As it happened: Scott Morrison apologises to Brittany Higgins in federal Parliament as sitting resumes; religious freedom laws on the agenda

Good evening, and thank you for reading our live coverage of the day’s events. We’re wrapping up our blog for the evening and if you’ve just tuned in, this is what’s been happening:

• The Coalition partyroom has endorsed the federal government’s religious discrimination bills package, including controversial amendments to protect gay students but not transgender students from expulsion from school, after a lengthy debate today. The resolution this afternoon boosts Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s prospects of putting the bill to a vote this week, and places the ball in Labor’s court to finalise their position on the bill.

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

• Attorney-General Michaelia Cash said the decision to protect only gay students - but not transgender students - from expulsion as part of the proposed laws was about ensuring single-sex schools were not ill-equipped to deal with students who transitioned, while also respecting the wishes of other parents.
• Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer told the federal House of Representatives this evening that the bill would allow for discrimination to happen and she was “horrified” to see transgender children would not be protected under the proposed laws. “I can’t wrap my head around this, and I fear that it may risk lives,” she said.
• Prime Minister Scott Morrison apologised to former federal government staffer Brittany Higgins as part of an acknowledgement of women’s “traumatic and harrowing” experiences in federal Parliament today. “I am sorry. We are sorry. I’m sorry to Ms Higgins for the terrible things that took place here. And the place that should’ve been a space of safety and contribution, turned out to be a nightmare,” Mr Morrison said.

Former staffer Brittany Higgins watches as Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese apologise for the bullying, harassment and assault of political staffers.Credit: Federal Parliament livestream

• A Special Air Service soldier who has given damaging evidence about Ben Roberts-Smith, a war veteran who is suing this publication for defamation, has told the Federal Court he had doubts about the circumstances in which his former comrade received the Victoria Cross, but denied he was seeking to smear his reputation in court.
• In coronavirus news, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says international tourists will eventually need to have three doses of a vaccine to enter the state regardless of how the Commonwealth defines “fully vaccinated”. Victoria recorded 9785 new cases and 20 deaths today.
• In NSW, Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the state’s booster vaccination rate of 48.6 per cent was pleasing. There were 18 deaths recorded in the state, and 9690 new cases.
• Tasmania reported 601 new cases and 15 hospitalisations. Queensland recorded 5,178 new cases and 12 deaths. Western Australia reported 13 local and 52 travel-related cases, while the Northern Territory had 1092 new cases, and the ACT 495 cases and one death.
• The number of cases recorded across the country today was 28,202 and the number of people who have died was 55.

As we reported a moment ago, the Coalition partyroom has endorsed the government’s religious discrimination bills package, including controversial amendments to protect gay students but not transgender students from expulsion from school, after a lengthy debate today.

Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer, who foreshadowed she would cross the floor on the issue yesterday, is delivering a speech in the House of Representatives about why she would not support the bill, saying the proposed laws went “far beyond the orthodox anti-discrimination bill”.

“The simple fact is that this bill would allow for discrimination to happen,” she said.

“I’m not prepared to stand by and see our state laws eroded to privilege one group over another.”

Liberal MP Bridget Archer said she was prepared to cross the floor.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Ms Archer said she was “horrified” to see that transgender children would not be protected under the proposed bill and implored her parliamentary colleagues to think about the long term mental health effects of affected people.

“I can’t wrap my head around this, and I fear that it may risk lives,” she said.

“In 2022, I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. This bill is an overreach.”

Australia’s Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins says the likelihood of sexual harassment and assault taking place at Parliament House has “really reduced” as a result of her investigation into workplace culture.

Speaking to radio station ABC Melbourne this afternoon, Ms Jenkins said higher standards had been introduced since the report’s recommendations were first made public and remained confident Parliament House was better positioned to handle future instances of misconduct.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins launches her report into Parliament House culture last year.Credit: Jessica Hromas

“If something happened today, there are now places that people can go to that would be trusted, and the new systems are being put in place as quickly as possible,” she said.

