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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2016/feb/29/coalition-backbenchers-nervous-about-negative-gearing-as-parliament-resumes-politics-live
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| Parties clash over negative gearing as election talk swirls – question time live | Parties clash over negative gearing as election talk swirls – question time live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 4.23am GMT | |
| 04:23 | |
| Just a quick bit of trivia for politics tragics. Centuries ago, when Tony Smith was press secretary to Peter Costello (before he became an MP and now Speaker) he was famous for furnishing the following formulation to inquisitive journalists. | |
| Off the record. | |
| No comment. | |
| Not a man of loose lips, our Tony. | |
| 4.16am GMT | |
| 04:16 | |
| Turnbull has wound up question time. The shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus wants to know what’s going on with the police. | |
| Speaker Tony Smith tells Dreyfus he doesn’t comment on police matters. He says any queries need to be directed to the police. He says in general terms any search warrants would be executed in accordance with the rules governing privilege. | |
| On Sky News (the network that broke the story police were on the trail of an MP), Peter Van Onselen is saying he understands the parliamentary server was accessed last week. He says he believes that was done with presiding officer cooperation. | |
| 4.07am GMT | |
| 04:07 | |
| The Member for Bowman, Andrew Laming, has a question for the minister for finance about ice. Finance? Wut? Sorry no, this question is for the justice minister, Michael Keenan. | |
| Keenan keeps calm and carries on. | |
| 4.05am GMT | |
| 04:05 | |
| Bill Shorten is back with responsibility and the NBN. Does the prime minister accept the government’s NBN is slow, more costly than Labor’s, and late? | |
| Turnbull repeats the ten-fold rollout figure. | |
| The prime minister: | |
| The approach we are taking will see [the NBN] completed sooner, at much less cost. The facts speak for themselves. The leader of the opposition can fool himself. We’re living in the real world – and the NBN is getting on with the job. | |
| 4.00am GMT | |
| 04:00 | |
| We are back to the prime minister’s failure on the NBN. | |
| Q: Will the prime minister finally accept responsibility for the mess and the chaos he has caused? | |
| No, he will not as it turns out. Turnbull throws the question to the minister for special projects, Paul Fletcher. | |
| Manager of opposition business, Tony Burke, wonders how Fletcher can possibly answer that question, whether or not Turnbull takes responsibility. Surely that is a question that only Turnbull can answer? | |
| Speaker Smith doesn’t object to Fletcher taking the question. | |
| Fletcher answers. | |
| We stand by [the NBN] and are proud of it. | |
| 3.53am GMT | 3.53am GMT |
| 03:53 | 03:53 |
| 3.51am GMT | 3.51am GMT |
| 03:51 | 03:51 |
| Now we are onto the risks Labor poses for small businesses at the most exciting time in human history. | Now we are onto the risks Labor poses for small businesses at the most exciting time in human history. |
| 3.50am GMT | 3.50am GMT |
| 03:50 | 03:50 |
| Shadow communications minister Jason Clare wants to know why the NBN is a mess. The prime minister thinks the NBN isn’t a mess. Turnbull thinks since the election the number of premises that are serviceable by the NBN has increased by ten-fold. | Shadow communications minister Jason Clare wants to know why the NBN is a mess. The prime minister thinks the NBN isn’t a mess. Turnbull thinks since the election the number of premises that are serviceable by the NBN has increased by ten-fold. |
| Labor cracks up at ten-fold. | Labor cracks up at ten-fold. |
| 3.47am GMT | 3.47am GMT |
| 03:47 | 03:47 |
| Agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce thinks Labor is full of mad ideas. | Agriculture minister Barnaby Joyce thinks Labor is full of mad ideas. |
| You really do have to have a government that has its head screwed on and that’s why the Australian people will stick with the one they’ve got. | You really do have to have a government that has its head screwed on and that’s why the Australian people will stick with the one they’ve got. |
| 3.43am GMT | 3.43am GMT |
| 03:43 | 03:43 |
