Day draws to a close
We’re going to leave our live coverage there for today, folks.
It’s been another big day for the Coalition. Malcolm Turnbull is facing trouble on a number of fronts:
- a late breaking story on the banking royal commission puts Turnbull in a difficult position. It now appears proponents of a banking inquiry have the numbers, after a second Nationals MP, Llew O’Brien, reportedly agreed to cross the floor. How is the government going to respond? Will it change its opposition to an inquiry, or risk losing an embarrassing vote on the floor of parliament? George Christensen upped the ante on the issue, creating his own website dedicated to pushing for a bank inquiry. Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce also left the door open to Nationals support for the inquiry.
- the same-sex marriage debate is continuing into the evening. After emotional speeches earlier in the day, we’ve heard a number of conservative MPs propose stronger protections for freedom of religion and expression, as well as parental choice. The Greens have proposed their own amendments but Labor’s position is that Dean Smith’s cross-party bill is an acceptable compromise.
- Greens MP Nick McKim delivered a series of fiery questions on Manus Island to the federal government in question time. McKim asked whether government ministers were toasting their policy as the men on Manus were beaten with metal poles. He also called on Labor to end their policy lockstep with the Coalition and help campaign against offshore detention.
- There has been continued dissection of the Queensland election, and what it means for federal politics. Attorney-general George Brandis, in one of the more memorable contributions, said any flirtation with One Nation was “poison” for his side of politics. Brandis joined other government ministers in dismissing the notion that the election result was a reflection of federal issues. Malcolm Turnbull said this morning that it was fought entirely on local issues.
Thanks for sticking with me today. I’ll be back again tomorrow for another go. Please do join me.
Liberal senator James Paterson is speaking on the same-sex marriage bill in the Senate. This is interesting because Paterson is the senator who proposed an alternative bill to that introduced by Dean Smith. You’ll remember that moderate Liberal MPs were less than impressed with Paterson’s intervention. His bill proposed stronger powers to allow for people to discriminate against same-sex couples on the basis of their religion or conscience. It was subsequently withdrawn.
Paterson says he voted yes and is not religious.
He is not in the Senate to speak on behalf of the 4.9 million people who voted no. But he is reminding people that they should not be “totally disregarded”.
I’m here today on behalf of the many Australians who voted yes but don’t want to see it happen at the expense of other people’s freedom.
He says there is a high degree of support within the community for the protection of freedoms of religion, conscience, and choice.
Paterson said key elements of his ultimately doomed bill will be introduced as amendments.
He said it was never his intention to use his bill to entrench discrimination against same-sex couples.
That was not my intent, my objective was to protect freedom of religion and conscience.
Numbers materialise for banking inquiry
Staying on the banking inquiry briefly. It now looks increasingly likely that an inquiry will be set up in some form. A second Nationals MP, Llew O’Brien, has offered to cross the floor in support, according to the Australian Financial Review. That would give enough votes to pass a private member’s bill proposed by Nationals MP Barry O’Sullivan to establish the inquiry.
It would be a significant blow for Malcolm Turnbull.
George Christensen dedicates entire website to bank inquiry push
LNP MP George Christensen has upped the ante in his push for the banking royal commission. You’ll remember that he’s been a chief agitator on this issue within the Coalition, despite contrary positions from Malcolm Turnbull, Matt Canavan, and Scott Morrison, among others.
Now, he’s created his own website. The website is at www.bankinquiry.com.au, and outlines 10 reasons for a banking royal commission. The blurb on Christensen’s website says:
Welcome to my page, setting out the case for a powerful, dedicated inquiry into systemic misconduct by Australian banks that unfortunately have become far too common.
He issued a media statement upon launching the website. He said it was the only way for light to be shone on the “repeated unconscionable conduct” of the banks.
Misconduct in the banking sector is real and current, and though other measures to address it have been raised, I fixed on the position 12 months ago that we needed either a royal commission or a commission of inquiry into the banks.
It’s a stance I have taken because I believe it’s the only way we can shine a light on some of the issues of repeated unconscionable conduct.
There is a need to take strong action to address the appalling treatment of people who have done nothing wrong, other than trusting a bank to look after them.
Liberal senator says worst conduct came from yes voters
Liberal senator David Fawcett, also an opponent of same-sex marriage, has just said some of the worst behaviour during the campaign came from yes voters.
Whilst there was a lot of concern about what the no campaign might do ... I think it would be fair to say that you could characterise some of the worst breaches of what we would consider civilised conduct in the country were some of the blockade-type protests by yes campaigners that sought to frustrate the ability of people to meet and associate and discuss these issues
Fawcett described a news story early in the campaign, exaggerating the extent of homophobic posters in Melbourne, as “media fraud”. He said it swayed opinion. He went on to attack boycotts against those opposed to same-sex marriage.
Updated
We’re back to debate on the same-sex marriage bill in the Senate. Liberal MP Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, a conservative, spoke against the bill. Fierravanti-Wells was prominent on the no side of the debate during the campaign.
Fierravanti-Wells says she a message for the people of western Sydney and the almost five million Australians who voted no. Labor are seeking to “crush” all you hold dear, Fierravanti-Wells tells them.
We hear you, we have supported you, and we will continue to support you.
Labor has ignored your views. They are not listening to you. They have abandoned your values and are seeking to crush what you hold so dear.
You should never be made to feel that your values are wrong or your concerns insignificant.
Fierravanti-Wells wants significant additional protections on freedom of speech, religion, and parental choice. The “alleged” safeguards in the bill are inadequate, she says. The constitution does not do enough to protect freedom of religion, she says.
There are six amendments she supports, which will be proposed by her colleague David Fawcett, a Liberal senator.
Together the amendments would seek to ensure:
- the definition of marriage should separately recognises both man-woman marriage and “two-person marriage” as valid
- protections for religious celebrants and conscientious objectors
- protections for freedom of expression and to recognise legitimate beliefs
- an anti-detriment shield protecting individuals and organisations with genuine convictions about traditional marriage. This would ensure they are not subject to unfavourable treatment by public authorities due to their views.
