What happened today, 17 February 2021
With that, I will leave you for the day. Here’s today’s recap:
- In Covid-19 news, the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, confirmed the state’s lockdown will end at midnight.
- In federal politics, the former government staffer Brittany Higgins accused the prime minister, Scott Morrison, of victim-blaming, and said the government still had questions to answer about her treatment.
- Amid a sustained outcry, Morrison agreed to hold an “independent” “arm’s-length” workplace review of parliament, separate to reviews he’d announced led by a Liberal MP and a top public servant.
- Top former political figures also weighed in on Morrison’s claim he was not informed about Higgins’ allegation. Both Peta Credlin and Malcolm Turnbull said they found the claim hard to believe.
- There were reports publisher Nine had come to deal with Google worth $30m.
- The government looked likely to pass its family court merger bill in the Senate, following a deal with Pauline Hanson and Rex Patrick.
We’ll see you tomorrow.
Updated
Returning to Peta Credlin’s 2GB interview, the former top political staffer also said she was not surprised that the system had “failed” Brittany Higgins.
She says:
Sadly it’s not a surprising turn of events and not a surprising error in how she has been treated, or the way she says failed her. That rings true to me.
Speaking before the letter Scott Morrison has sent to the opposition leader, posted below, Credlin said there was no doubt an independent investigation was needed:
You don’t have an independent investigation led by an MP about culture, which is what’s happening here. Scott Morrison’s given it to a backbencher. And you wouldn’t have another part of the inquiry, led by a public servant, because they wouldn’t know what the hell goes on.
Updated
Morrison agrees to independent workplace review of parliament
Scott Morrison has written to Anthony Albanese agreeing to an “arm’s-length” workplace review of parliament.
Morrison had flagged that he would support such a proposal when asked by Albanese in parliament earlier this week. Today, the crossbench also wrote to the PM urging him to pursue such a process.
breaking: PM letter to @AlboMP on an independent review into workplace issues at Parliament House @newscomauHQ pic.twitter.com/vgc1HPaOsH
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) February 17, 2021
Updated
Claim PM was kept in dark 'doesn't stack up', says Credlin
Peta Credlin, the former chief of staff to Tony Abbott, says claims that no one told the prime minister, Scott Morrison, about Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations “doesn’t stack up”.
Credlin, speaking to 2GB this afternoon, insisted “you’ve got to take the prime minister at his word” but still appeared to cast doubt on the claims.
She said:
A lot of this doesn’t stack up to me. It doesn’t stack up to me. There’s no way if I was aware of an allegation like that, that the prime minister wouldn’t have known. I don’t think something like that could happen, that a minister would not have advised the prime minister’s office. Now he says that didn’t happen. You’ve got to take the prime minister at his word. He’s repeated that in the parliament and misleading the parliament is a very grave offence. But this doesn’t smell right to me.
Updated
AAP also has this market update:
Australia’s share market has closed lower, while two retail leaders warned pandemic sales may have peaked ahead of government assistance being wound back and travel restrictions easing.
The S&P/ASX200 benchmark index closed lower by 32.1 points, or 0.46%, to 6,885.2 on Wednesday, on a mostly subdued day for global markets.
The All Ordinaries closed lower by 30.5 points, or 0.42%, at 7,158.8.
Consumer staples had a 3.47% dive due in part to Coles boss Steven Cain’s comments that surging sales may ease.
There were losses of more than 2% for property and information technology, while healthcare lost 1.78%.
The ASX declines follow those of the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, while Chinese markets were closed for the lunar new year holiday.
Updated
“Draconian and unfair powers” were used to slap Victorian Labor MP Marlene Kairouz with an invalid charge of branch-stacking, her lawyer claims.
AAP reports that Kairouz has taken her party to Victoria’s supreme court, seeking the charges against her be declared null and void, and an injunction to stop a party disputes tribunal hearing from going ahead.
Federal Labor last year took over the state branch and endorsed an audit by party stalwarts Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin.
They looked into allegations sacked minister Adem Somyurek handed over cash and used parliamentary employees to create fake branch members and amass political influence.
It was alleged staff in Kairouz’s office and that of Robin Scott were involved in branch-stacking.
This involves recruiting or signing up members to a local political party branch to influence the outcome of candidate preselections for parliament.
Acting for Kairouz, John Karkar QC told Justice Timothy Ginnane on Wednesday the ALP’s national executive didn’t have the power to interfere with the state branch.
He argued this meant the appointment of administrators to the state branch last year was invalid.
He also said it meant the rules under which Kairouz was charged, and charges themselves, were invalid too.
Documents filed on behalf of Kairouz, who last year resigned from cabinet, showed the party’s national executive amended the definition of branch stacking in September 2020.
Karkar argued this wasn’t retrospective and so couldn’t be applied to allegations Kairouz engaged in branch stacking on or before March 10 last year.
Peter Willis QC – representing Labor figures including Bracks, Macklin and federal opposition leader Anthony Albanese – urged the court to scrap Kairouz’s application.
He said her alleged conduct would have contravened the party’s previous branch-stacking rules anyway.
He also questioned what of Kairouz’s legal interests were meant to have been threatened, and said the disputes tribunal was able to determine the validity of its own hearing.
A date for the tribunal hearing has not been set.
The supreme court application is due to continue on Thursday.
Updated
Labor’s Mark Dreyfus has issued a statement about the opposition’s fears the government will soon pass its family court merger bill.
In part, it says:
The Morrison government has today voted to shut down debate in the Senate so that it can ram through its dangerous and radical proposal to effectively abolish the Family Court of Australia.
The government’s decision to shut down debate and force through its deeply flawed legislation flies in the face of evidence from more than 150 committed organisations and people who work in the family law system – all of whom oppose the government’s proposal.
Updated
Hi everyone. Luke Henriques-Gomes here. Thanks to Amy Remeikis for her excellent work today, and always. I’ll be with you for into the evening.
Let’s get into it.
It has been another draining day, none more so than for Brittany Higgins and those who know her pain.
Please take care of yourselves tonight.
Luke Henriques-Gomes will take you through the evening – the family court merger bill is being rushed through after a deal with Rex Patrick and Pauline Hanson gave the government the Senate numbers.
He’ll keep you updated as the evening rolls on.
Politics Live will be back tomorrow morning with me – as a side note, to those of you who read my opinion piece today, or sent me a message – thank you for reading, and for your thoughts. It has made these last few days easier.
I’ll be back tomorrow – take care of you.
Updated
The former sex discrimination commissioner Pru Goward is asked about Brittany Higgins’s statement on Afternoon Briefing:
I think we have to start by accepting her position on everything.
It happened to her, she is the aggrieved party and she is entitled absolutely to that view, and I think we have seen a lot of victim-blaming in history, and people need to be very careful the way that they choose their words.
She hasn’t given an example, so I really am not confident in saying whether or not I would agree. But that’s not the issue, the issue is that’s how she feels.
I thought what was interesting about her statement today was the fact that the security guards absolutely could see what had happened or must’ve been able to see what had happened in her state of undress and so on, and that really takes us to the heart of what I think the difficulty with the Parliament House culture problem is because ... I know exactly how hard and hard-playing that place is.
I think the fundamental issue is there is no one boss.
The Department of Finance employs the staff, someone else employs the security guards ...
The culture, it seems to me, it’s easy to say it’s disrespectful of women and what have you, and it might be, but I think the biggest problem is that it is very messy. It is very undisciplined.
I mean, you would not get this happen in a serious corporation today. You wouldn’t have probably seen it for 10 years and that is because there are really clear accountabilities ...
What were those security guards supposed to do? Where were they supposed to go? Should they have rung the prime minister’s office?
Should they have spoken to the Speaker of the House? Who knows? And I suspect nobody knows, and I think when you’ve got a messy accountability, when you’ve got people not knowing who they report to, who they complain about and to whom, you can’t be surprised when there is no discipline.
As I said, the hard drinking, that was true 20 years ago, it shouldn’t be the case today. You wouldn’t find it in a major corporation today. You wouldn’t find bosses condoning disrespectful behaviour.
Updated
Malcolm Turnbull spoke in support of Brittany Higgins this morning.
Kevin Rudd has now issued a statement.
For those asking, Brittany has said that she has been contacted by Christopher Pyne (who was a minister when she was in parliament, Turnbull and the current minister Darren Chester).
— Kevin Rudd (@MrKRudd) February 17, 2021
Updated
The Liberal MP Fiona Martin was one of the first MPs to respond in support of Brittany Higgins when Samantha Maiden first told her story on Monday.
It is not up to women, or indeed any victim, to change their behaviour to deter predatory activity.
— Dr Fiona Martin (@FionaMartinMP) February 17, 2021
Sexual assault, discrimination and harassment are a problem for perpetrators, not victims. ⏬ pic.twitter.com/5Xc1ir1pmV
Updated
Anne Aly:
We can have the processes in place and we can have the policies in place, but until we change the culture, until we change the culture, they are useless.
Because if Ms Higgins feels, as she says, that she was compelled to not go to the police because it would have meant losing her career, losing her job, that is what needs to change – stopping the culture needs to change.
And that’s a big task for a place like this.
Walk around here and have a look here at the culture, feel it, it’s in the air.
We’ve got a big challenge ahead of us and I know that, I’m with Tim [Wilson] on this, I know that this has touched every member of the house, regardless of political party, and I think we need to put our hands together, work collaboratively and moving forward and ensuring this never happens again.
Tim Wilson:
Couldn’t agree more.
