What happened today, Monday, 21 June, 2021
The Senate Covid committee has wrapped up its hearing, so we will now wrap up the live blog after quite a day in politics.
Here’s the main points:
- Barnaby Joyce will be sworn in as deputy prime minister again tomorrow morning after this morning winning a party room vote against outgoing leader Michael McCormack.
- The prime minister, Scott Morrison, spent the day video conferencing into parliament from quarantine in the Lodge, and has come under fire for a side trip to trace his family history while he was in the UK for the G7 meeting.
- New Zealand, Tasmania and the NT have all begun lifting restrictions on people travelling from Melbourne. Restrictions remain for travel to Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.
- Sydney’s five-day mask mandate is likely to be extended beyond Wednesday after NSW recorded two new cases of Covid-19.
- Queensland’s chief health officer, Jeanette Young, was named the state’s next governor.
- A brief of evidence has gone to the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to Brittany Higgins’s allegations
- The government says Australia is still on track to have enough vaccine supply to cover the population by the end of this year, but there will be a constraint on Pfizer supply until August at least.
Amy Remeikis will be back with you tomorrow morning for Tuesday’s sitting day. Until then, stay safe.
Updated
Prof Brendan Murphy, says CSL will continue to produce “their contracted amount” of AstraZeneca. We have 53m supplied, with 3.8m jabs so far.
He says there would be “no more” than 12-15 million doses needed in Australia, and while it is a matter for government, Australia could end up donating 35m doses to other countries:
“We are continuing to make donations of AstraZeneca to countries that have dire needs and wanted we’ve made significant donations to Pacific Island nations in Papua New Guinea, and we will continue to do that, as was always our intention.
We’ve always had many more vaccines then we need in Australia.
Updated
The states and territories have approximately 800,000 Pfizer doses on hand at the moment, which health department secretary, Prof Brendan Murphy, says is an “appropriate amount” for a dynamic program, and while states would like more supply, they know they are working in a constrained environment.
He said there should be no need for states to cancel appointments, if they have not booked beyond their projected supply.
Moderna expected to apply for TGA approval in July
Skerritt says Moderna has yet to apply to the TGA to have its mRNA vaccine approved in Australia, but it is expected a “comprehensive” application for the vaccine will be submitted in the first or second week of July.
The delay was because Moderna was not established or incorporated in Australia until very recently.
He said he expected the application to be “relatively straightforward”, but the TGA will give it full attention.
Skerritt said it may even include seeking approval for the use of the vaccine on young adolescents.
Updated
Skerritt also adds that although the Delta variant is very transmissible, data out of the UK suggests vaccines work against it, but two doses are better than one.
Updated
The TGA’s John Skerritt also tells the committee there is limited data on clinical efficacy of what he calls “mix and matching” various vaccines. And on that basis it’s difficult to determine the protection from disease from having different shots.
People who have had the first shot with AstraZeneca will not have access to the Pfizer vaccine as the second dose at this stage, Prof Brendan Murphy says, because it is not recommended to mix the vaccines in Australia at this stage:
“There is very limited data on mixing and matching it may be later on that that changes but at the moment we’re saying people who’ve had AstraZeneca should get the second dose [of] AstraZeneca.”
NT allows Melburnians to visit again
As of 6pm tonight, NT has revoked the quarantine requirement on people from Melbourne.
So that just leaves Queensland, South Australia and WA with quarantine restrictions on Victoria.
Labor committee chair Katy Gallagher asks what the health department is doing about vaccine hesitancy, pointing out people are stopping her in the street to tell her about their concerns and that there’s a feeling the AstraZeneca is somehow a second-best vaccine.
Health department secretary Prof Brendan Murphy says the department is monitoring the doses and there hasn’t been a drop off yet, and less than 2% of people have not turned up for their second doses:
“We haven’t seen a discernible drop off in people - 67,000 people turned up to the GPs and state clinics on Friday for AstraZeneca, and the weekend turn up was pretty similar and a number of those are second doses.
“So it’s too early to tell whether this further advice will lead to a hesitancy in relation to those taking doses, but our message is very, very clear that to the 3.8 million Australians who have had first dose AstraZeneca, as Atagi and the TGA has advised, the risk is minuscule of getting an adverse event occurring with the second dose, and we are strongly encouraging people to get their second dose.”
Updated
If you’re between 18 and 39 years of age and wondering when you’ll be able to get your Covid-19 shot, health department secretary Prof Brendan Murphy says he can’t say just yet:
“We will be tracking the supply, demand, and the uptake in state clinics and in GP clinics as we roll out Pfizer and when we are seeing a capacity to broaden the age range we will do that.”
General John Frewen says they’re reviewing the phases as part of the Covid vaccine taskforce, and that review will be completed in the next few weeks.
Updated
There are 2.3m doses of Pfizer on hand, with 3.4m being delivered until the end of July. That means there will be 5.7m on hand. That will be a combination of first and second doses.
With the additional 2.1m Australians now eligible to receive Pfizer, the head of the rollout, General John Frewen says there will be an “initial adjustment” in bookings, but he does not think it will be a major disruption:
“There may have to be some prioritisation at the local state levels, about what other cohorts might be allowed in overtime. But we think the suppliers at the moment with the likely take up rates that we won’t see major disruption over the next couple of months.”
The committee hears Pfizer cannot bring forward any expected shipments of the vaccine.
Updated
Lambie asks how much Australia saved by opting for AstraZeneca over Pfizer.
Murphy says price was not a factor:
“We have spent, I think it’s $7bn on vaccine purchases and distribution. Price has not been affected in any of these decisions, the government has paid the price that the companies have offered.”
The committee wants more information on the vaccine deals, and the health department said it would be taken on notice to see if a public interest immunity claim would be argued.
Independent senator Jacqui Lambie asks why Australia can’t have some of the surplus of vaccine supply the US is promising to other countries.
Health department secretary, Brendan Murphy, says Australia isn’t seeking donations, but just to get the supply we already have on order:
“We’re not looking for donations of vaccines. Obviously we’re a high income country that can purchase their own vaccines, and I can tell you that we are working almost every day with Pfizer and Moderna.
“We have more than enough vaccines coming, it’s simply a matter of the time frame, getting them out in their global supply chain.”
He said the government is working with Pfizer to get the supply as soon as possible but it is a global issue – every country is trying to get their hands on the vaccine.
Updated
The head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, John Skerritt, tells the committee that Australia is identifying the rare AstraZeneca blood clot cases more than the UK did, but the cases are less severe:
“The difference is that we are picking up cases early, and while some of our cases, about 30%, are in the more serious category, about 70% seem not to be.
Australia is picking up a large number of cases so our percentage of cases, compared with the number of doses given, is actually higher than in the UK, but the average seriousness seems to be significantly less and the fatalities are very much less so.”
He stresses it is a rare but important condition. He also points out clotting cases are much more regularly reported by media in Australia than in the UK, where they can go days without reports because of the “bigger spectre of Covid itself”.
Updated
Atagi co-chair, Dr Christopher Blyth, tells the committee the chance of dying from blood clots associated with the AstraZeneca vaccine is one in 2 million.
He says the benefits are “vastly” in favour of older people over 60, and especially over 70s, having the AstraZeneca vaccine compared to the risk of getting Covid.
He says the group is constantly reviewing the Covid situation in Australia, as well as the supply of vaccines available and the recommendations on who should get access to the AstraZeneca vaccine:
“We will continue to evaluate both the risk of TTS (rare blood clots) and other complications from the vaccine ... and also understand supply constraints. All of those factors were considered last week and will need to be continued going forward.”
Updated
The health department secretary, Prof Brendan Murphy, says Pfizer came to the government with the offer of 10m vaccine doses, which was considered reasonable considering the uncertainty around mRNA vaccines at that time and the lack of local manufacturing capability:
“We advised government that to produce whole population coverage with both those two vaccines, it was an important initial investment because it can be made locally, both the University of Queensland and the AstraZeneca were recommended to government as the important backbone of locally manufactured vaccines because they were the two most proven technologies.”
The University of Queensland vaccine has been abandoned, and the AstraZeneca is now only advised for those aged over 60.
Updated
Claims about Pfizer July meeting 'incorrect'
There have been reports that Pfizer met with the health department in July 2020, and offered to cover the entire population with enough vaccines and the government rejected that offer.
The health department’s first assistant secretary, Lisa Schofield, has confirmed the department met with Pfizer on 10 July 2020, after Pfizer wrote to the government, but there was nothing like that on offer at the time.
Schofield said it was a pretty broad overview in the meeting, about the clinical trials and the manufacturing capability:
“I think it was a pretty preliminary sort of view of where they’re up to and what they were thinking.”
Schofield said the government said it was interested in talking about potentially purchasing a vaccine, but there were no numbers on the table.
Labor senator Katy Gallagher: “So, any, any speculation that the government, the department rejected an offer from Pfizer is not true?”
Schofield: That’s correct.
Updated
Senate Covid committee hearing starts
The committee hearing begins with an opening statement from General John Frewen, the head of “Operation Covid Shield”, about how to go about the vaccine rollout.
He said since he was appointed there were three initial areas of focus:
- Improving coordination and optimising the plan, such as by removing duplication and barriers
- Building public confidence through clear and simple messaging and moving from an informative message to a motivating one
- And delivering a safe and efficient rollout
He would not provide to the committee the lowest and highest numbers of vaccines expected to be delivered to the states and territories by the end of this year. It was provided to the leaders in national cabinet today, and he said it could not be released as such.
But he said it was a formality, and would be provided soon.
Updated
The Senate Covid committee is just about to start, hearing from the health department, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, and the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
It will run for about two hours, and I expect it’ll all be about vaccines. I will bring you the latest from that hearing.
Updated
The re-Joycing will be complete at 8am tomorrow, sparing Michael McCormack another question time in the hot seat as the outgoing leader.
Barnaby Joyce to be sworn in as deputy Prime Minister on Tuesday at 8am. He will be at Government House to take the oath of office with the Governor-General. Prime Minister Scott Morrison will join via video conference @FinancialReview
— Tom McIlroy (@TomMcIlroy) June 21, 2021
Kopika and Tharnicaa out shopping in Perth
This afternoon, the Home to Bilo campaign sent out this video of the Murugappan family daughters, Kopika and Tharnicaa, out shopping in Perth. When they were on Christmas Island they were not allowed to go to the shops like this, and all trips outside of home were supervised by Border Force officials, so this is likely their first big shopping trip in over three years, after they were removed from Biloela by Border Force in March 2018.
Updated
I just double checked, and it seems the states still requiring people from Melbourne to quarantine are Queensland, South Australia, Northern Territory, and Western Australia.
