- The day began with the PM and senior minister at a childcare centre.
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This is because the government split their omnibus bill – the political artifice to tie a generally good childcare package to unpalatable welfare cuts. Overnight, it was made clear that the bill would be split up (as it was originally) in order to get the childcare package through. The cuts would be put through in a separate bill. The rest of the cuts, some of which stretch back to the 2014 Abbott budget, will be held in abeyance. They include measures like the four-week wait for the dole, which the social services minister, Christian Porter, was eager to point out had not been dumped but rather parked.
- Nick Xenophon and Pauline Hanson are in negotiations with the government over the package. Their parties both supported changing Senate sitting hours to deal with the bills so presumably they are getting close to a deal.
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Sussan Ley released the finance investigation that found she only breached travel rules once in three-and-a-half years and paid it back. She said she was not complaining but merely releasing the report and allowing people to draw their own conclusions. In the federation, Ley said: “Regardless of these facts, the public impression was cast. I can understand the facts can get lost in the search for a good story.” That was why she resigned from the ministry, Ley said.
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The industry and science minister, Arthur Sinodinos, said marriage equality should be settled in this parliamentary term as the Liberal MP and campaigner Warren Entsch welcomed Peter Dutton’s attempts to land a solution behind the scenes. Why would an anti-marriage equality conservative do such a thing? Machiavelli might suggest to own the process ahead of Labor but nothing has actually been confirmed on the record by PDuddy.
- The bill to amend 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act will be introduced but not debated in the Senate shortly.
- Li Keqiang, the premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and Madame Cheng Hong will visit parliament tomorrow.
That is your lot for the evening. Thanks to Gareth Hutchens, Paul Karp, Katharine Murphy and Mike Bowers.
Thanks for your company today and see you on the morrow.
Goodnight.
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I will just clean up some photos but what I am really waiting for is the 18C bill to come into the Senate.
This week it has been Old Members Central, with Wyatt Roy, Mary Jo Fisher and serial enthusiast Bruce Billson.
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Sussan Ley breached the travel rules once in more than three years
Question time is over and now I can address the former health minister Sussan Ley. I missed this statement which was in the Federation chamber, a secondary chamber.
Former health min Sussan Ley is says she resigned because "the facts could not overcome the story". pic.twitter.com/koZJd0oaWO
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) March 22, 2017
Julia Holman of the ABC reports:
An independent report into all of Liberal MP Sussan Ley’s work travel expenses has found she breached the rules once over a three-and-a-half year period.
The former health minister was forced to step down from her position in the cabinet earlier this year following revelations she bought an $800,000 apartment during a work trip to the Gold Coast.
The independent report, conducted and released today by the finance department, found the sole breach of the rules occurred when Ms Ley used a government-funded car to take her from her hotel to the apartment.
The trip lasted about five minutes.
Prior to her resignation as a minister, there were other claims she had breached the rules, including billing taxpayers to attend two New Year’s Eve events hosted by a prominent Queensland businesswoman and donor, and piloting a plane when other, less-expensive options were available.
But the report found Ms Ley did not breach the rules in any of those instances.
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Plibersek to Turnbull: The former PM, the member for Warringah, cut billions from schools. Why is this PM continuing with the $30bn cut to schools at the same time as he’s giving a $50bn tax cut to big business?
Turnbull repeats the standard line about record funding for schools, which of course it is because school funding is indexed. (The school funding agreements for the next two years, years five and six of the former Gillard agreements, have yet to be revealed.)
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Brendan O’Connor to Turnbull: Why is it when the Commonwealth Bank reports a record half-year profit of $4.9bn he wants to cut company tax and, when there is a record low wages growth, he wants to give workers a pay cut?
Turnbull says the law is now optional for Labor and the union movement.
Having a long and distinguished career in the union movement, the honourable member would say what a fundamental issue and principle it was for the Labor party to defend the independent umpire in setting wages and conditions. But not any longer, because now in line with the new ideological leader of the Labor movement, Sally McManus ... the law is optional for trade unions, apparently.
The PM follows on in that vein and takes a comment from Labor that he is obsessed.
I’m obsessed, am I? We’re obsessed about the law. We’re obsessed about obeying the law. We’re obsessed about integrity. We’re obsessed about ensuring that the members of the unions you claim to represent are represented honestly and fairly and with the respect and the diligence that they deserve and you have failed them.
