
But as always the biggest thank you has to go to you – thank you for making it all worth it. I’m working my way back through the messages. Thanks to everyone for their thoughts, comments and musings (and even the criticisms) – they always make me think, which, when it’s as fast-paced as this project is, is a very good thing.
I’ll be back tomorrow for another day of the Barnaby show – don’t expect too much from Scott Morrison this week, particularly when it comes to Labor, who are deliberately doing all they can to sideline the prime minister from the parliament while he attends remotely. Can’t imagine he is enjoying the week, given how much he likes to control the messaging, and the House.
Have a lovely evening, and have fun with Josh. I’ll see you soon – and as always, take care of you.
Updated
Over in the House of Representatives, MPs have just debated a motion from the independent Zali Steggall to disallow $50m in funding allocated to developing the gas reserves in the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory. (This measure is part of the Morrison government’s gas fired recovery).
The Steggall motion triggered a debate in the Labor caucus a couple of weeks ago when the recommendation came to vote against the Beetaloo disallowance. Labor MPs including Ged Kearney, Libby Coker and Graham Perrett said supporting new gas development wasn’t a great idea.
Joel Fitzgibbon and Bill Shorten were among other Labor MPs who supported the recommendation to the caucus. In any case, the motion has been debated.
Steggall’s proposal was seconded by fellow independent Helen Haines and backed by the Greens leader Adam Bandt.
Both Coalition and Labor MPs voted against the Steggall proposal, so it was defeated.
Updated
The Senate has rearranged its business this evening, at the government’s motion.
The #Senate has agreed to rearrange its business this evening to consider two disallowance motions and a range of bills. All the details are available from the Dynamic Red https://t.co/Wi8bN9E81O pic.twitter.com/Sv5nOSo8mW
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) June 22, 2021
First up is the attempt to disallow the government’s changes to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency that allowed it to invest in carbon capture and storage.
The Greens believed votes on this would be tight - but given the government is bringing this on for a vote it seems likely the Coalition and One Nation will team up to defeat it.
If it’s not disallowed, it may only be a matter of time before the instrument is in the courts, because even the Liberal-controlled delegated legislation committee doesn’t think it is consistent with the Act.
After that are a series of government bills, including the Online Safety bill which Labor has offered its support for.
Last is the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No.1) Bill 2021. The Greens expect the government will amend its own bill gutting the proposed changes to local content rules after a critical report from the Senate communications committee.
These matters will be wrapped up by votes at 9:15pm, if not sooner.
There is a lot at stake over not acting on climate change, or doing whatever can be done to ensure at least some of the Great Barrier Reef survives in a warming climate.
As Save the Children’s Paul Mitchell points out, that includes Australia’s responsibility to our neighbours:
The knock on impacts extend to our Pacific neighbours, such as Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
The threats facing the Great Barrier Reef, such as increasing ocean acidification and temperatures, more intense storms and increasing coastal flooding, impact smaller reefs across the Pacific.
Reefs in these countries provide vital contributions to livelihoods and food security in some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities.
Unaddressed, this will reduce the food security of people who rely on reef fish and undermine their way of life. As reefs bleach and die, the protection they provide coastal communities from storm surges also erodes - leaving people more exposed to increasingly fierce storms.”
Liberal MP Dave Sharma was on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing reminding us that there are Liberals who will push back against the Nationals increasingly loud rumblings on climate and net zero by 2050:
I don’t expect the prime minister will change his position on this. This is a position the cabinet has adopted and reflects the leadership of his party, the Liberal party.
It is not a position on the Nationals but in terms of the Liberal party, the prime minister has articulated our views and position on this. He is a leader of the government and the Nationals form part of that government. What he’s had to say on this remains government policy and will continue to remain government policy.
I’m not going to pretend there aren’t internal differences of view within our Coalition about this but there are equally internal differences of view within Labor about this – and I won’t seek to capitalise on those and exaggerate those here.
We do need to build a broad political consensus within Australia. That involves regions and cities and different states and the more resource-exposed industries if we’re to get this done. The fact we’ve got different representatives who represent different electorates and different views is not all that surprising.
Updated
As has been pointed out, Barnaby Joyce had daughters his entire political career before this point as well. Today he raised it in question time.
Terri Butler was asked about the ‘as the father of daughters’ line while on the ABC and said:
Look, I really think people are sick of men in power pointing to the fact they have daughters when they’re asked about issues relating to the status of women. I don’t think it goes very well at all.
I think what people want is to see a more diverse parliament, a more diverse government and a government that treats issues relating to women and women’s safety seriously.
This year has been a terrible year for this government when it comes to issues relating to the treatment of women. They need to do better.
The deputy prime minister of Australia cannot just bat away this really serious question by pointing to the fact he’s a father of daughters. People are really sick of that stuff. They actually want to see real action.
I think people take issue with it because women are human beings with inherent value. They’re not just of value because men have female relations. I think people take issue with it because women should be seen as people who are entitled to expect to live in a safe and prosperous nation. And they shouldn’t have to appeal to people’s sense of possession or the fact they’ve got daughters or sense of, because I’ve got daughters, now women become important when they weren’t before. That’s not the way the world works.
Women are people. Women’s rights ... human rights. It’s been said for decades and remains true. So this whole situation of having the men of the Liberal and National party stand up and pretend they couldn’t possibly have any problems with the issues, the serious issues relating to the treatment of women and women’s safety in this country because they have female relatives, is nonsense and people are sick of it.
Updated
Over in the Senate:
The Senate has just agreed to the majority of a Greens motion on family and partner separations, and has called on the Government to make Prospective Marriage Visa holders automatically exempt from the travel ban. The Government must now act to reunite these 593 couples. pic.twitter.com/4KSTAiANLG
— Nick McKim (@NickMcKim) June 22, 2021
However, it is deeply disappointing that Labor and the Government voted against reuniting young children of temporary visa holders with their parents in Australia. People have built lives here in Australia and the border shutdown has kept them apart for more than 15 months. 2/2
— Nick McKim (@NickMcKim) June 22, 2021
Updated
In the Coalition party room blue on childcare, two senators indicated they may cross the floor: National Matt Canavan and Liberal Gerard Rennick.
Canavan kicked off the debate by saying he didn’t support the bill unless there was extra support for parents to care for their children in their own homes.
Rennick later said he would struggle to vote for additional support for the sector which already receives $10bn per year.
Rennick told Guardian Australia:
I’m not happy about the bill – I think we should give a payment to all parents and then they work out how they spend that. Childcare doesn’t help shift workers, it doesn’t help mothers on a farm, or people who do a couple of hours of work but don’t need eight hours of care [the fortnightly minimum to receive childcare subsidies].
This sector receives $10bn – and it all goes into the pockets of the childcare centre owners and unions.”
Rennick said the government’s policy “shouldn’t distinguish between stay-at-home parents and those that return to work”, noting that while tens of thousands of parents may want to go back to work if childcare subsidies were higher “how many at work would rather stay at home if they had that choice?”
He said:
I understand why many want to go back to work. I understand they don’t want to give up their careers. But this is about choice and basically ensuring equality of choice.”
