So long, farewell
Right, that will do for today. Thank you for your company, it’s been a truckload of laughs as ever. Let’s sum up Tuesday.
- The senate exploded in a fit of outrage when the government and the Greens moved together to shut down the much telegraphed procedural fun times designed to delay consideration of Senate voting reforms.
- Because it was opposites day, the Greens chose during the atomic wedgie hour not to bring on their own same sex marriage bill for debate, and the government chose not to bring on the ABCC bill it wants to use as a potential trigger for a double dissolution election. Lest this seem strange, it’s all part of a plan. This week the senate must vote to drive the micro-parties from its ranks in future elections – that’s the plan.
- That’s the plan, apart from the other plan that sprung up earlier today. The Greens would now like the marriage equality bill to be debated in private member’s time on Thursday. They’d like a vote on Thursday. Hang on, Labor says. Private members time is only an hour. You wouldn’t bring this on today, and now you want a vote in an hour?
- Over the course of the day, the Greens and Labor found one thing to agree on: both parties made it clear they weren’t interested in cooperating if the government thought it might tack on another parliamentary sitting week before the budget in order to set up a double dissolution election. Senates really are annoying.
-
Bill Shorten delivered a speech to the National Press Club which aimed to outline Labor’s thoughts on inequality being a growth and productivity issue, not a social welfare issue.
- The prime minister for his part tried to interest reporters in his high powered new innovation advisory board, but given everyone was pre-occupied with the various firestorms of the day there wasn’t much interest, and the prime minister terminated the soiree after three questions.
- The treasurer gave a big hint the government would look at super taxes in the budget, and didn’t rule out hiking tobacco taxes either.
There was probably more, but that’s sufficient for now. See you in the morning.
Speaking of flying below the radar. Xenophon, Nick Xenophon. Very quiet during the atomic wedgie hour in the Senate today.
Having now had a moment to review the Shorten speech at lunchtime I can report it was a broad ranging pitch in part setting up a new report on inequality that will be released by Labor’s families spokeswoman, Jenny Macklin, tomorrow.
The speech was about establishing a principle: tackling inequality is a growth strategy and a productivity strategy. There’s some interesting content in the speech on under-employment: people working part time who want to work full time, people allegedly employed full time who are only offered part time hours. I suspect this is a big, sleeper, political issue.
The Shorten analysis was part of building to commitment to full employment. We’ll presumably get more detail in the Macklin report tomorrow. The Labor think tank, Chifley, has also been doing a lot of work behind the scenes over the past couple of years on inequality. All pretty interesting, this debate, and one that flies below the radar in Australia, largely because we missed the global financial crisis, and the middle class in Australia has not been thumped on the scale the middle class has been thumped in the US.
Now Mark, about your seat.
(Pure speculation on our part, this. Barnaby, seeking a new seat. Just a little joke.)
From today, radio silence will be restored.
While I’m reading Bill Shorten’s speech at the press club to bring myself up to speed with what I missed during the senate’s atomic wedgie hour – the Labor man Stephen Smith is reversing his own ferret in Perth. One of the strangest political stories in recent times – the former federal minister’s bid to become leader of the state Labor party in WA when he wasn’t even in the state parliament – is over. Stephen Smith is returning to life as a private citizen.
A little bit of chamber from Magic Mike.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale has held a press conference. Given there’s no ceiling on the time set aside to consider the Senate voting reform legislation, the Greens leader is asked when he expects the debate to conclude. He says that’s up to the Senate. Meaning really that’s up to Labor. The Greens leader says also the Senate can vote on marriage equality on Thursday if Labor plays ball.
I’ve been in the thread. Normal transmission will resume directly.
Time for me to take stock. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll be back with what we’ve missed and with the afternoon in Canberra.
Question time is over.
Clive Palmer seeks a personal explanation. He says the prime minister has misrepresented his role in Queensland Nickel. Palmer says he has not been in control of the company, and the administrator has decided not to pay workers entitlements, not him.
Bowen is back with a niggle. He notes the government has previously said it will release a tax policy before the budget, but today, the advice is wait until the budget.
Malcolm Turnbull:
I thank the honourable member for his question and appreciate his curiosity in the government’s timing on tax but I can assure him all the government tax policy, all of it, will be set out in full in the budget.
(Well, you’d hope so. That is the convention.)
The prime minister is now deep in flying foxes, birds and light flashing drones.
Bowen is unkind enough to remind the prime minister that Tony Abbott recently observed changes to superannuation tax concessions were “a seniors tax in the shape of more taxes on super.” Does Turnbull agree with Abbott is the question.
Malcolm Turnbull thinks now is the time to talk about Labor’s negative gearing policy. What a botch up this is, he thinks.
The best minister in the world is summonsed to the dispatch box to speak about foreshore land release in Sydney. Greg Hunt is heckled about his recent accolade. A quick retort.
They never said that of you!
The backbench quite likes that one. Chortling ensues.
Updated
Shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen.
Q: Last year the treasurer said, and I quote: “The government has made it crystal clear that we have no interest in increasing taxes on superannuation now or in the future.” Does the treasurer stand by this remark and will the treasurer rule out making changes to superannuation which reduced the retirement incomes of low and middle income Australians?
