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Coalition defends tax plan while attacking Labor on dual citizenship – politics live Coalition defends tax plan while attacking Labor on dual citizenship – politics live
(35 minutes later)
In between Ray Hadley’s fantasies, Barnaby Joyce’s savaging of cuisines and Pauline Hanson’s interview, the Nationals said some things. Sarah Hanson-Young is not letting the change of thinking on the Murray-Darling Basin plan go by without criticism:
The disgraceful deal between the Labor and Liberal parties to sell out the Murray does nothing to guarantee water delivery for South Australia, at a time when our Coorong and Lower Lakes are dying. We must enshrine more water for the river in legislation,” she said in a statement.
“The Labor Party said they couldn’t support handing 70 billion litres over to big corporate irrigators when they supported the Greens disallowance in February, because of the rorting, water theft and corruption rife in the northern basin, yet the only thing that has changed in the Northern Basin is that Labor is now on the side of big cotton.
Labor holds a misplaced belief that they’re champions for the Basin – well, they’ve sold it out, and the millions of Australians who rely on it.”
Anthony Albanese was asked about whether or not Labor’s MPs should have resigned over the dual citizenship stuff earlier (they have officially resigned today):
I don’t think the mob out there give two hoots about that. It’s a bit like having a debate after a footy game in which I always think that Souths haven’t had a fair rub of the green and whether, you know, someone dropped the ball at the right time or forward passes,” he told Sky.
“ That doesn’t matter. What matters is the outcome that the High Court has determined means these by-elections are on. This is about that, and our focus should be on the future and on our plans for Australia. This gives us an opportunity to really campaign on Labor’s vision for Australia in the lead up to, as a bit of a dry run if you like, to the general election, whenever that may be, whether it’s later this year or early next year.”
And will Labor hold their seats?
Labor’s been ahead of course in the national polls for some time, the famous ‘30 Newspoll’ comment that Malcolm Turnbull wishes he’d never made; it’s now up to 31 or 32 that we’ve been ahead. These are all held seats. Traditionally, by-elections tend to favor oppositions and we’ve got good candidates. These people have all been good representatives. In Perth I’m sure we’ll have a very good candidate there when that’s determined. We endorsed at the ALP National Executive last Saturday the other three. They are good hard working representatives in their seats. They’re all having an impact both in their local communities but here in Canberra and they’re all worthy of support and I’m sure that they will get that support. We’ll certainly be doing what we can as a movement to mobilise support for them on the ground.”
There is currently a giant 3-0 which has been landscaped into the parliament lawn, to celebrate the building’s 30th birthday. I guess the PMO can be thankful this building was not finished any earlier ahead of schedule.
Carol Brown has released a statement over the shocking footage of a boy with autism being attacked outside his school:
Reports this morning of another tragic incident of abuse against a boy with autism outside a school in Melbourne are shocking and deeply disturbing.
Words can’t describe how appalling this kind of abuse is.
The abuse of people with disability is absolutely unacceptable.
I offer my sympathies to the student with disability and his family.
Sadly, these shocking and harrowing cases of violence and abuse are far too often experienced by people with disability.
These acts of abuse cannot be ignored.
A Royal Commission is needed so that people with disability, their families and carers can tell their stories to the highest level of judicial inquiry.
That’s why almost a year ago we announced that a Shorten Labor Government would establish a Royal Commission into Violence and Abuse against people with disability.
I’ve just had a word to Stirling Griff, the Centre Alliance senator, about his attitude to the government’s personal income tax cuts. The Centre Alliance has two Senate votes. Griff and his colleague Rex Patrick are on board for the tax relief for low and middle income earners, and the bracket creep initiatives, but the two are reserving their position on the flattening of the tax scales, which is phase three of the reforms. Griff tells me they will do their own modelling on the implications of dumping the 37% tax bracket.
He’s perplexed about why low and middle income earners have to wait for 15 months for tax relief rather than getting it now, but says he won’t seek to change the timing. “We don’t have an issue with the proposal, it’s valid, but if you want to give people relief, don’t give them a carrot 15 months down the track”.
Griff also thinks there can be a vote on the measure by 1 July, as Scott Morrison wants.
The Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak has conceded defeat in that country’s election. Which came as a shock for a lot of people, despite his implication in the 1MDB scandal, which is explained here:
Much of the criticism of Najib has been focused on his role in the huge 1MDB scandal, where $2.6bn from a government fund he was overseeing was embezzled and spent around the world and $681m of it was alleged to have ended up in his personal bank account.”
