With negotiations over the company tax rate cuts continuing behind the scenes, we will leave you for the day.
Steve Martin is about to deliver his first speech to the Senate. I’ll bring you the highlights tomorrow morning when we are back, for the last sitting day of this Senate-only week.
With welfare all ticked off on, expect tax to be the main policy on everyone’s lips tomorrow. Next week the House is back, and with it, Newspoll #29 (I believe), which doesn’t give the government a lot of time to get its key messages out, without distraction.
But for the mean time, Mathias Cormann is doing his best to get those last few votes across the line for the government’s tax cuts. Tim Storer and Derryn Hinch have probably found their popularity has increased tenfold in the last 24 hours, at least when it comes to government MPs. Hinch has said he is still at the table, and Storer is keeping his cards close to his chest. After yesterdays comments, and today’s statement from the BCA, you would have to think that One Nation is almost there.
A big thank you to the Guardian brains trust for helping drag me through another day, and to Mike Bowers for keeping the laughs (and of course, the pictures) flowing throughout the day. And, as always, the last and biggest thank you to you all for reading. I’ll be back for one last Senate-palooza tomorrow morning. (And as always, you can find me at @amyremeikis or @pyjamapolitics – thank you all for your messages and for watching!)
Have a lovely evening and take care of you.
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The PM and @Luke_Hartsuyker at a roundtable discussion in Port Macquarie today, hearing the concerns of a range of self-funded retirees and pensioners. pic.twitter.com/OcQpjckO5t
— The PMO (@thepmo) March 21, 2018
Workplace relations minister Craig Laundy has spoken to Sky News about Sally McManus’ outing at the National Press Club today.
Laundy – like employer groups Australian Industry Group and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry – is particularly exercised about “lies” in the speech about the increasing casualisation of work. He notes casual jobs have been flat at 20% of the workforce for 20 years.
Laundy accused McManus of an “unprecedented attack” on the integrity of the independent industrial umpire the Fair Work Commission, in reference to her claim the Coalition governments had stacked it with employer-friendly members. Laundy called on Bill Shorten to condemn these “slurs”.
Asked if government had made a submission to FWC’s minimum wage review, he said yes but it was not his role to tell the umpire whether to increase the minimum wage or not so he’d just spelled out some economic measures for it to consider.
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David Leyonhjelm just moved this motion in the Senate:
That the Senate —
(a) notes:
(i) the revival of a revolutionary song “Shoot the Boer” at political rallies in South Africa,
(ii) the statement of former South African President Zuma that “We are going to shoot them with machine guns ... shoot the Boer, we are going to hit them, they are going to run”,
(iii) the statement of Mr Julius Malema, a high profile member of the South African Parliament and former leader of the African National Congress Youth League, that “We are not calling for the slaughter of white people, at least for now” and more
recently “the time for reconciliation is over” and “go after the white man. If you cut a white man they feel terrible pain”,
(iv) that the South African Parliament recently voted in support of a motion to accelerate the expropriation of white - owned and cultivated farm land without compensation to the owners,
(v) that white farmers are reported to be five times more likely to be murdered than the general population of South Africa,
(vi) that farm attacks are often characterised by extreme brutality which includes the physical dismemberment, torture and rape of victims, and also involves the killing of children and infants in horrendous ways that suggest hate is a motivating factor, and
(vii) that there are frequent claims that authorities are not treating these farm attacks with the urgency they deserve;
(b) calls on the Government to condemn:
(i) any calls for the killing, marginalisation, persecution, victimisation and targeting of any racial group in the Republic of South Africa by any of its officials or members of parliament, and
(ii) any law that expropriates land without just compensation;
(c) calls upon the Government of the Republic of South Africa to protect the
people of all races equally and without bias; and
(d) investigate what Australia can do to assist the victims of racist violence in South Africa, including the possibility of offering to resettle victims in Australia or assisting their resettlement in another appropriate jurisdiction.
It was defeated: 37 – 6. (Leyonhjelm, Anning, One Nation and Derryn Hinch.)
Fraser Anning had also moved this one:
That the Senate —
(a) shows support for the comments made by the Minister for Home Affairs
(Mr Dutton), prioritising humanitarian visa applicants from the Republic of South Africa;
(b) recognises that the current situation for white South Africans is dire as a
result of state-sanctioned persecution; and
(c) as a matter of principle, strongly condemns:
(i) any and all calls for the killing, marginalisation, persecution, victimisation and targeting of any racial minority group in the Republic of South Africa by any of its officials, past or present, and
(ii) any law that unjustly expropriates land from any individual without fair, just and equitable compensation.
But this motion was withdrawn for the day.
There have been a lot of eyes pointing south this week, but as Helen Davidson points out, there was a bit going on up north as well.
From her report:
Malcolm Turnbull has sent his thoughts to Darwin, in a phone call to the chief minister five days after Cyclone Marcus tore through the city.
