What happened on Wednesday 11 November
In case you missed anything today:
- The health minister, Greg Hunt, said a Covid-19 could be rolled out as early as March, including the Pfizer vaccine.
- NSW recorded another day of no community transmission and said it would make QR codes for contact tracing mandatory at venues as the state prepares to open up to Victoria.
- Victoria recorded its 12th day of no new cases.
- Amnesty International published a report calling on the government to do more to bring home stranded overseas Australians.
- The jobmaker debate returned to the Senate, with One Nation changing its position to support the government, meaning amendments backed by Labor and the Greens to protect older workers failed. The legislation passed Wednesday evening.
- The Senate voted to support an inquiry into media diversity in Australia following the tabling of the e-petition led by former prime minister Kevin Rudd earlier this week.
- The NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said she supported changing the lyrics to the national anthem to better recognise Indigenous Australians and Australia’s history before colonisation.
Thank you, as always, for joining us. My colleague Amy Remeikis will be back with you in the morning.
Updated
Senate votes to drop amendments to jobmaker bill
The Senate has voted 30 to 28 to drop amendments to the jobmaker hiring credit bill, passing the government bill unamended after the Coalition won over One Nation at the 11th hour on Wednesday.
Updated
One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, confirms that both she and Malcolm Roberts will no longer support jobmaker safeguards.
Hanson rejected the view she doesn’t care about older Australians. She explained she changed her mind after Josh Frydenberg explained that under the Fair Work Act employers “can’t just go and sack people ... it can be challenged”.
Hanson said initially she wasn’t in favour of the bill because of its cost ($4bn), but then started attacking Labor and the Greens for “playing games” by bringing amendments because they oppose the bill.
Labor and Greens senators interjected – correcting her by noting Labor does support the bill.
Hanson seems slightly thrown by that, but concludes that she won’t vote with Labor just because they want her to, and she will “answer to the people”.
Updated
NSW health authorities have just issued a new public health alert for western Sydney:
More than 18,500 western Sydney residents are being urged to get tested for Covid-19 after virus fragments were discovered in sewage at two local sewage pumping stations.
The area served by one of the pumping stations includes a population of about 5,860 residents of North Kellyville and Rouse Hill.
The second pumping station serves a population of about 12,650 people across the suburbs of Rouse Hill, Box Hill, The Ponds, Kellyville Ridge, Parklea, Quakers Hill and Acacia Gardens.
The virus fragments were detected through the state’s ongoing sewage surveillance program.
While detection of the virus in sewage samples could reflect the presence of older cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in these areas, NSW Health said it was concerned there could be other active cases in the community in people who have not been tested and who might incorrectly assume their symptoms are simply a cold.
People who live and/or work in these areas must be aware of any symptoms of illness, and immediately isolate and get tested should even the mildest of symptoms appear that might appear to be just be a cold.
Symptoms such as a runny nose or scratchy throat, cough, tiredness, fever or other symptoms could be COVID-19.
After testing, you must remain in isolation until a negative result is received.
A new drive-through pop-up clinic has been established in The Fiddler car park, on the corner of Windsor and Commercial Roads in Rouse Hill.
No referral or booking is required and the clinic is open from 8am to 5pm seven days a week.
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One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts is explaining why his party has now backflipped, despite voting yesterday with Labor and the Greens for safeguards to prevent workers getting sacked or hours cut.
Roberts said he and Pauline Hanson “have the courage and integrity to change our minds”.
Roberts said youth unemployment is at 10.4% while those over 35 it is only 4%.
”I know people over 35 will recognise those figures because they care about younger people,” he said.
The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has explained the safeguards that employers must increase their headcount and payroll to qualify for jobmaker hiring credits, he noted.
“We were wrong on the amendments – we stand corrected.”
Updated
These are the latest Covid-19 developments, via AAP:
* Australia’s run of three days without a case of community transmission may be over after an aged care worker who recently returned to Adelaide from Victoria tested positive for COVID-19.
* The woman, aged in her 20s, flew into Adelaide on Monday and is in hotel quarantine. She previously tested positive for coronavirus in Victoria in August but had been cleared. The case is being treated as infectious, although checks are underway to determine if it’s an old infection.
* Victoria’s health department has declared hot spots at Melbourne Central and Melbourne Airport because of the aged care worker case.
* Another two positive cases in Victoria are also likely to be viral shedding, but all three remain under investigation.
* Victoria declared its 12th day without any new cases or coronavirus deaths on Tuesday.
* The state’s virus death toll remains at 819 and the national figure is 907.
* NSW recorded its fourth straight day without a locally acquired case as thousands of businesses across the state were put on notice they have less than two weeks to electronically register their customers’ details.
* A Sydney restaurant was slapped with a $10,000 fine for disregarding social distancing, allowing patrons to mingle, hug and dance in a flagrant breach of COVID-19 regulations.
* COVID-19 cases were reported among returned travellers in hotel quarantine in Western Australia (two) and Queensland (one).
We’ve backed the Government's coronavirus response because lives and livelihoods are at stake. But legislation the Government is trying to ram through Parliament opens a dangerous loophole – one that threatens the job security of workers over the age of 35.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 11, 2020
Let's go through it:
Back in the Senate, the Greens have accused One Nation of making a “dirty deal” with the government in exchange for supporting the jobmaker legislation without the amendments the Senate has pushed for.
So it sounds like the government has been able to flip their vote.
Senator Larissa Waters and Nick McKim have been asking about “what backroom deals had been done”.
“A deal stitched up between Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and the Liberal National party government in this country to do over workers and look after the interests of the big corporates – that’s what’s going on here,” McKim says.
“One Nation pretend they’re the party of the battlers and yet they turn around ... and do over the workers of this country.”
He calls on the government to say “what deal has been done to draw them to your side of the chamber”.
McKim calls it a “sad day” if the Senate fails to support the “sensible and logical” amendments proposed to protect workers.
Updated
Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith has been ordered to hand over documents that will reveal whether a war crimes inquiry proposes to make adverse findings against him.
Roberts-Smith is currently locked in a battle with the Age and Sydney Morning Herald newspapers over a series of articles that he says wrongly defamed him as a war criminal.
The newspapers alleged that Roberts-Smith kicked a bound Afghan civilian off a cliff while serving with Australian special forces in Afghanistan.
The civilian was later shot. Roberts-Smith has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
During the defamation proceedings, lawyers for the newspapers subpoenaed documents from Roberts-Smith in relation to a separate war crimes inquiry, run by the inspector general of the Australian Defence Force (IGADF), Major General Justice Paul Brereton.
The documents they sought included what’s known as a “potentially affected person”, or PAP notice, and any underlying documents.
Such documents are used by Brereton’s inquiry to warn individuals that they are to be the subject of adverse findings, and include details of those findings, so that the affected person can respond.
The federal court on Wednesday ordered Roberts-Smith to hand over documents to the newspapers, subject to some redactions.
Those redactions will prevent him handing over any information he gave under compulsion to the IGADF, and any information given by third-parties under compulsion to the IGADF.
The court has ordered the documents to be redacted by the IGADF by 30 November. They must then be handed by Roberts-Smith’s lawyers to the newspapers’ legal team by the same date.
Updated
The government has asked the Senate to pass the jobmaker bill without insisting on the safeguards it passed on Tuesday.
This will require a vote, and the result will be significant either way. Either Labor and the crossbench will combine to insist on the amendment to prevent workers being sacked or losing their hours – a rare act of defiance of the government; or the government will succeed at flipping crossbench votes.
So far, Labor and the Greens have spoken on the motion confirming they are insisting on the safeguards.
The Senate is now debating amendments to the jobmaker legislation again, which the government has opposed.
Labor and the Greens have said the Senate should insist on the amendments, which are designed to prevent older workers being sacked or losing hours to make way for new hires aged 35 and under who qualify for jobmaker wage subsidies.
“This bill requires the transparency that has been put forward by the senate,” Labor’s Louise Pratt says.
“It’s all very well for the government to try and slate blame on this place for wanting to put reasonable legislative amendments in place.
“But it’s on the government’s head if this legislation doesn’t proceed today because you have not seen fit to agree to these extremely reasonable amendments.”
Updated
We made it through most of Wednesday.
Well done.
I’ll hand over the blog to Lisa Cox for the evening – and I’ll be back tomorrow morning. Please – as always – take care of you.
Updated
Anthony Albanese will be a guest on ABC’s 7.30 tonight.
Updated
Stokes asked for prime minister's 'help' on public works committee
At today’s Remembrance Day ceremony, the Australian War Memorial chairman, Kerry Stokes, was overheard telling Scott Morrison: “I [Stokes] need your [Morrison’s] help with the PWC [Public Works Committee].”
In April, the committee started an inquiry into the controversial $500m war memorial expansion. The inquiry has heard from two former heads of the memorial, former ambassadors and several ex-departmental secretaries who want the expansion reversed due to concerns it is being pursued to show off military hardware rather than history.
Asked what he was requesting from Morrison and whether it was appropriate to lobby him at the event, Stokes responded through the Australian War Memorial:
“The conversation with the prime minister today took place after all official commemorative elements had ceased. He simply raised the need for a chairman to be appointed to the parliamentary standing committee on public works.”
The chair of the committee is currently vacant.
