With the campaigns resting (at least publicly) for the night, we are going to take the opportunity to tuck the blog up for the night. We’ve got a big day (and weekend) ahead of us, so grab the early night where you can is my rule.
Big thank yous to everyone who came along for today’s ride and for all the input. We’ll be back early tomorrow morning for the beginning of the final stretch of the 2019 campaign. Just eight and a bit days to go.
See you soon and take care of you.
Updated
Labor is very excited to be handing down its costings tomorrow.
That’s because it feels like it has a good story to tell. Bigger surpluses in the short term. More debt paid down. It has more money to spend than the government, partly because of its plan to raise more revenue through tax reform.
That’s why we are getting the costings, comparatively, so much earlier than usual. These things usually get handed down a day before the end of the campaign. This is all coming a week beforehand and given Labor is in control of when it hands down its costings, it is because Chris Bowen is happy with the story he gets to tell.
Updated
The campaigns have gone down for the night.
It looks like the Liberal party are also headed north, to Queensland, where Michelle Landry is in trouble in Capricornia.
Bill Shorten is still in Queensland. I would imagine he will be looking at heading further north from Brisbane at some point, but we never really know.
Penny Wong was in Brisbane with Bill Shorten today and addressed that moment at the end of the South Australian Press Club discussion, when she did not shake Simon Birmingham’s hand, after Birmingham brought up Paul Keating’s comments about China:
I just want to make this clear – I will always look to Australia’s national interest. I understand, as shadow foreign minister, the risks of playing domestic partisan politics with the relationship with China. The answer I gave reflected that understanding. I did not give a partisan answer in that debate. What I’d say about Senator Birmingham is he regrettably did not follow the same approach. As a senior trade minister, as a senior minister in this government, he ought to have done so.
Question: Is it not in relation though …
Wong: The national interest matters, and it matters to me very much, and it matters to the Labor party very much. I’ve explained the reasons why that is the case.
Question: Has Mr Birmingham asked for an apology?
Wong: No, we’ve got a good relationship. We’ve had robust exchanges over the years. You know, you live in Adelaide, so we know how to deal with that. He hasn’t asked for an apology and I wouldn’t expect him to do so.
Question: Is it right, though, for Labor to criticise the negativity in politics at the moment when you do see those images, such as you refusing to shake his hand after the debate?
Wong: Well, I think that the issue here is the national interest. As I said, I understand the risks of playing domestic, partisan politics with the China relationship, and we chose to take a different approach and it’s regrettable Senator Birmingham didn’t.
Updated
A rare statement from a minister during the election campaign but, given the topic, completely understandable. From Marise Payne’s office:
The Australian government is deeply concerned by the statements made by Iran in relation to its compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The Australian government reviewed our approach to the Plan of Action last year, following which prime minister Morrison made clear that Australia supported the Plan of Action as long as Iran remained in compliance with its provisions.
We have made our concerns regarding Iran’s destabilising activities well-known. While I note that Iran has said it is not withdrawing from the Plan of Action, Australia continues to urge Iran to exercise restraint and to comply with its commitments.
The nuclear non-proliferation objectives of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action are worthy and serve the best interests of peace, stability, and regional security. Australia strongly supports these objectives, and encourages parties to the plan to redouble their efforts to honour its provisions.
In line with caretaker conventions, the opposition has been briefed on this matter.
Updated
Finally, we come to this:
Faine: So, how can you get people with such extreme views into preselected positions on federal campaigns?
Frydenberg: Well, can I say to you. Those views are not the views of the Liberal party. Now, of course…
Faine: Just your candidate, after candidate, after candidate.
Frydenberg: Not candidate after candidate…
Faine: Well, you’ve lost three now…
Frydenberg: And as I said, you’ve seen Greens candidates and Labor candidates also lose their preselection or endorsement for this election…
Faine: So, where is the due diligence?
Frydenberg: Well, that is a very poignant question and that is one that I…
Faine: Pertinent or poignant?
Frydenberg: Both. It’s a pertinent question and it’s one that we will be revisiting after this election because in today’s modern age of technology where you can’t check every blog site, we do need to have measures in place so that anyone who puts their hand up for endorsement by the party has all the proper checks and balances done to ensure that everything is known before they’re endorsed.
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And then the pair moved on to how the Liberal party in Victoria preselected some of its candidates:
Faine: More importantly, what does it tell us about the Victorian branch of the Liberal party where Karina Okotel, who is a strong opponent of not just same-sex marriage, she wants to revisit things like voluntary assisted dying, abortion, all of these issues. She’s committed to reopening all of those closed debates. What is it when you’ve got a branch who is controlled by someone who is installing candidates like Gurpal Singh, like your candidate in Wills, like your candidate in Isaacs. In a way, it taints the rest of the Liberal party, does it not?
Frydenberg: Well, again, I don’t accept the premise of your question…
Faine: Which part of it?
Frydenberg: When you said they’re controlling the Liberal party.
Faine: Well, she was the chair of your selection committee and she’s on the admin committee…
Frydenberg: Let me say, I’m the deputy leader of the Liberal party. Scott Morrison is the leader…
Faine: Parliamentary leader, I’m talking about the admin wing.
Frydenberg: And we work extremely closely with the organisational wing. But our party is about 10,000 strong here in Victoria…
Updated
Stay with me, because this interview is still going.
The pair tussled over why the Liberal party was holding on to its Scullin candidate:
Faine: In the seat of Scullin, safe Labor seat, Andrew Giles holds that, the Liberal party endorsed a man up near Whittlesea called Gurpal Singh. He has in an SBS radio interview linked gay marriage to paedophilia and has said that “it’s beyond comprehension how the children of a same-sex relationship could cope with life”. You’ve not disendorsed him. Why not?
Frydenberg: Well, that decision was taken a couple of weeks ago. You’re right. He made those comments on SBS Punjabi radio. He apologised unreservedly for those comments and…
Faine: He hasn’t been disendorsed.
Frydenberg: He hasn’t been disendorsed…
Faine: Why not?
Frydenberg: But those comments are not the views that he holds. He…
Faine: Well, he said them.
Frydenberg: He did say them back in…
Faine: No one was holding a weapon to his head.
Frydenberg: He did say them in 2017 and he was a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage and that issue of same-sex marriage has now been dealt with, again, an achievement of the Coalition.
Faine: So, Scott Morrison said the behaviour you walk past is the behaviour you accept. He was having a go at the Labor party candidate for the inner-city seat of Melbourne. But, you’ve got a bigger problem and you’re not dealing with it.
Frydenberg: Well, we don’t accept those comments and again, as I said, he has apologised. But you are right to point out that other parties across this state have also lost candidates. We lost a candidate in Isaacs, we’ve seen the Labor party lose their candidate in Melbourne, it took three days for Bill Shorten to come around to that…
Faine: You lost another one in Wills…
Frydenberg: And then the Greens have lost their candidate in Lalor for their comments…
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The Melbourne ABC interview then moved on to the government’s climate change policy and environment minister, Melissa Price:
Jon Faine: OK. Is Melissa Price, the environment minister, is she going to come along?
Josh Frydenberg: Look, I don’t know, but Melissa Price has the biggest electorate in the southern hemisphere…
Faine: Yeah, but she’s been completely unavailable to the media, she’s in witness protection.
Frydenberg: She has been working diligently, as you would expect her to do, in her electorate.
Faine: Not a word to say, publicly, on her portfolio or her area of responsibility…
Frydenberg: That is not correct. She’s made…
Faine: The UN put out a report saying we’re facing a climate emergency, that species are facing extinction, not just one or two but a million; the environment spokesperson for your party, not available.
Frydenberg: And that report also made it very clear that we can take action and we need to take action and that is why this government is investing significantly in meeting its Paris commitments. That is why we’ve seen a record amount of renewable energy on our watch, that is why Snowy 2.0 will be built…
Faine: Do you accept the UN report that a million species face extinction?
Frydenberg: I accept that there are real threats to both flora and fauna…
Faine: Do you accept the UN report?
Frydenberg: Well, I do accept the science, absolutely…
Faine: How come you’ve just said more than your environment minister?
Frydenberg: No, I accept the science and I accept…
Faine: That is more than your environment minister has said publicly…
Frydenberg: That’s not true. We as a party accept the science and we accept that action needs to be taken. That’s why we’ve got to be part of a global agreement. But, when it comes to threatened species, we were the party that appointed Australia’s first threatened species commissioner, developed Australia’s first threatened species strategy, partnered with the private sector to fund a whole series of threatened species programs across the country and again, we recently announced some initiatives through this election campaign.
