Night time politics
- As we close up tonight, the Coalition is doing a second round party room meeting on its response to the Finkel review, given a rump in the party that opposes a clean energy target as recommended by Finkel. Energy and environment minister Josh Frydenberg has given his briefing on the report and in this second instalment, MPs will get to give their thoughts on energy policy.
- Unless the party room throws out the CET altogether, we are unlikely to see any resolution out of this meeting apart from potential grumbling.
- Frydenberg also spoke to a rare crossbench matter of public importance calling for the need for bipartisan consistent energy policy in Australia. He was very conciliatory but climate critic Craig Kelly followed up with a speech blaming Labor. Indi independent Cathy McGowan introduced the MPI motion on how the community is moving on renewables, including in her country electorate in Victoria. Her message: the community is moving ahead of the parliament. Labor allowed her to move the unusual motion.
- Hell, deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce told Sky “even the National party” wanted to land the energy policy plane.
- Labor used question time to ask for details about the clean energy target, calling on Malcolm Turnbull to stand up to Tony Abbott and others opposing the CET in his party room. Labor knows if they offer to help Turnbull, it makes even more mischief for him, given he is painted as a fake Liberal by some on the conservative end of his party.
- Turnbull responded by calling Labor dimwitted fools on energy policy.
- The Greens managed to persuade the Senate to throw out a regulation that tightened up access to medicinal cannabis.
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The Greens also decided they would not support government changes on citizenship, no matter what they are. We have yet to see the legislation with the details. Labor is keeping its powder dry.
Tomorrow, the Senate quickie report into the Gonski 2.0 policy is out. The Greens have yet to reveal their position.
Thanks for your company and to my brains trust, Gareth Hutchens, Paul Karp and Katharine Murphy. Mike Bowers has left the building to return bright and early.
Goodnight.
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Resources minister Matt Canavan and assistant multicultural minister Zed Seselja have invited members and senators to light refreshments next week in support of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) “after the recent damage to their headquarters in Canberra”.
Managing director Lyle Shelton will say a few words. FYI.
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The Australian Tax Office deputy commissioner Michael Cranston has resigned after been charged with two counts of abuse of public office for allegedly obtaining information and exercising influence to obtain a benefit for his son.
Cranston who was earlier suspended, tendered his resignation after the hearing, effective immediately.
AAP reports that the One Nation senator Pauline Hanson has dropped legal proceedings against the ABC in which she had sought to stop the broadcaster airing “secret” telephone recordings.
The case was launched after recordings relating to One Nation officials were leaked to the media by the party’s former treasurer in Queensland Ian Nelson.
Hanson’s lawyers on Tuesday discontinued proceedings against the ABC in the NSW supreme court after the broadcaster last week revealed it had no additional recordings. The 63-year-old was ordered to pay the ABC’s legal fees.
But Hanson’s legal action against the former One Nation treasurer Ian Nelson continues.
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Calla Walquist reports:
Victoria’s peak legal body has chastised senior Turnbull government ministers for making “worrying” and “inappropriate” comments about the Victorian judiciary over the sentencing of terrorism offences.
The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, and the human services minister, Alan Tudge, said senior supreme court judges – including chief justice Marilyn Warren – made what they called “deeply concerning” comments during an appeal hearing on Friday.
Hunt accused the court of becoming a forum for “ideological experiments” and said the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, should “immediately reject” the judge’s statements.
The appeal concerned the sentencing of three Victorian men who had pleaded guilty to three separate terrorism-related offences, including Sevdet Ramadan Besim, who received 10 years’ jail for a plan to behead a police officer at the Anzac Day service in Melbourne in 2015.
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Andrew Burrell of the Oz reports that the Liberal senator Chris Back is resigning because of a change in personal circumstances.
Over a 50-year career since commencing veterinary school in 1967 I have placed work ahead of family. However my personal circumstances have changed recently and it is now time to redress that imbalance.
Travel from Western Australia to meet our commitments in the Parliament in Canberra and the heavy workload of Senate and Joint Committees around the country places a heavy burden on Members and Senators.
I am no longer in a position to continue this commitment and meet my obligations to my family.
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Pauline Hanson is arguing the case to introduce a debt ceiling on how much the Australian government can borrow.
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Where’s the cheese, Gromit?
