PoliticsNow: Tony Abbott unconvinced by business groups on energy
PoliticsNow: Tony Abbott says he was unconvinced by business groups who attempted to persuade him to support the NEG.
Hello and welcome to PoliticsNow, The Australian’s blog on the happenings at Parliament House in Canberra.
Tony Abbott says he was unconvinced by business groups who attempted to persuade him and other Coalition MPs to support the National Energy Guarantee.
This is where we will leave our live coverage. Read below for how the day played out.
Rachel Baxendale 6.00pm: Abbott slams euthanasia ‘deal’
Tony Abbott has slammed a “secret deal” between Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Liberal Democrats senator David Leyonhjelm that Coalition MPs would be given a conscience vote on Senator Leyohjelm’s motion to overturn the law stopping the ACT and NT from legalising voluntary assisted dying.
“I’m a little worried about secret deals, and I’m a little worried that undertakings might have been made which weren’t brought to the party room,” Mr Abbott told 2GB.
“The Prime Minister likes to talk about due process. I’m very concerned about lack of due process. I’m very concerned as I said on this program last week that the party room doesn’t get an adequate chance to discuss controversial policies because we are distracted by long and sometimes only marginally relevant debates about the minutiae of particular bits of legislation, instead of having the chance to have a political discussion right up front in every party room, as was the practice under John Howard, under Brendan Nelson, under Malcolm Turnbull the first time around, and then under me, so look this is a due process issue.
“Should our negotiators be able to make secret deals with Senate crossbenchers when frankly on something vital for the future of our country and this government, they’re not prepared to take their own backbench into their confidence?”
Mr Abbott compared the euthanasia deal with Senator Leyonhjelm with Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg negotiating with state premiers over the National Energy Guarantee.
“This week I said to Josh Frydenberg and to the Prime Minister, why can’t the arrangements that you propose to take to the Council of Australian Governments be taken to the party room first?” he said.
“Why can’t the party room be trusted with all of this? Why do we have to accept as a done deal what the state Labor premiers want rather than being able to tell the state Labor premiers this is what the party room wants?”
Asked whether the “gulf” between him and Mr Turnbull was widening, Mr Abbott said: “I am a backbench member of parliament and I think I owe it to the electors of Warringah, and indeed to the Australian people, to call it as I see it, and frankly there is no more important issue facing our country right now than our long-term energy security.”
Joe Kelly 5.40pm: Euthanasia motion passes in Senate
A motion from Liberal Democratic Senator Leyonhjelm paving the way for the introduction of euthanasia in the Northern Territory and ACT has passed the Senate.
The motion — which passed the upper house by a margin of 36 to 27 — will ensure Senator Leyonhjelm’s bill restoring territory rights will “have precedence over all government business” between 14 and 16 August.
The euthanasia debate is likely to coincide with the discussion over the government’s response to the review of religious freedoms conducted by former Attorney-General Philip Ruddock which threatens to reopen an ideological divide in Coalition ranks.
As revealed today in The Australian, Malcolm Turnbull gave a private assurance to Senator Leyonhjelm that Coalition MPs would have a free vote on his bill.
The verbal assurance was given by Mr Turnbull in order to win Senator Leyonhjelm’s support for the restoration of the Australian Building and Construction Commission — the key issue on which the Coalition called-on the 2016 election.
Rachel Baxendale 5.35pm: Abbott unconvinced by businesses on energy
Tony Abbott says he was unconvinced by business groups yesterday who had come to Canberra to attempt to persuade him and other Coalition MPs of the need to support Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg’s National Energy Guarantee.
“So many of these businesses and business groups last time they came to town were urging us to back Labor’s emissions trading scheme, so I’m a little sceptical about businesses, particularly businesses that have got a vested interest in gaming the system, and there are many of them that have a vested interest in gaming the system, and they are gaming the system,” Mr Abbott told 2GB.
“I mean take AGL for instance. I mean AGL is going to close down 10 per cent of NSW’s baseload power because it wants to drive up the price, and it doesn’t care about blackouts. It doesn’t care about the hit on your pocket and my pocket and your listeners’ pockets.
“It doesn’t care about keeping industries going, it’s gaming the system, so I’m a little sceptical about being told by the Minister that we’ve got to back these things because people like AGL want them. Well frankly what AGL wants right now is not in Australia’s national interests.”
Mr Abbott said he remained sceptical about Mr Frydenberg’s claim that coal would be part of the energy mix under the NEG.
“I have a lot of respect for Josh, but when he says that the government is technology neutral, he’s wrong. He’s absolutely wrong,” he said.
“How can you invest $12bn plus in Snowy 2.0 pumped hydro and billions more in other renewable grants and loans and not be in practice, if not in theory, anti-coal?
“I mean I just can’t see any private investor coming forward to invest in coal given the political risk which we’ve got, and that’s why I say that the only way to keep the system going is for the government to do with coal the same that it’s done with pumped hydro, and if we can have Snowy 2.0 there’s no reason at all why we shouldn’t have Hazelwood 2.0.
“Let’s ensure that we have affordable, reliable power, and the only way we can do that is if we get more coal into the system.”
Mr Abbott said he feared Labor premiers would dictate the terms of the NEG, rather than the Coalition party room deciding on the detail and presenting it to the states as a fait accompli.
“We aren’t going to be asked to approve it until it’s gone through COAG, and that means until it has been approved by the state premier,” he said.
