What we learned: Tuesday 17 October
Before we close the blog for today, let’s recap the big headlines:
Palestinian Australians in the West Bank who fear a surge in violence have raised concerns over the Australian government’s efforts to help them escape the region, after rescue buses to Jordan were cancelled.
The no vote in the referendum rejected constitutional recognition through a voice to parliament but did not reject the policies of truth telling and treaty-making, several Labor MPs have argued.
Billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer’s $40m superyacht has been freed and safely anchored off the coast of Singapore after it ran aground and became stranded on Monday night.
Lawyers for a high-profile man accused of rape have been reprimanded by a Queensland judge for failing to promptly submit their application for a judicial review to keep their client’s name secret.
Queensland firefighters have responded to nearly 60 grass and bushfires within a 24-hour period, with water bombers and fire crews working late into the night to protect property and bring the blazes under control.
Thanks so much for your company today. It’s another sitting day in Canberra tomorrow, so Amy Remeikis will be back with you bright and early.
Updated
Family and friends of Australians fleeing conflict in Israel have begun gathering to welcome them at Sydney Airport.
All up, 222 people were due to land at 1755 on Tuesday on the DFAT-supported flight from Tel Aviv via Dubai. It is the first repatriation flight to Australia.
Among the passengers are the teenage niece and nephew of Ayelet Nussbaum, from Glebe, whose brother and family moved to Haifa in 2021. Here’s what she told Guardian Australia:
This is the third flight they tried to get on and we’re very relieved - we were very nervous.
But it’s mixed feelings. (Her brother, his wife and their youngest child remain in Haifa)
My brother is very patriotic and very involved socially. He is not ready to leave. Being there is part of who he is. I don’t blame him even though it’s hard for us.
She was joined at the airport by her children, Mya Nussbaum, 10, and Adam Nussbaum, 13, and her parents, Shai and Dina Thaler.
The Qatar-operated flight is the first of three government-assisted repatriation flights due to land from Israel via London and Dubai over the next 48 hours.
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ASX rally fades in wake of hawkish Reserve Bank minutes
The Australian share market has finished higher, but a stronger rally faded after the release of hawkish Reserve Bank minutes indicating another interest rate hike this year is still possible.
The ASX200 had been up as much 1.05% by late morning amid efforts by the international community to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East, but gave up some of those gains after the release of minutes from the RBA’s last meeting indicating that board members were open to another rate hike next month.
The board believes most households and businesses are managing to adjust to higher interest rates, the minutes showed, and board members are concerned about the upside risks of inflation:
The RBA minutes had a more hawkish stance when compared to previous RBA communications:
The board has a low tolerance for a slower return of inflation to target than currently expected.
- AAP
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Outcome of David Van allegations referral to be finalised but PWSS will not reveal details
Earlier today during senate question time, we heard from former Liberal-turned-independent senator David Van.
Peter Dutton removed Van from the Liberal party room in June after multiple inappropriate touching allegations were made against him. Van has denied all the allegations.
The opposition leader also revealed he had made a referral to the parliamentary workplace support system to have a look at the claims alleged to have occurred within Parliament House.
It’s expected the outcome of that referral will be finalised soon, but PWSS will not reveal any details about it. A spokesperson for the PWSS told Guardian Australia it doesn’t confirm or deny whether it has looked into matters referred to the body.
“In keeping with the privacy and confidentiality principles which underpin the service, the PWSS does not comment on whether or not it has had involvement in workplace matters.” the spokesperson said.
“It is very important that people are not deterred from engaging with the PWSS over concerns about how their information will be used.”
Updated
New commissioner for Victorian corruption watchdog
Victoria’s corruption watchdog has a new woman in charge - a year after her predecessor finished up.
The state government announced Victoria Elliot as the new commissioner for the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission.
Elliot will start her five-year term on December 16, taking over from action commissioner Stephen Farrow. Previous commissioner Robert Redlich’s five-year term came to an end on December 16, 2022.
Towards the end of his time as commissioner, Mr Redlich became a vocal critic of the Daniel Andrews Labor government and its attempts to minimise investigation findings and the growing problem of ‘grey corruption’ - unethical practices that did not meet the legal threshold of a criminal offence.
- AAP
Labor senator says price tag for Israel’s right to defend itself ‘cannot be the destruction of Palestine’ and calls for condemnation
The Labor senator Fatima Payman has used a speech in the upper house to condemn Israel’s military action in Gaza and urged her colleagues to join her.
Yesterday, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, recognised Israel’s right to defend itself, but also urged the Netanyahu government to “operate by the rules of war” amid increasing expectations of an imminent ground operation in Gaza.
Here’s a section of Payman’s short speech, which goes much further than the prime minister’s comments this week:
The killing of innocent civilians in Israel should be condemned and we condemn it. The killing of innocent civilians in Palestine should also be condemned. We must condemn it.
Israeli missile strike residential dwellings, civilians, multi-story apartments, health facilities as well as places of worship, indiscriminately killing men, women and children. We must condemn it.
The price tag of Israel’s right to defend itself cannot be the destruction of Palestine. Israel’s right to defend its civilians cannot equate the annihilation of Palestinian civilians.
I am feeling the pain of all those in Gaza without water, food, electricity or safety and all those families who have lost loved ones including children. pic.twitter.com/Ai47wtrHUu
— Fatima Payman (@SenatorPayman) October 17, 2023
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NSW Liberals briefed on state election loss post-mortem
A post-mortem of the New South Wales Liberals election defeat in March has pointed to the damage done by the Morrison government’s record on climate change, women and integrity, party infighting and dysfunction.
The report also pointed to the impact of the John Barilaro saga.
Seven months on from the Coalition’s loss to Labor, the internal review by former NSW premier Nick Greiner and former NSW MP Peta Seaton found the government’s “longevity” and an “it’s time” factor after 12 years contributed to the loss.
Liberal MPs were briefed on the review during Tuesday’s party room meeting by Greiner and Seaton.
People in attendance told the Guardian, on the condition of anonymity, that there was nothing “overly spicy” or surprising about the findings that highlighted the state party’s links to former prime minister Scott Morrison and NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro. Here’s how one source put it:
It was probably a good summary of what we already knew in terms of what went wrong. It was longevity, it was a lot of infighting on our end, delayed preselections, factions fighting with each other.
Updated
Major spending cuts for country’s biggest council, Brisbane City
A $400m hit to Australia’s biggest council’s budget will see proposed “green bridges” scrapped in a bid to improve the bottom line, along with cuts to advertising, consultants and travel costs, as AAP reports.
Just months after July’s $4.3bn budget, Brisbane’s lord mayor, Adrian Schrinner, confirmed the council would cut spending by 10% until June 30. Schrinner cited global inflation and an ongoing cost-of-living crisis for the sudden cuts that will affect projects and services run by Australia’s largest council by population.
Affected projects include the green bridge program which provides pedestrian and cycle links with public transport. The Toowong to West End stage is now on hold.
Cuts will also hit the Brisbane Metro transit service, which is expected to be operational in 2024, with a public art requirement removed. Shading set for the Victoria Bridge as part of the Brisbane Metro project has also been paused. But there will be no redundancies and waste collection services won’t be affected.
Here’s how Schrinner put it:
Just like many households, we’re making the responsible decision to reduce council spending by 10% to avoid driving up costs for residents.
We’re being upfront about this tough decision but make no apology for prioritising keeping costs down for households.
Updated
On that note, I am going to hand over the blog to Henry Belot who will take you through the evening. I’ll be back at sparrows tomorrow to help guide you through another parliamentary sitting day. Make sure you check back with the team to see what they have done in the meantime – and please, take care of you.
I mean it.
Updated
The Bowers-eye view of question time
Here is how our very own Mike Bowers saw QT:
Updated
NSW police release further CCTV footage of alleged assault during pro-Palestine rally
New South Wales police have released more CCTV footage from last Monday’s pro-Palestine rally in Sydney after a man was allegedly assaulted at the Opera House.
Police said the 45-year-old allegedly became involved in an argument with a group of men about 7.30pm on Monday during which he was allegedly assaulted and spat on.
Officers intervened and the group dispersed and left the area before the alleged victim then reported the assault, police said.
Police have released images captured on CCTV of five people they say may be able to assist them with their investigation into the alleged incident.
The force on Monday released CCTV footage of another man who attended the rally as they investigate the protest under Strike Force Mealing.
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Liberal MP says it will be a ‘long time’ before another referendum occurs
Liberal MP Keith Wolahan gave an interesting contribution, saying “it’ll be a long time before we have another one [referendum] again”. That comment made our ears prick up, considering the furore today over whether Peter Dutton would do another referendum on symbolic constitutional recognition or whether he won’t:
We may never again in this parliament, however long we’re here, have an MPI after a referendum.
Considering some MPs spend decades in the chamber, we may not be holding our breath for the Liberals to advance a constitutional change of their own anytime soon. An MPI is a Matter for Public Importance, by the way, a way for MPs to debate about something, usually following question time (and usually fired off by the opposition).
Wolahan was deputy chair of a parliamentary committee examining the proposed constitutional amendment – which controversially only went for six weeks, as ordered by the government. He derided it as a “ticking exercise”, calling it a “mistake” for the process to be run the way it was.
Updated
Voice fallout continues in the House
Going back to the MPI in the House on the voice referendum, Labor MP Daniel Mulino branded as “completely disingenuous” claims from the Coalition there could have been more bipartisanship on the referendum. He questioned why they hadn’t progressed the Uluru statement when they were in government; then went on to call the opposition’s demands for an audit of Indigenous spending “dog whistling” and “absolutely pathetic”.
Next the call went to Barnaby Joyce. He revived the infamous Shaquille O’Neal press conference with PM Anthony Albanese last year, laughing and crowing “what a joke” (PS learning more about Shaq’s involvement in the referendum is still my ‘white whale’ story. If you know more, my DMs are always open)
Fremantle MP Josh Wilson came afetrward, saying “I’m sorry Australia didn’t vote yes”.
We put the referendum in the terms Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people asked for, through the most comprehensive referendum constitutional process that’s ever occurred.”
Wilson said that whichever way the vote went, “the work of reconciliation and closing the gap had to continue ... It wasn’t going to be done with a yes vote and it isn’t done with a no vote.”
Updated
Plibersek defends sending letter to Unesco as part of process of stopping Barrier Reef danger listing
Tanya Plibersek is speaking now and says the letter Bob Katter is referring to is not a secret, and she tabled it in the Senate in July.
She says she spoke to people in all the industries Katter has referred to, and the letter was part of the process to stop Unesco from listing the reef as being in danger.
Updated
Sharkie says she is supporting Katter motion out of crossbencher solidarity
Rebekha Sharkie says she is supporting the motion because she knows how much Bob Katter cares about his electorate and the cane and cattle farmers who live within it, as well as the Great Barrier Reef itself.
She says she is supporting the motion (while acknowledging Mayo is hundreds of kilometres away from the reef) to provide support to a fellow crossbencher in raising an issue which is important to them.
Updated
Rebekha Sharkie seconds Bob Katter’s suspension motion
Mayo independent MP Rebekha Sharkie has seconded the motion.
Katter is speaking to the suspension motion, citing the Magna Carta. He also refers to Tanya Plibersek as “some lady” in the parliament who is now trying to dictate to people how they use their land (in reference to the run off)
Updated
Bob Katter moves to suspend standing orders over letter to Unesco regarding gillnet fishing
Kennedy independent MP Bob Katter is moving a motion to suspend standing orders. It is over a letter that he says Tanya Plibersek wrote to the director general of Unesco outlining the federal government’s compliance with the international body, in relation to reef standards - which Katter says will impact our agriculture and fishing industries.
The main issue seems to be the complete ban of gillnet fishing, which Katter says will kill off the industry. Katter’s suspension motion asks the house to:
(1) Notes the Minister for the Environment may have sent a letter “in camera”, on 25 May 2023, to the Director General of UNESCO, without public scrutiny;
(2) Notes that this letter sets out in detail Reef and Gulf runoff regulatory impositions that will result in the closure of agriculture on Queensland’s Gulf and East Coast;
(3) Notes that if the proposals detailed in the letter received Governor in Council assent, they would shut down the commercial fishing industry, severely damage tourism, much of which is based upon recreational fishing, and tourist access to the reef;
(4) Notes that this mortal blow might also extend to the Northern cattle, sugar and banana industries;
(5) Notes that the 2021/2022 annual report of coral reef condition, prepared by the Australian Institute of Marine Science, demonstrated that the Northern and Central regions of the Great Barrier Reef have the highest coral cover measured in 36 years of monitoring. The Southern section only declined slightly due to crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks.
(6) Notes that given the excellent health of the reef there is no evidence that agricultural runoff is affecting the reef and as such there is no justification for arbitrary regulatory impositions that will detrimentally affect the agricultural sector and broader community.
