Night time politics
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Ziggy Switkowski is in hot water after a letter from the head of the department of prime minister and cabinet (PMC) Martin Parkinson revealed PMC had advised Switkowski that his opinion piece published during on the NBN breached elements of the caretaker conventions. At the same time, NBN CEO Bill Morrow may have to return to the US as a witness in legal action over a utility disaster. Cabinet secretary Arthur Sinodinos says Switkowski should have realised he was walking into a minefield. Both Morrow and Switkowski were appointed by Malcolm Turnbull as communications minister. Tomorrow’s campaign presser will be riveting.
- The Liberal software data company Parakeelia has been referred to the auditor general by Labor after a week of questions over payments by the company to the Liberal party. Liberal MPs pay for services rendered, then Parakeelia makes payments back to the party. Liberal party insists the payments are not donations but the opaque nature of law means we don’t know. Questions to Liberal HQ have gone unanswered.
- Scott Morrison conducted another pantomime press conference bollocking Labor and the Greens. He released an attack ad.
- Bob Katter has caused a stir with an ad that suggests the indie MP shooting two people representing the major parties.
That is it for today. To those of you going to the Guardian Live event in Sydney with the keeper of this blog Katharine Murphy and our political editor Lenore Taylor - enjoy.
Thanks for your company.
Meanwhile here is a photo from Mick Tsikas of Bill Shorten buying socks in the seat of Hasluck in Perth. Just because. Good night.
Updated
NBNCo answers for Ziggy Switkowski
The NBNCo has put out a statement regarding its chairman Ziggy Switkowski.
A spokeswoman said:
The Caretaker Guidelines state that: “[government companies] …should observe the conventions and practices unless to do so would conflict with their legal obligations or compelling organisational requirements”.
Building the nbn is an unprecedented task and can only be achieved with a highly engaged and motivated staff. Inaccurate comments that accuse the company of deliberately misleading, deliberately concealing, and then persecuting innocent whistle-blowers have a tremendously corrosive effect on morale and jeopardise the great gains made over the last few years. The opinion piece addressed misleading claims to restore the trust of its 5000 employees.
Any accusation that the company’s staff, management, its board and (by implication) its shareholder departments have conspired to keep large cost increases secret from the Australian people is not only plainly and demonstrably false, but is a serious accusation in light of the Corporations act (for example section 184). This is obviously not acceptable and the opinion piece addressed the allegations in a manner commensurate with the mode in which they were made; that is, publicly in the national media.
Lucy Turnbull received one of Germany’s highest civilian honours for her work in fostering closer ties between Australia and Germany.
Sinodinos: Parakeelia does not look bad, based on my information
Arthur Sinodinos is asked about Parakeelia, which has now been referred to the auditor general by Labor.
Q: You don’t think it looks bad?
On the basis of the info provided to me, I don’t think it does.
Sinodinos defends Switkowski
Arthur Sinodinos has defended Ziggy Switkowski on the NBN.
(Ziggy Switkowski) and Martin (Parkinson) have taken slightly different interpretations (of caretaker conventions).
When pushed, Sinodinos says Ziggy probably is “uncomfortable” about it.
Q: Should he have done this?
I’m not inside his head.
Q: Do you think he did anything wrong
I don’t think he did anything wrong but I think he should have realised he was walking into a minefield.
Updated
Joel Fitzgibbon is talking about the delicate nature of the global economy. Why plunge Australia into worse deficits, asks Speers?
We are not taking the sledge hammer approach to the economy that Malcolm Turnbull has chosen.
Cabinet secretary Arthur Sinodinos says he believes Britain should stay in the EU but it is a matter for the British people. But given Britain has a “very special place in Australian history”, that will not change.
Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon agrees it is up to the British people and also agrees, it is not in the interests of Britain to exit the EU.
They are speaking to David Speers on Sky. Sinodinos says the fundamentals of the Australian economy are good, in the case of an “external shock” from a Brexit. Speers wants to know whether there would be any stimulus to protect Australia from recession. Steady as she goes, is the Sinodinos message. Fitzgibbon is not being drawn in either.
Anne Aly is an expert in counter terrorism measures and deradicalisation programs. She is now the Labor candidate for Cowan in WA. Anna Henderson of the ABC tracked her down while she was on the campaign trail to talk about the lessons from Orlando.
WA Labor candidate for Cowan Anne Aly, counter terrorism expert, on #Orlando failures @abcnews #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/lsf4pXwiCu
— Anna Henderson (@annajhenderson) June 15, 2016
Double back to Parakeelia. Those with the blog yesterday will know Katharine was trying to ascertain some details regarding the payments made from Parakeelia to the Liberal party. You may remember the Liberal party spokesman said the payments were not donations but fell into the category of “other receipts”.
Katharine reported the definition of other receipts, according to the AEC.
This term refers to those amounts received by a party or associated entity which do not meet the legislative definition of ‘gift’ (commonly referred to as donation). Examples of amounts which fall into the category of ‘other receipts’ are interest on investments, dividends on shares, market rate rent received on properties owned. All other receipts disclosed in the return must show the gross amount.
Yesterday she sent this question: which category [above] do the payments from Parakeelia to the party fall into?
I sent the same question today. Nada.
No answer came the stern reply.
Lenore Taylor has rolled out a few facts regarding the Coalition’s Labor/Greens/independents scare ads, so ably unveiled by Scott Morrison this morning. Lenore points out that the Coalition may well have to govern with the help of independents so best not ramp up the rhetoric too high. The conclusion, maybe the result will be closer than we think.
