That's Friday and the week
I think we’ll fold our live blog tent on the two bro shake, with all the usual thanks and salutations to the readers and my colleagues. It’s been a big week and it’s delightful to have so many people hanging in reading day after day.
I’ll end with just a few broad observations.
This week we’ve seen both campaigns blown off course.
We’ve seen Malcolm Turnbull lose the tempo of his campaign, and revert to a campaign that could have been run by John Howard or Tony Abbott.
We’ve seen Bill Shorten modify his small target politics and take some risks. We’ve seen him try to shake off the Greens pincer movement, muscle up against Malcolm Turnbull, and find some productive campaign territory for Labor.
Where that all lands? Well, it’s too soon to say. We’ll just have to keep watching, and putting the pieces of the campaign 2016 puzzle together, day by day, hour by hour.
Have a lovely evening, and enjoy a restful weekend. We’ll be back to do it all again on Monday.
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Meanwhile in Penrith, the two bro shake.
Bill Shorten's 2bro shakes in 15 seconds during Penrith street walk @murpharoo @GuardianAus #politicslive pic.twitter.com/ptUyqkgwaW
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) May 20, 2016
Here's our next podcast episode – don't forget to subscribe
Thank you very much to the people who have already subscribed to our campaign podcast, Australian Politics Live. Our second episode has just been uploaded. In week two, we look at the war between Labor and the Greens with two very expert guests, Ben Oquist, a recovering Greens political strategist, and Michael Cooney, who has traded in the backroom to run Labor’s thinktank, the Chifley Research Centre. It’s a big chunky chat, which includes Lenore Taylor and my assessment of the campaign week that was. We hope you enjoy it.
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So that’s pretty embarrassing for the government.
No tax cuts until legislation passed
Unsurprisingly, the finance minister gets what happens to the tax cuts as the first question at his press conference.
Q: On page 40 ... Chris Jordan, the tax commissioner, [is quoted as] saying the tax cuts planned for July 1 would have to be legislated on the day after the budget. Malcolm Turnbull said it could be done administratively. Clearly that’s not going to happen. What is the fate of those tax cuts?
Mathias Cormann:
The tax cuts will be delivered in full as promised.
Cormann then suggests it doesn’t matter because of the timing of when people submit their tax returns.
Reporters aren’t buying it.
Q: Most people are PAYG and they would not – don’t have to do that in terms of their tax return. Parliament won’t return until, say, August so does that mean people won’t see a reduction in their tax until the legislation is passed whenever parliament resumes?
Mathias Cormann:
Obviously, a re-elected Turnbull government will legislate those tax cuts as soon as possible and every person across Australia in the relevant income tax brackets will receive a tax cut as promised in the budget. This is a tax cut which takes effect from 1 July 2016. We have an election on 2 July 2016. A re-elected Turnbull government will deliver on those tax cuts. People will not be putting forward their income tax returns for the 2016-17 financial year until obviously after 30 June 2017 and that is why the PEFO document very carefully spells out that these tax cuts can be legislated after the first of July 2016.
(To cut a long story short, the prime minister evidently screwed up when he said this could be done administratively.)
Q: Was the prime minister wrong to say this would be done administratively when the tax commissioner says it has to be legislated?
Mathias Cormann:
These tax cuts will be legislated and these tax cuts also take effect – under the Coalition these tax cuts will be legislated and will be driving stronger growth and more jobs, and it’s not only our personal income taxes, it’s of course also our 10-year enterprise tax plan which will be legislated if we are re-elected.
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When one pug just isn’t enough. Enjoy.
Stop Mal & Bill snuffling up your super #ausvotes #auspol #pugs #ausvotes2016 #pugsoftwitterhttps://t.co/m4MD6l8EW7
— David Leyonhjelm (@DavidLeyonhjelm) May 20, 2016
The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, is coming up shortly. I’m sure he will be asked if people earning more than $80,000 are getting their sambo and a milkshake tax cut by 1 July as Malcolm Turnbull said they would, even if the measure wasn’t legislated. (Actually I think it’s just the sambo tax cut. You might have to buy the milkshake next fortnight.)
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Oh my
While we still aren’t quite sure about tax, back to the exploding Liberal candidate in Fremantle. This extract is from the Fremantle Herald, and it is not for the faint of heart. Language and taste warning.
The @FremantleHerald has the details of the Sherry Sufi video of him mocking his boss's accent #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/bfzTew0jr8
— Rob Harris (@rharris334) May 20, 2016
Goodness me. This is hot stuff. #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/iMpmZ8E96B
— Rob Harris (@rharris334) May 20, 2016
No wonder the candidate had to go door-knocking. For a very long time.
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The economics brains trust in my office is seeking guidance on this point – I still haven’t had a chance to look at the document.
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Chris Bowen on the tax cuts:
The government runs the grave risk of not being able to deliver the tax cuts, personal income tax cuts on July 1. The document says on page 40 that these tax cuts may not be delivered.
The shadow treasurer and opposition finance spokesman are addressing reporters in Sydney about PEFO. Chris Bowen points to analysis which he says suggests treasury thinks Australia has a revenue problem as well as a spending problem (in contrast to what the government says), and he says there’s a reference in the update to the tax cuts promised in the budget not being able to be delivered by July 1.
Greg Jericho and Gareth Hutchens are still working through the document. Greg has sent me the relevant section.
There are a number of tax measures included in the 2016-17 budget that take effect on or before 1 July 2016. Many of these measures can be legislated at a later time within 2016-17 without materially affecting the estimates. However, the commissioner has indicated that the ten-year enterprise tax plan’s targeted personal income tax relief measure requires the relevant legislation to be passed before the change will be incorporated into the income tax withholding schedules. As the timing of this is uncertain, there is a risk that some of the revenue cost of this measure will slip from 2016-17 into 2017-18 (improving the 2016-17 bottom line with a commensurate worsening in 2017-18).
Oops. The prime minister said this could be done administratively. Obviously not.
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Readers are taking me to task for attributing the political maxim – never waste a good crisis – to Churchill in the lunchtime summary. I attributed tentatively because I wasn’t quite sure. The ABC’s Mark Colvin, who as far as I’m concerned knows absolutely everything, thinks Rahm Emanuel is actually the coiner of the phrase.