| Labor leader Bill Shorten has moved onto retrospective changes and negative gearing. Shorten says he’s twice asked the prime minister to rule out making changes that would impact existing investments. The prime minister has not ruled that out, Shorten notes. | Labor leader Bill Shorten has moved onto retrospective changes and negative gearing. Shorten says he’s twice asked the prime minister to rule out making changes that would impact existing investments. The prime minister has not ruled that out, Shorten notes. |
| Enough about me, more about you, Bill, says Malcolm Turnbull. | Enough about me, more about you, Bill, says Malcolm Turnbull. |
| What Labor is proposing is absolutely calculated to undermine our transition to the new economy. | What Labor is proposing is absolutely calculated to undermine our transition to the new economy. |
| Mr Speaker, there is a way to the future opportunities that we deserve in this, the most exciting time in human history. | Mr Speaker, there is a way to the future opportunities that we deserve in this, the most exciting time in human history. |
| Labor is standing in the way, Labor is standing in the way imposing taxes which will discourage, which will discourage the investment, the entrepreneurship, the technology, the innovation that Australians need to succeed in these times. | Labor is standing in the way, Labor is standing in the way imposing taxes which will discourage, which will discourage the investment, the entrepreneurship, the technology, the innovation that Australians need to succeed in these times. |
| 3.35am GMT | 3.35am GMT |
| 03:35 | 03:35 |
| Malcolm Turnbull, continuing on Labor being the problem: | Malcolm Turnbull, continuing on Labor being the problem: |
| What Labor says is we are going to increase the tax on new investments by 50% just when the nation needs investment. | What Labor says is we are going to increase the tax on new investments by 50% just when the nation needs investment. |
| They are standing in the way of our success. | They are standing in the way of our success. |
| 3.32am GMT | 3.32am GMT |
| 03:32 | 03:32 |
| Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen is back with the excesses in negative gearing. You’ve flagged them prime minister. What are they? | Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen is back with the excesses in negative gearing. You’ve flagged them prime minister. What are they? |
| The prime minister for his part would like to lay out coolly and clearly the challenges facing Australia. | The prime minister for his part would like to lay out coolly and clearly the challenges facing Australia. |
| Bowen would like the prime minister to answer the question. | Bowen would like the prime minister to answer the question. |
| Malcolm Turnbull: | Malcolm Turnbull: |
| And so we also need the best infrastructure. | And so we also need the best infrastructure. |
| 3.28am GMT | 3.28am GMT |
| 03:28 | 03:28 |
| Independent Cathy McGowan wants guarantees of hospital funding for Wangaratta, given there is a stoush between the Commonwealth and the Victorian government. Health minister Sussan Ley delivers a tongue lashing about the Victorian government fiddling the national health agreement. | Independent Cathy McGowan wants guarantees of hospital funding for Wangaratta, given there is a stoush between the Commonwealth and the Victorian government. Health minister Sussan Ley delivers a tongue lashing about the Victorian government fiddling the national health agreement. |
| Now a Dorothy Dixer about last week’s defence white paper for the foreign minister, Julie Bishop. (Defence minister Marise Payne is in the other chamber.) | Now a Dorothy Dixer about last week’s defence white paper for the foreign minister, Julie Bishop. (Defence minister Marise Payne is in the other chamber.) |
| 3.23am GMT | 3.23am GMT |
| 03:23 | 03:23 |
| Shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, to Malcolm Turnbull. | Shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, to Malcolm Turnbull. |
| Q: The treasurer has expressed willingness to address excesses in negative gearing. Prime minister, what are the excesses in negative gearing? | Q: The treasurer has expressed willingness to address excesses in negative gearing. Prime minister, what are the excesses in negative gearing? |