Tasmania will ease its restrictions on Melbourne from midnight tonight.
So people in Melbourne will be able to go to New Zealand before about half of the states and territories in Australia.
Victoria-NZ bubble to reopen from midnight tomorrow
Victorians will be able to go to New Zealand again without quarantining from 11.59pm tomorrow night.
Officials say there have been no new cases of the Delta variant in Victoria in the past week.
Trans-Tasman Bubble is officially back online nationwide from midnight tomorrow ✈️ pic.twitter.com/lmftOSizxc
— Ben McKay (@benmackey) June 21, 2021
Thank you, Amy.
I just received a freedom of information refusal from the federal health department over documents related to the operation of the COVIDSafe contact tracing app.
The health minister, Greg Hunt, is required to produce reports on how well the app is going every six months since the legislation governing the app passed. If you hadn’t realised, it has been over a year since the app was launched.
I asked for the report under FOI, but the department claims it can’t release the 28 documents it located related to the report because it would “reveal preliminary opinions and recommendations” made and would “prejudice the ability of the department to provide all information and options”.
The department claims the report will be tabled in the winter sitting of parliament, which ends on Thursday. So the clock is ticking for them to show us how well the COVIDSafe app is actually working.
Updated
And on that note, I am going to hand you over to Josh Taylor to take you through the rest of Monday, 21 June – also known as the day of Australia’s re-Joycing.
It will all get very serious tomorrow when Barnaby Joyce is sworn in as deputy prime minister, so make sure you get an early night tonight, because you’ll all need to be fighting fit.
Thank you to everyone who has joined me today as we waded through the day. It was... a lot. For those wondering, the Coalition seems a little split on what it all means – there are those who think that seats in central Queensland and the Hunter Valley just got easier to keep, and those who think some Victorian electorates just got a bit more wobbly.
As usual though, no one knows until they actually know.
A very big thank you to Mike Bowers who kept me updated on all the things happening in the corridors today – he is, as always, an invaluable pair of eyes, ears (and of course cameras) for this project. And to the whole Guardian crew who managed to keep me at my desk and not in a puddle on the floor.
I will be back early tomorrow morning for the third time Joyce is sworn in as deputy prime minister (there was also the section 44 pause, for those keeping count).
As always, please – take care of you.
Updated
What does Ken O’Dowd think about net zero emissions by 2050?
(O’Dowd has done a lot of things in his life, but science and research is not one of them).
For anyone to sign up to net zero by 2050 are weasel words. I could say you could go -1 degree but what does it mean? It means I’m just plucking figures out of the air. We are trying to get emissions to net zero as quick as we can. How do we do it? I don’t know but I tell you what, being a nuclear power energy source would be a start in the right direction.
If you want to take all the planes out of the skies, that would be another start, but how we going to get around?
Updated
Outgoing LNP MP Ken O’Dowd, who sits in the Nationals party room, confirmed on the ABC that Barnaby Joyce has spent the past three years ‘white anting’ Michael McCormack:
That’s the nature of politics.
He has [in answer to a question on white anting], and everyone’s got an ego, and he wasn’t there for the good of his soul, I can tell you that.
You can always count on O’Dowd to say the quiet things out loud.
Updated
A little earlier today, when all the Barnaby Joyce stuff was happening, the head of the vaccine roll out, General John Frewen confirmed that there will be no vaccination campign from the government until there are vaccine supplies.
We are 18 months into the pandemic now
I mentioned the other day, we are close to moving into a rallying phase of the campaign, to inspire as many Australians to start taking up the vaccinations. We’re just working at the moment manage the commencement of that in line with the supplies available because we want to make sure we don’t start the campaign until we are comfortable to meet the demand.
Anne Webster is speaking to the ABC now – ahead of the leadership spill, she said it would be a problem for some women if Barnaby Joyce became leader once again.
She now says:
I think what I said was I’d had a few people contact me about that issue. Democracy is what it is. We have a new leader in the party room and I respect that process. I will be working hard to make sure women in my electorate and the men in my electorate, and the children in my electorate for that matter are all represented to the best of my ability, and I’ve taken no back step in confronting Michael McCormack over this period of time and I look forward to working with Mr Joyce as well
So it is still an issue for women?
I imagine we are going to find out. History is what it is and is Mr Joyce said today, he has learned from his past, and all mature adults to learn from their past, hopefully. And look forward to a new day. That’s what we need to do.
How does Barnaby Joyce show he’s changed?
I think it’s a great question. First and foremost, women need to feel they have been heard and what they raise, the issues are taken seriously. I do take heart from the fact that Mr Joyce worked really well with Fiona Nash as his deputy leader, and I’ve spoken with Fiona Nash this afternoon, and she is positive about the future and that is the road that we need to move forward on.
Liberal MP Jason Falinski took Joel Fitzgibbon’s line when it came to the National party leadership:
It is not the best look to be honest. But they are a democratic party who made a decision.
We are in the middle of a pandemic and the government has been going very well. We have been delivering for all parts of Australia and we need to be working for the people of Australia. And not be focused on ourselves.
Updated
The Covid committee is holding a meeting tonight – that will be from 6pm.
We should get some more second vaccination numbers then, too.
Updated
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has a few things to say about the government supporting the latest culture war (critical race theory):
“The government has a damning track record of indulging far-right politics and One Nation stunt motions in the Senate.
“Fear-mongering about critical race theory is nothing more than a culture war beat-up by Fox News and their local outpost of cranks, Sky News.
“It turns out the pandemic didn’t kill the so-called culture wars that are being manufactured again by the far-right in the parliament. The government is in competition with One Nation in an effort to appeal to the Sky News crowd.
“Critical race theory is basically a study of systemic racism. But it has become a bogeyman for the far-right—first in the US, now here—in their fear-mongering about anti-racism and racial justice.
“The government cannot viably claim to be taking far-right hatred seriously when they fall in line behind crap like this.”
Barnaby Joyce's return gives new hope to Biloela family, supporters say
Supporters of the Murugappan family have said Barnaby Joyce’s re-elevation to the deputy prime ministership should give greater support to allowing the family to return to the regional Queensland town of Biloela
Last week, when he was still a backbencher, Joyce told Sunrise he believed the family should be allowed to return to Biloela, after immigration minister Alex Hawke placed them in community detention in Perth:
“Tharnicaa and Kopika were born in Australia. Maybe if their names were Jane and Sally we’d think twice about sending them back to another country which they’re not from.
“Why not send them to Southern Sudan, why not send them to Rwanda, to Belarus? They’re also countries they were never born in.”
Biloela local and friend Angela Fredericks, who last week travelled to Perth to be reunited with the family said she hoped his position would mean the government will finally send her friends home to Biloela:
“We’re running out of time. Priya and her family have been only given temporary protection here in Perth due to Tharni’s health issues, but just last week minister Hawke was still threatening to send them to danger in Sri Lanka. Having Mr Joyce back as deputy prime minister might bring the new hope this family desperately needs.”
Angela Fredericks of the Home to Bilo group is hoping this leadership change means the prime minister and his immigration minister will finally send her friends home to Biloela:
“We’re running out of time. Priya and her family have been only given temporary protection here in Perth due to Tharni’s health issues, but just last week minister Hawke was still threatening to send them to danger in Sri Lanka. Having Mr Joyce back as deputy prime minister might bring the new hope this family desperately needs.”
Joyce was asked earlier today whether his differing view on the Biloela family to McCormack’s was a view shared among his colleagues, but Joyce did not answer the question specifically.
Updated
This is good news – from the Arcare Maidstone aged care home in Melbourne’s west:
Arcare is pleased to advise that the Western Public Health Unit (WHPU) has declared Arcare Maidstone’s Covid-19 outbreak over.
Our strong infection control procedures and introduction of learnings from last year have seen us effectively manage this outbreak.
Updated
National cabinet statement on Covid-19 response
The official national cabinet statement is out. Here it is:
The National Cabinet met today to discuss Australia’s Covid-19 response to the Australian COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy.
National Cabinet continues to work together to address issues and find solutions for the health and economic consequences of Covid-19.
There have been 30,356 confirmed cases in Australia and, sadly, 910 people have died. More than 19.7 million tests have been undertaken in Australia.
Globally there have been over 178.4 million cases and sadly over 3.8 million deaths, with 305,611 new cases and 6,700 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to surge in many countries around the world.
Australia’s Covid-19 vaccine roll out continues to expand. To date 6,590,741 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in Australia, including 34,712 in the previous 24 hours. In the previous 7 days, more than 723,442 vaccines have been administered in Australia. To date 26.7 per cent of the Australian adult population have now had a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, including over 65.2 per cent of over 70 year olds.
National Cabinet agreed on the imperative to work together to administer Covid-19 vaccinations to Australians as quickly as possible.
Lieutenant General John Frewen, Coordinator General of Operation COVID Shield, Professor Brendan Murphy, Chair of the Science and Industry Technical Advisory Group and Secretary of the Health Department, and Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly provided a detailed briefing on the vaccination program.
Vaccine Roll Out
National Cabinet noted the updated advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) about the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and the changes to the Covid-19 vaccination program.
The updated advice of ATAGI recommends the Pfizer vaccine is the preferred vaccine for adults under the age of 60, and that people aged 50-59 can now book appointments for the Pfizer vaccine.
All states and territories agreed to prioritise Pfizer appointments for people aged 40-59 and Phase 1a and 1b eligible people under the age of 40 years of age.
The Coordinator General of Operation Covid Shield, Lieutenant General Frewen, provided each state and territory government with planning projections of Pfizer and AstraZeneca doses for their jurisdiction over the remainder of 2021, to inform state and territory vaccination plans.
The Coordinator General confirmed that Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine allocations are provided on a proportional population basis. The Coordinator General confirmed that the Commonwealth delivers all first dose allocations to states and territories with matching second dose allocations delivered three weeks after first doses are administered. This ensures that states and territories have control over allocation of first and second doses administration based on the supply schedules.
National Cabinet noted that the Commonwealth is fast tracking plans to expand the number of access points for Pfizer. By the end of July, all 136 Commonwealth Vaccination Clinics, 40 ACCHS and 1,300 GPs will be administering Pfizer. Many more primary care providers will be offered the chance to administer mRNA vaccines as the supply of Pfizer significantly increases and the first supplies of Moderna arrive in September/October.
National Cabinet noted the forward Covid-19 vaccines communications strategy.
The Coordinator General confirmed that based on our expected supply picture, Australia remains on-track to offer every eligible person in Australia a first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine by the end of 2021.
Updated
Back to Kay Hull – what does she think of women including Anne Webster and Michelle Landry saying some women will feel uncomfortable with the decision to return Barnaby Joyce to the leadership?
