PoliticsNow: Bill Shorten haunted by support of company tax cuts
PoliticsNow: Malcolm Turnbull uses the Labor leader’s own words against him amid debate on company tax cuts.
Hello and welcome to PoliticsNow, The Australian’s live coverage of the happenings in Parliament House.
Citizenship is set to dominate the debate today with Labor digging in despite being under pressure to refer Longman MP Susan Lamb to the High Court. But the Coalition is divided on whether it should use its numbers in the House to refer Ms Lamb if Labor won’t.
Key events
• Bill Shorten’s previous support of company tax cuts has been raised
• The Greens have upped the ante in attacks on Jim Molan
• Cory Bernardi hits back over women in combat roles
• Labor won’t support espionage laws that target journalists
4.45pm: Questions over Adani
Labor’s final position on the planned Adani coal mine might come down to a superhero battle of Batman versus Longman, AAP reports.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten hardened his stance against the Queensland mine, but caucus avoided a chance on Tuesday to make a decision.
Labor is being forced to make a decision on Adani due to increasing pressure from the Greens in the Batman by-election in Melbourne, where the coal mine has become a key issue.
But Labor could also face a by-election in the Queensland seat of Longman after UK authorities said they had not processed Susan Lamb’s citizenship renunciation.
“The Leader of the Opposition doesn’t know if he supports more jobs in Queensland, or if he doesn’t support jobs in Queensland, because he doesn’t support the Adani project, all because he is placating the Labor left in order to win the seat of Batman,” Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg told parliament on Tuesday.
Mr Shorten last week walked away from his previously non-committal stance when he said he was “increasingly sceptical” of the Queensland project, casting doubt over the economic case in light of a struggling world coal market. “I’m beginning to wonder if the people of north Queensland are being led on with this promise of fake jobs and they’re never going to materialise,” he told reporters in Canberra.
But Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said Queensland voters wanted to know if Labor supported their jobs or not.
“What will be very interesting if there is a by-election in Longman is whether the rhetoric for Longman is anything like the rhetoric for Batman,” he told parliament.
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek says all frontbenchers had a chance on Monday to outline their positions and “when we make a collective decision, we’ll make a collective announcement”.
“We’ve got more than one opportunity to consider new information and as new information comes in we need to take our time and consider properly,” she told ABC radio on Tuesday.
Greens MPs said they were watching for any “weasel words” from Labor that could allow the mine to still go ahead after the by-election.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said when she spoke to Mr Shorten about Adani last year they were on the same page.
“We both shared the same view that the company, the finances of the company need to stack up,” she told reporters.
Labor also called on the Turnbull government to investigate allegations Adani altered a lab report relating to a coal-water spill at its Abbot Point shipping terminal, but Mr Frydenberg said it was a state matter.
3.45pm: Greens take aim at Molan
Malcolm Turnbull has launched a passionate defence of new senator Jim Molan in the wake of racism claims, AAP reports.
The retired major-general and now NSW Liberal senator shared videos by far-right UK group Britain First on Facebook in March last year which purport to show Muslim violence in Europe.
Senator Molan told parliament on Monday he was not racist or anti-Islam and had shared the videos because he was against violence and anti-social behaviour. Labor leader Bill Shorten bought into the debate today, asking the prime minister in question time whether he would direct Senator Molan to take down the material.
Mr Turnbull said describing Senator Molan as racist was deplorable and disgusting.
“He has stood up for our values, put his life on the line, led our troops and our allies’ troops in conflict,” the prime minister told parliament. “Jim Molan is a great Australian soldier. We are lucky to have him in the Senate. He doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. He has stood up for freedom, stood up against extremism.”
Last month, US President Donald Trump apologised for retweeting Britain First videos, claiming he didn’t know who the group was.
Senator Molan said he had shared the clips long before Mr Trump had brought the group to the world’s attention.
Greens leader Richard Di Natale asked Defence Minister Marise Payne in parliament whether she was concerned the former major-general’s views influenced his approach to the military campaign in the Iraqi city of Fallujah 14 years ago.