@prior_robin @murpharoo And here it is: https://t.co/NzGbTAUIbf
— Mark Colvin (@Colvinius) May 20, 2016
Let the conversation continue. I need to deal with the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen.
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Preselectors must quiz candidates about their selfie skills these days, given long arms and steady wrists are so central to the whole operation. The thing about the constant documentation is it slows down public events to a huge degree. Nightmare for advancers. If you don’t speak campaign, advancers are the folks charged with getting leaders in and out of public places, more or less unsullied. It’s a tough gig, not for the fainthearted.
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I share a link to Mike Bowers instagram every day on Politics Live. Make sure you give him a follow if you haven’t already. You’ll get another view of the campaign.
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Bit of teenage sass on the escalator by the looks.
Bill meets/is heckled by teens at Westfield Penrith @murpharoo pic.twitter.com/nvSYEQ8GtP
— michael safi (@safimichael) May 20, 2016
Meanwhile in Westfield Penrith. #Straya
.@billshortenmp glad-handing in Penrith #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/vG42m7AfSw
— Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) May 20, 2016
In case you’ve already scrubbed this chap from your memory bank here’s Gareth Hutchens from a couple of days ago.
The Liberal party’s candidate for Fremantle in Western Australia was absent from a press conference with Malcolm Turnbull on Monday after documents revealed that he had misdescribed his work history on his application for preselection.
Sherry Sufi, 33, incorrectly described his work experience on his application for endorsement by the Liberal party.
The revelation, broken by the West Australian, has thrown Sufi into the national spotlight in the second week of the election campaign, putting pressure on the Liberal party to back its candidate, just as Labor and the Greens had to do in Victoria and New South Wales last week.
It has also emerged Sufi has warned in the past that same-sex marriage could lead to polygamy and criticised an apology to the stolen generations.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, campaigning in Perth on Monday, was asked to explain why Sufi was not campaigning with him, given the city of Perth was so close to Sufi’s seat.
Turnbull said he was in Perth to talk about a $282m contract with Austal to build 19 Pacific patrol boats, which was a national announcement.
“I’m the prime minister and I hope he’s out there engaging with the people of Fremantle and doing good door-knocking,” he said. “Very character-building. I’ve done it myself.”
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Meanwhile, out west, remember this chap from early in the week?
BREAKING: Liberal candidate for Fremantle, Sherry Sufi, has resigned "in light of continued focus on events from my history".
— Andrew Burrell (@AndrewBurrell7) May 20, 2016
Julian Assange has decided to issue a statement on the police raids.
The Australian federal police (AFP) raids on the opposition (ALP) cannot be tolerated. Raiding a suspected media source for a story embarrassing to the government is bad enough. But to raid the opposition during a federal election campaign in order to hunt down the source of such stories makes Australia look like it has become an Asian democratic backwater. Of course, it is hard for me to have much sympathy for the hypocritical ALP, which created what it called a ‘whole of government’ task force against me, which included the AFP, in order to ingratiate itself with the US. But the issue is not about ALP or the government. It is about the rights of all Australians to know what their government is up to. When the opposition and the media work together to publicly reveal infrastructure mismanagement they are doing their jobs and doing it well. When police conduct raids on the opposition during an election to hunt down media sources they are not doing their job. They’re stopping all the rest of us from doing ours. It is not the role of policemen to interfere with an election – whether instructed to do so by the government or not.
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Teensy move in the deficit
My delightful colleague Greg Jericho has glanced at the new economic forecasts which have just emerged from treasury and he tells me the only change is a tiny movement in the 2015-16 deficit – from $39.9bn at budget time to just over $40bn now.
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Let's cut through
Given there’s been a mud wrestle under way since about 8 o’clock last night, let’s calm the whole show down and talk about what’s happening.
- Last night, federal police officers raided an office of a Labor senator and a home of a Labor staffer looking for leaked documents from the NBN. The Australian federal police commissioner, Andrew Colvin, told us the raid was done independently, the government and Labor were told once the operation was under way, and the explanation for it was a little indirect, but the rationale seemed to be that the leaks were continuing even though the police had eyes on the alleged protagonists. The police also saw confidential Labor campaign documents in the swoop but Colvin says don’t you worry about that, my folks are very professional, and in any case, privilege has now been asserted so the documents are sealed.
- The minute the raids were unleashed, Labor went on the offensive. It went on the offensive for two reasons. The first is obvious: a political party is being raided in the middle of an election campaign, and the police are seeking material that is damaging to the prime minister of the day. This is serious stuff. I can’t remember any such high-octane action being taken during the past 20 years I’ve been a political reporter. But the second reason is also obvious: politics. Events have given Labor an opening to talk about the NBN, something the government really doesn’t want to talk about, and there’s also an opening to put a question mark over the integrity of your opponent. What’s that old adage? Never waste a good crisis. Churchill I think.
- Despite Labor’s efforts to maximise the opportunity associated with the material, the government’s reaction is strongly suggestive of the notion that it had nothing at all to do with these police raids. Both the police and the prime minister have ruled that out flatly; no hedge or grey area. With a denial so emphatic, it is reasonable to accept people at their word. But. curiously, the prime minister has said today that he knew nothing of the investigation, which seems a bit odd to me. We have a major police investigation under way in a key government agency, and no one tells the bosses in Canberra? How does that happen (she asks as a former public servant)? Perhaps the NBN runs differently from public service agencies ... In any case, it’s odd. I would have thought at the very least a brief about the police investigation would have gone to the department and gone up to the portfolio minister. I would also think the prime minister, as a former communications minister, and the person whose public claims were being countered in the leaks, would have been kept in the loop by the relevant minister. And two ministers, the finance minister and the communications minister, are shareholder ministers of the company.
- The prime minister did not want to talk about this at all today, but obviously had to, therefore attack became the best form of defence. In Malcolm Turnbull’s version of history, Bill Shorten was being rude about the police, which of course underscored the fact he’s hopeless on national security. How dare an alternative prime minister be rude about the police?
Onwards, to PEFO.
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Just because, really.