Guardian Australia has also asked Morrison for comment.
Updated
More on the vaccine announcement from the health minister, Greg Hunt, earlier, following news that pharma giant Pfizer and partner BioNTech have developed a Covid-19 vaccine.
Hunt said today that by March both the Pfizer vaccine and a separate vaccine being developed by pharma company AstraZeneca are likely to be available in Australia. So far, Australia has secured access to 10 million doses from Pfizer [two doses are required] and 33.8 million from AstraZeneca.
Hunt said the first doses, likely to be the Pfizer vaccine, would be given to populations of priority, including health workers, the elderly, and aged care workers.
However, other vaccines are in development, though they may take a little longer to be rolled out than the Pfizer vaccine, with phase three trial results not yet released. But Australia has secured doses of these other vaccines underway, including 40 million doses from Novavax, 51 million from the University of Queensland CSL, and an additional 25.5 million unit allocation as part of what’s called the International COVAX Facility.
“So, we have enough, not just for the Australian population, but for the Australian population three times over,” Hunt said.
One of the concerns about the Pfizer vaccine is that it is required to be stored at temperatures of -70 degrees Celsius, creating issues for storage and transportation. Australia does not have the capacity to manufacture such a vaccine here. But the head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Adjunct Professor John Skerritt, said Pfizer had developed “very sophisticated eskies which require dry ice, and they actually last for 14 days and they can be refilled twice”.
“So, without the need to connect to electricity or anything like that, these eskies, with the two refills, gives you a month and a half of cold chain protection. And even in a country the size of Australia, you can get anywhere much quicker than that.”
Hunt said the government expected, over next 12 months, to be looking at a dozen different vaccines, including some private ones.
“We want to see all Australians have the option of being vaccinated during the course of 2021,” he said.
Updated
The terms of reference for the media diversity inquiry have been released.
Terms of reference for the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee inquiry into media diversity, independence and reliability in Australia #auspol pic.twitter.com/XCs7RrvDmn
— Political Alert (@political_alert) November 11, 2020
Updated
Sigh.
Queenslanders are going to Queenslander.
Crossing the political divide with a fashion statement. Go Queensland! #soo pic.twitter.com/cXHna02cyb
— Keith Pitt MP (@keithjpitt) November 11, 2020
Updated
And again –
In its job search report of Aug this year, the ABS found in 2019 that 600k people had difficulty finding a job. One of the largest "difficulties" was age - pre-virus, about 38k said they were considered "too old" by employer for a job. 9k were "too young"..
— Shane Wright (@swrighteconomy) November 11, 2020
Updated
Senate votes to support inquiry into media diversity after Rudd-led News Corp petition
The Senate has voted to establish an inquiry into media diversity including the dominance of News Corp Australia and its impact on democracy.
A motion by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young was carried by the voices on Wednesday following the popularity of Kevin Rudd’s petition for a royal commission into the Murdoch media.
The government did not oppose the motion in the Senate so it passed without a vote.
Last week the former Labor prime minister’s petition for a royal commission into the need for a strong, diverse media was supported by 501,876 people.
“The cosy relationship between the Coalition government and News Corp should be scrutinised,” Hanson-Young told Guardian Australia.
“When you have half a million people signing a petition premised on investigating Murdoch’s dominance of news media the parliament should be listening.”
Updated
Over in Senate question time, Katy Gallagher asked a question about the make up of the Australian government governance committee – the cabinet committee which provides advice and oversight on issues like standards and conduct.
You will not be surprised to learn what all the members have in common.
Gallagher: Can the minister confirm that the Morrison government’s internal governance committee of cabinet, which is tasked with providing advice and oversight on integrity issues, including the ministerial standards, is comprised of four men: Mr Morrison, Mr Frydenberg, Mr McCormack and Mr Porter? Why is there not a single woman on the committee responsible for oversight of integrity issues and ministerial standards?
Simon Birmingham:
I think that list of cabinet committees is public. It’s there for all to see and it involves a construction in relation to that committee that is a longstanding construction based upon the portfolios or positions held.
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Patricia Karvelas: Do you consider Parliament House to be hostile to women and toxically masculine? Is that how you view it when you’re in that space?
Michele O’Neil:
I would view it as a high-risk workplace.
PK: A high-risk workplace?
O’Neil:
That’s right.
PK: That’s an extraordinary claim. I’m not disputing it but I am going to, kind of, question it. High risk in what way?
O’Neil:
Because what we know about bullying and harassment is that it is fundamentally about power. And when you have a workplace where you have some of the most powerful people in the country working in a very confined environment day and night in a pressure cooker type environment as well, then I think that is all of the things that increase risk and particularly increases risk for those people who have the least power.
So I think it is a high-risk workplace in terms of the opportunities and the likelihood of bullying and harassment.
PK: Just to also clarify, the government and the prime minister in fact made the point that, you know, this obviously would happen on the other side of politics as well. The Labor side. Do you agree there is a problem across the parliament, not just in the governing party?
O’Neil:
Absolutely. This is an issue as I said, affects every workplace in the country, as well as Parliament House. And it is not just an issue in terms of individuals or individual parties. That is why we need to ensure that workplaces are safe and that workers wherever they work know that their complaints are going to be taken seriously, and they are not going to be victimised or disadvantaged if they bring forward a complaint. The prime minister needs to act to ensure that Parliament House is a safe workplace for everybody who works there.
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ACTU president Michele O’Neil is speaking on the ABC about the need for more protections for the staff of MPs.
I think there should be an overhaul of the system.
I really do think the prime minister should ensure there is an independent inquiry into processes so that every worker in that place, and it is not just people who are working on ministerial staff.
Talking about the people doing the cleaning and hospitality and food and the like, every job in their, there is a clear process so people know where they can complain to and when there is a process where they are not fearful that making a complaint is going to lead them to them losing their jobs or somehow being disadvantaged.
This is the sort of review that needs to happen and this is what would only light in what is going on here.
The other thing I would say, is that the government needs to do that in terms of Parliament House are making it a safe workplace.
They also need to implement the results of the sex discrimination commissioner’s 18 month inquiry into sexual harassment which was delivered to the government on the 6 March this year.
And here we are in November and none of those 55 recommendations have been implemented. And a really think that will make a difference here is that one of the proposals was a change to the Sex Discrimination Act to have a positive obligation on employers to ensure that there were places where free of harassment, intimidation and dissemination.
And that would make a difference in Parliament House and for workers all over the country if the government simply acted on the recommendation.
Updated
This is related to this story from Amanda Meade earlier today.
Breaking:
— 💚🌏 Sarah Hanson-Young (@sarahinthesen8) November 11, 2020
The Senate has just agreed to establish an Inquiry into media diversity. https://t.co/bidW73FYDR
Updated
Australia has exposed itself to economic retaliation from China, says former envoy to Beijing
Australia has “massively exposed ourselves” to economic retaliation by launching so many of its own anti-dumping investigations against China in a campaign of “trade harassment”, a former envoy to Beijing has argued.
Geoff Raby, the Australian ambassador to China from 2007 to 2011 and more recently a consultant to Australian and Chinese businesses, said a raft of investigations launched by Australia’s Anti-Dumping Commission in recent years had “mightily irritated” Beijing.
“Former colleagues will be shocked to hear me say that but it’s the truth,” he told the National Press Club today.
“We’re living in a glasshouse, so we shouldn’t be throwing stones – we have massively exposed ourselves.”
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, said at a press conference last Friday that “Australia has launched as many as 106 anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations against Chinese products, while China only initiated four investigations against Australian goods”.
When asked about the issue today, Raby said there were “some legitimate cases” brought by Australia and there were formal processes to follow, “but if you have that many cases, you’re using anti-dumping as trade harassment and that’s part of our trade policy kits.”
Raby, who was also an ambassador to the World Trade Organization from 1998 to 2001, is currently registered on the Australian government’s foreign influence transparency scheme as a board member of Yancoal, a resources company that is listed on the Australian stock exchange but majority-owned by a Chinese state-owned enterprise.
When asked about his business interests and how the public should view his frequent contributions to public debate in Australia about the China relationship, Raby said he was “completely transparent” and he was “proud” to be on the transparency register. He said debate was very important in a democratic society and it was up to readers and viewers to weigh up the merits of his arguments.
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How Mike Bowers saw question time:
Ed Husic, obviously hating all the attention.
That feeling when you realise there is still 50 days left this year
When the spotlight moves on
Updated
Question time ends.
Richard Marles:
Can I associate the Australian Labor party with the fine words that we’ve just heard from the shadow minister.
It’s 102 years since the guns fell silent on the Western Front in the war that was meant to end all wars. 330,000 Australians enlisted in that war. 60,000 of whom were killed. It’s an extraordinary price that was paid from our country, which at that time had a population of just four million.
It’s an almost unimaginable sacrifice. But more than a century down the track, we are left with just a small clue of what that sacrifice felt like.
In the fact that you cannot visit in our country today, a city or a town of more than a couple of hundred people without finding in it a memorial to those who served and died in the first world war.
When you look at those memorials really closely you can almost feel the aching need that people had to put those memorials in place. This wasn’t jingoism or populism, it was pain, solid pain.
