What happened Thursday 10 February, 2022
With that, we’ll wrap up the live news blog for today.
Here’s a summary of the day’s main news developments.
- The Morrison government has shelved its divisive religious discrimination laws after amendments aimed at protecting LGBTQ+ students sparked a backlash from religious schools and conservatives.
- A top Australian intelligence chief has vowed to counter any attempts by other countries to interfere in the upcoming federal election after revealing a “recent” meddling plot had been disrupted.
- Josh Frydenberg’s attempts to cripple the proxy advisers who advise superannuation funds on how to vote on issues including executive pay have been described as a “cluster fiasco” after the Senate killed off the regulations introduced by the treasurer.
- The New South Wales auditor general has warned her unqualified audit of the state’s finances could be at risk after the secretary of transport told a public hearing he had not yet agreed to provide an extra $5.2bn to fund a controversial rail corporation.
- The former British spy chief Sir Richard Dearlove has described the Pine Gap surveillance base in central Australia as “hugely important” to western intelligence collection about China’s “rather alarming” activities.
- Barnaby Joyce has backed Narrabri’s mayor and general manager after they overturned the council’s opposition to the inland rail route on the grounds of flood risk, without consulting their own councillors.
- Tasmania has launched an audacious bid to host or co-host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, but some have labelled the move pointless.
Thanks for tuning in. We’ll be back to do it all again tomorrow.
Updated
Tasmania has launched an audacious bid to host or co-host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, but some have labelled the move pointless, reports AAP.
The Liberal premier, Peter Gutwein, has written to Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive, Craig Phillips, and formally requested the island state be considered as a host for the sporting event.
Tasmania recently hosted the fifth men’s Ashes cricket Test and was given two elimination AFL finals last season due to mainland Covid-19 restrictions.
Jane Howlett, Tasmanian sport minister, said:
Our government is committed to delivering more elite sporting content for Tasmanians to enjoy and, importantly, provide pathways for local sports men, women and children.
We are confident that we can work collaboratively with Commonwealth Games Australia on the opportunities Tasmania presents as either a host or co-host of the 2026 Commonwealth Games.”
The 2022 games will be held in Birmingham. The English city was originally scheduled to host the event in 2026 but it was brought forward when Durban in South Africa was stripped of hosting rights.
Howlett said Tasmania has “clearly demonstrated” an ability to deliver elite sporting content.
The Labor opposition, however, is not on board.
Labor MP Shane Broad said:
This is a pointless plan with absolutely no ability to deliver, and any money spent on a bid would be money wasted.
Peter Gutwein, in writing to the Commonwealth Games CEO, has not even thought through the most basic details like: where would we accommodate thousands of athletes and spectators?
Where could he possibly hold an opening and closing ceremony of any size?”
Gutwein has pushed hard in recent years for Tasmania’s inclusion in the AFL but concerns have been raised about the state’s smaller facilities. Blundstone Arena in Hobart has a capacity of 19,500, while University of Tasmania Stadium in Launceston in the state’s north can hold up to roughly 20,000 people.
Updated
The New South Wales auditor general has warned her unqualified audit of the state’s finances could be at risk after the secretary of transport told a public hearing he had not yet agreed to provide an extra $5.2bn to fund a controversial rail corporation.
A day after her scathing report accused the NSW Treasury of being “unnecessarily obstructive” during her audit of the government’s finances, auditor general Margaret Crawford told a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday that her unqualified audit would need to be “reaffirmed” after earlier evidence from the transport secretary, Rob Sharp.
At the centre of Crawford’s extraordinary report was the Transport Asset Holding Entity (Tahe), a corporation established by the NSW government to hold $40bn in NSW rail assets, in a move that had the effect of inflating the state’s budget by several billion dollars.
Crawford’s signoff on the state’s overall finances was delayed by three months last year as a result of what she labelled “significant accounting issues” with the body.
Her office eventually gave the government an unqualified audit on the state’s finances on Christmas Eve after the government agreed to inject a further $5.2bn into Tahe.
However, during evidence to the inquiry earlier on Thursday, Sharp suggested negotiations on the access fees paid to Tahe remained ongoing and that his department had not signed off on the agreement.
Read more:
Updated
Josh Frydenberg’s attempts to cripple the proxy advisers who advise superannuation funds on how to vote on issues including executive pay have been described as a “cluster fiasco” after the senate killed off the regulations introduced by the treasurer.
The regulations, which were introduced in December, had been in force for just three days when the senate disallowed them on Thursday.
The move was another blow for the government on a messy day in parliament where the government also shelved its contentious religious discrimination bills.
The superannuation regulations required proxy advisers to hand the companies they have researched their reports on the same day as they have gone to paying clients. They also prohibited clients from owning proxy advisers.
Critics said the rules robbed proxy advisers of their intellectual property and would have cost retirement savers money by forcing industry super funds, which have been a frequent target of Morrison government attacks, to set up their own individual research teams rather than use the services of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, where many are shareholders.
Read more:
Updated
A traditional Chinese herbalist warned a diabetic woman off “western medication” and allayed her family’s concerns about her decline before she collapsed and died, a New South Wales judge has been told.
Prosecutors accuse Sydney practitioner Yun Sen Luo of unlawfully killing a 56-year-old woman who’d approached him about a skin condition in 2018.
After allegedly learning she was diabetic, Luo is accused of advising her western doctors had an incorrect perception of diabetes, that she could eat whatever fruits she liked and that prior use of western medications had caused toxins to form inside her body.
“[His] final direction, that she stop taking western medication and start taking herbal medications prescribed by him, set in train a series of events that led to her death,” crown prosecutor Emma Blizard told the Sydney district court on Thursday.
Less than a fortnight after her first appointment with Luo – and after days of her daughter reporting increasingly worsening symptoms – the woman died on 8 June 2018.
Luo, who turns 56 this month and is from Baulkham Hills, has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter by gross criminal negligence.
Tasmania will bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, ABC reports:
Exclusive: Tasmania will launch a bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games
— Chris Rowbottom (@chrisroww) February 10, 2022
w/ @jacksongs @abcsport @abchobart https://t.co/Mg16ZFK5pC
Updated
Obviously Peter Van Onselen’s story has caused a ruckus in Canberra this afternoon.
We are still making calls, but I’m confident the discussion recounted in the story happened. I’m not sure all the details are correct (as in who said what, to whom), but the broad thrust is right. Fair to say someone is making trouble of the capital T variety.
Channel 10 and the Australian are reporting that Scott Morrison was rolled by his own cabinet, after presenting them with a plan to save his religious discrimination bill by also putting a national integrity commission bill back on the agenda.
