Endangered species, welfare catchphrases and ICAC dominate QT
As a group of furry friends visited parliament on endangered species day, pollies in Question Tine got fired up about welfare, ICAC and the drought.
NSW
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It was all smiles when a group of furry friends visited parliament to raise awareness for endangered species, but on the floor of the House the claws were out.
The government was focused on spruiking its welfare policy and economic credentials, while the Opposition took aim at Energy Minister Angus Taylor.
Here’s five things we learnt from Question Time on Tuesday:
1. PM SUGGESTS NSW LABOR FORM A PRISON BRANCH
At this point ALDI could almost withdraw all spending on daytime TV advertisements given the coverage they’re getting on the floor of parliament thanks to a certain plastic bag filled with $100,000 in allegedly illegal donations.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison made it very he clear he would not be lectured on integrity by a member of the “corrupt NSW Labor Party”.
The cavernous House chamber roared to life with jeering and yelling from both sides, drawing a few raised eyebrows from the members of public sitting in on the circus.
“With the number of Labor Party members from the NSW division who used to serve in Senator Kristina Keneally’s former government … in jail, you could establish a branch at the Silverwater prison of the Labor Party,” Mr Morrison said.
2. LAMEST BUILD UP EVER
Mr Morrison was also not impressed with a series of questions the Opposition lobbed at Energy and Emissions Reduction Minister Angus Taylor regarding his business interests in a company that was under investigation for allegedly illegal clearing of native grasslands.
Mr Taylor strenuously denied any wrongdoing.
But Labor leader Anthony Albanese followed up with a longwinded question to Mr Morrison asking why he hadn’t yet been fired.
“Well, Mr Speaker, that would have to be the lamest build up I have seen to that type of a question in this place before,” Mr Morrison responded.
“Not only is every assertion that he’s just put to this place totally and absolutely false, Mr Speaker, but the Liberal Party and the National Party will not be lectured by someone who used to work in the NSW branch of the Labor Party.”
3. THE GOVERNMENT WILL ‘DO MORE’ ON DROUGHT
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has declared the government “will do more” to help farmers and regional communities struggling through the current drought.
“(Farmers are) hurting. They’re hurting emotionally, they’re hurting financially after generations of hard work for the land and livestock, imagine just seeing all that disintegrate before your very eyes,” he said.
“It’s not just a matter of a couple of rough seasons or about the price per head for sheep or cattle. It’s about people’s homes, their livelihoods, their history on the land.”
Mr McCormack said rural financial counsellors have helped more than 6,600 people in the last year and a $5 billion future drought fund was in place.
“We will do more,” he said.
“We’ll stand by these communities as they continue to suffer from the affects of the drought.”
4. WHO’S LINE WAS IT ANYWAY?
After a series of fiery exchanges about the current ICAC hearings into an alleged illegal donation to the NSW Labor Party and the declaration of interests by Mr Taylor, the Coalition moved a motion that would stop Mr Albanese from being heard anymore.
Obviously the government had the numbers on the floor so the motion passed.
Leader of Opposition Business Tony Bourke was up next to throw a barb at Mr Taylor calling him an “endangered species” — on National Threatened Species Day of course.
The government responded by requesting Mr Bourke alse not be heard anymore.
The motion passed.
Next up the conveyor belt was Griffith MP Terri Butler, who again tried to imply Mr Taylor’s future was about as certain as some kind of endangered “earless dragon”.
The government moved a motion so Ms Butler would no longer be heard.
It passed.
Another reference to the “earless dragon” again, and safe to say a motion was passed so that the Labor member (who is even keeping track at this point) would be no longer heard.
Your taxpayer dollars hard at work.
5. A STABLE AND CERTAIN APPROACH
The Coalition first road tested its new catchphrase “certainty and stability” in questions about the economy on Monday, today the versatile descriptor was repeatedly applied to the government’s welfare agenda and border security policy.
It copped at least six mentions during QT — not quite as many as the day before, but was in the majority of friendly questions from Coalition backbenchers to give the government a chance to rollout its welfare credentials.
From cashless debit cards, to drug testing and removing barriers to the workforce, nothing but a very stable and certain ship to see here.
Originally published as Endangered species, welfare catchphrases and ICAC dominate QT
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