The prime minister contacted the Northern Territory chief minister, Michael Gunner, on Wednesday morning, speaking for about three to four minutes. They mainly discussed the federally funded Australian defence force personnel based in Darwin helping out with the cyclone recovery.
It followed sustained local media coverage of Turnbull’s apparent silence over the cyclone which hit Darwin on Saturday as a category two on Saturday, uprooting hundreds of trees, damaging houses and buildings, and knocking out power for more than 26,000 people.
Four days on about 1,500 homes remained without electricity.
Turnbull’s lack of contact with the NT was compared with his visit on Monday to the New South Wales town of Tathra after a devastating bushfire destroyed about 70 homes.
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No
— Derryn Hinch (@HumanHeadline) March 21, 2018
From Mike Bowers’ lens to your eyeballs:
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Yesterday Pauline Hanson said she wanted reassurance from the business lobby that they would use any savings from the tax cuts to reinvest in the economy, and not just share buy-acks and the like.
And lo and behold – the BCA statement. But note it only says it will commit to “invest more in Australia’s economy”. I don’t know how you measure that.
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The Business Council of Australia is working on locking down Pauline Hanson for those company tax cuts:
Statement from BCA pic.twitter.com/Jc0DxCesuJ
— David Speers (@David_Speers) March 21, 2018
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The Queensland Parliament has selected Amanda Stoker to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of former Senator George Brandis
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) March 21, 2018
Now that Labor's High Court challenge is over, Nationals MP David Gillespie is finally free to talk about it.
— Adam Gartrell (@adamgartrell) March 21, 2018
Calls it "despicable" and "wasteful" and says it has cost him and his family financially and emotionally. pic.twitter.com/qJ3JBfrVV6
Meanwhile, Cory Bernardi is upset that the ABC’s comedy show Tonightly, aired a sketch that labelled one of his candidates, a “cunt”.
“I think someone needs to lose their job over it, because it’s not like these things go to air without being pre-screened,” he told ABC Radio Adelaide.
So there you have it - the man who introduced the bill to reform 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act because FREEDOM OF SPEECH and stands as this nation’s first line of defence against the evilness of POLITICAL CORRECTNESS wants someone to be sacked over the word cunt, because that is completely different and mean and rude and crass and feels.
And Mitch Fifield is now involved, telling Sky:
I have also raised that particular program with the managing director of the ABC, again, we don’t want to hear that sort of language. People don’t fund the national broadcaster, and they do so very generously, and the Australian public as a whole, hold the public broadcaster in high regard, but they don’t expect to see just gratuitous abuse of people or that sort of language.
“...As you know, the ABC have legislated independence from government when it comes to programming and editorial decisions and how they allocate their budget, but they are not immune from community standards and what I am seeking to do as minister, is convey to the ABC what those community standards are. I think there are a number of areas where we could help the ABC enhance what they do, that’s why we have legislation before the parliament to introduce into the ABC’s act a requirement for the ABC to be fair and balanced, to make specific reference of rural and regional Australians.”
I am not exactly sure how you legislate comedy shows to make them fair and balanced. I am also not sure how you legislate against profanity.
But I guess we have just spent almost two days talking about policy, so obviously, we have let the shark jumping antics in this place slide for too long.
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Here is what Rex Patrick was asking Marise Payne about:
Secret planning to shift hundreds of submarine jobs from Adelaide to WA #auspol https://t.co/8k4MJycvTw
— Peter Jean (@peterdujean) March 21, 2018
Time is called on questions and we are all put out of our misery.
It’s time for the daily torture of Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, with Murray Watt asking her to explain something she said yesterday:
The minister’s comment yesterday, and I quote: “More than half of all refunded franking credits are paid to individuals who earn less than the $18,200 tax-free threshold.” Given the minister’s explanation was clearly wrong, can she explain how superannuation payouts and drawdowns of savings, other than superannuation to fund retirement are treated? How does this impact on the misleading argument the minister attempted to make yesterday?”
Her answer is basically Bill Shorten, Labor, Shorten, Labor, Labor, bad, scary.
There are a lot of arguments over noise, whether the question is being answered, interruptions, and what the question actually is.
None of which actually matters, because there is as much hope of me never eating chocolate again, as there is of Fierravanti-Wells answering this question.
Watt tries again, asking about the Grattan Institute report yesterday, which found the government’s claims were “misleading”.
Cue exactly the same arguments. Penny Wong, who usually addresses opposition senators in the same tone I imagine she uses when her children have failed to clean up their room despite repeated requests, is having none of any of it. She moves into THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING tones, as Mathias Cormann attempts to shield Fierravanti-Wells from answering the question.
She eventually says she has not read the Grattan Institute report. Watt asks if anyone from the government has managed to explain the government policy to her, and we descend back into chaos.
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David Leyonhjelm has a question about a chair and sofa taxes. And sugar taxes. Stay with me here.
The Australian chronic disease alliance is an umbrella organisation made up of a variety of organisations currently engaged in a campaign to have the Australian government introduce a tax on the sugar in sweetened beverages. Can the minister advise how much these organisations have benefited from grants or other contributions of taxpayers’ money in the past three financial years?
