And as Labor’s motion on the Future Drought Fund heads to its inevitable defeat (the government has the majority in the House) we are going to close up the blog.
We’ll be back tomorrow. One, because we love it, and two, because I love getting paid.
It’s party room and caucus day, so we’ll bring you that. Plus, more national security, where the Howard line of “whose side are you on?” will no doubt make a million more appearances. So many so, that even Michael McCormack might manage to get it right.
In case you didn’t notice it today, it was the line the Morrison government trotted out for practically every issue. And they won’t stop.
From now on, I am going to answer every question I don’t like with something similar. The government obviously thinks it is effective and it has put Labor on the defensive all day – given the party is now having to say it is on the side of Australians.
This is the quality of debate. National security has been bipartisan since the Howard years, and yet every single time a question is raised, we get a “whose side are you on?” response. Putting the words national security into a speech or piece of legislation shouldn’t give you carte blanche to do whatever you want, but it has become to mean that over the last couple of decades.
So now we have seen how the government intends to move on, we need to see how the rest of the parliament will react.
A massive thank you to everyone who joined us today – and to Mike Bowers and the brains trust for all that they do. Big ups to Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and Sarah Martin for keeping me informed, fed and caffeinated, and all the secret squirrels who let me know what is happening around the traps.
As always, thank you to you for choosing to spend some of your time with us. We appreciate it and all of your comments, emails and tweets. You’ll find some behind the scenes, as well as a morning update, here on Instagram, and you’ll catch me here bright and early tomorrow morning.
And remember – take care of you.
During his speech, Mr Simmonds took a moment to speak to his two-year old son Theodore, who made the most of his 15 seconds of ParlView fame. pic.twitter.com/YHGzVQ7Rac
— Australian House of Representatives (@AboutTheHouse) July 22, 2019
Updated
While Labor’s attempt to move a motion on the Future Drought Fund is about to go down in the House (where the government holds the numbers), the Greens will attempt to amend the legislation in the Senate.
From Janet Rice:
“Any spending on drought must support farmers in building resilience to face our climate crisis, helping them to use less water and regenerate damaged land and soils. It must not end up as a slush fund for big corporate agribusiness, leaving struggling farmers high and dry,” Senator Rice said.
“There are four issues that the Greens seek to amend and look forward to support for them from across the parliament:
- We must significantly increase parliamentary oversight of the Drought Minister. This bill gives far too much leeway to the Minister and his National Party mates to pick and choose what projects get funded.
- We must ensure the integrity of the Murray Darling Basin plan and of our national water laws.
- Make sure that this bill does not rip $3.9 billion out of the Building Australia Fund. Our cities and regions are already experiencing chronic underinvestment in transport infrastructure. Instead propose that the monies for the fund should come from the billions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks given to the fossil fuel industry who should pay to clean up their own mess.
- Finally, it needs to be crystal clear that the investment vehicle for this fund must not invest in fossil fuels. It would be the peak of cynicism to have a drought fund that is designed to help our regions adapt to the impacts of climate change simultaneously investing in the very industries that are causing it.”
Some of the day, as seen by Mike Bowers
Updated
Full text of Tony Burke’s motion:
That the House: 1) notes that:
(a) the Government first introduced the Future Drought Fund Bill and Future Drought Fund (Consequential Amendments) Bill into the House of Representatives in November last year;
(b) the Government failed to prioritise the bills, with the Future Drought Fund Bill being introduced but never debated in the Senate, and the Future Drought Fund (Consequential Amendments) Bill never passing the House;
(c) the Government introduced 26 bills into the House of Representatives last sitting week but these bills were not among them;
(d) today, the Government is seeking to both introduce and debate the amended bills on the one day;
(e) it is usual for bills to be introduced by the Government in one sitting week and not debated until the following sitting week to allow Members the opportunity to properly consider bills before voting on them; and
(f) the drought funding in these bills is not available to help farmers until 1 July 2020; and
2) therefore, calls on the Government to adjourn debate on these bills immediately following the Minister’s speech on the second reading to allow all Members the opportunity to properly consider these bills before debate resumes tomorrow.
The manager of opposition business, Tony Burke, has moved a motion to resume debate on the drought fund bill after the minister’s second reading speech tomorrow.
Labor is infuriated that the government is rushing the bill through to wedge the opposition before it can consider it at caucus on Tuesday.
Burke says the the motion “will make no difference at all to the timing of drought assistance” (because the bill can still pass by week’s end) and Labor is attempting to draw the line to prevent it becoming “standard practice for legislation to be rushed through without being read”.
Burke says rushing the legislation through is a “really dumb idea” and makes vague threats that “if the government decides proper process in this house no longer matters” they can’t come to the opposition seeking cooperation on other procedural matters.
Updated
Craig Kelly has just been advertised as a speaker at the American Conservative Union conference being held in Sydney next month. Nigel Farage is the headline act, because of course he is. Mark Latham is also speaking. As is Tony Abbott. And now – backbencher Craig Kelly.
Try not to hurt yourself in your rush for tickets.
The American Conservative Union and LibertyWorks are proud to bring CPAC to Australia for the first time! CPAC will launch and run over 9-11 August 2019 and the timing couldn’t be better.
This is a conference for those that despaired at the prospect of a Shorten government controlled by militant unions and influenced by the Greens. Australia dodged a socialist arrow this time, and thank goodness for that, but we know they will redouble their efforts and come again supported by their boosters the Unions and GetUp.
Now is not the time to be complacent. Now is the time to get involved. The ‘shy’ voters made a stand this time however we should remind ourselves that ‘The future doesn’t belong to the light-hearted. It belongs to the brave’, as Ronald Reagan famously stated.
Come to CPAC, hear Nigel Farage, Matt Sclapp, conservative senators and MPs, visiting US congressmen, Australia’s political warriors and more … much more. Come to CPAC, join the brave, protect the future.”
Updated
The inquiry into Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop’s new jobs and their compliance with ministerial standards has to report back by 10 September, which is midway through the next sitting week.
(a) Compliance by former ministers of state with the requirements of paragraph 2.25 of the prime minister’s statement of ministerial standards, dated 30 August 2018, including, but not limited to the undertakings given by ministers to comply with their obligations concerning post-ministerial employment, and action taken by the prime minister and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to ensure full compliance by former ministers with paragraph 2.25 of the ministerial standards.
Updated
That exchange makes Russell Broadbent’s call to end indefinite detention even more interesting.
Larissa Waters followed it up with this:
What was particularly galling today was that my colleague, senator Nick McKim, who was just booted out of the country for politely trying to look at what is happening in these detention centres, asked the government: are you going to give the head of PNG the answer about the timetable? What is the timetable for withdrawal, is there one?
And the government refused to accept there are even people still in detention, even though behind razor wire every night those facilities are locked and people are behind those locked doors, so it was a case of a parallel universe.
I think we are potentially further damaging our relationship here with PNG if we continue to refuse to answer those very valid questions that are being levelled at us and the government just squibbed it today. They do not accept there is a problem. Much like the ministerial standards, they want to say nothing to see here and go back to going out to lunch with the latest lobbyist.”
