Question time focuses on education and budget deficit – politics live
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Version 0 of 1. 6.30pm AEST09:30 Well folks, I'm back, but it's goodnight from me Katharine back with you now. Bless you Bridie. Not only goodnight from me. It’s goodbye from Bill. Just a few more lovely Bowers frames before we say goodnight. These people were missing an umbrella. This man was missing maracas. A big day, a big week. I’m folding the Politics Live tent. Thanks for your company. The lovely Gabrielle Chan will be steering the great blogue ship next week. I’ll keep the summation short. Have a great evening. See you all again soon. 6.05pm AEST09:05 With that the debate on the motion to call for the establishment of a federal Icac has finished without a vote. Presumably it will resume in the Senate at some point, but not this evening. 6.02pm AEST09:02 Liberal National Party senator, Ian Macdonald, is making some pretty serious insinuations in the debate over the motion to call for the establishment of a federal Icac. Were such a commission in existence, the first investigation might be..into Mr Graeme Wood’s biggest ever donation to Greens” He is referring to the 2011 donation of $1.6m to the Greens from Woods. Macdonald says the Greens favoured, or tried to favour, Woods in a few different ways. Macdonald describes it as “gobsmacking” Chris Ketter would have a dig about the corruption of the conservative governments in Queensland since former Labor minister Gordon Nuttall is still sitting in jail. 5.52pm AEST08:52 The Greens senator Richard Di Natale said of James McGrath’s observations that Australians do not think politicians are corrupt: I don’t live in that world I have to say. I live in a world where it seems to me politicians and politics in general is held in very low regard and I think the public attitude towards politics is at a very low ebb at the moment. 5.36pm AEST08:36 ALP senator, Chris Ketter, is now speaking against the motion to call for a federal Icac. He says the Greens are well meaning but there has been no evidence for the need of a federal Icac. He is a Queensland Labor politician so he has to talk about Joh Bjelke-Petersen or he is forced to hand back his parliament seat (I have no evidence for this claim). He is saying Labor has a very good record, particularly in his home state which did have a corrupt government more than two decades ago. He said the Fitzgerald inquiry was very successful in uncovering corruption. The price of liberty is eternal vigilance, we must always be focussed on what is happening. He uses this as a segue to attack the Queensland LNP government. There is almost no talk of a federal Icac, the thing that is actually supposed to be debated. Labor is open to considering a federal Icac, in fact Labor has never objected to a federal Icac in principle, but our issue is there has never been any case, or necessity, for one. 5.03pm AEST08:03 Good afternoon. In the Senate the debate over the motion calling for the establishment of a federal Indepdenent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) continues. Liberal National Party senator, James McGrath, is speaking against the idea as he does not think the Australian people are “calling out for another bureaucratic institution to be established”. Australians are very earthy people, they don’t like politicians. Australians would cross the street to avoid politicians...but they don’t think we are corrupt. They may not trust us to operate a toaster but they don’t think we are corrupt. They may think we are incomptent, but they don’t think we are corrupt. He said the proposal was addressing a problem that doesn’t exist. 4.50pm AEST07:50 I need to roll off for an hour or so now to honour a television commitment, I’m off for a yack with the lovely folks from The Drum. I’m handing over to the other ginger, who is very kindly going to keep the Politics Live fires burning. Please make young Bridie Jabour very welcome. 4.42pm AEST07:42 Posted on the ALP’s website today, an open letter to the Islamic community from Bill Shorten and Michelle Rowland. Shorten has made sure Labor has presented a bipartisan front on national security and Iraq. But there are some inflection points starting to develop which are quite interesting. There’s a reference here in this letter to provocations, including – a very few elected representatives, have made comments which have the potential to damage community harmony and inflame tensions. To whom it may concern, We have been very distressed by recent reports about the Australian Islamic community being wrongly blamed for the crimes of ISIL, including assaults and other forms of vilification. Labor stands shoulder to shoulder with Australia’s Islamic community and, now more than ever, we are committed to tolerance, social cohesion, mutual respect and multiculturalism. Labor will continue to work with you to stop misinformation, bigotry and prejudice directed at the Australian Islamic community. Regrettably, some in our community, including a very few elected representatives, have made comments which have the potential to damage community harmony and inflame tensions. Labor strongly opposes these ill-informed and dangerous views and we will continue to speak out against them. We know that the twisted ideology of ISIL bears no relation to a faith of peace, love and tolerance which is followed by millions around the world – and we will continue to make this point. ISIL has no right to use the name of Islam. We will work with you to help stop ISIL spreading division, radicalising disaffected and vulnerable young people. We will not allow them to nurture intolerance and create a world where people fear the unknown and resent differences. The Islamic story in Australia has a rich history and grows stronger each year. Australia’s Muslim community continues to do our nation a great service by fostering enduring cultural and religious harmony, and making a substantial contribution to our national prosperity. This