The PM was asked if he or his staff had ever leaked a confidential document at a press conference in Tasmania pic.twitter.com/X1NGZNoirx
— andrew meares (@mearesy) May 20, 2016
Summary with analysis next.
OK, now we are on the other side of those press conferences, give me a moment to regroup then I’ll post a summary which pulls apart the statements of our main protagonists.
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Updated
Q: Are you suggesting that Malcolm Turnbull and Mitch Fifield have colluded with the NBN Co to set this up during an election campaign? That seems to be what you’re suggesting – there’s some collusion between the government and NBN Co to set this up now?
Bill Shorten repeats the argument there is no separation between the government and NBN Co. The NBN is not a lone gunman, he says. It is an arm of government.
Updated
Q: You’ve said that Malcolm Turnbull as well as the NBN called in this investigation. Does this mean you are calling the AFP commissioner a liar when he says there was no influence by government?
Bill Shorten:
No, and I will say it again clearly. The NBN Co have called the investigation but what I am not doing is saying the NBN Co is some separate entity from the Australian government. It’s owned by the government. The board of directors are appointed by the government.
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Q: Should there be public interest protection for whistleblowers who leak to media in this way?
Bill Shorten:
I think that is something we should consider, yes.
'It is inconceivable that NBN Co would launch a police investigation and not make it clear to the owner of the company what is happening'
Q: Are you alleging the government has directly requested or asked NBN Co to instigate this investigation? If that is what you are alleging do you have a shred of evidence to back it up?
Bill Shorten:
First of all I don’t accept the assumption of your question that there is the government and the NBN Co. You are making out that they’re two complete strangers. The truth of the matter is that NBN Co is a creature of government. And it is inconceivable that NBN Co would launch a police investigation and not make it clear to the owner of the company what is happening.
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Q: Are you saying that government agencies are politically compromised by virtue of being appointed by the government?
Bill Shorten:
I am saying Mr Turnbull is politically compromised by the poor performance of the NBN.
Q: Are you saying the government has leant on the AFP to orchestrate these raids to throw your campaign off the rails?
Bill Shorten:
I’m saying that this is the Turnbull government embarrassed about the last three years of NBN – and who was the key minister in charge of the NBN for most of the last three years? None other than Malcolm Turnbull.
This is about an arm of the government, the NBN, seeking an investigation to shut down the truth. Why is it that this government doesn’t want Australians to know information about the cost blowouts of the NBN? Why is it this government doesn’t want Australians to know that under Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership Australia has slipped from 30th position in the world to 60th? Why is it that Malcolm Turnbull is so determined to stop Australians finding out the truth or the media being able to publish the truth?
Q: The level of the imputation you’re making here – drawing the government into this police action?
Bill Shorten:
Well, let’s be clear. The police have said that the NBN have asked them to launch this investigation last December. And let’s talk about the NBN. I don’t think Australia’s going to fall for the idea that the NBN lives on a different planet to Malcolm Turnbull. Malcolm Turnbull would have the happy snaps and the photos and the selfies and all the rest of the razzmatazz with the NBN. The NBN has two shareholder minister directors sitting on their board. The board is appointed by the government. It is funded by the government.
Let’s be really clear about this. This is the Turnbull government embarrassed by the lack of performance by NBN, launching an investigation designed to go after the whistleblowers. If the government’s got nothing to hide, if the NBN is the success story that they say it is, why on earth are they going to such lengths to discourage the publication of the truth?
Updated
Q: In that conversation did you convey any concerns about the timing of these raids given the election campaign and would you have appreciated prior - some prior warning from the AFP about them?
Bill Shorten:
First of all, the commissioner tried to ring me at 4:02. I missed his call. I saw I had a missed call from him. I rang him at 5:00 or 4:55, thereabouts. We spoke for one minute. He indicated the fact that the AFP were going to visit the senator’s office and that was the extent of the conversation.
And I will not ever interfere with a police investigation and if I had asked some of the matters you were going to it wouldn’t have been appropriate for me to do.
I will also make clear, Mr Turnbull has said that somehow Labor’s questioning the integrity of the AFP, I’m questioning Malcolm Turnbull’s integrity. We know what this is all about. This is about the right of the public to know and the media to publish. I believe that we need to get to the truth of what’s really happening in the NBN. I understand Mr Turnbull’s embarrassment that he doesn’t want the truth out, but I believe in an Australia where the media can publish, where journalists can do their investigations without fear or favour.
That’s what we’re fighting for here.
(We’ll remember this Bill, that’s what you are fighting for.)
Updated
'He is going after whistleblowers and he’s smearing his political opponents.'
Bill Shorten says he wants to make a brief statement.
Before we ask questions about Medicare, I just want to make a brief statement about matters overnight involving the Australian federal police and the Turnbull government. It is an extraordinary and unprecedented event that the Turnbull government has called in the Australian federal police to investigate the leaking of documents which embarrassed and exposed the Turnbull government.
We know that these revelations have shown massive NBN cost blowouts and unacceptable delays for millions of Australians. This is about the right for the public to know the truth. Mr Turnbull is going to extraordinary long links to stop Australians from finding out the truth about the cost blowouts in NBN. He is going after whistleblowers and he’s smearing his political opponents. The public has the right to know the truth and whistleblowers deserve protection.
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The press conference follows a visit to a GP clinic. You can see the homeowners, having lent their lawn, are now sticking round for the show.
Fred and Audrey on hand to watch presser in their front yard @murpharoo pic.twitter.com/ipeWthF2cy
— michael safi (@safimichael) May 20, 2016
Bill Shorten addresses the media
The Labor leader says he wants today to be about bulk billing.
Bill Shorten:
If we can protect bulk-billing, if we can save bulk-billing, then we save Medicare.
This follows Labor’s policy commitment yesterday to unfreeze the Medicare rebates for doctors.
Malcolm Turnbull is, meanwhile, getting stalked by a giant furry swift parrot.
Swift parrot protester asking PM to save her and if he'd like a cuddle. #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/B9R90IQJHr
— Rob Harris (@rharris334) May 20, 2016
"You're very generous for letting us bring all our friends here" @murpharoo pic.twitter.com/BkAftdgk12
— michael safi (@safimichael) May 20, 2016
I’ll follow my practice of pulling things apart once we are past the morning’s events. Hang in there. For now, I have to keep moving.