Updated
Now, on the issue of detention on Manus Island, you may remember this exchange at the press conference with James Marape and Scott Morrison this morning:
Question: Thank you. Prime minister, you’ve spoken about Australia’s step-up, but there are some growing calls for Australia to step down from offshore detention. Prime minister Marape, would you like to see the Manus Island detention centre closed? And prime minister Morrison, are you prepared to do that if that’s what the prime minister asks of Australia?
Morrison: Let me start off by saying that the detention centre on Manus Island is closed, has been closed for some time. There is no detention centre on Manus Island. I think it’s important that Australians are no longer told that somehow there is a detention centre that’s operating on Manus Island. That has been a process we’ve been working through now for some time. The accommodation facility at East Lorengau which now accommodates, there are about 300-odd people on Manus Island currently who are refugees and that is down from 1,353 at the peak when Labor were in power. So we’ve made substantial progress. The detention centre at Lombrum is closed and we’re working very closely together with the PNG government in terms of the service arrangements which continue for those who continue to be resident on Manus Island. And that includes a tender process on the contract which has had a lot of attention on it here, which we mutually agreed would be put in place and the existing contract extended until that tender process had been completed to allow a new service provider to step up. Prime minister?
Marape: Yes, as confirmed by prime minister Morrison, there is no more detention. People are living freely in Manus, and also some have moved to Port Moresby for medical reasons and are moving around freely. And I’ve expressed clearly to minister Dutton that we need to establish a schedule and timetable towards full closure of the entire asylum processes. PNG has always stood in, and stepped in to assist Australia in times of need, as you have always done to us also. We will ensure that we have a mutually workable timetable and closer program that is healthy for all of us, but more importantly, healthy for those people who have been part of us in Manus and now in PNG for some time now. Some are classified as refugees. Those who are classified as refugees, the international convention on refugees and resettlement will apply. Some are not classified as refugees; we’ll work with them to ensure they resettle, given encouragement to move back to their home of origin or where they’d like to move. Those are works in process that both governments have agreed to establish a schedule going forward. And for us, to find some closure in the Manus asylum seekers. But let me agree with prime minister Morrison: there is no more detention. We’re in the process of resettling the entire people out from PNG, within PNG, and common decency will apply to those human beings who are with us in Port Moresby and Manus right now.
Updated
Larissa Waters is next up on Afternoon Briefing. She said this about why the inquiry into Pyne and Bishop’s jobs is so important:
This is an area where people are really crying out for better representation.
If you don’t have integrity in politics, then people lose confidence in the system, they turn off, and I think that is why we see so many Australians think that politics does not speak for them.
Because you look at this place and people are feathering their own nest and then going off in this cosy relationship with industry groups. Like a revolving door between parliament and lobby groups and industry groups.
We have got to fix that. We in here have a job to represent the people and to try to work for the best outcomes of the citizens and our planet and you cannot do that if you are on the take or lining yourself up a job when you finish.”
Updated
On Newstart, Russell Broadbent had this to say:
It is up to the government to govern with the resources they have and we have to give everybody as much as possible.
I have to question the Jobstart agencies as to their effectiveness and would money be better spent directly with those who are unemployed, enabling them to get job opportunities.”
Updated
The first speeches are well under way.
Anika Wells is wearing white in solidarity with the suffragettes. Her daughter Celeste has been with her for much of the day.
Julian Simmonds became emotional as he spoke of those who had supported him.
Updated
So despite Mathias Cormann appearing to rule out delaying superannuation increases, Scott Morrison twice knocked back chances in question time to do the same.
Then senator James Paterson said this in the Senate after question time:
“Of course it’s entirely appropriate the government has commissioned a retirement incomes review as a recommendation of the Productivity Commission. The Productivity Commission recognised it’s no good putting more money into superannuation if that system is broken, as we believe it currently is.”
Paterson cited work by the assistant minister for superannuation, Jane Hume, to prevent fees and inappropriate insurance eating up low balances. He name checked both the treasury under Ken Henry during Labor’s time in government and the Grattan Institute as independent bodies which opposed super increases.
So despite what Cormann told the Senate, it sounds like the Liberal MPs who arced up calling for super increases to be frozen have not given up.
Updated
Call your MPs to end indefinite detention, says Liberal MP
On indefinite detention, and the New Zealand offer to take 150 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru, Russell Broadbent says:
“We can’t continue with indefinite detention. We cannot. That is the bottom line. At the same time we cannot have the Greens option of open borders.
“That is not on either. The prime minister is going through protecting his border from this type of immigration and at the same time trying to have a compassionate stance on the people in long-term detention who will not be here, many of which are not refugees, Patricia, they are not refugees so New Zealand is only gonna take those people who are established as refugees ...
“I think I would like to see the government pursue issues that would go towards, anything, that would go towards there being nobody left on Manus Island and nobody left on Nauru indefinite detention.
“That is what they want to do and that is at the heart for the nation. Clearly. Many in my community and across Australia thought we had dealt with indefinite detention under the Howard government.
“That should be a call-out to those people that care about this issue to make sure that contacting the local members and their prime minister and the minister to say this is how we feel.
“That this has not gone away for us and that should be a strong movement by a whole lot of people. I believe Mr Dutton is trying to find a solution.”
Patricia Karvelas asks if he believes advocacy around ending indefinite detention had lost momentum.
It rises and falls like the tide. It often takes a catalyst of an individual issue to be raised around indefinite detention. I just find it personally unacceptable for the nation that we are, for the free and wonderful nation that we are, Patricia, and we have to take every opportunity that is there to remove these people from indefinite detention.”
Updated
Russell Broadbent is speaking to Patricia Karvelas on Afternoon Briefing. He had this to say about Julie Bishop and Christopher Pyne’s new job:
I think the Senate inquiry will be more of a political exercise. That is not my concern. My concern is that members of that era, of Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop, were very well looked after by the old parliamentary superannuation scheme so I think they should have particular regard and respect for any decisions that they take soon after leaving politics in regard to the parliament and former members and to those members who have to carry on into the processes of governing ...
I think we need to defend that trust because in the past we have let the public down too often as individuals and then probably when governments have said one thing and done another, on both sides of the House. It is not a broad accusation, it is just the way the public see us.
I am very close to my community and have been for a long time and know what they feel. At the football club they could not care less what Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop are doing at the moment, they are worried about the kids and their hopes and aspirations for the future and just having a job. These are things that are important to them but just the same, in general they do not like the look [of taking these jobs].”
But he trusts that Bishop and Pyne will do the right thing and trusts in Martin Parkinson’s report. He does not believe there needs to be stricter standards for former ministers.
Updated
And the motion itself:
Senator Patrick's motion as agreed to by the Senate #auspol pic.twitter.com/Eh7LPBGC5d
— Political Alert (@political_alert) July 22, 2019
Updated
Inquiry into Bishop and Pyne's new jobs to go ahead.
The Senate will hold an inquiry into Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop’s new roles.
The vote was won 35 to 29.
That’s Labor, the Greens and the whole crossbench voting for Rex Patrick’s motion.
