We are going to leave the Clayton’s campaign there for today.
It’s going to be a long week, full of estimates and non-campaigning campaigning and, honestly, we are all going to be over long before Scott Morrison makes the trip to Government House.
I mean, how good is that? A fair go, for those who have a go, but right now, I have to go.
Thank you to everyone who followed along with us today, and to Mike Bowers and the Guardian brains trust for once again pulling my brain-dead body across the line.
Have a wonderful night – and remember – take care of you.
Updated
A bit more from Mike Bowers’ adventures in estimates:
Updated
Environment estimates has revisited last week’s controversy over the announcement of grants under the government’s communities environment program before applications had opened.
Chris Crewther, alongside the minister Melissa Price, announced that four organisations in his Dunkley electorate had been awarded funding.
Labor continues to ask the government how this was possible.
The government minister Simon Birmingham says Price and Crewther were “obviously confident” that the proposals from these groups would fall under the goals of the program and be awarded funding if the government is re-elected.
He said they were able to be confident because Price, in her ministerial capacity, has “particularly intrinsic knowledge” of the program.
That’s a new one.
“It doesn’t say much for process though does it?” Labor’s Jenny McAllister asks. Because the criteria we’ve just heard for the allocation of grants is yet to be developed and yet your evidence to us is that Minister Price and Mr Crewther, even in the absence of criteria, can guarantee to local groups that they’ll be successful. Why would anyone have confidence in a process like that?”
“Well Minister Price obviously has particularly intrinsic knowledge of the intent of the program and obviously the guidelines will be established to reflect that intent,” Birmingham replies.
McCallister: “Is this a new standard for government? That as long as the minister has knowledge of the intrinsic intent that she may just announce grant winners before grant criteria has been established?”
Birmingham: “Well, no, senator.”
McAllister: “It sounds like a new standard. I’ve never heard that sort of idea advanced as a standard governance process before, it’s quite odd.”
Birmingham: “I’ll take that as a comment, senator.”
Updated
I know this has been asked a few times, so here you go – a list of the senators whose terms are up this election:
New South Wales
- Jim Molan
- John Williams
- Doug Cameron
- Mehreen Faruqi
- Brian Burston
- Duncan Spender
Queensland
- Ian Macdonald
- Barry O’Sullivan
- Claire Moore
- Chris Ketter
- Larissa Waters
- Fraser Anning
Victoria
- James Paterson
- Jane Hume
- Raff Ciccone
- Gavin Marshall
- Janet Rice
- Derryn Hinch
South Australia
- Anne Ruston
- David Fawcett
- Lucy Gichuhi
- Alex Gallacher
- Sarah Hanson-Young
- Tim Storer
Western Australia
- Linda Reynolds
- Slade Brockman
- Pat Dodson
- Louise Pratt
- Jordon Steele-John
- Peter Georgiou
Tasmania
- Richard Colbeck
- Steve Martin
- Lisa Singh
- Chris Brown
- Catryna Bilyk
- Nick McKim
Northern Territory
- Nigel Scullion
- Malarndirri McCarthy
ACT
- Zed Seselja
- David Smith
Updated
Penny Wong just checks that she has the attacks right – “socialists and greens and ute killers”.
Mathias Cormann may have just broken Penny Wong by referring to the “consistency” of the government when it comes to its climate and energy policy.
“CONSISTENCY?” she says.
“You’ve had 12 energy policies! I am actually agog. Is that a word?”
Penny Wong asks if cars should still be allowed to have lead in petrol.
Mathias Cormann says of course not.
So Wong asks how it is any different to wanting a target on electric vehicles.
She says the government’s argument is “philosophically ridiculous”.
“Is this really the best you can do, ‘don’t vote for Bill Shorten because he is going to take your ute’?”
Updated
Mathias Cormann likes ice-cream and he likes to buy ice-cream, but he won’t impose a law to enforce everyone to buy 50% worth of ice-cream.
He’s seeking to draw a comparison to Labor’s electric car target.
He also likes brussels sprouts. But he won’t make 50% of all food consumed in Australia be brussels sprouts.
Penny Wong has had enough and calls it a “ridiculous” comparison, given that the government already regulates many, many industries.
Updated
I saw this started to pop up over the weekend – the government committing money for counselling for families who have experienced domestic violence.
Hayley Foster of the Women’s Domestic Violence Court Advocacy Service NSW has pointed me in the direction of this response.
You can find the whole thing, here.
Women and children’s safety advocates are dismayed to learn that the $10 million pledged for so-called ‘Specialist Family Violence Services’ is to go to a select list of family relationship services to provide a range of services including couples counselling and mediation with a ‘whole of family approach’. In the grant documents released on 5 April, the services were described as “contribut[ing] to filling the gaps in service provision for victims of domestic and family violence”. However, this flies in the face of years of consultation with women’s safety experts and survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence. We have set out clear guidelines for reform in this sector, and drawn attention to a number of crucial service gaps, neither of which this funding will address.
