PoliticsNow: head of security at parliament house faces Senate Estimates
PoliticsNow: An appearance by parliament’s security chief at Senate Estimates reveals some startling Canberra tensions.
- Frydenberg, Abbott clash on Liddell
- Bishop moves to ease China tensions
- AGL acting like ‘militant union’
- ‘You are taking us for a ride’
- AGL rejects Alinta’s Liddell bid
Hello and welcome to PoliticsNow, The Australian’s live blog on the happenings of Parliament House.
Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg says Tony Abbott’s plan to acquire the Liddell Power Station was against Liberal values.
This is where we will leave our live coverage, join us again tomorrow for all the latest news and notes.
Rachel Baxendale 11pm: Honours nominations on the rise
The Governor-General’s office has received a 63 per cent increase in the number of honours nominations it has received for women this year to date, compared with the average of the last five years.
Official Secretary to Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove, Mark Fraser, attributed the dramatic increase to a comprehensive campaign by the Sir Peter and his office, including the availability of a digital form.
“This year, since we introduced the electronic nomination form we’ve had a 71 per cent increase in nominations since January this year, so that’s a significant uplift,” Mr Fraser told Senate Estimates.
“So it was clearly a barrier to people accessing the honours system, being able to navigate the old manual form and fill out all the relevant information.
“It’s been streamlined and digitized and that’s been part of an investment program on the part of the office, and in terms of the campaign to improve the number of nominations for women there have been numerous steps taken including a social media campaign by the Governor-General and Lady Cosgrove, distributing thousands of postcards where people can nominate on a simple postcard format, right up to sending letters to patronage organisations, top fortune 500 companies in Australia, state governors around Australia, speeches the Governor-General has made, and as a result of all of those steps and working with (the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet) and others on these initiatives, there has been a 63 per cent increase in number of nominations received for women this year to date over the average of the last five years.”
This year 607 men were nominated for Australia Day Honours compared with 278 women. A total of 426 men received honours compared with 215 women.
The Governor-General’s office received an extra $1.4 million in this year’s budget, which Mr Fraser said would be used to help address a backlog of honours nominations and boost engagement and outreach programs and security, including cyber-security.
Joe Kelly 9.30pm: ‘Burn it to the ground’
The head of security at Parliament House — who last year used his finger to taste a suspicious white powder in the building — has conceded he may have threatened to burn his division “to the ground” and rebuild it over damaging media leaks.
Questioned at a Senate estimates committee hearing, the Assistant Secretary of Parliament House’s Security Branch, Graeme Anderson, was pressed on whether he had made the aggressive comment to other Department of Parliamentary Services staff members.
“I don’t recall saying that but I might have said that,” Mr Anderson said. “It sounds like something I might have said.”
Footage of the November incident where Mr Anderson put his finger in a white powder left in Parliament House has not been deleted but was not released to the committee. Mr Anderson said the powder was sugar.
The exchange between Mr Anderson and Labor Senator Kimberley Kitching underlines the heightened tensions over security at Parliament House following a series of leaks and the loss last November of a 1000-page manual detailing the security upgrades at the building.
Mr Anderson said he did not remember making the statement but that, if he did, it was intended as a way of identifying the need to correct issues within the branch — not as a threat to staff.
DPS officials also told the committee yesterday that they had stopped looking for the lost manual, but provided an assurance that it did not compromise a threat to security at Parliament House.
DPS Secretary, Robert Stefanic, used the hearing to confirm that the Australian Federal Police were investigating a separate white powder incident near the Prime Minister’s office.
Mr Stefanic warned that media leaks had been “calculated to generate publicity” and undermine confidence in security at Parliament House. He also said that he had spoken to the AFP Commissioner Andrew Colvin about the possibility of investigating the leaks.
“In recent days I have been approached by a number of security staff that are expressing their dismay and disappointment about the behaviour of the small number of anonymous colleagues who continue to misrepresent information about our security operations in a deliberate attempt to mislead and misinform journalists and Senators,” he said.
“These leaks by certain DPS officers certainly represent spills of classified information.”
— with AAP
Rachel Baxendale 8.45pm: Surge in terrorism charges
More than half of all terrorism charges since 2001 have been laid since 2014, according to the independent National Security Legislation Monitor.
Dr James Renwick has recently completed a report on control and preventive detention orders and how they interact with high risk terrorist offender situations.
The independent monitor said his report was of particular importance, given there are at least 20 terrorist offenders who will become eligible to have an order made against them as their prison sentence comes to an end.
“There’s been a significant increase in terrorist prosecutions. More than half of all terrorism related charges since 2001 have been laid since 2014 and there are presently 40 people before the courts for terrorism offences,” Dr Renwick told Senate Estimates.