reflects modern Australian multiculturalism: a story of cultural enrichment, social cohesion and economic growth and it is a story that the Labor Party is committed to and will always defend. We are keen to engage with you and your organisation, to listen to you about how we can further these goals together. Updated at 4.46pm AEST 4.22pm AEST07:22 Back to federal Icac. LNP senator Matthew Canavan has declared we don’t need a watchdog because “I just do not see that corruption problem in this country at a federal level.” This raises the obvious philosophical conundrum – can something exist if it can’t been seen? Well, yes, it can. Generally whether or not you can see something isn’t the relevant test. The thing about corruption is that it likes to remain hidden. It exists when you cannot see it. Canavan then takes a truly brave analytical route. The Greens, he notes, won’t cop enhanced counter terrorism powers, but it wants to turn the inquisitors on politicians. Ha! Double standard. Ok, well, there’s some truth to that as an exercise in high concept. Except let’s just deconstruct the logic. So this senator thinks that Australians should be subject to pretty intrusive powers of surveillance (whether or not they are persons of interest, which is the case in the bill currently before the senate) – but politicians should not. That’s the logic sitting behind his arguments. Given the stink in NSW, brave, that. 4.02pm AEST07:02 Wonder why people might be a bit tired and scratchy in the senate? At no later than 8pm tonight, the #Senate will return to debate on the National Security Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2014 3.58pm AEST06:58 I missed the wrap up of the Savage Club skit. I posted earlier about Stephen Conroy’s baiting of George Brandis over his membership of the male only Savage Club. This is what Bill Heffernan just got told off for in the Senate. #grownups pic.twitter.com/oSbHN0gUAO I heard Doug Cameron (the Labor man pictured above) making a racket. (Or more appropriately, given Cameron’s Scottish brogue, a raaahcket.) Apparently Cameron demonstrated the Savage Club initiation dance for the benefit of fellow senators. Apparently there is chest beating involved. Politics Live regulars will know that the Liberal senator, Bill Heffernan (also pictured) doesn’t like monkey business in the chamber. He roared at colleague Ian Macdonald recently for wearing a mining costume in the chamber during the mining tax debate. Now a bit of direct action on Doug. Thursday. When things get a bit birko. 3.46pm AEST06:46 A few visitors to the office have diverted me. Question time is over. The Greens are trying in the senate at the moment to debate whether or not there should be a federal independent commission against corruption. 3.14pm AEST06:14 One man. One book. One index. No surplus. 3.11pm AEST06:11 Bit strange. I remember when mocking congestion in cities was a strict no go zone. It’s one of those touchstone things in Australian politics: don’t mock people stuck in their cars. Hasn’t stopped infrastructure minister Jamie Briggs. Well, Briggs is mocking Labor’s Anthony Albanese rather than punters in their cars, but he’s having a crack at a policy Albanese has floated this week which aims to reduce congestion. Briggs: ... the new position of the Labor Party is that they will have a building scooter revolution, Madam Speaker, announced by the shadow Leader of the Opposition yesterday, Madam Speaker. The scooter-led revolution ... Albanese is evidently none too pleased and seeks leave to table a document, knocking, as Madam Speaker notes, Bill Shorten off the dispatch box. Shorten had been about to seek the call. Madam Speaker: I was going to give the call to the leader of the opposition but he has just been pushed out of the way. Updated at 3.16pm AEST 2.57pm AEST05:57 I’ve been drawn back to the other place because the attorney-general is being asked about his membership of the Savage Club in Melbourne. This exclusive establishment club is male only. Labor’s Stephen Conroy wants to know how this fits with Brandis’ responsibilities to guard against discrimination. There are various zingers, including a quip about which organisation it’s harder to get into if you are a woman: The Savage Club “or the Abbott cabinet?” Brandis: After twenty years in this place Senator Conroy I think it’s about time you grew up. 2.44pm AEST05:44 Hockey is brandishing a copy of Wayne Swan’s book. The treasurer is looking for a reference to a surplus. Hockey: I go to the book. Here it is. The factual details of Wayne Swan as Treasurer. And I went to the index. I said there must be reference to a surplus there. There is nothing there! There’s nothing there! 2.39pm AEST05:39 In the other place, government senate leader Eric Abetz is talking about marijuana. This is worth tuning in to. Abetz is being asked about Tony Abbott’s support for medical marijuana – Abetz isn’t too sure about it, and will seek guidance from the prime minister’s office. 2.35pm AEST05:35 Treasurer Joe Hockey is at the dispatch box now drawing that line under the sand. The final budget outcome line under the sand. Burrowing right on down. Hockey, on Labor’s forecasts. They were only $30bn out. $30bn out! Updated at 3.18pm AEST 2.31pm AEST05:31 Pyne is back on Operation University Freedom. Now the fabulous thing about this deregulation, this reform, is it will create a dynamic university sector that is competing for students; and when competition enters, the students will be the big winners. Not only will they compete on price, they will have to compete on quality, they will have to make an offering that will attract students to their institutions. 2.27pm AEST05:27 I know this sequence isn’t question time but it’s so delightful I decided we shouldn’t wait. How to stop Bob Katter from talking, by Mike Bowers. 