What we learned: Monday, 11 September
With that, we’ve made it to the end of another Monday. But rest assured, we’ll be back first thing tomorrow morning to bring you all the latest.
Here were the major developments of the day:
Labor is claiming victory after coming to an agreement with the Greens on the Housing Australian Future Fund.
The writs for the Indigenous voice referendum have been issued, meaning voters now have seven days to enrol or update their details on the electoral roll to be able to vote.
Senator Tammy Tyrrell of the Jacqui Lambie network has declared she is an “unenthusiastic yes” for the referendum, while criticising key components of the campaign. Speaking in Tasmania, Cape York Indigenous leader Noel Pearson said “respectful” conversations would convert undecided voters and opponents.
Still on the referendum, the yes campaign is looking forward to reigniting momentum in its campaign after the coming parliamentary sitting week – the last before the 14 October – with a nationwide series of major community events, performances and a further advertising blitz.
And the Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, spent time in Mackay hospital after a “medical episode” during Labor’s state conference in June.
Updated
Gambling regulator sounds warning on bookies targeting local sport clubs
Victoria’s gambling regulator has issued a blunt warning to gambling companies that are offering sponsorship deals to local sporting clubs, which incentivise members to create betting accounts.
The Victorian Gambling Casino Control Commission did not name any clubs or gambling companies but said it was concerned about potential harm to community members and children.
Here’s the statement:
The VGCCC is aware that some online wagering providers are entering into sponsorship agreements with sporting clubs to induce their members to create accounts with the provider by linking financial incentives to each member of the club that signs up. Clubs are sometimes given additional incentives based on the spend by their members.
The VGCCC demands wagering service providers cease promoting their products in this manner as they may be in breach of legislation by doing so, in addition to being inconsistent with their social licence to minimise harm.
Sporting clubs need to be mindful of community expectations around incentivising members, and potentially junior members, to gamble. We encourage sporting clubs to refrain from entering into such sponsorship deals which may harm members and may constitute illegal behaviour by the wagering provider.
The gang’s obligatory snap:
Now it’s official: There are 7 days left to enrol to vote in the referendum.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) September 11, 2023
Enrol to vote Yes to recognition, listening and better results. Vote Yes to bring Australia together. pic.twitter.com/XpguRECUQB
And a reminder if you feel like you’re drowning in information, and you don’t know where to go, there are so many resources on our website, including fact checking from blog queen Amy Remeikis.
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'Respectful' conversations will provide the right result, Pearson says
Cape York Indigenous leader Noel Pearson says “the onus is on the yes campaign” to answer questions about the voice and have “respectful” conversations to convert undecided voters and opponents.
Speaking in Tasmania, a state expected to vote yes, Pearson said yes supporters needed to talk to people about the details of the referendum change.
Our constitution is a conservative instrument that requires a majority of voters in a majority of states, and Tasmania is very crucial to that majority of states. I want to say that we have another five weeks to go and the onus is on the yes campaign to speak with Australians about the concerns and questions.
They have to treat them respectfully, their concerns should be answered properly and we need to make that our business over the next five weeks … We can debate about a whole lot of extraneous things and a lot of commentary. But the most important discussion we’ve got to have over the next five weeks is the actual words of the provision.
I have a belief that if we want to have respectful conversations with ordinary Australians. Take them through the provision, talk about it, we will get the right result.
Former Liberal premier of the state, Peter Gutwein, said the voice’s effect on non-Indigenous Australians would “not change their way of life one iota”.
“But for Indigenous Australians, it may have a profound effect,” he said, alongside Pearson.
I could not be more happy, more determined to do my bit, to have conversations with my fellow Tasmanians to explain to them what this constitutional amendment is about, and importantly, what it’s not about, and importantly to ensure that they understand that when they get to voting day in October, that it’s clear in their mind that this could make a real difference to the way that Aboriginals in this country live their lives. A real difference for the better.
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A little history lesson on the historic nature of this referendum.
Our last referendum, which voted on whether to become a republic, was held in 1999 and defeated.
It had two parts – whether Australia should change the constitution to become a republic, with the Queen and governor general replaced by a president, and whether the constitution have a preamble inserted that included Indigenous recognition as the nation’s first people.
The only state or territory that had a majority which voted for the proposal was the ACT.
Yet this was almost a quarter of a century ago, meaning anyone aged under 41 hasn’t voted in a referendum in their lifetime.
And, with just over 40% of the population aged between 15 and 44, there will be a lot of people hitting the polls for the first time.
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The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has also confirmed the final key dates for the upcoming referendum.
In a statement, it said governor general David Hurley this afternoon issued the writ for the 2023 referendum to the Australian Electoral Commissioner.
The issue of writ formally sets the referendum in motion, now confirming the below dates in the referendum timeline:
Issue of writ: Monday 11 September
Postal vote applications open: 6pm Monday 11 September
Enrolment deadline: 8pm Monday 18 September
So if you haven’t enrolled, you have just one week left to do so.
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Referendum writs issued
The writs for the referendum have been issued, officially kickstarting some time-sensitive processes leading up to the vote. It means voters now have seven days to enrol or update their details on the electoral roll, in order to be able to vote.
The government says postal vote applications will open at 6pm tonight (Monday). Enrolment closes at 8pm, Monday 18 September. Remote voting in far-flung locations will begin 25 September, and early voting centres open on 2 and 3 October, depending on the state you’re in.
Postal vote applications close on 11 October, before referendum day on 14 October.
“The Albanese government is committed to ensuring all eligible Australians can exercise their fundamental right to vote,” said special minister of state, Don Farrell.
The government says the national enrolment is estimated at 97.5%, which they believe is the highest participation of any federal vote in history. The estimated Indigenous enrolment is 94.1%, and enrolment for young people (18-24 years) is above 90%.
Farrell:
Enrolment has skyrocketed ahead of the 2023 referendum, thanks to the changes the Albanese government has made to make it easier to enrol to vote, or update your details, using your Medicare card or your citizenship certificate.
The numbers don’t lie. Younger Australians are ready to have a say. New Australians are ready to have a say. Our First Australians are ready to have a say.
If you aren’t enrolled or need to update your details, I urge you to do it now so you can be part of a historical, unifying moment by saying ‘Yes’.
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Central Coast boy dies after crash
A 14-year-old boy has died after crashing a car on the Central Coast this weekend, NSW police have confirmed.
Just after 3am on early Monday morning, emergency services were called to a road at Norah Head following reports a sedan had crashed into parked cars.
On arrival, the boy was found dead in the car, with another boy, aged 15, injured on the roadway nearby.
The injured teen was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition.
A crime scene has been established, police said, with investigations into the crush under way.
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Tyrrell an 'unenthusiastic yes' on the voice referendum
Senator Tammy Tyrrell of the Jacqui Lambie network has declared she is an “unenthusiastic yes” for the referendum on a voice to parliament, while criticising key components of the campaign.
Appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Tyrrell said the way the campaign was being addressed as a whole hadn’t been “very successful” but believed “something is better than nothing”.
I don’t believe that the opposition has been helpful to the community and that is probably why this isn’t going to succeed this time around because you have all these people that are so confused and torn.
She added “every poll worth its salt” could be rigged, as surveys were “very, very targeted” but conceded there would be a “residual sense of ill will” if the referendum did lose.
I think there will be. Like I said, I’m just sad that we couldn’t actually be grownups and good politicians and come to some agreements so that everybody can have a fair and reasonable vote on the 14 October and have something we can be proud of into the future.
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The parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security will soon release a review of the nation’s foreign influence transparency scheme (FITS).
But first it has published a short report looking at one aspect of the scheme – newly introduced rules that allow some information to be shared between government departments.
The committee chair, Peter Khalil, told the lower house the committee believed the rules were “reasonable and justified”.
These rules allow the attorney general’s department to share information with the foreign affairs department, which is responsible for separate “foreign veto laws” that allow some international agreements to be overturned (such as the Victorian state government’s Belt and Road deal with China).
Khalil said:
The Committee agrees that streamlining interoperability between the FITS and the Foreign Arrangements Scheme is a legitimate and reasonable purpose for sharing FITS information with the Minister and Department of Foreign Affairs.
At the same time, in discussing the Rules with the relevant government departments, the Committee noted that there is no provision under the Foreign Relations Act to allow information sharing in the other direction.
In approving the Amendment Rules, the Committee encourages the Attorney-General, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and their respective departments, to make every effort to ensure that both schemes operate as seamlessly as possible, including removing duplication and minimising the compliance burden on those who may interact with both Schemes.
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Haines says the prime minister has “only half listened” to her on addressing the housing crisis hitting regional and remote parts of Australia.
She says prior to introducing her legislation on housing today, she went to Anthony Albanese and will also consult the housing minister to negotiate on a solution.
Jennett:
What did they say when you did seek to persuade them?
Haines:
While the prime minister made an announcement about supporting infrastructure … it was a blind spot on the regions, so he listened to me but only half listened.
He understood the infrastructure piece but we need to get the guarantee that 30% will flow into those regional, remote and rural towns.
Independent MP Helen Haines is appearing on ABC Afternoon Briefings now, following the “delightfully spot-on” timing of her tabling of a housing bill.
The bill seeks to reserve a share of housing funding for regional and remote parts of Australia.
Haines says she supported the Housing Australia Future Fund (Haff) when it came through the house but did so after seeking amendments to guarantee 30% of Australians outside metropolitan areas to have money flow on to them.
As we know, there’s been a bit about on housing this afternoon.
Haines:
There has been a net migration out of the cities that has pushed-up housing prices and has meant that we have almost no rental availability. It also means that we have run out of sewerage in some places, that we have not got the connectivity to essential services that we need even to put a shovel in the ground and start to build houses we need.
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A big thankyou to Amy Remeikis for keeping us on top of today’s developments. Let’s roll on to close!
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Caitlin Cassidy will take you through the evening, but make sure you check back on the blog and the site for the ongoing updates.
I’ll be back very early tomorrow morning for the Tuesday sitting day (party room meeting day!) so I hope to see you then.
Until then, take care of you.
Potentially avoidable deaths and hospitalisations occur at rates which are between two to three times higher in remote and very remote areas compared with major cities, according to data released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
The National Rural Health Alliance says the data shows there is a strong correlation between the reduced access to primary healthcare in rural Australia and high rates of potentially preventable hospitalisations.
The alliance says increased investment in rural health care is needed. Their own research released in June this year quantified the rural health deficit at $6.55bn annually.
Chief executive Susi Tegen said:
That equates to approximately $850 per person per annum in the context of a population of more than 7 million people living in rural Australia.
There is clear evidence that per-person spending on healthcare is not equitable, and that this inequity is contributing to poorer health outcomes experienced in rural areas.”
Updated
Anthony Albanese has made a trip to Government House – not to call an election, or for tea – but to ask that the writs be issued for the referendum.
Albanese has headed over there but the writs are still to be issued – Josh Butler will let you know when that happens.
Updated
Releasing documents related to 1973 Chile coup ‘not in public interest’, Labor says
Back to an issue that has been bubbling away in the background all day: the 50th anniversary of Chile’s military coup.
The Greens have just now moved a motion in the Senate calling on the government to table all diplomatic cables between the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (Asis) station in Chile’s capital, Santiago and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The Greens’ foreign affairs spokesperson, Jordon Steele-John, told the Senate earlier that the Australian government should “own its role in the overthrow of democracy” in Chile. He said the US had been more open than Australia in declassifying documents surrounding intelligence activities of the time.
But Anthony Chisholm, an assistant minister, responded on behalf of the government:
Australia stands with the people of Chile in commemorating the tragedy of Chile’s military coup and recognising the widespread suffering, torture, enforced disappearances and human rights abuses that occurred that occurred during Chile’s brutal 17-year dictatorship.
We also recognise the significant contributions made by the Chilean diaspora in Australia.
