That will do
Crikey that was a week. Thank you very much for your fine company over the course of this parliamentary session – you have been magnificent. But it really is time to go now.
Let’s go by wrapping Friday.
Talk to the hand, Christopher.
Two big events.
- Parliament has passed the most substantial changes to senate voting practices in several decades, and settled a start date in time for the looming election. The legislation cleared the two chambers after about forty hours of debate which veered unpredictably between comedy and acrimony. In the process the Greens declined to vote for amendments that would have improved Australia’s woeful system of disclosure around political donations – a decision that is indefensible in my view.
- The prime minister has thrown conservatives a juicy bone on the Safe Schools program. They didn’t get their parliamentary inquiry or the immediate defunding of the initiative, but they got controversial materials excised, parental consent and oversight, among a grab list of things that will keep the program in a fairly tight box. Malcolm Turnbull is clearly suing for peace with members of his conservative wing. Whether they are interested in suing for peace remains moot.
In parting I suggest all political tragics get whatever rest you possibly can over the next few weeks. I strongly suspect you’ll need it. Until we meet again, go well.
A couple more for the chamber just now. I’ll summarise in the next post.
Now the House has rubber stamped senate voting reform, time for one more piece of news. The government has left open the possibility of further amalgamations of roles at the Human Rights Commission, after advertising to fill vacant or soon-to-be vacant roles within the organisation.
On Friday, the government advertised for full time disability, aged and human rights commissioners.
The ad states that the Commission has a president and five commissioners. There have been six commissioners throughout most of the current government’s term, including the self-styled freedom commissioner, Tim Wilson, who resigned to pursue a political career in February.
A spokesman for attorney general, George Brandis, told Guardian Australia that the government has put out a call for expressions of interest to fill the $340,000 a year positions.
“Appointments are expected to commence in July 2016 and will be determined in the context of this recruitment process and the current fiscal environment,” he said. “No decisions have been made regarding the division of roles between commissioners.”
The unelected prime minister. Who, moi?
While Albanese is lambasting Malcolm Turnbull: the unelected prime minister, the appointed prime minister, through a backroom deal – it occurs to me that not once today have I had time to say what the senate voting changes actually mean.
If you want to read a longer piece, The Conversation has produced a backgrounder which you can read here.
A short excerpt.
The general principles of the new system are:
- you have one vote;
- you can express preferences for candidates in the order you prefer them, writing 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and so on; and
- if the candidate for whom you vote “1” is not elected, the full value of your vote passes to the candidate to whom you gave your “2”. And if that candidate is not elected, to your “3” and so on.
Below-the-line voters rank individual candidates in the order they prefer. The government’s changes mean you have to number at least 12 squares below the line. But your ballot will nevertheless be formal provided it shows six consecutive preferences.
Green Adam Bandt rises to support the amendments. Labor’s Anthony Albanese rises to oppose them, and in so doing welcomes the Liberal/National/Green coalition.
The Labor leader Bill Shorten isn’t in the chamber. Tony Burke is launching the response. He says imagine if your only achievement as prime minister was this: rorting the Senate vote.
Updated
Malcolm Turnbull says this will end the practices of back room deals and preference harvesting. He says Labor used to support this change, but has flipped because of political opportunism. Only Gary Gray in the Labor party had a position of integrity.
Mr Speaker this is a great day for democracy.
The prime minister, launching the formalities in the House.
Here comes the bells, here comes the House, to stamp Senate voting reform.
Updated
A couple of pictures. And education minister, trying to walk a line.
And a prime minister, trying to look historical.
Better than hysterical. Which is where Magic Mike and I are hovering, just quietly.
Christensen adds one more point. He says Birmingham has told him that if the Safe Schools coalition reject what the government’s put forward then the funding will just be suspended.
That’s my understanding from my conversation with the minister.
George Christensen.
I am very surprised that [Simon Birmingham’s] gone as far as he’s gone. It is better than an inquiry. Effectively, gutting the program of all of the concerning content is what I wanted at the end of the day – or the program shut down.
Conservative backbencher George Christensen is speaking to reporters, apparently suing for peace. He says the program has been gutted.
