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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Gabrielle Chan

Liberals launch death tax ad despite Labor claim it's 'a lie' – as it happened

Scott Morrison at a campaign rally at the Seacliff surf lifesaving club in Adelaide
Scott Morrison at a campaign rally at the Seacliff surf lifesaving club in Adelaide. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Night time politics

That is your lot for today, my friends:

  • #Watergate rolled on today, with agriculture and water minister David Littleproud writing to the auditor general, Grant Hehir, to audit water buybacks to 2008. Hehir’s office said buybacks was on the to-do list as a “potential” but he’s got about 28 days to consider whether to wade in (my pun). That takes us past the election date. Labor has committed to an independent enquiry with coercive powers. Tony Burke will be interviewed by Patricia Karvelas tonight.
  • Burke said: “Scott Morrison is trying to cover up his government’s incompetence, chaos and potential misconduct. This is not acceptable. It is now clear that there needs to be an independent inquiry into the Eastern Australia Agriculture scandal, with coercive powers so that Australians can get the truth.”
  • Barnaby Joyce again addressed the media to say “nothing to see here”, that he was totally confident of being cleared and pointed to purchases under Labor (that have been audited).
  • Labor also announced an independent inquiry into the transparency and planning of the inland rail and gained a herogram from the NSW Farmers Association – not a natural political mate. The farmers body has called on the Coalition to back the inquiry, to which there was deafening silence.
  • Labor has promised to repurpose $1.5bn out of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (Naif) as part of a development policy for gas projects of national significance. Lock the Gate was not happy.
  • Greg Hunt has announced $2m to the National LGBTI Health Alliance over two years for the peer support telephone and online support service QLife because demand keeps increasing.
  • Earlier, Labor backed a ban on gay conversion therapy, working through the Council of Australian Governments (Coag). Scott Morrison says he does not support gay conversion therapy but said it was a matter for the states.

That’s it. Thanks for your company and to my brains trust, Paul Karp, Sarah Martin and the remote Katharine Murphy and Amy Remeikis.

Goodnight.

Updated

Liberals launch death tax ad despite Labor claim it's 'a lie'

The Liberal party has released a new authorised ad suggesting that Labor may introduce a death tax, by linking Bill Shorten’s denial on inheritance tax to Julia Gillard’s promise not to introduce a carbon tax.

The Liberal Party has also targeted the Labor Senate candidate Tim Ayres for advocating inheritance tax:

Despite the focus on the death tax claims, the Liberal party website it links to has no mention of inheritance taxes – perhaps because it is not Labor policy.

On Monday the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, said it “is a lie” and called on Scott Morrison to “stop making things up”.

Bowen said:

If they think they can treat Australia’s communities with such disregard to run a fraudulent campaign, it says a lot about Scott Morrison’s character.

Updated

Next week I’ll be travelling to Gilmore for a profile. It’s a fascinating four-way contest between the former Labor president Warren Mundine (Liberal), former New South Wales water minister Katrina Hodgkinson (Nationals), Fiona Phillips (Labor) and son of former NSW Liberal MP Alby, Grant Schultz, the independent who was to be the Liberal before the party opted for a star candidate instead.

Despite the fact there is a Liberal contesting the seat of the outgoing MP, Hodgkinson has just announced she has received endorsements from all three former members: Liberal Ann Sudmalis, former Liberal MP Jo Gash and former Nat member John Sharp.

The endorsements, from a post on her Facebook page:

  • Gash says: “Katrina is hands down one of the best local members we have seen in this state and I am thrilled for the people of Gilmore that she wants to represent the community in the next federal parliament. She has more than 20 years’ experience serving and fighting for locals in the NSW Parliament and I know she will be an outstanding representative for our community.”
  • Sharp, a former Howard government minister, says: “Katrina is a thoughtful and highly competent candidate who has a proud track record for standing up for her community even on the most difficult of issues. I am proud to give Katrina my support and I am confident she will do an outstanding job representing the people of Gilmore in the next federal parliament.”

