PoliticsNow: Live news, commentary and analysis from Canberra
PoliticsNow: Eric Abetz has hit out at Michelle Guthrie’s speech, claiming the ABC isn’t doing enough to tackle political bias.
Hello and welcome to PoliticsNow, The Australian’s live blog on the happenings at Parliament House in Canberra.
Greg Brown 3.50pm: ABC hypersensitive to criticism: Abetz
Liberal senator Eric Abetz has criticised a speech delivered today by ABC managing director Michelle Guthrie, accusing the public broadcaster of being “hypersensitive to criticism”.
Senator Abetz said Ms Guthrie was not doing enough to tackle issues of political bias at the ABC.
“Ms Guthrie claims they have no money to spare yet then goes and spends thousands of dollars commissioning reports,” Senator Abetz said.
“At the same time they say they support the media environment, the ABC are spending $2 million on advertising to take viewers and readers away from the commercial market.
“The same time they have no money to spare, they are dishing out millions of dollars in bonuses.
“Instead of blowing money on reports and delivering grand speeches, the ABC’s managing director should focus on getting the ABC’s act together.”
Greg Brown 3.41pm: ‘People smugglers are rubbing their hands together’
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton used question time to savage Labor’s border protection history ahead of the “Super Saturday” by-elections.
Mr Dutton accused Labor’s Longman candidate Susan Lamb of saying the opposition’s border protection policy “at this point” was to not resettle boat people in Australia.
He said another six people left Manus Island yesterday and went to the United States under the refugee deal, taking the total number who have left offshore detention for the US at 292.
“You would think that people would realise that the people smugglers listen to every word that we (use) in this place, and they market on social media where there is a potential change for a softening or weakening of border protection policy,” Mr Dutton said.
“Those people smugglers are in Indonesia right now rubbing their hands together at the prospect of this Leader of the Opposition being elected as Prime Minister of this country.
“If Labor brings people from Manus and Nauru, it basically raises the white flag. They are sending a message of defeat and encouragement ... to the people smugglers in Indonesia.”
Greg Brown 3.19pm: ‘We put survivors first’
Social Services Minister Dan Tehan uses a Dixer to speak about the national redress scheme, which passed the Senate today and has become law.
“What it showed was that this parliament, every single member of this parliament, both here in the house and in the Senate, was able to put survivors first,” Tehan says.
“And today will mean a lot to those survivors. Come July 1, we will be able to provide them with redress and our task now, and I say this very much in a bipartisan fashion, is to make sure we deliver that redress to the best of our ability.”
Opposition social services spokeswoman Jenny Macklin speaks on indulgence to support Tehan’s comments.
“It will be a difficult task, a very difficult task, for this redress to be delivered,” she says.
“A lot of people will have to remember again the abuse that they suffered, but it is something that people have worked very hard for, and I thank the government for their efforts.”
With that show of bipartisanship, QT is over. The government’s word for the session was “aspiration”.
Greg Brown 3.11pm: Labor presses PM on party room disagreement
Opposition energy spokesman Mark Butler goes Malcolm Turnbull over the infighting in the government on energy policy after The Australian reported complaints about the national energy guarantee in today’s Coalition party room.
The Prime Minister says energy price rises were because of policies of Labor governments. He urges the opposition to support the NEG.
“We are already seeing and delivering lower energy prices, there is more work to do, Labor should support the national energy guarantee,” Turnbull says.
“It will deliver affordable and reliable power and the same time enable us to meet Paris commitments.”
Greg Brown 3.03pm: Tax plan needs to be passed in full: PM
Bill Shorten asks Malcolm Turnbull to “confirm” he is unwilling to pass stage one of the income tax package and give immediate relief to low income earners.
The Prime Minister says the government’s plan is comprehensive and needs to be passed in full.
“The only people that are standing in the way of tax relief Australians on July 1 are the members opposite,” he says.
“They are filled with confidence about their prospects at the next election, they could sweep back into government and they could amend it and repeal it. Why don’t they do that?”