Scott Morrison has been rolled by his own cabinet, despite telling them that he was putting his leadership on the line in a bid to secure safe passage of his religious discrimination bill. Exclusive by @vanOnselenP. Watch @10NewsFirst at 5pm for more. https://t.co/78mDRgObzu
— Stela Todorovic (@Stela_Todorovic) February 10, 2022
Liberal senator Eric Abetz has denied that his government’s inability to pass its religious discrimination bill amounts to “capitulation”.
Abetz, appearing on ABC TV’s Afternoon Briefing, went on to blame the Labor Party and the amendments it sought for halting the bill:
Abetz said:
When same-sex marriage went through, one of the quid pro quo statements made by both parties was that religious freedom would be guaranteed by legislation. Indeed the then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, said he believed in same-sex marriage just as much as religious freedom. And yesterday the Labor Party were put to the test to deliver on that and unfortunately they failed.
Sure, there were some of my colleagues that crossed the floor but if Labor would have stuck to their basic policy in this regard, it would have flown through the House of Representatives without the amendments that have now made it untenable.
Asked if he thought that voters would interpret the lack of progress on the bill as weakness in the Coalition and Scott Morrison’s leadership, Abetz said:
What people will see is the weakness of the Labor Party in having promised religious freedom legislation, that on block they voted for amendments [for] knowing that it would be untenable. So this was a wonderful screen for them to try to say, ‘we support it’, but then deliberately vote for amendments knowing that will then derail the legislation.
Abetz concedes “it would be highly unlikely, in fairness” for the religious discrimination bill to progress before the next election.
Updated
This daily infographic provides the total number of vaccine doses administered in Australia 🇦🇺 as of 9 February 2022 📅
— Australian Government Department of Health (@healthgovau) February 10, 2022
Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccine information here 💻 https://t.co/lsM33j9wMW pic.twitter.com/3kgUwxTuoZ
Thanks to Tory Shepherd for steering us through not just today but the entirety of an eventful sitting week.
I’ll be bringing you news developments for the rest of the day. Buckle up.
That’s this Stobie pole done for today. (I learned today from Mike Bowers that this is a term of endearment for South Australians).
I’ll hand you over to Elias Visontay, and I hope the rest of your day is way more gazpacho than Gestapo.
Until next week!
SA reports seven deaths and 1,639 new cases; WA records 139 cases
There have been seven Covid deaths in South Australia, and 1,639 new cases. SA premier Steven Marshall has announced the relaxing of some restrictions, including density caps at hospitality venues and home gatherings.
Western Australia has recorded 37 community cases, its highest daily number of local cases to date. Another 102 cases were travel-related.
Updated
Still in the house, independent MP Zali Steggall has raised concerns about the long sitting hours. Greens leader Adam Bandt is rejecting the earlier comments that Labor’s climate policies are identical to his party’s, and outlining the differences.
And that’s Question Time done for today, and the week. Prime minister Scott Morrison and Labor leader Anthony Albanese have thanked all the staff who had to stick around for that all-night sitting.
Albanese has gone on to talk to the speaker about those Dutton comments, and the report on his comments three decades ago.
'Open and obvious' who China is backing to win federal election, Dutton claims
Defence minister Peter Dutton has just made an extraordinary accusation in the parliament: “that the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese government has also made a decision about who they will back in the next federal election, Mr Speaker, and that is open and obvious”.
The implication is that Labor is soft on China – something for which there is no basis.
Here’s what Labor leader Anthony Albanese told 3AW recently:
I’ve visited Taiwan and I’ve met with their democratically-elected leadership. And that democracy should be respected. And there is a bipartisan position on Taiwan, on the South China Sea, on the Uyghurs, on all of the human rights positions, because China has changed its posture in recent years … there will remain a difficult position with China, regardless of who is in government, because it’s China’s position that has changed, not Australia’s.
What we’ve seen from a desperate government is a rather embarrassing article, frankly, published on Saturday, from a government looking for difference where there isn’t any.
Dutton also tried to draw the head of Asio, Mike Burgess, into the matter when challenged about the serious accusation he was making:
Mine was a reflection on what has been publicly reported and commented on by the director-general of Asio, and Mr Speaker, there are media reports today in relation to this serious matter.
In his threat assessment speech last night, Burgess said Asio had recently disrupted a foreign intelligence plot. Burgess did not give particulars about the country or the target, but said:
Attempts at political interference are not confined to one side of politics, and you’d be surprised by the range of countries involved.
Updated
There have been all sorts of accusations from Dutton, I’ll bring you some context for those in a second. Meanwhile, Labor’s Jim Chalmers brings Question Time back to aged care. He’s asking about an outbreak at Jeta Gardens in Brisbane, and a death that has been attributed to neglect.
Health minister Greg Hunt says there’s an inquiry into the death, and he’ll provide details once that’s done:
We recognise there has been a significant outbreak ... we have had additional security put in place, and in particular, the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission has mandated a nurse and advisor support for training and ... pathology has been in place, periodically, since 7 January.
Extra PPE and tests have also been provided, he says.
Updated
Harsh burn from defence minister Peter Dutton. He says the only person less prepared than Anthony Albanese to be prime minister might have been (former Labor leader, now One Nation MP) Mark Latham.
Then he comes up with the following, which is both unfounded and outrageous:
We now see evidence that the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese government has also made a decision about who they will back in the next federal election.
More from Sharkie:
I have only recently received the letter that is circulating in the media from Attorney-General Michaelia Cash. I am asking the Attorney-General for the legal advice underpinning the letter and, if released, will consider that advice carefully. 1/3
— Rebekha Sharkie MP (@MakeMayoMatter) February 10, 2022
Labor’s Ged Kearney asks: “Would Australia’s education system have been better equipped to cope with the deadly Covid outbreaks if the prime minister had not made a $1.7b cut when he was treasurer?”
Health minister Greg Hunt responds:
That is false. Funding has gone up each year every year under this government. Each year it has been a record. Last year we had a $17.7b addition investment.
He’s using the Oakden scandal in South Australia to point out Labor’s past failings in aged care.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is called to the dispatch box to withdraw his attack on Labor leader Anthony Albanese. The speaker warns Frydenberg not to use the opportunity to repeat the attacks. Frydenberg withdraws.
Here is the letter sent from Cash to Rebekha Sharkie. Curious passive voice wording that makes it unclear who has raised concerns pic.twitter.com/atb4erSypM
— Sarah Martin (@msmarto) February 10, 2022
Labor is now asking about the aged care workforce crisis. Health minister Greg Hunt is reeling off a bunch of budget spending items, then points to the announcement of one-off payments to aged care workers. He says:
Those workers have helped [get] an outcome which has saved countless lives by comparison with countries around the world. One of the lowest rates of loss of life in aged care. [Lives lost have] been an immense sadness to the families affected. But because of the work of our aged care workers, we have saved thousands of lives and we thank them and we honour them.