Updated
Anne Aly:
I would go to the question of culture here, you only need to look around, the culture is that political parties protect themselves, and today in question time the prime minister talked about Ms Higgins having a choice.
It is not a choice when your choice is to lose your job [if you] go to the police. That is not a choice.
It is not a choice when it is made very clear to you, on a number of issues, that protecting the political party and the reputation of the political party is the ultimate game here.
And it’s across political parties. That’s the issue with the culture here at Parliament House.
There is too much of a protection racket going on that victims, across a range of behaviours and some of the most, in this case, one of the most heinous behaviours, do not feel safe, do not feel comfortable, do not feel that they have a choice to come out to pursue the proper channels which should be to go to the police and report an alleged assault.
Updated
Tim Wilson and Anne Aly are now speaking to the ABC. They are also asked about Brittany Higgins’s statement.
Wilson:
I think it is disturbing if she feels that way. My understanding is the prime minister has sought to be as supportive in the discussion around this as possible and to make sure that all proper processes are followed.
Obviously she has made further statements which don’t align with that and it’s up to her, ultimately, to decide how to pursue this matter, but I would have thought that the best thing in these circumstances is to go through the police to make sure there’s a proper way those people are who are responsible are held accountable.
Patricia Karvelas: Victim blaming is the really strong language that she has used in the statement, is that what the prime minister has been doing?
Aly:
I think we [defer to] Ms Higgins on this. She certainly feels that the prime minister has not taken her case, her very disturbing and very serious allegations of an incident that occurred right here in Parliament House, if she feels that that is not being taken seriously.
And look, I have been myself rather perplexed by the way in which the prime minister handled it, the fact that he had to seek empathy from his wife and relate to it only as a father of daughters.
I understand that kind of language, but I think that that language doesn’t have a place in Australia, in modern-day Australia, where it does pertain a lot to the way in which we see the victims of rape, to their believability, to the way in which we show empathy and sympathy towards them. His choice of words weren’t, I think, optimum choice of words. I noted that several times he said the situation in which she found herself. She did not find herself in that situation, she was put in that situation.
Updated
Helen Haines is asked on Afternoon Briefing about Brittany Higgins’s statement this afternoon:
That is Brittany’s words and I would say that the greatest problem for women who have experienced sexual abuse like this is being believed.
For me, this is just highlighted in a stark reality why we need to have an independent complaints body in this organisation that is the Australian parliament. Why there needs to be a place that the young women or young men or whoever, any employee, any member of parliament for that matter, can go to and know that they are safe and can make a complaint.
This is the most extreme of events and I believe that an independent body is one where complaints can be made on a whole range of issues, but for something as serious as this, I think it is crucial and I think today and yesterday since this has become clear to us, this is a point of no return and we need to get this fixed.
Updated
Here is how Mike Bowers saw question time:
Updated
On Tuesday the Therapeutic Goods Administration said the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective at preventing 82% of people contracting Covid-19 (but 100% effective at preventing seriousness illness and death).
On Wednesday the chief medical officer, Paul Kelly, was asked if it is similarly effective against new strains.
He replied:
That 82% has come from the phase three trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which took place in South Africa and the UK and Brazil, so it has looked at those three countries where they have had variants of concern. Mostly it was based on information that happened before those variants were widespread in those countries. So 82% is average across the viruses that caused illness during both phase three trials. And that’s for any type of illness ... We don’t have any information at the moment that shows that the AstraZeneca is less effective for those variants of concern. Now data is coming every day and we may see that, but at the moment that is the case. What we need to do is to get those vaccines out as soon as possible, either the AstraZeneca or the Pfizer vaccine, because they are both very strongly effective at saving lives, and that is the number one perspective at the moment.
Updated
He’s almost ready for the parliament now (this is sarcasm, please do not even pretend he is a serious contender for the Senate):
Inbox: Pete Evans’ Instagram account has been deleted for COVID-19 misinfo pic.twitter.com/mrNBWee4Ns
— CAMERONWILSON (@cameronwilson) February 17, 2021
Updated
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation is also in support of the government’s legislation to the merge the courts.
Hanson has been a HUGE critic of the family court.
Disappointed to see Govt, PHON and @Senator_Patrick join forces to gag further debate on the Family Court merger bill. The merger is a poor reform and deserves to be debated (and defeated).
— Stirling Griff (@Stirling_G) February 17, 2021
The government is pushing ahead with its vote to merge the family court with the federal court – despite concerns from a vast bulk of the legal fraternity and experts – by guillotining the debate to have a vote by 9.30 tonight.
Updated
Prof Paul Kelly urges as many people to get Covid jab before winter as possible
Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Paul Kelly, is again asking everyone to get the jab:
As many people as possible getting this jab especially before winter would be a strong thing by those in their priority group.
Starting with border workers, moving to our frontline healthcare workers, as well as aged care and disability care, those in residential care in particular, as well as the people who look after them, we definitely want them to be vaccinated as soon as possible.
The more people that do get vaccinated, the quicker we can get back to some sort of normal life.
Absolute priority, getting to those ones that are most vulnerable of getting severe disease, and as I have said already, these vaccines, both of them will save lives, and the more people who are vaccinated the better.
Updated
Brittany Higgins says 'the government has questions to answer about its own conduct'
Brittany Higgins has released a statement following that question time:
I have only been made aware of key elements of my own sexual assault as a result of coming forward publicly with my story.
I didn’t know that security guards let me into Minister Reynolds’ suite. I didn’t know that a security guard came into the office multiple times seeing me in a state of undress.
I didn’t know they were undertaking an internal review into how the matter was handled at the time. I didn’t know that they debated calling an ambulance at the time of the incident.
The continued victim-blaming rhetoric by the Prime Minister is personally very distressing to me and countless other survivors.
A current senior staffer to the Prime Minister and my former Chief-of-Staff refused to provide me with access to the CCTV footage from that evening and continually made me feel as if my ongoing employment would be jeopardised if I proceeded any further with the matter.
The Government has questions to answer for their own conduct.
Updated
Supporters of the Tamil family from Biloela have raised concern that the government may have prepared a flight to send them to Sri Lanka from Christmas Island yesterday in the event the full federal court decided in the government’s favour.
As we reported yesterday, the full court upheld the lower court’s decision, meaning the family will remain in detention on Christmas Island for the time being while their legal process continues.
Supporters on Christmas Island said they noticed a private plane, security guards and translator staff on hand yesterday ahead of the ruling, suggesting they might be preparing to move the family.
Border force would not confirm if that was the case, telling Guardian Australia it “does not comment on specific operational matters”.
Updated
All eyes turn to Keith Pitt:
Congratulations to everyone who spoke up and put pressure on both the State and Federal Governments. This shows that community pressure and advocacy works.
— 🌏 Zali Steggall MP (@zalisteggall) February 17, 2021
Now the decision whether to extend the PEP-11 license is with the federal Minister for Resources Keith Pitt. #saveourcoast
Another agreement has been struck between Google and Australian media:
Junkee on board! https://t.co/TRHJQNOjxB
— amanda meade (@meadea) February 17, 2021
Updated
NSW deputy premier urges federal government not to renew gas and oil licence PEP11
Picking up on what the Liberal MP Jason Falinski said earlier, and why he would tweet at the resources minister, Keith Pitt.
Falinski was reacting to the NSW deputy premier John Barilaro’s announcement that he has written to Pitt recommending the federal government not renew PEP11.
So what is PEP11? It stands for Petroleum Exploration Permit 11, a licence that allows for offshore drilling of gas and oil and seismic testing in 4,500 sq km of water from off Manly, on Sydney’s northern beaches, up to Newcastle.
On Wednesday, Barilaro said:
I have written to my federal counterpart, Keith Pitt, in my role as a member of the Commonwealth-New South Wales Offshore Petroleum Joint Authority, recommending that PEP-11 is not renewed.
Mr Pitt formally wrote to me last week seeking my recommendation, and I want to acknowledge the representations made to me by my parliamentary colleagues, including the members for Pittwater, Terrigal and Manly.
I have listened to their views, and those of the people they represent – it confirms my own position to recommend that PEP-11 is not renewed.
The PEP11 licence has been held by several different energy providers in recent years, but moderate Liberal MPs, including Falinski, Dave Sharma and Trent Zimmerman, have vocally opposed the extension, as has the independent MP Zali Steggall and community group Save Our Coast.
This is good news. It follows many representations to John, and a private members bill in Parliament by me, seconded by @DaveSharma and supported by Trent Zimmerman. I hope Keith Pitt listens to our communities up and down the coast, and does the right thing. No to PEP-11. https://t.co/ZS7YJRkGn7
— Jason Falinski MP - For The Beaches (@JasonFalinskiMP) February 17, 2021
Their opposition had been in contrast to Pitt’s position and the Morrison government’s gas-led recovery.
In October, Pitt told the Guardian that he was “concerned that without further gas exploration, Australian businesses, manufacturers and households would be faced with higher energy prices”.
Pitt told the Guardian:
As I’ve stated regularly, I will give this proposal and the recommendation from Minister Barilaro the full and detailed consideration they deserve, making a decision in the national interest. In making my decision I will also take the advice of the National Offshore Petroleum Titles Administrator.
Updated
New Zealand reports new Covid case but will drop alert level
A family member of the two positive cases announced in New Zealand this afternoon has tested positive for Covid-19.
The two Wednesday cases are both students at Papatoetoe but were not at school while symptomatic.
The high school will remain closed this week, as it is now the source of three confirmed cases.
