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| Repealing medevac would be 'a wicked thing', Centre Alliance says – politics live | Repealing medevac would be 'a wicked thing', Centre Alliance says – politics live |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The former deputy director of the federal Liberal party, Andrew Bragg, is delivering his first speech in the Senate. | |
| He comes out very strongly in support for constitutional Indigenous recognition and a voice to parliament: | |
| Mr President, I am worried our country has not been able to reconcile with Indigenous | |
| Australians. | |
| As Noel Pearson has reminded me, “Andrew, this is my country too”. | |
| It is time for us all to complete this task. | |
| Pearson offers a way of thinking about Australia that I love. | |
| His Declaration of Recognition presents Australia as a unified nation drawing on three great heritages: the Indigenous as first peoples, the British as creators of institutions which underpin the nation and the multicultural gift that has enriched us all. | |
| The Constitution does a great job of securing these institutions. That’s why I am constitutional conservative. I regard the Constitution as an incredibly successful document. | |
| But I am also a supporter of Constitutional recognition. The latest chapter in this long | |
| journey is the Uluru Statement. It offers a challenge to our country. | |
| The Uluru Statement says: “we seek Constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country.” | |
| It imagines a Constitution where Indigenous Australians are guaranteed a say on laws made under the races and territories powers which affect them. | |
| Uluru asks legislators to consult Indigenous people on the laws which are relevant to them. | |
| This is a good idea. This is a fair idea. | |
| Plus, also, there are the actual numbers of unemployed people versus the number of job ads. | |
| Number of job advertisements in Australia in June: 159,700.Number of unemployed people: 711,500.#auspol #newstart | |
| Plus, the definition of employed in this country, according to the ABS, is anyone who performed one hour of work or more for pay or profit (or in kind remuneration) | |
| Worked an hour and got paid? You’re employed! | |
| Asked about wage theft, in the wake of the George Calombaris ruling, James McGrath says the government has a “full legislative agenda” but it is something he would like to look into at some point. | |
| Ed Husic still has some words saved up though: | |
| Do you know what the agenda is? It was we need to vote on tax cuts today for tax cuts in the future. We need to vote on drought relief today that won’t be delivered for a year. We need to vote on national security laws. | |
| But wage theft does not get a mention because there is another political priority, trying to basically beat up unions instead of looking at the employers who are ripping off workers, ordinary workers who deserve to have their wages paid properly, and that is not being, based on the senator’s response, you can see the government has a full agenda because they don’t think this is something that should be high on the agenda but all the politicking is. | |
| Once again, it is not as easy as just packing up and moving towns to find a job. Moving costs money. The reason everyone from church leaders to the business council are talking about raising Newstart, is because those who are on the payment do not have money. In so many cases they don’t have enough money to properly job hunt. Because guess what? That too costs money! | |
| Every politician sitting in this place gets more travel allowance each day they are in Canberra than someone on Newstart gets in a week. That’s just the travel allowance. That is not their salary. | |
| On Newstart, James McGrath had this to say to Patricia Karvelas: | |
| I’m one of those people who think that the best thing the government should do in relation to Newstart is to create jobs, and the government is creating an environment for businesses to employ people. | |
| I do not think Newstart is something that can be increased at the moment. | |
| We all acknowledge that it is not easy being on Newstart but it is not a long-term solution to long-term unemployment but the best thing you can do for people who are unemployed is to create an environment to get a job. | |
| Should it ever be on the agenda? | |
| No, I think that the best thing generally is that the government can create an environment to create jobs to employ people. | |
| So should people just move, like Michael McCormack says? | |
| Look around Australia, there are jobs available in regional Australia. The reason why we have the Pacific Islander program, which I support one million per cent, is because we cannot get people to pick fruit up in Queensland. | |
| Sometimes you may have to move to find a job, but the best thing a government can do is create an environment, whether in the city or country, for businesses to grow and also that means employ people. | |
