We are going to wind down the blog for the night, but we will be back early tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow, the Closing the Gap latest report will be delivered to the parliament. Last year came with a renewed focus on a “refresh” – as Scott Morrison said in 2019
At Coag in December last year, all governments committed to share ownership of, and responsibility for, jointly agreed frameworks, targets and ongoing monitoring of a refreshed Closing the Gap Agenda, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples at its heart.
Cag asked that this work be finalised by the middle of this year.
This is a major step toward the genuine and mutually respectful formal partnership between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians that will empower individuals and allow communities to thrive.
Governments fail when accountabilities are unclear. When investment is poorly targeted, When systems aren’t integrated. And when we don’t learn from evidence.
This is why clear accountability will be at the centre of a new approach to Closing the Gap, with states and territories and the commonwealth government and Indigenous Australians having clear responsibilities for delivering on targets.
This is also why the progress we jointly make will be subject to regular independent Indigenous-led reviews.
This is about delivering action on the ground.
And this is about giving us all the best chance for success.
This year, we will see how that is going.
We’ll have that, and whatever else the Wednesday throws at us. You get the feeling everyone in this building is a little more tired and cranky than they usually are at this point in the sitting. Tensions seem a little fraught and patience a little short, so it should be a *fun* last two days.
A very big thank you to Mike Bowers for his magic, as well as Sarah Martin, Paul Karp and Katharine Murphy for all that they do. And of course to everyone behind the scenes, who tidy up after my fingers and brain and generally keep this project ticking over and me standing.
Thank you to everyone who commented, or sent messages – I do try to get back to all of them, but some days I am more successful than others. If you have a burning enquiry, you’ll find me on the socials here, and here.
Have a lovely night. And please – take care of you.
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Backbench senator Matt Canavan is wasting no time stirring the pot from his new seat in the Senate.
Just as Labor’s social team have wasted no time in capturing his interjections to Simon Birmingham in the Senate in a video for their MPs to share.
Is this Liberal National Government funding a new coal-fired power plant or not?
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) February 11, 2020
The Nationals say yes...
The Liberals say no...
Clear as mud.@senator_sheldon @MsMarielleSmith pic.twitter.com/nemDppWWYj
Over in the Senate, Larissa Waters and Janet Rice have seen a motion demanding the government produce documents between the infrastructure minister and the prime minister regarding the sports grant affair pass.
The government has until tomorrow morning to produce the documents.
Which, based on recent history, it will not.
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And it’s official, official.
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Some other question time goodies from Mike Bowers:
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Someone seemed a little cranky this question time.
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Bob Katter, whose electorate of Kennedy sits just outside Collinsville, in the Capricornia electorate where the coal-obsessed Nationals want a coal-fired power plant has some things to say about the proposal:
The federal government has bowed to the pressure of rogue, leadership driven Nationals by announcing a $4m feasibility study into a 1 gigawatt power station at Collinsville, Bob Katter has said.
The Kennedy MP believes a power station of that size doesn’t stack up financially, and has called on Nationals MPs to stop using the north as a plaything for their own leadership battles.
“I am all for a single unit, 200-megawatt power station at Collinsville,” Mr Katter said.
“There was a power station there previously, so half of it is already built. The basic infrastructure is there; pylons, housing, buildings, and flooring. The construction costs would be negligible; it would create 100 jobs for the area and you would need to transport the coal from Newlands 60km away. So a 200-megawatt power station would be relatively cheap for North Qld industry and I say if you want to build it, just do it.
“Going to a power station five times the size is just ridiculous. If we build a major coal-fired power station, the size they are talking of, we are locked into $84 a megawatt hour – Finkle is right. North Qld’s businesses and industries would collapse. Alternatively the people in south-east Qld are getting their power at $28 a megawatt hour.”
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High court decision may have created 'a new category of persons', says minister.
It has taken a while, but the acting immigration minister, Alan Tudge, has responded to the high court decision from this morning. The key line here is:
“On the face of it, it has created a new category of persons; neither an Australian citizen under the Australian Citizenship Act, nor a non-citizen.”
Brendan Thoms has also been released from detention, following the court’s 4-3 ruling.
The statement:
The high court delivered a significant judgment today which has implications for our migration programs.
In Love v Commonwealth of Australia and Thoms v Commonwealth of Australia, the high court acknowledged that neither Mr Thoms nor Mr Love were born in Australia and neither are Australian citizens under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.
Both men are citizens of other countries and entered Australia on valid visas, which were mandatorily cancelled under the character provisions in the Migration Act 1958, due to their significant criminal histories.
The Migration Act gets its head of power under s 51(xix) of the Australian constitution – the power to make laws for “aliens”.
The court held that Aboriginal Australians are not within the reach of the “aliens” power under the constitution. This may have implications for both the operation of the Australian Citizenship Act and the Migration Act.
On the face of it, it has created a new category of persons; neither an Australian citizen under the Australian Citizenship Act, nor a non-citizen.
The government is currently reviewing the decision and its implications.
In light of the court’s ruling, Mr Thoms was this morning released from immigration detention. Mr Love had previously been released in September 2018.
The Department of Home Affairs will consider the best methods to review other cases which may be impacted.
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Robodebt payments should be returned, says Bill Shorten
On robodebt, Bill Shorten says he believes most of the $1.5bn the government raised in revenue using the scheme, should be returned to those who paid it:
I mean, the reality is that if this, just without over complicating it. Robodebt was introduced by the government.
They would assess whether or not a Centrelink recipient was entitled to a payment. It doesn’t take into account sometimes people are unemployed and people are employed.
This is farmers, students, single mums and pensioners.
They have relied on a computer generated program and we have said it was an unfair program, but what I’ve discovered in the last few months and now the courts have established, it is illegal.
In other words, the government didn’t have the power to just rely on a computer program without checking it before they sent the letter of demand out to vulnerable Australians.
This is a scandal.
I know we’re almost so cynical about scandals, but this is a situation where the government of Australia, the biggest entity, the most powerful organisation in Australia has been unlawfully creating debts from citizens to the commonwealth which were just invalid. Why don’t heads roll anymore?
... It was an unlawful scheme. It is wrong.
... If you have been breaking the law for three-and-a-half years and then you decide to breaking the law is that good for bad? It makes you look stupid and negligent. What happened on 19 November is the chief lawyer for the tax office says to the commissioner of taxation effectively it was a smoking gun document which the document didn’t want us to see, but we won the vote so it went out publicly.
They said, “Hey, the Department of Social Security’s lawyers have told us we can’t do this.”
How embarrassing for the tax office. They go along taxing and doing everything and they have been told by the science brigade in the government, the lawyers that it is October and it is OK and now it is not OK.
The government were so greedy there they wanted to go after welfare shaming, blame the poor they are ripping things off and they didn’t bother to check the detail. Two, they did check the detail and they just didn’t care. Either way it is an incompetent scandal and in this government where blame never sticks to the elected ministers, who is in charge?
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Bill Shorten is now speaking to Patricia Karvelas on the ABC and he’s asked about Labor’s position on coal:
First of all, we’ve got coal fired power stations and they’re part of our energy grid, but going forward, you know, I know that people like to debate the hypotheticals – the only proposal which seems to have any legs at all is that the government will underwrite a taxpayer funded coal fired power station.
That’s the only proposition on the table and Labor wouldn’t invest any taxpayer money in that.
