Night time politics
- Malcolm Turnbull has said he has no plans or intentions to change capital gains tax after reports that the government was considering options. But he also said it would be remiss not to consider all the options. Finance minister Mathias Cormann said the CGT report was wrong.
- The Turnbull answer came after Labor repeatedly asked the government pretty much the same capital gains tax question over and over until he answered it. The government hammered Labor over shadow treasurer Chris Bowen’s confusing interview on Sky regarding the party’s renewable targets versus renewable goals.
- Barnaby Joyce celebrated his one year anniversary as leader of the National party with an all in together MPs press conference. He talked prawn white spot disease, the sugar impasse between Wilmar and growers and how he would welcome refugees to his own electorate of New England.
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The senate debated the parliamentary entitlements bill. The minor parties, independents and outsiders inside the government tent such as Ian Macdonald argued against the ban on former MP’s free travel. Cory Bernardi wants retired politicians to wait until 60 before they access their parliamentary pension.
That’s it for tonight and the week because I am off to finish off one more thing before I shuffle off. Thanks to you for your company and to the brains trust of Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and Gareth Hutchens. Mike Bowers can put down his very heavy camera.
We shall be back on 27 February for the next sitting week when we have the joys of additional estimates committees.
I will leave you with South Australian Steel.
Good night.
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Labor gets a blast of Pyne face.
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Labor MP Tim Hammond is ejected.
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Labor MP Graham Perrett gets leave pass.
Labor MP Mike Kelly gets the royal order of the boot.
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Labor deputy Tanya Plibersek leaves the field.
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Thursday afternoons get pretty loose.
Tony Burke to Malcolm Turnbull: I refer to his earlier answers where he has defended his industry minister describing One Nation as more sophisticated. Given it is now reported that One Nation, which the WA Liberal party will preference above the Nationals, of making hateful attacks on Muslims, Indigenous Australians, does the prime minister stand by his earlier answers? How long can the Turnbull government continue to pretend that One Nation is just like any other party?
Turnbull compares One Nation to the Greens, given Labor preferences the Greens.
Then:
The reality is that particularly at the federal level, parties allocate preferences in their own interest, and when we allocate preferences, we do so for the purpose of ensuring that more Liberal and National members are elected to Parliament. That’s our objective.
Then when Bill Shorten takes a point of order, Turnbull attacks Shorten directly, delivered with a level of venom.
What we saw there was the biggest glass jaw in Australian politics. We had his snivelling personal explanation earlier in the week, almost bursting into tears that the mean people on the government side had said nasty things about him.
He can’t take it and he can’t take the truth about his own hypocrisy, and there he is, standing up here, abusing the standing orders, defying the Speaker to give his torrent of abuse. Well, I will say this, Mr Speaker.
If the honourable member for Watson wants to know what my views are or my party’s views are on those issues, then you look to us, and we stand for a non-discriminatory immigration program, we stand behind Australia, the most successful multicultural society in the world. We support the United States Alliance, the bedrock of our security, which is not what the Greens party supports.
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Labor to Turnbull: The Melbourne Energy Institute has found that your plan to build new coal-fired power stations would cost $62bn. Given that this cost would have to be passed onto households, will the prime minister confirm the cost of his coal plan announced at the National Press Club as $62bn?
Energy minister Josh Frydenberg takes the question and amongst an attack on Labor, notes that Anthony Albanese - the alternative opposition leader - supports clean coal technology.
Social services minister Christian Porter gets a government question on the National Disability Insurance Scheme which allows him to talk about Labor’s costings from 2013.
Porter says some of the savings Labor used to fund the NDIS were related to health insurance.
That saving was first announced on October 2012 with the member for Lilley [Wayne Swan] saying, “the saving taken will help rebalance the budget”.
It was reannounced, it would be redirected to partially offset the cost of the dental health reform package and then reannounced in the budget glossy as being applied to the NDIS.
The member for Lilley didn’t spend is once, he didn’t spend it twice, he spent it three times.
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Malcolm Turnbull on capital gains tax: it would be remiss not to examine all of those proposals
Malcolm Turnbull leaves the door open to the possibility of modelling a capital gains tax increase.
The honourable member knows very well that Treasury officials look at a whole range of options, a whole range of studies. We get discussions from various parties, from various interest groups associated with the budget, and it would be remiss not to examine all of those proposals, and to pay respect to them as well.
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There is a government question on the need for assistance to provide more affordable childcare to assistant treasurer Kelly O’Dwyer.
