Given the campaigns are in bed, let's say farewell for this evening
I think we’ll pull up stumps for today. Let’s take stock.
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Malcolm Turnbull stepped outside his campaign to visit flood effected areas in NSW, but he did manage to tie up the question of the third election debate. Would it be a Sky News people’s forum in Brisbane tomorrow night or would it be something else? Something else was the verdict. Turnbull said the next head-to-head of the campaign would be online, hosted by news.com and Facebook, because he wasn’t going to respond to “decrees” from Sky News. Presumably it’s ok to make decrees yourself. Call that a benefit of Lodge occupation.
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Bill Shorten did think the day would be about the economy and apprentices and it was for him until he relocated for the flood tour in the afternoon. Shorten grabbed the opportunity of the third debate and also banked the Sky appearance tomorrow night, because .. birds in hand. It would be an insult to Queenslanders to do anything else was the rationale.
- The latest opinion poll shows the campaign still locked in a dead heat. The prime minister has gone backwards in terms of voter perceptions, Bill Shorten has gone both forward and backwards, because nothing is ever simple, is it? Here, for the record, are the primary votes for the combatants at the campaign mid-point – note Nick Xenophon who is just under half way to Greens levels and independents are on 10%. (Liberal/National 41%; Labor 36%; Greens 10%; Nick Xenophon Team 4%; Other/Independent 10%.)
- Speaking of Xenophon, he must be completely delighted by the attention he’s getting this campaign. You can take that as a comment.
Thanks for your company throughout the day. Let’s resume in the morning.
Bill Shorten is speaking to reporters now.
It sometimes takes a disaster to bring out the best in people but I’ve got no doubt that what we will see here is, this club will rebuild, and damaged communities right through Australia will rebuild.
He’s repeating the emergency services advice: stay away from rising water.
Bill Shorten:
Do not enter these flooded rivers and water courses and creeks. The current can be deceptive. Once a vehicle loses traction with the ground it becomes a diabolical trap. People must listen to the experts. There is nothing so important or so timely that you can’t afford to wait. We don’t want to see any more people lost to this terrible weather. Please, we have got the SES, they are not there just for the sake of it. If they give you good advice, please follow it.
The Labor leader has made it to Sydney this afternoon.
.@billshortenmp has toured the storm damaged Coogee SLSC.. Force of the waves pushed glass doors out @abcnews pic.twitter.com/itHOyuwHwL
— Eliza Borrello (@ElizaBorrello) June 7, 2016
Attitudes to the leaders. Interesting, this. Malcolm Turnbull going backwards, Bill Shorten polarising voters.
- 33% of the survey say they have become less favourable toward Malcolm Turnbull over the last few weeks and 7% say they have become more favourable.
- While most (65%) Liberal voters say they have not changed their opinion, 19% say they have become less favourable.
- 20% say they have become more favourable toward Bill Shorten over the last few weeks and 21% say they have become less favourable.
- 42% of Labor voters have become more favourable and 6% less favourable.
This is also mildly interesting. Who do you trust to better handle a range of issues. The ALP have picked up on two of the Coalition’s core issues over the course of the campaign.
- The Liberal party is trusted more to handle security and the war on terrorism (+18), management of the economy (+12) and controlling interest rates (+12).
- The Labor Party is trusted more to handle ensuring a quality education (+14%) and ensuring the quality of the health system (+13).
- Since this question was asked last month, Labor has improved its position on management of the economy (up 8) and security and the war on terrorism (up 5).
Let’s look at the new Essential poll which has landed this afternoon. We can start with the company tax cuts.
- 28% approve of the Coalition’s tax cuts to medium and large business and 45% disapprove.
The government has repositioned on the tax cuts significantly. The reposition began at the leaders’ debate at the National Press Club: now the policy is being dressed up as a small business boost, with the benefits to big business to flow waaaaay waaaaay off in the distance.
Suspect being crashed by BuzzFeed was not part of the campaign plan.
It looks like the prime minister is now back in Sydney, at Watson’s Bay.
The PM has gatecrashed my Watson's Bay walk. He's taking photos at The Gap ahead of a suicide prevent announcement. pic.twitter.com/e3XXn5sKa4
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) June 7, 2016
Anyone want to use 3GB of data to watch the future, starring Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten?
@MarkDiStef Hard to be certain, but as an example, streaming High Definition Netflix will use around 3GB of data per hour - Oliver
— Telstra (@Telstra) June 7, 2016
I’m so for the future it’s not funny, I’m a paid up member of the virtual world, that’s a given – but all the Facebook live streams I’ve seen this campaign have been buggy as anything. #JustSaying
Yes, Malcolm, you Queensland insulter
Labor CHQ has issued a statement about the Facebook/news.com debate.
Bill Shorten is having his cake and eating it too: stage all to himself in Brisbane, another debate opportunity with Turnbull, and a slap to the prime minister on the way through.
Bill Shorten:
I’m happy to debate Mr Turnbull anytime, anywhere. But if he doesn’t front up at the people’s forum tomorrow, he is turning his back on Queenslanders – plain and simple. He’s been in hiding from voters this election, refusing to justify his plans for a tax handout for big business and cuts to schools and Medicare. If he doesn’t turn up tomorrow, it’s an insult to Queenslanders.
Updated
Campaign this Tuesday a distance from lunchtime
We need to take stock before moving forward, to quote another prime minister in another campaign, long long ago.
- The prime minister has suspending campaigning to stop by flood-effected areas in NSW, dropping along the way confirmation that he will not turn up to the Sky News people’s forum in Brisbane, scheduled for tomorrow evening – the Labor leader will have that event all to himself – but he will turn up for an online debate hosted by Facebook and news.com because .. the future, and Rupert. Mind the bugs and the data allowances folks, the future is now.
