What we learned today, Thursday 7 September
And that’s where we’ll wrap up today. Thanks so much for your company.
Here’s a little of what we learned:
Labor’s second tranche of workplace reforms has been delayed until early next year after the crossbench voted with the Coalition to send the bill to an inquiry which is due to report in February.
The transport minister, Catherine King, said the treatment of Australian women subjected to bodily inspections at Doha airport in 2020 was “a factor” in rejecting the Qatari request for extra flights to Australia.
The independent MP for North Sydney, Kylea Tink, has decried the “excessive and unconstructive noise and aggression” in question time yesterday, saying she “did not feel safe” when chaos erupted around a dissenting motion moved by the opposition.
An inquiry into historical child sexual abuse at a Melbourne primary school in the 1960s and 1970s will investigate allegations at 18 other state schools where the same teachers also worked.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has met the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, on the sidelines of the Asean summit in Jakarta. Albanese said the talks were “positive” and covered a range of issues, including China’s economic outlook, Taiwan and the fate of Australians detained in China.
The federal government has strongly signalled it will crack down on larger airlines strategically scheduling more flights than they can run out of Sydney airport before cancelling them to shut out competitors from accessing the slots.
Updated
Police arrest boy, 14, over alleged near fatal abduction of Melbourne school student
News via AAP and my colleague Nino Bucci:
A 14-year-old boy who police allege is a known gang member has been arrested over the near fatal abduction of a Melbourne student as he walked home from school.
The boy was arrested after a 14-year-old student from Glen Eira college was forced into a car and left seriously injured in Glen Huntly on Monday afternoon.
Insp Scott Dwyer said police allege he was believed to be the main offender, and flagged more arrests in the coming hours.
Dwyer said that concerns schools were being targeted were “unfounded”. This comes as other schools in Melbourne’s south-east warned students to exercise caution when travelling to and from campus.
More on this story here:
Updated
Former KPMG partner sent a ‘shit sheet’ smearing him before senate testimony, parliament told
Former KPMG partner Brendan Lyon has told a NSW parliamentary inquiry that he was sent a “shit sheet” attacking his reputation by a current partner shortly before he appeared at a Senate inquiry into consultants.
Back in 2021, Lyon told a separate NSW inquiry that he was fired after a senior public servant put pressure on him to change a report that found the state’s budget was $10b worse off than Treasury claimed.
Lyon, who is now an academic at the University of Wollongong, told the ongoing state inquiry that he received the document in a WhatsApp message on 7 July. He appeared at the senate inquiry ten days later. Here’s what Lyon told the inquiry:
[The] message contained a document resembling a political shit sheet, which in this instance sought to cast shade over my role at the University of Wollongong as a professor of practice. The document included a message … asking if I had anything to add.
Lyon told the inquiry the sender then turned on disappearing messages before adding:
Once it was apparent [they] could not remove the document unread [they] then sent a text which said: ‘By the looks of this one of your academic colleagues at the university isn’t happy, not from me obviously’.
Lyon said he questioned whether that was true, given the sender had asked if he had anything to add.
In my opinion, [they] either texted me the KPMG shit sheet in error, or else [they] sent it intentionally in some attempt to intimidate me before my Senate testimony.
KPMG was contacted for comment.
Updated
First tariff-free sugar shipment reaches UK
The Australian government has welcomed the arrival of a shipment of raw sugar to the UK, saying it is the first time in 50 years that the product has enjoyed tariff-free entry to the country.
In a statement headlined “A sweet deal for Australian sugar producers”, the government explained that sugar exports had been hit with tariffs since the UK joined the European Economic Community (as it was then named) on 1 January 1973.
However, the new free trade agreement between Australia and the UK, struck under the former Coalition government, “delivers tariff-free access to the UK market for Australian raw sugar through an expanding tariff-free quota that increases from 80,000 tonnes in the first year to 220,000 tonnes by October 2030, at which point all tariffs will be eliminated”.
A shipment of Queensland sugar left Townsville in July and arrived in London overnight.
The trade minister, Don Farrell, said the first shipment of tariff-free sugar was proof of “real, practical benefits for Australian farmers and producers”.
The Australian high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, added a baking metaphor:
From the sugar cane fields of Queensland, all the way to the banks of the River Thames, this first tariff-free shipment under the A-UK FTA is illustrative of the modernisation and transformation which the Australia-UK relationship is achieving. Tariff-free sugar exports to the UK are an important ingredient of the historic A-UK FTA.
Bridget McKenzie to chair inquiry into Qatar Airways decision
The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie will chair the Senate inquiry looking at the federal government’s decision to block Qatar Airway’s request to fly additional flights to major Australian cities.
Speaking on Thursday afternoon, McKenzie said:
The Labor party this week has ducked and waved at every turn; minister after minister [and] the prime minister have been asked serious and deliberate questions about what they knew when, about making a decision that made our airline industry less competitive, that made Australians have to pay more.
The Coalition’s motion for the inquiry passed on Tuesday after a recount confirmed they had the numbers. McKenzie had amended the motion offering two seats on the committee to crossbenchers.
Emerging from the dust of that decision is United Australia party senator Ralph Babet as deputy chair and Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne as a member.
Updated
ACTU slams delay of IR bill but employer groups welcome ‘saving grace’
The Coalition’s successful motion to delay Labor’s second tranche of industrial reforms to February next year has been met with fierce reaction from the ACTU secretary, Sally McManus.
McManus said the Coalition had inflicted “more financial pain on Australian workers right at the time where they need support the most”:
Across the country, casual, labour hire, gig workers and victims of wage theft have been holding out hope for a brighter future. For the decade that the Coalition were in power, their legacy was driving down wages and making it harder for working people.
Meanwhile, employer groups have applauded the delay.
CEO of the Australian Retailers Association, Paul Zahra, said the bill in its current form wouldn’t improve productivity, job creation, or workforce participation.
The decision to delay this bill until next year comes as a saving grace for retailers, who are already saddled with the execution of numerous workplace reforms in a complex economic landscape.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who has been a vocal critic of the bill, said the new laws were “radical” and would give unions “unprecedented powers”.
ACCI’s chief executive officer, Andrew McKellar, said:
The government has admitted that this legislation will drive up prices. It is entirely proper that the Senate carefully considers every word, every comma and every full stop in this legislation.
Updated
‘It will take a national effort’: NAB CEO on curtailing scams
NAB’s chief executive, Ross McEwan, spoke at an Australian Lebanese Chamber of Commerce event today.
He says last year NAB processed 1bn payments, and 10,800 of them were “scam incidents”.
He said a survey out today of their customers shows one in two small businesses are willing for payments to be slower if they are more protected from scams, and four in 10 customers.
He said the bank had stopped including links in its official text messages in March and this was saving hundreds of thousands of dollars each day:
It’s having an impact. Since we introduced this measure in late March, we have seen an average of $250,000 in payments abandoned each day after we raised scam concerns.
We are working quickly. But there is much more to do.
In Australia we have 15 big telco pipes coming in that need to be cleaned up. It has been far too easy for criminals to pretend to represent organisations by stealing SMS tags – be that banks, Australia Post, Linkt or the ATO.
Banks alone can’t solve the growing problem of fraud and scams. It will take a national effort to counter this global organised crime wave. This means government, industry and the community working together to stop the crime before it happens.
Updated
Swifties’ ticket hopes dashed
Swifties in Sydney got their hopes up this morning when Accor Stadium seemed to announce they were releasing new tickets to all four of Taylor Swift’s shows at the venue in February – but it turns out this is not true.
Details on how to get tickets – which were pricier Category A tickets and suite packages – through the hotel chain’s loyalty program were posted on Accor Stadium’s website on Thursday, but later removed.
A spokesperson for Accor Stadium then denied there were any new tickets, saying: “We have not announced anything in relation to the release of new Taylor Swift tickets.” (Except their website had.)
Now Frontier Touring, the company looking after Swift’s Eras tour in Australia, has issued a statement saying that Accor was “incorrect” to offer tickets:
Accor is not approved for this activity and have confirmed they will be removing this offer immediately.
We remind fans that the only safe – and approved – avenue to secure tickets is through the official ticketing agency for the tour, Ticketek.
Sorry, Swifties!
Updated
Housing crisis will get worse under Labor’s social homes plan, Greens say
The Greens have responded to Australia’s welfare data insights, which we reported in the blog earlier.
The data showed the public housing waitlist continues to grow. In 2022, about 175,000 homes were waiting for public housing and about 39% of these were considered greatest needs households, an increase from 28% in 2014.
The Greens spokesperson for housing and homelessness, Max Chandler-Mather, said:
The data is clear: over the last five years the social housing waitlist has increased by 34,000, which means Labor’s plan to build at most 20,000 social homes won’t even match the increase in demand for social housing. It will see the housing crisis get worse.
Over the next ten years the federal government will spend over half a trillion dollars on tax concessions for property investors, but has so far refused to invest more than $500m a year on social housing. Those are completely unacceptable priorities in the middle of a massive homelessness and housing crisis.
Labor needs to understand that you don’t fix the shortage of public housing by gambling money on the stock market, you fix the shortage by investing directly in public housing, capping rents and phasing out tax concessions for property investors.
Updated
Pocock explains IR bill delay
Earlier today, Senator David Pocock, the Jacqui Lambie network and others on the crossbench voted with the Coalition against Labor and the Greens to send the industrial relations bill to an inquiry to report in February.
In a statement, Pocock said:
The Closing Loopholes Omnibus Bill is a huge piece of very detailed legislation. I have appreciated the high-level engagement with Minister Tony Burke and his office as the legislation was developed, but Monday was the first time I have seen any drafting or final proposals from the government.
The explanatory memorandum alone runs to 521 pages. Since the Closing Loopholes legislation was introduced on Monday we have had to deal with more than a dozen other bills.
My small team and I need time to review the bill in detail and consult with stakeholders. I want to see genuine loopholes closed and better protections for workers but I am also mindful of adding further complexity to business, especially small business, as well as ensuring there is time to look at any unintended consequences.
My strong preference is for the government to separate out the more straightforward and less contentious elements of this bill so the parliament can deal with them quickly. The other measures aren’t scheduled to commence until July.
Changes can be made now to benefit Australians while we take the time to work through the more complex elements of the bill to get them right.
Pocock said reforms such as making it easier for firies, police officers and other first responders to access workers compensation for PTSD in the ACT could be done immediately.
Updated
Thank you to Amy Remeikis for guiding us through a busy week in parliament! I’ll be taking over the reins until this evening.
Updated
Can you believe we have another week of this next week?
I am going to hand you over to Jordyn Beazley, who will guide the blog, and you, through the next couple of hours. But remember to check back to see what the Canberra team have for you, not just this afternoon, but tomorrow as well. It has been A Week, and there is no better team to help explain *gestures* everything to you.
I’ll be back with Politics Live on Monday – until then, please – take care of you. It gets very messy out there, and it looks like it will only be getting messier. Do what you can to protect yourself, and those around you. And that means switching off when you need. We all need a break from time to time – I hope you grab yours when you need.
Updated
Here is how Mike Bowers saw QT before it all, once again, went pear-shaped.
I have no way of knowing of course, but I think this is where the opposition decided to can the MPI debate.
Updated
Speaker addresses MPs’ behaviour – again
That is not the first time Milton Dick has had to address the standard of behaviour in the chamber.
In February the presiding officers called on the whole parliament to do better in response to the Set the Standard report.
In March, Dick said he was “disgusted” by the behaviour of Coalition MPs who attempted to rush out of the chamber doors to avoid a vote, injuring a chamber attendant’s arm. They apologised.
In June, Dick gave another statement on behaviour, after a bruising two weeks in the parliament, after the Coalition accused the Labor minister Katy Gallagher of attempting to politicise Brittany Higgins’s allegations.
The parliament then went on break until 31 July and there has only been a couple of sittings since then, but on Monday independent MPs were forced to raise a point of order on disruptive behaviour after jeering pharmacists disrupted question time. Dick ordered a security review and then issued a warning to MPs that they were responsible for the behaviour of the guests they signed into the building. The Coalition did not condemn the behaviour.
And then yesterday independents were again forced to ask about disruptive behaviour after the Coalition brought on a dissent motion against a ruling Dick had made on whether Catherine King was being relevant in her answer to a question on the Qatar Airways decision. The debate and vote, which went for just over 30 minutes, became very hostile.
So Kylea Tink’s speech is not in isolation.
Updated
Milton Dick then calls on Angus Taylor to move the matter of public importance debate, but the member for Hume is not in the chamber.
So the debate lapses (meaning it won’t happen).
That is not by accident – it means the opposition decided to scrap it.
Updated
Speaker: ‘We must do better’
Milton Dick responds and says the parliament is “simply not meeting the standards” of the behaviour it is supposed to – and has pledged – to set.
By any measure this has been a combative week in the chamber.
Such behaviour does not reflect well on the House, or any of us.
It’s expected that parliamentary debate will expose differences of opinion.
We have to find ways of engaging in debate that also maintains respectful behaviour.
We are simply not meeting the standards we should be meeting. This requires change.
Before question time, members know the House passed legislation for the parliament which has gone to the Senate that will help us build a safer and a more respectful parliamentary workplace.
But the legislation is just words and pieces of paper unless the House and all of us, unless we all act differently.
I hope this means something to all of us.
We must do better.
Updated
Kylea Tink:
This morning many of us spoke in support of the legislation to establish the parliamentary workplace support service and this legislation is to be welcomed.
But as I found out upon leaving the chamber yesterday and reaching out to it for advice and support, that body will not be able to reach into this chamber.
So I ask you today Mr Speaker, how are we expected to behave in this place? And what responsibilities will each of us here do better today and every day hereafter?
