Welcome to our live coverage of Australian politics.
It is the penultimate day of parliament this year. We're almost at the finish line.
The government finally got what it wanted this morning as it repealed the medevac law, thanks to Jacqui Lambie's support. You can expect the fallout from that vote to dominate much of the day.
Read on for all the latest news from Canberra.
Oh, and while you’re here – we want to hear from you. Living in Australia is expensive, and we need news.com.au’s readers to tell us how they’re faring, so we can stay informed about their biggest household worries.
You can complete our cost of living survey at this link.
Updates
End of the day
So, after a rather hectic day, things have very noticeably calmed down in the last couple of hours. We will end the blog here. Let's run through the main events of the day:
+ The government succeeded in repealing the medevac law, with Jacqui Lambie casting the crucial deciding vote;
+ It was accused of striking a "secret deal" with Ms Lambie to win her support. Mathias Cormann and Scott Morrison denied there was any such deal. Ms Lambie herself seemed to suggest the government had done something to satisfy her, but she couldn't talk about it publicly for national security reasons;
+ Labor and the Greens leapt on that inconsistency to say "someone is lying";
+ There were new developments in the Angus Taylor saga. Mr Taylor confirmed his office has established a "point of contact" with NSW Police, and The Australian identified the staffer who distributed the false information about the City of Sydney's travel spending;
+ New GDP figures from the September quarter were released, and growth is still pretty tepid, but the government is still talking things up;
+ In some nicer news, Timothy Weeks, the Australian who was recently freed after three years as a hostage of the Taliban, met with the Prime Minister and received a standing ovation in parliament.
+ And conservative Senator Cory Bernardi grew unusually emotional as he thanked his family during his poignant valedictory speech.
We have one day of parliament left this year. Something tells me it will not be quite as action-packed as this one, but don't worry, we will manage to have some fun regardless.
See you again in the morning.
Cory Bernardi chokes up
Cory Bernardi just delivered his valedictory speech in the Senate, describing the job he's leaving as "the most amazing working experience that any Australian can aspire to".
None of us here are indispensable. Sure, we hold important positions, but we are only temporary custodians of those positions," Mr Bernardi told his colleagues.
He made a point of addressing "the elephant in the room" – his decision to leave the Liberal Party and join the crossbench in 2017.
"I know not a single mind will be changed by anything I say today," he said.
"However, suffice it to say, I made choices that I thought were necessary and in the best interests of the country. Those choices were very difficult for me and my family. They were painful for many friends and colleagues, and it's fair to say I lost both.
"But those that remain mean infinitely more to me than those that I lost.
"While our paths diverged, my traditional Liberal values never changed, and it gives me great pleasure to see that those values are somewhat stronger in the party now than they were in recent times."
He wished Scott Morrison and the Coalition "every continuing success".
Mr Bernardi's voice cracked with emotion as he delivered a poignant piece of advice to his fellow senators.
"Be bold, be strong, be honest with your colleagues and be true to yourself. And know that when your time comes, like it has for me, you will only ever regret the things you chose not to say."
But he didn't truly break down until he came to thank his two "amazing" sons, Oscar and Harvey, who were six and four years old respectively when he first entered parliament, and are now university students.
"Just looking at them makes me want to burst with pride," he said.
"Boys, I know there have been some difficult times for you because of my work here, but your strength and your character in dealing with the burdens unfairly placed upon your shoulders is testament to the boys you were and the men you have become.
"I'm so very proud of you both, and I only hope you'll look back on my contribution here and say the price that you've been asked to pay has been worthwhile."
Tim Weeks meets with PM
We mentioned Timothy Weeks, the Australian who was recently freed after spending three years as a Taliban hostage in Afghanistan, received a standing ovation during Question Time.
Before that he met with the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Foreign Minister Marise Payne.
Mr Weeks, who is from Wagga Wagga, returned to Australia late last week after being released as part of a prisoner exchange deal between the Taliban and the Afghan government, mediated by American officials.
He and an American colleague had been detained since 2016 after being abducted at gunpoint outside the American University in Kabul, where they worked as teachers.
"Mr Weeks' story is one of the incredible resilience of an Australian," Mr Morrison told parliament.
"This is the nature of Australians. We are an incredibly resilient people."
– AAP
Picture: Kym Smith
New Angus Taylor developments
There has been less focus on Angus Taylor in Question Time today, but we did learn his office has established contact with NSW Police.
"I will always cooperate with matters of this sort," Mr Taylor said.
"My office has established an administrative point of contact with the NSW Police, and I don't propose to say anything more while police inquiries are continuing."
Over in the Senate, Labor tried to get the government to table any documents supporting Mr Taylor's assertion that he downloaded the seemingly doctored City of Sydney annual report he used to attack Lord Mayor Clover Moore from the council's website.
