And that is where we will leave today.
Everything here is finishing up — to be honest, I think the apology was more gruelling than anticipated, so people are taking a moment to take it all in.
But expect business as usual to continue tomorrow.
ABC estimates are up tomorrow afternoon — straight after question time.
We’ll bring you that, the party room meetings and the latest Wentworth updates.
Thank you to Mike Bowers, who went out to meet the survivors and victims today when I couldn’t, and always had his humanity at the forefront of his camera lens.
And thank you to the Guardian brains trust and those who are my eyes and ears in this building — you reach areas I can’t always get to, and I am very grateful to it.
And as always, the biggest and last thank you to you, for following along with us. Today was worthy, but hard. I have read some of your personal stories in the comment sections, and my heart is with you.
We’ll be back tomorrow morning, but in the mean time — please, take care of you.
Updated
Mathias Cormann was tied up in verbal knots by Penny Wong just a short while ago about whether or not the government has looked into whether it can govern, without its majority in the House.
Basically — no, not really, but he’ll check if there has been anything written.
Updated
This has since been un-retweeted.
But I am not sure “defund the ABC” is the greatest of positions for a Wentworth candidate
Slip of the retweet finger? #auspol pic.twitter.com/35c2vl3ILk
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) October 22, 2018
But I am sure it is just an “administrative error”
Updated
Labor senators and Greens LGBTIQ spokeswoman Janet Rice have been probing the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet on how many people had a copy of the Ruddock review report, which leaked on 10 October.
They established the number could be as low as three: former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, attorney general Christian Porter and the new prime minister, Scott Morrison.
Obviously the number would be a little higher than that when you include people in each of those three offices, but that’s not a very big number.
That explains why the report remained secret since it was submitted in May and will raise suspicions about why it leaked when it did.
The hearing has also established there has been no complaint to the Australian Federal Police and no investigation by the department into the leak.
Mathias Cormann is playing defence: “We’re all in the same profession we all understand that from time to time things go public before they’re ready to go public.”
Call me old-fashioned but it sounds like when public servants leak things it’s straight to the cops because of section 70 of the Crimes Act but when the suspicion — rightly or wrongly — falls on politicians, it’s all part of the cut and thrust of politics.
Updated
The finance and public administration committee has just seen a fiery exchange between Penny Wong and Mathias Cormann about the Ruddock review.
The session started with a semantic chat with Jenny McAllister probing why Cormann had said cabinet had “received” the report when, at the time it was leaked, hardly any cabinet ministers had read it.
Then Wong started up about whether Scott Morrison’s announcement the government would ban discrimination against LGBT students was a decision of cabinet and when the department found out about it.
Cormann took on notice when the department learned this is government policy, which set Wong off:
“You don’t want [the department] to tell us they only found out when the [prime minister] stood up in front of a press conference ... I don’t think it’s funny that you’re obfuscating on this issue to try and cover up the fact you didn’t even have a decision of cabinet on this just like you didn’t have a decision of the cabinet on Jerusalem. You are running government by press release!”
Cormann rejects that assertion — and says the government will “continue to make decisions in the best interests of the Australian people”.
Updated
The second volume of Kevin Rudd’s book will be launched tomorrow.
Both Rudd and Claire Moore will be there for the event, which will be held in parliament just after lunch.
Updated
The climate change authority was not consulted before the government decided to abandon its national energy guarantee, a senate estimates hearing has heard.
Prime minister Scott Morrison declared the policy “dead” in September.
“Was the climate change authority consulted by the government on the decision to abandon the national energy guarantee?” Labor senator Kristina Keneally asked the authority on Monday.
“No senator,” said the authority’s chair Wendy Craik.
Keneally also asked whether the authority had been asked to prepare any material or briefings “on the national energy guarantee’s abandonment and its implications for climate change mitigation”.
Craik said it had not.
“Has the climate change authority by its own initiative prepared any such material?” Keneally asked.
“No senator,” she said.
Updated
Updated
The federal police and Asio are investigating how the spy agency’s advice was leaked to the Guardian Australia concerning Scott Morrison’s proposed shift in Middle East policy to relocate the embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Asio warned the move may “provoke protest, unrest and possibly some violence in Gaza and the West Bank”.
Guardian Australia last week obtained an Asio bulletin, marked secret, AUSTEO (Australian eyes only), circulated on 15 October – the day before Morrison’s announcement on the Israel embassy – that notes that the putative shift would “attract international attention”.
Duncan Lewis told a Senate estimates hearing on Monday an internal investigation into the leak was underway and the matter had been referred to the federal police.
The advice was not intended to be made public, he said.
He said the prime minister had not sought Asio’s advice on the possible embassy relocation.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had informed Asio of the pending announcement.
“We act on our own volition,” Lewis said.
“It was a routine piece of advice.”
Meanwhile, Lewis told the hearing an estimated 230 Australians have travelled to the Middle East since 2012 to fight alongside extremist groups such as Islamic State.
About 94 Australians have been killed since 2012, while the federal government has cancelled or refused 240 passports.
Updated
Further to Craig Kelly we have Andrew Bolt telling us that the lessons of Wentworth are:
1 – The government is finished
2 – That it will still have no idea what it stands for
3 – Malcolm Turnbull is a traitor
TONIGHT: Last weekend’s Wentworth by-election shows the Liberals are dead. Plus, evidence the ABC is out of control. Live at 7pm AEST on @SkyNewsAust pic.twitter.com/rBO10gepdI
— The Bolt Report (@theboltreport) October 22, 2018
One of Malcolm Turnbull’s biggest, and most prolonged critics, Craig Kelly, who was most definitely Team Dutton, has just spoken to 2GB (not Sky, which is the biggest surprise) that Turnbull could have “turned the tide” in Wentworth.
“It would have been nice if he could have sent a couple of tweets to say he supported Dave Sharma,” Kelly said.
“That could have helped, that could have turned the tide.”
Yes, how dare Turnbull get gutted, and then dare to have the hide to bleed all over the rug.
These were also the same people who advised Turnbull to follow the “gold standard” of John Howard and just shut up after leaving politics.
And also the same people who were warned, TOLD OUTRIGHT, that if he lost the leadership, Turnbull would leave politics.
And yet, here we are.
Updated
You can take the man in the big hat out of the Nationals ...
.@RealBobKatter: I don’t want people to forget what’s happened with @Barnaby_Joyce, but let’s forgive. I want to support the government but there has to be some action on the big issues.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) October 22, 2018
RELATED: https://t.co/bT1D0T1xAc #Speers pic.twitter.com/utplXMICc5
Updated
“I have an untamed unpredictability,” Bob Katter says.
He’s talking about whether or not he would support a no confidence motion against the government.
But it would also work on Tinder, if someone is looking for a bio.
The Australian Lawyers Alliance has also responded to the national apology:
“As the government officially apologises to the many people who have suffered as a result of institutional sexual assault, we also acknowledge their pain and their courage,” said Noor Blumer, the president of Australian Lawyers Alliance.
“The distressing stories of abuse that the royal commission uncovered are shocking, and highlight an appalling lack of protection for children.
“Ensuring justice for these survivors is the reason the outcomes of the royal commission and the development of the national redress scheme have been a key priority for our alliance for the past six years.
“Nothing can take away the devastating impact of abuse but we are hopeful that the new laws and the actions resulting from the royal commission will significantly reduce the risk of children being abused in the future.
“However, the exclusions from the national redress scheme, together with the deficiencies in the Scheme and the delay in major institutions such as the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches in implementing it remain of great concern.”
Updated
Bob Katter is talking to Sky, about crocodiles and whatnot, and also about how he will give confidence to the government, but “conditionally”.
Just a reminder that if Kerryn Phelps is declared the winner (as expected) of Wentworth, then the government just needs one crossbencher.
Brendan O’Connor has released this statement:
Tomorrow marks one year since Minister Cash was engulfed in the scandal which saw her office admit to unlawfully leaking to the media the Registered Organisation Commission raid on AWU offices, and it is more than time she answered questions.
Once again, Labor calls on Senator Cash to stop avoiding scrutiny and finally tell the truth following evidence in Senate estimates today that the Australian federal police has completed its investigation into the unlawful leaks.
The AFP told Senate estimates today that their investigation into the unlawful leak is complete and a full brief of evidence was forwarded to the commonwealth director of public prosecutions on 20 August 2018.
SENATOR CAMERON: So the investigation is complete as far as the AFP is concerned?
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER CLOSE: Yes, Senator.
SENATE ESTIMATES, 22 OCTOBER 2018
Even though the investigation is complete, we still do not know whether Minister Cash cooperated with the AFP. Did she provide a witness statement? Was she interviewed as a suspect?
Unanswered questions also remain as to how far this scandal extends regarding the involvement of other ministerial offices, with the AFP admitting that other ministerial offices have provided information to the investigation.
SENATOR CAMERON: Have you received any other external information other than from Senator Cash?
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER CLOSE: We received information from a range of witnesses and people, Senator.
SENATOR CAMERON: Including other ministerial offices?
DEPUTY COMMISSIONER CLOSE: Yes.
It is now a year since the government’s politicisation of the ROC was sensationally exposed. It is a year since Cash misled the Senate five times by falsely denying that her office was the source of the leak. It is a year since the AFP launched a criminal investigation into the leak
Yet, Cash is still hiding from scrutiny.
Updated
The only thing bringing a bit of light to today’s estimates proceedings, is the ongoing battle the Parliament House staff are waging against the swoopy boiz, aka, the Parliament House magpies.
They have no respect for when the swooping season is meant to begin, or end and were still swooping people yesterday.
A healthy fear of the ultimate in swoopy boiz is the only true unity ticket in this place, which is why the hallways are full of magpie talk.
Updated
Dutton's office tipped off about AFP raid over au pair saga leaks
The Australian federal police tipped off home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s office two days before raiding his department as part of an investigation into leaks concerning au pair visas.
