PoliticsNow: PM attacks Greens ‘lie’ on bushfires, emissions links
Scott Morrison canes Adam Bandt ‘suggestion’ that ‘economy wrecking, emissions cuts’ could have prevented fires.
- Greens ‘lie’ under attack
- Westpac’s ‘free pass to paedophiles’
- China allegations ‘deeply disturbing’
- PM unveils $537m aged care package
- Lambie won’t back repealing medivac
- MP rejects Liu speculation
Hello and welcome to PoliticsNow, The Australian’s live blog on the happenings at Parliament House in Canberra.
Nicola Berkovic 4.55pm: Hanson-Young wins defamation case
The Greens senator has won her court case against a former politician who told her to “stop shagging men”. Read more here
Greg Brown 4.10pm: What we learned in QT
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has used Question Time to accuse Westpac of giving “a free pass to paedophiles”. Mr Dutton also took aim at the bank’s “negligent” bosses. Read more here
Rosie Lewis 3.30pm: Aged care ‘band-aid solution’
United Workers Union also endorsed the extra 10,000 home care places but said the response to the interim report failed to address the chronic funding needed sector-wide.
“The Morrison government just continues to deal out band aids to this sector. The royal commission has explicitly addressed the fact that workforce is the key to providing quality care, and this announcement completely fails to provide funding for that,” UWU national director of aged care Carolyn Smith said.
“Australia cannot wait for the final recommendations of the royal commission due this time next year for the Government to act comprehensively on the crisis in this industry – particularly those older Australians dying on home care waiting lists or not receiving the care they deserve in residential facilities because of understaffing.
“There is no funding to assist with the horror stories that chronic funding shortfalls lead to, like incontinence pads being rationed.”
Greg Brown 3.05pm: Banks get ‘23 million chances’
Opposition industrial relations spokesman Tony Burke asks why the government has legislation before the Senate that can deregister a union for three paperwork breaches.
“How can there be corporate equivalence if unions will get three chances and banks will get 23 million?”
Attorney-General Christian Porter says the premise of the question was “absolutely and utterly incorrect”.
“And the question carries an assertion that somehow a union or a branch of a union would be deregistered for non-serious matters,” Porter says. “Totally and absolutely wrong.”
Greg Brown 2.58pm: Bandt demands bushfires apology
Greens MP Adam Bandt asks Scott Morrison if he will apologise to victims of bushfires by “exporting record amounts of thermal coal”.
This fires up Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack who yells from his seat: “when are you going to apologise? You are a disgrace”.
The Prime Minister says the government is taking climate change seriously.
“What we won’t do is engage in the reckless targets supported by the Greens and the Labor Party under this false promise and I think dishonest promise that the member has been spruiking both in this place and outside of this place, and that is to suggest that there is some trade-off,” Morrison says.
“That if the government had adopted economy wrecking ... emission reduction cuts that were put forward by the Labor Party at the last election, then these fires would not have taken place. That is an outright lie.”
Rosie Lewis 2.53pm: Unions pressure Lambie
The union movement has attempted to increase pressure on One Nation and independent senator Jacqui Lambie to oppose the government’s ensuring integrity bill by asking nurses, flight attendants and financial sector workers to explain how they claim legislation will impact them.
Teri O’Toole, a flight attendant and secretary of the Flight Attendant’s Association of Australia’s international division, said the bill would “destroy small unions who simply don’t have the compliance people” to ensure they do not miss important paperwork deadlines.
“All of the elected officials are flight attendants, they work on their days off after they finish flying. We can’t afford to have a full-time compliance officer and just like small business, we can’t be expected to do the same amount of paperwork with very few staff to do it,” she said.
“If we do miss a deadline, we can be shut down.”
While up to eight unions were represented by members at a press conference hosted by the Australian Council of Trade Unions at Parliament House, the CFMEU – which has been described by the Federal Court as the most recidivist corporate offender in Australian history - was notably absent.
ACTU president Michele O’Neil refused to acknowledge bad behaviour from the CFMEU but said if it was deregistered under the ensuring integrity bill workers would be left without protection.