- The Labor leader Bill Shorten’s campaign plan was to talk about the economy and jobs, with a new commitment on apprentices. He managed that in Adelaide before winging his way back to the east coast for his own flood visitations. Shorten left the former prime minister John Howard in Adelaide campaigning for Liberal Jamie Briggs, who we can conclude is embattled as a consequence of the fire power being trained on his electorate of Mayo.
And so it goes.
Updated
Messy business, flood touring. I’ll post a summary next.
PM flood tour press conference, Picton pic.twitter.com/gWJbSJ3HwQ
— andrew meares (@mearesy) June 7, 2016
Bronwyn Bishop is on Sky just at the moment trying to say as little as she can possibly get away with about past events. (Sky must be thrilled about the value of this tie up. Not. So. Much.) The hosts are trying valiantly to get something newsworthy on Tony Abbott, about the inference Bishop dropped during her final speech to parliament about the former prime minister – that she was asked to resign to protect him.
Not. A. Cracker.
Bronwyn Bishop, with an expression best characterised as complete contentment.
Later rather than sooner.
Let’s run, run away, very fast, from this End Times broadcasting spectacle.
A press statement has been issued about the local government areas now subject to disaster relief.
The LGAs are:
- Bega
- Blacktown
- Byron
- Camden
- Campbelltown
- Canterbury-Bankstown
- Central Coast
- City of Sydney
- Coffs Harbour
- Eurobodalla
- Fairfield
- Hornsby
- Inner West
- Kiama
- Ku-ring-gai
- Lane Cove
- Lismore
- Liverpool
- Maitland
- Northern Beaches
- Parramatta
- Penrith
- Port Macquarie-Hastings
- Queanbeyan-Palerang
- Randwick
- Ryde
- Shellharbour
- Shoalhaven
- Sutherland
- The Hills
- Tweed
- Waverley
- Willoughby
- Wingecarribee
- Wollondilly
- Wollongong
- Woollahra
Updated
Never a more exciting time to clip Sky round the ear
The Sky News journalist wants more information about this new debate proposal. Malcolm Turnbull smiles broadly but unleashes the shade on Sky.
Malcolm Turnbull:
What we’ve said normally – you would have approached us and sought to come to some arrangement. You chose not to do that and to issue in effect is a decree and we’ve said ‘no’.
We’ve had a Sky people’s forum debate, the traditional press club debate, it is traditional to have three debates, so let’s have the third one in an innovative way and that every Australian can participate in, that allows the interactivity that the old formats that really come from the pre-smartphone, pre-social media era – the old formats, don’t allow for that interactivity.
We are in 2016. This is the 21st century.
This is the time of innovation. This is the most exciting time to be an Australian and to participate in an election debate in the media of our time.
So that’s what we are going to do.
(Cable TV. SO yesterday. But interesting of course that you can’t stiff News Corp. Take the debate from Sky, give it to news.com New era of technology, old era of media politics, one rule remains constant: never poke Rupert in the eye.)
Updated
Mind the bugs – virtual Malcolm, coming to your smartphone
The prime minister is then asked about the debate. Will he be turning up tomorrow night in Brisbane for the Sky News people’s forum with Bill Shorten? No, is the Turnbull answer. He’s got another idea. He says there will be virtual debate, hosted by news.com and Facebook.
Malcolm Turnbull:
The aim is to hold it early next week ... The aim would be for this debate, this discussion, to be streamed across any platform that sought to do so. So over Facebook, news.com.au sites, broadcasters who wanted to take it, to get it as widely available as possible. So my aim is to have as big an audience as possible and to reach everyone, you have to use the devices which I noticed you are all holding in your hands.
That’s the modern world. That’s the smart phone era.
Malcolm Turnbull is then asked about amendments to the fair work laws to protect volunteers. He says he’s satisfied the government can fix this after the election. He’s then asked about the spend in marginal seats, the $1.7bn. Malcolm Turnbull says everything is accounted for in the budget.
Turnbull is asked for an update on the situation in Tasmania, which he proceeds to provide. He says floodwaters are still rising in Launceston. One death confirmed. The Spirit of Tasmania is not sailing because of debris in the Devonport harbour. Three people remain missing “and I’ve not had further information on that. But the situation is the storm damage and the rising waters in northern Tasmania remain a very serious threat.”
Q: Is there anything you can say to people living in Tasmania with families who might be watching this news about their situation?
Malcolm Turnbull says stay out of flood waters and follow advice from the emergency services.
'I’m sure the insurers will support these communities ..'
Earlier today the Labor leader Bill Shorten fired a warning shot in the direction of the insurance industry. Don’t quibble, just support people in difficult circumstances.
Malcolm Turnbull gets the question. No warning shots here.
Q: What is your message to the insurance industry who in the past have looked at the definitions of flood and acts of God and so forth to deny people coverage, what is your message to them as they assess the claims of people affected in this area and others?
Malcolm Turnbull:
I’m sure the insurers will support these communities. This is very substantial storm damage. This was a storm, a cloud that dropped 200mm of rain in a very short time on Picton. That’s what’s happened. So this is storm damage. These waters have caused by that extraordinary down pour, concentrated on this location, which is why this community was so hard hit with this storm damage.
The prime minister is asked who is covered by the disaster relief.
Malcolm Turnbull:
There are 37 LGAs covered. There is no cap to the total funding but there are limits on the particular grants given and loans as the premier said it is up to $130,000 and the interest rate is 1.38%.
Q: Do you have an indication on how big the damage bill on this could be?
Malcolm Turnbull:
I don’t. I think it’s too early to say.
Malcolm Turnbull:
Can I also just say that Bill Shorten and I were in touch yesterday about the response to the disaster and we are absolutely united in thanking and supporting the communities that have been affected by these shocking storms and while we disagree on more than a few things at the moment in an election campaign, we are very much on the same page in supporting these communities and supporting the proposition that the federal government should do everything to help them get back on their feet.
