That’s it for us tonight folks. Here were the elements of the day:
-
The Panama Papers: It turns out Malcolm Turnbull, was previously listed as the director of a British Virgin Islands company that Mossack Fonseca acted as registered agent for, the Panama Papers have disclosed. The Panama Papers database lists Turnbull’s historical role with the company more than 20 years ago, which was part of a subsidiary of an Australian publicly listed mining company Star Mining NL. Asked about his role this morning, the prime minister said there was “no suggestion of any impropriety whatsoever”.
-
Turnbull spent the day campaigning in Victoria while Bill Shorten was in Queensland for his fourth day. Turnbull had a close encounter with a voter known as Melinda who expressed her full and frank views about the government cuts to family tax benefits. Shorten - who was continuing his campaign on education policy - got a lot of questions about aforementioned disendorsed Labor candidate for Fremantle Chris Brown.
- Turnbull and Shorten are both back in Sydney this evening to prepare for the debate tomorrow night at 6pm.
Bridie Jabour will be back here in the morning while Katharine Murphy will blog the first debate.
As I leave you, Peta Credlin and Kristina Kenneally are debating the merits of the day and the week on Sky. Credlin is talking about how “damaging” the boats issue is for Labor.
It’s a scab you don’t have to go very far to pull off.
Good night. Shhhh, says Bruce.
Citizen Bruce @BillsonBruce sells Dunkley as the "Riviera" before the PMs visit @murpharoo @GuardianAus #polticslive pic.twitter.com/8ArKYZbndv
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) May 12, 2016
Updated
Just to drop this on you: Labor senate tickets.
NSW
1. Sam Dastyari
2. Jennifer McAllister
3. Deborah O’Neill
4. Doug Cameron
5. Tara Moriarty
6. Vivien Thomson
VICTORIA
1. Kim Carr
2. Stephen Conroy
3. Jacinta Collins
4. Gavin Marshall
5. Jennifer Yang
6. Louise Persse
QLD
1. Murray Watt
2. Anthony Chisholm
3. Claire Moore
4. Chris Ketter
5. Jane Casey
6. Cheryl Thompson
WA
1. Sue Lines
2. Glenn Sterle
3. Patrick Dodson
4. Louise Pratt
5. Mark Reed
6. Susan Bowers
SA
1. Penny Wong
2. Don Farrell
3. Alex Gallacher
4. Anne McEwen
5. Michael Allison
6. Bronwyn Gallacher
TASMANIA
1. Anne Urquhart
2. Helen Polley
3. Carol Brown
4. Catryna Bilyk
5. John Short
6. Lisa Singh
ACT
1. Katy Gallagher
2. David Smith
NT
1. Nova Peris
2. Pat Honan
Chris Brown, has appealed to Bill Shorten to review the evidence used to disendorse him over alleged failure to disclose 30-year old convictions.
Shorten has already said it was “clear” Brown had not been “forthcoming with the truth” to the party.
Maritime Union of Australia WA secretary, Chris Cain, has called the decision a “disgrace” and a “miscarriage of justice”.
According to Cain, Brown’s 12-month good behaviour bond is a spent conviction, meaning Brown is legally entitled to answer that he had not previously been convicted of an offence.
Clearly Shorten and the Labor party have held Brown to a higher standard than that, and that’s what’s ruffled feathers.
Back to Barnaby and the Walcha council decision.
Tony Windsor has accused the National party and minister Paul Toole of inaction on the issue and for holding the decision back “until it was politically convenient”.
Walcha council and the people of Walcha deserve greater respect from their elected members, who have played a cat and mouse game with them. An amalgamation could still be on the cards, so the premier’s announcement today could well be a case of Walcha getting out of the frypan and into the fire.
Is this just a cynical attempt to get the amalgamation issue off the political agenda until after the federal election on July 2?
Updated
Education minister Simon Birmingham has spoken to the ABC about education funding and the ongoing stoush about which side has the better education policy. I will come back to that in a minute.
But he was also asked about the South Australian Liberal Senate ticket. Birmo, as he is known on the twits, knocked Cory Bernardi off his number one perch. He was asked if this development was going to cause more divisions between the moderate and conservative camps in the Libs.
Not at all. It’s been an incredibly amicable approach and we are all at one in regards to the Senate ticket in SA.
Updated
Disendorsed Labor candidate Chris Brown appeals to Shorten to reassess his candidacy
Dumped Labor Fremantle candidate Chris Brown has just made a short statement to the media:
I have been honest and truthful with the Labor Party on paper and in person. There have been many positive comments about my future in the party. Fremantle has always been my home and I believe my future is here in Fremantle. I would ask Shorten to genuinely reassess the information used to disendorse my candidacy so that I can continue in our campaign. After receiving legal advice earlier today, I cannot make further comment at this time. But I may have additional comments for you in the morning. I hope the ALP resolves this issue quickly and fairly so we can focus on the issues that matter to the Australian people.
Now I am going to tap into the brains trust - you dear readers - for any local knowledge regarding the mergers. Let me know what is happening in your district and whether it could impinge on the election results for your local MPs.
From the government release:
The minister has announced that he will proceed with the formation of the following councils:
- Armidale Regional Council (Armidale Dumaresq and Guyra)
- Canterbury-Bankstown Council (Bankstown and Canterbury)
- Central Coast Council (Gosford and Wyong)
- City of Parramatta Council (P’matta and part of Hills, Auburn, Holroyd and Hornsby)
- Cumberland Council (Auburn and Holroyd)
- Edward River Council (Conargo and Deniliquin)
- Federation Council (Corowa and Urana)
- Georges River Council (Hurstville and Kogarah)
- Gundagai Council (Cootamundra and Gundagai)
- Snowy Monaro Regional Council (Bombala, Cooma Monaro and Snowy River)
- Hilltops Council (Boorowa, Harden and Young)
- Inner West Council (Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville)
- Mid-Coast Council (Gloucester, Great Lakes and Greater Taree)
- Murray River Council (Murray and Wakool)
- Murrumbidgee Council (Jerilderie and Murrumbidgee)
- Northern Beaches Council (Manly, Pittwater and Warringah)
- Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (Queanbeyan and Palerang)
- Snowy Valleys Council (Tumut and Tumbarumba)
- Western Plains Regional Council (Dubbo and Wellington)
Updated
As far as I understand it, the council amalgamations are threatening to impinge on federal Liberal and National members in rural areas - even though it is a state government issue. I am not predicting that anyone is going to be thrown out but I know in my rural/regional area, people are very cranky.
That is because local councils were offered (financial) carrots two years ago to consider their best options for merging. Councils were told their decisions would be respected.
So they got together with their neighbouring councils, worked out who they liked and who they did not. Everyone did their homework, chose their dance partners and after endless meetings, put their proposals to the NSW government.
Then, the NSW promptly ignored (many of) them.
As a result, the ratepayers are revolting. Walcha was one council area that was deeply opposed and Barnaby was a Walcha boy. He was born there. Ish.
The Walcha News have this afternoon reported this: Walcha Council has won the right to stand alone.
Just back to New South Wales, where the state government has had a little rejig of its proposed amalgamations. The Baird government was proposing to force 35 amalgamations of local councils.
Today the NSW government has cut that down to 19 forced amalgamations at this stage. A further nine amalgamations have been given in principle support by Premier Baird and the National local government minister Paul Toole but have been delayed. And three proposals are “pending”, which sounds like they are delayed for a bit.