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The pair then moved into why the launch was in Melbourne and why safe Liberal Victorian seats were in danger.
Jon Faine: How is it and why is it that what were once regarded, in fact forever have been regarded, as super-safe Liberal seats are now under threat?
Josh Frydenberg: Well, my view is that no seat is safe today in politics because John Howard said this to me, Jon, that when he first went into politics there were 40% of people at every election who was rusted-on Liberals, 40% rusted-on Labor and there was a 20% in between who are up for grabs.
Faine: And now it’s actually 35/35 and the rest are up for grabs.
Frydenberg: Well, he said by the time he left politics it was 30 Liberal, 30 Labor and 40 are up for grabs. And I think now with modern technology and everyone having a megaphone with their iPhone, I think it’s a very different political debate. The other thing is you’re seeing a lot more pre-polling. You’re seeing a lot more pre-polling …
Faine: Sure.
Frydenberg: And the whole dynamic of the election campaign has changed. We have become more presidential, I also think …
Faine: Does it not suggest that in fact, and the polls back this up, that your party has become, it’s out of touch and become, in some ways, unelectable with its stance on climate change, its position in relation to equality for women, and some of the other hostilities that have emerged from some of your more fringe candidates, some of them who have lost preselection.
Frydenberg: Well, John, that sounds like a partisan comment, not a question …
Faine: It is a question …
Frydenberg: With the greatest respect, it sounded like a partisan comment and not a question. If you ask me what does the Liberal party stand for, I will tell you it’s about our values and our philosophy. It’s about personal responsibility, encouraging the individual and their enterprise, providing a safety net for those who need it. That is what is reflected in our policies and the great contrast at this election is around economic management because it is from economic management that you can provide the social dividend with increased funding in hospitals and schools. And it’s our economic management that sees Australia growing faster than any G7 country except the United States. It sees us having created 1.3 million new jobs since coming to office and it sees in the budget a plan to pay back Labor’s debt, to create more apprentices, to spend $100bn on infrastructure, including significantly here in Victoria, and to deliver record funding on hospitals, schools, disability support and aged care.
Faine: So at the Liberal launch, which is on this weekend, I assume that you, as a senior Victorian, will be sharing the stage with Scott Morrison. Malcolm Turnbull, not coming. Tony Abbott said he’s not coming. Julie Bishop, Peter Dutton, Michael Keenan, Eric Abetz, Steve Ciobo, Chris Pyne. Might be able to hold it in a coffee shop, Josh Frydenberg.
Frydenberg: Good try. The fact is, the prime minister and I and others will be speaking and we will be, again, reaffirming our commitment through this election to the policies that are important to strengthen Australia.
Faine: Let’s confirm. Malcolm Turnbull is not coming, he’s in New York. Tony Abbott said he’s not coming. Julie Bishop, she’s not coming. Peter Dutton, you’re not going to bring him down for the launch in Melbourne, are you?
Frydenberg: Well, as I understand it, Peter Dutton won’t be there. But, again, it’s not a question of those people, it’s a question of what is the message to the Australian people. And it’s the prime minister and myself and the rest of our team that have made it very clear that this election is a clear choice.
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It continued:
Faine: No, there’s an issue here between the Labor party and the Murdoch media. It’s nothing specifically to do with the Liberal party.
But it has opened up media relations as an issue in this campaign. Are you aware that both Bill Shorten and the Greens leader Richard Di Natale will be speaking at an ABC Friends rally this weekend in Melbourne?
Frydenberg: Good luck to them.
Faine: Are you aware that they may well be making announcements to make the ABC and further media issues a live point of difference in this campaign?
Frydenberg: Well, from our perspective you know we believe the ABC plays a vital role in the public debate and I certainly …
Faine: But you’ve starved it of funds?
Frydenberg: Well, that’s not actually correct. You know it’s receiving more than a billion dollars of taxpayer’s funds. And as you know Ita Buttrose is the new chairperson of the ABC and she brings a great deal of media experience to that role and a new CEO has just been appointed of the organisation.
And I feel that the ABC plays a vital role, particularly in our regional communities as well and everyone turns on to listen to you at times of a fire and flood and drought. And I think that the ABC, not only contributes to the public and political debate, but also plays a very important role in informing the public about issues of relevance to them.
Faine: So, you’re going to have an even sharper contrast. You’re going to have I presume announcements; I don’t know. But I’m expecting if they’re turning up those political leaders of the Greens and the Labor party it’s to turn up to say something of significance to the adoring ABC loveys.
So, there’s going to be this even sharper contrast between the Liberal party who are hostile to the ABC …
Frydenberg: You’ve just heard the deputy leader of the Liberal party and say how important the ABC is to political debate. So …
Faine: And I’ve been given an uplift by the Murdoch media at every opportunity and the contrast couldn’t be clearer then could it?
Frydenberg: Well, I don’t accept the premise of your question, because the premise is that we as a party are attacking the ABC. We’re not. We’re actually funding and encouraging the ABC. But if we don’t see a balanced reporting, regardless of the medium, regardless of the organisation, it’s only fair that we point it out.
Faine: And you’re welcome to and from time to time…
Frydenberg: And it is our ABC after all.
Updated
I missed it this morning, but the transcript of Jon Faine’s interview with Josh Frydenberg has just dropped and the ABC Melbourne interview seemed like an absolute doozy.
Per the transcript:
Faine:
So, the Daily Telegraph and the Courier Mail yesterday ran a front-page story about the leader of the opposition Bill Shorten’s mother. Was it an own goal by the Murdoch media?
Frydenberg:
Well, clearly those articles, in my view, should not be written because the public debate in political debate is coarse enough, there’s enough toxicity in our debate without having to bring in families. So, I can understand how Bill Shorten felt yesterday and I feel in that sense our families are off limits.
Faine:
Your family’s been dragged down in as well, but it’s the view of people who are Labor party campaigners that the Murdoch media were briefed after Q&A on Monday night. They were briefed by the Liberal party dirty tricks unit about that.
Frydenberg:
That is absolutely false.
Faine:
You can categorically say that?
Frydenberg:
I can say to you the Liberal party is not at all connected to that story and you heard the prime minister’s comments yesterday.
Faine:
There’s a…
Frydenberg
There’s nowhere for you to go after that one.
Updated
And the Australia Institute, which was dismissed by the government as being “Labor-aligned”, has responded to the Fact Check analysis:
The Australia Institute have always said the assumptions in our model were on the conservative side and that our research showing $77bn of the Coalition’s income tax cut goes to those earning over $180,000 was a low-ball figure.
ABC Fact Check now confirms that:
- the Coalition’s tax measures would reduce the progressivity of Australia’s income tax system; and
- the Australia Institute’s $77bn figure goes to those earning over $180,000 is, in fact, an underestimate and likely to be much higher – between $88bn and $89bn.
Updated
ABC Fact Check finds Bill Shorten's use of $77bn tax figure an 'underestimate'
The ABC Fact Check project has looked at Bill Shorten’s use of the Australia Institute analysis that the government’s high-income tax breaks would cost $77bn over the next 10 years and found it to be an “underestimate”.
The $77 billion figure he cites is an underestimate according to two leading tax and economic modellers consulted by Fact Check.
Their analyses, using tax and welfare models similar to Treasury’s, found that, over a decade, taxpayers earning more than $180,000 a year would receive between $88 billion and $89 billion under the Coalition’s tax plan.
Both experts confirmed that the Coalition’s tax measures would reduce the progressivity of the tax system.
According to the Grattan Institute’s Danielle Wood, the share of tax paid by the top 20 per cent of income earners would fall from 68 per cent to 65 per cent under the Coalition’s proposal, while the share of tax paid by middle income earners would rise.
As with all economic models, the results depend on various assumptions and forecasts. Fact Check acknowledges that the figures cited in this Fact Check are forecasts only.
Labor has not ruled out adjusting tax rates or thresholds over time to suit future economic and budget conditions. In a similar vein, there are no guarantees that a re-elected Morrison Government would be able pass the measures in the Parliament as proposed.
As Associate Professor Ben Phillips, from the ANU’s Centre for Social Research and Methods, put it: “Tax analysis over a long period such as to 2029-30 on the assumption that tax thresholds and rates will not be altered by future governments makes little sense.”
