What we learned: Tuesday, 25 November
With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening. Thanks for reading; Krishani Dhanji will be back first thing tomorrow to keep you company.
Here’s what made news:
The fate of Labor’s nature laws hangs in the balance after new concessions to the Coalition and the Greens failed to immediately persuade either party.
Pauline Hanson has been censured by the Senate and suspended from the chamber for seven days after her burqa stunt and will be barred from representing the parliament in overseas delegations.
Nauru may seek to return refugees from the NZYQ cohort to their home countries, the Nauruan president has said in a new translation of a February interview that has been the subject of months-long controversy.
Victoria police have declared the entirety of Melbourne CBD and large parts of East and South Melbourne as a “designated area” for six months, which provides officers with greater search powers without a warrant.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has confirmed the topics and content of next year’s census, including questions on gender and sexual orientation.
Barnaby Joyce says he’ll make a decision on whether he leaves the Nationals and defects to One Nation by the end of this week.
The Labor government has pledged an extra $41.8m to domestic violence hotline 1800Respect over the next two years, in a funding boost to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
Have a good evening.
Updated
One Nation says screening of animated movie’s trailer ‘cancelled by Parliament House’
The government department that manages Parliament House has cancelled a planned screening of the trailer for Pauline Hanson’s animated movie, flagging concerns about events that could “cause offence” to parts of the community.
Hanson’s One Nation produces a regular web program called Please Explain, a satirical animated video series based on federal politics. The series has been developed into a feature length film titled A Super Progressive Movie, which is due for release in January.
One Nation had sold tickets for the screening of the movie’s trailer at the Parliament House theatre – a venue politicians and groups can book for special events – on Tuesday night. But soon after Hanson was suspended from the Senate, her party claimed the event “has been cancelled by Parliament House on the grounds it might offend someone”.
Hanson said in a statement that fans had travelled to Canberra from around the country to attend the screening, and claimed the event had only been cancelled hours ahead of time.
Hanson called it “censorship” and claimed the event would be moved to “an alternative venue.”
In a statement, the Department of Parliamentary Services confirmed the event had been cancelled “in accordance with event booking considerations as outlined in the Australian Parliament House events policy.”
“These considerations include the requirement that events held at Australian Parliament House are accepted, among other requirements, of not being likely to cause offence to any part of the Australian community,” a spokesperson told us.
Updated