...It is a hypothetical and we know that one of the great stalling tactics of the climate sceptics of the government and they did it to some effect in the last election was, you know, putting up these hypothetical propositions.
I agree with something that the previous interviewee, Zali Steggall said. We have got to start thinking about the future.
You and I know that this government is so divided that they have got to placate the climate sceptics with taxpayer-funded coal fired power stations and that’s the issue and indeed today in Question Time, poor old Minister Birmingham is up the front trying to give one answer and you hear Matt Canavan down the back interjecting and you have got George Christensen out there on contradicting other Liberals.
We have this ongoing destructive debate we have seen since 2013.
On the division within the Coalition on climate, Zali Steggall says:
Look, I think it is distracting and I don’t think it is good, but at the same time this is democracy and to expect everyone to have the same views on every issue is unrealistic, but what I want to see is every issue being given the same weight and importance.
We should have a conscience vote on the climate change bill where it is a matter of principle. We should not have a situation where a couple of rogue voices hold to ransom good policy.
... I’m not in the party room. I’m an independent, but I certainly encourage and urge every MP that feels strongly that we need to be on a path of clear policy when it comes to climate action to speak up. You have a duty to your electorate to ensure they are safe in the future. I support those MPs that want to speak up on better action on climate change.
...I do think everyone is accountable. And at the end of the day we are all accountable to the electorate and the people who voted for us, if they don’t feel we have done a great job in representing their views and concerns, it will be their decision in two years.
We have that duty and responsibility. This is what we’re here to do. We have a duty to make sure we’re looking further afield.It can’t just be about reactive policies and three-year short-termism.
We need to put in place a long-term plan. So I would encourage MPs to be brave and stick to their principles and really fight for what’s right.
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Zali Steggall tells Patricia Karvelas more than 20,000 people have signed the petition calling for her climate bill to be treated as a conscience vote. It has only been up since the weekend.
Guardian Australia understands that shadow assistant treasurer Stephen Jones has made an offer for Labor to support the Coalition’s proposed amnesty for employers who have failed to pay superannuation – if the Coalition agrees to an amendment putting the superannuation guarantee in the national employment standards.
Super in the NES would make it a right enforceable by workers (and their unions, lawyers etc), to sue for unpaid super rather than relying on the Australian Tax Office to follow it up.
Labor points to the fact an amnesty is expected to gain back just $86m of the $5.9bn unpaid superannuation bill, so wants something with more teeth.
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The Law Council has responded to the the high court decision today. From its statement:
The Law Council of Australia has welcomed a landmark high court decision confirming that the Australian parliament cannot use the “aliens” power to make laws for Aboriginal Australians.
Law Council president, Pauline Wright, said the decision of the high court today in Love v Commonwealth of Australia; Thoms v Commonwealth of Australia flows from the Mabo (No 2) decision in 1992.
This decision confirms that the question of membership of Aboriginal societies is outside of the legislative power of the Australian parliament, Ms Wright said.
“Many lawyers were concerned about the notion that people of Indigenous heritage could be deported both for the individuals concerned and their families,” Ms Wright said.
“The Law Council welcomes the decision which turned on the principle of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people having native title rights. These rights depend on the existence of societies with continuing systems of law and customs that pre-date the acquisition of sovereignty by the British, and the unique connection Aboriginal people have to the lands of Australia. This means they cannot be regarded as aliens.”
Ms Wright said the decision raised a number of complex issues which require careful consideration.
The plaintiffs in the case were both born outside Australia and were not Australian citizens but they identified as Aboriginal people and were accepted as such by other members of their community.
“The decision is not one which the high court has previously had to consider but is one of a number of questions which might naturally flow from the Mabo (No 2) decision in 1992,” Ms Wright said.
“It will no doubt be the subject of much scrutiny and comment in the coming weeks and months.”
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Scott Morrison calls time on question time.
That hour was a very long month.
I just nearly choked on a rogue Snickers peanut and that was still more enjoyable than this question time.
You’re really not yourself when you’re hangry.
What we learned there, in that very long nothing answer, is that the government wants to avoid answering whether or not it would provide an indemnity to any new coal-fired power plant in north Queensland.
And that is important to note.
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Mark Butler to Scott Morrison:
The proponents of the Collinsville coal power plant have said it will require a taxpayer indemnity from carbon risk, which the Australian Industry Group says could cost taxpayers $17bn. Will the prime minister provide that indemnity?
Morrison:
Our government believes in jobs. We believe in jobs in north Queensland. We believe in jobs in northern Tasmania. We believe in jobs in Western Australia.
Right across the country we believe in jobs and we believe in ensuring that manufacturing continues to be able to get access to the reliable power it needs to ensure that they can support jobs and livelihoods into the future.
So before the last election our government committed to undertake to look at what the reliable power generation options were to support heavy industry in north Queensland. And that review, Mr Speaker, then led to the series of options that were put before the government, which the government has agreed to support, undertaking feasibility studies to assess those options and how they can support jobs in north Queensland.
Now, Mr Speaker, we are technology agnostics when it comes to ensuring we have reliable power generation in this country.
We want to ensure the electricity prices come down, not go up. We want to ensure the lights stay on, not go off.
We want to ensure that industries, whether they be in north Queensland or anywhere else, that provide the livelihoods for Australians continue to be maintained and we will assess the options which support those jobs. The simple question I have for those opposite...
We may never know the answer to that, because Tony Burke brings him up on relevance, which Tony Smith agrees with.
George Christensen then has a go:
The point of order is that the question is purely hypothetical. There is no carbon price unless they’re proposing to bring in a new tax.
Smith tells him the question is in order, and the prime minister didn’t object to it, so the time to have done that is passed.
Morrison goes on, but then Smith sits him down and tells him to get to the point.
Morrison:
What I was seeking to do was to say that the feasibility study of the Collinsville project was what the government has committed to undertake. The matter that the member has raised with me in this question is not currently before the government. It’s not currently before the government. It is not before us. What I know, Mr Speaker, is our government will always stand up for jobs and the leader of the opposition wants to have his eachway on every bet and when it comes to the resources industry in north Queensland and the jobs of north Queensland ... he is nowhere to be found.
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Vince Connolly appears to still be possessed by a cut-price Toastmasters aficionado, and is losing the battle to keep the spirit contained.
The power of Lizzo compels you.
The power of Lizzo compels you.
THE POWER OF LIZZO COMPELS YOU.
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Joel Fitzgibbon to Scott Morrison:
Will the prime minister consider the implementation of a minimum farmgate milk price to help our desperately struggling dairy farmers?
David Littleproud, and his tie, gets the nod for this one:
This is nothing more than a cruel hoax. This should be above politics and cheap politicisation. In fact, the member for Hunter is not promising a minimum milk price, what he said was he’d get the ACCC to investigate.
Let me save the Australian taxpayer a couple of million dollars.
The ACCC gave back a report that actually said it shouldn’t do that but in fact we should have a dairy code of conduct, one in which this government is putting in place.
One which we are making sure that there is a timeline of transition, complemented by a market mechanism that will grow like other commodities can. That other commodities enjoy.
This is about ensuring that populous politics and the policies of One Nation are not adopted by the Labor party.
This reckless, reckless cruel hoax to dairy farmers that are doing it tough is something I didn’t think I would see, particularly the last time that we had a floor price was for wool. It was for wool. And how did that work out?