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#BREAKING: The Department of Defence has been charged over the death of a soldier during a training exercise, south-east of Darwin in 2017. pic.twitter.com/uaIX2ZIzpY
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 9, 2019
Speaking to Perth radio 6PR, here is how Christian Porter sees the last week of the campaign playing out:
I mean it’s always the case in big campaigns like this that things always happen in the last 10 days and you can’t predict all of those, but I would agree with this, like the lines of distinction are really clear. Bill Shorten’s got a very radical, I would argue, tax and spend agenda and there are massive uncertainties and lack of detail and significant hits that people will take because of that tax agenda, particularly in my electorate on the value of their home; retirees are going to get pinged – anyone who ever earns a capital gain; I mean this is quite a radical agenda. And we are a party of economic orthodoxy who is offering people further job growth, further tax decreases and a stronger economy, and a country returning to surplus.
Updated
Tanya Plibersek raises Malaysia solution in asylum seeker comments
The transcript of Tanya Plibersek’s comments on the Malaysia solution from this morning’s AM interview has dropped – this is one of the reasons border security became a big issue today (that and last night’s debate questions).
Question: Let’s turn to another topic: refugees. Bill Shorten said in last night’s debate that he would revisit the offer from New Zealand to resettle some of the refugees on Manus Island and Nauru. New Zealand, though, is only offering to take about 150 people so what are the –
Plibersek: A year, each year.
Question: So you think that all of the remaining refugees on Manus and Nauru could eventually go to New Zealand or are there other third countries that Labor could approach?
Plibersek: We would continue to work with the United States in the hope that the United States would take the total number that they have offered and perhaps more. We’d work with New Zealand to accept their offer. It is beyond me why the government has not accepted their offer before this time.
Question: But basically everybody would go to either New Zealand or the United States?
Plibersek: We would work with third countries. You would recall that we had, when last in government, an arrangement with Malaysia that the Liberals teamed up with the Greens to vote against, that would have resettled people in Malaysia with work rights, with education and health care, able to live in the community while they were assessed. So there will be third-country options pursued as well. We do have to get people off Manus and Nauru.
Updated
Kim Carr is in Melbourne, outside the Nissan factory, talking about Labor’s plan to “establish a $57m Electric Vehicle Manufacturing and Innovation Strategy, so Australia grows the jobs and companies of the transport future”.
We have got to maintain capabilities and build upon it. I want to see as many vehicles driven on Australian roads made in Australia as possible. It may not be that we can full vehicles made here, but we want to keep as many parts made in Australia as possible, develop our part of the global supply chain, have research and development undertaken here, and ensure that we keep the jobs in Australia,” he told the ABC.
Updated
Adam Bandt said Peter Garrett was right:
“The beds are burning and Peter Garrett is right,” Bandt said in a statement.
“A million species are at risk of extinction and our world is sinking, burning and drowning simultaneously. Our government needs to respond.
“The climate emergency requires an emergency response, not business as usual.
“Garrett’s call for an immediate moratorium on new coal, oil and gas is exactly what is needed.
“Paul Keating and Peter Garrett are showing more leadership on climate change than Bill Shorten or Scott Morrison.
“The Greens will move to declare a climate emergency when parliament resumes and the new government must back us.
“I urge Bill Shorten to join the Greens, Paul Keating and Peter Garrett by taking the climate emergency seriously.”
Peter Garrett calls on Labor to declare a climate emergency if it wins
Peter Garrett has called on a future Labor government to call climate change “a bona fide national emergency”. From Katharine Murphy’s report:
The former environment minister Peter Garrett has urged an incoming Labor government to convene a climate emergency summit to plot a transition to zero carbon, and create a super department aligned to Treasury, like the Department of Post War Reconstruction after the second world war, to implement the transition.
In a speech overnight in Melbourne, Garrett – a former environment minister in the Rudd and Gillard governments – said Bill Shorten should create a standalone “war” cabinet committee, charged with the responsibility of overseeing the new initiatives and ensuring Australia meets its emission-reduction goals.
If Bill Shorten wins on 18 May, he should “declare runaway climate change a bona fide national emergency” and call for bipartisan action, Garrett said. If that isn’t forthcoming he should court Liberals prepared to cross the floor and independents who have campaigned this election on climate change with a view to building a standing parliamentary caucus on climate.
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This was kinda a gimme:
Also just clarifying when he said the government passed enviro legislation in the last week of parliament he meant an environmental measure in the budget.
— Calla Wahlquist (@callapilla) May 9, 2019
Doesn't need anyone to back him up.
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Question: A record number of people have already voted – more than one million. Are you concerned that these people have already made up their minds about your government? And, secondly, do you think the early voting period is too long? Some of your colleagues have indicated that that is too long. Do you agree?
Morrison:
Well, what happens after every election is the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters takes submissions from around the country.
I used to be the deputy chair of the committee after I was elected in 2007.
As part of that process, they’ll consult, consult colleagues and make recommendations.
That’s the appropriate forum for those issues to be canvassed. We’ll see what report that comes back. Ever since pre-poll voting opened, is the feedback I’ve had from my colleagues, whether it’s down there in La Trobe or Deakin or Corangamite or up to Townsville, over in Western Australia, or down in Tasmania, where I have been, or the seat of Boothby over there in South Australia, what I have been really encouraged by has been the feedback our people have been getting on pre-polls, wanting to see me continue as prime minister. I really appreciate that feedback.
And I – it is very humbling, and I thank them for it. And we are continuing to set out what the choices and more people will make that choice as we get closer to the day. And ultimately everyone will do it on 18 May.
But the choice is very clear. And here on the mid-north coast, I want to thank Pat, as a former police officer, as someone who is part of this community and has put himself forward for service, he’s someone that I know can take things forward.
We’re fully committed to the Coffs Harbour bypass. Eighty per cent of that funding, 80% of that project we’re committed to. We’ll continue to work out the details of that with the state government, where we’re working together on so many projects around this state.
That’s a big commitment to this community, and we’re committed to it. And the way to support the Coffs Harbour bypass is to vote for Pat Conaghan, the National Party candidate, in Cowper on May 18.
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Question: [On the lack of former Liberal PMs and some ministers at the launch] What kind of message does that send?
Morrison:
The Liberal launch will be on the weekend and you’ll see what happens on the weekend.
But, see, on Sunday all I’m seeking to do is have a direct conversation with Australians about the future. It’s not a party hoopla event. It’s not an event where, you know, the party comes together and there’s lots of backslapping and all those sorts of things.
We saw that with the Labor party. That just showed that the Labor party are more interested in themselves than they are in the future of this country.
This event on the weekend is all about laying out very clearly what the choice is for Australians, and what my plan is taking Australia forward. Now I have been outlining that ever since I became prime minister.
We outlined that in the budget, each day as I’ve stood here before you, and each of the measures that we have been talking about in all parts of the country.
And this is an important choice. It’s not about who used to be around, it’s about who’s going to be around on 19 May this year. There are only two people who can be prime minister on 19 May – me or Bill Shorten. And that’s the choice Australians are going to make.
Whether they get up on 19 May, on Sunday morning, wherever they happen to be and look at that front page of the paper, will they see Bill Shorten as prime minister or will they see me as prime minister? And that is the choice that Australians are seeking to make, particularly over these last nine days.
And so, on Sunday, that’s what I’ll be focusing on.
(I am pretty sure that Sunday is not just Mother’s Day, it is also Bill Shorten’s 52nd birthday. Scott Morrison turns 51 on the Monday.)
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Question: Have you spoken to Joe Hockey about finishing up his term as US ambassador? And on that role, do you think Julie Bishop would be a suitable candidate?
Morrison:
Well, no, I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to Joe, and I’m sure Joe would understand that. Joe has been through many political campaigns himself. And Joe has made that announcement.
And I really want to thank Joe. It’s a good opportunity, in relation to the question you’ve posed today, for me to thank Joe for the great work that he has been doing as our ambassador.
Joe was very much involved in relation to the agreement that we were able to conclude with the United States regarding the resettlement. He also did outstanding work in ensuring that our government, and particularly under the former prime minister, was able to secure the great trade outcome for our aluminium and our steel producers. And Joe has done a great job on that.
The other thing Joe has done while he has been in the United States has been that centenary of partnership and alliance between Australia and the United States, having served on the battlefield over those last hundred years together. He’s really built the camaraderie of that relationship.
I really want to thank Joe for the great work he’s done. He’s served as a great ambassador. He will continue to do that in that capacity until the end of his term. At that time, if I’m successful at the next election, if the people of Cowper vote for Pat Conahan as the Nationals candidate here, then I’ll be in a position to make a decision later in the year about who should be the next ambassador.
