Abetz-mas continues, but I am going to leave the blog here today.
I’ll pick up anything else that happens tonight tomorrow morning, so check back here bright and early.
Barnaby Joyce and Pauline Hanson are on a unity ticket at being absolutely outraged that Malcolm Turnbull will be representing Australia at an oceans conference in the near future, so that is fun. Doesn’t look like they’ll be giving him up as whipping boy any time soon.
We’ll also start to hear more about the drought round table (you know, the one which was announced on the same day Scott Morrison cancelled Coag because he didn’t want to sit around in a meeting eating biscuits?) which is being held on Friday and Joyce is playing a large role in. He is the drought envoy after all.
And, of course, there are more fun and games as the government attempts to land on something resembling an energy policy.
Plus, there is still Nauru.
There has been some chatter the Coalition may call for a recount of votes in Wentworth but, speaking to party sources, that is just chatter so far. The idea is that a recount could delay Kerryn Phelps’s entry to parliament. But after this week, where we won’t have a result, parliament doesn’t sit for another three weeks, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense as a tactic.
But we will bring you all that and more as the day rolls on. A big thank you to Mike Bowers and the Guardian brains trust, who are still toiling away for you. And to everyone who read and followed along today. Yes, wishing and hoping was the 60s, not the 50s. But if Eric Abetz gets to ask questions about the ABC in the 1970s, I get to conflate my pop song eras.
I’ll be back tomorrow for the Wednesday fun and games but, in the meantime, take care of you.
Updated
Eric Abetz has released a statement on the redundancy question:
The revelation at Senate Estimates tonight that the acting Managing Director of the ABC, Mr David Anderson, discussed with the former Managing Director a redundancy is troubling according to Senator Abetz.
Under questioning from Senator Abetz, Mr Anderson confirmed that he both had a discussion with Ms Guthrie and that such a redundancy would have happened without any change to his position.
“This revelation tonight where it appears Mr Anderson may have sought to game the system to get a redundancy where no redundancy would have existed is highly concerning,” Senator Abetz said.
“This is extremely troubling and inappropriate conduct which brings into question Mr Anderson’s judgement and fitness to continue in the substantiative Managing Director’s role.”
“As someone with decades of employment at the ABC who was on an executive salary, a redundancy payout could have been well over a quarter of a million dollars.”
“At a time when the ABC is again seeking more money from taxpayers, it is of concern that the most senior ABC employee may have tried to take such a significant payout,” Senator Abetz concluded.
"How many claimants were made redundant? How many complainants made a Comcare claim? How many MPs have had more than one complaint that resulted in an inquiry, and that complaint was partially supported?"
— Jackson Gothe-Snape (@jacksongs) October 23, 2018
I just want to know if the elephant cufflinks were trunk up, or trunk down.
They don’t say.
It’s all going well
Senator Fifield says the government appointed former Foxtel boss Peter Tonagh to Council of the Australian Film Television and Radio School about this time #estimates https://t.co/IaU9eLtgH8
— Tom McIlroy (@TomMcIlroy) October 23, 2018
Liberal senator Eric Abetz asked David Anderson if he had sought a redundancy from the ABC recently.
Anderson is the acting managing director of the ABC.
The question seemed to catch Anderson by surprise.
Anderson said he had had a “broad-ranging” discussion with his former managing director about his career, and redundancy did come up, yes.
Abetz then asked him how he could get redundancy when he was still under the full employ of the ABC.
Anderson agreed that in order for him to get a redundancy his then current role would have had to be substantially changed or abolished.
Anderson has previously said he would like to be put in the role, formerly Michelle Guthrie’s, permanently, so this is a slightly interesting development.
Updated
Eric Abetz, who lives for ABC estimates in the way most of us live for, I don’t know, something fun, has just asked a question about something in 1975.
43 years ago.
The ABC estimate hearings have begun.
So far, it is all ho hum
I am too tired to even type that solar power and wind energy can work when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind blows, because there are batteries that store the excess power.
And that the reason energy prices are coming down at the moment is because there is more power in the network – more power, which has come from renewables.
I have no idea how Katharine Murphy has managed to cover energy policy for almost two decades without tearing her hair out.
Updated
When Orwellian terms go wrong:
Onto live exports and Senator Brockman doesn't appear to like the term Hot Stuff - the industry term for the new heat stress model. "Let's just call it the model..." he says #estimates
— Natalie Kotsios (@NatalieKotsios) October 23, 2018
Folks, we have another video:
You asked about how we're getting electricity prices down.
— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) October 23, 2018
Here's my answer. pic.twitter.com/LFrxFLcLpR
We are missing the Australian Conservative power stance – which is a masterclass in manspreading.
But we do have a completely useless closing of the phone case, which looks like a notepad, and reminds me of this and also this
Question time, as seen by Mike Bowers:
Updated
Julie Bishop will be delivering a speech tomorrow at the National Security Conference on “The future of power”.
Seems timely, in a lot of senses.
Updated
Barnaby Joyce is being super helpful by speaking to Ben Fordham on 2GB
Barnaby Joyce tells 2GB it was "remarkable" that Malcolm Turnbull did not help his party win his old seat. Perhaps MT thinks it's "remarkable" that he was removed in the first place. #auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) October 23, 2018
Updated
Jennifer Westacott, of the Business Council, doesn’t seem thrilled with what the government has announced in the energy space, but welcomes it as a step towards an actual policy:
“The business community supports the government’s decision to adopt the ACCC’s recommendation to introduce a benchmark price and supports any moves to lower electricity prices,” she said in a statement.
Business has been crying out for a workable and durable national energy policy framework to deliver affordable and reliable energy whilst also helping to meet our international commitments.
The intention to convene a meeting of the major energy retailers in the coming weeks to discuss current standing offers and the implementation of a price benchmark is another welcome move.
Determining a price benchmark needs to be done in consultation with industry to ensure price reforms are fit-for-purpose, protect competition in the market and provide the best outcomes for both consumers and businesses.
Importantly, introducing a benchmark price is just one of more than 50 recommendations made by the ACCC to help lower power prices. We call on the federal government to work with the states, territories and industry on implementing a range of other recommendations, that as a package, are likely to deliver significant savings for consumers.
Business backs the implementation of the reliability obligation – and continues to do so – but it is only one piece of the puzzle.
Policy uncertainty has paralysed investment in dispatchable generation for a decade. The government’s intention to introduce a new program to underwrite new investment in firm electricity supply must not have the unintended consequence of undermining investment from the private sector.
We look forward to working closely with government on the design of the program.
Ad hoc intervention in the energy market, such as underwriting generation investment or forced divestment, is sending a signal to the world that investing in Australia comes with considerable risks. In the long term, this will only result in less investment in energy generation, less reliable energy and ultimately higher prices.
The business community would be concerned at any move to consider forced divestments which would send the wrong signal on investment.
Australia needs policies that support new investment and deliver lower prices. We should be cautious that new interventions into the market do not increase sovereign risk and discourage the new investment the sector urgently needs.
Updated
Michael Keenan has the next dixer and we are all staring at the clock, watching and hoping, wishing and every other thing 50s girl groups sang about, for Scott Morrison to call time after this.
In Senate estimates, the finance minister, Mathias Cormann, has backed Malcolm Turnbull’s version of why the $444m grant was given to the Great Barrier Reef Foundation, conceding it was in part to help the budget bottom line by incurring the cost in one year.
Cormann: “I completely accept Mr Turnbull’s description of some of the considerations at the time. We indeed were facing a position or situation where there was an identified need for a substantial investment into the future health of the Great Barrier Reef. We had advice from the department of the environment … that it would be easier or more successful in leveraging further private sector investment into the future health of the Great Barrier Reef if the federal government contribution was structured through a non-government vehicle and furthermore given the substantial improvement in budget position in 2017-18 … there was substantial scope to make that investment … by way of a one off investment rather than to put in place a recurrent liability over a number of years. That is the decision we have made – we stand by that decision, it is a good decision.”
Despite backlash over the one-off grant to a private foundation, Scott Morrison has also owned it as a way to pay for the reef without blowing the budget.
Updated
Catherine King to Greg Hunt:
My question is to the minister for health: Can the minister confirm that he in fact took a year to list Hepatitis C drugs, two years to list whooping cough vaccine, and five years to list a lung cancer drug, and that the health department’s own annual report shows that one in eight medicines are not listed within the government’s own time frame of six months? How can this government boast about PBS listings when, in fact, it itself has been delaying life-assisting drugs?
Hunt starts by calling King the “member for Balla-rort”, which he then calls a “Freudian slip”. (I don’t think someone nicknamed Yorrick, who had to apologise for swearing at a NT mayor in a meeting, should be making cute with the “Freudian slips”.
He’s made to withdraw and then denies King’s question.
Updated
The Australian Conservation Foundation CEO, Kelly O’Shanassy, is also not a fan:
After declaring the national energy guarantee dead, Prime Minister Morrison today announced a suite of policies to cut electricity prices and boost electricity reliability. There was one crucial factor missing: a policy to curb climate pollution.
