What happened, Thursday 10 August
With that, we’ll wrap up our live coverage of the day’s news.
Here’s a summary of the key developments:
Patients with chronic conditions are set to receive two months of medicine for the price of one from 1 September, after the Senate voted down a Coalition push to tear up Labor’s 60-day dispensing changes.
Pollution at Australia’s largest Antarctic research station, Casey, has exceeded international guidelines for close to 20 years, new research shows.
Big business has sided with the Albanese government by rejecting the “misconception” that migration is higher than normal and the “disingenuous” claim by the Coalition that Labor is pursuing a big Australia policy.
Elon Musk has accused the ABC of embracing censorship after Australia’s public broadcaster drastically reduced its presence on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Ten years after losing the prime ministership, Kevin Rudd’s official portrait has been unveiled in parliament house.
Police have interviewed a 26-year-old man in hospital after a severed finger was found on the windscreen of a car in south-west Sydney.
The remains of a woman whose body was hidden in the wall of a Brisbane apartment block for about 13 years have been identified by police, who are investigating why anyone would target “a vulnerable single female in this way”.
Airlines are preparing to cater for an increase in Chinese tourists to Australia after China’s government announced group tours to the country could resume, as the relationship between Beijing and Canberra continues to thaw.
Thanks for reading, and have a pleasant evening. We’ll be back again tomorrow.
Updated
Ten years after losing the prime ministership, Kevin Rudd was back in Parliament House holding court - but seemed almost lost for words.
“It’s a funny thing being asked to speak at an event like this,” Rudd told current and former political figures, among them many of them his former cabinet colleagues, reporters and other dignitaries.
“Speaking at the unveiling of your prime ministerial portrait is the closest you come in life to being the after-dinner speaker at your own wake.”
As it turned out, Rudd had plenty he wanted to say before the covers were pulled off the portrait that will remain on permanent display in Parliament House.
With visiting schoolchildren watching from the first-floor balcony, Rudd declared he was proud to have served as Australia’s 26th prime minister.
Read more:
Wanted: NSW feral pig tsar
New South Wales is on the hunt for a feral pig tsar to, among other tasks, “spearhead” an aerial shooting program of the pests.
The state’s agriculture minister, Tara Moriarty, said the search is on for someone to oversee the delivery of control activities and landholder support as part of the government’s $13m feral pig control program.
Moriarty said:
We’re committed to tackling rising feral pig numbers and know that the best way to do so is through the delivery of a wide-scale and coordinated control program.
This new $13m program will include landscape aerial shooting and ground control activities across NSW, while also delivering practical training to landholders to give them the skills to control feral pigs on their properties.”
If this sounds like you, you can apply for the position here, before 23 August.
Over the past 12 months, Local Land Services has culled more than 97,000 feral pigs after delivering its largest coordinated pest animal control campaign, across multiple land tenures, in its history.
Updated
Discovery of severed finger in Sydney prompts police investigation
A severed finger found on the windscreen of a car in south-west Sydney has prompted a police probe, with a 26-year-old man in hospital helping with inquiries, AAP reports.
The out-of-place extremity was spotted by a resident returning to his parked car in Riverwood about 7.30am on Wednesday.
He reported the discovery to police, who found blood on the front door of a nearby unit. Officers forced entry to the Kentucky Road property about 11am.
“A man was located inside, missing part of his finger,” police said in a statement on Thursday.
The 26-year-old man was treated by paramedics and taken to hospital.
Police said they had been called to a unit early on Wednesday in the neighbouring suburb of Narwee after reports a person had part of their finger amputated.
Officers had arrived at the Ventura Avenue unit shortly after 3.30am and spoke to the occupant, before an unknown man fled via a balcony.
Police have set up crime scenes and forensically examined both units and the car where the finger was found, with investigations continuing.
AAP
Updated
Opposition presses government on Qatar Airways decision, Qantas relationship
The opposition is calling on the Albanese government to make public its reasons for refusing Qatar Airways’ request to boost flights to Australia, as airfares remain stubbornly high and other carriers including Qantas find themselves constrained from launching new services.
Bridget McKenzie, the opposition transport spokeswoman, told the ABC she was “very concerned” the decision to block Qatar from running an extra 21 weekly flights was not in the national interest despite transport minister Catherine King claiming so. McKenzie noted in addition to helping lower airfares, the extra flight could facilitate more freight.
McKenzie also spoke of the relationship between Anthony Albanese and Qantas – which lobbied the government to refuse Qatar Airways’ request while the tourism sector and state premiers supported it.
“There’s been a lot of commentary around the very close relationship between our prime minister and indeed the CEO of Qantas Alan Joyce,” McKenzie said.
McKenzie noted Joyce had “been through the halls of power this week on his swansong tour” of parliament, but that she didn’t “think a Coalition MP was invited”.
She said:
We are very concerned that whilst the Labor party says it in the national interest, they are unable to answer questions in either the Senate or the house on what were the specific criteria investigated by the government in coming to this decision to essentially stop doubling Qatar Airways access to Australia.
McKenzie said the opposition had lodged an order of production of documents from the government “to be public about their reasons, why they made this decision because thus far … they’ve been very cagey”.
This week Guardian Australia revealed how Qatar Airways has been flying empty planes between Melbourne and Adelaide each day to exploit a loophole allowing it to run extra flights to the country – a tactic which can continue despite the government’s recent decision.
Updated
The president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners [RACGP], Dr Nicole Higgins, said 60-day medicine dispensing reforms, which will double the amount of medicines that pharmacists can dispense for stable conditions on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from 30 to 60 days, will save patients at least $180 a year or more if they’re taking multiple medicines.
“This is progressive policy, and it puts patients first,” she said.
“Sixty-day dispensing will make a big difference for some of the most vulnerable people in our communities, who are struggling with rising costs.
“As a GP from Mackay, I know patients in rural Australia deserve this change. 30-day dispensing has been an unnecessary financial pain, and a real burden for people who have a long drive to their nearest pharmacy or who find it difficult to leave their homes. It’s not necessary for people who’ve been on the same medications for stable conditions for years and years.
“I commend the senators who put patients first today and passed these reforms.”
Read more:
Updated
Consumers Health Forum CEO says disallowance motion defeat ‘a victory for common sense’
The chief executive of the Consumers Health Forum (CHF), Dr Elizabeth Deveny, said the defeat of the 60-day dispensing disallowance motion is “a victory for common sense”.
“With the current cost of living pressures, this is an important win for consumers with chronic health conditions as it will effectively halve the cost of many medications,” Deveny said.
“We applaud the minister for health and aged care Mark Butler for introducing this measure that will not only be good for consumers’ hip pockets but also for their health. Most consumers could see through the Pharmacy Guild’s scare campaign but we condemn their tactics which were aimed at some of the most vulnerable members of the community. This is not what good patient care looks like.”
The CHF launched a “60dayscripts” website in June to help dispel some of the myths around 60-day dispensing, and will launch a further set of fact sheets over coming weeks to better explain the regulations.
“This will include information to help consumers understand if they are likely to be eligible for the 60-day scripts which will be introduced in three phases from 1 September 2023,” she said.
“In addition to saving money, getting a script for two months of some medicines will also save consumers time and travel costs. This is especially important for consumers who live in rural and remote communities who often have to travel hundreds of kilometres to the nearest pharmacy.”
Updated
Opposition to try to disallow 60-day medicine move again in September
Bridget McKenzie, the Nationals leader in the Senate, has said the opposition will launch a further attempt to disallow the government’s 60-day pharmacy dispensing changes when parliament returns in September.
On Thursday, the Senate voted down a Coalition push to tear up Labor’s changes.
McKenzie, speaking to the ABC, said the opposition had already moved to try to disallow it again.
We have lodged this afternoon another disallowance for this mechanism. This highlights for the government that we are very very serious, it is not good enough to say is not going to have a negative impact, the people’s healthcare delivery and particularly in the regions won’t be impacted when it actually will.
Updated
The tourism sector has welcome news from Beijing that group tours to Australia will be allowed to resume for the first since before the pandemic.
Group tours are a popular travel choice for Chinese citizens. An industry source said group tours accounted for 30% of the Chinese leisure travel market to Australia before the pandemic.
The Tourism & Transport Forum Australia chief executive, Margy Osmond, said the resumption was “incredibly exciting” and would help the sector recover.
Osmond said the lack of tour groups from China had been “a major barrier”. She added:
The drop in Chinese visitor numbers has had a significant impact on our industry, given China was our largest source market for international tourism before the pandemic.
Read more:
Updated
On that note, Elias Visontay is going to take the blog over for the rest of the evening.
Politics Live will be back when parliament resumes on 4 September, so I will see you on the blog then. Thank you to everyone who followed along today, commented and sent me messages – I hope I managed to answer your questions.
As always – take care of you.
Updated
How Labor 'adopted' the disallowance motion – and defeated it
(Continued from previous post)
It is very difficult to move another senator’s disallowance motion and shadow health minister Anne Ruston wasn’t moving it (because the Coalition wanted it delayed). Labor tried to force it, but couldn’t because it wasn’t their motion.
So in a bunch of boring procedural motions, Labor managed to de-couple the motion from Anne Ruston’s name, making it an orphan.
The poor little orphaned disallowance motion was sent into the senate orphanage as as a delayed motion to wait out question time, when SURPRISE, it was adopted by Labor senator Louise Pratt.
Before it even had time to see its new bedroom, Labor called to suspend standing orders so it could call it on for a vote, where it was once again centre stage, despite Liberal senator Simon Birmingham objecting very loudly.
But this time all the procedural ducks were in a row, the motion was in Pratt’s name, so Labor had control and a vote was called.
And the disallowance motion was decided in the government’s favour – 33 votes to 28.
Which means that the two-for-one prescriptions slated to begin on 1 September will go ahead, the disallowance motion is defeated and this probably won’t be an issue again until six months time when the next tranche of medications join the list.