Meanwhile, back in Mt Druitt, Fred has accepted his fate. Looks like Ed Husic has done a spot of advancing.
Fred and Agnes Patchell generously donated their front lawn for a media conf. Shorten 5 mins away @murpharoo pic.twitter.com/pIHwvnMA99
— michael safi (@safimichael) May 20, 2016
' ... which is where we are in case some of the visiting media have forgotten … '
An attempted pivot on the AFP and one on the NBN itself. We inherited a failed project and we have salvaged it.
Malcolm Turnbull:
Now can I just say, I just want to make one other observation about – because it’s also relevant to Tasmania, if I may say so, which is where we are in case some of the visiting media have forgotten.
This is a state where, at the time the Labor government lost the election in 2013, the construction of the NBN had completely stalled and failed. In other parts of Australia it hadn’t even got started in any meaningful way.
We inherited a project that was completely and utterly failed. Now normally, melancholy history of experience in the world, people who have been involved in big projects will understand what I mean. Normally, bad projects get worse. It is very hard to turn them around. We have turned around the NBN by putting in new management, new board, new approach. What we have done is we are now very close to completing one quarter of the whole roll out. There’s well over 2 million premises in Australia that can get the NBN. There’s nearly a million that are actually using it.
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Q: Just in light of this, not directly in relation to the investigation but in light of this, in your time in federal politics, have you or any of your staff members ever leaked a confidential government document, ever?
Malcolm Turnbull:
Tim, I’m not going to get into a sort of an interesting fishing expedition of yours, with great respect. No, no, let me be very clear about this. What we have is an AFP investigation which is being conducted independently of government and it should be allowed, and it will be allowed, to be completed independently of government and the Labor party should be ashamed of themselves for attacking the integrity of the Australian federal police. The police should be, must be allowed to do their job. The police are in the front line of our national security, domestic security it is critical that the police act independently as do our national security agencies. They do, they should be respected and I am not going to engage in any political discussion about this. The police are doing their job, they’re doing it independently, they’re doing it with integrity. I respect them, I believe all Australians respect them and so should the Labor Party.
Q: Given the level of your office and given the fact that Andrew Colvin said there are a number of investigations going on at the moment, shouldn’t Australians know the top office of the land won’t be involved in these investigations down the track, they’re voting for you?
Malcolm Turnbull:
Can I say to you, I can only speak for my own time as prime minister, there’s been no suggestion that I’ve ever heard of any leaks from my office. So that is - that’s the fact. We run a very tight ship, OK?
(You noted that timeframe, right, my own time as prime minister?)
Updated
'Now, what Labor is doing is seeking to attack the integrity of the Australian federal police'
Malcolm Turnbull, continuing.
But let me just make this observation. We are dealing here with a matter of law enforcement. We’re dealing here with a matter of the Australian federal police. As you’ve heard from Commissioner Colvin – the AFP acts independently of government and so it should. The NBN Co made a referral of a matter of concern, of illegal leaking of confidential commercial information. They made that referral to the AFP. The AFP made an independent decision to investigate it and they made an independent decision as the commissioner noted, to undertake the various operational activities that they did yesterday.
Now, what Labor is doing is seeking to attack the integrity of the Australian federal police. That is a shameful thing to do. Labor should be ashamed of themselves. You know, you can’t trust Labor on national security. We know - we know where they stand or don’t stand on border security. Now we see them attacking the integrity of the Australian federal police. The only thing we should do with the respect to this investigation, is to let the federal police do their work and I’m not going to make any further comments on it. As PM, my job is to ensure that the AFP does their work free of political pressure or involvement, a matter has been referred to them, they’ve made the decision to investigate it, they’ve made the decision to execute warrants and conduct searches and they should do that in accordance with their own judgement and come to their own conclusions.
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First I heard about it was yesterday ...
To the NBN now.
Q: These leaks about the NBN have been under investigation since December last year. Did you or anyone in your office or anyone in your government have knowledge this matter was under investigation?
Malcolm Turnbull:
Well, the first I heard of the AFP investigation was yesterday when I was advised by the justice minister shortly after he’d been advised by the commissioner.
Updated
Turnbull is asked whether the government is consulting with Labor to give dairy farmers relief. He says the government is consulting with the Labor party, with a view to making further assistance available to dairy farmers.
He’s then asked about a funding commitment for a Tasmanian university. Turnbull says he’ll come back on that one.
Q: Why can’t we know now?
Malcolm Turnbull:
We’ll have more to say about it closer to the election.
Let's focus on Tasmania. Whoops ...
The prime minister would like to start off with questions about Tasmania. Ok then, say the reporters.
Q: So Mr Turnbull, given that you’ve arrived at this winery today, and that the owner is an immigrant who arrived with little English and fleeing an impoverished country, were you embarrassed about the previous comments of your immigration minister, given that?
Malcolm Turnbull:
We are the most successful multicultural nation in the world. Joseph’s story, like so many other migrant stories, have made us what we are.
We’re inspired by Joseph ...
Q: So did you apologise on behalf of Mr Dutton for his comments?
Malcolm Turnbull:
Can I just say to you, we’ve got a great story about Tasmanian jobs and growth here, let’s focus on that and then we can move onto other national issues.
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The trade minister Steve Ciobo is invited to pick up the story. He’s very pleased as part of the Turnbull Coalition government to bring the focus on the next stage of the Turnbull government’s national economic plan.
Updated
Enterprising Australians, enterprising Tasmanians, storming the big markets of the world with the best food and wine in the world ...
Turnbull is pumping his fist. Flinging wide the doors of opportunity.
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Malcolm Turnbull addresses reporters in Tasmania
The prime minister has found the cameras. It’s very exciting to be talking jobs and growth and tanks holding corrosive fluids that are subsequently exported to Germany. And there’s honey as well.
Malcolm Turnbull:
Exports, investment, jobs and growth and here we are in Tasmania ...
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Meanwhile, somewhere on the NSW central coast, the treasurer Scott Morrison is mangling metaphors like there is no tomorrow. Bill Shorten is apparently having his tummy tickled by the Greens who are also yanking his chain. I think there was an anchor involved too. We don’t have to listen. Don’t fret. This outing is entirely content free.