It beggars belief that in the week following a byelection wipeout, where climate concern was the number-one issue, the Morrison government has put forward an energy policy that ignores climate change.
The Morrison government’s plan to underwrite investments in new ‘firm’ power could be a useful mechanism if designed properly, but it should not become a Trojan horse to fund new coal-fired power stations or refurbish old ones.
While the prime minister and energy minister say their approach is technology neutral, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has just told us that some technology – burning coal – poses a grave risk to life.
There are a range of ways the government could support cleaner, cheaper, on-demand power and increase competition, but none of them should allow public money to be used for investment in new or extended coal-fired power.
The government could support cleaner, cheaper, on-demand power by underwriting more pumped hydro and battery storage and positioning the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to manage the scheme.
The last thing Australia needs is a new dirty, expensive coal-fired power station.
It’s time for our government to take an approach to energy that doesn’t continue to damage our climate, our health and our future.
Updated
Adam Bandt is also not a fan of the government’s latest energy plan:
“This price ‘safety net’ move is an absolute con,” says Bandt in a statement.
“When you read the fine print, the so-called ‘cap’ won’t apply to 80-90% of customers.”
“And the CEO of Energy Australia has even threatened to put up the prices of the 80-90% of customers to make up for their lost profits if the government forces the power bills of 10-20% of customers down,” he says.
The government’s so-called safety net has holes so big that most people will fall through them.
The government’s energy plan is also to pay polluters to keep on polluting through a coal-slush fund.
While the Greens want to make the polluters pay, the Liberals want to pay the polluters to keep on polluting.
The government’s latest appalling move is to strip money from schools and hospitals and give it to coal-fired power stations.
It’s like taking money from the health budget and giving it to an asbestos business.
Scientists are telling us to shut down one coal-fired power station per year between now and 2030 but instead the Liberals want to build more.
If the government takes public money and gives it to coal, they’re toast. They won’t survive the next election and I’ll be glad to see the back of them.
Updated
Bill Shorten to Scott Morrison:
Can the prime minister confirm that, a year ago, he said, ‘Evidence-based policy is the national energy guarantee – it means lower prices, more reliable energy, and we meet our obligations to the environment. I mean, why wouldn’t you want that, Bill Shorten?’ Well, I still want that, and the prime minister used to want that. So why is the prime minister walking away from the national energy guarantee he backed last year?
Morrison:
The government’s energy policies are about bringing down electricity prices, and the key component of what we announced today was the reliability guarantee, which forces big energy companies to contract reliable energy supply into the market, which is what keeps power prices down and keeps the lights on, Mr Speaker. That’s what our policies are focused on. It’s about taking the big companies to task on energy and electricity to make sure they do the right thing, Mr Speaker, and to ensure that the big stick of legislation is there to ensure that those companies do the right thing.
Those opposite jeer and sneer when it comes to the government taking a big stick to electricity companies, Mr Speaker. That’s what they do. They don’t share our view that electricity companies need to [be held to account]. By the end of this year, they will have the opportunity to vote for our legislation, Mr Speaker.
Butler waves his “big stick” again, Morrison talks about unions, and I start looking for a monkey’s paw to wish me anywhere but here.
Updated
The big stick
Honestly, there is a reason my dad calls this place bullshit castle.
Gossip in restaurants indeed. *eye roll emoji*
Mark Butler to Scott Morrison:
The member for North Sydney has said, “The challenge the government faces is that, following the demise of the national energy guarantee, there’s a strong feeling that we don’t have a climate change plan.” But the member for Hughes has said, “To suggest that more people would have voted for Dave Sharma if we had passed some version of the Neg is a fantasy.” Who’s right when it comes to this government’s policy on the national energy guarantee?
Morrison:
Our government will continue to pursue the plans that have ensured that we’ve met Kyoto 1, that we will meet Kyoto 2, and that we will meet our commitments in 2030 and the targets that have been set throughout the adoption of that policy some years ago – Arena, the CEFC, Snowy 2.0, the Emissions Reduction Fund, which continues to be under review in terms of future support.
But most of all, what we understand on this side of the house is that common sense and technology are also driving Australia to a lower-emissions outcome.
That is what will enable us to achieve those outcomes into the future. Not by jacking up people’s power prices, as those opposite wish to do, with reckless targets which will see a burden placed on households, on pensioners, on small businesses, of greater than the carbon tax they inflicted when they were last in government.
Our policies are about reducing electricity prices. Our policies are achieving the emissions reduction targets, emissions reduction which has given us the lowest emissions per capita in 28 years.
So we’re getting on with the job, Mr Speaker. We’re focusing on the issues that matter to Australians, which is equally, Mr Speaker, getting their electricity prices down and meeting our obligations to the environment.
What are we getting from the Labor party? Questions about gossip in restaurants, Mr Speaker. That’s what they’ve been reduced to as an opposition. It doesn’t get more in the bubble than that.
I just spat out my tea. Insulting our Pacific neighbours, who are the most worried about climate change and have been lobbying Australia about what it is going to do, those same Pacific neighbours we have restored aid and attention to, because we are so worried about China’s soft power influence, is now GOSSIP IN RESTAURANTS.
Updated
Anne Aly has the next question to Melissa Price:
Last week, the minister managed to insult all of Australia’s Pacific neighbours at the same time, as well as twice misleading the parliament. Does this minister take any responsibility for her stumbles, and for the role she played in the government’s devastating performance on the weekend?
Price:
As I said in the house last week, and I’ve repeated numerous times, I did not mislead parliament. I did not ... I’m asked a question, I’m now responding to the member for Cowan.
I did not mislead parliament. The way that the conversation was reported in the media was inaccurate. It was inaccurate. But the question, Mr Speaker, you have to ask yourself – why does the Labor party continue with this line of questioning?
Why do they do that? It’s because it’s a distraction. You know that we, on this side, have actually got the economy humming.
You know that the Australians are watching us, and that they know that we have everything under control from an economy perspective. We know about all the fabulous things that are going on in our economy. We know – there’s a ‘hear, hear’. We now know, since 2013, we’ve now created one million jobs.
That’s something to celebrate. Australians also know that we’ve got the unemployment rate down to 5%. They’re pretty happy about that too, prime minister. They know that we’re looking after the small- to medium-sized businesses and we’ve cut their taxes. They also know that we’ve now got a very sensible GST solution. And I would have thought the member for Cowan would be cheering that on for Western Australia. Cause I’m pretty happy about that. Are you happy about that?
Just a couple of points – the conversation, as first reported by David Crowe, was backed by a witness who put his name to the record. Also, when Price rang Anote Tong to apologise, he said to move on, not that it was wrong.
And if all those things were so fantastic, why on earth did the Coalition need to change leaders?
Updated
Peter Dutton delivers his daily dose of you’re safe, your borders are safe, your laws are safe – but – DUM DUM DUMMMMMMMMM – what would happen if Labor was in power question, and I really think we need to get an organ in the house, just for the full effect.
Updated
Tony Burke to Scott Morrison:
Given the evidence that his key supporters conspired to depose Malcolm Turnbull, how can the prime minister stand by his statement to the house – “I came to this position of leadership not seeking it” in support of the prime minister?”
DING DING DING!!!!!!!!
Confetti rains from the ceiling as Burke is revealed to have cracked the code. Tony Smith allows the question.
And now, as a reward, following on the heels of big sticks, we now have the prime minister talking about swagger. I am not sure if it’s Bee Gee swagger, or Ye swagger – sadly, we don’t get that amount of detail
Morrison:
I absolutely stand by my comments in this house, Mr Speaker. I absolutely stand by my comments in this house. And I’m not going to take a lecture from a leader of the Labor party who cut down two prime ministers. One was here yesterday, the other one was here today.
He cut down two. There’s no dispute about that, Mr Speaker. I have supported prime ministers in this place, Mr Speaker. That’s my record. But what I have noticed about the Labor party today ... is they are obsessed about politics, Mr Speaker – what we see in their smirks and in their sneers and in their jeers, and in the swagger that we also see from militant unions, Mr Speaker, is a cockiness that has crept into this leader of the Labor party ...
An arrogance. A smarminess, Mr Speaker, which has crept into this leader of the Labor party. This leader of the Labor party thinks he’s already there. They all think they’re already there, Mr Speaker.
From the weeping member for Rankin, Mr Speaker, to all of them over here – all of them here – they know, Mr Speaker, they know that they should not be treating the Australian people with such contempt in the way they behave in this place with their sneering and their jeering and their swaggering. And you know what happens when the Labor party gets more cocky? The unions get more cocky, Mr Speaker. The cockier the Labor party get, the cockier the unions get. That’s what we’ll see around the country if this leader of the Labor party gets to run the country like a union, like he said he would, Mr Speaker.
Updated
Some more news out of New Zealand:
The New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, said the New Zealand offer remains open, regardless of domestic Australian politics, and getting women and children off Nauru was a “particular priority”.