Hull:
Well, some women will may be disappointed but I just heard comments from women in his electorate while I was sitting here waiting to speak with you, and those women seem to be quite positive about it. The only women that will be voting or not voting for Barnaby Joyce will be the women of New England. The rest of the women who will be voting for or against a Nationals member or senator will be voting on the way in which their member is representing.
But leadership of the party matters (which is what every Nationals MP shouted after the 2016 Turnbull election anyway).
Hull:
I disagree with you ... That might be in the city, you may not know who your member is in the city, but country people know who their member is because the local member makes sure the country people know who their member is, they are out there on the road every day.
Updated
Oh good. The government is in support.
Australia, say hello to your new culture war.
UPDATE: The Libs & Nats are voting for this One Nation motion right now. A foul display of support for far-right culture wars and fear-mongering https://t.co/8oGjhhcspd
— Mehreen Faruqi (@MehreenFaruqi) June 21, 2021
Updated
The federal president of the National party, Kay Hull, is speaking to Patricia Karvelas on ABC TV and is asked whether or not Barnaby Joyce has changed.
“I think he is Barnaby Joyce,” she says.
Which means what?
He can be polarising, very polarising. You can be a lover of Barnaby Joyce or a serious detractor. He has always been polarising. He’s never been any different in that respect. I think we will see Barnaby going forward, and it’s up to Barnaby to determine how he is going to manage that process into the future.
Updated
Mia Davies continues:
There will be questions asked and I think the party will need to answer that. At a state level, the party that I represent and as leader of the opposition, I would say that our party has done and continues to work hard to make our organisation at state level a safe place for women to put their hand up and participate – be involved.
Myself and others within the party have gone to great lengths to try and address some of the concerns we see across political parties, not just at a state level but at a federal level. I will continue to do that. It will be a decision for voters come the federal election as to whether or not it has been the right decision.
Updated
The WA Nationals leader Mia Davies says she is disappointed the federal National party has changed leaders.
The Western Australia National Party did not have a vote in the partyroom so our position at the time, and you would recall – there was significant questions around behaviour, matters in the media being raised – it was he was unable to go to the despatch box as the deputy minister and answer a question. There was no possibility of him doing that job and doing it effectively. That was our view when we made it known at the time.
Updated
Here’s how Mike Bowers, our photographer, saw QT:
Updated
The Greens are still pushing for this.
Greens @NickMcKim introduced Coronavirus Economic Response Package Amendment (Ending Jobkeeper Profiteering) Bill 2021 https://t.co/TRthD6oX1i #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) June 21, 2021
Updated
'Que sera, sera': Michael McCormack wraps up question time
Labor loses the suspension of standing orders and Michael McCormack wraps up question time.
His last words are “que sera, sera”, which is something he has been quoting all day.
The chamber gives him a standing ovation.
Updated
A brief of evidence has gone to the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions in relation to Brittany Higgins's allegations
The DPP has released this statement:
I confirm I have today received a partial brief of evidence, and a request to provide advice for consideration of prosecution.
Updated
“There’s nothing to re-Joyce about if you care about regional jobs in Australia, there’s nothing to re-Joyce about,” Chris Bowen says, before he too is gagged.
Updated
Anthony Albanese, again trying to suspend standing orders to speak about the house, notes the
Abbott-Truss, Turnbull-Truss, Turnbull-Joyce, Turnbull-McCormack, Morrison-McCormack, Morrison-Joyce government promised stable government. The incoming deputy prime minister has said investing in renewables is insane and lemming-like. The incoming deputy prime minister backs nuclear power plants in the middle of towns. The government has had no fewer than 22 energy policies in eight years, the government is more divided than ever on achieving net zero by 2050, and therefore condemns the government for fighting itself instead of fighting for the jobs of the future, for sustainable climate, and a strong economy for all Australians.
Albanese gets out:
You will see that video ... of the incoming deputy primeminister out on the farm with the cows, looking up at the sky, talking about how the world is flat..
But then gets gagged.
That would be the video Joyce released at Christmas about how he just wanted the government out of his life.
Updated
We haven’t seen a lot of the prime minister this question time (and tomorrow will most likely be the Barnaby Joyce show) but you can see him on his screen in the chamber and he is spending a bit of time on his phone.
Can’t imagine what he would have to talk about today.
Updated
Anthony Albanese has to reword a question which originally asked about the Coalition agreement and ends up with:
Should Australians have oversight in a transparent manner over why it is this government refuses to adopt net zero emissions by 2050, unlike the National Farmers’ Federation, the Business Council of Australia, every state and government, every major business in this country, as well as all of our major trading partners, including all of the G7?
The current deputy prime minister:
Our policies on climate are working and working for the benefit of all Australians. We beat our targets by 459 million tons. Our emissions are down more than 20% from 2005 to December last year (that sound you hear is our environment editor Adam Morton screaming into the abyss), compared to the OECD average from 2005 to 2018.
We should be proud of doing what we are doing and having achieved what we have achieved as far as climate action, responsible action, is concerned.
We will not, as Liberals and Nationals, put in place policies that will jeopardise their jobs and livelihoods of Australians who depend on it, and indeed we have put in place a manufacturing policy, which is investing, which is funding, which is backing and supporting those people who want an industry base, who need a job and the manufacturing sector.
Those manufacturing sectors have a high energy need, have a high requirement. We will back every step of the way the policies that back and support those jobs but also keep household energy electricity prices low.
The alternative is what Labor offers. Labor pulled at the nose by the Greens, pulled at the nose by Melbourne. It is putting in a carbon tax which will affect the price of houses, the price of homes and households across the nation.
Mark Butler gets up on a point of order, to which McCormack says “why are you interrupting me, I don’t have long” but there was nothing in the question about alternatives, so McCormack is told to stick to the question.
Refer to the previous answer if you have a burning need to know what he said. And then maybe think about why you have a burning need to know what Michael McCormack said.
Updated
The Nationals in WA don’t have a coalition with the Liberal party there, and there are no federal WA Nationals in the parliament.
But still, this should be interesting
.@TheNationalsWA leader @MiaDaviesMLA will hold a press conference at 2pm WA time.
— Bridget Fitzgerald (@msbfitzgerald) June 21, 2021
Three years ago, Mia Davies announced Barnaby Joyce had lost the support of the WA Nationals due to his conduct.
It'll be interesting to see what there is to say about his reinstatement @abcperth
Greg Hunt just referenced his “good friend the deputy prime minister”, which prompted calls of “which one?”.
Michael McCormack pointed to himself.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Michael McCormack:
Doesn’t it mean the creation of the Morrison-Joyce government means there is no hope that this government will ever do the right thing by regional Australia and join the National Farmers’ Federation, the Business Council of Australia, major businesses and every state and territory government and commit to net zero emissions by 2050?
McCormack:
We will always do the right things by jobs in regional Australia, we always will and I know that there are a couple of members on the Labor side, the member for Paterson and Hunter, who are in favour of the resource sector, very much in favour of of ensuring their jobs in mind going forward and we will continue...
We will always make sure that our policies, climate and any other policy, will be in the best interest of jobs in this nation and regional Australia is leading the way when it comes to taking responsible action on climate.
Absolutely it is and the fact that we have got so many solar farms, wind farms, whether you like them or not, they are in regional Australia and, indeed, our agriculture, our agricultural industry, farming sector remains committed to making sure that it will play a leading role in lowering emissions into the future and many farmers are committed to that very task right now.
They are doing all the sorts of things that you would expect them to do. I can remember, when my late father Lance, we would burn our stubble and these days they are ploughing it back into the soil to provide that vital nutrients, nitrogen back into the soil.
We are changing our farming practices and so much for the better. We are improving our farming practices and we are also utilising technology.
I am proud that I sit on the side of government, sit on the side of this house that has invested considerably in GPS technology, such that my father would have had to rely going all over the paddock when I was driving the tractor, just probably to get out of a job, but these days they steer themselves and well done to the government for providing that vital assistance with funding GPS technology and other technologies. Leading the way to making sure we continue to lower our emissions. We will do it through technology, not taxes. Taxes, that is the Labor way, that is the Greens away. We will do it through technology and I am proud to say that we have been beating all international obligations we said we would do and there are other countries clamouring at the moment to say a lot of things about climate but we are beating them as well. We are beating the lower emissions they are putting in place as well.
Those solar panels are mostly in place because of state government policies, which encouraged their use and rollout, not because of federal government policy
Updated
Labor loses the suspension of standing orders and we go back to questions.
It’s a dixer on the government’s bid to further weaken Australia’s environmental protections, so go have a cup of tea.
Updated
While this suspension of standing orders draws to its inevitable conclusion, Ben Doherty has a Ben Roberts-Smith update:
Ben Roberts-Smith does not have Covid-19 – his test has returned negative. But his defamation trial over war crimes allegations cannot yet continue because he has only just been told by NSW health authorities he is free to leave self-isolation. Roberts-Smith will be back in the witness box from 3:30pm.
The court heard from his barrister, Arthur Moses, SC, that following the negative test result Roberts-Smith had been “online for two hours” seeking instruction from the NSW Department of Health. Department officials gave him permission to leave isolation at 2:20pm.
Roberts-Smith visited a Covid hotspot in the Sydney CBD some time on Thursday.
The Victoria Cross recipient, who has been in the witness box for six days, is in the middle of being cross-examined over his actions in Afghanistan.
Roberts-Smith, one of the most decorated soldiers in Australian military history, is suing the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times for defamation over a series of reports published in 2018. He alleges the reports are defamatory because they portray him as someone who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and committed war crimes, including six allegations of murder.
The 42-year-old has consistently denied the allegations, saying they are “false”, “baseless” and “completely without any foundation in truth”. The newspapers are defending their reporting as true.
Updated
Anthony Albanese gets gagged after only getting out the sentence “this circus has to end”.
Circuses (without animals) can be at least entertaining though. And besides, previously, it was the muppet show.
It’s hard to keep up with the analogies.
Updated
Anthony Albanese is moving to suspend standing orders to debate a motion saying the coalition promised stable government and hasn’t delivered it. Plus some quarantine and vaccine stuff.
It will not be successful because of the numbers in the House.
But Albanese lists off all the different names the Coalition has had led it over the last eight years (six different pairings), which means the Labor party just got its TV grab up.
Updated
Stuart Robert is answering a dixer which gives us all an opportunity to switch our brains off for a few minutes.
Anthony Albanese gets told to stop saying “current deputy prime minister” by Tony Smith.
There is no current, otherwise it flows both ways and I don’t want that coming into debate. The leader of the opposition will rephrase this question.
Albanese:
My question is to the deputy prime minister, instead of fighting each other, why hasn’t the government fought for a safe national quarantine system?