The reason this state political story interests us in the federal arena is that the amalgamation of Walcha council was causing huge headaches for Barnaby Joyce and his bid to see off a tilt by independent Tony Windsor.
Surprise, surprise. Guess which councils are on the “pending” list?
- Newcastle and Port Stephens
- Dungog and Maitland
- Armidale-Dumaresq, Guyra, Walcha and Uralla
Wilson bucks up and makes his pitch to the locals.
In these circumstances the campaign is already under way. I’m energised by that challenge, I’m ready to make a strong case that I’m the best person to represent this electorate. I have lived here virtually all my life, all my family live here. I’ve raised my family here, I’m on the board of my kids’ school in Spearwood and over the last 12 years I’ve made a significant contribution in public service and through leadership in local government, including five years as the deputy mayor here in Fremantle. I have deep and wide connections into this community. I understand how important it is that we get a proper investment in schools and education and in renewable energy and jobs, particularly for young people. I’m passionate about marine conservation and about closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. This is a critical election for Australia’s future.
Updated
Despite Wilson winning the golden ticket, he was looking pretty worried. The WA Labor boss Tinley had to tell him to buck up.
Smile, mate. It is a good-news story!
If you are unfamiliar with the story, Paul Karp has written something here.
From Paul’s story, Chris Brown is a freight and logistics worker who has spent the past 12 months as a campaign coordinator for the Maritime Union of Australia. He won the preselection battle for Fremantle, beating Josh Wilson, a former staffer for the current Fremantle MP, Melissa Parke.
Wilson, who is Fremantle’s deputy mayor, beat Brown in a local ballot in March but the MUA candidate won endorsement at the ALP state council.
Updated
The WA Labor secretary, Peter Tinley, is asked about the processes open to Brown.
What are the appeal processes for Chris Brown, what avenues are open to him, why was the preselection so small and why did this not come to light?
I’m not a member of the national executive so can’t answer detailed questions in relation to the process. The process was followed. Those questions are best sent to George Wright, our national secretary.
Updated
Off the bat, Josh Wilson is asked about the Labor asylum seeker policy, given he has protested in the Let Them Stay rallies in the past.
I support Labor’s policy on asylum seekers. I look forward to a Labor government increasing our humanitarian intake by 100%, doubling our humanitarian intake and importing the UN convention into domestic law, providing a specific commissioner to look after the interests of refugee children. Those changes are incredibly important. They only happen under a Shorten Labor government.
Good afternoon all. Long time no interact. More of that in a mo.
The new Labor candidate for Fremantle, Josh Wilson, is now speaking.
Wilson says he knows Chris Brown, the dumped candidate, and he is a
good guy.
Updated
Now I need to bid you farewell in order to devote some attention to my campaign podcast project with Lenore Taylor. I may return before close of business if I’m incredibly efficient, otherwise my wonderful colleague Gabrielle Chan will drive the Politics Live bus until close of business today.
If I’m not back, thanks for reading, and I will see you tomorrow for the first leaders debate of the campaign.
As the traffic rolls by various Adelaide folks are blasting their horns at Xenophon. If you’ve ever wandered around the city with him, it’s like being with a minor celebrity. It’s really quite a thing.
From one shamelessly mischievous stunt meister to another ..
Nick Xenophon is in Adelaide, holding an empty pizza box. This might seem a bit strange unless you know Nick Xenophon. The pizza box is a pun around Pyne delivers, which is the catchphrase from Christopher Pyne’s signage around Adelaide. Looks like the preferences stoush has taken a new turn. Xenophon says Christopher Pyne is being shamelessly mischievous by speculating that he’s done a deal with Labor over preferences. Xenophon wants to know what Pyne is up to with preferences. Is he playing footsie with the Labor party to lock out the Xenophon candidates?
Nick Xenophon:
Christopher Pyne needs to clear the air as to whether he’s been involved directly or indirectly with any discussions whatsoever with the Australian Labor party about the two major parties doing a cozy deal to knockout any Nick Xenophon Team candidates.
Did I mention it’s my birthday? IT’S MY BIRTHDAY. Over.
Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone. It was great to be able to spend the day with @chloeshorten pic.twitter.com/T18bYvGaIr
— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) May 12, 2016
Street walking underway in Rockie.
Street walk in #Rockhampton - talking up pathology jobs pic.twitter.com/rnTiEpVOtI (@Dan_Bourchier)
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 12, 2016
Reuters today has some context on the steel issue. “Last month, China and other major steel producers failed to agree on measures to tackle the overcapacity crisis, prompting the United States, European Union and others to call for urgent action. China plans to shed 100-150 million tonnes of domestic crude steel capacity in the next five years in a bid to help tackle huge capacity overhangs that have saddled domestic firms with losses and debts.”
Given I had to skip over it quickly I’m glad the trade minister Steve Ciobo is up now on the ABC being asked about the prime minister’s conversation this morning with the US president on steel. I mentioned this during the press conference earlier today: Turnbull said the two leaders would work together against the practice of cheap dumping of steel. Ciobo is asked what this means in practice. His explanation seems to mean it’s status quo from an Australian perspective. Australia has an independent Anti-Dumping Commission, he says.
Steve Ciobo:
They recently took that decision in relation to some steel products from out of China. What’s important is Australia acts consistently with our world trade organisation obligations. We expect other countries to act consistently with the WTO so we want to act consistently with the WTO. We will continue to monitor the situation but we are always going to act in accordance with the World Trade Organisation obligations.
Q: And working in partnership with the US, does that give greater heft to this push?What’s the idea there?
Steve Ciobo:
I think a lot of countries face the same pressure. We know there is a global over-supply of steel. That is an incontrovertible fact. What we want to do is work out the best way forward. Clearly the United States has got concerns, the same as Australia does, we recognise that. This isn’t something that is confined just to China, this is part of a global over-production of steel. I think it’s important we continue to have discussions with country around the globe. We sent the relevant Assistant Minister to Europe to have discussions in the European Union in relation to steel dumping. We are proactive on this front. We will not let Australia be abused in regard to steel dumping. Of course, we are going to continue to pursue Australia’s national interest to drive jobs and drive growth.
Just one more.
Q: Are these men meant to be released if they are not charged within 24 hours?
George Brandis:
That is entirely a matter for the police to decide whether or not to charge them. In any policing operation a judgement has to be made. The police like to leave it as late as possible to make an arrest so they can gather evidence. The intervention can’t be so late that suspects escape or harm is done. So it’s a fine judgement which we should leave it to the police to make as to the point in which they should intervene.
While I’ve been alternating between Melinda and bulls various government folks have been up and about in Brisbane on the theme of domestic violence. I’m happy to stand corrected but I don’t think it was new money, it was drawing attention to the sum of the parts. The attorney-general George Brandis was part of the posse and got a bunch of questions on the men picked up yesterday who were trying to leave Australia for Syria.
Q: These men have been held for longer than 24 hours, do you expect charges to be laid?
George Brandis:
That is entirely a matter for the police.
Q: Do you think they will be taken to Brisbane?
George Brandis:
That is entirely a matter for the police.
(You get the drift.)
Meanwhile Bill has moved on to bull.
.@billshortenmp (w/ @chloeshorten) says education campaign will lock in future of regional students pic.twitter.com/DPDjXngrMS ( Dan_Bourchier
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 12, 2016
Perhaps time for a short break.