“Our offer, we have been completely consistent on, remains the same,” Ardern said in her weekly media stand-up.
“We’ve made provisions to act on the offer”.
Updated
Talking of big sticks, Mark Butler has come prepared.
He has taken in a toothpick and seems to wave it each time someone in the government says “big stick”.
I told you. These jokes write themselves.
Updated
Now Clare O’Neil tries her luck at the same question Mark Dreyfus was denied.
But it’s now the New Coke version – formula is basically the same but it has been reworked slightly:
Journalist David Speers has revealed the now-prime minister’s numbers men, who were recently awarded with treasurer and special minister of state conspiring to depose Malcolm Turnbull. Given this revelation, how can the prime minister stand by his previous statement in question time that he didn’t seek to become prime minister?
But much like New Coke, this question is also rejected.
Tony Smith basically tells Labor to get rid of the preamble and it might have a hope of getting through in order. Basically. He couldn’t possibly comment.
Updated
But wait, we did just get the line
“We’ll introduce a big stick ....
(A delay while Angus Taylor refers to written answer where, presumably, the big stick introduction is put into context)
... legislative package”.
It’s just too easy.
Updated
Mark Dreyfus to Scott Morrison:
In question time, the prime minister told the house: “I came to this position of leadership not seeking it, in support of the previous prime minister.” Does he stand by that answer, given the member for Warringah has told journalist David Speers that the now-prime minister ‘put his half a dozen votes into the prime ministership, manoeuvring to bring on the spill and then harvest Turnbull votes to get the top job’?
Is the reason why the prime minister won’t explain why Malcolm Turnbull was deposed because he was up to his neck in it?”
Christopher Pyne pipes up that Morrison is not responsible for the comments of Tony Abbott.
Tony Burke tries again but Tony Smith is having none of it, and the question is ruled out of order.
All that does is inflict an Angus Taylor dixer on us earlier than it usually would be infliected on us, so really there are no winners here.
Updated
Michael McCormack gets the next dixer and, apparently, being told you are almost about to lose your job has actually IMPROVED how he reads these answers.
I mean, it is still not great, and there are backbenchers behind him still asking for water, texting and passing papers to each other, but no one is turning to watch the paint peel off the wall.
It’s like how you would treat the substitute teacher you know, rather than just the one who rocks up out of the blue.
Updated
Susan Lamb has a question.
It’s to Scott Morrison:
Can the prime minister confirm reports that he’s asked Malcolm Turnbull to come out of retirement to represent the Australian government at an international summit on oceans this week?
Morrison:
Mr Turnbull will lead the Australian delegation at the next Our Ocean Conference in Bali on October 29 to 30 of 2018. He was personally invited to attend that originally by the Indonesian president.
It was the subject of our discussions when I met with the Indonesian president, President Widodo.
I was unable to follow through on that invitation, and so, to ensure that we had very senior-level representation – which was well-received by the president of Indonesia – I did request the former prime minister to represent us at that conference, and he’ll be there representing the policies of our government.
Mr Speaker, in that capacity, I think he presents a very serious, a very senior, and a very duly recognised status of our relationship with Indonesia, and I know that his attendance at that summit will be well-recognised and appreciated by President Widodo, and I thank him for representing Australia on that occasion.
Updated
A friend in America, interested in what it is we do down here, has begun listening to question time, and just sent me a video of what it sounds like to her, and honestly, I don’t think I have seen anything more accurate:
Chris Bowen to Scott Morrison:
(Wait, it is interrupted for Christopher Pyne to get in trouble by the Speaker, for what sounds like being Christopher Pyne.)
We return to Bowen’s question:
A week before the Wentworth byelection, the prime minister warned that a hung parliament would cause “uncertainty” in our economy. Does the prime minister stand by this statement? If not, why does the prime minister always say one thing before an election and something completely different after the election?
Morrison:
The shadow treasurer may not be aware that, following the weekend’s results, the ANZ consumer confidence index actually fell over the course of the weekend, and the ANZ economists attributed that result to the uncertainty that resulted from the election result on the weekend.
The house goes a bit mental because Morrison has, seemingly, just admitted that losing Wentworth has created an uncertain economy.
He continues:
“The outcome and uncertainty of the election on the weekend did produce a – Mr Speaker – it did produce the result that I indicated that it would.
... Now, that said, the government that we have been part of – and particularly over the last eight weeks – we have been effectively in the position of a minority government ever since that time. [Because Kevin Hogan became the Clayton’s crossbencher]
And in that time, we have worked constructively with those on the crossbench to deal with legislation, to get measures through.
We’ve passed small business tax cuts, Mr Speaker. We’ve passed important legislation to protect our strawberry farmers.
We’ve passed legislation every single day we have been in here, and we have been getting on with the job of government. Now, we will continue to do that.
The business as usual of our government of getting things done will continue. And that business as usual means more jobs, it means lower taxes, it means lower electricity prices.
It means ensuring that we pay for affordable medicines. It means retaining our AAA credit rating. It means a stronger economy that guarantees the essential services that Australians rely on.
That’s what we’re getting on with. The leader of the Labor party is stuck in the Canberra bubble.
Updated
We are back to more dixers that should just be a press release.
So while Scott Morrison helps drain what is left of my will to keep typing, a big thank-you to reader Cressida for the small plaque she sent us – for surviving dixers that should have been a press release.
We appreciate it.
#deathtodixers
Updated
Tanya Plibersek to Scott Morrison:
Just before my question, can I add my words of support to acknowledge what an important day yesterday was.
My question is to the prime minister: On Sky News this morning, when asked why Malcolm Turnbull was no longer prime minister, the minister for defence industry said it was “because Malcolm Turnbull couldn’t sell the government’s message.”
Is this why the government … deposed Malcolm Turnbull and installed “the advertising guy” as prime minister? And given the government’s disastrous performance on the weekend, how does he think The Muppet Show’s going?
Scott Morrison gives a rundown of the government’s achievements and then returns to his latest favourite catch-phrase (sigh).
There is no surprise that the Labor party only wants to talk about politics. Because they have no plans for the future. They want Australians to pay more for everything. Higher taxes, higher electricity bills, more for their private health insurance, Mr Speaker. These are the issues that Australians are focused on. These are the issues our government is focused on. The leader of the Labor party is just another politician trapped in the Canberra bubble.
Ok – you can’t have no plans for the future and then list how the party wants people to pay more. Because that makes no sense. Because if Labor wants people to pay more things, then obviously it has plans for the future.
Someone outside the Canberra bubble would probably pick that up.
Updated
The first dixer is on yesterday’s apology.
It’s worth a read:
Scott Morrison:
I want to thank all those survivors who attended here yesterday – not just in this building but outside of this place and on the lawns, where we had the opportunity to meet and listen to their stories.
And as they came back into this parliament and in the offices of members and they recounted their stories, I want to thank all members of this chamber for the welcome that they provided to all of those survivors, and all Australians for their solidarity in standing by those survivors and their families.
It was a very, very moving day. But an apology without action, as we said yesterday, is just a piece of paper, and the concrete actions that are necessary are about implementing the recommendations of the royal commission – 108 of those 122 recommendations are being implemented.
There were ones directed towards the commonwealth, and 18 further recommendations have been worked through with the states and territories. The National Redress Scheme has commenced. The national office of child safety was stood up in July, and now, as I said yesterday, it will report directly to me – not just to the Department of Social Services – and I’ll be assisted in that role not only by the minister for social services, but by the assistant minister to the prime minister, who has done an outstanding job in working with the advisory group and working towards the national apology yesterday.
I want to add my thanks to my assistant minister. The national database to ensure higher standards for child protection is under way with states and territories.
The work with survivors who are anxious about going into institutional aged care as a result of their most horrific experiences when they were last in institutions is an important issue that has been raised, and is one that we’ll be working closely with the minister for aged care and minister for senior Australians, but also be looking to the royal commission into aged care that we have announced to be sensitive to that issue and the solutions that need to be made available.
We are establishing the national centre for excellence to raise awareness and understanding of the impacts of child sexual abuse and removing the stigma so the stories can be told, and so the understanding can be generated. The national museum, which we announced support for, [and on] which we’ll be working with survivors, in particular, so the stories can be told, and we will never turn our back again on the shame that is rightfully sitting across our country – a stain on our country – and that national museum will be a place for reflection, for learning, for understanding.
And I would add to that that it will draw on excellent proposals from the care leavers who have got a particular proposal relating to an old orphanage building, and whether it’s that proposal – that’s what inspired this idea for this museum – and I want to thank the representatives for bringing that forward.
There were many people yesterday who I know felt they weren’t recognised, and I particularly also want to recognise, if I can have indulgence on this one point, to recognise those in our defence forces who also suffered sexual abuse. I want to acknowledge them here today, and I particularly want to thank the member for Dunkley for bringing that to my attention.
And I want to particularly, in this place, acknowledge their suffering as well.
