Gladys Liu tears up in parliament as McCormack and Fitzgibbon keep trading barbs on drought
Emotions ran high in Question Time on Thursday, as Gladys Liu got teary, and Deputy PM Michael McCormack continued his spat with Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon.
NSW
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Tears flowed as Victorian MP Gladys Liu struggled to cope with the laser focus on the nature of her connections to China; and old rural enemies continued their war of words.
It was an emotional day in parliament, here’s five things we learnt in Question Time:
1. PRESSURE MOUNTS ON GLADYS LIU
The government again faced sustained questioning about the nature of Chisholm MP Gladys Liu’s membership of organisations linked to the Chinese government.
Labor peppered Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s with questions about what advice, if any, he had received in relation to security risks, which were quickly ruled out of order.
The tense situation boiled over about an hour into Question Time when Labor’s attorney-general spokesman Mark Dreyfus asked: “Did the Prime Minister receive any advice about the current member for Chisholm from government agencies before or since the May 18 election?” he asked.
It followed a News Corp report citing Victorian Liberal sources saying the intelligence community had warned the Liberal Party about preselecting Ms Liu.
Speaker Tony Smith ruled the question was in order and Mr Morrison launched a counter-attack against Labor.
“What is the intent of this question? The intent is to infer, against a member of this House, a disloyalty to this country, and that member has in some way been the subject of some investigation,” he said.
“That member knows that by simply coming up here and seeking to smear a member, knowing that the Prime Minister is not in a position to make comment on these matters, that he hopes the mud sticks.”
Ms Liu was comforted by her Coalition colleagues as she sat on the backbench watching the drama play out.
2. TOP QUALITY FARM BEEF
The spat between Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Labor’s Agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon about whether the government’s drought response went far enough rolled into a second day, with barbed questions and heckles throughout Question Time.
Mr McCormack was calm in his response to a friendly Dixer from Dawson MP George Christensen — a stark contrast to his manner yesterday, when he launched a red-faced tirade against Mr Fitzgibbon.
The fresh approach was not lost on Labor backbencher Rob Mitchell, who shouted “how good is Ritalin (the drug used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), Macca?”.
Mr Fitzgibbon later raised the stakes with a question to Mr McCormack about why the government had not publicised reports from its drought envoy, taskforce and co-ordinator.
Mr McCormack said the government had received the reports and acted on their advice.
Despite promises of cups and tea and a bizarre joint interview appearances in the preceding 24 hours, it’s clear the hatchet remains very much above ground between these two.
3. SAVED BY THE BELLS
Natural Disasters Minister David Littleproud had a simple answer to a question from Labor about why he’d told Sky’s David Speers he didn’t know if climate change was man-made.
“I accept the science on man-made impact on climate change. Always have,” he said.
“The interview … was interrupted by (a) division (vote in parliament). And I wasn’t able to finish my response.”
4. IT’S A CARBON TAX TIME WARP
A source of confusion for the opposition bench was the multiple references to Labor resurrecting its carbon tax policy.
The Coalition tactic, somewhat ambitiously designed to strike fear into the hearts of voters in 2022, involved repeatedly mention the ill-fated tax proposal, with one Labor backbencher lamenting “what is this 2009 all over again?”
Despite most ministers with portfolios connected to the environment, emissions or agriculture delivering dire warnings about Labor’s continued affinity for the tax, the zombie legislation zinger didn’t appear to faze Mr Albanese.
5. HOW GOOD ARE MATES?
The majority of pollies were wearing an “R U OK” badge in recognition of the day’s focus on mental health check-ups.
Speaking about the day, Mr Morrison revealed the charity behind it was actually started by a former school mate of his.
“R U OK? Day was started by a friend of mine many years ago, Gav Larkin,” he said.
“I went to school with him. We lost him to illness some years ago.
“I’m sure he would be incredibly pleased with the way this has taken off over all of these years.”
It wasn’t the only interesting friend connection to emerge from debate, with Mr McCormack later telling the House he had gone to school in Wagga Wagga with the now Governor of the Reserve Bank Phillip Lowe.
“He was dux of the school,” Mr McCormack proudly proclaimed.
Cue shouts from Labor backbenchers to the effect it was their belief Mr McCormack wasn’t ever dux.
But the deputy prime minister had the last laugh, correcting the grammar of Labor’s infrastructure spokeswoman Catherine King when she sought to raise a point of order later in debate.