This motion seeks documents that the minister for foreign affairs has been advised would not be in the public interest to be released on the basis that doing so could reasonably be expected to prejudice Australia’s national security, defence or international relations.
There is a process under the Archives Act 1983 for access to commonwealth records and whether records will be made available to the public is a decision for the director general of the National Archives. The government will not be supporting the motion moved by Senator Steele-John.
The Greens’ motion failed, with a final vote of 14 in favour and 29 against.
Updated
Housing bill ‘great news for Tasmania’, senator says
Jacqui Lambie Network senator Tammy Tyrrell has also welcomed the Greens’ support of the Haff bill:
I’m sending the Greens a pat on the back after coming to an agreement with the government over the Housing Australia Future Fund.
I’ll never say no to more money for housing, and an extra $1bn is a good outcome. I’m just disappointed it took so long.
It’s funny that the Greens attacked me for doing a deal over the Haff, but it seems they’ve seen the light and gone and done a deal. I’m here to deliver for Tasmania and get results for them.
This is great news for Tasmania. The minimum guarantee of 1,200 homes over the next five years that I negotiated will now be delivered. This means that homelessness will be going backwards for the first time ever in Tasmania.
It’s time to get this bill passed and start building much-needed houses on the ground in Tassie.
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Coalition says ‘Australians need a treasurer laser-focused on fighting inflation’
Angus Taylor didn’t bring this up in the House question time, but it was raised in the Senate, when Katy Gallagher was asked whether the Treasury figures on wages took into account inflation.
Taylor’s release says:
Treasury analysis claiming Australian workers were better off under Labor fails to account for the impacts of inflation, collapsing labour productivity and the fact that GDP per capita fell by -0.3% in Labor’s first year in office.
Taylor had some thoughts:
The conga line of Labor ministers claiming this analysis as a victory shows the treasurer and the government are completely out of touch with the very real and painful cost of living pressures facing Australian families.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows working households are in fact paying 9.6 per cent more under this government.
Mortgage bills have doubled, power bills are up more than 15 per cent, productivity has fallen off a cliff and last week’s National Accounts revealed we’re now in a per capita recession. This means the only thing left propping up our economy is record population growth.
Australians need a treasurer laser-focused on fighting inflation but instead they have a tricky treasurer who is more interested in spinning numbers then solving the cost of living crisis.
A treasurer focused on reinventing capitalism, wasting money, raising taxes*, reshaping the productivity commission to suit Labor’s big Australia agenda and prioritising airlines to drive up the cost of airfares then take its competition policy seriously.
*Just a reminder that the highest taxing government on a tax to GDP ratio was the Howard-Costello Coalition government, followed by the previous Coalition government.
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Bandt says Greens now going to ‘shift fight’ to rent freeze
Adam Bandt said Labor’s refusal to move on that is “wrong”:
Renters need breathing space. They cannot keep dealing with these massively soaring rents.
It is pushing people to the brink and it will result in people not having a roof over their head because they cannot or the massive increase that comes from the landlord.
Labor says they back unlimited rent increases.
That is not a sustainable position because it will put people in a huge amount of pain.
We now are going to shift our fight using the power we demonstrably have got and demonstrated to fighting to ensure before the next election we see that freeze on increases.
It’s up to Labor whether they listen to the pain that renters are under.
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Adam Bandt: ‘The only barrier now to stopping unlimited rent increases is Labor’
Greens leader Adam Bandt spoke to the ABC about the Housing Australia Future Fund deal and he was asked whether things like the double dissolution threat played any role in the outcome (remember that? My how time moves quickly).
Bandt says no:
We said there were two things we were keen to fight for: to get more money out the door now in a housing crisis, to start spending on public housing and not to push it off in the future.
We were able to secure $3 billion of that and we will keep fighting for more.
The second issue that was at play for us that we pushed hard on, is renters.
We really want to see the government take steps at National Cabinet where Labor controls every seat at the table [Except Tasmania]… to say we need a cap and a freeze on rent increases … we couldn’t get Labor there this time.
Bear in mind, they said there is no more money in the kitty and we found $3 billion. Now we will put pressure on rent increases. The only barrier now to stopping unlimited rent increases is Labor.
This post was amended on 11 September 2023 to remove a line from ABC host Greg Jennett that was mistakenly attributed to Adam Bandt.
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Coalition responds to Labor-Greens deal on housing bill
Michael Sukkar has responded to the Housing Australia Future Fund announcement, and it’s safe to say he isn’t pleased the Greens and Labor have found some common ground:
In a desperate last-ditch attempt to get its troubled housing bills through parliament, the Albanese Labor government has been forced to cut yet another deal with the Greens*.
The agreement by the government to allocate an additional $1 billion towards the Coalition’s highly successful National Housing Infrastructure Facility just reiterates again that investments of this kind should be made directly, not through Labor’s convoluted Haff money-go-round**.
Once again the Coalition will not be supporting the establishment of the Haff, which is merely $10 billion in additional commonwealth government borrowing*** that cannot guarantee and will not deliver a single home before the next election.
Let’s be clear - Labor’s housing legislation does nothing to ease the supply pressures on first homeowners seeking to buy their first home and get into the property market.
It will only see Australia’s housing crisis worsen with added inflationary pressures on the economy****, ultimately leading to higher interest rates and more difficulty for those Australians looking to enter the housing market.
Despite all of this, Labor is still planning to bring 1.5 million migrants to Australia over the next five years*****, with no plan on how to house them, on top of our growing population.
*The government was left to the negotiate with the Greens after the Coalition decided not to support the fund, first because it was inflationary and then because it wouldn’t build enough houses.
**They are two different things. The government is dividing the $3bn up with the states and territories to get social and affordable housing going this year.
***It is a future fund, so the money stays in an investment fund with the dividends from that fund being used to fund housing.
****Construction has figured into inflation, with the home builder program released by the Coalition while in government pointed to as one issue because it brought forward so many home construction projects to the one time. The Housing Australia Future Fund is staggered over five/six years to try mitigate inflation issues.
*****This is a misdirect. It includes international students, who usually live in student accomodation, attached to their education facilities. The 1.5 million number is over five years, and one-quarter of those people are already in the country. The 400,000 or so people is higher than usual, but that is because there has been a correction after the borders re-opened following the pandemic. Net migration is expected to fall over the coming years, and the 1.5m figure is lower than what the Coalition expected while it was in government.
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Given the Greens and Labor coming to an agreement on the Housing Australia Future Fund, it is worth revisiting these pics from Mike Bowers last week. We speculated at the time that it might have been over the Haff, but looks like that was confirmed today:
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Question time as seen by Mike Bowers.
Anthony Albanese seems to have remembered what he was walking back into, as he took his seat (either that or there was a bad smell wafting his way)
Tony Burke had a great time
Ed Husic did but see Albanese passing by….
And sometimes, no matter how hard you try, the performance is just not enough to capture people’s attention:
More smoke likely for Sydney tomorrow with firefighters ‘significantly behind’ on hazard reduction burns
The NSW RFS commissioner, Rob Rogers, says that as long as it’s safe, firefighters will continue conducting hazard reduction burns over the next few months and this could cause further smoke build-ups because of the Sydney basin:
Smoke goes in there overnight and the inversion layer comes in and just traps that in the morning until a bit of a breeze picks up. So that’s what happened this morning, and that’s what we’ll probably see again tomorrow.
[For] some people it is just an inconvenience, but to others, it does have health impacts on them.
Rogers says the RFS is “significantly” behind on hazard reduction burns, with firefighters attempting them “anywhere there’s properties” and in places that didn’t burn during the 2019-20 bushfires.
If you look at even just Sydney, there’s the northern beaches area [where] there’s about a dozen that they want to try and get done.
There’s burns in the Sutherland in the area, in the Hornsby area, and then right up and down the coast and in the ranges again, where they didn’t burn in 2019-20.
Read more:
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Greens ask Penny Wong if she will declassify documents related to 1973 coup in Chile
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says the 50th anniversary of the coup in Chile “serves as a sombre reminder of the importance of safeguarding democracy” but has stopped short of committing to declassify documents relating to Australian spy agency activities in the country in the 1970s.
The Greens senator Jordon Steele-John asked about the toppling of the democratically elected Allende government, and about the role of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (Asis), during Senate question time today:
Today marks 50 years since the Pinochet regime came to power in Chile. Given the extensive evidence of Australian Asis support for the coup, will the minister commit to apologising to the Chilean people and declassify related documents so that the Australian community and the Australian nation can avoid making the same horrible mistake again?
Wong told the Senate:
Yes, I am aware of the coup d’etat in Chile which took place this day in 1973. That has been I think - the tragedy that that was has been well documented.
On this anniversary we recognise the widespread suffering, torture, enforced disappearances, human rights abuses which occurred during the brutal dictatorship for over 17 years. I also want to recognise the Chilean diaspora and its contribution to Australia. There are many who arrived in this country as a consequence of what occurred in 1973 and the ensuing dictatorship.
This commemoration serves as a sombre reminder of the importance of safeguarding democracy and the rule of law against attempts to use violence for political gain.
I do have some concerns about some of the commentary that is being engaged in by the Greens political party and I appreciate the position you have on the US alliance.
Wong said Labor and the Greens had a different view on the US alliance. In a follow-up question, Steele-John said other countries had declassified relevant documents and nearly 300 Chilean Australians had signed an open letter to Dfat calling for transparency. He urged Wong to “show transparency on this issue and ensure the community knows what was done in their name”.
Wong said no foreign affairs minister would respond “to a declassification request on the floor of the Senate” and said any request would be considered in the usual, appropriate way:
It is not a political issue, it is a consideration of how these matters should be dealt with … I don’t think it would be reasonable to suggest that anybody in this chamber would be anything other than horrified by what occurred in terms of the oppression during Chile’s dictatorship.
See Paul Daley‘s previous piece on how Asis opened a station in Santiago in the early 1970s:
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There are so many reactions to the Housing Australia Future Fund stalemate being broken after the government gave an extra $1bn to affordable and social housing to begin flowing this year (on top of the $2bn already announced) and the Greens agreed to drop the rental freezes and cap demands from this bill, that my inbox is almost overflowing (I like to try and keep a tidy inbox, but it has been a while since I have been able to get to inbox zero, because there are a lot of people with a lot to say lately).
There are too many to go through, but the overwhelming response is “huzzah” that it is moving.
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After question time, PM lists passengers who ‘paid their own way’ on special purpose flight
After a final dixer from Anika Wells, Anthony Albanese ends question time, but then also says he needs to adds to an answer.
He says that he is advised that a number of people travelled on a special purpose aircraft (the Raf flights the government orders) on 31 August [I assume last year because it says it was the jobs and skills summit].
They were Jennifer Westacott, Tim Reid, Alison Kitchen from KPMG, Rob Scott from Wesfarmers, Mike Henry from BHP, Scott Charlton from Transurban, Steve Cain from Coles, Catherine Livingston, John Mullen the chair of Telstra, Sam Mostyn, the chair of Australians Investing in Women, Alan Joyce [the opposition erupts here]
Catherine King can be heard saying “it was reported you idiots, it was reported a year ago”.
Albanese continues:
Kelly Parker, the CEO of Rio Tinto, Naomi Flutter from Wesfarmers, Alex Hart, Reuben Freelander ….[he continues naming people, who I think are mostly journalists, but I don’t catch them all] and then says:
I can confirm as well that they were sent a bill, they paid their own way and that they sat together whilst I had a meeting about the Jobs and Skills summit in a different section of the plane.
He finishes, and there are still groans from the opposition. LNP MP Ted O’Brien calls out:
We all know you are hiding something!
To which Milton Dick responds with an exasperated “the member for Fairfax!” and the chamber moves on.
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PM is asked about Qantas’s support for the voice
Tony Burke launches into a rousing defence of the labour hire loophole bill.
