Queensland MP Bob Katter plays hide-and-seek while Labor’s China strategy falls flat
Can anyone see Bob Katter? Plus Labor’s ‘Shanghai Sam’ attack, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg brings back his favourite nickname and Angus Taylor dodges the NEG. HERE’S 5 THINGS FROM QUESTION TIME.
NSW
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Renegade north Queensland MP Bob Katter miraculously almost managed to make more of a scene about Gladys Liu in Question Time than Labor have been able to do in more than a week.
The Opposition has asked dozens of pointed questions about the embattled Chisholm MP and her association with certain Chinese community organisations, but it was Mr Katter’s game of hide-and-seek with photographers that made the most impact.
Here’s five things we learnt from Question Time on Monday:
1. WHERE’S BOB?
Like a toddler playing hide and seek who thinks that if they can’t see you, then you can’t see them, Kennedy MP Bob Katter seemed to forget he was in a room full of cameras when he moved to sit next Gladys Liu during a division.
The bizarre situation followed a confusing bid by Mr Albanese to suspend standing orders because the Prime Minister had refused to sack Energy Minister Angus Taylor — something Labor focused a lot on last week but hadn’t mentioned today until this point.
For good measure Mr Albanese also threw in the accusation Mr Morrison has denied using the phrase “Shanghai Sam” and has prevented Ms Liu from providing her own statement to parliament.
Basically, Labor wanted to suspend orders so they could condemn the Prime Minister.
The government moved a motion that Mr Albanese no longer be heard and that’s when things got even stranger.
Mr Katter moved across the floor to support the Coalition he opted to sit next to Ms Liu.
As the cameras from the press gallery started whirring to capture the moment of apparent solidarity with an under siege Ms Liu, Mr Katter apparently realised his PR error and covered his face with his hands.
Cue taunts from Labor that they could “still see you Bob,” and yeah, they were right.
We could all still see you Bob.
2. SHANGHAI SHAM
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese really wanted to know why Prime Minister Scott Morrison had previously referred to disgraced Labor Sam Dastyari as “Shanghai Sam” no less than “17 times”.
So much so, he asked a variation of the question three times.
Labor has been trying to wedge Mr Morrison for a double standard on racism after the Prime Minister last week implied criticisms of Chisholm MP Gladys Liu were due to her Chinese heritage.
Naturally Mr Morrison was not having a bar of it.
“What is (Mr Albanese) doing all day?” he asked.
“Pouring over transcripts, worrying about this word and this word.
“This country is in drought! Facing natural disasters, severe economic challenges, the Leader of the Opposition is running around like a researcher looking up words! Grow up!”
At one point Mr Morrison consulted his phone during a response, Labor backbenchers helpfully shouted he should “ask Siri” for the answer.
To be honest, not even Siri would be able to make sense of the selective use of accusations of racism rolled out by both sides in the last two weeks.
One can only imagine what the visiting Fijian delegation sitting in the audience made of the mudslinging.
3. PROBLEM WITH POWER PRICES? NEG-ATORY
With the release of a new ACCC report again calling on the federal government to introduce a National Energy Guarantee (NEG), Labor were keen to know if Energy Minister Angus Taylor would comply with the recommendation.
But Mr Taylor said the federal government had already implemented both the reliability components of the NEG and was on track to meet the emissions target.
“We will reach (the 26 per cent emission reduction target) in the national electricity market, which is what it was focused on, eight to nine years ahead of schedule, by 2021 or 2022,” he said.
Energy featured throughout Question Time, with Mr Taylor called to answer a number of Dixers from Coalition backbenchers about how prices were going down for residential customers.
“Almost 800,000 Australian households and businesses have benefited from that reduction in standing offers across NSW, South Australia, south east Queensland, and their savings have been significant, typically $190,” he said.
“There is still more to do, and we are committed to doing it to make sure that positive things are happening.”
4. A KNIGHT TO REMEMBER
It’s been tough for Treasurer Josh Frydenberg since Speaker Tony Smith ruled that he had stop calling his Labor opponent Jim Chalmers “Sir-Tax-A-Lot”.
The favourite nickname may no longer be welcome on the floor, but this has apparently only inspired Mr Frydenberg to get even more creative.
In an attack on Labor’s former treasury spokesman Chris Bowen, Mr Frydenberg accused the Opposition of calling tax cuts “offensive” but then wanting to claim credit for their passing.
“Get real — we know you want to tax a lot, but you would be thinking of taking back that knighthood I gave you earlier,” he said.
5. DON’T DROUGHT MCCORMACK’S SUPPORT FOR FARMERS
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has spent the last week walking a tightrope between selling the government’s drought funding credentials without trying to claim everything that could be done to help is being done.
“We can and we will do more,” he said today.
Translation: we’re spending a lot of money on this drought but are aware the longer it goes and the more people it impacts, the less happy everyone will be so we can’t claim to have completely fixed it.
Since Mr McCormack and his Labor counterpart Joel Fitzgibbon had a dramatic screaming match in Question Time last week, the profile of both members — and their concerns about the drought — have been on the rise.
Responses were largely civil today, but with both sides giving the disaster impacting NSW, Victoria and Queensland significant airtime of late, it won’t be long before the gloves are off again.