The NSW premier Mike Baird is announcing disaster declarations.
We provide as much support as we can as quickly as we can. This will provide grants to low income households or supplies or goods and the chance to get the house back into order. Those grants will be there for them. For small businesses, low interest loans ... to enable them to restock and get on with the business and get in a position to trade again while dealing with challenges, such as insurance claims and other challenges. It helps them. It is also helpful for the local council in terms of grants and local money to help with roads and bridges.
We’re here to support them, admire them and thank them.
(The people of Picton, that is. This is the prime minister speaking.)
Malcolm Turnbull addresses reporters in Picton
The prime minister opens his press conference by noting that the weather over the weekend has been powerful, but not as powerful as the community spirit in Picton.
Malcolm Turnbull:
This is the best of Australia. These are tough times when nature flings her worst at us, but it’s when Australians respond the best.
The prime minister is coming up in Picton shortly, I’ll post a summary on the other side of that press conference.
Decision not to means test the childcare package 'kicked around' in shadow cabinet: Conroy
Labor’s deputy senate leader Stephen Conroy is on Sky News at the moment and he’s being pursued about Labor’s decision to not means test the childcare package. How on earth did the shadow cabinet think that was a good idea, giving money to wealthy people who don’t need it?
Conroy says the rationale was there is “real pressure” on every single family taking care of kids. But there’s not real pressure on a family comprised of a law partner and a medical specialist, host Peter Van-Onselen points out to his guest, entirely reasonably. Conroy admits the proposal was “kicked around” in the shadow cabinet (read, contested in the shadow cabinet) – but in the end “we came down on the side of leaving the structure as it was”.
Updated
Updated
The prime minister has arrived in Picton with the NSW premier Mike Baird, and he’s been handed a baby. People are asking what they do before insurance comes through. Malcolm Turnbull talks about disaster relief options from the state government.
Here’s the new Liberal ad on Bill Shorten and corporate tax cuts.
Back to Scott Morrison, who for some reason, is anti-people mover.
Scott Morrison:
The Shorten alternative, together with the Greens and everyone else who gets into that Tarago they will drive around the country will be $100bn in additional taxes over the next 10 years.
#StopTheTarago
Meanwhile, on the other coast, the clean up effort in Picton. The prime minister will be there shortly.
Here’s looking at you, Bill.
A bit meta. Treasurer Morrison switches to TV ad of Bill Shorten on company tax cuts #ausvotes pic.twitter.com/9ogubnOPty
— Rashida Yosufzai (@Rashidajourno) June 7, 2016
The Coalition launches an attack ad on Bill Shorten's previous support for a company tax cut
Over in Perth, treasurer Scott Morrison is releasing a new attack ad on Bill Shorten. The ad uses Bill Shorten’s past support for lowering the corporate tax rate.
Scott Morrison:
Mr Shorten is just playing rank politics on this issue. He understands if he is honest with the Australian people, why this is a good plan for jobs and growth. It is only because he is playing politics that he has chosen to take this line with the Australian people.
It is not a game, Bill. This is the success of our future economy, the jobs of millions of Australians depend on the continued investment and performance of these companies.
Another couple of questions on the firefighters in Victoria.
Bill Shorten again says Malcolm Turnbull is being political.
First of all, we all know why Mr Turnbull turned up in this dispute, because he wants to distract from the fact he doesn’t have a positive agenda of his own. Mr Turnbull has never taken a great interest in industrial relations, other than being one of Tony Abbott’s rubber stamps when it came to WorkChoices. When it comes to standing up for volunteers, I submit please examine the Fair Work Act. Labor put in protections for volunteers. It was Liberal when the Fair Work Act was presented to the Senate after a series of amendments who voted against the Fair Work Act which contained these protections for volunteers. Mr Turnbull loves to talk a lot but when it comes to doing something, his actions often contradict what he says.
Shorten is asked whether Labor proposes to change the current employer incentive payment applying to apprentices. The answer is there is “no intention to change the employer incentive payment.”
Q: Will you admit that you are going to be giving $10,000 to millionaires? Will you admit that will happen?
Bill Shorten:
It is not means-tested – the child care rebate. Let’s be clear here, the cost of child care is spiralling. Families are literally making hard choices between whether in most cases, the mother goes to work and then sees the wages eaten up by child care, or she doesn’t work at all. This country cannot afford to be putting disincentives in the path of people working. Childcare is really important. It is important because it is the first time little children leave the house at all. It is important we have quality child care.
Q: Are you prepared for Labor to preference the Liberal party over the Nick Xenophon team or is that something you can rule out?
Bill Shorten:
The preferences will be dealt with by our party as has always been the case. I am chasing not peoples’ second preference vote, I want their first preference vote for Labor.
A question about the firefighters dispute in Victoria.
Q: Is it disingenuous for you to proclaim your support for emergency services volunteers when you’re not prepared to stick up for CFA volunteers in Victoria against the united firefighters union?
Bill Shorten says Malcolm Turnbull has weighed into this dispute for political reasons.
I am glad you raised that issue. As I said yesterday and have said previously, I support our volunteers and career firefighters. I do expect the parties to resolve their disagreements and I do expect premier Andrews to be able to reach a settlement. I expect a settlement to occur.
Shorten says Labor proposed in law that volunteer firefighters should be able to take leave from their employer and not suffer any adverse consequences as a result of their volunteer functions, specifically including firefighters.
Labor put protections in for volunteers. Mr Turnbull’s party, on the final passage of this Fair Work bill, voted against it in the Senate. Labor has a good record on volunteers.
A question about why Labor isn’t means testing its childcare policy.
Bill Shorten:
Historically it has never been means tested. For the government to run a Robin Hood argument that they are the Green Left Weekly, the socialists of child care policy, is rubbish.
Q: Will you rule out forming government with the Nick Xenophon party in a hung parliament?
