We are going to leave the blog here for today. But never fear, politics live will be back tomorrow for day two of Senate-palooza.
Which means another Senate question time. I may actually break a record for emotional eating this week, but let’s see.
Issues still on the boil – well, what Peter Dutton means when he talks about potential changes to citizenship; and Karen Middleton’s story on the auditor general’s reports into what happened when Scott Morrison was the Tourism Australia boss has some room to play out.
We’ve also got the Senate debating whether or not the states should have the power to call in the defence force during terrorism-related incidents (spoiler alert – it will pass) and it’s gender reporting time tomorrow – does Australia’s gender pay gap still exist?(spoiler, of course it does).
It’s also the official start to summit season – Scott Morrison will head to Singapore for Asean, then it’s to PNG for Apec and then Argentina for G20.
And there are also two last weeks of parliament to get through as well, where we will officially welcome Kerryn Phelps to the chamber.
But first, we have three more days of solo Senate fun to get through. And aren’t we just SO EXCITED!
Thank you to Mike Bowers for dragging me through the day and to the Guardian brain’s trust, who keep me informed about what is happening beyond my narrow world of two screens and a phone. Plus all those who you never hear about, you clean up my numerous typos, as my fingers move faster than my brain (the Amy Remeikis story).
But the biggest thank you is, as always, to you, for reading and keeping us company as we wade through the choppy waters of our democracy. We’ll be back early tomorrow morning, but in the meantime – take care of you.
Updated
Senate passes motion calling for extension of My Health Record opt-out period
The Senate has just passed a Labor motion with crossbench support calling on the government to extend the opt-out period for the My Health Record rollout.
All Australians who have not opted out by 15 November (Thursday) will have a My Health Record automatically created in their name, sparking fears from privacy experts that the public has not had sufficient time to opt out as demand increases.
The motion calls for the the opt-out period to be extended “until the legislation and any amendments are passed, outstanding privacy and security issues are addressed and public confidence in this important reform is restored”.
On 24 October the Australian Digital Health Agency told Senate estimates that 1,147,000 Australians had opted out of My Health Record, a figure that was accurate at 19 October.
On Friday the ADHA and health minister Greg Hunt refused to provide an update on how many Australians have opted out.
Privacy experts have warned that reports of lengthy telephone wait times and a systems crash on the hotline suggest that a high volume of people are opting out in the final weeks before the looming deadline.
Labor’s health spokeswoman, Catherine King, said:
Under the government’s current timetable the opt-out period is due to finish this week.
Once it does, the government will begin creating records for 17 million Australians – whether they want one or not.
This will occur even though the government hasn’t actually passed its legislation yet, and cannot pass it before the opt-out period ends. There’s no guarantee the legislation will even pass this year – meaning some Australians may opt out unnecessarily over concerns that are addressed by the legislation.
The government should listen to Labor and to the Senate and extend the opt-out period.
Updated
Now, to another issue Peter Dutton has been talking about – the government’s encryption bill (the one where it wants access to encrypted messaging services).
Dutton has said Labor needs to work with the government to pass it. But the bill is in committee stage, so it is not even sitting in the chamber ready to be passed yet. Labor hasn’t come to a decision on the matter yet, but as of late, has largely been in lockstep with the government when it comes to issues of national security. Whether that is a positive or not may be up for debate, but on this issue, the parliament is still examining the bill, as a whole.
I want to be clear - Labor is working cooperatively on the government's
— Mark Dreyfus (@markdreyfusQCMP) November 12, 2018
decryption bill. It's going through the usual scrutiny by a bipartisan committee and we'll continue that process. Suggestions otherwise are wrong – this should be above politics. #auspol
Updated
Paul Fletcher has issued a media statement on the Foodbank decision;
I have spoken today with Foodbank CEO Brianna Casey regarding her concerns following the recent announcement of the three organisations that will share in $4.5 million of food relief funding over the next four-and-a-half years, starting January 1, 2019.
Foodbank has particularly highlighted its concern that the competitive selection process resulted in it being notified of the decision only a few weeks before the busy Christmas season. I share that concern.
I have sought urgent advice from my department as to why that happened and for options to provide additional funding to Foodbank to assist in managing the transition to the new arrangements.
I expect to receive that advice shortly and will be working with Foodbank to resolve this issue.
Updated
If there is one thing the Senate is good for (apart from, you know, the whole acting as a check and balance in our democratic system *cough Queensland cough*) is the light.
Mike Bowers had some fun in there this afternoon.
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Lee Rhiannon is keeping busy
Former senator Lee Rhiannon is doing a compare/contrast on Labor and the Greens' handling of sexual harassment complaints -
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) November 12, 2018
and finds the Greens wanting #auspol pic.twitter.com/mf3opNM4g2
Government to look at possibility of 'transitional' funding for Foodbank
Paul Fletcher says he has asked for an “urgent review” from his department about the timing of the Foodbank announcement as well as advice on transitional funding.
