It is 5pm on a Monday ... and we might shut up shop.
But don’t despair, we will be back tomorrow.
That’s when the high court will hear the case for Jacqui Lambie’s replacement.
For those wanting more tonight, Sally McManus will be on Q&A.
The cashless welfare card will also take centre stage tomorrow.
The Reserve Bank of Australia rates decision is also due.
Plus, lots of what Labor and the Coalition are doing wrong, as said by Labor and the Coalition.
Party room meetings are also on tomorrow.
And we’ll be back just after 8am to let you in on all the fun and games.
Big thank you to Mike Bowers for dragging my carcass through the first sitting week. And of course to the Guardian brains trust for picking up my entrails and stuffing them back where they belong.
As usual, the biggest thanks goes to you, the readers. Thank you for playing along. It is very much appreciated. Keep the suggestions coming through to my Twitter (@amyremeikis). I am reading them all.
It’s been a tough day and there are a lot more to come, but you have all helped us through it.
Sleep well and we’ll catch you tomorrow.
Updated
The (party*) leaders are about to attend the traditional Last Post ceremony, so we will be wrapping up this first day very soon.
But I just wanted to take this opportunity to ask you what you would like to see on the blog this year. I can’t promise I’ll be able to get back to all of you, but drop me a line on Twitter @amyremeikis (my DMs are also open) and I promise to look them all over.
Keep in mind I am one person, and the blog is a full-time gig during sitting weeks. But if there is something you want to see more of, something you would like to see some of, or things you hate, let me know.
*I told you I read the comments
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Matt Canavan (who kindly referred to us as a leftwing online newspaper) appeared on Sky to talk all things Adani. His position has not changed.
Mark Dreyfus has now stepped into the Speers interview chair, discussing Labor’s concerns with the foreign interference laws George Brandis introduced following the Sam Dastyari reports.
He says the country needs secrecy laws, but that there needs to be more consulation.
“We need to treat the leaker and the recipient differently, we need to make sure any secrecy laws mesh with public [interest].”
Updated
From Mike Bowers’ lens to your eyeballs
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Steve Ciobo is on Sky talking about the Tourism Australia campaign which just aired during the Superbowl.
That would be the spoof Crocodile Dundee sequel.
Ciobo said there had ben 400 million engagements on social media, most of which were from America, which is the market they are targeting ... and we have another year of this campaign.
Updated
Scott Morrison was just on 3AW where he got grilled on tax cuts ... but he didn’t say anything new.
Updated
Lyle Shelton, who has left the Australian Christian Lobby for a career in politics with Australian Conservatives, has appeared on Sky, where David Speers has tried to ascertain whether or not he would want to reverse marriage equality.
He will only say the party “wants to see marriage restored” and support “the natural family”.
Sigh.
Updated
Energy report findings
The federal government should end policy uncertainty with a “stable and enduring” policy to reduce emissions, a multi-partisan parliamentary committee has said.
In a report tabled on Monday the lower house energy and environment committee called on the government and opposition to settle on a policy that is both “scalable” and gives “appropriate notice ... for changes in targets”.
With the Coalition and Labor still at-odds on the Turnbull government’s proposed national energy guarantee, the committee gave fresh impetus for bipartisanship on energy policy. The national energy guarantee imposes reliability and emissions reduction targets but Labor is concerned it incentivises fossil fuels at the expense of renewables.
The multi-partisan committee did not endorse any particular emissions reduction policy but set out principles suggesting major parties need to reach a stable accommodation and proposed a search for new solutions.
It called for the energy and environment minister and state energy counterparts to look at “new market, non‐market, and regulatory approaches” to maintaining dispatchable power capacity and system security in the national electricity market.
Updated
And now Labor is clearing out. So with that, I’ll pop back into the office.
The government MPs clear out very quickly. Labor remains, although Bill Shorten has popped out and Anthony Albanese has stepped into his chair.
