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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Josh Taylor and Amy Remeikis

Consular officials talk to Karm Gilespie, Australian man facing death penalty in China – latest updates

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Evening summary

In case you missed it, here are some of the big news items today:

  • Victoria reports 21 new confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 15 returned travellers in hotel quarantine.
  • Labor MP Anthony Byrne says he has been in touch with authorities to offer his full assistance to any investigation into the Adem Somyurek issue.
  • The Victorian corruption watchdog has commenced an investigation into the whole branch stacking media report.
  • Finance is also investigating allegations of misconduct in the office of NT senator Sam McMahon.
  • The Chinese embassy has accused Australian politicians and media of making “baseless accusations” that are “completely rubbish” about China spreading disinformation.
  • We can expect a decision on whether the Palace letters will be released by the end of July.

Updated

Labor’s attempt to extend the $1,500 fortnightly jobkeeper wage subsidy to 5,500 workers at airline catering company Dnata has failed by the narrowest margin – blocked with a 30-all tie in the Senate.

Labor’s Tony Sheldon had implored One Nation to join Labor and the rest of the crossbench and allow the payment to workers of foreign government owned companies – on the basis it goes direct to workers, not the companies.

Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts thanked him for his respectful engagement but were not persuaded.

Roberts argued that extending jobkeeper would give workers “false hope” before the payment is cut off in September.

The Senate then voted on a motion to make it easier for universities to access the payment, but it was defeated 31 votes to 29.

Updated

Any plans you might have to go to Tasmania (if you’re not already there) will have to wait nine more days at least, with Tasmania holding off announcing when it will open the border until 26 June, and that the relaxing of the border probably won’t happen until late July.

Via AAP:

“It’s important that we don’t make decisions on the fly,” deputy premier Jeremy Rockliff said.

“We will naturally be easing our restrictions over time, that will include of course opening our borders again.

“That may be to some states, or more states, but we have to take that public health advice and be absolutely certain that we are not risking a second wave of Covid-19.”

Updated

Three people have been charged by police after a Black Lives Matter protest in Brisbane on Wednesday. Via AAP:

One male protester was seen in social media footage pushing a police officer as they tried to move the crowd on.

He was wrestled to the ground and handcuffed.

A 21-year-old man was charged with two counts of assault and blocking a road.

A 43-year-old woman was charged with assault and public nuisance, and a 58-year-old man was charged with contravening a direction.

The group also marched to the Roma Street watch house, where they blocked a small street near police headquarters for about an hour chanting “too many coppers, not enough justice”.

The lead protester was also videoed voluntarily lying on the ground before his arrest.

Updated

Just a note of congratulations to my excellent colleague, Luke Henriques-Gomes for winning a Young Walkley Award for his coverage of the robodebt scandal.

Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson have both released videos to mark the start of negotiations on a free trade agreement between Australia and the UK.

What to say about Johnson’s video? Well, it includes the line: “How long can the British people be deprived of the opportunity to have Arnott’s Tim Tams at a reasonable price?”

See for yourself here:


Morrison, for his part, says the launch of the FTA talks is “an important moment for our free peoples, in two great nations bound together by a special bond of history”.

He says as Australia and the UK recover from the impact of Covid-19, “we have a wonderful opportunity to supercharge our economic relationship”.

He suggests there could be more opportunities for UK and Australian citizens to live and work in each other’s countries. A deal would also demonstrate the determination of both countries “to open not close our markets in the post-Covid era”.

Morrison says he is confident the negotiating teams could conclude a deal quickly, “possibly even by the end of this year or early 2021”.

“I can assure everyone that my good friend Boris Johnson and I will not settle for anything less than an ambitious and high-quality deal that benefits both our nations.”

Want to know the latest on the Covidsafe contact tracing app?

Around 6.31m people have downloaded it, and there have yet to be any reported cases where it has identified a close contact after 30 or so times data has been downloaded from the app.

Information provided to the Senate this month revealed that the government knew the iPhone version of the app was working poorly as early as April, but kept reassuring everyone it was working just fine.

Even now after five updates, when two iPhones are locked, they only communicate somewhere between 25% and 50% of the time.

You can read my full report on it below.

We’ve just had a small development in the famous Palace Letters case, which culminated with Jenny Hocking winning a high court battle against the National Archives of Australia last month.

The documents Hocking seeks are a series of more than 200 letters between the Queen, her private secretary, and the governor-general John Kerr in the lead-up to the dismissal of Gough Whitlam.

After a high court decision paved the way for Hocking to access the letters last month, the archives claimed it still had 90 business days to declassify the letters and decide whether parts were exempt from release.

The Guardian revealed that that appeared to be at odds with the high court’s orders and the archives act, which suggest the archives had only a third of that time.

But Hocking has just released a statement saying the archives has agreed to decide on the release of the letters by the end of July 2020, much sooner than initially suggested.

I am looking forward to the release of all 211 of these historic letters between the Queen and the governor-general relating to one of the most tumultuous periods in our political history, the dismissal of the Whitlam government.

The release of the Palace letters by the National Archives will make a major contribution to our knowledge and understanding of Australia’s contemporary political history.

Updated

The Chinese embassy has accused Australian politicians and media of making “baseless accusations” that are “completely rubbish”.

The comments come after Australia’s foreign minister, Marise Payne, made a forthright speech in Canberra last night in which she characterised the Chinese government’s recent warnings to students and travellers about the risk of racist attacks in Australia as “disinformation”.

Payne also pointed to last week’s report issued by the European Commission that concluded Russia and China had carried out targeted disinformation campaigns “seeking to undermine democratic debate and exacerbate social polarisation”. She added that such disinformation “contributes to a climate of fear and division when what we need is cooperation and understanding”.

We sought comment from the Chinese embassy in Canberra today.

A short time ago, a spokesperson for the embassy issued the following statement:

In recent days, some Australian media and politicians made baseless accusations of China for spreading disinformation, which is completely rubbish. As a matter of fact, for quite some time, some Australian media have been fraught with rumours, lies and malicious slanders against China. Some Australian politicians have also been keen to play up these false information. It is obvious to see who is engaged in stigmatisation, politicisation, sowing division, and undermining international cooperation.

Updated

Finance investigates misconduct complaint about NT senator's office

AAP is reporting allegations of a “bloody physical altercation between Northern Territory senator Sam McMahon and her chief-of-staff Jason Riley are being investigated by the Country Liberal party and the finance department:

The department and CLP have both been handed a formal complaint detailing allegations of misconduct within Senator McMahon’s office.

CLP president Ron Kelly said he was told about the allegations last weekend.

Senator McMahon denied any altercation had taken place earlier in the week but later appeared to backtrack.

It has been reported that WhatsApp messages sent from her phone alleging an incident had occurred are part of the investigations.

Michael McCormack, the deputy prime minister and leader of the Nationals – with whom the NT-based CLP is aligned – said the government took “all matters of workplace safety very seriously”.

“No one should feel unsafe in a workplace, violence of any kind is not tolerated,” he said in a statement.

The statement said it was inappropriate to comment more during investigations by the CLP and department of finance, with the latter responsible for work health and safety policies and processes, parliamentary staff.

Updated

Parliament is starting to wind down, but there is one more day until it breaks until August.

The wonderful Josh Taylor will take you through the evening. As always, you can catch me on Twitter (warning, there are the occasional swears) as well as here if you have a burning question in the meantime. I do try and get back to as many people as possible. The Canberra crew will be back with you early tomorrow morning.

In the meantime, please, take care of you.

Updated

AAP has a bit more on the person who tested positive for Covid-19, which South Australian authorities have just reported – long story short, he is not contagious and not being counted as a new case:

A man who recently returned to Australia from Pakistan has tested positive to Covid-19 after arriving in Adelaide.

SA Health says the man, 35, first arrived in Melbourne on 6 June and tested positive there on 9 June.

But because he first developed symptoms in May, he was allowed to serve a shorter period in quarantine before moving on to Adelaide and flew into SA on Tuesday morning.

He was tested again on arrival at Adelaide Airport, returning a positive result.

However, Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier says he is no longer infectious and is not being considered a new SA case.

Updated

This is going to get some airplay for a bit:

Dave Sharma is explaining his ridiculous tweet to Patricia Karvelas:

The point I was making an idea to tweet about the Captain Cook statue that was defaced in Randwick a couple of days ago.

People are free to examine our history and express views on it including some of the leading historical figures and we should have those debates and we should recognise that the standards by which people were judged on their own homes are not the standard by which we would seek to judge people today but the way that they do this, I think, is through an open debate, not going through and destroying property or ruled by mobs.

We have seen some pretty extraordinary things, people are [questioning] statues of Gandhi, Winston Churchill, which, people can say Winston Churchill did some great things, and he did, but he also did some bad things by the standards of today, likewise Captain Cook, but I don’t think it the right way to litigate these sorts of disputes is by destroying property.

That was the point I was making on Twitter.

PK: Some people, like for instance, let me put one to you, then why is it that Ben Wyatt who is the treasurer in WA, also an Indigenous man said, this is not becoming, basically for a serious federal politician.

Essentially some people thought you were making light of slavery.

Sharma: Absolutely not, but I don’t think ... This is a topic of much debate throughout the world, I think it is completely appropriate that federal politicians express their views on these things. But the way to have the debate is through the use of speech, not the use of violence.

PK: No one in this forum has said that there should be violence, I am talking about making light of slavery.

Sharma: I was talking about property damage, people tearing down statues who they decided they disagree with. That is not the way to do it. Go to your local representative and so you want the statue pulled down, I think it is a completely legitimate point I was making.

Updated

Victoria's corruption watchdog confirms investigation has started

The Victorian anti-corruption watchdog has just confirmed it will investigate the allegations raised in the 60 Minutes/The Age report into Victorian Labor:

IBAC, Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission confirmed today that it is investigating serious allegations of corrupt conduct. IBAC’s Operation Fortescue will examine a range of matters concerning allegations of ‘branch stacking’, and other matters aired recently in media reports, and other related complaints made to IBAC.