- freedom from being required to express, associate with, or endorse statement or opinion about marriage, which conflicts with genuine religious or conscientious convictions about marriage
- protections for charities
- non-discrimination in government funding
- protection of religious bodies and schools and parents to have the right to withdraw children from certain classes
You would have seen already that Triple J has decided to move its hottest 100 from Australia Day to January 27.
The political reaction is already coming in thick and fast.
Liberal MP Alex Hawke has slammed it as part of a “constant push to politicise and delegitimise Australia Day”.
A disappointing decision by the ABC. Australia Day 26 January is a great day for the hottest 100. This constant push to politicise and delegitimise Australia Day is pathetic. https://t.co/Ap9W6D3hd3
— Alex Hawke MP (@AlexHawkeMP) November 27, 2017
Communications minister Mitch Fifield aired similar sentiments.
Communications Mitch Fifield statement: "I am bewildered by the ABC's decision to move the Hottest 100 from Australia Day. The ABC shouldn't be buying into this debate. Australia Day is our national day. The ABC should honour it and not mess with the Hottest 100." #auspol
— Bevan Shields (@BevanShields) November 27, 2017
The Greens, meanwhile, have welcomed the decision. Senator Rachel Siewert said it reflected the community’s wishes.
Triple J have done substantial polling and spoken comprehensively to the community about when they want to celebrate the 100 best Aussie songs for the year, and Australia has spoken.
As stated in triple J’s statement about changing the date, the countdown has not always been on Australia Day. As such, it shouldn’t be linked inextricably to Australia Day.
It is fantastic news that everyone in Australia can now enjoy the countdown on a date that doesn’t cause harm and hurt our First Peoples.
Updated
The Senate will be sitting a little earlier than anticipated tomorrow to allow the debate on same-sex marriage to continue. We’re expecting things to kick off about 10.30am, rather than the usual 12.30pm.
The #Senate has agreed to meet tomorrow from 9.30am (rather than the usual 12.30pm) to consider the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) November 27, 2017
Correction: The #Senate will meet from 10.30am tomorrow morning https://t.co/tD8BeWHA3W
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) November 27, 2017
A new set of amendments from One Nation to the cross-party marriage bill have landed on the books - they appear to allow all celebrants to refuse to solemnise a marriage, not just those that register as “religious marriage celebrants”.
I understand a number of other amendments are circulating.
The David Fawcett amendments expand the category of “religious marriage celebrant” to “traditional marriage celebrant” - in effect allowing people to refuse weddings based on conscientious beliefs regardless of their religion.
Another allows military officers (who solemnise marriages in lieu of chaplains) to reject weddings.
They also preserve one curious feature of the James Paterson bill - that marriages between “two persons” are established in a different subsection to marriages between a man and a woman
The Greens amendments:
- Add a clause that the marriage law is not intended to exclude or limit state or territory anti-discrimination laws
- Remove the ability for existing civil celebrants to register as religious marriage celebrants. Celebrants would not be able to refuse weddings based on their personal religious belief.
- Exemptions to the Sex Discrimination Act for religious bodies to refuse goods and services “in regards to marriage” would be removed because they replicate existing provisions
These amendments are in addition to those from senator David Leyonhjelm relating to celebrants and commercial discrimination against weddings, although Coalition conservatives have given up on the latter.
Matt Canavan splits with colleagues on bank inquiry
Resources minister Matthew Canavan, a Nationals senator, has just split with his colleagues Barry O’Sullivan and George Christensen on their push for a banking inquiry. He said he doesn’t think it’s a good idea, but he respects the views of O’Sullivan and Christensen.
I think it’s best for us to try and deliver real and practical results for people. It’s why the government has strengthened the powers of ASIC and given them more funding, $100m more funding... we’ve also set up a consumer complaints body to better handle complaints.
Canavan also describes the Queensland election as “quite positive” for the LNP, despite the fact that they didn’t win.
His argument is that the LNP performed well against a first-term Labor government and contending with the supposed resurgence of One Nation.
Canavan said he thinks the Queensland LNP should remain a merged party.
I think a future where we are separate would be self-destroying. I think a merged party works well.
It’s a different story federally, he said, where a separate voice for regional Australians was needed as a distinct party in Canberra.
Canavan is asked whether he agrees with George Brandis that flirting with One Nation is “poison”. He says he’ll leave Brandis to his own emotive language. But he said the LNP should keep itself separate from One Nation.
I do think that we need to be separate and stand on our own two feet.
We didn’t do preference deals. This is a complete furphy... The Labor party are going to win something like 10-11 seats on the back of One Nation preferences.
One Nation made some rather bold predictions about its prospects at the Queensland state election. It predicted a repeat of its famous 1998 success.
Those successes failed to materialise on the weekend. Many are now predicting their 61 candidates are unlikely to win a seat. Why? And what does it mean for the party federally?
Anna Broinowski, the author of Please Explain: The Rise, Fall and Rise Again of Pauline Hanson, has a theory. The various gaffes and chaos of the campaign played a role. But more influential was One Nation’s conflicting policy positions, Broinowski writes.
But far more damaging to Hanson’s dream of repeating her 1998 Queensland victory are the contradictory messages she sells as policy. The senator opposes coal seam gas mining because it pollutes aquifers “for future generations”, and has told me there is “no way” she’d let the Great Barrier Reef be damaged. Yet she rejects global warming as a “rort” perpetrated by scientists hungry for grants, and famously snorkelled in the Great Barrier Reef’s last unbleached pocket to prove that climate change is a myth.
You can read her full piece here:
Greens senator Nick McKim has made another fiery speech on Manus in the Senate, speaking to his own motion. He urged the Labor party to join the Greens in opposing offshore detention. He slammed Labor for being in policy lockstep with the Coalition.