The Senate is voting on Rex Patrick’s motion to start an inquiry into Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop’s new job.
It has the numbers.
This from the Greens (as reported by Katharine Murphy):
The Greens also want to pursue an amendment to the terms of reference to include whether serving ministers Angus Taylor and Josh Frydenberg may have breached guidelines regarding the listing and alleged destruction of a critically endangered grassland species.”
Was rejected.
Updated
This one has been deleted from the Palladium website as well.
— Dave Earley (@earleyedition) July 22, 2019
URL: research-impact/Labour-mobility-a-win-win-for-Australia-and-the-Pacific pic.twitter.com/t8D5krtTpE
As that paperwork was going on, Tony Burke was meant to give leave for something (I think) and there was some interruption.
“Do you want me to just not give leave next time?” Burke asked.
Scott Morrison, who was still in his chair, said something about Burke sounding “very threatened”.
“Grow up, seriously,” Morrison said across the table.
So. Civil.
Updated
Scott Morrison calls an end to question time.
Morrison tries to introduce the member for Ryan’s (Julian Simmonds) first speech, but Tony Burke reminds the chamber there is paperwork first.
Bit of a downer.
Simmonds, you may remember, took the preselection from the previous member, Jane Prentice. He had been her campaign manager. Prentice was not planning on stepping down, but lost the vote in her branch.
Updated
It is back to dixers.
The motion to move to suspend standing orders is defeated 65 to 75.
We return to question time.
Updated
It looks like Palladium has taken down that video Tony Burke was talking about.
I can’t find it on their Facebook page.
Updated
I never thought I would say this, but I miss the bells.
And that is coming from someone who hears them in her dreams.
That motion is also won by the ayes: 76 to 69.
Terri Butler jumps up to say “The more you look at this, the dodgier it gets” and is told to sit down.
And we are now voting on no longer hearing from her.
So we will sit in awkward silence for another few minutes before coming to the inevitable conclusion of: 76 to 69.
Updated
The motion to no longer hear from Tony Burke is won: 76 to 69.
Mark Butler jumps up to try and suspend standing orders again (the next step) and the government moves to no longer hear him as well.
We go back to the AyePads.
Updated
I’ve just been informed that the iPads used for the digital divisions have already been christened “AyePads”.
Updated
Digital divisions mean we all just sit here in an awkward “end of exam” silence.
Updated
Labor says Julie Bishop appeared in video for Palladium while in office
And the motion:
The motion Labor is attempting to move pic.twitter.com/V40gmfQ8l9
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) July 22, 2019
Updated
For those who missed it, we do divisions via iPads now:
Did you notice divisions running a bit faster in the last sitting week? That’s because we’ve modernised. Instead of clipboards and paper, tellers for divisions now mark off Members voting aye or no using iPads.
— Australian House of Representatives (@AboutTheHouse) July 18, 2019
Updated
Morrison given two opportunities in House #qt and wouldn’t rule it out https://t.co/T1bO0PQLxL
— Jim Chalmers MP (@JEChalmers) July 22, 2019
Meanwhile, an older gentleman stood up in the gallery and looked prepared to yell something out but was asked to sit down.
He tried to hand a report to the floor and seemed to say something about the “minister for trees ... you’ve cleared too many”.
“The drought is man-made,” he said. “Prove me wrong.”
Updated
Labor attempts to suspend standing orders
Following Tony Burke’s question about Julie Bishop and the video she filmed, Burke attempts to suspend standing orders.
Christian Porter asks that he no longer be heard.
We will now have about 10 minutes of divisions that go nowhere.
Updated
Tony Burke to Scott Morrison:
Can the prime minister tell the House how the claim that Julie Bishop had nothing to do with Palladium in the five years she was minister is consistent with her appearance in a video filmed in her office titled “Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop commends Palladium business part of platform” which was posted to the Palladium “make it possible” site?
Morrison:
I refer them into the report provided by the secretary.
Updated
Someone has been reading the blog
#mood #qt pic.twitter.com/Bcjb0JxzVj
— Tim Watts MP (@TimWattsMP) July 22, 2019
Tony Burke to Scott Morrison:
(I miss the whole question, but it is on whether or not he is confident there was full disclosure in the Pyne/Bishop review)
Morrison:
I am pleased to table the reply provided that goes into the matter. I have no reason to doubt at all the competence of the secretary of the Department in relation to these matters whatsoever.
My simple question is, why does the Labor Party seemed to question the competency of the secretary, the transparency of the arrangements that he has entered into are there for him to see.
All I can see is just another attempt by the Labor Party to get into what the former Manager of Government Business [Pyne] used to call the chum bucket.
Karen Andrews just made the most Karen joke of all time.
(Google a Karen if you don’t know what I am talking about.)
This is how Tveeder transcribed it.
Space has long been called the final frontier but, under the Morrison government, space is the new jobs frontier.” GROANS.
Tveeder does not lie.
Updated
Rowan Ramsey asks the next dixer about the moon landing, which he says he is embarrassed to say he remembers well.
Ed Husic asks him to tell him about meeting the Wright Brothers or Louis Pasteur.
Updated
AB Culvahouse is no longer in the House.
Lucky him.
There you go
Fine. I’ll say it publicly. Bring back @cpyne - at least QT was more interesting #qt #deathbyTudgey
— Julian Hill MP (@JulianHillMP) July 22, 2019
Tony Burke to Scott Morrison:
Does the prime minister stand by the outcome of the inquiry into the compliance of former ministers, Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop?
Morrison:
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the member for his question. I have accepted the advice of the secretary and that response that was provided by the secretary has been tabled in the Senate.”
Updated
Alan Tudge is doing his best Alan Tudge.
“Bring back Pyne, at least he was fun,” yells someone from Labor.
Bill Shorten is still overseas, for those wondering.
Jim Chalmers to Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister. This morning his trade minister said about the legislated increase to the superannuation guarantee [that] it is not the government’s intention to change what is legislated at this point in time. Will the prime minister rule out any changes to the legislated increase in the superannuation guarantee?
Morrison:
I simply say to the member what I just said. There is no change to the government’s policy. But on the topic of superannuation, given we are talking about the positions of parties on superannuation, does the Labor party stand by its more than $30bn in higher superannuation taxes, Mr Speaker?
Are they going to walk away from that or are they going to continue to see superannuation as a target for their higher taxing policies? Because Mr Speaker, the Labor party have learned nothing since the last election. They oppose tax relief. The leader of the opposition opposed tax relief in this parliament, speaking against it inside this chamber and out.
They are opposing us seeking to support farmers and graziers and the rural community in this country by legislating the drought fund, yet we continue to invest in infrastructure at record levels, $25bn.
More than six times the amount that the building Australia fund actually had, we spent more than six times that amount in committed funding. The leader of the opposition is opposition with a capital O.”
Labor voted for the tax package.
Updated
David Littleproud continues his “watch me not yell” question time experiment in his dixer.
He also includes the government’s talking point line of the day:
So the question comes: do those opposite who politicise the misery of Australian farmers in one of their lowest acts in this nation’s parliament by voting against the future drought fund bill back in October?
