The campaigns are at rest and so is my brain. Or at least my fingers.
We’ll be back tomorrow morning, because apparently I’ve never come across a brick wall I haven’t wanted to repeatedly run my head against.
Given what we have seen these last few days, I think health and tax will be the issues du jour again tomorrow.
After another full day of campaigning in Victoria, it looks like the campaigns are gearing up to go a little further afield tomorrow. Western Australia is due for a visit, particularly for Labor, who have lost their candidate in Curtin (a seat the party is exceptionally unlikely to pick up) over an Israel comment row. Josh Wilson was also brought into it today, with Bill Shorten having to state that all candidates back Labor’s policy (working towards a two-state solution).
Meanwhile, the government is working very hard to punch a hole in Labor’s cancer funding policy, because that’s something that would connect with people. Meanwhile, Labor is going to have to grasp with how quickly it can commit to getting hospital funding back to a 50/50 split. I wouldn’t expect the government to let that drop either.
But let’s be honest – this election campaign hasn’t really seized hearts and minds yet. And with the Easter break coming up, followed by Anzac day, most people won’t turn their mind to it until the final weeks.
But we’ll keep you up to date with the blow by blow, so we hope you tune in. A big thank you to the Guardian’s brains trust for keeping me supplied with orange juice, hot cross buns and listening to my rants, along with all the knowledge they provide.
And of course a big thank you to you for following along, commenting and tweeting. I can’t say enough how much we do appreciate it. Take care of you, and we’ll be back tomorrow morning.
Updated
Captain GetUp, the very weird Advance Australia mascot attempting to own the left through strange videos that only serve to highlight the work GetUp is doing, is back and in Deakin.
Strangely (sarcasm) Captain GetUp seems very gender oriented. (So far, it’s mostly female candidates who are being targeted.)
Updated
And bookmarking our day of Nationals talking about One Nation preferences, Patricia Karvelas asks about comments Nationals elder Ron Boswell made on Friday – that One Nation should be put last and he was lobbying his former colleagues to try and make that happen.
Bridget McKenzie:
Mmm. Look, I think Bossie and, indeed, John Howard, took a very, very strong stance in the first iteration of Pauline Hanson’s influence on Australian politics and, indeed, were very, very successful in their efforts.
As I’ve said before, Patricia, and I’ll continue to say until how-to-vote cards are lodged, we’re a federated party. It’s up to state divisions to make those decisions. And I know they’re having very serious discussions within their state executives about the preferencing arrangements.
Obviously One Nation, Shooters and Fishers, the Labor party, the Greens are all going to be in the mix. And some of the things we need to decide as a political movement about what best serves our community – when you think about the greatest risk to agriculture, the greatest risk to mining. [The shadow agriculture minister] Joel Fitzgibbon hasn’t come out against agri-terrorists.
The Labor party hasn’t stood with us in terms of jailing them for 12 months, as we’ve suggested. If you want to look at the things that matter the most to rural and regional Australia, it is the Greens and a Bill Shorten Labor government. Those are things that will go into the mix when we decide our preferences state by state.
As we reported (a lot) earlier today, Michael McCormack said he would be putting the Greens last:
I believe that the Greens should be put last – always. They’ve always been last on my how-to-vote cards. They’ll continue to be last on my how-to-vote cards because I believe they represent the greatest danger to the people I serve, that we serve.
They want to shut down farming. They want to make sure our abattoirs can’t process meat. They want to put unfair emission reduction targets in place. They want to stop farming, stop agriculture and shut down regional Australia. I won’t stand for that.
The Greens should go last and they certainly will in my seat and I know a lot of my colleagues will put them there too, as they should.
Updated
On the Advance Australia video that was taken down, of “Captain GetUp” rubbing up against an image of the Warringah independent candidate Zali Steggall, McKenzie is momentarily speechless.
Ah, I haven’t seen it. Um, but it sounds ... it ... it’s not appropriate.
That sort of behaviour, I don’t think, typifies the type of political tussle that I’m a part of, that my party’s interested in having.
Updated
Asked by Patricia Karvelas about Rugby Australia’s intention to cancel Israel Folau’s contract, Bridget McKenzie says there are limits to freedom of speech.
It’s an interesting question, given that religious freedoms was the number one issue for many in the Coalition just over a year ago when marriage equality passed.
Now?
Well, these are the choices we make. I think Israel Folau, and any Australian citizen, is completely entitled to freedom of speech, and we all argue for that in parliaments across Australia. But it comes with a responsibility.
And Israel signed a contract with Rugby Australia and with New South Wales Rugby and he signed that willingly.
They’ve issued a breach notice, which is their right, and so obviously they’re going through the process with Israel, and it’s an employment matter between Rugby Australia, New South Wales Rugby and Israel Folau himself.
Updated
Bridget McKenzie is on with Patricia Karvelas on the ABC, continuing the government’s attack on Labor’s cancer policy.
Karvelas has asked multiple times whether or not she accepts that the health department did not cost Labor’s policy.
McKenzie doesn’t answer:
I’m concerned that Labor hasn’t costed Labor’s policy.
We finally get to a bit of an answer – she has been on the road and hasn’t seen the health department’s letter.
Asked again to acknowledge that the health department hasn’t actually costed Labor’s policy, McKenzie responds: “Well, we’ve got our health policy.”
It’s a beautiful demonstration of the death grip some MPs apply to talking points.
Updated
Simon Birmingham, who at this stage is the Coalition spokesman (playing the same role Kristina Keneally is playing for Labor), has come out against Labor’s cancer funding policy.
The argument the government is sticking to now is that Labor implied cancer treatment would all be free, and it won’t be (because specialists can still charge the gap in their fee).
What it highlights is Bill Shorten has not done the homework on his policy – that coming out and trying to make a big hero of himself in his budget reply speech, Bill Shorten promised the Earth, but is going to deliver relatively little. And that is a cruel, cruel thing to do in terms of the way it treats Australians with health challenges.
So has the Coalition given up on trying to match it?
Well, what we are doing is running our appropriately budgeted, careful approach. That is to say that we will follow good, sound health advice, as we’ve done in listing drugs on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme whenever the recommendation has come forward.
That’s about following established processes and practices and clear clinical advice. Bill Shorten, however, appears to have decided that there are cheap political headlines to grab in this space.