Every single student is now being tested, the director general of health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, said.
More than 20,000 tests have been done in Auckland since Sunday’s cluster was announced and the prime minister ordered a citywide lockdown.
Jacinda Ardern has announced changes to alert levels after meeting with her cabinet this afternoon.
Ardern says that from midnight tonight Auckland will drop down to alert level 2, ending the three-day lockdown.
The remainder of New Zealand will move to level 1.
The restrictions will be reviewed on Monday.
“We don’t have a widespread outbreak,” Ardern says, but a “contained traceable transmission.”
Ardern says she stands by returning Auckland to level 3 as the outbreak was of the more transmissible UK variety and her team took a cautious approach to the evolving situation.
Bloomfield says the wastewater testing that found no trace of Covid in the area was “reassuring” there was not a widespread outbreak in the community.
“I wanted enough time at a cautious level to give us reassurance,” Ardern says.
“Much better to have 72 hours in [lockdown] and make the wrong decision, than have 72 hours of unchecked spread.”
Mask-wearing on all public transport will now be mandatory nationwide, Ardern says.
Mandatory QR scan-coding will be discussed by cabinet soon, the PM says, though enforcement “would be tricky”.
Updated
Question time ended.
What did we learn?
Not a lot.
I know I shouldn’t, but I laugh every time someone from the government pretends it decided to reform the domestic recycling and waste industry out of the goodness of its heart, and not because the Pacific Island nations we dumped our rubbish on literally refused to take it and sent it back.
It’s just a perfect analogy for most things that happen in this place.
Spinning garbage into roses.
Updated
Labor’s last volley of questions relates to what support the prime minister’s office gave Linda Reynolds to deal with the breach of standards by the “other staff member involved in the incident”.
Simon Birmingham answers that this support “would have been advice” into the “interpretation of the ministerial code”. (Remember, at this stage the understanding of the incident was that it involved a security breach of entry into the defence minister’s office.)
Anthony Chisholm asks why this support was “limited to the alleged rapist”.
Birmingham replies it’s because the advice related to the termination of his employment.
In response to the third and final question about what the PM knew, Birmingham refers to the PM’s answers in the House.
Updated
The legislation provides a pathway for a casual employer to ask to go permanent. There is no onus on the employer to make that happen. There are no protections for that casual worker to no longer have any hours.
Tony Burke to Scott Morrison:
Can the prime minister confirm schedule 1, part 1, section 66M of his industrial relations bill means that when casuals are refused the right to convert to permanent employment, their only remedy to fix the problem is to go to the federal court?
Christian Porter gets it:
The remedy for dispute is precisely the same as the remedy of dispute is now under the Fair Work Act the opposition designed.
Exactly the same. Exactly the same.
What they would have people believe is somehow the very strong consistent now broadly applicable right to convert from casual to permanent employment which is enshrined in this bill is not real or is not enforceable or is somehow not a significant improvement on the situation that presently exists at the moment.
It is a very significant improvement to the benefit of workers on the position that exists at the moment.
Its enforceability mechanism is precisely the same as it is for dispute resolutions that exist at the moment. But more importantly it is a stronger right to convert.
Because what happens at the moment, for the benefit of all of the members of the House, is some awards have in them a basis upon which conversion to permanency from casual can occur and that is based on a request from the employee to the employer.
What this legislation does is make it a responsibility of the employer to offer that right to the employee. And if they don’t it is subject to the same dispute resolutions that exist in the present system for all comparative matters. For all comparative matters.
But also this now applies across the board, across the board. So places where there is no right to convert at the moment, no process, no enforceability, such as in the coalmining industry, for the first time ever we’ll have a strong, consistent, soundly enforceable pathway to conversion to permanency.
When members opposite ask us whether or not people will be better or worse off, if you have a strong consistent pathway to conversion to permanency, you will be better off. If the Labor party votes against that, you will be worse off.
If you have strong penalties for sham contracting, which are in this bill, you’ll be better off. If the Labor opposition votes against that, you will be worse off. If you have for the first time ever criminal penalties that will mean there is less underpayment, you’ll be better off. If Labor votes against that, you will be worse off.
If for the first time ever you have a criminal penalty for wage theft, you will be better off. If the Labor party vote against that, you will be worse off. If we reinvigorate the enterprise agreement system so there are more deals where people on average get paid 69% more than on the awards, you will be better off. If the Labor party votes against that, you will be worse off. What they have to do is explain to the Australian people why they would vote against measure after measure ...
Updated
Labor has quizzed Michaelia Cash about preparation for Senate estimates in October 2019, and the employment minister’s preparedness to answer questions about Brittany Higgins’ previous employment with Linda Reynolds.
Cash replies that in October 2019 she had a discussion with Brittany who said the incident had been dealt with seven months before and she didn’t want to take it any further.
Murray Watt then asks when Cash found out about the alleged rape.
In contrast to Reynolds, Cash gives a full account:
I only recently became aware of the alleged rape, when a journalist contacted my office for comment. On Friday 5 February [Brittany and I] spoke and she disclosed detail of what had occurred. I told her I wanted her to stay in her role – and I will do anything to assist her including to relocate her role to Queensland. I offered to go to the AFP with her. I said I would sit with her while she did this. She advised me she did not want to pursue it. I offered to go to the prime minister’s office with her, and raise the issue with them – she said no. She advised that at all times she wanted her privacy respected. I told her I would reluctantly accept her resignation. I told her if she needed anything – all she had to do was ask.
Updated
This would be the week before the prime minister says his office learned of the matter:
Michaelia Cash says she offered to go to the police with Brittany Higgins while she made a statement, but Higgins told her she did not want the matter pursued #qt
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) February 17, 2021
Updated
In the Senate:
Michaelia Cash has told the Senate she learned of the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins on February 5 #qt
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) February 17, 2021
Updated
It seems the ‘give the resume of every backbencher’ bug is more contagious than the UK strain of Covid – Alan Tudge has caught it.
Either MPs have been subjected to a memory wipe upon entry to parliament and need constant reminding of their life before politics, or it is just another reason why dixers should be spiked for all time.
Updated
Part of the Christian Porter pickup of Scott Morrison’s answer in the last question included this:
I thank the prime minister and the members of the opposition and their claims anyone who would be worse off under the government’s bill are absolutely 100% wrong.
So Anthony Albanese asks:
I refer to the conflicting answers given to my last question. Now that the minister for industrial relations has been prepared to guarantee that the industrial relations legislation will leave no worker worse off, will the prime minister give the same guarantee that his legislation will leave no worker worse off?
Scott Morrison:
Mr Speaker, I completely reject the assertion that’s just been made by the leader of the opposition. Those on that side may be used to him verballing people on that side. But on this side we don’t put up with that sort of thing. They might put up with it in the Labor party and the union movement. They might put up with that, but those who believe in individual liberties on this side of the House.
Albanese:
Mr Speaker. There is a thing called Hansard, Mr Speaker. And I refer ... He needs to be relevant to the question, which is very specific. We’re after the same answer that the industrial relations minister gave or not. It’s a decision for him. Abuse of me is not relevant to the answer.
Morrison:
Mr Speaker, I’ll leave the criticism to the leader of the opposition to those who sit behind him. They’re very good at it. And they’re very enthusiastic about it. And not too shy or subtle. I reject the assertion of the question, Mr Speaker. I reject the assertion made by the leader of the opposition. The statements made by the minister and I are entirely consistent.
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
And I ask will the prime minister take the second chance that he’s been given during this question time to guarantee that his industrial relations legislation will leave no worker worse off?
Morrison:
I’ll ask the minister for industrial relations to add further to the answer. But, as I say again, our industrial relations changes are designed to help more Australians get into work and to ensure Australians are better off, Mr Speaker.
The leader of the opposition seems to be living in a fantasyland when he speaks of these matters as if we aren’t coming out of a Covid-19 recession. He seems to misunderstand the job security today is about having a stronger economy that’s supported by businesses creating jobs, and that is what our plans are designed to achieve.
Porter then gives his spiel, but it’s the same as we have heard for the last few weeks – reforms are amazing, why isn’t Labor supporting them, yadda yadda, and then it ends.
Updated
I mean, he’s sitting just a few rows in front of Jason Falinski – so you can only assume there is a very strong reason for this public message:
This is good news. It follows many representations to John, and a private members bill in Parliament by me, seconded by @DaveSharma and supported by Trent Zimmerman. I hope Keith Pitt listens to our communities up and down the coast, and does the right thing. No to PEP-11. https://t.co/ZS7YJRkGn7
— Jason Falinski MP - For The Beaches (@JasonFalinskiMP) February 17, 2021
Updated
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Can the prime minister guarantee that his industrial relations legislation will leave no worker worse off?
Morrison:
Our industrial relations legislation is a signal to get Australians back into jobs, which will leave them better off. And to be in a growing economy where people will be better off. The leader of the Labor party does not have a policy to create one job. He’s got plenty of interest in keeping his own.
Our policies are designed to create jobs, whether it’s in industrial relations, whether it’s supporting the manufacturing industry, whether it’s building safer roads, whether it’s getting homebuilder on the ground and seeing people getting their first home, whether it’s getting lower energy prices and investing in the science and the technology to deliver the energy resources we need for heavy industry in the regions.
Our recovery plan is working.
Albanese stands up to ask about relevance, but Morrison has decided he has concluded his answer.
Updated
Labor’s Kristina Keneally asks whether Linda Reynolds can guarantee that she didn’t say or do anything to discourage Brittany Higgins from going to the police.