Updated
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is trying to get some mileage out of a report in today’s Australian newspaper about things opposition leader Anthony Albanese said 30 years ago. Frydenberg says:
I refer the leader of the opposition to a very good article on the front page of the Australian today titled Anthony Albanese’s historic battle cry in war on family wealth, where it says he insisted people earning incomes of more than $100,000 do not actually earn them, and that accumulated income in the form of capital is – for all socialists at least – part of the source of many social injustices.
Albanese quips that Frydenberg may want to ask about his year 6 history essays.
It’s now really common for government backbenchers to finish their dorothy dixer questions with “is the minister aware of any alternative policies”.
It’s a sneaky way to invite an attack on the opposition – a direct invitation isn’t allowed. So the dixer-asker can’t say, for example: “Would the minister care to assassinate the opposition leader’s character?”, but can ask about alternative policies. Although some speakers have ruled even that out of order in the past.
Updated
Labor’s Julie Collins asks about an inquiry into the the “threatening” phone call made to former Australian of the Year Grace Tame – she talked about it at the National Press Club yesterday. Collins asked:
Can the prime minister guarantee the results of this so-called investigation into this threatening call will be released, or will he sweep it under the carpet, hide from the truth as he has done before and failed to take any real action?
Peter Dutton says the question is against standing orders. “It was an unsubstantiated flourish,” he says, but the speaker allows it.
Prime minister Scott Morrison says he only became aware of the claim yesterday, and that he wants more information so the “matter can be properly addressed”. He says:
We would be pleased to pursue the matter if we had some knowledge of [which agency] has been referred to.
[The comments] were not made on my behalf nor would they ever would be and they were not made with my knowledge in any way, shape or form, or by my office, by my government, and I consider the actions and the statements of the individual as absolutely unacceptable, and inquiries can only be made where we can be directed, and those inquiries should be seeking to get answers to the matters that have been raised and if anyone has any information on that, then I would encourage them to bring it forward so the matter can be properly addressed.
Updated
Mayo MP Rebekha Sharkie has responded to government accusations her religious discrimination changes would have “unintended consequences”:
Similar arguments were made by the Govt when medevac laws were passed. Unfortunately the Minister has not shared the legal advice referred to in her letter. My amendment was identical to Labor’s proposed amendment. It is a sound amendment. Poor form.
— Rebekha Sharkie MP (@MakeMayoMatter) February 10, 2022
Labor’s Chris Bowen asks about the government’s climate change policy. Morrison accuses Labor of forcing up electricity prices, and of being in bed with the Greens. He said:
If the leader of the Labor Party were to become prime minister of this country, he would be answering to the leader of the Greens when it comes to climate policy.
If you are in the Hunter, if you are living out in Latrobe ... if you’re in the Territory or in WA, if the Labor Party is seeking to form a government after the selection, they will be doing it for the Greens and they will be putting up electricity prices and selling out the blue-collar jobs of this country.
There are echoes here of the way the Coalition attacked Labor when it partnered with the Greens in 2010. The Coalition has a history of attacking coalitions.
Updated
Another point of order has been raised, after Morrison used a dorothy dixer to accuse Albanese of being in cahoots with China. The PM is “making a serious allegation across the chamber, and he should not be permitted to use Question Time to just make things up,” Albanese responds.
Updated
Morrison is says there are many qualities a prime minister needs, but being “a sook and a snarler” are not among them. (Earlier this week he accused Albanese of “snarling”).
Updated
There is a conduct that is “creeping into practice”, the Speaker says, of bringing up invalid points of order. “I’m trying my best to err on the side of caution,” he says.
(It has felt this week as though we have heard more from the Speaker than from anyone else).
The Speaker (Andrew Wallace) said he spent some time reading Hansard over the Christmas break (“it is terribly sad,” he agrees). He says he doesn’t think his interventions are any different to his predecessor’s. Labor’s Tony Burke had suggested they were.
Updated
Question time begins
Labor leader Anthony Albanese is up first, asking prime minister Scott Morrison why he has “betrayed” his colleagues and the Australian people by failing to legislate for a federal anti-corruption commission.
Morrison is straight into a bit of whatabouttery, shouting about Labor state government corruption scandals.
“They had so many ex-Labor ministers in prison, they could start a branch of the Labor party in the Silverwater prison,” he said.
Speaker Andrew Wallace said he could barely hear what was being said over the opposition’s protests, and now there’s yet another debate about relevance. Wallace is also warning members about unparliamentary remarks, including accusations of corruption or fraud.
Updated
Question Time is just about to kick off.
First, prime minister Scott Morrison is expressing his “deep regret” at the January death of the WA Liberal MP Ransley Victor Garland. Garland held a range of portfolios, and was appointed high commissioner to the United Kingdom in 1981.
“May this dedicated servant of Australia and our great party rest in peace,” Morrison said.
The opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, is also offering his condolences.
Updated
The Liberal senator Andrew Bragg had put the government on notice that he had concerns with the religious discrimination bill, using additional comments in his committee inquiry report on Friday to call for the statements of belief clause to be removed and to add protections for LGBTQ+ teachers and students.
We can confirm that Bragg informed the government he intended to cross the floor on the bill when it came to the Senate.
Updated
Politician resigns after overseas holiday during crisis (no, it’s not prime minister Scott Morrison):
Good advice from the prof:
As an ancient, I'm being very careful until Paxlovid is out there: seems a good drug! In the meantime, especially if you're older, get the 3rd shot! Covid-19 pills: vulnerable and unvaccinated Australians to be prioritised for new oral treatments https://t.co/qxj6iVlFfk
— Prof. Peter Doherty (@ProfPCDoherty) February 10, 2022
The citadel has been breached https://t.co/ZCa35N0wfv
— Rory Medcalf (@Rory_Medcalf) February 10, 2022
Senate opts not to debate religious discrimination bills
The Senate has just decided not to debate the religious discrimination bills today.
That means the package is likely to NOT be considered for a final vote this side of the election.
Next week the Senate is holding budget estimates hearings, meaning no votes on legislation. The only other normal Senate sitting days this side of the election are 29 March (budget day) and the day after.
There’s no impetus for the government now to pass the package, after five of its own members added amendments protecting LGBTQ+ students. The Australian Christian Lobby, religious school groups and conservative MPs and senators won’t cop it.
Updated
The Greens senator Larissa Waters has just raised an important issue in the Senate about this week’s statement of acknowledgement in the parliament.
She has said Australians know the faces of Rachelle Miller, Chelsey Potter, Brittany Higgins, Josie Coles, Saxon Mullins and Grace Tame “not because they are the only ones who have come forward, but because they look most like people we know, that we can identify with”.
She notes some survivors have been missing from the conversation, and that needs to change.
Waters has read a message from Dhanya Mani, who was one of the first people to speak out about the implications of toxic culture. She was not invited to attend this week’s apology. The message is as follows:
Earlier this week, there was an “apology” delivered by Scott Morrison to survivors of sexual abuse in politics. He spoke about the power of apologies to create reform and change. That statement is true. It just does not apply to his offensive and whitewashed excuse for an apology.