“That reflection on the service of a senior Australian Army officer takes your lows to depths that I did not think you could plumb,” Senator Payne said in response.
The Fallujah campaign was heavily criticised for its indifference to civilians.
Greg Brown 3.05pm: Labor targets Jim Molan
Bill Shorten asks Malcolm Turnbull if he will make new senator Jim Molan remove “racist” materials on his social media feeds.
The Prime Minister says it is “deplorable” the Opposition Leader wants to call Senator Molan racist.
“That is deplorable, it is disgusting,” he says. “Jim Molan is a great Australian soldier. We are lucky to have him in the Senate. He doesn’t have a racist bone in his body. He has stood up for freedom, stood up against extremism.”
Greg Brown 3pm: Dutton heckled
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton heckled a CFMEU worker who was watching question time from the gallery.
As he was railing against the unions who were “propping up” Bill Shorten’s leadership, Mr Dutton noted a CFMEU member in the gallery who raised his arm.
“There you go, throw your arm up, breaking arms on building sites,” Dutton says.
Dutton adds Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese was ready to take over the party leadership. “He is getting ready to go. This bloke is biting at the bit because he knows that this Leader of the Opposition is propped up by the union bosses,” Mr Dutton says.
Greg Brown 2.50pm: Labor and the ‘loony left’
Trade Minister Steven Ciobo uses a quote from Labor’s Batman candidate Ged Kearney about the Trans-Pacific Partnership to accuse Labor of lurching to the “loony left”.
“I couldn’t help but notice that Labor’s candidate in Batman said this about the TPP 11: ‘Trade agreements like this are pin-ups of the failed neo-liberal experiment. The Turnbull government should abandon this deal’,” Ciobo says.
“The Australian Labor Party has been dragged to the loony left now and it’s people like Ged Kearney who describe trade deals like the TPP as being a failed neo-liberal experiment.”
Greg Brown 2.40pm: ‘War on business’
Bill Shorten goes on private health insurers, noting Medibank has a return on equity of 26 per cent, double the return of the big banks.
“Why is this government giving private health insurers a big tax cut instead of supporting Labor’s plan to cap increases to 2 per cent?”
Malcolm Turnbull says Labor’s plan to cap premiums would put the solvency of some insurance companies at risk.
“He’s seeking to declare war on business, but he hates private health insurance even more. He went to the Press Club and he wasn’t prepared to stand up for the private health insurance rebate,” the PM says.
Greg Brown 2.35pm: Trading places
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek has moved next to member for Longman Susan Lamb, who is under pressure to refer herself to the High Court due ti citizenship issues.
They are engaged in a lengthy conversation and are going over some documents.
Greg Brown 2.25pm: Haunting words
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek asks how “Trump-style tax cuts” will “trickle down” to ordinary workers.
Malcolm Turnbull reads an old quote of Bill Shorten’s where he sold the benefits of cutting company tax.
Shorten’s quote from 2011 was: “Cutting the company income tax rate increases domestic productivity and domestic investment. More capital means higher productivity and economic growth and leads to more jobs and higher wages.”
Turnbull read out quotes from other Labor MPs, such as Wayne Swan, who had previously talked up company tax cuts.
“All of that was a penetrating glimpse of the obvious. It is plain that if you give companies the incentive to invest more, they will do so. When they invest more ... it will lead to higher productivity, economic growth and more jobs and higher wages,” Turnbull says.
Greg Brown 2.15pm: A Dastyari jab
Scott Morrison comes out with a zinger while selling the jobs growth under the Turnbull government.
“Jobs growth is so strong in this country, I notice even Sam Dastyari got a job this week,” he says.
No laughs from Labor.
Greg Brown 2.10pm: Shorten ‘leaning left’
Malcolm Turnbull uses a Dixer to say Labor MPs are being “dragged off to the left” by Bill Shorten.
