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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Katharine Murphy and Helen Davidson (earlier)

Australian election 2016: Julie Bishop says keep calm and carry on after Brexit vote – politics live

The foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, in Brisbane on Friday.
The foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, in Brisbane on Friday. Photograph: Dan Peled/AAP

Nighty night

Time to pull up stumps. Thank you for your company throughout the day. I’ll be back on Sunday for the Coalition campaign launch, and whatever else happens, before we hit the final dash of election 2016.

Let’s breathe deeply and take stock of Friday.

  • The UK stunned the world and possibly itself by voting to leave the EU. Not content with that as a dramatic turn the British prime minister, David Cameron, then announced he was falling on his sword.
  • Before that, our own prime minister performed his own more modest stun routine, indicating the plebiscite on same-sex marriage that will happen (if he gets the numbers to get the enabling legislation through the parliament and, of course, if he actually wins next weekend) will be followed by a free vote on the issue. His MPs won’t be bound by the result in other words, which raises the obvious question: why have the plebiscite at all?
  • On Brexit, the Coalition said the developments in Britain made a compelling case for stability and continuity in Australia given, inevitably, there will be some financial market turbulence. Immediately after the result the pound plunged and stock markets hit the decks. Labor said nothing about Brexit changes the fundamentals of the Australian election contest, it is about the respective plans, and Labor has a plan for inclusive growth, which is the right plan in the global economic circumstances and the political circumstances.

There was more monkey business, but that’s what you need to know for now. Have a good evening and rest up. It will be on like Donkey Kong from Sunday until the end of the contest. Go well.

Updated

What a day. I’ll post a summary next.

Cameron: delivering stability will be important

There is no need for a precise timetable today, but in my view we should aim to have a new prime minister in place by the start of the Conservative party conference in October.

Delivering stability will be important, and I will continue in post as prime minister with my cabinet for the next three months.

The cabinet will meet on Monday. The governor of the Bank of England is making a statement about the steps that the bank and the treasury are taking to reassure financial markets. We will also continue taking forward the important legislation that we set before parliament in the Queen’s speech. And I’ve spoken to Her Majesty the Queen this morning, who advised – and advised her of the steps that I am taking. A negotiation with the European Union will need to begin under a new prime minister, and I think it’s right that this new prime minister takes the decision about when to trigger Article 50 and start the formal and legal process of leaving the EU.

I will attend the European Council next week to explain the decision the British people have taken, and my own decision. The British people have made a choice. That not only needs to be respected, but those on the losing side of the argument – myself included – should help to make it work.

Updated

David Cameron signals he's stepping down in the coming months

I’ve fought this campaign in the only way I know how – which is to say directly and passionately what I think and feel, head, heart and soul. I held nothing back. I was absolutely clear about my belief that Britain is stronger, safer and better off inside the European Union. And I made clear the referendum was about this and this alone, not the future of any single politician, including myself.

But the British people have made a very clear decision to take a different path and as such I think the country requires fresh leadership to take it in this direction. I will do everything I can as prime minister to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months, but I do not think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.

Updated

David Cameron addresses the media in London: the will of the British people is an instruction that needs to be delivered

The British prime minister says the following.

The will of the British people is an instruction that needs to be delivered. It was not a decision that was taken lightly, not least because so many things were said by so many different organisations about the significance of this decision. So there can be no doubt about the result. Across the world, people have been watching a choice that Britain has made.

I would reassure those markets and investors that Britain’s economy is fundamentally strong, and I would also reassure Brits living in European countries, and European citizens living here, that there will be no immediate changes in your circumstances. There will be no initial change in the way our people can travel, in the way our goods can move, or the way our services can be sold.

'The argument about changing the government goes down to the economic fundamentals and the economic plan.'

The ABC has just played some of Bill Shorten from earlier.

The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, reacts to Brexit in Cairns on Friday.
The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, reacts to Brexit in Cairns on Friday. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

The fact of the matter is that, whilst this is a big matter and moment for England, and of course for the European Union, for Australia, our fundamentals are solid and not changed by this referendum whatsoever. Share markets go up and down all the time. That’s not an argument to not change a government. The argument about changing the government goes down to the economic fundamentals and the economic plan. Mr Turnbull’s got a plan to give away $50bn out of our budget bottom line in the next 10 years. Now, it shows that this is the worst possible time to do that.

Updated

Financial markets in the UK have just opened and the FSTE is down more than 8%.

The UK prime minister is due to make a statement in London very shortly. I’ll stay on for that and then we might call enough for tonight.

The Labor leader Bill Shorten is speaking now at Cairns airport but neither the ABC nor Sky is running it live unfortunately. I’ll keep an eye on reports from the travelling media.

Updated

In Brisbane, the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, is projecting the keep calm and carry on message.

Q: You’re saying stay calm but there is already a lot of panic, even reports that the pound has dropped to its lowest level in 30 years. What does that mean for our economy in terms of trading?

Julie Bishop:

There’ll be great volatility, which we’ve seen at the prospect of Britain leaving the EU. But it can’t be taken for granted. We have an economic plan for growing the economy so we can withstand these kinds of external shocks.

That’s what our plan is about – making sure the Australian economy is strong. Our trade agreements with countries to our north and our trade agreements around the world that the Coalition has been negotiating will help us maintain that strength.

Updated

The view from New York.

The Coalition has always dealt with immigration and sovereignty upfront

Scott Morrison is asked about the potential knock-on developments – a call for a united Ireland, Scotland leaving the UK. Morrison says those are matters for the UK, but he notes that issues of immigration and sovereignty were big in the Brexit referendum discussion. He says the Coalition has always been very upfront about dealing with those issues: it’s part of ensuring stability.

Updated

The treasurer, Scott Morrison, is on Sky News now. Shocks and volatility happen in global markets all the time, he says. The appropriate response is to ensure stability in Australia.

Stability.

Over.

Morrison is asked whether the government will have to change the budget settings if the current volatility takes a turn for the worse.

Scott Morrison:

I think, with respect, you are getting very ahead of yourself.

Q: Are you saying this is as bad as it gets?

Scott Morrison:

I’m not making those sorts of predictions.

Q: What would you do in the event of any global economic downturn?

Scott Morrison says the government’s plan is about boosting investment.

Q: If there’s a need, treasurer, will you stimulate the economy?