Scott Morrison not only failed to genuinely consult, or consider survivors in the wording of his apology - he rewrote and whitewashed Australian feminist history in the process. Tessa Sullivan - a woman of colour who was the first to tell her story of sexual violence in politics when the #MeToo movement began to gain ground in Australia in early 2018 inspired me to speak out, yet many Australians fail to recognise we would not be here without her.
I continued Tessa’s work, launching my campaign Kate’s List when I told my story. My campaign was - and remains - designed to support survivors and end sexual violence in Australian politics and workplaces. Yet women like myself and Tessa are largely erased from media commentary, culture and history. Even now in 2022, after the lessons of #MeToo, politicians and the mainstream media almost solely centre the stories of cis-gender, able-bodied and conventionally attractive white women at the expense of all other voices.
But this cultural moment of reckoning in Australian politics and feminism is built on the sacrifice, advocacy and unpaid labour of women of colour like me. Like Tessa. We came first.
Failing to acknowledge the labour of CALD women sends a message: sexual violence and other forms of abuse only impact white women. But we know that these crimes disproportionately impact CALD and First Nations women. In a country in which colonisation is ongoing, we cannot allow this distorted and incomplete picture to form the sole foundation for the Australian public’s understanding of male violence against women.
If this parliament fails to act, it is tacitly endorsing and aggravating impenetrable barriers to equality for diverse, minority-identifying Australians.
This country cannot achieve inclusive, healthy progress for women in political life until and unless we can start recognising and validating the vital work of women of colour and First Nations women in making opportunities for feminist cultural reckoning and reform possible.
This speech is for all minority women, and women of colour, who do not feel seen in political life. I’ll keep fighting for us. I deserve to be seen. Tessa deserves to be seen. You deserve to be seen. This historic moment belongs to us, too. I will not stop until skin colour and minority status do not determine whether we are acknowledged, whether we are recognised by politicians and the media, and whether cultural and historic milestones built on our advocacy and labour belong to us.
Waters’ contribution came in the debate about legislative changes flowing from the Jenkins report.
Updated
The Australian Capital Territory has recorded 500 new Covid cases. 51 people are in hospital, three in intensive care.
Bills in religious discrimination package delayed
The package of religious discrimination bills, including the human rights amendment bill that contained protections for LGBTQ+ students, will not be considered by the Senate today.
Liberal Jonathon Duniam moved a Senate motion to exempt a list of bills from the cutoff, which at first included the religious bills, but it was amended to remove them.
There was a brief confusion in the chamber, as even government senators including Matt Canavan seemed confused about what they’d just voted for - Senate president, Slade Brockman, confirmed that the motion exempting the religious bills from the cutoff was negatived.
Labor and the Greens have confirmed this means the bills won’t be considered today.
My colleague Sarah Martin has established from the government that this was deliberate, because of concerns of religious schools and conservative MPs and senators, who want legal advice about the effect of the amendments made to the House bills.
Updated
The Senate has torpedoed regulations aimed at crippling proxy advisers, dealing a heavy blow to treasurer Josh Frydenberg.
Former submariner turned crossbencher Rex Patrick and the Greens’ Nick McKim moved a motion denying the regulations shortly before midday and senators voted 29 for, and 25 against.
There was no debate – Patrick feared allowing one would allow Coalition senators to run down the clock and stop the motion being voted on – and moves to get one up were also rejected by the Senate.
The regulations forced proxy advisers to give their reports to the companies they were writing about at the same time as clients who paid for the research, and also aimed to shut down the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, which gives proxy advice and is mostly owned by industry super funds, by making it illegal for clients to own advisers.
A government regulation covering financial services was last disallowed by the Senate in 2014, when it knocked out one that removed a requirement that financial planners act in the best interests of clients.
Updated
PM Morrison proposed a federal ICAC & religious discrimination bill at the same presser - Dec 13, 2018
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) February 10, 2022
called both "absolutely central... to the proper functioning" of Australia
1155 days later: no federal ICAC, and speculation the religious bill may not get a Senate vote today pic.twitter.com/9iPUM0f4Ie
The LGBTI legal service – which represents Citipointe parents and children – is “deeply concerned” that the religious discrimination bill that passed the house will still allow “the damaging content” of statements of belief. The service’s Matilda Alexander said:
There is nothing but detriment in these changes and a wind back of existing state protections in all areas of public life, especially schools.
Some more details from Queensland:
Today we have recorded 5,854 new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) February 10, 2022
Sadly, 8 deaths were reported in the past 24 hours.
Full details ➡ https://t.co/2vvTmliFgl pic.twitter.com/ugvryETbyu
National Covid-19 update
Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 56 deaths from Covid 19:
ACT
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 500
- In hospital: 51 (with threepeople in ICU)
NSW
- Deaths: 24
- Cases: 10,130
- In hospital: 1,795 (with 121 people in ICU)
Queensland
- Deaths: 8
- Cases: 5,854
- In hospital: 633 (with 48 people in ICU)
South Australia
- Deaths: 7
- Cases: 1,639
- In hospital: 206 (with 16 people in ICU)
Tasmania
- Deaths: 1
- Cases: 637
- In hospital: 17 (with one person in ICU)
Victoria
- Deaths: 16
- Cases: 9,391
- In hospital: 543 (with 75 people in ICU)
Western Australia
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 139 (37 local, 102 ‘other’)
- In hospital: 1
Updated
Bills in religious discrimination package in limbo
Last night the bills in the religious discrimination package passed the lower house: one with only government amendments (the religious discrimination bill), and one with the Rebekha Sharkie amendments protecting LGBTQ+ students (the human rights amendment bill), supported by Labor, Adam Bandt, five Liberal moderates, Andrew Wilkie, Zali Steggall and Helen Haines.
Will these bills even be debated in the Senate? In general, it would be up to the government to deal with its own bills, but crossbench senators say there appears to be no appetite from the Coalition to bring these on.
Labor has also detected a go-slow in the Senate, with government senators taking the full 10-minute statements to explain matters like why they haven’t responded to inquiry reports and why Richard Colbeck is still aged care services minister.
We’ve checked the rules - and since the religious discrimination bills have passed the lower house, a message has come across to the Senate, and a non-government majority can insist that they be reported immediately and dealt with.
So, if Labor, the Greens, crossbench and Liberal moderates in the Senate wanted to, they could try to force the issue and deal with the human rights amendment bill to protect LGBTQ+ students.
At the moment the bills are just in limbo, and it’s not at all clear they’ll be debated today in the Senate.
Updated
Eight people have died in Queensland, and the state has recorded 5,854 new Covid cases.