Essentially the program’s been gutted of all of the bad content that’s been in it, all of the concerning content that’s been in it, and what we’ll see in schools will be something that is truly an anti-bullying program.
He says the Safe Schools coalition will likely reject Birmingham’s proposal.
Meanwhile back in the red room, Labor and the crossbench have passed a motion making it harder for the government to call a double dissolution election by limiting its ability to recall the Senate.
On Friday afternoon, manager of government business in the Senate, Mitch Fifield, proposed a motion that the Senate rise until Tuesday May 10 “or such other time as may be fixed by the president”.
Labor, the Greens and five independent and minor party senators joined forces to pass an amendment to that, saying that the president or deputy president can only only recall the Senate with the “absolute majority of senators where the leader or deputy leader of a party in the Senate can concur on behalf of every senator in that party”.
It makes it harder to sprint to an early election. It doesn’t make it impossible.
Updated
Birmingham says the program won’t be funded past its current life, and there was never any intention to fund it in perpetuity.
The education minister is asked about advocates for the program over-egging and being ideological. He’s advised people to not to over step. (His message couldn’t be clearer: I’m trying to defend this program against a tide of internal opposition, please help me do that.)
Simon Birmingham.
Just as prosthelytising is not part of the school chaplaincy program, advocacy must not be part of the Safe Schools program. This is here to help children in their wellbeing in schools and people who might have engaged in the past as presenting themselves as representatives of the program and in doing so speaking about political matters and advocating in those political matters have frankly done themselves and the program an enormous disservice and would be well advised to keep their mouths shut on such matters in future.
Q: Do you think the way some of your colleagues talked about this issue during the week exercised that necessary caution in terms of the language they use? And what kind of precedent does it set for the marriage equality debate?
Simon Birmingham:
I hope that everybody learns from this debate and goes into the future debate when we have it around marriage equality being very mindful of making their cases but making them in a respectful way.
Q: Your colleagues?
I think the message the prime minister gave yesterday was one rightly applied very broadly, certainly not exclusively into this building.
Birmingham says he believes this is a strong but measured response to the types of concerns the government has heard.
Conservatives won’t like it because the program is not defunded and there is no commitment here to a parliamentary inquiry.
Q: No parliamentary inquiry and no suspension of the funding. Will George Brandis and his allies let you get away with this?
Simon Birmingham:
I think you may not be referring to George Brandis there, Paul.
Q: I was referring to George Christensen.
They’re rather different characters, I find, but I love them both dearly.
Safe Schools response
The education minister Simon Birmingham is talking to reporters now. He says the independent review found that some of the Safe Schools material was not appropriate.
What Professor Louden found was that a number of the resources do have some lessons and some content in lessons that is not necessarily appropriate for all children. We’ve also of course heard extensive criticisms and concerns about some of the linkages from this program into different websites and the content of those different websites.
Now, to specific actions:
- Some content will be removed, including role playing activities.
- The program will apply in secondary schools only.
- The government will be requiring that, in relation to all official resources, branding of other organisations, links to other websites, references to other organisations be removed unless those organisations are a Commonwealth, state or territory-funded mental health or counselling service.
- The official resources of the program will be moved from the Safe Schools Coalition website to the Safe School hub. Safe School hub is a website supported by education departments all around Australia.
- Ensure that parents are appropriately empowered and engaged by requiring agreement of relevant parent bodies for schools to participate in the Safe Schools Coalition Australia programme, including the extent of participation and any associated changes to school policies.
- Requiring parental consent for student participation in programme lessons or activities, while maintaining the rights of all students to seek counselling services.
- Having an official fact sheet for the Safe Schools Coalition Australia programme for parents about the programme developed so they have access to full and consistent information of its content and the resources that may be used in schools.
- Having an official resource for parents of students dealing with questions of sexual identity developed, and distributed only by key qualified staff.
Updated
Apparently members of the Socialist Alliance have trashed the office of the Liberal senator Cory Bernardi in Adelaide. I’m dimly aware this has happened from social media but I’m not across the details yet.