Bill Shorten:
Nick Xenophon has to get some seats in the parliament. I am committed to Labor forming a government in our own right. I won’t deal with a hypothetical issue.
What I say to South Australians and Australians, if you think your Medicare system is important, vote Labor. If you want to see a Royal Commission into the banks, vote Labor. If you want to see schools properly funded, vote Labor. If you want more apprenticeships available, vote Labor. If you want fair taxation, vote Labor. If you want to see first home buyers able to enter the market, vote Labor, if you want to see Australian jobs created, maintained and be well paid, vote Labor.
'I want to send a message out to the insurance companies of Australia ..'
Q: Are you going to Sydney to inspect the storm damage and suspending your campaigning. Would you prefer to do it with the PM given it is bipartisan?
Bill Shorten:
I contacted the prime minister and offered to visit storm and flood-affected regions with him. I’m happy to do it with him. The issue is not Mr Turnbull or I, it is the people experiencing loss, and damage.
I will make this point and I have no reason to be concerned about it, but I worked heavily during the Brisbane floods to make sure insurance companies treated their claimants of policies properly, I want to send a message out to the insurance companies of Australia, I am sure you will do this, but make sure that you treat your customers fairly. Make sure you deal with their claims in a speedy fashion.
For people who have suffered significant damage, the last thing they need is to be damaged again by a long argument with an insurance company.
Questions now.
Q: Former prime minister John Howard this morning has drawn a parallel between Independent Senator Nick Xenophon and Pauline Hanson saying both are trying to exploit fears when it comes to trading with Asian nations. What do you make of these comments? And are you concerned about the growing support for Nick Xenophon here in SA?
Bill Shorten:
I heard the Liberal party called John Howard off the bench to come and help beleaguered Jamie Briggs in Mayo. This is the reunion of the work choices warriors. We know that as long as there is a Liberal party, workers’ conditions in this country are never safe. I notice Mr Howard’s attacking Senator Xenophon but bizarrely, Senator Xenophon and Mr Howard are on a unity ticket when it comes to undermining penalty rates in this country. If you want to protect the rights of workers, make sure there are harmonious work places, if you want to make sure apprentices are getting properly trained, you wouldn’t look at the Liberals or Senator Xenophon, you would vote Labor.
Q: The second question, are you concerned about the growing support that Senator Xenophon has in SA?
Bill Shorten:
There is only two parties who can form a government. The Liberal party or the Labor party. A vote for the minor parties will not help change a government.
Bill Shorten addresses the media in Adelaide
The Labor leader first addresses the flood visit that will happen later today.
Mr Turnbull and I understand that there are things more important when crisis hits than the day to day political rancour. This is a moment where the nation supports people in trouble. It is fair to say that in the worst of times, we see the best of Australia. I look forward to seeing and working with the volunteers and thanking them on behalf of many Australians.
Then to today’s commitment on apprenticeships.
Bill Shorten:
Labor will insist upon a proportion of apprentices being employed on Commonwealth funded work, specifically on the top ten projects which will be funded by the concrete bank, we will want to see one in every ten employees being apprentices. We want to make sure for projects which have a capital expenditure of over $10m, that we sit down with the states and territories and make sure a proportion of the jobs are going to apprentices.
(By concrete bank I assume he means the infrastructure investment facility Labor has promised.)
Lots of questions about Nick Xenophon taking balance of power and a lower house seat.
John Howard:
That’s his aspiration, not my expectation. I don’t believe he’ll get any lower house seats.
Howard says we shouldn’t over estimate Nick Xenophon, he’s part of a worldwide trend of voters not being as partisan as they once were, flirting with political outsiders. You can’t govern the country with 150 independents, Howard says, you have to back a major party. Otherwise .. *chaos*.
How about preferences? John Howard says he’s certain the Liberal party will make decisions about preferences based on principle and policies and not political manipulations.
He’s asked whether he’s detected any mood for change in the electorate, any anger?
John Howard:
I don’t find anger.
The former prime minister says he thinks the campaign is taking time to gather momentum because of the length of the contest, but the voters are placid.
'It’s often in these safe seats that people can sneak up on you ..'
Howard is asked why he’s stumping in a safe Liberal seat.
John Howard:
It’s often in these safe seats that people can sneak up on you.
Speaking of John Howard he’s bobbed up in the seat of Mayo. That’s the purpose of his visit today, stumping for Liberal MP Jamie Briggs, who worked for him as prime minister. Howard says he hopes the good people of Mayo will vote for Briggs because that’s a vote to return the Turnbull government.
John Howard:
He’s the Turnbull Liberal here in Mayo.
(Please ignore the fact you may not like Jamie. You are voting for Malcolm. Over.)
'Deep down I think he must really like me ...'
Nick Xenophon has responded to John Howard earlier this morning likening him to Pauline Hanson on free trade during a radio interview.
Nick Xenophon:
At a personal level, I’ve always liked John Howard, and I’m very grateful that he’s given the Nick Xenophon Team so much oxygen in SA with his attack. Deep down I think he must really like me, as evidenced by his comments on me following the 2013 election.
Free trade agreements are a good thing if they are negotiated with our national economic interest in mind. The fact that the trade deficit with China has increased at 15% a year since the Howard-era FTA says it all.
Updated
It’s running very prominently on our website so I can’t imagine you’d miss it but in the event – our environment reporter Mikey Slezak has produced a deep dive (excuse the pun) on the Great Barrier Reef which is a must read. Climate change is very much in the background this election. Labor isn’t prosecuting it as a frontline issue despite the obvious weakness Malcolm Turnbull has on this subject, which tells you a lot about the toxic politics of the past few years.
The view from Adelaide this morning, courtesy of Fairfax photographer Alex Ellinghausen.
Regular reader Tim Senior has some pictures on his Facebook page of the Picton clean up currently underway. Thanks Tim.