Greg Brown 2.54pm: Turnbull addresses branch meeting brawl
Opposition justice spokesman Mark Dreyfus asks about the brawl outside a Liberal Party branch meeting in Sydney last night.
He says there was racist hate speech being used during the incident and he asks if it will be referred to the Human Rights Commission for contravening section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act “not withstanding the Prime Minister’s personal objection to the section”.
Speaker Tony Smith says he thinks it is out of order but the Turnbull addresses it anyway.
He says only an aggrieved party can make a complaint to the Human Rights Commission and went on to read a statement from the NSW Liberal Party.
“The Liberal Party strongly condemns the kind of behaviour that is alleged to have occurred,” Turnbull says.
“I entirely concur in that condemnation by the NSW Liberal Party and look forward to them providing full co-operation with the police in their inquiries.”
Greg Brown 2.44pm: Labor MP ejected
Malcolm Turnbull repeats his sycophantic speech against Bill Shorten, again.
But Labor MPs seemed more buoyed by the spiel than government ones. After all, the lines have all been used before.
“I have seen a lot of wealthy people in my days and I have never seen anybody more sycophantic in the presence of a billionaire than a Labor politician, and none more so than this sycophant,” the Prime Minister says.
“This man who abandoned workers while he tucked his knees under the table and sucked up to Dick Pratt right up until it was no longer useful for him to do it.”
Labor MP Michael Danby gets the boot from QT after yelling: “that was embarrassing”.
Greg Brown 2.39pm: Pyne’s Albo reminder
Leader of the House Christopher Pyne uses a Dixer to remind his colleagues there is still one person in the Labor Party who believes in aspiration: Anthony Albanese.
“If I was you I would be getting my suit dry cleaned, Anthony, because you might get there faster than you think. Your aspiration is well known to us all,” Pyne says.
Greg Brown 2.34pm Turnbull brings Keating into it
Opposition finance spokesman Jim Chalmers asks the “arrogant and out of touch” Malcolm Turnbull why he wants investment bankers and their employers to get big tax cuts while low income workers lose their penalty rates.
The Prime Minister calls Labor the “Olympic class athletes of getting rid of penalty rates”, in reference to deals struck by Bill Shorten when he was a union leader.
“No wonder Paul Keating is disgusted by the failure of the modern Labor Party to connect to Australians’ aspirations,” Turnbull says.
“This Labor Party is a disgrace to all the labour history and labour leaders of the past.”
Greg Brown 2.26pm What about the chicken shop worker?
Labor’s Jenny Macklin asks how it is fair that a property developer in Sydney’s Arncliffe gets a bigger tax break than a worker in a charcoal chicken shop in the same suburb.
It is a stab at the brawl outside a Liberal Party branch meeting last night at the Naji’s Charcoal Chicken & Kebabs in Arncliffe.
Malcolm Turnbull is happy the opposition finally leaves investment bankers in Point Piper alone.
“I am glad the honourable member is giving the residents of Point Piper a rest today and has decided to have a go at the property developers in Arncliffe,” the Prime Minister says.
In response to a following question by Labor’s Chris Bowen, Turnbull calls the Labor Party “arrogant and out of touch”, which has long been Labor’s line used on him.
“Only the most arrogant and out of touch Deputy Leader of the Opposition would say aspiration was a mystery,” Turnbull says.
“I tell you what how out of touch or do you have to be to be mystified by aspiration? How smug on your big government salaries do you have to be to say you are mystified by aspiration?
“We understand aspiration drives the nation forward, it is the powerhouse, it is the ambition that we seek to support and enable and Labor seeks to hold back.”
Greg Brown 2.13pm ‘Bigger and fairer tax cut’
Bill Shorten opens question time on personal income tax cuts, asking why they government won’t support Labor’s “bigger and fairer tax cut”.
Malcolm Turnbull uses the question to savage Deputy Leader Tanya Plibersek for saying the notion of aspiration “mystifies” her.
She made the comments on Sky News this morning while claiming aspiration had nothing to do with the government’s tax plans.