Question time ends
Emma Husar gives us a throwback Thursday, by reminding us of the advice Barnaby Joyce delivered last week while speaking to the LNP faithful at Toowoomba, when it came to housing affordability:
The deputy PM has told first-home buyers in Sydney to move to the country, saying, “Houses will always be incredibly expensive if you can see the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge.” Is this why you won’t take up Labor’s reforms to negative gearing? Has the PM told people in Sydney are not looking for the PM’s harbour views, they just want to be able to afford their first home”
Queue the same negative gearing answer we heard before.
And we finish with a dixer.
Updated
Just before Peter Dutton got his regular spot to talk about how many days it has been since there was a successful boat arrival and just how amazing he is at the home affairs portfolio (although he manages it without raising his voice, so he must still just be warming up) Bill Shorten asked Malcolm Turnbull about his federal anti-corruption body idea:
All Australians deserve to have confidence in their government, their parliament and of course the commonwealth public service. The PM has indicated that he’s open to considering Labor’s proposal to establish a national integrity commission. Will the PM join to work on a national integrity commission straight away?
Turnbull:
The summer break is a time for reflection and renewal no doubt but I don’t think the leader of the opposition has turned into an anti-corruption warrior. This is Sam Dastyari’s great defender. Great defender. It took weeks and weeks and weeks of public pressure and outrage before finally, finally he had to cut Senator Dastyari loose. And leave him out into the wide blue yonder. He’s now of course standing up, standing up for the integrity of the parliament. He really is. He’s standing up for the right of UK citizens to sit in the House of Representatives. That seems to be his current passion, Mr Speaker. At least David Feeney finally did the right thing and resigned.
Yadda, yadda, yadda, he doesn’t answer the question.
Also, Kristina Keneally time appears to have been replaced with Ged Kearney time. Huzzah.
Updated
Chris Bowen questions Scott Morrison on negative gearing:
The PM and the treasurer both claim that Labor’s reforms for negative gearing would be like a sledgehammer to property prices. Why were the PM and treasurer claiming one thing publicly while receiving different Treasury advice behind closed doors? Why is the government’s only answer to Australians struggling to buy their first home to mislead them about policies that will actually help them?
Morrison upgrades his indignation to ‘the Sharks just got a wrong call which lost them the grand final’ levels.
House price growth in Sydney has fallen from 17% per year down to less than 3% in the last 12 months. That followed the targeted, calibrated interventions by Apra to deal with the overheating that it had caused in the Sydney and Melbourne market. It was a targeted, tailored intervention which was about ensuring the hotter investment activity in those markets could be curtailed and we could have a soft landing in the Australian housing market. It’s gone from 17% down to 3%. The leader opposition and the shadow treasurer are now saying on top of that we should abolish negative gearing and increase the capital gains tax by 50%. If it’s fallen to less than 3%, how far do you want to see property prices fall in this country and undermine the consumer confidence which is at the highest level in four years?
Updated
Back to #deathtodixers
While Christopher Pyne extolled the government’s defence strategy, we took a quick look at the chamber. Labor has managed to bring back some of the rowdiness, after a relatively quiet start. Barnaby Joyce has spent the entire time reading. The Coalition backbench is very interested in its laptops and phones. Anne Aly looks like she is questioning every life choice which has led her to this moment.
We have a whole week of this.
Steve Ciobo is next on the dixer stage. We move on #deathtodixers
Catherine King is next up from the opposition:
Some of the big private health insurance companies are making a return on equity of over 20%, a return even larger than the big banks. At the same time they’re charging Australians record amounts for private health insurance. Why is the PM giving a $65bn handout to big business, including big insurers, instead of doing something for ordinary Australians who are struggling with the spiralling costs of private health insurance?
