Former prime minister says government should take ‘their own backbench’ into confidence before anyone else. All the day’s events, live
We made it! Well, almost. We made it through the second last day, meaning we have one more day of crazy to go until the winter recess.
I am not game to make any predictions of what tomorrow can bring. That’s like predicting how many more positions Pauline Hanson will have on company tax before that issue is truly put to bed.
The matter of public importance, put forward by Labor, was on the government’s proposed corporate Tax Cuts.
This is what Bill Shorten had to say:
This is a matter of real public importance.
A matter of what choices parliament makes, what priorities it adopts, what values it implements.
So, on the assisted suicide motion, David Leyonhjelm brought on a motion to bring on the debate.
This bit was not the conscience motion.
David Smith, who replaced Katy Gallagher, is delivering his first speech to the Senate.
Here is what Tony Abbott had to say about the Liberals being offered a free vote (when the bill comes up for debate in August, when parliament resumes) and David Leyonhjelm being offered assurances of that conscience vote on the bill, during the ABCC negotiations:
I am a little worried about secret deals and I am a little worried that undertakings might have been made which weren’t brought to the party room and the prime minister likes to talk about due process – I am very concerned about lack of due process.
I am very concerned, as I said on this program last week, the party room doesn’t get an adequate chance to discuss controversial policies because we are distracted by long and sometimes only marginally relevant debates about the minutiae about particular bits of legislation, instead of having the chance of political discussion right up front in every party room, as was the practice under John Howard, under Brendan Nelson, under Malcolm Turnbull, the first time round, and then under me.
On the euthanasia bill, Tony Abbott says he is “a little worried about undertakings which might have been made” by Malcolm Turnbull on allowing a conscience vote, “without taking it to the party room”.
David Leyonhjelm has said he opened discussions with the government about allowing a free vote back when negotiations on the ABCC bills were going through the Senate, and received assurance Liberal MPs would have a free vote.
Another tin has been rattled – this time for One Nation.
From a reader who just received this email:
They say only death and taxes are inevitable. For One Nation supporters, however, you can take some sting out of the tax bit.
Last week One Nation voted for income tax cuts in federal parliament. This week, you can take another tax break while helping One Nation at the same time.
Tony Abbott on 2GB repeats if we have “Snowy 2.0, there is no reason we can’t have Hazlewood 2.0” line.
The rest we have heard before – he is still not happy with the Neg, and is not ruling out crossing the floor.
David Leyonhjelm – who is leading a push co-sponsored by Brian Burston, Derryn Hinch, Pauline Hanson, Richard Di Natale, Jenny McAllister, Anne Urquhart, Glenn Sterle and Malarndirri McCarthy to return the rights of the territories to pass assisted suicide laws – has just stood and announced the debate.
Fraser Anning, the (now) Katter’s Australian party senator, tried to shut down any debate (he is very firmly against it) but was defeated.
One Nation just had a motion – “that the Senate calls on the government to facilitate the building of new coal-fired power stations and the retrofitting of existing base-load power stations” – defeated 34-32.
The government voted with One Nation.
From Mike Bowers to you:
Looks like the Liberals are rattling the can for the byelections – an email has just gone out to supporters:
Next month, our party faces byelections in Braddon, Mayo and Longman.
Our candidates, Brett Whiteley, Georgina Downer and Trevor Ruthenberg are campaigning with passion and energy.
Here’s something for tomorrow.
The Turnbull government will be introducing a modern slavery bill to the House of Representatives.
Aspiration count – 2
Captain’s call – 7
Malcolm Turnbull calls time on question time and we all breathe a sigh of relief that we made it through another one.
Julie Owens to Malcolm Turnbull:
In May, Optus sacked 400 workers but this week the prime minister is doing everything he can to do a deal with One Nation to give big business, including Optus, an $80bn handout, when Optus is sacking 400 workers. Why is this prime minister working with One Nation to reward them through his $80bn handout?
I thank the honorable member for her question. I think she’s referred to a large multinational company, a matter of tax and it gives me the opportunity to inform the House that as at 31 May this year, $2.7bn in light liabilities has been raised in additional revenue against multinationals and public groups. Of this $1.2bn is attributed to the tax avoidance taskforce – a government commitment.