Somewhat embarrassing: the post twice misspells Ann Sudmalis’ name as “Sudamalis”. Oops.

Updated

It turns out there is no certainty around an audit into water buybacks because the auditor general’s office has confirmed he is only considering the Coalition’s request.

His spokesman said he couldn’t pre-empt the auditor’s decision.

As outlined in the ANAO annual report, the Auditor-General aims to respond to the majority of requests for audit within 28 days of receipt.

Which coincidentally would be three days after the federal election.

Updated

Given Barnaby Joyce has been in the news, the independent in New England is getting a bit more airplay. Adam Blakestar would need a swing of 8.5% to win the seat from Joyce.

Updated

The Australian Electoral Commission has been working to get the candidates registered. Here is the timeframe:

Candidate lists: Lists of candidates will be made available on the AEC website progressively from late afternoon tomorrow. Lists of candidates for Western Australia will naturally appear later into the evening (AEST) due to the time difference.

Candidate qualification checklists: The now mandatory candidate qualification checklists will be published at the end of the week.

The AEC is working this week to mobilise voting services. Early voting will be available across Australia from Monday.

There has been some conjecture about the capacity of the agriculture minister, David Littleproud, to request an audit of water buybacks during the caretaker period.

This is the convention:

This practice recognises that, with the dissolution of the House, the Executive cannot be held accountable for its decisions in the normal manner, and that every general election carries the possibility of a change of government.

The water buyback audit was already on the list as a “potential” audit.

I asked the ANAO earlier today.

This is what a spokesman said:

I can’t comment on whether it is usual practice for government to request an audit under caretaker conventions. The Auditor-General is an independent officer of the Parliament of Australia and has discretion in the performance and exercise of his functions and powers. As an independent officer, the work of the Auditor-General and the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) continues as normal during this caretaker period.

The Auditor-General included a potential audit of the ‘procurement of strategic water entitlements’ in his current annual audit work program, along with approximately 90 other potential performance audit topics.

As with any potential performance audit, the Auditor-General determines which audits will commence. This decision would be based on a range of considerations including a risk assessment, identified Parliamentary priorities, and achieving sufficient breadth and depth across the government sector.

I am just waiting to see if and when the auditor general will go ahead.

Our friends at AAP have reported that the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, has described the auditor general review as a “cute little trick” to ward off unanswered questions about the water deal.

Tony Burke continues to push:

This referral is an admission that the government has a problem.

While some issues can be addressed by the ANAO , the questions of Barnaby Joyce’s conduct go beyond the remit of the ANAO.

There is a further question that applies to Barnaby Joyce that applies to no other Water Minister from either side of politics – was he actively seeking to scuttle to implementation of the MDB Plan when he was Minister?

Labor is still waiting for the Department to release the documents we asked for. We expect this today.

Agriculture minister David Littleproud speaks at a community drought forum in Tamworth on Tuesday
Agriculture minister David Littleproud speaks at a community drought forum in Tamworth on Tuesday. Photograph: Steve Gonsalves/AAP

Updated

Labor's plan to use Northern Australia fund for gas project draws criticism

Labor’s promise to spend up to $1.5bn from a rebadged Northern Australia Development Fund on tapping undeveloped gas resources in Queensland and the Northern Territory has drawn sharp criticism from the Lock the Gate Alliance, the group of conservationists and farmers that opposes coal seam gas and fracking.

The alliance’s spokeswoman, Naomi Hogan, said it was disastrous news for landholders and regional communities and could cost Labor votes given the growing concern about climate change.

She particularly focused on Labor’s plan to develop the NT’s Beetaloo Basin and connect it to the east coast. Bill Shorten said this could provide enough gas to supply Australia’s domestic market for up to 400 years.

Hogan said this would “unleash a carbon disaster” equivalent to at least 50 new coal-fired power stations and put Australia’s Paris target out of reach.

The CO2 emissions created during the extraction and transport process are far greater than any offsets created by burning the gas for power. The industry has also still been unable to address the issue of releasing methane emissions from gas wells.