Financial counsellors have welcomed a record fine of $2.5m levied on online bookie Sportsbet for spamming customers, saying it strengthens their push for a total ban on gambling advertising.
Sportsbet will also pay $1.2m in refunds to punters after sending 150,000 marketing emails and texts to customers who had tried to opt out and 3000 messages that did not contain a method of opting-out.
The company has apologised.
Lauren Levin, the director of policy and campaigns at Financial Counselling Australia, said:
This sort of marketing causes real harm to people who are already suffering.
One former gambler told me it’s like dropping a crate of beer at the front door of a reforming alcoholic. It’s just not right.
This is why Australia needs a proper roadmap for change across the gambling sector and this must include a total ban on all gambling advertising and marketing of this sort.
You can read more about the fine and the push for a gambling ban here:
ABS reports there were 29,000 Covid "offenders" in 20-21, of which 79% in Vic. Across the country, Covid offenders were likely to be male (73%) and aged between 20 and 29 (36%). Overall offender numbers down 4% (with big falls in drug and theft offenders) to 360k...
— Shane Wright (@swrighteconomy) February 10, 2022
The home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, has introduced a critical infrastructure bill to the lower house to secure critical infrastructure.
Last year the government split its own bill in two because of concerns from industry that some of the obligations may be too onerous. The first parts – including requiring the mandatory reporting of cyber incidents and allowing the government to provide assistance to critical infrastructure sector assets in response to significant cyber-attacks – passed before Christmas. This new bill is to deal with the outstanding elements.
Andrews told parliament:
It is a regrettable fact that malicious threat actors continue to target the infrastructure that underpins the provision of essential services that all Australians rely on. The consequences of a prolonged and widespread failure in the energy sector, for example, could be catastrophic not just to our economy, security and sovereignty, but the Australian way of life.
Andrews said the new bill would require critical infrastructure owners to identify “material risks that could have an impact on the critical infrastructure asset and as far as reasonably practicable minimise, eliminate or mitigate the risk from occurring”.
She argued this risk management obligation was meant to have the “lightest regulatory impact”. Andrews went out of her way to play down the red tape impact:
Importantly, none of the risk management program requirements will come into force without additional consultation with industry and careful consideration of any issues they raise, including the timing on when the requirements will come into force.
Indeed, if passed by the parliament my intention is to delay the obligation for critical assets impacted by recent supply chain issues including the freight services and infrastructure as well as food assets until 1 January 2023 at the earliest. Additionally, there are a number of assets that already have existing obligations in place and I don’t intend to apply the risk management program to every critical infrastructure asset.
Andrews said there were “some critical infrastructure systems and networks that are so vital, interconnected and of national significance to the functioning of Australian society, defence or security that if they were subject to a cyber-attack, would cause disproportionate consequences”. She said the bill also set out criteria for the declaration of a “system of national significance”, and these would face extra cybersecurity obligations.
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Tasmania reports 637 new Covid cases
One person has died and seventeen people are in hospital in Tasmania with Covid. One person is in intensive care. The state recorded 637 new cases.Tasmania has recorded an additional coronavirus death, with the state’s daily case figure rising to 637.
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China’s foreign ministry has accused Australia of turning “a blind eye to its own problems”, in the latest example of Beijing attempting to deflect attention from its own human rights record.
At the daily foreign ministry press briefing in Beijing overnight, Chinese state media outlet the Global Times mentioned two reports were recently published by Australia’s Productivity Commission regarding prisons and the justice sector and asked: “What is your comment?”
Zhao Lijian, the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, replied that he had “noted the reports” and “the comparison speaks volumes”:
According to the reports released by the research body of the Australian government, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people comprise 3.3% of the Australian population but 29% of prisoners in 2020. In the Northern Territory, they make up 84% of the prison population. And their rate of imprisonment is 13 times that of the non-Indigenous group. At least 474 Indigenous people died during incarceration over the past 30 years. These figures fully expose the grave human rights problems in Australia.
Zhao is the official who triggered a diplomatic storm in November 2020 by tweeting an image that appeared to depict an Australian soldier cutting the throat of an Afghan child holding a sheep, together with the words: “Don’t be afraid, we are coming to bring you peace!”
Zhao went on to say that Australia “adopted genocide and assimilation policies against the Indigenous people” in the past, and “even till this day, the Indigenous people are still subject to grave unfair treatment when it comes to living conditions and law enforcement”. He called on “some in Australia” to “carefully read the reports” and “earnestly do some soul-searching”.
The Chinese government has long attempted to deflect attention from its own rights record by accusing the west of hypocrisy.
Australia has joined the US, the UK and others in staging a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, with Scott Morrison citing the diplomatic tensions and also “the human rights abuses in Xinjiang and the many other issues that Australia has consistently raised”.
The Australian government has not joined with the US in adopting the terminology “genocide” in describing human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region, but has said it is concerned about “repressive measures enforced against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities in Xinjiang”.
Prime minister Scott Morrison said in his Closing the Gap statement last year that he was committed to “a genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stakeholders and organisations – a partnership generations overdue, built on mutual respect, dignity, and above all, trust” – with a goal of reducing the rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults incarcerated by at least 15% by 2031.
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Christian schools are not happy with the protections added to protect LGBTQ+ students as part of the passage of the religious discrimination legislation in the house.
The Australian Association of Christian Schools, which represents more than 100 Christian schools, wants all the amendments rejected. Chief executive officer Vanessa Cheng said they went too far and are a “complete betrayal of trust”.
Christian Schools Australia, which is “committed to advancing the Kingdom of God” in schools, also called on the Senate to reject the amendments. Public policy director Mark Spencer said they removed “the ability to teach in accordance with our faith”.
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NSW relaxes hospital visiting rules
Families and friends will be able to visit dying or labouring loved ones in hospitals under a relaxation to visitation rules across New South Wales.
The updated guidelines, to be distributed to hospitals across the state today, will make it easier for people to visit patients with a terminal or life-threatening prognosis and for partners to be present during birth.
Access will be granted if the visit is seen to benefit the patient’s physical or emotional wellbeing and hospitals will still be able to limit numbers to reduce the risk of Covid transmission.
Visitors will need to be fully vaccinated or have a valid medical exemption.
The shift comes after a number of families came forward over the past week with harrowing stories of being denied the chance to be with loved ones as they die due to restrictions brought during the Omicron wave.
After apologising to those affected publicly on Wednesday, premier Dominic Perrottet said the change was made as soon as it was safe to do so. Perrottet said:
There have been many heartbreaking stories.
It has always been a fine balance. We have to be cautious given the high-risk setting of our hospitals but ultimately we want to make sure that compassion is the major focus.
The [changes] will make a real difference to provide support for those people who are coming to the end of the end of life and ensuring that they have their friends, their carers and a family around them.
