What we learned, Monday 12 February
We will wrap up the live blog here for the evening. Here’s what made the news today:
Contractors suspected of drug smuggling and weapons trafficking were handed multimillion dollar contracts due to a lack of due diligence in the administration of Australia’s offshore detention regime, the scathing Richardson report on home affairs procurement for offshore detention has found.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has expressed deep concerns about plans for an Israeli military operation in Rafah, warning of potentially “devastating consequences” for civilians sheltering there.
Two air traffic controllers who failed to report for duty at Sydney Airport on Monday caused cascading flight delays and cancellations across the country.
Twenty-four individuals have been charged with fresh offences after leaving immigration detention due to NZYQ decision, Senate estimates was told.
Former defence minister, Senator Linda Reynolds, has announced she will leave parliament when her term expires in mid-2025.
Barnaby Joyce has blamed mixing prescription drugs with alcohol for video that emerged of him lying on the street in Canberra over the weekend.
Senate estimates continues into tonight and tomorrow, and the final episode of the ABC’s Nemesis documentary airs tonight at 8pm AEDT, so there will no doubt be much more news tomorrow. Until then, have a good evening.
Business group comes out against ‘right to disconnect’ laws
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has lamented the ‘right to disconnect’ rules as part of workplace legislation passed through parliament without being amended to remove the prospect of employers facing criminal charges.
ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar said:
Rather than waiting for another Senate sitting day, the government decided to push the bill through today without removing the criminal element to the new right to disconnect laws.
This Greens-inspired amendment was rushed through the parliament with unseemly haste, without the scrutiny the rest of the bill has undergone over months.
While the error in the bill was apparently inadvertent, the result is a complete mess which adds to the grave misgivings business has about this legislation.
It is unfathomable that this botched legislation will become the law of the land once given royal assent.
Updated
Man summoned over allegedly providing false information to the AEC
The Australian federal police has issued a court summons to a 41-year-old Queensland man for allegedly providing false information to the Australian Electoral Commission during the 2022 federal election.
The man allegedly provided false or misleading information to the AEC about his residential address, the AFP said. He will appear on four counts of knowingly providing false or misleading information, contrary to section 137.1(1) of the Criminal Code 1995.
The maximum penalty for the offence is 12 months’ imprisonment.
Updated
Security concerns raised over home energy infrastructure
Cybersecurity standards for solar inverters, batteries and electric vehicle chargers are being developed by the Australian government amid concerns some equipment could leave the nation exposed to foreign interference, AAP reports.
The issue emerged in two Senate estimates hearings on Monday, as home affairs and energy department officials were quizzed over the government’s use of the technology, particularly equipment from Chinese manufacturers.
Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes questioned representatives from the energy department about whether action had been taken to secure existing solar inverters used in government properties.
“The concern is that there is the possibility for international interference in these inverters because they can be controlled from the outside,” she told the committee.
But federal energy department spokesperson Martin Squire told the committee the government had established a dedicated division to look at “security issues associated with distributed energy resources” including rooftop solar technology, EV chargers, and large batteries, and would develop a set of safety standards to regulate their use.
Liberal senator James Paterson also questioned home affairs officials over the potential risks of solar inverters from Chinese manufacturers, including GoodWe, Sungrow, Growatt and Huawei, and their use in government properties.
But home affairs first assistant secretary Peter Anstee said the government would investigate risks posed by a wide range of connected equipment with a view to provide guidelines for government departments, and later a framework for businesses using connected technology.
“We’re looking to build both internal to government … but also a whole-of-economy framework that will capture the whole suite of technology risks that may present,” he said.
Updated
I am going to hand over the blog to Josh Taylor to take you through what is left in the day.
We will be back with more Politics Live tomorrow, with the party room meetings to kick us all off.
Until then, please – take care of you.
Anthony Albanese has told 2GB he “absolutely” supports criminalising antisemitic behaviour
On the doxing of Jewish Australians Albanese said:
I’ve asked the attorney general to bring forward legislation in response to Privacy Act review, including laws that deal with so-called doxing, which is basically the malicious publication of private information online. And let’s be very clear, these are 600 people in the creative industries … who had a WhatsApp group, not heavily political, to provide support for each other because of the antisemitism we’ve seen.
And what we’ve seen is these people be targeted. Now these people have a range of views about the Middle East. What they have in common is they are members of the Jewish community.
The idea that in Australia someone should be targeted because of their religion, because of their faith, whether they be Jewish, or Muslim, or Hindu or Catholic – it’s just completely unacceptable.
And that’s why I’ve asked as well the attorney general to develop proposals to strengthen laws against hate speech. This is not the Australia we want to see.”
Updated
Linda Reynolds to leave parliament at next election
The WA senator has announced she will retire at the next election.
She posted a statement to Facebook:
With nominations for WA Liberal Party Senate preselection closing later this week, I have advised the WA Liberal Party that I will not be nominating as a candidate for another term as a Liberal Senator for Western Australia.
I will remain in the Senate until my term ends in June 2025.
For forty years I have proudly served my nation in the Army, in the Liberal Party, in defence industry, in Parliament and in Government. In my career after the Senate, I will continue to serve, but in new ways.
It is rare in politics to have the opportunity to choose the time and circumstances of your departure, and my decision has been made after considerable reflection of what is behind me and the opportunities that are now ahead of me.
Being preselected and elected to the Senate is a great honour and a privilege few Australians are afforded. This is my tenth year in the Senate and my passion and commitment to my State and to my Nation remains as strong as ever.
I am proud of what I have delivered in my many parliamentary and ministerial roles, including as Defence Minister and Minister for Government Services and the NDIS - particularly as it was during some of the most challenging times in our Nation’s recent history.
Just as the health of our democracy can never be taken for granted, neither can the health of political parties – both must be constantly renewed and strengthened. I joined the Liberal Party over 35 years ago and my respect for, and belief in, the principles and values it was established on have only deepened over time.
I owe the Liberal Party so much, none more so than for being appointed as Deputy Federal Director and preselected as a Senate candidate three times, including in the first position for my last election. I am very grateful for the lifelong friendships I have made in the Party and for the overwhelming support I continue to receive from WA Liberal Party members and volunteers who have helped me over the last decade.
I will of course keep working with my Party to assist it to diversify and strengthen and do all I can to support the election of Peter Dutton as our next Prime Minister and Libby Mettam as WA’s next Premier.
Having achieved more than I set out to when I entered the Senate, there is no perfect time to leave politics, but this is the right time for me and for the WA Liberal Party to provide my successor with the same opportunities it has given me.
Updated
The government has pretty much said, no, we will not be negotiating on negative gearing or capital gains, to the Greens when it comes to the shared equity scheme the government wants past, but as Max Chandler-Mather said, the government ruled out negotiations the last time there was this impasse between the two parties on housing, and there was some shifting.
He tells the ABC:
We are willing to negotiate but we have said to the Government that the scheme will only help a 0.2% of renters own a home and make housing more expensive for the other 99.8%.
We have said we would like to negotiate with the Government on three key areas. The first is phasing out the massive tax handouts for big property investors that make it harder for renters and first-time buyers to buy homes and negative gearing and the capital gains cash transgression.
We want limiting effects on rent increases. Taken together, they would actually be a proper response to the scale of the housing crisis stop where you have first home buyers and renters giving up on ever being able to buy a home because the Government is giving property investors billions of dollars in tax concessions.
Let’s talk about the negative gearing element. Is it to phase it out that 20 or to limit the number of properties that an investor owner might deduct? We are willing to negotiate on both. The 2022 election policy was to freeze at negative gearing for everyone bar one property, so they could keep one-fifth years and also scrap the 50% capital gains tax discount which means that when someone sells an investment property and makes a big profit, 50% of that profit is tax-free.
This will affect the budget by billions of dollars, but by auctions, property investments can use those tax benefits to essentially outbid first home buyers at auctions and I know there is a lot of renters but parents worried about how is my kid won’t buy a home when they are being outcompeted by property investors?
The former Asio boss, Dennis Richardson is speaking with the ABC about his review into the home affairs procurement procedures and says there needs to be some pretty big changes.
For a catch up, head here:
I should say in respect of the intelligence community there are rightly very strict boundaries around the intelligence community in terms of what they can and can’t do regarding Australian entities. That is a good thing but when it’s offshore and you are in a high risk integrity environment, it is reasonable to ask them whether they have any information relevant to a decision about to be made.
Question time captured
It was a pretty flat affair in the lower house today, as Mike Bowers has recorded:
But some managed to smile:
Updated
Digital stat decs are now a thing
You can now make a digital stat dec through MyGov. From the release:
Australians can now complete a Commonwealth statutory declaration in three equally valid and legally effective forms:
through the myGov platform and myGov ID Digital ID
digitally using electronic signatures and video-link witnessing
and the traditional, paper-based method
Updated
Missing workers cause serious delays at Australian airports
Two air traffic controllers who failed to report for duty at Sydney Airport on Monday caused cascading flight delays and cancellations across the country, as the government agency responsible for staff is grilled before senate estimates.