NBN Co's chief executive, Bill Morrow, likely to be called as witness for US utility disaster
From Katharine Murphy and Gareth Hutchens:
The executive appointed by Malcolm Turnbull to run NBN Co appears likely to be called as a witness in legal actions now under way in the US, flowing from one of the worst utility disasters in the country’s history.
Legal actions have begun in San Francisco involving Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E), a company Bill Morrow joined in 2006 as chief operating officer, before becoming chief executive a year later. Morrow left PG&E in September 2008.
Morrow was appointed to run Australia’s largest infrastructure project, the NBN rollout, in December 2013, by the then communications minister, Malcolm Turnbull.
NBN Co confirmed on Wednesday that Morrow expected to be called as a witness in the PG&E proceedings in the US, which are expected to last between six and eight weeks.
According to US media reports, PG&E faces 13 criminal counts in the trial, including 12 charges the gas utility violated safety regulations and one charge of obstruction. The company has pleaded not guilty.
Updated
Labor preferences Liberals over former Liberal now independent Dennis Jensen.
#lastword In preference deal madness, in Tangney, Labor preferences the Liberals! #auspol #ausvotes
— Dennis Jensen MP (@DennisJensenMP) June 14, 2016
@margokingston1 Yes, I am below Libs on Labor HTV. My polling is above Labor, so their preferences go to the Libs! #ausvotes #auspol
— Dennis Jensen MP (@DennisJensenMP) June 15, 2016
Back to Parakeelia. Former Liberal MP Dennis Jensen says Parakeelia payments were “laundered” into the Liberal party.
@kels_316 I did, but was certainly not aware that the money was being laundered into the Liberal Party!#Parakeelia #ausvotes #auspol
— Dennis Jensen MP (@DennisJensenMP) June 15, 2016
Queensland independent Bob Katter “shoots” the major parties in campaign ad.
Let’s be clear, there is a clear choice, is that clear?
The man with the plan has morphed into the clear choice. Clearly, the Coalition rhetoric about presenting very different options. Remember not so long ago, people were complaining that both major parties were too similar? Now we have contrasting choices and the Coalition is keen to underline that. Here is a collection of Turnbull quotes from this morning’s brief address to a small business breakfast.
- So this is an election where there is a clear choice.
- So you have got a clear plan from us every element of which will secure your future.
- So it’s a very clear choice.
- So it’s a very clear choice if you’re voting today, or any day between now and 2 July - a very, very clear choice.
- The choice is clear.
Updated
Fill this caption bubble.
Rosie Batty questions shared custody
Domestic violence campaigner, Rosie Batty, has taken aim at shared custody, arguing in the National Press Club that it has resulted in courts forcing children to have ongoing contact with parents who are violent and abusive.
When asked if Australia should abandon a presumption of shared custody, Batty replied: “I don’t think we should assume an entitlement of any parent.
“As a parent, you shouldn’t be entitled to have ongoing relations with your child if you are a violent, abusive, neglectful and that is proven over time.”
Under Australian family law the best interests of the children is the paramount consideration when considering custody.
Courts must consider “the benefit to the child of having a meaningful relationship” with both parents and “the need to protect the child from physical or psychological harm from being subjected to, or exposed to, abuse, neglect or family violence.
Updated
Lunchtime politics
Mike up. We best get to a summary.
- Today, we learn that NBNCo chair Ziggy Switkowski’s eyebrow raising intervention in the middle of the campaign via an opinion piece was judged to be inconsistent with caretaker conventions. His article was submitted to the department prime minister and cabinet for advice. PMC says yeah, nah. Ziggy goes ahead anyway. In a letter to Labor’s Tony Burke, head of PMC Martin Parkinson said the conventions have no legal force. But the “apolitical and impartial nature of the public service” was a matter of the highest priority.
- Treasurer Scott Morrison released a Labor/Greens attack ad. Because he had been so critical of Labor’s glossy brochure on their economic plan, Morrison released “The Greening of Labor” in matte. This would not gel with the Greens in the Coalition ranks, namely Kado Muir, Indigenous former Greens candidate, now standing in the number one spot for the National party in the great state of Western Australia. (Muir stood four times for the Greens and none other than Scott Ludlam referred to him as a friend, colleague and mentor.) It was yet another strange performance by the treasurer, who is supposed to be a serious person in charge of the economy.
- The treaty continued to swirl around. Attorney general George Brandis agreed (shock) with his leader that Labor was endangering constitutional recognition by engaging about an Indigenous treaty. Indigenous leaders continued to think otherwise.
- Rosie Batty, domestic violence campaigner at the Press Club, in a minute.
"Scott Morrison should spend more time on his day job as Treasurer and than his night job as amateur video ... https://t.co/2Obuy9er9S
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) June 15, 2016
Shorten is asked, will you rule out the suggestion that the ALP has used taxpayer funds to run voter databases?
I can rule out that we’ve been paying money into Labor Party organisations and conducting ourselves in the manner of this Liberal washing machine where they are paying taxpayer money into Liberal Party entities.
Shorten on whether Switkowski should be sacked by the prime minister.
(Turnbull)’s caught in a bind of his own making. On one hand if he doesn’t sack Dr Switkowski or take action, he’s condoning a breach of caretaker conventions. If he does, it confirms the game is up in terms of how NBN has been going in the last three years.
Turnbull appointed Switkowski chair of NBNCo.
Shorten on Switkowski: "a shameful breach"
Bill Shorten on advice from PMC to Ziggy Switkowski that his opinion piece during the election campaign breached caretaker conventions.
Australia’s internet speeds have seen a slip from 30th to 60th and we now have the NBNCo doing everything they can to cover up the facts. I think for an otherwise respected businessman, Dr Switkowski, I think this is a shameful breach. Yet again NBNCo are doubling down on the cover-up,the denial.