Mike Bowers tells me the prime minister is en route to Picton for the flood inspections.
Q: Are you going to back off describing Malcolm Turnbull as the rich toff that he is, because he’s come out and told us how he struggled as a young man?
Bill Shorten:
I’m not going to judge his antecedents or his background and I want to make it clear here. Mr Turnbull’s wealth is not a problem for me. I congratulate him on having amassed the money he has. But its his out of touch views. The point of it is he could be a brickie and if he had these views I would say he was out of touch.
Q: He’s not the one saying the women are the primary caregivers and the ones who make decisions about child care?
Bill Shorten:
I’ll come to that in a minute but I will just finish the question for David first. The issue there is he’s got out of touch views. I don’t know why he’s protecting the banks from a royal commission, I don’t know why he wants to dismantle Medicare. I don’t know why he won’t properly fund schools. I don’t know why he wants to give $7.5bn to the big banks bottom line. I was making the observation, not that there aren’t dads doing work, of course there are, but the burden, disproportionately falls upon women in Australia and we need to have a national conversation, how government policies support working mums ... Labor’s policies about the equal treatment of women in our society from family violence to child care, to paid parental leave, I think we’ve got the goods for working women in this country.
Bill Shorten is asked whether South Australia will get all the ship building work if Labor wins the election. Yes, is Shorten’s answer. Then some delicate phraseology follows.
Q: So if Victoria and Kim Carr think they’re going to get a share of what’s been allocated to SA forget it?
Bill Shorten:
I’ve got no doubt there will be work for shipyards around Australia but the deal is that SA is to build the submarines
Q: I’m not talking about just the subs, the whole lot?
We are committed to seeing SA as the centre for ship building excellence.
Q: Labor is going to tax superannuation earnings for retirees in the pension phase. They’re currently tax free. The ALP is going to tax annual earnings above $75,000 at 15%. Why are you taking money away from people who are providing for their own retirement?
Bill Shorten:
First of all, Mr Howard and Mr Costello in 2006-7 when there were rivers of gold coming in from the mining boom, got rid of what used to be called the reasonable benefits limit in superannuation and without over complicating the description, what that meant is that when we created superannuation, and Labor created it, there was always a view that above a certain amount of money you wouldn’t give the same preferential tax treatment because what you’re doing is creating for some lucky individuals a tax windfall.
So there was always – there was always up to 2006-7 – some taxation increase in superannuation. Howard and Costello got rid of it. It is not sustainable at the top end ..
Q: What’s magical about $75,000, you think that’s fair, do you?
Bill Shorten:
We do think that was fair.
Q: Are you going to index that?
Bill Shorten:
That’s not in our policy.
Q: So as inflation takes care of this, that means more and more people will hit that $75,000, won’t they?
Bill Shorten:
Yes, but what I’d also say, before we start having some big panic about Labor’s policies on superannuation, is that we’re proposing 15% for income above that. This is the interest earned from superannuation. Very few Australians are earning $75,000 in interest but if you earn more than that you will be paying 15% on the amount above that.
Q: You won’t index that, though?
Bill Shorten:
That’s not in our policy.
Bill Shorten is back now on the ABC in Adelaide. He’s asked why people are voting for Nick Xenophon.
Bill Shorten:
I think people are frustrated with the government of the day, the Liberals, and I think that the challenge for Labor is to explain our positive policies, our alternative. And in the meantime people may decide they may want to vote for a third party.
One thing I don’t ever do is blame voters. I accept that there’s things I can control and the things I can’t. What I can control is how Labor presents its views and do our ideas actually make a real difference in people’s lives? I don’t spend a lot of time worrying about the things I can’t control.
What people expect, I believe, of the opposition, the Labor party, is what would we do differently to Mr Turnbull and what are our priorities and this election is all about choices.
Q: If it’s a hung parliament, would you be able to work - would you form a coalition with the Xenophon team? I mean we’re blue skying here but it’s something you’d have to think about?
Bill Shorten:
I have to say in this election I’ve been focusing on getting as many votes as I can. We’ve indicated that we don’t want to see a hung parliament and what we will do is do absolutely everything we can in the next 24 days to convince South Australians and Australians to vote for us.
Quick recap of Bill Shorten from Triple M earlier today. Nuclear is a theme. The hosts started with a few tough questions on nuclear storage and comments by Penny Wong about returning to surplus within 10 years.
Shorten made the distinction between the “full-on nuclear cycle” (including generating nuclear power) and low grade waste, the latter of which he said would be “a good thing to look at for jobs”. But Shorten said it will be “hard to catch up on the nuclear industry in terms of the cost of establishing it” and renewable energy would be the focus if Labor were elected.
On budget plans, Shorten said Labor would “be revealing our plan to credibly bring the budget back to balance” and said “it won’t take 10 years” to do so. “We’re making sure that anything we say we’ll invest or spend, we can match with improvements to budget bottom line ... We’re committed to budget repair, but we add three extra words, budget repair that is fair.”
After the hard stuff, the Triple M hosts turned the interview over to a call from ‘Big Mal’ - a Malcolm Turnbull impersonator. ‘Big Mal’ was full of jibes about Turnbull, saying “nobody enjoys listening to me more than me” and saying pressing the flesh with voters was no fun because “they’re germy - I need hand sanitiser”.
Shorten then spoke about how he’d only be home for seven nights in the marathon 56 day campaign, and there was nobody to pick up after Theo and Tilly, his family’s British bulldogs.
John Howard is asked about nuclear energy, which he pursued unsuccessfully as prime minister in his final term in office. Howard’s support for nuclear drew him along the path to supporting emissions trading in 2007. Nuclear was only viable with a carbon price so Howard said, ok then, let’s have the darned carbon price, which was Liberal party policy until the abject future trashing ludicrousness of Tony Abbott and the anti carbon “tax” campaign.