But worse than that, he’s not only gone after the cheap political headlines – he hasn’t even done the effective homework to work out what it would cost, how he would pay for it, and how many people would be left out. It seems as if more than 400 different treatments may well be completely ignored under Bill Shorten’s policy promises.
Updated
Both campaigns appear to have slowed down for the day.
Looks like Victoria remains popular, but they’ll begin spreading out again tomorrow. (There is largely a “tools down” agreement in place for Easter.)
My bet? The west will probably get more of a look in. South Australia is due for some love as well. But who knows.
Updated
A great reminder from Phoebe Wearne from the West Australian that someone is always listening, when it comes to campaigns:
The owner of a Melbourne business at the centre of a Liberal campaign events has labeled Scott Morrison “cheeky” after he warned their digging machinery would fall foul of Labor’s vehicle emissions policy.
As Mr Morrison climbed down from the cab of an excavator at Daisy’s Garden Supplies in the city’s east, where he had been spruiking his tax relief plan for small business, the PM warned that the piece of equipment “certainly wouldn’t meet (Bill) Shorten’s emissions standard”.
Tanja Mulcahy, who was standing nearby with her husband Evan, immediately laughed and told her husband: “They’re cheeky, aren’t they?”
But Ms Mulcahy sought to backtrack after she realised that The West Australian was walking beside her.
“It was a good one, though,” she said. “They think quick.”
Updated
And in conclusion:
Now the party faces the future without me, either in parliament or managing the organisational side (which is where I started). I am no longer on the National Executive, which for the past year or so has been doing everything it can to reduce my influence.
I wish I could say the party is in good hands, but I fear that is not the case. The National Executive does not inspire confidence.
For myself, I will return to the business world. My company is still operating successfully and I have no need for employment. I will continue to write, including a book on gun control, but my life as a politician is over.
The impact is more far-reaching for my staff; they need to find a new job. We all go into politics knowing it is a precarious business, but that doesn’t make it easy. The hours are long and the pressure immense.
While I can’t say it was fun, I’m honoured to have served almost five years in the Senate. I also have some very worthwhile achievements to my credit, of which saving Malabar rifle range is probably my most personally gratifying.
Thank you to all those who have supported me, whether in the last few years or over the long term. It is for you, your belief in me and our shared values, that I did it. I’m sorry that it ended this way, but it won’t be the end of our campaign for low taxes, less regulation and simply being left alone.
Updated
He continues:
The party has been in my tender care for 14 years. As many know, I saved it from collapse in 2005 and organised it to the point where it could run in federal and most state elections. I won the party’s first parliamentary seat in 2013 in the Senate, and again in 2016. I engaged Glenn Druery to help in WA and Victoria, protecting him from idiots in the party, that resulted in winning a seat in WA and two in Victoria.
But ultimately I failed to attract enough votes to win in NSW. We have always known our libertarian base is small but we usually also attract protest voters and those who confuse us with the Liberal Party. In this case our ballot position worked against voter confusion while the presence of One Nation and burgeoning support for the Shooters Party syphoned protest votes away from us.
Whether there were other factors at work is difficult to say. Opinions are like arseholes – everyone’s got one. In politics, it sometimes seems a lot of people have more than one.
There will be plenty who believe they know what we could have done to increase our vote. I’ve probably heard them all before. It seems to me there is an inverse relationship between relevant political experience in politics and having all the answers.
Whatever the reason, it can’t be undone and I don’t want to hear them.
Updated
David Leyonhjelm departs politics, goes out swinging
Former senator David Leyonhjelm informs Guardian Australia that despite his loss at the NSW state election he will NOT be on the party’s Senate ticket for the May federal election.
“I’m going back to making money in the business world,” he said.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Leyonhjelm has declared his life as a politician is “over” and goes out swinging:
Unfortunately our early success in the count for the NSW Legislative Council did not continue into the final week with support from rural electorates. As a result I have not been elected to the Legislative Council, as previously claimed.
While this is not a personal tragedy for me (I was always a fairly reluctant politician), it is concerning for the Liberal Democratic party. I have long believed that holding a seat in NSW, where no Group Voting Ticket machinations are required, is important to the party’s future.
Updated
Michael McCormack said some words on his trip though the northern NSW electorate of Richmond, which stretches up to the Queensland border, to Gold Coast radio 4CRB:
Oh look, any number. We’ve been to a shopping mall this morning, we walked through a shopping mall, and we’re just walking up the street and people were walking up to us and recognised both Matthew [Fraser, the Nats candidate] and I and had a chat to us. They were people … pensioners, who they’ve looked after themselves more over they’ve looked after their community. They’ve done the hard yards, they’ve supported society by paying their taxes all through the decades and they just want a good retirement. They want to make sure they’ve got every available penny that in the past has been available to them.
They don’t want Bill Shorten reaching into their purse, reaching into their back pocket and stealing it. They want to make sure that a Liberal-Nationals government continues to be able to support them. We will, we’ve said that. And the number of older Australians who’ve come to us and said, “please, don’t let Bill Shorten in the Lodge; we want our retiree savings, we want our franking credits” has been amazing. I’ve actually been overwhelmed by it.
I’d actually be very interested to know how many retirees in Richmond would be impacted by franking credits, given McCormack’s claim.
Updated
Greg Hunt is continuing the government’s attack on Labor’s cancer funding announcement. From his latest statement:
Based on the range of cancer items matched to the Australian Medical Association’s table of recommended fees there would be a cost of $6.8 billion over four years.
However Chris Bowen has been caught out saying it will be for a single ‘new Medicare item’ (Bowen, Radio National 15 April 2019), while Catherine King says it’s for a number of ‘new Medicare items’ and concedes ‘we’ve got some work to do’ (King, doorstop 15 April 2019).
This is policy on the run and a cruel hoax on cancer patients.
And the proposal of funding for elective surgery for the states is a re-hash of a previous failed Labor Government program which was abandoned.
Labor has not been honest with patients, it’s not being honest with the states and it’s not being honest with the Australian people.
As Paul Karp reported, the figures did not come from any official costing of Labor’s policy, but a costing “for lifting the Medicare rebate for all cancer-related items to the level of the AMA’s recommended fee (to eliminate out-of-pocket costs). The price tag is $6.8bn.”