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Meanwhile, Fred Patchell of Mt Druitt, is fielding a small invasion on his front lawn. The Labor leader is at a medical centre next door.
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Q: This morning on Radio National you questioned the timing of these raids. You’ve held a press conference saying the election campaign has nothing to do with it and he says it’s just the progress of the investigation, do you still dispute that?
Mark Dreyfus:
I’m very, very pleased to have had the explanation from Commissioner Colvin. It’s entirely appropriate that he held a press conference to explain what was the basis of the timing because, of course, Australians looking last night or Australians looking this morning at their news would be immensely concerned at the sight of Australian police going into the offices of opposition members, going into the homes of opposition staff. That’s not something that is very common in Australia.
It, of course, raises concerns and that’s why I’m very pleased that Commissioner Colvin has gone out this morning and explained, as he has, the timing of this. But it’s not about the Australian federal police. This is about why NBN Co has chosen to commence this investigation, why the government, because the NBN Co answers to the government, has had this investigation undertaken, and not much more serious potentially national security leaks.
Q: So you are entirely satisfied with the explanation from the AFP?
Mark Dreyfus:
I’ve accepted what Commissioner Colvin has said. This is about the involvement of ministers, about what the PM has had to do with this, about what their staff have had to do with this because it beggars belief that a government agency, the NBN, has completely, without reference to its minister, completely without reference to the PM or any of their staff, gone about pursuing the leaks in the way that it has.
Q: So just following on from that, you’re talking about the independence of the NBN Co.
Mark Dreyfus:
It’s not independent. That’s a very straightforward matter. It’s a government-owned enterprise.
Q: So you are alleging there was direct interference?
Mark Dreyfus:
These are questions for the government to answer.
Updated
Q: I’ve lost track of the silly referrals to the AFP on Bronwyn Bishop’s travel expenses and this is your chickens coming home to roost. You have engaged in this silly game and now it’s come back to bite you?
Mark Dreyfus:
I wholly reject that question and the premise behind it. I don’t think there is the slightest problem about drawing the attention of the Australian federal police or drawing the attention of the Australian people to a misuse, a very serious misuse of public office by a Turnbull government minister, namely Stuart Robert. He is now under continuing investigation by the Australian federal police. For you, a journalist, to suggest that in any way there was anything – I think your word was “silly” – is an absurd question to ask and a ridiculous demeaning of the role of the opposition, which is to hold the government to account.
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'No wonder the NBN Co wants to silence these whistleblowers … '
Labor is now broadening out the political attack to the NBN itself.
The shadow communications minister, Jason Clare:
Look, Malcolm Turnbull basically had one job for the first two years of this government and that’s to build the NBN. By any objective analysis he has made a shocking mess of it. The cost of the NBN is now almost double what Malcolm Turnbull said it would be. The time it’s going to take to build the NBN is more than double what Malcolm Turnbull said it would be.
No wonder NBN Co wants to silence these whistleblowers. Malcolm Turnbull has butchered the NBN. Instead of getting the police into investigate, they should be focused on fixing it. They should be focused on doing what every Australian wants and that is build the NBN that Australians need for the future.
Updated
The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, is addressing reporters in Sydney now. He says there are questions to answer.
Mark Dreyfus:
Not only has this raid, both raids occurred during an election campaign, they are in response to or, as we have learned again from Commissioner Colvin this morning, an investigation commenced at the behest of a government agency, NBN Co.
What we need to know is what did the prime minister or his ministers, or their staff have to do with the commencement of this investigation and what do they know about that? Have they had, has the prime minister or his ministers or their staff had conversations with executives of NBN Co, a government agency I would stress again, about the conduct of this investigation? Has the PM or his ministers or any of their staff sought updates from NBN Co, because this investigation, I say again, is sponsored by, was prompted by the NBN Co asking for an investigation last December into leaks which had occurred, allegedly, over several previous months, because one of the documents which are being sought here goes back to 2014.
Updated
Just a couple of niggly points, it is a bit hard to draw a distinct separation between the NBN Co and the government because the NBN Co is, after all, a government agency. I still find it hard to believe that a police investigation into leaks was underway and the portfolio minister wasn’t told or didn’t know about it. And there is one reasonable conclusion that can be reached by commissioner Colvin’s explanation for why police acted when they did: the NBN Co wanted the leaks to stop, and the leaks hadn’t stopped, even though the police were active, the leaks were ongoing. Colvin didn’t say that, we acted to stop the leaks, but it is a reasonable inference that can be divined from his comments.
Updated
The AFP's explanation: a quick summary
If you are just tuning in, AFP commissioner Andrew Colvin has said in relation to last night’s raids:
- The AFP was not subject to political interference.
- He says the government was not aware the AFP were undertaking the investigation into leaks from the NBN. The referral came from NBN Co last December.
- The timing of last night’s raids was determined by operational strategy: the leaks from the NBN were ongoing throughout the police investigation, so the police made the call about when to act.
- Labor has made a claim of parliamentary privilege over the documents taken during the raids, so the material is now sealed.
- Colvin says it is irrelevant that his officers may have seen Labor campaign documents because AFP officers are professionals.
- He says he’s sure the AFP didn’t leak about last night’s raids, but the matter has been referred to the integrity commission.
Updated
Colvin says no leaks, but the issue of the AFP leaking will be referred to the professional standards branch
Q: Has communications metadata involved and was anyone in the media tipped off?
Andrew Colvin:
I’m not going to answer what operational tactics or strategies we have employed. I’ve seen reporting the AFP has in some way tipped off media. I will be extremely disappointed if any member of the AFP has alerted the media. I’m confident we have not alerted the media.
My office has had a conversation with the integrity commissioner and alerted them to the inferences of political bias and leaking and I will be referring that matter to the professional standards branch.
Q: You are worried about people are tipping off the media?
Andrew Colvin:
What I’m worried about is inferences the AFP has been politicised or some way acted inappropriately. As I said many times, we operate independent of government, we operate within the law and our integrity is first and foremost.