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ABC reiterates importance of ‘getting it right’ in journalism especially during ‘fog of war’ situations
Continued from the previous post:
Asked about how the ABC is verifying reports made by the IDF and others during the conflict, Stevens said the ABC is “very cautious around how we attribute information and make sure we’re quite clear about how we are sourcing information and so that the attribution is abundantly clear,” he said.
He said the key thing is to be transparent with the audience if the ABC is unclear around particular things.
We know that in the fog of war, the stakes are super high around the urgency to report allegations and information, particularly of immense concern. But we also know the stakes are high to get it right. ... And it’s incumbent on us as all journalistic institutions to get it right. Because if we don’t there can be major ramifications in terms of the momentum around events.
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ABC explains policy around when they label actions and organisations as ‘terrorism’ or ‘terrorists’
The ABC’s director of news, Justin Stevens, said unlike the BBC, the ABC had been quite intentional in describing the Hamas attack on Israel as a terrorist act, but like the BBC would not describe the organisation as terrorists.
The BBC has faced criticism in the United Kingdom in the past week for its long-standing policy of not labelling groups as terrorist organisations or their acts as acts of terrorism, except in describing the labels governments apply to those organisations.
Stevens told a SXSW panel in Sydney on Tuesday that since the Israel-Hamas war began, the ABC had ongoing editorial discussions around the language used and it was quite intentional to describe “the horrific attacks by Hamas on innocent civilians as a terrorist act”
But he said it was up to governments, not the ABC to describe different groups as a terrorist organisation:
We know and extensively in our reporting that the Australian government and a few others have already designated in recent events that Hamas is a terrorist organisation and we make that clear, but we are quite particular and issued guidance notes to that effect so that we have a consistency in how we’re doing it.
Updated
Evacuation flights from Israel to arrive this evening
The evacuation flights from Tel Aviv will begin arriving in Australia this evening. Qantas and Qatar Airways have worked with the Australian governments to bring Australian citizens who wished to leave Israel home.
Virgin Australia will provide onward domestic travel for passengers who do not live in the arrival port of Sydney.
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Amy’s analysis: on the Coalition and the voice’s ‘missed opportunity’
Further to Dan’s posts there, it is also worth remembering that the Liberal party, under Peter Dutton, began running a soft no campaign almost immediately after the election.
The Nationals announced their opposition to the voice before the question was even put forward.
The referendum was on what Indigenous leaders who co-signed the Uluru statement from the heart had asked for. It was not Labor’s request nor was it a self-starter policy from Labor or Anthony Albanese. It was the request of the Indigenous leaders who had been asked by Tony Abbott to form a consensus on what form of constitutional recognition they thought was best.
The answer was the Uluru statement from the heart – voice, truth, treaty.
So this idea that the government didn’t work hard enough to get bipartisan support is bupkis. If they had given the Coalition what it said it wanted (with no guarantees it still wouldn’t have tanked the referendum), then Labor would have been compromising what Indigenous people had asked for – and it wasn’t Labor’s compromise to make.
This wasn’t just politics. It never is.
But for the opposition to now turn around and blame the government “for a missed opportunity” when it spent the last year doing what it could to destroy the voice proposal – which included asking misleading “questions” – is not only transparently predictable, it is another sad indictment of the state of political “debate” in this country.
Updated
Fletcher says Albanese made ‘no effort to engage with Coalition’ to gather bipartisan support for voice despite meeting Dutton seven times
Fletcher went on to say that Anthony Albanese had cited, on Saturday night, the lack of bipartisan support as an explanation for the loss:
Well he’s right - but why did he do nothing to get bipartisan support?
Fletcher asked why Albanese had made “absolutely no effort” to engage with the Coalition and the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton*. Albanese, according to Fletcher, “refused to engage with this side of the house”.
Fletcher said the referendum had turned into “the prime minister’s own vanity project” and it was an “unedifying and disappointing outcome”.
*A reminder that Albanese told Guardian Australia’s politics podcast last month: “Peter Dutton got to address the referendum working group twice, on two occasions. I met with him seven times.”
Updated
Paul Fletcher condemns ‘tragically missed opportunity’ of voice referendum after his party opposed it
After question time, Paul Fletcher condemns the government’s handling of the voice referendum as a “tragically missed opportunity for this nation”.
(This “tragically missed opportunity” would be the referendum that the National party chose to oppose before the wording was settled and the Liberal party chose to oppose very soon after it lost a one-in-100 year byelection.)
Fletcher continues:
This opportunity for our nation has been missed … and it is down to the poor management, the incompetent management of this prime minister.
Fletcher says Anthony Albanese pledged his support to the Uluru statement from the heart in full on election night* “but he never did the detailed work” to build support** across Australia.
* Albanese and the Labor party had mentioned this many times before the election, not just on election time. That included multiple budget reply speeches and Albanese’s election campaign launch.
** The Coalition opposed it.
Updated
Question time ends
And then question time ends.
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Albanese claims Labor party ‘has in its DNA support for housing’
Albanese continues:
…What we will do on this side of the house is always take every single opportunity to put more money into public and social housing. That is what we will do. That is what we have done and that is why we work with states and territories.
As part of making sure that we get greater supply in housing and already can I say is the social housing accelerator I’ve been with the former [Victorian] premier Daniel Andrews, who announced a significant program there in Melbourne to help housing supply in Victoria.
I then have started the social housing accelerator program in Sydney as well, with the NSW premier, Chris Minns.
When we went to the electorate of Banks to announce a classic example of something that should happen[ed], which is for three dilapidated homes that were uninhabitable to be knocked over and to build in its place 11 or 12 purpose-built one or two bedroom homes which older Australians can have.
Now that will boost housing supply.
After the former coalition government in New South Wales left office there [was] less public housing then there was when[Labor] last left office. The Labor party has in our DNA support for housing. We will continue to do so.
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Albanese says Greens housing policies would have made things harder for renters, not easier
Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather, who has been called the “ghost of Albo past” by some left Labor types (in explaining what it is about the former Young Labor turned Greens MP that gets under the skin of the prime minister so much – one theory is that MCM’s penchant for disruption and rabble raising is not dissimilar to how a very young Albanese used to approach politics), asks:
Your government will give property investors like yourself $38bn in tax concessions this year but as a result of your decision to lock in unlimited rent increases at national cabinet, renters will pay an extra $4.9bn in rent increases. Can you explain to the millions of Australian renters why property investors should get billions of renters’ [earnings] in unlimited rent increases every 12 months?
Albanese:
I joined the Labor party when I was at school because I could never have afforded to join the Greens. Let we make that clear about those opposite there. I joined the party of working-class people who aspire, who aspire to a better opportunity and better life for their children and that is what we do.
We also want to make sure that we have serious housing policy. The policies [put forward] by … the Greens political party are considered by every single state and territory government, every economist, everyone in the property sector, that what they will do was make it harder for renters and not easier. Harder for renters, not easier.
Which is why we are working on the issue of supply which is why eventually the Greens saw the light, to your credit, and voted for the housing Australia future fund, having held up the fund.
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Albanese says he is a PM who sticks to his commitments
Milton Dick takes a deep breath and asks Albanese to return to the question (but not before pointing out that the question ‘went over decades’.
Albanese:
What we had during this question time, incredibly, is those opposite … in their tactics committee said: ‘I know what we will do, we will ask questions about Kevin Rudd and we will ask questions about the Indigenous Australians who supported a yes campaign in the referendum who were disappointed that the referendum did not get up, having opposed it and having spent months asking questions in here, some of which they knew [were misleading].’
I am a prime minister who sticks to their commitments and says what I will do, so that I will do [it], and then does it, which is why you don’t recognise it.
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Anthony Albanese:
If I understand it right, he is asking me about actions of the Rudd government in 2009/10 when [the Liberals] opposed action on climate change … voted against it, not once but twice [against] any action on climate change along with, sorry to have to raise this, but you know what is coming … [the CPRS or carbon price, which the Coalition defeated in a vote the Greens supported because they did not think the policy went far enough – not because they didn’t want to see climate action]
But I’m very sorry to raise this, I just had to throw that in there. That is a matter of history, it occurred.
If I get this right, the criticism is that the referendum that we put to the Australian people – that they promised to put to the Australian people at every election from 2007 on, from every leader of the Liberal party according to the leader of the opposition, said they would advance constitutional recognition but it did not happen – They never put it to a referendum. What we did was put into a referendum.
They opposed it and now they say that – I am not quite sure what they are trying to get up. It follows the deputy leader of the opposition asking a question about the views of Indigenous Australians...
Paul Fletcher jumps to his feet:
On relevance, a direct question. Is the prime minister walking away from his commitment to voice treaty and truth justice as his mentor Kevin Rudd similarly did? He cannot answer a simple question.
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Coalition accuses government of ‘walking away’ from voice, truth and treaty after spending months opposing voice
The LNP MP for Groom, Garth Hamilton wants to know, from Anthony Albanese:
My question is to be prime minister and his comments yesterday and today to stand by his previous commitments to voice, treaty and truth. Last time Labor was in power, the prime minister, then a mentor to the prime minister Kevin Rudd, said that climate change was the greatest challenge of our time and walked away from his commitment. Is this prime minister doing the same thing on voice, treaty and truth?
To which, we can only say, excuse me?
I may not have heard correctly over the non-stop fluttering of my eye twitch, but is the Coalition tactics committee now accusing the Rudd/Gillard government of “walking away” from climate after the Coalition destroyed, demonised and then scrapped the carbon price – and asking in the same breath if the government is walking away from the Uluru statement from the heart after working to tear down the voice proposal?
George Orwell wrote a timeless essay about political language, but even he would be struggling to comprehend what exactly is being said here. That thing you smell is the audacity.
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Helen Haines asks after promised $1bn on clean energy bill relief
Indi independent MP Helen Haines asks Chris Bowen:
In the May Budget, you committed $1bn to provide local cost loans or household energy efficiency. I have long called for this to help reduce energy bills. Five months after your announcement, we have heard nothing. With bills higher than ever, people in my electorate [need that relief]. When will these loans actually be available so constituents [can receive that money]?
Bowen goes through some other things and then gets to the question:
In relation to the $1bn for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, that money has been allocated and the minister for Finance and I have adjusted the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s investment mandate to allow those investments to be made – that was important.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation is now negotiating with banks and financial institutions and other writers of finance, these are done jointly, just as there are many banks already offering green loans, the CFC will be partnering with those financial institutions to ensure that there are more green loans available right across the country, up to 110,000 households will benefit.
He says he’ll update Haines when those negotiations are further along.
Updated
Marles reaffirms Labor support for Uluru statement from the heart but says the Australian people have said it cannot be achieved through constitutional reform
Paul Fletcher has a question for Richard Marles:
On Sunday, the deputy prime minister declared, quote, ‘we have committed to implementing the Uluru statement in full. That is what we have taken to the Australian people and that has been our position for a long time,’. Does the deputy prime minister stand by this statement?
Richard Marles says a lot of words about the Uluru statement from the heart and then we get to:
In the light of what has occurred over the course of the weekend, we have made clear that we hear the voice of the Australian people and that the pursuit of reconciliation, the pursuit of closing the gap is no longer going to be achieved through constitutional reform, but we are completely committed to a process of reconciliation and we are can deeply committed to a process of closing the gap and we are going to take on Indigenous Australians what they have said in the aftermath of the last weekend and that is allow time for the dust to settle and we will work with them about how we can best as a nation achieve the objective of closing the gap, in achieving reconciliation in this nation
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Marles gives update on navy report
Richard Marles reponds to a dixer to say what he had already announced weeks ago: the government has received a report on the naval surface fleet and will take time to consider the findings. The defence minister said the Labor government had inherited a navy in a “very difficult state” after a “lost decade” under the Coalition. He said it was “the oldest fleet that the navy has ever operated”. Marles said:
In the final year of the Gillard government, the number of available days from navy’s major combatants including our submarines was 3,915. In the last year of the former Liberal government, when the leader of the opposition [Peter Dutton] was the minister for defence, that number had dropped to 2,749, a decline of 30%. Their legacy is the oldest navy our country has ever operated, with 30% less availability.
Marles said the Hunter class frigate program - approved by the Coalition - had been running four years late:
This is the definition of incompetence … the worst national security government that our country has ever seen.
(He has said this before, which the Coalition had said was an overreach. Marles then goes through the greatest hits on political attacks on the Coalition.)
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Albanese gets fuel excise right and says opposition ‘have nothing to offer’ on cost-of-living policy
I think the current rate is 48.8 cents, so Anthony Albanese is pretty close there.
He continues:
They brought forward changes which all ran out as soon as people had cast their vote. They left a $78bn black hole as well as contributing to $1 tn in debt.
They had the largest ever inflation of 2.1% in decades that we saw in decades, it was on their watch in the March quarter.
What we have done is turn that around with a policy aimed at tackling inflation while dealing with cost-of-living pressures while at the same time dealing with supply chain issues, which is what our national skills agreement is about.