Opposition senator Bridget McKenzie opened questioning of Airservices Australia, the government agency responsible for air traffic control (ATC) and airport firefighting services, by raising current operational disruptions at Sydney. Airservices Australia faces a stubborn staffing shortage after a retirement program saw 140 controllers leave the workforce in 2021. There are also concerns of organisational bullying.
On Monday, Airservices requested a ground delay program from 3PM until the airport’s curfew at 11PM (done during times of staff shortages to avoid planes holding mid-air) restricting arrivals at Sydney airport to 26 per hour, down from the normal cap of 80 take offs and landings per hour (roughly split between 40 of each).
McKenzie says this has led to Qantas cancelling flights and an average delay of 72 minutes, while Virgin has already delayed 47 flights and had an average delay of 95 minutes. This affected airports around the country.
The disruptions had nothing to do with weather but were solely related to two air traffic controllers based at Sydney Airport’s control tower – who are entitled to unlimited sick leave under their terms of employment – who didn’t turn up for work on Monday. Airservices Australia CEO Jason Harfield says none of Airservices 950 controllers around the country could replace the absent staff.
McKenzie: “It’s pretty incredible that two people don’t show up for work and the entire country is shut down”.
Harfield replied:
I completely accept that, and this is one of the issues that we’re working through [when] we have an unplanned absence during the day”.
Updated
Australia must continue to engage with Asia, Albanese says
After question time, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, spoke about the looming visit of south-east Asian leaders to Australia.
It was already known that Melbourne would host an Asean-Australia special summit from 4 to 6 March, but Albanese has just announced a series of events around the summit, including an address from the president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, to the federal parliament in Canberra on 29 February.
Albanese says Marcos is “a great friend of Australia”.
In addition to that, on 4 March in Melbourne we will host the Malaysian prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, for an official state visit, and on 7 March the prime minister of Vietnam, Pham Minh Chinh, for an official visit here in Canberra.
Albanese says relationships with Australia’s neighbours are “so important” because “we live in very uncertain times, we live in an era of strategic competition”.
He says more than one in four jobs in Australia is dependent on exports:
It is important that we engage in our region with Asean. This is in our domestic interests, not just our international interests.
Updated
Question time ends.
Andrew Giles finishes with:
I was going to the operational matters, that I was just about to touch on, which I believe I have already referred to in terms of the conduct of operations, which goes through the manner in which that aspect of community protection is looked after through the work of the AFP and ABF.
Updated
Dan Tehan is back again
Has the minister received any advice that any of the 36 hard-core criminals released from detention [who are] not wearing ankle bracelets have been charged with any offence?
(If Tehan has spent the last hour asking about the nature of their offences, how can he say they are ‘hard core’ criminals? )
Andrew Giles:
I say the release of these individuals was required by reason of the High Court. A decision that would be a decision any government would have to comply with. I say again that the management of everyone in that cohort has been subject to the expert advice of the men and women of the community protection board As I’ve already answered, the operational matters to which the members question goes to ...
Tehan interrupts:
I wasn’t asking the minister about operational matters, I was asking whether any of them have been charged with any offence and the public wants to know the answers to these questions.
Milton Dick says it is not a time to add words to his question, but tells Giles to stick to relevance.
Updated
Housing likely to remain a contentious issue this year
The Albanese government has indicated it won’t be doing any deals with the Greens on negative gearing and generous capital gains tax concessions in exchange for support of a key housing bill.
Discussion has ramped up on negative gearing – which gives property investors tax breaks on rental losses – with crossbenchers and the Greens demanding it be wound back to address housing affordability. Meanwhile, the Coalition warns against touching it. Labor, is insisting it’s not considering any changes.
The Greens on Sunday night revealed the minor party would use its balance of power in the Senate to force Labor to consider making adjustments in order for its support on the Help to Buy housing scheme.
That scheme, which Labor hopes to pass this year, will offer a government equity stake to 10,000 first home buyers each year. Essentially, it allows you to co-purchase a home with the government, allowing low and middle-income earners to enter the housing market with a smaller deposit.
With the Coalition ruling out its support, Labor will need to secure the Greens’ support along with two other crossbenchers.
But the housing minister, Julie Collins, has accused the Greens of standing in the way of making home ownership easier.
Collins says:
In 2024, we’ll be delivering more help for homebuyers, more help for renters and more help for Australians needing a safe place for the night. That’s why the Greens and the Liberals need to stop standing in the way of more assistance like Help to Buy. They’re standing in the way of vital new assistance to help renters into the security of home ownership.”
It’s understood the government is playing hard ball on negotiations, and doesn’t intend to negotiate on the bill. Looks like we could ramping up for another housing bill fight this year.
Updated
Any government would have had to release these detainees, Giles says
Andrew Giles:
It is worth restating for [Dan Tehan’s] benefit and for all members that the release of these individuals was required by the decision of the High Court in November last year.
And would have been required under any government.
Since then, we have been working around the clock to ensure the community is kept safe.
We have done so by putting in place layers of protection. One of which is, of course, the regime that was the subject of legislation, but was put through the Parliament at the end of last year, that provided for community, preventative detention and ongoing supervision orders.
I’m sure the shadow minister, like the Leader of Opposition, would be aware that this is modelled on the high-risk offenders scheme. He may well be aware that it took more than three years for the first continuing detention order application [to be put in place] after that regime was enacted. More than three years.
And 10 months was the shortest period of time for an application to be made to the court under the members opposite, under the regime which he and other members, including the Leader of the Opposition who was the Minister responsible, [put in place].
Updated
Opposition continues its attack on immigration detainee releases
Dan Tehan is back again:
Evidence in senate estimates revealed the Albanese government released seven murderers, 76 offenders, 16 domestic violence and stalking offenders, 13 serious drug offenders and 72 other violent criminals from immigration detention. So far, 18 of these criminals have been charged by state and territory police with new offences. Can the Minister explain why he has failed to apply for a single community safety detention order.
The format of the question is being used on social media, most particularly by Sussan Ley, who is running with the slogan: ‘We lock them up, the Albanese government lets them out’. It’s taste of what to expect at the election.
Every day, Australians who complete their custodial sentences are released into the community. The high court ruled that indefinite detention is unconstitutional. That means that the government can not lock people up indefinitely just because they can’t deport them.
Saying Labor has released murderers and sex offenders is not just cheap politics, it is dangerous.
Updated
Barnaby Joyce has just walked into the house of representatives chamber, Mike Bowers reports.
Updated
Prime minister attacks Greens, claiming they never support new housing
Albanese continues:
[The question] goes to a policy question and I noticed that the Greens political party, having held up funding for public housing last year, [is now] yelling to hold up funding to support help to buy, for renters to get into home ownership, that’s what they will do ...
The idea that there will be a discussion with that juvenile approach that we have seen from those opposite will not occur because this is not a students’ council, this is a parliament. (This is a favoured attack line from the PM when it comes to the Greens, particularly Chandler-Mather)
It is a parliament that has a responsibility … to look after the people who put us here, not to grandstand and get in the way.
And the key to that is supply and in supply we have had, for example, the social housing accelerator developing around 1500 in New South Wales, 769 … the $10bn housing Australia future fund will build 30,000 homes, something that those opposite held up.
MCM makes a point of order about relevance that Milton Dick rules is not a point of order and Albanese continues:
I mentioned the Greens senators who benefit from these programs as well as the Greens members sitting next to the honorable member up there.
We had a comprehensive plan when it comes to renters, we had the largest increase in rental assistance in 30 years but the key of course, is supply. Maybe you could have a word to the Member for Brisbane who is currently running a campaign against a plan by the Catholic diocese to develop s church and a retirement village for older people in his electorate.
The Member claims the proposal is too tall and would lead to a loss neighbourhood character and – wait for this – there might be visitors to the aged care facility who increase local congestion.
… Those opposite have never seen a new home being built that they supported.
Updated
Property investors in parliament – an inconvenient truth?
Max Chandler-Mather has the next crossbench question and the chamber gets very, very rowdy as he gets further into his question:
Labor’s refusal to phase out billions of dollars in property investor tax concessions to property investors like yourself is denying millions of renters the chance to buy a home.
Prime Minister, noting that 75% of all Labor members in parliament own investment properties, can you explain to the house why Labor supports big tax handouts for property investors, like negative gearing, that are hurting renters and first home buyers by allowing investors to outbid renters trying to buy a home?
It’s the reference to ‘property investors like yourself’ that starts the rumblings, which grow in volume by the time MCM gets to “noting that 75% of all Labor members in parliament own investment properties’’.
The prime minister doesn’t let that slide, taking a swipe as soon as he steps up to the despatch box:
I’m sure, when he took that question to tactics committee, he made Senator McKim and Senator Faruqi, with their [investments], very upset.