...The unfortunate truth is that expanding services which invite families to undertake couples counselling or mediation in the context of domestic violence, outside of a highly specialised environment with the appropriate safeguards and supports, not only has little evidence for efficacy, but will put women and children’s safety at risk. Women’s safety experts, including men’s behaviour change practitioners, know this from our work with families. And we, along with domestic violence survivors, have clearly communicated this to the Government, so there is no excuse for policy making ‘on the fly.’
We are calling on the Morrison Government to reconsider this funding. Consult with the sector experts and their State and Territory counterparts for advice as to the most urgent areas of need for essential funding. We can’t muck around with policies which place people in danger. We’re losing more than one woman a week to this scourge, and it is the single biggest preventable cause of death, disability and illness in women aged 15 to 44 years. Funding is urgent. And it must go where it’s needed most.
Updated
Mathias Cormann: "the prime minister has full confidence in [environment minister Melissa] Price" #auspol #estimates
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) April 8, 2019
Cormann laments Coalition attack on Melissa Price
Penny Wong is grilling Mathias Cormann about senator James McGrath threatening to call for the environment minister Melissa Price’s resignation unless she approves Adani’s groundwater licence.
Cormann:
“He’s obviously not the minister responsible. Obviously I would have much rather that he had not made that sort of communication but he has, and we are where we are.”
Updated
Three years after the Coalition government announced a new special temporary visa to allow migrants to sponsor their parents to come to Australia, the program will finally begin on 1 July.
The government announced the measure during the 2016 election campaign and at the time said the scheme would be uncapped and people would have to pay a $5,000 bond.
Legislation setting up the scheme passed parliament last November.
During a Senate estimates hearing on Monday, the Labor senator Murray Watt asked home affairs department officials about the implementation delays and why the scheme was different from the original announcement.
Applications open on 17 April, first assistant secretary Richard Johnson told the hearing.
He confirmed that under the scheme only one set of overseas parents connected to a single Australian household would be eligible and the scheme would be capped at 15,000 people.
The hearing was told a pair of applicants could be charged up to $40,000 in visa fees over a 10-year period.
Visas for three-year periods would cost $5,000.
These were government decisions, the hearing was told.
The defence industry minister, Linda Reynolds, who was previously responsible for the legislation when she was assistant minister for home affairs, said she would seek precise information about why the changes were made.
“Is it really just a revenue-raising measure?” Watt asked.
Reynolds responded that was a “wee bit of political spin”.
Updated
Meanwhile, Mathias Cormann just claimed he was glad the election hadn’t been called because he “loves estimates”.
I think I saw the moment when his nose grew, but you can never be really sure.
If you’re into election timing conspiracy theories, how about this one?
Technically Scott Morrison can ask for a half Senate election in May AND NOT dissolve the House of Representatives until as late as November.
Labor’s Penny Wong has been checking the government still intends to hold both elections together in May.
Mathias Cormann:
“That remains the government’s intention. We don’t have any plans to call a half Senate only election.”
Updated
It’s time for another posting announcement. From Marise Payne’s office:
Today I announce the appointment of Dr Geoffrey Shaw as Australia’s next High Commissioner to Pakistan.
Australia and Pakistan enjoy a long-standing relationship built on our shared strategic interests, Commonwealth heritage and strong community links.
Our countries have a common interest in promoting peace and stability in our region. Our two nations cooperate on defence, transnational crime and border protection, and work together to combat terrorism and people smuggling. As fellow members of the Human Rights Council, we are united in our commitment to promoting human rights.
Our people-to-people links are strong and growing. Australia has a large and flourishing Pakistani community. Our nation remains an important education partner for Pakistan, with significant numbers of Pakistani students choosing to study in Australia. We also share important economic and sporting ties.
Dr Shaw is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and was most recently Ambassador, People Smuggling and Human Trafficking.
Dr Shaw holds a Doctorate in Philosophy from the Australian National University; a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wollongong; and a Graduate Certificate in Public Sector Management from Flinders University.
I thank outgoing High Commissioner Margaret Adamson for her contributions to advancing Australia’s interests in Pakistan since 2015.
Those wondering who the anti-Adani protesters were who disrupted Scott Morrison’s lunch today, look no further.
The #StopAdani group has sent out this statement:
Donna Smit, 49-year-old Systems Analyst said, “Scott Morrison is dangerously out of step with the Australian public, who don’t want new coal mines or new coal fired power stations.
Recent extreme weather ensures this will be a climate election. Wherever Morrison goes, everyday Australians will hold him to account for putting coal barons and political donors above a safe climate.”
25-year-old project manager Zoe Buckley-Lennox, said, “By the time I’m Scott Morrison’s age temperatures in Brisbane will be nearly four degrees hotter. Queensland will swing wildly between killer heatwaves, disastrous droughts and massive floods.