Prime Minister Turnbull just headed into the exclusive atheneum club @theage pic.twitter.com/UDspu7ZL0i
— Richard Willingham (@rwillingham) May 12, 2016
Looks like Melinda is now holding an impromptu doorstop.
"I don't want charity. I want to be able to afford things for my kids." @murpharoo pic.twitter.com/zxwhbUYDIu
— Melissa Davey (@MelissaLDavey) May 12, 2016
Malcolm, meet Melinda
Malcolm Turnbull is now in Hotham, a safe Labor electorate. A single mum named Melinda rushed towards the prime minister as he existed the Maranda engineering building in Moorabbin.
Apart from tightly managed meet-and-greets in the businesses he has visited today, Turnbull hasn’t been speaking to voters on the streets. But Melinda, who did not want to give her surname, heard word on the radio this morning Turnbull would be in the area and, seeing the camera crews outside the Maranda warehouse, took her opportunity. She said she was distressed by cuts to the Family Tax Benefit.
“It was put in place to help parents afford to send their kids to school,” she said. “Now the cost of schooling is going up and up and up. And yet we’re not getting anymore money. “And now you’re taking our family tax benefits away.”
She told Turnbull how hard it was to see her children’s friends with ipads and new gadgets which she couldn’t afford to give them given she was already struggling to provide them with the basics, like an equal education to other children. “My son went into year 10 this year and we were told over and over again to be careful about the subjects we chose. Only choose the subjects you can afford. I’m ruining his chances to become something, to contribute to society. He’s going to get a bad job because I can’t afford to pay for the fancy-schmancy courses.”
Turnbull tried to ask questions about the names of her children and where they went to school, and said the government was committed to providing the best opportunities for young people to succeed. “You say that, but that’s not what they’re getting,” she said.
“Give kids an opportunity to make something of themselves. Please. At the end of the day I don’t care what you do to me but give the kids a chance.” She said she had written to Tony Abbott last year about her concerns “but all I got back was a copy of the budget”.
Campaign this lunchtime
So let’s assess the sum of today’s parts.
-
Malcolm Turnbull began the day with reports he’d been named in the Panama Papers, but he (and every other Coalition person in front of an open microphone) has responded to the news by saying this is a twenty year old story which contains absolutely nothing to see. The prime minister has picked up the pace on the hustings today, racing down to the Mornington Peninsula, and indulging a longer press conference before powering through to a second event, where he encountered a mum named Melinda. More of this shortly.
-
Bill Shorten is talking education in Queensland but he’s still trying to fight his way through rolling questions about the views of his MPs and candidates on boat turnbacks and offshore processing, and inconveniently, Labor’s candidate in the seat of Fremantle has had to be be pushed out the backdoor for failing to disclose spent convictions during the preselection process. Happy birthday, Bill.
Campaigns wait for no summary. Let’s crack on.
Just while I’m getting my act together on summations.
Voter confronts @TurnbullMalcolm over education while campaigning in Melbourne @3AW693 @2GBNews pic.twitter.com/7ntYvwzP04
— Michael Pachi (@michaelpachi) May 12, 2016
I’m sure Mel Davey will fill us in. To summaries.
For readers who have been with me all morning, please note I’ve corrected my post from 10.58am on the caretaker convention.
I’m a numpty. That is all.
Summary next.
Meanwhile, in Marrickville
In Marrickville, inner-city Sydney, a primary school hall has erupted in applause. Not for its special guest, introduced by one child as “the honorary Albanese” – but because Marrickville Public School has just won a $100,000 national competition to redesign its playground.
Albo, once on his feet, says he has a hard act to follow. “I don’t have any announcements,” he says.
back to school with @AlboMP in Marrickville @murpharoo pic.twitter.com/1a4RMwUGmw
— michael safi (@safimichael) May 11, 2016
In a press conference afterwards he was asked about a video that emerged on Wednesday showing his Greens opponent, Jim Casey, appearing to prioritise a strong protest movement over the election of a Labor government.
He spared no quarter for Casey: “When people think about what that means, that dissent and demonstrations are the end in itself for my main opponent, then they would be very disappointed,” he said.
“His view appears to be to be a rather old-fashioned, extreme view that if people are oppressed enough they’ll rise up … I entered political [life] to uplift people, that’s what drives me each and every day.
“I find it extraordinary that someone would seek to enter parliament with those views in 2016. And it’s not surprising that mainstream media organisations, be it the Daily Telegraph, the SMH, the ABC, Channel Nine and others, have expressed a view in the last 24 hours that my main opponent’s view are outside mainstream politics.
“And that’s not surprising given that he has spent a considerable period of his political activism not as a member of the Greens, but as a member of the International Socialist Organisation that doesn’t believe in parliamentary politics, that doesn’t mean reforms are possibly by engaging in the mainstream political system.”
Casey has written in Guardian Australia today laying out his views, including that capitalism “is something more likely to collapse under its own weight” than be overthrown in the streets.
Updated
A picture from Magic Mike requiring one of those mmmmmmwwaaaahahaha’s.
No (Bruce) Country for (Young) Men
Back to the Mornington Peninsula for a moment.
You have to feel sorry for the Liberal candidate for Dunkley, Chris Crewther. He blended into the background as retiring MP Bruce Billson stole the show as the Turnbull campaign bus stopped at the Mornington Brewery. It was Billson greeting reporters with hugs and exclaiming “There’s a reason every season to be in Dunkley”.
Billson, 50, has held the seat in outer metropolitan Melbourne since 1996, and is popular in the electorate which the Liberals hold by 5.6%. But some reports say his popularity is worth a couple of per cent alone, and Labor hope his retirement will be enough for them to steal the seat. And so, Billson was rolled out for Turnbull’s visit, promoting the government’s free trade agreement with China and the importance of supporting small businesses. “I’m not sure which beer would best be paralleled to the election campaign,” he says, but adds he is confident the result for Turnbull will be “first class. A bit like these beers, which go around the world and create economic opportunity and livelihood for the people here in Dunkley.”
After a walk around the brewery, Crewther finally appeared. Is the 32 year-old worried that without the Billson factor, the electorate will be hard to hold? “He’s been a spectacular candidate for the past 20 years in Dunkley and a strong community advocate,” he says. “And I hope to do the same.”
Updated
Well that morning has thundered like a freight train. Before I move to a proper lunchtime summary I’ll use the next couple of posts to clear up fragments from the last couple of hours, hopefully in orderly fashion.
That Malcolm Turnbull, he knows about business ..
In Melbourne, Scott Morrison is shouting above the sound of heavy equipment about how Malcolm Turnbull knows about business. This is in response to a shouted question about the Panama Papers.
Scott Morrison:
The prime minister dealt with that fairly comprehensively today in his earlier statements. There’s no suggestion of any impropriety from the PM and I don’t think you’re suggesting anything by raising that in the press conference today, I am sure. That was 20 years ago and it’s all about there in the public sphere and – the thing about Malcolm Turnbull is he has had a lot of experience. He has had a lot of experience in supporting businesses not unlike this one.
He has invested in them. He has created them. He has employed people over his lifetime. And he’s got a lot of experience in how to drive economic policy in this country which sees our economy move through this transition. That is what our national economic plan is all about. It’s all about ensuring that we have the right set of policies that back businesses like this one so they can put more people on.
