What we've learned - Monday 1 July
That brings the blog to a close this first day of the month, but first let’s recap the main events:
Anne Aly said she hoped Fatima Payman remained a Labor senator. Anthony Albanese said the Greens’ “stunt” was designed to put Payman in a difficult position.
Sam Mostyn was sworn in as governor general. The prime minister said Mostyn would be “an outstanding leader”. The new governor general said testing times’ called for kindness, care and respect.
International student visa fees more than doubled overnight.
Andrew Wilkie seconded Rebekha Sharkie’s private member’s bill on gambling ads, saying it was “way beyond time”.
The health minister, Mark Butler, told shops to stop selling vapes as new laws begin.
Mehreen Faruqi denounced Labor’s “shameful” suspension of Payman as Albanese urges that “we take the temperature down” on the Gaza debate.
Payman released a statement on social media saying she’d been “exiled” from Labor.
Amy will be back with you bright and early in the morning.
Updated
Coercive-control laws to protect NSW women come into force
NSW is safer for women after becoming the first Australian jurisdiction to criminalise coercive control as a standalone offence, a family violence expert says.
AAP reports that legislation criminalising repeated patterns of physical or non-physical abuse used to hurt, scare, intimidate, threaten or control someone passed the NSW parliament in 2022 and came into effect today.
Its introduction was delayed to allow time to educate police, the judiciary and the public, with perpetrators facing jail for up to seven years if found guilty.
Women’s Community Shelters chief executive Annabelle Daniel said NSW residents should be extremely proud to live in a state taking serious action on coercive control.
She said:
With this reform, we can now tell women seeking support at our services that the patterns of abuse that they’ve experienced are criminal.
This legislation will improve the lives of women and children who may never seek to use the legal system … the police and court system personnel are trained to identify patterns of abuse, and we’ll be less likely to misidentify the perpetrator of abuse when they attend to incidents.
Coercive control was a precursor to 97% of intimate partner domestic violence homicides in NSW between 2000 and 2018. Daniel said:
But it’s also really important to note coercive control deserves to be criminalised because it in itself is intimate partner terrorism, whether or not it leads to domestic homicide.
Tougher bail laws mean people charged with serious domestic violence offences, with a maximum imprisonment of 14 years or more, must now demonstrate why they should not remain in custody.
These include sexual assault, kidnapping, and choking to render someone unconscious with intent to commit another indictable offence in intimate partner relationships.
Updated
Teacher dies after falling through Melbourne school roof
A teacher has died after falling from a roof at a school in Spotswood, in Melbourne’s inner city, on Thursday.
Authorities believe he was trying to retrieve a ball from the roof.
WorkSafe Victoria made a statement today about the incident they are investigating:
It is believed the 61-year-old man was retrieving balls from the roof when he fell through a skylight more than three metres to the concrete ground below about 2:30pm.
He was taken to hospital with critical head injuries, where he died on Friday.
… The death is the 23rd confirmed workplace fatality for 2024. There were 41 work-related deaths at the same time last year.
Updated
Canavan hits at Labor over Payman
Nationals senator Matt Canavan is criticising Labor’s collectivist principles. Appearing on ABC Afternoon Briefing, he said:
When you elect a Labor MP, you elect a robot. They’re just here to churn out the talking points they’re given every day.
Good on Senator Payman, she’s got more courage than the lot of them combined.
Labor MP Sam Rae defended his party, saying it was not about command and control, or automatons, but rather the principles of movement.
We’re a collectivist movement. The Labor party is a collectivist party and we believe the cause of serving working people is far more important than any single individual, and this is at the core of this issue: the principle of collectivist action.
Updated
‘Up to’ Payman whether she rejoins Labor caucus – McAllister
Good afternoon! Staying with Senator Fatima Payman’s position in the Labor party, Labor frontbencher Senator Jenny McAllister said Payman would be able to rejoin caucus if she could show she accepted the convention of collective decision-making.
McAllister spoke to ABC’s Afternoon Briefing soon after question time but before the release of Payman’s statement, and said Payman showed she was not willing to accept the principles of collective decision-making:
Senator Payman’s decision both in the chamber and by her words over the weekend indicate she’s not willing to accept that and it’s on that basis she’s been suspended from the caucus.
Greg Jennings asked McAllister about Payman not attending a division earlier and she said:
Senator Payman has indicated at this point she isn’t willing to accept those disciplines and so she’s not able to participate in the ordinary processes of our group.
On whether she could rejoin caucus in future, McAllister said:
It’s really up to Senator Payman.
I think it’s been made very clear that should Senator Payman wish to resume observing those conventions, she’d be able to rejoin.
Updated
On that note, Natasha May is going to take you through the rest of the evening, while the Canberra team continue to update you on what is happening in parliament.
Make sure you keep checking back to see what is happening – and thank you so much for joining me so far today. I’ll be back tomorrow morning with the next politics live edition – until then, take care of you. Ax
Updated
Here is what Anthony Albanese had to say about Fatima Payman’s suspension during question time:
Fatima Payman’s Facebook post has been up for just 10 minutes and already has close to 60 comments – overwhelmingly in support of the senator and her actions.
Updated
Fatima Payman:
Yesterday the prime minister suspended me indefinitely from the Australian Labor party caucus.
Since then, I have lost all contact with my caucus colleagues. I have been removed from caucus meetings, committees, internal group chats, and whips bulletins.
I have been told to avoid all chamber duties that require a vote including divisions, motions and matters of public interest.
I have been exiled.
These actions lead me to believe that some members are attempting to intimidate me into resigning from the Senate.
As a result, I will abstain from voting on Senate matters for the remainder of the week, unless a matter of conscience arises where I’ll uphold the true values and principles of the Labor party.
I will use this time to reflect on my future and the best way to represent the people of Western Australia.
Updated
Payman says she's been 'exiled' from Labor
Senator Fatima Payman has announced she will abstain from voting in the Senate this week while she considers her future.
In a post to her Facebook account, Payman says she “has been exiled”.
Updated
Accounting body decries ‘outrageous’ hike in international student visa fees
The government’s decision to more than double the cost of international student visas has upset the CPA.
CPA Australia’s business investment and international lead, Gavan Ord, said the sector was “critical to Australia’s economy, society and influence” and the “government’s decision to drastically increase the cost of non-refundable visa applications for international students is outrageous”.
Australia is highly regarded as a destination for international education. However, the government cannot assume that this advantage is permanent. Students have choices and many other governments are investing heavily to improve their tertiary education sectors to attract such students.
Poorly considered policies focused on achieving short-term domestic objectives, like this significant fee hike, runs the real risk of making Australia seem less welcoming to international students.
Any reforms in this area must be very carefully considered and debated. Wrong steps can have significant short- and long-term implications for Australia.
Australia is already experiencing a shortage of qualified accountants and many other occupations. Any measures that are designed to reduce the number of genuine international students who wish to study accounting will exacerbate this shortage and have a negative knock-on effect to Australian business and the economy as a whole.
Updated
Pilots’ vote sends ‘strong message to Virgin’, union says
More on the news that pilots at Virgin Australia have voted down a controversial proposal from the airline to strip them of six days off per year in a new enterprise agreement, in a ballot that was defeated 61% to 39%.
The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP), the union that represents roughly 75% of unionised pilots at Virgin, had encouraged its members to vote in favour, while the Transport Workers Union (TWU), representing about 25% of unionised pilots at the airline, had staunchly opposed the pay deal, insisting the extra days off were crucial in light of Virgin abandoning a pledge to upgrade what had been criticised as deficient rostering software.
Virgin Australia’s chief pilot, Alex Scamps, claimed the new deal would still have left pilots with “the most generous days off for any major airline in Australia” and strengthened work-life balance and fatigue management protections.
He said:
We acknowledge and respect the feedback from our pilots and we will continue to work with the AFAP and the TWU to address the key areas raised.
The TWU national secretary, Michael Kaine, said:
This vote sends a strong message to Virgin and owners Bain Capital to listen to pilots’ concerns and return to negotiations ready to work together on the constructive solutions already put forward by the TWU pilots committee. With a few key adjustments, Virgin pilots can very soon have an agreement worth voting for.
AFAP, in an email its negotiating team sent to members seen by Guardian Australia, said: “While we are disappointed with the result, we accept that a democratic process has taken place and the views of the majority of the pilot group must be respected.
Negotiators would now “go through a process to understand the reasons for the no vote” before resuming negotiations with Virgin.
Guardian Australia understands that many Virgin pilots were relieved about the result. The vote had itself been delayed; a last-minute decision to tweak its offer followed critical feedback from pilots in pre-ballot town hall-style sessions. You can read Guardian Australia’s reporting of fatigue concerns, by Daisy Dumas and me, here:
Updated
Pilots reject Virgin Australia deal cutting annual days off
Pilots at Virgin Australia have rejected the airline’s push to strip them of six days off per year, with less than 40% voting in favour despite the proposed enterprise agreement being endorsed by the union that represents the majority of pilots.
Amid ongoing frustration from pilots over fatigue concerns that have gained the regulator’s attention – including allegations they are routinely rostered to work maximum shift lengths of 12 hours and longer on back-to-back days, while allowing for the legal minimum rest period of 12 hours – the first ballot was voted down 61%-39%, with 98% of the airline’s roughly 1000 pilots casting votes.
