Nighttime politics
Well that is it for this blog for what has been a very long and fascinating week. It stretched from the Senate referrals of One Nation senator Rod Culleton and former senator Bob Day on Monday to the election of Donald Trump. The times are a-changing.
This is what happened today:
- George Brandis overturned his controversial legal direction regarding the solicitor general, almost three weeks after the former SG Justin Gleeson resigned over the consequential stoush. The Senate was going to overturn the direction anyway so the attorney general saved himself an embarrassing vote on the floor of the Senate.
- Malcolm Turnbull had a conversation with Donald Trump. They talked alliances, their mutual business background and the US plans in the region. The government spent question time talking up the Australian-American relationship generally on trade, defence, border security and also accusing Bill Shorten of bad judgement for dissing the Donald’s views as “barking mad”.
- Shorten suggested that Australia be the ally that American needs, not wants. He said we should not step away from our values, highlighting respect for women and rejecting prejudice.
- Australia ratified the Paris agreement on climate change at the same time as Craig Kelly, the chair of its environment committee, said Paris was “cactus”.
- Ethnic community groups are starting to come out and push back against plans in sections of the Coalition to amend 18C and D of the Racial Discrimination Act.
- The migration bill for a lifetime ban of refugees from Manus and Nauru passed the house. Andrew Wilkie, Cathy McGowan and Adam Bandt tried to amend it, to no avail. Labor voted against it. The bill’s passage is not assured through the Senate.
Thanks for your company and to my brains trust, Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and Gareth Hutchens. Mike Bowers is a legend. We now have a week off and then #politicslive will be back for the final sitting fortnight.
Good night.
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Greens call for National Integrity Commission
The senate is debating a private members bill for a National Integrity commission. Greens senator Lee Rhiannon is speaking to a motion first moved by former Greens leader Christine Milne in 2013.
Establishes a National Integrity Commission as an independent statutory agency which will consist of the National Integrity Commissioner, the Law Enforcement Integrity Commissioner and the Independent Parliamentary Advisor and provide for:
- the investigation and prevention of misconduct and corruption in all Commonwealth departments, agencies, and federal parliamentarians and their staff;
- the investigation and prevention of corruption in the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Crime Commission;
- and independent advice to ministers and parliamentarians on conduct, ethics and matters of proprietary.
- Also provides for the establishment of a Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Integrity Commission.
Labor has spoken against it so no chance.
Even though George Brandis has repealed the solicitor general legal direction, Senator Wong has given notice of a motion that would stop Brandis effectively reactivating his legal direction. It was just a mention at this stage.
November 21: First court date for Bob Day and Rod Culleton on Senate eligibility
The president of the Senate, Stephen Parry, has just notified the Senate that the high court will first consider the eligibility of One Nation senator Rodney Culleton and former Family First senator Bob Day at a directions hearing on 21 November.
Directions hearings just set out the way forward, rather than hearing substantive argument, which lends weight to reports the cases won’t be heard and decided for months.
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That awkward moment when your leader has to answer questions about your Facebook.
George Brandis: new solicitor general should have a clean slate
In Senate Question Time, the attorney general George Brandis has been asked about his decision on Thursday to rescind his order giving him control over access to advice from the solicitor general.
Brandis said that he had rescinded the direction because acting solicitor general Tom Howe believed the new solicitor general “should be greeted with a clean slate”.
Brandis maintained the direction was a mere matter of “housekeeping” that did not change the process reflected in the Legal Officers Act.
The attorney general said the process for how the solicitor general is briefed would be discussed when the position is filled shortly.
Brandis denied the direction was made to target former solicitor general Justin Gleeson and said that it was Labor’s actions that had caused him to appear before the Senate committee and ultimately resign.
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw.
Butter wouldn’t melt.
There was an interesting query from Joel Fitzgibbon at the end of question time. He wants to know, after Barnaby Joyce had to correct Hansard in 2014, he never explained to the house why he had to correct the Hansard.
This relates to the breakdown of Joyce’s relationship with his head of department, Paul Grimes. Eventually Grimes was sacked and only recently we discovered that Grimes wrote suggesting that he could no longer work with Joyce on matters of integrity. Speaker Smith says there are many ways to raise the matter with him outside of this particular time.
Write me a letter, the Speaker says.
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Barnaby Joyce gets a Dixer question on the backpacker tax.
There was a group that decided that it wasn’t the rate they wanted, and that was Senator Jacqui Lambie who became the leading economic liability of the Australian Labor party. She proposed a different rate, a rate of 10.5%. The problem with 10.5% is it doesn’t create fairness, it creates a mechanism to attract foreign workers into Australia to take Australian jobs.
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Hmmmm.
Hazards of Movember, lotsa beard scratching #LaborFrontBench #QT @edhusicMP &Tim Hammond @gabriellechan @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/lTKPy43Pgh
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) November 10, 2016
Labor’s Kate Ellis to Christopher Pyne, representing the education minister: The minister representing the minister for education has repeatedly claimed that the $1.84m grant to a college linked to Bob Day went through the normal processes. Can the prime minister provide any other example where a college was awarded an amount which exceeded their entire annual revenue and will the prime minister now admit this grant was excessive?
