And on that note, we will leave you there.
Labor has a new policy, Tony Abbott didn’t get the support he wanted but is still threatening to cross the floor, and Scott Morrison has given us the snake of envy.
That’s about enough for one day, I think.
A massive thank you to the Guardian’s brains trust, and to Mike Bowers, for not only bringing me country bakery bread, but also for being Mike Bowers.
And to you, as always, for reading and following along. It means more than you know to have you support our efforts, even if you don’t always agree.
We will be back bright and early tomorrow for the second-last sitting before the winter break so, as always, take care of you.
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WHAT pic.twitter.com/APDFiT8VxR
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) June 26, 2018
Just a glimpse
Planning a visit to Parliament? Please be aware that the roof will be closed to visitors until 25 July due to construction work. Sorry for the inconvenience and don’t worry: visitors will still get a glimpse of our iconic Flagmast. pic.twitter.com/uM6sHRVFrW
— Australian Parliament House (@Aust_Parliament) June 26, 2018
The ABC has apologised for its news coverage of the byelection date:
News: On Friday 25 May 2018 the 7pm News broadcast a story on the ramifications of the decision to call a series of byelections on 28 July. The story attributed that decision to the prime minister despite him having denied earlier that day that he had made the decision. The story should have included that denial and a similar statement from the Speaker of the House of Representatives. ABC News apologises for the error.
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Pauline Hanson on company tax cuts in the Senate just a little bit ago
I haven’t flip flopped, I said no originally and then I said yes, then I said no and I stuck to it.”
Sorry. My post was a little delayed because I was just checking the definitions of flip flop, in case I was wrong, or it had changed. But no, the informal US English usage of the term is still “when someone completely changes plan”.
Or, if it is easier, take out ‘I haven’t flip flopped’ and you’ll get a pretty good definition of what a flip flop is.
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Nick Champion has taken the renaming of his electorate on the chin (not that there is much choice):
I welcome the decision to rename the seat of Wakefield to Spence.
Renaming Wakefield after Catherine Helen Spence is a great tribute to someone who gave so much to our society and in the reforming of Australian politics.
Spence fought for female suffrage initially in South Australia and, after succeeding in 1894, continued to campaign in New South Wales and Victoria.
Of her many achievements, Spence is recognised as Australia’s first female political candidate, Australia’s first professional female journalist and also the author of the first legal studies textbooks produced in Australia.
I am proud to have served as the member for Wakefield since 2007 and look forward to continue serving as the member for Spence.”
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Malcolm Turnbull let slip this in QT today, in response to Susan Templeton, but I think he means the byelections (I am just rereading the pinks and greens).
But for the record:
The honourable member will be doing the rounds and saying, vote for the Labor party and pay more tax. I don’t think that will be a very compelling message, but we don’t have long to wait.
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Opponents of live exports had a big win over the government today. My formal motion to ban live sheep exports passed through the Senate 33-30. Only 37 years since I took my first petition to Canberra. Also presented a petition with 130,000 names today.
— Derryn Hinch (@HumanHeadline) June 26, 2018
I didn’t even realise it had been five years:
It's been 5 years to the day since this happened. It feels more like 50 #auspol pic.twitter.com/t8MoVG3JM6
— Andrew Brown (@AndrewBrownAU) June 26, 2018
Government set to pass its higher education debt repayment bill
The Coalition looks to have secured support for its higher education bill which lowers the threshold for repayments on student debts from $54,000 to $45,000 a year.
That will mean people earning $45,000 a year will have to pay at least 1% of their income ($450) towards their student loans, rising to 2% for those earning more than $52,000 ($1,040) and 3% for those earning more than $62,000 ($1,860).
The sums are a little different because the bill has changed since then, but our columnist Greg Jericho wrote in May 2017 that the effect for those with student loans is a steep increase in their effective rate of taxation and more money out of their pay packets.
The bill also imposes a lifetime cap on taxpayer loans of $104,440 for most students, but under changes students will be able to incur more debt up to this limit if they pay some back.
The bill is opposed by Labor and the Greens but has won wide crossbench support from David Leyonhjelm, Cory Bernardi and others. Centre Alliance’s Stirling Griff confirmed to Guardian Australia that his party supports the $45,000 threshold and the replenishing cap.
After moving amendments to lower the threshold even further, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is also on board, according to Fairfax media.
Updated
For the first time today, let’s get some Mike Bowers magic into you.
Updated
The Senate just voted on a motion put forward by Peter Georgiou to basically give more GST to Western Australia (“recognises that it is in the interests of the nation that tax revenue be fairly distributed”) and that the productivity commission report into GST be released immediately.
It lost 47 to 6.
Pauline Hanson voted with her senator.
Updated
Chris Bowen has put out a statement on what Labor was trying to get at in question time:
Another day, another reminder that Scott Morrison isn’t up to the job of treasurer and is more interested in out-dated Reaganomics and the Tea Party than paying off debt and protecting the Australian economy.
Scott Morrison said at a doorstop: ‘I don’t consider tax relief a cost to the budget.’ What a truly bizarre and looney tune comment to make.
This shows Australians everything that is wrong with the Turnbull government digging massive structural holes in the budget, courtesy of the $140bn income tax and $80bn big business handout while gross debt is projected to remain above half a trillion dollars.
Memo to Scott Morrison: cuts in tax do cost the Budget.
The government is being fiscally reckless when it says it will bring the tax cuts forward if the economy improves, but will deliver them even in the face of a significant economic downturn: meaning either the budget will worsen substantially or essential services and supports will be cut yet again.
This latest line of thinking that somehow cutting tax pays for itself is concerning, because it suggests that if Australia faces another external economic shock in the future, and the revenue dries up, we won’t see tax cuts for big business or high income earners repealed, but more cuts to health, education and other basic services.
Updated
Aspiration count: 10
Snake: 4
Arrogant: 2
Updated
Last week Penny Wong asked a question of the Senate president, Scott Ryan, after Alice Workman’s Buzzfeed story on the ETU member who was asked to turn her shirt inside out during a parliamentary tour.
Wong: There has been some media reporting online of an alleged incident involving a young apprentice visiting parliament house who was allegedly asked by a security guard to take off her shirt because it had a union logo on it. I appreciate you’ll need to make inquiries. I ask: is this policy of not allowing someone wearing a union logo T-shirt into the parliament approved by the Department of Parliamentary Services? Is it a policy endorsed by or known to the presiding officers?
Today, Ryan got back to her:
“I would like to respond to the question asked by Senator Wong in the chamber last Thursday, following reports in the media, relating to a member of the public being asked to remove or cover up clothing that displayed a union logo.
“All people entering parliament house are subject to security procedures and prohibited items are not to be brought into parliament house.
“Items that might cause danger to people or damage property, might be used to disrupt order or decorum, or compromise security arrangements must be cloaked before entry into parliament house.
“These items include weapons, aerosol or paint cans, laser pointers and obvious protest paraphernalia.
“Protest paraphernalia, including clothing with specific messages, if allowed into parliament house may, depending on the circumstances, have the effect of bringing the protest into parliament house and can be used to disrupt the order of the parliament.
“Operating policies and procedures No 10.5 notes if a person is found inside the building with a prohibited item, parliamentary security service staff ask that person to surrender that item.
“I am advised that on 19 June a protest organised by Unions ACT was conducted on the authorised assembly area within the parliamentary precinct.
“On 20 June I am advised a PSS officer noticed potential protest material or paraphernalia being taken into the building through the main front screening point by a small group. The PSS officer spoke to a pass-holder and the visitors who owned the material before contacting the team leader.
“One of the visitors was carrying a poster that was promptly passed to the pass-holder who accompanied the group.
“The clothing worn by the visitors displayed material related to the demonstration of the previous day.
“After speaking with the PSS officer, the team leader took into account these matters and made an assessment that their clothing was potentially protest paraphernalia. The clothing in question contained more than a small logo.