Bill Shorten:
It was a very emotional day, as the prime minister and I discussed in the Great Hall, the level of emotion and hurt, and all of the conflicting emotions – it was almost physical, you could almost feel it against your skin.
We appreciate the attendance of survivors and victims and all those who came to hear it.
It was a very big compliment these people paid to the parliament, having been let down by institutions and people in power their whole lives – to come here and trust us to apologise, at the very least, was remarkable.
We acknowledge, too, that too many people didn’t survive or weren’t able to be there yesterday. I also acknowledge that action, not words, is what people want. And we promise not to second-guess the royal commission – it’s a global standard, it’s the best set of recommendations, the best set of proposals, and I understand – especially for those who are dying and very ill at the moment – we need to do everything to speed up redress.
Updated
Kevin Rudd has blamed Rupert Murdoch for prosecuting a “direct agenda” through his newspapers that toppled both himself and Malcolm Turnbull as prime minister.
Speaking at the launch of the second volume of his autobiography in Canberra, Rudd nominated Australia’s media concentration in Murdoch’s hands as one of the factors in its culture of deposing leaders, which he said had become “nationally embarrassing”.
Rudd used the launch to publicly plead with the Liberal party to follow his lead and adopt a rule raising the threshold to depose a leader.
Rudd:
[Rupert] Murdoch – who I’ve met many times – is ideologically deeply conservative, deeply protective of his corporation’s commercial interests and, therefore, prosecutes a direct agenda through his newspapers which I’ve been on the receiving end [of]. So, most recently, has Malcolm [Turnbull]. Let’s not pretend it’s been anything other than that.
The launch was well attended by colleagues on both side of the aisle, with a few notable absences from the Labor leadership team.
The Coalition’s former foreign minister Julie Bishop and former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce were in attendance.
From Labor I spied: Chris Bowen, Kim Carr, Anthony Albanese, Richard Marles, Mike Kelly, Terri Butler, Andrew Giles, Justine Elliott, Gavin Marshall, Patrick Gorman, Joel Fitzgibbon, Steve Georganas, Mike Freelander, Julian Hill and Stephen Jones.
The book was launched by the Labor senator Claire Moore and the University of Melbourne vice-chancellor, Glyn Davis. Moore revealed that Rudd used to do a killer Alexander Downer impression back in the day but, sadly, he did not oblige with a reprise on Tuesday.
Updated
Question time begins
Bill Shorten opens the questioning with ...
Wentworth.
“[The government saw] … a primary swing in Braddon of 2%, and in Longman it was 9%. Then it deposed Malcolm Turnbull. But on the weekend, the government suffered a 19% swing in Wentworth … so, given the government’s disastrous performance in Wentworth, why is Malcolm Turnbull gone but you’re still here?”
Scott Morrison:
People have suggested that Labor were running dead in the Wentworth byelection. But the real proof of that would have been whether the leader of the opposition turned up in Wentworth, Mr Speaker.
Then they would have really known that they were running dead in Wentworth …because that would have suppressed the vote even more, Mr Speaker.
It is true – it is true – that a third – around a third of the Liberal party vote in Wentworth, Mr Speaker, was lost to the Liberal party in that Wentworth byelection. It is also true that a third of the Labor party vote was lost in the Wentworth byelection.
A third of the Greens vote was lost in that byelection, Mr Speaker. Now, as I said on the weekend, I am very, very happy to stand up as leader of the Liberal party and cop it on the chin, Mr Speaker, for the anger that was expressed by Liberal voters, in particular, about the events of two months ago.
And we said that, and we were honest with our supporters and followers about that on the weekend. And we have committed to them to ensure that, as we have continued to come together, unified as a party, to go forward and fight this Labor leader who wants to put more than $200 billion worth of taxes on Australians, who wants to see a resurgence in militant unionism in this country, who wants to put their electricity prices up with reckless policies, and we will fight this leader of the Labor party all the way until the bell rings, and we will be successful.
Updated
Question time is about to begin.
While you get your bingo cards in order, Labor has launched its latest attack ad.
The book, volume two, is launched.
Updated
Don’t count on ABC estimates starting on time:
It's a total mystery how #estimates hearings get behind schedule pic.twitter.com/GVj9VtpN9e
— Helen Davidson (@heldavidson) October 23, 2018
Oh look – the government fixed Father Chris Riley’s funding issue, for his Youth Off the Streets schools.
For next year.
Dan Tehan says the government will “look at the issue going forward” because it is a “unique” issue.
Another dispatch from New Zealand on the asylum seeker issue:
The New Zealand foreign minister and deputy prime minister, Winston Peters, said there had been no approaches by the Australian government to his office since the latest comments made by the Australian PM.
“At this point in time we don’t know where this is going,” Peters said.
“It may not even make it past parliament in Australia. When we know what we are dealing with we will deal with it.”
The New Zealand Greens MP, human rights lawyer and former refugee, Golriz Ghahraman, said the proposed conditions would only affect Australian law and the welfare of the Nauru refugees must be the New Zealand government’s highest priority.
“It is something akin to the Trump muslim ban, it will be a dark day for Australia but were it to happen, because it doesn’t affect New Zealand, we would be supportive of it in terms of getting this desperate situation to a point of resolution so people aren’t at risk of really serious physical and mental harm,” Ghahraman said.
“We have no control over what Australia does over its immigration laws and they may be really unfair and in fact racist... but we just have to make those people safe in a humanitarian emergency so that is the thing to keep front of mind.”
Ghahraman said refugee agencies were “really stretched” in New Zealand and offers by Australian NGOs to travel to New Zealand and assist in the resettlement would likely be taken up.
Doctors Without Borders may also able to continue their care for the Nauru refugees when and if they arrive in New Zealand, Ghahraman said.
Updated
Dan Tehan and Father Chris Riley have a scheduled doorstop for 1.35pm.
I think we can expect to hear that Youth Off the Streets no longer owes the government $600,000.
At a guess.
And just for some context – here is what Kelly O’Dwyer* was referring to when she said John Setka had likened the Coalition to the Hitler government.
It’s actually a Martin Luther King quote, and quite a famous one at that.
*I had originally written Michaelia Cash, as my brain has not yet retained all the new portfolios
Thomas Jefferson
— John Setka (@CFMEUJohnSetka) October 22, 2018
If a Law is unjust a man is not only right to disobey it he is obliged to do so
Martin Luther King
Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal
Mahatma Gandi
An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so#auspol pic.twitter.com/9XM2VDNjKz
Updated
And finally from the party room:
Issues that weren’t discussed:
- No one discussed changes to the Sex Discrimination Act (to prevent gay students from being expelled from schools). Christian Porter, the attorney general, told his colleagues that he was still in discussions with his Labor counterpart Mark Dreyfus.
- No one raised Nauru for discussion.
- No one raised the issue that voters in Wentworth were concerned about the Liberal party’s climate change policies (or lack thereof).
- No one raised coal-fired power stations.
- No one raised Morrison’s idea to move Australia’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
- No one raised the idea of having a large policy to unveil in the last weeks of the election campaign.
Updated
More from the party room meeting:
Michael McCormack, the deputy prime minister, then spoke. He said no one should get spooked by the loss in Wentworth.
“What they think in Double Bay is not what they think in Dubbo,” he said.
He spoke about the importance of this Friday’s drought summit.
Josh Frydenberg, the deputy leader of the Liberal Party, reminded his colleagues that the Wills byelection in 1992 saw a 23% swing about the sitting Labor government but Labor still went on to win the 1993 federal election.
[The Wills by-election was triggered by the resignation of Bob Hawke, who had been rolled as prime minister by Paul Keating. An independent candidate (Phil Cleary) won that by-election, too].
Morrison then reminded his colleagues that once you’re sworn in as the government, you’re the government. Labor has been trying to create a sense of chaos but it’s nonsense.
A number of backbenchers then stood up to gee their colleagues up.
One “very experienced” backbencher said no election is unwinnable or unlosable, and the next election, in his assessment, was “line-ball”.
He said only two things could change that: if there was a major change in the economic indicators or if there was disunity in the government.
A regional backbencher highlighted issue of energy and concerns about foreign workers.
He also spoke about casual and permanent employees, and for the need to campaign vigorously on the retiree tax.
Kelly O’Dwyer, the minister for jobs, talked about the union rally in Melbourne today.
She warned it was a small insight into what people could expect under a Shorten government.
She said union official John Setka had today likened the Liberal-National government to the Hitler government.
She said Steka had scores of convictions and Labor wanted to “turn the lawbreakers into the lawmakers”.
A backbencher then warned the room that both Brendan O’Connor, the shadow minister for employment, and Sally McManus, the ACTU secretary, wanted industry-wide bargaining, which is something not seen in Australia since the early 1980s.
The minister for energy gave a preview of the energy announcement that was later made in the prime minister’s courtyard.
Updated
Scott Morrison addressed the joint party room this morning.
The prime minster spent a large part of his time talking about the Coalition’s chances of winning the federal election despite its drubbing in Wentworth on the weekend.