Pyne says yes I can.
The Campbelltown Junior soccer club in my electorate.
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More American cooperation questions.
We love Americans.
Dreyfus to Turnbull: I refer to the attorney general’s humiliating backflip on the legal services direction just before question time. Given this backflip follows the attorney general’s litany of scandals, including repeatedly misleading the parliament, appointing over a dozen Liberal cronies to jobs worth up to $370,000 a year, and claiming people have the right to be bigots, what does the attorney general have to do to be sacked?
Turnbull laughs at the question.
I’m not sure if there is anything in the standing orders about unhealthy obsessions or stalking ...
Turnbull says a new solicitor general will be appointed shortly and the attorney general George Brandis will consult with that person.
I wonder if that will be a consultation under the Oxford dictionary definition?
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George Christensen to the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, (triumphantly): Will the minister update the house on the importance of cooperation with the United States on border security, particularly in the wake of the stunning election of the courageous Donald J Trump as president of the USA?
The answer from Dutton is all about the information sharing around border security, including technological advances which have allowed the government to pick up 20 “persons of interest” in the asylum seekers applying from Syria.
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Labor to Turnbull: Speaking about the US election this morning, Senator Ian Macdonald said about Queenslanders at the last election: “They also thought that in the member for Warringah they had someone they could relate to, and I think all those things did impact upon the result and did lead to a bigger-than-expected vote for Pauline Hanson”. Does the prime minister think Queenslanders relate to the member for Warringah in a way they don’t relate to the current prime minister and his government?
Turnbull says there are plenty of commentators who can talk about that.
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As the government is turning up the rhetoric on the US-Australian alliance in the lower house, the Greens were questioning the very same alliance.
Greens senator Nick McKim tells the Senate Australians understand “we cannot automatically be best friends with the US under a Trump presidency”.
It is not business as usual anymore, this has been a seismic geopolitical event.
McKim rattles off Trump sins, including plans to undo the deal that froze Iran’s nuclear program, promising to commit war crimes such as extra-judicial killings in the Middle East, and starting a trade war with China.
We can no longer simply lock in behind the United States like a sycophantic little brother or sister. In the past, the cost of the unquestioning alliance with the US has been disastrous.
McKim cites the Vietnam and Iraq wars, the latter he says created the conditions for Islamic State (Daesh).
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Labor’s Nick Champion to Malcolm Turnbull: This morning, when asked about the policies the government has put in place that saw auto jobs lost in SA, the deputy prime minister said, “There are not many car plants in National party seats. Who are we looking after? Our people.” Why should South Australian workers trust the prime minister with their jobs when his own deputy admits he doesn’t care. Isn’t it a case the divisions in this government mean the prime minister is only focused on one job – your own?
Turnbull:
The reality is that Australia’s greatest opportunity is in advanced manufacturing. The reality is that the most advanced manufacturing is in the defence sector. The reality is that it was the Labor party that abandoned the workers at Osborne, that abandoned the defence industry. Six years and nothing was done.
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The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, has moved in the Senate to suspend standing orders and put a motion for the Senate to call on the government “to reconsider the Australia-US alliance in light of the results of the US presidential election”.
Labor is not impressed:
The Greens want Australia to renounce ANZUS without notice, during #QT, while Obama is still President. Very silly stuff. https://t.co/X98OATqJRE
— Tim Watts MP (@TimWattsMP) November 10, 2016
The defence minister, Marise Payne, says the government has always said whoever the US people chose, Australia would work with their choice.
She says the Anzus treaty is an “enduring and strongest possible commitment” for Australia and the US to defend each other from attack.
One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts reveals he has “reached out” to the Trump team.
I get it, the Greens don’t like the result of the American election result ... Trump’s victory is a victory for freedom.
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The Liberal party’s delegate to the United Nations, Senator Cory Bernardi, has lauded the election of Donald Trump as a movement against the establishment political parties. Is the prime minister concerned by the movement against establishment political parties, particularly by conservative groups based in South Australia, and what implications does this have for government policy?
(It was a question we were wondering ...)
Turnbull says it is Labor’s fault that voters are cranky with established political parties in South Australia.
Nobody has less moral right to talk about workers’ jobs, manufacturing industry, than Labor members from SA. You abandoned the workers of SA. You abandoned the workers at Osborne. It was the Liberal party, the National party, our Coalition, which has given them hope for an advanced manufacturing future. We did that.
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Now a government question to defence industry minister Christopher Pyne on the defence relationship between Oz and the US.
Don’t put those relationships at risk through bad judgement, says Pyne.
Drumroll ... Bill Shorten’s poor judgment.
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Labor to foreign minister Julie Bishop: Could the Foreign Minister please advise the House why, in her previous answer, she did not refer to the Deputy Prime Minister describing Donald Trump’s political positions as cruel and nasty, did not refer to the Leader of the House describing the advent of the Trump campaign as terrifying, explain why she didn’t refer to the Minister for Environment describing him as a drop kick or John Howard saying he was too unstable to hold the office, or herself as saying she didn’t see the US as having a global leadership role?