“Where a personal assessment is made that an item of clothing worn by a person may be protest paraphernalia, they are requested to cover it, change the item, or turn it inside out.
“The team leader approached the visitors and requested that clothing displaying protest material be covered, changed or turned inside out. The team leader suggested to the group that they could use the nearest bathrooms for changing purposes. After some discussion the visitors appeared to comply before leaving the area.
“I am advised the PSS team leader was asked if his decision was because their clothes displayed union logos.
“The team leader explained displaying a union logo was not the issue, the issue with the clothing was the slogans and images contained on the clothing.
“From the inquiries made as a result of this question and the media report, the department has determined that the manner in which the relevant security service team leader addressed this situation was professional and courteous.
“As is evident from the many union representatives that attend parliament house on a regular basis, there is no policy precluding access by association, nor does the policy prohibit the display of logos.
“Parliament house receives thousands of visitors each day.
“The parliamentary security service officers bear a significant responsibility for interpreting policies and making judgments ... which balance the right of people to access the building while ensuring that proper decorum is maintained.
“My advice is that this particular policy has been in place since January 2009 and it has not since been reviewed. All security policies are currently on a review program by the Department of Parliamentary Services which commenced last year.”
Labor is going to take a look at the claims in Ryan’s answer.
Updated
Malcolm Turnbull, who I think would be horrified to learn that Tveeder struggles to translate him at times because of how his words run together, does us all a solid and calls time on QT.
Fun fact: Tveeder can transcribe Tim Storer word perfectly, because he is just that methodical with how he speaks.
Be more like Tim Storer, parliament.
Updated
Never here, Paul Fletcher is here to save us from this drudgery!
Just joking.
He mentions the “latte line” and the “goats cheese circle” and now I just want another coffee and some cheese.
So, I guess it is not a total loss.
Susan Templeman to Malcolm Turnbull:
“The finance minister has said tax cuts for the top 20% of income earners would go ahead even if another GFC hits. Given gross debt under this minister has blown out to a record half $1tn and he has already made savage cuts, won’t this just mean that if a downturn hits, this government will again cut schools, Medicare and pensions?”
Turnbull:
“The honourable member should take to task the person who wrote that question for her, because it was very unfair to have her asking a question that is so misleading and so inaccurate.
“In fact, spending on hospitals is increasing substantially, and the minister for health just described the $30bn increase over the next five years agreement, and spending on schools is increasing every year because we have introduced the first truly national consistent needs-based commonwealth funding policy for schools. So I thank the honourable members for her question, but the premise of it was entirely wrong.
“We are able to keep funding for those essential services increasing because we have the budget under control, and at the same time, we could bring it back in to balance a year earlier, and at the same time, we are able to provide tax relief to hard-working Australian families and indeed for small and medium family businesses.
“The very businesses that the honourable member has many o fin her electorate, which will be hit hard by a Shorten Labor government.”
It goes on, but I cannot.
Updated
We are getting our daily dose of Greg Hunt, and I think the matrix may be broken, because I have seen this episode already.
Tanya Plibersek to Malcolm Turnbull:
“The prime minister said earlier that the government’s [tax cuts] is funded by hard-working Australian families. Why is the prime minister taking $80bn from hard-working families and the services they rely on and giving it straight to big business?”
Turnbull:
“Mr Speaker, it is obvious that economics has joined aspiration and geography as mysteries to the deputy leader of the opposition. When governments reduce tax, whether it is personal income taxes as we have done last week, or business tax, as we did last year – and of course as the opposition is proposing to jack up business taxes again – when taxes are reduced, the government is not giving anything away. It is taxpayers’ money. It is taxpayers’ money the government is taking less of. The fact that the deputy leader of the opposition does not understand this speaks volumes for the contempt the Labor party holds Australians, hard-working Australians and businesses, large and small.”
Updated
Josh Frydenberg delivers another dixer straight to Tony Abbott on the Neg.
Abbott looks very busy not listening.
Updated
Bill Shorten to Malcolm Turnbull:
“Yes or no, does the prime minister consider that the big banks deserve a $17bn tax cut?”
Look, we all know we are not going to get a yes or no answer here. It is physically impossible for the prime minister not to actually say a million words in his allotted time, when he feels he is on a roll. He has had his barrister strut on all afternoon. The papers have been gathered with flourish. The glasses have been on and off and the finger is in full pointing mode.
There is no way we are getting a yes or no answer here.
Update: shockingly, we do not get a yes or no answer here.
We do get Warren Snowdon serving sass levels not seen since my post-formal though, so there was that (he was almost named, but withdrew – and is just sinbinned for the normal time).
Updated
Peter Dutton seemed to trip over his dixer answer today. I guess its hard to combine the CFMEU basically being the mafia, with deaths at sea and strong border policies and keeping you safe and Labor is terrible every single day, without occasionally tripping over your script.
Catherine King to Malcolm Turnbull:
“By the time they are fully implemented, stage three of the personal income tax scheme and big business handout will cost at least $25bn a year. Where is the money coming from? Won’t this mean even more cuts to schools, Medicare and pensions?”
Turnbull:
“The deputy leader of the opposition is mystified by aspiration and the member for Ballarat is mystified as to where the money comes from. I will let you know: it comes from hard-working Australians.
“It comes from Australian businesses making profits and paying tax. It is their energy, their enterprise, their aspiration, which drives the Australian economy. Nothing more clearly distinguishes the unreality, the disconnected, the out of touch nature of modern Labor, that they do not recognise that everything that we do here, every dollar we spend, comes from the efforts of hard-working Australian families.
“That disconnectedness. It is their money. When we cut taxes, what we’re doing is enabling Australians to keep more of their money.
“Labor thinks it is them giving them a gift. It is not. It is hard-working Australians’ money.
“We are able, because of good budget management, to pay for all those essential goods and services, including the ones Labor neglected, like those pharmaceutical benefits listings which were deferred in 2011 as Labor’s budget showed. Labor couldn’t fund the PBS and Labor neglected those services and we are funding them with increasing amounts every year. We are keeping our nation safe. As the minister has just described. We are doing that providing more tax relief to hard-working families and Australian businesses and bringing the budget back into balance a year earlier.
“That is the difference between a strong economic management under the Coalition and the debt, deficit, failure and disappointment of the Labor party.”
God, take out Labor party and that last sentence just takes me back to family dinners.
Updated
Christopher Pyne is now talking drones.
The parliament holds it breath, it is just that excited. (Having already made a cup of tea, I am now considering going to get a biscuit, because come on. The press release has already been sent out. This is just punishment now.)
Updated
Michael McCormack took a dixer, so I made a cup of tea.
Chris Bowen to Scott Morrison:
This morning, the treasurer said about his big business tax cut, he said, I don’t consider tax relief a cost to the budget. Is the reason the tax cut is underfunded is because the treasurer believes he can conjure the money out of thin air? Isn’t it a fact that spending $80bn on a big business tax cut just means more cuts to Medicare, schools and the pension?”
Morrison (who has notes, so he obviously knew after what he said at the press conference this would come up, or at least his office did):
“Reducing company tax promotes investment, creates jobs, drives growth. Who said that? Member for McMahon 2013. That snake charmer over there (he is immediately made to withdraw).
He says some more things – or uses some other Labor quotes – but he is so excited and making so many loud noises, the transcription feed just cannot cope. And neither can I.
Updated
Tanya Plibersek to Malcolm Turnbull:
“Last year, the National Australia Bank made a net profit of about $5m, but cut 6,000 jobs. Why is the government trying to cut a deal with One Nation to reward the big banks with a $17bn handout? Why do his arrogant and out of touch policies always reward the top end of town while workers get punished?”
Scott Morrison takes it. He also has notes. He needs them for this:
“I was talking about the boa constrictor before, the one that suffocates and constricts the blood supply to the body as it defeats it.
“That is what Labor’s policy will do to our economy. There are plenty of other snaky characters. If you look at the king brown snake, it has the largest reported venom output of any snake in the world. Who’d that remind me of? The leader of the opposition.”