This is based on legislation Labor voted against – $1.6bn in additional [taxes], raised against associated groups, including trust planning, and $1bn over has been committed to the tax avoidance commitments. I would add that in addition to this fine work that’s brought $7bn of additional revenue into the tax net, one of the reasons the treasurer has announced some improved numbers in terms of government revenues today, but Mr Speaker, we’ve also seen a significant impact on additional GST pay. Approximately $460m in 2017-18 year to date as a result …
I was just addressing income tax there, personal income tax and company tax and I’d moved on to GST. Mr Speaker, over the forward estimates, a total of $6.5bn of additional GST revenues will be raised to pay for schools and hospitals and roads and all of the states and territories will have that, as a result of the government’s integrity measures. We believe in lower taxes.
We know that because it encourages investment, employment, it encourages more jobs and higher wages. All the arguments the leader of the opposition used to address before he abandoned common sense. We’re ensuring that everyone pays their tax. We cracked down on multinationals and tax [avoiders] in a more resolute and comprehensive fashion than any previous government and are seeing substantial revenues accruing to the federal budget and to the GST directly to the states and territories.
Steve Ciobo tried to link tourism and investment with the South Australian Labor battle over who gets what seat now that Mark Butler’s has been abolished, but the speaker stops him:
It’s too long a bow. Though the question has come from his side, amazingly, it’s not relevant.
Julie Collins to Malcolm Turnbull:
Why does this prime minister support cutting the penalty rates of over 7,000 working Australians in Braddon by up to $77 a week, while he’s giving an $80bn handout to big business, or is the prime minister telling hardworking Australians in Braddon who are having their penalty rates cut to get a better job, too?”
I thank the honourable member for her question. I think it’s a shame that the member for Bass isn’t getting an opportunity to ask a question. I know his leader is probably, has probably hauled him in and said, oh, Mr Hart what a mess!”
(Rob Harris from the Herald Sun made that joke on Twitter hours ago FYI.)
“OH MR HART, WHAT A MESS” https://t.co/EcVwu70P6m pic.twitter.com/EUHL32zFEQ
We say he spoke for all Australians when he revealed captain’s call that the leader of the opposition made a job-destroying call. The honourable, the two honourable members I referred to, both from Tasmania, a state that’s enjoying stronger economic performance, and it has many family-owned businesses. I talked about one yesterday. There are so many in Australia.
Many generations of businesses have been run by the same family and they’ve been investing in them out of retained earnings. They are given confidence by by the government’s support. As the member for Bass pointed out, as he understands, he said he understood how important it is for businesses to make profits. In his maiden speech, the member for Bass said he understood the importance of small business and he feels that and so you can imagine how distressed he was to see those businesses which are at the heart, a city benefiting from one of our city deals I might add, getting strong support and how betrayed did he feel?
Chris Bowen to Malcolm Turnbull:
Under this prime minister household debt is at a record high and gross debt reached half a trillion dollars for the first time in Australian history. The governor of the Reserve Bank has said, I quote, ‘We have very high levels of debt and very high asset prices. That is our number one domestic risk. Prime minister, given that warning, isn’t this the worst possible time to lock in an $80bn big business tax cut?”
I thank the member for his question. Under this government we took gross debt growing at 30% under the Labor party, under the current budget and forward estimates to 2%. 30% to 2%.
We have wrestled Labor’s guerrilla debt to the ground, net debt this year turns around and we pay it down by $30bn over four years and $230bn over the next 10 years. I’m asked about what is happening in terms of the economy and what the impact of that is on revenues.
Oh goody.
It’s time for your daily Peter Dutton.
Ed Husic gets another question – two days in a row – and its on Paul Karp’s story.
A recent FOI reveals serious problems with the government’s PaTH intern program, including allegations of sexual harassment, women being criticised about their appearance, no consideration of people with a disability and other unacceptable working conditions. Why is the prime minister doing nothing to protect young job-seekers but everything to give big business an $80bn handout?
I thank the member for his question, though his information is wrong. In the Freedom of Information request he mentioned, there were 33 complaints made, that is less than 1% of the people that are – of the 31 of those, two of the companies involved in the program have been investigated by the Job Active Network and have been barred from participating in the program.
Bill Shorten to Malcolm Turnbull:
My question is to the Prime Minister. Should AMP receive a tax cut?”