He said the Coalition was still the government, and the government sets the agenda. It was important to show unity and purpose.
He said over the last two months the Coalition had effectively been in minority government anyway and it had managed well and would continue to do so.
The Wentworth result was not unexpected, he said. A week ago the polls had the Coalition 41-59 to Labor but over the last week that difference narrowed substantially, with help from many people including John Howard, he said.
He then stressed that the government’s policy direction was the right one.
“We’re not shifting to the left or to the right, this is not hokey-pokey politics,” he said.
“We’ll continue to be a strong centre-right government and strong centre-right parties focusing on the needs of mainstream Australians, focusing on things that matter.”
He said all Coalition MPs needed to keep emphasising the differences between the Coalition and Labor, because under a Labor government Australians would pay higher taxes, higher electricity prices, higher health insurance premiums, and they’d earn less.
“Under the Liberal-National government you’ll have a stronger economy, better pay, and a budget under control.”
He spoke about yesterday’s national apology to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, saying it was a very emotional day. He said he’d never sat in a room full of so much hurt.
Updated
Former PM Kevin Rudd at his book launch in Parliament House, Canberra this afternoon. @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus @murpharoo #PoliticsLive pic.twitter.com/uR8CKWPX7X
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) October 23, 2018
Our politicians have largely ignored the Jamal Khashoggi case, at least publicly.
But Richard Di Natale is calling for Australia to follow Germany and suspend arms trade with Saudi Arabia, following the journalist’s death:
The disappearance and apparent murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has shocked the international community into rethinking its relationship with Saudi Arabia,” Di Natale said.
The announcement by the German government overnight that it will not approve further arms exports to Saudi Arabia is a welcome development. The Australian government should follow Germany’s lead and suspend our arms trade with the Saudis.
It is clear that any country with an ounce of sense and humanity has seen through the Saudis’ ludicrous and offensive explanation for Khashoggi’s death, and is demanding the truth.
Saudi Arabia is consistently ranked as one of the worst human rights abusers in the world. The war it is waging on Yemen has brought Yemenis to the brink of the world’s worst famine in over 100 years. Thirteen million people are being deliberately starved as a weapon of war.
Yet, in the last two years, the Australian government has granted 18 licences for the export of defence equipment to Saudi Arabia. Australia should not be selling weapons to this murderous regime.
Our economic future cannot and should not be dependent on arming regimes like Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
This government’s priorities are completely out of whack. We should be increasing our international development assistance and exporting sustainable technologies, not weapons of death.
Updated
If you have been paying attention, you may have noticed that Scott Morrison likes to speak in dot points.
His speeches, even as treasurer, usually start off with a scene-setting sentence or five, before moving into ‘this is what we are going to do’ in dot points.
His brain seems to be one which likes things compartmentalised. He gets thrown if topics bounce around and prefers to deal with one group of questions on one topic, before moving to the next.
Well, now the PMO press releases are going the same way.
Case in point – this one, on the energy policy, which includes actual dot points.
The AER has been tasked with introducing default prices by 30 April 2019 with savings being passed through to families and small businesses by 1 July 2019.
Other measures announced today by the Morrison Government that will bring prices down and increase reliability are:
· Stopping price gouging by the big energy companies. This includes banning sneaky late payment penalties and making energy retailers pass on savings in wholesale prices to customers. It will increase regulator’s power to crack down on dodgy, anti-competitive practices – through fines, penalties, enforceable undertakings, structural separation and divestiture. We have already seen prices come down in Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales on 1 July 2018, and we have directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to monitor electricity prices until 2025 to ensure prices are fairer for consumers.
· Backing investment in new power generators to improve competition. Underwriting new electricity generation will attract investment in the electricity market, increasing supply and reducing wholesale electricity prices. The Government will consult on the Underwriting New Generation Investments program, with submissions open until 9 November 2018. Based on feedback from the consultation, the Government will release initial program guidelines and invite proponents to nominate projects through an expression of interest process open from December 2018 to January 2019.
· Supporting reliable power by requiring energy companies to sign contracts guaranteeing enough energy to meet demand. We will work with state and territory governments through the COAG Energy Council to ensure these contracts are signed.
Updated
Australia’s doctors have spoken up, as have the lawyers.
And now the Wiggles have gone political, in the name of getting children and their families off Nauru.
the yellow Wiggle AND the blue Wiggle have joined the #kidsoffnauru campaign
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) October 23, 2018
“We sing and dance with millions of children all over the world who have those opportunities - but there are more than 100 children trapped in detention on Nauru who don’t have this freedom" pic.twitter.com/gGnx4J8Fxb
Updated
Looks like a few more Labor MPs have dropped by to watch Kevin Rudd launch his book.
My spies tell me Chris Bowen has popped by, while Ed Husic and Andrew Giles have been spotted up the back.
At his book launch Kevin Rudd is talking about the importance of having the “alternative narrative” in the public:
Rudd says all pollies have the "delusion" of being able to write the objective autobiography but they are "the definition of subjectivity". Says he wrote for importance of historical record. #auspol @AmyRemeikis
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) October 23, 2018
Rudd thanks the "extraordinary team" behind the govt GFC response - Ken Henry and the Australian treasury. No mention of Swanny. #auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) October 23, 2018
Updated
A dispatch from New Zealand:
Despite the New Zealand foreign minister, Winston Peters, saying that Australia’s conditions would make the Nauru refugees “second-class citizens” in New Zealand, refugee experts in New Zealand agree that the Ardern government is likely to keep its offer on the table as the humanitarian situation escalates.
Australia is likely to have offered New Zealand a significant cash inducement to aid in the refugees care and resettlement, and while New Zealand may push for more flexible conditions – such as a five-year ban rather than a lifetime – the country is heavily reliant on Australia for border protection and has built a reputation as a humanitarian country since taking in 150 refugees from the Tampa in 2001.
Refugee agencies in New Zealand say they have had no communication from the government regarding the imminent arrival of refugees from Nauru, suggesting any deal agreed upon between Australia and New Zealand will not proceed quickly.
Updated
It’s all happening:
Rudd book launch - Barnaby Joyce, Julie Bishop and Albo on attendance. Claire Moore has warmed up and revealed that Rudd does a killer Alexander Downer impression apparently! @AmyRemeikis #auspol pic.twitter.com/s02p2BP8IB
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) October 23, 2018
Updated
Penny Wong has responded to Marise Payne’s update on how Australia is handling the Myanmar situation:
Labor welcomes the government’s decision to impose targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against five Myanmar military officers responsible for human rights violations committed by units under their command in Rakhine state.
Labor last month endorsed the foreign minister’s decision to flag targeted sanctions following the release of the full report of the UN Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar which found the Myanmar military was directly responsible for “gross human rights violations and serious violations of international humanitarian law”.
That report concluded there was sufficient evidence to warrant an investigation and prosecutions for genocide perpetrated against the Rohingya.
Australia’s actions today again make clear the bipartisan position of the government and opposition that the Myanmar government can no longer ignore its responsibilities and must act to rein in the Tatmadaw and hold to account those responsible for these horrific crimes.
Australia’s humanitarian contribution to those affected by this crisis has strong bipartisan support.
We encourage the government to continue to work with Myanmar and our partners in the region towards a durable solution to the crisis.”
Updated
Yesterday Craig Laundy was the only Coalition MP at the launch of David Speers’ book, On Mutiny, which looked at what happened during the spill.
So far, Julie Bishop and Barnaby Joyce have showed up to Kevin Rudd’s.
Claire Moore, the outgoing Queensland Labor senator, is helping to launch Rudd’s book. Albo is there, but he launched Speers.
I guess everyone else in Labor was just a bit busy today?
Fascinating turn out for launch of Kevin Rudd’s book at APH. Big hug and kiss from Julia Bishop.
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) October 23, 2018
Barnaby Joyce is also here sitting with JBish and Albo. pic.twitter.com/2iaVsLGdHu
Updated
Bill Shorten gave his caucus a pep talk this morning, after the Liberals’ walloping in the Wentworth byelection on Saturday.
He said Scott Morrison was like an annoying salesman who had a new slogan every day, and who would say anything to close a deal, but even Labor didn’t predict how desperate he’d become with the Jerusalem announcement.
He then claimed Morrison’s speech on the night of the byelection was worse than Malcolm Turnbull’s speech on the night of the 2016 election.
“Morrison achieved something incredible on the weekend: he made Turnbull’s election night tantrum look gracious.”
A slight overreach?
It was confirmed that Labor’s caucus committee that deals with international affairs met separately this morning to deal with the issues surrounding Nauru, and the committee was then fully briefed by shadow immigration minister Shayne Neumann.
Nobody in caucus objected to the course of action taken by the committee, and it apparently wasn’t discussed further.
Tony Burke also told his caucus colleagues that they should not expect to be granted leave from parliament over the next few months, while it’s a hung parliament.