2.19pm AEST05:19 Greens deputy leader Adam Bandt wants to know has joining the war in the Middle East increased the threat of terrorism in Australia and made us less safe? Truss takes that one – and he certainly has the knack of calming things down. Way down. A quality sorely needed right at this point in time. The reality is that people are acting now in Australia, unfortunately acting now in Australia before there has been any commitment by Australia to place people into the war zones. Sometimes, you have to fight to preserve your peace. This may well be such an instance. There is a horror around the world at the present time, a horror that can be tolerated by none and governments therefore need to be firm in their resolve to make it clear to anyone that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable. The United Nations Security Council meeting last night made that point abundantly clear to the world. The world is united, endeavouring to stamp out this evil and Australia stands ready to play its part. 2.14pm AEST05:14 The tragedy for the Labor party is that they are off piste with the university sector. This is, of course, Christopher Pyne. Who else would it be? Then across the chamber to the Labor backbencher Graham Perrett, who loves a good shout across the chamber. Pyne: He needs to be reminded it (the shouting) doesn’t get on the television. My comments get on the telly. Yours can’t be heard so you are wasting a lot of time and energy. (Talking only matters if you are on the telly. Call that a Pyneism.) 2.10pm AEST05:10 The foreign minister Julie Bishop is back in the house today. Amazing. She was in New York five seconds ago. Strange she’s not still there, at the UN, with the prime minister. Almost like Abbott might have told her – it’s all good Julie, I’ll take it from here. Now why would that be? (Yes, I’m just being cheeky.) Updated at 3.28pm AEST 2.08pm AEST05:08 Shorten: Q: Just now the acting prime minister ruled out the government moving legislation giving the green light to racist hate speech, but he failed to rule out whether Liberal or National senators will vote for Senator Bernardi’s legislation – legislation which will give the green light to racist hate speech. In plain English, will the acting prime minister commit to join with Labor and vote against this destructive legislation - yes or no? Truss: Madam Speaker, in plain English the government has no plans to change Section 18C. 2.04pm AEST05:04 Question time It being 2pm. The Labor leader Bill Shorten is opening today on Liberals re-stoking the racial discrimination debate in the other place. Shorten: Q: The acting prime minister said yesterday we are are an inclusive and tolerant society. Today Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi is co-sponsoring a private members bill that will give the green light to racist hate speech. How does this action from a Liberal party senator promote an inclusive and tolerant society? The acting prime minister, Warren Truss. What I can do is repeat the assurance given by the prime minister on a number of occasions that the government does not propose to proceed with changes to section 18C. That commitment remains in place and that demonstrates our wish to encourage all Australians to live in tolerance with one another. We need to respect one another’s views. We need to acknowledge that there are people in this country who have different views from others and that should be respected also; and some of those may not necessarily be mainstream views. But the government does not propose to change section 18C. 1.51pm AEST04:51 Testy down there now. Attorney-general George Brandis has accused the Greens of filibustering in the security debate. Greens senator Scott Ludlam says there is no filibuster. Procedural picnic down there. Question time will shortly project them into calmer territory. Possibly. 1.43pm AEST04:43 National security legislation currently before the senate is up to the stage of consideration of amendments. Some Greens amendments are being considered now. 1.26pm AEST04:26 Thanks to Simon and to Shane – the necessary background to the final budget outcome announcement a little while ago. Linking spares me breaking out the budget papers. @Simon_Cullen You missed PEFO (treasury/finance figures). $30.1b. 1.19pm AEST04:19 The last couple of hours – in three pictures. Updated at 1.20pm AEST 1.12pm AEST04:12 The emergence of Team Idiot I got caught between events – and missed “team idiot”. And by “team idiot” I mean this. Backbencher George Christensen earlier in the week used a speech to parliament to make the following point. The greatest terrorism threat in north Queensland, it is sad to say, comes from the extreme green movement. When I say ‘extreme greens’, I am not talking about ordinary community groups and individuals who genuinely care about and work to improve the environment or locals who have genuine concerns about local impacts of certain projects. What I am talking about are large, well funded, well organised ecoterrorists who use fear and blackmail to coerce government and the public into adopting their extreme political and ideological viewpoints. Asked earlier today about the Christensen comments, the Labor leader Bill Shorten said: The government’s used the term team Australia a lot. I’m worried about the emergence of team idiot. Bernardi, Christensen, people who are just – I don’t know what book they’re reading from but it’s not any book I want to pick up. I’ve got no time for high-handed extreme green tactics but let’s face it this week our focus has been on national security and terrorism. I think they’re very unwise words from this chap; I don’t know if he’s just a headline hunter. I just caution that Australia’s got serious issues to deal with in the is parliament and we don’t need an outbreak of team idiot. Updated at 1.14pm AEST 12.45pm AEST03:45 Apparently there’s a doozy of a storm in Sydney. I predict a statistical storm shortly in Canberra. Treasurer Joe Hockey and finance minister Mathias Cormann are announcing the final budget outcome for 2013-14 – a deficit of $48.5bn. Both men are speaking of drawing lines under the sand. (Under the sand? I thought we drew lines in the