“I do understand the consequences of the transition Foodbank is being asked to make, at a very [crucial] time of year].
So the decision stands but he wants to know if there is capacity to provide “additional funding” to help with the transition.
Which is basically where Father Chris Riley and his Youth Off the Streets charity ended up a couple of weeks ago.
Updated
Paul Fletcher is on Sky News now, speaking on the Foodbank decision.
But even Kochie is angry about this one.
So disappointing this has happened. @FoodbankAus is one of those great Organisations which provides so much support for so many people in need of their services. A case of political priorities gone awry which needs to be corrected https://t.co/UneskPXvLk
— David Koch (@kochie_online) November 12, 2018
Senate question time ends.
Oh thank Beyoncé.
Updated
Kim Carr wants to know about Chris Crewther’s eligibility to sit in parliament.
Mathias Cormann says he’s fine, as far as he knows.
Carr is reading section 44 out to him (sub-section 5, which Crewther is suggested to have breached) and asks if Cormann is aware of it.
“Yes,” says Cormann.
So how is he not in breach, asks Carr?
Cormann calls him a “bush lawyer” and says there are “processes available to the Labor party”. But he takes on notice the part of the question about which grants the company Crewther invested in has received.
“Ahhhhhhh,” say the Labor benches.
Sadly, time continues at its snail’s pace and this is still happening.
Updated
Nick McKim is asking about his visa being denied by the Nauruan government.
He has an email from the Nauruan consulate which says “the senator’s request to visit Nauru does not have the support of the Australian Dfat office”.
He wants to know if the government intervened.
Marise Payne says no.
Neither the foreign affairs department nor the Australian consulate made representations on this visa, she says, and it is up to the Nauruan government who enters their country.
McKim wants to table the email, but I think he is denied.
Updated
Rebekha Sharkie, a key crossbench vote for the government now it is in minority, has also weighed in on the Foodbank funding cuts – for these reasons:
The latest announcement of $4.5m over 4.5 years doesn’t meet demand and now this small pool is being shared by multiple groups, including food rescue charities OzHarvest and Second Bite, which play very different roles.
OzHarvest and Second Bite rescue food from restaurants and hotels that would usually go to landfill while Foodbank is the main not-for-profit organisation working with manufacturers, suppliers and farmers to secure staple foodstuffs such as rice, cereal, fruit and vegetables.
Foodbank is a foundation organisation that provides so many charities with the staple food items they need to help the vulnerable Australians under their care.
Last year they leveraged more than $8m worth of basic foods to 2,600 partner charities and 1,750 schools.
South Australia alone received $1.4m worth of pantry basics for 551 different charities such as Lutheran Community Care and Share, the Heart & Soul Community Group and MarionLIFE.
Updated
There is someone in the Senate public gallery who looks like they might be nodding off.
Not all heroes wear capes.
Jenny McAllister to Bridget McKenzie about Foodbank, in the light of the National Farmers’ Federation intervention in the decision to slash its Key Staples funding program.
McKenzie says she usually agrees with the NFF and she knows that the prime minister was going to speak to Paul Fletcher about possibly reviewing the decision.
McAllister asks McKenzie to defend the decision.
“The prime minister has announced he will be speaking to the minister of department social services [about the decision].
“... We stand to support those families and communities who are doing it tough at this time.”
Barry O’Sullivan now wants to know if there is a “mechanism” to place what he says is an interjection from Doug Cameron on the official record.
Scott Ryan responds with a very parliamentary yeah, nah, and says he did not hear what Cameron said. Wong says O’Sullivan should not have been given the official call. Cormann says Wong should not be interjecting without the call.
It almost makes me miss the House.
Updated
Pauline Hanson has a question for Michaelia Cash, as the senator representing the home affairs minister.
“When will the government stop immigration from extremist countries,” is the question after a preamble about where Australia’s refugees are coming from.
Cash says Australia has a non-discriminatory immigration program and stands by it.
Hanson asks if Australia will stop immigration from Sudan “in light of the high crime rates over a period of years”.
Cash: “I refer to my previous answer. Australia has a non-discriminatory immigration program.”
Hanson: How many refugees are on the watch list?
Cash: Takes it on notice.
Updated
The National Farmers’ Federation hasn’t exactly embraced the government’s decision to slash Foodbank’s funding for its Key Staples program.
That’s because, as the organisation points out, 40% of the people helped by this program are in the bush. Which is suffering from a horrendous drought.
Demand for food relief services is growing exponentially – particularly in regional Australia, which accounts for 40% of Foodbank’s relief work.