Under Virgin pilots’ existing enterprise agreement, which lapsed at the end of June, pilots were entitled to 12 days off every 28-day roster period, of which there are 13 periods a year. For the new deal, Virgin Australia had been proposing that for six of the 13 roster periods, days off would be cut to 11. The designated days off are in addition to annual leave.
As part of the proposed deal, pilots would receive a 9.38% pay rise in the first year, and 3% rises in the second and third years, in return for the loss of the six days off.
The Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP), the union which represents roughly 75% of unionised pilots at Virgin, had encouraged its members to vote in favour, while the Transport Workers Union (TWU), representing about 25% of unionised pilots at the airline, had staunchly opposed the pay deal, insisting the extra days off were crucial in light of Virgin abandoning a pledge to upgrade what had been criticised as deficient rostering software.
Updated
Anthony Albanese taunts Angus Taylor over whether or not he is going to ask a question and then ends question time.
Michael McCormack asks Anthony Albanese:
Capital Brewing Co is a local success story, but under the Albanese Labor government, it is suffering from skyrocketing costs. Co-Founder and managing director Laurence Kain stated, quote, our ‘costs have risen almost out of control. Our electricity bill has gone from 4500 dollars a month to almost $12,000 a month over the last two years’. He said that yesterday. Prime Minister, why are regional small businesses paying the price for Labor’s economic incompetence?
Albanese:
…They produce a very fine product. I give them that.
We know, that this is one of the reasons why we’re dealing with energy price relief, not just for individuals, but for small businesses. But for those opposite, for those opposite who’ve opposed the tax cuts, for everyone who works at Capital Brewing, who have opposed the other support, including one would assume, the lower wages.
Many of the people at Capital Brewing will be on low wages award wages?
They’re likely to benefit from the increase in wages that we see and that’s a positive is interjecting not from his seat promised has the coal.
And that’s a positive thing as well. But I hope that the member for Riverina, if he goes down to the Capital Brewing joint just down the road that he, he tells me he’s familiar with, I hope that he tells them it’ll be OK because we’ll have a nuclear reactor somewhere in 2040. That that’ll fix it.
This will be one of the moments referred to from today:
Liberal WA MP Melissa Price asks:
My question is to the prime minister. Families in my Durack community are at breaking point. Joshua, age 16, has told ABC News, and I quote: ‘Sometimes we’re really scraping just to pay the bills and afford food for the family. Mum actually quite often misses out on dinner so that there’s actually a portion size suitable for the rest of the family.’ Why are Australian families paying the price for Labour’s economic incompetence?
Albanese:
I thank the member for her question and I hope that she’s told Joshua in her electorate that she voted against energy price relief, that one assumes that will have occurred if Joshua works.
And as a taxpayer, I hope that she’s told him that she actually supports the old stage-three tax cuts because that’s what the leader of the opposition said.
Just in February, not that long ago: ‘Do we walk away from the principles of stage three? Absolutely not.’
So I assume that she tells Joshua if he earns under $45,000, that he shouldn’t get a tax cut today [if he is working].
… Part of the point here is that a whole lot of part-time workers will now get a tax cut. And one of the reasons why Treasury estimated that our design of the tax cuts would increase workforce participation is just that. So it’s designed to provide that cost of living support at the same time as not putting pressure on inflation.
So I certainly wish Josh well, I know that families, many of them are doing it really tough, but they would have done it tougher if the inflation rate was the same as the one that we inherited, which was 6%.
So we are increasing wages, having tax cuts, energy bill relief, freeze on medicines, making a substantial difference with all these practical measures, all practical moves opposed by those opposite and voted against by the member for Durack.
Updated
Jim Chalmers continues:
The only thing more pathetic than the point of order was to hear the shadow treasurer chirping away without a question. (He’s referring to Angus Taylor interjecting.) The shadow treasurer chirping away without a question over there. He can’t get a question, but he’s prepared to chirp away when the member for Griffith asks his question.
Now, the reason why this is relevant, Mr Speaker, the reason why building more homes and building more supply in our $32 billion investment is so important is because the Greens political party had an opportunity in the Senate last week to vote for tax changes which would incentivise more homes in our communities. Tens of thousands of homes.
And the point that I’m making is if the member for Griffith wants to use the tax system to make the housing sector fairer for young people and homeless people and renters, then he would have voted that way in the Senate, or his colleagues would have voted that way in the Senate.
Our priority when it comes to tax reform and housing is to incentivise more rental properties, because for as long as there aren’t enough homes in our communities, rents will be too high.
Now, the other important point about rents is that we have now provided – in two consecutive budgets – two increases to commonwealth rent assistance, and rents are still too high and they’re growing too fast. In the most recent monthly indicator, the annual price growth was rental growth was 7.4%.
It would have been 9.3% without our changes to commonwealth rent assistance. So we acknowledge that rents are too high. We acknowledge that more homes need to be built. We’re providing that commonwealth rent assistance increase at the same time as we’re trying to build more homes. Now. Mr Speaker, last week in the Senate, the Greens voted for fewer homes and higher rents and more homelessness. If they really cared about housing, they would vote with Labor rather than vote with the conservatives.
Updated
Jim Chalmers:
I’ll tell you what Labor believes. Labor believes that the best way to deal with the issues in the housing market is to build more homes. And that’s why, to the great credit of the housing minister, to the great credit of the housing minister, we’ve allocated an extra $32 billion to building more homes in our communities and in our economy, including $6 billion in the most recent budget.
Now, Mr Speaker, as I said the other day, as the minister for housing said the other day, if the Greens political party really wanted to solve the issues in the housing market, they’d vote to do that. They would vote for more homes. They would vote for us to build more homes.
And that shameful vote last week – which made it very difficult to work out where the Liberal party begins and ends and where the Greens party begins and ends on housing – it really was a demonstration, I think, of the Greens political party’s real priorities here. And as I said last week, as I’m happy to say again, the Greens will always put a much higher premium on fighting the Labor party than fighting for more housing for people to live in.
MCM has a point of order:
We’re over a minute into the question, the treasurer has not mentioned negative gearing or the capital gains tax once. That was the entire point of the question. It was a tight question, and if he’s not capable of answering, he should sit down.
Milton Dick says the tag line on the question allows ministers to broaden their answer.
Updated
Max Chandler-Mather asks about this story from Sarah Basford Canales:
New analysis by the parliamentary budget office shows that over the next decade, the federal government will hand over $165 billion in tax handouts to property investors in the form of negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount. 67% of the benefit will go to the top 20% of earners, while only 14% will go to the bottom 50% of earners. Can the prime minister explain why Labor believes this is a good thing?
The prime minister hands this to Jim Chalmers.
Updated
Returning to Anthony Albanese’s comment: “It’s just a fact. It’s in the Likud charter.”
Likud is the Benjamin Netanyahu-led ruling party in Israel. The party’s 1977 platform said the West Bank “will not be handed to any foreign administration; between the sea and the Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty”.
Updated
Senate breaks out in bickering
Senate question time erupts during a (probably) strategically-placed Dixer on cost-of-living.
Labor frontbencher, Murray Watt, takes a question from his colleague, Tony Sheldon, about how the government’s policies help Australians with inflation and wage rises.
Watt, who is known for riling up those across from him, does what he does best. After hearing a heckle from the opposition benches, he says:
Isn’t it good that at least one senator on the side of that chamber has an interest in cost-of-living issues?
A lot of yelling across the chamber ensues. The president, Sue Lines, tries to get everything under control but it takes a few seconds before things actually come to a halt.
Michaelia Cash, who is acting opposition leader in the upper house, is singled out by Watt for being particularly loud in her interjections.
Watt says: “Senator Cash is a lot more noisy when she’s sitting in that chair [the Senate opposition leader’s chair] rather than when she’s sitting in the one about a metre behind.”
Cash yells back: “I’m still living rent-free in your mind, unlike Australians...”
A few short minutes later, the government Senate leader, Penny Wong, makes a quip against Cash to the president: “The acting leader of the opposition could perhaps draw breath and not yell for the entirety of the answer?”
Updated
'Take the temperature down' on Gaza debate, Albanese urges
Paul Karp said Labor MPs could be heard interjecting with “mind your own business” in response to Coalition heckling.
Milton Dick tells the chamber to be quiet.
Anthony Albanese:
I’ll make a few points. One is that ‘from the river to the sea’ is a statement that has been used by both supporters of Israel and supporters of Palestine, who support a single state, a single state.
(There are more interjections from the Coalition here, and Albanese says ‘it’s just a fact – it’s in the Likud charter’ in response.)
That’s the first point I’d make.
The second point I’d make in terms of social harmony is that it is important that we take the temperature down in this debate, not seek not seek to inflame it.
We just had a question earlier on about some of the activity that I condemn, that I condemn, I condemn unequivocally the use of the phrase ‘from the river to the sea’ because it speaks about a single state, a single state.
The fact is, the fact is that the government’s position is very clear. We support a two-state solution and last week in the Senate we moved an amendment which said this, the need for the Senate to recognise the state of Palestine as a part of a peace process in support of a two-state solution and a just and enduring peace. Our position is clear.
We support the proposal by President Biden and the United States for a peaceful resolution. We support hostages being released. We support civilians being protected. We continue to call for increased humanitarian aid. We continue to argue that every single innocent life matters, whether Israeli or Palestinian. By her own actions, Senator Payman has placed herself outside the privilege that comes with participating in the federal parliamentary Labor party caucus, and I informed her of that yesterday.