Health minister Greg Hunt steps up:
Labor hates private health insurance. Labor hates private health insurance. Last time they came into government they took an axe to private health insurance. They promised before the election they wouldn’t slash the rebate. Every promise I made I paid for. How did I pay for it? I paid for it by targeting private health insurance. That’s what they did about private health insurance. But what did they do on costs? Here are the private health figures under them. An increase of 6%, 5.8%, 5.5%.5%. 5.6%. 6.2%. Health insurance premiums skyrocketed under Labor as well as the fact they slashed the rebate. And they want to do it again because what is their real policy? Whilst we have just delivered after real reform the lowest change in premiums in 17 years, lower than any year, any year under Labor, their average is more than 40%, 40% above what we achieved this year whilst that is what we’ve done. Their real policy is to slash the rebate and on top of that a 16% increase in private health insurance rebates. How does that come about? That comes about because their policy is to abolish low-cost choice of doctor premiums. That’s their policy. It’s clear, it’s outright and absolute. A 16% increase. What we saw yesterday was a con, a game and a smokescreen. It’s to pretend they can keep some headline rate.
Etc, etc, etc
Updated
Barnaby Joyce had the next dixer.
Moving on.
Bill Shorten asks about private health insurance:
The cost of private health insurance has never been higher. So why won’t the PM support Labor’s plan to cap private health insurance increases which will save Australian families an average of $340? Why won’t the Australian PM use his power to help Australian families instead of protecting big private health insurance companies?
Malcolm Turnbull starts by saying Labor hates the private health system. But he eventually gets to a point.
The private healthcare industry, their representatives, on February 4, made this point and it’s a very powerful one and worthy of reflection by the honourable members opposite, many of whom I imagine have their private health insurance covered by smaller union-based, employee-based private health insurance schemes.
An enforced premium pathway will put at risk a number of small employee-based and regional mutual health funds who were already close to breaching prudential reserves. Those health funds have been serving their local communities for decades and this election focus policy will directly threaten their future and competition in the sector. With this level of interference, bankruptcies will occur and further they add, the leader of the opposition should explain how Labor intends to override Apra’s strict prudential requirements. We’ve seen an increase in the premiums, the lowest since 2001. We would like it to be lower still. But the opposition leader’s cynical move will only disadvantage millions of Australian families.
Updated
Adam Bandt has the independents question and he uses it to talk about Batman.
“Wasn’t Bernie Sanders right when he said the electricity grid should be in public hands because it’s an essential service and shouldn’t be run for profit?” is the basic gist of the question. He ends it with a call to “bring a bit of Bernie to Batman” and elect a Green.
Malcolm Turnbull:
I couldn’t find anything in it that the Labor candidate for Batman would disagree with. I was wondering whether the manager of opposition business had dropped some speaking notes from the Labor Batman campaign – nationalising the energy grid? I’ve heard Ged Kearney talk about that. Mr Speaker, it’s got a certain retro aspect to it. I think we have all learned that nationalisation and state intervention of that kind has not been successful. I know in the Greens party they hanker for the good old times. They want to get back to the USSR but sadly that’s all over from their point of view. Happily for everybody else.
I guess we are all meant to forget that for a good chunk of last year, the government was talking about building a new coal-fired power station? I suppose that is different.
Updated
Tony Burke has a question on Adani (the reports he is talking about is ours, and you’ll find it here.)
I refer to reports Adani tampered with scientific evidence in relation to contamination of sensitive wetlands with coal laden water. Is the government investigating this matter? Who is conducting the investigation? And will it report publicly?
Josh Frydenberg:
The shadow minister knows that is a state matter. And we on this House look after the most vigorous environmental assessment on the Adani mine and it led to 36 of the strictest requirements. And, as a result of the Adani mine going ahead, thousands of people will be employed in regional Queensland. Thousands of people. In Mackay, in Townsville, and where are those opposite standing up for workers in their electorates? And the leader of the opposition, he once said that Adani should go ahead. He was in favour of the Adani project. But then when Mr Feeney, the then member for Batman, lost his homework, Mr Speaker, lost his homework, subsequently resigned from his seat, Mr Speaker, and now they’re in a battle with the Greens, he’s had to move his policies to the left to placate the green left flank of the Labor party. So it’s a state matter, we continue to impose the most rigorous environmental assessments.