The current drought in eastern Australia is heightening pressure on household budgets in regional communities, making the timing of this decision unthinkable.”
Have your say on this issue by e-mailing the PM. Click below to voice your support for @FoodbankAus. https://t.co/vW4A6upbuZ
— National Farmers Fed (@NationalFarmers) November 12, 2018
Updated
Mehreen Faruqi: Can the minister guarantee that the government will not allow the fund to be used to subsidise private school fees for wealthy parents?
Bridget McKenzie: We are the side of parliament which puts money on the table to deliver what you could not deliver, which is needs-based funding for school students. Also, the Greens should run for state parliament, because this is a state education issue.
Faruqi: Will this money be spent on swimming pools and air-conditioning?
McKenzie: All students should be educated in air-conditioning (this may be news to several Queensland state school students) but she would be appalled if the money was used for “excessive luxuries”.
Updated
Michaelia Cash says some things in response to Jim Molan asking some things.
Moving on.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi wants to know about the $1.2bn “choice and affordability” fund it has given Catholic schools, which has been labelled by critics as a slush fund.
Faruqi wants to know how the government came to the number, and whether the Catholic schools had some input.
Bridget McKenzie, representing the education minister Dan Tehan, does not answer the question.
Updated
Jacinta Collins: How much was Scott Morrison’s payout and why don’t Australians deserve to know?
Mathias Cormann says he is not across events which occurred “a decade” ago:
“They are running their dirt units through ancient history because they have nothing else to talk about.”
But I guess the royal commission into unions and the AWU stuff was modern ancient history and therefore completely different?
Updated
Jacinta Collins asks why don’t Australians deserve to know why Scott Morrison was sacked.
“The prime minister is a very open and transparent person,” Mathias Cormann says.
The Senate chamber erupts so loudly I can feel this wing of the building vibrate.
But that might just be my sanity making an early run for it.
Cormann says he is not “personally aware” of the circumstances.
Updated
Scott Ryan asks the chamber to dwell on the concept of silence.
If only.
Jacinta Collins asks why was Scott Morrison sacked as the managing director of Tourism Australia, just 18 months into his contract (under the Howard government).
Mathias Cormann:
“Mr Morrison did a great job, was a great advocate for the tourism industry,” Cormann says, after accusing Labor’s dirt unit of being “busy”.
He adds that the tourism industry across Australia knows what a strong advocate for the industry Morrison is (although I missed the exact quote, that’s the spirit).
Penny Wong has raised a point of order on relevance twice now: Why was he sacked?
Cormann says he is being relevant to “current circumstances”.
“Mr President, even you could barely contain a smile,” Wong says, jumping almost immediately.
Ryan lets Cormann go, he stays on current relevancy and we are back on the merry-go-round.
Updated
Senate question time: Labor on the attack over Scott Morrison's exit from Tourism Australia
And I already want to rock under my desk.
I missed the first questions from Penny Wong to Mathias Cormann, but it was about Karen Middleton’s Saturday Paper story about the auditor-general report into Tourism Australia, after Scott Morrison’s departure as boss.
From Middleton’s report:
The auditor-general’s inquiry into Tourism Australia – which followed these reviews, and was conducted after Morrison’s departure – reveals information was kept from the board, procurement guidelines breached and private companies engaged on contracts worth $184 million before paperwork was signed and without appropriate value-for-money assessments.
The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report examines three major contracts that Tourism Australia signed while Scott Morrison was managing director. It criticises processes in all three cases but especially the contracts for global creative development – advertising campaigns – and media placement services.
Ten years since the audit, and 13 years since the contracts were signed, those two completed contracts appear not to be listed on the government’s AusTender website, where all contracts are required to be available for public viewing.
Cormann does not answer any of them and then Amanda Stoker inflicts the first of the Senate dixers on us, which is somehow worse than the House dixers, because they are asked three times.
Updated
Still 30 children on Nauru– and those here on medical treatment will eventually be returned
There has been a lot of talk recently about what the government is doing about the children of asylum seekers and their families, after the parliament switched on to the fact that public sympathies had shifted on the issue.
The government has been slowly and quietly removing the children and their families. But speaking to David Speers, Scott Morrison says they will be going back.
Morrison said there were around “just over 30” children on Nauru. And they are still there because “that is consistent with the policy that we have as a government”.
“And where there is the ability to be transferred to the United States or whether there are any medical issues which would require their transfer to Australia, then that is what will occur.
“...They will not have a permanent visa in Australia, no,” he said, when asked if they will be allowed to stay.
So what happens?
“Well, at some point, they won’t be allowed to remain in Australia forever. That is the policy of both the Labor party and our government.
“... We haven’t changed any of our policies, we have just acted in accordance to our policies and we have been reducing the number of children on Nauru.”