Shorten to Turnbull: Has the prime minister’s office, the treasurer’s office, or finance minister’s office, anyone junior in the Treasury’s office requested any advice or modelling to capital gains tax?
Turnbull:
The business of government will not be delved into by this fishing expedition.
(Um, that is the point of question time.)
Labor’s Tony Burke jumps up.
Ministerial responsibility according to practice. Why are we here?
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Bowen to Morrison: Why should Australians believe the treasurer when he says the government is not considering changes to capital gains tax given that just this week the government claimed the National Disability Insurance Scheme which was at risk is not a risk, tax increases by the government are not being prepared by the government, the Abbott government zombie measures were being retained and also being dumped. How can this government provide economic leadership when the treasurer every day contradicts himself?
Morrison:
Our position is crystal clear. We are working to bring the budget back to balance by 2021.
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Bowen to Morrison: On Tuesday the treasurer called for Labor to come out with our own alternative revenue measures. Yesterday the treasurer couldn’t recognise Labor’s reforms to capital gains tax as exactly that. Was the treasurer or his office responsible for the leaks to the Australian Financial Review today, or was it the prime minister’s office or his other opponents within the cabinet?
There is no answer but lots of Labor recklessness and Coalition sensibility.
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Scott Morrison gets a government question in which he talks about coalophobia.
The coalophobia by those opposite, treating coal like it’s some great Jabberwocky, it will cost jobs, it will cost business.
The slithy toves really do gyre and gimble in the wabe.
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WELL THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY.....
— Sam Dastyari (@samdastyari) February 16, 2017
Thanks Senator Ian Macdonald. Apparently the path to mass murder starts with the gold card. pic.twitter.com/DC0CgAGien
Malcolm Turnbull: "no intention or plan to change capital gains tax or negative gearing"
Foreign minister and WA member Julie Bishop is asked about energy security and prices. Cue the state election.
Shorten to Turnbull: Does the prime minister rule out changes to capital gains tax?
The finance minister this morning was absolutely correct and the government has no intention or plan to change capital gains tax or negative gearing.
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There is another protest in the public galleries.
People are yelling:
Land rights for mining rights! Land rights for mining rights! Land rights for mining rights! Land rights for mining rights! Land rights for mining rights!
Speaker Smith is getting frustrated. He started the day with a warning at 9.31am, a minute after parliament began.
Now he warns again:
If members are going to interject wildly, as I’ve said before, they leave me no option but to ask them to leave under 94A. They will choose how often they are in the chamber. Many have worked very hard to get in the chamber. It surprises me they then work so hard to get themselves out of it once they’re here.
Shorten to Turnbull: Today the member for Bennelong repeated his call for reform of capital gains tax and negative gearing. And if the prime minister won’t listen to first homebuyers, will he at least listen to a member of his own backbench saying the system needs to be reformed, and why does the prime minister refuse to simply say whether he rules out changes to capital gains tax or not?
Turnbull says the finance minister Mathias Cormann dealt with the issue this morning. Cormann said the story was wrong.
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A government question to Barnaby Joyce: Will the minister outline to the house the effect that electricity prices will increase particularly in my electorate of Maranoa. How is the government protecting hard-working Australian families and businesses from unsustainable pressure on their hip pocket?
This is a chance to whack Chris Bowen.
Cathy McGowan to energy minister Josh Frydenberg: The government tells us Australia should be able to achieve the policy trifecta of energy that is affordable, reliable and secure, and feedback from my electorate is that energy should be sustainable. Across Australia, there are more than 60 groups developing community energy projects and the most popular are community solar projects. In Indi alone, 24% of households have rooftops solar and the community initiative continues to drive amazing change at the grassroots level. My question, minister: What support can the minister and the government offer to communities in rural and regional Australia to help us move towards a community energy model?
Frydenberg talks about the solar communities program, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and ARENA (the latter two of which the government tried to dump in the last term).
Government has been funding those programs and those programs have been funding community programs, he says.
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Shorten to Turnbull: Today the prime minister has repeatedly refused to rule out changing capital gains tax. Is the prime minister aware that the finance minister has ruled out changing capital gains tax?
Turnbull is careful again.
The Labor Party went in with a daily double of an increase in capital gains tax and an outlawing, a banning of negative gearing, each of which was absolutely calculated and designed to undermine investment, undermine employment. We oppose those measures then and we oppose them today.
Turnbull gets another power question from his own side, in order to take the mickey out of Bowen again.