“The increase is marked.”
Dr Renwick is currently working on a reference for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull concerning the trial and punishment of children for terrorism, due in late November.
The definition of children for legal purposes is those aged between 10 and 17.
“Significant sentences have been imposed on children. Regrettably this is an area of growth. Until recently there were no such cases,” Dr Renwick said.
“Now there have been four children convicted (of terror offences) and three remain before the courts.
“I note last week there were multiple attacks in Indonesia in which children were used as suicide bombers.”
Dr Renwick also noted that in 2016 the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security said the involvement of children in terrorism “represents a significant change in the national security landscape”.
“There are large and important questions involved,” he said.
“Let me mention just four: the special human rights of children, for example, the convention on the rights of the child; second the high cost to society if children can’t be diverted from the path of radicalisation; third whether laws appropriate for adults are appropriate for children, for example, should the requirement that serious terrorism offenders serve three quarters of their sentence before being eligible for parole apply equally to children, as it currently does; and finally, fourth, what should be done in our federal structure? Should there be a federally imposed uniformity or should we continue to take state and territory courts as we find them with their sometimes significant differences in powers, procedures and approaches?
“That last topic arises acutely because trial and punishment, including incarceration of children, is undertaken in state and territory courts and prisons or places of detention.
“So unlike my previous inquiries, for example last year where I was mainly dealing with federal agencies, I’ve got to deal a lot this time with state and territory agencies, courts and ministers, and I’ll also be consulting with comparable institutions in the United Kingdom as previously, and New Zealand.”
Rachel Baxendale 7.40pm: A renewables record
Australia’s renewable energy sector created a record 1050 megawatt hours of energy in 2017, up from 494 megawatts in 2016.
Clean Energy Regulator Executive General Manager Mark Williamson told Senate Estimates a further 8000 megawatts of announced projects were being tracked by the agency, with the expectation they would be under construction by the end of this year or early in 2019.
“So there will be some build which gets to the point of first generation and commissioning in 2020, but we’ll really know more later this year as we see whether or not announcements continue to happen on top of that that we’ve put out in market updates, so if there are continued announcements and we are expecting some, then there’ll be more build which gets completed in 2020,” Mr Williamson said.
He said the agency expected approximately 3500 megawatts to be generated from new renewable energy projects in 2019.
The Liddell coal-fired power station alone has an operating capacity of 1680 megawatts.
Asked whether the pace of renewable energy development was likely to continue, Clean Energy Regulator chair David Parker said it was hard to predict.
“Of course it’s not just policies which bear on that, of course. There’s a range of other things including the declining cost of particularly solar now,” Mr Parker said.
“That’s the new frontier if you like, large scale solar installation. That happens fairly quickly.”
A fortnight ago the regulator confirmed sufficient renewable had been built or was under construction to meet the 2020 renewable energy target of 33,000 gigawatt hours of renewable energy by 2020.
Ewin Hannan 7pm: ‘This is embarrassing for you’
Australian Public Service Commissioner John Lloyd personally emailed the head of the Institute of Public Affairs, John Roskam, a day after being grilled in a Senate estimates hearing about his links to the conservative think-tank.
Mr Lloyd, who once led the IPA’s “work reform and productivity unit”, refused to tell Senate estimates today whether or not he was under investigation over emails relating to him and the IPA.
Labor senators said the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet had refused a freedom of information request, saying the emails could prejudice an investigation into possible law breaches.
Under sustained questioning, Mr Lloyd, a former Australian Building and Construction Commissioner, initially refused to answer questions about whether he was aware of the investigation.
Labor senator Penny Wong told Mr Lloyd that while it was “embarrassing for you”, he could not refuse to comment under Senate committee rules.
After an adjournment, Mr Lloyd said he would take on notice whether or not there were grounds for him to make a public interest immunity claim not to answer questions about an investigation.
Last October, Mr Lloyd was questioned in estimates about his communications with the IPA. Annoyed by the media coverage of the hearing, he emailed IPA head a day after the hearing.
“John, more publicity for the IPA, including page one of the Canberra Times. Thanks to ALP questioning in estimates yesterday. Regards John Lloyd,’’ the email said.
Seeking to justify the exchange, Mr Lloyd said he “felt annoyed by what transpired so, as I do with friends and colleagues, you explain how you’re feeling”.
During an exchange between Mr Lloyd and Senator Wong, Liberal Senator James Paterson, who worked at the IPA between 2011 and 2016, interjected to defend the email as “factual”.
Senator Wong, who said the email was further evidence of Mr Lloyd’s partisan approach, told Senator Paterson he would be better off not defending the email.
