Federal election campaign: Day 41, Turnbull has jobs plan, Shorten in Tasmania
Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten have taken part in the first ever live leaders’ debate on Facebook. Here’s what you missed.
- Leaders debate on Facebook
- PM faces Sheik questions
- Frydenberg escapes bleach attack
- Turnbull ‘shocked’ at UK killing
- Politicians shouldn’t hide: Pyne
Hello and welcome to day 41 of the 2016 election campaign. Bill Shorten started the day in Hobart while Malcolm Turnbull travelled to the northern NSW seat of Page. Both leaders are in Sydney this evening and have taken part in a live debate on Facebook.
Who won the leaders’ debate?Read David Crowe’s verdict here.
7.10pm:Shorten wins the room
There were 30 undecided voters in the room for the leaders’ Facebook debate. 17 thought Bill Shorten did better. 7 thought Malcolm Turnbull did better. Mr Shorten is the people’s choice once again. And according to news.com.au’s Facebook page there were 123,000 views.
Watch the debate below.
7.00pm:Leaders’ debate: what you missed
The country has witnessed the first leaders’ debate on Facebook. Here’s a recap:
• Host Joe Hildebrand begs the leaders to keep it a slogan-free zone as he explains the rules. You can watch, “react” and write comments on Facebook as the debate goes on.
• Just 2.30 mins into the debate and we have Malcolm Turnbull’s first reference to “jobs and growth”. The leaders are asked why Australians should trust politicians and vote for the major parties instead of the independents, given the number of changes of prime minister and “lies and back flipping”. The Prime Minister tells the audience of undecided voters they have a very “clear decision”, and his government is offering a “very clear economic plan”. A follow up question from Hildebrand gets this answer: “I am opposed to churning prime ministers.” He says he’s “very committed to the Prime Minister being the same after the election”.
• The second question is on penalty rates - they’re asked: if you believe penalty rates are too high, what value do you place on the sacrifice shift workers make and what incentive do you feel would be fair compensation? Bill Shorten has made a pledge: if he wins government on July 2, he will put in a submission to the Fair Work Commission supporting the retention of penalty rates. “Will he?” Shorten asks of Malcolm Turnbull. The PM fires back: “I don’t think it’s the government’s role to be telling the Fair Work Commission what to do about penalty rates. It is meant to be independent of government ... (and) not leant on by government one way or the other.”
• There are some fiery exchanges between the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader. This feels a little more “real” than the National Press Club Debate. We’ll see if it continues... The next question on housing affordability - what else is on the table apart from the cuts to negative gearing, asks someone on Facebook. Bill Shorten says he wants to sit down with the states to work out reforms which mean they can free up more supply of land. But he defends his policy to limit negative gearing to new houses, pointing out the changes aren’t retrospective.Malcolm Turnbull says his government has a plan through its cities policy, in which the feds enter into a deal with a city and local government to agree on measures including improving housing affordability. “We have to build more dwellings,” he says.
• Now onto climate change: How will the leaders be accountable for Australia’s commitment to reducing global warming? “I’m very lucky that I don’t lead a party who disputes me about the science of climate change,” Bill Shorten declares. The Labor leader says they’ve set “ambitious targets”, including 50 per cent of electricity being produced by renewable energy by 2030. Malcolm Turnbull says he’s “absolutely committed” to achieving a global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions to “ward off unsafe global warming”. He points out he has paid “heavy prices” over the years for his commitment to climate change - including the loss of the Liberal Party leadership. He says the Opposition Leader’s claim that money is being given to polluters is not true. The most popular Facebook reaction so far has been: anger.
• We’re onto company tax cuts - what evidence is there that reducing the company tax will lead to mass employment? We see the usual fight on the policy here. Malcolm Turnbull says Bill Shorten used to believed a company tax cut was good - it will provide more investment, employment and grow the economy. The Opposition Leader says Turnbull wants to take $50 billion out of the budget. “They keep saying ‘Labor’s supported corporate tax reductions’. Paul Keating, Chris Bowen and myself have never, ever supported reducing corporate tax cuts if it means sick people have to pay more to go to the doctor.” And we have the first Shorten zinger for the night: “It’s ironic when Mr Turnbull misquotes me from the past. Let me remind you of a Turnbull quote. He called the current policy of the government, when he was not the leader of the government, a ‘fig leaf for environment change’. Now all of a sudden, Tony Abbott’s his climate advisor.”