Updated
Scott Morrison is the next to be delivered a dixer, and as usual, he gives his ‘angry uncle shouting at the ref through the TV’ performance.
Tanya Plibersek gets the next opposition question:
Why is the PM increasing taxes on ordinary working Australians by about $300 every year at the same time as wages growth is at record lows?
I think you can guess Labor’s theme for this week (and year)
Malcolm Turnbull:
The honourable member opposite, when she talked about the cost of living, failed to note that Labor has opposed the National Energy Guarantee. They opposed our action on gas. They mocked our action with retailers. Thousands of Australian families are already saving hundreds of dollars on their energy bill thanks to their efforts and the efforts in particular of the energy minister. And they have mocked ... they have mocked Snowy 2.0, the biggest battery ever in the southern hemisphere. So there is not one part of our policy, whether it is on energy, whether it is on tax, whether it is on investment, that is not about delivering better times for Australians and reducing the pressure of higher household expenses and living costs.
Updated
The first dixer for 2018 is on exactly how amazing the government has been in driving “jobs, investment and economic growth”.
I know some of you want the answers to these dixers, but I would direct you to a government media release, which can be found on their Twitter and individual MP websites, if you are that desperate to hear the answers to questions like these.
If someone asks something which is actually about their electorate and not written by a ministerial staffer, I’ll let you know. If the answer gives some information which is not just an attack or propaganda, I’ll let you know. In the mean time #deathtodixers
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The first question from Bill Shorten, and it’s on the company tax cuts.
Last year company profits increased by 20%. Average wages for Australians increased by just 2%. So why is the PM giving the top end of town a $65bn tax cut while increasing taxes on ordinary workers up to $300 every year?”
Can you guess the answer? I bet you can.
Malcolm Turnbull starts with joke that he is glad the questions are the same as last year. That could have something to do with not having magically solved all the issues of last year, despite the clock ticking over to 2018, but details, details.
He has opposed legislation that has gone through this parliament in the course of the last 18 months which is creating those 403,000 jobs. The tax cuts for small and medium businesses overwhelmingly family-owned Australian businesses, these are businesses that are investing and they are employing and the leader of the opposition wants to take those tax cuts away. He wants businesses to they more tax. He wants families to pay more tax. He wants more tax on investment and on property. He does not have one policy to encourage one business to invest $1 or hire one employee.”
Updated
Speeches have moved to the Federation Chamber.
Malcolm Turnbull is now giving a speech on Michael Gordon’s untimely passing over the weekend:
We were, all of us, shocked and saddened, astonished, really, by Michael’s death, on the weekend. He was gentle, he was wise. He was always calm in a business not known for calm. A great man, a good man, great writer and mentor. In the maelstrom of a newsroom, as political stories broke and events moved and shifted, Micky was the personification of calm. He was able to do that rarest of things under pressure, reflect on what was before him rather than rush to judgment.
Bill Shorten:
As a journalist he never chose to put himself in the centre of things or make himself the star. He wasn’t interested in sensationalism or sneering. He was a genuine reporter. He cared about the story. He was an understated earnest man who in that understated earnest way gave the reader the respect of intelligence. When an article had Michael’s byline, you knew that what was written was sincerely believed and to be believed. If he was critical of you it was genuine. You were being weighed and measured by the very best.”
Press gallery members, friends & colleagues of journalist Michael Gordon placed a Banksia in the colours of his beloved Hawthorn Football club at his empty seat in the House before #qt this afternoon @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus #politicslive pic.twitter.com/KoOuaVNMMO
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) February 5, 2018
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Question time begins
Michael Gordon’s seat, five chairs in on the front row, on the right of the press gallery, has been marked with a flower, tied with the colours of his beloved Hawthorn.