We hope that little motion gets to live out its dreams in the hansard now.
Updated
Key event
What happened in the Senate today
This is for those who have asked me what was going on with all that procedure because it was a bit to keep track of.
Yesterday the Coalition gave notice it was going to move a disallowance motion to stop the 60-day dispensing changes coming in from 1 September.
It had to be moved today, because the parliament doesn’t resume until 4 September, after the changes came into effect.
At one point, the Coalition thought it had the numbers to make this happen, or at least could spook the government into thinking it had the numbers to make it happen, and force the government to delay the start date itself.
Along came the Greens who said, actually, no thank you to the disallowance motion, we have been chatting to the government and they are bringing negotiations on the next community pharmacy agreement forward by a year and that is what we wanted.
So that meant the Coalition needed to get all the remaining crossbenchers on board to beat the government on numbers.
The government needed the Greens to all show up in the chamber and one other crossbench MP. Cue late night chats and Mark Butler emerges this morning on the interview circuit saying “watch what happens in the Senate, but we have had VERY PRODUCTIVE chats with the crossbench”.
Very productive chats in that context is “we have the support we need, but can’t say so officially”.
The Coalition, realising it is about to lose, then tried to delay the disallowance motion, pushing it into the next sitting.
Labor, who wanted it dealt with once and for all, decided, actually no, we ARE going to have that disallowance motion today, senate what do you think? And all the senators who were voting with Labor on the motion agreed, meaning it the Coalition couldn’t delay it.
BUT (continued in next post):
Updated
So that is it. The disallowance motion has been voted on, and settled in the government’s favour 33 to 28, meaning 60-day dispensing lives and the first stage can begin on 1 September.
It has all been a bit of a mess and as usual with Senate divisions, the end was a bit of a fizzer, but it is done.
Updated
There are many lessons from today, but I think chief among them is don’t move a disallowance motion unless you know you have the numbers to pass it, make sure you understand Senate procedure, and don’t look to the Senate if you are after an example of decorum and professionalism.
Updated
Government wins vote on disallowance 33-28
Looks like we have the actual vote on the disallowance, which the government has won 33 to 28.
Updated
The Coalition is now desperately trying to stop the disallowance motion it first moved. It’s because it’s clear the opposition don’t have the numbers.
The Labor senator Louise Pratt has moved the Coalition’s motion to attempt it be forced to a vote this afternoon.
The opposition Senate leader, Simon Birmingham, said it’s “extraordinary” and “preposterous” a government senator is moving a motion against the government’s policy. It sure is.
Senate president Sue Lines gets advice from the clerk who advises a ruling in 1991 allows senators to move motions that they then vote against.
President, without any reference to the detail of it as to what type of motion it was, the circumstances of it or the grounds upon which a ruling was made, allowing a senator ... to move a motion and then vote the opposite against their own motion.
Birmingham is cut off. The president says the division will go ahead.
Updated
Labor senator Louise Pratt has adopted the orphan motion to allow Labor to kill it.
Coalition senators are niggling and trying to get a rise out of Pratt with someone yelling “will you be expelled Louise”.
Nationals senator Matt Canavan says:
It’s a trap Louise, they’re trying to get rid of you.”
(It is unclear whether the Admiral Ackbar reference was on purpose.)
Updated
Senate president Sue Lines has certainly had a fortnight. If she made a million dollars for each time she called the chamber to order, she’d likely top some rich lists.
During a division, Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie calls across the chamber. It’s unintelligible. Lines just says:
Senator McKenzie. We were doing so well.
Looks like she is about to get a break though with this all about to come to an end.
Back in the Senate and the order to suspend the standing motions is agreed to.
Another division is happening to determine whether the disallowance motion goes ahead.
Crossbench senators sitting with the Coalition include senators Malcolm Roberts, Ralph Babet and Tammy Tyrrell. It looks like it will be a clear win for the government.
Updated
Do you have a question about the Indigenous voice to parliament?
An upcoming podcast episode of our daily news podcast Full Story will feature:
Arrente writer Celeste Liddle who has written for the Guardian about why she is undecided on the voice
Widjabal Wia-bul woman Larissa Baldwin-Roberts, CEO of GetUp! Who is campaigning for yes
Paul Karp, Guardian Australia’s chief political correspondent
Whether it’s the polling, their view on the “yes” and “no” campaigns, or how they came to their stance on the voice, we want to hear from you. The episode will come out on Thursday next week in our Voice AMA format.
Please email your questions to voicequestions@theguardian.com
Updated
Question time in the House of Representatives has ended. It won’t return until the parliament does, on 4 September.
After this week, and today’s Senate’s mess, I think we all need a bit of a lie down.
Updated
As we have reported throughout the day, Labor has had the numbers to end the disallowance motion – the Greens, David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe have all joined with Labor giving them the numbers.
Updated
In answer to Amy’s question –yes.
The Senate’s chaos today is continuing. In a swift post-question time move, government leader Penny Wong has moved to suspend the standing orders in order to force the disallowance vote on the 60-day dispensing changes.
There’s currently a division. Standby.
Updated
There is another suspension of standing orders in the Senate – are we about to see the orphan disallowance motion find a home and be voted on?
Sarah Basford Canales is on it for you.
Updated
Bill Shorten takes a dixer (government MP asking a government minister a question) on robodebt, which has become a habit of his of late.
His answer includes:
Referring to a speech by Michael Sukkar, the Liberal MP for Deakin, as “destined for the liner of a kitty litter tray”:
When he complained on our focus on robodebt is all politics.
Let me explain to the opposition on behalf of myself, and on behalf of Labor.
Robodebt is political but not in the way that is insinuated by those opposite.
For Labor, for the Albaness government, for me, it is political when you bully the poor, when you pick on the vulnerable, when you demonise them, when you trash their reputations in the paper, that is political.
It is political when you divide this country into those on welfare and those not on welfare.
It is political when you seek to divide the country and say that some people are lesser than other people.
I say to the Coalition, this issue will never [finish] for you until you get up and accept what you did wrong, which was bully the poor in this country.
(Centrelink continues to issue debt notices.)
Updated
The trade minister, Don Farrell, has dealt with the bulk of questions in Senate question time so far but a short moment ago, he had another announcement.
Farrell revealed Australia had just – as in five minutes prior – been re-included on China’s list of approved outgoing group travel destinations.
It marks the return of Australia to the list, known as the Approved Destination Status (ADS) scheme, after borders first reopened in early 2022.
Government figures show more than 1.4 million Chinese travellers head to Australia in 2019, spending $2.1bn.
Farrell said it was welcome news for the tourism industry and the government would be working with China to return ADS travellers as soon as possible.
The Australian tourism industry is passionate, resilient and hard working, unlike the Coalition. Today’s announcement will be welcomed by the industry as they continue to build the ongoing recovery of the sector.
Updated
China says group tours to Australia can resume
Airlines are preparing to cater for a surge in Chinese tourists to Australia after China’s government announced group tours to Australia could resume, as the relationship between Beijing and Canberra continues to thaw.
China’s culture and tourism ministry named Australia, as well as countries including Japan, South Korea, Britain and the United States, in an updated list of destinations that Chinese tourism agencies can run group tours to for the first time since outbound travel was halted due to the pandemic.
Thursday’s announcement is the third such list, and followed approvals in January and March this year. The first batch included 20 countries such as Thailand, Russia, Cuba and Argentina, while the second included 40 countries, among them Nepal, France, Portugal, Brazil.
The Guardian understands that Chinese airlines flying into Australia had expected the announcement, and had recently begun preemptively building in extra capacity to the country. Airports are also expecting airlines to look at introducing additional flights between mainland China and Australia as a result of the announcement.
Group tours are a popular travel choice for Chinese citizens. The industry estimates that group tours accounted for 30% of the Chinese leisure travel market to Australia before the pandemic.
Travel from China to Australia has significantly increased throughout 2023. At the beginning of the year, there were just three or four return flights between the mainland and Sydney airport each week. By August, there were more than 50 return flights per week – sustained in part by demand from the return of international students.
Updated
Linda Burney answers:
The rollout is going remarkably well. We have upgraded roads and water facilities and outlying communities. We have made available money to women’s services dealing with domestic violence. Increased funding for the NT women’s legal services in Katherine which was needing additional money because of the impacts of that was also made commitments in terms of education. And we have also spent $25 million on youth services. Which by the way, were running out of money in June under your government.
Ley has a point of order on relevance, which Dick says isn’t relevant. Burney continues:
I conclude my answer by saying the rollout has been elaborative. We have established a leaders group to assist the Government with the roll out and listen to the people. We are doing further work.
In fact, I’m going to Alice Springs in three weeks time.
Sussan Ley is back and asks:
My question is of the minister for Indigenous affairs. In January, the prime minister promised a $250 million package for Central Australia, which the government claimed would improve community safety, create jobs and improve health services. More than six months later, how much of this money has actually been spent?
Paul Karp is in the chamber and says there is someone coughing very loudly when Ley has asked her questions. (You can hear the cough on the chamber mics, so it is pretty loud). He says the cougher has just been warned by one of the guards watching the gallery.
Updated
Labor asked about Tiwi Islanders and consultation over oil and gas projects
Independent MP Dr Sophie Scamps asks:
Last year traditional owners on the Tiwi Islands won a landmark case in the federal court. The victory guaranteed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the right to be consulted about offshore oil and gas projects which impact their homes and culture. However, in a meeting with Tiwi Islanders they expressed the fear the government will water down the required consultation process. In this year of the voice, will the minister rule out the watering down of these consultation requirements?
Madeleine King answers:
I also want to acknowledge the traditional owners of the Tiwi Islands and their connection to their land, sea and country.
I will be very clear on this issue and have been for some time.
All corners of the sector must consult with First Nations people as part of the regulatory approval processes.