Bridget McKenzie: The Australian Chronic Disease Prevention members include Diabetes Australia, Cancer Council Australia, Kidney Australia, National Heart Foundation and the National Stroke Foundation. The government has been pleased to fund members of the alliance which are respected, trusted organisations in the Australian community to deliver a range of valuable, preventable health activities over the past few years. The funding has included $660,000 over the last three years to the National Stroke Foundation to review and update the guidelines for stroke management which will help doctors better ensure outcomes for Australians who are unfortunate enough to suffer from a stroke. $55.6m to Diabetes Australia in the last financial year to implement the national diabetes service scheme, a scheme that is helping all Australians afflicted with diabetes to get the supplies they need to manage this potentially debilitating condition. $730,000 to the Cancer Council Australia to revise guidelines to assist doctors to detect bowel cancer early, to manage cancer when it occurs, to provide advice to patients on how to reduce the risk of bowel cancer this work is done by our world-leading experts helping us to reduce the incidents and impact of this common cancer. The research is clear – chronic conditions can be best addressed by reducing the prevalence and impact of health risk factors,such as fiscal inactivity, unhealthy weight gain, smoking and excessive alcohol consumption. The government acknowledges that conditions impact heavily on families and individuals, but according to the 2014-15 National Health survey it is estimated that 63.4% of Australians aged 18 and over are overweight and obese and that is why we support a range of issues and tangible initiatives in community to reduce those health risk factors.
Leyonhjelm: Can the minister advise if there have been any reductions in rates of obesity, rather than simply a reduction in the consumption of sweetened beverages in any country or countries following the introduction of a sugar tax?
McKenzie: I can in fact tell the senator that currently there is no empirical evidence from any country that indicates obesity rates have declined due to the implementation of a sugar tax. Obesity as we know is often caused by poor diet choices, physical inactivity and a range of other factors that are often interrelated. As such, obesity prevention needs a [wider] approach and this government is delivering on tangible programs such as the Healthy Food Partnership and Sporting Schools Initiative to assist in this area. In relation to international approaches Mexico is often lauded as a success story of sugar tax supporters. However, a recent study that was funded by those organisations who campaigned for a sugar tax admitted that casualty cannot be established between the sugar tax and rates of obesity. We will support evidence based reporters.
Then we get to sitting taxes.
Leyonhjelm: There is significant research indicating that sedentary lifestyles increase the risks of certain cancers. Time spent sitting can be detrimental, even for people who are others which physically active. Yet, people should be allowed for make their own decisions about when to sit down, free from any nudges from authoritarian governments. So can the minister please rule out this government ever introducing a tax on chairs and sofas?’
(There is a tax on chairs and sofas. It’s called the GST)
McKenzie attempts some humour, by saying she can BREAKING announce there won’t be a tax on chairs and sofas, Richard Di Natale reminds her there is a GST and we descend into the sort of juvenile ridiculous conversation this place is known for.
Moving on.
Updated
Rex Patrick to Marise Payne:
I refer to documents released to me under FOI on Monday, two days after the South Australian state election, that reveal your department contracted ASC in June 2016 to undertake a study for the relocation of submarine full cycle docking, work that involves 700 direct jobs, and thousands of indirect jobs, from South Australia to Western Australia. Is it not the case that ASC’s Adelaide-based full cycle docking work has been applauded by Minister Pyne as remarkable and exemplary? Is it not the case that following inquiries to your office by the Advertiser newspaper in August 2016 ASC was directed to suspend the study owing to what the department has described as ‘current sensitivity’? What was that sensitivity and was it political?”
Payne: I thank Senator Patrick very much for his question. It is certainly the case to say that the work of ASC in South Australia in terms of the work they are doing in sustainment of the Collins class submarines is indeed remarkable and exemplary. I absolutely agree with my very good friend and colleague Minister Pyne. What is actually much more interesting, though, Mr President, is some of the early writings of Senator Patrick here in the Asia-Pacific defence report because, you see, the government will make decisions about the location of the Collins class and the future submarine including full cycle docking in due course …
Patrick interrupts to ask Payne to address his question. Payne continues as if she was not interrupted.
Payne: Those decisions won’t be required for some time. What we will do in that process is to ensure the efficient and the effective construction of the future submarine float and best concede concurrently with ongoing sustainment activities for the Collins fleet. That is a reasonably normal decision to take. I will note if we want to talk about matters French and submarines, I would note that Senator Patrick has a completely different view, Mr President. Let me quote: “Finally, the sustainment operations must be moved to Western Australia where the submarine force operates from and if and when we have submarines home based in the east Sydney or Newcastle. Supporting submarines out of the Adelaide site 260km from where it operates is not smart. It is not smart and it is timely and costly.” Senator Patrick might have made up his mind about Collins class sustainment but the government will consider the requirements of sustainment, of capability, of the development of the future submarine and make decisions in due course because that is the wise and smart thing for a government to do.”
