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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Josh Taylor and Amy Remeikis (earlier)

Labor push for vote on help-to-buy bill delayed in Senate – as it happened

Moira Deeming Anthony Albanese Greens
Senators vote against help-to-buy bill
The Coalition, Greens and crossbenchers vote against Labor’s push to move the help-to-buy bill in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

What we learned; Tuesday 17 September

After a busy day in the Senate, we are winding down the blog for tonight. Here’s what made the news:

Until tomorrow, enjoy your evening.

Updated

Albanese refuses to confirm further negotiations with Greens over housing bill

Albanese says the outcome today counts as a rejection by the Senate but the Senate will get the next couple of days, and he says he hopes the Greens will “get some common sense”. He won’t say whether there will be more negotiations over the bill, as the Greens want, and won’t say whether there will be a double dissolution coming as a result.

Updated

PM says Greens should ‘be honest’ and vote for – or against – Labor’s housing legislation

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has called on the Greens to “be honest” and vote for or against the help-to-buy housing bill. Speaking to ABC Sydney on Tuesday, Albanese said it was “nonsense” that the legislation would increase the price of housing. He said:

This is a system that has operated very effectively in Western Australia for decades. It is just another measure to try to assist people into home ownership, but the Greens have voted against that, along with the Coalition, the same noalition, if you like, have voted against build to rent.

He said the Greens are voting against it to be spoilers, and claimed the party was not voting for it so they can campaign on the issue:

This is a Senate only sitting week. They’ve been sitting for two days. They haven’t passed a single thing. They haven’t voted on anything. They’ve just talking away, stopping things being voted on. And I don’t think that’s what the people who voted with either for the Liberals or the Nationals or the Greens or One Nation, no matter what way people voted.

For goodness sake. Get on with it. Vote for this legislation, or be honest and vote against it, rather than what is effectively a vote against the legislation along with the Coalition.

Updated

Emergency operation under way to rescue man who fell into a mineshaft in Hunter Valley, NSW

A police operation is under way in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales to locate a man who is believed to have fallen down a mineshaft.

Emergency services were called at 12.45pm today to Dry Creek Road, Ellalong, where police were told a man had fallen into a decommissioned mine shaft. NSW police said:

Officers attached to Hunter Valley police district remain on scene and are being assisted by Police Rescue, NSW Ambulance, and Fire and Rescue NSW.

The operation is expected to be ongoing for some time, and further information will be released when available.

Updated

Ticketmaster says ‘market value’ tickets match secondary market prices

Ticketmaster has responded to concern around tickets for Green Day’s 2025 Australian tour being as high as $500 due to what it calls “In Demand” pricing that saw ticket prices for some tickets in the presale surge.

A spokesperson said tickets cap out at $500 and Ticketmaster does not set the prices – the artists and their teams that do so. The “market-priced” tickets are a manual adjustment of a “small portion” of tickets closer to the full market value revealed in resale markets, the spokesperson said.

Rather than fans paying limitless prices on the secondary market and being unsure if tickets are actually genuine, the relatively small number of tickets that some tours price at ‘market value’ enable the general price of the majority of tickets to be more affordable by a larger number of fans.

The revenues are also retained within the live music ecosystem with the relevant taxes and performing rights payments being made rather than only benefiting the scalpers selling them. This is particularly important as artists have become more reliant on touring as their main source of income and are seeing touring costs rise.

Pricing isn’t about charging people more; it’s about looking at prices fans are already paying on secondary [markets] and shifting that value back to the artist.

Updated

Earlier today, we reported that more than 150 places of worship around the country are hanging banners this week calling for action on climate change and renewable energy as part of a week of action from faith communities.

Here is a photo from one of the events today of Very Rev Andreas Loewe outside St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne.

Updated

Greens call on government to support UN motion recognising ICJ ruling on illegal Israeli occupation

Just following on from our earlier post on the upcoming UN vote on Palestine, the Greens are calling for the federal government to support the motion recognising the ICJ ruling, being voted on Wednesday at 1am AEST.

Jordon Steele-John, the Greens senator and party spokesperson for peace and foreign affairs, said:

The Australian government must formally recognise at the United Nations the State of Israel’s prolonged and deliberate effort to undermine peace and self determination of the Palestinian people.

This is a chance for Australia to be on the right side of history. To acknowledge and help work towards the resolution of decades of intentional provocation by the State of Israel. This policy has seen in the West Bank and Gaza forced displacements, a spiral of violence and an apartheid system that Palestinians are forced to live under every day.

Updated

The fallout from the housing bill kerfuffle will continue and Josh Taylor will guide you through the rest of the evening (as well as covering off some of the other news that is about).

The Canberra team will have updates for you as well. We will be back with day three of the Senate-only week, which is getting a little bit messy (it wouldn’t be the Senate without some mess) and it seems as if everyone would rather not be sitting in a chamber together at this point.

Who would have had double dissolution threat on their Tuesday bingo card?

Until we see what tomorrow brings – take care of you.

Updated

National Farmers Federation expresses support for UAE trade deal

But the National Farmers’ Federation’s Tony Maher, is a fan, “commending” Don Farrell for his “leadership”:

The deal will deliver $50 million each year in tariff savings to Australian farmers and food producers and further support trade diversification, improving their profitability and competitiveness.

Australian farmers export more than 70% of what they produce, so gaining new and diverse market access is critical to the sector’s resilience.

This agreement also marks a strategic opening into the Middle East, a growing market of more than 58 million people with a heavy reliance on food imports.

Updated

ACTU president says UAE ‘among the worst countries in the world for workers’ rights’ as trade deal looms

Returning to the UAE trade deal Don Farrell announced earlier today (agreed, but not yet signed) the ACTU are not in favour of it.

The ACTU president, Michele O’Neil, said:

Australian Unions support trade expansion when it is both free and fair. The UAE ranks among the worst countries in the world for workers’ rights and would be one of the most repressive countries any Australian government has ever done a bilateral trade agreement with: trade unions, political organisations and political parties are illegal.

We have expressed our opposition to Australia doing a deal with the UAE without strong and enforceable labour rights. The text of the agreement has not been released and we are concerned that the government has announced its intention to sign the agreement without any public scrutiny of the commitments it contains.

The UAE is an absolute monarchy, with a notorious record on human rights, including modern slavery under the kafala system of labour migration.

In the UAE migrant workers in particular are vulnerable to exploitation, for instance, no punishment for sponsors who confiscate workers’ passports and withhold wages, and domestic workers frequently work more than 12 hours a day, seven days a week, with few or no holidays, and are subject to widely documented psychological, physical and sexual abuse.

We do not support the government entering into this trade agreement while labour standards are not enforceable, while workers have no right to join independent trade unions and collectively bargain, and while the fundamental architecture of the kafala system remains in place.

Updated

Bandt labels threat of double dissolution ‘astounding’

On the double dissolution threat Anthony Albanese let out today, Adam Bandt says:

I think that is astounding that the prime minister’s first point of call is to start threatening an early election rather than say he will negotiate to get legislation through the Senate.

… Why is he talking about it all? The parliament, the Australian people in the last election elected a record number of Greens and third voices to parliament and part of that is people are increasingly moving away from the old parties because they can see the talker began but don’t actually tackle the crisis.

We are saying in this parliament that we will work with the government but you have to actually take them to the cause of the housing crisis and the government talks about threatening an early election. That strikes me as the prime minister playing politics and being willing to see the bill failed rather than negotiate its passage.

Updated

PM would rather see the housing bill fail than negotiate, says Bandt

On why the Greens won’t just vote the legislation down, Adam Bandt said:

We would like to see the parliament take action on the housing and rental crisis. As we speak there are people who are skipping meals to pay the rent. Rents have gone up 31% since Labor came to power. There are people who are under enormous mortgage stress. They need help now and there are things the government can do right now to help.

What we’ve seen from the prime minister today is … sheer arrogance that says it’s my way or the highway. If you rewind and look at what happened with the Housing Australia Future Fund the minister was boasting about, because the Greens pushed for more, there’s an extra $3bn going to build those public and community houses the minister is talking about. It is astounding that the prime minister would rather the bill failed then negotiate, which seems to be his approach.

Updated

Greens delayed help-to-buy vote to give Labor more time to negotiate: Adam Bandt

Back to the housing bill mess, Adam Bandt has said his party rejected the government’s attempt to have one of the bills put up to vote because it wants the government to negotiate with them.

Bandt told the ABC:

We want the government to stop bulldozing, trying to get their bills through the Senate and start negotiating to actually fix the housing crisis. Two bills that you referred to, one pushes up the price of houses for 99.8% of renters and the other pushes up rents by giving public money in the form of tax breaks to developers to build expensive apartments that they will build anyway.

We are in the middle of the housing crisis and the government is coming up with Band-Aid answers that make the problem worse and what we need is the prime minister to stop bulldozing, start negotiating so we can tackle the causes of the housing crisis.

There’s only a few months until the election, this is all Labor has on the and what we’re saying like we did with the Housing fund before is in the middle of the housing crisis, you can do much better but you have to drop this my way or the highway.

Updated

You may have seen some Andrew Bragg about today on his super for housing plan.

The PBO have published the analysis they did at his request:

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has published the following response to a request for budget analysis provided to Senator Andrew Bragg: Impact of super for housing on commonwealth rent assistance for 35 to 59 age cohort.