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Barnaby Joyce: even the Nats want to land the energy policy plane
Public statements from Tony Abbott and Craig Kelly about the importance of coal point to a conservative boilover in the joint Coalition party room on energy policy.
But in comments to Sky, the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, has insisted the Nationals will be constructive.
Mr Shorten is not going to find a bipartisan position, he doesn’t want to be a leader ... no matter what the Coalition says, he’ll say no. We’re all moving to try and make sure we land this – even the National party, to a point. We’re all doing our bit – the Labor party should do their bit.
Joyce said he didn’t want to see coal disadvantaged because it was one of Australia’s major exports. He said it was “craziness” for Australia to become a nation of people that “take in each other’s washing, of kitchen renovators, of accountants doing solicitors’ work and solicitors doing accountants’ work”.
All marvellous but somebody somewhere has got to put something on a boat and send it in the other direction for us to maintain our terms of trade.
Joyce said an emissions intensity scheme disadvantaged energy sources above a certain level of emissions and advantaged those below; whereas a clean energy target would advantage those below but be neutral for those above.
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The matter of public importance on energy policy by Cathy McGowan and her fellow crossbenchers is unusual.
It is the first time in the last two terms of parliament that the crossbenchers have come together to speak on an MPI. Cathy will be followed by Andrew Wilkie, Adam Bandt, Rebekha Sharkie and Bob Katter.
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Christopher Knaus reports on the politics of poverty porn.
The Coalition has been accused of “heartless vilification” for releasing a list of welfare “bludger hotspots” across Australia.
The federal government on Tuesday released a list of 10 suburbs and towns with the highest jobseeker non-compliance numbers.
The list, which News Corp dubbed a “list of shame”, referred to the number of welfare recipients who failed to meet requirements, usually by failing to attend appointments or interviews with job service providers.
Second on the list was Blacktown in Sydney, where 333 people failed to attend an interview without a reasonable excuse in the past year, according to News Corp.
That is about 0.097% of the estimated 340,000 people living in Blacktown city council and 2.87% of the 11,597 Newstart and youth allowance recipients subject to mutual obligation requirements in the area last year.
There are also fewer jobs in Blacktown city than resident workers. The jobs to residents ratio was 0.76 in 2015/16, according to the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research.
Blacktown city’s mayor, Stephen Bali, described the attack as the “politics of poverty porn”.
The Indi independent, Cathy McGowan, is prosecuting the matter of public importance, being “the urgent need for a national energy policy that supports a strong economy, vibrant communities and sensible environmental outcomes”.
Labor looks like it is staying around to hear it but not the government MPs.
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Paul Karp reports that defence minister, Marise Payne, has told the Senate that WA Liberal Chris Back will retire.
In answering a question on Australian defence, Payne said that Back had today announced his retirement, and said his contribution would be “sorely missed”.
Labor’s Mark Butler to Josh Frydenberg: Will the emissions intensity threshold under a clean energy target be at, higher or lower than 0.6 tonnes?
Frydenberg says a clean energy target was the preferred recommendation over Labor’s emissions intensity scheme because the emissions intensity scheme was punishing coal.
Labor takes a point of relevance. Speaker Smith upholds the Labor point and says get on with it.
Frydenberg says the Finkel review provides a lot of “food for thought”, which does not answer the question.
Shorten to Turnbull: Is the prime minister aware that in just 18 days time, on 1 July, AGL power prices in NSW will go up by 16%, penalty rates will be cut for nearly 700,000 Australians and millionaires will get a tax cut. When household budgets for low- and middle-income Australians are getting even tighter, why is the prime minister’s only priority giving people who earn a million dollars a tax cut?
Turnbull attacks what he calls Shorten’s feeble attempts at the politics of envy.
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Tanya Plibersek to Turnbull: Can the prime minister confirm wholesale electricity prices have more than doubled under his government?
Turnbull says increases in gas prices have been to blame – largely as a result of state government decisions,
but there is no doubt that wholesale electricity prices have considerably increased in very recent times.
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News from the Senate is that WA Liberal senator Chris Back is retiring immediately. His term expires in 2019.