Patrick: Senate estimates heard in 2016, while the study suspension was in effect, that with regards to Collins sustainment: “There is no work currently ongoing to consider moving to WA. Shortly after that, they unsuspended the study and later told the Senate that not much work was being done on the study.” Why has your department been evasive about moving sustainment jobs?
Payne: Senator Patrick, the premise of Senator Patrick’s question is completely incorrect. That doesn’t surprise me. He has changed his views so consistently he doesn’t even have the views of Senator Nick Xenophon. What I have said, Mr President, which sets out the approach that the government would take in relation to sustainment is a range of issues – how we would meet our operational requirements, how we would get the best capability outcomes, but, ultimately, the reality of the government’s decision to double the size of our future submarine fleet, as well as to design our future submarine domestically, means that the size of the submarine workforce in Australia, in Adelaide, will need to increase dramatically. Dramatically. The senator is well aware of that. Indeed, as we know, the future submarine program is expected to create an annual average of around 2,800 jobs in Australia, even before we consider the sustainment needs of the fleet that will transition between two classes and a double in size.
Updated
We go round in more circles, including another argument over who is being too loud, and then we move into a series of dixers.
I know some of you think I am too brief in these answers, but we are reaching new levels of head meet desk here, today.
Claire Moore asks Concetta Fierravanti-Wells about pension cuts:
“I refer to reports today that the prime minister is taking his misleading scare campaign on Labor’s reforms to dividend imputation cash refunds to pensioners across Australia. Will the prime minister be telling the pensioners he meets with that he has cut $1 million – sorry, $1 billion – from pensioner concessions and axed the $900 senior supplement to self-funded retirees receiving the commonwealth senior’s health card? How many pensioners in Calpa are worse off due to the government’s changes to the pension assets test that came into effect on 1 January last year?”
#thesenatordoesnotanswerthequestion
Updated
Senate question time begins
We start with Doug Cameron with a question for Michaelia Cash:
I refer to a submission to the Fair Work Commission by Hair & Beauty Australia which argues for the wages of workers in their industry to be cut, even when wages are at a record low. Will the Turnbull government be making a submission to the Fair Work Commission to defend the workers in the hair and beauty industry who rely on penalty rates?”
Cash:
The Turnbull government’s position in relation to penalty rates is very clear. We have always respected the decision of the independent umpire. It is those on the other side who have a record, Senator Cameron, as you know, when it comes to penalty rates. I have to say, I only caught glimpses of Sally McManus’s speech today at the Press Club, but I have to say it was riddled with hypocrisy because, in relation to penalty rates there is only one person, one person in the parliament, who has directly negotiated ...
Cameron jumps in with a point of order, asking her to address the question.
Cash does not.
Cash:
The government, as you know, consistent with all governments, has recently put in a submission to the annual wage review. We provide submissions, as required and as appropriate, to the Fair Work Commission. But in relation to penalty rates, Senator Cameron, I have to say your hypocrisy is absolutely outstanding because it is the leader of the opposition himself, Mr Bill Shorten, who has sat around a table and directly negotiated away the penalty rate at this time, rates of some of the lowest paid workers in this country. It is not as if, colleagues, he actually compensated them. He negotiated away their penalty rates with absolutely no compensation.
And then we go around in circles, which includes an argument over whether Labor has any north Queensland senators, and whether the press gallery can hear over the interjections.
Updated
Most of the questions there were about Sally McManus’s speech.
Here was how Malcolm Turnbull responded:
“Well, Sally McManus doesn’t believe in the rule of the law. She is the face of a new Labor. She doesn’t believe that unions had to be subject to obeying the law. The legislation she is complaining about were passed by the last Labor government. She doesn’t want to abide by laws that Labor governments have enacted. That tells you, it gives you a very big insight into what a Bill Shorten government would be like. He would lead, were he ever to be PM, the most leftwing, union-dominated, militant government we have seen in generations.”
That’s a throwback to one of McManus’s first interviews after taking up the ACTU chief’s gig, where she said she didn’t have a problem with workers breaking the law, in terms of strike action:
I believe in the rule of law when the law is fair and the law is right.
But when it’s unjust I don’t think there’s a problem with breaking it.
It shouldn’t be so hard for workers in our country to be able to take industrial action when they need to. (March, 2017 comments to ABC’s 7.30)
As for what Turnbull thinks about the casualisation of the workforce:
I would like to say that the rate of casual employment is the same as it has been for a long time. What Sally McManus and Bill Shorten want to do is they want to increase the power of trade unions. That is what they want to do. They don’t care about the vast majority of Australians who are not members of the union. They don’t care about the level of employment. They have one objective, and that is to increase the power of militant trade unions, and if Bill Shorten was PM they would be running the country.”