Updated
Kylea Tink:
As a member of this parliament, someone working here in this place, I do not feel proud of the way my workplace was represented yesterday.
And quite frankly, I did not feel safe.
I thought long and hard about asking this of you today because I’m mindful that in speaking out I might inflame rather than tame the situation.
But I came to this place wanting to speak for my community in what I consider to be the highest chamber in the land, and I did that because I believe this place should be a place of mutual respect, learned discussion, and dare I say it, a capacity to listen to each other. But as evidenced in yesterday’s display, I feel we are such a distance from that reality.
Updated
Kylea Tink continues:
I then voted on the subsequent motions as I thought was appropriate and following the votes [I received] perhaps the most [abuse] in this place for me personally yesterday, with one particular member from the opposition, while returning to my seat, yelling at me aggressively and at others on the crossbench.
He aggressively challenged my voting decision, referring to my testimony I had provided two nights earlier to a procedural committee into standing orders, during which I’d expressed a desire to see questions answered more directly.
His tone was hostile and his body language was aggressive.
And to the best of my recollections his words were, “where were you today then? You say you want clear answers, that was your chance and where were you”. As he shouted this at me he was shaking his head and looking at me in a way I found to be aggressive and honestly quite confronting.
Mr Speaker had this been the first time I had found myself the direct of this kind of behaviour I may have brushed it off but this follows the pattern. More than once as I enter this chamber I have noticed many other female colleagues have experienced the sort of treatment, especially [LNP MP Angie Bell], as you expelled somebody from this chamber.
Updated
Kylea Tink decries ‘excessive and unconstructive noise and aggression’ in question time yesterday
The independent MP for North Sydney, Kylea Tink, is on her feet asking Milton Dick to address the behaviour in the chamber. She says yesterday she “did not feel safe” as the chaos erupted around the dissenting motion the opposition moved.
I’m rising on indulgence in light of yesterday’s events in the chamber to provide guidance on what is and is not acceptable behaviour in this place to ensure we all feel safe – both in our seats as we sit here during debate but also after the vote has taken place.
I ask this as someone who has worked in a number of different environments over the last 30 years, many of which have been male dominated and have involved participating in an environment where debate was essential to bring the best ideas out of everyone.
However, yesterday’s behaviour left me feeling like my senses had been assaulted by what I experienced as there was excessive and unconstructive noise and aggression being thrown around the room. Mr Speaker, sadly this is not the first time I have experienced that sensation during question time in this chamber.
Some may argue yesterday was an exceptional circumstance when the opposition chose to dissent from your ruling, as they were entitled to do so under our standing orders. Be that as it may, once the dissenting motion was made by the opposition I believe the tone of the debate was overly aggressive and personalised, with numerous examples of condescending and offensive language designed to, I believe, intimidate others within the chamber.
And in any other professional environment this sort of behaviour would be completely unacceptable.
I stood to ask you to bring the place to order and I thank you for doing that.
If I could have I would have left the chamber yesterday but it is my understanding that, ironically, that is not acceptable behaviour.
Updated
Tony Burke:
Under 94a, I suggest the Member for Hume … should be allowed to stay in the chamber.
Milton Dick says he is feeling generous and allows it.
Julie Collins finishes her answer and Richard Marles ends question time.
Updated
Independent Helen Haines asks about regional housing
Helen Haines tries to bring some decorum back to the chamber and asks Julie Collins:
I acknowledge the government’s commitment to $500 million to the housing support program, $2 billion for the social housing accelerator and $3 billion through the new homes bonus. But despite one out of three Australians living outside a major city, not one of these announcements is dedicated to funding housing in regional, rural or remote Australia. Why won’t this government guarantee funding for dedicated housing supply in regional Australia?
Collins (after a preamble):
We understand how critical it is right across country but especially regional towns and the impact it is having. That’s why we have brought forward our regional first time buy guarantee, I’m pleased to update the member that 9,000 people in Australia and regional Australia have now bought their own home because we bought in that program and we now have over 9,000 Australians that are in their own home because of that. I want to reassure the member that when it comes to the housing accord, the 10,000 affordable homes that the commonwealth committed to, we have taken steps to ensure that each state and territory, and indeed regional and rural Australia, gets its fair share of homes from the housing accord.
Angus Taylor then intervenes with a point of order which is not a point of order:
Why isn’t the minister delivering housing to the hard-working people of ....
Milton Dick has made it clear that he won’t allow points of orders to be abused – Sussan Ley has been kicked out twice for abusing points of orders, so Tony Burke leaps to his feet … to save Taylor.
I think it’s important that a penalty under standing orders is taken as a penalty, what we just saw was an agreement between the member for Hume and the leader of the opposition to try to be thrown out so he does not have to give a speech!
The house erupts into laughter.
Updated
Tony Burke says that given that debate was basically held during question time yesterday, he requires it be dealt with after the MPI (matter of public importance, which is also known as “why the government is terrible” hour)
The chamber moves on.
Updated
Peter Dutton then attempts to suspend standing orders to discuss this motion:
The House expresses concern the government appears to have done a sweetheart deal with Qantas Airways to block the application for additional flights to and from Australia by Qatar Airways.
To note the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government has failed to give any clear or consistent explanation for this decision.
Has offered up nine different explanations and she has shown she has a selective memory, being somehow unable to recall any details of discussing the matter with Qantas, the principal financial beneficiary of her decision, even though she does have recall of other meetings she had over the matter.
Three, condemns the Albanese government for decreasing competition in the aviation market, and increasing travel prices for Australian families.
Four, reminds the Albanese government had promised after the last election to be transparent and honest with the Australian people.
And five, notes the Albanese government has clearly broken this promise with its efforts to avoid a proper scrutiny in the House regarding its sweetheart deal with Qantas.
Updated
Burke gets Closing Loopholes dixer
Tony Burke then takes a dixer on the Closing Loopholes bill and whether there has been any “misinformation” around it.
This is like Christmas for Burke and I can only imagine his glee when sketching out his reply:
Now, when we were announcing the closing the loophole legislation a few months ago, an ad campaign started and I said that the campaign was incorrect in that the legislation was never going to do what the ads were claiming, that somehow it would lose the capacity to pay someone who has a lot of experience a different rate to someone who is brand new.
Now the legislation is there, that misinformation… was stopped. They now replaced it with two ads with different forms of misinformation.
Burke then starts talking about the National Farmers Federation ad and Dan Tehan, ever watching for a reason to take offence, takes offence on behalf of the NFF.
Milton Dick:
The member for Wannon, you’re asking for a withdrawal on behalf of an organisation outside the parliament, is that the point of order?
Paul Karp reports the Labor MP for McEwen Robert Mitchell then yells out “never get between a Liberal and money” and the Coalition side of the chamber erupts.
McEwen is asked to withdraw and he does, prefacing it with “to let the grown ups talk [I withdraw]”.
He is booted.
Burke continues his bit, but the momentum is gone.
Updated
Treasurer is asked about small businesses and ATO reporting requirements
Zali Steggall has the next crossbench question and she asks Jim Chalmers:
Today, Treasurer, small businesses make up 97.5% of businesses in Australia and they are facing a perfect storm of impossible cashless situations with high interest rates and increased levels of debt from Covid, delayed rents fallen due and also rising. Add to this high energy prices, supply and staff shortages with a downturn in consumer confidence and spending and many are facing closure.
What additional measures will the government consider, including the delaying of ATO reporting requirements to get them through this difficult period?
Chalmers tells businesses who are struggling to meet their reporting requirements to contact the ATO as soon as possible and continues:
Whether it’s a small business, energy incentives, the targeted Energy Bill Relief Fund that those opposite voted against in this place, whether it is the instant asset right-off, the industry growth plan and industry ministers portfolio, the cyber warnings, this comes on top of all of the support we are already providing, Digital Solutions, change in the commonwealth agreement to favour small businesses, help unfair contract terms, making sure small businesses are paid on time, the work we’re doing on the franchising sector, all of this.
It is in recognition of the genuine pressures that small businesses in particular are under, we are grateful for the representation of the member for Warringah, we encourage small businesses to reach out if they need help as the ATO continues its important work.
Updated
ABC says it is ‘regrettable’ archival footage was licensed to voice yes campaign as it goes against policy
The ABC has apologised for licensing audio and video footage to the yes campaign for use in its You’re The Voice television commercials because it’s against the broadcaster’s policy for archival material to be used for political purposes.
The Australian music legend John Farnham lent his iconic song to the referendum’s yes campaign and You’re the Voice is the soundtrack of a new series of ads from the Uluru Dialogue which were released on the weekend.
The broadcaster says the 26 seconds of footage and 5 seconds of audio which play in the commercial were mistakenly approved by its commercial division.
This was done in error as it does not meet our policy on the use of ABC archival footage and is regrettable,” an ABC spokesperson said.
We are updating our licensing processes to avoid this situation in the future.
Updated
Milton Dick just made reference to school students in the “northern gallery” which is the permission MPs need to be able to acknowledge the gallery.
But he has to point out which way is north to a few of the MPs, who are looking around trying to find where exactly those students are sitting.
Updated
The opposition is asking those questions to Catherine King and trying to get a date from her, because of this additional answer Anthony Albanese gave to the house on Monday:
I rise to add to an answer I gave earlier today. I spoke to the Virgin CEO on 13 July 2023 by phone from Perth while in transit to Canberra from the Nato summit and bilateral visit to Germany, from 9 July to 13 July.
In that call the CEO made representations relating to air services arrangements with Qatar.
During that discussion I did not know that the transport minister had made a decision on 10 July 2023, a detail that was only advised to me after question time today.
I once again confirm I did not speak to the former Qantas CEO before a decision was made.
Updated
Peter Dutton to Catherine King:
Can the minister confirm the time exactly the prime minister or his office were informed of a decision on the application for additional Qatar Airway flights to and from Australia?
King:
I refer to my previous answer.
Updated
Tony Burke is back:
Under the standing orders and under practice a point of order is taken about an event at the time, the point of order on direct relevance was taken at the time.
Your ruling was given immediately, the answer has now concluded.
What has just been put by the leader of the opposition, maybe it is a question to the Speaker but it is no longer a point of order because the question has concluded, there is no ruling he can possibly make.
Milton Dick:
Under the standing orders page 53 on standing order 100 I will read for the benefit of the House so people understand exactly what we are talking about when it comes to answers of ministers – ‘104 a: an answer must be directly relevant to the question, a point of order regarding relevance may be taken only once in respect of each question and the duration of each answer is limited to three minutes’.
The leader of the opposition took a point of order on relevance. I explained to the House where I was at with dealing with the minister. There is nothing in the standing orders to allow the leader of the opposition to simply get up and say, at the conclusion of an answer, was that answer fulsome, was that answer enough.
[If there are questions] I am happy to take them at the end of question time to do with the administration of the parliament.
Updated
Dutton with point of order
Catherine King sits down, but Peter Dutton is on his feet with a point of order:
Disorderly conduct in the chamber, as your clarification in relation to the conduct of the minister, she was asked a specific question on two occasions.
… this has been a fairly volatile question time, you have excluded a number of colleagues, Mr Speaker, and so on efforts to help you ... Mr Speaker, the standing orders operate equally to each side.
I’m trying to make a point, Mr Speaker, to you.
Milton Dick:
Get on with it.
Peter Dutton:
I will. The point was the minister has been asked with a specific question whether or not she can nominate the date, if she wants to take it on notice that is fine but the point is, Mr Speaker, that she cannot be in order and I seek your clarification as to whether or not you will enforce the standing orders to instruct the minister to answer the question that is being asked.
Updated
King is asked when the PM was informed about the Qatar Airways decision
Angus Taylor asks Catherine King:
Can the minister confirm the exact date when the prime minister or his office were informed of her decision on the application for additional Qatar Airways flights to and from Australia?
King asks for the question to be repeated as she didn’t hear the last part and then gets up and says:
As I said previously, I took the decision on July 10 not to agree to Qatar’s civil aviation authorities to double their flights into Australia. I informed the prime minister prior to my decision being made public, this is not something routinely done, you normally would not ...
Peter Dutton:
This is the second attempt to ask the minister for a direct answer. The question is deliberately drafted in accordance with your previous directions about the tightness of questions, there can be no ambiguity about what’s been asked, the minister has asked for second time and I seek a ruling, Mr Speaker in relation to whether the minister is relevant to the question that has been asked.
Dick says he is listening but King is allowed a preamble.
As I said I took the decision on July 10, it is the first date you have asked. I did inform the prime minister prior to my decision being made public, it is not something that is routinely done, I doubt very much whether the former minister... This is not routinely done...
… As I said the context, I received media requests about the women, that is well canvassed now. I responded to the media request on 18 July by which point the prime minister was aware of the decision I had made, in that same conversation I had with the prime minister he let me know he had had a conversation with the Virgin CEO that he has canvassed.
Updated
Milton Dick then warns Clare O’Neil, a minister on his own side of politics.
He is absolutely in no mood for messiness today.
More questions to King on her Qatar Airways decision
Sussan Ley to Catherine King:
Can the minister confirm the date the prime minister was informed of her decision on the application for additional Qatar Airways flights to and from Australia?
King:
These are routine decisions of government, there is nothing remarkable about transport ministers making decisions on international air service agreements to reflect our national interest.
I have done it, we did it when we were last in office and former ministers opposite did exactly the same thing. I acknowledge the member for Riverina (Michael McCormack) is nodding at that.
On 10 July I took the decision not to agree to Qatar civil aviation’s request to double by 28 services a week the number of flights from Australia’s four major airports, four times in request that has ever been made or granted before.
I informed the prime minister ….
I informed the prime minister prior to my decision being made public and normally these decisions are not made public … my office had received multiple media requests about the woman escorted off a Qatar Airways flight and subjected to invasive searches.