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Question: Why are you in Cowper? Are the polls telling you the seat is potentially at risk with Rob Oakeshott back in the fray? And should Rob Oakeshott be re-elected? Are you prepared to speak with him if you need his support?
Morrison:
I am here because this is a very tight contest. And we make no bones about that.
The people of Cowper will decide whether, not only, whether they’ll get the opportunity for a great new local member like Pat to take over from Luke, who’s done a great job here on the mid-north coast over 18 years.
But they will also decide who the next prime minister is. The people of Cowper will decide who the next prime minister is, and only by voting for Pat Conaghan can you ensure that I, as the Liberal-National prime minister, will be able to continue in that job.
A vote for Rob Oakeshott is a vote for Bill Shorten, at the end of the day. Last time Rob ... And I know Rob. You know, I’ve known Rob for a long time. And I’ve got on very well with Rob.
But the truth is, last time he was in the parliament, he voted 75% of the time with the Labor party. And he put Julia Gillard into the prime ministership. Now, if people want a Labor prime minister, well, they’ll vote for Rob Oakeshott. If they want a Liberal prime minister in me. If they want Bill Shorten, well, Rob’s your guy.
But if you want me as prime minister and you want a Liberal-National government to continue, and the certainty of that for people’s jobs and the economy here on the mid-north coast, then Pat is the choice.
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Question: This morning Tanya Plibersek says she would like to see the US deal to take more refugees off Manus be expanded, and that’s what they would consider doing if they were to win government next week. What do you make of that? Should this US deal be extended to take more asylum seekers off Manus?
Morrison:
There is a lot of scope in the current deal. We are continuing to have people take up the offer to go and be relocated and resettled in the United States. It does strike me as passing strange that the Labor party, in particular Tanya Plibersek and Bill Shorten, who have been fairly colourful in their descriptions of the Trump administration, would think that they would be in a stronger position to achieve a better arrangement...
I find that a little odd. We have a very strong relationship with the United States. We have been able to practically implement the agreement we came into. It is – it’s a difficult arrangement to work through.
You have to manage the issues both on the US side and ours, but we really appreciate their support and cooperation. The national security issues that are addressed in dealing with those transfers are not simple. We just work through the program and hundreds of people have been – and will continue to be able to be relocate and resettled under that program.
Question: You say there’s a scope. How big would that scope with?
Morrison: We’ve still got hundreds of positions that can be filled under that arrangement.
Updated
Question: Prime minister, industrial relations. Yesterday you said you had not raised a white flag on labour market reform. But then you were evasive when you were asked repeatedly if you would consider making the market more flexible and making it easier for companies to hire and fire. So can you be fair dinkum with us?
Is this something that you will be willing to work with companies towards, to make the labour market for flexible and less complex, or is reform dead under your leadership?
Morrison:
Well, there was a lot of commentary in the question. I’m not going to agree with the presumptions, I’m simply going to say this.
I was talking to the owners of the business that are actually building this place right here.
You know what flexibility in the workplace means? It means that you can employ apprentices in workplaces like this and we’re providing a 75% subsidy for their wage in year one and then 50% and 25%.
We are doubling down on the incentives we give to employers, which gives them more flexibility to actually employ people.
We have got half ... half a billion dollars we’re putting in to a new program to ensure we will employ, including 80,000 apprentices in building trades.
Making sure things are flexible is about a relationship between employers and employees. It’s also about having the supports and incentives around the tax system, and the industry policies, which gives those employees the ability to take people on.
Now the proof of our success in managing that issue is the fact that we’ve seen 1.3 million jobs created. The same policies that enable us to put so many people in work, enable us to put so many young people in work, they are the policies we’re going to continue with.
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Question: For many swing voters the environment is one of the most important issues. It’s been 15 days since we have seen your environment minister. We are in [an election campaign] we like ... This is a chance to ask people questions. Is she being hidden from the campaign? Will you give us a chance to ask her questions while she stands by your side before this campaign is over?
Morrison: If that opportunity presents itself, then that will happen. She’s over in Western Australia, campaigning in the biggest electorate in the country. And ... the other day I made it pretty clear that she would be issuing a statement on the matter you are referring to, and she did.
Updated
Question: Are you comfortable –
Morrison: No concerns about that issue whatsoever. (Referring to anti-vaccination.)
Question: The other day, responding to the UN report on climate change, you said that the government had introduced and passed legislation through the Senate dealing with that very issue in the last week of parliament. What legislation was that?
Morrison: Well, on that occasion, I was actually referring to the animal protection legislation, but there was also in the course of that week, the budget measure, which was the environmental $100m restoration fund, which deals with that issue as well.
(The reporter asks what bill.)
Morrison: I was referring to different legislation. But in the same week there was the budget measure. To clear that up, that’s what I was referring to. Jono?
Updated
Question: Prime minister, on the issue of vaccinations, Clive Palmer – one of his candidates has questioned the need for immunisation and Clive Palmer’s spokesperson says the party is undecided on the merits of vaccination. You have said that the standard you walk past is the standard you accept. Is this acceptable for you, that you’re preferencing a party that doesn’t believe that you need vaccinations?
Morrison:
Labor is preferencing the anti-vaxxer in the seat of Richmond. Our policy, on anti-vaxxing is very, very clear. I am the minister – when he was I was social services minister – that introduced no jab, no play.
I’m the one who actually did that, and implemented that policy. We have record levels of vaccinations. So, when it comes to ensure that we have the herd vaccination in place for Australians, we’re the government that has delivered that.
And so there will be no change to that policy, only to make sure that it’s even better in the future. And there are no arrangements that we’ve entered into that would in any way, shape or form impact on that policy. None whatsoever.
Updated
Question: On the superannuation, you spoke a lot about it this morning. It’s been reported today that a lot of – hundreds of thousands of – Australians are getting benefits from IFM advisory investment fund, based in the Cayman Islands. Is that a legitimate use for Australians to benefit on their super from the Cayman?
Morrison: I would have to take further advice. I’m not aware. I’m not in a position to be able to comment.
Asked to comment on the Cayman’s more broadly, he moves on.
Updated
Morrison rules out 'absolutely 100%' any tax deal with Palmer
Question: What about a guarantee from you? Can you categorically rule out you have not struck a deal or discussed the possibility with Clive Palmer of revisiting tax cuts for big business in the next parliament?
Morrison:
I can absolutely rule that out. Absolutely 100% – 100% rule out that we will not be increasing or reducing taxes for businesses of more than $50m in the next term of parliament.
Never had a discussion with the UAP about it. Weren’t looking to have one. They didn’t ask for one. So that is a thing I can categorically completely rule out. That’s what ruling something out looks like, Bill, you don’t say, “I have a plan”, or use mealy-mouthed words.
I am not going to do it.
Can you say the same about the price and the value of people’s homes that they have saved hard for, whether it’s the investment property – we’re standing in one here. This is a property that has been developed and built and paid for by someone down in the city, who is investing in this property and this is creating jobs here in the mid-north coast. Bill Shorten wants to stop that.
(For the record, Morrison has previously said he has “no plans” to do anything on IR.)
Updated
Scott Morrison press conference
Electing the Liberal candidate in Cowper is now the only way to ensure Scott Morrison wins the election.
Earlier this week, it was Gilmore.
Anyone would think all 151 seats are important in a political party reaching a majority.
Updated
Ali France has responded to Peter Dutton’s claims she is taking down Bill Shorten posters in the electorate of Dickson:
This is making everyone at #Dickson HQ giggle. Just making stuff up, sounds kinda desperate. 😂#auspol #DicksonVotes https://t.co/vDMIiqvTtU
— Ali France (@alifrance5) May 9, 2019
Sarah Hanson-Young has responded to this story this morning:
Scott Morrison has been caught out trying to mask the Government’s inaction on the extinction crisis.
“The legislation he claims addressed the serious warnings outlined in the UN’s biodiversity report this week does not exist,” Hanson-Young said in a statement.
“The Liberals will cement their destruction of our environment by backing in the worst environment minister ever, Melissa Price, for another term. Keeping Melissa Price on as environment minister is worse than doing nothing.
“Melissa Price has been missing in action this election campaign, and since she took the job in August. When she has surfaced it has been to insult world leaders fighting for climate action, or to approve the Adani coal mine and a mega uranium mine in WA.
“The climate can’t afford another Liberal Government and our environment can’t afford another term with Melissa Price as environment minister. Voters deserve better than a Prime Minister who lies about his Government’s environmental credentials in the midst of global crises on climate change and biodiversity loss.
