The wrap
And it is on that note that we leave you.
What. A. Day.
What did we learn?
The AWU raids have the government in the hot seat, which I am not sure they were entirely prepared for. Labor batted away allegations they were attacking the integrity of the Australian Federal Police quite early, and their targeted question time strategy finished up turning the tables.
Combine that with the revelations from Buzzfeed as the day was coming to a close and the government has just ensured this will roll into another day.
And we’ll be there. You can expect myself, the Guardian Australia brains trust and Mike Bowers to be back with you around 8am, after a few strong coffees and maybe a vodka chaser. Because on Friday, we don’t only have the next instalment of the AWU federal court hearing, but we also get the high court judgement on the seven MPs with citizenship concerns.
So what happens tomorrow? Your guess is as good as mine. At this stage, I am not sure anything would surprise me!
Have a great night, make sure you get some rest, and if you need to reach me or Mr Bowers in the meantime, you can get us at @amyremeikis or @mpbowers or @mikepbowers.
Updated
The estimates hearing is devolving into chaos.
“You’ll do anything to hide this, won’t you?” Murray Watt calls out.
Linda Reynolds suspends for the dinner break and Watt tells Michaelia Cash she can “read the Buzzfeed article” on the break.
This is going to go on all night.
Cameron: “Minister, on five occasions you have denied that any notice of the press came from your office ... Do you still deny that your office has had no involvement in notifying the press and do you still deny that you are not involved in that, and can you then give me any reason for why we should believe what you say, because it was either your office, the AFP or ROC, there is not much left.
Cash: I am not going to comment on stories from Buzzfeed that I have not yet read, but yes, I stand by previous evidence and I have said it to you on previous occasions.
Updated
Doug Cameron gets his way after Michaelia Cash says she is happy to answer the question.
Doug Cameron is attempting to ask Michaelia Cash about the Buzzfeed story, and is being blocked by James Paterson, as not being part of the Fair Work portfolio.
Linda Reynolds is telling Cameron and Labor senator Murray Watt they can wait until they get to the Registered Organisations Commission part of the evening. Which is being held up.
Journalists tell Buzzfeed they were called about AWU raids by minister's office
New from Alice Workman at Buzzfeed:
BuzzFeed News has spoken to journalists from two news outlets who say they received a tip-off from employment minister Michaelia Cash’s office ahead of the Australian Federal Police (AFP) raids on the Australian Workers’ Union (AWU).
You can read her story here
Updated
Government MPs on the employment estimates hearing committing are asking Fair Work officials if they understand what certain legislation does, (literally their job to know that), reading legislation sections out to them and talking about submissions to an inquiry which are publicly available.
Filibuster? What filibuster?
Updated
The government is still filibustering in the employment estimates hearing.
“If I came back as soon as the news started, that should be OK?” Labor senator Murray Watt asks.
He’s implying that the government members of the committee are attempting to push the Registered Organisations Commission hearing until after the 6pm news. There are suggestions they are trying to push it out to the dinner break, which would mean the committee wouldn’t get to it until after 9pm.
Updated
Everyone is waiting on the Registered Organisations Commission to front the employment estimates. They were scheduled to appear at 4.50pm, but it looks like the government is filibustering.
Updated
We haven’t spent a lot of time in the House today, outside question time, but the firearms trafficking bill is being discussed. Labor objects to the mandatory minimum sentences. So does Kennedy MP Bob Katter, who got quite incensed when justice minister Michael Keenan implied opposing mandatory sentencing was a “leftie” move.
Updated
And then there is also this one:
Tonight on reddit from 5:30 Qld time. Ask me anything.https://t.co/s0AGRfxFdw pic.twitter.com/xNtsnOeIut
— Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) October 25, 2017
We end the day with this alert, because of course we do
Prime Minister @TurnbullMalcolm will launch the Betoota Advocate’s book ‘Betoota’s Australia’ at 5:20pm, Parliament House, Canberra #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) October 25, 2017
Oh, and he ends with a little warning to the NSW Liberals, regarding the Roseville ‘one member, one vote’ resolutions, interrupting host Ben Fordham to make sure he can get it in.
“This is make or break time for the NSW Liberal party ... early December ... and you know, there was the Roseville resolutions overwhelmingly carried by the biggest meeting of NSW Liberals in many, many years and it would just be, I think, appalling if those resolutions were thwarted by some machinations and exploitation of the rules. But let’s talk about it next time.”
Updated
Should the PM be able to live in Point Piper, given the security costs, Mr Abbott?
“This is I think a reasonable question to pose and yes I got advice back in late 2013 that it would be quite costly for Margie, me and the Abbotts to stay in suburban Forestville in the end, I don’t know what advice [Turnbull] got, but where he lives is a matter for him.”
Tony Abbott is on 2GB for his regular chat.
Grab your popcorn.
And we are straight into it.
“Bill Shorten’s problem is he is always making excuses for unions ... and if he got to be our prime minister, he would effectively be the PM for the CFMEU, the CFMEU PM.”
Updated
Who told the media about the AWU raids?
I can’t tell you. But I can tell you, that despite handing the government the votes it needed to make the Registered Organisations Commission a reality, which he does not say he regrets, Nick Xenophon believes there needs to be an investigation into how the cameras made it to the AWU offices, before the police.
It taints the whole process, it should be rule of law, not a media circus, particularly with serious allegations. That is what I am interested in at the moment. People of integrity in government have said to me ‘there is no way we were involved in this in any way and any suggestion that we were is completely wrong and offensive’ but someone leaked this to the media. It shouldn’t have been leaked because I think it casts a cloud over the whole process in terms of the investigation and the process that now needs to take place.
Updated
PM Malcolm Turnbull as labor attempts a suspension of standing orders #qt @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus #politicslive pic.twitter.com/v8k5g2jOQZ
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) October 25, 2017
Nick Xenophon says the leak to the media “cast a shadow over the whole process” and needs to be investigated.
Meanwhile, in Brisbane, the ABC offices are being raided with police apparently looking for state cabinet documents in relation to LNP government cuts to the environmental department.
Back in the community affairs estimates hearing, and it looks as though the government’s proposed drug testing trial will be delayed. The department says no contract has gone out to tender as yet, and doesn’t seem overly confident it would begin on January 1 as the government had wanted (that’s when it wants it reforms to kick in). Still no idea of the cost though
Labor have joined Nick Xenophon’s call into an inquiry into how the media found out about the raids on the AWU offices. Here is what Brendan O’Connor had to say in a statement:
Labor backs Senator Nick Xenophon’s call for an independent inquiry to establish who tipped off the media prior to the AFP raids on the Australian Workers Union (AWU). Turnbull and the minister have failed to answer simple yet serious questions about who tipped off the media before the raids actually occurred. If Turnbull and his Liberals have nothing to hide, then they must support this inquiry. Turnbull and his Liberals need to immediately answer what they knew, when they knew it and who they told. On the same day parliament was told that Turnbull’s cuts to the AFP have meant serious crimes like drug smuggling could not be properly investigated, we saw more than 25 AFP officers used to execute these extraordinary raids. Turnbull and his Liberals will stop at nothing to attack workers and their representatives. Australians will see this for the desperate tactic that it is.
*end statement*
Updated
No documents to be handed over until at least Friday
Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein has just left the federal court. He confirms that the AFP will not hand over any documents that it seized and the regulator will not accept any seized documents until the court hears the case. That probably won’t be for a few days.
The union is very pleased at the moment that we at least got to this point, but the case, is going to go back for a hearing on Friday, where we expect a further set of direction, leading up to a full hearing of the case. We continue to believe that this warrant and the use of 32 federal police was a disgraceful overreach. We are talking here about an argument about paperwork. We don’t see 32 federal police with a tip off to the media with major criminal matters, let alone a debate over the internal paperwork of unions. Unions are labouring under some of the most oppressive legislation in the OECD at the moment, they are under constant and relentless attack and the media stunt that was pulled yesterday is another dimension in the ongoing attack that is designed to de-legitimise and paint the trade union in the worst possible light.