He’s stopped from going further by the Speaker.
Tony Smith: I don’t like the track he is going down. He is about to get bitten.
But there are more snake puns to come!
The snakes and ladders approach of tax policy that we have seen from the Labor party, saying to people that they reckon they will put them on the ladder of opportunity and the truth is they are just going to slide all the way to the bottom under Labor’s tax policy.”
Updated
Bill Shorten to Malcolm Turnbull:
“Why is the government negotiating to give big business a handout after the byelections? Don’t voters deserve to know the truth that this government is teaming up with One Nation to give the banks $17bn?”
Turnbull (he is very excited to answer this question. He has papers and everything to read from):
“The honourable member has asked me about the voters in Longman being entitled to hear the truth, and that is absolutely right. They are, they are, and they did not get the truth from the leader of the opposition on 22 June when he was on radio, and he was on radio and he said that, you could not get chemotherapy on Bribie, you had to go to Brisbane to get it, couldn’t get it anywhere near Caboolture, and a lady called Patsy called in.
“She rang into the radio program and she sought to correct the leader of the opposition. It is one of the most excruciating calls to listen to. The patronising way in which he talks over Patsy, cuts off, does not want to listen to her, and he says, he says, ‘Patsy, I can’t see why you are so frustrated,’ and Patsy, Mr Speaker, spoke for all Australians, certainly all the voters in Longman, when she said, ‘I’m frustrated because you’re not telling the truth, for God’s sake.’
“She called him out for one falsehood after another. Then he talked over the top of her at the hospital and he said in a rather patronising way, ‘Well, we disagree there, Patsy. You are entitled to your opinion.’ She said again, speaking for all Australians and everyone in Longman, ‘Are you serious?! I live here.’ I know, Mr Speaker. The fact is the leader of the opposition is misleading the people in Longman as he is misleading the people right around the country.
“Funding has increased. And even when Patsy, living there, living in Caboolture, calls up and seeks to get the facts straight, using the services of the hospital, the medical services, when she called up, this arrogant, out of touch leader of the opposition talks over the top of her and says rather grandly ...”
Tony Smith cuts off his oration and says that he said a little bit ago, he mentioned how he didn’t like the term “arrogant and out of touch” being used in questions, and that stands for answers as well.
Turnbull finishes with, “I say again, she spoke for all Australians when she said to the leader of the opposition: I am frustrated because you are not telling the truth, for god’s sake.”
Updated
Mark Butler to Josh Frydenberg:
“Is the prime minister aware that the energy council has called new coal-fired power stations unaffordable and there is no reason to build them? Energy Australia has said coal-fired power is a solution my grandfather would have built.
“AGL said no private capital will invest and Origin has said it will be unlikely they would be investing in new coal. How on earth can the prime minister suggest twice today that coal-fired power might be around forever?”
Frydenberg:
“I haven’t had a question from the member for Port Adelaide for 250 days, Mr Speaker. He lost his seat, he lost the presidency, now he has lost his relevance, Mr Speaker.
“The reality, Mr Speaker, as the prime minister said, is coal is an important part of our energy mix. The member for Port Adelaide knows what happened in South Australia when the northern power station closed and the wholesale prices went up by more than 80%.
“The member for Maribyrnong now turns his back because it was a Labor government in Victoria that tripled the royalties on the coal-fired power stations of Victoria. Saw the closure of Hazelwood which also saw wholesale prices in Victoria going up 80%, Mr Speaker.
“And now it is up to the Labor party to tell the workers, the blue-collar workers in the mines and the power stations across the country, that their policies will close them down. And put them out of a job.
“Will they go to the electorate and tell the 230 workers at the Gladstone power plants that under their policy they will be out of a job? Will they go to the election of Gippsland and tell the 500 workers at the power plant there that under the Labor party’s emissions scheme, they will lose their job. And will they go to the member for Shortland’s electorate and tell the 300 workers there that they will lose their job?
“Mr Speaker, when it comes to coal, we know that you cannot trust what the Labor party says because the member for Shortland is the shadow minister for climate change and energy and he proudly put on his website, he proudly put on his website about the Carmichael mine and I quote, ‘I welcomed the jobs it will provide in Queensland, Mr Speaker.’ Now, what do you think his website says it now?
“He has gone to the same school on websites as the member of Barton-went to. Now his website says the following. ‘I remain opposed to the Carmichael mine.’
“So, the Labor party, the leader of the opposition, he will go to the miners in Mackay and tell them he supports them. He will then go to the baristas at Batman and tell them that coal has no future. Don’t look at what Labor says, look at what Labor does. Only the Coalition can be trusted to deliver more affordable and reliable power.”
Updated
In her dixer, Kelly O’Dwyer keeps referring to a “cluster” of a decision by Labor and Bill Shorten, and I just can’t help thinking a word is missing there.
Did she mean cluster-daisy? Cluster-fudge? Cluster-fiddlesticks?
THESE ARE THE ANSWERS WE NEED!
Updated
Steve Ciobo lined up a whole dixer just for this pay-off
We have, of course, the member for Grayndler. Who, me? he says to the Sydney Morning Herald. We know that that member, Mr Speaker, has a different view. He sees himself as the new messiah of the Australian Labor party. He wants to lead them into the promised land. Like the Life of Brian on that side, Mr Speaker, like the Life of Brian, you have the opposition frantically ringing up the backbench saying, he is not the messiah, he is just a very naughty boy.
“Because we conceded, they are opening the gulf between the two of them. Of course, he claims he is not the messiah either but that immortal line from Monty Python, only the true messiah would deny his divinity. The fact is, we now see the splits opening up on Labor. He is going hard left and he is trying to be more centrist.”
Question: is there a time limit on when we will stop hearing Monty Python quoted by politicians and are we there yet?
Updated
Andrew Wilkie asks the independents question on whether Tasmanian businesses will be able to compete for government contracts, given the government’s preference to award contracts to national suppliers - many of who do not have a presence in Tasmania.
Malcolm Turnbull says the government has already looked at that:
The new Commonwealth procurement rules require that benefit the Australian economy be considered when assessing the value for money for tender system non- construction procurement above four million and construction procurement above 7.5 million. And potential suppliers to government will continue to be treated equitably and cannot be discriminated against based on their size, location or ownership.”
It goes from there to an attack on Labor for its commitment to repeal the company tax cuts, so it’s quite the journey.
Mark Butler to Malcolm Turnbull:
“Last month the security board repeated the consensus view that there would be no way that anybody would be financing a new coal-fired power generation plant and this was not contentious at a factual level.
“How can the Prime Minister today tell the Parliament that coal-fired power might be around forever? Is there anything this Prime Minister won’t do to stop the members for Warringah and Hughes from crossing the floor and undermining his government?”
Turnbull:
“I’m not quite sure what the honorable member believes qualifies him to have some sort of infallible crystal ball, but over the years I have found that predictions about technology are often mistaken, and so you are better off recognising...
(he pauses for interjections, which gives me the opportunity to ask a sidenote - does that also apply to the NBN)
Turnbull continues:
“The reality is that coal-fired power is a big part of our energy mix at the moment and will be at the part for a very long time and may very well be forever. We will find out in many years to come.
“The reality is, in the here and now, we need to have cheaper and more reliable power. The honorable member knows better than most that in his state that combination of left-wing Labor ideology, led by the now dismissed Labor government, dismissed by the people of South Australia, that combined with other incompetence resulted in his state having the most expensive and the least reliable electricity in Australia. We are delivering more reliable and more affordable power because we are working on it with the benefit of engineering and economics. I know they are strangers to the honorable member but believe me, they are the guides to a more affordable and reliable energy future for all Australians.”
Scott Morrison goes into ‘at-the-pub-over-a-pint-of-midstrenth-watching-the-Sharks-drop-the-ball-two-yards-from-the-try-line’ mode to answer his dixer.
Someone has got their mojo back, eh?