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Peter Dutton gets a question on border policy all about the CFMEU.
Elsewhere, I hope this meeting on the floor relates to the endangered swift parrot.
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Shorten to Turnbull: Approximately 323,000 people are employed in the club, restaurant, cafe, hair and beauty industries. Can the PM guarantee that these workers will not have their pay cut because of the precedent set by the penalty rates decision which the PM supported. And will the PM make a submission to the Fair Work Commission to protect the penalty rates of workers in these industries?
Turnbull makes the point that Bill Shorten and Brendan O’Connor had previously agreed to abide by the Fair Work Commission on penalty rates.
No one can complain that the opposition’s question time strategy doesn’t have a lot of variety. Leaping from one topic to another. No plan for childcare. No plan for energy. No plan for question time.
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Christian Porter is obviously expecting a big question time.
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Dreyfus to Turnbull: On Sky News last night, Andrew Bolt was asked how many insults would constitute harassment under the PM’s new laws, which give licence to racist hate speech. Mr Bolt replied, “Let’s say five.” Given the government has cited Andrew Bolt as a reason for watering down race hate protections, is it the intention of the government that Australians must be subject to five separate instances of racist abuse before before it constitutes harassment?
Turnbull says the bill specifically states that a single act can constitute harassment.
He says the law on sexual harassment establishes that a single act can constitute harassment for that area too.
It is expressly stated in the bill.
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Tony Burke to Turnbull: Is the PM aware that while speaking about the government’s watering down of protections against racist hate speech, One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts said he’s very happy the government is starting to follow One Nation. And a Liberal senator said it would help win back One Nation votes. Was it One Nation or the conservative backbench who convinced the PM to abandon his long-held beliefs and instead to water down protections against racist hate speech or was it both?
The PM is getting shouty. He says he has long been a supporter of free speech and it is not right that Bill Leak should be hauled into the Human Rights Commission.
He quotes “great Labor figure” Jim Spigelman and others who support change.
The language of that section lost its credibility a long time ago.
He continues shouting well after his mike is turned off.
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Bowen to Morrison: Will the government’s full $50bn worth of corporate tax cuts that were in the 2016 budget be in the 2017 budget?
Morrison:
If the member opposite wants to support corporate tax cuts that he has long supported, then vote for them.
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Jim Chalmers to Scott Morrison: I refer to the government’s centrepiece $50bn handout to big business. Today in question time the treasurer said the government would not recoil from its company tax cut. Does the treasurer guarantee that the full $50bn handout will remain on the books in the budget?
Morrison says the Labor shadow, Chris Bowen, has nominated a cut to company tax to 25%.
I refer you to the comments of the shadow treasurer who said this in 2015, he said it’s a statement of fact which I agree with, ‘I have previously said the nation should be aiming for a 25% corporate tax rate’.
It’s all lined up, mate. All you have to do is come into this place and vote for it and you’ll hit it.
Morrison says Bowen knows its the right policy but had to bend his “desperately populist” leader who is just a “sucking vacuum”.
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The social services minister, Christian Porter, raises Labor’s characterisation of the pause to indexation on family tax benefits, contained in the Xenophon deal over omnibus bill, as a “sledgehammer”. He reads a list of past Labor freezes.
Labor, July 2009, reduced the indexation of family tax benefit part A from the pension rate down to CPI. Not pausing, reducing. Labor, 2009, paused the higher income threshold for FTB, saving $1.4bn over three years. Labor paused the indexation of the FTB part A and part B supplements for three years in 2011. Labor paused the indexation for the income threshold for two years in July, 2012. Labor paused the indexation of the higher income threshold for three years. None of those were sledgehammer blows. None of them. And none of the money was spent on reforms in childcare.
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Independent Andrew Wilkie to the environment and energy minister, Josh Frydenberg: Regrettably the Tasmanian government is pursuing legislation to allow logging in 356,000ha of protected forests. These forests contain large areas of habitat that are critical to the survival of nationally listed threatened species, wildlife that the minister’s responsible for protecting. Can the minister outline what steps he’s taking to prevent damage to this habitat, including for the critically endangered swift parrot and the giant freshwater lobster? Can the minister update the house on the Tasmania government’s response to the freshwater lobster recovery plan, which proposes permanently reserving 30,000ha of the publicly owned reserves that are now proposed for logging by the Tasmanian government.
