And on that note, budget week draws to a close.
The MPs are heading home, although having been a flat budget week, I don’t think the budget sell will be overly enthusiastic. I guess that when you’ve created a budget with no real narrative, it makes it a little hard to sell the message. But still.
With the budget handed down, we are now officially in election mode.
Parliament has a one-week break, so politics live will be back with you on Monday 23 May – but you’ll have the Guardian’s daily news blog to keep you company in the meantime.
Thank you so much for joining us this week – we truly, truly appreciate it. We couldn’t do any of this without you. We miss you below the line and we are doing all we can to keep those comments open as long as we can – but please believe me when I say we only turn them off to protect us all.
It’s been a long week and you have all been troopers. I hope you all get some moments to take in some sunshine this weekend – or at least sit somewhere cosy and warm and steal a moment of happiness.
I’ll be back on the blog in a week – in the meantime, take care of you.
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Lols.
In the snap doorstop Simon Birmingham called to talk about the budget reply speech (what other reason is there), he says “this is a budget reply speech barely worth commenting on”.
Except, obviously, in the press conference called for the sole purpose of commenting on the budget reply speech.
Logic doesn’t count when it comes to snippy news grabs, as you may have worked out by now.
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And a bit more Mike Bowers for you, to finish the night.
Peter Dutton looks like he is thinking of the Guardian and the ABC:
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Penny Wong has released a statement on Gaza:
Labor is deeply concerned about the violence in Israel, Gaza and Jerusalem in recent days.
The incitement of hate, escalation of violence, destruction and loss of lives are tragic and unacceptable.
We call on leaders to de-escalate and for a return to calm.
We join the foreign minister, Marise Payne, in calling for a halt to actions that increase tensions including land appropriations, forced evictions, demolitions and settlement activity.
There is also no justification for rocket attacks against civilians.
Labor has always been a strong supporter of the rights of Israelis and Palestinians to live within secure and recognised borders.
We remain committed to a just and enduring two-state solution, based on respect for human rights and consistent with international law.
The cycle of tension, escalation and destruction is all too familiar for the Israeli and Palestinian peoples and our thoughts are with them at this difficult time.
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Simon Birmingham is having ANOTHER doorstop to respond to Labor’s budget reply (it’s not Josh Frydenberg, you might note).
You can absolutely bet on tax being part of that.
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Michael Sukkar has responded to the housing policy – he is not impressed:
Labor has proved once again why it can’t even be trusted with a calculator let alone the economy.
For Anthony Albanese’s so-called Housing Australia Future Fund to work he is going to need to extract 20% annual returns from the fund.
In other words, Labor will need to more than triple the current benchmark return for the Future Fund of 6.1% to be able to deliver his 20,000 dwellings.
Australians will be rightly asking themselves after tonight where they too can get a 20% return.
In what would shock many, Labor’s policy would only deliver one-sixth of the homes at four times the price when compared to the Morrison government’s successful homebuilder program.
In addition, the Morrison government’s National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation is already delivering more than 10,000 social and affordable homes for 40% of the cost.
What 58,000 teachers, 42,000 nurses and 19,000 police should be worried about is Labor’s $31bn housing tax*.
Homebuilder has delivered for homeowners and the construction industry alike, supporting around $39bn in residential building activity, more than 350,000 full-time jobs and $114bn into economy. As part of the Morrison government plan to secure Australia’s recovery, we’re helping more Australians to own their home sooner with policies that actually deliver.
In the 2021-22 budget the government announced it would:
- Establish the Family Home Guarantee with 10,000 guarantees made available over four years to single parents with dependants. The Family Home Guarantee allows them to purchase a home sooner with a deposit of as little as 2%;
- expand the New Home Guarantee for a second year, providing an additional 10,000 places in 2021-22. First home buyers seeking to build a new home or purchase a newly built home will be able to do so with a deposit of as little as 5%; and
- increase the maximum amount of voluntary contributions that can be released under the First Home Super Saver Scheme from $30,000 to $50,000.
In the budget the government also provided an additional $124.7m in funding to allow the states and territories to bolster public housing stocks, or to meet their social and community housing responsibilities under the 2011 Fair Work decision on Social and Community Services wages.
Only the Morrison government understands the importance of owning your own home and the significant economic and social benefits home ownership provides.
*That’s the fight the government wants to have in this election year. It doesn’t want to talk about the budget, because I don’t think it is that comfortable with it. What it does want to talk about is tax, and the stage three tax cuts. They are already legislated, but Labor has never been in support of stage three (despite voting for it as part of the package). The government is absolutely chomping at the bit to have that fight, and will begin raising it at every opportunity. We saw that today, when Simon Birmingham called a press conference just to talk about already legislated tax cuts. It will now pop up in every single government attack on Labor.
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Those were much tighter answers from Anthony Albanese – I think a lot of time has been put in to his media training – making sure that the point is made early and strongly.
He’s always been a good performer off the cuff, particularly when he’s passionate about the issue, but his interviews haven’t been quite as tight. So there has been a marked change.
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And the last question.
Leigh Sales:
On budget night, Jim Chalmers was on the program and we were talking about the size of the debt and the long-running forecast of deficits. He said the only way out of that is honestly admit it will require economic growth, plus tax increases and spending cuts. Will you go to the next election putting a plan to Australians about how you’d begin the debt recovery?
Anthony Albanese:
We’ll have a full economic plan at the next election. It will include all of our expenditure and revenue measures.
Tonight, we have a very modest cost to the measures that we’ve made. And that compares with the government’s approach.
If you had the right reforms that produced growth, rather than the 21 pots of money, slush funds, with $4bn in it, $9bn in funds, decisions taken, not announced.
This government treats taxpayers’ money like its own, like it’s Liberal party money. That has to stop.
What we need is investment and we would have made investments if we were in the circumstances, just as we did with the global financial crisis. The difference is we had a legacy. We left paid parental leave. We had a fibre to the premise NBN. We had infrastructure in every school in the country. We reformed public transport with major projects, regional rail link and projects right around the country. We finished the Hume Highway, started on the Pacific Highway.
What has this government got as its legacy apart from $1tn of debt?
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Leigh Sales: You were promising in your budget reply to lift wages but with no real explanation of how. The previous Labor government wasn’t able to do it. What would be different?
Anthony Albanese:
Well, there are two ways you can lift wages. One is of course through productivity benefits, which are then shared, and past Labor governments have been very good at that.
We’ve seen productivity not flow through to wage increases in recent times. Due to changes in the nature of the workforce.
And that’s why we need to address that. We need to address insecurity at work. It’s insecure work that is driving down wages.
An example that I used today was about making sure that job security is recognised in the Fair Work Act, making sure there’s gender pay gap reporting for large companies. Making sure as well, I said, and committed to, taking a case for aged care workers to the Fair Work Commission, looking at the historic gender pay gap which is there. Now we did that in government for social and community service workers.
That led to a pay increase of 30%, which means that those staff, those community workers had been far more likely to be retained and to stay in those industries. At the moment, an industry like aged care, you can earn more stacking shelves than you can looking after our older and frail Australians who are aged care residents.
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Leigh Sales: If you want innovation, why not simply direct all of the funding into universities, which are so desperately struggling at the moment?
Anthony Albanese:
Well, this is about universities which have incubators and have these research institutes attached to them and that’s why the funding that we’ve said will be connected with them. But there’s the next step. The universities do the research. Universities aren’t by and large in the business of then going out and commercialising those opportunities.
It’s about maximising the benefit from university research.
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Leigh Sales: On your plan for government support for start-ups, wouldn’t the good ones already attract private sector support? So the government would be wasting money on those that aren’t appealing to the market?
Anthony Albanese:
That’s not right. What you have in many cases is start-ups haven’t been able to gain capital. And that’s one of the reasons why we see a whole range of Australian innovations, particularly one of the ones I used as an example with solar technology.
It’s Australian solar technology that is essentially powering the shift in energy grids throughout the world.
But we haven’t been able to benefit from it. So this is about, it’s a modest scheme. It’s loans of up to $12,000. That’s not a lot. But it would provide real support for people to be able to commercialise those breakthroughs that come through our innovation centres.
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Leigh Sales: Australia’s economic recovery hinges a lot on when international borders will reopen. How much longer can Australia live in this kind of elimination bubble? As vaccination rates increase, will you encourage your Labor colleagues, among the state premiers, to stop with the lockdowns over one or two cases?
Anthony Albanese:
Well, the premiers have kept their respective states safe. It is Scott Morrison who went to Queensland and criticised Annastacia Palaszczuk for keeping Queenslanders safe. I think she’s done a magnificent job.
What we need to do in order to open up the economy is to get two things right – vaccinations and quarantine.
Tonight I put forward a plan for Australian government involvement in quarantine around the nation with appropriate facilities, including the one I nominated in outside of Darwin, it’s outside of Darwin that’s currently being used by US Marines.
The fact is that we need to get those two things right and the government has bungled both of them. We were told 4 million people would be vaccinated by the end of March. We’re now in mid-May and still not up to that figure.
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Leigh Sales: In your speech, you said that in terms of quarantine and borders, locked out or locked up, it’s a message no Australian government should send to our citizens. Does that mean you would never activate a policy that prevented Australian citizens from returning home?
Anthony Albanese:
What I mean by that is, as you’d be aware, is that we brought citizens home from Wuhan at the beginning of the outbreak. We managed to get Australians home in those circumstances.
But the Indian community, the Australian diaspora in India, were told that if they tried to return home, they would be subject to a prison sentence or very hefty fines.
The prime minister promised to get Australians home by Christmas. And that shouldn’t have been beyond the capacity of the government to do so. We’ve never had more aviation assets, whether they be the Australian government’s assets through the air force or Qantas planes sitting in central Australia available at our disposal. And we should have done much better at bringing Australians home.
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Leigh Sales: The tag line of your speech tonight was a Labor government, a government on your side. But a huge number of Australians were kept afloat thanks to jobkeeper and their firsthand experience is of the Morrison government squarely on their side.
Anthony Albanese:
Well, Leigh, as you’d be aware, it was Labor who put forward the idea of wage subsidies and Scott Morrison called it a dangerous idea when we did so. It was only when the queues formed outside Centrelink offices that the prime minister changed his view of that.
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Anthony Albanese's 7.30 interview
We are straight into the questions.
Leigh Sales: You can’t deny that under the Morrison government Australia has come through the Covid pandemic economically and health-wise among the best in the world. What do you have to complain about?
Anthony Albanese:
Australians have been magnificent. There’s no question about that. They’ve shown resilience, they’ve made sacrifices in order to protect each other. That’s the value of caring for each other that makes us such a great country.
LS: It takes leadership.
Albanese:
The leadership has come from Australians here, Leigh. And by and large they have overwhelmingly responded. But the other thing that has happened during the pandemic is some of the weaknesses in our economy, our vulnerability has been exposed. Our need to manufacture things here ... And we need to grow back better. That’s my vision.
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While we wait for the 7.30 interview, enjoy a bit more from Mike Bowers:
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Mike Bowers managed to catch Anthony Albanese’s look when he noticed Kevin Andrews was photobombing his walk into the chamber (usually MPs clear the hall to allow the photo op, as a bipartisan thing):
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Anthony Albanese is on his way to the ABC studios for his 7.30 interview.
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The House of Representatives is adjourned.
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Anthony Albanese finishes and gives big waves to the people in the galleries. The government benches begin filing out immediately – although Scott Morrison doesn’t jump up straight away – he waits a little bit before he walks out (he still leaves before the applause ends though).
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So far the housing policy is being met warmly – this has come through from the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness:
The Australian Alliance to End Homelessness welcomes the Labor party’s announcement of a $10bn Housing Future Fund.
Ending homelessness is possible, our response to Covid-19 has shown that – but it needs leadership.
This announcement demonstrates that leadership and we call on the Morrison government to match this important commitment.
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And then we move into the conclusion – which seems to be Labor’s election campaign plan.
(There is a lot of ‘on your side’ coming – brace yourself.)
My fellow Australians, none of us will forget this crisis we have lived through.
All of us are grateful that because of the sacrifices and unselfishness of so many, we have avoided the scale of death and trauma we see in other countries.
To the Australian people, I say you have been magnificent, you have been brave, you have been resolute.
Now you deserve a government worthy of your efforts.
Because it would be a disaster if we emerge from this crisis having learned nothing – and changed not at all.
What a missed opportunity if our economy comes out the other side with nothing to show for this transformational moment but the biggest debt and deficit of all time.
If you see this pandemic as a chance to build back stronger, Labor is on your side.
If you believe economic policy should deliver higher wages, Labor is on your side.
If you want more security at work, Labor is on your side.
If you support equality for women, Labor is on your side.
If you support cheaper childcare, Labor is on your side.
If you believe older Australians deserve dignity and care in their later years, Labor is on your side.
If you believe a roof over your head is up to more than market forces, Labor is on your side.
If you get that action on climate change is an opportunity for us to emerge as a renewable energy superpower and create jobs, Labor is on your side.
If you share our ambition for advanced manufacturing, high value industries, a world class services sector in a prosperous, outward looking, ambitious Australia, Labor is on your side.
And if you think sharing our continent with the oldest continuous civilisation on earth is a source of national pride and First Nations people should be recognised in our constitution, Labor is on your side.
Mr Speaker, I’ve never forgotten where I came from.
I’ve never lost sight of the power of government to help people realise their potential.
I’ve never lost faith in our country’s ability to compete and win in the world.
I truly believe this is a moment for Australia to make our own.
What we need now is a government with the plans to seize this chance.
A government driven by optimism about the future.
A government powered by determination to create opportunity.
