Right, my brain is as broken as my publishing program today (and that is saying something) so I am going to call it a day before I run screaming through a window.
The blog will be back next Monday, when the House sits and Senate estimates start. But there is no rest for the wicked, so check back on the Guardian tomorrow, where we will have all the information on what is happening with the medevac report, the press freedom inquiry, and the Liberal party council, which is being held this weekend.
A big thank you to Mike Bowers, who has walked close to a marathon in kilometres across this building this week, to bring you images of all the crazy. And Katharine Murphy, Sarah Martin, Paul Karp and the rest of the brains trust who not only helped keep me as close to sane as I can be, they also made sure I didn’t miss a thing. It’s those guys who are the heart and soul of this project.
We’ll be back early Monday, but I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for joining us this week. We’ve got four sitting weeks to go.
And please – take care of you.
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Siggghh
Sounds similar to the one you are building at Western Sydney Airport: https://t.co/Bb2sxUu36o pic.twitter.com/LbVtUAxe4k
— Anthony Chisholm (@AnthonyChisholm) October 17, 2019
Helen Davidson also had this story today:
An Afghan doctor who was transferred to Australia from Manus Island for medical care has died in Brisbane.
Sayed Mirwais Rohani had been in Australia for around two years, after more than four years on Manus Island.
The 32-year-old Hazara man is believed to have taken his own life, and is the 13th death of a person sent to Manus Island or Nauru by Australia under its offshore immigration system.
Rohani’s father is a refugee living in the UK with his wife, and he travelled to Manus Island in 2016 seeking his son’s release to join him in the UK. The spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition, Ian Rintoul, said that request was denied because Rohani was not a minor.
• Crisis support services can be reached 24 hours a day: Lifeline 13 11 14;Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467; Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78
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Arthur Sinodinos, who is doing his farewell tour across the parliament (he’s off to Washington), was asked by Patricia Karvelas what message his colleagues should take from his valedictory speech yesterday:
Look, ultimately it’s up to people what messages they take out of it. I think that is a message. I think one of the other messages is that ultimately this is a team game.
And you have to accept in politics you can’t always do what you want, even as a backbencher.
You’re part of a team and government only works if it’s a team.
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There will also be a lot of media bigwigs in Canberra tomorrow – the media freedom inquiry will hold a public hearing.
Updated
The medevac senate report is due to be handed down tomorrow.
Amanda Stoker led the committee, which is government heavy, so I think we can assume it is going to recommend the legislation be repealed.
Labor and the Greens are expected to enter in dissenting reports. Then, when the senate returns in November, it will all be up to Jacqui Lambie.
In the meantime, Helen Davidson had this story:
The Australian Border Force transferred a seriously mentally ill man to Perth from Melbourne, where a youth mental health facility was preparing to treat him – then took almost a month to bring him back.
On Tuesday, after being flown 2,700km across the country, admitted to hospital emergency or psychiatric departments six times, held in various forms of detention, then flying another 2,700km, the young man was finally taken to the facility that had originally offered to treat him.
The shock early-morning transfer from the Melbourne detention centre, Mita, to Perth, was on a commercial Qantas flight – just one day after the Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, proclaimed that the company would not be silent on social issues.
The young asylum seeker was removed from the Melbourne detention centre in the early hours of 19 September, allegedly without warning and without consulting the external health professionals who were arranging to have him readmitted to the Melbourne facility. No reason for the transfer was given, as far as Guardian Australia is aware.
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This is not a sight you will see too often – an LNP senator sitting with the crossbench, against the government.
Susan McDonald chaired the committee that recommended the additional maintenance requirements be removed from charity flight operators – which is what Rex Patrick is calling for.
Labor voted with the government.
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And from this, I think you can infer from this answer on the voice to parliament, Ken Wyatt has set out that the government will be pushing to legislate, before heading to the referendum
Patricia Karvelas: You do know you’ll break a lot of hearts by not putting the voice to the people?
Ken Wyatt:
We also have to be pragmatic and that’s a reality.
PK: But do you acknowledge you’re going to break a lot of people’s hearts?
KW:
Some people have told me it will break their hearts. We have to think about whether we want to be recognised in the Constitution.
PK: What’s the point of recognition without power, Senator?
KW:
Recognition was in section 127 in the Constitution but in the sense of not allowing us to be counted. 127 was struck out.
The 1967 referendum created a number of myths around what it really meant to people. The reality was, was the striking out of that and then the amendment, the 51-26.
This requires further work on what are the sets of words that recognise this within the Constitution. 51-26 has been predominantly used for Indigenous Australians to support Commonwealth legislation on very critical issues such as the Mabo decision, land rights, etc ... What I don’t want to see is that removed totally which then leaves a challenge in terms of the legitimacy of those.
PK: Would you like to see it changed?
KW:
I’m going to wait to see what comes out.
I’ve been meeting with people and there is a degree of willingness to have recognition. I think that once we work through whatever the voice is, and that may give us another option.
What I suspect will happen is that we may legislate first and then when that’s successful, then we can go back for the next bite of the Constitution.
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On the legislated voice issue, Ken Wyatt says he is pushing ahead:
Well, we’ve got a timetable I’m proposing to take to the PM. Once that’s been agreed to in the process that he and I will undertake, and my cabinet colleagues and certainly members of parliament, then we will announce that and we will clearly lay out the process and the structures that are within that.
Patricia Karvelas: What about if people don’t want a legislated voice?
KW:
I suspect that if we went with a nebulous notion of a voice to the greater Australian public, it would not have the support. Constitutional recognition, with the exception of John Howard’s referendum, tends not to come back as a question to be put at a later stage. Local government is slightly different because people have fought to try and get local government recognised in the constitution and we’ve had parliamentary committees deal with that.
But I don’t want to see us lose an opportunity. And that’s what we’ve got to do, do it very steadily. I don’t want this to be rushed that we get it wrong and that we lose it. When I look at the referendums that have been successful, Labor was successful with one on social services. That’s because Bob Menzies is the leader and did not oppose what Labor had done to the Australian public.
In a sense there was this bipartisan support. But you need both sides to the political divide.
PK: What process have you gone through now to get Labor on board? It is meant to be bipartisan.
KW:
I’m having dinner with my colleagues on an evening that we have chosen next week – the Indigenous members of the parliament who are predominantly Labor.
PK: In terms of the timeline, I know you’re taking this to the PM, can you give me an indication of the kind of timeframe that you think is workable.
KW:
It is before the next election because we don’t a referendum tied in with an election. There is an unintended consequence of that we don’t need. It’s important we have this pristine space in which the question can be put, the debate’s had andAustralians make the decision.
PK: You think you can have a referendum on recognition before the next election?
KW:
I’m optimistic.
Updated
Patricia Karvelas: Many Indigenous people are opposed to this idea of legislating the voice. Have you convinced them?
Ken Wyatt:
No. I haven’t. But we will start a process. I’ve been talking to a lot of people as I’ve moved across the nation. Issues like sovereignty come up. Communities say, “Who will listen to our voice? We want local issues and access to health, better education.” I think Linda Burney discovered that when she travelled from Port Hedland to Uluru because I saw her and she made the very pertinent point – they were concerned about local matters that needed resolving.
PK:
In terms of a proposal for changing the Constitution, you’ve made it quite clear to the disappointment of many that you don’t want the voice to be in the Constitution. So what will constitutional change look like under the Morrison Government?
KW:
We will work through those over the next 12 months.
PK: Can you give me some parameters?
KW:
There will be recognition.
PK:
What will that look like?
