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Politics live: Tuesday February 12

He suffered a historic defeat on the floor of the House — and Prime Minister Scott Morrison has reacted by issuing a defiant warning.

Sam ClenchSam Clench
@SamClench
27 min read
February 13, 2019 - 5:32AM
Political battlegrounds are drawn

SCOTT MORRISON DEFIANT

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has brushed off his historic defeat on the floor of the House.

Speaking to reporters in Canberra, a defiant Mr Morrison launched an immediate counter-attack on Labor’s border protection credentials.

“Votes will come and they will go, they will not trouble me,” he said.

“What happened in the parliament tonight was proof positive that Bill Shorten and the Labor Party do not have the mettle, do not have what is required and do not understand what is necessary.

“Yet again, the Labor Party have failed to learn their lessons of failure.

“They have demonstrated yet again that they just don’t understand how to protect Australia’s borders.

“So don’t kid yourself out there that somehow you have improved the situation, you’ve only made it weaker.”

Mr Morrison said the Australian people had sent a “clear message” on asylum seekers and border protection at previous elections, such as in 2001 and 2013.

He warned that any boat arrivals from now on would be “on Bill Shorten and Labor's head”.

The Prime Minister said there were “contingency plans” in place to prevent the weakening of Australia’s border protection regime after the passage of the bill.

“I’ll have more announcements about steps the government will be taking to address the risks that Labor have created,” he said.

He rejected any suggestion the government had lost the parliament’s confidence, and dared Labor to move a no-confidence motion.

“If the Labor Party want to move such a motion, then they are welcome to do so, and it will fail,” Mr Morrison said.

“How do I know that? Because the independents have made that very clear.

“These are not matters that go to issues of confidence. I don’t consider them in those terms. The government has never put them in those terms.”

PM Scott Morrison. Picture: Kym Smith
PM Scott Morrison. Picture: Kym Smith

7:00pm

BILL SHORTEN REACTS

6:50pm

‘THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING’

Andrew Wilkie, who voted for the bill, has released a statement. He sounds like he’s just getting started.

“The passing of the medical transfers bill is wonderful news for sick asylum seekers and refugees incarcerated in Nauru and on Manus Island,” he said.

“While offshore processing remains systemically cruel and illegal, at least this reform goes some genuine way to limit the cruelty and provide an alternative pathway to the court system.

“Today’s vote is also a triumph for our democratic system because the parliament worked as it should. A majority of members represented their communities and worked cooperatively in the public interest.

“But this is just the beginning. The inhumanity and illegality will only ever be fully remedied when offshore processing is abolished, and when we’ve put an end to the other diabolical elements of Labor and Liberal policy like mandatory detention, towbacks and temporary visas.”

6:35pm

ABBOTT: ‘PEOPLE SMUGGLERS THE WINNERS’

Tony Abbott has reacted to the vote.

Scott Morrison has called a press conference at 7pm.

6:15pm

GOVERNMENT SUFFERS HISTORIC DEFEAT

And that’s it. By a margin of 75-74, the House has voted to agree to the medical transfer bill with all the amendments.

Now the bill has to go back to the Senate.

This is historic — it is the first time a government has lost a substantive policy vote on the floor of the House since 1941.

On that occasion, parliament voted to change Prime Minister Arthur Fadden’s budget by just one pound. Mr Fadden then resigned.

6:05pm

‘IT WILL BE ON YOUR HEAD’

Scott Morrison himself stood to argue against Mr Shorten’s motion, and he got properly fired up.

“Here we are again. How many elections? How many times have the people of Australia said so clearly that they want their borders secure? How many times has the Labor Party failed them on this issue?” Mr Morrison said.

“I will not stand here and let this parliament give itself the excuse to weaken the border protection framework that has saved lives.”

Mr Morrison said he remembered Labor’s policy when Kevin Rudd became prime minister.

“Then the vile trade opened. And the deaths started. And the bodies mounted up, month after month, week after week, and our border protection staff had to pull children out of the water,” he said.

“Now the same wreckers who destroyed it last time have come into this place and whispered in the ears of those who sit on the crossbench and they have convinced them to undermine it again.

“We will not allow the parliament to delude itself, or the Labor Party to delude itself, that there is a safe version of this bill for border protection.

“The Labor Party broke this system and we have fixed it. And now even in opposition they will seek to break it again.