All people including presentations people have the right to be consulted on activities that impact them.
They have a right for their voice to be heard. This is [confirmed] by the federal court’s judgement and the government does accept that finding in the court case you refer to and we’re not looking to that at all.
In the last budget, the government invested $12 million for a comprehensive review of Australia’s offshore oil and gas environmental regulations with a particular focus on consultation outcomes, including for First Nations people.
We want to ensure better consultation with First Nations peoples and want to make that a feature of the regulatory system and a record of the outcome. There has been a distressing lack of collaboration with First Nations people for two decades in this country and we aim to fix that.
Updated
Back in the house and the member for Groom, Garth Hamilton, has been removed under 94A for his interjections.
Former speaker Tony Smith must be feeling very nostalgic.
Updated
Wong says Labor in discussions on real-time disclosure of political donations
Government Senate leader Penny Wong says the government is discussing with the parties a recommendation to introduce real-time disclosures of political donations.
In Senate question time, Wong told Greens senator Larissa Waters discussions were under way regarding the recommendation, which was included in a recent parliamentary report on electoral reforms.
[The report] has recommended introducing real-time disclosure of political donations and lowering the disclosure threshold. I understand that this report is something that [trade minister Don Farrell] will be and is discussing with all parties represented in this place.
And I hope that we can see appropriate reforms arising out of the [Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters] that are capable of being supported by parties.
Updated
Anthony Albanese: ‘responsibility of former government’ that plan for Kimba site knocked over in court
He was a member of the government for three terms. And during that period, during that period, he is correct to say that the government of the day proposed Kimba as a site. And the Labor party and my leadership supported the site. Supported the site.
The decision was knocked over in the federal court of Australia. It was knocked over because of the incompetence of the former minister in the way that he dealt with the administration of that act. It is completely, completely the responsibility of the former government that this decision has been knocked over in the federal court.
The former minister is Keith Pitt, who does not look pleased with the call out from Albanese. Neither does Rowan Ramsey, who is made to leave after 94A after continuing to interject.
Updated
Liberal MP asks about radioactive waste management facility
Rowan Ramsey asks:
For eight years, the community in my electorate pursued an invitation to host a national radioactive waste management facility. As with Israel and other upcoming issues at the Labor party’s national conference, is Labor’s decision to scrap this facility another example of the bitter internal deal being prior ...
He is stopped because he has used the Labor party conference in his question, which under the standing orders is not allowed (party conferences in general, not just Labor – because what parties decide at a grassroots level are not necessarily the parliamentary party’s policy or government policy).
So Ramsey has to reframe the question without the mention of Israel and conference.
For eight years, the community of my electorate pursued an invitation to host the national radioactive waste management facility. The government’s decision today has left no plan for them to handle its waste in the future. What does the government plan to do with the waste once the room runs out at Lucas Heights?
Updated
Albanese asked about support for flood-affected households in central west NSW
Nationals leader David Littleproud has an actual question of significance.
Consider me officially taken aback.
I refer to the prime minister’s answer to my question in June when he committed to working with the New South Wales government with a flood recovery and devastated communities in central western New South Wales. Can the prime minister update the house on whether the resilient homes program will be offered to families in the central west who have now been living in every accommodation for almost nine months?
Anthony Albanese thanks Littleproud and says he has had discussions with him about it. And that he has spoken to the NSW government and emergency management minister Murray Watt about it too.
Just this morning we signed off on some further support for people who have been victims of natural disasters, to make sure that that support flows. We will continue to engage with New South Wales as well as with other state governments. I will report back, I will speak directly to the leader of the National party because I know that he is very sincere in his commitment there.
Frankly, the response has left communities, I know, in the Central West of New South Wales, I’ve had discussions with the member for Calare about this issue as well, I know that there are still people who are doing it really tough and there we had a whole program, for example, a buyout of people who were on floodplains who shouldn’t be remaining there because they just couldn’t return to those homes.
These issues are complex, we will continue to work with people across the chamber as I do on these issues. And I will engage directly with the honourable member opposite.
Updated
In the gallery
The Liberal MP for Deakin, Michael Sukkar, has been booted from QT after interjecting after Speaker Milton Dick had given the chamber a general settle down order.
Former speaker Tony Smith is in the gallery. Smith was widely regarded by MPs on both sides of the aisle to be one of the best speakers the House of Reps had ever had, so Dick has his most professional face on today.
Also in the gallery are members from the Pharmaceutical Guild.
It’s a real mixed bag today.
Updated
No, the prime minister will not admit Australians are worse off under Labor
Angus Taylor asks:
Since Labor came into government interest rates have gone up 11 times [and] the core inflation is amongst the highest of advanced economies. Real wages falling off a cliff. Consumer confidence is tanking. And economic growth is half the OECD average. The result is Australians are working harder for less. Will the prime minister admit under Labor Australians are worse off?
No. No, the prime minister will not admit that. Anthony Albanese says:
I congratulate the shadow treasurer on getting a question on the economy this week. Does not go to the treasurer. But I am happy to step in. Once again we saw the catastrophe from those opposite. Those opposite who always want to talk down Australia and talk down our economy. (this gets gaffaws, as it was a favoured line of the previous government)
Albanese then runs though the list of the government’s wins, saying the word FACT after each stat.
Taylor does not seem impressed. FACT.
Updated
Shadow health minister: ‘The Coalition supports cheaper medicines, and we support 60-day dispensing’
The shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, has released a statement following the disallowance motion mess:
Today we sought to delay the disallowance motion to enable Minister Butler the opportunity to get back to the table and resolve legitimate concerns of community pharmacists.
The Coalition supports cheaper medicines, and we support 60-day dispensing.
Our motion simply allows the government more time to consult.
We want to make sure that this policy is implemented with no pharmacy closing and no consumer worse off.
Complete chaos reigned in the Senate today when the government tried to force the vote and gag debate on this important motion but failed to do so.
This is just a reflection of the contempt of this government.
When the opportunity to ensure this policy would not make any Australian worse off, they chose to play politics.
Over the next three weeks, we hope the government will actually take up our offer, in good faith, and move to implement this policy in a way that actually delivers cost-of-living relief for Australians and leaves no one worse off.
Updated
Chris Bowen asked how can he justify new coal and gas
Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather mixes things up a little by asking not about housing but the climate (he has led the Greens’ housing push for renters’ rights and often asks about rent freezes and rent caps in question time):
To the minister for climate change, your government approved three new coal projects and support new gas. However, the International Energy Agency has been clear that in order to avoid catastrophic climate change, no country can open any new coal and gas. The International Institute for [Strategic Studies] said there was a large consensus that new oil and gas fields are incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5C. Can the minister explain why the government supports these findings and if so, how can he justify new coal and gas?
After an introduction from Chris Bowen and a point of relevance from MCM, Bowen says:
This government believes in a holistic approach to climate change. The honourable member likes to pick out this project or that project, does not actually acknowledge the sweeping reforms this government is putting into place.
Like finally assuring Australia has an operational industry.
… To actually delivering capacity investment scheme to drive gigawatts of renewable energy investment across this country. Something those opposite promised and never delivered.
To actually drive reforms that will [halve] the equivalent of two-thirds of Australia’s cars emissions between now and 2030.
While talking about cars, the minister for transport and I are driving a fuel efficiency standard. Australia catches up with the rest of the world and has a fleet which is low in emissions. And stops being the only major economy apart from Russia without fuel efficiency standards, something the previous government left us with.
I am proud of the fact we have signed the global methane pledge. Proud of the fact that the electric vehicle [reform] which has driven an uptake in our short time in office so far of electric vehicles from 2% to 8%.
(the transcription service changes methane pledge to Matt Damon pledge, which is an entirely different thing)
Updated
Greens say prosecution of whistleblower Richard Boyle ‘sends chilling message’ to all public servants
We mentioned earlier that the crossbench has united to urge the federal government to end the prosecution of Richard Boyle, the tax office whistleblower.
Boyle is currently fighting a decision to deny him whistleblower protections in the South Australian courts, where he is being prosecuted for collecting information prior to blowing the whistle about the Australian Taxation Office’s unethical debt recovery practices.
Without the protection of the Public Interest Disclosure Act, Boyle will face trial and potential jail time.
On Thursday, crossbench MPs and senators jointly called for an intervention by attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, to end the case.
NSW Greens senator David Shoebridge said:
The only thing that this continuing prosecution does, apart from putting Mr Boyle for an appallingly inappropriate criminal trial, is to send a chilling message to every single public servant in this country.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said:
You would have thought the new government would see the sense in dropping the prosecution. This is the government that said that we’re going to review all of the public interest disclosure protections for whistleblowers and make them stronger - but in reality, they’re doing what they can to make them weaker.
Updated
Labor questioned on plans being dropped for nuclear dump site in SA
Senate question time has kicked off with questions from opposition Senate leader Simon Birmingham over news the Labor government has dropped plans for a nuclear dump site in South Australia.
Earlier today, resources minister Madeleine King announced the government would not appeal a federal court ruling in favour of the Barngarla people, who were against the Kimba site being turned into a nuclear waste facility.
Birmingham questioned what the government was going to do now the site’s development wasn’t going ahead.
Trade minister Don Farrell, who answered the question on behalf of King in the Senate, blamed the former Coalition government for not doing anything earlier.
If this issue was so simple, then in the nine years, in the nine years that you had to deal with it, you would have solved the problem, and you didn’t.
Birmingham questioned whether the decision would set a precedent for upcoming Aukus choices:
If Labor can’t manage to determine where to store gloves used in nuclear medical medicine procedures, how can anyone have confidence that it can manage the difficult decisions that are going to be required to deliver nuclear submarines under the Aukus agreement?
Farrell, over many interjections, responded:
If there’s any government that’s going to be capable of delivering on the Aukus nuclear submarines for South Australia ... it’s this government.