Updated
Graham Readfearn and Adam Morton have the Queensland government’s side of the Unesco news:
Queensland’s environment minister says UN officials recommending the Great Barrier Reef be placed on the world heritage “in danger” list shows the Morrison government must do more to deal with the climate crisis.
Meaghan Scanlon’s comments put the state government at odds with the federal environment minister, Sussan Ley, who has accused the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization of a “complete subversion of normal process”.
Ley on Tuesday said the UN body assured her department a week ago it would not suggest an “in danger” listing. The Australian government has vowed to fight the recommendation, which will be considered by the 21-member world heritage committee next month.
Queensland’s environment minister said she did not want the reef placed on the list but the recommendation clearly “shows that more needs to be done and the world is watching”.
Updated
The Greens have tried this a few times (and been blocked or gagged) and it looks like the Senate president is making moves to stop them from trying to move it again.
BREAKING: I’m current moving, again, for my bill for a commission of inquiry into whether Minister Porter is fit to be in Cabinet to be sent to the Legal &Con Ctee for inquiry. Just like I will keep doing. Every day. For as long as it takes. #justiceforKate #auspol #boysclub
— Larissa Waters (@larissawaters) June 22, 2021
Updated
The new skilled job shortage list is out.
The Morrison government has added 22 occupations to the skilled shortage list. pic.twitter.com/DfpG6d5eaY
— Gareth Hutchens (@grhutchens) June 22, 2021
Updated
Here is how Mike Bowers saw QT:
When Barnaby Joyce first started speaking, Ed Husic could be heard saying, “This is like The Shining! Here’s Barnaby!’
I guess the best horror movies are the ones based on real life.
Updated
As Amy noted, Bob Katter asked Barnaby Joyce in question time if he was “aware that China holds the chairmanship of Unesco, currently meeting in China”.
It was a prelude to Katter suggesting Unesco’s recommendation overnight that the Great Barrier Reef be listed as “in danger” was “a serious erosion of Australia’s sovereignty and another intrusion into the control room of our country” – with China apparently behind it.
The question was passed to the environment minister, Sussan Ley, who might have pointed out that she was not aware that China held the chairmanship of Unesco.
Because it doesn’t.
The chair of Unesco’s executive board is Agapito Mba Mokuy, from Equatorial Guinea. The director general is Audrey Azoulay, from France. Neither is Chinese.
As Ley pointed out, China is chair of the World Heritage Committee and will next month host a meeting that will consider the recommendation. Australia also has a seat on the 21-member committee.
The Morrison government believes China may be behind the Unesco decision to recommend the reef be listed as “in danger” but the minister has pulled up short of saying so, leaving the accusations to the Australian and Katter.
Both seem well briefed on what the government thinks.
Here’s our latest story on the issue: Queensland minister says UN warning on Great Barrier Reef status shows Morrison must act.
Updated
But what wasn’t answered there is very interesting – these are the issues Peter Dutton interjected on, to stop Barnaby Joyce from having to answer.
Bob Katter’s question on China and Unesco (jumped up before Joyce had a chance to object himself).
Criticism from Mia Davies, who leads the WA Nationals (again, Dutton jumped up, but the question was still ruled in order).
His previous comments on the Biloela family (Joyce nodded at Dutton halfway through this question, and Dutton jumped up the moment it was completed).
Whether any policy agreement had been made with Scott Morrison (again, Dutton jumped up to object immediately).
Updated
Well. That was a nice return to 2014.
Barnaby is back and so are the coal wars (they never went away – it is just open warfare now).
Updated
Question time ends
It is over.
Updated
While this motion comes to its end, Labor MP Amanda Rishworth has responded to an earlier post about the debate in the Coalition party room over childcare.
“What century are we in, when we have members of the federal government shaming women for using childcare?” Rishworth told Guardian Australia.
“It should not be left to female members of the government to teach their male colleagues why childcare is important for equality.
“This is just completely archaic and shows how out of touch this government is with the reality of working families.”
Updated
The suspension of standing orders is to discuss this motion:
A, there is a global pandemic.
B, the government had two jobs this year, to roll out the vaccine and establish a safe national system of quarantine.
C, instead of effectively rolling out the vaccine, and establishing a safe national system of quarantine and, the incoming deputy prime minister has been focusing on his own job.
D, instead of focusing on the needs of Australians, the Abbott-Truss, Turnbull-Truss, Turnbull-Joyce, Morrison-Joyce, Morrison-McCormack and now Morrison-Joyce (government) has been focused on itself.
And, E, instead of building the jobs of the future, the incoming deputy prime minister has said investing in renewables is “insane and lemming like”, and said the Nationals have always been opposed to a net zero target.
And ... therefore calls on members of the Morrison-Joyce government to focus on the needs of Australians and not their own jobs.
(It will be defeated, because Labor does not have the numbers. These motions are only to get TV and social media grabs, because you can say all your talking points at a time in parliament that gets the most coverage. Which is also why so many answers from government ministers are outrageous – gotta get those clicks.)
Updated
Goodness, Peter Dutton is getting a workout today.
Anthony Albanese to Barnaby Joyce:
“Will he negotiate a new agreement on policy with the prime minister and will that be made public?”
Sgt Dutton:
You have ruled on that as recently as yesterday. This is a backdoor way of talking about Coalition agreement, which is not the subject of the deputy prime minister’s portfolio responsibilities. It is not within order to go to the detail of that and the precedent is very clear in relation to these matters.
Tony Burke gets up again:
The question doesn’t go to an agreement between the parties, it goes to whether there is an agreement being sought between the deputy prime minister and the prime minister about policy. If that is put in the Coalition agreement then the leader of the house is the first to announce that. That is not what the question asks.
Tony Smith rules the question out of order – not for Dutton’s point, but because it is not part of his ministerial responsibilities.
He goes to move on, but Anthony Albanese moves to suspend standing orders.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Barnaby Joyce:
“The National Farmers’ Federation has backed the net zero target for emissions by 2050. Are the regional Australians who want the job opportunities from (that) including the National Farmers’ Federation wrong?”
Joyce (who is having the time of his life and repeatedly saying “laser-like focus”):
I thank the member for Grayndler for his question, I note his reference to job opportunities.
This side will always be the side of the House that is absolutely focused on job opportunities and making sure people maintain their jobs.
The sort of place we will be focusing on ... to keep their jobs – is the member for Capricornia, coal miners in that seat. We will have a laser-like focus on the member for Flynn’s seat so that those miners keep their jobs. We will be laser-like focused on all the people in the seat of Paterson to make sure they keep their jobs and the member for Shortland, we will be laser-like focused to make sure the people in the seat keep their jobs.
We will be laser-like in our focus to make sure they keep their jobs and you keep yours. We want to keep his job.
We want him to remain the leader of the opposition, we want him to stay there for years and years and years. We want you to get long service leave as the leader of opposition, because on the side we care about jobs, and I know it’s hard for the member for Grayndler because you are tied to the aspirations of an inner-suburban electorate and Green preference and that is a tough sell.