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Emma Husar reacts to speaker Smith "Don't behave like a soccer crowd" @GuardianAus @gabriellechan #politicslive pic.twitter.com/arMYev8swj
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) June 13, 2017
Shorten to Turnbull: On Friday for the first time in Australia’s history, gross debt will crash through half a trillion dollars. With debt at record highs under this government, how can the country possibly afford to give millionaires a tax cut in 18 days?
Turnbull attacks Labor’s plans, including its costings from the last election which had a slightly higher deficit before improving over the decade.
There is no answer to the question about removing the temporary deficit repair levy.
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Albanese to Turnbull: Is the prime minister aware that Brisbane’s cross-river rail project was approved by Infrastructure Australia in 2012? It was the subject of a detailed agreement between the federal and Queensland governments in 2013 and funded in the 2013 budget? Why is the prime minister purporting to support public transport in our cities while pretending this essential project is not ready to go?
Turnbull says the project is being considered by Infrastructure Australia now.
Urban infrastructure minister Paul Fletcher says the coordinator general in Queensland showed the differences between the version that was approved in 2012 and the version that is now lodged.
This is not the same project.
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Gina McColl and Phillip Wen of Fairfax reported last year:
Chinese businessmen with links to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop have donated half a million dollars to the Western Australian division of the Liberal Party during the past two years, political disclosures reveal.
All the donors have links to the Chinese government, and the vast bulk of the money was given by companies with no apparent business interests in WA. Ms Bishop, the leading federal member of the party in that state, has singled out each of the three key donors for praise.
Anthony Albanese to Turnbull: Is the prime minister aware that under the so-called national rail program, not a single dollar is available in this entire term of parliament? Nothing this year, nothing next year and nothing the year after that. Isn’t the national rail program in fact the new Naif [Northern Australia Infrastructure Fund] – the No Actual Infrastructure Fund?
Turnbull makes the inevitable jokes about Albo not able to get many questions through Labor strategy meetings.
He then moves on to how long rail projects take.
It is important that the commitment is made well in advance, which it has been and the money will be available as and when it is required.
Turnbull goes through various programs and then raises the national broadband network (NBN).
That hardly seems to have a commitment to the national interest. Right across the board, whether it is in rail, road, $75bn of commitment over the next decade and one of the honourable members opposite was speaking before question Time about the National Broadband Network. That train wreck we inherited from the Labor Party. We are connecting more paying customers every two weeks than Labor did in six years.
Uproar from the Labor benches at the thought of Turnbull claiming the NBN legacy.
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Labor MP responds to Dutton.
Dutton trying to put the 'pressure' on #qt pic.twitter.com/pbnGEbPb8D
— Tim Watts MP (@TimWattsMP) June 13, 2017
Immigration minister Peter Dutton is taking a Dixer to attack Labor for not immediately supporting the citizenship package which is yet to be revealed completely.
Speaker Tony Smith throws out Nick Champion and Dutton welcomes the move, suggesting it lifted the IQ in the chamber.
Labor’s Graham Perrett protests and Smith said he did not hear Dutton’s comment.
NXT MP Rebekha Sharkie to health minister Hunt: In the past, cuts threatened the child dental benefits schedule, a program which provides $1,000 of free dental care for low income families because the government claimed the program was under-utilised. In March 2016, a review of the program made four recommendations to increase uptake including targeted promotion, making letters more recognisable as a dental voucher and providing follow-up notification to families. Would the minister advise which recommendations have been implemented in the 15 months since the review?
Greg Hunt says the government has lifted the child dental benefits scheme from $700 to $1,000 but does not answer the question relating to the low-income dental care.
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Malcolm Turnbull calls Labor fools and dimwits on energy policy
Shorten to Turnbull: The chief scientist has said about new coal-fired power stations “it would be surprising if governments were to endorse a scheme that incentivised them”. I give the prime minister another opportunity, does he agree?
Turnbull says the time for politics and ideology is over.
The clean energy target proposed by Dr Finkel ... would provide an incentive to forms of generation that are lower than the benchmark of so many kilograms per megawatt hour. That is how it would work.
The PM has its all very well to write him “lovely letters” but Australians just want consistent energy policy.
So dimwitted is this bunch of left wing ideologues opposite, so dimwitted are they, so dimwitted in anything to do with engineering or science, these fools were happy to have lots of renewable energy but it didn’t occur to them that sometimes the wind doesn’t blow and the sun doesn’t shine and they forgot to do anything about it.