• We’re told a lot of people did press “like” when asked to by Bill Shorten - meaning they’d prefer fibre to copper in the NBN. And now we’re in the “final” section of the debate - just 60 seconds to answer questions.
• Marriage equality, what the hell are we waiting for? Turnbull: “I’m in favour of it, I support same-sex marriage.” He says he’ll be voting “yes” at a plebiscite, as will his wife Lucy. He defends his party’s decision to have a plebiscite rather than vote in parliament - he points out numerous polls have supported that idea. Bill Shorten talks about the bill he will put to parliament if he wins government - he says people’s relationships and love to each other shouldn’t be submitted to a public opinion poll. He makes another ultimatum to Malcolm Turnbull: “This is an opportunity for him and I to lead. Tonight, I ask Malcolm Turnbull, regardless of who’s elected on July 2, please, let’s just vote for marriage equality in the parliament. We’ll have the numbers ... We can change this and do it without the hate and the homophobia.” Turnbull responds: “I believe Australians are better than that.” “It’s not that I don’t have confidence in Australians ... I just think that leadership sometimes means leading,” Shorten declares.
• Why is university becoming so unaffordable? An audience member asks. Malcolm Turnbull says quality education has to be and should be available to everyone. The government will offer universities the ability to deregulate university fees, he says, for a “small number of flagship courses” so there is more competition. Meaning it should be more affordable for some students. He says then universities will concentrate on “the things they can do best”. But Bill Shorten says that if you cut university funding and then deregulate fees, unis will be in a “trap” where they increase fees. “We’re the party of higher education,” he says. He points to the 120,000 university places that Labor wants to be HECs free like the “good old days”. “This nation’s going to go forward, take my word for it. And you know it,” Shorten says.
• A Facebook live question: When will they talk about axing politicians’ pensions and perks? Malcolm Turnbull says there’s “no doubt” politicians are paid well with 15.4 per cent super and salaries set by the independent Remuneration Tribunal. He says the alternative is if parliament sets salaries - not appropriate. “I didn’t go into parliament to make money, I can assure you,” Turnbull says. “If they’re not paid, then only wealthy people can afford to be members of parliament. So you have to pay your politicians if you want working people and everybody to be able to represent you in parliament.” Shorten says he doesn’t understand why the Liberal Party keeps freezing increases to everyone else’s super. “I’m committed to lifting superannuation, but I’m the Labor guy and I want to see people do better,” he says.
• The final question: what is your vision for what Australia look like in three or six years? Malcolm Turnbull offers his thoughts on it being the “most exciting” time to clinch opportunities in our history. You’ve heard it before. “Everything we want to do, everything our children and grandchildren want to do will be enabled by a strong economy, seizing opportunities of these exciting times,” he says as he last formal comment of the debate. Bill Shorten outlines what a Labor government would do if it won the election. Medicare, childcare, TAFE, the steel industry and the NBN are just some policy areas that rate a mention. And with that Turnbull and Shorten shake hands and then go and shake hands with the audience while the voters decide who was the most impressive of the night.
5.20pm:Andrews on the defensive
Former defence minister Kevin Andrews has gone on the attack in his safe Victorian seat of Menzies. Mr Andrews was spotted on Wednesday with a hammer standing near a fence on which one of his campaign signs had been put over the top of that of independent candidate Stephen Mayne.
The conservative Liberal MP, who was dumped from the ministry when Malcolm Turnbull seized the leadership from Tony Abbott in September, was wearing a moon boot as he is nursing a calf injury. “He is clearly panicking,” Mr Mayne said of his competitor.
“This is not what you’d expect a former defence minister to be doing.” Mr Mayne, an award-winning journalist and shareholder activist, told AAP another of his corflutes had been spray-painted over and up to 20 had gone missing in night raids.
Mr Andrews retained the seat in 2013 with a 59 per cent primary vote, having held it since 1991.
He has been turning up daily at a pre-poll centre in East Doncaster.
Mr Mayne’s signs describe Mr Andrews as a “Fake Liberal”.
“I’m running as the Turnbull candidate - he is running as the Abbott candidate,” Mr Mayne said.
