Coalition rebels get taste of concessions, say they want more

Rebel Coalition senators are demanding further concessions from Scott Morrison before abandoning their campaign to block legislation.

Opposition in front of him, rebels behind … Scott Morrison during question time. Picture: Gary Ramage

Rebel Coalition senators are demanding further concessions from Scott Morrison before abandoning their campaign to block legislation after the government agreed to give more compensation to people injured by Covid-19 vaccines.

Queensland senator Gerard Rennick said he would vote with the Coalition on procedural motions in the Senate after the government agreed to compensate people who have lost as little as $1000 of income after being injured by a vaccine.

The threshold was lowered from $5000.

Senator Rennick said he would vote with the government on legislation only if Mr Morrison told the states their vaccine mandates were unconstitutional.

He said his interpretation of the Constitution was that pharmaceutical laws should be the domain of the commonwealth.

South Australian senator Alex Antic said “lowering the threshold for people receiving compensation for vaccine injuries is an important first step”. “The position with respect to my vote on government legislation is, however, still tied to the achievement of greater protection for Australians from vaccine discrimination. There is still a lot of work to do,” he said.

In an attempt to distance the changes to vaccine compensation from the threats made by rebel senators, Health Minister Greg Hunt said the government had been considering the measure for “a number of weeks”.

The compensation change came as Nationals MP George Christensen, who is also threatening to abstain from government legislation, was condemned for encouraging civil disobedience as a form of protest against jab mandates.

Mr Christensen, who on Wednesday crossed the floor against the government’s litigation funding reforms, likened premiers to totalitarian leaders such as Stalin, Mao, Hitler and Pol Pot.

“The totalitarian path we are unquestionably on has never ended well,” he said. “The solution is a rediscovery of human dignity, along with – and I don’t say this lightly – civil disobedience.”

Anthony Albanese used question time to demand Mr Morrison condemn Mr Christensen. Mr Morrison fell short of personally criticising the Dawson MP but said “everyone should obey the law”.