Frydenberg says the government appointed the first-ever threatened species commissioner, Gregory Andrews, who has been able to galvanise more than $210m, including $150m to prevent habitat destruction. The Coalition launched the first-ever threatened species strategy.
He says the regional forest agreements have been in place for some two decades and they work well because balance will be required.
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Jenny Macklin to Turnbull: Given the treasurer has overseen linking the childcare package to cuts to family payments, the delay of the childcare changes, linking the omnibus bill to budget repair, then the childcare changes, finally to the NDIS, before today splitting the childcare changes and family payment cuts. Does the PM continue to have confidence in his treasurer?
Turnbull says he is doing an outstanding job.
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You have probably caught up with this but AAP reports:
Former Howard government minister Peter Reith is in hospital after a “serious medical emergency”.
Mr Reith is due to challenge Michael Kroger for the Victorian Liberal party presidency at the state council on April 1.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Peter Reith who was this morning hospitalised following a serious medical emergency,” Victorian Liberal leader Matthew Guy said on Wednesday.
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Shorten to Turnbull: 1.5 million families will have their payments cut. Millions of children will be worse off because of the PM’s decision today. Why is the PM pitting families against each other, robbing Peter to pay Paul and leaving 1.5 million families worse off?
Turnbull says Labor has no alternative plan and the opposition should be supporting the childcare reforms.
First government question is on the government’s childcare and energy policies.
Brandis comments on @samdastyari's new hair do - 'did you go to a stylist... i'm jealous' he says. #senateQT
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) March 22, 2017
Brandis says Turnbull has a lifelong commitment to freedom of speech #SenateQT
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) March 22, 2017
Shorten to Turnbull: I refer to the PM’s new social services bill introduced into the Senate today. Can the PM confirm that every cut to families and vulnerable Australians in this bill is lifted directly from the Abbott government’s 2014 budget. Labor has fought these cuts everyday since then, defending pensioners and families. When will the PM stop recycling cuts from the 2014 budget and stop hurting families?
Turnbull says Labor has no plans for childcare at all. Then he riffs on childcare and the union corrupting payments bill but not the welfare cuts bill. Labor asks him to come to the welfare bill. Speaker Smith says he is sure that the PM is coming to it but it was a broad question.
A family earning less than $55,000 a year would only pay around $15 for childcare. And a family earning $50,000 a year with two children in daycare would be more than $3,000 a year better off. You’d think Labor would support that.
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Question time coming up people. Grab a beverage.
The other interesting bits from Arthur Sinodinos’ questions.
He won’t respond to speculation on the government splitting or ditching of the company tax cuts. The government is trying to keep its promises.
Asked about same sex marriage, he said:
I think it would be good for that to be settled, if possible, in this parliament.
He doesn’t really answer a question on the Coalition government having initially no science minister and then four different ministers, coupled with low spending on science and research and development, except to say company tax cuts will help.
Sinodinos:
One of the reasons we want to cut tax is precisely to encourage investment, business investment. That will also include investment in R & D, over and above what we do in the R & D tax incentive.
Someone asks about science advisors in ministerial office which Sinodinos notes happens in some countries.
Sinodinos:
You can have the best advice in the world but you have got to meld it with things you face politically. What people have said or not said in the past, we are all the prisoners of what we have said.
I may have said something now that will rebound and out the room and once it is gone, it is out there. But the point is, where possible and we can’t be a technocracy, ruled by clinical technical advice because at the end of the day, you have got to take people with you.
And lastly, he was questioned by former diplomat Peter Phillips on Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership and its shelf life.
I think his leadership is actually quite secure. And I think that the honesty he’s shown in tackling some difficult issues since he got the job has been fantastic to watch.
And yes, there have been some hard moments but things we’ve done, like in the superannuation space, which are not easy because they affect in large part, our own base, mean that we can say to the community, when we’re asking you to do something, we’re not exempting the big end of town or our own base. I think he deserves real marks for that.
Arthur Sinodinos is asked, given your presentation on the importance of science and facts, will you lead the push back on climate change? (Not in so many words.)