It is available on the PBO website at www.pbo.gov.au/publications-and-data/publications/costings/impact-super-housing-commonwealth-rent-assistance-35-59-age-cohort

Updated

Australia mulls UN vote on recognising ICJ’s ruling on occupation of Palestinian territories

The Australian government says it has been “clear with Israel” that it must respect the international court of justice’s decisions.

The government has also indicated it has not yet finalised how it will vote on a looming UN general assembly resolution on the matter.

In an advisory opinion in July, the ICJ found that Israel’s continued presence in the territories it has occupied since the 1967 war was “unlawful” and must end “as rapidly as possible”, and that all other countries were “under an obligation not to recognise as legal the situation arising from the unlawful presence”.

The Coalition today called on the Albanese government to vote against a proposed UN resolution drafted by the Palestinian Authority, with senator Simon Birmingham calling the wording “one-sided”.

A spokesperson for the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said this afternoon:

The stated purpose of the UN general assembly resolution being discussed is to give effect to an ICJ advisory opinion on the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

As you would expect of a responsible government, we are engaging with other countries on the text of the resolution, its implications, including with regards to international law, and whether it appropriately reflects the ICJ advisory opinion.

We all know UN resolutions can be the subject of major revisions right up until they are voted on.

Australia respects the independence of the International Court of Justice and its critical role in upholding international law and the rules-based order.

We have been clear with Israel that it must respect the ICJ’s decisions.

It is understood Wong instructed her department and Australia’s mission to the UN in New York yesterday to ensure they pursued diplomatic efforts to address “concerns” with the draft resolution, including working with likeminded countries. Wong has also contacted some of her counterparts directly.

Updated

Migration to help address need for construction workers, O’Neil says

On the issue of migration and apprenticeships, Clare O’Neil says:

Some of the experts that advise government talk about numbers in the order of 90,000 additional construction workers, so there will be debates about exactly how many.

I think we can all agree that we need more tradespeople in our country, so as I mentioned, there has been 500,000 fee-free Tafe places provided by our government since we have been in office. We have invested very heavily in apprenticeships, which is a big issue. We see a lot of young people start apprenticeships [who] don’t go on to finish them so there are those investments happening there.

But as I said, [migration] is going to be part of the mix here and that is something we’re working with the sector on.

Updated

O’Neil accuses Greens and Liberals of ‘focus on politics’ at expense of solutions to housing problems

The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, is speaking to the ABC about the housing bills:

Our government is not going to give up on home ownership for working and middle-class Australians, even if the Greens and the Liberals try to stand in our path, and you are seeing us make great progress on housing despite the intense obstruction we face from the Greens in the Liberals and Senate.

You’ve seen our government do that really important work with the states, trying to unlock land and skills so we can build construction numbers.

You seen it in the assistance for renters through national cabinet and in the 120,000 Australians that we have helped into home ownership through the Home Guarantee Scheme, so – I understand the Liberals and the Greens have got to focus on politics. In a sense, I am beyond expecting anything better from either of them.

I would tell you that we are the only party that is actually trying to solve the problems of housing that Australians are facing in their lives.

What I truly and deeply wish is that we have the opportunity to see other people set politics aside and let us get on with what we said we would do, which is help more people into home ownership.

Updated

The Greens have moved in the Senate for a further two months to negotiate on help to buy.

So that is the formal move here.

Updated

Here is how that vote went down:

Key event

They say they have moved to delay the vote in the Senate to “give the government more time to negotiate” with the party on the housing bills.

Updated

So what has happened?

The government tried to suspend standing orders to bring help-to-buy to a vote. Every non-government senator, other than Tammy Tyrrell voted no.

So the motion is lost.

That means the government can’t bring on the bill for a vote, which it wanted to do to prove that the Greens and Coalition were voting together to defeat the bill.

Updated

Just expanding on what opposition leader in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, has said:

He said:

The Albanese government cannot execute its strategy to have one of its own bills defeated ... It has so lost control of the way its legislative agenda operates, they managed to convince just one non Labor senator to vote with them [Tammy Tyrrell].”


Birmingham said Labor had “tried to impugn” some on the crossbench for voting with the Coalition but only one non-Labor senator voted with them “because you are failing to convince people of the merits of the policy”.

Simon Birmingham can barely contain his glee

He says the Labor government can’t even strategise a way to have their bill defeated.

There is an absolute sea of gloating as Birmingham accuses Labor of “failing in different directions”.

If of course hot air and rhetoric were homes, the housing crisis would be solved!

Updated

Labor’s Murray Watt is attacking the Greens for voting against help-to-buy

He said:

The Greens party who say they care about young people, care about housing. Look at them scurrying away from what the’ve done: Voting not just with Peter Dutton and the Coalition, but also Senator Hanson and One Nation … the extreme right and extreme left of Australian politics pair up … voting together to stop young people being able to buy a home.”

Watt said the Greens have “let the perfect be the enemy of the good”, because the help-to-buy scheme doesn’t help every renter get into the scheme they voted against.

Watt said the Greens have the “hide” to campaign in the inner-city saying they are in favour of housing.

Watt is now attacking Greens MPs for opposing developments in their electorate.

Updated

Murray Watt is furious and is now going through a list of developments the Greens are opposing in Brisbane.

Penny Wong’s motion to suspend standing orders to bring Help to Buy on was defeated 41-19

Tammy Tyrrell is voting with the government but she is the only crossbencher to do so. Labor will lose this on the numbers.

Paul Karp is in the chamber and says on this motion, the Greens are sitting with Coalition, Hanson, Malcolm Roberts and Ralph Babet - voting against.

Lidia Thorpe and David Pocock are also voting against the motion.

Updated

Penny Wong has to move the help-to-buy bill again

Pauline Hanson said that she denied the original motion but wasn’t heard.

There is a back and forth and then the senate president decides to just start again.

Wong moves the motion. Hanson denies it. So Wong moves to suspend standing orders to debate her original motion.

The senate is dividing and is being very loud about it, while someone yells about “socialists”.

Updated

Ousted Victorian Liberal MP Moira Deeming agrees, under cross-examination, that her views on transgender and gender-diverse people were controversial within the Liberal party.

Deeming is giving evidence in the defamation trial brought against opposition leader, John Pesutto.

Pesutto’s barrister, Matthew Collins KC, asks Deeming if she understood her views of transgender and gender-diverse people to be controversial in the party.


Deeming replies: “yes”

Penny Wong has taken a dixer to speak about the “unholy alliance” of the Greens and Coalition on the housing bills.

She then calls time on question time and in the same breathe moves that the help-to-buy bill vote be called up.

Updated

Adam Bandt has commented on the ‘we’ll see’ double dissolution threat Anthony Albanese made earlier today:

It would be a betrayal of every renter and first home buyer if Anthony Albanese chose to end his government early and go to the polls, rather than negotiate with the Greens to fix the housing crisis. People are at breaking point. The PM should be negotiating, not giving up.

Murray Watt continues to speak on Peter Dutton’s record as home affairs minister and there are numerous back and forths over whether Watt is ignoring instructions by not being relevant. Everyone is fighting, but nothing is actually addressed.

Ahhhh, the senate.

Liberal senator James Paterson asks Murray Watt if the government will overturn a decision by the AAT to let someone on a visa who has committed a crime stay in Australia.

Watt is blunt:

I have no intention of announcing a minister’s decision especially when it is a different minister, not myself, about a particular immigration matter in the middle of Question Time. I

t would be highly inappropriate to do so and that is clearly a decision to be made by the Mr Burke, I’m not aware of whether he has made a decision yet but of course we will evaluate that.

It is an opportune time to remind the chamber of the absolutely disgraceful record of Mr Dutton is the home affairs minister on these matters. I do know you don’t want to hear it, I know you don’t want to hear it. The problem when you raise this and he doesn’t want to hear it …

The chamber gets very rowdy and yelling starts coming from all sides.

Watt returns to the question:

What I can say is the minister, Mr Burke, has been very clear he will use its powers to remove people from this country should not be here. We have also been clear that there have been issues with the AAT process that we have been addressing.

Updated

Moira Deeming gives evidence in defamation case

The ousted Victorian Liberal MP has begun giving evidence in the high-stakes defamation trial being heard in the federal court.

Deeming is suing the state opposition leader, John Pesutto, for allegedly falsely portraying her as a Nazi sympathiser after she spoke at the March 2023 “Let Women Speak” rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis.

Deeming is being cross-examined by Pesutto’s lawyer, Matthew Collins KC.

He asks if she remembers Pesutto telling MPs the Liberal party needed to be a united, inclusive and a credible alternative government, after he was elected as party leader.

Deeming replies: “yes”.

Updated

Lidia Thorpe asks:

All this spin is smoke and mirrors to deceive people and the sector and you know it. Does your government recognise that unless you increase funding more vulnerable women and children will be turned back to violence, more kids will be lost to lifetime of incarceration and more people will die in custody. Will your government accept responsibility for this?

Murray Watt:

Again, Senator Thorpe, with respect, I don’t think it is accurate or fair whether it be to the government or the legal services concerned to describe an extra $800m investment by this Government as smoke and mirrors. Quite the contrary. I think it’s substantial extra investment that will go a long way to ensuring firstly that the clients of those legal services.

Thorpe asks about relevance and is told Watt is being relevant. He gives much the same answer as before.

Updated

Lidia Thorpe says it is not a time to make speeches. Murray Watt is allowed to finish his answer and then Thorpe asks:

The national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services has described the insufficient announcement as a betrayal, saying it will mean only a fraction of people who need help will get it, including victim survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence. The chair said the announcement confirms the government thinks that is OK. Do you think that is OK, minister?

