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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Amy Remeikis

Labor caucus signs off on medical evacuations bill – as it happened

Labor has been locked in talks all day to reach a position on the medical evacuation bill
Labor has been locked in talks all day to reach a position on the medical evacuation bill. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

And that is where we are going to call it quits tonight.

But fear not – we’ll be back in about 12 hours. It is going to be that sort of year, me thinks.

A massive thank you to Mike Bowers, Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and all the other Guardian brains trust members who drag me and my fingers through the day. My brain gets left somewhere in the debris somewhere along the way, but they keep it motoring along.

And of course, to you, for keeping us company through this marathon first day back. We really do appreciate it. Go log off and hang with your families, we’ll be back early tomorrow morning, but if you must, check back for the analysis and the stories in between.

As always, and more than ever this year, take care of you.

Scott Morrison and Marise Payne will hold a press conference at 8.45 tonight to talk about Hakeem al-Araibi.


So those changes Labor wanted are endorsed, but a caucus sub-committee will look at the final wording of any deal with the crossbench.

One of the sticking points – the change from 24 hours (for a minister to sign off on or reject a transfer request) to ‘as soon as practically able’ – there are some who still want a figure put on it.

While we wait to learn a little bit more from the Labor caucus briefing, this has come through the twits:

So now the question is – will the crossbenchers agree to the changes Labor wants to make?

Because if one of them balks, it is all over.

Labor caucus signs off on medevac bill

From what is coming out of the meeting, it looks as though the caucus has decided to sign off on the principles Murph spoke about earlier – but it looks like there were concerns expressed

Updated

Caucus is out.

This also happened today (I missed it in the insanity):

Updated

Luke Henriques-Gomes was in the federal court where the AWU raids case began:

Michaelia Cash’s former media adviser has admitted in court that he leaked details of a federal police raid on the Australian Workers’ Union but declined to say who tipped him off.

A high-profile federal court trial has begun to determine the legality of Australian federal police raids on the union’s Melbourne and Sydney headquarters in October 2017.

On Monday, the court heard that letters and communications sent by Cash, a senator and former employment minister in the Coalition government, and her office illustrate a “keen political interest” in the AWU before its offices were raided by police.

The raids, which were part of an investigation by the Registered Organisations Commission, drew scrutiny because tipped-off TV crews and journalists arrived at the offices before police.

Cash’s former media adviser, David De Garis, told the court on Monday he learned police were set to raid the union’s offices about midday on 24 October. Asked who told him about the upcoming raids, De Garis replied: “I respectfully decline to answer that question on the grounds it may incriminate me.”

Meanwhile, the Labor caucus meeting still hasn’t got to the medical evacuation bill.

Wayne Hay is the senior correspondent for Al Jazeera:

Updated

Just on Christopher Pyne’s tweet, a quick search shows that, well, this did go on in the 43rd parliament.

As the Conversation reported at the time:

The decision last month by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to severely restrict the practice of “pairing” votes in Parliament is another demonstration of the fractious and polarised state of federal politics since the 2010 election.

...In the current 43rd parliament, the government has rejected only one out of 27 requests by the Opposition for pairs, while the Opposition has rejected 60 out 185 Government requests.”

There was also that time Tony Abbott backed out of an agreement to pair the Speaker in 2011, despite originally agreeing to the move.

Updated

Christopher Pyne has responded to Labor’s announcement pairs will be cancelled when absolute majority vote is occurring:

Updated

Labor is still in caucus.

We’ll let you know what is happening, as soon as we know.

Mike Bowers was at the Last Post ceremony and caught the leaders in a somewhat candid moment.

Prime minister Scott Morrison and Opposition leader Bill Shorten
Prime minister Scott Morrison and opposition leader Bill Shorten. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Just a reminder that Labor’s position there is not yet set – it still has to be signed off on by caucus, which won’t meet until 6pm.

Updated

Labor decides on three principles to medical evacuation bill – detail unclear

Labor has been locked in talks all day to reach a position on this impasse. The talks are ongoing. At the moment three principles have been resolved.

The first is broadening the scope of ministerial discretion to ensure that people who have committed serious crimes can be rejected if they are recommended for medical transfer.

The second is relaxing the timeframes specified in the current bill. Some timeframes for decision making are within 24 hours.

The third is ensuring these arrangements only apply to the current cohort, not to any new boat arrivals.

As I said, meetings are ongoing, and it’s unclear whether key crossbenchers would cop any or all of this, assuming the caucus does.

Updated

Applications for citizenship “have not been processed efficiently by the Department of Home Affairs”, according to a scathing auditor general report, released on Monday.

The report found the department is missing its old target of making 80% of decisions within 80 days, with just 15% meeting that deadline in 2017-18. Instead, the department has abolished the target and not announced a replacement.

The auditor general noted there was “a long delay before substantive processing of the applications received from 20 April 2017” when the government announced reforms to tighten the rules for gaining Australian citizenship and this “negatively impacted processing times”.

Those reforms were blocked by the Senate.

Over the past four years applications lodged increased by 25% to 240,000, decisions decreased by 47% to 100,000 and cases awaiting decisions soared by 771% to 245,000.

Home affairs also failed to check the quality of the decisions taken to approve or refuse Australian citizenship in 2017–18, despite committing to check 2% of decisions.

The department responded rejecting the claim applications were not processed efficiently and refusing to prioritise speed over “national security and community safety”.

The auditor general responded that time blowouts were in fact caused by “long delays ... evident between applications being lodged and decisions being taken on whether or not to confer citizenship, along with significant periods of inactivity”.

The department rejected the auditor general’s recommendation that it publish statistics on the time taken to decide citizenship applications, warning this would “not be meaningful” because individual cases vary.

Updated

For those wondering, beyond Labor supporting the amended medical evacuation bill in the Senate, this is what the party decided on at the conference late last year:

339. Labor recognises that successive Coalition Governments have failed to negotiate viable and timely regional resettlement arrangements, which has left refugees and asylum seekers including children languishing in indefinite detention.

Labor believes that whilst these arrangements are negotiated, the Australian Government is not absolved of its obligation to provide appropriate health, security, and welfare services to asylum seekers.

Labor will:

Work to negotiate on, and agree to, regional resettlement arrangements and resettle eligible refugees as a priority;

Continue to support the United States Refugee Resettlement Agreement and accept New Zealand’s generous offer to resettle refugees by negotiating an agreement on similar terms as the United States Agreement;

and

Ensure appropriate health, security, and welfare services for asylum seekers;

and

Improve the medical transfer process, establish an Independent Health Advice Panel to provide medical advice and maintain ministerial discretion in all decision making

A look at the Home Affairs brief that was leaked to some outlets last week

Earlier today I stepped you through what the medical transfers legislation says rather than relying on the high velocity political bollocks of the past week or so. Now, here is my account of a brief from the home affairs department that was leaked selectively to some news outlets last week. That leak is now the subject of a police investigation.

The government has now released a redacted version of the home affairs brief. The first thing to note is it is not a classified brief (as at least one outlet suggested). It’s status is “protected, sensitive, legal”.

News reports of this brief suggested that security agencies had warned the floodgates would be opened on border protection if the parliament ultimately passes the medical transfer legislation. Well, sort of. There are a lot of contentions in the advice, and some of them are hedged.

Officials argue the current ministerial discretion in the bill to reject people cleared for medical transfer on security grounds isn’t wide enough.

Consistent with the culture of the home affairs department, the briefers also clearly object to doctors being decision-makers. The officials say a lot of doctors don’t like offshore detention, ipso facto: “Many doctors in Australia and their professional associations have called for an end to regional processing and it is expected that their recommendations under these amendments would be forthcoming in a short period.”

“It is expected that within four weeks of Royal Assent, should the bill pass the House of Representatives, that most of the 1,000 individuals would be in contact with ‘treating doctors’ willing to recommend their transfer to Australia for at least medical assessment if not treatment. The fact that treatment is available in PNG, Taiwan or Nauru would not restrict the recommendations by treating doctors to transfer. The individual would not be required to accept treatment in their regional processing country or another location that is not Australia”.

“Some doctors have publically [sic] asserted that all transferees should be removed from Nauru and PNG for mental health reasons. Provided those doctors are appropriately registered or licensed and have ‘assessed’ transferees either remotely or in person, it will be open to him or her to form the opinion that any or all of the transferees are ‘relevant transitory persons’ and give the secretary notice of this, triggering the provisions in the amendments.”

A contention, unless I’m not mistaken. Doctors. Gotta watch them. Always up to something.

Moving on, the briefers note something the government hasn’t exactly highlighted. “On transfer to Australia, the individuals would be detained under the Migration Act 1958 (Migration Act) and placed in held detention or in community detention by way of a residence determination”.

So this isn’t quite “two doctors say you can come to Australia, and freedom beckons”, as a number of government frontbenchers have suggested during the past few hyperbolic days. It’s come to Australia (maybe, if you meet the criteria) and get detained again.