Anyone with information relevant to this investigation is encouraged to contact IBAC on www.ibac.vic.gov.au/reporting-corruption. As this is an active investigation, for legal and operational reasons IBAC will not be making further comment.

This seems timely, given Daniel Andrews’ “why would you want to go there?” comments earlier today .

Updated

The New South Wales fire commissioner, Rob Rogers, has told the bushfire royal commission that the federal Environment, Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act can “leave individuals exposed” because they cannot get permission to conduct hazard mitigation activities.

Rogers told the royal commission that NSW “provides streamlined environmental approvals to private individuals trying to do that work” and that allowing EPBC approvals to be streamlined was one way the commonwealth could help NSW undertake fire prevention activities.

“I think that’s another way the commonwealth could actually assist states and territories and indeed individuals to get work done, by allowing states to, within appropriate instruments, provide approvals under commonwealth legislation for environmental matters.”

The EPBC Act is up for review and Scott Morrison this week said he wanted to introduce a “single-touch” system for federal and state environmental approvals, which scientists have warned would lead to an extinction crisis. As our environment reporter Lisa Cox writes, just 22 of 6,500 projects referred for approval have been knocked back in the act’s 20-year history.

The royal commission into national natural disaster arrangements is examining hazard reduction this week. NSW authorities were called upon to answer criticisms, made in many of the 1,300 submissions from individuals to the commission, that they had failed to carry out adequate controlled burning on public land.

Naomi Stephens, the acting executive director of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, said it had an annual target of 135,000 hectares and had met that every year for the past seven. “We’re meeting the targets that have been set for us by government.”

She said parks staff drove “every hectare” of their 31,000 hectares of fire trails before the fire season began, and had been given $125m by the NSW government to conduct upgrades. She also said that of the fires that burned in NSW in the 2019-20 season, 71% had started outside of national parks. Forty-four per cent of the total area that burned in NSW this summer burned in a fire that started in a national park.

Updated

Mike Bowers spent some time in the Senate today, for a change.

It did not disappoint.

Labor leader Penny Wong during question time in the Senate
Labor leader Penny Wong during question time in the Senate. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
South Australian senator Rex Patrick stages a demonstration in support of SA’s submarine industry during question time
South Australian senator Rex Patrick stages a demonstration in support of SA’s submarine industry during question time. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Michaelia Cash
Minister for employment Michaelia Cash. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Mathias Cormann during question time
Mathias Cormann during question time. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

The Senate has just passed a Labor motion rejecting the government’s excuses not to provide certain information to the Covid-19 committee.

The motion by the committee’s chair, Katy Gallagher, noted that the government had “refused to provide the Senate select committee on Covid-19 with important information relevant to its inquiry including modelling and scenario work undertaken by treasury on the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the date the chief medical officer first briefed cabinet on Covid-19”.

The motion noted that witnesses had said the material pertains to cabinet -– but the proper process is to make a public interest immunity claim.

Lastly it “orders the minister representing the treasurer and the minister representing the minister for health to provide the information identified ... to the Senate select committee by 12 pm Thursday 18 June”.

The motion passed 29 to 26. Let’s see if the government meets that deadline.

Updated

I mean, as we know, there is an answer to Pauline Hanson’s ‘where the hell do I go?’ question:

And once, she agreed.

Updated

What is some of the language Malarndirri McCarthy has had to sit through the parliament lately?

Well, how about this from Pauline Hanson, just moments after McCarthy gave her speech:

Over the years I have been labelled a racist for my views mostly by white Australians and those Indigenous who thrive financially for themselves and their families.

I call it the Aboriginal industry. Their agenda is not in the best interest of all Australians, white or black.

It’s about milking the cow, the taxpayer, crying the victim constantly in blaming whites for so-called “invasion”.

I was born in Australia. This is my land. Where the hell do I go?

I will not accept the blame game for the so-called “invasion” you refer to. Your push to change our history books and false claims that are foisted on our young throughout our education system is disgraceful, all to better suit the left’s agenda.

All trustees must be noted and taught to ensure we acknowledge our past, but more importantly, to protect our future.

I will not acknowledge or echo the words “Welcome to country” that has been forced on people to say at functions or events.

I am very respectful to those who have fought for our freedom and sacrificed their lives for our way of life that we all have the opportunity to enjoy today. I will not support those whose agenda is to divide us as Australians. Wanting a separate nation within a nation at the expense of the Australian taxpayer? This should never happen.

Updated

Asked by Patricia Karvelas on Afternoon Briefing why she decided to name First Nations people who have died in custody, in parliament, Malarndirri McCarthy says:

It’s been a difficult fortnight in sittings, we’re not quite over yet,we have still another day to go, and I thought that it was important that we put on the record the human side of the many deaths, and as I said there, we don’t know all the names, but those that we do, it was important to bring forward to the parliament, in the midst of many obscene things that have been said, in the Senate in particular, that we are talking about families, we are talking about people who have felt that their names needed to be heard …

I reflected just today on even reporting on the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody and at the time how difficult that was [putting it on the national agenda]. What we have seen here in the last two or three weeks is an absolute movement and almost an incredible wave of movement throughout the globe that things should not remain the same, that things have to change and even here in the parliament I can feel it, I can sense it, that we have to be careful as politicians do not further incite hatred and division and it is important that our language and what we say matters, it really does.

Updated

The Australian government’s chief nursing and midwifery officer, Alison McMillan, gave an update on the national Covid situation and was asked about the Black Lives Matter protests.

There had been fears of a spike in cases from the protests – that hasn’t happened.

McMillan:

I think we can say that with the significant success we have had in the suppression of the spread we are really pleased to see that. That is as a consequence of people doing the right thing and continuing to social distance, staying at home, hygiene, we need to keep doing those things. We are not out of the time that we may still see some cases from those protests, mostly the incubation is between five and seven days but we do know that can stretch until 10 or 14 – so there is still a potential to see cases, but less likely over time. We are really pleased to see that our advice was please don’t go but we are, of course, pleased to see that we’re not seeing numbers out of these protests on the weekend.

Updated

During his address to the National Press Club on Wednesday, Simon Birmingham indicated Australia would use the free trade agreement negotiations with the UK to push for better market access for agriculture, removal of tariffs on wine, and high standard rules on digital trade and investment.

The new talks come at a time when Australia is also negotiating a trade agreement with the European Union. Birmingham described the EU as “a massive high income market of almost 450 million people and as a bloc it’s already Australia’s third-largest trading partner and our third largest source of foreign investment”.

I asked Birmingham whether the UK or EU trade deal was a higher priority for Australia, given the differences in market sizes.
Birmingham quipped: “I don’t have any favoured children in that regard – I want to love them both equally.”

He acknowledged that the EU was a much bigger market than the UK but he said the latter was also significant, and had a bigger economy than Australia’s.

“That means it presents significant opportunities for us,” Birmingham said. “Back at the time that the UK entered into the European Economic Community it was our third-largest goods trading market. It’s now our 12th.”

The first round of negotiations between Australia and the UK is due to begin on 29 June, but due to Covid-19 restrictions will be held remotely.

The updated story:

This morning we revealed crossbench fury about a political donations bill they fear could see banned developer donations leaking from the federal system back into state parties, and apply lower donation disclosure thresholds for federal donations.

One of the key concerns was that Labor was negotiating with the government over the bill – so there was no guarantee it would be reviewed by the joint standing committee on electoral matters.

But now – Labor has agreed to refer it.

The shadow special minister of state, Don Farrell, told Guardian Australia:

Labor always takes amendments to the Commonwealth Electoral Act and political donations laws very seriously. We have taken the time that was needed to review the proposed changes and how they might work in operation. Labor understands the electoral legislation amendment (miscellaneous measures) bill 2020 will be referred to Jscem. We think that is appropriate and we support that referral. Labor supports a transparent, uniform federal system that governs all federal candidates and MPs, across the country.

Updated

Federal Labor MP offers full assistance in Adem Somyurek investigation

The Labor MP Anthony Byrne says he has been in touch with authorities to offer his full assistance to any investigation into the Adem Somyurek issue.

Byrne, deputy chair of parliament’s intelligence and security committee, has also hit out at “misinformation circulating” surrounding the matter.

It appears that some of the footage included in the 60 Minutes story on Sunday was recorded in Byrne’s electorate office – including possibly during a party branch meeting – although Guardian Australia has made no assertions about Byrne’s knowledge of the recordings.

One of the scenes from apparent surveillance footage broadcast by 60 Minutes on Sunday night show a group of people meeting in a room that had on the wall a map of the electorate of Holt – the Victorian electorate that Byrne represents. In another scene broadcast by 60 Minutes, a sign marked “Anthony Byrne MP” could be seen in the background.

As Amy mentioned earlier, the attorney general, Christian Porter, raised the issue in question time this afternoon, saying that “at a federal level, there are very strict rules about the use and authorised use of surveillance devices which restrict that use to law enforcement agencies”.

Porter – who is believed to have a positive working relationship with Byrne – added that “everyone in this parliament would agree that the idea that a non-law enforcement device, if you like, appeared to have been installed in the office of any member of this parliament is a matter of some serious concern”.

The thrust of Porter’s comments, though, targeted Labor leader Anthony Albanese for apparently failing to clarify the situation with Byrne, a member of the Labor team.

Byrne’s statement reads in full:

In respect of the misinformation circulating, I want to make clear that I take the matters raised recently seriously and have been in touch with authorities to offer my full assistance. I welcome investigations into corruption, which has no place in the party I love. Because I do not want to cross over or impede any investigations that may be occurring, I’m unable to comment further at this point in time.

Earlier today, The Age cited unnamed sources familiar with the investigation as saying that “Mr Byrne did not appear in any of the video recordings nor were there any discussions relating to national security or any parliamentary committees”.