Rhiannon is asked what would her message be to the protestors?
I’m not aware of the case. If what you’ve said is accurate, I certainly support protests and direct actions but I think actually damaging an office is not advisable but I would check up on what the facts are.
Q: Do you feel, as Labor is predicting, that this could be akin to the deal the Democrats did with the Howard Liberals – and you’ll suffer accordingly?
Greens leader Richard Di Natale.
No, I don’t obviously. I’ve heard that refrain used I think against all sorts of pieces of legislation that we’ve supported in the past under Bob and Christine. There’s a key difference here. This is a long-held policy position of the Greens that is something we’ve supported for a very longtime. It is something that I think the community understands.
Meanwhile, the Greens are claiming victory on Senate voting reform.
Green senator Lee Rhiannon.
The reform’s in place. We were determined to get it in before the coming election and that’s been achieved. In many ways, the beauty of this is that it’s very simple. Effectively, the only change is that it’s now the voters who will determine their preferences and the change above the line, the change below the line means it will be much easier for the voters.
Looking ahead, the government will shortly announce its intentions on the Safe Schools program.
David Leyonhjelm.
This week, we learnt that there’s no principle that the government, the Greens or Nick Xenophon will not abandon for a few extra seats in parliament. This unholy alliance has raised the bottom rung of the ladder to exclude new parties from the Senate, make it a lot harder for those of us already here.
But the minor – the fightback of the minor parties – starts now.
Updated
Over in the Mural Hall, David Leyonhjelm and Bob Day are telling reporters they are intending to run candidates in seats at the forthcoming election and preference against the Coalition. They will direct preferences to the ALP.
I’m out of the chamber and back at my desk. Give me a few minutes to work out what I’ve missed and then we’ll push forward.
That’s it. It’s done. The Greens are ebullient. Hugs all round. The biggest change to Australian voting procedures in three decades. Done.
Labor’s Doug Cameron has just pointed to a line of empty seats between the government and the Greens.
Is that the DMZ?
A man and his pillow.
In the final count, the lights have just dramatically dimmed in the chamber. Silly erupts. Labor starts yelling about doom and the end of democracy. Everyone is laughing just a little bit loudly. The morning after the sleepover.
Holding on for that final vote.
LDP senator David Leyonhjelm.
This dirty little deal between the Greens and the Liberals could easily be called the Rhiannon re-election bill, or the wipe out the minor parties bill.
Leyonhjelm says he doesn’t understand why the government has pursued this. He says it will make the management of the Senate more difficult.
It is a no win for everyone.
Updated
Nick Xenophon is sitting down the back with his pillow. Just saying.
Rhiannon can hardly be heard in the chamber over Labor’s mutterings.
Labor’s Sam Dastyari.
Can someone start playing the music. The wind up music. The Oscars wind up music.
Rhiannon says the chamber should pause to remember the contribution of Labor’s John Faulkner to electoral reform.
Sam Dastyari.
He hates you!
Green senator Lee Rhiannon says the 17th of March is an historic day in Australian politics.
It’s the 18th, half the Senate screams out. It is, indeed, the 18th.
Updated
Wong says this is about the Coalition entrenching its dominance of the Senate and we all know what that means for working people.
Updated
Wong says what this marathon debate has shown Australians the new relationship between the government and the Greens.
It has been a debate about long and short term political advantage. This legislation is about purging the Senate of minor parties.
Updated
Labor senator leader Penny Wong says it says everything about the government that the final bill in this sitting is not about the jobs of Australians.
It is about jobs for Coalition senators and Green senators.
Cormann reports the debate has spanned 39 hours, 20 hours in a row. There’s shout-outs to the all-nighter crew. Everyone put in, Cormann says. For any election after 1 July 2016, the new Senate voting rules will apply.
Updated
Here’s the third reading. Mathias Cormann is thanking all senators for their contribution. He means it. It was absolutely worth staying up all night for this piece of legislation if you are the Turnbull government.
Labor’s Kim Carr has just stumbled into the chamber. Literally.
Oh my God!
Colleagues are waving him in.