The first government question is to Turnbull on affordable power prices.
Bowen to Morrison: In question time on 29 February last year the treasurer said any increase to capital gains tax would be, “One big fat tax on investment.” Given the Financial Review reports today the government will increase capital gains tax on property, how can this government provide any leadership when the treasurer constantly contradicts himself?
Morrison doesn’t answer the question but throws it back on Bowen and his interview yesterday regarding Labor’s renewable energy target of 23.5% by 2020 and 50% renewable energy goal of 50% by 2030.
We saw that fog of uncertainty and that fog of ideology clouding the mind of the shadow treasurer, and what worries me about the shadow treasurer, Mr Speaker, is he is supposed to be the voice of economic sense and credibility on that side of the house.
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Shorten to Turnbull: In Question Time on 22 February last year, the prime minister ruled out increasing capital gains tax saying, and I quote, “Increasing capital gains tax is no part of our thinking whatsoever.” Given that Mr Phillip Coorey in the Financial Review reports today that the government is planning to increase capital gains tax on property, can the prime minister confirm once and for all is the government going to make changes to capital gains tax?
Malcolm Turnbull:
The only party that is committed to increasing capital gains tax is the one opposite ... The honourable member calls out for a bit more clarity. Well, it would be nice to see that from the members of the opposition, one bumbling interview after the other.
Turnbull says Chris Bowen tried to clear up the policy later in the day.
Turnbull quoted Bowen:
The, the, the, trading scheme post, you know, it, it, it, where some people – where some, um... It cancels each other out, so yes.” That’s the answer.
Mr Speaker, in this age of cyber warfare, had a malevolent hacker intercepted the shadow treasurer’s NEURAL circuits. What’s going on? Is it in code? We have some of the finest in the world. Will they be able to crack it? Mr Speaker, the extraordinary thing is, he is often very coherent. As he said in his book, Hearts and Minds, ‘It is a Labor thing, because it promotes investment, creates jobs and drives growth.’
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Guess who?
Lunchtime politics
Australian politics, a lunchtime wrap.
- A quite detailed report appeared suggesting the Coalition was considering winding back the capital gains discount. This was particularly controversial because Labor had suggested it two years ago and the Coalition had been bagging it ever since. Finance minister Mathias Cormann said the story was wrong. In contrast, the prime minister said he would not be following Labor policy. The budget is in May, so let’s watch this rabbit run.
- The native title bill which will address the recent federal court decision relating to Indigenous Land Use Agreements was rushed through the lower house, only to sit in a queue for the Senate. Labor noted it was important, voted against it in protest that it was being rammed through, and now a senate committee will inquire into the details for reporting on 17 March.
- The senate has debated parliamentary entitlements, with the Greens, Cory Bernardi, LNP senator Ian Macdonald and Pauline Hanson seeking to amend to remove free travel from prime ministers so that no one is eligible for free travel. Bernardi wants to go a step further and make sure no one accesses pensions until they are 60.
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Barnaby Joyce marked his first year anniversary as leader of the National party.
Question time coming up.
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The now familiar problem of part-time employment
The latest monthly employment figures are out.
The Bureau of Statistics says the trend unemployment rate remained steady in January, at 5.7% – for the ninth consecutive month.
It says there were 13,500 new jobs created between December and January (seasonally adjusted), which sounds positive.
But all of those jobs were part-time positions.
Part-time employment increased by 58,300 persons, while full-time employment decreased by 44,800 persons (the difference being 13,500).
It means the now-familiar problem of new jobs being mostly part-time rather than full-time jobs has not gone away.
Paul Dales, the chief economist of Capital Economics, says the worrying theme of 2016 has therefore continued into 2017.
“The number of people working full-time is no higher now than it was in August 2015,” Dales has written in a note to clients. This is weighing on income as lots of people are working fewer hours and the excess supply of labour is keeping wage growth low.
“Looking ahead, subdued economic growth will probably keep the unemployment rate close to 6% this year. But even if it fell, the high rate of part-time employment and associated rise in underemployment will keep a lid on growth and the underlying rate of consumer price index inflation.”
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In the Senate, Cory Bernardi has just lobbed his previously announced bomb, attempting to amend the parliamentary entitlements bill so that retired politicians can only access their pension when they turn 60. He makes a good suggestion IMO, that the allowances should be built into a simple salary structure so everyone can see what politicians get. Then, if you want your kids or spouse to travel with you, pay for it out of that salary.