It is worth pointing out that in many cases, the government has only transferred people from Nauru when ordered to do so by the federal court – and is currently arguing the federal court may not have the jurisdiction to make those orders.
But Labor is also planning on continuing offshore detention.
And while Labor has said it would consider accepting the offer from New Zealand to accept 150 asylum seekers, it doesn’t do anything for the single men on Manus Island.
Updated
And for those wondering why Julia Gillard and Joe Hockey are together;
I was very honoured to commemorate this special Remembrance Day in Washington with @JoeHockey. A time to remember the fallen and reaffirm the enduring values Australia and the USA share as democracies and allies. https://t.co/aLfWxY7F3C
— Julia Gillard (@JuliaGillard) November 12, 2018
It’s amazing what some water under the bridge can do
Catching up with @JuliaGillard, who btw, is in outstanding form. pic.twitter.com/nzajb1C7iM
— Joe Hockey (@JoeHockey) November 12, 2018
Penny Wong:
To all of those who experienced abuse at the hands of those whose duty it was to care for you, to nurture you and to look after you, I say sorry. To the parents and family members who suffered the distress and trauma of learning that their precious children had been abused by those they trusted to take care of them, I say sorry. I say sorry for your pain. I say sorry for your suffering. I say sorry for the innocence that was stolen. I say sorry for your loss of dignity, a loss for which we, not you, bear shame. I say sorry for your loss of self-esteem and self-worth — a loss, again, for which we, not you, bear the blame. I say sorry for the burden of grief you have carried for so many years — indeed, for so many decades.
I say sorry to those among you who were forcibly removed from country, from your spiritual home, and then subjected to physical and psychological violence. I say sorry to those who joined youth groups, who joined the cadet corps and military apprenticeship schools and suffered abuse at the hands of those who should have been your carers and mentors. I say sorry to those of you who, fleeing the privations of postwar Europe, were transported to secular and religious institutions where criminal predators exploited your separation and vulnerability. I say sorry to those who were ignored, disbelieved or abandoned when they sought help. I say sorry for the lives irretrievably damaged, for those lives spent in misery or in jail, and for the so many lives which have ended in tragedy.
And I say sorry that even though institutions knew about crimes committed against you they did nothing to care for you and that those same institutions and their leaders did nothing to bring perpetrators to justice but instead turned a blind eye or covered up their crimes; I say sorry.
... Senators, the royal commission has held up a mirror to the nation, and we have been shocked by what we have seen. The nation is ashamed and sorry. But we know that we are better than this and we can do better than this. All of you to whom we say sorry today can expect no less. So, as we beg the forgiveness of those who have suffered such unspeakable pain, we also know we must restore justice and rebuild trust. We must resolve as a nation that we will do everything in our power to prevent this abuse, betrayal and harm from ever happening again.
Updated
The Senate says sorry
Mathias Cormann:
The commission’s report tells a harrowing story of almost complete failure: the failure to protect the innocent; the failure to believe the victims; the failure to challenge the perpetrators; a collective, systemic national failure. No words will ever be able to wind back the clock, heal the scars or erase the evils of the past. No speech will ever truly satisfy those countless thousands who asked for help but were denied. Why were those vile crimes committed against them allowed to occur? Why were the victims not believed? Why was justice and safety so unreachable?
I extend the Senate’s heartfelt sympathy to every victim and survivor, to acknowledge and honour them and to commit resolutely to responding fully to the recommendations produced by the royal commission. Ultimately, all of us in this place have a duty to do all that we can as best we can to right past wrongs and prevent future evils. I also convey, on behalf of the government, our deep gratitude to all those who contributed to the royal commission’s work: to the commissioners and their staff for their tireless efforts; to Prime Minister Morrison and his predecessors, prime ministers Gillard, Rudd, Abbott and Turnbull, for their leadership in steering this important process to this point.
I especially pay tribute to the thousands of Australians who relived the worst chapters of their lives in making submissions and attending private sessions. Their strength and courage has inspired a nation. Without it, the commission’s work, which has exposed the darkest of crimes in the brightest of lights, would not have been possible. The commission’s work, which included the handling of over 42,000 calls, the receipt of nearly 26,000 letters and emails and the holding of over 8,000 private sessions, provides a path forward that is comprehensive, considered and essential on the long road to national healing. We must honour the courage and endurance of those who suffered. We must honour them by faithful implementation of the commission’s findings. As we implement 104 of the commission’s remaining 122 recommendations directed to the commonwealth, with the remaining 18 being carefully examined, I’m confident that we will develop a timely and comprehensive bipartisan response.