Morrison says he thinks the question overestimates the challenges “at this present point in time”.

Q: Can the budget afford the corporate tax plan?

Scott Morrison:

Of course we can.

Updated

My UK counterpart Andy Sparrow says David Cameron is about to make a statement. We expect a press conference from Bill Shorten in half an hour or so.

Updated

We can take this as a comment.

It’s interesting to note the change in Malcolm Turnbull’s language over the past few hours. Earlier, he noted a Brexit would create uncertainty and somewhat of a shock. Now, there is no cause for alarm.

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, speaks to local sporting groups at the Devonport golf club on Friday.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, speaks to local sporting groups at the Devonport golf club on Friday. Photograph: Stefan Postles/Getty Images

Updated

Q: Prime minister, would there be any direct consequences for the Australian markets or Australian trade deals? Can you see any concerns there?

Malcolm Turnbull:

The impact on Australia immediately, directly, from a legal point of view, will be very limited because it will take some years for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, to negotiate an exit. However, we’ve seen already large falls on stock markets and there will be a degree of uncertainty for some time. We have to recognise that the global recovery is, in some parts of the world, fragile. So this uncertainty plays into that environment. But I have no doubt, as I said, that our very strong and intimate relations with the United Kingdom will be entirely unaffected and our very strong relations with Europe, with continental Europe, which are leading towards negotiations to a free trade agreement, will also continue. We have enhanced our relations with the major continental European economies in recent years, in particular, of course, Germany and France.

Q: You also just mentioned that it is very important now that Australia has a strong, stable government. You have a very strong economic plan. Does this decision play into the hands of the Coalition’s election campaign?

Malcolm Turnbull:

I’ve made the point many times that we do live in times of great opportunity. These are extraordinary times, of unprecedented economic change in both the scale and pace of change. The opportunities are enormous, but also there are challenges and risks, over which we have no control. These are the global headwinds of which I’ve often spoken. We need strong majority government. Strong Coalition leadership. We need a strong economic plan. We have that. We’ve set that out. We’ve set out our plan that will deliver, and is delivering today, economic growth and stronger employment. It’s delivering jobs and growth.

We need that resilience, that competitiveness, that innovation, that productivity – all of the features, all of the characteristics that our plan is supporting are vitally necessary, now more than ever. But, above all, we need stability, we need a strong majority Coalition government to deliver Australians the economic leadership that they need and they deserve in these times of both opportunity and of risk.

Updated

Malcolm Turnbull holds a second press conference post Brexit

The prime minister is now holding a press conference and he delivers this statement.

Malcolm Turnbull:

This is a momentous and historic decision. And we respect the wishes of the British people, expressed through this referendum. I want to say that Australians, I recognise, will be concerned by the uncertainty and instability in global markets, falls in currencies, including the Australian dollar, and in equity markets.

It is important to remember that the Australian economy is strong and resilient and has weathered global shocks before and weathered them well. I have no doubt that in due course, the British government will negotiate a satisfactory departure from the European Union. This could take several years, and in the meantime, I have no doubt that our relations with the United Kingdom, which are as close as any two nations relations could be, will continue as positively and intimately as ever.

Equally, with Europe, we have been negotiating a European free trade agreement, we have built strong ties with the countries of continental Europe, in particular France and Germany, and I’m very confident that our negotiations towards a free trade agreement with the European Union will continue.

So there is no cause for Australians to be alarmed by these developments. However, there will be a period of uncertainty and some instability in global markets. I’ve no doubt that European leaders will provide reassurance and leadership that will, in due course, settle many, if not all, of those uncertainties. In the meantime, I remind Australians that, given that we are living in a world of great opportunities, but also great challenges and uncertainties, now more than ever Australia needs a stable majority Coalition government with a strong economic plan that sets Australia up for a prosperous future, to take advantage of those opportunities and resiliently meet the challenges and the headwinds that we cannot always anticipate and that we cannot always influence, but they will always be there.

A strong majority government, a strong economic plan – that is what Australia needs in these times of opportunity and, as we have seen, uncertainty.

Updated

At least Cory’s happy.

Implications for the Australian campaign

So you’ve just seen the scramble to frame Brexit in the Australian election context. The Coalition clearly hopes this result will be beneficial for their stability versus chaos campaign. Conventional wisdom would say that’s right: events benefit the Coalition.

I suspect, however, that things are more complex. I stress I have no evidence for what I’m about to say, but this is my instinct.

We need to look at underlying conditions. This vote in the UK is a vote in a way against the establishment, and against conventional wisdom. It’s a vote against politics as usual and the orthodoxies of the political class. The field evidence here shows us there’s a significant proportion of Australian voters who feel much the same way.

The feelings of disenchantment in Australia aren’t nearly as visceral as they are in countries that bore the brunt of the global financial crisis – like the US and the EU. The middle class in Australia hasn’t been smashed in the way it has been smashed in other countries post-recession, but it’s there nonetheless, and disaffection is there with sufficient potency to help determine the result on 2 July.

If that’s the environment we are in, it’s possible for all sides to use Brexit to consolidate their position in this contest. The Coalition can invoke the stability card to try to boost its primary vote. Labor can point to its post GFC economic thinking: the commitment to inclusive growth and the repair of social capital, as the slogan says, putting people first. The Greens and independents can campaign on “end the duopoly/new politics”. Then, for voters, it’s a case of who you believe.

I’ve said all along this is the most interesting election campaign in this country since 2004. It remains exactly that.

Updated

'We need to have a stable majority government with a clear economic plan'

Malcolm Turnbull is reacting now in Tasmania.

The vote in Britain for Britain leaving the EU is very close. At this point the Vote Leave is ahead but it is probably too early to call one way or the other. If Britain were to vote to leave the EU, and the bookmakers apparently think that is likely, that will create uncertainty and somewhat of a shock. You have already seen the pound has lost a lot of value. It is a reminder, as Margaret Thatcher wisely said once: expect the unexpected.

There are many things we can control in Australia, but there are many things we can’t control. What happens in the global economy, how Britain votes, what happens for the Chinese economy, what happens with commodity prices, we can’t control that.

So, we need to have strong economic leadership, we need to have a stable majority government with a clear economic plan, so we are resilient and able to deal with those unexpected events that occur, with those uncertainties that arise.