The Greens desperately want to bring the sorry chapter in our country’s history of offshore detention to an end. But we cannot do it on our own. We need the support of the Australian Labor party. So I say to the Labor party, stop wringing your hands, enough of your crocodile tears, join with the Australian Greens in demanding that offshore detention ends, now
Updated
All the colour from question time this afternoon, courtesy of the roving Mike Bowers.
Updated
Greens accuse government of toasting beatings on Manus Island
Things got rather heated in the Senate towards the end of question time.
The Greens’ immigration spokesman, Nick McKim, asked about the “humanitarian calamity” on Manus Island. He said the men there were violently forced out of the centre and beaten with bars. The alternative accommodation is not ready, he said, something confirmed by the United Nations high commission for refugees (UNHCR).
So, McKim asks, who is lying about the accommodation? The UNHCR or the immigration minister?
He also asks whether the government toasted themselves and their policy as the beatings and blows rained down on refugees.
Minister Dutton wanted his prisoners out of his detention centre and the PNG security forces did as he asked, driving starving, dehydrated and defenceless people out by beating them with metal bats.
Did you toast those beatings in your party room, minister? As you saw those blows rain down, did you congratulate yourself on an outstanding policy success?
The question raises the ire of Coalition MPs.
The attorney general, George Brandis, wants the question ruled out of order. He says it goes “way beyond the bounds of acceptability or decency”.
McKim, in a supplementary, asks about the UNHCR’s finding that refugees were being denied essential healthcare services. Before being cut off, he asks:
Are you bloody serious minister? How can you leave innocent refugees ...
The employment minister, Michaelia Cash, responds:
What you’ve just said is political rhetoric, nothing more, nothing less. And it is not supported by the facts.
She accuses McKim of telling the men to stay in a camp with no food, no electricity and no water.
Updated
Labor senator Katy Gallagher brings up John Howard’s comments on a bank royal commission. Howard described it as “rank socialism” and urged the Coalition against it.
Gallagher asks the attorney general, George Brandis, whether he agrees with Howard’s comments.
We’re not proposing a banking royal commission senator, I don’t know if you’ve been keeping up with this debate very closely, senator Gallagher.
What Mr Howard said was to endorse the government’s position of opposing a banking royal commission.
He’s asked about comments made by Nationals leader, Barnaby Joyce, who left the door open to supporting a banks inquiry. She asks whether Brandis has spoken with Joyce about the comments.
Brandis says he hasn’t seen Joyce’s comments. But he said a royal commission would go for years, cost hundreds of millions of dollars and wouldn’t achieve anything that 17 prior inquiries into the banks hadn’t.
Updated
#ThingsYouThoughtYouWouldNeverSay All the action is in the senate today during #QT @murpharoo #auspol @knausc @GuardianAus #politicslive https://t.co/7ceHyXY4Lk pic.twitter.com/tjCROhgTLH
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) November 27, 2017
One Nation senator Peter Georgiou is asking when the government will finally announce a code of conduct for the banks.
It causes Labor senator Doug Cameron to yell across the chamber about the push for a banking royal commission.
The attorney general, George Brandis, himself a lawyer, responds:
The problem with a royal commission is that it will take forever and achieve nothing. That’s the problem ... Except for the bevy of lawyers who will be able to afford new beach houses on the strength of all of the fees they will charge.
Updated
The Greens senator Andrew Bartlett is asking George Brandis about Chinese financing for Adani’s controversial coalmine and railway project in Queensland. Brandis says he is in no position to comment on private financing to Adani. But he says:
The successful financing of the Adani project does hold the prospect of the greatest increase in job opportunities for people in central and eastern Queensland.
Updated
Meanwhile, in that other place that isn’t the Senate, this is happening:
From question time to quiet time-an unusually silent reps chamber this afternoon in Parliament House @murpharoo @knausc @GuardianAus #politicslive https://t.co/7ceHyXY4Lk pic.twitter.com/uziDm12ETQ
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) November 27, 2017
Flirting with One Nation is 'poison': George Brandis
George Brandis doesn’t hold back in the Senate when asked about whether the Liberal party should flirt with One Nation.
Flirting with One Nation is poison. Flirting with One Nation is poison for my side of politics. and my attitude to One Nation, with whom I deal courteously and professionally in this chamber... nevertheless [my position] is that One Nation has nothing to offer the people of Queensland.
But he goes on to suggest the Labor party will secure seats as a result of One Nation preferences.
Brandis said volunteers on the booths in Queensland were directing Labor voters to put the LNP last. In other words, he said, they were being told to put One Nation above the LNP.
Updated
The employment minister Michaelia Cash is asked about the situation on Manus Island. She airs allegations that Greens immigration spokesman, Nick McKim, has travelled to Manus to “peddle false hope” and tell residents not to cooperate with authorities.
She says McKim has travelled to Manus twice, and says his actions are “highly irresponsible”. McKim interjects to tell Cash he has been there four times.
Cash says the men on Manus will not come to Australia.
The Turnbull govt has made it very, very clear that these men will not be coming to Australia. There are, however, a number of options to them. Those found to be refugees can be resettled in PNG.
They can also apply for resettlement to the United States of America, or alternatively they can apply to Nauru.
Updated
Question time is off and racing
We’re straight off the bat with a question from Labor’s Penny Wong. She asks the attorney general, George Brandis, about Tony Abbott’s comments about the cancellation of this week’s sitting of the House of Representatives.
If you remember, this is what Abbott said about the decision to cancel parliament for the week:
You might not always want to go back to parliament, but you always have to go back to parliament, because that’s your job.
Wong asks Brandis whether he agrees with that statement.
Brandis responds:
We’re in parliament right now, Senator Wong, the parliament is sitting, the Senate is sitting. I’m sorry to hear from you Senator Wong ... that you believe the parliament comprises only the House of Representatives.
Updated
You might remember Fraser Anning, the senator who was sworn in earlier this month as a replacement for One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts. You’ll remember him, most likely, because of the shenanigans that took place on his first morning as a senator. Anning either quit or was booted out of the party, depending on whether you asked him or his leader, Pauline Hanson. He remains on the crossbench.