A government that holds no one back, that leaves no one behind.
A Labor government – a government on your side.
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Anthony Albanese moves on to Labor’s response to Kate Jenkins’ Respect@Work report and the national integrity commission – which disappeared in this year’s budget papers (not that it was ever real anyway):
Mr Speaker, more than a year ago, the government received the Respect@Work report.
Every woman should feel safe in every workplace, including this one.
The report recognised employers’ responsibility to eliminate sex discrimination, sexual harassment and victimisation from their businesses.
Labor in government will work with experts, employers and unions to make sure this responsibility is clear in our law, as was recommended by the report.
The budget spending was very much focused on political management of problems the government itself has created over the last eight years.
Aged care cuts, childcare fee increases, ignoring of women’s safety and economic security issues.
Over these eight long years the government has focused on itself, too often treating taxpayers’ money as if it were the Liberal and National parties’ money.
Sports rorts, community safety rorts, abuse of infrastructure and regional funding has grown with each year.
Even bushfire disaster funding was allocated with political bias.
And then $1bn spent on government advertising promoting themselves.
In Tuesday’s budget they announced or topped up no less than 21 separate slush funds worth $4bn of taxpayers’ money to splash around in the lead-up to the next election.
In addition there is an extraordinary $9bn where the only information is “decisions taken but not announced”.
This is red hot abuse.
They can’t change.
They won’t change.
And they don’t want to change.
It’s this simple:
If you want to clean up politics, you need a national integrity commission. (more applause)
And if you want a fair dinkum national integrity commission, it will take a federal Labor government.
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Labor will build social housing for people fleeing domestic violence, veterans, First Australians and frontline workers, so they can live near where they work. There is also money to fix up existing social housing stock. It will work in partnership with the states and stakeholders to fund the program – and the definition of ‘frontline worker’ will be streamlined across the nation:
That’s why 4,000 of the 20,000 social housing properties that we create from this funding will be allocated to women and children experiencing domestic and family violence and older women on low incomes.
We will also provide $100m for crisis and transitional housing for these women at risk.
We will build 10,000 affordable housing properties for frontline workers – the heroes of the pandemic, those nurses, police, emergency service workers and cleaners that are keeping us safe.
Some of the worst housing standards in the world are endured by our First Nations people. As part of our commitment to Closing the Gap the fund will provide $200m for the repair, maintenance and improvements of housing in remote Indigenous communities.
Two weeks after our country stood together on Anzac Day to declare “Lest we Forget”, one in 10 of the people who sleep rough on the streets in Sydney tonight is a veteran.
Australia must do more to care for the brave men and women who have worn our uniform.
This fund will provide $30m over the first five years to build more supportive housing and fund specialist services for veterans who are either living or at risk of homelessness.
This is a future fund that will give more Australians a future.
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Anthony Albanese then moves to the social housing policy, which is the main policy in this speech:
Mr Speaker, the security of a roof over one’s head should be available to all Australians.
Young people despair about whether they will ever afford a first home.
Families struggle to meet rent payments and older women are the fastest growing group subject to homelessness.
I’m proud to say that Labor in government will create a $10bn Housing Australia Future Fund, with the annual investment return to build social and affordable housing and create thousands of jobs. (Applause from the Labor benches.)
Over the first five years this will build around 20,000 social housing properties, places like the home I grew up in.
Our home gave us so much more than somewhere to sleep. It gave my mum and I pride and dignity and security, and it gave me a future … a future that led me here tonight.
Our housing plan is good for jobs too. This initiative will create over 21,500 jobs each year.
And one in 10 construction jobs created will be for apprentices.
Last year 10,000 mums and their children fleeing family violence were turned away from refuges because there wasn’t a bed.
Tonight, women’s crisis services across Australia will have to tell women fleeing violence they literally have nowhere to house them.
They will sleep in their car.
Or go back to dangerous situations.
Imagine the impact that has on children, on how they feel at school the next day.
Imagine the emotional toll on a mother, desperate to keep her children safe, but unable to offer them more.
This happens each and every day.
We can and we must do better.
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There is applause at the end of that section as well.
I am trying to remember, but I don’t think the government benches applauded Josh Frydenberg’s speech (during the speech – there was big applause at the end).
It’s obviously all political and for the optics, but it also points at just how uncomfortable the government seems with this budget.
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Here Anthony Albanese tackles Labor’s response to aged care:
Mr Speaker, every one of us hope to grow old.
More and more of us will live long enough to need extra care in our later years.
But right now that thought fills a lot of Australians with dread.
Our aged pensioners and retirees should have confidence that support will be there for them.
None of us can say we weren’t told how to fix the system, with the royal commission delivering a comprehensive set of recommendations for change.
The prime minister must now explain why he has rejected so many of those important recommendations.
Like the recommendation to require a nurse on duty in nursing homes at all times.
Or support for increasing the appallingly low wages of hard-working aged care staff.
Or why he’s opted for fewer hours of care than the royal commission recommended, and delivered them much later.
Or why the government is congratulating itself for funding new homecare places when it isn’t even enough to clear the current waiting list.
A Labor government will not allow older Australians to grow old alone, deprived of proper care and dignity.
We will not forget the dedicated, mostly female staff who care for our elderly, almost uniformly understaffed and underpaid.
The Morrison government has not even managed to roll out the vaccine to these workers.
Older Australians were there for us, they have paid their taxes, held communities together, raised their families, served their country in war and in peace.
Older Australians deserve to be respected, to feel safe, to be comforted and treated with the utmost dignity.
This cannot be beyond us.
We can achieve this, we must achieve this. A Labor government will deliver this.
And a Labor government will deliver that care by ensuring that every dollar spent in aged care goes to employing a guaranteed minimum level of nurses, assistants and carers and to daily needs like decent food – rather than into the pockets of the more unscrupulous providers.
We also support the Fair Work Commission moving quickly to meaningfully lift the wages of aged care workers.
And we will ensure that dementia care management is core business given that up to two in every three aged care residents is affected.
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We then get to the Start Up program, which is a policy idea floated under Bill Shorten’s leadership that has been picked up again:
My Labor government will establish the “Start Up Year” program to help drive innovation and increase links between universities and entrepreneurs.
Start up loans will be offered to students and new graduates with ventures attached to a tertiary institution or designated private accelerator.
This will assist in the identification of opportunities for commercialisation of university research.
The government has proven incapable of developing an energy policy or dealing with climate change.
Positive action on climate change and moving to net zero emissions by 2050 will create jobs, lower energy prices and lower emissions.
And Labor has a plan to help families and communities play their part in achieving this critical target. A plan that will make electric cars more affordable and support the rollout of community batteries.
And then to the apprenticeship program:
A Labor government will create a New Energy apprenticeships program to train 10,000 young people for the energy jobs of the future.
This will support them with up to $10,000 over the course of their apprenticeship.
These 10,000 new apprenticeships will be available in:
- Renewable energy generation;
- storage and distribution including in emerging technologies such as green hydrogen;
- energy efficiency upgrades;
- renewables manufacturing like batteries; and
- relevant agricultural activities.
The rest of the world has figured this out: cutting pollution means creating jobs.
There is applause for that last line too.
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Anthony Albanese on manufacturing and technology:
I want Australia making our own future.
To do that we can’t be afraid of the future, we have to shape it.
The problem with this government isn’t so much that they are stuck in the past, it’s that they want the rest of Australia to go back there and keep them company.
The Liberals abandoned a fibre-based National Broadband Network claiming it would cost $29.5bn.
Then it became $41bn.
Then 49, then 51, then $57bn.
Now of course they are having to retrofit back to fibre.
Their love for copper has cost taxpayers a lot of brass.
Their insistence on looking backward on energy, communications, transport and so much more has driven our capability downward and our costs upward.
Ever since the Liberals drove Holden out of the country, they’ve run up the white flag on manufacturing and skills and apprentices.
I’m not going to see us surrender any more jobs and industries – and the communities that depend on them.
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Anthony Albanese moves on to jobs, skills and technology:
A Labor government will invest in Australian industry and our workforce, setting them up for success today, and into the future.
We’ll create Jobs and Skills Australia to advise on the future work opportunities and to ensure Australians can benefit from them.
And we will establish a National Reconstruction Fund to transform existing industries and the industries of tomorrow.
We will partner with the private sector, including the superannuation industry, to revive our ability to make products and be more self-reliant.
Australia has always produced scientific innovations, but we always haven’t been good at commercialising them.
Think wifi, the black box, Google maps, the cochlear implant.
Or solar technology.
Not long ago, solar power was seen as a useful novelty.
Good enough to run a pocket calculator but too expensive, too inefficient, too unreliable to power a home or a workplace.
Australians changed that.
Australian researchers and engineers.
Australian scientists and universities.
Australian breakthroughs in solar power reshaped the global energy grid.
Overwhelmingly this led to manufacturing and job creation overseas, not here.
And if we don’t get smart, if we don’t get serious, if we don’t get moving – the same thing is going to happen again.
We mine and produce every element needed to build a lithium battery – the power storage technology of the future.
I don’t want us to miss out on jobs and investment by sending those materials overseas for another country to manufacture and then importing them back once value has been added.
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Anthony Albanese moves on to childcare – Labor announced this policy last year, so we don’t get a lot more detail (that’s already out there) but we do get a comparison with what the government is doing:
Mr Speaker, last year I outlined Labor’s cheaper childcare plan.
Abolishing the cap and increasing the subsidy to lower childcare costs for virtually every family.
The government dismissed our policy, declared they had already fixed affordability and ridiculed the economic gain from investing in childcare.
Now the government have rushed out a half-baked policy announcement that they say will lower the structural disincentive to work that they used to tell us didn’t exist.
What the treasurer hasn’t worked out is that if you perform half a backflip, you fall flat on your face.
That’s why the Liberals’ new policy will only help one in four of the families who will benefit from our plan and the budget papers show the workforce participation rate will fall.
Labor’s policy will not only deliver support to four times the number of families, it will boost the economy substantially and move towards the universal affordable childcare for every family.
This is economic reform that’s good for working families, good for our economy and good for children.
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Anthony Albanese gets applause from his benches for the ‘we will make wage theft a crime’ line and follows it with:
An eight-year-old government behaved like an eight-year-old child and threw a tantrum.
And why were they cranky? Because Labor and the crossbench refused to support the parts of the legislation that would cut pay.
Our approach stands in stark contrast to those opposite who cut penalty rates and who boasted that low wages was “a deliberate design feature of our economic architecture”.
I know there is a better way. Boosting wages and lifting productivity is essential for economic growth.
If you increase wages, workers will have more to spend in their local small businesses.
If elected prime minister, I will always stand up for secure jobs and fair wages.
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OK, we are about half way through now, and so we are moving on to what Labor will do:
Mr Speaker, I believe that the economy should work for people, not the other way around.
People have endured eight long years of stagnant wages, growing job insecurity and pressure on family costs like childcare, rent, petrol and groceries.
We know Australians who are counted as ‘employed’ can’t get enough hours to pay the bills, or can’t count on regular hours.
We know too many Australians are being exploited or underpaid or subjected to an unsafe environment, hostage to their insecure work.
And we know this government will seek to undermine trade unions at every opportunity.
At the first flicker of economic recovery, this government tried to cut wages and conditions.
Instead of standing up for people being paid as little as $2 an hour, they said enforcing the minimum wage “was complicated”.
Labor’s plan for secure jobs includes:
- Writing job security into the Fair Work Act;
- properly defining casual work;
- cracking down on the abuse of cowboy labour hire firms to ensure people who do the same job get the same pay;
- public reporting on the gender pay gap for large companies; and
- 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave.
And we will make wage theft a crime.
This should have been done. It could have been done.
But the Morrison government voted to remove it from their own legislation.
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Twelve minutes in, and Anthony Albanese is still talking about the government’s failures – there is yet to be any policy announcements:
A once-in-a-generation march by the women of Australia, in pursuit of respect and justice … ignored.
Courageous survivors, shunned and slandered.
A once-in-a-lifetime Statement from the Heart from the First Australians. A clarion call for truth, treaty and a voice.
Delayed – and then dismissed.
A generous statement to advance reconciliation that a Labor government will embrace and advocate at a referendum.
The government forced into a compensation payout in excess of a billion dollars to the people it hounded through robodebt.
Yet now preparing for the same program of cuts and harassment for people on the NDIS.
A new spirit of cooperation between unions and business, striving to improve conditions and productivity.
And this government uses it to launch an assault on workers’ pay, sick leave and job security.
A new surge of momentum for global action on climate change.
And Australia with nothing to offer.
The prime minister literally stuck on mute in front of the world – and a government frozen in time while the world warms around it.
The Liberals offer up nothing but a showbag budget.
Flashy enough to sell on Tuesday night, falling apart the next day when the reality of falling real wages, vaccination confusion, infrastructure cuts and productivity inertia became apparent.
Nothing built to last.
No real reform, just a series of announcements to overcome political problems of the government’s own making.
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Anthony Albanese:
Australia should be making mRNA vaccines here.
Our Labor government will prioritise support for this production through our National Reconstruction Fund.
We believe Australia can be a world-leading pharmaceutical manufacturing hub.
And never again should the health of Australians be put at risk by this government’s refusal to invest in manufacturing.
It’s not just in his response to vaccinations and quarantine that this prime minister has failed the test of leadership.
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Anthony Albanese:
See for this prime minister, the announcement is all about him. Always.
The press conference. The photo opp.
But when it comes to the part that affects you, the delivery – he’s lost interest.
His only interest at that point is blaming someone else.
When the black summer of bushfires raged, he said ‘I don’t hold a hose, mate’.