AFP deputy commissioner Neil Gaughan told a Senate estimates hearing on Monday afternoon that he sent a WhatsApp message to Dutton’s chief of staff, Craig Maclachlan.
He said the minister’s office was informed ahead of the 11 October as a courtesy so the raid wouldn’t be a surprise.
Labor senator Louise Pratt, who headed a Senate committee inquiry into the au pair saga, has sought to apply parliamentary privilege to any documents seized.
The documents are now sealed and subject to a decision by the Senate privileges committee, which met last Thursday. AFP commissioner Andrew Colvin said the execution of the search warrant did not automatically give rise to a claim of parliamentary privilege.
“Parliamentary privilege is not assumed, someone has to claim parliamentary privilege otherwise our investigators would do nothing on the assumption that someone may have a problem with what they are doing,” he told the hearing.
The material in question had been leaked to the media, Colvin said.
Home affairs department secretary Michael Pezzullo said he referred the leak to the AFP, after the ABC published a lightly redacted copy of Border Force internal email correspondence.
Pezzullo said he informed Dutton’s office of the AFP referral “post-facto”.
The leaked email chain showed immigration officials appeared to have scrambled on a Sunday to save the French au pair from deportation after AFL boss Gillon McLachlan, had Dutton’s office alerted to her case on 1 November 2015. Dutton’s chief of staff, was involved in the email exchange.
Updated
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority investigated a spill from a P&O cruise ship of food waste and grey water into the Great Barrier Reef marine park, a Senate hearing for the environment and energy portfolio has heard this afternoon.
Greens senator Larissa Waters told the hearing an Amsa report on the incident had been provided to her anonymously.
The report states the pollution spill from the Pacific Explorer cruise ship occurred on 26 August after food waste was transferred to the ship’s galley holding tank due to a shortage in capacity in its food waste tanks.
It says 27 cubic metres of food waste and grey water had been discharged into the marine park by engineers.
“We were advised by AMSA that there had been a spill and that they were taking action with respect to that particular spill,” Simon Banks, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s general manager of reef protection, told the hearing.
The authority said it would supply more information on notice, including whether the incident had been made public and what, if any, environmental damage had occurred.
Updated
We reported this morning that the government used unprecedented powers to suppress the auditor-general from finding Australia could have saved hundreds of millions on a $1.3bn arms deal with multinational Thales.
The decision to black out large parts of the auditor’s report was made to protect Thales’ commercial interests.
Labor have just issued a statement on the story, saying the decision has had a “chilling effect” on the auditor-general, who is now being warned other companies will make similar objections to his work.
Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus and Labor MP Julian Hill say the attorney-general Christian Porter must properly explain his actions.
“While Mr Porter’s actions were within the bounds of the Act, it is clear such powers should be used in extraordinary circumstances only. Mr Porter has still not given a valid explanation as to his actions in this case – it’s not good enough,” the pair said.
“Independence of the Auditor-General is absolutely central to any claim of credibility of parliamentary control over the executive in the Westminster system.”
They’ve also flagged possible changes to the powers to protect the independence of the auditor-general, but will wait on an inquiry into the Thales matter to conclude.
Updated
Further to Paul’s post from a little bit ago, the Greens have expanded on what they want:
The Government must bring the children and their families in detention on Nauru to Australia immediately for medical attention, the leader of the Australian Greens, Dr Richard Di Natale, has said.
“If the Government brought them to Australia immediately for an urgent medical assessment and care, then we would consider what comes next, including possibly settlement in New Zealand,” Di Natale said.
“The Senate doesn’t sit for almost a month and we’re not going to just sit by and let people suffer and possibly die on Nauru in the meantime. No, bring them here now for urgent medical treatment and then once that’s happened the Greens are open to options including settling them on New Zealand.”
“What we won’t do is harm one group of refugees with a lifetime ban in order to save another.”
“We believe that the ban as currently proposed by the Prime Minister is unnecessary and cruel, because it would apply to thousands of people, including people left behind on Manus Island and Nauru with no chance of resettlement in either New Zealand or the US.”
Updated
Former PM Julia Gillard in the great hall with victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse at the National apology this afternoon @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus #PoliticsLive pic.twitter.com/2yCmP664pf
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) October 22, 2018
Penny Wong will be questioning Mathias Cormann in the finance estimates very shortly.
Usually this match up, between the pair who have a healthy professional respect for each other, despite political differences, is the match up of the estimates hearings.
But Cormann is a shadow of his former self since the leadership spill and mostly haunts the Senate as a broken person.
Will he get a bit of fire back? We’ll find out in the next hour.
As flagged by us about 10 minutes ago, question time has been cancelled:
Scott Morrison:
The... leader of opposition and I have discussed the matter and those who have received the apology today, the victims of institutional child sexual abuse have waited a longtime, a long time for what has happened today.
Which means that Question Time, we believe can wait till tomorrow. So we thank the opposition and we asked them that the notice paper goes tomorrow.”
Bill Shorten:
On indulgence, the Prime Minister and I and all the members of Parliament had the privilege today to meet survivors in the Great Hall and we got to hear the stories and we have seen what the national apology, today, has meant to them.
We understand today that the day today belongs to the survivors of institutional child sexual abuse, some Australians who have not lived to see justice done. Their whole lives, all their lives, they have been told that they have been second, today they come first.”
I understand that when the date was first set for the apology, the request to cancel question time from survivors was originally denied. That is not unusual — it is considered a lynchpin of the Westminster system.
But after the emotion of the day, and having spoken to survivors for who today, and the bipartisanship meant everything, it was agreed the usual hour of theatrics would be put off until tomorrow.
Updated
AAP has written up a Wentworth update, so I don’t have to.
Basically, nothing has moved overly much, with the postals to be counted tomorrow, I believe.
Independent MP Kerryn Phelps has maintained her lead as counting continues in the Sydney seat of Wentworth.
The latest Australian Electoral Commission figures published at 1pm on Monday show Dr Phelps on 51.14% of the two-candidate preferred vote with a lead of 1676 votes.
Still to be counted were 1456 declaration votes, including postal and provisional ballots.
Dr Phelps, whose vote will be crucial in the minority parliament, said she had yet to have a conversation with Prime Minister Scott Morrison but had received a text message from him saying “counting was still going on”.
“Certainly I would be wanting to have a conversation with the prime minister,” she told Sky News.
“The first order of business is to get kids off Nauru.”
She said asylum-seeker children needed urgent medical attention in Australia.
Then an independent body should be set up to assess their resettlement options.
Asked whether Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton should be referred to the High Court over his childcare interests, she said: “We need to be very rigorous and inquiring about any legislation or motions or referrals and make sure the right decisions are made.”
Senior Liberals are licking their wounds from the likely by-election defeat.
Cabinet minister Simon Birmingham said it was up to his party to quell the profound fury of the electorate with strong communication about the government’s policy achievements.
He said the coalition paid the price for dumping Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister, which triggered his resignation from Wentworth.
Nationals frontbencher Darren Chester said the people of Wentworth had sent a message after losing their popular local member.
“I think once you hand the voters a baseball bat, you can hardly be surprised if they use it,” Mr Chester told the ABC.
A win for Dr Phelps will leave the House of Representatives with six crossbenchers, 75 coalition MPs and 69 Labor MPs.
Three crossbenchers, Cathy McGowan, Rebekha Sharkie and Bob Katter, want the government to run its full term. Independent Mr Wilkie will not guarantee confidence, while Greens MP Mr Bandt said an election had to be called because “the sooner we turf out this rotten government, the better”.
Updated
QT had been delayed until 2.30pm, but after the show of bipartisanship, the victims and survivors for whom today is about – both in parliament and in Canberra – didn’t want politics taking over.
I understand Scott Morrison will be making a statement on this soon.
Updated
If the cancellation of question time doesn’t let you know how much today has left a lot of our leaders shaken, then I am not sure anything will.
It is not something which is pulled out all the time.
Question time has been cancelled.
I believe it is at the request of survivor groups
The Greens have signalled they might be prepared to shift policy to help pass some form of travel ban for asylum seekers who go to New Zealand if it helps break a deadlock and gets the detainees off Nauru.
At a press conference in Canberra Richard Di Natale said:
“The Australian Greens want these innocent people brought to Australia to get the assessment that they need. After that we will consider other options including the New Zealand option. But they must be brought to Australia first. We will consider the New Zealand option but let me be absolutely clear about what that means: that means no travel bans for innocent people who are not impacted by this arrangement … We will not accept a lifetime travel ban as part of any arrangement this government comes to.”
Greens immigration spokesman Nick McKim explains that the Coalition’s legislation does not just impose a travel ban on 150 people going to New Zealand, but for anyone who has ever been sent from Australia to its offshore detention centre on Manus Island – thousands of innocent people.
Di Natale says people need an urgent resettlement option and “clearly that should be in Australia” but if the government and Labor won’t support that then “we have to listen to what the children and families on Nauru are telling us and we should consider all options to ensure they are removed from the conditions that cause them so much harm”.
Di Natale did not clarify what conditions the Greens would accept – only that the “red line” is it can’t apply to people who don’t get resettlement in New Zealand.
The Greens also have introduced a bill that would require every child and their families be brought from Nauru to Australia.
Updated
Question time is set down for 2.30pm today, because of the National Apology.
For those who were asking earlier what bills the crossbench were putting forward earlier, it was these:
Defence (Honour General Sir John Monash) Amendment Bill 2018 Ms McGowan (Indi) to present a bill. First reading. Second reading to be moved. (Time allowed — 10 minutes.)
No. 2 — Migration Amendment (Kids Off Nauru) Bill 2018 — Mr Wilkie (Denison) to present a bill. First reading. Second reading to be moved. (Time allowed —10 minutes.)