Anning, a senator for Queensland, has just issued a statement on the Queensland election. He says One Nation’s decision to preference “indiscriminately” against sitting members meant many of their votes ended up flowing to Labor.
He described that as “an own goal” for One Nation, which had helped the election of “hard left” politicians.
This crazy policy of indiscriminately preferencing against sitting members means that lefties will be returning to George Street and good conservatives will lose their seats, compliments of a supposedly rightwing party.
As the conservative protest party, you would expect One Nation would be supporting the most conservative candidates or members in each seat. That’s what I would do and I’m sure it’s what a majority of One Nation voters want
Updated
As promised, the business of the Senate has been well and truly cleared for the debate of the same-sex marriage bill. Our wonderful photographer Mike Bowers was down in the chamber to capture the day so far.
More than 160 LGBTI organisations and leaders have signed a statement calling on the Australian parliament to legislate marriage equality by the end of the year.
The statement is signed by groups from around the country including ACON, Amnesty International Australia and state Gay and Lesbian Rights lobbies as well as individuals including actor Magda Szubanski.
It identifies the cross-party bill, authored by Dean Smith and supported by Labor, the Greens, the Nick Xenophon Team and Derryn Hinch, as “the best way to achieve marriage equality by consensus”.
A notable absence from the petition is Just Equal and its spokesman, Rodney Croome, which have been lobbying for amendments because they are concerned about the creation of a new religious marriage celebrant category and exemptions to allow organisations connected to religions to refuse to provide services to same-sex weddings.
The joint statement says:
As organisations, leaders and supporters of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) communities, following the resounding YES result in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey, we call for the Parliament to pass marriage equality legislation as soon as possible.
“More than 7.8 million people said YES to marriage equality. The strong YES vote delivered a loud message – discrimination against LGBTI Australians must end. It is now time for our parliament to act and pass marriage equality this year.
Updated
Time for a recap
Right, we’re halfway through this first sitting day of the week.
What’s happened so far?
- The fallout from the Queensland election result has dominated the political debate today. On the weekend, rogue LNP MP George Christensen blamed the party’s federal leadership for the poor result. Those comments have been slammed by his federal colleagues. The education minister, Simon Birmingham, this morning described them as “ridiculous”. Trade minister Steve Ciobo said it was an “absurd” proposition. Malcolm Turnbull said the election was fought on local issues. The Labor party has also faced questions over whether it is losing out to the Greens in inner-city areas. Opposition leader Bill Shorten said it was clear that voters were dissatisfied with major parties.
- Senators are making some impassioned and valuable contributions to the debate over the same-sex marriage bill. We’ve heard an emotional speech from the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. The Greens are proposing some amendments. Labor MPs have urged for the bill to be passed without amendment. Conservatives Eric Abetz and Zed Seselja have spoken of the need for greater protections for freedom of religion, conscience and parental choice.
- The push for a banking royal commission continues to fuel tension within the Coalition. The Nationals’ Barry O’Sullivan last week circulated a private member’s bill to bring on an inquiry into the banks. Today, we’ve seen Barnaby Joyce leave open the possibility of supporting such an inquiry. Liberal MPs are holding the line, saying such an inquiry would be a waste of money and would add little value. They’re putting forth their compensation scheme for victims as an alternative.
- Malcolm Turnbull renewed his attack on Labor candidate for Bennelong, Kristina Keneally, saying her views on immigration would encourage people smugglers. Keneally once wrote a piece advocating for the men on Manus Island to be brought to Australia. In response, Keneally described Turnbull as looking a “bit stressed”.
-
Shadow cabinet met in Canberra this morning. Labor says they are keeping busy in parliament, despite the Coalition’s decision to call off sittings in the lower house this week.
Updated
Counting is still going on for the Queensland election and Labor is by no means guaranteed a majority, but Annastacia Palaszcuk has headed back to the executive building to “get on with the job”.
There are still about a dozen seats to be called and Labor is still in with enough of a chance to be a possibility as a majority government, but there is no guessing where those oh so important preferences will go.
It’s going to be some time before we get a result on this. Meanwhile, the LNP is trying to work out what went wrong and fingers are being squarely pointed at the federal sphere. Expect the fall out to continue for some time.
The conservative Liberal senator Eric Abetz has just spoken on same-sex marriage. He was one of the most outspoken no campaigners in parliament.
Tasmanian Senator Eric Abetz during debate on the bill to change the marriage act in the senate @knausc @murpharoo @GuardianAus https://t.co/7ceHyXY4Lk pic.twitter.com/0PYctGuNvT
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) November 27, 2017
Abetz is saying the no campaign was at a disadvantage from the start. The media and celebrities were “relentless” in their support for the yes vote.
Abetz says marriage is "common to all cultures" and was designed for biological parents to "socialise the next generation". "The man-woman-children dimension is the common denominator". #auspol #marriageequality
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) November 27, 2017
He says good statesmen govern for the entire community, which would include no and yes voters.
Abetz, obviously, wants to see amendments to the Dean Smith bill currently before the Senate. He wants to see greater protections for freedoms of religion, conscience, and speech.
Abetz: I am currently in a minority on changing marriage, but I am in "no doubt" I am in the majority on protecting their long-held and deeply cherished freedoms. #auspol #marriageequality
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) November 27, 2017
Updated
Here’s a little more from senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s contribution in the Senate earlier today. She spoke about one of her best friends, who was gay and was the victim of bullying.
He struggled for a long time. And I remember thinking I never did quite enough to have his back. He was one of my bestest friends and we hung out, every now and then I would tell people to bugger off when they tried to pick on him. But it didn’t quite feel like it was enough ... Young people in Australia deserve better than that.
.@sarahinthesen8 shares an emotional story as debate beings in the senate on the same sex marriage bill MORE: https://t.co/jNStkrpoak pic.twitter.com/tRCNzIXJ0l
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 27, 2017
Mike Bowers was down in the chamber for Hanson-Young’s speech.