Despite the brief confirming medical transferees would continue to be detained, this is framed by the authors as a problem.

“Placing up to 1,000 people in held detention will put pressure on the detention network and with risk assessments, some, but not all, may be suitable for community detention. Those not suitable for community detention would be placed in held detention, likely necessitating the stand-up of the Christmas Island facility and removing our hot contingency fall back for Operation Sovereign Borders.”

The briefers worry word will get back to the people smugglers. “This path to Australia will likely reach people smugglers in a short period and they could rightly advise their clients that if they were sent at a future time to a regional processing location, they would only need to stay long enough to seek the recommendations of ‘treating doctors’ for transfer to Australia.”

“We expect that this may encourage those prospective clients of people smugglers who, to date, have not decided to travel due to the dissuasion of returns, turnbacks and regional processing. This bill removes the third pillar – regional processing.”

Sounds bad, but several paragraphs later, the advice becomes more hedged. After noting the softening in Australia will feed in to marketing by people smugglers, the story becomes more complicated. “Although people smugglers may claim there has been a shift in Australian policy and entry to Australia is now possible with just the opinion of two doctors, the resumption of large-scale people smuggling to Australia will remain dependent on a shift in Potential Illegal Immigrant (PII) intent — not smuggler marketing.”

“PIIs will probably be interested in any perceived or actual pathway where resettlement in a Western country is guaranteed, even if such a pathway includes a period spent in detention.

“However, PIIs will probably remain sceptical of smuggler marketing and await proof that such a pathway is viable, or that an actual change of policy has occurred, before committing to ventures”.

Updated

We are waiting to find out (with everyone else) where Labor lands on the medical evacuation bill, so bear with us.

Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten are attending the Last Post ceremony at the Australian War Memorial, a tradition before the start of the parliamentary year.

Tomorrow morning, they will both attend a church service before heading into parliament, another tradition.

Then the bear pit officially reopens.

This is a little awkward (as reported by Paul Karp and Katharine Murphy):

The prominent economist and Reserve Bank board member Ian Harper has warned the Morrison government against pursuing its controversial “big stick” legislation, declaring “overreach” in Australia’s energy sector would likely be harmful.

Harper, who was appointed by the Coalition to review Australia’s competition policy and serve on the central bank board, has used a submission to a parliamentary inquiry to warn the Morrison government against pursuing special sanctions for the energy sector.

Harper’s competition policy inquiry recommended changes to the misuse of market power provisions in Australian trade practices law, but did not recommend a divestiture power because it was considered unnecessary and undesirable.

The prominent economist and dean of the Melbourne Business School says in his submission to the inquiry that divestiture powers – which are being proposed in the so-called “big stick” package – were avoided in his review because “they are unpredictable in their impact and may even be counterproductive if the segregated entities prove to be commercially unviable, potentially leaving the market less competitive after forced divestiture than it was beforehand”.

Tim Storer also says he would vote (in the Senate) to extend the sitting calendar, to include a sitting in March.

The government seem pretty confident of having headed that prospect off in the House though, and not necessarily because of Bob Katter. So someone on the crossbench is blinking.

Tim Storer is having a chat to David Speers on Sky about the potential of Labor walking away from the medical evacuation bill.

He “urges” the Labor party not to u-turn, and says it is an “appropriate” amendment. But he says he would look at any compromise.

David Leyonhjelm is walking away from the federal parliament for a shot at the NSW parliament.

He has launched a farewell tour (from his release):

The first libertarian elected to the Australian parliament, Senator David Leyonhjelm, will speak for the last time in the chamber this week, ahead of his New South Wales election tilt.

The Liberal Democrats senator, who was elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2016, will give his valedictory speech on Wednesday from 5pm. In it, he will offer some insight into the important role he played as a crossbencher, while lamenting the lack of principles of other political parties.

‘In my first speech, I promised to the Australian people that I would never vote for a reduction in liberty or an increase in taxes, and I am proud to say I have held true to that promise,’ Senator Leyonhjelm said.

‘Of course, out of the nine crossbench Senators elected in 2013, I am the only one that has remained and survived the turbulent times,’ he said. ‘And since I was elected, my party, the Liberal Democrats, has increased its representation fourfold: from just me, to one in WA and two in Victoria — not including our representatives at the council level.

‘Our saying that libertarians are plotting to take over the world and leave everyone alone is coming along swimmingly.

‘While this might be my federal farewell tour, I am not quitting politics — at least, that’s not the plan. Red tape and the nanny state remain the two issues I am passionate about, and I can make more of a difference to these state-based problems if I am elected in NSW on March 23.’

Senator Leyonhjelm will return to Canberra this week for the sitting week and a Senate committee hearing into his free speech bills, along with next week for a final grilling of public servants in Additional Estimates.

Updated

A Senate inquiry into the Coalition’s planned crackdown on the R&D tax incentive has recommended the policy be shelved over concerns it could stifle innovation.

Then treasurer Scott Morrison announced he would tighten access to the R&D tax incentive in last year’s budget, saying the government would no longer be signing “blank cheques” to business. It’s a big deal. The payments account for one-third of all government spending on science and innovation.

A new “intensity test’ would be introduced for larger companies to favour higher, more intensive R&D investment, and compliance and enforcement measures would be ramped up significantly. The measure would save the government $2.4bn.

But a Senate inquiry has heard evidence from a range of businesses and research groups that the policy would threaten innovation and create uncertainty.

The inquiry on Monday recommended that: “On the weight of evidence presented, the committee considers that the bill should not proceed until there is further consideration of the R&D tax incentive measures.”

The R&D incentive crackdown is attached to an omnibus bill that also includes measures to stamp out tax avoidance.

That included amendments to prevent companies from loading up debt artificially to shift profits and avoid tax. The inquiry recommended the government proceed on all other parts of the bill.

Updated

I know he has a few fans here, so here you go:

Reading through that question and answer section of the Scott Morrison press club address, there was a lot going on, including this:

We can’t just focus on terrorism and allow our women to be abused.

Could have done without the “our” there, I think.

Updated

I’m told that the full shadow ministry is due to meet to discuss the medical evacuation bill nowish.

The Labor shadow cabinet is going to meet to talk about what to do with the information from the security briefing on the medical evacuation bill.

And of course, individual factional caucuses will meet as well.

We won’t have an answer on where Labor lands on this, until later tonight.

Death-to-dixers get democratised.

Or that’s what I’m taking from Tim Storer’s decision to crowdsource his questions to the government for Senate question time from his South Australian constituents.

From Storer:

When I first entered parliament, I spoke about the need for politicians to do better to bring the people into the parliamentary process.

In the internet age, there is no reason for voters to only have their say on polling day.

That is why, going forward, I’ll be asking the South Australian people to choose the topic on which I will ask the government questions during Senate question time.

Voting is now open on my website to select the topic I will ask the government a question on this Thursday 14 February.

So far, 800 people have participated in the poll, which has been a fantastic response.

Voting closes on Wednesday at 5pm ACDT.

I will select future topic options based on feedback from the South Australian community on the issues that are of most pressing concern to them.

I will also be adding a ‘free text’ box for future polls, so voters can suggest additional topics that are not listed.

It’s time to modernise our democracy and give the people we represent more say in what we politicians do in Canberra.

Updated

Bill Shorten’s office has confirmed he will be meeting with the family of Hakeem al-Araibi on Wednesday.

From the release:

Labor reiterates our call on Thailand to release Hakeem al-Araibi and return him to his family in Australia.

We remain deeply concerned by Mr Al-Araibi’s ongoing detention in Thailand and the continuing threat of his extradition to Bahrain.

Senator Wong has raised Hakeem’s case directly with the ambassador of Thailand and called for his release and return to Australia.

Labor also urges the prime minister of Thailand to exercise executive discretion in this case – a discretion that both Thailand’s office of the attorney general and the prosecutor have confirmed is allowed under Thailand’s Extradition Act.

Thailand is a good friend of Australia’s. We are confident the Thai people and Government understand the concern so many Australians have for the welfare of a person to whom we have offered sanctuary, and permanent residency.

We wish to thank all those showing their support for Hakeem, including the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, other governments, Mr Al-Araibi’s local community in Melbourne and in particular Mr Craig Foster, the Football Federation of Australia, and the broader football community.

Updated

How Mike Bowers saw the speech:

One taught me love, one taught me patience and one taught me pain
One taught me love, one taught me patience and one taught me pain Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Tfw you’re wondering how you got here.
Tfw you’re wondering how you got here. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Pumped. As
Pumped. As Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

As the prime minister hammers home his message about national security, the Guardian has revealed that 17 Australian residents are believed to be under house arrest, in prison or detained in China’s secretive “re-education” centres in Xinjiang.

The 17 cases – 15 Australian permanent residents and two on spouse visas – have been collected by Nurgul Sawut, an advocate for Uighurs in Australia through interviews with their family members.