Updated
Shorten on Turnbull’s prediction that the Coalition will win.
I would never be so arrogant as to we will win. Apart from any other reason, the election hasn’t been held. The votes haven’t been counted. How out of touch is this Turnbull just to simply declare he’s won?
Bill Shorten on Parakeelia.
The community is getting increasingly concerned when the analysis sees taxpayers dollars going into Liberal Party coffers. This looks like a Liberal Party washing machine turning taxpayer dollars into Liberal Party profits. Mr Turnbull needs to get off the fence and stop being in denial about the scam.
The reporters want an answer from Bill Shorten on his views on the Brexit.
That will be a matter for British voters. Whatever the outcome I would encourage markets to stay calm. In fact, yet again, what happens [highlights] the importance of what Labor is talking about in this election.
Both Turnbull and Shorten believe we should vote for them as the best response to a Brexit.
If Britain does vote to leave and things do get ugly what is Labor’s plan and would you consider fiscal stimulus?
First of all, Labor’s plan is regardless of what happens overseas.
Updated
Shorten is asked to rule out full fee deregulation for universities.
We will oppose full-fee deregulation. We will also take the pressure off universities trying to up fees because we will provide a minimum student guarantee.
Bill Shorten is speaking to the media now in Perth.
Parakeelia. Questions for the Liberal campaign spokesman Mathias Cormann
Questions, questions from James Massola of Fairfax at the Cormann doorstop this morn.
Q: Sallyanne Innes was employed in the Coalition Advisory Service under the MOPS Act in 2014 while also working for the software company Parakeelia, which was selling software to Liberal MPs. How is that not a conflict of interest?
Cormann:
All questions in relation to Parakeelia ought to be addressed to the Liberal party organisation. In relation to staffing arrangements, all arrangements that have been in place in relation to these matters are entirely lawful and appropriate.
Q: But you are the special minister of state. Minister, this woman was working for a company that was selling software to Liberal MPs, while at the same time employed by taxpayers for the Liberal party in their Coalition Advisory Service. How is that not a conflict of interest?
Cormann:
You make assertions that I don’t necessarily accept. In relation to Parakeelia ...
Q: She was sending emails from a Parakeelia email address and she was listed in the contact directory for the Coalition in 2014 minister.
Cormann:
In relation to Parakeelia I refer you to the Liberal party organisation.
Q: Were any other staffers employed in the Coalition Advisory Service also working for Parakeelia?
Cormann:
Again, in relation to Parakeelia, I refer you to the Liberal party organisation. Are there any other questions?
Updated
Senate tablecloth.
this is how big the NSW Senate ballot paper is - more than five A4 pages long https://t.co/EA4m7HyCpZ
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) June 15, 2016
I will leave you to the captions.
Never know who you might run in to on the campaign trail! #Flynn #ZacBeers @Barnaby_Joyce pic.twitter.com/Ta9SH6Ahg6
— Joel Fitzgibbon (@fitzhunter) June 15, 2016
Great political ads of our time.
When I expressed my WTH sentiments to a Liberal regarding the Scott Morrison wacky press conferences, Liberal person said everyone has to have an attack dog. But the treasurer?
For what it’s worth, this unnamed Liberal believes the “conservative” independents are a far bigger threat to the Coalition than Labor and the Greens. That is, Pauline Hanson, Jacqui Lambie, Glenn Lazarus and of course, Nick Xenophon.
Like the British in Singapore, Morrison’s guns are all pointed in the wrong direction.
Anyway, it’s worth a romp down memory lane regarding great political ads of our times.
Thanks to Matt Hatter.
Scary Sanders.
@gabriellechan Finally found it. Ridiculous Anti-Sanders ad. #ausvotes https://t.co/wnPJmeoedr
— The Matt Hatter (@MattGlassDarkly) June 15, 2016
And Sideshow Bob.
@gabriellechan And of course the classic...Sideshow Bob Campaign Ad: https://t.co/SxmWcfjZfu
— The Matt Hatter (@MattGlassDarkly) June 15, 2016
Updated
Ziggy Switkowski wilfully breaches caretaker conventions with oped
Mark Kenny of Fairfax has reported:
NBN chairman Ziggy Switkowski wilfully breached caretaker conventions during an election campaign and did so against the express advice of the nation’s top public servant.
In a spectacular late-campaign bombshell that calls into question Dr Switkowski’s continued occupation of the post and again thrusts the NBN into the centre of controversy, Fairfax Media can reveal NBN management specifically sought and received advice from the Department of Communications and the Arts and from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet before submitting a hard-hitting opinion piece to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age published on May 28.
The opinion piece related to the NBN Co calling in the federal police regarding leaks to Labor. He made no apologies for calling in the AFP.
When dozens of confidential company documents are stolen, this is theft. When they are the basis of media headlines and partisan attacks, they wrongly tarnish our reputation, demoralise our workforce, distract the executive and raise doubts where there is little basis for concern. The process is a form of political rumourtrage – the circulation of misinformation to diminish an enterprise for political gain.
Labor’s Tony Burke complained to Martin Parkinson, head of the PMC. Parkinson advised Burke that it went against PMC advice.
This is the killer quote .
The Department of Communications and the Arts sought, and received, advice from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet that the publication of the article in that form was not consistent with the established practices associated with the caretaker conventions. I understand that view was strongly conveyed to NBN by the Department of Communications and the Arts, as was the view that the conventions apply to the chairman, as well as to the CEO and the company. Our understanding is that this view was passed to Dr Switkowski.