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Foreign minister Julie Bishop is taking a Dixer so that she can criticise Sam Dastyari’s brief departure from Labor’s South China Sea policy following the Four Corners revelations last week.
Christopher Pyne is yelling incessantly “shame on Labor”.
Greg Hunt calls Greens motion on medicinal cannabis 'reckless and irresponsible'
The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, has spoken at a doorstop about the successful Senate motion on medicinal cannabis.
What it means now is that a patient can go and see a doctor, a doctor can order medicinal cannabis for that patient if they’ve got a terminal illness. If it’s not available in Australia, they can get it overseas. Really important, very simple.
Di Natale also dismissed government claims this would open the floodgates to unregulated cannabis as “utter nonsense”. He said if the government accepts that cannabis is an effective treatment for people who are suffering, its access regime should be the same as for other drugs.
The health minister, Greg Hunt, said at a later press conference the advice from the Therapeutic Goods Administration on Tuesday and earlier in the year at Senate estimates is that “removing the safeguards could potentially allow dangerous drugs that could take lives”.
He labelled the Senate motion “reckless and irresponsible” and said it amounted to supporting “unsafe drugs in unregulated quantities that could be diverted to criminal purposes”.
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Turnbull: Finkel does not prohibit coal fired power stations
Labor’s Mark Butler to Turnbull: Modelling in the Finkel report assumes no new coal fired power stations will be built under a clean energy target. The chief scientist has said about new coal fired power stations “It would be surprising if governments were to endorse a scheme that incentivised them”. Does the Prime Minister agree with the chief scientist?
Turnbull says:
What Dr Finkel proposes as a clean energy target does not penalise coal, it does not prohibit the construction of a coal-fired power station or indeed a gas-fired power station. What he seeks to do there is to provide incentives for lower emission technologies including but not exclusively renewables.
Shorten to Turnbull: Under this Liberal Government, wholesale electricity prices have doubled. Pollution is up. Jobs and renewable energy are down. Will the government commit to working with Labor through the Finkel report to address this massive policy failure?
Turnbull begins blaming the South Australian Labor government.
The Labor party left the engineering and the economics at the door and attacked Australia’s energy system armed with only politics and partisanship. They have no plan at all.
He says since the government announced the (threat of) domestic gas reservations, there has been a fall in wholesale gas prices on the east coast.
We have already arrested the rapid rise in prices on the east coast which were being driven by a shortage of supply, taking a tough decision, responding to the problem quickly. What is the long term answer? It is more gas.
This was a clarification from gas expert Bruce Robertson last sitting week.
PM tells parli: we have already seen reductions in gas price
— Bruce Robertson (@barobertson111) May 31, 2017
???
Customers would love to know.
AAH the #gascartel won't disclose prices
Lunch time politics
- The Greens have successfully overturned a government regulation which would have restricted access to medicinal cannabis. The regulation previously passed with One Nation support but the Hansons changed their vote to back the Greens move.
- Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten have given national security statements to the house.
- The Coalition party room has heard a long briefing from energy and environment minister Josh Frydenberg on the Finkel review into electricity policy. The party room needs to reconvene later in the day to discuss the report.
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QT coming up.
The Senate is debating the Indigenous land use agreements (Iluas) in the few minutes before question time, which is coming up at 2pm.
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They’re a weird mob.
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Coalition joint party room meeting: Part 1
Malcolm Turnbull told the Coalition party room today the threat from Islamist terrorism was “real and close” and warned the world would see “more [attacks] before we see less”.
He said immigration minister Peter Dutton’s changes to citizenship law – which will be introduced to the House of Representatives this week – will “underline our commitment to maintain and strong, cohesive society”.
Josh Frydenberg, the energy and environment minister, gave a 30-minute presentation on the Finkel report.
By the time the presentation was finished, the party room didn’t have time to discuss it because Malcolm Turnbull had to leave to attend an event backing Australia’s bid for the 2023 women’s football World Cup.
The party room will reconvene sometime after question time to discuss Frydenberg’s presentation.
The foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, talked about the UK election result. She warned the “left is on the move. They are globally networked.”
She referred to Momentum, the UK equivalent of GetUp!, and said “this group represents an ideology we thought had collapsed with the fall of the Berlin Wall.”