“The UN biodiversity report released this week gives voters a clear choice. If you want to stop the extinction crisis, if you want to save our environment, you need the Greens in the Senate.”
Updated
Question: Talking about pursuing new third-party resettlement options. New Zealand is clearly on the table. Is Malaysia also on the table?
Shorten: There’s no arrangements to talk with Malaysia. We’re not the government.
Question: But you are in ...
Shorten:
New Zealand has been on the table for four, five years. You’ve gotta ask yourself why the government hasn’t pursued it. Do they want to prolong this issue to score political points?
Listen, I know that the government wants to scare people about boats. I’m calling that out ... I’m not the government.
What I’m saying here is that this government has run out of anything to talk about.
What a surprise. The Thursday or Friday of the second-last week, government has tried all the other scare campaigns.
I notice today no one is asking me about that nonsense discussion about climate change costs, when, in fact, the cost of not acting is greater.
We all know the government has pressed the panic button. They want to scare people on boats.
They know we’ve got the same policy on boats.
We will have a very good foreign policy, because I’ve got Penny Wong, and they don’t.
We’ll make sure that we help resettle people. But you have sophisticated analysts. You know we’ve got the same policy on boat turnbacks.
You know we’ve got the same policy on regional resettle: you know we’re committed to resettling people overseas and not letting them stay here.
This nation needs more than scare campaigns.
You saw him last night. He thinks that childcare costs are going down. He thinks that cancer treatment is free. He thinks that first home buyers don’t have a problem in the market.
Goodness me – he even surprised me when he said, “climate change, yeah, we’re gonna make all our targets rubbish, rubbish, rubbish”.
All that man can do is talk about us. They don’t offer any plan for the future of Australia. They just want to give their corporate tax cuts back on the table of old mate Clive.
They want to give $77bn away to the top tier of tax earners. We know they have no plans. You know they have no plans. Whereas we want to help the sick people in this hospital.
Updated
Question: On your health plan, you talked about the election being about choices. You have a number of policies – health is one where there’s quite long-term spending plans. Will the costings tomorrow show those – the budget impact over the medium term, over a decade?
Shorten: Four and 10, yes.
Question: Labor has been critical of the use of tax havens like the Cayman Islands, but it’s been revealed today that IFM Investors, including Australian Super, owns infrastructure assets ultimately held in trust in the Cayman Islands, deliver a return for their members here in Australia.
Can you – do you accept that this shows that there are legitimate uses for tax havens in Australia?
Shorten:
I ... believe completely in transparency. I don’t want to see a Cayman Islands-based company take over our health system, as been given the green light by this company. Global capital moves around, but we need to see transparency. We need to see where tax is really paid.
It’s not good enough in this country that we have large multinationals paying no tax, or nearly next to no tax. For me, it’s about a fair go for all Aussies. The reality is, you run a local news agency, you’re a hardworking journalist, you work at a hospital, you’ve gotta pay the tax that’s levied on you. You don’t have the chance to split your income or park it in the Caymans.
Updated
Question: Why are you palming off the questions about resettling refugees in the United States, when it’s Tanya Plibersek who raised the prospect and not Peter Dutton? Can we get a yes or no about whether you’d consider that deal?
Shorten:
No, I’m ... Interesting use of the word “palm” there. No, we’re not.
I congratulate Malcolm Turnbull. That’s not something you hear the Liberals talks for keeping that deal on track with President Trump.
I actually don’t think that we should keep people in indefinite detention forever when we can resettle them in other countries. I’m sure you’d agree with me. So, we’re not.
The point about it is, if we’ve got people who have been in indefinite detention already for six or seven years, let’s move them on. Let’s find third-party countries, that’s all.
Let’s not fall for the government’s scare campaign. They’ve said they’ll take a ute off you, there are death taxes when there aren’t. They should be ashamed of themselves, signalling the people smugglers, a week out from the election, to try their hand.
They will find us completely resolute, working with border security, exactly as we should.
Updated
Question: Mr Shorten, you told one of the patients in there this morning, with a week to go, that lots of people are tuning out. So, whose fault is that? Are you failing to engage voters? Or have people just had a gutful of modern politics?
Shorten:
Well, I do think that not everyone is fully engaged in the election. I think some people are turned off by negativity too, aren’t they?
Also, what I was thinking, in an oncology ward is these people there are in the battle of their lives. One of the ladies, she moved up from Gippsland. She’s moved up to Queensland.
Resettled with her sons who were there. We met the son there too. This was last April. She’s now had a diagnosis.
That was her first treatment today. Like, when you get that news, I tell you what, you’re not greatly fussed about what order a how-to-vote card is in, are you?
But having said that, this is why this election is important. Because when you strip away the noise and some of the negative carry-on and all of that, if you’re in the fight of your life, don’t you deserve to have a government in Canberra who’s as brave as you Don’t you deserve to have a plan for the future?
What I learned out of last night’s debate is I saw for the first time Mr Morrison’s threadbare, real agenda on display. You know, we had five questions, we each asked each other questions. There were five, all about Labor policy.
We don’t talk about Liberal policy, because they’ve only got tax cuts, unfunded, in two elections’ time.
As we approach the last week, Mr Morrison thinks cancer treatment is free. Mr Morrison thinks there’s no problem with childcare costs. They think they’re going down. Mr Morrison thinks he’s got climate change under control.
This government is out of touch. They’ve only got one plan, which is to look after the special vested interests.
For me, making sure that this hospital – this is a modest hospital – it’s the centre of this community.
I want it to have better resources. Labor has made choices. We’re going after some of the unsustainable tax subsidies at the top end because, for me, when sick people get a fair go in this country, we are a better country for everyone.
Updated
Question: On robo-debt, social advocates have talked about the legalities of this program of groups. Like Acoss have ask for Labor to outline your view on it. What would Labor do?
Shorten:
Well, we want to make sure that people aren’t receiving welfare to which they’re not entitled to. And no one gets a leave pass on that.
But I do think that there are smarter ways of getting people to pay back money, and, indeed, investigating what people actually really do owe rather than giving it to the debt collectors.
This is a government who have got no problem giving $80bn to the top end of town, but if you’re on Newstart and you found yourself a job and you accidentally got an extra week’s pay, they find the debt collectors for you.
This is a government who, if you are weak and powerless in this society, who if you’re someone who this government doesn’t think supports it, they’ll chase you.
And if you’re at the top end of town, like Mr Palmer – he apparently owes the commonwealth taxpayer $70m, doesn’t he? Because the commonwealth has paid his debts to the workers. See, that’s the difference.
If you are poor and disadvantaged, this government will sick the debt collectors on it you.
But if you’re Clive Palmer and you owe your workers tens of millions of dollars, Mr Morrison will put you in the Senate.
Updated
Question: You mentioned scare campaigns earlier. Today, Labor is linking Clive Palmer with the government’s former proposed company tax cuts, that the treasurer said is now dead. Are you not running a scare campaign of your own with this?
Shorten:
Well, let me just go to what Mr Morrison said.
First of all, does anyone think that Clive Palmer doesn’t want a corporate tax cut for big business? That’s certainly what Pauline Hanson’s made clear he wants.
Does anyone think Mr Morrison doesn’t have one of the biggest IOU cheques in history to Clive Palmer if he gets returned?
Clive Palmer ain’t going into politics to raise taxes for big business, is he? So, Mr Morrison, though, I think he’s the real problem here. And you say, you know, trying to give Mr Morrison a leave pass in recent times because of his sudden conversion to not wanting to give a tax cut to big business.
It’s in the Liberal DNA. I have here a quote from what Mr Morrison said, just about the one-year anniversary of when he said it.
Morrison, quote: “We’re fully pursuing our enterprise tax plan. Nothing’s changed on that. We remain committed to this. We don’t flip or flop on these things.”
Well, you be the judge. Was he lying then, or is he lying now? The reality is that the Liberal party, for the last three years, has wasted the nation’s time pursuing a one-point economic plan.
Tax cuts for big business. And we see it again last night, when he was evasive, he still wouldn’t confirm that he wants to give $77bn to the top tier of tax earners. The Liberal party serve the top end of town in Australia, they serve the vested interests. Labor wants to ensure a fair go for all Australians.
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Question: Just on borders and home affairs, one of the things that Peter Dutton did say this morning in Townsville is that you should outline who your home affairs minister will be. You’ve pointed to who your health and your education minister will be. Can you give us even just one name of someone within your party who you would consider fit for that role?