Reynolds: “Yes.”
On the second supplementary, Keneally asks why Higgins felt she shouldn’t go to the police. Reynolds referred back to her first answer – that she was always motivated by Higgins’ agency and what she wanted to do.
Reynolds concludes:
I can’t speak for anyone else – I speak for and am accountable for my own actions. It was about respecting her privacy, her integrity and her wishes.
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Jim Chalmers asks about jobkeeper again – how those workers who are on it will manage once it is cut at the end of next month.
The short answer from Josh Frydenberg is Treasury says it’s cool.
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Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
How many of the 1.3 million Australians still on jobkeeper will lose their jobs when the payment is cut?
Frydenberg:
Well, Mr Speaker, what I can inform the honourable member is that on Treasury’s number that is we put out in Myefo is that when jobkeeper ends, the unemployment rate will continue to come down, Mr Speaker. It will come down.
So we will see job creation in this country even after the end of jobkeeper. And if the honourable member had managed to read, had managed to read the Reserve Bank governor’s speech ...
He’s pulled up on a point of order on relevance and told to get to the point.
Mr Speaker, in the December quarter, there were just over 1.5 million on jobkeeper. It is Treasury’s expectation, so it is an assertion, by the member for Rankin, that there will 1.3 million people in the March quarter. We don’t have that data so the member for Rankin can’t assert that number.
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We are moving on to jobkeeper.
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Vince Connolly continues to cosplay as someone who saw a human speaking once and thought it looked cool.
Josh Frydenberg continues to begin every dixer like he’s hosting the world’s most boring toastmasters’ dinner.
Tanya Plibersek to Scott Morrison:
Prime minister, the maximum sentence in the Australian Capital Territory for a rape is more than 10 years. What are the existing protocols and procedures in your office when someone becomes aware a serious crime may have been committed by a ministerial staffer? Were these followed in relation to the reported rape of Brittany Higgins?
Morrison:
I also refer to the statements made by Senator Reynolds in the Senate yesterday, where she said she sought and followed advice from ministerial and parliamentary services regarding the support available.
And as she said, she was at pains to ensure that Brittany felt empowered, determined and how she was to handle the matter. And that remains the case.
Now, Mr Speaker, the issue here in this terrible, this terrible incident, is that at the time this occurred, there was a security breach that was involved and that was the matter addressed at the time.
And indeed, there was a staff member whose employment was terminated as a result of that security breach.
At that time, there was no advice, certainly to our office, that this incident involved any alleged sexual assault.
Whether an alleged sexual assault is taken to the next stage and is to be advised to the police for a matter for investigation, then that is the decision of that person. In this case, Brittany.
But in any other case, whoever that may be. So it is up to them to have the power of the decision as to how that should proceed.
Now, in that case, I’m advised that the minister, the minister encouraged her to take that matter to the police Mr Speaker. She was encouraged to do that. She chose at that point not to do that.
And that is why the matter sat for as long as it did. Now, I accept, as I listened to Brittany the other night, that her views about that, of course, have changed over a period of time. And that is also totally understandable and totally OK.
But Mr Speaker, to suggest that the government or that a minister or that anyone here should have acted against the wishes as expressed to them at the time, and subsequently about this matter, then, Mr Speaker, that would be against the advice that we have received as to how such matters should be handled.
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The second volley of questions is from Katy Gallagher asking when Linda Reynolds learned of the nature of the alleged incident in the office.
This doesn’t get anywhere, because Reynolds cites the investigation. Gallagher says she shouldn’t “hide behind Brittany [Higgins]”, the complainant.
Then the Greens senator Larissa Waters asks Simon Birmingham about Malcolm Turnbull’s comments that it is “incredible” the prime minister didn’t know.
Because there is too much preamble, Birmingham is able to run the clock down by talking about the need to protect Higgins’ privacy and empower her decision-making.
Birmingham says the handling of future complaints (and whether the prime minister should have been told of the allegations) is under review.
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Scott Morrison tells Rebekha Sharkie he has taken on calls for an independent review into culture and staff complaints.
Sharkie:
Brittany Higgins is not the first employee in the parliament to make serious allegations of sexual assault or inappropriate behaviour in the workplace. Today, the crossbench wrote to you, the leader of the opposition and the presiding officers, calling for an urgent external review of current procedures and practice and the formation of an independent body to oversea future complaints. Prime minister, will you restore confidence in the parliament and support an independent, external review and an external independent body?
Morrison:
The short answer to that is yes, Mr Speaker. And that’s what I indicated yesterday. And I thank the members of the crossbench for their letter, Mr Speaker, as I do the suggestion from the leader of the opposition.
I met with the member with Indi earlier today and amongst many other important matters that we discussed today, those especially relating to her electorate in Indi, we discussed this matter as well.
And the matters that have been raised in the letter from the crossbench are matters that the independent inquiry should, indeed, address, and there is some overlap between the issues raised in your suggestions as has been raised by the leader of the opposition.
I would stress that I don’t think that we should presume for the conclusions of what that review should be, and what it may recommend and what is the best way – because this is ultimately what this is about.
What is the best way that we can ensure that people who work in this place can get the supports that they need in the most extreme of circumstances, as has been the subject of the matters that we’ve been addressing here over the course of this week? Or frankly, in the more routine of matters in relation to their own employment.
And so, I think that it is a useful process to do that. These terrible events that we’ve been talking about this week, as we know, these are events that can occur ... They’re not peculiar to any one employer in this place or any one party in this place. And it is about changing the environment, and I would think that all members are committed to that, and I would assume that.
I think in the spirit of good faith, and as a result, this inquiry should reflect that good intent and I will ensure that it does. And I’ve written, as I mentioned coming into the chamber to you today, and the other members of the crossbench, and indeed in the Senate as well as to the leader of the opposition, and you’ll have that correspondence. And I look forward to that being finalised as soon as possible.
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And in the Senate:
Male senator interjecting during @SenKatyG question to another Labor interjector “put a sock in it,” he says
— Samantha Maiden (@samanthamaiden) February 17, 2021
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Tanya Plibersek to Scott Morrison:
The defence minister’s former acting chief of staff was the primary point of contact regarding the reported rape of Brittany Higgins. That staff member worked in the prime minister’s office before and after the reported incident, and she’s now back in the prime minister’s office.
Does the prime minister stand by his statement yesterday that his office only became aware of the rape on Friday?
Scott Morrison:
I do. That’s my advice, Mr Speaker. I do, Mr Speaker. If someone has worked in another office, they have been bound by the issues in that office, Mr Speaker.
Particularly ... in the defence portfolio.
And it is not common practice in my understanding that when staff move between offices, that they disclose matters of other offices, Mr Speaker.
So, Mr Speaker, it is my advice that our office became aware of this issue on February 12 of this year.
The prime minister, who sits as a first among equals, and whose office dictates the policies and procedures of the government, is now claiming staff keep all matters at the door of other ministers – even if they have been seconded from his office in the first place.
I wasn’t aware we had the Men In Black memory wiping tech, but there you go.
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The first volley of questions from Penny Wong went to Linda Reynolds, querying how she can maintain she didn’t know the nature of the alleged incident in her office, six days after Brittany Higgins told her chief of staff.
Reynolds replies that she has to preserve the integrity of a police investigation and “all of these matters go to the heart of that investigation”.
Wong challenges her to prove that the investigation is actually under way. Instead, Reynolds just repeats that it is.
Reynolds says:
I don’t have much more to add to this. I don’t for a second resile from my determination to make sure Brittany, the staff member, is in control ... All I can do is reiterate – I believe this is subject to an ongoing AFP investigation, and that is where this matter rests. It is the right of the individual to control the process.
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Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Brittany Higgins said that the prime minister’s principle private secretary checked in on her, including after the ABC’s Four Corners episode at the end of last year reportedly with a WhatsApp call. Does the prime minister accept Brittany Higgins’ account?
Morrison:
I refer to the answer that I gave on this matter yesterday, and the advice that I have is that that was the first time that I indicated yesterday that my office became aware of those issues, and I have engaged with the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to verify that advice.
Strange, that we started the week with the various protagonists saying they couldn't answer questions because the AFP were looking at it, and now the PM acknowledges Brittany Higgins withdrew her police complaint #qt
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) February 17, 2021
In the course of the PM's answer to Labor's question about whether Yaron Finkelstein made contact with Brittany Higgins via WhatsApp, Morrison says he's engaged his department head to verify evidence of contact #qt
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) February 17, 2021
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There has been two speeds with the questions all week in the House.
Every time a government MP jumps to answer a dixer, it’s a little jarring. It’s a different tone of voice, a different speed of delivery, and a different feeling, which, juxtaposed against the questions being asked about Brittany Higgins, and how the answers are being delivered there, is very notable.
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Question time begins
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Is former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull right to say, to quote him: “Inconceivable that a prime minister’s office would not be told about a reported rape 50 metres from his office.”
Morrison:
Mr Speaker, Mr Turnbull, of course, is entitled to his opinion on this matter, and I at all times seek to show great respect to former prime ministers and I’ll do so here today. But as former prime ministers would know, that prime ministers are aware of certain facts of these matters and Mr Speaker, the facts in these matters demonstrate as they’ve been reported to me that Brittany had made a decision that she did not wish to make a statement and register a complaint with the police.
And that Minister Reynolds and others respected that decision. And as a result of respecting that decision, and her agency in this matter, then as a result, that matter progressed no further. And clearly did not progress further for quite a considerable period of time until most recently when Brittany made the statements that she said, that she has made.