| Remember how I said Ed Husic had more words saved up? | |
| He just let some of them loose on ABC TV: | |
| I think the government very much has stuffed the process up [on] national security and as I’ve said elsewhere, Peter Dutton cannot be trusted on the process. He has taken four years to put this together and there are problems with how it has been put forward, very sloppy in terms of this. | |
| There are other pieces of legislation that will be debated in the House of Reps shortly, where the security agencies, detention and in regards to warrants and how they are held, they have said we need to reform and the government has done nothing. | |
| Peter Dutton has been more interested in doing the numbers for himself last year and during that period of time failed to get these type of things done right, and more and more the focus will come on the sloppiness and incompetence of Peter Dutton, as it should be. | |
| The government themselves play politics with national security. This should not happen at all and they are breaking the trust as to whether or not they can be trusted on the safety of Australians because they keep playing politics with national security. | |
| James McGrath, who is on the same panel, comes to his defence: | |
| I need to go back to what Ed Husic just said in terms of Peter Dutton. Peter has probably been the best minister we have had in this area in terms of border security so I strongly disagree with his analysis, if you want to call it that, in terms of Peter Dutton’s tenure as home affairs minister and before that immigration minister. | |
| I’m very comfortable with the minister, someone who was elected to parliament to make these decisions. I’m particularly happy and comfortable it is Peter Dutton, an ex-Queensland copper. | |
| On medevac, Rex Patrick said Centre Alliance and Jacqui Lambie (they have a loose alliance) met with Peter Dutton today to discuss the temporary exclusion orders, but they have not discussed the medevac repeal as yet. Lambie is the swing vote. | On medevac, Rex Patrick said Centre Alliance and Jacqui Lambie (they have a loose alliance) met with Peter Dutton today to discuss the temporary exclusion orders, but they have not discussed the medevac repeal as yet. Lambie is the swing vote. |
| Rex Patrick: | Rex Patrick: |
| I sat down with Jacqui and Peter Dutton today to discuss the foreign fighters bill and that is because we have some common ground. In other situations where there is no common ground Jacqui will go off and negotiate and discuss with the minister on her own as we do. | I sat down with Jacqui and Peter Dutton today to discuss the foreign fighters bill and that is because we have some common ground. In other situations where there is no common ground Jacqui will go off and negotiate and discuss with the minister on her own as we do. |
| ... It [the medevac repeal] has not arrived. It is not on the radar. | ... It [the medevac repeal] has not arrived. It is not on the radar. |
| ... We understand the bill very well. If there were some difficulties that the government had, in terms of people who have been repatriated for that medical attention, we would be happy to discuss that with Peter Dutton and happy to do that with Jacqui. If there are problems with the bill we would happily tweak it. But our understanding is that I think it is something like 21 or 22 people have been back to Australia for medical attention and then sent back to Papua New Guinea. | ... We understand the bill very well. If there were some difficulties that the government had, in terms of people who have been repatriated for that medical attention, we would be happy to discuss that with Peter Dutton and happy to do that with Jacqui. If there are problems with the bill we would happily tweak it. But our understanding is that I think it is something like 21 or 22 people have been back to Australia for medical attention and then sent back to Papua New Guinea. |
| On the ensuring integrity bill, Rex Patrick says there are political elements to the bill it can’t support: | On the ensuring integrity bill, Rex Patrick says there are political elements to the bill it can’t support: |
| The aim was to deal with misconduct and there is no question that has been in the union movement. | The aim was to deal with misconduct and there is no question that has been in the union movement. |
| I have seen the fairly significant sheet of judicial rulings against some of the unions and in some instances we have some very conservative, considered judicial officers stating things like this union is simply using the fines, treating the fines, as the cost of business. | I have seen the fairly significant sheet of judicial rulings against some of the unions and in some instances we have some very conservative, considered judicial officers stating things like this union is simply using the fines, treating the fines, as the cost of business. |