“What we know about the deregistration of any union is that it immediately leaves workers without representation, without protection, without people to stand up for them when things go wrong,” Ms O’Neil said.
“We know this is a dangerous industry but it’s not just about safety, it’s also about basic conditions. When someone’s discriminated against or bullied or treated unfairly, it’s unions that are in their corner. When someone isn’t paid correctly.”
Greg Brown 2.52pm: ‘No place for militant unions’
Labor MP Ged Kearney asks why Scott Morrison says the leadership of Westpac is “up to the board” when it has broken the law 23 million times.
“When at the same time he wants to shut down entire unions for minor paperwork breaches?”
The Prime Minister says, by Kearney’s logic, the next time a “union thug breaks someone’s arm” it will be lodged as a paper cut.
“Those opposite, the Labor Party, are looking for any excuse to walk away from what they know is the right thing to do, to ensure that militant unionism has no place in this country,” Morrison says.
Greg Brown 2.48pm: Aged care ‘half measures’
Opposition aged care spokeswoman Julie Collins asks Scott Morrison why he “today put back only half of the $1.2 billion his own budget papers confirm he cut from aged care”.
The Prime Minister says aged care funding had increased under his government, leading to jeers from Labor MPs.
“The royal commission has made it clear that the issues that we are addressing deal with a generation of issues within the aged care system,” he says.
Greg Brown 2.45pm: ‘A union or a bank?’
Anthony Albanese asks Scott Morrison about an “organisation” that broke money laundering laws 23 million times.
“Was it a union or a bank?”
The Prime Minister confirms it was indeed a bank.
He says he introduced a crackdown on bank executives when he was treasurer, through the Banking Executive Accountability Regime.
Morrison also says the penalties under his banking executive crackdown are tougher than those in the Ensuring Integrity Bill before the Senate.
“I think banks should take account of their manifest failures and I they union things should also,” he says.
Greg Brown 2.40pm: Coleman absent
Scott Morrison tells the House that Immigration Minister David Coleman will be absent from parliament for the next fortnight for personal reasons.
Greg Brown 2.35pm: PM delivers bushfires update
Scott Morrison also speaks on indulgence about the victims of recent bushfires.
“We have been simply amazed once again that in Australia’s most difficult moments we always find the best of Australians. In the way they respond to these events,” the Prime Minister says.
He says four people have died in the blazes, which continue in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
He says there are more than 60 fires burning in NSW and more than 65 in Queensland.
More than 550 homes have been destroyed “in the last few weeks” in NSW, and 20 lost in Queensland.
“I want to acknowledge the tremendous national effort taking place with firefighters travelling from every state as well as from New Zealand and the United States where I’ve had the opportunity to thank the President this morning and of course the Prime Minister of New Zealand earlier,” Morrison says.
“We also thank those who have come from Canada to help where it is needed.”
Anthony Albanese also speaks about the fires and “remembering those Australians who were lost in the fires”.
“Four Australians who have lost their lives is four too many,” the Opposition Leader says.
“We cannot know what it was like for them the moment that hope ran out. Our hearts break for them and for those that they have left behind.”
He says climate change leads to longer and more intense fire seasons.
“The fire season is starting earlier and finishing later. Our emergency leaders agree that extreme weather events in Australia will only increase in their severity and their frequency,” he says.
Rosie Lewis 2.30pm: Aged care package ‘inadequate’
Opposition ageing spokeswoman Julie Collins said the government’s “miserly” $537m aged care package did not go far enough and failed to guarantee older Australians received care sooner.
“There are 120,000 older Australians waiting for home care, with many waiting more than two years for the care they have been approved for,” she said.
“The interim report of the royal commission described the unacceptable number of older Australians waiting for home care as ‘unsafe practice’ and ‘neglect’. The government has failed these older Australians.”
The government has promised more reforms – including a new way of remunerating aged care facilities – will be announced, with a final royal commission report due in November 2020.