sand.) In case you are confused not only by lines under the sand but what the line actually is – the line being drawn under the sand here is the fact that Labor couldn’t organise an accurate budget forecast in an auditors convention. That’s the rationale from the government’s money men. This is Labor’s last budget. The numbers were wrong. Q: Are you suggesting that Labor in office manipulated the revenue forecast, so manipulated Treasury? Hockey: Well, ultimately the forecasts published in a budget belong to the treasurer and the minister for finance. That’s the bottom line. 12.34pm AEST03:34 Shorten has paused on the parliamentary forecourt. He’s treading water on Syria. (Abbott this morning left open the idea that Australia could contribute in theatres other than Iraq.) Q: The prime minister in New York has said that the air strikes that the US has done in tandem with Middle Eastern countries in Syria are justified by collective self-defence. He has left the door open for us to consider our involvement. Do you still believe there should be no Australian involvement in air strikes in Syria? Or are you open to developing as the situation changes? Shorten: The government have said to me that there is no case for military intervention in Syria. And they haven’t told me anything to the contrary. Now we are on to submarines and Shorten’s recent rush of blood. Q: If the government signs some kind of deal with Japan or Germany on submarines is there anything you could do if you won power? Labor will respect any contracts which are signed, but let’s not kid ourselves that this government does not have a single-page contract for 12 submarines, for 30 billion dollars and that’s the end of the matter. We’ll honour into contracts that they enter into but I get the impression that a lot of homework hasn’t been done about this whole Japanese sub proposition. 12.19pm AEST03:19 There was to be an event now down the front of the building about submarines and shipbuilding. Labor leader Bill Shorten was billed to be in attendance – fresh from a recent appearance where, somewhat startlingly, he all but said Labor would cancel contracts if the Coalition acquired Japanese submarines rather than home built. (Not exactly the done thing.) There was also muttering about the Japanese creeping round the Adelaide shipyards with clipboards. All very cartoonish. Not exactly Shorten’s finest hour in public policy. The clouds above the building have gone from dove grey to dark grey over the last 30 minutes or so. I’m reliably informed the clouds have now opened. Our fearless submariners, I gather, have made a hasty dash for shelter. Shipbuilding is of course terribly important – but no-one wants frizzy hair for question time. 12.08pm AEST03:08 Family First senator Bob Day has just introduced his bill reviving the debate over watering down current provisions restricting hate speech in the Racial Discrimination Act. It is co-sponsored by the LDP’s David Leyonjhelm – and two Liberals, Cory Bernardi and Dean Smith. A procedural motion moved earlier suggests debate is expected in the chamber on October 2. 12.00pm AEST03:00 Marles is asked will he support boat turnbacks, which are part of this package. He dances around that one very carefully. His point is Labor doesn’t much like turnbacks, but reading through this answer there’s a possiblity they might be supported: note the final sentence. Marles: Our issues in terms of turnbacks are these. Firstly, turnbacks have been occurring under a veil of secrecy, so it is very difficult to have an understandling of exactly what is happens on the high seas. We have always maintained a concern in relation to turnbacks about safety at sea and we have not heard answers from the government in respect of that. We have always (expressed) concern in relation to turnbacks about the effect that it has, particularly on our relationship with Indonesia. It’s just plain commonsense that if we are going to have a lasting resolution to this issue that we need to be working hand in glove with our nearest neighbour, a place from which the vast majority of boats have come, so that we don’t have an answer which is just a resolution over last month and this but in relation to this year and next. And over the next decade. They’re our concerns in relation to turnbacks. I have also made it clear that we have an open mind in relation to any policy which saves lives at sea and we retain that open minds. 11.54am AEST02:54 There’s a tepid affirmation from Marles on the safe haven visas. And a free character analysis for Scott Morrison, thrown in. Marles: For us the fundamental principle is a pathway to citizenship and we will be judging this legislation against that principle. In relation to temporary protection visas, obviously it does not provide that pathway. In relation to the temporary safe haven enterprise visas, from the minute’s press conference today, it would appear that a pathway to citizenship is being provided. Now, if that is the case of itself it is a good thing. But this represents a humiliating backdown on the part of this minister at the behest of Clive Palmer. Let’s be clear about Scott Morrison – Scott Morrison seeks to present himself as the tough man of Australia’s borders. But what we are seeing in this minister is a man who absolutely knows how to backflip. 11.49am AEST02:49 Today it’s Labor’s turn to be calm and methodical. That’s normally a government formulation. Today it’s coming out of the mouth of the shadow immigration spokesman Richard Marles. Marles says Labor is still considering the TPV changes. He’ll only offer preliminary thoughts – but one of the preliminary thoughts is an emphatic one. Labor opposes temporary protection visas. We oppose them because they put people in a permanent state of limbo. 