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Coalition support falls further and One Nation rises in latest poll – politics live
Turnbull accuses media of being too 'distracted by personalities' – politics live
(35 minutes later)
11.37pm GMT
23:37
The department of parliamentary services is currently being grilled about the terms and conditions of Aussies’ cafe in the parliamentary building.
This is cafe that services pollies, press and other poseurs who inhabit the building. As Liberal pollster Mark Textor wrote in 2014:
Hanging out at Aussies Cafe in Parliament House gives “poli-tourists” a version of the cool they never had at school. Returning home to the wife to tell tales from the big house of how he told the minister this, and that provides the influence-affirmation his money can’t attain in Sydney or – if he’s a leftist – what his wit can’t attain online.
The AFR’s Joe Aston reported this morning:
Last week, without warning or explanation, DPS hit Aussies’ proprietor, Domenic Calabria, with a 70 per cent rent hike (from $94,000 to $160,000 per annum), a new tenure-by-licence arrangement granted on a month-by-month basis and, most outrageously, has ordered him to stop using the name “Aussies”. The new conditions also give DPS a right of veto over the contents of the menu and its prices, and require Calabria to establish key performance indicators for his part-time staff, which include his mother and sister. Yep, DPS wants to file a performance review for Mamma Calabria’s tomato soup. Can you believe it?
11.27pm GMT
23:27
Updated
at 11.29pm GMT
11.26pm GMT
23:26
The Andrew Wilkie ending the rorts bill does the following with politicians travel claims:
The bill provides for a retrospective audit of all members’ and senators’ travel claims from the period following the 2013 federal election to the present and requires annual audits to take place in the future.
It requires parliamentarians to list the substantive activities – both work-related and personal – undertaken on official travel so the public can have confidence that commonwealth-funded travel is being undertaken in accordance with both the law and community expectations.
It also provides a mechanism for law enforcement agencies to be contacted when there has been misuse of work expenses.
It will not receive support from the major parties.
Updated
at 11.28pm GMT
11.23pm GMT
23:23
No poker face, this PM.
11.16pm GMT
23:16
Denison independent Andrew Wilkie is speaking to his parliamentary entitlements amendment (ending the rorts) bill.
He is listing former disgraces in the name of parliamentary entitlements. It is like the greatest hits of parliamentary travel rorts.
Updated
at 11.19pm GMT
11.12pm GMT
23:12
The environment and communications estimates committee has just been suspended after Greens leader Richard Di Natale held up a lump of dead coral and a lump of coal. Liberal chair Linda Reynolds threatened to throw him out. Di Natale does not normally do a lot of estimates.
Updated
at 11.20pm GMT
11.09pm GMT
23:09
Paul Karp
Penny Wong’s eyebrow has entered the Senate estimates hearing.
In finance and public admin estimates, Wong has asked for a letter Tony Abbott wrote to the Speaker of the House and president of the Senate about a possible extension of the ministerial wing at Parliament House.
Stephen Parry will not produce the letter, relying on the fact the co-addressee (Bronwyn Bishop) hadn’t approved it and disputes that the extension was under consideration.
Acting clerk of the Senate, Richard Pye, said the Department of the Senate is hiring extra staff to cope with an increased workload including more Senate committees. He said it would be a shame to “artificially constrain” the number of committee references because of the workload.Wong then raised an answer on notice from the Department of Parliamentary Services that there are “daily instances” where parliament security has been short-staffed.
Updated
at 11.14pm GMT
10.56pm GMT
10.56pm GMT
22:56
22:56
Malcolm Turnbull: media is too easily distracted
Malcolm Turnbull: media is too easily distracted
Malcolm Turnbull’s frustration is showing with the media and Tony Abbott.
Malcolm Turnbull’s frustration is showing with the media and Tony Abbott.
Would you say those messages aren’t getting through to the public, this isn’t the first Newspoll that’s been a bad result for the government?
Would you say those messages aren’t getting through to the public, this isn’t the first Newspoll that’s been a bad result for the government?
The important thing for me to do is to focus on the task at hand. If I may, with great respect to all of you in the media, you’re very readily distracted by personalities in politics.