Updated
Scott Morrison is sticking around in Victoria to officially launch Gladys Liu’s campaign. Liu was chosen to replace Julia Banks in Chisholm.
Updated
It’s never actually over until it’s over:
Whoops. pic.twitter.com/19veS4iGIl
— Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) April 15, 2019
Updated
Apologies – it was Tony Jones on with Scott Morrison this morning on 3AW, not Neil Mitchell.
Updated
You may have seen over the weekend, the Victorian Labor government announced a $1m ad campaign targeting the federal Coalition’s health funding. AAP have an update:
The heads of four Victorian departments are being referred to the state’s corruption watchdog over a state government ad campaign targeting federal funding during the election campaign.
The secretaries of the Premier and Cabinet, Treasury, Health and Education departments will be referred to the Independent and Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission, state opposition leader Michael O’Brien announced on Monday.
The opposition believes the advertising campaign is a breach of the public administration act and wants IBAC to review any misconduct involved.
Updated
There is no stopping the spread of the democracy sausage:
We have our first overseas stall for this election, thanks to @AusAmb_DE - the Australian Embassy in Berlin has sausages and will be open for voting 0830-1630 Berlin time from 7-17 May. Happy #DemocracySausage everyone! pic.twitter.com/sNURCvjwde
— Democracy Sausage (@DemSausage) April 15, 2019
Updated
Further to the cancer costings – we’ve now seen the letters to and from the Labor health spokeswoman, Catherine King, and the department.
King queried whether the department had provided “analysis of opposition policies and materials to the government for partisan purposes” and sought urgent assurance it had not costed Labor’s $2.3bn Medicare cancer plan.
Glenys Beauchamp, the department’s secretary, responded:
I assure you the department does not cost opposition policies. I have investigated the information provided to the government prior to going into caretaker and I am satisfied that there has been no breach of conduct or impartiality ...
I take seriously my responsibilities and the obligation of the department to ensure we do not support or participate in any political commentary.”
The letter confirms that the department provided: (1) the number of Medicare benefits schedule items that are cancer related– about 420; and (2) the cost of increasing the rebate to the AMA’s scheduled fee for all those items.
But this was not a costing of Labor’s policy.
Updated
After Friday, Labor is ramping up its campaign against Peter Dutton. The latest ad:
I mean, I don’t think I need to factcheck this, because I think people can probably work it out for themselves.
Liberal Democrats “never in better shape”, says Liberal Democrat pic.twitter.com/N39o4yTx9X
— Michael Koziol (@michaelkoziol) April 15, 2019
Paul’s post there on the cancer policy costing is very similar to what happened on Friday, when the government was spruiking “Treasury” figures showing Labor’s tax plan would cost $387bn, only for the Treasury secretary to confirm, very late in the day, that Treasury did not cost Labor’s policy, only figures from the government, and did not provide any totals.
We’re just getting this confirmation a lot earlier in the day.
Updated
$6.8bn cancer cost is not Labor's policy – health department
The Health Department has confirmed that – before the caretaker period – it provided a costing to the government for lifting the Medicare rebate for all cancer-related items to the level of the AMA’s recommended fee (to eliminate out-of-pocket costs). The price tag is $6.8bn.
Labor has shrugged off this analysis, arguing its cancer plan is targeted at a few items and the costing is not its policy. The department has confirmed this.
A spokeswoman for the department said:
The department does not cost opposition policies and has not received any request to do so.
In relation to the current issue, the government did ask the department prior to the commencement of the caretaker period to, firstly: identify all MBS cancer items that have the sole or primary purpose of the diagnosis, treatment or management of cancer (of which there are approximately 420) and secondly: the cost of increasing these items to match the current AMA scheduled fee.
The figure of $6.8bn over the forward estimates represents the volume of current service items increased to the AMA rates. A response was provided prior to the commencement of the caretaker period.
The secretary has written to the shadow minister for health today in response to her questions about the issue.
Updated
This seems to be the second time this has happened on the Liberal campaign (the first was the bingo night)
PM stopped to get a coffee this morning between events and decided to spend some time walking the street and posting to Instagram, while the journos on his campaign were left waiting on the bus with no information #AUSVotes2019 #auspol pic.twitter.com/dKa4nwGNay
— Annelise Nielsen (@annelisenews) April 15, 2019
It might seem a bit “inside beltway” stuff, but media organisations do pay (and it’s not cheap) to follow the leaders, so they can document the campaign, with everything that happens (including the odd ni hao to people who are not Chinese) and this sort of sanitised PR by the campaign is very, very frustrating.
Updated
He continues:
I apologise for what you’ve had to go through. I want to do better. I can’t be responsible for the current government. You have a six-year-old daughter, [you’re] a volunteer, you’re in the battle of your life.
What I can say to you is we’ll fund 6m extra scans. We will fund 3m extra visits to the specialists. We will put an extra $125m into cancer research. We are putting an extra $520m into our hospitals.
Rob, you don’t have to believe anyone but I’m going to have a chat to you. I just want to understand because, to me, what you’re talking about is the exact reason why I’m running for prime minister. You know, we can make all the chats about all of the other issues, and the gossip and the Peter Duttons and the disputes, I get that sort of annoys people.
If you’re in the fight of your life, I am interested in your story, you matter to me regardless of who wins or loses, so I appreciate you being here and I want to have a chat to you.
Updated
Bill Shorten’s press conference finishes with a question from a member of the public, who has joined the press pack.
... Mr Shorten, you’re promising money for cancer. Now, I’m a CFA volunteer who has cancer. I was promised by Mr Andrews, the Labor premier, in 2015 that he would look after me.
... Mr Shorten, how are we supposed to believe your potential government when Mr Andrews has done nothing but make my life hard, and [that] of other people, volunteers, with cancer? Like, honestly Bill, it’s just hard to believe that you’re saying [you’re] going to help out with cancer and everything else for people. I’ve spent the last four years in and out of hospital, that long that my daughter is worried is her dad ever going to come home. I have a six-year-old daughter.
Shorten asks his name (it’s Rob) and answers:
I appreciate your question. I want to thank the media for letting somebody who is not a journalist to help finish off our press conference.
Rob, I want to take some time after the press conference and have a chat to you because I want to understand what has happened. In terms of the contamination or the cancer ... I want to talk to you understand the background. I can’t speak for Mr Andrews. I can pass on your disappointment to him but I can’t speak for him.
