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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Amy Remeikis

Kerryn Phelps condemns offshore detention in first speech – as it happened

We’re going to leave it here for tonight.

But tomorrow, as Scarlett says, is another day.

What will it bring? Well, more of the same, most likely.

But there are also party room meetings, which should be fun. I am sure everything will be absolutely rosy in the Coalition’s joint meeting.

The Victorian MPs have already met with the prime minister to discuss the outcome of the state election, but that is not to say that there is not more to be said.

There is always more to be said. This is politics.

And there are now seven days left for them to say it. At least in Canberra.

A massive thank you to the Guardian brains trust for getting me through today, and to the team which clean up all of my mistakes. Five coffees and a bag of sugar make for typo-laden fingers, so thank you.

And, as always, thank you to you for following along with us, and taking the time to comment and let us know your thoughts. We appreciate it all.

We’ll be back early tomorrow morning. As always, take care of you.

Updated

Goes to check on the Senate....

Our Senate watchers have let us know that there is a slight chance this could be tabled just before the dinner break:

Legislative exemptions that allow faith-based educational institutions to discriminate against students, teachers and staff, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity and other attributes covered by the Sex Discrimination Act 1984, with particular reference to proposals for amendments to current legislation, and any related matters.

You’ll find the committee website here.

Updated

The first live export report is out. You’ll find it here.

From David Littleproud’s statement:

“Full transparency is the only way to build public trust in any industry.

“That’s why I said we needed the ‘truth, and proof’ of what happens on live export boats.

“We need a tough cop on the beat and we need eyes and ears on those boats.

“This is the only way possible the industry will have a sustainable future and that’s what the Independent Observers should provide.

“I’ve made sure there’s Independent Observers on all sheep voyages.

“Today the Department of Agriculture released the first summary report of a voyage from an Independent Observer on board.

“These summary reports and accompanying photos will show the public what the Independent Observer sees on these boats.

“Independent Observers check the welfare and care of the animals, take photographs and notes to later collate into a report. They provide regular updates to the regulator on conditions on the boat, which should mean any issues are dealt with as they arise.

“The Australian public must have trust in the integrity and regulation of the live export trade. Reports from Independent Observers are a huge part of building this trust.”

The government has given the national security committee, which is examining the encryption laws (the so-called backdoor legislation for devices, which is a bit like putting a hole in a life jacket, patching it over, and then declaring it just as safe), a hurry up.

Andrew Hastie, the (government) chair of the committee, says the committee will do what the committee will do:

“The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security continues to actively consider a request from the Minister for Home Affairs to accelerate its review of the Telecommunications and Other Legislation (Assistance and Access) Bill 2018.

“The Committee this morning held four hours of Top Secret classified briefings from agencies on the operational necessity of an urgent progression of the Bill. The Committee heard from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Federal Police, Victoria Police, the Australian Signals Directorate and the Department of Home Affairs. The Committee also held two hours of public hearings with the same agencies this afternoon.

“The Committee continues to operate in a cooperative and bipartisan fashion as it considers options for the remainder of its inquiry.

“The Committee will publicly announce any changes to its remaining scheduled hearings after consideration of the evidence heard today.”

Updated

If you’re going to get a kiss off, it’s the one you would want to get:

Updated

Barry O’Sullivan and Cory Bernardi just tried to get the Senate to pass this motion:

That the Senate –

(a) notes that:

(i) New South Wales (NSW) Greens MP, Ms Jenny Leong, used parliamentary privilege to call on fellow NSW Greens MP, Mr Jeremy Buckingham, to step down as a candidate at the NSW election due to an alleged ‘act of sexual violence’ and aggressive, intimidating behaviour,

(ii) Mr Buckingham has been the subject of allegations that he inappropriately touched former staffer Ms Ella Buckland in 2011,

(iii) former Greens staffer and journalist, Ms Lauren Ingram, alleges she was violently raped by a Greens party volunteer in 2015, which she says she reported to the Greens and heard nothing for months, so she tweeted pictures of her bruising from the incident, drawing a response from the Party in June 2017,

(iv) former co-convenor of the NSW Young Greens in 2017, Ms Holly Brooke, says a male party member indecently assaulted her, trying to force his hand down her pants and alleges the Greens’ response was to suggest she teach a consent workshop to the perpetrator, a response she said was ‘more traumatic than the instance itself’,

(v) it has also been alleged that former Victorian Greens party leader, Mr Greg Barber, had a ‘men’s-only room’ in his office, and settled out of court with a former female staffer about sex discrimination and bullying,

(vi) Victorian Greens candidate, Mr Angus McAlpine, has refused to resign despite rapping about date-rape and domestic violence, and has been defended by Victorian Greens leader, Ms Samantha Ratnam,

(vii) another Victorian Greens candidate, Mr Dominic Phillips, has liked one Facebook page called ‘Period Pains, Try waiting for your porn to download’ and another with a title so inappropriate it has been deemed unparliamentary,

(viii) a former Greens volunteer alleges she was sexually assaulted by another volunteer in the back of a car in Canberra on the night of the last Federal election,

(ix) Young Greens members wrote an open letter to their party in August demanding it reshape its culture around sexism within the party, with dozens resigning in disgust over handling of sexual misconduct allegations,

(x) lawyer, Mr Rory Markham, says he is advising a number of women who say the Greens party mishandled their complaints of sexual assault and harassment arising in Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory,

(xi) the Greens have 10 federal members of parliament, federal party status, 27 state members of parliament, the attendant staffing resources, and have received at least $28.5 million in federal election-based public funding since 2001, and millions more in state and territory election-based public funding, and

(xii) Greens Senators Di Natale, Siewert and Hanson-Young have all used the phrase “the standard you walk past is the standard you accept”;

(b) calls upon Senators Di Natale, Siewert, Steele-John, Hanson-Young, Rice, Waters, Faruqi, Whish-Wilson and McKim to make statements to the Senate condemning predatory and criminal behaviour within the Greens party, and apologise to the victims; and

(c) calls upon the Federal Government to write to all Greens Party branches providing details of support services, and advice as to the means to report inappropriate and potentially criminal behaviour.

But the government voted against suspending orders to bring on the debate, so they lost 33 to 6.

Just a reminder that O’Sullivan is still a member of the government. He’s just enjoying creating mischief. And given that he’s only got a few more months in the Senate to do that, I guess he’s making hay before that particular sun sets.

Updated

The attorney general, Christian Porter, has done a press conference defending the government’s decision to support a motion calling for an anti-corruption body while it still has no plan to create one.

Porter said the motion only asked the Coalition “do you support a thing, and the thing is given a label”. He noted there are 13 federal bodies that deal with corruption issues, including the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity, which Porter says is “in effect Australia’s national integrity commission”.

Porter said the government was concerned the bar for corruption in the crossbench bill was set so low it could result in corruption findings against public servants for “administrative irregularities”:

Based on that trigger definition, applying the most extreme coercive powers that exist anywhere in Australia on the lowest conceivable definition of corruption, we consider it is utterly unworkable.”

Porter warned that corruption findings could have “retrospective application” and predicted the legislation would result in politicisation of the complaints process.

Despite Labor offering bipartisan support for an anti-corruption body in January, Porter could only give an undertaking that a cabinet process is underway, with no concrete timetable for delivery. Nor does he rule out just combining existing anti-corruption functions.

This is the closest we got to a commitment:

The reform will not be inconsequential, the reform will improve rather than degrade present integrity arrangements.”

Updated

Jim Molan has laid out his future plans:

Stephen Charles, a former judge of Victorian court of appeal and member of the Australia Institute national integrity committee was speaking to the ABC about why former judges are pushing for a national integrity commission.

Here is some of what he said about what he thinks the government position is the way it is:

Well, the reception – the Labor party in February signed up to supporting the setting up of a national integrity commission. I understand that most, if not all, of the crossbenchers in the House of Representatives support it. So far as the Coalition is concerned, we’ve had a number of good meetings with the attorney general, Christian Porter, but although he doesn’t oppose it, he says he’s not yet persuaded. I think that once translated, that means that there are a number of people in one particular section of the Coalition who are very hotly opposed to a national integrity commission.”