Primrose Riordan 4.19pm ‘50 people awol’
Home Affairs officials have said about 255 athletes, support staff or media who came to Australia to attend the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games have stayed in Australia beyond the period allowed by their original visas.
The officials said 13,600 special 408 visas were issued, while about 8103 people arrived to attend the games as part of official national parties.
But only 7848 people have left, officials said.
The department said about 205 have applied for protection visas so remain in Australia lawfully on bridging visas, but about 50 are AWOL.
The department said they have not been in contact with these 50 people and they are unlawfully staying in Australia.
Greg Brown 3.21pm ‘Super Saturday’ date unknown
Speaker Tony Smith says he has not yet decided the date of the “Super Saturday” by-elections.
He says he hopes to update the House with a date later this week.
The earliest date for a by-election could be June 23, if writs were issued today.
“The Electoral Commissioner has advised me that in light of the issues to do with section 44 of the constitution that have caused four of the five by-elections, the government is considering urgent changes through regulation to the nomination process to ensure that candidates are aware of their obligations under section 44 prior to the by-elections taking place.
“As this regulation is not yet in force, there is no possibility of applying it if by-elections were held on 23 June. Consequently, I consider I should not proceed to issue the writs today for the by-elections to be held on 23 June.”
Greg Brown 3.12pm ‘Repeating a falsehood doesn’t make it true’
Bill Shorten asks his question calling Malcolm Turnbull “arrogant and out of touch”, words that have been used in just about all of Labor’s questions.
The Opposition Leader references warnings from the Catholic school sector warning the Prime Minister’s education policy will result in cuts to “hundreds of schools”.
Turnbull says Mr Shorten was repeating lies about the Gonski 2.0 policy.
“Repeating a falsehood doesn’t make it true and the Labor Party and its leader constantly claim that there are cuts in the budget to schools when, in fact, our needs-based funding model for schools delivers an additional $24.5 billion over the next 10 years,” he says.
Greg Brown 3.05pm ‘Because we deliver’
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek asks why the government labelled Labor’s plans for 100,000 free Tafe places as “basket weaving”.
Energy Minister Josh Frydenber, speaking on behalf of Education Minister Simon Birmingham, says the former Labor government cut Tafe by more than $1 billion.
“We don’t just talk about doing something for apprenticeships, we actually deliver, while Labor’s promises are always on the never-never,” Frydenberg says.
Greg Brown 3.02pm No more ‘unbelieva-Bill’
Scott Morrison brings out the “unbelieva-Bill” line. But Speaker Tony Smith forces him to withdraw it.
Greg Brown 2.58pm ‘We’ve cancelled 181 visas’
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton tells the House the government has cancelled 181 visas of people who are in bikie gangs.
Dutton says hitting outlaw motorcycle gang will limit drug dealing. He also accuses bikie gangs of consorting with the CFMEU.
“They work with the CFMEU because many elements of the CFMEU are also criminal in nature and they are involved in extortion on building sites around the country,” Dutton says.
“Who else is associated with the CFMEU? The Leader of the Opposition.
“The Leader of the Opposition is cosy with the CFMEU because they support his position at the conference.”
Greg Brown 2.46pm Shorten has Setka deal: Pyne
Leader of the House Christopher Pyne uses a Dixer to claim Bill Shorten has a secret agreement with the militant construction union.
Pyne calls on the Opposition Leader to release the details of the “secret agreement” with the CFMEU as he warns it will put jobs and economic growth at risk if Labor wins power.
“The Leader of the Opposition has a secret agreement with the CFMEU which he has refused to reveal to the Australian public,” Pyne says.
“And it is a responsibility of his to release that secret agreement so that Australians can see what the Leader of the Opposition has promised John Setka and the CFMEU in exchange for their support.”
Greg Brown 2.42pm Labor risking jobs: Turnbull
Labor MP Anne Aly asks Malcolm Turnbull why he supports big business tax cuts rather than larger personal income tax for people earning less than $87,000.
The Prime Minister says the business upturn in her home state of Western Australia relied on business growth.
“What the Labor Party is doing is putting at risk the jobs that have been created since September 2013, the 1,013 ,600 jobs, the fastest, largest jobs growth in our nation’s history in 2017, all of that is being put at risk by an anti- business tax grab from the Labor Party,” Turnbull says.
Greg Brown 2.34pm ‘Arrogant and out-of-touch PM’
Labor frontbencher Amanda Rishworth goes again on Labor’s bigger tax cuts for lower and middle income earners.
“Why won’t this arrogant and out-of-touch Prime Minister support Labor’s personal income plan that would give a child care worker earning $50,000 a tax cut of $928 a year? Almost double the amount they’ll get from the government?”