“Their humanitarianism, as supposed last time, led to child deaths. It led to the total destruction of our borders.

“The people of Australia will remember this day, and know that this is now on your head,” he told Mr Shorten.

5:55pm

PYNE INVOKES ENGLISH CIVIL WAR

The substantive debate is happening now.

Christopher Pyne, shouting himself hoarse, warned Labor it would “rue the day” it abrogated responsibility to the Senate.

“They don’t care about the Australian constitution, that they don’t care about the Westminster traditions that form the basis of our constitution,” he said.

“I will remind the House that the English fought a civil war over this matter.

“The civil war was over the right of the parliament or the king to make an appropriation.”

That war happened hundreds of years ago, incidentally. King Charles I tried to implement a ship tax, the parliament didn’t like that, and war ensued.

After that, Bill Shorten moved that the Senate amendments be agreed to. Those amendments include the line saying members of the independent panel would not be paid — neutralising the constitutional issue.

5:45pm

THE HOUSE VOTES

Parliament just voted on Tony Burke’s motion to consider the Senate amendments immediately.

Bob Katter was the only crossbencher siding with the government. The motion passed by a single vote, 75-74.

5:20pm

LABOR PROPOSES SOLUTION

Attorney-General Christian Porter has told parliament it is an “unarguable fact” that the medical transfer bill would “increase expenditure from a standing appropriation”.

“Everything we do here has a consequence,” Mr Porter said.

“The responsibility for whether or not this parliament abides by the constitution of Australia is our decision.

“This needs to be understood by every single member here.”

In response, Labor’s Tony Burke suggested inserting words to the effect that the experts on the medical panel would not get paid.

In that case it would no longer be a money bill — and presumably, no longer an existential threat to the government.

4:55pm

IS THE GOVERNMENT IN DANGER?

Sky News has spoken to constitutional expert Professor Anne Twomey, who backed up the Solicitor-General’s advice.

“The Solicitor-General’s opinion is actually pretty fair and accurate. So yes, there is real issue here,” Prof Twomey said.

However, she said, parliament was still free to pass the legislation.

“The courts have said that it is non-justiciable, and what that means is that a court won’t decide whether or not the bill is invalid. It’s a matter for the two houses to decide.

“It’s a matter for the House to decide whether or not it wants to pass the bill.”

It gets worse for the government.

“Where we get to a very, very tricky point, however, is that if the government is now asserting that this is a money bill, then if the bill actually gets passed against the wishes of the parliament, then that would indicate the government has lost control of the nation’s finances,” Prof Twomey continued.

“It just needs to be a nominal showing that the government has lost control of the finances.”

That could make passage of the bill in the House proof of a loss of confidence in the government — and grounds for a snap election.

Prof Twomey cited the Fadden government’s fall in 1941 as precedent. The House voted to change Prime Minister Arthur Fadden’s budget by a margin of just one pound — and then Mr Fadden resigned.

4:40pm

‘DISGRACEFUL’

Greens leader Richard Di Natale has slammed the Solicitor-General’s advice and urged parliament to pass the medical transfer bill anyway.

“The House should pass this bill and if someone wants to test that, they can test it in the High Court,” he said.

“The Solicitor-General has got it wrong. He got it badly wrong on section 44.

“How long has the government been sitting this advice?

“It’s disgraceful.”

Labor MPs aren’t happy either. Andrew Giles has labelled the government “mean and tricky”.

4:30pm

CLIVE PALMER GRILLED

As if there weren’t enough madness going on in this building already, Clive Palmer just popped up for an interview on Sky News.

Political editor David Speers grilled Mr Palmer on his party’s policy platform, which consists of just four short points totalling less than one page. You can read them here.

“It does sound a bit light on,” Speers said.

We’ll bring you more from that interview in a bit.

4:10pm

SUDDEN BOMBSHELL DERAILS PARLIAMENT

Speaker Tony Smith just dropped a bombshell at the end of Question Time, tabling an opinion from the Solicitor-General regarding the medical transfer bill.

The Solicitor-General’s advice is that the amendments to the bill passed by the Senate last year are unconstitutional, because they involve spending money and money bills must come from the House.

His central point is that the government would need to appoint individuals to a medical advice panel — and then pay them.

This isn’t clear cut though. While it is the Solictor-General’s opinion that the bill is unconstitutional, he also states that parliament is ultimately the judge.