(Tony Smith tells him to be relevant)
Joyce:
I’m sorry. I take your instruction, Mr Speaker. Talking about regional jobs, as leader of the opposition brought up, yes, on our side we focus on regional jobs all the time ... Like the live cattle trade. We focused on regional jobs that would be lost when you brought in a carbon tax. What we note is when we focus on regional jobs – now there is within the opposition two groups, one group that’s kind of supposed to be in the Labor party but not really and wish they weren’t.
(Smith pulls him up again)
Joyce:
We are doing a very good job on regional jobs.
Updated
Looks like there has been some talks beforehand about how to protect Barnaby Joyce from questions – in the middle of this one from Anthony Albanese, Joyce turns to Peter Dutton and gives him a very firm nod.
Albanese:
I refer to his quote this month when he said ‘Tharnicaa and Kopika were born in Australia, maybe if their names were Jane and Sally, would think twice about sending them back to another country which they are not from’. In his capacity as minister for regional development, does he still support the government letting them and their family go back to Biloela in Queensland?
Dutton gets up immediately, almost before Albanese has left the box.
Dutton:
The (question’s) aim is to hold ministers (to) account for their portfolio responsibilities. This is not within the ministerial responsibilities of the deputy prime minister, and that is very clear. As such, the question should be ruled out of order.
Tony Burke argues it is relevant:
Mr Speaker, to the point of order, there are many times in this house where ministers have answered questions where they do not have the decision making within their portfolio, but the outcome of the decision making is relevant to the areas they represent. It happens in agriculture all the time, it happens in regional Australia all the time, where if there is an impact on their stakeholders, they take questions. And there will be days of parliament where on the basis of what the minister has said or what the house has said, almost all of the government’s questions from the outside would be ruled out, if that were to be the standard. This question goes immediately to the impact on regional Australia, and whether the minister will be advocating in that way or not.
I will put it in these terms, Mr Speaker. When a trade agreement is agreed, there is one minister responsible for the trade agreement, but we get 10 questions across the whole front bench because they have stakeholder interests ... Here, regional Australia has a stakeholder interest. In this family. And that is what is being asked.
Tony Smith rules the question out of order:
He is being asked about a statement he made ... when he was a backbencher not the deputy prime minister, and the this is made very clear, those questions are out of order. I know he is being to answer it, if the question is out of order, it’s out of order, as simple as that.
So Joyce avoids having to answer the question – which is what the government wants.
Updated
To prove that point, here is how Barnaby Joyce finishes that answer:
We are the party that looks after regional Australia, we continue to look after regional Australia, and that is why regional Australia votes for us and you have left them so far behind that there is only a couple of seats left, one is up there [Joel Fitzgibbon], and he is only just with you, he is only just with you, and the rest have all gone!
Updated
Barnaby Joyce isn’t addressing any of his answers to anyone other than the backbenchers.
His whole shtick is about ‘power’ and coming out strong with attacks, so even though nothing changes in terms of policy or actual action, it seems a lot more energised.
So none of this is about anything other than throwing some weight around. And he’ll keep doing it, because that’s what he does. Nothing of substance changes though, other than people get a lot rowdier with the things they were already saying.
Labor’s Anne Aly to Barnaby Joyce:
“My question is to the deputy prime minister, and I refer to yesterday’s comments by the WA Nationals leader, Mia Davies, who in 2018 called the deputy prime minister to resign. I quote, ‘I am disappointed the party felt they needed to change leaders. It shows they are focused on internal matters instead of the people of regional Australia’. In his capacity as minister for regional water development, is Davies correct?
Peter Dutton interjects:
I believe that question should be ruled out of order. The deputy prime minister does not have responsibility in relation to those comments that the honourable member has cited. I don’t know the accuracy of those comments, and I don’t think the deputy prime minister should be asked to respond to it.
Tony Smith:
I am going to rule the question out of order and give the opportunity to the member for Cowan to rephrase the question, and I tell you why. I have made it very clear in the past, and I know the member for Isaacs hasn’t forgotten this, that the substance of the question has to be in order. In other words, you cannot use the majority of what is asked, and that is deliberately out of order, and then simply bolt on the reference to the ministerial responsibility out of it and. In other words, there was very little question and a lot of comment about what was related to internal party matters, which is prohibited ... But I am happy to hear from the leader of the opposition of business on this.
Anthony Albanese objects:
The quote from Mia Davies is about, the quote is, I think it’s because they’re focused on internal matters instead of the people of regional Australia. There cannot be any quote more in order than to ask the minister for regional water development whether or not there focused on the interests of regional Australia or internal matters.
Smith changes his mind and Joyce has to answer the question.
He just talks about regional grants.
And yet, if everything was going amazing for regional Australia, why did the Nationals have to change leaders again?
Updated
How terrible it is that Barnaby Joyce finds it demeaning to address his past behaviour in parliament. It must be so difficult being back doing that, in exactly the position he wanted back, and got back.
Thoughts and prayers.
Updated
Catherine King to Barnaby Joyce:
“This week the assistant minister for children and families, the member for Capricornia, said of the deputy prime minister – if he got the job again there would be women out there who would be unhappy with that.
“Is the assistant minister correct or is the deputy prime minister’s return to the job good for the women of regional Australia?”
Joyce:
I respect the right of any person to make their concerns clear, and I make sure I stay in close correspondence with both my colleagues and my family.
And by so doing, I endeavour to make sure as we all do, to try to make the better person of myself. I know that it is imperative that in the considerations I had over three years on the back bench, that like all of us, we have to see our way to a better self, and I am doing that, and I find that it’s a little bit demeaning though to go through to litigate this at the despatch box but I’m happy that is what you want to do.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg shouts about some things.
Updated
Julie Collins to Barnaby Joyce:
“In his capacity for minister for regional development, what does the deputy prime minister to say to women in agriculture?”
Joyce:
I thank the member for her question, might I say, as a father of four daughters ... I have an incredible vested interest in making sure women in agriculture and every section of society have the best opportunity in the safest environment they could possibly live in.
In agriculture, as we well know, so many businesses are a partnership, where that family unit is instrumental in the success of the operation. That was the family unit I grew up in with my mother and my father, and where mother, if she wasn’t running the finances of the farm, she was also at times the worker in the paddocks with Dad. In farming, it is really, truly a partnership between both the mother and father, and the unit, to try and make sure that business operation works. More so, I would say many other areas of work within the nation.
Without a shadow of a doubt, I have the greatest respect for what is truly part of the reason the Australian agriculture has had success that it has had.
Updated
Bob Katter asks a question that is a bit of a curve ball:
The deputy prime minister, the Courier Mail front page said David Attenborough labelled the Great Barrier Reef magnificent, not endangered but magnificent. China holds the chairmanship of Unesco, currently meeting in China. Isn’t the proposed declaration by Unesco of the Barrier Reef as endangered a serious erosion of Australia’s sovereignty and another intrusion into the control room of our country?
Peter Dutton is on his feet in less than two seconds to stop Barnaby Joyce from answering the question.
He says it is one for the environment minister, Sussan Ley.
Katter says as much as he loves the leader of the house, it’s a question on sovereignty not the environment. Tony Smith says Joyce can pass the question on to someone else, if he wishes. Which is true, but he didn’t ask to do that – he didn’t have a chance to do that. Dutton was on his feet doing it first.
