And on that note, we will call it a night.
A very big thank you to Mike Bowers and the Guardian brains trust for all they did to keep me standing today. The struggle was very, very real.
We will be back bright and early tomorrow morning for the last day of sitting this week.
Go switch off. And please – take care of you.
Updated
And a little bit more:
The liberal democracies are open societies, that is our strength and vulnerability.
We cannot make threats to our democratic institutions by adopting the tactics of authoritarian regimes that undermines our fundamental values and beliefs.
Our role in this place is to stand up and defend those beliefs, and to remind successive generations of the price that’s being paid to build the democratic, democratic institutions that we enjoy today ... Freedom is right and freedom works. The success of the Australian economy over the last three decades is no accident of resourcing damage or geography.
It’s overwhelmingly a testament to the benefits of economic freedom. The opening up of the Australian economy to market forces has not been easy. Along the way, there have been winners and losers, but the benefits are overwhelmingly positive.
We are bigger, stronger and more resilient to external shocks ... When it comes to climate change, policymakers have to act on the basis of the best science available.
We rely on the intelligence agencies to give us the best advice on security threats.
And, of course, final decisions always rest with us as the elected representatives.
The same model should apply to climate matters and almost everything else infringing on our health and natural and the natural world.
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A bit more from that speech:
Politics is a noble calling, a vocation that puts the community and its aspirations before our own.
And this parliament, as I said, in my main stage, is still the pinnacle of the Australian achievement. Liberal democracy with the rule of law, independent judiciary ... All of these things have helped us sustain our prosperity and social harmony. Institutions matter.
Respected tradition and conventions matters, particularly in this age of disruption, technological, political and cultural.
My brand of liberalism seeks to conserve the best of the past while adapting to the future. It is constructive progress and not change for change’s sake. And how rapidly the world around us is changing. Trust in established institutions such as politics, business, the churches, the media has been weakened ... There’s a reheated romance in some quarters with old-fashioned socialism, and one person’s push for diversity and inclusion is another person’s divisive identity politics.
We complain about a lack of privacy and, in the same breath, gladly surrender so much of our personal information to vast platforms and networks ... And these platforms have also created new possibilities for control and intimidation of citizens.
Information is being fragmented and weaponised, the broadcast media is increasingly polarised and politicised.
And the proliferation of media outlets means the people can select the news and facts to suit their own preconceptions and biases.
The universities here, the two bastions of free speech, are under attack from within and from outside. The scientific method is under attack, even as we benefit daily from the fruits of rigorous, evidence-based inquiry.
If we cannot even agree on basic facts, how can we have a civilised discourse? Look at the climate change debate..
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Arthur Sinodinos:
But the best part of my job has been to meet so many of my fellow Australians from different parts of this great continent.
Whatever race, colour or creed, we’re bound together by our good fortune in being born here, for making the brave decision to forsake ancestral home and settle down [in] the best country in the world.
For me, Australia is an immigrant nation. It’s in our DNA. So too our unique Indigenous heritage with over 65,000 years of ongoing relationship with the land ... And we owe it to ourselves and to the world to make the most of our stewardship of this place. We are and should always be a beacon of hope to the rest of the world.
For me, the Australian way is to live and let live, engage in fair play and leave no one behind.
We have a special obligation to the minorities in our midst.
These are the quiet Australians who need our help most.
It includes Indigenous Australians, who seek more control over policies implemented in their name, disabled Australia, who want to be defined by the potential and not their disability, and those other marginalised Australians looking for gainful employment, and social acceptance.
The test of being an Australian is not genealogy. But whether we adhere to timeless values that make our democracy work.
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You may remember that yesterday the Senate ordered David Coleman to table the review into refugee resettlement.
It’s a yeah, nah, from the government.
Another day of the Morrison Government hiding information from the public...
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) October 16, 2019
Immigration Minister @DavidColemanMP has refused to comply with an order of the @AuSenate to release the Government's review and report into refugee resettlement in Australia. pic.twitter.com/JWqe8njKxR
Arthur Sinodinos is now delivering his valedictory speech.
And a bit of how Mike Bowers saw question time.
Updated
I will pay this
The four stages of listening to Malcolm Roberts. pic.twitter.com/UhE5xH3h3X
— Nick McKim (@NickMcKim) October 16, 2019
Just before Sarah Henderson’s speech, Sarah Hanson-Young saw this motion passed in the Senate:
That the Senate:
1. Notes:
a. The NSW Government plans to water down environmental rules to fast-track approvals for new dams and pipelines.
b. The Murray-Darling River is in environmental collapse and bypassing environmental protections will do more harm.
c. Plans to override environmental protections will have negative impacts on downstream communities and the health of the River system.
d. Building dams will not make it rain.
2. Calls on the Federal Government to rule out giving any public funding to dam and water infrastructure projects that circumvent environmental assessment and don’t abide by proper environmental protections.
Sarah Henderson is making her first speech in the Senate, after being picked to take over from Mitch Fifield.
She says it is “absolutely wonderful to be back”
Case in point, Josh Frydenberg is off to talk to some of those very international world bodies, which we did not elect, to talk about the need for ... GLOBAL COOPERATION.
From 16 to 20 October, I will travel to Washington DC to attend the Annual Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meetings.
I will hold discussions with Australia’s regional neighbours, significant trade and investment partners, G7 economies and leaders of international financial institutions. These meetings will be used to discuss the challenges and opportunities flowing from the current conditions in the global economy.
I will also participate in ministerial meetings of the IMF, World Bank and G20 in conjunction with central bank governors, covering issues such as financial stability, global financial architecture, international taxation and risks to the global economic outlook.
Australia has a seat at the top table when it comes to global economic matters. I will ensure Australia’s economic interests are protected and our successes recognised, while reaffirming our commitment to an open, free, rules-based trading system.
Our strong, growing economy is an example of the benefits of free trade and investment. Australia has seen 28 consecutive years of economic growth and we are one of only 10 countries in the world to have a triple-A credit rating from all three major ratings agencies.
Free trade equals more jobs, more investment and higher economic growth. I will send the clear message that this has been the lesson for the Australian economy in the past and that this will guide us in the future.
Driving a strong and relevant agenda through international institutions is essential for Australia to ensure they remain capable of addressing new global challenges.
I look forward to representing Australia’s interests in this forum and emphasising the need for global cooperation.
Updated
Dave Sharma was just asked by Patricia Karvelas on Afternoon Briefing about the prime minister’s Lowy speech (where he invoked “negative globalism”), and this is what he had to say:
I was there for the speech and I think the point he was making, and this is a view I’d share, is that global institutions are basically creations of the state system and they respect the views of state bodies.
They don’t have any independent legitimacy from that. We don’t elect the UN secretary general or the head of the UNCF.
They need to reflect that legitimacy. The best way to get global bodies to help us address these challenges is to helping to coordinate and bring states together. It is not by seeking to harangue states.
... Except, no, that is not correct. The World Trade Organisation is one of those international bodies who we turn to to navigate trade disputes, we sign up to UN conventions, we belong to the International Labour Organisation, to decide if labour laws meet international obligations. We fought for a seat on the UN security council – the list goes on.