Those opposite who have nothing to offer, a shadow treasurer who has taken a vow of silence when it comes to talking with [the] treasurer. He may as well have a monk in charge.
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Albanese points to fuel excise freeze during Coalition tenure as reason fuel prices have risen under Labor
Anthony Albanese starts off with the usual heckling of Angus Taylor for not asking Jim Chalmers a question [Angus Taylor being the shadow treasurer, and Jim Chalmers being the treasurer]. That kicks of a bunch of theatrical gaffaws and interjections and reminds me that everyone on the chamber benches is being paid at least $211,000.
Eventually, Albanese moves on:
The fact is that under those opposite, and this is typical of what those opposite do, they refused to take responsibility for any of their actions. What we saw with their budget, with their budget, was in 2022, they handed it down a budget with a whole bunch of goodies. They all ran out and that is why they left a $78bn deficit.
One that we have turned around into a $22bn dollars surplus. If those opposite, what they do ...
… They brought forward in our budget in March a freeze to the fuel excise. They brought forward [the freeze] and they also put in an end date for it. It is now 48 cents but what they did...
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Angust Taylor attempts fuel excise price gotcha
Angus Taylor is back up and asks Anthony Albanese:
I refer to the Prime Minister’s inability to give the price of petrol recently. ….Prime Minister, what is the fuel excise rate?
I missed the middle part of the question. The “how much is X” question is a Sky political editor Andrew Clennell special: he caught out Albanese not so long ago in an interview, but you may remember he also caught out former prime minister Scott Morrison over the cost of milk (Jenny bought it, if I remember correctly).
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Clare O’Neil says Dutton on home affairs is ‘a fraud and a hypocrite’ and should apologise to the Australian people
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, is back with another round of her new favourite segment; ‘just how bad was Peter Dutton’. It’s on the Nixon visa review again and includes this bit:
We have an individual who arrived in Australia on a student visa [in] 2014 and he was found later not to have studied at all and instead he set up a sprawling underground sex worker rackets which abuse[d] vulnerable people.
… What I find about this very upsetting and I think Australians are angry about what they see here –we understand the risk involved in running a system like this and what they do not like is hypocrisy.
What we saw was the opposition leader parade around the country saying he was a tough guy on borders while organised criminals are coming in under his nose and exploiting people and abusing them.
He is a fraud, a hypocrite and he should apologise to Australians over the mess he created.
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Albanese says Liberal government made promises on infrastructure projects but never provided the funding
Albanese continues:
They went to an election promising a referendum, it has been the Liberal party’s policy ever since 2010, [in] 2013 they were elected, 2016 they were elected, 2019 they were elected, they went to the 2022 election having made provisions in the forward estimates for a referendum but then, then of course they decided no, to oppose it.
Then they ask questions about the cost! The leader of the opposition, in his interjection across the chamber … [said] you will find out how much it will cost when you are in opposition, that is what he said.
When he stood up at the dispatch box as well 100%, they want a 100% increase in cost because they want to hold another one. They want to hold another one and he just confirmed that across the chamber.
The member for Dawson asked about infrastructure because they are again, they did not make … a provision for what was needed to fund projects, a $33bn blowout in their infrastructure spend. Unlike the former Labor government, which I must say promise[d] and funded properly the Mackay Ring Road, for example. The Bruce Highway upgrades to the south. The peak Dell Highway to the west, we funded those things properly, we funded them, we built them, and we got it done.
Those opposite were big on promises but they did not ever worry about providing the funding to build what they were promising. They just added it on and never did it. I have just named three [projects] in his electorate that we delivered.
The fact is, we have had to clean up the mess like in so many areas that the incompetent former government left.
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PM says referendum was half-budgeted for by Liberal government who never held the referendums they went to elections promising
Anthony Albanese:
The member asked about the cost of the referendum, but in fact, half of the cost of the referendum was in the forward estimates provisioned by the former government, by the former government. It was there in the Liberal party’s budget handed down by Josh Frydenberg.
But they just forgot to do it Mr Speaker. Election after election, they went to elections and said they would hold a referendum, they provided funding to hold a referendum.
There are a bunch of interjections.
Updated
LNP continues attack lines on ‘divisive’ referendum which supposedly was a distraction to government business
The LNP MP for Dawson, Andrew Wilcox asks the PM:
While the prime minister has been distracted with his divisive, $450m referendum, hundreds of life-saving road projects have stalled at a time when the road toll is rising alarmingly high. Why has the prime minister’s 90 day review of infrastructure projects blown out to 170 days and counting?
This idea that governments can only do one thing at a time is not only ridiculous, it is also insulting. During the early stages of Covid, there was a time where the parliament did not meet (a Coalition government decision) and things still kept ticking over – so why are we now meant to believe that for the last 18 months, the government was only focussed on one thing.
Was the opposition, which campaigned just as strongly against the voice, only focussed on the referendum? Or did it still manage to look at other issues?
This is what we mean about the counter-factuals. If you ever wonder if a political attack sounds a little ridiculous but aren’t sure why, reverse it and see how it sounds. You’ll usually get your answers.
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Amy’s analysis: truth in political advertising
One of the biggest barriers to truth in political advertising laws? The major parties.
Both are hesitant to do anything that would hobble their ability to say what they would like about the other during elections.
Updated
Albanese says ‘appropriate processes’ are being undertaken on truth in political advertising
Anthony Albanese:
I certainly understand her perspective, because it is a concern with the changing media environment as well. That people can be … subject [to] misinformation and subject to misinformation, which in some cases is just about politics but in some cases can be dangerous.
Perhaps I wasn’t going to give a specific example, but I will … during the recent campaign, there was a ... photo of the Star of David across eight Australian’s faces: Mark Liebler, Thomas Mayo, Anthony Pratt, Justice Stephen Rothman, Julian Lisa, Josh Burns, Kim Rubenstein and Mark Dreyfus.
This is what it said. “All of the major creators, financiers and supporters of the voice to parliament are Jewish. Ask yourself why 0.38% of Australia’s population is using 3% as a battering ram against the rest of the country … ”.
The PM continues to describe the circumstances in which the image was tweeted, which includes the quote ‘the latest chapter in the thousands-year old hate and attempted destruction of white people’.
… the question that has been asked by the member for Warringah goes to a serious question of – and everyone in this parliament would find that totally abhorrent …
I am not going to give a free ad to those people, I was not going to go through [but] there is a number of them, a number of them along those lines.
Now when it comes to the challenge that we have of dealing with this, it is complex, you do not want to interfere with medium of expression but you want to make sure that elections can be held and democratic processes can be held in an appropriate way.
The minister is undertaking appropriate processes to deal with that and I look forward to working with them with the member for Warringah.
Updated
Independent Zali Steggall calls for truth in political advertising laws
Zali Steggall has the first of the crossbench questions and she asks:
To the prime minister: consumers are protected from commercial conduct and advertising that is misleading and deceptive. This includes promotions or ads that contain false and inaccurate information and statements that failed to disclose important information. Nothing protects voters from … misleading political advertising. Will you support my bill or introduce legislation without delay to ensure that these are in line with consumer protections?
Paul Karp raised the truth in political advertising spectre not so long ago:
Updated
Sussan Ley’s previous statements on truth-telling and treaty, made this morning
Given that line of attack from Sussan Ley, it might be worth bringing you a few more details from the press conference the deputy opposition leader held half an hour before question time.
A journalist asked Ley:
You’re demanding to know if the PM’s going to pursue truth telling and treaty. He said that he’s going to consult with Indigenous Australians after this week of silence. Isn’t that fair enough? Why don’t you respect this period that the Indigenous Australians asked for?
Ley replied:
No, it’s not fair enough. He knew the importance of this referendum to Indigenous Australians. He knew six months ago that the Coalition was not supporting his referendum. His excuse is now that it needed to have bipartisan support … he knew six months ago that he wouldn’t have bipartisan support.
Note that Ley said it was “not fair enough” for the PM to wait a week to chart a way forward. Just two minutes later in the same press conference, Ley was asked to clarify the Coalition’s policy – and whether it would hold a second referendum in a first term – she said:
Well, let’s see how the dust settles, how the counting finishes.
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Albanese says Ley shows no respect to the First Australians who are ‘understandably’ disappointed by results of referendum
Albanese continues:
Indigenous Australians asked for Australians to vote on the Indigenous recognition in our constitution through a voice. They invited, in the words of the Uluru statement, to walk with them.
They said in 1967, we were counted. In 2017, we want to be heard. That is what they said.
We fulfilled that commitment, but the deputy leader of the opposition would have you believe, through asking that question, that the people who have spent a lifetime campaigning for constitutional recognition of First Australians, who understandably are disappointed by the result …
… What I have said is I respect the decision that was made by the Australian people. On that basis, some people who have campaigned very strongly for it are not happy with that response. But I made a very clear before the election that I would respect the outcome and I have made it after as well. I will shown respect to those people, the deputy leader shows none.
Updated
Albanese says holding referendum fulfilled his election promise in 2022
In her question, Ley also left out the Coalition’s role in the failed referendum.
Anthony Albanese responds:
It is a quite extraordinary question even for the deputy leader of the opposition. Let me understand what the deputy leader of the opposition is asking for here.
She is suggesting, having quoted people who put their heart and soul into the developments of the Uluru statement from the heart ... from 2012 at least, going back from when John Howard promised in 2007 to hold a referendum within 18 months of his election based upon Indigenous recognition.
The leader of the opposition has a number of occasions said it has been the policy of the Liberal Party since 2007 to have a referendum. If only they had been a position to do so!
They won [government] in 2013 and 2016 and 2019 and nothing happened.
What I did was fulfil the commitment that I gave to Indigenous people but most importantly that I gave to the Australian people at the election in which we were elected in May 2022.
Updated
Sussan Ley quotes Indigenous activists to attack PM over referendum ‘failure’
Sussan Ley is up next and asks:
My question is of the prime minister and is about the reaction from Indigenous leaders to his response to his referendum failure. [Uluru activist] Allira Davis said, and I quote, ‘the prime minister is moving on tonight and wants to go to Washington and prepare for reelection and we are just a blip.’
Sally Scales, a member of the First Nations referenda working group, said the prime minister was insultingly apathetic and how dare he. A cop out. Does the prime minister remain committed to treaty and truth telling?
For full context, here are the tweets Ley is referring to – because she left that out.
The PM is moving on tonight. He just wants to go to Washington and prepare for re-election. And we are just a blip. He’s quoting Churchill FFS. A whole culture of 65,000 years and we are not a part of Australian democracy. And we will not be recognised.
— Allira Davis (@DavisAllira) October 14, 2023
This was a devastating result that keeps our people in the status quo. It is bleak. The PM was insulting & pathetic. How dare he. A cop out. Albanese and the ALP will not accept the lies that we put up with. We have been rejected by the Australian people. Reconciliation is dead.
— Sally Scales (@SallyScales) October 14, 2023
Updated
Albanese says Dutton ‘cannot keep a straight line between Channel 7 and Channel Nine’
There are interjections there, and then a point of order on relevance, which is not a point of order.
Anthony Albanese finishes with:
More anger from the leader of the opposition. More anger. He didn’t just say it once, he said that remains our policy. And he went on to say there is nothing new or tricky or changed here. Then he changed it when he went on the Today Show!
He cannot keep a straight line between Channel 7 and Channel Nine. You flick the channel daily to get different answer. You get two referendum [answers].
Updated
PM pivots to attack Dutton on consistency
Albanese continues:
My position is clear about that, it stands in stark contrast with the leader of the opposition.
It is not clear to me what his position is. It changes all the time. It changed between yesterday and today – in fact, between sunrise and today. More flip-flopping than a thong factory, this bloke.
This morning he said this: after seeing yesterday, the second referendum was off. This morning he said this: ‘I know there is a lot of interpretation on this, but the Liberal party has gone to elections in every election since John Howard was leader with the same policy’.
They just never did it. ‘I think it is very respectful thing to do, it remains our policy’.
This is what he has to say. Then he went on to say he would only do it when you’ve had support from Indigenous leaders. He just asked a question saying ignore Indigenous leaders, don’t speak to them about what you’re going to do.
Updated
Albanese notes Uluru statement from the heart crafted by First Nations people
Anthony Albanese:
I have a question about the Uluru statement from the heart from the leader of the opposition. What I have said very clearly is that I will give respect to Indigenous Australians who have asked for a week to consider their position. I think that is pretty reasonable.
We then have a process of consultation. One of the things I have been committed to is to the agency of First Australians. Not making them just disappear from the process, and that is why I found some of the rhetoric that was used during the referendum so concerning.
The idea that the Uluru statement from the heart was created by the Labor party or by any individual wipes out from history of the work that Indigenous Australians do themselves.
They were asked by Prime Minister Abbott to work on the form of recognition that they wanted and that is what they did in 2017.