Updated
GIF games.
check the new GIF meme game from the Liberals
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) June 15, 2016
Greg Combet animorphing into Adam Bandt is particularly frightening pic.twitter.com/tERfVAOCio
Essential polling is out for this week.
It has the two-party preferred vote at Labor 51 to Coalition 49, compared with 50-50 last week.
The only thing in the primary vote numbers that has changed is Labor is up one from 36% to 37%, off the back of independents/others, down one. “Others” do not include Xenophon who remains on 4%.
Updated
Junior championship. Into the rough.
There has never been a less exciting time to be WA premier Colin Barnett.
Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA
Turnbull did a campaign launch last night in Western Australia. The Coalition is on the nose in the west, given Barnett is leading an eight year old government and the economy is on the slide. From Lukas Coch’s photo, Barnett is wearing his polling heavily as he greets the Excitement Machine.
Perth ABC goes to local issues, such as Labor’s promise to divert funding from the Perth Freight Link to the Perth Metronet. Bill Shorten says he will get a billion dollars from Freight Link and will be talking to Colin Barnett about the policy.
We will be talking to the WA government about our interest versus his.
The other big issue in WA is of course the GST.
Q: People in the state have heard several years politicians of all persuasions expressions of sympathy and understanding about GST distribution and the manner in which it is reformed. I see nothing in your list of promises to WA that addresses that issue. Is the message coming from you and Malcolm Turnbull clear to West Australians “stop lobbying, we can’t help you”?
My message is straight forward.There is an independent process which allocates GST. That process should always be governed by the best economic argument and evidence and not just political promises.
Updated
Another question to Bill Shorten on pensions.
Q: How can you help me other than giving me cheap medical? I need money to spend, I need money to eat.
What we have done is we have successfully defended the higher indexation rate for pensioners. I get that 20% of Australia in the next few years will be people over the age of 65.
Shorten goes on to mention “medical”, preserving bulk billing, a promise not to raise the GST and – curiously – Labor’s policy for a banking royal commission.
Updated
And this exchange with a caller on changing leaders.
Q: Could you ask Mr Shorten how the public is going to be able to feel confident he won’t shaft them when he shafted both of the prime ministers he was working for?
Well, I imagine yesterday you asked Mr Turnbull how he was getting on with Mr Abbott, who he replaced –
Q: Yeah but you did it twice.
Updated
Bill Shorten is on ABC in Perth. He has spoken about reform and tax cuts.
He gets a question from a pensioner regarding Labor’s initial opposition to pension cuts. Why not reinstate them if Labor didn’t like them?
We have had to make hard decisions. We have prioritised in this election defending Medicare. By the way, if we can keep the price of going to the doctor down, and if we can keep the price of prescriptions down, we think that’s a great assistance to self-funded retirees and pensioners. We also successfully opposed the government when they wanted to lower the indexation rate of pensions.
Updated
The communications minister, Mitch Fifield, has been on Adelaide radio, answering questions about the NBN’s recruitment policy.
This relates to the Adam Gartrell’s story some days ago about national broadband recruiters looking for workers – “copper gurus” – in Ireland. It is worth a read, especially given the recruitment company OneIRC has a no “Richard Cranium” policy.
Fifield says the story does not relate to NBN but perhaps to a contractor.
NBN is doing what it can through a $40m fund to make money available not just to NBN but also for those who work for subcontractors to train Australians. So NBN is doing everything that it can. Now, I’m not saying that there mightn’t be circumstances where individual subcontractors have skills that they can’t source domestically. I can’t make that statement because these are businesses that run themselves. But NBN, for its part, are doing everything they possibly can to make sure that money is available to train Australians to work on the project.
Updated
Last question to Turnbull: Yesterday you said it was fair to describe British colonisation as an invasion. Is it then reasonable to celebrate our national day on this day of apparent invasion?
Look, all of these symbols evolve ... Our history is as it was. It’s a question of fact. But we celebrate it and you know something? We are the most successful multicultural society in the world. From our first Australians who’ve been here since time out of mind, 40,000 years, their families have been here. To people who’ve just arrived and become citizens this week, we are a big, diverse country.
Updated
Malcolm Turnbull has said recently that the Coalition will win. What do you know that we don’t? Enthusiasm, people. Turnbull says the enthusiasm of the Australian peeps will carry the Coalition through.
I’m backing their wisdom, their judgment to make the right choice, today and every day through to 2 July.
Updated
Turnbull is asked about Parakeelia channelling taxpayers money.
It’s a matter for the party organisation. That entity has been providing effectively database services to Liberal party members as indeed a similar entity has been doing for Labor members for many, many years.
Updated
At the prospect of Brexit, how concerned should Australians be about the prospect of a Brexit on the global economy? Malcolm Turnbull:
Yes, the British people will of course make their own decision and it’s a matter for them. But it is possible that Britain will vote to leave the EU. That will cause a degree of uncertainty in global markets, and the anticipation of that is already doing that. It is a reminder that we need to ensure that we have strong, committed, capable economic leadership, a stable government with a clear national economic plan.
Eyes turn towards Perth. Malcolm Turnbull is talking about the force of his economic plan. But the first question goes to the 17-year-old boy charged with terrorism offences.
A 17-year-old boy was charged this morning in Sydney with Sydney terrorism offences. Given the events of the last few days, especially the arrival of a hate preacher in Australia, are you confident in Australia’s capacity to combat potential threats here?
We are relentlessly vigilant in defending Australians from terror. And from threats to our security. It’s of critical importance. I’ve just been speaking to Mike Phelan, the deputy commissioner national security of the Australian federal police, and yes, you’re right, a 17-year-old male was arrested and charged last night with two terrorism-related offences. One related to preparing a terrorist to undertake a terrorist offence, the other related to using telecommunications services, using the internet in other words, to that end.