We now have the companion poster going up, providing the solution to the problem of "Fake Liberal" Kevin Andrews. pic.twitter.com/iZmZuiPQRf
— Stephen Mayne (@MayneReport) June 17, 2016
4.30pm:Ban for union-employer payments
The Turnbull government has announced a plan to implement, if re-elected, the “overwhelming majority” of the recommendations made last December by former high court judge Dyson Heydon in the final report of his royal commission into trade union governance and corruption. Read the full story here.
3.20pm:PM ‘hard to pin down’ for debate
Bill Shorten was quizzed about his views on non News Corp journalists being excluded from tonight’s leaders’ debate, which is being hosted by Facebook and news.com.au.
He said he would like to see more journalists there, but Malcolm Turnbull had been hard to pin down for a debate during the campaign so he would take any opportunity available.
“Mr Turnbull would probably likely to boycott this debate,” Mr Shorten said.
“He has been the Scarlet Pimpernel of this election. I’ve sought him here, I’ve sought him there - just pinning him down for a debate has proven far harder than I thought it would. I will debate Mr Turnbull any in place, any time.”
The Labor leader claimed it had been difficult to get Mr Turnbull to commit to debates.
“I would have thought in an eight-week election, he would have been most keen to put his policies and his credentials up against mine,” Mr Shorten said.
“Even though it is the longest election in half a century, this Prime Minister has been the most evasive in half a century for debates.
“Whenever they do a press conference, not that they are inclined to take too many questions or answer too many issues, they are much more comfortable talking about us.
Leaders’ debate gets into your Facebook
3.05pm:Native nuts
It was a nutty kind of day in Alphadale, just inland from Ballina in far north NSW, as Malcolm Turnbull and the Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce toured a macadamia processing company.
With his trademark Akubra hat placed firmly on his head, Mr Joyce declared upon his arrival that he used to use a lot of shampoo but didn’t need it so much now. There was a quick lift of the hat as proof.
And as Mr Joyce and the National MP for Page, Kevin Hogan, waited patiently for the PM, they were confronted by the HEMP Party’s president Michael Balderstone about the legalisation of marijuana.
“Do you want it for medicinal reasons or recreational reasons?” Mr Joyce inquired.
Mr Balderstone told him he had post-traumatic stress disorder after being enrolled at boarding school when he was 10 years old. “Cannabis has probably helped me heaps to recover from that,” he said.
Meeting employees decked out in safety gear, Mr Joyce came armed with a joke: “I almost missed you except for your hi-vis shirt.”
He then told the macadamia workers that members of cabinet particularly liked Australia’s native nut.
“You can always tell the people like it because in our work we bring out these little bowls of nuts and the so-and-so beside you always fishes into the little bowl and picks out all the macadamia nuts and leaves you with the almonds or the cashews,” he said. “The macadamias are always the first to go.”
The PM was shown one of the company’s nut cracking machines and named it the “ultimate nut cracker” before tasting the dry and roasted macadamias on offer.
“Very good, very superior macadamia,” he said.
And with that he cracked on to prepare for the country’s first Facebook leaders’ debate.
- Rosie Lewis
2.50pm: ‘You help us, we’ll help you’
Bill Shorten has toured a steel fabricator in Margate, south of Hobart, following his visit to Whyalla to offer $100 million to struggling steel manufacturers Arrium yesterday.
Crisp Bros Haywards steel builds ships and barges from steel and aluminium.
They usually use Australian steel, but sometimes use imported product, and employ 110 people.
Mr Shorten toured the business with manager Matt Wiggins, who told him they only have one steel supplier now which poses a risk to the business.
“We need control over prices. You help us, we’ll help you,” he told Mr Shorten.
Mr Shorten also met with fabricator welders Andy Smith and Mark Power.
“I think a lot of people think Tassie doesn’t do the heavy manufacturing and even just the act of coming here will reinforce the idea to Australians that we make things here,” Mr Shorten said.
He talked up his trip to Whyalla yesterday and said Labor was committed to Australia continuing to make steel.
“If you only have one supplier of steel that forces prices up, and if we don’t have any steel making in Australia it means you’ll pay more for overseas product which jeopardises viability.”
Mr Shorten told the workers about how his father made a living repairing ships, and spoke to them about his apprenticeship policy and about how he was opposed to paying other countries to build Australian ships, and paying foreign crews to sail them.
“All that money is going overseas,” Mr Smith said.
“Exactly, and you’ve got the skills here,” Mr Shorten replied.
“There’s a debate going on in Australia. Do we have a blue collar manufacturing future? Of course we do,” he said.