Now, with our tourism and education industries still locked away from the world – and with more than 30,000 Australians stranded overseas …
He says quarantine is a matter for the states and getting the vaccine isn’t a race.
He puts out a press release threatening to put returning Australians in jail and then blames the media for reporting it.
Locked out or locked up – a message no Australian government should send to our own citizens.
The prime minister’s constant buck-passing and blame shifting has become a handbrake on our economic recovery.
The strength of our economic recovery is dependent on effective quarantine and vaccinations.
With more than a year to prepare the government has bungled both.
We should have expanded existing quarantine facilities and built new ones across the country which are fit for purpose and located near medical and other needed support.
For example, Bladin Village outside of Darwin has the potential to house up to 1,000 people and is currently being used to quarantine US Defence personnel.
Australian citizens were promised they would be home by Christmas last year.
We were also told we were at the front of the queue for vaccines, when we in fact have one of the slowest rollouts in the world.
Now the prime minister and the treasurer can’t even agree on when Australians will be vaccinated.
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Scott Morrison is sitting on his front bench facing Anthony Albanese as he delivers this speech.
He’s sitting next to Josh Frydenberg – it’s all about the united front optics.
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You can tell we are in an election year because Anthony Albanese is still talking about the government:
When Robert Menzies founded the Liberal party, he spoke about ‘the forgotten people’.
This Liberal government just wants you to forget.
Forget their failures, forget their broken promises, forget all their jobs for their mates.
Make no mistake – the budget handed down on Tuesday night is not a plan for the next generation – it is a patch-up job for the next election.
Remember that the centrepiece of last year’s budget was jobmaker, that promised to create 450,000 new jobs.
It fell short – by 449,000.
That’s right – not 450,000, just 1,000.
Missed by that much. (Complete with Get Smart finger movement.)
Like so much with this government it was all smirk and mirrors.
This week the chasm between announcement and delivery didn’t even make it to budget night.
Having told Monday’s papers that the budget would provide $10bn of additional infrastructure investment, the actual budget papers show a $3.3bn cut to infrastructure over the next four years.
A government that is all announcement, no delivery.
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The Labor leader then moves on to the foundation of the party’s election campaign:
I measure the strength of the economy by how it works for people.
So for me, there’s a simple test by which we can judge the last eight years.
Do you feel better off than you did eight years ago?
Do you feel more secure at work?
When did you last get a wage rise?
Are you finding it easier to pay your bills?
Are you more certain of your future? And importantly, that of your children?
The past eight years have been very good to this prime minister – and his mates.
But has it been good for you?
Because after eight years in power, this prime minister is getting ready to ask you for three more.
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Anthony Albanese:
We have a once-in-a-century opportunity:
- To reinvent our economy.
- To lift wages and make sure they keep rising.
- To invest in advanced manufacturing and in skills and training with public Tafe at its heart.
- To provide affordable childcare.
- To fix aged care.
- To address the housing crisis.
- To champion equality for women.
- To emerge as a renewable energy superpower.
That’s the better future I want to build for Australia as prime minister.
But Tuesday’s budget didn’t speak for this country’s future – it only told the sorry tale of eight years of Liberal neglect.
Eight years of wasting opportunities – and running from responsibility.
Eight years of flat wages and rising costs.
Eight years of ignoring problems – and cutting funding from the solutions.
Eight years of cushy jobs for Liberal mates – and insecure work for ordinary Australians.
Eight years of holding people back – and leaving people behind.
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Anthony Albanese:
This budget offers a low growth, low productivity and low wage future – and a trillion dollars of debt – is that really the best we can aspire to?
I want Australia to emerge from this crisis stronger, smarter and more self-reliant, with an economic recovery that works for all Australians.
Throughout this pandemic, Australians have given up so much.
Labor’s plan is about rewarding and repaying the sacrifices that people have made.
Tonight, I will further outline Labor’s alternative policy agenda.
An agenda with three guiding principles that will drive Labor in government.
1. An economy that delivers for working families.
2. Investing in Australia’s future.
3. No one held back and no one left behind*.
These three principles will drive our plans and policies to secure a better future, improve living standards and promote fairness.
*Labor did vote to allow refugee status to be overturned today, as well as indefinite detention for refugees
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And for the record, this speech mentions ‘on your side’ about a dozen times.
It’s a 30-minute speech, so that’s ... a lot.
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Anthony Albanese:
And I know our country needs – and deserves – a good government again.
A government that believes in your potential.
A prime minister who shares your values.
A Labor government that’s on your side.
Mr Speaker, Australians know the last year has been unlike any other in our lifetimes.
And when we look at the devastation and heartbreak still unfolding in parts of the world, it’s only natural to feel that things could have been a lot worse here.
Yet when I look at our country today, I also know we can do so much better.
So much better than real wages declining over the next four years after flatlining over the last eight years.
So much better than three more years of scandal and a government treating taxpayers’ funds as if they are Liberal party funds.
So much better than three more years of announcements that are never delivered.
And so much better than merely coming back, rather than building back stronger.
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The first half of the speech is about the government – and what Labor sees as its failures.
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Anthony Albanese delivers Labor's budget reply
The House of Representatives has been called to order and Anthony Albanese is on his feet.
My fellow Australians,
I grew up in a council house in Camperdown, the only son of a single mum on the disability pension.
I stand before you tonight seeking the honour of serving as your prime minister.
I’m here because of sacrifices my mum made, to give me chances she was denied by disadvantage – I’ll never forget that.
And I’m here tonight because good government changed my life.
For me – and I know for so many people in similar circumstances – the policies and decisions of good government can make all the difference.
A good government, building a strong economy and a fair society, opens the door to education, to employment, to decent housing, to proper healthcare, to a better life.
I lived that as a young man.
And I saw it firsthand as deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure: creating jobs, connecting-up communities, boosting productivity in our cities and our regions.
I understand the value and the power of good government.
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The bells are ringing and the MPs are filing into the chamber, ready for Anthony Albanese’s budget reply speech.
That will begin in just a few minutes.
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We’re now heading into the chamber for the budget reply – that goes live at 7.30
I’ll bring you the speech – we don’t bring you the entire Treasurer’s speech in the blog, because you have the entire budget – but with budget reply, there is no budget books, just the speech.
(I’m just getting ahead of the messages I am about to get from government staffers/MPs/supporters.)
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Anne Davies has written on the Gareth Ward allegations:
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Immediately after his speech, Anthony Albanese will head to the ABC studio for his after budget reply interview with Leigh Sales.
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And now the House of Representatives is suspended until 7.30pm, when the budget reply speech will be given.
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The New Liberals political party has launched an application to have the Liberal party deregistered.
That’s part of an ongoing dispute over the name ‘Liberal’ – and whether ‘New Liberals’ is too confusing given the existence of ‘the Liberals’.
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There are several actions being planned in support of Palestine this weekend – you can find what is happening in your city here:
⚠️🇵🇸 bring your rage & stand with us this weekend.
— sara m. saleh | سارة صالح #SaveSheikhJarrah (@SaraSalehOz) May 13, 2021
For more details/info, go to@APAN4Palestine's website pic.twitter.com/WiuvgOOQsP
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The House is still considering the Senate amendments to the northern Australian infrastructure bill - but it will pass. All but the crossbench (minus Bob Katter) are in support of the changes.
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AAP has an update on WA’s restrictions – good news if you are in the Perth or Peel regions:
From 12:01 am on Saturday, Perth and the neighbouring Peel region will return to the conditions that existed prior to the Anzac Day weekend lockdown.
Face masks will only be required at the airport and there will no longer be limits on attendees at weddings and funerals.
Major venues including the 60,000-seat Optus Stadium will return to being able to host 100 per cent capacity crowds.
Limits on home gatherings will also be removed and patients in hospitals, aged care and disability care facilities will be able to have unlimited visitors.
WA hasn’t recorded any locally acquired cases since May 1 when a hotel security guard and his two housemates tested positive.
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So, today Labor:
- voted to support legislation which will allow the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to be used to fund fossil fuel projects;
- voted to support government legislation that will allow refugee status to be overturned, and for refugees to be placed in indefinite detention.
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The house is now dividing on the amendments on the Naif bill, which the Senate added – the bill the Greens are very against – which Labor will support. The ayes side of the house is looking very heavy.
Just the crossbench (minus Bob Katter) is voting against it.
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Go and grab some dinner – we are going to bring you Anthony Albanese’s budget reply speech but that doesn’t happen until 7.30pm.
The Senate has suspended its sitting until 8pm.
In the House, Adam Bandt is talking about Labor’s support in the Senate for the changes to the Naif bill, which the Greens say will allow the fund to be used for fossil fuel projects.
“Billions of dollars for a slush fund for new fossil fuel projects in the middle of a climate crisis,” he says.
Bandt is particularly angry at how quickly the bill was rammed through - there wasn’t even a chance for debate.
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Not content with being the only MP to wish Scott Morrison a happy birthday in question time – something he returned to the despatch box to do – Peter Dutton’s socials person has now also wished him a happy birthday on his Insta.
Very sweet interaction from two humans who are clearly fond of each other pic.twitter.com/VtlKJVPqVW
— CAMERONWILSON POSTING HIS Ws (@cameronwilson) May 13, 2021
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You may remember a particular Morrison minister had trouble saying the word “battery” in an interview with Sky News a little earlier this week *cough Keith Pitt cough*
Chris Bowen seems to have responded
Labor's climate spokesman @Bowenchris ... pic.twitter.com/J3NWoJU79P
— Jacob Greber (@jacobgreber) May 13, 2021
NSW MP Gareth Ward steps down as minister over police investigation
NSW MP Gareth Ward has released this statement:
Today I have been made aware by a journalist of an investigation into me by NSW Police.
I have not been contacted by police in relation to any allegations.
I deny any wrongdoing.
Until this matter is resolved, it is appropriate I stand aside from my role as Minister. I will also remove myself from the Liberal Party room.
I will not be making any further comment at this time.
Gladys Berejiklian has also released a statement:
I was made aware through media reports today that an MP is under investigation by police.
I have subsequently received advice from Minister Gareth Ward of his decision to step aside as minister and sit on the crossbench while there is speculation about his future.
I support his decision.
The attorney general will act in Mr Ward’s portfolio responsibilities.
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Anne Ruston is also asked whether Brittany Higgins was the instigator of the government’s change of heart in terms of spending on violence against women and she says:
The process of putting together the next national plan to end violence, I think we should note the next plan is about ending violence because we need to send a strong signal to the Australian community we’re deadly serious to end violence.
Probably one of the things that has been good about, over the last few months, is we are now having a national conversation because we are never going to solve this problem unless the entire Australian public understands that they have a role to play in calling out disrespectful behaviour that possibly may end up in being something worse in terms of abuse.
I’m delighted we are having these conversations because it makes it so much easier for us to get people involved in the solution if they understand what the problem is.
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Anne Ruston is asked about the domestic violence funding in the budget – and whether or not it is enough while talking to Patricia Karvelas:
This is a down payment.
We currently, in the final year of the current national plan to reduce violence against women and their children, and we’re actually in the process of consulting about establishment of the next plan which is due to start in the middle of 2022. What we are seeking to do here with this investment is, it’s a down payment, making sure we still work towards consulting around what needs to be in the next national plan. We know there are many things that are existing now in terms of types of abuse that women suffer that we didn’t know about last years ago.
Significant investment was made in the fourth action plan of $340m. Also of that $1.1 billion, the majority of it will be spent in the next two years because we don’t want to pre-empt what’s in the next plan but we wanted to make sure we had a significant investment to make sure we bridge the gap between now and what we are going to do.
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This is moving forward
#breaking Federal Court made orders in Jo Dyer's application to force Sue Chrysanthou off the Porter v ABC case.
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) May 13, 2021
"Proceedings be set down for hearing on a date to be advised..."#auspol #auslaw pic.twitter.com/G3EMSenBF1
Anika Wells has gone further than her colleagues while speaking to the ABC and said Labor should look at a levy to pay for the necessary aged care funding requirements – as recommended by the royal commission.
I think we should consider it because that’s what the royal commission asked us to do. If we will commission 22 reports about aged care leading to a royal commission, we owe them at least the respect of looking at every option. I think we should look at it. To your point about how much is too much, $17. 7bn is a lot of money and we welcome it. The treasurer has been uphill saying it’s not an austerity budget. When are we going to spend the money?
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After being first asked in October, the government has finally announced it will be extending the reporting date for the disability royal commission.
The commission had asked (at least twice) for a 17-month extension. That has now been granted, seven months after it was first requested.
The Morrison Government today announces that it will extend the final reporting date for the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability to 29 September 2023.
Wilderness Society welcomes government decision to levy oil industry to pay cost of decommissioning floating rig
Environment group the Wilderness Society has written to the minister for resources, Keith Pitt, welcoming the government’s decision to make the offshore oil and gas industry pay up to $1bn to clean up a floating oil rig in the Timor Sea.
In Tuesday’s budget the government said it would introduce an industry-wide levy to recover the cost of decommissioning the Northern Endeavour and the oil fields over which it sits.
The costs would otherwise be borne by the taxpayer because the government took control of the operation after its operator collapsed in 2019. Up until 2016, it belonged to Woodside Petroleum.
Unsurprisingly, the industry, through peak body the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, is not happy about the idea and has come up with alternative proposals including using petroleum resource rent tax credits to pay for it – a move that would mean government cash was spent to pay for the remediation.
In a letter to Pitt sent today, Wilderness Society campaigner Jess Lerch said:
“We strongly support your efforts to hold the line to ensure that the full costs of the decommissioning of the Northern Endeavour are met by either the industry, via the levy detailed in this year’s budget, or in the alternative by the asset’s previous owner, Woodside.”