Mr Speaker, it’s our policy … that all citizens in this country should be competitive, all have competitive tax rates.
Australians work for all of those businesses. They all deserve to work for businesses that have a competitive rate of tax, so their jobs are more secure, Mr Speaker. What is very clear is under the leader of the Labor party, Australians’ jobs would not be secure, they would not be secure because it is his policy to jack up the taxes on small businesses, on medium-sized businesses and large businesses. And yesterday we had a small shard of truth from the leader of the opposition as he fessed up to the fact that the Labor party would increase taxes again for businesses of more than …
I’m asked about a particular company and I have said that all companies, of which all companies are included – all companies. I’m referring to all companies in the economy. Mr Speaker, that means all of them. That means all of them.”
Bill Shorten to Malcolm Turnbull:
I refer to revelations about misconduct by AMP at the banking royal commission. Is the prime minister telling victims of that company that AMP deserves a big business tax cut?
The leader of the opposition has declared war on businesses of every size in Australia. He stands here and … wants to portray himself as the enemy of big banks and insurance companies. The businesses he’s taking on are to be found in every town and every suburb, in every electorate represented here. More than half the private sector workforce work for businesses with a turnover of $50m or less. Whether it is Stubbs Con or Universal Trusses in Hume, or a business like Kennedy’s Timber in Brisbane, on the border between Petrie and Longman, in fact, these are businesses that have many employees – 50, 60, 70 – all of them depending on the owners of the business investing in the business. Buying the best in technology.
The leader of the opposition wants to talk about AMP today. But the businesses he’s going after are numbered in the hundreds of thousands. They are right around Australia and as the member for Bass understands very well – very well – there are dozens of them in Launceston and he knows that those businesses are going to be threatened and the jobs of their workers threatened and in that interview, as Carlton pressed him, he refused to endorse the reckless agenda of the leader of the opposition. We well understand why he would not tie himself to that catastrophic captain’s call.”
He had the audacity in a prepared speech to say that he was going to back small business. So he was in there in his prepared speech, he said he would hug small and medium-sized enterprises. He walks out the door and then he mugs them. It is the hug and mug that the leader of the opposition is so famous for. You only need to ask the workers he represented – the hug and the mug.”
Ged Kearney to Malcolm Turnbull:
Today Senator Hanson said the price of One Nation supporting the prime minister’s $80bn big business handout was a new coal-fired power station. Will the prime minister rule out building a new coal-fired power station or is nothing off limits when it comes to teeming up with One Nation?
Mr Speaker, well, the Labor party should know that when in Victoria they crippled the coal royalties, the people of Victoria saw wholesale prices increase by 80%, Mr Speaker. The Labor party should know that when Jay Weatherill oversaw the closure of the Northern power station, that people of South Australia saw wholesale prices go up by another 80%.
They told him what they thought of it at the state election. So when it comes to coal under the national energy guarantee, it will continue to stay an important part of the energy mix.
He hasn’t mentioned One Nation once. Relevance, sorry.
Mr Speaker the final word goes to the CFMEU president, passing judgement on Labor’s 50% renewable energy target. He says, and I quote, “the 50% target will increase the cost of electricity for manufacturing and ordinary households”, Mr Speaker. Only the coalition can be trusted to deliver more affordable and reliable power.
Michael McCormack had another go of working out what his question time personality is.
His cadence was just described to me as a car bunny hopping down the road.
Bob Katter has the crossbench question and it is to the treasurer.
Just a reminder that the crossbench had the time allotted for asking questions bumped up from 30 seconds to 45 seconds because of how Katter asks questions.
The removal of collective bargaining in all tariff subsidies, put Australians farmers up for butchering by the banks. Can you ensure the House that the royal commission will ensure the receivers address the issue of the reconstruction bank enabling farmers to ride the rollercoaster of supply and demand. It won’t remove the truncating by taxes, but it will stop the banks from elongating the downs with a continuous imposition of discretionary, punitive charges?
I thank the member for his question. He has this passionate interest in these topics. Can I assure him that the terms of reference would catch liquidators to the extent they operate on behalf of a financial services entity, for example, a receiver, as defined in the laters patent.