Peter Dutton says that is not a question for Michael McCormack
On a point of order, that is not a question that goes to responsibilities of the deputy prime minister and should be directed either to the prime minister or the minister for health.
Albanese says that’s not true:
The deputy prime minister in his capacity as regional development minister has commented, including in his last question, continuously on quarantine, on the vaccine, on the issue of the pandemic. He is the deputy prime minister. You just declared correctly that it was the case, and he should have the capacity to answer the question.
Smith rules the question in order.
McCormack tries to answer it (sort of):
Two million deaths worldwide from the coronavirus this year ... that is absolutely tragic.
We mourn for those and the families who lost their lives, and we will go on remembering them, we will go on mourning them ... But we should be very proud of what we’ve been able to do, what we’ve been able to do as a nation to keep coronavirus, the case rates very low, the death very, very low and we have in place a quarantine system using hotels and motels. And that was established through the national cabinet process of which last time I looked there were more Labor premiers sitting around that meeting then there were indeed Liberal and indeed, we’ve taken that advice, we’ve taken the advice of the Australian health protection principle committee, the advice of Professor Paul Kelly, the chief medical officer, the advice of the previous CMO, Professor Brendan Murphy.
This has kept us safe. We have said to the ministers that if they can come forward with the proposals, we will certainly look at it through the national cabinet process, through the prime minister as you would expect, as Australians would expect, and of course there is criteria around it.
Criteria includes a proximity to a tertiary hospital, proximity to an airport with regular international flights, making sure that the communities surrounding those facilities are indeed in favour of a quarantine facility being built in their locality.
We have taken on board that advice, we have done the right thing all the way through. We have a good submission from Victoria, which is being considered in the proper way as Australians would expect. If other states come forward with proposals, we will certainly look at those as well.
We have assisted with the expansion of the Howard Springs facility in the NT. An additional $500 million. We will make sure that facility is fit for purpose to take returning Australians home, but the critical thing is keeping Australians safe. I think, I know Australians would be very pleased, very pleased about how we have adopted this approach, taken the best possible medical advice and kept this nation safe.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg is yelling about the economy, having once again forgotten how microphones work.
It seems impossible for that knowledge to stay in his memory.
No one needs this today. And judging from the expressions on the backbench, I’m not the only one who thinks this.
Updated
Some new federal vaccine data has come in.
As at midnight 20/06/2021:
· Total vaccines: 6,590,741
· Daily increase in vaccines: +34,712
· Last 7 days: 723,442 doses (including the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in most states)
· Last 8 days: 755,995 doses (including the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in most states)
· Last 9 days: 816,817 doses (including the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in most states)
· Last 10 days: 949,733 doses (including the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in most states)
· Aged Care: All 2,566 RACF’s have received a first dose. 2,510 of 2,566 (97.8%) of Commonwealth RACF’s have received a second dose.
Updated
NZ approves Pfizer vaccine for 12-15 year olds
New Zealand is approving the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for 12- to 15-year-olds, prime minister Jacinda Ardern has announced.
The move follows Canada, the USA, Europe, and Japan, all of whom have approved Pfizer for the 12-15 age cohort.
Ardern said while children were less likely to suffer serious illness from Covid-19, there were cases of children getting sick, and they could also transmit the virus. “Put simply - when our children are vaccinated, their teachers, friends, siblings, parents and grandparents are more protected from the virus too. So it’s in all of our interests for this group to get the vaccine,” Ardern said.
The country’s medical regulator, Medsafe, had completed its assessment and provided “provisional consent,” meaning Pfizer must meet conditions including supplying more data from clinical trials as they progress.
“Medsafe’s approval has been a very carefully considered and robust process, with safety the key priority,” Ardern said.
She said there were about 265,000 children in the age bracket, and New Zealand’s existing order contained enough doses to cover the group.
Medsafe approval is the first and most significant step toward vaccination for children, but the move will still need final sign-off from the Ministry of Health. A decision from the ministry is expected later this month, and 12-15 year olds would not be vaccinated before then.
New Zealand is still in the early stages of its vaccine rollout, with around 7.7 percent of the adult population vaccinated. The rollout has so far focused on targeting specific vulnerable groups, including border workers and their families, high-risk frontline workers, older people, and those with pre-existing conditions.
The vaccine rollout for the general adult population is due to start in July, and will be staggered by age group, reaching under-35s in October.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Michael McCormack:
“To the current deputy prime minister I ask, why hasn’t the government told the deputy prime minister instead of rolling out the vaccine?”
McCormack:
We are rolling out the vaccine and I am very pleased we are rolling out the vaccine.
There is more, but there is only so much any of us can take. Even on days like today.
Updated
In this dixer, the current deputy prime minister is repeating a story about a flight attendant who thanked him for saving his job recently.
Anthony Albanese now seems to be torturing Michael McCormack by asking him why he has been replaced.
Over the last eight years, why has Australia enjoyed the Abbott-Truss government, then the Turnbull-Truss government, then the Turnbull-Joyce government, then the Morrison-McCormack and now the Morrison-Joyce government. If the Morrison-McCormack government was going so well, why have you been replaced?
McCormack points to the Gillard-Rudd changes. Tip-top to the end.
The current deputy prime minister (for one of the last times):
It is called democracy, opposition leader. The Nationals took a decision today to have a party room vote, as is the conventions of any political party, indeed.
The opposition leader mentions the leadership changes in the Liberal-Nationals government. I think Australians can well remember what went on in the Rudd-Gillard years. They were dysfunctional. They were chaotic. (They were eight years ago).
They were not good for this nation ... we have worked very hard as a government to repay the debt left to ours as a legacy (debt had doubled under the Coalition before the pandemic) by the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years, and indeed just prior to the pandemic hitting, we were so close to getting back in the black.
Indeed, we would have got back in the black but for a global pandemic, if it hasn’t escaped the attention of the opposition leader and those behind him.
We are in the middle of a global pandemic and addressing that very excruciating issue for and on behalf of Australians.
Since 2013, we have been a very, very good government. There are more people in employment now than they were when we got back into government in 2013. The unemployment rate at 5.1% as determined just last week is lower than it was prior to the pandemic. That is something that we should be proud of. We haven’t lost our triple-A credit rating.
We have more Australians in work and more women in work participating in the workforce, and that is a good thing.
I am sure the women of the Labor party agreed that it is a good thing. We will go on being a good government, we will go on under the prime minister, under the member for New England, we will go on being a good government, serving Australians as you would expect.
It has been a tough day for me but I still have a job. There are a lot of Australians out there doing it a lot tougher, many Australians today who are in hospital wards recovering from Covid. My thoughts are with them.
It is not about me, this is not about me, it is about Australians. We will go on serving those Australians, we will go on a serving those Australians who have got mice ravaging their farms, serving small business owners who are concerned about whether they will have a future.
Rest assured, under the Liberals and Nationals, the economic future will be far brighter than it would ever be under an Albanese-led government. It will be far better than it was under those six sorry, chaotic, divided years under Rudd, Gillard and Rudd.
Updated
Scott Morrison is looking up, but not at the camera – it seems like he has an autocue for this quesiton time. His eyes are looking just to the right of the camera as he says this dixer.
He’s swapping between looking down at the papers on his desk and reading, and then looking just off camera.
It’s very strange.
Updated
This wasn’t just a moment in time – this is what they looked like for most of the press conference.
Everyone seems delighted here pic.twitter.com/uzQh5kJqzA
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) June 21, 2021
Updated
Scott Morrison thanks Michael McCormack for being such a “tremendous bloke”.
Then it is on to the dixers.
Question time begins
Scott Morrison is on the screen. He’s in between two flags with a background of parliament house.
Anthony Albanese asks the screen:
Who is the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia?
Michael McCormack takes a very big drink of water.
Morrison:
The member for Riverina is the deputy prime minister of Australia. As you are aware, the Nationals party room held an election today. The new leader is the member for New England.
I congratulate him on his election by his party today, and look forward to working with him closely, as I do with the current deputy prime minister. I want it placed on record, my deep appreciation to the current deputy prime minister.
We have enjoyed a close and a strong bond leading together as part of a strong correlation. I particularly want to commend the member for Riverina, the deputy prime minister for his great integrity, dignity, his work ethic which shows most in the chamber.
To his wife, we extend thanks to the wonderful relationship we have shared together, and Jenny does as well.
Anthony Albanese says he can’t hear him. The Speaker says he can hear him fine. Albanese says he can’t hear him at all.
Morrison continues paying tribute to McCormack.
Barnaby Joyce will be sworn in tomorrow and Morrison “looks forward to the relationship I will renew”.
Updated
Michael McCormack is in the prime minister’s chair. Anthony Albanese reaches across the table and shakes his hand.
Graham Perrett uses the last 45 seconds before QT to pay tribute to McCormack.
He then makes a run for question time.
Barnaby Joyce says he will take the energy policy his party decides on to the prime minister.
He says it is not “Barnaby’s policy”.
So what is the problem he is fixing, that Michael McCormack couldn’t do?
I want to make sure that we have a process that we can go to places such as central Queensland.
That we have the capacity to, on behalf of the Coalition, give us the very best chance of winning the next election. I’m not detracting for one second or one iota, the qualities that Michael has and has shown the parliament. I’m not saying also that I have the same suite of issues. I have a different suite of issues. I have a different suite of attributes and I hopefully will be able to apply them in such a way as to give us the best chance. And that was not a decision, as I keep saying, that I made. It’s a decision that my colleagues made.
Updated
Samantha Maiden asks Barnaby Joyce about concerns some of the women in his party have raised about how some women might feel about his return, and why he resigned in the first place.
Joyce:
Let’s start with the most difficult one first. I believe that you have to clear the air, that even though I absolutely clearly said that if there was ever an issue of that sort, it should be taken to the police, I completely deny it and said that they were spurious and defamatory.
Nonetheless, for the sake of my party, I did not want to be litigating that one at the dispatch box.
With other issues, I can and I won’t start telling other people how they should start thinking of other people.
I will try, always, to be the better person. I acknowledge my faults. I resigned, I’ve spent three years on the backbench. I don’t walk away from making sure that I can be a better person to do a better job. And I’m reminded by that by the people that I love dearly - my four daughters and my two sons and Vicky.
Barnaby Joyce says if he was expecting something to happen today, he would have brought his hat.
What has Barnaby Joyce learned in his three years away from the leadership?
Well, I acknowledge my faults. And I resigned as I should [have] and I did. I’ve spent three years on the backbench and, you know, I hope I come back a better person. I don’t walk away from the fact that you have to have time to consider, not only the effect on yourself but, more importantly, the effect on others. I’ve done that. I don’t want to dwell on the personal, except to say – hopefully one learns from their mistakes and makes a better person of themselves.