Updated
Mike Bowers reports from the chamber that Barnaby Joyce is not present for question time.
Albanese won’t commit to a cut in the fuel excise
Independent Fowler MP Dai Le asks Anthony Albanese:
It is heartening to see you change your mind on the tax cuts and taking cost of living seriously. But families in Fowler living on a medium wage of $521 a week are still under stress. Your government has taken on the $20 million in fuel excise. Fuel has gone up from around $1 in March last year to $2 today … When will families in Western Sydney be given immediate relief through the fuel excise cut?
After Albanese talks about the tax cuts and cost of living, Le raises the fuel excise point again as a point of order and Albanese says:
We’ve found a much more effective way of providing cost-of-living relief. Every single week, when taxpayers in your electorate get their pay packet, they will benefit not just from the tax relief, but from the fact that they are earning more.
They are earning more as a result of the fact that real wages have increased in the last two-quarters, we want people to earn more and we want people to keep more of what they earn. That is our position. Those opposite in the Liberal and National parties want people to work longer for less. I am pleased and I congratulate the member – at least there is one person on that side of the house who can get a question about cost-of-living issues.
Updated
Government won’t say how many released detainees have to wear monitors
Dan Tehan is back for another go:
Senate estimates have revealed that of the 149 individuals the government has released from immigration detention that include seven murderers, 37 sex offenders and 16 domestic violence and stalking offenders, the Minister has determined that 36 not be required to wear ankle bracelets. How many of these individuals have committed an offence?
Andrew Giles:
What I think I need to make clear is since the decision of the High Court in November of last year, which required the release of a number of people, we have set up a range of measures …
Let us go to what we have done which is to take all the steps to ensure that community safety is put in place, layers of protection. The thing that he seems to be missing is that we have now the community protection board, which is providing expert advice to the government on how to manage …
Tehan interrupts with a point of order:
The thing I am missing is an answer, an answer to a very simple question.
Tony Burke gives the parliamentary speech version of rolling his eyes and Milton Dick reminds everyone that as long as the answer is relevant to the topics raised in the question, no one can dictate the actual answer given.
Updated
Tehan on repeat about detainees who don’t have to wear ankle monitors
We are back to Dan Tehan trying to get an answer from the government about the 36 released detainees not required to wear ankle monitors. They are part of the cohort who were released following a high court decision that found indefinite detention was unconstitutional.
Andrew Giles:
I thank the shadow minister for his question but I’ve already answered this question.
Updated
You know things are going pear-shaped when Tay Tay is mentioned in question time
Mark Butler takes a dixer about the health system, which includes a reference to ‘ a decade of cuts and neglect’.
As he goes through the answer, he begins to speak about the Coalition’s record on health, to which Paul Fletcher immediately objects. Fletcher says the question does not invite a comparison.
Tony Burke argues you can’t talk about the past decade, when the Coalition was in power, without doing exactly that.
Milton Dick rules the answer relevant, to which Butler quips:
It would be like speaking about the Super Bowl without mentioning Taylor Swift.
Updated
Opposition keeps pressure on issue of immigration detainee releases
Dan Tehan is back again, with a very similar question to his last two.
Again, he notes the government ‘released’ hundreds of people from immigration detention, and he wants to know about the 36 who don’t have to wear ankle monitors.
(Actually, it was a high court decision that led to that release of detainees, and governments can’t just ignore high court decisions.) )
Andrew Giles has moved from ‘polite’ voice to ‘frustrated ‘voice’:
It is difficult for anyone to accept the premise of that question. I say again that the government established the community protection board to provide us with expert advice as to the conditions of those in the cohort. In terms of the other matters, which I believe his question is going to, these are of course, operational matters.
All these matters, if it is a breach of a federal offence, would be, of course, recorded in the usual way by the AFP, and those matters which are breaches of state and territory offences, similarly, they are a matter for those authorities.
Updated
Dorothy Dixers galore in question time
It’s another dixer on the tax cuts. We have gone from dixers on how much the tax cuts will mean for an increasingly niche number of professions, to how many in each state.
Catherine King says “every taxpayer will receive a tax cut” which is not actually correct – you pay tax if you receive a welfare payment like Jobseeker, but on $19,000 or so, you will not be receiving a tax cut under these changes.
Updated
Communications minister Rowland sidesteps question about banning gambling ads
After another dixer on the tax cuts, we get to the first crossbench question of the day and its from Kate Chaney.
Chaney goes in a different direction:
Last year a parliamentary inquiry recommended banning gambling ads. During that year, big companies made political donations of $600,000 … Today new research is released again showing the dangers of social media … promoting gambling to kids.
Will you listen to the community and ban online gambling ads or will you water down reforms to serve your donors?
Chaney is made to withdraw the last part of that question and Milton Dick issues a general warning against “reflecting on members and imputations on members”.
Minister for Communications Michelle Rowland takes to the despatch box:
Like many Australians, the government is very concerned about the extent of gambling ads and their impacts, which is one of the reasons why we established a House of Representatives inquiry into online gambling and the impacts on those experiencing gambling harm.
Since receiving the committee’s report, we have been consulting with key stakeholders on the committee’s recommendations, and there is over 30 of them. My department has met with a broad range of stakeholders including broadcasters, sporting codes, digital platforms, and I have met with a number of public health advocates and academics and I am very grateful for their time and their insights because their perspectives and expertise, particularly as a member notes, the impact that online gambling is having on young people, the concerns over the saturation of gambling advertising, the close association [that shows] even young children now have between wagering, and live sport and the shame and stigma felt by those experiencing gambling harm.
Rowland then mentions the harm minimisation the government is focussing on. But she does not address the crux of Chaney’s question.
Updated
Tehan asks how many former immigration detainees commit offences
Evidence in senate estimates reveal that of the 149 individuals the government has released from immigration detention, the minister determined that 36 not be required to wear ankle bracelets. How many of these individuals have committed an offence?
Andrew Giles:
As I said a moment ago, one of the things that we have done to ensure that the community have been protected or will continue to be protected is to set up the community protection board, a body of highly respected law enforcement officers, and I thank them for the important work that they are doing.
As the shadow minister would be aware, documents have been tabled in Senate estimates detailing the conduct of those who … have breached their conditions.
Updated
Spotlight on potential criminal threat from people released from immigration detention
We are straight into QT today – Dan Tehan gets the first question:
“Senate estimates evidence has revealed that of the 149 individuals the government has released from immigration detention, the minister has determined that 36 not be required to wear ankle bracelets. Can you confirm that it is your position that none of these individuals pose a threat to the Australian community?”
Andrew Giles:
As the shadow minister is aware, last year the High Court overturned decades of precedent in its decision, which requires the release of a number of people who we sought to remain in immigration detention.
In response to that, we put in place with the cooperation of members opposite a range of laws and also put in a range of processes to keep the community safe, which has been and will continue to be our number one objective, our number one priority.
A big part of that was separating operation ages to bring together the government law enforcement agencies around the country.
We also have now four layers of protection, including stringent visa conditions, electronic monitoring and curfew arrangements, as well as preventative arrangements.
In order to manage that, we put in place a community protection board so that the decisions around community safety can be made by those best placed to decide on the merits on any issue of how to keep the committee safe.
I am pleased the community protection board is up and has been providing appropriate advice on managing this cohort.
Updated
‘Jury’s out’ on government’s commitment to whistleblower reform, Wilkie says
Independent Tasmanian MP and former whistleblower, Andrew Wilkie, has called on the Albanese government to use its final year in this term to make good on its promises to strengthen whistleblower protections.
The call comes as a group of transparency and legal experts has published its preferred model for a federal whistleblower protection body.
Under the draft design principles, put forward by Transparency International Australia, the Human Rights Law Centre and Griffith University’s Centre for Governance and Public Policy, the body should offer key information, support, legal advice, protection for disclosers from employers from adverse reactions, and a financial rewards system.
The attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus, is considering further reforms as part of a second stage of amendments to the existing laws, including whether a protection body is necessary.
Asked at a press conference on Monday whether he had seen much change during Labor’s term in government, Wilkie (who has been in Parliament since 2010) said “not much has happened”.
There’s been some technical amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure act, there’s no changes to [protections in the] Corporations act. I’m putting the challenge out there to the current government: honour your election promise, be fair dinkum and rewrite the legislation and make it effective ... I think the jury’s out on this government. It’s still got perhaps a year more to run. They have time to deliver on their promise. I don’t doubt that the attorney-general Mark Dreyfus has a genuine interest in this but really, the jury’s out.
Updated
Questions about taxes, cars likely at senate hearings today
The senate isn’t sitting today so there is no senate question time but we will still update you with anything coming out of the senate hearings that are taking place, during the house question time.
Looks like taxes and cars (and the high court indefinite detention fallout) will be the main game for the opposition.