“We believe that every Australian is entitled to aspire to have great ambitions, and high hopes to seek to do their best, to seek to get the best job, the biggest business, to realise their dreams, that is what we stand for,” the Prime Minister says.
“It is what Labor used to stand for, but no more. This privileged elite opposite, they want to keep the workers in their place.”
Plibersek seeks leave to table the transcript of her interview in parliament as she says she was taken out of context. Leave was denied but she indignantly stayed at the dispatch box.
Speaker Tony Smith does not take kindly to her actions and boots her out of parliament. It is fair to say Plibersek looks furious as she walks out of the chamber.
Greg Brown 1.55pm: McManus leads ‘change the rules’ march
ACTU secretary Sally McManus today led a march of union outside the parliament to promote the “change the rules” campaign.
Among the protesters calling for a change to workplace laws were representatives from the CPSU, the CFMMEU and Unions ACT.
Greg Brown 1.46pm: ‘Wacka’ against confession laws
Nationals senator John ‘Wacka’ Williams says he is opposed to a proposal for new laws that would force Catholic priests to break the seal of the confessional if they hear an admission of child sex abuse.
Senator Williams said priests would not follow laws that would force them to break the rules of the church, rendering them pointless.
“No matter what laws are brought in, in the state, in the Commonwealth, in the country, in Australia or around the world, a priest will not breach that secrecy of the confession, never ever,” Senator Williams told Sky News.
“As one priest texted me and said, ‘I will go to jail before I break the seal of confession’.
So they can bring in laws but they won’t have an effect. And the next question is, how many paedophiles actually go to confessions? Probably none.”
Greg Brown 1.26pm: Labor slams PM on live export delay
Opposition agriculture spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon has slammed Malcolm Turnbull for failing to introduce legislation into the parliament that would bring tough new laws to the live sheep export industry.
Mr Fitzgibbon said the Prime Minister was concerned Labor’s amendments — which would phase out the sector — would be successful and embarrass the government.
The government delayed the legislation in the last sitting fortnight for fears Liberal MP Sussan Ley would cross the floor and vote in favour of Labor’s amendments. The government is also expected to hold off from tabling the legislation this sitting fortnight, leaving the reforms in limbo.
“The government is supposed to be in control of the lower house, now we can bring the bill on today, we can continue the debate, have the vote, when my amendments lose Labor will support the bill unamended, there is no problem and we can do this today,” Mr Fitzgibbon told Sky News.
“The problem for the Prime Minister is that he is not sure my amendments (will) lose.
“He should allow the House to establish its will, if the majority of the House supports this amendment, and my amendment is to phase out the trade, then he should allow the parliament to impose its will.”
Greg Brown 12.39pm: Coalition’s energy policy ‘more trouble than the early settlers’
Bill Shorten says the government’s signature energy policy is “in more trouble than the early settlers” and calls its emissions reductions targets “lame”.
“I think that Josh Frydenberg’s energy policy is in more trouble than the early settlers,” the Opposition Leader said.
“I mean you’ve got this insurgency from the right, it has got fairly lame targets that they are proposing.
“Yet again, once a month, you could set your watch by it, the Turnbull government rushes out and says ‘we’ve solved electricity and gas prices’ until of course Australians get the bills.”
Primrose Riordan 12.35pm: China in the dark on PM visit
China’s Ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye has said he has “no idea” whether Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will visit Beijing this year.
“I have no idea … there are discussions about bilateral exchanges at different levels. When there is any news we’ll let you know,” he told reporters.
The remarks were made after Mr Cheng addressed the Australia China Business Council’s Canberra Networking day and were in sharp contrast to his comments last year where he accused the Australian media of fabrications.
Joe Kelly 12.32pm: Coalition concern on NEG
At least seven Coalition MPs have expressed concerns in today’s joint party room meeting about the latest design work on the National Energy Guarantee, with some sounding the alarm on Australia’s obligations under the Paris Agreement.
The Australian has been informed that Tony Abbott, Craig Kelly, Scott Buchholz, Eric Abetz, Andrew Gee, George Christensen and Ian Macdonald all expressed a range of concerns over the NEG in this morning’s meeting.