“Bill Shorten knows that this platform would lead to economic ruin and the loss of jobs. He’ll sacrifice anything to win the next election.”
She emphasised the importance of vigorously fighting back against the left.
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One Nation overturns medicinal cannabis vote to improve access for terminally ill
The Greens have won a disallowance vote, which effectively means the Senate has supported an amendment to therapeutic goods laws to change category A of the Special Access Scheme for cannabis.
The effect of it will speed access to the drug for people with a terminal illness.
It came about because Pauline Hanson and the Hansons changed their votes on a previous regulation.
The independent senator Jacqui Lambie, who missed the vote last time, also turned up and voted with the Greens.
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The lower house has put off the suspension vote until later in the day.
The senate voted to disallow the regulation relating to medicinal cannabis.
Bear with me, I am trying to interpret the double negatives to explain what it will mean in practice.
So, to be clear, we have competing suspensions of both the lower house (on penalty rates) and the Senate (on medicinal cannabis).
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In the Senate there is also a suspension of standing orders over medicinal cannabis.
It is all breaking loose here.
It is over an old vote, which would have made medicinal cannabis easier to get. The vote went down, much to the pleasure of the Coalition.
At the time, Jacqui Lambie missed the vote but there was some reporting that she did so purposely because there was doubt over the measure.
The Greens want the vote taken again in line with longstanding Senate practice that votes should not be decided by misadventure.
The government is having no bar of it and the communications minister, Mitch Fifield, says there were plenty of other opportunities to redo the vote in the meantime – opportunities Lambie did not take.
So the Greens suspended standing orders to get a disallowance vote – which would overturn that vote.
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Labor’s Tony Burke is the second speaker on the suspension of standing orders.
He says the Turnbull government wants to stand by the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut some penalty rates because it agrees with that decision.
Burke says while ordinary workers will get a pay cut as a result, the government stands by its decision to “give millionaires a pay rise” by removing the temporary deficit levy.
Labor is now moving to suspend standing orders to get its bill debated to amend the Fair Work Act 2009, which would stop the Fair Work Commission from cutting penalties.
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Bill Shorten also underlines the ongoing debate in the ranks of parts of the Coalition backbench regarding Islamist terrorism.
The wisdom of [former Asio director general] David Irvine is always worth repeating at any discussion of national security. The tiny number of violent extremists does not represent the Islamic communities of Australia. We are talking about a few hundred abhorrent souls in a community of nearly 500,000.
Muslims see themselves as a committed component of Australia’s multicultural community. Our fight is with terrorism, not with Islam or with our Muslim community. The strongest defence against terrorism lies within the Australian Muslim community itself.
With that, his speech ends but we have clearer idea of where Labor stands on the specific changes in proposed citizenship bill, which has yet to be introduced to parliament.
Labor wants to see the details before committing.
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Bill Shorten backs the need to ensure that we cannot rely on self policing for tech giants like Facebook.
He says government agencies also need resources to stop cyber attacks on Australian businesses.
This is, of course, a difficult and complex area and there are two things we simply don’t know enough to deal with properly - I refer to the use of the digital currency bitcoin and the use of the dark web. A network of untraceable online activities and hidden websites, allowing those who wish to stay in the shadows to remain hidden. Terrorists are increasingly using this network to avoid detection, conduct planning and acquire capability and tools to carry out their evil actions. We must target this threat head-on.
The Coalition party room’s Finkel discussion has broken for a second instalment at a later time in the day yet to be announced.
An ominous sign, given the last time it happened was the marathon meeting on marriage equality.
Bill Shorten is up now.
He is speaking about the victims and it is worth a quote at length, (as a mother whose daughter has recently returned from OS.)
We produce bold and resilient young people. The kind of people who run towards danger, bravely, without a second thought for themselves. People with the courage and character to make lives away from this country to achieve great things in other lands while always holding Australia in their heart.
And, whether it’s years or decades later, they come home. As Clive James has said, “The same abundance of natural blessings that gave us the energy to leave has every right to call us back.”
But because of a vicious act of violent cowardice, a lightning strike of terror, Kirsty and Sara will never come home. They’re not going to walk through the sliding doors at the airport arrivals, embrace the loved ones who they’ve missed and missed them.