I haven’t been prime minister in the last four years but if I am prime minister I do want to reduce your out-of-pocket costs.
If you’ve had a very fortunate experience, everything’s been free, that’s great. But I can tell by the shaking of your head that that’s [not] happened.
Updated
On whether luxury cars will be exempt from Labor’s electric car policy (cars which sell fewer than 2,500 units – so we are talking your Maseratis):
Bill Shorten:
This is this government’s scare campaign. They can’t work out who they are most days, this government. On one hand they say that electric vehicles are a bad idea. Now they’re saying that there’s a plan to exempt the rich.
Can we just all tune out the government noise on this and let’s go to the fundamentals of our electric vehicle policy. By 2030 we have a target that 50% of new cars in Australia are electric-powered.
This is not as hard a target to reach … because in 2025, big [carmakers] like Toyota are only going to be making electric vehicles.
Under the bunch of vandals called the Liberals, they got rid of our car industry. Hyundai, a Korean company, is not greatly interested in Australian politics but even it has had to come out and set some facts on the record. No one’s ute is going to be confiscated. You can buy whatever car you want. What this government wants you to do is to say to Australians, ‘we’ll give you old technology only’. We don’t want you buying cars which are going to be cheaper in the future and which are more fuel efficient.
This is a government who wants to deny the car-buying public of Australia choice, competition and lower prices for cars.
Updated
Bill Shorten greets Clive Palmer’s pledge to pay back Queensland Nickel workers with “oh, well done, Clive”.
Most Australians businesses know they have to pay their workers every week, fortnight, every month. This guy wants a medal to pay back money after a couple of years which the taxpayers had to subsidise. I find it amazing he could find the money for TV advertising and billboards but he couldn’t find the money for his workers.
Updated
On the issue of small business being concerned with Labor’s wage-rise policy:
... One of the things lost in the government’s fear campaign is the detail that any wage increase has to be agreed by the independent umpire, and then it has to be implemented on economic capacity to pay. So I get that small business is hearing all sorts of, you know, scary and mad things from the government.
But I just, through you, want to reassure small business: we’re equal on tax, we’re better on the deductibility for investment, and when it comes to wages we get that you have to implement these things in a modest and meaningful way. We have to acknowledge capacity to pay.
And beyond that: when millions of Australians, be that people on the pension or wage earners, are experiencing wage stagnation and cost of living pressures, that means they have less to spend in small businesses. Millions of Australian wage earners are now dipping into their household savings, living on the credit card far more than they should.
Updated
On the issue of Israel (Josh Wilson was the latest to be criticised), Bill Shorten says:
Firstly, the MPs have reconfirmed this morning they support Labor party policy. For the sake of clarity, the Israeli ambassador representing the Australian government said they could work with both sides of politics. Labor party policy is very clear, and all my candidates have signed up ... We support a two-state solution and the aspirations of the Palestinian people for statehood.
Updated
The same question Scott Morrison received – would Labor work with the crossbench to form a majority government, if needed?
We intend to form a majority government. That’s the case we’ll put to the Australian people.
... Before you write off our chances, I won’t.
Updated
The flip side of David Leyonhjelm missing out on the 21st spot in the MLC?
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation now has two members – Mark Latham and Rod Roberts.
Updated
Is Bill Shorten worried that Malcolm Turnbull is reportedly supporting independents?
No. No, I’m not. I think the issue though for the government is three years ago they said, “Vote for Malcolm Turnbull”. All of them – Mr Morrison, Mr Dutton. They all queued up to have their photo taken with Mr Turnbull. They said, “If you vote Liberal and Malcolm Turnbull, that’s what you’ll have for three years.” Ever since, they’ve had division, dysfunction and disunity.
The local member here in La Trobe, Jason Wood, he voted for Peter Dutton. He was happy to have Peter Dutton as prime minister but he’s not happy to have Peter Dutton photographed with him in his own electorate. The same goes with the health minister and a range of Liberals in the south-east corridor. They gave Australia dysfunction and division and have annoyed a lot of voters on the way through. The one question they have to explain is why isn’t Malcolm Turnbull the prime minister of Australia?
Updated
Bill Shorten is asked whether there is record health spending or not.
This is because of the Schrödinger’s cat issue of health and education funding at the moment. It is always record funding, because of population growth. So it will always increase and every government can always claim “record funding” in these areas.
Labor’s argument is the government has cut the amount of money that funding was set to increase by. So it’s a cut in future funding.
So both parties are right.
Shorten says:
I’m not satisfied with the government’s history or record on these matters but it’s not me who needs to be satisfied – it is the Australian people. I’m the only leader in this election, out of me and the other fellow, [who] is opting to put extra money into cancer. Is anyone seriously saying that extra money into cancer or stopping young people taking their lives [is] a bad thing? I didn’t think so.
Updated
Just a break from Bill Shorten’s press conference for the breaking news that David Leyonhjelm has lost his bid for a seat in the NSW MLC. He had claimed victory, but has been excluded after falling short in the count.
Has Labor given the impression that all cancer treatment will be free?
Bill Shorten:
No. I can’t stop a patient who wants to exclusively go for private treatment and ... [not] go through the bulk-billing system. Nor should I if that’s what someone wants to do. But what I can say to the hundreds of thousands of Australians is Labor will be alongside you in the fight of your life.
We are going to wind back unsustainable tax concessions at the top end and the free rides [for] multinationals … so we can pay for the most significant ingestion of new funds for cancer treatment since Medicare was created.
Updated
Will Labor commit to reinstate the 50/50 hospital model?
We’ve said we’ll work towards 50-50, so the answer is yes. Our best estimates is this has been a cut of $2.8bn. I appreciate your question because it recognises the truth of what’s happened.
Catherine King supplements it:
I want to remind people about what happened here. In the 2013 election campaign, if you go back and look at the Liberal party’s health policy pamphlet, basically it clearly states the Liberal party will support the transition to the commonwealth paying 50% of activity-based funding.
That’s what the Liberal party said. They said they would match Labor’s agreements with every state and territory on that. And what happened? They are now paying 45%. The difference between 45 and 50 is $2.8bn cut out of our public hospital system. Labor will take the commonwealth share back to 50%. But what we’re also going to do is make sure we get elective surgery under control at our hospitals.
