Night time politics
That’s it from me.
- Today, Labor has finally confirmed it will block the plebiscite bill, which would suggest any chance of a poll is dead. But Malcolm Turnbull remains ever hopeful. He wants to give the senate a say and he refused to rule out a free vote in the parliament. In anticipation, National MP Andrew Broad said he would withdraw support from the government if there was a free vote without a plebiscite.
- There was a stoush of sorts in the Coalition partyroom over Tony Abbott’s push for democratic reforms which would allow Liberal party members a say in preselection of members. Christopher Pyne told him not to bring state party business to the federal partyroom. Abbott was not happy.
- Question time featured Labor questions on Medicare, the NBN and George Brandis’ dispute with the solicitor general.
- A third One Nation senator Brian Burston gave his first speech, calling for zero net immigration and another public broadcasting channel which could be called the Patriotic Broadcasting Channel. Why don’t we ever learn about the First Fleet?
Thanks for joining me. Thanks to Paul Karp, Gareth Hutchens and Katharine Murphy. Bowers is all kinds of good but he excelled himself. I will leave you with a hug. Not mine.
Goodnight.
Brian Burston finishes paying tribute to his leader Pauline Hanson. It seems they have patched up their differences since he was sacked by Hanson in 2000 due to an internal party dispute. Everyone hugs and shakes hands and it is all over.
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Burston says One Nation is the only party willing to “democratise multiculturalism”.
It seems that multiculturalism is an ethnic hierarchy, a form of supremacism, based on a coalition between minority activists and the left, despite the latter presenting itself as anti-racist. This unholy alliance is united by shared opposition to traditional Australia, the core identity of the Australian nation. An example is the defeat of the Abbott government’s policy of reforming Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, a form of political censorship.
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We are into anti-immigration arguments now by One Nation senator Brian Burston.
Australians can see with their own eyes the congestion on our roads, the urban creep, the pressure on our environment, the sky-high housing market that has priced homes beyond the hopes of young families. The opening of the new real estate market to foreigners does not help, an outrageous exposure of citizens to global demand. Australians can see the rise of high density housing degrading the architectural identity and amenity of their neighbourhoods.
Australia’s refugee intake is so large that it surpasses many countries’ immigration programs. Nevertheless, we do not select the intake for employability or cultural compatibility. The result is too often havoc in Australian society. Car-jackings. Home invasions. Flash riots. Drive-by shootings. And of course when citizens object, endless complaints under Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, administered by the ethnocentric Human Rights Commission.
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Senator Brian Burston warns against trying to increase population to compete with neighbours. He then warns:
China is flexing its muscles, militarily, financially, and ethnically, as it translates economic power into regional influence. Falling under Chinese dominance would cost us our sovereignty but also our democracy. We would be another Hong Kong. Australia must understand the geopolitical realities of our region if we are to navigate them safely, avoiding shoals and occasional storms.
Burston is on to black armband history, cultural hijacking of schools and acknowledgement of country. Which, if I am not going mad, he did at the beginning of the speech.
He says schools never celebrate the achievements of the First Fleet.
He wants to know the logic behind mass immigration, as practiced by the major parties.
One Nation’s Brian Burston has begun his first speech now. A Cessnock boy, he acknowledged the first peoples. He was a boilermaker by trade through BHP and worked on the facilities in many of the local wineries.
My life has been a journey from poverty to politics.
He talks about his childhood when “even the ABC was then supportive of one national identity”.
He joined One Nation because “how better to fight for Australia’s way of life”.
Australia has changed since the 50s and 60s. Back then we were poor but we knew Australia belonged to us.
Burston rails against identity politics and the rise of a fractured nation.
The majority have rights too …
He calls for a Senate inquiry into the jailing of Pauline Hanson.
Public broadcasting is another example of elite contempt for ordinary Australians, says Burston. He says public broadcasting has a systemic bias. But he said he does not want public broadcasting defunded.
Instead he wants an extra channel which could be a Patriotic Broadcasting Corporation.
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Kakoschke-Moore is spending a lot of time on the dangers of gambling and how she has spent a lot of time talking to people through Xenophon’s office who have lost vast amounts of money. She has also talked about the design of poker machines to hook people in, the evils of online betting and the difficulties for families of gambling addicts.
I will never give up the fight for gambling reform.
She also commits never to give up on victims of defence force abuse.
And she will introduce a bill for a 40%-40% gender split, with 20% of either gender on government boards.
Diversity makes for better decision making.
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Skye Kakoschke-Moore (NXT) is giving her first speech. She worked for Nick Xenophon and has since transitioned into the role of one of his new senators. She is putting the case for diversity in both ethnicity and gender. For young women looking at politics:
Speak up and do something about it, don’t be left silent and wondering what if.
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Senators Skye Kakoschke-Moore (NXT) and Brian Burston (One Nation) will be giving first speeches this afternoon.