We strongly oppose any decommissioning costs being laundered through PRRT credits, as has been mooted by some in the industry, noting that PRRT revenues have decreased this year and that the Australian offshore decommissioning liability of the industry continues to present a significant and ongoing risk to Australia’s marine environment, other marine users and the taxpayer beyond the single instance of the Northern Endeavour.”
Lerch said the estimate of $1bn, which has been put forward by crossbench senator Rex Patrick, was much higher than the $250m Woodside had previously set aside.
If the $1bn figure was right, this raised concerns that the total clean-up bill for remediation across the industry might be “the industry estimates of the total offshore oil and gas industry decommissioning liability (and the estimated decommissioning costs assumed at the projector exploration campaign level) may be significantly and systematically underestimated,” she said.
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Just a reminder about Australia’s defamation laws – we can’t put any identifiers around the allegations, because the pool of people it could be are narrowed by the fact it is a NSW MP.
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NSW detectives establish task force into allegations against a NSW MP
NSW detectives have established Strike Force Condello to investigate allegations of sexual violence-related offences against a NSW MP.
The incidents were reported to have occurred from 2013.
“As investigations are continuing, no further information is available,” the police said police said in a statement.
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The government bill which would allow foreign police and intelligence services to access data held in Australia should not be passed without significant amendments governing who can access the data, and what data can be released, the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security has recommended.
The legislation introduced over a year ago would allow foreign spies and police access to wire taps, stored communications like email, and telecommunications metadata, and is designed to allow Australia to get a reciprocal arrangement with the US, where the majority of Australians’ data tends to be held.
But the PJCIS has told the government the bill should not be passed unless 23 recommended changes to the legislation, or legislation the bill interacts with, are made.
The changes include greater oversight by the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, limiting who can ask for the data or wire tap to authorised officers trained specifically in how to request the data, and a requirement the data only be used for obtaining information about a person who is not an Australian citizen, nor currently residing in Australia.
The committee also recommended no data should be able to be handed over to countries without respect for the rule of law, without respect for international human rights obligations, or in countries where the Australian-sourced information might be used in cases with the death penalty.
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A grandmother disappointed by the budget has glued herself to the front entrance of parliament for the third day as part of an extinction rebellion protest against the lack of climate funding.
In a statement, the woman said:
The budget-as-usual yesterday was a disaster for life on Earth. I’m taking this action out of fear of the future for my grandson, and for all children everywhere. I feel a deep responsibility to act now, as a member of the generation that helped cause this nightmare. Recently, I’ve come to the realisation that in the current circumstances, knowing what we know, anything short of radical action against our current destructive system amounts to complicity with that system.
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The NSW auditor general will bring forward a review of the state’s biodiversity offset scheme to the second half of this year.
It comes after the NSW Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann referred the scheme to the auditor after a Guardian investigation revealed tens of millions of dollars in offset credits were purchased from properties linked to consultants whose company advised the NSW government on development in western Sydney.
The offsets were predominantly purchased by the state and federal governments for projects including new roads in western Sydney and the western Sydney airport.
The consultants have denied any suggestion of conflicts of interest or wrongdoing
The NSW auditor general, Margaret Crawford, had already included the NSW biodiversity offsets scheme in her forward plan, which is a list of audits that would be commenced at some stage in the next two years.
In a letter to Faehrmann this week, she wrote she had decided to commence the audit in the second half of this year and her office was “now scoping this topic in more detail”.
“I’m very pleased that the auditor general responded so quickly and positively to my request to undertake an audit of the biodiversity offsetting scheme,” Faehrmann said.
“To hear that this audit has been fast-tracked and that preliminary scoping work is already under way is incredibly heartening.”
Transport for NSW and the NSW environment department both launched internal investigations last month after receiving questions from Guardian Australia about offsets credits those departments had purchased for developments in western Sydney.
Transport for NSW has since referred its purchases to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
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From Mike Bowers lens to you, here is his take on question time
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Michaelia Cash has announced a re-appointment - Sarah McNaughton will continue as the director of public prosecutions for another two years.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has revealed there have been seven new cases of blood clots linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine: three confirmed and four “probable” cases of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome.
It said:
Seven additional cases of blood clots with low blood platelets have been assessed as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) likely to be linked to the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. The United Kingdom (UK) is the country with the widest utilisation of the AstraZeneca vaccine. When assessed using the case definition developed by the UK’s Medicines and Health products Regulatory Agency, three cases are confirmed and four are deemed probable TTS...
Three of these cases are considered confirmed, and include a 75-year-old man from Victoria, a 75-year-old man from Western Australia, and a 59-year-old Queensland man who was diagnosed in Victoria. Of these, only the Victorian man remains in hospital, but is responding to treatment and is in a stable condition. The other two patients are not currently in hospital and are thought to be well. Four other newly reported cases are considered to be probable TTS. This includes three men from Victoria aged 65, 70 and 81 years, and a 70-year-old man from NSW. All but one of the newly reported cases was vaccinated after the 8 April 2021 recommendation by ATAGI that Comirnaty is preferred over the AstraZeneca vaccine in adults aged under 50 years.
This takes the total Australian reports of cases assessed as TTS following the AstraZeneca vaccine to 18. So far about 1.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered.
With regard to all confirmed cases of TTS mentioned in previous weekly reports, all patients (with the exception of the fatality of a 48-year-old woman from NSW) are recovering and stable.
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This was one of the very quiet parts of the budget - the government is scrapping the very controversial work for the dole program it was using to target Indigenous people.
Coalition scraps remote work for the dole program for Indigenous Australians
Thank you to everyone who supported the call to end CDP – we won this by standing in solidarity w First Nations leaders who led the campaign. The gov must take self-determination + co-design seriously.
— AUWU #BTPM (@AusUnemployment) May 13, 2021
We call on the gov to IMMEDIATELY scrap all forced labour programs incl WftD. https://t.co/h6B45MfJ3l
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Labor supported this legislation – which allows for refugee status to be OVERTURNED by the minister. So you could be declared a refugee, and then have that declaration removed years later.
It also allows for refugees to languish in our detention centres, possibly indefinitely. And I very deliberately say “ours” because this is our country and it is being done in our name.
BREAKING: Right now, the Morrison Government is rushing new laws through the Parliament that will lead to more refugees spending years, potentially decades, in indefinite detention.
— David Burke (@DavidHRLC) May 13, 2021
THREAD 👇
1/6
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This story remains exceptionally bizarre - for background, head here, but this answer is just next level wtaf.
It has nothing to do with being gay. I don’t know why you would raise that.
Here’s the Premier discussing the Adam Brooks allegations. It appears he’d thought about his response prior to this morning’s press conference. #politas @WINNews_Tas pic.twitter.com/KhBXv6E1Jc
— Alex Johnston (@swegen31) May 13, 2021
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This afternoon in the Senate Labor voted with the Coalition on a precedence motion to debate changes to the Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility (Naif).
The bill is ostensibly about extending Naif’s timeline to invest to 2026; and expanding its ability to invest in projects that achieve economic and population growth by allowing it to provide financial assistance to entities other than states and territories, and to provide financial assistance in the form of equity investments.
But the Greens fear the changes will help northern Australia minister Keith Pitt to turn the fund into an investment vehicle for fossil fuels.
Labor, which has long argued the Naif is not investing enough, voted with the government on the second and third reading of the bill, which has now passed the Senate.
Here’s Labor’s Murray Watt explaining why it supported the bill:
Labor supports northern development and we support the NAIF. But 6 years after it was launched, the NAIF has only released 6% of its $5 billion budget. We have called on the Govt to make changes for years. It’s about time they acted.
— Senator Murray Watt (@MurrayWatt) May 13, 2021
Labor also voted down a number of Greens amendments, including one that stated “financial assistance must not be provided under this act for the development of fossil fuel-based infrastructure”; and the same, but for new fossil-fuel projects.
Greens senator Larissa Waters was highly critical of this:
And this vote is now on an amendment we hoped Labor might support - no public money under NAIF given to NEW fossil fuel projects. But sadly they are still voting against even that weak version. Sitting with the Govt as they so often do. We wish they would be stronger on climate!
— Larissa Waters (@larissawaters) May 13, 2021
It could be that Labor opposed the amendment because it would have prevented investment in gas pipelines, but the Greens believe it’s a new low because the Naif would have greater latitude to invest in coal.
In any event, the bill has now passed.
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Question time ends, with just Peter Dutton making mention of the prime minister’s birthday.
Small mercies.
Mark Butler to Josh Frydenberg:
My question is to the treasurer, and I thank him for his earlier answer. I ask again: does the treasurer maintain most residents of disability care facilities and most aged care and disability staff have been fully vaccinated?
Frydenberg:
The rollout of the vaccine has been gaining pace, including in disability care places, as well as aged care places, and those opposite should support the rollout of the vaccine as we on this side of the house do.
Which is still not an answer to the question, because the answer is: the disability care vaccine rollout is well behind.
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Peter Dutton has never found an issue he couldn’t make Labor’s fault.
Here’s Dutton on defence spending (eight years after the government took power):
Similarly, people that have made decisions in the past, whether to invest or not to invest. We live with those decisions today and when Labor was in power, they cut defence spending. They took money away from the defence department. They didn’t put money into the defence force, as was needed.
We’re now paying a price today because we bear the risk of a capability gap because the Labor party spent money everywhere else but in defence. They took money out of national security.
They don’t like it but that is a fact. If you dispute that fact, stand up and point out where it is wrong.
That is the fact. They did not support our defence industry. They did not support the Australian defence force. The fact is this government has invested $270 billion over a decade into restoration of that support and making sure that we can invest to support the security of this nation. We have $183 billion in the naval ship-building plan, which represents the largest regeneration of the navy since the second world war. More than 70 vessels will be built in Australia.
What exactly are we preparing for? All those “drums” of war that we ourselves are sounding?
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Mark Butler to Josh Frydenberg:
Page 36 of budget paper number one states as another Budget assumption: “Most priority populations have been vaccinated.” Does the treasurer maintain that most residents of disability care facilities and most aged care and disability staff have been fully vaccinated?
Frydenberg:
Over 10% of the population has been vaccinated. Over 30% of the population of those aged over 70, and as the prime minister said on The 7.30 Report, it is expected to reach 3 million across the country at the end of this week.
We are rolling out the vaccine as fast as possible. We are securing extra supply. We have 5,000 points of contact through the GPs and the state and territory clinics, and in Tuesday night’s budget we put billions of dollars extra into new health measures to continue our Covid health response.
Which doesn’t answer the question
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Tanya Plibersek to Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister. When did the Gaetjens inquiry into what the prime minister’s office knew about the reported rape of Ms Brittany Higgins in the ministerial wing recommence? The prime minister commissioned the inquiry three months ago. When will it report?
Morrison:
When the Australian federal police commissioner indicated to the secretary of the department that he could continue the review, that was done. I understand that was done late last week. As a result, the secretary has informed my office that it will proceed. I haven’t been given a date by the secretary as to when he might conclude that and I am waiting for him to advise me of that.
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Christian Porter is dedicating his time to attacking Labor for reheating an old policy for start-ups which has not been enacted because it is not in government.
I don’t actually know why this is a thing – here is a policy we thought was good, wasn’t picked up, but we still think it’s an OK idea so we would like to put it forward again. Doesn’t actually seem like an issue to me?
But that is what Porter is now dedicating his time to.
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Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
My question is to the treasurer. On Tuesday he said at his budget lock-up press conference that Australians will get two doses by the end of the year. How is it possible that the treasurer got this crucial assumption in his own budget wrong in his official budget briefing on budget day surrounded by Treasury officials?
Frydenberg:
The shadow treasurer, here again, he’s got nothing really to come at. He hasn’t asked questions about jobs. He hasn’t asked questions about taxes and he knows that he has been outplayed...
The reality is there is an assumption. It is an assumption, not a policy decision. It is based on the best medical advice to us and it says – I want to read it to him if he struggled to understand it: “The population-wide vaccine program is likely to be in place by the end of 2021.” And we have seen more than 400,000 people receive a vaccination over the course of the last week. We now have 5,000 contact points around the country, whether they are GPs, state and territory clinics.
The key to Australia’s economic recovery is that we are continuing to suppress the virus – and we continue to suppress the virus, we continue to maintain the momentum. The momentum will be continued by measures that we announced in budget like lower taxes, increased infrastructure and like skills.
When it comes to the vaccine rollout, we heard today that we have secured an additional 25 million doses of the Moderna vaccine. But the assumption in the budget – one of a number of assumptions, based on the medical advice, with qualifiers like the word “likely” – says: “A population-wide vaccination program is likely to be in place by the end of 2021.”
Our focus is on keeping Australians safe and keeping Australians in a job and creating jobs for those who are out of a job. That is our focus. It doesn’t seem to be the focus of those opposite.
The question isn’t about the assumption in the budget - the question is about Frydenberg himself saying “two doses by the end of the year”. Which is what he said.
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Stuart Robert:
We are backing small business in over the ATO. No longer will the ATO be able to garnish and take away whilst a dispute is in train because of what this Government is doing backing small and family businesses in.
What small businesses know from this Budget is they can trust the Morrison Government to stand up and deliver for them.
That’s the government minister for business (previously the minister who oversaw robo-debt) announcing the government will back in businesses over the independent statutory body designed to ensure they are meeting their tax requirements.
Every time Josh Frydenberg says “the reality is” he’s been caught in a mis-speak and is trying to re-write the narrative.