Updated
Barnaby Joyce has had a conversation with Scott Morrison and says he will be re-negotiating the Coalition agreement.
Updated
'Humbled' Joyce fronts press
Barnaby Joyce is very “humbled”:
I’d like to say to my colleagues how humbled I am and that the task going ahead first and foremost is to make ourselves a team that is formidable for the next election. No one person makes a decision, it’s a democratic decision, and nothing is a certainty and you don’t have the minds of other people.
And I’m sure that’s a question that you’re going to be asking about the circumstances that gave rise to this.
But that is really secondary.
The most important thing is this is about, first and foremost, the people of Australia, the people of regional Australia and to be brought about by that wonderful team, the Nationals.
Before I hand over, I would like to sincerely thank Michael McCormack and I believe that Michael has conducted himself right to the press conference he just had with dignity and that is something that is a very admirable trait.
Updated
While we wait for Barnaby Joyce, David Littleproud and soon-to-be-returned-to-the-ministry Bridget McKenzie to make their appearance, here was Michael McCormack’s take on what he thought about women in his party saying some women would be concerned with Joyce’s return to the leadership:
Q: One of the people that was prepared to put her name on the record to her concerns was Michelle Landry, who said she was concerned that some female voters might have a problem with Barnaby Joyce because of the issues that have arisen in the past. How serious is this issue? Are there women in regional Australia that are worried about Barnaby Joyce?
What is your view?
McCormack:
You would have to ask women in regional Australia that.
Q: But I am asking you that?
McCormack:
I am a man in regional Australia. You would have to ask a woman in regional Australia.
Q: You don’t think that men are worried about those allegations?
McCormack:
Again, Barnaby has been elected democratically according to party traditions and all of the rest – well, it is not part of traditions because we don’t normally do this – but by convention he has been elected. He’s got more numbers than me this morning. Good luck to him. I respect that.
Q: AnneWebster says the same thing?
McCormack:
You will have to ask that question to Michelle and Anne.
Q: What is the feedback you have been given from regional women ... It is a serious issue, isn’t it? You are a leader and not that long ago you said you were going to continue ...
McCormack:
A leader for not much longer but all good.
Q: Sure. But if the women in your party are saying that is a problem?
McCormack:
I only have read what you have written. They haven’t said that to me. That is a matter for them and you can take that up with them.
Updated
Sydney mask mandate likely to be extended
Gladys Berejiklian has said Sydney’s mask mandate will likely go beyond Wednesday, as New South Wales recorded a further two new local cases of Covid-19.
The two new cases were recorded after 8pm on Sunday, meaning they will be recorded in Tuesday’s numbers. Two separate cases were also reported on Monday, but they had already been announced on Sunday.
Berejiklian, the NSW premier, said on Monday it was likely people in Sydney and surrounding areas would need to continue wearing masks after Wednesday.
“Whilst this isn’t a bad outcome, our level of concern is still there,” she said.
The rules mandate masks indoors in the local government areas of Randwick, Bayside, Canada Bay, Inner West, City of Sydney, Waverley and Woollahra.
Face masks are also compulsory on public transport in the Wollongong and Shellharbour local government areas, as well as in greater Sydney.
“Given the situation we are in and given we don’t want to see further restrictions imposed more broadly across our city and our state, in all likelihood, the existing settings we have in place will continue beyond the five days,” Berejiklian said.
Asked if she expected the restrictions to increase, NSW’s chief health officer, Kerry Chant said at the moment authorities were “just watching every new case that comes in” and monitoring for unlinked cases and new exposure venues.
“This is a critical part in the response,” she said.
“It is critical that we all do our part in moderating our behaviours taking that extra care, and that applies to individuals but also businesses,” Chant added.
Scott Morrison statement on Nationals leadership
Scott Morrison’s office has released this statement:
The Liberal-National Coalition has been a successful and enduring partnership for seven decades.
It will continue to be a strong partnership, one based on shared values and a shared passion for building an even stronger Australia.
We have achieved so much together, especially for rural and regional Australia, and together we will achieve even more.
I welcome Barnaby Joyce to the role of leader of the Nationals and soon to be deputy prime minister and I look forward to working closely together to ensure Australia continues its recovery from Covid-19 and the recession it caused.
Our focus remains on two outcomes – protecting lives and protecting livelihoods – as we continue to bolster our vaccine rollout and build on the economic recovery that has led to the creation of almost 1m jobs since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Barnaby and I have a shared passion for ensuring our regions and rural communities thrive.
I thank Michael McCormack for his dedicated service as deputy prime minister. Michael will continue to be an invaluable member of the National party, and a passionate advocate for regional and rural communities.
I wish him and his wife Catherine and their children well.
Updated
Pauline Hanson is very exercised about critical race theory, which is not an issue here, unless you watch Sky News, which is also very exercised about it because Fox in America is upset about it.
Seems we can all go and look up our convict ancestors and have a lot of sympathy for what they went through, but we’re not allowed to examine how Indigenous people who already lived here felt about their arrival in their country, and what ongoing systemic issues that created, which we are still witnessing today.
Pauline Hanson is moving a motion today about rejecting critical race theory in the national curriculum. This is the first time it has ever been mentioned in the Senate. Where on earth did this come from!? Oh… pic.twitter.com/exDSU1CWJX
— Mehreen Faruqi (@MehreenFaruqi) June 21, 2021
Updated
The NSW government has confirmed the state’s public servants will get a 2.5% pay increase.
Last year public sector wages in NSW were capped at 1.5% until 2014, angering unions, but the treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, has told a press conference on Monday the state was now in a position to go further.
That meant wages for 400,000 workers would increase by 2.5% for the next four years, at a cost of $2.7bn.
He said that was because the economy had “rebounded back”.
Perrottet says:
I think this is a very strong indication of the strength of the NSW economy.
Updated
Michael McCormack says he has to go to question time.
It’s in 30 minutes.
McCormack says he will still be in the prime minister’s chair, as Barnaby Joyce hasn’t been sworn in.
“It’ll be surreal, a little bit surreal,” he says.
And then we get some classic McCormack talking in circles – this is paraphrased because the transcription gave up, but it was along these lines:
“There are a lot of Australians out there who are having a tough day, they don’t have, they don’t have a job. There are a lot of Australians out there not working, lucky the unemployment [is going down], but there are a lot of Australians having a tougher day than I. They have Covid, for instance, and that’s why we’re encouraging people to get a vaccination. There are a lot of Australians who don’t have jobs, I still have a job I’m very thankful for that.”
Updated
Bridget McKenzie will be at the press conference with Barnaby Joyce and David Littleproud.
Updated
Michael McCormack is asked about Michelle Landry’s comments about women in regional Australia being uncomfortable with Barnaby Joyce’s return to the leadership.
He doesn’t answer.
Because he’s “a man in regional Australia”.
(McCormack’s inability to speak up on important issues is one of the reasons he is no longer leader of the National party.)
“Well, Michelle has said that to you so I’ve only read what you’ve written,” he says, saying it will be a matter for the women to answer.
Updated
Michael McCormack thanks AFR journalist Phil Coorey for his story that “started all the hares running”.
He’s being funny.
Updated
Michael McCormack says he has been pre-selected to run in his seat, but he will be taking his time to consider whether he will stand at the next election and he’ll tell his community first.
Updated
Michael McCormack is asked if he has a message for his National party colleagues:
For the sake of good governance, good governance for the people of Australia, if you are going to say something, have the guts and the gumption to put your name to it. Don’t go backgrounding against colleagues – it’s not good for the government.
It’s not good for democracy. If you’re going to say something put your name to it. You know I have always done that.
Updated
Michael McCormack says he will continue to serve in the government, but will also take some time to consider his future.
And just after a leadership spill that was prompted by his own party, for reasons known to his own party, he speaks about the “bubble”:
It has been the government, which has made sure that we’ve had that practical responsibility, getting the job done, and people out and about in Australia at the moment – they’re not so much interested in the machinations that go on here in the bubble, they want the bread-and-butter issues addressed and that’s what we’re doing.
Updated
McCormack: 'We’ve been a good government since 2013'
Michael McCormack is speaking after he was dumped as the Nationals leader.
He says the party will go on, no matter who is leader.
His wife, Catherine, is also at this press conference.
I’ve worked well with Scott Morrison, to ensure that we’ve had good and stable government in such challenging times, times that no one could have imagined.
It’s been bushfires, there’s been cyclones, storms, floods, and of course, Covid-19, and all through it, we have been a good and responsible government.
I’ve been there to serve alongside Scott Morrison. In that time and I regard him as a friend, as a true leader of our nation, and I will go on supporting the coalition government, the Liberals and Nationals, to continue to serve this nation. We’ve been a good government since 2013.
We have delivered for Australians. I’m so humbled.
I’m just a boy from my era, when I was born in 1964, in Marrar, probably a village of just a few more than 100 people, that’s all.
To think that a country with a village of more than 100 people can have somebody from that village serve them as the deputy prime minister shows what a great country this is.
It’s such a great country. It is such a humbling privilege, and I’m really pleased that I believe the leadership of the National party in the deputy prime ministership with the love my life, Catherine, and the respect of our three children.
Updated
It is all but assured Darren Chester is moving back to the backbench:
Politics can be brutal & today my party deposed one of the most dedicated, resilient & passionate advocates regional Australia has ever produced. I regard Michael as a personal friend & trusted colleague. Thankyou for everything you delivered for regional Australia #lovegippsland pic.twitter.com/izUwNFMP2w
— Darren Chester MP (@DarrenChesterMP) June 21, 2021
Updated
Barnaby Joyce will be holding his press conference at 1.45pm – which is just before question time and therefore means will be time limited.
1.45pm is the favoured time for when you have to say something, but don’t want to spend too long answering questions.
Updated
Michael McCormack will hold his press conference in about five minutes.
Updated
There are a lot of Liberal MPs who are not exactly thrilled with the news Barnaby Joyce is back.
But it is the former Liberals going on the record:
Message to the Nats- not even the Americans would vote for Trump twice
— John Hewson (@JohnRHewson) June 21, 2021
Updated
Anthony Albanese was asked a few questions on what he thought Barnaby Joyce’s return to the deputy prime minister role would mean:
Q: Barnaby is a prominent supporter of new coal-fired power plants in Australia. Would Labor be willing to work with the government to fund a new coal-fired power plant?
Albanese:
No.
Q: On that subject, do you see on the flip side of the whole climate change argument, do you see Joyce’s ascendancy as posing problems for you, Labor, in the Hunter?
Albanese:
No.
Q: No?
Albanese:
No.