Howard is still firmly stuck in his late 2000’s paradigm about baseload power. At the time of the nuclear review, it was correct to say that baseload power needed the bedrock of either nuclear generation or fossil fuel generation, but that’s no longer the case. Renewables have undergone a revolution over the last ten years, increasing both in effectiveness and in cost-effectiveness. But Howard insists this morning nuclear needs to be part of Australia’s future because if you want baseload power you need fossil fuels. Yeah, nah. Not anymore. Somebody needs to get a new brief to the former prime minister.
He’s asked does he regret departing from political life?
John Howard:
Oh no I’m a realist.
Howard says he follows the fortunes “of my party very closely. I want it to succeed.”
He says he hope Malcolm Turnbull remains in power. Then the campaign line.
John Howard:
I think what the public wants is a bit of stability and if you want that there’s only one bloke to vote for and that’s Malcolm Turnbull.
John Howard speaks in Adelaide
John Howard is being interviewed by David Pemberthy on 5AA. He’s asked first about tribalism, are voters less tribal? Yes, Howard thinks. People are less deliberate in their voting habits. They are less tribal. It’s a world wide phenomenon, he says.
Q: So Nick Xenophon is part of this global trend?
John Howard:
That is true, although his original issue, the anti-poker machines stance, caught the public mood.
Howard says Xenophon now purports to have a view on everything.
You had Pauline Hanson, Pemberthy points out to Howard. Do you see a parallel with Xenophon on anti free trade? Yes, there’s a parallel, John Howard says. He takes this as a cue to defend trade liberalisation. “How anybody would pussy foot about supporting these agreements is beyond me.”
Howard is asked about his friendship with Tony Abbott. Does he campaign for Turnbull with any sense of melancholy?
John Howard:
I campaign for a Liberal government.
Abbott will always be a good friend of mine, Howard says, but the party room made a decision. The party room now needs to respect the decision. He says he’s known Malcolm Turnbull well for a long time, not as close “on a friendship basis” as with Abbott. But Howard says Turnbull is the man to run the economy. A man who says he’ll lead the country like a trade union official is not the man to run the country, Howard says. (He means Bill Shorten in case that isn’t clear.)
Paul Karp will give us a bit of Shorten on FM radio shortly, and we also have John Howard coming up on Adelaide radio. Has South Australia ever felt so loved in an election cycle?
Calla gave you a flavour of this a minute ago but another quick post on Bill Shorten on 5AA. Today’s focus for Labor is jobs. Shorten said Labor would set a target that on its top 10 infrastructure projects 10% of workers should be apprentices.
Asked whether Labor has a hostile relationship with business, Shorten said: “We don’t have a hostile relationship with business, I have a very good relationship with them. If elected I will work with business but I won’t work solely for business.”
He described the election in terms of choices between the Coalition’s $48bn corporate tax cut and Labor’s greater spending on health and education, and said a health and skilled workforce are “the best investment you can give business”.
Shorten was asked about his earlier promise to “govern like a unionist”, and what that meant in the context of “aberrant” behaviour by the construction union and the Victorian firefighters’ union’s bid to gain greater control over volunteers. In response he said as a unionist he had fought for middle and working class Australians’ pay and conditions, he understood how people earned a living and was in touch with their needs, unlike Malcolm Turnbull. But, he said “I’d work with groups but not for any particular group ... I will work with representatives of workers, but not for them”.
It’s interesting to see when challenged by the idea he is too close to the union movement, Shorten has adopted a similar formulation to his relationship with business.
More information than you could ever need
The Labor leader Bill Shorten is in the process of doing two radio interviews in Adelaide before launching today’s policy, which is on apprenticeships, then relocating to NSW to tour flood damaged areas, most likely in the northern beaches.
Right now, Shorten is taking a call from a Malcolm Turnbull impersonator in Adelaide. “Big Mal.” Bill Shorten is laughing like this is fun while trying to say as little as possible. Then he moves on to his home duties, which Shorten says focus predominantly on cleaning up dog mess in the back yard.
Hello good people of blogs
Thanks Calla, good morning everyone and welcome to Tuesday. I want to kick off this morning with a few observations about the Q&A program which was broadcast from the north west NSW centre of Tamworth last night. Normally, I find Q&A completely unwatchable, like the worst power ballad drenched stadium rock you’ve every experienced. But last night, the program served its purpose of bringing the public in, and pushing the politicians off their talking points, so it was a terrific hour of current affairs. What it served to highlight was the realignment currently underway in regional Australia. My colleague Gabi Chan has written compellingly on this subject in a campaign essay about the bush. I encourage you to have a read.
I grew up in Tamworth. I know the region very well. The Tamworth of my childhood was a small and deeply conservative place, tribal to the boot straps. Contemporary Tamworth is a much bigger and less conservative place. Tamworth and the surrounding electorate of New England has been at the pointy end of regional Australia choosing to experiment with alternatives to the major parties, looking for opportunities to send Canberra a message that politics as usual just isn’t good enough. Barnaby Joyce (who also grew up in the same part of the world as me) came to Canberra understanding that an anti-establishment mindset and public posture posture was critical to success as a regional politician. He thought coalitionism was killing the Nationals and said as much. When he arrived in Canberra, he was fiercely independent, driving colleagues in the government completely bonkers by refusing to line up obediently on critical votes. Now, as Gabi notes in her essay, Joyce has transitioned successfully from maverick to a coalitionist in a maverick suit.
But as one of the questioners made clear in a question, the electorate does face a stark choice for a country seat in this election contest – vote out the leader of the Nationals and a deputy prime minister in favour of an independent motivated potentially by spite. Tony Windsor soundly rejected that analysis of course, as did a good chunk of the audience, but that sentiment you’d expect would work more than it wouldn’t in Joyce’s favour on the ground. As is said in the classics, only time will tell. As well as the personalities for the New England contest, viewers in metro areas will have consumed a flavour of what matters to Australians west of the divide. The major flashpoints last night were coal seam gas development, and the national broadband network, as well as the usual concerns about the quality of services.