Updated

And from the senator herself:

These were taken from Guardian Australia’s Deaths Inside investigation. Their names are now enshrined in the parliamentary record, because of Malarndirri McCarthy:


  • 29 March, 2020. Unknown Male, 30, arrested and taken to Horsham police station where his “condition deteriorated”. He was transported to hospital by ambulance where he later died.
  • 21 March, this year. TC Female, 40. Found dead in her single cell at Brisbane Women’s Correctional Centre
  • 2 January, this year. Ms Walker, 37. Arrested for shoplifting on 31 December, 2019, and denied bail. She was remanded at the maximum security women’s prison, the Dame Phyllis Front Centre, and found dead three days later.
  • 9 November, 2019. Mr Walker, 19. Died after he was shot at Yuendumu when two police officers went to his house to arrest him for breaches of his suspended sentence.
  • 6 November, 2019. Unknown Male, 20, fell 10m to his death while being escorted from Gosford hospital to Kariong Correctional Centre.
  • 30 October, 2019. RN Male, 39. Died in Royal Perth hospital three days after being sedated by paramedics at the direction of police
  • 17 September, 2019. Ms Clarke, 37. Shot dead by a police officer outside her house in Geraldton in Western Australia.
  • 12 June, 2019. JB, Male, 30. Found unresponsive in his cell in Acacia prison and attempts to revive him were unsuccessful. Authorities warned he was suicidal.
  • 9 April, 2019. Cherdeena Wynne, 26. Died in hospital five days after she became unresponsive after being handcuffed by police on a side street off Albany Highway.
  • 14 March, 2019. T Walton, 21. Shot multiple times by police who were seeking to question him
  • 11 February, 2019. A Eades, 46. Allegedly attacked by other prisoners and found critically injured in his prison cell on 26 February 2019. He died in hospital 13 days later. His injuries included a broken neck, severe brain swelling, and facial fractures and lacerations.
  • 11 September, 2018. CD, Male, 16. Drowned in the Swan River in Perth while trying to escape an on-foot chase by police.
  • 10 September, 2018. TS, Male, 17. Drowned alongside his best mate CD, while fleeing police, who were chasing him and four other boys them on foot following reports of “teenagers jumping fences”. He and three other teenagers entered the river to escape, but only two made it out.
  • 1 September, 2018. Nathan Reynolds, 36. Died in custody in the Outer Metropolitan Multi-Purpose Correctional Centre, a minimum security prison in South Windsor, allegedly following a severe asthma attack.
  • 29 June, 2018. DK, Male, 34. During arrest DK stopped breathing while being “removed” from a house in Perth by police.
  • 3 May, 2018. Mr Yeeda, 19. Mr Yeeda collapsed at West Kimberley regional prison in Western Australia and was declared dead less than an hour later at Derby hospital.
  • 10 February, 2018. TK, Male, 39. Became unresponsive after police attended his Townsville home and he was forcibly restrained.
  • 7 February, 2018. Patrick Fisher, 31. Fell from a 13th-floor balcony in the Waterloo public housing block in Sydney in February 2018 while allegedly trying to climb down to escape from the police
  • 3 February, 2018. JH, Male, 23. Found hanged in his cell at the Junee Correctional Centre in NSW two days before he was due to face court.
  • 22 December, 2017. Ms Day, 55. Died 17 days after falling in the cells of Castlemaine police station after being arrested for public drunkenness.
  • 4 December, 2017. TMH, Male, 47. Had a heart attack while being loaded into an ambulance and later died in Boulder WA.
  • 22 September, 2017. Tane Richard Chatfield, 22. Found unresponsive in his cell after being separated from his cellmate and receiving medical treatment for a seizure.
  • 22 August, 2017. KG, Male, 47. Discovered unresponsive in an observation cell at the Adelaide city watch house.
  • 8 August, 2017. JT, Male, 39. Complained of chest pain the day before his death but prison staff in the Northern Territory mistakenly believed he was complaining of a sore throat
  • 4 July, 2017. EJW, Male, 35. Died in hospital after suffering a brain haemorrhage in prison and was shackled to the bed in the last days of his life despite being unconscious and unresponsive.
  • 25 June, 2017. R Thomas, 29. Thrown from his car after an accident being pursued by a highway patrol car.
  • 26 May, 2017. PR, Male, 50. Became unresponsive after being arrested, handcuffed and placed in a prone restraint position by South Australian police outside his house in Parafield Gardens. An ambulance was called, but he was unable to be revived.
  • 12 May, 2017. C Riley, Male, 40. Died after being shot by police with a stun gun in an Officeworks car park in East Perth.
  • 29 March, 2017. TAS, Male, 35. Critically injured when the car he was driving flipped less than a minute after police began a pursuit in Bathurst. He died in hospital a short time later.
  • 1 March, 2017. J Anderson, 23. Died in Fiona Stanley Hospital after being found hanged in a “safe” cell at Hakea prison.
  • 4 January, 2017. RPN, Male, 62. Died at Alice Springs hospital of renal and liver failure while serving a mandatory life sentence.

And question time ends.

Until tomorrow.

Because we are not allowed nice things

Further to an earlier answer from Scott Morrison that he didn’t imagine Labor would want to talk about integrity today, here was Mark Dreyfus’s 90-second statement ahead of question time (sorry for the delay – was transcribing):

Tackling corruption is not a priority for the Morrison government.

In fact, the truth is that fighting against corruption is – at best – a ‘fringe issue’ for the Morrison government.

You don’t have to take my word for it. Just ask the prime minister. In November 2018, just after he’d stabbed Malcolm Turnbull in the back to become prime minister, this is how the current prime minister described the establishment of a national anti-corruption body – as a ‘fringe issue’.

And that is how he has treated the issue ever since.

The ever-growing list of scandals surrounding this government shows why Australia needs a powerful and independent national integrity commission – and why the prime minister has no interest in establishing one.

I don’t have time to go through all of the scandals surrounding the Morrison government, but it doesn’t take any time to talk about what the prime minister and the attorney-general have done about those scandals. And that’s because they have done nothing. Nothing.

On Monday, we saw the premier of Victoria and the leader of the federal opposition take swift and decisive action after Sunday night’s 60 Minutes program. That’s what leadership looks like.

When it comes to tackling corruption, that’s the sort of leadership that is sorely lacking from this prime minister and his government.

Why is this government so scared of a National Integrity Commission? What do they have to hide?

Updated

And of course, being the Senate, Jacqui Lambie also had props (you can bet the Aldi bag was not an accident):

Jacqui Lambie and Bob Katter were a part of a number of cross bench independents, centre Alliance and Greens who united to highlight a bill about political donations at a press conference in the mural hall of parliament house in Canberra this afternoon.
Jacqui Lambie and Bob Katter were a part of a number of cross bench independents, centre Alliance and Greens who united to highlight a bill about political donations at a press conference in the mural hall of parliament house in Canberra this afternoon. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Jacqui Lambie continues:

I’m hoping that the Labor party will grow a spine and insist that this bill goes straight to a full committee review. If this bill is waived through voters will finally know for sure that we don’t really have an opposition party in this parliament. For too long we’ve seen that the opposition will roll over for the government like dogs if it suits their political interests.

The public interest just doesn’t seem to play into the equation any more. It’s another big middle finger to everyone who reckons it matters who’s buying and selling our politicians.

Politicians from both major parties are allowing themselves to be bought and sold by the highest bidder, it’s appalling and it has to stop.

Updated

Jacqui Lambie has put out this statement:

Today I was joined by colleagues from the House and Senate to call out the Labor and Liberal party for collusion on donation reform. We all know that every time the Liberal and Labor party get together to work on our donations law, they end up going backwards, not forwards.

And we’re seeing it happen again this week.

This is the latest in a long line of betrayals of the public’s trust and it’s called the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2020.

The two major parties are always looking for new ways to hide big donor money from the voters and this time they’ve come up with a doozy.

This is the bill that would completely undermine strict rules on political donations in states like NSW, Victoria and Queensland. The Liberal party and the Labor party are working on a deal to waive it through; if the Australian people read the detail of this legislation and realised it’s potential impact they would be horrified.

The bill would let the major party branches ignore the donations laws in their state or territory by claiming that they’re using the money ‘for federal purposes’. Supposedly, it would ‘clarify’ how strict state rules on political donations apply to the federal parties. This gives a chance for state branches of the major parties to say ‘we don’t accept dodgy donations’, while they’re accepting them behind the scenes the whole time.

This bill is designed to give politicians the chance to get money from developers while saying they never received it.

Was the Queensland state election in minister Cormann’s mind when he introduced this legislation?

The ALP is trying to strike up this deal where they agree with the Liberals not to talk to anyone about this.

They’re hoping no one in the media will notice that the two majors are working out a deal to avoid even a hint of public scrutiny because they think if we don’t talk about it we won’t notice it.

Updated

Scott Morrison finishes with this:

Mr Speaker, I have no interest in this matter becoming a matter of political debate for partisan purposes. I understand the popularity of the point which the leader of the opposition sought to engage in. I will not engage in such crass popularity when it comes to the integrity of the VC.

Anthony Albanese says the point of the question was to ‘oppose’ popularising the matter, by talking about the polling, but it is ruled out of order.

Updated

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

I ask does the prime minister agree that it is entirely inappropriate for polling to be done in Tasmania on whether Teddy Sheean should receive a Victoria Cross?

Morrison:

I’m unaware of what the leader of the opposition is referring to. This is not something that I have any knowledge of.

Morrison is then reading out quotes from people who agree with his approach on this matter. They include John Howard.

Updated

Bill Shorten to Scott Morrison:

Given that many debts to the commonwealth accrue interest, will his government apply the same principle and refund victims of the prime minister’s illegal robodebt scheme in full, including interest?

Stuart Robert gets the tap:

What I find ironic in the last question about the rorts and corruption in Victoria, those opposite were claiming it’s before the courts and we can’t possibly speak about it ... This is before the court, but we have got the hypocrisy to step up about it. I mean, this is extraordinary! Extraordinary. Those opposite don’t want to talk about what’s happening in Victoria, over the last week, and come forward with knowing full well this is before the courts with hearings...

Shorten:

It’s a very straightforward question. When Australians owe the commonwealth money they can be charged interest. When the commonwealth owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to robodebt victims, will they get interest?

Tony Smith tells Robert to get to the point.

Robert:

I have a point of order on hypocrisy and the Labor party are covered in it.

He sits down.

Even Christian Porter shakes his head at that.