So you can’t suddenly decide that the bodies we voluntarily signed up to, do not have independent legitimacy, when we turn to those very bodies to maintain rules-based order.
Updated
According to the Hansard, this is what Josh Frydenberg said about the drought’s impact on the budget:
There is no doubt we face some domestic challenges to the economy, not least of which is the number one call on the budget, which is the drought. And the terrible drought that I saw firsthand. I was with the member for Maranoa in Inverell, Warrick and Stanthorpe and which itself has taken at least a quarter of a percentage point straight off GDP as well as requiring a significant call on budget to provide income support and infrastructure support and the like.
Mr Speaker, the member for Rankin will look for every single opportunity to talk down the Australian economy. Every single opportunity to put at risk Australian jobs, Mr Speaker. The member for Rankin, just a matter of five months ago was the co-author, co-architect with the member for McMahon, in $387bn of higher taxes. The leader of the opposition went on Sky TV today and was asked would his tax impost on the Australian people have an impact on the economy, he said no. The reality is from the 1 July this year, Labor’s retiree text, superannuation tax, tax on family businesses, would have all taken an effect.
A look at the budget papers, just for accuracy sake, shows the drought funding, if you take it as the $7bn, puts 16 budget items ahead of it.
The top five “calls” on the budget are the revenues paid to the states, the pension, public hospitals, aged care services and the family tax benefit.
Updated
The Senate just voted on a Greens motion calling for a climate emergency to be declared.
Labor, Centre Alliance and Jacqui Lambie supported it, tying it (which means it was negatived, as the status quo prevails)
'We didn't mislead on medevac, despite transfer refusal,' Simon Birmingham says
This is also an interesting exchange - Simon Birmingham explaining to Patricia Karvelas about how Peter Dutton using the medevac legislation to stop someone coming to Australia on national security grounds, which is the exact thing he said couldn’t be done, is not proof the government was misleading about medevac.
PK: On another issue, Peter Dutton has tabled a statement on his decision to refuse a transfer under the medevac policy. But the government said he wouldn’t have the power to do that, to stop someone coming. They’re misleading there? They’ve said this scenario couldn’t happen under the legislation but today it has. So they were wrong?
SB: No, Patricia, I think what was argued at the time was that the powers in terms of being able to reject were clearly not strong enough. And that was the argument at the time.
PK: No, that was not the argument ...
SB: Well, you can go away and have a look if you like ...
PK: I remember very well what was said.
SB: I’m telling you ...
PK: Murderers, paedophiles would be able to come to Australia. Peter Dutton has been able to stop somebody ...
SB: And of course about the lack of necessity about this piece of legislation or reform. There are 132 people who have come to Australia under this legislation who aren’t in hospital.
They’re not here with acute medical conditions that necessitated coming into an Australian hospital circumstance. We had provisions already for providing healthcare and health treatment for individuals who needed it, and this legislation was demonstrably unnecessary, and the consequence of it is that it has created a pathway.
PK: But the minister has the ability to refuse, as he has today, this Iranian father, he’s refused his entry to Australia. So he has this power, doesn’t he?
SB: In limited circumstances. Obviously others who’ve come here have come under this power and under this provision ...
PK: But there’s no evidence that they’re murderers or they’re paedophiles, is there?
SB: Let’s understand, the overall argument ...
PK:You’re shifting this conversation to the medical priority. I’m talking about their status.
SB: You are – focusing on one of the arguments about it ...
PK: That’s what I’m asking about it.
SB: The core argument was that it was open a channel to Australia to undermined our border protection regime ...
PK: Wasn’t the government misleading about this given the evidence today?
SB: No, we are not. That was one argument at the time. The bigger argument at the time was it was putting another hole in the border protection regime we had built. It was unnecessary to do so because you can get health services and we did have the power, where necessary, to bring people to Australia when ready. The way this is being used to date is to set up a circumstance where you do have more than 132 people who have come, who aren’t in a hospital but they were brought here as a result of this medivac law.
Updated
Simon Birmingham’s explanation is one thing. But that is not what the treasurer said.
Simon Birmingham is on Afternoon Briefing with Patricia Karvelas. She asks about Josh Frydenberg’s claim that drought was “the number one call on the budget” - the drought.
Frydenberg:
There is no doubt we face domestic challenges to the economy, not least of which is the number one call on the budget, the drought.
Speaking to Birmingham, Karvelas asks:
You mentioned the drought and there were lots of dramatic drought theatrics in the lower house. I know you’re a senator. But the treasurer Josh Frydenberg talked about the drought being the number one policy of the government. But it’s not, is it?
Birmingham:
In terms of the policy transactions that have been undertaken and since Scott Morrison became the prime minister there has been a continuity in measures to support farmers, to support communities and build resilience and a lot of different investment ...
PK:
Sure, but it is not number one budget item, is it, welfare, pensions ...
Birmingham:
If you go by totality of spending then that’s a different equation. If you’re looking at the number of different policy measures and responses that have been accumulated in a short period of time, I think I the number of different responses to the drought would be right up there.
PK:
OK. But shouldn’t the government be clear about that? It’s not its number one item at all?
Birmingham: I wasn’t there to hear the exact words the treasurer used ...
.. but if you’re looking at the priorities the government set, a number of policies delivered, drought response is right up there. Because we’ve been focused on not just how you help farmers but also how you help communities and how you build resilience.
Updated
Speaking of matters of public importance, I missed this in Anthony Albanese’s speech in the MPI yesterday:
In a speech to the Lowy Institute, he [Scott Morrison] spoke about ‘negative globalism’ as if Australia has not had a bipartisan position for 50 years of supporting global institutions that we voluntarily signed up for.
We have been taking our place in the world. But he’s prepared to press buttons of nationalism out there in order to try to criticise us.
He went to the UN as well and said that our emissions were going down, but we know that all the records say that they’re actually going up and they’ll go up every year until 2030.
While he was there, he attacked children for being concerned about the scientifically proven facts of climate change – about caring for the planet that they, after all, will be on for longer than those of us who are no longer young people.
He’s like a Scooby Doo villain who’s sure he would’ve gotten away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids! That’s his attitude. He says we’re on track to meet our Paris targets. We know that that’s not the case. When he was in the United States he skipped the UN summit on climate change, even though he was there, to visit smart drive-through technology at McDonald’s, of all places.
Not even there could he follow through. The fact is that, during his visit, Scott Morrison proclaimed, ‘We’re making jobs great again.’ As much as we used to mock the former member for Warringah for his slogans, at least they were original.
Updated
Arthur Sinodinos will be delivering his valedictory speech to the Senate chamber within the hour.
This is also being termed “operation wildebeest” in some quarters (as in, carving the weak from the herd).
Oh dear - Labor's You Are the Weakest Link strategy worked a treat in #SenateQT.
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) October 16, 2019
Colbeck said he hadn't read Grattan Institute report on youth poverty...Needed to correct in under a minute!#auspol pic.twitter.com/NNzcHzR3lH
Updated
The matter of public importance is now being held in the chamber – it is also on the IMF report.
Updated
The government side of the chamber exits very, very quickly, but Anthony Albanese takes a moment to pay tribute to the portrait of Nova Peris, who was the first Indigenous woman to serve in federal parliament.