The House gets a bit rowdy in response (it is a dixer, so it is pretty dramatic).
Paul Fletcher then asks:
On 14 August this year the prime minister attended the VIP yes campaign event with former Qantas CEO Mr Alan Joyce. Was Qantas’s support for the yes campaign one of the factors that led to the government’s decision to block the application for the additional flights to and from Australia by Qatar?
The government side of the benches then gets rowdy and Milton Dick says no, not today. Mark Dreyfus is warned for interjecting and Fletcher asks the question again.
Anthony Albanese gets up to answer the question and says he was talking to some journalists ahead of question time, pointing out the national political editor of the News Corp dallies, Clare Armstrong, in the gallery as one of them and says:
We were talking about question time today. This is not something I anticipated [as a question].
Now, it might be news to the member for Bradfield that every major business in Australia is supporting a yes campaign.
Woolworths, Coles, Telstra, BHP, Rio Tinto, the Business Council of Australia, the Catholic Church! The council of Imams, the Australian Football League, the National Rugby League, Rugby Australia, Netball Australia are all supporting a yes campaign in this referendum.
And I tell you who the VIPs were that day. They were the Indigenous workers who I was proud to meet.
Indigenous workers who I was proud to meet.
He goes on to talk about how long the referendum has been in the works.
Companies are doing this because they understand they have introduced reconciliation action plans, they have done so much, so many companies are doing good things employing Indigenous Australians, particularly in regional Australia it must be said, and that is a good thing, that is a good thing.
So it should be of no surprise whatsoever that along with a range of other businesses, a range of other businesses are all supporting the yes campaign and, indeed, the Business Council of Australia have certainly spoken with me – Tim Reid, the president, was talking to me at the BCA dinner just a couple of weeks ago.
We were talking about the enormous support and how indeed there is such support across the business community for yes because they also know it is important for their business as well.
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Chris Bowen is asked about the rise in Australia’s emissions
After Jim Chalmers takes the rah-rah “we are doing great things” dixer, independent Goldstein MP Zoe Daniel asks Chris Bowen:
It is now nearly a year since the parliament legislated a minimum target of a 43% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030. Given the latest public data shows that Australia’s overall emissions have gone up over that time, has the minister received advice, formal or informal, that we are not on track to reach that 2030 emissions target?
Chris Bowen:
She refers quite rightly to the public data released a few weeks ago, the quarterly release of greenhouse emissions that did show that emissions are up over the year, about 0.3% of a megaton.
(Chris Bowen then goes through some of the data and then turns to …)
The honourable member referred to advice and the Climate Change Act. As the member knows, another thing incorporated in the Climate Change Act, which I recognise she supported through the House, is an annual statement by me as the minister of the date of the parliament on progress, both how we’re going on emissions and government policy.
That must, under law, be supported by independent advice of the Climate Change Authority which must be tabled at the same time.
I’ve not yet received that advice; when it comes time for the annual statement it will be tabled in accordance with the law later this year.
That is the case, Mr Speaker. We recognise on this side of the House that 43% is an ambitious target.
It is ambitious, but it also will not happen in the absence of government action and not only are we implementing all the policies we took the election but will implement sector plans as well and we have begun the process of setting a 2035 target.
Some people spend the weekend debating whether climate change is real, some people debate whether they were committed to the fair minimum of action, the bare minimum of action, net zero 2050. [He’s talking about the Nationals here].
They spend the weekend arguing about whether there is such a thing as climate change, Mr Speaker.
We don’t spend our time doing that, we spend it on getting on with implementing policies to reduce emissions.
That is what the Albanese government does.
We get on with the job of implementing the mandate that we were elected to implement, Mr Speaker, reducing emissions, creating jobs for the future and investing more in renewable energy and getting emissions down.
It is what we will continue to do without support from those opposite [the Coalition] who cannot agree on whether climate change is real or not.
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Paul Fletcher interjects with a point of order on relevance which Milton Dick rules is not a point of order.
Anthony Albanese continues:
We sided with the workers’, transport workers union. They sided, as they always do, with big business interest. [Burke interjects: and what are they doing now?]
And what are they doing now with the legislation that is before the House on labour hire loopholes?
Once again [they are siding with big business].
In spite of the fact that this will have a financial impact on some companies, we do not deny that, because we want workers to be paid properly.
We do not want loopholes to be used in order to increase profits at the expense of workers being employed properly, at the expense of undermining enterprise bargaining.
The leader of the opposition made an assertion last week on radio that was backed up by their tactics committee … proving this question today, based upon a complete falsehood, a complete falsehood.
A complete falsehood, something that they are very, very aware.
Tony Burke can be heard saying “just apologise” across the table to Peter Dutton.
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Albanese is asked if he discussed Qatar Airways with the Qantas CEO
Liberal MP Melissa Price has a question for Anthony Albanese:
On what date was Mr Alan Joyce at Kirribilli House, The Lodge or onboard the prime minister’s private plane and was the application for more flights to and from Australia by Qatar Airways discussed?
Albanese:
I’m asked about functions and dinners and when was Alan Joyce at Kirribilli House and The Lodge last.
And what discussions took place there.
The question should go to the member for Cook.
Because he has never been at Kirribilli or The Lodge on my watch, not once.
Last time he was there, Scott Morrison was the prime minister of Australia. The leader of the opposition went on radio last week and asserted this to be a fact.
It is a lie, it was a lie from the leader of the opposition and it is typical of what they have done.
Typical of what they have done, Mr Speaker, because they just want to make anything up.
They sided with Qantas when it grounded its fleet in 2011 and knocked out its workforce, we stood up for the workforce.
They sided with Qantas when its major competitor Virgin collapsed into administration in 2020, they sided with Qantas when it sacked and outsourced thousands of its workforce, they delivered $2.7 billion in taxpayer support, including almost $900 million in jobkeeper without putting in place any mechanism to get any funding back.
You ask a question, you get the answer.
Updated
Monique Ryan renews call for compensation scheme for flight delays or cancellations
Independent MP Monique Ryan is renewing calls for rules that would force airlines to pay cash compensation to passengers who flights are delayed or cancelled.
The member for Kooyong said not only would such a compensation scheme bring Australia in line with Europe and the UK, but would also rein in carriers deliberately cancelling flights as an anti-competitive measure - something critics have long alleged.
Ryan said:
Plain and simple, Qantas is ripping off its customers. The airline has squeezed every cent it can out of travellers to make this year’s record profit.
Successive governments have let them do that, by maintaining weak consumer laws that allow endless delays and cancellations without penalty to the airline.
Delaying and cancelling flights is part of Qantas’s business model. We need to change the laws to stop that.
It’s time for our consumer protections for air travellers to catch up with those in Canada, the European Union and the United States. Amid the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation, we must do more to protect customers from predatory corporate practices like these.”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, consumer advocate Choice and the Australian Lawyers Alliance have all previously raised the prospect of a compensation scheme in submissions for the government’s aviation green paper, however the idea did not feature heavily in the document released last week.
Read more:
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King asked about aviation consumer protections
Kooyong independent MP Dr Monique Ryan asks Catherine King:
Australia lags behind on consumer protections for air travellers. The US, Canada and the EU compensate passengers for delays and cancellations … When will Australia hold [airlines] to account for ripping off Australians and consumers and improve the consumer protections around aviation?
King:
This an important issue and I to draw your attention to the green paper that I launched last week in particular.
It is not good enough at the moment that we have got service standards as low as they are.
It is not good enough that we have had people who are not able to get refunds for flights that they could not take because of cancellations during Covid.
It is not good enough that people with disabilities cannot travel by air as freely as those without disabilities.
It is why I have very deliberately in the green paper canvassed the issue around consumer protections.
While we have Australian consumer law, which provides baseline protections for all consumers when it comes to goods and services they purchase – that includes goods and services they purchase in aviation – aviation complaints are up. They have been up across the board for some time now and it is why I would really commend the green paper to you.
There are countries that have different levels of protections when it comes to aviation consumer rights and, exactly as the green paper states, we are seeking submissions on this very issue and I look forward, which I’m sure because she does this regularly on a range of policy matters that the member for Kooyong will contribute constructively to the green paper process when it comes to consumer protections – but I do say really clearly, airlines need to do better.
They need to do better when it comes to Australian consumers. I have been highly critical, highly critical, of Qantas … in relation to some of the range of issues . They need to do better but all consumers in Australia deserve to have access to aviation. They deserve to have a decent aviation service and that is what we are delivering through the aviation white paper.
Updated
Milton Dick is running a VERY tight ship today. He is not letting any heckles get through without a warning (and he booted Tony Pasin under 94A) very early on in the proceedings.
He is probably fighting a losing war, but he is trying to keep a handle on behaviour.
King is asked about any discussions she had with Qantas about Qatar Airways
The Nationals MP for Page, Kevin Hogan asks Catherine King:
I refer to the minister’s answers in question time last year regarding the application to provide additional flights to Australia by Qatar airlines.... [as a ] beneficiary of this decision and now that the minister has had several days to refresh your memory, can the minister update the House on any discussions with Qantas she had about this matter?
King, who is also sounding very annoyed by this point:
As I have said repeatedly, my department undertook consultations with the relevant aviation stakeholders and I was well aware, well aware, of different stakeholder views when I took the decision.
Well aware of different stakeholders’ views when I took the decision.
I do routinely meet with the CEOs of all airlines, airports and peak bodies and as I said, from my recollection, the main people lobbying my office and me about Qatar were from Virgin and a third party who contacted my office on behalf of Qatar.
Again, from my recollection, the discussions I have had with Qantas recently have mainly been about their concerns about closing the labour loophole legislation.
The fact is myself and my office have received more lobbying on behalf of Qatar airlines than we did on behalf of Qantas. It might not suit the narrative of those opposite, but that is what happened.
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Catherine King questioned again on Qatar Airways decision
Angus Taylor has the next non-government question and he asks Catherine King:
The minister has said she consulted with ministerial colleagues prior to her decision to reject the application for more flights by Qatar Airways. Last week, the trade minister said that the minister did not consult with him. The deputy prime minister did not consult with him. Which colleagues did the minister consult with?
King:
Consulting with colleagues is the normal and proper process. But can I make it very clear, yet again, that the decision was mine.
I am the transport minister and in the same way, in exactly the same way way that the previous transport minister had before him decisions about whether to increase Qatar airline’s access under their bilateral agreements, it is the decision of the transport minister.
These are very normal decisions that come before transport ministers. And as I have said again, I consulted with relevant colleagues but the decision was mine.
Updated
The new support is the Greens, who are not mentioned in this social post, but were kinda crucial to the whole process:
Breaking news: The single biggest investment in social and affordable housing in more than a decade will become a reality.
— Chris Bowen (@Bowenchris) September 11, 2023
With new support today, the Housing Australia Future Fund will now pass the Senate (with the LNP still opposed). pic.twitter.com/WuTGqFF8B2
PM avoids giving date of when he learned of Qatar Airways decision
David Littleproud wants to know:
What date was the prime minister or his office was informed of minister King’s decision to block the application for additional flights to and from Australia by Qatar Airways?
Anthony Albanese doesn’t want to give a date. He says:
As I indicated to Parliament last week, I was informed by the minister for transport after I had a discussion with the virgin CEO which was on the 13th July.
The idea that I am at a Nato summit and the minister for transport thinks she will ring me up or contact me to tell me, to tell me that nothing is happening is just bizarre.
It’s just bizarre.
I can also confirm the environment minister did not ring me up to tell me nothing was happening, the treasurer did not ring me up to tell me nothing was happening, the Education Minister did not ring me up to tell me nothing was happening, and the energy minister did not ring me up to tell me he was still sticking with net zero by 2050.
This shows how free they are of any real issues.
This is a status quo nothing decision that is being made of, [a] nothing decision to keep exactly the same thing that was put in place just one year ago. Just one year ago.