So it seems that the government doesn’t trust Joyce to speak on issues involving China. Take from that what you will.
Updated
This entire question time is just an exercise in ego.
I honestly cannot imagine why anyone would tune into this, if they didn’t have to.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Barnaby Joyce:
“I refer to the deputy prime minister’s statement: ‘I don’t want the government anymore in my life. I am sick of the government being in my life!’
“Does the deputy prime minister agree, government has a role to play in securing regional Australia’s recovery from Covid, including a good and effective vaccine rollout and creation of national quarantine, and isn’t that just a wacky thing for the deputy prime minister to say?”
Joyce, who is already back to shouting everything while eagerly looking back to his benches for encouragement, or I don’t know, a treat:
I suppose I was reflecting on what would have happened if the member for Grayndler was in government. And I must say, at the time it was terrifying, it was terrifying. I was overcome with fear. Fear and trepidation.
As to what might happen if the Labor party was to be the government. But later on, after I cooled down, I realised, we are the government, everything was fine.
Going to the rollout, we have over 6.6 million people, I think, have now been part of the process of being vaccinated, and that’s a great outcome, one in four adults, one in four adults.
And Australia has ... a sense of pride about what we have been able to do, what we have been able to do in other areas, where hundreds of thousands of people have died. Other nations, where millions of people have died. Australia has been so blessed, and we have also been so fortuitous, and we also have the best government in place!
We have had the best government in place*. And it’s because ... of the diligence, because of the diligence.
*If it was the best government, then why the need for the change?
Joyce continues, but honestly, it’s just more shouty guff. Then Greg Hunt gets up and adds to it.
Joyce then moves on to a dixer, which is just all about coal.
Australia, this is your government.
Updated
Scott Morrison once again warns of all the uncertain times Australia is living in.
Updated
Tony Burke pops up to ask where the prime minister is, because the screen is blank.
Then Scott Morrison turns up on the screen.
But the sound is all the way up, so he is distorted. All in all it’s going exactly as well as you would think it is.
Updated
Question time begins with Joyce in PM's chair
It’s the Barnaby Joyce show today.
Anthony Albanese says to the current deputy prime minister:
“The deputy prime minister has mounted two leadership challenges: one on the very day on which this parliament honoured bushfire survivors, and one during a global pandemic. Why is the deputy prime minister only focused on his own job, and not on the real needs of Australians, including those in regional communities?”
Joyce:
I thank the honourable member for his question and first and foremost I would like to say a huge thank you to the work for the member of Riverina, who did a remarkable job. A man who is noted for the ... way he conducted his office, a person who will go on to serve and further represent our nation as a person, an incredible asset, and here I am.
We know there is a sense of division on the other side, because I think I am looking at someone here who might be under a little bit of pressure himself. A little bit of pressure himself. A little bit of pressure himself. And while ... I was on the backbench, I got to know quite a few people from the Labor party, and it’s an interesting conversation to have about the current leader, the current leader, but I tell you what, I tell you what, the member for Grayndler. I am his biggest fan. I am this man’s biggest fan. I want you to be there for the long haul!
Albanese interrupts with a point of order on relevance but is overruled.
Joyce:
Well, thank you, Mr Speaker, and why stop the fun?
There is the preamble, there is the outcome. There is the outcome over there ... we know where we’re off to, we know where we’re off to.
But I tell you what, when you need the numbers to stay there, come and call me. Because I am you’re biggest supporter. We need you there. We are, we are a big supporter of you, because you are going so very, very well.
You are going so very, very well.
Every time the member – every time we are struggling with an argument, out in the regions, in Wagga and Beaudesert and Tamworth, if it’s getting a bit uncomfortable for us, we just say the alternative, the alternative, is Mr Albanese, the member for Grayndler, and then the argument is all over. Like, I just – it’s remarkable, it’s remarkable.
You have been here, you were also the deputy prime minister, weren’t you, I think, for 83 days? I hope you enjoyed that experience, because it is as high as you’re ever going to get.
Updated
Barnaby Joyce is giving the revised ministry list, which includes him as deputy prime minister.
Updated
Question time is about to begin and Barnaby Joyce is already in the prime minister’s chair.
He’s waited three years and three months for this moment. He’s not going to miss it.
Updated
The Senate, following a motion by Labor senator Katy Gallagher, has ordered Richard Colbeck to table a document outlining the nation’s Covid-19 vaccine supply. That was after Colbeck told the Senate during question time that he would table it in the Monday night Covid committee hearing (and didn’t).
So now he has to produce it to the Senate by 7.20pm tonight. That leaves plenty of time for it to suddenly become “cabinet in confidence”.
We’ll let you know how that one ends.
Updated
Question time is in about 15 minutes – and Barnaby Joyce will be in the prime minister’s chair, while Scott Morrison beams in from a screen.
Updated
In Labor caucus, Anthony Albanese noted the return of Barnaby Joyce by claiming he had “failed” in all his ministries in the last term of government. Albanese said the government is focused on itself not its two principal jobs (hotel quarantine and vaccines).
Labor has set up a protecting pensions taskforce – an inquiry to be run by MP Justine Elliot, Peta Murphy and Anthony Chisholm into concerns that the cashless debit card could be expanded to pensioners. The government has never said they would do this but two weeks ago Elliot refused to delete a social media post claiming they might, prompting an argument with the prime minister’s office.
The shadow health minister, Mark Butler, also warned about how recent Medicare changes will increase patient costs, particularly for surgery, and how this fits in with a “pattern” of government neglect of Medicare.
In terms of legislation, Labor will move to amend a government social security bill to remove an eight-day waiting period for people applying for payments online.
Labor will support the telecommunications international production orders bill, which makes it easier to share material gathered in Australia with law enforcement in allied countries like the US.
The parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security asked for amendments including ruling out international cooperation for death penalty cases, which Labor believes the government has honoured.
Updated
How lovely that when the men started speaking nonsense about childcare changes in the Coalition party room meeting, it was the women who had to remind them about equality. Doesn’t seem like any of their male colleagues spoke up in defence.
Which is always so much of the problem – women are expected to not only carry their load, but also carry the load men place upon them.
Updated
A fiery debate took place in the Coalition party room over the government’s proposed childcare changes, with Queensland senators Matt Canavan, Gerard Rennick and MP George Christensen talking about the need to support women who chose to stay at home with their children.
Female Liberal MPs, including the minister Jane Hume, Katie Allen, Celia Hammond, Hollie Hughes and Perin Davey, spoke in favour of the changes, saying it was about providing “equality of opportunity”.
One of the male MPs suggested that women might be “forced” back to work by the changes, prompting a rebuke from one of the women MPs that it was about “equality of opportunity” and removing barriers.
Another MP suggested that women using childcare were “outsourcing parenting” prompting Victorian MP Katie Allen to remind MPs to be cognisant of the language used and to not use language that might be offensive to working women.
Hume told MPs that there were about 100,000 women who could not afford to work because of the cost of childcare.
One of the male MPs spoke about the need for the government to consider providing financial support to families on farms who accessed help from live-in nannies rather than through the family daycare system.