Federal Labor has ruled out NAIF funding for the climate wrecking project of Adani. How can it justify propping up an industry that will trash the Northern Territory with fracking?

Dan Gocher, from the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility, said Labor’s announcement showed the political system remained “fully in the thrall of the fossil fuels industry”.

He said all subsidies for fossil fuel expansion should be ruled out at a time of climate crisis.

This would be a terrible investment for the Australian people and makes a mockery of the ALP’s climate commitments. We call on the ALP and Bill Shorten to reverse this position.

Updated

Here is an interesting reporter, none other than the former New England MP Tony Windsor:

Updated

I’m told the drought meeting in New England with Barnaby Joyce and David Littleproud is going through the details about drought assistance, including Farm Household Allowance.

From left: Barnaby Joyce, agriculture minister David Littleproud and councillor Russell Webb address a community drought forum in Tamworth on Tuesday
From left: Barnaby Joyce, agriculture minister David Littleproud and councillor Russell Webb address a community drought forum in Tamworth on Tuesday. Photograph: Steve Gonsalves/AAP

Updated

The Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick is not impressed with the Littleproud announcement on water.

Updated

Amy Remeikis reports from Herbert:

Clive Palmer’s star candidate in the crucial marginal seat of Herbert has said he is prepared to walk from the party if Palmer decides to direct preferences towards Labor.

Greg Dowling, a former Queensland rugby league player turned north Queensland business owner, said any Labor preference deal would mean he “was probably out the door”, a decision which could ultimately cost Labor’s Cathy O’Toole the seat.

Dowling followed his cane-farming father’s conservative voting path, rather than that of his two older brothers, who backed the Labor union movement. He said his decision was made more than three decades ago.

Greg Dowling at his campaign office in Townsville on Tuesday
Greg Dowling at his campaign office in Townsville on Tuesday. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Interlude for lunch from Alex Druce of AAP.

Tim Beshara from the Wilderness Society is a gem. He has an ability to dig up lots of interesting stuff, including this:

Questions to Barnaby Joyce:

The Queensland state government actually recommended that you buy both properties. Why did you only go and buy the rights?

Joyce:

That is also a decision for the department. I’m at arm’s length of that. I’m not responsible for either the vendor, nor the purchaser ... that in itself would call into question that I’d overridden it and people would then ask questions as to why I did.

You are actually responsible as water minister?

We certainly are and that is why the Murray-Darling Basin plan, as designed by the Australian Labor party, is going forward. We’re responsible for the architecture of the policy and we have done that.

A review into all water buybacks has been announced. Are you confident you will be cleared by the auditor general?

Absolutely, 100%. No doubt in my mind.

Barnaby Joyce speaks to the media in Tamworth on Tuesday
Barnaby Joyce speaks to the media in Tamworth on Tuesday. Photograph: Steve Gonsalves/AAP

Updated

Barnaby Joyce confident he will be cleared by auditor general

Barnaby Joyce is speaking in Tamworth.

My role was to make sure that within the construct of the policy that we purchased it basically as the policy wanted between Toowoomba and the Queensland border. My role was never to actually select a purchaser or to determine a price. This is important because what the Labor party are doing is another version of the Mediscare process, where they put up something that they know is not the truth, they know that it is mischievous and they put it out there any way. I’m happy if people want to test what I am saying, to do so by whatever means they want. I’m confident we have done absolutely nothing wrong.

Joyce says he is confident he will be cleared by the auditor general’s investigation into all water buybacks, going back to 2008.

Updated

Some more elements of the Littleproud doorstop ahead of his drought forum with Barnaby Joyce in New England.

Q to Littleproud: Has this issue thrown the Coalition’s campaign off message?

No. The reality is this is about us continuing to act as an agile government.

Q: What about a royal commission...

Well, I don’t see any evidence to support a royal commission.

Q: But should there be a royal commission into buybacks?