Tony Abbott however, says Australia will miss him, even if his own people don’t (right now)
PM Najib Razak was a good friend of Australia and a voice of decency and common sense at international gatherings. On the big questions he got much right and his time in government saw strong and effective cooperation between our countries.
Australia has a new man in Dubai:
From Julie Bishop and Steve Ciobo’s statement:
We are pleased to announce the appointment of Ian Halliday as Australia’s consul-general and senior trade commissioner in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, our largest investment partner in the Middle East.
As the UAE continues to diversify its economy away from crude oil and traditional commodities, opportunities are opening for Australian suppliers of goods and services in education, sustainable energy, food and beverage services and infrastructure.
Australia’s connections are strong with the UAE and growing. Almost 25,000 Australians live in the UAE, 350 Australian companies are represented and more than 130 flights a week connect the two countries.
Prior to this appointment, Mr Halliday was managing director of Dairy Australia. He has had over 20 years’ experience as a leader in the private sector, holding senior posts with Castlemaine Foods, Kraft Foods, and Kailis & France Foods (now Vesco Foods).
His experience in the commercial food and agribusiness sector in Asia and the Middle East will benefit our exporters looking to the Middle East to expand their businesses, and assist foreign investors to identify opportunities in Australia.
Mr Halliday’s appointment reflects the Turnbull Government’s strong commitment to growing Australia’s trade with the UAE.
We thank outgoing consul-general and senior trade commissioner Gerard Seeber for his contributions to advancing Australia’s interests in the UAE since January 2012.
In between Ray Hadley’s/Peter Dutton’s fantasies, Barnaby Joyce’s savaging of cuisines and Pauline Hanson’s interview, the Nationals said some things.
You’ll find that here:You’ll find that here:
LIVE: All @The_Nationals press conference at Parliament House: https://t.co/vOvfSG22E1LIVE: All @The_Nationals press conference at Parliament House: https://t.co/vOvfSG22E1
From the statement:From the statement:
Today the Governor-General put in place the final piece of the Home Affairs portfolio with the transfer of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) into the Department. Today the governor-general put in place the final piece of the Home Affairs portfolio with the transfer of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) into the Department.
ASIO’s transfer follows yesterday’s passage of the Home Affairs and Integrity Agencies Legislation Amendment Act 2018. Asio’s transfer follows yesterday’s passage of the Home Affairs and Integrity Agencies Legislation Amendment Act 2018.
The Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton welcomed the transfer of ASIO saying it delivers on the Turnbull Government’s intent to bring together the management and coordination of our nation’s national security, intelligence and emergency management agencies. The minister for home affairs Peter Dutton welcomed the transfer of Asio saying it delivers on the Turnbull Government’s intent to bring together the management and coordination of our nation’s national security, intelligence and emergency management agencies.
“We are now leveraging the very best of our agencies to ensure that the Home Affairs whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” Mr Dutton said.“We are now leveraging the very best of our agencies to ensure that the Home Affairs whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” Mr Dutton said.
“Our agencies are among the best in the world and are focussed on building a united, secure and prosperous country for all Australians.” “Our agencies are among the best in the world and are focused on building a united, secure and prosperous country for all Australians.”
The Home Affairs portfolio draws together the nation’s security and policing agencies and will provide the closest possible coordination between ASIO, the Australian Border Force, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Australian Federal Police, and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre to ensure a safer and more secure Australia. The Home Affairs portfolio draws together the nation’s security and policing agencies and will provide the closest possible coordination between Asio, the Australian Border Force, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, the Australian Federal Police, and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre to ensure a safer and more secure Australia.
“Our first priority is the safety and security of all Australians—and this is what we are delivering. These new arrangements enhance the Government’s ability to respond to emerging threats including from terrorism, organised crime and foreign interference,” Mr Dutton said. “Our first priority is the safety and security of all Australians – and this is what we are delivering. These new arrangements enhance the government’s ability to respond to emerging threats including from terrorism, organised crime and foreign interference,” Mr Dutton said.
The Home Affairs and Integrity Agencies Legislation Amendment Act 2018 also provides the Attorney-General strengthened oversight of our intelligence, security and law enforcement agencies. The Home Affairs and Integrity Agencies Legislation Amendment Act 2018 also provides the attorney-general strengthened oversight of our intelligence, security and law enforcement agencies.