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Here is Graham Readfearn’s latest Temperature Check:
John Alexander, the retiring Liberal MP for the seat of Bennelong, is giving his valedictory speech and is using the moment to talk about how he believes parliament can be a better place.
He says if he could change one thing in parliament it would be to address the “segregation” between MPs and ministers, saying too often the work of MPs in parliament is dismissed:
Too often parliament’s work is dismissed by government, and committees are seen as ways to occupy backbenchers.
I’m immensely proud of the work that my colleagues and I have done on backbench committees, our backbench committees utilise the knowledge and expertise of their members and engage with world-leading experts from across the country.
We find the facts that then build the solid foundation of reasoned recommendations to form evidence-based policies for our leaders to absorb and use. But once tabled, they sit in ministerial drawers to gather dust and eventually receive a token response that does not engage with the scholarship within.
Alexander talks about the lack of long-term vision and planning, pointing to the failure of the country to have high-speed rail as an example:
Unfortunately, vision that plans for decades into the future is at odds with a political system that resets every three years and is obsessed with a narrative of the day. In this house, where the main game is all too often to denigrate and name-call, the contest of ideas is the first casualty.
If I could change one thing about our system, it is the way it segregates ministers from the parliament and the opportunities that are lost through this.
He also says that, on the eve of an election, he is hoping to elevate the political debate in a way that earns the trust and respect of Australians.
“Make this a contest of ideas, plans and vision that will uplift our people and give them hope for the future,” he says.
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese then stands up to congratulate Alexander, and also thanks him for teaching him a “kick second serve” (which, according to my tennis-playing colleague Paul Karp, is a slower, spinnier, wide serve.)
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The new head of the New South Wales Treasury has announced an independent investigation following a scathing report from the state’s auditor general which found the department provided “late, unsophisticated, and inaccurate forecasts” over a controversial $40bn rail corporation.
Released on Wednesday, the report by auditor general Margaret Crawford accused treasury of being “unnecessarily obstructive and difficult” in a bid to withhold key information about the Transport Asset Holding Entity while the auditor was attempting to review the state’s finances.
The extraordinary report revealed Treasury’s attempts to withhold information from the auditor extended to sending 1,000 pages of documents to her office in the early hours of Christmas Eve, on the same day she was due to sign off on the government’s finances.
The newly appointed Treasury secretary, Paul Grimes, is fronting a parliamentary inquiry about the TAHE on Thursday, and opened by announcing he would order an “independent assessment” of the processes which led to the “important, serious matters” raised in the auditor’s report.
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Brace for a pictorial journey of valedictories, press conferences and chamber huddles, brought to you by Mike Bowers:
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New Covid treatments will go to unvaccinated and other vulnerable patients. Donna Lu reports they will not be generally available for “many, many week”.
Here’s the Senate order of business ...
The #Senate meets at 9.30 this morning. Our order of business (the Red) is available from ParlWork https://t.co/W0mvG4D8zj pic.twitter.com/0V3ovFmMsI
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) February 9, 2022
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The valedictory speeches have begun – we’ll bring you the highlights.
Good morning. The House resumes at 9.30am. The day will begin with valedictory speeches from @damiandrummp, @JAforBennelong and @KenODowdMP, after which seven bills are scheduled to be introduced. Full program at: https://t.co/A2KHNZn6lJ pic.twitter.com/rUoSxO3ZuH
— Australian House of Representatives (@AboutTheHouse) February 9, 2022
Christian lobby says government should withdraw religious discrimination bill as changes 'do more harm than good'
The Christian lobby is now saying the government should withdraw its religious discrimination bill as it has been “completely undermined” by the simultaneous changes to the Sex Discrimination Act.
In a statement, the Australian Christian Lobby’s Wendy Francis said the bill was intended to help faith-based schools, “but [changes to the act] now do more harm than good”:
The Australian Christian Lobby withdraws its support for the Religious Discrimination Bill package and calls on the Morrison Government to now withdraw the Bills from the Senate.
Taking away protections for Christian schools is a price too high to pay for the passage of the Religious Discrimination Bill. The amendments voted on by Labor, independents and these Liberal MPs unnecessarily interfere with the operation of faith-based schools.
With the amendments so damaging to religious freedom, the Government should immediately withdraw the bills.
Given the earlier remarks from senator Amanda Stoker, it would appear that this is a live option.
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All eyes are on what the government will do (or try to do) in the Senate – either strip out the Labor/crossbench amendments from the House, allow them to go through, or not bring on the religious discrimination legislation at all.
The Senate is due to adjourn at 6pm tonight, on the final day of the sitting week, and there’s stacks already on the agenda.
It’s also the last Senate sitting day until budget week in late March. Considering the all-nighter in the House, it’s unlikely there will be time to consider or pass the bill today in the Senate unless the upper house passes an “hours motion” to extend its sitting.
Independent senator Rex Patrick reckons that’s unlikely, claiming Labor, Greens and some of the crossbench wouldn’t back the motion.
My prediction for the day: The Religious Discrimination Bill will not be dealt with today. It is the Senate that controls what happens in the Senate, not @ScottMorrisonMP #auspol
— Rex Patrick (@Senator_Patrick) February 9, 2022
There’s also another spanner in the works, with Sky News reporting that Liberal senator Andrew Bragg could cross the floor to back the House amendments.
That could mean the Section 38 (3) changes to better protect trans students could pass the Senate too – if they come to a vote at all.
Could be a very long day.
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Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is urging his federal counterparts not to vote for the religious discrimination bill in the Senate if they can’t secure amendments to protect trans children:
Every child should be protected, whether they’re gay, straight or trans. Every child should be protected and any laws that don’t deliver that ought not be voted for.
Asked if he was critical of federal Labor MPs in the lower house, Andrews replied:
No, as I understand it they’re going to work towards making amendments in the Senate and I’ll be urging them if you can’t amend, don’t vote for it. All kids deserve to be protected, all kids. And anyone who tells you they’re prepared to protect some and not others, I wouldn’t believe them.
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Regulations put in place by treasurer Josh Frydenberg to cripple proxy advisers could be knocked down by the Senate this morning.
Proxy advisers give advice to super funds and other investors about how to vote on executive pay and the performance of companies on environmental, social and governance issues.
They’ve long been a thorn in the side of company directors and executives, who are irked by complaints about high pay or poor performance.
Frydenberg’s regulation requires proxy advisers to give the companies they write about their reports, which the industry says robs them of their property as it is these reports they sell to clients, and bars clients owning advisers – an attack on union-and-employer-controlled industry super funds, many of whom are among owners of the adviser the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors.
The treasurer brought the change in by regulation in December after earlier attempts to legislate the changes, which proxy advisers have called a “Trumpian brain fart”, failed.
But these kinds of regulations can be knocked out by the Senate, and crossbencher Rex Patrick plans to move a motion to do so after 11.15am today.