The important thing for me to do is to focus on the task at hand. If I may, with great respect to all of you in the media, you’re very readily distracted by personalities in politics.
You’re much more entertained by conflict and personalities than you are by jobs. You don’t seem to have a great deal of interest in the cane growers or the cattle producers or the bottlemakers or the data centre owners or the butchers who need the support of the government to ensure that they can have the export markets to reach out to and the affordable energy that they need to keep their businesses going.
You’re much more entertained by conflict and personalities than you are by jobs. You don’t seem to have a great deal of interest in the cane growers or the cattle producers or the bottlemakers or the data centre owners or the butchers who need the support of the government to ensure that they can have the export markets to reach out to and the affordable energy that they need to keep their businesses going.
Now, you can focus on the personalities if you wish, that’s up to you, but I’m focused on jobs, I’m focused on economic growth, I’m focused on ensuring that as hard-working Australian families can get ahead, and on that note we must return to parliament.
Now, you can focus on the personalities if you wish, that’s up to you, but I’m focused on jobs, I’m focused on economic growth, I’m focused on ensuring that as hard-working Australian families can get ahead, and on that note we must return to parliament.
10.51pm GMT
10.51pm GMT
22:51
22:51
Malcolm Turnbull gets the poll question first up.
Malcolm Turnbull gets the poll question first up.
A poll is a snapshot of opinion at one particular kind. The election is two years away and what we saw was an outburst on Thursday and it had its desired impact on the Newspoll. It was exactly as predicted and calculated.
A poll is a snapshot of opinion at one particular kind. The election is two years away and what we saw was an outburst on Thursday and it had its desired impact on the Newspoll. It was exactly as predicted and calculated.
Is Tony Abbott the reason for this?
Is Tony Abbott the reason for this?
As I said, he knew exactly what he was doing and he did it. I’m not going to be distracted by that, it’s a fact of life,
As I said, he knew exactly what he was doing and he did it. I’m not going to be distracted by that, it’s a fact of life,
10.48pm GMT
10.48pm GMT
22:48
22:48
The PM's head is printed on a drink bottle during a tour in Hume this morn. @gabriellechan @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/S09oJWnI0E
The PM's head is printed on a drink bottle during a tour in Hume this morn. @gabriellechan @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/S09oJWnI0E
10.41pm GMT
10.41pm GMT
22:41
22:41
Meantime, Scott Morrison is talking about Labor’s failings on the migration front.
Meantime, Scott Morrison is talking about Labor’s failings on the migration front.
They set up a visa factory for undesirables.
They set up a visa factory for undesirables.
10.39pm GMT
22:39
The House sits at 10am. With private members’ bills on first thing, we could expect the Greens and Labor penalties bills.
After that, Omnicuss.
Otherwise known as the social services legislation amendment (omnibus savings and child care reform) bill, which rolls up savings measures in childcare reforms that increase and simplify subsidies.
Updated
at 10.41pm GMT
10.37pm GMT
22:37
Treasurer Scott Morrison is speaking to Ray Hadley on 2GB. First question is on the Newspoll.
ScoMo says the government is trying to get the message across.
It’s not resonating, says Ray, who has been thinking about these polls since early morning.
Ray wants the treasurer to nail the renewable energy target.
Morrison pushes back. Changes to policy causes sovereign risk.
Hadley says his listeners feel the Coalition should stop attacking Tony Abbott – the messenger – because his policies are correct. The government is bleeding votes to the Right.
Hadley gives him some advice. Tell the peeps not to react to Abbott.
Hold the company line ... if your colleagues didn’t respond to it, there wouldn’t be a blue.
Updated
at 10.41pm GMT
10.27pm GMT
22:27
Before the election, Bill Shorten’s did make a very clear promise, as reported in the Conversation, to abide by the Fair Work Commission on penalty rates.
The piece by Michelle Grattan sets out the various tensions at play before the election.
Shorten was doing the dance of the army surplus blankets, trying to guarantee penalty rates would stay the same while still abiding by the umpire’s decision.
[In April 2016] 3AW’s Neil Mitchell asked Bill Shorten whether he would accept the findings of the FWC review. Shorten gave a succinct “yes”. Pressed on whether he’d do so even if the finding was to reduce Sunday rates, Shorten replied “I said I’d accept the independent tribunal”.