Updated
Albanese: ‘indefensible’ to have strategy of keeping consumer costs high
Anthony Albanese answers Andrew Wallace with:
I note the nature of the question from the member opposite. These changes come in from September. September.
The changes also, if he had followed the debate, he would know that just one-third of the changes come in in September as well and then there is a further change in March, I think if that is correct, next year, and then a further change six months later on.
And I myself have met with the Pharmacy Guild, along with other pharmacists in my own electorate, about these issues. And that is why we are continuing to have discussions and why the health minister announced an additional support as well for pharmacies as part of the program.
It is important as well here to recognise this is about making a difference in cost of living. The idea you deliberately keep costs to consumers high as a conscious strategy, frankly, is one I believe is indefensible.
Albanese continues, but that is the main gist of it all.
Updated
LNP on threats to community pharmacies in ‘the bush’
LNP MP Andrew Wallace asks:
On the 31st of July the Montville pharmacy in my electorate of Fisher was forced to close as a direct result of the increased costs of doing business and in anticipation of the commitments of Labor’s community pharmacy changes.
Montville has also recently just lost its only doctor.
Prime minister, how will the people of Montville and rural and regional towns across the country obtain access to cheaper medicines when there are no community pharmacies left in the bush to dispense them?
OK. Sorry. As a Queenslander I have to just step in here. Montville is in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. It is a very popular town with a lot of tourists – the type of place you would find fudge shops, bed and breakfasts, wedding venues and antique stores that sell amazing scones. It is not exactly Longreach. It is a 30-minute drive to Maroochydore, the major Sunshine Coast centre and the next town, Mapleton is 11 minutes away.
That is not to say that it is not very inconvenient for the people of Montville to be without a doctor or a pharmacist for the first time in decades. Just that Montville is not exactly what you would think of when you think “bush”.
Updated
Albanese on Coalition’s disallowance motion: ‘What a farce’
Anthony Albanese answers the question this way:
It is true, that I do not live in regional Australia, I do live in Australia’s largest inland city, the one we are in right now, of Canberra, and it is true that, like the deputy leader of the opposition, all of us in this chamber live a ... life of relative privilege.
He continues saying that is why the government wants to make things cheaper for people not as financially secure, with cheaper medicines.
And then he gets to the mess of the disallowance order:
I was pleased yesterday to read a statement from the shadow health minister and I thought the party [has had a change of heart].
It began “the Coalition strongly supports Australians having access to cheaper medicines. Strongly supports, excellent! And then it went on to say, in the next sentence, “We support it all … We will put a disallowance motion in the Senate, we will hold a press conference, we will knock it over tomorrow. And you know what they did earlier in the Senate today? They lost six votes trying to block the vote being held. Trying to block the vote being held on their motion.
On their motion! And then when that failed, they withdrew the moving of the motion, and so now it sits on the notice paper, an orphan. No one is associating with it. What a farce.
Updated
Sussan Ley associates the opposition with Anthony Albanese’s comments about the US and the relationship between Australia and the US.
And then it is a very different tone as questions begin immediately after, with Sussan Ley asking:
The prime minister has been a member of this house for almost 30 years and now lives a privileged life in The Lodge and Kirribilli House. He has never dealt with the challenge of accessing healthcare in regional and remote Australia. Why does this arrogant prime minister [have such a] reckless policy which will close pharmacies and deprive Australians access to healthcare? How on earth can Australians get cheaper medicines from their local pharmacy if that pharmacy closes?
There are groans at Ley’s use of “privileged life in The Lodge and Kirribilli House”.
Which is true. He does. Just as on Ley’s register of interests she has four mortgages listed.
Updated
Kevin Rudd is in the gallery, along with the Australian-American leadership dialogue delegates. They’ll be headed to The Lodge for drinks later this evening.
Peter Dutton is away from question time for personal reasons.
Sussan Ley is acting leader of the Liberal party.
Anthony Albanese is “deeply honoured” to accept Joe Biden’s invitation to the White House on “behalf of all Australians”.
We are not yet at the questions, but we are getting there.
Updated
We are almost in question time. Which will no doubt be a very ordered and professional affair, given the day’s events so far.
‘No time to waste’ on NSW teachers’ pay, says union, after damning report on student outcomes
The NSW Teachers Federation is renewing calls for the state government to return to a deal that would have made the state’s teachers the best paid in the country, following the release of an auditor general report which has damning findings for regional, remote and rural education.
The report, released today, has found there were 922 permanent teacher vacancies in regional and remote schools in January, and poor outcomes for students.
Only 54% of remote and very remote students were above the national minimum standard for reading, and even fewer, 52%, for numeracy. Less than three quarters of remote and very remote school leavers were in further education, training or employment.
Acting president of the federation Henry Rajendra said urgent action was needed to address “more than a decade of neglect”.
The Minns government has no time to waste. It must revive and honour the agreement it had to tackle the teacher shortage, by paying teachers what they are worth.
The federation last week accused the government of abandoning a deal that had almost been inked, revising its agreement to a three-year clause capping wages at 2.5%, below inflation.
Rajendra said vacancies would continue to increase until adequate pay increases were offered.
If we don’t pay teachers what they are worth, we won’t get the teachers we need.
Updated
Back to the fallout and Nationals leader in the Senate, Bridget McKenzie, told Guardian Australia that “the disallowance remains and we remain very hopeful the minister will find a solution that means Australians have both cheaper medicine and no diminishing of healthcare services that are provided by our local chemists”.
Updated
What. A. Day.
So after all of that, the disallowance motion lives – for now.
It is not quite Nero senate levels of dysfunction, but if someone walked into the chamber with a horse today and said “this is our new senator” I don’t think anyone would be surprised.
Updated
The dispensing disallowance is not dead …
Wowee. What a wild ride. After several procedural votes it looked like Labor had the numbers 31-26 to force a vote on the 60-day dispensing disallowance.
Despite Anne Ruston, One Nation and David Van having proposed the disallowance motion, none of them wanted it put in the end – because the Coalition wanted it delayed to 4 September.
Senate president Sue Lines then announced:
As this is a disallowance motion there is a requirement for senators to be given the opportunity to take over the motion. In accordance with the practice of the Senate, this motion is deferred till the next sitting day. If no senator indicates they wish to take over the notice ... the notice of motion will be taken to be withdrawn.
So after all that, the disallowance is not dead. That may not be the end of it – it may come back to the Senate in some form this afternoon. For example, if another senator adopted this orphan motion it could then be defeated. How odd – I can’t recall this having happened before.
Updated
David Pocock is in a zen state reading on the backbench on the Labor/Greens side. Mike Bowers with his eagle eyes informs he’s reading Ageing in a Housing Crisis.
Updated
Disallowance motion, continued
The Senate still hasn’t voted on the disallowance motion as yet – it is procedural chaos.
There are lots of Coalition objections to whether Katy Gallagher phrased the motion correctly.
Senate president Sue Lines sides with Gallagher and asks the question be put.
Simon Birmingham is still objecting.
Lidia Thorpe calls out:
Stop disrupting the Senate!
and she then laughs heartily at her own joke. The bells are still ringing. Birmingham is still objecting.
Updated
US trip 23-26 October
The prime minister’s office has confirmed the trip to the US will be from 23 to 26 October. It will be Anthony Albanese’s first official visit to Washington DC as prime minister.
What’s on the agenda, according to the Australian government? Topics include “advancing ambitious climate action and the transition to clean energy” and updating the economic relationship:
The leaders will look at ways the economic relationship between Australia and the United States can be made fit for the opportunities of the future to the benefit of workers and businesses in both countries. They will also discuss regional stability and security, Aukus, strengthening cooperation in science and technology and the importance of together shaping an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
Updated
Albanese on US visit: ‘important opportunity’ to discuss climate, clean energy transition and Indo-Pacific
As Daniel Hurst reported, the White House has announced they have invited Anthony Albanese to the US.
Albanese accepts this diplomatic rose:
I am honoured to accept President Biden’s invitation to undertake an official visit to Washington DC.
Australia and the United States have a longstanding relationship, based on deep friendship and trust and a shared commitment to peace, the rule of law and the values of democracy.
My visit is an important opportunity to discuss our ambitious climate and clean energy transition, and shared goal of a strong, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
Updated
Over in the Senate and Labor is bringing on the Coalition’s disallowance motion on 60-day dispensing that the Coalition had attempted to delay.
It is going to a vote. Which would suggest that, unless Labor senators have decided just to let the chaos goblins out, Labor knows that it has the numbers to defeat the disallowance, bringing it to an end.
Updated
White House confirms state dinner for Anthony Albanese on 25 October
It’s been in the works for months but now it’s locked in: Anthony Albanese will travel to the US for an official visit in October.
The White House has issued a statement saying the prime minister’s visit will include a state dinner on 25 October.
The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, said:
The visit will underscore the deep and enduring Alliance between the United States and Australia and the two nations’ shared commitment to supporting an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
President Biden and Prime Minister Albanese will discuss strengthening collaboration on critical issues for both nations in order to ensure the Alliance is well equipped to respond to ever-evolving regional and global challenges.
Updated
US trip for Anthony Albanese official
Anthony Albanese has said a White House visit was on the cards – and the White House has just confirmed it
Come October 25, Albanese will be the guest of honour at a state dinner at the US seat of power. Unsure yet whether he will be able to attend any White House Halloween celebrations.
The White House has confirmed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be welcomed to WH for official visit and state dinner on October 25. @9NewsAUS pic.twitter.com/ySqrbX0Bup
— Jonathan Kearsley (@jekearsley) August 10, 2023
Updated
No surprises here, given Labor controls the chamber, but the house has voted in support of Bill Shorten’s robodebt motion, 88-51.