We start with condolence motions for Flo Bjelke-Petersen, Barry Cohen and Brian Conquest.
A floral tribute is placed at the seat Michael Gordon usually sat at, ahead of Question Time in the House of Representatives pic.twitter.com/W1YQ1FODDd
— Alex Ellinghausen (@ellinghausen) February 5, 2018
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Oh dear. How long ago was it that Jim Molan was sworn in?
Looks like he has been caught sharing videos from Britain First. The same group which got US President Donald Trump an admonishment from Theresa May
I’ll be heading into the chamber to cover this first question time, so let me know your predictions.
Coming up to question time at 2pm and so far this morning we have had:
• Adani
• Citizenship drama
• Energy
For a moment there, I thought it was still 2017. This is doing nothing to sway me from my theory that the end of the world actually occurred in 2007 and we have all been living in some sort of purgatory since then. How early is too early to add vodka to your coffee? Asking for a friend.
Updated
At a press conference in Canberra Matt Canavan has spruiked the benefits of the Adani Carmichael coalmine and attacked Bill Shorten for positioning Labor to find a way to kill the project.
Asked if there is some other way for the federal government to help the mine other than the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, Canavan said:
The only proposal before us was the [Naif] loan, that has now been vetoed by the Queensland government, which is their right. As I said last year, that’s that. That particular path is closed. There is another proposal from Aurizon ... the Queensland government is yet to come back to us on what their position on that project is.
Asked if there was some way to directly fund the project, the northern Australia and resources minister said:
Well that proposal is not before us and no, we can’t do that without the legislative authority, of course. We had that availability through the Naif [and because of] the constitutional reasons that became apparent when that legislation went through we’ve had to go through the states.
Updated
Matt Canavan has just held a press conference. Shock, horror, he was defending Adani.
He suggested Labor’s switch in position on Adani had something to do with the Batman byelection.
Will wonders never cease?
Updated
Julie Bishop is heading across the ditch, with a visit planned to New Zealand next week.
But she won’t be meeting with Jacinda Ardern. *Cough*
From her statement:
I will visit Auckland from 9 to 10 February to meet with the Rt Hon Winston Peters, New Zealand’s deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs.
This will be my second meeting with Mr Peters since New Zealand’s general election and Minister Peters’ appointment in October 2017. We will discuss bilateral, regional and global issues of importance to both our countries.
Australia’s relationship with New Zealand is the closest and most comprehensive of all our bilateral relationships. It is underpinned by deep and dynamic links between our peoples through family, business enterprise, cultural activity and sporting rivalry. Around 650,000 New Zealanders live in Australia, and close to 70,000 Australians live in New Zealand.
Together with nine other like-minded countries, earlier this month New Zealand and Australia concluded the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership. Our total two-way trade with New Zealand in 2016-17 was valued at $26.8bn, with strong growth in the two-way services trade. Australian investment in New Zealand is valued at almost $107bn and New Zealand’s investment is valued at $A46.2bn.
We share with New Zealand a commitment to the international rules-based order and to an open global trading system.
New Zealand is an essential and valuable partner in supporting economic growth, stability and security of the Pacific. Mr Peters and I will discuss how to increase our shared efforts to support Pacific Island countries to tackle development challenges and promote a stable and resilient region.
Updated
Sarah Hanson-Young is calling for a full audit of the Murray-Darling basin plan.
From her release:
The intervention by economists and scientists today shows that there’s serious lack of trust amongst policy experts. Experts and the community alike know that things are not as rosy as the federal government or the Murray-Darling Basin Authority would like everyone to believe. Scandals of water theft, tampering of water metres and rorting of public money spent on water and irrigation subsidies with little water being returned to the river has undermined the plan and wasted billions of taxpayers’ dollars. The longer authorities and politicians turn a blind eye to what is happening the harder it will be to get things back on track.