Australia’s biggest contribution to climate change is the mining and burning of coal. Every party must commit to stopping Adani and keeping coal and gas in the ground.”
Expect to hear more from them during the campaign.
Updated
Penny Wong is now starting up on the $136m advertising since start of 2019, more than entire calendar year 2012. Cormann sticking to his guns that that's an "up to" amount, but refusing to provide current spend. #auspol #estimates
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) April 8, 2019
Finance minister Mathias Cormann has given a timeline for how the government backed down on providing the one-off energy supplement to Newstart recipients.
It was – as it seemed – quite a last-minute job. Social services minister Paul Fletcher took the proposal to a meeting on the sidelines of cabinet between 5:30pm and 6pm on budget night, 2 April.
While the treasurer Josh Frydenberg was on his feet giving the budget speech at 7:30pm the Department of Social Services deputy secretary responsible was contacted and the department then went to finance for costings. At 9:05pm Fletcher requested authority to change the government’s policy.
Scott Morrison gave verbal authority for the change at 10:15pm at a post-budget debrief, subject to the estimated $85m cost being correct. Finance confirmed costings at 11:40pm.
Frydenberg announced the measure at 7:02am on 3 April, the morning after budget night, but the final written approval was not given for the change in policy until later that morning.
Updated
ABC Brisbane were at the prime minister’s speech
"Do we have contestant number three?"
— ABC Brisbane (@abcbrisbane) April 8, 2019
Not one, but two anti-Adani protesters just stormed the stage during PM @ScottMorrisonMP's address at a Brisbane Chamber of Commerce lunch.
Both were taken away by security, allowing the Prime Minister to continue his speech.#Auspol pic.twitter.com/x7m152TFMK
Kristina Keneally was also in Brisbane with Bill Shorten, where she pointed out all the time Coalition MPs had sent out social media photos celebrating electric vehicles.
The Labor candidate for Reid, Sam Crosby, did the same thing in a tweet thread:
👉 Here's Josh Frydenberg and Paul Fletcher posing outside Parliament House with the Mitsubishi Outlander, Tesla Model S and Model X, Nissan Leaf, Hyundai IONIQ and BMW i8. pic.twitter.com/Nh58uMQjPD
— Sam Crosby (@SamPCrosby) April 7, 2019
👉 Here's Josh Frydenberg saying "those ridiculing [electric vehicles] will end up buying them"https://t.co/Q29LQ3FxMT
— Sam Crosby (@SamPCrosby) April 7, 2019
👉 Here's Josh Frydenberg (again!) test driving the #Tesla Model S. You're in Canberra Josh, easy on the roundabouts!https://t.co/GwEcDzz9z2
— Sam Crosby (@SamPCrosby) April 7, 2019
👉 Nationals Leader Michael McWhatshisname was spruiking the benefits of electric vehicles... Less than a month ago. https://t.co/8gMdxMoqur.
— Sam Crosby (@SamPCrosby) April 7, 2019
And so on, and so on.
Bill Shorten on the civil war some members of the LNP seem really keen on pushing over Adani at the moment:
First of all, let’s be clear on Adani. This government really struggles with it, doesn’t it? We’ll be guided by the best science and by the law of the land. And we’ve won’t be ripping up any contracts.
But this government says one thing in Victoria and another thing in north Queensland.
Even I couldn’t have predicted that the minister for the environment will get bullying intimidating letters from her colleagues saying, “Unless you make the decision this way, you will lose your job.”
Why on earth don’t we have a national anti-corruption commission? Because that is not the appropriate use of political influence, to threaten your job as environment minister, unless you do as you’re told?
The problem for the current PM is he has a mutiny – in fact, he has two mutinies. He has a mutiny on his southern flank in the big cities who say they’ve been accused of doing nothing on climate change. Too late for that, they’ve done nothing. But he’s got a mutiny on his northern flank because he’s made promises there he can’t follow through with.
To think this government was real on climate change, Malcolm Turnbull would still be prime minister.
Let’s see what happens between now and then. To be able to predict what this government will do, what we will do is adhere to the law if we form government.
We’ll adhere to the law. There won’t be hate from one member of the government to another member of the government saying you must do X or Y. We will practice transparent government fullstop.
But we have said – and I want to make it very clear – I will not use taxpayer money to prop up the Adani project. I think most Australians agree with that. Broadly on energy, let’s not fall for the trick that Adani was being guided by science and we don’t want fossil fuels as part of our energy mix.
We do. For the export industry in Queensland, I don’t think the budget numbers would have been any good as they were, so therefore we accept and recognise that fossil fuels – gas and coal – will be part of our energy mix, as will renewables.
You can’t, with respect to you and the government, they can’t tell me what’s happening now.
What you’re saying is predict what this government will do in the next six weeks. It’s hard to predict what they’ll do in the next six hours. Are you sure they’ll give federal approvals? We don’t know. We’ve got an act and we’ll adhere to the law. I don’t know why the government has tied itself in such knots. We have to see what the Queensland government does. When we know all the facts we can make the decisions. We want policy based on the law, not based on politics.