Updated

Mark Latham has settled the defamation case brought against him by Osman Faruqi.

Bonita Mabo has passed away

Everything is fine, as Katharine Murphy reports:

The maverick Liberal Craig Kelly has refused to rule out sitting on the crossbench in the event he loses his preselection for the Sydney seat of Hughes – creating a significant managerial headache for the Morrison government.

Long-running factional tensions in the New South Wales Liberals have been revived after the rightwinger Jim Molan was relegated over the weekend to an unwinnable position on the party’s Senate ticket for the coming election.

Tony Abbott, who has been warning about negative consequences if Kelly, his factional ally, is dumped, said on Monday he was “personally extremely disappointed” about events over the weekend, “because as far as I’m concerned Jim is an outstanding Australian who has made a fine contribution in his time in the Senate”.

Now this is how you do a social media video:

The Senate has also passed this motion:

The Senate –

1. Notes the Flinders University research published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, which shows that, “Climate change and human activity are dooming species at an unprecedented rate via a plethora of direct and indirect, often synergic, mechanisms.”

2. Notes that climate change is, without a doubt, the biggest threat to life on our planet.

3. Calls on the government to develop and implement a serious climate and energy policy, with a plan to reduce carbon pollution and overhaul our environmental laws to protect life on earth.

Sarah Hanson-Young says:

The biggest threat to humanity and life on this planet is climate change, and still the Liberal government don’t have a plan to reduce pollution.

“The consequences of the Liberal government’s head in the sand on climate – and addiction to burning fossil fuels – are playing out before us now. We’re seeing more extreme weather, mass extinction, a planet under constant stress.

“The alarming recent research from Flinders University showed we are dooming species across the globe due to our inaction on climate change. This anti-science, anti-environment prime minister, energy minister and environment minister are standing in the way of real action on climate change.

“We have some of the most beautiful, unique flora and fauna in the world, but also one of the worst track records on extinction. The Liberal government cannot be trusted to reverse this harrowing trend.

“The time to act is now. We can be the generation that saves the planet, instead of continuing to contribute to dangerous climate change.”

Updated

Adam Bandt follows question time with a statement telling school children to ignore Scott Morrison”s “hectoring” in parliament today.

Bandt asked the prime minister if he would join the Greens in praising the students and if he would meet with some of the students when they come to parliament this Wednesday. The prime minister’s response was an ignorant condescending lecture.

“The PM is unbelievably out of touch with young people, not only in Australia but around the world,” Bandt said.

“These students want a leader to protect their future, but they got a hectoring, ungenerous and condescending rebuke from someone even worse than Tony Abbott.

“Students and young people are striking this Friday because governments have failed them in Australia and around the world.

“I met with some of these courageous young people from my electorate last week and I am proud to be their local MP and I am proud of their actions.

“Labor’s approval of another giant coal mine for the Galilee Basin shows they are just as out of touch with the mood of young Australians.”

Updated

It’s hugs and kisses all round, as both sides of parliament congratulate her.

Then it’s back to the business of the day.

She finishes with this:

I want to see Australian politics move back to that SENSIBLE CENTRE and strong, local independent voices can help to achieve that.

I say to the people of Wentworth – I am here to represent you.

I will support policies that not only encourage a thriving economy, but a thriving community.

I want our parliament to unite us as a nation, in equality, justice and opportunity.

And to achieve that, I will focus on the human experience that is generated by political decisions ... a vision for the future we will be leaving for our children and our grandchildren.

Updated

Phelps says she believes her election is a rejection of extreme partisan politics:

The Australians I represent have said that they want more from their government.

They want authentic voices.

They want representatives who will focus on the future of our health system, for compassionate aged care and for lifelong education.

Representatives who will stand up for small business.

Who will fight for action on climate change.

Who will fight to ensure that women have equal political representation based on merit.

Who will fight for recognition of our First Nations people.

Who will fight for the humane treatment of asylum seekers.

And who will fight against discrimination, prejudice and bigotry in all of its manifestations.

Wentworth has shown that being positioned in what I call ‘the sensible centre’ ... meaning economically conservative and socially progressive ... does have a home in the Australian political landscape.

The people of Wentworth seemed largely unconcerned about the prospect of the crossbench having the so-called balance of power.

I prefer to think of it as the power of balance.

Updated

So why did Phelps decide to stand as an independent, and not as a political party candidate?

Because of what she saw during the marriage equality debate.

Politicians who I knew privately to be supporters of equality were forced by their parties to publically speak out against their own conscience and beliefs, putting their party before the people or the principle ... failing to understand or not caring about the human experience that would result from their politicking and deal-making.

This was one of the most important influences on my determination to stand as an independent.

Updated

Kerryn Phelps also mentions why closing offshore detention centres is so important to her:

I cannot be an idle bystander to the reports of the shocking mental and physical state of the children held on Nauru – helpless victims of Australia’s offshore processing policy. Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers is a source of shame and sorrow for me and for many thousands of my medical colleagues and other Australians.

This cruel treatment of asylum seekers asking Australia for help, to return to my earlier theme, ignores the human experience at the heart of the policy of offshore processing and indefinite confinement on Manus Island and Nauru.

No longer can we tolerate our government holding the lives of these children and their families to ransom to make a point about maritime arrivals.

Yes, we need strong border protection. But it is not ... and must not be ... a choice between deaths at sea and indefinite offshore confinement.

There is a mismatch between what the Australian government has been doing and what the majority of the people of Australia want, and this must be resolved.

We must find a compassionate compromise.

Updated

And on why climate change is so important:

This is not about the numbers. It is about the people. We have to think about the human experience that will result from failure to take action. The imminent disappearance of island nations like Kiribati or Tuvalu, altered food supply, drought, floods, increases in water-borne and insect-borne diseases.

“The people most vulnerable to the effects of climate change will be children, the poor, the sick, the elderly.

“We have an abundance of raw materials for renewable energy: Sun, wind, and water. What we are running out of is excuses for failing to act. We have to make sure we have a carefully planned, orderly transition to the renewable energy economy.

“What we do in this house, what we decide here, creates the world of our grandchildren. We all have a responsibility to them.

“And it is not only our own children and grandchildren who matter, whose lives we have the power to impact.”

Updated

On climate change:

Climate change has been described as the greatest moral, the greatest political, the greatest social and the greatest public health challenge of our time. The time to take action is NOW – there can be no excuses for continuing climate change policy paralysis.

“Look at the symptoms, examine the evidence, turn to the experts... The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report warns of the catastrophic consequences of continuing down the current path of global warming.

“And I would like to thank a former member for Wentworth, Dr John Hewson, for his expert advice to me on climate change policy.”

Updated

Kerryn Phelps on her medical activism and her politics now:

My philosophy was then, as it is now, that the human experience must be at the heart of the political decisions being made about health policy and health economics.

Phelps, on her approach to politics:

I have been a general practitioner in my electorate for almost 20 years. I have had the privilege of seeing it from a profoundly human perspective. I have helped to deliver my constituents’ babies, guided them through cancer diagnosis and treatment, grieved with them for the loss of loved ones, helped them wrestle with depression, and celebrated their happy news.

“A career in general practice grounds you in reality like no other profession possibly can ... it is a career that deals with life and death and all that lies between. It is a career where what really matters in this world is presented to you every single day.

“As a doctor I was trained to examine evidence, and to draw careful conclusions. Doctors are presented with symptoms, we arrange appropriate investigations, we diagnose the problem, devise a management plan and see that plan through to a resolution. And we know when to call on a specialist for expert advice.

“Every decision we make must address the fundamental question: what will this mean for this person’s human experience?

“This is the template for the human-centric approach I bring to the job of parliamentarian and member for Wentworth.”

Updated

Phelps on Wentworth:

Wentworth is a diverse and harmonious community.

“We hear a lot about its “harbourside mansions” but the reality is that many people in Wentworth live in apartments, often renting their homes.

“They come from myriad backgrounds from all over the world. Wentworth has one of the largest Jewish communities in Australia; many families fleeing here from Europe around the time of the second world war.

