LEGISLATION BONANZA
And breathe. Yesterday’s manic activity in Parliament House concluded around 11.30pm with the Senate adjourning after passing a remarkable 32 bills.
The session ended with Labor’s Katy Gallagher declaring senators would be returning in February for more business, Guardian Australia reports, a line Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also issued during his interview with the ABC’s 7.30 programme last night.
Albanese, who one assumes will be happy at where the government finds itself after so much legislation was passed this week, told Sarah Ferguson Parliament will sit in February to consider the remaining bills on Labor’s agenda. There had previously been significant speculation the prime minister was considering calling an election for March, which would mean this week would be the last of this parliamentary term.
“We’ve implemented reforms to make a difference, whether it’s in housing and rental assistance, whether it’s childcare support, cheaper medicines, energy bill relief, tax cuts for every taxpayer, fixing up single parenting payment. We understand that there is more to do,” Albanese told the ABC.
We’ll have to wait and see if Parliament actually does return in February. Many publications believe the legislative clearing of the decks yesterday leaves Albanese in a position to call an election whenever suits.
Leading overnight has not just been the incredible number of bills passed through the Senate but the fact the House of Representatives will today rubber-stamp the government’s ban on children under 16 using social media, which passed the upper house comfortably with Labor and most of the Coalition voting for it.
The ABC flags there were 19 votes against it, with Coalition Senators Alex Antic and Matt Canavan joining the crossbench in opposing it. Liberal Richard Colbeck abstained.
Guardian Australia reminds us the laws will not actually come into effect for another 12 months and “it remains unclear how social media platforms will be able to determine the age of users and if Australians will need to hand over identification details in order to access the sites”. The age-verification trials associated with the legislation won’t report back until next year.
The site reports on some of the objections voiced about the lack of detail and speed of the bill, such as Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young declaring: “This is boomers trying to tell young people how the internet should work.”
There’s not enough space to go into the details of the 32 bills passed yesterday but the legislation of note according to The Australian includes the controversial migration bills, the Future Made in Australia package, changes to the Privacy Act, the Reserve Bank reforms and family law amendments. The paper flags the Greens this week “ticked off 27 pieces of government legislation in a capitulation that followed disappointing results for the minor party in the ACT and Queensland elections”, including the much fought-over housing bills as previously flagged.
The Sydney Morning Herald highlights how the government gained Senate approval for a cut to student debts and the final part of a sweeping change to the aged care sector. The paper reports Labor also received crossbench support for its food and grocery code which involves mandatory rules on supermarkets to treat suppliers fairly. It also reminds readers of the legislation that had to be jettisoned at the last minute, including electoral reforms and the election pledge to set up an environment protection agency to regulate new projects.
The Australian is keen to flag the criticism of passing so many bills in such a short space of time, with Senator Jacqui Lambie coming close to passing a motion condemning the guillotining of bills, saying it was “dangerous to shove bills down our throats”. In question time, Coalition leader Peter Dutton said: “Australian people cannot believe how incompetent and weak your government has been over the last 2½ [years]. Your government wasted $450 million on the voice and divided our country, and on economic and energy policies, you’ve done nothing but drive up the prices on everything. Why not call an election now to put Australians out of their misery and allow a competent Coalition government to get our country back on track?”
Albanese told Parliament Dutton “has spent all year saying the costings on his nuclear policy are coming next week or next fortnight. The clock is ticking and it never happens — tomorrow never comes”.
The prime minister also told 7.30: “We have put in place a range of [cost of living] measures, and Peter Dutton has opposed every one of them. There’s no future agenda from Peter Dutton, we’ve already started to outline what a second-term agenda is like.”
Expect a lot more of this in the coming weeks and months folks.
BYE-BYE BIRMINGHAM
One sure sign an election is on the horizon is the farewell speeches and unexpectedly for some we got another yesterday with opposition Senate leader Simon Birmingham announcing his retirement.