Updated

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

In December 2017 there were more than 100,000 older Australians waiting for the home care package for which they have been approved. Two years later, still more than 100,000 older Australians were waiting. Shame! Why?

Morrison:

From both my time as treasurer and both my time as prime minister, at every single occasion we have increased the funding available for in-home aged care places. We have put a priority on that in budget after budget. Putting important resources on that issue as a matter of priority.

We launched – I initiated one of my first acts as prime minister was to initiate the royal commission into aged care to address these very issues.

We will continue to put more funding into aged care and, in particular, into in-home aged care places at every opportunity we have, which has been my practice. And it will continue to be my practice.

Early this week, when I spoke to the CEDA forum and talked about commitment of guaranteeing the essential services that Australians rely on, that just didn’t relate to the record funding agreements we have put in place with the states and territories on hospitals, on schools, I went further to specifically – specifically – say that we would be continuing to address the challenges in the areas of aged care, in home aged care, disability care.

And the only way you can provide support for those essential services is if you properly manage the economy. That is how you fund these services. You don’t fund them. You do not fund them through higher taxes.

You fund them by ensuring that Australia reemerges from the Covid-19 crisis, with a stronger economy that gets people back into work. That is how you left the revenues and that is how you can say to those older Australians, be are looking to have those in-home aged care places, that is how you can pay for them. Now, those opposite do not have a plan for how they would grow the economy.

They don’t have one. That is why they cannot look Australians in the eye, whether it’s in Queanbeyan or anywhere else, Mr Speaker, and tell them they can fund services because they do not have a plan to how they can grow the economy on the other side and through this crisis to ensure that our revenues can be restored and we can commit these services. Now, the leader of the opposition interjects and talks about how the economy has shrunk.

He must be the only person in this place who was unaware that we’ve gone into recession as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.

The leader of the opposition is the only one I would hope in this place who would seek to use the Covid-19 crisis of making a cheap political point in this place.

Updated

Bridget Archer to Peter Dutton:

Will the minister update the House on recent steps the Morrison government has taken in the fight to protect Australian children from exploitation and abuse? And how will this support the efforts of law enforcement authorities? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Dutton:

Thank you very much. I thank the honourable member for her question. And I – in doing so – acknowledge that she is a survivor of child sexual abuse and advocate on behalf of other people, other adults who face this terrible injustice as a child.

She is an incredibly brave woman. I pay tribute to her!

The entire chamber ‘hear hears’ that point.

Dutton:

On behalf of all victims of child abuse – in fact, all of those investigators who do that very difficult job of working in this area of police investigation, the government has for the last three years fought to get through legislation in the Senate to make sure that we could have meaningful jail terms for people who committed these various crimes against children.

We have fought tooth and nail against the Labor party and the Greens. Eventually we have got in place this legislation, which will make a big difference to victims and a big difference to the police investigators. It will give more meaning to tempt, the sacrifice the police investigators make. The work that they do with families and with survivors is quite remarkable and a great tribute to their professionalism. And we do recognise that the numbers are quite significant.

Unbelievingly significant. And this is a very difficult topic to talk about as a country. But as I have said to the House before, it is a topic we can’t discuss. We must discuss it. We can’t allow it not to be aired in this parliament or in lounge rooms across the country. Parents need to speak to their children and we need to have a greater awareness and greater ability for children to speak up to their parents or to a person of responsibility in their community.

In a rare show of restraint, which is entirely appropriate given the topic, Dutton does not move onto any ‘alternative approaches’.

Updated

Mark Butler to Scott Morrison:

I refer to evidence to the independent commission against corruption, that the minister for energy was involved in laundering illegal donations through the Liberal party front organisation known as the Free Enterprise Foundation. What action has the prime minister taken to investigate the minister’s conduct?

Christian Porter is back on his feet:

Very big turnaround from their views previously. But this clearly is a matter outside the ministerial responsibility ... of the prime minister. It requires knowledge as to donations, which are not inside the prime minister’s responsibility.

The chamber moves on to Bridget Archer.

Updated

Christian Porter:

The leader of the opposition said: ‘I didn’t recognise the office.’ Right?

So, the leader of the opposition must be the only keen political observer in Australia who missed both the map for the federal electoral division of Holt and missed the back of the election poster with the member’s name on it in the relevant footage!

Everyone in his office must have missed those. Sounds quite remarkable, don’t you think, members?

The next question asked of the long was if he hadn’t satisfied himself that the recording was authorised or otherwise known to the member, given the member’s very sensitive position on the intelligence committee and given that he had had his office bugged, would the opposition leader call in the federal police?

The opposition leader said: ‘Well, they make their own decisions.’

That has always been the government’s view that that is a remarkable turnaround in policy of the members opposite.

Because, of course, the leader of the opposition had at his disposal the greatest serial referrer to the AFP of these types of matters in the history of modern politics the shadow attorney-general, the member for Isaacs!

Who, as to the prolific nature of his referring ability – this is the only one he doesn’t seem to want to refer, which is quite strange.

Christian Porter runs out of time.

Updated

It’s amazing the difference parliamentary privilege can make:

Christian Porter takes a dixer which is just about the government’s ‘concern’ over surveillance in a federal MPs office.

Tony Burke jumps up to say he is wading into areas which are under investigation.

Chris Bowen to Mark Coulton:

The Queanbeyan clinic said it has to increase fees due in part “to the removal of Queanbeyan from the rural and regional classification for bulk billing incentives by the commonwealth government”.

Does the minister accept this cut is hurting Queanbeyan?

Coulton:

.... I dispute the quote that members got. I once again point – I point to the Riverside Medical Centre in Queanbeyan where there’s an appointment every 10 minutes this afternoon in a clinic, super clinic, that does receive the bulk billing incentive.

So, there’s been no changes to the model in Queanbeyan. It would be better if the shadow minister stopped trying to scare the people of Queanbeyan.

Bowen tries to table a statement by the Queanbeyan GP super clinic, which is announcing a fee increase due to the removal of Queanbeyan from the rural and regional classification for bulk billing incentives by the commonwealth government.

But leave is not granted.

Updated

Chris Bowen to Mark Coulton:

My question is to the minister for regional health: According to recent report from the Australian Institute of Public Health and Welfare, one in eight people skip Medicare services because they can’t afford them. Can the minister provide the house with data? Won’t cutting services in Queanbeyan make the situation worse?

Coulton:

There’s been no cut to bulk billing services in Queanbeyan. I get frustrated that the member opposite wants to come in here and scare the people of Eden-Monaro.

He might be interested to know that in other parts of Eden-Monaro, they actually get the rural bulk billing. The changes – there is a scare campaign coming up.

There’s been changes to the geographic eligibility for the modified Monash model. The Labor party were so incensed about these changes in July-October last year they supported them. They didn’t actually get rushed through in the middle of the night. They lay on the table for 15 day, these changes to the rural bulk billing eligibility program. And so this side of the House has a rural program worth $550m and the Labor party were so incensed when it was introduced in 2018, in May, that the then shadow minister, the member for Ballarat, said: ‘There are many measures in the budget Labor welcomed. These include a new rural health strategy.’

That was on 15 May, 2018. This side of the House is not interested in scare campaigns. We have a program in place to train doctors, that have the skills, a broader range of skills, GPs with obstetric skills, GPs with emergency training, GPs with psychological training.

Places like Yass, which I might add, the Labor government of New South Wales removed maternity services in 2004, so we will have ... we will have staff. We will have staff training junior doctors that have a broader range of skills that are suitable to go and work in regional areas.

We are trying to change the dynamic and message, so that rural Australia is a place to go and have a meaningful career in medicine.

And those opposite continue to scare people right across Australia. They have been doing here about a month ago, talking to cuts about political that did not happen. Did not happen!

As a matter of fact, during Covid-19 we doubled the bulk billing incentive rate. We introduced telehealth in a very short time, so that people in regional Australia could be in touch with their doctors. And on this side...

Updated

What does a submarine costume in the Senate look like?

Meanwhile, in the Senate:

What does a submarine costume look like, you ask?

Centre Alliance South Australian Senator Rex Patrickmwears his submarine suit in a courtyard of parliament house Canberra this afternoon.
Centre Alliance South Australian Senator Rex Patrickmwears his submarine suit in a courtyard of parliament house Canberra this afternoon. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

For the background on the question that was just asked, you can find out more here.

But yup, Insiders just found it closing footage

Updated

Scott Morrison:

I was asked about the Barton Highway. I was asked about health. I will come to both matters.

The commitment will improve safety and reduce travel times to all motorists on that busy stretch from Yass to Canberra.

When it comes to issues on – regarding hospitals, under the new hospitals agreement we’ve signed with the New South Wales government, there will be some $40bn provided over five years giving additional funding in that hospital sector.

Now, specifically also I can note that the south-east southern NSW local health district received $107. 8m in community activity-based funding for public hospital services in 2018-19. And that is an increase of $64.5m or 149% on what we inherited back in 2012-13. So, this government has increased funding for hospital services in that area. And in NSW, and across the country, to ensure that we can provide the support whether it is for maternity services, or other important hospital services all around the country.

We’re fighting, Mr Speaker, for the funding to ensure that it can continue to be provided, whether it is if Eden-Monaro or anywhere else. The Labor Party, as I said before, are only fighting each other.

Updated

Scott Morrison continues that answer, but he has to wait for the laughs to die down, but doesn’t seem to have realised that he just said the government is upgrading the highway because women are giving birth beside it.

Alicia Payne to Scott Morrison:

Women from the Yass Valley are currently forced to travel an hour to Canberra or Goulburn to give birth. As a result a number of women have been forced to give birth on the side of the highway. Does the prime minister agree that that is unacceptable?

Morrison:

Thank you. Well, I’m pleased to let the member know that’s why we have committed $150m to upgrade the Barton Highway.

Updated

Zali Steggall has the independent’s question today:

To the prime minister: state governments have led the way with prohibitions on industry donations and anti-corruption watchdogs. In contrast, at federal level, we still have no national integrity and anti-corruption wash dog and no prohibition on political donations from property development, mining tobacco or gambling industries. This is the virus corrupting our democracy. Rather than introducing legislation to bring federal donations laws up to scratch and protect our democracy, your government has introduced legislation to get around stronger state government laws. Why?