And the idea that this was front and centre while I was at the Nato summit discussing a land war in Europe, a land war in Europe with all of the global inflationary consequences that were going on is, quite frankly, absurd.
Catherine King has also not given a date, just said that by 18 July when the decision was made public, the prime minister knew.
Updated
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is asked a dixer on the housing Australian future fund and starts it off by saying thank you to Josh Burns, a “champion” for renters in his electorate, for asking it.
Paul Karp hears Sussan Ley ask:
What about Max [Chandler-Mather]?
Which, fair.
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Tanya Plibersek questioned on approval of seven coal project
The housing minister, Julie Collins, does a victory lap in a dixer (government MP asking government minister a question where the answer is basically a press release) and then we move on to the Greens MP Stephen Bates asking Tanya Plibersek:
The annual report to the UN has concluded that neither the goals of the Paris climate agreement to limit warming to 1.5 degrees will require phasing out all fossil fuels we make so why have you given approval to several coal projects since becoming minister?
Tanya Plibersek seems a bit exasperated as she answers:
I think I have had pretty much the same question each week recently and perhaps if I go into some of the details about how these decisions are made … I have been very clear with the Parliament about our government’s determination to achieve net zero in Australia.
I have made it very clear the measures we are taking, 80% renewable energy, a target of 82% renewable energy, the fact that we are committed to net zero, we have a trajectory to net zero.
But on the issue of approvals, I think it is really very important to say this, the Greens political party knows that the emissions from coal and gas projects are covered by the climate minister’s safeguard mechanism to make sure that all big polluters reduce their pollution.
The reason that the Greens political party should know about the safeguard mechanism is that they spent weeks negotiating at with the climate change minister, the climate and energy minister.
They negotiated the safeguard mechanism, they voted for it, they have defended it, they say they believe in the safeguard mechanism as a way of getting Australia to net zero, and yet having negotiated yet, defended it and voted for it, they now think that the climate minister should do something different to what the environment minister does.
So you have two separate approval mechanisms, one on climate and energy and one on environment. It simply makes no sense.
The Greens political party voted for a law to get emissions down. It is the safeguard mechanism. All new projects are assessed against that safeguard mechanism, that is what you agreed to. That is what you voted for, that is what we’re that is what we will keep doing because we are committed to getting to net zero.
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Palaszczuk vows to ‘explain things better’
After an epic 35 minutes, Annastacia Palaszczuk has just wrapped up her first press conference since taking two weeks off amid intense leadership speculation.
The premier struck a defiant tone, insisting she won’t step aside after 12 years as Labor leader and the party can win the next election despite the polls.
A journalist read her a text message from a factional colleague who asked if she would rather lose the poll as leader than step down and see her successor win.
Unless they’re going to put their name to it ...” she replied.
Aside from committing to “explain things better” both inside and outside the party, Palaszczuk refused to detail any changes she would make or new policy she’d adopt to turn the party’s fortunes around.
I’ll be delivering the state of the state [speech] on the fourth of October, you’re welcome to join me then,” she said.
The premier revealed she’d been taken to hospital in June during the Queensland state conference, and defended her decision to take a holiday by saying she’d been briefed the state was in for a hard bushfire season this summer.
We know that the only poll that counts is on election day. And I’ve been the underdog on many occasions. And, you know, I’ve led this party from seven members, from seven members with the support of Queenslanders with the support of the whole team to form first of all, a minority government and then a majority government.
And I’ve been termed accidental, I’ve been termed all these other terms over the years. But you know what, I’ve stood my ground. And I think the young girls and the young women out there have a strong role model that says to them that women and girls can be anything they want in this state ...
Politics needs good people, not selfish people, not ruthless people, not ambitious people. They need good, decent people. And I want to see more good, decent people in politics.
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‘I trust my ministers to make decisions’: PM on Qatar Airways
Sussan Ley is up next:
Did the prime minister or his office provide any direction, information or advice to minister King or her office at any time prior to the minister’s decision to block Qatar Airways application for additional flights?
Anthony Albanese:
One of the things that I do is, as a prime minister, is I have not appointed myself to other jobs ... I trust my ministers to make decisions. I’m ... not also the transport minister … the health minister... and let’s have a look at what this decision is and look at the history and see if you see a pattern here.
In 2007, Qatar Airways had seven flights as a result of a decision by the minister to the [Sydney] Gateway Airport which is where the services coming from.
In 2009, that went to 14 flights as a result of a decision that I made.
In 2015 it went to 21 flights ...
Peter Dutton interrupts on relevance. Milton Dick rules that the standing orders say he can’t rule on the accuracy of a minister’s answer, but can rule if the answer is relevant to the question. Albanese continues:
And then after a four year period from 2018 application to 2022 it went up by seven. Up by seven. From 21 to 28.
The minister made the decision. I trust my ministers to make decisions they are responsible for. This wasn’t [an unusual] course of events as a former transport minister I know. I would have had three or four of these applications at any time and make decisions appropriately.
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In the first dixer, Anthony Albanese trumpets the deal the government made with the Greens on housing and also includes:
I thank the leader of the Greens for the constructive discussions that we have had … we have had the Coalition obsessed as they are with just saying no to everything are the great irrelevancy in Australian politics today.
They marginalise themselves, they sit in the corner and just say no to everything because that is just their response.
The Coalition of yesterday has turned into the noalition of today.
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Annastacia Palaszczuk rules out stepping aside as Labor leader
A defiant Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk insists the Labor party can win the next election with her at the helm, despite a horror poll that shows it would lose in a landslide.
She firmly ruled out stepping aside before the poll and encouraged Labor MPs dissatisfied with her leadership to talk with her in private:
Not one person, not one person has raised it with me. Not one.
Palaszczuk is aiming to win a historic fourth term as leader, the longest of any since the 1980s. She declared she is not motivated by beating Peter Beattie’s record as longest-serving Labor premier.
The premier is holding her first press conference since flying out to Italy on holiday, a two-week trip she said was the last opportunity to take a break before the election next October.
Because we’ve got the impending fire season coming up, which means I’m going to have ... any over that period of time, and this was seen as my last decent break – that got interrupted – before a state election.
Queensland parliament sits this week.
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Peter Dutton has chosen ‘politics over substance’ on voice: PM
Anthony Albanese goes through the usual detail – that the referendum legislation passed the parliament, that Peter Dutton voted for it (to allow the referendum to happen, but that did not mean he supported the yes case) and then adds:
It was the former government who established this process under Tony Abbott that appointed Tom Calma and Marcia Langton.
It was former government that appointed Pat Dodson and Julian Leeser to the inquiry.
This leader of the opposition speaks about division when he appointed the Member for Berowra as his Indigenous affairs spokesperson and shadow attorney general.
I took that as a positive side given it is going back more than a decade and it is unfortunate the leader of the opposition has chosen politics over substance.
Updated
Peter Dutton and Katharine Murphy on division
The opposition leader to Anthony Albanese:
You have completely mishandled your Canberra voice proposal. It is clear the referendum will not the moment of unity the 1967 referendum delivered.
Will the prime minister withdraw his voice referendum so we can avoid an outcome which [winds] back reconciliation and divides the nation?
Murph has already given some thoughts on the idea of a referendum being ‘divisive’:
It is worth revisiting (from last week).
Murph:
Don’t elections divide Australians down the middle every single cycle? Does anyone believe we should abandon elections because they involve a contest of ideas that divides Australia down the middle? Should political leaders only advance causes that everyone agrees with? If that’s the new rule, how do we determine who agrees with what in the absence of a contest of ideas? Adding to the passing strangeness of a professional politician arguing that a contest of ideas is inherently bad, we have the conundrum of a Liberal leader who chose to say no to the voice now wondering where this nasty division has come from, and wondering why a prime minister won’t abandon an election commitment because it’s divisive.
Updated
Both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have given speeches acknowledging September 11.
The house stands for a moment’s silence.
And then question time begins.
Updated
Greens vow to fight for rent freeze
Max Chandler-Mather also says he has not abandoned renters’ rights:
We said we would negotiate in good faith. We wanted extra funding for public and community housing and wanted action for renters.
We secured [that] funding and now we turn our attention to fighting for a freeze and on rent increases.
We haven’t stopped.
Let’s be very clear, there is future legislation coming up right now. And over the next, term of this Parliament we will use it to secure and push for a freeze and a cap on rent increases.
Ultimately we are pragmatic and know we won’t be able to get everything we want but this should be a very clear message to the population, there is one party throughout this entire process who made it very clear we were fighting for a freeze and a cap on rent increases and another party who was refusing to do so.
If its the case that it’s going to take a federal election and Labor losing some hundreds of thousands, if not millions of renters for them to learn they cannot ignore the one-third of the country that rents, so be it.
Frankly if we aren’t able to push Labor to freeze and rent increases they will learn a very harsh lesson about what happens when you ignore the one-third of this country who rents.
Updated
Max Chandler-Mather seems quite annoyed at this press conference – he is asked if he was rolled since he was arguing so hard for renters rights, and says he won’t go into the party room discussions.
I am not going to talk about the elements of party room. I hope it is clear that myself, along with Adam are front and centre in this housing debate, I’ve said time and again, time and again that we were willing to negotiate in good faith with the government.
What we weren’t willing to accept was the government coming up after that $2bn and saying nothing more after that.
We pushed and fought and got an extra billion dollars for public and community housing.
Let me be clear. This campaign has just started. There are other housing bills coming before Parliament right now.
What we proved, is when the Greens set up and fight people get outcomes.
People who will have roofs over their heads because the Greens stood up and fought for that – now we will fight to secure a rent freeze and on rent increases.
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‘We turned zero guaranteed dollars to $3bn’: Greens
Max Chandler-Mather also has a bit to say to people who called for the Greens just to pass the bill:
What I hope this demonstrates is not just to everyone here, to the crossbench and to the many housing organisations, who called on us to pass the housing Australian future fund as it was, if we had listened to them we wouldn’t be standing here celebrating $3bn for public and community housing.
Next time a housing bill comes before Parliament – trust what the Greens are doing is fighting for things that are possible, that can happen and when the government says that a possible like they said it was impossible to find extra money, is trust the Greens are fighting for something that is possible.
We turned zero guaranteed dollars to $3bn [for social and affordable housing].
Updated
‘We will not stop fighting’: Greens on rent cap
Max Chandler-Mather, who is one of Anthony Albaneses’s personal bug bears, is a little more intense:
What we weren’t able to secure is a freeze and cap on rent increases in the bottom line is we weren’t able to convince the Labor party to care about the one-third of this country who rents.
What the message I want to send to the millions of renters across this country is this; we will not stop fighting.
We will not rest until we get a cap and freeze on rent increases. We know your pain, we note every time your rent goes up that means eviction onto the street or making tough choices at the supermarket.
We know the anxiety and fear that comes with that lease renewal and potential rent increase.
The Greens is the party of renters.
We are the party who represent renters in Parliament.
I think what the Labor party needs to realise, is if they keep ignoring renters, if they keep refusing to budge on capping and freezing rent increases they will learn a very harsh lesson at the next election.
There are state local and federal elections coming up over the next few years. One of them will be a referendum whether or not the government has not about renters.
If they continue refuse they will learn what happens when you ignore the one-third of this country who rents.
Updated
Greens claim partial victory on housing bill
The Greens are claiming a partial victory – there has been no agreement from the government on renters’ rights (as in rent caps and rent freezes) but there is an additional $1bn, on top of the already announced $2bn, on public and community housing.
Adam Bandt:
Labor’s [plan] won’t fix the housing crisis but $3bn going out the door this year that is not dependent on a gamble in the stock market will make a difference and having secured that to support the legislation.
The Greens were not able to get the government to shift on rent caps or rent freezes.
So one thing is very clear now, or two things are clear, pressure works.
[The] $3bn being spent this year that was never on the table before is something that has been secured.