No. 3 — National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Amendment (Timely Publication of Emissions) Bill 2018 — Ms Sharkie (Mayo) to present a bill. First reading. Second reading to be moved. (Time allowed — 10 minutes.)
No. 4 — National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Small Amount Credit Contract and Consumer Lease Reforms) Bill 2018 — Ms McGowan (Indi) to present a bill. First reading. Second reading to be moved. (Time allowed — 10 minutes.)
Updated
Around the country, events were being held to witness the apology
Very moving to join @DiFarmerMP & listen to the National Apology to victims of child sexually abuse with Qld survivors. A landmark day. The significance of which will best be judged by our ongoing efforts to redress past injustices & improve the prevention of child abuse #qldpol pic.twitter.com/PqZFKsOWMc
— Shannon Fentiman (@ShannonFentiman) October 22, 2018
I have never been in a room so full of pain and hurt,” Scott Morrison says to journalists from the front lawn of parliament house.
He has just tied a ribbon on the tree sculpture.
“It rends your soul to your core.
“I just hope that what we have done here today provides some sort of measure of relief and what is more important is what happens after.
“That each part of that message is received loud and clear, over a prolonged period of time. There is a lot of work to do. Many of us are uncles, aunties, mothers, fathers and this is something that I think it just rocks you to your core
“It grieves your soul to your core.”
Updated
They tried fake hawks to stop the militant magpies around parliament house.
Speaking as an observer (never been swooped, touch wood), they failed.
Here's the Senate #estimates exchange about the fake hawks used in Parliament House to stop the magpie attacks. pic.twitter.com/MFAKTTHzdx
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) October 22, 2018
Michael Gunner, the chief minister of the Northern Territory has responded to the apology:
Today Prime Minister Scott Morrison formally acknowledged and apologised for the appalling abuse endured by vulnerable children by the very people who were supposed to care for them.
On behalf of the Northern Territory government, I acknowledge and apologise for the hurt and harm that has been experienced by the victims and survivors of child sexual abuse.
I’m sorry for all the children who suffered in various Territory institutions.
And I’m sorry for the adults who carry that suffering still.
I acknowledge that because of policies of governments, connections of some First Nations people and families have been lost forever. And it is the shame of this nation that many children who were ripped from their families were then placed within institutions who sanctioned cruelty in the place of nurture.
The horrors uncovered in the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse extend well beyond the stolen generation missions. These predators stained almost every type of institution in which children deserve sanctuary – educational, recreational, sporting, religious, and cultural.
We have generations of hurt, so many kids and so many families. So many lives lived beneath their potential. So many young minds condemned. So many acts of courage.
I want to commend the extraordinary bravery of those who spoke up historically and to the royal commission. I applaud their courage, determination and strength in reliving their nightmares in order to bring forward justice and accountability, in the hope that we can collectively as a nation build a stronger society to ensure that these forms of abuse do not persist and cannot occur again.
Today’s national apology delivered by the prime minister is an important step to help the lifelong healing process for victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.
Updated
Back in Senate estimates at the legal and constitutional affairs committee – the Australian federal police deputy commissioner Leanne Close is providing an update on the AWU raid leak investigation.
She said the full brief of evidence went to the commonwealth director of public prosecutions on 20 August.
That indicates the police think a crime may have been committed, but it’s up to the DPP to decide whether to press charges.
Labor’s Doug Cameron asks Close about reports that former employment minister Michaelia Cash refused to provide any additional information beyond what she’d said on the public record about the leak (denying responsibility or knowledge of it).
Close then claims public interest immunity – a fancy way of saying: “We can’t tell you because it may come up in court later.”
After Close blocks a number of questions on that basis, Cameron then asks why no charges have been laid against David De Garis, the senior media adviser who resigned over the leak.
AFP commissioner Andrew Colvin replies that public statements taking responsibility for something often fall “a long way short from what the rules of evidence require to launch a prosecution”.
Updated
There were a lot of people telling us last week that the support for Pauline Hanson’s white supremacist slogan motion “it’s okay to be white” was a “Canberra bubble” issue.
It seems the Canberra bubble has hit Darwin
Doesn't seem like everyone is over last week's 'Canberra bubble' events (spotted by part of the Guardian brain's trust) pic.twitter.com/Q5sLscZLDA
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) October 22, 2018
Updated
For those who were unable to reach a television:
.@JuliaGillard: I am sitting where I wanted to be with the survivors and their families and friends.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) October 22, 2018
I want to take this opportunity to record my thanks to all of you, for your courage and determination.
MORE: https://t.co/2mTvvfaHxe pic.twitter.com/kQZuf7awUO
The guests have been given ribbons, which they can tie to a tree sculpture which has been set up on the front lawns.
The group move to the events on the front lawn.
Inside the parliament, Senate estimates continues, but no one is really paying attention, and even Doug Cameron seems subdued as he asks questions. It’s not a day for politics.
Kay Patterson breaks from the script to ask Julia Gillard to come to the stage, and pays tribute to her work with Beyond Blue, the role she has taken since leaving politics.
Gillard calms the room.
Thank you very much – thank you very much to Kay and I did take her advice, she was a good friend to me in an era where it isn’t common to have friendships across the aisle so I thank her and I thank Mr Morrison and the leader of the opposition Bill Shorten for the words they have spoken today but also the way in which they have spoken, the real emotion.
I am sitting where I wanted be, with the survivors and their families and friends and thank you to the very great honour you have paid to m etoday by acknowledging me in the room. It means a great deal to me.
And I do want to take this opportunity to record my thanks to all of you for your courage, your determination ,for your stoicism.
It took many years to get to this moment but we are only at it, not because of me but because of you.
Thank you very much.”
Updated
The prime minister and opposition leader come together to officially present the apology and the room once again erupts in heckles.
“Why do the institutions still get public money,” comes one of the loudest shouts.
“Stop funding them.”
Updated
Bill Shorten:
I thank the traditional owners of this land and pay my respects.
And to the children who were taken from country, culture, and tradition.
Many of whom then suffered abuse on top of that trauma.
I acknowledge the Prime Minister and his sincere words.
I thank in for what he has done today. And I would like to ... acknowledge amongst many people someone who makes me very proud, former prime minister Julia Gillard.
It is nothing less than you deserve, Julia.
I would also like to acknowledge the advisory committee. They are formidable.
You are excellent.
And you will keep us on our path, we understand that.
And thank you very much. And although she didn’t want me to mention her because she is characteristically modest, I want to acknowledge Jenny Macklin, who definitely wanted to be here today.
But most of all I want to acknowledge all of you.
I mean, coming to the Great Hall, coming to parliament is the triumph of hope over experience.
(“We have been waiting 30 years! comes from the floor”)
What I want to say to all of you coming here, is you actually do us, the compliment.
Because you have been let down.
You have been let down, as children, let down by the institutions and their life.
And I want to say I can see that coming forward to the royal commission, a very painful decision to have to tell a story again, when you weren’t believed for years and when you are betrayed by people in authority time and time again.
To try and come forward and to relive the pain for one reason above all else – because every person in this room has told the story or been part of this process for the simple and selfish motivation, whatever do you do not want to happen to children in the future.
Thank you so much.
We had our speeches in parliament.
There is no need to repeat all about.
But let me answer one question which many you will be thinking – well, it was good, but will you do it?
Where is the action?
And I want to stay in acknowledging that that today is not an easy day for many because this royal commission looked at victims of sexual abuse and the responses of institutions.
But I want to acknowledge they those who were in institutions that while they may not have been sexually abuse suffered all sorts of previous violence and abuse anyway.
And beyond the institutions, I want to acknowledge that this is a difficult date because for many people who suffered abuse as a child, and sexual abuse, this did not happen in an institution, but abuse is abuse is abuse nonetheless.
And all those ... who have advocated, for who have been [on this difficult] journey, understand that there are many were not even here.
And I do not even mean in this building this place.
But who have just passed on.
And for them this all comes too late, and I acknowledge that and I am so dreadfully sorry about that fact.
So there are two things I just want to say enclosing.
I want to repeat one thing which we said in the house, but it cannot be repeated enough.
To all of you who have suffered, we understand at long last, and many before, but it is now being [released].
It was never your fault.
It is not your fault.
And I apologise for the fact that you were not believed.
I am so so sorry.
And finally we use a lot of words in this place and you can be forgiven for thinking that words are cheap.
And I understand that today is not judged by today, as important as the day is.
It is now up to those in power, those no longer just the survivors and victims and advocates, but the moral duty of this parliament and future parliaments not to second-guess the royal commission, but just to do the implementation of the recommendations of the royal commission.”
Updated
But the room is, understandably, very hostile as well. There is a lot of anger. All of it justified. And all of it directed at wanting more than words.
Bill Shorten attempts to address that in his speech
Bill Shorten delivers his reply speech to the apology.
He receives a very big welcome, but it is nothing to what Julia Gillard again receives from the room. Those who remember 2012 would remember the immense push back Gillard received when instigating this royal commission.
Her efforts are very, very welcomed by a room of people who are openly sobbing, clutching the names of those who are not here, or who could not be here, or who died before receiving this day.
'Today we commit to taking action' – the apology
Today the Australian government and this parliament, on the of all Australians, unreservedly apologises to the victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.
For too many years our eyes and hearts were close to the truths that we were told by children.
That too many years government institutions refused to acknowledge the darkness that lay within our community.
Today we commit to protect children now and into the future.
Today we apologise for the pain, the suffering, and trauma inflicted upon victims and survivors as children, and for its profound and ongoing impact.
As children, you deserve care and protection. Instead, the very people and institutions entrusted with your camp failed you.
You suffered appalling physical and mental abuse and sexual crimes.
As fellow Australians, we apologise for this gross betrayal of trust, at the fact that organisations with over children, schools, religious organisations, governments, orphanages, sports and social clubs, charities were left unchecked.
Today we say we are sorry.