Now we have dropped into this slanging match between who called Donald Trump the worst names.
Bishop:
I didn’t mention the fact that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition called Israel a rogue State and Ariel Sharon a war criminal. I didn’t mention the fact that the Leader of the Opposition, who presents himself as the alternate Prime Minister of this country, has chosen to denigrate and demean the presidential candidate in another country. This sorry tactic of trying to blame everybody else for his personal failings will not wash.
Trade minister Steve Ciobo gets a Dixer on the Australian relationship with the United States.
Indi Independent Cathy McGowan to Barnaby Joyce: there are over 100 dairy farm families who live in the valleys of the upper Murray, Mitwa and King Rivers. Up to 60% are in need of assistance and 20% desperate. The government’s emergency dairy support package promised a process of fast-tracking household support allowances but farmers in these valleys are reporting a delay of up to 20 weeks to get assistance. Will the Deputy Prime Minister please commit to holding a round table, preferably in my electorate, to review the process, to increase staff on the ground and allocate additional resources to clear the backlog?
Joyce talked about the loans available and the recent drop in the concessional rate. He says Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie will hold a round table in McGowan’s seat of Indi.
It never ceases to surprise me when an answer is actually supplied.
Labor to Turnbull: Yesterday speaking about the US election, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said “I don’t expect there to be any change to the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement, it hasn’t been mentioned”. Is thePrime Minister aware Donald Trump’s campaign has committed to renegotiating all US Free Trade Agreements? What preparation has the government undertaken in relation to our own Free Trade Agreement with the US and was it raised in our phone call today?
Turnbull says they did not discuss the US free trade agreement but he does not anticipate any changes.
Foreign minister Julie Bishop takes a Dixer that allows her to give Bill Shorten a bollocking over his remarks regarding Trump in which he called some of Trump’s views “barking mad”.
But not content with the personal vitriol, he went even further and denounced thePresident-elect by saying that he was entirely unsuitable to be the leader of the free world. Then, by publicly predicting a Trump loss, he showed utter disregard for the people of the United States and their democratic process. With his mealy mouthed address today, trying to deflect from the fact he was undermining the relationship with the United States, he once more showed his flawed judgement and his reckless immaturity.
On the Paris Agreement politics, Katharine Murphy was interesting about the power plays within the Coalition. She wrote about it last Saturday.
In no rational universe does the Australian government want to be in a position of going to that meeting and telling other countries we don’t intend to ratify the Paris agreement, but nothing is done until it’s done and the process isn’t yet locked down with a cabinet ruling.
Obviously, this whole play – “look at those dreadful renewables and, oh look, here’s the Paris agreement” – is a lot more complicated than a simple game of bait and switch.
Labor to Turnbull: how can the member for Hughes possibly remain the chair of the Coalition committee on the environment and energy when he is promoting a position which undermines the central plank of the prime minister’s policy on climate change? Will the prime minister now sack the member for Hughes from this position or is the prime minister preparing for yet another backflip on climate change policy?
Turnbull:
The honourable member’s question seems to overlook a salient fact which is that the government has ratified the Paris agreement. That is the fact.
Turnbull then flicks the question to energy and environment minister Josh Frydenberg.
Updated
First question is Shorten to Turnbull: This morning on social media the member for Hughes said in response to Donald Trump’s plan to cancel the Paris agreement on climate change: “Paris is cactus”. Is this comment from the member for Hughes [Craig Kelly] consistent with the prime minister’s announcement today Australia has ratified the Paris agreement?
Turnbull says the government has ratified the Paris agreement, (in many more words than that).
Kelly of course, is chair of the Coalition’s environment backbench committee which means he overseas the consultations on environmental policy. Climate change. He does not accept the science and only this week linked renewable energy policies and their effect on electricity prices with childhood drownings.
Here is his post:
Good to see he is reading the Guardian.
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Bill Shorten on Trump: the alliance doesn't mean trading away shared values
But Shorten also says this:
Ours is a partnership between two nations which look at each other and see something of themselves. The frontier and the bush, spacious skies and boundless plains, the fair go and the American dream.
The abiding friendship between our nations is strong enough for honesty. In fact, true friendship demands nothing less. It is never acceptable to mock people for their disability. It is never acceptable to ridicule prisoners of war for their service.
When this parliament sees women being disrespected we have an obligation to speak up.
When this parliament sees people being discriminated against because of the colour of their skin or their religion, we have an obligation to speak up. The US alliance does not mean trading away our shared values, it means standing up for them.
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Bill Shorten now:
As fierce and as hard as we fought this year’s election, I believe we can be proud of the standards and relative civility we held ourselves to. Now, Mr Speaker, the American people have spoken, they have made their choice. As common believers in democracy, as servants of the people ourselves, we respect their decision. On behalf of the Australian Labor party, I congratulate president-elect Donald Trump on his victory. Seasoned pundits and pollsters under-estimated his electoral appeal and the resonance of his message.