Updated
Manager of opposition business seeks to amend Labor’s robodebt motion, limiting apology to ‘Australians who received unlawful debt notices’
Paul Fletcher also wants credit for the Morrison government having “cancelled the program and it ensured that those affected received a refund or had their debts zeroed, and [to note] that to date 99% of refunds have been issued”.
Fletcher told the House:
I’d like to start by expressing the opposition’s regret and extend our apology to Australians who received unlawful debt notices ... To those Australians I simply say: ‘We are sorry.’ The apology I’ve repeated today is of course consistent with the apology of the then Morrison government in 2020. When the Coalition government became aware of the problems, we cancelled the program and ensured that those affected received a refund or had their debts cancelled.”
But, as Bill Shorten noted in reply, the government had many warnings the scheme was not lawful – including many, many losses in the administrative appeals tribunal, where debts were routinely erased.
Updated
It is worth mentioning that Centrelink debt collection continues under this government. Debts are not raised through an automated process bereft of humans and they are considered lawful, but there are still thousands of people given debt notices.
Data on fraud and corruption investigations by Services Australia, and a breakdown of external cases by category (Centrelink, Medicare etc.) https://t.co/RBXmGcdk5thttps://t.co/Zq2fGttRwb pic.twitter.com/tmtLPAutPK
— Michael Klapdor (@whobekindto) August 9, 2023
House debates Bill Shorten motion on robodebt
The House of Representatives is debating a motion from Bill Shorten that:
it accepts the findings of the robodebt royal commission “regarding the former ministers involved in the design and implementation of the scheme”
expresses its “deep regret and apologises to the victims of the unlawful robodebt scheme, and to front-line Centrelink staff”; and
commits to ensuring this cruel, unlawful chapter in the history of Australian public administration is never repeated.
Shorten said:
“The reason why I’m moving this resolution and the government is supporting it is because we believe that the nation and the parliament cannot move on without accepting a genuine account of what went wrong.”
Shorten shared victims’ stories, including:
A refugee, not literate in English, who “when she got the debt notices she hid her own children, afraid the authorities would come for them”
A pregnant woman escaping domestic violence, with three jobs, who had her pay garnished
Maddy, who received an eight thousand dollar debt and was “so overwhelmed” that she “actually attempted to take her own life”.
Updated
CBA chief rejects any attempt to impose windfall tax after posting record profit
Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn has defended the lender’s record $10.2bn profit generated in a cost-of-living crisis, and criticised any attempt to impose a windfall tax on the sector in Australia.
Speaking to ABC’s RN Breakfast, Comyn said there had been a “severe reaction” from markets to an announcement from the Italian government that it would impose a one-off 40% tax on income made from higher interest rates in 2022 and 2023.
You need banks to be profitable, particularly at this point in the cycle where loan losses are very low, because otherwise you won’t get investors, both domestically and globally, to invest in the banking system.
It’s also our job to facilitate lending, which promotes economic growth and financial stability.
Unprofitable banks are unable to do that and they are a drag on the entire economy and individual Australians.”
Spain and Hungary have adopted similar taxes to the Italian model.
Australia’s banking sector was able to quickly lift profit margins through the controversial practice of increasing borrowing rates at a faster pace than deposits during a period of high inflation and rising living costs.
Margins have started to ease in recent months, as more bank customers come under financial strain.
Comyn said the record net profit was a function of the large size of the bank, and was not generated through price gouging.
Updated
Update on disallowance motion for government’s 60-day dispensing change
It has been one of those moving feasts days, so let’s go through what is happening with the disallowance motion for the government’s 60-day dispensing change.
For whatever it is worth, here is my take.
After a very strong campaign by the Pharmacy Guild against the change, which is due to start next month, the Coalition announced it was going to put forward a disallowance motion to stop it from going ahead, until the government consulted more with the Guild.
That was yesterday. The Greens, which had some concerns about the impact on community pharmacies, immediately announced its senators would not support the motion, as the government had previously agreed to bring forward negotiations for the next community pharmacy agreement by a year.
That left the Coalition with the job of convincing every other crossbencher to vote with it to get the numbers to pass the motion. Labor needed all the Greens and one other crossbencher to defeat it.
Mark Butler and his team spoke to crossbenchers throughout the night, as did the Coalition. Butler didn’t say so outright, but seemed pretty confident that the government was going to be able to defeat the motion by the time he got to the interview circuit this morning.
The Coalition then called a press conference to announce it was seeking to delay its own disallowance motion, which would indicate it did not have the support it needed to pass it.
But because it was on the Senate notice paper, the Senate has to decide its own business and when it came to a vote to delay the motion, the Senate said – actually no, we would like to vote on this. Presumably to just get it dealt with, given the start date for the first tranche of medications falling under the scheme is just a few weeks away.
David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and the two Jacqui Lambie Network senators joined with Labor and the Greens in the vote to keep the disallowance motion on the notice paper.
If those senators vote with Labor and the Greens when the disallowance motion is up in the senate, then the motion to disallow the change is defeated and bada bing, bada boom, it is over and done with and the senate moves on.
Now no one has confirmed this, but Labor would not vote to allow the disallowance motion to continue, against the Coalition’s wishes, if it was not confident it had the numbers to defeat it.
Updated
Data shows 86% of aged care facilities have registered nurse onsite 24 hours a day
Just more on that aged care nursing announcement – the data behind it is quite interesting.
According to a sheet handed out to reporters, 86% of aged care facilities reported having a registered nurse onsite for 24 hours a day.
Of the 14% that hadn’t, aged care minister Anika Wells said around half were within two hours of reaching the 100% target.
Wells called the figures “incredibly heartening”.
So, that’s 22 hours a day rather than 24 hours a day. So that’s how we achieve 98% coverage across the board because so many facilities, even if they’re not at 24/7, they’re at 22 [hours a day].
A total of 2,348 facilities reported their 24/7 nursing reports, with 2,020 reporting having a registered nurse onsite at all times.
Of the 328 that didn’t reach the target, 179 were within one hour of hitting it. At the other end of the scale, there were 38 facilities that were more than hours away from having a registered nurse onsite for 24 hours.
Wells explained:
Firstly, what happens now, if you haven’t reached 24/7 nursing in your first month, is that on a state by state basis departments reach out to the facilities to understand why they haven’t met [the target] and what they need in order to do it. We provide a lot of resourcing to facilities where there are workforce shortages.
The minister added the care economy was supported by working women in the “vast majority of cases” so the government was trying to be supportive, rather than punitive, where facilities were struggling to meet the requirements.
There is a human element to this. That’s the nature of the care economy. And that’s why we’ve tried to be not punitive, but supportive in trying to lift everybody up to the standard.
Updated
The portrait of Louie. And also the former prime minister Kevin Rudd.
Updated
Prescription changes: Senate rejects delay of Coalition’s disallowance motion
Earlier today shadow health minister Anne Ruston proposed delaying the Coalition disallowance of 60-day dispensing to 4 September.
The Senate has just voted to reject that delay, by 30 votes to 27. Labor, the Greens, David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and Jacqui Lambie teamed up to reject the delay, meaning the disallowance will be considered later today.
If those senators continue to vote with Labor and the Greens then the disallowance will likely be rejected later today, allowing the medicine changes to take effect from 1 September.
Updated
Queensland museums to spend nearly $5m on ancestral remains repatriation
Just heading over to Queensland for a moment – Queensland Museum Network will spend almost $5m on repatriating ancestral remains and sacred objects belonging to First Nations peoples over five years.
Queensland’s arts minister, Leeanne Enoch, told estimates on Thursday that $4.6m will be spent on the process which she described as “fundamental to progressing” the state’s commitment to treaty.
Enoch said the museum network has been returning remains and sacred objects to communities since 1990. She said the funding boost comes amid a “marked increase in the number of remains and significant cultural heritage items in their care”.
This was “due to public surrender and returns from international and interstate entities,” she said.
Updated
Aged care nurses onsite 98% of time, new data finds
Aged care minister Anika Wells has released new data showing registered nurses are onsite 98% of the time across the country.
The coverage means, on average, there is a registered nurse at aged care facilities for 23.5 hours a day. Wells said the improvement is thanks to the Labor government’s reforms. But more work needed to be done on workforce shortages for those facilities unable to reach the 100% target.
This is not the end of things for us. We’re going to keep working to get to 100% as soon as possible. We’ve got still a huge return agenda that we are rolling out,” she said.
Updated
Rudd’s cat Louie is first animal to debut in prime minister portrait
Jasper the cat and Abby the dog made regular appearances during Kevin Rudd’s prime ministership – as first feline and first canine.
But this is not Jasper in the portrait. It is Rudd’s current cat, Louie.
I am told it is a first for the prime minister’s portrait collection for an animal to make an appearance –Louie kept barging in during the portrait sittings (as is his right) but not for the portraits as a whole. King Edward VII has a horse with his.
Happy International Cat Day from me and Louie, one of our two feline keepers. Here’s a shot of us taken by my staff during a meeting the other day. A bit too Godfather? KRudd #InternationalCatDay pic.twitter.com/1G7CezlqyN
— Office of Kevin Rudd, 26th PM of Australia (@MrKRudd) August 8, 2021
Updated
Sarah Basford Canales has been at aged care minister Anika Wells press conference and tells me that the government is announcing 98% coverage for 24/7 nursing – which is a pretty big deal, given the concerns about staffing.
She will have more on that for you very soon.
The curtain has fallen from Kevin Rudd’s portrait and it shows the former prime minister sitting down at his desk – with his cat making an appearance.
We will have an image of it very soon.
It may be the first time a PM portrait has included a cat and frankly, I am surprised it isn’t mandatory.
Updated
Albanese praises Kevin Rudd at portrait unveiling
Back to the unveiling of the portrait for Australia’s 26th prime minister, Kevin Rudd, Anthony Albanese, has given a speech in response to Rudd, also hailed the apology to the Stolen Generations, noting it had been the subject of scare campaigns.
Instead it was was a moment of national unity.