Updated
Dutton asks if PM is committed to treaty and truth-telling
Peter Dutton is up with the first question:
My question is to the prime minister. If committing to implement the Uluru statement from the heart in full, the Prime Minister has previously claimed, and I quote, ‘[there] can be no progress in Closing the Gap and they can be no reconciliation without treaty and truth-telling’. Will the Prime Minister be honest and upfront with Australians and inform the house whether or not he remains committed to a treaty and truth-telling?
Is the opposition now against the entire Uluru statement from the heart?
Updated
Question time begins
The parliament is full of people apparently blind to counter factuals.
And on that note, question time has begun.
Updated
Sussan Ley says Coalition has not said ‘one way or the other’ on referendum on constitutional recognition for Indigenous people
The deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has added further confusion to the Coalition’s policy on a second referendum, saying “we haven’t said one way or the other” on the timing.
Ley spoke to reporters shortly before question time today to urge the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to make a public apology for the failed referendum on constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians through a voice.
A reminder that this was the request that First Nations leaders had made through the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017 when asked, under the then Coalition government, what form of constitutional recognition they sought. Ley said:
He can apologise to the Australian people for killing constitutional recognition of our first Australians for at least a generation.
Asked if people should expect a second referendum in a first term of a Coalition government, Ley said:
Well, let’s see how the dust settles, how the counting finishes.
Pressed to clarify on the timing of a second referendum, Ley said:
We haven’t said one way or the other. What we have said is we’re focusing on the outcomes of this referendum, the vote across Australia and the things that need to happen now.
Updated
Victorian Liberals say Labor’s proposed integrity reforms look like a ‘scheme’ to try and protect Daniel Andrews
In the Victorian state parliament, the Victorian opposition has questioned why the government’s proposed integrity reforms aren’t going to be retrospective. The shadow attorney general, Michael O’Brien, says:
I think it’s very telling the government is talking about any reforms not being retrospective …
We do think it looks like a device, a scheme to try and protect the former premier. We have to be convinced that actually makes sense and is in the public interest.
Asked whether three commissioners was needed, O’Brien said: “Maybe it’s an indication of how much dodgy behaviour we’re seeing under this government that they think there is going to be a workload to sustain three commissioners.”
Updated
Chris Minns pays tribute to NSW Labor’s Brian Langton
NSW premier Chris Minns has paid tribute to NSW Labor stalwart Brian Langton, who has died, aged 75.
Brian was a mighty representative of the Kogarah electorate, a Marist Brothers graduate and a lifelong local in our area. Following in his father’s footsteps, Brian was an alderman on Kogarah council for 12 years, beginning in the early 1970s.
He was a vocal advocate for the people of his community throughout his time as a councillor and mayor and he sustained that advocacy throughout his more than 15 years in NSW parliament. In fact, it is almost 40 years since Brian was first elected to the NSW legislative assembly, back on 22 October 1983.
… Brian is survived by his wife Elizabeth, daughters Davina, Adele and Celia and his seven grandchildren. To Brian’s loved ones, my thoughts are with you at this time. I pass on my deepest condolences.
Updated
Greens vote against motion condemning Hamas attack over wording on Israel’s actions
The Greens voted against the motion after their attempt to change its wording to “condemn the war crimes perpetrated by the state of Israel” failed.
Prahran MP Sam Hibbins said:
We are supportive of the vast majority of this motion but where the Greens disagree with this motion is that Israel’s right to defend itself must be within the parameters of international humanitarian law, which we do not believe is being adhered to.
Updated
Coalition MP David Southwick applauds Victorian premier for bringing in further antidiscrimination laws
Victorian Coalition MPs have also spoken on the motion condemning the Hamas attack on Israel, including Liberal David Southwick, whose electorate of Caulfield is home to the state’s largest Jewish population.
Southwick made an emotional contribution:
The flow-on effect of what we’ve seen in this horrible war is being portrayed here in Australia … we saw the Nazis which were [walking] up and down the train, trying to identify Jews … That’s not the Australia I know, that’s what we need and I applaud the premier for bringing those laws as quickly as we can to hold those people to account, to take off their masks, their balaclavas and handcuffs on them.
He said many Jewish people in his community were currently living in fear:
We’ve got principals issuing edicts saying don’t wear your school uniform, in fear of [students] being attacked on the way to school. Kids are staying away from school. That’s not what we need right now.
Southwick said Victoria police had assured him they will keep people safe and urged his community to go about their lives.
Updated
Coalition concerned bill prohibiting former military personnel working for foreign countries without approval may be ‘overreach’
The Coalition party room this morning also discussed concerns it had regarding proposed changes to stop former military personnel from working for foreign countries without a prior tick of approval.
The bill, introduced in September, was introduced following reports in 2022 that Beijing was actively looking for Australian pilots to train Chinese forces.
If passed, former personnel can be jailed for up to 20 years if they provide the training without approval and for up to 5 years if they gain approval but contravene the conditions.
The Coalition said there was some “good stuff” in the bill but it held concerns about whether it might be an “overreach”.
In particular, issue was raised over whether the changes could prevent former defence personnel from ever working for a foreign-owned private sector company.
Coalition members agreed the concerns would be best resolved within the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security, which is headed by the Labor senator Peter Khalil.
The government had indicated last month that it expected the bill to go to the PJCIS.
Updated
Question time approaches …
There is now just under 30 minutes until question time.
Or, three plays of the 10-minute version of All too well (Taylor’s version), depending on how you judge time.
Updated
Prosecution of whistleblowers McBride, Boyle should be dropped, Greste says
Alliance for Journalists Freedom head Peter Greste finishes his address to the National Press Club by calling for an end to the prosecutions of David McBride – a former military lawyer accused of leaking classified Australian defence information to journalists - and ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle.
He is asked by Laura Tingle why the attorney-general Mark Dreyfus is so reluctant to intervene to use his extraordinary powers to end the cases, as he did with the prosecution of Bernard Collaery.
Greste says:
Look, I think that’s a question that I know anybody who has been thinking seriously about the two cases and whistleblowing generally is really struggling with. The Attorney-General says it’s because they don’t meet the standard of exceptional circumstances that he thinks that they need to cross before he can intervene. Clearly, it’s going to always be a big deal for an attorney-general to personally intervene in a case and to override the Director of Public Prosecutions, but ... I fail to see how these two cases don’t qualify as exceptional circumstances. There is nothing in the law anyway that says that that’s a required standard for the Attorney-General.
Updated
Coalition MPs say Australian Jewish community feels under siege; no mention of Australians trapped in Gaza
Earlier we reported on the Israeli ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon‘s comments to the Coalition party room this morning.
As a reminder, here’s what he said:
For me, and the only thing I will say in front of the camera, is since October 7th, 6.30 in the morning, and I was in Israel when the Hamas attacked the people of Israel, in the southern border. We are in a war, a war we didn’t start, nor asked for, but we are determined to win.”
However, it’s unclear what he said off the record after the journalists and camera operators left the room.
Later on, around two-to-three MPs spoke about the attack on Israeli citizens by Palestinian militant group Hamas and how Jewish communities in Australia feel “very much under siege”.
Those members also discussed being unequivocal about what has been said at pro-Palestinian rallies in Australia in reference to antisemitic chants captured in Sydney last week, saying they “shouldn’t pussyfoot” around it.
There was no specific mention of the 45 Australians currently trapped in Gaza as Israel’s forces prepare for a ground invasion on the besieged strip, which has been sealed off from supplies for a week.
Updated
Referendum loss ‘good outcome’ for Australia, says Peter Dutton
Peter Dutton has thanked his Coalition colleagues for their conduct during the voice referendum campaign, saying it was the “hallmark” of a successful team.
He followed those comments to the opposition party room on Tuesday with criticism of Anthony Albanese, accusing the prime minister of not being upfront about whether he’s committed to truth telling through Makaratta or treaty.
Either you’re committed or you’re not committed. Either this is the great moral challenge of our time or it’s not. Just come clean for the Australian people.”
Albanese has so far deflected questions about the next steps after Saturday’s defeat, saying on Tuesday morning it would not be respectful to make a captain’s call before listening to Indigenous Australians about their wishes.
The Uluru statement from the heart was developed over decades, the expectation that the next step should be developed over days, is not respectful.”
Dutton described the referendum loss as a “good outcome” for the country but said the focus must now be on “practical outcomes” for Indigenous Australians.
Those practical outcomes, he said, included a push for a royal commission into sexual abuse within Indigenous communities and an audit of funding given to communities because “there is a giant funnel of money that with goodwill and good intention turns into a trickle by the time it gets to communities”.
Updated
Australia’s national security ‘hyper-legislation’ puts journalists at risk, Peter Greste says
Peter Greste, the head of the Alliance for Journalists Freedom, is now speaking at the National Press Club.
He calls for new media freedom laws to protect the press and legitimate public interest journalism.
Greste says the “same political winds” that caused his imprisonment in Egypt - the use of national security legislation to clamp down on uncomfortable journalism - are present in Australia.
I am not being dramatic here. Since 9/11, successive Australian governments of all stripes have passed almost 100 separate pieces of national security legislation – more than any other country on earth. One Canadian researcher called it ‘hyper-legislation’, and that was back in 2010 when we’d only had 50 new laws.
He says the current government’s reforms to protect journalists and improve whistleblower protections are commendable but are like “patches stitched on to legislation that hide a deeper problem”.
We are proposing a Media Freedom Act, that would work in ways very similar to the Human Rights acts in Queensland, the ACT and Victoria ... In effect, we would inject a positive obligation to consider the importance of press freedom at every stage of the process. I am not arguing that it must always trump everything else all the time. But because it is such a key part of any democracy, we must have a mechanism that takes the role of journalists and whistleblowers into account.
Updated
Whistleblowers must be protected so companies are held to account, Facebook ex-employee says
Former Facebook employee, Frances Haugen, who blew the whistle on the social media behemoth two years ago, is speaking alongside journalist Peter Greste at the National Press Club.
Haugen leaked documents to the Wall Street Journal and others showing, among other things, that Facebook knew its products were damaging teenagers’ mental health, were fomenting ethnic violence in countries such as Ethiopia, and were failing to curb misinformation before the 6 January Washington riots.
Haugen speaks of the importance of whistleblowers and whistleblower protection in holding companies such as Facebook to account:
We have to protect whistleblowers. We will see repeats of what we saw with Facebook because any time a company who knows the only people who know it’s happening internally are the employees, there becomes this temptation to begin to diverge from what is actually happening and what the company says is happening. Any time there’s a profit motive and no feedback cycle to correct those lies, we will see those gaps get bigger and bigger.
Updated
ALP’s Julian Hill decries Dutton’s ‘gross politicisation’ of Israel-Hamas war
Daniel Hurst reported on this early this morning –but the video team have prepared this for you:
Updated
First Australians need time to work through referendum result, Linda Burney advises
Albanese also stressed the difference between elections and referendums historically, while adding that the campaign had also reinforced Dutton “as someone who only says no”.
The assistant minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, gave a statement in caucus offering “deep thanks” to Albanese.
You were the only prime minister who listened to the invitation that was given and accepted it,” McCarthy told Albanese at the meeting.
People asked for the question to be put forward and you did it.”
There was another question from a Labor caucus member about the “shifting campaign environment” and how the party should work through everything that had occurred during the campaign.
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, thanked her colleagues and said the government “must make sure that we give First Nations communities time to work through” the result, so would not rush the next steps.
Updated
Labor caucus ponders how to reconnect with no voters, especially in ALP seats
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, acknowledged at the Labor caucus meeting on Tuesday that the voice referendum issue had been more difficult in some electorates than others.
But Albanese said everyone in the Labor caucus had contributed to the campaign and said: “We should be proud of the good faith we showed in responding to a request from First Nations communities.”
Albanese noted that Peter Dutton had changed his position again today and had recommitted to a second referendum.
One Labor caucus member asked about how to reconnect with voters when MPs and senators return to their electorates at the end of this parliamentary sitting week, given some of their seats recorded significant no votes.
Albanese suggested that colleagues should talk about the government’s agenda, including for the economy, health and skills. He said the government had delivered a surplus, low unemployment and was “getting wages moving”.
We need to continue to do the work we’ve been doing,” Albanese said, adding that his trip to the US next week was an “important visit in the national interest”.
Updated
Victoria premier moves motion to condemn Hamas attacks, mourns all loss of life
Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, is moving a motion in the state parliament’s lower house unequivocally condemning the attacks on Israel by Hamas.
Her motion also recognises Israel’s “right to defend itself”, condemns antisemitism and the “devastating loss and Israeli and Palestinian lives”.
She says:
We now know that [the attack] is the single greatest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust and I unequivocally condemn the terror and violence. I can’t begin to imagine the feeling of having to deal with this pain and sorrow. I will never truly know but this community knows and as premier of the state, I hear you, I feel your anguish.
Allan also acknowledged the “pain and grief of Palestinians”. She says:
[Hamas] have consigned every single person [in Gaza] to live in terror, because Hamas hate their neighbours’ children more than they love their own. In Australia, we have shelters in our homes in the event of a terrible tragedy with bushfire not in the event of terrorists storming them and murdering us. It goes with saying, for the removal of any doubt, any loss of life on either side of the border is tragic.