The treasurer isn’t inclined to rule things out. Not at this point.
The immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has gone from kids in detention to Labor’s negative gearing policy and back again. Just because.
Updated
Labor’s deputy leader, Tanya Plibersek, would like to know whether the prime minister agrees that a hike in the tobacco tax is a revenue-raising measure that’s consistent with guidance from the WHO. He accepts it is a revenue-raising measure.
Updated
Resources minister Josh Frydenberg is up now on the golden age of gas. His ebullience is such that he cannot be stopped.
Labor resumes on reports the government will follow its lead and hike the tobacco tax despite mildly poo poohing the idea. (The government has been signalling for some time it might grab that revenue in the budget.)
The prime minister points out that he proposed a hike in tobacco taxes when he was the opposition leader.
Malcolm Turnbull:
We are now at that annual fever which builds up and up of budget speculation and we’ll get lots of questions of this kind, essentially designed to find out what’s in the budget and all I can say to the honourable member opposite is that he will just have to wait until the budget and then he will discover what tax measures are contained within it.
Quick sanity break. This picture cannot be seen too much.
Updated
It’s a bit strange that both Pyne and the treasurer, Scott Morrison, in the past two questions have both called on Labor to pass the ABCC bill, given the government today rejected the option of considering that bill immediately. Probably best not to expect things to make sense today. Too ambitious.
Updated
All you need to know about the Dorothy Dixer is Christopher Pyne just threatened to sing a Whitney Houston song. The greatest love of all. Sadly, we got speak singing instead.
Dreyfus again.
Q: I refer to [the prime minister’s] previous answer. Why, according to reports, did the prime minister cause an agreement to be reached to ensure that his private company would be repaid more than $1m before the workers employed by Playup received the $1.2m in wages that they were owed?
Malcolm Turnbull:
While my wife and I invested in Rivo which is a company that had the Playup online site – application – at no time were we responsible for or involved in the management of the company, nor did we have any insight into the management of the company other than such accounts as the company produced for the benefit of their shareholders, and investors.
So the responsibility for paying employees is obviously something that lies with the management of the company and the directors of the company which we were not numbered among those people. We were very much outside investors.
Turnbull, for good measure.
There may well be criticism of the directors, there may well be criticism of whether an administrator should have been appointed sooner, all of those criticisms can be made but they cannot be directed at external creditors such as ourselves.
And the honourable member knows this full well and his attempt to compare that to a business that’s actually controlled by another honourable member here, is quite unworthy and it is a very, very low and unworthy smear for someone so learned in the law as him.
Shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus.
Q: The treasurer in his last answer and the prime minister have been deeply critical of the member for Fairfax’s action in relation to Queensland Nickel. The prime minister said the member for Fairfax had let down the workers and the only thing the PM was concerned about was that the workers were looked after. So why, according to reports, did the prime minister receive $50,000 in monthly payments from Playup while Playup workers weren’t being paid? Hasn’t the prime minister let down the workers at Playup?
This question relates to a story in yesterday’s Australian Financial Review, which I’ve had no time to get anywhere near. It concerns an investment Turnbull’s family made while in opposition.
Turnbull goes through the investment he made, with his family, while in opposition in a start up tech firm called Rivo. He says everything was disclosed in accordance with the rules. The prime minister also rejects that his investment is in any way comparable with Clive Palmer’s interests in Queensland Nickel.
The member for Fairfax’s position with respect to Queensland Nickel is that he at all times was in charge of Queensland Nickel. He ran that company, he was responsible for it. He had – we had no management involvement with the Rivo company. Our position was simply as an investor and then subsequently as a creditor.
So our dealings were entirely at arm’s length.
As for the government’s plans on super, Morrison says we will make those announcements at the appropriate time.
(The treasurer this morning again signalled the government would look at generous super tax concessions in the budget.)
Clive Palmer has the cross bench question. It’s about superannuation. Will the government allow people to draw on their super savings to buy a house. What’s the point of slaving for 50 years to never enjoy the benefits of your own hard work?
Given Palmer led with his chin, the treasurer, Scott Morrison can’t resist.
I thank the member for his question and I’m sure he’s equally concerned about those at the Queensland Nickel plant where he’s had some involvement in recent times and I’m sure he must be very concerned about their entitlements and their future.
I know that our member is. I know our member for Herbert is very concerned about those Queensland Nickel workers.
Shorten is back with Senate voting reform. Isn’t the government proceeding with Senate voting reform to impose $100,000 university degrees?
Malcolm Turnbull:
The leader of the opposition’s conspiracy theory knows no bounds.
While the prime minister is pulling the levers and feeling excited, here’s something I find exciting. Look at Philip Ruddock. Meme made flesh.
Father of the House @philipruddockmp photo bombs the 2016 Class pic @murpharoo @GuardianAus #politicslive pic.twitter.com/QWxHZLHS8t
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) March 15, 2016
The class photo was taken just before question time.
A Dorothy Dixer allowing the prime minister to conclude Labor are terrible flip floppers on Senate voting reform.
Bill Shorten is back with a question for Malcolm Turnbull.