Updated
The Labor leader ends this outing by asking himself a question on his birthday – what is he getting for his birthday? This is clearly leading to a zinger of some kind, ah yes ..
Bill Shorten:
My present is standing right next to me.
That would be wife Chloe, who has the grace to look both delighted and mildly embarrassed by the whole shtick. He plants a kiss on her cheek.
Good question here on education. How do we actually know this money will be spent in the regions given the federal government doesn’t actually run schools?
Shorten motions in the party’s education spokesperson, Kate Ellis, who says there will be transparency mechanisms.
Kate Ellis:
In terms of the funding for regional schools, we have made very clear that this funding will only be directed towards the evidence-based programs which we know lift student out comes and make a real difference.
The only people that were interested in sending a blank cheque when it came to school funding was the current government when they wrote to the states and territories, said that funding for schools would be no strings attached ...
Q: How will we see evidence of that? Will it be made public?
Kate Ellis:
Absolutely. There was already accountability mechanisms which were written into the current agreements. We are being very clear that taxpayers deserve to know how every dollar is being well spent. Equally parents deserve to know that that money is going to towards the program that will lift their child’s student out comes.
Back to Fremantle.
Q: What is the problem in Fremantle is it the conviction or the fact they weren’t disclosed?
Bill Shorten:
It is on clear that serious matters the candidate wasn’t forth coming with the truth to the Labor party.
Q: He said he disclosed that four weeks ago to an ALP staffer who said this shouldn’t be a problem.
Bill Shorten:
The national secretary of the Labor party [has been] ... investigating these matters. He found there had been a deliberate misleading. He recommended that, therefore, this person shouldn’t be our candidate. I 100% back that decision.
The national executive today will pick a new candidate for Fremantle.
Bill Shorten gets two questions on the growth projections associated with his education policy, the OECD figures, that I mentioned earlier on today. Shorten says there is a clear case to fund schools according to need.
Bill Shorten:
I have not run into a single parent in the big cities or the small towns or the great provincial cities of Australia like Rockhampton where they’ve come up to me and said: “Gee, Bill, we don’t want to see more money for our kids in education.” Nothing could be further from the truth.
Secondly, is there a serious argument being mounted by some conservative commentators who want to maintain a two-tiered education system in this country that not spending money on this country is not an investment in the future?
Q: Will Josh Wilson replace Chris Brown if he supports boat turnbacks?
Bill Shorten:
He is a good candidate and he will be the candidate if he is preselected. Let’s be clear about this issue -the Labor party, I think, quite straight up with the Australian people, debated these issues. We debated them last July. There is grave disquiet in the community about the treatment of people on Manus and Nauru ... but there is 100% resolve amongst the Labor party and I believe the vast bulk of the Australian people, to stop the drownings at sea.
A second question to Leisa Neaton, Labor’s candidate for Dawson.
Q: Can I just clarify something - you said you have never argued against boat turnbacks but on your Facebook you said despite a compelling case the vote did not go our way on the conference floor: How that is that not saying you didn’t support turnbacks?
Leisa Neaton:
That debate was all about people seeking asylum. It was a long debate and I didn’t have a vote in that debate. I was a participant. Once preselected there’s a party position and that is the position I take.
There’s a high lob on Tony Abbott campaigning in Queensland, does the Liberal party have two leaders? Yes, quite, thinks Shorten. Quite.
Q: Do you regret that Chris Brown was chosen as a candidate for Fremantle considering he has now disclosed his criminal past?
Bill Shorten:
I am very disappointed by this set of events. The Labor party has acted and we’re moving on from it. The national secretary has made a recommendation to me. When I received the formal report I have made it clear I endorse the recommendation and that is - the party is going to make its decisions today. They will do so and I believe that Josh Wilson, the deputy mayor of Fremantle, will be a very good candidate in Fremantle.
Furthermore:
It is clear that the party processes were not followed. On very important matters. The party has made a recommendation to me that he should not be the endorsed candidate. And I have absolutely supported that decision, 100%.
(Bye bye Chris Brown).
Into questions now.
Q: Do you need to instil more party discipline around your refugee policy? One of your candidates has likened the process to Nazi concentration camps.
Bill Shorten:
I don’t accept the language that was used at all by our candidate.
And let me again state the Labor party’s dealt with this difficult issue at our conference last year.
The local candidate is asked whether she supports the party’s turnback policy. She says she does.
Updated
Bill Shorten addresses the media in Rockhamption
The Labor leader is speaking to reporters now on education. Today’s pledge is $1.8bn of the $3.8bn dollars promised in additional needs based funding for schools will flow to schools in regional areas.
A Labor man has materialised beside my desk hotly disputing my advice to you about the caretaker convention. He says the advice on the department of prime minister and cabinet website says caretaker begins with the dissolution of the House.
Never mind the writs.
Here’s the PM&C advice.
The caretaker period begins at the time the House of Representatives is dissolved and continues until the election result is clear or, if there is a change of government, until the new government is appointed.
Dutton wins, not Pyne. I’ll double check this once I get through Bill Shorten, who is talking right now.
Labor’s candidate in Fremantle Chris Brown has held a short media conference to say the only reason the ALP knows about his prior spent convictions is because he brought it to their attention. According to the report in The Australian this morning, “Brown pleaded guilty as a 19-year-old to assaulting a police officer during an altercation with a group of men in 1985. He received a 12-month good behaviour bond and the conviction was expunged in 2011. When he was 18, Brown was charged with drink driving and had his licence suspended for three months. This charge was also removed from his record in accordance with the Spent Convictions Act.”
Q: Can you talk us through the circumstances of how it came about?
Chris Brown:
Yeah, I was at a festival in Claremont and I was king hit. I was held down by two individuals, punched by a third, pulled to my feet bloodied and dazed. My vision was impaired. I was struggling, I got an arm free to defend myself thinking I was going to be attacked. I was later informed contact was made by a police officer who had come to rescue me.
Brown says he’s not obliged to put his past record out there, but it’s my history and I do that to teach a lesson to my kids.
Meanwhile, in the beef capital of Australia.
Chloe joins husband @billshortenmp for his 49th birthday #afronthetrail #ausvotes2016 pic.twitter.com/sYOZFMbZx0
— Joanna Mather (@JoannaMather) May 12, 2016
I was trying to have a little dramatic build in my question earlier about who is right about caretaker – P Duddy or Christopher Pyne – but of course you folks are all so on it you’ve piled in on Twitter already.
We are in caretaker as of 16 May, which is next week. On a procedural question, if you ever have to pick a side, go with Pyne every time.
Correction, 12.15pm: As a subsequent blog post makes clear, the advice on the caretaker convention from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet indicates caretaker is now in force. I had a brain lapse by conflating the issuing of the writs (next week) with caretaker. Nope, nope, nope. Caretaker happens when the House is dissolved. So as well as making this clear so as not to mislead readers, I need to add the following: on a procedural question, don’t go with Pyne every time, because sometimes he’s wrong, and sometimes I’m wrong too. I will issue a correction however, every time I am, and I won’t erase my error from the record.
Updated
Interesting that the prime minister’s press conference ran longer today than it has the last couple of days.
Over a barrel? Roll out the barrel? Is this a barrel of laughs?
So who is right? Peter Dutton or Christopher Pyne?
I need to tidy up the immigration minister from earlier on before I check what pictures I have from the Turnbull outing, and share a few thoughts about it.