Updated
Bill Shorten on Greg Hunt’s claim that cancer specialists won’t take less money through bulk billing (leaving what the government says is a $6bn bill). Why would they sign up?
Because the doctors want patients. The beauty of having the bulk billing is that if you don’t want to bulk-bill for the higher amount of money which you’re getting, we’re giving the specialist or the service more than they’re currently getting under Medicare, but if you don’t want that patient, they’ll have more choices.
Because once we lift the rates at which we reimburse for the treatment or particular procedures, what that means is that if you don’t want to do that and you want to charge more, someone down the road is actually going to accept the new and more generous fee and see more patients.
So it is competition, friends, and competition is going to, I think, provide a better service. It’s estimated that we will increase bulk-billing rates from somewhere below 50% to somewhere around 80%.
Updated
Bill Shorten is announcing his $250m proposal to cut hospital waiting lists from Melbourne.
And yes, thank you, he is in La Trobe.
I am confused by the lack of hi-vis. But there is a poster:
Next stop for the PM, a road funding announcement worth $154m. The road is near the border of Deakin, held by Michael Sukkar (centre) and Casey, held by Tony Smith (right) #ausvotes @politicsabc pic.twitter.com/zVqyEuxapj
— Matthew Doran (@MattDoran91) April 15, 2019
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I hate when these errors, that I do, and film, and cut up into a social media video, and then put on social media, happen:
Advance Australia says a video showing 'Captain GetUp' gyrating against a billboard of Zali Steggall - posted to the mascot's official Twitter account - was 'posted in error' and has been removed https://t.co/ZZNeBUMIhd via @smh
— Josephine Tovey (@Jo_Tovey) April 15, 2019
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So much relevane. Many pop culture:
#GOT concerns about Bill’s higher taxes? #GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/TKQkbWlg1N
— Liberal Party (@LiberalAus) April 14, 2019
Updated
As we reported last week, this has been part of the Coalition’s campaign – which echoes traditional union billboard truck campaigning:
The anti-Bill Bus has arrived at Casey Hospital. #PoliticsNow @australian pic.twitter.com/qV7sGJQLY5
— Richard Ferguson (@RichAFerguson) April 15, 2019
Updated
Thank you to the punter who sent in this photo, as we enter day 14 of the EV wars:
Meanwhile, Angus Taylor is about to stand up on “Labor’s damaging plan that will increase the price of cars by up to $5000” #ausvotes19 pic.twitter.com/lFsIWFz7A2
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) April 15, 2019
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I guess on the flip side, Scott Morrison – who voted for Malcolm Turnbull and then became prime minister himself, replacing Turnbull, as well as leading the attacks on Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard while in opposition – has also had a role in bringing down four prime minsters? And I think bringing down the opposing party’s is part of the job for both?
.@DarrenChesterMP: @billshortenmp took out Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. He had a hand in taking out Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull. He’s had a hand in bringing down four PMs in 11 years. He’s the most destructive politician of his generation.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 14, 2019
MORE: https://t.co/gMCNgldQqx pic.twitter.com/wD8SPg0Vd1
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AAP reports Clive Palmer has decided to pay Queensland Nickel owners what he owes them after its collapse in 2016, with debts of more than $300m.
His announcement comes as he waits to see if he will be chosen as his party’s candidate in Herbert. He also wants to reopen the refinery, now that the nickel price is rising.
This is not about politics, this is an announcement about the industry in this town and jobs.
We think our investment should be welcomed, as an Australian, as Queensland’s richest person, and we employ hundreds of people in the state.
Taxpayers stumped up $70m owed to Queensland Nickel workers; money that liquidators have been tasked with recouping.
Liquidators are also trying to claw back money owed to creditors.
Deidre Chambers!
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Michael Sukkar, who did not answer questions during Scott Morrison’s press conference, but did nod like his life depended on it (I suppose his political life does), also did not answer questions after the press conference, about his leadership support for Peter Dutton.
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But Scott Morrison seized upon it today:
Today we have seen again that Labor doesn’t know how to manage money. Even on their own health policy, on their cancer policy it is around their ankles today – $6.8bn in a black hole because they simply don’t know how the health system works.
There are 421 Medicare items that relate to cancer treatment. There is over 100 that relate, particularly, to oncology. If you simply take what the out-of-pocket is between the AMA’s recommended price and what the Medicare rebate is, it is over $6bn over the next four years.
This is the demonstration of why you can’t trust Labor because they can’t manage money. They said before, when they were in government, “we will list all the PBS, we promise to”. Cross fingers and all the rest. When they ran out of money they stopped listing affordable medicines.
Labor can promise all they like, but if you can’t manage money, you can’t keep your promises. Labor can’t manage money, which means they can’t run the show.
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The big fight today is over cancer funding.
Labor has announced a $2.3bn cancer funding package, to fill in the gaps for cancer treatment. Greg Hunt hit back today, by saying there was a $6bn funding hole in Labor’s plan.
Labor plans on adding items to Medicare’s bulk billing list, to ensure they are covered. Hunt says that won’t cover the fees from specialists.
“What they seem not to understand is that would represent a 90% cut in some cases for the fees that specialists would receive,” Hunt said on Radio National earlier today.
“There is not a provider in Australia that would accept that.”
Chris Bowen, on the same program, rejected Hunt’s assertion.
“All our policies, as always, are costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, independent of the opposition, and then go through a panel of eminent Australians to make sure the methodology is correct,” he said.
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The AEC is starting its own social media campaign today, asking voters to think carefully about the social media campaigns they are seeing.
The Electoral Commissioner, Mr Tom Rogers, said the Stop and Consider initiative – which involves AEC advertising on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – is not in any way seeking to make the AEC the “umpire” of political debate or arbiter of electoral truth through this election.
“Under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, there are no provisions relating to truth in electoral communication in respect of political claims and counter claims, and the AEC has no legislative power in this area. Australian voters have the freedom and right to express a political opinion or critique an election policy, either in-person or via social media,” Mr Rogers said.
“The key official source for voters to know what they have to do to participate successfully at this federal election is the AEC, via its website and a comprehensive multi-media public information campaign, which will run widely until election day.”
Mr Rogers added that, thus far, there was no serious evidence of people or organisations seeking to disrupt Australian elections through disinformation, but given apparent events in other parts of the world, it was prudent to be vigilant.