And for the families and the friends of those loved ones, the voice of their loved ones was given expression by Lieutenant Colonel John MacRae: “We are the dead short days ago. We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow. Loved and were loved. And now, we lie in Flanders Fields.”
That this experience happened in the first 20 years of the federation of our country meant that from the very earliest moment we were imbued with a very deep sense of reverence and gratitude to those who have served in the Australian defence force and today is the day, as the minister said, that we give thanks to all of those who have and continue to wear our nation’s uniform. And in particular, in respect of the 102,000 Australians who have given their life in the service of our nation.
At the dawn and in the morning we will remember them.
Updated
Darren Chester:
Throughout our nation’s history, 2 million Australians have put on the uniform of the army, navy or air force and prepared to put themselves in harm’s way who can’t necessarily help themselves and sadly 102,000 have lost their lives whether it is wars, conflict or peacekeeping missions.
All of them were loved and are missed dearly. Remembrance Day had its origins, actually it was called Armistice Day on 11 November 1918 when the guns fell silent on the Western Front and we changed it so that all the fallen would be remembered. It is a day for us all to pause, I think to reflect, for us to give thanks to all servicemen and women, to thank them for their courage, for their service, for their sacrifice.
They earn the freedoms that we all enjoy here today. As members of parliament, Mr Speaker, I think we commit ourselves on this day, of all days, to secure a lasting peace in their honour. Like our men and women in uniform, we must never give up in that pursuit.
Mr Speaker, this year has challenged Australians like none in my lifetime and probably none in the many members’ life time with the drought, bushfire and flood and Australians have never given up but resilience has been tested and that test has been passed with the assistance of the Australian defence force members and today at the Australian War Memorial ceremony we were honoured to hear from Dan Kerrin VC and he said: “The events of 2020 have challenged us all and like war, on to what is important. Family, friends and loved ones. Australia is the lucky country and even in the most challenging of times there is nowhere else I’d want to be. We are a nation built on mateship, rolling up our sleeves, helping our neighbours and doing with the best smile we can and in the darkest of days there is always a glimmer of light of mateship that is at the very essence its core of what it means to be Australian.”
I want to thank Dan for being a great Australian. Remembrance Day is about hope, Remembrance Day is about respect, Remembrance Day is about a grateful nation keeping our commitment to our servingmen and women. We will remember them. Lest we forget.
Updated
Scott Morrison took all the time there – which is why there was no time for Josh Frydenberg to say the same thing for the fifth time.
Oh – no worries – he gets his opportunity now, in answer to a question on why Dnata workers didn’t receive wage subsidy help.
Updated
Peta Murphy to Scott Morrison:
Mark is 56 years old, he recently lost his job. He says his job provided nearly half of his family’s income and they have exhausted their savings. Mark is cut out of the [work] credit because of his age and he won’t be eligible for mature worker subsidies until next year. Why is the prime minister leaving people like Mark behind?
Morrison:
I will ask the treasurer to add to my answer. Whether it is Michael or anybody else in this country, semi Australia is a been hit hard by the Covid-19 recession this year and that is why this government has delivered unprecedented physical support into the economy to ensure the entire economy can support more jobs coming back as quickly as possible.
Already we have seen almost half of the jobs lost come back into the economy and we’re going to see more, Mr Speaker, because today’s confidence figures, which back up yesterday’s confidence figures, Mr Speaker, and last month’s are all showing that the Australian come back has begun and that’s good news for Mark, Mr Speaker, because as the Australian comeback continues and as businesses continue to go stronger and as businesses open again, Mr Speaker, and as employees come back into those businesses and as they come off the jobseeker payments and they go into paid work, Mr Speaker, then Australians will benefit from that.
Some 26% of our economy has been invested, both directly, through the federal government and through the actions of the Reserve Bank to ensure that our economy has been supported to help people like Mark and anyone else in this country in a way that has never been done in this country before and next year we look forward for great hope, Mr Speaker, because not only has there been a significant investment and response from an economic point of view to support our economy and see that the jobs come back, Mr Speaker, but we have invested $18.5bn in the health response that underwrites that economy in a Covid-19 pandemic recession and the news that we have seen on the vaccination success, Mr Speaker, in these trials, is incredibly encouraging and this Friday the vaccination policy that has been developed by the government will also be noted by the national cabinet, the actions that we need to be taken by states and territories to see that vaccine able to be disseminated.
Australia is in the front row, Mr Speaker, when it comes to the development and delivery of vaccines. Those opposite wonder why I refer to this, because the vaccine and health strategy, Mr Speaker, is critical to Australia’s economic growth and come back and success.
We are leaving no stone unturned in ensuring the greatest Australian comeback that this country as seen since the great depression. This government has stood up in this time and as we have said throughout the course of questions today, we have particularly stood up for Australians in regional and rural areas. We haven’t turned our back on regional and rural Australia anyway that the Labor party have, shunting regional members out of their shadow cabinet ...
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Dan Tehan, on how the government has “stood by the higher education sector” during the pandemic, despite universities not being eligible for jobkeeper and the mass job losses which resulted when the sector also lost the funds of international students (who also did not receive federal government help).
Tehan:
This government stood by our universities throughout this pandemic – thank the minister for her question.
They came to us with their number one priority and that was to guarantee the funding they had this year. And that’s what we did.
We guarantee that funding of $18bn. And then they said to us that the sector had been hit hard because international students couldn’t come here because of the pandemic and they said we want to support, we want support for research because with international students not there we need support to make up for that. So what did we do in this year’s budget?
The highest single payment ever by a government into research for higher education. $1bn. So we guarantee $18bn for the sector. In this budget we provide $1bn in research, $1bn in research.
This has been a difficult year for those in the university sector. This has been a difficult year for those in higher education, but we have worked tirelessly with the sector. I have met with them, I would think, every single week to hear about their concerns and what we need to do about it.
And we’re not going to stop here, we know that we need to do more to commercialise and translate research, so we are working with the sector to make sure that that will be a priority for us. We are putting in place more places for students. So next year there will be 30,000 more places for students in higher education.
We’ve invested in short courses, significantly in short courses. That was one of the things we did on Easter Sunday and I remember it incredibly well on Easter Sunday we announce that we were going to introduce short courses for the higher education sector.
This is a serious reform into the sack and already we have seen upwards of 15,000 students take advantage of those short courses getting the skills they need so as we come out of the pandemic, as the comeback continues, those students will be able to find jobs and we invested again in short courses in the budget, because we want to make sure that they can re-skill. We want to make sure people can re-skill, students can re-skill, mature age students can re-skill. As a matter of fact, when we saw students ... Students who can be 35- 45-55, and a short courses actually showed mature age workers used those skills courses to actually redevelop and so they can get the jobs that will be there as we come out of this pandemic.
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Labor is using the stories of people who have suffered during the pandemic, on the work front, for their next series of questions.
The answers are all the same.
Updated
Ed Husic has never been so popular.
So far, the government dixers have been designed to be able to quote Husic on a variety of issues, including the carbon price and coal-fired power stations.
Too bad the audience is limited to those sad enough, or forced, to watch question time.
Updated
The environment department was back before Senate estimates this morning to answer questions about the government’s performance in protecting threatened species. One of the things they were asked about is recovery plans for endangered wildlife.
We’ve written a lot about recovery planning the past few years, which is one of the measures that can be used to try to prevent extinction of Australian plants and animals once they are given an official vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered listing.
Back in 2018, Guardian Australia revealed less than 40% of threatened plants, animals and habitats have a recovery plan, many are out of date, there is no requirement in law for governments to implement them and indeed no system for tracking whether the actions recommended in a recovery plan to help species are being implemented.
Nothing has changed since then.
Last month at estimates we heard the environment department had not finalised a single recovery plan in nearly 18 months, despite 172 plans remaining outstanding, including for the critically endangered leadbeater’s possum, and the koala – which has been identified as requiring a recovery plan since it was first listed as vulnerable in 2012. That figure was today revised down to 171.
Today, Labor’s Nita Green asked the environment department how many of the 171 outstanding recovery plans were considered to be overdue. The answer was ... not good.
Here is the exchange:
Green: Some of those recovery plans are currently overdue?
Emma Campbell (of the department): That’s correct.
Green: And how many of the 171 are overdue?
Geoff Richardson (of the department): 170. All bar one are overdue.
Green: 170 are overdue. Really?
Campbell: Yes
Green: That’s a terrible, terrible performance.
Remember this next time you hear the words “green tape”.
Updated
Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac) says it will not investigate claims that Vatican funds were sent to Australia as part of a conspiracy to frame George Pell for child sex offences.
The commission issued a short statement on Wednesday afternoon confirming it had received information based on media reports regarding the alleged transfer.
“Ibac confirms it received information based on media reports which alleged Vatican funds were transferred to individuals in support of the recent case against George Pell.
“Ibac has reviewed the information and found the threshold to commence inquiries or an investigation was not met. This matter would only be further considered if any additional, credible information is received relevant to Ibac’s jurisdiction.
“The provision of a media report to Ibac without further substance is unlikely, in most cases, to be sufficient to initiate an investigation.”
In September, Italian newspapers first published claims that a Vatican rival of Pell, Cardinal Giovanni Becciu, was suspected of transferring money to Australia in a bid to have him charged with child sex offences. Becciu strongly denied the claims.