2.15pm: Shorten attacks on Parakeelia
Bill Shorten has hit out at Malcolm Turnbull over news he had been due in 2002 to take over from Liberal Party treasurer Ron Walker on the board of the party’s voter tracking software company, Parakeelia, which is currently embroiled in allegations it has been used to funnel taxpayers’ money into party coffers.
Mr Shorten said it had been nine days since Parakeelia’s links with the Liberal Party had been revealed, and there was still no word from Mr Turnbull on the scandal.
“No less a figure than respected Australian businessman and Liberal patron Ron Walker said he stepped down as the treasurer, in 2002, and he was the 98 per cent shareholder on behalf of the Liberal Party, of Parakeelia,” Mr Shorten said.
“Then Mr Turnbull became the treasurer of the Liberal Party. It is inconceivable that when you are the national treasurer of the Liberal Party, that somehow you do not know anything about this, as far back as 2002.
“It is inconceivable. How on earth can the treasurer of the Liberal Party be banking profits from a company that the Liberal Party owns — I mean how many companies do the Liberal Party own? — and you are banking the profits from that company and you don’t know what is going on?
“It sounds like Prime Minister Turnbull is using Senator (Arthur) Sinodinos’s defence: ‘I may have been the treasurer, I just didn’t know what was going on’,” Mr Shorten said.
1.30:PM backs calamitous MP
He’s had a bumpy campaign so far but Malcolm Turnbull is sticking behind his candidate for the country’s most marginal seat McEwen, the calamitous Chris Jermyn.
First his plan to gate crash a Bill Shorten event spectacularly backfired when he was unable to detail the government’s health policies and lashed out at journalists, and now there are reports Mr Jermyn is enrolled to vote at a phony address in McEwen.
“He certainly has plenty of energy,” the Prime Minister declared. “If he is elected he will be a strong voice in McEwen and he is part of the Coalition team.”
1.10pm:Barnaby hits out
Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has laughed off a party stalwart’s call for voters to put independent Indi MP Cathy McGowan ahead of Liberal candidate Sophie Mirabella on the ballot paper, saying those who leave politics are “free agents” that can’t always be reined in.
Former Victorian state MP Ken Jasper has been encouraging voters to number Ms McGowan before Ms Mirabella, upsetting the Coalition’s normal arrangement that sees Libs and Nats preference each other.
Asked about the situation, the Deputy Prime Minister compared it to the Labor Party being made responsible for everything its former leader Mark Latham says.
“Once you leave politics, I know this comes as a shock, you’re a free agent, as much as we’d like at times to rein them in,” Mr Joyce said.
“If we can pass a piece of legislation then Mr Shorten will be on the phone to Mr Latham tomorrow saying I would like you to temper some of your positions. Sometimes I find Mark Latham very erudite about his views about the Australian Labor Party. I think he should be on radio and television all the time.”
1pm:Plebiscite a ‘tawdry’ option
Asked why he doesn’t support a plebiscite on gay marriage in light of a Griffith University Centre for Governance and Public Policy survey which found 70 per cent of Australians, and 72.7 per cent of Labor voters, want a direct say on the issue, Mr Shorten gave a strident defence.
“I could ask these same people do you think there should be marriage equality in this country and even more would say yes,” Mr Shorten said. “My answer to you is why won’t Malcolm Turnbull and the Parliament legislate?
“Does this nation have the time, does it have the taxpayer dollars to go this particular debate?
“I do not want this plebiscite unleashing some of the homophobic attitudes which I think poison the debate about marriage equality full stop.”
Mr Shorten said Labor would legislate for marriage equality in the first 100 days of a Shorten government.
“We all know this plebiscite is a tawdry, second-best option,” he said. “Malcolm Turnbull never supported a plebiscite until he had to sell his political soul to the right wing of the Liberal Party.”
12.45pm:MP’s murder will ‘shake’ Britain
Malcolm Turnbull said the murder of British Labour MP Jo Cox would “rock” the United Kingdom, as he offered the nation’s condolences to her young family and the British people.
“This is an appalling, an appalling crime,” the Prime Minister said. “It will rock the British people. Britain, like Australia, has a political culture which, compared to other countries, has been relatively unmarked by violence. That is a great blessing.
“This is a shocking crime and I convey my condolences on behalf of the government and the people of Australia, my condolences, our prayers and our strongest solidarity to the family of Jo Cox and to the people of the UK.”
