Scott Morrison, Adam Bandt clash over bushfires in Question Time
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has accused Greens MP Adam Bandt of misleading victims of this month’s deadly bushfires by suggesting stricter emissions cuts could have prevented the fires.
NSW
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PRIME Minister Scott Morrison accused The Greens of telling “outright lies,” while union thuggery, aged care woes and “manifest failures” by Westpac got politicians all fired up in Question Time.
In the wake of shocking revelations Westpac breached anti-money laundering laws more than 23 million times, Labor tried to wedge the federal government for saying the future of its chief was a “matter for the board,” while it’s also attempting to push through laws to punish law-breaking unions.
“Why does the Prime Minister have one rule for banks and another for working people?,” asked Labor’s Ged Kearney.
But Labor’s attempt to frame the government’s union-busting bill as punishment for “minor paperwork breaches” livened up the chamber, prompting jeers from the entire Coalition who found the characterisation laughable.
“I think banks should take account of their manifest failures and I think union thugs should also,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison replied.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton said the responsible Westpac executives would pay a “serious price” for their actions, but did not respond to Labor’s call for them to be sacked.
“It is clear, Mr Speaker, that the Westpac Banking bosses, through their negligence, have given a free pass to paedophiles and there is a price to pay for that and that price will be paid and we have been very clear about it,” he said.
Greens MP Adam Bandt was loudly criticised for asking Mr Morrison if he would “apologise” to bush fire victims for continuing to export large volumes of thermal coal.
His words whipped Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack into quite a lather, as he screamed “when are you going to start apologising?” across the chamber – no microphone needed.
Mr Morrison said it was an “outright lie” to suggest if the Coalition had adopted tougher emission reduction cuts at the last election that “these fires would not have taken place”.
“It is an untruth and it is misleading those going through some of the most difficult times of their lives,” he said.
Even those at the microphone hardly needed it, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Attorney General Christian Porter both firing up to an entirely unnecessary volume to stress their points about the Coalition’s tax-cutting credentials, and the thuggery of unions respectively.
AGED CARE SHAME
Question Time kicked off just half an hour after Mr Morrison unveiled the government’s response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care interim report, but the announcement of $500 million to fund 10,000 new home care packages for the elderly did little to blunt Labor’s attack.
Labor’s aged care spokeswoman Julie Collins asked Mr Morrison why he’d only announced 10,000 new places when about 16,000 older Australians died in one year while waiting for a home care package.
Mr Morrison hit back with stats about huge increase in packages since the Coalition had been in power.
“When we came to government there were 60,000 in home places,’” he said.
“There are 150,000 today, Mr Speaker, and since the 18/19 budget we have put 44,000 additional places into the in-home care aged care system.”
MORRISON ON BUSHFIRES
During Question Time Mr Morrison also updated the House on the fires that burned across more than 1.4 million hectares, destroying 550 homes, more than 1000 outbuilding and claiming four lives.
“Taxpayers affected by the fires don’t need to worry about the tax affairs,” he said.
“Let’s get them on their feet.”
Mr Morrison said the Department of Health had been working with pharmacists to get medicines into communities and the Defence Forces have also been on hand where needed.
“The work undertaken across Australia in recent weeks has been the result of painstaking preparation,” he said.
“I shudder to think what might have occurred if we had not prepared accordingly.”