But it has done nothing to improve his analogies:
The leader of the Labor party, we used to have leaders who talked about the ladder of opportunity. Remember that? This Labor leader is all about the snake of envy. That is what he is about. Australians will slide down the totem pole under this Leader of the Opposition’s policies and the blood supply will be constricted by the boa constrictor over there. The boa constrictor suffocating the economy, cutting off the blood supply, Mr Speaker. That is what the Labor Party are all about. Higher taxes, cutting off the blood supply to our economy...”
He runs out of time, so we’ll never know if a mongoose or honey badger enters this story.
Tony Burke asks if Malcolm Turnbull could maybe make a “passing reference” to the question and Tony Smith says just so.
But we move on to a dixer.
Mike Kelly to Malcolm Turnbull (also on energy)
“The CEO of Snowy Hydro has stated that building new coal-fired power plants doesn’t stack up. The chief operating officer has said it will mean Snowy 2 is not viable. As the government is the sole shareholder, has advice being sought from Snowy Hydro about the impact of building g new coal-fired power plants on the viability of Snowy two?”
Turnbull:
I cannot be happy enough to answer a question about Snowy 2. What a great example of the vision of governments in the past, Labor and Coalition governments, and Snowy Hydro 2.0 is the next stage that is going to deliver thousands of jobs into the Eden-Monaro electorate, and it is going to provide a secure dispatch [of] power into the future.
“Now, the member referred to some remarks by Paul Broad. He is entitled to his opinion. He is entitled to his opinion, but we have a policy that is entirely technology agnostic. The national energy guarantee provides no disincentives for anyone to build a new coal-fired power station or refurbish an existing one any more than it provides a disincentive for people to build more gas or indeed to build more hydro.
“What it does is prioritise dispatch ability, which had been sadly missing from all of the Green left energy policies of the Labor party, and that of course supports thermal power.
“As far as Snowy Hydro 2.0 is concerned, I would remind the honourable member of this. Snowy Hydro 2.0 will be a big baseload customer of all providers of energy, generators, renewable, but including coal-fired power. A power station that runs 24 hours a day, like a coal-fired power station, does not have the same demand 24 hours of the day. A big pump hydro scheme will be buying power from coal-fired generators in the off-peak times and will provide that of peak baseload demand.
“So it is one that will provide support right across the industry, but the bottom line is let the market decide on which technology to determine, let the market decide what we are prioritising is affordability, reliability and meeting those emissions reductions targets. We can do all three, the Neg does it, it will bring down energy prices for the reasons that has been advanced, it will bring down energy prices and that will be good for families, businesses, large and small, and it will be great for Australian jobs.”
Updated
Question time begins
And Mike Bowers has just returned from his off-site job to bring you all of the excitement from the chamber, so huzzah!
Bill Shorten to Malcolm Turnbull, and it is on the Neg.
“The environment minister said, ‘I would welcome a new coal-fired power station.’ Does the prime minister agree?”
Turnbull:
“Coal has a very important role and I have no doubt it will have, for many years to come, possibly forever. Who can tell? The reality is we have a [multi] technological approach to energy policy. The subsidies are coming to an end. The renewable energy target will be complete. In 2020, it will be all met. What we have the national energy guarantee for the first time, the combination of an ability to ensure that power is affordable, that it is reliable, that you have enough power to keep the lights on and that you meet the Paris commitments ...
“We are already seeing our energy policies working. Already we have seen the wholesale price of gas halved in the last 18 months. There was a massive shortage of gas on the east coast of Australia, created by the Labor party, created by a federal Labor government and the Queensland state Labor government that allowed gas to be exported from the east coast without any regard to the consequences. We have resolved that with additional gas supply.
“We are already seeing the wholesale cost of generation down 30% over the last year, and finally we are now starting to see a reduction in the cost of energy for mums and dads, small businesses, families, retail prices are starting to come down, among families and the small business. So we are turning the corner on energy costs driven up by the combination of left wing ideology and Labor incompetence.
“That is a very dangerous combination. That is what the Labor party brings to economics. We have heard in the leader of the opposition’s latest captain’s call, his latest attack to the member for Grayndler, the member for Grayndler went out and said they should be [open] to business.
“They say to thousands of family owned small and medium businesses of the country that if he is elected prime minister, he will jack up their tax. That is what he wants to do. He will put at risk millions of Australians jobs, so not only is he going to put up personal income tax, he is going to put up the tax of the businesses that employ more than half of the Australian private sector.”
Updated
My phone has been running off the hook for most of the morning, from all quarters of the Labor party (and I imagine it’s the same for much of the press gallery) and here is what I have gathered:
The decision to repeal the $10m to $50m business tax cuts was not taken to shadow cabinet.
There is conjecture over whether Labor’s economic review committee agreed to repeal it.
The caucus was surprised to hear Bill Shorten say “yes” to the repeal question this morning.
That’s not to say that it hadn’t been discussed, or some thought it was heading down that path, or anything else. That is just what I’m being told by multiple people, across the factions.
Updated
The Business Council chief Jennifer Westacott will also wade in on Labor’s announcement – just ahead of question time.
I am going to go out on a limb and say she is against it.
Updated
Ever felt bad about getting a favourite Australian author’s book out of the library instead of buying it, because you want to support them, but money is tight?
Well, you are still financially supporting them. Authors and publishers are compensated through the Australian government lending rights scheme, which this year paid out $22.3m through 17,200 creators and publishers this year.
“These schemes provide Australian authors and publishers with the means to keep producing uniquely Australian stories to inspire current and future generations,” Mitch Fifield said in a statement.
So go hit up your libraries!
Updated
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief James Pearson is in the building today – he just came round as part of his tour of the press gallery, asking Labor to reconsider its position:
“[These businesses] are employing about 1.1 million Australian workers, so straight away over a million workers, well over 10,000 businesses who now face a tax increase.
“Now that means, if they were thinking about more investments, taking more risks on the back of knowing that they’ve got a tax cut coming and the next tranche is due on Sunday, they are going to think twice about whether or not they should go ahead and take the risk of increasing investment, knowing that if Labor comes into government after the next election and gets its policy through, then they are actually going to be paying more tax.
“But it doesn’t end there because Labor has said it is still reserving its position on whether or not it will honour the legislated tax cuts for companies between $2m and $10m turnover. And that is turnover, not profit, these are small companies. We are talking about the corner pharmacy for example. You are talking about 60,000 companies employing 1.5 million people – they are being told ‘just wait and see’.
“They would be forgiven for thinking after today’s announcement that Labor’s trajectory is to reverse their tax cut as well and that is why my message to the Labor party today is ‘please, reconsider this decision’.
“It is sending a negative signal to the local business community in general, just penalising companies that happen to have turnover of $10m and $50m, that happen to be employing over 1 million Australians – that is bad enough.
“But it is pulling the rug out from under smaller businesses as well, frankly, at a time when Australia is facing increased competition from overseas for investment and for growth, then it is sending the wrong signal and it is making us the odd one out.”
Updated
If you read through that SA electoral committee decision you would have seen that Mark Butler will no longer be the member for Port Adelaide. Here is what he has to say about that:
I have been the proud member of Port Adelaide since 2007 and am obviously disappointed in the decision to abolish the seat.
This seat is deeply entrenched in the local community, with a proud and long history. ‘The Port’ is perhaps the best-known and most iconic part of South Australia – home to the State’s oldest football club, one of the oldest local councils, and to a proudly progressive community.
I will look at all my options as I continue to serve my community.
I know that the Port is a resilient community whose spirit and character will shine through, regardless of the federal seat in which it lies.”
Updated
Just on what Labor might do moving forward in terms of the other business tax cuts, a spokesperson for Bill Shorten tells me the party “has never supported these tax cuts for big businesses – we voted against them and we haven’t changed our position”.
“We’ve always supported tax cuts for small businesses,” she said.
“As Bill said, we’re considering a threshold of $2m or $10m turnover. That will be decided by the shadow cabinet, in the normal way.”