I failed to post Katharine Murphy’s story about a stoush in the Coalition party room. This is an ongoing sore in the NSW division that is spilling into the federal arena.
Tony Abbott has been slapped down by the defence industry minister, Christopher Pyne, in the party room for raising a proposal to democratise Liberal party preselection procedures in New South Wales.
Pyne rebuked Abbott on Tuesday after he exchanged cross words with backbench MP Julian Leeser about plebiscites in NSW preselections.
According to party room sources, Abbott had declared angrily that Leeser “did not believe in democracy for Liberal party members” before Pyne expressed an objection to Abbott bringing state organisational matters into the federal party room.
Sitting behind Tuesday’s exchange is a bitter fight roiling inside the NSW division of the Liberal party between conservatives and moderates over party rules in the state.
The democratisation push in NSW splits the party along factional lines. The right is leading the push for change, the moderates have resisted the push. The NSW state executive is controlled by the moderates.
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The Senate has passed a Greens motion calling on all government ministers to refuse to meet with Ian Macfarlane until 21 March 2017 in his new role as CEO of the Queensland Resources Council.
On 21 March 2017, it will mark the end of the 18-month cooling off period after Macfarlane ceased to be resources minister which is required under the statement of ministerial standards.
The vote was passed 31-27.
It has no binding effect but is a statement of the will of the Senate.
Expect no action.
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So many unexplained things in question time today ...
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It’s all about the numbers today.
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If it pleases you ...
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Anne Aly attitude.
Labor's Anne Aly talks to PM Malcolm Turnbull after #QT @gabriellechan @GuardianAus https://t.co/dDqaVGBXj6 pic.twitter.com/IK6yeIv7yn
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) October 11, 2016
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I really don’t know the back story of this.
But feel free to enlighten me, MPs.
Postscript: I have been enlightened and eight is the number times deficit has multiplied since the so-called budget emergency.
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And another thing ...
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Mark Dreyfus puts two questions to the justice minister, Michael Keenan, representing Brandis. They relate to the dispute between the attorney general and the solicitor general.
Q: Nearly 24 hours has passed since the minister took on notice questions about whether the attorney general had misled the Senate and the joint committee on intelligence and security. Why has the minister failed to meet the commitments that he gave to the House yesterday?
Keenan says check out the AG’s submission to the senate committee.
Q: I refer to the legal services direction relating to the solicitor general. Can the minister please explain to the House how it was possible for the attorney general to consult with the solicitor general in November 2015 about a document which did not exist until April 2016?
I’m really amused by the fact those opposite are interjecting so heavily about this as if they understand a word of what it is about the role of the solicitor general. I mean, seriously. I will give credit to the shadow attorney general that he might actually know something about the role of the solicitor general.
Keenan says Brandis consulted.
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CAAAARP!
Christopher Pyne gets a question on the ASC restructure.
Meanwhile, in the Senate:
Senator Penny Wong has gone on the attack in Senate question time, noting statements by senator Ian MacDonald that the solicitor general Justin Gleeson’s advice was “was subject to question” because he was an Labor appointee.
The attorney general, George Brandis, said he hadn’t seen or read that speech.
Wong then asked him to guarantee he wouldn’t offer Gleeson an inducement to quit.
Brandis gave the commitment but disagreed with the premise that he had done so to get rid of Australian Human Rights Commission president, Gillian Triggs.
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A government question to PDuddy, otherwise known as Peter Dutton: Will the minister update the House on action taken by the government to make our community safer including the cancellations of visas held by members of outlaw motorcycle gangs and is the minister aware of any different approaches to the protection of our borders?
Dutton launches into an attack on the CFMEU and the Labor party.
Tony Burke, Labor manager of business, raises standing order 90 “imputing improper motives which is considered highly disorderly”.
Speaker Tony Smith says he was sailing close to the wind. Dutton hooks in again.
When the Australian public ask themselves a question – is this leader of the opposition fit to be prime minister of this country, they need to look at his dirty grubby links back to the union thugs and bosses who are dictating terms to this man and it is unacceptable for a person who seeks the highest office in the country.
Burke objects again. Smith says, all G.
We do get tough questions and tough answers in this place and, as I have said many times, I don’t want to be ruling out tough questions as well. I have listened carefully. I don’t think there was anything directly there, Speaker Smith says.
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Christopher Pyne: the new serial enthusiast.
JBish inspects Christopher Pynes #headspace wristband before #QT @gabriellechan @GuardianAus https://t.co/dDqaVGBXj6 pic.twitter.com/KjEQgzo5U4
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) October 11, 2016
Chris Bowen to Scott Morrison: the final budget outcome for 2015/16 was dumped out late on a Friday afternoon two weeks ago. If a projected deficit of $4. 7bn for 2015-16 warranted a budget emergency, what does the treasurer call the government’s final deficit figure of $39. 6bn? A deficit more than eight times larger than that projected when this government came to office?