Sorry you are not protected. Sorry you are not listened to. We are sorry for refusing to trust the words of children, for not believing you.
As we say sorry, we also say we believe you.
We say what happened was not your fault.
We are sorry the perpetrators of abuse were relocated and shielded, rather than held to account, that records have been withheld and destroyed.
And accountability avoided.
We are sorry that the justice and child welfare systems that should have protected you were at times used to perpetrate yet more injustices against you.
We apologise for the lifelong impact is this abuse has had on your health, your relationships, and your ability to live life to its full potential.
We also extend his apology to your children, your parents, siblings, families, friends, and supporters.
All those who have helped carry the burden of your experiences and help advocate accountability.
We regret that your children’s lives have been changed and relationships have been broken by the enduring effects of abuse.
We hear the rage, despair, and heard of parents, whose trust was betrayed along with their own.
We admit that we failed to protect the most final people in our society from those who abuse their power.
Our community believes people and institutions who did not deserve our trust, instead of leaving the children who did.
Because of our action, too many victims are no longer with us to hear this apology.
They did not live to see the justice they deserved.
But today we remember them and we extend this apology along with our sincere apologies activities.
We say sorry and on the courage of survivors and advocates who spoke out to expose sexual abuse in our situations, often at great personal cost.
Your voices saved lives.
Your bravery has allowed us to uncover this dark chapter and Anderson will win need to do now to protect children.
We acknowledge survivors who have not spoken of their abuse.
That we acknowledge, together, as a government, parliament, and community, we must all play a role in the detection of from abuse.
We must accept responsibility to keep our eyes and ears open and speak out to keep our children safe.
We must listen to children and believe what they tell us. Child sexual abuse is a serious criminal act, and a violation of Australian law.
Perpetrators must and will be held to account.
Today we commit to taking action to build awareness in our community and promote children’s safety across Australia.
We commit to ensuring that all our institutions are child safe.
We know we must do more to protect your reviews and our actions will be the proof of this apology.
Updated
Scott Morrison is invited to the podium to begin his speech and is heckled from the floor.
There are calls of “the military, the military” and other shouts I can’t quite pick up, but Shalailah Medhora does:
"Acknowledge children of the military! You were meant to protect us and you didn't mention us!" one man yells from the crowd when @ScottMorrisonMP stands to talk. "I understand the anger," the PM responds. @triplejHack
— Shalailah Medhora (@shalailah) October 22, 2018
He begins by saying he “understands the anger” and invites advocates and survivors to the stage and asks the room to stand and join hands.
Holding hands himself with Cheryl Edwardes, who holds hands with Bill Shorten on the other side, Morrison reads the apology:
This is the apology that I tabled in the parliament. I have not read this anywhere. This will be the first place that I read the formal apology, which will be provided to you today.
And it is being done for you here in this place.”
Updated
Julia Gillard is introduced and given a massive cheer and applause.
Former senator Kay Patterson is the MC.
Attendees are watching a video summarising the lead up to the royal commission and what has come from it.
Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten are making their way to the Great Hall, where they will address victims and survivors, directly, before moving to events on the parliamentary lawn.
They have just taken to the stage.
Each will deliver a speech directly to the room, before the apology is officially presented.
From the chamber:
Updated
The inspector general of taxation has released its review into the ATO’s fraud control management, following last year’s fraud case at the ATO.
Remember how last year the AFP announced a senior very ATO official, Michael Cranston (then deputy commissioner) had been “unwittingly” caught up in an alleged multi-million dollar fraud involving his son and daughter?
In May 2017, Cranston’s 30-year-old son, Adam, his 24-year-old daughter Lauren, and seven other people were arrested across the greater Sydney area as part of a fraud investigation, thought to be worth $165m at the time (later reduced to $157m).
Cranston Snr was eventually charged with abusing his position as a public official of the commonwealth, and the trial date was set for 21 January 2019.
Anyway, the inspector general of taxation had been asked by a parliamentary committee to investigate the ATO’s fraud-control processes, in the wake of the affair.
It says it has found no evidence of systemic internal fraud or corruption.
However, it has made 13 recommendations to the ATO, including:
- bolstering the independence of its audit and risk committee by ensuring that the majority of its members, including the chair are external to and independent of the ATO;
- maintaining the role of the integrity advisor and enabling ATO staff to discuss ethical or fraud related concerns with him or her;
- conducting periodic reviews of its corporate integrity indicators and providing results and actions arising from them to the commissioner;
- strengthening the ATO’s staff recruitment processes, ongoing checks and mandatory fraud awareness training to ensure its workforce maintains integrity and engenders continuing public confidence;
- acting on the advice, received from corruption risk experts, to improve its ability to detect internal fraud and corruption risks by such means as enhancing staff ownership of the risks;
- requiring staff to make contemporaneous notes of any requests made by one officer to another to access taxpayer information (so-called “access by proxy”);
- conducting periodic quality reviews of internal fraud investigations as well as the appropriateness of associated disciplinary actions;
- enhancing its analysis of behavioural events to assist in detecting serious misconduct; and
- increasing transparency of settlement processes.
Updated
A moment of silence is held and the chamber stands.
The debate adjourns.
Michael McCormack gives Scott Morrison a pat on the shoulder. The Labor frontbenchers gather together, but the majority of the MPs try to make their way past the group of survivors on the floor to thank them again.
Morrison and McCormack both approach Julia Gillard again. McCormack lingered longer, speaking softly. Shorten then heads towards her to speak,as does John Alexander.
The next stage will take part in the Great Hall, before events on the front lawn of parliament.
Updated
Bill Shorten finishes:
History will judge what we do here today. But I say to the people who gather here, to those in the Great Hall and on the lawns and across the nation, to people who couldn’t be here because of illness or trauma yes, to people in prison or trapped in poverty and addiction, to the family members who have a member who has passed away and who we remember – you matter to all of us. We’ve come too late to this day.
There are wrongs that cannot be made right. But know that today Australia says sorry.
Australia says we believe you.
And in years to come, people will learn of your lives.
They will be appalled by the suffering.
They will be shocked by the cruelty.
They will ask themselves how such evil could be spread so far and wide.
But please believe me.
Every single Australian will also pause and wonder at your courage.
Believe me – every person takes hope and inspiration from you.
Every Australian will count themselves privileged to share this country with people as strong, as brave, as full of character and heart as you.
So in the name of the Australian people and the spirit of humility and healing, and with hope for the future, I commend this motion to the house.”
“Hear, hear”
Updated
Everyone’s been affected differently by what they have endured, which is why everyone must have the right to access the counselling and the care they need for their own recovery in their own time.
This cannot be measured on an insurance, actuarial table and we can’t do this on the cheap.
Mr Speaker, the measure of this day will not be known today. It will be in the months and years to come, as a parliament, as a nation, we can look back and say it was this day that people could feel some hope, some healing.
But it should be this day that people say there was a redoubled commitment to action.
If we can say that this day of the day that child sexual abuse could be driven from its final hiding places, not just in institutions, but across our homes and families and brought into the light, if we can say this day was the day that Australia finally faced up to our responsibilities, that we lived up to our obligation to do the right thing by the people we failed for so long, on this question, time will tell.”
Updated
We read so many accounts of the people who have never been able to fully trust another human being again, for whom intimacy, touch and affection are foreign and frightening concepts, people who can’t bring themselves to do something as to use a public toilet because of the memories it re-stirs.
People who left this country and swore they would never return. People for whom abuse began with a chain of events which has led them into prison.
And even people who think that everything has gone away, that they’re okay, that they’re alright, but can be triggered by a phone call out of the blue from a long-lost relative who never contacted you in the 50 previous years but today has led a sudden spark of interest.
It can be triggered by something as wonderful as the birth of your own child or the moment that your precious child reaches the age that you were abused at.
Perhaps it’s even hearing today’s apology.
And so many who say that their darkest nightmare is growing old, worried that they’ll find themselves back in another institution, a nursing home, where helpless and powerless, they could be abused again.”
I said before - people have been saying: ‘Why didn’t we know about this?’
Well, make no mistake – institutions knew.
They knew and they did worse than nothing.
Too often, they put their land, their buildings, their reputation, their revenues ahead of the safety of children in their care.
They bullied and intimidated the victims, adding vicious insult to injury. They used their wealth and their resources and their lawyers and their insurance companies to suppress the truth, to engage in a strategy of litigation to exhaust and to bankrupt survivors.
And they protected the perpetrators, sometimes for decades.
Instead of being sent to jail, the people who committed these crimes were quietly shipped to another town, another unsuspecting parish, and another pulpit, to hypocritically and sanctimoniously sermonise on a Sunday about values which were the exact opposite of what they were practising in private every day.
And instead, the young people and the children – you were the ones treated like criminals, stigmatised, ostracised, your words disputed, your characters assassinated, the trauma rippling down through the rest of your life”
Updated
'It was never your fault'
It is worth repeating now on behalf of our nation – it was never your fault, not at all, not then, not now.
You have nothing to be ashamed of.
There was nothing wrong with you, and you did nothing wrong.
The abusers did it because they could and they did it because they were confident they could get away with it.”
Updated
One child recalled waiting every day for the crackle of the PA system, the moment when someone’s name would be called, to summon them to the office to be disciplined.
He said: ‘We were scared from the minute we woke up until the minute we fell asleep.’
And then, of course, there the fear of God, the nuns who told children they abused to keep their mouths shut because little girls who lie go to hell.
Or the good Catholic boy who, every time he was sexually abused by his priest, had to confess the sin of his impurity to his abuser.
Sometimes children kept silent to protect others, to shield a younger brother or sister from abuse.
Sometimes children were kept quiet through terrible false hope that, if they did what they were told, then their mum and dad would come back and take them home.
Sometimes children kept quiet because compliance was the only realistic survival strategy they had.
As one said: ‘I needed to do what I could to survive.’