Despite these scandals, the Senate is being asked to agree to a further weakening of environmental allocations. The Greens will not stand by and let this happen, which is why we will move to disallow the government’s recent push to weaken the plan’s existing sustainable diversion limits.
Updated
The parliamentary committee looking into modernising Australia’s power grid has handed down its report.
You’ll find it here. We are just having a look at it now, so we’ll let you know the key points, if you actually have a life and don’t want to spend part of it reading a parliamentary report.
Updated
Here’s a blast from the (not so distant) past. Malcolm Roberts, who is now on the payroll of Pauline Hanson, was out and about outside parliament this morning. Novelty joint for scale.
Updated
Speaking of the Adani protest:
Updated
The Adani protest is picking up steam outside Parliament House (and Batman)
The Queensland Greens senator Andrew Bartlett has been on Sky this morning talking about Labor’s need to pick a position. Queensland Labor remains in support of it. Federal Labor is backing away. The Queensland Greens are going through an internal preselection battle for the state Senate spot. This isn’t going away as an issue anytime soon. In fact, it is just getting started.
.@AndrewBartlett: the Adani coal mine is 'dodgy' and we need a statement from Labor indicating whether they support the mine or not. MORE: https://t.co/j81O8Ni7lX pic.twitter.com/32DJHxOZgP
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) February 5, 2018
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Some Mike Bowers chamber magic
Updated
A memorial is being held for the former Hawke minister Barry Cohen.
Malcolm Turnbull:
He also believed Australian parliamentarians should never stop learning and obtain every skill possible. This was hardly surprising. He was a first-class golfer, postman, clerk and businessmen. To Barry, no vocation was more enthralling or rewarding than writing, that he continued to write even after Alzheimer’s cast its long shadow. His writings opened the door on what had previously been a very private pain of those who lived with Alzheimer’s. He fought for greater awareness of dementia and often did it, again, with his trademark humour. When John Howard asked him how he found life in a nursing home, he replied, ‘it’s like question time!’ Australia has been enriched by his presence. To his family, I offer the supreme thanks of a nation for a life of service well served. Thank you.
Bill Shorten:
We remember a remarkable man with an extraordinary legacy. He safeguarded some of Australia’s most precious national treasures for future generations, from Uluru to Kakadu to the Great Barrier Reef. He championed the security of Israel and a stronger tie between the two nations. And even when his time in public life had ended, even when he became more than one of 400,000 Australians living with dementia, he did not go gentle into that good night. In fact, that is when I came to know him best. Not from his remarkable ... six columns in the Australian extolling my virtues, a feat never to be repeated, but in his search for a better deal for older Australians. I think we know that all that charisma, all that humour, all that passion and undoubted love for his family, for whom he was very proud and talked to me at length about, that lifetime of campaigning experience channelled into a course so often overlooked. We do not have a cure for dementia yet and we have a long way to go before, I think, we are doing aged care in this country worthy of the generation that taught us and helped us build a modern Australia. But when we find the cure, when every older Australia and in their family can enjoy a life of great dignity and security, Barry Cohen will be due a measure of great credit. On behalf of the Labor family and your family, I say thank you ... We are all the better for his contribution to our country. May he rest in peace.
Updated
Speaking of backbenches, Keith Pitt and Darren Chester have taken their new seats in the back row, for the first week of parliament since both were demoted.
That came after Matt Canavan came third in the ballot to choose Barnaby Joyce’s Nationals deputy. Canavan was Joyce’s choice. Bridget McKenzie was the eventual victor and the cabinet reshuffle saw two popular and performing Nats booted. Read into that what you will. Plenty of others certainly have.