Chris Kenny 2.15pm: Bushfire alarmists blind to reality
The misinformation about the recent bushfires was even worse than we thought. Read more here
Greg Brown 2.10pm: Former MP honoured
Scott Morrison opens question time by paying tribute to former Labor MP Ben Humphreys, who died last week.
The Prime Minister says Humphreys was one of only three Labor MPs from Queensland when he was elected Griffith MP in 1977.
“He believed he’d be a oncer and he wasn’t, though. He was elected seven times,” Morrison says.
Anthony Albanese also rises speak about the death of Humphreys, saying the former veterans’ affairs minister was respected across the parliament.
“Ben remains our second longest serving veterans’ affairs minister. In him our veterans ..(had) a tireless and devoted advocate,” the Opposition Leader says.
Greg Brown 1.36pm: China allegations ‘deeply disturbing’: PM
Scott Morrison says allegations China attempted to plant a spy MP in Canberra are “deeply disturbing and troubling” as he defended his government’s policies on combating foreign interference.
The Prime Minister said he was “not naive” to security threats as he pointed to the “significant legal reform” on foreign interference undertaken by the Coalition government.
He noted the claims a Chinese espionage ring offered to fund now-deceased Liberal Party member’s Bo Zhao tilt to the Melbourne seat of Chisholm were already under investigation.
“Australia is not naive to the threats that it faces more broadly,” Mr Morrison said at Parliament House in Canberra.
“That’s why we strengthen the laws, why we increased the resources, that’s why we established the Department of Home Affairs to bring together all of this in a single portfolio, to ensure Australia was in the best possible position to deal with any threats that come our way.
“I can assure Australians that under our government, the resources have never been stronger, the laws have never been tougher, and the government has never been more determined to keep Australians free and safe from foreign interference.”
Mr Morrison said the asylum claims of Chinese spy defector Wang Liqiang would be “assessed on its merits” through the Department of Home Affairs.
“I expect the department to make their decisions in the ordinary course of events, and they will do that. We will honour our obligations, as we always do, under the Refugee Convention,” he said.
Joe Kelly 1.33pm: Nats’ federal director to bow out
National Party federal director Ben Hindmarsh has opted not to renew his contract next year after taking up the job in 2017 and overseeing the party’s 2019 election campaign which saw the party retain all its lower house seats.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said that Mr Hindmarsh had served as a trusted adviser to the Nationals Party Room over the past three years and had provided “political and campaign guidance through challenging political times.”
“Throughout his tenure, Ben has forged strong relationships with our State parties, the Liberal Party and our membership to prepare for and deliver a professional and co-ordinated national campaign which has had stunning results,” Mr McCormack said.
Mr Hindmarsh oversaw the Nationals Party 2019 federal election campaign which saw the party return all 16 House of Representatives seats.
“Ben has driven important reform in our party which has helped shape its future and he should be proud of his work in building the Federal Secretariat into a very strong financial and professional operation,” Mr McCormack said.
National Party President Larry Anthony said that Mr Hindmarsh was an astute campaign strategist who “kept his cool in times of crisis and political pressure.”
Mr Hindmarsh will remain in his position until his term expires in February 2020 with a formal recruitment process being undertaken by the federal management committee. Expressions of interest will close on December 9 2019.
Rosie Lewis 12.58pm: Royal commission ‘very uncomfortable exercise for all’
PM Scott Morrison said the royal commission was a very uncomfortable exercise for all Australians as they listened to stories of shocking and disturbing treatment of vulnerable older people.
READ MORE: PM unveils $537m aged care package
“I want to assure all Australians that we will deal with these issues as you would if you were standing in my shoes today. I know quite precisely the sorts of things that you are thinking about at the moment when it comes to the treatment of your loved ones in aged care,” he said.
“My family is no different to yours in that respect. And so I have a very deep understanding of the difficult decisions that you’re having to make, the conversations you’re having to have with the partners, husbands, wives of those loved ones going into care, other siblings.
“This is hard. And you just want to be assured that they’re going to get the care. I want that as much for your family as I want it for mine. I want the response of our government to have the same level of deep care and responsibility.”