Who do they support? Do they support Australian farming families or do they support the continuation of cheap politics?”
Updated
The member for Lilly Anika Wells visits the chamber with her daughter Celeste before #QT @AmyRemeikis @murpharoo @GuardianAus @msmarto #politicslive https://t.co/FMninVrnUn pic.twitter.com/nhKEMpZQsK
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) July 22, 2019
Jim Chalmers to Scott Morrison:
My question as to the prime minister. Does he agree with seven of his backbenchers who want to see the legislated increase of the superannuation guarantee to 12%?
Morrison:
There is no change to the government public policy.
Updated
Michael McCormack ended with:
Farmers there made it very clear to us they want dams, they want pipelines, they ... want what infrastructure, they want to heighten, lengthen and strengthen weirs. We are getting on with doing just that. We put half $1bn into the national infrastructure development fund last year. Those opposite are not interested in regional Australia or that infrastructure and it shows every day of the week.”
Someone from Labor yells out “No dams in six years.”
“Watch this space,” McCormack says as he sits down.
Oh the lols.
Updated
Phil Thompson gets the next dixer and the new Herbert MP brings Michael McCormack back to the despatch box which is just too much McCormack for any one.
But everyone, including those on the Coalition side, get the opportunity to check their phones and reports, so it is not a total loss.
Updated
Andrew Wilkie gets his first question as the member for Clark (the electorate was previously called Denison):
I discussed with you recently ... that since 2014 the Tasmanian government has failed to spend on health some $1.6bn of GST funding earmarked for health. This is obviously no small matter in light of the systemic public health crisis being experienced in Tasmania. Nor is it disputed as a recent IAP fact-checker confirmed the Tasmanian government has indeed misspent $1.6bn of the federal health fund. Will you hold the Tasmanian government to account for this deadly dereliction of its core responsibility to provide effective health services, and what safeguards will you put in place to prevent this misconduct in the future?”
Greg Hunt:
(After a preamble): the answer to that question respectfully is that the overall Tasmanian funding, which is informed by these variety of sources which go into it, has increased quite dramatically from 25% to 32%. That means Tasmania’s public funding is not only up in action dollars but also proportionate dollars.”
Updated
David Littleproud:
Thank you, Mr Speaker, and, well, well, well, we have seen him crawl out of the rock he has been hiding [under] after six years. He was not going to ask me a question about a drought or anything else because we had made a commitment to those impacted by the drought not to politicise the misery of Australian farmers is nothing short of the lowest political act that I have seen in the last parliament.
We put in place a systematic way to address it, to listen to communities, not only with the drought envoy but with making sure that we sat around kitchen tables, in sheds, listening to farmers and communities because it is not just farmers but also the communities that support them and that is why we are putting in place $1.9bn in supporting the here and now but a future fund that you voted against, those opposite voted against before the last election to politicise the misery of Australian farmers by trying to score a cheap political point.
People in this country want leadership, they do not want politics. You’re playing with the lives of Australian farming families.
This is above politics. This is something that we can do better as a parliament, get behind this today. A $5bn future fund that goes on to support Australian farming families, not just in the here and now, they can be taken away at the whim of a treasurer, but legislated and protect to make sure we make that commitment for longevity.”
Tony Smith is having none of it, pointing out that the question was succinct and Littleproud has just gone on and on without actually addressing the question. He tells him to get on with it.
Littleproud:
Happy to. As articulated earlier, we have gone to the point of consultations and now it is time to get on to the job. We elevated drought to cabinet for the first time. We had a prime minister who in the first couple of days of his prime ministership came to a drought-affected community and has elevated drought to the highest table of his office. That is leadership, not politics”
tl;dr – we don’t need Barnaby any more.
Updated
The Senate is just dishing it up today:
Mathias Cormann in #SenateQT has just ruled out any change in the timetable for increasing the superannuation guarantee. Nips Liberal backbench revolt calling for delay in the bud. #auspol
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) July 22, 2019
Joel Fitzgibbon to David Littleproud:
My question is to the minister for drought and I ask him, why is it that the government no longer has a drought envoy?
Barnaby Joyce raised his hands in the air, in the international “I don’t know either” signal.
Updated
Michael McCormack said some more things, including bungling the government talking point line of the day “which side is Labor on”.
We are getting on with the job of putting our economic management into surplus. It is something they could only have a pipe dream and we talk of pipe dreams, pipelines, we have a pipeline of assessment. $100m over the next 10 years. We are getting on with the job. It is creating jobs. What side do they sit on? Do they want to get on with getting their constituents home safer and sooner? Or do they want to continue to object and oppose everything?”
We know what side Labor sits on. It’s the opposition.
Updated
The defence minister, Linda Reynolds, is taking questions from Labor in Senate question time about when and how refugees will be taken off Manus Island.
Reynolds said the meeting with the Papua New Guinean prime minister, James Marape, his ministers and the governor of Manus were “very productive” and included discussion of developing the base on Manus Island to provide employment opportunities for people on Manus.
Reynolds confirms the governments also discussed the possibility of resettlement packages to allow refugees to resettle (elsewhere) in PNG.
She dodged Labor’s Kristina Keneally’s query about when all refugees will be off Manus, falling back on Coalition lines that there is “nobody in detention” there and it is all Labor’s fault anyway.
Updated
Catherine King inflicts Michael McCormack on us.
What is the point of Independent Infrastructure Australia making recommendations to government on transport, water, energy and communication priorities if there is no money in the building Australia fund to fund its recommendations?
McCormack:
Well, I thank the shadow minister for her question and note the presence in the chamber of the American ambassador, one small step for man, yesterday was one giant leap forward for Parkes which will play an integral part in the inland rail $9.3m investment because we get on and do things.
The inland rail was first suggested in 1890, the first plant drawn up into the early 1900s and the Liberals and Nationals are building it. More to the point of the shadow minister’s question, 19 out of 21 projects on the priority list are funded by the Australian government. Nineteen out of 21.
That is not a bad result. This government significantly transformed the way we invest in infrastructure. A $100bn commitment investment in infrastructure right across the country. Better roads, better rail, better airports, better seedpods. We are getting on with the job of building infrastructure to get Australians home sooner and safer.”
I think I am actually stupider for having listened to that. I can feel brain cells running out of my ear and down my neck in a desperate bid to escape.
Updated
Melissa McIntosh, the new Liberal MP for Lindsay, gets the first dixer. And maybe outs herself as the MP who missed the cue to stand up, allowing Joel Fitzgibbon to sneak in his question early.
Ahhhh, isn’t this parliament just so much more civil than the last? Glad both Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese made that clear.
First Scott Morrison answers with a preamble:
It is a fund that the Labor party is opposing. They opposed it in the last parliament, we put it in the budget, we took it to the Australian people, the Australian people returned the government to ensure that we can get on with the job of supporting our farmers through one of the toughest droughts that this country has ever seen. This government has delivered some $7bn worth of support to our farmers and our rural communities all around the country. Most recently, that has included more than $110m, Mr Speaker.”