“So I would absolutely have confidence even without it being fully in place, that immediately there are some systems in place that are much more effective than have been in the past.“

Ms Jenkins said at the heart of the issue was that Parliament had not kept pace with human resource systems introduced by large corporations and leading employers.

Asked about today’s public acknowledgment and apology to former federal staffer Brittany Higgins by both sides of the political divide, Ms Jenkins said she was pleased to see “open acceptance” across the board.

“There were apologies, they were sincere, and I know that will mean a lot to the people that were harmed, but I also know that’s an important precondition for them committing to change,” she said.

“For the people that have experienced this their experience has been to be not listened to, not necessarily accepted. And in a personal sense, I think there’s a lot of people that heard that, who have, for the first time, felt like they’re believed and they’re understood.“

Ms Jenkins said she was confident the acknowledgment wasn’t only lip service and would lead to bigger changes nationwide.

“I’m really confident that change will happen but also that it will have a bigger effect for this country and that leaves me very optimistic,” she said.

“I don’t think that’s me being ‘Pollyanna’, because I’ve been in these discussions before and I’ve never seen a response like this before.”

The Coalition partyroom has endorsed the government’s religious discrimination bills package, including controversial amendments to protect gay students but not transgender students from expulsion from school, after a lengthy debate today.

The resolution this afternoon boosts Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s prospects of putting the bill to a vote this week, and places the ball in Labor’s court to finalise their position on the bill.

Moderate Liberals Trent Zimmerman, Andrew Bragg and Katie Allen were among those who raised concerns about the proposed laws, including the lack of protections for trans students and LGBTQI teachers.

Conservative Liberals Kevin Andrews and Eric Abetz were supportive of the bill.

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash said earlier this afternoon that the decision to protect only gay students - but not transgender students - from expulsion as part of the proposed laws was about ensuring single-sex schools were not ill-equipped to deal with students who transitioned, while also respecting the wishes of other parents.

The bills package will create a new Religious Discrimination Act, and also amend s38(3) of the Sex Discrimination Act to make it unlawful to expel students because they are gay – but the narrow amendment will leave schools with a legal basis to discriminate against students on the basis of gender identity.

Swimming champion and LGBTQI advocate Ian Thorpe, who was in Canberra to lobby against the proposed laws, condemned the bill as “state-sanctioned discrimination” that sought to “gain rights for one group of people, whilst excluding another group of people”.

The Maori Party is calling for the Queen to be dropped as New Zealand’s head of state, on the 182nd anniversary of the country’s founding legal document and as the Queen celebrates her 70th year on the throne.

Rawiri Waititi, co-leader of the party, said in a statement that a split with the British royals would “be an opportunity to reimagine a more meaningful and fulfilling partnership”.

Maori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi poses for a photo outside New Zealand’s Parliament in Wellington. Credit: AP

“If you look at our founding covenant as a marriage between ‘tangata whenua’ [people of the land] and the Crown, then Te Tiriti [the country’s foundational document] is the child of that marriage,” Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer said. “It’s time tangata whenua to take full custody of Te Tiriti o Waitangi from the Crown.”

Ngarewa-Packer said: “The only way this nation can work is when Māori assert their rights to self-management, self-determination, and self-governance over all our domains.”

Prime Minister’s Jacinda Ardern - who has said as one of 54 members of the Commonwealth of Nations, New Zealand should continue to acknowledge Elizabeth II as a ceremonial figurehead - paid tribute to the Queen on the 70-year anniversary of her accession.

Read the full story here.

A Special Air Service soldier who has given damaging evidence about war veteran Ben-Roberts Smith has told the Federal Court he had doubts about the circumstances in which his former comrade received the Victoria Cross, but denied he was seeking to smear his reputation in court.

The serving soldier, dubbed Person 14, told the court on Tuesday he did not doubt Mr Roberts-Smith put his life in danger during a 2010 battle in Tizak, Afghanistan, for which he was awarded Australia’s highest military honour in 2011, but he did have doubts about the award.

Ben Roberts-Smith outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

Person 14, whose identity cannot be revealed for national security reasons, was not in Afghanistan in 2010, but served alongside Mr Roberts-Smith in 2009 and 2012.