That ended up being a stockpile, an oversupply.
All economists say exactly the same thing. This is a perishable product. A perishable product. In fact, I remember the member for Hunter coming into this chamber and espousing the fact that it was a Labor minister that got rid of the floor price on wool. Now they have turned around and gone with the economic advice of One Nation. That is what the economic credentials of the Australian Labor party has become, nothing more than a cruel hoax.
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From a reader:
@AmyRemeikis New 'anti-solar' panel generates electricity in the dark. Researchers at the University of California, Davis are working on a solar panel that will keep generating power after the sun sets. https://t.co/ZXq7BFUtHd
— Chris (@psylenced) February 11, 2020
Michael McCormack is really enjoying Keith Pitt’s performance.
Enough said.
Phil Thompson brings Keith Pitt to the dispatch box, and the new minister turns up with a “it’s great to be back”.
Dude, it’s been less than 24 hours. You didn’t actually go anywhere.
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Scott Morrison continues:
And I can confirm that the small-scale renewable energy technology package remains part of the government’s policy and will continue to remain part of the government’s policy, Mr Speaker.
And the minister of resources – and I’ve been asked about comments by the minister for resources. And I quote the minister for resources – he has a lot of common sense.
He says, “As an electrical engineer, I can tell you solar panels don’t work in the dark.” Well, that’s a simple statement of fact, Mr Speaker.
We can’t have the entire Australian economy relying on the weather, he says, Mr Speaker, “otherwise you’d only be working between 11am and 3pm in the afternoon, if it’s just on solar. You won’t do anything in the dark.”
The minister of resources is making a point which seems lost on those opposite. That if you’re putting all your eggs in one basket on intermittent renewals, you cannot support jobs in heavy industry, Mr Speaker.
Now, the leader of the opposition needs a GPS to explain his policy, Mr Speaker. He’s got one policy on climate in north Queensland and another one down in Melbourne, Mr Speaker.
Just like the member for Maribyrnong.
Mr Speaker, they can’t even tell you what their 2030 target is. And if you ask the deputy leader of the Labor party, normally so eloquent at this dispatch box, as he comes and gives each audition without notes, you ask him about coal, Mr Speaker, and his tongue wraps around his head!
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Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
I refer to his new minister for resources’ statement that, and I quote, “We have got a real risk, particularly with solar panels and lithium batteries, that they could turn out to be this generation’s asbestos.”
Does this statement reflect his government’s policy?
That is in relation to this story from Sarah Martin in June 2019, where Keith Pitt said:
“This is the purpose of having the select committee, I think it is past time we had the conversation with the Australian people about nuclear energy,” Pitt said.
He said he wanted the select committee to also look at the lifetime costs of renewable technologies in comparison to nuclear, saying solar panels only had a life expectancy of up to 20 years and there were “tens of millions” of them already in the system.
“We have got a real risk particularly with solar panels and lithium batteries that they could turn out to be this generation’s asbestos,” he said.
“We need to look at the life cycle in its entirety and we need to have a balanced approach moving forward with energy in this country.”
Morrison:
Under our government, we have now one of the highest rates of solar panels on people’s roofs of any country in the world, Mr Speaker.
And, under our government’s policy, Mr Speaker, we know the future of emissions reduction and renewable energy is achieved through technology, not taxation. We know you achieve it not by putting people’s electricity prices up, we know you don’t put more taxes on it, and we know you don’t wipe out jobs in regional Australia because of the approaches that those opposite would have applied to the Australian people, had they been elected at the last election.
What we have, and the minister for resources and northern Australia is an electrical engineer, Mr Speaker. And, Mr Speaker, he could write on a postage stamp what the leader of the opposition would know about this issue compared to the new minister, Mr Speaker.
Albanese jumps up on relevance.
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Karen Andrews is going full Karen in the house.
Seriously. There is a reason we don’t cover dixers.
Susan Templeman to Greg Hunt:
Young Australians in my electorate have faced the stress and trauma of bushfires for weeks and weeks and weeks.
Yet the government’s only promised one headspace satellite service for my entire electorate, and it still hasn’t opened.
Will the government listen to the calls from my community to upgrade the Katoomba headspace to a full centre and get it up and running immediately?
Hunt:
And I want to thank the member for her point. Only yesterday I met with Pat McGorry, as well as spoke with the head of headspace for Australia.
We discussed a number of needs across Australia, and whilst they didn’t raise this one, I can say that this is one of 30 new services which the government is funding.
And, more significantly than that, we know that the Nepean Blue Mountains [primary health network] PHN is working closely with the local community to ensure that the new headspace is established.
In particular, in addition, the PHN is receiving funding of $500,000 to support young people aged 12-25 in bushfire-affected communities. So this is in addition to the headspace funding.
So we are supporting headspace by establishing one, we’re providing, right now, at this moment, $500,000. And unfortunately that was omitted from the question, that important detail.
And as well as that, and I make this commitment to the House, there is additional funding for those PHNs and those headspaces which require additional services, if demand exceeds what is provided for then we will provide that additional funding. So that will be demand-driven in the case of Katoomba. So it’s one of 30 around the country. It’s supplemented by $500,000, specifically for PHN.
Again, I realise that was an omission from the question. And the commitment is that if demand exceeds what is currently provided, we will meet that demand in full.
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There is a real pattern emerging of Nationals MPs wearing green ties with dark blue suits, and really I can see why the party room is in revolt.
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Josh Frydenberg is yelling again, and I can’t transcribe it, because GUESSWHOTHATFINANCIALGENIUSWASSIRTAXALOT is doing my head in, and really, you only get one life.
Angus Taylor is allowed to take dixers again.
Moving on.
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg (this is really shaping into the battle between two MPs who have the leadership of their respective parties in their future sights, and have a very similar parliamentary style – although one seems to know how microphones work, which gives him a slight edge):
The Reserve Bank said very low levels of investment are a very significant issue for the Australian economy. Given that business investment is now down 20% under this Liberal government, and is now at its lowest levels since the last recession three decades ago, why doesn’t the government have a plan to lift business investment and get the economy going again?
Frydenberg:
Under the Coalition, investment outside the mining sector has increased by 34% since we came to government, Mr Speaker. Under Labor, investment outside the mining sector fell by 10% during their time in office.
Now, Mr Speaker, the member for Rankin refers to the governor of the Reserve Bank. Now, the Governor of the Reserve Bank made a very interesting speech last week, and what he said was that the fundamentals of the Australian economy were, in his words, “very strong”, Mr Speaker. That is what he has said.
The strong fundamentals include world-class endowments of natural resources, a highly skilled and innovative workforce, an established and predictable regulatory system, sound public finances, a diverse and growing population, and being well-placed to benefit from the strong growth in Asia, not just in China, but also in the countries of Indonesia and India, Mr Speaker. So, this is what the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia said.
So we have a lot to feel fortunate about. “We enjoy a set of fundamentals and a standard of living that few other countries enjoy. It’s important that we do not lose sight of this.”
So, why is it only the Labor party who’s constantly talking down the Australian economy, Mr Speaker?
The governor of the Reserve Bank is saying how strong the fundamentals ... It’s because the Labor party are only interested in the politics of the economy, not the jobs that the economy creates, not in boosting the livelihoods of hardworking Australians.