In all of these heartbreaking cases, children often kept their abuse a secret for years and years to spare themselves the shame.
Because amongst all of the vile and unforgiveable things that these perpetrators did, perhaps the most devious and manipulative was to put the blame on the child itself, as if somehow the child had something to be ashamed of.
One of you said to me last week: ‘I can’t underestimate the damage that does.’
A shame they live with every day.
And even though you know what has happened to you was not your fault, even though your head tells you that, your heart still feels the powerlessness and the shame.”
Updated
Many of the MPs are silently crying now, as they listen to Shorten’s speech.
Some of these people were supposed to be the pillars of our community.
They had the power, the status, the authority, but they wielded these as weapons.
I think of new migrants who trusted their children to the tightly-knit community of faith, who put the clergy on a pedestal and could not comprehend when their own children said otherwise.
Coaches, scout masters, priests and pastors, predators and manipulators.
They all knew the buttons to push with parents. There was a flattery of attention, the praising of their particular child’s potential to secure more private time.
If you were in an orphanage or foster care or an Aboriginal child on a mission, the machinery of state was geared against you.
If you ran away to escape assault, the police brought you back.
One child who tried to tell them what was going on got a smack across the mouth, told not to tell lies about these nice Christian men.
Another boy actually went to file a police report, he was sitting there in the interview room.
The sergeant started interrogating him in his booming voice and all I could think about myself was what have I done?
Aboriginal children silenced by isolation and discrimination, cut off from country and culture, children who could not speak up for themselves, kids with profound or severe impairment, abused every day when they were being dressed and bathed.
Silence was coerced by beatings, by forced labour, by threats of starvation.
The punishment of perpetual fear.”
Updated
'Too many people were told, they just didn't listen'
There’s Tony, a 54-year-old man in palliative care in Toowoomba, watching this day perhaps, abused in two different institutions, two different states, both government and Salvation Army.
It’s an unforgiveable final indignity that the legal hurdles mean that he may not live to receive this modest redress.
Mr Speaker, as the royal commission’s gone about its work, I know many Australians have been watching the news and reading the articles and saying to each other in horror and disbelief why are we only hearing this now?
Why didn’t we know?
Why weren’t we told? A thousand reasons.
Every life is unique.
The heart of so many reasons is this deeply uncomfortable truth.
Too many were told. They just didn’t listen.
Too many did know. They just didn’t act.
It makes you angry to think that we were raised to respect these institutions all of the time, not understanding the danger that some of our fellow children were in, institutions we were taught to respect, people in authority that we were simply told to trust by virtue of their office”
Updated
The final report, its 17 volumes, occupy three full shelves of the parliamentary library, but we cannot leave it tucked away in a quiet corner of this building slowly gathering dust.
We are never going to get a better set of opinions than this royal commission.
We are never going to be presented with a more comprehensive set of solutions than this royal commission.
And whether it is making redress right, or reforming the law, it is now up to us in this parliament – not the survivors and victims.
We have the power, we have the authority, we have the responsibility to turn these recommendations into actions, without caveats, without compromise.
Labor will, wherever we sit in this parliament, in coming years, unequivocally support the implementation of the royal commission, with no discounting nor delay.
It is not the time for government or institutions to haggle over the dollars, to hide behind the lawyers, no time to pretend that a token payment handed over in secret 40 years ago can be changed by retrospective formula into an adequate sum.
This is not the time to ask for more time, as if this process has been rushed.
People have already died waiting for the justice they are due.
People are dying.”
Updated
It also means on delivering on the promise of the royal commission and its recommendations.
I acknowledge the work of previous prime ministers, Prime Minister Rudd and his advocacy, Prime Minister Gillard, who had the courage and the leadership to initiate this royal commission – you are so very welcome today ...
The chamber breaks into applause.
I acknowledge Prime Minister Abbott for continuing the royal commission, Prime Minister Turnbull put this apology on the parliamentary agenda. We recognise him.
I acknowledge and support the initiatives announced today by the prime minister.
I also acknowledge Jenny Macklin, who has given so much to this process.
The applause begins again.
I do want to thank all of the royal commissioners and their dedicated staff for their intellectual and emotional commitment that they made over many years.
Already other countries are looking at what Australia has done as possibly best practice around the world for empowering survivors and victims, for putting the people who matter at the centre.”
Updated
Too many Australian children are still living unsafe lives at risk.
It’s the true test, isn’t it, of our words?
It’s whether from this day forward we see some meaningful change for the better in this country.
It is why the words of this apology must come with action.
Last week I was told of a survivor who was asked would he be attending today.
He said no. He said: ‘These apologies are only so politicians can look good in front of the public.’
And you know what? After decades of betrayal by governments, by the police, by the courts and the law, by foster parents and orphanages, by teachers and schools and sporting clubs, by churches and charities and more, he has every right to be sceptical that words are cheap.
To you here who are gathered, I say that you have fought for and earned more than words.
You deserve real change, in your lives and the law, and for the kids in the future.
It means improving the lives of children now, recognising that vulnerable children don’t resolve every day, every issue, miraculously the day they turn 18.
Their support shouldn’t fall off a bureaucratic cliff based on the date you were born.”
Updated
'We are sorry we have not done enough'
Many of our honoured guests are wearing these badges.
On them they’ve written the names of their brothers and sisters and dear friends who are not here today, brothers and sisters who fought for decades.
Sadly, through illness or old age have not lived to see this day, or, indeed, justice done.
And, of course, there are those who took their own lives, stolen from our world by the trauma, the hurt, and the hardship that they have endured.
We will remember them today.
And Australia must promise to remember them always. Mr Speaker, to everyone to whom this day belongs I say on behalf of the labor Opposition and the commonwealth parliament and the people of Australia – we are sorry.
We are sorry for every childhood stolen, every life lost.
We are sorry for every betrayal of trust, every abuse of power.
We are sorry for trauma measured in decades for scars that can never heal.
We are sorry for every cry for help that fell on deaf ears and hard hearts.
We are sorry for every crime that was not investigated, every criminal who went unpunished.
And we are sorry for every time that you were not heard, and not believed.
We hear you now.
We believe you.
Australia believes you.
And we are sorry it has taken so long to say these words. We are sorry for wrongs that can never be made right.
We are sorry that you and your brothers and sisters have been left to fight for justice, respect and dignity on your own.
You should not be alone any longer.
Australia is with you.
And we are sorry that the abuse and the assault and the rape of children is still going on and being covered up.
This very day, in this very country.
We are sorry that we still cannot protect all our children.
And we are sorry all of us in this parliament that we’ve not yet done enough to guarantee that this cannot happen again.”
Updated
Our fellow Australians should understand that you spoke up in the royal commission.
You relived your pain in the royal commission for the next generation of Australian children. Australians should understand that you spoke and relived your pain because you want to make sure that what happened to you did not happen to other children.
Today belongs to you.
Today belongs to your families.
Today belongs to your loved ones who have been there for you in the darkest of times.
Today also belongs to your brothers and sisters who are not here, people who perhaps never told a single soul about what happened to them.
Today belongs to people who have locked away the pain so deeply in order to survive, to get by, they simply cannot revisit the ordeal.
Today belongs to people who have moved overseas to try and escape the memory.
Today belongs to the people who are too ill to be here.
Today belongs to people who are in the grip of addiction or poverty.
Today belongs to people in the prison system whose lives were shunted on the wrong track by the abuse they suffered as children.
Today belongs to the children who might not have suffered direct sexual abuse, but endured other terrible forms of abuse, violence, cruelty, neglect.
This is a hard day for our fellow Australians, some of them.
This is a hard day for those who were abused outside of an institution.
I hope they can take something from the fact that royal commission’s recommendations reach beyond institutions to the protection of all children.
And, my fellow Australians, today belongs to the people who did not live long enough to hear this apology.”
Bill Shorten has begun his reply:
I’d like to thank the prime minister for his sincere words.
And I wish to begin with 26 words from the royal commission.
I quote: ‘We were treated as slaves, beaten and abused, used for their perverted desires, no love or kindness, no safety or warmth, always hungry and always frightened.’
These words are not a tale from a foreign country, or the distant past.
These words came from one amongst us, describing his life as a child, a cold life of fear, hunger, loneliness, abuse.
Australia failed this child.
Australia failed tens of thousands of children, across generations, and across the country.
Our nation let you down.
Today, we offer you our nation’s apology, with humility, with honesty, with hope for healing now, and with a fire in our belly to ensure that our children will grow up safe in the future.
We do this because it is right, because it is overdue, because Australians must know and face up that a truth about our past.
But above all, we do this because of you. I say to you here in the galleries, here in the Great Hall, on the lawns, and beyond, I say to you in the big cities and country towns today is because of you.
Today is because of your advocates, your networks, your organisations, and your leadership.
It is you who bravely fought the long battle for justice, for recognition, for truth to be believed.
It is you who have brought this day into being. It is you who kept coming forward again and again.
You dug beneath scar tissue. You told strangers and people in power of the most terrifying moments in your memory.
Our fellow Australians should understand that you’ve given so much of yourselves through your stories. But it was never for yourself, never for your own sake”
Updated
Some survivors leave the gallery once Scott Morrison finishes his speech.
It is a lot to take in. To live your entire life being told it was your fault, or that speaking up would bring you nothing, to suddenly have the prime minister apologise to you on behalf of a nation which takes responsibility for having failed you.
A protester stood with a sign saying “Fix Nauru, then apology”. He was silent, and stood with his handwritten sign above his head, the letters in red.
Security came and asked him to leave. He went without resisting.
Updated
'We believe you'
Scott Morrison finishes his speech with this:
We can never promise a world where there are no abusers, but we can promise a country where we commit to hear and believe our children, to work together to keep children safe, to trust them, and, most of all, respect their innocence.
Mr Speaker, I present the formal apology to be tabled in this parliament today, which will be handed to those in the Great Hall shortly.