Shorten:
I’ve got plenty of people who can do the role. But I tell you what, unlike the Liberal party, I don’t want to take my orders from Peter Dutton.
What a joke this fellow is. He destroyed Malcolm Turnbull. He destroyed Malcolm Turnbull.
One of the single biggest issues that we hear wherever we travel – I’m sure you hear it, for your exhaustive inquiries too – is what people really hate about modern politics is the turmoil, the backbiting and the pushing that Peter Dutton has never properly accounted or shown any remorse for tearing up the Liberal government of Malcolm Turnbull. Like, we don’t take orders from – that’s one of the many good reasons why I’m in the Labor party.
We will put forward our full ministry after the election. But since we’re talking about ministerial line-ups, has anyone seen their environment minister? Do you know they’ve had five defence ministers in six years?
This is a government ... And by the way, what is the real role of Clive Palmer in this government? Clive Palmer ... Pauline Hanson has outed Clive Palmer and said that he was trying to heavy her to vote for $80bn of tax cuts last year. Just how much power will Clive Palmer, the unnamed minister at the Morrison cabinet, table actually have?
Updated
Labor says Peter Dutton 'let out of his cave' to 'scare Australians'
Question: Would you consider revisiting the [Malaysia] solution or asking the Americans to take more refugees?
Shorten:
We are committed to maintaining strong borders. We have made it clear we will do boat turnbacks where the defence authorities and border security say it is safe to do it.
We are committed to the view that anyone who comes by boat via people smuggler will not be processed and settled in Australia – full stop.
We also said – you were all at the debate last night – what we don’t believe is we keep people for semi-indefinite detention.
I congratulate Scott Morrison for the work that he did.
With think there are opportunities if people want to take people for other places, that is fair enough.
We will work it through. I won’t have the government run their scare campaign somehow saying because we believe in the humane resettlement of people in third-party countries that that is not a commitment to strong borders. I notice that Peter Dutton has been let out of wherever he has been, and he’s popped up in Townsville, and Kristina and I were talking about it.
She’s got some observations that I think she should share with you.
Kristina Keneally:
Peter Dutton has been let out of his cave. He’s been kept underground somewhere by the Liberal-National party.
But they’ve let him out of his cave to appear on national television, in fact, to travel all the way to Townsville.
Look, frankly, this is a desperate attempt by the Liberals to scare Australians. This is a desperate attempt to cling to power.
This is a desperate attempt to deploy the most toxic man in Australian politics. And to have him out there, raising the spectre of fear and division in the community. The Australian people understand and support the commitment that both parties have to strong borders.
But the Australian people do not believe we need to be a cruel country, cruel to people on Manus and Nauru, in order to secure our borders and keep them safe.
Peter Dutton, being let out of the cave, out there in Townsville, trying to scare people, one has to ask: Is Mr Dutton, indeed, auditioning for some job in the future? Perhaps Peter Dutton is showing us his audition tapes for the role of leader of the party after the election.
Updated
Bill Shorten press conference
Border protection and Manus Island and Nauru are the first questions off the bat this morning.
Asked if Labor would seek to close “back door” Australia entry if it took the New Zealand solution, Shorten says that Labor would seek the same conditions as the United States deal.
Updated
OMG the Sky ticker has actually changed to “Latham calls out political correctness”.
This has made my day.
Updated
The Sky ticker currently says “Latham criticises ‘leftist elites’” and truly, it is not just death and taxes we can rely on any more in this crazy world, and I for one am grateful for some sort of consistency. It’s comforting.
It would only be more obvious if the ticker said something like “Latham stands against political correctness”, but I guess we have to save some things for tomorrow.
Updated
Not to be outdone by a Clive Palmer candidate questioning vaccination (as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age), now a Pauline Hanson candidate has jumped on the vaccination question train (while claiming not to be anti-vaxxer).
As reported by the Herald Sun:
A Victorian candidate for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has shared anti-vaccination propaganda and argued lifesaving “no jab, no play” policies are “dictatorial socialism”.
Vaughan Williams, the party’s candidate to take on Labor MP Lisa Chesters in Bendigo, posted a string of anti-vaccination stories and comments on his website “The Vaughan Report”, which promised “real news” for his followers.
He told the Herald Sun he was “not an anti-vaxxer” but believed people should be allowed to refuse vaccinations as he raised concerns about their “severe side effects”.
Updated
Liberal states open new front in costings battle
With Labor preparing to unveil its costings tomorrow, Liberal treasurers from three states – New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania – have written to Bill Shorten asking for further and better particulars about the big revenue-raising measures, and the impact of them on state revenues.
“You have committed to reducing access to negative gearing and reducing the capital gains tax discount. We are concerned that these changes have the potential to further slow the housing market, which will have significant implications for our constituents and also our local economies,” the three treasurers say.
“We write to seek your urgent advice on the impact of your policies on home values, rents, the construction industry, the economy, wages and jobs.”
The three treasurers are also seeking a “firm commitment” from Shorten that the states will be compensated for any loss of GST revenue as a result of Labor’s tax policies.
“Independent analysis of Labor’s changes to capital gains tax policy by the Centre for International Economics estimate that states will lose over $1.4bn a year – over $1bn a year in state revenue and over $400m a year in lost GST revenue.
“Further analysis by SQM forecast Labor’s change to negative gearing policy as resulting in a $2.3bn fall in stamp duty in one year alone. These matters could have significant implications for state finances.
“We ask that you confirm these issues as a matter of urgency to provide clarity to our states and residents.”
Updated
Bill Shorten is talking to people who are going through chemotherapy at the Redcliffe hospital.
Labor is holding its press conference at Redcliffe hospital. That’ll be sometime after midday.
Updated
Don’t f**k with the bingo players should be written in every campaign book.
I once accidentally held up a game when a forum I was hosting at a surf club ran over time, and let me tell you, I never let that happen again.
We are waiting for Scott Morrison to come down and play some bingo but many of the bingo players are NOT happy with the delay. #AusVote2019 pic.twitter.com/OBzgPgltqz
— James O'Doherty (@jmodoh) May 9, 2019
And Peter Dutton on whether or not Scott Morrison should lead the Liberal party if it loses the election:
I am increasingly confident we can win this election because I can tell you in my marginal seat, in Phil’s electorate, Bill Shorten is on the nose.
The Labor candidate in my electorate has started taking down Bill Shorten posters.
They are not mentioning Bill Shorten. I think older Australians, in particular, are waiting with baseball bats for Mr Shorten because they don’t want their retirement plan wrecked.
They don’t want the borders open and they don’t want Labor back mismanaging money.
So, we have got a long week ahead of us, but I believe that we can win this election that will be, in part, because people are very suspicious about Mr Shorten and what he represents.
'We have not ruled out NZ offer' – Peter Dutton
Asked another question about the New Zealand offer, Peter Dutton again seems to offer a softening of language here. The government rejected the offer, but then attempted to pass legislation which would put a “lifetime ban” on any Manus Island and Nauru refugees, which New Zealand would not accept, as it created a “second tier” citizenship, given the free movement between the two countries.
Dutton again floated that the government does not consider the New Zealand offer a no-go area, while criticising Labor for saying it will consider it (Bill Shorten repeated last night that Labor would look at the NZ offer).
I have detailed the concerns in relation to New Zealand. We have not ruled it out, but we have said at the moment that is not the option in the best interests for us.
People smugglers are marketing New Zealand at this point and the Labor party refuses to accept that.
Bill Shorten doesn’t even understand – and he’s demonstrated this in some of his statements – doesn’t understand that as a New Zealand citizen you have the ability to come to Australia and get a visa on arrival.
No other country in the world has that. So, if you want a back-door way to get to Australia, you go to New Zealand.
Let’s be very clear about the difference between New Zealand and other countries, including the United States.
So why the Labor party won’t accept that, I don’t know. But, if they bring – if they are elected into government and they bring people en masse from Nauru and Manus, I promise you the boats will restart.
The people smugglers will be rubbing their hands together because Shayne Neumann will lose control of the situation overnight.
Updated
Peter Dutton is “increasingly confident we will win this election” and believes older Australians “in particular, are waiting for Bill Shorten with baseball bats”.
Peter Dutton on why the government won’t accept the New Zealand offer to take refugees from Manus Island and Nauru:
The US deal was for up to 1,200 people but there are some people that the United States has said that they will not accept.Under Mr Shorten’s plan those people will come to Australia or go to New Zealand.
It will be interesting to see under a Shorten Government where or not Jacinda Ardern will take people with questionable backgrounds.