With that so noted, let’s press on. A reminder 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 only speak Facebook you can join my daily forum here. And if you want a behind-the-scenes look at the day and the campaign as a whole, give Mike a follow on Instagram. There’s some beauties there from yesterday. You can find him here.
Keep the gortex handy, here comes Tuesday.
Jay Weatherill says Bill Shorten ran “at a good clip” this morning, so perhaps I should stop worrying about his health.
@TomMcIlroy yes he did & at a good clip
— JayWeatherill (@JayWeatherill) June 6, 2016
On that distressingly maternal note, I’m going to hand over to Katharine Murphy to guide you through the rest of the day.
See you again bright and early tomorrow.
Bill Shorten has been asked about the CFA industrial dispute on Adelaide’s FiveAA radio.
He has maintained the dispute was a Victorian state issue, but here he is, on South Australian local radio, being asked whether he would back the United Firefighters Union over 60,000 CFA volunteers.
He doesn’t really answer.
I will work with representatives of workers but not for them.
Shorten says he works well with SA premier Jay Weatherill and went on a 7km run with him this morning (which may not have been a good idea- the opposition leader sounds a bit peaky).
What about Malcolm Turnbull’s videos about his father, do they disprove Labor’s construction of the PM as a “Point Piper dandy”?
Shorten says that’s beside the point.
I’ve got no objections to Malcolm Turnbull’s wealth, it’s just the views that he holds.
Will we see a sepia-tinted Shorten origin story in response? Apparently not - his parents were rather lax about recording his childhood.
Football teams and school photos seem to be the only proof of my existence from zero to 18.
There’s been a late change in Bill Shorten’s diary. He has reportedly suspended his campaign and will head to NSW to tour flood-affected areas.
Opposition leader Shorten also heading to NSW later today to see first hand impact of storm damage and to thank volunteers #ausvotes
— Kieran Gilbert (@Kieran_Gilbert) June 6, 2016
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will suspend his campaign today and will visit storm-hit regions in NSW #ausvotes
— Stephanie Anderson (@stephanieando) June 6, 2016
It’s not clear whether he will keep any engagements in Adelaide before jumping back on the plane. He is due on SA radio in a few minutes.
The media convoys are on the move. Team Shorten has touched down in Adelaide, while Team Turnbull is on the plane in Melbourne bound for the NSW southern highlands.
Morning Adelaide pic.twitter.com/sIUfkvQS1a
— Annika Smethurst (@annikasmethurst) June 6, 2016
PM's media in Melb. bound for electorate of Hume which stretches from Camden to Goulburn NSW @murpharoo @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/9N9LvhDbSE
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) June 6, 2016
Let’s touch back on an issue that has perhaps not been getting the traction it deserves in the election campaign: legal funding.
Labor’s Tanya Plibersek and Mark Dreyfus are set to make an announcement about funding for community legal centres in Sydney today. The Coalition has been rather absent from this debate.
My colleague Richard Ackland drilled down into this issue on the Behind the Lines podcast last week. It’s worth a listen, you can find it here or in the internet wireless app of your choice.
Here’s a round-up of the morning papers. Storms and flooding, understandably, dominate.
The Australian front page. Tuesday 7 June 2016. @australian #ausvotes #election2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/zDjfzyQzYF
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 6, 2016
The Daily Telegraph front page. Tuesday 7 June 2016. @dailytelegraph #ausvotes #election2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/Vlvi7WiXYH
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 6, 2016
The Sydney Morning Herald front page. Tuesday 7 June 2016. @smh #ausvotes #election2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/Z7OkawPrS8
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 6, 2016
The Herald Sun front page. Tuesday 7 June 2016. @theheraldsun #ausvotes #election2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/kIYJoYJjP0
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 6, 2016
The Age front page. Tuesday 7 June 2016. @theage #ausvotes #election2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/6h9XqkaxWz
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 6, 2016
The Courier Mail front page. Tuesday 7 June 2016. @couriermail #ausvotes #election2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/4AeyttRpYG
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 6, 2016
The Canberra TimesAustralian front page. Tuesday 7 June 2016. @canberratimes #ausvotes #election2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/nfBAkd2c4L
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 6, 2016
Financial Review front page. Tuesday 7 June 2016. @FinancialReview #ausvotes #election2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/tJXGZ9nqL6
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) June 6, 2016
Half the sky, all of the ironing
Malcolm Turnbull’s self-declared feminism is apparently not shared by all the Liberal party rank and file. Shocking, I know.
Enter David Kingston, the LNP challenger to Wayne Swan’s seat of Lilley, who draws his understanding of gender theory from a set of monogrammed towels.
He outlined his views in a travel blog, as the Courier Mail reports:
Mr Kingston made comments about women’s chores, women’s work and how he was surprised a woman could drive a truck.
“Ever since I was little I can remember my Mum and Dad used to put up HIS and HERS towels in the bathroom … from that I realised there were things designed for men and others designed for women,” he wrote.
“And I reasoned that the pattern would extend to some other things in life too (such as chores).”
Sound reasoning.
More gems from Kingston:
Donna likes to call me chauvinistic from time to time but I see it differently.
Donna got busy with some women’s work – washing clothes.”
I got a bit of a shock when it was a woman who stepped out of the truck.”
It all sounds very familiar.
I am getting flashbacks. pic.twitter.com/c524JTe2kZ
— Calla Wahlquist (@callapilla) June 6, 2016
Turnbull, the Courier Mail reports, refused to defend Kingston’s comments.
In the immortal words of Anthony Albanese: Good.
Set your alarm: John Howard is back on the wireless.