Updated
Journos are pushing Morrison on how worried he is about the Brexit and its economic effect on Australia?
Morrison only wants to talk about Labor and the Greens. The segue is in these times, we need certainty, not the caravan of chaos.
Who knows where economic policy will land when you throw up Labor, the Greens and the independents.
I’m trying to find the ad for your edification.
There is much frivolity over the backing track.
I would love to know your thoughts.
Scott Morrison, treasurer:
The Treasurer has unveiled a new television commercial, to highlight 'The Greening of Labor' #ausvotes @SkyNewsAust pic.twitter.com/JYAGJ4fIwT
— Jackson Williams (@jacksonw____) June 14, 2016
Why is a treasurer doing these comical pressers? He is in danger is becoming chief Coalition jester.
Scott Morrison, treasurer:
Not only would we never do a deal with the Greens, they would never do a deal with us.
Scott Morrison is launching an ad, which looks like putting a mash-up of photos of Labor/Greens figures into a blender, with a backing track by Joan Jett.
I know its hard-hitting but it’s there for all to see.
The first question is, who is this for? What voter?
This is a truth campaign.
Updated
The point of this press conference is to point out the dangerous liaisons between Labor, the Greens and independents. We are back to the caravan of chaos, my friends.
The treasurer, Scott Morrison, is listing “the mad things Labor would need to do to form an alliance with Greens”.
- Higher deficit and debt.
- Ramraid the Future Fund.
Australia would have a “100 days as they scramble together what is in each others heads”.
Updated
Wacky presser number 456. #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/qz6oFrJtXg
— Gabrielle Chan (@gabriellechan) June 14, 2016
Turnbull is walking the tightrope between clear pool of exciting times and crocodile swamp of risk and challenge. “It is the most exciting time... But there are risks and challenges.”
The risks:
- The exit of Britain from the European Union.
- The Labor, Greens, independent alliance.
The prime minister notes who is in the running; we have Labor, the Greens, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott.
We are only waiting for Bob Brown.
Updated
The prime minister is speaking to a business breakfast in Perth in the electorate of Swan. Malcolm Turnbull is talking tax cuts for businesses between $2m and $10m. He says 15% of workers in Swan work for such businesses. He is pointing this out because Labor opposes tax cuts for businesses with a turnover more than $2m – as they do not class them small biz. Turnbull mentions the Western Australian economy in transition.
This is an election where there is a clear choice. People are voting today. People voted yesterday.
Updated
The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, is glad Farrokh Sekaleshfar decamped “of his own accord”. This is the British sheikh who advocated death as the penalty for homosexual acts.
Malcolm Turnbull called for a review of the visa, Dutton revoked his visa and, having seen the writing on the wall, he got on a plane.
Dutton is asked by Kieran Gilbert what he thinks about Donald Trump’s call to ban Muslims from coming to the United States after the Orlando massacre. Even though the killer was born in the country.
Dutton does not want to comment on Trump or Clinton “for that matter”.
My job is to protect our borders, defend our borders so we can have a safer society...
Updated
Good morning, how's about a jig?
Good morning and thanks to Calla. Not sure whether I am Gryffindor or Slytherin. Personally, would prefer to be an Irish dancer today.
My erstwhile colleague Alan Stokes over at Fairfax has highlighted a couple of the more interesting outsider candidates in the campaign. They include former Irish dancer champ and lawyer Aoife Champion, who is running for Hume against Angus Taylor, the person most often referred to as a future Liberal leader. Andrew Thaler in Eden-Monaro also gets a run as a Solar PV Mogul, possibly the best title I have never heard. He owns the largest private collection of photovoltaic panels in Australia and is committed to the role of independents in parliament. Thaler is trying to insert himself into the death match between the sitting MP, Peter Hendy, and former MP Mike Kelly in the bellwether seat.
Stokes points out the need for diversity in parliament. Do we need another lawyer or union boss? God knows we need more Irish dancers in the parliament. Think of the possibilities for panel discussions on ABC and Sky.
But let’s get serious. As Calla has shared, the papers’ political news is dominated by the conversation over a treaty.
Paul Kelly at the Oz has blamed progressive politics.
Progressive politics is close to killing off the worthy idea of constitutional recognition of the Indigenous peoples with Bill Shorten framing this referendum in the context of a treaty, an idea long anathema to majority Australian opinion.
Malcolm Turnbull was right yesterday to finger Shorten for his irresponsibility and indiscipline on the ABC’s Q&A on Monday night when Shorten was enthusiastic about putting the treaty on the national agenda. This constitutional referendum has been in grave jeopardy over the past year.
We do know from history that referenda can be easily derailed. But what is difficult for one generation, like Kelly’s, can move along. Indigenous leaders, such as now Labor senator Patrick Dodson and Tony McAvoy, Australia’s first Indigenous senior counsel, say constitutional recognition are not mutually exclusive. We can walk and chew gum.
Stan Grant has written on this subject today in Guardian Australia. He points out that Australia is the only commonwealth country not to have signed a treaty with Indigenous people.
Treaty has a greater chance of success now than in the 1980s when then prime minister Bob Hawke promised much but quickly retreated.
There has been progress since: the 1992 high court Mabo decision establishing native title to land, the Keating Redfern statement of the same year that spoke the hard truths of our history – the first time such words had fallen from a prime minister’s lips.
We have had the reckoning of the stolen generations and Kevin Rudd’s apology on behalf of our parliament to a people wronged. We have had walks for reconciliation and a burgeoning Indigenous arts movement that has taken our stories to a wider audience eager to listen.