Allan also announced the government’s bill to ban public displays of the Nazi salute - which passed the lower house last sitting week - will be expedited for royal assent after it clears the upper house this week.
Updated
NT’s Barkly Regional Council placed under official management, all members suspended
The NT minister for local government, Chansey Paech, has announced that the Barkly regional council has been placed under official management and all elected members have been suspended.
If the name of the council sounds familiar to you, it might be because of this story from last week:
But the decision is not related to that incident. Paech says it is because he is satisfied there are, or may be “serious deficiencies in the conduct of the Council’s affairs”.
An investigator and care taker have both been appointed. Elected members will not receive their allowances or other entitlements. Council staff are not affected.
While the council is under official management, elected members will not be able to conduct any official business, and all allowances and other entitlements will cease. This process will not affect staff members.
Updated
The parliament sitting has just begun.
Expect to hear more of the same as yesterday
Prime Minister affirms Australian support for two-state solution
In his meeting with Labor MPs and senators, Anthony Albanese discussed the deteriorating situation in the Middle East.
The prime minister told the caucus meeting that Hamas’ attacks on Israel had shocked the world. He stepped the meeting through the various elements of yesterday’s parliamentary motion, including recognising the need to protect civilians, rejecting all forms of hatred and affirming Israel’s right to self-defence.
Photograph: Firas al-Shaer/UPI/Shutterstock
Albanese affirmed support for a two-state solution and acknowledged that what had happened had “harmed the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people”.
Albanese made a passing reference to a statement issued last week by the Asio chief, Mike Burgess, about the need to take care with language.
We’re told no Labor MPs or senators asked any follow-up questions about Israel and Gaza.
Updated
Refugee women walking for visa resolution due to arrive in Canberra Wednesday
Twenty-two refugee women will arrive in Canberra tomorrow, having walked from Melbourne to parliament house to raise awareness about visa uncertainty for the 10,000 people who do not have a clear path to permanent residency.
The Tamil and Iranian women have walked 640km and are are all on temporary, expired, or bridging visas, “having been denied a fair assessment of their claims for permanent protection under the flawed and inaptly-named ‘Fast Track’ refugee assessment process that has impacted around 10,000 people”.
They want the government to know that “after a decade, our home is here”.
The group should arrive just before midday, tomorrow.
Updated
Albanese faces more questions about the role of racism in the referendum
Q: Is there some involved in racism in there, in the campaign?
Albanese:
I think people will make their own judgements on these issues.
Obviously, there were elements I saw, you know, there was one meme I’ve spoken about, about the Uluru statement from the heart was a part of a global Jewish conspiracy with people pictured and their connections, or not, about that. There was a range of things that people will make their own judgements on.
What is important is how we move forward here, that the government accepts the outcome of the referendum. It was a democratic process.
We accept it with the same graciousness that was shown, in my view, by the Uluru statement from the heart. But we need to work through issues. Some work is continuing, of course, because not every issue, in terms of closing the gap, was determined on Saturday.
The initiative, this work has been underway for a year to develop the specific closing the gap initiatives as part of this agreement.
This is something that my Government will continue to do across health, across education, across housing. I noticed the Northern Territory government announcing today that 100 homes have been built in remote communities in 100 days; that’s a part of an initiative that we’re partnering on.
Updated
‘Not respectful’ to expect Labor to reveal next reconciliation steps days after referendum, PM says
Q: So, as a follow-up to that –
Albanese:
No, wait. Unless you’re an Indigenous leader who was part of the Referendum Working Group, you know, people need to show some respect.
And people need to recognise Indigenous agency is important here.
Now, during some of the referendum campaign, some of the commentary that occurred, that said this was Labor’s voice, showed, in my view, a lack of agency and a lack of respect. It took Indigenous Australians out of the equation and showed no respect for what they had done, over years, having been requested by Tony Abbott, as prime minister, to set out the form of recognition that it should take.
Indigenous Australians have said respectfully, they are engaging many of them, in a week of silence.
I respect that this was a difficult time for them. The Uluru statement from the heart was developed over decades, the expectation that the next step should be developed over days, is not respectful.
And it’s not one that I will engage in. We will continue to show respect. We’ll take the time to do that. Our commitment to listening to Indigenous Australians is undiminished. Our commitment to closing the gap is undiminished. We accepted the invitation from First Nations people, which was given in the Uluru statement from the heart, to invite Australians to walk with them on the path that they had requested. We did that. That was not given the support in the referendum and therefore we have to find a new path. And we’ll do that in a constructive, considered way because that’s the way that my government operates.
Updated
Albanese questioned on whether racism played a role in referendum result
Anthony Albanese held a press conference earlier this morning and the transcript just dropped. (It wasn’t shown in its entirety and the blog keeps me chained to a computer, which is why I resemble an over caffeinated swamp monster most days.)
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
He was asked about the next steps following the referendum failure:
Q: Prime Minister, just on the referendum, do you think racism played a role in the result? And secondly, you’ve committed to listening to First Nations leaders about the next steps. If after the week of silence and a period of reflection, they make the decision that the Uluru statement from the heart was an invitation but it was rejected by the Australian people and they decide that they want to pursue a different path, will you accept that? What will that mean for your own commitment to implementing all three steps?
Albanese:
Well, what I’m not going to do is say, I’m going to listen to Indigenous Australians and leaders, and then make a call in a TAFE in Canberra, without having spoken to any of them. That would not be reasonable.
Updated
Greens talking to Coalition about extending Qatar Airways inquiry
The Greens party room also discussed how it might vote on the Coalition’s proposed extension to the inquiry into the federal government’s decision to block Qatar Airways from offering additional flights.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie handed down the inquiry’s report this month, which recommends extending the inquiry until the end of November so that it can summons former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.
The Greens said they were in negotiations with the Coalition ahead of the vote on Wednesday but hadn’t ruled it in or out just yet.
One member said the party wasn’t interested in extending the inquiry just so a member of the Coalition could continue to be a chair, without considering what Australians get out of it.
Updated
Greens plead with ALP to remain committed to Uluru statement from the heart
The Greens party room has pleaded to the federal government not to abandon its commitment to the Uluru statement from the heart in full.
Anthony Albanese said on Monday he would “continue to listen to people and communities and consult on Indigenous Australians about a way forward” but acknowledged the country’s clear rejection of the Indigenous voice to parliament model.
A member of the Greens said it would take time for Indigenous leaders to recover from the strong no vote against the voice model but said it was positive that 6 million Australians did vote yes.
We have to, like a marriage, come together and say ‘You did a shitty thing. We forgive you’ and we move forward,” one member said.
The member added truth-telling was more important than ever after the no camp’s “blatant lies about our history in this country”.
Beyond the voice, the unfolding humanitarian crisis in Gaza was discussed with the Greens expressing “grave concerns” about the plight of at least 45 Australians who remain trapped in the besieged strip.
Defence minister Richard Marles this morning called for those Australians to try to make their way to the southern reaches of Gaza to avoid the potential conflict when Israel launches its ground invasion from the north.
The Greens said this advice was “completely unacceptable” given it was a dangerous journey to make amid the conflict and confusion.
Updated
RBA holds a wary eye on upcoming jobs and prices data, board minutes show
The prospect of another official interest rate increase will hinge on upcoming data on the jobs and prices, with the Reserve Bank declaring it had “a low tolerance” should inflation not slow at the pace it has previously expected.
That’s according to the minutes from the RBA’s 3 October meeting, released on Tuesday. They show the board weighed up the option of leaving its key interest rate at 4.1% for a fourth straight month or lifting it by another 25 basis points to 4.35%.
“[T]here had not been sufficient new information over the preceding month from economic data or financial markets to necessitate” an increase, the minutes said.
However, by the next meeting, set for 7 November, or Melbourne Cup Day, it would have fresh labour market and inflation figures and its own revised quarterly forecasts.
[S]ome further tightening of policy may be required should inflation prove more persistent than expected,” the RBA said.
Recent inflation numbers, including an uptick in the headline consumer price index in August to 5.2%, indicated price increases may not decline as expected. Fuel prices, including a 30% increase in oil prices since the end of June, were also of concern.
The board noted “the rise in retail petrol prices would continue to underpin inflation over coming months and could influence households’ inflation expectations”, the RBA said.
A separate ANZ survey of consumer sentiment released on Tuesday, showed inflation expectations increased 0.2 percentage points to 5.3% in the past week. Its four-week moving average increased to 5.3% from 5.2%.
Updated
NT MP Malarndirri McCarthy offers deep thanks to Albanese for holding referendum
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told the Labor caucus meeting that the referendum result was not the one the government had hoped for, but said:
We should be proud of the good faith we showed in responding to a request from First Nations communities.”
Albanese noted Peter Dutton had changed his position again today on a second referendum.
He said as a government it will continue to work across all portfolio areas.
He said the campaign had reinforced Dutton as someone who always said no.
Malarndirri McCarthy gave a statement offering deep thanks to Albanese, saying he was the only PM who listened to the invitation from First Nations leaders and acted on it.
One MP asked about the “shifting campaign environment”.
Another asked about communicating with electorates after the result.
Updated
The background on background briefings
For people who might not be aware, every Tuesday morning when parliament sits, each of the political parties holds a meeting with its MPs. (The Liberal party and Nationals meet separately and then hold a joint party room meeting)
Following the meetings, which are private (other than the times when media is invited in to cover a leader’s rah-rah speech, which is addressed to the MPs, but is really meant for the 6pm news), there is a background briefing.
Each party holds its own, where a nominated MP reads out the minutes from the meeting. Journalists can ask questions, for example, ‘Did anyone ask about XX, was there a discussion about XX, how many people spoke on XX’. But it is all done without names. Reporters are told an MP or a ‘Queensland MP’ or ‘a number of MPs’ and then have to work out who it was.
The whole thing is meant to be background, that is, no one can be quoted directly. So often you will see things reported as ‘party room sources’ – but if you ever wondered why we all have the same stuff from a ‘party room source’ – now you know.
I had no idea about this convention, which has apparently happened forever, until I started reporting on federal politics. In Queensland, after the party room meetings, you get a briefing about what legislation is coming up (which is also discussed at the federal briefings) but it does not go into detail about what was discussed in the meeting (and it certainly isn’t an all in.)
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Labor Caucus briefing underway
The Labor caucus briefing is underway – Daniel Hurst reports that after the acknowledgment of country at the Labor caucus meeting today there was a standing ovation for First Nations caucus members.
Updated
Australia has been following in the US’s lead when it comes to language and calls on Israel and Palestine. We are waiting to hear the response to the latest update from the US.
Israel, US reach agreement on allowing aid into Gaza; Biden to visit Israel, this week
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has confirmed US president Joe Biden will visit Israel, this week. The US has reaffirmed its support of Israel.
Israel and the US have also come to an agreement to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AFP/Getty Images
Blinken:
The President will hear from Israel how it will conduct operations in a way that minimises civilian casualties and enables military assistance in a way that does not benefit Hamas.
To that end, today and at our request, United States and Israel have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid from multilateral organisations to reach civilians in Gaza, and them alone, including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harm’s way.
It is critical that aid begins flowing into Gaza as soon as possible. We share concern that Hamas may seize or destroy aid entering Gaza or otherwise prevent it from reaching the people who need it. If Hamas in any way blocks humanitarian assistance from reaching civilians, including by seizing the aid itself, we will be the first to come to condemn it and work to prevent it from happening again.
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Independent MP Sophie Scamps defends her position on Israel-Palestine conflict
News Corp-owned media have been critical of teal MPs, such as Dr Sophie Scamps, who supported the attempts by the Greens to amend yesterday’s motion on Israel and Palestine to include a recognition of Palestinian citizens’ lives being lost, calling on Israel to operate by the rules of war (which is to avoid civilian deaths).
Scamps has addressed it:
My statement on yesterday’s vote on the Middle East and the full motion which I supported below pic.twitter.com/RBPfLzZ9Bh
— Dr Sophie Scamps MP (@SophieScamps) October 16, 2023
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Consumer sentiment sags, mortgage holders gloomiest, data shows
And in news that will not surprise anyone, we are not feeling too crash-hot about the economy.
The mood among Australian consumers has darkened again after drifting in a more hopeful direction for a few weeks, AAP reports.
Consumers are also feeling less upbeat about price movements, with ANZ and Roy Morgan’s weekly survey revealing a 0.2 percentage point increase in inflation expectations to 5.3%.
The four-week moving average ticked up a little from 5.2% to 5.3%.
A 3.7 point fall in the overall confidence gauge was also recorded last week, taking the index to 76.4 points - back below 80 and still well below long-run averages.
Confidence has fallen the most for those paying off their homes, sinking 7.2 points, last week.
Updated
The Greens have finished their party room meeting and will hold a briefing very soon.