12.38pm: Labor hounds Taylor on doctored document
Labor is ramping up pressure on Angus Taylor over his use of a doctored document to attack the Sydney lord mayor.
Tony Burke, the manager of opposition business, has called on the energy minister to explain how he has not deliberately misled federal parliament.
“This entire scandal is rotten to the core. We have in front of us what I think would have to be the most clear cut example I have ever seen of a minister misleading the House,” Mr Burke told the chamber on Monday.
AAP
Rosie Lewis 12.33pm: PM unveils $537m aged care package
Scott Morrison will increase home care packages for elderly Australians, reduce chemical restraints used in aged care and get younger people out of residential aged care under a $537m funding package responding to the aged care royal commission’s interim report.
The bulk of the money – $496.3m – will pay for an additional 10,000 home care packages, while another $25.5m will improve medication management programs to reduce the use of medication as chemical restraint and new restrictions and education for prescribers, and $10m for additional dementia training and support.
There will be $4.7m to help meet new targets to remove younger people with disabilities from residential aged care.
New targets of no people under the age of 65 entering residential aged care by 2022, no people under the age of 45 living in residential aged care by 2022 and no people under the age of 65 living in residential aged care by 2025 have been set.
The royal commission made three interim findings where immediate action can be taken – to provide more home care packages, respond to significant over-reliance on chemical restraint in aged care and stop the flow of younger people with a disability going into facilities.
“The additional 10,000 home care packages will be focused on the royal commission’s identified areas of need and is strongly weighted towards level three and level four packages, which provide a high level of care,” the Prime Minister said in a joint statement with Health Minister Greg Hunt, Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck and NDIS Minister Sutart Robert.
“These packages will be rolled out from 1 December 2019.”
From January 1 next year, stronger safeguards and restrictions will be established for the prescribing of repeat prescriptions of the antipsychotic drug risperidone.
As reported in The Australian earlier this month, doctors will be required to apply for additional approval if risperidone is prescribed beyond an initial 12-week period.
“Education resources for prescribers will also be developed to support the appropriate use of antipsychotics and benzodiazepines in residential aged care and targeted letters will be sent to high prescribers,” Mr Morrison said.
“Funding for medication management programs will be increased by $25.5m, including support for pharmacists to ensure more frequent medication reviews can occur. The royal commission directed that restraint must only be used as a last resort, and amendments to regulations will make this clear.”
The dementia funding will go towards training and support to better equip aged care workers and health sector staff to manage behavioural and psychological symptoms of the disease, deliver best practice care and comply with new standards for reducing the use of physical and chemical restraints.
Ewin Hannan 12.19pm: Hanson won’t guarantee support for union bill
Pauline Hanson has accused the government of “double standards” over its approach to corporate misconduct and the behaviour of unions, refusing to guarantee support for the Coalition’s union restricting Ensuring Integrity Bill.
Senator Hanson said she was very disappointed with the government’s priorities, accusing the Coalition of using a sledgehammer to attack unions while “looking after” big business.
With Centre Alliance backing the bill, the government needs the two Senate votes of One Nation or the support of Jacqui Lambie to get the bill passed.
Rosie Lewis 12.05pm: Union right to pull Labor donations: ACTU president
The union movement has defended the Electrical Trades Union’s decision to no longer provide donations or logistic support to the Labor Party, with Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil declaring it was their right.
The Australian revealed last week the ETU – which donated nearly $1m to Labor in the lead-up to the May 18 election – had resolved there would be no financial or other support to the ALP while it agreed to free-trade deals it said undermined the safety and security of workers.
Unions have been furious after Labor supported the passage of the Indonesian, Hong Kong and Peru free-trade agreements clinched by the Coalition.
Ms O’Neil said she understood the ETU’s anger that led to its decision to withdraw donations.
“This is the thing about unions, they’re democratic bodies,” she said.
“They’re controlled by their members. The rights of union members to make decisions about what happens with union finances we absolutely support. It’s the right of every union to determine with their leadership, in consultation with their members, do with the resources that is members’ money.”