Sawut says the Australian Uighur community feel “let down” by the Australian government, which they believe is sitting on its hands, despite many of the 17 having lived in Australia for years and having children or spouses who are Australian citizens.

“The language [Dfat] is using is very dire. The Australian government is basically saying we can’t do anything right now,” said Sawut.

“They say, ‘we are talking to our Chinese counterparts’. What does that mean exactly? When I met Dfat in December, I said, ‘that’s not a good enough answer for us. As an Australian embassy you need to do more to locate these people, to tell us if they’re alive or dead’.”

Penny Wong, Labor’s spokeswoman on foreign affairs, said her party was “particularly concerned” by reports of Uighurs who were Australian residents being detained. She said: “Engagement with China is very important to Australia but, as with any other country, it never means we abandon our values, or our sovereignty.”

Updated

While you all percolate on that last hour and a bit, Linda Burney, the first Aboriginal woman elected to the House of Representatives, will have her portrait unveiled on Wednesday.

It’s to hang in Parliament House. From the release:

Created by award-winning artist Jude Rae, the portrait was commissioned by the Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) for Parliament’s Historic Memorials Collection.

The Historic Memorials Collection, Australia’s longest-running art commissioning program, was founded by prime minister Andrew Fisher in 1911, on the recommendation of artist Tom Roberts. Since then, it has commissioned portraits of the head of state, governors-general, prime ministers, speakers and presidents. On occasion, as is the case with Ms Burney, the committee will commission a one-off portrait of senators and members whose election represents a significant milestone in the history of the Australian parliament.

Updated

That was the last question.

Question:

You’ve recently been to Townsville and Tasmania to comfort and support Australians suffering from wildfires and unprecedented inundation and flooding.

Now, insurance actuaries are constantly revising risk assessment and are now factoring in climate change as an exacerbating factor in the higher frequencies of extreme weather events.

Do you acknowledge that climate change is now the major factor in more frequent extreme weather events, and if you do, doesn’t that mean that Australia’s national disaster response needs a greater national coordination than what you’ve been able to announce under the national security umbrella that you’ve canvassed today?

Morrison:

I don’t know if I agree with your reasoning. We have a clear commitment to reduce emissions to 26% by 2030. So that is our response. We are taking action on climate change. We do have a response in place to address the very real threats of climate change that you’ve articulated.

That’s part of our government’s plan to do exactly that and right now, in the middle of the fires in Tasmania and the floods in Queensland, they’re not just fires in Tasmania.

As we know, in Victoria and Western Australia and other parts of the country – this is happening at a time when we’ve met the commitments that we have already set forward this time.

So the actions that we’ve taken to address climate change have been taken and we are meeting the commitments we’ve made up until right now when these very even vents that you speak of are occurring.

So my answer to that is – we will continue to take action, just as we I acknowledge it’s a factor – just as we have. I acknowledge it’s a factor. Of course it is. Australians do. The vast majority of Australians. But the issue is how you achieve it. We believe you need sensible, achievable targets to address climate change, and we have them and we’re achieving them.

What we disagree with is having reckless target that is shut down your economy and take people’s jobs, which is what Labor propose.

Their target requires an emissions reduction roughly three times what we still have to achieve by 2030. Now, if you think that the aluminium smelter is still going to be open under Labor’s plan, you’re kidding yourself. It won’t be.

So you have real targets that is you meet with a plan to meet them. That’s our policy on climate change.

Or you have reckless targets that shut down the economy and cost Australians their jobs and their livelihoods. That’s Labor’s plan.

And it brings me back to the same point I’ve been making all day – under my government, Australia will be stronger. Under Bill Shorten’s Labor government, Australia will be weaker.

Updated

Question:

A lot of Australians are asking when it comes to border security why can’t they [our policy] be both safe and humane why does it have to be a choice between one or the other?

Morrison:

We are being safe and we are being humane, I don’t agree with that assessment. The Australian government will run the borders, and our government, that is how we will always be under our government.

Over 7,000 women, and children, have come under our official women at risk program, because we have secured the borders. That wasn’t happening before we came to government in 2013, not in those numbers.

One of the first things I did as immigration minister and has been followed on by Peter and from David – making sure people who really need the help can get it.

That’s what we have been delivering. The reason we have put in our transparency and assurance process is to demonstrate to Australians the medical care is provided.

It is provided. I know there will be some who will come in not know what the circumstances are, there will be advocates making claims and they will do all those sorts of things but there is a reason ministers make these decisions and governments make them, because we understand our border responsibilities, I don’t respect those with more narrow responsibilities in the area I respect them absolutely and the motivations, our responsibilities are broader than that, and under my government, we will run the borders.

Updated

Question:

There’s been a fair bit of speculation about exactly what date the election will be. Do you rule out 25 May?

Morrison:

Have you got your pen ready? Are you ready? I was almost tempted to tell you the other day when Michael and I were going out to swear in the assistant minister. I was going to text you and say – I’m on my way to Yarralumla.

I thought it was funnier than that, actually!

Gosh, cheer up!

The election will be after the budget.

Updated

Question:

Hakeem al-Araibi is in a Thai prison. We can blame Bahrain or Thailand for not taking them. How much responsibility can we take and what responsibilities have you taken to ensure that no other Australians end up in that situation?

Morrison:

I’m not at liberty to go to the last part of the question because of what it relates to. But what I can tell you – the only thing I’m concerned about right now is getting him home.

I want to get Hakeem al-Araibi home. I know that Marise Payne has been working with her consulate and others from Dfat. And our Australians of the year, the number of people, the international sports community, others, have been making this case. But they’ve been making it respectfully, been making it carefully and I will continue to do that as well.

It’s not my job to get upset – it’s my job to get him home and that’s what we’re working towards and we will keep doing that. But I would ask Australians, who I know desperately want to see him come home, that we have to manage this carefully. We have to be patient. It’s not a straight up and down issue. I know it looks like one. Most issues do.

But you know, to solve them requires a lot more patience and a lot more diligence, and that’s what we’re applying to this. He’s getting a lot of great consular support from friends and I thank all of those who have been providing that support. But we will continue to work this issue with our partners. We will continue to engage with the Thai government, as we’ve been doing constantly, as well as we have with the governor of Bahrain. And it is within the executive authority of the Thai prime minister to enable him to be returned and we will continue to work towards that end.

Updated

Question:

Thank you for making that to the mortgage brokers of Australia. When you and Senator Reynolds visited Townsville, they rang the insurance brokers there, but then rang the mortgage brokers. Can you tell the mortgage brokers of Australia the sense that you give them about their future and they’re deeply concerned about the capacity to serve their clients, which they’ll do?

Can you clarify today and I know that Treasurer Frydenberg will look at the $2.7bn received in that, so if you could talk to the mortgage brokers of Australia.

Morrison:

The mortgage brokers understand, with at cautious way we’ve responded to the report, that we understand the important role that they play in the community. And I’ve already said that.

Yes, the royal commission has recommended some changes that will need to be absorbed over time and they can be absorbed if they’re done in consultation.

But I want to see as many mortgage brokers in this country, five years from now, in fact, more than there are today. I don’t want to see this sector wither on the vine and be strangled by regulation that would throw them out of business, but more importantly, would deny choice and competition in the banking system.

If there’s one thing we’ve learnt from this process is that we need more competition. We need more options. We need more choices. Not fewer. And that’s what I am concerned about and treasurer and I are concerned about in terms of how we would go forward on that one recommendation.

So they have my pledge that I get how important they are to Australia and Australian families and Australians who want to buy a home and we will work closely with them to ensure that we deal with the things that we need to deal with and many of those mortgage brokers have told us that there are things that they need to deal with, and that’s fine.

But we’ll do it in a partnership way which makes the sector stronger, not weaker.

Updated

Question:

Prime minister, can I come back to the theme of today’s speech - security? You did cover a lot of different threats facing Australia. Some of these threats have changed over the years. The threat of Isis, the threat of cyber security and the threat of big power rivalry as well. Can I go to big priorities here? What is the biggest threat facing Australia today?

Morrison:

It’s not as simple as that, David. That’s why I’ve outlined all of them. I mean, governments can’t just pick one. We can’t just focus on terrorism and allow our women to be abused. We can’t just focus on that and allow our region to become unstable.

You know, governments have to deal with multiple challenges all the time and you need to understand what they are and you need to plan to deal with all of them, and that’s what my plan does today.

I think they’re all critical and right now, what am I spending most of my time on today? Outside of this room? The north Queensland floods and working with our team up there.

Next week, it may be something completely different. A couple of weeks back, I was up there in the Pacific making sure that we were working through our step-up program.

So prime ministers have to work across all of these things all the time and that’s what my commitment is, because as I said, that’s what I understand is my responsibility to the Australian people, to keep them safe and secure.

Updated

Question:

You’ve mentioned in your speech today, a number of serious threats to nation states and you also dealt on the subject of trust, where there’s one dimension of trust that I want to put to you directly. To be direct, a lot of Australian voters think that politicians tell lies.