“Off he goes with Ged Kearney seeking to win the by-election in Batman,” the PM says. “What does Labor have to offer us? Billions of dollars of taxes. $165 billion of tax. Imposed on companies, on businesses, large and small. Imposed on investors, imposed on families. Every dollar of those taxes designed and determined to crush incentive, discriminate against hardworking Australian businesses.”
Greg Brown 2.05pm: Down to business
Bill Shorten opens QT saying company profits increased by 20 per cent last year while wages only increased by 2 per cent.
“So when ordinary workers are already doing it tough, why is the Prime Minister slugging millions of workers with a $300 tax increase at the same time as giving away $65 billion to big business?”
Malcolm Turnbull says the Opposition Leader’s figures were misleading.
“The reality is the figure that he’s using is one massively inflated by the commodities boom, a once in a generation boom,” the PM says.
“The Labor Party, who poses as the alternative government, has not one policy that would create one job or encourage one business to invest $1. He wants to impose $165bn of new taxes.”
Greg Brown 1.30pm: No Labor support for espionage laws
Bill Shorten says Labor will not support any foreign espionage laws that target journalists.
The Opposition Leader said there would have to be exemptions for journalists in the government’s crackdown on foreign interference amid strong protests from the industry.
“Freedom of the press is paramount in our democracy,” Mr Shorten said.
“If these laws don’t adequately protect journalists doing their job, the government needs to fix its mistakes.
“I won’t support laws that see journalists imprisoned simply for doing their jobs.”
Mr Shorten said Labor would always support practical measures that would strengthen national security.
“But we have to get the balance right and that includes ensuring we have a strong media,” Mr Shorten said.
“I’m not sure if this is sloppy drafting or deliberately designed by the government to curtail media freedom.”
12.15pm: Dastyari to spruik for unions
Former Labor senator Sam Dastyari has been confirmed an associate director of research and campaign firm Essential Media Communications, which does a lot of union PR work.
The move was reported last month by The Australian.
Essential executive director and former Unions NSW spinner Peter Lewis described Mr Dastyari, who resigned from federal parliament after a scandal over his ties to a Chinese donor, as “one of the finest political campaigners of his generation”. “He will be a real asset to our team working in research, campaign design and execution,” Mr Lewis said.
AAP
Ben Packham 12.05pm: Greens have ‘real chance’ in Batman
Greens Leader Richard Di Natale told his MPs today that the party was in with a “real chance” in Batman, saying its anti-Adani campaign was having a strong impact in the seat.
He challenged Labor to rule out supporting the mine, rather than its current “halfway house” position in which it neither supported nor opposed the mine.
“It can’t be weasel words, and it can’t be a middle ground position to get them over the election,” he said.
Mr Di Natale also said the Greens would propose an amendment to the government’s new accountability laws for bank executives, saying the party wanted bank bosses’ pay capped at $800,000 a year.
He said slashing CEOs’ salaries would improve the culture of bank executives.
Greg Brown 11.55am: ‘Mad to call me racist’
New Liberal senator Jim Molan says anyone who calls him racist is because he shared videos posted by an anti-Islamic group was “stark raving mad”.
Senator Molan, who had filled the NSW senate vacancy left by Fiona Nash, said he did not know the group that uploaded the videos, British First, was a racist group when he shared the videos, which showed Muslims committing violent acts.
Senator Molan said he only wanted to expose what happened in societies where there is racial dislocation.
“What it showed was essentially violence and anti-social behaviour,” Senator Molan told ABC radio this morning.
“Anyone who thinks I am anti-Islamic, or racist, as the allegations were made yesterday in the Sydney Morning Herald, is stark raving mad, I am not either, I have worked effectively cross-culturally for years.
“What I was trying to achieve was to say to people that the breakdown in society from violence and anti-social behaviour is something we should all be very aware of.
“I have served and lived in countries where society is broken down, where violence is widespread and I was trying to achieve nothing more than that.”
Senator Molan said he shared the videos on social media “months and months” before Donald Trump was criticised for sharing videos posted by British First which gave the group a profile.
Ben Packham 11.40am: Shorten silent on Adani
Bill Shorten addressed the Labor caucus this morning without mentioning two of the biggest issues confronting the party – its position on the proposed Adani coal mine, and the threat posed by the Greens in Batman.
