The state of the Australian economy is top of the agenda in Canberra today after the International Monetary Fund downgraded its growth forecast for 2019.
Read on for all the latest news from Parliament House.
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Sinodinos' stirring farewell speech
The widely respected Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos delivered his valedictory speech this evening. He's off to be our ambassador to the United States.
A number of his colleagues from the House, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison, showed up to watch and congratulate him.
It was a frank speech, and a fulsome defence of Australia as the "greatest nation" on the planet.
I was particularly struck by Mr Sinodinos' use of "quiet Australians" – a term that means different things to different people – to refer to minority Australians.
"For me, Australia is an immigrant nation. It's in our DNA. So too our unique indigenous heritage, with over 65,000 years of ongoing relationship with the land," he said.
"This is a big country, worthy of big ambitions. We should be optimistic about the possibilities that lie before us. Australia's best days lie ahead.
"For me the Australian way is to live and let live, to engage in fair play and leave no one behind. We owe a special obligation to the minorities in our midst. These are the quiet Australians who need our help most.
"It includes indigenous Australians who seek more control over policies implemented in their name. Disabled Australians, who want to be defined by their potential, and not their disability. And those other marginalised Australians looking for gainful employment and social acceptance.
"The test of being an Australian is not geneology, but whether we adhere to timeless values."
Economy dominates Question Time
Question Time is all about the economy today.
"Why has the IMF slashed Australia’s economic growth forecast this calendar year?" Anthony Albanese asked to kick things off.
"The revision by the IMF overnight reflects the uncertainty of the times in which we live, and that uncertainty extends to the global environment, which I would hope the opposition would be familiar with," Scott Morrison replied.
"The uncertainty of the times reflected in the IMF forecast revisions overnight, which obviously applies to a whole host of economies all around the world – that is just a fact – the truth remains that while things are tough, Australia’s economy is growing second only to the United States of all G7 nations."
I singled out that G7 talking point when Josh Frydenberg made it earlier. It is correct, but also a teensy bit selective. Australia is not a member of the G7. We are a member of the OECD – and there are 18 other OECD countries predicted to grow faster than us this year.
The lesson here, I suppose, is that you can pick a statistic that makes the Australian economy look good, or you can pick one that makes it look bad. The choice is yours. Anyway, back to Mr Morrison's answer.
"There is a lot of work to do, but the uncertain times, I’ll tell you what it calls for. It calls for lower taxes, which is what we are doing. It calls for reducing the cost of doing business in this country, and amplifying procedures in the industrial areas. To engage in reforms in our skill sector. To ensure that we are expanding our trade borders all around the world, as we have been doing now over the last six years. It calls for us to invest $100 billion in infrastructure, as we are doing. And it calls on us to invest $200 billion in the future to recapitalise in our defence industries, as we heard yesterday in south-western Sydney," he said.
Then he brought up one of the government's most beloved subjects – Labor's tax policies from the election campaign.
"The Leader of the Opposition was asked today whether he thought, whether he thought Labor’s high taxes would have had an impact on the economy, and he said no!" Mr Morrison said. "He said the answer was no, in response to the tax increases they have proposed when it comes to the housing tax. So we are for lower taxes, a stronger economy and a strong budget."
There has been a lot of bickering between the two leaders across the despatch box today. Gary Ramage snapped this photo of one exchange.
GetUp! director called out
I want to come back to GetUp! director Paul Oosting for a moment.
He just had another exchange with Greg Brown, from The Australian.
"Just in your response to my previous question, where you dismissed – I raised people that were concerned about policies that will combat climate change. You dismissed them as climate deniers and won't engage with them," Brown said.
"Do you understand that people in regional communities see that as an insult on their way of life? Like, and it's completely counterproductive to your cause. Hasn't the election showed that you need a change in approach?"
"Well, you said the phrase climate deniers," Mr Oosting said.
"I said people who were concerned about climate change action, and you then came back and dismissed them as climate deniers," Brown shot back.
"No, you used the phrase climate deniers," said Mr Oosting.
Mr Oosting is wrong here. Brown did not use the words "climate deniers" in his original question. Here is the direct quote:
"Not only were your tactics a failure in knocking off MPs, they had knock-on benefits for Scott Morrison, because the language used about climate change by activist groups marginalised people in regional areas. In future campaigns, will you be more empathetic to people who are worried about climate change policies, and try to persuade them to your cause? Or will you just tell climate change sceptics that they're bad and evil, and do the same with politicians that you disagree with?"
So, Brown called them "climate change sceptics", and "people who are worried about climate change policies". Not deniers.
Brutal grilling at the Press Club
GetUp! director Paul Oosting is the speaker at the National Press Club today. I don't imagine you find that fact, in itself, particularly fascinating. But he has faced some interesting questions.
The activist organisation specifically targeted six Liberal MPs at the last election – Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton, Greg Hunt, Kevin Andrew, Josh Frydenberg and Christian Porter. Only one of those men, Mr Abbott, lost their seat.