KW:
That will need to be worked through with our people. And has to be acceptable within a legal framework. What I don’t want is a section 44 issue being created. We have to be pragmatic and have many non-Indigenous Australians who are supportive but are saying, “I’m concerned until you tell us what the sets of words are because I’m not going to commit to something that creates a division between a nation that is becoming more unified.” The number of non-indigenous people who have said, “We will stand with Indigenous Australians. We want to see them recognised but get the words right.”
Updated
On the ABC, Patricia Karvelas has an interview with Ken Wyatt about where the plan for Indigenous reconciliation is at.
We will announce in the very near future a working group that will define the voice but will take in to consideration local, regional, state and national approaches. One of the things I’ve made very clear to state and territory ministers is they already have voices ...
I don’t want to take them out of the equation. There will be a substantial piece of work that will be undertaken and as soon as I finalise it, crossing a couple of Ts and dotting some Is then we’ll start the process.
PK:
My understanding is you’re about to take that proposal to the PM. Can you give me an indication of what is in that proposal?
KW:
I can’t do that until I’ve had a discussion with my leader.
PK: Am I right you are about to take a proposal to the PM for a way forward on legislation to actually establish a voice in this term of parliament?
KW:
What I’ll be doing is taking forward a series of propositions to do with constitutional recognition, the voice and truth telling. Each of those are separate pieces of work because they are critical in their own right.
But what I also want to do is talk about the way in which government will take elements of that forward as we co-design. I’m seriously committed to working through with our people to a solution that they’re comfortable with as well, not just as we’ve always done in the past, come forward with the voices of a few. And then made a decision.
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Rex Patrick has been fighting to have the aviation body, Casa, reduce the number of maintenance requirements on charity aircrafts, and adopt the NZ model.
Over in the Senate, new LNP senator Susan McDonald is crossing the floor to support a motion from Rex Patrick
. @SenMcDonald has just crossed the floor to support @centre_alliance in protecting the important work Angel Flight offers to sick patients in regional communities #auspol
— Rex Patrick (@Senator_Patrick) October 17, 2019
This is either “waiting for a mate”, or “sorry, it’s saved”, depending on your generation.
Updated
Question time as seen by Mike Bowers
Updated
Scott Morrison, playing the role of today’s mood (as captured by Mike Bowers)
And we are done.
The folders are very stacked though.
Hopefully this means we are coming to the end.
Nope. Scott Morrison just raised a finger and said “one more” to Tony Smith.
It’s on the Prime Minister’s Science Prize. So at least it’s a worthy dixer.
Updated
We’re at the swap sides of the chamber stage of the latest farce
Luke Howarth and Andrew Laming have both made beelines for the frontbench this time round.
Christian Porter seems very confused about whether or not there is a motion before the House.
Tony Smith seems very confused about why Christian Porter is confused.
Tony Burke is now trying to explain to Christian Porter about how the motion process works.
Tony Smith is now agreeing with Tony Burke while still trying to work out why Christian Porter is confused.
And now we all have to sit here for another four minutes because that whole explanation of standing orders took so long, Smith has to extend the bells.
“Bring back Christopher,” Anthony Albanese yells.
Christian Porter has been confused into silence, so I guess there has been some silver lining.
Updated
Labor is attempting to suspend standing orders, to debate the economy.
It will fail. Obviously.
Joel Fitzgibbon is taking the silences in between the divisions to troll Michael McCormack about his press conference being overshadowed by the prime minister’s radio interview, where he made the same announcement, but got in first.
National MPs are still sending ‘can’t believe that happened’ messages.
Good times all round.
Stay with me folks. My computer program is struggling.
I know the feeling.
After a Senate estimates session dominated by two topics – the economy and raising Newstart – Labor’s Kristina Keneally has asked Mathias Cormann three ways why the prime minister has repeatedly refused to deny that he sought to have Brian Houston invited to the White House.
Cormann is keeping the answers simple - he has nothing further to add to what Scott Morrison has said.
Labor MPs are calling out “what are you hiding?”
Seems they’ll need Senate Estimates next week, or maybe to bring out medieval instruments of torture like thumbscrews, to get to the bottom of this.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is again addressed to the Prime Minister: Yesterday in the Parliament the Prime Minister shut down a proposed debate on the economy and organised an additional question to himself so that only he could talk about the economy. Is that because the Prime Minister only wants to listen to himself? Will the Prime Minister agree to a debate on the economy today or doesn’t he have the confidence in his own economic management?
Morrison:
When the Labor Party can confirm what their actual policies are, maybe that’s when they want to start asking those questions.
That’s the entire answer.
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Former prime ministers John Howard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull all facilitated parliamentary debate at this time in the parliament on important economic issues facing the nation.
Does the prime minister have the confidence in his economic position to be able to swallow his pride, follow their example and agree to a debate on the state of the economy today?
Morrison:
Every time, almost without exempt exemption, I come to this despatch Box, I’m talking about our economic policies. And the reason I do that – the reason I did that at the last election, Mr Speaker, the reason I do that is because I know that the strong economy is absolutely central to everything.
It’s ensuring that you have the right economic policies that provide the bedrock to create the budget that can guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on. That’s exactly what our government has been doing.
In season and out, despite what the global challenges are, we have continued to be able to build the strength and capability of our budget position, but also of the Australian economy which has seen now almost 1.5 million Australians get a job.
Now, Mr Speaker, that is the greatest argument when it comes to the economic policies of this government and that’s almost 1.5 million Australians who have got a job. That’s - that’s the great evidence, Mr Speaker, of 1.5 million almost lives of Australians that have been transformed because as a result of the policies of this government that has set the framework and economy for people to go and invest and take people on, Australians’ lives have been changed because the Liberal Party and Nationals believe that strong economic management, that disciplined and stable and certain financial policies are what actually at the end of the day guarantee our ability to reach record levels of hospital funding, record levels of education funding, and in the midst of what is a very severe drought, Mr Speaker, that we could again today confirm that those who would be coming off the farm household allowance will be given a $13,000 payment as a supplementary payment and just over $7,000 - $7,500, Mr Speaker, for individuals to continue to support them.
And we’re able to do this within the constraints of the budget which has been brought back to surplus.
As I remarked in this place some time ago, the Leader of the Opposition, he wants to have debates. I’m getting on with things.
But how can the Leader of the Opposition have a debate when he can’t tell us what his tax policy is, what his climate change policy is or any other critical issues that he fails to answer questions on a daily basis.
He hasn’t got a policy agenda, Mr Speaker. The reason we have to talk about their record in government and their policy agenda from the last election is they haven’t had any policies since that time.
So it is absolutely fair for the Australian people, Mr Speaker, to hold them to their record of the policies they took to the last election and they were condemned for those policies by the Australian people at that time. We will continue, Mr Speaker, to deliver the policies that were confirmed at the last election - policies that over the last six years have created more almost 1.5 million jobs for Australians.
Updated
To his credit, Dave Sharma manages to look a little embarrassed asking the next dixer, especially when he gets to the ‘alternative views’ part.
“It’s terrible when bad questions happen to good members,” Ed Husic says.
He is very much making hay from his backbench position.
We are just about 3/4 through this and we have had 11 mentions of “panic” and eight uses of “crises” from government ministers in response to Labor questions.
Deidre bloody Chambers!
It’s almost like they ... have talking notes ... on ... a ... phrase they would like to catch on.
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Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is again addressed to the Prime Minister. Given that yesterday the Treasurer falsely claimed that drought was the number 1 call on the budget, will the Prime Minister agree to have a debate on Australia’s economy and in particular the plight of farmers today based upon the facts?
Morrison:
Mr Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition seems quite insistent on this point. But he obviously wasn’t insistent this morning because the matter of public importance which has been tabled today by the federal member for Barton does not mention the word “economy” at all, Mr Speaker. The word “economy”... is not even in it. So, Mr Speaker, if he can’t get his own side to agree about something, and that’s not uncommon at the moment, Mr Speaker, it’s not uncommon...