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Turnbull:
It is in our nation’s mutual interest to maintain the strongest and closest ties between the United States and Australia’s defence forces, a relationship that has seen American and Australian troops fight side-by-side in every major conflict in the last century. Indeed, tomorrow, Remembrance Day, we will commemorate the day 98 years ago when the guns fell silent on the Great War. A victory won in no small measure by the brilliance of Australia’s General John Monash and the courage of the Australian, British and American troops that went into battle.
Australia has close, indeed intimate, security arrangements with other friends and allies but our alliance with the United States is unquestionably our single most important security relationship underpinned by our mutual security pact, the ANZUS treaty, concluded between Australia, New Zealand and the United States in1951.
The ties that bind Australia and the United States are strong, profound, they’re based on the experience, on the engagement of millions of Australians andAmericans but, above all, they are based on our enduring national interests. Americans know they have no better ally, no better friend, than Australia.
Turnbull talks about trade relationships and Americans and Australians fighting against Daesh now.
The decision in the United States election has been a great and momentous one and we wish President-elect Trump and his Administration all the best in their work in the future.
The fate of the world, the future of the world, depends on strong American global leadership. America has been the bedrock of global stability, of peace in the world and we look forward to a strong America, a committed America and Australia will be, as it has been in the past, a strong and committed ally as America stands for peace in the world today.
Statement on indulgence Mr Speaker.
Turnbull talks about his Trump call.
As President Obama said overnight: Campaigns are hard and sometimes contentious and noisy. He added “Many Americans are exalted today, a lot of Americans are less so but that’s the nature of campaigns, that’s the nature of democracy”. It shows the enduring strength of the democratic system where the power to choose the Government resides with the people.There has been perhaps no greater demonstration of that process than in the United States.
More people voted in this United States election than in 2012 with voter turnout up nearly 5%. That’s a very good thing for democracy. It was noticeable that, despite an intense and at times very confronting campaign, President-elect Trump immediately reached out to bring Americans together in his victory speech and, in doing so, praised and thanked Secretary Clinton for her public service.
Crikey I almost forgot question time. *live blogger gets a hold of herself*
Leading Jewish community group says no case to alter 18C
Peter Wertheim of the Executive Council of Australia Jewry has said there is no case to change 18C and 18D.
He does not believe a case has been made to change the law but he does believe the changes could be made to improve the likely of striking out claims without merit earlier.
We do not believe that any case has been made to alter sections 18C and 18D of the RDA. We believe sections 18C and 18D of the RDA strike a careful balance between freedom of expression and freedom from racial vilification. Indeed, the actual result in the QUT case entirely vindicates the correctness of that balance. The decision expressly confirmed that section 18C does not extend to ‘trivial slights’ but requires ‘profound and serious effects’.
Whilst there is no evidence whatsoever that the percentage of unmeritorious claims made under section 18C of the RDA is higher than under any other statutory regime for relief, such as the law of defamation, copyright, consumer protection and trade practices, we nevertheless welcome any constructive and appropriate proposal to improve the complaints-handling process and to identify and filter out unmeritorious complaints at an early stage.
In particular we welcome the ideas put forward by Julian Leeser MP, the Member for Berowra, in his address to the Chinese Australian Services Society on 4 November 2016, proposing that the Australian Human Rights Commission Act be amended so as to minimise the likelihood of unmeritorious claims proceeding to court.
Updated
George Brandis repeals his own "Justin Gleeson" legal direction to avoid embarrassing vote
Attorney general George Brandis has issued a new legal instrument that repeals the part of a legal services direction that gave him control over the process of seeking advice from the solicitor general.
The direction sparked a public spat between Brandis and former solicitor general Justin Gleeson, who first contradicted Brandis’s claim he had consulted him before making the direction, ignored the direction claiming it was invalid, then resigned under a flurry of criticism from the Coalition for allegedly politicising his office.
On Tuesday the opposition-controlled legal and constitutional affairs references committee said the attorney general should be censured for misleading the Senate about the consultation and recommended it tear up the direction.
Brandis denies that he misled the Senate or failed to consult. Labor, the Greens and Nick Xenophon Team were set to disallow the direction at 3:30pm on Thursday, although it appears Labor and the Greens lack the numbers for a censure.
But the Legal Services Amendment (Repeal of Solicitor-General Opinions) Direction 2016 made by Brandis on Thursday saves them the bother of disallowing the direction, repealing the part that former solicitor general Gavin Griffith said recalled the image of a “dog on a lead”.
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The Senate is filibustering because it did not want to debate the backpacker-tax bill (which is likely to be amended).
Although the backpacker bill was not listed, Labor decided to move to force the Coalition to bring it on. Labor argued, you reckon this bill is urgent, well bring it on.
No, said the Coalition. We don’t want to. (We will lose.)
The government tried to gag the debate but lost.
Under the Labor motion, the Senate only has up until question time at 2pm to debate the backpacker tax.