Updated
Protesters disrupt the prime minister's speech
Adani protesters have hijacked Scott Morrison’s speech in Brisbane.
They are all in suits, and look to have bought tickets to the election.
“Climate election, no more coal” they chant, before they are led out.
“What was I saying,” Morrison continues.
Updated
The prime minister appears to have forgotten how a microphone works, in that you don’t have to yell into one to be heard. That’s its job. To amplify your voice.
Updated
Scott Morrison has just made the “we are literally in Wayne Swan’s debt” joke for about the millionth time.
That sound you hear is another fairy dying.
Scott Morrison is making his budget address in Brisbane.
Bill Shorten is about to speak from the Royal Brisbane and Women’s hospital.
Updated
Mathias Cormann battles Penny Wong over government ad spend
The Wong and Cormann show has just wrapped up, and Labor has not succeeded at getting a more accurate figure on government ads – that will have to wait until Finance appears in Senate estimates tomorrow.
The highlight of the sparring was Cormann labelling those concerned the government is dragging out the election so it can run ads as “some sort of conspiracy”.
Wong responded that Labor senators were reflecting the “legitimate concern across the community about the government advertising people are being inundated with”.
Cormann also came dangerously close to a Paul Keating style “I want to do you slowly” moment:
The Labor party is desperate, you wanted us to rush to the election ... We made a decision to pursue this slowly. We’re going to pursue this slowly, in good time consistent with the constitution and the Electoral Act. The last election was 2 July 2016. The next election is not due until the end of May. Labor is worried that the longer this goes, the harder it may be for you.
Cormann says asking the finance department tomorrow is the “best opportunity” to get an answer – but I’m not convinced. Ad campaigns are run by each department, which then report back spending to finance, but it’s possible they won’t know the magic number of how much each department has left to spend.
Updated
Penny Wong promises to stop asking if Mathias Cormann gives her the figure.
Again, the finance minister says he can not answer this finance question, because he is currently the minister representing the prime minister.
So, “tomorrow is your best opportunity to ask this”, Cormann says.
Wong says she wants a guarantee that Cormann will be there, and not Zed Seselja, who represents the finance department during estimates. Wong says she’ll ask about campaign spending first up, and Cormann responds that he’ll have Seselja there first thing tomorrow morning.
And around and around and around the merry-go-round we go.
Updated
Penny Wong says no one can turn on a radio or television or go online “without some ad telling them how fabulous you [the government] is”.
Mathias Cormann says he hasn’t heard any ads saying how fabulous he is.
“You must be very busy doing other things,” Wong says back.
Cormann eventually says the $600,000 figure is inaccurate, but won’t say what the actual figure is.
Updated
In environment estimates, the windfarm commissioner Andrew Dyer has been taking questions about complaints about windfarms.
Since the office’s work began in late 2015, it has had only 65 complaints about operating windfarms.
In 2018, they had just eight complaints. It’s almost as if people aren’t actually that bothered by them.
“Once it’s built, running, people go, actually that’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be,” Dyer said.
Updated
So basically, Mathias Cormann is wearing his Scott Morrison cap at the moment, and therefore can not be asked questions about Mathias Cormann the finance minister.
He’s not home right now.
Mathias Cormann, the finance minister, says he can’t answer these questions until tomorrow, when the finance portfolio is up for estimates, because today he is representing the prime minister.
He says it is “just a stunt” to get “a few lines on the evening news”.
Updated
The One Nation and far-right preference issue is still raging in Queensland, where the Nationals-aligned LNP MPs don’t have to follow the prime minister’s edict that they are put below Labor MPs.
This post appears to have been taken down - Michelle Landry saying she’ll be putting the Greens last and Labor second last on her how-to-vote card #auspol pic.twitter.com/VPd953hckj
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) April 8, 2019
Updated
“There is no delay to the election, we continue to be the elected government of Australia, we are not in caretaker,” Mathias Cormann says.
Penny Wong asks Cormann to “confirm or deny” the $600,000 a day figure.
Cormann doesn’t answer.
Mathias Cormann says a lot of things which are not the answer to the question:
“How much per day.”
Updated
A verbal argument has now broken out when Penny Wong asks how much the government is spending on advertising in this week.
Both senators are speaking over each other, but are so used to arguing with one another, they still manage to answer each other’s quips, while still talking over one another.
Mathias Cormann again says “you invited the cameras along”, to which Wong responds “they just appear”, which we do. THAT IS OUR JOB. What is happening in that room is not exactly a secret. It is broadcast. Live.
And senators arguing with each other tends to get airplay.
Penny Wong opens her questioning of Mathias Cormann by asking when he knew the election was not going to be called over the weekend.
