What we learned; Monday 10 February
It’s time to wrap up our live news coverage for the day – and what a day in parliament it’s been. Here’s what’s been keeping us busy:
Anthony Albanese said he will discuss sweeping new steel and aluminium tariffs in a scheduled phone call with Donald Trump.
While the opposition questioned Kevin Rudd’s ability to secure an exemption from the tariffs, Richard Marles gave his resounding support to the ambassador to the US.
Jacqui Lambie, on the other hand, said talk of Rudd’s role was a distraction and that Albanese should not “suck up” or “play bloody Trump’s bluff”.
In question time, the opposition attempted to silence Mary Dreyfus while making an emotional speech about antisemitism. The motion against the Jewish attorny general failed. Lambie called the moment a “disgrace”.
Mark Latham is appealing the finding that he defamed the NSW independent MP Alex Greenwich.
Barnaby Joyce denied he’s being sidelined during the election campaign.
And, finally, the PM delivered the annual Closing the Gap statement. The independent senator Lidia Thorpe called the failure to hit targets over the last 12 months “a year of betrayal”.
As ever, thank you for joining us. We’ll be back with more live political coverage first thing tomorrow.
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Teals have proven doomsayers wrong: Kylea Tink
The North Sydney MP, Kylea Tink, says the teals have defied the major party doomsayers who claimed parliament would descend into chaos if they were elected.
Tink farewelled parliament on Monday less than three years after she entered it, with her federal political career cut short after her seat was abolished in a boundary redistribution.
The former McGrath foundation chief executive has ruled out running for a Senate seat or contesting the nearby electorate of Bradfield.
With dozens of “Tink Pink” supporters watching on from the public gallery, Tink said the teal independents had proven the doubters wrong.
During the election of 2022, those in the traditional two-party system touted the rise of community independents as a risk to stability and predictability, and we’re hearing those threats thrown around again today.
They argue that without party domination, our Parliament will descend into chaos.
Well … we’ve proven them wrong during this term – and rather than chaos, people like me have brought a level of debate and consideration to parliament that has not been seen since the earliest days as a democracy.
Tink lamented that despite the momentum for change that capitulated her and the fellow teals to Canberra in 2022, the nation was struggling to make progress on critical issues such as climate change and inequality.
And yet she remained hopeful.
So while many of my experiences in the last three years would suggest our current political frame has sunk to a place where opposition, for opposition’s sake, is all that matters, I have hope.
Hope that is driven by the understanding that any government derives its power and authority from the people. In this way, democracy is not reserved for, or an entitlement of, certain parties, groups, or individuals.
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