Scott Morrison:

Thank you. I thank the member for her question. I asked to Attorney if he wished to speak to the matter of the integrity commission issues the member raised, Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters is the committee which I have served on, when I first came to this place – many members served on those committees – as we view the electoral process and the elections on each occasion there conducted and the matters which you make mention of are reviewed and I understand that that is still taking place now from the last election.

I look forward to seeing its report. But the Attorney may want to speak to the issues in – regarding the Integrity Commission. But I would be very surprised if those opposite in the Labor Party would be asking questions about integrity today.

Christian Porter:

I will quickly touch on the electoral issue. There have been reforms the government has instituted in recent years with respect to donations.

Many of them relate to foreign donations. I’m very happy to provide a summary of those to the member individually. Of course, giving the analogy of the state prohibitions that have existed in some states with respect particularly to property developers, there are issues at a federal level where those types of laws, which go back to a range of decisions of the High Court on towns matters going back to the ACT decision and the implied freedom of political communications, so those comparisons, if I might say respectfully, aren’t perfect comparisons.

With respect to the Integrity Commission, as the member is aware and we’ve discussed the model that the government has got for an integrity commission.

I know the member prefers some features of other models than the government is proposing. Nevertheless, there’s been serious design attention to that integrity Commission body. We have put $106.7m worth of new money and allocated that to the Integrity Commission over the forward estimates.

That includes - that excludes, I should say, the $40.7m of existing funding for ACLI. Members opposite provided $57.8m. The commitment we have given is $89 million great tore that commission. Obviously, there have been other priorities for the government. Hundreds of thousands of Australians have very sadly lost jobs, are in zero hours now because of the Covid pandemic. We are revisiting the issue of the Integrity Commission. No doubt you and I will have further conversations on that.

Updated

Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:

According to the Reserve Bank minutes released yesterday, the unemployment rate has been suppressed because an unusually high number of people have dropped out of the labour force. With hundreds of thousands of jobs already lost, hundreds of thousands of people having dropped out of the labour force, and hundreds of thousands of people in jobs, but working zero hours, why won’t the treasurer backtrack on his plan to snap back support for Australian workers in September?

Frydenberg:

I thank the member for Rankin for his first question in two weeks. It is a great pleasure, Mr Speaker...

He is too busy doing interviews for The Weekend Australian. Sorry, Mr Speaker.

The member for Rankin can’t blame the media for everything. And the reality is we have been through a ... once in a century pandemic, which is unfortunately putting people out of work and sending them on to the jobseeker program, and those who have seen reduced hours are going on to the jobkeeper program.

Now, what we did see in relation to jobs was yesterday some ABS weekly payroll jobs data, which actually said that the number of total payroll jobs had increased by 1% through May. Now, this is the start.

This is the start of the recovery that we’re seeing as the restrictions are eased as a result of our country’s success in flattening the curve. It was particularly important, Mr Speaker, to see payroll jobs worked by females increased by 1.4% through May, compared to 0.4% for males.

The member for Rankin refers to the RBA minutes. I also saw the RBA minutes. And in those minutes, it said the number of jobs had stabilised or increased a little, suggesting that the total decline in hours worked may be less than previously feared.

There’s the member for Rankin. Always talking...

Always talking down the economy. In a bid – in a desperate and delusional bid for relevance – the member for Rankin is always talking down the economy. But there it is in the RBA minutes that he seeks to quote, talking about how the economy is the coming back.

How the economy is coming back, because of the success that we have had as a nation in flattening the curve. Now, I have said at this dispatch box before, and so has the prime minister – our success on the health front is allowing us now to get the economy back into the recovery phase.

If you look at the oak’s report just – OECD’s report just recently, they said the Australian economy will grow around 4% next year, and the contraction this year will be no means as severe as it is if other countries. I say to the member for Rankin – I don’t blame the media. Understand the fact that we have gone through a one in a century pandemic. I know that he is after one other job. But at least he should try to do his.

Updated

Michael McCormack just McCormacked all over the chamber and at least everyone’s cognitive functions got a three minute break.

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

My question is to the prime minister: How many more Australians are unemployed because of the way in which the prime minister designed jobkeeper?

Morrison:

Jobkeeper is supporting over three million Australians. Over three million ... And I hear the ... member ... I hear the interjection from the leader of the opposition saying “It should be six”. It should be six! I must have misheard.

Albanese:

The leader of the opposition on a point of order. There was no mishearing. He was the one who said six million. That was my interjection. He knows it.

Morrison:

Mr Speaker, the Treasury’s initial estimate was six million. I’m pleased that only three million ... had to use that program and not the six million. Only the leader of the opposition seems disappointed that three million Australians weren’t in need of the jobkeeper program.

Only the leader of the opposition seems to take some sort of pleasure in the fact that that estimate of six million Australians needing the jobkeeper program and a demand-driven program were not necessary.

What I can tell the leader of the opposition is this – is our government is fighting for jobs and the Labor Party is fighting each other.

Updated

Question time begins

I am just shaking off what I just heard come out of Pauline Hanson’s mouth, so excuse the rage induced delay.

Question time has begun.

Anika Wells to Scott Morrison:

On 2 April the prime minister said: “I don’t want a parent to have to choose between feeding their kids or having their kids looked after.” According to today’s West Australia that is exactly what’s happening. Why is the prime minister hurting Australian families by snapping back child care arrangements in the middle of Australia’s first recession in throw decades?

Dan Tehan gets the nod:

Can I ... thank the member for her question. And can I, once again, on behalf of all the House thank those early childhood educators that provided care throughout ... the pandemic. 99% of all service providers remained open during the pandemic, providing care for essential service workers and also for vulnerable children.

And the system that we put in place when demand was collapsing did exactly what it was designed to do, and that was to make sure that care could be provided during the pandemic.

Now, as we’ve seen demand increase, and that demand has now increased to 74%, we are going back to the old child care system that we put in place nearly two years ago.

Updated

Read Senator Malarndirri McCarthy or Senator Pat Dodson, rather than what Pauline Hanson is trying to put out there.

Malarndirri McCarthy:

In recent weeks, we’ve seen hundreds of thousands of Australians take to the streets to march and to call on the reduction that’s necessary for black deaths in custody, and certainly the high incarceration rates of First Nations people. As a 19-20-year-old, Mr Acting Deputy President, I covered the royal commission into black deaths in custody as a journalist for the ABC, in particular in Darwin, and also, when Elliott Johnson, brought down the recommendations. And then we could talk about the names of people who died – the 99 deaths. And, at the time, my colleague Senator Pat Dodson was one of the royal commissioners so this has been an incredible journey. And yet when we look at the deaths of over 437, 438, possibly 439, Aboriginal people and deaths since then, we don’t really know all of their names.

She concluded:

These are the people that hundreds of thousands of Australians walked the streets for. This week, last week and will no doubt continue to do so. We don’t some of the others; a lot of the other names. But we certainly pay our respects to those families still seeking justice, equality and fairness in our country. And we must never stop the pursuit of justice, equality and fairness for all Australians – especially First Nations people.

Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy recounts aboriginal deaths in custody in a speech in the Senate Wednesday 17 June 2020.
Labor Senator Malarndirri McCarthy recounts aboriginal deaths in custody in a speech in the Senate Wednesday 17 June 2020. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Pauline Hanson is now quoting Martin Luther King, Jr.

Updated

Pauline Hanson follows Pat Dodson with “all lives matter” and how she will not support or repeat the words in a welcome to country.

Pat Dodson:

The fact that hundreds of Indigenous persons have died in custody since the royal commission diminishes us all as a nation, we must ask ourselves, what are the common things that drives this continuing subjugation of First Nations?

What are the underlying factors for which First Nations people have become destabilised, disempowered and dispossessed, and why have good intentions and resolve failed to make any difference.

There’s no pride in First Nations people so reduced by societal factors from within ,and from without that they are perceived as exceptional recipients of government pledges not worthy of restorative justice and denied through equality of opportunity in our society.

Why is it so difficult for the descendants of the settlers and colonists to have the necessary discussion about uncomfortable truths?

Updated

Pat Dodson thanks his colleague Malarndirri McCarthy for attempting to add some “humanity” to the Indigenous deaths in custody issue, by naming some of those who have died.

Updated

James McGrath is doing a speech in the Senate defending the Queensland LNP as being “focused on jobs and water security” in the midst of a leadership crisis.

Updated

Again on the relationship with Beijing, Simon Birmingham says:

Sometimes I see those comments are urging Australia not to interfere in China’s domestic affairs. I don’t believe that we do.

In not doing so, I’m not about to pass commentary on China’s political leadership. I think the best things that we can do as a government is to make sure that, where possible – it again goes back to the question of dialogue with one another – where possible we have those direct discussions about our differences, sitting across a table from one another or picking up the phone to one another, and not necessarily playing it out in full public view.

It is for the Chinese government to determine how they run China and China’s policy, and we respect that, just as we expect them to respect the sovereignty of Australia and our rights to run Australian policy in our national interest.

Updated

Labor senator reads out names of First Nations people who have died in custody

In a powerful statement to the Senate, Malarndirri McCarthy has read out the names of First Nations people who have died while in custody.

It’s a heartbreaking list.

Simon Birmingham on what he thinks China needs to do (in terms of its relationship with Australia):

I think the simple answers to that equation are that we have to respect each others differences.

We are a very different nation to China. We’re a democratic nation. They’re not. We have greater civil liberties and a range of ways that aren’t available there.

We have different cultures. Those differences – if we understand them and respect the sovereignty and integrity of each other – we can get around popular dialogue to where our partnership works to mutual advantage.

That is our key part about the trading relationship. It has been a relationship of mutual advantage that has helped to fuel the growth not only of Australia’s economy, but also of China’s economy.

I have said many times before I think the greatest economic miracle of most of the lives of people in this room has been the rise of China and the South-East Asian region. Because it’s lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

And Scott Morrison stands as our prime minister and talks about the need for a strong economy. He always brings it back to the fact that a strong economy means jobs for Australians, means health and aged care and education services and the social safety net that we rely upon.