Updated
Fletcher presses PM over Payman
Paul Fletcher is next:
I refer to the statements in this place last week concerning Senator Payman. When will the prime minister expel Senator Payman from the Labor caucus for her disgraceful conduct and her endorsement of the antisemitic chant ‘from the river to the sea’?
Tony Burke says the question is about party matters, which is against the standing orders.
Milton Dick asks Fletcher to reword the question. He asks pretty much the same question.
I refer to the prime minister’s statement in this place last week concerning Senator Payman. When will the prime minister expel Senator Payman from the Labor caucus for her disgraceful conduct and her endorsement of the antisemitic chant ‘from the river to the sea’? A very clear, simple question.
Burke stands by his point and says the entire statement should be ruled out of order.
Bob Katter stands up to say he thinks the question is in order.
Dick gives Fletcher another chance to reword the question.
Fletcher (third time):
My question is to the prime minister, who last week said, in this House, I met with Senator Payman earlier today, she will not be attending the Labor caucus for the rest of this session. Since that time, she has again reiterated her support for the antisemitic chant ‘from the river to the sea’. What action will the prime minister take consistent with the courage shown by previous Labor prime ministers? Or will he continue to be weak?
Dick asks for the reflection (weak) be withdrawn. Fletcher withdraws. Albanese is now asked to answer the question.
Updated
Independent Fowler MP Dai Le asks about the government’s cost of living measures and whether the government can guarantee that her community won’t keep going backwards.
Anthony Albanese runs through the tax changes and the energy relief and ends with a call to the senate to pass Labor’s housing legislation (the build to rent) which he says would also help the people of Fowler.
Victorian MPs’ pay tops $200,000 after increase
A 3.5% pay rise for Victorian MPs will take effect today, pushing their annual salary above $200,000 for the first time.
The Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal, which was set up in 2019 to prevent politicians from setting their own salaries and allowances, on Monday announced the pay rise.
It will mean a backbencher MP’s base salary will increase from $198,839 to $205,798.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, will get an additional salary of $229,636 and an expense allowance of $62,597, boosting her pay to $498,031.
The increase is the same as the one MPs received last financial year. In its published decision, the tribunal said it was in line with other jurisdictions:
At the time of making this determination, two Australian jurisdictions had made adjustments to the salaries paid to MPs from 1 July 2024, with commonwealth MPs receiving a 3.5% increase and Queensland MPs receiving a 4% increase in salaries.
It noted, however, in NSW MPs salaries have been frozen until July 2025.
A Victorian government spokesperson said:
Salary adjustments for members of parliament are a matter for the Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal, a body we established so these decisions are made independently and at arm’s length of government.
Updated
Peter Dutton is given the floor to join with the prime minister’s answer on indulgence and you can feel the tension about where he will take it, given what happened the last time Dutton spoke on indulgence on a similar issue.
Dutton:
I wanted to also join with the prime minister in the condemnation of this [horrendous] act. I thank the member of New England for the question and understand and acknowledge the very real concern he has, like every decent Australian has, about the scenes and what we have seen playing out; not just at the War Memorial sites but also outside member for parliament’s offices, including the prime minister’s office, what we have seen outside Jewish schools, and what we have seen on university campuses and across society where these acts of antisemitism have taken place.
‘River to the sea’, as the prime minister has noted before in this chamber, is an abomination and that comment is all about the elimination of a race of people, and what the Jewish community is going through in our country at the moment is completely and utterly unacceptable.
And they rightly stand condemned, the people who have committed these offences, and as the prime minister rightly points out, unfortunately there has not been arrests that have taken place so far, and I hope that the police can double down on their efforts to identify these people and to allow very clear message to be sent to those of a similar mind that these acts are not to be condoned in our society.
Those men and women, the 103,000 who have lost their lives serving our nation, have done so for our lifestyle to be maintained and for our life in this country to continue as it is today and we do not do their memory any service by what we have seen at the War Memorial, whether it is the Australian War Memorial, whether it is any commemoration of life of sacrifice of the men and women of the Australian defence force. They rightly stand condemned for these actions and we hope that they shall not be repeated.
Updated
Anthony Albanese:
I certainly condemn the criminal acts that have occurred at the Australian War Memorial and also on the Vietnam War Memorial, the Korean War Memorial and other war memorials as well, that have occurred in places like Sydney.
I do not know what goes through someone’s head in thinking that a cause, any cause, is advanced by the desecration of what our sacred sites here in Australia are. Veterans are men and women who wear a uniform [and] deserve respect.
And the reason why we have those memorials is to enable Australians of different generations to learn from it. To go and show respect and honour those who sacrificed their lives on behalf of us, for our freedom, our democratic values and our way of life.
The governor general, in her speech earlier today in the Members’ Hall, spoke about the fact that from the prime minister’s offers when the doors are open with the design of this building you see right through the Members’ Hall, through the Great Hall, through the entrance to Parliament House, past Parliament House to the Australian War Memorial.
That is not by accident.
That is because the decisions which people make in high office in particular, governance make, to send out men and women into danger, we must always think about the impact that has on those who undertake their duty on our behalf.
So I just say that of all, and there have been a range of, frankly, idiotic, criminal actions while the Middle East conflict has been going on, it is one thing and there should be full prosecution about the denigration of offices and the denigration of other public buildings. But nothing, nothing is as bad as the desecration of those memorials and I thank the member for his question and I hope sincerely that these people who are responsible are found, they get the full force of the law and they get the book thrown at them.
And they could expose publicly as well for who they are. We know what they are, they are unworthy. Unworthy of having any respect and any leniency as a result of their own actions.
Updated
Barnaby Joyce:
In light of the disgraceful desecration of the Australian War Memorial and then in the last couple of nights the Vietnam War Memorial and the Korean Memorial, what actions are you taking to condemn this and what actions are you taking to ensure that this does not happen again?
Updated
Amanda Rishworth reads another dixer answer and the opposition again asks for the paper she was reading to be tabled, which is bad brat energy – the opposition is making the point that the answer was all prepared for her to read, which is not against the rules, but is designed to embarrass the minister.
Anyways, Charli XCX would never.
Updated
Sussan Ley gets a go, with her very particular way of delivering questions with particular emphasis on words like “failure”.
It ends with what has become her favourite tag line:
Prime minister, why are Australian families paying the price for Labor’s economic incompetence?
Anthony Albanese thanks her for “her question that contained a fair bit of imputation, let me say”.
He then treats it like a dixer, pointing out Ley’s voting record:
Those workers will also get to keep more of what they earn because of what the deputy leader of the opposition said, that she would oppose it, regardless, to quote, in one of her best [lines] she said this: ‘But we will fight this legislation in the parliament. We do not even know what it will look like.’
You can’t make it up, Mr Speaker.
‘When this legislation hits the parliament, we will fight it, we will fight it all the way. I’m digging in along with my colleagues and our leader, Peter Dutton, to fight this fight, really, really hard.’
That was before she voted for it. That was just before she voted for it, Mr Speaker.
Updated
Payman’s stance ‘courageous and principled’, Palestinian advocacy group says
Senator Fatima Payman’s support for Palestine – which on Sunday landed her with an indefinite suspension from the Labor caucus – was “courageous and principled”, says the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (Apan).
In a statement on Monday, Apan said it stands firmly with the West Australian and that her stance was in “strong alignment not only with community sentiment, the views of Labor rank-and-file members and union supporters, but also with her party’s own policy statement that recognising Palestine is ‘an important priority for the Labor government’”.
Apan is disturbed by the suggestion that toeing the Labor party’s line is more important than standing up for the rights and lives of Palestinians as they are slaughtered in Gaza.
Senator Payman’s decisive action will long resonate with Australians who have, for nine months, urged their elected representatives to uphold humanitarian values and the rule of international law over political expediency.
The organisation urged all elected representatives to follow Senator Payman’s example “and align their actions with both their conscience and Australia’s legally binding obligations”.
Updated
Greens call for public school funding boost amid insufficient space
A new report from the Australian Education Union showing public schools don’t have space to keep up with enrolments points to the need for the federal government to reintroduce permanent infrastructure funding, the Greens say.
The survey, reported exclusively in Guardian Australia, found that 19% of principals didn’t have enough classrooms at their schools, while 40% said they’d run out of space in the next three to five years.
Greens spokesperson on primary and secondary education, senator Penny Allman-Payne, said Labor pledged before the election they would ensure public schools had the capital funding they needed.
If Labor introduces legislation to lock in the new school funding arrangements later this year, the Greens will use our numbers in the Senate to push them to keep that promise.
Labor will provide zero ongoing commonwealth funding to public schools, but will continue to pour public money into the fee-charging private system, with another billion dollars set to go out the door over the next four years.
Under Labor, private schools like the prime minister’s former high school, which recently pocketed $5 million from the commonwealth, will continue to expand their facilities while public school kids cram into freezing demountables.
Updated
Faruqi denounces Labor’s ‘shameful’ suspension of Payman
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has described the Labor government’s decision to sanction its Western Australian senator, Fatima Payman, as “shameful”. She then asks when will Labor sanction Israel and its “extreme” Netanyahu government.
While Faruqi asks her question, the opposition benches sigh and start heckling. The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, who usually says comments a bit more loudly than the others (to make sure the gallery can hear them), says: “What about the hostages?”
Payman sits quietly a few seats away from the Greens, next to new Victorian Labor senator, Lisa Darmanin. Payman barely looks up while this back-and-forth is going on.