“Others coming from Russia or South Africa. There are the surfers, the yachties, the young families, the retirees, the business men and women and a large gay community.

“Wentworth is home to some of the wealthiest people in Australia, but there are also those who struggle to make ends meet, and the marginalised and dispossessed who live on the fringes of society.”

Updated

Kerryn Phelps is detailing the path she has taken to politics.

I’ll bring you more of the speech in a moment, but she has continued the recent Wentworth MP tradition of favouring the word “resolutely”.

My first marriage ended in 1993 and, four years I met Jackie [Stricker-Phelps] and the following year we married in a religious ceremony in New York.

“On our return we were outed by a Sunday tabloid newspaper. Outed. That sounds almost quaint and anachronistic now but [then was used as an instrument of oppression]. [We could have hidden, but that is not in either of our DNA and we] resolutely began a long battle for marriage equality, sacrificing our personal privacy and Jackie , her teaching career. We became accidental activists.”

Updated

Christian Porter has announced a press conference for 3.30pm to talk the national integrity commission.

There is a bit of mopping up to do after that question time. Most particularly calling it a “fringe issue” while simultaneously trying to argue that the government has been working on it for some time.

Updated

Kerryn Phelps delivers first speech

Darren Chester calls for a suspension of standing orders to allow Kerryn Phelps to deliver her maiden speech.

Most of Labor and all of the crossbench, except for Bob Katter, are still in the chamber.

Less than 20 government MPs remain, Julie Bishop and Julia Banks are watching, as is John Alexander, Trent Zimmerman, Warren Entsch, Julian Leeser, Tim Wilson, Andrew Laming, Sarah Henderson, Kelly O’Dwyer, Ken Wyatt and Christopher Pyne.

Updated

Scott Morrison calls an end to question time.

Given the number of side conversations in the government benches, the text messages and the general malaise, it never really started for a lot of the Coalition today.

Dismal. Absolutely dismal.

I am not sure there is a more visual representation of regret and despondency than what I am seeing in the government backbench right now.

Catherine King to Scott Morrison:

Can the prime minister tell the parliament how Saturday was such a ringing endorsement of his government’s policies?”

Morrison:

All I note is the hubris and arrogance of the Labor party. Premier Andrews won the election of Victoria, not you. That is who won the election in Victoria. Premier Andrews won the election in Victoria. We have worked with Premier Andrews over the last a lot of years, Mr Speaker, and we have our differences. But there is no doubt that at the election on the weekend, they choose to return the incumbent government of Victoria. And I congratulate Premier Andrews on that result. Why wouldn’t you, Mr Speaker? It is a significant achievement with an increased majority … In Victoria we have been delivering with the Victorian government record investment in infrastructure, Mr Speaker …

“There will be a choice at the next election and it will not be involving any premier of any of the states, it will be between me and you!”

Updated

Richard Marles to Scott Morrison:

On Saturday, the people of Victoria rejected the Liberal party’s record on cuts to schools, hospitals and infrastructure. What lessons as the federal government learned from Victoria?

“Cuts, what cuts,” a government MP yells, but he may need to work on his annunciation, because I heard something verrrrrry different for a moment there.

Morrison:

Well, they are very cocky over there today. They are very cocky. Very, very cocky. The leader of the opposition has got that cocky swagger again as he’s walking around. The unions, they are feeling pretty cocky about what they will be able to get the leader of the opposition to do if he occupies this side of the house. I congratulated the premier of Victoria. I said so. I sent him a text message on the night and I congratulated him”

And then, he says this and Labor loses it:

Our government is delivering infrastructure and services that the Australian people respect and want more of, Mr Speaker.

“And our government will continue to do that and … listen to the jeers and guffaws of an arrogant and out-of-touch opposition, they put the cue in the rack and think they are there and can do whatever they want and I will never forget, I will never forget what Peter Garrett said back before the 2007 election. We all remember it. While they were all trying to pretend they wouldn’t be anything dramatic, that he would just be John Howard-lite if Kevin Rudd was elected, Peter Garrett let the cat out of the bag when he said we will change it all. That is what the leader of the opposition’s plan is, that is what the Labor party’s plan is.

“They want to change it all, Mr Speaker. And that means the economy, that means the very things that Australians depend on for their jobs, their livelihoods. You won’t hear from the opposition plans to support small and family businesses.

“You won’t hear plans to ensure a strong female workforce participation in the country, Mr Speaker. You will not hear that.

“What you will hear is taking the lawbreakers and the union movement and turning the lawmakers on their very bench, Mr Speaker.

“This is a cocky and arrogant leader of the Labor party who thinks the job is already done. That is not our view!

“We will fight every day to the next election because he will destroy our economy”

Somehow, and I didn’t think it possible, Morrison has managed to up the yelling volume with every single answer. Someone get that man a butter menthol, because it can’t be great for the throat. Vocal cord trauma is real, people.

Updated

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

Why isn’t Malcolm Turnbull still prime minister of Australia? And why was Scott Morrison sacked as Tourism Australia head?

Tony Smith interrupts to say that the question is not in order “as generous as I am”.

Albo says that it is at least, partly in order, and it’s the most animated the government benches have been all day.

Christopher Pyne says the question has a small “tree frond” of relevance, which I think is supposed to be bigger than a “fig leaf”.

While we are all still pondering the size of fronds v fig leaves, Smith rules the question out of order.

That just brings forward an Angus Taylor dixer, where he has to pretend that “minister for lowering electricity prices” is a better moniker than “minister for big sticks”, which Labor has taken to calling him.

I couldn’t possibly comment.

Updated

Mark Dreyfus to Scott Morrison:

The prime minister voted against the banking royal commission 26 times before claiming it was his idea.

He supported the national energy guarantee before he opposed it. Now he can’t say whether he supports a national integrity commission. How can Australians know when this prime minister is actually committed to something or whether he is just pretending?

Morrison:

(Who has upgraded his shouting to “the Sharks being down two with three minutes on the clock”.)

I’m not going to be lectured on integrity by the Labor party. The party of Craig Thompson, the party of Sam Dastyari, the party of Joe Tripodi, the party of WA Inc. This is the only Australian political party that can open up branches in prisons because it has enough people in them who have been convicted of corrupt conduct.

“This is a Labor party that knows all about market because they live their lives in it. That is the Labor party Australians have gotten to know, and more.

“Whether it was Rex Jackson all those years going all the way through to Eddie Obeid. And the member for Watson, we always remembered the ski trip you had down at Eddie Obeid’s place, saying, ‘I just went there, we are not that close, I just went down there to spend a bit of time at Eddie’s place.’

“The Labor party, when it comes to integrity, give me a break.”

Updated

Could someone please let the government backbench know that this year, like all others, will end.

They look like they need some light at the end of the tunnel today. Goodness me. Anyone would think they just witnessed Collingwood lose a grand final.

Ken O’Dowd inflicts a Michael McCormack dixer on us.

He starts with “picture this”.

“No,” says someone from Labor.

It has to be said that the deputy prime minister could learn a thing or two from Sophia Petrillo. If you are going to invoke a Golden Girl, you will be judged by the standards of that Golden Girl, at least in my world.

Bill Shorten to Scott Morrison:

If you think the national integrity commission is a fringe issue, why did you say you’ve been working on it for months, and why did you vote for it today?”

Morrison:

(Who is back to full shoutyness)

We will continue to cover the field, Mr Speaker, in interests of all Australians and what is quite clear is we are yet to see a policy from those opposite that will do anything useful to the economy and as a result, Mr Speaker, that is why Australia and do not trust this leader of the opposition!

“We see it! It has been five years now, Mr Speaker!

“Five years they have had a good look at this leader of the opposition!

“And after five years, they are not buying, Mr Speaker! They are not buying this leader of the opposition because they know they cannot trust the leader of the Labor party to run a strong economy!”

Updated

Josh Frydenberg is trying to give a dixer, but keeps being interrupted by Chris Bowen who is yelling “we are going to run an 18-year-old against you, Josh”. That’s in reference to Labor almost winning Brighton, a blue-ribbon Victorian state seat, with a 19-year-old candidate who spent less than $2,000 on his campaign.