He said obviously they can get leave for family emergencies and bereavement, but not for things they think are important in their electorate.
Every vote will count on the floor before the election.
Updated
Scott Morrison:
Labor have always been for weaker border protection policies. And you don’t get children off Nauru by putting more children on Nauru through weaker border protection policies. I’m interested in getting children off Nauru.
Over 200 children are already come off Nauru. More children have already come off in recent times under the quiet, effective management of these issues that the government is pursuing.
We’re not here to grandstand on this. We’re just here to get the job done. And Labor have always sought to weaken.
This legislation has been around since 2016 and what they’re showing is what they always do.
They think this is something to trade over. You don’t get to negotiate with people smugglers based on horsetrading in the Australian Senate.
This is why Labor stuffed it up so much last time they were in. They thought that’s how you manage this. That’s just not how it works.
You’ve got to have clear policies that protect our borders and you then have to manage the legacy of Labor’s failure, as we have been doing.
Closing the detention centres – thousands upon thousands upon thousands of children removed from detention under our government and we’re going to continue doing that job.
So no one understands this issue I would say more acutely than I do with my experience of this over a long period of time.
I’m committed to ensuring we can deal with this challenge in terms of the situation with the children and I’m open to every sensible proposal that would also see more children go onto Nauru.
Don’t forget it’s not just our policy. It’s the Labor party’s policy that if a boat turned up and there were children on that boat, that would be horrific enough, because they may have even died along the way, but secondly, those children would go to Nauru under the Labor party policy.
So you don’t get children off Nauru by putting more on through horsetrading and this type of business we’re seeing.”
Updated
So that would indicate that Scott Morrison will not accept Labor’s compromise.
Which, if no one budges, means we are no closer to getting the rest of the children, and their families, off Nauru.
Government 'won't horse-trade' on asylum seekers
Scott Morrison has responded to Labor’s offer to support the “one-off” lifetime ban for children and their families accepted by New Zealand, but not the blanket ban.
Morrison says the government won’t horse-trade on the issue:
The bill we put into the parliament was the right answer. And as I said, you don’t horse-trade on border protection. You don’t do it. Because you run the risk of creating a perverse incentive.
Let’s think this through. The perverse incentive that if you put a child on to a boat, well, you’re more likely at the other end to get the particular outcome you’re looking for.
I understand the grief. I understand the great level of community passion and anxiety on this. I do.
But I also understand that I must take decisions that don’t put more children at risk, which is the great folly of how the Labor party have always engaged on this issue.
That’s not how this works. I will consider and take serious advice from people within Operation Sovereign Borders about the potential impact of all of those things.
When it comes to the New Zealand legislation, we’ve had that in place for some time. It has never been my preferred outcome. Never been my preferred outcome.
We’ve been dealing with our partners in the United States with great effect and one of the other problems with this issue being pursued in this way by the opposition is it can work to actually say to people on Nauru at the moment, ‘Oh, I won’t take the US offer because the Labor party might be offering me a better offer.’ And so they’re still on there.
And so I would caution people to think carefully about the ramifications of this. I’ll be listening carefully to those who are responsible for protecting our borders and stopping kids getting on boats. I’m not sure – to the best of my knowledge – the Labor party did not seek advice from those agencies in the position they’ve put to us.
I’m not here to horse-trade on children. I’m here to help them.
Updated
But will the government be able to get electricity prices down?
Scott Morrison:
That is the pressure we will be placing and I’m saying that under the Liberal and National governments and our policies, electricity prices will be lower under us than they will be under Labor.
Under Labor you will not only pay more on electricity prices, you will pay more in higher taxes, you will pay more in higher private health insurance premiums. Under Labor you will pay more and more and more.”
There are a lot of “we’re for(s)“ coming out of Scott Morrison’s mouth lately, which, I guess you would expect from someone with a marketing background, trying to sell a message, but it also makes my eye twitch.
So far, this is a lot of what the ACCC recommended, which could be covered under ‘government does job’.
On the question of whether coal fired power stations will be part of this plan, Scott Morrison says:
Whether it’s that or any other sort of energy-reliable supply to the market to get electricity prices down, that’s what we’re for.
We’re for lower electricity prices and for people generating more reliable power in Australia.
We don’t take positions on the source of the fuel. What we do is we ensure we meet our broader emissions reduction target, which we do. Everything we’re talking about here is consistent with that position. But it also means ensuring that we can lock in the investment that needs to come into the sector to ensure more power is generated.”
So if you understand what they want to do there, you are doing better than me.
Okay – Scott Morrison and Angus Taylor have come out of the party room meeting with this “plan”. Taylor says it’s about being fair dinkum about bringing power prices down:
That’s why we need the comprehensive package in four parts.
First, stopping the price-gouging by big energy companies. We’re banning sneaky late payments. We’re requiring retailers to pass on wholesale price reductions. And we’re cracking down on dodgy anti-competitive practices. Our plan will be implemented through a comprehensive legislative package that will come through to the parliament this year, as well as a package that will go to the Coag Energy Council.
We’re empowering customers with a fair price safety net. This means removing the loyalty tax as the prime minister said for people who don’t have time to negotiate a price over an extended series of phone conversations. The loyalty tax must go. We also want to see the confusion go when people with the offers and contracts in the market, the confusion must go.
Yesterday, the treasurer and I wrote to the Australian Energy Regulator to introduce a benchmark price, which will be worked up for full implementation by July 1.
Thirdly, we’re backing investment in reliable generation to improve competition, lower prices, and shore up reliability. Today, we begin the consultation process ahead of an expression of interest and we’re aiming to have our first pipeline of projects early next year.
We will be providing mechanisms to ensure that these projects are financed as per the ACCC recommendations. They recommended a floor price. We won’t anticipate the banking. There’ll be other options as well, a broader range of mechanisms that are being discussed in the consultation paper. We also aim to support reliable power through the reliability mechanism we’ll be putting to the Coag Energy Council this week for implementation by 1 July.
Finally, I’m writing to all energy companies, all the energy companies, supplying electricity in Australia to convene a roundtable and I will be asking each company to individually take action to lower prices, specifically their standing offers, by January 1.
This is a downpayment for all Australians on a fairer electricity market.
Updated
Foreign affairs update from Marise Payne:
The Rohingya crisis is the largest humanitarian crisis in Australia’s region. The recent UN Fact-Finding Mission found that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and likely genocide had occurred in Rakhine State.
Over recent engagements at the United Nations General Assembly and at the ASEM Summit, I have raised Australia’s serious concerns in a series of meetings with international partners and senior officials. I also met recently with the International Committee of the Red Cross President Peter Maurer to discuss international efforts to alleviate the humanitarian impacts.
As previously indicated, I have now imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans against five Myanmar military officers responsible for human rights violations committed by units under their command. Details of these individuals are in the Consolidated List of people and entities subject to targeted sanctions under Australian laws.
Australia will continue to support the humanitarian needs of those affected, and to work with Myanmar and our partners in the region to encourage efforts towards a long term and durable solution to the crisis.
Updated
The party room meeting is done and dusted (as is caucus) and a press conference has been called with Scott Morrison and Angus Taylor.
It’s in the prime minister’s courtyard, so you know they are pleased with whatever is coming.
Given today’s announcement so far has been about adopting part of the ACCC’s recommendations on power prices, I think we will be staying on that theme.
If I was you, I would probably pay particular attention to the recommendation about the government underwriting new investment in electricity.
ABC estimates is not scheduled until 3pm at this stage (it may be a little later, depending on how the day is running) but there has been a taste of it this morning.
Kristina Keneally is in her element in estimates hearings. It’s like all those times she asked questions on Sky and was put off with non-answers haunt her, and now that she has the time, and the space, to really push a point, she is going to get to where she is going.
The Department of Communications confirms in #Estimates that it did not run an open tender to select the recruitment firm that will run the recruitment process of the next ABC Chair.
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) October 23, 2018
Previously, the tenders for recruitment firms for SBS and ABC Board members have been open.
The Dept says that the successful tenderer was Korn Ferry. Let’s have a look at them.
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) October 23, 2018
Executive Chairwoman of Korn Ferry is Katie Lahey, a former CEO of the Business Council of Australia pic.twitter.com/s1KUhjTjiK
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) October 23, 2018
Head of Board Services at Korn Ferry is former Liberal NSW MP and Greiner Government Minister Robert Webster. The Dept confirmed that Webster will participate in the ABC recruitment process, and that this was disclosed in Korn Ferry’s tender. pic.twitter.com/ATX1TG4EG0
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) October 23, 2018
Korn Ferry is a US-based company, but their local subsidiary is owned by a Dutch firm. This arrangement may help them lower their tax liability in Australia.
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) October 23, 2018
In short, the Govt ran a closed - not open - tender proces. It resulted in the selection of a foreign-owned company, with Liberal Party links, to recruit the Chairman of the ABC, and of course, Australian taxpayers will pay for this.