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Someone is excited about the impending royal visit:
Surely we can get the Royals to the Buchan Caves? You know it makes sense @AmyRemeikis @rharris334 @kellazzaro #lovegippsland pic.twitter.com/1FmcvJlxea
— Darren Chester MP (@DarrenChesterMP) February 11, 2020
For the record, I am a republican. And also #TeamSussex
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It really is the Josh Frydenberg hour today.
My main takeaway is that he STILL hasn’t worked out how a microphone works.
Sussan Ley’s office has updated the threatened species list after the bushfires:
The Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel has identified a provisional list of 113 animal species as the highest priorities for action to support recovery from the 2019-2020 bushfires.
Among the animals identified for the most urgent management intervention are the Kangaroo Island dunnart, the northern corroboree frog, the Blue Mountains water skink and the Kangaroo Island glossy black cockatoo.
The panel’s detailed review overlays the status of species before the fires, the area of habitat potentially impacted by fires and the species’ overall vulnerability to fire events.
As the Morrison government’s initial $50m wildlife and habitat recovery package flows to states, natural resource managers and zoos to help fund animal treatment, insurance populations, food drops and pest animal control, the expert panel’s work is identifying species in most critical need of action for short-term protection and long-term recovery.
The panel’s scientific advice will help the government’s on-ground delivery partners to target their efforts to where it is most needed.
Thirteen birds, 19 mammals, 20 reptiles, 17 frogs, five invertebrates, 22 crayfish and 17 fish species are identified as the highest priorities for urgent management intervention over the coming weeks and months.
Some species were already threatened before the fires, but this new analysis also includes other mammal, bird, reptile, frog and crayfish species that were not previously considered to be under threat.
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You may be noticing a theme there. The theme being the budget surplus is probably forked, and Josh Frydenberg now has to sell a strong economy line, while walking back all the ‘back in black’ declarations and hoping that there is some massive turnaround in the next few months.
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Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
Can the treasurer confirm that, since the election, the government has downgraded its own forecasts for growth, the IMF and OECD have downgraded Australia’s growth forecasts more than other advanced economies, the Reserve Bank has downgraded its forecast for growth three times? Why has the government refused to provide support to an economy that was already floundering, even before the bushfires and coronavirus hit?
Frydenberg:
I can confirm to the House that the International Monetary Fund has the Australian economy growing faster this year than the United States, Canada, Japan, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Mr Speaker.
Now, the honourable member ... asked about the support that we were giving to the Australian economy.
Well, I can confirm, in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, which was released just prior to Christmas, we announced the bringing forward of $4.2bn in funding and spending on infrastructure, Mr Speaker.
And we announced more than half a billion dollars extra for aged care, Mr Speaker. And since the election, we’ve announced about $1.3bn of commitments over and above what had previously been announced in relation to responding to the drought, Mr Speaker.
And those on this side of the House know that we announced a $2bn National Bushfire Recovery Fund, which was on top of the payments and allowances which we provide from the commonwealth through the states.
Now that $2bn was announced without increasing taxes, Mr Speaker.
... So, the Labor party, they’re in favour of higher taxes, they’re in favour of fewer jobs, they’re in favour of stronger unions. What we are in favour of, on this side of the House, is more jobs, lower taxes and a stronger Australian economy.
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Michael McCormack, resembling the word interminable, is once again pretending to be a statesman, and honestly, it would be funny if it wasn’t so depressing.
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
Why does the treasurer pretend that weakness in the economy is entirely due to the fires and coronavirus, when before they hit, this Liberal government was already presiding over weak and slowing growth with a one in front of it, stagnant wages growth, high underemployment, declining business investment and falling productivity, well below-average consumer and business confidence, and record net debt and record household debt?
Frydenberg:
I’m pleased to inform the member for Rankin, and the House, that we have the first current account surplus in more than 40 years, Mr Speaker.
We have the lowest welfare dependency in 30 years, Mr Speaker. We have the biggest tax cuts in more than 20 years, Mr Speaker.
And we have the first balanced budget in 11 years, Mr Speaker. Now, the member for Rankin referred to the time before the coronavirus.
Now, Mr Speaker, that includes the month of December.
Now, that includes the job numbers for the month of December. Well, we created 29,000 new jobs, Mr Speaker. And unemployment fell to 5.1%, Mr Speaker. What was unemployment under Labor? 5.7%, Mr Speaker ... Today, employment growth is around three times what it was under Labor, and around double the OECD average, Mr Speaker.
Under Labor, the gender pay gap was 17.2% and rising. Today, it’s now 14%, Mr Speaker, and we’re seeing that women are about $1,000 a year better off, Mr Speaker, in that particular bracket.
Now, under Labor, non-mining investment was in free-fall, Mr Speaker. It fell 10% over their six years in government. Since we’ve come to government, growth in non-mining investment has been over 30%, Mr Speaker.
Under Labor, in the last year, 62,000 small businesses shut their door, Mr Speaker. Under us, in the last reported year, 75,000 small businesses were created, Mr Speaker.
Under Labor, living standards, as measured by real net national disposable income per capita, had fallen by 1.2%. And they are 3.3% higher through the year today, Mr Speaker.
And under Labor, in their last four budget outcomes, the budget deteriorated by about $80bn. Whereas our last four budgets, we’ve seen improvement of over $10bn, Mr Speaker. So growth continues under the Australian economy. We’ve seen more jobs created. And under Labor you’ll always see higher taxes and fewer jobs.
Once again – the last time Labor was in power, there was the global financial crisis.
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Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Does the prime minister agree with the father of the House, the Liberal member for Menzies, who said today, and I quote, “If you can’t govern yourselves, you can’t govern the country”?
Morrison: (tl;dr – the government is united, don’t you know)
... This government is united on the need to lower taxes, Mr Speaker. I can assure the House the government is united on the need to build infrastructure, as we are.
That we’re united on the need, Mr Speaker, to build the dams, that is climate action now, Mr Speaker. I can say, Mr Speaker, the government is united on the need to continue to expand our trade borders, as we have done, Mr Speaker, and increased the amount of trade, two-way trade that is subject to export agreements, under this government from 26% to 70%, Mr Speaker.
I can say absolutely, Mr Speaker, that this government is united on the need to bring our defence force funding and spending to 2% of GDP, Mr Speaker.
... And I can tell you we’re united on the need to take action on the drought and support drought funds, Mr Speaker.
I can tell you that we’re united on the position of having temporary exclusion orders for terrorists and mandatory sentencing for paedophiles, and cracking down on farm invaders, Mr Speaker.
And I can tell the House that we are united on the need to ensure that we meet our emissions reduction targets, not by increasing taxes on people, not by putting up people’s electricity prices, and not by walking away from the jobs of Australians in rural and regional areas.
That’s what we’re united on, and we’re united on what we took to the Australian people, Mr Speaker. And what we took to the Australian people was an economic plan to create jobs, and that’s what’s happening, Mr Speaker.
That’s what we took to the Australian people. Now, once upon a time was a Labor government that did believe in creating jobs, Mr Speaker. Given he is referring to a comment that was first made by the former prime minister, Mr Hawke, this is what the leader of the opposition used to say about the Hawke government, Mr Speaker.
He said in an article quoted in the Sydney Morning Herald, it was said that the Hawke government had lost touch with people when they talk about wages, budget deficits, they talk about it like it’s out of the textbooks.