Updated

Kerryn Phelps looks like she is currently questioning all her life decisions which have brought her to this place, at this moment, right now, and I don’t blame her.

She is watching these proceedings quite stony-faced.

To be fair, this is not a great example of the genre today. Not by a long shot.

Independent Kerryn Phelps.
Independent member for Wentworth, Kerryn Phelps. Today is her first day in parliament. Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images

Updated

Adam Bandt has the crossbench question:

This Friday many thousands of students across the country will go on strike from school, calling for emergency action on climate change. These brave and courageous kids are joining young people around the world who are angry at the failure of governments, including yours, to secure their future from global warming. Prime minister, will you join me in praising these students for having a go? And will he meet with and listen to these kids who are demanding action from the government to keep coal in the ground?”

Scott Morrison:

Climate change is a very real and serious issue which demands the attention of government at all levels.

“And it has the attention of this government through the emissions reduction fund, the renewal energy target, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, our Snowy 2.0 initiative, and energy-efficiency measures, and our commitment to 26% of emissions reduction target, which we remain committed to. We are committed to all of these things but I will tell you what we are also committed to, kids should go to school!

“That is what we are committed to! We don’t support the idea of kids not going to school … for things that can be dealt with outside of school.

“Each day I send my kids to school and I know other kids should also go to school but we do not support our schools being turned into parliaments, Mr Speaker.

“We think kids should be in school.

“About whether it is those issues, maths, science, English, literature, Indigenous history, Australian history, Mr Speaker! That is what they should be there doing.

“And so what we want is more learning in schools and less activism in schools!”

Morrison appears quite pleased with this answer, and turns around to Michael McCormack with a grin.

Cos yeah, that’ll show those kids.

Updated

National integrity commission a 'fringe issue', says Morrison

Bill Shorten to Scott Morrison:

Why did the government vote to support a national integrity commission, when it still hasn’t decided if it wants one.

There are lols from the Labor bench.

Morrison:

“The government is considering its position …”

Morrison continues, but he is again drowned out by the Labor benches.

He tries again with the Canberra-bubble issues.

But it says something about this leader of the opposition Mr Speaker, of all the issues that he wants to bring into this chamber, but when it comes to families and small businesses that are struggling to deal with getting access to finance all families that are dealing with electricity prices, at the issues that he wants to raise, Mr Speaker, they don’t relate to these.

“He does not want to come in here and talk about how he has failed ... a reheat of what was happening last time when they were in government, he doesn’t want to come here and talk about or explain or ask questions about what would be the impact of putting a 45% reckless target on emissions reduction which would, Mr Speaker, put in place a carbon price 10 times worse, 10 times worse than the carbon tax that we had to abolish when we came to government.

“He doesn’t want to talk about the higher subsidies that he wants to give to big electricity companies paid for by Australians who have to pay higher taxes as a result of what the leader of the opposition wants to inflict on the Australian economy while the leader of the opposition is off on some sort of fringe issue, Mr Speaker, what we are focused on, what we are focused on Mr Speaker is the strength of our economy because that is what delivers the services, Medicare, disability insurance, support for veterans, defence force support, that is what delivers it!”

Updated

Next up with a dixer is Trevor Evans, the Brisbane MP, who is under threat from the Greens.

There is a bit of a teal tinge popping up in inner Brisbane suburbs – blue seats, with environmentally conscious voters.

Josh Frydenberg is giving his best impression of a non-broken man, but is not overly convincing.

Again, none of this is helped by the very, very subdued backbench behind him.

Bill Shorten to Scott Morrison:

Does the government support a national integrity commission, yes or no?

Morrison:

I refer the leader of the opposition to the answer given by the attorney general. He’s already been working on these matters is several months and we are following our process through the cabinet process and that’s how things be done.

We are not going to engage in half-baked ideas from the opposition, whether it’s what they are throwing around in this chamber or whether it’s the pink batteries claim. Remember pink batts? We now have pink batteries, that’s what we got from the leader of the opposition and the Labor party who have learnt nothing from their time in opposition. All the failures from when they were last in government, it’s just a distant memory to them and they haven’t learned a thing.

Shorten comes in with a yes-or-no point of order.

Morrison:

I addressed it and said we have a cabinet process to address it in a way that is prudent, responsible and works to all the unintended consequences and makes sure we have a process that doesn’t go around and vilify people who work the public sector, whether they be journalists or public officials anyone else. We have a calm, considered a mature approach to this issue.”

He continues, but it’s hard to hear him over Labor’s heckles. Which even government MPs are laughing at. So things are going very well then.

Updated

Bert van Manen gets the first dixer, because Queensland is in trouble and he is one of the seats Labor has its eyes on.

Scott Morrison really doesn’t appear to be in the mood for this today. He’s trying. I mean, he’s here. But he doesn’t seem to be in the mood to sell the message. And it’s not helped by the dead fish reaction from his backbench.

Bronwyn Bishop is in the House.

No 94a for her today.

Former Speaker Bronwyn Bishop and Scott Morrison at the unveiling of her official portrait on Monday.
Former Speaker Bronwyn Bishop and Scott Morrison at the unveiling of her official portrait on Monday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Bill Shorten to Scott Morrison:

Given the government has now voted to support the establishment of a national integrity commission, what is the prime minister’s timetable to establish a national integrity commission and will he work with all sides across the parliament to make the national integrity commission a reality as soon as possible?

Morrison passes the question to Christian Porter. Which seems an interesting strategy.

Porter says the government is looking at it, and working with agencies to see what improvements could be made. He then says Labor has not always been in favour of a national integrity commission.

Sigh.

Updated

Further statements of indulgence on the Melbourne attack are moved to the Federation chamber.

Scott Morrison tells us that Christian Porter will be answering Peter Dutton’s questions.

And then, we get to those questions.

Bill Shorten thanks Scott Morrison for his words and begins delivering his own statement on the Bourke Street attack.

Labor’s shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus has suggested the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security could adopt a third way somewhere between Peter Dutton’s call for it to recommend passage of the bill immediately and delaying the bill with further consideration.

At the conclusion of Monday’s hearing, Dreyfus asked for a view on the feasibility of allowing agencies with counter-terror functions to gain new powers to request assistance to access telecommunications, but not other agencies.

He noted that 21 agencies have powers to intercept communications but not all have counter-terror functions, such as anti-corruption bodies.

The head of the home affairs department, Michael Pezzullo, said the change would require amendments to carve out other agencies, and the debate would likely “circle back to the same points of principle” when it considered their powers at a later date.

“If that’s what committee decides ... it’s not a complex drafting change, no,” he replied.

Liberal chair of the committee, Andrew Hastie, notes the interception agencies also need the powers for counter-espionage.

The committee then adjourned to consider whether the bill is urgent and to expedite its consideration.

Updated

Scott Morrison begins by making a statement on indulgence on the Victorian terror attack.

Question time begins

David Littleproud has just had “minister assisting the prime minister” on the drought added to his responsibilities.

“What about your envoy” a Labor wag yells.

That envoy, is of course, Barnaby Joyce.

Updated

Annnnnd here he comes. Scott Morrison walks in, alone, just as Tim Watts says the government had spent more time “trying to make the member for Dickson prime minister” than it did campaigning in Victoria.

MPs are slowly dripping in. All the cameras are waiting for Scott Morrison, who is yet to make his appearance.

It’s time to play ‘who’s that MP’ and it’s...

Nicolle Flint.

I am heading into the chamber for question time, so hit me up with your predictions below.

Just to be clear – the government voted (on the voices) in support of a federal Icac. It did not vote in support of the crossbench’s bill.

So it is saying yes to considering a federal integrity commission, but Christian Porter made it clear he does not like the model which has been presented.

The debate on the bill is still to come.

We are on the downhill slide to QT. And it is promising to be a doozy.

Scott Morrison still has not commented (publicly) on the Victorian election result.

Tony Burke had a few things to say to the House this morning:

I rise today to refer to what ethnic community functions are going to see happen over the next few months.