The government’s Senate leader, Penny Wong, responds to Faruqi:
The truth is demonstrated in the history of this nation. Our party in government is the only party that has delivered real progress in Australia ... nothing you do in this chamber will resolve the conflict but it does bring it here, the division here. That is a reality.
Faruqi, in her follow-up questions, asks: “How many more Palestinians will be killed before you take concrete action?”
Wong starts responding: “I understand why you want [– pause –] to run a political line here this chamber.”
Faruqi’s colleague David Shoebridge yells: “To stop a genocide?”
Wong responds:
We have adopted the strong support for Palestinian state in Australia’s history. We have always ... unlike, you see, the difference between our party and the [opposition and the Greens] ... we don’t wake up every morning figuring out how to stand in the way of change and we don’t think asserting moral superiority and condemning others delivers anything other than self-satisfaction. That is our view.
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Jim Chalmers starts out a standard line:
Even by the extremely low standards of the shadow treasurer, to say on 1 July, the day...
And Paul Fletcher is on his feet immediately:
The treasurer is a serial offender. You are rightly community lifting the standards in this place and that is not consistent [with your rulings].
Which leads Tony Burke to the parliamentary version of “lol, what?”.
I appreciate your previous rulings about personal reflections, but to not be able to argue whether someone has brought high or low standards to a question or debate would be effectively to say you cannot have debate.
Of all the moments in question time to object, for the manager of opposition business has objected to, is just really odd. You cannot have normal debate if you cannot say whether or not someone has something reasonable over the standards of reasonable or not.
Milton Dick, who is probably thinking his recent case of shingles was less painful than this, says the point about higher standards stands, but Chalmers’ comments don’t breach it and could everyone just be a grown up and get through this session.
Chalmers says he is “happy to explain to the shadow treasurer his own question” and runs through the usual lines.
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Chris Bowen gets his daily dose of “lol Ted O’Brien exists”, which is his favourite type of dixer at the moment, and then Angus Taylor asks Anthony Albanese:
Why are Australian families paying the price for the economic incompetence of Labor?
Which gives Jim Chalmers an opportunity to trot out his favourite “lol, Angus Taylor exists” lines.
Kendrick is shaking in his boots obviously (we are stuck in a music loop today, roll with me).
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Independent MP Kate Chaney wants to know when the government will act on the gambling ad ban recommendations the cross parliamentary committe agreed to more than a year ago now.
Anthony Albanese gives pretty much the same answer he always gives when asked this question by the crossbench: working on it.
Albanese:
The minister for communications is working through all 31 recommendations that are in the report, making sure that relevant consultation occur with stakeholders, including harm reduction advocates and industry, and we will continue to work through each of the recommendations which are there.
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Wong pressed on Palestine as Payman enters chamber
Over in Senate question time, the shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, kicks off asking the Labor government whether it still stands by a motion it passed last year shortly after Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel.
While the government Senate leader, Penny Wong, delivers her response – that no, nothing has changed – Labor senator Fatima Payman has entered and the press gallery’s cameras go into overdrive.
Cash then asks whether the Albanese government will “guarantee” it won’t recognise a Palestinian state while Hamas and Hezbollah continue to pose a security threat to Israel.
Wong replies:
We have said, unlike those opposite, who say you have to wait till the end of a process, well we know that has meant no progress on peace. We have said, alongside the United Kingdom and others, that we are willing to look to recognition [of Palestinian statehood] as part of a peace process that leads to a just and enduring peace in a two-state solution. That is a principled solution the Australian Labor party has taken.
A Coalition senator - it sounds like and looks to have come from James McGrath – shouts:
What about Senator Payman?
It moves on to the next question.
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Coalition targets Labor on power bills
Ted O’Brien gets his moment to ask a question. Huzzah.
The prime minister promised Australians a $275 reduction in power bills every single year and yet starting today households in New South Wales will pay up to $1.000 more than promised for, Queensland up to $948, South Australia up to $958 and in Victoria up to $657 more for that. Will the prime minister come clean and concede his promise will never be met?
He has to ask it twice because the chamber be rowdy today. Maybe they have spent the weekend listening to Brat and are taking the track “I might say something stupid” to heart.
Anthony Albanese:
Implicit in that question from the member for Fairfax if we just have a nuclear reactor in every state and every electorate, sometime in the 2040s it will be fixed.
I hope the member for Fairfax has told his constituents in his electorate that the member of the Hume deliberately changed the law to conceal from them ahead of the last election a 20% increase, a 20% rise in the election bill. Hope he apologised to constituents voting against the energy bill belief that has provided support at a time where we have seen global energy prices increase. Hope he told them as well that he was against the cap on coal and gas prices and rebates for households and businesses.
I hope he told his constituents as well but his policy is to invest billions, who knows how much, because we have not seen anything of taxpayer dollars in the most expensive form of new energy.
I hope as well you try to find a single business leader from the energy sector who said his plan stacks up at all.
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The first dixer is on the 1 July cost of living relief.
I regret to inform you that Labor MPs are co-opting Charli XCX’s release of Brat and her calls for a “Brat summer” (which can be on a speed yacht, being bougie or trashy in a white singlet – it’s a broad vibe on social media, by listing the 1 July policies coming into effect as having a “Brat winter”).
And if you don’t understand this post, then think about the people who follow Labor MPs on social media coming across it (hint: it’s not usually people who understand the meaning of “Brat”).
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Question time begins
Right before the questions started, Dan Tehan did a 90-second statement on the deportation bill. He was shouting at the government to “bring the bill back on”, “where is it”, “you said it was urgent, gave 24 hours to pass it”.
This is the same bill the Coalition worked with the Greens to delay in the Senate, mind you.
Peter Dutton opens the questions with:
How many Australian families are currently on an electricity hardship plan? (This is in the News Corp dailies today/)
Anthony Albanese:
Every single household will get $300 of energy bill relief, from today. They won’t just get that, but every single Australian who is a taxpayer will get income tax-relief tax cuts that they opposed.
Dutton interjects with a point of order to say it is 127,000 Australians.
He is sat down and Albanese continues:
Every single Australian, every single person the leader of the opposition just named will receive energy price relief. Energy relief they voted against. Like they voted against the relief last year that we introduced in partnership with every state and territory government.
Those opposite have opposed every is bit of support we have provided in cost-of-living relief. They opposed cheaper medicines, they opposed energy price belief, they opposed wage increases. They opposed our income tax cuts for every taxpayer. Whatever the issue is, they say no to. And they had the hide to come in here and say they care about cost of living.
They don’t care about cost of living, if they did, they would vote for cost of living support, but they have opposed every single measure. We expected that is the case because while we are supporting Australians, they are cheering against them.
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Vapes crackdown will target organised crime, commissioner says
The newly-appointed illicit tobacco and e‑cigarette commissioner, Erin Dale, said the government was targeting organised crime groups especially with its new crackdown. She asked ordinary citizens to help out by “dobbing in” stores selling vapes illegally.
My message to organised crime is: we are targeting you. At the commonwealth and state levels, we never been more joined up before.
My message to the public is we cannot do this alone. We need your support, through education, through dobbing in where the cigarettes or illicit cigarettes and substances are being sold, we need your support. So I’m looking forward to working across [the states] and ramping up efforts even further to support the initiative.
Butler stressed to business owners that selling vapes outside a pharmacy setting was now illegal.
We expect businesses to comply with this. We are very deadly serious about making sure these laws work.
The minister wouldn’t say exactly what kind of enforcement activity that police and authorities would undertake, but said:
It will become very quickly apparent to businesses that continue to flout these laws or mistakenly think we’re not serious about enforcing them, that the penalties contained in the laws will be levied against them.
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Butler tells shops to stop selling vapes as new laws begin
Health minister Mark Butler has put convenience stores and corner shops on notice for selling vapes, saying bluntly “you need to stop” from today as new laws come into force – threatening millions of dollars in fines and years in jail.
The last tranche of the government’s anti-vaping legislation kicks in today, 1 July, making it illegal to sell vapes other than for therapeutic reasons. That is, “recreational” vapes with zany flavours are now outlawed.
Butler told a press conference in Canberra:
The enforcement activity that we are starting this week, in partnership with state and territory health authorities, will also be substantial. So for those out there who have been selling and supplying these vapes in vape stores or other retail settings, you need to stop.
If you don’t stop, I want to assure you that you will be liable to very significant penalties with fines up to $2 million and jail time up to seven years.
Since 1 January, the government says, federal authorities have seized nearly 3m vapes as part of enforcement activities, with home affairs minister Clare O’Neil saying it was having a material impact on people’s ability to access vapes. We’ve heard anecdotal reports that vapes are getting harder to find, and more expensive to buy.
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Ley says Labor failing to deliver on domestic violence workers
Sussan Ley has been keeping track of how many of the promised 500 frontline domestic violence workers promised by the Labor government at the election have been employed.
The deputy opposition leader says the government had promised 200 workers by 30 June 2023 (and none were hired) then that was revised to 352 workers by 30 June 2024.
The department of social services show 94 workers have been hired.
The government says it is down to the states, who have not been hiring the workers fast enough.
Ley says no state or territory has met its target and the federal government needs to make some changes.
Anthony Albanese needs to stand up and accept responsibility for failing to deliver the promised 500 domestic violence workers and fix this. Regardless of your political views, if you care about action on domestic violence, you should expect the prime minister to deliver on his commitments here.
As it stands, it is unlikely we will see all 500 promised workers on the ground by the next election and that would be a black mark on this prime minister’s record.