[They show] ... an absolute contempt for working-class people. Someone like Keating can put himself up as a possible Labor PM, but he’s more comfortable mixing with millionaires and business executives than he is with working-class people.
This mob are not a patch on Hawke and Keating, Mr Speaker. They have nothing in common with them.
Tony Burke points out that the article quoted was from the “previous millennium” but the House moves on.
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Scott Morrison has recently said there is no question climate change is happening and it is having an impact within his government, and that has always been the case.
Cue Craig Kelly:
The decision for a couple to have children is normally personal and private. However, last night the national broadcaster put to air comments of a young lady saying she was too scared to bring children into this world because of climate anxiety.
Sadly, this is what hysteria, alarmism, propaganda and misinformation has brought.
The facts are a child born today is 100 times safer from extreme weather than their grandparents.
And this trend continues. Last year was the safest year in human history from extreme weather events.
And a child born this year will enjoy a life expectancy 25 years longer than that of their grandparents.
And while we worry about the coronavirus, remember our great grandparents survived world war one, lived through the Spanish flu, which killed between 50 and 100 million people, about 3% to 6% of the world’s population.
They then survived the horrors of the great depression and world war two.
And with the very real threat of nuclear war, our parents and grandparents maintained the optimism and decided to have children, otherwise none of us would be here today.
The reality is a child born today will inherit a world that is safer and more prosperous than ever before, and given the freedom and opportunity they will make it even better.
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Question time begins
First we get a statement on indulgence* on the coronavirus and how the Chinese-Australian community have handled it:
Scott Morrison:
We want to thank the Chinese-Australian community for the way they’ve supported each other and how so many other Australians have also supported them. Those who might have been involved in self-isolation, the medical professionals who have been working within these communities.
This is a very significant challenge and the Chinese-Australian community has risen to that challenge.
They deserve our great appreciation and support. And going forward, Mr Speaker, I know that will continue. And the House stands as one on this matter.
Anthony Albanese thanks the prime minister for his bipartisanship comments.
*Albanese did a 90-second speech on this topic and Morrison’s statement on indulgence followed it.
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Question time is about to begin.
Huzzah.
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The treasurer and deputy leader, Josh Frydenberg, also echoed the prime minister’s remarks, reflecting on John Howard’s adage that the Coalition was a “broad church” and joking that “sometimes we need to bring in the builders to build an extra pew or two”.
“But what unites us is bigger than what divides us,” he said.
He also said he was frustrated that the “historic” visit on Monday by the Indonesian president was overshadowed by the Nationals’ turmoil, urging colleagues to focus on the issues that mattered to voters, including economic management and lower household power prices.
“We must all focus on those achievements and our policies and plans going forward and put internal issues of recent days behind us,” he said.
The Nationals leader, Michael McCormack, said he had received a call from Judy Brewer, the wife of former Nationals leader Tim Fischer, who had called him after he completed a trek in Tumbarumba.
McCormack said Brewer had relayed her view that Fischer “would want us all to stand firm together at present” to deliver on the government’s commitment to deliver lower taxes and to help those affected by fire and drought.
Following a robust discussion in last week’s party room meeting over climate change, the former resources minister, Matt Canavan, spoke about the importance of delivering on the promise of a feasibility study into the Collinsville coal-fired power station, saying it was an election commitment that had boosted the vote in Michelle Landry’s seat of Capricornia.
Canavan said the Collinsville community had rewarded Landry with a 48% primary vote “despite it being historically a strong Labor community and some of that was to do with the promises being made”.
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The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has lectured MPs about the importance of unity, urging them to focus on the Australian people and move past the Coalition’s “difficult period” of recent months.
In a joint party room meeting of MPs on Tuesday, Morrison urged his squabbling MPs to remember that they came to Canberra as members of the government “team”, saying there were only “two party rooms in this building”: that of the government and that of the opposition.
“When we walk through the doors of the cabinet room we take on serious responsibilities. Equally when we walk through the doors of the government party room we also take on serious responsibilities and we must do so as a government,” he said, according to a spokesman.
“That’s the argument we took the last election: highlighting local plans and capabilities of local MPs, but also doing so very much as a member of the government and the team.”
Morrison said that the Australian people had endorsed MPs as a “government” and that no individual was above that.
“We are the government, I am not, but we are. No individual is. We are together the government.
“We know that there are many parties in this government, the Liberal party, the National party, the CLP, the LNP, but the contract we have with the Australian people is when we are walking through these doors is to be the government, their government.
“The people supported us and we owe them to continue to deliver for them, to deliver what we promised – in terms of tax relief, economic growth and other policies, including stable government that is focused on them. That is the contract we have with the Australian people.”
Morrison urged MPs to focus on their constituents when they returned to their electorates at the end of the week.
”Focus on the people who put us here – think of them because when they are foremost in our minds, as they are in mine, we do our best for them,” Morrison said.
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On those Australians who are in quarantine on Christmas Island, Greg Hunt laid out this timetable for their departure:
The respective dates for the quarantine for Christmas Island ending February 17 for the first humanitarian flight, and February 19 for those that came from New Zealand via Air New Zealand, and we thank the New Zealanders.
They will be tested before they leave and if health authorities believe that additional testing is required, then they’ll do that. But they’ll be able to go home, subject to having a very clear process of having been checked and declared disease-free.
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If the chief medical officer has had to warn people to stop being xenophobic, you know it is bad.
He’s not alone.
George Christensen also had to issue a plea to stop on his Facebook page, where he reported a constituent had presented to hospital concerned they had caught coronavirus because they had eaten Chinese food.
Christensen was worried about the impacts of the scare on north Queensland tourism.
Strange bedfellows, yes, but irrational public panics tends to create those.
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Professor Murphy continued:
We’re talking about a relatively small number of people just because of where they’ve been, not who they are.
There is no community transmission of this virus in Australia.
We have not seen any case of sustained transmission at all in this country. There is no reason for people to be wearing masks. There’s no reason for people to avoid anybody of any particular background or appearance.
I want to reassure the community. As the minister said, our quarantine is working extremely well at the moment, and we’re very, very pleased that the two facilities have had excellent medical support, and we’re obviously actively screening everybody on a regular basis.
So, the situation is clearly evolving in China. There are still more and more cases in Hubei, but we are watching that very closely and there is smaller growth outside of that province. The international scene has been closely watched, and at the moment, our containment strategies are effective and do seem to be working in Australia.
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Chief medical officer warns against coronavirus xenophobia
In a press conference with Greg Hunt, updating the nation on coronavirus (five cases have recovered), Prof Brendan Murphy, the chief medical officer, has warned against xenophobia when discussing the health pandemic.
We’ve still only got 15 cases in Australia and all are clinically in good condition. They’re all in stable condition. Five have recovered.
This is consistent with the exported cases around the world, the 455 cases.
There have been some severe cases in some countries, but they’re very small numbers, and only two deaths in the exported cases.
Which is a positive.
But, as we know, more than 2% of the cases in Hubei province have been reported as having an unfortunately fatal outcome.
So we are still evaluating the severity of this virus, and there’s still a lot more information that we need to know.
But as the minister says, our strategies have been there, saying that we’ve isolated the cases, all of whom had come from Hubei province, or in one case, had contact with someone who was a confirmed case from Hubei province.
We have not yet seen anyone without contact from Hubei province or been from Hubei province detected in Australia.