Updated
I wanted a little bit of space in between the mess of question time and the condolences that both Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten offered Linda Burney and her family ahead of the official opening of questions.
The prime minister:
This morning, I spoke with the member for Barton and expressed Lucy and my deep sadness on the loss of her son at their home last night. As parents, our worst dread is the loss of a child. Linda’s loss is unspeakably sad. She’s not with us today, she has leave. But we are with her, we are all with her in love and in heartfelt sympathy. She is cast deep in grief but she does not grieve alone. She is a strong woman. Stronger because of the love that all of us, the sympathy that all of us, the friendship that all of us share with her at this tragic time for her and for her family.
The leader of the opposition:
As honourable members are aware, the member for Barton has taken leave from this parliament following the tragic death of her 33-year-old son Binni. As she said in her touching and sad statement this morning, she “returned to Sydney last night to be with him this one last time.” On behalf of Chloe and I, and on behalf of the whole Labor family, I want to offer our deepest condolences to Linda and her family.
This is just so sad. As Jenny Macklin and I were speaking to her last night, the grief, the grief is terrible. Losing a child is every parent’s nightmare. It is, as Shakespeare once said, a grief that ‘fills up the room’. We know how much Linda loved her son – and we know how much her son loved Linda. In this time of deep sadness, can I please request that the media respect her family’s privacy, and I know that they will. And – I should add – that the family have asked that instead of flowers, if people are so inclined could they please contribute to Central Coast Drug Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre. All of us send our love and our solidarity to our friend and colleague and her family at this time.
There was, as you could imagine, a lot of emotion in the House.
Updated
Bit more from Mr Bowers
Question time officially ends.
Update on the federal court hearing
Fed Court told ROC agrees not to receive seized union documents from AFP raid until next court hearing, possibly Friday @abcnewsMelb
— Stephanie Ferrier (@FerrierSteph) October 25, 2017
At least the latest gag motion gives me a chance to show you some of Mike Bowers’ great work
Justice Susan Kenny is due to hear the AWU’s challenge of the AFP raids in the federal court at 3pm.
The originating application states the AWU is seeking a declaration the search warrant for Tuesday’s raid is invalid and an order quashing the Registered Organisations Commission investigation.
The AWU has asked for an interlocutory injunction to prevent the AFP giving the ROC the information they took in the raids, and that is the aspect of the case we expect will be heard and decided this afternoon.
Updated
Tony Burke is calling for a suspension of standing orders to move this motion:
That the House notes, one: yesterday it was revealed the Australian Federal Police did not have the resources to investigate the importation of 1.6 tonnes of cocaine; two: on the very same day, the prime minister’s Registered Organisations Commission sent at least 25 of the officers – 25 AFP officers to look at a 10-year-old donation to GetUp. Three: in doing so, this government diverted police resources needed to fight drug syndicates to protect his own political interests. For this is just the latest example of this prime minister’s willingness to abuse his power and debase the office of prime minister. And, therefore: condemns this born-to-rule prime minister for his grubby attacks and blatant abuses of power designed to protect his own political interests instead of protecting Australians.
The government seeks to gag him and the House divides.
Updated
Greg Hunt gets a dixer on energy from Wide Bay MP Llew O’Brien, whom he calls “a policeman’s policeman”.
Bill Shorten:
My question is to the prime minister. Why hasn’t the prime minister asked government agencies to undertake any investigations into Australians caught up in the Panama Papers scandal? Why does the prime minister continue to protect the banks from a royal commission despite reports that the Commonwealth Bank allowed money to be laundered by terrorists? Why won’t this or the rule power to do something about misconduct at the top end of town, and stop abusing his power to attack people and organisations who highlight his failings?
Malcolm Turnbull:
I am so glad, Mr Speaker, that Melbourne’s greatest sycophant has raised the top end of town. One enterprise bargain after another, sold out. Sold out to big business. One deal after another. One set of penalty rates after another. One sweetheart deal after another. And all the time, as he postured as the great friend, the great friend of big business, here he was, Mr Speaker. We know how much time he has spent there sucking up to Dick Pratt and all the other billionaires. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. There is nothing more sycophantic than a Labor politician in the presence of a billionaire. Believe me, I’ve seen quite a few of both. And I know these are the great sucker-uppers of all time.
And he talks about business, Mr Speaker. What was the party, what was the party? Let me remember, the party that voted against our bill to tackle multinational tax avoidance. It was the Labor party. That’s right, Mr Speaker. That’s how committed they were, Mr Speaker. The grovelling, the compromises, the special deals. We have seen them all. Their members have seen them all. But nothing takes the cake quite so much, quite so much, as paying members’ money to GetUp, which after all, wants to put the AWU members out of work.
We move on to Peter Dutton letting us know just how protected and safe our borders and communities are. Again. We are very safe. And very protected.
Updated
There is another dixer to Josh Frydenberg, who starts quoting figures on how much families have saved by taking the government’s advice and shopping around for their power provider.
Back to the opposition questions, for the prime minister.
Tony Burke:
Can he confirm that his government has sent in the AFP to break into parliamentary offices during a [election] campaign due to the failings of his second NBN being exposed, referred people [from Queensland Labor] over upsetting text messages, and sent the AFP to investigate a 10-year-old donation to GetUp. Why is he diverting money towards projects of political interest to a born to rule prime minister?
Christopher Pyne makes a point of order on what he says are inaccuracies. Tony Smith says if that is the case there are three minutes for the prime minister to correct them.
Malcolm Turnbull:
It was bad enough to see John Setka attacking the integrity of the AFP. Bad enough to see that. The way in which he flaunted his and his union’s defiance of the law, and then it was even worse, when we saw the member for Gorton echoing that this respect, that contempt for the law last night – that disrespect. But now we see the member for Watson standing up here in the parliament and stating what he knows to be utterly untrue, alleging that the federal police does the political bidding of the government. That is a shocking allegation against the federal police. It is a shocking allegation against the government. Above all, above all, it’s impugns the integrity and the professionalism of the men and women of the federal police who work so hard to keep us safe. Labor should be ashamed of themselves.
Updated
Brendan O’Connor: “Can the prime minister confirm that the prime minister went to a double dissolution election to establish is registered organisation commission. The commission was hand-picked by the employment minister, and [whether] the commission is looking into a 10-year-old donation to GetUp is because their employment minister told them to do so?”
Malcolm Turnbull: (with papers in hand)
What we know about this matter is that we, the registered organisation commission, received information which they say raise reasonable grounds for suspecting that relevant documents were maybe being interfered with by being concealed or destroyed. Now, we know, we know that there have been examples of documents being concealed and – and – and that tends to destroy them with respect to other union investigations. This is a concern that is a fact. Now, Mr Speaker, what the honourable member is suggesting is that a regulatory agency designed to ensure that unionists, and members funds, not being dealt with unlawfully. And investigating that. And believing that relevant documents were at risk of being destroyed. But they should do nothing.
How very convenient. How very convenient that would be for union officials who miss-use union members’ money. And Mr Speaker, when the member for Barton, when the member for Barton gave his extraordinary interview yesterday, he said (he is corrected for naming the wrong member), the member for Gorton, Mr Speaker. When he gave that, when he gave that extraordinary interview yesterday, in which he made claims that, substantially, the claims on the AFP, oh, he did ... he said that the government uses the police for police purposes, and that is precisely what the member for Gorton said yesterday.
What he also did was to follow the same line as the member for Sydney, which said, let me just say this, ‘I do know of allegations made against the AWU 10 years ago. None of the allegations, were they true, warrant this sort of conduct’. Is he seriously suggesting that if a regulator charged under law to investigate wrongdoing believes that evidence is about to be destroyed, that they should do nothing? That would be very convenient for those who misuse union member’s money ... misuse ... union members.
Updated
Queensland Michelle Landry asks the next dixer to Barnaby Joyce, who nods along with it. It’s on “affordable and reliable” energy policies and any alternative approaches. As she sits down, the microphone picks up someone saying “great member, great member”.
Tony Burke asks about the relevance to the member’s portfolio.