It is a wonderful portrait and the first in the Parliament House historic memorials collection to be painted by an Indigenous artist, Dr Jandamarra Cadd.
Peris was painted as she appeared while delivering her first speech to the Senate, her feet bare, and firmly on the ground, representing her Indigenous ancestors who walked before her.
Updated
Even Scott Morrison can’t do this any more.
Question time ends.
Updated
I blame toastmasters #qt
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 16, 2019
Meanwhile, Christian Porter starts shuddering and is unsure why.
Vince Connelly, having apparently attended the cut-price Kenneth Branagh school of theatrical delivery, stands for the next dixer – and actually does some stretches.
I am not exaggerating. It’s like watching Ned Flanders prepare to deliver Hamlet’s monologue.
Updated
And we are done with this part, but the torture continues with question time to also continue.
Tony Pasin and Vince Connelly both made beelines for the frontbench in this division.
Updated
We are at the side-swapping part of this farce, which is fun, if only to see which backbencher takes the opportunity to sidle up next to a minister.
Updated
We have had eight “flounderings” today.
I think there were four or five in the motion speech alone.
It may be too late, Mathias. The book draft is in.
Yes. 👇 https://t.co/AfcRLbbYYO
— Mathias Cormann (@MathiasCormann) October 15, 2019
Updated
Fun fact, I just learned that flounder is to struggle walking, either in water or mud, while founder is to sink to the bottom.
Updated
The motion:
MEMBER I seek leave to move the following motion —
That the House:
notes that:
a) the International Monetary Fund has slashed its growth forecast for the Australian economy for this year by almost 20 per cent;
b) the downgrade to Australia’s growth forecast by the International Monetary Fund is four times worse than the downgrade to advanced economies;
c) the Government has consistently ignored growing evidence that the Australian economy is floundering, including:
d) the slowest economic growth in a decade;
- the worst wages growth on record;
- a record 1.9 million Australians being unemployed or underemployed;
- a decline in GDP per capita last year, with flat growth in the last quarter;
- record levels of household debt;
- consumer confidence at a four-year low;
- business confidence well below average; and
- sluggish productivity growth;
e) the International Monetary Fund has called on countries, including Australia, to provide fiscal support, saying “Monetary policy cannot be the only game in town and should be coupled with fiscal support where fiscal space is available”; and
f) the Government has no plan to address Australia’s floundering economy and continues to ignore calls from the Reserve Bank of Australia and the International Monetary Fund to provide fiscal support, including by investing in infrastructure; and
g) therefore, calls on the Prime Minister to be straight with the Australian people about Australia’s floundering economy and develop a plan to stimulate economic growth, including by bringing forward infrastructure investment across the nation including in regional and rural Australia.
Updated
Anthony Albanese is now moving to suspend standing orders to acknowledge the IMF report and the slowing economy.
This will fail, because Labor does not have the numbers in the House, but it does mean he can enter Labor’s talking points on this into the Hansard.
Updated
Alan Tudge is now talking about pipelines.
My split ends have never looked so interesting.
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Australia’s growth forecast is being repeatedly slashed. Why can’t the prime minister give a straight answer and admit this basic fact, why does the prime minister have no plan to deal with the floundering economy he presides over?
Morrison:
Again, in early answers to questions I have acknowledged the revisions in the forecast. And as we go into Myefo the forecast will be considered at that time as they are... I know the leader of the opposition isn’t terribly familiar with the processes of budgets, having never served in those portfolios when he was in government, but I’m sure he is becoming familiar with them now in his new role. I am asked about the government’s plan.
And one of the things that occurred after the 18 May this year was the huge sigh of relief of those whose jobs and investments and businesses depended on strong and capable financial and economic management.
The sense of fear on behalf of the Australian people about the Australian economy, if it were to fall into the hands of the Labor party, was absolutely palpable, and so Australians were looking for a stable and secure plan.
A plan that we had set out in the budget, a plan which for the first time coming back into surplus in 12 years. A budget surplus that has been established as a result of the hard work of Australians out there each and every day, of 1.4 million Australians coming into work, of having the lowest level of welfare...
... I am happy to talk about the plan that was endorsed by the Australian people and was set out in the budget, which was for lower taxes, allowing Australians to keep more of what they own. A plan that was opposed by the Labor party at the last election, violently opposed by the Labor party, and instead wanted to put forward $387bn in higher taxes to impose on the Australian economy at the worst possible time because the global circumstance that Australia faces today were of no mystery to the Australian government and the Liberal and National parties. But they were obviously a complete mystery to the Labor party because they thought the best thing to do was to apply $387bn in higher taxes. Investments in infrastructure, skills, expanding other trade capabilities, reduction in business regulation and making it easier to reduce regulation on how people can be employed.
And when do we have to wait to hear what Labor’s policies are? As I was referring in a previous question, the leader of the opposition has said that we will know about Labor’s policies before the next election is some time before the end of 2021... what their tax policies are. But the Australian people know what our policies are, Mr Speaker, and they voted for them and we will keep implementing them.
Updated
If it is any indication of how this question time is going, a member of the public who resembles Hulk Hogan and is sitting in the gallery has managed to capture the attention of a vast bulk of the MPs sitting in the chamber.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg is yelling about something, but again no one is listening.
I do not get paid enough for this.
Updated
Jim Chalmers to Scott Morrison:
When global factors help our economy, the prime minister takes credit. But when global factors hinder our economy the prime minister says it is not his doing. When will the prime minister be honest about the floundering economy and admit he doesn’t have a plan to deal with it?
Morrison:
From Wayne Swan’s [protege], they are rich words indeed.
The Australian government, and this government, when we see the global conditions that face the economy, I’ll tell you what we do.
What we don’t do is what the former treasurer did, for whom the member previously worked, was we would not go out there and assume those conditions to exist for ever. I will ignore the interjections, Mr Speaker.
Now, Mr Speaker, when Labor were budgeting and there were resource prices of $180, what they did in their budget was they assumed those good times on those resources prices would be there for ever.
And on the basis of that, a treasurer under Labor came here and said for four years of surpluses I announced tonight.
The difference between how Labor budgets and Liberals budget, when times are good we don’t always assume they will be that way globally. We actually factor that in with conservative forecasts. So that is why in the last three years we have seen an improvement on the original budget outcome because of the conservative estimates that have been built into the budget.
We have overachieved each and every year. And the reason we do that is that we do not take the global environment for granted.
And when the global environment takes a downturn, that equally has an impact, but in our budget we have been taking that into account for many years that that was a prospect, and that was the budget that we took to the election and that is what is in surplus now*. So those opposite, when times are better they think they will go on forever, and you can never assume that things will go on well forever under a Labor party because they always know how to wreck the economy and wreck the budget with reckless spending and policies of panic and crisis.
We will take a calm and methodical measure to the nation’s finances to make sure we can be there to provide the resilience for those services and the future.
*the budget is balanced, and forecast to be in surplus, but it is not in surplus just now
Updated
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
The treasurer said a moment ago that drought funding was the number one call on the budget. That is not true, is it?
Frydenberg:
It is true. Thank you.
That sparks a war of words between Anthony Albanese and Scott Morrison across the desk at each other. It seems quite intense.
Albanese is now conferring with Jim Chalmers about something on a bit of paper.