The constitution has an insolvency head of power which would likely enable the commission to use coercive powers to obtain evidence from liquidators. In looking at the conduct of them the commission may seek to investigate other appointments, such as forensic investigators, accountants or valuers which are often part of the receivership process, as the member would be aware.
“Where’s Tony!” Labor backbenchers shout. The Member for Warringah isn’t (yet) in question time #auspol
Tanya Plibersek to Malcolm Turnbull:
Is the prime minister aware that the member for Warringah and member for New England both threatened to cross the floor against the prime minister and his energy policies? Is the reason the prime minister is promising coal forever? He’s doing everything he can to stop the former prime minister and the former deputy prime minister from undermining his government forever?
Scott Morrison takes the next dixer.
Every dixer just serves to remind me that time is all relative – how else to explain how three minutes can feel like six years?
Mark Butler to Malcolm Turnbull:
Yesterday the prime minister said coal-fired power will be around forever. But the head of the Energy Security Board said there would be absolutely no way that anybody would be financing a new coal-fired generation plant. Why is the prime minister promising coal forever when his own Energy Security Board says coal is more expensive, more polluting and not more reliable? Is it because the Prime Minister doesn’t actually determine his government’s energy policy, but … the member for Warringah [Tony Abbott] and Senator Hanson do?”
The honourable member reveals in his question the central problem Labor has on energy policy. They want to turn a policy area that should be about engineering and economics into one that is all about ideology and politics. We need to ensure that Australians have the most affordable, cheapest energy possible. That is – that should be the goal of policy. It must be reliable and we must meet our international commitments.
The national energy guarantee achieved all three, which is why it has such wide support. How retailers meet their obligations, what mix of generation they buy from, is up to them. It is to up them and the market and as technologies develop different approach also be taken. The important thing is to maintain a laser-like focus on price and ensure that Australians stop paying too much for energy and electricity.
Wow this day is just powering on. I still feel like I am sitting somewhere back at 9am.
Bill Shorten to Malcolm Turnbull:
Yesterday the prime minister said that coal-fired power will be around forever, but Snowy Hydro said that new coal doesn’t stack up and it would mean that Snowy 2 is not viable. Isn’t it the case that the government’s plan to prop up coal-fired power with taxpayer funds will affect the viability of Snowy 2.0?
The short answer is absolutely not.
The whole premise of the leader of the opposition’s question is, as with so much of what he says here, completely bogus. The reality is that Labor has imposed higher and higher energy prices on Australian families. That is what Labor did. We are seeing now, thanks to our policies, retail prices coming down for the first time in a long time. We’re starting to see – we are seeing, in fact – a halving of wholesale gas prices over 18 months and we’ve seen wholesale generation prices coming down by 30%. Our policies are working.
Labor wants to engage in an ideological war about one form of energy rather than another. If that is how they created the problem in the first place, the focus must be on clearly lower energy prices. People have been paying too much for electricity. So you focus on getting prices down, ensuring power is reliable, the lights stay on, ensuring you have dispatchable power and coal is always going to be a big part of that, making sure you have got lower prices but let the market, let technology, determine what is the best, most cost-effective solution.
Tanya Plibersek just referred to Pauline Hanson as the “Vicky Pollard” of the Senate:
“Yeah, but nah, but yeah, but nah, but yeah, but nah.”
Jordon Steele-John has set up an inquiry into Australia’s voting age. The joint standing committee on electoral matters has been asked to look into whether Australia should lower its voting age to 16, as it examines the Greens-sponsored bill:
The Bill proposes to introduce voluntary voting for 16 to 17 year olds and to allow people to enrol or update their enrolment details on polling day.
Submissions can be made through the Committee’s website by 10 August 2018.
Scott Morrison was also asked earlier today about Huawei. He was asked while appearing on AM and he was asked again at his doorstop later:
Apart from obviously economic management, I know that Australians can always have great confidence in the way that Coalition governments – Liberal-National Governments – address issues of national security. Australians trust the Liberal and National parties to keep our economy strong, manage our national security. As a government, we will always act in accordance with the advice of our national security agencies in relation to any issues that may arise from time to time. That’s what we’ll continue to do, that’s why we fund those agencies correctly, that’s why we give them the support so they can give us the best possible advice. And that’s what they do and we act in accordance with that and Australians can trust that.”