Updated
Department officials questioned about potential conflict of interest for consulting firms
Over in Senate environment estimates, Greens Senator Barbara Pocock has been probing officials over potential conflicts of interest at major consulting firms that do work for government departments. Specifically, EY Oceania.
Officials from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water confirmed EY is being paid by the federal government for advice on climate policies while also doing work for the gas industry.
Guardian Australia’s Henry Belot exclusively reported on this issue last month.
The officials say the firm was contracted for work completed late last year that cost about $300,000. Most of it related to advice about international best practice for the design of the safeguard mechanism, a policy that covers emissions from major industrial sites.
Pocock has asked if EY has a conflict of interest, given it is a member of the gas industry lobby group, which was recently rebadged Australian Energy Producers, and the Minerals Council of Australia, and its clients include Australian Energy Producers, the gas producer Santos, the energy company Origin and BHP.
The department secretary, David Fredericks, says the firm “fell short” in failing to declare what could have been perceived as a conflict of interest, but he did not say there was an actual conflict. He told Pocock future contracts would be considered on a “case-by-case basis”.
Our obligation, always, is to contract for value for money. So it’s not possible for me to predetermine an answer to [whether EY would win future contracts] ... but the considerations that you’ve raised and the circumstances that we’ve now experienced will be highly relevant.
Officials said EY has three ongoing contracts with the department valued at about $1.2m.
Updated
Israeli military operation in Rafah could be ‘devastating’, Wong says
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has expressed deep concerns about plans for an Israeli military operation in Rafah, warning of potentially “devastating consequences” for civilians sheltering there.
Asked for comment on the matter, Wong has issued a statement saying that 153 countries, including Australia, have already called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire (a reference to the December UN general assembly vote). Wong adds:
Many of Israel’s friends, including Australia, have expressed deep concerns about reports of an Israeli military operation in Rafah. There is growing international consensus: Israel must listen to its friends and it must listen to the international community.
There are more than a million civilians sheltering in and around Rafah. Many civilians who were displaced in Israeli operations in the north have moved south to this area, often under Israeli direction.
Israel now must exercise special care in relation to these civilians. Not doing so would have devastating consequences for those civilians and cause serious harm to Israel’s own interests.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has sought to brush off international criticism about the planned operation in Rafah, saying: “We’re going to do it while providing safe passage for the civilian population so they can leave.”
Updated
Speculation mounts that King Charles won’t visit Australia this year
Also probed in senate estimates – what we know about King Charles’ planned trip to Australia.
There was no public date but the King’s cancer diagnosis has led to speculation any visit will not be going ahead this year.
AAP reported Paul Singer, official secretary to the governor-general, says he is not aware of any plans to postpone or cancel the royal trip.
There has been public speculation about that visit occurring near CHOGM later this year, and I’m aware of there being some preliminary planning to support that,” he says.
Updated
The ‘big house’ gives ABC’s Nemesis lots of free promotion
The final episode of Nemesis will be aired this evening (last week ended with the cliffhanger of Peter Dutton telling the nation he was looking forward to ‘smiling’ more) so let’s go through how many mentions of Nemesis were made in the parliament last week.
Tuesday
House of Reps – 4
Senate – 1
Wednesday
House of Reps – 9
Senate – 7
Thursday
House of Reps – 6
Senate – 0
Updated
We are now less than an hour away from question time.
Yay.
You know the drill.
Parliament House staff report feeling bullied, harassed at work
Over in estimates, the culture in parliament house is once again being examined, as AAP reports:
One in 12 people employed at Parliament House have reported feeling bullied and harassed at work, but no follow-up has occurred.
The findings are outlined in a staff survey conducted by the Department of Parliamentary Services.
The department is responsible for a broad range of operations including security, food and beverage outlets, libraries and technical support.
Greens senator Larissa Waters quizzed the head of the Department of Parliamentary Services about the staff survey during a public hearing on Monday.
“Can you explain to me why the eight per cent of staff that reported … did not receive an investigation into their concerns?” she asked.
Department secretary Robert Stefanic said there was a difference between an anonymous survey and formal reports of workplace abuse.
“The survey is something that people report, I guess, in terms of their perception of whether they have been bullied or harassed,” Stefanic said.
Updated
Greens MP Jenny Leong has apologised for ‘Jewish lobby’ comments, Bandt says
We asked the Greens for a response to the Labor MP Josh Burns’ speech to parliament, which was covered on the blog earlier today.
Burns says Greens MPs have remained silent and failed to rebuke the party’s NSW state MP for Newtown, Jenny Leong, over her prior comments that “the Jewish lobby and the Zionist lobby are infiltrating into every single aspect of what is ethnic community groups” and that “their tentacles reach into the areas that try and influence power”.
Burns told parliament the silence of Greens MPs is “really hurtful”.
The leader of the Greens, Adam Bandt, has responded:
Last week the NSW State Member for Newtown wholeheartedly and unreservedly apologised and that was the right thing to do. The Greens oppose antisemitism, Islamophobia and all forms of racism. When someone makes hurtful comments, they should acknowledge it and apologise, as happened here.
Updated
Shorten declines to comment on Barnaby Joyce footpath incident
On non-NDIS matters, Bill Shorten was earlier asked about whether Barnaby Joyce should be dropped from the frontbench following footage emerging of him last Friday lying on a Canberra footpath and swearing into his phone.
Joyce told the Seven network this morning he was “not looking for sympathy” but said the incident was the result of combining alcohol and prescription drugs.
Asked whether Joyce should be reprimanded, Shorten told reporters:
I don’t think it adds anything to have Labor politicians commenting on Barnaby Joyce.
And on whether the reaction to Joyce’s behaviour has shown a double standard between male and female politicians, Shorten had this to say:
I’ve never commented about Senator Thorpe ... I’m not going to comment about Barnaby Joyce ... I’m not against double standards, but it’d be a double standard way to start gossiping about stuff I really don’t know about. I’m interested in what people do in terms of their day job.
Updated
Independent MP introduces bill to improve access to voluntary assisted dying
Independent Curtin MP Kate Chaney is introducing a private member’s bill to the House of Representatives which aims to give equal access to voluntary assisted dying, by allowing doctors to use telehealth to discuss it with patients.
VAD has some fairly strict procedures around it no matter what state you are in. But the commonwealth criminal code prevents people from promoting suicide using a carriage service and last year, the federal court found this included VAD consultations.
Kooyong independent MP, Dr Monique Ryan, is seconding the bill, which would change the criminal code to make it clear that “VAD is not suicide”.
Chaney said:
Decades ago, this section was inserted to prevent a person from causing another to take their own life. As an unintended and unfortunate consequence, it is now preventing eligible patients from accessing legal end-of-life options, simply because of where they live.
I have heard heartbreaking stories of terminally ill people travelling long distances in agony to see a doctor in person, or both doctor and patient travelling for hours to have a consultation halfway in a car park. VAD practitioners are being forced to choose between compassionate and convenient care for their patients and the risk of being prosecuted.
For the bill to progress, the government will need to support it.
Updated
Pro-Palestine protester asked to remove sticker before entering parliament lawns, Senate estimates told
The Greens senator, David Shoebridge, has asked officials of the Department of Parliamentary Services this morning whether they were aware of an incident involving a pro-Palestinian protester at Parliament House last Wednesday.
Shoebridge said he had been told a woman wearing a keffiyeh – a traditional Palestinian scarf – had been denied entry by Parliamentary security after being told she wasn’t wearing appropriate clothing.
The department’s acting security head, Leanne Tunningley, said she was aware of the incident and was told the woman was allowed entry.
Tunningley said she had been briefed on the matter and had been told the woman was asked to remove a sticker from her top and then provided entry. Staff were briefed that morning about traditional wear relating to the pro-Palestine rally occurring on parliament lawns that day, she said.
Tunningley said she would be “certainly happy” to look into it further.
Updated
Shorten ‘gets the anxieties’ over NDIS registry but says he is confident it will not limit access
The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, says he “gets the anxieties” many in the disability community have over a potential move to force NDIS providers to register on a central database but insists it’s an “overdue conversation”.
This morning Shorten announced a new taskforce would be established to “overhaul” the current system, which allows NDIS participants to choose either registered providers or unregistered providers to provide their support plans.
The NDIS review, released last year, said this system was plagued with risks and recommended mandatory registrations and a new risk framework. Disability organisations have expressed some concerns that such changes could impact access for some participants, especially those in regional and rural areas.
The taskforce is due to report back to the government in mid-2024 with the best way forward.
Shorten said he’s confident the taskforce will offer a model that addresses the risks while not limiting access:
We’ve got to have this overdue conversation that if you’re delivering a service, you’ve got to be qualified to do it … If you’re handling some of the most complicated issues, then you’ve got to have a high level of clinical governance.
Shorten said it was in the best interest of participants and taxpayers to ensure resources are being used appropriately and not being exploited by “opportunists and rent-seekers”.