***End statement***
Tanya Plibersek has released Labor’s women’s budget statement. You’ll find the whole thing here:Tanya Plibersek has released Labor’s women’s budget statement. You’ll find the whole thing here:
The member for Sydney is not impressed with the government’s effort (in other news, today is a day ending in Y):The member for Sydney is not impressed with the government’s effort (in other news, today is a day ending in Y):
After five years in government, the Liberals suggest they might do something about women’s economic security – but this year’s budget doesn’t say what, or whether there is funding for it. Why don’t they know?After five years in government, the Liberals suggest they might do something about women’s economic security – but this year’s budget doesn’t say what, or whether there is funding for it. Why don’t they know?
The truth is that the Liberals have taken no serious action on gender equality, and they never will.The truth is that the Liberals have taken no serious action on gender equality, and they never will.
After Tony Abbott scrapped the statement in 2014, Kelly O’Dwyer managed to get it back into this year’s budget. There wasn’t a whole heap of detail, but we are told that is coming in September, when O’Dwyer will make a women’s economic security statement. (FWIW, Labor continued to release its women’s budget statement from opposition despite the decision from the government to axe it.)After Tony Abbott scrapped the statement in 2014, Kelly O’Dwyer managed to get it back into this year’s budget. There wasn’t a whole heap of detail, but we are told that is coming in September, when O’Dwyer will make a women’s economic security statement. (FWIW, Labor continued to release its women’s budget statement from opposition despite the decision from the government to axe it.)
One Nation has named Matthew Stephen as their candidate in the Longman byelection.One Nation has named Matthew Stephen as their candidate in the Longman byelection.
Stephen ran for the seat of Sandgate in the last state election, where, the Australian revealed, he had only just avoided bankruptcy and had his trades licence temporarily suspended seven times for not paying fees or creditors.Stephen ran for the seat of Sandgate in the last state election, where, the Australian revealed, he had only just avoided bankruptcy and had his trades licence temporarily suspended seven times for not paying fees or creditors.
From the Australian’s October 24 report:From the Australian’s October 24 report:
Matthew Stephen, 30, had his Queensland Building and Construction Commission wall and floor tiling licence temporarily suspended seven times for not paying his fees and creditors. His most recent suspension was for February and March, while Pauline Hanson’s party was vetting his suitability to run at the next Queensland election.Matthew Stephen, 30, had his Queensland Building and Construction Commission wall and floor tiling licence temporarily suspended seven times for not paying his fees and creditors. His most recent suspension was for February and March, while Pauline Hanson’s party was vetting his suitability to run at the next Queensland election.
One Nation campaign director Michael Pucci said One Nation had backed Mr Stephen because he was so open about his past financial problems.One Nation campaign director Michael Pucci said One Nation had backed Mr Stephen because he was so open about his past financial problems.
“He was forthright, and the bottom line is he’s exactly what we’re talking about when we have people representing people,” Mr Pucci said. “He’s running a real business and he’s faced the real problems of everyday Aussies. He didn’t run away from it, that’s why he got the tick.”“He was forthright, and the bottom line is he’s exactly what we’re talking about when we have people representing people,” Mr Pucci said. “He’s running a real business and he’s faced the real problems of everyday Aussies. He didn’t run away from it, that’s why he got the tick.”
Mr Stephen said his business was now recovering from his past troubles, after it had gone from employing 25 staff to just two – him and his foreman. Now, it employs seven full-time staff and an apprentice.Mr Stephen said his business was now recovering from his past troubles, after it had gone from employing 25 staff to just two – him and his foreman. Now, it employs seven full-time staff and an apprentice.
Stephen had been open with One Nation at the time about his difficulties. This time round, Pauline Hanson says:Stephen had been open with One Nation at the time about his difficulties. This time round, Pauline Hanson says:
Matthew is a strong local candidate, a fourth-generation Australian, who lives and works in the community with his wife and family. I’m very proud to say he is ready to fight for the people of Longman and I think he would make an excellent member of parliament.Matthew is a strong local candidate, a fourth-generation Australian, who lives and works in the community with his wife and family. I’m very proud to say he is ready to fight for the people of Longman and I think he would make an excellent member of parliament.
We’ve noticed Peter Dutton and Ray Hadley sometimes touch down on the subject of Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh. This morning they revisited the subject of periodic fascination.
After playing a grab of Leigh defending Labor MPs who resigned yesterday, Dutton replied:
Ah, Ray, just hearing him talk, closing my eyes I can see him walking around in a robe, you know, like some Greek god, and he just gets weirder and weirder.
Hadley:
Hang on, I know you have a vivid imagination, but I can’t in any circumstance close my eyes and think of Andrew Leigh in a robe as a Greek god. As a wanker, yes, but not as a Greek god.
WEIRDER AND WEIRDER.