The Senate is now dividing on the motion to adopt the report from the committee of the whole
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) March 18, 2016
The question now is that the bill, as amended, be agreed to. Government Senate leader George Brandis has been holding his head with the faintest of victory smiles.
Updated
Here we go people. Here come the big votes. Stay tuned. This filibuster is about to come to a screaming halt.
Updated
Greens vote with the government against lowering the threshold for political donations
The senate is dividing on the Labor disclosure amendments now. The Greens are voting with the government. Love to show you that division because I know a lot of readers would find that one interesting. But the rules prohibit us photographing senate divisions.
The cross benchers are voting with Labor. Nick Xenophon is voting with the government and the Greens.
Bye bye opportunity for more transparency. There goes the amendments.
Updated
The intent here is not about political donations.
This is the Green senator Lee Rhiannon.
(I think the amendment makes it quite clear this is about donations, and making them more transparent. This is an opportunity to change a system which absolutely needs to change. I get Di Natale’s rationale from before, but this is a bird in the hand. I don’t understand at all why the Greens wouldn’t grab this. You can always revisit down the track. This is a lost opportunity. Pure and simple.)
Right now the job before us is senate voting reform.
Doug Cameron says if you want to know how the Liberals operate, follow the money. Banks, property developers. The associated entities. They take money and do favours. Who gets priority access? The people making the donations. And associated entities hide the identities of the donors.
I can go on, and on, and on. It is an absolute rort. If there was ever a need for a royal commission, it’s into the associated entities of the Liberal party.
He was up, like a jack in the box!
This is Labor’s Doug Cameron, pointing out how quickly the finance minister leapt to his feet to defend corporate political donations.
He says the Greens as recently as February 24 were demanding immediate action on disclosure and donations.
They are an absolutely pathetic mob. You can’t trust a word that comes out of Senator Di Natale’s mouth. They really are a do nothing mob.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale says the Greens support the amendments in principle but the donations issue is currently before a parliamentary inquiry. He says he looks forward to Labor’s support when the issue emerges out of committee.
He says the public will look on at events in the Senate this week with disgust and contempt. Di Natale says the public will view the discussion in the senate as little more than a stunt. He says we need an improvement to the disclosure regime.
Richard Di Natale.
I hope this isn’t just another tactic.
Updated
Mathias Cormann.
This is a transparent stunt and the government won’t be supporting these amendments.
Labor is moving amendments now to lower the disclosure threshold on political donations. Labor senator Jacinta Collins says the Greens have played lame on this issue. Finance minister Mathias Cormann says the government opposes lowering the disclosure threshold to $1,000 because the system is fine.
Cormann says Labor had a chance to pursue this when in government, supported by the Greens, and failed to do so. He notes Labor had six years in government. In 2010, you had the numbers in parliament to do something about it, Cormann says. You left it stranded. Ha, ha, ha. (That’s how Cormann laughs. Ha, ha, ha.)
Updated
Labor’s Jacinta Collins.
Can I make the point about JSCEM [the joint committee on electoral matters]?
Green senator Robert Simms.
Oh, not again.
Please.
In this division, Leyonhjelm has been appointed teller for the ayes. It’s a short count. Bob Day, Ricky Muir, Dio Wang, John Madigan. No sign of Glenn Lazarus and Jacqui Lambie, as we’ve reported, has pulled up stumps.
Nick Xenophon is voting with the Greens, government and Labor. I believe this amendment was about optional preferential voting in the House of Representatives.
While I’m looking back, if you’d like to hear about the Labor senator Glenn Sterle’s diagnostic procedures, it’s your lucky day.
A couple of chamber shots from last night.
Straight out of the authoritarian handbook.
The LDP’s David Leyonhjelm isn’t taking a backward step. He’s speaking to an amendment that would introduce voluntary voting.
No bridge too far in this river.
Mugabe. @DavidLeyonhjelm has just compared the senate reforms with Robert Mugabe. Possibly a bridge too far... pic.twitter.com/9EOMoGvO1o
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) March 18, 2016
While I was posting Lenore Taylor on Morrison I missed a Mugabe reference in the Senate debate from the LDP senator David Leyonhjelm. The finance minister thinks this was a humorous reference. So I think we are all good.