Frydenberg has moved on to a dixer, but no one is even pretending to listen. Except for Tim Wilson, who is just yelling ‘shame’ at random intervals.
Updated
The entire chamber is treating this answer like the teacher has just left the room unsupervised for a moment.
I swear to Riri, every time I look down in that chamber some face I have never seen before pops up.
One of those faces sends Michael McCormack to the dispatch box.
Enough said.
Updated
Adam Bandt to Scott Morrison:
The Bureau of Meteorology has said the Murray-Darling Basin is in record drought, the climate crisis is a significant factor. Your government is lifting pollution, which is making global warming worse, threatening farmers and communities on the land further. Prime minister, if we have always been a land of droughts and flooding rain, why are you doing everything in your power to make these extreme events worse? Doesn’t every piece of thermal coal you explore and burn send another farmer to the wall? What is more important, crops or coal?
Morrison:
I would refer him to the speech I gave to the UN, recently, in the national statement for Australia, which set out clearly the actions Australia has taken, and our record, in particular in relation to renewable energy investments, which per capita is the highest of any country in the world today.
I note the member for Melbourne shaking his head. I simply said that Australian per capita investment in renewable energy is the highest in the world today. He shook his head. If he is in denial of those facts I will leave that to him. What I know is what I set out in that national statement at the United Nations, which showed we will meet our Kyoto 2020 targets, we will beat them by 367 million tonnes.
We will meet our 2030 commitments, through the combination of measures we have announced, and other factors will contribute to that, out to 2030. We agree there is a need to take action on climate change. That was not an issue of debate or division between the major parties at the last election.
The issue that was at debate being contested was the scale and the level of targets that could be responsibly set for Australia into the future, and the impact that would have on the Australian economy. At the election we were able to explain clearly what the costs of those were, our targets and how we would meet them. The Labor party at the last election were unable to do that, unable to spell out what the cost would be two jobs. This was a key issue.
He continues talking about what the party who is not in government is doing. Because, that is what we do now.
Updated
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
My question is to the treasurer. Why does the treasurer pretend the global factors are the primary reason for our floundering economy, when the Reserve Bank and others say Australia’s weak economic growth is homegrown?
Frydenberg:
YOU TAKE EVERY OPPORTUNITY TO TALK DOWN THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY.
We are back to yelling. And also describing the economy as a snowflake.
Updated
Scott Morrison is now reading from a handwritten answer for this lickspittle, which is an achievement, given it covers the entire government manifesto.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is again addressed to the prime minister. Will the prime minister admit that since May the Reserve Bank has downgraded its growth forecast for Australia. The OECD has downgraded its growth forecast for Australia by twice as much as the G20, and the IMF has downgraded its growth forecast for Australia by four times more than other advanced economies. Why doesn’t the government have a plan to turn the economy around?
(Spoiler: No, he won’t admit that.)
Morrison:
Our plan is very clear and we took it to the last election, it was endorsed by the Australian people, and that plan is anchored first and foremost not in the panicked and crisis policies of the Labor party, which if they had had the opportunity in the last election they would be now taking a wrecking ball to the Australian economy with their higher taxes and their reckless spending. No, the Australian people chose stability and certainty of keeping more of what they earn, of ensuring that those tax cuts would be delivered and that is exactly what we delivered as soon as we got back into this place. And Labor resisted it and resisted it and resisted it, and they folded as usual. They can’t even keep the consistency and the opposition to good economic policy.
I mean, at least Morrison has admitted that Labor voted for the tax cuts.
Updated
Scott Morrison is now explaining why “now is not the time for Labor’s policies”.
Has someone told him that we are at the very beginning of the election cycle and the only way Labor’s policies would be enacted is if the government adopted them?
There has been a bit of commentary around that the government still hasn’t switched out of election mode – I think that is just going to get louder.
Updated
Looks like someone missed the jump – Jim Chalmers gets the next question:
The prime minister just stated the downgrades of the IMF apply to everyone. Why is the downgrade for Australia’s growth four times worse than for other advanced economies?
Josh Frydenberg:
The IMF today in its global economic outlook had Australia’s economic growth in 2019 at 1.7%, and in 2020 at 2.3% and, as the House knows, Australia’s in its 29th consecutive year of economic growth. Mr Speaker, employment growth in Australia is at 2.5%. Do you know what it was when we came to government? 0.7%, Mr Speaker. Less than one-third of what we have inherited today. Economic participation, the number of people who are in work, is at a record high. Over 66%, Mr Speaker. The welfare dependency today is now at a 30-year low, Mr Speaker.
Frydenberg did not raise his voice once in that one. *snaps*
Updated
Question time begins
Anthony Albanese:
Why has the IMF slashed Australia’s economic growth forecast this calendar year?
Scott Morrison:
The revision by the IMF overnight reflects the uncertainty of the times in which we live, Mr Speaker, and that uncertainty extends to the global environment, which I would hope the opposition would be familiar with. We have been fashioning budgets for years to deal with the increasing uncertainty in the global economic climate.
He will also be familiar with the real impact on the economy of the terrible drought that is now impacting on the Australian economy. And this is why, Mr Speaker, over successive budgets now we have been putting in place the types of resilience measures that support our economy in times like these.
And the uncertainty of the times reflected in the IMF forecast revisions overnight, which obviously applies to a whole host of economies all around the world, that is just a fact, that is just a fact, the truth remains that while things are tough Australia’s economy is growing only second to the United States of all G7 nations. (Once again, we are not part of the G7.)
There is a lot of work to do, but in uncertain times, I’d tell you what it calls for.
It calls for lower taxes, which is what we are doing, Mr Speaker. It calls us for reducing the cost of doing business in this country, and amplifying procedures in the industrial areas, to engage in reforms and our skill sector, to ensure that we are expanding our trade borders all around the world as we have been doing now over the last six years. It calls us to invest $100bn in infrastructure as we are doing, and that is just for infrastructure, with some almost $10bn invested just this year alone, Mr Speaker.
And it calls on us to invest $200bn in the future to recapitalise in our defence industries, as we heard yesterday in south-western Sydney, $250,000 worth of value added is provided by Quickstep, an Australian company, into every joint strike fighter that will be flown by every country that purchased them around the world.
These are our investment decisions to address these uncertain times. Those opposite think the answer is higher taxes, and they think higher taxes will have no impact on the economy, and the leader of the opposition was asked today whether he thought Labor’s high taxes would have had an impact on the economy, and he said no!
He said I don’t think they would. He said the answer was no, in response to the tax increases they have proposed when it comes to the housing tax. So, Mr Speaker, we are for lower taxes, a stronger economy and a strong budget.
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That exchange there is how question time is going to play out.
But let’s see.
Tim Wilson was just building up to his big ‘climate protesters are terrible’ speech conclusion when Anthony Albanese interjected to say it was 2pm and therefore question time.
Saved by the bell.
Here is Katie Allen on the IMF report on the ABC:
To be fair, we are in a new economic environment. Economists are telling us we should do this and that but it is difficult to know what is going to be the best thing going forward when you think about the global situation. We know that at the Australian level, we have the right plan going forward and that has actually been voted for by the Australian people and that is what they want to see, a budget that is in balance ... and delivering jobs and we’re doing that.