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The government, unsurprisingly, wins the suspension. Now the lower house is voting to pass the native title bill.
Someone is yawning very loudly in the chamber. Any MP reading this, feel free to let me know who it is.
While they count the votes, it is worth mentioning that the National Native Title Council has urged parliament to support passage of the bill because of the large number of Indigenous Land Use Agreements rendered invalid by the recent federal court decision.
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In the lower house, Labor was rolling out speakers on the native title bill.
So the leader of the government in the house, Christopher Pyne, has moved to suspend standing orders to push the bill through the house.
The vote is happening now.
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The Greens senator Lee Rhiannon has addressed the entitlements bill. She would like to see the whole scheme wound up completely. Cory Bernardi is speaking now.
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LNP senator Ian Macdonald says if we want to follow populist policies that curtail politicians’ allowances, next they will get rid of the Comcars that line up out the front of parliament waiting for MPs. Next, those populists will want us to lose the electorate offices and “meet constituents in the privacy of their homes”.
He wants to amend the bill to remove the gold pass from prime ministers – “the ban should apply to every single politician”.
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The Turnbull government has given a $54m loan from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to a large-scale solar development which it says has the potential for pumped hydro storage.
Malcolm Turnbull and the energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, have announced the government had directed the CEFC and Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena) to fund large-scale storage and other flexible capacity projects including pumped hydro.
The solar development will take place at Genex Power’s Kidston renewable energy hub, 270km north-west of Townsville.
The parliamentary entitlements bill is being debated in the Senate. LNP senator Ian Macdonald is speaking against the retrospectivity of the bill which removes free travel known as the gold pass for long serving politicians all.
I am condemned by the commentariat...It doesn’t matter that the retrospectivity relates to a group who are so poorly regarded.
He says the savings from the retrospectivity equates to between $1-2m.
Removing this from “elderly retired politicians is not going to make one iota of difference to the budget”.
This is pure populism.
He has a word for the “trolls, commentariat and the lazy journalists” who falsely accuse him of opposing the reforms for self interest.
This has nothing to do with me. It will give me no benefit.
But the media probably won’t print that bit, says Macdonald.
(Except me.)
He accuses Labor and the Greens of unleashing the trolls on him. He accuses the media of NOT making a fuss about Labor senator Sam Dastyari who had a travel bill paid for by a Chinese-linked company and lost his spot on the frontbench.
I am not sure what media Macdonald is reading.
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Of course we will open our arms to refugees, says Joyce.
The deputy prime minister was asked if he would welcome refugee resettlement in his local town of Tamworth, given he is calling on people to move to the bush to escape high city housing prices.
Barnaby Joyce referenced an episode of the ABC show Australian Story about a town called Mingoola on the Queensland-NSW border where the locals renovated houses to allow refugees to come to their dying town.
I actually led the program, welcoming it. They were from Uganda. In the New England, we are proud of the fact. Of course we will open our arms to refugees. Of course we will. I am only too happy about them going to places like Armidale. I will do everything in my power to make sure they are welcome there. You know why I can do that? because we can do it on our terms. Because we have strong borders. Because we have proper processes.
Barnaby Joyce has been joined by his deputy, Fiona Nash, and his MPs to talk up his first year anniversary. There has been a marked change in the profile of the Nationals since the leadership change from Warren Truss and Barnaby Joyce. Joyce is a lot more visible, doing daily media conversations, explaining policies, whereas Truss was lucky to do one a month. The other thing that has changed is media focus on “outsider politics” following the Brexit and Trump votes. Barnaby is deployed to provide the “outsider” bit of the Liberal-National Coalition.
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Back again. Just had to duck out for a quick podcast.
The Senate did not vote on the One Nation bill to change the processes for the Human Rights Commission. The debate was interrupted.
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In the Senate, it is private senators’ business. One Nation’s Brian Burston has moved
The main purpose of this Bill is to improve the procedure for dealing with complaints lodged with the Australian Human Rights Commission under Part IIB of the Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986. The Bill adds a requirement that the Commission, on receiving a complaint, must engage in a preliminary assessment of the complaint and the evidence relating to it before proceeding to a full inquiry. It also adds requirements relating to informing respondents about the complaint.
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Labor accepts and understands the important role of land use agreements and accepts the need for this (native title) legislation, says Dreyfus.
He is highly critical of the timetable of the bill rather than the substance.
The native title amendment has been introduced into the house. Labor’s Mark Dreyfus is speaking against the rush through the house.