Updated
Anthony Albanese is holding a quick press conference, where he has some thought on this morning’s events:
This government had just two jobs this year. They had to roll out the vaccine, and they had to fix national quarantine.
Now instead of rolling out the vaccine to the Australian people, they just concentrated on rolling each other.
The rolling of Michael McCormack, a decent human being, by Barnaby Joyce, represents the sixth combination of prime minister and deputy prime minister under the eight long years of this government.
It’s a vote of no confidence in their own government. And the fact is if you want to end this circus, it’s time to end this government. I’ve seen governments be self-indulgent before and get punished. This is a government that is being self-indulgent at a time of the pandemic.
The last time there was a spill was in the middle of the bushfire crisis. This time it’s in the middle of a pandemic.
Updated
Here is Barnaby Joyce casually playing catch with a piece of coal in question time back in 2017 (it had been brought in by Scott Morrison).
It’s nice they get to play together again.
Updated
Here was how Michael McCormack spent what turned out to be his last week in the job:
Updated
Michael McCormack was deputy prime minister for 1,215 days – and in that time was unable to convince his party he could win them an election, which is why Barnaby Joyce was able to wait in the wings. Joyce’s leadership ambitions were never neutralised because McCormack didn’t make a single mark in more than three years.
Homespun homilies and attacks on coffee and the inner city is not leadership. Other than “we’re getting on with the job”, does anyone know what McCormack stood for?
That’s the reason Joyce is back.
Updated
Anthony Albanese has responded:
Instead of rolling out the vaccine, they're rolling each other.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 21, 2021
Whatever their priorities are, they're not focussed on you.
Updated
A couple of readers have contacted me saying they received a phone poll about a month ago asking whether they would vote for the Coalition if Barnaby Joyce were re-elected Nationals leader. They’re in Coalition electorates, they tell me.
Just an interesting side note.
Updated
Sarah Martin says Michael McCormack left the room saying it had been a privilege to serve and this is what democracy looks like.
Updated
Then there will be a cabinet reshuffle – Darren Chester, for instance, will be moved back to the backbench, given that there is no love lost between Barnaby Joyce and Chester, and Bridget McKenzie will probably be moved back to the ministry.
McKenzie stepped down over a “conflict of interest” during the sports rorts affair. But she has been very keen to return to the ministry.
Keith Pitt will probably stay, given that he played a role in kicking this whole thing off. Matt Canavan will most likely get a choice about whether he wants to return.
And there will most likely be some sort of discussion with Scott Morrison about the Coalition agreement – the secret agreement between the two parties that binds them but of which we’re not allowed to know the details.
Updated
The governor general will have to swear Barnaby Joyce in as deputy to make it all official, but that has happened virtually lately, so there shouldn’t be too much of a hold-up.
Updated
Nationals whip Damian Drum confirms Barnaby Joyce as the new leader (which is how people used to find out, because mobile phones):
There was a spill motion put forward. The spill motion was carried. We had an election. And Barnaby Joyce has been elected leader of the National party at a federal level and will therefore be going through the various situations that he has to go through. He has to go through a process now to be sworn in, to have all the conversations, to talk to the prime minister, and effectively get on with the job of representing our people.
Updated
Barnaby Joyce just got a $222,000 (or so) pay rise with that vote.
*I was previously using old tribunal remuneration figures for this – but as a wise blog watcher pointed out, the DPM pay is 105% on top of the base backbencher pay of $211,500 as at the last determination.
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Meanwhile, will Barnaby Joyce continue to push for the Murugappan family to go home to Biloela now that he is returning to the $433,575 deputy PM job?
He met with Angela and Bronwyn from Biloela about their campaign and the Muruguppan family two years ago, accepted their petition, and has been writing to PM and advocating in press since. A silver lining, maybe… pic.twitter.com/5ErJE4FITI
— Sally Rugg (@sallyrugg) June 21, 2021
Updated
That means there is another limited edition mug from the Coalition store:
Mugged by their own incompetence.
— Tim Watts MP (@TimWattsMP) June 21, 2021
Again. pic.twitter.com/oZqHYnYM3D
Updated
It has been 1,215 days since Barnaby Joyce was last in the deputy prime minister role.
He stepped down after a sexual harassment allegation was made against him. A six-month investigation by the National party into the allegation was unable to reach a conclusion.
You’ll find the results of that investigation here:
Updated
This is some excellent game face from earlier this morning.
He had more votes than toes. What a world.
Updated
Barnaby Joyce returned as Nationals leader
It’s confirmed.
Barnaby Joyce has been returned as Nationals leader.
Which will make him the deputy prime minister.
Again.
Updated
Barnaby Joyce could be in the prime minister’s chair for question time.
This whole nation may actually just be a reality TV experiment.
Updated
Que sera, sera indeed.
Updated
The AFR is reporting Barnaby Joyce has won the leadership ballot as well.
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Sky News is reporting that Barnaby Joyce has won the ballot.
Updated
They’ve gone back into the party room.
Honestly. This cannot be difficult.
Is there one person in the leadership pool who has more votes than you have fingers?
Then that person is the leader.
Solved.
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Sarah Martin says Matt Canavan said he would “leave it to others to announce” what happened in the party room.
Updated
There has been a Senate division called – which means the Nationals party room meeting is being interrupted for the senators to go vote.
Updated
You can’t imagine the Nationals latest leadership crisis will take too long.
There are only 21 people in the party room. They only have to count to 11. That’s it.
Updated
NSW records two new Covid cases
The official NSW Covid press conference will be at 1pm but here is the NSW Health alert (the new cases will be in tomorrow’s numbers):
NSW recorded two locally acquired cases of Covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, both of which were announced yesterday morning.
NSW Health has also been notified of two new locally acquired cases overnight. These cases will be included in tomorrow’s numbers.
Five new overseas-acquired cases were recorded in the same period, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 5,460.
There were 25,252 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 24,468.
NSW Health urges the community to come forward for testing in greater numbers as high testing numbers are vital in detecting cases of Covid-19 in order to prevent further transmission.
Anyone with even the mildest of cold-like symptoms is urged to get tested without delay and isolate until a negative result is received. People in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and the Wollongong area are asked to be especially vigilant for the onset of symptoms.
The total number of vaccines administered in NSW is now 1,897,131, with 676,080 doses administered by NSW Health to 8pm last night and 1,221,051 administered by the GP network and other providers to 11.59pm on Saturday 19 June.
Updated
So Barnaby Joyce supporter Matthew Canavan has called the spill motion for the leadership of the National party.
Now we wait.
It’s not like there is anything else going on, like, I don’t know – a pandemic, a vaccination rollout that is behind schedule and has seen another setback, communities still recovering from bushfires, storms and loss of revenue, and about a trillion other things Australians care about because it impacts on their actual lives.
But the National party is upset there could be a change of energy policy (in that there might actually be one) and its MPs are worried about their electoral chances, so you know, priorities.
Updated
It’s never the challenger:
Sources tell me Matt Canavan has just moved a spill motion inside the party room #natspill
— Phillip Coorey (@PhillipCoorey) June 21, 2021
Updated
And in case you didn’t believe me:
DPM:“Que será, será. Whatever will be, will be. The future is not ours to see.” @SBSNews #AusPol pic.twitter.com/j83YsfoK5W
— Pablo Viñales (@pablovinales) June 21, 2021
Does Michael McCormack have the support of his colleagues?
I hope so. We will find out soon, won’t we? Who knows what the future holds? Que sera. The future is not ours to see. I’m quoting Doris Day there. I have to go.
This is the man who is now the deputy leader of the country.
Sigh.
Updated
Mike Bowers popped his cameras into the chamber this morning.
This looks like one of the moments when Barnaby Joyce realises he probably won’t be getting to 11 and once again has created a bunch of smoke with no flame.
It’s like the nation is stuck in the lamest deputy prime minister reveal party possible.
Just two more examples of merit:
These people can’t decide on a leader but can make decisions for the country. Makes total sense.
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Ben Roberts-Smith awaits Covid test after visiting hotspot
Ben Roberts-Smith, in the middle of his defamation hearing over allegations of war crimes, has been placed into self-isolation after he visited a Covid hotspot.
The Victoria Cross recipient, who has been in the witness box for six days and is being cross-examined about his actions in Afghanistan, visited a Covid hotspot in the Sydney CBD on Thursday evening. He was alerted to this by an email from the NSW Department of Health on Sunday.
He was tested for Covid-19 on Sunday evening and is awaiting those results. His trial has been adjourned until he is cleared to return to court, likely sometime today.
Roberts-Smith, one of the most decorated soldiers in Australian military history, is suing the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times for defamation over a series of reports published in 2018. He alleges the reports are defamatory because they portray him as someone who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and committed war crimes, including six allegations of murder.
The 42-year-old has consistently denied the allegations, saying they are “false”, “baseless” and “completely without any foundation in truth”. The newspapers are defending their reporting as true.
Updated
So a grinning Michael McCormack, an unhappy Barnaby Joyce and an ambivalent David Littleproud walk into the Nationals party room.
Leadership. That’s it. That’s the joke.
Nationals party room meeting begins
Sarah Martin tells me that on his way in to the Nationals party room, Michael McCormack was asked how he was feeling and answered with:
Positive, as I’m always feeling.
Uh huh.
Barnaby Joyce apparently didn’t look quite so positive and walked in alone. He answered: “Good.”
David Littleproud responded with: “Who knows?”
Updated
If there is one thing we can be grateful for today, it’s that it is the winter solstice – and therefore the shortest day of the year.
Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Updated
For context of what George Christensen, a member of the government, just supported, here is the bill:
Member for Hughes @CraigKellyMP introduced No Domestic COVID Vaccine Passports Bill 2021 https://t.co/9n0P7kXxqZ #auspol pic.twitter.com/WlOcdRmy33
— Political Alert (@political_alert) June 21, 2021
LNP MP George Christensen seconds Craig Kelly’s private member’s bill to the House.
He does not give a speech – but he puts his name to the bill.
Updated
A little earlier this morning, Barnaby Joyce laid out his case for leadership, while also saying there would be no spill:
He told the Seven Network:
I think that Michael McCormack is a good bloke and he’s working as hard as he can. The issue is, in the next election, and this is for the National party, for the Coalition in general – it’s going to be won in three places. The Hunter Valley, where [Labor MP] Joel [Fitzgibbon] is, in central Queensland, and in and around Darwin. That’s it. And we’ve got to make sure and Michael has to make sure that we are clearly identifiable in our policy structure in such a way that we can win it, not just for the Nationals but for the Coalition.
Updated
Craig Kelly is once again using his position in the House of Representatives to question the Covid vaccine.