Updated
Some explanation. Scott Morrison has just announced new rules for the Foreign Investment Review Board to scrutinise the sale of critical infrastructure to any foreign private investor.
Current rules require scrutiny only for foreign state-owned enterprises and meant the Firb did not scrutinise the sale of the Port of Darwin to a Chinese company with alleged links to the People’s Liberation Army.
The US – which has 1,200 marines stationed in Darwin – was blindsided by that announcement and Richard Armitage, former US deputy secretary of state, said he was “stunned” by the $500m deal.
Morrison refused to be drawn on whether that sale would have proceeded under the new rules, but said they would mean a number of pending sales would now be scrutinised, including the NSW electricity distributor Ausgrid, the Western Australian bulk handling facility Utah Point, the Port of Melbourne, the Port of Fremantle and a stake in the NSW Endeavour electricity network.
Morrison said the change could be made by regulation and would apply from 31 March to the sale of “an airport or an airport site, a port, infrastructure for public transport, electricity, gas, water and sewerage systems, existing and proposed roads, railways, intermodal transfer facilities, the part of the northern land transport network, or a designated by a state and territory government as significant or controlled by the government as well as telecommunications infrastructure, and nuclear facilities”.
It is the latest in a series of restrictions on foreign ownership by the government, including reduced thresholds for the purchase of agricultural land.
Updated
I’m not alone.
Q: Is this an acknowledgement that the port of Darwin should not have been sold to a Chinese company?
Scott Morrison:
These thresholds apply to investments above $250m. They’re the normal rules that apply for private investors. There was a set of processes that led to that decision under previous arrangements and I’m not here really to comment on those arrangements, they are considered under the framework that has been in place for sometime.
Q: Would the support of the Darwin port face extra scrutiny under this process?
The port of Darwin is sold. It’s not a matter that is coming up. I don’t intend to engage in hypotheticals.
Over in another part of the building, treasurer Scott Morrison has announced that from 31 March this year the Foreign Investment Review Board will formally review “critical infrastructure assets” sold by state and territory governments.
While governments can and do work with the Commonwealth when selling such assets the proposed change will formalise the process and ensure that future sales of critical infrastructure to privately owned investors are scrutinised under the FIRB arrangements.
Hmm, I’m sensing the sale of the port of Darwin. The sale the Americans didn’t approve of.
Updated
The pace is picking up in here considerably. Whipping through amendments now.
I have asked the Senate on Twitter whether it knows where the current debate sits in the stats about longest continuous political debates. Something astonishing has happened. The Senate has admitted frailty.
@murpharoo most days... today, however...
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) March 17, 2016
I think the Senate needs a hug.
Updated
I was going to move an amendment to the amendment ..
That’s Ricky Muir.
There’s some talk down on the floor about the longest continuous Senate debate. I’ll ask the Senate gurus for guidance.
The last division makes the Senate voting reform changes effective from 1 July. That’s a Greens amendment that passed with government support.
Updated
The two Senate leaders, Penny Wong and George Brandis, are having an amiable chat across the table while the Greens leader Richard Di Natale is on his feet. Wong looks quite pale.
Updated
Meanwhile, in less sleep-deprived places in parliament house, additional duties worth more than $4m will be applied to foreign steel companies that try to circumvent Australian laws, the industry minister, Christopher Pyne, has announced.
Local producer BlueScope Steel made a complaint to the Anti-Dumping Commissioner against Chinese, Taiwanese and Malaysian companies that changed the composition of steel by adding other elements like boron in order to bypass Australian duties.
Pyne admitted this morning he had not spoken to counterparts in key export country China over the decision to add the additional duties, but rejected suggestions it would strain relations.
“[The steel companies] have breached the Australian rules and we are acting to make sure that they don’t continue to get away with that circumvention,” he said. “So I don’t see how any country, any government, could be disappointed with the Australian government applying the rules.”
Updated
Ok, we’ve snapped down here now.