| Turnbull waves that one to Scott Morrison, who says he’s delighted to have the opportunity to critique Labor’s policy. Labor’s capital gains policy is one big fat tax on investment, Morrison says. A punishing tax on investment. On negative gearing, the treasurer doesn’t think it’s excessive that police or nurses claim rental losses. | Turnbull waves that one to Scott Morrison, who says he’s delighted to have the opportunity to critique Labor’s policy. Labor’s capital gains policy is one big fat tax on investment, Morrison says. A punishing tax on investment. On negative gearing, the treasurer doesn’t think it’s excessive that police or nurses claim rental losses. |
| They [Labor] think the mum and dad investors of this country are the problem. On this side of the house we know they’re the answer. | They [Labor] think the mum and dad investors of this country are the problem. On this side of the house we know they’re the answer. |
| 3.15am GMT | 3.15am GMT |
| 03:15 | 03:15 |
| The Dorothy Dixers today are, broadly, the risks Labor poses to Australia during this time of economic transition. The Labor questions are why does the prime minister hate the treasurer and why does he say contradictory things on tax reform? | The Dorothy Dixers today are, broadly, the risks Labor poses to Australia during this time of economic transition. The Labor questions are why does the prime minister hate the treasurer and why does he say contradictory things on tax reform? |
| 3.11am GMT | 3.11am GMT |
| 03:11 | 03:11 |
| Malcolm Turnbull: | Malcolm Turnbull: |
| I thank the member for Sydney for her question. And I note that she is a diligent reader of The Australian Financial Review. What a pity she hasn’t been a diligent reader of her own government’s tax policy. | I thank the member for Sydney for her question. And I note that she is a diligent reader of The Australian Financial Review. What a pity she hasn’t been a diligent reader of her own government’s tax policy. |
| (Brief pause.) | (Brief pause.) |
| Her own alternative government tax policy, I should say. | Her own alternative government tax policy, I should say. |
| (Oopsie.) | (Oopsie.) |
| 3.10am GMT | 3.10am GMT |
| 03:10 | 03:10 |
| This reminds me of prank calls my brother used to make after school when we were kids. He’d ring someone and ask them, “hey, do you live on White Street?” The person would reply “yes” (given he’d checked in the phone book the person lived in White Street). He’d then yell: “Well you’d better get off cos there’s a car coming.” This was hilarious when were in primary school. | This reminds me of prank calls my brother used to make after school when we were kids. He’d ring someone and ask them, “hey, do you live on White Street?” The person would reply “yes” (given he’d checked in the phone book the person lived in White Street). He’d then yell: “Well you’d better get off cos there’s a car coming.” This was hilarious when were in primary school. |
| 3.06am GMT | 3.06am GMT |
| 03:06 | 03:06 |
| Question time | Question time |
| Ho, ho, here we go. Labor’s Bill Shorten opens today on tax. It’s a question about contracting out the tax policy to his departmental head, Martin Parkinson, bypassing the treasurer. | Ho, ho, here we go. Labor’s Bill Shorten opens today on tax. It’s a question about contracting out the tax policy to his departmental head, Martin Parkinson, bypassing the treasurer. |
| Q: So when the prime minister of Australia doesn’t trust the treasurer of Australia to do his day job, doesn’t this prove his government has no economic plan and his economic team has no clue? | Q: So when the prime minister of Australia doesn’t trust the treasurer of Australia to do his day job, doesn’t this prove his government has no economic plan and his economic team has no clue? |
| Malcolm Turnbull, who is elaborating on the pitch he unveiled in Fyshwick this morning: | Malcolm Turnbull, who is elaborating on the pitch he unveiled in Fyshwick this morning: |
| The road to the new economy is an exciting one. But we have to make sure we take the right decisions to stay on track. | The road to the new economy is an exciting one. But we have to make sure we take the right decisions to stay on track. |
| And Labor won’t ensure we stay on the road to the new economy with their negative gearing policy and the capital gains tax policy and their opposition to the building and construction commission, the prime minister contends. | And Labor won’t ensure we stay on the road to the new economy with their negative gearing policy and the capital gains tax policy and their opposition to the building and construction commission, the prime minister contends. |
| There is a road to the new economy, Mr Speaker. Labor stands in the way. | There is a road to the new economy, Mr Speaker. Labor stands in the way. |