I am ashamed to admit I had no idea it was Territory Day. (update: it is July 1)
Luke Gosling, the member for Solomon, (chose to acknowledge it a little earlier)
Ed Husic was asked about Ross Hart’s radio interview:
Well, OK. A number of feelings. So you’re telling me that a first-term backbencher has had not a smooth ride in a radio interview. Having been there, done that myself as a first-term backbencher you learn quite quickly. I haven’t heard the interview with Ross. Obviously I’ve heard that it has taken place and he will put that down as a learning experience, no doubt. I think the bigger thing to take out is this: a lot of people getting very excited about the company tax news over the last 24 hours. No one is surprised by the fact that Labor has been saying for some time that in a context where you’re seeing all these budget cuts being born by ordinary Australians, a government saying you have to cop those cuts because of what’s called a debt and deficit disaster, and then coming out of the blue and saying we’ll hand $80 billion in corporate tax cuts …
“… So we’ve been talking about this for a while: affordability. You know, there’s a place in time for these types of cuts to be contemplated. It ain’t now. So no one should be surprised that Labor has been saying we need to have moderation applied and we need to make this call when the time is right. No one should be surprised. But I know you had some other questions.
JOURNALIST: Was yesterday the right time?
HUSIC: Sorry. Was there somewhere on the diaries that said there was a particular day that was the right time? It was always going to be a decision and we’ve still got to go through the internal processes by the way. So there will always be people that will be upset when you potentially deny them the benefit of a tax cut. You are always going to have that, it will be a little bit itchy. But the reality is no one can say Labor has not been arguing for some time that we need to make sure that the stuff that is being proposed is affordable given that ordinary Australians are feeling the pinch of two things: budget cuts and a flat wages environment.
JOURNALIST: So you back your leader’s decision, Ed?
HUSIC: Absolutely. Well look …
JOURNALIST: Well why was it so hard for Ross to say that?
HUSIC: Let me say this. We’ve still got to go through the internal processes. We don’t always find out at caucus, so we’ll find out through co-workers, committees, the decisions will be known by the caucus and the caucus will make decisions accordingly. But you know there will not be a lot of surprise in the minds of many given what we’ve been saying about company tax cuts. Ultimately when the Shadow Cabinet makes its decision and that’s communicated at Caucus and the decision’s held at Caucus. That’ll work its way out. As to whether or not people should have their heart palpitations send them into a frenzy. Well that’s up to them, but it ain’t working with me.”
John Lord says Huawei is open to debate – but doesn’t like “throwaway lines” becoming fact in Australia, without, well, facts:
“So it’s this information, these throwaway lines, like ‘don’t use a Huawei phone because [of the security risk]’. Proof, why? I don’t know.
Ross Hart has tweeted, after his interview with LA FM made it on to the mainland (see a few posts back). Everything is cool, he says.
1/2 In case there’s any doubt, I absolutely support our position on company tax.
I’ve always backed tax cuts for small business – and big business should not get tax cuts that are funded by cuts to schools & hospitals.
2/2 Tasmania & Australia need a Labor Govt with Bill Shorten as PM, because only Bill has a plan for better schools, better hospitals and better income tax cuts.#auspol
Michelle Grattan wants to know what John Lord thinks of Australia’s intelligence agencies – given their warnings against involving Huawei in telecommunications frameworks:
It is a matter of supposition they are saying that. I don’t know they are saying that. I have not been told by one minister. I have not been told by one person in the what I call real authority that they are actually saying that.
I was debriefed over the NBN decision many years ago. And as far as I’m concerned the interactions I’ve had with government bodies since then have not indicated that the intelligence community is actually briefing heavily against Huawei.
I will be open and honest and say we were told that we would no longer be allowed to bid for NBN contracts and it was based on not that we have done anything wrong, quote unquote, and it was just based that we were a Chinese company and they could not guarantee our equipment at that time.
Primrose Riordan from the Australian, who has written some excellent articles on China and the challenges its emergence on the global market is creating, asked Lord whether or not he senses a mood change against Chinese tech firms.
Lord says:
I have seen it written in the media that Huawei will be banned from 5G. We are having long, involved discussions with government at all levels. We will continue to do so. There is an openness to learn more about 5G. 5G is still a learning experience for – even for companies like Huawei and our two main competitors, Ericsson and Nokia, who are driving the global standards in Europe.