Morrison hyperventilates ...
I notice from those opposite a hubris and arrogance after the election, a hubris and arrogance. We had the leader of the opposition do a lap of honour for an election he never won, Mr Speaker. Perhaps he was celebrating his victory over the shadow transport and tourism minister. (Albo).
But he does not answer the question.
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A government question to the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop: Will the minister explain to the house the importance of clarity and consistency on policy in the South China Sea and is she aware of any alternative approaches?
(This is the Sam Dastyari, Paul Keating, Richard Marles question.)
Labor’s shadow defence minister decided Australia should escalate tensions by having our navy conduct freedom-of-navigation operations within 12 nautical miles of Chinese-controlled land features that are also contested by other claimants. We hear vague mutterings from the leader of the opposition but it took the former Labor prime minister Paul Keating to denounce Labor’s latest pronouncements as shocking.
I call on the leader of the opposition to confirm that it is Labor’s policy that the Australian navy should sail within 12 nautical miles of contested features in the South China Sea, something Australia has not ever done before.
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Labor’s Anne Aly to Turnbull: Almost a year ago in this house the former Liberal member for Cowan spoke about poor internet coverage in the Cowan electorate. Speaking about the suburb of Greenwood, the former member said: “A lot of people just cannot get a service of any kind.” What has the prime minister done in the past year to provide broadband access to [Greenwood]?
I will give the honourable member the benefit of the history ... [history lesson ensues] ... She succeeded a very capable member for Cowan, a member who was very assiduous in standing up for his constituents and ensuring that they had the services that they need.
The PM will get back to her.
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Enterprise tax plan again, this time to small biz minister Michael McCormack.
Labor to Turnbull: On 28 October 2014, the now prime minister told the parliament that one of the big changes he would be making in relation to the NBN would be “upgrading HFC networks to ensure everyone gets a very fast broadband but at much less cost”. Can the prime minister confirm the scaling back of up to 1. 5m HFC premises in the latest corporate plan, a significant increase in the cost of HFC connections and NBNCo abandoning the Optus HFC network?
Turnbull says NBNCo is “activating, signing up new customers – at the rate of around 90,000 every four weeks. In six years Labor connected 50,000”.
The turn-around of the NBN is one of the great achievements of the Coalition government.
i.e. Me.
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A government question to the financial services minister, Kelly O’Dwyer: Will the minister update the house on the government’s support for small business through tax cuts and tax concessions? Is the minister aware of any alternative policies?
Enterprise tax plan.
The enterprise tax plan announced in the budget is now a plan to deliver “company tax cuts for small businesses with a turnover of less than $10m”. The big biz side of things does not get so much coverage these days.
This is probably because the larger business end has little hope of getting through the senate where crossbenchers will only cop up to $10m turnovers.
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Labor has used its first questions in Senate question time to probe attorney general George Brandis about the controversy over advice from the solicitor general.
Eventually a Dorothy Dixer from the government’s side draws this response from Brandis about the plebiscite:
This morning the Labor party has driven a stake through the heart of marriage equality.
Brandis accused the Labor leader in the Senate, Penny Wong, of “being part of a caucus that has put a roadblock in front of the only feasible pathway to marriage equality any time soon”.
It is not too late to reconsider your position to give Australians marriage equality – which you say they deserve – and to give it within four months, by supporting this bill.
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Anthony Albanese to the trade and tourism minister, Steve Ciobo: I refer to the minister’s comments of 31 August 2016 when he told the House “the increases in the passenger movement charge was choking the golden goose that is Australia’s tourism industry”. Given that just 28 days later the government increased the charge by $5, does the minister stand by his comments and, if he does, doesn’t that make him look like a golden goose?
Ciobo says the government is fiscally responsible and it was Labor’s fault. *drink* Labor had increased the charges in the past by a lot and the Coalition had increased the passenger movement charge by a “modest amount”.
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A government question to Scott Morrison: Will the treasurer update the House on how the government is managing the successful transition of the Australian economy? In particular, how will the enterprise tax plan stimulate investment, especially by small and medium-sized businesses in new jobs and higher wages to improve living standards for hardworking Australians?
ScoMo shorthand: Tax cuts help the economy.
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Cathy McGowan asks Turnbull: It is a question about the provision of childcare in rural, regional and remote Australia and what the government commitment is to families who live outside our major cities and towns. The chairperson of the National Association of Mobile Services, Anne Bowler, recently told a Senate committee addressing the jobs for families childcare package that the legislation would ensure the closure of up to 90% of the 46 child mobile services including four in Victoria and one in Indi. Can you please assure the House the government really cares about the provision of childcare to farming and Aboriginal areas and those who live in remote areas and will guarantee funding for the values services which cannot be supported under childcare funding?