In his year-opening address to caucus, the Opposition Leader said Labor would focus on four policy areas in 2016 – power prices, house prices and negative gearing, wage growth, and fighting the government’s Medicare levy increase.
He also highlighted Labor’s plan to cap health insurance premium rises at 2 per cent for two years.
“(The government) are happy with big business as usual – profits up for insurers and premiums up for families,” he said.
Mr Shorten said Labor’s candidate in Batman, union leader Ged Kearney, was an excellent candidate, but didn’t go into Labor’s chances of winning the upcoming by-election in the seat.
Labor recently backed away from its support for the Adani mine, in what has been characterised as a “lurch to the left” to retain Batman from the Greens.
Mr Shorten didn’t raise either subject, and was not questioned on the issues by the caucus members.
Greg Brown 11.30am: Balance needed in #MeToo
Women’s Minister Kelly O’Dwyer says the right balance needs to be struck in the #MeToo movement between highlighting bad behaviour and ensuring allegations are handled sensitively and responsibly.
“I think with all of this we need to strike the right sort of balance. I think it’s absolutely right to highlight where people have behaved in an egregious manner – and some of what has been talked about has been criminal behaviour – and it is unacceptable on every level,” Ms O’Dwyer told ABC radio.
“I think where people make allegations we need to be very sensitive about the allegations that are made and I think you know everyone has got a responsibility to have a really sensible and sober discussion about these issues.”
Greg Brown 11.15am: ‘Do more over company tax cuts’
Trade Minister Steven Ciobo says the government needs to do more to convince the public of the benefits of company tax cuts.
Mr Ciobo said the government had to be strong in selling the benefits of tax cuts as he responded to a poll that showed more people wanted investment in schools and education rather than company tax cuts.
“We do because the fundamental fact is if you get more investment across the economy, you get more economic growth then that means government have at their disposal more revenue, ie more tax that they can invest in services,” Mr Ciobo told Sky News.
“If you try to short circuit that and say, ‘well let’s just spend more money on services, let’s just spend more money in these areas and not worry about what’s happening in the economy’ then that’s just a recipe for the kind of economic stuff up frankly that we saw under the Australian Labor Party.
“Because what happens is you get a huge blowout in government debt yet the economy is slowing down, that is the worst outcome of all, that is Labor’s approach, so it falls upon me and others to continue to make the case.”
Greg Brown 10.25am: Shorten ‘selling out’ Queensland jobs
Resources Minister Matt Canavan says Bill Shorten has decided to “sell out” thousands of jobs in Queensland to try and defeat the Greens in the Batman by-election.
“Bill Shorten has now chosen his side clearly, he has now chosen the Yarra River over the Ross River, he has chosen Melbourne over Townsville, he has chosen Victoria over Queensland because he has decided to sell out thousands of jobs in North Queensland that could be created from the Carmichael mine to try and win a by-election in inner city Melbourne,” Senator Canavan said this morning.
“It is behaviour that is not fit for someone who wants to be the Prime Minister.”
Greg Brown 10.05am: ‘No argument’ Lamb’s a Brit
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says there is “no argument” Labor MP Susan Lamb is a British citizen as he calls on her to resign from parliament.
Labor MP Susan Lamb is hanging onto her seat despite questions about her British citizenship, but the government believes a referral to the High Court is "irresistible". https://t.co/EWu4CNYc48 #auspol #7News pic.twitter.com/hRVSoWR3Cb
— 7 News Sydney (@7NewsSydney) February 5, 2018
“There is no argument, she is a British citizen, this is no longer a test of Susan Lamb it is a test of Bill Shorten,” Mr Joyce said.
“I apparently had dual citizenship, unbeknownst to me and I went to the High Court and then I resigned from parliament and I went off to an election, or the High Court resigned me to be frank.”
Greg Brown 9.45am: ‘An air of confidence’
Malcolm Turnbull has addressed the joint Coalition partyroom, where he welcomed South Australian senator Lucy Gichuhi to the team.