That is what we’re talking a lot to the Australian government about – what the standards are saying, who’s happening, the trends, how 5G is split up from core and non-core.
Over at the Press Club, John Lord has addressed Huawei’s likely ban in developing Australia’s 5G telecommunications network as he finishes his speech:
Huawei or no Huawei – much of the 5G equipment that we will use in Australia will be manufactured in China. Now, most of the 170 countries around the where we operate will see the next generation of Huawei equipment rapidly deployed into one or more of their national networks.
Adopting 5G will not be that difficult. Carriers with a reliable 4G foundation will be able to easily move to 5G. Having said that, it won’t be quick. Telecoms have still got to find profitable business models. We are working with the major global operators for their 5G trials. With Vodafone, we undertook the world’s first 5G call.
And on Mark Latham (who is a member of the Liberal Democrats), David Leyonhjelm said he hasn’t spoken to him in a few weeks, and there is no update on whether he will run for the party.
“There is a discussion going on within the party about whether we run him as a candidate,” Leyonhjelm said.
David Leyonhjelm wants to overturn the legislation that stops the ACT and NT from being able to make their own laws on assisted suicide.
He told Sky News that the most important thing in any euthanasia legislation is “informed consent” – so he doesn’t think you can assume consent for someone with dementia or mental health issues.
Labor frontbencher Mark Butler, speaking on Sky a little earlier, said he was entirely comfortable with Labor’s corporate tax plan:
I’m not going to go into the premise of your introduction, Ashleigh, about discussions within shadow cabinet. Obviously they are always confidential, always have been both in opposition and government of both political persuasions. But I’m entirely comfortable with the announcement that Bill Shorten made yesterday.
I think people understood our position about company tax cuts essentially for two reasons. The first is that we see other priorities in the budget. For example, not making Australian workers work till age 70 to qualify for the aged pension, not cutting the energy supplement of hundreds of thousands of pensioners, and not making the cuts to schools and hospitals that Malcolm Turnbull is making.
Over at the National Press Club, John Lord is speaking on how Huawei’s presence in the Australian market has driven competition and reduced costs:
I’ll bring you something from the Q&A session when it starts.
While we are on morning radio interviews, Tasmanian Labor MP Ross Hart didn’t have a great one with Brian Carlton on LA FM this morning.
David Crowe over at Fairfax caught that one.
The leader has announced that he would support a reduction in, I’m sorry, a repeal of the tax rate. It has not been discussed, as I understand, by shadow cabinet,” Mr Hart said.
When Carlton interrupted to point out the “equivocation” in this answer and to ask again if the Labor MP backed his leader, Mr Hart dodged the question again.
Anthony Albanese and Christopher Pyne both appeared for their weekly scheduled chat with Adelaide radio 5AA.
Labor has released the transcript. This is the first time we’ve heard from Albo (in detail) since the Whitlam address last Friday:
Labor’s Doug Cameron stopped by doors this morning:
It’s just nonsense. Yesterday we see this $80bn tax cut to the big end of town being pushed by Mathias Cormann, just machine gun mouth, on he goes, on and on about rubbish.
He can’t answer any of the questions, didn’t deal with the issue that Marco Rubio in the United States, a Republican candidate for the presidency said, that business had not increased wages, that business was not growing, that the money was simply going to the salaries of the executives and to buybacks of shares.
While reading through the Senate debate last night on the higher education legislation (which will see students repaying their debt earlier, and at higher levels) Pauline Hanson had this to say about someone earning $45,000 a year:
So, yes, repayment of the student loan will start earlier, and so it should – as soon as income allows for it. I challenge anyone to say that $8 a week will be a hardship for someone who is on a taxable income of $45,000 a year. I’m sure they could go without a couple of coffees a week to pay back their obligation to the Australian taxpayer.
And here is an idea of where the government will be taking today’s tax debate. Scott Morrison was on Sky this morning and had this to say about Bill Shorten’s company tax position:
He was counting the money but wasn’t being clear about the fact that he was actually going to rip back, roll back, take back legislated tax cuts from the Australian parliament.