Q: You mentioned the politicians contacted yesterday. Just to be clear, the relevant portfolio minister would be Senator Fifield. Would his office been aware of any point since December this investigation was underway and that raids could have been …
Andrew Colvin:
No.
Updated
Seeing campaign documents is 'irrelevant', Colvin says
Q: Commissioner, there are concerns in the Labor party that officers may have seen sensitive campaign material. Can you rule out that possibility, or if they did, what has happened to any material they may have seen?
Andrew Colvin:
I wasn’t at the warrant but I know my officers operate professionally in all cases. They are there in the terms of the warrant, looking for documents specified in the warrant to lead to evidence of this offending.
Those documents are subject to a professional privilege claim. We don’t have access to them any more. What my officers saw or didn’t see during the conduct of those searches is irrelevant to the fact they are looking to specific document that relate to this investigation. My officers are professional. If there are other documents they saw, that is irrelevant.
No-one in the government knew about the investigation? Seriously?
Andrew Colvin says privilege has now been claimed on the documents taken, so they are sealed.
They will be lodged in the Senate and a process will be put into play by the parliament to determine if parliamentary privilege is afforded to those documents. It is not necessarily the case that parliamentary privilege will be afforded to those documents.
Q: Commissioner, are you saying that no-one in the government was informed about the investigation, not just the raids before yesterday?
Andrew Colvin:
If it hasn’t been made clear before this point, let me be really clear. The government was first advised after this operational activity commenced. I then also spoke to the opposition leader and advised him. Before I advised the minister for justice and customs, Senator Conroy was advised at the time of the commencement of this investigation.
Q: Was anyone in the government aware of the investigation before the operation took place?
Andrew Colvin:
No.
'Timing was determined by operational strategies ..'
Andrew Colvin:
Can I also make a couple of comments about the timing. The timing of these investigations is determined not by external factors, but by the progress of the investigation. Investigators follow the evidence and they take the steps necessary to conclude the investigation. We have always said that leaked investigations are difficult investigations. And no two investigations are the same.
In regard to this investigation, though, we believe that the offending has been ongoing throughout the conduct of that investigation. And that plays into our minds in terms of the operational strategies that we have to employ for the investigation. So the timing is completely determined by the AFP, it’s determined by the status and progress of the investigation, not by any external factors and not by any government influence.
Andrew Colvin:
I stress again, the AFP always acts independently and within the law. In regard to government and political influence that has been commented on this morning, there has been no influence, no influence on the AFP in the conduct of this investigation. In fact, the government first became aware of this investigation shortly after the commencement of the operational activity yesterday. Shortly after that, I spoke to the opposition leader as a matter of courtesy to advise him that the AFP was conducting operational activity. At the commencement of the operational activity we spoke to Senator Conroy. It related specifically to an office that he uses in Melbourne. So I want to be clear, we have acted independently here from government.
AFP commissioner Andrew Colvin addresses the media
Let me say up front for the record, the AFP always acts independently and within the law.
The police commissioner begins his press conference thusly.
It’s also been confirmed that an Australian/British dual national was on the Egypt Air flight. A statement has been issued by the foreign minister Julie Bishop.
Confirmation that an Australian-UK dual national is one of many passengers on lost Egypt Air flight MS 804 @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/ZMO1Nvtr1G
— David Sharaz (@DavidSharaz) May 19, 2016
Should have noted, really, the Labor leader Bill Shorten is heading to western Sydney, the prime minister is in Tasmania, and this afternoon we expect updated economic forecasts from treasury.
Having now seen a copy of the warrant, it’s clear the raid last night was seeking documents and email accounts of the staffers – and it also names five media outlets, the ABC, The Australian, AFR, SMH and Delimiter.
One of the staffers is Ryan Hamilton, who at the moment is running the communications unit of Labor’s campaign headquarters, and outside campaigns, works for the shadow communications minister, Jason Clare.
The AFP will hold a press conference shortly.
Sky is reporting the police warrants also name several media outlets, which would be unsurprising, given the leaks were widely reported, but if the AFP starts raiding media outlets in the middle of an election, that won’t cool things down. Just an observation.
How good is Friday?
Good morning everyone and welcome to Friday where the campaign day is cartwheeling like a catherine wheel courtesy of police raids on Labor offices last night.
The Australian federal police is taking full responsibility for the overnight raids, insisting the activity is independent of government, but the timing is incendiary. Labor hit the airwaves moments after the police crossed various Melbourne thresholds last night, and have not let up since. The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, says of the AFP: “They can’t be oblivious of external events, we are in the second week of an election campaign, they must know that.” Dreyfus also points to a potential breach of protocol. He suggests the convention in such matters sees the AFP tell the government before taking action, and in a period where the caretaker convention applies, tell the opposition as well.
The police for their part say proper protocol was followed. In a statement issued this morning the AFP said the “federal government and opposition were appropriately notified and advised of operational activity … after it commenced yesterday.” My first question of the day: is that really the protocol, because I’m pretty confident it would not be the convention for all police activity?
It’s certainly fair to observe that this is an activist leak investigation. My personal experience of these things suggests to me that police really don’t like to be in the middle of these sort of leak investigations, they often seen pretty reluctant to be pursuing complaints from parties attempting to paper over their embarrassment that certain facts have come to light in unauthorised ways – but in this case it’s boots and all, self-evidently, quite extraordinary action to take in an election period. As I go live this morning, Labor’s campaign spokeswoman Penny Wong says the government has to answer “who knew what when.” She also confirms that there were Labor election policy documents at the home of the Labor staff raided by the police – which is obviously sensitive material which you would not want scooped up in a police raid.
I know from being online this morning a lot of readers are smelling an industrial sized rat. Fair enough. I’ve got a bunch of questions myself. But stepping back from the fray, I can’t see how this action overnight benefits the Coalition in the short term. This is a bad look, and the prime minister certainly does not want to be talking about the NBN anymore than he has to. The NBN is a bad story for Malcolm Turnbull. The investigation obviously benefits the Coalition in the long term if this probe manages to close the communications channel between whomever the whistleblowers are and Labor, given the opposition has been in possession of a succession of top shelf leaks on the NBN for a lengthy period of time. But the government has to wear the short-term perceptions, which aren’t pretty, particularly as the content of the leaks shines a light on Malcolm Turnbull’s performance as communications minister. It really is curiouser and curiouser.