From my point of view, I don’t see we have turned our back on climate science in that context. What we do, particularly through the good work of [former minister] Greg Hunt working with [CSIRO] Larry Marshall, we make sure our science capability is protected and it will provide its own input in terms of basic climate science information.
Lobbying 101: Develop a relationship rather than a one-night stand, deal with both sides
The industry minister, Arthur Sinodinos, has started taking questions. First up is a question for scientists getting their message to government. It is an interesting lesson in lobbying generally.
Deal with the government of the day but develop relationships across both sides of politics and, if necessary, with the crossbench as well. The important thing is the government today may be the opposition of tomorrow. If the Senate is the Senate, there are crossbenchers who will be influential for some time.
Relate what you do to the groups you are talking to and don’t limit the groups you are talking to and try to develop a relationship rather than a one-night stand. When you are looking to lobby Canberra, relate what you do it the objectives of the government of the day, use their language.
If you are dealing with Shorten and Carr, you go through their manifestos and work out, OK, how can I pitch what I am doing that is relative to the aims and objectives of this government?
In the case of the prime minister, are there areas they are interested in that I can push their buttons? Or do I know people who are influential with the prime minister or the cabinet minister who carry credibility and can go in there and say, ‘Look, Malcolm, or Julia, I have had a good look and ... the Yanks are out to use this’. The things politicians love is to say, ‘I did this and it was best in class, best in the world, and whatever.’
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Lunchtime politics
- The government has split the omnibus bill into two sections: the $1.2bn childcare package and the social services package ($2bn welfare cuts).
- The Senate had a fiery debate in which the government succeeded in forcing the Senate to sit until the omnibus/childcare bill is passed. That means this week.
- Conservative and immigration minister Peter Dutton is trying to broker a solution on same-sex marriage in this term of government so that the Coalition can control the process rather than Labor.
- Malcolm Turnbull has introduced the bill to ban “corrupting payments” between unions and employers.
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Bill Shorten attempted to debate 18C in the lower house but lost on the numbers, as expected.
- Arthur Sinodinos is delivering a speech on the importance of science and #facts at the National Press Club. Digital disruption is here to stay.
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We are expecting the 18C bill to come to Senate at 3.30 after question time but it won’t be debated today because of the childcare bill.
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Here is the list of the corrupting benefits bill, announced on Monday. This is from the explanatory memo.
The bill responds to TURC report recommendations 40, 41 and 48 by amending the act to:
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make it a criminal offence to give a registered organisation, or a person associated with a registered organisation a corrupting benefit;
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make it a criminal offence to receive or solicit a corrupting benefit;
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make it a criminal offence for a national system employer other than an employee organisation to provide, offer or promise to provide any cash or in kind payment, other than certain legitimate payments to an employee organisation or its prohibited beneficiaries;
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make it a criminal offence to solicit, receive, obtain or agree or obtain any such prohibited payment;
- require bargaining representatives for a proposed enterprise agreement (employers, employer organisations, and unions) to disclose financial benefits that the bargaining representative, or a person or body reasonably connected with it, would or could reasonably be expected to derive because of a term of the proposed agreement. Failure to comply with these requirements can give rise to civil remedies, but will not preclude the approval of the enterprise agreement.
Disclosure of financial benefits obtained as a consequence of enterprise bargaining is intended to improve transparency and ensure that employees who are asked to vote for an enterprise agreement are properly informed about its effect.
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Sounds like the government is saving the four-week wait for the dole measure in the bottom drawer.
@MarkDiStef @workmanalice my office confirmed only that the four week wait was not in the Bill introduced today. Not that it was dumped
— Christian Porter (@cporterwa) March 22, 2017
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Turnbull says such these deals have the real potential to corrupt employers and unions and disadvantage workers.
Turnbull is outlining the history of the Australian Workers Union (Shorten’s old union) to illustrate the need for his bill.
Malcolm Turnbull introduces the bill to ban “corrupting” payments.
Just on childcare, Julie Doyle of the ABC did a very good explainer on the government’s package last month.
It does this:
Currently the government provides two payments to families to help with childcare costs: the means-tested childcare benefit and the childcare rebate, which is not means-tested.
The proposal is to create one means-tested payment instead, called the childcare subsidy.
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I’m so glad I am not the only one flying blind this morn.