Malcolm Turnbull says the opposition wants to “go after” the savings of retirees.
“They want to rip $5 billion a year out of the savings of older Australians. They want to do that so they can fund their reckless spending plans,” the Prime Minister says.
“And they want to pose now as cutting taxes. Well, Australians know the Labor Party and they know their leader very well. They know he can’t be trusted.”
Primrose Riordan 2.32pm ‘Please sir, can I see your ID’
Home Affairs head Michael Pezzullo has defended the government’s push to introduce ID checks in the public areas of airports.
“At the moment the threshold is not in keeping with best practice in terms of how to safeguard aviation security generally, how to safeguard our airports, and how to keep the travelling public safe,” Mr Pezzullo said under questioning from Greens Senator Nick McKim.
“It’s the case that airports are regrettably a high-profile target for international terrorists”.
Senator McKim asked Home Affairs to produce international examples to demonstrate that Australia was not in line with international best practice.
Mr Pezzullo also said he did not agree with Senator McKim’s characterisation of these as “paper please” checks, and instead suggested officers would say “please sir, can I see your ID”. Mr Pezzullo suggested the Greens senator was channelling a message to his supporters.
Senator Derryn Hinch asked whether it would lead to racial profiling but said he supported the move.
The Home Affairs Secretary launched a major attack on the Herald Sun’s reporting on a sensitive leak of internal government considerations of possible changes to the Australian Signals Directorate.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton confirmed after the report was published that there was consideration of expanding ASDs powers and said there was a “case to be made” about expanding the powers of Australian cyber spies. This was in contrast to Foreign Minister Julie Bishop who earlier claimed there was no need for enhanced security changes.
“It was always going to be the case I suspect that misinformed commentary was going to surround the establishment of Home Affairs,” Mr Pezzullo said in his opening statement.
He said it was “false” that he had asked Defence to consider an increase in ASD’s powers to collect intelligence on Australians, especially without a warrant.
Mr Pezzullo said the potential new powers relate to whether ASD’s capabilities should be employed in the disruption of cybercrime when the whole or parts of the network are hosted on Australian telecommunications infrastructure and whether ASD’s capabilities should be used to defend critical national networks. The matter was pursued by Labor Senators including Murray Watt.
On a separate matter, Australian Border Force said a patrol boat that crashed into the Great Barrier Reef in September 2017 was in the process of being repaired at a cost of $3 million dollars.
The ABF said it is due back in service in September and a large part of the hull was torn off and there was damage to the operating systems.
The official also said a fast response boat had a minor crash near the Torres Strait.
He said a recent disruption of a people smuggling operation in Malaysia was relatively large. “[It was a] larger venture than we’ve seen in the region for a long time”.
The Border Force said despite the monsoon season and the Rohingya crisis, there were “no signs of intent so far” visible by Australian authorities of people smugglers attempting to move refugees coming from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
Mr Pezzullo said the cost of setting up Home Affairs had come to $5.5 million so far and there were will major efficiencies to be found in Home Affairs. The department said it estimated it could find $25 million in savings from a new procurement system.
Greg Brown 2.22pm Labor tax plan unfair: Turnbull
Labor MP Gai Brodtmann asks Malcolm Turnbull why the “arrogant and out of touch government” won’t back Labor’s larger tax cuts for lower and middle income earners.
The Prime Minister says the government had a long term income tax plan that would create a fairer system.
He accuses the Labor Party of making false claims the full package - which includes eliminating a tax bracket - would make the system less fair.
“A person on $200,000 under our reforms will pay nearly 13 times as much tax as somebody on $41,000. Earn a little less than five times as much but pay 13 times as much tax,” Turnbull says.
“In fact, taxpayers in the 45 cent tax category will pay a higher percentage of total tax receipts than they do today.”
Greg Brown 2.16pm Turnbull turns to union bashing
Bill Shorten asks Malcolm Turnbull if the government would accept Labor’s “bigger, better, fairer income taxes”.
The Prime Minister turns to union bashing, saying not even construction union heavyweight John Setka trusts the Opposition Leader.
“He’s the principal funder, the controlling shareholder, the primary financier of the Labor Party,” Turnbull says.
“If John Setka doesn’t trust the Leader of the Opposition, why would any Australian voter, any Australian worker trust the Leader of the Opposition?”
Greg Brown 2.07pm Government supports live exports: Turnbull
Opposition agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon opens question time on the live sheep trade, asking Malcolm Turnbull if he will allow the House to debate a private-members bill tabled by Liberal MP Susan Ley to ban the industry.
The Prime Minister says the government supports the live export trade.