(Ley begins to interject)
King:
Can I just say, this is constant, I’m just about to get to that. I am just about to get to that.
Milton Dick: The leader of the opposition can just listen to the minister, I want to hear what she has to say in response to the deputy leader’s question just as much as anyone.
King:
Again, for context my office had received multiple media requests about the women escorted off the Qatar Airways flight and subjected to invasive searches and their views on the search.
We requested [that information] by which time the prime minister was aware of the decision that I had made.
Updated
Tony Pasin has also been booted under 94A.
Milton Dick also gives a warning to the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, who has the MPI (matter of public importance) debate today to stop heckling – because if Taylor gets kicked out, there will be no MPI.
Updated
King continues:
One of the problems you’ve got when you’ve had a government that was so fixated, so fixated on the press releases and could not deliver, that you have now got an infrastructure investment pipeline that is $33 billion in known cost overruns.
We are making our way through that report, we are working with state and territories on that to provide certainty– but this is yet again the absolute mess and disgrace that those opposite left when it comes to infrastructure into this country. We want to get on with the business of delivering, you can’t drive on a press release and those opposite should be absolutely ashamed of themselves, of the state that they have left the infrastructure pipeline in.
Updated
King asked about infrastructure review
Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie asks Catherine King:
On 1 May 2023, you announced a 90 day review of infrastructure projects. This decision is causing delay and frustration, particularly for projects under way such as the October 2020 announced $250 million upgrade to the south-eastern freeway in my electorate. We are now at day 130, when will you provide certainty to my community that longstanding infrastructure promises made will indeed be honoured?
King:
As I have said in the media, I received the independent strategic review of the infrastructure investment report, it is a fairly lengthy and complex report but it does highlight, which I think even the member’s question does, just how badly the Liberals and Nationals managed the infrastructure pipeline.
I am considering the report in detail and a government response to the recommendation will be announced in due course, it does involve complex negotiations with every state and territory.
But I can give you some of the highlights from the report today.
The review found in fact that in the pipeline there is $33 billion of known cost pressures, that is what those previous actually presided over.
$33 billion of known cost overruns across all infrastructure investment projects, 41% of the total budget for the infrastructure program.
And it also states that there is a very, very high risk of future cost overruns. Because this was left by those opposite, they were so fixated on the press release, so fixated on the announcement and in fact the review highlights very significantly that the previous government tripled the number of projects in 2015 and in 2019. Both leading into election years.
Updated
Catherine King hits back
Catherine King then takes a dixer where she hits back on the Coalition’s record on dealing with Australia’s airlines:
Of course, we saw the previous government give billions of dollars of taxpayer money to Qantas for no strings attached.
Stood by as Virgin collapsed into administration, to be snatched up by foreign private equity. They saw the mass outsourcing of jobs in a labour hire mass that drove down wages and conditions across the sector.
They commissioned the Harris review into the Sydney airport and spent almost two years sitting on it, leaving it for us to sort out.
Updated
Catherine King on Qatar Airways: ‘I certainly consulted with ministerial colleagues but the decision was mine’
Paul Fletcher asks Catherine King:
Can the minister inform the house which of her cabinet colleagues she consulted with prior to making her decision on the application for additional Qatar Airways flights to and from Australia on July 10?
King:
As I said yesterday, as you’d expect, my department undertook consultations with all the relevant aviation stakeholders and I was well aware of different stakeholder views when I took this decision.
As you would know, as a transport minister you would regularly consult with ministerial colleagues but this is a pretty routine decision that ministers make, a routine decision that minister for transport takes, I certainly consulted with ministerial colleagues but the decision was mine.
Unlike those opposite, we do have a government of ministerial responsibility and we don’t have ...
We do have a government that runs by ministerial responsibility, unlike those opposite [with] a prime minister who signed himself into all of your ministries because he didn’t trust you.
Updated
Milton Dick is letting Dugald (his legal given name, but he has always gone by Milton) rule supreme today.
(It is a joke within Queensland politics that when the usually affable Dick is cranky, Dugald has taken over.)
Dick has ejected Michael Sukkar and LNP MP Phil Thompson from the chamber for ignoring his general warning about heckling.
Updated
Marles takes a dixer
Goodness me, there is a lot of pettiness in the chamber today.
It’s like stumbling into the lamest real housewives reunion possible.
Richard Marles takes a dixer (government backbencher asking a government minister a question about something the government wants to talk about) which is basically “just how terrible is Peter Dutton? Can you expand?”
The actual question is:
What is the importance of a person honouring their word in managing our international relationships on national security and governing Australia?
Marles:
On Tuesday the leader of the opposition said on indulgence I want to offer very strong words of support to the prime minister. ‘We wish the prime minister every success in the trip because it is important for the future of our country’.
And as our prime minister embarked on an important series of engagements in the Indo-Pacific, the sentiment was welcome.
But within one day, yesterday, as Hansard now records, the leader of the opposition was mocking the prime minister for going on this very trip.
And Mr Speaker, this is the starkest insight into the attitude which, in government, saw those opposite completely trash our international relationships, leaving Australia’s global standing in the worst position that it has ever been.
It saw the stopping of trade and the loss of thousands of Australian jobs, which this government has had to rebuild.
The constant addiction to low rent politics is why we saw a revolving door of defence ministers give rise to a lost decade in defence policy, but they still had the time to use the Australian Defence Force to cut an advertisement to raise money for the Liberal party.
Well what yesterday revealed the most was the character of the leader of the opposition.
… What we now know is that the value of the leader of the opposition’s words lasted precisely 24-hour.
What he says today is literally meaningless tomorrow. And when the leader of the opposition says there is an issue about politics, what the Australian people now know is that he is only ever about the politics.
And in that, as his position as the leader of his party actually denotes, he is the genuine [bearer] of the Morrisonian legacy. Australians cannot trust this man to act in their interest. But they can rely completely on the fact that no matter what the stakes, he will always act in his own personal interest.
Updated
Happy Gilmore
Milton Dick is also having none of it today – and issues a general warning to the chamber over the noise.
Paul Karp reports the opposition had been calling Richard Marles “Happy Gilmore” because he dodged a question on whether he has taken his golf clubs on any of his flights the other day.
I am taking bets on how many of the Coalition MPs have actually seen the movie, and quote it ad nauseam every time they pick up a golf club.
ARE YOU TOO GOOD FOR YOUR HOME, LITTLE BALL?
Updated
Richard Marles continues:
And in every one of those [cutting the cost of living] efforts, we acted in the face of the opposition of those opposite.
As I said on Tuesday, everywhere I have been and everything I have done has been in pursuit of my duties acting on behalf of the Australian people and I stand by every flight that I took on the special-purpose aircraft or commercially.
Marles uses the rest of his answer to criticise the Coalition’s record on defence.
Richard Marles asked about the cost of living – and Defence flights
And now we get to the questions.
Shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie, who has been pushing for more prominence within the Coalition, has the first question and it is to Richard Marles:
Australians are seeing the prices of everything go up under this government … to add insult to injury Qantas flights are regularly cancelled and luggage lost, how many times has the acting prime minister taken a Defence flight from Avalon airport to go home from work?
Marles:
Certainly these are tough times in terms of the cost of living and we very much understand the pressures which are upon the budgets of household Australians and businesses, and it is why the focus of our government on the very first day of our election has been on easing the burden of that cost of living.
Be it seeking to increase the minimum wage, be it providing for more affordable childcare, cheaper medicines, putting downward pressure on our energy bills….
Hastie has a point of order:
Relevance, we know the minister can stretch himself … (the microphone is turned off)
Tony Burke, proving he shares a trait with my mother (never forgive and never forget) gets to his feet very quickly:
Not only was the acting prime minister speaking specifically on the issues that were in the preamble of that question, every part of the point of order was a deliberate abuse of trying to get up some pre-prepared lines, he knew exactly what he was doing and it was a complete abuse.
Milton Dick refers everyone to the standing orders.
Updated
Peter Dutton on Queen Elizabeth II:
I appreciate the acting prime minister’s own story of his encounter with the King, it reminds me a little of Robert Menzies recall of his moment with Queen Elizabeth II as well.
And I never thought I would hear those words in this parliament, Mr Speaker, it was a great story and I can see and hear the emotion the acting prime minister’s recall of that dalliance.
It is a wonderful fact you are able to recall here to the parliament, acting prime minister. I think, Mr Speaker, when you look at the outpouring of grief, at the passing 12 months ago of Queen Elizabeth II, reflected humanity, and it reflected the respect that the world had for a leader who provided support to people in many parts of the world, the interventions, discreetly in relation to points in history in the United Kingdom and elsewhere for the better.
She dedicated her life as I say to the betterment of her people and that is why she was revered and respected and it is why we have great honour and recognising the first anniversary in this chamber today.
Updated
Question time begins
But before we get to the questions, we have a couple of speeches on the one year anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth.
Richard Marles uses the opportunity to acknowledge QEII and then moves on to King Charles (who he accidentally keeps referring to as Prince Charles before correcting himself):
As I travel around the country, people often struggle with the name and Indigenous word of my electorate, more often than not I am incorrectly described as the member for Corio. I have had the opportunity to meet King Charles once and that was at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Rwanda last year and it was a delight for me that with perfect pronunciation he said to me, I understand that you are the Member for Corio.
Because not only does King Charles have a strong affinity with Australia, he knows my hometown of Geelong very well. So, on this anniversary of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, we acknowledge her life but at the same time we celebrate and congratulate King Charles III in the first anniversary of his reign.
Updated
In case you missed it yesterday, Murph and Paul Karp reported on the push from Barnaby Joyce’s corner to have the Nationals dump the commitment to net zero
Barnaby Joyce says cost of net zero ‘completely and utterly untenable’
Barnaby Joyce has used a statement before question time to warn that the cost of net zero is “utterly untenable”.
Joyce said:
Power prices are the cement that keep the economic house together. If they are not viable the economic house falls over. Net Zero Australia which includes University of Queensland and the University of Melbourne have put the cost of 2050/2060 target at $7tn to $9tn, that is more than the redevelopment cost of western Europe after the second world war under the Marshall Plan. It is completely and utterly untenable.
Updated
The last question time of the week will be held in just over five minutes – so take a quick break and we will see you back for the madness very soon.
Given Tanya Plibersek wasn’t taking questions on approving coalmines from journalists today, it is worth reading this from Adam Morton:
Fifteen months into the life of the Albanese government, a pattern has emerged in how it deals with new and expanding coalmine developments.
Decisions to block mines are publicly announced. That was the case when Tanya Plibersek stopped the development of a central Queensland mine proposed by Clive Palmer, and cancelled two long-stalled proposals that were behind on their paperwork.
Decisions that mine developments can go ahead get a different treatment. The approval notice is posted on the federal environment department website and goes unnoticed until some keen-eyed observer posts it on social media.
There’s nothing particularly surprising or underhand about this. It is worth raising mainly because of what it suggests – that the government knows new coalmine approvals are a political problem.
Updated
Michaelia Cash: delay of Closing Loopholes bill ‘embarrassing loss’ for government
Liberal senator Michaelia Cash is claiming a small victory over the government and its IR legislation, after the opposition successfully passed a motion to delay the passage of Burke’s Closing Loopholes bill (the one about the gig economy and labour hire payments) until at least February next year.
The Coalition and Senate crossbenchers supported the motion to delay a committee report into the bill until February next year. The government had wanted the committee to report in November, with the aim of passing the legislation before parliament rose for the end of year break.
Cash:
Tony Burke and the government had an embarrassing loss in the Senate today when my motion was supported.
Mr Burke had been clear that he wanted to ram this bill through the parliament this year.
There was absolutely no need to rush this process because, as Mr Burke knows, most of the measures in the bill would not be enacted until the middle or even the end of next year.
I applaud crossbench senators for supporting the motion which gives the inquiry enough time to properly examine this complex and costly bill.
We will now get an inquiry that will be able to travel around the country to hear from all affected stakeholders.
It is important that the Senate properly examines a bill which will radically change the industrial relations landscape in this country.
Updated
Phil Lowe: ‘Close coordination between fiscal and monetary policy is important’
Q: Do you think there is an ongoing challenge for monetary policy in its ability to respond to cyclical demands at those times in the cycle, or are we going to be able to develop and use policy such as quantitative easing in an ongoing manner?
Phil Lowe:
It is a good question, one I have thought about a lot. Once inflation comes back down again in the next couple of years, we could in the future find ourselves in the lower bound again, and when we hit it in the most recent episode, we responded with bond purchase and yield targets, and that was helpful but I don’t think it was particularly effective. This is why I floated the idea of closer coordination in fiscal and monetary policy because when you hit the zero lower bound, fiscal policy could play a bigger role in getting away from that rather than relying on the monetary instruments, which had an effect but limited. If you want to stimulate demand, their fiscal tools you can use well. Even in normal times I think close coordination between fiscal and monetary policy is important but especially at the lower band.
Updated
Phil Lowe taking questions
RBA governor (until 17 September) Phil Lowe is taking questions from economists at his final public speech. He is asked a question by James Bond –“it’s a long and terrible story” he says of his name – about the growing protectionism in the world’s economy.
Lowe says:
Well, the globalisation in the past two decades is one of the things that kept inflation down. China coming into the global economy, exporting low-cost manufacturing goods helped us all. And made us all wealthier. So to an extent that we are retreating from that world is a negative, [but] we shouldn’t despair about that.
There are a lot of things we can do internally. I went through some of the areas where productivity growth could be lifted. De-globalisation is a negative but there are plenty of positives on the table we can grab as well.