Fitzgibbon gets up with an “answer the question” point of order, to which Tony Smith says the prime minister is allowed to have a preamble.
Morrison:
“The point I make is the government has been acting each and every day supporting rural communities on the issue of the drought, whether it is the immediate assistance required to support communities through the million dollar payments to each of the shires and councils around the country or to invest in the water infrastructure projects which build resilience.
“We are investing in those projects right now and the future drought fund will enable us to continue to invest in those drought-resilience projects into the future. We are funding those drought-resilience projects about now out of the budget, and from 1 July next year we will draw down $100m out of the fund that will increase in value to $5bn and provide permanent funding support for drought-resilience projects in this country.
“I have a simple statement to make to those opposite. Why won’t you support farmers going through the drought? Mr Speaker, how on earth can the leader of the opposition, and I will call him the leader of the opposition because I’ve yet to find something that he doesn’t oppose. Mr Speaker, he opposed us on tax relief for Australians, he opposed us on security measures and now they oppose us on the drought fund.”
Updated
Two things: Bill Shorten is not in the chamber, and whoever was meant to jump up for the dixer did not, and we go straight to Joel Fitzgibbon:
My question is also to the prime minister: why is it the proposed draft fund will not deliver a cent until at least next July?
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Question time begins
Anthony Albanese gives his respect to those who went to the moon and we begin.
Albanese to Scott Morrison:
My question is to the prime minister, and it goes to national security. Does the prime minister doubt which side people are on when they support the unanimous position of the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security?
Morrison:
I thank the member for his question and raising the role of the joint standing committee. The joint standing committee on these matters does important work in this parliament, and when members come to that committee, they bring forward the positions of their various parties to address the national security issues the country faces.
And what I have noted in my time in this place is that it has always been those who sit on this side of the house have always brought the stronger position. It is always those I sit with on this side of the house ...
(Labor goes insane at this)
“ ... With the measures before that committee that the matters have been sought to be watered down. And therefore it is always going to be the action of my government to ensure that where those matters are watered down, we will always seek to remedy it and always keep Australia strong.”
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Before QT, Scott Morrison stands to recognise the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.
That’s why AB Culvahouse is in the House.
Updated
Scott Morrison has entered the chamber and is greeting Arthur B Culvahouse, the US ambassador, who is a guest of the House today.
Suggestions on the new pub test are coming in strong
@AmyRemeikis the Facebook test? The ratio test? the Kmart Mums Of Melbourne test? pic.twitter.com/zLK8Hd9yWp
— Angus Livingston (@anguslivingston) July 22, 2019
It is time for Who’s That MP ... and it’s Ken O’Dowd.
Updated
Just in case you missed it – because I did – James Ashby is back in the parliament.
Ashby had his pass taken from him after an altercation with Brian Burston last year. He’s now had it reinstated.
Updated
I am off to the chamber for question time. Hit me up with your bingo predictions.
Meanwhile, I really do think we need to update the pub test to something more in line where actual opinions are given. Like, the group chat test.
Every single pub test in Australia has been failed today. Every. Single. One.
Ain’t politics grand.
Much of Queensland has been in drought for close to a decade but it only really hit the national agenda when it was creeping in on the regions around Sydney.
Strange that.
Just spoke to a drought affected farmer from Victoria who said he'd rather be in NSW, because " that's where the money is". He was talking about funding for drought support.
— Kath Sullivan (@KathSully) July 22, 2019
Updated
The speeches taking note of the review conclude. The vote on an inquiry will be held after question time.
Malcolm Roberts just linked Julie Bishop to Hillary [Clinton] “and the images that go with that”.
You just know that “lock her up” was chanting in his head.
He also says the jobs Christopher Pyne and Bishop have taken are an “insult” to the Australian people.
I can think of a couple of other insults to the Australian people, but moving on ...
Updated
The Australian National Audit Office has issued a report into the defence department’s handling of travel expenses and concluded its processes are “not fully effective” and it has “overstated” progress on initiatives to improve administration.
From the report:
“Defence’s administrative arrangements to support the payment of travel allowances to APS employees exhibit shortcomings, which reduce their appropriateness. These include: inconsistency in guidance; a failure to consistently reflect policy requirements in guidance and supporting tools (such as travel calculators); and the division of policy and administrative responsibility across three defence groups. The 2015 review of red tape in defence made similar findings and recommended that defence produce a ‘single, brief policy guidance document in plain English’ on official travel and the use of the defence travel card. Defence reported internally that it had addressed this recommendation, when it had not ...
“Defence’s arrangements for providing assurance over the payment of travel allowances to APS employees are not fully effective. Defence has identified shortcomings in the design of detective controls for credit cards and ANAO testing of a sample of travel allowance transactions indicates that preventative controls are not fully effective. This performance audit identified a number of instances where defence reports to senior committees overstated the progress of activities intended to improve assurance across the administration of travel and credit cards. These instances included: incorrect advice about residual risk; and advice that recommendations from reviews and audits had been addressed, when they had not.
“A key feature of this audit has been that defence’s senior committees have been provided with advice that overstates the progress of activities intended to improve the administration of travel allowances and credit cards. Inaccurate performance reporting reduces accountability and senior leaders’ ability to assess risks and consider the need for remediation strategies.”
Updated
Looks like One Nation is also on board for an inquiry.
It also looks like Malcolm Roberts has taken public speaking lessons straight from Toastmasters 101. There are many hand movements. That is how you know he is serious.
Everything that is happening in the Senate at the moment is just the formal response to the tabling of Martin Parkinson’s report into Christopher Pyne’s and Julie Bishop’s new jobs.
The actual vote on whether or not there should be an inquiry won’t happen until later this afternoon, about 4pm.
Updated
The Greens have held a press conference calling on the government to lift Newstart by $75 a week and criticising Labor for proposing only a review.
Richard Di Natale compared the trajectory of the issue to the banking royal commission debate when the Greens were the first mover then “eventually ... got the Labor party across the line, we got the crossbenchers across the line and then we started to see National party MPs speak out”.
The Greens leader said:
“We’re seeing that right now Barnaby Joyce has raised his voice saying he thinks it needs to go up. We’re seeing backbench members within the Labor party saying it needs to go up. I feel we’re at a point that we’re going to start to see the pressure building on the government, so that an increase in Newstart becomes inevitable.”
The Greens’ social services spokeswoman, Rachel Siewert, accused the government of “untruths” that Newstart is a transition payment, citing the fact that 44% of people receive the unemployment payment for longer than two years, and 15% longer than five years.
Despite Liberal Dean Smith joining the ranks of those calling for an increase, Siewert criticised him for failing to vote for the Greens’ bill. She also chipped Labor for suggesting the Greens were wasting time in the Senate.
Updated
Larissa Waters says the Greens will support the inquiry into former ministers moving into jobs related to their portfolios – but they want actual solutions.
She’s also asking what happened to Christian Porter’s federal Icac, which she says has not been spoken of since February.
That would be the behind-the-scenes Icac, where you would find out there was an investigation only if there was a guilty verdict in the court afterwards.