However, North Sydney MP Trent Zimmerman defended the policy as the best way of ending the 15 year impasse over energy policy.
The key issue raised by concerned MPs included how the NEG would impact on heavy industries located in their electorates.
They were mainly concerned by the proposal — contained in the latest design work for the NEG — for a demand management obligation to be placed on the 100 largest energy users in the country.
This would mean that energy users with a peak load of more than 5 megawatts would share responsibility for the reliability of supply.
Coalition MPs were concerned such a requirement could force some companies to relocate their operations offshore — an outcome which they believe will cost local jobs and result in contribute to higher global emissions.
Senator Abetz also took aim at the Paris Agreement under which Australia had agreed to reduce its emissions by 26-28 per cent on 2005 levels by 2030.
He warned against the final design of the NEG being produced to the party-room as a fait accompli if the policy is endorsed by state and territory governments at the COAG Energy Council meeting in August.
More people were expected to speak with debate not starting until 11:30am and finishing abruptly when the bells rang, bringing the meeting to an end at 11.55am.
Greg Brown 12.18pm: Labor to repeal income tax plan
Bill Shorten has announced a future Labor government would repeal the government’s $144 billion income tax plan if it passes the parliament as he confirms the party’s opposition the bulk of the package.
The Opposition Leader said Labor was prepared to vote for stage one of Malcolm Turnbull’s income tax package and give relief for workers earning up to $90,000.
But the party would oppose stages two and three, which has measures to gradually eliminate the 37.5 per cent tax bracket.
“We say to the government that if you want to talk about promises in more than two election cycles’ time, take these radical proposals to the people of Australia and see what they think about them,” Mr Shorten said.
“What we also say to the Turnbull government is that you should not hold hostage tax relief for tradies and teachers so that you can give the top end of town tax cuts in seven years a time.”
Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen said Labor’s plan would give bigger tax breaks to workers earning $95,000 or less.
“That is 70 per cent of workers better off under Labor’s plan,” Mr Bowen said.
He said the party would not only oppose stages two and three of the package but repeal the measures if Labor wins power.
The full tax reforms will pass the Senate if One Nation decide to support it, given the strong support from the Senate crossbench.
“Our plan is fairer and more responsible and we will be opposing stage two of the government’s tax cuts,” he said.
Greg Brown 11.18am: Greens back split tax bill
The Greens will support a Labor amendment to Malcolm Turnbull’s income tax plan to split stage one of the package from the rest of the bill.
This would enable the parliament to vote for immediate tax relief for workers earning up to $90,000, The Australian understands.
But the Greens would oppose all parts of the plan government’s, despite supporting the bill being split.
Greg Brown 10.52am: ‘We need to get this right as a society’
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek says she feels “heartened” by the public mourning of the murder of Eurydice Dixon after thousands gathered at a memorial last night in Melbourne’s Princes Park.
“It is a terrible, terrible story and it is right that people are shocked by it,” Ms Plibersek told Sky News.
.@tanya_plibersek on Eurydice Dixon: These women stay with us and they stay in our hearts, and we need to get this right as a society...every decent person feels disgusted by this crime.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 18, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/HDGkrEKLOp #FirstEdition pic.twitter.com/MTg95MnCiu
“We need to get this right as a society.
“There is no question that every decent person feels disgusted by this crime, feels desperately sad for the friends and family of all of the women who have lost their lives to men’s violence and there is no question that every decent Australian wants this to change, to stop.”
Ben Packham 10.18am: Labor vows to oppose stages two and three of tax bill
Labor has vowed to oppose stages two and three of the Coalition’s personal income tax bill, setting up a political battle over tax policy at Super Saturday by-elections and the next federal poll.
The Labor caucus today agreed to back only the first phase of the government’s $144 billion tax plan, which would deliver an offset worth $530 to 10 million workers from July 1.
But it rejected a further two rounds of tax relief for middle and upper income earners, kicking in in 2022 and 2024, on the advice of shadow cabinet.
Sources inside caucus told The Australian that the party would attempt to split the government’s income tax bill in the Senate, to force a vote on only stage one.