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
My question is to the treasurer. On Tuesday the treasurer said the budget was built on two Covid vaccine doses by the end of the year. On Wednesday the prime minister overruled the treasurer. Treasurer, that means either the budget’s wrong or you’re wrong. Which is it?
Frydenberg:
The budget’s right about one thing, and that is 250,000 jobs will be created under this government off the back of 500,000 jobs that were created since last October. The assumption is very clear in budget paper number one, and I repeat: “A population-wide vaccination program is likely to be in place by the end of 2021.”
This is an assumption, not a policy decision. If you are like the prime minister and you have already had one dose, then you have your second dose because it is a few weeks after.It depends on when you have that vaccine as to when you have the second dose.
The other point that the prime minister made very clearly on the 7.30 Report last night was that this assumption – the budget does not rest on this assumption entirely. It does not rest on this entirely.
His words were it does not rest on this assumption either solely or even completely. That is what the prime minister said. The reason being is a key factor that will help driver the momentum in our economic recovery is our ability to continue to suppress the virus.
Central to that is Australians continue to follow the medical advice that state premiers continue to adopt proportionate reactions and responses to outbreaks where they occur.
The gold standard has been a Liberal premier in New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, because we haven’t had a state-wide lockdown even though there have been outbreaks.
The key to the budget is that we continue to be successful and effective in suppressing the virus. That is important and that will help protect Australian lives and livelihoods.
Updated
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
My question is to the Treasurer. Why did the Treasurer say on Tuesday that Budget outcomes are based on an assumption that Australians will receive two doses of the COVID vaccine by the end of this year?
Frydenberg:
As I just said to the house, there was an assumption in the Budget, in Budget paper number one, page 36, which talks about a population-wide vaccination program likely to be in place by the end of 2021.
As Minister for Health said to the house just yesterday about first and second doses and there’s a three week period between a Pfizer first dose and a second dose. But the key point that the member for Rankin and the house needs to understand is these are assumptions, not policy decisions by the Government. These are assumptions not policy decisions of the Government and they are based on the best medical advice that we have.
What Chalmers is talking about here is something Frydenberg said in his budget lock up press conference, when he was asked about that budget assumption. Frydenberg said it was the assumption that everyone who wanted a vaccine would have TWO vaccines by the end of the year, something Scott Morrison walked back the next day and said was not government policy.
Which brings us back to a key assumption in the budget not actually being government policy.
Updated
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
[In] last year’s budget paper number one the government said a faster than expected Covid vaccine rollout would boost the economy by $34 billion. Where is the estimated cost of the bungled rollout in this year’s budget paper? What is the cost?
Frydenberg:
As my colleagues point out, why is the shadow treasurer smiling at the fact that this is an important...
It is important that we roll out the vaccine as quickly as possible and we saw over the last week more than 400,000 people receive a vaccine over the course of the last week. There is a key assumption in the budget about the vaccine rollout.
It is in budget paper number one, on page 36, where it is assumed a population-wide vaccination program is likely to be in place by the end of 2021.
It’s based on those assumptions – including around border closures and including about how we deal and manage with outbreaks when they occur – that we have made some of the other forecasts across the budget.
But the key to Australia’s economic recovery, as the secretary of the Treasury and as the Treasury maintains, is our ability to suppress those outbreaks when they occur. This is first and foremost a health crisis and our ability to suppress the virus will determine the speed of the economic recovery, which is now well under way.
Not that long ago, Scott Morrison was saying we have to “live with the virus”.
The idea that you just shut everything down and put all the borders up ... is no way to live with this.
Updated
Clare O’Neil to Scott Morrison:
Aged care workers are some of the lowest paid people in our nation. Attracting and retaining these critical workers is the only way older Australians will get the care they deserve. What part of the prime minister’s budget pays aged care workers more?
Greg Hunt takes this one:
Thank you, Mr Speaker. There’s $17.7 billion of additional value and investment in aged care.
There are retention bonuses for nurses – $3,700 for full-time nurses and $2,700 for part-time nurses.
Secondly, there is, in relation to this $3.2 billion... the $10-a-day uplift fee, and that will flow through to our staff.
Thirdly, there is $3.9 billion, and this is an opportunity to go through pretty much most of the measures in the aged care reform package; $3.9 billion, which goes to 200 care minutes a day. For the first time we are mandating that level of care, as recommended by the royal commission, which includes specifically 40 minutes a day from our nurses.
O’Neil:
On direct relevance. The question is specifically about aged care workers’ wages. The minister is listing a bunch of initiatives that are not going to do anything about that problem.
Hunt is told to be relevant.
With great respect, this is absolutely directly about wages. I started with the $3,700 and $2,700 of direct wage supplement. In addition to that, $3.2 billion, which goes to the ability to provide additional support for our personnel care workers and for our nurses.
That is how they are paid. They aren’t paid directly by government, they are paid by the team who employ them, and that is providing support to the employers to support the employed.
[To the opposition] I have a feeling that they’re not actually that interested. The third element is the 200 minutes, or $3.9 billion. A fourth element is in relation to what we’re doing with home care support.
The additional funding of $6.5 billion for home care, 80,000 places will be all about employing and paying those very people who are delivering the care to our aged care sector.
Fifthly, we have 33,800 aged care training places. This training is about bringing in new people who will be delivering the services, all of whom are going to be paid as a result of this.
In addition to that, if I may keep going forwards, in the Indigenous community, we have over $600 million that is being paid to support those who are working in rural and remote, or to create the facilities where they will be working.
If I can continue going on: in addition to all of those elements, we have the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, which will see over 4,500 audits which will protect the residents and workers.
All these elements go to ensuring that the conditions are better for both workers and for residents.
Updated
The environmental impact statement for the Kurri Kurri gas plant has been released.
EIS for Kurri Kurri is up: https://t.co/zFwyd7Dmnd
— Dylan McConnell (@dylanjmcconnell) May 13, 2021
"....it is expected that likely operations would result in a capacity factor of *2%* in any given year"
So it would about ~1.3PJ per year - about ~1.8% of the expected production of Narrabri.
Updated
Tony Burke to Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister. Is the cut to real wages in the prime minister’s budget a deliberate design feature of the government’s economic policy, or once again does the prime minister believe it’s somebody else’s fault?
Morrison:
Our budget, which is a plan to secure Australia’s recovery from the global pandemic, from the global recession, is all about increasing the number of people in jobs. It is all about increasing the ability for Australians to earn more in this country and to keep more of what they earn, Mr Speaker.
In this budget we are delivering once again lower taxes for Australians, lower taxes for small and medium sized businesses who, from 1 July, will be paying 25% right across the board, businesses up to $50 million.
Lower taxes means more money in the pockets of Australians to invest in the things that they want to put their minds to. What people can take home, because of lower taxes, what people can take home because of a strengthening economy, what people can take home because of the fact they’re in jobs, in an economy.
When you look around the world, where there is no advanced country – the Treasurer reminds us – that can speak of there being more jobs after the pandemic than there were before the pandemic. But what I am concerned about is that we heard from the Labor party today, in their silence...
He gets pulled up on a point of order by the speaker, and is told to keep it relevant
Morrison:
Our budget is about lower taxes. That is what our budget is about. A Labor budget, particularly one when he’s in the habit of copying from the member for Maribyrnong...
Burke then moves his point of order:
The question is about the impact of the budget on wages. It is not about alternatives, it is not about taxes, it is about wages.
Smith:
That is right. The question was about real wages. It had a tag at the end but that tag does not allow the prime minister to talk about alternative policies or members of the opposition. The prime minister has the call.
Morrison:
Our budget is indeed about wages, the wages of Australians in work ... and under this government, there are more people in work today than before the pandemic. The unemployment rate is lower than when we came to government and our budget is about driving that unemployment rate down.
That will be achieved by the policies of the Liberal and Nationals, not the co-opted policies of the member for Maribyrnong...
Smith:
Now the prime minister will resume his seat.
Updated
The death to dixer committee report has not been adopted – but Tony Smith is not playing today.
He is not allowing any “alternative approaches” through in government answers to opposition questions. Scott Morrison is the latest to be told “no, not relevant”.
Updated
The parliament break has done nothing to help Vince Connolly deliver questions in a way that approximates an actual human.
He continues to deliver his questions like he has a cloud of cicadas slowly emerging through his skin.
Updated
Peter Dutton, in answering a question on China and oil from Bob Katter, forgets he is the defence minister and starts attacking Labor on borders
The cuts to spending in defence during Labor’s years, when money went to pay for boat arrivals, but the wrong boat arrivals, people arriving on boats...
You can sigh but you presided over a disaster on our borders. You surrendered our sovereignty and handed it over to the people smugglers!
Tony Smith tells him to sit down and tells him to be relevant, asking if he has anything to add in the last 25 seconds.
Dutton does – he uses that time to wish Scott Morrison a happy birthday.
“Well, that was nice, but it wasn’t relevant,” Smith says.
Updated
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
Q: Will the treasurer admit what the cut in real wages contained in his own budget actually means for Australian workers? Their bills will go up but their pay won’t keep up.
Frydenberg:
Mr Speaker, I know what will hit the wages of the Australian people is the higher taxes from the Labor party, Mr Speaker!
That is what will hit the wages of the Australian people. As I said to the house yesterday, in the budget there is a forecast that inflation will reach 3.5% in mid of this year – that is above the wages of 1.25% that is forecast.
But the higher inflation number for the year is off the back of the year previously [in which] we saw negative – a number of 0.3% which was the first time in 60 years that we had seen such a negative number.
The reality is, as I said just recently to the house, under this government, real wages growth is higher, unemployment is lower, the gender pay gap has been narrowing and there are more Australians in work than ever before.
In this budget, delivered on Tuesday night, we cut the taxes of low- and middle-income earners. More than 10 million low- and middle-income earners received a tax cut as a result of the measures supported by the Morrison government and announced on Tuesday night’s budget.
We also put in tax incentives for businesses around the country. Our policies are to drive taxes lower, to enable Australians to keep more of their hard-earned money. The Labor party stands for higher spending and higher taxes.
Updated
For those wondering why Labor (and others) are talking about wages falling in this budget, you’ll find your answer in this table.
This is the basis for Greens, Labor, unions saying real wages are being cut. Inflation > wage growth.#auspol #ausunions pic.twitter.com/IGF9b66EOy
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) May 11, 2021
Updated
The current deputy prime minister is on his feet and trying to make jokes and talking about the noises the road markers that alert you when you stray out of your lane make.
He also said “plan” about 50 times in 10 seconds.
It can not be that hard to find a personality.
Updated
Coalition rejects Labor suggestion wages 'going backwards'
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
I ask: can he confirm that after eight long years of wages going nowhere, now they’re actually going backwards?
Morrison:
I thank the member for his question. I will ask the treasurer to add to the answer. Nominal wages improved over the course of the budget in the forward estimates.
We have had some figures on inflation, both this current year and next year. But wages will continue to improve in this country so long as the economic settings continue to be right, that we continue to back Australians, that we secure Australia’s recovery through this budget and we continue to put Australians in work. And when you put Australians into work, that tightens the labour market and that supports wages, but I will ask the treasurer to add to my answer.
Josh Frydenberg:
It is a bit cheeky to get a question from the Labor party on real wages when they were falling when they were last in office and fell over 2013. In budget paper number one, on page 61, it says the following: “Consumers have maintained purchasing power with real wages growth in line with the 10-year average.”
And we know, under this government, real wages growth is higher, the unemployment rate is lower, the gender pay gap has been closing and more Australians are in work than ever before.
This has meant that household income has continued to grow in every quarter, despite the greatest economic shock since the great depression and up 4.8% over the year. Mr Speaker, under this government, unemployment is now lower than when we came to government. Unemployment, after the biggest economic shock since the Great Depression...
He finishes his answer.
Just a reminder that the government came into power eight years ago, while Australia and the world were still recovering from the GFC.
Updated
Question time begins
We are straight into it.
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Can the prime minister confirm that the government has spent almost half a million dollars to intervene in the Rossato high court case in support of ripping away pay from long-term workers in insecure work? Why is the prime minister spending taxpayer money to cut the wages of insecure workers, including Queensland miners in the Bowen Basin? Doesn’t this confirm the Morrison government will do everything it can to keep wages low?
Morrison:
I thank the member for his question. On the matter that went to the great uncertainty, the great uncertainty that arose in relation to the definition of casuals in the work place, Mr Speaker, that – if unresolved – could have seen job losses and loss of investment and the loss of confidence in our economy at a time in the middle of the worst global recession we have seen since the great depression; a global recession 30 times worse than the global financial crisis ... Uncertainty at any time when it comes to these types of issues needs to be addressed, needs to be resolved, so we can ensure that businesses invest and people get into work and people get into jobs.
Prior to entering into the pandemic, Australia had already achieved, since the government was first elected, some 1.5 million people coming into work. We know that when we went into the pandemic some 900,000, or thereabouts, Australians lost their jobs and another 300,000, and indeed more, had their hours reduced to zero.
But we now know on the other side of the pandemic there are more people in work today than there were before the pandemic and certainty...
Albanese has a point of order:
The court case began before the pandemic and it’s about whether someone who isn’t really working as a casual have their pay and conditions cut and why the government is supporting that court case on behalf of the employers.
Morrison is allowed to continue:
Australian people know the Labor party’s no friend of coal miners. They’re no friend of coal miners. They’re no friend of workers in the resources industry. They’re no friend of workers in the construction industry.
They opposed the HomeBuilder Program. They bagged it and rubbished it. There is no friends of workers on that side. The friends of workers are on this side because it is this side of the house which has been creating the jobs with Australian people. We acted to ensure certainty, to ensure certainty to enable Australians to get employed and that’s what this Government is about. Australians into work.