11.43am AEST02:43 Bridie Jabour has her eye still on the abortion debate. Here’s an update. Liberal senator Chris Black has spoken in the debate on a bill to ban abortion based on sex-selection and has given what can be politely called, wide ranging comments on the issue. Foetuses have the capacity to somehow understand in circumstances they might not survive post-foetal life. Natural miscarrying does occur because of some innate capacity of the foetus to understand it won’t survive post-foetal life. (Um, understand, really?) Back also spoke about how every embryo in the beginning is female (which is true and due to the mother’s hormones.) Some people may be distressed to know maleness is actually suppressed femaleness. Back supports the bill. 11.38am AEST02:38 David Manne from the refugee and immigration legal centre is playing down the prospect that asylum seekers will gain anything terribly much from this arrangement. Manne is on ABC24. Under this proposal, they would have the right to work. There’s no doubt about that. And access to social security benefits. But what we know from the past under the previous TPV experiment in this country is that leaving people in this kind of limbo and cut off from family retraumatised thousand of refugees. In fact it was a major block and major impediment in terms of them being able to rebuild their lives fully and fully participate and contribute in this country. 11.29am AEST02:29 Green senator Sarah Hanson Young, on TPVs. I am sad to say that Clive Palmer has been well and truly played. There is no pathway to permanency for the bulk of asylum seekers and refugees that this bill will deal with. The most asylum seekers, once they’re found to be refugees, which the Minister himself says will take years, once they’ve been found to be refugees, they will be put on a temporary visa. And most of them, that is where they will have to remain. The temporary safe haven enterprise visa is really a furphy. Most people won’t get it. Most people won’t be able to be eligible for any type of transfer to permanency, and so they will be back in permanent limbo. I haven’t yet been across the fact that the bill removes reference to the convention – but Hanson-Young gets a question on that point. (Reasons to love Australia: a country where a journalist in a press conference asks a news maker whether a certain course of action amounts to “giving the finger” – and nobody grabs the smelling salts.) Q: The decision to remove reference to the refugee convention from the Migration Act, is the government giving the finger to international law and how do you think this will be taken overseas? This is an astonishing amendment to remove reference to the refugee convention from our law books. If you needed any other description or indication that this piece of legislation is all about being as cruel as possible to refugees, that is it. 11.15am AEST02:15 The definition of wrong times one million. happier times pic.twitter.com/Okm09utnEN 11.05am AEST02:05 So secret, we cannot show you his face. Cue spooky music. No, that’s just Bowers being artistic. Of course we can show you his face. 10.55am AEST01:55 He’s asked about the agreement he will unveil in Cambodia tomorrow. Morrison says the resettlement arrangement is voluntary and settlement will be permanent for those who take up these arrangements. Support will be tailored to the needs of those as part of the package of measures that will go to their resettlement which it’s designed to make them self- reliant as quickly as possible. They will be afforded all the same rights under Cambodian law and those that exist under the refugee convention and there is no cap on what has been discussed here. 10.51am AEST01:51 Morrison says it will take years for this process to play out. He’s also playing down the notion that today’s announcement allows people a backdoor entry. I should stress these bench marks of working or studying in these regions are very high. Our experience on resettlement for people in this situation would mean this is a very high bar to clear. Good luck to them if they choose to do that. And if they achieve it. But if they do achieve it, then what we are doing here is not providing a pathway to welfare. At the end of the day, no-one is getting a permanent protection visa. 10.49am AEST01:49 A question about whether the transfers stop now – obviously this legislation is not yet through the parliament. Palmer thought transfers would stop henceforth. Q: It seemed that Clive Palmer thought that this was happening from today, that there wouldn’t be any more transfers. Will you continue to transfer those people on Christmas Island offshore? Morrison: I have no immediate plans to do that. And providing everybody acts in good faith and in good will in accordance with the sorts of things we have discussed there would be no need for us to depart from that practice. People will remain where they are for the present and with the passage of the legislation we will be able to implement these measures. If there is a departure from what has been agreed then obviously the government will simply refer to the standing position and that means the transfers would commence again. But I should stress anyone who turns up in the meantime, they go straight to Nauru and Manus Island. No exceptions. 10.46am AEST01:46 Q: Just on the safe haven visas, you say there’s no pathway for a permanent protection visa. But with the safe haven visa, if you have gone to these regional areas, you have worked in jobs for three years .. can (they) then apply for a different category of visas, what is in that category? Isn’t there a pathway for permanent skilled visas and perhaps permanent residency? Morrison: If they do go to those places an they do work for three and a half years out of the five, then they may make an onshore application for what could be a student visa, it could be a 457 visa – but they would have to meet the eligibility requirements of those visas. Failure to meet those requirements means the only other visa they could get would be a TPV. They will never get a permanent protection visa. (That’s yes by the way. There is a pathway to reside in Australia if not permanently then certainly for a goodly period of time. Just not on a protection visa.) So how about the election promise? Q: You said in August last year when you announced this policy in Melbourne in the election campaign none of these 30,000 people will be permanently settled in Australia. That is clearly not the case. I was referring to resettlement under protection visas. 