What we learned: Monday 26 February
And with that, I am going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big headlines:
The Greens motion to end Australian support of Israel’s Gaza invasion was voted down.
Barnaby Joyce is set to take a week off from parliament after footpath incident
Independent MP Helen Haines urged the Albanese government to stamp out pork barrelling, saying it’s happening again in the Dunkley byelection.
It came as former prime minister John Howard joined the donation drive for the byelection.
The Greens announced they will be voting against Labor’s shared equity housing scheme, Help to Buy, in the House of Representatives.
Australia announced sanctions on Russians ‘involved in the mistreatment of Alexei Navalny.’
Question time focused on immigration, defence spending, air quality and fuel efficiency standards.
Andrew Forrest gave the National Press Club address today, where he called for a rapid transition to green energy sources.
An attempt to haul the former Qantas boss Alan Joyce before a Senate committee has failed, after senators voted against reviving a short-lived inquiry examining the airline’s influence in government decisions.
Updated
Government blocking answers on Qatar decision: opposition
The opposition has accused the Albanese government of acting to block transparency around Qantas’ influence in Canberra, after Labor, Greens and independent senator David Pocock voted down an attempt to haul the former Qantas boss Alan Joyce before a Senate committee
On Monday, a motion from Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie to revive the Senate select committee on bilateral air service agreements – set up to examine the rejection of Qatar Airways’ request to almost double its flights into Australia’s major airports – failed.
Opposition senators had hoped that by reviving the committee, they could bring Joyce before the committee, who did not appear at last year’s hearings because he was still overseas travelling following his early exit from the Qantas top job.
McKenzie, the chair of the committee, also wanted it revived to bring forward “government affairs representatives from Qantas, noting that Qantas’ answers to questions on notice from senators were unsatisfactory”.
After the motion failed, McKenzie said:
“Last year’s aviation inquiry was set up to find out the real reason why the Albanese Government has chosen to keep the cost of airfares up to 30% higher by blocking Qatar Airways’ request for additional flights to Australia.”
She noted a report released this month from former ACCC Chairman Prof. Allan Fels said “In essence Qatar offered a solution to the extremely high prices that were being charged for international travel.” and that Fels found “Quite clearly it was acting in the interests of Qantas.”
“Mr Joyce is one of only three people who know why Mr Joyce, in his time at Qantas, received preferential treatment at the hands of the Albanese Government and Labor, the Greens and Senator Pocock are blocking the ability to bring him before a Senate Committee to answer legitimate and serious questions about his personal and political relationship with the Prime Minister and the Government.
Thanks to Labor and the Greens, Australians may never know why the government acted so contrary to the public interest in blocking Qatar Airways’ application and refuses to hold the chief witness in the flight credit saga to account.”
Victoria bracing for catastrophic fire danger
Officials are scrambling to set up a long-term base camp for hundreds of firefighters while more than half of Victoria is on high alert for extreme bushfire conditions, according to AAP.
The Wimmera region is forecast to have catastrophic fire danger on Wednesday, while extreme fire danger is predicted for five of Victoria’s nine total weather districts.
Temperatures are tipped to hit mid-30C to 40C across the state, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting the mercury to top 43C in Mildura in the north-west and winds of up to 40km/h.
More than 500 firefighters were still battling the Bayindeen blaze, northwest of Ballarat, on Monday.
The fire has burned more than 20,800 hectares and destroyed six homes along with sheds and fences.
The 131-hectare Victoria Park at Ballarat will become home to about 300 firefighters, potentially for more than a month, while the state contends with dangerous conditions, the City of Ballarat announced on Monday.
The base camp was slated to be set up before Wednesday with large marquees, laundry facilities, bathroom and kitchen facilities, and accommodation for firefighters.
The camp would act as a hub for crews battling blazes west of the regional city, the council said.
“The City of Ballarat is assisting Forest Fire Management Victoria and the Country Fire Authority to quickly establish a base camp before weather conditions worsen,” it said.
Country Fire Authority chief, Jason Heffernan, on Monday said authorities were focused on the Wimmera region, with the fire risk modelled at the upper end of extreme.
The region had Wednesday’s fire danger rating upgraded from extreme to catastrophic on Monday.
“At the moment the models are firming for at least a nasty day in six districts,” he told ABC TV.
“Half the state is in extreme bushfire rating.”
Updated
Parliament house electricians on strike
AAP is reporting that electricians at Parliament House have walked off the job arguing for better pay as the relevant department reviews staffing classifications as part of negotiations.
The Electrical Trades Union has set up a picket line outside for 24 hours, saying electricians working for the Department of Parliamentary Services were paid about $30,000 below the industry average.
“The workers who keep the lights on at Parliament House are being blocked out when it comes to fair wages,” the electrical union’s NSW and ACT secretary, Allen Hicks, said.
Morale had hit rock bottom, Hicks said.
“Because permanent trades staff’s wages are so low, positions are left vacant, yet the department is willing to outsource the roles at a much higher rate of pay,” he said.
“It’s a kick in the guts to have contractor staff who are paid competitive industry rates working alongside trade-qualified permanent employees who are earning the equivalent of a contractor apprentice.”
Workers had a right to protest and measures had been put in place to minimise disruption to the operation of Parliament House, the Department of Parliamentary Services said.
The department insisted it had negotiated in good faith on the proposed enterprise agreement.
“All claims and proposals were genuinely considered,” it told AAP in a statement.
“As part of the bargaining negotiations, DPS has undertaken to conduct a review of the classification of staff in the affected areas.”
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Woman bitten by shark in WA
A woman in her 40s has been attacked by a shark at a small island off the Western Australian coast.
A 2-metre tiger shark bit the woman at about 11.30am on Monday, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development says.
She was in waist-deep water off Sandland Island, north of the town of Jurien Bay.
Paramedics were called to Jurien Bay Harbour, about 220km north of Perth, at 11.44am.
You can read more at our story below:
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NSW police chief apologises for failings on homophobic crimes
Earlier today, NSW Police commissioner Karen Webb said that the police need to “do better” on gay hate crime.
At a press conference, Webb commented on a public letter published on Sunday, in which she apologised for police failures as highlighted in an 18-month special inquiry which was scathing of the police.
It found that homophobic bias was a likely factor in 25 of 32 suspected homicides from 1970 to 2010.
Webb said the very fact that she wrote that apology indicated the police could do better:
The fact that I made an apology that was printed on Sunday goes to the fact that we can do things better.
In the report there is a lot to consider and if it is that we as a current organisation were difficult to deal with I’ll accept that.
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Good afternoon, Mostafa Rachwani with you to take you through the rest of the day’s news.
Ted O’Brien is speaking about nuclear power again, so it seems a great time to hand you over to Mostafa Rachwani for what is left in the day.
He will guide you through all the news, and make sure you check back to see what the team has for you as well. We will be back with Politics Live early tomorrow morning – until then, take care of you Ax.
Education minister on national student ombudsman
Over on the ABC, Jason Clare is talking about the university accords, and says people can expect a national student ombudsman, which was one of the recommendations to improve student safety, early next year:
I have to introduce legislation into the parliament to set up the ombudsman, to entrench the code and I will do that in the next couple of months and I want the ombudsman up and running early next year.
It has taken too long for this to happen. It is only happening, not because of me, but because of people who leads organisations like End Rape on Campus, they are the ones who stories I think I driven ministers to act and have certainly helped me drive me to act. Universities have not done enough, we know that.
One in 20 students reported that since they’ve been at university that they have been sexually assaulted and one in six have been sexually harassed and one in two students say they have not been heard when it happens, the response has not been good enough. Then you’ve got to listen and you’ve got to act and that’s what I’m doing.