The Australian Financial Review reports Birmingham warned the Coalition against veering too far to the right and declaring little was gained by culture wars. “I remain proud of my small role in securing marriage equality in Australia, having been the first Coalition frontbencher to publicly back marriage reform,” he said.
“The global rise of populism and divisive tribalism peddled by ideological extremes troubles me. It risks social cohesion in countries like ours and jeopardises the economic well-being of countries like ours. I am confident that Australia is a country whose values sit at the centre and the parties of government forget that at their peril.”
The paper flags shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash will replace Birmingham as the opposition’s leader in the Senate. Birmingham has insisted his departure is not a reflection of his faith in Dutton as leader, saying turning 50 years old this year had given him time to reflect on his future. He said he will next be stepping “into a new commercially orientated direction” which “has nothing to do with lobbying, government relations, or commentary”.
Elsewhere in job news, The Age highlights that while Treasurer Jim Chalmers may have been celebrating getting his RBA reforms passed, the central bank’s governor was using a speech in Sydney to declare underlying inflation is still too high for an interest rate cut to be considered “in the near term”.
Michele Bullock also told the Committee for Economic Development of Australia: “Australia’s labour market conditions appear unusually tight relative to those in other peer economies. Conditions in labour markets in those economies have eased significantly and unemployment has increased, such that labour markets are now assessed to be close to balance or have spare capacity. Given the tightness in Australia’s labour market, along with our assessment that the level of demand still exceeds supply in the broader economy, we expect it will take a little longer for inflation to settle at target in Australia.”
Meanwhile, the AAP has flagged hundreds of police officers will stop work and walk out of Victoria’s largest police station later today in an industrial dispute. Those working at the station in central Melbourne will strike for one hour at 11am in a push for a 24% pay rise over four years and for an end to unpaid overtime, the newswire said.
Finally, AAP also reports the $100 million Powerball prize pot has been split between a Queensland couple and a mystery Melbournite. The newswire said the Victorian winner “may not even realise they hold the winning division one ticket, purchased from a Tatts outlet in Darebin”.
On hearing the news, the winning grandmother declared: “I expected you to ask if we have solar panels, not to tell us we’ve just won $50 million… I’m in a total state of shock. There’s going to be a few more prezzies under the tree on Christmas Day.”
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
Given Movember ends this weekend it’s worth reflecting on some of the feats achieved this month in raising money and awareness for men’s health issues.
Take for example the runner in Wales who made headlines around the world for creating the world’s largest GPS-drawn penis. Terry Rosoman used the exercise app Strava to draw the image during a 75-mile run across Welsh mountains formerly known as Brecon Beacons.
The 38-year-old completed the stunt for Movember and is quoted by The Guardian as saying afterwards: “It was really tough. The hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. It was just a hard slog for 24 hours.
“I didn’t sleep, I ran through the night, pitch black, I couldn’t see anything. We got lost loads of times.”
The New York Post said Rosoman had smashed his fundraising target and raised thousands for the charity, while North Wales Live quoted him as saying: “They [men] find this stuff hilarious no matter how old they are. I don’t want to offend anyone with the shape, but it was just to get their attention.”
Say What?
Mark was grateful for the invitation to join President Trump for dinner and the opportunity to meet with members of his team about the incoming administration.
Meta
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has dined with US President-elect Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. We’re not aware if Elon Musk was also in attendance.
CRIKEY RECAP
This Parliament began with great hope around the environment and climate. Labor had committed to real climate action and meaningful, if unambitious, emissions reduction goals, rather than Scott Morrison’s risible 2050 net-zero target. Teal MPs committed to an ambitious climate agenda had replaced do-nothing Liberal moderates whose only climate action was to wring their hands as they were rolled by fossil fuel interests within their partyroom.