There is no evidence to suggest otherwise. To pre-empt the auditor general’s review would be nothing more than a political stunt.

Q: Why wasn’t a tender process used?

They’re the issues the auditor general will go through. That’s why we have this institution – to make sure we can give confidence to the Australian public to make sure the actions of our department and ministers is above board. We’re confident they have been of all political persuasions.

Updated

Back to the auditor general’s review of water buybacks, a couple of things.

David Littleproud said he had reached across the aisle to Tony Burke. I have confirmed that Littleproud just rang him and told him that he was announcing it.

The AG review does not rule out Labor doing a broader judicial inquiry or royal commission.

Now the questions that Burke asked Morrison regarding water were not answered yesterday. The other threshold for Labor was the information sought in Burke’s letter to the department of agriculture.

Labor gave the agriculture department a deadline of 5pm today. Whether Labor decides tonight or not depends if and how many documents are delivered.

Updated

John Howard is doing a doorstop in Reid. He is asked about the Liberal candidate, Fiona Martin. He had not met her before but has “read about her and everything”.

He doesn’t want to comment on Clive Palmer and his preferences.

He accepts Reid is marginal and it “bounces around”.

Breaking, he thinks Morrison has campaigned very well.

The opinion polls say we are behind but we are gaining ground.

Updated

David Littleproud asks auditor general to review all water purchases since 2008

The agriculture minister, David Littleproud, is standing up in Tamworth to announce this news.

For the first time in our nation’s history we’ve been able to achieve consensus between the basin states and the commonwealth in the management of this system. I’m proud to say I took politics out of it and put my hand out across the aisle, shook Tony Burke’s hands.

That’s why we have an audit office and I’ll be asking the auditor general to look at all purchase of all political persuasions since 2008 to give confidence to the community. That’s what they want. That’s what I expect the auditor general will be able to deliver. I have confidence all things from all parties were done properly.

Updated

So there have been a lot of questions about the Liberal party and LNP dealing with Clive Palmer while giving Labor a bollocking on the Greens.

Morrison says it will be a matter for the state divisions, same goes for One Nation. His most common formula to bat off questions is that he wants people to vote Liberal.

Scott Morrison at GD Wholesale Fruit and Veg at Hawthorndene near Adelaide on Tuesday
Scott Morrison at GD Wholesale Fruit and Veg at Hawthorndene near Adelaide on Tuesday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Scott Morrison is talking about the government’s announcement of the day. Sarah Martin wrote about this:

Question to Morrison: If you couldn’t get the four big banks onboard in 2014 when you originally announced it, how are you going to fund it if there is potentially only one bank that’s interested, the NAB?

We will continue to work with the other banks. I’m pleased to see NAB’s response. As time progresses I’m sure they’ll see the wisdom of what has been a very successful initiative, particularly in other jurisdictions.

One more question to Shorten on the effect of possible wage rises on small business.

Bill Shorten:

We’ve always made clear whatever occurs should be after consultation with business and small business. The problem is that in the past there used to be regular wage rises. Now it’s stalled. Small business survived in the past.

Isn’t it about time we called out the sort of Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Scott Morrison nonsense that if you give a worker a decent wage somehow it’s the end of our economy as we know it?

Updated

One of the mysteries of the campaign has been how long Labor can hold off on declaring whether it will review Adani’s approvals.

Labor had been building a case to review the approval of the Adani mine’s groundwater management plan, by suggesting that the environment minister, Melissa Price, had been bullied into approving it days short of the election campaign.

But confirming it will review the approvals will create a world of trouble for Labor candidates in central Queensland because the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union is asking them to sign a pledge not to stand in the way of Adani.

At a press conference in Gladstone, Bill Shorten has just hardened Labor’s position against reviewing the approvals:

I have no plans to review the approvals but if we want to be fair dinkum, let’s tell the voters the truth. All of us, first of all if I’m prime minister I will adhere to the law of the land. I’m not going to be intimidated or bullied by environmental activists or big mining companies. For me it is all about the best science, the law of the land and not creating sovereign risk.