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Kate Thwaites to Scott Morrison:
Elizabeth from Diamond Creek is a single mother in her 40s who says she has never been unemployed until now. One job and she found that stated candidates under 30 were preferred so the employer could receive the hiring credit. Why is this government leaving women like Elizabeth behind?
Christian Porter:
It should be noted that under the Fair Work Act, the general protection provisions offer protection to employees who are targeted in any way based on attractive attributes such as their age, and as I noted there are very serious penalties for anyone who took adverse action against those employees.
Except, it does happen. Anthony Albanese makes a show of attempting to table the job advertisement, after heckles from the government benches to prove it. The government denies leave to table the ad.
Oh – and Treasury officials said those ads might be OK.
Employers who tell older workers not to apply for jobs they intend to create with jobmaker wage subsidies for young employees may be protected from discrimination law, according to the Treasury.
Officials told a Senate inquiry into the jobmaker hiring credits bill on Monday that exemptions in the Age Discrimination Act could protect employers in such cases, a position supported by the Australian Human Rights Commission, although both said employers needed to seek their own legal advice.
Updated
Brendan O’Connor to Scott Morrison:
I refer to the fact that the hiring credit will not be paid to employers until February next year. Why were the prime minister support dilemma’s speaks to its legislation so existing workers don’t get sacked, will have their hours cut?
Scott Morrison:
Once again, as I have already responded to these questions from the opposition, as the treasurer has and is the minister for industrial relations has, what those opposite, what the Labor party is suggesting is simply not true*.
What the Labor party has done for so many months now as they come into this place, they pretend to be supporting the important measures that this government has brought forward to support Australians through the crisis, and at the same time, they seek to have an each way bet on every single one of them, they seek to oppose them and support them, oppose them and support them.
Do you know what that means? It means when it comes, when you really need the support of people, you cannot count on Labor, you just can’t count on them, because you know they will always put their political interests, they have about each way, which is their model of operation of the leader of the opposition, he is the biggest each way better in politics.
*Except it already happens. But sure, just bookmark these answers and let time eventually tell. It always does.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Why won’t the prime minister support Labor’s amendment to the hiring credit scheme to ensure a 37-year-old won’t get sacked for someone younger and cheaper? Why is the prime minister undermining job security for workers aged over 35? Isn’t the middle of a recession the very worst time to be attacking job security?
Morrison:
This government has done more than any other government in a time like this to ensure that Australians have been able to have job security during the period of the worst recession we have seen since the great depression. $101bn committed to jobkeeper so Australia could have job security, Mr Speaker. $70bn out the door.
And this initiative, some $4bn, Mr Speaker, to get people off the unemployment benefits and get them into jobs. Now what the leader of the opposition is putting forward in this place is simply untrue and are seeking to create fear in a pandemic, Mr Speaker. And it is irresponsible and it is reckless. This leader of the opposition will stoop to any level to try and bring about ...
Albanese:
The question was about the government’s hiring credit scheme, about the amendments that were carried in the Senate and voted for by the government but opposed in the House here and opposed here and the difference, the difference it will make to job security for those over the age of 35 who could lose their job and be replaced.
Morrison:
Once again, he has just done it again, Mr Speaker, we oppose the amendments in the Senate, Mr Speaker, we oppose the amendments when they were put in the Senate and that is another truth that has been put forward by those opposite for the simple purpose of seeking to exploit ... fear and concern in the community in the middle of a pandemic, Mr Speaker. This leader of the opposition is so desperate, leading a party so divided that it will use the fears and concerns of Australians in a pandemic to butter up support on his own backbench. I will asked the minister to add further to my answer and address the matter also raised.
Christian Porter:
As well as putting fear into the community it’s in is precisely the wrong message and describes something as potentially lawful which is absolutely unlawful. So if any employer tried to do what the leader of the opposition has said that they might be able to do, which they cannot do, that is sending absolutely the wrong message*.
And the reason for that is because all of the usual protections under the Fair Work Act supply, protection from unfair dismissal, they are very, very important productions, any kind of breach of those carries a significant civil penalties of up to $30,320 for an individual and $66,000 for a body corporate. It is absolutely unlawful to dismiss someone without a valid reason for dismissal. What was described by the leader of the opposition would never be a valid reason**.
And what he is doing, precisely, is sending the absolute wrong message about what is lawful and what is not lawful. And it would be absolutely unlawful and every employer who was listening would get the wrong message from the leader of the opposition, but the correct message for this government, as well as all the predictions that the treasurer has described, this has the general productions in the Fair Work Act and it would be absolutely unlawful, under the Fair Work Act, for anything like what the leader of the opposition has described to occur and he should never suggest otherwise***.
*The Fair Work protections for unfair dismissals DO NOT apply to casual workers.
**You can be let go for almost any “legitimate” reason; not closing properly, attitude, conflict, performance “issues”. I doubt there will be an employer which says “it is because I’ll get a government subsidy”.
***Seriously. I was once sacked from a hospitality job because a friend of the owner pinched my arse and I slapped his hand away. The next morning, I was let go for “not being a team player”.
Updated
It is probably worth pointing out that LNP members, including senator Susan McDonald, a Queensland LNP senator, complained about the delay in postal votes arriving in regional Queensland during the recent state election, including on election night.
Andrew Wilkie to Paul Fletcher:
We are counting down the sleeves until Christmas and Australia Post is obviously in disarray.
Constituents regularly report bills arriving after due dates, medical reminders turning up after appointment, and Centrelink letters not being delivered until after deadlines for responding.
These failed ups are especially problematic for those with a disability, older Australians, and people on low incomes. They simply can’t afford to pay for express post or have Centrelink cut due to delays or be hit with unexpected credit card charges. Minister, what are you doing about this, and with Christmas only six weeks away, do you guarantee that our gifts will arrive on time?
Fletcher:
He is right to say that Christmas is peak time for Australia Post and, of course ...
And it comes on top of a a peak in parcel volumes driven by extraordinary growth in demand for e-commerce over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
If you look at the figures for September, parcel volumes are up 59% on the same month last year.
Letter volumes are down 8%, continuing the longstanding trend where letter volumes are declining and parcel volumes are growing. And when we overlay the trend with the growth of parcels with the normal Christmas peak, what we are expecting, in terms of parcel volumes for the peak week of Christmas this year for Australia Post is for them to be up 35% on Christmas last year.
So it’s very important that we prepare for this growth in parcels. Of course, one of the things that we have done is provide temporary regulatory relief so some 2,000 staff can be moved from letters, where the volumes are declining, to parcels, where the volumes are increasing and so those staff can be ... where they need is greatest. That is not all we’re doing, Mr Speaker, I must how are we for the Christmas rush.
Australia Post is recruiting over 5,000 additional staff across the country. Dedicated airfreight is with increased flight frequency, including the first A3201 freighter which has 74% more capacity, sorry, 70% more capacity than the existing 737 300 freighters. Australia Post expects to go live with its new Melbourne West processing site on 16 November.
There are expected to be 3,000 more vehicles on the road this year than last year, reaching a total of 18,000 vehicles. And Australia Post is establishing 30 pop up retail sites around the country.
So, Mr Speaker, we have done our part as a government in providing regulatory relief so that Australia Post can redeploy resources to where they are needed.
Was that measure supported by the other side of the house? No. No interest, no understanding. If they had had their way Australians would be waiting longer to get there parcels. We’ve introduced the necessary regulatory relief, Australia Post is taking the necessary operational steps. There is a big big coming over Christmas and Australia Post is preparing very hard to meet the needs of Australians. We need a good Christmas at the end of a tough year.
Updated
The government dixers are all about regional and rural Australia today - it’s aimed at stoking the divisions within the Labor party, inflamed by Joel Fitzgibbon’s recent comments and his resignation from the shadow frontbench.
Tony Burke to Scott Morrison (although Josh Frydenberg gets this one too).
I refer to the fact that yesterday the government voted for the hiring credit in its amended form. Why did the prime minister this morning change the government’s position and oppose Labor’s amendments which protect existing workers from being sacked and replaced by cheaper workers?
Frydenberg:
Mr Speaker we don’t support Labor’s amendments because Labor is delaying certainty for business, that is required, that is required through the jobmaker hiring credit to help support 450,000 jobs, 450,000 jobs.
I explain to the members opposite that what we have seen in previous recessions is it has taken a long time to get people from the unemployment queue back into work, indeed in the 1990 recession, it took, Mr Speaker, 10 years to get the unemployment rate back below 6% from where it started.
But for younger people, it took a full 15 years to get the unemployment rate back to where it was before the recession*.
We understand that young people being hit hard in this crisis, the unemployment rate today for those aged 15-30 is 10.2%.
This compares to an unemployment rate of 4.7% for those aged 35. This whole program is designed to get people who have been on jobseeker, who have been unemployed, and get them into work, with a minimum of 20 hours each week, and the government is providing that economic support to that employer to tip the balance in favour of a new hire, so if you are 16-29 and taken on by an employer and do a minimum 20 hours a week, the government will provide that employer $200 each week, and if you are age 30/35 and you are taken on for a minimum 20 hours a week and government will provide that employer with $100 per week.
This is a vitally important program, and it’s part of a series of initiatives from this government designed to support the creation of more jobs across the Australian economy.