If we were designing the NDIS from scratch again, we wouldn’t create two worlds – the unregistered world and the registered world.
Updated
Tasmania could go to early election after Liberals-turned-independents fail to back premier
The last Liberal-led government in Australia (if you don’t count the Brisbane City Council) seems set for an early election.
Anyone following Taspol won’t be shocked at this – Jeremy Rockliff has been battling with former Liberal turned independent MPs for a while now, but it seems we are at the pointy end of the issue:
Updated
Burns says Jewish Australians leaving the Greens amid discourse on Middle East conflict
(continued from previous post)
Burns told parliament he was aware of Jewish Australians who were “leaving the Greens”. He said the comments were “just shattering”. He finished his speech by talking about the discourse about the conflict in the Middle East more generally:
Be mindful of the way in which it is impacting a minority [of] people in this country, because that is something that we can control. We have an ability to make sure Australians feel safe and respected, and right now Jewish people in Australia don’t feel safe and respected by the Greens. I think it is a great shame and I pray for more peaceful days ahead.
Comment is being sought from the Greens and from Leong.
During the forum, Leong made a distinction between lobby groups and the Jewish community more broadly, who she described as “wonderful humans”.
Last week, Leong apologised for the offence caused and acknowledged “that I used a word at one point that was an inappropriate descriptor”:
As a committed human rights and anti-racism advocate, who has been outspoken about the rising threat of far-right extremism, I know that it is important to hold people to account for words that may cause harm. But it is equally important to not stay silent and hold people to account for harmful actions, and this includes the occupation and military violence by the Israeli state in Palestine.
Updated
Labor’s Josh Burns ‘absolutely in shock’ at Greens’ ‘silence’ after Jenny Leong’s Jewish lobby comments
The Labor MP Josh Burns, addressing parliament, brought up comments made by the Greens state MP for Newtown, Jenny Leong.
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, last week warned parliamentarians against sowing division in the community after Leong apologised for referring to the “tentacles” of the “Jewish lobby” and its influence across Australia.
Leong said she did not intend to reference an antisemitic cartoon depicting Jews as an octopus when she made the comments at the Palestine Justice Movement forum in Sydney in December, where the boycott movement against Israel was being discussed.
Burns told parliament:
At the moment I am absolutely in shock about the way in which [the Greens] have ignored standards within their own party.
Jenny Leong [in] December last year said this: ‘The Jewish lobby and the Zionist lobby are infiltrating into every single aspect of what is ethnic community groups … their tentacles reach into the areas that try and influence power and I think we need to call that out and expose it’.
[It] is one of the most blatant, racist and bigoted statements by any elected official in australia. And it’s a matter for Ms Leong, but the thing that’s really hurtful, the thing that really matters, is that not one – not one Greens MP, state or federal, has called out and publicly rebuked Ms Leong. Not one – not one. They all have remained silent in a blatant antisemitic statement by one of their colleagues. If that happened in the Labor party – whether it’s directed at the Jewish community, the Islamic community, it is unacceptable.
(continued in next post)
Updated
Greens MP calls on government to stop supporting Israel and demand ceasefire
Speaking during a parliamentary debate about Gaza, the Labor MP Josh Burns has said the failure of Greens MPs and senators to rebuke state MP Jenny Leong over her recent comments is “really hurtful”.
The Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather has moved a motion calling on the Australian government to “end its support for the state of Israel’s invasion of Gaza” and also to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.
Chandler-Mather told parliament that Australia had wrongly “folded to the United States” by deciding to pause funding to the aid agency UNRWA, and said Palestinian children were “dying slow and painful deaths”.
Speaking about the potentially imminent Israeli military operation in the southern district of Rafah, which is sheltering hundreds of thousand of civilians, Chandler-Mather alleged that Israeli forces were “in on the verge of turbocharging this genocide in Gaza”.
The International Court of Justice, in interim orders last month, has yet to make a final decision on South Africa’s allegations against Israel, but in a provisional ruling last month ordered Israel to “take all measures within its power to prevent” genocidal acts and also to “prevent and punish the direct and public incitement to commit genocide”.
Burns spoke after Chandler-Mather in the parliamentary debate and criticised the Greens over their language. Burns said he held “deep sympathy towards the Palestinian people” and wanted to “see peace in my lifetime”.
But Burns said language mattered, and it was important not to use the debate to gain political points:
The debate has disintegrated.
Updated
The Greens senator Nick McKim is reiterating his calls for a royal commission into Australia’s offshore detention system.
Here he is at Senate estimates this morning:
We need a royal commission into offshore and onshore immigration detention. pic.twitter.com/dVJV5vC9hT
— Nick McKim (@NickMcKim) February 11, 2024
Updated
Leaders of NDIS provider taskforce announced
The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, has officially announced the NDIS provider taskforce, which is part of the government’s attempts to cut down on fraud by providers attached to the scheme.
This taskforce will be led by trusted lawyer and disability advocate Natalie Wade, former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Allan Fels, former ACTU assistant secretary and training and safety expert Michael Borowick and former administrator of the Northern Territory Vicki O’Halloran.
Updated
More than 2,000 Parliament House access passes given to lobbyists, Senate estimates told
The Department of Parliamentary Services was up in Senate estimates this morning, where ACT senator David Pocock asked for an update on lobbyist passes.
To recap, lobbyists with an “orange pass” can access Parliament House at any time unaccompanied once sponsored by a senator or MP. Details surrounding who holds these passes and who sponsored them are not publicly available.
DPS secretary, Rob Stefanic, tells Pocock the total number of sponsored passes, as at 31 December 2023, is 2,002. The largest number of lobbyist passes sponsored by a single MP or senator is 45.
A parliamentary inquiry is under way to determine whether the current rules for lobbyist access to Parliament House are fit for purpose and whether changes should be made to improve the transparency of those seeking to influence power.
The federal government already administers a public lobbyist register but it’s been criticised for being limited. For example, individuals working in-house in government relations roles do not necessarily have to register.
Updated
More details revealed about convictions of individuals in NZYQ cohort
The department of home affairs has revealed new details about the NZYQ cohort on Monday.
In response to Coalition questions seeking information on the offences individuals in the cohort had been convicted of, the department reported:
72 convicted for assault and violent offending, kidnapping, armed robbery
37 for sexually based offending, including child sex offending
16 for domestic violence and stalking
13 for serious drug offending
Seven for murder and attempted murder;
Fewer than five for people smuggling, crimes of serious international concern; and
Fewer than five with “low level or no criminality”
Updated
Has Malcolm Roberts forgotten how many politicians and staffers have children? Many of who are cared for in the childcare centre right next to the staff dining room where this photo was taken?
Seen this morning in parliamentary cafeteria, Parliament House, Canberra
— Malcolm Roberts 🇦🇺 (@MRobertsQLD) February 12, 2024
Who do you think they’re for?
A constituent suggested Minister Chris Bowen and PM Albanese pic.twitter.com/Hd7T2yYG2r
Updated
Bridget McKenzie asks for details of staff Melbourne travel as Taylor Swift concerts near
The wave of Taylor Swift mania across Australia has crashed into transport estimates on Monday.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has asked department officials how many meetings or in person engagements have been scheduled for staff in Melbourne on Friday, when “Tay Tay” (in McKenzie’s words) begins performing.
Maree Bridger, the department’s chief operating officer, tells McKenzie “we have no way of tracking that”.
McKenzie then asks for details of any staff travel arrangements to Melbourne approved for this coming Friday, seemingly to see if any travelling staff might be benefiting from the coincidence of being in Melbourne the day of the concerts.
Bridger takes the question on notice.
Updated
Twenty-four individuals charged with fresh offences after leaving immigration detention due to NZYQ decision, Senate estimates told
The home affairs department has provided the Coalition with answers to its questions on notice about NZYQ, the case in which the high court ruled that indefinite detention is unlawful where it is not possible to deport the person.
According to the department:
As of 1 February 2024 six individuals have been arrested and charged for offences against the Migration Act 1958 for breach of visa conditions. Additionally, the ABF is aware that 18 individuals have been charged by State and Territory police for State and Territory offences.
As of 31 January 2024, nil individuals have been re-detained in an immigration detention facility on the basis that there is a real prospect of their removal from Australia being practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future.
So far, 149 people have been released from immigration detention as a result of the decision.
Updated
Mike Bowers tells me that a potato has now replaced the can of diced beetroot that had been left on the chalk outline marking Barnaby Joyce’s incident on Wednesday night.
Updated
The independent Indi MP, Dr Helen Haines, has her sights on how government grants are treated. Haines will be introducing a private member’s bill later this month which would change the process – but it will need government support to get through the house.
Without transparency and accountability, we have no reason to trust our tax dollars are being spent in line with community need, not political greed.