It didn't table anything in response.
Labor tried to ask about that in the House, and was slapped down by Speaker Tony Smith.
"I tabled a statement in this House last week," Mr Taylor said.
"I reject absolutely the scurrilous accusations of those opposite. They are so transparent. They seek to distract from their own failings with smear."
In another exchange, Labor pointed to internet archive records showing the correct version of the annual report was on the council's website on multiple dates earlier this year.
"Does the Minister seriously expect Australians to believe the report with the correct figures was on the website on each of those dates, then inexplicably replaced with a report the with incorrect figure, which only his office downloaded, then the report with the correct figures was put back up again?" the opposition asked.
Mr Taylor said he had nothing new to add.
Meanwhile, The Australian has identified Josh Manuatu as the staffer in Mr Taylor's office who distributed the false information about the City of Sydney's travel spending.
That information was leaked to The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Manuatu was formerly the president of the Young Liberals and a staffer for a couple of other politicians.
The Minister's office referred the paper to an earlier statement from Mr Taylor: “I reject absolutely the suggestion that I, or any members of my staff, altered the document in question.”
PM grilled on the economy
Today's tepid GDP growth figures also came up during Question Time.
Anthony Albanese got a little cheeky, quoting Scott Morrison's reaction to the last set of results a few months ago.
"You’d expect that things would improve in the next quarter," the Prime Minister said last time.
The economy grew by 0.6 per cent in the June quarter. That dropped to 0.4 per cent in today's results from the September quarter.
In his answer, Mr Morrison instead chose to compare the figures to last year's September quarter, which was worse. He accused Mr Albanese of being "economically illiterate".
There was also a lot of talk about global headwinds and whatnot.
'What a disgrace you are'
A lot of schoolchildren are in the public gallery for Question Time today, and perhaps fittingly, Labor is focusing heavily on education.
According to the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, published late yesterday, Australian students are increasingly lagging behind in maths, reading and science.
Asked about those discouraging results, Scott Morrison and Education Minister Dan Tehan both referred to school funding being at "record levels".
Elsewhere, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack briefly let his much louder and angrier alter ego Big Mac come out while answering a dixer, abruptly bellowing across the chamber at Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus, who was interjecting.
"WOULDN'T KNOW A FARMER IF HE MET ONE. WHAT A DISGRACE YOU ARE!" Mr McCormack said. I've included the all caps for accuracy, not emphasis.
To balance out that explosion of acrimony, there was actually a rather nice moment a couple of minutes later.
Question Time paused to acknowledge the presence of Tim Weeks, who was recently released after being held by the Taliban in Afghanistan for three years.
Both sides rose to their feet to give Mr Weeks a standing ovation.
Picture: Kym Smith
PM denies deal with Lambie
Scott Morrison and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton just held that press conference in the Prime Minister's courtyard.
"The medical evacuation process, which has been under way in our government for some years, had provided for and was working to provide medical evacuations based on medical advice. That process was never under threat. That process was working to deliver that compassionate care as it was needed," Mr Morrison said.
"What the Labor Party sought to do a year ago was to provide a weakening of our border regime for people to get around the rules and find their way to Australia.
"We stood up to that a year ago. And a year ago, we were defeated in the parliament, but we stood firm.
"The Labor Party hasn't changed. At the last election, they were told that the Australian people wanted stronger borders, not loopholes, and they didn't listen.
"Anthony Albanese, he is leading the same set of policies, supports the same weaknesses that Bill Shorten did. There is no difference, nothing has changed."
Multiple reporters grilled Mr Morrison on how the government secured Jacqui Lambie's support. He denied there was any deal with her, just as Mathias Cormann did in the Senate earlier.
That earlier claim led Greens leader Richard Di Natale to suggest "someone is lying".
Here are the key questions and answers.
Morrison: "The only undertaking we've given is to implement our policies."
Reporter: "Jacqui Lambie says there was a condition that she gave to you in order to get her vote to repeal medevac. What was the condition?"
Morrison: "I'm not sure what you are referring to in relation to her statements. I have the statements in front of me and I don't read that in her statements at all."
Reporter: "Have you given any assurance whatsoever that there will be a New Zealand deal?"
Morrison: "The only assurance was that the government will implement its policies."
Reporter: "She said she put forward to the government a proposal, and since then, you and her have worked together really hard to advance that proposal. What did she mean by that?"
Morrison: "It means that she is happy with the government's policies and the bill that was presented to the Senate, and she voted for it."
Reporter: "(Was there an assurance you would) consider other options, like New Zealand, once the US option is exhausted?"