They stand at podiums like the one you’re standing at and they tell lies.

Do you accept any responsibility, as prime minister, for the state of the discourse? Do you accept that you need to be factual in how you respond to issues and what you say about things? And if the answer to that question is yes - then why are so many of your frontbenchers misrepresenting the basic facts that are in the medical transfers bill?

How does that behaviour within five minutes of an election, we can all see it – how does that rebuild public trust in institutions?

Morrison:

I don’t agree, with great respect, with your assessment, in terms of the conduct of my colleagues.

What I and my colleagues have been doing – in fact, that’s why I declassified the Home Affairs advice so people could read it for themselves.

It’s out there. You can read it for yourself. The warning is very clear.

I think that’s very consistent with the type of behaviour that you’re asking from me, to ensure that there’s a very clear ... I mean, how many times – you have have been around the town a long time, Katharine, how many times have you seen a prime minister declassify that type of advice and show it to the country.

It’s a shame that it took Bill five days to respond to that. And as Mathias Cormann reminded me this morning, when Labor voted for this bill in the Senate last year, they didn’t even get a security brief onning this.

You see, my great ... disappointment, and it’s not a strong enough word. What I and other ministers have gone through to restore Australia’s borders ... I lived through those horrible years when the bodies were piling up and I vowed to myself when I came to government when Tony was prime minister that we were never, ever going to allow this to happen again.

And what is happening in our Australian parliament right now, it may be entirely well motivated. I’m not making any judgements about people’s motivations here. In fact, quite the opposite.

But what I am doing is – they do not know what they’re playing with. They have no idea of the consequences of what they are playing with. And they will unleash a world of woe again. How do I know? I’ve seen it before. And I never, ever want to see it again.

So, I’m not going to step back from calling it as tough and as straight as I can. If Bill Shorten allows that bill to pass in any way, shape or form, that’s the test. That’s the only test going on the parliament this week. It’s not who wins or loses a vote. The only test is – will Bill Shorten cave in and undermine our border protection by passing this bill in my form?

And if he does, Australians have only been able to confirm what they already know about him.

Updated

Question:

Now that all of the evidence is in, could you want to see anybody from the banking and financial services sector go to jail?

Morrison:

Well, in this country, it’s courts that are going to determine that, Mark. That’s how it works. And everyone should face responsibility for their actions and be accountable for what they’ve done and matters have been referred off for those, cases to Asic and the others to take forward, and they’ll be pursued and they’ll end up in court, I have no doubt, and then courts will decide. But what I do believe is that all of them have to be accountable for their actions.

So, what can I do about that? You know, I don’t run the courts. But I can introduce a piece of legislation called the Banking Executive Accountability Regime, which, for the first time in this country, made senior bank executives accountable, directly and personally, for the decision that is they make, whether they’re criminal or not, whether they have a negative impact in a serious way against Australians and small and family businesses all around the country, and that legislation enables Apra to run them out of town so they can’t go and work in another bank and do the same thing again.

I can set up the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, which Kelly did when she was in the portfolio previous to this one, and I can make sure that they can take cases going back ten years now, over the same course that the royal commission was looking at so they can get access to their justice too.

And that’s happening now as we speak. So there are a lot of actions I can take to ensure people face accountability and face justice and we’re taking those actions. I’ve got to say, one of the things I was most pleased to be involved with, with Kelly when she was minister for financial services was getting Dan Cronin on board. We’d already acted on that before that. We did think that Asic needed to pony up a lot more on this, and you know, go to the line – take these things to court, and Dan Cronin is a very good litigator and I’m sure will be doing an excellent job.

So yes, I want to see people face consequences for their actions.

Updated

Question:

You generously listed all of the measures that you’ve been acting on. You called it your plan. You missed one important thing – a few days ago, presumably a foreign actor was snooping in the parliamentary computers, perhaps looking at your emails or Bill Shorten’s emails. Can you tell us what specific measures you have asked for ahead of the federal election to ensure that whatever it is that he this found in the day or so that they were snooping in your computer, in Bill Shorten’s computer, that it is not used for foreign interference in our democracy, which is also an important subject for security?

Morrison:

Sure. Thank you, Andrew. What I can tell you is that the government is taking all necessary actions to ensure the security of all of these assets. I wouldn’t be disclosing what those actions are here, because frankly, that’s disclosure and a discussion that only takes place at the national security committee. So that would not be appropriate for me to set that out here. This is the focus of an ongoing assessment and we will be responding directly to those assessments with the security agencies and taking them up on their recommendations.

Updated

Question:

Could I ask you about a factual matter? You and your ministers repeatedly say and you said again today, that Labor did nothing on financial reform, and yet, Labor did pass FOFO legislation, which the Coalition sought to unravel. Can you say what it is there, but it doesn’t seem to square with what happened.

Morrison:

I must have found their performance underwhelming, and I still find their performance very underwhelming and I still find it underwhelming, but what I want to do now is look at what they’re going to do to mortgage brokers.

I was puzzled by Labor’s response to the royal commission when they said, “We’ll agree to all of the recommendations before we’ve seen them.”

Reminds me of Bill Shorten’s famous interview with David Speers agreeing with everything that Julia Gillard said before she said it or heard it. I think that that was unwise for the Labor party to do.

I think, I commend the royal commission for the outstanding work that they do. But they wouldn’t expect a government to just sight unseen all of the recommendations.

I never understood them doing that. And now they find themselves boxed in. We have the Productivity Commission report on mortgage brokers which basically says – if you start turning that industry on its head, you just hand the power back to the banks.

Now, I don’t see how that achieve our objective, and that’s why we’ve been extremely cautious on that point, and that’s why I’m not surprised that mortgage brokers are very angry with the Labor party.

I mean, these are tens of thousands of small and family businesses that help mums and dads get a good deal on their mortgage and so they don’t have to just face the banks themselves. It’s pretty important service. We want to make sure that Australians can still have access to that service. Now, what Bill Shorten is going to do, who knows. He still hasn’t responded to the royal commission report.

(Labor has said it agrees, in-principle, with all the banking royal commission recommendations)

Updated

Question:

If I could just take you back to national security and border protection. You said in your speech that you had no plans to change something that worked. I think you said, “not one jot”.

At the moment, it seems that Labor is recalibrating its position on the refugee medivac bill.

Are you actually prepared to consider amendments to refugee transfers, giving the minister the discretion and the power, complete discretion and control over this process?

Will you hold the line in your opposition to any amendments, I guess particularly given the advice is that the passage of this bill also risks recommencing the people smuggling trade?

Morrison:

Let me start by saying this - the minister today has those powers and responsibilities. It already exists. I don’t need to give them those powers. They already have them. This bill is unnecessary. It’s superfluous. It adds nothing to border protection and therefore, its passage in any form takes us backwards.

You don’t need this bill to ensure that Australia has control of its borders. We already do. See, this is the problem with Bill Shorten on national security or borders or anything else. He thinks it’s something you trade on. He says – oh, let’s find the middle ground.

No, no, I’m going to stand on the right ground.

You want to join me on the right ground, you’re welcome. But I’m not going to find a middle ground.

You can split the difference on 1,200 deaths. You can’t split the difference on 50,000. What, we’ll settle on 25,000? No. On national security, on border protection, these things are absolutes – and Labor never gets this.

They think that there’s some sort of a slide rule that applies to this, that there’s a continuum and you just pick your point to balance left and right. And we saw Anthony Albanese out there this morning.

He seems to have a different position to Bill Shorten this morning. A very different position.

So I don’t know where that’s going. But what I do know is this – I don’t trade on national security but Bill Shorten clearly is indicating that that’s what he’d do, and I don’t think that makes Australia stronger, I think it makes Australia weaker under Bill Shorten.

Updated

Question:

Just to follow up on your answer just then. I guess one thing that voters could say is that what we’ve seen in the recent months is a lot of contradictions within the Liberal party on climate change and on energy policy.

So to follow up on Sheradyn’s question – how can you give voters an assurance that you’ll have a settled policy on energy in the next term of parliament, given the divisions within the Liberal party?

Morrison:

Well, we’ve already announced quite a bit of policy in that area and there will be more policy announced between now and the next election.

But what is the test of whether a policy is working? The goal you set for it.

The goal we set with our emissions reduction policy was that. We would meet Kyoto 1. We’ll meet Kyoto 2. We smashed Kyoto 1.

Kyoto 2 we will smash as well and as I said to you, 2030, our target of 26%, we will meet in a canter and I’ll be announcing further upgrades and details of our policy between here and the next election which will determine that result as well.

So what we do in the Liberal party is we say what we’re going to do and what we’re going to achieve.

We said we’re going to create one million jobs. We’ll have an economic plan to do that through lower taxes and supporting family businesses and infrastructure and doing all that.