I shall bring you more on the treaty discussion throughout the day. In the meantime, talk to me below, on the Twits @gabriellechan or via my Facebook page. Mike Bowers is on a secret Insiders-related project but we will be able to rustle up some photos from his colleagues on the wires.
Put on your dancing shoes. The music begins.
Updated
I’ll hand over now to Gabrielle Chan, who will take the place of your regularly scheduled Katharine Murphy who, as previously mentioned, will host a Guardian Live event with Lenore Taylor in Sydney tonight (shameless plug number two!)
I’ll leave you with a bit of assistance for undecided voters: our how to vote test, put together by Paul Karp and data editor Nick Evershed.
Approach with caution. There’s nothing more upsetting than believing you’re a Gryffindor and testing as a Hufflepuff.
Front-page news
Thanks again to Dave Earley for the daily roundup.
Financial Review front page. Wednesday 15 June 2016. @FinancialReview #ausvotes #election2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/wYZFUKDEFs
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 14, 2016
The Canberra Times front page. Wednesday 15 June 2016. @canberratimes #ausvotes #election2016 #orlando pic.twitter.com/nrlrK6Z4nm
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 14, 2016
The Daily Telegraph front page. Wednesday 15 June 2016. @dailytelegraph #ausvotes #election2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/kQTes0VeVI
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 14, 2016
Sydney Morning Herald front page. Wednesday 15 June 2016. @smh #ausvotes #election2016 #orlando pic.twitter.com/4J5YZKvUaq
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 14, 2016
The Australian front page. Wednesday 15 June 2016. @australian #ausvotes #election2016 #orlando pic.twitter.com/MAwxaH5zX2
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 14, 2016
ABC News front page. Wednesday 15 June 2016. @abcnews #ausvotes #election2016 #orlando pic.twitter.com/43is1qSFfF
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 14, 2016
Guardian Australia front page. Wednesday 15 June 2016. @GuardianAus #ausvotes #election2016 #orlando pic.twitter.com/K7RfLUeYhD
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 14, 2016
The Courier Mail front page. Wednesday 15 June 2016. @couriermail #ausvotes #election2016 #orlando pic.twitter.com/NbAr8rxrGc
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 14, 2016
The Herald Sun front page. Wednesday 15 June 2016. @theheraldsun #ausvotes #election2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/IglXlK4pjq
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 14, 2016
The Age front page. Wednesday 15 June 2016. @theage #ausvotes #election2016 #orlando pic.twitter.com/H1g8v1uu0j
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 14, 2016
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‘twould be remiss of me not to post this, found trawling through Adam Langenberg’s twitter feed.
Happy Tuesday. Here's a video of @andrewnikolic & Matthew Garwood singing a Cliff Richard classic https://t.co/TwJBsJgcCx #ausvotes #politas
— Adam Langenberg (@AdamLangenberg) June 14, 2016
To Tasmania now, where the Greens candidate for Bass, Terrill Riley-Gibson, has pulled out of a candidates debate scheduled for tomorrow night because Liberal MP Andrew Nikolic refused to take part if she was involved.
It wasn’t personal. According to The Examiner, Nikolic was abiding by a Tasmanian Liberal party policy, instituted after the 2014 state election, to only take part in two party debates.
The Examiner’s Adam Langenberg reports:
The Liberal Party adopted the policy for the 2014 state election, but had previously entered candidates in The Examiner’s federal election forums in 2010 and 2013.
“The Liberal Party is not interested in debating other candidates who have no chance of winning and whose parties have no chance of forming the next government in their own right,” (Liberal party state director Sam) McQuestin said.
“If there’s to be a real debate about the future of Bass and the other federal seats in Tasmania, make it a debate between the real contenders – Liberal and Labor – and disregard those who have no realistic chance of representing those electorates in Parliament.”
Riley-Gibson pulled out late Tuesday, saying: “Andrew Nikolic has no excuses anymore for dodging scrutiny.”
Meanwhile, Lyons MP Eric Hutchinson, the mildest of the three Liberal amigos elected in a big swing toward the Liberals in 2013, is happily taking part in a three-candidate debate at the Longford Town Hall.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, has confirmed the Australian government cancelled the visa of controversial muslim cleric Sheikh Farrokh Sekaleshfar after he left Australia last night.
This is what Turnbull said on 2GB radio this morning:
The moment this man’s presence and what he had said was drawn to our attention, the minister and I spoke about it, the minister acted decisively and his visa was revoked.
As my colleague Michael Safi reported earlier this week, Sekaleshfar gave a lecture about homosexuality in Islamic law in Orlando, Florida, two months before the Pulse nightclub massacre.
At a 2013 lecture on the same topic, he argued that “death is the sentence for homosexual acts” in Islam and this was “nothing to be embarrassed about”.
Tanya Plibersek then said Labor had not struck a preference deal with the Nick Xenophon Team in South Australia because they weren’t confident of the latter’s political views.
It would have been terrific if we could actually be confident that the Nick Xenophon Team shared our values and we could share preferences with them.
She suggested there were differences of opinion on the issues of penalty rates, health and education.
Labor is running open tickets in South Australia.
A step on the road to reconciliation
Tanya Plibersek also accused the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, of insulting voters’ intelligence in his criticism of Bill Shorten’s comments about constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians.
What Bill said is that constitutional recognition and a treaty are not mutually exclusive ... I think it’s very important to say that constitutional recognition is one step among many to a future where Indigenous Australians and Australians are well and truly reconciled.
So, does Plibersek support a treaty? A non-answer:
There’s nothing wrong with having a conversation about steps beyond recognition. But our first step is bipartisan support for recognition.