If it was unsuccessful, and forced to vote on the entire package, Labor would oppose the bill, The Australian understands.
Greg Brown 10.14am: Pacific pledge ‘shouldn’t be taken seriously’
Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong says the government’s pledge to spend more money on infrastructure in the Pacific should not be taken seriously while the aid budget continues to be cut.
“Despite clear evidence of Australia’s diminishing influence in our region the Turnbull government continues on its disastrous path of cuts to aid which can only further weaken Australia’s standing. Under Minister Bishop’s watch more than $11 billion has been cut from Australia’s aid program,” Senator Wong said in a statement this morning.
“Pacific island states have felt the impact of these cuts, and will increasingly turn to others to fill the gap left by Australia, further eroding our influence in the region.”
Greg Brown 9.23am Ciobo says China visit successful
Trade Minister Steven Ciobo has claimed he has been warmly received in his recent visits to China, despite admitting he was snubbed by his Chinese counterpart in his most recent visit.
“As someone who has I think made something like 12 or 13 trips to Canberra in the last couple of years I find that the welcome, the reception we get in China is positive,” Mr Ciobo said.
“I’m not going to pretend there aren’t some differences but broadly speaking, in terms of the relationship, it is very strong.”
Mr Ciobo said he was not able to meet Chinese Commerce Minister Zhong Shan in a visit last month because their diaries did not align.
“I looked for an opportunity if I was going to Beijing to say ‘would our diaries align’ and unfortunately they didn’t but nonetheless you cannot simply wave your hand away and dismiss the fact I had the chance to meet with the second most senior person in the Shanghai region,” Mr Ciobo said.
Greg Brown 8.54am China ‘trying to rape our country’
Political aspirant Clive Palmer has accused China of “trying to rape our country and our economy” and blamed Beijing for workers not being paid at the defunct Queensland Nickel refinery in Townsville.
Mr Palmer this morning said he was a good boss and blamed a cash shortfall on not receiving payments from the Chinese government. He also blamed the administrator of his business for workers not being paid while committing to reopening the refinery.
“Why we didn’t have enough cash to do more is because the Chinese government weren’t paying us. They were trying to rape our country and our economy,” Mr Palmer told the ABC.
Mr Palmer, who yesterday unveiled his new United Australia Party, also claimed he gave advice to Donald Trump’s team before he ran for US president.
“I was in parliament before Donald Trump was standing and the policies that I have adopted over here in our campaigning he did in the United States and there was contact between his campaign and ours earlier,” he said.
Greg Brown 8.29am Labor vows to fight tax plan
Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen says Labor would be “more than happy” to fight the next election on a competing income tax plan as he indicates shadow cabinet has voted to block part of the government’s package.
With shadow cabinet meeting last night to decide its formal position on the government’s tax plan, Mr Bowen called stage two of the plan an “expensive part of the scheme” and that the opposition’s tax cuts were better targeted.
The opposition supports stage one of the government’s plan, to give a tax cut for wage earners earning $90,000 or less. But caucus will today vote on recommendations from shadow cabinet as to whether it will support stage two of the package (to lower the marginal tax rate to 32.5 per cent for people earning up to $120,000 by 2023) and stage three (to extend the 32.5 per cent tax bracket to people earning up to $200,000 by 2025).
“I will be making a recommendation to cabinet that reflects our values, that reflects our principles and also reflects fiscal responsibility,” Mr Bowen told ABC radio.
“Now I still believe in fiscal responsibility, the Labor Party still believes in fiscal responsibility, the government thinks it can have unfunded tax cuts on the never never … I have a different approach to these matters.”
Mr Bowen said Labor’s plan was better targeted than stage two of the government’s scheme.
“It is an expensive part of the scheme that the government is putting forward and you need to look at the interactions with stage one and our proposed tax cuts, which benefit Australians earning less than $125,000 delivered sooner than the government’s and are better targeted,” he said.
“We are not just talking about the government’s plans, we are also talking about our own plans, we are more than happy to go to the Australian people with a competing set of plans.”