People standing up and saying the housing crisis is serious and we need money spent on it.
The second thing is clear, there is a party in Parliament for renters in that party is the Greens.
Our focus will now shift to securing rent caps and a rent freeze.
There is legislation still to come during the course of this Parliament the Greens are the balance of power and of course as we’ve just learnt from the course of this year, a strong community campaign where rent just renters find their voice gets results.
$3bn … is now going out the door thanks to the Greens. And now we will use that same pressure and that same power to push for a rent freeze and rent caps.
Updated
Labor and Greens strike deal to pass housing bill
Labor is claiming victory after coming to an agreement with the Greens on the housing Australian future fund.
From the statement Anthony Albanese and Julie Collins have released:
The Albanese Government is set to deliver the single biggest investment in social and affordable housing in more than a decade, with welcome new support today for the Housing Australia Future Fund meaning the legislation is set to pass the Senate later this week.The passage of this legislation, along with the commitments made at last month’s National Cabinet, represents the most significant reforms to housing in a generation.
Delivering the Housing Australia Future Fund will ensure more Australians have a safe and affordable place to call home.
The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund will create a secure, ongoing pipeline of funding for social and affordable rental housing, fulfilling the commitment the Government made to the Australian people.
In addition, today the Government confirms an additional $1 billion will be invested in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to support new homes.
The Government thanks the Crossbench in the House of Representatives and the Senate, including the Greens, for the constructive engagement over a number of months on this critical legislation.
Updated
That statement continued here:
We will work constructively with all parties to map the way forward and those conversations will start this week.
We support the current investigations started under the previous Government and will continue to work within the appropriate cultural protocols while we further investigate and work towards a resolution.
I have sought advice from the Attorney General due to the legal complexity in relation to the report findings and the Aboriginal Land Rights Act.
Importantly, we acknowledge the ongoing trauma caused by historic government policies and assimilation practices of removing Aboriginal children from their families, communities and culture.
The current report was undertaken in consultation with affected Survivor Organisations and a part of the process of negotiated transfer of land to Stolen Generations organisations to develop a Keeping Place. Funding has been provided, and is available, through the Keeping Places Project. Further detailed investigations at the site will need to be trauma-informed and require expert advice.
NSW Aboriginal affairs minister calls urgent meetings about possible burial sites
The NSW Aboriginal affairs and treaty minister, David Harris, has responded to Sarah Collard and Lorena Allam’s reporting in their series, Buried lives.
You can find the whole series so far, here. To catch up on what Harris is responding to, you can head here:
I am saddened to learn the survey may have located possible burial sites at Kinchela Boys’ Home, located on land owned by the Kempsey Local Aboriginal Land Council.
I have requested an urgent meeting with both Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation and the Kempsey Local Aboriginal Land Council to discuss the next steps.
These are very complex and sensitive issues and I know distressing for all involved.
We ask the media and everyone to be sensitive to Sorry Business and truth telling, which can raise serious mental health and trauma issues for Survivors, their families and their communities.
We are committed to working in partnership with Aboriginal communities and Stolen Generation Survivor Organisations.
Updated
Annastacia Palaszczuk spent time in hospital in June after 'medical episode'
The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, spent time in Mackay hospital after a “medical episode” during Labor’s state conference in June.
Palaszczuk is holding her first press conference after taking two weeks off for an Italian holiday with her surgeon partner.
I shared with cabinet this morning that during the state conference, I had a medical episode. I was rushed to emergency. I spent about five or six hours in the Mackay hospital. I want to thank the staff, they looked after me. The care was first rate.
I’m very confident that’s the way they look after other people that present to the hospitals as well.
She returns to weeks of media speculation about her leadership, and a shock Redbridge poll predicting disaster for the government at the next election.
Palaszczuk is one of the country’s longest-serving leaders, premier since 2015 and Labor leader since 2012. But the defiant premier insisted she’s still the best person for the job, and will contest her fourth election next year.
She conceded she needed to “explain things better”.
It’s my job to explain things better. Explain things better to the caucus and better explain to the [community],” she said.
Updated
Kylea Tink has continued the independent’s push to have the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, use his discretionary executive power to stop the prosecution of the whistleblowers Richard Boyle and David McBride in the federation chamber (the spillover chamber for the House of Representatives).
Dreyfus has been very careful with his words in addressing this, as the cases are before the courts. But he has said he is looking at a range of things, including a review of whistleblower protections.
.@KyleaTink has just delivered a powerful speech in the Federation Chamber calling on @MarkDreyfusKCMP to stop the prosecutions of @Richard_D_Boyle and David McBride. Unfortunately she seems to be directing her words at an Attorney-General tone deaf to public interest 1/2 #auspol pic.twitter.com/1yR5MogpuA
— Rex Patrick (@MrRexPatrick) September 11, 2023
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Great Barrier Reef in ‘fight of its life’: Marine Conservation Society
This week, the World Heritage Committee will consider the recommendation from Unesco (United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation) to give Australia more time to show progress on its attempts to save the Great Barrier Reef.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society’s Cherry Muddle said the reef was in “the fight of its life”:
A fight that is set to get harder with climate change and a predicted El Niño increasing the likelihood of marine heatwaves and coral bleaching.
… Climate change remains the greatest threat to the Reef. Both the Australian and Queensland governments must urgently cut fossil fuel emissions to protect the Reef to limit warming to 1.5OC – a critical threshold for coral reefs.
The governments also need to address tree clearing, which is still a massive problem for the waters of the Great Barrier Reef. Clearing increases sediment runoff into reef waters, smothering the coral and the seagrasses that marine life such as dugongs depend upon.
Updated
The Greens have called a press conference for just ahead of question time to talk housing.
Sky News is reporting the party has struck a deal with the government – we will have the details for you very soon.
There is now less than an hour until question time.
Aren’t we all lucky?
More from Greens on Chilean coup motion
Further to Dan’s reporting on the Greens motion on the Chilean coup in the House, the Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has had a few things to say:
The Chilean-Australian community have been campaigning for years to have the Australian government acknowledge its role in installing a military dictator in Chile 50 years ago today.
Today is a dark day for the Chilean community. Under the Pinochet regime, thousands died, tens of thousands were tortured and hundreds of thousands were exiled.
Fifty years on we know Australia was involved, as it worked to support the US national interest. To this day, Australia’s secretive and unaccountable national security apparatus has blocked the release of information and has denied closure for thousands of Chilean-Australians.
The Greens are calling on the Australian government to apologise to the Chilean people, declassify any documents relating to Asis and Asio support for the Pinochet regime, and implement oversight and reform to our intelligence agencies to ensure this can never happen again.
If you haven’t read it, Paul Daley wrote about this in 2021:
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Parliament House giftshop to reopen
The parliament house giftshop will be officially reopened on Wednesday, with presiding officers Sue Lines (senate president) and Milton Dick (house speaker) doing the honours.
It’s the first revamp the store has had in 27 years apparently.
That would be 1996. August 1996 was when the “Cavalcade to Canberra” riot occurred – that started out as a union protest against the Howard government’s IR laws and budget, which moved from peaceful to a riot when a new group of protesters arrived (the ACTU had led the original protest).
That second group breached the police lines and made it into some public areas of Parliament House, including the gift shop, where the Wikipedia page tells me (based on the hansard) that “the shop was ransacked by demonstrators and major damage was caused by persons who subsequently occupied the area. After some two hours, the demonstrators were finally repelled from Parliament House and driven back onto the forecourt area and, shortly afterwards, they dispersed”.
In 1992, the doors which are near the giftshop were breached when Clifton Courtney Moss drove his Pajero through them (that led to a prompt security review which was the start of the security you see around Parliament House now, including the bollards to stop other vehicles from driving into the Great Hall).
Updated
Greens MPs attend lecture counterprotest outside Parliament House
Greens MPs Stephen Bates and Janet Rice were among the Greens who attended the counterprotest.
Bates said it was necessary for allies to stand up in support of the trans community, particularly trans kids:
Allies need to show up and stand with our community after these disgraceful attacks on trans kids in our Parliament and in our media.
Trans people, especially trans youth, are some of the most brave and resilient in our community, but they shouldn’t have to be. Now more than ever, they need our support.
Updated
Live pictures from Parliament House lecture and protest
Mike Bowers went along to the lecture Why can’t women talk about sex? featuring Katherine Deves and other anti-trans rights activists being hosted in parliament house by the Liberal senator Alex Antic, and the counterprotest outside.
Here’s what the room looked like – and here is what outside on the lawns looked like:
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Labor dismisses Greens’ attempt to debate Chilean coup as ‘grandstanding’
In a development that will surprise no one, the minister for defence personnel, Matt Keogh, says the government will not support the Greens’ bid to suspend standing orders to debate the Chilean coup of 1973.
The Greens are unhappy that a motion to be debated in the federation chamber later today (the 50th anniversary of the coup) doesn’t mention concerns about Australia’s links to the destabilisation of the then government.
Keogh describes today as an “important anniversary”. But he says the effect of the Greens’ attempt to suspend standing orders is that it is delaying the parliament’s business to debate “important legislation” to protect workers and the environment.
He condemns “grandstanding by the member for Griffith [Max Chandler-Mather] who is listed as someone who will be debating this very topic in the federation chamber later today”.
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Liberals try to undermine renewable energy
The Liberal MP for Grey, Rowan Ramsey, tried to move a motion on energy security, arguing that:
A) The government’s rush towards 82% renewable energy could expose Australia to unnecessary national security risks due to a dependence on imported solar panel components from China;
B) That an analysis, led by the shadow minister for home affairs and cyber security, Senator James Paterson, uncovered exploitable flaws and vulnerabilities in smart inverters which accompany many Australian solar photovoltaic systems;
C) That almost 60% of installed smart inverters are being supplied by Chinese manufacturers bound by China’s national intelligence laws, which could require companies to be ordered by Beijing to sabotage, survey or disrupt power supplies to Australian homes, companies or government ...
(the whole motion can be seen in the live minutes here)
There was a small debate which followed but the Labor Bennelong MP, Jerome Laxale, wrapped it all up when he accused the opposition of “using migrant communities to score political points”.
Laxale:
When former prime minister Morrison wanted to score cheap votes, he attacked China in a way that impacted Chinese Australians.
Just last week, we heard reports of the member for Cook [Scott Morrison] telling the Liberal party room to “hold the line” as he spoke out against the Labor Government’s attempts to restore Australia’s relationship with our largest trading partner.
And then last year, when the Liberals realised they had left Australia with a national housing crisis, instead of proposing or voting for solutions, the Leader of the Opposition stood up in this place and decided to blame migrants for the problems they created.
This motion is just another attempt to slow down our transition to green energy production, and again uses our migrant communities to do so.
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Greens push for transparency on Australia’s involvement in 1973 Chilean coup
The Greens are seeking to suspend standing orders in the House of Representatives in order to bring on a motion demanding transparency about Australian links to the 1973 coup against the Chile’s democratic socialist Allende government.
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the overthrow of that government. The Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather wants to move a motion calling on the Australian government to apologise for the activities of Australia’s overseas intelligence service Asis. He told the parliament:
But what of the Australian government? Well, ever the loyal ally of the United States, when the CIA formally requested support in destroying Chilean democracy, the Australian government and Asis, answered the call and sent agents and resources in 1971. This has been confirmed by the release of heavily redacted national security documents by the National Security Archive in the United States.
Of course we may never know the full extent of Australia’s involvement, because the Australian government in 2021 successfully blocked the release of classified documents detailing exactly how Asis assisted the CIA in destabilising and eventually destroying Chilean democracy.
Chandler-Mather acknowledged the motion had little chance of succeeded, but it was important to “never forget” the forces that destroyed that government. He further asked what was being done in Australia’s name today. He took the chance to take aim at the Aukus deal.
The leader of the Greens, Adam Bandt, is seconding the motion.