... This is an episode in our nation’s history of unfathomable horror, of innocence lost, trust denied, hopes and expectations dashed and the triumph of evil. But thousands of courageous Australians would not be silenced; they would not let evil prevail. They raised their voices. To our collective shame, it took us too long to heed their calls. But they persisted. Despite the pain and the loss, they would not be denied. They roused the nation’s dormant conscience into action. On this day and into the future, let us be worthy of them. To the children who suffered so much for so long and in such silence: we are sorry. To the parents, spouses, partners, husbands, wives and children who have struggled with the cruel after effects of that suffering: we are sorry. To the generations of today and those that came before: we are sorry.
Updated
Scott Morrison says he’ll be hosting a BBQ in PNG – “very much a family event”.
That’s because, in case you missed it, Morrison would like us to view our Pacific neighbours as “family”.
Updated
The prime minister is about to speak to Bloomberg.
The theme you might be picking up on are these networks all broadcast into Asia (as does parts of Sky News through the Australia Network)
The Senate chamber as the apology speeches begin.
A lot of senators have been dropping in and out as the speeches occur, and some are tied up in committees and meetings.
But yes, we all take your point about the visuals of this.
Updated
Scott Morrison is now speaking to CNBC. I told you he was busy.
He leaves for Singapore for Asean tomorrow.
Then it’s PNG.
Then Argentina.
Summit season is a slog
Several mosques in and around my patch - not my experience at all. In any event, it seems a strange message to broadcast to our imans via the nation - but I don't have the benefit of security briefings to inform my public utterances.
— Graham Perrett (@GrahamPerrettMP) November 12, 2018
Mike Bowers is in the chamber for the Senate apology to the victims of institutional childhood sexual abuse.
So far, those who are down to speak on the motion are: Mathias Cormann, Penny Wong, Kristina Keneally, Pauline Hanson, Jenny McAllister, Stirling Griff, Helen Polley, Richard Di Natale, Sue Lines, Rex Patrick, Louise Pratt, Sarah Hanson-Young and Kimberly Kitching.
Mathias Cormann apologises on behalf of the government to the victims and survivors of institutional child sexual abuse in the senate chamber this afternoon @AmyRemeikis @murpharoo #politicslive https://t.co/ysOdubMDCW pic.twitter.com/zmzlgknoOc
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) November 12, 2018
Updated
Bill Shorten has committed Labor to reversing the cuts to Foodbank’s Key Staples program, if the government won’t.
Shorten is holding a media conference at Foodbank’s Melbourne warehouse.
Oh gawd. I just realised we have Senate question time coming up with its never-ending supplementary questions.
Prepare as necessary, friends.
Updated
'Jobs for mates,' Labor says, as Peter Costello reappointed to Future Fund
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has reappointed his mentor and former treasurer Peter Costello as chairman of the Future Fund for another five years.
He has also appointed former Treasury secretary John Fraser to the board for five years from 12 November 2018 until 2023, and reappointed Perth businessman John Poynton to the board for another five years from 4 February 2019 until 2024.
The move has angered Labor.
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen says the government’s made the decision just months away from the election and without any consultation with the opposition.
“By reappointing Peter Costello as chair of the Future Fund, the Liberals have shown yet again they’re more focused on their jobs for mates than on jobs and wages for Australians,” Bowen said.
Labor has repeatedly warned that it would be entirely inappropriate for the Morrison government to make a decision on the position before the election without consulting the opposition.
“When wages are stagnating and debt has doubled on their watch, it’s disappointing but not surprising that the Liberals’ biggest priority five minutes before the election is to lock another Liberal into a high-paying position,” Bowen said.
But the government is trumpeting Costello’s record as a member and chair of the Future Fund board, saying his reappointment is deserved.
It says Costello was first appointed as a member of the Future Fund Board of Guardians in 2009 and as chair in February 2014, and over that period, the value of Future Fund investments has grown from $67.6bn to $148.8bn – or around 120%.
“Prior to his appointment, Mr Costello served Australia with distinction as our longest-serving federal treasurer from 1996 to 2007,” Frydenberg said.
“As treasurer, he delivered 10 budget surpluses and oversaw the establishment of the Future Fund in 2006.”
It comes after John Fraser, the former treasury sec was appointed to the board of AMP as a non-executive director, less than two weeks after resigning from the Treasury in August.
Updated
Just after midday, Mathias Cormann and Penny Wong will lead the Senate in apologising to survivors and victims of institutional childhood sexual abuse following the national apology last month.
Here’s how that conversation on the Indonesian free trade agreement went down between Scott Morrison and David Speers:
Will you be signing the free trade agreement?
Morrison: There is no plans for that and I am not troubled by that. Look, it’s a good deal for both countries.
Speers: Where is it up to? When will you sign?
Morrison: When we get around to doing that.
Speers: Timing?
Morrison: There is no rush on this, David. There is actually no rush, at all.