| We cannot have that situation, so we must have a bill that deals with that sort of egregious behaviour and it must also be fair and you cannot have misconduct in the corporate sector and we saw a lot of that was revealed in the royal commission, and do without it the same time. | We cannot have that situation, so we must have a bill that deals with that sort of egregious behaviour and it must also be fair and you cannot have misconduct in the corporate sector and we saw a lot of that was revealed in the royal commission, and do without it the same time. |
| We are asking the government to make sure that whatever is in the bill is consistent with the corporate world. An example: under the current union bill, ensuring integrity bill, the minister can make a referral to make a deregistration. That does not happen in the corporate world. | We are asking the government to make sure that whatever is in the bill is consistent with the corporate world. An example: under the current union bill, ensuring integrity bill, the minister can make a referral to make a deregistration. That does not happen in the corporate world. |
| There is a political element today that we are uncomfortable with – and [we] would like to see it removed. | There is a political element today that we are uncomfortable with – and [we] would like to see it removed. |
| But if the legislation applies to all, then Centre Alliance will support it. If the government doesn’t amend it, it will weigh up its options then. | But if the legislation applies to all, then Centre Alliance will support it. If the government doesn’t amend it, it will weigh up its options then. |
| Rex Patrick is speaking to Patricia Karvelas on Afternoon Briefing and says while Centre Alliance supports the intent of the temporary exclusion order bill, it will abstain from voting for it, because it can’t support it in its current form. | Rex Patrick is speaking to Patricia Karvelas on Afternoon Briefing and says while Centre Alliance supports the intent of the temporary exclusion order bill, it will abstain from voting for it, because it can’t support it in its current form. |
| Labor will be passing it, although it has raised its own concerns. | Labor will be passing it, although it has raised its own concerns. |
| Rachel Siewert has had a win in the Senate. It’s just a motion, but it further indicates that half the parliament is now officially on board with raising the Newstart rate: | Rachel Siewert has had a win in the Senate. It’s just a motion, but it further indicates that half the parliament is now officially on board with raising the Newstart rate: |
| This is a historic moment. | This is a historic moment. |
| I am very pleased that the Senate has agreed that Newstart is too low. | I am very pleased that the Senate has agreed that Newstart is too low. |
| I’ve introduced countless motions to increase Newstart over the years that have been voted down, time and again. | I’ve introduced countless motions to increase Newstart over the years that have been voted down, time and again. |
| Just like with marriage equality, just like with the banking royal commission, the Greens have continued to campaign, in partnership with the community, to achieve change. I will continue to introduce bills and motions to our parliament until we get an increase to Newstart. | Just like with marriage equality, just like with the banking royal commission, the Greens have continued to campaign, in partnership with the community, to achieve change. I will continue to introduce bills and motions to our parliament until we get an increase to Newstart. |
| The evidence is well and truly in, we know we need an urgent increase by at least $75 a week. | The evidence is well and truly in, we know we need an urgent increase by at least $75 a week. |
| The government is out of step with community expectations and there is no excuse not to increase the rate of Newstart right now. | The government is out of step with community expectations and there is no excuse not to increase the rate of Newstart right now. |
| Question time finally ended. | Question time finally ended. |
| There is a God. | There is a God. |
| Meanwhile, it has been pointed out to me that Peter Dutton, when talking to Sky earlier today, blamed people lying on their departure cards as one of the reasons the government doesn’t know where foreign fighters ended up: | Meanwhile, it has been pointed out to me that Peter Dutton, when talking to Sky earlier today, blamed people lying on their departure cards as one of the reasons the government doesn’t know where foreign fighters ended up: |