We need to be very, very careful about trade and implications there, to make sure we are building a trade portfolio and our relationships with other countries is diversified. So that when the headwinds turn and take us in the right direction, we are ready to take those opportunities and move forward.
And Pat Conroy’s response:
This is a government intent on media releases rather than conducting real action.
We have the slowest economic growth in Australia since 2001. 1.8 million Australians out of work or wanting more hours. We have productivity going backwards and for the first time in a long time, net disposable income, real disposable income fell by 1% so we have households getting poorer as we speak.
What we need is urgent action by the Government to bring forward stage two of the tax cuts which we say we would support. They have announced infrastructure spending but it is often on the never-never and not now. What the bank and independent commentators say is that we need a government to play its part and stimulate the economy now.
When I walk down my high street and shopping centres, there are a lot of people looking for work is not finding it and a lot of empty shops.
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This from Jim Chalmers this morning is probably a good indication of where we will see Labor head this question time, methinks:
Last night the IMF substantially slashed their expectations for growth in the Australian economy. These new numbers absolutely torpedo what was left of the Morrison Government’s economic credibility. The Australian economy is floundering and the IMF is slashing its forecasts for Australia because Morrison and Frydenberg don’t have a plan to turn things around. For months now Josh Frydenberg has been pretending that the economy here is strong and that the policy settings are right, but what the IMF proves is that neither of those things are true.
The IMF is ringing the alarm bells on the Australian economy but Morrison and Frydenberg are too out of touch to hear them. What we need to see from the Government is a plan to turn around an economy which is floundering on their watch. The Australian economy is floundering and people are struggling, and the Morrison Government is just sitting on its hands doing nothing. They don’t have a clue what to do here and so they’re doing nothing. They can’t continue to leave all of the heavy lifting to the Reserve Bank. The IMF makes the point in their report that there’s been too much emphasis on interest rate cuts and not enough fiscal policy or budget changes from governments, including our own. Morrison and Frydenberg need to listen to the alarm bells which are being rung by the IMF.
The IMF has slashed their expectations for growth in this economy under this Liberal Government. What we need to see is a plan to turn things around. The absence of a plan so far is costing Australia in terms of economic growth and jobs. We have the slowest economic growth in this country that we’ve had in 10 years since the Global Financial Crisis; household debt is at record highs; almost two million Australians are looking for work or for more work; productivity and living standards are in decline; business investment is the lowest it’s been since the early 1990s recession. Wherever you look in this economy there is weakness which is being left unattended by a Morrison Government without a plan.
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We are getting close to question time ... I don’t even need predictions today. It will all be economy, economy, economy. There is no way it can be anything else.
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The trade minister, Simon Birmingham, has held a press conference and indicated the government may negotiate with the Labor party to win over their support for three new trade agreements.
Enabling legislation for the deals was introduced to the House of Representatives today.
Labor is likely to support the enabling legislation, but the unions are pushing back hard and have been lobbying MPs and the crossbench not to vote in support of the agreements because of concerns over the deals allowing more temporary workers into the country.
When asked if the government was prepared to negotiate with the opposition to win over support, as has occurred with previous trade deals, Birmingham said the government would take a “practical” approach.
“We are practical and of course I will always speak with my Labor counterparts, I am genuine when I say that I hope that bipartisanship can be maintained in relation to trade access and opportunities,” he said.
As part of this, Birmingham said the government was considering the recommendations made by the joint standing committee on treaties which reported on the agreements last week.
“We will engage in discussions with the opposition where necessary, and we will work through issues if need be in a sensible way, but the agreements as they stand are good agreements that are demonstrably in Australia’s national interest.”
In response to union warnings that the agreements would undermine Australian jobs and allow an influx of temporary workers, Birmingham said the movement needed to “stop misleading, stop lying”.
“I say to the union movement very clearly there are no new labour market testing waivers created as a result of the Indonesian free trade agreement, point blank,” he said.
“So stop the scare campaign and recognise that this agreement has been negotiated to create more Australian jobs by giving us a better chance to sell more goods and services into Indonesia.”
Birmingham said he hoped the enabling legislation for the agreements could pass the Senate by the end of the year, allowing the deals to come into force early in 2020.
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GetUp's Paul Oosting defends failed election campaign
Question: You spent $2.5m on the election campaign this year. GetUp targeted six Coalition Liberal MPs. Peter Dutton, Greg Hunt, Tony Abbott, Kevin Andrews and Christian Porter. Tony Abbott lost his seat, and many people say that GetUp had little influence on that because he was responsible for his own unpopularity. Do you bear responsibility, then, for the fact that your millions didn’t unseat any of the other MPs and, in fact, there’s an argument that people have put that GetUp’s presence, for example, in Dixon, had the opposite effect. It boosted Peter Dutton’s popularity?
Paul Oosting:
Firstly, that’s not right. Peter Dutton faced a much smaller swing than other parts of Queensland.
And whilst it’s true to say, it’s undoubtedly a fact, that we’re sitting here today having not achieved our objectives in the election campaign, and we’ve been reflecting on that and how we can work differently going forward, I’m proud of the campaign that we ran together.
We all fed in what our priorities should be, what the issues we should work on, where the energies go on, and we chose the hard right faction of the Coalition. Many of those are in what are traditionally deemed to be safe seats. With where things were going or where we thought they would go.
How we do things differently if we had the opportunity again. But we have come out of it with real strengths as we outlined in the speech.
We have a lot to be proud of in the 10,000 people, almost half of whom have stepped up into politics for the very first time, who have really broadened and deepened this movement, and they’re more passionate than ever to keep getting involved and not waiting for that.
Getting involved right now, we have to find a solution to the major crises that are facing our country – unemployment and the climate crisis. The IPCC says that we have 12 years left to address climate change.
Three of the years will occur under this government, so we have to move on from the election that occurred five months ago and continue to try to find ways to look at the issues our members care about.
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I guess this is never getting old:
Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus!
— Senator Raff Ciccone (@SenRaffCiccone) October 16, 2019
Great beef barbecue at parliament today, supporting Australian primary producers and the tasty Angus beef we get to enjoy! https://t.co/A03G1mirve pic.twitter.com/f3RE6HM7kJ
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Paul Oosting:
It’s fair to say that Australians have a healthy scepticism about politicians, but something else is afoot today. Not the normal, healthy suspicion that’s always been part of our political culture. A much deeper anger across the whole system.
A University of Canberra study showed that it crashed from 86% in 2007 to just 41% last year.
And that was before the change of prime minister. We saw that first hand, actually, almost 10,000 GetUp volunteers with 37,404 hours simply talking to people, on their phones and in their doorsteps, in nearly every state, in nearly every demographic about the issues that matter, the policy options and why they should vote for change.
What we found, though, was alarming. It’s as if something had snapped. We were shaken by the depth of hopelessness and cynicism across the community, like politics which is something that’s been tried, failed and they’ve given up.
People were only half joking when they asked what the prime minister’s name was. They talked about their frustrations that nobody listens to them because they don’t have bags of money to throw around.
They despaired about the lack of any vision to tackle the big complex problems like unemployment, climate change or the drought. Politics seems now, singularly, incapable of addressing these things, and many Australians feel powerless to do anything about it. Many no longer believe politics can make anything in their lives better.