See Paul Daley’s previous piece on how Asis opened a base in Santiago in the early 1970s:
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‘We are destroying the very thing we’re trying to protect’: Nationals on renewables
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, was on Sky News this morning talking about the need for renewable projects to be covered under environmental legislation.
Littleproud:
This is about making sure approval processes where the EPPC Act is triggered through environmental impact statements, the same approval processes that many of the resource projects would undertake.
There’s a project up in central Queensland that’s over 100,000 acres that will be covered by wind turbines. That’s a significant environmental impact. If you’re going to knock down remnant vegetation and knock away remnant habitat, then there has to be an environmental impact on that and the species that live there.
This is asked for by the governments on mining projects. Why wouldn’t we do the same thing for these large industrial-scale wind and solar projects?
As well as what we’re doing with the 28,000km, the transmission lines? We are destroying the very thing we’re trying to protect with renewable energy. And this is where we’ve got to get the balance right. This is where some common sense needs to prevail, not just in the planning, but also in the execution. And that’s what the Nationals are saying.
We’re not against renewables we’re just saying there’s a better way to do it. And this government’s reckless rates to 82% renewables by 2030 is having a significant impact on the environment.
Tanya Plibersek responded:
The Nationals are in the media calling for the approval of renewables projects to be covered under environment law.
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) September 11, 2023
They are.
This is again, a bit of a nuanced one – there is usually a two-step approval to when it comes to environmental approvals, and the first step is on whether a project is big enough to have an environmental impact. Not all of them are – a small solar project instance, might be moved on to the next step without completing the first, because it is not big enough to qualify for the first check.
But it is still examined – where is it, how large, what is around it. So renewables are subject to environmental laws, but not all of them are big enough to need all the steps done in detail.
The Nationals are arguing they should be. The government argues that is unnecessary bureaucratic red tape.
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More on the special flights
Just taking a look at the special purpose flights data set out by defence on its website (You’ll find it here) in the wake of the latest Barnaby Joyce-Tanya Plibersek “debate” on the Seven Network this morning.
Here’s a taste:
Plibersek: [after Joyce said the reporting of the flights] recently stopped:
No, no, hang on a minute. When the reporting stopped – my understanding is the reporting stopped when Peter Dutton was the defence minister and, Barnaby, you took 65 flights on special purpose aircraft to your home base.
Joyce: Happy to tell you about every one.
(It continues in a back and forth for a while)
Host: Barnaby, was it stopped under Peter Dutton, the release of the documents?
Joyce: As reported today by Samantha Maiden …
Plibersek: That’s my understanding of it.
Joyce: … this was reported in the past. I’ve got no problems with you having a look at my flights, none. Usually, you will find me on commercial flights.
Host: Hang on. Barnaby, just a second, because you guys are sounding like Richard Marles is the one who stopped this so can we just go back a bit. Was the reporting of these sort of flights stopped under your government?
(a little more back and forth)
Joyce: Well I’m going with Samantha Maiden’s report this morning that said – that it’s only recently that it stopped with the manifest and the flights.
Having a look at the disclosure logs, it seems they are both right.
When you look at the dates of when the information was published, the last disclosure under the Morrison government happened for the July-December flights in 2020.
The information is meant to be updated every six months, but the disclosure for the next six months of the Morrison government flights was published on 15 August 2023 (Maiden has also pointed out when things have been published in some of her stories).
The outstanding logs have been published by defence, from 11 August onwards.
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In case you missed it over the weekend, the Nationals conference voted down the motion, led by Barnaby Joyce, for the party to ditch its net zero commitment.
Lisa Cox covered David Littleproud’s speech to the conference in defence of the party’s position, in what turned into a ‘rousing’ but ultimately fruitless debate – the policy stays.
(The undercurrent to all of this, is, as Murph reported last week when she broke the story, the ongoing leadership tensions within the Nationals, with a small group trying to topple Littleproud as leader. But no one has close to the numbers, we are told, to make that happen –not Joyce and not Keith Pitt. So watch this space, but don’t expect too much movement any time soon. These things tend to be a slow burn in the National party anyway – the party room wouldn’t know what to do if everyone was behind the leader.)
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Annastacia Palaszczuk to face media over suspension of Human Rights Act
The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, is expected to face a grilling today as she fronts media for the first time in two weeks after returning from her European holiday.
Palaszczuk will likely field questions about her sinking popularity in the polls and the internal discontent in the party room after the government rushed controversial legislation through parliament last sitting week.
In an extraordinary move, the Palaszczuk government added 14 last-minute amendments to an unrelated bill, circumventing the regular committee process. The most controversial piece of legislation suspended the Human Rights Act to legalise the detention of children in adult prisons and police watch houses.
Guardian Australia has spoken with Labor MPs who were deeply uncomfortable with those amendments, and some who believe they were “clearly misled” about the urgency.
But as leadership speculation runs rampant, Palaszczuk’s two most likely challengers – Steven Miles and Shannon Fentiman – have expressed public support for the premier.
The party’s strict rules mean an internal challenge is unlikely and Palaszczuk would most likely have to resign for a new leader to take the helm.
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‘It can be anyone at any time’: Liberal MP James Patterson on security
Liberal senator James Paterson also went on Sky News to talk the need to vet staff (let’s be generous and assume he also spoke privately with his colleagues about this while in government for nine years, because it is not as though it is suddenly an issue) and he said his colleagues of all political stripes should be “alert, but not alarmed”:
You should be, and I encourage all my parliamentary colleagues to be alert for the signs of unusual or suspicious behaviour from the staff or any other close associates, people who ask them persistent questions, unusual questions, questions about their work that isn’t routine or normal.
But the truth is that our adversaries are very sophisticated. It’s a bit of a rumour sometimes or innuendo sometimes that in the case of the Chinese Communist Party, that the main threat that they pose is only through signals intelligence.
And the cyber capabilities are very sophisticated. But this case is a wake up call that their human intelligence capabilities are equally sophisticated. And no one should make the false assumption that it is only people who are of Chinese heritage or ethnicity who are potential spies. In this instance, it is someone of Anglo ethnicity and background who was a UK citizen.
So really it can be anyone at any time and MPs should not be left to fend for themselves. Guessing whether or not the person who’s applied to work for them might be a security risk.
We need a much more robust process, at least for people serving on these sensitive committees, to comprehensively vet them like we do a public servant or ministerial staff.
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Quantum pioneer Michelle Simmons to deliver 2023 Boyer lectures
The quantum physicist Prof Michelle Simmons will deliver the 2023 Boyer Lecture series, the ABC has announced.
Simmons, named Australian of the year in 2018, is a pioneer in the field of quantum computing.
Her series of four lectures on the theme “The Atomic Revolution” will discuss quantum physics, atomic-scale manufacturing, women in science, and why Australia is well-positioned to build the world’s first error-corrected quantum computer.
ABC chair Ita Buttrose said in a statement:
I am delighted that Prof Simmons will deliver this year’s Boyer lectures. She is an inspirational scientific leader and will discuss the revolution in atomic-scale manufacturing that is underway here in Australia, and the implications for building an Australian quantum computer.
Named after former ABC chairman Richard Boyer, the Boyer Lectures are a series of lectures delivered by a prominent Australian about their thoughts on major social, cultural, scientific or political issues.
The first lecture will screen live on ABC TV and ABC iview on 19 October at 8pm.
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Given James Paterson is talking about the need to vet parliamentary security, because of a UK case where allegations have been raised that a UK MP hired a researcher who was also working with China, this story from Ben Doherty is worth a read:
A Chinese academic visiting Australia on a research trip had his accommodation raided by Asio and the Australian federal police, and was offered $2,000 in cash by a man purporting to be from “the federal government” for information on his networks and contacts in China.
The academic, an associate professor at a major Chinese research university, is an expert on Sino-Australian relations and was visiting Australia between July and August. His surveillance comes as Australia seeks to restore its relations with China, with a confirmed prime ministerial visit to Beijing later this year.
The visiting academic, whom Guardian Australia is choosing not to name for legal and security reasons, abandoned several key meetings with Australian researchers and left the country early after being surveilled across the country.
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Sports minister likely to don a footy scarf for A-League Parliament House visit
A-League players will visit parliament house today, ahead of the mens and womens season launch in October.
Who is coming?
Michelle Heyman – Matildas striker and Canberra United player, all-time record for games played and goals scored in the A-League Women
Aideen Keane – Sydney FC attacker and Young Matilda
Joe Gauci – Socceroo goalkeeper and Adelaide United player
Melissa Barbieri – Matildas goalkeeper and former captain, and Melbourne City player
It is still all about the Matildas, and its supporters are hoping the momentum for the Tillies will carry into the A-League and beyond.
You can expect to see sports minister Anika Wells in all sorts of footage. Possibly with a football, definitely in a scarf. Wells loves a scarf moment.
(Update at 2pm – the minister was unable to attend because of a scheduling clash. But we hear she has now taken to wearing berets, as well as scarfs in support of national sporting teams)
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Plibersek, Joyce tussle over lack of transparency around special purpose flights
Richard Marles’ special purpose flights and the lack of transparency around them continue to be an issue – and rightly so.
Tanya Plibersek was given the job of defending the lack of detail around the flights, parroting the government line that the information that has always been publicly available is now not publicly available because of security risks.
She told the Seven Network:
I think we have to always behave the way our security agencies advise us to behave. Richard has made clear that he’ll release all of the information that’s available subject to the advice that he’s been given by the security agencies. I think that’s a sensible approach. We do want to see more transparency. We’ve made a commitment to provide this information to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority. That’s the oversight body that makes sure that parliamentarians when they travel are travelling within entitlement and he’s very confident that every flight he’s taken is within entitlement and because of his work.
Barnaby Joyce and Plibersek then argued about whose government the reporting stopped. Joyce said ‘recently’, while Plibersek said it was under Dutton (we are working on finding out the details, but not surprisingly, it takes time).
But Joyce, who spent nearly $700,000 in expenses as Scott Morrison’s ‘drought envoy’ and whose report, which was apparently in Whatsapp messages to Morrison, was never made public, argued it was a matter of transparency:
So, Tanya, could it be released to, say, not the public? Could it be released to a bunch of people that just see whether it’s kosher or not, to see whether he has been taking a few too many?
It is amazing how attitudes change, depending on which side of the house of reps someone is.
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Hazard reductions vital ahead of summer but smoke in Sydney should clear Tuesday
Smoke blanketing Sydney due to hazard reduction burns should largely clear by Tuesday, according to the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns.
Speaking in western Sydney on Monday, Minns said:
My understanding is that it will improve tomorrow. Obviously, it’s far better than a bushfire raging down your street. This is necessary work that the RFS and Fire and Rescue NSW are undertaking.
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ATO has never used its powers to seek criminal penalties for unpaid super
This morning in a column we revealed that the Australian Taxation Office has never used its powers to seek criminal penalties for failure to pay superannuation.
Failure to pay super was not included in the government’s closing loopholes bill, which criminalises wage theft, and which has renewed attention on what the ATO is doing with its existing powers.
The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, said:
If employers are deliberately not paying their workers superannuation, they are stealing money from them. Plain and simple. The most effective action to address non-payment is payday super and we are acting on it. When fully implemented, it will allow the early detection and recovery of non-payment. Currently, it can take months to detect non-payment. [As part of the measures] announced in the 2023/24 budget, we also announced new collection targets for the ATO to recover unpaid super. The ATO needs to lift [its] game in the collection of unpaid superannuation.”
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Housing shortage holding back regional economies, says Haines
Indi independent MP Helen Haines has officially introduced her ‘unlocking regional housing’ private members’ bill to the house;
The message I have received loud and clear in my communities is we need government to step in and fund critical enabling infrastructure – the sewerage, the drainage, other amenities. It’s not sexy to talk about gutters and pipes, but I want to make it happen and that is why I introduced this bill.