He says even if the bill went through the house this morning, the Senate cannot debate it today because of its packed program. Why the rush? Why not consult?
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Last night, the Senate committee reported into the exposure draft of legislation that would have created marriage equality – had the plebiscite been put and passed.
There is a bit of a tussle behind the scenes in the Coalition between supporters and those opposed to marriage equality to own the next step of the debate.
Finance minister Mathias Cormann – well-known conservative and opposed to a change – was asked about it this morning.
Q: You do not think this report is going to stir up tensions for those people in the Liberal party who support same sex marriage?
We took a policy to the last election that we would give the Australian people a say at a plebiscite. The work the Senate select committee did is in the scenario where a future plebiscite were to make certain decisions which would lead to certain outcomes. We have not had a plebiscite. So from that point of view our policy remains to have a plebiscite first.
Q: Why is the government prepared to change its position on some policies it took to the election but not this one?
We are committed to all of our policies.
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Education minister Simon Birmingham has withdrawn federal funding for the Islamic college of South Australia. He has released this statement:
Today, my department has written to the school authority responsible for the Islamic College of South Australia to inform them that their approval for access to Federal funds has been revoked with effect from 13 April 2017 (end of Term 1).
This means that the Islamic College of South Australia will no longer be receiving Australian Government funding from 14 April 2017.
It is disappointing that after the number of chances this school has been given and the constructive work the Department has been doing with the authority since November 2015 the school has still failed to meet the reasonable standards and expectations placed on them.
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Labor’s suspension of standing orders has been voted down.
While they vote, Labor has yet to decide whether they will support the legislation. A few days ago, shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus told us:
Labor recognises the concerns expressed by Indigenous groups, industry and different levels of government over this court ruling, which has the potential to impact not only resource projects but also the designation of new national parks.
Labor has received a briefing from the Attorney-General’s Department and will wait to see the details of any proposed legislation before commenting further.
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Linda Burney, Indigenous Labor frontbencher and member for Barton, rose as the second speaker to suspend standing orders on the native title legislation. There was howls of outrage from the government benches as they condemned the move to use Burney.
Now the government is voting to gag her.
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The government is in the process of gagging Tony Burke.
The native title legislation is trying to change the laws after a federal court ruled in favour of a challenge against the Noongar Indigenous land use agreement (ILUA), which sought to exchange $1.3bn in land, payments and benefits over 12 years in return for the Noongar people extinguishing native title rights on 200,000 hectares in south-west WA.
The court agreed with five Noongar applicants who argued the deal was invalid because they had refused to sign on with other representatives. Four of the six agreements struck could not be legally registered, the court found, because the Native Title Act required “all” claim group members to agree.
The attorney general, George Brandis, has argued the laws need to be changed to protect previous land use agreements relating to resource projects, pastoral leases and national parks which are now in doubt.
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Labor is moving a suspension of standing orders about the native title legislation. The government is forcing legislation on land use agreements through the house before question time. Labor is arguing that the government has not allowed for consultation with the Indigenous community in the same week as the Closing the Gap report. In speaking to that report, Malcolm Turnbull said the government would work with Indigenous communities rather than doing things to them.
Parliament is sitting.
First news is that former Liberal Cory Bernardi has been booted off the public accounts committee now that he is no longer a party member. Eric Abetz will take his place.
Nick Xenophon has labelled a report by the Australian “fake news” after the paper reported:
Senate powerbroker Nick Xenophon’s call for a lift in the Medicare levy to fill the $7 billion unfunded gap in the National Disability Insurance Scheme would cost families up to $2600 a year in extra taxes.
Modelling commissioned by The Australian yesterday revealed that even a 1 percentage point hike in the 2 per cent levy would cost average families more than the proposed cuts to family supplements that Senator Xenophon cited as his reason for rejecting the government’s now doomed childcare package.
There are two tax elements attached to Medicare.
There is the 2% Medicare levy to part fund the health system.
Then there is the Medicare surcharge which is means tested and paid by singles earning more than $90,000 and families earning more than $180,000.
Xenophon floated the suggestion of a small increase in the Medicare (means-tested) surcharge but the Oz has analysed possible increases across all incomes.
Xenophon says that makes it fake news.
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As Donald Trump rewrites the US commitment for a two state solution for Israel and Palestine, Katharine Murphy reports Bill Shorten is under pressure to adopt a more pro-Palestine policy stance.