10.39am AEST01:39 Morrison says under the terms of his agreement with Clive Palmer .. ... upon passage of these two bills, which is the one I introduced today and the protection and other measures bill, the government will cease transferring illegal maritime arrivals from the Australian mainland and Christmas Island to Nauru or Manus Island for offshore processing for those who have not already been transferred. Any persons who seek to turn up now, they will still go to Nauru or Manus Island. This only applies to those who are already here in Australia. That will occur on the passage of those bills. 10.37am AEST01:37 Morrison stresses these are temporary protection visas. They do not provide a path to permanent protection. 10.35am AEST01:35 Scott Morrison outlines the new TPV regime Morrison is doing his familiar granite jaw routine. We have stopped the boats, he tells reporters. We have honoured our election commitments. But the challenge of dealing with the legacy case load of some 30,000 people who turned up under Labor, the overwhelming majority of those I should stress who are in the community not in held detention in this country – that task remains. We have been frustrated in that task the last year. It was Labor and the Greens who foolishly abolished temporary protection visas and the other measures of the Howard government – and we saw the chaos that resulted from that foolish decision. 10.28am AEST01:28 My colleague Bridie Jabour has her eye on the abortion debate in the senate. Here’s her quick update. Labor senator Claire Moore has spoken on the bill to ban abortion based on gender-selection. While she condemns terminating a pregnancy because of unhappiness with the gender, she does not believe there is evidence that it is a widespread practice in Australia. She said the core issue was a “medical” one which also brings in personal rights and privacy. If you are concerned about the issue of abortion in Australia take up the debate on those issues, do not hide behind putting a guilt trip on women about possible choices they make and hiding behind an argument that is based on the very document created to ensure women are empowered. (Moore was referring to Cory Bernardi quoting from the UN’s declaration in support of the rights of women while supporting the bill earlier this morning.) 10.15am AEST01:15 Speaking of Morrison, he’s coming up shortly to explain the TPV deal with Captain Clive in more depth. The immigration minister’s having a press conference at 10.30. Not sure if this reflects the new security environment but Morrison’s media alert says the press event is in “parliament house” – a big place. No room number is provided. He’s speaks. We know not where. 10.13am AEST01:13 On seeing this picture, my office just declared, “Morrison, on Team Australia.” I do work with funny people. I love this shot from Mike Bowers. Morning Mike, not sure I’ve greeted my partner in blogue crime yet. Speaking of lovely colleagues, Paul Farrell has just sent me this short summary of the TPV announcement. Updated at 10.17am AEST 10.02am AEST01:02 Captain Cronulla in Canberra, Captain Clive in Brisbane. Captain Clive: Most politicians just care about being re-elected. But I think it comes down to responsibility, and I, for whatever reason, have been put in a position where I’m able to assist and I can act – and I don’t think I cannot act to ensure the freedom of these people and ensure a better future for Australia. 9.55am AEST00:55 I know this is a deal of channel surfing – sorry about that – but we need to just go with the flow here for a bit. Parliament is in Canberra, but Clive Palmer is Brisbane. He’s talking about the deal he has just struck with the Abbott government concerning temporary protection visas. Palmer: With the arrangements that we have had with the government we’ll see 1,550 people freed from Christmas Island and, more importantly, we’ll see the introduction of a new safe haven enterprise visa, which we have worked together with the government. A safe haven enterprise visa will allow people to come to Australia for an initial period of five years, and will give them the opportunity to work, provided they go to a remote location, or a location that needs labour. There are many areas and many communities in our country where we want get labour, where we need people to help us in our economy. So we’ll be taking people away from being dependents of the Commonwealth, to being taxpayers to contribute to our society. 9.48am AEST00:48 Bernardi says the fundamental issue before the chamber is will the chamber stand up for the rights of women and girls. (In this instance he means the right of women and girls to be born.) Terminations based on gender .. .. is a choice not based in anything except selfishness. 9.44am AEST00:44 Stop abortions based on gender: Bernardi I’ll come back to the detail on the TPV issue shortly, but need to cross to the senate. The senate is this morning considering a bill from John Madigan which would stop Medicare funding for certain types of abortion. The bill seeks to end the Medicare funding of gender selective abortions. Liberal senator Cory Bernardi is currently speaking in favour of the bill. He says parliamentarians must speak out on issues like this one. Bernardi says abortions based on the sex of the child are abhorrent. Bernardi: If the opportunity comes to vote in favour of it, I will vote in favour of it. 9.34am AEST00:34 The immigration minister Scott Morrison is speaking now in the House about a new regime for temporary protection visas. The Temporary Protection Visas will give refugees work rights and provide access to Medicare. The Fed Govt is also introducing a new visa class - a temporary safe haven visa. 9.28am