I am not going to put his speech in here for obvious reasons but it is part of a private member’s bill for a “no domestic Covid vaccine passports bill”.
There is no push for a vaccine passport at the moment.
Updated
Labor has its lines for the day:
While there's outbreaks, lock downs and vaccine bungles in Australia, Scott - it's not a race - Morrison goes on a leisurely frolic through the English countryside to learn more about himself.
— Senator Nita Green (@nitagreenqld) June 21, 2021
It's not just the Nats that are self indulgent.
Scott Morrison is not on your side.
Can someone let the current deputy prime minister know that he as a person will survive even if he loses his position.
Michael McCormack: "If I survive, then the people who actually run against me, I think they should think long and hard about their futures, and I think they should think long and hard about the role they need to play in government and they should stop being so destabilising."
— Tom McIlroy (@TomMcIlroy) June 20, 2021
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Can Victoria expect to see a further easing of restrictions?
It is looking good, but James Merlino says that is a question for later:
That is being assessed right now. I do have confidence and an expectation that later in the week we’ll be announcing a whole range of easing of restrictions for regional Victorians and Melburnians. But I don’t want to foreshadow those today. As Prof Sutton always says, everything is on the table in terms of assessment, and it will be public health advice in terms of what can be eased further in a Covid-safe way.
Updated
And here is what Anthony Albanese had to say in a quick doorstop before parliament:
The Coalition had two jobs this year: the effective rollout of the vaccine and national quarantine. And they’ve botched both.
They’re too busy either patting themselves on the back or engaged in disruption and undermining each other to focus on the job at hand. And today we have two events.
The prime minister convening a phone hook-up with state premiers, seemingly to blame them for the failure when it comes to the supply of the vaccine. And then the National party engaged in more internal chaos, as we’ve seen before.
The last time there was a spill in the National party it was during the bushfire crisis. This time it’s during the pandemic. We have a plague of mice around regional Australia and we have a plague of disloyalty in this parliament when it comes to the National party.
Updated
What does Victoria want to see out of the national cabinet meeting?
James Merlino:
This is the one job that the commonwealth government has: procure and supply vaccines. That’s what we want to see.
We want to see a plan to deliver just that.
At the moment – and I welcome Gen Frewen’s appointment – at the moment we’ve got a plan, but that plan includes fewer doses for Victorians for weeks in July and August. Now, they can spin it any way they like, the commonwealth government, but that is the reality for Victorians.
Updated
I’m told Michael McCormack cracked some jokes while at the Australian local government conference this morning, introducing his speech with:
As deputy prime minister ... well, for now. There’s some gallows humour for you.
He’s stealing my material, but I’ll allow it.
Updated
The acting Victorian premier, James Merlino, is about to enter one of his last national cabinet meetings (Daniel Andrews is back at the end of the month) and he using it to really step up pressure, and criticism, of the vaccine rollout by the federal government:
In terms of where we are right now, we are well behind where we need to be. You know, our total in terms of our population, and how many are fully vaccinated, it’s around 3%.
You look at other jurisdictions around the world, they’re at 45%, 50%, 60% fully vaccinated, and a much higher number with their first doses.
So, when you compare how Australia is going with the rest of the world, we are falling so far behind it’s not funny.
Now, what we’ve seen out of this very high-level plan are fewer doses for Victorians for weeks in July and August before a mad rush at the end of the year.
Now, I welcome Gen Frewen’s appointment, and God knows we need someone to sort out the mess in Canberra, so I welcome his appointment.
But what we need to see out of national cabinet today, and for the rest of the year, is a sense of urgency, an acknowledgement that this is a race and that we need more supply, not fewer doses, coming to Victoria in July and August, but more supply so that we can meet the demand that is out there.
People want to get vaccinated. We need people to get vaccinated. The higher the proportion of your population that is vaccinated, the better options there are for public health advice in terms of how we get through this pandemic.
Updated
Michael McCormack has spent the morning at the Australian Local Government Association’s national conference (which is why you haven’t seen him – it’s not that he has blended in with the wall again).
He’s on his way back for the Nationals party room meeting.
Updated
The government is happy to announce that when you are eventually allowed out of the country again, any pub trips will be considered “soft diplomacy”.
Siplomacy, if you will.
"All leaders, when they're overseas, engage in elements of soft diplomacy."
— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) June 20, 2021
Minister Simon Birmingham has defended Prime Minister Scott Morrison against reports he took a post-G7 trip to explore his family history in the UK. pic.twitter.com/2QWkTbNIkc
Updated
The Nationals are holding their party room meeting at 10.30am, for those wondering.
Updated
Queensland CHO (and future governor) Dr Jeanette Young has also confirmed that Queensland’s latest positive Covid case (which was announced yesterday) was most likely picked up in hotel quarantine.
The woman had been released from hotel quarantine and was in the community for four hours – but she doesn’t have the more contagious Delta variant, according to genomic testing, so authorities are not as worried.
Updated
Jeanette Young named as Queensland's next governor
Queensland’s new governor has been named – Annastacia Palaszczuk has told a press conference that the chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, will step into the role when Paul de Jersey steps down in November.
And Queensland has recorded no new cases of Covid today.
Updated
There is another deer on the loose.
Of course there is. Nothing else is going on today.
Oh deer! I was almost just bowled over by a very stressed looking deer in Clifton Hill. Here’s hoping this one has a happier ending than the Fitzroy boy 🦌 pic.twitter.com/t0mBDJPI23
— Nicole Asher (@Nic_Asher) June 20, 2021
Updated
Victorian Nationals MP Darren Chester, who is Michael McCormack’s greatest strength (his numbers man, and the one reasonable heads tend to listen to – reasonable heads within the Nationals being an entirely different “reasonable” to what you might be used to) was playing down any chance of a challenge while speaking to the ABC a little earlier:
I’ve heard the speculation. I don’t think there’s even going to be a spill motion today, and nor should there be. I think Michael McCormack is doing a very good job for our country, for regional Australia, in difficult circumstances.
And, you know, as I travel around my electorate – I was back in Gippsland yesterday – the recovery from the floods and storms are under way, that’s what people are talking to me about. We had the Australian defence force on the ground yesterday. And we’ve got some big issues we’re trying to deal with in my community and right across regional Australia.
Quite frankly, I actually think regional Australians more generally are tired of this bulldust. They want us absolutely focused on them, on the issues that matter to them, and so I think Michael will continue in his role throughout the day and lead us to the next election.
Updated
For those who are asking, Barnaby Joyce saying there is “no prospect” of a leadership spill today, doesn’t mean there absolutely won’t be a spill. It just means that Joyce won’t be the one to call it.
That’s not unusual – leadership challengers are rarely called on by the challenger these days. But it doesn’t mean it absolutely won’t happen.
Joyce doesn’t seem to have the magic number of 11 just yet (let’s remember that there are only 21 people in this party room – 21 people who have spent the time since Joyce stepped down in 2018 wringing their hands over who should lead them) so the next few hours are going to be very interesting.
And don’t rule out David Littleproud doing a Scott Morrison and coming up through the middle (you may remember the original challenge to Malcolm Turnbull was Peter Dutton).
There are two things going on with the Nats right now. One is climate – the Nationals are terrified Morrison might actually listen to the international community and do something on climate, like commit Australia to a net zero 2050 emissions target (a reminder that net zero is not zero emissions), which is very scary to a party which is still telling people it wants to build a new coal-fired power station. They don’t think McCormack pushes back enough (I mean, that is a timeless statement – it’s been almost three years and Barnaby Joyce is STILL an option because McCormack is so beige).
The other thing is the Nats have an eye to the election. When Joyce was leader in 2016, the Nats held all their seats (and picked up one, from memory) despite Turnbull’s unpopularity, because Joyce was a powerful Nats brand. In 2019 McCormack might have been weak but Morrison was strong enough for the Nats to hold. Morrison’s personal popularity has been on the downhill slide for a little bit now, and the Nats are worried that without a strong leader themselves, and a weakened Liberals leader, they are left vulnerable.
So they’re looking to hold their seats. Always the best way to make decisions that decide who should be Australia’s deputy prime minister. (Plus, depending on who it is, the decision could also lead to a loss of seats in other areas. So what is the big picture play, here?)
Updated
Victoria will hold its press conference at 9.30am this morning.
There’s also the emergency national cabinet meeting today to discuss the vaccine rollout in light of the changed advice.
Updated
Let’s just go through some of this morning shall we?
2GB host Ben Fordham: Just on your trip, it is being reported this morning that your office spent weeks planning a G7 side trip to explore your convict family roots while you were arguing that Britain was too risky for Australian travellers. I’m guessing there’ll be some people saying that this is double standards.
Scott Morrison: Oh Ben, I think that’s, I wouldn’t describe it like that at all. I mean, we had to land north of London as opposed to landing down there in Cornwall because of the fog. And we stopped off along the way. We had some lunch and stopped off in another location on the way and after the G7 on the way to the airport, we stopped at another place, which just happens to be where my fifth great-grandfather was from. So I think it was pretty innocent. I think that’s massively overstating it.
On the prime minister’s dismissal that he just stopped off somewhere in Cornwall that “happens to be” where his (fifth) great-grandfather was from (where a local florist also happened to be ready with a bouquet of flowers) which then Simon Birmingham described as “soft diplomacy” (because apparently it might be news to a country which colonised Australia that its leaders might have links to said country), could we all just give the Australian public a little more credit?
It’s not the fact that it happened, it’s that there seems to have been an attempt to keep it off the media schedule – and then just wave it off when questions are asked.
Q: While you were away, Four Corners put together this investigation trying to link you to a bloke called Tim Stewart who’s involved in the QAnon conspiracy theory. What did you make of all of that?
Morrison: Well, I thought it was, I think it was pretty ordinary. I mean, we’ve all got friends and we’ve all got acquaintances and people we know who have views that we don’t share. But you know what they expect us to do just to sort of cancel people just because they have views different to ourselves? I don’t support the views of QAnon. I barely even knew what it was until more recently over the last year or so. So, you know, look, if people are going to have a crack at you because of what people you know think, I think that’s really starting to, you know, bit of a longbow.
Fordham: Out of interest, are you still close to him or have you given a little bit of fresh air there?
Morrison: No, look, I haven’t seen Tim for some time, much closer to his wife, who you know, Jenny and I are longtime friends of her, I just think it’s sort of a bit ordinary to drag other people into, I mean, I’m the prime minister, hold me accountable for my views. For people who have known me or have been friends with me over the period of time, they’re entitled to their privacy regardless if people don’t agree with their views. And I certainly don’t agree with Tim’s views on those things at all. I mean, he’s a Sharkies supporter – I agree with him on that – but not on QAnon.