Q: Isn’t it the case that the prime minister has made a deal with the Greens political party to change the Senate voting rules so that if he wins the election he can force absolutely anything he wants through the parliament just like John Howard did with Work Choices? Isn’t this part of the government’s plan to force through measures from the 2014 Budget which are still listed in the Senate?
Turnbull feels this analysis is no more than a rather miserable conspiracy theory.
He [Shorten] knows full well that the reason we are supporting the reform of the Senate voting system is precisely the reason he and his party supported it until very recently.
Question time
The hour of glower will be positively peaceful when compared with the senate performance this morning. Labor opens today on the budget. When is it? Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen.
Q: We already know the budget is scheduled for 10 May. Is that the date the treasurer will actually deliver it?
Treasurer, Scott Morrison:
The budget on 10 May, it’s going to be a very important budget ...
Quickly before question time. Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, appears cool on the idea of forced deportation of failed refugees. Zarif was in Canberra on Tuesday for a meeting with his Australian counterpart, Julie Bishop. He said Australia was “within its legal rights” to consider deportations, but that Tehran “cannot force them to come back to Iran. We don’t have any objection to Iranian citizens coming back to Iran voluntarily,” he said. “If anybody wants to come back voluntarily, we always take our citizens with pride.”
Bishop had hoped to finalise a deal on the forced return of people who had had their refugee claims rejected, but on Tuesday conceded that “consular discussions” on the issue were ongoing.
I say it often. How good is that Mike Bowers?
I’m sorry, Bill Shorten’s speech got lost in the wash there. I’ll circle back round after question time. A few things to circle round on today. Question time is coming up.
Labor’s senate leader is on her feet with a short summation of the morning’s proceedings. Penny Wong has been granted a five minute statement.
Wong says it’s a pretty extraordinary day when the Greens vote with Cory Bernardi against the senate considering marriage equality. What happened to the party’s mantra on marriage equality ..
Every Green, every vote, every time.
Except today.
Today we are voting with senator Bernardi.
You might want to interject but everyone knows what you’ve done today.
Wong says pushing off the debate to private senators’ time would mean the issue gets one hour’s consideration on Thursday. No vote. Today, we could have forced a vote, Wong says. Where is your backbone? Wong wonders. Where is Greens leadership?
Updated
Meanwhile, back at atomic wedgie central.
Updated
Because there wasn’t quite enough on, the foreign minister Julie Bishop is now holding a press conference with her Iranian counterpart, foreign minister Dr Javad Zarif. The Iranian foreign minister has just made an interesting contribution on the vexed subject of human rights.
I am happy we discussed important issues including human rights. We need to have a more serious approach to human rights where human rights does not become an instrument of political pressure but, rather, for Iran as a country, as the only serious country in the region that holds elections and people can vent their frustrations at the ballot box instead of through violence and extremism, we hope that the improvement of human rights, which is a duty for all of us, towards our citizens and towards the international community should be and could be carried out more impartially and without political considerations.
His concerns about filibustering notwithstanding, Parry waves Lazarus through. Lazarus wants to talk about coal seam gas. Hairless animals. Children with nosebleeds.
Distracted, interjecting across the chamber, Glenn Lazarus:
Hey, you got 500 votes!
Senate president Stephen Parry, penny clearly dropping.
If I was allow this to continue, it could go on all day.
(Yes, quite.)
In the Senate, Queenslander Glenn Lazarus is now proceeding with his procedural derailment. The government is attempting to shut this down quick sticks.
Shorten joins the Greens in saying no to another Senate week in May
Down at the NPC, Shorten is asked whether or not he’d support bringing the Senate back early to bring the budget forward a week?
Nope, nope, nope, says Shorten.
Bill Shorten:
No, at this stage, with the information we have to hand, no.
Why should Australia have to pay another $5m because Mr Turnbull’s boxed himself into a corner?
Atomic wedgies, everywhere you look.
Greens voting to prevent consideration of their own marriage equality bill. Using the gag.
— David Leyonhjelm (@DavidLeyonhjelm) March 15, 2016
Class A senate banter.
"Shame on you! You're a disgrace to the other Wiggles" - @samdastyari heckles.
— Alice Workman (@workmanalice) March 15, 2016
"You're Mr Bean!" @SenatorSurfer replies.
Yep, capital C cranky, Labor’s senate leader.
Sen Di Natale just spoke on marriage equality. Now voting for a gag to stop me speaking. No principle, no conviction, no courage.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) March 15, 2016
Penny Wong, to Di Natale, at ear shattering volume.
You don’t even have the courage to let me speak!
In the Senate, LDP senator David Leyonhjelm is on his feet attempting to bring on consideration of the Greens bill on marriage equality. Let’s avoid a divisive and expensive plebiscite, he says, and legislate, like grown ups. Let’s avoid a situation where Australians are asked to vote on somebody else’s rights.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale responds in the debate. He says the Greens want this issue discussed on Thursday. He says there is no more fervent supporter of marriage equality than the Australian Greens. Di Natale says the Greens have been consistent on this issue, they haven’t sniffed the political winds.
Richard Di Natale:
The question is now for you Senator Wong. Will you, through your actions, through a vote on Thursday ... implement a democratic reform?
Are you playing wedge politics with an issue?
Penny Wong takes a point of order. She says if she’s not going to keep being gagged, she’d like a right of reply.