Updated

Q: Could Brexit potentially play into your hands during the election campaign?

Scott Morrison:

That is for others to decide. What this election is all about is the future of our economy. Last Sunday Bill Shorten had the choice of deciding between putting a national economic plan forward to the Australian people, or to put his whole campaign on the footing of promoting one big lie.

Last night Leigh Sales and the ABC exposed Bill Shorten’s big lie. I’ll do something he was not prepared to do last night. I will put my hand on my heart and say that if the Labor party prevails on 2 July, it will mean high debt and deficit, and higher taxes. That is what it will mean.

Updated

I will respect the decision of the plebiscite

Q: Today Malcolm Turnbull said that the marriage equality plebiscite, if it were held, you would be voting whichever way the result falls. Is that true? If the people of Australia voted yes in that plebiscite would you vote yes?

Scott Morrison:

As a proponent of the plebiscite I will respect it.

Q: Is the plebiscite binding? Malcolm Turnbull said today that people in the party will have a free vote after the plebiscite.

Scott Morrison:

I have always argued for a binding plebiscite.

(Unfortunately he’s not asked whether he means by this answer that he’ll support the national vote or a vote in his electorate.)

Q: You will push ...

Scott Morrison:

I will respect the decision of the plebiscite.

Updated

Scott Morrison:

Today it is Brexit and another [day] that will be something else.

We have a track record of dealing with things like this, and we will continue to do that.

Updated

It is the stability of our national government that is critical

In Sydney, the treasurer, Scott Morrison, is addressing reporters:

It will be some time yet before we are able to get the full picture of what the ultimate decision is, which is being made on the Brexit referendum.

These events are like many global events that happen in our global economy everywhere. This is a significant one, but Australia is no stranger to the headwinds and challenges and uncertainties and volatility that exist within the global economy. The Australian economy is transitioning, we’re transitioning successfully. Whatever the ultimate result is in the Brexit decision, Australia will continue to go forward on the basis of having stable and strong economic policy.

We have many reasons to be confident, but it is the stability of our national government that is critical, and that is what we are putting forward in this campaign. In the short term, and the volatility we are seeing in markets is not unanticipated, in many respects some of these issues have been priced at various levels within the market.

Once the dust clears on these things, there will be a longer and medium-term understanding of what the possible ramifications whichever way the UK decides to go. That still now remains a decision for them and we will wait to see what the outcome of that is. Our government will remain focused on the national economic plan that will ensure the economic security of this country.

Updated

In Tasmania, the prime minister is in the electorate of Braddon. He’s saying Labor has no economic plan. Labor has abandoned the economic field.

The alternative government of Australia stands ready for whatever economic circumstances arise

The shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, is speaking to reporters in Sydney. He starts on the Brexit. Bowen says the alternative government of Australia stands ready for whatever economic circumstances arise as a consequence of events in the UK. He says the advice he’s received is a Brexit would have little direct impact on Australia but global market volatility will likely be an issue. Bowen says the case for structural repair of the budget is clear, and Labor is on that path. The Labor party is the plan for the medium term in this election.

Chris Bowen is also asked when Labor will produce costings.

Soon.

Updated

UKIP is claiming victory in Brexit. Nigel Farage has just said “independence day” has been achieved without a bullet being fired. Extraordinary thing to say.

Again, no cause for alarm, but ...

Updated

I don’t want to alarm anyone, but ...

Updated

Campaign this Friday lunchtime

I’m trying very hard not to be distracted by Brexit. We must push on. Let’s consider the sum of Friday morning’s parts.

Malcolm Turnbull is campaigning in Tasmania armed with cash. I note in passing it’s interesting the prime minister is now doling out the cash in person rather than leaving it to colleagues in the invisible local campaigns. In addition to sand bags and suasion, Turnbull has sent a clear signal that the marriage equality plebiscite the Coalition is promising post election will be followed by a conscience vote in the parliament, which obviously gives conservatives an out in the event the national vote is yes, and MPs can’t bring themselves to replicate it. Which raises the obvious question: why have the plebiscite if there’s an out clause?

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, leaves a doorstop with the Tasmanian premier, Will Hodgman, in Launceston on Friday.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, leaves a doorstop with the Tasmanian premier, Will Hodgman, in Launceston on Friday. Photograph: Stefan Postles/Getty Images

Bill Shorten is campaigning in the territory armed with #straya. The Labor leader says, if elected, his government would take an Australia-first attitude to work visas. He’s defended Labor’s Medicare campaign and he’s also welcomed a decision by Paul Keating to enter the campaign fray with a loud thwack to the Coalition about company tax cuts via a letter to the editor of the Financial Review.

The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, at the Royal Australian Air Force base in Darwin on Friday.
The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, at the Royal Australian Air Force base in Darwin on Friday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

And so it goes.

Updated

Meet the Barney Army. I’ll post a summary shortly.

England has the Barmy Army, New England has the Barney Army! Thanks to all the people standing up to help me keep delivering the projects and the jobs important to our region.#newengland #ausvotes #auspol #nsw #australia #community #barneyarmy #natchat

Updated

The Greens are also unhappy with the morning’s developments on marriage equality. Marriage equality spokesman Robert Simms:

I think most Australians would be scratching their heads this morning. How exactly can the prime minister justify spending $160m on what is in effect a giant opinion poll that isn’t even binding on his own members? To subject the LGBTI community to this ugly and divisive hate campaign would serve no purpose other than to appease the conservative forces on Mr Turnbull’s backbench. It’s time for some spine from this prime minister. If the prime minister is willing to grant his members a free vote on marriage equality following the plebiscite, why doesn’t he just take the plebiscite off the table and let the parliament decide.

Updated

Back in Tasmania, things are a bit feisty.

A protester wears a mask resembling the local MP for Bass, Andrew Nikolic, ahead of a meeting with local business owners at Design Tasmania in Launceston on Friday.
A protester wears a mask resembling the local MP for Bass, Andrew Nikolic, ahead of a meeting with local business owners at Design Tasmania in Launceston on Friday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

The vote has swung back in Brexit, but it’s clear no one has any idea which way this will go.