Updated
.@Senator_Patrick has foreshadowed calling @ScottMorrisonMP Martin Parkinson @cpyne @HonJulieBishop and EY before a @AuSenate inquiry if his motion gets up this afternoon #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) July 22, 2019
Kristina Keneally finished her speech to the Senate by saying Scott Morrison faced an integrity test, with his response to Christopher Pyne’s and Julie Bishop’s new jobs.
Rex Patrick is up now and is basically saying the outcome of the review is “ridiculous” given the information both former ministers have, and how that can be used in their new roles.
He says the parliament needs to have more of a look at how their knowledge will be used.
Which means – there will be an inquiry.
Updated
It’s only a year late, but the government will table the ombudsman’s report into the Telecommunications (interception and access) Act 1979 – you know, the bill that allows the government to keep all of your metadata – later this afternoon.
It’s the report for 2016-17. We are in 2018-19.
But why on earth should we need to know how often security agencies are accessing our data?
Updated
Over in the Senate, Kristina Keneally says the results of the Martin Parkinson review into Christopher Pyne’s and Julie Bishop’s new jobs is “absurd”.
She says she will not be surprised if Scott Morrison tries to dismiss it as something “in the Canberra bubble” but says this involves hundreds of millions of dollars in government contracts.
Updated
Oh, and Manus Island is still Labor’s fault. Scott Morrison:
We’re dealing with the problem of people who found themselves on Manus Island because of the failed border protection policies of the previous government. That’s who is on Manus Island. That’s who is there. So we’re still dealing with the legacy of the policy failures of the previous government.”
Six. Years. Later.
Scott Morrison ends the press conference by saying that he and James Marape will be watching the Cronulla Sharks at the end of the week.
“I believe in miracles,” he says (to which my brain answers ‘do ya, do ya, do ya’ . EVERY TIME).
“So hoping for one on Thursday when we go up against the Cowboys.”
Updated
Acoss have also put together a fact sheet on Newstart. You can find it here
The Australian Council of Social Service has very much welcomed Dean Smith’s call to raise the Newstart rate. From its statement:
Australian Council of Social Service’s acting chief executive, Jacqui Phillips, said:
“Community members and journalists are rightly asking members of the government whether they could live on $40 a day.
“The government cannot continue to avoid the question by spreading misconceptions.
“People on Newstart are actively looking for paid work – they apply for 20 jobs a month – but the reality is there is only one job available for every eight people looking for a job or more hours.
“While some in the government claim most people on Newstart receive other payments, they neglect to explain that this is due to the energy supplement, which is less than $1 a day.
“Less than half of people on Newstart receive rent assistance, which is about $10 a day, if you spend at least $150 a week on housing. Less than 20% of people on Newstart receive a family tax benefit, which goes to helping cover the cost of raising children.
“When we look at who is on Newstart, we see that half of recipients are over the age of 45; more than 100,000 are single parents; and one in four have an illness or disability but cannot get the disability support pension.
“Older people, people with disability and single parents face challenges and discrimination in finding paid work and this is part of the reason why the average time spent on Newstart is three years.
“The reality for people on Newstart is that they are living in deep financial crisis that severely restricts their chance of finding paid work. It is very hard to put your best foot forward in a job interview when you’re eating one meal a day, wearing worn-through clothing, and are worrying about how to pay rent.”
Updated
On Manus Island:
Scott Morrison:
“The detention centre on Manus Island is closed, has been closed for some time. There is no detention centre on Manus Island. I think it’s important that Australians are no longer told that somehow there is a detention centre that’s operating on Manus Island.
“That is a process we’ve been working through for some time. The accommodation facility which now accommodates about 300 people on Manus Island currently, and that is down from 1,353, at the peak when Labor were in power.
“So the detention centre ... is closed and we’re working closely with the PNG government ... [over] the service arrangements for those who continue to be resident on Manus Island, and that includes a tender process for someone who had a lot of attention on it here, which we mutually agreed would be put in place and the existing contract extended until the tender process was there until a new service stepped up. Prime minister?”
James Marape:
“Yes, as confirmed by prime minister Morrison, there is no more detention. People are living freely in Manus, and also some have moved to Port Moresby for medical, and moving around freely.
“And I’ve expressed clearly to minister Dutton that we need to establish a schedule and timetable towards full closure of the entire asylum processes. As PNG has always stood in to assist Australia in times of need, as it has done for us also, we will ensure that we have a mutually workable timetable and closer program that is healthy for all of us, but more importantly, healthy for those people who have been part of us in Manus and PNG. Some are classified as refugees.
“Those classified as final refugee, the international convention of refugees will apply. Those who aren’t classified as refugees, we’ll see where they’re given encouragement to move back to their home of origin or where they’d like to move.
“Those are works in process that both governments have agreed to. And for us, to find some closure in the Manus area. But let me agree with prime minister Morrison, there is no more detention. We’re in the process of resettling the entire people out from PNG, within PNG, and common decency will apply to the people who are with us in Port Moresby and Manus now.”
Updated
James Marape:
We come to Australia as friend and family, as prime minister Scott Morrison has indicated.
[The] meeting this morning was to consolidate on some of the issues that we need to build on as leader to leader, that will set the pace for our ministers to have their dialogue, and we will consolidate going into the future.
The future for PNG is not a future of economy and security. PNG must be economically secure.
Once PNG is economically secure, we secure borders and we in turn become very, very healthy and fruitful.
I believe the Pacific island region is one of the best places if not the best place globally speaking.
We need to keep the peace and serenity and the environment just as we have, something that is a global asset.”
Updated
I almost missed this:
.@JacquiLambie will also support the Pyne/Bishop ministerial standards issue going to a Senate inquiry, according to her spokeswoman @AmyRemeikis #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) July 22, 2019
That gets the inquiry over the line.
Updated
Scott Morrison and James Marape are holding their joint press conference.
Morrison opens with this:
It’s been a great privilege that prime minister Marape has been my first guest of government status visitor to Australia, and I’m also incredibly pleased that it is Papua New Guinea who holds that status as the first country to visit, particularly post the election in this formal status.”
Which means that Jacinda Ardern, who was here last week, did not hold that status.
The gist of the statement is Australia and PNG are cool friends, and share a passion for rugby league and a connection through church programs (both of which were mentioned).
Updated
Also, looking at that photo, I am sorry, but beards are cancelled now.
I don’t make the rules.
What is this? A party for ants? It needs to be at least three times bigger than this!
Alternatively, so many womens! (Compared to when they just had two.)
Updated
It was a four flagger.
Updated
There are also a butt load of first speeches being delivered today.
Among them are newbies Anika Wells, Josh Burns and Julian Simmonds, all of whom have very young children who will be in the gallery to watch their parents. I will be watching the three children under two attempting to sit still in the weird place that is parliament.
Updated
Over in the Senate, the Liberal Dean Smith has joined a growing group of government MPs who say Newstart should be increased.
Smith made the comments during a debate on a bill by the Greens senator Rachel Siewert, which sought to increase the unemployment payment by $75 a week, in line with calls from Acoss, and some business groups.