Jacinta Collins has just deployed one of her favourite phrases. This is legislation by attrition. She notes that it has taken its toll on Senator Rhiannon.
Her comprehension has declined.
The Greens have gone berko, out of their seats.
Green Larissa Waters:
Oh, come ON!
Richard Di Natale has demanded Collins withdraw her disgraceful attribution to Senator Rhiannon.
Collins is asked to withdraw. She says she will withdraw whatever remark the Greens found offensive.
It’s not a complete withdrawal of course. She then repeats the line about comprehension declining. The Greens are pretty cranky right now.
Collins thinks people might be a bit sleep-deprived.
Green Peter Whish-Wilson thinks calling people senile is a bit over the top.
Collins is now furious.
I did NOT say that!
Updated
Given Jacinta Collins is back into Lee Rhiannon’s Stalinism, I have an opportunity to give you some stats on marathon political debates we have known.
Top of the pops was the native title debate in 1997, which ran for 105hr 56 mins. That was followed by the GST debate (68hr 54 mins) and the carbon pollution reduction scheme debate (68hr 54 mins).
If you’d like the full list, have a look here.
Updated
I need to remind the Senate of senator Rhiannon’s credibility.
Labor’s Jacinta Collins.
We’ve heard this before.
Greens senator Robert Simms.
Updated
Magic Mike and I have just decided to dub the past 35 hours “the festival of over-thinking”. It just felt right.
Updated
Just vote one will not be a consequence, this will be an objective!
This is Family First senator Bob Day on his feet again.
Labor’s Jacinta Collins says an objective, echoing Day. Senator Rhiannon isn’t listening, Collins observes to Day. Rhiannon is bending over in her seat tending to some papers. She shoots a smile to Collins.
Another division. People are strolling around the chamber, stretching their legs.
This is what’s known in the trade as a non-denial denial.
@murpharoo for the record I'm sure i was probably just checking my phone ;-)
— Sam Dastyari (@samdastyari) March 17, 2016
Given Nick Xenophon’s pyjama antics overnight, a new Twitter account has sprung up: Nick Xenophon’s pillow. It has some advice for the Labor man.
@samdastyari @murpharoo wake up mate
— Xenophon's Pillow (@Xenophonspillow) March 17, 2016
Updated
I’ve come down to the chamber rather than watch the live feed just to get a sense of how the senators are faring. They look surprisingly good. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is slightly slumped over. Crossbencher John Madigan is sitting on a diagonal.
Ricky Muir confesses he’s running out of puff. He’s moving a block of amendments together. Mathias Cormann is a machine. He’s run this show all night, and looks like he could front up for another all-nighter. He just leapt out of his seat to get the call, like a rocket.
Updated
Greens senator Scott Ludlam has told Guardian Australia the Senate reform debate has started running at regular pace.
“It’s incredibly elastic – it could be over in 20 minutes without a gag or it could run until Tuesday. It’s entirely up to the mood. If you forced me to make a prediction I’d say we’ll close this out about 11am”.
After Senate reform there are six or seven uncontroversial bills, but senators may choose to speak on them all the same.
Updated
Labor’s Sam Dastyari, fading fast.
If you want a micro nap @samdastyari don't sit behind the person with the call #HotTip pic.twitter.com/AOJTw1ysMq
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) March 17, 2016
AAP reports the independent senator Jacqui Lambie has raised the white flag, calling it quits on the marathon session in the upper house, saying she had an appointment to meet with workers instead.
Jacqui Lambie:
It’s a done deal. There’s nothing more for me to say ... so I’m getting on with the job.
Crossbench colleagues are persisting. Family First senator Bob Day is speaking to amendments now.
Updated
Your mother was a huckster, and your father smelt of elderberry.
Top of the pops from overnight
As Murph mentioned a bit earlier, I’ve been compiling the best lines from the debate overnight. Here’s my picks.
Labor’s Doug Cameron quoting Monty Python’s The Holy Grail
You empty-headed animal food trough wiper. I fart in your general direction.
Special minister of state, Mathias Cormann
If you still want to be here on Easter Friday, on Good Friday, that’s fine. Let’s be here on Easter Friday, we will be here until this legislation is dealt with.