And the beauty of economic growth we’ve seen in a place like China, and its spread across our region from their decisions to open up their economy, has been that it’s lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty and created new opportunities. It’s been fuelled in part, by Australian resources and by that overall openness between the two.

We want to see that continue, because that’s good for us, it’s good for the Chinese people, it’s good for the people across our region. To deal with differences, though, you do need to talk. We stand ready to talk and to work through those differences.

Not by trading away any of our values and not by compromising on our policy, but by getting back to the basics of respect for each other’s sovereignty, respect for each other in terms of how we can achieve that mutual benefit, and let’s sit down and have that proper, thorough dialogue.

Updated

Further to Hursty’s story, is the official announcement from Simon Birmingham:

Today, we take the next step. I can announce that later today Australia and the United Kingdom will formally commence free trade negotiations.

Australia will be looking to secure better market access to goods exports especially in agriculture, and high-standard rules on digital trade and investment to expand our already deep economic relationship.

Beyond our EU and UK FTAs, we’ll also build on the negotiates progress made last year with the Pacific alliance of Latin America to high-quality FTA once current issues pass.

Non-tariff barriers are an increasing focus as the new frontier for our produce to access markets around the world. These can be huge impactsfor exports, costing industry up to three times more than tariffs on some estimates.

We’re making progress there, though. For example, an important recent win was extending the shelf life for vacuum-packed red meat in three Middle Eastern markets.

The previous requirements cost Australian exporters up to $60m a year in the UAE alone.

Our government has also helped exporters access electronic certification by getting agreements from countries like Vietnam to accept our health certificates and health cats of origin.

In keeping with our election commitments on agreements, I’m pleased to announce today the establishment of our ministerial advisory council, a drawing together of broad cross section of industry and civil society representatives to help inform our trade negotiations starting with the Australia EU-FTA.

The first meeting of this council will be held next month and build on our well-established processes and compliments the important work of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties.

Updated

Daniel Hurst is at the press club address.

He has just published this story:

In a move that should make Boomers like my mum happy, Simon Birmingham’s team now appear to be tweeting in cursive.

I do not know how you do this and I do not wish to know.

Updated

The Victorian upper house has voted to refer the ALP allegations to the state ombudsman.

The opposition leader in the upper house, David Davis says:

It’s important that the ombudsman investigate these shocking revelations engulfing the Andrews Labor government.

Victorians deserve to know just how far the corruption in the Andrews Labor government goes.

Despite refusing to allow this referral to the ombudsman yesterday, Labor has today been shamed into not blocking this important inquiry.

Updated

Steve Bracks:

This is nothing to do with any left, right or factional issues. Fundamentally, this – and from my point of view I don’t – it doesn’t matter, I don’t care. I wouldn’t know half the time which part of the party someone comes from. That’s not going to be the issue going forward. It’s going to be really about ensuring that we have an open, democratic party, one which has good procedures and one which means we get a significant number of people joining to be a period of time of what has been a great success over the past.

Updated

'Cultural issues' to be changed in ALP says Steve Bracks

Steve Bracks then says it is not just the events, but the culture which led to them, which the review has to address:

What’s not healthy is the pursuit of power when anything goes, and I think there’s a cultural issue here which we need to change and have regard to in this review as well and make sure that we look at the culture which says that whatever it takes to get power is what you do. And I think that’s going to change as well and that’s important to change because the culture is going to be an important issue going forward as well and I’m hoping that the review will give pointers to how we can change that culture going forward.

...And the good thing about that review in 1970 when there was federal intervention was the party changed, the culture changed. Now, this is 35 years ago. We can do it again and it will be done again I’m sure because there is great appetite for this to happen.

Updated

Steve Bracks on the story which has led to these events:

I actually wasn’t watching 60 Minutes but I got a call someone say ‘watch it’ so I didn’t know it was on. Yes, I was certainly shocked to see the extent at which that’d happened because of course there’s been issued of branch stacking. And that’s why rules have been brought in to try and prevent that, rules such as you can’t recruit more than 13 people at a time and so on. But to see the extent of this, I think was truly remarkable and to see the contravention of the rules, to see how they had been manipulated, is quite gobsmacking really, and so I think it’s right that the federal party has intervened and I think it’s right that we will have this review and I think it’s right that we will make sure we’ve got the right set of rules going forward in the future.

Updated

Steve Bracks is talking about the national executive intervention in the Victorian ALP branch.

He says the review will lead to a better party:

The executive has for the first time, comprehensively in 50 years, when the last federal intervention occurred in 1970s, for the first time in 50 years has a comprehensive intervention into the Victorian branch. If you look back back from the 1970s and the intervention, what occurred since was greater democracy in the party, more significant power sharing, more significant proportional representation which has served the party well. But from time to time these reviews, these re-examinations, are required and this is such a time.

A scoping report will be handed down in July, with a final report to be handed down in November.

Updated

The Australian government’s chief nursing and midwifery officer, Alison McMillan, will give a national Covid update at 3.30 today.

Updated

New Zealand has recorded two new cases of Covid.

Jacinda Ardern says there will now be a new managed quarantine program, which will bring in the defence force:

From the beginning we have taken an extraordinarily cautious approach at the border.

That is why we have required every returning New Zealander to go into a facility that we manage.

That protocol remains. That is also why we required not one, but two tests to be undertaken at those facilities. One at day three and one at day 12. That should have happened in the cases we learned about yesterday. It did not and there are no excuses.

Our borders and the controls at our borders must be rigorous.

They must be disciplined and they must have the confidence of ministers and all of you – New Zealanders who got us here.

This morning I have called together the operational leaders of our quarantined and managed isolation facilities and can share the following changes that I have required.

Firstly, I am appointing the assistant chief of defence, Air Commodore Digby Webb, to oversee all quarantine and managed isolation facilities, including the processes around the exit of those who have been in these facilities.

Air Commodore Webb will regularly report to ministers. As the assistant chief of defence, he can also seek access to our military’s logistics – operational expertise and, if needed, personnel to assist in the running of the facilities.

Second, Air Commodore Webb will undertake a start-to-finish audit of existing systems and written protocols to ensure they are being fully implemented, and will make any changes needed to further strengthen our border defences.

Third, the suspension of compassionate exemptions will continue until such time as we can guarantee a disciplined and rigorous system at the border that ministers have confidence in. I know this will be upsetting to some New Zealanders seeking to return home, to visit dying relatives and loved ones. However, the risk to our collective efforts to eliminate Covid are simply too great. I cannot allow the gains we have all made to be squandered by processes not being upheld.

Updated

The bushfire royal commission is in its second day of hearings about hazard reduction burning, and it is all very technical. Fire agencies from Victoria, South Australia, and Queensland gave evidence this morning.

There are “lessons frameworks” and “values-based management frameworks” and qualitative assessments and visual assessments and residual risk models determined by computer simulations.

It’s bureaucratic mad libs.

The chair of the royal commission into natural natural disaster arrangements, Mark Binskin, cut through the explanations with a question:

Each state has a process of a strategy, you do your hazard reduction activities, you assess that, see how that’s going to affect the season, the season occurs, you put that back in your strategy … [in] the 2019-2020 fires, where did those strategies have the expected effect, and where didn’t they?

The short answer, from all states, was: we are still assessing that.

Each state has pulled out case studies of areas where the summer bushfires went over, or went around, areas that had been subject to hazard reduction burns.

In South Australia, says the executive director of that state’s National Parks and Wildlife service, Mike Williams, there were patches of unburnt land on Kangaroo Island “that are unburnt because of previous hazard reduction burns”.

But his SA colleague, Brett Loughlin from the Country Fire Service, said hazard reduction burns were of limited effectiveness when dealing with fires in extreme or catastrophic conditions. He said SA had six major fires this summer, each of which burned under those unmanageable conditions:

The effects of fuel management and things like that is minimised by the severity of those conditions.

In Queensland, the deputy fire commissioner Michael Wassing said firefighters had not been able to carry out hazard reduction burns around some of the areas that burned this summer because they “typically won’t burn”:

I think there’s an opportunity for improvement in terms of better understanding of all the different interplays of building codes, house protection, defendable space, community resilience activities as well as hazard reduction activities.

Updated

This was very quick.

Updated

The parliament will also be taking a look at the representation of the Northern Territory:

The Electoral Matters Committee has commenced a review into the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment (Ensuring Fair Representation of the Northern Territory) Bill 2020.

The bill, introduced to the Senate by Senator Malarndirri McCarthy and Senator the Hon Don Farrell, would amend the Commonwealth Electoral Act to provide for a minimum of two divisions for the Northern Territory in the House of Representatives.

Analysis from the Parliamentary Library has projected the possibility of the Northern Territory losing one of its two House of Representatives seats before the next federal election, caused by its population falling below the entitlement quota for the second seat.

The Committee invites written submissions addressing any or all aspects of the bill.

Prospective submitters are advised that any submission to the Committee’s inquiry must be prepared solely for the inquiry and should not be published prior to being accepted by the Committee.

Submissions are requested by 10 July 2020.

Updated

It looks as though there was a call for a quorum in the House chamber.

(That’s when there are not enough government MPs to hold proceedings.)

We haven’t really seen that lately, with both sides laying down procedural arms during the Covid crisis, but looks like we are back to (almost) normal in the parliament.

Updated

Mike Bowers has been out and about:

Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg during a division
Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg during a division. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Bob Katter during a division as the House of Representatives resumes sitting
Bob Katter during a division as the House of Representatives resumes sitting. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Over in the west, which incidentally might actually be working on secession without anyone noticing while the borders are closed, the state parliament has passed a very important (and overdue) piece of legislation.

Updated

Meanwhile, in the House last night, an amendment to close a loophole allowing some companies to avoid reporting to the corporate watchdog was knocked back by the government.

Andrew Leigh was not happy.

Updated

On the number of Covid cases recorded in Victoria in the last 24 hours – 21, with 15 attributed to returned travellers – Daniel Andrews says:

Firstly, we would never deny a person pass right to return home. That is very important.