Former PM John Howard in his first radio interview of the campaign, only on @FIVEaaBreakfast at 830 today
— David Penberthy (@penbo) June 6, 2016
That’s an Adelaide radio station, so it’s 8.30am central time (9am AEDT).
Malcolm Turnbull has released a second video about his father and his upbringing, in an apparent attempt to position him as a man of the people. Which is very heartwarming but, as Caroline Overington writes in The Australian, it doesn’t make him a battler.
Turnbull’s team is trying to present this background as one of great difficulty. They should ask a family of true battlers what an ugly marriage bust-up really looks like, because divorce is indeed the sink-or-swim moment for people who truly live in poverty.
One party usually ends up in the local caravan park, or else on somebody’s couch. In the turmoil that follows, the kids can very easily drop out of school. If there’s alcohol involved, the driver’s licence will soon be gone, and with it a source of income. Then the new boyfriend moves in with Mum. Then the teenage daughter moves out.
That’s what ‘battling’ really looks like
Malcolm Turnbull with his father Bruce Turnbull pic.twitter.com/89MAq5NU7G
— Canberra Insider (@CanberraInsider) June 6, 2016
It is quite an odd line for the Coalition to pursue. I doubt anyone will seriously buy Turnbull as anything but a bundle of privileges, and that’s ok, so long as people trust him to lead the country. He doesn’t need to be an everyman, he needs to be a prime minister.
Early start in Melbourne, PM heading to flood-hit regions of NSW today @abcnews pic.twitter.com/zzIscPM1PR
— Frank Keany (@FJKeany) June 6, 2016
Before we get into politics proper, let’s have a quick public safety warning via NSW emergency services minister David Elliott. He’s in Coogee this morning waiting for the sun to come up so he can see how much damage was caused by a king tide yesterday.
Elliott tells Radio Nation’s Frank Kelly that the three people who died are believed to have been attempting to drive through flood waters.
It’s like walking into a bushfire. You just don’t take the risk.
So: do not drive through flood waters.
He’s taking a stern personal responsibility line on fixing the damage caused to coastal homes in Sydney in all that wild weather yesterday.
I don’t know what the government can do to encourage people not to buy coastal homes.
Good morning
Hello and welcome to day 30 of the election campaign. If you’re feeling fatigued, take heart: pre-poll voting opens in exactly one week so very soon you will be able to tune out, democratic duty done.
But, for now, take a bracing swig of tea and let’s press on.
The big picture
The election campaign has taken a back seat to devastating floods in New South Wales, the ACT and Tasmania. There are fears the death toll could rise as high as seven. Among the worst-hit areas is the north-west Tasmanian town of Latrobe, which is under water.
Tas Police have released this image of Latrobe, taken from the Westpac Rescue Helicopter today. pic.twitter.com/HbsyShrpyC
— Kathryn Bermingham (@KatBermingham) June 6, 2016
In political matters, the industrial dispute over the Country Fire Authority in Victoria continues to provide fuel for Malcolm Turnbull, who is using it to discuss new legislation restricting union powers. The Australian reports that Turnbull will block unions from striking “secret deals”, whatever that means.
I’ll let the Oz’s David Crowe and Rick Wallace explain:
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash told The Australian the government was considering changes to the Fair Work Act to shield the Victorian volunteers from the union’s attempts to extend its power over the firefighting authority.
“We are considering a number of possible amendments to the Fair Work Act that would address this issue,” Senator Cash said. “There is a clear pattern of behaviour when it comes to secret deals between unions and Labor governments which only benefits unions at the expense of all others. Whether it is destroying the livelihoods of truck drivers at the behest of the TWU, locking contractors out of the construction industry at the behest of the CFMEU or destroying the volunteer CFA at the behest of the UFU, Labor’s utter weakness in the face of greedy union bosses comes at an enormous cost to the community.”
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, appeared to back down on the deal last night, with his government now saying they will help the CFA and continue negotiations with the United Firefighters Union.
I wrote an explainer about the dispute here.
On the campaign trail
Malcolm Turnbull has suspended his campaign for the day to tour flood affected areas in New South Wales. Three people have been confirmed dead in the floods: two in New South Wales and one in the ACT. In Tasmania four people are missing, feared dead.
Bill Shorten is in South Australia, where he plans to talk about apprenticeships. He has offered to suspend his campaign and join Turnbull touring flood zones – no word yet on Turnbull’s response but I think we can expect Shorten in flood areas soon.
The campaign you should be watching
Labor is reportedly concerned about the affect the CFA industrial dispute could have on its campaign for marginal Victorian seats, particularly McEwan, held by Labor’s Rob Mitchell, and Corrangamite, held by Liberal MP Sarah Henderson.
The Age’s Richard Willingham writes that both seats are in high-risk bushfire zones. McEwan and Shorten are hoping voters quarantine the dispute as a state issue.
And another thing(s)
It appeared viewers weren’t the only people terribly bored during the National Press Club leaders debate. Malcolm Turnbull says that if he’s to participate in another debate, he wants it to include questions from Facebook, which is a very on-brand demand.
Gareth Hutchens has more:
The prime minister’s office believes the format of the first debate suited the opposition because few of the audience questions were about the economy, and it thinks the format of the second debate was too boring for the public to engage with it.
Turnbull would like the format of the next debate to be more attractive for voters, particularly disengaged voters in marginal electorates.
With that goal in mind, he would like voters who will not be able to attend the event to still have the chance to engage directly with it. That means having some kind of system that allows questions to be submitted live via Facebook and answered by the prime minister and opposition leader.
But the details of such a plan remain vague. Labor headquarters say there have been no negotiations over a third debate yet.
In another display of modernity, Turnbull has declared that he is a feminist. Twice.
But he also used the word “Robogals” at a women in STEM event in Melbourne yesterday, so points off for that.
You’re changing the world one girl at a time. Think about it
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