Morrison: "The government is always looking at ways to resettle those who are on Nauru … and so we will continue to use the arrangements that we have in place to be able to resettle people, and that is the assurance we have provided."
Reporter: "Why did Ms Lambie say she couldn't disclose what she had agreed with you on the grounds of national security if it is just the basis of your policies?"
Morrison: "Because the implementation of our policies, and the details of that, are national security matters."
For context, here is what Ms Lambie said in her address to the Senate this morning.
"I put to the government a proposal, and since then we have worked together really hard to advance that proposal. We've worked to an outcome I believe we both want, which is an outcome that our borders are secure, the boats have stopped and sick people aren't dying waiting for treatment," she said.
"As a result of that work, I am satisfied, I am more than satisfied that the conditions are now in place to allow medevac to be repealed.
"I thank the government for working productively with me to get that."
So, she said the government had "worked hard" with her to advance her proposal, whatever it was.
Mr Morrison claims the government gave her high level briefings, but committed to do nothing more than implement its own policies.
Hmm.
Hanson shrugs off 'secret deal'
We're awaiting another press conference, this time with the Prime Minister. He will no doubt be celebrating the repeal of medevac.
On that subject, Pauline Hanson was just on Sky News playing down concerns about a "secret deal" between the government and Jacqui lambie.
"I have no idea what compromise, or, you know, to use the word 'deal' and all the rest of it – I think she's put forward her concerns to the government of working with her towards that, and there's an agreement between both of them on how to best deal with it," Ms Hanson said.
"Yeah, but she's certainly suggested that something has been promised to her, or some concession has been made in order to get her support," host Chris Kenny said.
"It does sound like a deal in the common parlance, doesn't it?"
"Chris, you're probably thinking a deal of what's going to be done for Tasmania, or something like that. I don't believe it's on those lines," Ms Hanson replied.
"I had a brief talk with Jacqui. She will not sell, or any sort of a deal like that. I think it's to do with the actual bill itself, and some security there based around the bill.
"Talking to Jacqui, I don't believe it was a deal done like she did with the housing in Tasmania. Nothing like that."
That doesn't really clear anything up.
Whatever deal or "agreement" Ms Lambie has struck with the government – use whichever word you like to describe it – the point here is that Mathias Cormann denied there was any such arrangement, only to be contradicted by Ms Lambie minutes later.
That is what Labor and the Greens blew up about in the chamber.
You can expect Scott Morrison to face questions about it when he speaks a short time from now. Maybe he'll clear things up.
Treasurer reacts to GDP figures
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg just held a press conference to discuss the GDP growth figures.
"Australia is back in black and back on track," Mr Frydenberg said.
"Importantly, the labour market remains strong, with 1.4 million new jobs being created since we came to government, participation rates around record levels and annual jobs growth at 2 per cent, more than double the OECD average and nearly three times what we inherited when we came to government."
He pointed to a few good pieces of news in the numbers, such as the 2.5 per cent rise in household disposable income – the fastest quarterly increase in a decade.
But the baseline figures – 0.4 per cent growth in the September quarter, and an annual rate of 1.7 per cent – are not fabulous.
"Australia is not alone in facing significant domestic and global economic headwinds, but there are reasons to be positive about our economic future," said Mr Frydenberg.
"The story today is that despite the headwinds, domestic and international, we see the Australian economy continuing to grow."
He didn't face many questions – a division in the House cut the conference short – but one reporter did manage to ask the key question.
"The economy is still subpar, substandard. What can you point to that will turn that around over the next few months?" they asked.
"Obviously major spending in infrastructure, reforms in industrial relations and bringing back the Ensuring Integrity Bill, and in terms of tax cuts, they continue to be rolled out and they are the most significant in more than 20 years," the Treasurer said.
Picture: Kym Smith
Human rights advocates react
Humanitarian organisations are not happy about the medevac repeal.
"The repeal of medevac flies in the face of patients' best interests. A lifeline has been ripped from the hands of people whose only crime may have been seeking safety from persecution," said Medecins Sans Frontiers.
"Make no mistake, this repeal comes against the medical advice of many individual doctors and Australian professional bodies as well as MSF, an internationally recognised independent medical humanitarian organisation that worked with asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru."
The Human Rights Law Centre was blunter.
“Fear and lies have dominated at the expense of men and women who need medical care,” legal director David Burke said, labelling it a "shameful day".
“Peter Dutton and the Morrison government have today played cruel, bloody-minded politics with people’s lives.
"The Morrison government has stripped away the basic shred of humanity that meant that when someone was sick they could get the care they needed.”
Amnesty International struck a similar tone.
"It's a shameful day when the Australian parliament turns its back on sick people in desperate need of medical attention," it said.
"Let's not forget that this offshore detention system is one under which 12 innocent people have died."