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Will the prime minister take responsibility whatever the result on Saturday, the Seven host asks Anthony Albanese:
I’m the Prime Minister, I take responsibility for everything that my government is involved with. That is the job I have the great privilege and honour of serving in.
The interview with Seven, who are broadcasting from Dunkley, with the prime minister beaming in from the PM courtyard is going exactly as you would expect.
How will the tax cuts make a difference, did you focus too much on the voice, cost of living, cost of living?
The answers are what we have been hearing for the last few weeks.
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Senate votes against reviving Qantas inquiry
An attempt to haul the former Qantas boss Alan Joyce before a Senate committee has failed, after senators voted against reviving a short-lived inquiry examining the airline’s influence in government decisions.
The Senate select committee on bilateral air service agreements – set up to examine the rejection of Qatar Airways’ request to almost double its flights into Australia’s major airports – ended last year, with senators from the opposition frustrated that Joyce, despite their requests, did not appear at hearings because he was still overseas travelling following his early exit from the Qantas top job.
The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, the opposition transport spokesperson and chair of the committee, on Monday moved to revive the committee so that previously unavailable witnesses, including Joyce, could appear, as well as “government affairs representatives from Qantas, noting that Qantas’ answers to questions on notice from senators were unsatisfactory”.
The motion was defeated on Monday afternoon, 30 votes to 28.
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Greens housing spokesperson condemns ‘Help to Buy’ scheme
Max Chandler-Mather is speaking to the ABC about why the Greens do not support the shared equity housing scheme, Help to Buy (the Greens are negotiating for the party’s Senate support, which the government needs if the Coalition does not come to the table):
What we know is this scheme will drive up house prices for this supermajority of renters, 99.8 % every year, because mainstream economists have pointed out where you put more money in people’s pockets to beat up the price of housing, that’s exactly what they’ll do.
That’s what this scheme will do.
Similar to the first home buyer’s grant and things like that, it’s never actually solved housing affordability crisis, what it’s done is drive up the price of housing when house prices are skyrocketing already, and losing to investors in giving up on ever being able to buy a home, that seems like a poor solution to a housing crisis.
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The Dunkley byelection must be even closer than the public polls are saying – Anthony Albanese will be interviewed on Network Seven’s Melbourne news in the next 10 minutes.
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The parliament will be bereft of Barnaby Joyce this week, or as the French say, Barnaby Joyce is missing from us, which is beautiful, I think.
Here is a bit more of how Mike Bowers saw QT this afternoon
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Question time? I don’t know her.
Scott Morrison has listened to one of his last question times ever. The member for Cook will deliver his final speech to the parliament tomorrow and then it is bye-zees.
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First question time of the week ends
Having cost me more brain cells than usual and ageing me faster than a tanning booth, question time is declared officially over for the first sitting day of the week.
We have another three days of this before the Dunkley byelection on Saturday.
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The future of the Liberal party (if you ask some within the Liberal party), Keith Wolahan, asks Chris Bowen:
I refer to Labor’s new family car and ute tax*. Last year in my home state of Victoria, 78% of sales were either SUVs or commercial vehicles and utes. The top-selling cars were the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux and Isuzu [something] **
Industry analysis shows that they would attract penalties of $17,000, $14,000 and $13,000, respectively, by 2029. Why does this Labor government want to punish Australians for their choices?***
*It’s a fuel efficiency standard.
**Helped along by a very generous instant asset write-off policy put in place by the Morrison government.
***Apparently the Liberal party is against letting the market decide now.
Bowen gives the same answer he gave before – Australia is behind on this policy, a fuel efficiency standard would mean that Australia wouldn’t be the dumping ground for inefficient vehicles and would open the market up to other vehicles which would have better fuel efficiency.
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Spender asks if Hecs indexation is on the agenda after universities accord
Allegra Spender asks Jason Clare:
Last May, the crossbench raised concerns about indexation on Hecs and Help loans, which are now over 7%. Hecs indexation has risen faster than the average home loan and will cost more than $20,000 extra this year.
Last year we asked you to change the way the loans were indexed and to link them to the lower price wage index. Yesterday the universities accord recommended the same thing. When will the government change the way Hecs and Help loans are calculated and provide real financial support to young people, who are going backwards?
Clare starts with a bit of political flattery:
Can I thank the member for Wentworth for her question, without doubt the best member for Wentworth this parliament has ever had. Even the Liberal party agreed. That is why they are trying to get you to join the Liberal party. I take that as a compliment though because they realise they can’t beat you. My advice is don’t do it, but better still, watch Nemesis and then you would never do it.
He lays out the talking points and then Spender pulls him up:
I appreciate the flattery but I think it is time to get to the question of Hecs.
Clare was just getting there, Milton Dick says, and Clare agrees:
You are a mind reader, Mr Speaker, I was right on it. What the report says is that Hecs is fundamentally sound, it has served our country well, but that we can make it fairer and simpler, and it has recommendations there for the government about changes to indexation, as well as repayments.
And my answer to your question is the answer I gave to the house only about an hour ago – which is that we are going through all of the 47 recommendations in the report, and we will announce the first stage of our response to the universities accord.
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One of the reasons utes (including those giant utes that are the size of a small family home) became so popular in Australia and are being used as examples of the top five family cars in this ridiculous debate is because of the Morrison government’s generous instant asset write-off policy.
For the last couple of years (it expired on 30 June 2023 and wasn’t extended by the Albanese government) businesses with a turnover of under $5bn could instantly write off assets with an unlimited threshold.
Previously, it had been businesses with a turnover of under $500m with an asset threshold of $150,000, so it was already pretty generous, but it’s now only applicable to assets under $20,000 – and you’re not getting a giant ute for that.
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OK, here comes Ted O’Brien:
Why, during Labor’s cost-of-living crisis, is the government proposing a tax increase of $15,000 on the price of a new Toyota HiLux?
There are so many reasons that question doesn’t make sense, but here we are.
Here is the main part of Chris Bowen’s answer:
This is not a radical policy. These standards have been in place, and this is where prices have not gone up, it has been in place in the United States since 1975, almost as long as the member for Fairfax and I have both been alive, 1975, Japan 1985, China 2005, South Korea 2006, the European Union 2009, Canada in 2011, vehicle emission standards were introduced in Mexico in 2013, India in 2014.
Mr Speaker, those woke warriors, those well-known renewable energy inner city dwellers, the government of Saudi Arabia, introduced fuel efficiency standards in 2016, and New Zealand in 2023.
It is well beyond time for Australia to catch up. It is well beyond time for Australia’s consumers to have access to the same choices that 85% of motorists around the world get, but motorists in Australia and Russia do not.
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Catherine King takes a dixer on the gender pay gap ahead of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency publishing the pay gaps in Australian companies tomorrow.
It will be the first time that information is made public, and spoiler – it is not looking great.
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Anthony Albanese:
I say with respect to the member, I am talking about things that have been done right now, not the past. Things that we are doing as a government to take action. Consistent with what the member for Dunkley asked us to do.
We have required online wagering companies to send statements outlining wins and losses, legislated a ban on use of credit cards [for] gambling last year and this will come into effect mid this year and will make a real difference.
In addition to that, the minister for communications [and] the minister for social services are working diligently through all 431 recommendations contained in the report.
… I myself am talking to people like Tim Costello about these issues and working through to make sure that any action does not have unintended consequences, because that is what good governments do. The government has been working hard on a comprehensive approach … that is what we are committed to doing.
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The independent MP for Goldstein, Zoe Daniel, asks:
The Dunkley byelection is this weekend and the late and great Peta Murphy wanted a full ban on gambling ads, saying it needs to be done with no room for circumvention. Will the government honour her call?