So now government members are filibustering on other bills to get to 2pm so they don’t have to bring their own (urgent) backpacker tax bill on for debate.
The filibuster saw Liberal senator Ian Macdonald reminiscing about the time the police raided his farm because they thought he was growing dope. Of course, he was doing nothing of the sort. He doesn’t smoke dope. (Unlike some others around here, according to Macdonald.)
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Lunchtime politics
- The prime minister has spoken to Donald Trump. They talked about the alliance and his commitment to the region. They talked military hardware. They talked about their common business background. Pragmatism all the way.
- The migration bill to ban asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru ever coming to Australia has passed the lower house. It was opposed by Labor, Greens MP Adam Bandt and independents Andrew Wilkie and Cathy McGowan. It will now go to the Senate where its fate is unclear. The government is still negotiating with the crossbench.
- Australia has ratified the Paris agreement, as announced by the prime minister. Foreign minister Julie Bishop says it will provide great business opportunities in the low-emission economy.
- George Christensen, Cory Bernardi and others have warned that the Trump revolution is coming Australia’s way. If elites don’t mend their wicked ways, established parties will get a kick up the proverbial. NB: Aforementioned MPs are also members of established parties.
Updated
The lifetime ban bill has passed 73-69. It will now go to the Senate.
Updated
The lower house is now voting on the lifetime ban bill.
Andrew Wilkie’s amendment has been defeated.
Now they are voting on the bill to ban asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru from ever coming to Australia.
The leadership is happy today. Trump? Pffft!
Bowers notes that it’s probably because the markets did not crash.
(I might just blog this office.)
The deputy prime ministers sings his voters home.
I am not going to bore you with all our philosophies. I am happy with the vote I got personally in a hotly-contested seat and what the party got across the board. I never take our voters for granted. We will continue to work incredibly hard. That’s what we did and what we do.
Now back to the house. The lifetime ban bill is still going with Labor speakers.
Given Wilkie and Bandt gave the major parties such a bollocking, here is a clip of Gellibrand MP Tim Watts.
He is less worried about the crossbench and more worried about Turnbull “being led by the nose” by his immigration minister, Peter Dutton.
They cannot be solved by simplistic, scapegoating or snake-oil politics ... Don’t reduce yourself to the politics of scapegoating. If you ride that tiger’s back, in the current environment you will soon be eaten.
If any Coalition MPs would like to send a snippet of their speech on this bill, send up a smoke signal.
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The prime minister is asked about the TPP again. He notes that both Trump and Clinton were against the TPP. But he says the government’s job to advocate for the national interest and he and the cabinet believe that it is in Australia’s interests that like minded countries sign the TPP. It looks like its toast now.
Energy and environment minister Josh Frydenberg concedes perhaps he should not have called the president elect a “dropkick”.
In the lead-up to the vote, I think the prime minister and foreign minister hit the right note. I concede I probably should have followed their lead.
Turnbull says America will continue to engage in the Asia-Pacific region because it is in their national interest. Don’t you worry about that.
There is a reason why the United States has been such a strong presence in the Asia-Pacific for many decades, for many decades. It has been that Pax Americana for the last 40 years that has underpinned the extraordinary growth in prosperity, the raising of billions out of poverty. That has been the foundation of it. That commitment, I am certain, will continue because it is manifestly in America’s national interest.
As I said, one of the speeches I gave last night, as I think Paul Keating used to say, quoting Jack Lang in the great race of life: always back self-interest because you know it is trying. I have no doubt that America will continue to act in its national interest.
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Questions revolve around the US-Australia alliance. Asked whether Trump signalled he would withdraw in any way from the region, Turnbull keeps saying Trump is very strong on the alliance.
On the Trans-Pacific Partnership, it sounds like they agreed to disagree.
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Turnbull: Trump is a pragmatist
The prime minister said he and Trump talked about their shared business background.
I suppose as both being businessmen who found our way into politics, somewhat later in life, we come to the problems of our own nations and indeed world problems with a pragmatic approach. Mr Trump is a deal maker. He is a businessman, a deal maker and he will, I have no doubt, view the world in a very practical and pragmatic way.
Katharine Murphy asks what if the US pulls out of the Paris agreement under Trump? She also asks about opposition to the Paris agreement from One Nation and within his own party.
We have ratified the agreement. It takes four years to withdraw. If a country sought to withdraw from the agreement it takes four years. Secondly, this is a global agreement. When Australia makes a commitment to a global agreement, we follow through, and that is exactly what we are doing.
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Turnbull: Trump recognises importance of strong alliance
Malcolm Turnbull says he had a “warm conversation” with Donald Trump.
We canvassed a number of issues. Most importantly, we absolutely agreed on the vital importance of our strong alliance. Mr Trump recognises the solidarity that Australia has shown the United States and the United States has shown Australia over 98 years, during which we have fought side-by-side with the United States in every major conflict. Mr Trump recognises that. He has observed the success of our economy and congratulated me on that. We discussed the vital importance of the United States’ continued strong presence in our region.