Will the New Zealand Government take people referred to them by the Australian Government and will they reject anyone.
That’s the question for the Labor Party so, yes, we’ve had a significant mess to clean up.
Not only the 1,200 lives at sea, as tragic as that was, but 8,000 children in detention, a tragedy for many of those children.
We have been able to get all of those kid out of detention, been able to get all of the kids off Nauru.
We have been able to get people to the United States and back to their country of origin ore-wise.
I promise you the first boat that arrives under Labor, under the agreement that the US has been very clear about, not one person will go to the United States and the New Zealand offer, given that New Zealand is the only country in the world where you can get a on arrival into Australia, that is a very different proposition in the mind of people smugglers, if people can get to New Zealand and we know that people smugglers are marketing New Zealand right now as a destination.
It is a very different proposition and Labor, it seems at the moment, is doing everything they can to get the boats are started and this government, as I have announced today, will continue our success of Operation Sovereign Borders and we don’t want to go back to the days of people drowning and we don’t want to go back to the days of kids in detention, but it is Labor Party policy today if a boat with 100 people turned up, those people would go on to Nauru.
Once they get overwhelmed on Nauru and the numbers are not able to be accommodated anymore, they will come to the mainland, which is exactly what happened when Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard were in government.
1,000 people a week were pulled off boats on Christmas Island and the Labor Party completely lost control of our borders.
Peter Dutton has made his way to north Queensland to talk border security:
I am here today along with Phil to make a very important announcement, that is the Coalition’s border protection policy.
That is one of the defining issues of this election and the difference now between the two parties when it comes to border protection is more stark than it has ever been.
We know that Bill Shorten has a track record, as Labor does, of not being able to manage borders, just like they can’t manage money.
The Government over the last six years has worked day and night to clean up Labor’s border protection disaster.
All Australians should remember when they go to vote at this election that 50,000 people arrived on 800 boats and 1,200 people, including women and children, drowned at sea.
Under Labor 8,000 children went into detention and we’ve been able to not only stop the deaths at sea but we’ve been able to get people off Manus and Nauru that Labor put there.
We have been able to get all of those children out of detention and we have been able to make sure that the boats don’t restart.
So the promise that we make to the Australian people is that our policy on Operation Sovereign Borders will continue and we cannot take our foot off the pedal here.
This is an enduring problem. It is an enduring threat.
The fact that Labor is proposing to undo regional processing through their Medevac bill and Labor is proposing to go soft on turning back boats where it is safe to do so and the fact that don’t have the ability or the desire within the Labor Party to keep those boats stopped, it is a big issue at this election.
...It is obvious now, we are hearing whispers out of Labor, that Mr Shayne Neumann will be the Home Affairs Minister if Mr Shorten is elected as the Labor Prime Minister in this country.
That should send a shiver down the spine of anybody concerned about border protection in this country.
He is one of the weakest people in the parliament. The people smugglers would be rubbing their hands together at the prospect of Shayne Neumann becoming the home affairs minister in this country and Mr Shorten needs to explain why he is reluctant to make that announcement.
Even nine days out from the election he refuses to say who would be his Home Affairs Minister.
The last reports revealed just one person has been transferred under the medevac bill.
Happy birthday to Parliament House
Still looking good after all these years ... #onthisday in 1988 Australia celebrated the opening of its 'new' Parliament House.
— Australian Parliament House (@Aust_Parliament) May 9, 2019
Let there be cake on this commemorative plate.#HappyBirthday #Canberra pic.twitter.com/kSYGpPgNOl
Updated
This is the final question. It is, as they say on the bad show, to be taken as a comment:
I am very pleased that you’re leading the charge in this election on our behalf. The previous Prime Minister I had no idea what he represented and I’m glad he’s gone. (Big cheers)
I feel you are representing certainly the values that I hold near and dear so thank you for representing me and even if, heaven forbid, the Labor Party win this election, at least I know that you’ve put up a very good fight on our behalf. Thank you very much.”
More cheers.
Scott Morrison:
I appreciate the support. But we are going to win this election. (BIG CHEERS)
I will tell you why I believe we are. I believe we will because of what I said at the outset and whatPat said, I think there are millions of Australians out there - you know, between elections they are not reading the papers or following the political news every day, as I said, they are too busy living their lives and fulfilling their responsibilities to others, they are caring for parents or they’re just being the decent, honest, good-hearted Australians that they are, but they turn up every three years at elections and they take a good, close look at what the options are and they are doing that right now.
As we’ve seen, as the weeks have passed, as we got closer to this election, they are seeing what the choice is and they are beginning to see and understand what the risk of a Labor Government would be.
I am setting out how we can make things better and will, because we have, and we will continue to and we will do it responsibly and affordably and do it without raising tax, and will make sure Australia is in a strong position and safe pair of hands to manage Australia through the years ahead.
They are seeing the alternative of Labor, which is a big risk where everything they have worked so hard for could be turned back. I say to those quiet Australians who are out there, now is not the time to turn back. Now is not the time to engage in big experiments with our economy and national security.
Now is the time for those trusted hands that have brought the budget back into surplus next year, that have created 1.3 million job, that have created over 100,000 jobs in just one year for young people, that has invested in our hospitals and schools - up 60% - that has ensured we are taking on the big challenges in mental health and aged care, there are twice as many people today that have an in home care package today than when we were first elected.
And to tackle the big issues that I know young people, but not just young people, right across the spectrum of our community who want us to take action on climate change and we are.
Bill Shorten is saying that it is a choice between taking and not taking action. No, we are both taking action. We are taking responsible action, that is what we are doing and he won’t tell you the price of the action that he intends to take.
While trying to see where that question was coming from in the crowd, Scott Morrison said there was “a shire* girl in every crowd” if that helps paint a picture of the sort of room he’s talking to.
*I originally wrote this as shy, but have been corrected from those in the room. He said shire.
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There is a woman in this Port Macquarie forum who appears to be complaining that her 40-year-old children won’t be voting for Scott Morrison and they “just don’t get” the issues around franking credits.
She literally mentions that they are not listening to their father.
A lot of us have children in their middle to late 40s and it is very difficult [at] some family get togethers trying to explain to them some of the policies. One of my children has trouble with – I understand it – but I have trouble with explaining why ... the franking credits is not a gift and their father has tried to explain if you don’t earn enough tax to have to pay tax, that’s why you get it back. But it is very difficult for them to get it through to the 40-year-olds why it is not a gift. So I’m wondering if through your last week some of those confusing issues, which to them is just rhetoric, when in fact it is our reality, could be looked at and explained a little clearer to the younger people, please?”
Obviously, the children continue to be wrong and you are never too old for your mother to dob on you to the prime minister.
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Scott Morrison is addressing the Cowper crowd by telling them that Bill Shorten refers to what they have worked hard for (franking credits) as “a gift”.
“He said it again last night,” Morrison says.
The murmurs are so loud, you can hear them on the broadcast. It’s 1950s musical level of murmuring in there.
But at least we know there are no pitchforks.
Some retirees that I spoke to were disgruntled that they had to leave their handbags at the door at Scott Morrison’s seniors forum.
— James O'Doherty (@jmodoh) May 9, 2019
“what kind of place doesn’t allow a woman to bring in her handbag!?”#AusVote2019
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The UK does have nuclear power, so this is with that caveat.
But they have done their first week without coal since the industrial revolution. And Malcolm Turnbull was very quick to congratulate them on it.
The UK’s political challenges are not enviable, but at least there is longstanding bipartisan support for tackling climate change and moving to net zero emissions and, in particular, away from burning fossil fuels. https://t.co/pAqklXHkPI
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) May 8, 2019
And no wonder they are so happy – water aerobics is about to get LIT. From Scott Morrison’s announcement:
Port Macquarie’s first tidal pool is set to become a reality with a $4.5m commitment from the Liberal and Nationals government.
Visiting Port Macquarie today, prime minister Scott Morrison pledged his government would finish the feasibility study, finalise planning and design, and get the project done.
The prime minister said his government had listened to the local community and the 18,000 people who had signed the petition to the Port Macquarie-Hastings council.
“A tidal pool in Port Macquarie is one of those projects which has been talked about in the community for decades and my government and our candidate Pat Conaghan will make it a reality,” the prime minister said.
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Scott Morrison has arrived at a Port Macquarie’s seniors’ forum to a very warm welcome.