Updated
Trade minister Steve Ciobo, who represents Moncrieff in Queensland, is holding the line on the state election.
It was fought on local issues, he says. The link being made (including by his colleague George Christensen) between the result and Malcolm Turnbull is “ridiculous”.
“That’s an absurd proposition,” he says.
He’s asked about a banking royal commission, following the comments of the Nationals leader, Barnaby Joyce, who left the door open to establishing an inquiry.
Ciobo says such an inquiry would “do nothing except make a lot of money for lawyers”.
Updated
We’ve had the first two opponents of marriage equality speak in the Senate debate: Liberal senators Jonathon Duniam and Zed Seselja.
Duniam said that he opposed same-sex marriage “not out of fear or hate, but out of love for my God”. He says he will obey the will of his state of Tasmania and vote in favour, but promises to pursue amendments to prevent “unintended consequences”.
Seselja said: “There is a uniqueness to the male-female relationship – which is still expressed in Australian law ... It soon won’t be.”
Seselja promises to “respect the will of the Australian people” by voting yes at the second reading stage, allowing the bill to go forward.
He will then support amendments so the bill is not a “blank cheque” for marriage equality supporters. No word on what he will do in the final vote.
Zed Seselja runs through all the attacks on "no" campaigners. Then brushes over those from the "yes" side, saying that none of the organisers from the "no" side participated in those attacks.
— Josh Taylor (@joshgnosis) November 27, 2017
Seselja says that public opinion polls which accurately suggested Australians would vote “roughly 60-40 in favour of same-sex marriage” now suggest most support religious freedoms.
Setting aside the irony that we needed to ask everyone their view of marriage but now polls are just fine for judging our views on freedoms, it’s not correct that the amendments enjoy majority support.
Guardian’s Essential Poll finds 63% want ministers of religion and celebrants to be able to refuse weddings, but those wanting commercial discrimination and for parents to have a right to remove their children from classes that do not reflect a traditional view of marriage are in the minority (albeit narrowly).
Updated
A little more from that Turnbull-Frydenberg press conference. Turnbull spoke a lot about renewables, and said there is too much “ideology and wishful thinking” in the debate. He asks why Australia would de-industrialise as a result of “some green-left ideological crusade for windfarms and solar panels”.
He then paints himself as a champion of renewables.
I see it sometimes in the media, saying that my government is hostile to renewables. What utter rubbish. We are embarking on the single largest hydro project in the country’s history since Snowy 1; that’s Snowy 2.
Turnbull also had a message for One Nation voters in Queensland.
I want to say this. For whatever reasons, everyone is entitled to cast their vote as they see fit. but the voting for One Nation in the Queensland election has only assisted the Labor party. So the One Nation voters, I want to say to them that votes for One Nation have assisted Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Updated
Turnbull says Queensland election fought locally, renews Keneally attack
Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg are speaking in Wollongong, at a BlueScope steel facility. They’re there to talk up the government’s national energy guarantee, but the questions thus far are almost exclusively on the Queensland election.
So much so, in fact, that when a question on the national energy guarantee is asked, it appears to genuinely surprise Turnbull.
I’m sorry, what measurement are you talking about?... the national energy guarantee, oh right, sorry.
On the Queensland election, Turnbull says there is no initiative to split the LNP in Queensland. He is trying to distance the federal government from the Queensland election.
I don’t think there’s any initiative to change that. The election was fought on, very much as we know, on state [issues]. As state elections always are by the way, but this one was particularly so.
He also takes an early opportunity to hurl a rock at Kristina Keneally, the Labor candidate for Bennelong. She wants to bring refugees to Australia from Manus, says Turnbull, referring to an old opinion piece Keneally wrote for Guardian Australia.
That would be the biggest marketing opportunity for the people smugglers that you can imagine.
Updated
Zed Seselja expands on his concerns about parental choice. He says overseas experience suggests teaching on gender and sexuality had been forced on children without their knowledge. We shouldn’t just “take it on trust” that the same won’t occur in Australia, Seselja says.
In other countries we have seen flow-on impacts and it’s been harder for those individual parents to object.
Updated
The first senator from the no campaign is on his feet in the Senate. The conservative ACT senator Zed Seselja is saying he will support amendments which “strengthen the legislation”. Seselja has been one of the key proponents of amending the bill to give greater protections for religious freedom and parental choice.
I firmly believe this cannot be a blank cheque, because changing this Act does have consequences.
Seselja said he remains “firm in his convictions” about marriage but will respect the will of the Australian people.
He’s raising concerns about the teaching of programs such as Safe Schools in Australian schools.
Seselja began his contribution by reminding the Senate that many people currently sitting in the chamber have previously opposed same-sex marriage but since changed their position. That included Labor senator Penny Wong, who voted in support of the Howard amendment in 2004 to exclude same-sex couples from marriage.
Simply because some have changed their views ... does not mean the millions of Australians who hold a different view do it as a result of bigotry, any more than Senator Wong did it as a result of bigotry.
Updated
Tears and Cheers-Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young during an emotional contribution in the senate as debate on the bill to change the marriage act gets underway @knausc @murpharoo @GuardianAus #politicslive https://t.co/7ceHyXY4Lk pic.twitter.com/b7ZoOuI65V
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) November 27, 2017
Association with One Nation 'toxic': Liberal MP
Federal Liberal MPs are continuing to publicly dissect the Queensland state election result. Tim Wilson has just said that any association with One Nation is toxic and ought to be avoided.
Bob Borbidge is right: any association with One Nation is toxic. They are not allies or friends of the Liberal Party. They feed on discontent. They have no solutions for the future of Australia.
— Tim Wilson MP (@timwilsoncomau) November 27, 2017
Education minister Simon Birmingham had similar things to say a bit earlier this morning on Sky News.