After we have had a government that has run fear campaigns around people of Chinese background, fear campaigns around people of African background and fear campaigns around people whose faith is Islam, we now go through the season in the lead-up to an election where members of the government turn up to function after function and say, ‘By the way, we weren’t talking about you.’

This is where they turn up, function after function, and say: ‘Oh, no, no. When we say we’re going to do all these things to immigration, we are talking about those other people, not about you.’

I simply want to make clear here in the House today that no one should think that dog whistling works anymore. The concept that you can give a coded message and it will only be heard by certain people in the community is not how things work any more. They’re not dog whistles; they’re foghorns.

Everybody knows what the government is up to when it uses those so-called coded messages. People will not forget a government that tried to introduce, as a condition of citizenship, that you would have to pass a university-level English test – but not everyone is going to have to pass a university-level English test.

If you came from an English-speaking country, you might have to pass a university-level English test; you might not.

There are about 50 countries in the world where English is an official or regular language there, but only five of those countries were exempt from the university-level test, and they just happened to be the five white English-speaking countries: Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand.

You can be speaking English your entire life and come from Singapore and you’ll need university-level English under the law that those opposite all voted for; but, if you come from Canada, you won’t. That is how they have behaved this term.

When people go to vote at the next election, they need to remember not the fact that the government, over the last few months, will have suddenly said all the right things at community events, but the fact that this government has behaved this way the entire term and will be trading preferences with Pauline Hanson at the election.

Updated

Lots of questions on what is the difference between an absolute majority and a majority – the people who run the Twitter account for the House of Reps have you covered:

Updated

This also happened this morning:

Richard Di Natale is chatting to the ABC.

On the Victorian result, he has this to say:

No question it was a grubby campaign from Labor. They have a massive dirt unit. They turned their guns on us. They knew they were safe. And they turned their guns on us. To me is that we need to improve the way that we vet our candidates.

If you trawl through social media history and point out a page that they have liked when they were 12 or 13 years old and basic campaign around that, what you are saying to people is that we don’t want good, decent, ordinary people in politics.

Updated

The concurrence motion passes on the voices (no division) but that is not the bill. That vote is coming later.

“We have issue after issue where questions are being raised and not being addressed,” Andrew Wilkie says.

The government benches are all but empty as this debate is occurring. I can see Sussan Ley, Nicolle Flint, Christopher Pyne and Christian Porter but not many others.

Updated

Rebehka Sharkie pleads with Christian Porter to “lead from the front on this” and help come up with a workable model if the government is not happy with what has been presented.

Updated

“I know with corruption there is often history ... there is frequently a story which needs to be understood,” Cathy McGowan says, on why retrospectivity is included in the bill.

She says she is more than happy to work with the AG’s office to make it work.

“From the bottom of my heart I hope the government will come back and tell us this week [it is in support of the bill]”, she says, adding: “Most of your backbench seems to be in favour of it.”

Updated

Cathy McGowan responds to Christian Porter by asking “what, when and how”.

She says that people have waited long enough for a federal commission, and there is no one to go to when corruption at a federal level is alleged.

Updated

The Australian federal police may have acted in contempt of parliament by failing to warn the Labor senator Louise Pratt of a raid investigating leaks about Peter Dutton’s au pair decisions, a report has found.

The Senate privileges committee suggested in the report, which was tabled on Monday, that the failure to warn Pratt meant she did not have a proper opportunity to claim parliamentary privilege over seized documents, a possible interference with the functioning of parliament.

The committee upheld Labor’s claim that documents seized in the raid are covered by parliamentary privilege, and said it would recall Australian federal police witnesses to provide further evidence before making a conclusion on whether the failure to warn Pratt constitutes a contempt.

Updated

Quick side break to note that Patrick Gorman has brought his young son into parliament while his wife is working in the Pilbara.

Leo is going to be here all week – because the raising of children is not just one parent’s responsibility.

Updated

The clock is ticking down on Bob Katter’s latest round of feel-pinions.

But we finally get to where he wants to go.

“I find it very difficult, because I can see the need for it, but on the other hand I see the great dangers which exist here.”

He wants the model worked on.

Bob Katter is referring to the reforms brought in after the Joh Bjelke-Petersen inquiryand the “awful lot of innocent people burnt” by the Criminal Justice Commission (now the Crime and Corruption Commission) .

I’ll be back as soon as I chase down my eyeballs – they have rolled somewhere down by my calves at this speech.

Updated

The Asio director general, Duncan Lewis, has called for legislation to allow law enforcement agencies powers to crack encryption to be passed “as quickly as it can be”.

In a parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security hearing on Monday, Lewis said that there were “cases afoot at the moment where this legislation will directly assist”.

Lewis said there was a “general heightening of the threat level over Christmas” but the spy agency had no evidence of a particular attack in a certain place or time in the upcoming holiday season.

Asked if a cutting short the consideration of the bill would harm consultation, Lewis responded that passage of the legislation would be “beneficial” but whether it is passed by Christmas or after was a “matter for the parliament and the government to decide”.

“I really don’t have a position on that.”

Asio witnesses confirmed they had no input or knowledge before the event about Scott Morrison and the home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s decision to call a press conference on Thursday to call for the bill to expedited through committee.

Updated

So where are we?

The government is not opposing a national integrity commission but has problems with the model.

Tanya Plibersek says the best way to overcome those issues is to work on the bill in a bipartisan manner.

Updated

Tayna Plibersek is going through some of the NSW Icac findings, mentioning some of the cases the Coalition has had go through the commission.

She then mentions the problems the Labor side has seen and says that she welcomed it, because the jailing of Eddie Obeid was like “cutting out a cancer” and that all sides of politics should welcome that.

“This is the time for the absolute most sober, sensible process we can engage in ... that I am sad to say is not in the bill [we are discussing today]” says Christian Porter.

So not outright support. But not, not support.

Andrew Probyn, aside.

Updated

OMG.

Christian Porter has just used the example of the ABC political editor, Andrew Probyn, being found to have breached the broadcaster’s code with his analysis that Tony Abbott was the most destructive politician of his generation (where’s the lie?), would be found to be corrupt under this model.

The press gallery hallway has exploded into gaffaws. As have much of the chamber.

Updated

The attorney general is speaking about issues the government has with the model of the national integrity commission model which has been put forward.

He is not saying that Australia does not need one though.

Updated

Christian Porter, who looks like he is having teeth pulled (and with empty government benches behind him) is listing issues the government has with the bill.

Bill Shorten, who is making his speech in favour of the national integrity commission, pivots mid-speech to acknowledge the government may be switching positions on this issue.

He says that it welcome, but it should not be forgotten it had previously opposed it.

Adam Bandt is the seconder.

“If we act now, we could have a national corruption watchdog by Christmas.”

Updated

Government expected to support federal anti-corruption commission

This is very interesting: Christian Porter’s media office has just sent out an alert that he will be speaking on this motion.

Which, I would think, points to the government perhaps being in favour of it.

Stay tuned.

Updated

No helicopter, but there is brooch

The Larissa Waters concurrence motion on the integrity commission has reached the House.

Christopher Pyne moves that the message be considered, immediately.

So the national integrity commission discussion has begun.

Fear not, Q&A watchers.

Eric Abetz will replace Jim Molan tonight.

Says it all, really.

Bob Katter, after receiving a few bucketloads of money for north Queensland water projects, is not in favour of referring Peter Dutton to the high court. But it appears that everyone else on the crossbench, as well as Labor, is. So if a government MP goes AWOL, or Katter doesn’t turn up, you could see a sudden vote called on. Unlikely, but not impossible.

Updated

I believe this is happening:

The official portrait of the 29th Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon Bronwyn Bishop, will be unveiled at Parliament House, Canberra on Monday 26 November 2018.

Created by award-winning artist Jiawei Shen, the portrait was commissioned by the Department of Parliamentary Services for Parliament’s Historic Memorials Collection.

The Historic Memorials Collection is Australia’s longest-running art commissioning program. Founded by prime minister Andrew Fisher in 1911, the collection has commissioned portraits of the head of state, governors general, prime ministers, speakers and presidents for more than a century.”

Updated

As Amy has just noted, Victorian MPs (including all the frontbenchers) met with Scott Morrison this morning in the wake of the drubbing in the state election.