A resolution passed by the ETU’s divisional council in Hobart last week said donations would only be considered for individual MPs and candidates who publicly backed a strong position on fair trade.
The donations ban will not extend to state Labor parties.
“The Electrical Trades Union resolves that it is appalled by the actions of the Labor shadow cabinet in supporting recent trade deals,” the resolution said.
“The lack of leadership shown by Anthony Albanese and the lack of direct communication by caucus members is a disgrace.
“There will be no future financial or other support to the federal Labor Party while it continues to agree to trade deals which undermine the safety and security of Australian workers, and/or sell out our national sovereignty.”
11.46am: ‘Shadow’ over Liu: Patrick
A Liberal backbencher is facing fresh questions about her connections to the Chinese government, following allegations Beijing tried to plant a spy in federal parliament.
Senate crossbencher Rex Patrick said a “shadow” remained over Victorian Liberal MP Gladys Liu.
“She hasn’t made a statement to parliament about her connections with the Chinese,” Senator Patrick said on Monday.
“I’m not suggesting anything but there is a shadow and where there’s a shadow, light can solve issues to make sure that people are absolutely confident in MPs.” Ms Liu, the member for Chisholm, has previously come under fire for her links to Chinese Communist Party propaganda organisations.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann shot down questions about what the Liberal Party was doing to make sure its candidates were not agents of foreign governments.
“I think you are quite inappropriately conflating unrelated issues here. I reject that in the strongest possible terms,” he told the ABC. “I do not think there is any suggestion along the lines of what you have just suggested or implied in relation to the member for Chisholm, Gladys Liu.”
Greg Brown 11.30am: PM talks to Trump on Weeks, fires
Scott Morrison has spoken with Donald Trump on the phone about bushfires and the release of former Taliban hostage Timothy Weeks.
The Prime Minister conveyed his appreciation to the President for Washington’s role in helping secure the release of Professor Weeks in a deal with Afghanistan.
A senior government source said Mr Trump “commended” Australia’s response to the bushfires, while Mr Morrison thanked the US for sending their firefighters to help fight the blazes.
Mr Morrison also told Mr Trump that signing phase one of a trade deal with China would be good for the global economy.
11.11am: Molan completes political comeback
Liberal senator Jim Molan has officially returned to federal parliament, with the former major general sworn in to the upper house.
The NSW senator lost his seat after being bumped down the Liberal ticket at the May election, but returned on Monday to replace Arthur Sinodinos, who left to become Australia’s ambassador to the United States.
Greg Brown 11.02am: No checks on ministers: Paterson
Liberal senator James Paterson says he does not agree there should be security checks on federal ministers, as called for by Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick.
Senator Paterson said the proposal would put security agencies in “a position of power over the federal parliament and over the ministry”.
“And fundamentally undermine one of the core tenets of the Westminster system,” Senator Paterson told Sky News.
“The only criteria to being appointed to the cabinet is to be first elected to the parliament and second to be chosen by a prime minister.
“The idea that you would need a tick off from a security agency is going down the J Edgar Hoover path and that’s not something that any Australian would be comfortable with.”
Greg Brown 10.49am: ‘No doubt China trying to infiltrate our parliament’
Barnaby Joyce says he has no doubt the Chinese government is trying to “infiltrate our parliament”.
The Nationals MP said there needed to be a thorough investigation into the death of former Liberal Party member Nick Zhao, amid allegations China offered to bankroll his campaign if he ran for the Victorian seat of Chisholm.
“What we are seeing is, I don’t doubt it, I know that the Chinese have in one way or another been trying to infiltrate our parliament, whether it be online and whether it’s by direct inducements to politicians,” Mr Joyce told Seven Network.
“I believe Mr Zhao’s death should be investigated.”
Mr Joyce said there was a transition from a “liberal rules-based order” to a world that was heavily influenced by an autocratic government.