Turnbull says the system was not working well and the government is transitioning to a new system. He says some services were receiving less than $100 per child and other services were receiving thousands of dollars per child.
The reality is that some of the budget-based funded services are not delivering childcare but we recognise they are delivering a vital community service. Where that is the case, we’ll identify alternative funding sources appropriate to the type of service they’re offering and the number of children being cared for.
I think the translation of that answer is “we’ll get back to you”.
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Shorten to Turnbull: Australian of the year and mental health expert Professor Patrick McGorry has warned a plebiscite on same-sex marriage was a dangerous thing to do that will harm people’s mental health. What is the prime minister’s response to Professor McGorry’s warning last week?
Turnbull says he has respect for McGorry and has spoken with him about the issue directly but will not go into a private conversation.
I recognise and have some understanding of the special, the additional, mental stress and the prevalence of mental illness among the gay community. There is no issue about that. We understand that. The member for Sydney and I both understand that, in particular given our electorates, and we have both been involved with organisations that seek to address it and, indeed, have supported them. I might say very collaboratively. We do understand that.
But then he says the plebiscite is a democratic process and Shorten has supported the idea in the past. As Turnbull has supported the free parliamentary vote.
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Barnaby Joyce gets a government question: will the deputy prime minister update the house on how the government is helping rebuild stronger communities and more jobs in regional Australia? Is the deputy prime minister aware of any alternative approaches?
Roads. Dams. Dog fences. Bringing sheep back.
It comes on the back of record ag exports, record prices in cattle, meat sheep, portion, turn-around in the wool market, the wine market. Record prices in sugar. Turn-around in the price of oranges, potatoes, chickpeas ...
Not sure how the government effects commodity prices. Or rather, if they are responsible, there are milk prices which they need to think about.
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Turnbull is still cranky about the texts.
I think all of us know, all of us know, many Australians that were frightened out of their wits by those text messages, that were frightened and misled, we have all heard stories of people in old people’s homes, of older Australians and the Labor party scoffs ...
The opposition leader asked me “How is the AFP going?”. He knows very well what the AFP concluded. While there is a very serious criminal offence of impersonating a federal officer. There is, five years in jail actually, so there is apparently a loophole in the law which the Labor party managed to sail through. That loophole will be plugged.
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Labor’s Catherine King to Turnbull: Is it seriously the contention of the government that the prime minister’s credibility on Medicare was unharmed by your Medicare freeze, unharmed by your cuts to pathology, unharmed by your plans to make Australians even pensioners pay more for medicines but couldn’t withstand a text message?
Turnbull:
She is like somebody who is charged or sued for misrepresentation, for telling a falsehood, for misleading somebody and whose defence is not that the statement was accurate, not that it did not mislead but that it didn’t have any effect. That’s basically her defence. How low has the Labor party sunk to that?
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Momentarily distracted by a tweet.
To Battle people #qt #auspol #ssm #marriageequality pic.twitter.com/54UpdHA6HE
— Comrade craigjack36 (@craigjack36) October 11, 2016
First government question is on the Coalition’s national economic plan.
First question from Shorten on Medicare to Turnbull: Does the prime minister stand by his promise that he made the day before the election that no Australian will pay more to see a doctor because of his six-year Medicare freeze?
Turnbull:
The reality is the indexation freeze was introduced by Labor as a cost measure. It has been maintained by us for precisely the same reason and what we have been able to do is to bring one new drug after another, one new lifesaving drug after another, on to the PBS. We’ve been able to use the scarce resources available.
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Happy days. Question time coming up.
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Sorry. Just having a quick kip before question time.
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Just to clarify, Turnbull said the legislation for a plebiscite would continue its passage through the lower house and the Senate – notwithstanding Labor’s opposition to the bill.
But he would not rule out a free vote to amend the Marriage Act to allow for marriage equality – if the plebiscite bill fails.
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Somewhere over the rainbow...
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The Coalition will push the plebiscite bill, does not rule out a free vote
Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed the plebiscite bill will still be debated in the lower house today and then it will move to the Senate. Asked whether he will allow a free vote, he does not rule it out.
A question from Katharine Murphy:
Q: We do know that today the numbers are not there for the plebiscite to pass the parliament. So it really is a simple question. The plebiscite will fail. Will you allow a free vote in this parliament?
It is all very well to say the Senate will not vote for it. We respect the Senate. The bill is not even in the Senate yet. The Senate has to deal with the bill. It will come through and I am confident that it will pass the House. Then it will come to the Senate and the Senate has to deal with a bill. So that is the focus.
So he wants Labor to argue their case against the plebiscite in both chambers, which may be a calculation there is popular support for it. But the PM also keeps his cards close to his chest on a free vote in parliament – which, up until last September, he supported.