Updated
Here is the official statement on Anthony Albanese’s meeting with China’s premier Li Qiang:
Today I met China’s Premier Li Qiang in the margins of the East Asia Summit.
We had a frank and constructive discussion, welcomed ongoing progress in stabilising our bilateral relationship, and the renewed engagement between our two countries. We both agreed on the value of expanding cooperation in areas of shared interest.
I raised a range of bilateral and other issues of importance to Australia, including remaining trade impediments, consular cases and human rights. We discussed and shared perspectives on regional and international security issues.
I told Premier Li that we would continue to cooperate where we can, disagree where we must, and engage in our national interest.
I look forward to visiting China later this year to mark the 50th anniversary of Prime Minister Whitlam’s historic visit.
Tony Burke on delay of the Closing Loopholes bill
Paul Karp reported on this a little while ago – but Tony Burke has let his thoughts be known:
The Liberals and Nationals have just voted to delay the Closing Loopholes Bill.
— Tony Burke (@Tony_Burke) September 7, 2023
That means they have voted to delay pay increases for mine and aviation workers.
They have voted to delay minimum standards that will save the lives of gig workers.
They have just voted to trap permanent casuals in insecure work for longer.
— Tony Burke (@Tony_Burke) September 7, 2023
They have voted to delay the criminalisation of wage theft.
They spent their entire time in government keeping wages low and holding workers back - and they’re still at it.
Updated
Tanya Plibersek with threatened species – and taking no questions on coalmines
An unruly black cockatoo interrupted environment minister Tanya Plibersek’s remarks on Threatened Species Day, as she talked up the government’s actions to protect animals in danger of extinction.
But the minister declined to take a question on coalmines, saying her media opportunity wasn’t a press conference.
Plibersek and a swag of federal political colleagues descended on a Parliament House courtyard this morning, as zookeepers brought in a number of threatened and native species - Tasmanian devil and kangaroo joeys, a children’s python, lizards and a south-eastern glossy black cockatoo. She was launching a new plan to crack down on feral cats, which she said killed six million animals a night in Australia - with the government “declaring war on feral cats”.
Plibersek and colleagues posed for photos with the assorted menagerie (proving again the old truism, that the only things bringing together all parties on a parliament sitting day are cute animal pics and free food), with the minister then talking up the government’s “recovery plans” for critters like the maugean skate, swift parrot, native macadamia and the yirrkoo water mouse.
Plibersek’s remarks to the cameras were interrupted several times by the nearby black cockatoo, the squawking of which briefly shocked sports minister Anika Wells, who was caught off-guard by the calling of the rare bird.
But after checking out a high-tech feral cat trap, Plibersek wasn’t keen to answer questions from the media. As one journalist attempted to ask her about coalmine approvals, the minister said it wasn’t a press conference, not stopping for questions.
Updated
Tanya Plibersek looks very adept at handling snakes. Anyone would think she had been doing it her whole career.
Maybe one of the only real genuine smiles I have seen in the parliament all week.
Summary of Albanese meeting with China’s Li Qiang
So let’s take stock of that meeting between the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and China’s premier, Li Qiang, in Jakarta today.
Albanese confirmed that he would accept an invitation to visit China “later this year at a mutually agreeable time” for a second meeting with China’s president, Xi Jinping.
Albanese said he had also used the meeting to raise ongoing trade blockages; consular cases including detained Australians; human rights issues; and regional and international security issues.
Possibly Albanese’s most direct public comment was in response to a question from a reporter about whether it would take a personal appeal to Xi in Beijing to secure the release of the detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei.
The prime minister replied:
I raised Cheng Lei and her case and put forward my view … that Australians are very much conscious of this case and want to see Cheng Lei reunited with her children.
Albanese reiterated that Australian was seeking “productive and stable relations with China based on mutual benefit and respect”.
Updated
Lowe fires back at critics in final public address as RBA governor
Phil Lowe has used his final public comments as governor of the Reserve Bank to highlight the importance of an independent central bank while also defending his more controversial comments.
“Raising interest rates and tightening policy can make you very unpopular, as I know all too well,” Lowe told a Sydney function on Thursday for the Anika Foundation. “This means that it is easier for an independent central bank to do this than it is for politicians.”
Lowe, though, said some of his own explanations had “missed the mark”, but the media had its own responsibility to ensure the “public square is filled with facts and nuanced and informed debate, rather than vitriol, personal attacks and clickbait”.
Lowe pointed to a range of comments attributed to him that he said he had not made: “a promise that interest rates would not go up until 2024; everybody needs to get a flatmate; people need to work more hours to make ends meet; and young adults should stay at home because of the rental crisis”.
“Nor did I choose Justin Timberlake’s Can’t Stop the Feeling to accompany me as I walked a recent podium,” he said, referring to a recent television piece on him.
“Despite these difficulties, I have always felt a responsibility to explain complex ideas, and the trade-offs and uncertainties we face,” he said.
The Albanese government opted not to prolong Lowe’s seven-year tenure, unlike his two predecessors – Ian Macfarlane and Glenn Stevens – who had extensions out to 10 years. His role runs until 17 September, after which Michele Bullock, the first woman to head the RBA, will take over.
Lowe’s fate was probably sealed by public anger over the RBA’s record run of interest rate increases that added four percentage points to borrowing costs in a 13-month stint starting in May 2022.
Economists though increasingly reckon the central bank’s rate hikes are over as the economy continues to slow and inflation eases back, potentially gifting his successor Bullock a lengthy spell of stability with the cash rate plateauing at 4.1%.
Philip Lowe kicks off his final public speech as RBA governor… 43 years at the bank coming to an end on 17 September… pic.twitter.com/BDt06nYiBh
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) September 7, 2023
Updated
Albanese questioned about Catherine King
But when it came to the issue of Catherine King, Anthony Albanese was not too thrilled with the question.
He has a rule, which he put in place from the beginning, that when on an overseas trip, he will not comment on domestic matters.
The reporter tries to say it is domestic and international at the same time, but Albanese is having none of it.
Did King seek your advice?
Albanese won’t answer. Someone else tries to ask if he still has confidence in King. There is an uncomfortable beat (but more so it seems that Albanese has been asked the question, rather than anything to do with King’s future) and he says:
Of course I do.
Updated
Albanese: ‘Premier Li was positive about China’s economic outlook’
Was China’s economy discussed in the meeting (China is going through an economic slowdown).
Albanese:
We did raise the economy. Premier Li was positive about China’s economic outlook. He spoke about the rise of the middle class in China as well, which they hope to double from 400 million to 800 million by 2035. It is a considerable achievement of China that they have lifted up millions of people out of poverty over recent decades. That is an important source of pride and it is understandable that that is a source of pride for China.
Updated
Albanese on upcoming visit to the Philippines
Anthony Albanese is headed to the Philippines for a quick visit and is asked how important it is to “shore up” Australia’s relationship with the nation:
The Philippines is a critical nation for Australia … we have strong economic relations with the Philippines, we also have strong connections when it comes to defence, and we have a strong diaspora in addition to that in Australia.
It has been 20 years since an Australian prime minister had a bilateral visit to the Philippines, and I spoke with President Marcos last night, and with Mrs Marcos, and I was very pleased to have an informal discussion with them at the dinner that was held, hosted by President Widodo, and he is very much looking forward to the visit.
Updated
Anthony Albanese asked if he made an appeal to lower tensions in the region
Albanese:
It was the whole context of the discussion. We all have an interest in a peaceful, secure and prosperous region. That is something that is our starting point.
How do we achieve that, how do we improve relations, how do we ensure that whether there are differences, we work through them in a constructive way. It is consistent with what I say in private, it is consistent with what I say in public. I gave a major speech of course at the Shangri-La Dialogue and here we are in I think the Shangri-La hotel hotel here, at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, just in June.
Were any issues raised from China’s side?
Premier Li also raised some issues that China has, some trade issues and economic relations. That is as it should be, to raise issues where Australia has a position. Many of those of course are well known. But they were raised in a respectful way, and that is appropriate that that occurred.
Updated
Albanese says he conveyed view that ‘Australians want to see Cheng Lei reunited with her children’
Anthony Albanese said he raised issues of human rights and territorial claims, but won’t go into specifics:
We don’t go into every detail of meeting here, I said I have raised human rights issues, I also raised issues that are the subject of discussion in the region, including Taiwan, including the South China Sea.
Asked specifically about the case of Cheng Lei, an Australian citizen who was working for Chinese state media and was arrested in August 2020, Albanese says:
I raised Cheng Lei and her case and put forward my view, which is the view I think that Australians have, that I conveyed, that Australians are very much conscious of this case and want to see Cheng Lei reunited with her children.
Updated
Albanese says his representation on Australians held in Chinese detention was ‘heard respectfully’
Did Anthony Albanese raise the issue of the Australians who are being held in detention by China?
The prime minister says yes:
We raised the issues of five Australian citizens, three people who have been sentenced to capital punishment, and I put Australia’s position that Australia does not support capital punishment and we will always make representations for Australians who have been given the death sentence, for that to be removed, and I did that. I also raised the two cases [of detention] as well and we put that forward, it was heard respectfully.
He also raised the issue of the remaining trade tariffs:
We also of course raised the impediments that were there on trade. It was acknowledged that the barley issue had been resolved in the interests of both our nations. It is in the interest of Australian producers to have that barley going to China, it is worth $900 million annually, it is in the interest of China to receive that barley and to go into its products. Similarly, it is in Australian wine producers interest to export wine but it is also in China’s interest to receive it.
Everyone acknowledges that there is a need to work those issues thorough.
Updated
Albanese confirms visit to China ‘later this year’
Anthony Albanese said the pair managed to find some common ground:
We both agreed on the value of expanding cooperation into areas of shared interest. People would be very aware that China is by far our largest trading partner and that one in four Australian jobs is dependent upon our international trade. This was an important meeting. I told Premier Li that we would continue to co-operate where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest.
And yes, Albanese will be going to China:
I also confirmed the invitation from President Xi that I would accept an invitation and will visit China later this year at a mutually agreeable time.
Updated
Albanese says discussion with China’s premier ‘respectful, constructive and positive’
Anthony Albanese is speaking to the media after his meeting with China’s premier, Li Qiang. He said the meeting went well:
I am encouraged by the progress we have made since I met President Xi Jinping in Bali last year.
We had a frank and constructive discussion, welcome progress and renewed engagement.
I raised a range of bilateral and other issues, including impediments to trade between our two countries, consular cases as well as human rights. We also discussed regional and international security issues. China is a major power with global interest and it is valuable to exchange views on challenges to stability, peace and prosperity in our region.
Australia seeks to work towards productive and stable relations with China based on mutual benefit and respect. The discussion today was respectful, it was constructive and it was positive.
And I welcome that.
Updated
Outdated terminology in the Senate
Going through the Hansard in the Senate yesterday, the chamber had a debate about updating a statute law amendment – which included updating outdated terminology, particularly as it referred to people with a disability (it was removing the term “handicapped”).
The Coalition was in support of the bill, with most MPs agreeing it made common sense.
That all happened around 10am.
Fast forward to question time (around 3pm) and opposition senators were asking questions about the cost of deputy prime minister Richard Marles’s special purpose flights (completely understandable) and making jokes about his golfing handicap (Marles is a keen golfer) and Liberal senator Sarah Henderson perhaps didn’t get the memo on language, interjecting with:
The deputy prime minister is a handicap.
LNP senator James McGrath, who was making the comments about Marles’s flights, responded with:
Senator Henderson, I think it would be unparliamentary to say the deputy prime minister is a handicap, so I could not agree to that particular suggestion. It is something that perhaps the government could answer.
Good times.
Updated
Government to crack down on Sydney airport slot issues and cancellations
The federal government has strongly signalled it will crack down on larger airlines strategically scheduling more flights than they can run out of Sydney airport before cancelling them to shut out competitors from accessing the slots.
In the aviation green paper released on Thursday which outlines considerations for long term industry policy based on consultations with the sector, issues with the legislation governing Sydney airport’s slot system emerged as a key topic of concern.
The previous Coalition government did not act on the recommendations of the Harris review handed down in 2021, nor has the Albanese government responded to it. The green paper said:
The government has recently concluded targeted consultation regarding potential changes to the scheme, with a particular eye to modernising the slot allocation framework and strengthening compliance measures to ensure that slots are not being misused by airlines. We will have more announcements to make about these reforms in due course
Critics have accused larger airlines of so-called “slot hoarding”, and point to high cancellation rates out of Sydney airport – just under one in ten flights on Melbourne and Canberra routes are cancelled – as evidence of the practice, though Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin strongly deny the claims.
Sydney airport CEO Geoff Culbert said “we were really pleased to hear” transport minister Catherine King indicate imminent action. Culbert said the slot issues “need to be addressed urgently to ensure fewer cancellations and delays for passengers, and to drive more competition”.
Updated
Peter Dutton and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price yet to sign respectful referendum pledge
Clinton Schultz, a Gamilaroi/Gomeroi psychologist and director of First Nations partnership and strategy at the Black Dog Institute, has spent the past couple of days speaking publicly about the impact the referendum is having on Indigenous people on all sides of the debate.
He has released a pledge for a respectful referendum which he has urged politicians to sign, asking them to remember that their words have impact.
Shultz has not spoken about the impact on yes and no campaigners, as well as Indigenous people as a whole, and did not take a side in the referendum, with his main concern being the respect for people’s safety and mental health.
AAP has an update:
Liberal Leader Peter Dutton and Opposition Indigenous Australians spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Price have yet to accept an invitation from mental health advocates to sign a respectful referendum pledge.
The pledge is a set of principles to encourage more civil and inclusive conversations about the Indigenous voice to parliament, that aim to reduce social and emotional harms ahead of the October 14 referendum.