Anthony Albanese:
I thank the member for Goldstein for her question and indeed I join with her in honouring the late member of the Dunkley. Peta Murphy is indeed sadly missed by not just people in the parliament across the spectrum, but certainly by people in her electorate.
She had so much more to offer and I say to Rod and to her family that I know that the passing of time has not dulled the grief that they are feeling.
I was there yesterday again and people are really doing it tough to lose someone aged just 54, that the member Dunkley did make an outstanding contribution in her too short time in this parliament, and we recognise the work that she did leading the inquiry into online gambling harms, we are indebted to her for her contribution on what is a critical issue.
We have done substantial work already.
We’ve launched BetStop, the National Self-Exclusion Register, through which 18,000 Australians have self-excluded from online wagering and promotions, and I table the media release from the minister for communications. That has been achieved in just six months. We have mandated customer pre-verification for all new online wagering accounts to prevent children from gambling and strengthen protections for Australians. We’ve agreed with states and territories on new minimum classification [for] video games with gambling-like content, for limited new evidence-based taglines to replace ...
Daniel has a point of order on relevance, which is not considered a point of order. Albanese continues (in next post).
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Chalmers calls on Coalition to pass tax cuts that Australians ‘need and deserve’
Jim Chalmers takes a dixer to deliver this message to the Coalition:
Now, we know what those opposite are up to. They think if they blow the dog whistle hard enough and if they cuddle up to the far right enough, that the good people of Dunkley won’t recognise and won’t realise that those opposite have said they will line back out tax cuts, which is what the deputy leader has said.
They might not care about the cost of living but we do. We call on the opposition to stop stuffing around in the Senate and to pass the tax cuts to Australians that they need and deserve.
Updated
The Liberal party’s Rick Wilson is booted out on 94A.
Wilson has been in parliament for 11 years and there is not a single question time I don’t have to look up who the member for O’Connor is. Maybe because he looks like he would be easy to draw.
Angus Taylor:
Labor’s new family car tax* will impose penalties of $100 per kilometre. Does the minister agree with the comments of the minister for climate change and energy that despite the imposition of his new family car tax** [hike] the price of, and I quote, no particular model will go up?
*It is not a family car tax, it is a fuel efficiency standard.
**See above.
The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, is asked this question and he struggles, but eventually gets there:
We are asked why it is Labor wants to ensure that Australians can drive the most efficient vehicles, and the answer is quite simple. The reason we want Australians to have access to the most efficient vehicles is we believe Australians should be paying less to fill up a tank of fuel.
Updated
Angus Taylor is back on the “end of the weekend” scare campaign, which is also the “end of the family car” scare campaign, which completely ignores the fact that people will buy cheaper cars which become the new family car and the new most popular domestic cars.
Honestly. This “debate” is so ridiculous.
The main argument seems to be “how dare you change government policy settings that will result in Australians being given the same access to vehicles other major markets already have, at a reasonable price point, because the fuel guzzling cars being dumped in Australia will no longer be the cheapest option”.
For Dolly sake.
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King calls Coalition ‘Chicken Littles’ over attacks on fuel efficiency standard
Catherine King takes this one:
Here we go. The political party of $100 lamb roasts. I had one on the weekend and I don’t remember it being $100, thank you very much. The party of Whyalla will be wiped off the map. I haven’t been there recently, I know the prime minister has, millions of dollars of investment going into Whyalla. And, of course, the [party of the ] end of the weekend. Well, here we go again.
You cannot believe a single thing these Chicken Littles of Australian politics say. Not a single thing. They know the figure they have just quoted has been completely made up. On this side of the house we want Australians to have greater choice in the new vehicles that they buy, and to pay less of their hard-earned cash on fuel.
… We are consulting of course on a new vehicle efficiency standard that is right for Australia, but Australians have missed out on millions of dollars of fuel savings because of those opposite. Millions of dollars of fuel savings they could have been saving now because they lacked the courage to do anything about it.
(The answer goes on, but that is the gist, except for how the Coalition was looking at doing the same thing at one point and didn’t believe it would have a material impact on prices.)
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David Littleproud drops the migration scare campaign for a moment to ask about the weekend scare campaign:
Australia’s top-selling car brand Toyota doesn’t domestically sell a single vehicle that will meet the end point of the vehicle efficiency standards required to avoid the new family car tax*. Industry analysis shows the popular family SUV, the Toyota Rav4, will be taxed up to an extra $11,000 on sale. Does the minister agree with the comments by the minister for climate change and energy that, and I quote, no particular model will go up?
*It’s not a family car tax, it a fuel efficiency standard which is aimed at stopping Australia from being a dumping ground for poor fuel efficiency vehicles, as the rest of the world moves towards hybrids and electric cars.
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Paul Karp is in the chamber and hears Tony Pasin say “you don’t do tough well, mate” to Andrew Giles.
He is warned.
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The Nationals MP Anne Webster is next on the “we are back to blaming migrants for the housing crisis” train:
Many Australians cannot find a home to live in. Roads are gridlocked and essential services like schools and hospitals are under growing strain.
Why is the Albanese Labor government making it worse by granting over 500,000 visas in just one past year with more than 1.6 million projected to be granted over five years?
(Again, there was a similar amount of migrants forecast over the forwards by the Coalition government in its last budget.)
Andrew Giles:
On the one hand they [the Coalition] talk about the need for skilled migration and the reasons and in the other hand come into this place and tell a different story.
What we should be entitled to expect is a bit of consistency. It might start with the leader of the opposition, and also the shadow minister who said when he was in government ‘we need to get our international students back, our working holiday visa makers back and get these people back as soon as we can’.
They should reflect on their record, and they should get behind our [government] in fixing the system that they broke.
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Air quality standards in focus after Covid pandemic
Monique Ryan has the first of the crossbench question today:
The health committee report into long Covid concluded we need national indoor air quality standards to improve the [standard] of indoor spaces and reduce transmission of Covid-19 and other infectious diseases.
The government response last week acknowledged that recommendation but did not adopt that recommendation. I ask you how you propose we can keep our kids safe at school during the next outbreak of a severe airborne virus?
Mark Butler (there is a bit before this, but this is where he addresses the question):
This is an area that involves significant regulation by states, particularly, for example, the regulation of school and public hospital systems, and there are different actions being taken by state governments as the member would be aware.
There is a lively debate or lively discussion that is continuing. I know in a couple of weeks there will be a workshop here in parliament, led by the Australian Academy of Science, the CSIRO and the Burnet Institute, to continue the discussion about how we can provide better clean air.
I will say to the member and others that this is why the Labor party took to the last election a commitment to deliver a centre for disease control to have one place where these debates can be coordinated, particularly in a federal system where there is very much responsibility between the commonwealth and state governments.
I know the member will want to continue to be a part of that discussion.
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Julie Collins:
If we kept the migration settings as they were when they left office, we would have more migrants today than there are in this country because they left a mess and we are busy cleaning it up.
… What we are doing in housing is we are adding to supply.
We have committed over $25m, 25m new dollars in new housing investments over the next decade. We understand the answer of issues today is supply, supply, supply.
They are very noisy over there, there were very noisy opposing the Housing Australia Future Fund.
And, of course, we know that there are no … which would get more Australians into home ownership.
They claim to support home ownership, but they are voting against more homes for Australians, more Australians getting into home ownership, and indeed we have heard a lot of criticism from them about us actually having a plan and an aspiration to build 1.2m homes in the next five years.
We are working with the states and territories, we have $3.5bn on the table to incentivise the states and territories to do the reforms that are necessary to get the homes on the ground for Australians that need them.
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Just before we get to the answer Julie Collins gives in response to Sussan Ley’s question, here is CoreLogic on the question of migration and housing.