The Prime Minister talked up jobs growth achieved under his leadership, vowing to cut more taxes to increase economic growth and jobs.
“There is an air of confidence. We are seeing strong economic growth and we are seeing that in jobs growth,” Mr Turnbull said.
He added the government would also look to lower personal income taxes.
“The Treasurer has already delivered one middle income tax cut by moving the $80,000 threshold up to $87,000. Our focus this year is on doing more,” he said.
“Clearly, we are not going to compromise our return to surplus, so timing and extent will depend on the state of the budget.”
Greg Brown 9.25am: ‘Consumer’s choice’ on smart meters
Treasurer Scott Morrison says electricity smart metersthat raise the cost of electricity in peak times should not be forced on consumers.
Mr Morrison this morning said the meters should be used at the discretion of the customer in a rebuff to a parliamentary committee report that recommended they be rolled out to all consumers by the Australian Energy Market Operator.
“We favour very much a consumer driven approach around these sort of things and when customers want to use their own demand management devices,” Mr Morrison said.
“Where those things benefit consumers and they want to take them up to help manage their energy consumption then I think that provides real opportunities for them.
“But when it comes to how and when I see that as the customer’s choice.”
Greg Brown 9.10am: ‘Pigs might fly’
Bill Shorten has ridiculed the “pigs might fly” argument that business will pass on company tax cuts to workers.
The Opposition Leader this morning scoffed at a “fairytale” proposal for the government to strike a compact with business so it passes on tax cuts to workers.
“Pigs might fly,” Mr Shorten said.
“The idea that when you see a large company getting tax windfalls from their friends in the Turnbull government that they’re miraculously going to share this largesse with the workers of Australia. I’m sorry but that fairytale doesn’t have a happy ending.
“The government wants to say that I’m anti-business. I’m not anti-business but I am pro-worker.”
Greg Brown 9.00am: Adani offering fake jobs?
Bill Shorten has questioned whether Indian resources giant Adani is leading workers of North Queensland on with the promise “fake jobs” as he increases his negative rhetoric over the project.
The Opposition Leader deflected questions on when Labor would make a final decision on its support for the coal mine, declaring the issue of deadlines should be answered by Adani, which he said had continually delayed starting the project.
“Did you know that they, time after time, keep saying that they’re going to have this project up and running and they miss a deadline? I’m beginning to wonder if the people of North Queensland are being led on with this promise of fake jobs and they’re never going to materialise,” Mr Shorten said.
“What we need from the government of Australia are plans to help create jobs in regional Queensland which are sustainable and real. Not just a project which constantly keeps moving along and deadlines keep getting missed.”
Mr Shorten called on the government to investigate allegations Adani had covered up the environmental impact of the project so it could be approved. The company has denied the allegations.
“I think there is increasing scepticism as to whether or not the mine will go ahead. It would appear that Adani hasn’t managed to convince a single Australian bank to help finance this operation,” he said.
“There has also been reports from people who operate in coalmining elsewhere that they are concerned that this mine would jeopardise the job security of existing coalminers.
“I also believe that we need to make sure that all scientific approvals have been diligently researched. This is our position and I think it’s a sensible position.”
Greg Brown 8.30am: Business tax cuts ‘will lead to growth’
Treasurer Scott Morrison says “economic history” and “lived experience” is why he is sure that business tax cuts will lead to wage growth, rebuffing claims Labor that companies will pocket the extra profits without passing them onto workers.
Mr Morrison said the government will pursue its plan to reduce the tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent for all companies because it will bolster economic growth, which will eventually lead to wage growth.
He said businesses that made a turnover of between $50 million and $100m were “not Google”.
“That can be companies of 50 people, that is not Google, that is not a multinational, that is a business that is in your suburb in parts of Melbourne, that is a business that sits in a regional town,” Mr Morrison said this morning.
“And the Labor Party is saying ‘no tax cut for you’. People who work in these places, how are they supposed to get wage increases when Bill Shorten and Labor want them to pay higher taxes?