“In circumstances where the question of compliance with s 53 of the constitution is non-justiciable, the ultimate arbiter to the operation of that provision is parliament,” he says.

The advice is dated February 7 — five days ago. Mr Smith said Attorney-General Christian Porter asked him to keep it confidential, but he refused and tabled it in parliament.

Mr Smith also tabled correspondence from Mr Porter, in which the Attorney-General urged him to “refuse to entertain the Senate amendments” in the House.

The correspondence from Christian Porter.
The correspondence from Christian Porter.

3:45pm

FRANTIC MOVES AS DECISIVE VOTE LOOMS

Spotted during Question Time — Greens MP Adam Bandt in deep discussion with Kerryn Phelps.

Both are currently considering their position on Labor’s proposed changes to the medical transfer bill, which will come before the House shortly.

The opposition and crossbench — particularly the Greens — are haggling over the language of Labor’s amendments, frantically trying to find wording that suits everyone.

The main sticking point is how long the minister will have to assess a transfer recommendation before being required to make a decision. Seventy-two hours is the figure currently being thrown around.

Greens MP Adam Bandt talking with Dr Kerryn Phelps during Question Time. Picture: Kym Smith
Greens MP Adam Bandt talking with Dr Kerryn Phelps during Question Time. Picture: Kym Smith

3:30pm

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER ADANI PROTEST

3:25pm

ALBO’S CHEEKY DIG

Anthony Albanese just got cheeky, bringing up Christopher Pyne’s comment that Malcolm Turnbull “is Aslan to me”.

“The path to Narnia is through the Cabinet,” he quipped.

Aslan, for the deprived children among you, was the lion in the Chronicles of Narnia. Many parallels are drawn between Aslan and Jesus.

Speaker Tony Smith immediately ruled Mr Albanese’s question out of order.

Labor’s next question went to Tanya Plibersek, who said Mr Morrison “cannot be trusted when it comes to the banks” and “is only ever interested in looking after the top end of town”.

“There is only one side of politics in this house which is getting on with taking action on the 76 recommendation,” Treasurer Josh Frydenberg responded.

He claimed Labor had “no response” to the royal commission’s report after eight days.

3:10pm

MORRISON’S REGRET

Chris Bowen: “The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has apologised for not calling the banking royal commission earlier. Can the now Prime Minister confirm media reports that he was, in fact, the reason for the delay? And will the Prime Minister now say sorry for delaying the banking royal commission by voting against it 26 times?”

Scott Morrison: “I refer the member to my comments last year on this matter, where I made it very plain, my regret on not having called the royal commission sooner. But I remind the member that I’m the treasurer, at the time, who did call the royal commission.

3:05pm

QUESTION TIME STARTS

After an hour of statements from MPs, Bill Shorten finally got to ask his first question of the year.

“This government has created a part-time parliament by scheduling just 10 sitting days in eight months,” Mr Shorten said.

“Why is the Prime Minister stopping the parliament sitting for more days, which will

prevent the parliament from legislating the recommendations of the banking royal commission before the election?”

“The question goes to the matters that the government is dealing with in this parliament,” Scott Morrison replied.

“The next big thing the government is doing is handed down a surplus budget on the 2 April. The budget has been brought forward to 2 April and the normal course of events, this is the sitting schedule that enables the budget to be prepared on that day.”

The Prime Minister said the government would “calmly and carefully” prepare legislation in response to the royal commission.

2:45pm

KENEALLY RESPONDS TO Q&A QUESTIONER

Earlier today we spoke to Q&A audience member Mitchell Dye, who said he was “disappointed” in Labor Senator Kristina Keneally for labelling him a “Young Liberal plant”.

“It’s a real shame that the Labor senator is more interested in attacking a regular citizen and volunteer community radio presenter rather than talking about this issue and the people potentially affected by Labor’s policy,” Mr Dye said.

Ms Keneally has now responded to that criticism.

“I have been speaking about the issue of dividend imputation on mainstream media and on my personal social media accounts. The point of this particular tweet was that this person’s political allegiance was not obvious to viewers of Q&A and his question continued the Liberals’ tricky and underhanded attempts to mislead the debate, just as Tim Wilson has done through his ham-fisted handling of the parliamentary inquiry,” Ms Keneally told news.com.au.