“The government supports live export trade that respects animal welfare and obviously respects community views on animal welfare, and we are taking immediate action to ensure that animal welfare is maintained,” he says.
“We do not want to have a repetition of the debacle that we had under the Labor Party where the entire live cattle export business was banned and as a consequence families, farming families, across the nation were facing ruin.
“The price of cattle crashed, whether it was in the far north of the country all the way down to Tasmania. That’s the sort of recklessness the government will not be a party to.”
Greg Brown 1.53pm: ‘Mission impossible’ to stop live export deaths: Joyce
Barnaby Joyce says it would be “mission impossible” to stop deaths at sea as part of the live export trade as he stridently defended his record as agriculture minister.
The former deputy prime minister said the agriculture department was in good shape when he was in charge, despite Agriculture Minister David Littleproud admitting there were cultural problems in the bureaucracy that led to animal welfare failures.
“Can you please advise me of the footage or bad outcome that happened when I was minister? Because if I did such a terrible job there would have to a couple,” Mr Joyce told Sky News.
“If someone could show me all the terrible things that happened while I was there I am happy to accept my admonishment otherwise I would say the department I was in charge of was doing a good job.”
.@Barnaby_Joyce: You will have deaths on ships. You have deaths in feed lots, in the paddock, that is part and parcel of working on the land. We don't want to see what we saw in those clips, but no deaths at all is mission impossible.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 21, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/koz9qNZZ17 #NewsDay pic.twitter.com/h9ToTayGwp
Mr Joyce said he always tried to strike a balance between animal welfare and commercial outcomes.
“If people said ‘we don’t want any deaths on ships at all’, I’m sorry I just can’t help you there. You are going to have deaths on ships, you are going to make sure you try to minimise that, you have deaths in the feed locks, you have death in the paddock that is part and parcel of how it goes working in the land,” he said.
“You do not want to see what we saw on those clips, there is no doubt about that, that is excessive, that is beyond the pale.
“But if you said ‘stop any deaths at all on ships’, well that is just mission impossible.”
Greg Brown 1.10pm: Liddell acquisition plan against Liberal values: Frydenberg
Energy Minster Josh Frydenberg says Tony Abbott’s proposal to compulsorily acquire the Liddell Power Station was against Liberal values as he effectively concedes the government was not prepared to take stronger action to keep the ageing coal-fired power station open.
Mr Frydneberg has now called on AGL to ensure it finances its alternative gas and renewables plan to make up for the shortfall Liddell’s closure would force, arguing his attempt to facilitate a sale of Liddell was only ever subject to commercial arrangements.
“The Prime Minister and I have been consistent, it is not Liberal values to compulsorily acquire assets such as this, we have always said he wanted it to be a commercial negotiation between the parties,” Mr Frydneberg said.
“We have made it very clear that we wanted AGL to consider this approach by Alinta … we always said it was going to be a commercial negotiation between the parties.
“(The AGL board) has said they are not proceeding with it. This is disappointing, even the fact that AGL did not feel fit to invite Alinta in to do due diligence to see if it would change its offer is disappointing but that was always going to be a commercial decision.”
When asked if there was any further action the government would take to try and keep Liddell open, Mr Frydenberg said: “One thing I can give you a guarantee on is we will not allow any shortfall in the domestic energy market”.
He said AGL was acting in self interest in not selling the plant to Alinta as the company was attempting to keep power prices high.
12.55pm: Bishop moves to ease China tensions
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has met with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi as Australia seeks to renew relations with the Asian trading giant. Ms Bishop is attending a G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Buenos Aires ahead of the leaders’ summit in the Argentinian capital later in the year. She described it on Twitter as a “warm discussion”, posting a photograph with the Chinese foreign minister.
Labor claims the coalition has been clumsy in its handling of the relationship, and debate within Australia on the regional role of China could be simplistic. Last week, Chinese communist party mouthpiece The Global Times said Australia- China relations were “among the worst of all Western nations.” Labor foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said the relationship demands consistency and clarity.
“This is too important a relationship to be mishandled,” Senator Wong told Sky News on Monday.
“It is pretty undeniable that the government has been very clumsy in its handling of it … The reality is China is very important to Australia.” No Australian minister had visited the Chinese mainland for eight months until Trade Minister Steve Ciobo broke the drought last week.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected to head to China later in the year.
AAP
Greg Brown 11.48am: AGL wrong on Liddell: Frydenberg
Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has criticised AGL for knocking back an offer from Alinta Energy to buy the Liddell coal-fired power station in the NSW Hunter Valley.
“AGL’s decision is disappointing given the sale of Liddell to Alinta and the continuation of the power plant beyond its scheduled closure in 2022 would benefit consumers and had the backing of some of Australia’s largest manufacturers,” Mr Frydenberg said.