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GetUp’s national director, Paul Oosting, is about to address the National Press Club.
The ABC, which broadcasts the National Press Club address, jumped the gun a little too early, and we were all treated to a lovely shot of an empty studio chair.
Given how dull this week has been from a parliamentary point of view, that rates as exciting. Leave me alone.
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Nova Peris unveils her official portrait with artist Dr Jandamarra Cadd in the members hall of Parliament House @AmyRemeikis @murpharoo @GuardianAus #PoliticsLive https://t.co/Omu0wVA3Co pic.twitter.com/TdXWvhq0gm
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) October 16, 2019
Excellent and very well-deserved news.
Eryk Bagshaw works for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age. He’s off to be their China correspondent very soon.
.@ErykBagshaw awarded the Wallace Brown young journo of the year award. Extremely well deserved. 👏👏👏👏
— Sarah Martin (@msmarto) October 16, 2019
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The treasurer is correct to say that the IMF projects Australia’s GDP growth this year will be faster than any G7 nation except the USA. But we of course are not part of the G7; we are part of the OECD, and of the 34 member nations, our growth is projected to be the 19th best.
Not quite so impressive.
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Meanwhile, a report from Anglicare has their multiple applications for each entry-level job. From Luke Henriques-Gomes
At least five people are applying for every entry-level position advertised as Australia’s most disadvantaged jobseekers are forced to compete against growing numbers of underemployed people for a dwindling number of suitable jobs, a report has found.
Anglicare’s annual Jobs Availability Snapshot, released on Wednesday, found there were 5.49 people competing for each entry-level job, while one in seven jobseekers faced difficulties getting into work such as a disability or minimal education.
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Josh Frydenberg also backed Malcolm Turnbull’s defence of the Snowy 2.0 project:
I think it’s very clear that it will have significant benefits to the Australian energy market, providing power for more than 500,000 homes. Helping to stablise the growing intermittent energy that is coming into the system - particularly wind and solar. And Malcolm Turnbull’s absolutely right - that there are vested interests that want to poo-poo this project, because it may affect their own particular plans.
But the reality is, Australia, over the years has not provided enough storage in our energy market. And Snowy 2.0 is a nation-building project that will be really important on the eastern sea board in stabilising the housing market.”
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Question: Why is there so much on the balanced budget? If the economic conditions in Australia turn down further, presumably the government will stimulate the economy. And aren’t you exposing yourself to the Wayne Swann problem? He promised us an iron-clad surplus, which Labor couldn’t deliver for a variety of reasons. Aren’t you exposing yourself and the government to the same risk?
Josh Frydenberg:
Surpluses are not ends in themselves. They’re not trophies on a cabinet table. They’re actually an indication of strong budget management and helping to build the resilience in the Australian economy so you can weather those economic shocks.
I mean, if Peter Costello and John Howard hadn’t paid back Labor’s debt, could you imagine the trouble* that Labor would have had, more so than they even did, through that GFC?
The fact that the Coalition left government under Howard and Costello with zero government debt, money in the bank and budget surpluses, gave Labor that fiscal flexibility to spend through that cycle when the shock hit.
So really, a strong budget position is not mutually exclusive from having a strong economy. They come together. And the fact that we’ve seen record job creation and the lowest welfare dependency in Australia in 30 years is actually an indication of good decision-making, good economic management, which is going to help to protect us into the future.
*the ‘trouble’ would have been slightly higher interest payments on government debt
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Question: You’re saying “stay the course” not “change the course” in light of growth rates below 2%. Does that mean that you’re prepared to accept growth rates below 2%?
Josh Frydenberg:
Let’s wait until we see the September national account numbers. But we do know that the Australian economy is facing some significant headwinds. The global headwinds are real, and you’ve seen that in the IMF report today, and their description of a synchronised slowdown.
The impact of the drought, which has taken 0.25% straight off GDP, but has seen significant funding being required by the federal government.
So we do face these challenges. But we have lower taxes, putting more money into people’s pockets.
We have record spending on infrastructure. We have the plan to create 80,000 new apprenticeships, and we’re entering into the free-trade agreements which are also ensuring greater opportunities for Australian businesses. So that is our economic plan, and that is a plan that has also seen the budget come into balance for the first time in 11 years.
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Josh Frydenberg speaks on IMF growth report
Josh Frydenberg is speaking on the IMF report, downgrading Australia’s growth rate from 2.1% to 1.4%
It is now more important than ever that we stay the course with considered, disciplined and responsible economic management. Economic management that sees Australia in its 29th consecutive year of economic growth.
With a triple A credit rating that only 10 developed nations have. With a strong labour market which has seen more than 1.4 million new jobs being created. And with the first balanced budget in 11 years. Today, the IMF has confirmed that the Australian economy will grow faster than any G7 nation, except the United States.
Now, our economic plan will see the Australian economy continue to grow with lower taxes, record spending on infrastructure, providing the workforce with the skills that they need, cutting red tape and entering into new free-trade agreements, which has already seen businesses have greater access to some two billion new customers.
And we will ensure a strong economy and a strong budget position, because it is critical to the resilience of the Australian economy, as we fails the global headwinds.
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Peter Dutton has tabled a statement on his decision to exercise his medevac discretion to refuse a transfer (as is required by the legislation):
REFUSAL STATEMENT UNDER SECTION 198J OF THE MIGRATION ACT 1958
On 11 October 2019,1, PETER DUTTON, Minister for Home Affairs made a decision under section 198G(2) of the Migration Act 1958 to refuse to approve the transfer of an accompanying family member from Nauru to Australia.
I made this decision because I reasonably believe the accompanying family member would expose the Australian community to a serious risk of criminal conduct and should not be transferred to Australia.
The Department of Home Affairs (Department) has advised me that the accompanying family member has a history of violent and manipulative behaviour, including allegations of physical assault against his children, been investigated by Nauruan Police Force for criminal activity, engaged in military service in Iran and that the Department has been unable to verify his identity.
Pursuant to section 198G(5), in deciding to refuse to approve the accompanying family member’s transfer, I have had regard to the best interests of the adult transferee who it was recommended he should accompany. I have approved the transfer of a separate family member to accompany the adult transferee from Nauru to Australia. In addition, the adult transferee has other family members in Australia.
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Katharine Murphy has written up the latest Essential poll (yes, I know, all caveats about polls) and it has some interesting takeouts:
While national politics frets about its trust crisis, the bulk of Australian voters appear reasonably sanguine with both of the major parties five months on from the federal election, with more than 60% of the Guardian Essential sample rating the performance of the Coalition and Labor as excellent, good or fair.
The latest survey of 1,088 respondents shows 63% are positive about the Coalition’s performance post-election and 62% say the same about Labor, although Coalition voters are more positive about the government than Labor voters are about Labor, with 93% of Coalition voters affirming the government and 83% of Labor voters affirming the opposition.
Scott Morrison remains comfortably ahead of Anthony Albanese as preferred prime minister, although the Labor leader has made up ground over the past month. Morrison is preferred as prime minister by 43% of the sample to Albanese’s 28%, which is a three-point improvement for the Labor leader.