Instead, their families are left with the last conversation forever unfinished. Perhaps a cheery message about the night ahead, a friendly update from home. A routine exchange, an old joke or two and the things that we all say as parents – take care of yourself, have fun, we love you.
Never truly knowing the weight of those words until they’re the last ones that we share with the most precious things in our lives. No matter how much they grow up, they’re always your daughter or your son, your life.
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Turnbull notes that George Brandis will meet with the Five Eyes to discuss digital security.
This is not about creating or exploiting back doors, as some privacy advocates continue to say, despite constant reassurance from us. It is about collaboration with and assistance from industry in the pursuit of public safety.
But democracy must be safeguarded ...
While there is currently no higher priority than defeating Islamist terrorism, our interests are also directly threatened by attempts by foreign states to compromise the integrity of our democratic institutions and processes. We should all guard jealously the principles of democracy that we practise here in this place.
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Turnbull moves from boat policy and on to social media platforms, previewing the government’s plans (reported earlier) on encryption platforms.
Not so long ago, only states and large corporations had megaphones powerful enough to address a nation. Now a tweet or a YouTube video can reach millions, if not billions, and do so in seconds ...
The first iPhone was launched in 2007. Facebook with 1.5bn accounts worldwide began in a Harvard dorm in 2004 and it has 200 million accounts in India and 100 million in Indonesia alone.
But these remarkable technologies are also being used by those who seek to do us harm. We need even stronger cooperation from the big social media and messaging platforms in the fight against terrorism and the extremism which spawns it.
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Malcolm Turnbull turns to the citizenship changes coming this week.
We are introducing legislation to change our visa and citizenship requirements to ensure that new members of our society will embrace our values and positively contribute to our Australian society, regardless of background or religious belief.
He urges Labor to support the bill.
Turnbull says Australia is the most successful multicultural country in the world.
We must not take that success for granted. There is no more important title in our democracy than Australian citizen and we should make no apology for asking those who seek to join our Australian family to join us as Australian patriots committed to the values that define us committed to the values that unite us.
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So far the statement has reviewed previous initiatives, including national security reviews and Australian efforts in the Iraq and Afghanistan.
Katharine Murphy has previewed this statement here.
He begins remembering the loss of four Australians killed in terrorist attacks in the last few weeks, including Zynab Al Harbiya, the 12-year-old girl who was killed in Iraq, Kirsty Boden and Sara Zelenak, who were killed in London, and Kai Hao, who was killed in Melbourne.
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Patriot Games at 12pm in the chamber.
Caucus has just broken and there are a couple of points that Gareth Hutchens will bring shortly.
We have no clearer steer on reported Labor plans to water down the citizenship laws, though Bill Shorten was part of a conversation which noted the prime minister’s call to “join us as patriots” and was critical of its use by white supremacists.
(This post has been amended).
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The prime minister is speaking at an event to back Australia’s bid for the 2023 women’s football World Cup, doing the rah rah for the Matildas and women’s sport in general.
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I have been riffing on Gday Patriots all morning, waiting for the spectacular entry of the authors of the terrific podcast on American politics to take the stage.
Gday Patriots is billed as the Biglyest Australian look at US Politics, by friends of the blog - @cjjosh, @willozap, @jcnerd & @rodl with sound engineering by @creogg.
Here they are...
Hey @GdayPatriots, the @GuardianAus is messing with our brand! pic.twitter.com/4k1ueXeYmK
— CJJosh (Official) (@cjjosh) June 13, 2017
Greens partyroom: no to citizenship, maybe to Finkel, mum on Gonski
The Greens party room has discussed donations and lobbying, terrorism and citizenship and the Finkel review.
On donations and lobbying, the Greens have signalled they will introduce a private members’ bill to create a lobbying commissioner to investigate whether rules are being breached on lobbying; to extend scrutiny to in-house lobbyists at big companies and not just those employed by specialist third-party lobbying firms; and to introduce sanctions for breaches of rules.
On citizenship, although legislation for Peter Dutton’s latest proposed crackdown has not been released, the Greens have already resolved to oppose it. The Greens have received reports of cancelled citizenship ceremonies, and they fear some current applicants who would qualify under old rules will miss out when the waiting time is extended from one year to four, and higher English language requirements are introduced.