Watt:

I certainly think it’s a very good thing that this government, the Albanese Labor government, has invested another $800m in the community legal sector beyond funding that was already in the budget and certainly beyond anything we’ve seen from any government before.

My understanding is that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services in particular will benefit, as they should be, of the extra funding and what it will do for pay parity and the women who work in those services and as I said, the $800m that we have dedicated is in addition to current funding already being provided

Updated

Lidia Thorpe asks Murray Watt:

A recent independent review recommended the government provide an extra $459m a year to the legal assistance sector. And $215m of emergency funding for this year alone to ensure frontline services can keep up with the urgent needs in the community.

Two weeks ago, your government committed a pitiful $100m a year after indexation to help these services meet increasing demand. This is less than a quarter of what is needed, minister. As more and more First Peoples women, children and vulnerable people are left without help, why has the government chosen to choke frontline services of the funding they need?

Watt:

With respect, I’m not sure the figures you’re quoting are correct. I’ve said previously that our government and in particular the attorney generals as someone who has spent a lot of his life working with community legal sectors is a strong supporter of the community legal sector and has delivered far nor funding than the figures you’ve quoted.

The prime minister’s significant announcement following national cabinet last week demonstrate our commitment to access to justice. First ministers have signed agreement for a new access to justice partnership and the new agreement include an $800m increase on current funding levels for the legal assistance sector plus a commitment to ongoing funding.

Every part of the sector will benefit from this boost, which will be shared between community legal centres, women’s legal services, Legal Aid commissions, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services and family violence prevention and legal services and this is the biggest single commonwealth investment in legal assistance ever and I congratulate the attorney general for his advocacy on this within government and congratulate the other ministers in involved.

Updated

Wong says Labor has 'no plans to touch negative gearing'

With the House of Representatives not sitting this week, the sometimes attention-starved senators in the upper house seem to be enjoying their time in the spotlight. It’s getting a bit theatrical on the red leather this afternoon as the Coalition opposition focus their questions on housing – including whether Labor has a “secret plan” to change negative gearing settings.

As shadow finance minister Jane Hume asks about Greens’ leader Adam Bandt’s “demands” in the event of a potential hung parliament, some of the Coalition senators make conspiratorial “oohs” or hide their faces behind their faces in mock terror at Greens’ plans.

But at the same time, as Hume talks about Bandt’s calls for tax changes, the Greens at the other end of the chamber cheer and shout “yes!” I think we saw Tasmanian senator Nick McKim raising his fist or punching the air in support as Hume reads out their policies.

Foreign minister Penny Wong says, for the record, “we have no plans to touch negative gearing”.

One voice on the Coalition side (we didn’t catch who) calls out in response “refuses to rule out!”

Updated

Asked again about gambling ads, Jenny McAllister says:

The government is consulting with stakeholders. It is complex. It is important that we hear views, that we avoid unintended consequences and take the time to get it right and I’m not in a position to confirm the outcome of those consultations.

The minister will update the chamber and update the parliament when those consultations are completed. But it is obvious that meaningful action is required.

The number of people betting on sports has doubled in the last five years, more than a quarter of all men aged 18 to 25 and a third of men aged 25 to 34 now bet on sport and 10% of betters are classified as having a problem with gambling.

Australians lose more than $25bn in gambling every year, the highest per capita in the world and it’s why we need to get the reforms right to deliver harm reduction and cultural change.

Updated

David Pocock brings the senate back to some degree of normalcy (a big ask, for the senate)

Senator, this morning on Radio National, a woman who was referred to as Kate shared the story of her brother – a 24-year-old man who tragically took his own life because he could not escape the predatory tactics of the gambling industry.

Kate gave evidence to the [Peta] Murphy inquiry and she’s asking for the government to heed its findings in and put in place a full ban on gambling advertising.

She doesn’t want other families to experience the awful loss that hers has. After a year of hearing nothing, she’s asking what’s it going to take? Minister, can you answer Kate’s question and tell us what is it going to take for your government to listen to the evidence and ban all gambling advertising?

Jenny McAllister:

Can I start by really acknowledging the public contribution that this woman is making and her courage telling her story publicly and the contribution I understand she made to the inquiry into gambling harms and I say to Senator Pocock that government has made it clear that we are deeply concerned about gambling harms.

It’s one of the reasons that we have taken so many steps since election to deliver reforms to prevent online wagering harm. I would assert that more reform has been undertaken in the last two years than was delivered in the preceding decade.

Those reforms include banning the use of credit cards for online gambling, introducing evidence-based taglines in wagering advertising, strengthening classification of gambling-like features in video games to protect children, establishing mandatory customer ID verification for online wagering and launching the National Self-exclusion register for problem gamblers.

More than 28,000 Australians have now registered and 40% of those have opted for a self-imposed lifetime ban and bet stop is the most effective harm reduction initiative to date in terms of directly helping Australians who are experiencing harm and I encourage anyone who is experiencing harm from online wagering to visit www.betstop.gov.au.

Updated

Sarah Hanson-Young:

Why does the prime minister choose to be berated by the minerals Council and the BCA executives instead of working in this place to fix our environment laws to protect our forests from logging and to make sure we help the renewable energy industry with climate considerations?

Penny Wong:

I am tempted to talk about who goes to which events. I am tempted to talk about a shameful appearance by one of your members at the CFMEU rally with pictures of the prime minister - I think your judgment is sound and you would not have stood on that stage with those pictures. It comes to the challenges both on the environment but also the overarching challenge which is climate, we are serious about action on climate and on the environment and we have taken action. We have taken action.

We have ambitious targets, we have ambitious targets and we are committed to transitioning our economy. I like both those opposite, we believe it is possible to have a sensible environmental framework and continue economic growth unlike your party, we don’t believe we should be stopping economic growth as always it is up to Labor to chart the right course.

The senate is spicy today!

Updated

Nick McKim stands up on relevance and says the question was about the environmental laws, not housing.

Wong:

There was some political statements in there, there was a number were a number of political statements about the Prime Minister and what I say to the Senate, to Senator Hanson-Young, as if this is a bulldozer it is a pretty slow bulldozer, 290 days you have had to deal with the housing that legislation are now you’re complaining about being bulldozed. It defies belief the links which will go to try and justify voting for the Coalition.

Sarah Hanson-Young brings up the characterisation of Anthony Albanese trying to bulldoze the senate (a Morrison reference) and Penny Wong responds with:

I suppose the response might be why are you so frightened about voting? Why is the Greens so frightened about voting on housing, is it because Senator Hanson-Young and the members of the Griffith, is that in your heart of hearts you think 40,000 houses is not a bad thing for low middle income Australians? Do you think that is - is that why you are getting so upset?

Larissa Waters asks the senate president to ask Penny Wong to withdraw. Wong does, but remains petty:

As you know I am always happy to withdraw but I did point out she called a quorum before so she did not have to vote which was the truth.

That is unparliamentary but I am happy to withdraw. You know that, you know that. I think everyone knows that the current laws aren’t working for business and they certainly aren’t working for the environment. We know the minister has been engaged in discussions and it is regrettable that to date we have not seen the Coalition engage in responsibly on this. What I would say to Senator Hanson-Young, if the issue - I think the Prime Minister made clear his use of some of these policy matters and that is the position of the government. If you don’t wish to be responsible party and how you deal with these issues, yet again what see is good Labor reform, good Labor reform which is not able to proceed because the Greens are taking to extreme in a position and the Coalition are taking the opposition’s position, the negative position that they always engage in.

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young then asks:

Senator Wong at the last election your government promised to fix Australia’s broken environment laws.

Why won’t the prime minister work with the Greens to put in place environment laws that stop the destructive logging of our native forest and considered climate impacts in a way that would both tackle climate pollution and provide more certainty for the renewable energy industry?

Penny Wong (with her alt Petty Wong hat on) lets a few beats of silence go on:

I was just waiting to see if Senator Hanson-Young was going to call the quorum.

Updated

Then Jane Hume asks Penny Wong to make a concrete commitment that there would not be any Greens appointed to a future Albanese minority government.

Which is a nice blast from the past. We are, as the kids say, back.

Wong:

We are campaigning for a Labor government. A Labor government that delivers housing reform, we are campaigning for a Labor government that delivers higher wages.

We are campaigning for a Labor government which delivers the biggest increases in bulk billing in decades. That is what we are campaigning for. You are waltzing down the mall with the Australian Greens.

Updated

Jane Hume is back up:

Can you make a concrete commitment that Labor will not scrap or amend negative gearing in order to secure support for a minority government with the Greens?

Penny Wong turns it back to Hume’s Insiders interview. There are points of order flying around. Wong finally returns to the question saying:

I started by saying we have no plans to change negative gearing. I tell you what, what don’t you come clean about your $315bn cuts?

Jane Hume is next with the non-government questions and says:

The leader of the Greens, Adam Bandt, was quoted yesterday listing three key demands of Labor in the event of a hung parliament. He said that in the scenario of a hung parliament we would be putting the next government to make big corporations pay their fair share of tax, wind back the tax breaks for wealthy property investors and deliver some relief to renters and stressed mortgage holders. Will you be upfront with all Australians and categorically rule out Labor doing deals with the claims that result in big new taxes on Australian businesses, big new taxes on Australian homeowners and big new taxes on Australian workers?