Updated
With Labor’s support, the government will pass its slate of foreign interference and anti-spy laws, but Amnesty has joined GetUp in terms of lingering concerns.
From its Australian external affairs director, Claire O’Rourke:
“Despite the welcome bipartisan announcement yesterday exempting charities from having to register under the foreign influence transparency scheme, Amnesty International remains concerned about the potential impact on our work from the other bill in the package.
“The espionage and foreign interference bill in its current form could wreak enormous damage to Australian civil society.
“By making it a crime to hold the Australian government to account on human rights, this bill will help shield government from accountability. These draconian laws proposed will make Australia more like the authoritarian countries this bill is supposed to protect us from.
“It’s outrageous that parliament is rushing through this bill without properly considering the ramifications for Australian freedoms.
“This bill must be amended to include robust exemptions for charities, so they can continue to contribute to Australian civil society without fear of criminal charges.”
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Labor’s employment services spokesman, Ed Husic, has commented on this story revealing complaints against the PaTH internship scheme, including “inappropriate trainer behaviour”, delays in $200 payments and a self-described “dish pig” told to work in 37-degree heat.
Husic:
“Minister Cash has no idea what is going on in this program. She’ll come out and make bold pronouncements that PaTH interns are protected, but it’s only in estimates that we find out the truth.
“Minister Cash told the Guardian that [the department] closely monitors all internship placements, yet on May 29 in Senate estimates the department responded differently under questioning.
“When asked about ensuring interns only work the amount of hours they are supposed to under the program, the department admitted: ‘We don’t collect data on how many hours each intern’s working.’
“We keep having our concerns reinforced that interns do not have their conditions or safety assured under this program.
“The program hinges on the courage of young people, especially young women, to make complaints about their employers. There have been a couple of complaints about inappropriate behaviour but how many have gone unreported?”
Updated
The numbers
On Labor’s announcement that it wants to repeal the legislated tax cut for businesses sitting between the $10m and $50m thresholds.
According to taxation statistics from the ATO, from 2015-16, there are:
941,166 businesses in Australia, of which 856,528 (91%) have total income less than $2m;
64,395 businesses (6.8%) have total income between $2m and $10m;
20,243 businesses (2.2%) have total income above the $10m threshold.
The Turnbull government says there are roughly 14,000 businesses sitting between the $10m and $50m threshold, which equates to 1.5% of all businesses.
So Labor wants to repeal the tax cuts for 1.5% of businesses.
The Coalition will want the bottom 97.8% of businesses to identify with that 1.5% when it rails against Labor’s “job destroying” measure.
Updated
Neg battle on pause(ish)
More details are slowing emerging from the Yay the Neg! meetings held in the Coalition party room meetings from this morning:
So in this morning's party room meeting: Tony Abbott, Barnaby Joyce, Eric Abetz and Craig Kelly raised issues with the NEG. Abbott said it needed to come back to the party room pre COAG – the PM said no, we'll bring back legislation after @AmyRemeikis
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) June 26, 2018
Tony Pasin also said the NEG should have a price guarantee as well as reliability and emissions reduction obligations. But ten MPs spoke in favour, including Sudmalis, Banks, Broad, Wood, Entsch, Falinski, Ramsey & Irons @AmyRemeikis
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) June 26, 2018
.@JoshFrydenberg got a lot of questions about the detail of the NEG. At the end of the meeting @TurnbullMalcolm told the party room the minister had strong support to proceed to COAG, with legislation to return afterward @AmyRemeikis
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) June 26, 2018
Having failed to trigger a special party room meeting pre-COAG, Tony Abbott has not ruled out crossing the floor on the NEG legislation @AmyRemeikis
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) June 26, 2018
Updated
A spokesman for Chris Bowen tells me that the full abolition (down to $2m) was in Labor’s 2016 election fiscal plan.
Still making the decision on the $2m to $10m tax cuts though, and any decision on that will go to the next election.
Updated
Fraser Anning Fraser Annings
Fresh from trying to censure states for creating safe access zones, Fraser Anning would now like to censure states looking at euthanasia.
He has put forward this motion. Labor has a conscience vote, and I think from memory, government senators do as well (but happy to be corrected).
To move that the Senate:
(a) notes that:
(i) the introduction of euthanasia legislation undermines society’s position on the sanctity of life;
(ii) euthanasia legislation has the potential, as seen in the Netherlands, for the expansion of euthanasia to allow elderly individuals to end their life when no medical issues are present; this increases the risk of elder abuse;
(iii) in 2016 the Australian Bureau of Statistics recorded 2,866 people had committed suicide;
(iv) in particular, the young adult suicide rate in Australia is exceptionally high, with over one-third of deaths (35.4%) among young people aged between 15-24, due to suicide;
(v) creating a culture that accepts death as a solution, is counterproductive to combating Australia’s suicide epidemic, and risks the lives of our most vulnerable, and
(vi) dying with dignity means using the medical advancements of palliative care as the solution to ease the pain of terminal illness, not the artificial ending of a life prematurely.
(b) condemns the Victorian parliament for introducing a law which risks the well-being of Victorians and creates a climate of death.
(c) calls on the Senate to reject any move that would allow the expansion of euthanasia.
Updated
Interesting. Scott Morrison says Labor had flagged its repeal plan in the costings for its own tax plan:
This was already in their costings. They actually put in their last set of costings that you have seen the full abolition of the enterprise tax plan. So if they are actually now shrinking what they are proposing to do, they would have less revenue than they were thinking about before.
“They have a $10bn black hole out of what they will get out of the retirees tax.
“The house of cards he built is crumbling and falling over. I will let him explain his number because he’s got to justify that to the Australian people.
“Australians don’t trust Labor when it comes to finance. Bill Shorten will say anything and do anything and then Chris Bowen will stand there beside him looking like a numpy trying to make out it all adds up. Australians get it. They can see it. They don’t trust these guys with the economy or their own money and the rollback of tax relief that Labor are now proposing – $70bn on personal income taxes – ”vote Labor and pay higher tax”, roll back on making business taxes more competitive with a company with an average size of employees of 75. Give me a break. They are not multinationals. This guy needs to get out more!”
Updated
Amanda Rishworth says Labor has been “very clear from the get-go” about its tax plan.
“We have not supported the majority of the government’s corporate tax cuts because we don’t believe that we can achieve a budget repair that is fair, that still properly funds our schools and hospitals and gives income tax cuts to those that need it the most,” she told Sky News.
“We have been very, very clear from the outset. We considered our position and now we have made a decision. There will be a clear choice at the election – there will be no uncertainty or illusion. There will be a clear choice at the election about what priorities we would have, that is funding schools, hospitals and income tax cuts for those that will benefit the most – those low- and middle-income households.
“And there will be a clear choice between that and the Liberals’ plan to give big companies a tax cut.”
Talking to some of the Labor peeps, the decision not to support the business tax cuts, which have already been legislated, was discussed by caucus. The decision to repeal those tax cuts was not. So perhaps a bit of a captain’s call, or at least a leadership group’s call, there.
Updated
Labor hasn’t said what it will do for businesses with a turnover over $2m.
There are about 94,000 businesses in Australia with a turnover between $2m and $50m, according to Treasury figures from a few months ago, and those businesses employ just over 3.3 million Australians.
Updated
Not only the Snake of Envy. The man who gave us unbelieva-Bill, now presents:
Bill Shafton.
Updated
Scott Morrison is still talking:
We believe the enterprise tax plan should apply across all businesses, as you know. By the time there are reductions in company taxes for businesses at that level, the banks already would have paid some $16bn in the bank levy. which basically completely wipes out any benefit that they would directly receive from a lower tax rate.
“So, sorry ... We believe the enterprise tax plan should apply across all businesses. For the simple reason that small businesses do business with large businesses.
“Take Qantas, for example. They have like 13,000 small-business suppliers. I mean, how do they do better with Qantas if Qantas is paying higher taxes?