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Malcolm Turnbull has finished up his Port Macquarie roundtable, talking Labor’s tax dividend policy. Here is some of what he had to say:
One gentleman and his wife was there and it is going to cost them $3,500 per year. That is a lot of money to them. They have managed their affairs frugally and have saved over many years so they can be financially independent. Bill Shorten is going to take that $3,500 from them. It is tax paid by the company. Why should they not get it back? They are on a very low income. He wants to take that away from them. Do you know what they said they would have to do? Cancel their private health insurance, so that is what he is going to do. He is going to get older couples, overwhelmingly people over 65, overwhelmingly people on low incomes, 230,000 of them on the pension alone. These are the people that Bill Shorten wants to rob. He wants to take the money out of their pockets, reduce their incomes by between 15% and 20%, based on the people we spoke to today. What Mr Shorten needs to understand is Australia’s self-funded retirees, who are managing their affairs very carefully, they want to live their lives as independently as possible so that they are not making any more claim on the pension than they need to.
(Not all those 230,000 are on the full pension and taxable income is still a key point here. Also, I don’t know too many people on low incomes who were able to afford private health insurance in the first place, but maybe I am mixing with the wrong people.)
Updated
After a longer than usual address, Sally McManus has moved onto questions. She says the ACTU will work with all parties to get the changes it wants:
Now we have announced our policy solutions, and I want to be clear in this, they aren’t a list. It’s an overall package of things that we’ve thoughtfully put together after much consultation with the whole trade union movement across all occupations and it is what we see as necessary to bring back fairness. So, what we intend to do now is open negotiations with all political parties. I would like to talk to the Coalition about this. I would like to talk to them out about what they could do to increase pay and job security. We will do the same with any party, every party, who is prepared to do that. We would like all parties to adopt our policy solutions in their platform. Of course we will be seeking that of the Labor party and that will be one of the things we’ll do. But we’ll do that as I said with everyone.”
In the context of the final pitch by the ACTU secretary at @PressClubAust - this recent speech from the ALP president is pertinent https://t.co/rhtHaR5F1V #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) March 21, 2018
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Dipping back over to state politics for just a moment:
Four South Australian government department chief executives have been axed by new Premier @marshall_steven as part of a major shake-up of the upper ranks of the public service. https://t.co/BSit8lXYNZ #7News pic.twitter.com/U6owSXxSvW
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) March 21, 2018
Annnnnd the company tax debate has been officially suspended until later this evening.
Steve Martin, who will be delivering his first speech to the Senate later today, says he is supporting the government’s company tax cuts because his constituents want him to:
After extensive consideration and stakeholder engagement, it is apparent that priority needs to be given to ensuring Tasmanian businesses big and small are competitive in global markets.
My position is about achieving the best deal for Tasmania, and strengthening Tasmania’s global export markets, bolstering jobs creation, wages growth and building sustainable communities.
In that regard, I support the government’s company tax bill.
Updated
Adam Bandt, who I just spotted in the NPC crowd listening to Sally McManus’s speech, has announced the Greens are onboard with the ACTU’s campaign. From his statement:
Next Monday, Mr Bandt will introduce key legislation into the House of Representatives; the Fair Work Amendment (Tackling Job Insecurity) Bill 2018 and the Fair Work Amendment (Better Work/Life Balance) Bill 2018, which will tackle rising job insecurity by giving casual and rolling contract workers the power to convert to secure employment and give working people an enforceable right to more flexible working arrangements, respectively.
When teachers have to work at Bunnings over the summer break because they’re on short-term contracts, the system is broken.
Insecure work is damaging people’s lives.
I am thrilled that the union movement is making job insecurity a priority and they have the Greens’ support.
The Greens have been trying to get job security laws changed since 2012, but neither Labor nor Liberal have come on board.
Next week, the Greens are taking steps to change the rules by tackling job insecurity and giving people an enforceable right to better work/life balance.
Labor, instead of sitting on the fence on job insecurity and work/life balance, has an opportunity to join with the Greens to change the law and tip the balance back in favour of working people.
Sally McManus’s call to ‘change the rules’ is long overdue and the Greens look forward to examining the details of the proposed reform plan.
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Sally McManus has begun her speech:
Workers in Australia are ruled by laws which have destroyed job security and left working people struggling to pay the bills. Once a promise of living in Australia was just that, that each generation will pass on something better – better healthcare, better education, fairer pay. The cornerstone to all this was a belief that working people should get a fair go, and that we would all share in the wealth we helped to create, but the Turnbull government and big business have no interest in this promise. Instead, they’re actively dismantling our job security or standing by while it disappears – but we in the union movement believe in a fair go and we are prepared to go out and fight for it.”
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And while Martin just joined the yes side (along with Leyonjhelm, Bernardi and Anning), the government has just moved to delay voting on the bill in the Senate (they have called for a quorum on the debate).
Which would point to the numbers not quite being across the line as yet.
Updated
Steve Martin replaced Jacqui Lambie in the Senate, for those still catching their breath from the section 44 musical chairs.
The government just got another crossbencher across the line for its company tax cuts:
BREAKING: Senator Steve Martin is backing company tax cuts in the interests of supporting Tas business, exports and wage increases.