So my question to him today is: “Come clean on $2m to $10m. Come clean on $2m to $10m, tell the Australian people, will you roll back the small business tax cuts?”
The Greens are also attempting to have the Lord’s prayer removed from the start of Senate proceedings. From Paul Karp’s report:
The Lord’s prayer would be abolished from the start of Senate sittings and replaced by a statement that includes religious and non-religious beliefs, under a push instigated by the Greens.
Thank you to a reader for sharing this with me: the OECD has released its latest international migration outlook report, (which you will find, here)
This is of particular interest, given the debates we have been having on migration:
Relative to other OECD countries, there is basically no gap in unemployment between people born in Australia and those born overseas. This is probably a large source of perceived social cohesion. pic.twitter.com/B12XBCbvDP
Peter Dutton’s office announced Australia will be providing more money to Care Australia for humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees who have fled to Jordan:
The US$3m funding will provide critical support to people affected by the Syrian and Iraq conflicts and help them rebuild their lives.
Australia has provided and committed more than $613m to the humanitarian response since 2011.
Donald Trump is due to visit the region in November, which has raised the question of whether the US president will come through Australia.
The Greens are being proactive – and have put a motion up in the Senate calling on the government not to issue an invitation, or officially, calls on the government to rule out:
But in case you missed it at the bottom of that other post, Pauline Hanson, who this morning said she was still talking to the government, now says it is definitely a no, until after the election.
“Let them take it to the next election, let’s see what the people say,” she told 3AW
Pauline Hanson also had a chat on 3AW about what she really thinks about Bill Shorten:
If you ask a lot of women … and a lot of men, actually, take note of what their wives think when you meet someone. You just have this feeling about someone and I have that feeling about Bill. And I have sat down with him, I have had a couple of meetings with him and I just don’t warm to him and that is just my feeling. And actually, when you look at the numbers coming in, people don’t warm to Bill Shorten to be the next prime minister of this country and that is evident in the polls that he gets.
I have heard from a lot of men as well, a lot of men feel the same way, they don’t like the way he comes across, the way he speaks, they just, I just don’t trust him, I really don’t trust him. Forget about the politics, I am talking about on personal basis. Should I be saying this? Who knows. But a lot of people feel the same way about me, so be it.
Would I put it that way? Look, we are talking about someone who is going to be possibly the next prime minister of this country. I think we need a person who we feel comfortable with, that we can trust, that is there for the right reasons, that has the best interests of this country at heart and the people, and I am sorry, I don’t pick it up with Bill Shorten.
I am talking about the individual. There are some issues of policy with Labor that I would support them on, but, look, they are not government. Let’s see what legislation they put up, because I will be in the parliament. If they do happen to be [in] government after the next election, I will look at legislation based on merit for the people and for Queensland and for the people and for the country. And I will not knock it back just because Bill Shorten happens to be the prime minister.
If that be the case, I hope I can have a good working relationship with him, because it needs to happen, but I am just saying at this point in time, I have had meetings with him, I have walked out of them, those meetings, and I felt, I don’t feel comfortable, I don’t warm to him, I don’t trust him and I just feel this is all about a man who doesn’t connect with me.
I got to know Albo, Anthony Albanese, when I went on the delegation to India last year. We had a lot better, I like Albanese, as a person, I warm to him a lot better, we had a laugh, we had a joke, I think it was reciprocal, but do I think he will make a great prime minister? Again, I don’t think so.
I think that is on the cards, because they know that Bill Shorten is not liked by the people and they may not vote for Labor purely based on Bill Shorten, but Anthony Albanese worries me greatly, because I think that there will be a breakdown in border security. His attitude, that he said, is just [to] let the boats come in and that will be detrimental to Australia.
Wayne Swan braved the cold Canberra morning for a short press conference this morning, where he addressed the decision to repeal the company tax cuts already passed for businesses with a turnover of between $10m and $50m – as well as Pauline Hanson:
Well, Labor has never supported tax cuts for big business. They come with a huge cost: $80bn. And that money will inevitably be ripped out of health and education. But I see this morning, Pauline Hanson has said that she’s going to jump into bed with the Coalition on the big company tax cuts.
Well, Pauline Hanson might as well go and join the Liberal party. Here’s the membership form. She can take out a bronze, silver, gold or platinum membership. Well, the truth is she votes with them 90% of the time so she might as well get platinum membership of the Liberal party.