12.30pm:Leaders get in your Facebook
12.10pm:Turnbull faces Sheik questions
Malcolm Turnbull says Sheik Shady Alsuleiman, the president of the Australian National Imams Council, has been asked to reflect “very deeply” about his homophobic remarks after he was invited to the PM’s Iftar dinner last night.
Mr Turnbull pointed out Sheik Alsuleiman’s comments were made “some years ago” but condemned homophobia “wherever it is to be found”, however he did not say if the Muslim leader would be excluded from future government events.
Sheik Alsuleiman said in a sermon uploaded to YouTube in 2013 that homosexuality was “spreading all the diseases” and attracting “evil outcomes to out society”.
“I know the Sheik is being encouraged to reflect very deeply on his remarks, which were of some years ago, and it’s up to him how he restates or reconsiders his position,” the PM said.
“But it is vitally important, I say this to everybody, it’s vitally important for Australian leaders, whether they’re political leaders or religious leaders, to recognise that at the foundation of our success is mutual respect and as I said last night, at the core of that mutual respect is love. Love for our fellow humanity.
“That is when we are closest to God. That is the most godly thing is love, and that is the foundation of that mutual respect, a love for our fellow man and woman.”
Mr Turnbull conceded the invitation to the sheik was “clearly an oversight” and said the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet secretary Martin Parkinson would “look into” the matter.
But he warned it was wrong to view Muslim Australians through a “narrow security prism”, suggesting unity between Muslim and non-Muslim communities was crucial for security reasons.
“It is also wrong to seek to define the views of all 500,000 Muslims because of the opinions expressed by one person, by one cleric,” he said.
“It is a big and diverse community and our engagement with Australian Muslims is critically important for our future and, dare I say, for our security.”
12pm:Sheik video emerges
Sheik Shady Al-Suleiman says women must obey husbands to ‘enter paradise’:
11.30am:‘A battle against hate, fear’
Bill Shorten began his press conference as he did an interview with ABC local radio earlier this morning by acknowledging the “horrific murder” of UK Labour MP Jo Cox.
“Her husband said that there were two things that united them, I am sure among many other things,” Mr Shorten said.
“One was the love of their children and also their desire to make sure that hate and fear never dominate in the community.
“What makes this political crime so dreadful is that in Australia, we take for granted our ability to get out and mix with people, to practise democracy in a safe way.
“This dreadful murder in the United Kingdom will not deter me all my Labor team from going about their daily duty, that is the very least we can do in the memory of the three distinguished UK Labour politician.
Mr Shorten said his personal security had not been stepped up as a result of the attack.
“The Australian people deserve to have MPs out among them, I have no doubt Australian MPs will continue out among the people, it is the single best part of the job,” he said.
“I have got complete trust in the Australian people. They may not always like what we have to say but we have a great democracy, I believe it will continue, even with that shocking incident in England.”
11am:Shorten’s Tassie pitch
Bill Shorten has held a press conference in Hobart to sell Labor’s plan for Tasmania, flanked by Tasmanian Labor MP for the seat of Franklin, Julie Collins, Labor’s candidate for Denison, Jane Austin, Labor’s candidate for Lyons, Brian Mitchell.
Mr Shorten highlighted the $5 million Labor is offering for a business case for a second Basslink cable, saying it was better than the feasibility study the Coalition promised back in May, because it came with an undertaking to contribute $500m to build the $1bn project if the business case stacks up.
Ms Collins holds Franklin, to the southwest and east of Hobart, by 5.09 per cent.
Her Liberal rival is mother of four and ICU nurse Amanda-Sue Markham.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie holds Denison, which takes in Hobart and surrounds, by 15.51 per cent, having ousted Labor in 2010.
Ms Austin is a senior mental health and suicide prevention policy officer with the Tasmanian state government and a former teacher, who stood for Labor in 2013.
Mr Mitchell, a former journalist, political staffer and PR consultant is trying to win back Lyons from Liberal MP Eric Hutchinson.
The former wool exporter holds it by a margin of 1.22 per cent after scoring a massive 13.5 per cent swing in 2013 to end a 20 year Labor reign in Lyons.
10.15am:‘Resolve issues at ballot box’
Malcolm Turnbull says it is important for a democracy to have robust debate involving the expression of “strong views” but says arguments should be resolved peacefully at the ballot box.
Speaking after the slaying of British Labour politician Jo Cox, the Prime Minister said the AFP had paid “very close regard” to the security of Australian politicians.