It was developed by mental health experts, including the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association and the Black Dog Institute, but Mr Dutton is yet to sign and was rallying people behind the ‘no’ vote when he spoke on Sydney radio station 2GB on Thursday.
“And there’ll be a lot of Australians who don’t even know that there’s a referendum coming up and they’ll engage in the last day or two when they’re forced to, so those votes can shift and they can result in a ‘yes’ vote,” he said.
“So we need to be very careful about there being no complacency.”
Shultz told AAP they had had a “great response” from Labor, the Greens and the crossbench, but it hadn’t been so warm from the Coalition.
Thank you to Minister for Indigenous Australians, @LindaBurneyMP, for your support and pledge to Champion a Respectful Referendum. Read the pledge here 👉 https://t.co/cbuCvgpNsf
— Black Dog Institute (@blackdoginst) September 6, 2023
Pictured: @GayaaDhuwi, @IAHA_National, @LindaBurneyMP, Clinton Schultz (BDI) pic.twitter.com/1eZHnR3QGr
Updated
The Greens aren’t ready to let that matter of actually answering questions in question time drop – they have called a press conference on that (and other issues) for about an hour’s time.
Australian home values up 4.9% March to August, CoreLogic finds
The combined value of Australian housing hit $10 trillion at the end of August, with the median home value in Australia reaching $732,886 at the end of the month, according to CoreLogic.
It is the first time the total estimated value hit double digits since June 2022 and the stock of housing has increased to around 11 million properties.
The increase in home values between March and August (+4.9%) has wiped out around half of the preceding downturn between April 2022 and February 2023, when national home values fell -9.1% peak to trough. Home values are now just -4.6% from the peak in April 2022.
The recovery trend in values comes despite a cost of living crisis, low consumer sentiment levels and four increases in the cash rate so far this year.
Eliza Owen, head of research CoreLogic Australia, says it is being driven by three factors: migration coupled with a low average number of people per dwelling, people using savings or equity to buy dwellings instead of borrowing, and constrained supply.
Owen:
Although housing values have been consistently rising over the past six months, the housing market outlook remains highly uncertain. While there is a growing expectation that the RBA board is done hiking the cash rate, borrowing remains constrained by a relatively high serviceability buffer.
Apra data to June showed the weighted average home loan assessment rate was just below 9%, and ABS housing lending data shows mortgage lending has fallen for three of the past four months.
Economic performance is also set to unwind, and while this is good news for the inflation and cash rate trajectory, a rise in unemployment may create a higher degree of risk for mortgage serviceability.
Updated
Government wins vote – so no debating Bandt’s question time motion
The government won the vote, so there will be no suspension of standing orders to debate Adam Bandt’s motion that question time effectively be made answer time:
Ayes 16
Noes 51
(So that was the crossbench vs the government)
Updated
NSW residents urged to prepare for ‘difficult summer’ of bushfire risk
New South Wales residents are being urged to prepare for the bushfire season.
The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said the state was heading into a “difficult summer”.
She said:
We know that the landscape has been drying. We’re not at El Niño yet, but I think we’re getting close. I’d ask the community to be patient with all of the various agencies that are doing hazard reduction burns.
We’re doing everything that we can to prepare ... and also would ask individual households, people in NSW are pretty good at this, to actually do their own preparations as we head into summer.
Updated
Back in the House of Reps and the chamber is dividing on whether or not to suspend standing orders – the government is not in favour of the motion, with Tony Burke giving reasons including that there were often points of order which were raised which were not points of order, and that some of the questions raised as example (such as Andrew Gee and the bridge his community has wanted for more than 100 years) would have their answers judged as relevant even if the change was made (the answer was the previous government did not provide full funding for the project)
Updated
Mike Cannon-Brookes says SunCable project ‘well-progressed and in a strong position’ to deliver solar power to Darwin and Singapore
Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has renewed the plans by SunCable to develop giant solar farms in inland Australia to generate power for Darwin and, via a sub-sea cable, for Singapore.
It is the first major activity since MCB (as the Atlassian founder is known) beat rival rich-lister Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest in May to take control over the troubled venture.
Grok Ventures, MCB’s family company, said SunCable was “well-progressed and in a strong position to deliver the AAPowerLink project” to Singapore, via Indonesia.
“The green energy transition remains the greatest economic opportunity of our time,” he said. “SunCable’s AAPowerLink project has all the component parts to make the next great Australian infrastructure initiative possible.”
The firm aims to have the ability to deliver about 6 gigawatts of renewable energy, with a first stage of 900-megawatts capacity aimed at supplying Darwin. Later, the cable, with a capacity of 1.75GW, will connect to Singapore.
Down the track, another 3GW of renewable energy will be supplied to Darwin to help that city become a centre for clean energy-powered industry.
The company will also look to build a cable manufacturing facility, but it’s not yet saying where that might be. And there are no numbers on the cost of it all, but billions of dollars would be the starting stage, you would have to assume.
Updated
Andrew Gee also said that when in opposition, Labor would have supported this motion, but it is now a case of “the poacher becoming game keeper”.
Tony Burke is now addressing what the Greens MPs and independents have said.
Updated
Andrew Gee says crossbench wants ‘to turn question time into answer time’
Former Nationals MP now independent, Andrew Gee, is on the Bandt train saying “unfortunately we just didn’t get an answer” to a question he asked earlier in the week about spending on a project in his electorate. Instead, the answer had descended into “petty point scoring” between the government and opposition.
Gee said:
From the point of view of our constituents, we want these questions to mean something. I speak on behalf of my crossbench colleagues: we want to turn question time into answer time.
Updated
Teal independents say question time is a ‘farce’ and relevance ‘too broad’
A conga line of teal independent MPs are standing to support Adam Bandt’s push to suspend standing orders to debate changes to question time, including narrowing the definition of relevance to make answers more targeted.
Curtin MP Kate Chaney said this is a “community trust issue”.
Goldstein MP, Zoe Daniel, agreed that relevance is “too broad” and spoke of her experience as a journalist “asking politicians questions and not getting answers”. Daniel argued the government might actually gain some “public popularity” with more relevant answers.
Wentworth MP Allegra Spender said question time is not fit for purpose, and is delivering a “show for the benefit of the media”.
Warringah MP, Zali Steggall, said that question time is a “farce” with answers with “peripheral address to a topic”.
Updated
Priorities for Australian science include moving to net zero, climate adaptation and economic innovation
Ensuring a net zero future and protecting Australia’s biodiversity are among four draft priorities released by the federal government today to guide the future of the nation’s science system.
The federal government committed to revitalising Australia’s science policy framework – the 2015 National Science and Research Priorities and 2017 National Science Statement – in September last year.
Headed by chief scientist Dr Cathy Foley, the draft priorities include supporting “healthy and thriving communities”, enabling a “productive and innovative economy” and building a “stronger, more resilient” nation.
President of the Australian Academy of Science, professor Chennupati Jagadish, said it was “crucial” that Australia strategically identified and invested in sovereign science capabilities.
The new priorities align with some of the main challenges facing the nation: moving to a net zero future, adapting to a changing climate, building an innovative economy and healthier communities, and they cut across traditional disciplines.
He said it now was “imperative” the final priorities be backed by government investment.
Previous science and research priorities were not effective because they were lacking in implementation, monitoring and evaluation and therefore did little to focus and scale up science in the identified areas.
Consultation remains open until the end of the month.
Updated
More Australians 15–24 feel lonely than those aged 55 and over, report finds
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has released a suite of reports this morning looking at the nation’s welfare, covering topics like social isolation, housing and homelessness, employment and income support, and more.
Among other things, the reports tell us more people aged 15–24 are feeling lonely than people aged 55 and over, with young women most likely to experience loneliness.
Overall, social contact across all age groups appears to have declined over the past two decades. The average person now spends social time with friends or relatives about once a month. And for people aged 15-24, on average, they have gone from socialising two or three times a month to about once a month since 2001.
There is no straightforward relationship, the report says, between social media use and either positive or negative experiences of social isolation and loneliness.
On other issues like housing, the report says most people who accessed housing support services in 2021-2022 were renting in the private market when they became at risk of homelessness.
More than 78,500 children aged under 18 received support from specialist homelessness services in 2020-2021. In the same year, nearly 9,300 young people aged 10 and over were under youth justice supervision, and more than half of them had interacted with the child protection system during the previous five years.
Approximately $4.9 bn was spent on Commonwealth Rent Assistance in 2021–22, supporting around 1.3 million households, around 44% of whom were in rental stress after receiving the payment. Most of those people in rental stress were on welfare payments like jobseeker.
Updated
IR bill reporting date pushed back to 2024
In the Senate, Labor and the Greens had wanted a reporting date of 1 November for the inquiry into the industrial relations closing loopholes bill.
But the Coalition and the rest of the crossbench, including senator David Pocock, the Jacqui Lambie Network, One Nation and Ralph Babet, just voted 33 votes to 32 to push the reporting date back to 1 February, 2024.
That’s an early win for the opposition - making the bill’s passage this year unlikely.
Updated
Adam Bandt’s motion is pretty clear:
That Standing Order 104(a) be amended to read: An answer must directly answer the question.
Independents support Greens push on relevance in the House of Reps
Adam Bandt says ministers have been given a lot more leeway in how they can answer questions and “remain relevant” and that, at the very least, needs to be changed back so it is easier to pull up ministers when they are not being relevant to the question.
For example, Bandt recently asked Tanya Plibersek why she was approving coal and gas mines and Plibersek answered about the renewable energy projects the government had approved.
Max Chandler-Mather, seconding the motion, says rules compelling ministers to be relevant is the “lowest of bars”.
Independents are onboard with the Greens push.
Updated
Greens push for question time changes
Over in the House and the Greens leader Adam Bandt is trying to suspend standing orders, to try and change the question time standing orders and force ministers to actually answer questions when asked.
No one can force them to do anything and ministers answer questions how they want, but Bandt wants to try and make what is relevant a lot more clear.
Updated
Catherine King on Qatar Airways: ‘nonsense’ to suggest aviation competition solely reliant on this one decision
Catherine King spoke to ABC radio a little earlier this morning where she was asked about what was meant by “national interest” when making the Qatar Airways decision:
The transport minister said:
If you look at what I was being asked to do, I was asked to be, to increase into the international aviation market, a market that is still in recovery in Australia, to literally approve four times the amount that had ever been asked for before of one particular airline, Qatar, into our international aviation market.
The factors I needed to take into account are obviously very broad. They are broad in terms of making sure that we have a long-term, sustainable aviation market in Australia, both domestically and internationally, and understanding that where we are in the recovery phase of aviation. And not just, you know, I can’t just make a decision in the short‑term, I have to look at what that means overall.
But to suggest, I think, which has been suggested, that competition in international aviation is solely reliant on this one decision, and a decision that no government frankly has made at that level before, is complete nonsense.
Updated
Australia named among greenhouse gas emissions 'worst offenders' in report aimed at G20
Oxfam has released new analysis that finds Australia’s per capita emission levels are ‘three times higher than what is required to avoid catastrophic climate change’, ahead of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese flying to India for the G20 Summit.
From the statement:
According to a recent UNFCCC report, global emissions are set to rise by 10.6% by 2030 instead of falling by the 45% needed and Oxfam analysis shows Australia and other G20 countries are the worst offenders.
Oxfam’s new report shows that under the G20’s current carbon pollution reduction pledges, their per capita greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 will be nearly double the amount needed to avoid catastrophic climate change.
The G20 is responsible for 78% of all greenhouse gas emissions and will submit updated climate action pledges (called ‘nationally determined contributions’ or NDCs) to an important stocktake at the UN Climate Summit in Dubai in November. This will reveal whether we are on track to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, including to limiting global heating to 1.5 °C.
Oxfam Australia’s climate justice lead, Melissa Bungcaras, said with less than three months until the new carbon pollution reduction pledges are published, major changes need to happen now:
Unless we all substantially improve our pledges, we are effectively spelling ‘surrender’ in the face of the existential crisis of our times … Rising carbon emissions are causing bushfires and droughts, flash floods, heatwaves, sea-level rise and mega-storms. People living in poverty and in lower-income countries are suffering the most. We look to our government and the world’s other super-emitters for solutions, but find today their numbers simply don’t stack up.
Updated
Daniel Andrews: ‘If SA is doing so well, maybe they don’t need our $670m worth of GST that we pay them’
Daniel Andrews is clearly in a mood at this morning’s press conference – having had a crack at the state opposition leader, he’s now hitting back at a new ad campaign in South Australia.
Dubbed “Business is better in SA”, the ads spruik South Australia’s lower fees and payroll tax and that its office space is “37% cheaper than Melbourne”.
Andrews is having none of it – he says Victoria has been propping up SA through the GST system for years:
I know Mali [Premier Malinauskas] well, I haven’t seen a transcript of what he’s said today, but if South Australia is booming, if South Australia is doing so well – maybe they can give back the 700m bucks that Victorians provided to them in the last year. If it’s so rosy over there, if it’s such a great place, maybe they don’t need our $670m worth of GST that we pay them.
Updated
Peter Dutton commends forestry sector’s ‘ability to balance economic and environmental imperatives’
The Australian Forest Products Association is absolutely thrilled with Peter Dutton – the opposition leader addressed its members dinner in Canberra and filled their hearts with glee when he announced “I want to pledge our continuing support and friendship to your industry, to your sector”.
Like Pinocchio being told he was a real boy, Natasa Sikman, the former chief of staff to Labor Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon turned acting chief executive officer of the association rejoiced to hear Dutton say:
… the contributions our forestry sector makes to our nation are truly significant, whether it’s products that Australians rely on every day, timber for construction … whether it’s the jobs you create, the revenue you generate, it helps make our economy, or whether it’s your sustainable practices which help to protect and nurture our environment …
The most commendable attribute of Australia’s forestry industry is your ability to balance economic and environmental imperatives and frankly I think there is a very strong argument that you do it better than any of your international counterparts, the Australian standard here is world leading …”
Sikman said the association would work with “all MPs” across government, the opposition and crossbench to ensure the sector reached its “full potential”.