Mr Roberts-Smith is suing for defamation over a series of news reports in 2018 he says portray him as a war criminal. Person 14 is the second member of the SAS to give evidence in the Federal Court in Sydney for The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Canberra Times, as the news outlets seek to establish a defence of truth.

“Did the awarding of the Victoria Cross to Mr Roberts-Smith create division within the SAS?” Mr Roberts-Smith’s barrister, Arthur Moses, SC, asked Person 14 on Tuesday.

“No. I was there for the investiture and it was a good day, actually,” Person 14 said.

Read the full story here.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says international tourists will eventually need to have three doses of a coronavirus vaccine to enter his state.

Speaking at a press conference this morning, Mr Andrews lauded the Commonwealth’s decision to reopen the country’s international borders to double-vaccinated visa holders from February 21.

“I think we, all of us, were a bit bemused at the timeline that had been put forward by the Commonwealth government around Easter - [we] thought that was quite some time off and perhaps we could do better than that,” the Premier said.

“It’s great yesterday that the Commonwealth were able to confirm that it will be much sooner than that.”

Mr Andrews said whether the threshold to be considered “fully vaccinated” was increased to three rather than two doses would be a matter for the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation in the first instance, “and I’m sure that the Commonwealth government will reserve the right to change its view based on advice that comes from experts”.

He said he thought it highly likely international travellers would ultimately require three doses to come into Australia, but that was a matter for the Commonwealth.

However, Mr Andrews said the three-dose rule would certainly “apply here in the state of Victoria”.

A Victorian state MP who crashed his car into a house in Melbourne - outside a child’s bedroom - arrived at state Parliament today for the first time since his extended leave.

The state’s former shadow attorney-general was instrumental in Opposition leader Matthew Guy’s return to the Liberal leadership in Victoria in September, but their relationship has been frosty after Mr Guy called on the Member for Kew to resign from politics.

Tim Smith shakes hands with Matthew Guy following question time.Credit: Parliament of Victoria

Following question time, Mr Smith walked over to Mr Guy and shook his hand.

Mr Smith resigned from the opposition frontbench in late October after he crashed his six-week-old Jaguar outside a child’s bedroom while driving at more than twice the legal blood-alcohol limit.

One Nation senator and Queensland-based Malcolm Roberts has railed against vaccine mandates in federal Parliament.

“We have in Queensland at a time when there’s an increasing load on police to enforce capricious lockdown and other restriction,” he said.

The ‘Convoy to Canberra’ protest at the front of Old Parliament House in Canberra on Saturday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“And at the same time [we’re] standing aside police officers because they won’t get injected. We’re threatening people in our emergency services workforce, age care, teachers, doctors, police, NDIS workers.”

Mr Roberts said “heroes for 18 months” had been forced to abandon their jobs because of forced vaccinations.

The address was made during a Senate debate over whether to suspend regular parliamentary business so Labor’s Kristina Keneally could introduce a motion calling on Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck’s sacking.

Mr Roberts has courted members of the Convoy to Canberra protest, a group broadly protesting vaccine mandates and which includes members of the Sovereign Citizen movement and conspiracy theorists.

Former Liberal MP Craig Kelly, now leader of the United Australia Party, has welcomed a number of protesters into Parliament House this afternoon.

- With Amelia McGuire

Australia has won gold at the Beijing Winter Olympics, which kicked off on Friday with a dazzling opening ceremony and in freezing conditions.

The Games are being staged as the Omicron variant sweeps the globe, but officials are adamant their hardline zero-COVID approach will keep athletes and crews safe.

Authorities have intercepted hundreds of athletes who have tested positive for COVID-19 and sent them into isolation.

Some athletes have complained about the tough conditions and standards of food in isolation, but conditions are even stricter outside the bubble.

On Sunday Chinese authorities sent the city of Baise – home to more than 3.5 million people – into lockdown after 98 cases were recorded.

Today on Please Explain, North Asia correspondent Eryk Bagshaw joins Bianca Hall to talk about these unique Winter Olympics, and the challenges China faces in staging a COVID-free Games.

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