He told Guardian Australia he was going for an up-and-down vote, with no debate, to stop the Coalition running down the clock by filibustering.
Labor came out strongly for disallowance this week and the Greens are also onboard. There are also some Liberal backbenchers who are understood to be unhappy with the regulation.
But the big swing factor is Pauline Hanson’s One Nation – Patrick said he did not know how the rightwing party intended to vote:
The Senate is a lottery. The treasurer might have to try his luck. He may win or he may lose.
Patrick is unhappy with both the way Frydenberg brought in the changes and their substance:
The way in which the treasurer did it was sneaky and designed to circumvent the Senate’s role in either refusing or approving regulations.
The bottom line is that this is Josh Frydenberg protecting big business. Josh Frydenberg doesn’t like super funds effectively being able to get independent advice.
It harms the super funds, who’ll now have to set up a team inside each of the funds – that’ll just cost super fund members money.
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Assistant attorney-general Amanda Stoker has been a bit more cagey when asked if the government in the Senate would try to roll back the House amendments to better protect transgender students.
Stoker told Sky News the government was “checking in with all of the stakeholder groups”, and wouldn’t commit on what it would do next – try to amend the House bill to remove the repeal of Section 38 (3) of the Sex Discrimination Act, allow the bill to go through unamended, or potentially pull it off the agenda altogether. She said:
We need to make sure that we are consulting with [stakeholders] and making sure that ... we can fully appreciate the implications of that amendment, before we have to deal with the Senate.
Earlier, fellow Liberal senator Jane Hume said the Coalition would “inevitably move amendments to try and revert the bill back to the government’s position”.
Stoker wouldn’t commit to that, saying only that the government was “really intent on honouring the commitment we made to all of the multicultural groups, to all other religious groups, and also all of the LGBTI groups in the consultation process that we’ve undertaken”.
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The Australian Aged Care Collaboration, a group of six aged care peak bodies, has written an open letter to Scott Morrison urging the government to do something to address the crisis in the sector:
At the start of this pandemic the aged care sector and your government agreed it was a national priority to do all we can to protect older Australians, and the passionate and dedicated people that care for them, safe from the coronavirus.
For the past two years aged care services and staff have been on the frontline working day and night in the most challenging situations, doing everything they can, often with limited resources, to keep people safe. Older Australians and their families have endured wave after wave of the pandemic. Our staff and services have risen to this challenge despite the huge cost to themselves and their families.
Much of the government’s response has fallen short of what Australia’s older people in care have needed. Older people, their families and our aged care workers are all suffering as a consequence.
Sadly, the tragic human cost of this crisis continues to grow.
The aged care royal commission released its findings last year and found that “the Australian aged care system is unacceptable and unsustainable” due in large part to “fundamental systemic flaws”. It found the workforce is undervalued, understaffed and underpaid, and services are not funded to deliver all the care that is needed to the standards that are desired.
The AACC said:
These fundamental issues which were cracks in the aged care system are now being turned into chasms by the pandemic.
It has called on the government to immediately lift staff wages, as recommended by the royal commission, and immediately address critical staff and skills shortages.
It wants the government to immediately increase subsidies paid to services to fund the increase in new operating costs incurred for improved infection prevention and protection measures, and to establish the proposed National Aged Care Covid Coordination Centre.
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AGL brings forward closure of its two biggest coal-fired plants
Energy giant AGL has brought forward the closure date of its two biggest coal-fired power plants by several years, responding to a market shift towards renewable sources of electricity.
In an earnings statement on Thursday to the ASX, the soon-to-be-demerged energy company said its underlying first-half profit had falled 40.9% to $194m.
The main interest for many, though, will be the acceleration of the closure plans for AGL’s Hunter Valley-based Bayswater black coal-fired power station in NSW to 2033 from its scheduled demise in 2035, while its brown coal-fired Loy Yang A plant in Victoria will now close in 2045 rather than 2048.
The timing would depend on “the readiness of the entire energy system to operate without our critical baseload generation”, the company said.
Market forces, though, could decide on a much earlier closure date than these revised schedules.
Worries about energy shortages have pushed up the cost of coal and gas globally, some of which has begun affecting wholesale power prices in Australia, despite the falling share of fossil-fuel sources in the main national market. Wind, solar and hydro plants, whose energy costs are nearly free, generated almost a third of the electricity for the eastern states in 2021.
One of Australia’s oldest companies, AGL generates about one-fifth of the national electricity market’s power, with about 11,000 megawatts of capacity. By the end of 2022 it plans to split into two, with most of the generation units going into its Accel Energy spinoff and the retailing arm to make up AGL Australia.
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Labor MP Stephen Jones gave an emotional speech about his nephew Ollie this week. He also said this:
My own son [Paddy Quilter-Jones] is also a beautiful, creative, intelligent 14-year-old. He designs and makes clothes, is a gifted makeup artist, moves seamlessly between the wardrobes of men and women. He wears heels that give me vertigo and has more handbags than his sister. He has more courage than any boy I have met. He swims against the tide.
Quilter-Jones has been on ABC television this morning. He said he cried when he first heard the speech:
It was a really beautiful speech. It was really important. I saw it and I thought, “Wow, like this is really important for people to see and for people to hear.” I think that the bill needs to be changed because it’s disgusting that a school would have the right to expel a gay or trans child for being who they are and it is disgusting that people of faith are protected by their religion so they can say whatever they want about gay and trans or whatever people just because it is what they believe.
Quilter-Jones went on to talk about his cousin:
I remember Ollie from when I was younger. I think my favourite memory of him was when we were – I think we were about five. We were out in the back garden and we were talking about things and I said, “Ollie, are you my best friend?” And he said, “No, we can’t be best friends, we’re family” and I said, “What does that mean?” And he said, “Family is closer than friends because we’re blood” and Ollie is my blood and I love him and I still love him, even though he’s gone.
And, for the record, Quilter-Jones said he doesn’t have more handbags than his sister, but hers are gathering dust in her wardrobe.
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Victoria reports 16 deaths and 9,391 new Covid cases
Sixteen Covid-positive people have died in Victoria, and the state has recorded 9,391 new cases, while 543 people are in hospital, with 75 in intensive care and 23 on ventilators.
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) February 9, 2022
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAtS1P#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/1bkMm6fC9y
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NSW records 24 Covid deaths and 10,130 new cases
Twenty-four people have died with Covid in New South Wales and 10,130 new cases have been reported, while 1,795 people are in hospital, with 121 in intensive care.
NSW COVID-19 update – Thursday 10 February 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) February 9, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
- 95.5% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 94.1% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/Fd03GhxEPy
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It’s a gas-fired recovery! Except gas-fired power has fallen to the lowest level since 2005, as renewable energy surges. Adam Morton reports:
Liberal senator Jane Hume said the government will try to move Senate amendments to remove the Sex Discrimination Act amendments from the House, which would have better protected transgender students.