The number the Coalition is using doesn’t include the context that there has been a correction because of the border closures, many are foreign students, that there has been decades of inaction on housing policy and the overall number over five years is very close (slightly lower even) than what the Coalition’s last budget forecast.
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Sussan Ley asks Julie Collins:
Over 500,000 visas have been granted by the Albanese Labor government in the past year, with more than 1.6 million projected to be granted over five years. Does the minister agree that Labor’s policy of granting 500,000 visas in just one year has contributed to the average weekly cost of renting a unit in Frankston rising from $350 when Labor came to government to $420 today?
Someone whistles (not a wolf whistle, like a “ooohhhhh boyyyyy” whistle), which captures Milton Dick’s ire.
Whoever is making noises like that is completely disrespectful. It will not happen.
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Before we get to Sussan Ley’s question, which is very similar to Michael Sukkar’s question, it might be worth looking at this article from Cait Kelly from the last time this line of questioning was being used for political purposes.
And pointing out that the Coalition has voted against the bare minimum of housing policies the government has put forward.
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The defence minister, Richard Marles, takes a dixer on defence spending, which is aimed at the Coalition benches:
They and their little coven of supporters have been dancing around the fire, whipping each other into a frenzy, and as they have been barking at the moon …
You get the drift.
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Giles says Dutton ‘broke’ migration system as Coalition presses Labor on visas
Andrew Giles takes the question where you would expect – to the opposition’s record in immigration and how Labor has had to “fix” the “broken” system they were left with.
Peter Dutton tries a point of order on relevance, which is just an excuse to get a few more political lines in there, which can be cut up and used in social media clips for the Dunkley byelection.
And it seems Giles has finally had enough.
It seems that the leader of the opposition doesn’t like being reminded of his record as a minister ...
Perhaps he should also remember ... You should also remember what he said as leader of the opposition. Very recently he said this: ‘We do need an increase in the migration numbers.’
He will say and do absolutely anything, this bloke. Absolutely anything … it is just about dividing Australians.
We are focused on rebuilding the migration system that he broke.
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Question time begins with question to immigration minister
Question time is about to begin – Michelle Rowland is absent this week and Mark Dreyfus will answer questions for her.
We are then into question time, which lately has been “Andrew Giles time” and today looks no different. Michael Sukkar has the first question and it is to … Giles:
Over 500,000 visas have been granted under the Albanese Labor government in the last year with more than 1.6 million projected to be granted over the next five years.
Does the minister agree that this is putting immense pressure on housing, transport and basic services on top of the cost-of-living crisis already being faced by Australian families?
Tony Burke stands up to ask how the question is relevant to Giles’s portfolio given that it goes to housing and cost of living (other portfolios).
Paul Fletcher says “nuh ah” and Burke says “uh, yeah” (essentially) and Milton Dick rules that Giles can answer it any way he wants and warns there will be no point of orders on relevance because the question asks for an opinion.
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David Coleman says government should not define misinformation
Time to head into the chamber ahead of question time and it is 90-second statement time – which is, as long time readers know, the MP version of the airing of the grievances.
So let’s play “who’s that MP?!”
It is … Liberal MP David Coleman who has a grievance about “misinformation”. Mostly that he doesn’t want the government to say what misinformation is.
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What are the Greens after on Labor's new housing plan?
As Amy brought you earlier, the Greens will vote against the government’s “Help To Buy” housing plan in the lower house, challenging Labor to wind back concessions on negative gearing and build more public housing.
But the Greens are not saying what they’ll do in the Senate, holding out the possibility that they fold in the upper house (where their votes actually swing the outcome) and vote for the plan anyway.
Adam Bandt and Max Chandler-Mather held a press conference in Parliament House earlier, saying they’d oppose the “shared equity” plan where the government would stump up 40% of the housing cost for 40,000 people, unless the government opens up negotiations on negative gearing and capital gains discounts, caps on rent prices, and building more public housing.
The pair called it “a narrow housing lottery that will push up prices for 99.8% of people”, noting only a small number of people would benefit from it.
MCM has taken to referring to Anthony Albanese as a “property investor prime minister”, pointing out he has investment properties listed on his register of interests.
You will not fix the housing crisis unless you deal with the billions of dollars in tax handouts that Labor is dishing out to property investors.
This bill will drive up housing prices and screw over millions of renters.
Bandt and MCM say they want a “phase out” of negative gearing and CGT. We asked what that would look like, and their starting negotiating position.
Bandt said they wanted to “have a discussion” about those details, noting the Greens policy was to limit negative gearing to one property and then grandfather the arrangements from there.
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Twenty minute warning for Question Time
There is just over 20 minutes until the first question time of the week. The Coalition has been fairly quiet today, but you can bet borders will get a pretty big play today, along with cost of living.
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Katy Gallagher is acting Labor leader in the Senate today
Anyone watching the Senate chamber today will notice that the government’s Senate leader, Penny Wong, is not in the chair. Wong is away because she is caring for a sick family member.
With Don Farrell also away, Katy Gallagher is acting Senate leader.
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Forrest: ‘real risk’ of Australia missing 43% emissions reduction target by 2030
Q: Does Andrew Forrest think Australia will reach a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030?(which is government policy and the absolute bare minimum to make any sort of difference):
I think if we continue delaying obfuscating and bringing up talking points to save our country - that’s the risk.
And I’ve said, there’s a real risk, a real cost to every Australian through the squabbling and bickering and not just getting on with the truth. That will be the cost.
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Twiggy’s odd metaphors
Over in the press club, Andrew Forrest spoke about his ambition to turn his iron ore venture into green iron ore, finishing with this rather … interesting analogy:
We’re not the egg walking by the chicken in the pan, we’re the bacon in the pan.
What does that mean?
I’m not observing this and worrying about it - I’m actually doing it.
Hmm, ok, but if you’re the bacon, you are still getting fried, so wouldn’t you want to be the pan making it happen?
Earlier in the speech, Twiggy also said:
As Einstein observed, we won’t get a different result by wishing for it and doing it the same way.
Which I think is a riff on the whole ‘the definition of insanity’ quote which is often attributed to Einstein, but he never said it. As Marilyn Monroe famously said, “don’t believe everything you read on the internet”.
Editors note: a reader has solved this one for me (and thank you!)
Apparently there is an old riddle –
What is the difference between involvement and commitment?
Eggs and bacon. The chook is involved. The pig is committed.
That seems to be what Forrest was referencing.
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Greens will vote against Labor housing scheme in the House
Back in parliament and the Greens have announced they will be voting against Labor’s shared equity scheme, help to buy, in the House of Representatives.
This won’t change the bill’s progress – the government has the numbers there. The Senate is the main show and the government needs the Greens’ votes to get the legislation passed.
The last housing fight between the two parties was the housing fund and involved Anthony Albanese putting a double dissolution on the table (the Greens, with the Coalition, managed to push the vote for that bill off the agenda, which Albanese took as the bill failing for the first time, hence setting up the trigger) and tension between the Greens and Labor hasn’t exactly cooled in the last few months, so watch this space.
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Forrest: nuclear is being pushed to delay switch to renewables
This is the main message from Andrew Forrest’s national press club address:
The main thing the green electricity and green energy industry needs, ladies and gentlemen, is for the fossil fuels sector to stop lobbying governments to stand in the road.
If you think that nuclear came out of nowhere - no, it didn’t. It’s been pushed by the fossil fuel sector as a great way to delay the whole country for 20 years from switching over to cheaper energy.
The first thing we need is government help to get the fossil fuels sector straight out of our road and to stop peddling this masquerading rubbish that nuclear is somehow a solution, when we know it takes 10-20 years to get into place, and we know it’s 4-5 times more expensive.