Penny Wong:

Really? In a week where the Coalition and the Greens have teamed up to stop 40,000 homes for Australians, in a week where we have seen even today, the tactics in this chamber to avoid getting to a vote after we have seen in housing, the member for Griffith lead you down a path which has him lock in step with Peter Dutton. Arm in arm wandering the streets in Brisbane, that is what they are doing. Down Queen Street Mall. Arm in arm down the Queen Street Mall, we’re just going to vote together for everything. On that week you will ask me about working with the Greens. Have a look in the mirror.

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Kathryn Campbell got off ‘scot-free’ over robodebt: Jacqui Lambie

Ahead of Senate question time, Tasmanian senator, Jacqui Lambie, has told the Senate she thinks former human services department, Kathryn Campbell - who breached the code of conduct 13 times while overseeing the robodebt program - is a “disgrace” who got off “scot-free”.

Lambie, using parliamentary privilege, used her two-minute statement to attack the former top bureaucrat, saying there had been no accountability for her actions beyond being named.

Campbell told the Australian newspaper she denied the substantiated allegations made against her by the Australian Public Service Commission’s report on Friday, and believed she was a “scapegoat”.

Campbell will not face any sanctions from the APS as she is no longer employed. Instead, she will have to disclose the findings, if asked, for the next five years should she try to get work with the public service.

On Tuesday, Lambie told the Senate:

Kathryn Campbell went crying to the Australian newspaper like a baby, claiming she was being used as a scapegoat. As [government services] minister Bill Shorten pointed out, the definition of scapegoat is for someone wrongly blamed for the activity of others. You’re in charge, Ms Campbell. You are not a scapegoat. You are a disgrace.”

Updated

In his second supplementary question, Simon Birmingham brings up the changes to stage three, with the implication being; so why should people trust you on negative gearing, because you said you wouldn’t change stage three and then changed it.

Wong:

Do we remember what happened on Stage 3? Did Mr Dutton say he was going to oppose it before miraculously, they voted for it? Miraculously, they voted for it and now they come in here, having a go about tax cuts that they eventually, reluctantly voted for because they were the right thing to do.

That really is a demonstration of how frankly pathetic the opposition is. Where they are now trying to whip up a fear campaign around tax cuts that they supported and if we want to talk about people not telling people the truth, tell us about the cuts, $315bn worth of cuts that Senator Hume wants

Updated

Simon Birmingham asks the same question in a different way and Penny Wong responds in kind:

Let’s be clear with what we’re doing here. Those opposite are voting with the Australian Greens to stop houses being built.

Those opposite are voting with the Australian Greens to stop houses being built so in an attempt to try to find something else to talk about, they bring up a scare campaign from many years ago.

The treasurer has made clear we have no plans to change negative gearing arrangements but what I would say to those opposite, instead of talking about what we are not doing, why don’t you talk about what we are doing?

Why don’t you allow us to bring on a vote on the bill and for a change, why don’t you do something other than just a vote no? Because you vote no, you vote no and the reason that you do is because you don’t have any positive plans for Australia, you are not about helping people, you are simply about obstructing.

Updated

Senate question time begins

The second Senate question time of the week is under way (which means we are halfway through the week!)

Simon Birmingham asks Penny Wong:

Yesterday, in response to a relatively direct question from Senator Faruqi, you refuse to rule out changes to negative gearing under a future Labor government. Minister….will you take this opportunity to be clear and ruled out any future changes to negative gearing?

Wong:

I do remember that answer yesterday and I have to confess and I do confess this to the Senate chamber that probably didn’t listen to all of the content after the first bit of “Why won’t you negotiate with us?” Which I thought was such an interesting question to ask given that the bill we are talking about has been before the parliament for 290 days.

Amazing how long the Australian Greens can actually work to not get a vote because they are so worried about voting with Mr Dutton. That’s what it is. Our housing policy is clear, it does not include the tax changes that you reference. It includes the bill for the chamber and what I would say to you is that you should support the legislation.

Updated

One Nation senator Pauline Hanson has used her senate position to call for Australians to ‘turn their back’ against welcome to country acknowledgement.

As Reconciliation Australia explains:

Protocols for welcoming visitors to Country have always been a part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. Boundaries were clear, and crossing into another group’s Country required a request for permission to enter.

When permission was granted the hosting group would welcome the visitors, offering them safe passage and protection of their spiritual being during the journey. Visitors had to respect the protocols and rules of the land owner group while on their Country.

Today, while these protocols have been adapted to contemporary circumstances, the essential elements remain: welcoming visitors and respect for Country.

It has become a new flashpoint in the culture wars, which Hanson pushes here:

If you hand over my home to someone else, I have nothing to fight for. You hand over Australia, I will not defend it, and neither will my children. Being an elder doesn’t obligate my respect. Respect is earned, not given way to racial exceptionalism. Being Aboriginal does not make someone exceptional. Being an Australian is what makes you exceptional.

That’s the identity we all share.

In this spirit, I stand and turn my back on welcome to country here in Parliament and out in public. It’s a shame that so many other political leaders are too gutless to follow the same principle, desperate not to lose votes to the radical left.

I strongly encourage other Australians to do the same. Stop being walked over and stand up for your home.

Reconciliation Australia explains why a Welcome to Country is important here:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have experienced a long history of exclusion from Australian history books, the Australian flag, the Australian anthem and for many years, Australian democracy.

This history of dispossession and colonisation lies at the heart of the disparity between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and other Australians today.

Including recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in events, meetings and national symbols contributes to ending the exclusion that has been so damaging.

Incorporating welcoming and acknowledgement protocols into official meetings and events recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of land and shows respect.

Greens senator Nick McKim turns to the war in Gaza

He is highly critical of the government’s response:

They speak about holding for peace, but have done nothing to stop the bloodshed. They use passive language, condemning violence, but never condemning those responsible. From Labor statements, you’d think those bombs were dropping themselves.

They’ve refused to … demand accountability from the state of Israel and its leaders of war crimes, and have instead chosen complicity.

When Labor MPs travelled to Israel, they rejected calls for an immediate ceasefire.

Labor even expelled Senator Fatima Payman*, for voting in line with Labor’s own platform to recognise the state of Palestine. For nearly a year, Labor has refused to impose sanctions on the state of Israel. They’ve enabled the export of weapons components, and they’ve indeed failed to oppose impose any accountability.

That cowardice is a stain on their party and a stain on our country. History will not forget Labor’s betrayal of Palestinian people.

*Labor suspended Payman from sitting with the caucus. She later quit the party.

Updated

Labor senators line up to condemn Greens

Government members of the upper house are furious at the minor party for not allowing the housing bills to come to a vote.

Tasmanian Labor senator Catryna Bilyk called the Greens “obnoxious” and said:

When I went down to Browns River in Kingston and I spoke to the family living in a tent through rain and hail the other day, you know what they said to me, we would never vote Green again.

And I was pretty happy with that … (she runs out of time)

Updated

Greens delay vote on housing bill

As my colleague, Amy, mentioned earlier, the Greens successfully manoeuvred delaying a vote on Labor’s help-to-buy bill until after Senate question time.

Labor does not have the support of either the opposition or the Greens at this point but intends to go forward with the vote regardless.

During two-minute statements, which starts at 1.30pm, Labor senator Nita Green launched an attack against the minor party’s tactics.

What we saw a few moments ago in this chamber was an outrageous attempt from the Greens political party to prevent a vote on the help-to-buy bill. We have seen, and we will continue to see this filibustering from the Greens political party because they’re so ashamed of their position that they would have to vote with the Liberal party to block housing that they called a quorum to try to get that vote pushed off …

Why do they do that? Well, because they’re obsessed with the idea that if they go out and campaign and they door knock on the housing issue, that they’ll be able to get votes from the Labor party.

This isn’t about politics. This is about people getting a house to live in and building a home with their family. This isn’t about votes in Griffith [the seat held by Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather].

And the people of Griffith and Brisbane expect more from the people that they elect when they come into here. They elect people to come to parliament, to do something, to get on with the job, and instead, we see this filibustering from the Greens political party.”

Updated

New appointment to the Victorian supreme court

AAP reports:

Victoria’s top prosecutor Kerri Judd has been appointed as a justice of the supreme court.

Her new position was announced on Tuesday, with the Office of Public Prosecutions confirming she had resigned from her role as director.

Judd became Victoria’s first female Director of Public Prosecutions in 2018 after spending more than 30 years in the legal profession.

She led a series of high profile cases, including those against Cardinal George Pell and Bourke Street killer James Gargasoulas.

Judd also appeared for the state in inquiries and royal commissions and conducted law reform reviews on behalf of the Victorian government.

Brendan Kissane KC, who will take over as DPP, said Judd’s latest achievement was testament to how she was viewed in the legal profession.

Updated

Penny Wong was furious during that quorum call, yelling out across the chamber to the Greens:

You are so desperate! You are so desperate! That is so desperate, that reeks of not wanting to vote, calling a quorum so we can’t move to go to a vote!

At the end of the press conference, Don Farrell was asked about the double-dissolution talk. The trade minister - who is also the government’s deputy Senate leader - said Labor would “do everything we can” to get its housing legislation passed:

The simplest way to avoid a double dissolution is for the Coalition and the Greens to get behind our housing bill, and if they do that there’s no trigger for a double dissolution and we don’t have to have one.

Sarah Hanson-Young then calls for a quorum vote (there has to be a certain number of government senators in the chamber for the senate to have a quorum).

That takes up some precious minutes – the government only has until 1.30pm to bring on the vote. And despite the interjections from Penny Wong about “this is desperate” it works and the chamber moves on to two-minute-statements, without a vote.

Updated

Things are getting real in the Senate

Labor looks to be forcing a vote on its help-to-buy legislation.