“In an attempt to protect hand-outs for just 4 per cent of wealthy Australians who benefit from this tax loophole, the Liberal Party is willing to sacrifice money for schools, hospitals and aged care for all Australians.”

Kristina Keneally. Picture: Tim Hunter.
Kristina Keneally. Picture: Tim Hunter.

2:35pm

MCGOWAN WILL SUPPORT BILL

One of the crossbenchers, member for Indi Cathy McGowan, has announced she will support the medical transfer bill.

“I intend to support this negotiated position when the legislation and amendments come to the House,” she said.

It is unclear what that final “negotiated position” will be, as Labor is still in talks with the Greens. The Australian reports it has now proposed a window of 48 hours for the minister to consider a transfer recommendation.

If you’re wondering what happened to Question Time, MPs are making statements on indulgence in the House. When those statements are over, the action will start.

Cathy McGowan's announcement that she will support the bill.
Cathy McGowan's announcement that she will support the bill.

2:00pm

THE CURRENT SITUATION: BOMBSHELL DECISION ROCKS PARLIAMENT

Question Time is coming up shortly but before then, let’s summarise the situation.

Labor is negotiating with the crossbench to secure their support for its amendments to the medical transfer bill, which will come before the House a little after 4pm.

Labor supported the bill in its current form in December, but last night the party decided to push for three changes to it:

• Should two doctors recommend a transfer, the minister will have more time to consider the case. In its current form the bill only allows for 24 hours;

• The minister will have greater power to veto the transfer of anyone with a criminal record;

• The new medical transfer rules will only apply to asylum seekers who are already on Nauru or Manus Island — not any new arrivals.

The Greens dropped a bombshell this morning when they took issue with the first change, saying it would allow the minister to delay transfers indefinitely unless a specific time frame is defined.

Leader Richard Di Natale said Labor’s proposals would be “worse than doing nothing”. He will not support the changes in their current form.

Behind the scenes in parliament, both parties are trying to resolve the impasse. Without the vote of Greens MP Adam Bandt, the amended legislation will not pass.

Meanwhile, the government is attacking.

Peter Dutton says Bill Shorten is “unravelling at a rapid rate”.

“This is a mess of Bill Shorten’s making,” Mr Dutton said.

“He doesn’t have the basic leadership capacity to make decisions on a crucial area of public policy, and he should apologise for the mistakes that he’s made.”

Peter Dutton. Picture: Kym Smith
Peter Dutton. Picture: Kym Smith

1:45pm

GOVERNMENT SLIPS FURTHER BEHIND

There’s a new Guardian Essential poll out, and it contains poor news for the government.

Labor is ahead 55-45 on the two-party vote, a significant shift from last week when the margin was 52-48.

Interestingly, both Labor and Coalition voters think parliament should sit until the banking royal commission’s recommendations have been dealt with.

Labor and the crossbench are pushing for extra sitting weeks of parliament to be scheduled. That vote hinges on whether Bob Katter supports the move.

1:30pm

LINGERING QUESTION ABOUT HAKEEM

The Australian Federal Police will look at how Bahrain was tipped off that refugee footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi was travelling to Thailand ahead of his trip.

Mr Al-Araibi went there for his honeymoon, but was taken into custody after Bahrain issued an Interpol red notice — an international arrest warrant. Such warrants are not supposed to be used for refugees.

The incident raised questions about the AFP’s role in the tip-off.

“We’ll have a look at that aspect of it and the AFP commissioner will have something to say in due course,” Peter Dutton said a short time ago.

Mr Al-Araibi just arrived back in Australia.

1:05pm

‘RAPIDLY UNRAVELLING’: GOVERNMENT ATTACKS

Peter Dutton has fronted the media and hammered Bill Shorten over the medical transfer bill, with Labor and crossbench still locked in negotiations.

“This is a mess of Bill Shorten’s making,” Mr Dutton said.

“At least Kevin Rudd waited until he got into office before he dismantled the successful border protection policies.

“Mr Shorten is unravelling at a rapid rate.

“He doesn’t have the basic leadership capacity to make decisions on a crucial area of public policy, and he should apologise for the mistakes that he’s made.”

12:45pm

SOURCE OF LEAK REVEALED

Senator Michaelia Cash’s chief of staff Ben Davies was the source of a controversial leak to the media about imminent police raids at Australian Workers’ Union offices.