Richard Di Natale, continuing:
If they [Labor] are not prepared to do that, these are crocodile tears!
The government is pushing this through. Wong is ropable. She’s roaring her head off down there.
Back at the National Press Club, the Labor leader Bill Shorten.
I have worked with employers in management ... for nearly 20 years, but I will never accept an Australian economy where a vast under-class of Australians are trapped for working for $6 an hour.
The Senate is still working through the various procedures to shut down Muir.
While there’s five seconds, I can note this foray on voting reform is a big gamble for the Greens leader Richard Di Natale. It is a supreme act of political pragmatism to vote with the government to shut down debate in the parliament. It tells you a lot about the Greens leader – he’s in politics for verbs, he wants outcomes. He’s not in the party of protest style of Green.
But there’s a bunch of big calls being made here that will either pay off or not. If it pays off Di Natale will entrench the Greens in more or less permanent balance of power in the Australian senate, and use that as a base to take the Greens to their next phase in Australian political history. Or he’ll get walloped. Impossible to tell right now which of the two will happen.
Over at the National Press Club, Bill Shorten is working through his lunchtime address.
Six months after Mr Turnbull was sworn in, promising new economic leadership, he cannot even tell Australian definitively when the budget will be, much less tell us what his economic plan in the budget will be.
He has cut and run from the battlefield of ideas in Australian politics. Instead of the new respect he promised, he patronises our parliament, and our peoples.
Ok, we are proceeding with the suspension. Muir is criticising the government and the Greens for not allowing the debate on the ABCC to proceed. He’s also launching a commentary on Senate voting reform.
Ricky Muir:
The problem is not the cross bench. Only a handful of bills have been rejected. By getting rid of a diverse senate, and wedging the Greens in a position of power, have fun!
That’s enough for the government Senate leader, George Brandis. He’s moved the gag.
Ricky Muir is on his feet now. He’s attempting to suspend the standing orders. Muir is pulled up by the president. You’ll have to rephrase that, Stephen Parry says.
Muir is not entirely sure about procedure. He gets there in the end. Leave is not granted for Muir to make a statement.
Muir is still not entirely sure how to proceed.
Can I suspend standing orders now?
The Greens are voting with the government to gag debate on the hours motion. We’d love to show you a picture of that but we can’t. The Senators don’t like having their pictures taken.
In the red room, the government has brought forward the hours motion. The shouting is already underway because the government is moving that the question be put. No debate.
Labor’s senate leader, Penny Wong:
This is the parliament of Australia, it is not a dictatorship. They will not even allow a debate.
Now a shocking clash. The Labor leader Bill Shorten is on his feet at the National Press Club, and the Senate has just stirred into life downstairs. I’ll do my best on the toggle. I’ll try and make the transitions as smooth as possible.
That’s a pretty high powered board. Quite impressive really. Why would the government announce that today? Today is a wall of sound. Nothing penetrates the wall of sound. Complete waste, and a tactical misjudgement.
Given reporters are completely uninterested in the innovation board, Turnbull terminates the conversation. Genially.
Q: Is it your view you can recall the Senate earlier without the permission of the Senate? Is there a mechanism in your mind that exists that enables you to do that?
Christopher Pyne:
What’s important is the government gets on with the job of creating jobs and growth in our economy and transitioning from the old economy to a new economy.
Q: The same question to you prime minister: has the government received any advice you need the Senate to approve an extra sitting week?
Malcolm Turnbull:
I’m pleased you are interested in these issues but it’s not for me to give you advice, David, on matters of that kind.
Let me just say that the focus – the government’s focus is on ensuring that the Senate passes the Senate voting reform legislation this week.
Q: How can you maintain any pressure on the cross bench with a threat of a double dissolution if the ABCC bill doesn’t go into the Senate until Budget day on May 10?
Malcolm Turnbull:
This is the stuff of columns. I retired as a journalist many years ago. I will leave it to you. You’re much more capable.
I couldn’t hear the first question to Turnbull but I suspect it was about the Greens saying this morning they won’t bring the parliament back in May. The prime minister says this week is about Senate voting reform. He says that’s the focus of the Senate. Being more democratic.
Malcolm Turnbull confirms new appointments to the board of Innovation and Science Australia
The prime minister is in the blue room with the innovation minister Christopher Pyne unveiling a high powered board to help guide the government’s innovation agenda. It’s very tech heavy, apart from an appointment from the Meat and Livestock Corporation (Nationals, anyone?). On the board, the heads of Google Australia, Atlassian, Seek and venture capitalists like Daniel Petrie (who I think is ex Microsoft). You’ll pull me up if I’m wrong.
Now, to the tax breaks.
Malcolm Turnbull:
Today or this week we’ll be introducing legislation to provide the tax incentives and capital gains tax exemptions for investments in early stage start-ups. Investors will receive a 20% tax offset based on the amount they invest in these early-stage start-ups.
You can work out the segue, can’t you.
Let me just note the Labor party are doing the exact opposite. What they are doing is discouraging investment at every turn.
Christopher Pyne fortunately knows when the legislation is happening. It’s tomorrow.
Summary at the speed of light
Things are going to go bonkers for the next several hours, so quick as a wink, Tuesday morning, in three points:
- The Senate is readying for a small explosion of procedural antics in an effort to clutter the Turnbull government’s path to a double dissolution election.