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I wonder what Angus Taylor thinks about Labor’s electric vehicle policy in the face of all the new evidence from the industry ... oh nvm:
The Minister for Energy the Hon Angus Taylor MP is in Brisbane and will hold a doorstop to discuss Labor’s damaging plan that will increase the price of cars by up to $5,000.
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Bill Shorten is due at his first press conference for the day at 11.30 in Berwick, which I think is in the electorate of Holt*
*Nope, it’s La Trobe.
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The social services minister, Paul Fletcher, has again dismissed calls to increase Newstart, saying the government’s current policy was “appropriate”.
He told an Acoss breakfast on Monday morning that the unemployment benefit was indexed to prices, adding: “That’s the policy framework we have and I think it’s the appropriate policy framework.”
As both major party leaders faced questions about Newstart on the campaign trail last week, Bill Shorten said for the first time he thought Newstart “has to be” increased following Labor’s proposed “root and branch” review of the dole.
The shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, stopped short of using similar language, but repeated the opposition’s argument that Labor had not proposed a review in order to reduce the payment.
Asked by one audience member to show “courage” on the issue, Bowen rejected suggestions Labor’s position was motivated by a potential political backlash.
Bowen would not give a timeline of when the review would be complete, but said it would be a priority for a Shorten government.
Australia’s unemployment benefit, which is the lowest unemployment payment in the OECD, according to Acoss, is tied to the consumer price index, and therefore rises slower than other wages-linked payments such as the age pension. Newstart has not been increased in real terms in two decades.
It currently stands at about $280 a week for a single person, or about $40 a day.
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And on whether he will work with independents, in the event of a hung parliament, Morrison finishes with:
Five weeks to go in the campaign. I am running this election campaign to form a Liberal National majority government. I will tell you why: because that is how we will continue to be able to get things done in this country.
When we were seeking to reduce the tax burden of small and family businesses ... the Labor party fought against us and they used their numbers in the Senate to work against us, easing the burden on Australians all around the country, particularly small and family business owners.
One thing I know about the Labor party and the Greens is they have been getting cosy over the last couple of weeks. It is because of this: if the Labor party is elected, and they want to impose that $387bn of higher taxes on the Australian economy, holding us all back, weighing us all down, you know who they will be relying on to make sure that gets through the Senate? The Greens.
Labor and the Greens are as thick as. That is why they will preference them higher than the Liberal party, despite the fact that they are completely opposed to national security legislation to keep Australians safe, despite the fact that the Greens are for death taxes, a savage tax coming from the Greens that the Labor party clearly think is a better view for Australia than our lower-tax policies.
Labor and the Greens is one option, Liberals and the Nationals on the other. Backing in instinctively small and family businesses, keeping the tax burden down. Families at this wonderful small business, businesses who have been running for generations now can continue just to get on with their lives and achieve the things they want to achieve.
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Asked again about Peter Dutton and whether he, himself, made disability “a political football”, with his comments on Ali France, Morrison says he has said all he is going to say on that issue.
He also has no interpretation on One Nation’s vote falling.
On Labor’s franking credit’s policy though, Morrison does have something to day:
He [Bill Shorten] said yesterday frank dividend credits were a gift – a gift. What sort of arrogance is that to Australians who have worked hard, paid taxes all their life to be told they haven’t paid taxes, and then to be told that what they have based their retirement on and saved for is a gift from Bill Shorten that he wants to take away?
That is what Australians need to know about Bill Shorten.
He thinks that your standard of living, he thinks that your retirement and the income that you live on is a gift from him and it’s a gift he is going to take away.
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He continues:
Bill Shorten still will not tell the people of Australia, or Michael [Sukkar] here in Deakin, they won’t tell him what does the vehicle emissions standard mean for the price of the car that Australians want to drive? What does their reckless 45% target mean for Australians’ wages?
The economics have told you $9,000. What does it mean for electricity prices? I heard Bill Shorten talking about electricity prices on the weekend. What he won’t tell Australians is his emissions target policy will put up wholesale electricity prices by 56%. When Bill Shorten won’t explain what the cost to your job, to your economy, to your wage, to the small and family business of Australia, to the car that you want to drive, then why would you vote for him? It is show-and-tell time, Bill. We are here in the election campaign. You have had five and a half years to explain these things to the Australian people.
They still have more questions to ask than you have been able to explain. You can’t make it up in five weeks.
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On Tony Abbott’s comments last week that the “so-called settled climate science isn’t settled” (narrator: it is) Scott Morrison says:
I believe in the action we’re taking on climate change. You can take action on climate change without taking out your economy and the jobs of Australians and taking out the cars Australians want to drive.
We have done this as a government. When we came to government we inherited a more-than-700m-tonne deficit on achieving our Kyoto 2020 targets.
We inherited that from the Labor party. Greg Hunt, then as environment minister, set about the task, with Tony Abbott, of putting in place the policies that ensured we will not just meet our Kyoto 2020 target – remember that was the target Labor set, that they weren’t meeting – we got elected, we will meet by 369m tonnes in credit and that is what our policies on carbon abatement have achieved. Our policies going forward to our 2030 target will also be met. I have set that out tonne by tonne.
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On Michael Sukkar’s judgement voting for Peter Dutton to be prime minister, Scott Morrison says:
That is a bubble question. I will leave that one in the bubble.
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On Peter Dutton’s comments:
That matter was dealt with on the weekend. Peter has made his apology appropriately. What I don’t want to see happen in this election campaign is I don’t want to see people playing politics with disabilities.
I have a very strong personal view about this topic. I won’t be drawn into the argy-bargy of disabilities being used as a political weapon in this campaign.
I am going to make the assumption that every single candidate in this campaign – Liberal, National, Labor, Greens, One Nation, all of them – want the best for people with disabilities in this country.
I would simply make this plea: let’s not have disabilities be used as a political football in this campaign. We announced the royal commission into disabilities and the abuse of people with disabilities just before the election started. I said that issue is well above politics.
For me, it has very deep personal impacts, in terms of our family and I know that is the case for so many families around the country. I just simply respectfully ask that this not be used as a political football or an issue in this campaign. I have said all I’m going to say about that.
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And of course, that brings us back to Collingwood star (CARN THE PIES) Mason Cox riding Winx.