— Helen Haines MP (@helenhainesindi) February 11, 2024
We urgently need to reform the grants process. I'm introducing a bill on Feb 26 to do exactly that. https://t.co/1DCXQk8sBg.
Updated
Over in transport estimates, it seems like the Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie is having a good time (this is in response to what Elias reported on, just a few posts ago):
#RRAT Estimates has opened this morning with Minister King claiming Public Interest Immunity (PII) on releasing the ACIL-Allen report used for Labor's NVES modelling. This is despite the Minister writing to the Senate last week in response to an OPD of the report where PII was…
— Senator The Hon. Bridget McKenzie (@senbmckenzie) February 11, 2024
The Government has claimed PII because the impacts on auto industry disclosed in the report could have significant market consequences. A further sign this new vehicle carbon emissions scheme will negatively impact the cost of the cars Australians love to drive.
— Senator The Hon. Bridget McKenzie (@senbmckenzie) February 11, 2024
Updated
For those who missed it, here is Barnaby Joyce’s explanation of his planter box incident:
Rights centre and other groups urge payments for whistleblowers and federal protection body
The federal government is being urged to pay public servant whistleblowers a reward as part of a new protection body proposed to keep them from harm.
A federal whistleblower protection body remains the “missing link” in Australia’s anti-corruption system, Transparency International Australia, the Human Rights Law Centre and Griffith University’s Centre for Governance and Public Policy said in a joint release on Monday.
The civil society groups have teamed up with former whistleblowers to present their preferred model to the attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus.
Robodebt whistleblower Jeannie-Marie Blake said she felt a protection body would make people feel more comfortable about coming forward.
Currently, you are left weighing up whether you can live with the consequences of going on the record or live with the consequences for the public if you don’t speak out.”
Rewards would be paid for by penalties, financial savings or other income gained by the commonwealth as a result of the disclosure, the groups say.
Allan Fels, a former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, also publicly backed a move toward paying whistleblowers last week in his National Press Club appearance.
Asked whether Australia should adopt the US policy of paying whistleblowers, Fels agreed it should.
One way of making it more effective would be to strengthen whistleblower protection. Cartels nearly always are only detected – it is almost always secret agreements – if there is a whistleblower.
Updated
JB Hi-Fi records near 20% drop in net profit but sales figures still high by historical standards
JB Hi-Fi has recorded a near 20% drop in net profit to $264.3m, weighed down by a sharp decrease in demand for household goods even as customers continue to buy gadgets and other electronics.
The retailer, which owns The Good Guys, recorded more than $5.16bn in sales during the first half of the 2024 financial year, representing a modest 2.2% fall from the prior period’s record sales figures.
JB Hi-Fi has been one of the standout stock performers of the pandemic and inflationary period, backed by strong customer demand for entertainment and communication devices, gadgets and appliances.
Its shares are trading near record highs.
The company’s latest six-month results show that while overall demand is softening, sales figures are still high by historical standards.
The chief executive, Terry Smart, said he was pleased with the performance despite the pullback.
As expected, we saw the trading environment become more challenging, marked by heightened competitive activity and increased on-floor discounting.
Sales increased at the company’s electronics stores during the half, but fell by a sharp 9.9% at The Good Guys, which weighed on the overall result. The slump in spending on household goods coincides with rising interest rates, which is impeding many household budgets.
The retailer cut its interim dividend to $1.58 a share from $1.97 a year earlier.
Updated
‘It’s no surprise that they’re anti-employee rights’: Gallagher criticises Coalition position on right to disconnect
Katy Gallagher was also asked about Peter Dutton’s claims that the right to disconnect laws would impact Australia’s productivity. (Again, if productivity growth is reliant on unpaid labour, then doesn’t that sort of highlight a major problem?)
Gallagher:
I think this is more about the politics and political grandstanding. And sure, they’ve got to differentiate, and it’s no surprise that they’re anti-employee rights. You know, like that’s their signature IR position. But, you know, after seeing the worst productivity in the decade that they were in government, I think they’re hardly going to be ones to lecture us.
We have to work on productivity, we absolutely do, but to say that someone can have, you know, a position where if a boss is contacting them, and it’s unreasonable, and they’re not at work, that they don’t have any rights to say look, hey, I’m actually on the weekend break, is unreasonable as well.
Particularly as we’re living in such a digital and connected world, the demands on people are only going to get greater and there should be some regulation of it.
Updated
‘I hope he gets the help he needs’, says Gallagher after Joyce’s footpath incident
The Labor senator and finance minister, Katy Gallagher, spoke to ABC radio Canberra this morning where she was asked about Barnaby Joyce’s incident.
Gallagher said:
I think it’s just incredibly sad. I hope he gets the help that he needs. Obviously, there’s an issue there. And you know, these things do nothing for the profession of politicians. I think it confirms you know, in people’s minds, the public’s minds, negative association with politics, and I think that’s a real shame. But personally, I hope he gets the help he needs because it’s a very unusual position, I think, for someone of that age to be in.
Updated
Coalition senators frustrated after transport minister claims public interest immunity over fuel efficiency standard modelling
In rural, regional affairs and transport estimates, Coalition senators appear frustrated to learn the government is claiming public interest immunity over details of the modelling underpinning the landmark fuel efficiency standard.
The government unveiled its preferred option for a fuel efficiency standard last week, which is predicted to slice the nation’s carbon emissions by avoiding almost 100m tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2035 and 369m tonnes by 2050.
Fuel efficiency standards – which are already in place in almost all nations with comparable economies to Australia’s – create a cap for emissions across a manufacturer’s overall sales, which provides an incentive for carmakers to supply low- and zero-emissions vehicles and penalises companies that do not.
Since the government released its proposal, the opposition has flagged its concern, including at the impact on car companies, with suggestions it could make utes tougher to access for Australians.
Opposition senators Bridget McKenzie and Matt Canavan appeared frustrated upon learning the immunity claim had been made by transport minister Catherine King earlier on Monday morning.
Labor’s Anthony Chisholm, answering questions on behalf of the government, said King had made the public interest community claim over the fuel efficiency standard modelling out of cabinet confidentiality, due to future market sensitivities due to the credit trading scheme that is part of the national vehicle emissions.
Canavan said the immunity claim suggested the government is admitting the scheme would have a negative impact. “Why else would there be commercial sensitivities?” he said.
Updated
You can read Paul Karp’s reporting of the Richardson review into home affairs procurement procedures here:
Updated
Nick McKim reads allegations including ‘gross negligence’ and ‘egregious’ security failures to Senate estimates
The Greens senator, Nick McKim, is asking home affairs department officials about the “scathing” and “incendiary” Richardson review into offshore detention contract management.
The review found that contractors suspected of drug smuggling and weapons trafficking were handed multimillion-dollar contracts due to a lack of due diligence in the administration of Australia’s offshore detention regime.
The departmental secretary, Stephanie Foster, said that Dennis Richardson nevertheless expressed “confidence in the existing contract” with MTC Australia, which received $422m for garrison services on Nauru despite a string of scandals in the US.
McKim reads those allegations into hansard which included “gross negligence” and “egregious” security failures in its operation of private prisons, including failings alleged to have allowed the gang-rape of a woman in detention, the murder of two retirees by escaped prisoners, and the months long solitary confinement of a US citizen wrongfully held in immigration detention.
Foster said “there was no restriction on what Mr Richardson could look at” but is unable to say if those specific allegations were considered by the review.
The review was handed to the government on 10 October. Murray Watt rejected McKim’s suggestion the government had “sat on” the report, suggesting the four month period before its release was routine because the government had to prepare its response.
Updated
Parliamentary motion last week ‘clearly designed to accentuate division’, Tim Watts says
Asked if he is not whipping up conflict by accusing Peter Dutton and the Greens of being ‘conflict entrepreneurs’, Tim Watts says:
We are some months into this conflict now. And we’re starting to see what we have seen patterns throughout this conflict in the way that both the Greens and the Coalition have been behaving. It’s been some time and it’s time really to start calling this out.
I mean, I’ve responded to two motions in the parliament last week, one of which was just clearly designed to accentuate division …
… We had a motion that was supported by almost all parliamentarians, not the Greens, and that motion went to the full breadth of this conflict and went to the horror that all Australians feel about the terrorist atrocities committed on October 7, the sexual violence, the hostage taking.
It also went to the deep care and concern that all Australians have for the innocent civilians caught up in this conflict and you know, we shouldn’t lose track of the fact that 400,000 Palestinians in Gaza are starving, a million are at risk of starvation.
That was acknowledged in that parliamentary resolution at the start of this conflict.
But really importantly, that resolution ended with a call for unity. It said there’s no place in our society for antisemitism, for Islamophobia. These are fundamental things we have to fight for in this country.
… Those that would seek to divide our community … are doing a great disservice to our national interest.