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Josh Frydenberg is holding a press conference at 10.15am in the Senate courtyard.
You can expect the official government response to the IMF report, there.
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Meanwhile, a report looking at federal MPs’ attitudes to democractic reform is being released today.
Paul Karp has had a look at the report, here:
And from the statement:
The report is the fifth in a series of reports developed by Democracy 2025 that examine how to strengthen democratic practice and bridge the trust divide in Australia.
The director of Democracy 2025, Professor Mark Evans, will present the report at a special event at Parliament House.
... Democracy 2025 is an initiative of MoAD—in partnership with the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis at the University of Canberra—that is strengthening democratic practice through research, dialogue and innovation. For more information visit www.democracy2025.gov.au.
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The timing of the Courier Mail article comes as the government works to woo Jacqui Lambie, the swing vote, to repeal the medevac legislation, which was passed against its will in the last minority parliament.
A Senate inquiry into the laws will be handed down on Friday. But the Senate won’t vote on the repeal legislation until it sits in again in November.
Kristina Keneally says Peter Dutton’s enacting of the security safeguard shows the legislation is working:
Why did Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton claim people of bad character could be transferred to Australia under medevac when it’s clear they have the powers to deny such transfers?
Under medevac, the minister can refuse a transfer on security or serious character grounds and this decision does not get reviewed and cannot be overturned. In fact, before medevac, the courts were deciding medical transfers on health grounds only, not even taking into consideration security concerns.
Peter Dutton is so desperate to distract from the 95,000 airplane people who have arrived on his watch, he’s boasting about using a power Labor ensured was in place to keep security threats out of the country.
Labor strongly supports medevac. Medevac is working. These laws should not be repealed by the government.”
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Why is all of that interesting?
Well, because the government, including Peter Dutton and Scott Morrison, have said they don’t have the power to stop people under medevac.
In June, in an interview with David Speers on Sky News, Dutton said:
DS: You did warn, of course, at the time rapists, paedophiles, murders might come in. You know, I know you were asked about this on Sunday – have you yet established whether any have?
PD: I think there are some people that have come of bad character, David. I don’t think there’s any question about that, and under Labor’s law ...
DS: Amongst this 30 – are there any rapists, murders, paedophiles?
PD: Well, we’ll have a look at the details in due course, and I’d make this point though. The point made by the Labor party – and you heard a bit of the rhetoric in the previous interview – people of bad character can come, are able to come and, in fact, are required to come under Labor’s laws that they passed. That’s the reality. So, if you’ve got a national security check ...
DS: And you’re saying there are people of bad character who have come amongst that 30?
PD: I’m saying there are some – there are some people of bad character who have come to our country.
DS: What sort of bad character?
PD: Well, I’ll go into those details at the appropriate time, David, but what I’m worried about now – particularly out of this court decision, and particularly out of Labor saying that they won’t support us in the parliament to repeal this bad law – I am worried about many more cases coming through, and I think many of those people were believing, as the refugee advocates told them, that Labor would win the election, and that they would be here in significant numbers in big uplifts overnight, and that they’d be living in Australia.
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Peter Dutton blocks medevac transfer
The Courier Mail had this story this morning:
Peter Dutton will use his powers for the first time under the medevac legislation to keep out a violent Iranian asylum seeker – accused of running a prostitution ring – after doctors ordered three family members be sent to Australia.
In shock revelations, doctors approved an adult Iranian woman on Nauru to be sent to Australia for treatment and be accompanied by her brother and father, who do not need medical attention.
The article mentions “interventionist” doctors and Dutton having to step in on security grounds.
Which actually just proves that the medevac legislation the government is attempting to repeal has the safeguards in it to allow ministers to step in and stop transfers on national security grounds.
Which is outlined in this explainer from Murph:
Ministerial discretion applies in three areas.
First, the minister can refuse the transfer if he or she disagrees with the clinical assessment.
The second grounds for refusal is if the minister reasonably suspects that the transfer of the person to Australia would be prejudicial to security “within the meaning of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979, including because an adverse security assessment in respect of the person is in force under that Act”.
Sticking with security, the transfer can also be knocked back if Asio advises the minister that transfer of the person to Australia may be prejudicial to security “and that threat cannot be mitigated”.
The third grounds for refusal is if the minister knows that the transferee has a substantial criminal record and the minister reasonably believes the person would expose the Australian community to a serious risk of criminal conduct.
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The bells are sounding off.
Parliament is about to begin.
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Jim Chalmers was out at doors this morning to talk about the IMF downgrade.
Our economic problems in Australia are still primarily home-grown. That’s a point that Deloitte Access Economics has made.
It’s a point that the Reserve Bank has made. We’ve had issues in the Australian economy for some time now which preceded the trade tensions between the Americans and the Chinese, for example. When Josh Frydenberg tries to blame international conditions for this downgrade today, remember that the Australian downgrade in these new numbers is four times bigger than the downgrade for the other advanced economies as a whole.
Speaking of the drought, Sarah Martin has looked at what some of the money for drought-stricken councils is being spent on:
Music festivals, cemetery upgrades, public toilets and a virtual gym are among the hundreds of projects to receive federal grants under the government’s signature Drought Communities Program.
As the government fends off criticism of its national drought response, a Guardian Australia analysis of $100m in grants awarded under the program in 2019 shows that while many shires have used the grant program for water infrastructure projects, much of the funding has been spent on events, the purchase of equipment and maintenance work.
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My colleague Josh Taylor has been reading some of the federation chamber speeches from last night, and found this one from Ed Husic criticising the government for not doing enough to combat rightwing extremism:
The point is this: I don’t care if it’s Islamist-inspired or supremacist-inspired, if it represents a threat to the Australian people it should be taken seriously. And I’m telling you now, based on the briefings I’ve received, we are not taking this seriously. We reckon that we’re only following a few people on this issue here in this country. I have the greatest respect for what our security agencies and intelligence agencies are doing. But we also know in this day and age, with the rise of the lone wolf, we can’t track these people easily. We need to take this seriously. We need to deal with it now.
You’ll find the rest of that on page 104 on that link
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Tanya Plibersek has spotted the Marshall Islands announcement:
I’m sure these students are hardworking and clever, but what our Pacific Island neighbours need most from Scott Morrison is serious action to combat climate change, not a student exchange program.
The students will also be working on developing strategies and programs to help communities deal with the coming impacts to their environment. Which is great. What would also be great is having Australia, as a leader in the region, actually develop a proper emissions-reduction policy of its own.
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The department of health team won the Big Issue street soccer competition against the politician’s team, 6-nil, in the final this morning.
The press gallery side came fourth.
Mike Bowers also tells me that Brendan O’Connor also struggled with the rules.
David Speers was farewelled by his Sky News colleagues overnight. Speersy has been an institution of the press gallery for the past two decades. He is moving to Melbourne to take over the Insiders reins, which he’ll pick up officially early next year.
While there were lots of lovely moments, the loveliest was probably when Speers paid tribute to his colleagues, particularly his long-term camera operator, Geoff Crane.