The Greens questioned why Labor had yet to make their mind up on the legislation and why the government had kept public submissions to its inquiry confidential.
On the Finkel review, the Greens are concerned that the emissions limit could see subsidies go to gas power, and if the emissions targets are set by the Council of Australian Governments it could be very difficult to scale up.
The Gonski 2.0 schools funding plan was also discussed, although the Greens will not discuss their position until after a Senate report is released on Wednesday.
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Shortly we will know what happened in the caucus meeting this morning but Andrew Tillett of the Fin is reporting that Labor will try to water down key elements of the bill.
Negotiations are expected to focus on specific details, such as reducing the four-year waiting time and making the language requirement less strict, rather than trying to killing off the concept.
Generally Labor has tried to provide a level of bipartisanship on national security legislation so this would be an interesting development.
G’day patriots, the prequel.
Before the parliament begins at midday with security statements et al, it is worth remember the prime minister’s first security statement weeks after he took the leadership from Tony Abbott in 2015.
Our response must be as clear eyed and strategic as it is determined.
This is not a time for gestures or machismo.
Calm, clinical, professional, effective.
That’s how we defeat this menace.
The Labor senator Katy Gallagher has made formal complaints about the government’s use of the small business roadshow to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the public service commissioner.
As we reported after Senate estimates in May, of the first 30-odd roadshow events held since the program started on 20 February, at least 27 were in Liberal or National seats and the local MPs were invited. Just two were in Labor seats and one in independent-held Indi and those MPs were not invited.
The shadow small business minister has asked for the department and commissioner to review the appropriateness of the program, noting that the material used to promote the roadshows contains “partisan commentary on policies of the Labor opposition”.
There is no credible explanation for the differential treatment. These are either political events, in which case public servants should not be involved, or public service events in which case there should be a policy rationale supporting the locations chosen and the relevant local MPs should be invited regardless.
Gallagher noted that the statement of ministerial standards requires ministers to use the skills of public servants as a “public resource” and used for “appropriate public purposes”.
I am very concerned that these roadshow events have sought to use the Australian public service and its officials in a partisan way by preferentially targeting electorates that returned a Liberal or National MP in the 2016 federal election.
When Guardian Australia asked in May, a spokesman for the small business minister, Michael McCormack, said he had focused first on regional areas because they “often have not had the same access to different government agencies”, and those regional areas are “predominately represented by Liberal and National members of parliament”.
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Wally Brown was a legendary press gallery journalist who gave great encouragement to your reporters. There is now a young achiever award in his name and this morning the Victoria senator and former journo Derryn Hinch announced the winner is...
Primrose Riordan.
Primrose was formerly of the Australian Financial Review and is now at the Australian.
Very well deserved. Congrats Primrose.
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.@HumanHeadline with Bruce and Denise Morcombe talking about Daniel's law where a website will list convicted sex offenders. pic.twitter.com/BvNefZVFgy
— Nick Haggarty (@NickHaggarty) June 12, 2017
G’day patriots. You already know Malcolm Turnbull will make his national security statement to parliament.
The other news you may not have caught up on over the long weekend is the government’s intention to change laws to allow intelligence agencies to decrypt communications of terrorist groups on the internet.
It follows the UK’s proposal for “technology capability notices” following the terrorist attacks there.
It means that companies who use encrypted messaging services would need to cooperate with intelligence agencies in order to hand over decrypted data in “near real time” to the government.
The attorney general, George Brandis, said current law does not go far enough to impose obligations on technology companies to cooperate.
In the first instance, the best way to approach this is to solicit the cooperation of companies like Apple and Facebook and Google and so on. And I think there’s been a change of the culture in the last year or more. There is a much greater conscious proactive willingness on the part of the companies to be cooperative. But we need the legal sanction as well.
There are no details of any legislation at this stage so it is unlikely it will appear in the next seven sitting days but I have put in a call to Brandis’s office to confirm that.
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AAP reports Pauline Hanson has launched legal action to have the ABC and former party treasurer Ian Nelson permanently restrained from dealing in any way with recorded conversations about One Nation.
Last week, the NSW supreme court made an interim restraining order on Nelson until the hearing today but no orders were made regarding the ABC.
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So we have party room meetings from all sides this morning at the start of this last sitting fortnight before the long winter recess.