The #Senate is now debating the Social Services Legislation Amendment Bill 2017. We'll tweet a link to the bill when available
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) March 21, 2017
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Breaking: Social services minister’s office confirms government’s four week wait for the dole for under 25-year-olds dumped. Story soon.
— Mark Di Stefano 🤙🏻 (@MarkDiStef) March 22, 2017
Negotiations continue on the bill.
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Nick Xenophon is now speaking on the social services legislation. He is supporting a compromise on the welfare cuts in order to get the childcare package through.
He says his concerns related to measures which would have:
- abolished the pensioner education supplement
- reduced from 26 to six weeks the period during which age pension and other payments with unlimited portability can be paid outside Australia at the means-tested rate;
- cut the energy supplement for those on of welfare payments or concession cards from 20 September 2017.
We assume those elements are no longer there but there is no bill on the senate site yet.
Xenophon says reluctantly, he has agreed to freezing indexation in family tax benefits for two years.
This is not ideal but, in my view, this is the least worst option ... the alternative would have been a stalemate, the alternative would be a childcare package held up. I believe this bill is a significant improvement.
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The childcare bill passes the house. The Senate continues to debate the social services bill.
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The irrepressible C.Pyne
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The lower house is now voting on the childcare bill, ready to be punted up to the Senate.
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You would have seen the news that the UK government has announced a sweeping cabin ban on laptops and tablets on inbound flights from six countries, following a similar move by the US on Monday.
The UK ban on any electronic item larger than a normal smartphone applies to all direct passenger flights from Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia.
Six UK airlines – British Airways, EasyJet, Jet2, Monarch, Thomas Cook and Thomson – and eight foreign carriers are affected.
The Australian government has confirmed there are no plans to introduce a similar rule here.
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Peter Dutton, fancy meeting you here.
That Bowers is always in the right place at the right time.
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The government leader in the Senate, George Brandis, has read a list of savings contained in the new social services legislation which contains the new savings being presented to the house.
He says it is the government’s intention to secure both the social services bill and the childcare bill through the Senate this week.
I would like to acknowledge the positive way in which the crossbench has worked with the government to deliver this significant reform package that will make a real and positive difference to 1 million Australian families. I commend the bill to the Senate.
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Liberal Warren Entsch commends Peter Dutton for looking for same sex marriage options
In recent days there have been reports that Peter Dutton and Mathias Cormann back a voluntary postal plebiscite on marriage equality, which Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman has argued would appear “tricky and sneaky”.
On Wednesday Liberal MP Warren Entsch told Guardian Australia: “I commend [Dutton] for looking at options. I welcome the acknowledgement that something needs to be done.”
I’ll work with him. To me, it’s not a matter of should we or shouldn’t we [deal with marriage equality], it’s a question of how.
If we can find a way that we can get this matter dealt with with the maximum cooperation and participation, I think we can get a level of civility in the debate. People don’t have to change their views about whether they support it or not, it’s how we develop [a process to resolve it].
Entsch said his own position was clear: “I would rather have had a [free] vote a long time ago ... That has always been my position.”
Labor Senate leader Penny Wong. Unplugged.
That is not orderly dispatch of business of the Senate. That is a secret deal to take money off Australian families and that they’re not even prepared to demonstrate it to the Senate. We still haven’t seen the bill. The bill that the crossbenchers have agreed to bring on for debate we haven’t even seen. That’s no way to run the Senate.
I am not going to descend to the sort of personal innuendo that this leader of the government uses as his stock-in-trade. I will just say this: in that speech we saw again why no one in this place likes him, because he is unable to have a political debate that does not offend, or impugn the personal motivations of other senators.
He can’t debate the issues.
So let’s be clear: this is an hours motion to rush through a secret deal, to come in here to the Senate, upend the order of business, suspend standing orders because we have to rush through and immediately debate other cuts to social security, other cuts to what families get that we haven’t even seen.
It is an extraordinary proposition, and it is a deal that has been done in secret. And I have to say to the crossbench, as I have said previously to Senator Hanson and to others in this place: I may disagree with what your policy position is, but you are entitled to negotiate with the government on policy. But I fundamentally disagree with the way you are walking over the way this Senate should operate.
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Labor loses the attempt to bring on a bill to protect penalty rates.
So Brandis introduces the original omnibus bill.