Pointedly, Albanese paid tribute to the courage of then Liberal leader Brendan Nelson “who showed leadership at that time as well” by supporting the apology. (Sussan Ley is here in the audience).
Albanese to Rudd:
We have unfinished business but you made a contribution that can never be taken away … the country was larger.
Updated
Independent MP Tink says alcohol industry meeting constructive amid push for alcopop regulations
Independent MP Kylea Tink said her meeting with alcohol industry representatives this morning over advertising reform was constructive, amid a push from the crossbench to limit alcohol ads from reaching children.
The meeting had been planned for months and is part of a broader push from the crossbench for advertising reform on a swathe of harmful products. It coincided with the release of new alcoholic beverage Hard Solo, which has faced complaints from the crossbench and health bodies over its similarity to the regular Solo soft drink.
Tink said:
To me there is nothing about this product that makes it an acceptable product to have on the shelf when it comes to alcoholic beverages.
A spokesperson for Asahi, the company behind the drink, said it strictly complies with the ban on marketing alcohol to minors and that 85% of Solo consumers were adults.
Hard Solo looks very different to regular Solo and we strongly refute any claims they can be confused.
Tink said Hard Solo has helped spark a broader conversation:
You know, sometimes you have to have mistakes like this get through to really draw everybody’s attention back to what’s required and what we need to focus on.
It’s a really good opportunity for all Australians to look in this direction and [ask] what are our expectations? How has this product failed to meet those expectations? And … what measures do we need to put in place to make sure a product like this doesn’t stay on the shelf or get through again?
During today’s meeting, Tink advocated for self-regulation and asked industry what support they needed to ensure they’re meeting consumer expectations.
Updated
Kevin Rudd says people raised fear campaigns about the apology to the Stolen Generations 15 years ago.
While he is now an ambassador and doesn’t address the voice referendum directly, Rudd asks Australians to now consider whether fears being raised now are justified.
More details soon
Kevin Rudd is giving a speech ahead of the unveiling of his official portrait at Parliament House.
Among his many thank-yous are to Anthony Albanese, who is in attendance:
Thanks mate.
You were a key member of my government and you did a great job.
Rudd also offered some “reflections” about current big challenges in the world. He warned “the democratic project around the world is under threat” and that everyone must work to “nurture” democracy
Updated
Natural resource regulator action 90 enforcement actions across NSW
(continued from previous post)
NRAR Director Regulatory Initiatives Ian Bernard said that as the state moved into spring and summer, it was crucial that water licence holders knew and followed the rules and conditions that applied to them.
The Bureau of Meteorology predicts below median rainfall and above median temperatures in NSW over the next three months.
Bernard said:
Illegal water take and metering were a high proportion of alleged offences.
NRAR has detected 56 instances in the Namoi and 21 in the Barwon Darling which are now under investigation.
The data also showed that NRAR took more than 90 enforcement actions across NSW during the period, including issuing penalty notices, issuing directions and stop work orders, and formally warning and cautioning water licence holders.
Updated
NSW water regulator reports irrigators continue to illegally extract water
The NSW regulator responsible for policing water theft in the state has reported that despite its crackdown in the wake of the Four Corners expose in 2018, irrigators are continuing to illegally extract water beyond their licences allocations, particularly in the Barwon-Darling and Naomi catchments.
The two areas are where most of the cotton is grown in NSW.
Compliance data collected by Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) for the first half of 2023 shows that between January and June 2023 there were 301 alleged water compliance offences recorded across NSW. These are being further investigated.
It comes as a new unreleased report from NSW Fisheries warned of the likelihood of more fish kills this summer due to the poor state of the Darling Baaka after the March kills at Menindee.
Local residents want to see increased flows and have suggested embargoes on irrigators extracting water to help flush the river.
(continued in next post)
Updated
Morning politics recap
So it has been a bit of a busy morning, so let’s do a quick recap.
We are about to hear from the aged care minister, Anika Wells, who has called a formal press conference in the blue room (the second most fancy government press conference location, after the prime minister’s courtyard) so stay tuned for that.
The Coalition’s disallowance motion to try and stop 60-day dispensing from beginning in September has been delayed (by the Coalition) indicating it did not have the necessary support of the rest of the crossbench, after the Greens said no. The Coalition has said it may try again when parliament resumes in September.
The teal crossbenchers, led by Kylea Tink, have concerns over alcohol regulations, particularly the approval of Hard Solo, the alcoholic version of the soft drink Solo.
Kevin Rudd’s portrait has been unveiled in the parliament and will live there forever. Kinda like the parliamentary version of a Horcrux.
Updated
Australia to consider aiding Hawaii if requested, emergency management minister says
The emergency management minister, Murray Watt, was asked this morning about whether Australia will be sending help to Hawaii, where Maui residents have been forced to flee into the ocean to escape wildfires.
Six people have been confirmed dead so far.
Watt says:
We would certainly consider a request. I’ve actually checked this morning and to my knowledge we haven’t yet received a request from the US. But we would obviously consider that request and provide whatever assistance we can.
You may be aware in the last month or so we’ve actually had Australian firefighters helping in Canada - in the hundreds of Australian firefighters helping there. So when our friends go through tough times we’re always there to help, and we’d certainly consider that kind of request.
There are also fires in Portugal, following wildfires in Greece.
Updated
Independents join forces for causes outside of major party agendas
This scene is becoming a familiar sight in the parliament – independents coming together to push causes not necessarily on the major party agenda. In this case, it was calling on the government for more transparency – in particular, releasing the Office of National Intelligence’s Climate Risk Assessment report and dropping the prosecution against ATO whistleblower, Richard Boyle.
Updated
Anthony Albanese will join Kevin Rudd for the unveiling of Rudd’s official portrait which is happening very shortly.
What a time to be alive.
Keith Pitt condemns government formally dropping plans for SA nuclear waste dump
The federal government has formally dropped plans for a nuclear waste dump near Kimba in South Australia. Last month, the federal court quashed the declaration which had been made by the then-resources minister Keith Pitt.
The Barngarla traditional owners had taken the decision to court, arguing it was made without their support or with consultation.
The Albanese government had said it respected the court’s decision – and now the proposal is official off the table and work will begin on finding a new site.
Pitt, is not happy:
Today the labor government has sacrificed the national interest on the altar of the voice.
Labor’s decision to abandon the low-level radioactive waste facility at Kimba is one which should be condemned.
The site selected has majority community support, is on freehold land without native title and is the most advanced of any opportunity in a nearly five decade search to secure a facility that is desperately needed. A facility the nation needs.
It has been eight years of work and consultation. How much consultation are Labor suggesting is necessary ?
If Labor only intends to build infrastructure that has 100 percent support from Aboriginal groups then very little infrastructure will ever be delivered in the future.
This appears to be the Hindmarsh Island bridge all over again.
Updated
Coalition seeks to delay disallowance motion on 60-day dispensing
And just like that, there is now a DELAY to the Coalition’s disallowance motion.
Which means – they don’t have the votes. At least not today.
#breaking Anne Ruston says Coalition will delay their disallowance motion on 60-day dispensing.
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) August 10, 2023
They obviously don't have the votes for it today. Could come back in September. Still want the govt to pause the changes.#auspol
Updated
Aged care minister Anika Wells has commandeered the blue room for a 11.30 press conference on aged care.
It is all happening this morning.
Let’s take a look at the numbers in the senate.
With the Greens not in support of the measure, the Coalition needs to get everyone else on the crossbench. So that is Ralph Babet, David Van, One Nation, the Jacqui Lambie Network, Lidia Thorpe and David Pocock.
Labor and the Greens = 37, meaning they only need one more vote to block. So if one of the Greens or Labor abstains/misses the vote, things could get dicey.
Updated
Coalition’s motion against prescription changes ‘callous disregard for consumers’, AMA says
OK, the Australian Medical Association is ANGRY angry at the Coalition’s disallowance motion.
From its statement:
The federal Coalition’s decision, along with One Nation and Senator David Van, to pursue a disallowance motion on 60-day dispensing of certain medicines shows a callous disregard for consumers facing cost-of-living pressures.
Australian Medical Association president Professor Robson said the decision to move the motion in the Senate clearly showed the signatories to this had buckled under an irresponsible scare campaign by those opposed to the measures.
Let me be clear, this policy was recommended by an independent expert body — the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) — because it is safe and has enormous benefits to the community.
It saves consumers money, and it frees up GP time, which the health system desperately needs.
This capitulation to an irresponsible and orchestrated scare campaign is beyond disappointing, because it will prevent consumers saving up to $180 per year on selected Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme funded medicines.
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As always in the senate, nothing is solid until it is solid. After appearing like the Coalition wouldn’t get the support it needed for the disallowance motion (the Greens had said no, and Jacqui Lambie has previously been very critical of the Pharmacy Guild) David Pocock is holding his cards close to his chest.
David Pocock giving nothing away about his position on 60-day dispensing. Still talking to health minister and Pharmacy Guild.
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) August 10, 2023
Says pharmacies have "genuine concerns" and services in ACT may be affected. #auspol
Press conference soon for Coalition’s motion against prescription changes
Sussan Ley, Anne Ruston (shadow health minister) and David Littleproud are holding a press conference in just under 30 minutes to talk about the Coalition disallowance motion against the 60-day dispensing changes. Littleproud has been one of the biggest critics, saying it will mean the closure of regional pharmacies. The government says it has increased the regional pharmacy allowance to offset losses.
At the same time, the AMA and the royal college of GPs will be holding a press conference pushing for the dispensing changes to go ahead. The doctors are in support because it will cut down on the number of times patients with chronic conditions have to make appointments to refill their prescriptions.
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X platform considering censorship of 'outrage sharing' of child abuse material
X’s head of global affairs, Nick Pickles, said permanent suspension was “one option” but sharing content on an outrage basis was something the company was considering:
One of the challenges we see is … people sharing this content out of outrage because they want to raise awareness of an issue. They see something in the media. So if there are circumstances where someone shares content but under review, we decide the appropriate remediation is to remove the content but not the user.