“This is something that we’ve just got to accept and we’ve got to be strong, and we’ve got to be resolute, and we cannot be naive, and we’ve got to realise that this is the new world order we are living in,” Mr Joyce said.
Greg Brown 10.33am: Union bill ‘extreme’: climate activists
The activist group that organised the climate change school strikes has condemned Scott Morrison’s plan to crackdown on criminal unionists.
School Strike 4 Climate Australia has distributed a statement calling the Ensuring Integrity Bill “extreme” and “unnecessary”, as it broadens its campaign remit from climate change.
“School strikers wholeheartedly condemn this bill and everything it stands for,” said a School Strike 4 Climate Australia spokesman.
“This bill is extreme, unnecessary, and will make it harder for workers to win pay rises, protect their jobs and champion a just transition to a low carbon future.
“The climate crisis is and will continue to disproportionately impact upon working class people.
“School strikers stand in solidarity with the union movement in its work to build a more equitable society and the fight for a just transition to the jobs and industries of a low carbon economy that serves the people and our planet instead of rich multinational corporations and billionaires.”
Greg Brown 10.23am: ‘Difficult to imagine more serious allegations’
Liberal senator James Paterson says it is “difficult to imagine” more serious allegations than China trying to plant a spy in the federal parliament.
Senator Paterson, who was blocked from entering China because of his criticisms of its government, said he was troubled by allegations Liberal Party member Nick Zhao was approached to run for the seat of Chisholm by a Chinese espionage ring.
“It is difficult to imagine more profoundly serious allegations than these. Particularly that an Australian citizen who was a Liberal Party member, received an attempt of foreign interference, disclosed that to ASIO and subsequently died,” Senator Paterson told Sky News.
“They are profoundly serious and troubling allegations.”
Senator Paterson said he did not have a strong memory of Zhao, but believes he “probably met him”.
Rosie Lewis 10.07am: Lambie won’t back repealing medivac, open to amendments
Independent Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie will not support repealing the controversial medivac laws, according to her crossbench colleague Rex Patrick, but is open to amending the legislation.
Senator Patrick, from Centre Alliance, told Sky News his party was open to “sensible improvements” to the medivac laws but not a repeal.
“I have spoken to Jacqui and she is not supporting a repeal of the legislation. She is considering amending the legislation. I don’t know the details of what she’s proposing and I understand she’s talking to the government,” he said.
“There is a provision in the current bill that does allow for customs officers to seek to have someone returned. I don’t know the exact reason of why that is not being exercised.
“If the bill needs some improvements … we would be open to sensible improvements. Not a repeal. We need to make sure that people who are ill, people who require medical attention, get medical attention. That’s the Australian way.”
Senator Lambie is the last remaining vote the government needs to repeal the legislation. It has the support of One Nation, which holds two crossbench votes, and independent South Australian senator Cory Bernardi.
Joe Kelly 9.43am: ‘Australia must stand for its principles’
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has said that Australia must continue to stand up for its principles in its dealings with China by calling out bad behaviour.
“In relation to what are very serious allegations aired yesterday we do need to let proper investigations take their course,” he told Sky News.
“We do want a positive and constructive relationship with China. We want the best possible relationship with China that we can have.
“By the same token, where there are instances of bad behaviour or issues that are to be dealt with we will call them out and we will deal with them.
“That is what is done between sovereign nations.
“We have an important economic relationship with China. We have an important overall relationship with China. Of course, we are interested and committed to having a constructive relationship, the best possible relationship. But by the same token it has to be a relationship between sovereign nations and we will continue to call out any issues and deal with any issues as they arise.”
Senator Cormann also dismissed suggestions from Labor MPs that the government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill could see unions being shut down for minor paperwork breaches.
“The Ensuring Integrity bill does not target unions. It is focused on registered organisations. Most of them are actually employer organisations. And a minority of the organisations targeted are employee organisations.
“The only unions that are concerned by those are guilty of continuing lawlessness.”
He also said the medivac legislation represented an “absolutely unacceptable risk to our national security.”