So if the government wants to speed it up even further – yes, it works really well if you give subsidies. The diesel fuel rebate is one massive subsidy that’s locked in – us having to send Australian hard-earned dollars overseas when we could have been making all that energy in Australia with Australian workers, Australian companies paying Australian tax.
So it’s really up to the government.
But my call is to help us get the fossil fuel boot off Australia’s neck so we can just get on with it.
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Spender calls for abolishment of stamp duty
Allegra Spender wants more oversight over who will be administering the scheme given the parliament is being asked to support a scheme it doesn’t have all the information on in terms of eligibility, how it will operate or what the benchmarks for success are.
And she also wants stamp duty abolished. The e61 Institutue did some research on this very recently and used Queensland as the case study and found stamp duty not only impacted wider productivity, it kept housing markets stagnate, effectively “trapping” people in their homes.
e61 found:
A one percentage point increase in stamp duty reduces the volume of home purchases by 7.2%.
Purchases in urban and rural areas, and of apartments and houses, are equally affected.
Separate data show a similar effect size of stamp duty on the rate at which people move homes.
Moves of all distances – e.g. across suburbs and across states – decline in response to a stamp duty rise.
Spender says if the government was serious about housing policy reform, it would look at abolishing taxes which are doing nothing but putting pressure on home owners and would-be home owners.
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Allegra Spender calls for transparency in scheme
Independent Wentworth MP Allegra Spender has some concerns over the scheme – she wants more transparency and openness over the whole shebang. Spender opens with:
Wentworth is an incredibly expensive part of the country. It puts huge pressure on people in [it] who might be well off by national standards, but struggle with the local cost of living.
I think of one young man from Wentworth, who recently approached me to say that he’d done everything he was supposed to do – worked hard at school, did well at uni, got a good job – but is struggling to afford rent and make ends meet.
He worries he’ll never be able to afford a home of his own. He is not alone.
Ahuri recently put out a report which found more “rich” people are renting for longer, which is having a huge impact on the rental market as a whole, and forcing low income people out altogether, meaning the number of low income earners struggling in the rental market isn’t getting the whole picture – because so many have just dropped out (and are homeless, couch surfing, staying with parents, living in cars)
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House begins introduction on Labor’s shared equity home-buying scheme
The House of Representatives has moved on to the introduction of Labor’s shared equity scheme, help to buy. The Greens have already said they will be playing hardball in the negotiations on this.
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For those who weren’t watching the House of Reps chamber a short while ago, here was Adam Bandt’s speech calling for the house to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza:
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Forrest: If we get things wrong on energy, the ‘economy – and the rest of us – cook’
Andrew Forrest is continuing his speech at the national press club:
(Worth noting he is investing heavily in renewables and so has a commercial interest. Doesn’t mean his arguments are wrong, but should be acknowledged all the same)
A leader will remind the farming community that global warming is real and that all their customers are taking it very seriously. That their sheep spend more hours peacefully grazing where there are solar panels due to the protection from the sun, wind and rain they provide, than those on the open plains.
And instead of knocking a slow-moving, gracious wind tower, try a nuclear power plant or a belching coal plant next door.
The fact that we can feel climate change already – despite the ocean soaking up most of our heat-generated emissions – means Australia has finally run out of time.
We get the next few years wrong, and Australia’s economy – and the rest of us – cook.
We get it right, and Australia enjoys decades of economic growth, full employment, and the reinvigoration of its natural environment.
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The Ayes on the motion on Palestine
The ayes in that division:
Adam Bandt
Max Chandler-Mather
Elizabeth Watson-Brown
Andrew Wilkie
Stephen Bates
Helen Haines
There were 77 noes. You can find the list here, but it was Labor and the Coalition.
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Text of the Palestine motion the Greens just put forward in the House
This was the motion Adam Bandt put forward in the House of Representatives.
(1) notes that since the House resolution of 16 October 2023 concerning Israel and Gaza, which supported the State of Israel’s looming invasion of Gaza by stating that the House ‘stands with Israel’, the following have occurred:
(a) an appalling and increasing toll of deaths and injuries caused by the State of Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza;
(b) a growing humanitarian catastrophe caused by the State of Israel’s blockade, bombing and invasion of Gaza; and
(c) the state of Israel is the subject of recent International Court of Justice orders in South Africa’s case regarding the prevention of genocide;(2) therefore does not support the State of Israel’s continued invasion of Gaza and calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire; and
(3) calls on the Australian government to end its support for the State of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
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Forrest calls for transition to green energy
Andrew Forrest is delivering the National Press Club address today.
He is talking about the need to transition to green energy sources.
We ask those who claim to represent the bush now to stop dividing us with the false hope that we can cling to fossil fuels forever. We can’t. So, please stop betraying the bush.
If we swallow this new lie that we should stop the rollout of green energy and that nuclear energy will be our fairy godmother, we will be worse off again.
I do know how to do projects. I do know the science. And I do know the economics. These misinformed, unscientific, uneconomic, plucked-out-of-thin-air bulldust of nuclear policies of politicians masquerading as leaders helps no-one.
Politicians who do whatever they can to scurry and scare votes are just politicians, not political leaders.
That’s the difference between the two. One gets elected due to a genuine care for the community, and the other creates division and criticism just to attract attention at the ballot box.
Updated
For those who missed it this morning, here is Helen Haines introducing her anti-pork barrelling bill.
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Watts reiterates government calls for two-state solution in Palestine
Tim Watts continues:
A lasting peace requires a two state solution; an Israeli state, alongside a Palestinian state.
It requires all parties to respect the right of others to exist. We’ve always said that we will be guided by the principle of advancing the cause of peace and progress towards a just an enduring two state solution.
We can’t assure Israel’s legitimate aspirations without also enabling legitimate Palestinian aspirations for their own state.
Now achieving this feels further away than it has at any time in my lifetime, but it’s the only way out of this conflict.
It will require extraordinary efforts of peacebuilding from Israelis and Palestinians supported by good faith efforts of the international community.
Unfortunately, we’re not seeing that could face support for peacebuilding being modelled by political actors in Australia.
He then accuses the Greens and Coalition of seeking to divide the community “for votes”.
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Labor responds to Greens call over Palestine
Tim Watts begins the government response to the Greens motion with the Hamas attack on 7 October.
Since the appalling terrorist attacks of October 7, the Australian government has taken a principled and consistent approach to this conflict.
Australia is not a central player in this conflict but we do have a respected voice. And we’ve used it with countries who have influence in the region to pursue our objectives.
We’ve used our voice to advocate for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and humanitarian access the release of hostages and for the protection of civilians.
This conflict has touched so many Australians, Australians in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories during this conflict have obviously been directly affected.
But many more Australians have been directly connected to this conflict through the constant stream of horrifying messages and images shared directly from this conflict.
There’s been so much suffering in this conflict and so much trauma in our own community. And we mourn for the horrifying loss of innocent civilian life that we have witnessed.
He says the Australian government supports efforts to “broker an extended cessation in hostilities”.
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Adam Bandt continues:
What this motion is about is something very simple … Do you think that right now the invasion should stop and stop permanently?
Not a weasel word, not a humanitarian pause so that children can be fed, and then killed.
So paused, so that food can get in and then they can be bombed.
But do you agree right now that the invasion should stop and should stop permanently?
That is what this motion is about. I urge everyone to understand that what we say and do here matters. This is our chance to join that growing international chorus that says enough is enough.
And we need an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
His Greens colleague Max Chandler-Mather is seconding the motion.
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Bandt: stopping Israeli invasion is the bare minimum that should be done
Adam Bandt:
Now, there is much more that the government should be doing.
It is time when you have a war cabinet that is now subject to orders to stop genocide.
That is the time … that the government should impose sanctions on the members of that war cabinet, and I note how quickly the government has moved to impose sanctions, with respect to terrible events in Russia, and associated with Russia.