Tony Smith hears it again. He says it is “very line ball”, adding “I will rule it in order on the basis that it talked about businesses and the deputy prime minister is responsible, certainly, for agricultural businesses. But I do question, I do say the member, I do say to the member that it is very important questions relate to ministerial responsibility.”
Barnaby Joyce gives a very Barnaby Joyce answer.
Updated
Tony Burke: “In his previous answer the prime minister said that Senator Cash had assured him that she did not advise the press gallery of the raids. Did Senator Cash assure the prime minister that her office did not advise the press gallery of the raids?”
Malcolm Turnbull: “The honourable member can attempt to cross-examine Senator Cash by proxy here in the House. He should make sure that his friends in the Senate can address all the questions to first hand.”
Updated
Adam Bandt has the crossbench question and he uses it to ask about the Adani coalmine planned for Queensland:
As former environment minister Peter Garrett pointed out this week, the Queensland Labor government is strongly backing the Adani coal mega-mine which will mean more deaths from heatwaves and bushfires. Prime minister, will you take steps to step in and override this rogue state government like Bob Hawke did with the Franklin dam? Or is the only way of stopping the Adani mine for the people of Brisbane to elect the Greens [he names three MPs, but I missed that]* to hold the balance of power in the Queensland parliament?
We get the shortest answer of the week from Malcolm Turnbull: “as I said to the honourable member once before, I can only conclude from his question that he believes that Queenslanders should go without jobs and Indians should go without electricity.
Then Julie Bishop gets a dixer. It is on energy.
*I’ve just been informed of the names I missed: Amy McMahon, Michael Berkman Kirsten Lovejoy
Updated
Scott Morrison gets the next dixer. It is on energy.
Tony Burke has the next opposition question: “Given TV cameras turned up at the site of AFP raids yesterday, can the prime minister guarantee that his employment minister or her office didn’t notify anyone in the press gallery before the raid?
Malcolm Turnbull:
The employment minister is in estimates as we speak so I’m sure will be dealing with that, but I can assure – well, Mr Speaker, that can be addressed. But I can assure honourable members opposite that the real question here is what was, what happened to that $100,000. That’s the real issue, Mr Speaker.
The whole chamber erupts. Burke has a point of order, saying he had no preamble and a very specific question. Speaker Tony Smith, after warning the chamber, says the prime minister was talking about the substance of the question, under the standing orders.
Turnbull:
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, the minister, the minister for employment, has assured me that she did not advise any journalists about the raid and, Mr Speaker, but she will be in estimates, she’s in estimates I believe this afternoon and will no doubt have the opportunity to go into this in great deal.
But Mr Speaker, the issue, the real issue, is this: why did the AWU give $100,000 of its hardworking members’ union dues to GetUp? Was it authorised under the rules? Now, that is the matter the Registered Organisations Commission is investigating and that enquiry was the subject or the context of the search warrants that were exercised yesterday. And, as honourable members would know, the register Registered Organisations Commission said yesterday in a statement, since the investigation commenced, the ROC received information which raised reasonable grounds for suspecting documents relevant to this investigation may be on the premises of the AWU ...
They went to a magistrate, they secured a warrant and the warrant was executed and now I see that their lawyers are in court, the AWU’s lawyers are in court trying to stop the police having access to the documents.
Updated
Tanya Plibersek is next on the Labor question roster:
The federal police did not have the resources to fully investigate a 1.6 tonne cocaine importation; when the federal police already don’t have enough resources to do the important work they do, why is this born-to-rule prime minister diverting the limited resources of the federal police so that he can attack his political opponents?
Christopher Pyne makes a point of order about a reference to the prime minister in the question – it doesn’t take a genius to know that it is ‘born to rule’ he is taking umbrage at.
Tony Smith allows the question, saying he doesn’t like the term but terms like that have been used in the past.
Malcolm Turnbull gets to his feet, but doesn’t answer the question:
I thank the honourable member for her question and, Mr Speaker, I accept the rather snide barb in her question. Let me say this to the honourable member. Throughout my life, throughout my life, my wife and I have started one business after another. We created jobs. We’ve invested. We know what creates enterprise and jobs. And we know that families like Nick and Louise, who get on with investment, create jobs. And all of those hereditary union princelings opposite, all of those people, regardless of the donations that they, the contributions they get from union members, giving them away, giving them to political organisations that want to put their members out of work, that, MrSpeaker, on this side of the House we know what enterprise and jobs are about. We know it’s investment.
Every one of our policies, every one, is focused on creating more investment and more employment. That’s why we are resolute in our determination to deliver lower electricity prices, affordable power, reliable power, that’s our commitment. And we’re already reducing the burden of tax on thousands of small and medium businesses and, Mr Speaker, the members on the other side can mock and scoff as much as they like... Not everybody has a privileged ride to power through a union job. No, they don’t. No, they don’t.
The reality is, Mr Speaker, hard work, enterprise, investment – that’s what delivers the jobs, that’s what’s delivered 371,000 jobs over the last year. And so I say, Mr Speaker, for those who have done so well from the union movement and ridden on the backs of the workers into parliament, think a little about how the jobs those workers have were created. Not by you, but by hardworking businessmen and women like Nick and Louise.
And Tim Watts just became the first MP to be asked to leave.
Updated
Craig Kelly has the dixer and he all but yells it across the chamber. You get the feeling that he wishes he could be fighting Labor on unions, but instead, he’s being made to ask a question about lower energy prices and whether there are any alternative approaches.
You know what an actual alternative approach might be? Using your alloted question time to ask a question that is actually on the behalf of your constituents, instead of what your political party wants to prosecute.
I hate dixers. I hate them.
Question time begins
Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten offer their condolences to Linda Burney. The whole chamber is silent.
I’ll bring those to you shortly.
Then it’s into the questions, and the first one is on the AWU raid.
Shorten:
Yesterday, it was revealed that the federal police did not have the resources to investigate the importation of 1.6 tonnes of cocaine. But on the very same day, the prime minister’s Registered Organisations Commission sent at least 25 AFP officers to look at a donation to GetUp. How can the prime minister find the resources to investigate the political …
He runs out of time, but Turnbull knows what the question is. He practically has written answers.
Turnbull:
The leader of the opposition talked about a 10-year-old donation. Is he suggesting that breaches of the law, breaches of union rules, should not be investigated because they’re 10 years old? That would be very convenient for the leader of the opposition. That would, indeed, be very convenient for the Leader of the Opposition ... what we have seen from the Labor party since that search warrant was executed is an attack on the integrity of the Australian Federal Police.
This is what they know as well as we do, as we all do, that the Australian Federal Police is absolutely independent in its operations. They decide who to investigate, how to investigate, that is a matter for them and so it should be. But what we saw yesterday was the member for Gorton say the government is using the power of the state to attack its political opponents. The prime minister is willing to use the police like his plaything, they are accusing the Federal Police of acting on political direction. That’s what they’re doing.
And, Mr Speaker, it is very, very familiar rhetoric because this is exactly what John Setka said in that notorious speech in Melbourne when he accused the Federal Police of being a political police force and of being political henchmen of the government. Mr Speaker, the reality is this: the Labor party does not respect the integrity of the Federal Police. They are all too ready to accuse them of being a political police force and, Mr Speaker, there is nothing in substance that differs from what the member for Gorton said yesterday and what John Setka said on his platform in Melbourne.
The same denial of the rule of law, the same contempt for the rule of law, the same contempt for the independence of the police and, Mr Speaker, the question for the leader of the opposition is not just why the AWU gave $100,000 to an organisation whose principle objective seems to be shutting down industries in which members of the AWU work, but also why he has not apologised for and disowned the outrageous attacks on the independence, the integrity of the men and women that keep us safe.
Updated
The Greens have come together as a united front to condemn the AWU raids.
Following on from Adam Bandt this morning, leader Richard Di Natale says it “was part of a broader crackdown on people speaking out against this government”.