But the Parliament ends with a Labor government firmly in the control of the fossil fuel industry, with the ALP axing its own election commitments on the environment as our fossil fuel exports surge. Meanwhile, the Coalition has backtracked not merely on the Morrison government’s climate position but the Abbott government’s position. It’s been a stark demonstration of how Labor securing a two-seat majority in 2022 was the painful difference between an end to the long years of climate inaction and business as usual for a country that is now one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel exporters.
Our call-out to try and determine how widespread these pitches are prompted a flood of responses, with 7:30 host Sarah Ferguson also confirming she receives the same emails. Some reporters told Crikey they had wondered whether the pitches were generated by AI.
It turns out Invigorate has quite the backstory. It’s run by Tess Sanders-Lazarus, wife of NRL legend and former Palmer United Party senator Glenn Lazarus. She was briefly in the political spotlight after PUP accused her of withholding keys to the party’s Canberra office following Lazarus’ defection in 2015.
Sanders-Lazarus told Crikey (after shamelessly wishing us a “Happy TOOSYAYYY”), that the greetings were “designed to spread some cheer and to lift people”.
She confirmed Invigorate’s use of AI was “limited at this stage”, but that the firm did partner with an agency that provided remote workers for its workforce. She also happily provided a full list of the greetings used by the firm for each day of the week:
Happy Groundhog Day / Happy MonYAYYYY
Happy TOOSSSYAY
Happy HUMP day
Happy Junior FriYAYYYY
Happy FriYAYYYY
Rogan might be the gravitational centre around which this ecosystem orbits, and it is a welcoming place for Trump’s anti-establishment message and his rebuke of mainstream media. The long and unstructured form of Rogan’s and adjacent podcasts and their sympathetic hosts allows Trump’s loose rhetorical style — his self-described “weave” — to land for audiences familiar with, and wanting, spontaneity and easygoing flow. And it is likely that these appearances helped him to propel traditionally low-propensity young male voters to the ballot box.
In his bid to court the so-called “bro vote,” Trump engaged dozens of podcasters and streamers on the political fringe who share a common audience of young, politically disengaged men. In the final days of the campaign, Trump — followed by Vance, then billionaire backer Musk—went on The Joe Rogan Experience, America’s most-consumed podcast. These appearances culminated in Rogan offering his endorsement of the Republican ticket, arguably the zenith for a US presidential election where nontraditional media played an unprecedented role.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Israel and Hezbollah trade accusations of ceasefire violations (Reuters)
Putin threatens to hit Kyiv with Oreshnik missiles and praises Trump (The Guardian)
Masterchef’s Gregg Wallace steps aside after allegations (BBC)
Australia has barred everyone under 16 from social media. Will it work? (The New York Times) ($)
Man who went missing for five weeks in Canadian wilderness found alive (Sky News)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Albanese gets down and dirty in deal making and breaking as Senate rushes to Christmas finish — Michelle Grattan (The Conversation): In the chaotic dying days of 2024’s final parliamentary sitting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reverted to a role he played in Julia Gillard’s government.
He personally intervened in the wrangling and deal-making as the government battled to get as much as possible of Labor’s legislation passed.
The end of a parliamentary year is usually a mess. But 2024’s finale was beyond bad. A prime minister who likes to claim he runs an orderly government found himself presiding over a shambles, in which process was thrown to the winds and quick fixes and expedient capitulations became the order of the day.
After a busy week in Parliament, Anthony Albanese now has all he needs to trigger an election — Jacob Greber (ABC): Not least because the past two days have felt like one of those hunger-game storylines. As the clock runs down, so too does the window for opportunity in the Senate.
But like the old writer’s adage — sometimes you have to kill your favourites…
Translated into political terms, Albanese has all he needs now to trigger an election.
Which is exactly what Peter Dutton cheekily challenged him to do in question time. Not sure he meant it; after all, it would have meant an early January election. Imagine that.
Speaker Milton Dick wished MPs a good summer break.
“I look forward to your interjections when you return in February. I think…”