Updated

The Labor candidate for Solomon, Luke Gosling, and the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, in Darwin on Friday.
The Labor candidate for Solomon, Luke Gosling, and the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, in Darwin on Friday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, in Launceston on Friday.
The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, in Launceston on Friday. Photograph: Stefan Postles/Getty Images

Updated

Parallels are dangerous, particularly in advance of the facts, but I’ll note this just very gently with all appropriate caveats. The Brexit campaign has split the conservative party in the UK and the stakes for David Cameron today could not be higher. Malcolm Turnbull must be hoping marriage equality isn’t looming as his Brexit.

For folks hanging on Brexit, it’s not looking good for the remain campaign right at the moment. Just a quick news wire take.

The Australian stock market has given up early gains as confidence that Britain will remain part of the European Union slips amid early results from the country’s referendum.

The benchmark index rose nearly 1% in the first few minutes of trade, but soon slid into negative territory as investors fretted about a close vote.

“We are starting to see a reversal on indications that it may not be as clean-cut a victory as many had expected,” a CommSec market analyst, Steven Daghlian, said. “If there is one thing certain today, it’s that we will see a volatile trade for the next couple of hours.”

* At 1048 AEST on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 22.2 points, or 0.42%, at 5,258.5 points.
* The broader All Ordinaries index was down 20.3 points, or 0.38%, at 5,338.3 points.
* The September share price index futures contract was down 22 points at 5,212 points, with 14,388 contracts traded.

Updated

One Politics Live reader is suggesting Labor MPs embark on a sit-in to force a marriage-equality vote, as happened on guns in the US this week.

Labor’s Penny Wong is not amused.

Updated

Back to the barbed wire fence

Let’s consider marriage equality step by step. The prime minister has just signalled the people’s vote, the plebiscite, will be followed by a free vote in the parliament. Malcolm Turnbull says there’s no issue here: Australians in all likelihood will vote yes, and MPs will be guided by that.

Here’s where that argument makes sense. There will be Liberal and National MPs who would vote yes to legalise same-sex marriage only with the cover of a plebiscite. They will be able to stand behind the voters. “Look I don’t agree with this myself, but the majority of Australians do, and as we’ve asked them, I’d better agree with the result.”

That fact is part of the reason why I have actually been positive about a plebiscite. I suspect it will help the numbers in parliament to legalise same-sex marriage. In truth I have never been convinced that the numbers are there in parliament right now for a yes vote because politicians, by and large, are considerably more conservative than the bulk of the Australian population. I think a parliamentary vote would be very close if it was held today, and could well fail. If you believe resolutely in good faith, then the prime minister’s analysis is broadly correct.

Here’s the problem with good faith. The plebiscite was never, on the part of its architects, a vehicle for legalising same-sex marriage. It was a vehicle to delay consideration of the issue, and a vehicle, potentially, to derail marriage equality. All the nonsense from Tony Abbott about a people’s vote was always just that: nonsense. The people who constructed the plebiscite as a delaying tactic are still in the parliament, and a handful of them will do everything they can to frustrate progress on this issue.

You might say ah well, that’s a small pocket of dissent, who cares, except I repeat the analysis I shared earlier: if this is a free vote, it will be close. I’ll believe the numbers are there when I see them. I suspect some conservatives will reset the boundaries of assent if they have discretion: you could easily reframe the argument to say I will vote the way my electorate votes. If you happen to represent a conservative electorate, and you campaign in your electorate in support of the no case during the plebiscite, you can easily see the self-fulfilling prophecy here. You can see the limits of good faith.

Here’s another problem. The prime minister has done everything he can in the campaign to sound positive about the plebiscite (which close watchers will remember that he didn’t support). He’s said consistently he’ll be voting yes, and encouraging other Australians to vote yes too. But how strongly will he be encouraging that yes vote if he is returned on 2 July with only a wafer-thin majority, or if the Coalition is in a minority parliament scenario? What kind of discretion will he have? I’ll answer the question for you: somewhere between a tiny bit and bugger all.

On this issue, in every respect, Malcolm Turnbull is astride the barbed wire fence.

Updated

Sorry I missed the Boris question in the Turnbull press conference.

Q: Do you believe Boris Johnson would be a great leader of Great Britain at any stage into the future?

Malcolm Turnbull:

I don’t know Boris well. I have met him and he is as you see him, a very brilliant, eloquent, erudite leader. A great mayor of London and of course he is now a member of parliament. But he’s a leading figure in the United Kingdom but I don’t want to make any comments on what may or may not have happened in the UK. We still don’t know what the outcome of the Brexit is. We have to await the decision of the British people. It is a reminder that there are always going to be challenges in the global economy and that is why you need to have strong and stable government here in Australia. You need to have a clear economic plan ...

I’ll pause on marriage equality in the next post. We need to walk through that.

Q: On Medicare, Labor obviously got through to voters with their campaign about what they were accusing you of planning to do if re-elected. Bill Shorten has changed this language now but says he won’t let you off the hook. Are you concerned this will affect your campaign in marginal seats?

Malcolm Turnbull:

The real issue is Bill Shorten has been caught out lying. He has been lying about Medicare and he’s been caught out. He was asked to put his hand on his heart and repeat his lies and he wouldn’t. He’s been caught out lying and he’s been lying to older Australians having people on behalf of the Labor party and the unions calling them up in the evening, frightening them with these lies. Now if somebody is running for prime minister and they’re prepared to lie about something as important as that to vulnerable Australians, how can you trust anything else he says? Thank you very much.

Updated

Q: What do you make of Paul Keating saying your corporate tax cuts are irresponsible, particularly given the Coalition previously has been taunting Labor saying Paul Keating would back that idea?

Malcolm Turnbull:

Well, Paul Keating is a life-long member of the Labor party. I’m not surprised by his letter to the Financial Review today although it has taken him a while to write it. I would say this with Paul Keating, knowing and respecting him well, I would look at what he did in office as a measure of his commitment and convictions rather than what he writes in a letter to a newspaper a week out from an election.

Q: Prime minister, in terms of Paul Keating he paid for that by increasing other taxes to make up for the shortfall. You haven’t said how you’re going to pay for your tax cut yet. Given your argument there about Paul Keating and what he did, how will you pay for it?

Malcolm Turnbull:

Paul Keating when he cut company tax justified it on the basis it was going to drive the economy and jobs. That’s how he justified it.

It will not have escaped your notice that we have made very substantial savings in respect of superannuation and so we have made savings in tax and that contributes to the cost of the – the notional cost anyway – of the company tax cuts. This issue about the impact of cutting company tax is one where Labor today is completely at odds with what its leaders have been saying for decades.