It does not have the support to pass the senate, so this is about making a point.

Greens senator Nick McKim is speaking about the government’s tactics (while fighting a throat tickle)

Poverty is a political choice, and it’s a political choice made by parties that won’t increase income support, and political parties who still support the 190 odd billion dollars, billion dollars that go into tax breaks for property speculators in the form of negative gearing, the capital gains tax discount the housing market in this country is skewed in a grossly unfair way towards property speculators, many of whom have 10 or 20 or 30 properties.

Updated

Here is the official announcement on the trade deal:

This trade agreement provides a gateway for Australian exporters to diversify into the Middle East, a market of around 58 million consumers and a combined GDP of A$1.4tn.

Key Australian exports to the UAE include alumina, meat, dairy, oil seeds, seafood, steel, canola seeds, nuts, honey, coal, chickpeas, lentils and higher education.

Two-way investment between Australia and the UAE totalled $20.6bn in 2023, and this is expected to increase significantly.

The new trade agreement is a great deal for Australian exporters. Over 99% of Australian products will enter the UAE tariff free, resulting in estimated tariff savings of $135m in the first year, rising to $160m per year once the agreement is fully implemented.

The agreement will deliver real benefits for Australian farmers and food producers, with estimated tariff savings of $50m per year for our food and agriculture exports.

The negotiated package includes a framework which will encourage two-way investment, including in the sectors of the Australian economy that underpin our energy transition, such as critical minerals. The Australian mining industry will also benefit with tariff cuts on exports, including alumina which was valued at $1bn in 2023.

The agreement cuts Australian import tariffs on UAE produced furniture, copper wire, glass containers and plastic, making them cheaper at the checkout and lowering business costs for tradies. It is estimated that Australian households and businesses will save around $40m a year.

The deal unlocks new business opportunities, creates greater certainty for Australian service providers in the UAE and makes it easier for certain skilled professionals to work temporarily in the UAE. For sectors such as education, financial services, health and research and development services, 100% foreign ownership in the UAE market is guaranteed.

The agreement includes commitments on promoting labour rights, on protecting the environment, and on sustainable development. Australia’s right to regulate for all levels of government has been preserved.

The trade agreement with the UAE is Australia’s first trade agreement with a dedicated chapter covering First Nations trade. First Nations businesses seeking to export their goods to the UAE will benefit from preferential market access and rules under the agreement

Updated

The agreement has to be signed (and then ratified by both the Australian parliament and the UAE legislative council). Don Farrell expects signatures “in the coming weeks”.

How much is it worth?

Well, in totality, over an annual period, we’re talking about tens of millions of dollars. We’ll release the exact figures when we release the final document.

Farrell has expanded on some of the trade deal:

This is a great deal for Australian exporters with over 99% of all Australian products entering the UAE tariff free.

This is a very good deal for Australian farmers and producers, including beef and sheep producers, with estimated tariff savings of $50m each year for our food and agricultural exports alone.

The UAE has some of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world and this trade agreement will facilitate investment to help us become a renewable energy superpower. From a cost-of-living perspective, the agreement cuts Australian import tariffs on a range of households items and building supplies from the United Arab Emirates, making them cheaper at the checkout and lowering business costs for tradies of around $40m a year.

It also delivers strong outcomes for Australian service providers across 120 sectors, Australian wine-growers and producers, Australian universities and First Nations businesses.

Updated

Trade minister Don Farrell announces trade deal with the UAE

On Friday of last week, I held trade talks with my United Arab Emirates counterpart, [Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi], and today I’m pleased to announce that we have concluded negotiations on a trade agreement between Australia and the United Arab Emirates. This is the first trade agreement with the Middle East.

The UAE is not only our largest trade and investment partner in the Middle East. It is also one of our most important strategic, diplomatic and defence partners in the region. The deal complements our strategic relationship with the United Arab Emirates and it’s the gateway for Australian exporters to diversify into the Middle East with a potential market of 58 million people and a GDP of $1.4tn.

Updated

We’ll bring you the trade update from Don Farrell in just a moment.

And then it will be time to prepare for senate question time. What a treat!

Northern Territory chief minister unswayed on lower age of criminal responsibility

Despite the pleas of national experts, Lia Finocchiaro remains resolute in her plans to lower the age of criminal responsibility, AAP reports:

Finocchiaro has dismissed warnings her plan will result in 10-year-olds being jailed while promising to introduce legislation during the first session of the new NT parliament.

“Experts can be political commentators all they like, my job is to lead the Northern Territory,” she told ABC radio on Tuesday.

“What I will say to the people who are creating a scare campaign over this issue is to be more responsible with the information.”

Under the previous Labor government, the NT was the first jurisdiction to raise the age of criminal responsibility, in line with a recommendation by the royal commission into the Protection and Detention of Children in the NT.

Finocchiaro had opposed raising the age and announced in February, before the August election, that she would reverse the legislation because raising the age meant young people “were falling through the cracks”.

Since the Country Liberal party was elected to power, a raft of legal, medical and social services experts have raised the alarm on its election promise.

Updated

Business group warns ‘national prosperity’ at risk due IR law changes

The record high in the Australian share market – that’s the nation’s biggest 200 companies – that Jonathan has just reported on, comes as the Business Council of Australia is warning “national prosperity” is at risk because of the government’s IR laws.

Business Council of Australia chief executive, Bran Black, has released part of his speech to the BCA annual dinner being held this evening, where he lashes the government for its multi-employer bargaining, right to disconnect laws and other IR changes.

This has been run in many media outlets, so it is worth noting the highs the ASX has reached at the same time, given they are many of the same companies the BCA represents.

Updated

ASX 200 strikes an all-time high

The Australian share market hit a record high this morning, propelled by gains on Wall Street as investors shrugged off recession projections.

The benchmark ASX 200 struck an all-time high of 8,148.8 points early in the session, before a slight retrace. This is just above the previous record hit in early August.

Australian financials, including Macquarie Group and Commonwealth Bank, have been among the recent standouts, with both big-name stocks hovering near record highs.

While banks have been recording increased numbers of mortgage arrears, the levels have not dented investor appetite that has surpassed even the most bullish analyst forecasts.

The strong results, which include large gains in technology stocks, have more than compensated for weakness in some commodity prices, especially iron ore, that have dragged the share prices of many miners lower.

There has been recent exuberance coming out of the US, which dictates investor sentiment in global markets, amid expectations the Federal Reserve will start a rate-cutting cycle this week.

This has overshadowed recession risks in the US and Australia tied to rising unemployment and weak consumer spending. There are also geopolitical risks anchored to the Middle East and rising concerns over the health of the Chinese economy.

Updated

Greens want federal inquiry into missing Indigenous men and children in WA

Greens senators Dorinda Cox and David Shoebridge have written to the AFP commissioner and Malarndirri McCarthy saying the WA police had enough time to act on their own on the issue, and have not, creating the need for a federal inquiry.

From the statement:

In recent years seven First Nations WA men – Zane Stevens, Jeremiah “Jayo” Rivers, Wylie Oscar, Clinton Lockyer, Wesley Lockyer, Brenton Shar, Jimmy Taylor – have gone missing.

… The Greens say their families have been in a holding pattern ever since, and deserve better.

Cox:

These are humans, people whose families are sitting in a holding pattern waiting for any news.

Instead the police seem to be operating as though its business as usual, and the government won’t even respond to the Missing and Murdered First Nations Women and Children report which was tabled over a month ago.

Families shouldn’t need to go to public meetings, rally, or fund private investigations to get answers.

We haven’t even seen rewards being offered for information relating to these cases, yet we have for property offences in Western Australia.

First Nations people are going missing and have been disappeared by systems at an alarming rate – we are demanding truth-telling and action.”

The government is still to formally respond to the report into missing and murdered Indigenous women and children.

Updated

The debate has now moved on to whether there is enough time to call a double dissolution election.

There are a couple of ways, if Anthony Albanese went down this track and it wasn’t just an empty threat, a double dissolution could happen.

One is if the Senate rejects the Build-to-Rent bill. That was put up in the Senate in June, and knocked back:

If the government put that bill up in the Senate again and it was once again knocked back (which under current indications it would be) then that becomes a trigger bill.

Paul Karp has also pointed to the 2016 double dissolution:

Updated

Chris Minns warns Libertarians a ‘growing movement’

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has warned against dismissing the Libertarians as a “flash in the pan” after the party’s success across the state in the council elections.

Speaking on Tuesday morning, the premier said he had been watching the movement closely and could see the appeal for younger voters.

He said:

It’s not my political philosophy but I suspect that there’s a growing movement in support of a lot of their views. I think that they’re going to grow in political prominence in NSW. People are very frustrated by bureaucracy, some people don’t like rules … I watched them closely. I don’t think it’s a flash in the pan. I think they’re going to be a bigger presence on the political scene in the years ahead, I think particularly for young people.

More here:

Updated

The trade minister, Don Farrell, has called a press conference for the blue room at 1pm.

The blue room is reserved for the serious announcements the government makes that don’t involve the prime minister (those are held in the prime minister’s courtyard, unless the weather is bad, or it is too dark).

Updated

Greens dismiss threat of double-dissolution election

The Greens are dismissing the prime minister’s threat of a double-dissolution election over his stalled housing legislation as they prepare to combine with the opposition to vote it down in the Senate.

After their weekly party-room meeting in this Senate-only sitting week, they are demanding that the government negotiate properly on the housing bills. They say while talks are ongoing, the government has not put forward any proposed compromise.