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The prime minister has been asked about Paul Keating’s criticism of Labor’s defence shadow, Richard Marles, on the South China Sea dispute. He made the critique in a Troy Bramston story:
Paul Keating has slammed Labor defence spokesman Richard Marles for saying that the government must authorise the military to determine freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea to defend Australia’s interest and send a clear message to China.
The former prime minister has also expressed concern that Labor is too compliant in its attitude towards US naval interests in the Pacific rather than adopting a more independent outlook that better balanced strategic and economic priorities.
Mr Keating told the Australian that Mr Marles’s comments “if reported correctly, were shocking to hear from a Labor spokesman”.
“A decision to sail a naval vessel through a disputed area in which we know there is a risk of conflict with the forces of another power – large or small – is one which should only ever be taken by the elected government in the full awareness of the circumstances at the time.”
Malcolm Turnbull agrees with Keating.
I agree with former prime minister Paul Keating on this. Decisions of that kind should be taken by governments ... Outsourcing that to naval officers, no matter how distinguished, misses the point.
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The defence minister, Marise Payne, on the restructure of ASC:
It is absolutely vital that we have the right ship-building structures in place to deliver on what are very ambitious plans to deliver historic, continuous naval ship-building programs. It is absolutely essential. Whether it is our offshore patrol vessels, or our future frigates, or the Pacific patrol boats being constructed in advance of those. These platforms which not only for a core of our naval capability but they provide engagement and support in our region and they will do that for many decades to come.
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The defence industry minister, Christopher Pyne says it is a red letter day.
We will have one of the most modern and busiest ship yards in the world. Osborne North will have one of the most modern and busy submarine shipyards in the world. It will bring to Australia a significant multinationals sub contract involving DCNS. It will drive jobs and growth and create high technology advancement in jobs. The infrastructure will make Australia one of the centres of naval antisubmarine shipbuilding in the world. It will create a new export industry for our country and it is a red-letter day for the defence industry.
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The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, says there will be a structural separation within ASC between ship-building and submarines.
It is a structural separation which is designed to ensure that the ASC is in the best possible position. Reform is built on the successful work that we have done for the destroyer program and the sustainment reforms.
It will be completed by mid 2017.
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Malcolm Turnbull’s press conference opens with a lecture on the Country Fire Authority. Which is confusing.
But then segues onto changes in the sub builder ASC and defence generally. Turnbull is going through all of Labor’s crimes:
cleaning up that mess, making up for that neglect, commissioning the vessel and setting out in our defence white paper, our plan and a way forward to secure our future ...
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Just to a quick summary of the day ahead of the PM’s press conference.
- Labor is going to vote against the plebiscite bill - confirming what has been likely for weeks.
- This leaves the government to consider its next move. In anticipation, National MP Andrew Broad has signalled he will withdraw support from government if Malcolm Turnbull tries on a free vote.
- Before Labor’s decision, George Brandis released a draft bill of what could go to parliament if the marriage plebiscite passed. It’s all academic now but it involved exemptions for religious organisations and civil celebrants who object.
- Late last night, the government’s Country Fire Authority bill passed, which gives volunteers more power when negotiating enterprise bargaining agreements at a state level. All crossbenchers except Jacqui Lambie voted for the bill.
- The house has begun sitting.
- The senate is beginning now.
Tomorrow His Excellency Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore will visit Parliament.
— Aus House of Reps (@AboutTheHouse) October 11, 2016
Like I say, the parliamentary sitting week is getting away from us so it is unlikely that the plebiscite bill will get through both chambers this week. Next week, the senate does not sit because it will be doing senate estimate committees.
Malcolm Turnbull coming up at 12.30pm with the ministers for finance, defence and defence industry. What on earth could it be?
Nice, Mike.
Finally Bill Shorten is asked about criticising Turnbull for keeping a plebiscite promise, knowing that the right wing of his party insisted on maintaining the plebiscite promise.
Just because you have a few National party MPs threatening to bring down the government, that’s Mr Turnbull’s problem. But that’s not Australia’s problem and my problem. My issue is marriage equality. I don’t have to do what the extreme right of the National and Liberal Party do. Mr Turnbull made that bed a long time ago. He has to lie in it now. He signed up to Tony Abbott’s agenda, he signed up to Tony Abbott’s plebiscite. He has to live with his conscience.
Bill Shorten says he will work with the crossbenchers, the Greens, the Liberals to have a vote in the parliament. Just not a plebiscite.
We will work with anyone to achieve marriage equality. We will work with the Liberals to have the vote but the point about it is a plebiscite is the wrong path to achieve marriage equality.
Shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus goes into the draft marriage amendments which exempt both religious organisations and civil celebrants from performing marriage ceremonies for same sex couples.
Dreyfus has a problem with the civil exemptions.