Almost one in three Australians live outside the major cities. The housing needs and demands of our regional communities are different. The lack of housing supply is a handbrake on our local economies, we can’t fill important jobs as there is nowhere for people to live.
This bill proposes sensible measures to ensure we can act on the regional housing and homelessness crisis by building housing where it is needed most.”
The bill would amend the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation (NHFIC) Act to:
• require the minister to consider what action needs to be taken so that 30% of the National Housing Infrastructure Facility’s annual funding goes towards regional, rural and remote Australia;
• make the funding application process easier to access for local governments;
• require NHFIC to be more proactive in helping community housing providers through the application process; and
• require NHFIC to have at least one board member with regional housing expertise.
The ball is now in the government’s court on when this bill is up for debate and whether or not it progresses to the senate (meaning the government would need to support it for that to happen)
Updated
While debate on this bill continues, Paul Karp has written about what is not in the closing the loophole bill – and why it matters.
NSW government to splash $3.5bn on suburban Sydney schools
AAP has reported on some new schools planned for Sydney’s fastest growing suburbs:
The state government said $3.5bn in new funding would result in more than 60 facilities either built or upgraded in Sydney’s west and south-west over the next four years.
This is important for the fastest growing part of the country,” the premier, Chris Minns, told 2GB radio on Monday.
“We’re investing, particularly in southwestern Sydney, new high schools, new primary schools. This is where families are moving to.”
Minns said the population in some suburbs had increased by up to 8,000 people in recent years but no new schools had been built.
“The independent schools are in there, we’re going to put public schools [in],” the premier said.
The government said new primary schools would be located near Sydney Olympic Park, Gables, Melonba, Tallawong, Gregory Hills, Nirimba Fields and Liverpool.
New high schools would be situated at Wentworth Point, Melrose Park, Melonba, Schofields and Tallawong, Jordan Springs, Gledswood Hills and Gregory Hills, Leppington and Denham Court and Edmondson Park.
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Trans lecture attracts protesters and counter-protesters outside Parliament
A small counter-protest has formed outside Parliament House this morning, in opposition to the “Why can’t women talk about sex?” event at Parliament House with Katherine Deves and Moira Deeming.
A few dozen people, some waving United Workers Union flags or the transgender flag, have gathered on the lawns outside, including Greens politicians Janet Rice and Barbara Pocock. It’s pretty quiet for now.
One two three four, kick the bigots out the door,” went one chant from the group.
In a speech to the event, Rice thanked protesters for what she described as “standing up against hatred”.
There was one lone counter-protester who brought his own megaphone to heckle the pro-trans protesters. There were a few tense moments with a couple of “come over here and say that” type of comments, before the Australian Federal Police contingent stationed at the front of Parliament House came over to have a few quiet words with the man.
He’s still standing there quietly in a corner, holding a poster of the trans flag with a big red cross over it.
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Alternatives to immigration detention ‘absolute priority’, says Andrew Giles
The immigration minister, Andrew Giles, just did a doorstop in Canberra before a citizenship ceremony on Australian Citizenship Day.
I asked Giles about the revelation that in March 2020 the home affairs department under then minister Peter Dutton was warned that immigration detention was “failing” by an independent review.
Giles said:
Can I say that we are committed to humane and risk-based immigration detention. Of course, we believe strongly that people should only be in immigration detention if it is necessary for security or safety grounds. Now, it is concerning that the Morrison government sat on this report, and it is concerning that very limited work was being done exploring options and alternatives to held detention.
Giles said progressing alternatives is an “absolute priority” for him to make real the “aspiration of ensuring immigration detention is a last resort”.
A departmental spokesperson said:
The department acknowledges impacts of prolonged immigration detention and continues to explore a range of measures aimed at addressing barriers to status resolution and associated risks of long-term detention. The department is progressing the Alternatives to Held Detention (ATHD) program to better support alternative placements, where appropriate, for individuals at risk of facing prolonged detention.”
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Paterson pushing for vetting based on access to sensitive information
When he was in parliament, former senator Rex Patrick had wanted ministers to undergo security checks, particularly given the information they are privy to. Patrick tried to get support for his legislation to have ministers checked by Asio for much the same reasons James Paterson is laying out for staff.
Paterson though, is after vetting for staff based on access to information:
I think there is a very good case for at least baseline vetting, which is the most basic vetting, which just establishes some very basic facts about people who can work in the Australian Army or Navy or Air Force, at least having a baseline clearance. And then, of course, as appropriate, as you become more senior and [get] access to sensitive information, higher levels of vetting are appropriate.
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Australian parliamentary staff should be security vetted, says James Paterson
Liberal senator and security hawk James Paterson stopped by the parliament doors this morning with some things to say.
When MPs go to through the doors to parliament, where they know journalists are waiting (we are only allowed in certain areas to interview MPs, so there are ways MPs can enter the parliament and avoid journalists) we call it ‘doors’. It’s an old tradition, where MPs can get out their prepared lines of the day, or draw attention to specific issues.
Paterson wanted to talk about allegations a researcher hired by a UK MP was engaged in ‘spying’ for China. (You can read more on it, on the link below)
Paterson wants parliamentary staff in Australia to undergo some sort of security clearance:
Unfortunately, the risk of this happening in Australia is very high because the vast majority of staff who work in this building here in Parliament House are not security vetted or cleared in any way. If you work for a government backbencher, [for] anyone in opposition, including shadow ministers, then you are not required and you’re not able to be security vetted.
Only ministerial staff are security vetted. I think it’s time that that changed, at the very least for MPs who work on sensitive committees like the Intelligence and Security Committee or the new statutory defence committee, which is going to oversee Aukus.
We must have security-vetted and security-cleared staff working for those MPs as a protection against risks of foreign interference and espionage. We know that Asio assesses this to be our number one security risk and we can’t afford to be complacent about this or leave MPs to fend for themselves when they are hiring staff.
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Health advocates don’t want NSW Eraring power station’s life extended
Ten health groups, representing more than 20,000 Australian health professionals, are calling on the NSW government to stick to the Eraring coal power station’s current closure date to protect the community’s health.
Last week, the Minns government said it would “engage” with the owner of Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station for a “temporary” extension of its operating life.
The health groups, including the peak bodies for emergency medicine and NSW general practitioners, the Public Health Association of Australia, the Australasian Epidemiological Association, Asthma Australia, Lung Foundation Australia and Doctors for the Environment Australia, have written an open letter to Premier Chris Minns warning that any extension beyond the current closure date in 2025 would endanger the health of NSW residents.
In the letter, they write:
As with all coal power stations, Eraring emits toxic pollutants that can cause cardiovascular disease, asthma exacerbations, lung cancers, diabetes mellitus, intrauterine growth restriction, preterm birth, and a range of other illnesses.
Greenhouse gas emissions from Eraring and other coal power stations are a major driver of climate change which threatens Australians’ health by increasing the risk of potentially deadly heatwaves, bushfires and storms.
To limit these health impacts New South Wales must replace fossil fuel-based energy with renewable energy as fast as possible.”
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If you are in Sydney wondering what is going on with the air, Emily Wind has you covered:
It’s all part of the rural fire service plan to try and get ahead of the coming summer, given the bushfire risk.
Independent Haines prepares to introduce her regional housing bill
The parliament sitting will begin at 10am this morning. Helen Haines is preparing to introduce her ‘unlocking regional housing’ private member’s bill, with a press conference at 11am.
Any MP can introduce a private member’s bill, but the government decides the business of the day. So, it is up to the government when a bill is debated. Without the government’s support, the bill will not pass the house of representatives (on the numbers). But the point of a lot of these bills is the debate they generate, showing what the government will and won’t support, and garnering attention to the issues, of course.
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SA Liberal senator Alex Antic is hosting a lecture in the parliament this morning, featuring Victorian Liberal Moira Deeming, former Liberal Party federal candidate Katherine Deves, founder of female-only platform Giggle for Girls Sall Grover, organiser of Let Women Speak group Angie Jones, and other anti-trans activists.
Moving on.
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South Australian premier keen to engage with China on trade
Anthony Albanese is back in Australia after attending the Asean and G20 summits, but he will go to the US (for a state dinner) and to China before the end of the year.
Albanese confirmed last week he had accepted an invitation to visit China, which would make him the first Australian prime minister to visit our biggest trading partner since Malcolm Turnbull in 2016.
But South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas will get there first. Malinauskas heads to China on Thursday to spruik South Australia’s wares (the trip was announced in July).
He said it was part of the job:
Even if China dropped those tariffs tomorrow, it would take time for the wine industry to be able to re-engage in a meaningful way but we’ve got to start that journey. The stabilisation of the Australian/China relationship gives us a chance to do that and, you know, as Premier I have a responsibility to engage with our biggest trading partner.
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Haines will keep pushing for amendments to housing Australia future fund bill
Helen Haines said she knows there is no guarantee the housing Australia future fund, which the government wants to set up to use dividends to pay for social and affordable housing, will pass, given the political stalemate between Labor and the Greens. The fund has a starting point of just 30,000 homes over five years.
So, she wants something to address regional and rural communities:
It’s my sense that there is a blind spot when it comes to the regions and it’s my sense that we need to do something immediately.
And again, as I said, the government has announced many, many policies and many lines of funding. But my focus, as a rule, in regional Australia is to find a sensible way forward and a quick way forward to release this handbrake that we’re seeing playing out across our regional towns, and it is that piece of critical enabling infrastructure.
Now, I went to the Prime Minister about this. I was pleased that he announced the housing support program that would target some of these issues, but again, the blind spot is there is no guarantee that any of it would go to rural and regional Australia and there’s a huge competition for it in the nation, isn’t there?
Our cities are seeking ways forward for housing and our rural and regional towns are too.
There’s a real problem when it comes to having enough planners in rural and regional Australia to make these projects happen fast enough.
And it’s why again, I’m seeking to amend this act to give clarity, to give surety and to give the parliament some oversight to that rule and regional Australians are actually being targeted and getting their fair share of the housing funding.
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Regional residents spending up to 44% of income on rent, says Indi’s Helen Haines
Independent Indi MP Helen Haines is speaking to RN Breakfast about her private member’s bill on regional housing, which she will be introducing today, to get the government to commit to addressing the regional housing crisis.
Haines asked about this in question time last week as a precursor to the bill being tabled, but it is not the first time she has attempted to address what is happening in regional and rural areas when it comes to housing. Businesses can’t get staff (such as in hospitality) because staff can’t afford to rent in the area. And younger people can’t afford to rent or buy where they grew up, leading to on-going issues for economic growth.
Haines:
What we’ve got is a housing crisis across the nation. Coupled with that we have a cost of living crisis.
We know in my region alone, that the threshold for rental stress across the nation is actually 30%.
But in my region, we see that everyday people are paying 44% of their income in rent.
Cost is enormous and availability is almost nil. Rental vacancies are below 1% in many regional towns, particularly, I see that in my own regional towns.
One of the things that holds back the development of supply of new housing is that rural and regional Australia is lacking in critical infrastructure to even open up the land.
Take my hometown of Wangaratta, for example. There’s real problems with [sewer] drainage in many places. Pavements and power poles are not very sexy, but unless you have those things you cannot open up land. You cannot open up redundant areas of towns to get housing supply ...
Part of the problem or a big part of the problem, is our local rural councils simply do not have the right [rate] payer base to invest at that level. What I want to see is the government address specifically some guaranteed funding to the 30% of Australians who live outside of metropolitan areas.
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Ley says pharmacist protest not even in ‘top 10’ she’s seen in parliament
The interview then gets to last week’s protest. Sussan Ley addressed the crowd ahead of its move into the gallery for question time (where pharmacists disrupted proceedings during health minister Mark Butler’s answer, and were found to have been abusive to parliamentary staff as they left the house gallery and parliament in a staged walk out)
Did Ley ‘egg them on’?