The Greens have confirmed they will introduce a private senator’s bill seeking to implement a full ban on gambling advertising and will push to have the government’s bills on privacy and misinformation/disinformation sent off to Senate inquiries.

The Greens will be putting forth a motion calling for an independent investigation - not a separate Senate inquiry - into Israel’s killing of Zomi Frankcom along with six other World Central Kitchen workers.

And they remain frustrated that in its negotiations legislation to establish and Environment Protection Authority and amend the Environment Protection, Biodiversity and Conservation Act, the government won’t discuss removing the existing exemption for regional forest agreements.

The prime minister has already indicated he will not accept the Greens’ other major demand – adding climate impact as a consideration in the approvals process for development projects, something big business and especially the mining industry strenuously oppose.

Updated

The Guardian has launched an investigation into Australia’s real estate industry this week, looking at some of the forces at play in the $10tn residential property market.

One of the elements we have been examining is the market dominance of realestate.com.au, the jewel in the crown of the $27bn REA Group, which is a publicly listed company majority owned by the Murdoch family’s News Corporation.

In an interview for ABC’s Australian Story that aired on Monday night, media heir James Packer spoke about Lachlan Murdoch’s decision to invest $10m in realestate.com.au in 2000 – a decision that underpinned the family’s majority stake in the property portal.

Packer told Paddy Manning in the ABC’s two-part series on Lachlan Murdoch:

REA is, you know, the best media deal ever done in Australia.

When I say that, I’m saying Lachlan’s deal to take control of REA was a better media deal than any deal Rupert ever did in Australia. I’m saying Lachlan’s deal to take control of REA was a better media deal than my father ever did in Australia.

Packer sold his 10% stake of REA Group to Murdoch for $10m – a shareholding now worth $2.7bn. Packer said:

Let me be very, very clear about one thing – I never thought that 10% stake that he bought from me for $10m would be worth $2.5bn.

REA Group posted a net annual profit of $460.5m in August, driven by a 23% increase in revenues to $1.5bn.

This was partly due to average price hikes of 13% in the past year.
Australians are paying the most expensive fees in the world to advertise their homes online, with a single top tier listing now costing close to $4000 in inner metro areas.

The Guardian’s Hot Property investigation is here.

Updated

From all the messages coming our way, it seems that the double dissolution possibility has taken hold of people’s imaginations.

So thanks to the parliamentary resource papers, here are some fun double dissolution election facts.

There have been seven double dissolution elections since Federation; 1914, 1951, 1974, 1975, 1983, 1987 and 2016.

In 1951, the government was returned with a majority in both houses. This is the only time that has happened.

But in 1914 and 1983, the government of the day lost the subsequent election.

After the 1974 election, the Senate still didn’t pass the legislation, so there was the first and so far only joint sitting to resolve it (Laura Tingle recently looked at that in this 7.30 piece). And well, then there was the whole dismissal in 1975.

Updated

Albanese says 'wait and see' on double dissolution election

How did we even get to the point of a double dissolution election being discussed?

You can thank the Guardian’s Daisy Dumas for that. At the presser, where Anthony Albanese was talking about the stalled negotiations over the housing bill, Daisy asked if that meant a double dissolution was being considered.

Albanese said:

The Greens, of course, in 2009, everyone remembers when the Greens blocked climate legislation. They blocked the [carbon pollution reduction scheme] … they decided they were just going to be blockers.

That is when Sky News’ Andrew Clennell jumped in to suggest that a double dissolution would not go well for Labor, to which Albanese replied:

Well, we’ll wait and see.

I’ll tell you a way to avoid a [double dissolution]. It’s for the Coalition and the Greens to vote for legislation that they support. There’s nothing in the legislation, on the nature positive act, that they say they’re opposed to.

Updated

Pesutto told Deeming attendance at March 2023 rally would be 'toxic to us', court hears

Victoria’s opposition leader, John Pesutto, told former Liberal MP Moira Deeming that her attendance at a March 2023 rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis would be “toxic” for the state’s Liberal party, the federal court has heard.

Deeming is suing Pesutto for allegedly falsely portraying her as a Nazi sympathiser after she spoke at the March 2023 “Let Women Speak” rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Deeming was expelled from the parliamentary party in May last year.

The federal court is being played a 70-minute recording of a meeting attended by Deeming, Pesutto and members of the Victorian Liberal party’s leadership team held the day after the rally.

In the recording, Pesutto tells Deeming her attendance at the rally is a hindrance to the party:

It’s going to be toxic to us. We will not be able to get any kind of message up. We will not be able to campaign on anything. We will just be confronted with that anywhere we turn.

Pesutto says “all he was trying to do” was get the party “over the line” at the 2026 election:

Stuff like this will stop us from doing that.

In the recording, Deeming tells Pesutto she does not support Nazis and only understood the group were neo-Nazis when they were escorted by police from the protest:

They weren’t there supporting us.

Updated

Places of worship to call for climate action

More than 150 places of worship around the country will hang banners this week calling for action on climate change and renewable energy as part of a week of action from faith communities.

Cathedrals in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Perth, Newcastle and Brisbane will also hang banners as part of the week, organised by the multi-faith Australian Religious Response to Climate Change.

Faith leaders are calling for a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, an end to fossil fuel subsidies and for climate change to be considered under environmental law reforms currently being negotiated in federal parliament.

Mohamed Mohideen, the vice-president of the Islamic Council of Victoria, said:

The biggest, most urgent environmental threat we face is climate change. It is only right that our key environmental laws have protection of the climate right at their heart.

Bishop Hans Christiansen, of the Anglican archdiocese of Perth, said:

Scientists tell us we cannot afford any more coal and gas projects – anywhere. So we’re calling on both leaders to stop allowing new gas fields – especially those looking beyond 2050. The situation is far too urgent for that. Gas is not the answer.

Updated

In political spaces, you often hear about the prospect of a hung parliament (when the government is in minority in the House of Representatives, and governs with supply support from the crossbench) but what is spoken about less is that in terms of the Senate, the government very rarely has the numbers to pass legislation itself.

In that sense, it is a constant negotiation game – which is what we speak about with a hung parliament – but at the crunch time for the legislative agenda. The Senate is known as the house of review for a reason. But while there is plenty of commentary on the insecurity of a hung parliament, it rarely takes in that Senate support is rarely guaranteed.

Updated

What are the implications of a double dissolution?

So now that a double dissolution trigger is back on the table, there are quite a few questions as to why the government would want to go down this route. After all, Malcolm Turnbull only just scraped back in to power in 2016 after he called a DD election, which was only the seventh time that has happened since Federation (and the first one since 1987).

It’s a “break in case of emergency” electoral strategy for a reason. The lower voting quota for the Senate means it becomes a bit of a mixed bag. In 2016, the Coalition won 30 Senate seats, Labor returned with 26, there were nine Greens, four One Nation senators, three Nick Xenophon senators, Derryn Hinch, one Family First senator, Jacqui Lambie and one Liberal-Democrat.

(Isn’t that composition a bit of a blast from the past.)

But governments have also found it easier to negotiate with new senators, particularly those who don’t have a background in politics or a big party support system behind them, compared with established parties such as the Greens.

So it is a risk. But the gamble would be a friendlier-to-the-government Senate. But given polling, the question would be – which government?

Updated

Just a few more notes on the possibility of a double dissolution.

This is what the constitution says:

If the House of Representatives passes any proposed law, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, and if after an interval of three months the House of Representatives, in the same or the next session, again passes the proposed law with or without any amendments which have been made, suggested, or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amendments to which the House of Representatives will not agree, the governor general may dissolve the Senate and the House of Representatives simultaneously. But such dissolution shall not take place within six months before the date of the expiry of the House of Representatives by effluxion of time.

In June 2023 Anthony Albanese said the government had legal advice that delaying key bills constitutes a failure to pass.

For people asking about the fact a DD “shall not take place within six months” before the expiry of the House of Reps, that does actually leave a narrow window at the start of 2025 to call a DD because the House expires on 25 July 2025.

The premise of Andrew Clennell’s follow up question to what our Daisy Dumas asked about the possibility of a double dissolution was that Labor would do poorly.

I’m not sure that’s correct. If Labor can get a primary vote in the low 30s then it would likely win 4/12 Senate seats in every state and one each in the Northern Territory and ACT, a total of 26. They currently have 25.

A double dissolution would likely result in some Coalition seats going to smaller rightwing parties, and some Greens seats going to leftwing fringe parties such as Legalise Cannabis.

It could also remove Fatima Payman, Lidia Thorpe and David Van – who were all elected for the three major parties and then departed to crossbench.

Updated

That is the second time this parliamentary term Anthony Albanese has implied a double dissolution election could be on the table.

A double dissolution is when both chambers of parliament are dissolved and the whole shebang comes up for election (usually it is just House and half Senate). It becomes an option if the Senate rejects a piece of legislation the government puts up twice.

The idea is that if the Senate won’t pass it, the government can go to an election and seek a mandate – and potentially a different Senate which would follow that mandate.

The last double dissolution election was in 2016, when Malcolm Turnbull called one. It comes with a lower voting quota in the Senate, which often sees more minor parties find a seat – 2016 saw the return of Pauline Hanson to Auspol, when she won a Senate seat.

Updated

PM doesn’t rule out double dissolution over blocked housing reforms

Anthony Albanese has been asked about the possibility of Labor going to a double dissolution over blocked housing reforms or environmental law changes. He didn’t rule it out.