Some Liberals had taken public positions ahead of that conversation (Scott Ryan, and Tim Wilson) about the party’s positioning being out of step with the electoral base.

A number of MPs raised issues with the ground game during this morning’s pow-wow, as well as the advertising and mechanics.

I hear there were some full and frank observations about the party’s president, Michael Kroger, as well.

Updated

And while federally, there are still a lot of Liberal MPs* claiming the Victorian election result had nothing to do with them, their state colleagues think a little differently

(*Tim Wilson and Scott Ryan being the exceptions)

Sometime between midday and 1.30pm, as I understand it

We may not have any insight into the text message Scott Morrison sent Daniel Andrews, but the Victorian premier was full of praise for the conversation he had with his state opponent this morning:

I think it was a phone call that does him great credit, and I wouldn’t want anyone to be in any doubt that when he stood up at his function and said that he had graciously conceded, that’s exactly what he did, and both phones were going a bit, so we took a little bit of time to actually get through to each other, but he ran, he not only conceded that his party had lost the election, he conceded that we had won.

I haven’t made a call like that, but it can’t be easy for him to make what was a gracious concession.

Updated

The Victorian MPs have had their meeting with the prime minister.

Josh Frydenberg has sent out the official line:

We had a good, honest discussion about lessons to be learned from the state campaign. As a group we will continue to be focused on delivering for our local communities.

I am sure that is exactly how it went.

Updated

Paul Karp has gone through the Senate committee report into the AFP au pair leak raids, which you will be able to read very shortly.

Anyone desperate to know what it says, can read the whole report here.

The crossbench are holding a media conference on why the national integrity commission is so important.

“I do believe that we can have a world’s best practice national integrity commission,” Kerryn Phelps said.

*insert red shoe emoji here*

So where next on the national integrity bill?

The motion from the Senate will arrive in the House after midday. There will be a move on to consider it straight away – there will be a debate to call on the government to get moving.

The concurrence motion from Larissa Waters in the Senate reads:

I, and also on behalf of senators Farrell, Hinch, Storer and Patrick, move:

That—

(a) the Senate calls on the federal government to establish a national anti-corruption commission; and

(b) this resolution be communicated to the House of Representatives for concurrence.

The crossbench is fairly confident it has the numbers for that.

Updated

So how did Peter Dutton muck up his arm? Mending a fence. I kid you not.

Scott Morrison may have just commented on the Victorian election;

The national integrity commission bill has been adjourned.

Julia Banks has handed down the parliament’s report into Australian adoption issues.

From her release:

With over 47,000 children in out-of-home care, and one of the lowest adoption rates in the world - the Australian parliament’s Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee has today recommended that the commonwealth work with the states and territories to enact a national law for the adoption of Australian children.

Issuing the committee’s report into local adoption, committee chair Julia Banks MP said the differences between adoption laws in Australia’s states and territories are a major barrier to more children being adopted in Australia.

“During our inquiry, we heard evidence that Australian children are denied the opportunity of adoption due to the complexity and lack of consistency of legislation across Australia. We also heard that the system is trapping many of these children into an unhealthy cycle. One of the biggest problems facing children in out-of-home care is the lack of permanency. Children are likely to ‘bounce around’ the system from carer to carer, in some cases experiencing over ten placements. We know that these children have poorer outcomes. They face constant change and instability, on top of the trauma that led them to out-of-home care in the first place.

“This is a national issue that needs a national solution” Ms Banks said.

“This report is about breaking the barriers that are preventing vulnerable children from enjoying the safety, security and wellbeing that a permanent adoptive family can provide.

“The committee recognises that the best interests and safety of the child are paramount and override all other considerations. When it’s not safe for children to remain with their parents or family, adoption needs to be considered a viable option. Childhood is fleeting and children must not remain in situations where their safety or wellbeing is threatened.”

Updated

Rebehka Sharkie is the bill’s seconder.

Cathy McGowan has ceded time for Sharkie to speak. It shows you just how united they are on this.

“If this parliament does not take a stand against corruption, then what message are we sending to the Australian people,” Sharkie says.

It is hard to see how the government is going to be able to oppose this.

Cathy McGowan is introducing the national integrity commission bill.

This is behalf of the crossbench alliance.

McGowan says it is time.

Update: Scott Morrison has still not commented on the Victorian election result.

Scott Morrison’s minority Coalition government is likely to face its first significant test on the floor of the lower house on Monday, with a vote on whether to establish a national integrity commission.

Labor and the crossbench are preparing to push for the anti-corruption body in a motion moved by the Greens MP Adam Bandt after independent Kerryn Phelps is sworn-in as the member for Wentworth and the Coalition officially enters minority government.

A federal independent commission against corruption is supported by Labor and the entire crossbench – Cathy McGowan, Rebekha Sharkie, Andrew Wilkie, Bob Katter, Phelps and Bandt.

On Monday McGowan introduced a private member’s bill to create an anti-corruption body, and a successful Senate motion calling for one will come to the House of Representatives for concurrence.

While an absolute majority of 76 is needed to suspend standing orders and force a vote on legislation, a government bid to shut down debate on the motion can be defeated with a simple majority, meaning Labor and the crossbench could defeat the government 75 votes to 74.

Updated

Barnaby Joyce is about to speak on the national carp control program.

Sadly, we don’t get to hear what he says, because the Sky feed freezes.

I think it was something along the lines of CRAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRPPPPPPP

Given we are all about to start talking national integrity commission, this story from Christopher Knaus and Nick Evershed is very timely:

Australia’s three major political parties failed to declare sizeable donations from corporate interests seeking lucrative government work, mining approvals or favourable tax policies, the Guardian can reveal.

The Liberals failed to declare a $10,000 donation from Raytheon, an arms manufacturer that was at the time vying for defence contracts, including on Australia’s major shipbuilding and submarine projects. The party’s South Australian branch has blamed the failing on a “clerical error”.

The West Australian Nationals failed to declare a $20,000 cheque it was handed by Mineral Resources, an iron ore miner seeking government approval to access new deposits in environmentally sensitive and unique mountain ranges in the state’s Yilgarn region.

Federal Labor failed to properly disclose a $100,000 donation from the car salary packaging industry, received the same financial year the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, wrote a letter to the industry, pledging to maintain generous tax arrangements.”

Updated

And Fraser Anning has told the Senate he is no longer a Katter’s Australian party senator and is now officially, an independent again.

That’s just formalising the sacking Bob Katter announced a little bit ago.

Anning was elected as a One Nation senator, quit moments after he was sworn in, sat as an independent, went to KAP, wouldn’t stop saying things like non-European immigration should be banned, was sacked from the party, and is back as an independent.

There is as much chance of him returning to the Senate at the next election as there is of Idris Elba becoming aware of my existence.

Updated

The first thing on Kerryn Phelps’ agenda is about to be introduced by Cathy McGowan:

Labor will be meeting with the crossbench to discuss this bill

Updated

The Senate privileges committee have just tabled the report on to the AFP raid of the Home Affairs employee.

From what has been reported already, it sounds verrrrrrrrrry interesting. We’ll bring you those highlights soon.

Kerryn Phelps sworn in as new Wentworth member

Mr Speaker! A new member.

“Admit her,” Tony Smith says.

And with Rebehka Sharkie and Cathy McGowan at her side, Kerryn Phelps makes her first entrance to the House.

She is applauded and swears she will be faithful to Australia (and her majesty, for those who care about those things).

Julie Bishop, Julia Banks, Craig Laundy and Tim Wilson are the first from the government benches to welcome her, as is most of the Labor frontbench (but it is easier for them, because she is on that side of the House.)

Now the rest are lining up to say hello. Bishop holds on to Phelps in her welcome. She takes a few beats, while the cameras go nuts.

Because, Bishop knows, you gotta get the pic.