Updated
Those job figures are interesting because they show some of the actual week-to-week changes in employment.
I only just learned this, but the monthly unemployment data (the one where we get the unemployment rate) doesn’t include non-resident workers who have worked in Australia for less than 12 months. The quarterly data is everyone who has contributed to economic activity, but the monthly data essentially excludes a large chunk of people who are on foreign working visas.
Which means that the official job numbers don’t include all the non-permanent resident workers who left Australia during the pandemic.
As a blog watcher also just pointed out to me, the payroll figures started to dip when jobkeeper ended.
Updated
Employment may be up in the monthly figures, but in the two weeks to 5 June, the ABS reports payroll jobs were down.
Between the weeks ending 22 May and 5 June 2021:
- Payroll jobs decreased by 0.9%, compared with an increase of 0.4% in the previous fortnight.
- Total wages paid decreased by 1.6%, compared with an increase of 0.4% in the previous fortnight.
And in the state breakdowns that meant:
Payroll jobs:
- Victoria decreased by 2.1%
- Tasmania decreased by 1.1%
- Australian Capital Territory decreased by 1.1%
Total wages:
- Victoria decreased by 2.8%
- Tasmania decreased by 2.0%
Updated
The resources minister, Keith Pitt, just held a quick door stop to talk about the radioactive waste management bill (the government had to amend the bill to not name a specific site, because if the community doesn’t want a nuclear waste dump, they can’t be legally bound by it. It’s been one of the hold-ups with the bill and last night, the government folded on it.)
Pitt was talking about the “win” with a special guest appearance from Matt Canavan, whose job he took in the cabinet, and who could have a cabinet spot back if he decided he wanted back in now that Barnaby Joyce is back.
So not awkward at all.
Updated
Scott Morrison also said there was a “healing process that needed to occur” in the government and said MPs would “focus on the Australian community and not us”.
He also warned there was “no time for individual agendas or pet projects”, saying the focus was on winning the next election “because that’s what Australians need us to do”.
Barnaby Joyce has told MPs that he will be a “servant to the party and the nation” while saying the government needs to rally around a “unifying cause” that assures Australians of their freedoms.
Talking about a geopolitical shift from “Pax Americana” to China – which he referred to as a “new superpower that is different” – Joyce said voters wanted the government to respond to their concerns about the change.
“It’s more important to this nation than anything else,” Joyce said.
“The times that we live in today are different to those we were born into, and certainly to what our parents were born into.
“But our liberties and freedoms that we took as a birthright ... might be challenged like they never had before.
“We need to ensure that we give our children and grandchildren the strength and the liberties and the capacity to say what they like and the capacity to be who they want to be. And the Australian people have to make a decision about who can deliver that. Is that the Labor party or the Liberal-National Coalition?
“If we deliver on these questions to the Australian people, there’s only one clear choice.”
Joyce’s return to the deputy prime minister’s role was also acknowledged by the prime minister, Scott Morrison, who urged the Coalition remain “strong and united”.
He said the Coalition would win the next election by being “stable and united”, by showing that “we get stuff done” and by having a “clear plan for the future”.
The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, also spoke at length about the common purpose of the Liberal and National parties.
And there was a debate on childcare – we’ll bring you more on that soon.
Updated
Who would have thunk it?
Dominic Perrottet is one of our big-spending treasurers.
The New South Wales budget papers reveal he’s increased expenditure by 8.7% in 2020-21 and 7.9% in 2021-22.
“It’s a budget with heart,” he explains, when asked about his conversion from economic dry to big spender. And he’s “investing in the future”, he says.
The state budget reveals the continuation of many programs designed to stimulate spending during Covid-19 and an increase in wages for the NSW public service.
The NSW government had copped flak for announcing it would cap pay rises for state employees at 1.5% during the pandemic, with Labor pointing out that many of these people – nurses, police and ambos – were on the frontline of the Covid response.
Now Perrottet, awash with funds from the property boom, is returning to the 2.5% wage cap at an additional cost of $2.7bn to the state wages bill.
There are also $100 vouchers for families to teach kids to swim and $100 for people to go out in the Sydney CBD, which remains graveyard-like after we all discovered working from home was better than the office.
Thank God it’s Friday – yep, that’s what the program is called.
Updated
Everything is totally fine:
Despite the political rumblings, rest assured my staff & I are still working in parliament today on the issues that matter to Gippslanders & our veteran community. There’s more work to be done to keep delivering the services & support our veterans & their families need. #TYFYS pic.twitter.com/V44NHkUXyE
— Darren Chester MP (@DarrenChesterMP) June 22, 2021
Updated
NSW expects a $466m surplus by 2024-25
New South Wales will achieve a quicker-than-expected turnaround from the Covid-19 downturn, with the state expected to be back in the black by 2024-25 with a $466m surplus. In the meantime, this year’s 2020-21 deficit has halved to $7.9bn thanks to surging property prices, which have delivered a stamp duty bonanza.
But NSW is counting on being able to continue with its “open for business” strategy despite the recent Bondi cluster of Covid cases.
It’s also counting on international borders being open by mid 2022.
The treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, says it costs NSW $300m a week not to have international travel.
Updated
There were very liberal doses of Howard and Menzies quotes about party unification and the strength of the Coalition in the joint party room meeting this morning. (That’s the party room equivalent of posting happy family social media photos when you’re absolutely miserable.)
But everyone is totally cool with Barnaby Joyce’s return to the leadership. No one is worried at all. It’s all totally fine.
Updated
Mike Bowers tells me Darren Chester walked into the House and exclaimed, “Here I am with all my supporters” to the empty benches.
So things seem like they are great in the National party room right now. (Chester expects to move back to the backbench now that Barnaby Joyce is in charge again – the two are not exactly friendly and never really have been.)
Updated
One big happy family:
I look forward to working alongside Deputy Prime Minister @Barnaby_Joyce and my @The_Nationals colleagues to get on with the job of representing our communities. pic.twitter.com/TBhWA8xKH7
— Senator The Hon. Bridget McKenzie (@senbmckenzie) June 22, 2021
Oh – and David Littleproud says he wasn’t unhappy yesterday, he was just cold.
Updated
The bells are ringing for the start of parliament.
Huzzah!
Updated
Is a lockdown on the cards for Sydney?
Gladys Berejiklian:
At this stage we follow Dr Chant and the health advice.
At this stage because all but one case is linked to an existing case and that case was only discovered a few hours ago, that gives us a degree of confidence that what we have asked people to do matches the risk that is there at the moment.
If that changes, if we suddenly have a number of unlinked cases and if we suddenly have them outside the geographic region they are concentrated in that will obviously adjust the health advice and we will respond to that.
At this stage, given Dr Chant did advise us already that she foresaw that household contacts would get the virus, and I think this demonstrates how important it is to isolate when you are asked to isolate.
You might have a negative test and no symptoms but subsequently during that 40-day period you start feeling unwell and get tested, we know a family member who was negative on day one might on day five or day 14 become positive and that is why it is really important for everyone to listen to the health advice and please also again refer to Dr Chant’s updated advice in relation to Westfield Bondi.
Clearly there had been a number of transmissions in and around that shopping complex and Dr Chant and Health have updated the dates at which you need to get tested and isolate if you had not already followed that instruction.