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The foreign minister, Julie Bishop, notes the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (Jscot) has recommended ratification after considering the “national interest analysis” and holding four public hearings and receiving almost 50 submissions. It will provide great business opportunities, says Bishop.
The global low-emissions economy is estimated to be worth around $6tn and is growing at some 4%to 5% per annum. We believe, through the use of technology and research and science and innovation, there will be many opportunities for Australian businesses, Australian jobs, in a low-emissions economy.
Australia joins, as the prime minister said, 103 other countries at this point in ratifying the Paris agreement. This accounts for over 70% of the world’s emissions, over 75% of the global GDP and 85% of Australia’s two-way trade.
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Malcolm Turnbull: the Paris agreement is a watershed, we are doing our part
Malcolm Turnbull opens up on the Paris agreement.
Almost a year from the Paris conference, it is clear the agreement was a watershed, a turning point and the adoption of a comprehensive strategy has galvanised the international community and spurred on global action. As you know, we are playing our part with ambitious targets. We are on track to meet and indeed beat our 2020 targets. We will review our climate and energy policies next year to ensure that we meet, as we believe we will, and are committed to meeting our 2030 targets under the agreement.
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OK, a couple of points:
- Government MPs are no longer speaking on the lifetime ban bill. Only Labor speakers appear to be left now after the flurry of crossbenchers earlier so the vote could be coming up soon.
- Don’t forget the disallowance motion, which seeks to turn over the George Brandis-Justin Gleeson legal direction, will be debated today, probably after question time.
-
Malcolm Turnbull is doing a press conference very shortly on the government’s moves to ratify the Paris agreement on climate change. It is unclear whether One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts will attend.
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Here is a part of Andrew Wilkie’s speech, in which he rips into Labor, the Liberals and the National party over asylum seeker policy.
He was speaking on the lifetime ban bill for those on Manus and Nauru.
His key message: how about you stop treating asylum seekers as a political problem and start treating them like human beings?
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Greens MP Adam Bandt says a bill to ban those on Manus and Nauru from Australia for life was a bill “Donald Trump would be proud of”.
Andrew Wilkie: treatment of asylum seekers will be considered like the Stolen Generation by future Australians
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Andrew Wilkie, Cathy McGowan and Adam Bandt speak out again refugee lifetime ban bill
Over in the lower house, the chamber is debating the lifetime ban on refugees. Labor has already said it would oppose the bill and we have seen a range of Labor speakers denouncing it.
Denison independent, Andrew Wilkie, is speaking about the bill that would ban people on Manus and Nauru ever coming to Australia again once they are settled in another country.
He says in the future, people will talk about Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers like they do of the stolen generations, the Indigenous children forcibly removed from their families.
Wilkie says the handwringing about people drowning – and the need for tough boat policies – is rubbish.
He says the major-party MPs are happy to play politics with the lives of people, happy to pander to the bigots and xenophobes in the community.
He is moving an amendment with the Indi independent, Cathy McGowan, to stop the bill for a lifetime ban and create a compassionate response.
You are both peas in the pod, you are both as bad as each other.
If you started acting like leaders it might actually work in your self interest, yells Wilkie across the chamber. That’s why people are voting for minor parties and independents.
Cathy McGowan is not allowed to speak because she has already spoken on the bill and she is not “given leave” by the majors.
But this is a bit of what she said earlier in a statement. She says Indi voters have given her an overwhelmingly message that Australia should do better on asylum seekers. The proposed legislation failed the “principle” test of good legislation and the test of equality.
A local Indi business owner summed up the sentiment of my electorate: ‘I find this new policy appalling. We are a better society than this. I cannot believe this policy will succeed’.
It fails the test of being able to be administered or delivered or enforced. It is based on fear. Its focus is to create a deterrent and punishment without a balance of reward, rehabilitation, against a long-term humanitarian approach.
I call on the government to outline a plan for migration policy in this country. How can we bring more compassion into government policy without encouraging the false hope pedalled by those who prey on the vulnerable and desperate?
Any response will require a genuinely regional solution involving most, if not all south-east Asian countries, including Australia and New Zealand. Any solution must involve the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Pope Francis says the best antidote to fear is mercy: ‘Mercy and courage are needed to respond to the huge wave of refugees, migrants and displaced people all over the world.’ And I agree with him.
Given the government has the numbers in the lower house, the amendment will not pass unless all crossbenchers support the bill and two government MPs cross the floor.
Unlikely.
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Barnaby Joyce was also asked about his own comments on Trump’s policies.
Q: You did say some of Donald Trump’s policies were nasty. Do you stand by those comments?
People have a right to talk about policy. That’s what politicians do – they discuss policies. But you must remove yourself from an argument approach and talking about personalities. Leave that to the United States.
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The Nats are the obvious party challenged by One Nation in the Brexit-Trump axis, not to mention Labor on the city fringes. Barnaby Joyce is asked if he is worried about it.
He says the National party have the highest number of ministers in cabinet since Arthur Fadden, a Country party leader and briefly prime minister in 1941. (I will try to check the numbers on this shortly.) But Joyce also has some philosophical points about his constituency. This is the stuff he is good at, IMO. If you get hot under the collar about this statement, dear reader – you are not the people he is talking to here.