Peter Dutton was asked in his press conference earlier about Manus and Australia’s obligations to the detainees – questions he attempted to dead bat. Then he was asked about why Green Senator Sarah Hanson-Young is banned from visiting detention centres throughout the election campaign. Does that apply to all federal MPs?
We covered this issue yesterday on Politics Live. Dutton in addressing the point this morning made a crack about Guardian Australia being a spokesperson for Hanson-Young (news to us) before observing the answer to the question was the caretaker convention.
Peter Dutton:
That’s been a long-standing arrangement. As I understand, operating under both sides of government in this country and Senator Hanson-Young, through her mouthpiece in The Guardian, really needs to reassess why she wants to mislead, and why the Guardian wants to mislead the Australian public.
This would have all been good sport, had he not been immediately contradicted by the innovation minister Christopher Pyne, who was answering questions at a separate event in Adelaide. Pyne was asked why he held a defence event in Adelaide without advising the state Labor minister. He said because the government was still governing.
Christopher Pyne:
We’re not yet in caretaker mode.
Q: When will you intend to visit a shopping centre or street walk to meet voters out of these carefully stage managed opportunities?
Malcolm Turnbull:
I look forward to that. I’m sorry you weren’t able to join us yesterday on the train. There were lots of voters on the train and I am getting out and about all around the country.
Q: Did you catch the train this morning?
Malcolm Turnbull:
No, I did not get the train this morning. In fact there isn’t a train station at Mornington. There is to Frankston.
Now to George Christensen’s comments on the Syrian refugees. Malcolm Turnbull makes it clear that as well as his chat with Barack Obama, he’s also spoken to his Queensland MP about his comments. Turnbull says Christensen was expressing a view about the economic downturn in his region.
Malcolm Turnbull:
I understand that Mr Christensen was expressing a view about - he is concerned about the economic downturn in his region and he is concerned that the introduction, if you like, of people coming through the humanitarian program could - would come into a region where there aren’t enough jobs and that’s the basis on which he’s made those observations as he’s advised me.
Another question on the Panama Papers. Was the company paying its fair share of tax in Australia?
Malcolm Turnbull:
Let me say to you that the company in which Neville Wran and I were directors was an Australian listed company and had it made any profits which it did not, regrettably, it certainly would have paid tax inAustralia, obviously you haven’t studied the accounts of the company concerned.
Back to Christensen. Do you think he has a point?
Turnbull is back to the downturn in Queensland.
Plainly the objective, when you bring in refugees into Australia, indeed any arrivals into Australia, is to put them in a position where they are given the skills and the opportunities to get into work. That is the whole objective.
Questions about a WA poll, NSW council amalgamations, and whether he likes beer or wine. On that score he likes lager. So noted.
"If the occasion arises .."
Q: PM, will you be campaigning with Tony Abbott over the next 7 weeks?
Malcolm Turnbull:
Can I just say to you that Mr Abbott is campaigning for the return of the Turnbull government and if the occasion arises, no doubt we can. We may be able to campaign in Warringah in his electorate.
Turnbull on being named in the Panama Papers: "There's no suggestion of any impropriety at all."
Turnbull is asked first whether he has full confidence in the Liberal party’s preselection processes given the spat about Labor’s candidate in Fremantle. Turnbull doesn’t express it in those terms.
Malcolm Turnbull:
We have a very rigorous process.
Now to the Panama Papers.
Q: Are you happy being named in the Mossack Fonseca files?
Malcolm Turnbull chuckles.
Well can I just say to you that as the article acknowledged, there is no suggestion of any impropriety whatsoever. There is nothing new there.
The company concerned was a wholly owned subsidiary of a publicly listed Australian company. So an ASX listed company of which Neville Wran and I were both directors for about two years.
So it is - the involvement is very, very well known and as the article acknowledges, there’s no suggestion of any impropriety at all.
The two leaders also spoke about the steel glut, and about joint action to address that.
Malcolm Turnbull addresses reporters
As well as exciting times in craft beer the prime minister confirms he’s chatted this morning to the US president, Barack Obama.
Malcolm Turnbull:
I should note that I’ve had a good discussion this morning with President Obama on a range of global and regional issues, one of which was the progress of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal which, as you know, is another one of the big trade deals that has been agreed. It has to be ratified by the Congress. The president is confident it can be ratified before the end of the year. So we’re very encouraged by that.
We talked about the security situation in the Middle East and the president briefed me on developments there from his perspective and I did the same from ours. And he thanked Australia for what he described as our extraordinary contribution to the battle against Isil and Daesh. We also talked about security issues in our region and confirmed our strong commitment to freedom of navigation throughout the region and the importance of any territorial disputes being resolved peacefully and in accordance with international law.
Updated
There’s more in Dutton but I have to move past him for now to the prime minister, who is inspired by craft beer.
Reporters move on to other issues to hand.
Q: George Christensen says he’s been advised Syrian refugees won’t be resettled in his seat of Dawson. Do you know whether the department has advised MPs who have asked, that Syrians won’t be resettled in their seats? Are there no-go areas for Syrian refugees?
Peter Dutton:
The federal government obviously works with the states and you will remember that the state premiers and territory leaders were falling over themselves to provide support to the 12,000 people being brought in and we welcome that. And we’ve been working closely with states and territories. In the end, people make decisions about where it is they will reside. I suspect most people will reside in capital cities because that’s where they have family members and that’s where they have support networks within the refugee community.
Q: Has your department told specific MPs refugees won’t be resettled in their seats?
Peter Dutton:
Our department’s job, as the immigration department, is to provide screening of people, and we’ve screened some 9,500 and there have been about 5,000 visas issued, about 1,500 people that have arrived in Australia already. Our job as the immigration department is to screen those people to make sure we have the health checks done, to make sure we have the security checks done, and in terms of settlement services, well that’s an issue for Mr Porter and the social service portfolio. From from an immigration department perspective, our job is to make sure that we deal with people to make sure that they’re not going to be a threat to Australian society and we helped settled refugees in record numbers. Many of those coming from Syria and other parts of the Middle East will be Christians because they have been part of a persecuted minority there and that’s part of the criteria that the government put in place when we made the announcement.
Q: So there are no-go areas for Syrian refugees?
Peter Dutton:
Again, I don’t know how you can draw the conclusion –
Q: That’s what George Christensen is saying.
Peter Dutton:
As I said, refer back to what I just stated. I’m not sure how you could try and represent that some other way. So that’s the position of Immigration and Border Protection.
Q: Have you had any discussions with Mr Christensen about settling refugees in Mackay or that area?
Peter Dutton:
I haven’t spoken to Mr Christensen. We will work with people across the country and no doubt social services will do that work to help settle people in community housing. We’re a generous nation when it comes to refugees and that’s the position of this department, in terms of the Syrian intake, in terms of the 13,750 people that we will take this year within the refugee and humanitarian program. Otherwise, as I say, our job is to provide the security and health screening checks, issue visas and provide that assistance.
Q: What’s your message to MPs who say that Syrians aren’t welcome in their areas?
Peter Dutton:
Again, I don’t have any comment to make in relation to those issues, in terms of immigration, our job is to provide support to people, to come to our country. We welcome people that come here under the refugee and humanitarian program. That’s been along established practice in this country and we will continue to provide that support.
Updated
Back in Canberra the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, is advising reporters that Labor is falling to pieces on border protection.