Standing room only at Scott Morrison’s seniors’ forum at Port Macquarie Panthers pic.twitter.com/vX6gUHWVhL
— James O'Doherty (@jmodoh) May 9, 2019
Scott Morrison was invited on Insiders when Labor was having its campaign launch last week.
He declined and Josh Frydenberg got the gig.
Bill Shorten however, has accepted:
On #Insiders on Sunday @barriecassidy interviews @billshortenmp #auspol #ausvotes #ausvotes19 pic.twitter.com/gPeMAcpNOk
— Insiders ABC (@InsidersABC) May 9, 2019
On Triple M this morning, Bill Shorten has floated the idea, which was floated from many of you yesterday, that Malcolm Turnbull was the punter who dropped a $1m bet on Labor to win the election.
There is no suggestion Turnbull made the bet. He’s in New York and the punter was only ever described as a “man from NSW”, but there is also nothing to stop the speculation.
'Rupert Murdoch does not have a vote in this election' - Plibersek
While talking to ABC radio this morning, Tanya Plibersek was also asked about Kevin Rudd’s call for a royal commission into the “abuse of the near monopoly” of News Corp.
The relationship between Labor under Bill Shorten and News Corp was thrown starkly into the spotlight yesterday, following the Daily Telegraph story about his mother.
Shorten broke with long-standing tradition when he declined Rupert Murdoch’s invitation for a meeting in New York, declaring he would deal with local managers the same as he does for every other media outlet.
Plibersek says Labor was “not contemplating a royal commission” and there would not be “retribution” from a future Labor government.
“But I think it is fair enough to call out the fact, that News Limited is doing their very best ... we are happy to call out what is a pretty obvious bias in the News Limited media, aimed at protecting their business interests.
“This is a company that between 2013 and 2017 paid no corporate tax in Australia. In 2015 the ATO said this is the number one company to watch, in terms of reducing or avoiding tax.
“More to the point, Rupert Murdoch gave up his Australian citizenship. He does not have a vote in this election. Millions of Australians do.
“They should decide for themselves, not based on misinformation from corporate interests protecting their right to pay no tax.”
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“Have acted, are acting, will act,” says Simon Birmingham on the government’s own climate policy.
.@Birmo on climate policy: We accept that there is a cost of inaction. We’ve acted, and we are on track to meet and exceed the 2020 Kyoto targets.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 8, 2019
MORE: https://t.co/cnxAXrLKY3 #amagenda pic.twitter.com/A1UOVLwODs
WeChat continues to make headlines this campaign. The ABC has this report this morning:
Prime minister Scott Morrison and the Coalition government have been targeted by online propaganda coming from social media accounts affiliated with the Chinese Communist party (CCP).
The findings come from a paper, prepared by cyber propaganda researchers Dr Michael Jensen, Dr Titus Chen and Tom Sear, which will be delivered to the Safeguarding Australia Summit in Canberra today.
“Our evidence suggests that accounts aligned more closely with the government in Beijing have a clear anti-Liberal (government) story coming out of them,” said Dr Jensen, a senior research fellow at the University of Canberra’s Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis.
Across a period of five months from November 2018 to March 2019, the researchers analysed the Australian content on 47 of the most visited WeChat official accounts in mainland China, 29 of which were aligned with the CCP.
There is some suggestion that the posts are in response to the government’s stance on Huawei. And of course, there was the cyber attack on the parliament IT system, which was also levelled (unofficially of course) at China.
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Peter Dutton has made his way out of Dickson, for one of the first times this campaign.
But he hasn’t left Queensland – he is headed to Herbert, to campaign with the Liberal candidate there, Phil Thompson, in Townsville.
Preferences are going to be the kingmaker in that seat.
Flynn, a little further south, is one seat Labor thinks they could pick up, if they lose Herbert. Leichhardt is another one described as “line ball”.
Bill Shorten will be in the south-east of the greatest nation on Earth later today, with Brisbane and Petrie on Labor’s target list.
Luke Howarth looks like holding on, at least at this stage. Trevor Evans is facing an increase in the Greens vote, which could cause him some problems.
But at this point, Queensland is looking like a zero-sum game for both major parties.
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Tanya Plibersek was on ABC radio this morning, talking costings.
Asked what the impact of Labor’s climate policy would be on the budget, particularly the 45% emissions reduction policy, she gave an answer – just over $500m.
It’s the economy-wide impact which will be a different – but that isn’t coming from the budget bottom line, and so, there is no cost put on that.
The impact of Labor’s higher ambition for pollution reduction is the same as the government’s because we allow pollution to be reduced by purchasing offsets from overseas and the government won’t allow that,” Plibersek said.
The cost on business will depend on how they reduce their pollution.”
Also on the ABC this morning, Josh Frydenberg was keen to talk about the missing numbers from Labor’s policies, but once again declined to put a figure on what the cost of the government’s high income tax cuts would be.
“All the benefits are laid out particularly in the budget,” he said.
Pre-polling continues to just tick along.
As of COB Wednesday 8 May approximately 1.4m people have cast their vote at an early voting centre for the 2019 federal election. About 237k were cast yesterday. #ausvotes #auspol
— AEC (@AusElectoralCom) May 8, 2019
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Higgins is one of many Victorian battlegrounds, with the state very possibly deciding the election outcome.
Last night the Liberal candidate, Katie Allen, who hopes to take over from the retiring member Kelly O’Dwyer, was on ABC radio and was asked about comments attributed to O’Dwyer, that she has not disputed, that the Liberal party was seen as “homophobic, anti-women, climate change deniers”.
Asked about it on RN, Allen admitted that yes, the party is perceived that way in some quarters:
KA: Kelly O’Dwyer’s comments were taken completely out of context …
Patricia Karvelas: No, she said the party is regarded as homophobic, anti-women, climate change deniers.
KA: No she didn’t, she said she is concerned they are perceived that way, and –
PK: I said that, she said the party is regarded – same thing.
KA: OK. Fair enough. So it is an internal conversation –
PK: I know, I spoke with people in that meeting. I absolutely know what she said in that meeting.
KA: It was not a public statement, it was an internal party discussion about concerns of what we were perceived as.
PK: And you’re still perceived as that aren’t you?
KA: Yes. I’m happy to say that. Absolutely. And so I am putting my hand up – perceptions are not reality. So there are some people –
PK: Aren’t some perceptions based on reality? I mean, you have had climate deniers in the party room.
KA: I’m sure Labor has as well.
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This sounded a little strange when the prime minister said it, and here’s why –
Scott Morrison’s office has declined to say what legislation he was referring to when he said he had “been taking action” on a landmark UN report about the extinction of a million different species.
On Monday, the UN released a comprehensive, multi-year report that revealed human society was under threat from the unprecedented extinction of the Earth’s animals and plants. The agriculture minister, David Littleproud, said the report “scared him”, during a debate on Wednesday.
On Tuesday Morrison responded to the report saying: “We already introduced and passed legislation through the Senate actually dealing with that very issue in the last week of the parliament. We’ve been taking action on that.”
But no legislation regarding animal conservation or the environment passed in the final week of parliament.
That’s the second time Morrison has pointed to environmental legislation that doesn’t exist/meet the sell.
Morrison did confirm overnight that if he wins government, Melissa Price, the environment minister who does exist, but is never really seen, will remain in her portfolio. So there is that.
Good morning
There is just over a week to go and the focus is still all on Labor’s policies.
Last night’s third and final leaders’ debate was also about Labor’s policies, with both Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison discussing policies the opposition has put forward.
It really narrowed down what this campaign has been all about.
But it also narrowed down the leaders’ pitch to the electorate. We’ve had continuity and change, but now we have continuity v change. This is not a business-as-usual-in-a-different-cloak election.
Which means attention is turning to how each plans to manage the coming economy, with all those global headwinds we keep being warned about. Labor plans on releasing its costings tomorrow, a full week before the election. That’s because the party believes it has a good story to tell.
The Liberals have one more day of “tell us the cost” and they don’t plan on wasting it.
But the government has other issues to address as well, with Clive Palmer’s United Australia party “undecided” on its stance on vaccinations. Morrison will have to defend the deal his party made with the Palmer party once again, after the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age report.
The Liberals look to be are heading to Cowper for a seniors forum, while I wouldn’t be surprised if Labor heads further north, to Queensland.
I saw the media buses outside parliament early this morning. It’s a slightly later start, with the latest royal baby winning the morning news cycle, and the parties happy to cede the spotlight – at least for the moment.
Once again there is a lot to get through. I’ve been gifted with my second coffee, so am as ready as I’ll ever be.
Let’s get into it.
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