We saw Winx run. How do you think Winx would have run on the weekend if Mason Cox had been the jockey? She is a champion, no doubt about that, [but she can’t be weighed down]. But our tax policy is correct weight for small and family businesses.
What the Labor party want to do is saddle Australians, all Australians, with a higher tax burden.
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Scott Morrison is working very hard to save Michael Sukkar’s seat of Deakin – Sukkar voted for Peter Dutton in the first round of leadership spills last August.
Morrison believes that Sukkar will be returned:
I am confident about the good judgement of Australians here in Deakin. Firstly, they have been backing Michael Sukkar for good reason because he is delivering results for his local community and he works hard for his local community. He has been demonstrating that inside of an election and outside of an election.
The other thing I am confident about is here in this seat of Deakin, you have young families, small business owners and people who are trying to get ahead in life. They don’t want their future weighed down by higher taxes and a government that wouldn’t know how to manage money, which is the Labor party.
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Matt Canavan is headed to Perth for a mining jobs announcement. Sans onion, one would think.
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Peter Dutton apology 'the humble thing to do' says PM
Scott Morrison says he doesn’t want to see “disabilities become a political football”, in the wake of Peter Dutton’s comments on Ali France using her disability “as an excuse” for not moving into the electorate. Morrison told 3AW:
He’s made his apology and that is the humble thing to do and he has done that and I applaud him for doing that.
But you know what? Disabled Australians don’t deserve to have their disabilities used as a political football in this election.
... [Dutton] was making a very different point and he has apologised for the point he has made, but the comments that were made by the Labor party, I mean, Kristina Keneally actually attacked me on the weekend. Now, I think people understand my commitment to disabilities and my family has a direct, a direct understanding of this and I think that people should show some respect for people with disabilities, the Labor party included, and let’s not have disabilities used as a political football this election.
When the comments were first made public by the Australian, Morrison said they had been “taken out of context”. Dutton refused to back down that day, releasing a second statement that doubled down on his original claim that he was raising the concerns of his electorate. He then tweeted an apology for the comments, the next day.
But yes, definitely the “humble” thing to do.
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Not sure what to do with all those letterbox drops?
The National Library wants them.
We are looking for printed campaign material, including flyers, letters to constituents, how-to-vote cards, stickers, badges, posters, or any other original published material to promote a party or candidate, or to lobby on election issues.
It’s part of their continuing collection of Australian campaign material, which goes back to federation.
Email Fiona Spooner at fspooner@nla.gov.au or visit the website to find out how to send in all those pesky campaign materials, which one day, we might all just laugh at.
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Queensland Greens senator Larissa Waters is in Canberra today, with candidate Tim Hollo (who is fighting for the new ACT seat of Canberra) to announce policies of citizens’ jury trials and a change to parliamentary rules that would require petitions with more than 100,000 signatures to be brought to debate (like they do in the UK). Waters said in a statement:
Confidence in Australia’s democratic systems is at an all-time low, and no wonder when governments are working for their corporate donor mates and and ignoring the people who elect them.
It’s critically important that we work to earn back trust, and giving people a real voice in decision-making is central to that.
The Greens have been leading the political debate for many years on getting the influence of big money from corporate donations out of politics, closing the revolving door of lobbyists and MPs, and setting up a federal anti-corruption commission.
This election, we are taking that commitment further, with plans to not just get corporate money out of politics but also create paths to bring the people back in.
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Bob Katter is headed to Mackay (George Christensen’s territory) today as well. The Katters have worked to shore up support in their part of Queensland, and now hold three seats in the Queensland state parliament (up from two in the last term).
The KAP is hoping that will help gain a toehold in another federal electorate. Dawson is on its list, and again, the party’s preferences are going to be very, very important in those same seats One Nation is targeting.
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Bill Shorten is also out and about:
.@billshortenmp: There will always be someone, somewhere in the world, who will work for less than you. That’s not the secret of Australia’s economic success.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) April 14, 2019
MORE: https://t.co/XDlvROtOqW #amagenda pic.twitter.com/VhMjheeYjm
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So with the news that One Nation’s share of the national vote (at least according to Newspoll) has dropped to 4%, where does that leave the leader, Pauline Hanson?
So far, there has been no response. The far-right nationalist party’s leader is still recovering from a) a tick bite and b) having her appendix out. Plus, you know, the fallout from the al-Jazeera undercover investigation, which revealed party heavies James Ashby and Steve Dickson were seeking funds from the NRA. And, of course, that Hanson herself had flirted with Port Arthur massacre conspiracy theories because of a blue book that she read. (She later denied she believed it was a conspiracy theory.)
But my Queensland contacts tell me that One Nation is still very active in central and northern Queensland, where the party is hoping most of its vote will come from. One Nation’s heartland have always been outer-urban and inner-regional seats, and the party’s preferences will be crucial in at least three seats I can think of: Herbert, Leichhardt and Capricornia.
But the party is nowhere near as strong as it was two years ago, when it was still on a high from the federal election result which, thanks to the double dissolution, saw four senators elected under its banner.
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Just took a bit to digest that, but Scott Morrison, speaking to Neil Mitchell on Melbourne radio 3AW, just combined AFL with Winx to make an analogy about Labor’s tax plan.
Even Mitchell seemed a bit taken aback.
“If you’d had Mason Cox riding Winx on the weekend, I don’t think she would have run quite as fast. She’s a champion, but I mean, she’s still mortal.
“And what we are trying to do is make sure we have the correct weight on our economy, the correct weight on our rider, and that means you can have the champions in Australia really do well.”
This does not mean he is a Collingwood supporter, he says. Cox is just “a big unit”.
(Trevor Ruthenberg, the ill-fated LNP candidate for the Longman byelection was also repeatedly referred to as a “big unit”. It appears to be Coalition speak for “relatable”.)
“He is just a big unit, that is my simple point,” Morrison says.
“You are not going to put a big unit on a horse if you want it to run fast and that is what the Labor party wants to do with $387bn worth of higher taxes.”
Just a reminder that the $387bn figure the government is using was not a Treasury total and includes the second and third tranche of the Liberals’ proposed tax cuts for middle- and higher-income earners, which are not yet legislated.
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Scott Morrison is now on 3AW saying he is not Sydney-centric, because he has put Alan Tudge in charge of “congestion busting” (drink) infrastructure and population growth.