Cormann says the election isn’t due until the end of the May and that while Labor expected an election from early last year, the prime minister was doing his job.
Wong says that most of the community expected an election to be called over the weekend. Cormann says he disagrees.
Discuss.
Given how the estimates hearings are going:
Rural & Regional #Estimates has spent at least 30 minutes trying to determine how much money is spent on advertising by @infra_regional in response to question by @GlennSterle - seems a difficult one to answer
— Kath Sullivan (@KathSully) April 8, 2019
I think we can predict the latest instalment of Wong vs Cormann to cover this off in the Senate and finance and public administration estimates.
Judging from my screen, Penny Wong has just walked in, just in time for the committee to move to the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet section of the day.
Updated
What’s that Skip? It’s the end of the parliamentary term and there are even more appointments to be announced?
More from Mitch Fifield:
The Australian government has appointed Mr Darren Rudd as a part-time member of the Australia Council Board for a three year term.
Mr Rudd brings a wealth of experience in business, governance, international engagement and public affairs to the board. He is currently the head of corporate affairs at Tata Consultancy Services in Australia and has an extensive background in the telecommunications sector in Asia, during which time he had a principal role in establishing an art bank scheme for Chinese art.
Mr Rudd serves on the boards of the State Library of NSW Foundation and the Australia India Business and Community Awards. He is a member of the advisory boards of Asia Society Australia and Australia India Youth Dialogue. He has been a member of the NSW Prostate Cancer Foundation Board and served as alumni president of the University of New South Wales Business School (AGSM) in Sydney.
The Australia Council is the Australian government’s principal arts-funding body. It has a focus on increasing the visibility of Australia’s vibrant arts and culture sector. The council is also committed to the arts being accessible to all Australians.
For more information visit: www.australiacouncil.gov.au
Updated
Mike Bowers wandered around the estimate hearing rooms:
Updated
More appointments! This time from Mitch Fifield:
The Australian government has appointed Mr Stephen Byron and reappointed Ms Maureen Plavsic as part-time members of the National Museum of Australia Council for three year terms.
Mr Byron has been the chief executive officer of the Canberra airport since 1998 and is currently the chair of the Canberra Grammar school and a member of the Snow Foundation and Canberra Convention Bureau.
Mr Byron has previously held positions on the Tourism and Transport Forum and was a member of the Property Council of Australia’s ACT division.
Mr Byron’s considerable management and commercial experience will greatly benefit the council.
Ms Plavsic brings more than 30 years of media, marketing and advertising experience to the role as a former CEO and executive director of Seven Network Limited.
Ms Plavsic is currently a non-executive director of Bestest Foundation, a not-for-profit children’s charity. She has also served as a director of Pacific Brands and Macquarie Radio Network, a board member of Opera Australia and as a trustee of the National Gallery of Victoria.
The NMA preserves Australia’s social history, exploring key issues, people and events that have shaped the nation.
The NMA Council is responsible for the overall performance of the Museum, including setting the strategic direction and management objectives.
For more information about the National Museum of Australia visit: www.nma.gov.au
Updated
This was a fun interaction over the weekend:
Shorten’s plan falls short, but he still wants to control which car you drive https://t.co/uo0iDDmlKQ
— Angus Taylor MP (@AngusTaylorMP) April 5, 2019
Hi Minister here is a charging station your government funded that can charge a car up in 15 minutes. And 200km in 8 minutes. I know because I'm one of the co-founders you funded. pic.twitter.com/AiLQQmhIue
— Tim Washington (@EVTimOZ) April 5, 2019
The delay in calling the election means some final appointments can be made. From Marise Payne’s office:
Today I announce the appointment of Mr Geoffrey Tooth as Australia’s next Ambassador to Afghanistan.
Australia and Afghanistan enjoy a strong friendship based on a shared commitment to improving the security and lives of the Afghan people, and this year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Australia has provided $1.5 billion in development assistance to Afghanistan since 2001, promoting economic growth, more effective governance, and the empowerment of women and girls.
The Australian Defence Force contributes to Afghanistan’s security through its participation in the NATO-led mission to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces. Recent efforts to engage all parties in dialogue to end the long conflict in Afghanistan are encouraging and we look forward to a broad and inclusive peace process to ensure Afghanistan does not again become a haven for international terrorism.
Mr Tooth is a senior career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He was most recently Assistant Secretary, ASEAN and Regional Architecture Branch. He has previously served overseas as Head of Mission, Australian High Commission, Nairobi; Deputy Head of Mission, Australian Embassy, Seoul; and Counsellor, Australian High Commission, Port Moresby.
Mr Tooth holds a Master of International Relations from Deakin University; and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Tasmania.
I thank outgoing Ambassador Nicola Gordon-Smith for her contributions to advancing Australia’s interests in Afghanistan since January 2018.
Updated
Labor senator Murray Watt has been trying to ask Department of Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo about a traffic incident involving an injured Canberra cyclist.