Brand Barnaby.
We have now the largest number of cabinet ministers since Arty Fadden was the leader. We are actually building the party back up.
I was always having a yarn with Fiona, my deputy, my friend, guide and colleague, and said: “When we started, all they used to talk about was closing the National party down, now we are in the ascendancy again and growing again.”
We do that by working hard on the ground. We never take our people for granted. We make sure we are Friday night pub, Saturday CWA, get out, talk to the people, stay humble. Listen to their concerns and do your very best down here to convey them. We don’t want to be the party of high colour, we want to be the party of hard work. That’s precisely what we do.
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Barnaby Joyce: I'm not a God botherer but cheers to Pence for bringing in the Christians
Barnaby Joyce says the vice-president elect Mike Pence did a great job. He has an affinity – as a fellow deputy.
He was always a strong reason where a large constituency in the United States was attracted to the Republican vote. They were attracted to that Republican vote because of his strong belief, especially to be quite frank, his Christian values. I’m not a God botherer, I’m just a little old boy from the bush but you have to acknowledge that the work that vice president-elect Mike Pence did and I think it is only fit and proper that I acknowledge him in his new role.
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Barnaby Joyce says it doesn’t look good for the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
In the absence of the TPP, Joyce says the government will continue to push for bilateral deals.
Joyce is not worried about the Trump victory. He would be more worried if it didn’t rain.
The one thing you should never do in any country – we don’t like people telling us how our country runs. In fact, we really look poorly on it. Of course we should not be telling another country how their own democratic process runs. They had their own reasons of why they vote. It is a democracy. The result is in.
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Barnaby: "Dropkick" not so good. Josh knows it.
Barnaby Joyce says Josh Frydenberg understands he stuffed up by calling Trump a dropkick.
I think minister Frydenberg is understanding, I don’t know if he made a statement, he understands that was not helpful.
Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce is speaking on the Trump win.
This is going to be a time where the dust settles. At this point in time, President Barack Obama remains in office until 20 January. I am absolutely certain that, noting the incredible gravitas of the office, that both President-elect Trump and vice president-elect Pence will be making absolutely certain as they have stated, they will be looking after the American people and guiding them safely into the transition to the new order of government.
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Reality Check.
So the final numbers for #ElectionDay are:
— Ethan Spibey (@EthanLDN) November 9, 2016
231,556,622 eligible voters
46.9% didn't vote
25.6% voted Clinton
25.5% voted Trump
Wow.
Guardian front page, Thursday 10 November 2016: Trump wins. Now the world waits pic.twitter.com/3BqJZ9lOnF
— The Guardian (@guardian) November 9, 2016
Malcolm Roberts from One Nation is celebrating the Trump victory- "we see this as a wonderful opportunity to restore freedom" #auspol pic.twitter.com/pAKXRF9Doe
— Stephen Dziedzic (@stephendziedzic) November 9, 2016
Housekeeping.
The Senate and the lower house are sitting at 9.30
In the House, the substantive debate will be around:
- The lifetime refugee travel ban known as Migration Legislation Amendment (Regional Processing Cohort)
- Social Security Legislation Amendment (Youth Jobs Path: Prepare, Trial, Hire)
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Katharine Murphy has a thoughtful analysis of the Trump tidal wave washing across Australia.
Trump has vowed to junk the TPP – should it pass by some miracle during the lame duck session – and impose tariffs on goods and services imported from China, provoking the biggest player in Australia’s neighbourhood, and potentially stoking a trade war between the two largest economies in the world.
Trump’s vision for regional engagement, articulated this week by two of his campaign policy advisers, is heavy on military assertiveness, light on diplomacy and economic integration.
Alexander Gray and Peter Navarro wrote this week the US navy was “perhaps the greatest source of regional stability in Asia. The mere initiation of the Trump naval program will reassure our allies that the United States remains committed in the long term to its traditional role as guarantor of the liberal order in Asia”.
If that pre-campaign positioning comes to pass, Australia will come under pressure on a range of fronts, most acutely over military activity in the South China Sea, and also over whether American military assets could be positioned on Australian soil, a development China would consider a diplomatic affront.
Nothing at all is certain, but Australian politics has elected to reassure rather than startle.
The writers of @TheSimpsons have a lot to answer for. #TrumpPresident pic.twitter.com/KaqzNjTFwC
— The Matt Hatter (@MattGlassDarkly) November 9, 2016
Q: Julie Bishop, do you think a woman can ever be elected president of the United States?
Well, they said an African-American would never be elected president of the United States and President Obama served for two terms. So, of course, the American dream is that anyone born in the US can end up as a president of the United States. So, they have a new president.
Bishop is asked about Tony Burke’s comments earlier on Sky, suggesting we should call out racism and misogyny when it happens, no matter who it is.
She will not denounce Trump’s views on women or Muslims. She says it’s not constructive to provide a commentary on leaders’ traits.
Paris a go-go
Morning, everyone.