For the politico watchers:
In case you missed it! @SabraLane has been appointed as President of the National Press Club. Sabra is the second female correspondent to be become President in the 55 year history of the club. #NPChttps://t.co/bQSdMG8dWn
— National Press Club (@PressClubAust) February 4, 2018
The calm before the storm
Updated
Speaking to Fran Kelly on the ABC this morning, Simon Birmingham did not rule out the government using its numbers to force Susan Lamb’s referral:
So the point is that the law set down by the high court is now quite clear. We don’t all like the law, the government took different propositions to the court, however the court found that the Australian constitution is black and white and Susan Lamb’s case appears to be black and white. She should do the right thing. She and Bill Shorten should both show some honour about this and simply not waste the parliament’s time, not waste the court’s time, not set any precedents, but just follow David Feeney’s lead and go to a byelection.”
Just so you know how big a departure from tradition this is, when Malcolm Roberts (who was ultimately found to be a dual citizen) was refusing to refer himself to the high court, despite the piles and piles and piles of evidence he did not renounce his UK citizenship before nominating, Labor and the government went to One Nation together, to convince them to make the move themselves.
That was because no one wanted to see a departure from tradition by forcing the referral. Fast forward to now and, well, things are getting ugly.
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Senate business
In the Senate, we are moving VERY quickly. It is almost as if everyone has spent the break working out how they are going to move forward in an election year (and they are all preparing for an election, even if one is not due until 2019 and even though one could not be reasonably be held because of the double dissolution until August. Labor has admitted it, and I see you all had fun in the extended comment thread. Yes, I was lurking.)
Jim Molan has been sworn in.
Sam Dastyari has officially resigned.
George Brandis has not yet resigned (he’s going to be our man in Britain) but he is on the backbench. He’ll get a valedictory on Wednesday. So stay tuned for that.
Fraser Anning has officially quit One Nation. He will sit as an independent. (For now.)
Lucy Gichuhi has announced her switch to the Liberals.
Don’t expect Kristina Keneally to take her seat until after the New South Wales parliament has had its joint sitting and officially nominated her.
Updated
Adam Bandt will be introducing the Greens bill to legislate for more paid family and domestic violence leave.
Tony Abbott has started 2018 as he means to go on – calling on the Turnbull government to “sharpen up the policy difference” with Labor by building a new coal power station and “ending the emissions obsession”.
In an interview on 2GB Radio in which he noted the government had lost 26 Newspolls in a row, Abbott also called for a reduction in immigration which he suggested would improve housing affordability.
It’s the same conservative manifesto the former prime minister has been spruiking since mid last year.
Abbott said that flying the Aboriginal flag on the Harbour Bridge “sends all the wrong signals … it sends a signal that we are effectively two nations”.
Ahead of the New South Wales branch considering party reforms, Abbott said there “is not unity in our party when it comes to empowering the members”. The Liberal moderate faction – which Abbott repeatedly referred to as “leftwing” – had put up a Bennelong motion which he described as “a little bit of democracy in five years’ time”
“It allows the left faction to say ‘yes we have reformed’ while preserving their own position.”
In another swipe at the Turnbullites, Abbott said that “serendipity” now sees Jim Molan enter the Senate due to the citizenship crisis after the “leftwing faction tried to keep him out”.
Updated
John Alexander is back in the parliament. He will take his oath first thing.
This will not be the only reminder we have of the citizenship drama today. The government is pushing VERY hard to have Susan Lamb resign or referred and Alexander’s return gives it the numbers it needs to force a referral. That would be a huge departure from protocol and tradition. It would also signal quite a brutal determination to use its numbers to force other parties into actions, which would be quite the statement.
Labor is hoping to ride it out, at least until the high court decides what reasonable steps to renouncing citizenship is.
For those needing a refresher, Lamb renounced her citizenship, but didn’t have all the documents, so it wasn’t processed in time by her nomination to the parliament. Labor senator Katy Gallagher also didn’t have her documents in order by the time of the nomination for the 2016 election, so she referred herself to the high court, where reasonable steps will be the foundation of the ruling.
My colleague Paul Karp has handily put together this explainer. I would bookmark it if I was you. We are going to be back here many, many times.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Updated
The bells are ringing, which means the parliament is almost back.