Peter Dutton:
We have restored integrity to our borders and it seems to me that Mr Shorten has completely lost control of this issue and he needs to provide some clarification, some discipline of those members. But there is open revolt within the Labor party and it is obvious to all Australians that Bill Shorten has lost control of this issue and that the wheels have clearly fallen off the Labor party’s policy on border protection and people don’t want to see people drowning at sea or new boat arrivals and that’s what Labor is promising at the moment.
Updated
You have now entered Bruce Country.
The former sitting member @BillsonBruce selling it like a new candidate in Dunkley @murpharoo @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/Dq00SHML3g
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) May 11, 2016
Possibly the first time the prime minister has been compared to a craft beer.
@murpharoo in which Bruce Billson compares the election campaign to a beer. pic.twitter.com/N7P8m5EJxS
— Melissa Davey (@MelissaLDavey) May 11, 2016
The Australian Medical Association is in parliament at the moment to try and get some focus on health in this election. The AMA president, Brian Owler, says this election should be a referendum on the public health system.
Brian Owler:
We’ve had now three years of surprises from the current government in terms of health policy. What we want to see is each party outline in advance what their plans are for health in this country. We want to see a coherent plan for health.
Updated
"There's a degree of anxiety about that particular budget announcement … "
The Daily Telegraph reports this morning that the former prime minister Tony Abbott has been mobbed campaigning in Mosman over the past few days.
A little while back Abbott wasn’t a fan of changing the concessions on superannuation, but he appears to have now fallen into line, with one tiny inflection point. Reporter Caroline Tang takes up the story.
Mr Abbott gave diplomatic responses when asked about the controversial proposed changes to superannuation in the federal budget which will hit lifelong savers hard. “There is a degree of anxiety about that particular budget announcement but people are just as anxious about Labor’s policy as they are about the Coalition’s policy,” he said. “There is no easy way to get the deficit down. There is no painless way to cut government spending and what the government is trying to do here is to restore superannuation to its proper purpose. The proper purpose of superannuation is not to be a wealth creation vehicle, it’s to be a vehicle for giving people a reasonable retirement income. So I think the government is absolutely on the right track and as I said, I think it’s a gutsy call by the government.
Updated
Stand by for the apology to Julia Gillard …
Q: His ministers have come out today saying that this was in the 1990s, it was a long time ago so isn’t it fair, given that Chris Brown [Labor’s candidate in Fremantle] also says this is something that happened to him when he was 18?
Penny Wong:
If the test is how long ago things occurred then I suppose that Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott will be apologising to Julia Gillard for the pursuit of her for matters which occurred 20 years ago.
Updated
"The prime minister should be full and frank with the Australian people about his business affairs"
Labor’s campaign spokeswoman Penny Wong has found the cameras now to pick up on the Panama Papers. She says Malcolm Turnbull needs to provide full disclosure.
Penny Wong:
On the front page of one of today’s major papers we have Malcolm Turnbull listed as being involved in a company established in a tax haven, a company which Mossack Fonseca established and a company that’s involved in a Siberian gold mine, a company which allegedly made payments to Russian politicians about its activities.
Well I see in the papers that Mr Turnbull has had a spokesperson answer questions. Those answers seem to suggest ‘I don’t know, I don’t recall, it was a long time ago’. Well, this is a man who is the prime minister of the country and he’s running to be the prime minister again and the standards which are expected of him are high standards and he should provide a full and frank explanation of his involvement in this company which was established in a tax haven.
But more than that, we shouldn’t have to wait for a good journo to tell Australians about this. We shouldn’t have to wait for a paper to run a story about the prime minister’s involvement in this company. The prime minister should be full and frank with the Australian people about his business affairs. He should be clear.
How many other companies was he involved in which were established in tax havens? How many other companies was he involved in that Mossack Fonseca was involved with? He should be very up-front in answering questions about what he did or didn’t know about the activities of this company in relation to the Siberian gold mine.
Updated
Just tracking back to Mathias Cormann’s comments about the growth dividend from education funding, he’s bouncing off this story in the Australian this morning by David Crowe.
Bill Shorten stands accused of misleading voters over the boost to growth from his $37.4bn school funding plan by claiming an economic lift “straight away” from the spending, despite economic research that shows the gains would take decades.
In a blow to the opposition leader’s economic case, the author of the global study used to justify the Labor spending told The Australian there would be no “immediate” boost to growth — and that more money was not the key factor in producing the economic benefit.
“There is no systematic relationship between what is spent on schools and any added achievement,” Stanford University’s Eric Hanushek said last night.
Quick translation about all this in case it’s bamboozling. Labor is claiming education spending delivers a growth dividend to the economy that’s more durable and equitable than a tax cut to business. The government says that’s nonsense. The skirmishing over the spreadsheets is part of efforts by both sides to discredit each other’s policy pathways for growth. Hope that makes sense.
Updated
We’re off to the Mornington Peninsula Brewery in the electorate of Dunkley. The seat has become a marginal one after former small business minister Bruce Billson retired in November, after Turnbull demoted him. But Billson’s popularity in the electorate is key to the Liberals’ success there, and Labor is now eyeing it off. Rumour on the bus is that Billson will be joining Turnbull this morning. 5.5% is the margin to the government.
Updated
Team Turnbull is heading to a brewery on the Mornington Peninsula. Early in the campaign to be driven to drink.
As we speak, Magic Mike Bowers is speeding up the Dandenong Freeway on the Turnbull bus. Let’s all wave to Mike.
Bus briefing-PM Turnbull media #DandenongFreeway #melbourne #Election2016 @bkjabour @murpharoo @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/jz8Klg8AYw
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) May 11, 2016
Speaking of campaign spokespeople, the Coalition spokesman Mathias Cormann is holding a press conference in the Mural Hall. Cormann is criticising Bill Shorten for the growth assumptions associated with Labor’s education policy. He’s then asked whether the government has made any growth assumptions associated with its own offering. No, Cormann says.
Q: Does the prime minister have questions to answer over the Panama Papers?
Mathias Cormann:
No, is the short answer.
Obviously this is more than twenty years ago. There is absolutely no suggestion of any wrongdoing.
Updated
Thanks to Bridie for battling the wall of sound and the page one PDFs and welcome good people of Politics Live to our coverage of the election campaign, it’s delightful to be with you. The morning news cycle for this campaign Thursday is exploding candidates: there’s Chris Brown, a former MUA official with undisclosed convictions who is Labor’s candidate for Fremantle and perhaps won’t be for much longer; and The Australian tells me there’s a video in which the Greens candidate in Grayndler, Jim Casey, is filmed saying he would prefer Tony Abbott to win the next election rather than Bill Shorten because it would “boost unions and ferment more protests.”
Thus far Malcolm Turnbull being named in the Panama Papers hasn’t really kicked hard into the news cycle, but it’s only 8.30am, and the campaign spokespeople are only just getting under way. To the campaign road trains: Malcolm Turnbull is in Melbourne, then Adelaide, then Sydney, which sounds like a small intensification of activity. Bill Shorten is up north still, in Rockhampton I believe. It’s also the Labor leader’s birthday. Happy birthday.
Let’s power on into Thursday. Today’s comments thread is open for your business. Visual maestro Magic Mike is up and about on the twits – he’s @mpbowers and I’m @murpharoo. If you speak Facebook you can join my daily forum here. And if you want a behind-the-scenes look at the day and the looming campaign, give Mike a follow on Instagram. You can find him here.