And we have responded to those statements now. And as we have said in this place on many occasions in these last few days – it is shattering. And we need to address it and we, indeed, shall.
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The Senate has begun its question time – the House is a little behind.
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It’s time for ‘who’s that MP’ as we turn to the chamber ahead of question time.
It’s Emma McBride.
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Looks like Barnaby Joyce has a challenge coming:
#BREAKING New England MP @Barnaby_Joyce could face a challenge at the next federal election from Glen Innes Mayor Carol Sparks. Cr Sparks, who rose to prominence in the 2019 bushfires, says she's considering a run, and climate change would be her top priority. #auspol @abcnews pic.twitter.com/7120EW6Pxk
— Patrick Bell (@PatrickSBell) February 16, 2021
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There was a minor kerfuffle at the end of Josh Frydenberg’s press conference, because he failed to return to Network 10’s Peter van Onselen to ask about Linda Reynolds’ handling of the Brittany Higgins complaint.
PVO pursued Frydenberg, who explained that Reynolds had already apologised to the parliament, and the defence minister had sought to do the right thing by Higgins’ welfare and privacy.
After a follow-up about whether he would’ve told the prime minister, Frydenberg replied:“If there was a serious allegation like that, I would make sure the authorities knew.”
It’s an ambiguous formulation – slightly throwing her under the bus for not telling the PM, but not doing so explicitly because “authorities” could have meant he would tell the police rather than the PM.
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The Tveeder live transcript reported Josh Frydenberg as saying he supported a “reliability fun” and “not those members” (he said reliability fund and not those amendments) but it is funny when a Tveeder transcription mistake lands pretty close to the truth.
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We are just under half an hour away from the third question time of the week.
You could have heard a hair fall yesterday, it was so quiet in the chamber. At least for the first half.
I’m not so sure it will be quite as respectful today.
Queensland is looking for a fossil emblem (I would argue there are some living fossils who already fill that role) and the ACT is creating a coat of arms.
I’m open to suggestions.
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Frydenberg also said he was “not at all” concerned that watering down Australia’s corporate disclosure rules will make Australia a less attractive place to invest. That’s not what investors themselves think – here’s what they said when the new regime was put in place, allegedly temporarily, in May last year:
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On super, industry and retail funds have responded to the legislation that Josh Frydenberg has introduced to parliament.
Industry Super Australia says the bill “will allow dud for-profit funds to keep underperforming without consequence and ripping more than $10bn in profit without ever having to justify how its inflated fees are in the best financial interest of members” unless the way returns to members are calculated is changed to include administration fees.
But it supports other measures in the law, including the forced closure of underperforming funds.
The Financial Services Council, which represents the dwindling but still very important for-profit sector, largely supports the bill but also wants the benchmark changed – but that’s because the funds don’t fancy measuring themselves against the new standard set in the bill.
“However, we want to see some changes to the design of performance benchmarks. The custodians of our superannuation system are responsible for investing $3tn in savings and small changes in trustee decision-making can have major ramifications for the allocation of capital in the Australian economy,” CEO Sally Loane said.
“The FSC is also concerned that while funds have been required to set CPI-linked investment return targets, and have measured themselves against these targets in government-mandated dashboards, they will now be retrospectively assessed against a new benchmark.”
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While a lot of focus has been on what certain politicians such as Craig Kelly are posting about Covid-19 on Facebook, there’s been an ongoing issue for another politician stopping accounts that pretend to be him posting Covid-19 misinformation.
A reader this week alerted Guardian Australia to a Covid-themed conspiracy meme posted in a Townsville community group which appeared to be sponsored by Labor deputy leader Richard Marles, including with his verified account.
Guardian Australia saw the link but it was deleted before Facebook could investigate.
The account that posted the meme was removed for being a fake account once Guardian Australia alerted Facebook to it, and Facebook confirmed the ad didn’t come from Marles’ page.
Marles is one of Labor’s more prolific Facebook users, with 92,000 followers, and Guardian Australia understands his office has had to put resources into reporting fake pages purporting to be him.
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Josh Frydenberg says he supports a clean energy reliable fund and he does not support Barnaby Joyce’s “what about coal in there as well” amendments to the clean energy corporation fund bill.
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Josh Frydenberg is asked if the media bargaining code legislation is some what redundant, if deals – like the ones Seven West and Nine have struck – are being made before its in the parliament.
Frydenberg:
The first thing to say is none of these deals would be happening if we didn’t have the legislation before the parliament.
This legislation, this world-leading mandatory code, is bringing the parties to the table and it is helping to pave the way forward where news media businesses are getting paid for generating original journalistic content.
With respect to the code, it is our intention to make it law and as you know, the code has a number of fundamental features.
Namely, it is mandatory.
Secondly, it is based on two-way value exchange and there is sadly a final offer arbitration model.
This code has exceeded what others have tried and failed.
Thirdly, it is a framework, a lasting legal mandatory framework, which is obviously the reason why the parties have come to the table.
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George Christensen misrepresents casual conversion
National MP George Christensen has spoken on the industrial relations omnibus bill -– and has at best massively overstated or at worst intentionally misrepresented the ability to convert from casual conversion to permanent work after 12 months.
Christensen said:
This will ensure it is an absolute right for these workers. I’ve heard the stories … that it’s not enforceable – [to this I say] nonsense, nonsense, nonsense. The situation is – if this law is passed, workers will get that right to convert from casual to permanent work after 12 months of employment. The boss will have to write to the worker after 12 months and say ‘do you want to convert?’ The worker will say ‘yes’ if they decide they want to do that – and it will happen. If the boss says ‘we can’t actually let you go to permanent work because of issue X’, well issue X needs to be validated. You will have the union movement in there … breathing down the neck of the boss … You’ll also have the backing of Fair Work … If there is a dodgy reason that’s given, the dodgy reason will be exposed and the boss will have to offer permanent employment to that person.
The facts are that there is no Fair Work Commission arbitration of the employer’s refusal. So, sure, unions can try and shame them in to it – but it isn’t enforceable, and it’s not an “absolute right” to convert.
It’s a right to request conversion.
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For those who need the reminder – it was retail funds, not industry funds, which were found to be among the most underperforming.
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The government is also introducing the “your super” legislation today.
Nothing about the role of eggs though. (If you know, you know)
From Josh Frydenberg’s release:
The Your Future, Your Super package is scheduled to commence on 1 July 2021. Under the package, the superannuation system will be significantly enhanced by:
· Having your superannuation follow you: preventing the creation of unintended multiple superannuation accounts when employees change jobs.
· Making it easier to choose a better fund: members will have access to a new interactive online YourSuper comparison tool which will encourage funds to compete harder for members’ savings.
· Holding funds to account for underperformance: to protect members from poor outcomes and encourage funds to lower costs the Government will require superannuation products to meet an annual objective performance test. Those that fail will be required to inform members. Persistently underperforming products will be prevented from taking on new members.
· Increasing transparency and accountability: the Government will increase trustee accountability by strengthening their obligations to ensure trustees only act in the best financial interests of members. The Government will also require superannuation funds to provide better information regarding how they manage and spend members’ money in advance of Annual Members’ Meetings and disclose all of their portfolio holdings to members.
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Josh Frydenberg will hold a quick press conference, at 12.45.
That will be on the changes of timing of disclosures for corporations Ben Butler has reported on earlier today.
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Most of the legal fraternity is against merging the family court with the federal court.
It can count Jacqui Lambie among its supporters, as AAP reports:
In a blistering excoriation, the firebrand Tasmanian tore shreds off the government over the lack of funding across the justice system.
“If you think the heartache and the suicides going on out there are bad enough, if you’ve got half a conscience, wait until you see what’s coming because it is a trainwreck in action,” Senator Lambie told parliament on Wednesday.
The merger is on track with key crossbench senator Rex Patrick agreeing to support the bill after the government guaranteed a minimum number of specialist family law judges.
Attorney-General Christian Porter has defended the reform, arguing it will ease long delays for families and fix a broken system.
Senator Lambie said overworked family court judges were being asked to work like burger cooks rushing to pump out food on a production line.
She said without a major funding increase, the merger would do nothing to stop more hurt and misery for families.
“I didn’t sign up to be a politician to do that. Obviously the attorney did though,” she said.
It’s almost like deplatforming works?
What a difference suspension of Craig Kelly makes.https://t.co/HVoJ5yxBRR
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) February 17, 2021
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There is a growing push for the immigration minister, Alex Hawke, to release a Tamil family back into the community.
As AAP reports:
The federal government is under increasing pressure to allow a Tamil family being held on Christmas Island to return to Biloela.
The family has been given another reprieve, with a court preventing their deportation to Sri Lanka.
However, their fate remains in the hands of the immigration minister, who holds the power to grant them protection visas.
Labor senator Kristina Keneally said the “sorry saga” should come to an end, with taxpayers spending $50 million to keep the family in detention.
Senator Keneally said the years behind bars were also taking a mental and emotional toll.
“The Biloela community has always wanted them to come home,” she told ABC radio on Wednesday.
“Labor has been consistent in making clear that the minister, with his powers, should intervene. Allow this family to come home and afford due process to their claims for protection.”
The government is adamant the family will stay in detention on Christmas Island, saying their claims for protection have been comprehensively assessed by multiple courts.
Senator Keneally is hopeful the relatively new immigration minister, Alex Hawke, will view the situation “with fresh eyes”.
She is desperate to see the two Australian-born children and their parents return to their adopted regional Queensland home after more than 1,000 days in detention.