And we did it. We said we were going to turn back boats, establish regional processing and make it work properly and restore temporary protection visas and stop the boats and end the deaths, and we did all that.

So, we do what we say we’re going to do and we get the results we say we’re going to get. Now, the same is true on climate.

We said we would beat Kyoto 1 and 2. We said through the Emissions Reduction Fund, we would achieve that. And I’m telling you, our policies will hit the targets going forward. And we’ll do it because we know it is the right thing to do and we have a plan to get there.

The reason I announced our economic plan two weeks ago and the security plan today is to make it clear that I’m not just asking Australians to vote for us on our record – as strong as it is – I’m asking Australians to vote for us because we’ve got the plan to take us forward and to keep us going.

We have a future plan and it’s a passionate plan. I can tell you, I’m pumped-as on this plan because I know it’s going to make Australia stronger, not weaker.

Updated

Question:

You gave some statistics there, but one of the things that they gave was the number of prime ministers that there has been since the Coalition came to government. Picking up on Chris’s question before – how can you promise voters, hand on heart, here today, that the announcements that you are making and in the upcoming budget, are things that will actually be implemented should your government be re-elected?

Morrison:

Well, we dealt with that last year. The party room made a historical decision regarding the support of prime ministers who are re-elected. So that’s for the history books. That’s already on the record. But let me tell you a story.

I think there’s a great myth that is going around about what happened in 2013. The Labor party had quite a few prime ministers, that’s true – and they weren’t very good! We’ve had three good ones, I would argue!

What happened in 2013 was that the Labor party were thrown out because they were a very bad government.

They had manifestly stuffed it on so many points, it was embarrassing. Now, people can rightly say that we’ve had three prime ministers – that is true. What they cannot say is that we’ve mismanaged the finances. They cannot say that we’ve mismanaged the budget or the economy.

They cannot say that we’ve mishandled the borders or failed to invest in the defence forces or secure our position in the Pacific and the broader Indo-Pacific region.

They can’t say we haven’t worked with state and territories to bring about record funding for schools and hospitals and they cannot say, as Greg Hunt will remind you on every occasion, that we have got record listings of pharmaceuticals under the pharmaceuticals benefits scheme.

And why? Because we know how to run a budget and have a great economy. The great myth of the 2013 election was that Labor was thrown out only because they had too many prime ministers.

They were thrown out because they were a joke in government and they will be again. And let me tell you why – they have learned nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Updated

Question:

This week, Labor intends to move a motion seeking a majority of 76 votes to force a recall of the parliament in March. Just dealing with some of [commissioner Kenneth] Hayne’s recommendations [into the banking industry]. Pivotal to that is the vote of Bob Katter, who is open to it – not ruling it out. If he were to support that motion, would that cancel that deal you did with him last year to give him $234m in water infrastructure for his electorate so long as he voted with the minority government?

Morrison:

Well, there’s a lot in that question, Phil! But let me tell you about some things which are facts. What is a fact is that there are 40 recommendations that require legislation.

What is a fact is that we currently have bills already sitting in the Senate and in the House which can be actioned, right now, this week.

In fact, I remember when I introduced the banking executive accountability regime into the parliament and when I brought the bank levy into the parliament – you know who tried to slow it down? The Labor party.

The Labor party tried to slow it down. So this is what it is. You cannot go and put together what is at least 40 pieces of legislation, or thereabouts, scramble it together in a couple of weeks, throw it into a feverish sitting of the Australian parliament just before the election and then be surprised at the result that you think that you might get on the other side. I would call that type of financial legislation – reckless. The fact that Bill Shorten, as a former financial services minister and an assistant treasurer, doesn’t understand the complexity of these measures, the consultation that has to be undertaken – the exposure drafts that need to be made available.

The unintended consequences to be identified through that process, says that this guy doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand how to legislate financial services reform.

Now, there’s a good reason – he’s never done it! They didn’t do it when they were in government last time. They had Storm Financial, they had all of those. Nothing. Zip, zero!

Our government has been reforming the financial services sector since the day we were elected. The financial systems inquiry started the process rolling under the Murray Review and that’s continued to this day, and the treasurer has led, I think, a very comprehensive response to the royal commission in just days. We’re still waiting, aren’t we, Josh? I mean, they have had more time to consider their response than the government has, and we’re still waiting. Still waiting. Labor doesn’t know how to reform the financial sector because they never have and they don’t know what’s involved.

The Law Council has made the same point today. We will deal with this in the prudent, measured and responsible way we always do. That’s why Australians can trust us when it comes to managing our economy because we don’t go and beat it with a baseball bat senselessly, without thinking through the consequences – which is what Labor wants to do.

Question:

On the substantive point and Phil’s question, if Bob Katter votes against the Government on this, does it extinguish the water funding meal?

Morrison:

Too many “ifs” in the question so I don’t intend to entertain it.

Updated

Question:

The Liberal party has voted no confidence in its own leadership twice now. Why should the Australian people show confidence in this government in May?

Morrison:

Over one million jobs with 1.25m jobs to come. Restoring the nation’s finances, which has taken 5.5 years to do.

Restoring our borders, rebuilding our defence forces. Keeping Australians safe. A track record of performance, but more importantly, a plan to make sure that we continue to create the strong Australia that Australians want to live in for the next decade. Make no mistake – the election is about the Australia you want to live in for the next decade. Do you want to live in a stronger Australia under my government? Or do you want to live in a weaker Australia under Bill Shorten and Labor?”

Updated

Questions

Question:

Can you explain why the medical transfer from offshore detention of 419 people, under your government, has not rebooted the people-smuggling trade since May last year, whereas the proposed Phelps amendments would?

Morrison:

Gladly. We haven’t changed the policy. These transfers have occurred quietly, under the existing policy. And they’ve been done by the government, not by anyone else. They’ve been done by our decisions. The government remains in control of our borders and the people smugglers know it, so long as this government is running the show. The problem with the bill is, it takes control from the government, the elected government, which has to take into account all the considerations that impact on the nation’s interests and doesn’t subcontract it out to others who don’t have those same interests or responsibilities.”

The government has fought transfers in the court, where they are currently arguing the federal court may not have the authority to overrule its decisions. The bill does not take control of the borders out of the government’s hands. For the people out the back DOCTORS WILL NOT BE DECIDING BORDER SECURITY

Updated

Scott Morrison finishes his speech:

So in conclusion – national security is all about making the right decisions. Because, as a government and as a prime minister, you make them every single day. You make these decisions – this is how I make them ...

Based on your values.

What you believe.

Your instincts, your experience and when required – courage.

Our government has demonstrated that we have the mettle to make the right calls on our nation’s security.

Repairing our borders, investing in our defence forces. Deporting violent criminals, taking on domestic violence to protect the women and children of this country. Disrupting terrorist attacks.

We have led, we haven’t followed.

We have taken decisions rather than put them off to another day. And we have embraced tough calls rather than seeking to buy weak compromises for the purpose of politics. This is our form. Not just of our government, but as Michael McCormack knows, the deputy prime minister, the form of Liberal-National coalition governments going back 70 years.

It’s why we’re trusted. The plan I have announced today is built on a strong record that sets out plainly what a re-elected Morrison Liberal-National government will continue to do to keep Australians safe and secure.

You may notice there he had to give Michael McCormack’s title. That wouldn’t have anything to do with National party polling showing McCormack has zero name recognition would it?

Updated

Good news for northern Queensland shires:

There is a national disaster unfolding in northern Queensland.

We announced that assistance on Friday and today I’m announcing that my act will provide an immediate non-gratia payment of $1m to each of the affected shires.

That is just something to get on and do the enormous amount of work that they need to support their communities.

They raised it with me this morning. It’s announced by this afternoon. This payment will be for them to use on priorities they deem most urgent – whether that be rate relief for impacted properties, infrastructure, or the disposal of cattle which have perished, which has been coordinated and also assisted by the ADF.

Our disaster assistance funding to north Queensland in response to this flood is already over $100m in addition to the massive support provided by the ADF.

So I want those farmers to know, up there in north Queensland – we will stand with you all the way through this disaster, but we will be standing with you on the other side as you rebuild the great prosperity that we know is there for you in the future. We will be there to rebuild with you.

Updated

Scott Morrison:

Across my time as immigration minister, and on Peter’s watch and now on David’s watch, we have cancelled the visas of the equivalent of the jail population of South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory combined.

We have cancelled the visas of 4,150 dangerous criminals – sent them packing. In six years, Labor cancelled 643 visitors’ visas.

Labor were soft.

We cancelled over 800 last year alone. That included 13 murderers, 34 rapists and sex offenders, 53 for domestic violence and 100 child sex offenders, punted by our government.

Specifically, we’ve cancelled the visas of more than 300 child sex offenders and stopped hundreds more at the border.

And we have introduced an approach to strip criminals of the illegally obtained wealth, no matter which jurisdiction they operate in, which strikes at the heart of organised crime.