The Labor party cut company tax, they cut company tax when Paul Keating was treasurer, they sought to cut company tax when they were last in government. Bill Shorten as recently as a few years ago made precisely the same arguments for cutting company tax as Scott Morrison and I are making today so it’s perfectly straightforward where we stand on this. If you lower company tax you improve the return on investment. If you improve the return on investment you get more investment. If you get more investment you get more employment. That’s why as the treasury said, for every dollar of company tax there’s $4 of benefit to the overall economy.

Updated

Straddling the barbed-wire fence on the plebiscite

Q: On the same-sex marriage plebiscite, if the result is yes, will your cabinet colleagues be bound to vote yes as well or can they vote however they want?

Malcolm Turnbull:

I have no doubt that if the plebiscite is carried, as I believe it will be, that you will see an overwhelming majority of MPs and senators voting for it.

Q: Is cabinet bound or is it up to members?

Malcolm Turnbull:

The tradition in the Liberal party is that on matters of this kind it is a free vote but I would expect – you take Scott Morrison, for example. Scott has indicated that he would abide by the decision of the Australian people and of course – so I think we have a very – it’s a pretty straightforward situation where you have a question of great interest to many Australians, to most Australians, which will be decided by a plebiscite where every Australian will get a vote, every Australian will have the same vote as me or Will or any other member of parliament, and that will determine the outcome of the matter.

(A conscience vote where every conservative in the parliament votes yes. Believe that and I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you.)

Updated

Malcolm Turnbull is speaking in Tasmania

The prime minister is speaking to the media down south. Let’s pick that up now.

Q: On Anne Aly, one of the criticisms of the justice minister of her is she’s expressed concerns about the plan to strip citizenship from terrorism suspects. You too raised concerns about that. Are you very comfortable with the fact it looks like the Liberal party is orchestrating an Islamophobic smear campaign against her?

Malcolm Turnbull:

I reject the last part of your question absolutely.

I respect Anne Aly, absolutely. She’s an authority in her field. The only point that the minister has made is that she does not agree with substantial elements of the government’s counter-terrorism national security policies and indeed legislation.

The leader of her now party – she was of course previously a candidate for the Greens but she’s now a member of the Labor party – the leader of her party, Mr Shorten, says he agrees entirely with our legislation and our policies.

It is clear she does not and so the point that the minister makes is simply she’s entitled to her opinion, of course, but her opinion is at odds with the leader of her own party.

(Let’s call that foray iron fist, velvet glove.)

Updated

Q: With regard to costings, you said you would be different with costings and that they would not be released last-minute in the campaign. We are one week out and unless I’m wrong and you’ve released all you intend to release, we still need a costings bottom line from you and we’re going to get it in the hullabaloo of the last week of the campaign. Haven’t you failed us in that regard?

Bill Shorten:

Tim, I wouldn’t try and get anything past a forensic journalist of your experience. Tony Abbott released his costings, I think, 9pm or 8pm on the Thursday night before the Saturday. I promise you, we’ll do that well before that.

Q: That’s a bad benchmark though, Mr Shorten.

Bill Shorten:

I agree. That’s why we won’t be as bad as him.

#straya

Q: You criticised Turnbull for coming into office and promising to avoid a rule-in-rule-out approach, avoid three-word slogans and respect people’s intelligence and to avoid captain’s calls and that sort of thing, and you said he’s not delivered on that. Can you vow when you’re in office not to do those things, the rule-in, rule-out slogans and respect people’s intelligence and not to run scare campaigns in the three years you’re elected?

Bill Shorten:

The only three-word slogan I want to see if I’m elected prime minister is made in Australia. I want to make sure Australians share in our prosperity. What drives me is the common good.

Updated

Q: Julia Gillard, Paul Keating, Bob Hawke were at your campaign launch. I’m wondering which of the three leaders you’ve managed to catch up with, including Kevin Rudd, during the campaign and what advice they’re offering you during the campaign?

Bill Shorten takes this as an opportunity to cue up Paul Keating.

I was humbled we had so many former Labor prime ministers at the launch. I keep up with Kevin Rudd, he is pursuing campaigns overseas and I wish him well.

One of the people you speak of has had a foray today, Paul Keating ...

Updated

Q: If you are unsuccessful on July 2, will you rule out putting your hand up again for the leadership or trying to retain the leadership?

Bill Shorten:

Jason, you may think the election is over, I don’t. I’m fighting this election down to the last minute. You could talk to me at 5.59pm on Saturday and I’ll still be chasing votes because we’ve got the best policies for Australia.

Updated

Q: If, like you say, he has been caught with his hand in the policy cookie jar, does that mean he doesn’t have a policy on this and are you not being honest with voters?

Bill Shorten:

No, I’m standing up for Medicare ... I’m not going to let him off the hook. The Labor party built Medicare and we’ve always defended Medicare. I’m not going to let Malcolm Turnbull off the hook of his terrible cuts which will smash our healthcare system.

He’s not funding hospitals properly, he’s getting rid of bulk billing by stealth, undermining the cost of medicine by increasing prices people pay for medicine. Malcolm Turnbull cannot be trusted with Medicare. If the Liberals get back in on July 2, piece by piece, brick by brick, the Medicare system as we know it will be fundamentally compromised.

Updated

Q: Why are you backing away from your attack in recent days that the Liberal government will privatise Medicare and can you say they have policy to privatise universal health care?

Bill Shorten:

What’s happened is Malcolm Turnbull has been caught with his hand in the policy cookie jar. He’s been clear he believes in the privatisation, the outsourcing of the payment system. He’s said as much in parliament and he has a $5m taskforce he created.

What’s happened though, of course, is Malcolm Turnbull has seen the mounting electoral backlash against all his Medicare change ... he’s doubled down and said: ‘Listen, on this issue we won’t do any more for the time being,’ so he’s had a look at his taskforce and said we’re not going to go ahead with that for the time being.

But if you believe that Malcolm Turnbull’s basic DNA is not to privatise assets, that’s up to you. I just don’t believe him.

It is not what Malcolm Turnbull is saying now about a particular privatisation taskforce that’s got me worried. What [does] is, piece by piece, if given the chance, he will dismantle Medicare.