We will let you know when caucus and the coalition joint party room meeting breaks up
NSW faces very hot summer, warns health minister following death near Kempsey bushfire
New South Wales health minister, Ryan Park, has expressed his sadness after a man was found dead following a bushfire near Kempsey.
Park said:
That’s very, very terrible news. We pass on our condolences to that individual’s family and their loved ones and colleagues.
The minister urged residents to be aware of the “very, very difficult summer period”.
Park said:
What we’re facing is very hot, dry, potentially very windy conditions and that means that people need to take some responsibility in ensuring they have a plan to exit and get away ... That’s the responsibility for all of us.
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Jetstar flight delayed because one passenger a ‘nervous flyer’, carrier says
Further to Elias Visontay’s report a little earlier, Jetstar has released a statement about what it says is inaccurate media reporting about a Sydney to Melbourne flight, this morning.
There had been reports that the delay in the flight leaving Sydney was because of a fight between passengers about the Israel-Palestine conflict, but as Elias earlier confirmed, that was not the case.
We want to clear up some inaccurate reporting about one of our flights from Sydney to Melbourne this morning.
We can confirm there was no fight onboard, the aircraft was not evacuated, and there was no security risk.
Our crew noticed a passenger behaving unusually and requested AFP attendance.
The aircraft returned to the gate and the passenger chose not to fly. We now understand the customer was a nervous flyer and was experiencing anxiety.
We also understand the situation made some other people onboard feel uneasy and they also decided not to continue with their journey.
As a result of this, we had to delay the flight and apologise to customers for the inconvenience.”
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Australia helping evacuate Pacific islander nationals from Israel
Anthony Albanese said Australia is assisting with the evacuation of people from Pacific countries from Israel, reports AAP.
Almost 200 people, including 96 from Pacific countries, have been evacuated from Tel Aviv overnight by the Australian government.
With the prime minister of Fiji arriving in Australia on Tuesday and increasing importance placed on ties with Pacific countries, Albanese announced his government’s support of repatriation efforts for neighbouring nations.
“Australia is playing the role we always play in the Pacific family, to provide support where we can because, obviously, they don’t have the capacity to be able to help their citizens,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
“That is one way Australia is helping not only our own citizens but others as well.”
Updated
Israel ‘determined to win’ war with Hamas, says ambassador Maimon
The Israeli ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon told the Coalition party room:
Thank you very much Peter [Dutton] for the invitation to join you today, thank you very much for the continuous support of the Liberal and as you mention, it is not just the Liberal, it is the bipartisan support to the state of Israel and to the Jewish community here in Australia.
For me, and the only thing I will say in front of the camera, is since October 7th, 6.30 in the morning, and I was in Israel when the Hamas attack the people of Israel, in the southern border. We are in a war, a war we didn’t start, nor asked for, but we are determined to win.
“Hear, hear” said the Coalition party room, who then applauded the ambassador.
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Australia airlifts 194 people from Tel Aviv overnight, says Wong
Penny Wong has released this on social media:
Australia has airlifted 194 people from Tel Aviv to Dubai overnight, including 75 Australians, their families and citizens from partner countries.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) October 16, 2023
222 people are now on their way home from Dubai on an Australian Government assisted-departure flight. pic.twitter.com/KH1Fp0kMOq
Updated
Melbourne Jetstar flight delayed after police deal with ‘erratic’ passenger in Sydney
A Jetstar flight has been delayed after police boarded the plane on the tarmac to deal with an erratic passenger.
The flight from Sydney to Melbourne had been scheduled to leave shortly after 6:00am on Tuesday, when airline staff noticed the passenger’s behaviour.
The traveller reportedly asked to use the toilet despite the plane readying to take off, and after staff allowed him to do so, he did not use it.
He then requested a seat change, and when another passenger offered to swap seats with him by conversing in Arabic, a separate passenger reportedly urged the erratically behaving man to calm down by noting there was a war going on in the middle east. Other media have reported this triggered a discussion about the Israel-Gaza conflict.
Police then boarded the plane to conduct a welfare check with the man. The flight returned to the gate, the passenger decided to disembark, with the Jetstar service continuing to Melbourne, delayed by more than an hour.
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Opposition hosts Israel ambassador in mostly closed-door party room meeting
The Israeli ambassador is a special guest at the Opposition party room meeting this morning.
Amir Maimon said Israel was grateful for the ‘bipartisan support’ and was in a war ‘we did not choose’.
He went on to say more, but Mike Bowers says media was only allowed in for the beginning of the meeting and were shuffled out, as the rest of it occurred behind closed doors.
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Sustainable agriculture, soil improvement funding discussed at Canberra roundtable
The government is hoping to bring together more farmers and people working in agriculture to aid with the climate goals, AAP reports.
Agricultural strategies need to be better connected, the minister responsible for the sector has told a roundtable involving farmers and industry stakeholders.
Murray Watt used an address in Canberra on Tuesday to outline how more than $300m will be spent from the Climate-Smart Agriculture Program.
Around 100 delegates, including farmers, departmental representatives and academics are meeting at the Australian Farm Institute’s roundtable to look at the industry’s challenges and opportunities.
Watt says more than $85m will be spent on sustainable agriculture measures to help farmers, with an additional $40m to be spent on sustainability facilitators to help producers.
And more than $36m will be used to help improve Australia’s soil.
Updated
Victorian Greens will continue working on truth and treaty, Ratnam says
Victorian Greens leader Samantha Ratnam says the outcome of Saturday’s referendum was “heartbreaking”. She told reporters:
We want to send our love and solidarity to all First Nations communities and all the campaigners who poured their hearts into it, and invited us to be part of a journey towards healing. It’s important now that we don’t give up and we won’t. That’s why the Greens, alongside First Nations communities, will continue to work towards truth, and treaty with unwavering determination. We’re going to fight to stop the over-incarceration of First Nations communities and end deaths in custody. And in Victoria, that means raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 and continuing to reform Victoria’s bail laws.
The party’s integrity spokesperson, Tim Read, also welcomed the government’s new bill to set up an integrity commission but questioned the delay:
Better late than never. There’s no need, however, to put it off until sometime next year. This really could be organised this year if they put their mind to it. However, it’s only a small piece of the integrity reforms that are needed.
Read said the Victorian government needs to introduce legislation to open ministerial diaries, establish a code of conduct for lobbyists and strengthen the investigative powers of the anti-corruption watchdog.
Updated
Victoria still on path to treaty, Jacinta Allan says
Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, says work will continue in the state to enact a treaty despite the failure of the referendum at the weekend:
We have been for some time now on a really clear path to how we can better listen and work with Indigenous Victorians to get better outcomes and we will continue on that path … that won’t change. What’s been a feature of the work we’ve done here in Victoria is that the legislation that went through the parliament a few years ago – that had bipartisan support, so we’ve had a strong support here in the parliament for the mechanisms we’ve set up here in Victoria to better listen to Indigenous Victorians to establish the First People’s Assembly, establish the Yoorrok Justice Commission, because truth is such an important part of the path were on.
That work hasn’t changed. We obviously understand that Indigenous Victorians are during a tough at the moment. It was a tough weekend and we are right now focused on providing them with support that they need and will continue to do that. But also to very clearly signal that the path we’re proud to be on here Victoria won’t change.
Allan says she will meet with the co-chairs of the state’s First People’s Assembly later this week to reaffirm her commitment to the treaty process. She dismissed suggestions the Victorian government could have campaigned harder for the yes vote:
There is a lot of analysis … on what happened on the weekend and I’ll leave that analysis to various commentators. The work I’ve been focused on obviously leading up to Saturday was very, very strong supporter for a yes vote because you get better results when you listen. Also we’ve demonstrated here in Victoria you can have a path through truth, treaty and supporting First peoples.
Updated
Dutton accused of ‘playing politics to the maximum possible extent’
Asked about Peter Dutton walking away from his commitment to hold a referendum on constitutional recognition (which no one had asked for when he raised it, as it is only symbolic and has no practical measures attached to it) almost immediately after the referendum Dutton opposed failed, Richard Marles said:
Peter Dutton has been all over the place in terms of his positions on this from the very beginning.
I mean, it’s been impossible to have any consistent line drawn through Peter Dutton’s behaviour other than playing politics to the maximum possible extent.
And that’s frankly, what he’s been doing since the moment that he has started leading the Liberal party. I mean, he doesn’t have any solutions, any positive plans to close the gap.
He brings nothing to the table other than playing politics. And, inevitably, what that means is that his actual positions are jumping around all over the place.
Who knows what Peter Dutton stands for in relation to this right now, who knows what he’ll stand for a week from now.
But I know what we stand for. We stand for closing the gap, making sure that we do something about the fact that a group of Australians, our fellow citizens, by virtue of their birth, leading shorter and less healthy lives is fundamentally unfair and we will be doing everything we can to address that.
Updated
Marles on Australians now in Middle East
Earlier this morning Richard Marles was asked about the number of Australian citizens in Israel and Gaza and said:
There’s about 10,000 Australians who live in Israel, most of whom are dual citizens. We never anticipated obviously, that that whole population would want to leave when. In fact, we were sure that most of those would want to stay.
But we knew that there would be a demand and that was always thought to be measured in the hundreds, and that’s as it’s turned out to be.
Now in addition to that, we now have – we’re in contact with 45 Australians who are in Gaza and that number has grown in over the course of the last day, as people have reached out to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Obviously, we are working with those people to look at ways in which we can get them to safety.
Clearly people that are in Gaza right now are in a very, very difficult situation. We are encouraging them to move south within Gaza, to heed the call of Israel in that respect and we’re working with our friends in the international community to see whether a humanitarian corridor can be established out of Gaza, but at this stage that hasn’t happened.
Updated
Guardian Essential poll looks at next steps after referendum
Katharine Murphy has taken a look at the latest Guardian Essential poll, which looked at the next steps after the referendum:
A majority of voters want the Albanese government to continue to work with Indigenous Australians to find solutions despite Saturday’s voice referendum rout, but only 38% of Guardian Essential poll respondents think the next step should be a treaty.
As Peter Dutton on Monday dumped his suggestion of pursuing a second referendum on Indigenous constitutional recognition in the event the voice to parliament was defeated, the new survey of 1,125 voters finds low levels of public support for treaty, truth-telling, a legislated voice, or constitutional recognition of the first Australians without a voice to parliament.
While 63% of respondents want Labor to recalibrate and address Indigenous disadvantage, only 37% favour rebooting the reconciliation agenda through a truth-telling commission, 35% favour a legislated voice rather than the constitutionally enshrined advisory body that a majority of Australians rejected on Saturday and 35% support constitutional recognition but not a voice.
Updated
Anthony Albanese was asked about the timing of the referendum and said:
Within 18 months [of an election] is a reasonable time if you’re going to have a referendum, during a term of parliament.
It makes absolute sense to not do it in the lead-up to an election, so it’s not caught up in party politics.
This should not have been a matter of party politics, but that’s a matter for Mr Dutton.
Updated
Allan talks up Victoria’s integrity bill
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan is speaking to reporters about the integrity bill the government is putting out for consultation. She says the government has been working on the reforms for a year:
This is important because we’ve got to move our integrity framework in this place to modern standards, to bring it into the 21st century, consistent with just about every other workplace in the state.
We’ve got to have a more modern framework and at the heart of that is ensuring that there is a process to ensure that allegations of bad behaviour, bullying behaviour, workplace harassment – that can include sexual harassment – is done in a way that we make sure that there is a confidence for victims to report confidentially.
Updated
‘You’ve flipped on it, haven’t you?’
That then led to this exchange:
Peter Dutton:
The Prime Minister promised on 34 occasions that he committed fully to the statement from Uluru in full – that means not just a voice, it means treaty, it means truth telling, it means that Makarrata.
The government’s committed something like $26m already to this process, they’ve spent about $900,000 already. That’s in addition to the $450m that he’s spent on the referendum – which has been a disaster – and the prime minister now says he doesn’t know whether he’s committed to that process or not.
I think there’ll be a lot of Indigenous leaders pretty unhappy with the prime minister, who says one thing in one room, and then walks into the next room and says completely the opposite. So, I think it’s important to live up to your word and what you’ve said …
Q: But Mr Dutton, that’s exactly what you’re doing. That’s exactly what you’re doing.
Dutton:
It’s just not, Nat. I’m not ...
Q: You are. You said to me on this program a month ago, ‘We’re going to hold a referendum,’ and now you’re not. You’ve flipped on it, haven’t you? Whether people agree with you or not, that’s another that’s another point. But you said you were going to do it, if you got in.
Dutton:
And Nat, that remains our policy.
Updated
‘You only go to a referendum when you’ve got bipartisan support,’ Dutton says
Over on the Seven network, Peter Dutton was asked about walking away from his commitment to hold a second referendum on symbolic constitutional recognition for Indigenous people (which no one asked for).
During the referendum campaign, Dutton raised the idea, said it was “the right thing” to do:
I think it’s the right thing and the respectful thing to do to simply acknowledge our history, and I think it’s the right thing to do for Indigenous Australians.