It reflects all of the sentiments that I have expressed on behalf of the Australian people, this parliament and our government, and I table that and, as I do, I simply say I believe you, we believe you, your country believes you.”
Updated
Today, I also commit to establishing a National Museum, a police of truth and commemoration, to raise awareness and understanding of the impacts of child sexual abuse.
We will work with survivor groups to ensure your stories are recorded, that your truth is told, that our nation does not turn from our shame, and that our nation will never forget the untold horrors you experienced.
Through this, we will endeavour to bring some healing to our nation, and to learn from our past horrors.”
All of this is just the start. The Australian government has not rejected a single recommendation of the royal commission.
We now actively work on 104 of the 122 recommendations that were addressed to the commonwealth, and the 18 remaining are being closely examined in consultation with states and territories.
And today, we commit from December this year we will report back to the Australian people through the parliament to be held accountable each year, each year, on the progress we are making on the recommendations over the next five years and then beyond.
We will shine a spotlight on all parts of government to ensure we’re held accountable.
And the institutions which perpetrated this abuse covered it up and refused to be held accountable must be kept on the hook.
Already, many of those organisations have made their own apologies and have signed up to be part of the national redress scheme, as they should, but there are others yet to join and today I simply say justice, decency and the beliefs and values we share as Australians insists that they sign on.”
Updated
And for those not part of the scheme:
And to assist with lasting change, we recognise that there are many survivors who were abused in other settings, such as their own homes and in their communities, who will not be covered by this redress scheme. These survivors also need to be heard and believed and responded to with services to address their needs.
So today, I commit to fund the establishment of a National Centre of Excellence and I call on the states and territories to work as partners in this venture.
This centre will be the place to raise awareness and understanding of the impacts of sexual child sexual abuse, too deal with the stigma, to support, help and seeking and guide best practice a for training and other services”
The office has already begun its work to raise awareness of child safety and to drive cultural change in institutions and the community, to ensure that systemic failures and abuses of power that brought us here today are not repeated.
Importantly, children themselves, are being empowered to participate in these initiatives, because our children must be heard.
And when it comes to the work of safety, it must be approachable and child-friendly.
They must know who they can tell. And they must be believed.
And they must know where they can go.
All Australian governments are now working together to establish a national database to ensure highest standards for working with children and that data about people’s ability to work with children is shared nationally.
And our work does not stop at our borders. We are ensuring children across the world are protected by stopping child sex offenders from travelling overseas without permission, which will disrupt, prevent and investigate the abuse of children globally.
And we recognise that as survivors age, those who were abused in, or by, an institution have real fears about entering into aged care facilities.
It’s an understandable fear given what happened during childhood, and we will work with survivor groups about what we can do to alleviate those fears and, indeed, the work of the royal commission into aged care will be able to address this as well.”
Scott Morrison moves to what happens now:
The foundations of our actions are the findings and recommendations of the royal commission, initiated by Prime Minister Gillard.
The steady, compassionate hand of the commissioners and staff resulted in 17,000 survivors coming forward, and nearly 8,000 of them recounting their abuse in private sessions of the commission.
We are grateful to the survivors who gave evidence to the commission. It is because of your strength, and your courage, that we are gathered here today.
Many of the commissioners and staff are also with us today, and I thank them also.
Mr Speaker, acting on the recommendations of the royal commission with concrete action gives practical meaning to today’s apology.
The commonwealth, as our national government, must lead and coordinate our response.
The national redress scheme has commenced. I thank the state and territory governments for their backing of the scheme.
It recognises the impact of past abuse and provides justice for survivors. It will provide survivors with access to counselling and psychological services, monetary payments and, for those who want one – and I stress for those who want one – a direct personal response from an institution, where the abuse occurred.
It will mean that, after many years, often decades of denials and cover-ups, the institutions responsible for ruining lives admit their wrongdoing and the terrible damage they caused.
The National Office of Child Safety is another big step forward to ensuring the prevention and detection of child abuse wherever it occurs.
It was announced as part of our government’s response to the royal commission and it was established from 1 July of this year within the Department of Social Services.
As prime minister, I will be changing these arrangements to ensure that the National Office of Child Safety will report to me.
To me. It will reside within the portfolio of prime minister and cabinet, as it should.
And the minister for social services will assist me in this role, including reporting to me on the progress of royal commission recommendations and the activities of the Office of Child Safety.”
Updated
'Today, we say, sorry'
Another survivor, Aidan, spoke of not getting justice, because his abuser had died.
He said: ‘I was bereft because I was robbed. I was robbed of my day in court. I wanted to tell the world what he did. That was stolen. That was him, again, taking control.’
Mr Speaker, today, as a nation, we confront our failure to listen, to believe, and to provide justice.
And, again, today, we say sorry, to the children we failed, sorry.
To the parents whose trust was betrayed and who have struggled to pick up the pieces, sorry.
To the whistleblowers, who we did not listen to, sorry.
To the spouses, partners, wives, husbands, children, who have dealt with the consequences of the abuse, cover-ups and obstruction, sorry. To generations past and present, sorry.
Mr Speaker, as part of our work leading us to this today, I recently met with the National Apology Survivors’ Reference Group, as did the leader of the opposition, who is with us today.
I want to thank this wonderful group of people and brave people. Many are survivors.
They have all worked so hard to take today a reality.
They said to me that an apology without action is just a piece of paper, and it is.
And today, they also wanted to hear about our actions. It’s a fair call.
In outlining our actions, I want to recognise the work of my predecessors, former Prime Minister Gillard, who is with us here today – and I thank you for your attendance – former Prime Minister Rudd, the member for Warringah, who continues to serve us here in this place, and the former prime minister, Mr Turnbull.
And I want to thank them for their compassion and leadership, as they also confronted these terrible failings.”
Updated
It happened day after day, week after week, month after month, decade after decade, unrelenting torment.
When a child spoke up, they weren’t believed and the crimes continued with impunity.
One survivor told me that when he told a teacher of his abuse, that teacher then became his next abuser - trust broken, innocence betrayed, power and position exploited for evil, dark crimes.
A survivor named Fay told the royal commission: “Nothing takes the memories away. It happened 53 years ago and it’s still affecting me.”
I also met with a mother – a survivor named Ann said: ‘My mother believed them rather than me.’
I also met with a mother whose two daughters were abused by a priest the family trusted.
Suicide would claim one of her two beautiful girls and the other lives under the crushing weight of what was done to her.
As a father of two daughters, I can’t comprehend the magnitude of what she has faced.
Not just as a father, but as a prime minister, I am angrily too at the calculating destruction of lives and the abuse of trust, including those who have abused the shield of faith and religion to hide their crimes, a shield that is supposed to protect the innocent, not the guilty and they stand condemned.
One survivor says it was like becoming a stranger to your parents – mental health, illness, self-harm and addiction followed. The pain didn’t stop with adulthood.
Relationships with partners and children became strained as survivors struggled with the conflicting currents within them.
Parents and siblings felt guilt and sadness for what they had missed, for what and whom they chose to believe, and for what they did not see, while survivors contemplated what could have been.
A survivor named Rodney asked the question so common to so many survivors.
He wonders about the ‘person I may have become or the person I could have become, if I did not have all of this in my life’.
Death can take many forms. In this case, the loss of a life never lived and a life denied.”
Updated
It is here that Scott Morrison breaks himself. He is able to continue, but his voice cracks as he speaks of the systematic failures which occurred and not only allowed abuse to continue to happen, but in some cases, facilitated it.
As a nation, we failed them, we forsook them, and that will always be our shame.
This apology is for them, and their families, too.
As one survivor recently said to me: ‘It wasn’t a foreign enemy who did this to us. This was done by Australians to Australians, enemies in our midst, enemies in our midst.’
The enemies of innocence.
Look at the galleries, look at the Great Hall, look outside this place, and you will see men and women from every walk of life, from every generation and every part of our land, crushed, abused, discarded and forgotten.
The crimes of ritual sexual abuse happened in schools, churches, youth groups, scout troops, orphanages, foster homes, sporting clubs, group homes, charities and in family homes as well.
It happened anywhere a predator thought they could get away with it and the systems within these organisations allowed it to happen, and turned a blind eye”
Updated
Ngunnawal means ‘meeting place’ and, on this day of apology, we meet together.
We honour every survivor in this country. We love you. We hear you. And we honour you.
No matter if you are here at this meeting place, are elsewhere, this apology is to you, and for you. Your presence and participation makes tangible our work today, and it gives strength to others who are yet to share what has happened in their world.
Elsewhere in this building and around Australia, there are others who are silently watching and listening to these proceedings, men and women who have never told a soul what has happened to them.
To these men and women, I say this apology is for you too. And later, when the speeches are over, and we stand in silence, and we remember the victims who are not with us any more, many, too sadly, by their own hand.”
Updated
Many of the MPs, as well as those in the gallery have begun wiping away tears.
The only sounds are Scott Morrison’s words, being read from an iPad, the click of camera shutters and soft keystrokes from the press gallery.
While we can’t be so vain to pretend to answers, we must be so humble to fall before those who were forsaken and beg to them our apology.
A sorry that dare not ask for forgiveness, a sorry that dare not try and make sense of the incomprehensible, or think it could, a sorry that does not insult with an incredible promise, that sorry that speaks only of profound grief and loss.
A sorry from a nation that seeks to reach out in compassion into the darkness, where you have lived for so long.
Nothing we can do now will right the wrongs inflicted on our nation’s children.
Even after a comprehensive royal commission, which finally enabled the voices to be heard and the silence to be broken, we will all continue to struggle.
So today, we gather in this chamber in humility, not just as representatives of the people of this country, but as fathers, as mothers, as siblings, friends, workmates and, in some cases, indeed, as victims and survivors.”
'Today Australia confronts a trauma'
Scott Morrison:
I move that the house apologise to the victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse.