Updated

Q: Will you commit that if elected you’ll get rid of the backpacker tax which is affecting territory businesses right now?

Bill Shorten:

I promise that if I’m elected on July 2 we will immediately review the backpacker tax. What we will do is what this government seems to be chronically incapable of doing: we’ll talk to agriculture, talk to tourism, understand the impact and [have] sensible discussions which I think only a Labor government can do – bringing people around the table, we’ll make sure we reform the system so it works in the interests of the territory.

Updated

Q: The first results are coming out of the referendum in the UK. You would be pleased they look like they’re going to stay in Europe and what does that mean for Australia?

Bill Shorten:

It’s a matter for the British people what decision they make. I’ll wait to see what they decide but what I’ve said all along is that the fundamentals of the Australian economy, you know, the fundamental foundation, we’re solid. We cope with international events all the time. But what it does show is the importance of having a long-term plan for transitioning Australia from the mining boom.

Bill Shorten addresses reporters in Darwin

The opposition leader has hit the campaign trail in Darwin. Bill Shorten is talking about temporary work visas.

It is time in the Australian economy to reform the visa system, to stop the exploitation we’ve seen with 7-Eleven.

It is time to make sure that we start addressing the issue of over a million underemployed Australians as well as 750,000-plus unemployed Australians.

And it’s time also that, whilst we will always have guest workers in this country and our skilled temporary migrant worker visa system is an integral part of our economic makeup, it’s time to make sure we’re ensuring that Australians get opportunities which should be rightfully theirs in terms of work in this country.

Labor’s workplace spokesman, Brendan O’Connor, keeps it simpler.

Labor believes you need to look locally before you go overseas.

Updated

Ah, look, the band is back together in Tasmania.

Shower anthropology and letters to the editor

Thanks, Helen. Hello everyone. Welcome to Friday. Sorry to be a fraction late – I’ve been on the radio. I’m not sure the Australian election campaign can compete with Brexit for suspense but I’m sure Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten will give it a good shake.

The prime minister is in Tasmania this morning doling out the cash in the north of the state. He’s been on the ABC and managed to turn a question about pensions into the campaign talking points on free trade agreements, which takes some doing for an ordinary person, but not for a politician nearing the end of week seven of an eight-week election campaign.

But my favourite prime ministerial reflection of the morning is not segue magic, but an observation he’s shared with the Australian’s political editor, Dennis Shanahan, about showers in surf clubs. This is Shanahan, paraphrasing the prime minister. “Turnbull believes the showers, in the then male-only surf club, were a social leveller with people from every background, including Jewish members from the ‘schmutter business’ – rag trade – indistinguishable in swimmers or naked.” Perhaps it’s just me to think amateur anthropology in the showers is a singular sort of pastime. Perhaps it’s actually a popular hobby with blokes, but in any case it jolted me over my spearmint tea this morning.

The opposition leader is at the opposite end of the country today, in Darwin. I’ve been wondering how long it would take for Paul Keating to emerge on company tax cuts. In fact it’s curious he hasn’t emerged before now, and it’s also curious he’s chosen to address the issue in a letter to the editor of the Australian Financial Review, rather than popping by Tony Jones on Lateline, or The World Today at lunchtime (two standard Keating haunts when he chooses to make a public intervention of some kind).

The government has used Keating as Labor’s poster boy for supporting the intrinsic merits of corporate tax cuts because he cut them in the 1980s and 1990s. Pooh pooh, says Keating this morning. “Tax reductions are desirable provided they are affordable. But I would never have countenanced a $50bn impost on the budget balance with a discretionary unfunded tax cut. Yes, I did cut the company tax rate from 49% to 33%, but paid for those vast reductions by a massive broadening to the base of the tax system.”

Keating’s belated emergence prompts me to share with you this observation. I’ve never seen a Labor leader given more help to win a campaign than Bill Shorten in this contest. If Labor delivers an upset on 2 July it will be the result of a supreme team undertaking: the shadow cabinet, the caucus, the labour movement, the former prime ministers – everyone has rallied to help Shorten get his best chance of fulfilling the lifelong dream of being the prime minister of Australia. Labor collectively has attempted to draw a line over the civil war. Will the collectivism persist post-election? Well, who knows. This is politics after all, and ambitions run deep.

Speaking of team undertakings, live blogs take a village, and a reminder, the Politics Live village square is open for 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. You can find him here.

Updated

A quick and belated look at the front pages around the country, before I hand over to Katharine Murphy. I’ll be back bright and early on Monday.

It’s been swell.

The Greens have called for an end to compulsory income management, including the basics card and trials of the cashless welfare card in South Australia and Western Australia.

The proposal has been fully costed and will save $65m in 2016-17, says senator Rachel Seiwert.

“Both old parties have expanded income management over the years despite community concerns and evaluations that show this paternalistic approach doesn’t work,” she said.

“The Greens will seek to work with communities on policies that genuinely reduce disadvantage by giving individuals and communities the support they need to address substance abuse and other challenges.”

Asked for further details, Siewert said they would work with “wrap around” services which address individual needs.

Evidence suggests that early intervention, family support services, mental health services and drug and alcohol services and rehab are effective. Programs should be developed and delivered by Aboriginal-controlled organisations.

Updated

The backpacker tax is also a big deal in the NT, where Mathias Cormann is now talking to ABC Darwin.

The government postponed its introduction by six months. Why not get rid of it, asks Adam Steer?

There’s further consultation to happen, says Cormann.

The basic principle is that people who work in Australia need to pay tax in Australia on the revenue they earn on a reasonable and equitable and fair and equivalent basis. There is more work to be done on this.

Updated

The backpacker tax is a key election issue in regional areas around the country. Tasmania is one of them.

“Nobody knows what your tax policy is and you won’t make a decision until the height of the cherry season,” says the host, Leon Compton.

They’ll be working with industry, says Turnbull. “We are committed to ensuring they have the right incentives and support at harvest season.”

Updated

Turnbull on Tassie ABC radio:

Q: Pension increases?

Turnbull:

Pensions are indexed, we provide strong support for pensioners. We honour and recognise our pensioners but again the ability of government to pay for pensions, to pay for all of the services ... all of these services government provides are dependent on having strong economic growth.

He then says Labor is linked to unions who are “calling up old ladies and scaring them with lies”.