This is a government that sought to remove the charitable status of environment organisations; it is a government that seeks to silence whistleblowers and people speaking out against detention through the imposition of harsh laws. What we have is a government that is using every tool it has to silence dissent, to crack down on civil society and effectively say to its opponents ‘we are not going to tolerate you’. That is what we see in a police state, not in a democracy like Australia. Utterly shameful from a prime minister who doesn’t like being held to account, who doesn’t like criticism and will do everything he can to silence his opponents. We are extremely disappointed and angry that in a country like Australia we are seeing the police force being used in this way.”
Di Natale says the Greens will be taking advantage of the ROC’s appearance in front of an estimates committee this afternoon.
Updated
We are getting very close to question time, so what do we know?
Michaelia Cash referred a historical donation matter involving the AWU and GetUp while Bill Shorten was union secretary to the Registered Organisations Commission.
The AFP, directed by the ROC, carried out raids on the AWU Sydney and Melbourne offices yesterday afternoon.
The media were tipped off, arriving before the AFP.
Labor has accused the government of misusing its power to target political rivals.
The government has denied that and accused Labor of questioning the integrity of the AFP.
Everyone is angry.
We all caught up? Other than the AWU raids, what else is on your QT bingo card? Anyone predicting what time I’ll fall over? So many surprises await us!
Updated
Federal court hearing set for 2.15pm over AWU raids
Maurice Blackburn, who are representing the AWU, have filed an application with the federal court, challenging the validity of the AFP raids.
Josh Bornstein, the firm’s principal, said the raids were “an outrageous abuse of power” and the Registered Organisations Commission could have written to the union, or produced a summons, for the documents.
“None of these actions were taken. Instead, a highly orchestrated media strategy was implemented so that television cameras arrived before the AFP to capture the raid and thereby seek to paint the union in the worst possible light,” he said in a statement.
“This is an outrageous abuse of power and a farcical misuse of police resources that raises serious questions about the conduct of both the ROC and federal minister Michaelia Cash, who instigated the investigation.
“Prior to the raid, we wrote to the ROC, expressing our concern about possible political interference by the federal government in this matter.
“We sought copies of all communications it has had with minister Cash and her staff but the ROC has declined to provide us with those documents. We will continue to press for that crucial information to be provided to the AWU.”
The hearing has been set down for 2.15pm in Melbourne in the federal court.
Updated
Labor’s Nick Champion told Sky News he has some concerns about the AWU raids:
I am concerned for our country. I am concerned for the type of politics that are now becoming normalised by this government. What we had yesterday was a Kafkaesque show trial, where the media was notified before the union was aware. The union, as I understand it, was informed by the media subsequently appearing out the front of their offices. What this was was a government initiated show trial, it was designed for one purpose and this is to do damage to the leader of the opposition and do damage to the union movement and really there is no substance behind it other than that.
It should be noted that Michaelia Cash has denied that she or her office tipped off the media (in estimates).
Champion says he is not accusing any individual of letting the media know, but says: “it’s a strange consequence that a government initiated, you know, investigation and the reference was provided by the government, after, you know, some toing and froing, the government admitted to that this morning on Sky. Those facts weren’t forthcoming in the prime minister’s interview but they were by the justice minister, who said Michaelia Cash provided the reference to the Registered Organisations Commission.”
He reiterated that Labor “has no beef” with the AFP for doing their job.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg is still trying to talk energy, but keeps hitting the roadblocks of, you know, no modelling to back up the claims.
“... Everyone has said this is a practical, workable, credible, way forward and that is why the Labor party should get on board, that is why we are getting further modelling undertaken.”
Further modelling?
The analysis by the energy security board has given us a sense of where the savings will be, that is put in writing of $100 to $115, that was analysis that they undertook, based on a series of modelling that they had done previously on a whole range of relevant areas. So we need to get more modelling done, I have written to the energy security board, and when that modelling is done, it will be provided to the states through the Coag process so that we can have a constructive debate at the meeting at the end of the November.
So far, the Labor states don’t seem inclined to go along. Yesterday (was it only yesterday?) Malcolm Turnbull made the somewhat extraordinary admission that the states are saying one thing to him privately and another thing publicly. Keep in mind that Queensland is expected to head to the polls (the chatter will not stop that the election is being called within days) and potentially could have another government by that Coag meeting – and One Nation could be part of it.
Updated
Ken Wyatt is today’s guest at the National Press Club. He’s giving a speech on “Australia’s New Age of Opportunity”. It’s focussing on aged care and the health, both physical and mental, of older Australians.
Here’s a taste:
The challenge for all of us is that longevity has been rising at a remarkable rate and people have a lot more time as workers, consumers and family members to influence society and the economy. Its 85 years since the phrase “Life begins at 40” became famous as a self-help book title. It’s time we helped ourselves again – our challenge is to change attitudes to ageing and, just as globalisation and technology have shaped the way we live and work, so will living longer impact on individuals, the private and public sector, and almost all aspects of society. Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott from the London Business School cite, in their publication The 100 Year Life, state ‘If the child you are thinking about was born in the US, Canada, Italy or France there is a 50% chance that they will live until at least 104. If the child you had in mind was born in Japan, then they can reasonably be expected to live to a staggering 107 years’. These projections are the real deal. Therefore, we need to seriously refocus our attention on living longer and living better. This brings challenges, even for forward-thinking governments. The reality is that in most developed countries fertility rates are falling below the population replacement line, creating a conundrum for future workforce needs that will also impact on how we deliver services to older Australians.
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Remember how I said Labor was angry?
Here is some of Chris Bowen, speaking to Laura Jayes on Sky a little bit ago:
Now let me be very clear. Our beef isn’t with the AFP here. They are doing their job, they have no choice as to how they go about these things, but the government, a cabinet minister, a senior member of the government, Michaelia Cash, is responsible for this. She sent the reference to the Registered Organisations Commission. She asked for this witch-hunt, and if this witch-hunt is designed by the government to damage Bill Shorten, which it clearly is, then they must account for the abuse of power, taxpayers’ money, which is going on here. Is this an outrage? Yes it is. Are we angry about it? Yes we are. Should the Australian taxpayers be angry about it? They have every right to be.
I expect ‘who tipped off the media’ will be a question time issue, as well. Bowen goes on:
Point one. Point two: the reference was sent by this cabinet minister. Not a day goes by Laura when I don’t open a newspaper and find some piece of dodgy analysis which Michaelia Cash has instigated, initiated, got her department or her office to do. I don’t know what this cabinet minister does apart from run a smear campaign against Bill Shorten and the Labor party. I mean she is a cabinet minister with a serious job to do. She should be concerned about wages growth in Australia. She should be concerned about actually improving the productivity and economy of the nation. All she is interested in is this witchhunt. I mean she is operating a political smear campaign as a cabinet minister and we’ve had enough of it and the Australian people have had enough of it. On the other point, there is a serious question. You say the process will work Laura, the media were outside the AWU’s office 15 minutes before the AWU even knew there was a raid. Now there are very serious …
Jayes: We’ve seen media outside other grades, for example when the AFP raided the Channel 7 offices …
Bowen replies:
If we are told that this is a serious investigation it would be a potential breach of the efficacy of that investigation if the media were tipped off. Now we all know the media were tipped off. The media did not, with all due respect you are all very fine journalists but you didn’t just wander down to the AWU thinking ‘I don’t know something about me tells me there’s a raid on’... so there were tip-offs. So they have very serious questions to answer by this government about how the media knew about this. The fact that the media were there indicates to me this is a political stunt and a smear campaign by this Liberal government and it is an abuse of power.
Jayes: But Chris Bowen, I question how are you can call this a political stunt without at the same time questioning the integrity of the AFP.
Bowen:
We’re not asserting that the AFP told the media ... what I’m saying is the government has serious questions to answer as to how the media found out about it. Now I don’t think it’s acceptable to say the media was at Channel 7 or elsewhere, just because it’s happened once before doesn’t make it right. The AFP has got a job to do. Now if they have to go in and get these documents because they had no choice about it, if that’s the case, then their ability to do that was undermined by the media leak. So what I’m saying to you is there are very, very serious questions to answer as to how the media found out about this. If the media was tipped off by people who weren’t in the AFP it is a very serious abuse of power for political purposes by this government
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I have seen a lot of commentators have mentioned they are donating to GetUp on the back of these raids. The ACTU have launched their own fundraising campaign
ACTU has also launched a fundraising pitch on the back of the police raids #auspol https://t.co/WYUdDSwxcn
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 25, 2017
I should clarify from my earlier post – the Registered Organisations Commission is investigating the AWU Victoria branch over financial obligations and record-keeping as stated but the AFP raid was specifically investigating the AWU’s donation to GetUp and other political donations to Labor candidates, including then national secretary Bill Shorten’s election in 2007 in Maribyrnong.