"Many people say that GetUp! had little influence on that, because (Mr Abbott) was responsible for his own unpopularity. Do you bear responsibility, then, for the fact that your millions didn't unseat any of the other MPs, and in fact, there's an argument that people have put up that GetUp!'s presence, for example in Dickson, had the opposite effect. It boosted Peter Dutton's popularity," said moderator Sabra Lane.
"It's undoubtedly a fact that we're sitting here today having not achieved our objectives in the election campaign, and we've been reflecting on that and on how we can work differently going forward," Mr Oosting admitted.
"I'm proud of the campaign that we ran together. We all fed in what our priorities should be, what issues we should work on, where the energies go. And we chose the hard right faction of the Coalition. Many of those are in what are traditionally deemed to be safe seats."
The Australian's Greg Brown followed up on that.
"Not only were your tactics a failure in knocking off MPs, they had knock-on benefits for Scott Morrison, because the language used about climate change by activist groups marginalised people in regional areas," Brown said.
"In future campaigns, will you be more empathetic to people who are worried about climate change policies, and try to persuade them to your cause? Or will you just tell climate change sceptics that they're bad and evil, and do the same with politicians that you disagree with?"
"Everyone involved in the discussions needs to do more to address the challenges facing those communities that are on the front line of the impacts. We need to do more to address the challenges they're facing in their lives," Mr Oosting replied.
"We need to do more to bring forward and make sure that we have solutions and real deep empathy and engagement with those communities and the problems they're facing. So that is absolutely something that I wholeheartedly agree with.
"In terms of engaging with climate deniers, we don't engage with climate deniers."
The Guardian's Paul Karp asked whether GetUp! would take responsibility for running "overwhelmingly negative" campaigns.
"I don't accept that we ran an overly negative campaign. We were talking about the issues that our membership truly believe that we need to make progress on," said Mr Oosting.
Jones explains why he teared up
Alan Jones teared up on his Sky News show overnight as he addressed his interview with Scott Morrison about assistance for farmers.
“We will fight because I have been exactly where the people of Bourke are,” Jones said.
“My old man would be ashamed of me if I didn’t fight. I can’t speak for Canberra …”
A choked-up Jones then struggled to speak, putting his hands up and asking to “take a break”, before a series of ads played.
“Look, sorry about that,” he said when the show returned.
Speaking on his radio show this morning, Jones explained why he had grown so emotional.
"I don't apologise for that, it was tough to deliver. At the end of the day, I've been there, I know what these people are talking about," he said.
"It was when I tried to make the point that my old man would be ashamed of me if I didn't defend these farmers. And those sorts of things are hard to say."
You can listen to the audio here, courtesy of 2GB.
Nova Peris gets a portrait
An official portrait of Nova Peris has been unveiled at Parliament House.
Ms Peris was the first Aboriginal woman to become a member of parliament. She served in the Senate, representing Labor, from 2013-2016.
The portrait was created by an Aboriginal artist, Dr Jandamarra Cadd.
Our photographer Kym Smith captured this photo.
Dutton blocks asylum seeker transfer
Peter Dutton has refused an asylum seeker transfer. In accordance with the medevac legislation, he has tabled a statement explaining why.
The Courier-Mail had a story on this earlier. Doctors approved the medical transfer of an Iranian woman on Nauru, along with her brother and father, who don't need medical attention.
One of those men – the father – is the person Mr Dutton has blocked. He is reportedly accused of running a prostitution ring, and has a history of violence.
He is 50 years old. His daughter, 21, needs psychological treatment, but is refusing to come to Australia unless he can accompany her.
"I made this decision because I reasonably believe the accompanying family member would expose the Australian community to a serious risk of criminal conduct and should not be transferred to Australia," Mr Dutton's statement says.
"The Department of Home Affairs has advised me that the accompanying family member has a history of violent and manipulative behaviour, including allegations of physical assault against his children, been investigated by Nauruan Police Force for criminal activity, engaged in military service in Iran and that the department has been unable to verify his identity.
"Pursuant to section 198G(5), in deciding to refuse to approve the accompanying family member’s transfer, I have had regard to the best interests of the adult transferee who it was recommended he should accompany. I have approved the transfer of a separate family member to accompany the adult transferee from Nauru to Australia. In addition, the adult transferee has other family members in Australia."
Labor calls for fiscal stimulus
So, we've heard from the government. We've heard from Peter Costello. What is Labor's position here?
Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers was so keen to share it that he sent out a media release at 5am this morning.
"The IMF has called on countries, including Australia, to provide fiscal stimulus and invest in infrastructure to support their economy and improve productivity," he said.
"The IMF's updated forecasts make a mockery of Josh Frydenberg's claims that the Morrison government has the right policy settings.
"Right when Australians need and expect a plan from the Morrison government to get the economy going again, all they get instead is finger-pointing, blame-shifting and wedge politics."
Elaborating on that later, Mr Chalmers put forward some specific ideas for fiscal stimulus.
"It's very clear now that the interest rates are helping, but not enough. If the tax cuts are helping, they're not helping enough," he told Sky News.