“And that we don’t spend any more taxpayer money keeping a family of four who pose no risk to the community in immigration detention on Christmas Island.”
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Lisa Cox has done a deep dive into some of the issues around the western Sydney airport:
Daniel Andrews is asked if he has apologised to the patient with the nebuliser:
I have not spoken to the patient, I know that Emma Cassar, the CQV commissioner, has spoken with the patient yesterday, I think it was yesterday, they spoke for a lengthy amount of time.
As I have always done, I wish him well, I was his family well, and I am pleased, not that I have been getting detailed reports about his condition, but I broadly informed that he is getting very best care in a public hospital, and I hope that he’s able to be out of ICU and back to home as soon as you possibly can be. I wish him and his family all the best.
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Victorian health minister Martin Foley says Victoria is still waiting on its supply of vaccines, but hopes to start its own program next week as well.
Queensland is also looking to start vaccinating its frontline health workers from Monday.
There are hubs being opened in Cairns, the Gold Coast and Brisbane (for now).
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Daniel Andrews says Victoria is still working through some issues, but hopes to soon announce the beginning of its vaccination program.
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Gladys Berejiklian has announced 35,000 frontline workers will receive the first Pfizer vaccine from Monday.
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The Australian Council of Trade Unions president, Michele O’Neil, has given a press conference to outline its view that the omnibus bill “is not fixed”. O’Neil outlined a litany of complaints:
- “Permanent changes” to the bargaining process allow employers to put proposed pay deals to staff without explaining them; and the 21-day time limit for the Fair Work Commission to approve deals amounts to a “tick and flick”
- Jobkeeper flexibilities to change of duties and location of work are extended – even after jobkeeper payments cease
- Part-time workers can be asked to work extra hours at ordinary time rates, which will decrease work security
- Casuals will lose entitlements of permanent workers even if they work regular systematic rosters; and
- Pay deals for new work sites will last for up to eight years, preventing workers renegotiating.
O’Neil said the government had proposed pay deals that leave workers worse off as an “ambit claim” and had now scrapped this provision to pretend it had fixed the bill.
O’Neil was pressured on why Labor and unions don’t seek to strengthen casual conversion and negotiate with the government instead of making workers wait for improvements.
O’Neil countered that the bill was worse than their current rights – because at least currently if casual workers have permanent rosters they can seek further entitlements.
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Is the Victorian CHO confident all people who may have been infected are in isolation?
I think so.
The 66 close contact per case is an indication that we have swept really broadly in picking up on those close contacts.
No close contact left behind. So anyone who develops symptoms now who tests positive, you’d be very confident that they’re already identified and quarantining.
That’s not a guarantee. People need to do the right thing. People need to check exposure sides.
Daniel Andrews on whether lockdown is the only response:
There’s no reason for us to be assuming that the only response is a fourth ring, a short, sharp lockdown.
I wouldn’t assume that at all. But I can’t stand here and be honest with people and say this will never, ever happen again.
Now, the day will come when I can say that and that’s when the commonwealth government has rolled out vaccine to 90-something per cent of people across the country.
Then we’ll be able to be as definitive as that and that hasn’t happened yet. Again, that’s not a matter of criticism. I’m just saying we’re not there yet. That’s going to take longer and we’ll all to work really hard to together to do that.
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NSW marks record 31 days with no community cases reported
NSW has now had 31 days of no locally acquired Covid cases:
NSW recorded no new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
Four new cases were acquired overseas, bringing the total number of COVID-19 cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 4,954.
There were 23,463 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 12,336.
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The press conference is being told that the lockdown was important, and did work – because it wasn’t just the hotel quarantine infection, it was also, as authorities learnt just after they called the lockdown, someone had attended a party (while infected, but not knowingly and within the rules) which became a super-spreader event – nine infections so far, with more expected.
So by locking down, authorities say, they were able to contact trace all casual contacts as well, preventing any further spread.
It has also been pointed out that Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth have done the same thing.
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Daniel Andrews (no tie – I see there has been some betting markets on that, because there’s nothing free of a punt, apparently) is in no mood today.
After we went through last year, I don’t accept, and I find it absolutely inaccurate to describe that what I have been saying as counterfactual.
Victorians know what it is like when this gets away from you.
I simply won’t allow that to happen. It is not counterfactual.
We all have [seen] that. All of us. But as I am so very proud of the way in which Victorians have stuck together and done this hard work over these last five days to deliver these outcomes.
There is nothing counterfactual about that. It is a story of 2020 and our recovery is too important.
You don’t get choices often, but one choice I would never make is to ignore the advice, because it is popular, and then in front of three weeks later when you would told to do that, why didn’t you?
Was that really what we want? Is that a better outcome? I don’t think it would be.
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Victoria's continuing restrictions in full
Here are the new Covid settings for Victoria, from the premier’s media release (thank you Calla):
There’ll no longer be four reasons to leave home.
The five-kilometre restriction will no longer apply.
Restaurants and retail can reopen. Same too with community facilities, entertainment venues and all other public places – although some additional limits on crowd sizes will be in place.
Students will be able to head back to school. Workers will be able to get back to work.
For offices – both public and private – that means a return to 50% on site.
For now, it’s important we reduce the risk in some of our most vulnerable settings.
That means having no more than five visitors to your home per day. And limiting public gatherings with friends and family to 20.
We can’t fully relax the rules in our hospitals and aged care homes yet either – instead, we’ll limit visits limit to one household per day and some specific exceptions.
Masks will continue to be a big part of our defence and will be required everywhere indoors except at home – at
the supermarket, at the office, at the pub when you’re getting up to pay.
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Daniel Andrews then takes a not-so-subtle swipe at the federal government.
For context, when Greg Hunt announced the first shipment of vaccines had arrived in Australia, he said “the Eagle has landed”.
I know this is a deeply emotional thing.
There is pain, there is hurt. I understand that. What I am about doing is understanding that at all times we do everything we can to limit that.
But it’s not over. We got one pallet of vaccines turn up.
That’s great news, but we haven’t got any in anyone’s arms yet.
That is a process. Some might see that as the moon landing.
I think it is the start of the end, it is not the end of this pandemic. It’s not stopping, it just isn’t.
And we just can’t pretend that it is. I know we all desperately want to.
Everyone wants this to be over, but the job I’ve got means that I don’t have the luxury, for the sake of being popular, to pretend that it is.
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Back to Daniel Andrews – can he assure Victorians there won’t be another lockdown, if more cases pop up?
Andrews:
I can provide no guarantees because I’m not prepared to pretend to the Victorian community that this is over, there can be some notice period but we don’t have the luxury of giving people a month’s notice.
I’m just not in the business of ignoring advice, or shopping around for advice that suits me.
The only thing that suits all of us is to keep control of this.
And yes, there is pain and difficulty, we’ve acknowledged that … But the urgent nature and the rapid nature of these decisions speaks to the rapid infectivity of this virus and nothing more that.
As I’ve said to you a number of times, the criteria is every case on its merits and if the public health team believes that because of the infectiousness of, particularly these new strains, that there could be other cases out there spreading wildly, then we will not hesitate to make the tough decisions.
That is appropriate. I’m just not about ignoring that advice or, if you like, chancing at. You know? ‘Let’s swing it, we will be fine.’ You know, two weeks later, it’s not.
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The WA government has announced an inquiry, with the powers of a royal commission, into the operation of Crown Resorts, which runs a casino in Perth.
The move leaves the Victorian government isolated in not committing to a full-scale inquiry into the operations of Crown, which was the subject of a scathing report tabled in NSW parliament last week.
Instead, Victoria has moved forward with a regular licence review.
The NSW inquiry, run by former judge Patricia Bergin, found Crown wasn’t fit to hold a licence to run a new casino at Barangaroo in Sydney.
She said Crown facilitated money laundering at its existing casinos in Melbourne and Perth and junket operators that brought high-rolling gamblers to its money pits were linked to organised crime.
WA’s inquiry also follows reports its chief casino officer, Michael Connolly, went fishing with Crown employees. He has stepped aside “effective immediately” to make sure there is “no perception of a conflict of interest”, the Gaming and Wagering Commission said in a statement.
It will examine matters including Crown’s suitability to hold a license in light of the Bergin report.
The Gaming and Wagering Commission said it had also spoken with Victorian and NSW regulators to establish a working group that can establish best practice regulation across the three jurisdictions.
Crown said it would “fully cooperate” with the inquiry.
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Two new community cases in New Zealand
The minister of Covid-19 response, Chris Hipkins, has confirmed that two students of Papatoetoe high school in south Auckland have tested positive for Covid-19.
This comes after two full days of no new community cases, following a family of three testing positive on Sunday, and the whole of Auckland being placed into a three-day lockdown, with the rest of the country placed at level two.
Prime minister Jacinda Ardern is meeting with her cabinet this afternoon to discuss the situation and whether alert levels will go up, down or remain the same. She will hold a press conference at 4.30 pm.
The two new cases are siblings at the high school and knew the student who tested positive on Sunday.
Of the 31 close contacts in Papatoetoe high school, 29 have been tested and 28 are negative, while one is positive, the minister said.
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Daniel Andrews:
I, of course, acknowledge the very difficult circumstances that many have raised, but there is simply no alternative to follow the health advice provided and indeed to reassert the policy and the approach that saw us do what no other part of the world has done: defeat a second wave.
It makes sense to continue to listen to those experts and that is exactly what we intend to do.