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Pragmatic idealism
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek is due to give a speech today about idealism, which is aimed at clawing back some of the bright young things attracted to the more progressive politics of the Greens.
Speaking to Fran Kelly on Radio National, Plibersek said Labor was the party of progressive politics, but “the difference is we are a party of government, we need to take more than half of Australians with us”.
Is that enough for The Youth? Plibersek says yes.
I have a lot of young people in my branches and you couldn’t find people who are more idealistic … but the difference is they understand that progress is made step by step, you don’t teleport.
She dismissed the suggestion (which is rather more than a suggestion, based on current polling) that the Greens were steadily eating away at the Labor vote, saying we’ve seen third parties, left and right, come and go.
She said the Greens may be idealistic, but:
Idealism on its own is not enough. You need an idealism and a plan to achieve the objectives you have laid out.
What about Labor’s continued support of Australia’s harsh border protection policies – isn’t that an area where disillusioned Labor voters have turned to the Greens?
Plibersek says Labor will be “compassionate”, doubling the refugee quota and letting journalists back on Manus Island and Nauru, but:
We also have a responsibility to stop people drowning at sea. We can’t say, as the Greens do, just let them come.
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A long, horrible campaign
On ABC 24, resources minister Josh Frydenberg has been asked to weigh in on a story in the Australian Financial Review which said focus groups showed voters had switched off.
Said ABC 24 breakfast presenter Michael Rowland:
It’s been – it’s a long, horrible campaign, hasn’t it, minister?
Frydenberg:
Well, they’re your words, Michael. The point is it’s a 55-day campaign, the longest campaign in 60 years.
Have voters switched off?
Well, I certainly feel that voters aren’t as engaged as they normally would be over a 33-day campaign. But this was unusual because we needed a double-dissolution election in order to deal with the important Australian Building Construction Commission.
About that double-dissolution trigger – should we be talking about that more? Frydenberg says it has been raised with him in public forums and private conversations, which appears to be a no.
The focus group report comes via the AFR’s Philip Coorey, who writes that the focus group research:
... concludes that voters are disgruntled with their lot, lack confidence in the future, have become increasingly disengaged with politics and the election and lack belief in the political class.
These sentiments are similar to those feeding the rise of Republican Donald Trump in the US and the growing push in Britain to leave the European Union.
Updated
Guardian live
A bit of shameless self-promotion here, but if you’re a regular Politics Live reader this should be firmly in your wheelhouse.
Guardian Australia’s political editor, Lenore Taylor, and deputy political editor, Katharine Murphy, who you may recognise from the dinkus above this blog, are hosting a live panel discussion in Sydney tonight on the overarching theme of fairness in the election campaign.
They’ll be joined by Tanya Plibersek, Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman (who inherited Joe Hockey’s seat of North Sydney), and Australian Council of Social Service chief executive Cassandra Goldie.
Full details here.
If you’re based in Melbourne, there’ll be another event, featuring George Megalogenis, Christian Porter, and Jenny Macklin, as well as Lenore and Katharine, next Tuesday.
Updated
To other news now. Labor is talking health today and will announce a $79.4m promise to subsidise monitoring technology used by people with type 1 diabetes.
That’s about 6,000 people in Australia.
According to Australian Associated Press, the package would fully fund access to continuous glucose monitoring for people 21 and under, pregnant women, and people with severely low blood glucose levels.
Bill Shorten’s focus in Perth this morning will be the Coalition’s proposed changes to Medicare, which mainly affect pathology.
Updated
Tony McAvoy SC, Australia’s first Indigenous silk, spoke to Radio National this morning about this whole treaty debate.
He doesn’t think it’s muddied the waters at all, saying that successive meetings on constitutional recognition have concluded that the goal should still be a treaty or treaties, that is, multiple agreements between language groups and government.
McAvoy said that constitutional recognition could lead into treaty.
The optimum model I think would be constitutional recognition which provided for an agreement-making process.
Asked if he thought this political stoush damaged the campaign, he said:
I don’t think it’s done any damage at all. What needs to happen is we need to have these discussions and until the comments of Bill Shorten on Q&A on Monday night we have not been able to get the discussion of treaty into the political debate at all, and if it has to happen in an election campaign then so be it.
I’m reminded of a comment Gary Foley made about native title:
When we were marching in the streets we were saying ‘land rights now!’ Not native title, land rights.
This has always been an argument about treaty. There are no songs written about constitutional recognition.
Good morning
When Australia’s peak Indigenous organisations got together to deliver the Redfern Statement last week to demand that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people not be left out of the election campaign, this is not what they had in mind.
To recap for the blissfully unaware, the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, said on Q&A on Monday night that he was open to the idea of a treaty.
Actually, what he said was:
Do I think that we need to move beyond just constitutional recognition to talking about what a post-constitutional recognition settlement with Indigenous people looks like? Yes I do.
That’s a view shared by many Indigenous Australians, including father of reconciliation and Labor senator Pat Dodson. Other Indigenous Australians have argued recognition should be abandoned entirely in favour of a treaty.
Shorten now stands accused of abandoning bipartisanship on constitutional recognition in an effort to “play to the left”.
Got it? Good. Take a bracing swill of tea and let’s get going.
The big picture
The prime minister and veteran of Australia’s most recent referendum, Malcolm Turnbull, has said Shorten could “undermine” support for recognising Indigenous Australians in the preamble to the constitution by raising the issue of a treaty.
Speaking to reporters in Perth on Tuesday, Turnbull said Shorten:
... should have more discipline and more focus on ensuring we maintain support for constitutional recognition rather than introducing other concepts which will, in my view, undermine the prospects of getting the very high level of public support you need for constitutional recognition of our first Australians
We want to see our first Australians recognised in the constitution in a form that speaks for and inspires our first Australians and that they can see as recognising their unique role as the first Australians and at the same time can secure the support of the majority of Australians and the majority of states because that is required to affect constitutional change.