As the minister said also, our risk population is people who have come from China from February 1. Not people of Chinese background.
People who have come from China, whatever their background is. And we are very concerned about xenophobia and any sort of racial profiling which is completely abhorrent.
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Look, there is a lot to unpack there. As always.
Bottom line though is the government should probably stop trying to deport Australians.
And just on the “hOw mUcH bLOOd dO YoU haVe” ridiculous argument a lot of white people like to throw at Indigenous people, have a look at any St Paddy’s day celebration, where people whose great-great-great-grandmother’s cousin’s sister’s best friend’s neighbour was Irish are suddenly running around with a ‘kiss me, I’m Irish shirt’.
Stop it. It’s a shit argument.
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Pauline Hanson responded to the high court decision in the most Pauline Hanson way possible:
They are the native title holders of the land, well they are the traditional owners, I understand that, native title holders, because I was born here, this is my land as much as any Aboriginal, they are the true traditional owners and they like to be acknowledged as that, so, if you are truly Aboriginal.
But I don’t see why they shouldn’t have to get a passport, because a lot of people now, how much Indigenous blood do they have, so I think this should be, everybody should be treated equally, in this land, whether you are Aboriginal or a migrant, if you require a passport, everyone must apply for a passport.
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Labor’s Mark Butler has issued a statement on Zali Steggall’s and the crossbench climate action bill. He says Labor wants to look at it and work on it with Steggall, but for it to go anywhere the government has to bring it on for debate (which it has a history of not doing):
Labor welcomes any constructive effort to progress climate action and looks forward to continuing to engage with Zali Steggall about her climate change bill.
For Zali Steggall’s bill to be considered, Scott Morrison would need to allow a full debate in the parliament.
When Labor moved a motion to declare a climate emergency last October, Scott Morrison wouldn’t allow the question to be debated at all.
Scott Morrison and his divided government have never taken action on climate change seriously.
The latest official government emissions data confirms Australia will not meet our Kyoto commitment to cut emissions by 5% by 2020.
In fact, emissions reduction will amount to little more than a rounding error of 0.3%, putting the lie to the prime minister’s claim that we are meeting and beating our international commitments.
The government’s own data suggests emissions will come down during the next 10 years by only less than 5%.
At that rate, it will take Australia 230 years to reach net zero emissions, rather than the 30 years scientists tell us is necessary.
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Coalition party room mulls over Indigenous constitutional recognition
No major explosions in today’s Coalition party room meeting, but there were rumblings about constitutional recognition.
The Liberal senator James McGrath sought assurances that the party room and the appropriate backbench committees would be consulted before the government reached a final landing on the recognition of Indigenous people.
(This is a not very subtle code that a number of MPs are unhappy with the way Ken Wyatt, the responsible minister, is handling this particular issue.) I gather two other senators voiced objections: Amanda Stoker and Dean Smith.
According to colleagues, Stoker expressed opposition to recognition per se. Smith was concerned that the debate was distracting from practical issues.
Scott Morrison assured MPs they would be consulted, and he indicated he wanted the process to be like the one Christian Porter has pursued in relation to religious freedom. Wyatt spoke and indicated that recent comments he had made about the timetable for a referendum had been misrepresented in the media.
Government MPs tell me there would have been more dissent on the recognition issue today but the word had gone out to keep it nice in today’s party room. Which I gather it largely was.
People tell me Matt Canavan also made a plea that MPs allow the feasibility study for a new coal-fired power plant at Collinsville to run its course, but the intervention didn’t generate any responses.
That fight is playing out in public. Possibly there was no appetite to bring it into closer quarters.
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Right now, gov is gagging debate on establishing a federal anti-corruption commission.
— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) February 11, 2020
The Senate - across party lines - has passed a Greens bill for a federal ICAC.
The Senate wants the House to vote on the bill.
But Libs won’t even let us have the debate.
Disgraceful.
But don’t expect that any time soon.
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Adam Bandt lost 72 to 70 to have the issue dealt with now, so the House is voting on Darren Chester’s motion that it be dealt with in the next sitting.
Based on those numbers, that is what will happen.
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Greens push for national integrity commission vote
Darren Chester is asking the House to move this to the next sitting. Adam Bandt wants it dealt with now. The chamber divides.
The House now moves to more from @AuSenate - a message has been received informing the House that the Senate has agreed to the attached resolution, relating to a proposed National Integrity Commission. pic.twitter.com/HxSfL8wziZ
— Australian House of Representatives (@AboutTheHouse) February 11, 2020
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Shorter Coalition party room meeting message from Josh Frydenberg:
I wish we could all get along like we used to in middle school ... I wish I could bake a cake filled with rainbows and smiles and everyone would eat and be happy ...
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No one was actually saying this, but it never hurts to learn more about parliamentary practices
'But AbouttheHouse!' we hear you cry.
— Australian House of Representatives (@AboutTheHouse) February 11, 2020
'Surely a division can't be happening right now because of the deferred division rule that is in place on sitting Mondays and Tuesdays!'
Normally, you'd be correct. pic.twitter.com/YuKUQpgXUT
Meanwhile, in the joint party room, it is situation normal: people getting upset about coal, while others got upset that people were upset about coal.
The government is doing its best to try to quell the latest climate squabble, but the breakout group doesn’t want to calm down.
And its members are feeling a bit bolshie. So good times keep on keeping on.
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Anthony Albanese has addressed caucus this morning, talking about the Coalition’s internal tensions after yesterday’s Nationals’ boilover.
“If you look like you are more concerned about yourself than the country then the country will punish you,” Albanese said.
“Our team is united, coherent and determined. They are a mess. If you can’t govern yourself, you can’t govern the country.”
He criticised Morrison’s response to the parliamentary defeat, accusing the prime minister of trying to spin the tactical defeat that saw renegade MP Llew O’Brien elevated to the role of deputy speaker against the will of the government.
“When you have been defeated like that you take it on the chin and move on. To try to spin it as a win says everything about Scott Morrison. It was all about spin and marketing, not a plan.
“Scott Morrison has no plan for wages growth, no plan for productivity, no plan for aged care, no plan for education outcomes that are falling, no plan for broadband, no plan for climate change and no plan for energy.”
On climate change policy, Albanese said the “test” for the government was whether it allowed the Collinsville coal-fired power station to go ahead with government assistance.
“The last new coal-fired power station came into operation in 2007. The test for the government when they talk about building Collinsville is whether it is going ahead. The proponents say it can only go ahead with a massive indemnity against climate risk,” he said.
As for Labor’s climate policy, Albanese said the party did not need “to fit the timetable of the government or of commentators”, saying he would be focused on the election cycle. ”Our plan will need to focus on jobs, lower emissions and cheaper prices,” he said.
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It’s been confirmed – Scott Morrison has not yet issued an invitation to Wills and Kate, but he will.
So expect the royal tour soon.
Updated
The bells are ringing. What will today bring? Who knows. That’s the 2020 parliament for you.
Report of visit to fire areas by William and Kate
The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age are reporting Scott Morrison is about to issue an invitation to the duke and duchess of Cambridge to visit Australia so they can tour bushfire regions.
From Bevan Shields’s report:
“Prince William and his wife Catherine are set to visit bushfire-ravaged Australian coastal towns during a special royal visit that will spur more international financial support for survivors and volunteer firefighters.