Updated
Tim Watts labels Dutton and Bandt ‘conflict entrepreneurs’
Tim Watts continued:
Our government has taken a consistent and principled approach since the start of this conflict. And the reason we’ve done that advocating for the release of hostages for the protection of civilian life, humanitarian access, and importantly for that passport pathway out of this conflict in a two state solution – the reason we’ve taken this consistent, principled approach – isn’t to please people, isn’t to please individual groups.
It’s because it’s the responsible way to approach to both the conflict in the Middle East and to keep Australians united at home.
Now, regrettably, there are some conflict entrepreneurs out there, there are people who are seeking to exploit that conflict …
Who are the ‘conflict entrepreneurs’ Watts is speaking of?
Well, regrettably and I say this with genuine sadness, Peter Dutton and the Greens, they want to whip up anger and fear in the Australian community because they think there’s votes in it for them.
So you see Peter Dutton and the Greens trying to reproduce the conflict in the Middle East in Australia. Now, that’s toxic.
It’s really harmful for building that sense of common humanity. You know, we need to approach this issue. Not with contempt, not with judgement, but with empathy … not trying to divide people in their search for short term domestic politics.
Updated
Assistant foreign minister says ideology in Israel-Gaza conflict preventing people from seeing ‘fellow Australians as human beings’
The assistant foreign affairs minister, Tim Watts, spoke to ABC Melbourne radio this morning about social cohesion and the impact the Israel-Gaza conflict was having on Australian society:
In recent times, we’ve really been tested. We’ve really got to find a way to live with each other in this country through this conflict, you know, just to get on with people who disagree with us … Australian society won’t function unless we can find a way to get along with people that disagree with us.
… My observation is that the ideologies that some people overlay on to this conflict [are] preventing people from seeing other people who disagree with them, fellow Australians, as human beings; people have been using ideologies across the board to justify some pretty appalling behaviour towards people.
… You know, we’re failing to see that people are complex, you know, they have a range of views, they interact with this conflict in a range of ways and, you know, when we apply these grand ideological templates on things, you know, people can sometimes feel justified in failing to see that individual humanity.
And, you know, I was in the Middle East late last year, the foreign minister was in the Middle East at the start of this year. And one of the things that we both observed on those visits is just how depleted that sense of common humanity is … It’s a genuine roadblock to peace.
It’s a roadblock to the only pathway out of this conflict, which is a two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in internationally recognised borders and peace and prosperity.
Updated
Home affairs secretary grilled at Senate estimates over NZYQ case
The home affairs department secretary, Stephanie Foster, is appearing at Senate estimates.
In her opening statement, Foster said:
I am aware of significant interest in the NZYQ case. We have come prepared to answer questions. In that context I note that our response is ongoing with the department managing current litigation and preparing for future cases. We are continuing to engage internationally on removals and working with the states and territories to further embed our community safety arrangements. There has been much media interest in individual cases and as you would be aware the department will need to avoid disclosing information that could identify any individual person.
Expect public interest immunity claims and refusals to answer questions then.
The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, begins by grilling Foster about why the department wasn’t able to provide answers sought by the Coalition ahead of time.
Foster said it was a resourcing issue and she was “concerned if I diverted from general preparation, [we would] not [be] fully prepared for estimates”. Answers will be tabled within an hour, officials say.
Paterson also said it was “bizarre” that Foster’s office had copied in staffers in the home affairs minister Clare O’Neil and immigration minister Andrew Giles’ offices to the response to the Coalition request.
Foster said this was an “error” that she did not intend, and she takes responsibility for her office doing so. She insisted there was no political involvement in answering Paterson and shadow attorney general Michaelia Cash.
Updated
For those who missed it, here is the transcript of Barnaby Joyce being asked about being found lying on the footpath of a Canberra street, swearing into his phone on Thursday night:
Joyce:
Look, I’m obviously, you know, I made a big mistake, there’s no excuse for it, there’s a reason, and, you know, it was a very eventful walk home, wasn’t it? So anyway, that’s, you know, I should have followed the ‑ I’m on a prescription drug, and they say certain things may happen to you if you drink, and they were absolutely 100 per cent right, they did.
Seven host: So you mixed alcohol with prescription medication, did you, and this is what happened?
Joyce:
That’s exactly what I said, yep.
Host: So we’ve got quotes by David Littleproud, the Nationals leader saying that you’re going to get the support that you need. Do you need support over this?
Joyce:
Well, you know, I think it’s ‑ well, look, I’m not looking for sympathy, and I’m not looking for an excuse, I’ll just stand by that. What I said is what I said. I came back, I sat on a planter box, I fell off, and I was video‑taped. There you go. What else can you say?
Host: If this sort of thing happened, I guess, to an executive in a big company and they were on the ground like that, and they were affected by alcohol, they may be reprimanded. Do you think you should be? There’s talk about that this morning.
Joyce:
Well, look, I ‑ Nat, that’s not my decision really, is it, you know, I’m not going to sort of enter into a long dialogue about, you know, what other people may want to do.
Host: Are they circling while you were down, do you think?
Joyce:
Oh, I don’t ‑ Nat, how would I know? I’m here.
Host: Are you kind of angry that you were lying on the ground, and someone filmed you and no one helped you?
Joyce:
Well, that’s a question for them, you know. You know, for me, the good Samaritan was the Indian taxi driver who pulled over as I was walking home and said, “Do you need a lift, mate?” Which I obviously did.
‘Pressure works’: Greens to stall Labor housing bill in campaign to limit negative gearing
Here is some more on the Greens’ demands when it comes for the party’s support for Labor’s shared equity housing scheme, as reported by Sarah Basford Canales:
The Greens are threatening to impede passage of the government’s “help-to-buy” housing scheme, as they seek to force Labor into winding back tax breaks on investment properties.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, on Sunday said the government had no plans to change negative gearing, as attention shifted to other areas of tax reform after the government’s amendments to stage-three income tax cuts.
However, the Greens say they will use their balance of power in the Senate to force Labor into paring back negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts in exchange for their support in the Senate on the government’s housing bill.
Updated
The estimates hearings will start at 9am.
On today’s agenda:
Environment and Communications (Climate change agencies)
Finance and Public Administration (Finance, parliament and PMO)
Legal and Constitutional Affairs (Home affairs)
Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport (Infrastructure, and roads)
Updated
Well, that has been quite the morning so far hasn’t it?
To recap:
Clare O’Neil released the Richardson review into home affairs procurements ahead of the first day of estimates hearings. It is not particularly complimentary of the regime overseen by Peter Dutton.
The Greens have made changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax their price for supporting Labor’s help-to-buy equity scheme legislation (where the government will buy up to 40% of your home for successful applicants, to be repaid when earnings increase, or the property is sold)
Barnaby Joyce said he mixed prescription drugs with alcohol, leading to the events of Thursday night where he was filmed lying on a Canberra street speaking profanities into his phone.
David Littleproud has said that Joyce will not be demoted over the incident, but support will be offered.
Updated
Workforce Australia job agencies forced to return $8.5m in taxpayer funds after huge surge in faulty claims
Cait Kelly has looked at job agencies falsely claiming “outcomes” (helping unemployed people forced to attend the job agency as part of their mutual obligations into work) in order to receive payment from the government:
Australia’s outsourced job agencies have been forced to hand back more than $8.5m in government payments in one year – more than double the previous 12 months – after an apparent crackdown on faulty claims.
Under Australia’s employment services system, providers are funded with so-called “outcome payments” for placing their clients into employment or courses and they can claim reimbursements for money spent assisting jobseekers prepare for work.
The Workforce Australia scheme, which is under review by the Albanese government, is expected to cost more than $9.5bn over the next four years, amid sustained criticism that the privatised system is ineffective and prone to waste and rorting.
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Dutton says Liberals will bin ‘right to disconnect’ if they win next election
Switching gears now – Peter Dutton has vowed to scrap the “right to disconnect” if the Liberal party wins the next election. Last week, Dutton told Sky News:
If you think it’s OK to outsource your industrial relations or your economic policy to the Greens, which is what the prime minister is doing, then we are going to see a continuation of the productivity problem in our country.
And as the Reserve Bank governor pointed out, if you don’t address it you’ll see interest rates continue to climb or you’ll see them stay higher for longer.
Putting aside the fact that the nation’s productivity growth really shouldn’t be reliant on unpaid overtime, critics of the policy appear to be arguing that a) it’s not an issue, so it doesn’t need legislation and b) employees should just suck up being asked to do unpaid work because *reasons*.
The Greens won the right to disconnect provision in the latest round of IR bargaining with Tony Burke. Adam Bandt says if Dutton moves to scrap it, the Greens will fight back:
We’ve been overwhelmed by positive feedback from people who say - yeah, it’s not right that I should be on call 24/7 when I’m not getting paid for it.
And Peter Dutton wants you electronically bound to your boss, and having to answer calls 24/7, even if you’re not getting paid for it.
Peter Dutton would rather you answering emails rather than putting the kids to bed.