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) October 23, 2018
The ABC urgently needs an independent chair who will provide the leadership it needs and who will fiercely defend its independence. We will be watching this recruitment process very closely and carefully.
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) October 23, 2018
Updated
This was the review into how the ABC and SBS compete with the private sector.
Comms Dept sec Mark Mrdak confirms Competitive Neutrality Review into the ABC was completed on 28 September and is now with Comms Mins Sen Mitch Fifield "for review". Efficiency review is still underway @abcnews #auspol #ausbis
— Peter Ryan (@Peter_F_Ryan) October 22, 2018
For those who missed the poll news this morning, here is part of Katharine Murphy’s story:
Labor continues to command an election-winning position two months after the Liberal leadership change, and the anticipated loss of Wentworth. The latest Guardian Essential poll finds 59% of respondents say the government Scott Morrison leads has not been refreshed as a consequence of the bloodletting.
This week’s poll has Labor ahead of the Coalition on the two-party preferred measure 53% to 47%, a result that has remained steady for the past month.
A majority – 59% of a sample of 1,027 voters – say the Liberal leadership change in late September has made no difference, and the government remains the same as it was before the shift. Only 20% think the change of prime minister has created a refresh.
While the past fortnight has been punishing for Morrison, with a series of leaks, stumbles and controversies culminating in the likely loss of Malcolm Turnbull’s former seat of Wentworth over the weekend – and a hung parliament – there is some good news for the prime minister in the latest poll.
Liberal voters prefer Morrison as leader than Turnbull 57% to 29%, and 35% of all voters in the sample say they prefer Morrison to Turnbull’s 28%. Labor and Greens voters were more likely to prefer Turnbull.”
Updated
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has taken up the baton on “It’s OK to be white” and that really sets Linda Reynolds off.
Reynolds says that Watt and Faruqi’s line of questioning is “deeply personally offensive” because she believes it amounts to “implying I am racist”. She reiterates that the government voted for the motion “in error” and then voted against it when it was readdressed.
Reynolds: “To use this politically to suggest I or any of my colleagues is racist actually reflects very poorly on you that you would make these imputations.”
The Liberal senator Ian MacDonald rules that the questions are not relevant. It doesn’t help that he twice mispronounces Faruqi (Fa-roo-kee) as Farqui (Far-ku-ee), and Faruqi twice corrects him.
But don’t worry – the Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm is here to calm things down – by asking if it’s OK to be white.
The Australian Human Rights Commission president, Rosalind Croucher, shuts it down by noting Chin Tan has already made a public statement that: “There is no place for white supremacist slogans or messages in our society, especially in our parliament.”
Updated
The halls have become very, very quiet – and it’s a Tuesday – which means it is party room/caucus meeting time.
We’ll bring you the updates from those “discussions” very soon.
Updated
#freeArthur
I'm tired and missed this - can someone please update @SkyNewsAust of the work @TonyAbbottMHR has to substantiate her claims. It's in my Twitter account in case you missed it. Heaven help us if Arthur holds a press conference #helmutanyone #goodluck #auspol https://t.co/hXGyNDSR1R
— Craig Laundy (@LaundyCraigMP) October 22, 2018
Just a tip @TonyAbbottMHR I'm battling to keep my old man (Arthur) from holding a press conference - he's a massive fan of yours (true story 🤔) - but not lies. That said - if he cuts loose ... heaven help all of us 😉 #goodluck #auspol https://t.co/zA7fEN2293
— Craig Laundy (@LaundyCraigMP) October 22, 2018
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Labor senator Murray Watt has used Senate estimates to embarrass the government about the “It’s OK to be white” motion.
Watt asks Linda Reynolds – who is representing the attorney general, Christian Porter – whether she voted for the motion and whether she is aware of its origins and use by white supremacists.
Reynolds objects on relevance that estimates is “not a forum to ask me questions on political issues”, accusing Watt of “grandstanding”.
Liberal senator and chair of the legal and constitutional affairs committee, Ian MacDonald, rules the question out of order, saying it is “not relevant” to budget estimates.
Watt attempts to rephrase the question, leading to Reynolds reading out Porter’s statement, which essentially blamed a staffer and claimed the government accidentally supported the “it’s OK to be white” motion because it was interpreted as anti-racism and the origins weren’t appreciated.
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Australian Border Force Commissioner Mandy Newton gave an update on the numbers on Nauru last night, as part of the estimates hearings:
There are 652 asylum seekers on Nauru
541 have been determined as refugees
88 are still being processed
23 claims have been rejected
52 children are still on Nauru
107 families
52 of those families have minors
About 27 children were transferred last week*
*This post originally said yesterday, but they have corrected it
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Shayne Neumann went into further detail about what Labor is looking at, in regards to getting all children and their families off Nauru, while chatting to the ABC this morning:
Labor wants to prioritise the health of vulnerable children in Nauru. I wrote to David Coleman last night [about] the legislation, which has languished in the Senate for two years and didn’t impact at all the US refugee resettlement arrangement. Labor would support amendments to that legislation on a number of conditions. The first condition would be that the prime minister would guarantee that those children and families from Nauru would be transferred to New Zealand and appropriate conditions negotiated with the New Zealand government. Secondly, that the lifetime ban would only apply to that cohort of people who go to New Zealand from Nauru – the children and their families. And thirdly, if the prime minister was concerned about some sort of backdoor passage to Australia, that that particular amendment would limit the opportunity for people to come to Australia by amendments to the subclass 444 – which is the Special Category visa which allows New Zealanders to come to Australia as a right.
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The new race discrimination commissioner, Chin Tan, is up at Senate estimates.
Labor senators have probed whether he will be less outspoken about racism than his predecessor Tim Soutphommasane, cross-examining him on statements by the attorney general Christian Porter that Soutphommasane had been too “divisive” and needed to focus more on the positives of multicultural Australia.
Tan denied that he has been instructed by Porter about how to conduct his role, and said discussions have been “very minimal”.
“My predecessor Tim Southphommasane brought passion and dedication as he saw fit, and I will bring my contribution as well,” he said.
Asked about the rise of white supremacy, Tan said that “any extremism” is a source of disharmony and a cause for concern. He talks in generalities about “very, very radical views” but can’t name any other groups that threaten racial and social harmony.
Asked about Soutphommasane’s comments that some media are using racism as “part of their business model”, Chin Tan says “all forms of racism” are of concern to him but it’s too early to nominate any particular emphasis in his role.
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Craig Laundy is continuing to live his best life as an MP on the outs.
He has no more shits left to give.
Attention morning shock jocks - b4 you parrot Credlins thoughts as you did this morning, note, last night she said my old man (Arthur) "came in & lobbied" re my preselection - tonight she said he "pitched". She's crab walking because neither are true, are they @TonyAbbottMHR https://t.co/hXGyNDSR1R
— Craig Laundy (@LaundyCraigMP) October 22, 2018
Mark Butler has responded to the latest government announcement on energy:
What Angus Taylor has announced, and what the newspapers have reported, is the government’s acceptance of a recommendation by the ACCC to adopt a default price offer. I make the point that Bill Shorten and I announced our acceptance of that recommendation, that being a Labor party policy, 10 weeks ago.
And Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg followed suit one or two days later. This has been a bipartisan point of energy policy now for 10 weeks and now, after eight weeks of so-called ‘hard work’, this is the best that Angus Taylor can come up with – reheating a policy that was agreed between the major parties 10 weeks ago.
It just continues to beg the question why did Malcolm Turnbull get dumped as prime minister and why did the government dump the national energy guarantee if this is the best they can come up with?”
And on the $1 billion into the Emissions Reduction Fund thought-bubble being touted by some of the moderates:
All of the commentary, all of the analysis about the Emissions Reduction Fund, has said that it is not effective in reducing carbon pollution and it is a colossal waste of taxpayers’ funds. Malcolm Turnbull put it better than anyone when he said it is a “recipe for fiscal recklessness” and nothing more than a “fig-leaf to cover a determination to do nothing.” He made that analysis almost 10 years ago and that analysis has held true.
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Kevin Rudd will launch the second volume of his book in parliament today.
Meanwhile, Malcolm Turnbull seems to be enjoying his post-politics life
Malcolm Turnbull, wearing a sunhat and polo shirt at his home in Sydney and being swamped by reporters asking about #Wentworth: "I am retired, so thank you very much" 🏝️ #auspol
— Alex Beech (@AlexHBeech) October 22, 2018
Father Chris Riley, the founder of Youth Off the Streets, is in Canberra today, lobbying to have funding restored, after he said changes to the funding model for disabled students left his organisation “with 30% less funding for schools and over $600,000 in debt”.
From his statement:
“The government has introduced a new disability classification system that will negatively impact Youth Off The Streets’ education funding by $1.3m a year. On 19 November 2017, Youth Off The Streets received advice from the Department of Education and Training around an estimate of school funding for the coming year: allowing the organisation to plan accordingly. A short 10 months later, the department informed Youth Off The Streets that, based on the revised funding model, they had been overpaid and they were advised of the requirement to pay back $631,406.