What I said Hamish was when they came into the gallery the previous time, their presence made the government uncomfortable because it realised that its policy had a human impact and to see so many health professionals come to this place in a way that they’ve never done before. But I am not going to take a backward step in supporting community pharmacists …
But did she egg them on?
I [said] ‘In your fight to get what you deserve as community pharmacists through the next agreement, and in sticking up for the vulnerable patients that you care for’, of course, they shouldn’t be taking a step backwards, and neither will I.
But I mean, in turn, if you’re thinking about this as a, as a noisy, vociferous press protest in the gallery, it wouldn’t even be in the top 10 of mine over the time I’ve been in Parliament, just thinking of environmentalists and trade unions and you know, all sorts of agitation.
Not that I’m saying I support those, but people are passionate in this place, lives are at stake, people’s futures are at stake. And there are real impacts on real people.
And our job as an opposition is to hold this government to account and for us in the Coalition to express our passion on an issue as important as this I think that’s a good thing.
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Ley: Coalition doesn’t oppose 60-day rule but pharmacists want to protect earnings
The government has said it will not be banking the savings from the change in dispensing fees as budget savings, and will re-invest the money into community pharmacies. It has also increased the allowance given to regional and rural pharmacists.
So what does Sussan Ley want here?
I want to make this clear Hamish, we are not against the 60-day dispensing measure and we’re not against cheaper medicines. We’ve said that over and over again, and actually what the pharmacists asked for is quite simple.
Come back to the table government, negotiate the eighth community pharmacy agreement, and do that in a way that respects our bottom line.
(Negotiation about the new community pharmacy agreement is underway. Pharmacists have also seen the number of vaccinations they are able to give increase, and have been given the power to give medical certificates)
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Ley defends pharmacists’ opposition to 60-day dispensing rule for prescriptions
The interview then gets to the issue of pharmacists and the change the government made to allow for 60-day dispensing (two-for-one prescriptions) which will save chronically ill patients up to $180 a year (as well as money on less trips to the doctor, travel etc.) but will cost pharmacists up to $150,000 a year (from the fourth year of the change) in lost dispensing fees (plus people buying fewer ‘incidentals’ such as jelly beans).
The government has brought forward the negotiations about the next community pharmacy agreement in response to a campaign from the Pharmacy Guild, which was under the spotlight last week after a protest by a rogue group of pharmacists that disrupted question time.
Sussan Ley has been one of the biggest supporters of the pharmacists and told RN Breakfast:
I’ve been in contact with many pharmacists over recent weeks, including those who left their businesses and assembled here a couple of weeks ago and I really am concerned about the impact this policy change is going to have.
I’m hearing [about] pharmacies who are already laying off staff. They’re already letting people go and most importantly, they can’t continue to provide the previously free support services that they used to …
(The change only came into effect on 1 September and is only for the first tranche of medications, which by the end of the phase in, in four years time, will include about 300 medications, but is nowhere near that just yet)
Ley is asked for evidence that pharmacists are ‘already laying off staff’. She says:
Because they’ve told me.
Because if the government has changed the contract it has with pharmacy and is paying them less, they have to change their business in response. It’s as simple as that.
And what people don’t necessarily understand, although I actually think all the people who, who go to and have great affection for their local pharmacists do understand this is the work that they do that is caught up in that overall dispensing fee, which is now going to be cut, which they can’t continue to do for nothing.
Now this might be Webster packs [for medications] for aged care; it might be constant medication management for someone they know is vulnerable; it might be that chat to the members of a group home, as I saw in a pharmacy recently, who are some of the people that absolutely rely on their community pharmacy because no one else is there every single day keeping an eye on them … and it’s challenging to get all of that medication right.
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Ley defends Payne’s time as foreign minister, Solomon Islands pact with China
The NSW Liberal branch now has the job of replacing former foreign minister Marise Payne who finally confirmed what everyone knew was coming since the Coalition lost the election – she is leaving the senate.
Andrew Constance and Warren Mundine are being floated as potential replacements, although there is a big push to have Payne, who is also a former minister for women, replaced by … a woman. (Groundbreaking, I know)
Sussan Ley won’t get into “megaphone diplomacy” with the 800 preselectors of the NSW Liberal branch (Ley faced preselection trouble of her own – again - and so isn’t rocking any boats) but wants to pay tribute to Payne on national radio:
I would like to absolutely recognise the contribution she has made. She has been a trailblazer for our party. She has changed national politics and I have seen the work that she’s done over many years, much of it very modest, very behind the scenes, very in community.
So people often think of her as a defence and foreign affairs minister. I’ve seen her as a local champion for Western Sydney, and disadvantaged people across this country, and I have yeah, I mean, I’ll be really sad to see her go.
She’s been a great friend of mine for all of the years that I’ve been in Parliament.
So, given the controversy over her time as foreign minister, what is Payne’s legacy in that role?
Ley:
Always standing up for Australia’s national interest and a safer, stronger region. It’s as simple as that.
And the security pact the Solomon Islands signed with China under her watch?
I think we did extremely good work with the Solomon Islands and, indeed, with the Pacific and people are looking at this through the lens of Covid and suggesting that we could have done more when, in fact, travel was an impossibility. I think that issue is well and truly being put to bed.
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So is Sussan Ley accusing Anthony Albanese of taking a step back?
No, I’m not accusing this government of taking any step backwards. I’m not accusing them of anything.
I’m simply saying they have to bear these things in mind.
Sussan Ley: Albanese must justify how China visit doesn’t give Xi ‘credibility’
So the point is, Anthony Albanese can not ‘take a step back’. Which Sussan Ley repeats here:
But we all accept that we have to stand up continually for our national interest. And so I think the point is, Anthony Albanese cannot take a step backwards on this at any time of the engagement either in the lead up to it or during the event itself.
And you know, we’ve seen the new map of China claiming sections of sovereign Southeast Asian territory as their own. That’s problematic. That’s problematic from the Chinese Communist Party. And of course, we’ve got Australians and Chinese prisons and illegal sanctions still in place.
So it is absolutely for the Prime Minister to justify how such a visit does not give [president] Xi credibility.
But I will leave the, you know, the ongoing commentary about that to him because that has to yet play out.
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Sussan Ley says rural Australians still concerned about losing trade with China
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley is speaking to Hamish Macdonald on ABC radio RN Breakfast, where they are racing through issues. Here is Ley on the issue of Anthony Albanese visiting China;
Any engagements that this government has with the Chinese Communist Party, they need to be absolutely crystal clear about our national interest which is exactly the same as it was when I joined the parliament 22 years ago.
It is not the Australian Government that has led the showdown if I can put it that way.
So while on behalf of all the rural and regional people I represent many of whom will be listening to your program, and many of whom are very concerned about the challenges of losing trade with China and some of our important commodities … but we all accept that we have to stand up continually for our national interest.
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First New Zealanders to meet new requirements are about to receive Australian citizenship
Immigration minister Andrew Giles is out and about today, after the government announced a new direct pathway for New Zealanders to become Australian citizens earlier this year, (which began 1 July). The first to have met the requirements are about to receive their Australian citizenship.
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Albanese expected to feature more heavily in final weeks of yes campaign
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announcing the referendum date was a much-needed shot in the arm for the yes campaign, but a subsequent fortnight of parliament and Albanese’s departure for a week of international summits has somewhat blunted focus on the voice.
Yes campaigners have conceded difficulty in getting “cut-through” in mainstream media during parliamentary sitting weeks and are keen for federal politics to take a backseat so the campaign can get more attention.
The Labor government has sought to prioritise normal governing while also pushing a yes vote in the referendum, seeking to stress its focus on day-to-day issues like cost-of-living and the economy.
However the break is expected to see key MPs such as the health minister, Mark Butler, and the education minister, Jason Clare, playing more prominent roles explaining how the voice could help achieve better outcomes in their portfolios.
Albanese is expected to feature more centrally in the campaign in its final weeks.
Sunday saw numerous events nationwide supporting the voice, including a “national weekend of prayer” and support from faith leaders in the Hindu, Sikh, Catholic, Islamic and Jewish communities.
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Yes campaign gears up for ‘biggest weekend’ of activity
The yes campaign is looking forward to reigniting momentum in its campaign after the coming parliamentary sitting week – the last before the referendum on 14 October – with a nationwide series of major community events, performances and a further advertising blitz.
The yes campaign is promising its “biggest weekend” of activity yet for the Indigenous voice, with a nationwide series of major community events and performances hoped to reignite momentum a month out from the referendum.
The end of this parliamentary sitting week will also unleash the campaigning activity of the Labor government and other federal politicians backing the voice – and a further advertising blitz expected to soon commence.
The real campaign kicks off after Thursday,” a yes campaign source said, referencing the end of the parliamentary week.
It’s really a month-long campaign.”
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Average worker’s wage went up 3.9% in Labor’s first year, Chalmers says
The average worker’s wage went up 3.9% in the first year of the new Labor government, according to treasurer Jim Chalmers, who says they want to continue seeing “strong, sustainable wages growth”.
Pointing to new analysis of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the government says an average full-time worker is now earning around $3,700 extra since the Albanese government’s election in May 2022.
Of course, that’s only an average across the economy, and many workers probably wouldn’t have seen nearly that much extra in their wallet – but the government has emphasised the impact of the boost to the minimum wage for the lowest-paid workers.
Those workers on the lowest pay brackets saw their wage go up by 4% to 4.9% in the year to June, the government’s latest analysis says, claiming that’s the fastest rise in pay since 2008.
We said we’d get wages moving again and we are,” Chalmers said in a statement.
After a decade of deliberate wage stagnation under the Liberals and Nationals, wages are growing in welcome ways. Strong and sustainable wages growth is a deliberate design feature of our economic plan which is helping to put more money in workers’ pockets.”
We see strong, sustainable wages growth as part of the solution to the cost-of-living challenges in our economy, not part of the problem.”
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Good morning
Welcome to the second sitting week, where the government will be looking to help put the voice back on track as well as get attention back on its own agenda.
That is after more than a week focused on the Qatar airways decision and allegations it’s not living up to commitment to transparency. After the Coalition convinced crossbenchers in the Senate more time was needed for the closing the loophole legislation (once called same job, same pay) and moved the committee reporting date to February next year, Labor is now hoping to right the ship. That includes supporting the pro-voice campaign and reminding everyone about it’s 3.9% wage growth.
Just under 4% isn’t exactly huge when you take into account inflation, but it means some workers have not seen their wages go as backwards as they may have. The government is keen to point out that it has managed to support wage growth, while inflation continues to go down, but there is also the fear of recession in the background.
This week will also see a bill to speed up disaster recovery payments debated, as well as the Senate look at the family law amendments, which is designed to help simplify the process – as well as make explicit that a 50-50 custody split doesn’t have to be considered in all cases (this has been asked for by advocates in violence and abuse cases).
And the first tranche of the set the standard legislation is about to hit the Senate – this sets up an independent HR-like body for people working in the parliament to take their concerns to. But the body can not investigate complaints or hand down penalties – that is something the second lot of legislation will lay out. So there is sometime to go until parliamentary workers can feel like they have a normal workplace.
After last week, when Kylea Tink spoke up about the behaviour of MPs in the House of Representatives, which she correctly pointed out would not be acceptable in any other workplace, Peter Dutton said he spoke to the MP involved and did not believe there to be an issue. Standards were, Dutton said, better than 20 years ago.
Milton Dick has made his third warning on behaviour this year, but until there is an acceptance of the cultural shift, I am not sure it’s going to stick.
We will cover it all off, with Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp, Daniel Hurst, Josh Butler and Sarah Basford Canales in Canberra to help you make sense of it. Mile Bowers is with us as well (huzzah) and you have me, Amy Remeikis on the blog for most of the day.
Ready?
Let’s get into it.
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