“Can I just say the murder of Jo Cox is a shocking one. I was deeply shocked by it,” he told Melbourne’s 3AW radio.
“We’ve had very few incidents of political violence. And this is a very disturbing incident and it’s a reminder again how important it is that we are able to discuss matters, debate matters strongly and forcefully and have strong views. But always resolve them democratically through the ballot box.”
9.44am:PM rues hosting Sheik at dinner
Malcolm Turnbull says he regrets inviting Sheik Shady Alsuleiman to Kirribilli for the first ever Iftar – the evening meal at which Muslims end their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan – to be staged by an Australian Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister told Melbourne’s 3AW radio that, if he had been aware of the sheik’s views, he would not have extended an invitation and encouraged him to recant views that homosexuals were “spreading diseases” and attracting “evil outcomes to our society.”
“I do regret his being invited. He was invited in his official capacity as President of the National Imams Council and the guest list was assembled by department,” Mr Turnbull said.
“If I had been aware that he’d made those remarks about homosexuals and gay people he would not have been invited. And as soon as they were drawn to my attention I of course made my condemnation of them very clear.”
“They were drawn to my attention during the dinner in fact. Yes, that’s right. In the course of the dinner my staff alerted me… The Australian newspaper had contacted them and drawn attention to these remarks that had been by the sheik some years ago.”
Mr Turnbull said the foundation of Australia’s success was “mutual respect” and warned that people should not be disrespected on the basis of their sexuality, race, religion or gender.
When pressed on whether Islam was a homophobic faith, Mr Turnbull said it was unwise to generalise and argued that a quarter of the world’s population described themselves as Muslims.
“There are different views on different issues as there are in all religions,” he said. “I am not a bishop. I am the Prime Minister.”
Mr Turnbull urged Sheik Alsuleiman to reconsider his views on homosexuals but noted he had attended many other government functions with other ministers and prime ministers.
“He will have to address his own position,” Mr Turnbull said. “I would strongly counsel the sheik as, indeed I know he has been counselled, to reflected on what he has said and recant what he has said and to state clearly that he is committed to the Australian values of mutual respect.”
9am:Greens want live export cattle ban
Greens Leader Richard Di Natale has called for the end to the live export trade following new revelations that workers in Vietnamese abattoirs were bludgeoning Australian cattle to death with sledgehammers.
The government has launched an investigation into live export rules after being shown footage by animal welfare group Animals Australia with Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce confirming the abattoir in question had been suspended from receiving cattle.
While Mr Joyce ruled out a ban, Senator Di Natale today said the revelations did not shock him and said exports to Vietnam should be immediately halted with the practice being phased out over time.
“We know that while that trade continues, this is what happens,” he told Sky News. “This is happening right around the world in other circumstances. We just don’t know about it.”
“And while the trade continues, this cruelty will continue. So what we need to do is we need to put an end to the trade with Vietnam immediately. We’re calling of the suspension with the trade with Vietnam.”
“We’re also calling for the government to phase out the trade altogether.”
8.25am:Frydenberg escapes bleach attack
AFP security has come to the defence of Liberal frontbencher Josh Frydenberg by stopping a young climate protester from storming a stage at a town hall event with a white can he claimed was filled with bleach.
Packed house at Lighter Footprints #climateforum2016 debating @Mark_Butler_MP and @janet_rice pic.twitter.com/ra3RnUylQp
— Josh Frydenberg (@JoshFrydenberg) June 16, 2016
The protester was attempting to draw attention to the condition of the Great Barrier Reef and pushed through a 500 plus crowd at the start of a meeting last night at the Box Hill Town Hall in Melbourne, declaring the can of bleach was intended for Mr Frydenberg.
The protester made his way to the steps of the stage before being intercepted by AFP officers who took him away with Mr Frydenberg never learning what was in the can.
The incident took place at a candidate’s forum organised by a Melbourne based climate change group, Lighter Footprints, with Mr Frydenberg debating Labor’s Mark Butler as well as the Greens’ Janet Rice.
Melbourne University academic in the politics of climate change, Peter Christoff, was also participating in the event moderated by Australian stand-up comedian Rod Quantock.
In audio of the event, obtained by The Australian, the protester is heard saying: “This one’s… for Josh Frydenberg.” While the rest of the audio is garbled, the protester clearly mentions the reef before he is removed.