Senior members of the NSW right faction are lining up with the left in supporting diplomatic recognition of Palestine and last year the ALP national conference passed its strongest resolution yet seen at the national level.
Two former foreign affairs ministers, Gareth Evans and Bob Carr, have joined Bob Hawke in arguing for a policy change.
Evans and Carr told Guardian Australia on Wednesday that Australia should grant diplomatic recognition to the state of Palestine because Benjamin Netanyahu’s aggressive settlement building risks creating the conditions for an “apartheid state”.
The intervention by the two former ministers follows Hawke arguing this week it was time to recognise the state of Palestine because the humanitarian principles underpinning the Jewish state were being “trashed by the inexorable expansion of ... settlement in the West Bank”.
Samantha Maiden at Sky reports that the government is preparing to outlaw ‘Mediscare’-style campaigns with penalties including jail time.
A parliamentary committee has already laid the groundwork, calling for new offences for impersonating or purporting to act on behalf of a commonwealth officer, or an entity.
[The government] also wants new laws to ensure commonwealth logos and symbols are not used to mislead the public during election campaigns.
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There is a bit of wriggle room in the prime minister’s reaction to the capital gains tax reports this morning.
Q: Are you planning a crackdown on the capital gains tax?
Malcolm Turnbull:
The only party that is an advocate of higher taxes is the Labor Party. I might say, not content with that they’re also an advocate of higher deficits and higher debt. So we’re a party of lower taxes, supporting investment, supporting employment and bringing the budget back into balance.
Q: Are you ruling out any tax increases and specifically capital gains tax?
We do not support the Labor Party’s plans to increase capital gains tax or indeed their plans to outlaw negative gearing.
Which sounds like they are not supporting Labor’s version of a capital gains tax policy and negative gearing. Which means they could still come up with their own version. But I stand to be corrected.
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Last night the Senate passed the amendment to bring forward the date of the building code in the Australian Building and Construction Commission law after senator Derryn Hinch changed his mind.
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The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, says the Financial Review report that the government is planning cuts to capital gains tax discount is wrong.
He says there are no plans under consideration by the Coalition to remove or reduce the capital gains discount.
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.@TurnbullMalcolm tells a @UN_Women breakfast Australia is on track to reduce the gender participation gap by a quarter by 2025. pic.twitter.com/qqNDl4oobI
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) February 15, 2017
Good morning,
If you can hear a whirring sound, it is the sound of the treasury calculators working ahead of the May budget. The main message for you, the voters, from the government is the need for savings, especially if people want reforms like greater childcare support.
There are still $13bn in cuts stalled and as part of the government plan to win the hearts and minds, the education minister, Simon Birmingham, has released figures on the need for childcare.
Gareth Hutchens reports departmental data showed more than 3,600 families have hit the $7,500 childcare assistance cap in the first two weeks of 2017, demonstrating how quickly families are coming under financial pressure thanks to childcare costs.
But the surprising news this morning comes from Phil Coorey at the Fin, who is reporting that the Turnbull government is planning a crackdown on capital gains tax concessions for property investors.
WHAT!
It is a policy Labor has had for a number of years now, to cut the capital gains discount and remove negative gearing on all but new houses.
The treasurer, Scott Morrison, while previously admitting there were excesses, later demonised the policy as the end of the world. (Or near enough.)
This morning, no one in government is confirming the story, rather saying the government has no intention to follow Labor etc etc. Which does not exactly preclude a cut to the capital gains discount in slightly different way.
(In 1985, Paul Keating introduced the capital gains tax where individuals would pay the same capital gains tax at their marginal rate (while allowing for inflation). In 1999 John Howard and Peter Costello halved capital gains as part of a wider tax package after the Ralph business tax review.
Coorey reports this morning:
The policy backflip, to be unveiled in the May budget, comes after more than a year of savaging Labor’s proposal to halve the capital gains discount as an assault on badly needed investment.
It is understood the policy being worked on within government would be confined to property investment, and not apply to all investments such as shares, as Labor’s plan would. Neither would the Coalition policy target negative gearing, as Labor is doing.
Options being worked on include following Labor in halving the 50% discount on capital gains tax to 25%, or reducing it by another amount. The other is adopting a phased model in which the discount would increase the longer the property was held. A property would have to be held for several years before the investor was eligible for the full 50% discount.
The prime minister has just spoken to a breakfast for International Women’s Day and will shortly do a press conference so let’s crack on. Talk to me in the thread, on the Twits @gabriellechan or on Facebook.
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