- The government says procedural antics notwithstanding, it will not bring forward its potential double dissolution trigger, the ABCC bill, until parliament resumes in May. Sometime in May. Perhaps early in May, perhaps later in May.
- The treasurer Scott Morrison has issued another broad hint superannuation taxes are in the government’s sights for the budget, or perhaps before.
Peak nah
Back to the subject of the environment minister, Greg Hunt’s prediction on radio this morning that Australia had hit peak emissions a decade ago.
Yeah, nah, say the experts. Hugh Grossman, the executive director of Reputex, said his company’s analysis of the government’s own data showed Australia’s emissions would continue to grow and that “there is no peak in sight”.
My colleague Lenore Taylor has filed a story on this, which you can read here.
Fun times with nodes.
Thanks Gabi, we’ll do what we can to catch up on the NBN later on, but today is officially insane.
Back to NBN before I have to scoot out of this hearing. Stephen Conroy is now going to how many nodes would be built across the country. NBN Co Bill Morrow says around 30,000 nodes are to be built by 2020.
NBN Co’s chief network engineering officer Peter Ryan says of connecting mains power to nodes, “it took a bit longer” than envisaged. He confirms the electricity cost of running each node is $2000 a year.
Conroy asks whether it is correct that there is an average of 350m of copper required to connect each (FTTN) node to each Telstra pillar. Fun fact. Conroy says the 10.5 million metres of new copper required to connect up all of the nodes would run from Melbourne to Mumbai.
Morrow - looking slightly exasperated - says on average there is 50m of copper from the node to pillar, (though you may have a number of lines within the one sheath.)
When Conroy asks if the copper remediation costs are close to $650m, Morrow says it is running at less but will not disclose a figure.
(Now, apologies people, I’m off to a Turnbull press conference. Just so you know, NBN Co peeps are being questioned for the rest of the day.)
We have a prime ministerial press conference coming up – and the Senate chamber will form a scrum in just over half an hour.
The key phrase in that last post would be Senate majority. It obviously requires more than the Greens. The attempt to defer the marriage debate off until Thursday is an effort to prevent the politically uncomfortable alternative: the Greens voting to prevent consideration of marriage equality, and not only marriage equality, their own legislative proposal. Awks.
The Greens will not support bringing the Senate back in the first week of May. A Senate majority can overturn the discretion of the Senate president to recall the chamber.
Ringside at the Greens partyroom
The Greens will support debate on same sex marriage taking place during private member’s time on Thursday. The party has reserved judgment on the issue being debated today, because they haven’t seen the Leyonhjelm motion. The inclination is to wait til Thursday.
Back to NBN. Stephen Conroy is now onto the NBN Co executives, including chief Bill Morrow (in person) and chief technology officer Dennis Steiger (on video conference).
Conroy asked Steiger to hold up a today’s newspaper, to determine “proof of life” to make sure it’s not a “time lapse video”. (My earlier post showed that Steiger has been reluctant to appear.) Steiger looks vaguely uncomfortable.
Morrow says the NBN Co currently has 1.91m premises connected with the “fastest growth rates” yet in NBN’s history. He says Fibre to the Node (FTTN) is the key to the fast rollout. He says they are well within their goal of striking 2.6m premises by June 30 2016.
He says NBN Co is exceeding 40,000 homes each week because the work over the last kilometre is not needed. (You will remember Turnbull dropped Labor’s Fibre to the Premises (FTTP) for FTTN - using the existing copper cables for the last kilometre.)
On the famous skinny fibre, Morrow admits that during trials - leaked earlier - skinny fibre reduced the cost of taking NBN to each premises by $450 per home and has taken four weeks of the “build time”. But Morrow says there are trade-offs with skinny fibre.
It’s that kind of week, the sequel.
The Greens party room will report its position on whether or not the party will vote against its own marriage equality bill at 11.30am.
So perhaps this is a shadow cabinet decision? Or a decision in-principle leaving discretion for Labor’s Senate leadership to decide which way to jump on the floor of the chamber in about an hour.
Sorry I did warn you. It will be this kind of week.
Strange, the official Labor caucus debrief suggests Labor’s support or otherwise for the Muir motion on the ABCC was not considered this morning. Funny that Labor’s deputy Senate leader just said it was being considered.
Here’s Conroy on the ABC, on the ABCC and caucus, about ten minutes ago.
Q: Time management becomes critical here because lurking in the background is what time, if any, might be left over to debate the building and construction commission watchdog. If Labor is opposed to it would you be opposed to bringing that on so you could bring it down?
Stephen Conroy:
That is something the caucus is deciding right now. There were many perspectives in the last few days.
Q: That is a live option?
That is being considered.
Updated
Meanwhile, back at the NBN. We have just had a tech lesson from another contractor, Su-Vun Chung of Corning Optical Communications, who is the NBN executive account manager.
Corning has done two trials in Ballarat and Karingal for NBN Co for their new technology known as skinny fibre which reduces the number of cables and removes the Malcolm Turnbull cabinet and the need for to rely on the old copper wires. Chung brought in a show-and-tell bag of technology. The skinny cable to the house looks like your average TV aerial cable and the box that replaces the big green cabinet is the size of a mobile phone and goes into the ground. The connection is just a plug rather than splicing wires.