Updated
The NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, confirms it is just two cases authorities are worried about at this point:
The two cases that demonstrate risk to the community are a young lady in her 20s who, we believe, acquired infection at the Junction.
She is a worker at Bondi Junction and we believe she was exposed again, probably through fleeting contact with one of the infectious people as they moved around Bondi Junction.
For this reason, we are calling out for anyone who has been at Bondi Junction, including the car parks, any time between 12 June and 18 June, to get a test.
If you’ve been to one of the close contact venues, you should have been contacted about being in isolation for the 14 days or [for] the casual contact venue check the specific advice, but if you don’t have symptoms and are just going forth because we are asking you to attend, you don’t need to self-isolate. What we are asking you to [do is] minimise your contact with others until you have a negative test.
This is because we are casting the net very wide because you want to pick up any of these inadvertent transmission. You can see how if we miss a case, over the next cycle of three days [to] a week, we have many cases coming from that single missed case.
We want everybody to come forward and get tested. The other case that is under investigation and literally this test result came in a few hours ago, we want to thank and acknowledge the cooperation of the St Charles primary school for their cooperation but I reiterate what the premier has said.
The school is working with health officials to develop a plan for the children to be discharged home to their parents and we want to provide advice and a mechanism to get testing because we want to find out how this child was exposed and establish that because cases where we don’t understand the acquisition means we have missed the case, missed cases, and in this case, we don’t have preliminary information, a source for this child’s exposure, so we are looking for an intermediate source.
Updated
Mask order extended for a week in Sydney
In light of the additional cases (only two of which are not linked to direct cases as yet) the mask restrictions are continuing.
Gladys Berejiklian:
As a result of what has occurred, the New South Wales government will be extending the existing mask wearing provisions for an additional week.
Previously, Wednesday midnight or Thursday morning at 12.01am, the existing ask in relation to masks was to expire. It will now continue as mandatory for another week. We will extend it to all of greater Sydney, excluding the Central Coast and excluding the Hunter.
[Under the compulsory mask rule] people will be required to wear masks indoors for hospitality workers, when we are going shopping, going grocery shopping, going to events inside.
It is only when you are eating or drinking indoors at a venue that you can’t or shouldn’t wear a mask. In every other circumstance, if you live or are in Sydney, you must wear a mask for another week beyond Wednesday midnight.
Updated
You can find a little more information on the new Sydney cases here (from NSW Health):
There are now 21 cases linked to the Bondi cluster. Of the five locally reported cases to 8pm last night:
Two were announced yesterday:
- A woman in her 50s from Sydney’s northern suburbs. She is a close contact of a previously reported case and has been in isolation.
- A man in his 30s from Sydney’s eastern suburbs. He is a close contact of a previously reported case and has been in isolation.
Three further cases were reported to 8pm last night:
- A woman in her 60s from the Illawarra. She is a close contact of a previously reported case and has been in isolation.
- A woman in her 40s from Sydney’s northern suburbs. She is a close contact of a previously reported case and has been in isolation.
- A woman in her 20s from the eastern suburbs. She is linked to the Bondi cluster. Further investigations are under way.
NSW Health can also advise there have been seven locally acquired cases notified overnight since 8pm. Six of these are household contacts of previous cases who have been in isolation. One case is a child who attends primary school in the eastern suburbs. These seven cases will be included in Wednesday’s numbers.
NSW Health is asking anyone who was in Westfield Bondi Junction (including the car park) at any time between 12 June and 18 June to get tested for Covid-19. Only people with symptoms and those who have been to specific exposure venues at the listed times need to test and isolate. Anyone who does not have symptoms and has not been to specific exposure venues at the listed times should get tested but does not need to isolate. However, these people are strongly urged to avoid gatherings and minimise their movements, such as not attending the cinemas or trips to the ski fields until they return a negative test. If you can work from home, please do so.
Updated
Going through the additional NSW Health data, all but two of those cases were already in isolation.
Updated
That makes 21 in the Bondi cluster now.
We’ll be hearing from Gladys Berejiklian very soon.
Updated
NSW records a further 10 cases since yesterday
In total there are 12 cases being reported today, two of which we knew about yesterday – there are another three in today’s numbers and another seven that were recorded after the evening cutoff, which will be in tomorrow’s numbers.
NSW recorded five locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, two of which were announced yesterday morning.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 22, 2021
NSW Health has also been notified of seven new locally acquired cases overnight. These cases will be included in tomorrow's numbers. pic.twitter.com/Oa4Wx7MIQw
Updated
One new local Covid case in Queensland
There was one new community-acquired case in Queensland, but the chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young is not worried:
This is a gentleman in his 60s who attended that restaurant at Ellen Grove at the same time as that person from Portugal attended.
He went into home quarantine the next day when he was contacted, so we are just confirming with him whether or not he went out and about on that Sunday morning.
All of the 36 people who attended the restaurant during the timeframe when the lady from Portugal did are in home quarantine, so we will continue to assess them and test them going forward for the 14 days. I think that is good news, and that is all in hand.
Tuesday 22 June – coronavirus cases in Queensland:
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) June 22, 2021
Three new cases were recorded. One locally acquired and detected in home quarantine, two overseas acquired and detected in hotel quarantine.#covid19 pic.twitter.com/QzPnwCFD6e
Updated
Queensland is opening its borders to Victoria from Friday (1am) – also just in time for the school holidays.
Gladys Berejiklian will be holding her press conference at 11.30.
She is likely to announce the social distancing measures that are in place will be extended.
Updated
Lilley Labor MP Anika Wells was sent out with something to say this morning:
Barnaby Joyce may be the only dinosaur to ever come back from extinction.
Literally no one in my electorate has been calling on us, here in the Australian parliament, to bring back the bonk, but here we are.
In a national reckoning about the appalling treatment of women in workplaces, we now have this.
Apparently, the idea that there are no permanent consequences for anyone about this culture, except the women themselves.
Since I was elected to this place two years ago, I have been constantly, incredulously asking: “What does it take to get sacked by Scott Morrison?”
But this week, I now have to ask: “What standards of behaviour is Scott Morrison prepared to accept from the second-highest office in the land?”
It’s like the Coalition has brought back their unhinged, creepy uncle to Christmas lunch, and told him to preside over carving the turkey, but the consequences are far more serious than that.
This is a person who, in the Senate when debating the water efficiency labelling and standards amendment, said to Senator McKenzie, who was presiding at the time: “Madame Acting Deputy President McKenzie, you are looking wonderful tonight. You are a flash bit of kit in this chamber, there is no doubt about you.”
And Senator McKenzie, objecting justifiably, says, “I mean, I’m sure there’s a standing order somewhere senator, but …”, and he said, “It is non-contro. Roll with me on this.”
I mean, in her workplace! She is just trying to do her work, in her workplace! The Australian Senate!
And Barnaby Joyce, our new deputy prime minister, thinks that is acceptable conduct. Australian women watching us here in this place, now feel that is what Scott Morrison considers acceptable conduct.