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Bandt says Payman ‘doing the right thing’
Meanwhile, Greens leader Adam Bandt has spoken in support of Labor senator Fatima Payman, which follows Max Chandler-Mather speaking in support of the suspended senator earlier this morning.
Bandt:
Labor needs to stop sanctioning those within its party who are speaking out and doing the right thing and instead start putting pressure on Netanyahu to stop this invasion.
Every time there is a hand-wringing claim from the prime minister or the foreign affairs minister for [Benjamin] Netanyahu not to cross another red line, he ignores it, and then goes and crosses that red line. Then he looks around the rest of the world to see what consequences there will be.
… The Greens will continue to push for Labor to act to stop backing the invasion and to start putting pressure on this extremist Netanyahu government.
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Newcastle coal port blockade ‘disrupting corporate power’, protester says
The Newcastle coal port has been under a blockade for the past week.
Blockade Australia has reported “multiple actions each day” to disrupt the coal trains.
One protester spoke to the group about why they are taking part:
98% of Australia’s trade is through the ports. I’m disrupting corporate and institutional power, the foundation of Australia’s system. Disruptive tactics have always been employed, and are always criticised as extremist and counter-intuitive. Despite this, the status quo celebrates many wins of the same disruptive tactics, attributing the successes to the framework of liberal democracy and the more passive reformist movement.
I’m totally disabled from participating in our so-called democracy but still expected to be compliant, with all the evidence that suggests we need to take action strategically and urgently.
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Procession of Labor MPs ready to spruik 1 July changes
The parliament not sitting until 11.30 helped, but there were more government MPs than usual trotting through the doors to the parliament where the media waits – all to talk about the 1 July changes and how that would impact their region.
Reporting for duty we had:
Regional Queensland – Senator Nita Green
Ipswich – Shayne Neumann
Brisbane – Graham Perrett
Hunter region – Dan Repacholi
Central Coast – Gordon Reid
Sydney – Matt Thistlethwaite
Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury – Susan Templeman
South coast – Fiona Phillips
ACT – Andrew Leigh
Regional Victoria – Lisa Chesters
Melbourne – Carina Garland
Tasmania – Brian Mitchell
South Australia – Matt Burnell
Western Australia – Senator Varun Ghosh
Northern Territory – Luke Gosling
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‘Up to her’ if Payman wants to return to Labor caucus, MP says
NSW Labor Matt Thistlethwaite (whose name is a regular challenge to my speech impediment) has also been asked about Fatima Payman.
The Labor right faction member said:
Senator Payman has the opportunity to come back into the Labor caucus. When we join the Labor party we all make a commitment to abide by the rules of the party and when parliament’s sitting we all come together every Tuesday morning to debate all of the policies and issues that are coming up in the parliament and everyone in the Labor caucus has the opportunity to put their point of view. But once we agree on our position, our policy and our way forward, we all commit to get behind and back that decision in the parliament. Senator Payman has been suspended because she didn’t do that. It’s up to her, she has the opportunity to recommit to the decisions of the caucus and the rules of the party and come back into the Labor caucus, and she’d be welcomed.
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Labor aiming to push through bill to end live sheep exports
Over in the Senate, Labor is pushing to have its primary industries bills passed through the chamber.
Katy Gallagher is moving a motion to shake up the Senate sitting times – she wants all business after 8pm to be government business and then votes at 10pm (which means the government has the numbers to pass the bills and just wants it done).
The main one here is the ending live sheep exports bill, which aims to phase out live sheep exports in Western Australia (producers in other states have moved on) by mid-2025.
The Senate has agreed to the change.
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Erin Dale appointed as illicit tobacco and e‑cigarette commissioner
Australia now has an “illicit tobacco and e‑cigarette commissioner” who will focus on the ciggy and vape hidden market.
This is to be no more mango-tango-unicorn rizz flavours in the vaping world – it is now all plain or mint, which of course, will lead to all sorts of interesting ways to bring in razzle-dazzle vape options.
Erin Dale, who is the ABF assistant commissioner leading the tobacco and e-cigarette taskforce, is the new commissioner tasked with keeping “unicorn poo” and “horny strawberry” out of Australian hands.
The Illicit Tobacco and E‑cigarette Commissioner will be an essential role in coordinating efforts to combat the threat of illicit tobacco and e-cigarettes. The Commissioner will build on and strengthen existing arrangements, to ensure a more integrated whole-of-government response.
The establishment of this position builds on Australia’s multi-layered approach to reduce smoking and vaping rates in Australia – through stronger legislation, enforcement, education and support.
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'Way beyond time': Wilkie seconds Sharkie’s private member’s bill on gambling ads
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie seconded Rebekha Sharkie’s private member’s bill and says it is beyond time for the Albanese government to act on gambling:
It’s now just been over a year since the standing committee on social policy and legal affairs, chaired by the late Ms Peta Murphy, released its report into online gambling and its impacts on those experiencing gambling harm. But the federal government still hasn’t responded to the report, or enacted any meaningful reforms to combat gambling advertising. This is entirely unacceptable.
It’s way beyond time for the government to stop kowtowing to the gambling industry, the media and the big sporting codes, and instead focus on protecting Australians from predatory industries like this by banning all online gambling advertising. Until that happens, people, including children will continue to be exposed to gambling ads that normalise the practice.
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PM likens Labor team decision making to team sports
Q: But they can’t speak their mind about it. And if they do, it’s put down to Greens tactics.
Albanese:
Well, that’s not true. The contradiction … was there in Senator Payman’s interview yesterday, which she chose to do in order to disrupt Labor and what we are doing today, the day before the most significant assistance that has been given to working people in a very long period of time.
That was a decision that Senator Payman made and Senator Payman made alone.
… If you are a member of a team, you know – I watched the Hawks win their fifth game in a row yesterday. The way that they won was that they’re not the best team on paper, but they act as a team. They pass the ball to each other. They don’t just kick at random. They don’t say, ‘We won’t worry about the rules, we’ll throw rather than handball’.
… They listen to the coach’s instructions.
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Labor is a ‘broad party’ with a ‘diversity of views’, Albanese says
Q: She’s a young Muslim woman following her heart, though. And I just want to ask, just to put this to you, what about the Muslim Australian community? It’s not like she’s crossed the floor on something like tax policy. This is an issue that goes far deeper than that for many voters. What would you say to them who are hearing this? Is it enough to say, “Look, sorry, that’s just not the way we do things in the Labor party”?
Albanese:
Well, I engage very directly with the Islamic community in my own electorate and indeed throughout Australia with faith leaders of all faiths. And I understand that this is a very difficult period that we are going through, which is why we need actually real solutions, not gestures and stunts from the Greens that were designed, be very clear, this stunt from the Greens was designed to put Fatima Payman in a difficult position. It was designed to do that.
It wasn’t designed to assist Palestinians in Gaza. It wasn’t designed to advance the peace process. And it was counterproductive.
Q: Does it not suggest, forgive me for interrupting, prime minister, but does it not suggest, though, that if you want more diversity in your party, which is a good thing … that is going to mean there is a diversity of views, and maybe that means loosening up this idea that there always needs to be 110% party unity?
Albanese:
No, you have a diversity of views expressed in the Labor party. And we are a broad party, we’re a party full of people who have strong ideas and strong values.
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PM says opposition is a ‘rabble’ because they do not have Labor’s rules on voting
Paul Karp covered this interview off earlier, but here is how Anthony Albanese dealt with the questions on senator Fatima Payman in an interview with Tom Oriti from ABC News Radio:
Q: Why can’t Labor be a broad church like those opposite in the Coalition often proudly claim they are? Wouldn’t the public accept that? Does there always need to be 100% solidarity?
Albanese:
They’re a rabble opposite, Thomas. And that’s where you have at the moment, the National Party tail wagging the Liberal Party dog because you have a leader in Peter Dutton who doesn’t say no to anyone, whether it be people in his Caucus saying that Covid was all a conspiracy, whether it be people who support Vladimir Putin and have defended him in his caucus, or whether it be this unfunded thought bubble on nuclear energy. What we have is a process where people participate, people respect each other and people don’t engage in indulgence, such as the decision last week. Labor supports a Palestinian state existing alongside an Israeli state. We don’t support a one-state solution. The resolution moved by the Greens does nothing to advance the peace process. Pretending that the Senate recognises states is, quite frankly, untenable. And the resolution that was moved by the Greens … didn’t acknowledge two states at all, unlike Senator Wong’s position, which was a principal position of two-state solution to advance the cause of a sustainable peace in the region, that’s what we need. And that’s a collective position that Labor has had.
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Parliament sitting starts with bill on gambling ads
The parliament session has started – and Mayo independent, Rebekha Sharkie, has introduced a private member’s bill to tackle interactive gambling advertising.
You can find the bill’s details here.
The government is yet to announce its strategy for dealing with gambling, but has said it wants to do it as a whole. The crossbench is running out of patience, though.
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‘Clear eyes and a big heart’: PM welcomes Sam Mostyn to governor general role
Anthony Albanese gave a speech upon Sam Mostyn being sworn in as governor-general:
In Sam Mostyn, our nation has the right leader.
Sam, you are a person of intelligence and compassion. Of loyalty and integrity.
You have clear eyes and a big heart – and both have shaped your vision of who and what we can be as a nation.