“I have never understood the argument for taxes remaining high. It is bad enough that there seems to be some view in the Labor party, even though, as we all know, they used to support these changes, that if you ask businesses, demand, mandate them to pay higher taxes, how that actually helps them be more competitive?
“How it helps them to employ more people, to increase wages or increase productivity? I don’t understand the argument which says, ‘Pay the government more tax and you will do better and the economy will be better off.’ What is even worse is the global movement in taxes on business around the world is down and if our businesses remain where they are, we will have the second-highest tax rate for business in the OECD.
“Now, when it first came down, both under treasurers and prime minister Keating and treasurer Costello, there were 19 countries that had taxes higher than us. There will only be one. How long will that last?
“They want to leave us up there in the stratosphere for higher taxes for our businesses and not afford them relief. Even for businesses with a turnover of between $10m and $50m. This is a naked tax grab. This is a tax grab to go and spend money all over the shop in some sort of big plate the cash splash. That is what Bill Shorten wants. He wants a big chest to just splash cash all over the country to pursue only one interest. And it isn’t the national interest. It is his own political interest.”
Updated
Here’s what Bill Shorten told the Labor caucus today:
“Turnbull has no clue how people actually live and I do believe his wealth is connected to that ... Longman is very close and Braddon is very difficult but we do have the better candidates, the better policies and the better values.”
Shorten cited the Coalition’s $144bn personal income tax cuts and total $80bn tax package as evidence of Labor’s superior “values”, arguing the income tax cuts would give parliamentarians a tax cut of $7,000.
Updated
'The snake of envy'
Scott Morrison on Bill Shorten’s announcement:
This is terrible news for 1.5 million Australians who work in those businesses that will have to face higher taxes under Labor if Labor is elected.
How Labor thinks taxing those businesses with an average of 75 employees is going to help those businesses actually go out there and compete and make their way ahead is beyond me, and I think it just demonstrates how Labor just doesn’t get it when it comes to having plans for a stronger economy.
Labor used to talk about the ladder of opportunity. We all remember that. They used to talk about the ladder of opportunity. Well, under Bill Shorten, under the Labor party today, what we have is the snake of envy. This is a snake and ladders game under Labor. It used to be the ladder of opportunity and now it is the snake of envy under Bill Shorten. Australians will slide down under Labor. They will slide down. They will either pay those taxes directly in higher taxes, as we know more than $200bn in higher taxes on the economy, or they will pay for them through the suffocation of the economy through higher taxes.”
Updated
The ladder of opportunity dates back to Mark Latham’s first press conference as opposition leader in 2003:
Now some people today of course will be asking, ‘Who is Mark Latham and what does he stand for?’ Well I stand for the things that I’ve been doing all my life: working hard trying to climb that ladder of opportunity, working hard, studying hard.
I believe in an upwardly mobile society where people can climb the rungs of opportunity, climbing the ladder of opportunity to a better life for themselves and their family. I believe in hard work.
I believe in reward for effort. I believe in a government that is there to help the people who are doing the right thing – the people who are getting stuck in, doing things the fair dinkum Australian way.
And that’s always been the case for me, always the case of working hard and getting stuck in.
That was me from public housing seeing that my mum was in a home of her own. I worked hard through school and got through to university, then I moved on to a good job and worked hard.
I then ... had the honour to serve in my local community in local government and then for the last 10 years working hard in the Australian parliament.
You’ve got to get stuck in and I believe passionately in climbing the rungs of opportunity. And I want that for all Australians.
I believe in upward mobility. I believe in climbing that ladder. And the problem in Australia that we’ve got at the moment is the Howard government has taken out too many of the rungs.
It has taken out too many rungs. I want to put them back in. The rungs of opportunity that come from good quality healthcare in our society, the opportunity that comes from a decent, affordable education, the basic services that all our community rely on.
These are the things we’ve got to restore. We’ve got to put those rungs back into the ladder of opportunity in this country.
Updated
Introducing ... the snake of envy
There are about 14,000 businesses in Australia sitting between the $10m and $50m threshold.
Scott Morrison has rounded that up to “about 20,000” and quotes Mark Latham in saying that Labor used “to talk about the ladder of opportunity”.
“It used to be the ladder of opportunity, and now it is the snake of envy under Bill Shorten. And Australians will slide down,” he says.
Updated
I was curious to see whether any of the Labor folks would raise Anthony Albanese’s speech last Friday during their regular caucus meeting this morning.
Apparently it was all quiet on that score.
Bill Shorten, according to people in the room, downplayed expectations during his pep talk that they would do fantastically well in the “super Saturday” byelections.
These would be tough contests, he told colleagues.
Also Madeleine King, the WA backbencher, has been elevated to the frontbench after being anointed by the right faction last night. There was some concern that one of King’s colleagues might ambush nominate at this morning’s meeting because the filling of this frontbench vacancy has been internally controversial, but it was all quiet on the western front.
(If you’ve missed the King controversy let me cut a long story short: the right powerbrokers wanted Nick Champion to fill the spot left vacant after the departure of Tim Hammond. The left went nuts because putting Champion in would have meant the right was in breach of affirmative actions rules. A women was subsequently sought. Several women were interested in filling the vacancy. King, a West Australian, was ultimately selected. Not everyone is happy about it.)
Updated
Overnight a Greens motion put forward by Nick McKim to stop the removal of the discount for pensioners, veterans and widows applying for citizenship applications, was passed, with Labor and members of the crossbench – which means it won’t go ahead.
The government had moved to scrap the discount, which would have meant those eligible for it would be forced to pay for $285 for their application.
With the discounts remaining in place, they will have to pay only $20 or $40, depending on their situation.
Updated
The South Australian boundary carve up has been announced by the electoral commission:
The augmented electoral commission for South Australia today announced the outcome of its deliberations on the names and boundaries of the 10 federal electoral divisions in South Australia.
Tom Rogers, the presiding member and electoral commissioner, thanked the individuals and organisations who contributed to the redistribution of South Australia throughout the redistribution process.
“All written objections and comments, as well as the information presented at the inquiry in Adelaide on 7 June have been thoroughly considered,” Rogers said.
“After a comprehensive consideration of these contributions, the augmented electoral commission has unanimously decided to adopt the redistribution proposed by the Redistribution Committee for South Australia without change,” Rogers said.
The redistribution of South Australian federal electoral divisions was required as South Australia’s resident population relative to that of other states and territories means that it is now entitled to 10 federal electoral divisions.
Final boundaries
The redistribution committee’s full proposal is detailed on theAEC website, along with a full overview of the augmented electoral commission’s conclusions on objections to the redistribution committee’s proposed redistribution.
The Division of Port Adelaide will be abolished and changes will be made to the boundaries of all of South Australia’s remaining electoral divisions.
“The final boundaries have resulted principally from the need to reduce the number of electoral divisions from 11 to 10. Abolishing an electoral division, together with the need to ensure that all of South Australia’s 10 electoral divisions then meet the numerical requirements of the Electoral Act, means that changes have been made to the boundaries of all electoral divisions in South Australia,” Rogers said.
Final names
The augmented electoral commission has retained the names of the Divisions of Adelaide, Barker, Boothby, Grey, Hindmarsh, Kingston, Makin, Mayo and Sturt.
The previous Division of Wakefield will become the Division of Spence. This is in recognition of Catherine Helen Spence (1825–1910) for her work as an advocate for female suffrage and electoral reform.
Once the redistribution is formally determined on Friday 20 July 2018, the number of South Australia’s electoral divisions named after women will double from one to two.
Next steps
The augmented electoral commission notes this proposal is not significantly different from the proposal of the redistribution committee and therefore no further input from members of the public will be sought.
The names and boundaries of the federal electoral divisions for South Australia will apply from Friday 20 July 2018 when a notice of determination is published in the Commonwealth Government Notices Gazette.
Note: Electoral events will not be contested on these new federal electoral divisions until a writ is issued for a general election following the expiry or dissolution of the House of Representatives.