Newly elected independent MP for Wentworth, Kerryn Phelps, arrives in the House of Representatives chamber (with Rebehka Sharkie and Cathy McGowan) to be sworn in.
Newly elected independent MP for Wentworth, Kerryn Phelps, arrives in the House of Representatives chamber (with Rebehka Sharkie and Cathy McGowan) to be sworn in. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Hold me tight and never let me go ... Julie Bishop embraces Kerryn Phelps.
Hold me tight ... Julie Bishop embraces Kerryn Phelps. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Kerryn Phelps (middle) is sworn in.
Kerryn Phelps (middle) is sworn in. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated

Oh - and Bronwyn Bishop will have her Speaker portrait unveiled later today.

I can hear the socialists screeching already.

The bells are ringing, which means parliament is about to start.

We’ll have Kerryn Phelps in the House and the Senate will deal with the tabling of it’s Senate-stuff

Boom tish

Parliament will begin very shortly, where the first order of business in the House will be swearing in Kerryn Phelps.

I assume the Senate will also be doing some things.

Speaking to ABC radio this morning, Bill Shorten laid out Labor’s plans for this week, as well as offering his critique of what is going on in the Coalition:

I think this is a government, to be honest, who stopped governing. They do everything for the prism of beating Labor and winning the election. Now, that’s part of what governments do – I’m not naive. But there are big issues which the nation needs dealt with now. We should resolve a national anti-corruption commission this week. We should get that process going.

We should be in a position where we can resolve a national energy guarantee. All I did last week with Mark Butler and Chris Bowen in large part is say to the government, “We’ll work with what you’ve already voted to endorse.”

But this government – I don’t know. Like, they’re so sort of obsessed by climate change, it’s vaguely weird they can’t actually accept the science. We want to try and get things done in the parliament.”

He also raised the government MPs who have section 44 clouds surrounding them – which includes the absent Peter Dutton and Chris Crewther. But Labor won’t have the numbers to force any high court referral.

Updated

Oh, Ray Hadley just reminded me of some other news which came out over the weekend.

As predicted a few months ago on these very pages, it is bye bye Jim Molan.

Andrew Bragg and Hollie Hughes have the winnable spots on the NSW Senate ticket.

Molan has been relegated to an un-winnable spot.

He responded by pulling out of his appearance on the Bad Show tonight.

Tony Abbott finds it “absolutely nauseating”.

He thinks factional politics means you don’t chose candidates on their “quality”.

Because, as Abbott and co keep telling us, they are all absolutely there on merit.

Ray Hadley is offering solutions to the government on how to win the next election, which could be best described as useful as a marzipan oven mitt.

All you need is a coal-fired power station, apparently.

You may have heard they did surgery on a grape #niche

Well, it looks like they may also be doing surgery on Peter Dutton’s arm. So he won’t be in parliament.

Samantha Maiden at the New Daily reports that Queensland MP Llew O’Brien is looking at crossing the floor to ensure the national integrity commission gets up.

O’Brien says he thinks its a “no-brainer” and would help restore public trust in politics.

Which reminded me of a matter which occurred before O’Brien entered parliament.

Updated

Actually, let’s just list everything the Coalition has lost in the last little bit.

Western Australia

Queensland

Longman

Braddon

Wentworth

Didn’t even run in Perth or Fremantle during the super Saturday byelections because of the fear of what the result would reveal.

Updated

Also worth mentioning that Labor had its biggest victory in the Western Australia election (which was held in March last year) since the 1900s.

But I suppose that had nothing to do with the Liberal party either.

(Thank you to my Western Australian expert for these figures)

The Liberal primary at the 2013 election was 47.1%.

At the 2017 poll it fell to 31.2%

The Nat primary vote at the 2013 election was 6.1%

At the 2017 poll it fell to 5.4%

The ALP primary vote at the 2013 election was 33.1%

At the 2017 poll it rose to 42.2%

Labor’s lower house representation went from 21 members to 41 members

The Liberal Party’s representation fell from 31 members to 13

The Nationals went from 7 to 5

It was the biggest gain in seats by Labor since the 1904 election when they picked up 16 seats…

Updated

Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has been speaking to Jon Faine on ABC Melbourne this morning.

He says that Labor won because they “get things done” and refused to take the “low road” of racial dog-whistling.

That’s a stronger criticism of the Coalition’s framing of issues like crime and population than Andrews was prepared to give during the campaign.

Faine asked if the “sense of urgency” that characterised the Andrews government’s first four years will continue; Andrews says yes.

Getting things done, he says, is not just a slogan. “I was taught a long time ago, be yourself, do what comes naturally, and getting things done is not just a brand Jon, because people don’t support brands unless they’re real.”

Andrews is due at a press conference at Greensborough in the northern suburbs of Melbourne at 10.30am to announce that the first stage of the $15.8bn North East link will be put to tender today.

He says he “can’t accurately describe to you how satisfying [it] is” to sign off on projects that employ people.

“We are at our best when we lead, Jon, we are not at our best when we are out there race-bating or delivering ill-informed, low-grade, low-road policies.”

Updated

Tim Wilson on the 'cold, deadly silence' at Victorian voting booths.

Victorian federal MP Tim Wilson has some very strong ideas of why the Liberals were destroyed in his home state and what is to blame, and he told Sky about it a few moments ago:

... I think you saw a heartland and voter base, who turned around, and said to us ‘we’ve had enough’.

You can go on saying this has got no federal implications, but sorry, not true.

I sat there on polling booths, and every second person either gave you deadly silence, which is a very cold, deadly silence, or there were people mentioning energy, climate or the deposing of the prime minister.

Now, I think we can get past that. I know the people who vote for me, I know them very well, and I can tell you they are not rusted on conservatives ... they are a forward-looking, modern liberal community, and they sent us a message, very clearly.

Updated

Herald Sun reporter Anthony Galloway published this story last night, on the Senate committee looking into the AFP raid of a Home Affairs employee, over the Peter Dutton au pair leaks.

It has been a slow burner, because of everything else going on in the last 24 hours, but it is important, because it makes the point that the Senate committee, which could hand down its findings on the matter as early as today, could lead to the AFP being found in contempt of parliament. It’s all about the remit of the warrant, as Galloway reports:

The secret police warrant also included the name of the Senate inquiry which was leaked internal correspondence revealing high-level lobbying by AFL boss Gillon McLachlan [of] Mr Dutton.

According to well-placed sources, the revelations suggest the AFP knew it was going after materials which could have been handed to senators in their role as members of the parliamentary committee.

The AFP has previously said it was investigating leaks directly to the media, not the parliamentary committee.

Under the laws of parliamentary privilege, warrants should not be executed which improperly interfere with the functioning of parliament.

Updated

But Josh Frydenberg is VERY sure that the federal party arm had nothing to do with the Victorian result.

Which is EXACTLY what was said this time last year, when Annastacia Palaszczuk took Queensland Labor to a second term government, with an increased majority.

That was exactly one year ago. And that government did not make massive spending promises, because Queensland is almost as broke as me.

Earlier this morning Josh Frydenberg also told Sky News that it was the spending in Victoria which outdid the Liberal opposition.

He mentions that there were “issues” which arose in health, public transport and the like and Daniel Andrews “threw money at it”.

Which seems an interesting critique on a couple of points: a) it doesn’t seem that outrageous that if problems are identified in public services, that people would expect their governments to spend money to fix them and b) the federal government has taken to doing exactly the same thing.

I mean, you could argue that the federal government has “thrown” money at the Catholic school issues, north Queensland water projects after Bob Katter made some noise about using the minority numbers against them, the GST floor for the states, etc, etc.

And for the first time, it is doing it, by breaking the budget rule – it’s not cutting the budget to fund these changes, it is planning on using increased revenues.

So, I don’t actually understand the point the federal government is attempting to make here. Spending is bad, if it’s done by anyone else but it?

Updated

Here is Michael Kroger explaining how we just don’t understand that we’ve never had it so good before.

One of the other strong federal Liberal contributions on the Victorian result is that of senator Jane Hume, who has written in the Australian Financial Review [$] that:

“If we allow good policy to be infiltrated by even the perception of an ideological crusade, Labor will win the messaging war.”