David de Garis, a former media adviser to the senator who admitted to passing on leaked details to journalists, was ordered to name his source by Federal Court Justice Mordecai Bromberg on Tuesday.

The union is talking legal action against the Registered Organisations Commission, arguing the federal police raids on the union’s Melbourne and Sydney headquarters in October 2017 as part of a commission investigation were politically motivated and therefore unlawful.

The AWU believes it was instigated by Senator Cash in a bid to hurt the union and Bill Shorten.

Justice Bromberg said while Mr de Garis had “respectfully declined” to name his source on grounds it could incriminate him, it was in the interests of justice for the identity be revealed.

Provided with a court guarantee that his answer would not incriminate himself, Mr de Garis named Mr Davies under questioningly AWU legal counsel Herman Borenstein QC.

“He said around 4pm there would be the execution of raids,” Mr de Garis said.

The conversation lasted only a few minutes and happened in Mr Davies’ office on the day of the raids, he said.

A short time later he contacted several media outlets with the intention of arranging coverage of the raids.

He admitted he didn’t understand the consequences of his actions at the time, but had wanted to get media coverage of the raids as the investigation was one of the first by the commission.

Mr de Garis earlier said the investigation was significant to Senator Cash for that reason.

Mr Davies is no longer Senator Cash’s chief of staff.

— AAP

Michaelia Cash. Picture: AAP
Michaelia Cash. Picture: AAP

12:20pm

THE MYSTERIOUS MISSING MP

There was confusion in parliament this morning over the whereabouts of Labor MP Emma Husar.

Party sources told The Australian Labor was trying to find Ms Husar, whose vote could be critically important. Without her support, the asylum seeker bill could fail, as could Labor’s push to add two more weeks to the parliamentary sitting calendar.

Ms Husar has reportedly been considering moving to the crossbench after Labor did not endorse her to recontest her marginal Sydney seat, Lindsay.

She was not at the party’s caucus meeting last night.

“Just swallow your rage. Even if it makes you choke,” Ms Husar tweeted a short while ago.

That was followed by evidence she was, in fact, at parliament. Mystery solved!

11:55am

Q&A QUESTIONER HITS BACK

Mitchell Dye, the Q&A audience member Labor Senator Kristina Keneally labelled a “Young Liberal Plant” after his appearance on last night’s episode, has hit back at her.

Mr Dye asked the panel about Labor’s controversial franking credits policy.

“According to media reports, in Sarah Henderson’s ultra-marginal seat of Corangamite, over 9000 voters could see their bottom line made worse off by Labor’s proposed changes to franking credits,” Mr Dye said.

“Is Labor so confident of winning the upcoming election that it doesn’t need these 9000 votes or essentially, are changes likely to be on the cards?”

Ms Henderson responded by calling the policy a “terrible breach of trust” and an “appalling theft of older Australians’ money”.

“Labor intends to steal this money from older Australians,” she said.

Ms Keneally criticised Ms Henderson’s argument, and later posted several tweets calling Mr Dye a “plant”.

“I am incredibly disappointed that Senator Keneally feels the need to attack me rather than talking about the issue of franking credits,” Mr Dye told news.com.au this morning.

“I came to Q&A last night because I chose to — not because someone wanted me to be a ‘plant’ — after my brother was invited to the show by the producers.

“I submitted a number of questions to the program that I wanted answers to — some were critical of the government and some the opposition.

“I wrote all my own questions and did not get any advice from anyone else about what to ask.

Ultimately this was the question that the producers chose to run.”

Mr Dye said the show’s producers had called him during the day and he was “fully upfront” about his political allegiances.

“In my work as a volunteer community radio presenter around the electorate of Corangamite, I speak to politicians from all sides. I welcome the debate,” he said.

“We all have our own political views but I stand by my strong track record of being fair and balanced on Geelong community radio and welcoming to all sides.

“Just this morning I welcomed both Sarah Henderson and her opponent Libby Coker onto my show and both were given the opportunity to present both sides.”

Mitchell Dye with Malcolm Turnbull.
Mitchell Dye with Malcolm Turnbull.
Mitchell Dye with Bill Shorten.
Mitchell Dye with Bill Shorten.

He said his question “was aimed to facilitate a discussion about the electoral impacts” of Labor’s policy in the marginal seat.