Senators across the political spectrum took the representatives from X to task over failing to permanently ban accounts sharing such material. Pickles said the company had removed millions of accounts sharing child abuse material, but he would take the feedback on this case back to Twitter.
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Greens’ David Shoebridge presses X representatives over Musk restoring account sharing child sexual abuse material
Representatives from the company formerly known as Twitter have defended owner Elon Musk restoring an account that shared child sexual abuse material last month, despite claiming to have a “zero tolerance approach” to accounts sharing such material, stating “outrage” sharing might not lead to a permanent ban.
At the end of July, a right-wing influencer account with over half a million followers shared an image of child abuse material on X stating it was to draw attention to child exploitation. It garnered over 3m views and 8,000 retweets before it was taken down and the account was suspended.
But Musk later restored the account, following pressure from other right-wing accounts on the platform.
Speaking before a parliamentary committee on law enforcement capabilities in relation to child exploitation, Greens senator David Shoebridge took X representatives to task over claiming the company had a “zero tolerance” approach to posting child abuse material, while the company’s boss restored that account.
He said:
When it was pointed out that this account, which had more than half a million followers, had tweeted an image containing Child Sexual Abuse material, some of the most notorious and appalling Child Sexual Abuse material … Your boss, who I assume sets the tone for X, tweeted that the account had been suspended, the material had been deleted. But then after pressure from his followers your boss Elon Musk reinstated the account.
(continued in next post)
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Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has been announced as a speaker at the national press club next week.
Her speech is titled ‘It’s time for us to mature as as nation’.
AMP prepares for potential payouts after losing legal dispute
AMP has set aside $50m for potential payouts after losing a legal dispute with financial planners working under its umbrella.
The provision, noted in the company’s half-year results released on Thursday, came after the federal court ruled in early July the financial services company would have to pay exiting financial advisors almost double what it had proposed.
The dispute was concerned with AMP changes to a buyer-of-last-resort policy that determines the value the company pays planners wanting to sell their practices back to it.
The AMP chief executive, Alexis George, said:
We have booked a $50m provision in response to the judgment in the financial adviser class action.
The process for the court making orders from the judgment is ongoing and until finalised we won’t make a decision on any appeal.
AMP reported a $112m underlying profit for the first six months of the year, matching the previous corresponding period.
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In just over an hour, the latest parliamentary portrait will be unveiled, with Kevin Rudd’s official prime ministerial portrait being added to the gallery.
At this stage, we don’t know if it will include reference to ‘fair suck of the sav’ or if he sat wearing a Kevin07 shirt, but all will be revealed soon.
Scientists petition to end land clearing and native forest logging before next election
More than 250 scientists have called on the prime minster, Anthony Albanese, to end land clearing and logging of native forests before the next election.
In a letter to the prime minister ahead of next week’s Labor party national conference, the 256 scientists warn it will be impossible for the government to meet its commitments to no new extinctions and reach net zero emissions without urgently halting the bulldozing of native forests and woodlands.
The letter states:
We have sounded the alarm for more than 30 years that the large-scale destruction of native woodlands, forests, wetlands and grasslands was the single biggest threat to the nation’s biodiversity. That is still the case today.
Land clearing data released for Queensland and NSW last week showed more than 1.5 million hectares of forest and woodland (an area larger than greater Sydney) had been bulldozed in three years across the two states alone.
Dr Hugh Possingham, co-chair of The Biodiversity Council and Professor at the University of Queensland, said some conservation solutions were complicated - “this one is not”:
We’re still averaging around half a million hectares of clearing a year. It’s far too much. For every 100 hectares bulldozed, as many as 500 native mammals, 2000 birds, and 15,000 reptiles die. That means tens of millions of native animals killed directly every year by the bulldozing of their homes.
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Liberal senator Alex Antic is speaking in support of UAP senator Ralph Babet’s bill – that doesn’t mean that the Liberal party has a whole support it. Antic is part of the rogues’ gallery of senators who vote as they wish, particularly on issues like vaccines.
It usually includes Matt Canavan and Gerard Rennick from the Coalition and One Nation senators Pauline Hanson and Malcolm Roberts. Others dip in depending on the culture war of the day.
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Business Council of Australia’s migration report rejects concerns of surging arrivals
In case you didn’t see it, Paul Karp has looked at the Business Council of Australia’s (BCA) report:
Big business has sided with the Albanese government by rejecting the “misconception” that migration is higher than normal and the “disingenuous” claim by the Coalition that Labor is pursuing a big Australia policy.
In a report titled Migration Makes Australia Stronger, to be released on Thursday, the BCA calls for reforms to make migration more business-friendly and rejects concerns about a surge in arrivals after Covid border closures were lifted.
The report follows similar warnings from Australian Industry Group chief executive, Innes Willox, at the National Press Club last week that it was “really, really unfortunate” that some have “demonised” migration.
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Parliament sitting underway: UAP senator pushes private members bill
The parliament sitting has begun and over in the senate, UAP senator Ralph Babet is trying to get his private members bill – ‘Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Amendment (Vaccine Indemnity) Bill 2023’ passed.
The explanatory memo explains:
This Bill seeks to prevent the granting of future indemnities by the Commonwealth in relation to the use of vaccines. This Bill will limit financial and legal risk to the Commonwealth so that risk remains with pharmaceutical companies.
This is a continuation of the UAP’s push against the pandemic measures.
There is no way this bill would pass the Labor controlled house, so it won’t go anywhere.
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Katy Gallagher says supply barriers pressuring housing market
At the end of that interview, Katy Gallagher was asked about what the federal government is doing on housing and said:
We all acknowledge that pressure in the housing market is there particularly at the social and affordable end and that part of the solution is generating and investing in that supply.
But the other side is dealing with some of the barriers that are holding [us] back … like supplies [and] being able to construct.
So it’s a genuine cross government issue in this federation, one arm of government can’t solve it.
We can put all the money on the table tomorrow, and we’ve still got issues that we need to solve at the state and territory and local government level and that’s what the work the prime minister is leading.
National cabinet meets next Wednesday in Brisbane ahead of the Labor conference, where housing is the number one agenda item. That is because of the Greens push for renters rights, including rent freezes and rent caps (there is also the super profits tax idea, which is where the government set up a windfall tax that is reinvested into housing) as part of its negotiations on the housing Australia future fund. The government has said no to that, but it is looking at uniform guidelines the state and territories would follow to improve the rental market, for renters.
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Katy Gallagher says she hopes the parliament will progress the legislation pretty quickly because there is support across the parliament for the changes.
But there is more work to be done before the second tranche of legislation is progressed.
Priority is parliament HR before establishing an independent commission, Katy Gallagher says
Katy Gallagher spoke a little about the Set the Standard legislation on ABC radio RN Breakfast this morning.
This first bill will set up the parliament HR (essentially) - the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service –which will be independent to government.
There has been an interim body in place, but this is the permanent body.
So how would it work?
Gallagher said:
Under the new model it’ll be created as an independent authority. It will have more ability including additional resourcing which we put in the last budget to provide those services.
However, I should say that the next piece of work that we’ve got to do is what’s going to be called the IPSC which is the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission, which is going to be the permanent and ongoing body that will look at investigations and sanctions about complaints.
The PWSS doesn’t have that role yet.
It will it will do investigations and complaints handling for the interim and then once the IPSC is in place, that will be the body that does the investigations, that function with the ability to enforce sanctions.
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Set the Standard report: government to introduce independent parliament support service
The government will introduce the first major legislation in response to the Kate Jenkins’ Set the Standard report, which will establish an independent Parliamentary Workplace Support Service – almost like a HR for parliament staffers.
One of the major issues to come out of the Set the Standard report was ministerial staff did not have anywhere to go if there was a workplace issue. They could be hired and fired by their minister with almost no recourse, which meant that many said they felt pressured to put up with behaviour which would be unacceptable in most other Australian workplaces.
Katy Gallagher and Don Farrell have announced the first tranche of legislation to make some of the recommendations Jenkins made come to fruition and first up is the PWSS being set up as an independent statutory agency.
The PWSS will be an independent statutory agency that will deliver:
Professional development and training for staff;
Support and resources to professionalise management practices in offices;
Access to coaching and early intervention supports including policy, process, and guidance to manage suspension and termination decisions; and
Training and guidance for the implementation of the Code of Conduct and behavioural standards.
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Coalition argue migration rates are behind housing crisis
The Coalition have pursued Labor over those figures, despite the numbers being lower than what was forecast when the Coalition was in power, and due to the re-opening of the borders after the pandemic closures.
It has been one of those issues which has been simmering along under the surface after a big public push in media and question times.
James Paterson was asked about the BCA’s view while on Sky and the Coalition senator was critical of the business lobby – a strange sentence to type.
I’m very supportive of migration to Australia which helped build this country, but the pace and the rate of that migration is absolutely a legitimate issue for public debate and the impact that has on services into our community is also very legitimate, particularly housing. Frankly, I thought this was a particularly tone deaf contribution from the business community today, suggesting that the only numbers that matter were the permanent migration program and not the temporary workers, students who are coming here right now.
Because we know they are coming in extraordinary numbers and by the end of this year, I’ve been told by people in the industry it’s going to be eye wateringly high numbers, perhaps the largest ever on record.
So, for the business community to just dismiss the impacts of that on people’s rent, on people’s mortgages, on their ability to get in the housing market is dangerously out of touch for them. And I think they have to recognise that we are not providing enough housing to Australians, and we need to get on with that task if we want to make sure we can welcome migrants.
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Business Council of Australia calls for migration reforms
The Business Council of Australia have released a new research paper this morning with the title ‘migration makes Australia stronger’ where it makes the case that poor policy, not migration is to blame for the housing crisis, while calling for the migration system to be reformed.