This didn’t satisfy reporters, though, who noted in a follow-up question that the “no plans” formulation does not conclusively rule it out.

Bill Shorten speaks to the media during a visit to Gladstone Ports on Tuesday
Bill Shorten speaks to the media during a visit to Gladstone Ports on Tuesday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Scott Morrison coming up in South Australia. The PM has been in Mayo and Boothby this morning.

Scott Morrison and the Liberal candidate for Mayo, Georgina Downer, at GD Wholesale Fruit and Veg at Hawthorndene near Adelaide on Tuesday
Scott Morrison and the Liberal candidate for Mayo, Georgina Downer, at GD Wholesale Fruit and Veg at Hawthorndene near Adelaide on Tuesday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

On wage rises, do you want to see a minimum wage increase of $50 a week?

Shorten:

The current wage for an adult is too low. It is too low. We want to see a rise. Under the Liberals we’re seeing massive wage stagnation.

Updated

The infrastructure shadow, Jason Clare, is with Shorten.

They are asked about George Christensen, the LNP member for Dawson.

What do you think George Christensen was doing in the Philippines for 294 days?

Shorten:

That is one of the questions of the ages. The member for Manila.

Clare:

I tell what you he wasn’t doing and that is his job. This bloke has to be the laziest politician in Australia, 294 days overseas on holidays in the last four years. That is 294 days where he’s not doing his job.

Updated

The CFMEU wants Labor MPs to sign a pledge on Adani to support coalmining.

Shorten is in Flynn with the Labor candidate Zac Beers, who signed the pledge. Shorten says he won’t sign the pledge.

Beers was a 29-year-old painter and scaffolder at Queensland Alumina, who has been an industrial organiser for the past eight years for the Australian Workers’ Union.

Flynn is held on a margin of 1% by notional National, LNP MP Ken O’Dowd.

Bill Shorten poses for photographs with Labor’s candidate for Flynn, Zach Beers, during a visit to Gladstone Ports on Tuesday
Bill Shorten poses for photographs with Labor’s candidate for Flynn, Zach Beers, during a visit to Gladstone Ports on Tuesday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

If you become the prime minister, will the CFMEU be allowed to enforce closed shops on construction sites – no ticket, no work?

Shorten:

No. Let’s be clear on that. No. We think the problem in Australia is that everything is going up except your wages.

Updated

Shorten is asked about Clive Palmer’s effect on the vote in very marginal seats. Will his resurrection cost Labor the election?

There is only one person who has been resurrected and I won’t compare Clive Palmer to him. I won’t get distracted by Clive Palmer.

Labor pivots Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund to tourism

Bill Shorten is in Gladstone making a policy announcement on the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund (Naif).

Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund has been an abject failure. It is incredible that not one cent of a $5bn Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund promised by the Liberals six years ago, not one cent has been spent in Queensland.

Perhaps even more significantly the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund has probably spent more money on salaries for people who work for the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund than it has on building infrastructure in northern Australia. This has simply got to stop.

Labor today is proposing new changes to the Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund, especially to unlock the opportunities of tourism with a billion dollars of the $5bn going to tourism infrastructure and another $1.5bn to support the biggest single investment and new pipelines in Australia so we can get gas flowing from where it is under the ground in Australia to help keep the manufacturing jobs of south-eastern Australia and Darwin and Queensland going.

A lot of Australians pull me up in the street and say it is incredible that for a country that has so much gas in the ground, why Australia pays such high gas prices and that is undermining Australian jobs.

Bill Shorten speaks to the media at Gladstone Ports on Tuesday
Bill Shorten speaks to the media at Gladstone Ports on Tuesday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Farmers call for Coalition to match Labor's promise for independent inland rail inquiry

The president of NSW Farmers, James Jackson, and the association’s inland rail taskforce chair, Adrian Lyons, called on the Coalition to drop their hardline opposition, listen to the people of western New South Wales and make an independent inquiry a bipartisan investigation.