“It’s a real shame that the Labor senator is more interested in attacking a regular citizen and volunteer community radio presenter rather than talking about this issue and the people potentially affected by Labor’s policy.

“I would like to see a higher standard of political debate where we talk about the issues rather than attacking each other personally, and it’s a dreadful shame that this wasn’t achieved on this occasion despite my best intentions.”

News.com.au has contacted Ms Keneally for comment.

11:15am

BOMBSHELL DECISION: GREENS REJECT LABOR’S CHANGES

Greens leader Richard Di Natale says his party will not support the medical transfer amendments Labor is proposing in their current form.

As a reminder, these are Labor’s three proposed changes to the legislation.

• Should two doctors recommend a transfer, the minister will have more time to consider the case. In its current form the bill only allows for 24 hours;

• The minister will have greater power to veto the transfer of anyone with a criminal record;

• The new medical transfer rules will only apply to asylum seekers who are already on Nauru or Manus Island — not any new arrivals.

The Greens’ problem is with the first change, which fails to specialise a specific time frame. They say it would allow the government to delay transfers indefinitely.

“There needs to be a clear deadline,” Dr Di Natale said.

“Labor’s amendments don’t specify any time frames.

“They are proposing ‘as soon as practicable’. Now if the amendment they have put forward that reflects that language is adopted, it actually leaves it open-ended.”

Dr Di Natale said Labor’s proposals would be “worse than doing nothing”.

“It would actually make it harder to evacuate someone on the grounds of needing medical treatment than is currently the case without any legislation being passed,” he said.

He said Bill Shorten needed to modify what he was planning to put before parliament — and suggested the Labor leader was caving to political pressure.

“People are still making their mind up about Bill Shorten,” he said.

“We need a leader in the alternative government that is willing to make a stand.

“People still don’t know, where does Bill Shorten stand on this issue?”

10:50am

CRAIG FOSTER PRAISES PM

As you know, refugee footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi will arrive back in Australia today, having avoided extradition to his native Bahrain and been freed by Thai authorities.

There is a significant political aspect to this. Scott Morrison twice wrote to Thailand’s prime minister to request he intervene.

“He actually did a fabulous job. He really stepped up, he made it clear to the Thai prime minister how he felt about it,” former Socceroo Craig Foster, who led the campaign to free Hakeem, said today.

Now there’s another twist. Bahrain appears to be trying to apply some subtle pressure to Australia over the case.

The country has released a statement revealing its foreign minister, Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, met with the Australian ambassador to Bahrain today and gave him a memorandum about Mr Al-Araibi.

It contained “relevant court documents related to the extradition of Hakeem Al-Araibi”, including the international arrest warrant issued against the footballer.

However in a good sign, the foreign minister “stressed the Kingdom of Bahrain’s keenness to enhance bilateral co-operation with Australia” and noted that “such cases would not negatively impact relations between the two countries”.

Hakeem Al-Araibi. Picture: AP
Hakeem Al-Araibi. Picture: AP

10:30am

GREENS NOT HAPPY

It sounds like Adam Bandt will be reluctant to support Labor’s medical transfer changes.

“On first look, Labor’s amendments don’t make the current terrible situation any better,” Mr Bandt said, according to The Australian.

“Labor is giving a lot of power back to Peter Dutton and it’s not clear that sick refugees will come to Australia any quicker than they do now.”

Mr Bandt’s vote is, of course, essential if the bill is to pass.

Greens MP Adam Bandt. Picture: AAP
Greens MP Adam Bandt. Picture: AAP

10:15am

CITIZENSHIP DELAYS

The opposition has leapt on a report from the Auditor-General which says the Home Affairs Department is taking too long to process citizenship applications.

“The audit found that over the past four years, the number of citizenship applications stuck in the pipeline blew out by 771 per cent,” Tony Burke and Julian Hill said.

“Hundreds of thousands of Australian permanent residents living in the community who simply want to pledge their formal allegiance to Australia deserve much better than having their lives placed on hold by the black hole of a department.”

10:00am

BLOW-UP OVER Q&A QUESTION

Labor Senator Kristina Keneally has taken issue with a moment during last night’s episode of Q&A.

Audience member Mitchell Dye asked the panel, which included Liberal MP Sarah Henderson, about Labor’s controversial franking credits policy.

“According to media reports, in Sarah Henderson’s ultra-marginal seat of Corangamite, over 9000 voters could see their bottom line made worse off by Labor’s proposed changes to franking credits,” Mr Dye said.