Labor has always said that no minister of religion should be compelled to perform a religious ceremony against the tenets of their faith. That should go without saying. But civil celebrants are licensed by the commonwealth of Australia to carry out civil ceremonies which don’t have a religious component. That’s the basis of them being civil celebrants. That’s why 70 % of Australians choose civil celebrants because they don’t want to be married in a religious ceremony.
Bill Shorten is rolling out the reasons why Labor is not supporting the plebiscite and we are all familiar with these. And he says the latest release by Brandis of amendments shows Labor was right not to rush into supporting the plebiscite bill because the government keeps changing the goalposts.
Imagine if we had been foolish enough to rush into this decision and support a plebiscite then we find out that the plan which Brandis and Turnbull had, again caving in to the right, is to water down discrimination laws. Of course Labor supports religious freedom in this country but there are already laws in place to prevent discrimination. What sort of case are Turnbull and Brandis putting up when they are asking us to agree to their legislation, then at 11pm, the night before, they drop out legislation changing the rules of the game mid-game?
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Shorten's surrounded by families at his presser. He says he couldn't look at families & say the plebiscite was good for them @gabriellechan
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 11, 2016
Shorten says he could not in good conscience recommend Labor support the plebiscite #auspol @gabriellechan #PoliticsLive
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) October 11, 2016
Bill Shorten has also made some changes to his shadow cabinet following Stephen Conroy’s retirement.
Following this morning’s caucus meeting, I have appointed senator Don Farrell as the deputy leader of the opposition in the Senate.
Senator Farrell will also take on shadow cabinet responsibilities of shadow special minister of state and shadow minister for sport.
Senator Farrell is an experienced member of Labor’s senate team and a passionate advocate for South Australia. Our team will benefit greatly from Senator Farrell’s steady hand and his calm resolve.
In addition, Ed Husic will add digital economy and future of work to his current responsibilities.
“Steady hand and calm resolve”.
Qualifications? “Godfather”. Powerbroker. Faceless man. He rose without a trace.
What a message to send to young up-and-comers in the Labor party.
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Since the Labor decision, I am chasing whether the plebiscite bill will still be debated in the House today. It was go to the House this afternoon and the Senate tomorrow but the Senate and the House will be taken up mid-morning tomorrow with a visit from the prime minister of Singapore.
If you were Malcolm Turnbull, you would want the issue to go away, given it is 17 types of hard. We await the Coalition’s reaction. In the meantime, we can only hear the birds chirping.
As an aside, are these:
a) crows
b) ravens
c) currawongs
d) other.
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While I hate to send you in a different direction, my colleague Helen Davidson is doing the live blog of the Northern Territory’s royal commission into juvenile detention.
And, for those who follow state politics, it has been confirmed that the New South Wales premier, Mike Baird, has backed down on the greyhound racing ban.
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So where are we at? We will have no movement on marriage equality for some time to come. As the National MP Andrew Broad broadcast this morning, the conservative end of the Coalition will not cop a free vote in the parliament.
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The Greens are also coming up at 12.30pm.
Here is one Mike Bowers prepared earlier.
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As a result of this news, there is press conference with Bill Shorten at 11.30am.
Paul Karp has confirmed Labor has indeed voted to block the plebiscite unanimously. This means the bill is dead.
Labor reportedly going to vote against the plebiscite
Sky News is reporting that Labor has confirmed it will block the legislation to enable a plebsictie on marriage equality.
Ah Matt...
@gabriellechan Healing divisions one hug at a time. You're welcome, Australia. #politicslive pic.twitter.com/sZHLpiFiKO
— The Matt Hatter (@MattGlassDarkly) October 10, 2016
I just want to pause here to note my freedom confusion.
The conservatives in the Coalition believe the attorney general’s draft marriage amendment does not go far enough.
The changes, to be implemented only after a plebiscite, contain exemptions for religious organisations but not small businesses.
Conservatives believe the exemptions should also apply to small businesses on the grounds of freedom of speech. What if you object to same-sex marriage but you cannot, under law, refuse to bake a wedding cake or sew a dress?
David Leyonhjelm agrees.
David Leyonhjelm says he wants gov's plebiscite exposure draft to allow businesses to refuse service to same-sex marriages #auspol
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) October 10, 2016
But, for the freedom warriors, why does freedom not extend to the right of same-sex couples to marry?
John Howard’s 2004 changes actually restricted freedoms to define marriage as between a man and a woman. There was not a peep from the freedom warriors then.
To recap, if I have this straight...
Same-sex couples should not be free to marry.
But, if they are free to marry, businesses should be free to refuse services to same-sex couples.
At the same time, while it’s gone off the boil, the same freedom warriors are arguing to amend 18c so people are free to insult and offend.
So under this logic, you would be free to call Penny Wong a racial name but she is not free to marry.
Makes sense.