“I am someone who thinks that the Newstart allowance amount must be more than reviewed – which was Labor’s position – [but] should be increased,” Smith said.
He cited comments from John Howard, who called last year for the payment to be increased, as well as the RBA governor Philip Lowe’s recent remarks about the need for a boost to wages. Smith joins Coalition politicians Barnaby Joyce, Arthur Sinodinos and Matthew Canavan.
Siewert began by lashing the government for being “wilfully ignorant or misleading our nation” in its claims that Newstart recipients move off the payment quickly. In fact, the average duration is three years.
“How are people expected to look for work when they are living below the poverty line,” she said.
Labor’s Pat Dodson, who said the payment needed to increase, also criticised the government’s “disingenuous” claims about the welfare payment. It has also claimed that the payment increases every six months, and that 99% of recipients get other payments.
Dodson suggested that because only the government could increase Newstart, Siewert’s bill meant the Senate had “wasted a bit of time here this morning”.
Debate on the bill was adjourned.
Updated
The Greens leader Richard Di Natale will hold a press conference in the Senate courtyard at 12.30.
That will be on Newstart, security bills and the Murray-Darling.
Updated
Oh and for those wondering if the budget could handle the $3bn or so annual cost to increase Newstart, franking credits cost about $6bn a year.
So yeah. It probably could. Even with the SuRpLuS obsession.
Updated
There you go there’s one more.
.@corybernardi on whether Pyne/Bishop goes to an inquiry. He says he's unaware of the findings of the government's investigation but "if asked to vote I will vote yes to inquiry" @AmyRemeikis #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) July 22, 2019
Updated
On the numbers (and remember numbers aren’t my thing) by my count Labor, the Greens and Centre Alliance are still two short of getting the inquiry through.
Cory Bernardi had flirted with the idea of voting for the inquiry.
Jacqui Lambie didn’t say, but has been very vocal about lobbyists in the past.
One Nation – who knows (timeless statement) but don’t be surprised if Pauline Hanson voted yes, as part of her “holding them to account” schtick.
Oh, and on Hanson, the Australian’s media section reported today that she has been booked for a once a fortnight paid appearance on Network Nine’s Today show. Cool.
Updated
Katharine Murphy has had a chat to Labor about Rex Patrick’s move to bring former ministers’ lobbying jobs to a Senate inquiry and says the guidance, at this stage, is that Labor is likely to support it.
Updated
Rex Patrick to ask for Senate inquiry on Pyne and Bishop jobs
Mathias Cormann will make a statement to the Senate at 12.20 about the outcome of Martin Parkinson’s review into Christopher Pyne’s and Julie Bishop’s new jobs, but it might not be enough.
Rex Patrick is still pushing for an inquiry:
On what is before me at present I will still be asking the Senate to conduct an inquiry.”
Updated
Scott Morrison and Papua New Guinea’s PM, James Marape, will make a joint statement at 11.30 in the prime minister’s courtyard.
Updated
Just on the medevac legislation, the repeal bill has been sent to a parliamentary committee for a review. Submissions close mid next month and the report date is not until 18 October.
The next sitting (from 21 October) is a House sitting only. The Senate won’t sit until 11 November.
Updated
The too-long, didn’t-read version of that is that he had conversations with both of them and is satisfied, on the information given, that both Pyne and Bishop know their responsibilities.
Updated
Martin Parkinson's report on former ministerial lobbying jobs
Here is Martin Parkinson’s report on the review into Christopher Pyne’s and Julie Bishop’s new jobs:
Martin Parkinson on the Pyne and Bishop conflict review pic.twitter.com/IOb9psfH02
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) July 22, 2019
— Amy Remeikis (@AmyRemeikis) July 22, 2019
Updated
Speaking of national security – and the bipartisan approach the political parties have taken on it (in that they both back the legislation as a general rule) – Labor is a bit cranky over Mathias Cormann saying this on AM this morning:
“The Labor party needs to decide which side they’re on … We are on the side of keeping Australians safe.”
.@AlboMP: Everyone in this parliament opposes terrorism; everyone in this parliament wants to keep Australians safe.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) July 21, 2019
MORE: https://t.co/oyPFQ9Ynzw #firstedition pic.twitter.com/2O5bzC8Ase
That will not be the end of it.
This has been happening with increasing regularity. The government accuses Labor of not supporting it on national security. Every single time someone asks a question about the bill Labor points out it has always backed the national security legislation. There is argy bargy and then everyone votes for the legislation.
Rinse and repeat.
Updated
But given the way national security debates tend to go in this country, Labor will most likely end up supporting the bill.
Kristina Keneally has released a statement on the temporary exclusion order legislation, asking why the legislation is suddenly so “urgent” given how long Peter Dutton has been in the job:
Home affairs minister Peter Dutton must explain why he has waited four years to introduce a temporary exclusion order (TEO) scheme in Australia.
“We are working through national security legislation as quickly as possible.”
Mathias Cormann, ABC AM, 22 July 2019
The United Kingdom TEO scheme – which Mr Dutton so frequently cites – was introduced in 2015. However, Mr Dutton didn’t introduce similar legislation in Australia until February 2019.
Would Mr Dutton be willing to say he was working “as quickly as possible” when it took him four years to introduce TEO legislation?
During the four years Mr Dutton waited to introduce the TEO legislation, it’s reported 40 foreign fighters have returned to Australia.
These 40 foreign fighters have only been able to return because the home affairs minister failed to introduce legislation for four years. Was it incompetence or apathy towards the risks of foreign fighters by minister Dutton that saw him do nothing during this time?
Labor has already expressed its support for the intent of the TEO scheme, and agreed with the Liberal-dominated PJCIS that its recommended changes be incorporated into the legislation.
Labor wants a TEO scheme that works, is constitutional, keeps Australians safe and that withstands high court challenges.”
Updated
Pauline Hanson also wants Newstart raised:
There’s a talk about $75 a week that needs to be raised. I think that needs to be addressed and it also needs to be costed. Can we afford it? That’s another thing too.”
Andrew Leigh responded to Mathias Cormann:
It’s important to recognise that many Australians are living on Newstart for ongoing periods. I heard Mathias Cormann this morning saying it’s a temporary payment. He might speak to some of 150,000 Australians who’ve been living on Newstart for more than a year, to the 80,000 Australians who have been living on Newstart for more than two years. It’s not adequate and Labor believes it should be increased, which is why we went to the last election calling for a review of the Newstart payment.”
Updated
And just a reminder that the daily parliamentary travel allowance is more than the weekly Newstart payment.
Cormann also says ”most Australians that are on #newstart are on it for a very short period”. (The average time on the payment is three years. 200,000 people have been on it between 2-5 years, 125,000 have been on it 5-10 years) #auspol
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) July 21, 2019
And just to get ahead of “those on Newstart get additional payments” comments,
Luke Henrique-Gomes broke that down for us earlier this year.
When the department broke down the data for the Greens senator Rachel Siewert last year, it found 51.9% of Newstart recipients also got another supplement. (The energy supplement was not separated out of the data, so it is unclear how many received that, and another supplement.)