It looks like a no-brainer but hey, as Tony Abbott once said, I’m no tech head. Notwithstanding the skinny fibre trials, NBN Co is still going ahead with the FTTN office cupboard rollout.
Updated
Speaking of the Muir (and Leyonhjelm) procedural forays, I’ve mentioned the fur will start flying during the hours debate, which should be first up when the chamber meets at lunchtime.
Some scene-setting before we get lost in the invective.
-
We expect Muir to make two attempts to bring on the ABCC bill – one through amending the hours motion, which I posted earlier, and a second attempt, moving a separate motion that the bill be considered this week. He’s got a third avenue but that will play out overnight rather than today.
-
Leyonjhelm is pursuing the same tactics with an attempt to bring on the Greens marriage equality bill. We expect the same sequence. But we don’t yet know whether the Greens will vote for their own bill or not. We’ll find out shortly.
Updated
Conroy has attempted to distance himself from the fact Labor has shifted position on Senate voting reform. He suggests some Labor parliamentarians signed up to a model of Senate voting reform like the model the government is currently pursuing during the joint standing committee on electoral matters inquiry – but the caucus didn’t.
Q: So those who were undertaking committee work as Labor senators or members aren’t to be in future regarded as reflecting the view of their party?
Stephen Conroy:
Not at all. The only time something becomes official Labor policy is when the caucus decides.
Speaking of caucus, Conroy says colleagues are currently considering whether to support Ricky Muir’s foray on the ABCC.
Updated
Labor senator Stephen Conroy has zipped out of the NBN hearing and onto the television.
Q: A lot of mind games, senator, but why doesn’t Labor just accept the inevitability of [Senate voting reform] and have a workmanlike debate and be done with it. Why all the brinkmanship?
Stephen Conroy:
This is the most significant voting change in 30 years. It will have a dramatic impact on the representation in the chamber, whether you like or dislike the current make-up of the Senate, this new voting system will dramatically change the outcome.
Updated
A joint statement just in from the prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and the Labor leader Bill Shorten says Pat Anderson has been appointed as the new co-chair of the Referendum Council, following the resignation of Patrick Dodson.
The Referendum Council was tasked in December 2015 with providing advice on progress and next steps towards a referendum to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution. Ms Anderson has been a member of the Referendum Council since it was formed. The work of the council builds upon the extensive work of the expert panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians and the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Pat Anderson is an Alyawarre woman and the chairperson of the Lowitja Institute. Previously Ms Anderson was chief executive officer of the Danila Dilba Health Service in Darwin, chair of the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and executive officer and chair of the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory. Anderson also co-authored the Little Children Are Sacred Report.
In June 2014, Ms Anderson was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the Indigenous community as a social justice advocate, particularly through promoting improved health, educational and protection outcomes for children. Ms Anderson was awarded the Public Health Association of Australia’s Sidney Sax Public Health Medal in recognition of her achievements, and she was awarded the Human Rights Community Individual Award (Tony Fitzgerald Memorial Award).
Ms Anderson joins Mark Leibler as co-chair of the council.
For close watchers of ministerial locutions, the finance minister Mathias Cormann has told Sky News this morning the government will consider the ABCC bill ..
... at the earliest opportunity when we come back in May.
The quote he gave at the doors of the Senate this morning was just May, not the earliest opportunity in May. Make of that something, or nothing.
As Murph mentioned, I’m eyes on the NBN committee. Labor’s Stephen Conroy, a former communications minister, is grilling Broadspectrum executives this morning in a senate select committee, before moving to the NBN Co.
Before the committee started, Conroy had a win of sorts, succeeding in forcing the NBN Co chief technology officer Dennis Steiger to appear before a Senate select committee later this morning. Albeit by video conference. NBN Co had been resisting Steiger’s appearance until the chair, senator Jan McLucas, reminded the NBN Co chief executive Bill Morrow that the committee “had the power to send for and examine persons or documents”. Steiger is up at 10.30am, all things being equal.
Conroy’s first forays seem to be digging into the delays of the NBN rollout with one of the contractors, Broadspectrum – formerly known as Transfield. Conroy is trying to establish the delay through the contractors financials.
Updated
Stutchbury is concerned that 80% of older Australians are on the pension. As Tony Harrison might say, this is an outrage. Doesn’t this have to change, the AFR editor wonders.
Scott Morrison:
Well it depends on the composition of the 80%.
After about fifteen minutes.
My objective would be to see that be less.
They are into Q&A now in Melbourne. This must be an AFR conference because AFR editor in chief Michael Stutchbury is now manfully trying to get a news line out of Morrison. No far, no banana. The treasurer is in artful non-specific mode.
Action on super taxes in the budget, if not before: Morrison
Morrison has flagged some movement on super taxes will be contained in the budget, if it’s not announced before.
Scott Morrison:
How tax incentives are structured will ... form part of these changes but the changes will be about delivering a fairer and more sustainable retirement income system for our 21st century economy building on the pension reforms in last year’s budget.
It’s not about revenue raising. It is not about higher taxes to fund higher spending. It’s about a better retirement incomes.