Liberal senator Ian Macdonald, who chairs the Senate’s legal and constitutional affairs committee, interrupted Watt and ruled the line of questioning out of order because he says it is irrelevant to department expenditure and is a personal matter.
“It’s not like the Senate chamber where you can get up and talk about anything,” Macdonald told the Senate estimates hearing. Macdonald accused Watt of “maligning” Pezzullo for political purposes to get a newspaper headline.
Pezzullo said Home Affairs doesn’t hold responsibility for the federal police’s budget. Macdonald suspended proceedings for five minutes.
Updated
There is speculation that one of the reasons the government has delayed calling the election is to continue taxpayer-funded advertising in the meantime.
Labor has claimed the government is spending $600,000 on ads. Where does that figure come from?
The opposition have totalled EVERY government advertising contract from 1 January 2018 to come up with a per-day figure.
That includes advertisements for things like recruitment and the Australian Electoral Commission ads for the Super Saturday byelections last year.
Despite those campaigns inflating the number, the real figure could be even more because of the huge amount of unspent funds. Last week I calculated the infrastructure department has up to $250,000 a day to spend in the final stretch.
And of course many of the ads do spruik government policy. There is:
- $20m for the infrastructure department’s Building Our Future campaign
- $18.7m for the treasury’s Better Tax campaign about the Coalition’s income tax changes made in 2018
- $9.4m for the education department’s Quality Schools campaign for changes to school funding made by the Turnbull and Morrison governments
- $8.1m for the environment and energy department’s Powering Forward campaign, which helps consumers seek the cheapest offer from their energy provider
On Sunday the treasurer Josh Frydenberg said that publicly funded ads are “all transparent” and “all of that information will be available” about how much is being spent.
That’s not quite true – last week only the infrastructure department was prepared to fess up about how much left they have to spend. The Treasury, education and environment departments refused to say. So the $600,000 figure is not perfect but may be the best we have.
Updated
So the Murray-Darling Basin is still an issue. From David Littleproud:
Murray–Darling Basin Authority to undertake Basin-wide study to better understand the social and economic conditions in irrigation communities
· A five member independent panel will oversee the work
· Panel to report back to the federal government by December 31
An independent panel will assess social and economic conditions in irrigation communities and examine the underlying causes of those conditions, Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources David Littleproud announced today.
“Farmers and rural communities across the Murray–Darling Basin are facing drought at the same time as the effects of Australia’s biggest ever water reform occur,” Minister Littleproud said.
“It makes sense to set up an independent panel and find out exactly what’s happening across the whole Basin.
“There’s a lot of debate and conflicting opinions out there – let’s have an independent expert analysis of the facts.
“Let’s make sure communities and governments can have the right information available to build strong, diverse local economies for rural and regional Australia.
“This will allow governments to build the right strategies for the future.
“We need to check on how our communities are tracking and listen to their experiences and insights. It is critical that communities are consulted at every stage of this new research.
“A panel of experts with community connections will oversee the research and make sure community is part of it. The research will help governments and communities, and also inform the MDBA’s 2020 evaluation of Basin Plan implementation.”
Information on the research and how to get involved can be found here.
Updated
The prime minister’s office has clarified what the prime minister meant when he said the government would look at supporting any test case – the commonwealth would join the case, not fund it.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg also repeats the line that Melissa Price is looking over the scientific advice and will make any decision on Adani’s groundwater approval in due and proper course.
I mean, it’s almost like there is a set series of lines which has gone out to all ministers and MPs on how to answer this question *insert thinking face emoji*.
Updated
Josh Frydenberg also talks about the “fast rail” project, which is not “high speed rail” but is faster than just rail, which will also BUST CONGESTION.
Man, I would hate to be congestion right now, because it is going to get BUSTED (says every government of every colour before every election ever and, spoiler, congestion is yet to be BUSTED).
Updated
Labor senator Kim Carr has been querying Home Affairs department officials about why Toll Group was paid $8.1m to build extra accommodation at the East Lorengau refugee transit centre, ahead of the unknown Paladin group being awarded a $423m contract.
The hearing was told a letter of intent with Toll was signed on 30 August 2017 and then terminated six days later.
The PNG government asked for the service not to be provided, chief operating officer Cheryl-anne Moy told the hearing.
Josh Frydenberg and Alan Tudge are announcing the first of the “congestion-busting carparks” for Melbourne.
“We want to bust congestion ...,” Tudge says, which comes across as a lot more intense than is necessary for a carpark.
Updated
For those wondering why the prime minister is thinking about underwriting civil cases against animal activists, this might help fill you in.
Scott Morrison ended his press conference as soon as the Adani groundwater approval was brought up:
I do not think there is anything particularly unique about these remaining matters,” he said.
They are quite minor in the scheme of the broader approvals provided already and like in all the other cases, we will be relying on the scientific evidence provided to the government in making those decisions.
And remember to smile, and the world smiles with you. Or something.