“Is Labor so confident of winning the upcoming election that it doesn’t need these 9000 votes or essentially, are changes likely to be on the cards?”

Ms Henderson responded by calling the policy a “terrible breach of trust” and an “appalling theft of older Australians’ money”.

“Labor intends to steal this money from older Australians,” she said.

“Let’s discuss this nonsense from Sarah Henderson,” Ms Keneally tweeted in response.

“What Sarah seems to fail to grasp is that these are tax refunds, in the form of cold hard cash, to people who don’t pay any tax.

“That means this is not their money. It is our money — all of us. We are giving away billions of dollars in a tax loophole by giving a refund to people who don’t pay any tax. Only four per cent of Australians benefit from this tax loophole, but all of us pay for it.”

She said 80 per cent of the benefit from franking credits went to the richest 20 per cent of retirees.

And she labelled the questioner, Mr Dye, a “Young Liberal plant”.

Sky News hosts Kieran Gilbert and Laura Jayes discussed the moment this morning.

“The point is, it’s fine for Liberals and Labor people to ask questions or whatever, but setups like this, particularly in an election campaign as we approach this period, can blow up in your face,” Gilbert said.

“If it’s too choreographed, in campaigns where people try to be too clever by half, put a plant in and then it’s exposed, it can just look a bit too tricky.”

Jayes brought up the controversy over the parliamentary economic committee’s inquiry into the franking credits policy. Committee Chair Tim Wilson has been accused of playing politics with the inquiry.

She said Mr Wilson had risked “over-egging” the issue, and the question on Q&A did the same thing.

“I think that was an over-egging. Not Ms Henderson’s fault, but it doesn’t look good,” Jayes said.

9:45am

PM FIRES UP HIS COLLEAGUES

Scott Morrison just addressed his party room meeting, giving his MPs the traditional gee-up speech.

“Australians are strong. Australians are resilient. And under our government we’re going to continue to make Australia strong,” he said.

“A stronger economy, stronger borders, stronger services. That’s a strong Australia, and that’s what we’re about.

“Our opponents have plans that will make Australia weaker.”

Mr Morrison also thanked Linda Reynolds and the Australian Defence Force for their work combating the crisis in Queensland.

There was a lovely moment as Senator Arthur Sinodinos, who is returning to parliament today having recovered from cancer, rose to his feet and urged his colleagues to believe they could win the election.

“My only other plea is Michael McCormack, no more singing,” he added.

Mr McCormack, the Nationals leader, is an Elivs impersonator. I’ll just leave this image here.

Nationals leader Michael McCormack at the 2019 Elvis festival in Parkes, NSW.
Nationals leader Michael McCormack at the 2019 Elvis festival in Parkes, NSW.

9:30am

LABOR ‘HAPPY’ WITH CROSSBENCH

Shadow Immigration Minister Shayne Neumann says Labor is happy with its discussions with the crossbench.

“They have come with goodwill in relation to this matter. We are pleased that we’re working constructively in relation to these matters and we’ll have further discussions today,” he said at a doorstop this morning.

“This is about making sure that people get the medical care they need, and the government’s lies in relation to this matter are impalpable.”

Mr Neumann also confirmed Labor would push for parliament to schedule extra sitting weeks.

9:10am

DI NATALE’S LETTER TO RUDD

The Sydney Morning Herald reports Greens leader Richard Di Natale has apologised to former prime minister Kevin Rudd for calling him a “sociopath” on Q&A in December.

“I unreservedly retract the suggestion that you are a sociopath,” Dr Di Natale wrote in a letter to Mr Rudd last week.

“I realise that this is a serious slur on your reputation as it is a clinical condition of a mental illness.”

Kevin Rudd, who is not a sociopath. Picture: AAP
Kevin Rudd, who is not a sociopath. Picture: AAP

8:50am

‘FEAR IS ALL HE HAS LEFT’

The major parties are at odds over legislation that would make it easier to cancel the Australian citizenship of dual nationals convicted of terror offences.

“You don’t make Australians safer by passing laws that don’t work,” Shadow Foreign Minister Penny Wong said this morning.

“And you don’t make Australians safer by giving an incompetent minister in Peter Dutton more powers, and that’s what the legislation that is proposed does.”