Speers: Has the Jerusalem/ Israeli embassy issue affected negotiations at all?
Morrison: Negotiations have been completed on the actual agreement. And it will still have to go through ratification in the Indonesian parliament.
Speers: So what is the sticking point?
Morrison: Australia is always going to look at these issues on their merits. We don’t conflate other areas of non-related policy when it comes to these agreements.
Speers: Is that what Indonesia is doing?
Morrison: Well, I am not making that observation – I am just saying that Australia does not conflate issues. And we are prepared to move forward and when the Indonesian government, who I know is very supportive of the arrangement, particularly their economic ministers, have relayed that back to us directly.
Speers: It sounds like you are ready to sign this deal.
Morrison: I believe he [Widodo] is very supportive of the agreement, but look, the timing of any ultimate signing is up to them.
Speers: What will you say to him about the embassy issue.
Morrison: Well, I will update him on where we’re at.
Speers: Where are you at?
Morrison: Well, I’ll update him that we are still working through the issue and we have a process in place to deal with that internally, and we will continue to work on that respectfully and restate our government’s 100 per cent commitment to the two-state solution.
Updated
Fact check – are taxes ALWAYS lower under the Coalition?
Back briefly to Tony Abbott’s interview with 2GB’s Ray Hadley this morning.
Hadley wondered if Bill Shorten would take a tougher approach on domestic terrorism, if he becomes prime minister, in the aftermath of Melbourne’s Bourke St attack.
He said Victoria’s Labor premier, Daniel Andrews, was now saying we should kick people out of Australia if they have extremist views, so if he’s from the left of the Labor party and he’s saying things like that, what will Bill Shorten, who’s from the right, do?
Abbott replied this way:
The point I keep making Ray is that there is a clear difference between the Coalition and the Labor party when it comes to national security and economics,” Abbott said.
Taxes will always be lower under the Coalition, spending will always be more efficient under the Coalition, national security will always be in better hands under the Coalition, and of course power prices will always be lower under the Coalition, and that’s one of the reasons why, notwithstanding these polls, I’m still very optimistic that we can win.
I think that our team is together now in a way that maybe it wasn’t a few months back, I think Scott Morrison speaks clearly, I think our policies are moving in the right way, and yeah, when it comes to national security you can trust the Coalition but I’m not sure that you can trust anyone else.
So Abbott got some talking points in there but he didn’t answer the question he was asked.
And a point of fact: Abbott was wrong to say “taxes will always be lower under the Coalition”.
Look at the chart below from our colleague Greg Jericho. It shows the commonwealth government’s tax-to-GDP ratio under previous Coalition (blue) and Labor (red) governments.
The tax-to-GDP ratio has been higher, on average, under Coalition governments stretching back to Paul Keating’s final term in the early 1990s.
Now, the problem with that graph is it does not provide any information about the economic cycle – so it can leave people wondering why tax as a percentage of GDP has been higher under the Coalition for the past two decades.
To understand it properly you need some knowledge of the past 25 years of Australia’s political and economic history to know why the Coalition has been higher-taxing (tip: it has something to do with the global economic cycle).
Abbott stripped taxation of its historical context to turn it into a slogan, making a factually incorrect statement in the process. Truth being collateral damage.
But he’s repeated that lie so many times it’s a Sisyphean task fact-checking it each time. Onwards and upwards, then downhill again.
What about the statement: “Spending will always be more efficient under the Coalition”? What does that even mean?
Do you start by considering the government’s half a billion dollar grant to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, which was handed over without public scrutiny? Do you look at Scott Morrison’s recent pledge of more than $200m for Queensland water projects to shore up Bob Katter’s support in the lower house in the wake of the government losing its one-seat majority at the Wentworth byelection?
You would certainly find a long list of examples of Labor governments spending inefficiently, but you’d find the same with Coalition governments.
“Always” is a strong word. Abbott would have been safer saying “often more efficient”, but he’d still have to provide some evidence.
Updated
Now, on the Australian’s story about the states having to submit their migration requirements – including their infrastructure resources:
The govt is looking at forcing the states to submit their annual requirements for migrants.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 12, 2018
.@ScottMorrisonMP: The states are in the best position to make a judgement about what the carrying capacity is in their states and territories.
MORE: https://t.co/WfDO7vdNID #SkyLiveNow pic.twitter.com/UmjiUCrpo8
Updated
“It’s a big mountain and I am still climbing it,” says Scott Morrison on the polls.
I now have Climb Ev’ry Mountain stuck in my head, so thank you for that.
When will you sign the free trade agreement with Indonesia?
“When we get around to it,” says Scott Morrison to David Speers.
He says he is not worried about it, that it is a “good deal” for both countries, and the issue of the “discussion” we are having about potentially moving our Israeli embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem is not a problem.