GetUp received $100k from the AWU in 2005 and Guardian Australia has confirmed the AWU made a total of $130,500 in donations to Labor candidates before the 2007 election, including $25,000 for Shorten’s election.
The AWU national secretary, Daniel Walton, said:“The AWU national executive met to determine and approve the donations to GetUp and the ALP ... Those donations were made to further the interests of AWU members, we stood by them then and stand by them today.”
Walton said the donations were disclosed to the Australian Electoral Commission at the time.
The AWU Vic secretary, Ben Davis, said: “We believe the [GetUp] donation was made in accordance with rules and objectives of the AWU. It’s a matter for the Registered Organisations Commission, they’re investigating it, but instead of issuing us with a notice produce they came yesterday with the AFP.”
Davis said the donations were disclosed and the AWU had even “bragged in [its] journal” about supporting GetUp at the time.
“It’s a matter of public record, the fact that we’d give a donation is hardly a shock, especially to Labor candidates including our [then] national secretary [Bill Shorten].”
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The education minister, Simon Birmingham, after also giving his condolences to Linda Burney, had a few things to say about the Productivity Commission report.
(It seems like that was handed down a lifetime ago. It was about this time yesterday, but I have aged about 40 years in that time.)
As it pertains to higher education, and the government’s proposed cuts, this is what Birmingham had to say:
Well, I would hope that people will see the merit in delivering sustainability in higher education across the country. Universities have seen vast growth in their funding – some 70 plus per cent of growth in funding since 2009, a rate that’s twice the rate of economic growth – we’re proposing to simply slow the rate of funding growth. Under our reforms universities would still see funding growth of around 23% over the next four years. There are many small businesses around the country who would love that type of funding growth and I call upon the parliament, particularly the crossbenches but also the Labor party, to recognise the commonsense in simply slowing that rate of growth to make university funding more sustainable for the long term.
He still wants to get there by the end of the year, but first he has to convince the Nick Xenophon Team, which so far, have said no.
Look, I remain hopeful and committed to working for solutions and, of course though, as we’ve indicated with the Xenophon Team stance they took last week, if those solutions cannot be found then we will have to consider the implications, not only for higher education policy, but also to make sure, as we always do, that those budget issues are addressed. And given the rate of spending growth in universities over the last few years and its contribution to the budget deficit to date, it is entirely reasonable to continue to expect that universities make some contribution to budget repair with a slightly lower rate of growth in their funding.
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Before estimates this morning, Labor senator Doug Cameron was doorstopped and said it was time to go to an election.
He said he didn’t see the need to further scrutinise the connection between Labor and GetUp:
Why would there be need for any scrutiny? I mean GetUp is an organisation that has got similar views to Labor in some issues, it has got different views to Labor on other issues. It’s an organisation that is part of the democratic process in this country and all we see now is attacks by this divided rabble of a government, a government that’s in almost terminal decline, can’t get on with each other, can’t provide decent policy in this country and set out to attack the trade union movement.
This is an absolute disgrace. We are now turning into one of those countries where ordinary workers can’t organise effectively, the democratic rights of workers at work are being taken away by the attacks of this government and it’s about time that this government actually concentrated on the real issues for government.
The public understand what’s been happening here yesterday. It’s nothing more than a political attack on Bill Shorten, a political attack on the Labor Party and a political attack on the AWU and the trade union movement generally.
This government is an absolute disgrace, the public have had enough of them. We have had poll after poll saying they are not delivering and it’s about time to let them go to an election and let’s resolve this quickly.
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Inflation rose 0.6% in September quarter
The inflation report helps work out how the RBA reacts on a number of things, including interest rates, and it has had a fairly long-held inflation target band of between 2 and 3%.
Well, CPI rose by 0.6% in the September quarter, the ABS reports, which is short of the 0.8% expectation. That brings the year on year inflation rate to 1.8%, short of that 2% target.
Here are some of the ABS’s headline figures:
OVERVIEW OF CPI MOVEMENTS
- The most significant price rises this quarter are electricity (+8.9%), tobacco (+4.1%), international holiday travel and accommodation (+4.1%) and new dwelling purchase by owner-occupiers (+0.8%).
- The most significant offsetting price falls this quarter are vegetables (-10.9%), automotive fuel (-2.3%) and telecommunication equipment and services (-1.5%).
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As for the government argument that the Registered Organisations Commission was about making sure union members’ money was being spent correctly, Ed Husic had this to say:
Yeah and they go through all the internal processes of making sure that unions and their decision-making bodies tick them off properly and they have to account for them when they get their books looked at by again, the workplace relations authorities that you have to submit your financial reports to and the way that decisions get made and the way that you can get audited. As I said, the Coalition has form on this, they set up a royal commission into pink bats, they set up a royal commission into trade unions. In fact they’ve set up a royal commission into pink bat safety – why can’t we get a report out of this government that says what they have done to improve safety on job programs like work for the dole, where people have lost their lives, Kieran, and we still can’t get the minister to front up and say this is what we’re doing to make our job programs safer.
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Tax office and border protection aren’t complying with cybersecurity requirements
While all eyes in Canberra are on the AWU controversy, parliament’s joint committee of public accounts and audit has this morning given two major government agencies – the ATO, and immigration and border protection – a public blast for not being compliant with mandatory mitigation strategies for cybersecurity, and for not being “cyber resilient”.
The committee has given the two agencies a deadline of June 2018 to report back on actions they are taking to improve their cyber security “including advice as to barriers and timelines to complete outstanding actions.”
The ATO told the committee they intended to be compliant with the government’s mitigation strategies by November 2017, but the Department of Immigration and Border Protection “could not provide a date for when full compliance with all of the top four mitigation strategies would be achieved, despite previously advising the committee that full compliance would be achieved by December 2016”.
The chair of the committee is the Liberal senator Dean Smith. He says cybersecurity needs to be a top priority for all government entities. He says there needs to be a strong culture of prioritising cybersecurity “within the context of entity-wide strategic objectives”.
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'In Australia, you don't send in the police against your political opponents' - the Greens MP
The Greens MP Adam Bandt also had a few things to say about the raid this morning:
This is a dark day for democracy and the rule of law. When there are claims that 7/11 were stealing money from their workers, the government didn’t lift a finger. When there’s claims that casino bosses are rigging machines and breaking the law, the government doesn’t lift a finger. But when a union donates money to a citizens’ group, to speak up and hold the government to account, the government sends in the police in the full view of the nightly news. This isn’t to do with the AFP – the AFP were doing the job that was asked of them. This is squarely at the foot of the government, who established a little while ago, the Registered Organisations Commission, an organisation people may not have heard of, but is turning out to be for unions what the ABCC was for the construction industry.
The ROC has shown it is not a watchdog, it is an attack dog. And it beggars belief, it beggars belief that the first port of call when you want to get documents from someone in a case that is before the court, is to send in the police. This organisation, well, let’s look at the chronology – the government said ‘let’s look at the organisations commission, we want you to start an investigation into a union and a claims it might have given money to a political organisation, a campaigning organisation called GetUp’, the next thing we know, they start that investigation and before they even ask the union to hand over the documents, they send in the police.
Now, I don’t have any particular connection with the AWU, the AWU have publicly criticised the Greens for moving too quickly towards renewables. But that is not the point, that is not the point. In Australia, you don’t send in the police against your political opponents. You don’t have raids on organisations for documents, that they would have been willing to hand over, and indeed, properly did hand over, in the royal commission a couple of years ago.