"We can bring forward some of the government's 2022 tax cuts if they want to. We could increase Newstart, which would get more money flowing through the economy. Bring forward infrastructure projects and maintenance. We could have a tax break for business investment, because business investment is the worst it's been since the early 1990s recession."
'Pathetic': Frydenberg lashes out
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg held a press conference to address the IMF's growth forecast.
His message can be summed up in two words – don't panic.
"It is now more important than ever that we stay the course with considered, disciplined and responsible economic management," Mr Frydenberg said.
He said Australia still had a triple-A credit rating and a strong labour market, and pointed out that our economy was predicted to grow faster than any G7 country, except the United States.
That is correct. It's an interesting metric to choose though. Australia is not a member of the G7. It is a member of the OECD, and according to the IMF, 18 OECD nations will grow faster than us.
"Our economic plan will see the Australian economy continue to grow with lower taxes, record spending on infrastructure, providing the workforce with the skills that they need, cutting red tape and entering into new free-trade agreements, which has already seen businesses have greater access to some two billion new customers," said Mr Frydenberg.
"And we will ensure a strong economy and a strong budget position, because it is critical to the resilience of the Australian economy, as we face the global headwinds."
He was asked why the government had placed such an emphasis on balancing the budget when others were pushing for stimulus.
"Surpluses are not ends in themselves. They're not trophies on a cabinet table. They're actually an indication of strong budget management, and helping to build the resilience in the Australian economy, so you can weather those economic shocks," Mr Frydenberg said.
"I mean, if Peter Costello and John Howard hadn't paid back Labor's debt, could you imagine the trouble that Labor would have had, more so than they even did, through that GFC?
"A strong budget position is not mutually exclusive from having a strong economy. They come together."
He lashed out at Labor for comparing the Australian economy to Greece's (something I may have done as well a few minutes ago), calling it "pathetic, reckless and shameful".
“Greece has an unemployment rate of 20 per cent. Greece has a debt to GDP ratio of around 200 per cent," he said.
"In fact the Greek economy is 23 per cent smaller since the GFC, whereas the Australian economy is 33 per cent greater since the GFC."
That's all true enough. It is also true that Greece is forecast to grow at 2 per cent in 2019, and Australia is forecast to grow at 1.7 per cent.
Peter Costello's ominous warning
Former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello issued an ominous warning regarding the Australian economy at an event in Sydney this morning.
You may remember Mr Costello from the Howard government. Most Liberals will tell you he is the country's greatest ever treasurer.
For context, in late September he predicted the Reserve Bank would cut interest rates – and suggested it would have little effect.
"What will a rate cut do for the economy? In my view, not much," Mr Costello said.
"All these people that are holding off spending or borrowing or investing, do they say, 'I wouldn't have done it at 1 per cent, but I am going out there now that it is 0.75 per cent'? I don't think so."
That rate cut did happen. At its meeting this month, the RBA board decided to lower the official cash rate to 0.75 per cent.
Speaking this morning, Mr Costello doubled down on his assessment that further rate cuts would not work.
"I went on to say, if we have a rate cut – and I think there will be one – I don't think it's going to make much difference," he said, referring to his earlier comments.
"And we duly had one. You assess for yourself whether it made much difference.
"I believe that monetary policy is now, it's run its race. Whether the cash rate is 0.75 per cent, whether it's 0.5 per cent, whether it goes lower than that, I just don't think there's much stimulation left in monetary policy."
The argument here is pretty easy to grasp. Interest rates are already at record lows, and can't go down much further, meaning that lever could soon become virtually useless.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg addressed that problem when we spoke to him last month.
“Lower interest rates are a global phenomenon. Central bank governors are dealing with the relatively unique situation where they’re seeing low unemployment, low inflation and low interest rates, and trying to manage all three,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“Monetary policy is the remit of the independent Reserve Bank. I’m focused on fiscal policy. What I would say is that the 50 basis point rate cut has made a difference in the housing market, and our tax cuts and our infrastructure spending are making a difference on the fiscal side.”
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann was asked about Mr Costello's comments on Sky News a short time ago.
"It's a mathematical fact that there's not much scope (for lowering interest rates)," he said.
Mr Cormann rejected the implication that Mr Costello was calling for greater fiscal stimulus from the government.
"I haven't seen him say it's time for fiscal stimulus," he said.
He's actually correct here. In his comments last month, Mr Costello said he "would be very, very wary about going back down the path of fiscal stimulus".
One of the proposals put forward by Labor is bring forward spending on infrastructure projects.
"I hear the case for infrastructure. Most of it is built by state government, and in fact they are spending big on big projects," he said.
"The commonwealth government doesn't really build infrastructure. And when the commonwealth government builds infrastructure, it builds school halls and puts pink batts into homes. It rarely works. It just can't do it."
Normally quiet on details of his personal life, Peter Dutton has shared rare insights into his first failed marriage and a broken engagement that resulted in his first child.
Nationals leader David Littleproud has hit out at Coles after the supermarket giant flagged a cull in its product range, claiming prices at the checkout would rise.