Hume cites three areas of policy for this critique:

  • In education policy, Hume says “our good policies were drowned by our ideological opposition to an anti-bullying program” and “we underestimated our electorates – parents want their kids to grow up kind as well as clever”.
  • On energy policy, Hume says “our good policies were drowned by a (falsely) perceived ideological opposition to renewable energy”. “Again, we underestimated our electorates – Victorians place a high value on their environment.”
  • On crime, Hume says the Coalition policies were “strong and thorough and would have made a significant difference” but “the problem wasn’t uniform across electorates, and in some places our messaging appeared divisive”.

Another lesson, according to Hume, is the party needs more women to be more representative:

“It’s hard to understand an electorate if you don’t reflect it. Female representation in the Liberal party is no longer an issue of aesthetics but an electoral imperative. The rise of centre-right female independents in previously Liberal held safe seats cannot be ignored. The leaders that champion and facilitate the introduction of significantly more women to our parliamentary team – in safe seats that allow them time to rise through the ranks – will leave a legacy as important as the traditional Liberal heroes.”

Updated

Oh wow – Michael Kroger just appeared to be arguing that part of the reason Victorians were happy to vote for a spending government, is because they have never known bad economic times. That they haven’t seen a recession, or things like foreclosures.

I’ve managed to pick my jaw off the floor, but it was tough going for a while there. Thank goodness the wind didn’t change.

While it is true that Australia has not technically fallen into depression, the global financial crisis did bite. Wage growth has not happened. A whole generation has been largely locked out of the housing market. Underemployment is a growing problem. Part of the reason we have a banking royal commission is because of the foreclosure of properties and farms following the ongoing drought. I could go on, but I don’t need to, because you all know your own financial position better than I do. But to say that we haven’t experienced tough financial times, so we just don’t get why tight government budget control is important is absolutely flabbergasting. And might, just might, explain why the Liberals campaign in Victoria failed to win hearts and minds.

Updated

Michael Kroger, the president of the Victorian Liberal party, says he won’t be resigning from his position, because he is not to blame.

I mean, he only headed up the campaign, but sure.

Speaking to Sky, Kroger says the Victorian Liberals were beaten on policy, because Labor was offering so much free stuff.

That “free stuff” is things like breakfast for secondary school students (primary students already get it) and free sanitary products, and spending on infrastructure and services.

His argument seems to be people love governments spending on their infrastructure and services, and the Victorian Liberals could not compete with that.

And to those colleagues who have been blaming the federal party for the result, Kroger says “grow up”.

He has also mentioned, at least three times, that the party is a “little more sophisticated down here”, which is why they understand he is not to blame.

You may have seen a bit of commentary around from conservative types over the weekend, that Peter Dutton could have changed the Victorian election result.

The only way Dutton as leader would have impacted the Victorian election was to make it worse. Dutton certainly has his fans, but it would be a mistake to think that because he appeals to some voters in Queensland, that Dutton would appeal to small-L liberal voters across the country.

Because the mistake we keep seeing is politicians thinking Queensland voters all think the same way, all vote the same way, and each region wants exactly the same thing from its parliamentarians.

Queensland is unique in that 50% of the population is decentralised. So take the state together, and you’ll get a pretty good idea of what a lot of the country is thinking. But it is impossible to pigeonhole. Voters in the south-east are a hell of a lot different in their thinking than voters in the north.

And you are not just a “real” person if you live in north Queensland, despite what Liberal MPs keep telling me.

The sooner politicians realise that every voter is a “real” person, and that every single region in Australia exists in some sort of “bubble”, the sooner they might actually start to connect with them.

Updated

Just a reminder – Scott Morrison still hasn’t commented on the Victorian election result.

Not even a statement.

Scott Ryan unloads

Scott Ryan has given his two cents on the Victorian state election and he says one of the lessons is the Liberal party must pay attention to “our electoral base – our real base”.

The senator from Victoria told Radio National the result saw “swings in previously safe Liberal seats, seats that are cradle of the Liberal party” such as Kew, Sandringham, Brighton, Box Hill and Hawthorn that sit in the federal seats of Goldstein, Higgins, Menzies and Kooyong.

Ryan said while Liberals are often personally conservative they are liberal in their political outlook and don’t seek to impose their views on others. He said social issues and climate change should not become litmus tests for what it means to be a “real Liberal” and people should not be told they are “not conservative enough”.

Ryan said the “noise out of Canberra is not what people are focused on in their everyday lives”.

He said religious freedom was a “distraction” before the Wentworth byelection and although religious freedom and discrimination law might be important issues they weren’t raised with him at polling places.

Ryan has a pretty big serve at conservative commentators (Sky After Dark) who dismissed the voters of the Wentworth byelection as “somehow not party of real Australia” because the electorate is too progressive.

He said:

Labelling people, dismissing them, that’s not the Liberal way. I want to cast the net wide in the Menzies and Howard tradition, to give people a reason to be Liberals not come up with litmus tests ... that is not the path to electoral success. And I am sick of being lectured to by people who are not members of the party, by people who have never stood on polling booths about what it means to be a real Liberal.

Updated

That united and stable approach Bill Shorten just mentioned is approaching record proportions for an opposition leader.

On Sunday, Shorten cracked the top 10 of longest-serving federal opposition leaders.

Updated

Bill Shorten popped up on Sky News this morning – in the studio (Sky has a new studio in Canberra, which, as Laura Jayes just mentioned, is known as the mother ship – it is HUUUUGGGGE), and the Labor leader seems, as you would expect, to be in pretty good spirits.

I note he is in the studio because while Shorten does hold a press conference most days, and is no stranger to the radio scene, it is fairly rare to see the Labor leader interviewed one-on-one live to air.

He, of course, has a few things to say about the Victorian election.

“[To those Liberals] who believe there is no message for the Liberal brand in Australia, well, that is up to them,” he says.

“How they do the postmortem and the recriminations, I am not going to get involved in. But what I saw on Saturday, what I have seen all round Australia, better schools and better hospitals, trumps cuts and chaos and division.

“What I heard on Saturday as I was handing out in the suburbs of Melbourne, was people saying they were sick of the division in the Liberal party, they just want some continuity , some stability– they also want some long-term vision.

“The message I have taken from Victoria is a positive one. Stick to the policies, stick to looking after the people, stay united and stable like we have for over five years, and people will reward you.”

Updated

Scott Ryan is on Radio National, and from the sound of things, the Senate president is done following the line that the Liberal party has its house in order and everything is fine. Paul Karp will be bringing you more from what is shaping up to be an extraordinary interview, very soon.

Updated

Good morning

Welcome to the first of the final parliamentary sitting days for 2018 – and what a two weeks it is shaping up to be.

Scott Morrison walks into the parliament for the first time as a prime minister of a minority government.

Since we last gathered here on these pages, the Coalition lost Wentworth, which seemed to surprise even those party types who were expecting a poor result, and the Liberals not only lost the Victorian election, Labor came back with an increased majority.

Cue a whole heap of “the federal shenanigans had nothing to do with it” explanations, despite quite a few voters telling the government that dumping a prime minister for no apparent reason, does, actually, have everything to do with it. I mean, what do Wentworth and the entire state of Victoria have in common, other than a complete trouncing of the federal ruling party?

And then there is the latest Newspoll, which, despite a slight bump in personal popularity for Morrison, shows the government remains very unpopular. Facing losing 20-plus seats at the next federal election, unpopular. A primary result of 34% unpopular.

So, it is not great. On any measure.

But that has never stopped the spin before, and it won’t, as we head in to the last eight days of sitting.

Labor and the crossbench will be seizing their chance to make hay – they will be talking together about getting a national integrity commission up from the opposition benches. It is rare, but not impossible. In this case, it needs an absolute majority, which is 75 plus one, so someone from the government will have to wander over to the other side, to bring on the debate for any private members’ bill. There are a few names floating around as potential floor crosses, because at this stage, what does anyone have to lose?

We’ll follow that, and all the days events, as Kerryn Phelps is sworn in and delivers her maiden speech. So I hope you’ll keep checking back. Mike Bowers has been snaffled elsewhere this week, but you still have the Guardian brains trust at your disposal, as well as my caffeine-fuelled fingers.

I am on coffee number two. By this time next week, I am sure that number will have doubled. I hope you’re ready.

Let’s get into it.

Updated

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