Mr Speaker, let me first welcome all of those who have come here today. Whether you sit here alongside us, here in this chamber, in the Great Hall outside, elsewhere in the nation’s capital, in your living room, in your bed, unable to rise today or speak to another soul, your journey to where you are today has been a long and painful one, and we acknowledge that and we welcome you today, wherever you are.
Mr Speaker, silenced voices, muffled cries in the darkness, unacknowledged tears, the tyranny of invisible suffering, the never-heard pleas of tortured souls, bewildered by an indifference to the unthinkable theft of their innocence.
Today, Australia confronts a trauma, an abomination, hiding in plain sight for far too long.
Today, we confront a question too horrible to ask, let alone answer - why weren’t the children of our nation loved, nurtured and protected?
Why was their trust betrayed?
Why did those who know cover it up? Why were the cries of children and parents ignored?
Why was our system of justice blind to injustice? Why has it taken so long to act?
Why were other things more important than this, the care of innocent children? Why didn’t we believe?
Today, we dare to ask these questions, and finally acknowledge and confront the lost screams of our children.
Updated
National Apology
Scott Morrison has taken to his feet and begun the apology.
Julia Gillard has entered the chamber ahead of the apology and is hugging survivors.
There are tears already.
Another group of senators have arrived and are sitting in the public gallery, in an area usually cordoned off.
So far, I have seen Pat Dodson, Doug Cameron, Rex Patrick, Tim Storer, Sarah Hanson-Young, Derryn Hinch, Jane Hume, Zed Seselja, Penny Wong, Scott Ryan, Bridget McKenzie, Dean Smith, Janet Rice, Nick McKim, Kristina Keneally, Anthony Chisholm, Jenny McAllister, Clare Moore and Mahreen Faruqi. There are more, but it is a crowded house.
Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten have both greeted Gillard.
Updated
It was former prime minister Julia Gillard who ordered the royal commission into institutional child sexual abuse, and she has written a powerful piece for Fairfax ahead of the national apology.
Ahead of the National Apology on Monday, I’ve been thinking about the survivors, victims and their families, and the long term impacts childhood trauma can have on mental health. https://t.co/EKDDlS4lIY
— Julia Gillard (@JuliaGillard) October 19, 2018
Gillard paid tribute to the royal commission staff including the commissioners who heard thousands of stories of abuse over the course of five years.
“Day after day they read and listened to the most horrific and distressing personal stories. By its final report, more than 16,000 individuals had contacted the commission and more than 8,000 stories were heard in person,” Gillard wrote.
“The commissioners fulfilled their roles with dedication and care, gaining the confidence of survivors and those who support them. Crusading journalists like Joanne McCarthy of The Newcastle Herald ensured the truth they uncovered was known throughout our nation.
“All commissioners remained with the investigation from the beginning through to the final report. There can be no stronger demonstration of their commitment to a just outcome for victims, survivors and their families.
“But those who did the most to make the commission work – and to ensure its report endures – are the survivors who came forward. What incredible courage. What a profound contribution to our nation’s future. I would like to record my thanks to the survivors, the commissioners and those who supported them. Your truth-telling and diligent work means we have achieved something remarkable as a nation.”
Updated
Scott Morrison has entered the chamber and is greeting survivors and advocates sitting on the floor of parliament for the apology.
He has shaken their hands and had a quiet moment with each of them. Derryn Hinch has also headed over, as has the crossbench.
A group of senators (those from the “other place”) have also filled in, to take their place on the floor of parliament.
The chamber has adjourned its morning business, as it prepares to deliver the apology.
Updated
Advocate, author and abuse survivor Manny Waks, who now lives in Israel, has travelled to Canberra to represent the many victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse within the Australian Jewish community and their families.
“This has been a very difficult journey for many of us – hopefully, this landmark government apology will have its desired effect: to assist in the ongoing healing process of the many who have been impacted by the scourge of child sexual abuse within institutions,” he said.
“It is important to emphasise that institutions should not see this apology as absolving them of their responsibilities. Nor should these institutions think that an apology, compensation or other forms of redress on their part will suffice. These institutions have often caused life-long, irreparable damage to so many children under their care. They have also caused significant damage to the families of these victims. It will take a lifetime to try to heal and repair the damage.”
You can read more about Waks’ incredible story here.
Updated
The gallery is starting to fill with people, ahead of the apology for victims and survivors of institutional abuse.
Julia Gillard is here and will sit with the Fosters, who were instrumental in advocating for the royal commission.
There will be about 200 people in the gallery of the House of Representatives and another 800 in the Great Hall to witness Scott Morrison, and then, Bill Shorten (in reply), deliver the apology on behalf of the nation.
Updated
Cathy McGowan is now introducing a bill to tackle pay-day lenders. She says it is based on the draft legislation the government had released, but as they had not acted as yet, she would.
“There are hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people,” she says, who are “trapped in the debt cycle” by pay-day loaners.
Updated
The crossbench has spent the morning introducing bills.
Updated
In Victoria four viewing sites have been set up for the national apology to child sexual abuse victims. Many people can not afford to travel to Canberra or are too old or sick. The viewing locations are the MCG, Ballarat Hotel & Convention Centre, Geelong Football Club and Latrobe Performing Arts Centre.
I am now seated in the "Great Hall" with other people from @CLAN_AU and lots of other survivors. #NationalApology pic.twitter.com/mudu7sOfUD
— Rarely Wright (@2Rarely) October 21, 2018
But Victorian upper house MP Leader of the Reason Party, Fiona Patten, said although she welcomed the apology she was angered by the inaction of legislators in the past, which she blamed on their “cosy” relationships with religious orders.
“My heart goes out to all survivors today as they receive this long overdue recognition of their suffering,” Patten said.
“When I published my list of 650 paedophile priests, ‘Hypocrites’, in 2000 and called for a royal commission into the matter, I was met with fire and fury by politicians of the same party and standing, who are struggling with this national apology today.
“I received three credible death threats for daring to expose the issue which were subsequently looked at by the Australian federal police.
“Religious politicians in the federal parliament, in the late 1990s, like Tony Abbott, Brian Harradine and Scott Morrison’s predecessor (in the federal seat of Cook), Bruce Baird, should have been the first to act on these calls when they were brought to their attention. Instead, all I received was a letter of abuse from Bruce Baird telling me that I should have been ashamed of myself for publishing ‘Hypocrites’.”
Meanwhile the Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has reiterated that if reelected in November he will amend the Children, Youth and Families Act to make it mandatory to report information about child abuse or harm disclosed during confession to child protection authorities. He would also introduce laws so that information disclosed in the context of a religious confession was not exempt from mandatory reporting laws.
Updated
Anthony Albanese has moved on to Malcolm Turnbull’s role in the leadership spill and what Labor was concerned about as it was happening:
.@albo says @TurnbullMalcolm had no choice but to spill the Liberal leadership because the advantage is with the disruptors. They would have got him in the end @AmyRemeikis #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 21, 2018
.@albo says @TurnbullMalcolm also has to accept responsibility for strategic errors: calling the longest election campaign he almost lost; the length of the super Saturday byelections @AmyRemeikis #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 21, 2018
.@AlboMP says Labor was more concerned about @JulieBishopMP winning the ballot than @ScottMorrisonMP @AmyRemeikis #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 21, 2018
The Greens also have some things to say about the Wentworth result:
“The Wentworth result is the canary in the coal mindset. If you don’t have a plan to get off coal and onto renewables, voters will punish you,” Adam Bandt said in a statement. It continued...
Even Australia’s richest electorate knows that you can’t make money if the planet is cooked. Voters have heard the scientists’ message that we need to shut two thirds of coal-fired power stations by 2030.
I won’t be offering support to the Morrison government. It’s time to go to an election. It’s clear that people have had enough of this rotten government’s agenda.
We’re also one step closer to getting kids and their families off Nauru. If Labor got behind the crossbench bill in parliament today, we could bring kids and their families here to receive the medical attention they need before Christmas.
Bandt may not be offering support to the Morrison government, but it only needs one crossbencher and Cathy McGowan has said she will work with the government.
She wants something to happen with the children and their families on Nauru though, and has called for Labor to come back to the table to find a workable solution.
Given the political climate, we may actually see some action on that in the near future.
Updated
David Speer’s book On Mutiny is being launched today, by Anthony Albanese. It’s part of MUP’s little book series, to which Katharine Murphy has also contributed.
This one is on the leadership spill and what happened to see Scott Morrison become prime minister.
Which, in the wake of Wentworth, seems exceptionally timely.
Lovely to be at the launch of @David_Speers On Mutiny. @albo (launching) says he's glad to be here for something other than a Labor dispute @AmyRemeikis #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 21, 2018
.@albo says On Mutiny is a reminder that politics is comprised of human beings, who bring their humanity to the enterprise. He says when MPs hit Canberra, what goes on can get divorced from reality outside @AmyRemeikis #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 21, 2018
.@albo says eventually people get a say in the machinations inside the building and we saw that on the weekend (in Wentworth) @AmyRemeikis #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 21, 2018
Updated
House of Representatives Committee report tabled on the Inquiry into the Quality of Care in Residential Aged Care Facilities in Australia https://t.co/spEefqmnF1 #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) October 21, 2018
Labor’s Jenny McAllister is asking the Parliamentary Budget Office about its projections of government spending. She notes that the Coalition, particularly since Scott Morrison took over, has made a slew of big spending announcements: $4.6bn on Catholic and independent schools funding, reversing plans to scrap the energy supplement, $9bn for changes to grants from the GST to the states, and backing down on plans to increase the pension age to 70.
Jenny Wilkinson, the head of the PBO, said that it had listed a number of risks for medium term spending forecasts, and the risk that “spending restraint of the last five to six years won’t continue” was included. Those medium-term projections have not been updated since Morrison took over.