After trashing Nationals MP George Christensen’s weekend comments, Birmingham said the LNP needed to work out a way to stop the leakage of votes to minor parties.
So this goes to the question of how do you fight back against that leakage of votes to minor parties and to One Nation in particular? And you don’t do it by trying to become One Nation light.
You do it by taking the fight up to them in terms of explaining to the electorate the benefits of open markets, the benefits of trade, the benefits that will accrue to those communities because we’re increasing exports and generating more jobs, the risks to them if we actually get pushed into becoming a closed shop economy; that of course people will find their standard of living will drop, their opportunities will drop.
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Labor’s Jenny McAllister is now on her feet in the Senate. She’s chairing a committee that’s looking into the conduct of the postal survey.
The past few months have been bruising and hurtful to the LGTBI community.
McAllister: there is no hidden army of social conservatives, the years of polling were right. #auspol #marriageequality
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) November 27, 2017
Emotions are running high in the Senate. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is in tears as she speaks on the same-sex marriage bill. She pays tribute to the activists and politicians who have helped make marriage equality happen.
Millions of Australians have fought for this reform to happen. Inquiries after inquiries, protesting on the street, meeting with members of parliament, lobbying in their workplaces and voting yes.
It is now time for the Senate to do our job, to get this done. And without the muddying of the waters from those who have always been opposed to equal love. The growth of the movement has been so strong and so profound. Activists gathering in pubs, meeting in community centres, organising among their friends, to cities and airports being lit up by lights.
But why is this so important? It’s because discrimination to some demeans us all. Because equality is a symbol of a fair, caring and progressive society.
Hanson-Young says she will always remember 15 November, the day the postal survey results were announced.
It will go down as the day when progressive reforms can be seen as achievable. The street party and the parties [which] happened across the country on the day and the night on the 15th of November were so joyous.
You could just feel the buzz and the excitement in the air, because there was just a huge sense of relief. People who had fought for this for so long were vindicated.
The nation repaired its broken heart that had been damaged by the former prime minister John Howard’s bill. It is now up to this place to make sure that we get the job done and finish properly.
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It’s not all Kumbaya in the Senate despite the cross-party consensus on the bill authored by Dean Smith and the long list of marriage equality supporters so far.
Labor’s Anne Urquhart took a swipe at Philip Ruddock’s record as attorney general when discussing the government’s religious freedom inquiry, and noted that it has no LGBTIQ representation.
Lisa Singh called the postal survey a “blatant abdication of responsibility and a waste of $100m”. She accused Malcolm Turnbull of caving to conservatives. “The prime minister continues to let them lead the government and that is an absolute shame.”
Sarah Hanson-Young is now on her feet and very teary about the long slow progress of marriage equality, recounting her decision to sponsor a private member’s bill in 2008. She said Australian Marriage Equality co-chair Alex Greenwich convinced her that marriage equality was not inevitable and progressives would have to fight for the social reform.
“It’s his birthday tomorrow, so I’m hoping we can have a vote on the second reading as a birthday present for him.”
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Just casting our gaze over to banking, momentarily. We know the push for a banking royal commission is currently one of the key topics causing restlessness within the Coalition.
Well, our political editor, Katharine Murphy ,has added a little more fuel to that particular fire. She’s spoken to Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, who has left the door open to switching positions and supporting an inquiry into the banks.
If he did so, he’d be at odds with Malcolm Turnbull and treasurer Scott Morrison, who have so far resisted such calls, instead favouring a compensation scheme for victims of bank malfeasance.
You can read Murphy’s full piece here:
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Senate debate on the cross-party same-sex marriage bill has continued with more supporters including Peter Whish-Wilson, Anne Urquhart and Richard Di Natale.
Urquhart said that an “ideal bill” would simply remove the provision that marriage is between a man and a woman and instead specify that it is between “two people”.
She argues the cross-party bill is already a compromise, because it creates a new category of religious civil celebrants that can refuse weddings – one of the many indications that Labor will not accept further amendments.
Di Natale says “the resounding yes vote was a call to end discrimination, not entrench it”.
The Greens leader also mentions he has met young LGBTI people who don’t want to get married because they view marriage as “flawed, conservative and patriarchal”.
But even these people “almost all still support this change … because for many this is about equality, not marriage”.
Di Natale promises a good faith debate on the cross-party bill. He has already confirmed to Guardian Australia that the Greens will propose amendments but not do anything to imperil marriage equality.
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Greens leader Richard Di Natale has just wrapped up his speech.
Remember those rainbow sneakers he wore when the same-sex marriage bill was introduced?
Well, he’s got them on again. He’s telling us why.
When in the future I recall the resounding yes vote and I look at these sneakers, I’ll know that change is possible. If we can achieve justice in this issue, there’s no reason we can’t achieve justice for so many other Australians who are struggling right now. That we are better as a nation when we are working towards fairness, respect, and compassion.
As the debate on the same-sex marriage bill continues, Victorian Labor senator Jacinta Collins crossed the floor to speak with Liberal moderate Dean Smith.
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The Senate has resumed debate on the same-sex marriage bill.
Labor’s Anne Urquhart, a senator from Tasmania, said her party made a mistake when it backed John Howard’s change to the Marriage Act in 2004, which deliberately barred same-sex couples from the definition of marriage.
Urquhart said it took many years of effort to change Labor’s position. Tasmania, she said, led the way. She implored colleagues to allow the bill to pass without amendments.
All that will happen after this bill is passed is that more people will be able to get married. In no way does this bill lessen the value of, or harm any existing marriage. In no way does this bill cause any harm on any person or couple. And in no way are your precious freedoms restricted or impacted.
The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, is also speaking on the bill. He said the postal survey had unleashed hate and abuse on the LGBTIQ community. Now, the parliament had to get on with the job.
It’s now time to end the damaging debate, enough is enough, enough of the distractions, enough of the delays, enough of the damaging lies.
Australia said yes to marriage equality, and they said it emphatically.