When we took the measures through this house and in the other place, Mr Speaker, the Labor Party saw workers’ rights as collateral damage for their own political purposes, as they voted against important and improvements for those to be supported in casual work and they thought the politics was more important than workers. I am not going to be lectured by a Labor Party whose form in this house is to oppose jobs for workers and particularly in the resources sector.
Give us a break.
Updated
The senate has supported a motion from Rachel Siewert to set up an inquiry into the disability support pension.
This is excellent news - anyone who has had anything to do with the DSP knows just how difficult it is to navigate.
The terms of reference are:
That the following matter be referred to the Community Affairs References Committee, for inquiry and report by Tuesday 30 November 2021:
The purpose, intent and adequacy of the Disability Support Pension, with specific reference to:
a. the purpose of the Disability Support Pension;
b. the Disability Support Pension eligibility criteria, assessment and determination, including the need for health assessments and medical evidence and the right to review and appeal;
c. the impact of geography, age and other characteristics on the number of people receiving the Disability Support Pension;
d. the impact of the Disability Support Pension on a disabled person’s ability to find long term, sustainable and appropriate, employment within the open labour market;
e. the capacity of the Disability Support Pension to support persons with disabilities, chronic conditions and ill health, including its capacity to facilitate and support labour market participation where appropriate;
f. discrimination within the labour market and its impact on employment, unemployment and underemployment of persons with disabilities and their support networks;
g. the adequacy of the Disability Support Pension and whether it allows people to maintain an acceptable standard of living in line with community expectations;
h. the appropriateness of current arrangements for supporting disabled people experiencing insecure employment, inconsistent employment, precarious hours in the workforce; and inequitable workplace practices;
i. the economic benefits of improved income support payments and supports for persons with disabilities, their immediate households and broader support services and networks;
j. the relative merits of alternative investments in other programs to improve the standard of living of persons with disabilities;
k. any related matters.
OK, it is almost question time.
Budget, vaccine and wage growth will be the order of the day
For those wondering how the labour force motion went – One Nation abstained.
It’s been an issue for the party in the Hunter. One Nation dis-endorsed its original candidate because of his stance against labour hire, given One Nation supported the government bill that allowed for more labour hire.
The Senate just voted on my motion on the use of labour hire in Hunter Valley coal mines.
— Senator Tim Ayres (@ayrestim) May 13, 2021
The result:
Ayes - 26
Noes - 27@MRobertsQLD and @PaulineHansonOz did not even vote pic.twitter.com/OGWQSIqfBT
Updated
It is almost question time.
Find your happy places
Simon Birmingham is also forced to clean up the prime minister’s latest mix up on Australia’s Taiwan policy:
Q: Can you clarify Australia’s position on Taiwan? There’s confusion, given the PM’s recent comments?
Birmingham:
Our position on Taiwan has not changed in relation to our proposals. I’m not going to run commentary on foreign policy here.
Q: They say the PM has caused confusion?
Birmingham:
There’s no change in relation to Australia’s formal foreign policy positions there.
The government is being very cagey over what it is doing with the Hunter Valley gas plant – in terms of whether or not it is going to fund one.
The budget doesn’t have provision for it (including in the Snowy Hydro liabilities – that didn’t increase) but the Daily Tele reported the government may fund it as part of the “decisions made, not announced” funding allocated in the budget (which is a bunch of money which has been put aside but no one is allowed to know for what).
Birmingham was just asked about that:
What’s in the budget is clearly outlined. There are a number of issues that relate to matters of commercial sensitivity and sometimes to national security that have to be handled sensitively and are budgeted for as part of contingency arrangements. That’s usual practice and when the government has announcements, further to what’s released in the budget to make, that will happen.
Q: There’s a byelection in the Upper Hunter. Don’t voters need to know if you’re funding this?
Birmingham:
Last I checked that was a state byelection.
Updated
Simon Birmingham is apparently very exercised that Anthony Albanese, a whole TWO DAYS after the budget was handed down, has not said what Labor will do with the stage-three tax cuts (which were legislated with Labor’s support as part of a total package, although Labor maintained concerns over stage three). The stage-three tax cuts overwhelmingly help high-income earners.
Birmingham:
Back at the AFR Summit earlier this year, Anthony Albanese said he would be able to make his mind up about lower taxes for Australians after the budget was handed down.
Well, the budget was handed down two days ago, yet Anthony Albanese is still unable to say whether he supports lower income taxes for Australians. He’s even unable to say whether or not Labor will junk its housing tax policy on negative gearing or whether or not Labor has a position in relation to higher taxes and levies to fund aged care.
The Morrison government’s position is crystal clear. We always stand for lower taxes and we are delivering economic recovery through lower taxes for hard-working Australians.
This really is the come-clean moment for Anthony Albanese and the Labor party. Come clean about whether they stand for higher taxes or lower taxes. Is Anthony Albanese on Bill Shorten’s old ticket of higher taxes for hard-working Australians, or Scott Morrison’s plan of lower taxes for hard-working Australians. The Australian people had this choice at the last election.
They voted for lower taxes then. Labor should heed that message and Anthony Albanese should come clean, whether he has a high-taxes agenda, or give confidence to the Australian economy and back lower taxes for the future.
Updated
Chris Knaus has taken a look at what the Moderna agreement will mean for Australia’s vaccine program.
(Anything Dolly Parton is part of is OK with me.)
Updated
Meanwhile, this motion on labour force hire is about wedging One Nation and the government, which voted for changes to the Fair Work Act.
Senator Ayres:
To move that the Senate —
- Notes that:
- Mining companies contracting out permanent jobs to labour hire has grown dramatically in the past decade;
- Most labour hire workers in coal mining are employed as casuals, even though they do the same work as permanents, with full-time hours and rosters set up to a year in advance;
- In the Hunter Valley coalfields, 43% of open cut coal miners are employed on labour hire arrangements;
- Most of these labour hire workers are employed casually and receive substantially worse pay and conditions than mineworkers employed by the mine owner or operator;
- Labour hire workers are typically paid 30-40% less than permanents in the coal industry; and
- Analysis by the McKell Institute shows that the lower wages paid to labour hire coal miners in the Hunter Valley costs the region up to $282m year in economic activity, compared to workers being employed directly in permanent jobs; and
- Further notes that, on 18 March 2021, One Nation, the National party and the Liberal party voted to amend the Fair Work Act, entrenching casualisation for coal mine workers in the Hunter Valley.
Updated
Matt Canavan crosses Senate floor to support Labor motion on repatriation
Matt Canavan and Gerard Rennick have crossed the floor to support this motion from Kristina Keneally.
Senators Wong and Keneally to move that the Senate —
- Notes that:
- The Australian government is responsible for borders, quarantine, and assisting Australians in jeopardy and stranded overseas,
- Since the prime minister capped international passenger arrivals on 13 July 2020, the crisis faced by Australians stranded overseas has worsened,
- The Senate has previously called on the government to:
- Increase quarantine capacity and put all options on the table to return stranded Australians, especially from India,
- Bring stranded Australians home by Christmas 2020, as the Prime Minister promised he would do, and
- Expand safe and effective federal quarantine capacity and ensure everyone is welcomed home with care and compassion,
- The Morrison government still has no comprehensive plan to help every stranded Australian return home, and
- On 30 April 2021, the government announced ‘a temporary pause on travellers from India entering Australian territory’ and that ‘Failure to comply with an emergency determination under the Biosecurity Act 2015 may incur a civil penalty of 300 penalty units, five years’ imprisonment, or both’; and
(b) Calls on the government to help Australians in India return, rather than jailing them, and fix our quarantine system rather than leaving our fellow Australians stranded.
.@mattjcan and @SenatorRennick have just crossed the floor of the Senate supporting a motion calling on the Govt “to help Australians in India return, rather than jailing them, and fix our quarantine system rather than leaving our fellow Australians stranded”. Well done #auspol
— Rex Patrick (@Senator_Patrick) May 13, 2021
Updated
Craig Kelly, who spent $1,000 on a pallet of fake trillion-dollar bills to try to make a point about debt, seems not to realise that Australia prints its money in Craigieburn, through a subsidiary owned by the Reserve Bank of Australia.
Why worry about a trillion dollar debt when you own the printing presses at the Mint ? 🤪 pic.twitter.com/eIHMntkJ3N
— Craig Kelly MP (@CraigKellyMP) May 12, 2021
Updated
The Senate is making up for lost time in getting through motions.
Lidia Thorpe just had this one passed:
Pleased that my motion condemning the Northern Territory Government for their disgusting, racist youth justice laws passed in the Senate earlier this week - with support from Federal Labor.
— Senator Lidia Thorpe (@lidia__thorpe) May 13, 2021
Let's talk about these laws for a second. (Thread) pic.twitter.com/OmZEp3RJgF
Updated
Simon Birmingham has called a press conference for 1.05pm.
Updated
Meanwhile, in the Senate:
Right now the ALP and LNP are voting together in the Senate to rush through legislation that would allow for people’s refugee status to be reconsidered and overturned. Protection should be permanent, not temporary. Blood on their collective hands.
— Nick McKim (@NickMcKim) May 13, 2021
Updated
In case you missed it earlier today, the bipartisan committee which was set up to improve question time has handed down its report with 11 different recommendations, including one of my personal crusades – death to dixers.
That doesn’t mean backbenchers wouldn’t get to ask questions. It just means they would get to ask questions they want – not questions written by the minister’s office and then handed to the backbencher to read.
A window on the House: practices and procedures relating to Question Time - recommendations #auspol pic.twitter.com/12qJTt6gO9
— Political Alert (@political_alert) May 13, 2021
Updated
Labor is attempting, for the third time, to have Andrew Laming removed from his committee position.
The government has gagged the debate. Again.
Updated
The head of cybersecurity at the manufacturers of one of the Covid-19 vaccines, Johnson & Johnson, has admitted the company’s risk profile for being attacked by hackers, saying:
Covid has made it feel like everyone is a hacker.
It was reported late last year that Johnson & Johnson was one of six Covid-19 vaccine researchers targeted by hackers from North Korea seeking data about vaccines. In a zoom conference on cyber security hosted by the American Australian Association on Wednesday, the company’s chief information security officer, Marene Allison, said the company has always been a target for some, but Covid had changed things.
She said:
J&J was an important target for some of the adversaries, but as we moved into production of a vaccine, it changed my risk profile. What didn’t change was the technologies that I had in place to protect against those.
Allison said the main threats remained the same: nation states, criminal threats, activists, and insider threats, but the pandemic changed the world.
It has made, I feel like almost, everyone is a hacker and trying to come after somebody’s data somewhere. And we talk a lot about tech but it really is what technology do we have to protect data? Because that’s what people are going after.
Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, who was also on the panel, said he was surprised people were not more outraged about the Edward Snowden revelations.
I thought there would be more indignation about the revelation of the extent to which security agencies, NSA [the National Security Agency] in particular, was effectively spying on people and collaborating with telcos and others to access information. Something which, by the way, has been going on forever.
Turnbull put it down to what he saw as a generational difference, blaming the information people are willing to share with social media companies for their indifference.
He said:
The Facebook generation, the digital natives ... look at the stuff people put on Facebook, for heaven’s sake. So it’s a different world, but I think that my generation – I’m in my mid 60s – is, I think, more sensitive to data then perhaps people in their 30s.
Updated
Good afternoon
Welcome to politics live for the afternoon – a very big thank you to Nino for taking the morning shift, so I could have a bit of a sleep in and take you through the budget reply, which is happening later tonight.
You have Amy Remeikis with you – and we still have question time coming up, so I hope you’ll stick around. Enjoy your lunch!
Updated
And with that I usher you into the gentle embrace of Amy Remeikis. Go well.
Prof Spurrier added:
I am very confident to say that there has been no risk for people in South Australia, but I do obviously acknowledge that it’s been very difficult for Victoria, having that additional case in their state.
Updated
SA authorities unclear how man caught Covid in quarantine
South Australia’s chief public health officer, Prof Nicola Spurrier, said an investigation into how a Victorian man caught Covid-19 from the Playford, an Adelaide quarantine hotel, was continuing.
Basically they don’t know how he caught it. But she was confident there was no further risk to the state.
All staff and travellers in the facility between 24 April and 5 May had been identified and tested and had returned negative results, she said.
The other things the teams have been carefully going through is reviewing and re-reviewing the CCTV footage and also the ventilation. We had infrastructure staff to check those two rooms yesterday. There is nothing out of that investigation that gives us an explanation about how that person who returned to Victoria could have got infected.
However, we are as keen as ever to get to the bottom of this and we will be updating people if anything turns up from that investigation.
Updated
South Australian health officials are giving an update on the Covid-19 situation in the state. A woman in her 30s with the virus is in ICU and has had to be intubated, but is in a stable condition.
NSW Health breaks its daily record for vaccinations
The NSW Health alert has arrived, confirming the earlier news of no new locally acquired cases. There are five cases in hotel quarantine.
The alert also confirms a new daily record was set yesterday for vaccinations.
The statement says:
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
Five new cases were acquired overseas to 8pm last night, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,362.
There were 17,806 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 23,224.
NSW Health has administered its highest number of vaccinations in one day, with 7,552 vaccines administered in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, including 2,554 vaccines at the vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park.
The total number of vaccines administered in NSW is now 840,647, with 256,193 doses administered by NSW Health to 8pm last night and 584,454 administered by the GP network and other providers to 11.59pm on Tuesday 11 May.
Updated
And, as sizzled on the blog earlier, the AFLW is going to expand to 18 teams by 2023.