Labor’s shadow employment minister, Brendan O’Connor, was asked about supporting the independent umpire on the ABC this morning. He said Labor did support the independence of the FWC
Of course we support the independence of the commission, you know, generally speaking. But this decision is so untenable we had to respond by saying we cannot support its effect.
My daughter is currently funding uni life with a bar job. She will lose penalties from the decision. But I can see major problems once Labor departs from FWC decisions. Would they be happy with the Coalition legislating in a future minority parliament against a pay-rise decision by the FWC?
Updated
at 10.33pm GMT
10.11pm GMT
22:11
Breaking from Barnaby Joyce: politicians read polls
In a refreshing change, deputy PM Barnaby Joyce has stated the bleeding obvious.
POLITICIANS DO READ POLLS.
Some people say polls go up and polls go down. I’m not a fool. I’ve read them and what they are is a motivation to me that people have concerns. They want to be heard, and that’s precisely what I do in my job, and I intend to keep doing. We have to sell the message. We have to tell people how hard we are working and I intend to do that because we are.
Then Joyce makes the point he does not drive under the building to escape journalists waiting at the doors when the government is having a bad day.
I come through the front door because I want to talk to you, because I think it’s your right to be heard. I could duck into the basement on a bad day, but I don’t. It’s a tough day, I go through the front door.
10.04pm GMT
22:04
Stories are starting to wind up ahead of the May budget. As the government sings the usual rein in the spending song, the Australian Council of Social Services (Acoss) has released its helpful annual list of what-to-cut-if-you-don’t-know-what-to-cut.
Halving the capital gains tax discount from 50% to 25% over 10 years ($500m)
Abolishing negative gearing for new investments ($300m)
Taxing private trusts ($1.5bn)
Taxing income retained in private companies ($1.2bn)
Abolishing the private health insurance rebate ($3.5bn)
Superannuation contributions reforms ($1.3bn)
While Peter Martin at Fairfax reports:
All high-income Australians would pay the 1 to 1.5% Medicare levy surcharge under a budget proposal that would raise a breathtaking $4bn per year, more than six times the net amount saved in the first Turnbull budget.
At present only high-income Australians without private health insurance are made to pay the extra levy.
Extending it to all families earning more than $180,000 per year and all individuals without children earning more than $90,000 per year would raise at least $900 per year more from each high-income Australian with private health insurance, and would offset the removal of the high-income temporary budget deficit repair levy, which expires in the middle of this year.
9.50pm GMT
21:50
The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, who terminated his former leadership fave Tony Abbott last week, has commented on the Newspoll.
Look, clearly, the debates that were initiated on Thursday night don’t help.
He has had a private conversation with Abbott since Abbott’s intervention but he will keep it private.
Cormann also made these points about Bill Shorten’s stance on the cut to penalty rates:
Bill Shorten is a complete and utter hypocrite.
The Fair Work Commission was set up as an independent body by the Labor party.
The people that made the decision were appointed by the Labor party.
Bill Shorten himself gave the reference and asked the Fair Work Commission to review penalty rates.
It was Bill Shorten who asked the Fair Work Commission to review penalty rates.
The reason we have a decision on penalty rates on Sundays is because Bill Shorten specifically amended legislation so the Fair Work Commission had to do this job.
Before the election, he said he would respect the decision of the independent umpire and he is clearly feeling the political heat from Anthony Albanese.
Updated
at 9.53pm GMT
9.39pm GMT
21:39
While the House of Representatives is sitting today, the Senate has a storm of estimates committees right across the board. This is a live blogger’s blessing and curse because juicy tidbits are always thrown. But keeping across the committees while simultaneously watching the parliament and the doorstops will send you screaming down the corridors eventually.
We will do our best, dear reader.
Updated
at 9.51pm GMT
9.29pm GMT
21:29
The Labor and Greens bills have support from Jacqui Lambie.
Apart from the fact that the proposed decrease in Sunday penalty rates will hit Tasmanian battlers the hardest … the extra money made by workers on a Sunday through penalty rates very quickly finds its way back into the local economy and small business community.