I was in my electorate on the weekend in Stafford, and a woman was asking me: “As a woman, how do you go in this place? How does it feel when the prime minister turns his back on you whenever you stand up, or when Peter Dutton shuts you down three seconds after you start talking?”
And I said: “What would you say if you had three seconds before the leader of the House shut you down, to give your message this government, what would you say?”
And she said: “How do you people live with yourselves?”
Updated
There was a lot going on yesterday, so you may have missed it – but the head of the vaccine rollout, Gen John Frewen, confirmed that there was no vaccine campaign because the government was worried about supply.
Instead, the government is in the “rallying phase”. But there won’t be a campaign, until the government knows it can match demand with supply.
Just something to keep in mind, given the government’s reluctance to admit there is an issue with that at the moment.
Updated
The party room meetings are wrapping up – we’ll bring you what happened there very soon.
It was the first joint party room meeting where Barnaby Joyce took lead as the Nationals leader. He’s having a function tonight to celebrate his swearing-in as deputy prime minister.
Updated
Yesterday, NSW Health announced it had two new cases of Covid come in after 8pm – those cases will be included in today’s data.
We’re still waiting on the official word, but you’ll find exposure sites here:
Updated
South Australia has announced it will open its borders to residents from greater Melbourne – just in time for the school holidays.
Updated
Libby Coker’s staff are across it:
Something that made me laugh this morning pic.twitter.com/ROCumDRhDX
— Madeline Hayman-Reber (@MadelineHayman) June 21, 2021
Updated
The latest Guardian Essential poll shows Australian voters are concerned the nation is being left behind on climate.
As Murph reports:
A majority of voters fear Australia will be left behind unless the Morrison government follows the lead of other countries in prioritising serious action to combat global heating, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
The findings from the fortnightly survey of 1,087 respondents come as Barnaby Joyce deposed Michael McCormack and returned to lead the National party after a week where senior Nationals expressed open hostility about the government adopting a net zero emissions target by 2050. Scott Morrison says achieving net zero as soon as possible is Australia’s preference.
Joyce was asked on Monday whether or not he would make fresh climate policy demands when he renegotiated the Coalition agreement with Morrison. The returning National party leader and deputy prime minister deflected. “I’ll be talking with my party room, about what they believe is best for them, and then fighting on that premise,” he said.
I’m sure they all feel just great with the news Barnaby Joyce is back. That’ll make it allllllll better.
Updated
Meanwhile, while the government is crowing about Australia’s strong economy, Grogs has taken a look at inequality.
Spoiler – it’s growing
New data from the bureau of statistics shows the drop in spending by households due to the pandemic increased the level of savings, but while incomes rose strongly for low-income households due to a big rise in social assistance, inequality remains worse than it was at the start of the century.
It's not enough to have progressive taxation, you also need social assistance *and* public services like health and education to reduce inequalityhttps://t.co/WMMlMdYodJ pic.twitter.com/dWOZ62Z5JX
— Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) June 21, 2021
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Then there is this:
I chaired the Senate inquiry into why the Government gave the small private @GBRFoundation $444m to manage the reef. After months of hearing evidence the National Audit Office discovered the purpose of the grant was to avoid a UNESCO World Heritage “in danger” listing.
— Peter Whish-Wilson (@SenatorSurfer) June 21, 2021
Updated
Chris Bowen was asked about the argument that climate change is a global issue and Australia can’t be responsible for the rest of the world when he was on ABC radio this morning.
(That was one of the points the reef envoy and local member Warren Entsch just made in that press conference as well.)
Here is how Bowen answered it earlier today:
That’s the tired, old trope we get from people who don’t believe in strong action on climate change from Australia – the world’s largest emitter per capita – that somehow every other country has an obligation here, but not us. But it’s not just about obligation. It’s also about the fact that the world’s climate emergency is Australia’s jobs opportunity. And under eight years of Liberal-National party government, we have not been embracing that opportunity and that is about to get a lot worse with the change that was made yesterday.
Updated
Oh good, Bob Katter is now getting involved on the reef issue and in his media release announcing his press conference, makes a point of referencing the committee chair’s nationality.
The government’s main argument against the Unesco draft decision to list the Great Barrier Reef as “in danger” seems to be: “we know climate change is the biggest threat to the reef, but we don’t believe that what Australia is doing (or not doing) on climate should count towards whether we are doing enough to protect the reef”.
Sussan Ley:
Now I know, and I know [the Liberal MP for Leichhardt] Warren [Entsch] knows, that climate change is the biggest threat to the reef and in no way am I stepping away from that recognition, and countries including European countries have got strong views about what policies different countries should have on climate change, and I understand that as well but this is not the convention in which to have those conversations.
The correct place to have those conversations is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
So on the one hand we have actually got a draft decision that commends Australia for its sound and serious investment in the reef, but on the other hand points to the Paris targets and climate change and almost suggests that the world needs to do more.
We know that we are punching above our weight when it comes to those targets an our commitment and Angus Taylor as energy minister has set that out very clearly.
We are not “punching above our weight” on those targets, and we do not have a climate plan.
Updated
There have been no locally acquired cases in Victoria again overnight. Hopefully that means it is looking good for the easing of restrictions:
Reported yesterday: no new local cases and 2 new cases acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) June 21, 2021
- 15,339 vaccine doses were administered
- 13,176 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl0ZEco #COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/DeVjBRCilK
Updated
John Howard, an 81-year-old white man, who joined the Liberal party in the 1950s and worked as a politician for the majority of his life, having been elected to one of Sydney’s wealthiest electorates in 1974, doesn’t believe there is racism in Australia.
This shouldn’t be news: Howard’s views that Australia was not a racist country shaped much of the nation’s social policy under his prime ministership, going so far as to reject the Eureka research anti-racism study his government commissioned in the late 1990s, because it found there was in fact, racism in Australia.
This didn’t “align” with Howard’s views Australia wasn’t racist, so the report was suppressed until 2011. (Instead the government set up “Harmony Day”, which is essentially a day borne from the government’s desire to *not* confront racism.)
Then there were the 2005 Cronulla race riots, which targeted the Middle Eastern community, in particular the Lebanese community, and had been spurred on by radio shock jocks such as Alan Jones, whose comments were found to have “likely to encourage violence or brutality and to vilify people of Lebanese and Middle Eastern backgrounds on the basis of ethnicity”.
Howard didn’t accept that was racist either and said at the time:
I do not accept that there is underlying racism in this country.
Overnight, Howard was a guest on the ABC special report Australia Talks – which went through the survey results of the ABC’s Australia Talks survey. Howard was there because he was voted Australia’s favourite prime minister (seriously).
Co-host Nazeem Hussain (who had been listed on the TV guide as Waleed Aly, again, because – Australia) questioned Howard on his views on racism, given that 76% of respondents to the survey said they believed Australia had an issue with racism.
Howard, though, still disagrees.
That has not been my experience. I have to say, respectfully, to that 76%, say I don’t think there is underlying racism in Australia.
Asked directly if he believed there was racism in Australia, Howard said, “No, I don’t.”
And he still doesn’t believe the Cronulla riots had anything to do with race:
My view about the Cronulla riots is that it was not an example of underlying racism.