— David Speers (@David_Speers) March 21, 2018
We’ll bring you Malcolm Turnbull and Sally McManus (who are obviously not speaking at the same event) very soon – both Turnbull’s roundtable and McManus’s press club speech are about to get under way.
And Mike Bowers has a special guest with him today – you can meet him in the story at @pyjamapolitics on Instagram.
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The company tax debate will be focussing on this side of the chamber quite intensely today, so Mike Bowers went down to have a bit of a gander:
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The Catholic Education Commission is seeking to “clarify” its funding promise from Labor, as well as the robocalls it made during the Batman byelection.
Catholic sector says public schools will be greatest beneficiary of Labor schools policy and they stand "in solidarity" to fix education funding policy EYES EMOJI #auspol pic.twitter.com/vKHRC9duLn
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) March 21, 2018
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Josh Frydenberg will address the changes to the marine parks in just a bit, just as the WWF announces its plans to fight the new plan:
Australia Head of Oceans Richard Leck had this to say in a statement this morning:
This will send Australia’s reputation for marine conservation from the penthouse to the outhouse. The Coral Sea, which is the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef, is the worst affected area by far with protected areas reduced by 50%.
“This expanse of ocean beside the Great Barrier Reef is the Serengeti of the Sea – still largely untouched.
“Now it will be open slather for destructive commercial fishing activities like trawling, gillnetting and longlining.
“Forty-four marine parks in Australia are affected by these changes. Forty-two marine parks are now open to the construction and operation of oil and gas pipelines.
So, just reading Paul’s analysis there, the implication of that new precedent now means that, say the citizenship issue popped up now, if no member of the public brought a challenge within 40 days of the election, the parliament could just not refer people and there would be nothing which could be done.
The judgement also points to the court being sick of the section 44 eligibility issues, and is attempting to restore some sense of order to the whole thing (this is obviously just my view).
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A snap bit of analysis on the high court’s unanimous decision not to hear Labor’s challenge against David Gillespie.
Basically, there are now three paths to find an MP is ineligible: a citizen can bring a challenge within 40 days of election writs being returned; or the House of Representatives or Senate can refer the question to the high court; or the houses of parliament can determine eligibility of their members directly.
The court has ruled out a fourth path: use of the Common Informers Act to bring challenges after the time limit.
That means it is possible for parliament to block referral of MPs or senators to the court, and if it’s after the time limit ordinary citizens can’t practically challenge parliamentarians’ eligibility.
Justices Geoffrey Nettle and Michelle Gordon said that under section 47 of the constitution the houses of parliament have the “exclusive” power to determine their makeup, which can be waived, relinquished or altered. But the court can’t determine questions that don’t come to it by one of the mechanisms in the electoral act.
Chief Justice Susan Kiefel, Virginia Bell, Patrick Keane and James Edelman decided that the Common Informers Act sets out how a citizen can seek a penalty against an MP sitting while ineligible, but eligibility itself is an anterior question that only comes before the court through another means.
The joint judgment noted that the attorney general in 1975, Kep Enderby, was concerned that citizens might consider politicians were engaged in “a conspiracy” if they did not refer suspect MPs to the court – but said those comments at the conclusion of parliamentary debate cannot be used to judge the architecture of referrals set up by the law.
Justice Stephen Gageler also noted that the act now “fails to meet the central concern identified by the then attorney general”. The concern was that a political majority might prevent a putative disqualification by preventing referral of the question to the high court.
So there you have it – on citizenship cases the high court got a bunch of referrals and came through the parliament like a wrecking ball. But absent a challenge within 40 days or a referral, the high court is pretty tame when it comes to ineligibility.
Updated
With the welfare bill passed, the Senate moves on to company tax cuts.
After announcing last month that One Nation would not be supporting the company tax cuts, and instead wanted to see payroll tax cuts, yesterday Pauline Hanson said she was “not going to do anything to jeopardise investment in this country” and the door was still open to negotiations.
NXT, the Greens and Labor stand against the cuts, while David Leyonhjelm, Cory Bernardi and Fraser Anning are on board.
That leaves One Nation, Steve Martin, Derryn Hinch and Tim Storer as the government’s (and business lobby groups) targets.
Speaking to RN this morning, Tony Burke had a bit more to say about the changes to the marine parks which were, well, not announced so much as released as part of the machinery of government yesterday. Labor will be working on getting it reversed:
People probably associate more clearly with national parks on land. Imagine for all the national parks we have on land if with a stroke of a pen the government said they are all still national parks but you can walk into half of them and shoot the wildlife. That is effectively what has just happened. That for areas where there was a higher degree of protection they have gone against even their own panel. So take the Coral Sea at its worst. The area that was protected in the Coral Sea, half of it was protected as a full national park area. The independent committee they had recommended that be reduced to 40%. Josh Frydenberg has said that’s not low enough and has taken it all the way down to 25%. That means now you can have long-liners go all the way from north to south in the Coral Sea. You can have mid-water trawlers, same technology that was used by the super trawler, can go all the way north to south through the Coral Sea. That’s what’s happened overnight. And it’s no surprise they didn’t want to announce it.”