AEST00:28 Moderately annoyed, the sequel Now speaking of restraint, it would seem a commodity in short supply right now. I’ve already this week expressed personal frustration with coverage which sensationalises and distorts really serious and weighty issues. The breathless coverage about security in parliament house was a case in point. Obviously people were only reporting what was being said – but the sum of the parts was completely over the top, completely unhelpful. The tabloids (although they are not alone) are completely going to town on the national security theme. The Daily Telegraph has today declared .. .. Numan Haider has perpetrated the first Islamic terror act on Australian soil, carrying the flag of the ISIS death cult. Perhaps I’m stupid, but I don’t even know what that sentence actually means. An 18 year old kid has been killed – an alienated and dangerous and deeply misguided kid – but a kid. There is a complex story sitting behind these events. In the current environment, the media’s job is to report the facts of the incident – but also tell that story, the complex story. As well as beat ups and sensationalism – there is also a deal of amplification going on. The media’s job is not to amplify political messages, our job is to ask questions. National security is the same as any other issue in public policy. Our job is to ask questions, not get out the loud hailer. Really serious powers are making their way through the Australian parliament – the most serious expansion of surveillance powers and restructions on rights and liberties that we have seen in this country for some time. It is a manifest failure of our professional responsibility if these changes pass without being tested and scrutinised; and their architects challenged. Of course there are national security threats. They have been present for some time. They have worsened in recent times due to a complex set of factors. But asking questions about specific policies, about political statements, is not a treasonous act – it’s essential to the health of the democracy. The whole shrillness in the environment can only be heightening tensions and making the security task more complex for people tasked with keeping the community safe. There is way too much clutter and contention obscuring the key issues. I don’t care if I’m sounding pious, to be frank, I find much of the current environment unsettling and unhelpful. 8.55am AEST23:55 Race discrimination commissioner Tim Southphommasane – politely of course – is advising senators to gag themselves. Now is the time for affirming our commitment to civility & tolerance, not for diluting it. Australians have made their view clear on the RDA Not now. Please. 8.50am AEST23:50 Another thing we expect today is renewed senate debate on racial discrimination. Rather crook timing, this, given the tinderbox environment – but folks in the senate who believe in reducing restrictions on speech (rather than just pretend they do when it’s politically convenient) – are like dogs with bones about the Racial Discrimination Act. They want the RDA gutted in line with what Tony Abbott attempted to do earlier in the year. On the ABC this morning, Labor’s senate leader Penny Wong says now is not the time. She actually thinks never is the time – but her point today is certainly not now, not when tensions are heightened. This is not a sensible approach, the prime minister should ensure his members behave responsibly. Dogwhistling on issues of race or ethnicity or faith – be it with a renewed debate about hate speech or with calls for banning burqa – will fan some prejudice in the community, she says. That’s not good and .. .. it doesn’t make us safer. 8.41am AEST23:41 We are expecting an annoucement from Clive Palmer this morning on temporary protection visas. Obviously we’ll tune in when that happens. 8.33am AEST23:33 Labor history wars I should take stock of the Labor history wars before I move on to issues of the day. Julia Gillard’s memoir is now hitting the shops. It’s fair to say Kevin Rudd is not presented in the book in a very flattering light. Completely coincidently I’m sure, Rudd’s secret submission to Labor’s 2010 election review has turned up in The Australian during Gillard book week. Having just been booted out of the Lodge by his colleagues, Rudd is not very pleased with the world in this no-longer secret submission. Most everyone in Labor politics is stupid and treacherous – and most everyone cops it. With those notions in the news cycle, then he authorised his spokesman to execute the reverse take down on Gillard following the launch of the memoir: “The Australian people have long reached their own conclusions about Ms Gillard’s relationship with the truth – from the coup to the carbon tax.” Cutting through: she’s a dreadful liar. Amazing, the tenacity from both of these characters. The country is entirely fatigued by their carry on, and yet they can’t give it up. Anyway – with all that said, I’d recommend people read the Gillard memoir. It’s interesting for all kinds of reasons – some of which I explained here. I spoke to her yesterday. She was then in New York, about to come back to Sydney for the official book launch Friday. We spoke in this interview about national security and Iraq, and about whether Barack Obama was too slow to act in the Middle East. We also spoke a bit more about her time in office, and about her experience of power. There’ll be a piece published later this morning covering that bit of our conversation. 8.07am AEST23:07 Abbott ended his press conference with a wink. I’m not sure if he winked at The Australian’s political editor Dennis Shanahan for asking him whether he’d discussed submarines with the Japanese over sushi – (Abbott met Abe among his list of bilats) – or whether it was an equal opportunity wink. The great mysteries of national affairs. Now we are on the other side of the press conference I can tease out the key wrinkle. Syria Abbott is clearly positioning with a view that Australia may contribute in Syria. He’s noted strikes into Syria .. ... have been justified as I understand it on the doctrine of collective self-defence. 