I know that the Labor Party’s penchant is for panic and crisis, Mr Speaker, but honestly - he’s got to try to resolve the panic and crisis that is going on within his own party on so many issues.
Whether it’s on - their response to climate, which they say is an emergency, but we’re not going to know their policy about it until the next election.
And in between times, we’re going of the constant infighting between the member for Hunter and the member for South Australia...
What is it again? Hindmarsh. The member for Hindmarsh, or member for Sydney or any other members. Or whether the New South Wales branch of the Labor Party is going to tear itself apart. Not only ridden by corruption but also seemed today by sexism as well, Mr Speaker.
The leader of the Labor Party has got plenty on his plate and so I’ll leave him to deal with that all on his own measure
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is again addressed to the Prime Minister. Given that yesterday the Treasurer falsely claimed that drought was the number 1 call on the budget, will the Prime Minister agree to have a debate on Australia’s economy and in particular the plight of farmers today based upon the facts?
Morrison:
Mr Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition seems quite insistent on this point. But he obviously wasn’t insistent this morning because the matter of public importance which has been tabled today by the federal member for Barton does not mention the word “economy” at all, Mr Speaker. The word “economy”... is not even in it. So, Mr Speaker, if he can’t get his own side to agree about something, and that’s not uncommon at the moment, Mr Speaker, it’s not uncommon...
I know that the Labor Party’s penchant is for panic and crisis, Mr Speaker, but honestly - he’s got to try to resolve the panic and crisis that is going on within his own party on so many issues.
Whether it’s on - their response to climate, which they say is an emergency, but we’re not going to know their policy about it until the next election.
And in between times, we’re going of the constant infighting between the member for Hunter and the member for South Australia...
What is it again? Hindmarsh. The member for Hindmarsh, or member for Sydney or any other members. Or whether the New South Wales branch of the Labor Party is going to tear itself apart. Not only ridden by corruption but also seemed today by sexism as well, Mr Speaker.
The leader of the Labor Party has got plenty on his plate and so I’ll leave him to deal with that all on his own measure
Angus Taylor actually just uttered the words “we are unified on energy and climate policy on this side of the House,” with a straight face, and honestly, I now understand how he got that Rhodes scholarship.
It’s Peter Dutton HOW SAFE ARE YOU time!
How safe are we today, Peter Dutton?
Well, Australia, I’m really glad you asked. You are as safe as we can make you. BUT JUST IMAGINE IF LABOR WAS IN POWER. THE CHAOS. THE PANIC. THE KRAKENS! WHY, THE TRIFFIDS WOULD RISE UP.
Thankfully Australia, you have Peter Dutton. So it’s all cool beans.
Dutton finishes.
Ed Husic: “Yeah, but you choose Greg [Hunt] as your deputy leader. It’s TRUE.”
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is again addressed to the prime minister. Given wage growth is the lowest it’s ever been, household debt is at record highs and consumer confidence is at a four-year low, why does the prime minister dismiss the role that this parliament has to play in debating the economic policy direction of the nation? Or doesn’t he have the confidence in his own position to be able to do so?
Morrison:
It’s all about you, isn’t it?!
Through you, Mr Speaker! It’s about the Australian people, Mr Speaker.
We debate these matters in the parliament everyday as the measures that we ...
Apparently, Mr Speaker, when we bring legislation into this parliament that deals with economic measures, they’re apparently not debated in this place.
The Leader of the Opposition has been here long enough to know that this debating chamber deals with copious pieces of legislation, Mr Speaker, and there is ample time. Now, before the election - next election, Mr Speaker, there will be the opportunity for the types of things that the Leader of the Opposition is speaking about and I have no doubt that will be the case as it is on every other occasion.
But, Mr Speaker, it seems the debate he needs to have is within his own party because within his own party, they have got the climate fight club going on over there with umpteen different positions on climate change and, Mr Speaker, he’s got his own problems when it comes to the distractions of the New South Wales branch where I see compensation payments are measured in how many Aldi bags they’re handing out. [This bit was very, very loud.]
Tony Smith pulls him up on relevance.
Morrison:
I’m in this place every single day talking about the economy.
When we came to government, the real wage growth through the year was 0.5% and now today it’s 0.7%.
I note the comments of the most recent RBA minutes and it says this, “Despite the level of high household debt in Australia, relative to other countries, the risks from household debt appear to have been mostly contained. Members noted that households continue to have large repayments on their housing debt and aggregate mortgage repayments equal to 2.5 years of repayment.”
Mr Speaker, whether it comes to what we’re doing on jobs, whether it comes to what we’re doing in restoring the budget to surplus to ensure we’re there not only to meet the needs of today but we’re thinking ahead to meet the needs of tomorrow because we know how to keep our heads, to keep calm, Mr Speaker, and to ensure we continue to lay out the policies which we know are having the impact that they need to have and particularly in relation to employment. Employment in this country is the beginning of everything.
Updated
Michael McCormack is summoned to the despatch box, and the longest three minutes of all our lifes begins anew.
Empires have risen and fallen in this time. It’s amazing how he can make every minute feel like an hour.
It’s Bob Katter time.
He wants to know about a drought/dam plan.
Are you aware that the PM after the north’s flooding cattle deaths came, listened and delivered two dams and $200m. At the drought summit in contrast, did you not say that the free market is not necessarily benevolent, we must learn to accept climate change, we cannot carry you forever. Ideology – where is the survival plan? Isn’t this the policy of the corporate elites when you buy up owner-operator Australia and the city suits enriched by selling to foreigners. Have you stopped a single sale? Minister, who is the master that you serve?
He directs the question to David Littleproud, who tells him that was a question for the treasurer, but that the government is working to do what it can, but needs the states to come on board.
Updated
Morrison accuses Albanese of 'throwing tantrums'
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Can the Prime Minister confirm that since 2002 only two Australian Treasurers have presided over an unemployment rate that is higher than the OECD average? Will the Prime Minister agree to have a debate in this Parliament on Australia’s economy today? And will he admit the only two Treasurers who have had an unemployment rate that is higher than the OECD average are the current Treasurer and himself?
Morrison:
I’m interested in the jobs of Australians. Hear, hear. That’s what I’m interested in. The Leader of the Opposition is clearly only interested in his own job because all he wants to do is have a talk-fest in this place.
I’m interested in the jobs of Australians.
And taking action to ensure Australians are in work. Mr Speaker, more and more Australians in work and more Australians are in work today as a share of the Australian population than at any other time in Australia’s history.
So, Mr Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition may be thinking that this place, Mr Speaker, and the chatter that goes on here is terribly important to him and his position.
I’m going to remain focused on those Australians, Mr Speaker, who simply want us to get on the job, on with the job, of ensuring we’re providing the stable and the calm and the responsible financial management which has brought the budget back to the surplus.
Albanese stands up for a point of order, and Morrison goes to sit down, but not before saying what sounds like ‘another spurious point of order’
Albanese:
There were two parts to the question. One part went to whether the current Treasurer and the current Prime Minister are the only two Australian Treasurers who... Yeah... He hasn’t mentioned that. The second is if he’s confident let’s have a debate about it.
Tony Smith:
No, I was just going to say to the Leader of the Opposition - whilst there’s additional tolerance extended to him because of his position and to the Prime Minister, points of order are not going to be used to ask another question or to make a political statement. There were two parts to the question. The Prime Minister can address one or the other or both. That’s the way it works. The Prime Minister has the call.
Morrison:
The Leader of the Opposition may want to come into this place and throw a tantrum at Question Time.
Over whether or not someone’s going to agree to what he wants to do.