*This has become the government line. Part of the reason it took 15 years to recover, is it took that long for the economy to recover. Particularly the regions. Not as much discretionary spending means not as many retail or hospitality businesses. But even before the pandemic hit, youth employment in Australia was suffering. It was much higher than the national rate. This policy, according to Treasury, is estimated to only create an additional 10,000 jobs. But there is nothing stopping a business from dismissing an older worker and hiring younger workers to receive the subsidy. And I don’t know how much experience you have as an over 35-year-old worker, but I know that watching someone over 45/50 try and get a job is a heartbreaking and often fruitless experience.
And we know that the program they have in place to aid older workers isn’t working.
Only $254m has been spent to help 51,190 mature-age people into work, despite the Coalition promising in 2014 to spend $520m to help up to 32,000 older Australians find a job every year.
Of the 51,190 people helped by the Restart wage subsidy, just 30,379 remained in employment for 13 weeks or more, with less than half (21,966) lasting more than six months.
Updated
Michael McCormack is McCormacking all over the place today.
He is always at his worst when he’s impressed with himself.
It’s a pretty low bar.
Updated
Jim Chalmers to Scott Morrison:
I refer to the fact that after the hiring credit amendments, there were supported by every single non-government senator, the government voted for the bill in the Senate in its amended form. Today the prime minister has changed his position, preventing the timely passage of the bill. Why is the prime minister so determined to protect a loophole which attacks job security?
Josh Frydenberg gets this one:
Mr Speaker, jobmaker hiring credit will create jobs and support some 450,000 jobs*, and the question is for the Labor party, the question from the Labor party is what have they got against the creation of new jobs?
The member Rankin knows all too well that there are a number of protections in this legislation, protections about addition analogy, addition analogy in terms of both payroll, payroll and also headcount.
There is also protections from the Fair Work Act, and there are also protections against contrived schemes. The member Rankin may also be aware that the only rate today for people aged 15-34 is 10.2%.**
This composed to an unemployment rate of 4.7% for those aged 35-44, and an overall unemployment rate across the country of 6.9% so I never thought I would see the Labor party was pitting young workers against old workers.
*The subsidy may support 450,000 jobs, but Treasury estimates it will only create 45,000 new jobs.
**Youth unemployment was higher than the unemployment rate before the pandemic.
Updated
David Littleproud also put this out:
The Labor party has appointed a metropolitan Sydney MP that has campaigned for the end of the live export industry as the opposition’s agriculture and resources spokesperson.
Minister for agriculture and deputy leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud, said that the temporary short-term appointment of Ed Husic to these critical portfolios showed Labor viewed agriculture and resources as a low priority.
“Ed’s a nice bloke but I question whether he has the experience and understanding needed to fight for our food and fibre producers, as well as our resources sector.
“Our regions produce so much of our nation’s wealth and resources and agriculture deserves someone who is committed to and passionate about these sectors.
“Our cattle and sheep producers in particular will be extremely alarmed by the fact that the shadow agriculture minister does not support the live export trade which is world-leading in terms of animal welfare.
“Mr Husic has spoken in parliament on a number of occasions calling for the end of the live export trade and as recently as November 2018, described the trade as ‘beyond redemption’.
“It is clear that Ed is conflicted between some of the inner-city views of his constituents and the needs of our farmers and resources industry.
“The appointment exposes just how out of touch Labor has become on the issues impacting on our regions.”
(The government has had Alan Tudge in the acting position of immigration minister for most of this year.)
Updated
Scott Morrison is having to give a dixer answer on rural and regional Australia, because the leader of the party which purports to represent rural and regional Australia never manages to get a message out, that isn’t ‘we’re getting on with it’
Question time begins
It is straight into it, today.
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
The government’s original hiring credit bill allowed employers to sack existing workers over the age of 35 and replace them with cheaper, subsidised workers. Why won’t the prime minister protect the jobs of existing workers?
Morrison:
The suggestion by the leader of the opposition is not true, is not correct, the job maker hiring credit is about getting Australians out of work back into work, a program designed to get Australians who have been most heavily impacted by the Covid-19 recession, which is particularly younger people, who have been disproportionately impacted, all of those in the labour force to get them back into work at a cost of some $450m, to get jobs back into the workforce, and it is only available for additional jobs, you cannot reduce your current workforce*, there is the double barrel disability criteria, which has the protection of both headcount from the reference date of the 3 September and the payroll of the business.
Hours cannot be reduced, people cannot be let off and rehired under these arrangements**. It is important to have these protections in place, and that was the foreshadowed by the government and we are ensuring that these protections are in place and that the protections under existing industrial relations laws and integrity measures that are available cannot reclassify workers from contractors to employers to exceed the hiring credit.
This is an important program, a very important program and the bill of protections is in place, it is not a program for a people to play politics within this place, it’s a program for Labor to get on board to support people getting back into jobs in the middle of the Covid-19 recession.
*You can’t reduce your overall headcount, but you can reduce your exisiting workforce, as long as you hire someone else.
**You can’t let go and re-hire the same person to get the supplement, but you can hire someone else
Updated
It is the 45th anniversary of the Whitlam dismissal
Norman Gunston was in the thick of the crowds @MoAD_Canberra on 11 Nov 1975. He interviewed politicians, addressed the crowd and flashed a “v for victory” sign. Gunston is inexorably linked with the drama and emotion of that day 45 years ago. #auspol @australian pic.twitter.com/ipYhEv2Jyu
— Troy Bramston (@TroyBramston) November 9, 2020
Question time is in the next 20 minutes.
Huzzah
Victoria Health has sent out some information on potential exposure sites, following an interstate case:
These exposure sites have been reported because of a possible case diagnosed interstate. Details in this report. https://t.co/1Dg10hoMbl
— Allen Cheng (@peripatetical) November 11, 2020
Childcare is not welfare
And it's not just tertiary qualifications. Women overtook men in terms of non-school qualifications a couple of years ago and aren't looking back... pic.twitter.com/gKSLqTaqxx
— Shane Wright (@swrighteconomy) November 11, 2020
Geoff Raby, the former Australian ambassador to China, says the debate about Australia’s foreign policy options regarding China is too often presented as a binary choice between sycophancy and hostility.
Raby told the National Press Club that the Australian government needed to make a decision internally about whether we see China as a strategic competitor or a cooperation partner.
More later.
Updated
Mike Bowers was at the Remembrance Day ceremony at the War Memorial.
Updated
Tanya Plibersek has launched Paul Kelly and Troy Bramston’s (both of the Australian newspaper) book, The Truth of the Palace Letters, at Old Parliament House today.
Her speech included this:
The fight for an Australian republic cannot be separated from the fight for voice, treaty and truth telling.
As republicans, we should celebrate the best of us as a country.
Mature, proud, egalitarian, multicultural.
We should recognise the beauty and fragility of our land – and we should accept our responsibility to conserve it for future generations.
A confident Australia, secure in its skin, where everyone has a stake in our national success – and where everyone shares in that success.
That’s what we’re all fighting for – and that’s what should drive our republicanism.
Because one thing is clear to me: any campaign that seeks to trash the Queen is destined to fail.
Even republicans respect the Queen – and will never accept her as a villain.
In the end, we need to make the case for an Australian republic; not the case against the British monarch.
Plibersek’s name never fails to come up as a future, potential Labor leader. Keep an eye on this space.
Updated
While Australia looks like hitting another day of zero community transmission, the US has hit another terrible milestone with Covid.
#BREAKING US records new high of over 200,000 Covid cases in 24 hours: tally pic.twitter.com/YCeEnWntXu
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) November 11, 2020
Updated
Geoff Raby, the former Australian ambassador to China, is at the National Press Club today.
Daniel Hurst will be listening to that for you.
Updated
NSW to make digital registration, such as QR codes, mandatory for venues
QR codes for covid contacting tracing details are about to be mandatory in NSW – at the same time the state opens up for quarantine-free travel.
From the release:
The NSW government is urging venues to put the safety of customers and staff first and have a system for digital registration such as a QR code that records patrons’ names and contact details in place by 23 November, or risk facing penalties.
The minister for customer service, Victor Dominello, said digital registration, including QR codes, is fast, accurate and will give customers more confidence during a pandemic.
“Any business that is serious about safety should be using digital registration, such as a QR code or other method of capturing contact details electronically. There are no excuses,” Dominello said.
“We can’t respond to a pandemic with paper. We must be fast and precise and digital is the best way forward.
“We have to move away from the walk-in culture to the check-in culture. This is about building resilience as we continue to open up as safely as possible heading into summer.”
Updated
Keep an eye on the foreign power veto bill.
Daniel Hurst has been reporting on this – the fallout from the proposed changes is beginning.
It is truly extraordinary that university lobbyists think that the goal of eliminating foreign interference in Australia is inappropriate and that we should instead tolerate it. This is Exhibit A of why the foreign relations bill is needed and why universities must be included pic.twitter.com/VsiumlBRa5
— James Paterson (@SenPaterson) November 11, 2020
Updated
Amnesty International calls on Australian government to bring home more stranded Aussies
Amnesty International has published a report calling on the government to do more to bring home stranded overseas Australians.
The state caps on arrivals makes that difficult. However there are federal facilities if still needed, and the national cabinet is working on an electronic ankle bracelet monitoring system, which would mean people could quarantine at home (although it would have to be completely alone – or the whole household quarantines with them.