It is largely ceremonial today. But you’ll find the Reps schedule here and the Senate schedule here.
Updated
Adani is back on the national agenda. Labor, after this story, have switched up their language on the company’s Queensland mining project.
Protesters were outside parliament this morning. And with the Greens a very real and present threat (to Labor) in the Batman byelection, well, it’s only going to get more relevant.
The chairman of Adani, Gautam Adani, had a few things to say to Indian business news website Livemint on the opposition to his company’s project:
“In recent years our project has faced intense resistance abetted by some international NGOs and competitors who have turned to vicious personal attacks and used the press to their advantage,” he told the website.
“The fact is that renewable energy technologies are not currently ready to provide uninterrupted base load power.
“The fact is that it is our responsibility to get electricity to the Indian child who needs to light that single bulb to educate himself.”
Updated
Before we start with the day’s events, I’d like to take a moment for something personal.
Michael Gordon, a friend and mentor to many in the gallery, died at the weekend, and the grief is still coming in waves.
Micky was the best of us. Courageous, fair to a fault, fearless in speaking truth to power, incredibly humble and always seeking to use his platform for good.
He left the Age last year, where he spent 37 of his 44 years in journalism, and wrote about what he’d learnt during his career. You’ll find his piece, Looking for something good and trying to do better, here. It’s pinned up at my desk at home. Along with the words he shared with me when I first started in the gallery – “Be good, be kind.”
So many of us have a Micky story. Know the power of a Micky hug. I was one of the many privileged enough to work alongside him. Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones, whom he held above everything.
We don’t have the words. I doubt we ever will. So I ask you: Be good, be kind.
A statement on Michael Gordon from all of us at the Press Gallery committee. Words just aren’t enough, but here are some: pic.twitter.com/oPYy5mpape
— David Crowe (@CroweDM) February 4, 2018
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Welcome to politics live for 2018
Your federal leaders are back, and so are we.
I hope everyone has managed to have some kind of rest because our federal MPs have sprung into the first sitting week chomping at the bit.
The latest Newspoll has Malcolm Turnbull facing his 26th loss in a row but the Coalition has slightly improved its primary vote and Bill Shorten is still chasing Turnbull as preferred PM. Labor still leads the Coalition in the two-party-preferred measure – 52 to 48.
But Shorten is starting the year with a byelection looming in Batman, which Labor only just won from the Greens in 2016. David Feeney has resigned and Ged Kearney is running. That doesn’t seem to be the end of the citizenship drama though, with Christopher Pyne still calling for Susan Lamb to be referred to the high court. Labor has returned fire with calls for Jason Falinski to front the bench. And so on and so on.
On the policy side of things (I know), Scott Morrison is pushing his tax cut agenda HARD, while Labor is zeroing in on inequality and wage growth. The two things aren’t exactly simpatico, so that should make for some interesting debates.
And Lucy Gichuhi will sit on the government benches for the first time after defecting from the crossbench. Which doesn’t really do a lot for the government’s numbers, because Gichuhi voted with the government anyway, and let’s not forget Cory Bernardi was elected as a Liberal before jumping ship to his own party.
Fraser Anning will formally leave One Nation today as well – keep an eye on where he could eventually end up. (I know Bernardi will be.)
I would also recommend you read this from my colleague Anne Davies – the Murray-Darling basin plan will be one of the sleeper issues this year. Don’t underestimate its impact in the regions.
Parliament resumes at lunchtime. The leaders are at the traditional church services while their lieutenants take potshots at each other. I hope you’ve had your coffee. I’ve had about three and it still doesn’t seem enough.
Mike Bowers has been out and about for hours so follow along with him at @mpbowers and @mikepbowers while you’ll find me at @amyremeikis and @ifyouseeamy. And of course, the comment section is open for your enjoyment. I’ll be making visits when I can, but if it’s urgent, hit me up on Twitter.
Let the games begin!
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