“It is also disappointing because it was AGL’s CEO that first raised the prospect of Liddell’s sale in a meeting with the Prime Minister and other ministers last year.”
Mr Frydenberg said the company was wrong to claim a $250 million offer undervalued the plant.
“While AGL ascribed zero value to the Liddell Power Station in its investor presentation following its acquisition in 2014, the company now claims the Alinta offer which included a $250m upfront cash payment, preservation of employee entitlements and extensive remediation costs ‘significantly undervalues future cash flows to AGL of operating the Liddell Power Station until 2022’,” Mr Frydenberg said.
He called on the company to financially commit to its replacement of the plant.
Greg Brown 11.39am: Government ‘clumsy’ in dealing with China: Wong
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong says Foreign Minister Julie Bishop should take responsibility for Australia’s worsening relationship with China.
Senator Wong said it was positive Ms Bishop was scheduled to meet her Chinese counterpart at the foreign ministers G20 meeting but added the government had bungled its handling of the relationship.
“There is no doubt she has been an active Foreign Minister but there is also doubt that under this government this relationship is facing a difficult time and obviously she has to take responsibility for that and I welcome her meeting with her counterpart if it occurs,” Senator Wong told Sky News.
.@SenatorWong: It's undeniable the government has been clumsy in it's handling of the China relationship. I think the relationship needs consistency, clarity on common interests, and a sophisticated approach to managing difference.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 20, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/Vcavzar8L2 #AmAgenda pic.twitter.com/ffzvH7thUd
Senator Wong said the government had been “clumsy” in its dealings with China, including former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce saying the nation was a bigger threat than terrorism.
“There has been a lot of commentary about the China relationship and I think it is pretty undeniable that the government has been very clumsy in its handling of it and we see at the moment the relationship has some challenges,” Senator Wong said.
“We need to approach China with respect and not fear, and I think what we have seen from the government to date is clumsiness which has contributed to difficulties in the relationship.
“I don’t think Malcolm Turnbull has handled this well. This is too important a relationship to be mishandled, it is too important a relationship for there to be partisanship involved in it.”
Greg Brown 11.12am: ‘Google tax’ unlikely: Birmingham
Education Minister Simon Birmingham says it would be unlikely that multinational digital companies — such as Google and Uber — would be hit with extra taxes, despite key crossbenchers demanding the “Google tax” in return for supporting Malcolm Turnbull’s company tax cuts.
Senator Birmingham said the government had already captured money from multinationals who were profit shifting and warned any further moves in the digital space would have to be carefully considered.
“We’re going to continue to look at digital spaces. What we’ve got is a situation where the global way in which the economy works keeps changing,” Mr Birmingham said.
“We have to keep changing and adjusting tax laws to keep up with that and to make sure that we keep the integrity of our tax base so that all companies are paying their fair share.
“But we have to also make sure that when it comes to companies who are investing in Australia, who are active in Australia, who are frequently Australian companies, that they also have a competitive tax rate. That’s what our enterprise tax plan is about.”
Greg Brown 10.35am: Judiciary encroaching role of executive: Abbott
Tony Abbott has hit out at the culture of the judiciary, declaring judges were “more and more eager” to encroach on the role of executive government.
The former prime minister said it was wrong for the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to rehire former tribunal members who were dumped by the Turnbull government.
The Herald Sun reported this morning that some dumped tribunal members who allowed foreign criminals to stay in Australia had been rehired on salaries of more than $116,000.
“It just seems wrong, the judiciary at every level seem more and more eager to encroach on what was traditionally the role of the executive government,” Mr Abbott told 2GB radio.
“The government’s job is to keep us safe, the government’s job is to get rid of undesirable people who were in our midst and did bad things but don’t have a right to stay here and it is just awful when the AAT seems to bend over backwards to find in favour of people who are ripping us off.
“One of the reasons people are so frustrated is because they elect governments to get on with things and whether it is the Senate, whether it is the courts or the tribunals, are always seeming to get in the way of what the government was elected to do.”
10.30am: Follow the banking royal commission live
Our team in Melbourne are live blogging the banking royal commission, with more incredible revelations set to be divulged.
Greg Brown 10.15am: Ley introduces live exports bill
Liberal MP Sussan Ley is speaking in the House of Representatives on her private-members bill to phase out live sheep exports.
“The plight of the suffering animals cannot be ignored … this is a test of our humanity,” Ms Ley said.
The bill is supported by at least three Coalition MPs and the opposition but the government has the numbers to block it because the citizenship crises has temporarily dwindled Labor’s presence in the House.