The relationship between journalists and photographers and camera operators is more like a marriage. You spend more time with them in these sorts of jobs than your own partner most of the year. You see each other at your best and worse. You don’t have to think because they do it for you. You turn around, and they are already there, capturing what your words can’t. Journalists most definitely get the better side of the deal – we could not do our jobs without the visual artists who help hold us up. But they would be just fine without us. I couldn’t do this blog without Mike Bowers (please don’t tell him that, it’ll upset our entire dynamic) and for many journalists, broadcast ones in particular, the cameramen and women we work with are absolute heroes. So it was lovely to see that relationship celebrated by two of the best last night.
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The drought response continues to be a bone of contention.
Joel Fitzgibbon has put out this statement:
In response to my question in Parliament yesterday, the Prime Minister said:
“The Future Drought Fund is not to provide direct financial assistance payments to farmers. It’s there to provide direct support for water resilience projects to plan for the future.”
His admission exposes his claim that he’s spending $7 billion assisting drought-affected farming families. He is spending nothing like that and he should come clean.
Expect more on that today, as well.
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Marise Payne has welcomed the release of Jock Palfreeman from a Bulgarian detention centre, but remains “concerned, however, that Mr Palfreeman continues to be denied the right to return to Australia, having being granted parole in September”.
Palfreeman, who was given permission to return to Australia by a court, has had his passport confiscated. Payne has officially called on the Bulgarian government to afford Palfreeman “due process, consistent with Bulgarian law”.
You might remember this tweet from the minister in assistance to the president of Marshall Islands, David Paul, in response to Michael McCormack’s comments about criticism from our Pacific neighbours over Australia’s response to climate change.
As deputy leader of one country to another let me say this: the Pacific’s survival - and the Australian fruit industry - requires leadership on the greatest threat to our region and to the world. Unfortunately, $500m does not go very far when you are at risk of losing everything. https://t.co/55Vvft5gou
— David Paul (@MinisterDPaul) August 16, 2019
Well, it turns out the government is now sending students to the Marshall Islands to study – wait for it – “the impact of climate change on local communities”.
I kid you not.
Marise Payne and Dan Tehan announced the New Colombo Plan’s 2020 Mobility Program yesterday where “11,196 undergraduates from 40 Australian universities to complete short-term study and work-based experiences in 36 locations across the Indo-Pacific”.
From their release on the cross-cultural education program:
We have increased awards for Australian undergraduates to engage with Pacific nations by 15 per cent over the previous round. Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea are the most popular Pacific destinations, with the Republic of the Marshall Islands to host New Colombo Plan Mobility Program students for the first time in 2020. Over the next three years, 75 undergraduates will study the impact of climate change on local communities in the Marshall Islands and develop projects to support sustainability and resilience.
Cool beans.
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You can read more of Malcolm Turnbull’s response to the Snowy 2.0 criticism on his Twitter feed.
You can argue the toss over whether or not he is right – again, he was invested in this project, and so he is not exactly impartial on this. But it would have been nice to see more of this Turnbull – defending what he believes in and calling out vested interests – as prime minister.
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It was probably the project Malcolm Turnbull was most excited about when he was prime minister. Properly authentically excited.
So it is no surprise that Turnbull would come to the defence of Snowy 2.0 in the face of reports of cost blowouts and questions about its use.
Turnbull went on a bit of a tweet storm overnight. Here’s a taste.
Snowy Hydro 2.0 is the key to making renewables reliable. It is opposed by vested interests in the energy sector who know it will reduce volatility and deliver zero emissions and more affordable electricity.
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) October 15, 2019
The decision to proceed with Snowy 2.0 has been based on extensive economic and engineering analysis including the feasibility study published in December 2017. The contracted costs, as Paul Broad has said, are consistent with that study.
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) October 15, 2019
The claim that the scheme is in the wrong place is ludicrous. Snowy Hydro sits between the two biggest centres of demand in NSW and Victoria. Of course transmission will have to be upgraded, as it will be right around the country as we move from high emission....
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) October 15, 2019
So if the Government does not build Snowy 2.0 it would not get built. In summary - the opponents of Snowy 2.0 are, wittingly or not, doing the work of vested interests in the energy sector who profit from the existing volatility and high prices.
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) October 15, 2019
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You don’t have to have the government talking points to know the lines on the IMF report have most definitely been released.
This was Paul Fletcher on ABC this morning:
Let’s be clear. We have a sound economy, AAA credit rating, we have been growing, 29th year in a row, of growth, growing faster than every G7 country except the US and we have a clear plan to maintain our economic position.
We have got the lowest rate of welfare dependency. Getting the budget back to in balance this year and then getting it back to surplus is the plan.
We won’t be spooked by international conditions. We’ll stick to our plan.
Question: I’ll ask the question again, it’s not great though, a figure of 1.7% from the body like the IMF?
PF:
Let us be clear, our economy is growing, it’s been growing for 29 years.
Question: But not fast enough?
PF:
[Last year] A range of countries, Singapore, Germany and the UK were in negative growth. We are in positive growth, we have been growing for 29 years. We have a clear plan to maintain the economic position, including $100bn of infrastructure, personal tax cuts and reducing welfare dependency. We want to maintain that.
Let’s be clear – nothing says “this is a practised line” like putting “let’s be clear”, “the reality is” or “the fact of the matter is” at the beginning of said practised line.
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Good morning
Well, Jim Chalmers woke up with an extra spring in his step today, with the news Australia’s economic growth rate has been downgraded by the IMF, from 2.1% to 1.7%.
Those economic headwinds Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg have been referring to are on their way. The IMF, like the RBA, want governments to stimulate their economies. Slashing interest rates is not enough. With a decade of low growth forecast across the globe, monetary bodies want to see spending.
In a statement sent out very early this morning, Chalmers said:
The IMF has called on countries, including Australia, to provide fiscal stimulus and invest in infrastructure to support their economy and improve productivity.
According to the IMF, “Monetary policy cannot be the only game in town and should be coupled with fiscal support where fiscal space is available.”
The IMF’s updated forecasts make a mockery of Josh Frydenberg’s claims that the Morrison Government has the right policy settings.
Collapsing confidence and weak growth are the inevitable consequence of a Liberal-National Government which has a political strategy but not an economic policy.
We saw signs most obviously last week, that the government is attempting to respond, without being explicit about it. Frydenberg’s meeting with the nation’s treasurers was all about bringing forward lower-tier infrastructure projects, which was essentially a stimulus program, without mentioning the word stimulus. That’s because the government is locked on to delivering its budget operating surplus next year. Which means, for the short term at least, it is steering clear of “stimulus” – because you shouldn’t have to stimulate a surplus economy.
But the warnings are getting louder. So we are on watch and wait here.
Mike Bowers is out and about – he was up early covering the press gallery versus politicians soccer match this morning, which was raising money for the Big Issue (a very good program, and I encourage you, if you can manage it, support your local Big Issue seller). I’ll bring you some of that, and all the other magic he captures throughout the day.
You’ll also have Katharine Murphy, Sarah Martin, Paul Karp and the rest of the Guardian Australia brains trust bringing you what happens in this building and beyond.
I haven’t had a second coffee, but I have had a ginger nut biscuit for breakfast (unfortunately not a Queensland one, which is obviously the best of all the ginger nuts) so I am as peppy as I can be under the circumstances.
Ready?
Let’s get into it.
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