When Andrew Clennell then suggested a double dissolution would not go well for Labor, Albanese replied:

Well, we’ll wait and see ... I’ll tell you one way to avoid a [double dissolution]. It’s for the Coalition and the Greens to vote for legislation that they support. There’s nothing in the legislation, on the Nature Positive Act that they say they’re opposed to.

Updated

Albanese accuses Chandler-Mather of ‘immaturity and spite’ over housing negotiations

Then Anthony Albanese got a little more personal when it came to the stalled negotiations:

Well, it’s called a democracy. We have legislation, we support it, there’s no one putting forward a rational argument of why they shouldn’t vote for it.

In some cases, it’s just immaturity and spite from the Greens spokesperson [Max Chandler-Mather] who says he supports more housing but never will vote for it.

And in the Liberals and Nationals’ case, they’re just blockers. They never have been very good on housing, as the housing minister has just pointed out, minister O’Neill, they didn’t have a housing minister for a whole lot of their time in government. They gutted support for social housing, they’re opposing build to rent, the Greens’ argument is if you build to rent, then it will help developers. Well, I give the Greens the big tip, these places behind us were not built by single tradies. They were built by developers. And that’s what we need in terms of housing supply.

Updated

PM accuses Greens and Coalition of blocking ‘common sense reforms’

On the housing legislation (stalled) negotiations, Anthony Albanese says:

We’ve continue to advocate for this. The Greens and the Liberals and the Nationals have to decide whether they are just blockers or whether they’re looking for a solution.

And we’re at the stage in the political cycle after two and a half years where increasingly it would appear that the Coalition and the Greens are teaming up together to block things that are just common sense reforms.

If you are asked them in isolation, “Is this a good reform or not” they will answer yes. If it’s good reform, they should vote for it. If not, they shall be judged for just playing politics rather than looking for the solutions that are required.

Updated

PM addresses complaints by Business Council of Australia on industrial relations legislation

The Business Council of Australia is getting very cranky over the industrial relations legislation Labor has been making known for more than two years. It’s making a lot of noise about what the legislation, including right to disconnect et al, will mean for business owners.

Anthony Albanese addressed some of those complaints:

Let’s be very clear, those reforms have passed. And under those reforms, this Thursday, in two days’ time, the clock is ticking if we’ll reach one million new jobs being created since we were elected to government.

We are seeing more jobs being created. We’re seeing higher wages, continued growth, a continued rise in business investment, we’re seeing all of those factors.

My government has a responsibility to keep that downward pressure on inflation, we have halved inflation since we’ve come to office. But without punishing people on the way through. While making sure that cost of living measures continue to be addressed.

Updated

Greens accused of ‘rank hypocisy’ on housing

At the Sydney press conference called as part of the government’s housing legislation push, housing minister Clare O’Neil says:

With the Greens, we have to call this what it is, absolute rank hypocrisy. For two years the Greens have run around the country, crying crocodile tears for people who can’t get into home ownership, when they have a chance to do something about it, work with the Labor government, they’re going to say no.

This attitude of politics first, second, and third is not the way for us to help deal with this crisis facing our country. What we need is for once the Greens and the Liberals to put politics to the side and help us make progress on the aspiration Australians have to own their own home.

Updated

Where are Labor’s housing bills at?

So to recap on the housing bills stuck in the Senate – they remain stuck.

The Greens’ Max Chandler-Mather says the government has given “literally nothing” when it comes to negotiating on the help-to-buy shared equity scheme and the build-to-rent development incentives, and so the Greens are not moving.

The Coalition said no, pretty much from the outset and so it isn’t moving.

That leaves the government with limited moves – it can put the bills up for debate and see them voted down. It can negotiate with the Greens and enter in some uncomfortable areas (for Labor) on negative hearing and capital gains tax. Or it can withdraw the bills and blame the Senate crossbench for not getting its housing agenda (including a key election campaign policy) up before the next election.

Updated

Shared equity not the right approach to housing crisis, Birmingham says

On the help to buy shared equity scheme stuck in the Senate, Simon Birmingham says:

Our position on this has been clear since before the last election. We’ve always thought that the idea that the Albanese government should co-own somebody’s home with them was not the right approach to solve home ownership challenges in Australia. There are fundamental challenges that need to be met in terms of increasing supply, dealing with population pressures to help with that.

And indeed, we have an alternative policy that has equally been out for a long time, enabling Australians to have their own superannuation fund co-owned part of their home with them. It’s a much better way for them to be in total control of home ownership, rather than having the government as a co-owner.

Shared equity schemes have existed in some jurisdictions for years. The government takes a portion of the equity of the home, repayable upon sale, in return for providing a portion of the purchasing cost.

Updated

Birmingham wants government to vote down Palestinian Authority’s draft UN resolution

The Palestinian Authority has drafted a United Nations resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank, as well as calling for sanctions against Israel.

The UN general assembly will resume its 10th emergency special session on “Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. As part of that meeting, the draft resolution tabled by the Palestinian Authority will be voted on.

Simon Birmingham wants the government to vote no. The Liberal senator told Sky News:

Well, this motion is not specific to a ceasefire. It is a motion that would be deeply counterproductive to long-term peace efforts. And it’s an entirely one-sided motion that makes no mention at all of Hamas of the horrors and atrocities committed back on October 7th last year, or of the hostages who have now continued to be held for almost a year. So, with such a counterproductive and one-sided motion.

The decision for the Albanese government should be clearcut. That should be to oppose it, to stand with friends and allies, and to continue to support longstanding bipartisan policy in Australia about how we ultimately negotiate a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian people.

For the latest on what is happening in Gaza, you can head here:

Updated

Pocock continues push for banks to take more responsibility over scams

Independent ACT senator David Pocock will hold a press conference later this morning with financial scam victims as he continues his push to have the government force banks to take more responsibility for not identifying scams, or transferring money in suspect cases.

Updated

Chandler-Mather says Greens have ‘rare opportunity’ to use leverage to push Labor on housing bills

On whether he has any hope the government would negotiate with the Greens over their demands when it comes to the housing bills, Max Chandler-Mather says:

You have to have hope, right? This is a rare opportunity where we have leverage to push the government to realise the scale of the housing crisis. It could be because 75% of Labor MPs are property investors themselves –maybe they don’t get how much pain people are in right now.

Maybe they’ve forgotten they’re in government and have the power to take substantial action.

My appeal to Labor backbenchers is remember back to governments like Gough Whitlam when you took real, substantial action on issues facing people’s lives. You could announce mass-scale public housing investment and the Greens will support you.

You could announce coordinated rent caps and the Greens will back you in and support you. You could announce an end to tax handouts for property investors and the Greens will back you in.

Updated

Chandler-Mather says property prices would be pushed up by Labor’s housing scheme

Asked his thoughts on the other housing bill – the shared equity help to buy scheme – Max Chandler-Mather said:

It’s deeply cruel for the government to hold this out as some sort of solution to the housing crisis. Roughly 5 million people would be eligible for this scheme, meaning 99.2% of people would be denied access.

For those people, close to 5 million renters, house prices would be pushed up by the scheme because it puts more cash in people’s pockets to bid up the price of housing.

What we need to do – you’re right, we can’t fix this crisis overnight but a substantial action the government could take is stop giving billions of dollars in tax handouts to property owners. How is it fair that in a crisis, when banks are making billions of profits and renters are sometimes close to eviction that the government is going to give property investors $176bn in tax handouts through negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.

That, frankly means, you know, when you go to an auction and you’re trying to buy your first home and a property investor bids $200,000 above you, they do that because they have access to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.

Updated

Greens ‘willing to negotiate’ on Labor’s housing bills

Max Chandler-Mather says the government has offered “literally nothing” in negotiations:

It is genuinely shocking, right? Because this is the worst housing crisis we’ve faced in generations and it’s clear that the prime minister and Labor have decided they’d prefer to let their own bill fail and have a political fight with the Greens. But let me tell you the only losers out of that fight will be the single mums choosing between feeding kids or paying the rent because Labor won’t move on capping rent increases or building public housing or phasing out the tax handouts for property investors.

He said last year the Greens and government were able to negotiate on the housing Australia future fund (also known as the Haff) which led to more social housing being secured:

We’re willing to negotiate but we won’t just rubber-stamp two bills that will drive up house prices and rents.

Look, back when Gough Whitlam was around, you had governments willing to make university education free, build hundreds of thousands of good-quality public homes, introduce the precursor to Medicare. Why should we accept now in the middle of the worst housing crisis in generations, a government that will do worse than tinkering around the edges rather than taking the action that people desperately need to make their lives livable?

Updated

‘Want to help renters? Cap rent increases’: Greens

A little earlier this morning, the Greens housing spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather, spoke to ABC TV about why the Greens were not in favour of the government’s build to rent legislation:

What this scheme will do is deny 99.8% of renters access to it every year and drive up house prices for them by flooding the private housing market with more cash. Look, we’ve seen Labor and Liberals peddle schemes like this again and again, whether it’s the first home buyers’ grant. They clearly don’t work.

We’re in a massive housing crisis. It failed in New South Wales and we want to negotiate a plan that actually helps the millions of people getting smashed by this housing crisis. If you want to help people buy a home, phase out negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.

That’s the $176bn of tax handouts that go to property investors that deny millions of renters the chance to buy a home.

Want to help renters? Cap rent increases. It’s not fair that a landlord can put up the rent by as much as he or she wants at the end of every lease. Those are the things that are screwing over the millions of people in Australia right now, being smashed by this housing crisis.