BREAKING: The AFLW is expanding! All 18 clubs will have an AFLW team by 2023. @10NewsFirstMelb
— Natalie Yoannidis (@NatYoannidis) May 13, 2021
Let this again be a reminder, go Bombers.
Scott Morrison doubles down on Taiwan policy shift
The prime minister has again made a mistake about Australia’s position on Taiwan. This is less than ideal given we’re constantly hearing about the threat of conflict with China, potentially over Taiwan.
Two stuff-ups, one country, two systems. Or something.
This is extraordinary. Morrison is so unwilling to admit his basic factual errors on Taiwan and Hong Kong that he’ll junk decades of consistent, considered, balanced Australian China policy. He is totally out of his depth. pic.twitter.com/kccKTL9u61
— Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) May 12, 2021
AAP reports:
Scott Morrison has been forced to backtrack after misrepresenting Australia’s policy on Taiwan for a second time.
The prime minister has twice referred to a “one country, two systems” approach towards Taiwan, adopting Beijing’s position.
But this is not the Australian government’s official stance.
Australia has for many decades maintained a “one country” policy on Taiwan.
Morrison flatly denied he had made a mistake when asked about the apparent shift during an interview last week with radio 3AW, and on Wednesday night on SBS.
But a government spokesman later said he misspoke on both occasions.
“Australia’s one-China policy has not changed,” the spokesman told AAP.
“However, Australia maintains close and positive unofficial ties with Taiwan, an important trade and economic partner. The prime minister’s comments on ‘one country, two systems’ were in relation to Hong Kong.”
Labor senator Penny Wong was alarmed by the prime minister doubling down on the apparent shift in policy.
“Either Scott Morrison has substantially shifted Australia’s policy on Taiwan, adopting Beijing’s position and ending 50 years of bipartisanship, or he’s lying to cover up his mistake,” Wong said.
“Given his form, my assumption is it’s the latter.”
The policy distinction has come into sharp focus as the prospect of military conflict between China and Taiwan continues to grow.
Taiwan has warned it is preparing for a final assault from Beijing and has called on support from Australia.
China has warned Australia not to get involved.
Updated
NSW reports no new local cases of Covid
We haven’t received the official NSW health email update yet, but there’s no new local cases, according to this tweet:
WATCH: Dr Jeremy McAnulty provides a #COVID19 update for Thursday 13 May 2021. pic.twitter.com/0CLgVSiDAU
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) May 13, 2021
Updated
There’s a few bits and pieces filtering out ahead of the Victorian state budget next week. AAP reports:
More magistrates and judges will be hired as part of a $210m funding injection to help ease Victoria’s Covid-19 courts backlog.
The package in next week’s state budget will include a $40.9 million boost to the online magistrates court, including two new magistrates, attorney general Jaclyn Symes said.
The appointment of four county court judges will also be brought forward ahead of pending retirements by existing judicial officers.
Symes said on Thursday that this meant extra judges would be available to deal with cases awaiting trial, after jury trials were suspended during Melbourne’s second Covid wave.
There will also be funding for two additional registrars.
The Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal will receive $56.7m to deal with additional hearings virtually.
Meanwhile, $34.8m has been allocated to help drive down wait times and $22.9m to help courts manage caseloads.
Victoria Legal Aid, Victoria police, the Office of Public Prosecutions, Corrections Victoria and services to support victims will share a $55.3m budget boost.
“Courts and tribunals did a great job getting through the pandemic and they learnt a lot,” Symes said.
“Now they’ve told us what funding, resources and staff they need to drive down the resulting backlogs, and we have listened.”
The Law Institute of Victoria has welcomed the spending, saying it hopes regional courts will also be included.
The Institute’s president, Tania Wolff, said the money would help to prevent cases getting bogged down in the court system.
Updated
The Victorian treasurer and industrial relations minister, Tim Pallas, has announced a $5m package to implement the response to the in-demand economy inquiry.
The response, released on Thursday, reveals the Victorian government is highly critical of the “regrettable” decision by the Morrison government not to lead the charge in regulating the gig economy – and Pallas has accused them of a “leadership vacuum”.
The former industrial relations minister, Christian Porter, accepted in December that there is “clearly an issue” with rider safety after a spate of five deaths in two months, but the Victorian response said the federal government has only committed to monitor developments.
The Victorian response says it will “consider legislative and administrative options” to regulate the gig economy. It said:
The Victorian government will advocate for reforms to the national workplace system, including by encouraging the commonwealth to amend the Fair Work Act and the Independent Contractors Act to clarify and codify work status. The Victorian government notes that an important starting point is to clarify the work status test, which could potentially be achieved by adopting the ‘entrepreneurial worker approach’.
It also supported in-principle a call for gig economy companies to seek a determination about whether their workers are independent contractors or employees.
The $5m will be spent developing principles-based standards to provide fairer conditions for on-demand workers and ensure platforms operate transparently.
Pallas said:
Every person deserves to feel safe and secure at work, especially gig workers who so many of us relied on throughout the pandemic.
With a leadership vacuum in Canberra, Victoria will lead the way with more focused support for the on-demand workers and businesses who need it.
Updated
Lawyers for Jo Dyer, a friend of the woman who accused Christian Porter of sexually assaulting her in 1988 (which he denies), have issued a statement explaining her bid to force one of Porter’s barristers off the ABC defamation case.
As reported on the blog yesterday, Dyer has asked the federal court to remove Sue Chrysanthou from the case on the basis she had advised her on a separate but related matter.
On Wednesday Porter’s solicitor, Rebekah Giles, said the application was brought eight weeks into the defamation case and she was “concerned about the timing”.
On Thursday, Marque lawyers issued a response on behalf of Dyer:
On 15 March 2021, Jo Dyer was made aware that Sue Chrysanthou SC had accepted a brief from Christian Porter to represent him in his defamation proceedings against the ABC. On the same day (15 March) through her solicitors Marque Lawyers, Ms Dyer expressed her objection to Ms Chrysanthou acting for Mr Porter, on the basis of an alleged conflict of interest.
Her solicitors have been in continuous correspondence with Ms Chrysanthou’s solicitors since that date, attempting in good faith to resolve this dispute without the need for court proceedings. Those attempts having failed, Ms Dyer commenced proceedings against Ms Chrysanthou in the Federal Court on 10 May.
Any suggestion that Ms Dyer has not acted in a timely manner or not in good faith is false. Ms Dyer will not be making any further public comment on the matter.”
Porter is due to file submissions in support of an application to strike out particulars from the ABC’s defence on Thursday.
Updated
Wayne Fella Morrison inquest continues
The inquest into the death of Wayne Fella Morrison picks back up this morning with the coroner hearing evidence from corrections officer Liam Mail.
There were extraordinary scenes in the coroner’s court yesterday during evidence given by corrections officer Jean-Guy Townsend, who was one of two officers to have direct contact with Morrison in the back of a prison van.
Tensions had been building over the course of the day as Townsend’s lawyers sought to determine what questions he might be directed to answer and what material he would be shown in the course of giving evidence – particularly CCTV footage from the day of Morrison’s restraint.
After a series of disruptions, Coroner Jayne Basheer sought to assert her authority over the process with a powerful speech. She said:
If I sound frustrated, it’s because I am. I will adjourn briefly. When I come back, will someone please tell if they will assist in the smooth running of this inquiry. If the video needs to be played, so be it. Let me be clear, the topic is within jurisdiction.
This is an inquiry into the facts and broad circumstances of the death of Mr Morrison. I have ruled that the gatehouse is a permissible topic. If I’m wrong, so be it. If I’m wrong, I’m wrong but I will not tolerate any further delay in these proceedings and have the Morrison family sit at the back of this court and be subjected to what they must wonder is a derailing of their one hope that this inquest might actually probe something that was of interest to them.
All they have seen from start to finish is a display of lawyers asserting what I accept is their legal rights. But if you think I am frustrated, it is because I am. So I will adjourn until 3 o’clock. I assure you, I will be composed. All I want to know is whether the footage needs to be played for 45 minutes for each witness. And I’m reaching a point where I will decline to hear further submissions.”
The inquest continues today from 10.15am.
This reporting is supported by the Balnaves Foundation.
Updated
Labor blasts Coalition for being late to the party on Moderna vaccine
Labor MP Mark Butler is having a crack at the government for being behind other countries in securing contracts with Moderna.
He welcomes the announcement, but asks why it’s taken so long:
We do welcome the government’s decision to strike a deal with Moderna, finally, for access to that vaccine but we ask the question: why has it taken this long? The Moderna vaccine has been a mainstay of the vaccine rollout strategies of almost every other nation to which we usually compare ourselves. The US struck a deal with Moderna as early as August 2020. Deals were struck last year with Canada, with the UK, with the European Union, Korea, Japan in January, Israel well into last year.
Tens and tens of millions of doses of this state-of-the-art vaccine have already been delivered to the people in those countries, a mainstay part of their vaccine rollout strategy, so if the rest of the world struck deals with Moderna as early as last year for access to this state-of-the-art vaccine, why do Australians have to wait to the end of this year? What happened to Scott Morrison’s promise that Australians were at the front of the vaccine queue?
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I’ll keep posting the odd bit of budget news just to whet your appetite for the reply speech later tonight.
The report into how to improve question time has made 11 recommendations.
All 11 recommendations for the death to dixers report.
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) May 13, 2021
It was a bipartisan committee - so recommendation 4 - the PM can not refer a question without speaking to it themselves is interesting (Morrison has done this more than 189 times) pic.twitter.com/J2dTUXCFYf
Tasmanian premier Peter Gutwein is speaking in Hobart. It was confirmed yesterday he had been reelected with a majority.
Tasmanians confirmed very strongly their desire for a strong Liberal government. This is a historic day for the Liberal party today in Tasmania, scoring an unprecedented third term as a majority government. Along the way, we secured some incredibly strong results, in Bass and Braddon and Lyons.
Updated
Virgin Australia cancels most of its flights to New Zealand for next two months
Virgin Australia has cancelled almost all of its flights planned from Australia to New Zealand for at least two months, citing a lack of demand from Australians.
Demand is only significant enough on planned routes into Queenstown, so routes planned to begin in September from Sydney and Brisbane, and from Melbourne beginning from December, will proceed.
However services planned to Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch that had been planned to begin from October will not proceed.
Virgin Australia chief strategy and transformation officer Alistair Hartley said:
While we know some Australians are itching to travel overseas, it is clear that international travel won’t return to normal as quickly as first anticipated.
We’re being realistic about restarting short-haul international flying, and have today delayed services to the Pacific, and to Bali, Indonesia until at least December.
Although we’ve seen positive developments with the trans-Tasman travel bubble and governments working exceptionally well to manage outbreaks, current demand for travel to New Zealand remains subdued, except for Queenstown, where customers are looking to travel over the September school holidays and the upcoming summer.
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Circling back to Prof Brendan Murphy, who said something quite interesting this morning that I missed at the first take.
He was asked about taking doses of different vaccines, and said:
We think there is no reason why you can’t mix and match vaccines. The trial data is not out yet. There are some trials being done in the UK, looking at AstraZeneca first dose and Pfizer or Moderna second dose. There is no good scientific reason why you can’t boost with one and then have another vaccine later. In fact, there may be some benefit in doing that ... this investment is assuming that will be possible and we have no reason to think it won’t be.
The Guardian has just published this article related to this very topic:
Updated
The acting Victorian premier says there’s still about 50 test results outstanding in relation to close contacts of the Covid-19 positive case in the state. So not out of the woods yet.
Acting Premier @JamesMerlinoMP says 115 primary close contacts have been identified from the positive case. 67 of those have returned a negative result and the rest of the results are due back in the next 24 hours @abcmelbourne #springst
— Bridget Rollason (@bridgerollo) May 12, 2021
Oh this is a little curious, AFLW fans:
AFL chief Gillon McLachlan and head of women's Nicole Livingstone will address the media later this morning following yesterday's AFL Commission meeting re AFLW expansion.
— Daniel Cherny 📰 (@DanielCherny) May 12, 2021
Save Dorothy:
*niche areas*
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) May 12, 2021
After a buttload of delays the committee report into how to improve question time - ie: DEATH TO DIXERS - is about to be tabled.
Here is a last word from Hunt on that Moderna contract announcement:
They’ve accepted our terms and we are happy with that. We’ve negotiated with them. All of the vaccine contract as I’ve said previously include a waiver but we haven’t changed our broader position in terms of legislative environment. We are not about to change that. We continue to make sure each contract protects Australians but is done in a way which recognises the needs of individual companies, and let’s put it this way, we’re very happy with the outcome of contract, firstly in terms of the negotiated processes but much more importantly, it gives us that midterm 2022 booster and the safety and security that backs up everything that is in the budget for this year.
Updated
That is the end of the Hunt/Murphy show.
Hunt says about sharing any surplus vaccine with other countries:
We will meet our needs and if there are surplus requirements then we had talked about – this gives us the capacity to share on a humanitarian basis with our friends and neighbours in the region. We will meet our Australian needs first, but we are in a strong position that there is the capacity which we will assess.
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Hunt is asked about vaccine supply and why Queensland hasn’t (apparently) set up a vaccination hub:
There is plenty of supply for all states. These are choices for states. Some states have scaled back their ordering and if they wish to renew their ordering, we would be very, very happy to do that. We are in a strong situation with regards to supply now. So, but we respect that there are differing approaches. The GPs or GPRCs or respiratory clinics are doing a great job. Queensland itself has done over 150,000 vaccinations on my recall and so all of states and territories are doing a great job and we are respecting how they are doing it on the ground.