It’s the same when it comes to the prime minister’s defence of his friendship with Tim Stewart. No one holds Morrison responsible for the views of his personal friends. (My dad has voted One Nation since 1996, for Dolly’s sake.) What people want is some answers to questions – were there conversations about adding the word “ritual” to the apology to child abuse survivors? If so, why and, given these concerns were first raised in 2019, why has there been no response?
It’s the dismissal of questions, the pats on the head and the ol’ “don’t you worry about that” fallback – instead of actual answers – which is the issue.
Updated
Photographer Mike Bowers was up early capturing some bracing scenes on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin as Canberrans stripped off for the fifth annual winter solstice nude charity swim.
Updated
Victoria records one new local case of Covid
The person is a close contact and has been in isolation for their infectious period though, so no need to worry.
Reported yesterday: 1 new local case and 8 new cases acquired overseas (currently in HQ).
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) June 20, 2021
- 10,921 vaccine doses were administered
- 16,290 test results were received
More later: https://t.co/lIUrl1hf3W#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData [1/2] pic.twitter.com/XMVxXpO4sn
Updated
Labor will move a motion in the Senate today in support of a referendum for a constitutionally enshrined voice to parliament – which is what the Uluru Statement from the Heart called for.
From Patrick Dodson and Malarndirri McCarthy’s statement:
The proposals in the Uluru Statement are modest and compelling.
They are the result of an extensive, democratic process involving months of dialogues with First Nations people around the country.
Yet four years after the Uluru Statement was first presented to the Australian people, very little progress has been made towards realising its generous vision.
In 2017, the Greens expressed their strong support for the Uluru Statement and urged all sides of politics to start the process outlined.
In 2019, Minister Wyatt promised a referendum on constitutional recognition in this term of government.
We are asking the Coalition and the Greens to stand by these promises and join Labor in supporting the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.
The Uluru Statement represents a unique opportunity to realise a fairer and more decent Australia.
Updated
Here’s how the local Cornwall media described the trip:
Mr Morrison took time out from the Bodmin Jail to travel to St Keverne in memory of his ancestor. He spent some time in the village’s parish church and and laid flowers in the churchyard, with the bouquet provided by local florist Emma Hosking.
The prime minister wrote in the church’s visitor book: “Thank you for your very kind welcome to St Keverne. It has been wonderful to to return ‘home’ in memory of William Roberts.”
... After talking to member of the public he popped into the Three Tuns pub, enjoyed a pint of Korev and sandwich while the Australian high commissioner tucked in to one of the pub’s Sunday roasts.
He also dropped in for a quick tour of the newly refurbished £8.5 million Bodmin Jail museum which includes an immersive and educational journey through Cornwall’s dark past.
Updated
Here was Scott Morrison’s full quote on his visit to trace his family roots, while he was in the UK for the G7 (and telling us it’s still too dangerous to travel):
I mean, we had to land north of London, as opposed to landing down there in Cornwall because of the fog, and we stopped off along the way we had some lunch and, and, we stopped off in another location on the way.
And on after the G7 on the way to the airport we stopped in another place, which just happens to be where my fifth great-grandfather was from, so I think was pretty innocent.
I think that’s massively overstating it.
Updated
PM's side trip to trace family roots was 'soft diplomacy'
This is a new one.
Simon Birmingham is asked about Bevan Shield’s story in the Sydney Morning Herald that the prime minister made a long-planned side trip to trace his family’s convict ancestry while in the UK, despite telling Australia it’s still too dangerous to travel (and while thousands of Australians are still stranded overseas, unable to come home because of quarantine caps). He says Scott Morrison was engaging in “soft diplomacy”.
(Morrison, for the record, told 2GB he stopped off on the way to the airport after the G7 at a place that “just happens to be” where his (fifth) great-grandfather was from. What are the chances?!)
Birmingham:
All leaders when they’re overseas engage in soft diplomacy – that’s the nature of building relations with other countries and other communities and the substance of the prime minister’s trip saw a trade agreement signed with the UK, it saw the Nato summit make strong statements in relation to China. It saw agreements for cooperation for hydrogen signed with leaders of Germany and Singapore and saw an agreement with the leader of Japan there.
The ABC hosts very rightly point out that it was a personal visit, and Birmingham says:
Well, that type of engagement is precisely what a soft diplomacy type exercise is.
Tracing your family roots is soft diplomacy?
Showing the connection between leaders and other countries and between nations is, indeed, very much [soft diplomacy].
Does he believe it was justifiable?
My understanding is that these things happened on his way to and from the region in which the meetings were held.
And as you can see from what I just went through, there was plenty of agenda and substance. The purpose of the trip was very clear. It was the first time that President Biden had travelled overseas for meetings and the fact that Australia was able to be at the table, have meetings with President Biden and prime minister Johnson to discuss the many particular challenges that we face and to highlight issues in our region and it was a crucial opportunity that the prime minister was right to seize and pursue.
Updated
Barnaby Joyce was on the Seven Network this morning. He said:
There is no prospect of a spill at this point in time. I would just let that issue arise.
(That doesn’t mean that someone won’t still call on a spill this morning though. Llew O’Brien called it on the last time, not Joyce.)
Simon Birmingham is hoping it means the Nationals have calmed down:
Well, I welcome that. I expect that that would be the truth, if that’s what he’s saying. I expect that everybody ought to be focused on the jobs and security and safety of Australians.
And we have a record number of Australians in employment at present. They’re the jobs that matter and they’re the jobs we’ve got to keep creating and growing.
But it’s not a great look is it?
I don’t know where the speculation has come from. I see Barnaby Joyce is ruling it out. That’s welcome because the priority is about Australians outside of this building. That’s the prime minister’s focus is. It’s where my focus is and I know it is where Michael McCormack’s focus is too.
(The phone calls are coming from within the house, Birmingham. Or, for non-horror fans, the speculation is coming from the Nationals party who have never been happy with McCormack’s leadership and are in two camps; “We’ve only really got Joyce” and “Anyone but Joyce”.)
Updated
Simon Birmingham was over on the ABC talking about the coronavirus vaccine rollout – the states have raised concerns about the supplies of Pfizer. We know that the bulk of what Australia has on order isn’t arriving until the end of the year. And the head of the rollout, General Frewen, admitted on Friday that the rate of vaccinations would slow while waiting for some more supplies.
Birmingham says the government is “working to ensure that we have as much available supply as possible”.
(We don’t make mRNA vaccines in the country though, and the whole world wants mRNA vaccines, so there isn’t a huge amount which can be done in the short term.)
Birmingham:
There’s around 2.3m doses of the Pfizer vaccine being distributed through this part of June. There’s around 3.4m doses expected to be available for distribution through July.
We’ve had across the country around 6.5 million Australians who have had their first dose or a dose of vaccines, sorry, 6.5m doses administered.
And more than 65% of those aged over 70 have received their first dose, and many of them are becoming eligible for the second dose.
So, of course, we would wish that some of the disruptions to the vaccine program that we’ve seen such as the changing health advice had not occurred, but that health advice has changed.
We’ve had to pivot and we’re working with the states and territories as best we can to make sure that the supplies that are there get out and get distributed effectively.
Updated
Scott Morrison said he is “absolutely” happy with Michael McCormack’s leadership and he has a “wonderful” partnership with him, providing “a great stable leadership for Australia”.
Scott Morrison has kicked off his return to the country with a chat to Sydney radio station 2GB, where he dismissed practically every question put to him (not that they were difficult) and then spoke about how he saw the host on Ninja Warrior overnight.
So let’s go through what he said.
On the Sydney Morning Herald story which reported that his office “spent weeks planning a G7 side trip to explore his convict family roots while the prime minister publicly argued Britain was too risky for Australian travellers (he made a trip to St Keverne, which the SMH’s Europe correspondent reports was on his schedule for at least two weeks but never disclosed to the media) Morrison says:
After the G7 on the way to the airport we stopped in another place, which just happens to be where my fifth great-grandfather was from so I think it was pretty innocent.
“Which just happens to be.”
On his friendship with Tim Stewart, who is married to Jenny Morrison’s best friend, who is heavily involved with QAnon and has posted on social media about his ability to speak with the prime minister (as well as housesitting Kirribilli) and claimed credit for the inclusion of the word “ritual” in Morrison’s apology to child sexual abuse survivors (a word which also serves as a code to QAnon believers), Morrison says the Four Corners report was a bit “ordinary”.
I mean, we’re all got friends and we’ve all got acquaintances and people we know who have views that we don’t share, but you know what will they expect us to do to sort of cancel people just because I have views different to ourselves.
I don’t support views of QAnon and I barely even knew what it was until more recently over the last year or so, if people are going to have a crack at you because of what of people you know think, I think that is drawing a bit of a long bow.
Morrison said he hadn’t seen Stewart for “some time”.
I’m much closer to his wife – Jenny and I are longtime friends of her.
I just think it’s sort of a bit ordinary to drag other people into the – I mean, I’m the prime minister, hold me account[able] for my views.
People who have known me or been friends with me over the period of time they’re entitled to their privacy regardless. If people don’t agree with their views, and I certainly don’t agree with Tim’s views on those things at all.
I mean, he’s a Sharky supporter – I agree with him on that – but not on QAnon. [laughs]
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Good morning
Welcome to another sitting week, which opens with the Nationals throwing a tantrum over their leadership. Again.
The last time the Nationals did this it was February 2020 when the parliament was holding a special day to recognise the deadly, devastating, summer bushfires. This time they’ve chosen a pandemic, in the middle of a confused vaccination rollout.
It’s almost like ... the Nationals are only focused on themselves?
Barnaby Joyce has told the Seven Network there is “no prospect” of a spill today. That’s after a weekend of Joyce’s backers telling people the former deputy prime minister and Nationals leader was within a vote of the leadership.
Michael McCormack, the current deputy prime minister, says he is just getting on with the job.
The job being protecting his job, at the moment.
And while Joyce and McCormack fight it out, David Littleproud, the deputy leader, is on the sidelines, ready to step in as a consensus candidate.
A reminder there are only 21 people in the Nationals party room. And no overwhelming agreement about who should lead them. Good times.
We’ll bring you that, as well as the actual news which is important to you, including what the national cabinet decides is the best plan for the vaccine rollout in light of the new AstraZeneca advice, which recommends it only be given to people who are over 60.
The state and territory leaders will be meeting (virtually) today with Scott Morrison, who is back in Australia and in quarantine. He’ll also be appearing at question time virtually.
We’ll bring you that as well.
You have Mike Bowers with you this morning, as well as Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp, Sarah Martin and Daniel Hurst in Canberra. You have Amy Remeikis on the blog.
It’s going to be a long day. So grab your coffee (I’m on my second already) and strap in.
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