We’ve said to Labor as well if you want to help people on the lower-income spectrum, start building public housing again the way governments used to and get people into genuinely affordable homes. It’s possible for the government to do all of these things we recognise we won’t get everything in our negotiation but right now they’ve offered nothing, literally no counter-offer and this is frustrating in a serious housing crisis.

Updated

Pocock continues to push for total ban on gambling ads

Independent ACT senator David Pocock is still pushing the government to go further on its gambling ad proposal:

Updated

The key surprises in the NSW local election results

How did the NSW local government elections play out?

You can have a look at the fallout from the results – and what lessons the major parties are looking at, here:

Updated

Advocates hopeful menopause report sparks change

Advocates hope a landmark report into the impacts of menopause will spark much needed conversations around the condition and lead to meaningful change, AAP reports:

The Senate is handing down its inquiry report into the economic, physical, mental and financial impacts of menopause and perimenopause on Tuesday.

Menopause occurs between the ages of 45 to 60, and perimenopause – which precedes it – can last for up to 10 years and begin in women aged in their 30s.

Those with the condition can face mild to severe symptoms such as tiredness, aches and pains, menstrual changes, a racing heart, difficulty sleeping, increased irritability and depression.

Advocates hope the inquiry can kickstart crucial conversations and quell the stigma associated with the condition to help women suffering in silence.

Three in four women will experience a mild to moderate menopause, but one-in-four will experience a severe menopause, Menopause Friendly Australia chief executive, Grace Molloy, said.

“Most people don’t understand what menopause is until it hits them in the face, and many struggle to get support if they are experiencing and wanting that support.”

Updated

Anthony Albanese, Tanya Plibersek and Clare O’Neil will “meet a new homeowner” in Sydney this morning, as part of the “pass the housing bills” tour. A press conference will follow.

Updated

White House marks three years since signing of Aukus agreement

Happy three-year anniversary of the signing of Aukus, to those who observe.

The White House’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, apparently does:

Three years ago, President Biden and our Australian and United Kingdom partners committed to Aukus, an enhanced security partnership that promotes a free and open Indo-Pacific that is secure and stable.

As this partnership has grown, it has strengthened the security of our allies in the region as well as our own security here at home. Over the past three years, our countries have made significant strides in supporting Australia’s acquisition of a conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine capability.

Australian sailors are now enrolled in US and UK nuclear power training schools, Australian personnel are embedded in US shipyards, and each of our countries have made significant investments to strengthen our respective defense industrial bases creating thousands of highly-skilled jobs.

Aukus partners recently implemented sweeping changes in each of our export control regimes opening up defense trade between our three countries.

Through deep integration of our innovation communities, Aukus partners are steadily developing and deploying advanced capabilities for our warfighters. These efforts will continue in the years to come as we collaborate and invest in this historic partnership.

Updated

‘Millions of household solar systems will be the first casualty’ of Coalition’s nuclear plan, Smart Energy Council says

While we are on the subject of nuclear, the Smart Energy Council have released analysis showing that introducing seven nuclear reactors to Australia will lead to the shutdown of solar panels “in millions of households”.

The Smart Energy Council, chief executive, John Grimes, said because nuclear power cannot be switched off it keeps pushing power on to the grid, whether it is needed or not and regardless of how expensive it is in that moment:

That is bad news for Australian solar homes.

The Smart Energy Council says the Coalition’s nuclear plan could generate about 11 gigawatts of new nuclear power, and that even at 60% capacity, the nuclear proposal “could force 6.6 gigawatts of eye-wateringly expensive energy into the grid and power bills of 7 million Australians and displace the equivalent solar power generation from between 1.8 million and 2.9 million homes”.

Grimes:

To create space for inflexible nuclear power plants ramming energy into the grid, millions of household solar systems will be the first casualty.

Solar power is already being switched off in South Australia when it makes so much free power available that it exceeds electricity demand.

Solar is by far the cheapest form of energy, yet Peter Dutton is telling Australian families to tear out the solar systems they paid for and spend billions of dollars on the most expensive form of power, which is nuclear.

The federal opposition is deceiving Australians about the horror price tag of their nuclear nightmare.

Updated

Joyce defends Coalition’s proposed Muswellbrook nuclear power station

Q&A was broadcast from Newcastle overnight and Barnaby Joyce was one of the guests (there is a reason it is also known as the Bad Show), so of course nuclear power played a pretty big role in the “debate”.

Asked if the four earthquakes over the last month near the site of the Coalition’s proposed Muswellbrook nuclear power station gave him any pause for thought, Joyce said:

I had lunch in the RSL club. The damage from that was a chimney fell over and maybe a couple of windows broke out. If you go through the design process of that, baseload power plants a day, they take this into account and this is why the engineering and the peer structure of engineering to compensate and deal with issues such as earthquakes. Thirty countries in the world are using nuclear power. Serious economies. They all deal with issues like this. They do engineer for that circumstance.

Labor political strategist Dee Madigan jumped in there:

There’s been 36 accidents I think worldwide and even the slightest the, slightest raise in radiation means increases in miscarriages, in stillbirth, in childhood cancers. I certainly wouldn’t want my kids living near one.”

Joyce demanded citations:

Can you put substance to that? … What are you quoting there?

Madigan:

Literally science, literally science.

The pair then got into a back and forth about why Joyce, who once promoted the
Sapphire windfarm in New England, changed his mind about wind turbines.

Joyce:

They’re not farms.

Madigan:

How can you change your mind so quickly?

Joyce:

Unlike you, when the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do?

Madigan:

When the polls change, you change your mind.

Updated

Julian Hill to call for Australians to ‘push back against those who seek to divide us’

As Martin mentioned a little earlier, Julian Hill will attend a citizenship ceremony today, on what is Citizenship Day – 75 years since the Citizenship Act was put in place.

He’ll also give a speech. From extracts, Hill will focus on what has been – as well as why it matters now:

Australians are free to live their life as they choose within the bounds of the law, while respecting the right of others to live how they wish with dignity and freedom …

This is especially important at a time when, let’s be frank, our social cohesion is strained.

Whether due to global tensions, malign actors, social media, loud voices or so-called leaders who seek to divide rather than bring people together.

We all share a responsibility to look out for each other, to stand up for Australia and be proud, and to push back against those who seek to divide us.

Updated

Good morning

Hello and welcome to day two of the Senate-only sitting, also known as “pass the housing bills even though no one is budging” week.

A very big thank you to Martin for starting the blog off. As he said, the prime minister is in Sydney attempting to keep pressure on the Greens (everyone has given up on the Coalition negotiating on these bills) to pass the shared equity and build to rent legislation.

The Greens want the government to shift on the amount of affordable housing on build to rent (100%) and an end to investment tax incentives like negative gearing and capital gains for the shared equity scheme. But the government is moving, so instead we have another day of press conferences and Senate speeches.

Updated

Citizenship in spotlight

Today is Australian Citizenship Day and to mark the occasion assistant minister for citizenship and multicultural affairs, Julian Hill, will be speaking at and presiding over a citizenship ceremony at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne.

There will be 45 conferees from 22 countries – the eldest is 65 and the youngest is two.

It is also 75 years since the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948 came into effect.

Goldmine stoush

Conservatives have been keen to criticise renewable energy schemes which they say will remove farmland from food production.

But the same logic never seems to apply to decisions about preserving the land from mining developments, as the stoush over a goldmine in central NSW has shown.

Calla Wahlquist speaks to David and Rebecca Price, fifth-generation cattle farmers, about how the project could impact their land.

Read her full story here:

PM lays out personal pitch to solve housing impasse

The prime minister will be looking to put pressure on the Coalition and Greens to pass two signature housing reforms during a visit to Sydney today, Australian Associated Press reports.

Anthony Albanese is due to meet a homeowner who used a government program to enter the market.

Labor’s schemes before the Senate – help to buy and build to rent – have faced criticism that they would not make housing affordable.

The help to buy scheme would reduce the requirements for deposits for first home buyers through a government loan guarantee.

It’s estimated 40,000 Australians would be able to buy their first property using the government program.

A similar program, the home guarantee scheme, had already been used by 120,000 people, among them the homeowner being visited on Tuesday by the prime minister.

Albanese said parliament had an opportunity to expand housing access:

Australians want to own their own home. Parents want their kids to be able to enter the housing market.

Australians want solutions. It’s time for the Coalition and the Greens to stop blocking so we can get on with building more homes.

Updated

SA’s renewable energy record

Reged Ahmad speaks to environment reporter Petra Stock about how South Australia created a renewable energy world record – and how it plans to power the entire state with weather-dependent electricity in just a few years.

Listen to the pod here:

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to the rolling news blog. I’m Martin Farrer and before Amy Remeikis comes along I will be running through a few of the top stories this Tuesday morning.

The latest part of our investigation into the real estate market has revealed that convicted criminals and unlicensed agents are operating in the real estate sector across multiple states. Authorities across the country report having fielded hundreds of complaints from prospective homebuyers about unlicensed agents.

The NSW local elections are showing a mixed bag of outcomes. Labor had some strong showings in areas such as Wollongong but a drop in support in key areas such as western Sydney. Perhaps with that in mind, Anthony Albanese will be in the city today to spruik the government’s home-buying scheme. Later in the day he will be addressing a different constituency when he speaks at the Business Council of Australia annual dinner. More coming up.

The big story in Victoria is a defamation trial where Liberal leader John Pesutto has been sued by ousted MP Moira Deeming. Deeming will be giving evidence today. We will have all the details as they unfold.

Updated

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