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has signalled shadow cabinet has voted to oppose stage three of Malcolm Turnbull’s income tax plan.
“We are very very critical of stage three of the tax cuts, $42 billion, all of it goes to the top 20 per cent of earners, you get a surgeon who is getting five times as much as a nurse, gets a tax cut that is 16 times larger,” Ms Plibersek said.
“We think stage three is unfair and we have said that all along.
“It is just highly irresponsible, what kind of government wants to spend $42bn in seven years’ time?”
Primrose Riordan 7.23am ‘Guard against racial fault lines’
Australia should stand up for itself without being “offensive and inflammatory” towards China, opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong has said.
Senator Wong said bilateral strains between Canberra and Beijing were likely to continue if the ALP were to win the next election but the party would avoid the government’s “disjointed megaphone diplomacy”.
“If Labor forms government following the next election, we understand that some of these pressures will persist,” she said.
“We understand that, at times, our interests will differ. We understand that challenges in the relationship may intensify. But what government can and should avoid is making things harder than they need to be.”
Senator Wong will deliver a speech at an Australia China Business Council event today, along with China’s Ambassador to Australia Cheng Jingye, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
Mr Turnbull did not address the same event last year, which was also when the Ambassador launched a major attack on the Australian media over reporting about Chinese government influence in Australia’s political system.
Senator Wong said Labor would avoid offending the country’s major trading partner.
“Australia is entitled to assert our national interests, just as China asserts what it sees as its interests,” she said according to an advanced copy of the speech seen by The Australian.
“But it is possible for us to assert our interests and safeguard our sovereignty, without being offensive and inflammatory.”
“A more sophisticated approach, based on both respect and a firm articulation of our convictions, will do more to ensure our national interests are maintained than will the disjointed megaphone diplomacy the government seems to have preferred of late.”
A number of business leaders have criticised the government’s approach to the bilateral relationship, especially after some Australian agriculture exports faced a go slow at Chinese ports. Former Australian Ambassador to China and now Yancoal director Geoff Raby even called for the Coalition to sack Ms Bishop.
Senator Wong said business needed to watch what they said.
“Similarly, it is also incumbent upon political, business and industry leaders to ensure they handle such debates with a degree of sensitivity and sophistication.”
The opposition spokeswoman warned against community fractures as a result of the debate about China.
“We must always guard against racial fault lines from our past being allowed to resonate today.”
Greg Brown 7.03am The day ahead in Canberra
Malcolm Turnbull will continue to push ahead with him income and company tax cut plans as the government faces growing pressure over its signature energy policy.
What’s making news:
Labor is warning that a government proposal to impose 10 years of legislated emissions cuts on the electricity sector will be too weak and will undermine its support for Malcolm Turnbull’s signature energy policy, which also faces the prospect of a backbench rebellion led by Tony Abbott.
The Labor caucus will today decide whether to support the government’s $144 billion personal tax cuts, or fight five by-elections and the next federal election as the party that denied tax relief to 95 per cent of Australian workers.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham’s $24.5 billion schools package is facing a backlash from all three key education sectors, as independent schools embark on a last-ditch effort to head off changes to the way funding is allocated, and Catholic educators warn of impending primary school closures.
Clive Palmer has vowed to stand candidates in every federal seat, while boasting of his personal wealth and declaring he owes nothing to workers who lost their jobs at his north Queensland nickel refinery.
The Ramsay Centre’s bid to establish dedicated courses in Western civilisation at some of the nation’s top universities has been bolstered by Newspoll results that show a majority of voters across all political groups support the proposal.
Labor has voted to pass laws that would criminalise the “Mediscare” text message sent out by the Queensland branch of the party during the 2016 federal election campaign.
Catholic bishops are furious they were given fewer than four days to respond to changes to proposed spy laws and have accused the government of not fully addressing concerns they would be classified as foreign agents of the Pope.
Wayne Swan has been overwhelmingly elected Labor’s national president, securing almost half the votes of party members and easily defeating Mark Butler, the opposition climate and energy spokesman, who was seeking a second term.
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