She said:
In general terms, a seres of announcements that increase spending without announcements to reduce spending in other areas, you would expect that would lead to higher payments as a percentage of GDP and deterioration of budget position, but it depends on the net [aggregate effect] of those things.
Updated
Of course everyone is talking about federal election timing, given the government just experienced the biggest byelection swing in history.
Scott Morrison and his supporters, who believe he can turn it around, if he just has enough time, are obsessed with the “runway” and giving him the longest one possible.
The longer the runway, the thinking goes, the better chance Morrison has of landing the plane.
The plane, being, the government.
But there is the issue of the November Victorian state election and then the March NSW state election and neither states are looking overly fond of the Coalition has this stage.
Tony Burke though, had a chat to RN this morning about how Morrison’s Morrison-ness, might be one of the biggest problems for the Coalition, bringing up Saturday’s “nothing-to-see-here-everything-is-awesome” speech:
It was very much back to the fight, the sort of fist-pumping speech. It was not the most direct of congratulations to Kerryn Phelps that some leaders have given from time to time. I thought Dave Sharma actually gave a much more gracious speech than the PM. But he clearly has only heard the bit of the message that he thinks isn’t about him. So rather conveniently he wants to say Australians are sick of changing prime ministers. Well, that’s an easy argument when you are now the prime minister, you don’t want further changes. But it is as though nothing wrong has happened while he’s been prime minister, it’s as though the madness of the last week in parliament never occurred. True, the public is still asking why isn’t Malcolm Turnbull the prime minister of Australia? But they also want to know why we changed foreign policy based on focus group research. They also want to know why we have a government that’s not paying attention to what its Senators vote for and ended up voting for a white supremacist resolution. These are all issues on Scott Morrison’s watch and so far he has acknowledged none of them.”
Updated
Just a question – are we still “discussing” the potential move of our Israeli embassy to Jerusalem? Or are we done with that talk now?
Kelly O’Dwyer doesn’t seem to agree with Michael Kroger that Wentworth does not represent wider Australia:
Cabinet minister Kelly O'Dwyer says Wentworth voters are "fed up" with instability and PMs being torn down, noting they "probably represent a lot of voters right around the country" @7NewsSydney @KellyODwyer #auspol
— Olivia Leeming (@olivialeeming) October 21, 2018
In Senate estimates Labor’s Penny Wong has raised the issue of parliamentary privilege claims.
She’s started with historical examples like the Stephen Conroy NBN raid but it’s clear she has an eye to how material collected in the recent Australian federal police of the home affairs department looking for the source of the au pair leak will be used.
Basically, claims of parliamentary privilege should mean law enforcement agencies can’t use material collected in a raid until the privileges committee considers the claim.
Senate president Scott Ryan notes that the Senate privileges committee is currently deliberating on “events of the past few weeks” – so he won’t comment directly on the au pair raids. He said he’s followed up with the AFP after reports into the historical treatment of material over which privilege is claimed.
Ryan: “I would say there is a greater awareness of it but I remain concerned about compliance with it.”
Updated
Craig Laundy paid a pretty big political cost for standing up for what he believed to be right during the leadership spill which saw Malcolm Turnbull dumped. But now that he sits outside of cabinet, he can say what he wants. And he is definitely taking advantage of that.
Funny preselection story for you -Alan Jones backed a lovely 20 year old Uni lad against me. Hosted a function for him & called preselectors for him. The funny part? The more calls he made ..... the more votes I got! Told you conservative commentators can win you votes😉 #auspol
— Craig Laundy (@LaundyCraigMP) October 21, 2018
Michael Kroger is on Sky telling us that Wentworth, a seat the Liberals have held since federation, is not representative of Australia, and therefore not a comment on what could happen in the next federal election.
Laura Jayes points out that, yes, while Wentworth isn’t exactly western Sydney, if the Liberals can’t win over rich people, then who can they win?
Kroger isn’t worried about that. The Liberals have also been doing their best to talk down the climate change aspect of this result, or more accurately, the lack of climate change policy aspect to this debate.
In fact, most of the government has been arguing its lack of climate change policy has nothing to do with the result.
Labor’s Mark Butler isn’t so sure (but I guess he would say that, wouldn’t he):
This prime minister has been saying throughout his whole prime ministership that Australia will meet our Paris targets in a ‘canter’. Well the government’s own data put the lie to that. The government’s own data on projections to 2030 show that we will miss our 26% Paris target, already an inadequate target, but we will miss the 26% target by a whopping 22%. Those projections by the government itself were before the government dumped the national energy guarantee and turned its back on reducing any emissions through the energy sector.
What we have is a government through Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and now Scott Morrison where climate and energy policy is dictated still by Tony Abbott and the hard right of the Liberal party room. That’s why we are really the only major advanced economy where carbon pollution and greenhouse gases are going up, rather than coming down. The people of Wentworth saw through that.
What we’ve seen over the course of the last 24 hours as well is a number of Liberal Party MPs finally stand up and call the emperor out for having no clothes. They recognise in seats like Wentworth, North Sydney and other parts of the country like Melbourne, that their communities are sick of having climate and energy policy dictated by Tony Abbott, Craig Kelly and the hard right of the Coalition party room. It is not good for the country, it is not good for the economy and it lets down our international commitments through the Paris agreement and more generally.
What I’m calling on today is firstly for those Liberal MPs to put their money where their mouth is and actually stand up in the Coalition party room and take on Tony Abbott and the hard-right, for once, on climate and energy policy. That is what their communities are demanding that they do.”
Updated
So far, there hasn’t been a lot of Barnaby Joyce talk this morning.
You may remember we left last week with Joyce saying he was willing to take up the leadership of the Nationals again and while he doesn’t have the answers, neither does Michael McCormack.
There are still a whole heap of Nats in the middle, who are not aligned to either, but are aligned with winning their seats, come the next election.
If there is one silver lining being spoken about from Coalition MPs in these halls today, it’s that Wentworth may have delayed the Joyce resurgence.
But 24 hours is a long time in this place. So who knows.
AAP has filed this report on Tim Fischer:
Former deputy prime minister Tim Fischer is having chemotherapy in a Melbourne hospital for acute leukaemia.
Mr Fischer, 72, is being treated at Melbourne’s Peter MacCallum cancer centre.
“I can confirm I have been diagnosed with acute leukaemia and completing a 28-day cycle of treatment in the Peter Mac Hospital,” he told AAP on Monday.
“I am feeling okay but face further rounds of chemotherapy treatment.”
Fischer praised staff at Peter Mac and the Albury Wodonga Cancer Centre and Royal Melbourne Hospital, where he has also received treatment.
The former Nationals leader and ambassador to the Vatican gave up most of his public roles and moved with wife Judy to a cattle farm at Mudgegonga, near Yackandandah in Victoria’s northeast.
Last December, he said he had been undergoing mild chemotherapy for a cancer that had been diganosed in 2008.
Updated
Christopher Pyne always does his best to find and spin that silver lining.
This morning, it was that the Coalition’s internal polling was much worse than the actual result, so really, all is not as bad as it seems
Pyne: the Monday before the byelection an internal showed us losing 59-41, and final result was 51-49 so we "pulled back" the margin "very substantially". #auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) October 21, 2018
The final count may not yet be in, but the government is already moving towards “what comes next” with discussions with the crossbench already underway.
Cathy McGowan had a chat to the ABC this morning:
What I said to the various ministers over the weekend as we discussed this, my preference is for the government to go fixed-term, full term. There is a lot of work to be done in parliament. I’m keen to get the agenda that I set for my community in 2016 finished. So, I want to go full term. I want the government to do its best for the people of Australia.
Once the count is done, attention will turn to the Speaker’s chair, as the government is going to need all votes on deck, so to speak. McGowan has already said she doesn’t want it, so....come on down Speaker Bob Katter
(obviously I jest.)
Updated
It is just the House of Representatives sitting today – the Senate is dealing with estimate hearings.
If you are into that sort of thing, you’ll find the schedule, here
Andrew Leigh will be asking about this
Thanks to a reader for pointing out this tweet:
Just arrived back in Australia with former PM @TurnbullMalcolm and his wife Lucy on the same flight. I think there will be a few people (like the press) waiting to meet him!! #auspol #Wentwothvotes pic.twitter.com/jecpwoIBTc
— Stephen Fenech (@StephenFenech) October 21, 2018
Good morning
What a weekend.
The fallout from Kerryn Phelps’ (not entirely unexpected) win continues today, with Scott Morrison all but guaranteed a minority government.
The latest count has the independent about 1,600 votes ahead and, while there are outstanding postal votes, the ABC’s election analyst, Antony Green, said he hadseen “various figures” showing Sharma would need about 70% of the remaining vote to win and “that’s not going to happen”.
So the Coalition’s one-seat majority is all but no more.
In what has been labelled “The Sookening” on social media, Malcolm Turnbull has emerged the biggest scapegoat for conservatives, who seem shocked that a) he would leave parliament after being dumped as leader and b) not campaign for the party which dumped him and c) continue to exist.
The almost-official loss is down to everything except Coalition policies, apparently. Obviously, it is the voters who are wrong.
We’ll continue to cover Wentworth, and everything else surrounding it today, but there is also something else happening in this building, which is more important than politics, and that is the national apology for victims and survivors of institutional childhood abuse.
People are pouring into the parliament to see the prime minister apologise for the nation turning a blind eye, for so long, to the trauma and suffering children endured at the hands of those who were meant to keep them safe.
The apology comes after Julia Gillard ordered a royal commission into institutional sexual abuse and its responses, and Malcolm Turnbull adopted most of the commission’s recommendations.
Today, Morrison will deliver the apology.
Mike Bowers and the Guardian brain’s trust will be here, covering the apology and all that comes with it, and the comment thread is open.
It is going to be a pretty wrought day for a lot of people, so make sure you take care of yourself, and take breaks where needed.
Ready?
Let’s get into it.
Updated