Updated

Malcolm Turnbull is kicking off with his “big plan for jobs and growth” for Tasmania, with the $150m commitment to the University of Tasmania.

He’s asked if there are any conditions attached to the funding if the Coalition wins government – for instance requiring education bills to pass through the Senate.

Turnbull says no, it’s completely unconditional.

Question: “Tasmania lags horribly in achievement in ... getting young people through to year 12. Labor is promising more money than you for secondary and primary schools. If that’s the issue people vote on, then shouldn’t they vote for your opponent?

Turnbull:

No. because if you don’t have strong economic opportunities, strong economic jobs, economic growth, then your child, your grandchild is not going to have a job to go to.

Let me just put some numbers around this for a start. Over the next four years we are going to spend $74bn on schools, Labor is proposing to spend $78bn. So yes there is a difference but when you look at it proportionally it’s not as great as you would imagine from the rhetoric. We are determined to get better outcomes from the dollars they spend because we have to live within our means, we have to move to a balanced budget. We are able to do that and Labor is not. What we’ll be doing is focusing on supporting high quality teachers ... and assessing kids when they go into school at five – this is very important – so we can see who is doing well relatively to others and more importantly who is not.

The host jumps in and notes there is only four minutes left to talk and it’s likely to be the only time they will get to talk to him in this election campaign.

Updated

The prime minister will shortly speak to ABC Tasmania.

Updated

Ewen Jones is over it. So is Anthony Albanese. But one person is still loving this lengthy, lengthy election campaign.

“I don’t want it to end. It’s the best time of my life,” Christopher Pyne has told the Nine Network.

Albanese doesn’t share his enthusiasm with eight days to go, AAP reports. The Labor frontbencher said he is looking forward to being on the home front next week in the lead up to polling day.

Medicare privatisation: the veterans' episode

Apologies, it’s taken a little while to get to this. Quite a morning we’re having already.

Labor’s campaign around medicare privatisation began with the payments system, then moved on to children’s vaccination records. Today it’s veterans’ health.

Citing freedom of information documents, Labor’s Catherine King (health) and David Feeney (veterans’ affairs) are accusing the Coalition of seeking to outsource Medicare payments for veterans’ health services. This, they say, is another part of Turnbull’s “privatisation agenda”.

Quoting “documents”, King and Feeney say the department of health had sought:

Expressions of interest for the commercial provision of Medical and Pharmaceutical Benefits Claims and Payment Services provided by the Department of Human Services and similar payment services provided by that Department for the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA).

Updated

Checking in momentarily on Britain’s EU referendum: polling booths have closed but the results are still several hours away.

Polling is suggesting Britain will vote to remain as part of the EU.

There also appears to have been an extraordinarily high turnout. Stay on top of all the latest with the Guardian live blog below.

Updated

This campaign is taking its toll on everyone.

A quick refresher after the Bishop interview.

Michael Keenan had launched an extraordinary attack on Dr Anne Aly, a deradicalisation expert whose work is funded by the government.

He accused her of writing “a letter of support” for Mohammed Juniad Thorne, a “hate preacher” who was appealing a jail sentence for flying under a false name. He said the letter showed “pretty poor judgment” and he accused her of not supporting the government’s national security efforts.

Aly accused Keenan of a “despicable smear campaign” and, when she called into one of his radio interviews for a right of reply, he refused to talk to her.

The Coalition spokesman, Mathias Cormann, gave muted support to Keenan on Lateline last night, saying Thorne did receive a sentence reduction as a result of her intervention, but pointed more towards Aly’s former links to the Greens party.

Q: Your government gave Dr Aly funding to do this work. Is she simply being attacked now simply because she has become a political threat in that seat?

Cormann: “A question was raised and she was invited to explain herself. That is a normal part of the democratic process.”

Bishop has this morning doubled down on Keenan’s original attack.

For your own judgment, here is the letter in question, obtained by my colleague Michael Safi.

Updated

Bishop backs Keenan on Anne Aly

Does Bishop condone the attack by Michael Keenan on the Labor member?

Julie Bishop:

Michael Keenan is quite rightly pointing out that the candidate for Cowan for the Labor party has criticised our national security efforts. She did write a letter for a known hate preacher ... in an attempt to get him off jail time. That is not part of the role the federal government was funding her for.

Anne Aly has maintained she was concentrating on getting help for the co-accused, a younger man and her job, in public advocacy, was to see if she could work out a de-radicalisation plan, returns Fran Kelly.

“Others around her say this is nothing more than Islamophobic dog whistling.”

Bishop:

I disagree with that. The funding of the organisation linked to Anne Aly from the government was to mentor young people before they were radicalised. It was not to write references to release convicted criminals from their jail sentence.

Does Bishop doubt Aly’s credentials?

Our point is that she’s not supporting a number of our national security efforts and this is a pattern across the Labor party. We now see there are about 50 Labor members and candidates who disagree with Bill Shorten when he backs the Turnbull government’s approach to border protection.

Updated

RN host Fran Kelly moves on to the election and Medicare.

“Bill Shorten was clearly seeking to sneak into government on the basis of a lie, and that was exposed last night on the 7.30 report when it was quite evident the whole Medicare scare was a fiction,” says Julie Bishop.

“How sad it was for Labor to wheel out a respected former prime minister Bob Hawke to get him to be part of this fictitious scare campaign.”

Bishop says the feedback she’s getting is positive but people are concerned about jobs. Only one party has a plan ...

Updated

The foreign minister, Julie Bishop, is talking to Radio National. She said the government has been briefed on the implications of either result of Britain’s EU referendum vote.

“If the decision is to leave it would take some time for that agreement to be negotiated,” she said, adding Australia would work with both Britain and the EU on Australia’s changed relationship with them.

She noted there had already been a level of volatility in the global markets “at the mere prospect of Britain leaving the EU”.

But Australia has a resilient economy, we’re now moving into the 25th consecutive year of economic growth but that can’t be taken for granted ... We will work with both Britain and the EU whatever the outcome.

Bishop is asked about Australia’s contingency plans, but she doesn’t detail them, and says there would be some time between the vote result and the changes that would happen.

Updated

Visa costs for employers wanting to bring temporary skilled workers would rise under a Labor government.

In workplaces where more than half of the employees are on 457 visas, companies will pay extra for each additional visa. AAP reports it would be $1,500 each time.