In releasing the report, CEO Jennifer Westacott said:
If we want to continue to be competitive in attracting global talent, our migration system needs to be reformed.
Australia is competing against other countries for the best and brightest; and slow or complex migration systems, which do not provide appropriate levels of certainty for someone looking to uproot their lives to move internationally, puts us at a serious disadvantage.
Westacott and the BCA also pushed back against the ‘big Australia’ scare campaigns.
There is a current misconception that our migration figures are higher than normal.
It is important to recognise migration numbers currently recorded simply reflect a rebalancing after the pandemic border closures in 2020 and 2021.
Our population is actually expected to be smaller than previously forecast irrespective of the current catch-up period of migration.
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Prescription changes could hurt rural and regional pharmacies, Liberal senator says
Liberal senator James Paterson was on Sky News this morning explaining the Coalition’s position on attempting to block the 60-dispensing prescription changes.
Paterson says the Coalition supports cheaper medicine, but wants the government to come back to the table with pharmacists:
I mean, everyone is in favour of delivering cheaper medicines to Australians. That’s something we’re very proud of that we achieved in our time in government by listing a range of new medicines on the PBS. It’s something that Labor failed to do when they were last in government. But this could have very serious unintended consequences on community pharmacies, particularly in rural and regional communities, and no one is better off if they lose their only medical care, in which it is [in] some regional communities and in some remote communities. And the government’s lack of consultation, lack of consideration for these issues is leading to really significant angst in the community and obviously particularly with community pharmacy operators.
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Google tells parliament it disabled 600,000 child abuse accounts
The parliamentary joint committee, law enforcement is meeting this morning to hear from Google and Twitter about child exploitation material.
This could get interesting particularly because Twitter has come under fire from the eSafety Commissioner for failing to deal with hate speech on the platform, and there are concerns that standards are slipping on other illegal material.
But first up, Google.
Lucinda Longcroft, the director of government affairs and public policy for Australia and New Zealand, gave an opening statement:
Child sexual abuse material has no place on our platforms. As an industry leader in fighting CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material), our approaches to develop, and share technology to detect this content of scale to report, child sexual abuse material and our platforms; and deter predatory behaviors on our platforms, that put our children at leas; and work across industry and with NGOs to support the development of new data-driven, tools to boost technical capacity and raise awareness.
First, we can identify report and remove CSAM at scale across our platforms because of the investment we’ve made in developing, and deploying cutting edge technologies, including technology to scan and identify potential CSAM in uploaded videos … We recognise that protecting children from abuse is a mission that no one company, industry or part of society can accomplish alone [so] we share that technology with eligible partners free of charge.
Second, we report all instances of CSAM on our platforms to the US-based national center for missing and exploited children ... which in turn sends reports to law enforcement authorities around the world, including to the Australian Federal Police. In 2022 across our platforms, we made more than two million reports to network.
And we’ve disabled over 600 thousand accounts for possessing CSAM. We also send supplemental high priority cyber tip reports on the abuse of children or production of CSAM ... and our team follows up with your enforcement to make sure that they’re aware of these reports.
Longcroft said that Google also: de-indexes searches that might lead to CSAM, displays warnings that it is illegal, and provides avenues to report it.
On action in Australia, she said:
Google received more than six thousand data access requests directly from Australian law enforcement agencies in 2022. We received 62 requests under our emergency disclosure policy, which facilitates access to account data in urgent circumstances where life is a risk. We stock this service 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
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Battle against soft drink flavoured alcohol isn’t a new one
When I was in high school, the big drink furore was over soft drink flavoured alcoholic drinks, alcoholic ‘pops’ which included ice blocks and sickly sweet pre-packaged ‘shots’ of alcohol which could be hidden from bag searches (or so I heard).
It is not a new battle, is what I am saying. There is a reason things like Passion Pop are still for sale in liquor stores. The pattern seems to be the same – an outcry, a push back and a simmer down again.
Closing advertising loopholes, given that most young people do not consume their media in the same way as their parents, let alone when the advertising codes were put in place is one thing and probably the battle worth focussing on.
Focussing on one product doesn’t usually lead to a change.
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Teals push for stricter alcohol regulations as Asahi’s Hard Solo launches
The teals push to have stricter regulation around the marketing of things like alcohol (as well as junk food and gambling) is not new – it has been one of the issues the crossbench, and independent senator David Pocock have been pushing since April/May.
The main thrust of the campaign is to have the government close the advertising loopholes that let companies “saturate broadcast and social media with harmful product marketing”.
Groups like Fare (Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education) are in support of the mission, which it says is crucial given how companies use data.
In May, Fare CEO Caterina Giorgi said:
By the time a child reaches 13 years of age, 72 million data points will have been collected on them – and this is used to build a profile of them so that marketing can be used to most effectively target them.
Alcohol and gambling companies are using this data to track, trace and target our children with marketing online.
This is an alarming statistic. When it comes to addictive products like alcohol and gambling this targeted marketing causes significant harm.
Today’s push comes after the approval of Hard Solo (an alcoholic version of the soft drink Solo, which I only vaguely remember because of some guy in a kayak) which North Sydney MP Kylea Tink has told the SMH is a step too far. Tink told the paper:
For a company like [Japanese brewer] Asahi to come out and say there’s no problem with that product to me indicates there’s a clear breakdown in between community expectation and corporate expectation.
Questions have to be asked of both the company and the [Alcoholic Beverages Advertising Code panel] ... that product did not pass the pub test.
Asahi has said that most drinkers of Solo are adults and “strongly refute any claims that Hard Solo can be confused with regular Solo”.
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Senate ‘has a choice’ to deliver cheap medicines to 6 million Australians, Butler says
Mark Butler says he is speaking to senators David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie and Tammy Tyrrell about the importance of the policy for patients (the Greens have already said they won’t support the Coalition’s motion).
This is a critically important cost-of-living measure for 6 million Australians whose medicine bills will halve if this measure is supported by the Senate.
But it’s also good for their health. We know that 60-day prescriptions, which are very common around the world for ongoing chronic health conditions, improve medication compliance. It also has the ability to free up millions of GP consults, which we know are desperately needed out in their community.
And that’s why this measure is supported by every patient group and every doctors’ group. But it has been opposed by the powerful pharmacy lobby now for five years when it was first recommended by the medicines experts who manage our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The former government ignored the recommendation and as a result, those 6 million patients have paid literally hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in fees they shouldn’t have had to pay.
The Senate has a choice this morning: they can put that to an end - that delay, that blocking to an end - and they can deliver cheaper medicines to 6 million Australians, which will be really good for the health system as well.
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Health minister on Coalition’s attempts to block two-for-one script changes
Health minister Mark Butler was up bright and early on the Seven Network to talk the two-for-one script changes, which the Coalition are trying to block with a disallowance motion.
That’s because the Pharmacy Guild have been running a very strong campaign against the changes. Why? Because pharmacists stand to lose up to $150,000 or so in dispensing fees over the mid-term life of the policy change. The government has said it will take the $1.2bn it is estimated to save with the policy over the forwards and reinvest it back into community pharmacies, and have brought forward the next community pharmacy agreement negotiations by a year (that is where the details of how much pharmacists will receive for dispensing medicines, giving flu shots etc is nutted out).
But the Guild and its members are upset not just because of the lost dispensing fees, but also because of the incidentals (like jelly beans, I imagine) people buy when they are filling their scripts. And if chronic patients are coming in half as often, then that is a lot less jelly beans being sold on top of the prescription.
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Not politics, but politics adjacent – the ABC shut down almost all its X (formerly twitter) pages yesterday, as Amanda Meade reported:
Musk has responded:
Well of course they prefer censorship-friendly social media.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 9, 2023
The Australian public does not.
There is a difference between censorship and abuse, but apparently not in Musk’s world.
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Good morning
Welcome to parliament Friday (the last day of the parliament sitting) where this strange sitting fortnight will come to an end (until 4 September).
The health minister, Mark Butler, is on a ‘can you believe these guys’ tour about the Coalition’s attempts to disallow the two-for-one prescription change for about 300 or so chronic medications. The Coalition attempted to get support in the Senate to kill the government’s plan, following intense lobbying from the Pharmaceutical Guild, but didn’t find the numbers it was looking for.
So the change goes ahead, with the first stage to begin in September, and Butler is taking all the opportunities to criticise the opposition for standing against a policy which will save patients money.
In other health news, teal independents are turning their attention to alcohol companies and why there is an increasing number of products which appear as though they are being marketed to underage drinkers.
It’s not a new problem – sweet, colourful drinks that don’t particularly taste alcoholic and are available in bright bottles and cans that resemble soft drink have been available for decades. But with ‘hard’ versions of soft drink –like Solo – becoming available in Australia, North Sydney MP Kylea Tink and her crossbench colleagues are pushing for tighter regulation. Representatives from the alcohol industry are in town today to meet with the teals to discuss that push (which means it must be gaining traction). That comes on top of the teals push to stop gambling and alcohol ads during sports games. (I don’t actually know anyone under the age of 38 who drinks Solo, but I think it is the principle of the thing).
It is a busy day for the teals, who, along with David Pocock will also be pushing for the release of the Office of National Intelligence’s Climate Risk Assessment Report, which the government is declining to release because of national security reasons.
And they will also be pushing along calls for ATO whistleblower Richard Boyle’s prosecution to be dropped.
So a busy day for the crossbench. What else is going on? The voice debate continues (as it will until October) although the Coalition moved on to other issues in question time yesterday. We will cover it all off as it happens, so don’t you worry about that.
You have Paul Karp, Daniel Hurst and Sarah Basford Canales in Canberra and Amy Remeikis on the blog. Mike Bowers is also in the building (huzzah).
I am on my second coffee with a third brewing – so let’s get into it.
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