Speaking of totally normal cuppas, Bill Shorten had one of his own this morning:
The new Tarantino flick looks a little odd:
Malcolm Turnbull had a few things to say about that totally normal cuppa he had with a group of seniors earlier this morning:
But I tell you one thing they are very concerned about – and that is Bill Shorten’s plan to grab their savings. Shorten’s cash-grab on retirees’ savings, his grab for those franking credits is going to cost those people around the table there an enormous amount.
The lady I was sitting next to said it was going to cost her about 28% of her income. That is a massive grab! This is a $5bn a year tax grab that Bill Shorten is proposing in total over 10 years – a $56bn tax grab, part of his $200bn worth of taxes he wants to grab and what that is going to do is hit some very vulnerable Australians who have done the right thing and saved all their lives.
So when Shorten stands up tonight and talks about his plan for the budget, he’s got to explain how ripping $200bn-plus in additional tax out of the Australian economy is not going to do anything other than inflict real hardship on hardworking Australians who saved all their lives. Discourage businesses from investing, discourage businesses from employing and set our strong economy going backwards.
Economic modellers have had a couple of days to think about the 2018 budget and they’re starting to tell us how they think it will affect different types of families.
Two of the most respect budget modellers – Natsem and ANU’s Centre for Social Research and Methods – say the tax changes in the budget will benefit the highest wage earners most.
1. University of Canberra’s National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (Natsem) found this: “Highest wage earners will benefit most from the 2018 federal budget.”
Natsem’s modelling shows a two-parent family with both parents earning $100,000 and two school-aged children will be $1,022 better off in 2018-19 compared with 2017-18. This will increase to $4,280 by 2024-25.
Low-middle income earners are set to benefit from handouts of up to $530 starting next financial year, meaning a lone-parent family earning $70,000 per year and with two children will be $757 better off in 2018-19 and $3,486 better off by 2024-25 thanks to indexing of FTB-A and FTB-B.
2. ANU’s Centre for Social Research and Methods found this: “Most of the reductions in tax are directed towards the top two income quintiles.
“The targeting of the tax cuts more strongly favours higher income households over lower income households where the cuts are much more modest (both in dollar and percentage terms). However, it is important to remember that average tax rates of middle to higher income households are still projected to increase over the next decade.”
Its model found by 2027, a couple with two children earning more than $130,000 a year will be saving close to $8000. At the same time, a low income couple with two children will save just $203.
Speaking to Sky, Pauline Hanson answers Samantha Maiden’s question on linking income tax cut support to the migration rate (“You’ve had a look at the income tax cuts and you want the government in the context of that to have a look at the immigration level – how?”) with an “Oh, definitely”.
She continues:
They have based their whole budget on immigration and productivity. The higher immigration figures, that means the DDP [GDP] per person coming into the country, as they are saying, they are going to contribute to the country.
The fact is, it doesn’t. Because we can’t provide the infrastructure, the hospitals, the schools, the roads. We can see what is happening in our cities. So the government brings it for it to balance the GDP out and says it is productivity. But then everything is handed to the states, to provide the services. And they can’t cope.
So what I am saying to the government is it is not realistic what they are saying. And it is not – the whole budget is a house of cards that could possibly fall.
Right.
The adding that “they have built the whole budget around immigration”, and she wants it capped “around 75,000 people a year”.
We are the highest growing country in the world, with 1.6% increase and that’s double than a lot of other countries. We need to reign it back in because we haven’t got the money to provide for the infrastructure projects and people are screaming. When you actually hear from about 54 to 60% of the Australian populace want a reduction in immigration, but the government and the Labor [party] are not listening. They are basing their whole economic policy based on immigration numbers coming into the country. They are not the ones queuing to see the doctor, or queuing for housing, or the cost of housing rising. It is an impact on people’s lifestyle.
Maiden then asks whether that means One Nation won’t support the tax plan, unless the government makes some movement in the immigration space.
Hanson:
We will support the first stage and the second stage.
They actually haven’t been upfront with people in the first stage. They are talking about every Australian is going to benefit by $530 a year with this (the government has said earners between $41,000 and $90,000 will receive the full tax offset).
... That $530 a year is only if you have a liability. So if you have paid your taxes over the year and the department doesn’t owe you money, you are not going to get a cut. It is only if the government owes you money that you are, you know, be any better off.
Yes. Because it is a tax offset payment.