That means we have seven sitting days in which to get a shedload of legislation through the Senate. The pointy bits relate to schools funding, native title and citizenship changes. The Finkel farnarkling will bubble away in the background.
Therefore the education minister, Simon Birmingham, continues to talk up his Gonski 2.0 schools funding plan. Gonski panellist Ken Boston has told Matthew Knott at Fairfax that it would be a tragedy if the school funding reforms were voted down in the Senate.
Five years after the release and subsequent emasculation of the Gonski report, Australia has a rare second chance. The progressive elements in Australian education need to recognise that their argument has been won. There are no grounds for opposition to the schools funding bill in principle and every reason to work collaboratively towards its successful implementation and further refinement in the years ahead. It will be a tragedy if the school funding bill is voted down in the Senate.
The schools bill is currently getting a quick once over in a Senate committee, which will report by tomorrow.
The native title bill changes the law after a federal court decision that put in doubt Indigenous land use agreements (Iluas) between traditional owners and mining companies, including Adani’s Carmichael mine. Labor is supporting the bill.
Around midday, the Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) Family Council traditional owners Adrian Burragubba and Murrawah Johnson, who oppose Adani’s coal project, will speak about the bill.
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Never mind the Finkel, join us patriots
As the Coalition party room prepares to arkle, Malcolm Turnbull has previewed a national security update to parliament.
He will urge Labor to support the government’s proposed overhaul of citizenship requirements with rather colourful language.
And we should make no apology for asking those who seek to join our Australian family to join us as Australian patriots – committed to the values that define us, committed to the values that unite us.
The new laws will give the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, the power to reject decisions on citizenship applications made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal if he doesn’t believe they are in the national interest.
The package will also extend permanent residency from one year to four before people can apply for citizenship, toughen English language competencies, introduce a values test and require people to demonstrate they have integrated into Australian society.
Labor has not said whether it will support the full package.
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First up, Finkel farnarkling
Good morning dear blogans,
As Canberra’s big frost thaws, the Coalition party room will farnarkle on Finkel – as in the review by the chief scientist, Alan Finkel, into electricity policy.
But let’s start from the beginning.
Finkel has recommended a clean energy target across all sectors in which energy users subsidise cleaner forms of electricity generation.
The argument will be around the rate, which Finkel has recommended at 28% reduction in emissions from the electricity sector by 2030.
Yesterday Finkel told Katharine Murphy that he didn’t know if Australia could meet its Paris commitments under the 28% emissions reduction target. He also told Murph that it would be surprising if governments ultimately implemented a new clean energy target that incentivised building new coal-fired power stations (though the conservatives wants a target to allow higher efficiency coal to sneak in).
Last night, Finkel told Q&A the target was designed so future governments could ratchet up the ambition of the emissions cuts.
This will play into the scare campaign by the likes of Tony Abbott et al.
In the meantime, key crossbencher Nick Xenophon has warned that, if the parliament does not get energy policy right, it will be a tipping point for the economy and the country.
Xenophon has long been a supporter of an emissions intensity scheme (EIS), right back to the days of Malcolm Turnbull’s first ill-fated go at the Liberal leadership in 2009.
He still prefers an EIS over a CET, TBH.
But Xenophon’s main message is we need to get it sorted.
The Xen Master has spoken to two companies that currently have a gas bill of $50m a year and have been given quotes of $100m for future gas prices.
It will be unsustainable for those companies to survive with thousands of employees and that is replicated across the country. Unless we tackle this head-on and get a result, we will be seeing our economy going into a recession given the number of jobs that will be lost in the next 12 months.
That’s a pretty big scare campaign you are raising already, says AM’s Sabra Lane.
It’s not a scare campaign.
Xenophon is waiting for the modelling to be released later this week, which has the CET slightly ahead of the EIS. But all of it depends on the inputs.
My fear is there are literally hundreds if not thousands of companies that simply cannot cope with an increase in power prices particularly gas prices. The Finkel review wasn’t asked to look at gas prices and that is the immediate crisis we are facing in this country for energy intensive uses.
Bear in mind the energy and environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, will not take an actual hard proposal to the party room. He is just going to brief them on What Finkel Said.
Let the conversation begin.
Stick with me and the Man With The Lens @mpbowers. Talk on the thread, on the Twits @gabriellechan or on Facebook.
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