There are countries around the world that do not have the public health response and had not been able to contain this the way that we have.

The third point to make is I was proud on behalf of Victoria to lead the push towards hotel quarantine for returned Aussies and I think just today’s numbers and any other numbers make it clear that that was the right call for the national cabinet to make …

The numbers we are seeing in terms of positive tests in hotel quarantine fully validate the move to that system … it is critical to public health and thus avoiding a second wave.

Most of the international flights have landed in Melbourne and Sydney, which has accounted for some of the uptick in those cities, while other states have maintained close to zero positive tests.

And as we learnt yesterday from Prof Brett Sutton, authorities expected to see any transmission from the Black Lives Matter protest in Victoria by now. So far, only two people have tested positive. Neither is thought to have contracted the virus at the march and both were wearing masks while protesting.

Updated

More broadly, Marise Payne said the Covid-19 pandemic had prompted some people to ask how to know what to believe. She said she “saw some extraordinary things on social media” during the early phases of the pandemic:

I’m sure we all did – extraordinary – how you can tell if you’ve got Covid, how you can tell if the person on the train beside you has Covid, which apparently you could do, according to Facebook, by looking at them.

She argued that when public health messages were “compromised and traduced and reduced to disinformation … that is very, very dangerous, and we have seen it exacerbate tensions” and “exacerbate fear in countless countries around the world”:

So those partnerships where countries who are responsible and don’t engage in disinformation and who call it out, those alliances, those partnerships are also really important because bringing that together and saying we won’t put up with this, we will not tolerate this in our country, is absolutely vital in our response.

Updated

Apart from the cautious retreat from Scott Morrison’s earlier “negative globalism” rhetoric, Marise Payne’s foreign policy speech last night was notable for its focus on disinformation.

Payne pointed to last week’s report issued by the European Commission that concluded Russia and China had carried out targeted disinformation campaigns “seeking to undermine democratic debate and exacerbate social polarisation” – and she specifically labelled China’s warnings that racism should deter international students coming to Australia as “disinformation”.

The foreign affairs minister said Australia had in the last few days co-signed, with 131 other countries and observers, a Latvian-led statement in the UN warning that Covid-19 had “created conditions that enabled the spread of disinformation, fake news and doctored videos to foment violence, to divide communities” – and committed to fighting the so-called “infodemic”.

In a question-and-answer session after her address to the Australian National University’s national security college, Payne signalled that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade would be taking a much more active role in countering disinformation.

The ABC journalist Stephen Dziedzic has reported that Dfat is planning to set up a new branch or unit devoted to monitoring and countering online disinformation.

Payne did not confirm the specifics last night, but said Dfat would be “very focused on ensuring that we are working with partners as we’ve just done through the UN process led by Latvia, to make sure that where we see disinformation, whether it’s here, whether it’s in the Pacific, whether it’s in south-east Asia, where it affects our region’s interests and our values, then we will be shining a light on it”.

She said she expected Dfat “to use all of its efforts to participate in that process”.

Updated

AAP has more on the Victorian spike in Covid cases:

Victoria has recorded 21 new cases of coronavirus, the biggest increase in more than a month.

Health Minister Jenny Mikakos on Wednesday announced the state’s infection tally had increased to 1762.

Of the 21 new cases, 15 are returned travellers in mandatory hotel quarantine.

Ms Mikakos said two of the remaining six new cases have been linked to known outbreaks while the others were detected through routine testing.

A staff worker from Stamford Plaza Hotel, which houses returned travellers, became infected with COVID-19.

Another positive test from a resident at aged care centre Rosstown Community in Carnegie has put the centre into lockdown.

The 53-bed facility run by Glen Eira council will have to undergo deep cleaning and contact tracing.

Meanwhile, a childcare worker has tested positive for coronavirus, prompting the closure of the Melbourne centre.

A health department spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed a staff member from Inspira Early Learning Centre in Gladstone Park had been diagnosed with COVID-19.

The worker attended the centre while infectious for two days last week and families have been notified, while the centre has been closed for cleaning and contact tracing for at least a day.

The new confirmed case follows the closure of a third Victorian school this week, after a child tested positive to coronavirus.

The student at Strathmore Primary School was one of nine new COVID-19 cases recorded in Victoria on Tuesday.

The primary school was expected to remain closed for 24 hours on Tuesday while it was deep cleaned and close contacts were traced.

Pakenham Springs Primary School and St Dominic’s Primary School in Broadmeadows were closed on Monday after two students at each school tested positive.

The four students are part of an extended family cluster that increased by one more case on Tuesday.

A total of 12 people in the family have now contracted coronavirus after attending gatherings across homes in Broadmeadows, Coburg and Pakenham.

Updated

Queensland has recorded one new case of the coronavirus, but the woman who tested positive has been quarantining in a hotel since her return from overseas travel.

Stadiums will be able to hold 2,000 people from this weekend, which should just cover all the Suns fans.

Updated

'Why would you want to go there?'

The Victorian press conference has moved on to the South Australian decision to allow people from WA, Tas and the NT into SA (and maybe Queensland from early next week) but not Victoria or NSW.

This moves the presser into some very Melbourne v Adelaide areas.

Daniel Andrews:

I don’t want to be offensive to South Australians but why would you want to go there? Holiday here.

The best experiences in our nation are right here in Victoria. Go skiing, go to the wine country, go to the beach, whatever it might be. Victorians, I think, will be very keen to be close to home this weekend.

It will be good for jobs, particularly a shoutout to bushfire-affected communities. Whether it be in a high country or the far east of the state and if you are in a position to get away, even if it only a few days, stay at home, don’t get too stressed they won’t let you into Adelaide, why would you want to stay there?

For those who have family in SA, Andrews says:

They will have to speak to the South Australian government, I can’t control that. What I can say is we have the virus presenting differently here, we are taking steps. It is terrific news for them that they have it under control but we are a different place at the virus has presented differently here and we will only do things that are safe.

And I am sure that the South Australian government are absolutely motivated by the same things. If they are taking a cautious approach, as we are, I am not going to criticise that. I’m just making the point that the best July school holidays is right here.

Updated

For those looking for international Covid-19 coverage, you will find it covered off here.

Updated

Back to Daniel Andrews, who is being asked about ministerial staff who are alleged to have been involved in party business for the ministers in question:

I’ve made my expectations clear. No minister is in any doubt about what I require of them. It would be easy for me to reflect upon the conduct of the staff members you have just mentioned, in former ministers’ officers. I know you would like me to do that and I might even like to do that, I might even quite like to do that.

But it would not be appropriate for me to do that because as you know, these matters are currently the subject of work that is being done by Ibac and Victoria police and I just will not cut across that, lest anything I say be seen as interference or anything I say might limit or put at risk the proper processes that those organisations are following.

Updated

Yesterday we brought you the story of how campaigners and legal advocates are warning that Australia’s efforts to tackle modern slavery are at risk of being thrown off course because the government’s newly appointed expert panel is dominated by business interests.

The expert advisory group’s purpose, according to the assistant minister Jason Wood, is to “provide strategic advice to government to support the effective implementation of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act and drive best-practice responses to eradicate exploitation in our supply chains”.

But Michele O’Neil, the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, told us yesterday the advisory group was “incomplete and ill-informed without workers’ voices at the table”.

Keren Adams, a legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, also voiced concerns about “the total absence of representation by either trade unions or civil society organisations but really any organisations that are working on the ground with people who are meant to be affected by these laws”.

Labor’s home affairs spokeswoman, Kristina Keneally, raised the issue during the Senate’s matter of public importance debate late yesterday and has also written to the government to call for a broadening of the membership.

We can now bring you a response from the Australian Border Force. An ABF spokesperson said the government wanted to ensure the Modern Slavery Act drove “long-term change” and so “feedback from businesses required to comply with the Act is vitally important”.

But the spokesperson argued that the advisory group complemented the work of the government’s existing national roundtable on human trafficking and slavery, which began in 2008 and includes many civil society groups and non-government organisations and the ACTU.

Updated

Why are branch members suspended from voting on candidates until at least 2023?

Daniel Andrews:

Well, in my judgment, cleaning this up will take some time. And you have got to break the business model of those who would seek to undermine the integrity of our systems. And if we just have a pause for a few months, then I can’t be guaranteed, we can’t be guaranteed, that we will get the profound reform we need.

Updated

How will Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin work out who the actual members of the ALP in Victoria are?

Daniel Andrews:

Those matters are to be determined by the administrators. They have a charter, a very clear set of dates they have to work to.

I’m not going to prejudge that. What I will say is it would be unacceptable to me to get to a position where we were not, where we didn’t have processes that, for instance, require people to essentially re-sign up to attend in person, to pay by traceable means, to reconfirm their commitment so that they know they are members of the party, they are willing participants in this process, they are genuine, if you like, and that they are self-funded stop at the very least – that is the process we are going to work towards.

We are going to deliver that. As for some of these other matters, I am not going to prejudge the work those administrators will do.

They will be conscious to make a number of difficult calls and to get that balance right. At the very least, you can assume that the national executive will make a whole range of decisions that would otherwise have been made, for instance, by the state conference of the Victorian branch.

Updated

On the criticism that democracy has been taken away from members of the ALP, Daniel Andrews says:

I make the point – and some will say that this is not a democratic initiative, well, there’s no democracy if you can’t have faith and trust in the voter’s role. And I’ve come to the conclusion that that’s the position we’re in. I won’t settle for that. We need to clean this up and we will.

Updated

Dan Andrews then apologises to Labor members:

I’ve got a message for all of those true believers, those genuine hard-working local branch members, who hand out how-to-vote cards, who make phone calls, who knock on doors, who debate policy – I thank you for your work and your passion.

I apologise for your pain. And I guarantee you that when this reform work is finished, not only will your voice be heard, but it will be louder than it has ever been.

These matters need to be dealt with. This is the plan to do it. Jenny Macklin and Steve Bracks are the people to lead that work and I wasn’t debating with people whether we took these steps. These were my requirements and they have been unanimously endorsed by the national executive.