He’s entitled... Mr Speaker, the tantrums of the Leader of the Opposition in this place only re-enforce their addiction to panic and crisis on the Labor Party. They love panic. They love crisis.
And even when, Mr Speaker - even when circumstances don’t bear their argument out, they seek to create them, Mr Speaker, because they will look to any excuse to put their hands in the pockets of the Australian people and to rapidly increase spending to a reckless level.
I referred earlier, Mr Speaker, to the catalogue of Labor Party failures in government when it came to policy.
And the reason they engaged in those failures is they could never break their cycle of panic and crisis.
They put in ill-considered measures, they didn’t think them through, they just smashed them through and in the Australian community and Australians have been paying for them ever since.
At the last election I said, “You vote Labor once, you pay for it for the next decade”, and it seems exactly the same thing is true under this Leader of the Opposition. He can throw as many tantrums that he likes, we’ll just get on with the job of good government.
There are quite a few high school students in the gallery today, who are looking very bemused at how they arrived at this place.
Samesies.
Updated
It’s another lickspittle to the prime minister on the economy.
But rest assured - Michael McCormack will get his moment to pretend he still has ownership over drought policy as the Nationals leader. He’s just got to wait his turn.
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Given that since May the Reserve Bank, the OECD, and the International Monetary Fund have all downgraded Australia’s growth forecast for this year, will the prime minister agree to have a debate in this chamber today on the economy?
Morrison:
I note – I understand from my colleagues that – they have listed for the MPI today [it] isn’t about the economy.
So I’m a bit puzzled why they want one but they’re not prepared to table one, Mr Speaker. I tell you what – what our government is going to do, it’s not about debating the economy, it’s actually about implementing the policies that make our economy stronger and that’s what our government is doing. That’s what we’re doing, Mr Speaker. And we will continue to implement those sound and carefully-managed disciplined and stable and certain policies that as I have said today, Mr Speaker, has resulted in three years of consecutive increased in employment every single month, the longest run of jobs growth on a monthly basis this country has ever seen. So what we will do is not talk about it, we’ll get on to do it.
I mean, government does job is a weird flex, but cool. You do you, Morrison government.
Updated
We are now hearing the same answer again, but as a dixer.
Dante obviously missed a circle.
Question time begins
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is addressed to the prime minister. Yesterday the prime minister refused to debate the economy in this House. Will he debate today whether the IMF was wrong to downgrade Australia’s economic growth forecast?
Morrison:
As I confirmed yesterday, the IMF ... midyear budget update and of course at budget time. So that is the normal process in terms of budget forecast and other forecasts that are presented here or elsewhere.
And so that is a matter of public record, Mr Speaker.
We have made no commentary regarding the accuracy of others’ forecasts because the government provides forecasts of its own as part of the midyear budget process.
We’ll be doing that when it comes to the end of the year in the normal course of events, but given I have been asked about forecasts and economic data, Mr Speaker, I’m very pleased to report to the House today that employment has increased by 14,000 jobs in the month of September.
And that was in line with the expectations – around 15,000 jobs, Mr Speaker, and I can say that we are rapidly approaching a 1.5m jobs since this government was first elected and I can also inform the House that this monthly increase in jobs in this last month, jobs have increased every month for the last three years under this government and that is the longest run, I’m advised, of consecutive monthly jobs growth ever, Mr Speaker.
This government has reduced the level of unemployment from 5.7 to 5.2% and also decreased the level of youth unemployment by also a full percentage point, Mr Speaker, over that period of time.
This government is doing the work through patient, through methodical, through stable, through disciplined economic policies whether it’s ensuring Australians can keep more of what they earn, or investing $100 billion in the infrastructure that the Australian economy needs to grow, investing and ensuring that we’re putting the right skills programs in place to enable people in this country to get the skills they need for the jobs that are there, Mr Speaker, and supporting business in the same way.
Reducing the costs for business whether it’s in the industrial relations area, and I commend the minister for the work he’s doing, looking through all the things that are preventing people from getting jobs and costing unnecessarily the process of getting jobs and the work that the assistant minister is doing in stripping away regulations that is cost investment in this country.
We’re expanding our trade horizons, lifting the percentage of trade agreements that cover our trade from 26% to 70 %. Our economic plan, the calm, measured, stable certain plan just gets on with the job of delivering for Australians and the increase of almost 15,000 jobs, Mr Speaker, 26,200 full-time jobs, bears that out.
Updated
Given the Indigenous recognition push, this will be interesting.
Interview will be on @RNDrive after 6pm too #auspol https://t.co/zsXIsTvDFY
— PatriciaKarvelas (@PatsKarvelas) October 17, 2019
Updated
Scott Morrison has walked into the chamber with David Littleproud.
See? EVERYTHING IS FINE
Who’s that MP?
It’s Ken O’Dowd.
I’ll be heading to the chamber for question time – hit me up with your predictions (but I would say drought and the economy would be on the money).
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This is an interesting story from AAP:
The Canberra bubble is truly full, with countries looking to set up shop in the capital being turned away because of a lack of available land.
The National Capital Authority, which manages federal land in Canberra, told a parliamentary briefing they couldn’t offer much to those seeking land for diplomatic missions.
“We’ve had a number of countries where we’ve basically said, ‘No, we can’t offer you anything’,” chief planner Andrew Smith said.
He also told the committee negotiations with the Russian and Iranian missions to see them start works on their vacant land was ongoing.
Smith said new embassies could be built for a number of reasons, including the beginning of a new diplomatic relationship with Australia or countries already stationed in Canberra looking to move out of rented premises.
But some countries were also requesting larger premises for missions.
“We are actually at a situation where we really can’t effectively offer anything much,” Smith said.
He said there were a couple of vacant sites but the authority couldn’t offer them due to “reasons associated with terrain or soil conditions”.
When contacted by AAP, the authority said it was up to the individual missions to confirm whether they had been turned back.
The authority manages vacant sites but countries then have to look after it once they pick up the lease.
It also has a “use it or lose it” policy where countries may have leased land taken away from them if they show no signs of developing it.
Smith told the committee negotiations with the Russian and Iranian missions to see them start works on their own missions were continuing.
Last year, the committee was told that Kuwait, Iran, Brunei, Russia and Bangladesh had stalled or inactive development on their land.
At the time, Iran attributed delays to the unexpected death of their embassy’s new architect.
It also said it was holding discussions with the ACT government on the shortage of diplomatic land.
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Just for a bit more context on that spat Sky’s Thomas O’Brien has been reporting on – the Nationals have been annoyed about how the drought policy has been handled for quite some time.
There was agitation within the party when Malcolm Turnbull was prime minister, with members pushing Michael McCormack to do more. Then, when Scott Morrison took over the leadership, he also took over on the drought, which furthered angered a group of National MPs, who thought the Liberals should not be leading on a policy area which traditionally, has been theirs.
So there has been angst, but a truce was called, given the drought was, from a PR point at least, a headline issue for the government.
Then the announcement happened – and those tensions boiled over again.
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For the record, none of the National MPs are willing to go on the record to say this.
But yes, they are *annoyed*
A 2nd Nat MP has contacted Sky to vent: "PM is being arrogant...there are a lot of National MPs on the edge of losing their shit."
— Thomas O'Brien (@TJ__OBrien) October 17, 2019
Some Nats wanted to 'own' the drought announcement, & feel sidelined. Angst is more over optics than the actual policy.
Labor and the Greens are teaming up against an expansion of the fast-track visa process which among others would cover asylum seekers who arrived by plane.
Contrary to some reports this morning, it is not a motion to scrap the controversial process altogether – although the Greens’ position is that it should be scrapped.