So for the majority of Newstart recipients, the average value of the ‘other payments’ is $7.32 a week.
That is, they don’t live on $39 a day, but about $40 a day (before other costs).”
And what would that cost the budget? Sarah Martin has looked at that:
The government’s resistance to lifting the Newstart payment comes after a Deloitte Access Economics report last year found a $75-a-week increase to Newstart would lead to a boost in consumer spending, and create more than 10,000 jobs.
The report said that increasing the incomes of more than 700,000 people by $10.71 a day would cost the federal budget $3.3bn a year.
Unlike the pension, the Newstart payment is linked to prices rather than wages and, since 1994, when the unemployment benefit was last increased in ‘real terms’, wages have grown 40% faster than prices.”
But you know, sUrPlUs.
Raise the payment. It’s ridiculous.
Updated
The Senate will also debate Rachel Siewert’s bill to increase Newstart.
“Newstart needs to be increased urgently by at least $75 a week,” the Greens senator said.
“We then have to stop treating income support payments like a political football. An independent process for setting pensions and allowances is well overdue.
“Labor and some in the Coalition are clearly feeling the heat when it comes to the abysmally low rate of Newstart, and those in parliament who support an increase to Newstart should vote for it when they get the chance.
“The Greens urge senators and MPs to join the community in the campaign to increase Newstart and support my bill.
“It is untenable that people on Newstart continue to live in poverty. The government should be moving immediately to address the appalling low rate of Newstart.
“When the people in Parliament work for their community, we can do powerful things together.”
Scott Morrison has already said no, which means even if it was passed by the Senate it would be defeated in the House.
Updated
Richard Marles had a chat to ABC breakfast this morning about Labor’s position on the temporary exclusion orders Peter Dutton wants.
Labor supports, in principle, a regime of temporary exclusion orders, and we always have.
But we’ve been working cooperatively with the government through the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security. This is complex legislation.
It needs to be done in a way that is lawful, in the sense that it needs to be able to survive high court challenges. That’s why this committee is in place and goes through the legislation in detail.
There are actually a number of amendments that the committee recommended which Liberal members of the committee supported. We just want to get through the bottom of that and work with the government on that.
But at the end of the day, we completely acknowledge the importance of having a temporary exclusion order regime and we’ll work cooperatively with the government to achieve that.”
Shadow cabinet will meet later today, followed by caucus where a final decision will be made
Updated
Sarah Hanson-Young is still pushing for a royal commission into the Murray-Darling basin. That debate will begin in the Senate today.
Like the banking royal commission, the Senate’s support for a bill to establish a commission is an essential step in cleaning up the management of the Murray-Darling and stopping the rorts,” she said in a statement.
“Farmers, communities and ecosystems throughout the basin are suffering. We know there are problems with the way it is being managed, and Australians deserve answers.
“Most of the money allocated for the plan has been spent and the river is still in deep trouble. The only way to ensure we get the answers we need, and those responsible are held to account, is with a comprehensive royal commission.
“The South Australia royal commission began this important work but was hampered by the refusal of the federal government and other basin states to participate. A million fish dead and revelations of ongoing mismanagement mean we must have answers.”
Updated
Rex Patrick has just got back to me. Here is what he had to say:
I need to see the evidence that the prime minister is relying on to reach his finding. It needs to cover off on Pyne’s [and Bishop’s] intended role, the reasons for hiring, the expectations of the parties to the employment contracts and the processes and procedure in place in the companies to prevent future breaches [use of knowledge not in the public domain].
I will hear what minister Cormann has to say and then make a decision as to whether to ask the Senate to initiate an inquiry.”
So watch this space.
Labor had also expressed interest in an inquiry, but without Centre Alliance would not have the numbers.
Updated
Speaking to ABC radio this morning, Mathias Cormann said the review Martin Parkinson undertook into Julie Bishop’s and Christopher Pyne’s new jobs found neither breached the ministerial standards.
“What is important is that whatever employment they take on does not put them in breach of the statement of ministerial standards,” he told AM.
“And the advice that the prime minister has received from the secretary of his department independently is that former ministers Pyne and Bishop are not in breach.
“Dr Parkinson reviewed all of the relevant information, he spoke to both former ministers Pyne and Bishop, and his advice to the prime minister is there’s no breach of ministerial standards, and that is the advice that I will be providing to the Senate this morning.”
The statement of ministerial standards includes this bit: “Ministers are also required to undertake that, on leaving office, they will not take personal advantage of information to which they have had access as a minister, where that information is not generally available to the public.”
Rex Patrick from Centre Alliance had wanted to launch a Senate inquiry into the jobs of former ministers, who work in areas related to their former portfolios when they leave parliament. He said he would wait and see the outcome of the prime minister and cabinet department’s review before making up his mind. We have asked him what his thinking is now that Cormann says they are clear.
Updated
Good morning
Time flies whether you are having fun or not, and so we find ourselves back in Canberra with the MPs for the first sitting fortnight since the May election.
It’s also about the 14th or 15th sitting day this year, so I suppose we shouldn’t complain too much. Because – democracy.
And after this sitting ends on 1 August, parliament won’t sit again until 9 September. It’s been that sort of year.
But suddenly national security is once again URGENT. We know this because there were stories in the News Corp papers over the weekend about how many foreign fighters had already returned to Australia. And Deidre Chambers, what a coincidence – Peter Dutton wants the parliament to give home affairs the power to place temporary exclusion orders on dual citizen foreign fighters, which would keep them out of Australia for at least two years. And the parliament is due to debate that this fortnight. What. Are. The. Chances.
Drought will also be back on the agenda – or at least the drought fund the government wants to set up. Labor will back it if it doesn’t take money from other funds, like infrastructure. So prepare for that debate.
Meanwhile the government will attempt to appeal the medevac legislation (Jacqui Lambie is the key vote for that one) and has been made a little more sensitive by the visit from Papua New Guinea’s prime minster, James Marape. Marape wants a timeline on when Australia plans to close its offshore detention centre on Manus Island and also has a few things to say about the awarding of contracts for running the centres.
Fun.
Oh and smash me down and call me avocado: Mathias Cormann, as one of the only regular government members approved to do regular media spots, was doing the rounds this morning and said a review into Christoper Pyne’s and Julie Bishop’s new jobs has found no breach of the rules.
Pyne has been hired as a defence consultant for EY. He was the defence minister about two seconds ago. Bishop has taken a board position with Palladium, which manages hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Dfat contracts. She was the foreign affairs minister about five minutes ago.
But Cormann told ABC radio a review by the head of prime minister and cabinet has found “nothing to see here”.
We will bring you that and the rest of the day’s news, as it happens. Mike Bowers is on deck running around, no doubt freezing, and forgetting to bring me my coffee, so you’ll have his amazing work to look forward to as well. Katharine Murphy is back from leave, and she’ll be heading up the brains trust of Sarah Martin and Paul Karp. All of them have forgot to bring me a coffee, but I adore them anyway.
You’ll find me in the comments, or on Twitter, so drop us a line if you are in the mood.
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