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Those welfare changes, in a nutshell, see seven payments replaced by one, which the government describes as “streamlining”.
It will also see a three-strikes system introduce – miss job interviews and you’ll now miss payments.
Drug and alcohol use/dependence can no longer be used as a reason for missing job interviews.
After voting for the bereavement allowance to be scrapped, One Nation realised that gave Labor and the Greens ammunition to run a “Pauline Hanson cut pensions” campaign, so Hanson put forward an amendment to reinstate the bereavement allowance the next day.
The drug testing trial which had originally been part of the reforms lives on, as separate legislation.
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Welfare system set for major overhaul
The welfare legislation has passed the Senate:
The #Senate has agreed to the Social Services Legislation Amendment (Welfare Reform) Bill 2017 with amendments and requests for amendments.
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) March 21, 2018
The bill won't be read a third time in the Senate until the House has considered the requests and the Senate accepts its response
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Malcolm Turnbull will hold a “round table” with retirees and pensioners at Port Macquarie in the next hour.
Jumping across to state politics for a moment, and the Victorian ombudsman Deborah Glass has handed down her report into public funds being used to pay Labor campaigners during the 2014 state election.
The Herald Sun broke that story in 2015
Twenty-one MPs were found to have breached the members’ guide. Glass said while the members believed what they were doing was within the rules, they had crossed a line.
“The decision to employ a field officers as electoral officers was an artifice to secure partial payment for the campaign out of public [funds] and it was wrong. They believed it was legitimate but while they received little or no personal benefit from the use of their funds for other people ‘s campaigns, 21 MPs breached the members guide. The principal architect of the arrangement was the former leader of the opposition in the upper house, John Lenders. There is undoubtedly a blurred line between permissible and impermissible uses of parliamentary funds. But in seeking to maximise the resources available to the party, John Lenders crossed the line.
“I am pleased the party has now paid the money back. Many factors contributed to the environment in which these breaches occurred. While I commenced the reforms that have been made or proposed since these events in 2014,more needs to be done. Trust in our politicians is declining and diminishes further with allegations of misuse of public funds. The public debate in this case confirms the importance of an independent body able to investigate allegations without fear or favour when the integrity of MPs is called into question.”
The state’s premier, Daniel Andrews, said Labor had repaid the money “in full” and then “beyond that, to get on and implement each and every one of the recommendations the ombudsman has made”.
Lenders quit his job as VicTrack chief in the lead up to the report’s release.
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The high court has blocked Labor’s challenge against Nationals MP David Gillespie in a precedent refusing to allow citizens to directly challenge parliamentarians’ eligibility more than 40 days after the election.
In a unanimous decision announced on Wednesday the court refused to hear the challenge to Gillespie’s eligibility alleging he has an indirect pecuniary interest in an agreement with the commonwealth.
The electoral act requires that challenges be brought within 40 days of the return of writs.
Labor’s failed candidate for Lyne at the 2016 federal election, Peter Alley, sought to use the Common Informers Act, which sets penalties for parliamentarians who sit while ineligible, to argue that citizens have a right to challenge parliamentarians’ eligibility at any time.
In the hearing in December the solicitor general, Stephen Donaghue, argued that challenges to an MP’s election must come within the time limit to ensure disputes are “rapidly settled” after an election without “ongoing uncertainty”. Parliament can also refer eligibility questions to the court at any time.
The high court unanimously decided that it cannot and should not use the Common Informers Act to conclude it has jurisdiction to hear the challenge, and stayed the proceeding indefinitely, which leaves open the possibility Alley could seek a penalty if the case returns after a referral from parliament.
Bret Walker had argued on behalf of Alley that citizen-initiated challenges would be a safeguard against the “partisan political process” refusing to disqualify or refer suspect MPs.
Walker quoted a speech to parliament in 1975 by the then-attorney general, Kep Enderby, warning that political parties could engage in what to the public “would appear to be something not very different from a conspiracy” and refuse to refer or disqualify ineligible members.
The court should not defer to a “partisan determination, bereft of evidence, actuated only by party loyalty” if parliament refused to refer or disqualify ineligible MPs, Walker had said.
In December the government used its numbers in the lower house to block the referral of nine MPs facing questions over their possible dual citizenship, including four of its own.
Labor’s challenge centred around the fact that at the time of the 2016 election Gillespie and his wife owned a shopping centre – which they have since sold – that leases a shop premises to an Australia Post outlet.
The challenge would have tested the limits of section 44(v) of the constitution. It would have amounted to a large expansion of the constitutional ban on indirect pecuniary interests if Gillespie were found ineligible.
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David Gillespie will not face section 44 challenge
Well, you can cross one potential byelection off your list - David Gillespie will not be headed to the high court:
#breaking high court decides 7-0 in favour of Nationals MP David Gillespie that common informers act can't be used to challenge MPs 40+ days after return of writs (ie Labor challenge won't be heard) #auspol #auslaw
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) March 20, 2018
Bill Shorten headed to central Queensland yesterday, where he held a town hall meeting in Gladstone.