Let’s press on with Friday, which is hectic. A reminder that today’s comments thread is open for your business. If the thread’s too bracing for you, Mike Bowers and I are up and about on the twits – he’s @mpbowers and I’m @murpharoo. If you speak Facebook you can join my daily forum here. And if you want a behind-the-scenes look at the day and the looming campaign, give Mike a follow on Instagram. You can find him here.
Fill up your water bottle, here comes Friday.
Updated
I’m bowing out of this wild ride and handing over to Katharine Murphy who will take you through the rest of the day.
Happy Friday, farewell.
Malcolm Turnbull is taking a leaf from what a Tony Abbott campaign could look like and has written that Bill Shorten is not committed to “strong borders”.
He’s used an op-ed for Fairfax Media to defend the government’s asylum seeker policy.
Those who trade in gesture politics, who claim a monopoly on empathy, have to face the natural consequences of the soft border policies they propose,” he writes.
There is nothing generous about policies that lead families to drown at sea. There is nothing humane about gestures that lead to young women, men and their children in detention.
If there’s nothing humane about “gestures” that lead to detention than what does that say about detention?
Turnbull waxes lyrical about Australia’s multicultural society as he walks the tightrope between the Liberal party base and his personal base.
Barely a day goes past when I don’t celebrate that we are the most successful and harmonious multicultural nation in the world. But we cannot be under any illusions about what our multicultural success is built upon.
Strong borders are the foundation of our high-immigration multicultural success. This is not a hypothetical proposition.
Senator Jacquie Lambie has also been on ABC and was asked about the AFP raids.
I dont think it’s unprecedented or inappropriate, what are they supposed to do? Are the AFP supposed to wait another six or eight weeks to take action? If they have all the evidence on the table then they should move.
The world doesn’t stop rotating [in an election campaign]. If the evidence is on the table and raids are ready to begin then they should begin
I certainly don’t blame the AFP but the NBN blowout has been a disaster, a nightmare from the beginning.
Dreyfus questions government involvement in AFP raids
Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus is on Radio National, livid about the raids. He is suggesting these AFP raids are a direct result of government pressure and the confidence in the AFP’s independence has been undermined, which is a mighty claim to make.
What we want to know is the government’s full involvement in this matter and what pressure did the government put on the NBN Co to pursue this?
The documents involved in this reveal Malcolm Turnbull incompetence and mismanagement in running the NBN ... those are the whistleblowers they are going after.
When pointed out the investigation has been going on for months, so wasn’t timed exactly for the election campaign Dreyfus goes to the complainant – NBN Co.
NBN Co is not indepedent of the government, it is owned by government, what pressure did the government put on the NBN Co to go to police?
There have been more than 20 leaks on national security, leaks from the national security cabinet that have not been investigated.
Isn’t the fact all these other leaks have not been investigated by the AFP proof that the police are not easily pressured by politics?
What a good thing that is, we need to make sure they are indepedent of political interference. I’m saying we need to be concerned about the appearance of police work ... for this raid to be conducted, for the NBN Co to press for an investigation, that raises questions, it does undermine confidence in the independence of the police
The government says it has had no involvement in this investigation.
I don’t accept that for a moment, it is suggested the government never talked to NBN Co about whistleblowers?
Australians looking on, towards the second week of the election campaign would be aghast at unprecedented nature of police raid being conducted on senator’s office and a staffer’s home
Dreyfus says he should have been informed there was an AFP investigation and the AFP “can’t be oblivious of external events”.
We are in an election campaign, the police must know that
Dreyfus says the government must have known NBN Co were making the referral to the federal police at the very least.
Some of the documents quoted in Fairfax Media reports were labelled “commercial in confidence”, so if there was a theft shouldn’t that be investigated?
I’m not going to comment on the investigation
And so ends an interview of Mark Dreyfus commenting on the AFP investigation.
Updated
Labor party have issued the Liberals with an ultimatum: stop playing footsies with the Greens or we will get in bed with Nick Xenophon.
The Australian is reporting that if the Liberals go ahead with a preference deal with the Greens in vulnerable seats in Victoria then Labor could preference NXT in key seats in South Australia such as Mayo, held by Jamie Briggs, and Sturt, held by Christopher Pyne.
An unnamed Labor MP:
The Liberal Party has got Buckley’s chance of any assistance with preferences as long as they are playing footsies with the Greens in Victoria.
And if they do a cynical deal with the Greens in places like Batman and Wills, then they will have it returned to them in spades in seats like Sturt.
'You're loopy if you think the AFP timed this'
Christopher Pyne has the strongest statement on the AFP raids from anyone in the government.
He’s told the ABC the Labor party have overreacted to Stephen Conroy’s offices being raided along with at least one home of a staffer.
Rather than Labor party playing a straight bat they have politicised the Australian federal police, it is extraordinary
The idea the AFP would time this raid because of a Medicare announcement by Bill Shorten yesterday is loopy.
Pyne is referring to Shorten making the biggest opposition policy announcement of the campaign so far yesterday, that Labor would end the freeze on Medicare rebates.
Indepedent and leader of a newly formed party, Nick Xenophon, says that the AFP certainly does have questions to answer, not just about timing but about the entire investigation.
It is not unreasonable to ask the AFP to explain to the people of Australia why these raids were so necessary at this time and why there should of been a diversion of AFP resources to raiding a politician’s offices when there are more serious things to investigate.
Shorten was reportedly briefed by AFP boss Andrew Colvin shortly after the justice minister was informed of the raids.
Shorten himself agreed with Pyne there’s something extraordinary going on.
It’s an extraordinary development it relates to Mr Turnbull’s time in charge of the NBN.
Turnbull himself is trying to stay above the fray.
They operate entirely independently of the government, this is a matter entirely for the AFP and the ALP are well aware of that.
An NBN staff member was sworn in as a special constable to assist the AFP in its raids/ investigation #nbn #auspol
— Kieran Gilbert (@Kieran_Gilbert) May 19, 2016
Updated
Mathias Cormann’s “jobs and growth” mantra is certainly penetrating some skulls – it is in the first line of the Sydney Morning Herald editorial today.