Now it’s Peter Dutton who wants to end your weekend by making you on call 24/7, even when you’re not getting paid for it. I think having the right to recharge outside of work hours is absolutely critical. The law hasn’t kept up. This is common sense and if Peter Dutton wants to take it away and force you to be bound to your boss electronically 24/7, the Greens will fight him.
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Bandt says Joyce footpath incident shows ‘equal standards’ should be applied across parliament and society
Greens leader Adam Bandt was also asked about the incident while speaking to ABC TV:
He’s obviously got an explanation, and it will be up to people whether they accept that or not. But I do think that there’s a double standard here.
I think if a woman politician had found themselves in a similar situation, I feel like there would be widespread condemnation. Indeed, we have seen that previously.
And I think the fact that a lot of people are just going to shrug this off is a bit of a wake-up call as to whether or not we’re applying the same standards right across the parliament here.
I’ll let Barnaby Joyce explain himself. What I would ask is that firstly, if we’re prepared to say – when people have issues, they need to get help and be upfront and we need to have a reasoned debate about it – that’s OK.
But secondly, let’s not forget that this has been the party and the side of politics that has tried to demonise many other people for health issues of their own that have said – you know, called for people to be kicked off welfare, or called for people to be kicked … out of their jobs.
So I’m [asking] for an equal standard to be applied across everyone – the whole parliament and the whole society.
Updated
Bill Shorten was asked about the incident while speaking to ABC radio AM.
Q: If a Labor MP been filmed on their back in a public street, would they still have a job as a minister this morning?
Shorten:
It wasn’t. I won’t deal with hypotheticals. I’ve just seen the footage very briefly. I think Mr Joyce needs support. He doesn’t need – he certainly doesn’t need a Labor politician piling on in a partisan manner.
I don’t know what’s happened there. I’m not about to join in on any sort of lynch mob about what has happened and what hasn’t. I think he needs support. That’s what he’s seeking.
Updated
Joyce tells Seven he ‘made a big mistake’ combining prescription drugs with alcohol
Barnaby Joyce has spoken to the Seven network this morning explaining what happened, amid calls he should be dropped from the shadow frontbench.
Joyce said it was obvious he “made a big mistake” and while there was “no excuse for it”, “there is a reason”:
I’m on a prescription drug, and they say certain things may happen to you if you drink, and they were absolutely 100% right. They did.
Joyce said a taxi driver eventually came to his aid (there has been criticism of the person who filmed Joyce, for not offering assistance).
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has told Brisbane radio 4BC Joyce would be offered support, but he would not be demoted over the incident:
There’ll be further conversations with Barnaby to make sure we put the environment around him that he needs to make sure whatever challenges he’s got.
Asked by Seven if he needed support, Joyce said:
I’m not looking for sympathy and I’m not looking for an excuse.
Updated
Tin of beetroot added to Canberra spot where Barnaby Joyce was lying on footpath
The other big topic of conversation in Canberra this morning?
Barnaby Joyce.
The former deputy prime minister and current shadow minister for veterans’ affairs was filmed lying on a Canberra footpath late Thursday night, his feet up on a planter box, uttering profanities into his phone.
The spot where Joyce was filmed has been turned into a bit of a shrine in Canberra.
Mike Bowers wandered down to Lonsdale Street on Sunday and found a tin of diced beetroot had been added to the crude chalk outline. Since then, someone has mocked up a plaque marking the spot.
Updated
‘We’ve got renters in our party room’, says Bandt after question on Greens owning investment properties
Asked about why so many Greens MPs have investment properties if the Greens are so against the policy, Adam Bandt says:
Hang on – they’re arguing to phase it out, just as we argued that there should be no tax cuts for politicians, and billionaires. We will argue on principle.
But I just want to say – if you want to go down the road of looking at political parties, as you were saying – we now have a landlord Prime Minister with multiple investment properties.
We’ve got a Labor cabinet where they have, many of them have, multiple investments.
Politicians overall have far more investment properties than the general population.
Whereas the Greens – we’ve got renters in our party room and we’re fighting for the third of the country that, at the moment, doesn’t have a political voice, and is being overlooked.
And Labor’s plan at the moment – so-called plan – it’s a lottery scheme. And 1.2% of first home buyers we’ve helped at the expense of everyone else.
The Greens agree that you shouldn’t have to win a lottery to buy your first home.
Updated
Bandt says Greens will continue to push for negative gearing and capital gains tax changes
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said his party will continue to push for changes and is making its support of the help to buy equity housing scheme reliant on Labor agreeing to change negative gearing and capital gains tax.
Labor is unlikely to agree to those changes, so the deadlock remains.
On the question of what would happen if investors up and sold their investment if negative gearing was changed (which is a strange argument, because you can only negatively gear a property if it is making a loss) Bandt told the ABC:
One is that any homes that go on the market may well be snapped up by first home buyers and that will give them a chance to get into their home instead of the home being used as a way of trying to make off the back of a government subsidy.
And coming up with the rising population, you look at what’s there. They were all built in the 1960s or 70s, and many of them, Labor is now tearing down.
So build more public housing to ensure that there is enough rental stock for people.
But it just does not make sense to put billions of dollars of public money into the pockets of wealthy property moguls and push up housing prices out of the reach of first home buyers. That hurts.
Updated
Shorten says Labor have moved on from negative gearing changes
Tax reform continues as a lead agenda item – after the Coalition folded on the stage three tax changes, it is now trying a game of “rule in, rule out” (assisted ably by some sectors of the media) of every other tax in Australia, particularly when it comes to housing. The Coalition is trying to paint Labor as moving to increase taxes, even as the Coalition admits it is supporting the stage three tax cut changes because they will help give more money back to more people.
But negative gearing is once again back on the agenda. Labor says no, no changes, the Greens say “why not” and the Coalition says you can’t trust that Labor won’t.
Bill Shorten, who led Labor to the 2019 election loss with a platform which included radical reform of Australia’s tax system including negative gearing, told ABC radio AM that Labor had moved on:
We did take policies to the 2016 and 2019 election. And it’s clear since then, that Labour has decided to try other methods and mechanisms to support people being able to access housing. To the absolute best of my knowledge, it’s not something that the current government’s been working on or focused on or thinking about.
I think even the most reasonable critic of Labor would agree that we’ve got a full book about changes to the income tax scales to give all Australians a bigger tax cut.
We’ve got the reforms to the petroleum and reserve tax, super concessions multinational tax reform, tax compliance, and of course the changes with tobacco tax.
I think the sweet spot for housing reform is increasing supply and that’s what Labor’s working on.
Updated
Richardson review recommendations aim at fostering more open atmosphere around home affairs procurement
Paul Karp will be following the fallout from the Richardson review this morning and will have more for you very soon.
But in the meantime you can read the entire report here.
The first two recommendations are designed to create a more open atmosphere around home affairs procurement:
1. Home Affairs should enhance its integrity risk process and culture to better inform procurement and contract decision-making for regional processing arrangements by:
more carefully considering the environment in which a procurement is conducted or a contract is delivered, and the ethical conduct and integrity of tenderers, suppliers and supply chains; and
undertaking risk-informed due diligence activities throughout the procurement and contract management lifecycle.
and
2. Home Affairs should foster and promote an ‘ask and tell’ operating environment that encourages collaboration, cooperation, proactive enquiry and information sharing.
Updated
Good morning
Welcome to week two of the House of Representatives sitting with an added bonus of estimates hearings, just as a treat.
To kick us off, the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, has released the Richardson review, which was an inquiry ordered into the money being spent on Australia’s offshore detention centres back in July 2023.
Dennis Richardson was asked to conduct a review into “allegations that contractors engaged by the Department of Home Affairs to deliver regional processing services were suspected of systemic misuse of taxpayer money in Nauru and Papua New Guinea”.
O’Neil says the report’s findings are “extremely concerning” and she’s pointed the finger straight at Peter Dutton, the former home affairs minister.
This is an extraordinary report that should have been commissioned years ago, under the former government.
The Parkinson, Nixon and Richardson reports expose Mr Dutton as a hypocrite who was overseeing a migration system that was enabling mass exploitation and abuse, and an offshore processing regime being used as a slush fund by suspected criminals, all while trading on his reputation as a tough guy on the border.
O’Neil said the government will be implementing all of the review’s recommendations in full.
The timing of the release of the report is no coincidence, coming on the first day of estimates hearings and after what could only be described as a bad parliamentary week for the opposition. Labor has started the parliament year on the front foot and on the attack, and after the last six months, is showing no signs of wanting to let go of its advantage.
It’s going to set up a pretty messy contest.
Ready to cover it as always are Paul Karp, Daniel Hurst, Josh Butler and Sarah Basford Canales. Mike Bowers is with you along with the entire Guardian brains trust.
You have Amy Remeikis with you on the blog for most of the day. I’m making coffee number two – but let’s get into it.