Updated
Australia 'unlikely' to start making mRNA Covid vaccines this year
Prof Murphy confirms that local mRNA production is unlikely to be up and running this year.
So it is very unlikely to be this year. It is going to be some time next year, I would imagine, before mRNA vaccines can be produced here and, as Minister Hunt said, our primary vaccination strategy is in no way dependent on this. mRNA vaccine technology is likely to be much broader than Covid vaccine.
Updated
Hunt says that Christian Porter, the minister for industry, innovation and science, will soon open an approach to market for local mRNA vaccines to be produced in Australia.
He won’t be drawn on where they could be produced, but a company from South Australia, and a couple of others including CSL, are already putting up their hands.
Hunt:
There are certainly others that have potential but we don’t know if they will be put forward. That is why Christian Porter will lead an approach to market process to be opened in the next 10 days.
Updated
Hunt takes a slightly different tack on the budget assumptions in relation to vaccination rates, saying:
As the prime minister said this morning, the budget is based on numerous assumptions, whether it is from the iron ore price or to the number of people that will take up Medicare services, to the number of people who will take up childcare services. The fundamental Covid assumption is that we keep Australian Covid-free, which I think is a strong assumption.
He goes on to say that in a sense it’s immaterial if everyone is vaccinated this year, as someone could get their first dose in mid-December, meaning they can’t get a second dose until early next year.
Updated
Hunt says they were not caught off-guard by the Moderna announcement last night:
No, these things are ready when they are ready. It was agreed over recent days. Yesterday, the government signs. Overnight Moderna filed their market notifications. This morning we are announcing.
Hunt is talking about vaccine hesitancy, but not really talking about it:
We know there is hesitancy. It is important to acknowledge this. I think Alison McMillan, chief nursing and midwifery spokesperson, speaks eloquently to this ... acknowledgement around the world, there are those who are hesitant.
Our medical advice remains very, very clear and I will let Brendan speak to this. Our medical advice remains that we want to encourage as many people as possible to be vaccinated early as possible.
Updated
Murphy says:
Moderna are probably the most advanced in developing booster vaccines. What we do know is that the TGA has agreed that they won’t need to do clinical trials to prove that. So, if the companies can show that the new vaccines produce antibodies in a simple, small trial that they will be prepared to register them. We won’t really know how effective they are in the clinical world until they are rolled out.
Updated
Prof Brendan Murphy is speaking now. He describes it as an exciting development which doesn’t change the current strategy: to roll out the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines.
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Hunt is going back and back again to the future:
So, today is the next stage of future proofing and of preparing for the future. The agreement with Moderna ... is focused primarily on our ability for 2022 to have a booster and variant strategy.
Updated
Hunt adds:
Moderna is, on the advice that we have, the most advanced of the vaccine products with relation to the capacity to adapt to booster and variants requirements. Now, we don’t know everything that is going to occur in this pandemic, be our goal has been to prepare for everything that is possible.
Updated
Here is health minister Greg Hunt. He’s in Canberra. He says he’s pleased to be able to announce the Moderna contract (it’s already been announced mate).
Updated
The resources minister, Keith Pitt, has given Guardian Australia a bit more information about how the government intends to levy the offshore oil and gas industry to pay up to $1bn to clean up a floating oil rig and oil fields in the Timor Sea.
You can read our story about how the industry doesn’t want to pay the levy, which was announced in Tuesday’s budget, and has suggested that maybe taxpayers could pick up the tab instead, here:
The $1bn estimate comes from crossbench senator Rex Patrick, who has long been concerned about the state of the floating rig, the Northern Endeavour, and the oilfields, Laminaria and Corallina.
But the government is keeping its estimate of the cost of the clean-up secret, citing “commercial sensitivities” in the budget. Pitt tells us this is because “estimating decommissioning costs prior to procuring contractors risks compromising the tender process and the government’s ability to maximise value for money”.
He said the government will run a “global, open tender processes to appoint a lead contractor to decommission the Laminaria and Corallina oilfields and associated infrastructure. Estimated costs will be informed by this process”.
The government has been on the hook for the cost of decommissioning because the current owner, who bought the rig from Woodside Petroleum for cheap in 2016, went broke.
Pitt said the government also has legislation in the works to stop this happening again – including by calling back the previous owner to meet the cost.
Updated
Fears hordes of AFL fans may have been exposed to coronavirus on Melbourne train
AAP has filed a story on the earlier news that Victoria has not recorded any local Covid-19 cases.
Victoria has recorded no new local Covid-19 cases for the second day after a Melbourne man tested positive.
His positive test on Tuesday sparked a contact tracing blitz, with hundreds of train passengers on two metropolitan services last Friday night alerted.
Victoria had one new overseas case on Thursday morning, with 21,984 test results.
The man’s infection has prompted returned travellers on a South Australian hotel quarantine floor being ordered into another two weeks of isolation.
Genomic sequencing testing has confirmed the man became infected while staying at Adelaide’s Playford Hotel.
He tested positive on Tuesday after returning from India via the Maldives and Singapore on 19 April and completing 14 days of hotel quarantine.
The man, from Wollert in Melbourne’s outer north, was staying in a room next to another person who tested positive before being moved to a medi-hotel.
In a statement late on Wednesday, SA chief health officer Nicola Spurrier confirmed the two cases had been genomically linked.
“Investigations into the precise cause of transmission are ongoing,” she said.
Spurrier said discharged returned travellers on level three of the Playford Hotel during the “period of concern” must now isolate for a further two weeks.
The group includes 10 South Australians who will be given the option to quarantine at home if deemed suitable.
Spurrier stressed most medi-hotel staff working at the time of the suspected leak had undergone daily testing, although five still need to be followed up.
SA authorities earlier barred travellers from entering the state if they had visited any of Victoria’s high-risk exposure sites, with few exceptions.
It came as Victorian health colleagues scrambled to track down hundreds of fans who went to last Friday’s AFL match on the same train as the infected Wollert man.
There are fears hordes may have been exposed to the virus on the Craigieburn line train while travelling to or from the Geelong-Richmond match at the MCG.
The AFL sent text message alerts to all 54,857 spectators.
Victoria’s health minister Martin Foley warned people will soon face tough penalties if they fail to check in with QR codes at venues, after some patrons at a new exposure site failed to use the system.
The Wollert man dined at the CBD restaurant Curry Vault on Friday but others failed to use the QR system, which is to become mandatory for venues later this month.
Victoria has gone 76 days without a new local infection.
Updated
Morrison urges Israel-Palestine restraint
The prime minister has spoken about violence in the Middle East, AAP reports:
Scott Morrison has raised concerns about escalating violence between Israel and Palestine, which the United Nations fears could explode into full-scale war.
The prime minister has also expressed disappointment after a woman was charged in western Sydney for burning an Israeli flag.
Dozens of people have been killed in the worst violence between Israelis and Palestinians in several years and which shows no sign of letting up.
Morrison said it was important the conflict in the Middle East did not spill on to the streets in Australia.
“Of course we are all very concerned about what is happening there,” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Thursday.
“We have been urging restraint from all parties involved there to not take any unilateral action on those very stressful and tense situations we are finding there.
“But those things should not be played out here in Australia.”
Morrison restated the government’s policy of a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine and described Australia as an agent for peace.
He urged Australians with ties to the conflict to act with tolerance and respect.
“By all means, people can have concerns and views, and there is a tolerance for that, but at the same time we do not want to import the troubles of other parts of the world into this country.”
The fighting erupted on Monday night after weeks of rising tensions.
At least 65 Palestinians and six people in Israel have since died in the heaviest exchange of airstrikes and rocket fire since the two sides fought a war in 2014.
UN diplomat Tor Wennesland urged restraint from both sides.
“Stop the fire immediately. We’re escalating towards a full-scale war,” he tweeted.
“The cost of war in Gaza is devastating and is being paid by ordinary people. UN is working with all sides to restore calm. Stop the violence now.”
Here is some of the Guardian’s recent coverage of the rising violence:
Updated
Maroochydore on Queensland’s sunshine coast got whacked by a storm late yesterday.
A roof caved in at the local Kmart:
Wild scenes inside Kmart in #Maroochydore earlier tonight.
— Jacob Chicco (@JacobChicco) May 12, 2021
Water was pouring through the store after the roof caved in. @10NewsFirstQLD
🎥 Leah Whittaker pic.twitter.com/raeKxwUF2F
And there was some hardcore hail falling.
Hail the size of golf balls is coming down hard in #Maroochydore. A severe storm warning is in place. @WINNews_SCoast #WINNews6pm pic.twitter.com/FJW9VNCh5m
— Emily Steinhardt (@EmilySteinhardt) May 12, 2021
A few more bits and pieces from the budget: the government has scrapped a “demeaning” crackdown that forced thousands of welfare recipients - most of whom were single mothers - to get a witness to verify their relationship status.
Victoria records no new local cases of Covid-19
No new local cases of Covid-19 in Victoria recorded, and almost 22,000 tests: good news, given the bloke caught the virus in South Australia hotel quarantine and was kicking about (including on crowded trains) while infected.
Reported yesterday: No new local cases and 1 new case acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) May 12, 2021
- 7,955 vaccine doses were administered
- 21,984 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/2vKbgKHFvv#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/x4DnRLhhw4
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Michael Sukkar is then asked about the “inept” vaccine rollout to date, and gets a little testy.
Look at Australia, on any metric, whether you look at the health metric, whether you look at the economic metrics. We are top of the leaderboard in virtually any way you measure our response to Covid-19. I don’t think Australians look at that anything other than a sense of pride – pride in themselves, first and foremost, for rising to the occasion throughout Covid-19. I don’t think anybody could use the word “inept”, when describing Australia’s response to Covid-19.
Updated
Sukkar goes on:
It is diversifying, it’s another step along the road of keeping Australians [safe] and ensuring that in the end we are able to offer all Australians the opportunity to be vaccinated.
He is asked whether all Australians will receive a second dose by the end of the year.
He responds:
I would just echo the prime minister’s remarks. In the end, yes, there are assumptions that are made as part of the budget. That’s how we put budgets together ... We want to get all Australians vaccinated as soon as possible and offer that opportunity to Australians as soon as possible. There are so many ways in which the rollout is impacted, global factors amongst other, very well-known to you and viewers, we are working tirelessly to try to deliver that as soon as possible.
Updated
The assistant treasurer and housing minister Michael Sukkar is speaking to the ABC.
He says of the Moderna announcement: “It’s another step in the plank of making sure all Australians are vaccinated.”
Updated
NSW plans to bring back international students this year
The New South Wales government is going to have a crack at bringing international students back this year.
AAP reports that under the plan before the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, overseas students would be quarantined in Sydney using purpose-built housing.
Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg said in releasing the budget this week that Australia’s borders would stay shut for the foreseeable future.
But Morrison said the commonwealth was aware of the ambitious proposal.
“They’re still a long way from landing this, I should stress,” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Thursday.
“But it’s something that we’re encouraging of but it’s got to be done safely and we’ve got to be able to do it in a way that doesn’t risk the great success we’ve had.”
NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet hopes international students will be back in lecture halls and tutoring sessions by the second semester.
“This is about finding a way to bring students back but not at the expense of the weekly cap of Australian citizens arriving back in NSW,” he told the Australian.
“If we don’t address this issue then I believe we’ll have an industry on its knees and one that will look elsewhere.”
The international student market is worth $14bn a year to the NSW economy.
Updated
We should also all take a moment this morning to appreciate how great Sam Kerr is (even though she plays for Chelsea).
Updated
Last night there was also this story published relating to the death of a young girl in a Perth hospital emergency department. A staff member has resigned after the girl and her family waited two hours for help before she died of sepsis.
Updated
Moderna announces deal to supply Australia with 25m vaccine doses, including 15m doses of variant booster
But the main story this morning is the Covid-19 vaccine agreement signed with Moderna. Here is a little more detail from the US company’s statement released late last night Australian time:
The statement says the agreement “includes 10 million doses of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine against the ancestral strain (mRNA-1273) to be delivered in 2021 and 15 million doses of Moderna’s updated variant booster vaccine candidate to be delivered in 2022.
“Purchase under this agreement is subject to regulatory approval of mRNA-1273 and booster vaccine candidates by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) of Australia. The Company expects to submit an application to the TGA shortly. As Moderna has continued to scale its commercial network, the Company announced earlier this year that it also plans to open a commercial subsidiary in Australia in 2021.”
The chief executive officer of Moderna, Stéphane Bancel, said:
We appreciate the partnership and support from the government of Australia with this first supply agreement for doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and our variant booster candidates.
As we seek to protect people around the world with our COVID-19 vaccine and potentially our variant booster candidates, we look forward to continuing discussions with Australia about establishing potential local manufacturing opportunities.
The statement adds that Moderna already has agreements with Canada, Israel, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Singapore, Qatar, Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei and the World Health Organization.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Here’s another significant story that emerged late yesterday in relation to Brittany Higgins:
Updated
Good morning and welcome to today’s coverage, with the big news that the federal government has signed a deal with US pharmaceutical company Moderna for 25m doses of its mRNA vaccine. The federal government has been criticised over the slow pace of its rollout and the over-reliance on the AstraZeneca vaccine and there are hopes that the Moderna announcement will help get the program back on track.
It’s also budget-reply day. Labor leader Anthony Albanese will deliver his speech to parliament at 7.30pm but has already outlined some of the key areas he will focus on.
Albanese will unveil a new policy to help 2,000 young entrepreneurs cover some of the costs of participation in accredited “accelerator” programs in universities and private-sector incubators.
His reply to the budget is also expected to include new commitments on renewable energy and initiatives for women.
Let’s get started.
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