Onwards into Thursday.
Updated
On that note my time with you this morning has drawn to a close and it is now time for Katharine Murphy to fire up the keyboard. Mike Bowers tells me Malcolm Turnbull’s bus has left the Melbourne CBD for an hour and twenty minute trip and is currently chugging along the Dandenong freeway.
Cheerio
Panama Papers 'flogging a dead horse'
Malcolm Turnbull has been named in the Panama Papers though there are no allegations of improper conduct, in a story on the front page of the Australian Financial review today.
Arthur Sinodinos has come out swinging against it:
That is a dead horse being flogged, it’s a 20 year matter, it’s old news, they just want to run it because they can, the Fin Review on its front page should be debating policy instead of behaving like a downmarket tabloid.
Arthur Sinodinos just said the asylum seeker debate is not a political debate - to much laughter.
On his criticisms of Labor candidates disagreeing with asylum policy, what is he suggesting, that they should be disendorsed for objecting?
What happened within the Howard government is that we got the problem under control, and yes there’s a Liberal philosophy and tradition you can without punishment express dissent [referring to Liberals who objected to offshore detention at the time]. What we are talking about here is Labor candidates lining up to say that as a matter of conscience they cannot support asylum seeker policy, as a matter of conscience they will unravel it.
Labor has disendorsed a candidate in Western Australia who did not disclose a drink driving conviction from the 1980s and a charge of assault a police officer that was expunged. Is it fair to disendorse over such old charges?
Chris Bowen:
There are two issues here, the Labor party has acted swiftly and appropriately, there are the convictions but there are also the lack of disclosure. If a candidate tells us then we weigh it up, if they don’t disclose then that’s the problem.
If a candidate can’t tell us we can’t in good conscience put them forward.
Arthur Sinodinos and Chris Bowen are on radio national talking election strategy. Neither side has electrified the electorate this week, so what’s the thinking in their camps?
Sinodinos first:
It’s a marathon not a sprint, we can’t excite everyone everyday. If you have them in a pitch of excitement every day they will get exhausted. What both sides will do is keep rolling out policy.
The government has had no big policy announcement which is odd for an election campaign.
We are out there selling the budget and that’s important.
Budgets can be a slow burn, we are going through process of explaining what’s in it.
Now it’s Bowen’s turn to explain where the sizzle is:
It’s a two month campaign, which is very long, what we are doing is leading the policy debate. We are delighted to have a debate about education and we’ve announced an eduction policy every day of this campaign.
When Arthur says he’s selling the budget, I was tempted to ask ‘how’s that going for him?’ it’s unravelling.
Malcolm Turnbull has started the morning with a yarn to none other than Barack Obama. I wonder if there was a brief moment where the president thanked his stars he doesn’t have to face another campaign.
Prime Minister @TurnbullMalcolm has spoken with @POTUS this morning for around half an hour
— Andrew Greene (@AndrewBGreene) May 11, 2016
George Christensen is hosting Tony Abbott in north Queensland today where Abbott will be campaigning. Christensen is fresh from getting assurances from the minister for multicultural affairs that no Syrian refugees will be settled in his seat in Mackay.
Updated
Campaigns don't like telegraphing their movements early but @TurnbullMalcolm's in Melbourne today, flying to Adelaide tonight then to Sydney
— Andrew Greene (@AndrewBGreene) May 11, 2016
Fairfax Media has modelling on how the 2016 budget will affect Australians – and it’s the poorest who will be hit hardest.
Single-parent families in the poorest 20% of households will be worst affected by the 2018-19 financial year, mainly through scheduled cuts to family tax benefits and hikes in tobacco excise.
The modelling is from the Australian National University and shows the single-parent families will be $1,407 worse off a year, the equivalent of 3.6% of average incomes for that group.
Couples with children in the poorest fifth of households will lose $1,146, or 2.7% of average incomes, should all budget measures be successfully introduced.
By contrast, relatively well-off couples with children in the second-top income quintile will be $392 a year better off by 2018-19.
Updated
The Australian is on day three of the man who dared question on Q&A why people on very decent money ($80,000 +) get tax cuts when people (like him) on welfare and very low incomes could use it more.
The Australian front page. Thursday 12 May 2016. @australian #Election2016 #ausvotes #ausvotes2016 pic.twitter.com/MVOOKnKdi3
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) May 11, 2016
Updated
On Chris Brown, the Labor candidate in WA dumped over convictions from the 1980s, the maritime union is not happy and believes the national executive is overreacting.
Brown was charged with assaulting a police officer and drink driving. The assault charge was later expunged.
A maritime union official on ABC radio this morning:
He didn’t think it was an issue, would you, 30 years on? he He was king hit from behind ... we are not all from the Salvation Army.
Maybe not the best analogy.
Updated
Superannuation changes are retro-retro-retrospective, Julie Bishop
After hinting earlier in the week that the government could shift on the potential retrospectively of the superannuation, Julie Bishop is not budging on the government line that it does not need to be considered, because the changes are simply not retrospective.
It is prospective, it’s about the tax rate that applies to future earnings on super, nobody is being asked to pay tax on past earnings. The point I was making was self evident, there is a scrutinisation process.
But she concedes theres a concerns that the changes are retrospective?
Measures in relation to super often attract this type of attention, what we have to ensure is the system is fair, that there is integrity in it.
Briefly, on the five alleged jihadis arrested over a plan to ride a tinny to Indonesia to then fight in Syria. Does this mean confiscating passports not necessarily effective?
Well, we have stopped them. Five men have been arrested in relation to suspected breaches of anti-terrorism legislation and as it remains I’m not going to go into too much detail. It does show law enforcement agencies and security intelligence agencies are cooperating closely.
The foreign minister, Julie Bishop, is now up on radio national and she is being pushed on potential Liberal preference deals with the Greens but she will not be moved.
Preference deals are a matter for campaign headquarters, I don’t get involved.
Well that may be, but what does she think of the concept of doing deals with Greens?
Campaign headquarters work out the arrangements it’s not a matter for me as deputy leader.
So if there was a hung parliament, and both parties say they would refuse to deal with the Greens, would Australia be sent back to the polls?
These are all hypotheticals, what I do know is when Julia Gillard formed an alliance with the Greens we had some disastrous consequences for Australia, it was chaos.
So it is inevitable we would go back to the polls?
This is a hypothetical, what we are focused on is getting as many votes as we can. Only the Coalition has a plan for jobs and growth, only the Coalition can keep the borders safe.
Bishop is having an impressively on-message morning.
Updated
Coalition climate plan 'assumes emissions trading'
The government was proudly brandishing modelling just before the election was called (was that only last week?) that its Direct Action plan could meet Australia’s long-term climate promises.
Well, that modelling was actually assuming the Coalition would turn its policy into a type of emissions trading scheme, Lenore Taylor reports.
Peter Holt, associate at Energetics, told Guardian Australia that the policies would only achieve those reductions with changes – either large funding top-ups to the ERF (estimated by others at at least $6bn) or a strengthening of the safeguards mechanism so it turned into a baseline and credit emissions trading scheme.
Let them eat cake!
Day four on the campaign trail and it is Bill Shorten's birthday #ausvotes #shortentrail
— Matthew Knott (@KnottMatthew) May 11, 2016
After the Daily Telegraph’s endorsement of Anthony Albanese yesterday they have him writing today on ... how the Greens candidate actually has a Tony Abbott agenda. Creative.