Joe Kelly 9.22am: Bandt’s climate crusade
Greens MP Adam Bandt has continued his crusade against the government, telling a group of protesters outside of Parliament House that a lack of action on climate change had helped fuel the bushfires which have claimed four lives.
“He (Scott Morrison) has got no plan to tackle the climate crisis. Scott Morrison and his government have contributed to making the climate crisis worse and that is helping make bushfire seasons longer and bushfires more intense when they happen.
“And the scary thing is we are finding out that Australia under Scott Morrison is not only making the climate crisis worse because of the government’s addiction to coal. But we are not prepared for the forthcoming bushfire season.
“We are seeing bushfire seasons get longer which affects the ability to do things like preventive burnings. We are seeing water starting to run out and we have not invested in our firefighters and our firefighting capacity to come and match the looming climate catastrophe that is potentially around the corner this summer.”
Joe Kelly 9.06am: Chalmers blasts PM on union bill
Labor’s treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers has blasted Scott Morrison for trying to pass legislation aimed at unions when Westpac had allegedly “breached the law 23 million times.”
“Scott Morrison’s highest priority is to pick on unions which represent nurses, cleaners and fireys. I think that speaks volumes about the government’s priorities here,” he said.
“While the economy if floundering and people are struggling, Scott Morrison spends all of his time dividing Australians to try and distract from his substantial failings on the economy.
“Scott Morrison thinks that a union making three mistakes on their paperwork is a bigger threat to Australia than 23 million breaches of the law by one of the big four banks. That’s why he resisted the Banking Royal Commission.”
Dr Chalmers also said that the steps Westpac had taken so far were “completely and utterly inadequate”.
“The public and the shareholders have a real hunger for accountability which hasn’t been satisfied by the announcements the bank has made so far.”
Joe Kelly 8.43am: Lib MP rejects ‘outrageous’ Liu speculation
Victorian Liberal MP Tim Wilson has rejected any suggestion that the current member for Chisholm — fellow Liberal Gladys Liu — poses a foreign interference threat following allegations that a Chinese espionage ring tried to install an agent in the electorate.
Ms Liu is the first Chinese born female MP in the Australian parliament, with Mr Wilson saying that “there was simply no basis to make that connection”.
“Obviously we are talking about the same electorate. But if anybody has any evidence to bring forward then they should do so. Otherwise to draw this specious allegation is actually outrageous frankly just simply because of someone’s ethnic heritage.”
Mr Wilson said the focus should remain on the individuals who had already been identified by the media, saying it was important to make sure we “establish exactly the credibility of these claims”.
“This is why the government has taken national security and foreign interference so seriously,” he told Sky News. “If these matters were brought to the attention of our intelligence agencies, obviously we have to review those processes to make sure that we have those Australians — particularly of Chinese origin who may be at risk — to feel comfortable about coming forward.” However, he disagreed that national intelligence agencies should conduct a security clearance on candidates at elections arguing that it handed them too much power.
Joe Kelly 8.32am: Medivac hasn’t undermined border protection: Albanese
Anthony Albanese has lashed out at the government as it seeks to pass its medivac repeal bill, saying that none of the warnings it issued about the initial bill passing earlier this year proved to be accurate.
“The fact is the legislation has operated smoothly,” the Opposition Leader said. “Where the minister has had objections, those objections have been upheld by and large.
“And the truth is, it hasn’t undermined border protection. What it’s done is just put in place a common sense regime whereby people who need medical assistance have been able to get it.”
Mr Albanese also said that Labor wanted to defeat the government’s Ensuring Integrity legislation, saying it “can’t be made better”.
“There is of course a hypocrisy in the government which has said that it would have the national integrity commission in place by this time,” he said. “And that hasn’t happened.”
“When it comes to having a national integrity commission, it’s all too hard for them … They’re too busy pursuing unions. I think there is a fair point to be made about the hypocrisy in the government’s position.”
Joe Kelly 8.18am: Alleged Westpac breaches ‘pretty outrageous’
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has described the alleged breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance laws by Westpac as “pretty outrageous”.