“I needed Melbourne eyes on a very Melbourne problem,” he tells Neil Mitchell.
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I guess this would be filled with small l liberal tears?
I can't take my eyes off it pic.twitter.com/nQInLGcOzD
— James Jeffrey (@James_Jeffrey) April 14, 2019
This is also a thing that happened.
Moving on.
Maybe @TonyAbbottMHR is on to something here... @onionsaust, what do you reckon? pic.twitter.com/5Q3PUHjwh8
— Matthew Canavan (@mattjcan) April 13, 2019
In case you missed it, turns out that doubling down on an attack which claims someone is using their disability “as an excuse” to not move to the electorate (and despite Peter Dutton’s repeated claims, Ali France lives 2km out of Dickson, which is not “inner-city Brisbane”) is not great politics when just a couple of thousand people changing their vote can see you lose your job.
I apologise to Ms France for my comments yesterday. My argument with the Labor candidate is about how our respective policies would affect the people of Dickson.
— Peter Dutton (@PeterDutton_MP) April 13, 2019
So perhaps his comments weren’t “taken out of context”, as Scott Morrison contended?
Then there was this:
Ah the perils of the campaign street walk. Scott Morrison says “ni hao” to an Asian voter in Strathfield plaza, she responds: “I’m Korean.” #ausvotes
— Michael Koziol (@michaelkoziol) April 13, 2019
Which just brings to mind the homily about assuming.
Ahhhh, campaigns.
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Asked about George Christensen’s travel (after the Herald Sun revealed he had spent more times in the Philippines than in parliament), Michael McCormack has the perfect answer.
Dams. And also, mining.
“He hasn’t been overseas since July last year. I had a chat to George. He’s concentrating on his electorate and jobs in his electorate. That’s what I want my members to be focused on, in their electorates, concentrating on jobs. I put the challenge out there to Labor members in north and central Queensland – do they stick up for jobs and the mining sector? I think not. I know George Christensen and Michelle Landry and others of the National party, they stick up for the mining sector and those jobs.”
Asked again, McCormack responds with “but dams”.
“He hasn’t been overseas since mid-last year … I’m not looking beyond that.
“I’m looking to the here and now and the future. George Christensen is a fierce electorate fighter and he’ll continue to be there. He was at Urana dam, that’s something that’s been talked about for decades. We’re delivering. The National party once again achieving and delivering.”
Tbh, “don’t you worry about that” would have been a lot shorter and made more sense.
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Asked whether the Nationals can still claim to be the party of “family values” – because, you know, Barnaby Joyce, Andrew Broad – Michael McCormack talks about dams.
“We can certainly market the National party as a party that delivers infrastructure.”
Yeah, but what about those family values? The answer? Yeah, but dams.
“The fact is I stand by strong traditional values and family values. My colleagues do too. We’re getting on with what the people of country Australia want us to do and that’s deliver them.
“We announced a dam yesterday which was talked about since 1967. That’s what we do. We put the water storage infrastructure in place, better roads, better health services. That’s what we stand for. That’s what we’ll always stand for.”
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Michael McCormack is on ABC TV in Tweed Heads (just over the Queensland/NSW border) holding a wombat statue.
It’s hard to tell them apart.
But then McCormack starts to speak and it makes it easier.
He’ll still be putting the Greens last, despite support for One Nation collapsing.
We’ve always at a local level, seat by seat, been able to choose where our preferences should flow and where our preferences should go. I’m not intending for National party preferences to even be counted.
I would like to think National party candidates, because they’re such good candidates to finish first or second. Taking into account our state divisions, because we’re a state-based party made up of local candidates, and so we’ll be choosing our preferences at a local level. I believe that the Greens should be put last – always.
They’ve always been last on my how-to-vote cards. They’ll continue to be last on my how-to-vote cards because I believe they represent the greatest threat to the people I serve, that we serve. They want to shut down farming. They want to make sure our abattoirs can’t process meat. They want to put unfair emission reduction targets in place. They want to stop farming, stop agricultural and I won’t stand for that. I will put them last. I know a lot of my colleagues will put them last as they should.
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Scott Morrison will promise just under $155m for road projects in Melbourne today.
Bill Shorten will promise $250m to cut hospital waiting times.
Scott Morrison has started his day chatting to Alan Jones on Sydney radio 2GB.
It went as you would expect.
One in five police officers, you know my father was a police officer, now he didn’t have an investment property, but we know that one in five police officers have an investment property.
And they don’t have five and six and seven and all this rubbish Labor goes on with. They have one. And this is what they’re investing into their future. You know we’ve got tens of thousands of teachers and nurses who are out there and they are making these investments for their future. The extra money that may be earning, they don’t want to give it to their union superannuation fund, they want to put it into some property and buy a little flat somewhere, for their security for their future, and Bill Shorten’s saying, ‘No, not for you.’ This is an aspiration tax. They are going to tax people who are just working hard, to try and get ahead, and, Alan, that is exactly what this election is about.
My father was also a police officer (since apparently that is relevant), and he didn’t have an investment property, but we know that for those one in five police officers who do have an investment property, the policy is grandfathered and they’ll still have a negative-geared investment property.
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Good morning
Welcome to day four of the election campaign. Just 33 days to go.
Huzzah.
Melbourne is the focus today, with Labor hopeful it can pick up Dunkley, Deakin and Corangamite. The Liberals are just as hopeful they can sandbag against it.
They do so in the shadow of the latest Newspoll, which shows no shift in the two-party-preferred vote – the Australian reports that remains at 52% to 48% to Labor. But there has been an increase in both parties’ primary vote, which are now sitting at 39%, at the expense of One Nation, which, nationally, has dropped to 4%. Two years ago, One Nation was polling at 11%.
That’s not to say Pauline Hanson is done. Her vote in Queensland is still expected to be strong – but whether or not that is enough to get another Senate spot is still up in the air. Her lead candidate is on The Bad Show tonight, so I am sure that will help the far-right party grab some much-needed headlines.
On the campaign, it’s Victoria which is the focus of both major parties, with both Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison in Melbourne. That’s because the Liberals need to protect what they have there, and Labor is pretty sure it can pick up some seats. Expect to hear the words “congestion busting” repeated ad nauseam.
Ready?
Let’s get into it.
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