An effective jobs and growth plan is a long-term proposition as our economy shifts away from reliance on resources.
The newspaper is editorialising in favour of the government’s plan to offer internships to young people on the dole and pay them $200 more a fortnight on top of their welfare.
The newspaper argues any doubt over job prospects is problem for the government’s jobs and growth mantra and youth unemployment is a particular concern.
The coalition’s Youth Jobs PaTH - Prepare, Trial, Hire - is a vast improvement on work for the dole, which is not sufficiently tailored to employer needs, carries a stigma and was wound back slightly in the budget.
Bill Shorten is on the move to the Central Coast for the second day in a row.
He has a people’s forum scheduled in Woy Woy after spending last night in Penrith with Malcolm Turnbull.
That’s a reach through the decades
Anthony Albanese cites Laurie Oakes pre-budget leak - "why aren't the AFP looking into that?"
— Charles Croucher (@ccroucher9) May 19, 2016
The feted path to budget surplus is not the one the Coalition is on, according to a panel of former high-ranking federal financial officials, Gareth Hutchens reports.
The panel, which includes former leader of the Liberal party, John Hewson, has warned that the country’s fiscal settings have become further compromised by the 2016 budget, even though policy should be playing an increasingly vital role in a low-growth, low-interest-rate world.
You can read more about our not-so-bright fiscal future here.
Who is Peter Dutton? Well, it could be quite the existential question but in his electorate of Dickson it seems they literally don’t know who their local MP is.
Joshua Robertson went to his electorate and found one of the lowest rates of political engagement in Queensland.
The only time I pick up his name on the side of the building is when I slow down in traffic. What’s he minister of anyway? OK. Right. Nah, I didn’t even know that.
The house raided by the AFP in Brunswick was of Labor staffer Andy Byrne who is part of the party’s election campaign team.
AFP have only just left Andy Byrne's house in Brunswick - a number of campaign strategy documents were inside@9NewsAUS
— Charles Croucher (@ccroucher9) May 19, 2016
Meanwhile Anthony Albanese has told Channel 9 one of the staffers involved in the raid used to work for him.
Updated
Sound, sound the clarion, fill the fife, throughout the sensual world proclaim: It’s Friday!
Welcome to the end of week two of the election campaign, only six more to go. Six weeks to go and it has already got quite ugly, the dog whistling already served up, the members interests – specifically failures to declare them – already nipping the parties’ backsides.
I’ll launch into the day with you and Katharine Murphy will be here from 8.30am.
The big picture
The dominant story of the day, by far, is the Australian federal police raid of Labor MP Stephen Conroy’s parliamentary offices along with a house in Brunswick and a office relating to a staffer of opposition communications spokesman Jason Clare. It’s understood the leak is in relation to a leak about the National Broadband Network.
As the Australian reports, the decision to investigate the opposition during an election campaign is sparking a political storm. The government’s campaign spokesman Mathias Cormann has said the AFP is an indepedent organisation which makes its own decisions.
The AFP have confirmed the raids and released a statement saying the matter was first referred in December. It said it would now spend time examining and analysing the material collected during the raids.
Australian Fed Police confirm it received a referral from NBN in Dec 2015 re leak - more than 5 months ago #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/v9mY8wnBRb
— Simon Cullen (@Simon_Cullen) May 19, 2016
The Oz is reporting AFP commissioner, Andrew Colvin, contacted justice minister, Michael Keenan, as the raids began to tell him of the “politically sensitive action”.
Fairfax Media is reporting the raids are over a leak to the news outlet that costs were blowing out in the rollout of the NBN and it was running behind schedule. It says about 20 NBN Co employee have been interviewed by the AFP in the lead-up to the raids.
The Herald-Sun is reporting the leaks began shortly after the Coalition won government in 2013 but had “got more serious” in recent months.
Labor have come out swinging with Bill Shorten labelling the raids “unprecedented”. Shadow attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus, questioned the raids.
We have never witnessed such an extraordinary action during a federal election campaign.
What we also know is that there have been other serious leaks out of government – including relating to national security, defence and the federal budget – and none of them have resulted in federal police raids.
Malcolm Turnbull has declined to comment on the raids.
Meanwhile Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, is defending hiring backpackers as au pairs on his Victorian farm for $150 a week, plus food and board. Advertisements posted by his wife, Lucy Quarterman, have been dug up but Di Natale has defended them as meeting minimum wage requirements as the backpackers work up to 25 hours a week.
The advertisement also offers couples the same rate as a single person. Posted on backpackerjobboard.com.au it reads:
We live a sustainable lifestyle with water tanks and solar power. Dad works away a lot during the week so I am looking for an extra pair of hands around the place to entertain the lads and help with cooking and general domestic duties. We have self-contained accommodation with own bathroom, kitchen, TV & stereo. A car is also available. Will take couples but weekly wage remains the same.
One backpacker was employed on the terms and another two have been hired according to Di Natale’s office.
On the campaign trail
Malcolm Turnbull arrived in Tasmania last night. He and Bill Shorten were both in Penrith last night for the Daily Telegraph’s “Go West” gala awards. The Go West campaign has been going for months and was about the needs of western Sydney.
And another thing(s)
Nick Xenophon could well hold the balance of power in the new government but Lenore Taylor found the publicity-hungry senator hard to pin down for an in-depth conversation for this profile.
Once she did though, the results were illuminating.
As the conversation progresses it becomes apparent Xenophon’s views on the various proposed solutions could cause headaches, whoever wins the election.
Booker prize winning author Richard Flanagan has written about the possible impact of the re-election of the Coalition on literature in Australia – he thinks Malcolm Turnbull would destroy it.
It may seem at the moment that the only thing that will save the Australian book industry is moving every publisher and writer into Christopher Pyne’s electorate, and making them all wear hi-vis jackets and safety helmets.
If your motivation is not ‘don’t be a scrooge’, at least think of the optics
WA Premier Colin Barnett asked for $3 change when he bought a copy of the Big Issue ~cringe~ https://t.co/hmUR6pqgu9
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) May 19, 2016
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