You can read the report, here.
Updated
As Adam Morton just reminded me, this is being debated in the parliament today:
Green bank shouldn’t fund gas-fired power, ex-CEFC and ARENA officials tell federal MPs https://t.co/fOpajLol7g
— Adam Morton (@adamlmorton) November 9, 2020
The Remembrance Day ceremony continues.
Covid vaccine will be rolled out from March, Greg Hunt says
Just revisiting the latest vaccine announcement – we don’t have that many doses of the Pfizer vaccine secured but more will be on the way. Australia could have its doses as early as March.
Greg Hunt:
I’m also delighted to announce that the government has secured as part of its agreement with Pfizer, full cold chain logistics, distribution for the Pfizer vaccine.
It’s what you call an mRNA vaccine, we have 10m units of that, part of a 134.8m unit, four-vaccine strategy …
We have secured that for Australia, well ahead of expectations and on schedule, to deliver vaccines to Australians, commencing in March 2021.
That is I think extremely important news. While, again, the advice is today that we may well have another zero community transmission case day for Australia, they are still waiting on two jurisdictions, we nevertheless have to be aware that we will not be out of this until we have a nation which has had a full vaccination program.
Updated
Labor’s position on jobmaker is a little more nuanced than I gave them credit for.
Although caucus approves of the bill, the opposition believes they are within their rights to insist on the version as amended by the Senate.
So rather than Labor waving through the unamended version this afternoon, they’re insisting on the safeguard for older workers, at least for now.
Labor insists the Senate will rise at the end of the week without the bill passing unless the government backs down or changes some other Senate votes.
As Labor’s shadow ministers pointed out in lower house debate – payments won’t be made until February. There’s also a consultation period on the rules that runs until 22 November. So holding the bill up this week will not hold up the hiring credits.
Updated
NSW reports no new cases of community transmission
NSW has reported no new cases of community transmission – four people diagnosed with Covid are in hotel quarantine.
There were 20,586 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with 10,058 in the
NSW Health is continuing to urge everyone in the state – but especially people in the southern highlands, south-western Sydney and the Rouse Hill area – to get tested, even if they display only the mildest symptoms, such as a runny nose or scratchy throat, cough, or fever, which could signal a Covid-19 infection.
This follows the diagnoses of cases in Moss Vale and south-western Sydney recently, and detection of virus fragments in sewage sampled from Rouse Hill on 5 November and Liverpool on 6 November.
Updated
Let me just preface this by saying there was absolutely yelling in Monday’s shadow cabinet meeting.
ABC Melbourne radio’s Virginia Trioli interviewed Mark Dreyfus about Joel Fitzgibbon’s resignation from the shadow frontbench (after the yelling) and got right to the point.
VT: Why were you yelling at Joel Fitzgibbon in the caucus meeting yesterday?
Dreyfus:
I’m not going to discuss what happened in the shadow cabinet, Virginia. I can assure you and all your listeners that there wasn’t any yelling.
VT: But there’s a quote here in the paper that that you intervened and called Mr Fitzgibbon a disgrace and that Joel Fitzgibbon replied, ‘Shut up, you idiot, you just assured me I’m on the right path.’ Is that a misquote?
Dreyfus:
I’m not going to discuss what happened in shadow cabinet. But let’s talk about Joel Fitzgibbon’s views. I accept that Joel has strongly held views on climate. I just disagree with him, and a large majority of the Australian Labor party and I’d suggest the Australian community also disagree with his strongly held views. We don’t have a choice here.
VT: Did you disagree with his strongly held views in a strong manner yesterday?
Dreyfus:
I’m not going to discuss what happened in shadow cabinet. I was for a time the secretary of the cabinet of Australia. I’m a great believer in confidentiality of both cabinet and shadow cabinet discussions.
VT: OK.
Dreyfus:
So let’s go to what this is about. I don’t think there’s a choice here. We don’t get to say no to climate change, we don’t get to say no to the effects of climate change, and we don’t get to opt out of taking action. Joel likes to talk about overreach. It’s not overreach to take strong action on climate. Change is coming. We can either drive the change or we can have it imposed on us. And I heard the UK Labour leader overnight, he was talking about there being a jobs emergency and a climate emergency, and he said that coming out of Covid we’ve got an opportunity to deal with both. And that’s right. We’ve got an opportunity to deal with both. We can either join the rest of the world in acting on climate or we can have the rest of the world tell us what to do.
Updated
Pfizer vaccine will be fast-tracked, Greg Hunt says
The health minister, Greg Hunt, has announced that the federal government and TGA will be fast-tracking the Pfizer vaccine, using regulation changes put in place in 2018:
While, again, the advice is today that we may well have another zero community transmission case day for Australia – they are still waiting on two jurisdictions – we nevertheless have to be aware that we will not be out of this until we have a nation which has had a full vaccination program.
But we are on track to deliver the vaccines. We have secured already a national cold chain distribution program as part of the agreement with Pfizer and in addition, we have the first two vaccines on the provisional determination pathway and I’ve been advised ... this morning that not only are the other two vaccines we have acquired expected to take part in that but there are additional vaccines from around the world which we are inquiring about using this breakthrough Australian regulatory process.
Updated
Circling back to Matt Canavan’s comments this morning, on not wanting to change a word in the national anthem, because it “unfairly seeks to tarnish our ancestors”:
Remembering my Nan’s brother uncle Cliff today, signed up under age against his Mothers will fought in WW2 did time in Changi POW camp with his Brother Ron ,came home and died of Tuberculosis . He and Ron were never offered soldier settlement packages when they came home. 🖐🏽 pic.twitter.com/N79iqXVKGf
— Troy Cassar-Daley (@troycassardaley) November 10, 2020
Updated
Eric Abetz is still attempting to justify asking Chinese Australians to denounce the Chinese Communist party in a Senate estimates hearing. He gave a speech to the Senate last night, where he says the only group he asked were those he describes as “Labor operatives”.
Abetz:
In recent times, it’s been suggested I’ve occasioned some controversy by taking a principled stand against the brutality of the Chinese dictatorship. Australians have been let down by the fake news media coverage.
Tonight, I set out the facts.
A Labor operative with the Twitter handle @redrabblerozsubmitted his article for the China Matters think tank as a submission to a Senate committee.
The submission spoke of the difficulties the Chinese diaspora have in engaging in Australian politics.
Everything was thrown up, including the foreign interference debate, skewing perceptions, but no mention of the chilling impact of CCP interference here in Australia.
The well-documented works of Professor Hamilton, who has exposed the insidious interference of the CCP dictatorship amongst the Chinese diaspora in Australia, were unbelievably and dismissively brushed aside as “unverified claims” by this Labor operative, despite the volume of references provided. Nowhere was actual interference even acknowledged.
Having attacked Australian politics as being too white, using racial identity politics, the question was asked of whether character was more important than racial heritage.
In that context, of values and beliefs, someone who submitted as an expert thinktank contributor on China was asked about their willingness to condemn the dictatorship.
Their answer: “A link I don’t support.” A thinktank contributor on all matters China should be able to provide a clear view on the brutal dictatorship.
Three separate groups of witnesses of Chinese ethnicity appeared before the committee. Only this group, with Labor operatives from academia and a thinktank, were asked if they were willing to condemn the dictatorship.
Since then, this question has been falsely described by Labor and elements in the media as “a demand of loyalty”.
Those making those suggestions studiously avoid quoting the Hansard.
The whole speech is here, in the Hansard (page 86).
Daniel Hurst covered the original story, here:
Updated
Paul Karp has tracked down that statement of reasons for the government rejecting the amendments to the jobmaker legislation, which would prevent employers from displacing older workers in favour of younger employees to access the subsidy:
Government reasons for rejecting safeguard that existing workers can't be sacked or have hours reduced to hire younger workers on #jobmaker hiring credits. #auspol @AmyRemeikis pic.twitter.com/FbCHA7T9NL
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) November 10, 2020
The House adjourns for a short period, for Remembrance Day.
The government motion that the amendments be disagreed is voted up 53 votes to 50.
Dan Tehan has tabled a list of reasons why the government is disagreeing with the amendments – Paul Karp is chasing that up.
Updated
So why wouldn’t the government accept these amendments, which would stop employers from dismissing a worker older than 35, to hire two younger workers to do the same job, in order to receive the subsidy?
Jobmaker will create just 10% 'genuinely additional' jobs of Coalition's total pledge, treasury says #auspolhttps://t.co/skOrEpeg0Z
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) October 26, 2020
Well, it will make unemployment figures look better, even if underemployment doesn’t.
But the lesson from previous recessions is that older workers suffer. It is not the younger workers who experience long-term unemployment – it is those older workers, who are let go and find it impossible to re-enter the workforce.
The government subsidy will be paying employers to rehire the workers they were going to rehire anyway. Industries like hospitality and retail rely on younger workers. But employers don’t get a subsidy for anyone over 35. So you do the maths. You only have to ensure your payroll doesn’t drop. So you can hire two younger workers part-time, to do the same job as an older worker was doing full-time, and the government will give you a subsidy for their wages.