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Turnbull can cancel Parliament - but that won't stop my Labor team from turning up to work and pushing our policy agenda: creating jobs, investing in education, building infrastructure and – of course - protecting Medicare. pic.twitter.com/DZoQb5ob8b
— Bill Shorten (@billshortenmp) November 26, 2017
The result of the Queensland election has been one of the key talking points in Canberra this morning. Your usual blogger, Amy Remeikis, has given us a series of excellent insights into Queensland politics throughout the campaign. This morning, she looked at how Adani’s Carmichael mine influenced the result. The conclusion? It may have saved government for Labor. Exit polls in the state’s south-east found up to 70% of respondents were against the billion-dollar rail line loan for Adani.
You can read Amy’s full piece here:
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Labor candidate for Bennelong, Kristina Keneally, appeared in the electorate a little earlier. We’re only a few weeks out from the poll, which is shaping up as a significant test for Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition.
Keneally responds to the attack launched on her by Turnbull on Sunday. Turnbull likened her views on immigration to throwing out the welcome mat for people smugglers.
Keneally said Turnbull had looked “a little stressed”.
And you know what it’s not just the prime minister who’s under pressure. It’s his government that’s under pressure. The dysfunction, the chaos. This government is eating itself alive in front of the Australian people.
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Mike Bowers was down at the shadow cabinet meeting earlier this morning. Look how busy everyone is! As per Bill Shorten:
“We are here. Turnbull, well, he’s just not here.”
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Abbott talks about a “faustian pact” that exists between those who leak and journalists. This pact, apparently, guarantees the politician favourable coverage in exchange for the leak.
If someone is a regular source you then write favourable things. Now, in the end, politics is diminished.
Abbott says cabinet leaks are 'dishonourable'
Tony Abbott has just been on 2GB, railing against leaks from the cabinet. He says the “era of the political assassin has to end”.
The leaks he is referring to were made to News Corp, and revealed ministers were backing a banking royal commission in spite of the opposition from Malcolm Turnbull and Treasurer Scott Morrison. Abbott says he has no idea who the leakers are:
I don’t have ministers sidle up to me and say ‘oh I got that into the press now didn’t I embarrass so and so, and I achieved this particular objective’.
It’s a dishonourable thing, and dishonour only takes place in the darkness. The leaker doesn’t tell.
Even though I’m sure the journos who are leaked to despite the person who is doing the leaking. They also appreciate that for them, this is a valuable source.
All of this dishonour has got to stop says @TonyAbbottMHR #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) November 26, 2017
Abbott: "dishonour takes place in the darkness". STEP INTO THE LIGHT #auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) November 26, 2017
"The era of the political assassin has to end," says Tony Abbott on 2GB. "It must, must stop." Being asked about cabinet leaks.
— David Crowe (@CroweDM) November 26, 2017
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Former Queensland Labor premier Peter Beattie has just offered an interpretation of the state election result. There are federal ramifications, he said.
The state election showed a serious dissatisfaction with both major parties.
Labor won because of Annastascia Palaszczuk’s personality, which voters warmed to.
He says there has been a fragmentation of the conservative vote in Queensland, which creates problems federally. Many One Nation voters ended up voting Labor, or spraying their preferences to other parties, instead of the LNP. The consequences of that are dire for the Coalition, according to Beattie.
The federal liberal government will lose power in Queensland alone unless they reassess where they are and re-establish their credibility here. I’m not sure they can do that under the current prime minister. They seriously need to think about a change otherwise they will lose the election in Queensland alone ... the weekend’s result confirms it.
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Shadow cabinet meets in Canberra
Shadow cabinet is meeting in Canberra this morning. Labor is playing up the optics. Here they are, busy in parliament. The Coalition, meanwhile, has called off sittings in the lower house.
“We are here. Turnbull, well, he’s just not here,” Shorten says, in case the subtlety escaped anyone.
Shorten:
The prime minister can cancel parliament as often as he likes, that won’t stop us from getting on with building infrastructure, defending and supporting Medicare, properly funding our schools, our universities and our TAFEs and generally standing up for the issues which Australians want.
Shorten congratulated Queensland Labor for its result on the weekend. He also says the federal opposition wants to remain “positive” in the lead-up to Christmas. He flags the banking royal commission and Labor’s campaign against penalty rate cuts as two key battlegrounds.
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Let’s not forget about that small matter of the Bennelong byelection, scheduled for16 December. What does the Queensland election result mean there, if anything?
Taylor was asked about the byelection on Sky News. He uses the question to launch an attack on Labor’s star candidate Kristina Keneally.
It’s very clear as well as the prime minister said yesterday, that in a range of policy areas, there are some very serious questions, in particular, giving encouragement to people smugglers, which is the last thing this country needs.
He’s echoing a new line of attack on Keneally, opened up by Malcolm Turnbull on the weekend. Turnbull referred to an article Keneally wrote for Guardian Australia, advocating for refugees on Manus to be brought to Australia. Turnbull said on Sunday:
[The people smugglers] will see and are seeing Bill Shorten’s choice of Kristina Keneally as Labor wanting to throw out the welcome mat for asylum seekers.
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George Brandis also aired some views about the Queensland state election. He said it would be “foolish to deny” that all state elections have an element of national significance. But he says none of the headline issues in the campaign were federal.
There is no doubt in my mind, having been a very active participant in the Queensland state election, that this was an election fought on state issues. It was fought from the LNPs view, on the very poor record of the Palaszczuk government.
He’s asked about George Christensen’s comments. Brandis says he can understand Christensen’s position, but:
What I would remind him is that at the end of the day what the Australian people want is for government’s to get on and deliver for them.
They don’t want to see an endless symposium on Queensland electoral politics, we’ll leave that to commentators like you. What they want is for us to get on and do our job, and that’s what we’re going to do.
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My colleague Paul Karp earlier told us about some further agitation from conservative MPs on same-sex marriage. Angus Taylor, Zed Seselja and Michael Sukkar say the moderates are betraying the party by backing the private member’s bill proposed by the moderate Dean Smith. That’s the bill that has cross-party support and is now before the Senate.