“Preliminary negotiations between the Morrison government and Kensington Palace – the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s official household – have been under way for weeks and Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected this week to issue the formal invitation needed to give the tour the go ahead.”
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Back on the Labor staffer meeting: while the rumour Sharon McCrohan would be brought back is floating around, I am being told there is “zero chance” she’ll be returning to the show.
So make of that what you will.
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Parliament will start at midday, for those wondering why it is so quiet.
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Daniel Love's lawyer speaks to media
Daniel Love’s lawyer is speaking outside the high court on the decision Indigenous Australians cannot be deported, regardless of where they were born:
Maurice Blackburn Lawyers’ senior associate Claire Gibbs:
This is relevant, particularly to Aboriginal Australians, regardless of where they’re born. We know it’s a relatively small but vulnerable category of Australians, so yes, you know, it’s potentially relevant to others and it’s important. Today marks a day where we have permanent protection for Aboriginal Australians from deportation so it’s very important.
I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to Daniel or his family this morning following the decision, but I can tell you during the course of these claims, it has, as I mentioned before, had a lot of mental health impact on him. This decision will come as an incredible relief, not just to him, but to his family, who are Aboriginal. They will all have protection from deportation as a result of this decision.
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The party room meetings are breaking up.
We’ll soon have updates on went on there.
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Mike Bowers was out the front of parliament this morning where bushfire survivors are holding a protest, asking politicians to cut ties with the coal lobby.
They brought debris from what was left of their homes.
Pacific Islanders were also protesting, highlighting the dangers their homelands face from a warming planet.
Updated
Just back on Paul’s post for a moment, you can read the whole summary of that court decision here.
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While the MPs are meeting, so are their staff.
In the opposition staff meeting, a former Victorian premier, Steve Bracks, has been brought in to give “a morale-boosting speech” to the troops.
There are also rumours that Labor wants to bring back Sharon McCrohan, who was Bracks’ comms chief and who also came in late during Bill Shorten’s campaign.
Bracks has told the staff that to win government from opposition, ‘You have to let people know where you stand.’ That has raised a few eyebrows, because so far, under Anthony Albanese’s leadership, ministers and MPs have been told to keep their positions fairly close to their chest.
Albanese wants the focus on the government, not the opposition, after the release of Labor’s policies early in the last term put the spotlight on what Labor would do, rather than what the government was doing.
But with a new year, shadow ministers are starting to get itchy to announce policy positions – something I understand won’t be happening for a little while longer.
Bracks has also told the group to keep reminding people Albanese is “genuine”. Looks like those focus groups are getting interesting.
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High court rules Aboriginal Australians are not 'aliens'
The high court has decided that Aboriginal Australians are not aliens for the purpose of the constitution, a major defeat for the deportation powers of Peter Dutton’s home affairs department and a significant development in the rights of Indigenous Australians.
In four-to-three split decision the high court ruled on Tuesday that Aboriginals cannot be aliens, giving them a special status in Australian constitutional law likely to have ramifications far beyond existing native title law.
The majority of the high court ruled that Brendan Thoms was not an alien and the commonwealth therefore did not have power to order his deportation. The court was not able to decide if the second plaintiff, Daniel Love, is Aboriginal Australian, requiring a further hearing to establish the facts.
The plaintiffs were born in Papua New Guinea and New Zealand, each with one Aboriginal parent, and face deportation due to laws which allow the cancellation of visas on character grounds.
Lawyers for the two Indigenous men, backed up by the state of Victoria, argued the Australian government cannot deport Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders even though they do not hold Australian citizenship because the constitutional definition of “alien” can’t be set by the government of the day through citizenship law.
Updated
Paul Karp is in the high court where a pretty major decision has been handed down about whether or not Indigenous Australians can be considered ‘aliens’ and deported, if they were not born in Australia.
The federal government is attempting to deport Daniel Love and Brendan Thoms, who were born abroad, following criminal convictions. Both men identify as Indigenous, and their case went to the high court, to determine whether they could be considered ‘aliens’ under immigration law.
#breaking on a 4-3 split the High Court has decided that Aboriginal Australians are not aliens for purpose of constitution. Major hurdle to deportation and huge development of law. Still need a further hearing to establish if one plaintiff is Aboriginal though. #auspol #auslaw
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) February 10, 2020
LNP senator warns of 'creeping environmentalism' in society
Matt Canavan, who has been in front of more cameras this morning than I have taken Panadol, told Laura Jayes on Sky this morning that he will be concentrating on defending the poor, besmirched resources industry now that he is on the backbench and has more time to be Matt Canavan.
Having made the mining industry sound like a Dickensian orphan, Jayes asks Canavan who exactly is attacking the industry:
Well, look, it’s mainly, it’s these well-financed environmental organisations – there is this creeping environmentalism coming over our society, and we all want to balance the environment, but some of the restrictions and regulations placed on people on the land, who actually live in the environment, make no sense, and that’s what needs to be pulled back on.”
Because apparently people who care about the environment do not live in the environment, or something.
(Side note: creeping environmentalism sounds like something a Dickens character would say, so I am glad he is remaining on theme at least.)
Canavan continued, all but declaring himself to be the Batman to the “‘creeping environmentalism” poison ivy:
Now, could the government be doing more on this? Absolutely we could.”
(Like the Coalition hasn’t been in power since 2013 and he hasn’t been a minister in that government for a very big chunk of that time, with the power to do something about those very things.)
That’s what I’ll be pushing for.
But I expect many, many at this stage, to be disagreeing with government policy. All of these things are more about direction and, and, and speed. And so that’s what I hope to do, is try and speed those things up.”
From the backbench.
In terms of what well, we’ve got a review of the federal environmental law, the EPBC act, this year. I hope we take forward significant reform because that act is not working for people who want to grow and develop this country, in particular Indigenous Australians in Cape York who want to have a sort of similar economic base that we enjoy in other parts of the country; they are locked up in ribbons of green tape at the moment that stops them from developing their own land.
You know, 25 years ago we gave Indigenous Australians land rights back. We gave them native title back and we spent the next 25 years slowly taking it away from them again, and just giving it to bureaucrats in departments of environments around the country.
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On ABC RN with Fran Kelly this morning, Anthony Albanese continued cleaning up Labor’s position on coal after his deputy squibbed it on Insiders on Sunday:
Q: Should the government be funding a feasibility study for new coal-fired power stations?
Albanese: No. Exclamation mark. This is quite outrageous. Here we have, essentially, the government pretending that the world isn’t changing. What we need is a transition to a clean energy economy. And the truth is that no private sector operation will touch a new coal-fired power plant with a barge pole. It can’t get the proper insurance, they can’t get financing. And that’s because renewables are cheaper. And the risk factor with regard to investing in a new coal-fired power plant means that it simply doesn’t stack up. And what we have with this $4m is essentially you can add it to the sports rorts and add it to the other areas whereby the $150m program for women’s sports that didn’t actually fund women’s sport, as $4m just for political purposes. This is hush money. Hush money for the climate change deniers in the Coalition. I mean, Matt Canavan yesterday made the most extraordinary comment about renewables as the dole bludgers of the system. The fact is that the cheapest new energy sources in Australia today are solar and wind.
Q: So, let me put this to you because you don’t support the feasibility study money, but your deputy, Richard Marles, struggled on Sunday to answer whether Labor would support new coal-fired power generators if they were funded by industry. You have just said what we need is a transition to a clean energy economy. If it stacked up, if industry was prepared to back it, would a Labor government support it, allow it?