The incident happened just hours before the murder of British Labor politician Jo Cox, who was shot and stabbed by a man yelling “Britain First” one week out from the Brexit vote.
A man was intercepted by AFP at a climate forum last night in Melb trying to rush the stage & Minister Josh Frydenberg #ausvotes 1/2
— Kieran Gilbert (@Kieran_Gilbert) June 16, 2016
The man was carrying bleach (over the reef). 500 people at the forum. Also speaking Labor's Mark Butler & Greens Janet Rice #ausvotes 2/2
— Kieran Gilbert (@Kieran_Gilbert) June 16, 2016
8am: Politicians ‘shouldn’t hide’
Cabinet minister Christopher Pyne believes MPs should not hide in their shells or stop meeting constituents in the wake of a British MP’s murder.
Mr Pyne says one of the great aspects of democracy in Australia and in Britain is the connection politicians have with the public, describing the murder of Jo Cox as a terrible tragedy.
#RIPJoCox The strength of our democracy in Australia and Britain is the approachability of our MPs. That mustn't change #auspol #ausvotes
— Christopher Pyne (@cpyne) June 16, 2016
“It is important ... that we don’t change the way we behave,” he told the Nine Network today.
Mr Pyne said the murder highlighted the vulnerable position MPs often found themselves in without security.
“It just really underlines how careful we all have to be.” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said he was deeply shocked by Ms Cox’s death.
“Our condolences, prayers and solidarity are with her family & the people of the UK,” he tweeted.
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese described it as a hate crime.
“And occasionally, you know, you do get concerned about the approach that some people have.”
7.45am:Shorten woos Tasmania votes
Bill Shorten has a few extra gifts for Tasmania up his sleeve in addition to announcing the $751.7m “Working Futures” youth jobs program in which the island state will share.
Mr Shorten will announce that Labor will provide $500m for a second Basslink cable if a sound business case can be established, and promise $5m for that business case.
The Coalition has already promised a feasibility study for the project, which is expected to cost at least $1 billion, but would deliver greater energy security and job opportunities for Tasmanians through the development of renewable energy.
Labor is also pledging $870,000 for three Tasmanian community legal centres, including $450,000 for the Women’s Legal Service Tasmania, $300,000 for the Hobart Community Legal Service, and $120,000 for the Tenants’ Union of Tasmania.
Mr Shorten has previously pledged $150m for a University of Tasmania campus relocation and $32m for the Hobart Airport roundabout.
7.10am:Shock at MP’s killing
Malcolm Turnbull has this morning Tweeted his deep shock at the murder of British Labour politician Jo Cox who was shot and stabbed by a man yelling “Britain First” one week out from the Brexit vote.
Deeply shocked by the murder of UK MP Jo Cox. Our condolences, prayers and solidarity are with her family & the people of the UK.
— Malcolm Turnbull (@TurnbullMalcolm) June 16, 2016
7am:PM’s jobs plan
Malcolm Turnbull is headed to northern NSW for a morning on the hustings with Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce to announce the Coalition’s $25 million jobs package for the region. They’ll be in the seat of Page, which stretches from Coffs Harbour to the Queensland border, and is held by National MP Kevin Hogan on a slim 3.1 per cent margin. The battleground seat was one of three picked up by the Nats at the 2013 election — the other two were from independents. The PM says the jobs package will “incentivise business to invest, deliver new export opportunities and help boost regional jobs”. It will also ask businesses to match the federal funding.
Bill Shorten starts the day in Hobart, where he’s expected to announce Labor’s “Working Futures” program to get young people into work.
The program will offer 20,000 people aged between 15 and 24 a work and training program.
It will include:
— A six-week work readiness course focusing on essential employment skills as well as personal presentation, interview techniques and job hunting;
— A six-month work placement with an employer, paid at an award-equivalent training wage;
— A fully-funded Certificate III in a subject of their choice.
The program will be targeted towards young people who have been unemployed for more than a year and have no post-school qualifications.
Labor is pitting “Working Futures” against the Coalition’s “PaTH” youth jobs program, where young people will be given four to 12 week internships and paid $200 a week on top of their unemployment benefit.
Labor says the “Working Futures” pay rate will protect wages, rather than undercutting them as it claims the Coalition’s plan will do.
The plan has been costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, and Labor claims it will be delivered within the funding envelope of the government’s proposed Youth PaTH program.
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