The attorney general, George Brandis, said some within his party are making the same-sex marriage debate broader than it needed to be.
There is absolutely no inconsistency between giving effect to marriage equality and protecting religious freedom. The two are entirely consistent with one another.
He’s asked whether his colleagues have anything to fear about the bill’s consequences for freedom of religion.
I think they have nothing to fear, but nevertheless there are some who take the view that this ought to be a broader debate, that it ought to extend into broader areas of anti-discrimination law. That’s not what the Australian people voted on in the marriage survey.
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Bill Shorten ties Coalition to Queensland state election result
Bill Shorten is in Canberra, where his shadow cabinet will meet this morning, despite the lower house break.
Rather unsurprisingly, he thinks the Queensland state election is a reflection on the Turnbull government.
Shorten praises Annastascia Palaszczuk for the strength of her campaign and agrees much of the election was fought on state issues.
But Shorten says Malcolm Turnbull is living in “la la land” if he doesn’t think the vote was a reflection on his government. He’s spoken with the ABC this morning:
He just doesn’t get it. There are issues not just in Queensland, but across Australia, which I think Australians are increasingly frustrated about the federal government, not the least of which is the failure to hold a banking royal commission.
I think there are implications for federal politics and parties generally, but first of all for the government, you don’t have to take my word for it, you can take the word of George Christensen.
Shorten is, of course, referring there to Christensen’s intervention at the weekend. Christensen blamed the state election result on a lack of leadership from the federal government.
On banking, Shorten says Labor will work “seriously and constructively with anyone, and that includes senator O’Sullivan”. You’ll remember that O’Sullivan, an LNP senator, has circulated a private member’s bill to establish a commission of inquiry.
Shorten says Labor would look at the Coalition’s plan for a compensation scheme for banking victims. But he said it would not get to the heart of the problem. Only a royal commission could achieve that, he said.
How many breakfast shows have we done in the course of the past year and a half where the government has got a new plan to try and reform the banks. They seem to want to do everything except a royal commission.
A compensation process is one that we will look at constructively. But that’s no guarantee of stopping the problems in the future.
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The Liberal MP Warren Entsch has taken aim at the Liberal National party MP George Christensen for his decision to apologise to One Nation voters and sheet home blame to Malcolm Turnbull after the LNP’s poor Queensland election result.
Speaking to ABC AM, Entsch said:
Unfortunately with George – and he’s entitled to his opinion – he’s always sort of firing shots ... To go out there and apologise to One Nation or one other group, I don’t think is the way to go ... To suggest one way or another that it’s all to do with federal government – the first thing he has to realise is ... George, you are actually a part of federal government.
Entsch rules out supporting Senator Barry O’Sullivan’s bill for a bank commission of inquiry. He said the basis for it was “wrong”, citing O’Sullivan’s comments that he felt entitled to agitate on the issue because Dean Smith had introduced a private member’s bill for marriage equality.
Entsch:
It worries me that there is no real terms of reference here. It’s just, ‘Oh let’s go and do it.’ And worse still, in this particular case, he doesn’t just want an inquiry on banks, he wants it on insurance companies, on superannuation. It is so broad we could be inquiring into it for the next 20 or 30 years. If the inquiry is to tell us the banks have been ripping us off and doing the wrong thing, we don’t need an inquiry we know that already.
What we need to do is focus on the victims ... the treasurer I understand will be announcing something this week, a tribunal for victims under $5m damages, I’m continuing to push for victims over that and dealing with historical cases.
Speaking of marriage, the conservative ministers Angus Taylor, Zed Seselja, and Michael Sukkar have complained to the Australian that moderates betrayed them by backing a cross-party marriage bill. As the Senate prepares to debate marriage it appears the conservatives are on a hiding to nothing.
Entsch:
They are ministers, they have the responsibility to talk within their portfolios publicly ... What I’m saying to these guys – these ministers – by all means, if you want to go chasing religious exemptions, please do so, but do a favour and step down from your portfolios, you can do so then without breaching ministerial codes.
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Good morning, blog fans!
Welcome to another week of mayhem in the house on the hill. It’s Christopher Knaus again filling in for my long-lost colleague Amy Remeikis, who has spent the past few weeks up north, covering the Queensland state election. She’s still in the sunshine state for a little longer, but I’ll be here early this week to guide you through the events of federal politics.
It’s a big week for the Coalition. You’ll no doubt remember that we’ve only got the Senate sitting this week. The lower house has been given a lovely one-week pre-Christmas holiday.
But there’s likely to be little respite for Malcolm Turnbull. There are internal battles erupting on several fronts this morning. Here’s what we’re expecting to dominate today:
- Nationals MPs, including LNP senator Barry O’Sullivan, are continuing to agitate for an inquiry into the banks, in defiance of the government’s position. O’Sullivan circulated a private member’s bill last week to force such a commission. The Liberal MP Warren Entsch has already been out this morning, criticising O’Sullivan’s approach. The government is attempting to head off the push for a banking royal commission by proposing a compensation scheme for victims.
- The result of the Queensland election is already creating problems for Turnbull. The LNP backbencher George Christensen has laid blame for the result directly at the feet of the Turnbull government (of which he is a part). Coalition MPs have been out this morning criticising Christensen for his comments, and downplaying links between federal issues and the state election.
- Debate over the same-sex marriage bill will continue in the Senate this week. The bill is continuing to fuel tensions within the Coalition. Conservatives including Zed Seselja, Michael Sukkar, and others are continuing their push for stronger powers to discriminate against same-sex couples. That is frustrating moderate MPs, including Entsch and the Liberal MP Dean Smith.
- Labor are attacking the government for delaying the sitting of the lower house by a week. The opposition leader, Bill Shorten, has slammed the decision again this morning. We’ll bring you more of his comments shortly.
Stick with us. It’s sure to be another frantic day in federal politics.
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