He’s with Labor’s candidate, Zac Beers, who was preselected to run in the seat against Ken O’Dowd last week, to talk about the region’s health funding challenges.
Shorten is becoming quite the regular in central and northern Queensland. Labor never stopped campaigning in Queensland after the 2016 election. The state is the key to winning Canberra and the Coalition holds 21 of the sunshine state’s 30 federal seats. Labor has a serious eye on winning another eight, including Peter Dutton’s seat of Dickson.
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In about time news, Greg Hunt has officially announced that PrEP, a drug which can help stop the spread of HIV, has been added to the PBS.
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis is 99% effective in preventing HIV transmission. It was available in trials, but outside of those trials was prohibitively expensive. Hunt’s inclusion of the drug on the public scheme amounts to about a $180m government subsidy, but means patients will be able to receive the drug for just under $40 a month.
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In press gallery news, Channel Nine’s political editor Chris Uhlmann has had his parliamentary privileges revoked (he’s suspended) for three days, after Nine broadcast contents of a text conversation Michaelia Cash was having with staffers about how to avoid the media during a Senate committee hearing.
You can catch up on that day, here
Cash took her media avoiding techniques seriously.
And for those who missed it, Paul Karp updated us yesterday on the AWU raids case:
The federal court agreed to delay the union’s challenge because of a public interest immunity claim over key documents including three confidential AFP affidavits related to the raids. The court heard the AFP investigation into the leak of the raids to the media was still three or four months from completion.
The union is particularly encouraged because Justice Anthony North seemed to suggest the documents are probative – which could help it challenge the legality of the raid after the claim is lifted.
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The high court is sitting in Canberra today. We will see the reasons the bench decided Tim Storer could still take his Senate spot, despite having left the party which had originally placed him on the ticket.
And we’ll also see if the David Gillespie case will proceed. We’ve got Paul Karp down there checking out the vibe of it all – you can find him on Twitter at @Paul_Karp
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Tim Storer has officially informed the Senate he has quit the Nick Xenophon Team/SA-Best.
Which had been made clear by the whole fallout and then high court challenge NXT brought against him, but the Senate still has to be officially told.
Consider that box checked.
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Good morning and welcome to day 15
Well, as we predicted yesterday, the government is ramping up its attacks over Labor’s tax imputation policy, with the prime minister to visit seniors today.
We heard what Grattan Institute researchers had to say yesterday – that Scott Morrison’s warning over the impact of the policy was “misleading”, but Malcolm Turnbull is pushing forward today. As Katharine Murphy reports:
The Turnbull government will attempt to intensify political pressure on Labor over its policy to end cash rebates for excess imputation credits, citing figures suggesting 237,952 pensioners will be hit – as backroom arm-twisting continues over its unpopular tax cut for big business.
“Let me be very clear, these are not rich Australians,” the prime minister said. “Bill Shorten is targeting mothers, fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers on low incomes who rely on a tax refund to help pay the bills.”
Remember though, the key words in this debate are “taxable income”. There will be a group of people who are low-income earners, who only receive a small dividend from shares who will be affected by this. Labor has acknowledged that with all their hints that something is coming for pensioners down the track (the smart money being on some sort of pension boost to help offset any losses). But there are also a whole chunk of people who claim a taxable income of under $18,000 or so, but then receive fairly comfortable earnings from non-taxable income. Like their super.
Over in the Senate the government’s company tax legislation remains on the boil. After saying One Nation could not support the legislation last month, yesterday Pauline Hanson said the door remained open for negotiations. Mathias Cormann wants that worked out in the next couple of weeks – the budget is only 48 days away – and so if the company tax cuts aren’t in, they want to know for sure they are out.
The welfare bill didn’t pass yesterday, so the Senate will deal with that first up this morning.
The ACTU chief, Sally McManus, will address the National Press Club in what the union is calling the “most important speech in a generation”. Paul Karp reports:
McManus will say that many Australians are trapped in casual employment for an average of three years because they “are given no other option” by big business.
The ACTU policy calls for casual employment to be “properly defined” and for a right to convert to permanent positions after six months to prevent employers denying casuals “basic rights”.
Casuals are currently paid a loading of 25% or more to compensate them for the lack of conditions such as paid annual leave and sick leave. Labor has already backed an objective definition of casual employment.”
And then there are the changes to the marine park conservation areas which started filtering through late yesterday. Under the revised arrangements, 97% of commonwealth waters within 100km of the coast will be open to recreational fishing, as well as 80% of marine parks.
Labor has vowed to stop it.
“There has never been a step backwards in conservation area as large as this from any country on earth,” Tony Burke said on Tuesday.
And the government has agreed to Philip Ruddock’s request to extend the reporting for the religious freedoms review until May.
Phew!
Mike Bowers is out and about and you can find me in the comments.
Let’s get started!
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