This is confusing because we know the bill will be split. Which must mean Brandis will do legislative surgery on the floor of the Senate.
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Now that the government is splitting the omnibus welfare bill, Pauline Hanson’s chief of staff, James Ashby, has told Guardian Australia that cuts to family tax benefit A and B are dealbreakers for One Nation.
On Tuesday One Nation threatened to block the bill and gave the government 24 hours to make changes.
Ashby said that further negotiations and changes are needed on the pension because “we don’t want to see pensioners lose their entitlements”.
At the same time we recognise those that live 20 weeks a year outside the country are obviously collecting the pension and sometimes living in countries where they can get two pensions. We want to have a look at that in greater detail.
Ashby said Hanson supports paid parental leave but is concerned that mothers who work one day a week get paid the equivalent of a full-time wage for the 20-week period they take leave.
She’s got no issue paying them for the time they’ve taken off. I’ve you’ve worked one day a week for the last 12 months, you should get paid eight hours a week [when on paid parental leave], don’t top it up to a 38-hour week for the sake of topping it up.
One Nation supports changes to the dole to encourage Australians to pick fruit.
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Penny Wong is cranky. She has moved a suspension motion to bring in a bill which would protect penalty rates.
Labor is offering this up to force Nick Xenophon and Pauline Hanson to vote against a bill which would protect penalty rates.
Wong says One Nation is just a rightwing faction of the Liberal party.
Senator George Brandis says jump and senator Hanson says how high.
Wong goes on to talk about the effect of penalty rate cuts on low-paid workers, migrants and women and Brandis heckles.
This sneering laughing from the leader of the government in the Senate is a disgrace because he has never cared for low-paid workers.
There is a lot of shouting and heckling. Democracy in action.
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George Brandis has won the right to move his sitting hours motion.
The hours motion relates to both the omnibus bill and a bill before the lower house right now.
The lower house is considering the family assistance legislation amendment (jobs for families child care package) bill 2016. Think of this as the childcare bill. It will go to the Senate soon-ish.
There will also be a grab bag social services (welfare cuts) bill. We don’t know what this is or what it will be called at this stage.
We understand the government proposes to deal with the welfare cuts bill first.
All things liable to change without notice.
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The Senate is now voting.
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The Nick Xenophon Team is supporting the hours motion. While he has not agreed to a deal on the omnibus, they must be close to a deal to support the suspension.
The Labor senator Katy Gallagher is hooking into the crossbenchers, suggesting the welfare cuts are cruel.
Now the communications minister, Mitch Fifield, says, as Mathias Cormann did before him, that it is a little rich to suggest that you don’t know what the measures are. To suggest:
We have never met these measures before, they are newborns, they have transmogrified into newborns.
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The government is moving:
(1) That the following bill may be introduced immediately and considered in accordance with the succeeding provisions of this resolution:
Social services legislation amendment bill 2017.
(2) That the family assistance legislation amendment (jobs for families child care package) bill 2016 be considered after the bill mentioned in paragraph (1), in accordance with the succeeding provisions of this resolution.
(3) If by 7.20 pm today, the bills listed above have not been finally considered then:
(a) The hours of meeting for today shall be 9.30 am to not later than midnight;
(b) The routine of business from not later than 7.20pm shall be consideration of the bills listed above; and
(c) the Senate shall adjourn without debate after it has finally considered the bills or at midnight, whichever is the earlier.
(4) If by 2 pm on Thursday, 23 March 2017, the bills listed above have not been finally considered then:
(a) The hours of meeting for that day shall be 9.30am to not later than midnight;
(b) The routine of business from not later than 6pm shall be consideration of the bills listed above;
(c) Divisions may take place after 4.30pm; and
(d) The Senate shall adjourn without debate after it has finally considered the bills listed above or at midnight, whichever is the earlier.
(5) If by midnight on Thursday, 23 March 2017 the bills listed above have not been finally considered then the Senate shall meet on Friday, 24 March 2017, and:
(a) The hours of meeting shall be 9am to adjournment;
(b) The routine of business shall be consideration of the bills listed above; and
(c) The Senate shall adjourn without debate after it has finally considered the bills listed above, or a motion for the adjournment is moved by a minister, whichever is the earlier.