Updated
The shadow employment minister, Brendan O’Connor, confirmed that despite Labor’s concern about the “loopholes that allow rogue employers to sack workers”, the party supports the bill “in principle and in practice because it will support employment” of people aged under 35.
That’s what Labor caucus agreed yesterday – that ultimately it will support the bill .
But O’Connor went out swinging, arguing that if it doesn’t vote for the amendment: “The only conclusion is that the government have absolutely no regard for job security in this country.”
The shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, noted that payments won’t flow till February; and the manager of opposition business, Tony Burke, noted that Labor has already vote for the bill. They’re obviously trying to shut down potential government attacks that they are delaying or opposing the program.
Updated
Meanwhile, for anyone still confused, the Four Corners episode was not about the bonking ban. It was about what happens to the women caught up in it.
"For the Prime Minister to say yesterday, 'Oh, don't call it a bonking ban, that's disrespectful' and actually ignore the substance of the complaint, I find it absolutely... I haven't got a word to describe it"
— News Breakfast (@BreakfastNews) November 10, 2020
— Former Independent MP for Indi @Indigocathy on the @4corners story pic.twitter.com/HQQWVdZztQ
Brendan O’Connor and Jim Chalmers are also urging the government to amend the legislation.
O’Connor also brings up how the wage subsidy jobkeeper (jobmaker is like jobkeeper lite, but only for under 35s) was Labor’s idea – and one that was originally dismissed by the government.
Updated
Greens leader, Adam Bandt, called on the government to accept the “really basic protection” the amendment provides to “stop people getting sacked, and stop people losing hours of work”.
The government’s unamended bill offered “absolutely no protections for workers” and lacked safeguards to prevent insecure work.
He said:
“The government bill would allow an employer to sack someone who has a decent wage and hours of work, to pick up and put on two people on minimum wage at low hours of work. That’s not good for anyone, not the person sacked, not those who will have hours reduced, or the young people thrown into a world of insecure work.
This [amendment] does no more than what the prime minister [Scott Morrison] said on radio is the effect of the [program] … that you can’t sack someone or reduce their hours of work to get this credit.”
Adam Bandt is also urging the government to accept the amendments. The Greens also want to amend the legislation, to ensure workers can’t be sacked in favour of younger workers who will receive the government subsidy.
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In the House of Representatives, the government has indicated it will not support Labor/Greens/crossbench amendments to the jobmaker bill to prevent workers over 35 getting sacked.
The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, called on the government to reconsider:
Last night Labor along with many of crossbench voted to support amendments to [the jobmaker bill]. There are currently 937,000 people unemployed, more than 1.5 million underemployed. Since the beginning of the pandemic about 200,000 have simply given up looking for work, so we supported the bill last night. It’s important that payments don’t commence til February – the government has time to think these issues through.
They’ve got some measures wrong. Measures that will – unless the government supports the amendment about displaced workers – then what we could see is someone over 35, 37, 40, displaced, sacked from their work. Replaced by a labour hire company. Replaced by a younger person, because the company will have an incentive to do that because they’ll get $200 or $100 [a week]. We put forward practical amendments on this legislation – as we have consistently on all measures.
We’ve voted for every package and we voted for this last night. If this is seriously about additional employment rather than replacing existing workers – they have to support this amendment. If they’re at all fair dinkum about additional work, they have to support this amendment.
This amendment supported by Labor, Greens, One Nation and South Australian independent Rex Patrick and others – all voting in the one direction. Maybe when you got Greens and One Nation together it might be pause for thought. The fact is Labor will not tolerate a circumstance where those aged over 35 get done over, as a result of legislation passed by this parliament.
What we know about recessions past is that quite often, when recessions have occurred quite often we see older workers displaced, never to work again. It’s totally unacceptable that legislation presented would allow not just to happen because of the recession, but this is something different – this is about providing an incentive, by the government to sack older workers and have them replaced. Surely that’s unacceptable?
The fact the Senate agreed to this amendment should be the case the government just think about it.
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Labor wants the government to amend the legislation before it passes the House.
Anthony Albanese is making quite a few mistakes in this speech – he is mixing his words quite a bit – and sounds exhausted.
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Anthony Albanese is standing up in the House talking about the Senate’s – introduced by the Greens and supported by Labor –amendments to the jobmaker legislation.
It passed the Senate, amended, yesterday – with Labor’s support – but amendments to stop employers from “displacing” workers older than 35 are not accepted by the government.
Albanese is appealing to the government to change the legislation to ensure older workers don’t get sacked for younger workers.
“It’s already happening,” Catherine King says.
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Australia’s polling industry has released its independent report into what happened with the polling in the lead-up to the 2019 federal election.
Daniel Hurst covers that off here:
The inability of Australian opinion polls to detect that the Morrison government was on track for victory at last year’s election was a case of “polling failure” rather than simply a “polling miss”, according to a newly published review.
An inquiry into the performance of national polls has found the errors were not the result of a last-minute shift in voter sentiment, nor the impact of “shy conservatives” in which Coalition-supporting respondents deliberately misled pollsters.
Instead, it found the most likely reason the polls underestimated the first preference vote for the Liberal and National parties and overestimated it for Labor “was because the samples were unrepresentative and inadequately adjusted”.
The 140-page report, commissioned by the Association of Market and Social Research Organisations and the Statistical Society of Australia, said the polls were “likely to have been skewed towards the more politically engaged and better educated voters with this bias not corrected”.
“As a result, the polls overrepresented Labor voters,” it said.
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Malarndirri McCarthy not only had to listen to Matt Canavan’s bullshit, she also had to respond:
This is also about change, it’s about an opportunity for our country to recreate and walk together as First Nations people and non-Indigenous Australians. We’ve got people who’ve come from all over the place and yet we still treat them – like look at our refugees, people who are on Manus island, in our detention centres, on Christmas Island and other places. Come on, Matt, this is actually a really good opportunity for our country to go look, let’s have a look at our future.
We sure do make our Indigenous people do a lot of emotional and intellectual labour educating the wilfully ignorant.
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Meanwhile, Matt Canavan, who yesterday said he was against “token” symbolic displays such as displaying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in parliament because he wanted “real” action, has also decided to die on the hill of not changing a word in the national anthem (which has already been changed, a few times, and has only been the anthem since the 80s) because ... reasons.
Here he is talking to Nine. He mentions “our ancestors”. He means the white people who wrote it and colonised this country. Besides, Canavan isn’t offended, so why should anyone else be?
Look, I don’t like this particular change that’s being proposed because I think it unfairly seeks to tarnish our ancestors.
I mean, our country, our nation’s not just about the people that live today, it’s also recognising that we benefit from the sacrifices and efforts of others in the past. Now, I don’t think the writers of this anthem when they say “young” are intending any type of offence here. We are young nation.
We have old civilisations and we have a rich history over tens of thousands of years, but we are a young country, as a country, as a concept of Australia, and that’s something important to recognise as well. So, I just think it’s another example of people taking offence when there was no offence intended, and that’s an unfortunate tarnishing of our forefathers and foremothers.
(These would be the same people who slaughtered and enslaved Indigenous people, but go off.)
Canavan continued:
Well, that’s why I’m concerned about these changes because they’ve been pushed for another agenda which is about trying to tarnish what Australia is, and I think we’re a great country and I think we treat refugees better than almost any other country in the world.
Yes, we have strong borders but we also take more refugees than almost any other nation in the world, and we should be proud of that. And I don’t like these sort of changes pushed by people who have another agenda who try to somehow tarnish our reputation as one of the greatest countries in the world.
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Joel Fitzgibbon didn’t really have more to add to what he said yesterday. He was just letting people know he was around.
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Joel Fitzgibbon wandered the press gallery hallway a little earlier this morning.
"Look, it's not a secret that my mate @AlboMP and I have had some dust-ups over the recent weeks and months" - @fitzhunter #auspol @SBSNews pic.twitter.com/N3oCMIwVXX
— Brett Mason (@BrettMasonNews) November 10, 2020
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It’s also Remembrance Day.
Today on Remembrance Day we will pause to pay our respects to our fallen men and women who have given their lives in wars, conflicts & peacekeeping operations, and as a grateful nation say thank you for your service.
— Darren Chester MP (@DarrenChesterMP) November 10, 2020
Lest we forget. pic.twitter.com/JsqyQcSHeo
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Learn more about your new chief scientist, Dr Cathy Foley, here:
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Victoria records 12th day of no cases and no deaths
We are almost at a full Covid cycle now, with no new cases.
Yesterday there were 0 new cases and 0 lives lost reported. There are 4 active cases, 1 with unknown source. 19,986 tests results were received – thank you, #EveryTestHelps. More: https://t.co/pcll7ySEgz #COVID19VicData #StaySafeStayOpen pic.twitter.com/QZ9jFhapdY
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) November 10, 2020
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Gladys Berejiklian also told ABC News Breakfast why she supports changing the national anthem’s words from “young and free”, which, frankly, is disrespectful to our Indigenous people and their history, to “one and free”.
The anthem, which has only been in place since 1984 (ish) and was chosen from a song competition, has been changed before. People used to sing “Australia’s sons let us rejoice” and we survived the change to “Australians all”.
Berejiklian:
I think it’s about time we recognise the tens of thousands of years of the First Nations people of this continent. And it hurts me, I guess when you’ve been through a difficult year like we have, unity is so important.