Albanese: You may as well ask me, Fran, if I support unicorns.
Q: This is important. Because do you have a position on this?
Albanese: Fran, we have a position which is that it does not stack up. It will not proceed. It doesn’t stack up. No private sector operator, Fran, right now, there is nothing to stop a private sector operator establishing a coal-fired power station.
Q; I understand. But why can’t you say that a Labor government would not allow any new coal-fired power stations to be built? Why can’t you say that?
Albanese: Well, because it’s not happening, Fran. It won’t happen. We do know that, Fran, we do know that because it’s reality. It’s like saying, “Do you know if the sun will come up this morning.”
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Liberal senator James Paterson had a chat to Sky News this morning about the Nationals.
Here is what he had to say about some of his colleagues:
I think we’re all responsible for our own behaviour in politics. There’s a lot of disappointments in politics. Everybody has ambition. It’s not always realised or at least not realised in the timeline that you might want it to. But that doesn’t give you licence to misbehave and act out. And it’s certainly not an excuse to say that you [or] your friends were passed over for promotion.
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Greens' push for national integrity commission bill
Last night a motion put forward by Larissa Waters – that the House of Representatives bring about a vote on the Greens national integrity commission bill – passed the Senate:
(1) That the Senate notes that:
(a) the Senate passed the Australian Greens’ national integrity commission bill 2018 (No 2) on 9 September 2019 to establish a federal corruption watchdog with broad remit to investigate allegations of corruption and misconduct, and to ensure strong, independent oversight of the actions of parliamentarians; and
(b) public consultation on the commonwealth integrity commission model proposed by the government ended more than one year ago, but the government has yet to introduce legislation to establish an integrity commission.
(2) That the Senate calls on the federal government to bring on the Australian Greens’ national integrity commission bill 2019 in the House of Representatives for a vote in the February 2020 sittings.
(3) That this resolution be sent to the House of Representatives for concurrence.
That should hit the House around midday.
And it’s the first opportunity Llew O’Brien will have to cross the floor. One of his big bugbears has been the government’s proposed national integrity commission not being strong enough.
Let the games begin.
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This happened late yesterday, but is worth repeating:
The barrister and former inspector general of intelligence and security, Bret Walker, gave some very interesting evidence at the Senate inquiry into press freedom last night.
Walker called for a root and branch reform of disclosure laws, including a general reversal of the presumption against disclosure of governmental matters and a loosening of freedom of information laws. He argued that because government is not done for profit and it has no commercial rivals, it is absurd to apply the same levels of secrecy in government as occurs in the commercial world.
The obvious exception is national security. But Walker criticised the government for an overly expansive definition that encompasses relations with foreign governments and harm to the economy.
“We’re not a free and confident people if we can’ t have a vociferous debate, for example, about Australia’s dealings with a notoriously tyrannical regime,” he said. “[At present] national security catches too much.”
Walker proposed:
- Dedicated units within government departments and agencies to ensure serious consideration of whistleblower complaints.
- A positive duty of public servants to protect whistleblowers who go through the correct internal channels, rather than just a duty not to do them harm.
- Citizens and bloggers should receive the same sorts of protection for publishing governmental information as journalists – provided they do the right thing by checking with agencies what information is genuinely secret before doing so.
On why bloggers deserve protection, he said: “I don’t care if it’s the first or only time they publish ... they should have the same protection [as journalists]. The idea that people’s right to know should be filtered first by government and then an intermediary class of journalist I find really offensive ... I’ll be damned if I’m going to give a monopoly to [officially approved] journalists. I don’t want the government to be giving badges to people, here are our licensed critics – that’s nonsense.”
But Walker also had harsh words for public servants who are paid to keep genuinely classified material confidential and nevertheless leak, suggesting this amounted to “disreputable disloyalty” and warning “if you take your money for the promise of confidentiality, you should follow [that promise]”.
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Anthony Albanese also tried to clean up Richard Marles’s trainwreck of an interview on Insiders on Sunday by laying out Labor’s position on coal, by discussing the problems with the Collinsville coal-fired power station $4m feasibility study.
Well the truth is that we have a market-based economy. And what we see is that they’re not just climate sceptics, they are market sceptics. And what we see with this $4m subsidy is taxpayers’ right throughout Australia, including in regional Australia, paying for something. $4m is a lot of money for a feasibility study. I’ve been the infrastructure minister. That is an extraordinary amount of money. That is $4m of hush money for the climate change deniers in the Coalition.
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Anthony Albanese stopped by the media pack outside the doors this morning to lay out his theme of the day. Spoiler: it’s about the Nationals.
Well we have seen this movie of what happens when a party is divided. When a government’s divided. We know how it ends. It ends badly for the government. And this government are incapable of putting themselves together. This is a government that has had three prime ministers. That’s had three deputy prime ministers. Has had countless number of defence ministers, countless number of ministers in so many portfolios. I give Scott Morrison credit when he was taking President Widodo around his frontbench. He at least remembered all of their names which is a real challenge. It’s a challenge for us to look across the other side and work out who’s on the frontbench.
Updated
Good morning
It’s Tuesday, which means it is party room day, and boy oh boy I would love to be a fly on the Akubra I assume hangs on the wall of the Nationals’ party room.
After Labor humiliated the government on Monday by nominating rebel LNP MP Llew O’Brien for the deputy Speaker role over Michael McCormack’s pick of Damian Drum – and won, with the help of at least five rogue government MPs (Ken O’Dowd, Barnaby Joyce and O’Brien himself, with the other two not confirmed, but very, very easy to guess) – McCormack and Scott Morrison are struggling to pretend everything is just bibbity boppity boo in the junior Coalition partner.
O’Brien remains in the government but will sit as an LNP MP, not a National. He wants the Queenslanders to sit as LNP MPs across the board. The Greatest Nation on Earth formally married the Coalition partners under Lawrence Springborg’s direction a few years ago, and every now and then one of them gets shirty at either the Liberal party or National party federally and starts making noises about a separate party room. Nothing ever comes of it, but that doesn’t mean they stop.
So O’Brien won’t be in the party room today when the Nationals work out what the hell happened over the past 24 hours.
O’Dowd, who admitted on national TV he not only voted for O’Brien against the party’s wishes, he was also going to run himself, may have some explaining to do, but his job as deputy Nationals whip – the guy who runs around making sure the Nats keep toeing the party line – is allegedly safe:
A ballot in the House of Representatives is a free and fair vote. Mr O’Dowd is entitled to his democratic right as a member of parliament. This was not a vote on government legislation or a matter of supply for the Australian government and both candidates in the ballot are members of the government,” a spokeswoman for McCormack said.
McCormack tried to shrug it all off as “that’s democracy”.
But Drum, who missed out on the $42,000 pay rise, extra staffer and the prestige of overseeing the federation chamber (where speeches go to die) may actually crack his teeth if he keeps gritting them so hard through his fake smile.
Well, I just didn’t think ... anyway, I was pretty surprised,” he told reporters as he got in his comcar overnight.
We’ll cover all of that and more as the sitting week rolls on. You have Mike Bowers, Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and Sarah Martin along for the ride. I am going to hunt down my second coffee, so that’s a win.
Ready?
Let’s get in to it.
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