Morrison says the pension is a welfare payment that applies to people who can’t fund their own retirements.
Updated
What if you never had a tie?
#JustAsking
Morrison, on FinTech. Shiny, happy, tie-less people, hubbing away on landing pads in Shanghai.
It is shiny. A lot of the people involved in it are quite shiny. It’s an exciting industry.
If you want to get involved in it, you better you better get a T-shirt and lose the tie.
The treasurer Scott Morrison is currently giving a speech at a conference in Melbourne. We are deep in FinTech right now.
This morning there is also a Senate committee hearing on the NBN. My colleague Gabi Chan has ears on that.
The government’s move to alter the Senate business for this week is the point at which the procedural throw downs will commence.
Here is the "hours" motion the government will put to the Senate this morning for this week's business
1) The Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Bill 2016 have precedence over all government business until determined.
(2) On Tuesday, 15 March 2016:
(a) the hours of meeting shall be 12.30 pm to 7 pm and 7.30 pm to adjournment;
(b) the routine of business from 7.30 pm shall be government business only; and
(c) the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 10.30 pm.
(3) On Wednesday, 16 March 2016:
(a) the hours of meeting shall be 9.30 am to 7 pm and 7.30 pm 11.10 pm;
(b) the routine of business from 7.30 pm shall be government business only; and
(c) the question for the adjournment of the Senate shall be proposed at 10.30 pm.
(4) If by adjournment of the Senate on Wednesday, 16 March 2016, the following bills have not been finally considered:
- Aged Care Legislation Amendment (Increasing Consumer Choice) Bill 2016
- Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2015-2016 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2015-2016
- Biological Control Amendment Bill 2016
- Business Services Wage Assessment Tool Payment Scheme Amendment Bill 2016
- Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Bill 2016
- Dairy Produce Amendment (Dairy Service Levy Poll) Bill 2016
- Law and Justice Amendment (Northern Territory Local Court) Bill 2016
- Migration Legislation Amendment (Cessation of Visa Labels) Bill 2015
- Tax Laws Amendment (Norfolk Island CGT Exemption) Bill 2016
- Territories Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 and Passenger Movement Charge Amendment (Norfolk Island) Bill 2016
- Trade Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2016,
(a) on Thursday, 17 March 2016:
(i) the hours of meeting shall be 9.30 am to adjournment,
(ii) consideration of general business and consideration of committee reports, government responses and Auditor-General’s reports under standing order 62(1) and (2) shall not be proceeded with,
(iii) the routine of business from not later than 4.30 pm shall be government business only, and
(iv) divisions may take place after 4.30 pm; and
(b) the Senate shall adjourn after it has finally considered the bills listed above in paragraph (4) only, or a motion for the adjournment is moved by a minister, whichever is the earlier.
Another useful contribution in the AFR this morning – Ed Tadros has written a useful backgrounder about pollsters and polling which I think many readers will find interesting. I was actually having a conversation on Twitter last night with Scott Steel, a polling expert who tweets at the handle @Pollytics to get his thoughts on the latest batch of opinion polling.
My layman’s observation is basically there’s two clusters: there’s Newspoll/Essential that has the government and the opposition on 50/50 on the two party preferred measure, and then there’s Ipsos/Morgan which has a two PP of 53/47. Basically these surveys are all moving around within a poll’s margin of error, but it is interesting to see the divergence. I also note that the two big media companies, Fairfax and News, have recently changed their pollsters.
Here’s just a short excerpt from Ed’s piece, which subscribers can find here.
There are currently six major national polls in Australia – Fairfax/Ipsos, Newspoll (by Galaxy), Galaxy, Roy Morgan, ReachTel and Essential.
These polls use a range of methods, from the traditional phone interviews of Ipsos/Fairfax through to the fully automated robo-polling of ReachTel.
Two of these polls are relatively new – Fairfax/Ipsos and Newspoll (by Galaxy) – and untested in a national election.
They have come about because the emergence of cheaper-to-produce robo-polling hurt the traditional pollsters.
Nielsen, which had produced the Fairfax political poll since 1995, pulled out of the political polling market in mid-2014, and the Newspoll research business, which ran the “old Newspoll” for The Australian, shut down in mid-2015.
Fairfax, which publishes The Australian Financial Review, turned to international pollsters Ipsos to produce its poll, while Galaxy Research took on the Newspoll brand for The Australian.
There is debate about the accuracy of robo-polling, but companies that use the technique are confident of its accuracy.
I was going to write an explanatory post about the tactical thinking behind the Muir sortie today but Phil Coorey from the Financial Review has done a good job of that this morning. This is all about a concept known as failure to pass.
To give itself momentum to call a double dissolution, [the government] is banking on using the ABCC bill which has already been voted down once. The Senate has already deployed delaying tactics to stop the ABCC bill being debated a second time and there has been a view that it may already qualify as a trigger under a provision known as “failure to pass”.
Constitutional legal expert George Williams said “failure to pass” had not been established. If the Greens and the government reject Senator Muir’s offer, that will be confirmed.
Professor Williams said the government could still establish the ABCC as a trigger but it needed a week to put it to the Senate. That would require bringing forward the budget to May 3. If the budget was left to May 10, there would not be enough time to pass the supply bills and test the Senate over the ABCC because a double dissolution would have to be called the next day.