And I particularly acknowledge Michael Keenan for his work when he was minister for those issues. We’re giving the law enforcement agencies the tools to read encrypted messages that violent criminals and child sex offenders are using to evade detection, and we had to fight for it in the parliament to make sure that we got it.

We’re seeking to legislate that police have the appropriate powers to disrupt potential security and criminal threats at airports.

Our government is taking an uncompromising approach to fighting the menace of drugs.

Last financial year, the AFP and Australian Border Force seized more than 17 tonnes of drugs and precursors at the border. The AFP assisted its international counterparts to seize more than 28 tonnes of drugs and precursors offshore.

All of these efforts are protecting lives being destroyed by drugs in our communities.

The scourge of ice is one that I know affects communities right across Australia. Not least the families and children of ice addicts.

The government has invested $450m to help these communities fight the impacts of ice, including funding for more than 220 local drug action teams. Our joined-up strategy includes international cooperation to stop drugs at the source, with enhanced intelligence sharing, as well as better controls on precursive chemicals and law enforcement.

In total, more than $720m over four years to help communities reduce the impact of drug and alcohol misuse. Forgive me for listing such a long list of actions, but there’s a long list there in terms of what we’ve been doing.

Updated

Michaelia Cash’s former adviser David De Garis has been in the stand for most of the morning, but he has also been asked to leave the courtroom twice while arguments are put about which evidence should be considered by the court.

Lawyers for the Registered Organisations Commission objected to the court considering evidence about De Garis’ decision to tip off the media about the police raids on the AWU’s Melbourne and Sydney offices in October 2017.

Frank Parry QC told the court “apparent leak” of the raids to the media in was irrelevant to the ROC’s decision to investigate the donations, because the decision to launch the probe was made in August.

It would lead to a “fixation” on the events of 23-24 October – when Cash denied her staff had told the media and then dramatically changed her answer during Senate estimates – despite the fact the leak was “of marginal relevance (to the case)”.

Herman Borenstein QC, representing the AWU, said the evidence – initially an email from De Garis – could “cast light” on the ROC’s decision by showing there was considerable interest within Cash’s office about the investigation.

“It shows that the senator’s office is keen to take political advantage of the existence of the investigation and what happens afterwards and that this is known to the (Roc),” he said.

Justice Mordecai Bromberg said he would admit the evidence before later deciding whether to consider it as part of his ruling.

Updated

On that pair news, this story from Jane Norman at the ABC from earlier today is worth a read

Pairs cancelled for absolute majority votes

Things are getting real – the opposition has just put the government on notice that any vote which requires an absolute majority, of 76, Labor will cancel pairs.

Continued:

For the past five and a half years, our government has taken these responsibilities extremely seriously. Dealing with the world as it is – uncertain, often dangerous, uncompromising, and at its worst – simply evil.

Every day, we have been taking action to build a stronger and even more resilient Australia to deal with whatever comes our way.

That’s why, today, I’m releasing our forward plan to keep Australians safe and secure in the future. Our plan to keep Australians safe and secure.

The plan builds on our achievements and addresses the plans that we face. Plans must always be updated to show that. Regional tensions between the world’s powers. Heightened global instability. Headwinds that we face, as Josh Frydenberg knows as treasurer.

The economy as Mathias Cormann knows. Foreign interference. Radical terrorism. People smuggling. Natural disasters. Organised crime. Money laundering. Biosecurity hazards. Cyber security. The evil ice trade. Violence against women, as I’ve mentioned.

Online predators and scammers who seek to rip off older Australians – cyber bullying, elder abuse.

Our plan to keep Australians safe and secure, to address these threats, is straightforward.

Keep our economy strong to provide the surest foundation for our security.

Defend Australia with $200bn over the next decade. Continue to protect our borders with proven policies that work and not changing them.

Keeping Australians safe from terrorism by disrupting and denying those terrorists the [chance] to undertake attacks in Australia. To combat violence against women and counter the culture of disrespect towards women that can lead to that violence. Protect our children online and in the real world.

Going after sexual predators and countering bullying behaviour. Secure our region and our sovereignty by prioritising cooperation with our Indo-Pacific neighbours and family, as Marise Payne does on a daily basis.

To protect Australians from organised criminals by ensuring that we give police and security services the resources and technology and the powers they need.

To fight that menace of drugs, and especially ice, with coordinated law enforcement and anti-gangs initiatives. And to protect our communities in times of natural disaster by continuing to invest more in preparedness and capability, so we can respond quickly in helping Australians get back on our feet as we are doing, even as we speak right now with the disasters that face us.

Updated

Scott Morrison:

... The point I want to make is that keeping Australians safe and secure is not just about discussing the great geopolitical tensions of our time.

It’s much more personal than that. It’s much more meaningful than that. It affects your every day. It extends to our communities, our families, women, children, individual Australians.

That’s how I see my national security and safety responsibilities to the Australian people. For the past five and a half years, our government has taken these responsibilities extremely seriously.

Dealing with the world as it is – uncertain, often dangerous, uncompromising, and at its worst – simply evil.

Every day, we have been taking action to build a stronger and even more resilient Australia to deal with whatever comes our way.

Updated

There is another plan brochure.

This one has a helicopter on its front, which cuts down on the awkward moments waving a brochure with your own face on it can bring.

Scott Morrison addresses the National Press Club

The prime minister has begun his speech.

Updated

That feeling when you first hear Ariana Grande’s new album

Here you go:

Updated

Peter Dutton is speaking to Sky ahead of the prime minister’s speech.

It is going as you would expect.

Scott Morrison is about to address the National Press Club.

If at first you don’t succeed ...

Try, try again

Updated

Chris Bowen:

We want to see sick people dealt with appropriately and getting the best in care and attention possible. We’ve also said that we want a ministerial discretion to be the final arbiter on this – hence we have supported the bill in the Senate.

I don’t think ... as I said, I haven’t seen the AMA statement, but I doubt they’re criticising us for that. I think that they would be supportive of that. And the leader of the opposition is getting briefings today and if there’s further discussions to be had with other crossbench colleagues across the parliament in terms of ensuring the two objectives are met, then he’ll have those.

But our position has been consistent. The government’s gone to the lengths of leaking out classified documents or briefings to try politicise it. And that’s OK. We’ll vote for the right policy balance which will be done in the Senate and if there’s further discussions to be had, the leader of the opposition will have them.

... Well, the Coalition – well, it’s fear. That’s it. They’ve got one shot there – scare and fear. Now, we know that.

We know that’s what they’ll say, and you’re right, it is what they’ll say. And Bill Shorten has made it very clear – a Shorten Labor government will not see the people smuggling trade restarted. We will not.

That means that we will have to make some decisions, that some people, including Labor voters, don’t agree with, like we’ve done on turning back the boats.

We’ll stick with the policies and we recognise that they’re controversial in some parts, but we think that they’re … an appropriate approach to border protection, but we’ll also act humanely.

As Anthony Albanese said this morning, it’s not always a choice on that. You can have strong policies on the border but you can act with decency. That’s what we’ve been doing with the medivac bill.

Peter Dutton can hold all of the press conferences he likes and we can see all of the leaking of classified information. Unprecedented to see classified information like that leaked on the front page of the newspaper. We’ll just make the case of good policy and we’ll let the people decide.

Updated

Also worth revisiting this

Chris Bowen has finished his press conference.

He again calls on the government to add an extra sitting fortnight to deal with elements of the banking royal commission, and calls for Tim Wilson to stand down as committee chair over all those many, many, blurred and overstepped lines.

He doesn’t shed any light on where Labor is going on the medivac bill. Not surprising really, because the security briefing is going on, as we speak, and then the caucus has to make a decision at its meeting tonight (about 6pm, I believe).

Updated

The federal court is today hearing a Australian Workers Union (AWU) challenge against the Registered Organisations Commission.

The case was prompted by the leaking of federal police raids on the union by a then-media adviser to Senator Michaelia Cash, who is expected to front court on Friday.

Outside court on Monday morning, the AWU national secretary, Daniel Walton, said:

We commenced this case because we believe the minister, Michaelia Cash, misused her position by instigating an investigation into the AWU. That initiation led to the raids on our offices some 15 months ago.

The journey we’ve been thorough led us to this point where we finally get the chance to get the minister, plus her former members of staff – to ask them questions, in terms of: what did they know, when did they know it and who did they speak to?

When the full case is run, we’re confident that the judge will see that this has been a massive overstep and a misuse of political resources.

Cash denies any wrongdoing, saying she is happy to assist the court and that the AWU must still answer questions about donations which were made to GetUp while Bill Shorten was the union’s boss.

Cash’s former media adviser, David De Garis, is the hearing’s first witness.

Updated

On the government’s (repeated) claim that the bill will result in “almost all” (about 1,000 at the moment) asylum seekers and refugees being transferred to Australia, and the bill puts border security “into the hands of doctors”, Dr Paul Bauert tells it straight:

The borders won’t be in the hands of medical professionals. What will be happening is what happens throughout a lot of Australia in terms of medivacing these people after having done consultations, either by the phone, or by tele-health,” he told Sky News.