Updated

As reported, each Victorian member of the ALP will have to show they are genuine:

We have got to go through a process where each and every rank-and-file member re-establishes that they are genuine, consenting and self-funded members of our great party.

The processes, the detail of how that will be achieved is a matter in the first instance for Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin.

And I want to make it clear to you that I don’t think there could be two better people to do that important work.

They are outstanding Victorians and I ask them to do this work and I’m grateful that they agreed and that the national executive has unanimously appointed them into those administration roles.

They won’t waste any time doing their important work.

They will begin work and have recommendations and further detail about that pathway to integrity in our internal processes and confidence in the efficacy of our membership lists and our members.

Updated

Daniel Andrews holds press conference

The Victorian premier is speaking about the national executive takeover:

Our values are very clear and that is to work hard to deliver progressive change, to provide the services, the supports, the policies that working men and women right across our state rely upon every single day, to look after those who are disadvantaged, to get on and deliver the agenda that we took to the community and to make sure that we keep Victoria strong and safe, even in the most difficult of times.

I won’t have that agenda diminished. I will not have our work distracted from. I will take the action that is necessary to deal with these issues, and that is why yesterday I put to the national executive of our party a detailed plan, an unprecedented plan, to re-establish the probity and integrity of membership in the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor party.

I am pleased to say that that plan, unprecedented as it is, was unanimously supported by the national executive of the party.

Updated

Because this seems an actual thing people are talking about – here is an Egyptologist.

Not everything you see in movies is real.

Updated

Victoria records 21 new Covid cases

Victorian health authorities have an update on that state’s Covid situation.

Fifteen of those people are in hotel quarantine. Another works at a hotel.

Updated

This seems an incredibly stupid take from someone who is actually quite smart.

It is the 10th anniversary of Julia Gillard becoming prime minister this weekend. An online celebration is being hosted by Emily’s List.

Phil Coorey from the AFR has a story on how Kevin Rudd feels about that, here (spoiler, he thinks it is “bizarre”).

Craig Emerson was asked about it on ABC Breakfast this morning:

Well, it is the occasion of the election of the first female prime minister of Australia. Look, I can understand Kevin’s perspective. I was actually supportive of Kevin at the time. The idea that it was all factional, I don’t think that holds up. It was different people with different perspectives.

That history has been written, but the fact is that, you know, the Gillard government, as the Rudd government had done before, implemented some major reforms. You know, I think both of them, Kevin winning that election in 2007, getting us through the global financial crisis, some really important reforms, the apology to the stolen generation, and then Julia, you know, with the National Disability Insurance Scheme, kids being able to go to university in real numbers. There’s some great reforms. One I was involved in – plain packaging of cigarettes which we just won at the World Trade Organization.

Look, I can understand Kevin wouldn’t be delighted about it, but on the other hand there’s much to celebrate for both the Rudd and Gillard governments.

Updated

Daniel Andrews will speak at 9.15am.

It will be his first press conference since the national executive stepped in and announced that the Victorian branch of the Labor party would answer to administrators.

Updated

Miss Eurovision? Will buildings do it for you?

Things are so bad in the Queensland LNP that even their Liberal colleagues are distancing themselves from the branch.

Here was James Paterson on Andrew Bolt overnight, discussing the woes and the fight between the executive and the political leadership (not a new thing for the LNP, to be honest).

Paterson: Andrew, to be honest, I’m probably more of an expert on Victorian Labor politics than I am on Queensland LNP politics. It is a strange and unusual beast up there. And I don’t think we’ll ever replicate that experiment south of the border with a merger between the Liberal and National parties.

Bolt: That was a nice sidestep.

Paterson: My general view, my general philosophical view, is that organisational wings of political parties should stay a long way away from the parliamentary leadership of political parties. It is the role of parliamentary party to choose their leader. It is not the role of the organisational wing to choose their leader. And if organisational wing members want to have their say, well, then they can run for preselection, get preselected, join the party room and have a vote in that party room like everyone else.

Updated

Things are pretty cooked in the Queensland LNP at the moment.

For context, Deb Frecklington, the leader, is fighting to hold on to her job, four months out from a state election.

So this seems designed to be as petty as possible from the good senator.

The petition to have more arts workers included on jobkeeper has passed 30,000 signatures.

Updated

The government is spending $300,000 updating the resources GPs use to help those who may be suffering under family and domestic violence:

The funding will support the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) to update the Whitebook – Abuse and violence: Working with our patients in general practice – with the latest evidence and best practice advice.

After family and friends, it is general practitioners (GPs) and other primary care providers who survivors of family and domestic violence turn to for support.

GPs are in a unique position to recognise, respond, intervene, support and provide specialist referrals.

The Whitebook is an important resource for GPs to provide the best possible care to patients experiencing abuse from a current or former domestic, family and sexual violence, and child abuse.

The update will ensure GPs have the latest evidence-based guidance on how to identify and respond to family and domestic violence

Updated

Julian Hill is looking at the government’s spend on consultants (an evergreen sentence, no matter which political party is in government).

New analysis by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has found that the big four consultancy firms – Deloitte, Ernest & Young, KPMG and PwC – now collectively reap $800m a year in government contracts.

But only 20% of that figure is spent on actual consultancy contracts, meaning the Morrison government is paying top dollar to large consultancy firms to work as contractors doing the day-to-day work of public servants.

Since coming into power the Morrison government has cut nearly 18,000 jobs from the APS and capped staffing levels, forcing agencies to use expensive contractors and consultants when they don’t have enough staff to get the job done.

This is privatisation of Australia’s public service by stealth and it has to stop.

Updated

The Australia Institute has begun a new campaign demanding truth in political advertising:

An open letter coordinated by the Australia Institute and signed by 29 prominent Australians calls for parliament to pass truth-in-political advertising laws that are nationally consistent, constitutional and uphold freedom of speech.

Signatories to the open letter include former political party leaders and politicians, Dr John Hewson, Cheryl Kernot and Michael Beahan; former supreme court judges, the Hon Anthony Whealy QC, the Hon Paul Stein AM QC and the Hon David Harper AM QC, as well as barristers, community leaders, business people and other prominent Australians.

New polling research by the Australia Institute released in conjunction with the open letter shows nine in 10 Australians support truth in political advertising laws – an all-time high.

Key details

· Nine in 10 Australians (89%) say Australia should pass truth-in-political advertising laws, the highest result since this question was polled.

· Overwhelming majority support across all parties, with 89% of Coalition, 90% of Labor, 91% of Greens and 88% of One Nation voters say Australia should pass truth in political advertising laws.

· 29 prominent Australians have signed the open letter, which calls for truth-in-political advertising laws that are nationally consistent, constitutional and uphold freedom of speech.

Updated

Good morning

There are two more sitting days left until the parliament rises for the winter break and, once again, the news dominating the corridors is everything happening outside the chambers.

Marise Payne, the most media-shy Morrison government minister, delivered a foreign policy speech overnight in which she took aim at China for spreading disinformation, as relations between Canberra and Beijing remain tense.

As Daniel Hurst reports:

Amid current tensions with Beijing stemming from Australia’s pursuit of an independent international investigation into the Covid-19 origins and response, Payne said Australia had been “very clear in rejecting as disinformation the Chinese government’s warnings that tourists and students should reconsider coming here because of the risk of racism”.

Payne said Australia would welcome students and visitors from all over the world, regardless of race, gender or nationality, with law enforcement agencies responding to individual crimes. She said the prime minister had “repeatedly called out racist behaviour” and had thanked the Chinese Australians who returned from China in the early period of Covid-19 for their cooperation in preventing the spread of the virus.

“The disinformation we have seen contributes to a climate of fear and division when what we need is cooperation and understanding,” she told an audience at the Australian National University.

Payne pointed to last week’s report issued by the European Commission that concluded Russia and China had carried out targeted disinformation campaigns “seeking to undermine democratic debate and exacerbate social polarisation”.

After that speech, Payne told the Seven Network that Australian consular authorities had visited the detention centre where 53-year-old Karm Gilespie is being held after his death sentence.

Karm Gilespie, who has been sentenced to death in China.
Karm Gilespie, who has been sentenced to death in China Photograph: SUPPLIED/PR IMAGE

AAP reports:

“We were able to make a visit to the detention centre today and to engage in a video conference to have that visit,” Payne said.

“That is a very important thing and I’m very pleased that has been conveyed back to his family.”

She said she would continue to seek that consular access, and reiterated that Australia rejected the application of the death penalty in all countries, in all circumstances.

“I’m very careful and very considered about his situation.”

Back home and all eyes are still on Victoria. The Labor party decision to send in administrators for the Victorian branch has led to some angst and a bit of hand-wringing from some quarters, as Katharine Murphy reports here:

But as Anthony Albanese, his deputy Richard Marles, and the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews worked to land a proposal that would be supported by the national executive, there was significant pushback from some quarters of the Victorian right about the scale of the correction, and sensitivity about the terminology that would be used to describe it.

The toppling of Adem Somyurek puts allegiances in the Victorian right in flux. The controversial powerbroker had torpedoed a longstanding stability pact between the right and the left brokered by veteran powerbrokers and former ministers Stephen Conroy and Kim Carr – a contested power shift facilitated in part by the former Labor leader Bill Shorten that fractured relationships within the right, and reshaped transactional alliances with the left.

Guardian Australia understands Shorten was active in the internal discussions about the intervention proposal, and there was concern more broadly within the Victorian right about the consequences of an inevitable rebalancing of power within the branch. Somyurek’s fall from grace benefits the leftwing Albanese because it disrupts opportunities for right-led internal mischief.

Plus the committee looking into sports rorts should be meeting again today.

We’ll cover all of that and more as the parliament sitting days rolls on, with of course all the Covid-19 news you need to know as well. You’ve got a three-coffee Amy Remeikis with you, along with Murph, Paul Karp and Hursty, and Mike Bowers is already running around the hallways, because that man can not slow down. The entire Guardian Australia brains trust is also at your service, you lucky ducks.

As always, you can catch us on social media, email or occasionally in the comments, if you have something you need us to know.

OK. Ready?

Updated

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