I should have mentioned in the quick summation of Richard Di Natale’s comments on Radio National that he wasn’t entirely definitive about whether the Greens would reject Ricky Muir’s motion this morning to bring on the ABCC vote.
Yesterday Di Natale told the ABC the Greens wouldn’t assist efforts to disrupt the Senate program this week. This morning, he said the Greens party room would make that call this morning.
Apart from the mayhem, I’m still recovering for the shock of the environment minister Greg Hunt declaring this morning we hit peak emissions in 2005-06. I strongly suspect we didn’t hit peak emissions in 2005-06.
Never a man to shy away from chain saw juggling.
Far too early to call my favourite picture of the day, but I’ll do it anyway. Why it’s hard to herd cross benchers, in a single frame.
Yep, exactly.
@murpharoo @mpbowers Morning ! pic.twitter.com/tNvkkqZONQ
— michael halliday777 (@michaelhallida4) March 14, 2016
Thank you to Michael Halliday.
It’s the usual Tuesday morning shock and awe before parliamentarians disappear into their partyrooms. On the ABC, the environment minister Greg Hunt has just declared Australia hit peak emissions in 2005-06 – meaning our emissions will never be higher than they were at that point.
Greg Hunt:
I believe we have reached peak emissions. In my best judgment ... we reached peak emissions in 2005-06.
On another ABC radio outlet, the Greens leader Richard Di Natale says his party will make a decision at this morning’s partyroom meeting about whether or not it will support an effort by David Leyonhjelm to bring on a vote on the Greens same sex marriage bill. Di Natale is sounding like he doesn’t want to support the Leyonhjelm frolic – noting it would be a huge mistake to deploy marriage equality as a political tactic. ABC Radio National breakfast Fran Kelly isn’t sounding convinced about that. What if this is an opportunity to pass marriage equality in the Senate, Kelly wonders? It might be an opportunity to lose the vote, Di Natale counters.
Labor’s deputy leader Tanya Plibersek is building up to the visit by the Iranian foreign minister. She’s told AM Australia’s foreign minister Julie Bishop needs to explain why she was once very cautious about engagement with Iran, but now is fully into it. Plibersek says if the main item on the agenda today is trying to negotiate an agreement to involuntarily return asylum seekers to Iran, then Australia needs to secure “very strong assurances” about safety.
Just to cheer us all up, the Family First Senator Bob Day has observed down at the Senate doors that the government is juggling chainsaws on a double dissolution.
Good morning, assume the brace position
Hello everyone and welcome to Tuesday in Canberra. This week is supposed to be the last sitting week before the federal budget in May. Whether it is or not remains to be seen.
There’s only three sitting days scheduled this week but our predictive weather forecast is turbulence, especially in the red chamber. The government wants to extend the Senate sitting hours for today, Wednesday and Thursday. We anticipate a week of procedural ding dongs, ranging from a threat by Ricky Muir to bring on the government’s Australian Building and Construction Commission bill, to a same sex marriage stunt from David Leyonhjelm. I suspect Labor will also attempt to draw out the substantive legislative debate of the week – the debate on Senate voting reform – as long as possible. Just because. Mayhem, people, mayhem.
This morning, Muir told reporters he was hoping to give the government a chance to put their cards on the table when it came to the ABCC.
Ricky Muir:
The government have tried to use the ABCC bill as a reason why electoral reform needs to happen so I’m giving them a chance to put their cards on the table and actually discuss this bill as they’re trying to say that the cross-bench is actually preventing that from happening.
Thanks but no thanks Ricky. Finance minister Mathias Cormann has said this morning the government will revisit the ABCC bill on its own terms.
We will put the legislation to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission to the Senate when we come back in May.
When in May remains, for now, moot.
To put the week’s political dynamic most simply: the government will attempt to clear a path for a double dissolution election post budget, and Labor and the cross benchers will do everything possible to make the government’s path to the polls as messy and cluttered as possible.
Arriving in Canberra for the sitting last night a couple of government backbenchers voiced their concerns about an early sprint to the polls. Victorian Liberal Russell Broadbent spoke up recently, telling the Herald Sun an extended double dissolution election campaign would be like an extended political suicide note. These sentiments were echoed by Queensland’s Ewen Jones, who told reporters at Canberra airport he’d never been in favour of an early poll or a double dissolution.
LNP Senator Ian Macdonald said the government risked sweeping out one lot of Senate recalcitrants and replacing them with another lot of “equally recalcitrant Senators.” I’m spitballing here, but I suspect Macdonald means the Greens more or less holding permanent balance of power in the upper house. Macdonald isn’t a bit fan of the Greens.
In addition to Senate mayhem, the Labor leader Bill Shorten is due to speak at the National Press Club today to set up the release of a report on inequality and disadvantage. The Iranian foreign minister is in town and the Indonesian trade minister is either in Canberra or on his way to Canberra.
Today’s comments thread is wide open for your business. Magic Mike and I are up and at it on the twits, I’m @murpharoo and he’s @mpbowers You can also reach me at my new Facebook forum. Feel free to pitch in to the conversation there.
Pop on your crash helmet. Here comes Tuesday.