My colleague, Gabrielle Chan, reported that Turnbull also said Australia could be “fairly described” as an invasion but that was just a “historical argument about a word”.
Shorten, campaigning in Swan with Noongar candidate and former Amnesty International Indigenous rights campaigner, Tammy Solonec, echoed the words of Pat Dodson: we can have both.
This nation has been grappling with the equal treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders since 1788, we have not got it right.
The fact that your skin colour is a more likely predictor in Australia of whether or not you will get a custodial sentence is unacceptable. For too long there’s been the wars between should you have symbolic recognition or practical reconciliation. I think both are important.
The Australian reported that Shorten had “broken with bipartisanship” on constitutional recognition.
Editor-at-large, Paul Kelly, writes that “a treaty raises the lethal issue of Aboriginal sovereignty”, and warns:
These are ominous days for the future of reconciliation.
Another fallout from Shorten’s Q&A appearance was the declaration, by Coalition campaign spokesman Mathias Cormann, who said that keeping journalists out of Australia’s offshore detention centres was necessary to prevent “sharing intelligence with people smugglers” and was an essential part of the “operational discipline” of Australia’s border security policy.
Paul Karp reports:
Cormann repeatedly refused to say what information journalists might report that would undermine the government’s border protection policy, only saying it was part of “operational discipline” that had stopped asylum seeker boats.
When asked why barring journalists was necessary, Cormann said that operational discipline included “not providing a running commentary on all aspects of our border protection policy framework”.
“That is the approach that has been successful, that is the approach that we are committed to.”
Meanwhile, the Australian Council of Social Services will release an assessment of budget and election commitments on Wednesday urging the Coalition not to target the poorest Australians in their budget cuts.
Political editor Lenore Taylor has outlined their submissions here.
On the campaign trail
Both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten will start the day in Perth, where the marginal seats of Cowan, Hasluck, Swan, and the new seat of Burt are in play.
According to Australian Associated Press, Turnbull appeared more confident in Perth on Tuesday night, saying twice (twice! In two hours!) that the Coalition would win on 2 July. Both statements were made to rooms packed with diehard Liberal voters, so there is that.
The campaign you should be watching
The fight for the Melbourne seat of Higgins, held by Liberal MP and the assistant treasurer, Kelly O’Dwyer, is heating up, with GetUp! joining the Greens to campaign for Greens candidate Jason Ball. It comes after polling by Lonergan Research, commissioned by the Greens, found O’Dwyer’s primary vote had dropped 10 points from 54.37% to 44.1%. Ball’s vote, in contrast, climbed from 16.8% to 24.1%.
My colleague, Gareth Hutchens, writes:
On a two-party preferred basis, the Liberal primary vote is at 53% and the Greens are now sitting on 47% – a gap within the poll’s margin of error.
The Greens say it gives them a genuine chance to win the seat after preferences are distributed, because they’re getting preferences from Labor, the Australian Equality party, the Animal Justice party and Derryn Hinch’s Justice party.
It could be the best chance for the Greens to pick up another lower house seat in Melbourne, after that Labor-Liberal preference deal made the fight much harder in Labor-held Batman and Wills.
And another thing(s)
While we’re talking preferences, the Greens have been criticised for a decision to preference a candidate for Fred Nile’s Christian Democrat party over the Indigenous gay Liberal candidate, Geoffrey Winters, in the seat of Sydney, held by Labor’s Tanya Plibersek.
Winters said the decision was:
... surprising and disappointing ... because it demonstrates that a party that has so historically held themselves above the argy bargy of party politics, has slipped into being a humdrum political machine that has lost its way.
Greens candidate Sylvie Ellsmore explained the thinking behind the decision to my colleague Paul Karp:
Ellsmore said the Christian Democrats are “a toxic conservative party” but the branch had put them ahead of the Liberals because “they’re hardly campaigning in the seat and we didn’t want to give them more oxygen”.
“In Sydney the contest is between the Greens, Labor and the Liberals and we wanted to be really clear. If there was any chance the Christian Democrats could get up we’d never do it.
“It’s much easier to say put the Liberals last, that’s a clear message.”
As you might expect, it has provoked some criticism.
Politics in a snapshot: Greens: We'll give preferences to Fred Nile's candidate over a gay, indigenous Liberal because of Labor
— Stephen Murray (@smurray38) June 14, 2016
And finally, Pauline Hanson, sporting a rather fetching peacock brooch, has given her best Donald Trump impression in a video on Facebook calling for all new Muslim immigrants to be banned from Australia in the wake of the Orlando massacre.
Hanson says that the Australian government “doesn’t want to acknowledge” the role of terrorism in the attack (which is plain not true – Turnbull mentioned terrorism as a cause before he mentioned homophobia), and appeared to suggest that Australia could be next.
I’ll let her take it from here:
We have laws here that we don’t bring in pitbull terriers because they are a danger to our society. We don’t bring in certain toys, because they’re a danger to our society and to our children. We have laws to protect Australians.
So if we know this is the case with these terrorists out there radicalised by the belief of Islam and what it teaches, then why does our government ignore that fact?
We have to take a strong stance to ensure that people that come here are compatible with our culture, our way of life, our beliefs and our laws.
So what I’m saying is, pressure the government to say no more Muslims in Australia. No more Muslim refugees in Australia. Take a strong stance. Protect our security, our safety on our streets and our people.
Worth pointing out here that the Orlando gunman was born in the US.
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