He spoke about it repeatedly.
But on Monday he said he thought people were “over” referendums and walked away from the idea. Asked why it was no longer “the right thing”, he said:
I know that there’s a lot of interpretation on this, but the Liberal party’s gone to elections – every election since John Howard was leader – with the same policy.
I think it is a respectful thing to do, it remains our policy, but as I’ve said and as John Howard, and Tony Abbott, and Scott Morrison, Malcolm Turnbull have all said, you can’t go to a referendum unless you think you’re going to win it. This was the huge mistake that the prime minister made, which ended up humiliating him and dividing our nation.
The reality is that you only go to a referendum when you’ve got bipartisan support, when you’ve got support from the Indigenous leaders, and I think I just made a statement of the obvious that I don’t think Australians are really wanting to rush back to the polls for a referendum.
So, you’re just going to weigh all of those interests up, but we need to be respectful to Indigenous Australians. I think most importantly now we need to work out what the practical steps are to get that money out of Canberra, out of the hands of bureaucrats and into the community so that we can make a difference, particularly in the closing the gap indicators. We want better education, we want better health outcomes, better housing and more jobs. So that needs to be the concentration.
Updated
Man found dead after NSW bushfire
Stepping out of politics for a moment – NSW police have confirmed that a man has died after a bushfire at a rural property 30km west of Kempsey.
Emergency services were called to Stony Creek Lane at Temagog, about 10.15pm (Monday 16 October 2023), after concerns were raised for a 56-year-old man, missing after a bushfire passed through the area.
On arrival, officers from Mid North Coast Police District located the body of a man; his bulldozer nearby was destroyed.
While the man has not yet been formally identified, it’s believed he was a local property owner.
A crime scene has been established and investigations are continuing. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
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Man charged with using offensive language at pro-Palestine rally
A man has been charged for allegedly making offensive comments during the pro-Palestine rally in Sydney on Sunday.
Investigators arrested a 63-year-old man at his Mount Druitt home about 8pm on Monday before being charged with using offensive language in a public place.
He was granted bail and will appear before court in November.
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PM presser expected soon
We should hear from Anthony Albanese very soon. The reason for the early press conference is two fold – it is off-site from parliament, and those pressers tend to be before 9am when parliament is sitting, and it is party-room meeting day, which means it has to be done before caucus.
Caucus should be interesting, with some rumbles beginning to emerge over the government’s position on Israel and Palestine. No, no one is saying that what Hamas did was not an atrocity, nor that it should not be condemned. But there are questions over why the government is not being stronger on Israel’s response.
As Daniel Hurst reported a little earlier, there were speeches well into the night as part of the condolence motion over the conflict.
Here is a little more from Anne Aly:
Mr Speaker, there’s a part in the Qur’an and the Sunna that talks about humanity – and talks about humanity as if it were a body, and where any part of the body hurts the whole body feels pain. As Muslims we’re urged to look at our brothers and our sisters in humanity in this way. What hurts you also hurts me. What pains you also pains me.
It’s difficult to stand here now and talk about this issue without feeling the pain, without feeling the pain of the Israeli people, without feeling the pain of the Jewish community in my electorate of Cowan, and I send my regards to the community in my electorate of Cowan ... and without also feeling the pain of the Palestinian people, who are also innocent and who will also bear the brunt of war: women, children, men.
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Victoria to investigate effects of medicinal cannabis on driving
The Victorian government will introduce legislation to parliament today to green light a trial into the effects of medicinal cannabis on driving.
The transport legislation amendment bill 2023 will enable government to run a trial to investigate if there are conditions under which individuals who are prescribed medicinal cannabis, which contains delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, can drive safely.
A “controlled driving environment” will also be set up for the trial under the legislation that is physically separated from public roads.
It comes after a campaign by the two Legalise Cannabis MPs in the upper house to change the state’s road safety laws to treat medicinal cannabis like other prescription medications for drivers.
It is now an offence for a person to drive with any trace of THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, in their system, even if they have a prescription from their doctor.
Updated
Clive Palmer’s superyacht safe after running aground off Singapore
Billionaire and mining magnate Clive Palmer’s $40m superyacht appears to be free and safely anchored off the coast of Singapore after it ran aground and became stranded on Monday night.
Former Australian politician André Haermeyer posted a photo of the 56-metre vessel seemingly “sinking, or at least stranded” near Sentosa Resort in Singapore yesterday:
Clive Palmer’s extravagant yacht, Australia, appears to be sinking, or at least stranded, near the Sentosa Resort in Singapore.
— André Haermeyer 🇦🇺🇺🇦🇪🇺🇺🇦 (@AHaermeyer) October 16, 2023
Looks like he’s finally got his own Titanic. 😂#auspol pic.twitter.com/7LQN9n6WWo
According to marine tracking data, the patriotically named vessel Australia (which is registered in Malta) is now freed and anchored near the resort, with a trip to Port Moresby registered in the coming days.
The Sydney Morning Herald spoke to an onlooker at the scene, and described it as going inside a navigational buoy marking shallow water:
It’s very, very difficult to make this kind of mistake, so maybe they had some problem with the motor.
This is just at the exit of the marina, it is absolutely very clear that you can’t put the boat between those two buoys. You can’t do that. Even if you are a jet skier like me, you know that.
Palmer bought the superyacht in 2021. It features a jacuzzi, bars and a VIP suite.
It is unknown whether Palmer himself was on the superyacht. We have contacted the Singapore coast guard and port authority, and will bring you further details once we learn more.
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Liberal party’s strategy in spotlight
The city seats the Liberal party lost at the last election, the former blue ribbon turned teal, voted yes at the referendum.
Simon Birmingham is asked if the result makes it harder for the Liberal party to win back those seats.
It was already harder because historically the evidence is there – it is harder to win seats back from independents than it is to win them back from major parties.
This creates indeed further analysis for the party to have to look at carefully in terms of messaging into those key seats and the types of positions that that we take in relation to those seats, but we have to respect and will and truly recognise there was a huge national vote.
The Coalition can’t win government without those seats. And so far, it is not doing anything to even attempt to win them back – in fact, voters in those seats have been written off by some Liberal figures.
the modern liberal party holds the people of #kooyong and #wentworth in deep contempt.
— 💧simon holmes à court (@simonahac) October 16, 2023
"these people have no answers"
"get in your tesla… off you go…"
watch michael kroger & hollie hughes spit bile at the people who built their party, the people @LiberalAus needs to win back: pic.twitter.com/DoUQtEPOZG
Former PM and Wentworth MP Malcolm Turnbull had some thoughts on what Victorian Liberal Michael Kroger and Liberal senator Hollie Hughes had to say:
I might add that savagely insulting voters in the formerly safe Liberal (now Teal) seats you need to win back to form government strikes me as a bit dim.
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) October 16, 2023
But at the moment, the Liberal strategy doesn’t include winning those seats. It includes winning some of the WA seats lost to Labor and a couple of others outside of the inner city to send Labor into minority government at the next election – the idea being to paint a picture of hung parliament chaos (whether it is true or not) and then take back government in the third term. Which is just a replay of the Tony Abbott strategy before 2014.
Updated
A ‘clear and emphatic result’, Birmingham says of voice referendum
Back to the Simon Birmingham interview, the Liberal “moderate” is asked about the voice referendum. Birmingham had been a supporter of the voice but did not campaign for it after the Liberal party room was not given a conscience vote. That meant those on the frontbench were bound by the party decision. Julian Leeser quit the frontbench so he could campaign.
Birmingham:
The result overall, with some 61% of Australians voting no, is a very clear and emphatic result.
And just by way of comparison, at the last federal election, only 32% of Australians gave a first preference vote to the Liberal party.
Yet in this referendum, 61% of Australians voted no.
So the outcome is far, far bigger and more decisive than any one party or its position that it took.
Equally the outcome I think should not be read greatly into electoral contests across the country in no way do I think all of those 61% are about to vote for the Liberal party.
Clearly we will have to present our policies our plans for the future in a positive light at the next election to be able to secure even just a fraction of those votes to achieve a potential change of government.
Updated
You can read more about what is happening in the region, here.
Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong was meant to travel to Japan and Korea this week but has postponed the visit given the situation in Israel and Palestine.
I am postponing my planned travel to the Republic of Korea and Japan for this week.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) October 16, 2023
I will remain in Australia to lead the Government’s consular, humanitarian and diplomatic response to the attacks on Israel by Hamas and the ongoing conflict.
Updated
Is Australia calling for aid to be allowed into Gaza?
Israel has also not allowed aid or humanitarian supplies into Gaza. Is Australia working to try to make that happen?
Richard Marles:
We’ve been working with our international partners around this and you’re right, it has been led by the United States. It’s obviously a really delicate issue and that diplomacy is continuing at a pace and where we can, we are lending our voice to all of that and foreign minister Penny wong has been extremely active on the phones in relation to all of this.
Obviously, opening some kind of corridor which would allow people to leave Gaza is a massive step forward and would provide the key answer for Australians in this situation. But clearly, there are many, many more people caught up in this as well. So we’ll continue to put our efforts into that.
Updated
‘We have been encouraging them to move south’
Are all the 45 near the Egypt border crossing? (There are reports it may reopen, which would give people in Gaza a passage out. At the moment, there is no way out for the 2.2 million people, including 1 million children, who are trapped in a city half the size of Canberra.)
Richard Marles:
I asked that question as well, and so I don’t know the answer to that … Clearly, we have been encouraging them, however, to move south, given what Israel has said and so, that is being part of the work that we have been doing with them. But I can’t actually confirm where all of the 45 are right now.
Updated
Children believed to be among 45 Australians trapped in Gaza
Does that number include children?
Richard Marles:
These include families, so I’d imagine that that is the case. But we are working very closely with them. But this is clearly a very challenging situation and at this point, there isn’t a humanitarian corridor out of Gaza. But we continue to work with others in the international community to see that established.
Updated
Number of Australians known to be in Gaza rises to 45
At the same time Simon Birmingham was speaking to ABC radio, deputy prime minister Richard Marles was speaking to ABC Breakfast TV and gave an update on the number of Australian citizens in Gaza. It had previously been at 19.
We have about 45 Australians who have made contact with us in Gaza. Their situation is obviously extremely difficult.
We are looking at ways in which and working very hard to find ways in which we can get those people to safety.
And that, obviously, includes working with other countries around the establishment of a humanitarian corridor out of Gaza. That hasn’t happened yet. But we are doing what we can in very, very challenging circumstances.
Updated
‘I don’t want to play word games’
Does Simon Birmingham believe that Israel should show restraint?
Birmingham:
I think Israel should as they have, have regard and due regard for civilian life*.
Q: I don’t want to play word games, but I keep asking if you think they should show restraint, you’re using a different form of language – is that because the opposition leader says they should show no restraint?
Birmingham:
Well, the opposition has backed very clearly, the fact that Israel has a right to defend itself, but also that it should show regard for civilian life and we acknowledge that it has shown regard for civilian life and that is a significant contrast to Hamas.
So we’ve been clear here. And I think some of the initial debates around the word restraint, and that were occurring around a week ago now were about interpretations as to whether that meant Israel had a full right to indeed engage in military action, of course, Israel has always had a right to engage.
Q: Except though, that the government has always said that.
Birmingham:
I think we have – and you say you don’t want to play word games, but it seems as if you’re wanting to focus in very much on how … we are splitting hairs here …
The bipartisan position was passed by the Australian parliament yesterday, which was about having regard for civilian lives. That is what the bipartisan position in the motion passed through the House of Representatives yesterday was in the motion before the Senate yesterday.
That is what was negotiated between the government and opposition. And that is what Israel has demonstrated far, far greater regard for civilian lives, as distinct from the targeting of civilian lives by Hamas and we should not lose sight of that very distinct difference between the parties here.
*Again, more than 2,300 people have been killed in Palestine since the conflict began. Gaza is also under siege with fuel, water and food supplies having been cut off.
Updated
‘We would hope that Israel has regard for civilian life,’ Birmingham says
Shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham is on ABC radio RN Breakfast.
He cannot say whether or not he thinks Israel should show “restraint” when it comes to civilian lives. That is because Peter Dutton turned that word into a political attack when Penny Wong issued a statement. The context there was about calling for restraint to save civilian lives.
Dutton and the Coalition twisted that to mean that the government was not condemning the Hamas attack.
Birmingham ties himself into knots to describe restraint, without actually saying the word:
We would hope that Israel has regard for civilian life and I think it’s important to note that Israel has shown regard for civilian life to date that Israel has provided warnings in relation to regions being targeted by airstrikes*.
It is provided those warnings in advance so that people can move and evacuate**.
It is provided notice in relation to intended ground movements and indeed it has deferred and delayed those intended ground movements***.