Updated
Nicola Roxon appointed chair of Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
The government has appointed Nicola Roxon, the former health minister in the Gillard government, as the new chair of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The health minister, Mark Butler, said he was delighted that Roxon had accepted his invitation to chair the board of the AIHW, which is Australia’s authoritative source of health and welfare data and analysis:
Nicola brings considerable experience to the role as a former minister for health where she led significant reform including the world-first introduction of tobacco plain packaging.”
Roxon is currently chair of VicHealth and the health and community services superannuation fund Hesta.
Roxon’s appointment comes as the institute releases its two-yearly report on the nation’s wellbeing, which shows a mixed recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The report has found while Australians benefit from record high employment and the continued flexibility of working from home, the global cost of living shock is having a profound impact on household budgets, housing stress and psychological distress, with young Australians amongst the worst affected.
Updated
Seems like there are a few state governments vying for QldPol’s title of “most interesting” – take that anyway you want.
It’s great to see. Let all of the mess out. The people want and deserve it.
Updated
Minns defends NSW government support for UFC event
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has defended the UFC and his government’s decision to spend $16m to bring the controversial sport to the state after fighter Sean Strickland made a series of “appalling” comments.
Speaking in Western Sydney on Thursday morning, Minns said:
Those comments are absolutely appalling and they shouldn’t be tolerated at all. Similar to other sports... one particular participant doesn’t mean that every supporter, or sports person in that arena holds the same view. That’s the point I’d make in relation to the UFC and MMA in particular.
He said the UFC event had “driven a lot of traffic and interest in Sydney” and would be “massive for the economy.
He added:
This is an established sport. It’s multi-dimensional and one fighter who’s making obnoxious and objectionable comments shouldn’t tarnish all UFC fans.
Updated
More on the swift parrot recovery plan
While we are talking about some of the threatened species announcements made today, on the swift parrot Tanya Plibersek has announced an updated recovery plan. There’s some grim reading:
If habitat continues to be lost across the species’ range, and sugar glider predation is not addressed, the species will likely continue its downward trajectory and become extinct in the wild.
Plibersek says the new plan “will help all governments protect and revive this iconic species. It will help protect them from predators, support their habitats, and promote their future breeding”.
The plan identifies key threats to the species, namely destruction of its habitat and predation by sugar gliders. We know from peer-reviewed research that forestry is the biggest threat to the swift parrot’s survival. The plan notes that the effects of sugar gliders on the species are “worst where habitat loss is severe, which compounds the effects of forestry operations”.
There are proposed actions such as monitoring and research, enhancing and restoring habitat and devising a management plan for sugar gliders.
The plan talks about the need to protect habitat critical to the survival of the swift parrot from development if it’s in areas “not managed under an RFA (regional forest agreement)”.
Updated
Victorian inquiry into historic child sexual abuse at state schools expands investigation
A Victorian inquiry set up to investigate historical child sexual abuse at a Melbourne primary school in the 1960s and 1970s has been expanded to investigate more state schools.
The Andrews government in June announced a board of inquiry into historical abuse allegations at Beaumaris primary school in Melbourne’s south-east. The inquiry on Thursday said the investigation would focus on at least three perpetrators involving 18 Victorian schools.
Kathleen Foley SC, the inquiry chair, said the inquiry was calling for public submissions.
Foley said the inquiry had received allegations about teachers and staff members who worked at Beaumaris primary school in the 1960s and 1970s and were also employed at 18 other schools:
We will also hear from victim-survivors who were abused by the same staff or contractors in other Victorian government schools where the abuse occurred between 1960 and the end of the 1990s.
In sharing their experiences, we want to be part of the process of healing for all those affected.
Public hearings are expected to begin later this month and some testimonies will be given behind closed doors.
The inquiry is scheduled to deliver a report to the Victorian government by the end of February.
Updated
Greens unimpressed with Labor plans on endangered skate
Tasmanian Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson is not impressed with Tanya Plibersek’s announcement about the Maugean Skate (see below – it’s an ancient fish only found in a certain Tasmanian harbour, which is at risk of extinction)
Whish-Wilson said Plibersek has ignored her department’s advice which said “salmonid aquaculture on dissolved oxygen concentrations in Macquarie Harbour must be ‘eliminated or significantly reduced’.” The advice explicitly states that the fastest and simplest way to achieve this is by “significantly reducing fish biomass”.
Whish-Wilson:
What’s the point of having a threatened species scientific committee and establishing a Maugean skate national recovery team to help save the species, if you then disregard its key findings?
Minister Plibersek has the power to act and to save the Maugean skate from extinction and she needs to pull every lever available to her to make this a reality, yet her decisions so far have been completely underwhelming.
Clearly Minister Plibersek is failing to show the strong political leadership necessary to protect the skate, making the survival of this ancient species a political decision.
The minister’s failure to heed her own department’s advice also raises significant questions as to whether Labor is serious about its zero extinction pledge.
Updated
Dan Andrews dismisses ‘fragile’ John Pesutto’s calls for leaders debate
In case you missed it yesterday, Victoria’s opposition leader, John Pesutto, called on the premier to debate him on issues currently facing the state.
This is despite the fact debates are usually reserved for the weeks leading up to an election, which in Victoria, is some 168 weeks away.
Opposition leader John Pesutto says he is open to a public debate with the Premier about issues across the state. #springst pic.twitter.com/nNlemBqgvw
— Mitch Clarke (@96mitchclarke) September 6, 2023
The premier, Daniel Andrews, pointed this out at a press conference in Melbourne’s west this morning:
I saw this yesterday, he was very fragile, but I don’t want to mention him really, I don’t want to upset him. He’s very fragile, very easily offended.
With the greatest of respect, he’s not relevant to the work that our government does … he’s not a member of our government. He’s not been elected to have any responsibilities whatsoever. We just get on and build, we’re not about talking. I would just say, though, we had a parliament sitting last week and on Thursday, I think he could have asked me 8 or 10 questions - he didn’t ask me any. The parliament’s for debating ... we had a debate as part of the election last year, and there’ll be debates I assume as part of the election in 2026.
Andrews was then asked if he would still be premier come 2026 – given the speculation he is set to resign before the next term. In another dig at Pesutto, he replied:
Yeah, absolutely. I don’t know who I’ll be debating, but I’ll be there.
Updated
More on the effects of funding cuts to Antarctic science on climate research
A letter from almost half of all staff at the Australian Antarctic Division provides more information about the impact of a budget crunch and how that will affect climate research at a time of urgent need.
If you’re just catching up on this, the division must find $25m of savings this year to meet its funding provisions. There are ongoing debates about how money has been managed and why this is necessary, but there’s no doubt cuts to programs are being made as a result.
Last month, Guardian Australia revealed budget pressures had led to dozens of crucial climate science projects, including studies of record low sea ice and rapidly declining penguin populations, being cancelled, delayed or restricted.
Here’s a section of the letter organised by the Community and Public Sector Union, which represents many of the staff at the division:
Currently there are more than 40 scientific positions at an advanced stage of recruitment, but due to the recent budget announcement these are now on hold. We have been told that there is no “recruitment freeze”, but the reality is these critical positions cannot be filled without a suitable budget.
Science programs take time to build up. The assets needed to develop these projects are people – specialist, appropriately trained researchers and technical experts. It can take years to develop and nurture the capability required to run a scientific program, and then more years to actually deliver it. Even if these budget cuts are a “one year only” problem, the flow-on effects they will have are enormous.
All of this is happening at a time of major upheaval in the world due to human-induced climate change. Antarctic sea-ice is at a record low.
Rising temperatures and variability in weather patterns such as the El Niño are wreaking havoc on natural systems both here and in the Antarctic. Australia and the world can least afford these drastic cuts to our scientific programs.
Updated
Greens criticise lack of transparency on military exports to Sudan
The Greens have criticised the lack of transparency around Australia’s export of military and dual use equipment to Sudan.
Australia has approved nine permits for the export of defence equipment to Sudan in recent years, despite the ongoing humanitarian crisis and civil conflict. The government is notoriously secretive about the nature of such exports, declining to release information about what is being exported and to whom.
The Greens sought an order to produce documents in relation to the nine export permits on Wednesday, but the government and the opposition opposed it.
Greens senator Jordon Steele-John said:
I am proud to work with the Sudanese diaspora community here in Australia. They are desperate to understand the relationship between Australia and the militants currently ripping apart their homeland. Instead of supporting the community, today the government and the Coalition voted against a Greens order for production of documents that would have provided clarity on Australia’s role in defence exports to Sudan.
Updated
University of Melbourne union walks out on negotiations after universities fail to offer proposal on secure work
The University of Melbourne’s union members will meet tomorrow to discuss “next steps” in the bargaining process after a mass-walk out of negotiations with the bargaining team.
After a week of industrial action at the campus, the NTEU halted discussions when the university failed to offer a proposal on secure work.
The bargaining team issued an email to all staff on Wednesday after completing its review into the NTEU’s claims. It said it had “had hoped to commence a series of intensive negotiations to resolve outstanding issues”, citing proposed wage increases announced last week by the vice chancellor.
While we believed it would be useful to discuss those matters on which we could make progress, the NTEU has chosen to stop attending meetings and has asked the university to further consider its claim regarding job security.
On the issue of managing teaching workload, the university confirmed that whilst we did not consider the NTEU provisions to be workable, we are open to further negotiations on this matter.
In a letter to the vice chancellor, Duncan Maskell, on Monday, the NTEU expressed its “exasperation” at the university’s failure to address insecure work in its proposal.
Monash and Swinburne University have also been striking this week, demanding secure work and fair conditions, while RMIT will strike next week.
Updated
Antarctic researchers warn Labor over budget cuts
Almost half of all staff at the Australian Antarctic Division have written to the department secretary to warn a budget crunch is risking “critical science work and the safety of staff”.
The AAD must find $25m in savings this year – or 16% of its operating budget – to comply with existing funding arrangements.
An internal document obtained by Guardian Australia last month revealed budget pressures had led to dozens of crucial climate science projects, including studies of record low sea ice and rapidly declining penguin populations, being cancelled, delayed or restricted.
The Community and Public Sector Union’s deputy secretary, Beth Vincent-Pietsch, said union members at the division are demanding “a clear and transparent explanation as to how the sudden funding shortfall occurred and the principles behind funding decisions”:
Recently the planned recruitment of 40 new science positions provided a glimmer of hope, that quickly turned to disappointment as recruitment processes were put on hold and a 16% budget cut was announced.
This has understandably angered many of the staff in the AAD who care deeply about the work of the division and were hoping that this funding would see things head in a new direction.
After years of watching the scientific capacity of the AAD diminish, staff have had enough. CPSU members want to see the department prioritise the rebuilding of scientific capacity and the establishment of secure funding arrangements moving forward, including recommencement of the recruitment process for the 40 positions that are currently on hold.
Updated
Threatened species day: feral cat abatement plan released for public consultation
It’s threatened species day and the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is making several announcements.
First up, the government has released a draft new feral cat abatement plan for public consultation.
It comes after the release of this report, which found invasive species were the leading driver of biodiversity loss in Australia and cats have the biggest impact.
The new plan has a long term goal “to reduce the impacts of cats sufficiently to ensure the long-term viability of all affected native species”.
For this to be considered achieved, these are the benchmarks it says need to be met:
No extinctions of species due to cats.
No local extinctions of island populations of species such as seabirds.
No new listings of species as threatened due to cats.
And stopping or reversing cat-driven declines of already threatened species.
There’s a lot of work required to achieve this. The plan identifies actions that need to happen over the next five to 10 years, including legislative change to ensure consistency in management of cats across jurisdictions and more research into the most effective control methods.
Plibersek says feral cats are killing six million animals every night and were the primary cause of two of Australia’s most recent extinctions:
When domesticated cats are living inside our homes, snuggled up at the end of our beds, we rightly love them. But feral cats are the opposite of adorable. They are walking, stalking, ruthless killers. If we don’t act now, our native animals don’t stand a chance.
Conservation groups will welcome the new plan. A key question will be whether the government will provide the $60.1m the plan says is needed over five years.
It’s out for public consultation until December.
Updated
Trade minister says still some ‘outstanding’ issues in Australia-China trade relationship
On Anthony Albanese’s coming meeting with the Chinese premier Li Qiang, Don Farrell said the government’s strategy has been to “stabilise” Australia’s relationship with China and while there have been some wins, when it comes to trade there are still some “outstanding” issues.
Farrell lists those as lobster, wine, access for some abattoirs and, “strangely enough”, hay:
We want all of those trade impediments removed so we are back to a free trade relationship with China.
Updated
Don Farrell says transport department ‘made it clear’ they were dealing with Qatar Airways decision
Did Don Farrell, the trade minister, have a conversation with Catherine King, the transport minister, ahead of the Qatar airways decision?
I can’t say I specifically had a conversation with her, but I am aware that her department made it clear that her department was dealing with this issue and would make it a decision.
Did his department give advice?
What Catherine did was what any transport minister would do and that was say ‘look I have this decision to make, and I intend to make it’ that is what you would expect a transport minister to decide.
Did he think there was merit in expanding the flights?
We have been pushing obviously the expansion of flights with a whole range of countries … (and names China and Vietnam)
… In the same way we are trying to diversify our trade relationships, we are trying to diversify our tourism relationships and we will continue to do that.