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Meanwhile, the minister for women, Michaelia Cash, has released a statement celebrating International Day of the Girl Child, “a global event recognising the rights of young girls around the world, whilst also acknowledging the ongoing challenges they confront”.
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There is too much happening here but I cannot bypass this. Trump’s 2005 comments were a “victory for women”, says Sky commentator and former Lib MP Ross Cameron.
"Wildly gesticulating Trump supporter mansplains women's issue to a woman who can't get a word in edgeways" pic.twitter.com/f3jrORDtjl
— Josh BOOoOoOtler (@JoshButler) October 10, 2016
The rise and fall of civilisations may be renamed ‘who get’s the girl’.
Be still, my celestial body.
Bill Shorten spoke briefly about the marriage plebiscite before going off to caucus. He is not for turning.
It is a shocking waste of $200m. The Liberal party is not going to bind themselves to it. It will be compulsory to vote but it is not compulsory to accept the outcome. The number of experts who have come out in recent weeks and explained that the potential for harm, in a divisive and ugly debate, the government cannot guarantee that everyone will be civilised when debating their peers. And now overnight we see the attorney general is blundering again and he is now saying that the only way we can have the plebiscite is by watering down anti-discrimination laws against gay people. I mean, this government does not want this to happen.
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Just a housekeeping catch up. The chambers do not start sitting until midday for the partyroom meetings.
Scott Morrison is talking about tightening up the welfare system, off the back of a Telegraph story that claims prime ministers from Howard onwards cannot get welfare recipients below 20% of the population.
He says getting a “transfer payment from government is now what many Australians have as part of their income”.
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Scott Morrison: Trump comments loathsome and cannot be dismissed
Scott Morrison is speaking to Ray Hadley.
The treasurer is asked about the US election race. He says Donald Trump, with the 2005 remarks regarding women, is winning the race to the bottom.
He agrees with the PM yesterday, “those comments were loathsome” and says they cannot be dismissed as “locker room banter”.
They are not welcome in the locker room or any room ... you don’t hear them around this place ... Nine lives certainly seem to be up on those comments.
Asked about what happens if he is elected, Morrison says the US-Australian alliance runs very deep.
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Back to the CFA vote.
Senator Jacqui Lambie was the only crossbench senator to vote against the CFA volunteers bill.
Those who voted for:
- Leyonhjelm
- Hanson
- Roberts
- Burston
- Culleton
- Hinch
- Kakoschke-Moore
- Griff
- Xenophon.
Innovation and nursing. What could be better?
Ever vigilant, Mike Bowers has noticed that when the prime minister is feeling confident, he does this foot thing on the podium. Sometimes photographers see a lot more than the rest of us.
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We are expecting Labor to block the same-sex marriage plebiscite bill, which would mean it is dead in the water. But the bill remains on the parliamentary program for debate today in the house and tomorrow in the Senate. So if Labor rolls out of caucus with the expected “no”, will the government withdraw the legislation?
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Nationals MP Andrew Broad to withdraw support for government if there is a parliamentary vote on marriage
Nationals MP Andrew Broad has just told me he would withdraw support for the government if there is a parliamentary vote on marriage without a plebiscite.
We must honour our election commitments. The choice between the Coalition and Labor was clear in the election campaign. We promised a plebiscite, Labor promised a conscience vote.
Broad will not say whether that withdrawal means he will withdraw support for all legislation but he rejects a suggestion he would sit on the crossbench.
I’m a Nat!
He does say that if the plebiscite goes ahead, he will vote the same way as his electorate, rather than the same way as the national outcome.
For me not to vote how they decide would cheapen their vote.
Broad says he trusts the Australian people to have a respectful debate. Broad received 64 letters on the subject, handwritten and not form letters. He said 32 were supportive of the change and 32 were in support of the status quo.
They were very respectful.
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Marriage Act amendments exposure draft
These are the key points on the draft amendment released by George Brandis:
1. The definition of marriage would change: The definition of marriage in s5 of the Marriage Act would be changed to replace “a man and a woman” with “two people”.
2. The conditions for a valid marriage would stay the same: It will continue to be the case that a marriage would be void if, for example, the parties are in a ‘prohibited relationship’, consent was not real, or one or both parties are not of marriageable age.
3. Foreign same-sex marriages would be recognised in Australia: All valid marriage solemnised under the law of a foreign country, including same-sex marriages, would be recognised in Australia if they are consistent with Australian law. A foreign marriage would not be valid in Australia if the marriage would be unlawful in Australia, for example, if the parties are siblings, in a parent-child relationship, or are polygamous.
4. Existing protections for ministers of religion would be retained and strengthened: ministers of religion would be able to refuse to solemnise a marriage on the grounds that the marriage is not the union of a man and a woman, if that refusal conforms to the doctrines, tenets or beliefs of the minister’s religion, or is necessary to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of adherents of the religion, or if (irrespective of the teachings of his or her church) the minister has a conscientious objection to same-sex marriage.
