Hello and welcome to another day in federal politics. The government's immigration policies continue to dominate the agenda following a withering report by the United Nations.
the opposition continued to pursue the government over what exactly it wants to do about the GST;
the government seems to be changing its message about tax reform with Treasurer Scott Morrison emphasising the debate is about the health of the economy not tax;
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said five people had been injured during the reinstatement of order on Christmas Island;
the Labor caucus passed a motion agreeing to independent oversight of offshore immigration detention facilities; and
the opposition will not support most of the changes the government wants to make to family tax payments.
My thanks to Alex Ellinghausen and Andrew Meares for their efforts and to you for reading and commenting.
We'll be back in the morning as we hope you will be. Until then, good night.
Ms Parkes says independent oversight of the centres would mean the body or person who had that job would be able to visit the centres whenever they needed to and would be independent of government.
"It's something I hope we'll change," Ms Parke says of Labor keeping open the option of turning back boats of asylum seekers.
Melissa Parke is outlining her concerns about immigration policies to Sky News.
Ms Parke says the reports of abuse on Nauru and Manus Island are "unacceptable to the Australian community".
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If, like me, you delight in being organised then you will be very happy to know that the 2016 sitting dates have been agreed to.
Speaking of immigration let me explain what happened to Labor MP Melissa Parke's motion that was discussed by the caucus this morning (see 9.25 am post).
The caucus agree to independent oversight of offshore processing centres and that centres uphold human rights standards.
But the motion was amended to remove the part calling for the closure of the Nauru and Manus Island centres.
An investigation into the "unrest", as it is now being referred to, has begun.
Mr Dutton assures everyone that "calm" has been restored to the island although "some force" - including the use of tear gas - was needed to bring that about.
Five detainees sustained "minor lacerations", he says.
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Immigration Minister Peter Dutton is holding a press conference in relation to the unrest on Christmas Island.
"People who think they can act outside the law have another think coming," Mr Dutton says.
And that's it for question time.
The opposition wants the Prime Minister to explain about how the GST would affect the cost of a second hand ute.
Good to know the new political discourse is continuing.
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Movember, peeps, movember.
Deputy government ship Ewen Jones during question time on Tuesday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