Updated
Farrell: ‘I have not had a single discussion with Qatar about a free trade agreement’
ABC radio continues questioning:
But have there been any discussions about an agreement with Qatar on some kind of deal?
Don Farrell:
No.
At all?
None at all. No.
Why would the Nine newspapers say it was?
I have no idea.
Are they happening at a more junior level?
Don Farrell says he can’t talk about all levels of government, but he says:
I have not had a single discussion with Qatar about a free trade agreement.
What about a discussion with an arrangement with the country?
Farrell:
I am completely unaware about what that report would be talking about.
Updated
Trade minister rejects rumours of Qatar negotiations
The trade minister, Don Farrell, did an interview with ABC radio RN Breakfast a little earlier where he was asked if he was asked whether he was negotiating a trade deal with Qatar in which aviation was to play a role. He said:
I am not sure who is saying that, but that is not correct.
At the moment, the negotiations that we are doing … are principally with the Europeans, I have had three so-far unsuccessful meetings with the Europeans, but I had another chat with them last Thursday and we have agreed for our officials to keep talking and hopefully to have a face-to-face meeting [with them] in the next few weeks.
We are also talking with India at the moment …we want to try and extend that agreement, and the third principle free trade agreement that we are negotiating with at the moment is the so called Indo-Pacific economic framework with the United States, and again, I hope to be going to San Francisco a bit later in the year to sign the second of pillars in that free trade agreement.
So they are the principle free trade agreement[s] we are discussing at the moment.
Updated
Do you have questions about the voice? Send them in
An upcoming podcast episode of our The Voice Ask Me Anything series will feature prominent Indigenous yes and no campaigners.
Do you have a question for them about the voice? Whether it’s the polling, their view on the campaigns, or how they came to their stance on the voice, we want to hear from you.
Please email your questions to voicequestions@theguardian.com
Updated
Draft updates on national science priorities released
The federal government has released a draft update to its national science priorities, which set out the direction for the country’s science and research efforts over the next decade.
The refreshed priorities will recognise First Nations knowledge and knowledge systems, which were not considered in the last priorities published in 2015.
After consultation led by Australia’s chief scientist, Dr Cathy Foley, the update identifies four key priorities:
Achieving net zero emissions and protecting Australia’s biodiversity.
Supporting healthy communities by improving wellbeing indicators.
Enabling a productive and innovative economy.
Building resilience to disruption from natural and human-induced events.
The federal science minister, Ed Husic, said in a statement:
The priorities help provide direction about where we can apply our know-how for national good …
The former Abbott-era priorities did not reflect Australians’ overwhelming support for tackling climate change and moving toward a net zero economy.
I’m looking forward to working with First Nations people to draw on their knowledge systems.
The president of the Australian Academy of Science, Prof Chennupati Jagadish, welcomed the new draft priorities, saying they aligned with some of the main challenges facing the nation:
Setting these directions is a solid start. However, it is imperative that the final priorities be backed by a robust implementation plan that clarifies how the Australian scientific ecosystem – scientists, institutions, funders and enablers – will incorporate the new priorities in their work.
Previous science and research priorities were not effective because they were lacking in implementation, monitoring and evaluation and therefore did little to focus and scale up science in the identified areas.
Updated
Committee recommends against inquiry into takeover of ACT’s Calvary hospital
The Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee has reported back that Matt Canavan’s private senator’s bill to force the ACT government to have an inquiry into the Calvary hospital takeover should not pass.
In June the Greens unexpectedly supported the Coalition’s push to set up an inquiry into the bill, an inquiry about a potential inquiry largely used to embarrass the ACT government.
The independent senator David Pocock made some interesting remarks in his additional comments. He said:
I did not support the establishment of this inquiry and was disappointed the Coalition and the Australian Greens voted together to refer a bill that explicitly seeks to undermine territory rights to a committee for an inquiry.
While not supporting the inquiry, in the interest of transparency I supported the inquiry being allowed to hold a public hearing. Legislation committees which consider bills are controlled by the government, and on principle I do not support the government using its numbers on these committees to block public hearings on matters that they do not agree with.
Updated
Labor MP Patrick Gorman rails against opposition leader
Labor MP Patrick Gorman was sent out to doors this morning (when MPs go through the main parliamentary entrances where journalists are allowed to wait and interview people – as opposed to the other entrances, where interviews are prohibited), so you know he had something to say.
That something was an attempt to put the focus back on Peter Dutton, given the not-so-great week the government has had because of the Qatar Airways decision controversy, questions over transparency related to special purpose flights and the continuing slide for support for the voice in the polls.
Which means Gorman got a little poetic with his language in the hopes of creating a TV grab which will be used (job sort of done I suppose):
Doublespeak Dutton tells us that he believes there should be a second referendum but he won’t vote in the first one. Doublespeak Dutton says he doesn’t think there should be a voice but he’s going to legislate for a voice. Doublespeak Dutton is telling us time and time again, that everything would be fine if he was prime minister, and he would effectively implement more or less the same agenda. The only problem is that he’s not the guy who’s actually leading the country.
And when it comes to Doublespeak Dutton, what we also see is this is someone who’s sat in cabinet for nine years. He tells us that in the nine years that he was sitting in cabinet, he believed in constitutional recognition, and it was high on their agenda. He just never quite got around to doing it.
And then he tells us that, again, he’s so committed to legislating for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. But again, when the report landed into cabinet - and we know from reports from his colleagues that it went to cabinet twice in the time that Peter Dutton was sitting around the table - just they needed that little bit more time, that extra little week to get it done.
Australians are starting to see through Doublespeak Dutton. They know that he’s always saying one thing [and] doing another. Australians deserve so much better than that, and particularly at a time where we now have Australians going to a referendum. They deserve leaders who seek to be upfront with the Australian people, explain what it is that they will actually do and not do this very weird, costly, and quite frankly, disappointing suggestion of a second referendum.
(There were no questions.)
Updated
The Queensland government is forging ahead with an independent advisory group which will streamline feedback from victims of crime to the government, AAP reports:
The Palaszczuk government confirmed the establishment of the body on Wednesday, with an interim victims’ commissioner announced last week.
Both form part of a response to growing concerns about youth crime across the state.
Acting Premier Steven Miles believes the advisory group could be up and running by the end of the year.
“If it needs some legislation that might take a bit longer, but we could at least have a group in place and then the legislation can follow if we need to,” Mr Miles told ABC Radio Brisbane.
“This is really about saying that we acknowledge we can do better for victims, and we want to do that as quickly as we can.”
The LNP has been running a very strong campaign on the issue for more than a year and the government has been slow to respond to community concerns. With an election just over a year away, the third term government is now trying to head off the issue bleeding into the coming election campaign.
Because it is threatened species day, there will be more animals than usual in the parliament.
These animals though, are probably ones people actually want to see saved, as opposed to the political type which seem to keep on keeping on.
Tanya Plibersek will host Tasmanian devil joeys, children’s python and south-eastern glossy black cockatoo in one of the parliamentary courtyards, and also demonstrate a feral cat trap.
Greens senator Janet Rice pushes for antipoverty commission
In the Senate, Janet Rice of the Greens has a bill for an antipoverty commission to be established up for debate. It doesn’t look like it has either major party support, which means it won’t go anywhere – and without Labor’s support it would fail in the house, even if it managed to pass the Senate.
Rice wants a clear definition of poverty established to inform government policy, with the commission set up as an independent body “to provide independent and transparent advice to the government about alleviating poverty in Australia”.
It would go further than the economic inclusion committee that was set up to advise on where the jobseeker payment should be at. Rice says:
While the Greens support the concept of and work done by the interim economic inclusion advisory committee, it is abundantly clear that the original committee does not go far enough to tackle poverty in Australia. The current committee doesn’t have people with direct experience of poverty, and nor is there any ability to ensure that the people appointed to the committee are truly independent from vested interests.
Poverty is a political choice. Labor is choosing to keep millions of Australians on income support well below the poverty line. All Centrelink payments must be raised above the poverty line to $88 a day.
If this last year of a Labor government has shown us anything, it’s that they do not take tackling poverty seriously. We need an explicit focus on addressing poverty in the shape of a commission to develop a national poverty line. We need an independent commission that listens to people with direct experiences of poverty and experts who make independent recommendations to the government.
Updated
Dutton pushes constitutional recognition despite negative response from Marcia Langton
Professor Marcia Langton was asked during her national press club address yesterday whether she would work with Peter Dutton on his idea for a second referendum – but only on “constitutional recognition” for Indigenous people and not a voice.
She answered “not in the least” and when asked to expand, said:
It is not what we asked for. So, on those grounds, no, I’m not interested, and I know that over 80% of Indigenous Australians would not be interested, and we would communicate that very clearly to the Australian people should he ever be elected.
Peter Dutton responded to that too:
Now, in terms of Marcia Langton and her views, she’s one individual. She’s an activist and a very strong supporter of the Labor party, I accept that. And that’s her right.
She’s going to vote yes, she’s advocating it, she likes the power of the voice.
That’s all an issue for her, but there are many other Australians of Indigenous background, non-Indigenous background, who think that – as we do as a party – that constitutional recognition is the right thing to do.
The practical things that you could do for communities involve money being spent on the ground, not in bureaucracy. Stop the Atsic-type behaviour that we would see in a voice, but I’m not proposing to go to a second referendum with a voice or any such proposal. I think the prime minister’s splitting the country in two and I think it’s a shameful act, to be honest.
Updated
Dutton: PM has questions to answer over relationship with Qantas
Here is what the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, had to say about the questions for Catherine King and the government over its relationship with Qantas on Sky News After Dark last night:
I think they’re conscious of the relationship. I think the prime minister has been happy to walk the red carpet with Alan Joyce at every top-end-of-town event over the course of the last couple of years, but now, given the circumstances around Mr Joyce, it seems that they want to walk away from the relationship.
Obviously, there’s a very close relationship in relation to the campaign on the voice. The prime minister no doubt has encouraged Mr Joyce very carefully in the months leading up to the announcement around the referendum, for Qantas to be actively involved. They are. There’s that aspect as well, which, you know, I think it’s right to ask questions about the nature of that relationship.
So, I just think if the prime minister was upfront and honest, he could clear up these matters, but he had to come back into the parliament yesterday to clarify that he’d misled the parliament and that he had to add additional information because what he said in question time was just blatantly wrong.
Updated
Asic suing Paypal Australia over ‘unfair’ small business contracts
The corporate regulator is suing PayPal Australia over allegations its contracts with small businesses are unfair.
The legal proceedings are concerned with a contract term that gives business account holders 60 days to notify PayPal of any errors in fees they have been charged, or else accept those charges as accurate, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic).
Asic said in a statement the contract term is unfair because it allows PayPal to retain fees it has wrongly charged.
We allege this term is unfair because it allows PayPal to escape the consequences of its own errors in overcharging small businesses, and places additional burdens on small businesses to detect and correct charging errors.
A spokesperson for PayPal Australia said:
We have been working in full cooperation with Asic and take this matter very seriously. It would not be appropriate to comment in detail on proceedings before the court, however we are carefully reviewing the claims.”
Updated
Wilkie calls for ‘frank and full’ explanation from government over Qatar Airways decision
Andrew Wilkie was also asked about the mess in question time yesterday, when the opposition moved a motion of dissent in speaker Milton Dick’s ruling that Catherine King was being relevant in her answer to a question about the Qatar airways decision.
(It was all very confusing – essentially the opposition were pulling a stunt for the 6pm news, but it just descended into a complete mess, and resulted in King not having to answer any questions because Labor responded by ending question time ten minutes after it was all sorted. An embarrassment all round, really.)
Wilkie addressed the stunt, but said there are still questions for King to answer:
I certainly wasn’t contributing, in effect I abstained from the vote in the middle of it. It was just a mess and quite embarrassing.
To answer your question, no, we don’t know what went on. I don’t believe we’ve had a frank and full response from the government. That’s what everyone wants to know, because we do need to know why there is a limit on flights in and out of Australia, which would, in fact, bring down the price of air travel, if more flights existed.
Updated
Wilkie warns funding gap on Antarctic science may result in breakdown on international treaties
Andrew Wilkie said he was also very concerned over the funding gaps for the Australian Antarctic Division, who have been told to save $25m this year. Researchers are warning that will have a massive impact on the AAD’s ability to carry out its research missions and Wilkie said the danger also extends to other countries (China) filling the gap Australia leaves:
Well, in essence, it will create a vacuum that will be backfilled by other countries.
So far, the international treaties around the Antarctic are holding. You know, countries aren’t exploiting resources there. They are doing research.
But … if we let these treaties break down, then before we know it, the continent will be just another place to be exploited, when it shouldn’t be.
It’s a very fragile place. It shouldn’t be a place for mining and whatnot. It will become militarised. If we’re not careful we will have a security issue to the south.
Updated
Wilkie on Tasmanian hospital situation: surge capacity is needed
Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie has spoken to ABC News Breakfast about the hospital situation in his state, after the premier told people to stay away unless in the case of an absolute emergency.
Wilkie says strain on public hospitals is an issue impacting more than just Tasmania:
One of the problems – and this isn’t just in Tasmania – … is that the hospitals run on near 100% capacity all the time. When you talk to the experts, they say a well-managed hospital should run at maybe 80-90% so it has surge capacity to deal with a seasonal illness or mass casualty event or whatever.
Part of the problem in Tasmania of course is that we’re running four hospitals for a population of half a million people. That’s just madness.
I have argued for years that at least one of the hospitals in the north should be shut down and those resources redistributed to make sure that the hospitals we’ve got are properly resourced and do run under 100% and do have that surge capacity I describe.
Updated
Philip Lowe to address Anika Foundation in final remarks as RBA governor
The outgoing RBA governor, Dr Philip Lowe, will deliver his final speech as governor a little later today – and he has chosen to make it for the Anika Foundation later today.