Those are the amendments which Labor and the crossbench have been out this morning claiming as a huge win. The non-government members of the House (and five Coalition MPs) succeeded with amendments to remove section 38 (3) of the Sex Discrimination Act, which does not make it unlawful for religious schools to discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese called the removal of that section a “fundamental principle” to make “an enormous difference”, during an early morning press conference on Thursday.
The government’s position had been to only remove “sexual orientation” from that clause but leave the rest. Instead, last night’s marathon sitting saw the House agree to remove that whole section.
“The government will inevitably move amendments to try and revert the bill back to the government’s position,” Hume said in a press conference, when asked what the Coalition might do next.
Hume said the amendments would be “re-prosecuted” in the upper house. She said instead the government still backed an Australian Law Reform Commission process to investigate the 38 (3) issue, “so that we get that balance right and handle the issue as sensitively as possible”:
When you deal with competing rights, it’s always going to be a contentious issue ... the rights of children, sometimes very vulnerable children, with the rights of people of faith to have the choice to send their children to a same-sex school.
People of faith should be allowed to express their faith to send their children to a same-sex school but at the same time we want to make sure we protect all children, particularly Australia’s most vulnerable.
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The federal government has prioritised the religious discrimination bill over other legislation, with only a handful of sitting days before the election.
Legislation for a federal integrity commission is one of the “de-prioritised” issues – although it remains a priority for many in parliament, and many hoping to enter parliament at the next election.
Labor is among those who are critical of the draft bill, calling it soft. RMIT ABC Fact Check has had a gander at senator Anne Ruston’s claims it’s tougher than a royal commission.
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Need a quick recap of yesterday’s shenanigans in question time? As prime minister Scott Morrison said: Bring. It. On. Sarah Martin reports:
TGA approves AstraZeneca booster for adults
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has provisionally approved an AstraZeneca booster for adults.
AAP reports that the health department stresses Pfizer and Moderna remain the preferred booster options, regardless of what vaccines someone has previously received:
The decision to receive Vaxzevria (AstraZeneca) as a booster must be made in consultation with a medical professional.
The department encouraged people to get a booster to better protect against severe disease.
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It’s been a heavy morning. It will be an intense day. Please take a moment to appreciate this video of a Nerf gun dart being removed from the gullet of a pet green tree frog:
Here’s Katharine Murphy with nine of the highlights from yesterday’s National Press Club with former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame. (There were many, many highlights):
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Women’s safety minister Anne Ruston has spoken to ABC radio about the five Liberal MPs who crossed the floor on the religious discrimination bill. She said:
We allow people to be able to vote according to their beliefs and values so that was quite an acceptable thing for our backbenchers to do last night.
Ruston has also been asked about Grace Tame’s accusation she received a threatening phone call asking her not to criticise Scott Morrison. She said the government was happy to work with Tame to investigate what happened but that it was up to Tame if she wanted further action taken:
It shouldn’t have happened. The government and the Australia Day Council had no knowledge of this accusation that was made. We’d be keen to get to the bottom of what has actually happened.
Ruston outlined what the federal government has spent on ending violence against women, in response to Tame’s calls for more to be done.
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Shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus said this morning it had been a “shocking process” to get the religious discrimination bill through the House. He told ABC radio:
This parliament , if invited to work on a bipartisan process, can produce legislation in contentious areas that serves to unite our country and not further divide it.
Dreyfus is confident the Senate will support further changes, such as adding an anti-vilification provision, and removing the bill’s ability to override state legislation. He wouldn’t be drawn on whether Labor would vote down the bill if those amendments weren’t added.
He said despite removing discrimination against all children, there was “much yet to be improved”.
Labor “almost got there” on amending the bill’s statement of belief, he said.
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Liberal senator Jane Hume pointed out that the government does not have the same numbers in the Senate. She also told the ABC it was about “competing rights”:
I’m absolutely certain that at the end of the day when the bill passes both houses of parliament, that we’ll land on the right decision, balancing freedoms and rights of people with deeply held religious beliefs and their desire, particularly to send their children to a same-sex school, and making sure we protect the rights of all children as well.
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The debate over religious discrimination, and particularly the protections for trans students, will continue today. It’s been full of heat and emotion. Teddy Cook has written this incredibly thoughtful piece about what it’s like for trans people at the moment:
Please don’t forget that trans people are not an ideology; we are real, and we are someone you know.
Anthony Albanese said Labor “fought very hard” for the amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act. He told the Nine network this morning that Labor will seek further amendments to the bill in the Senate:
It has passed. We think there are further amendments that should be made. We think, for example, the issue of vilification against a Muslim woman wearing a hijab, for example, that can occur or someone of any faith being vilified should be included by provisions as well. And we will pursue those amendments in the Senate. There are other issues about discrimination against older people receiving home care. The bill covers aged care residents, but it doesn’t cover home care.
Labor failed to get through a change to the “statement of belief” in the bill. It wanted to make it clear it wouldn’t remove or diminish any existing protections.
Also, this from 1.49am:
Independent MP Craig Kelly is now trying to move an amendment - to the RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION bill - to make it illegal for someone who doesn't want to get the COVID-19 vaccine to be discriminated against.
— Stephanie Dalzell (@steph_dalzell) February 9, 2022
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Good morning
I just ran into a veteran MP who said the last time he’d been up this late it had involved ... a dance floor.
The House sat all night, debating the government’s religious discrimination bill. It passed just before 5am and will now head to the Senate.
Five Liberal MPs –Bridget Archer, Trent Zimmerman, Katie Allen, Fiona Martin and Dave Sharma – crossed the floor to help Labor and the crossbench add more protections for LGBTQI+ students. Paul Karp filed the full story first thing this morning.
Zimmerman said he felt compelled to cross the floor because trans children are some of the most vulnerable people in society. He told the ABC:
I thought there was a glaring omission and it was a bad signal to send to this community.
But he said there were still “unresolved issues” over potential discrimination against teachers.
The fallout from former Australian of the Year Grace Tame and former staffer Brittany Higgins’ National Press Club address yesterday continues. Tame told a startling story about a “threatening” phone call asking her not to dump prime minister Scott Morrison in it with an election looming. The Nine newspapers are reporting that the Australia Day Council has denied it was behind the call (Tame declined to say who it was).
Last night we heard the latest from the national spy agency. In the annual address Asio boss Mike Burgess said lockdowns and vaccination grievances sometimes “turned to violence” and that Australian elections were at risk from interference. He warned about young children being radicalised and said the agency had detected and disrupted a foreign interference plot.
Spies have been using online dating apps to recruit people.
I hope Karp is having a nap. Katharine Murphy, Sarah Martin, Daniel Hurst, Josh Butler and Mike Bowers are all here to take you through the last sitting day for this week.
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