And yet, there is still the full backing … for the invasion of Gaza.
It is also the time to stop sending weapons, stop military exports to a government that is subject to orders to stop genocide …
And it is also the time Labor to restore the UNRWA funding, because we are seeing children dying and people running out of food and water and they need the money to get back in there and give them the very basics of life.
But the bare minimum, the bare minimum that should be able to be done and agreed on by everyone across this parliament, is that the invasion must stop.
This catastrophic loss of life must stop and there must be an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
The chamber is almost empty as Bandt delivers this speech.
Updated
Greens calls for similar ceasefire bill in House of Representatives
In the House of Representatives, Adam Bandt is moving to suspend standing orders to debate a similar motion to the one Jordon Steele-John introduced into the Senate earlier this morning (which was defeated by Labor and the Coalition).
Bandt wants Australia to stop its support for the Israel invasion of Gaza and for the government to call for a permanent and immediate ceasefire.
You can expect the same result in the house as you saw in the Senate.
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One Nation calls for urgent tax reform
One Nations’ Malcolm Roberts is in the Senate calling for corporations to pay their “far share of tax”.
He is referring to Labor and the Coalition as the “uni-party” (meaning one party) which I don’t think will catch on.
His wider message is “we need tax reform urgently”.
Broken clocks and all that.
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Joyce appears on Seven program despite ‘week off’ from parliament
Barnaby Joyce attended his regular spot on the Seven network this morning, which seems to be a gifted three minute spot for him to yell at Tanya Plibersek about a variety of issues.
Today’s yelling issue was nuclear, which he went, to quote the host, “nuclear” over.
There was no mention of his week off parliament.
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Barnaby Joyce to take ‘week off’ from parliament after footpath incident
Barnaby Joyce will take the week off from parliament after being filmed lying on a Canberra pavement earlier this month in an incident he described as a “big mistake”.
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, confirmed his frontbench colleague had notified him he wouldn’t be coming to Canberra for the sitting week. Littleproud told Nine’s Today show on Monday morning:
He’s having the week off, which we gave him the opportunity to undertake with his family. And I respect that. And I hope he went to church yesterday and all he had was altar wine.
Daily Mail Australia had published nighttime footage of Joyce in Canberra lying face up on the pavement with his feet on a planter box, having a phone conversation and uttering profanities.
Joyce later explained it was a “big mistake”, which happened after he had mixed alcohol and prescription drugs during an earlier event at Parliament House.
The Nationals MP has said he is giving up alcohol for Lent but lashed out at his critics, accusing them of seeking to exploit the issue of parliamentarians’ consumption of alcohol.
The deputy Nationals leader, Perin Davey, was similarly criticised the following week after footage emerged of her appearing to slur and stumble over her words during a late-night Senate committee hearing.
Davey admitted to drinking two glasses of wine before the appearance but insisted she was not drunk. Davey later explained a 2019 medical incident had left her with ongoing speech issues and was a contributing factor to her estimates appearance.
The two incidents have renewed calls for a crackdown on alcohol and drug consumption within Parliament House, with crossbenchers calling for random testing.
Guardian Australia has contacted Joyce for comment.
Updated
Defence leadership must be made accountable for failures, Lambie says
Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has continued her crusade against Australia’s defence leadership and says that while she welcomes defence minister Richard Marles’ focus on accountability culture, she won’t take it seriously until there is more than just chat.
As AAP reports:
Australia’s senior defence leadership need to be called out publicly and made accountable for failures, independent Senator Jacqui Lambie says.
Defence minister Richard Marles has said there are “issues of culture” within the higher ranks of the Australian defence force and Department of Defence that need to be challenged.
Marles reportedly hauled in secretary Greg Moriarty and chief of the defence force Angus Campbell for a meeting to demand a better culture of excellence.
Defence has a history of projects blowing out and being delayed.
Lambie said she would take Marles seriously when he began issuing letters of no confidence to defence’s leadership.
She told Sky News on Monday:
The minister needs to take the next step and he needs to get rid of them. Because if he’s not going to do that, he’s all just chat and I’m not interested.
The ADF also faces a major retention issue, as thousands of personnel leave every year, in addition to falling behind on recruitment targets.
Lambie said the military had become an “institution in itself”.
They just believe they don’t have to answer anybody.
Updated
Howard’s presence shows Dunkley byelection is too close to call
John Howard being rolled out (even in email) tends to be the signal that yes, the Liberals do actually believe the contest is close and hope the prime minister most boomers remember will be what gets them across the line.
(Next year, there will be people eligible to vote who were born when Howard lost his seat, so he is rapidly losing his “break in case of emergency” currency).
A reminder that in byelections, the swing is usually against the government. And the Labor margin in Dunkley has a 6 in front of it – which is not a big enough buffer in a seat not naturally Labor to insulate it from in-general voter anger.
Which is why Labor is making a big deal of playing down its prospects as well.
Updated
John Howard joins donations drive for Dunkley byelection
The Liberal party is again leaning on John Howard in the final days of an election campaign, tapping the former prime minister to make a final-week appeal for donations for the Dunkley byelection. Liberal supporters received this email sent in Howard’s name this morning:
As you are probably aware, there is a very important byelection taking place in the Victorian electorate of Dunkley.
The Liberal party is the underdog, but a strong showing would send a powerful message.
Howard, who lost his own seat at the 2007 election but who remains a Liberal hero for four successive election wins, is regularly rolled out by the Coalition in the final days of campaigns. The Liberal message in the final days of the Dunkley poll, due on Saturday, is a call to “send Labor a message” on cost of living issues.
Labor also seems particularly focused on delivering power for its union masters and on prosecuting the politics of envy.
In short, Labor needs a wake-up call.
The Liberals and Labor (and conservative campaign group Advance) are trading blows online over the looming byelection.
Labor candidate Jodie Belyea put her name to an ALP email this morning too, telling supporters “it’s no secret that I’m not a seasoned politician” but promising to be “a strong local voice on bread and butter issues like tackling the cost of living, building more affordable homes and making it easier to see a doctor”.
Updated
Round-the-clock protest outside PM’s office over Palestine enters third week
The 24-hour-a-day sit-in outside Anthony Albanese’s Marrickville electoral office, calling for the government to take a stronger position on Palestine, continues. The round-the-clock protest is into its third week. Protesters say Albanese is yet to seriously engage with them and they will continue the sit-in for as long as it takes.
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Greens: ‘Neoliberal brain worms have affected both parties’
Nick McKim continues:
They [Labor] are too gutless to put to make the corporations pay their fair share of tax. They’re too gutless to put a wealth tax on in this country. They are too gutless to walk away from the $370bn of the Aukus submarines. They are too gutless to reverse Mr Morrison’s stage-three tax cuts
And so it goes.
The government in this country is being swamped by a rightwing extremist party in the LNP and a centre-right party in the form of the ALP. And that is why this country keeps on lurching to the right.
That is why Australians are literally starving on income support. That is why we have a six-figure number of Australians who are homeless who can’t afford to rent a place to live.
The neoliberal brain worms have infected both major parties.
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Greens senator Nick McKim lashes Labor over tax bill
The stage-three tax cut changes are making their way through the Senate.
The bill will pass (the Coalition, despite still pushing a “broken promises” barrow, is voting for them).
(And your daily reminder that the tax changes won’t help “every taxpayer”. People on welfare pay tax, but if you earn under $19,000 – like if you were on jobseeker, for example – there is no tax cut for you.)
Nick McKim is speaking on the bill and is giving a searing assessment of Labor’s positions in general.
He tells the chamber:
Folks, this is why the country is in such a mess. Let me explain to you how this happens. The LNP come into government and they lurch this country to the right.
They torture refugees they demonise migrants, they give tax cuts to the wealthy.