What is the fast-track process? It’s complicated and has changed over the years but essentially:
The fast-track assessment and removal process was introduced in 2014, and later expanded. It applies to the group of people who sought asylum in Australia by boat from August 2012 to January 2014 (and any of their children) commonly referred to as the “legacy caseload” and numbered more than 30,000.
Under the process, asylum seekers can only apply for three-year temporary protection visas (TPV) or five-year Safe Haven Enterprise Visas (Shev), and are denied access to a full administrative review by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. A refusal will automatically receive a limited review by the Immigration Assessment Authority (which was established for this purpose and sits within the AAT), but the IAA won’t hear new information.
Some fast-track applicants are excluded from this.
The process is controversial, with some legal and refugee experts criticising it as being more focused on speed than fairness.
The Greens and Labor motion seeks to scrap an expansion of the process to cover people from the legacy cohort reapplying after their TPV or Shev expires, as well as anyone who arrived by air and who applies for temporary protection. It applies to any application made after 1 April this year.
Immigration minister David Coleman told the Australian this would result in application assessment times blowing out from an average of 23 days to 504 days and would put more strain on the AAT.
Labor disputes the figures, claiming that as of February last year the average time (from lodgement to a primary decision) was 415 days for TPVs and 316 for Shevs.
“Labor does not support the government’s unfair fast track process because it is neither fast nor fair – if it was the third term Liberal government would have been able to process these applications by now,” said a spokesman for shadow home affairs minister, Kristina Keneally.
Greens senator Nick McKim said the fast track process was neither fast nor fair.
“It should be scrapped altogether, not expanded,” he said.
“It was set up with the clear aim of reducing people’s chances of claiming asylum and denying them avenues of appeal. This government continues to demonise people who have fled persecution.”
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A group of ex-judges, anti-corruption commissioners, and experts have laid out a blueprint for improving political and democratic integrity in the wake of this year’s election.
The Centre for Public Integrity used a submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters to argue there was “ample evidence” of the need for integrity reform, pointing to the $70m campaign spend by Clive Palmer and the post-political appointments of Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop.
The centre, chaired by former NSW judge Anthony Whealy QC, wants parties and candidates to report all single donations of $1,000 or above or aggregated contributions of $3,000 over three years.
The current threshold is $14,000. Donations should be disclosed to the public in real-time and include income from “party fundraisers, corporate sponsorship of business forums, and membership fees over $600 per year”.
Electoral expenditure should be capped, and advertising limited by the finance or attorney-general’s department, which would purchase advertising space and distribute it to parties, candidates, and third parties.
The centre also wants to see stronger post-separation employment bans apply to former ministers and parliamentary secretaries, preventing them from lobbying-related activities for five years in any area linked to their former portfolio.
The ban would be enforced by an independent parliamentary integrity commissioner.
“The Commonwealth has the weakest integrity laws in the country. Reform is crucial in the wake of the 2019 federal election,” Whealy said.
The Centre for Public Integrity board includes ex-judges Tony Fitzgerald QC, David Ipp QC, Stephen Charles QC and Whealy, professors George Williams and Joo Cheong Tham, and barrister Geoffrey Watson SC.
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Mike Bowers has been very busy this morning.
This would be the moment the Nationals gathered to announce the farm household allowance changes, but were overshadowed by the prime minister who was on not-Alan Jones radio doing exactly the same thing.
Some colour in parliament, thanks to a Mongolian dance troupe.
A very fed up Jacqui Lambie
And that Senate light
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Katharine Murphy and Paul Karp have put together exactly what happened when Labor voted against the Greens motion to stop the government from scrapping the education infrastructure fund, in favour of redirecting it to emergency disaster responses:
Labor has done a deal with the Morrison government to pass legislation redirecting education infrastructure money to disaster relief despite significant objections from the education spokeswoman, Tanya Plibersek.
The opposition made the decision to sign on to the emergency response fund in a special shadow cabinet meeting on Wednesday night, which also considered Labor’s stance on the free trade deal with Indonesia.
But Guardian Australia understands Plibersek objected, and concerns persist within the caucus that the decision will blunt Labor’s ability to pursue the Coalition over cuts to education funding.
Labor MPs, including the former research minister Kim Carr, have expressed concern that the redirection will deliver a significant blow to investment in research infrastructure.
I have been flipping through some annual reports this morning.
The Department of Employment provides us an update on the progress of its struggling $250m PaTH internships program. You might remember it’s the scheme where the government pays businesses like Hungry Jacks and Woolworths $1000 to host young welfare recipients. The interns get an incentive payment, which unions say equates to about $4 a day.
The program was supposed to offer 30,000 internships a year – instead there have only been 6,464 since April 2017. The report does say that 65% of those internships led to a job.
“Those who have completed Youth Jobs PaTH have achieved strong outcomes, but take-up continues to be a challenge,” the report says.
The government poured another $10m into the scheme in August.
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Nick Martin (the doctor from the post a few down) approves this message
Nailed it. https://t.co/B0IJJYu7ep
— Nick Martin (@nickbootnick) October 17, 2019
Here’s the dairy industry inquiry motion Pauline Hanson put up and won (with the support of most of the Senate, excluding the government).
That the following matter be referred to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References Committee for inquiry and report by the third sitting day in March 2020: the performance of Australia’s dairy industry and the profitability of Australian dairy farmers since deregulation in 2000, with particular reference to –
(a) the ability of Dairy Australia to act independently and support the best interests of both farmers and processors;
(b) the accuracy of statistical data collected by Dairy Australia and the Australian Bureau of Statistics;
(c) the funding of Dairy Australia and the extent of its consultation and engagement on the expenditure of levies revenue;
(d) the merits of tasking the ACCC to investigate how it can regulate the price of milk per litre paid by processors to dairy farmers to ensure a viable dairy industry;
(e) alternative approaches to supporting a viable dairy sector;
(f) the introduction of a mandatory industry code of practice; and
(g) any related matters.
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The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has also unleashed on Labor for its decision not to back a motion to save the education fund (Jacqui Lambie was also very, very angry at the move).
Labor and the Government have teamed up to stab education in the back by abolishing billions in education funding.
I don’t expect any better of the regressive Liberals who have cut education funding at every turn, but Labor used to be the party of education. Now they are just selling out communities and young people to remain politically relevant.
Labor are so eager to please the Liberals they voted to abolish the infrastructure fund they themselves established. The reality is unis, Tafes and research have all suffered under this Liberal-National government. Education in Australia is being dangerously underfunded.
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The official Labor press conference on the free trade agreement decision is out.
From Madeleine King’s office:
We will back these agreements, although we are concerned about how this Government will implement them.
We have consulted widely on these issues with stakeholders in the union movement, industry, academia and the public service.
I have written to Trade Minister Simon Birmingham seeking firm commitments to ensure that the implementation of the agreements safeguard Australian jobs and maximise market access for Australian businesses.
We are seeking:
- A guarantee that these agreements protect Australian jobs.
- An assurance that working holiday makers are not exploited and are appropriately qualified for the work they undertake.
- The termination of the existing bilateral investment treaty with Indonesia.
- The termination or updating of out-dated bilateral investment treaties and investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses.
- A review of recent ISDS mechanisms in trade agreements.
- An inquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT) into Australia’s treaty-making process.
- An assurance that there is no inference from the agreements that would require the privatisation of government services, nor restrict any future decision to bring acquire public assets.
Labor’s call for the Government to pursue the termination of the existing Bilateral Investment Treaty between Australia and Indonesia was recently backed by JSCOT’s recent review of these trade agreements.
This old treaty contains ISDS clauses with poor safeguards.
Labor does not support the inclusion of ISDS provisions in trade agreements, but the report noted that the provisions in these new agreements include strong safeguards.