Malcolm Turnbull is becoming more like Donald Trump every day. We are back now in the Joh Bjelke-Petersen era, where if you dare to speak up in this country, the government will crack down on you. We are seeing it with environmental groups and we are seeing it with unions – if you’ve got a white collar, the government turns a blind eye, but if you have a blue collar, the government throws the book at you.
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Back in employment estimates for a moment and Michaelia Cash said she learned of the raids on the Australian Workers’ Union offices from the television.
Another official, whose name I missed, said when she spoke to Cash’s office, to alert them to the raids (that’s what I believe the context to be, I was watching three things at once), they said they knew because they were watching it on the television.
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Registered Organisation Commissions annual report released
The Registered Organisation Commission’s 2016/17 annual report has just been released and gives news details of what it is investigating the Australian Workers’ Union for – possible breaches of financial obligations and record keeping.
According to the report, there are 10 referrals regarding the Victorian branch of the AWU from the Trade Union Royal Commission that are subject of investigation.
The referrals relate to section 331 of the Registered Organisations Act which “enables the commissioner ... to conduct an investigation if there are reasonable grounds to believe financial obligations or civil penalty provisions have been contravened”.
“The 10 referrals were accompanied by more than 23,000 pages of supporting materials across a broad range of potential contraventions, including failing to maintain proper records. The ROC is continuing this investigation.”
The report also says that the ROC started an investigation in November 2016 “regarding alleged breaches of the requirements to maintain proper records by the Vic branch of the AWU”. The investigation is listed as ongoing, and estimated to be completed on 30 November, 2017.
It specifies two sections it is investigating:
- The obligation to keep a register of members; and
- The obligation for financial reports to “give a true and fair view of the financial position and performance” of the union.
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The treasury secretary John Fraser has given his opening statement in treasury estimates, painting quite the rosy picture:
[There are] positive outlooks for both the domestic and global economy, we remain on track to return to budget balance in 2020-21, as expected in the May budget. Since the budget, we released the final budget outcome for 2016-17 which showed that the outcome for the underlying cash balance and net operating balance were better than expected in May and significantly so. I might add, that some very, very preliminary data for the first quarter of this financial year was very encouraging on the receipt side.
But he said Australia still needed to “get its own house in order”
We can lead by example by remaining open to pursuing structural reforms that make our economy stronger and more flexible and ensuring our fiscal policy is credible.
But it’s also not great news for wage growth.
As the cyclical constraints that have weighed on the economy recede, wages growth will accelerate. This will be assisted by inflation and inflationary expectations moving higher.
In other news, it will take some time.
This also happened.
Ian Macdonald is asking Treasury boss John Fraser how people can afford "outlandishly expensive boats" on Sydney harbour.
— Henry Belot (@Henry_Belot) October 24, 2017
And the answer?
John Fraser says that it all starts with avocados. Then people want a better car. Then they want a huge boat they never use. https://t.co/5MDk2fk7Zd
— Henry Belot (@Henry_Belot) October 24, 2017
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I didn’t get a chance to transcribe Tanya Plibersek’s interview with Fran Kelly this morning, but the transcript has just dropped from Bill Shorten’s office (this is normal and both leaders’ usually do it, but there is no timeframe on when a transcript may arrive).
Here’s a taste of what I heard this morning from Plibersek:
What they’re doing is they’ve set up a royal commission, which found nothing. That didn’t work, so they’ve now set up the Registered Organisations Commission and then the government is using that commission to try and get the Australian federal police to launch these raids. And this is not the fault of the Australian federal police – we support them and support their work. But on the very day when the police commissioner is giving evidence that they are under-resourced, that the $185m budget cuts to the Australian federal police have meant this year alone, 151 staff will be lost from the Australian federal police, and they are not investigating serious crimes, like drug trafficking, like gun trafficking, international organised crime, because they don’t have the resources to do it. The Registered Organisations Commission sending them out on these goose hunts, wild goose chases, because it can. Now, does any Australian really think that it is unusual or surprising that the Australian Workers’ Union has backed Labor candidates in the federal election context? I mean, they’ve done it campaign after campaign. You heard the national secretary on Sabra Lane this morning explaining very coherently that in its over 100-year history, the Australian Workers’ Union has tried to get Labor members into parliament because they know that Labor members of parliament will always stand up for the pay and conditions of working people. Big surprise there Fran. Is anybody honestly surprised?
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Community services estimates is on today. Alan Tudge’s office have released a statement, the headline figures of which are:
An almost eightfold increase in departure prohibition orders over the least two years has netted almost $10m in outstanding child support debts. In 2016/17 more than 1,800 departure prohibition orders (DPOs) were issued to parents with significant outstanding child support debts, up from just 218 in 2014-15. The value of debts recovered has almost doubled to $9.9m.
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I’m at the Australian Council of Social Services Conference in Melbourne, where Bill Shorten’s standard address to the annual conference was replaced with a prerecorded video message to account for the sitting week. The video featured the opposition leader affecting a casual pose alongside Jenny Macklin, with the two taking turns summarising Labor policy for four minutes.
The most interesting part of the presentation was its introduction by the Victorian Council of Social Services chief executive, Emma King, who took a moment to reflect on the the “astonishing” Australian federal police raids on Australian Workers’ Union offices in Melbourne and Sydney last night.
Said King:
“I think we are powerfully reminded about how important it is that we as a community stand and act in solidarity to demand the kind of democracy that we deserve.”
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AWU secretary Daniel Walton talks court action
The national secretary of the Australian Workers’ Union, Daniel Walton, has told Sky that once all the court issues are worked through, he would be happy to release the documents in question.
He has also made it clear that the union has no criticism of the Australian federal police:
On Friday they decided to commence an investigation, yesterday we were meeting with our lawyers to work out how to prepare and respond to that in a proper matter. What we then later found out during that meeting, was a whole lot of media had started to gather out the front of our offices in Sydney and Melbourne and the media informed our staff that there was about to be a warrant served by the AFP. That draws significant concerns as to the integrity of the investigation from the registered organisations commission ... Some 15 minutes later, we then get a phone call come through from the Registered Organisations Commission, saying ‘heads up we are about issue a warrant and raid your office’ and shortly thereafter, the AFP turned up. We certainly have no issues in terms of the AFP, in fact they were incredibly nice people who were in the office yesterday. They are who we want police to be, they are extremely smart and diligent people, they were there under the orders of the registered organisations commission, the ROC which was set up by the Turnbull government to investigate trade unions. We are concerned it is a misuse of police power at a time when the commissioner is talking about the inability, due to a lack of resources at the AFP to investigate ... “
Walton said today’s court action, aimed at having the documents returned, was due to the union’s concerns about how the investigation was commenced.
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Labor’s Stephen Jones also pointed the finger at the government for the raids:
Labor has got absolutely nothing to hide. The union has absolutely nothing to hide. They have already produced the documents. This is what is most ridiculous about what occurred yesterday. The union has already produced the documents. They produced them to the government’s $46m royal commission which produced diddly squat, by the way. So the union has already produced the documents and now, the government has been involved in this massive charade clearly to distract attention from its own political problems. They are rightly condemned for an improper use of the agencies of government.”
The government is painting Labor’s response as an attack on the integrity of the Australian federal police. Labor says it is criticising the government’s use of the AFP. Question time is going to be a free for all.
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Michaelia Cash is facing employment estimates and has faced questioning from Doug Cameron about Nigel Hadgkiss – the former ABCC boss who was made to step down after being found guilty of breaching the Fair Work Act.
She has been asked to clarify when she first learned of the allegations (22 August 2016) against Hadgkiss and why she did not step him down. She said she did not act, because at the time, they were unproven allegations and she gave Hadgkiss the presumption of innocence.
“I assume you’ll be doing a press conference after this, asking Mr Shorten to stand aside, in relation to the allegations, that have been made against him, that donations were not properly authorised when he was in charge of the AWU. Or is it that they are merely allegations at this stage and he should be afforded due process.”
And then it turned a little nasty.
Cameron: “Did you simply accept Mr Hadgkiss’s denial as a fact?”