... I think that is a supremely pessimistic view of the Australian community and I’ve seen so many examples of where people of different races have worked together in a seamless fashion for the common good.
I think that’s a hugely pessimistic view of the Australian community.
Which goes a long way to explaining why he is, apparently, Australia’s favourite prime minister. Because if a white, powerful man doesn’t see racism as an issue, because that hasn’t been his personal experience, then obviously there is no issue, right?
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May we present Australia’s government.
(Thank Mike Bowers for this moment.)
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But if the Morrison government had given any indication it was serious about climate, by ... I don’t know, agreeing to net zero by 2050 (net zero also doesn’t mean zero emissions by the way), would Sussan Ley have to be having this conversation this morning?
Does the environment minister agree that the world environment heritage committee probably was looking for something serious on climate from Australia?
Ley:
No, I don’t. The process has been flawed and I’m seeking to have that corrected, as is the foreign minister in our conversation. However, we expect, because we’ve seen the draft decision published overnight, that it will go forward to the committee meeting in July, and I will certainly be speaking to all of the members of the World Heritage Committee.
So, the point is that this contravenes all previous approaches.
Now, if Unesco wants to break faith with us and its own processes, that is very much a matter for them, but it is very much a matter for me to stand up for the people of the reef, for the farmers that have worked so hard to deliver the best quality catchments along the reef, and for the fact that it is a marine park managed, as I said, to the highest possibly standard. We are restoring ecosystems, working with traditional owners, we have world-leading science on coral restoration and I just want to make this point: the World Heritage Committee didn’t use the latest data, they did a desktop review. On all levels, I’m sorry, I’m giving them a big fail and I’m fighting for the reef.
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Sussan Ley says climate change should be seperate to conversations about environmental heritage sites like the Great Barrier Reef.
She told the ABC:
Absolutely not. This decision, as I said in the framework on the Unesco convention on world heritage properties, is about how an individual country manages its properties.
Conversations about climate change – and I know the Europeans don’t agree with us in many instances – are correctly had in another forum.
There are 20-something reefs on the world heritage property list, and this sends a very poor signal to all of those other reefs, none of whom can approach our level of management and investment, but to look to us for leadership ... so for us to be singled out is quite unreasonable.
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And here was Anthony Albanese on Sydney radio 2SM on Barnaby Joyce’s return:
Well, everyone knows that this has always only been about Barnaby. It hasn’t been about the people of Australia. This is an act of self-indulgence at a time when we’re still dealing with the pandemic. Of course, the last time that Barnaby Joyce tried to seize the leadership of the National party was at the height of the bushfires. This is someone who is self-obsessed, who never has the national interest at the heart of what his actions are. And I think that showed yesterday.
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Yup.
Barnaby Joyce sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister. #auspol pic.twitter.com/IDQK5Pt9UP
— Matt Roberts (@ABCcameramatt) June 21, 2021
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Labor, at least, seems thrilled that Barnaby Joyce is back in the deputy PM’s job, because it gives the party something tangible to fight.
Here was Anthony Albanese on ABC TV this morning:
Barnaby Joyce is a failed former deputy prime minister. He failed last time he had the job. We know how this movie ends because we’ve seen it.
... This is Barnaby Joyce The Sequel. We will continue to put forward our strong arguments for regional development.
The fact is, if you talk about central Queensland, I’ve visited the Rio Tinto aluminium refinery there at Gladstone, one of the biggest employers in Gladstone, a critical facility.
What Rio Tinto is looking at is powering that facility with solar energy.
They are looking at lowering their prices, their costs of production by embracing renewables. That’s what’s happening on the ground.
I was in Townsville last week. The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, announced a major renewable energy precinct and supporting industries there. I’ve met with companies there that want to manufacture solar panels and manufacture renewable energy there that will create jobs, but the big opportunity there is how do we lower our energy prices in order to boost manufacturing in the regions?
We lower our energy prices by embracing the lowest cost of energy.
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Sussan Ley will hold a press conference at 9am.
The government is very, very worried about the Unesco draft decision to list the Great Barrier Reef as “in danger”.
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Well that was quick. It was almost like Anthony Albanese’s social team had this planned:
Australia, Barnaby Joyce is now your Deputy Prime Minister.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 21, 2021
We really need to kick this government out of office.
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Barnaby Joyce officially sworn in as deputy prime minister
It’s happened and is now official – Barnaby Joyce is Australia’s deputy prime minister.
Sussan Ley, though, is very shocked:
Australia challenges UNESCO draft reef recommendation @sussanley #auspol pic.twitter.com/9jBZnJOS20
— Political Alert (@political_alert) June 21, 2021
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Chris Bowen, Labor’s environment spokesman, has spoken to ABC’s Radio National about the Unesco decision and says it really shouldn’t come as a shock:
[The government] shouldn’t be surprised about the fact that the reef has encountered three bleaching events in the last five years and their complete response has been to gift almost half a billion dollars to an unaccountable charity.
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Graham Readfearn has looked at the Unesco decision:
The Great Barrier Reef should be placed on to a list of world heritage sites “in danger”, according to a recommendation from United Nations officials that urges Australia to take “accelerated action at all possible levels” on climate change.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco) says the world’s biggest coral reef system should be placed on the list at the World Heritage Committee meeting next month.
The recommendation has sparked a flurry of activity from the Australian government, with the environment minister, Sussan Ley, saying she had already joined the foreign minister, Marise Payne, in a call to Unesco’s director general, Audrey Azoulay.
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Good morning
Happy Tuesday.
In just a few short hours, Barnaby Joyce will once again be your deputy prime minister. And he’s already renegotiating the Coalition agreement, which sets out what the Liberals and Nationals want from each other and can dictate decisions from ministries to government policy, but you won’t ever be allowed to see it. Good times! And given Joyce has spent the past three years on the backbench agitating for more coal, and his party just decided to vote him leader, you know what just got a lot more harder? Doing anything on climate!
Just wonderful. Coincidentally Joyce officially becomes deputy prime minister on the day Unesco has ruled the Great Barrier Reef should be listed as “in danger” in a draft decision. Why? Because of the climate, mostly (and also farming run off). Sussan Ley, the environment minister, says the government was “blindsided” by the decision. (Which seems strange because I remember covering the warnings when I was still a reporter in Queensland and that was more than five years ago.)
Queensland is also where the Nationals want to build a new coal-fired power station, so you can see where this is all going. The Great Barrier Reef is not only an environmental wonder that is critical for ocean health, it also supports a multi-billion-dollar industry and jobs for an entire region. So it being officially listed as “in danger” is an issue.
We’ll bring you all of the fallout, as well as everything else happening today.
Last night, NSW Health released new exposure sites – so the Sydney cluster is not over as yet.
⚠️ PUBLIC HEALTH ALERT - NEW VENUES ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/hlMMNqD9Yv
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 21, 2021
We’ll bring you those updates as well.
Being a sitting day, you’ve got Amy Remeikis on the blog, with Mike Bowers. Katharine Murphy, Sarah Martin, Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst here as well, and the entire Guardian brains trust at your disposal.
This morning calls for cake for breakfast. Or something stronger. It’s going to be a loooong day.
So let’s get into it.
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