And that is in stark, stark contrast**** to the complete disregard for civilian life and in fact, targeting of civilian life that Hamas demonstrated a little over a week ago, when it targeted women, children, babies, young people at a music festival, grandparents, and of course, took a number of them hostage and still holds it claims a number of those hostages.
So we have to be very clear that there are distinct differences in terms of the way in which the parties operate those who seek to create some type of false equivalence, engaging in disgraceful behaviour. Hamas is a terrorist organisation*****. It has behaved as such, and it’s cruelty, the abomination of protections is something that has rightly been condemned by parliament and other democratic nations right around the world and many others quite rightly.
*A reminder there is no where for the people in Gaza to go. There is no water, no fuel, no food coming into Gaza, under orders from Israel.
**The WHO has spoken out against the order, as it included hospitals, which cannot evacuate. Evacuees who were travelling on what was supposed to be a safe route died in airstrikes.
***Following some international pressure.
****More than 2,300 Palestinians have been killed since Saturday.
*****This has not been contested.
Updated
Malarndirri McCarthy says there is no support for the royal commission Peter Dutton is calling for, or for the audit on spending within the Indigenous sector, in her view. But she says the government will see what the opposition proposes.
Updated
‘We made a commitment’
Why did the Labor government push ahead with the referendum after the Coalition said it would not support it?
Malarndirri McCarthy:
First Nations people had asked for this, Patricia, we made a commitment. And when we went to the election in 2022, we took that to the Australian people and in winning the election.
That was the mandate they gave us to go ahead with our policies. And First Nations people involved with Uluru statement from the heart wanted that.
So we took it through, because we had this firm belief that Australians would want to say that and we were clearly not correct in that.
Updated
Malarndirri McCarthy speaks of 'deep disappointment'
In his Insiders interview on Sunday morning, deputy prime minister Richard Marles said Australia “got it right” – the context being that the voters always get it right.
Malarndirri McCarthy is asked whether she believes that is right – did Australia get it right?
We respect the outcome,” she says.
Pushed, she adds:
If the outcome says that they don’t want to see First Nations people recognised and they don’t want to have a voice to the parliament, I find that deeply disappointing.
It’s not right as a First Nations person to have to keep explaining why your history is important in this country and why we’ve been here for over 65,000 years.
That’s not right to have to keep doing that.
But we have to obviously keep doing that now because Australians voted no.
Updated
Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy is speaking to ABC radio RN Breakfast about the referendum result.
McCarthy is asked whether she thinks Australia is racist:
I love Australia. I love Australia. I love the opportunities that our country can give us but I think we could have been better.
I think we could have been greater if we’d enabled First Nations people to have their voice to the Australian parliament.
So what we have to do now is regroup, reset and go back out at the right appropriate time and work with First Nations people as to what the next step.
Updated
Emirates confirms it will provide repatriation flight from Dubai
Emirates has just confirmed it will provide a repatriation flight later this week to help Australians in Israel return home.
An Emirates spokesperson confirmed a repatriation flight EK2616 is scheduled to depart Dubai on Thursday at 9.40am, arriving in Sydney the next day at 6.05am (all times local).
Australians who wish to travel on this flight should contact Emirates’ contact centre or sales offices, or their nearest Australian consulate or embassy.
We have made aircraft and crew available and put them on standby to activate over the past days, pending confirmation of passenger numbers and other details from the Australian government.
The Australian government has already organised a number of repatriation flights from Tel Aviv in Israel to Dubai, and is working to coordinate flights from Dubai to Australia for Australian citizens.
Updated
Albanese press conference announced
The prime minister will hold a press conference this morning after a visit to a Tafe.
That’s after the skills funding agreement in national cabinet.
But the questions will be about the fallout from the no vote in the referendum, and Israel and Palestine.
Updated
Australians in Gaza urged to travel to Rafah border
There have been reports that the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt may be reopened. There are at least 19 Australian citizens inside Palestine that we know about – they have been advised to travel to the border, if they are able, and to stay close, in the event that the border does open.
Updated
‘We’re holding a thorough consultation process,’ Jacinta Allan says
Under the proposal, a government minister will appoint commissioners, though the Greens-chaired integrity and oversight committee will have the power to veto candidates.
Other measures include:
A new parliamentary ethics committee
Improvements to mechanisms relating to public interest disclosures about MPs
Updates to the MP code of conduct
Jacinta Allan said the model for the integrity commission has been developed drawing on the recommendations of various reviews, integrity frameworks in other jurisdictions, and modern workplace standards:
We’re holding a thorough consultation process to ensure we achieve the highest standards of conduct and integrity of MPs in all aspects of their work for Victorians.
Allan said recommendations from the Operation Watts report regarding MP staff arrangements were being addressed in a separate ongoing piece of work.
The bill is expected to be introduced to parliament next year.
Updated
Victoria pushes ahead with bill to establish parliamentary integrity commission
The Victorian government is to begin consulting with the opposition and crossbench on a bill to establish a parliamentary integrity commission to investigate allegations of misconduct by MPs.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, will on Tuesday announce consultation will begin on the parliamentary integrity commission bill, which will implement seven recommendations from the Operation Watts report, handed down by the ombudsman and Victoria’s Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission in 2022.
It also addresses recommendations of the 2021 review of the parliamentary workplace commissioned by the speaker and upper house president, which followed the Jenkins review of parliamentary culture in 2021.
Under the model being put forward by the government, the parliamentary integrity commission – made up of three commissioners – will investigate allegations of misconduct such as breaches of the MP code of conduct and register of interests, as well as misuse of work-related parliamentary allowances.
Inappropriate parliamentary workplace behaviour by MPs, including bullying, occupational violence and aggression, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination or victimisation can also be investigated. The commission will also be able to refer matters on to police.
Anyone will be able to make referrals to the commission and will be able to do so anonymously.
Updated
Emirates planes on standby for humanitarian flights
Meanwhile, Emirates said it was ready to deploy humanitarian flights to help Australians get home.
The airline said last night it has been in “detailed discussions” with Dfat, other Australian government contacts and Qantas:
In addition to our regularly scheduled services between Dubai and Australia, we are ready to deploy special humanitarian flights.
We have made aircraft and crew available and put them on standby to activate over the past days, pending confirmation of passenger numbers and other details from the Australian government.
We will bring you any updates on repatriation flights throughout the day as we hear more. In the meantime, you can read more of what we know here:
Updated
Australians urged to leave Israel now
A government-facilitated flight left Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport at 10am local time on Monday (6pm AEDT), with a second planned for the afternoon.
Foreign affairs minister Penny Wong confirmed the flights in a post to X (formerly Twitter), again urging any Australian citizens in Israel they should leave now:
Australians wanting to leave should strongly consider this option and not wait for a different option.
Despite efforts to get Palestinian Australians out of Gaza, some say they are unable to reach rescue buses to Jordan. Wong said this of the situation yesterday:
We continue to do a lot of engagement with the United States, with Israel [and] with Egypt to try and assure passage for Australians out of Gaza.
Obviously the security situation on the ground there is extremely difficult and so far we have not been able to do that. We will continue to do everything we can to arrange that passage.
Updated
Good morning
A very big thank you to Martin for kicking us off this morning – you have Amy Remeikis with you now as we turn to the sitting day.
The whole Canberra team is with you, including Katharine Murphy, Josh Butler, Paul Karp, Daniel Hurst and Sarah Basford-Canales. Mike Bowers is already up and about and I have had my second coffee.
Ready?
Let’s get into it.
Updated
Two more repatriation flights expected to leave Israel for Dubai today
After 255 Australian citizens landed in Dubai en route to Australia last night, the government said it was planning two more flights from Tel Aviv to Dubai today to help Australian citizens flee Israel in the wake of the Hamas attacks.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said the government had secured flights to Australia from Dubai.
The Emirates airline said last night that it “stands ready to help Australians impacted by the events in Israel return home”.
It said that on top of regular scheduled services between Dubai and Australia, it had been in “detailed discussions” with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and other Australian government contacts, and Qantas and would be ready to deploy special humanitarian flights:
We have made aircraft and crew available and put them on standby to activate over the past days, pending confirmation of passenger numbers and other details from the Australian government.
The situation remains very dynamic, and we continue to work in close co-ordination with our partners on efforts to evacuate and repatriate Australians.
Read more on the repatriation flights here:
National cabinet allocates extra $3.7bn for vocational education
The federal government will put $3.7bn extra into vocational education and training, after national cabinet last night agreed to the new national skills agreement.
The cabinet met virtually overnight, with premiers and chief ministers endorsing the plan.
Anthony Albanese’s office said:
The agreement will support a new way of working together to deliver the nation’s social and economic priorities through shared stewardship of the vocational education and training (VET) system.
The new agreement will see the Australian government invest up to an additional $3.7bn in VET over five years, bringing total Commonwealth investment through the Agreement up to $12.6bn.
The statement said first ministers agreed the plan would “support a shared skills reform agenda that drives improved outcomes nationally, while recognising each state and territory’s unique circumstances and VET systems”:
The Commonwealth and states and territories will partner to make a further 300,000 TAFE and VET places fee-free from January next year.
Anne Aly to Australian Muslims: remember when Islamophobia was rife
More now on the Israel-Hamas debate in federal parliament last night.
Anne Aly, the minister for early childhood education and youth, said the Australian Muslim community was “hurting” but must “show compassion and empathy for all humanity”.
Aly told parliament last night that one her greatest fears was “the escalation of violence in Palestine and Israel” – a development that would result in the further deaths of innocent people.
The WA MP, who made history last year when she became one of Australia’s first Muslim federal ministers, also told parliament that any behaviour “celebrating the death and destruction of Israelis is unIslamic”.
She said there was “no justification” for the Hamas attacks, adding that “those who seek to justify it do an incredible disservice not just to Israelis but to Palestinians alike”.
Amid concerns of further escalation, Aly said Australia was right to join with the US in urging that the rules of law were adhered to and civilians were treated humanely. She also said she felt the pain of the Jewish community in her electorate of Cowa.
Aly said she did not know the way to achieve peace in the region, but “violence only begets violence” and “political will is required on both sides to get through this impasse and see a way forward”:
I end this by putting a call out to all members of the Australian Muslim community ... I know that you’re hurting, I know that this is a deeply emotional issue for you. But as Muslims it is our responsibility … to show compassion and empathy for all humanity – for all humanity.
I urge people to remember that we live in a democratic and free country and I urge them to remember the hard times we went through when Islamophobia was rife, and to hold back and to remember that there is no place in this country for antisemitism and no place for Islamophobia.
People of Gaza should not face ‘mass punishment’, Labor MP says
More on Julian Hill, the Labor MP who told federal parliament last night that the “overwhelming message” from his electorate in south-east Melbourne was that it was not “proportionate” that Gaza’s 2 million people should be punished en masse for the attacks on Israel by Hamas.
Hill said last night that condemning Hamas as “a vile terrorist group in no way diminishes support for Palestinian statehood and a just settlement”.
Israel had an inherent right to self-defence, he said, but “it should not be controversial to state that right is not unfettered, and does not and cannot justify any action or the indiscriminate mass killing of innocent Palestinians in response”.
He told parliament:
The overwhelming feedback I have had from my community is the concern and the need to protect human life and ensure that Australia’s response, along with the rest of the international community, equally values the lives of people in Gaza and innocent Palestinians and Israelis, and their collective suffering and loss.
I share this concern and in doing so I decry the gross politicisation of this tragedy by the leader of the opposition [Peter Dutton] and a certain national broadsheet.
An overwhelming message from my community now is despair and terror at what may be coming in the days and weeks ahead, and a cry that the mass punishment of 2 million people in Gaza is not a proportionate response and this is a trap that Israel must not fall into – it is what Hamas are trying to provoke.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage of the day in Canberra and beyond. I’m Martin Farrer I’ll begin with a roundup of the best overnight stories before my colleague Amy Remeikis takes over.
We’re beginning to form a picture of how the post-referendum landscape might look. Our latest Guardian Essential poll published today suggests voters lack enthusiasm for landmark policies to address Indigenous disadvantage, with pursuit of a treaty running at 38%, only 37% in favour of a truth-telling commission, 35% backing a legislated voice and 35% support for a constitutional recognition but not a voice. A majority of voters want the government to work with Indigenous communities to address inequality but a resounding 74% of respondents say the Albanese government’s top priority should addressing cost-of-living pressures. Meanwhile, the Coalition’s push for an audit of government spending on Indigenous Australians is set to fail.
Parliament debated the Israel-Hamas war into the night and the matter of where MPs and senators stand on the issue could come to the boil at party-room meetings today. One Labor MP, Julian Hill, told fellow MPs last night that Israel’s right to defend itself did not extend to the “indiscriminate mass killing of innocent Palestinians”. More on this coming up and we’ll also be following developments at those party-room meetings closely.
The Albanese government must bring forward measures to protect water supplies from fracking if a revamp of environment laws is delayed for another year, the Greens argue this morning. They are worried that by the time the government’s promised remaking of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act happens next year, many projects will have been able to proceed.