Labor MPs on the JSCOT committee were instrumental in ensuring that these recommendations were included in the final report.
Back in the Senate, One Nation put forward a motion to set up an inquiry into the “performance of Australia’s dairy industry and the profitability of farmers since deregulation in 2000”.
Labor, the Greens and the crossbench all supported the inquiry.
The government opposed it.
Ayes - 33
Noes - 28
It is not often you see that section of the chamber supporting something One Nation puts up, but there you go.
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Just on Peter Dutton’s latest intervention on medevac, I have been reminded of this story from earlier in the year:
A doctor on Nauru who blew the whistle on the deliberate medical neglect of refugees and asylum seekers on the island has been awarded a global award for free speech.
Dr Nick Martin, the former senior medical officer for International Health and Medical Services on Nauru, spoke out publicly against what he described as Australia’s “inflexible, unswerving, and shameless” offshore immigration regime, that deliberately harmed asylum seekers and ignored doctors’ recommendations to treat dangerously ill people.
In London on Wednesday night, he was awarded the 2019 Blueprint for Free Speech prize, an award previously won by Chelsea Manning, who revealed US military abuses and suspected war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, and John Kiriakou, the former CIA intelligence officer who revealed information about torture techniques including waterboarding.
Martin is a veteran military doctor.
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The drug testing bill is on its way to the Senate.
House of Representatives passed Social Services Legislation Amendment (Drug Testing Trial) Bill 2019 https://t.co/FusF2Vwh1A #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) October 17, 2019
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Labor is supporting the government’s call to abolish the $4bn education investment fund (the Coalition has wanted it gone since 2014 and, when it couldn’t get rid of it, just stopped spending the money from it, meaning it has sat there untouched), mostly because it doesn’t want to be seen as standing in front of emergency response fund (which is where the government wants to put this money).
Jacqui Lambie has been calling for more Tafe funding for Tasmania since returning to the Senate. That’s why she is so angry. The money that is there, for that purpose, is now being officially taken away.
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Dutton claims war veterans want medevac scrapped
Oh FFS.
From AAP:
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has claimed Australian war veterans want refugee medical evacuation laws scrapped.
Mr Dutton is locked in negotiations with Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, herself an army veteran, as he seeks to repeal the so-called medevac laws.
“I believe very strongly that most Australians and certainly the vast majority of veterans would want us to abolish this law,” he told 2GB Radio on Thursday.
There does not seem to be any evidence for this, other than Dutton is courting Lambie’s swing vote on this.
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We were expecting a press conference on the party’s position on free trade agreements after a lively caucus debate this morning, but it has now been called off.
We are still waiting to get the details of what has been agreed upon, but expect something on scrapping old investor state dispute settlement clauses with Indonesia, independent economic analysis of the trade deals, and a concession on future labour market access.
The unemployment figures are out
Jobless rate edges down to 5.2% (s/a) but on a weak 14.7k lift in employment. Trend steady at 5.3%
— Shane Wright (@swrighteconomy) October 17, 2019
That vote Paul Karp has been telling you about, on the $4bn education investment fund, is happening. Labor created it when it was in government.
The Greens put in a motion to protect it.
Labor is voting against the motion.
Jacqui Lambie is ESPECIALLY pissed about it.
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Jacqui Lambie has just got stuck into the deal struck between the Coalition and Labor – describing it as “pretty pathetic” that Labor has agreed to abolish a $4bn education investment fund in return for $50m for Tafe.
“I can get more out of the government with just one of me, than all of you put together,” Lambie said.
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi says the $50m is “measly” and criticises Labor, which she said “used to be the party of public education”.
Mathias Cormann has moved the bill out of the committee phase and is now setting a limit on the time for debate – so we’re going to have a final vote by 11.45.
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Is there anyone in this building not having a tantrum right now?
If so, feel free to swing by the Guardian office for a chocolate.
Because this whole place is one giant sulk right now, on all sides.
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Like I said, totally and absolutely, fine.
1 senior Nat is furious that the PM dropped payment announcement on 2SM same time Nats held their Presser. “They’re shitting on us. Is PM going to go on TV when Dutton is? We look dopey standing around like swinging dicks at Class B presser because Class A is up at same time.”
— Thomas O'Brien (@TJ__OBrien) October 17, 2019
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Everything is fine.
Please see my statement below. pic.twitter.com/xMUpnuVp08
— Kaila Murnain 🙋🏻♀️💪 (@kailamurnain) October 17, 2019
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The Labor senator Murray Watt has revealed that the opposition has done a deal with the government to pass the emergency response fund bill, which abolishes the education investment fund and redirects it to “future emergency response and natural disaster recovery”.
The bill is now being debated in the Senate – where the Greens attempted to stop its progress with amendments saving the education investment fund, and Jacqui Lambie has an amendment that limits the amount that can be taken to three-quarters of the education investment fund.
Watt has moved opposition amendments that reflect the deal – to increase the quantum of the emergency response fund and lift the amount it can pay out each year from $150m to $200m, with the extra $50m to be spent on “disaster preparedness and mitigation infrastructure”.
The government leader in the Senate, Mathias Cormann, thanked the opposition for their “constructive engagement” on the bill, indicating that the government will support the opposition amendments.
Cormann explains that an extra $50m will be given “to establish a $100m Tafe revitalisation grants program in partnership with the states”, with 50/50 funding from the states.
It seems the same $50m is being characterised as about disaster mitigation infrastructure and upgrading Tafes! But – in any event – a deal has been done so we expect the bill to pass this morning.
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It’s safe to say not all members of Labor’s movement are happy with the party’s decision to support the Indonesian free trade agreement.
Today ALP MPs agreed to support the Indonesia Free Trade Agreement - in breach of the ALP national platform.
— ETU⚡️VIC (@ETUVIC) October 17, 2019
These deals are bad for Aussie jobs and let multinationals sue Australia if our laws hurt their profits.
When is Albo going to stick up for Australian Workers? #auspol pic.twitter.com/bniqISjxvb
Joel Fitzgibbon also notes that while the FHA changes are being put into the parliament today, the Senate doesn’t sit again until November.
He says the lump sum payments are not enough and the government’s response has not been enough.
It is putting its budget surplus in front of the livelihoods of Australian farmers.
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Joel Fitzgibbon continues:
Labor will use ... every mechanism available to it to try to prevent the government from taking people of the modest Farm Household Allowance and obviously they could be constitutional restrictions on what we can do in the parliament because it is effectively a money bill, proposition to spend more money, but I will make this point about that, while we may be barred from making amendments which have fiscal implications, restoring the payment for these families until this drought breaks, and we all pray outcomes in the not too distant future, is a modest amount of money, a very modest amount of money, in proportion to the total commonwealth budget.
And if the prime minister wants to maintain this fiction, so loose with the truth is he, that he is spending $7bn on drought, then people everywhere will be asking well, why prime minister do you find it necessary to cut, cut these farming families’s of this modest payment.
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Drought approaching 'wartime-like situation', Labor says
Joel Fitzgibbon:
The time for in action and talking is behind us. It is time now to act in a meaningful way and I make the appeal to the prime minister again. Establish a bipartisan rural cabinet, drought cabinet, drought advisory committee – whatever he wants to call it – because the opposition understands the seriousness of the situation the country now faces.
This really is approaching a wartime-like situation. And we stand ready to work with him to make the decisions that will be necessary to ensure another farming families can stay on the land, that rural communities can survive, and we can secure our food sources in this country without becoming too dependent on the importation of our food and fibre.
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Joel Fitzgibbon says the government’s response to the farm household allowance was “not good enough”, describing it as “modest” and “inadequate”.