They lurched this country to the right.
And Labor acquiescence to every one of these things because they are too gutless to stand up and fight for what is right in this country.
And they leave it to the Greens and we oppose these every step of the way.
And then when Labor gets into government, they move us back about 2% of the way that the Liberal Party took us because Labor is to gutless to actually move this country where it needs to go.
Updated
Unions protest on front lawn of parliament
Our own Mike Bowers has arrived in Canberra and has immediately gotten to work. The CFMEU and ETU are protesting outside the parliament in support of members who are on a 24-hour strike from the parliament.
They want pay raised to the industry standard.
Updated
Greens motion to end Australian support of Israel’s Gaza invasion voted down
The divisions have played out for Jordon Steele-John’s motion – it was defeated 31 to 11.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe voted with the Greens.
Updated
Labor and Liberal unite to vote down Greens motion on Gaza
Over in the Senate, the chamber is dividing on a Greens motion from Jordon Steele-John calling on the “Australian government to end its support for the state of Israel’s invasion of Gaza”.
Looking at the chamber, the government and Coalition are voting together to vote down the motion.
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Independent Andrew Wilkie raises motion on airline industry debate
Now it is time for the independent MP for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, to raise an issue – he is moving a motion to have the parliament debate the dire state of Australian airlines and the lack of consumer protections around their practices.
His motion wants the house to note:
The conduct of Australian airlines has recently come under fire for a variety of practices, such as sometimes only offering frequent flyer and discount tickets one way, meaning customers are stuck with expensive tickets the other way; increasingly frequent flight delays and cancellations; and the linkage of passenger personal profiles to the fares offered to them.
Seeking refunds and other assistance for cancelled flights often leaves consumers feeling underwhelmed, with many offered little-to-no compensation for flight disruptions.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) is concerned about the high level of complaints about airlines as well as their low reliability of services; and
Australian airline staff are among the best in the world, yet bear the brunt of increasingly frustrated customers because of improper decisions by management within airline companies.
Wilkie wants the government to adopt the ACCC’s recommendations on regulation around this, establish an independent airline ombudsman with the power to make binding decisions and “establish a targeted and fit-for-purpose compensation scheme for delayed and cancelled flights”.
Updated
Zali Steggal introduces private bill to stop offshore gas project
Still on private members’ bills, the independent Warringah MP Zali Steggall is introducing a bill to stop projects like the Pep-11 offshore gas project.
The Member for Warringah @zalisteggall has introduced the Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Amendment (Stop PEP11 Forever and Protect Our Coastal Waters) Bill 2024 in the House this morning.
— Australian House of Representatives (@AboutTheHouse) February 25, 2024
ℹ To find out more, see: https://t.co/n4Wxv7W0lS. pic.twitter.com/fgAG4sGaFX
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Independent Kooyong MP Monique Ryan is seconding Helen Haines’ bill.
This is another example of the independents being on a unity ticket – not at all surprising given they campaigned on transparency.
Again, the success of any of these bills depends on how the government treats them. So far, most of them have not received support from the government, although some aspects have been rolled into other legislation.
But by and large, the government has not been supportive of the crossbench private members’ bills.
Independent MP Helen Haines introduces transparency bill in House
Helen Haines is introducing her private members’ bill to bring more transparency to how government grants are awarded and end pork barrelling in the House of Representatives.
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Australia announces sanctions on Russians ‘involved in the mistreatment of Alexei Navalny’
Richard Marles has announced financial sanctions and travel bans on seven prison officials “involved in the mistreatment of Alexei Navalny”
The Australian government is deeply shocked and saddened by the death of Mr Navalny. These sanctions are the next step in Australia’s efforts to hold to account those responsible for grave breaches of Mr Navalny’s human rights. We will continue to work closely with our partners to hold the Russian government and all involved in Mr Navalny’s death accountable.
…Australia holds President Putin and the Russian government responsible for Mr Navalny’s treatment and death in custody. As Australia has made clear to Russia, we join calls for an independent and transparent investigation into Mr Navalny’s death.
We acknowledge Mr Navalny’s heroic contribution to promoting democracy in Russia and his tireless opposition to President Vladimir Putin’s regime – work for which he has paid the ultimate price.
This announcement builds on our recent actions in response to human rights abuses in Russia. This includes sanctions in response to the poisoning, arrest, trial and sentencing of Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza, and Australia’s statements in key multilateral forums.
Updated
The parliament sitting will kick off at 10am.
Here is a small primer on what the week will involve.
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Queensland election prompts state Labor to address housing crisis
A looming election loss has kicked Queensland Labor into gear when it comes to the housing crisis.
Here is Andrew Messenger speaking to the state’s housing minister, Meaghan Scanlon, on some of the changes Queensland is making to boost supply, which includes taking existing buildings and turning them into housing:
Updated
Lowy Institute publishes 2024 Global Diplomacy Index
The Lowy Institute has published its 2024 Global Diplomacy Index (which ranks how many diplomats each nation has).
And the winner is … China.
China has a larger diplomatic footprint than the United States in Africa (60:56 posts), East Asia (44:27), the Pacific Islands countries (9:8), and Central Asia (7:6) after the United States withdrew from Afghanistan.
The United States still leads China diplomatically in Europe (78:73), North and Central America (40:24), and South Asia (12:10). Both countries have an equal number of posts in the Middle East (17) and South America (15).
The report shows Taiwan has lost ground to China in their contest for diplomatic recognition, with the recent decision by the Pacific Islands nation of Nauru to switch its allegiances highlighting Beijing’s growing influence.
Australia ranks 26th in the 2024 Index with 124 posts around the world, reflecting Australia’s continued underinvestment in diplomacy relative to its economic weight.
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Pollwatch: Labor below Coalition in primary vote but majority still back tax cut changes
AAP has read the polls (Resolve and Newspoll) so you don’t have to:
Both the Resolve Political Monitor – published in the Nine newspapers – and the Newspoll, published in the Australian, show Labor has lost some skin on the primary vote measure.
Resolve has the Coalition at 37% against Labor at 34%, while Newspoll shows the Coalition ahead at 36% against Labor at 33%. Both polls, published on Monday, showed a dip in the primary vote from the previous surveys.
Resolve also asked about 1,600 voters if they supported Labor’s changes to the stage-three tax cuts, which increases tax breaks for lower-paid workers while lowering the benefit for higher income earners.
More than half - 52% - backed the change while 14% opposed it, with 35% undecided. A breakdown of income categories showed all voters backed the change including higher income earners.
Asked if they viewed Labor’s changes as a broken promise, given the party went to the last federal election promising no change, 46% said that changing the policy to “suit the times” was sensible. Another 34% said it amounted to a broken promise.
But 61% said it didn’t make them think differently about the prime minister.
Newspoll also showed the government was ahead on a two-party preferred basis at 52% to 48%. It also found Anthony Albanese was still ahead in the better prime minister stakes at 47%, compared to 35% for the Coalition leader, Peter Dutton.
Updated
This week, Scott Morrison will deliver his final speech to the parliament as he exits, stage left, to become a consultant for US strategic firms headed up by former Trump advisors.
So what could the man, rated by Niki Savva as the worst prime minister since Billy McMahon (a man whose name in politics became a byword for failure), possibly have left to say?
You don’t have to wait long to find out.
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Parliamentary sparkies walk off job in pay protest
Parliament House electricians and tradies are walking off the job for 24-hours today in protest of their wages.
The Electrical Trades Union says some of the sparkies at APH are paid $3,000 less than the industry standard by the Department of Parliamentary Services, and negotiations are going nowhere.
So the people who keep the lights on for the building for some of the highest-paid workers in the nation are saying “not today, thank you”.