7.50am AEST22:50 He’s asked about Iraq. We’ll go in when exactly – weeks, days? Q: Given the air strikes are quite well advanced, can you tell the Australian people, is your announcement what have we’ll do and when, is it days away or weeks? Abbott says a further Cabinet discussion will be held before any active deployment. No decision has been taken. There are certain processes that need to be gone through. And they will be very genuine processes because Cabinet needs to fully discuss a matter as weighty as committing the armed forces of the Commonwealth to combat operations. Obviously there’ve already been a number of quite lengthy Cabinet discussions about a range of matters, the humanitarian assistance that was provided by way of air drops, the weapons deliveries to the Kurds and others in Erbil. The deployment of our force to the Middle East. All of these matters, each step in the path has been thoroughly discussed by Cabinet – but obviously there’s another thorough discussion that would have to be had before any further decision was made. 7.46am AEST22:46 Abbott says he had bilateral meetings with a number of world leaders at the UN, including the UK prime minister David Cameron and outgoing Indonesia president Yudhoyono. I certainly, at a human level, am sorry that president Yudhoyono is going. I am sure that I am sure that Jokowi will be an excellent president of Indonesia but he does have big shoes to fill. Very big shoes to fill. (I’m sure they’ll take that feedback in Jakarta in the right spirit.) 7.42am AEST22:42 The event yesterday in Melbourne. Abbott is asked about reports that the young terror suspect was shot by police because he’d made a threat against the prime minister. I have seen the reports. I haven’t been officially briefed to that effect. I would rather not comment on it. 7.39am AEST22:39 For the past few days the Abbott government hasn’t entirely ruled out going into Syria as well as Iraq. Here, Abbott says we haven’t been asked, and we have no intention at this point of entering combat operations in Syria. Q: Could I ask you about Syria? Under what circumstances would Australia commit to action inside Syria if you were asked by president Obama what would be the response? Abbott: Australia hasn’t been asked. I note that over the last couple of days, there have been air strikes into Syria against ISIL and other targets. Not simply US air strikes but the United States has been joined by five Middle Eastern countries including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar and the UAE. So there have been strikes into Syria which have been justified as I understand it on the doctrine of collective self-defence. I stress that Australia has not even made a formal decision to commit to combat operations inside Iraq let alone elsewhere. We are carefully considering the situation. We have no intention at this point of seeking to enter into combat operations in Syria. We have no intention of independent combat operations on the ground in Iraq. 7.33am AEST22:33 Tony Abbott speaks to reporters in New York Having wrapped up his address, the prime minister is now addressing reporters. As president Obama made clear, it’s not often that they have a leader-level security council meeting. I was happy to accept the president’s exhortation to attend, because this is a very important domestic issue as well as being a critically important international issue. Abbott repeats his usual formulation about the Middle East conflict reaching out to us. There was an ugly incident outside a police station in Victoria about 36 hours ago. I just want to assure the Australian people that their government is vigilant. Vigilant at home, vigilant abroad, because the safety of our community has got to be the highest priority of any Australian government. Updated at 7.42am AEST 7.27am AEST22:27 Good morning everyone and welcome to Thursday of terror week. Before we sprint into the morning, huge thanks to my colleague Bridie Jabour who kindly minded the Politics Live shop yesterday while I was diverted by covering the launch of Julia Gillard’s memoir. While we were all sleeping or walking the dog or running for the train Tony Abbott has been speaking at the UN security council, noting every country is a potential target. The Australian government will be utterly unflinching towards anything that threatens our future as a free, fair and multicultural society, a beacon of hope and exemplar of unity in diversity. The council passed a binding resolution concerning foreign terrorist fighters. Addressing the council, US president Barack Obama: It establishes new obligations the nations must meet. Specifically nations are required to prevent and suppress the recruiting, organising, transporting or equipping of foreign terrorist fighters as well as the financing of their travel or activities. Nations must prevent the movement of terrorists or terrorist groups through their territory and ensure that their domestic laws allow for the prosecution of those who attempt to do so. The resolution we passed today calls on nations to help build the capacity of states on the front lines of this fight including with the best practices that many of our nations have approved yesterday in which the United States will work to advance through our counter-terrorism partnerships. Finally this resolution recognises that there is no military solution to the problem. Here at home readers know that parliament has begun the process of debating new domestic terrorism laws. There will be more of that today. I gather the Senate is sitting late this evening. Yesterday, police in Melbourne shot Abdul Numan Haider – a teen terrorism suspect – after he attack two officers. Abbott referenced that event in his contribution at the UN. The comments thread is wide open for business. Chat to us also on Twitter if that’s your thing. You can reach us there @murpharoo and @mpbowers |