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Dipping into state politics for a moment, because of the review Anthony Albanese has ordered into NSW Labor:
Earlier today, Kaila Murnain tendered her resignation as General Secretary of the NSW Labor Party.
The terms of the separation agreement are confidential, but consist of Ms Murnain’s basic legal entitlements.
The full terms of the settlement will be reported to the next meeting of the Administrative Committee.
The Party is actively considering seeking the recovery of all of its costs related to the Inquiry, including the sum payable to Ms Murnain, under its insurance policies and from its previous lawyers.
A new branch secretary will not be elected until the review into the branch currently being conducted by Professor Michael Lavarch has provided its recommendations on the role of the General Secretary.
Joel Fitzgibbon will hold a press conference at 10.45 today to give Labor’s response to the government’s latest drought announcement.
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Speaking of Ed Husic, you might remember that yesterday’s blog included a speech he made to the federation chamber about the rise of rightwing extremism – which is exactly what Asio warned about in its public annual report, released late yesterday.
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Ed Husic, talking to Sky, says there is “very little modelling” done on the trade agreements but Labor will “support them, because it is the right thing to do”.
He says Labor wants to keep a close eye on “what they do to jobs” but that the agreements open up markets in way they haven’t been previously.
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Today’s announcement also might help explain why Josh Frydenberg yesterday called the drought the “biggest call on the budget”. Obviously, as the treasurer, he knew this was coming.
From a money point of view, it’s still not – but it is certainly the reason he has had to rework quite a few figures lately.
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Farmers to receive lump sum payment
Bridget McKenzie gets to put the release out on it:
Today the Australian Government introduced improvements to the Farm Household Allowance (FHA) that will help more farmers through periods of hardship. This is our next step in responding to the Independent Review of FHA which will see more than 30,000 farmers able to access this immediate support.
Minister for Agriculture, Senator Bridget McKenzie said the changes extended farming families’ access the FHA from three years in their lifetime to four years out of every 10, recognising that farmers experience hardships, including droughts, more than once in their lives.
“...A one-off drought relief payment of up to $13,000 for a farming family, and up to $7,500 for an individual is designed to help people determine whether they will be sustainable, should look at succession options or, in some instances choose to sell.
“For the first time, we’ll link farm enterprises with their directly-related businesses and consider income and losses together – not just income – a big change in how Government support payments are provided to families.
“Our Government had already made changes to make the FHA quicker and easier to access by reducing paperwork by a third and by temporarily increasing farm assets threshold to $5 million from 1 July 2019.
“It is all part of the radical simplification of the FHA application process and key policy settings that the Prime Minister announced on 27 September.”
These improvements include:
- a simplified assets test
- a significant redesign of the application process and form, including allowing farming couples to apply using the same form
- a strengthened case management approach to better support farmers in hardship through periods of financial difficulty.
...The FHA has been supporting Australian farmers since July 2014. It has paid more than $365 million to around 12,700 recipients in that time.
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David Littleproud, who had some interesting things to say about “metropolitan commentators” who were “frothing at the mouth” this morning *cough*, is now introducing those FHA changes in the chamber.
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Scott Morrison has announced changes to the farm household allowance – on the John Laws Sydney radio 2SM (who is not Alan Jones, you might note) show.
At the end of the four years (the current time allowed for the payment, which essentially is welfare for farmers, and is paid at the same rate as Newstart) farmers will receive a lump sum payment of $7,500 for singles, and $13,000 for couples.
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Peter Dutton is speaking to the media and he says he feels there may be “some complacency” around security, because “thank God”, Australia has not been the scene of a major terrorist attack within its borders.
He’s addressing Duncan Lewis’s parting call – to publicly request more money for Asio, noting that the resources were strained in the *public* report, as well as warning of a growing rightwing terrorism threat.
Dutton blamed Labor for cutting Asio’s budget (Labor has not been in power since 2013) and said the government had been putting that money back.
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The prime minister is talking to John Laws on 2SM, but none of us can listen in, because the 2SM site is down.
AAP on the NDIS announcement:
The next boss of the agency responsible for the National Disability Insurance Scheme is a former senior NSW bureaucrat.
Martin Hoffman, who has been both a commonwealth deputy secretary and secretary of the NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation, will take up the job from November 4.
He has also held roles in the private sector, including as chief executive of Ninemsn.
NDIS Minister Stuart Robert said Mr Hoffman has the “dedication, vision and expertise” to lead delivery of the transformational scheme.
“He will build on the ground-breaking work already underway and will make a real difference in delivering on the government’s commitment to realising the full benefits of the scheme for participants,” the minister said.
Labor had this week put pressure on the coalition to appoint a new leader for the National Disability Insurance Agency, with its previous chief executive Robert De Luca resigning in April.
“It is literally leaderless,” opposition NDIS spokesman Bill Shorten told the lower house on Monday night.
The organisation’s deputy chief executive Vicki Rundle had been acting in the top job since Mr De Luca’s resignation.
Mr Hoffman has been appointed for a three-year term.
Labor has voted to support the Indonesian free trade agreement, at the end of its shadow caucus meeting.
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Jim Chalmers was asked about Josh Frydenberg’s interview on his way into parliament his morning:
The weakness in the Australian economy isn’t primarily because of weakness in the global economy, it’s primarily because the Morrison government doesn’t have a plan. Too many Australians are looking for work or for more work because the economy is floundering on the Liberals’ watch. Business knows, and the community knows, that we won’t get the economic growth we need to create good jobs while the government continues to sit on its hands.
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The call to parliament has sounded.
Huzzah.
Stuart Robert has called a doorstop to discuss this at 9.45.
NDIS Minister Stuart Robert has named former senior NSW public servant Martin Hoffman as the new National Disability Insurance Agency CEO. He led the taskforce setting up the new Services Australia department #auspol @FinancialReview
— Tom McIlroy (@TomMcIlroy) October 16, 2019
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Asked for some of those specifics, Fiona Simson told the ABC it was about planning for the future, while looking at ways farmers could diversify their businesses:
So, certainly, I think it’s about looking at how we farm now in Australia.
How sustainable that is. It’s about looking at add to those income streams. It’s about supporting.
We’re looking at, for example, at the moment we can create perhaps energy, we can create income streams from energy on underground gas …
We know that there’s, you know, for example, solar energy can save farmers enormous amounts of money.
It’s about looking at planning for drought on a regular basis.
[It’s about] how can we make sure that farmers have access to, to to infrastructure on farms, and there’s a whole suite of measures that we want to discuss with the government, but it’s not just about farmers.
It is also about rural regional communities. Because if we’re going to relieve the population pressures in the city, if we’re going to really truly build our regional communities at the moment – we’re talking about indoor agriculture, for example, with vertical farming …
There’s many things we need to look at, Hamish, and that they need to be done together collaboratively, not in this sort of one government at a time, with the industry out of the room and communities out of the room. We need to plan for it.
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Fiona Simson, the president of the National Farmers’ Federation, also had a chat to ABC radio this morning. Here is some of what she had to say about the drought policy:
[Policies] are being developed in a vacuum because there’s no real effective way of measuring whether or not these these measures have been robust.
When we get to the end of a drought, and we’ve done it before, we’ve done it recently in the millennial drought, then we just sort of seemed to go that one’s over, pick up our pieces and and wait for the next rather than thinking every day – how can we make a rural and regional communities more resilient?
How can we make our farmers, our really important food- and fibre-growing people, more resilient?
How can we keep jobs in the in the country areas?
How can we make sure that people have access to fresh water, which is just a first world sort of thing?