Greg Brown 10am: AGL acting like a ‘militant union’
Tony Abbott says the time has come for the government to step in and compulsorily acquire the Liddell coal-fired power station and sell it to interested buyer Alinta Energy.
The former prime minister said AGL’s announcement it would reject the $250 million offer from Alinta was a “strike against the national interest by a big business” and it was time for Malcolm Turnbull to intervene.
“The government should compulsorily acquire this power station for the price that Alinta were prepared to pay and then it should sell it to Alinta and they can operate it,” Mr Abbott told 2GB.
“That way we keep Liddell open and we don’t have the government running a power station because Alinta has put its hand up and said ‘we will do it’.”
Mr Abbott said AGL was acting in the same way as a “militant union” in refusing to sell Liddell.
“What they are trying to do here is drive up the price of power and they know if Liddell stays open it will keep the price of power down but it is their narrow commercial self-interest to get the price of power up because that pads their profits and obviously that goes back to shareholders,” he said.
“But unfortunately the rest of us pay much more for our power than would otherwise be the case and the power supply is less reliable than it otherwise would be.”
Matt Chambers 9.55am: Alinta rules out improved offer
Alinta Energy has no plans to boost a rejected $250 million offer for AGL Energy’s Liddell power station in the Hunter Valley, which Alinta says would have helped drive down power prices, and will move on to other opportunities.
AGL Energy this morning rejected without offering the potential buyer due diligence.
“We are disappointed AGL has turned down our offer for Liddell, given we believe the offer was commercially compelling,” an Alinta spokesman said today.
“We also believe that a sale would have allowed us to continue to drive down the cost of electricity for NSW customers and extend the reliability of NSW’s electricity supply.”
Alinta indicated it would not raise the offer.
“We will now move on and progress other opportunities to acquire low cost generation sources in order to provide affordable and reliable energy to our customers.”
Greg Brown 9.30am: Labor welcomes AGL decision
Opposition assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh says it is good AGL has knocked back Alinta Energy’s offer to buy the Liddell Power Station.
“We know that the solution to Australia’s energy needs isn’t to extend ageing coal-fired power plants it is to invest in a whole suite of different renewables,” Mr Leigh told Sky News.
“AGL’s plan, which has been acknowledged by the Australian Energy Market Operator, is a mix of gas and demand supply, we need to make sure we have got more renewables in the system. That ensures we meet our climate targets but it also makes sure we are able to have sustained energy production.”
Labor MP @ALeighMP: The fact is no sensible government would be putting tax payer money into keeping open an old coal-fired power plant, whose costs are 20% higher than the cost of the alternative energy investments AGL is contemplating.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) May 20, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/m39SpYgaXc #AmAgenda pic.twitter.com/JME9f4BxjA
Mr Leigh said the government was pressuring AGL to keep Liddell open top appease the Coalition’s “coal dinosaur faction”.
“The energy market operator hasn’t recommended an extension of Liddell’s life, what this is about is an internal fight within the Liberal Party, the coal dinosaur faction who want to see taxpayers’ money go to subsidise coal-fired power plants,” Mr Leigh said.
“That is not good for energy prices in Australia and certainly not good for our carbon emissions that have continued to rise.”
Greg Brown 9.20am: ‘You are taking us for a ride’
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has lashed out at AGL for refusing to sell the Liddell Power Station in the NSW Hunter Valley.
The former deputy prime minister said AGL was taking the Australian people “for fools” and attempting to make families pay for “their market manipulation”.
AGL this morning formally knocked back Alinta Energy’s offer to buy the ageing power station, instead restating its vow to close the plant by 2022.
“When people shut down coal-fired power stations and reduce supply your price goes up, and everywhere out there in regional Australia they are talking about the price of power and how it takes away the dignity in their life because they can’t afford to pay the power bill,” Mr Joyce said this morning.
“We need to grab AGL, cart them back in here and say: ‘this is BS, you are taking us for a ride, you think we are fools and the Australian people are not and they are not going to pay for your market manipulation’.”
Greg Brown 8.46am: AGL reject Alinta’s Liddell bid
Energy giant AGL has rejected Alinta Energy’s offer for the Liddell coal-fired power station in the NSW Hunter Valley.
The AGL board has told the Australian Securities Exchange the offer is not in the best interests of shareholders. The announcement is a blow to Malcolm Turnbull and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg, who were pushing AGL to agree to sell the plant to an interested buyer.
“AGL has reaffirmed its decision to close Liddell in December 2022,” the company’s statement said.
Greg Brown 8.37am: Greens critical of Deloitte research
Greens leader Richard Di Natale says research by Deloitte that shows the rich will carry more of the burden under Scott Morrison’s tax plan should be dismissed because “they are the people who benefit” from the package.