Thank you to everybody who has made this possible. A particular shout out to those who are in iso at home, and the nearly 40,000 people who just got tested in the last few days and the literally thousands of staff who have worked tirelessly to bring this outbreak, to run this outbreak to ground, just as we did in Black Rock, when those cases came down from Sydney, and just like we will do again if we have a case in the future.
Indeed, when we have a case in the future. That is the nature of this virus.
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From 11.59pm tonight, most of the lockdown settings will end, but you will have to wear a mask, household gatherings are limited to 5 (not 15 as there was before the lockdown) and outside gatherings are limited to 20.
I’ll bring you a list of the others very soon.
Weddings and funerals can go ahead – the size of which, will depend on the density capacity of your venue (as there was previously).
School is back tomorrow.
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There are 3,400 close contacts, Daniel Andrews says, and he says without the lockdown, the number of infections would have been much higher.
“We have avoided that,” he says.
“This is not over, there are still nine days to go of the 14 days for the [infection period].”
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Victoria to come out of lockdown at midnight
As always, we get the numbers first – 25 active cases, but no additional ones to report.
Daniel Andrews then confirms the lockdown will end at midnight, tonight.
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Morning all.
Amy has already reported Malcolm Turnbull has intervened in the Brittany Higgins matter today. People close to Higgins tell me that Turnbull also phoned her yesterday and they spoke for close to half an hour.
The former prime minister offered support in the rebuilding of life and careers, and the counsel of wife Lucy.
To my knowledge, no members of the current government, apart from the Victorian National Darren Chester, have made a welfare check in recent days.
We should have official confirmation of this very soon.
BREAKING
— Joe O'Brien (@JoeABCNews) February 16, 2021
Victoria's 5 day lockdown will end tonight
Some rules will remain
Details to come in media conf with Premier @DanielAndrewsMP
Watch live on @abcnews channel
Time still to be announced but expected in next few hours
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Class action lawyers have slammed Josh Frydenberg’s move to water down stock market disclosure rules, saying they would “weaken the economy by making it easier for company directors to act poorly and dodge accountability”.
Investors also oppose the move, as Guardian Australia has previously reported.
Class Actions Australia spokesman Ben Hardwick, who is a lawyer at Slater & Gordon, said:
“Funny how the pandemic crisis has apparently abated enough to stop JobKeeper, but is still serious enough to warrant permanently watering down corporate responsibility.
The ASX is about to hit an all-time high, and the Treasurer thinks it’s important to offer extra shields to company directors to avoid accountability. It’s madness.
Australia’s robust stock market disclosure laws mean investors can operate from a position of knowledge. Australian directors know they have to be open with the market or they might be accountable to their investors through a class action. Josh Frydenberg is apparently uncomfortable with this situation.
His plan to water down continuous disclose laws would advantage powerful company directors over mum and dad investors.
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Hearing a lot of this today.
And never again do I want to hear ‘as a father’ - it’s completely irrelevant to understanding that violence against women is never acceptable.
— Ged Kearney (@gedkearney) February 16, 2021
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The government is making what were meant to be temporary changes to corporation disclosure laws, permanent, to discourage “opportunistic” class actions.
From Josh Frydenberg’s office:
As recommended by the Parliamentary Joint Committee for Corporations and Financial Services in its report on litigation funding and class actions, the Government is making permanent the temporary changes it made to Australia’s continuous disclosure laws in May 2020 and which are due to expire in March 2021.
Specifically, the Treasury Laws Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill amends the Corporations Act 2001 so companies and their officers will only be liable for civil penalty proceedings in respect of continuous disclosure obligations where they have acted with “knowledge, recklessness or negligence”.
This will discourage opportunistic class actions under our continuous disclosure laws.
The bill also makes clear that companies and their officers are not liable for misleading and deceptive conduct in circumstances where the continuous disclosure obligations have been contravened unless the requisite “fault” element is also proven.
The changes do not affect the Commonwealth’s ability to prosecute criminal breaches or ASIC’s ability to issue infringement notices and administrative penalties without proving fault.
The introduction of the fault element for private actions also more closely aligns Australia’s continuous disclosure regime with the approach taken in both the United States and the United Kingdom.
During the period the temporary fault element has been in place, Treasury has identified that there has been an increase in the number of material announcements to the market, relative to the same period last year.
These changes strike the right balance between ensuring shareholders and the market are appropriately informed while also allowing companies to more confidently make forecasts of future earnings or provide guidance updates without facing the undue risk of class actions.
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Another sign good news is coming for Victoria.
This is a good-looking tile. Let’s keep it that way! #EveryTestHelps https://t.co/IhnEc2mL9X
— Chief Health Officer, Victoria (@VictorianCHO) February 16, 2021
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Calla Wahlquist tells me Daniel Andrews will be holding his press conference at 10.15.
All indications are for good news about the lockdown being lifted. But you never know, until you know.
It’s been placed on the backburner, with both sides having taken a step back from aggressive diplomacy at the moment, but the analysts at IbisWorld have taken a look at the impact of the China trade tariffs on Treasury Wine Estates:
Treasury Wine Estates, which accounts for 13.2% of the Wine Production industry, has released its half year results this morning. Revenue has fallen by 8.2%, while profit is down by 23.5% relative to the prior year.
‘Treasury Wine Estates is the largest wine producer in Australia and was the largest exporter to China prior to the introduction of tariffs in November 2020. Export sales to China accounted for approximately 16% of the company’s revenue and 30% of profit in 2019-20,’ said IBISWorld Senior Industry Analyst Matthew Reeves.
Australian wine exports to China were down by 98% in December 2020 relative to the prior year. The loss of access to the Chinese market has created an oversupply of wine in Australia, exerting downward pressure on prices and negatively affecting profit margins. Redistributing this oversupply to alternative export markets, such as Canada and South Korea, is expected to take at least two years.
Victorians, we love you.
The 39,258 tests carried out yesterday are the state's highest single-day testing total since the start of the pandemic.
— Craig Butt (@CraigDButt) February 16, 2021
The previous record holder was Jan 4, when there were 35,059 tests carried out.
Back in 2020, the most tests in a single day were on July 24, with 34,873. https://t.co/t0bRVrftlb
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I think Helen Haines gives her own answer here to “if the National Party were serious …”
Under this Coalition Government, renewables are getting built in regional Australia at a lightning pace. But instead of trying to ride that wave to create good jobs, new income for farmers and build energy security in the regions the Nationals are simply trying to fight the tide.
— Helen Haines MP (@helenhainesindi) February 16, 2021
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Anthony Albanese has been doing a lot of media this morning – he attended a rally in support of Tafe, held a doorstop and appeared on Sky, all before 9am.
Albanese was also asked about the issue which has (rightly) dominated parliament all week.
Q: Have you ever been aware of any issues like this in the Labor party in your time at this place?
Albanese:
The truth is that the issue of mistreatment of women, harassment, has been an issue in this building. And I don’t say that it is a partisan issue at all. It’s very clear that there are cultural problems here and that they need to be dealt with. I must say, I was shocked by the statements of the courageous Brittany Higgins that she made, though. It is just beyond belief that such an assault could take place in the office of the defence minister two years ago and there only be some form of a response after Brittany Higgins went public.
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Nine refuses to confirm SMH report of $30m Google deal
Nine Entertainment has not confirmed a report in one of its papers, the Sydney Morning Herald, that the publisher has come to an agreement with Google, reportedly worth $30m a year.
“We continue to have constructive discussions with the digital platforms and when we have anything to announce we will do so to the ASX as is appropriate,” a spokesman for Nine told Guardian Australia.
The SMH reported the five-year deal is for using articles Google News Showcase and Subscribe with Google.
“The agreement is significant because it covers content from Nine’s major newspapers, television, radio and digital assets, and will provide enough funding to support the newsrooms for the company,” the paper reported.
Nine is the biggest Australian-owned media company reported to have signed a deal with Google after Seven West Media signed a letter of understanding on Monday.
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The Australian is reporting that Labor and Liberal senators knew about the substance of Brittany Higginscomplaint because it was disclosed to a Senate inquiry into the Department of Parliamentary Services.
The inquiry’s terms of reference include “workplace culture” and there have been a number of confidential submissions accepted by the committee.
Asked about the issue, Labor leader Anthony Albanese said:
I’m not aware of ... those reports are that there was a submission by a whistleblower on a confidential basis to a Senate committee. Of course, it’s a breach of the law for any member of a parliamentary committee to make others aware of [a confidential submission]. So I’m not aware of those details. I’m sure the Senate will be dealing with that later today.”
Albanese repeated Labor’s call for an arms-length investigation, a call now backed by the crossbench.
SA senator Alex Antic also referred to “cultural Marxism” in his speech.
Jason Wilson covered this phrase a few years ago, but the phrase a deep and troubling history.
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The SMH is reporting that Google and its publisher Nine have come to an agreement for Google to use Nine’s content:
Google has agreed to pay Nine Entertainment Co more than $30 million a year for use of its news content, in a major breakthrough for the search giant ahead of the introduction of new media bargaining laws.
Seven West was the first major player to strike an agreement, earlier this week.
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When the parliament was adjourned last night, there were seven speakers left on the list for the CECF bill.
It is not listed today.
Murph reported on Barnaby Joyce’s amendments last night:
It seems Angus Taylor was surprised:
After Barnaby Joyce signalled last night he would try to amend government CEFC legislation to allow coal investment, the bill has disappeared from the House business, at least for now. From a spokesman for Angus Taylor 👇 @AmyRemeikis pic.twitter.com/sMfnOEPxru
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) February 16, 2021
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Late last night Barnaby Joyce added a coal amendment to the clean energy finance corporation bill. It’s already getting “interest”.