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Scott Morrison’s offer to support any test case against the animal activists came after David Littleproud threatened the RSPCA with a boycott on Friday.
David Littleproud calls for boycott of RSPCA - while lashing out at animal activist groups who've been storming farms. #auspol pic.twitter.com/WvFh5jatc4
— Josh Bavas (@JoshBavas) April 5, 2019
Government open to underwriting landowners in test case against animal activists
OK, so this is not a direction I thought we would be taking today, but then again, I don’t think anyone of us can predict anything about this election campaign, so why the hell not.
We are not only dealing with a war on the weekend (seriously though, who has the money or the time to go and do weekendy things in their big beefy gas guzzler cars anymore?).
But Scott Morrison appears to have just suggested the government will underwrite a farmer’s test case against animal activists. As in the commonwealth will pay for it, for a civil action:
I think state and territory governments should ensure the full force of the law is brought against these green-collared criminals,” he said.
For those attacking our farmers, some who are going through some of the hardest conditions we have seen in this country for more than a century in some cases – facing floods, drought – these farmers, these graziers, these pastoralists are subject attacks of the green-collared criminals.
... The group will face the full force of the privacy laws of this country, with fines of up to half $1 million for the sorts of things potentially they are engaged in.
I also say this: if there are pastoralists, farmers, graziers, that are in a position to bring a civil action against these groups looking to undermine their livelihood, the commonwealth is totally open to supporting them in a test case to show these green criminals [it is not on].
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Someone has obviously told Scott Morrison to smile more.
After each answer, he smiles benevolently at the gathered reporters.
We have been the underdog in this campaign right from the outset and I know Bill Shorten has measured up the curtains, and for all I know he has gone out and bought the curtains, but my suggestion is he should hold on because the Australian people may have more to say.
Serious question – how often does the Lodge need new curtains? Has anyone suggested blinds?
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I swear to fricking Beyoncé, if anyone had told me this election campaign would come down to ELECTRIC VEHICLE targets I would have started construction on the canon to fire me straight into the sun a lot earlier.
It’s a target. A TARGET. Which the government also has.
Scott Morrison:
What I am saying is Bill Shorten is not going to give people a choice in the future. I mean, electric vehicles make up not 0.2% of the vehicles market, new vehicles in Australia ,and he thinks he can take it to 50% in 10 years. But it is not just that. It is also the carbon emissions per kilometre that he is imposing on the Australian economy.
Now, there is only two out of 20 top-selling vehicles in the country that go anywhere near Labor’s standard, so your HiLux is out, according to Bill Shorten. Even the Hyundai i30 is out.
What Australians have always expressed [a liking for] is vehicles that have a bit of power and a bit of grunt, because they like to enjoy the great recreational opportunities out there, and … Bill Shorten wants to corral Australians, as part of his plan, out of the sort of lifestyles that are supported by the vehicles they are currently buying.
It shows he does not get how Australians like to live, and what he’s saying with his new carbon policy, when it comes to vehicle emission standards, is one that is really taking choice away from Australians.
I support people going out buying electric cars and we have a plan facilitating that, but we’re leaving the choice [to] the Australians. Letting them have the choice. Bill Shorten wants to take that choice away.
This is what I mean, Bill Shorten wants to change it all. They have learned nothing, they have changed nothing in terms of how they go about politics and policies … they will change [it] all with high taxes and [encroaching] on the very choices Australians want to continue to make.
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“It’s a war on the weekend,” Scott Morrison says, about Labor’s electrical vehicle target. Which is a target that is very similar to the government’s own 25% to 50% target. And as far as I know, targets don’t mean the government comes along and steals your fun away. I mean, the Liberal party have had a target for increasing the representation of women for eons and that doesn’t seem to have resulted in men being topped off.
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Scott Morrison is wearing both hi-vis AND a tie.
There’s never been a more exciting time to run a Clayton’s election campaign.
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Ian Macdonald is having fun exercising his final moments of power.
He is asking the Home Affairs boss, Michael Pezzullo, to go through, in dot point form, the regional processing policy from 2001 onwards.
Kimberley Kitching just asked what happens to estimates if Scott Morrison heads to Government House on Thursday to call for an election.
Apparently it depends on the time of the proclamation.
It’s fair to say that everyone is looking a little miffed at being back in the Senate committee rooms.
Kimberley Kitching: “This has been a surprise week of estimates”
James Paterson: “A bonus week, Senator.”
Richard Pye (Senate clerk): “Accountability never sleeps, Senator.”
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Labor is opening on advertising spend.
No surprise there – we reported yesterday Labor would go hard on that this week, given the election call delay.
Kimberley Kitching is asking Scott Ryan for guarantees that there will not be the “politically motivated” raids on Labor offices like there was over the NBN in 2016.
Ryan says he believes that to be a “rare” incident.
There was also the Home Affairs raid, which was recently found to be a breach of parliamentary privilege.