Throughout your life, and across your great breadth of experience in the worlds of law and business and sport, in corporate Australia and the not-for-profit sector, you have always been ready to put yourself forward for others.
They are the qualities that she will bring to representing our nation as governor general.
You have walked the talk, a human catalyst with an unrelenting capacity for making things happen.
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On Fatima Payman’s assertion that she is representing what the rank and file members of the Labor party want to see from their representatives, Katy Gallagher says:
I respectfully disagree with Senator Payman on that matter. You know, all of the issues in the Middle East are felt deeply across our caucus. They have been a subject of much discussion and, indeed, policy decisions that have been taken by the Australian government, including at the United Nations.
You know, we have consistently, for months, called for a ceasefire. We have supported the people of Gaza with financial assistance and aid. We have urged Israel not to act when it has threatened to do so. Our position has been very strong under the leadership of the PM and the foreign minister.
And so, I don’t agree with Senator Payman. I think those issues, the issues and concerns of our membership have been reflected in our decision-making.
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‘We want her to remain within the Labor party’, Katy Gallagher says of Fatima Payman
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, held a doorstop (quick press conference) with the intention of talking about the tax cuts and other cost of living relief measures coming into effect with the financial year.
But the decision to suspend senator Fatima Payman dominated the questions.
Gallagher:
I think we’ve tried to respond, and we all accept – all of us deeply feel the issues in the Middle East, you know, the horrific events we’re seeing in Gaza – we all do … which is why our position as a government has been so strong under the leadership of the prime minister and the foreign minister. And so, we have tried to support Senator Payman. We’ve been mature and respectful. But ultimately, these are decisions that she has taken and the caucus has had to respond.
… We want her to remain within the Labor party. She was elected as a member of the Labor party. And she, you know, for the people of Western Australia, she is their Labor senator.
But it is ultimately a matter for her. She has made decisions over the past week. There have been consequences to those decisions. But now, any further decision she takes is a matter for herself, and she has to be responsible.
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Paul Karp covered off the possibility the government would go this route in increasing student visas in April – but the government stayed very quiet about its plans.
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International student visa fees more than double overnight
Well, this was sent out without a lot of fanfare.
From today, the fee for international student visas will increase from $710 to $1,600.
The government says it is part of its plan to “restore” integrity in the sector, as well as “reflect the increasing value of education in Australia”. But it is also about cutting the number of international students, which is part of the government’s overall migration cut.
The government release describes this as “the ongoing implementation of the migration strategy”.
Along with that is these measures:
Increasing the Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold from $70,000 to $73,150 based on annual indexation, the second increase under this government after it was frozen for a decade at $53,900.
Shortening the duration of Temporary Graduate Visas and reducing the age eligibility.
Ending “visa hopping” by closing the loopholes that allow students and other temporary visa holders to continuously extend their stay in Australia, in some cases indefinitely.
Enhancing mobility for temporary skilled migrants to reduce exploitation and drive productivity, by extending the amount of time temporary skilled migrants can remain in Australia between employer sponsors from 60 days to 180 days.
Implementing the Strengthening Employer Compliance Bill 2023 to provide new criminal measures against employers engaging in the exploitation of migrants.
Introducing the a Workplace Justice Visa Pilot to enable temporary visa holders to remain in Australia for a short period when pursuing workplace justice.
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The 21-gun salute has been fired and it is all official-official – Sam Mostyn is the 28th governor general of Australia.
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Mostyn continues:
Care is at the heart of our distress, of the shocking number of deaths of women through family violence and at the heart of our growing acceptance and celebration of cultural, sexual and gender diversity in all its forms.
Our focus on mental health, particularly for young Australians is an act of care, as is the focus of on our aged and disability sectors where respect and dignity will define that care.
I hope we can continue to extend that sense of care to our beautiful continent, landscapes and the natural environment.
But also to our institutions, our public debates and our sense of civic responsibility. To the way in which we challenge ourselves and one another and engage in the contest of ideas that will guide the tough decisions that are needed for our country to thrive.
Care has a deep and resonant place in our Australian identity.
Care is that gentle thought and the outstretched hand that Australians have always been read to share when great challenges present themselves. Care is the quieter better part of ourselves and it is that sense of care that [husband] Simeon [Beckett] and I will seek to depict and amplify as we take on this role.
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‘Testing times’ call for kindness, care and respect, new governor general says
Sam Mostyn then turns to what she hopes to see from a future Australia, bringing in some of the themes from her previous advocacy work:
If I can capture in a few words my aspirations for our country, I believe these testing times call for an unstinting focus on kindness, on care and on respect.
Across my career and particularly in the past decade, I have seen how care can be an uplifting force. I have seep it in the reform of work places, where inclusion and respect now prevail.
I have seen it in our renewed focus on the roles of teachers, nurses, care workers, volunteers and all frontline workers, not just during the crises of bushfires, floods and Covid-19, although very much amplified by those times. I have seen it in the advancement of women in all parts of society, in leadership roles, sport, in economics, our regulators, even slowly but importantly in the trades and on building sites.
While too much paid and unpaid care still falls to women, we are now focused on addressing that challenge while also encouraging men to confidently take on care roles and responsibilities with pride. That’s not just good for women and men but for our economy and our entire Australian society.
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Sam Mostyn:
Everyone I spoke with, from former prime ministers to people in the street, proudly described our country as confident and successful.
Yet in 2024, it’s true contemporary challenges are placing strains on that confidence.
Many Australians expressed concerns about the global political environment and the range of conflicts around the world at this time.
They ask whether young Australians will enjoy the benefits of this country in the way that older generations have.
There is concern for rising lack of respect for women, of shrinking opportunities for some men and the need for respectful conversations to understand the place of men in our communities now. Of growing inequality in a country that has always held equality dear, of sometimes filling this personally through a cost of living challenge, we are making ends meet as become harder for many.
Of the lingering impacts of Covid-19 pandemic, the pernicious impact of social media we hear about every day and the challenges to our mental health as a nation.
Finally and constructively, many people expressed their concern that we might lose our capacity to conduct robust and passionate arguments and debate with civility and respect, without resorting to rancour or violence.
Yet despite all these challenges, I will always feel tremendous optimism for Australia.
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Sam Mostyn addresses Senate chamber after swearing in
The new governor general, Sam Mostyn, is addressing the Senate chamber (where she has been sworn in to her new office) and says she has met with each of her five predecessors to ask them how they saw the role and how it should be conducted.
But she says she will be taking most of her cues from the Australian people:
In recent months I have spent time with people in our cities, in our regions and in the country from businesses, civil society, philanthropy, frontline services and community organisations as well as our scientific sports, arts and cultural sectors. Every day I met impressive Australians who do not hold high office or any office at all. I listened to them in airports, shopping centres, on the boundaries of sporting grounds, in theatre foyers and galleries and just often on the street.
Women and men and often children stop me regularly to talk about this country they love. Across a wide range of backgrounds, life experiences and opinions, all of them wished for a brighter future for Australia.
A desire for unity and optimism, a renewed sense of national possibility in building the future together. It struck me that the former governors general whom I met expressed the same desires for this country in almost the same words as did every day Australians.
They also reminded me that the role of governor general is not simply to be an observer of an Australian life, but to be a participant. To reflect the Australian character and its fundamentally democratic spirit.
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‘You sign up to making decisions together’ when in Labor caucus, says Gallagher
Speaking to the Nine network a little earlier this morning, Katy Gallagher said there was “frustration” when a member of the Labor caucus “chooses to step out” as the caucus has to “rely on each other”.
But, she said, she hoped Fatima Payman remained part of the Labor caucus (which would mean not crossing the floor or speaking out against the party decisions):
The decisions she’s made in the last week have been of her own making. She’s made those decisions. It’s a privilege to serve in the Labor caucus. And when you serve in the Labor caucus – not many people get the opportunity to do so – you sign up to making decisions together and standing together. And when somebody doesn’t stand with you, there has to be consequences. But I hope not. Really, the Prime Minister has said, until she can commit to you know that solidarity that we expect in the Labor caucus, she’ll have to sit outside. But the decision now is over to her.
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Sam Mostyn sworn in as governor general
Sam Mostyn has been sworn in as the governor general.
I, Samantha Joy Mostyn, do solemnly and sincerely affirm and declare that I will well and truly serve his majesty king Charles III, his heirs and successors according to law in the office of the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia and I will do right to all manner of people after the laws and usages of the Commonwealth of Australia, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.
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Joyce says life without alcohol ‘incredibly boring’ as he has to ‘actually talk to people at functions’
Barnaby Joyce also spoke about his decision not to drink alcohol, which came about after he was filmed lying on his back on a Canberra street near a planter box, speaking incoherently into his phone.
Joyce says life is “incredibly boring” as he now has to hear what people speak about at functions:
When I went stomach to the stars, I thought, ‘That’s a disgrace, can’t do that again’. I literally woke up the next morning and said, ‘That will do.’
So I’ve given up the smokes, given up alcohol, life’s incredibly boring, having to actually talk to people at functions. You know the sort of rubbish they prattle on about, it’s incredible.
Will he continue being sober?
Joyce:
Ah, no, look, I’m not saying that. I think you put too much pressure on yourself.
But look, I haven’t had a drink, and I’ve just, you know, lost weight, and yeah, you’re sharper, and but that’s my choice, nobody else’s choice. I’m not a wowser.
If you want to have a drink, you know, that’s absolutely and utterly your choice. I’ve made a choice, whether it’s for life, or for as long as it goes, I don’t know. But it didn’t worry me, I just woke up and stopped.