Two doctors, independent doctors, will make a decision, in agreement, that a particular individual does need to come to a situation where the facilities are better, are more appropriate for their management and for their ability to survive.

That will then go to the minister. If the minister says he doesn’t agree with the medical decision, which he has done regularly over the years, it will then go to a 10-person individual committee, many of whom will have been selected by the minister himself.

If that independent committee then decides that this patient should be transferred, should be medivaced, the minister still has complete control over that individual.

They will be accompanied by armed guards, they will probably end up in a detention centre in Australia, they will be accompanied by armed guards to the hospital, to their appointments. He has complete control over that. And he has complete control, when that medical treatment has finished, of sending those patients back to offshore detention.

... I think what Dr Phelps suggests should happen, that if people are felt to be unwell by the local doctors then they should seek the help of another doctor. If both doctors suggest the patient is ill enough to be transferred, then we go through that process.

The minister has control over that process.

... Will 1,000 people come? That is what has been said. I mean, to me, if 1,000 people do come over the next three weeks, it would suggest that they are all absolutely critically ill and need to be evacuated.

I honestly don’t feel that is the case, and I think the talk about 1,000 people being here in two and a half minutes is pure politics.

Doctors and future doctors are in Parliament House to lobby government and opposition members on the need for the medivac legislation.
Doctors and future doctors are in Parliament House to lobby government and opposition members on the need for the medivac legislation. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

What exactly is this bill?

Given all the misinformation flying around about the crossbench medical transfer bill, it’s worthwhile taking the time to spell out what it does.

The bill (changes initially proposed by Kerryn Phelps and amended by Tim Storer, Labor and others have been added to a piece of government legislation in the Senate) sets out new procedures governing medical transfers from offshore detention.

The government has been trying to create an impression that two doctors decide, entirely on their own volition, who comes to Australia and who doesn’t. To put it bluntly, that’s complete bollocks.

It’s correct to say that the bill envisages giving two or more treating doctors the capacity to recommend a transfer of an ill person to Australia for treatment.

If you read the legislation, this is what happens next:

Within 24 hours of being notified that a person should be transferred, “the minister must approve, or refuse to approve, the person’s transfer to Australia”.

The minister must approve the transfer unless the minister “reasonably believes that it is not necessary to remove the person from a regional processing country for appropriate medical or psychiatric assessment or treatment; or “the minister reasonably believes that the transfer of the person to Australia would be prejudicial to security within the meaning of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979, including because an adverse security assessment in respect of the person is in force under that act”.

So there are two grounds of ministerial refusal: one general and one specific.

If the minister refuses the transfer on the grounds that it is not medically necessary, the issue then goes to an Independent Health Advice Panel.

That panel conducts another clinical assessment. Back to the legislation to explain what happens next:

“If the panel recommends that the person’s transfer be approved, the minister must approve the person’s transfer to Australia unless the minister reasonably believes that the transfer of the person to Australia would be prejudicial to security within the meaning of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979, including because an adverse security assessment in respect of the person is in force under that Act”.

Now, who is on this panel? The legislation says the commonwealth’s chief medical officer, the surgeon general of Australian Border Force, the chief medical officer of the Home Affairs department, and not less than six other members, including people nominated by the AMA, the college of psychiatrists, the college of physicians and one specialist in paediatric health.

So, to summarise:

* Doctors can recommend medical transfers.

* The minister can then refuse a transfer on two grounds, one general (I don’t agree) and one specific (security grounds).

* If the refusal falls in the ‘I don’t agree’ category, then it goes to a medical panel comprised of the CMO, the surgeon general of border force and other specialists.

* If the panel says the transfer should proceed on medical grounds, then that overrides the minister, except if there is a negative security assessment on the individual.

You’re welcome.

Updated

Speaking to Sky News, Dr Paul Bauert explained the doctors concerns:

The longer these people are there, the worse they are getting. We know that the main, the main reason for the impairment of mental health, as Viktor Frankl, the psychiatrist from Auschwitz described very well in his book, Man’s search for meaning, the main problem these people have is the lack of meaning, the lack of any end to what is going on. A lack of certainty.

And this more than anything causes severe mental health damage. Even those that finally knew they were about to be condemned to the gas chamber, at least found some sense of relief in knowing what was happening.

“So, all of these people without any idea of what is going to happen to them, what their future is, will be suffering on a daily basis. And we have seen from some of the television shows, and the media that have followed them, once they have been released, that all of them end up with severe, significant mental health problems which will take a long, long time to settle, with most having post-traumatic stress disorder.

“I am concerned, all the doctors are concerned, that the longer this politicking goes on, the longer these people are left in this critical situation, the worse their health is becoming.”

It is worth revisiting this interview Kathrine Murphy did with Paul Bauert late last year:

Paediatrician Paul Bauert has spent days roaming the corridors of Parliament House trying to get politicians to focus on what’s happening on Nauru.

There’s a recurrent observation from the political class that chills him. In an interview with Guardian Australia’s Politics Live podcast, he says: “It almost brings me to tears when one of the politicians, or one of the politician’s minders ask me … ‘Do you think it will take a death before things change?’

“I cannot, for the life of me, understand where that thinking comes from, truly: ‘Do you think it will take a death?’”

Updated

This is happening in Adelaide today:

'Lives are at stake. The politicking must stop.'

Dr Paul Bauert on those who need urgent treatment:

We know that 24 of them are in a hospital facility at the moment, with two of them comatose. And the fact that 4,500 thousand doctors have spent their weekend signing a letter and sending it in, shows the frustration of the medical profession with the politicking that has been going on with this issue for far too long.

Lives are at stake. The politicking must stop. There is an opportunity with Dr Phelps’s approach to this issue for the politicking to stop and that we get a clear, well organised system where these unwell patients, critically unwell patients, receive the treatment that they deserve.

Updated

Doctors are back in Canberra. Why?

Because the medivac legislation is in danger of falling to politics.

Dr Paul Bauert, of the AMA federal executive, is a paediatrician who has led a lot of the fight on behalf of the medical community.

He answers the question of why a paediatrician is so involved – because some of those on Manus Island were children when he first started treating them, and they’re still there.

GetUp has funded a television advertising campaign, featuring doctors and others, to run this week in a bid to get the politicians who were in support of the bill to hold their ground – which means it is aimed squarely at Labor and Cathy McGowan. The other crossbenchers have already locked in their support.

Updated

Scott Morrison:

The spirit of cooperation reaches right back to the first world war, but this program brings a new depth to that partnership through a multi-decade program to build and sustain these submarines in Australia. It is more than a contract. This is a project that will not only keep Australians safe, but it will deliver Australian jobs.

It will build Australian skills. It will … require Australian steel, and it will mean a stronger Royal Australian Navy.

Our government is committed to maximising Australian industry content in the future submarine program. This was a conscious decision of our government. Beyond construction, the program will provide Australia with an independent, sovereign capability to sustain our fleet, including the upskilling of Navy and industry workforces.

We will see long-term strategic cooperation, not only in defence industry, as I know Minister Ciobo will be excited about, but across other sectors, creating even more jobs through more high tech, high-paying jobs.

Hundreds of Australians are already employed on the future submarines program, and thousands more will be through the supply chain during the construction phase.

Updated

The prime minister is in Canberra signing the $50bn “strategic partnership” with France to build our new submarines.

Updated

On that speech to be made by Scott Morrison, it’s all about national security, both domestically and abroad.

It ends with this:

In conclusion, national security is all about making the right decisions. Because, as a government and as a prime minister, you have to make them every day.

You make these decisions on the basis of your values, instincts, experience and, when required, courage.

Our government has demonstrated we have the mettle to make the right calls on our nation’s security:

      • Repairing our borders
      • Investing in our defence forces
      • Deporting violent criminals
      • Taking on domestic violence
      • Disrupting terrorist attacks
      • Restoring powers and resources to our police, security and intelligence agencies

We have led, not followed.

We have taken decisions rather than put them off to another day.

We have embraced tough calls rather than seeking to buy weak compromises for cheap political cover or opportunism.

This is our form. It is why we can be trusted.

The plan I have announced today is built on our strong record and sets out plainly what a re-elected Morrison Liberal National government will continue to do to keep Australians safe and secure.

Updated

And, for those asking, Scott Morrison will address the National Press Club at 12.30.

Updated

Chris Bowen will be speaking at 11.10.

A key part of the medivac bill that is being deliberately muddied is that any asylum seekers or refugee (and, let’s remember, the majority have been independently found to be refugees) being brought here for medical treatment will be wandering around the community.

They won’t be. They’ll remain in detention. They’ll be in detention in Australia, being treated in detention.

The government has also attempted to lie and say Bob Brown and Richard Di Natale could be the two doctors signing off on any medical evacuations. Also not true, because Di Natale isn’t even registered.