Ryan wasn’t president during the 2016 raids, but points out that the Senate held up the parliamentary privilege and in 2016, there were court-appointed warrants.
“My personal view, as I have said before, is I think there needs to be sensitivity in granting such warrants,” he says.
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Barry O’Sullivan is opening the rural and regional affairs estimates and Ian Macdonald is opening legal affairs.
This is a bonus week for those two as well – O’Sullivan lost preselection and Macdonald was relegated to an unwinnable spot.
In one of those lovely serendipitous moments, Bill Shorten will be at a brewery for his media appearance today.
And Scott Morrison will be at Yatala, to talk small business. But anyone who knows anything about the greatest nation on Earth knows Yatala is home to one of Queensland’s greatest pies.
Beers and pies and hi-vis. TRY and convince me we are not in an election campaign.
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Senate estimates are just about to get under way.
As has just been pointed out to me, this is technically a whole new set of estimates. So everything old is new again – meaning everything that was asked last week can again be asked this week. Which might get a little more attention than the hearings which were held late Friday afternoon, when everyone, including Labor and Coalition MPs, were preparing for the election campaign to start.
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Tim Wilson is on Sky News, and boy, I thought I looked tired.
He’s talking about the Adani groundwater approval. Now that the election call has been delayed, Melissa Price has a few more days to consider the application, and possibly approve it before the election is called and the government goes into caretaker mode.
Here is where the story was as of Friday:
Labor has warned the government against making any major decisions on the Adani coalmine before the election, while Scott Morrison and his environment minister Melissa Price face internal pressure from some Queensland MPs to take action.
While playing down reports of a ‘split’, government MPs from Queensland, including James McGrath and Matt Canavan, have kept up pressure inside Morrison’s office and the partyroom for key approvals for the Carmichael coalmine, including the groundwater plan, to be signed off on as soon as possible.
But Labor’s environment spokesman, Tony Burke, cautioned the government from rushing through any approvals before the coming election.
‘There are very strict rules about how a decision like this should be made,’ he said.
‘It is important that it not be rushed or made under political pressure. It’s concerning that another minister, Minister Canavan, is trying to put pressure on the environment minister.’
Wilson, who has branded himself a “modern Liberal” for this election campaign, and knows just how badly a coalmine will play in Victoria, said any decision needs to be made based on the science, not the politics.
I am not going to project onto Queensland MPs or senators or communities what they think, versus what everyone in the state of Victoria thinks,” he said.
We’re not monolithic and neither are they, but what I think everyone wants to see is a strong plan for economic growth in our country, seeing the advantage of our primary industries and the wealth [that] can be created and how it can be shared across our common wealth – it is literally in the word that is the foundation of the country, that is where everybody’s focus is – but it has to be done on the basis of sound science and environmental protection, and that is the approach the Coalition is taking and should continue to take.
... All I am hearing is a whole bunch of rumour and speculation from the press – and I am not seeking to disparage any of the press, they of course report the fit rumours that they hear – but as far as I am aware, at this point the decisions being made are being informed by scientific evidence. The research is being done by the environment department to assess the impact on the environment for the progress of any project like the Carmichael mine. But a critical question for all of us is how do we make sure that we continue to create the wealth-creating industries in this country to give people jobs. And that is the threat that we face from a change of government ...
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Two polls out on Sunday night suggest voters’ dislike of the opposition leader Bill Shorten will not stop Labor winning majority government in the May election.
Newspoll, published by the Australian, suggests the government trails Labor 48% to 52% on a two-party-preferred basis.
That is an improvement from the 46-54 poll a month ago and marks the Coalition’s best result since Malcolm Turnbull was dumped as leader in August 2018.
The Ipsos poll, published by the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, put the Labor lead at six points (53-47).
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Bill Shorten is also in Brisbane.
Maybe Scott Morrison and him can have a few tins and look out over the mighty brown snake.
Good morning
Well, here we are, the first day of the unofficial official election campaign.
The election may not have been called, but anyone who thinks we aren’t in a de facto election campaign is dreaming. Labor have sent out a missive directing any and all media enquiries through Campaign HQ, rather than the individual shadow ministerial advisors, because it’s all about the central message now, while the government is “getting on with the job” of selling its budget with the added bonus of taxpayer-funded ad campaigns and travel. Scott Morrison is in Brisbane, because Queensland is the most popular girl at the dance. Again.
Huzzah. Why would you want to be anywhere else?
But while the government gets another week to try and sell its message without those pesky campaign limits on taxpayer funding, it also gets another week of budget estimate hearings.
And if you don’t think Penny Wong, Jenny McAllister, Kimberley Kitching and the rest of the opposition Senate estimates team are not going to double down on their efforts to catch the government out and seize the headlines, well, I have a new festival on Fyre Island to sell you on.
We are going to get straight into it, because there is not enough coffee in the world today.
Ready?
Let’s get into it.
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