Labor’s Glenn Sterle.
[Slurring] I never thought I would ever miss senators Milne and Brown. I know what I’ve just said, and I can assure you I’m stone-cold sober. I am so glad that Senator Di Natale, in between turtleneck shoots, is in the chamber. Because the previous doctor Di Natale will be able to correct me if I’m wrong on a certain medical procedure. I’m actually witnessing in my mind, a political colonoscopy ... I’ve actually had one. And I was wide awake, so I really get this. How brave is that? Wide awake, because I did not want to wake up with them doctors giving me a surprise, in the area that they were saying.
Cormann, interjecting:
I know this at times can sometimes be a wide-ranging debate, but I’m not sure how Senator Sterle’s colonoscopy relates to the amendment before the chair.
Labor’s Glenn Sterle, to Cormann:
Don’t give me orders, you big Belgian waffle!
Independent senator Nick Xenophon on ABC Radio
When one of the senators, my good friend Senator Sterle from the Labor party gets up and tries to draw comparisons with colonoscopies ... we’ve literally hit rock bottom.
Labor’s Stephen Conroy
First past the post voting is what you’re introducing, and you know it.
Labor’s Penny Wong
The Liberal lap dog that is Senator Di Natale ... has done a deal.
Labor’s Stephen Conroy to an unspecified Coalition senator
Tony Abbott would be proud of you with your sloganeering on this issue ... You are a proud Abbott warrior.
Stephen Conroy to Greens leader, Richard Di Natale
I haven’t finished. Sit down. This isn’t the Wiggles.
Updated
The debate has entered its 35th hour.
On twitter, reader David Lamb asks me this.
Q: Obviously a huge amount going on, but can you articulate what Labor hopes to achieve by pressing debate on a foregone conclusion?
Utterly reasonable question.
Labor wants voters to take away two messages from this filibuster:
- They want to draw attention to the change to the voting system, a change which they argue will wipe micro-parties out of the senate and benefit the Coalition in perpetuity.
- And they want to establish in progressive voter’s minds the Greens giving the Turnbull government a smooth take-off ramp for a double dissolution.
Down in the chamber, Labor senator Jacinta Collins, is objecting to senator Ian Macdonald verbalising behind her. She then gets cranky with the Greens. She says the Greens have complained during the night that Labor is looking at them, so perhaps they’ll understand the pressures associated with trying to speak while Ian Macdonald is sitting behind you, verbalising.
Jacinta Collins:
Yes I am cranky.
Bravely, from the chair, Labor’s Gavin Marshall implores Macdonald to be quiet. First time for everything I imagine.
Collins is now objecting to legislation being rammed through the parliament at lightning speed. The Greens crack up at that.
Conroy has popped by ABC24.
One of the reasons that people got a bit short last night was Mathias Cormann, the minister, would sit there and when Ricky Muir asked him a question or Bob Day or Penny Wong or Jacinta Collins or myself ask him questions, he would sit there and shrug – he wouldn’t even stand up and do the courtesy of answering questions.
So things did get short and colourful last night, but they [the government] are defacto introducing a first pass the post voting system for the Senate. You can just vote one, advocate to just vote one, no consequences and you will see 3.4m Australians disenfranchised – their votes will not be used ultimately to determine who gets elected to the Senate. You will get 75% of Australians electing 100% of the senators.
That’s a voting rort, that’s not Senate electoral reform.
The first Labor amendment has been defeated. Family First senator Bob Day is now moving a similar amendment which deals with the timing the new voting regime takes effect. That will be defeated too.
I’m sorry if I’m slurring my words. No alcohol has been involved.
Nick Xenophon, doing the soft shoe after Conroy in the ABC studios.
Meanwhile, the life-affirming aroma of coffee wafts from Aussie's along the corridors of power...
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) March 17, 2016
Labor’s deputy senate leader Stephen Conroy is on radio duty while colleagues plough away in the chamber. On the ABC he’s asked why overnight there wasn’t much debate about substance. He says that’s because the minister responsible for the debate, Mathias Cormann, was simply refusing to answer questions.