Christopher Pyne and David Coleman spent their Sunday interviews saying the bill would result in almost all of the 1,000 or so people in our care on Manus Island and Nauru would come to Australia under the changes. But they refused to say whether that meant all those people were sick enough to need treatment.

Because you can’t have it both ways. If it is true that nearly all the asylum seekers and refugees will come to Australia for medical treatment under these changes, it means they are all sick enough to warrant doctors, and an independent health panel (if an evacuation is challenged by the minister) deciding they need to be treated in Australia. Which means they are not receiving the treatment they need on Manus Island or Nauru. If they aren’t sick, ill, or suffering from extreme mental health distress, then they won’t be evacuated for Australia.

You can’t have it both ways.

Updated

And just on that, Chris Bowen will be up shortly, to talk banking royal commission and extra sitting weeks.

Labor is still pushing for an extra sitting fortnight in March and the government is still very, very against it.

This, as is everything in this minority parliament, is a numbers game.

Bob Katter is the key vote. Every other crossbencher is on board, so if Katter votes yes, then we are coming back in March. If it comes to that – the government is working very hard to say it doesn’t need to come back, and that it will not rush legislation for the banking royal commission. On Sunday, Christopher Pyne told Insiders there were over 40 pieces of legislation which would be needed to address the 76 recommendations and admitted that that was not going to happen before the May election.

Updated

The AWU raids case is in the federal court today.

Michaelia Cash, despite attempts to fight it, has been subpoenaed to give evidence.

The AWU is attempting to have the raids, and anything they found, declared unlawful.

And opening the “I don’t know what you are talking about, that was never a thing (while shuffling away the thing)” box, this is also something that happened:

The government has backed away from two explicit commitments to establish a register to help stamp out multi-national tax avoidance – by claiming there was never a commitment in the first place.

Announced by Kelly O’Dwyer in the lead-up to the 2016 federal election, the register was to bring Australia in line with G20 commitments on transparency, by publicly listing the identities of who ultimately owned shell companies and benefitted from them, including for tax purposes.

In April 2016, O’Dwyer, then assistant treasurer, said “we agree there needs to be a registry of beneficial ownership in our country”, as the government was attempting to hose down local voter outrage over multinational tax avoidance.

Since then, progress on the register has stalled.

You can read more on that, here

Updated

I hope all of you are taking some of 105-year-old Doris’s attitude into your Monday:

Paul Fletcher was just asked about Pyne’s comments – he says you just do the best you can with the situation you are in.

Opening up the “oh wow, they really did that” box, Christopher Pyne had a chat to David Wroe from the Sydney Morning Herald, where he decided to give his opinion on the leadership spill (you know, that thing that happened last year, and we are never to speak of again, because it is soooooo 2018):

“I felt that the constant social media, shouty segment of the press, that keeps everybody on edge in this building all the time – and might actually not reflect at all the way the public think – had won, and that sensible people had bowed to that irrational pressure,” he said.

“And I thought that this is the Australian polity of the future. This is what we’ve now got. And it’s different to what I think is good for the country.”

Updated

Michael Kroger thought Tim Wilson was “outstanding” on Sky just now.

So still not great at reading a room, despite stepping down from the Victorian Liberals’ executive top spot, then.

Updated

Everything is totally fine and normal.

Oh and the use of the coat of arms on a ‘private’ website? Also fine and normal

(side note, Tim Wilson delivers talking points like he just downloaded a toastmasters power speech class directly into his brain)

Tim Wilson says he has done nothing wrong

Tim Wilson is speaking to Sky.

On the criticisms over how he has used his committee chair position for political gain.

His first response: “Bring it on”.

That should play well.

Updated

The government has also announced a policy to aid those escaping domestic and family violence. From the prime minister’s release:

Hundreds more women and children escaping domestic and family violence will have a safe place to sleep with a $78m investment by the Morrison government.

This investment includes a $60m grants program for eligible organisations to provide new or expanded emergency accommodation facilities for those escaping domestic and family violence.

This program will build up to 450 safe places and assist up to 6,500 people per year. The grant program will be structured to encourage contributions from other levels of government, and from private and philanthropic sources.

A further $18m will be invested in the Keeping Women Safe in their Homes program, which has assisted over 5,200 women since 2015-16, providing security upgrades and safety planning so women and children can remain in their own homes, if it is safe to do so.

Prime minister Scott Morrison said this investment was a key commitment to the Fourth Action Plan 2019-2022, the final plan under the National Plan to Reduce Violence Against Women and their Children 2010-2022.”

Updated

It’s also Newspoll day – and things are still not looking up for the government.

Yes, Scott Morrison is still preferred prime minister, but that measure is sort of bupkis as a political pointer. Prime ministers tend to be more popular than opposition leaders, because a) they have better name recognition and b) the job of an opposition leader is to, well oppose the government. That tends to see them come across as negative in the 15-second TV grabs.

The latest Newspoll has Labor leading the government 53 to 47 on the two-party-preferred measure. That’s not great, if you are the Coalition.

What does that mean? Mostly, that Scott Morrison is going to be even more Scott Morrison. The most Scott Morrison ever.

He’s starting with his National Press Club address.

Updated

The politics around the medivac bill has gone a little bananas in the last couple of days.

First Scott Morrison called it “stupid”, then a security briefing prepared for Home Affairs was leaked, and somewhere in the middle of that, Bill Shorten’s language changed, with “middle ground” starting to make an appearance.

Where Labor lands on this should be decided today.

Scott Morrison and the Coalition though are only ramping up the political attacks – and speaking to Radio National this morning, Anthony Albanese was asked if Labor would “hold fast on this”.

What we’ve got to do here is take a bit of a step back from the government’s rather hysterical rhetoric and think about what this bill is about and why Kerryn Phelps has brought it forward. This is about whether people who we have responsibility for, who we’re to look after, if they’re sick and need medical care, whether they should get access to that? Our view is yes.

I think that the Australian people understand that and their answer to that is yes as well. And what the government has done on this legislation, frankly, is not tell the truth. Because the legislation, yes, says that two doctors may make a recommendation, but that’s subject to ministerial approval.

The minister can then refer it to a panel which includes people who the minister himself, Mr Dutton, has appointed to that point. And they will make a final determination, except for, of course, the minister also has discretion on national security grounds.

Yesterday, Shayne Neumann gave comment on the bill, saying this in a statement:

Labor has always had two clear objectives – making sure sick people can get medical care, and making sure the minister has final discretion over medical transfers.

Labor has great respect for our national security agencies and we’ve always worked cooperatively with them. While the Liberals leak national security information, we listen to it.

The Liberals have sunk to a new low by threatening to let the boats start again. They are walking, talking billboards for the people smugglers and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Labor will never let the people smugglers back into business.

So is there a compromise?

Albanese:

We have said that and we’re prepared to compromise across the parliament. This should not be a partisan issue. But this is a government that doesn’t look for outcomes but looks for arguments. That’s one of the reasons why it is in the state that it is. It doesn’t look for solutions. It has responsibility and it knows full well that almost 1,000 people have already been transferred to Australia. And the provisions in which they need medical assistance so what this is attempting to do ...

There’s an argument that the ministerial discretion is there because it’s the minister who appoints the panel that will make the determination and the minister still has, under this legislation that’s proposed, discretion over national security grounds. So if we need to tweak the legislation, then by all means, we should be able to do that in order to get an outcome. But I think that what Dr Phelps, in discussions that I had with her last year was very clear about, was that she was about outcomes. So if we need to tweak the legislation, by all means, let’s have those discussions.”

Updated

Good morning

Happy New (Parliament) Year!

I hope everyone has had a lovely break and is ready to get back into what is going to be an excruciatingly punishing year in Australian politics. Elections tend to do that.

There is no parliament today – that starts back tomorrow – but with Scott Morrison due to give his National Press Club address, Newspoll, asylum seeker decisions and just general, well, politics, we thought we’d get in early and run a blog for the day.

Bill Shorten is due to meet with Mike Pezzullo, the secretary of the home affairs department, the chief of defence and the chief of Operation Sovereign Borders (yes, there is such a title) to get the security lowdown on the asylum seeker and refugee medical evacuation bill. We have heard the government wanted to put some staffers in there, which ruffled some feathers on the Labor side, because it is not as though things have been particularly airtight around these matters lately.

After that, the Labor caucus will meet. That usually happens on a Tuesday, but a special meeting will be held today, as the party comes to its final decision on the amended legislation.

All of this though, is moot if Cathy McGowan has changed her mind about supporting the bill.

We’ll bring you all of those developments and more as the day goes on.

Mike Bowers is on deck, as is Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and the rest of the Guardian Australia brains trust. You can find us on Twitter, or, when we have time, in the comments.

I am on coffee number three. There is not enough coffee in the world for this year. I can already feel it.

Ready? Let’s get into it.

Updated

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