This is Lyons:

We call on the Coalition to commit to matching Labor’s commitment to conduct an independent, open and transparent inquiry into inland rail. If there is nothing to hide about the route selection, project financing and other associated matters, what harm is there in giving the impacted communities a chance to have their say before it is too late?

The ball is now in the Coalition’s court – will they back regional communities with an inquiry or continue to ignore their concerns?

Updated

John Howard is handshaking in the Liberal MP Craig Laundy’s old seat of Reid in Sydney. Laundy is retiring, some would say in deep disappointment, after being the wingman for Malcolm Turnbull. Fiona Martin has leapt in for the Libs and Sam Crosby has been campaigning for Labor for many months.

Updated

Labor’s infrastructure shadow, Anthony Albanese, has the NSW Farmers Association on board for the inland rail independent inquiry.

Updated

Labor on #watergate. Jim Chalmers, campaign spokesman, said they would support some sort of inquiry:

We expect there to be a judicial inquiry or something else after we get proper answer to questions which Tony Burke provided to the government, which we should get today.

Updated

#governance

Just a note on Labor’s inland rail announcement this morning. Gabrielle Chan mentioned a little earlier that regional Australians were deeply angry at the way the project has been handled, particularly due to the lack of transparency over how the final route was settled upon.

Late last year, Guardian Australia revealed that a wealthy Queensland family, the Wagners, directly lobbied senior government figures, including Nationals ministers, to have the inland rail route go past their privately-owned airport at Wellcamp, in Queensland’s Darling Downs region.

John Wagner, a leading businessman, wrote directly to the then secretary of the infrastructure department Mike Mrdak in late July 2016, with a short pitch in favour of diverting the rail line.

“Hi Mike. How are things going in your world?” it began.“[Name redacted] thought it would take about 3 weeks to relook at a diversion via Wellcamp if he was given the go ahead to have a look at it,” he said.

“We would welcome the opportunity to come down and talk to you and Minister [Darren] Chester at a time that was convenient.”

The line was eventually changed, though the department strenuously denies any suggestion it was due to outside influence.

But their decision infuriated local farmers, who thought the route was settled, only to find they were now directly in the railway’s path. Many landholders told us they will have their properties cut in two by the new route, making their land “useless” and “unviable”.

Also, this is weird, though it has been done before by governments and parties on the nose.

Meanwhile, down in Menzies, Calla Wahlquist reports:

Kevin Andrews, of Team Abbott, has pulled out of a climate forum in his seat of Menzies in Melbourne’s east. The organisers, Stop Adani, say he was confirmed as attending until last week. That means the debate will be between the Labor candidate, Stella Yee, the Greens candidate, Robert Humphreys, and the United Australia party candidate, Brett Fuller. It starts at 7pm, details here.

Updated

And one more important point:

Hmmm, MPs buying land for “significant value uplift”?

At this point, I will bring in a thread from Alice Thompson, who used to work for Malcolm Turnbull in the PMO but is now running as an independent. Again, think about the governance issues here, people.

Updated

To be clear, Labor supports the inland rail project and in government spent $900m to upgrade the track but they question the off the books financing model, which saw $8.4bn committed in equity by the Coalition.

Updated

During the NSW election campaign, I moderated an election forum with candidates and the inland rail route totally dominated the questions. Again, we come to the issue of proper governance. FOI documents on inland rail, requested by the communities, were heavily redacted. The communities have had no answers on how the route was planned. They are seriously cranky about it. The NSW Nats went very close to losing the state seat of Dubbo, which was on a big margin, to the independent Dubbo mayor, Mathew Dickerson. The Nats scraped across the line.

Updated

Labor announces independent inquiry into inland rail process

This is big and will be welcomed by many people in regional Australia.

The details are coming shortly but I understand an “eminent person” will be appointed independent to government who will probe transparency and planning issues and will hold public hearings in affected communities.

The NSW Farmers Association has been calling for an inquiry for a number of months. It was a huge issue in the central west and north during the state campaign.