The government accounts are in:
Company tax revenue in 17/18 increases by another $1.1bn to $87.8bn. It’s now up by $9.2bn just this year since the 17-18 forecast in 16-17 MYEFO. Stronger growth & stronger anti-avoidance measures = more tax even after 1st phase of tax cuts: https://t.co/brGhsoDhUV #auspol
More wheeling and dealing goes on in the Senate, during a sitting, than almost anywhere else, Mike Bowers caught the morning chats:
In a heartbreaking and detailed report, Amnesty International has named 13 officials in the Myanmar military it says have had a “key role in murder, rape and deportation” of the Rohingya population in the northern Rakhine state.
It is pretty unusual for Amnesty to name people in its reports, but in “We Will Destroy Everything”: Military Responsibility for Crimes against Humanity in Rakhine State, Myanmar, the human rights watchdog calls for the situation in Myanmar to be referred to the international criminal court for investigation and prosecution.
Speaking of the Greens, the party has released its industrial relations policy.
The party has put together a list of things it would like to see changed:
The Greens want laws that reduce inequality, tackle job insecurity and restore some basic rights.
Kicking out Malcolm Turnbull is necessary but not sufficient. Without a progressive Senate, you can’t change the rules. It’s as simple as that.
As we said yesterday, the Liberals and Labor will have a conscience vote on the euthanasia motion due to be debated in the Senate (they mostly always do on these things now), but Lyle Shelton, who is hoping for a Senate spot in Queensland and is battling for the same voters as Malcolm Roberts, had a few things to say about One Nations’ position.
He is now linking One Nation to the Greens:
Conservatives will be disappointed today to learn that Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party is understood to be backing doctor-assisted suicide, a pet policy of the Greens.
Conservatives party spokesman Lyle Shelton said many social conservatives had been attracted to the anti-establishment party but it was becoming clear it lacked clear principles.
The Senate has got straight into the foreign interference laws – which will be passed, because Labor is supporting them.
What Shorten is going to do, he’s going to hit them with higher taxes. This is an assault on jobs, it’s an assault on enterprise, it’s an assault on innovation and small and medium family businesses – that is the Labor way. That’s what Shorten is threatening and that’s why it’s vital to continue to back our national economic plan that is already delivering record jobs growth.
I’m not going to comment on negotiations with the Senate. We’ve found over the years the best way to approach them is privately, constructively and respectfully.
Just on those tax cuts – they apply to businesses with a turnover between $10m and $50m, however the tax only applies to the profit, not the income.
So this is a slightly odd comment from Pauline Hanson:
No, I have nothing to do with Bill Shorten about the corporate tax cuts. Remember, he wants to wind back the corporate tax cuts up to $50m back to $10m. He is speaking about the seat of Longman. I have a bus company up there that goes under if he winds back the corporate tax cuts back to $10m. He says he is for the battlers. It is all puff and wind. Do I like him? Do I trust him? No, I don’t trust him at all.
Pauline Hanson says she is sticking by her (latest) decision on company tax cuts, but I think we all know she and the government are just waiting for the Longman byelection to tick over.
The One Nation leader was on Nine’s Today show this morning, denying her decision has anything to do with the Longman:
Parliament finishes tomorrow, tomorrow night. Let’s see what the debate, where that leads and the discussions that are had and hopefully – and I promise the Australian people this is always about them and I am hoping to make the right decision for them and their future and the future generations.
Is it not easy to get it right. I don’t have, you know, the resources that the major political parties have and I have to take it on my gut feeling and I also have to take it on advice and listening to what I am hearing and also what I am trying to get for the people.
It’s the penultimate day before the winter recess and everyone is starting to get a little antsy.
The prime minister started the day in hi-vis – picking up the tools, and his attack against Labor’s decision to repeal the company tax cuts for businesses with a turnover between $10m and $50m.
Pauline Hanson says she hasn’t flip flopped on her support for Turnbull’s tax cuts for the banks. Watch this and decide for yourself. pic.twitter.com/AxspyavDry
I can imagine down in the chamber again [Labor is saying] she is flip-flopping – that is my prerogative and I will change my mind as many times as I want to ensure that I come up with the right decision.
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