Cash: “Mr Hadgkiss denied the allegations. It would not have been appropriate for me to prejudge the allegations against Mr Hadgkiss before the court process had concluded. If you want to start prejudging, I am very happy though to sit here and have questions asked about every CFMEU official that has alleged that they will rape children, happy to talk about that. Happy to talk about Luke Collier, your very, very good friend, and yes, we will be getting to him later on today, not only has he been found to have committed domestic violence, he is now on an assault charge in my home state of Western Australia. Very happy to talk about his criminal record. Happy to talk about the criminal record of John Setka, who actually said, what was it, that they would hunt down the families of ABCC inspectors happy to talk about all of that and whether or not you have verified whether or not that was true or false.”
Cameron denied he was a “very, very good friend” of Collier, adding he didn’t think he had met him.
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Doors were busy this morning.
Mike Bowers was out catching the arrivals
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Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite (a name, as someone who has a lisp, that will haunt me in my sleep) has also had a few things to say this morning, and he brought a prop:
This is the statement of claim that’s been filed against the Commonwealth Bank by Austrac, 53,000 alleged breaches of Australia’s anti-money laundering and terrorism financing laws, in 1,640 allegations of money laundering used for drug trafficking and other terrorism financing purposes by the Australian federal police and Austrac against the Commonwealth Bank. Do you think that the AFP raided the Commonwealth Bank offices when these allegations were made? Of course they didn’t, of course they didn’t. The Commonwealth Bank’s been involved in the CommInsure scandal, in the wealth management scandal, ANZ, the NAB and Westpac have been alleged to rig the bank bill swap rate, do you think the AFP raided any of those banks offices when those allegations were made? Of course they did not. Yet a union is alleged to have made a donation to an organisation 10 years ago and the AFP turn up with 26 officers with the media waiting outside in what appears to be a politically motivated raid on a union and a witch-hunt aimed at smearing the reputation of the opposition leader. Now the government have some very, very serious questions to answer in respect to what occurred yesterday, most notably, did the minister Michaelia Cash, anyone in her office or anyone in this Turnbull government, request the Registered Organisations Commission seek warrants to raid the AWU officers? And did anyone in the minister’s, prime minister’s or anyone in the Turnbull government tip the media off to ensure they were there to film these raids? The government’s seeking to turn the AFP into an episode of CSI for political purposes, if that is the case it’s a new low in Australian politics and the Turnbull government have some serious questions to answer.
Labor is angry. Properly angry about these raids. I hope the government wasn’t planning on talking about anything else today, because I don’t think they will get the chance.
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Alan Tudge has just released a statement in support of Linda Burney and her family:
I would like to offer my deepest condolences to the shadow minister for human services, Linda Burney, and her family on the passing of her son, Binni Kirkbright-Burney.
It is a terrible tragedy for any family to lose a cherished child.
My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family at this extremely sad time.
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Michael Keenan responds to Brendan O'Connor
Michael Keenan has had a few things to say about Brendan O’Connor’s statement yesterday.
For a refresher, here is some of what O’Connor said:
Well it is unusual to see the police involved in what is a civil regulator’s coercive powers. I mean, it may well be the case that the police could be used as authorised officers of the Registered Organisations Commission. That may well be the case. But it’s a very good question in the sense that at the very – this is a civil regulator, and yet we’ve got crime fighters raiding offices because of the role of a civil regulator. And that again, I think, highlights that the priority of this government is to deploy federal police for civil matters, because it’s about attacking its political opponents, rather than fighting crime. And that should not be the priority of the police. And as someone who was the minister for justice, and I have a very high regard for the Australian federal police, having worked with them as their minister for three years, I have to say they must feel compromised in having to deal with this matter in this way.
Let me just say this. Raiding two offices because of, at the very best, an administrative or civil breach that may have happened or may not have happened 10 years ago, using federal police in such a manner, having the media called in to make sure it was all broadcast, is a remarkable thing to happen. Ten years after the alleged event, which is a civil matter. It is quite extraordinary. And it only points to this. That this grubby prime minister is willing to use the police like his plaything, his own personal asset, to go after his political opponents. This prime minister has got a glass jaw. We saw it on election night. We saw it when he wanted to call the police because he didn’t like the Medicare campaign Labor ran. And they’ve called the police today. And the prime minister and the minister for employment have a lot of questions to answer. So does the regulator, by the way. But the correlation must be this government has used its agencies in a manner that is unreasonable, unconscionable and deserves censure.
Keenan responded:
[Brendan O’Connor] went out there and said we are using the Australian federal police as a political tool. Now that is an outrageous slur on the federal police and it needs to be repudiated by Bill Shorten and others who lead the Labor party.
The referral was made by Minister Cash. Now many people make referrals to members of our law enforcement and others in the law enforcement community all of the time. The Labor party makes referrals all of the time. Then the agency that has got the referral makes a judgment about whether they are going to investigate and how that investigation may proceed.
We have professionals working for us, whose role is to uphold the law, and they go about their job upholding the law in a way that they deem necessary and they deem fit. Now these search warrants yesterday, like all search warrants, were granted by a magistrate. Is the Labor party accusing us of also interfering with the judiciary? This is a remarkable thing, particularly for a former home affairs minister to say, it is really up to Bill Shorten to stand up and say does he agree that the AFP is a political police force, like others in the union movement have been accusing, or will he repudiate it and stand with the men and women in our law enforcement community and allow them to do their job?
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Malcolm Turnbull speaks on the raids
Michael Keenan and Craig Laundy have been defending the raids this morning. But before we get to them, here is a little more of what Malcolm Turnbull said this morning:
The AFP are completely independent as Labor knows, as indeed as Mr Shorten has said on previous occasions. He knows that as well as all of us. This is just the desperation of a Labor party that is a wholly owned subsidiary, a wholly owned subsidiary of the CFMEU, a trade union that treats the law as nothing to be concerned about. Look at Sally McManus, the head of ACTU, she goes on television and says unions should be entitled to break the law – you know what, they are not. Everyone has to comply with the law, that is what the rule of law means, the rule of law means that everyone is bound by the law and that includes unions and it is about time that Labor and Mr Shorten recognise that Australians will not accept their continued defence and complicit support of the CFMEU, a union which has, whose rap sheet is as long as your arm, have got dozens of union officials up before the courts, and of course you have seen the appalling language and threats in Queensland that they have made against workers at North Oakey.
I have got no comment other than to say the royal commission did a very, had a very long inquiry, made some valuable recommendations, many of which we have now been able to legislate through the parliament.
These are again, we set up ... institutions like this [registered organisations commission] are set up to uphold the law and they are conducting an investigation and they should be allowed to do that and the political abuse that we’ve seen heaped on the police, by the Labor party is a disgrace.
The only smear is the smear Labor is trying to conduct against the Australian federal police. They are accusing the Australian federal police of being politically motivated. That is a disgrace. Bill Shorten knows that is a lie and he should apologise for it.
The police arrangements in respect of our home are the same as have been the case for previous prime ministers, including Kevin Rudd, who of course, his home was in Brisbane, that is the fact and our track record on keeping Australians safe, whether it is providing the police, our intelligence agencies or the ADF with the financial, legal, technological tools they need to keep us safe speak for themselves. Thirteen, 13 terrorist plots disrupted since 2014. That is a record of the persistence, the professionalism, the commitment of our agencies. They are the best in the world and I call on the Labor party to support them and to stop this continued denigration. The rule of law applies to everybody and what happens is when there is an investigation, that affects the union, immediately the Labor party attacks the police. Just consider what [CFMEU boss] John Setka said about the Australian federal police in that speech at the rally in Melbourne to which Bill Shorten sent a greeting message. Setka’s attack on the Australian federal police was abusive, vile, disgusting; has Bill Shorten disassociated himself from that? When is Bill Shorten going to stand up for the rule of law? When is he going to say to Australia the Labor party will disassociate itself from the CFMEU and its thugs and criminals? When is he going to have the courage to do what Bob Hawke did with the Builders Labourers’ Federation? The reason he won’t is money. The CFMEU is the biggest donor to the Labor party. Labor is a wholly owned subsidiary of a trade union that regards the law as something of no account.