Senator Cormann said it was particularly disappointing “given the previous events that occurred in the context of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia”.
“You would have thought that all banks appropriately reviewed their operations in relation to these matters. I’m confident that, as this plays out, that judgments will be made.”
Joe Kelly 8.15am: Patrick renews China probe calls
Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick has renewed his call for a “broad ranging inquiry” into Australia’s relationship with China following claims that a Chinese espionage ring tried to infiltrate the federal parliament.
“We need to look at how we can benefit from that relationship but what we need to be cautious about,” he said.
Senator Patrick also said that a man claiming to be a defecting Chinese spy, Wang Li, would
have a strong case for asylum.
“There’s no question that if he went back to China there would be consequences,” Senator Patrick said. “Because of that I think we have to give very strong consideration to offering him asylum.”
Senator Patrick has also proposed a private Senators’ bill which would aim to establish a foreign influence reporting scheme for MPs, Senators and their staff.
“We are certainly the target of some foreign influence. It might not just be Chinese either. And as a result I think we do need to have a scheme that covers us. Currently we don’t,” he told The Australian.
“The transparency scheme I’m proposing would make it such that if a new member were to come to the parliament, they would have to go back ten years and disclose their relationships for the last ten years.”
Joe Kelly 7.44am: ‘Unprecedented foreign interference’
Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has said Australia faces “unprecedented levels” of foreign interference, but argued the government was taking appropriate steps to respond to the challenge and protect critical infrastructure and technology.
Senator Birmingham said that Australians should be reassured that the government had put in place additional national security legislation to crackdown on foreign interference and had provided adequate funding to security agencies.
“They are on the job doing as we expect of them,” he said. “These reports are reports that would shock individuals.”
Mr Birmingham also said that it was important that the claim for asylum made by a man claiming to be a Chinese spy, Wang Liqiang, went through proper process.
He argued the case should be considered on an “individual basis” and that it was important for “ministers of the crown not to prejudge that”.
Joe Kelly 7.34am: ASIO ‘aware’ of China spy claims
ASIO Director-General of Security, Mike Burgess, has issued a rare statement confirming that the spy agency was aware of allegations that China tried to infiltrate the Australian parliament by installing an asset in a Melbourne based seat.
Nine newspapers and the 60 Minutes program have reported that Australian authorities were investigating claims that a Chinese espionage ring tried to install Nick Zhao — a luxury car dealer — in a seat in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and offered $1 million to bankroll his campaign.
Mr Zhao was found dead in a Melbourne hotel room in March after disclosing the approach made to him by China to ASIO.
“As the Director-General of Security, I am committed to protecting Australia’s democracy and sovereignty,” Mr Burgess said. “Australians can be reassured that ASIO was previously aware of matters that have been reported today, and has been actively investigating them.
Joe Kelly 6.37am: What’s making news
Westpac’s top executives are still in line for millions of dollars in long-term bonuses, undermining the bank’s efforts to shut down a child-sex payments scandal. The government on Sunday ramped up pressure on the nation’s oldest bank, with Josh Frydenberg warning Westpac-directors and executives could be disqualified.
Pauline Hanson and Jacqui Lambie are holding the government’s legislative agenda to ransom in the Senate, as Scott Morrison tries to win their support for key election pledges headlined by union-busting laws and repealing the medivac bill.
The Coalition holds a narrow lead over Labor ahead of the final parliamentary sitting fortnight of the year, with Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese both losing voter appeal. An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The Australian shows the Coalition ahead of Labor on a two-party-preferred vote of 51-49.
Pauline Hanson is refusing to deliver the government the Senate numbers likely needed to pass the Ensuring Integrity Bill, declaring she will hold more talks with unions before deciding if One Nation will vote for the proposed union-restricting laws.
Climate activist group Extinction Rebellion has threatened to blockade Canberra airport when parliament rises unless MPs meet its demand and begin to “shut down the fossil fuel industry” in the next two weeks.
Peter van Onselen writes that Westpac’s strategy is to use PR and spin to get out of this mess without doing anything to fix the real problem.
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