Recognising all of our key parts of our society is critical, and I feel for Indigenous Australians who don’t feel the national anthem reflects them and their history.
And I think if we say, “We’re one and free,” it acknowledges that we’re not really young as a continent.
We’re tens of thousands of years old when it comes to human inhabitants. It’s just a small gesture. I think that respect is important. Inclusiveness is important.
When I was a child, I think it was “Australian sons let us rejoice”, and we joined it.
I don’t think that a lot of Indigenous communities will think that it goes far enough. But as a proud Australian who loves the anthem and is proud every time the anthem is sung, I think that it would better reflect us and our Indigenous history if we accept that we have the longest living culture on our continent through the Indigenous Australians, our First Nations people.
And I think it’s about time that we start recognising that in all of our national symbols and all of our national ways in which we represent ourselves.
And in fact, I think it will make us more Australian because we’re acknowledging all of our history. And today is Remembrance Day, and I want to acknowledge our service men and women – our veterans, who have made our nation what it is. And it is all of these elements which come together as one, which really reflects who we are.
I’ve been mulling over this for a while. It’s not the kind of issue that I normally speak out on. But when you’ve had a difficult year and see the resilience and strength of our people, we’re capable of so much more.
We have so much potential and I don’t want to see us miss any opportunity to see us stronger as a nation and even stronger as a people.
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Asked if she were really “over it”, Gladys Berejiklian did have some more to say – seemingly casting some shade at Queensland’s chief health officer, Dr Jeannette Young, as well.
I think I’ve made my case clear. And she’s made her position clear. And I don’t think that she’s going to budge. I’m just disappointed that the purported health advice they’re sprouting, I’ve never heard anywhere else. I’ve never heard of health experts saying that you have to trace every single source of infection within two days.
Sometimes the genomic testing can take weeks to identify all the strains that are linked. Sometimes it can take hours. It’s just unrealistic to set a goalpost which doesn’t really exist anywhere else, and which is unrealistic in the middle of a pandemic.
Because we’re doing well, we forget how contagious the virus is. Overnight, we had 20,000 tests so the testing rates are holding up. And we’re really encouraged by the progress we’re making. But let’s not be in a situation where people lose jobs, are frustrated, separated from their families over Christmas unnecessarily. It’s just ridiculous.
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Gladys Berejiklian had a chat with ABC News Breakfast this morning. She was wearing a Blues scarf (the second State of Origin is tonight) and was asked if she would attempt to call or message her Queensland counterpart, Annastacia Palaszczuk again.
(Palaszczuk left Berejiklian on read for three days after Berejiklian sent her a message following her election win, which included a “let’s talk about the borders” before responding with “Queenslander” when Queensland won the first SOO game. Which is pretty dumb, when you think about it. But Berejiklian did campaign against Palaszczuk, ramping up the border tensions to 11, as well as claiming she’d send Queensland a bill for hotel quarantine, so I guess neither leader has covered themselves in glory.)
Berejiklian:
No, I’m over that to be honest. And it’s not just about me and her any more. It’s a lot at stake. I think that the goalposts that Queensland has set for opening the borders to New South Wales is unrealistic, and I just wish that they would act in a more compassionate and commonsense way.
There is absolutely no health advice which says that New South Wales poses a danger to anybody. Quite the contrary. We have tested our system. Queensland hasn’t. WA hasn’t.
We’ve actually, from November 23, we’ll be welcoming every Australian citizen to New South Wales without quarantine, and also already welcoming New Zealanders without quarantine.
Plus, on behalf of Queensland and WA, we’re accepting or bringing back home 3,000 Aussies every single week through the quarantine system, which the other states aren’t doing, so we’re welcoming back 45% of people.
We’re welcoming them. Anyway, I’ve made my case.
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Yesterday, the government’s senators voted down a motion to have the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags displayed in the Senate.
In Naidoc Week.
Here was Malarndirri McCarthy appealing to them before the vote:
I point out that established practice, in terms of the Australian flag, began in 1992 by a unanimous vote of the Senate, which recognised the importance of supporting a national flag. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags are also national flags. I appeal to the Senate: when we fly the flags out the front, as we are doing this week, we have them on display for the whole of the country in Naidoc Week, and they are an opportunity to show that we can unite our country. This is a time when we can show the best of the Senate, when we can say that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, which we have seen through a recent Senate inquiry, are recognised as national flags. There are senators on the government benches who sat with me on that inquiry. So I urge the Senate to support this motion to have the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags fly in the Senate.
Lidia Thorpe also spoke:
This is not my first speech, but thank you so very much for allowing black people to speak about the black flag! I remind you all that we are on stolen land, and the Aboriginal flag represents the oldest continuing living culture in the world. I’m not sure where everyone else comes from, but my people, the Aboriginal people – Wurundjeri, Ngambri, Ngunawal – have been here for thousands and thousands and thousands of generations.
The Aboriginal flag is what we identify with and connect with, just as you connect with the colonial flag that you love and appeal to. You appeal to the colonisers that colonised these lands and that’s why our [time ran out].
The government voted no.
Anne Ruston:
There are many places and circumstances to appropriately display the flags of our nation, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags. The government believes that the Australian national flag, which represents all Australians, is the only appropriate flag to be flown in the Senate chamber.
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There is, although it has absolutely taken a back seat, also legislation being debated in the parliament. Angus Taylor is quite taken by this bill, reports AAP (let’s hope he has the right speech in front of him this time):
The $1 billion Grid Reliability Fund will be debated in the House of Representatives on Wednesday amid a debate over the future of fossil fuels.
Energy Minister Angus Taylor says Labor will be voting against lower emissions if it opposes a $1 billion fund to be debated in parliament on Wednesday.
The Grid Reliability Fund will add $1 billion to the existing Clean Energy Finance Corporation allocation for investing in new energy generation, storage and transmission projects.
The type of support will range from debt and equity investment to concessional finance.
Labor and environmental groups have argued the laws are flawed as funding could flow through to gas and coal projects.
Mr Taylor said the fund would ensure renewables are integrated into the system and backed up.
“If Labor oppose the bill as they have said they would, they will be voting against lower emissions, a more reliable and secure energy market and lower prices for consumers,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Climate Action Tracker report by international climate science and policy institute Climate Analytics says gas needs to be phased out globally by the 2040s to meet the Paris Agreement.
It projects the amount of gas for power generation to drop from about 20 per cent to three per cent by 2030, to one per cent in 2035, and to be gone by 2040.
“There is no need for any increase in gas for power generation due to the increasing cost-efficacy of battery storage, pumped hydro, demand-side management and the integration of hydrogen and electric vehicle storage systems into the grid,” the report says.
“Coal-fired power can be phased out by 2030 in a planned and regulated process to enable a just transition – using renewables and advanced storage – without gas.”
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Good morning
Welcome to Wednesday, which is mostly just a wash-up of everything that happened on Tuesday.
The government is trying to move on from Monday’s Four Corners episode – the line is anything that happened, happened years ago, before Scott Morrison was prime minister, and there have been no breaches of the ministerial code under Morrison – and ministers are sticking to it. Anne Ruston, who was interrupted by Morrison yesterday as she was answering a question about what the culture was like for women in parliament, parroted it on ABC radio this morning.
The former press secretary who spoke to the program, Rachelle Miller, has asked Morrison to investigate whether or not she was “blacklisted” for further work, after her affair with Alan Tudge.
@ScottMorrisonMP it’s not about the #bonkban It’s about how I was treated in our workplace, which ended my career! Those Ministers were promoted, I was blacklisted. I made formal complaint, will you ensure it’s investigated? @Milliganreports
— Rachelle Miller (@RachelleJMiller) November 10, 2020
Rachelle Miller has confirmed she has made a formal complaint to the Parliament. https://t.co/ytO2GTddz9
— Louise Milligan (@Milliganreports) November 10, 2020
Christian Porter, who was also featured on the program, has repeatedly denied any allegations he breached the ministerial code.
Yesterday, Morrison said he would not be taking any further action on the matter.
Meanwhile, Labor is still dealing with the fallout of a shadow cabinet meeting on Monday, where frustrations with Joel Fitzgibbon’s constant interventions boiled over.
As Murph reported:
Monday night’s shadow cabinet discussion began with Anthony Albanese expressing annoyance that Labor’s media strategy following the election of Joe Biden – a strategy that was intended to increase political pressure on the government over climate change – had been blown off course by ill-disciplined commentary.
Guardian Australia understands Fitzgibbon responded to Albanese’s comment by saying: “I’m in the room, you shouldn’t speak about me like I’m not here.”
A heated discussion followed where shadow ministers, including fellow rightwingers, criticised Fitzgibbon for not backing Labor’s climate policies.
Labor sources say Fitzgibbon had planned to step out of the shadow cabinet before the next election in favour of fellow New South Wales rightwinger Ed Husic, but the departure was brought forward after internal tensions reached boiling point.
That’s not going anywhere. And neither is Fitzgibbon. It gave the government something to niggle about on a day that should have been entirely focused on its own benches.
We’ll cover the wash-up, as well as whatever else happens throughout the day. You have Amy Remeikis with you for words, Mike Bowers behinds the lens for parliament, as well as Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst and the entire Guardian brains trust.
Ready?
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