(6) Once the bills listed above have been finally considered, the order of the day relating to the social services legislation amendment (omnibus savings and child care reform) bill 2017 shall be discharged from the notice paper.
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The numbers usually tell the story.
If the government are moving an hours motion, it means they have the numbers to change the sitting hours for the omnibus bill.
Unknown crossbenchers will only support the sitting change if they support the bill for which it is required.
That is why a simple debate on parliamentary sitting hours is relevant.
The lower house is voting to gag Bill Shorten.
Meanwhile, in the Senate Penny Wong is railing about a move by George Brandis to extend the sitting hours to ram the omnibus bill (in whatever form/s) through the Senate.
The Brandis motion would extend the sitting hours of the Senate until midnight Thursday and into Friday.
Wong is saying obviously the government has done a deal with the crossbenchers to make the cuts needed for the childcare package.
Penny Wong points out Labor has not even seen the legislation.
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Bill Shorten is seeking leave to suspend standing orders.
Speaker Tony Smith is adjudicating because Christopher Pyne is moving a motion as well. He is trying to use the wisdom of Solomon and may well cut the baby in half.
After delicate negotiations, the Speaker tells Pyne to sit and wait.
Askance looks are given and Labor’s Catherine King yells, “that’s a reflection on the chair”.
Bill Shorten moves a motion on 18C.
The purpose of the motion is for Labor to point out the PM is introducing the 18C bill in the Senate.
Given the 18C bill has not enough Senate support, if the government puts the bill in the Senate and it dies, it protects their Liberal lower house MPs in diverse ethnic seats from being seen to vote for the bill.
Turnbull was asked about this yesterday and he said, nonsense. It is the attorney general’s bill so it will go to the Senate first.
This is often the case but not always the case. It is more likely to be a way to protect his members.
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The houses are opening. There are a large number of senior Labor people in the house. Unusual. Stay tuned.
Shorten was asked if he ever expected Peter Dutton to be the minister making the case for marriage equality?
I never expected him to be a serious contender to replace Malcolm Turnbull, so we live in a surprising world. But, again, it doesn’t matter if it is on section 18C or marriage equality, their whole logic about marriage equality is about, “we need to get the votes, not Labor”/
It is not about Labor or Liberal. It is about the right of people to get on and marry the people they love. This is a government that is talking about some postal vote, nonbinding, using the snail mail – I mean, this is an opinion poll?
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Bill Shorten has just visited a Gonski rally out the front of parliament and was asked about the omnibus bill. He is being equally coy about Labor’s plans. I think this is what you might call a moveable feast.
Q: If the bills are split, will you support any savings?
Let’s wait and see what they’ll do. This government changes their position between breakfast and lunch, don’t they?
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The other thing on today is a speech by Arthur Sinodinos at the press club. Katharine Murphy reported on the theme of his speech for the Science Meets Parliament fest which happens every year. This is where a whole lot of scientists come to parliament to remind certain people that science is important, it needs to be funded and is not a bunch of feelpinions. (I’m looking at you Malcolm Roberts.)
The innovation minister, Arthur Sinodinos, says disruption is the new constant as we enter the fourth industrial revolution and, if Australia doesn’t acknowledge change, we risk “being overwhelmed and disadvantaged by it”.
Sinodinos will use a speech at the National Press Club on Wednesday to hit back at recent criticism from the tech entrepreneur Mike Cannon-Brookes, the cofounder of Atlassian, that the Turnbull government has dialled down its once surround-sound commitment to innovation.
The minister will also warn an emerging lack of respect for experts and for scientific method, and the substitution of ideology for evidence, is a disturbing trend that needs to be countered by more research and by more innovative thinking.
“We see the conclusions of experts being cast aside, in favour of ideological positions and selective use of facts,” Sinodinos will tell the press club. “Denying the threat of climate change is a well-worn example; however, rejecting vaccinations – at the risk of children’s lives and public health – resurfaced just this month.
“The only credible response to these positions is scientific fact. And more research and more innovative thinking.”
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In a strange story designed to mess with my mind, Matthew Knott over at Fairfax reports the immigration minister and arch conservative Peter Dutton is working behind the scenes to help Turnbull legalise same-sex marriage in this term so Labor does not get to do it.
Fairfax Media can also reveal he said privately it was inevitable that same-sex marriage would become law in Australia so it would be better for the Coalition, rather than Labor, to control the process. This would ensure there would be maximum protections for religious freedom in any legislation.