“The timing of any ultimate signing is up to them,” Morrison says.
And what will he tell Joko Widodo?
“I’ll update him with where we’re at,” he says.
And where are we at?
Having the discussion.
Updated
Speaking to David Speers from Sky News (he has been very busy this morning), Scott Morrison again says the Islamic community needs to do more to help authorities identify potential risks.
.@ScottMorrisonMP says he doesn’t consider Friday’s Bourke Street attack a national security failure.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 12, 2018
‘We have had 14 thwarted attacks and seven attacks of this nature. As I’ve always said you can’t guarantee in all cases’.
MORE: https://t.co/i5Tekh5HX2 #SkyLiveNow pic.twitter.com/kL3KOncF86
.@ScottMorrisonMP: We need to ensure we do even more to counter extremist radical Islam.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) November 12, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/i5Tekh5HX2 #SkyLiveNow pic.twitter.com/AJDNXyVhf3
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Doug Cameron, also speaking ahead of the Senate sitting this morning, was a little more blunt about the Foodbank funding decision.
I just think they are stupid. I just don’t think they have got it really together. Why would you cut from Foodbank? Why would you cut from an organisation that is out there helping people stay alive, helping people get food every day of the week?
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Government to look at citizenship
And again, Peter Dutton mentions citizenship at his media conference this morning;
Well, as has been reported, as we have made comment before, the government is working at the moment to – on the migration program.
We have also done some work around citizenship as well. I want to make sure people who become Australian citizens abide by our laws, adhere to our values and are going to be positive contributors to Australian society.
We’re a generous nation but we’re not going to take people in who would seek to do us harm and if you’re an Australian citizen, you have greater and more significant rights under the law and the constitution than you do if you’re a visa holder.
This is the problem with people that are born here, radicalised here – if they’re Australian citizens it’s much harder to deal with that person than somebody on a visa whose visa you could cancel and that person could be deported.
So I will make announcements in due course about any changes to the way in which the program is comprised, but as you know, last year through a number of means we were able to reduce the number of net migration and obviously the prime minister and other ministers – we’re working on that policy right now.
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This story in the West Australian by Nick Butterly is insane. There is no other word for it.
The WA Liberal party is asking children to sign extraordinary ‘talent release’ forms that seek to ban people from criticising or satirising the party in public, or in private, for five years.
The forms, which it is understood were handed out by a federal Liberal MP’s staff to several children before a recent community event, also effectively seek to ban signatories from associating with other political parties.
Forms obtained by the Weekend West warn the ‘talent’ that on signing the papers they agree they shall not for five years ‘in public or in private, disparage the Liberal party of Australia, satirise the talent’s association with the Liberal party’ or otherwise make ‘any statement which might reasonably be expected to ‘adversely affect the image’ of the Liberals.
And those exact words?
The talent agrees ... that the talent shall not from five years from the date of this agreement appear or feature in any other advertising or promotional material relating to Australian political party or association other than the Liberal party,” the form says. The form is authorised by WA Liberal state director Sam Calabrese.
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Jenny McAlister had a few things to say about the government’s cut to Foodbank’s Key Staples program (and yes, the total amount of money the government is spending on these programs has not been cut but it is now being spread across three charities, instead of two, meaning Foodbank has seen its funding cut).
Now I note that the government is out this morning arguing that it’s fine because they have provided a grant to another organisation. Well, it tells you how little they understand about their own programs, because what Foodbank tell us is that the money they have received from government, this core funding for the staples – pasta, rice, flour, pasta sauce – this is the bedrock of their program and it helps them leverage an $8 million program more broadly through working with farmers and wholesalers.
The government doesn’t understand its own programs. This is an inevitable consequence of having four ministers for social services in just five years, and I’d encourage Mr Fletcher to go out to the warehouse at Glendenning, as I have done, and take a look at Foodbank’s operation. They are doing amazing work – working with charities and volunteer organisations all across the country to deliver food to hungry people, and I cannot believe that this government would make the cut that they have.
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Oh, and the bells rang for the Senate sitting. So there’s that.
For the second day in a row, Peter Dutton has mentioned changes to citizenship as one of the things the government is looking at.
It’s been missed a little, in the response to the rest of the terrorism discussions, but it is very obviously still on the boil.
Here he is talking to Network Seven:
Look obviously the government has ramped up the number of visa cancellations, [for] people that have committed criminal offences, and we’re very happy to expand that, but we would need to get the support of the Senate to do it and there are a couple of bills – important bills – around citizenship where we’ve been knocked back. But look, if people have been made an Australian citizen, either by birth or by conferral, then that bestows upon them a constitutional protection, as opposed to somebody who is here on a visa. So you can go through the individual cases, but in most cases they’re born in Australia.