“We work with vulnerable kids that have disengaged from mainstream education. This cut to our funding will devastate the service we offer these young people and it will devastate their future,” he said.
“... The new classification takes a very narrow view of disability. Our kids may be dealing with trauma, substance use issues, domestic and family violence issues, and homelessness. The classification doesn’t factor in their circumstances. They need the specialised care we give in our schools and the government has effectively removed that from them. This change will cost the government a lot more in the long run if these kids are denied an education and are denied their full potential.”
He’s attempting to meet with Dan Tehan and Scott Morrison to discuss the situation– and I would expect Labor and others to pick up his case as well.
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The crossbench, which is about to get a lot more powerful when Kerryn Phelps joins its ranks, has been thinking long and hard about what it wants.
There are some broad-ranging ideas and ideologies on that bench.
And some large swathes of common ground. Andrew Wilkie had a chat about this to the ABC:
We are obviously a very broad-ranging group – everyone from Bob Katter on the far right, to probably Adam Bandt on the left, and everyone in-between.
There will be areas of common interest; assuming Kerryn Phelps joins us in some weeks, well then five of the six will have a particular interest in asylum seeker policy and climate change policy. I suspect all six of us, including Bob, would be of the view that we need to set up a federal integrity commission.
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As Paul Karp points out, this week is the ultimate for senators to ask for a please explain – and Pauline Hanson is not here.
Another for the Where in the World is Pauline Hanson during Senate Estimates Week files #auspol pic.twitter.com/khMVoC0uy1
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) October 22, 2018
Speaking of spin, the energy wars, the cultural wars, the knifed prime minister – all of that, has just been “a discussion and a debate”.
.@Kieran_Gilbert: You have been ripping each other apart for months.@StevenCiobo: What we have been doing is having a discussion and a debate about what is the right policy to take Australia forward. That is good for political parties.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) October 22, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/1Bpeow2IRV #amagenda pic.twitter.com/dN6W7u2poY
The argument from the government, including Steve Ciobo just a few minutes ago, is that the Coalition is fixing Labor’s mess when it comes to offshore detention.
Which might work better if the Coalition had not been in power since 2013.
Tanya Plibersek spoke this morning about where Labor was willing to go on the deal:
Labor believes that the government’s claim that their lifetime ban legislation is necessary to remove people from Nauru and rehouse them in New Zealand is just not true. They don’t need this legislation. It’s extreme overkill. It means if someone who’s tried to come to Australia by boat ends up in a third country, spends their whole life there, they’re professionally successful, they want to come to Australia for a business conference or to visit a relative or for tourism purposes, 30 or 40 or 50 years after they’ve tried to come to Australia the first time, they still won’t be allowed to come.
They haven’t needed that legislation for the United States. They are managing to rehouse people in the United States without this legislation. But look, Labor is prepared to compromise with the government because we get it, we understand that it is beyond time that these people who have been reported by their doctors and other support workers to be in the most desperate circumstances, it’s beyond time that we find a new home for these vulnerable people.
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Nick McKim had a chat to the ABC about where the Greens stand on the latest Nauru deal:
We are not going to stand in the way of reasonable arrangements that get children out of detention on Nauru and to the medical treatment and support they so desperately need. If that is in New Zealand and the rest of the arrangement is satisfactory, we wouldn’t be standing in the way, but I make the point again, this is not going to address the situation in real time.
If Prime Minister Morrison won’t bring those children and their families to Australia with the stroke of a pen, we still believe Labor needs to support the legislation that we’ve put forward with other crossbenchers in the House of Representatives, that if Labor supported it would clear the parliament or could clear the parliament within just three weeks and then all of those children and their families would be required by law to be brought here to Australia for medical treatment.
He also makes the point that while New Zealand has offered to take 150 asylum seekers, that still leaves a lot of people in limbo, including the 600 or so men on Manus Island.
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“Ultimately … some people might not like to hear this, but it was a pretty poor choice by the parents to try and get to Australia,” Steve Ciobo says, when asked on Sky about the 11 children who have been flown to Australia for mental distress and worse, from being kept on Nauru.
He says he has compassion and empathy for those fleeing persecution but that there are proper processes in place.
All in all he is doing a bang-up job of this interview.
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Just from yesterday’s estimates, Helen Davidson filed this little tidbit from the home affairs hearing:
The Labor party flagged back in September they’d be using these estimates hearings to find out more about the long-running and kind of mysterious bid to outsource the $1bn visa processing system.
It’s not going very well.
The head of home affairs, Michael Pezzullo, firstly, would like you to know it’s not a privatisation.
The department had a “significant number” of interested parties, “in the double figures”, which responded to the initial request for expressions of interest for an automated visa processing system, but they can’t say how many, and won’t confirm the wide reporting that it’s now down to just two consortiums in the running.
There has been a lot of reporting around the involvement of the businessman Scott Briggs, who is closely connected to the prime minister, Scott Morrison, the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and the immigration minister, David Coleman.
Morrison and Coleman have both withdrawn from any involvement in the process, which would ordinarily involve the immigration minister and be taken to cabinet.
Pezzullo would not be drawn on why Morrison and Coleman have recused themselves from all consideration of the process. “They have actively sought not to be briefed,” he said.
Kim Carr takes a second run after his time runs out once, and asks if it was because of the involvement of Briggs, but the home affairs representatives would not be drawn. Nor would they confirm that Briggs had participated in the request for expressions of interest.
Linda Reynolds says it would be inconsistent with commonwealth procurement rules to go into detail about involved parties, given that that the bid hasn’t gone to the formal request for tender stage.
Pezzullo again won’t confirm or deny who may or may not be involved in the pre-RFT stage.
Carr later asks about the prospect for higher visa fees once the system is outsourced. “Someone’s going to have to pay for the costs of the private sector,” he says.
“The fees and charges would be considered by government when the RFT tender evaluation is concluded, and we’d be given authority to proceed with contract negs, and all the limitations, caps, and approval processes would be written into the contract,” Pezzullo says.
Reynolds notes that the new system would process many more visas, and that would make more money.
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Scott Morrison seems to be running with the “just keep swimming” mantra, and started today with a visit to Chisholm to talk power prices.
You can learn why from Katharine Murphy’s story:
The Morrison government will attempt to press ahead with its agenda to lower power prices for consumers, formally asking the Australian Energy Regulator to introduce a default market offer for energy prices for households and small businesses.
It will use a looming meeting with state and territory energy ministers – the first gathering of the Coag energy council since the national energy guarantee was scuttled by the Coalition’s civil war – to try to seek the cooperation of state and territory governments to implement reforms focused on providing hip-pocket relief.
As part of a suite of policy responses, the new energy minister, Angus Taylor, has also been signalling since taking the portfolio that he wants to encourage new investment extending the life of existing coal and gas plants, and upgrading ageing facilities, with an objective of boosting supply.
Mike Bowers was there to capture the totally-normal-and-not-awkward-at-all-the-PM-has-just-popped-over-for-a-morning-cuppa visit. And he also noticed the lapel pin of Australian truthiness and kangaroos is back.
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Good morning
After years of pushing it to side, the major political parties look close to striking a deal to finally, finally end the indefinite detention for asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island.
For both parties, it’s a case of no longer being able to put it off.
Labor wants it cleared away before the next election, because the left faction of the party is agitating for a fix, and soon. The government can’t afford to have any more distractions. The crossbenchers, particularly Cathy McGowan and Rebehka Sharkie, who may end up giving Scott Morrison the support he needs to get through the next few months, want it dealt with, and soon.
And so, well after the public shifted its views on the matter, the parliament is catching up.
The last sticking point is the never, ever, ever step foot in Australia deal the government wants to strike. The compromise is looking like a ban on residency, rather than visits, but we’ll see.
At least something is happening.
Wentworth will also be on the agenda, after it was put to the side yesterday, out of respect for the survivors of institutional childhood sexual abuse who were in parliament for the national apology. Dave Sharma will need a miracle at this stage to get the numbers, and the government has all but officially accepted it is now a minority one.
But it is yet to accept the reasons for it. So far, “it is all Malcolm Turnbull’s fault” and “Wentworth isn’t Australia” aren’t really cutting it. Probably because dumping Turnbull as leader was meant to fix everything and now those who wielded the knife seem shocked there is blood all over the rug and it’s proving a little difficult to scrub out. So to speak.
Estimates is also on, with the ABC hearing coming up after question time. Won’t that be fun?
Mike Bowers has been out and about early, as Morrison took his “minister for lowering electricity prices, just don’t ask him about the plan for lowering emissions” out for a spin as he attempts to right the ship with some good old-fashioned marketing.
Because it has worked so well before.
The Guardian’s brain trust is also on deck – they’ll be bringing you all the bits and pieces I can’t get to, so keep an eye out for their posts.
You can catch me in the comments and on Twitter at @amyremeikis.
I am on coffee number three. And it’s only Tuesday.
Ready?
Let’s get into it.
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