She confirms One Nation will support stage one of the plan (the $530 tax offset) and stage two (moving the threshold from $87,000 to $90,000 and in 2022 moving it again from $90,000 to $120,000)
Then she says:
Australians, and I know, I am talking to Australians every day. The cost of living is escalating. Wages are not real increase in wages. They want relief. And I can understand that. I really do. But are we really addressing the blackhole in the budget that we have? No, we are not. The government is not addressing. They are bringing in revenue from other areas to actually support these cuts in a big way. You know, he is only talking about a $2.2bn surplus by 2019-20. If China falls over and the trade there and we have problems with China, that is actually going to affect our budget.
So step one – the offset, that is a yes. But then she says:
They’re saying they don’t know how many people are actually going to get it (the government says just over four million people will be eligible for it) but people believe they are actually going to get that money back from the taxation department at the end of the year. But they’re not.
If the government owes you a debt, if the government owes you money, then you’ll get that $530 back. But if you don’t have a debt, you are not going to get a recovery back off that. So it is deceiving ... what the government has allowed people to believe is going to happen. They think they are all going to get that $530 a back. That is not the case at all.
Except it is called a tax OFFSET. In that it offsets your tax.
But once again, step one and step two get the tick of support from One Nation. So bringing it back to what sparked the interest in this interview in the first place – Hanson saying she wanted to link support for the bill to the migration rate, we come full circle to this:
Do you think they are going to give it to me? Because I tell you what, they reduce the numbers in immigration by bringing it down only by 0.2 of a per cent is going to throw the whole economic budget figures.
So will she link support for the tax cuts to immigration? To which she answered “oh, definitely” just seven (very, very long) minutes ago?
No one else is going to support this. You have all the political parties, everyone agreeing with these tax cuts, right? So I can’t deny Australians there. If the majority there in the Senate support this ... (but what will you get for your support?)
Because the tax cuts for ordinary Australians who need this break, but I believe that we should have better economic management from getting the revenues that we need from the gasfields. We are not getting the money we need from our resources. This is what I am talking about.
If there is anyone, anyone at all who can make sense of that, please let me know.
Back to Mathias Cormann:
Whatever promises Bill Shorten gives today, whatever rolled gold guarantee he gives to the Australian people, the Australian people know, that whatever promises Bill Shorten makes today, whatever rolled gold guarantees Bill Shorten provides them in his speech tonight, they cannot be trusted.
And on the (three separate) modelling which has found that most of the tax cuts will go to high income earners?
We are providing income tax relief to encourage and reward hardworking Australians and we are prioritising low and middle income earners over the first four years – overwhelmingly of course. The income tax relief we are providing in our budget is going to low and middle income earners and we call on Bill Shorten to back the plan in full.
Which it is - over the first four years. But beyond that - well, higher income earners will be quite happy.
Bob Katter was just on Sky News, which just reminded me to check if anyone in north Queensland had been torn apart by a crocodile since February.
No one has.
Let a thousand blossoms bloom.
I’ll come back to both Mathias Cormann and Pauline Hanson in just a moment, but I was just working my way through Barnaby Joyce’s Sky interview, where he became the prime example for how anglos RUIN food.
The man who once posed with a tea towel draped behind his neck like a prizefighter mulling over the meaning of life, now says he does “all the cooking, I do the washing, hang things out”, when he is at home.
And his specialty? RUINING food.
“... The regular roast that becomes curries that become risotto.”
And then he just works his way down. To what? Roast curry rice pudding?
(Yes, I too use leftovers. But curries to risotto? You know what a roast becomes? Sandwiches. Or cold roast)
The home affairs minister, Peter Dutton, has got stuck into Bill Shorten about his interpretation of high court decisions on the “reasonable steps” test. Dutton told 2GB radio:
He lied to the Australian people yesterday. I watched that press conference with Bill Shorten and I saw him look down the barrel of a camera and he blatantly lied, there’s no question about it. I think Mr Shorten has a credibility problem
... Yesterday I think people really saw Bill Shorten exposed and he essentially said absolutely something that wasn’t true, and he knew it not to be true. The high court only confirmed what they’d found in the Canavan case in the Gallagher case yesterday.
For Mr Shorten to pretend otherwise, I was really quite shocked by it.
Pauline Hanson will (maybe) support the government’s tax plan (maybe) if the government cuts migration.
She wants the migration rate cut from the 190,000 ceiling to 75,000. She says it’s because cities can’t cope with population growth, and the states don’t have the money to build the necessary infrastructure.
Hanson also mentions that people who don’t support her call are not the ones who are having to “line up to see the doctor”.
She fails to mention that one of the reasons we line up to see doctors, particularly in regional and rural areas, is because we, as a country, don’t have enough doctors coming out of our medical schools, WHICH IS ONE OF THE REASONS WE HAVE A MIGRATION PROGRAM.