“It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Greg Brown 8.25am: Lamb ‘took reasonable steps’
The opposition has clear legal advice Labor MP Susan Lamb took “all reasonable steps” to renounce her British citizenship before the 2016 election, says Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek.
The Federal Government is threatening to refer Labor’s Susan Lamb to the High Court over dual citizenship. pic.twitter.com/fhbgGt8Ory
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) February 5, 2018
She said Labor would refer Ms Lamb to the High Court as long as the government referred its own questionable MPs.
“We know people are sick of this, I’m sick of talking about it too,” Ms Plibersek told ABC radio.
“Let’s do one job lot, let’s get it over and done with so we can just stop talking about this.”
Greg Brown 8.15am: Shorten ‘best to lead’
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek says Bill Shorten is the best person to lead the opposition as ructions emerge within the party because of the Opposition Leader’s unpopularity.
Ms Plibersek said Labor had sustained success in opinion polls because it was more united than the government.
The Australian reported this morning that some MPs think Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese is better placed than Mr Shorten to secure votes away from the Coalition at the next election.
“The reason we have consistently been leading the government ...is because we are united, we are disciplined, we are focused on the things that matter to ordinary families: their jobs, their pay and conditions, a great education for their kids, a decent health system,” Ms Plibersek told ABC radio.
“That’s what matters and that’s what we will stay focused on.”
Greg Brown 8.00am: Difficult to see Adani stack up
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek says it is increasingly difficult to see the Adani coal mine stacking up “both economically and environmentally”.
Ms Plibersek said Labor would work “slowly and methodically” through the issues facing the coal mine before it decides whether to pull its support for the controversial project in central Queensland.
The shadow cabinet spoke about the mine last night and it is expected to be a major issue in the Batman by-election.
“We do need to have an answer for the people of northern Queensland and central Queensland about the sort of jobs that they will be doing, and their kids will be doing in the future, these are areas with high unemployment,” Ms Plibersek told ABC radio.
“But the more we see of this proposal the less it stacks up, we have seen inflated jobs figures from the company, and frankly from the government as well.
“We continue to have concerns about the impact on the Great Barrier Reef, which itself is not just an environmental icon it is a generator of tens of thousands of jobs, we have most recently over the weekend there are suggestions that environmental tests were perhaps falsified.
“The more we sere of the project the less it stacks up, both economically and environmentally.”
What’s making news:
A deadline to refer Labor MP Susan Lamb to the High Court has not been set despite the Turnbull government insisting she is a British citizen and should not be sitting in federal parliament.
The ACTU proposal for significant minimum-wage rises would cost up to $8 billion a year, causing job losses and potential business closures, new analysis by employers warns.
Australians have overwhelmingly rejected Anthony Albanese’s call for referendums on the republic and indigenous constitutional recognition to end divisions over Australia Day and opposed a Greens-led campaign to erase the date of the First Fleet’s landing from Australia’s commemorative history.
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese is better placed than Bill Shorten to secure votes away from the Coalition at the next election, according to backers inside the party.
A factional brawl tearing apart Labor’s Victorian branch and Bill Shorten’s support base has deepened, with an internal memo from the party’s left accusing factional opponents of putting their own positions ahead of policy during an election year.
One Nation will try to broaden its electoral reach beyond the personal appeal of Pauline Hanson as it develops a succession plan to help future-proof its influence on the political stage.
A critical deal between the Nick Xenophon Team and the Turnbull government over welfare reform has not been sealed, with the minor party concerned about a number of changes.
The federal government’s proposed foreign interference laws create “the real risk you are going to chill the legitimate work of the media”, one of the country’s most eminent media lawyers says.
Greg Sheridan writes the real long-term significance of the Batman by-election could be to drive Australian foreign policy significantly to the left.
Miners change tune on climate change
Peak mining industry body The Minerals Council of Australia has joined the fight on climate.
Labor to turn up heat on Taylor
Labor will use the final two weeks of parliament to heap pressure on Energy Minister Angus Taylor.