Updated

On Clive Palmer, the PM has had a chat to Laura Jayes and Kieran Gilbert.

Q: Are you surprised that Clive Palmer has made this return, given his form in the past? And secondly will the Liberals, are your officials talking to his officials, because those preferences could be important.

Scott Morrison:

Well as we come to close nominations you’d expect that we’re talking to a number of parties as we consider and confirm those arrangements going into next week as pre-polling starts.

And he road tests a few lines.

If you vote for Bill Shorten’s candidates you’ll get Bill Shorten.

Updated

New poll finds four key marginal electorates on a knife-edge

While I normally try to avoid polls like the plague, I do lift that ban in an election campaign for obvious reasons. I offer all the appropriate warnings about single-seat polls but you probably need to know about these Newspoll marginals, which finds knife-edge results in four key electorates. One of those is Herbert, where our very own Amy+Bowers are trawling the streets.

The numbers put Clive Palmer in the box seat, and Simon Benson reports he is in negotiations with the Liberal party.

The troubling news for the major parties in Herbert, which takes in Townsville, is both have suffered a primary vote fall since the 2016 election, with the LNP dropping 3.5 points to 31 per cent and Labor falling 1.5 points to 29 per cent putting the result deadlocked at 50/50 on a two-party-preferred basis. A strong break of preferences from UAP in a seat where voters are disillusioned with the big parties could see the seat go back to the LNP. In other Queensland seats, the LNP could be threatened if UAP takes preferences from Katter and One Nation, and delivers back a lower preference flow to the LNP than the conservative minor parties.

Palmer has reportedly spent $30m on his advertising campaign.

Cyndi Lauper was right. Money changes everything.

Updated

Good morning,

It’s all about governance today. How our governments govern, their processes and transparency or lack thereof. This is the thread that links most of the running controversies today, whether it’s the process for water buybacks or the opaque donations laws that lag behind real time. Voters are losing confidence in the capacity of governments to govern for the national interest.

End of rant.

Here is the news.

This story by Anne Davies, who has been front-running water from day dot, contradicts the defence by Barnaby Joyce that the decision on the water buyback was made at “arm’s length”.

Key quote to his department:

... report back to me on this and seek final approval before settling the purchase.

In case you clocked out of #auspol early last night, you may have missed an extraordinary interview by Patricia Karvelas with Joyce in which he sounded in need of a cup of tea, a Bex and a good lie-down. If you have time for a cuppa yourself, sit down and have a listen. It is well worth it.

Throwing forward, Labor’s water and environment shadow, Tony Burke, has given the department of water and agriculture until close of business today before Labor decides on whether to pursue an inquiry with powers of compulsion over the $80m buyback.

The second key issue of the day stems from a story by the SMH’s Patrick Begley:

A private company co-owned by the Liberal Party’s federal treasurer donated $200,000 two weeks into a government tender process for an accommodation contract worth nearly $1 billion that another of his companies ultimately won.

Donations experts said the 2016 gift from Helloworld Travel chief executive Andrew Burnes created a perceived conflict of interest that raised serious concerns about oversight of political fundraising.

The third key issue is on Adani and the attempts by Labor to dance between raindrops as they comment on how they will deal with the mine going forward. Tony Maher, the national secretary of the CFMMEU, was interviewed by Fran Kelly this morning so I will bring you that shortly. The main issue at stake is how Labor will deal with the Adani approval of groundwater management, made in the final days by the environment minister, Melissa Price, before the campaign was officially called. Price was under extraordinary pressure from the likes of the LNP senator James McGrath and the resources minister, Matt Canavan, at the time. Bill Shorten is saying he will abide by law, but whether that means a review of that decision is unclear. The CFMMEU is keen that the mining jobs continue while Labor’s supporters in the south are decidedly not keen on coalmining jobs. Maher says he expects a Labor government would abide by the law.

Stay with us as I take you through the day’s events. Amy R is still in the far north with M Bowers. Talk to me on the Twits @gabriellechan or in the thread.

Updated

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