It’s among a raft of proposals released by Labor this morning, including labour market testing requirements, and compulsory labour agreements for 457 workers in sectors where a specific sector goes over a certain proportion of 457 visa workers.

A Labor government would also review the student visa and working holiday maker visa program.

Updated

The Coalition campaign spokesman, Mathias Cormann has just spoken to Sky News. It was largely the same message as usual – jobs and growth, Mediscare – but he also took a swipe at Paul Keating. Cormann said the former Labor PM introduced a company tax cut at a time when the budget was not in surplus and dismissed Keating’s claim it was paid for by broadening the tax base.

He said Keating was just being loyal and supporting Bill Shorten.

Updated

Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating has responded to a piece in the Australia Financial Review which gathered together statements by a stack of Labor people seeming to have – in the past – supported a company tax cut.

A disappointing lack of creative insults, but scathing nonetheless.

Updated

Good morning all, and happy Friday. Will today be the day everyone starts behaving? Unlikely. We have just eight full days of campaigning before polling day. The scare campaigns really ramped up this week after polls remained deadlocked and Australia said meh.

We’ve had strong and often ridiculous language on Mediscare, a waiting “flotilla” of boats, low accusations of supporting radicals, and the danger of unfought bushfires. So far, mostly harmless, but what’s to come next week?

I’ll be with you until about 9am, when the irreplaceable Katharine Murphy will take over. You can find me on Twitter @heldavidson, and I’ll dive into the comments when I can.

Buckle up, and let’s get into Friday.

The big picture

Bill Shorten has accused the Liberals of “sailing close to the wind” with political fundraising, drawing together the party’s apology to Lucy Turnbull yesterday for using her as a drawcard for an event and the scandal around the Parakeelia organisation.

“I don’t know what it is about Liberals and money but it seems to get them into quite a lot of trouble,” he said, calling on the party to back Labor’s campaign financing reforms.

The opposition leader will be in Darwin today, for his second visit to the marginal seat of Solomon. He will be calling for a bipartisan approach on mental health funding, to guarantee funding for youth service Headspace, before visiting a local defence base.

Malcolm Turnbull will today announce $150m for the relocation and expansion of the University of Tasmania campuses in Launceston and Burnie. It matches an earlier promise by Labor, and is a cofunding arrangement with UTas, the Tasmanian government and Launceston council.

The funding would allow for new campuses at Inveresk and West Park and the strengthening of Stem subject delivery at the new Launceston Institute for Applied Science and Design Building. The Coalition said it would generate $1.1bn in economic output and 3,110 jobs during the construction phase.

Labor is not letting go of Medicare, warning of privatisation by stealth, through the outsourcing of payments systems (forcing Turnbull to back down on that policy) and the handing over of children’s vaccination records to private companies. Shorten denied he was running a scare campaign not based on truth when he appeared on ABC’s 7.30 last night.

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph has given him the full cartoon treatment on its front page for his effort.

The Coalition for its part responded with the scare campaign it knows and loves: boats. I don’t think it had even gotten that dusty after the last time they used it.

Turnbull and his immigration minister copped scepticism from all corners after announcing “for transparency” that a group of 21 asylum seekers had attempted to reach Australia by boat this month. A clumsy attempt to say Labor had caveats around its turnback policy (“when safe to do so” – the same as the Coalition), led to the opposition trumpeting that it had the same plans as the government.

Despite the prominence of these two issues in the campaign, the leaders are unlikely to debate them, Fairfax’s Jane Lee reports. The National Press Club has been in negotiations to host a debate – after a series on innovation, defence and employment – but they appear to have fallen through.

Shorten has demanded Turnbull call off his “attack dogs” after the justice minister, Michael Keenan, was yesterday accused of some pretty incredible smearing which he wouldn’t back up.

Keenan went after Labor’s candidate in Cowan, the anti-radicalisation expert Anne Aly, over a “letter of support” she had written for a self-styled Muslim preacher who was appealing against a jail sentence for flying under a false name.

“If President Obama and the Department of Homeland Security regard her as a global expert on deradicalisation, I think we can do a little better than Michael Keenan trying to imply the opposite,” Shorten said.

When Keenan continued his attack on local radio, Aly called in to ask for a right of reply. He refused to talk to her.

After reading all that you might be more inclined to hear the suggestion by Greens leader Richard Di Natale that Australia is destined for minority government because the major parties can’t stop losing voters.

Gareth Hutchens reports that Turnbull and Shorten have ruled out working with the Greens but Di Natale told the National Press Club they “won’t have a choice” if the result of the election calls for a negotiated government.

The fear of minor parties is definitely taking hold, as Shorten blasted the rising threat that is the Nick Xenophon Team, which he called a “ragtag militia of candidates”.

And finally, the former treasurer and now ambassador to the US, Joe Hockey, has urged stateside Aussies to remember to vote.

On the campaign trail

Bill Shorten is in Darwin today, where he’s expected to follow on from his appearance in Adelaide yesterday with some Northern Territory-related announcements as part of his jobs package. He’ll also visit a defence base.

The PM is in the Apple Isle, visiting the electorates of Braddon, Bass and Lyons, all marginal seats held by the Liberals with 2.6%, 4%, and 1.2% respectively.

He’ll be announcing the $150m expansion for the University of Tasmania, plus funding commitments in Launceston as part of his Smart Cities policy.

The campaign you should be watching

The three seats Turnbull is visiting today are known collectively as “the three amigos”. The Coalition is predicted to lose anywhere between one and three of these three northern Tasmanian seats. My colleague Calla Wahlquist has taken a look at the area, some of which was hit this month by devastating floods.

And another thing

Polls are about to close in Britain on the historic EU referendum. It’s been a bitter campaign with a largely unpredictable result.

It’s been perplexing, as the leave and remain camps have not fallen along party or even ideological lines.

It’s got ridiculous, peaking with Nigel Farage and Bob Geldof having a loud whiny waterfight from flotillas on the Thames.

But it’s also been truly tragic, with the murder of the British MP Jo Cox.

The financial markets across the globe are on the edge of their seat, with reports the market seems to be confident of a remain result.

Horrible weather across the UK is reportedly having an impact on voter turnout, and by all accounts it is an emotional day for people as they answer one of the most important questions ever posed to the British population.

The Guardian is covering it all in detail here.

Updated

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