Canberra today will still be agog with the events in Washington. Trump will still be a focal point. But in amid that we expect Malcolm Turnbull to announce Australia will ratify the Paris climate agreement.
Given that Trump has signalled that he’s no fan of international climate action, and he’s not sure climate change is actually happening, Australia’s gesture of affirmation will be welcomed by people who remain fans of international climate action, and are of the view (courtesy of the wealth of facts and evidence in the public domain) that climate change is happening.
It presumably will not be welcomed by people who hold the opposite view. This gesture of ratification has been a while coming round. The agreement was ticked off recently by the joint standing committee on treaties. The One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts made a submission to that inquiry saying Australia should not sign up, because, you know, climate change is a hoax.
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Australia, it's time to stop your sobbing
Chrissie is the only answer to this.
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Julie Bishop: The world is certainly a different place
Q: Is the world a less secure place now with Donald Trump as president?
It is certainly a different place because any US presidential election has implications for the globe. But this is a momentous change and we see it as an opportunity for Australia to work very closely and constructively with the new president and his administration to ensure that we maintain US presence and leadership in the Asia-Pacific. That is in our national interest.
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Friends, welcome to a post-truth world
Cory Bernardi has taken to Facebook to bag out establishment parties (like the one he is a member of). He helpfully provides a link to his Australian Conservatives movement.
Friends, the stunning election victory by Donald Trump last night is validation of all I have been warning about for many years.
The movement against the establishment political parties, who have consistently and wilfully ignored the mainstream majority in favour of their own power and self-interest, is moving across the globe.
We need to change politics and unite Australian Conservatives to make that change for our Nation. If you want to be part of the movement please register your interest at Australian Conservatives.
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Let's see ... what do we need now? More hate speech?
Tony Burke finished with a point to bring it home in Australian terms. By linking it to the push to change section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
I’ve gotta say, it’s an extraordinary time for Australia to be thinking more hate speech would be a good thing.
There is a question that’s always there for Australia: are you the ally that an American administration might want or are you the ally that an American administration in fact needs? We are well engaged in our region. We are a smart, sensible nation. And we should call out bigotry and appalling behaviour whenever we see it, and should do that fearlessly.
This Trump thing does force Australia to consider what it is that we want to be. A section of America has spoken about what it wants. What is it that Australians want?
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Tony Burke: in this country, boasting about sex assault would end your career
Labor’s Tony Burke has appeared on Sky News with some thoughtful comments. He makes the point that we have to work on the basis that the alliance is unchanged and deeper than any one administration.
But his main message is we cannot change who we are.
A lot of people I guess feel today like they’re waking up with a pretty bad hangover trying to piece together what on earth happened the night before.
In terms of what happened in the campaign itself, I think we’ve got to make sure that as a country, we don’t change who we are. We shouldn’t be so desperate in terms of trying to win favour from the new president-elect that we undermine our values.
We shouldn’t be a country that forgets that in this country if you boasted about sexually assaulting women it would mark the end of your political career. Over there, it’s just marked the launch of one.
These are differences where we should not give ground. Lots of titles go with being president of the United States – being called leader of the free world is not automatic. A world where women are assaulted, people with disability are ridiculed and people are discriminated against based on their faith or the colour of their skin is not a free world.
Lots of analysis will happen now about what were the economic issues, what were the issues about anti-establishment, but race and prejudice were part of it. We should not gloss over that or pretend that they weren’t: they were. We should call that out. And we should make sure that we don’t in any way change who we are.
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Cory and George warn the Trump revolution is coming
Good morning.
This morning there is a lump in the gut of the body politic. It is still digesting the words, “President Trump”.
The Daily Telegraph editor Christopher Dore channelled the zeitgeist, from both sides of the divide.
Front page of The Daily Telegraph. #Elections2016 #USElection2016 #auspol pic.twitter.com/hmv3GJXDo7
— Christopher Dore (@wrongdorey) November 9, 2016
The LNP MP George Christensen is the oracle this morning. He says the Trump victory marks a fundamental realignment of world politics.
Perhaps we needed some Trump in our political leadership when Ford announced [they were closing] while Julia Gillard was PM and under the Liberal National Coalition that Holden announced it was going.
We are starting to see that rise in this country, we saw the start at the last election. We have already seen a taste of it and there will be more to come in elections to follow.
The Liberal senator Cory Bernardi was cock-a-hoop. Here are his main points.
- Politicians talk to each other in an echo chamber.
- We are trapped in the whisper zone
- Voters are saying, ‘I have problems in my life and I am mocked when I raise them’
- They have had enough.
- I have been warning for a very long time that if the disconnect continues it will happen here.
- We need to do more about reform of elections and election disclosures.
- We need to remove the influence of foreign donations.
- We need to stop the subservience to international bodies and act more in the national interest.
Best get cracking. Speak to me in the thread or on the twits @gabriellechan or on Facebook. Mike Bowers is lurking, @mpbowers. Normally an early coffee is against my religion but I think I will crack before 8am today. I blame Donald Trump.
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