The matter is ... the ROC matters, matters are referred to the ROC, but as to what they investigate and how they investigate it, is entirely a matter for them. This is a matter that the ROC is investigating independently and they should be allowed to do their work. Full stop. And it is about time that the Labor party stopped interfering and trying to use, you know, their threats in the media, to intimidate the agencies, including the AFP, whose job it is to enforce and maintain the rule of law.
The matter is being referred to the ROC, they are entitled to inves ... look, ah, police, ah, agencies, ah, you know, various regulatory agencies have many matters referred to them. You know, Mark Dreyfus is always referring things to the Australian federal police, he is, he is, he is always doing that. And ... they look at all of these things, all of this information, ah, and it is their duty to consider them independently and objectively and then take such action as they believe is appropriate. Let me be very clear. I stand for the rule of law. I stand for defending and respecting the agencies that enforce it and uphold it and keep us safe and the question for Bill Shorten is, where does he stand? Does he only support the Australian federal police and the rule of law when it doesn’t impact on him? Is he like Sally McManus who thinks the law should apply to everybody except big trade unions? The rule of law applies to everyone, unions, business, governments. Everybody. It is about time Bill Shorten told us where he stands. Does he stand for the law, for the rule of law and the agencies that uphold it, or is he going to just continue to be apologist for unions that break, defy and hold the law in contempt.
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Bill Shorten talks on the raids
He moves on to what he calls “the extraordinary events of late yesterday”.
I am proud of having spent my adult life working and standing up for working people and the less disadvantaged of our society and I am frankly appalled at the Turnbull government hitting a new low yesterday, with their attempts to smear myself, Labor and unions. This is an increasingly desperate government who stands for nothing and their last resort is to smear their opponents. And this is not the first time the desperate Liberals have tried to smear me. A whole royal commission was set up in no small part to attack my reputation. $80m of taxpayer money wasted. I answered and attended that royal commission over two days and I answered nearly 1,000 questions and at the end of that massive waste of money, that political smear fest, there were no adverse findings made and yet again, yesterday, the government is wasting taxpayer money in an increasingly grubby effort, by a grubby government and quite frankly a grubby prime minister, who have been exposed for standing for nothing and all they have left is to try and damage the reputation of their opponents. I want to make this pledge to the Australian people: Turnbull can be as focused as he wants on smearing me, I am focused on serving you.”
He said the use of “30 AFP officers to collect documents, which the union has said all they had to do is ring up, was an amazing waste of money”.
But we understand what this is about – and I have the greatest respect for the Australian federal police and its serving officers. What I don’t respect is that the regulator, at the behest of the government, is conducting a political witch hunt designed to throw mud in the hope that some will stick. Now I know that this government can keep digging and digging and digging and they can keep wasting taxpayer money right up to the next election, there is nothing of substance or foundation and the royal commission established that. The royal commission had many more resources than this latest pitiful attempt. But the fact of the matter is, this is a government that has run out of anything positive to say, so all they can do is attack their opponents.
The AFP just didn’t work this out on their own, no doubt they were directed by the Registered Organisations Committee. This is a little-known organisation which was set up in the last few months by the government to do exactly what we predicted they would do – hunt down and smear the reputation of the opponents of the government. I do think the government has serious questions to answer. I think Turnbull and his minister have serious questions to answer. How is it possible that journalists were able to be there in advance of the police visit and how on earth did the journalists know about the raid? I don’t think the AFP told the media, I am sure it was the government.
The AFP have got a job to do. My criticism is with the government of Australia. They are using the Registered Organisations Commission and through them, the federal police to carry out the political dirty work of the government. I think it is a low use of high office. We all know why the police were there yesterday. They are looking at matters which the government want them to look at through through the Registered Organisations Committee. Does anyone think, that if I wasn’t leader of the opposition, any of this farce would have happened yesterday?
I have the greatest of respect for the AFP, I don’t question the integrity of the AFP, I question the integrity of Turnbull and the government. Is this really the best use of scarce police resources, is this really the best use of the AFP, when we need them out there catching the drug criminals, going after the crime syndicates. Only yesterday morning, the commissioner of the Australian federal police made it clear that anti-crime operations were going wanting because there weren’t enough resources. I think the government should hang their head in shame in this matter.
It is not about the AFP as far as I am concerned. Let’s really get to the heart of this matter – the government doesn’t like the fact that unions make donations to progressive causes promoted by Labor candidates and the government don’t like me, but they shouldn’t be using taxpayer resources on this nonsense.
We didn’t get a chance to ask any questions on this, as we did not receive an alert for the press conference. It doesn’t look like a lot of media organisations did.
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Bill Shorten has extended his condolences to Linda Burney and her family.
Yesterday, her son passed away. A dearly loved, 33-year-old son, of Linda Burney. I can’t imagine what it is like as a parent to lose your child. I know how much her son loved Linda and how much Linda loved her son. At this time, on behalf of Linda and her family, we would request that the media respect her privacy.
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It doesn’t feel right to jump straight back into politics after learning of such heartache, but that is the job.
Malcolm Turnbull has just finished his press conference. He tried to make it about energy, and continued what has become his latest press conference gimmick–holding his own question and answer session with a business owner.
But as you would expect, it was all about the AWU raids. Here is some of what he had to say:
The AWU has questions to answer, Bill Shorten has questions to answer, why his union was making $100,000 donation to GetUp, an organisation which I might say, is opposed to most of the industries which employ members of the AWU. But they are questions for Mr Shorten to answer and I just want to say that the hysterical attack by Brendan O’Connor on the integrity of the Australian federal police is a disgrace and Bill Shorten should disown that and apologise for that immediately. The police keep us safe. They keep us safe from crime, they keep us safe from terrorism and they uphold the rule of law. And the AWU should comply with the law and when they have spokesman like Mr O’Connor, that would prefer to defend the thugs and the criminals in the CFMEU then stand up for the police that keep us safe, that shows you a lot of the values of the Labor party of Bill Shorten.
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Our thoughts are obviously with Linda Burney and her family.
Linda Burney has made a statement, following the death of her son Binni overnight.
I will be taking leave from the parliament.
I wish to advise that my beloved son, Binni Kirkbright-Burney was found dead last night at our family home in Sydney. The NSW police advise that there appears to be no suspicious circumstances but the cause of death is yet to be determined.
I returned to Sydney last night to be with him this one last time. Binni is 33 years old. He is a caring and loving man. He has struggled with mental health and with addiction. He tried so hard to conquer his demons, as I and my family have tried so hard to support him in every way we could. I don’t want to pre-empt subsequent inquiry but we all thought we were getting somewhere. I don’t know what life will be like without him.
I understand I am a public figure but in this dire, grief-stricken time for me, I ask that you respect my and my family’s privacy in all respects. When I can, I will speak about this.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Hotlines in other countries can be found here
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Good morning
We left you yesterday as the Australian Workers’ Union offices in Melbourne and Sydney had been raided by the Australian federal police, at the direction of the Registered Commissions Organisation, which is looking into some historical donations under Bill Shorten’s stewardship.
The fallout continues today. Labor have labelled the raids “an abuse of ministerial power” and have pointed the finger squarely at Malcolm Turnbull.
The prime minister returned fire this morning, calling the Labor response an “hysterical attack” and said Shorten and the AWU had questions to answer. He accused Brendan O’Connor of smearing the AFP, by claiming the raid was politically motivated and called on Shorten to apologise.
He and Josh Frydenberg tried to take back the agenda this morning, heading to Sutton to carry out another Q&A in front of the cameras with a business owner about power prices.
It didn’t work. All questions were about the raid. That’s going to continue all day.
Estimates continues, with community affairs, Treasury and Defence under the spotlight today. That includes the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. So that should also keep us busy.
Mike Bowers will be out and about, and the Guardian Australia brains trust will be keeping their eyes peeled. Comments are open, and as always, you can reach us on Twitter @mpbowers and @amyremeikis and Mr Bowers adds a few more pictures to his Instagram @mikepbowers.
Got your coffee? You’re going to need it today.
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