| .@PeterDutton_MP on foreign fighter laws: There are many ways in which we can deal with individuals to try & mitigate the threat. We are not immune from a terrorist attack here but we are doing everything we can to keep Australia safe.MORE: https://t.co/sqTia8WvKA #firstedition pic.twitter.com/LZksHnKTlG | .@PeterDutton_MP on foreign fighter laws: There are many ways in which we can deal with individuals to try & mitigate the threat. We are not immune from a terrorist attack here but we are doing everything we can to keep Australia safe.MORE: https://t.co/sqTia8WvKA #firstedition pic.twitter.com/LZksHnKTlG |
| Just noting that departure cards were abolished by the government, under Dutton, in 2017. | Just noting that departure cards were abolished by the government, under Dutton, in 2017. |
| Breaking – the PAPERS ARE STACKED. | Breaking – the PAPERS ARE STACKED. |
| This is almost over, people. | This is almost over, people. |
| Ted O’Brien invites Peter Dutton back up for another HOW SAFE ARE YOU segment. | Ted O’Brien invites Peter Dutton back up for another HOW SAFE ARE YOU segment. |
| This latest episode comes with a side of WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON. | This latest episode comes with a side of WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON. |
| Michael McCormack is now confusing the electorates of Rankin and Moreton. | Michael McCormack is now confusing the electorates of Rankin and Moreton. |
| The paper is still not being shuffled on the prime minister’s desk. | The paper is still not being shuffled on the prime minister’s desk. |
| McCormack is talking about “record amounts of money” and “busting congestion”. | McCormack is talking about “record amounts of money” and “busting congestion”. |
| I will pay all the money I have in the world to stop this now. | I will pay all the money I have in the world to stop this now. |
| For the third time this week, someone didn’t jump for their question. | For the third time this week, someone didn’t jump for their question. |
| It looks like it was supposed to be the independent’s question again (that is what happened yesterday). | It looks like it was supposed to be the independent’s question again (that is what happened yesterday). |
| But the next MP on the government dixer roster should have jumped up. And they didn’t. For the third time this week. | But the next MP on the government dixer roster should have jumped up. And they didn’t. For the third time this week. |
| So Graham Perrett gets in another question for Labor: | So Graham Perrett gets in another question for Labor: |
| It’s on infrastructure again, which means it is Michael McCormack again, but he still can’t tell you when that infrastructure will start. But he can tell you what Labor promised to do. | It’s on infrastructure again, which means it is Michael McCormack again, but he still can’t tell you when that infrastructure will start. But he can tell you what Labor promised to do. |
| Cool. | Cool. |
| Michael McCormack is back up, and is now talking like a chipmunk, if it had fallen out of a tree and could speak English. | Michael McCormack is back up, and is now talking like a chipmunk, if it had fallen out of a tree and could speak English. |
| As was just pointed out by a press gallery colleague – we haven’t seen the prime minister welcome Boris Johnson as prime minister. | As was just pointed out by a press gallery colleague – we haven’t seen the prime minister welcome Boris Johnson as prime minister. |
| There have been some member statements, but nothing from Scott Morrison in the House. (There was a tweet, I think.) | There have been some member statements, but nothing from Scott Morrison in the House. (There was a tweet, I think.) |
| Meryl Swanson to Michael McCormack. | Meryl Swanson to Michael McCormack. |
| Why is only 3% of the funding to extend the M1 to Raymond Terrace available in the next four years? 3%. | Why is only 3% of the funding to extend the M1 to Raymond Terrace available in the next four years? 3%. |
| WB: | WB: |
| It is better than some of the funding that Labor gave to some of the electorates when it was in. As I said in my previous answer ... That is a responsible way to rollout infrastructure. Not like, and the Member for Patterson, I appreciate, is in a regional electorate, and when Labor were last in government, regional spend was $404m. That was for the electorate of Patterson and other regional electorates. We have doubled and tripled, spending our past two terms and we will now spend six times that amount over the next three years ... | It is better than some of the funding that Labor gave to some of the electorates when it was in. As I said in my previous answer ... That is a responsible way to rollout infrastructure. Not like, and the Member for Patterson, I appreciate, is in a regional electorate, and when Labor were last in government, regional spend was $404m. That was for the electorate of Patterson and other regional electorates. We have doubled and tripled, spending our past two terms and we will now spend six times that amount over the next three years ... |
| It keeps going, but I cannot. | It keeps going, but I cannot. |