Senator Di Natale dismissed research from Deloitte Access Economics showing the top 20 per cent of income earners will pay more tax under the government’s plan.
“I have seen the Deloitte analysis and I am not surprised Deloitte, a major donor to the Liberal and Labor parties, want to see bug tax cuts because they are the people who benefit,” Senator Di Natale told ABC radio.
“There is lies, damn lies and statistics, and I just put this to you: do you think it is fair that someone on $200,000 gets an extra $7000 under the Liberal’s plan and yet somebody who is on $40,000 to $50,000 gets a few hundred dollars in their back pocket? There is nothing fair about that.
“Along with that, there is a whopping great big cut to the company tax rate, companies like Deloitte benefit from that.”
Greg Brown 8.17am: ‘Stop holding working people hostage’
Opposition finance spokesman Jim Chalmers has called on the government to “stop holding working people hostage” and split its income tax package so people on middle and lower incomes get an immediate tax break.
Dr Chalmers said the government should give more details on the breakdown of its $140 billion income tax package so the parliament has a better idea on how much stages two and three of the package will cost.
But he said the opposition was ready to support stage one of the package, which would give a $10-a-week break for people earning $87,000 or less a year.
“Labor is prepared to vote immediately for tax relief for low and middle income earners, which would come in on the first of July. We call on the government to split the bill to make it possible,” Dr Chalmers said this morning.
“Stop holding working people hostage to your silly political games and your trickle-down economics.
“Stop standing in the way of the tax relief that working people in this country need and deserve.”
Greg Brown 8.08am: ‘Google tax’ can’t be a stop-gap measure: Labor
Opposition assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh says Labor will want to ensure any moves to tax multinational digital giants is effective.
Mr Leigh said Labor would be no easy sell on a proposed “Google tax”, which crossbench senators are demanding in return for their support of the final stage of the company tax cuts.
“Labor supports taxing the digital economy, but this needs a permanent solution instead of a stop-gap measure,” Mr Leigh said.
“The policy needs to be evaluated on its merits.
“Any new measure is useless if it cannot be enforced. The Australian Taxation Office has lost 4000 staff under the Coalition. Their ability to still enforce existing laws is being stymied, let alone putting new laws on the books.”
Greg Brown 8am: Coalition MPs ‘sympathetic’ to push for live export ban
Liberal MP Sarah Henderson says other government MPs are “sympathetic” to a rebel push to ban the live sheep export trade.
Ms Henderson said she had spoken to a number of Liberal MPs who supported the principle of Sussan Ley’s bill to phase out live sheep exports, although they had not publicly indicated their support.
Ms Henderson, Ms Ley and Victorian MP Jason Wood are the government MPs who openly oppose the continuation of the trade.
The member for Corangamite said a review by veterinarian Michael McCarthy into the trade — which the government adopted in keeping the industry open — did not take into account the science which showed the live export trade was not viable.
“What happened with McCarthy, he did not follow the science,” Ms Henderson told the ABC.
“The very strong recommendation from the Australian Veterinary Association is that because of the very hot extreme conditions over summer, this will not alleviate sheep deaths and heat stress in sheep.”
Ms Ley will today introduce a private-members bill to phase out the industry over the next five years, although the government has the numbers in the House of Representatives to block the debate.
The private-members bill has the support of the opposition.
What’s making news:
Federal Labor will investigate increasing the number of union appointments to the Fair Work Commission as it promises to boost the powers of the workplace tribunal and counter what it claims is the commission’s “politicisation” by the Coalition.
Malcolm Turnbull’s chances of getting his corporate tax cuts through the Senate could hinge on a promised crackdown on tax avoidance by global tech giants, with key crossbenchers saying the budgetary impact of a proposed “Google tax” will influence their decision on the $35.6 billion enterprise tax plan.
The Gaza clashes have energised Labor left sympathies towards Palestine, with faction powerbroker Anthony Albanese saying deaths coinciding with the opening of the US’s New Jerusalem embassy have damaged Israel’s reputation.
Labor will seek to lay the foundations for a reset of relations with China under a future Shorten government by planning a trip by Penny Wong and Richard Marles to Beijing as soon as September.
Tensions are mounting in West Australian Liberal Party ranks over a decision not to contest the vacated Labor federal seat of Perth, with dissenters likely to take their concerns to a state council meeting next weekend.
One Nation has threatened to direct preferences to Labor ahead of the Coalition in Queensland marginal seats at the next federal election, after the Liberal National Party rebuffed an offer to swap preferences at the Longman by-election.
The Greens have ruled out supporting proposed personal income tax cuts, even for low income earners, saying the money should be spent on improving essential services.
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