He predicts other Nationals will support the amendment. The bill is not on the notice paper today #auspol @AmyRemeikis
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) February 16, 2021
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I am just reading through the adjournment speeches and stumbled across Alex Antic’s, a South Australian senator in the Downer mould, who was last in the news for receiving a set-down from the women in his party for his views on abortion (he is not in favour, and was campaigning to try to stop legislation from decriminalising the medical procedure).
Antic said he was in the parliament to stop Marxists. He then quotes George Orwell, an avowed socialist, to make his point:
I rise tonight to speak in relation to the worrying trend of incursions into common sense, values and decency at state level across our nation.
On occasion I’m asked what drew me into public life, and it’s a question I presume is asked of most parliamentarians.
For me, the answer is simple. I was tired of watching the political class, including some polyester conservatives, allow the tide of cultural Marxism to wash over us.
I wanted to be a voice for common sense and a voice for decency, and I wanted to play a small part in retrieving politics in this country from the political elites.
Ours is a country founded on Judaeo-Christian values – values which have served us over the centuries, values which have stood the test of time, values which are under attack and values which are being forfeited day by day.
The radical left, through their political wings – the Australian Greens and the Australian Labor party – are determined to cleanse the public narrative of family values.
We’ve been watching this for decades. But what’s more troubling is the extent to which these incursions are being ignored at state level.
The radical left has become emboldened and these trends are not corrected by pandering.
State parliaments are being weak. The assaults on religious liberty creatively known as “conversion therapy bills” which have been moved in Victoria, Queensland and the ACT provide a perfect example. The change or suppression (conversion) practices prohibition bill passed in Victoria two weeks ago is a bill which criminalises the truth, and it passed, 27 for and nine against.
In 2021 South Australia will see its own conversion therapy bill and a further euthanasia bill, appropriately dressed in the left’s Trojan Horse language of “voluntary assisted dying”.
There have also been euthanasia bills introduced in Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and Western Australia. Last year in my home state of South Australia, parliament defeated yet another prostitution bill, only to see it rise again later this year ...
George Orwell once said: “The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those who speak it.”
Conservatives need to fight back. They need to become loud and they need to get more involved in the machinery of politics. Common sense, decency and values need you; they need your family and they need your friends. They need you to be heard before the mob cancels you and cancels your way of life.
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Victoria records no new cases
It is a zero day in Victoria – across the board.
No locally acquired cases, none in hotel quarantine – and that is from almost 40,000 tests.
Thrilled for you, Victoria.
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Here Alexander Downer explains another view of the prime minister’s comments yesterday that it was his wife, who asked him “what would you want to happen if this were our daughters?” which gave him the “clarity” to think about what needed to be done.
Downer is the same man who “joked” that the Liberal party’s early 1990s domestic violence policy should be called the “things that batter” – a riff on the then party slogan, “The things that matter”.
.@bairdjulia: "Do you need to have daughters to understand the gravity of rape?"
— ABC The Drum (@ABCthedrum) February 16, 2021
Alexander Downer: "...I think once the dust of battle settles, it will be seen to be a sensitive and sensible thing for him to have said - and what he has done has been sensible as well."#TheDrum pic.twitter.com/TmEdLG1PJh
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The Labor senator Jess Walsh stopped by doors this morning, to also call for an independent review into the parliamentary culture and complaints process:
I call on the prime minister today to urgently establish an independent review into what is clearly a toxic culture here in the parliament, this workplace.
And I call on him to do that not as a husband; not as a father; but as our prime minister. As a prime minister for all of us. The review has to be independent, it has to be bipartisan. Because what we really need to see is everyone who works here having the confidence to speak out if they need to.
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Daniel Andrews is holding meetings this morning with his health expert committee to discuss whether or not to lift Victorian’s lockdown tonight.
They are holding those meetings now, so we’ll let you know as soon as we know anything.
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Kristina Keneally has spoken to ABC radio RN this morning about the need for an independent review into the culture and reporting process for political staffers.
Again, several voices, including the Greens senator Larissa Waters, made these calls after the Four Corners episode. It’s only now, after the most heinous of allegations, that we are seeing action.
“This is only the latest of allegations and reports of bullying, harassment and - it’s almost unbelievable we’re saying these words - an alleged rape in a minister’s office.” Labor Senator @KKeneally
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) February 16, 2021
“It shouldn’t take the prime minister of Australia to be the father of daughters to understand that rape is wrong and victims need to be supported.” - Labor Senator @KKeneally
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) February 16, 2021
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Brittany Higgins told Samantha Maiden, the journalist who first reported her story, that it was a photo of Scott Morrison beside Grace Tame that had inspired her to tell her story.
Tame has responded:
Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, has posted on Instagram saying her thoughts are with Brittany Higgins. @10NewsFirst pic.twitter.com/byQcuAU2FT
— Chloe Bouras (@ChloeBouras) February 16, 2021
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We reported yesterday that Jacinda Ardern had expressed anger at Scott Morrison after Australia stripped citizenship from a dual Aus-New Zealand citizen, following Interpol issuing a warrant on terrorism charges.
The woman had two children. They too have lost any claim to Australian citizenship. Ardern has challenged Morrison on Australia’s policy of deporting New Zealand-born Australians once prison sentences are completed, despite how long they have lived in Australia (and that any criminality occurred on our watch).
This event has taken those complaints to a new level. Ardern and Morrison spoke on the phone last night and Ardern released a statement:
The call was constructive. Regardless of the steps taken in this case to date, both NZ and Australia acknowledge that this case now has a number of complexities. We are working through those issues in the spirit of our relationship.
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Turnbull say it's 'incredible' Morrison's office wasn't told about rape allegation
Malcolm Turnbull also says he finds it “incredible” Scott Morrison’s office was not made aware a staffer alleged she had been raped in a parliamentary office:
Well, I find it incredible.
That’s to say very, very, very hard to believe, that the prime minister’s office would not have been aware of that incident as soon as it occurred. And would not have been aware of the complaints that Brittany was making.
I mean, if they weren’t, it was a complete failure of the system.
So that’s the first point. As to when Scott Morrison was told – you know, sometimes the staff in a prime minister’s office will use discretion as to what they tell their [boss] and when they tell it to him or her.
So I’d be ... ultimately, that’s really something only the people involved can answer.
But an incident like this, you know, major security breach, very distressed young woman found there in awful circumstances then she complains that she’s been raped.
I mean, I find it inconceivable that that wasn’t well known to at least key members of the prime minister’s staff. And if it wasn’t, there was clearly an absolutely baffling breakdown in communications.
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Malcolm Turnbull is speaking to ABC News Breakfast, where he is asked about the reviews Scott Morrison has ordered into the complaints process at parliament.
It should be mentioned that a review of the complaints system was immediately requested after Four Corners aired its Canberra Bubble story last year.
Turnbull says reviews are fine, but there needs to be an independent process:
Look, I think that the reviews will probably do no harm. How much good they do, I’d be sceptical about.
Frankly, I think a review of this kind should be done by somebody or some people that are absolutely independent. I think putting ... asking the new member for Curtin, formerly a vice-chancellor, to do a review, effectively into the behaviour of her own colleagues, puts her in a very invidious position.
I’m not questioning her capabilities, [it would be easier] if she was not actually a member of the Liberal party room.
So what I think should be done is that there should be an absolutely rigorous, independent review.
Now, that was the approach that I took in a case of inappropriate conduct during my time as prime minister.
Get somebody who might be an experienced public servant, they might be a former member of parliament.
You know, they might be a distinguished academic, but get someone outside of both the public service and the political parties to do that review.
But really, this is going to require strong leadership from the top.
It’s going to require the kind of leadership I provided when I changed the ministerial code in February 2018 following the Barnaby Joyce affair, I suppose, to use a generic term.
But really, ministers and prime ministers have to lead by example. And people who disrespect their colleagues and people who disrespect women, let alone assault them, have to be dealt with, with the full rigour of the law, frankly. What Brittany Higgins has spoken about is a very serious crime. So this has got to be pursued, be seen to be pursued.
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Good morning
Happy Wednesday.
This week has been a long year but we are almost through its middle. I have at least two more wrinkles and have consumed the weight of five cats in sugar, so it’s going absolutely great guns at Politics Live central.
Still, there is work to be done. And we hope to be able to tell you today that Victoria will be able to come out of lockdown. It’s been a very long four days for people in Victoria, who have more right than anyone else in the country to feel however the hell they want about lockdowns, and we hope it ends tonight.
There are reports of plans to lift the lockdown a day early, with all cases linked to the Holiday Inn hotel quarantine having been in isolation as close contacts of known cases. We’ll bring you more on that as soon as we can.
The fallout from Brittany Higgins’ allegation continues, with Scott Morrison agreeing to look at Labor’s proposal for an independent complaints process. Political staffers are among some of the most powerless workers in the nation, so having somewhere they can go which is separate to any political party would make the whole process a little less fraught.
And the IR battle continues, despite the government dropping the changes to the better-off-overall test after the Labor and the unions’ campaign against it began to take hold.
We’ll bring you all of that, and more, as it happens. You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day, with the Guardian brains trust at your disposal. In Canberra, that is Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst, with Mike Bowers letting us all know what is going on behind the scenes.
Grab a coffee and a sweet bun (cinnamon for me) and let’s get into it.
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