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Haines says government should support her bill: ‘We need to have enforceable rules’
Helen Haines is in discussions with the government over her private members bill – to have any hope of even being debated, the government would have to put it on the agenda. To pass the house, it would need the government’s support.
Historically, that is not something that happens with private members’ bills, and Haines says the government would need to explain why.
I would say to the government, if not, why not? We need to have enforceable rules about this. We need to have clear, publicly available selection criteria – that’s not asking too much.
…We need to have laws that have teeth on this so that governments of all persuasions can be held accountable for what they do.
You know, this is a big deal. This is not small change. So I think it’s absolutely critical that we stamp this out once and for all.
We’re entering election season pretty soon and that’s prime pork season.
So you know, I’m here really to put the fork in the pork before the next election.
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Haines: ‘I’m throwing down the gauntlet to the government’
Helen Haines says the Albanese government needs to actually match its rhetoric from opposition:
I’m really throwing down the gauntlet to the government. They’ve talked a big game on integrity. They’ve done good work in establishing the National Anti-Corruption Commission but they need to keep going.
We know that there’s been egregious breaches of trust when it comes to the expenditure of public money. Thousands of grants are distributed through the federal parliament, billions of dollars and we’ve heard politicians say, ‘well, you know, pork barreling, it’s not against the law’.
Well, I want to make it against the law.
Updated
Haines: private members bill is about transparency
The independent MP Helen Haines is speaking to ABC radio RN Breakfast about her integrity bill she will introduce today (Sarah Basford Canales has reported on that a little earlier this morning).
Haines said there is a lot more this government could be doing and aren’t. Under her bill, Haines says when it comes to grants:
The minister would need to come to the parliament and make that report with an explanation of why [they have overruled the department].
There may be excellent reasons why. But right now, we usually don’t find out about these things unless there’s a referral to the [auditor] and that’s not good enough.
I think in many ways this would protect a minister, actually. They would save a minister from themselves in many ways.
But more importantly, this is about transparency, it is about the public knowing how public funds are spent and it is about the parliament having a say in this as well, through oversight.
So my bill would set up a joint parliamentary committee that would would act as an oversight mechanism and accountability mechanism or transparency mechanism in the parliament.
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ABC chair Ita Buttrose is finishing up and former ABC managing director Mark Scott is asked about her tenure at the end of an interview on…the ABC:
You’ve got to say that, that it was a champion of the ABC. She was a very experienced media leader. She was quite I think courageous at times in standing up to the ABC and that’s what you need a chair to be able to do at times – there’ll always be critics of the ABC, many will be genuine, some won’t be well meaning.
There’ll be times the organisation needs to be defended. And I think she’s done a good job on that over time.
Murray Watt says ‘byelections are always hard for governments’ on Dunkley
On the Dunkley byelection, which has Labor and the Liberal party at 50-50 in the polls (private and public), Murray Watt says:
Byelections are always tough for incoming governments. You know, where it would be reasonable to expect a swing against the government, like we see in every byelection.
So, frankly, if we can manage to have a win and hold on to that seat, then we’ll be very happy.
Of course, this by-election has been triggered through the tragic death of a much-loved local member in Peta Murphy. But in [Labor candidate] Jodie [Belyea], we’ve got a terrific local champion as well and I wish her all the best for the weekend.
But it’s going to be difficult. Byelections are always hard for governments. So if we can hang on there, we’ll be very happy.
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Flash-flooding in Queensland
Meanwhile, there is a flash flooding risk in north Queensland. Murray Watt:
While we are seeing fires in the south-east of the country, the north of our country is dealing with cyclones and flooding. The damage that was inflicted on communities from particularly Tropical Cyclone Jasper, and then Kirrily as well, has meant that a lot of the country, particularly in north Queensland, is quite waterlogged at the moment.
So it’s not taking a lot of heavy rain to see that flash flooding emerge … it’s a reminder that we’re still very much in the middle of high-risk weather season and wherever you are in the country, it’s important for people to stay across the warnings for their area.
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Murray Watt says Wednesday will be ‘difficult’ for Victorians facing fire risk
Parts of western Victoria are still facing a fire risk – residents are still being told it is too dangerous to return to their homes as the bushfire north-west of Ballarat continues to rage. The emergency services minister, Murray Watt, has told the ABC the week is not looking good:
I think that there’s no doubt that Wednesday is going to be a difficult day, particularly in western Victoria. But obviously, we are seeing fires in other parts of the country at the moment as well, particularly in Tasmania. So it’s going to be really important that everyone does everything that they possibly can to prepare for Wednesday.
You will have seen … weekend meetings that have been happening, community meetings, to get the information out to people.
But I know that the Victorian fire service in particular is putting in an immense effort, and we need to see that matched by all authorities and community members as well.
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Helen Haines shines spotlight on pork barrelling
The independent MP Helen Haines has urged the Albanese government to stamp out pork barrelling (promising funding of projects targeted only at politically important electorates), saying it’s happening again in the Dunkley byelection.
The member for Indi will introduce a private members’ bill on Monday that would require decisions regarding government grants to follow a merit-based selection process. It would also establish a new parliamentary committee to overlook any decisions and require ministers who go against department advice to table their reasons in Parliament.
Haines said rorting grants programs “wastes money and destroys public trust in government processes” and the rules should be tightened up before the next federal election.
Pork barrelling is happening right now during the Dunkley byelection, and before long the government and the opposition will be campaigning for the next federal election. We need these simple and reasonable reforms now to help rebuild public trust in government spending and to ensure public money is invested wisely and effectively. “
The Coalition has promised voters in the outer Melbourne seat of Dunkley to tip in $900m for the Frankston-to-Baxter rail project. The project was scrapped under the Albanese government last November as a result of its infrastructure spending overhaul.
Guardian Australia understands the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, has asked her department for advice on how to strengthen the federal grants framework.
While in opposition, Gallagher introduced her own private senators’ bill to force ministers who approve grants against department advice, or who award grants in their own electorates, to report the decision to the finance minister within 30 days and for those reports to be tabled in the Parliament within five sitting days.
Gallagher said the Albanese government remains “committed to increasing the transparency and accountability of government decision-making in relation to grants”.
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Good morning
Welcome back to another parliament sitting week. Are we all excited?
Good. Me neither.
It’s the week before the Dunkley byelection, with all indications Labor and the Liberal party are in for a close one. Both are claiming a 50% chance of winning, and it is quite tight on the ground, so this week matters.
The usual byelection swing against a sitting government is about 7% or so and that is bigger than the margin in Dunkley, which is a mix of battlers and higher income earners, making the messaging a little tough to pin down.
That just means that this week’s question times are going to be even more feral than usual. Peter Dutton either needs to win Dunkley or come very close to it in order to keep the ship steady, while a loss for Labor would take some of the wind out of Anthony Albanese’s government’s sails. So keep an eye on that one.
One of the things that has done well for Labor in Dunkley is the stage-three tax cut changes, which will go through the Senate this week. The bill will pass with the Coalition’s support (although we wait to see whether there will be the same amendments attempted – one “amendment” the Liberal party put through wanted to change the name of the bill to the “broken promises” bill, which is all well and good in a political sense, but the Coalition plans on voting for these changes, which means they would have voted for the broken promises bill, which takes the sting out of things a little).
But the Coalition will want to keep the focus on borders as much as possible, setting up a “who is tougher” competition – which always forgets that there are humans at the centre of these “debates”.
We will cover it all off for you – you have Paul Karp, Josh Butler, Sarah Basford Canales and Daniel Hurst with you today, and Amy Remeikis (that’s me) on the blog. Guardian Australia photographer-at-large Mike Bowers is on assignment, but will be with us a little later in the week.
Ready? It’s a three-coffee morning.
Let’s get into it.