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Joyce labels Labor pledge to vote with party a ‘relic’
Tanya Plibersek’s “debate” partner on the Seven breakfast show, Barnaby Joyce, also weighed in on that same issue.
Joyce made his name in the Nationals by crossing the floor – most famously while a senator on the issue of the Telstra sale (although not in the final vote, which led to the nickname “Backdown Barnaby” for a while). Joyce has crossed the floor 28 times as of 2019, the most of any MP for the period from 1950 to 2019.
Here is what he had to say on Payman:
What you have for the Labor party is a dilemma between party discipline and votes, and they don’t know how to deal with it. They want to keep the votes out in the western suburbs, but they want to also stick to this pledge. Just saying, people, no, that’s not a pledge. It started 130 years ago, a pledge to do whatever the party tells them.
Now I think the pledge is a relic and it should have been left behind about 50 years ago, and if you put the pledge aside, you wouldn’t have an issue with this. You’d say, “I don’t know, this individual’s decided to go in a different direction”. Who cares? But because they’ve broken the pledge, it becomes a major issue for them, nobody else, just for them.
And what I can say to Fatima Payman is, yeah, well, look, when you decide to put – outside [matters even more] like we saw with the desecration of the War Memorial where people believe this is a licence to do whatever you like, you don’t gain support, you lose support. That desecration of the War Memorial on Anzac Parade, outrageous.
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‘Greens motion in the Senate doesn’t fix’ situation in Israel and Gaza: Plibersek
Senior Labor left faction member Tanya Plibersek had her weekly engagement with the Seven network this morning, where she was of course asked about the future of Fatima Payman in the Labor party.
The left faction are meeting this morning (all factions meet on Mondays) where it will be a dominant discussion topic.
Plibersek:
I think it’s appropriate Senator Payman’s sort of set herself aside from the Labor party and made it very clear that she’s not going to vote as part of the group. So I think what’s happened is appropriate.
But I think we need to go back a step. I really understand why so many Australians are distressed about the attacks on Israel and in the following weeks the civilian death toll in Gaza. It is a very distressing time for a lot of Australians.
I think it’s important to understand, though, that a Greens motion in the Senate doesn’t fix that. As a government, we’ve been saying that we need to see the return of hostages, get humanitarian access into Gaza, have a ceasefire; all of that is really important, and I think that that’s what our focus as a nation has to be.
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NAB survey shows 8 in 10 people trying to save more money
You’re going to hear a lot more about inflation in the coming days, as the government talks about the tax cut changes. That is always the question when anything to do with additional money for workers is raised": “What will this mean for inflation?!”
(We don’t seem to have the same questions over those with large savings accounts.)
NAB has surveyed on what people plan to do with their additional dollars each week and the results? People want to try to save some money:
More than a third (36%) plan to save extra money from their stage 3 tax cuts, including more Gen Zs (53%), those earning between $100,000 and $150,000 (49%) and women (39%).
People also plan to spend their tax cuts on offsetting the higher cost of living (29%), paying down debt (22%) and investing (12%), while just 8% say they’ll splurge it on non-essentials.
Almost 8 in 10 (77%) say they’re trying to save more money and, on average, they’re looking to create about $17,000 worth of savings.
One in 3 are saving for a holiday or a rainy-day fund, 1 in 4 for a home and 1 in 5 for retirement.
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Non-owner pharmacists’ group calls for better working conditions
The Professional Pharmacists Australia (not the guild – the group which represents non-owner pharmacists) have welcomed the eighth community pharmacy agreement between the government and pharmacists but with some reservations.
The Community Agreement is what lays out what the government will pay pharmacies for dispensing medication, what allowance pharmacists outside the cities will receive and what services can be offered (vaccinations etc).
PPA welcomes all of that, but wants to see more to improve working conditions for employee pharmacists.
Union members call on employers to ringfence funding for staffing to address the significant workplace pressures and burnout experienced by employee pharmacists.
Additionally, funding must be set aside to provide access to high-quality learning and development in paid time and to pay staff appropriately if employers genuinely want the public to access good quality services and safe use of medicines.
With extra compensation flowing for the implementation of 60-day dispensing, increased funding for existing professional services, and the expectation of new funding models for the introduction and implementation of full-scope of practice activities on the horizon, there should be no more excuses from employers for creating Australia’s lowest paid health care workforce.
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What’s to come today
There has been a bit going on this morning – and it won’t slow down anytime soon. The government wants all eyes on cost-of-living relief – so the tax cuts, energy bill assistance and minimum wage increases, which come into effect from today. There is also the vaping changes (which will change again in October) which means vapes can no longer be sold without a prescription (until October).
The new governor general, Sam Mostyn, will also be officially sworn in today.
The house won’t sit until 11.30am given the trip to Government House today.
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PM says Mostyn will be ‘an outstanding leader’
Albanese also commented on Samantha Mostyn being sworn in as governor general today.
He said:
I think she’ll bring dignity, compassion, hard work and integrity to the role. Samantha Mostyn, I think, will be obviously, she’s Australia’s second female governor general. But she will bring her experience. She grew up in a defence family here in Canberra. She’s also worked in business, in sport, in the not-for-profit sector. She’s someone who’s eminently qualified and I think she’ll be an outstanding leader for our nation.
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Albanese questioned over stage-three tax cuts and inflation
Anthony Albanese was also asked about Labor’s revamped stage-three tax cuts, which take effect from today, and whether they will add to inflation.
He said:
I’m confident that this is real and substantial assistance whilst being responsible. We have been able to achieve a revamped tax cut. Labor’s tax cuts will deliver $107 billion. People on the average wage will receive about $2,000.
But in addition to that, of course, we’ll see a wage increase for 2.6 million workers on the minimum wage or award wages, of 3.75%. In addition to that, there’s a bump in people’s superannuation. In addition to that, there is $300 energy bill relief.
No, [it won’t harm inflation] … The truth is that numbers do bounce around but the trend is in the right direction. We have almost halved inflation and that’s because of the discipline that we have shown in budget policy where we have brought inflation down and where we have continued to make a difference. And one of the ways that we have done that is by making sure that we’ve produced two budget surpluses in a row, something that the Coalition never did and that is assisting to put that downward pressure [on inflation].
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Greens’ ‘stunt’ designed to put Payman in difficult position, PM says
Albanese said he understands it is a “very difficult period” for the Islamic community, but added :“which is why we need actually real solutions not gestures and stunts from the Greens”.
This stunt from the Greens was designed to put Fatima Payman in a difficult position. It was designed to do that. It wasn’t designed to assist Palestinians in Gaza. It wasn’t designed to advance the peace process. And it was counterproductive.
Albanese said that Payman had done an interview with ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, which “she chose to do in order to disrupt Labor and what we are doing today, the day before the most significant assistance that has been given to working people in a very long period of time”.
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Greens’ resolution on Palestine did ‘nothing to advance the peace process’: PM
Albanese took aim at Peter Dutton for failing to discipline his members for supporting Vladimir Putin or Covid conspiracies.
He said:
What we have is a process where people participate, people respect each other and people don’t engage in indulgence such as the decision last week.
Labor supports a Palestinian state existing alongside an Israeli state. We don’t support a one-state solution. The resolution moved by the Greens [does] nothing to advance the peace process. Pretending that the Senate recognises states is quite frankly untenable.
And the resolution that was moved by the Greens … didn’t acknowledge two states at all, unlike Senator Wong’s position, which was a principal position of a two-state solution to advance a cause of a sustainable peace in the region. That’s what we need and that’s a collective position that Labor has had.
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‘No individual is bigger than the team’, says PM on Fatima Payman
Anthony Albanese has spoken to ABC Radio about the suspension of Labor senator Fatima Payman.
Albanese said:
Well, let’s be very clear. It’s not because of her support for a policy position that she’s advocating. It’s because of the question that you’ve just asked me.
Today is July 1. It’s a day where we want to talk about tax cuts. We want to talk about our economic support for providing that cost of living relief without putting pressure on inflation.
And instead you have seamlessly segued into the actions of an individual, which is designed to undermine what is the collective position that the Labor party has determined. No individual is bigger than the team. And Fatima Payman is welcome to return to participating in the team if she accepts she’s a member of it.
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Negative gearing and capital gains tax discount a ‘generational war’ waged by Labor and Liberals: Max Chandler-Mather
Max Chandler-Mather also addressed the cost of negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts as the latest housing policy battle between Labor and the Greens heats up:
What these numbers are is a generational and class war being raged by the Labor and Liberal party on young people and renters that see the rich get richer, and everyone else’s life get tougher.
What these numbers mean is property investors go to auctions, bid up the price of housing and beat out renters and first home buyers desperately trying to buy their first home.
This is $165 billion of fuel that Labor are pouring on the raging fire that is Australia’s housing crisis. And it’s only going to get worse unless Labor step up and phase out negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount.
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Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather has held a doorstop interview this morning where he criticised Labor for suspending Fatima Payman after she said she would cross the floor again.
It is utterly extraordinary and disgraceful that the Labor Party has suspended a young Muslim woman and first term senator, just for speaking up for Palestine.
Muslim leaders and organisations express support for Payman
Muslim leaders, across peak bodies, mosque and community organisations have released an open letter in support of Fatima Payman and criticised the decision by the Labor leadership to suspend her from caucus indefinately.