Jim Casey, the Greens candidate in Grayndler, has been recorded saying in 2014 he would rather see Abbott be prime minister than Bill Shorten in a society where anti-war, women’s and climate change movements were growing.
Albanese writes:
I don’t want to see people oppressed so that they rise up. I want to work through the parliament to uplift people in my electorate and people right around the nation.
I don’t want bigger demonstrations.
I want better outcomes for people and improvements in our quality of life.
For Mr Casey, protest has become an end in itself.
Updated
Ged Kearney, from the ACTU, is on radio national talking about legal advice the council of unions has received which says the government’s intern program could be illegal.
It’s not a job, it’s an internship, so how could it be illlegal?
It’s not necessarily an internship either, it’s so unclear and so murky and we have a very varied indication of how it is run. But what we do know is that the minister says there has to be a real prospect of ongoing employment. Our advice indicates that for all intents and purposes it is an employment contract and they should be paid the minimum wage.
I think it’s unfortunate the government has used the term internship.
Asked whether it will come under the welfare act or the Fair Work Act, Kearney says that is unclear.
For all intents and purposes it should come under the Fair Work Act. To avoid exploitation of these workers, and they will be workers, it should be under the fair work act.
Paying employers to take on free labour, there is so much wrong with a plan like that.
When pointed out that the scheme is not intended to be “replacement workforce”, Kearney says that is exactly what will happen. “We have the most amazing, perverse incentive for that to happen,” she says.
Kearney says it will be possible for Coles and Woolworths to take on 300 interns and the government cannot guarantee that it will able to police businesses rorting the scheme.
Updated
Richard Di Natale is not immune from the charms of Justin Trudeau, it seems, and is modelling himself on the Canadian prime minister.
No question at all about that. He has shown, as have many other European examples, that you can have strong progressive values, that you can stand up to those big vested interests.
When asked on Lateline if he could end up running the country, Di Natale replied:
You just need to look at where the major party vote is and what it’s been doing over a number of decades.
Di Natale wants the Greens to have 20% of the vote within a decade.
The major party vote has been declining, the growth of the Greens has been continuing year on year on year ... That is the future for Australia. Multi-party government is the future.
Updated
Keeping us all in the loop at all times
Thanks Twitter - couldn't have got through the day without this news. pic.twitter.com/Oos0dO8ntJ
— Stephen Jones MP (@StephenJonesMP) May 11, 2016
Malcolm Turnbull will announce the first big spend of the campaign with $100m for border protection, ABC reports.
The funding will go to the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to scrutinise visa applications and minister Peter Dutton is selling it as a policy to help weed out criminals and terrorists before they get to Australia.
Updated
Malcolm Turnbull named in Panama Papers
The day dawns with three stumbles already for candidates – from being dumped to being dropped down on the Senate ticket – but with the promise of a new day is the opportunity for the slate to be wiped clean, and for other candidates to have their moment in the spotlight and take the heat from those not exactly basking in it.
I’ll be taking you through to 8.30am, when the good and golden Katharine Murphy will be in to drive the blog campaign bus for the rest of the day.
The big picture
Malcolm Turnbull has been named in the Panama Papers. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing but the Australian Financial Reviews is reporting he was a former director of a British Virgin Islands company set up and administered by the law firm Mossack Fonseca to exploit a Siberian gold prospect.
Turnbull joined the board of Star Mining NL with the former New South Wales premier Neville Wran (they had a long and close history with before Wran’s death) in 1993 and two months later the pair were appointed directors of Star Mining’s subsidiary in the British Virgin Islands, Star Technology Services Limited, that held the group’s stake in the Sukhoi Log prospect, a joint venture called LenaGold.
Star Mining NL was an Australian-listed company that hoped to develop a $20bn Siberian gold mine called Sukhoi Log.
Turnbull’s spokesman told the AFR the prime minister was not aware the company had been administered by Mossack Fonseca as the registered agent in Road Town, Tortola. Turnbull and Wran resigned from the company in 1995.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on Turnbull’s behalf but the news comes after a messy day on the campaign trail for him.
One of the centrepieces of the government’s budget could breach workplace laws with ACTU legal advice finding the intern program, which gives young people an extra $200 a fortnight on top of their welfare payments, not stacking up to minimum wage standards, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Legal advice sought by the peak union body suggests the PaTH program ... would leave vulnerable interns languishing below the legally enforceable minimum wage and potentially able to sue for recovery of unpaid wages.
The National party has faced a conundrum on the campaign trail – the Liberals’ economic message does not chime with its supporters, so it is abandoning it, the AFR reports.
It is avoiding using such phrases as ‘helping the economy transition away from the mining boom’, because it is further fuelling job insecurity in economically depressed regional and rural electorates. It is especially potent in north Queensland and its mining regions.
‘That sounds like to a truck driver that he’ll be out of a job and a robot will replace him,’ said one senior National.
‘Subs and lab coats don’t really speak to the people of north Queensland.’
The Nationals stressed they did not disagree the economy was in transition but felt that the official campaign slogan was insensitive and had not been properly thought through.
Meanwhile, Labor is dumping a candidate in Western Australia. Chris Brown may also be expelled from the party after failing to declare two criminal convictions from the 1980s.
He pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer and drink driving but the assault charge was later expunged though he was given a 12-month good behaviour bond.
More has come out about Cory Bernardi’s demotion to second on the Senate ticket in South Australia with the Liberal justifying the move by saying Simon Birmingham, the education minister, is the more senior Liberal member and therefore more deserving of the top spot.
The move could put Bernardi’s Senate spot at risk with South Australia the weakest performing state for the Liberals in the Senate in 2013 (Birmingham only just scraped in) and Nick Xenophon’s NXT party introducing a new threat, Max Opray reports.
On the campaign trail
Malcolm Turnbull is heading to Victoria after spending yesterday in western Sydney and his bus will be setting off in Melbourne in the next couple of hours. Bill Shorten has woken up in Townsville for the third morning in a row.
Tony Abbott is heading to north Queensland to “gee-up the troops”, according to George Christensen, and then to a “shed meeting and smoko” on a cane farm on Friday.
The campaign you should be watching
“Not a bellwether but an indicator” – that’s how the seat of Cowan has been described in Calla Wahlquist’s profile of it. Cowan is held on a margin of 4.5% by the Liberal MP Luke Simpkins, who succeeded Labor’s Graham Edwards in 2007. In the conservative state of WA, it is one of two electorates, along with the new seat of Burt in the city’s south-west, that Labor would have to win to form government.
And another thing(s)
First Dog on the Moon has created Snitty the Psephological Cassowary’s Vote Compass! for those still deciding how to vote.
Michelle Grattan has written that the best outcome for conservative Liberals – a narrow victory for Turnbull – would allow Abbott and other conservatives in the party to exercise influence and make Turnbull’s life quite uncomfortable.
It’s not like the dark cloud of Kevin Rudd over Julia Gillard in 2013 but Tony Abbott’s shadow is hovering over Malcolm Turnbull’s campaign.
The revered Country Women’s Association may join the fight for marriage equality with the Victorian branch set to discuss the subject at its next annual conference after the social issues committee moved a resolution in support of same-sex couples.
‘Fringe group’ of the day
Bernard Gaynor's response.. pic.twitter.com/zENuvgmQ0W
— Freya Newman (@freyanewmn) May 11, 2016
Updated