The forcefulness of Mr Dutton’s attack on corporate chief executives last week – in which he told them to “stick to their knitting” – has aroused suspicion among some colleagues who believed he was committed to achieving a breakthrough on the issue. Mr Dutton’s actions are increasingly viewed through a leadership prism given he has been touted as a potential replacement for Mr Turnbull if the polls don’t improve.
Turnbull was asked “Is Peter Dutton secretly negotiating for gay marriage behind the scenes?”
Our position on that matter is very clear. The obstacle to same-sex marriage being lawful in Australia is Bill Shorten. We went to the election with a policy for a plebiscite which would give every Australian a say, a plebiscite, I might say, that Mr Shorten himself had supported only three years ago, but on so many things he has done a backflip. He is inconsistent, has no regard to what he said in the past and yet again ... he has done a switch and he is the one that is denying same-sex couples the right to marry.
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Goulburn and the New South Wales central coast have been nominated by assistant immigration minister Alex Hawke as areas to send new migrants.
Send migrants bush to rein in Sydney house prices: government
Sharri Markson reports Hawke says its a “key priority” for the Turnbull government to find ways to encourage migrants to settle outside of Sydney, where house prices have risen by 16% over the past year.
While the government recognises that Sydney will still be an attractive destination for migration, we are looking to work with state governments and regional governments to partner with them to see what could attract migrants to other regional centres. That means employment prospects and the right infrastructure.
There are no concrete plans in the story apart from talking to state governments.
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Here is another answer to the question on splitting the bill ...
Q: Prime minister, are you cutting up the omnibus bill?
Well, as Senator Birmingham has said, we continue our discussions with the crossbench. We’ve had a lot of success in the past in circumstances where even members of the press gallery have predicted that we would have no success, so we will continue our negotiations and discussions but the important thing is that these are very valuable reforms are supported and we seek the support of Senate for them.
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I’m loving Xavier.
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Good morning blogans,
Trying to nail down the government’s plans this morning is like chasing butterflies. From Mike Bowers’ fabulous pictures, you can see the issue du jour is childcare.
And that is because the big fat omnibus bill sits on the Senate agenda in the No 1 spot at 9am.
Labor, the Greens and the majority of the crossbenchers cannot live with the welfare cuts which have been nominated to pay for the childcare reform package. As you may have seen last night, Pauline Hanson has worked out since the Western Australian election preference deal, that cosying up to major parties is probs not a good look. Paul Karp reported:
In a statement on Tuesday Hanson linked the proposed welfare cuts in the omnibus bill to the issue of multinational tax avoidance, saying the government needs to realise companies must “pay their way ... before those with the least are asked to tighten their belts”.
This morning, the ABC and Sky are reporting the omnibus bill will be split, though those exact words have not fallen out of any minister’s mouth.
To underline the need for the Senate to negotiate, Malcolm Turnbull, the education minister, Simon Birmingham, and Canberra senator Zed Seselja have been visiting local sandpits to hang out with kiddies.
Asked repeatedly why he would not split the bill if the Senate had said nyet, Turnbull said the media had predicted the demise of bills in the past. Wait and see. Time will tell.
We are focused on results and outcomes and we found the best way to negotiate with the crossbench is to negotiate directly with them rather than through the pages and screens of the media.
Notwithstanding his coyness, the childcare package is worth $1.6bn so the speculation is that the childcare bit and most palatable welfare cuts will be split into a separate bill. The welfare savings include cuts to family tax benefits.
The other issue that hangs around like a fish in the sun is section 18C. Yesterday, the government unveiled changes to remove insult, offend and humiliate as offences and insert harass. That also looks doomed in the Senate and the prime minister was pressed on that too, this morning. Why bring it on when no one likes it? Why did you change your mind on it, having said five times prior to the election that you had no plans to change it?
What we said before the election was that we did not have any plans to change 18C and that was absolutely true. So again, as a guardian of the truth, you should be more careful with the language you attribute to me. Any other questions?
Let’s get cracking. It is going to be a long day and all eyes will be on the Senate. Talk to me in the thread or on the Twits @gabriellechan or Facebook. Mike Bowers is in the sandpit and you can reach him @mpbowers.
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