5. Marriage celebrants (including those who are not ministers of religion) would be able to refuse to marry a same-sex couple: In addition to the existing law whereby marriage celebrants are under no obligation to solemnise marriage, the Marriage Act would be amended to allow marriage celebrants who are not ministers of religion to refuse, on the basis of conscientious or religious beliefs, to solemnise a marriage on the grounds that the marriage is not the union of a man or a woman. Religious bodies and religious organisations would also be able to refuse to provide facilities, goods or services for the purpose of solemnisation of a same-sex marriage, or for purposes reasonably incidental thereto, if the refusal conforms to the doctrines, tenets or beliefs of the religion, or is necessary to avoid injury to the religious susceptibilities of adherents to that religion.
In the event that the parliament passes the plebiscite bill, the government proposes the establishment of a joint select committee to review and report on the exposure draft. The composition of the committee would be as agreed by the government, the opposition, and crossbench parties.
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Nats MP @broad4mallee indicates he'll withdraw support for government if there is a vote on same-sex marriage without plebiscite #auspol
— Stephanie Anderson (@stephanieando) October 10, 2016
I am not sure whether National MP Andrew Broad means total withdrawal of support or just on this issue. Checking, checking...
The house is a hive of activity this morning.
Malcolm Turnbull has just spoken to the Australian College of Nursing Parliamentary Breakfast for the launch of White Paper, Nurses Essential to Health Reform.
Bill Shorten is speaking to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (Ceda) this morning.
Katharine Murphy did a preview here:
Australia’s opposition leader, Bill Shorten, will declare that Donald Trump is “entirely unsuitable to be leader of the free world” in a speech to a Canberra conference on Tuesday.
The Labor leader will tell the Committee for Economic Development of Australia on Tuesday morning that Australia’s alliance with the US is “bigger than any individual and stronger than any disagreement”.
“But I know I am not the only one relieved that with every passing day, with every disgusting, demeaning comment Mr Trump makes, the possibility of him being president fades,” the Labor leader will say.
“By his own words and his own actions, he has confirmed the worst fears of millions in the United States and beyond its borders – he is entirely unsuitable to be leader of the free world.”
The head of the Prime Minister’s Office Martin Parkinson spoke to Ceda last night.
We have party room meetings this morning. Cabinet met last night, which is why those marriage amendments appeared so late.
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Late last night, just before 10pm according to the Dynamic Red, the fair work amendment (respect for emergency services volunteers) bill 2016 passed 37 to 31. We are just tracking down the votes.
BTW, the Dynamic Red is not Katharine Murphy but the live updates for the Senate.
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Good morning blogans,
It is all about marriage equality this morning. The political weather is cool with a lot of bluster this morning but let’s separate out what is real and what is rhetoric.
The concrete points:
- The attorney general, George Brandis, has released draft amendments to the Marriage Act that would go to parliament if the plebiscite passes.
- Under the amendments, the definition of marriage would be changed to replace “a man and a woman” with “two people”. Protections would be offered for religious organisations and celebrants involved in the marriage ceremony but not small businesses.
- Labor will meet this morning to decide their final position on the plebiscite bill that needs to pass for the plebiscite to be conducted.
Apart from those points, these are the political points:
- Conservatives are unhappy that the amendments do not go far enough because small businesses are not offered protection on the grounds of freedom of speech – the so-called wedding cake clause.
- The LGBTI community say the amendments do not go far enough to force religious organisations to comply with the law.
- LGBTI community representatives are pushing the Labor party to oppose the plebiscite due to the fear of hate speech and the argument that no other human rights issues need to go to a plebiscite.
- Tanya Plibersek said this morning that Brandis released the draft marriage amendments at 11pm last night and expected Labor to decide overnight.
- Plibersek also said “meh” to the changes, given the draft bill still doesn’t answer the mental health concerns of a divisive debate, nor the $200m cost of the plebiscite.
- Brandis said while Labor may complain, in his meeting with his shadow minister Mark Dreyfus and Terri Butler, Labor refused nine times to suggest what changes they would like to the plebiscite bill. They are not serious, says Brandis.
He argued on Sky that the amendments set out the general rules of the act – the rest is up to the courts.
People will always be able to dream up borderline cases, I mean that is what courts are for to interpret acts of parliament. All we can do in acts of parliament is to explain a general rule. And the general rule we have created is an absolute exemption for ministers of religion. An absolute exemption on conscientious grounds for civil celebrants and an absolute exemption for churches and religious bodies in relation to the provision of facilities or the sale of goods or services reasonably incidental to a same-sex marriage ceremony.
OK there is a whole lot more in Brandis’s remarks, which I will bring you in the minute. Let’s crank this thing up. You can join me in the thread or on the Twits @gabriellechan with the man with the lens @mpbowers.
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