The Mayo byelection is being conducted on the boundaries in place for the Division of Mayo at the 2016 federal election.
Overview maps will be available on the AEC website on Friday 20 July 2018. Detailed maps and a report outlining the augmented electoral commission’s reasons for its formal determination will be tabled in the federal parliament and will subsequently be made publicly available.
Updated
The Greens spoke about the Neg in their party room – and the need to keep further coal infrastructure out of it – as it stands, if it came up for a vote, the Greens would vote against it.
Weak targets and shifting the burden to other sectors – transport and agriculture – were the reasons for that.
The Greens also want to look and see what the Labor states will do – whether or not they will stand up for the renewables sector.
Higher education is also back on the agenda – the Greens think Centre Alliance may have done a deal with the government. We’ll check that out and get back to you.
Updated
Back on the drones, Labor is pointing out that the government has already announced the program. Three times previously.
There was March 2014
Then February 2016
And then May 2017
And then again today
The government does point out that the roll out won’t commence until 2023 though:
Australia has already taken delivery of seven Poseidon aircraft and achieved Initial Operational Capability earlier this year. The full fleet of 12 Poseidon aircraft is expected to be delivered and in operation by 2022.
The first of the Triton aircraft is expected to be introduced into service in mid-2023 with all six aircraft planned to be delivered and in operation by late 2025, based at RAAF Base, Edinburgh in South Australia.
The Orion fleet has performed exceptionally on operations throughout its distinguished service, and the last of these aircraft will be over 40 years old when they are withdrawn from service in 2023.”
Updated
A Labor peep says reversing those company tax cuts has been the party’s position for awhile, but to be honest, that is news to me.
Not sure if I missed it somewhere (very possible, I do occasionally have to sleep) but I think I would have remembered.
They have just pointed out that it hasn’t been explicit, but it’s been understood that is where the party was heading.
Updated
Be good Tony
If you’ve been following the national energy guarantee debate this week you’ll know that the energy minister Josh Frydenberg lined up a group of business folks to address the backbench environment and energy committee this morning.
The group appeared afterwards to speak to television reporters. The message from representatives of the Business Council of Australia, the Ai Group and the National Farmers Federation was clear: get on with passing the Neg people, we’ll work out the fine print in due course.
Jennifer Westacott from the BCA: “If this doesn’t go ahead, this is ground zero and investment will go to other countries.”
Innes Willox from the Ai Group: “I think we all made the point there is no real alternative. If this doesn’t work, we go back to chaos”.
Tony Abbott also stopped by the camp of TV reporters and made it clear he wasn’t rescinding his threat that he might cross the floor if he doesn’t like what Frydenberg ultimately brings to the parliament.
Fiona Simson of the NFF said if Abbott crossed the floor, that would be “very disappointing”.
She didn’t mince words. “We think we can make this work ... we don’t want politics to get in the way, and we don’t want internal politics to get in the way.”
Willox didn’t either: “To kill this off really would be wrecking-ball politics.”
Updated
New reviews into legislation surrounding “online safety” have been launched.
Mitch Fifield says it’s “timely”
The government has appointed Ms Lynelle Briggs AO to conduct a review of the Enhancing Online Safety Act 2015 (the Online Safety Act), which sets out the powers, functions and governance arrangements for the Office of the eSafety Commissioner.
Ms Briggs will examine whether the provisions in the Online Safety Act remain fit for purpose.
Ms Briggs will, at the same time, review Schedules 5 and 7 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (BSA) which regulates the internet and content services industries in relation to prohibited content. The review will look at the type of content covered and best practice approaches for regulating online content.”
Updated
The Greens have emerged from their party room. We’ll bring you what was discussed there as soon as we can.
Labor has put out Bill Shorten’s transcript – the entire exchange can be seen below:
JOURNALIST: Mr Shorten, what business does deserve a tax cut? What size of business rather, deserves a tax cut?
SHORTEN: Well we’ve actually said that we will support any Australian business with an under $2m turnover to get a tax reduction because we think small business could always do with all of the assistance it can get. Beyond that, we’re considering our position between $2 and $10m turnovers but fundamentally you have got to look at priorities.
I just don’t agree with Mr Turnbull that the four big banks deserve $17bn in tax cuts over the next 10 years. I would rather see $17bn be put back into our schools. I don’t agree with Mr Turnbull that multinationals should get a tax cut, yet he is carrying out cuts to our hospitals and health care system. It’s all a matter of values. Now he’s entitled to his opinion, he’s made it very clear – he’s for the top end of town, I’m for our hospitals and school funding.
JOURNALIST: So you will repeal the tax cut between $10 and $50m as already legislated?
SHORTEN: Yes.
Updated
Scott Morrison has some words on Bill Shorten’s comments:
Bill Shorten has confirmed yet another giant, job-destroying tax on Aus biz & the economy. Not only has Labor committed to ripping our personal income tax cut away from 9m Aussies, they'll now hit tens of thousands of businesses that employ 1.5m Aussies with high taxes #auspol
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) June 26, 2018
And Mathias Cormann also has some thoughts:
Our agenda is about attracting more investment, stronger growth, more jobs & higher wages on the back of stronger competition for workers.
— Mathias Cormann (@MathiasCormann) June 25, 2018
Bill Shorten again today pushing higher taxes on business, which would lead to less investment, lower growth, fewer jobs & lower wages.
Labor will repeal company tax cuts
Bill Shorten says Labor will roll back the company tax cuts – which have already been passed – for businesses that earn between $10m and $50m.
The party is still considering what happens for those between $2m and $10m.
We said that we will support any Australian business with under $2m turnover to get a tax reduction. We think that small business can do with all of the assistance they can get.
“We are considering between $2m and 10m turnovers, beyond that, you have to look at priorities.
“I just don’t agree with Mr Turnbull that the four big banks deserve $17bn in tax cuts over the next 10 years. I would rather see that being put back into our schools. I don’t agree with Mr Turnbull that the multinationals should get a tax cut yet we are carrying out cuts to our hospital and healthcare systems. It is all down to values. He is for the top end of town. He’s made it clear how he feels. I am for education and health funding.”
Asked whether that means he will repeal what has been legislated, Shorten said:
“Yes.”
Updated
Bill Shorten spoke at Ceda’s conference this morning in Canberra – afterwards, he was asked about Labor’s decision to personally attack Malcolm Turnbull and his wealth, given that Labor MPs have their own investment and property portfolios.
Listen, let me state this clearly. Good luck to Mr Turnbull for being a very, very wealthy man. It is not his wealth that worries me. It is when he says stupid things. When he says to young couples buying their first home, ‘get rich parents’. When he says to aged care workers in Burnie, why can’t they get a better tax cut, he says, ‘get a better job’. I generally think Mr Turnbull is so out of touch with how millions of Australians live their life. That is the problem.”
The “get rich parents” line goes back to May 2016, when during a radio interview, Turnbull, while chatting with ABC radio host Jon Faine, suggested he “shell out” for his children’s first home deposit:
On ABC radio on Wednesday, Jon Faine asked Turnbull whether his refusal to touch negative gearing was creating generational conflict, with young people resenting the difficulty of entering the housing market.
“They’re saying: ‘For goodness sake, you baby boomers want everything and you’re locking us out,’” Faine said. Turnbull asked if Faine’s children were locked out of the market, and he said they were.
“Well you should shell out for them – you should support them, a wealthy man like you,” Turnbull said.
Faine chuckled and said: “That’s what they say!”
“Well exactly. There you go – you’ve got the solution in your own hands,” Turnbull replied. “You can provide a bit of intergenerational equity in the Faine family.”
Updated
Oh – and Australia will now have drones surveilling the coast line.
This is how Sky Net begins:
The Turnbull Government will invest $1.4bn and acquire the first of six MQ-4C Triton remotely piloted aircraft through a cooperative program with the United States Navy.