But One Nation’s Brian Burston, the Justice party’s Derryn Hinch and Nick Xenophon all back the Fair Work Commission on the grounds it is the independent umpire.
Updated
at 9.34pm GMT
9.24pm GMT
21:24
Last week’s decision by the Fair Work Commission to cut penalty rates by up to 50% in the retail, pharmacy, hospitality and fast-food industries for Sundays and public holidays will be front and centre for Labor and the Greens today.
Both parties are bringing legislation to overturn the decision of the FWC.
Paul Karp reports:
The Greens bill would lock penalty rates in at 2017 levels so that penalties cannot fall below the current levels.
Labor says their bill will effectively prevent the decision from taking effect by requiring that penalty rate cuts cannot result in a cut in take-home pay. In other words, if other conditions are improved, penalties could be decreased.
The Greens have released their bill but we have yet to see Labor’s bill. The Greens seems the more straightforward one at this stage.
Updated
at 9.36pm GMT
9.02pm GMT
21:02
Good morning deplorables, we are all splitters now
There is an embarrassment of riches in federal politics today. I feel like a beagle in a rabbit plague, not sure which tail to chase.
Firstly there is the Newspoll in the Oz, which will go off like a cracker in the party room this week. From our report:
The Coalition has taken another hit in the polls after a week of infighting, with Labor leading 55% to 45% on a two-party-preferred basis in the latest Newspoll.
As support for the government tumbles, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has doubled its primary vote to 10% since November, now matching the Greens.
Labor extended its two-party-preferred lead from the 54-46 finding of the previous month’s poll after a week in which the former leader Tony Abbott openly attacked the record of his successor, Malcolm Turnbull, and was in turn savaged by his party colleagues as “self-indulgent” and “destructive”.
Here are the primary votes:
Coalition: 34%
Labor: 37%
One Nation: 10%
Greens: 10%
There is a separate poll that explains LNP dissident George Christensen’s wing-fluffing.
A separate poll in George Christensen’s seat of Dawson put One Nation level-pegging with the LNP on primary votes, the ABC reported. The ReachTEL poll gave the LNP 30.4% of the vote, compared with 30% for One Nation, in the Queensland seat held by the rightwing LNP MP.
Of course, the Newspoll was taken after the bespoke intervention by Tony Abbott when he gave Malcolm Turnbull the fantasy Abbott agenda which he himself failed to implement in office.
Peter Van Onselen has reported in the Oz that Abbott and his charismatic deputy dawg Eric Abetz have set up the Deplorables.
A group of conservative Liberal MPs calling themselves “the deplorables” held regular phone hook-ups after last year’s close election result to co-ordinate a strategy to attack Malcolm Turnbull on several policy fronts and to get Tony Abbott back into cabinet.
The hook-ups throughout the second half of last year were instigated by Mr Abbott and Eric Abetz via calendar invites and group texts, with the pair chairing meetings that included directives to junior MPs to use the media to pressure the Turnbull government on issues such as Safe Schools and amending section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
They also sought to position conservative MPs for a fight over same-sex marriage if Mr Turnbull moved to a free vote once the plebiscite was defeated in parliament, arguing any change of policy would be a leadership issue.
The other MPs involved included Kevin Andrews, Michael Sukker, Rick Wilson, Andrew Hastie, Zed Seselja, Ian Goodenough, Cory Bernardi, Nicolle Flint, Jonathon Duniam, Craig Kelly, Scott Buchholz and Tony Pasin.
But support fell away, as people got promoted and/or started to feel like they were being used.
“He wanted clean hands,” one MP said of Mr Abbott. “So we were co-opted into the attacks.” Junior members of the group had thought the meetings were purely to discuss strategies as to how to press Mr Turnbull on conservative policy positions, before realising that “more sinister motives were at play”, as one participant put it.
Is Tony Abbott the Regina George of the Coalition party room? (I will take other nominations.) Best get cracking. The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, has been feeding the chooks this morning so I shall have some comment from him shortly. Mike Bowers is haunting the building. Speak to us in the thread, on the Twits @gabriellechan or @mpbowers or on Facebook.