The letter said “political calculations and attempts to walk both sides have devastating consequences in Palestine and will ultimately end in failure” and called on the Australian government to “recognise Palestinian statehood and implement military sanctions on Israel immediately”.
Australians and millions across the world demand decisive action in the form of sanctions and an immediate stop to weapons trade and training. Australia is currently undertaking war games with the United States and Israel. Australia also just removed checks on defence exports to the USA and the UK, which both are key weapons suppliers to Israel.
The dreams and hopes of Palestinians are not any lesser than ours and those of our children. A vote in the Senate to recognise Palestine as a state would have sent a strong message internationally and domestically.
The Australian Labor Party must echo the voices of the people it represents. This fundamental principle of representation has been abandoned in an effort to protect their positions. Party politics has clearly been allowed to dominate the voices of the people.
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Ceasefire and aid are more pressing needs than recognising Palestinian state: Aly
Fatima Payman has said she made her decision to cross the floor as the Palestinian people “don’t have 10 years to wait” – that was in response to the equivalence some people have drawn with Labor MPs who supported marriage equality, or were personally affected by the issue themselves.
Anne Aly says:
I think the immediate need right now for people in Palestine is a ceasefire and humanitarian aid. That is the immediate need right now. Australia recognising Palestinian statehood would send a strong message but it will not lead to statehood, and it will not lead to a ceasefire or increased humanitarian aid which is needed right now.
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'I hope she stays': Anne Aly on Fatima Payman
Anne Aly says she hopes Fatima Payman remains a Labor senator:
I hope she stays, I really do.
I fought long and hard to ensure that we have a diverse representation in our parliament. And when I say diversity, I mean different kinds of diversity, whether it’s diversity of background, ethnicity, age, gender, a whole range of different diversities. I think our party is better for that diversity and I think our government and this parliament is better for their diversity.
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Aly believes amended motion on recognition of Palestine was stronger than Greens motion
The Greens motion that Fatima Payman voted for, called for recognition of Palestinian statehood. Labor amended the motion to say that recognition of Palestinian statehood was part of a peace process that ended in a two-state solution.
Anne Aly says she believes the Labor motion upheld what was in the Labor party platform and was stronger than the Greens motion:
I think actually our motion strengthened it because the I think just saying the night to recognise a Palestinian state without any context is in some ways tokenistic. I don’t want this to be tokenistic. I want this to be a very clear message to the Palestinian people that Australia supports their aspirations for statehood.
And as I say, I was hoping that that would have a resolution, would have got passed. And unfortunately, it didn’t.
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Aly: ‘There are different ways to make change’
Anne Aly says that when the motion Penny Wong put to the senate was discussed in caucus (Labor’s party room) Fatima Payman did not raise any concerns. On the issue of Muslim leaders who have criticised Labor, Aly says:
There’s never one opinion here and you know, different people in the Muslim communities will have different views.
And I’ve been in contact with quite a few who have a very different view, who argue one of those things, or they’re they’re saying that, you know, the way to make change may not necessarily be the way that Fatima has chosen.
There are different ways that to make change. There are different ways to achieve things and each one chooses, each one of us chooses our own pathway and choose our own actions and is responsible for our own actions in the way that we do that.
I choose to do things in a way that I think will make a material difference on the ground to the people of Palestine. Fatima chooses to do things in her way. And I think that there is an acknowledgment and a support from different sections of the community for both.
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Anne Aly says she has tried to “reach out” to Fatima Payman, but has not heard back.
You know, each of us walks our own journey.
… And, you know, they were there a few times over the weekend, I must say, where I was rather emotional because I thought, you know, when I first came in here, I thought … ‘I’ll take the bullets and I’ll take the death threats and I’ll take all of that, but it’ll be easier for the next person’ – perhaps idealistically, I thought that.
And so you know, it is a bit emotional for me because I had hoped that things might be different [for] whoever comes after me.
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Anne Aly ‘disappointed’ in media’s focus on senator rather than on issue of Palestinian recognition
WA Labor member and youth minister, Anne Aly, is speaking to ABC radio now about senator Fatima Payman’s suspension and the events which led up to it:
I’ve been rather disappointed that the media coverage on this has been about the actions of an individual rather than the substantive issue of recognition of Palestine and has taken attention away from the fact that on Tuesday when all of this happened, there were two motions in the parliament to recognise Palestine.
There was a Labor motion that iterated exactly what is in our platform. The recognition of Palestine as part of a two-state solution and lasting peace process. On that day, I had hoped, as had many, that we would have seen the Senate pass a motion for the recognition of Palestine. Unfortunately, the Greens along with Fatima decided not to vote for that.
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Jim Chalmers continues:
I don’t think about it in electoral terms, but I do think about and I do care about the views of the Muslim community.
I represent a big Muslim community in my part of the world and I do that proudly. And I engage with them enthusiastically and frequently. And I understand the pressures that they feel about the way we all feel about these horrific events in the Middle East … and so I listen respectfully to them, and I engage enthusiastically with them.
And I see all of our jobs as to try and work out how we can bring the communities together around some incredibly difficult issues.
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‘We believe in getting outcomes collectively’, Chalmers says on Fatima Payman’s suspension from caucus
Asked about senator Fatima Payman’s indefinite suspension, Jim Chalmers says:
I think that the decision taken by the leadership group yesterday was the right one. And that’s because I believe as a Labor person, that we get more done and make more progress collectively than we do individually.
… My focus is not typically on internal issues like these, as important as they are, and … you know, I’m focused on cost of living and inflation and the economy and all the things you’ve asked me about in the first part of this interview, so I haven’t had a big focus on it, but I think the decision that was taken was the right one.
And that’s because we believe in getting outcomes collectively, not individually. And I think that should be the focus. I say that in a respectful way.
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Chalmers ‘confident’ Labor is doing the right thing on inflation
Asked about the “stickiness” of Australia’s inflation (which just means it is hanging around), Jim Chalmers says:
The difference is our inflation came in lower and later than most countries that we compare ourselves with, but the shape of the trajectory has been really similar.
And the Reserve Bank governor and the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank have made that point as well.
We saw in the US inflation went up a couple of times this year before it went back down again, Canada, as you rightly point out, Europe, as you rightly point out, inflation is rising again. And so as I said before, you know we can’t be complacent about the future trajectory of inflation, but we’re confident that what we’re doing [is right].
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Chalmers doing media rounds on tax cuts and inflation
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is also on the media rounds carousel this morning – he is talking down the prospect that the tax cuts will make getting control of inflation harder.
He told ABC radio:
I think the tax cuts are coming in at precisely the right time, and it’s important to remember as well that not every dollar of a year’s worth of tax cuts hit on the first day. They begin today, people will start to see it in their pay packets this month.
… Not every dollar of it hits the economy at once. I think that point is sometimes lost when people think about the inflationary or non-inflation impact of cost-of-living policies.
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Gallagher: Interest rate rises have had ‘huge impact’ on household budgets
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, was asked what another interest rate increase would mean for households while speaking to ABC TV this morning:
I don’t think it’s useful for me to speculate about a hypothetical situation or a decision taken by the independent Reserve Bank, but we know for the interest rate [increases] we’ve had to date, they’ve had a huge impact on household budgets and they’re having a significant impact on the economy.
You can see it through a range of datasets, whether it be in retail trade or consumption, you’re seeing the impacts of those interest rate increases come through that data – but we know more importantly, when people are putting their household budgets together, they’re under pressure, particularly if you have a mortgage.
That’s why we have targeted our cost-of-living relief directly into households to help them with those challenges.
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Good morning
Hello and welcome to the last sitting week until the winter break ends on 12 August.
It is going to be a pretty busy one – and that is not even counting the things happening inside the chamber.
The WA Labor senator Fatima Payman is suspended from sitting with caucus indefinitely after she gave an interview where she said she would cross the floor again to recognise Palestinian statehood.
Payman will continue to be a member of the Labor party and a member of caucus, but she won’t participate in party room meetings, or have input on party decisions, until the suspension is lifted.
Expect that to continue today.
Labor though, will be hoping the focus will be on the tax cuts starting to flow through from today, along with the minimum wage increase.
Labor’s leadership is out and about doing the big sell, reminding people earning over $19,000 they’ll be receiving more in their take-home pay from today – but of course, every interview comes with the question: “will this increase inflation?”
Katy Gallagher says no:
The tax cuts have been factored into the Treasury and RBA forecasts for some time.
The next RBA meeting isn’t until August, and the government is still hoping that inflation will be under control by the end of the year – which would hopefully mean interest rate cuts.
Labor is hoping that rate cut comes sooner rather than later, with the election timing hinging on when people are feeling better about the economy – and a rate cut is seen as crucial to that.
The latest Newspoll has Labor leading 51 to 49 (up from 50/50 last month), although both parties are seeing drops in their primary support – the Coalition fell three points to 36, and Labor dropped one point to 32. That support has gone to Greens and independents according to the poll: The Greens saw support increase two points to 13% while support for “other” and independents also increased by two points, to 12%.
Also coming into effect from today – NSW’s coercive control laws. From today, a pattern of abuse used to hurt, scare, intimidate, threaten or control someone could result in a jail sentence of up to seven years.
We’ll cover it all off, along with everything else that comes up – you’ll have Paul Karp, Daniel Hurst, Karen Middleton, Sarah Basford Canales and Josh Butler keeping you up to date, with Amy Remeikis on the blog.
It’s a three coffee morning. Ready? Let’s get into it.