The Triton will complement the surveillance role of the P-8A Poseidon aircraft through sustained operations at long ranges as well as being able to undertake a range of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.
Together these aircraft will significantly enhance our anti-submarine warfare and maritime strike capability, as well as our search and rescue capability.
Our number one priority is keeping Australians safe. This investment will protect our borders and make our region more secure.
As part of this investment Australia will also enter into a $200 million cooperative program with the United States Navy for the development, production and sustainment of the MQ-4C Triton.
Australia’s alliance with the US is our most important defence relationship, underpinned by strong cooperation in defence industry and capability development.
This cooperative program will strengthen our ability to to develop advanced capability and conduct joint military operations.
As part of the initial $1.4bn investment in the Triton system, the government will invest $364m on new facilities at RAAF Base Edinburgh and RAAF Base Tindal, as well the necessary ground control systems, support and training required to implement a project of this nature.
The project is expected to create about 70 jobs across South Australia and the Northern Territory.
Northrop Grumman as supplier of the Triton will play a lead role in delivering the capability in Australia. This investment follows Northrop’s commitment to a $50m advanced Electronic Sustainment Centre of Excellence at the new Western Sydney Airport.
Australia has already taken delivery of seven Poseidon aircraft and achieved Initial Operational Capability earlier this year. The full fleet of 12 Poseidon aircraft is expected to be delivered and in operation by 2022.
The first of the Triton aircraft is expected to be introduced into service in mid-2023 with all six aircraft planned to be delivered and in operation by late 2025, based at RAAF Base, Edinburgh in South Australia.
The Orion fleet has performed exceptionally on operations throughout its distinguished service, and the last of these aircraft will be over 40 years old when they are withdrawn from service in 2023.”
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Mark Butler stopped by doors to talk energy (within the Coalition party room):
Now it appears from reports this morning that instead of focusing on a policy that we know will actually underpin realistic investment, this energy committee, chaired by Craig Kelly, attended by people like Tony Abbott, instead is going to focus on a fantasy of Australia building new coal-fired power stations. When Malcolm Turnbull first floated this idea last year he was given a resounding message from business that new coal-fired power stations are simply uninvestable in this country. Indeed, the only businessman that indicated any interest in partnering with Malcolm Turnbull in such a venture was Clive Palmer, whose last great idea was building Titanic II. The government was also given a message from the Energy Security Board that no investor is going to go near a new coal-fired power station. And Malcolm Turnbull’s own pet project, Snowy 2.0, it has been made very clear, will only be viable with a high renewable energy future and not with new coal-fired power stations.
It is time for Malcolm Turnbull to engage in some plain speaking to his party room this morning. The longer the Coalition engages in these fantasies of building new coal-fired power stations, the longer Australians are going to have to wait for an energy policy that will start to put downward pressure on household and business power bills.
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Sky News is back on at Parliament House, just in time for us to see Christopher Pyne talk drones.
He also wades into the aspiration battles. Please let this end soon.
.@cpyne on Labor's criticism of tax cuts: Every Australian wants to earn more money and move up the ranks...we're like salmons swimming upstream, that's what we do best. Labor politicians are hypocrites...they're property tycoons.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 25, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/5WizPEfB6e #FirstEdition pic.twitter.com/TS07eIYfo5
Lee Rhiannon, who will retire from the Senate in mid-August, gave a speech during the adjournment debate last night, where she defended the New South Wales Greens – and also took a shot at how the $1.6m Graeme Wood donation was used (spoiler – she would have rejected it, even if it was offered to the NSW Greens, which it wasn’t) and goes on to talk about the party’s declining vote.
From her speech: (Page 130 of the Senate Hansard)
In 2010, I was elected a Greens senator in NSW, with the party polling 10.69% of the vote. This is the highest vote ever achieved by the Greens in NSW in a Senate election. The Green NSW Senate vote in that election, however, was lower than that for other state Greens parties across the country.
A significant reason for that lower Senate result was how the $1.6m that Graeme Wood donated to the Australian Greens was used. This money was spent on advertising to assist the Greens election campaign in every state and territory except NSW. No money was offered to the Greens NSW. If any money had been offered to NSW, I doubt that we would have accepted it, as we oppose large political donations on the basis that they potentially buy influence and distort our democracy.
The Greens Senate results in 2010 are informative. They demonstrate that big money buys advertising that, in turn, can win over voters. The results also show how an empowered party — in this case, the Greens NSW — where members have a major say in the campaign and that is promoting policies for the public good can increase votes without relying on big donations.
Our members work incredibly hard on election campaigns, and that is why I was elected as an MP and why the Greens have had the electoral success that we have achieved in NSW. Members control party campaigns.
Since 2010, there has been some decline in the Australians Greens vote. Some people assert that the Greens NSW is causing the slump in the nationwide Greens vote. That is ridiculous. I’m not keen on making comparisons of Greens NSW voting achievements to those of other states, but I have decided to put this on the record, as the misinformation about the Greens NSW and myself is quite shocking.
Recent Greens election results have been inconsistent, but they include strong results in the Queensland 2017 state election and the NSW local government elections in both 2016 and 2017. Obviously a party’s vote is determined primarily by one’s political stance but organisational factors right through to the party’s position on the ballot paper are relevant.
The following Greens vote figures by state show that a number of Greens state parties have experienced a higher drop in their federal vote when compared to the drop in the Greens NSW vote.
Compared to 2010, the 2016 Greens Senate vote in NSW dropped by 3.3%, in Western Australia by 3.4% and in Victoria by 3.8%. In Tasmania, the Greens Senate vote declined by 9% since the 2010 high-water mark.
A similar trend is evident in the Greens House of Representatives vote. I am highlighting that this voting data is not consistent with the narrative built about the Greens NSW. The unethical attacks on the Greens NSW do not help anyone other than the opponents of the Greens.”
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GST is back on the agenda.
Cabinet will have had a look at the review into how we should split the revenue pool among the states and territories by now, but I think there will most likely be internal briefings before we get a look at it – so all those coalition MPs can take it back to their electorates. Particularly the WA ones.
Pauline Hanson has adopted GST reform as one of her issues (again) and (again) has said she will disadvantage her home state of Queensland, if it means a fairer share for WA.
“I’m the leader of a national party. You’ve got to look at what is fair and just, right across, for all Australians. And I will still stand by that,” she told The West Australian late last week.
Last time she said that, during an interview with a Perth radio station, during the WA state election, she denied it. Presented with the evidence, she then back tracked from her comments.
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Good morning
The coalition party room is meeting to hear all the benefits of its own policy, as Josh Frydenberg and the moderates work to stamp out a conservative rebellion.
If it seems dramatic, that is because it is. Tony Abbott may be a pain, but he is also a former prime minister and a former prime minister crossing the floor against his party is not the visual the Liberals want as they slide towards an election.
Frydenberg has giving the signal that he is not against a new coal-fired power plant, which may be enough to appease the dissenters. But then he has to take that attitude into Coag, where Labor states, with their renewable energy targets, aren’t so into coal as the future.
So that should be fun.
The tax wars are also rolling on, although there is no real movement there – the government still doesn’t have the numbers for its company tax cuts and probably won’t get close until after the 28 July byelections. Meanwhile, the government has stepped up its counter-attack against Labor, with the Daily Tele carrying a story on Malcolm Turnbull donating his $528,000 salary to charity, while the Oz has looked at Labor MPs who own investment homes – which would remain negatively geared, even if Labor wins the next election and axes the investment tax break.
And Clive Palmer and Pauline Hanson are still taking potshots at each other and Lee Rhiannon has defended the NSW Greens as the best Greens.
So it is situation normal in the 45th parliament.
Follow along with Mike Bowers at @mikepbowers and @mpbowers and me in the comments and at @amyremeikis or for some behind the scenes/morning political update on the story at @pyjamapolitics.
The Sky News channel is down here, but I will do my best to track down those interviews for you (thank goodness for A-Pac) and we will struggle through.
Ready? Let’s get started.
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