The foundation was set up to support research into teenage suicide and is named for a young woman who killed herself while studying for her HSC exams.
The RBA has a long relationship with the foundation and governors going back to Glenn Stevens have given an annual speech for the group, which is its largest fundraiser of the year.
Lowe has been giving speeches since 2013. His speech, titled “some final remarks”, will be watched very closely.
The incoming RBA governor, Michele Bullock, has agreed to keep the annual tradition going.
• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie.
Updated
Online statutory declarations to be made available permanently
Legislation will be introduced today which will allow you to make statutory declarations online. So instead of making a paper one, and tracking down someone who can verify your identity, which the government estimates cost about $156m a year (including in lost productivity, given we apparently spend 9m hours a year looking for a witness and lodging the declarations), you will be able to use electronic signatures and video-link witnessing.
It’s essentially making the temporary measures put in place during the pandemic permanent. The bill, which the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, will introduce later today, will also allow people to execute a stat dec using their MyGov login.
But if you still want to go the paper and ink method, that will remain a legal option.
Updated
Our Natasha May has reported on the latest data from Suicide Prevention Australia and the cost of living is having a huge impact on people’s distress levels:
More than half of Australian families are reporting higher than normal distress due to rising cost of living, according to new data from Suicide Prevention Australia.
The organisation’s community tracker has found cost of living and personal debt to be the highest cause of distress among Australians for the fifth quarter in a row, with 46% nationally reporting elevated distress this September quarter compared with 40% in June.
For families with children at home under 18 years of age, the numbers were even higher (56%), up 20% since June. It represents the first time since the organisation started surveying Australians four years ago that more than half of families reported cost-of-living distress beyond normal levels.
Updated
Mike Bowers was at the Canberra airport this morning to capture the press conference:
Airports can always be an advancers’ (staff who set up a press conference) worst nightmare –because photographers always know how to capture a story in one frame.
Updated
Aviation green paper outlined at Canberra airport
Australia should grant foreign airlines permission to add extra capacity “ahead of demand”, a long term government aviation planning document has stated, but Qantas advocated for the government’s approach not to compromise a strong local airline sector.
The development comes as the Albanese government struggles to justify its rejection of Qatar Airway’s push to expand.
The transport minister, Catherine King, released the much-anticipated aviation green paper on Thursday morning, sending a broken link to the 224 page document to the media exactly as her press conference at Canberra airport began at 7am.
While most of the green paper – the precursor to next year’s white paper – is based on stakeholder and public consultation and deals with domestic aviation issues, King was peppered with questions about her decision to block Qatar Airway’s request for 28 additional weekly services to Australia’s four major airports.
The green paper notes that Australia’s approach to bilateral air rights negotiations seeks to advance the national interest – a broad reason the government has used in explaining the Qatar decision. Broadly, it notes “inbound and outbound aviation capacity should be ahead of demand to ensure it is not an impediment to future growth which can deliver economic and connectivity benefits to Australia”. It notes:
Many stakeholders saw benefits in ensuring ample capacity is available well in advance of demand.
… some stakeholders suggested bilateral settings support a strong Australian-based industry. For example, Qantas Group suggested the Australian government ensure its approach “does not compromise the national interest inherent in the development and maintenance of a strong Australian aviation sector”.
On the Qatar Airways issue, King spoke of the five Australian women taking legal action against the airline for invasive bodily searches at Doha airport in 2020. “That is a context that is there,” she said, adding that “there was no one factor that influenced this decision”.
Updated
$2.1m plan to save endangered Maugean skate announced
It is also threatened species day, so there will be a lot of cute animals who are in danger of being wiped out of existence being shown today.
Following the swift parrot, Tanya Plibersek has also made an announcement about the Maugean skate, an ancient fish found only in Tasmania’s Macquarie harbour – with only about 1,000 of them left in the wild.
$2.1m is being spent to try and save it – which will include a captive breeding program as an ‘insurance policy’.
The fish is currently listed as “endangered” but that is under review (to critically endangered) after the Bathurst harbour population was lost.
Low oxygen levels because of poor water quality is one of the biggest issues impacting the Maugean skate, as well as getting accidentally caught in fishing nets.
Plibersek said a lot of groups will have to come together, including the salmon industry, to save the fish:
We know the key threats remain poor water quality in Macquarie harbour from aquaculture, hydro operations and climate change.
Our government is committed to doing what we can to assist, and we urge the salmon industry and Tasmanian government to take the action needed to clean up Macquarie harbour so the Maugean skate can survive for another 100m years.
We will cooperate wherever possible to get the best results, including continuing work through the Maugean skate recovery team.
Updated
Bushfire survivors urge climate action
Members of the group Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action are holding a press conference at Parliament House today, having travelled from New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria.
The group want to raise the alarm about the dangers of the coming fire season, given the likely El Niño summer.
Updated
Given the issue this concrete has caused in the UK, and how wide spread the use of this cheap concrete was after the war, this is absolutely an issue to keep an eye on.
Updated
Recovery plan for critically endangered swift parrot announced
Tanya Plibersek has announced a recovery plan to boost the long-term survival of the critically endangered swift parrot.
Lisa Cox has been writing about the need to save the parrot for years – it remains critically endangered and there are only about 750 mature birds in the wild, despite once being found widely across eastern Australia.
Plibersek says the recovery work will include “improving and increasing breeding habitat in Tasmania and reducing the number of sugar gliders, a key predator, in breeding areas”.
The states and local governments will be needed and so far Tasmania and Queensland have signed up. NSW and Victoria have been invited.
Updated
Tell the government what’s wrong with air lines
If you want to make a submission to the government about the Australian aviation industry, the link to the green paper is here
The green paper is public consultation. It comes before the white paper, which is a discussion paper provided to the parliament. White papers lay out the issues with context (the whole picture as it were) and then make recommendations on what needs to happen.
So here is your chance to tell the government what is wrong with aviation in this country.
Updated
King says ‘decision was mine’ on Qatar Airways
Asked if her department recommended Qatar be allowed the flights, and if Don Farrell the trade minister was negotiating a deal with Qatar in which the flights played a role, King says:
I consulted colleagues prior to the decision, but the decision was mine.
Updated
King says Qatar Airways could fly into other airports like Canberra, Cairnes or Adelaide
Catherine King mentions the women who were ordered off the plane as part of the context for the decision and then turned to Qatar airways itself:
As I said, it provided context to the decision that I made. There is a context there that is there. That is a fact. That is a context that is there. So it is not [that] I was not … aware of it ...
There was no one factor that influenced this decision. But let me just say – Qatar could … increase its flights into Australia today. It should be flying here into Canberra Airport.
The very reason we have four major airports, and then we have regional airports – the very reason for that is we want to try to get international tourism into our regional markets.
Now, Qatar could commence re-flying back into this airport today. They could fly into Darwin. They could fly into Adelaide. They could fly into Cairns and they could fly into the Gold Coast and into Darwin.
They are choosing not to do so.
They could also, on the flights where they’re not flying the Airbus 380, increase passenger seats into those major airports immediately, and we would encourage them to do so.
Updated
King says invasive body searches ‘factor’ in decision on Qatar Airways flight rejections
Catherine King said the women being taken off the plane by gunpoint, a story which was broken by Network Seven’s Jennifer Bechwati, was some of the context for her decision:
As I’ve said repeatedly, I made this decision in the national interest, and there is no one factor that I will point to that swayed my decision one way or the other.
In making this decision, I did have the national interest – not commercial interests – at play when I was making that decision.
Certainly, for context … this is the only airline that has something like that … has happened. And so, I can’t say that I wasn’t aware of it. But certainly, it wasn’t the only factor. It was a factor.
Updated
Catherine King press conference
The transport minister is at Canberra airport with some Labor colleagues, laying out the aviation green paper but also explaining the Qatar decision.
The decision [was made] to not grant Qatar Airlines the request for 28 additional flights per week into the Australian international aviation market.
I would point out that that is four times more than any previous requests or amount that has ever been granted.
I did take that decision on July 10. I informed the prime minister prior to the decision being made public.
Normally, these decisions are not in the public domain. They are routinely made by government. I informed the prime minister prior to the decision being made public … on July 18.
If you remember, we had multiple media requests on behalf of the women who had been escorted at gunpoint after a Qatar airlines flight and had then been subject on the tarmac in ambulances to invasive body searches. We’d had multiple media inquiries about that.
And so, by July 18, the prime minister was aware of my decision.
Updated
Good morning
Thank you to Martin for starting us off this morning.
We will get right into it – you have me, Amy Remeikis, on the blog for most of the day.
Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp, Josh Butler, Daniel Hurst and Sarah Basford Canales will help make sense of what is going on down in Canberra.
We are waiting to hear from the transport minister, Catherine King, who, as Elias has let you know, is releasing the aviation green paper (a fancy name for a consultation paper) but most of the questions will be over the Qatar decision.
Let’s get into it.
Updated
Ai group calls for practical use of hydrogen energy
Australia must transcend the hype over hydrogen and narrow its use down to practical industrial options, a leading business group says, according to Australian Associated Press.
Employer association Ai Group’s chief executive, Innes Willox, will tell a summit the energy source “is not the be-all and end-all, but it can still be a very big deal”.
“We should establish near-zero emissions production capacity for aluminium, ammonia and steel with output equivalent to at least half of Australia’s current primary production of those products,” he will say at the event in Brisbane on Thursday.
That requires large-scale, near-zero emissions hydrogen production capacity of roughly 300,000 tonnes per year, according to Willox, which would require at least six gigawatts of renewable generation to make.
“Large policy signals” equivalent to tens of billions of dollars in incentives would be needed to promote investment to decarbonise local industry and build new export partnerships, he will say.
Updated
Albanese to meet Chinese premier Li Qiang in Jakarta
Anthony Albanese will meet with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, for one-on-one talks as Australia aims to repair economic ties with its biggest trading partner, according to the AAP.
The pair will meet on the sidelines of the East Asia summit in Jakarta today during the annual gathering of world leaders.
The bilateral talks follow China lifting tariffs on Australian barley, with the softening of trade impediments giving hopeful signs restrictions on other products such as wine and lobsters will follow.
Albanese will meet China’s second-in-command after the country’s president, Xi Jinping, opted not to attend the summit in Indonesia. The prime minister had met with Xi at the G20 summit last year, and since then, 15 meetings have taken place between Australian ministers and Chinese counterparts.
On Wednesday at the Asean summit, Albanese foreshadowed a meeting with Li was on the cards at the summit in Indonesia.
“My position on the relationship with China remains a consistent one, which is we’ll co-operate where we can or disagree where we must,” he said.
“I’m sure that over the next period both here and at the G20, Premier Li will be present, we’ll certainly be in the same room.”
The talks with Li coincide with the resumption of Australia-China high-level dialogues in Beijing, the first time such discussions have taken place since 2020. Trade impediments imposed by China had resulted in a more than $20bn reduction in the value of exports to the Asian nation.
It comes as the trade minister, Don Farrell, proposed suspending Australia’s wine complaint against China in exchange for a review on punitive tariffs, but has yet to hear back.
While in Jakarta, Albanese will also hold talks with Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, who is hosting the Asean and East Asia summits. Both leaders will also take part in the Asean-Australia summit and will co-chair the event.
Aviation green paper to be released
Transport minister Catherine King will unveil the much-anticipated aviation green paper today, giving an insight into long-term policies being considered for the sector, as the Albanese government faces sustained pressure over airline competition and the influence of Qantas.
Speaking at Canberra Airport at this morning, King will release details of the green paper – the precursor to next year’s white paper, which will give an insight into the government’s long-term aviation priorities, and follows input from the sector and general public.
It is expected to address competition between airports and airlines, skills in the industry, aircraft noise issues, achieving net zero carbon emissions in the sector and developing a local sustainable aviation fuel capability.
On Tuesday, King signalled the government will soon address concerns that strict legislation dictating access to Sydney Airport slots which has led to increased cancellations and less competition for routes out of the city.
Delivery of the green paper – the precursor to next year’s white paper – had initially been set for a mid-year release but was running late after the public servant in charge reportedly resigned in recent months. Industry sources have grown frustrated at what they see as a lack of progress on key issues they had been seeking reforms on.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling politics coverage – it’s a sitting week in Canberra. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ve got the best overnight stories before my colleague Amy Remeikis picks up the slack in a short while.
Sydney’s median property price has surged to 13.3 times the median income, according to a thinktank, and the price of finding somewhere to live is surpassed only by Hong Kong, San Francisco, Singapore, Vancouver and Tel Aviv. Even New York and London are cheaper, and it’s making it hard for young talent to settle in the city and potentially damaging the startup rush. We’ve got a full report on the latest study to highlight the chronic cost of living crisis.
Fallout from the Qantas crisis continues, with former chief executive Alan Joyce to be called to front an upcoming Senate inquiry over what he told the government in the lead up to a ruling that blocked competitor airlines from offering more flights. The transport minister, Catherine King will unveil an aviation green paper at Canberra airport this morning and is expected to address competition between airports and airlines, skills, noise issues, Sydney airport slots, sustainable aviation fuel, and other matters. We’re also reporting on the business impact with corporate customers reconsidering their corporate accounts with Qantas, according to brand and travel experts say, as the airline struggles to contain the damage to its reputation.
Australian governments are urgently checking public buildings to see if they contain aerated concrete that could be dangerous after dozens of UK schools had to close classrooms built with crumble-risk concrete that can suddenly collapse.
And the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is continuing his diplomatic tour of south-east Asia today at the East Asia Summit in Jakarta, where he is expected to meet with the Chinese premier, Li Qiang, on the sidelines.