What about colonoscopies? Do we need that?
Stephen Conroy:
It’s fair to say there’s a bit of colour and movement on occasions like this.
I had eyes on the chamber until 2am. I gather things went pear-shaped around 3am. There were frolics into colonoscopies and Monty Python references. My colleague Shalailah Medhora is gathering some of the quotable quotes from overnight and I’ll share them when we can.
Updated
In case you are sweating on this information, current indicative guidance about when the substantive vote might come is around lunchtime. Nick Xenophon is more pessimistic. He told the ABC very early this morning his departure was scheduled for Good Friday.
Officially in the category of too much information.
@PatsKarvelas @PhillipCoorey No. I have been going straight in the Chamber since 4.30pm yesterday. Had two bathroom breaks.
— Mathias Cormann (@MathiasCormann) March 17, 2016
Rhiannon tells Wong the progressive forces in Australian politics should work together. Wong gives her that look. Aren’t the Greens coming after Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek – two of the most progressive people in the parliament. Aren’t the Greens doing a deal with the government on senate voting reform, and on preferences?
Penny Wong:
Don’t give us a lecture about progressive politicians working together.
Rhiannon says the Greens have a solid record on the CEFC and bills like the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Labor by contrast is weak on industrial reform, she says. Wong persists. Why are you handing the government the keys to a double dissolution? They’ve dissolved into shouting. The finance minister Mathias Cormann is frowning.
Greens senator Lee Rhiannon appears unsure whether today is yesterday or today. Reasonable, really.
To bring you up to procedural speed, government amendments to the senate voting reform bill have been considered. We are on Labor amendments currently. From the dispatch box, Labor’s Penny Wong is currently outlining what the government could put to a joint sitting after a double dissolution. Abolition of the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Wholesale destruction of the union movement. She says the Greens have done a deal on Senate voting reform, paving the way for a double dissolution, but extracted no protections against nasty surprises at the joint sitting.
Well hello there
Good morning and welcome to Friday, which is of course the day after Thursday, and in this instance the morning after Thursday night, which was a long night in the red room.
The debate over Senate voting reform went on. And on. And on. And on.
And currently it is still going on.
As Thursday night dragged into Friday morning, Labor and the Greens spent hours analysing one another’s deficiencies as political movements. Various Labor frontbenchers considered the merits of the fashion sense of the Greens leader Richard Di Natale. Labor’s Jacinta Collins declared at one point that she was not conducting a filibuster, and didn’t even laugh. Finance minister Mathias Cormann did an off-the-cuff impression of Labor’s Stephen Conroy, broadening his range beyond his periodic homages to Arnold Schwarzenegger. Rather rudely, Queensland LNP senator Barry O’Sullivan yawned widely behind him.
Everything about this process reeks, Jacinta Collins noted, quite correctly, at 11.45pm. You can’t help but be cynical in this place, Ricky Muir observed, in the shadow of midnight. There was an enormous amount of analysis about exhausted votes. By 6am, Greens senator Lee Rhiannon thought she was considering the third amendment. The acting Senate president noted in fact it was the fourth government amendment. By 6.45am Labor’s Penny Wong thought Greens senator Robert Simms had become tired and emotional.
But they remained on their feet, hoarse, and periodically, coarse.
Of course this was serious business. These are the most substantial changes to Australia’s voting system in several decades. But much of what happened over the course of the night was about the politics than gets conducted in the shadow of an election.
Rightly or wrongly, everybody in the place knows this week just gone is very likely the last full sitting week before Malcolm Turnbull guns the C1 in the direction of Government House.
This morning we are reconvening on Politics Live to note the eventual resolution of this debate, and take stock of the sum of the parts of our democracy. Possibly the best way to consider the parts is in parts, lest the sum of them overwhelm and we all lie down and never get up.
Let’s crack on. Today’s comments thread is open for your business. Magic Mike and I are at your disposal on the twits. He’s @mpbowers and I’m @murpharoo. If you speak Facebook you can find me there, here.
Pass the double shot, here comes Friday.
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