Labor members of the federal parliament’s intelligence and security committee are taking the unusual step of issuing a dissenting report on the proposed anti-terror powers.

Late last year, Mr Dutton stripped Neil Prakash of his Australian citizenship and declared the Islamic State terrorist was a citizen of Fiji.

Ms Wong said the minister failed to consult with Fijian experts and his unilateral declaration had “no basis in fact”.

“It caused a diplomatic incident. It was a blunder that had to be fixed up by the foreign minister and by the prime minister,” she said.

“That did not make Australians safer.”

Ms Wong also took a swing at Scott Morrison for using “fear” on security issues to sway voters.

“He can’t run on his record because his record is cuts and chaos. He can’t run on stability because the government is bitterly divided, so all he wants to do is to manufacture a fight because fear is all he has left,” she said.

— with AAP

8:30am

SHOWDOWN OUTSIDE CHURCH

Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten started the day by going to church together, but the brief moment of peace didn’t last long as politics intruded.

Both leaders did quick doorstops outside the church afterwards — standing in literally in the same spot, and within seconds of each other.

The Prime Minister said he had made it clear the asylum seeker bill was “acceptable in no form”.

“That matter will be determined I assume later in the parliament today,” he said.

“We will not be giving any comfort or any license for the parliament to support this in any way, shape or form.

“This bill is acceptable in absolutely no form, it only weakens our borders.”

Mr Shorten said the government was confusing stubbornness with strength.

“It is possible in Australia to have strong borders without treating people cruelly,” he said.

“What I’ve done is listen to the border experts and listen to the refugee advocates. I think this is not an issue that should be dividing the nation.

“It’s as simple as this. If you need to see a doctor to you go and check with the government minders, or do you check with the doctors?”

Both leaders spoke warmly of Thailand’s decision to free refugee footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi and praised all the Australians who fought for him.

The two party leaders at church this morning. Picture: Kym Smith
The two party leaders at church this morning. Picture: Kym Smith

8:15am

PHELPS OPEN TO CHANGES

Kerryn Phelps spoke to Sky News this morning and said she would consider Labor’s new position on medical transfers.

“We have to have a very careful look,” Dr Phelps said, indicating she might support “small tweaks” to the bill to make it acceptable to a majority of parliamentarians.

She was open to extending the amount of time the minister would have to consider a transfer recommendation, provided it didn’t become indefinite.

“If there are logistical difficulties with delivering an answer within 24 hours then it’s reasonable to stretch it out,” she said.

“Certainly where there is an urgent need for medical treatment within a certain period of time, time is of the essence.”

Dr Phelps was also willing to consider limiting the new transfer rules to asylum seekers already on Nauru and Manus Island.

“That might be something that we can look at. I’d have to again speak to the refugee sector about that,” she said.

“There’s no question that the Australian people are demanding action for the current cohort.”

She was more cautious about the idea of giving the minister more discretion to veto the transfer of anyone with a criminal record.

“You have to have a look at what the definition of criminality might be.”

She pointed out that in some countries from which asylum seekers had fled, they could have gained a criminal record for something like protesting against the government or, if they’re a woman, adultery.

Dr Phelps also did an interview with the ABC.

“What I’m very keen to do is to avoid being in exactly the same position where we are now, where the minister has excessive veto powers and runs every serious medical case through the courts, only to find that the doctor’s original recommendations were upheld,” she said.

8:00am

SIX CRUCIAL VOTES

Last night Labor’s caucus decided to modify its position on the medical transfer of asylum seekers from Nauru and Manus Island to Australia.

It agreed to three changes:

• Should two doctors recommend a transfer, the minister will have more time to consider the case. In its current form the bill only allows for 24 hours;

• The minister will have greater power to veto the transfer of anyone with a criminal record;

• The new medical transfer rules will only apply to asylum seekers who are already on Nauru or Manus Island — not any new arrivals.

We don’t yet know whether these amendments will be supported by crossbench MPs Adam Bandt, Cathy McGowan, Rebekha Sharkie, Andrew Wilkie, Julia Banks and Kerryn Phelps. Dr Phelps has said she will take a “level-headed, methodical approach”.

The government has made it clear it will not vote for the bill in any form, so Labor will need the support of all those crossbenchers.

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Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/politics-live-tuesday-february-12/news-story/bf2f21a1e55821c06ff73798eefe1686