... So look, there are different ways in which we can tighten the laws up and we’re looking at that right now but, again, we need to get it through the Senate and so far we haven’t been able to get the support of Labor or the Greens, which we need in the Senate to make it work.
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Oh how time flies
This popped up on my timeline as being 5 years ago today, with bonus Bernie Ripoll on the left @AmyRemeikis @murpharoo #auspol #politicsnotsolive pic.twitter.com/Rwb2kpIMpw
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) November 11, 2018
Getting closer to putting a full stop on this whole sorry saga:
Congratulations to @QldPolice on their investigation into recent strawberry tampering and the arrest announced yesterday. We now let the courts do their job.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) November 11, 2018
On the Foodbank story, which you may have seen this morning, the prime minister says he’ll have a chat to minister Paul Fletcher about the department’s decision.
The government is right when it says the total allocation for these services has not been cut. But it is still cutting $323,000 a year from Foodbank’s Key Staples program, after the department decided to take that allocation and split it between three charities, instead of two.
While they all do important work, Foodbank’s program takes key pantry nonperishable items – flour, cereal, rice and canned goods – and sends it out across the country, to other charities and schools. Three years ago, they received about $1.5m a year for that program. Now they receive just under $430,000 to do the same job.
Scott Morrison told 10 he would have a look at it.
We had a competitive process and tender on who could best deliver the services, and instead of doing one organisation, there are now three. So the services are being delivered and that’s what’s important to those who need those services.
But I’ll have a chat to the social services minister and if there’s any need to review that decision, then it was a decision obviously made by the department and we’ll take a look at that.
But the important point, I think, to those watching at home is the services in relation to food support have been maintained at the same level. It’s just being delivered through more agencies. It’s not a closed shop.
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Also, Scott Morrison said he would keep wearing his caps and doing his thing, and people can say what they like about it, but he’s just being himself.
You do you, Morrison. You, do, you.
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Part of the discussion Scott Morrison had with the Studio 10 hosts, was, as you would expect, Friday’s events.
He said that before he made his comments on Friday, he spoke to members of the Islamic community. Morrison said he could not speak of the fatal attack without also acknowledging: “Here in Australia, we would be kidding ourselves if we did not call out the fact that the greatest threat of religious extremism in this country is the radical and dangerous ideology of extremist Islam.”
He’s been praised in some quarters and criticised in others, including by Labor MP and counter-terrorism expert Anne Aly, who described the comments as “politically desperate”.
PM @ScottMorrisonMP says Muslim leaders need to be looking carefully at who's coming into their community. #auspol #Studio10 pic.twitter.com/zNq4pZzzwZ
— Studio 10 (@Studio10au) November 11, 2018
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Tony Abbott:
Obviously the polls are not great ... but I reckon that when you go to the ballot box to vote, you ask yourself this basic question: who do you trust to govern the country more effectively and sure, we have had our ups and downs, but we have been essentially, a strong and competent government over the last five years. I think we’ll be a better government in the months and years to come then we might have been over the last couple of years and I think that we are still very, very competitive and I don’t think anyone should write this Coalition government off yet.
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And Tony Abbott is on 2GB talking about how the “team is together now, in a way it wasn’t a few months back”.
Scott Morrison is on Studio 10, speaking about the Bourke Street attack.
"Was he a terrorist, or just a mad man?" PM @ScottMorrisonMP is asked on Studio 10.
— Shalailah Medhora (@shalailah) November 11, 2018
"Yes he was a terrorist. He was radicalised," the PM answered.
Good morning
It’s Senate-palooza this week, with the red chamber flying solo.
But understandably, most talk this morning is still about Friday’s fatal Bourke Street terrorist attack.
That comes as the Senate is about to debate the new powers the government wants to give state authorities to call in the defence force in terrorist situations. The Coalition and Labor have been in lockstep when it comes to issues of national security, so it is expected to pass later this week.
There is also the latest Newspoll, which shows both the Coalition and Scott Morrison’s personal popularity sliding further. Strangely, a bus/plane tour around Queensland, smashing beers and meat pies and talking to FM radio stations didn’t capture voters hearts and minds.
There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes and Morrison has set himself a punishing pace dealing with issues, and he is making headway, but so far, not a lot of cut through.
That’s led to today’s Newspoll, first published in the Australian, showing Labor leading 55% to 45%.
But worse for the Coalition is the primary vote. It’s dropped to 35%, which is seven points below the vote it had at the last election.
So it’s a government under pressure, heading into the summer holiday period when everyone and their cat switches off from politics.
But let’s get into it. Mike Bowers is back and walking the hallways and the entire Guardian brains trust is on deck.
I am on coffee two, so it’s not too bad.
Ready, let’s go.
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