And these are things that our strategy, which involves all levels of government, working together hand in hand on a regular basis with the community, with farmers, to actually get, you know, put in a new way, a new paradigm of dealing with drought in Australia …
I’ll just finish the that no other government has been able to do this yet. It is an incredibly difficult space to work in. And look, we are really grateful for the Morrison government’s commitment to look at this and to work with us in developing this new strategy. And this new way of treating drought in Australia.
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There has also been a bit of chatter this morning about Josh Frydenberg’s interview with Phil Coorey in the Fin, in the lead-up to his attendance at the IMF meeting in Washington.
It’s an extension of what he was saying yesterday, in response to calls for stimulus after the IMF’s downgrade of Australia’s economic growth outlook.
The promised surplus is now being billed as an “economic buffer”.
“A strong budget position helps build the resilience of the economy for external shocks, whenever that may occur, and your ability to respond to those shocks with a fiscal response,” Frydenberg told the Australian Financial Review.
I am not sure that is going to calm the calls for stimulus, given the economy’s position, but you can start to see the narrative they are building – stimulus is coming, but it will be after the surplus, and what the government considers “good” stimulus (“bad” stimulus, in this scenario being painted, was Labor’s response after the GFC).
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The attorney general, Christian Porter, will introduce amendments to native title today.
From his release:
The native title legislation amendment bill 2019 implements a range of measures recommended by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) and the Council of Australian Governments (Coag).
It was also informed by extensive consultation with native title claimants who said they wanted more flexibility and efficiency built into the system. The bill will provide claimant groups with:
Improved pathways for dispute resolution following a determination of native title;
Increased transparency and accountability for prescribed bodies corporate (the corporations set up to manage native title);
Greater flexibility for bodies corporate to set their own internal processes.
Importantly, the bill also seeks to end the uncertainty created by a 2017 full federal court judgment that cast doubts over the validity of hundreds of what are known as “section 31” agreements, which are negotiated between claimant groups and industry to facilitate land access.
The McGlade decision found that such agreements were only valid if they were signed by all representatives of a claimant group, rather than by a majority – even if the only reason for not obtaining every signature was because a single representative had died.
The bill will validate all affected agreements and ensure that a majority of representatives can negotiate on behalf of a claimant group in the future.
For some history on this issue, you can head here.
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I told you drought was going to be the issue of the day.
Adding to @msmarto news this morning on this morning’s special caucus meeting after a second shadow cabinet meeting last night to thrash out trade, I gather there’s also internal Labor angst about drought funding @AmyRemeikis
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 16, 2019
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'Metropolitan commentators are frothing at the mouth' over drought response, says Littleproud
I’m listening to Hamish Macdonald interview David Littleproud on RN, and it sounded as though Littleproud just took a swipe at some city media types, saying that “while I get a lot of metropolitan commentators are frothing at the mouth at the moment” in regards to the drought and what needs to be done, says we “need to be careful” not to scare the next generation from entering agriculture as a career.
Macdonald pulled him up on the “metropolitan commentators ... frothing at the mouth” comment.
HM:
To be perfectly fair, having spent a fair amount of time in drought-affected regions recently, I mean, that is what you hear when you go there – I mean, I don’t think it is just metropolitan commentators saying this sort of stuff [that more needs to be done], people on farms are quite desperate at the moment; are you sort of diminishing their plight by suggesting that?
DL:
Totally not, Hamish. I don’t have the comfort of tucking myself into a bed in a metropolitan [area], I actually live and breath it every day, my friend. I actually see these people and I know them by face and by name. These are resilient people. And they believe in what they do and they know what they are doing is the best in the world. Now we are going through a tough time and we’ve continued to have these conditions over our whole agricultural history, but we’ve faced up to them, and we’ve continued to work through them. So we will get through this, and when people say they want hope, then it is about leadership of hope and saying we will get through this, your government will stand shoulder to shoulder with you in this, and we will get you through, in the here and now ... the community and the future, that is why we are going to prepare to get them through this one and prepare them to get through the next one.
While it is not unusual for National MPs to talk down about metro journalists with the “latte sippers” line alive and well in Michael McCormack’s world, Littleproud’s comment is interesting given its timing.
The conservative Sydney 2GB radio host Alan Jones had quite the combative interview with Scott Morrison on Monday on the issue of the drought, loudly interrupting with “how is that going to feed cows?” as Morrison detailed his government’s spending, and then, when talking about the drought on his Sky News show the next night, broke down crying.
I’m not sure if that counts as “frothing at the mouth” but I’m also pretty sure there will be some raised eyebrows when the comment gets back to some of those metropolitan offices.
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Meanwhile, Paul Karp had this story late yesterday, after taking a look through the Asio annual report:
The threat from extreme rightwing terrorism in Australia has increased in recent years and will remain an “enduring threat”, according to Australia’s spy agency.
The Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation issued the warning in its latest annual report, adding that “extreme rightwing groups in Australia are more cohesive and organised than they have been in previous years”.
The comments amp up the agency’s concern about rightwing extremist terrorism, after Asio boss Duncan Lewis told Senate estimates in April it was an important issue but the Christchurch massacre had not changed the agency’s calculus.
Asio has also reported a strain on its resources, with more calls for advice.
Kristina Keneally told the ABC the security agency had sounded an “alarm bell”.
“It’s an incredibly important agency in our national security framework and for them to be reporting in this time when the challenges they face are quite complex, that they are stretched for resources, well that’s an alarm bell,” she said.
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Labor MPs have been called to a special meeting of caucus at 8.30am this morning to decide their position on three new free trade agreements.
The meeting comes after a working group of shadow ministers and union leaders held meetings on Wednesday afternoon to try to work through concerns over the Indonesian FTA.
Labor is expected to endorse the enabling legislation but a number of MPs from both the left and right factions will push for the party to demand concessions on labor market access and skills testing.
It’s expected to spark a heated debate in caucus, particularly given that elements of the agreements are at odds with the party’s national platform.
The ACTU has been spearheading lobbying efforts to get the deals knocked off, raising fears about future market access for temporary visa holders under the Indonesian deal.
The shadow trade minister, Madeleine King, has been clear that she wants the party to support the agreements but may be forced to adopt a new negotiating position to appease the concerns of caucus.
We will know more later this morning.
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Good morning
Welcome to the last sitting day for this week.
After the parliament rises today, senators will turn their attention to Senate estimates next week, while the House will sit alone.
But the ongoing drought looms large over everything being done in this building at the moment, with the government repeatedly forced to defend their strategy.
Yesterday, on Sky, Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon called for a drought “war cabinet”. The government says it is working with everyone it can to deliver its policy.
The National Farmers’ Federation released its own drought plan late yesterday, after repeated calls to plan for the future.
From Sarah Martin:
Under the policy, the NFF framework proposes that industry, community groups and the three tiers of government all work together in developing a drought strategy.
This would identify specific drought measures that need to be maintained, amended or reviewed; and to propose new drought measures, build on the Coag national drought agreement and incorporate lessons learned from past droughts, create a drought forum and establish a drought committee.
“While this national drought policy comes too late to help those managing this drought, the NFF is determined to see that we don’t find ourselves, once again, without a plan for drought,” the NFF’s Fiona Simson said.
“We continue to consult with the government about further measures to assist farmers during this drought, including recommendations for commonwealth support for local government rate relief.”
David Littleproud, speaking to the ABC this morning, says the government “already has” a drought strategy.
“Our response has been one of being responsive to the situation,” he said.
This is not an issue that is going anywhere. And it is only going to get bigger, with no rains in sight.
We’ll bring you that, as well everything else that happens today.
Mike Bowers is, as always, up and about, cameras in hand, while Katharine Murphy, Sarah Martin and Paul Karp will also be burrowing away on stories. You’ll catch me on the socials, and, when I get a chance, in the comments. And of course, the coffee line.
Ready?
Let’s get into it.
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