“Now anything that’s been approved by the state premiers will be something that can be massively ramped up to further increase prices and further drive jobs overseas under a Labor government, and my point to my colleagues in the party room the other day was we should have the Labor premiers agreeing with our policy, we shouldn’t have the premiers’ policy given to us as a done deal on a take it or leave it basis, and my fear is that the minister so keen to get a deal out of COAG that that’s what will happen. That’s why the party room has got to approve what the Labor premiers will accept.”
Rachel Baxendale 5.07pm: Hart should’ve followed Shorten’s lead: Abbott
Former PM Tony Abbott joked that Tasmanian MP Ross Hart should have “taken a leaf out of Bill Shorten’s book” in his trainwreck interview this morning, during which he continually demurred when asked whether he supported his leader’s position on company tax cuts.
“Bill Shorten was once asked did he agree with Julia Gillard and he said, ‘I don’t know what she said, but I agree with whatever it was’,” Mr Abbott told 2GB.
“One of the reasons why you shouldn’t vote Labor is because Labor always wants higher taxes, more public servants and more regulation.
“That’s just what Labor does, and it’s got worse under Shorten.”
Greg Brown 3.09pm ‘Mr Hart what a mess’
Tasmanian Labor MP Julie Collins asks why Malcolm Turnbull supports seeing penalty rates cut for 7000 workers in the electorate of Braddon.
The Prime Minister says he wishes he got a question from a different Tasmanian MP: Ross Hart.
“I know his leader has probably hauled him in and said: ‘Mr Hart what a mess’,” Turnbull says.
“We say he spoke for all Australians when he revealed (he believed the) captain’s call that the Leader of the Opposition made (was) a job-destroying call.
“He knew in his heart that this Leader of the Opposition was undermining every family business in his electorate. He knows when he goes back to Launceston they will say ‘You need a new leader’.”
Greg Brown 3.00pm Government curbing gross debt: Morrison
Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen asks why the government is pushing ahead with an “$80 billion” company tax cut when household debt and government gross debt was at record highs.
Scott Morrison says the government was curbing gross debt.
“Under this government we took gross debt growing at 30 per cent under the Labor Party, under the current budget and forward estimates to 2 per cent,” the Treasurer says.
“We have wrestled Labor’s guerrilla debt to the ground, net debt this year turns around and we pay it down by $30 billion over four years and $230bn over the next ten years.”
Greg Brown 2.51pm Husic brings up PaTH allegations
Labor’s Ed Husic asks about problems in the PaTH internship program, including allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination against people with a disability.
Malcolm Turnbull says the PaTH program is “going well.
“I want to say the PATH program has been getting thousands of young Australians into a job, into work,” the Prime Minister says.
“I have met some of those young Australians. They’ve been in welfare. They’re getting a job.”
Greg Brown 2.49pm ‘Should AMP receive a tax cut?’
Bill Shorten goes again on AMP.
“Should AMP receive a tax cut?”
Scott Morrison says all Australians deserve to work for companies that receive a tax cut.
“I’m referring to all companies in the economy,” the Treasurer says.
“That includes companies between $2-10 million in turnover as well.
“All businesses should have more competitive tax rates, that’s our policy.
“The leader of the Labor Party needs to come clean and tell small businesses between $2-10 million: will he rip off their tax cut?”
Greg Brown 2.40pm Shorten’s ‘catastrophic captain’s call’
Bill Shorten asks Malcolm Turnbull if he is willing to tell victims of AMP’s poor behaviour that the financial institution deserves a tax cut.
The Prime Minister says the Opposition Leader has “declared war on all businesses of every size in Australia”.
He says Labor MP Ross Hart refused to endorse Shorten’s “reckless agenda” and “catastrophic captain’s call”.
“The Leader of the Opposition wants to talk about AMP today but the businesses he’s going after are numbered in the hundreds of thousands,” Turnbull says.
“They are right around Australia and as the member for Bass understands very well, there are dozens of them in Launceston and he knows that those businesses are going to be threatened and the jobs of their workers threatened.”
Shorten complains the answer is not relevant but he is batted off by Speaker Tony Smith.
Greg Brown 2.31pm Will Hanson get her power station?
Labor MP Ged Kearney asks if the government will agree to Pauline Hanson’s request to build a new coal-fired power station if she supports big business tax cuts.
Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg says coal will be an important part of the energy mix under the national energy guarantee.
“We all know that the Labor Party is not upfront with the workers, they have abandoned the blue-collar workers,” he says.
Kearney interrupts for a point of relevance, saying Frydenberg has not mentioned Hanson’s name.
Speaker Tony Smith is not convinced by her complaint.
“When a question talks about an $80 billion handout that doesn’t have any reference to anything else, it opens it up to the world,” he says.
Frydenberg goes onto say the CFMEU and the AWU both support the coal industry.
Greg Brown 2.23pm Katter asks on farmer outcomes
Maverick crossbencher Bob Katter gets a cheer when he actually gets his question out in the allocated time frame. A rare feat for the Queensland MP.
He asks if receivers will come under scrutiny for the banking royal commission and if there will be new policies for lending to the volatile farming sector.
Scott Morrison says liquidators and receivers will come under scrutiny from the Hayne royal commission.
The Treasurer says the government will be open to all recommendations from the royal commission.
“We want our banks to keep lending to businesses and farms and be cognisant of the need of how reliant our economy is on the extension of the capital,” Morrison says.
“We don’t want a restriction of capital flow, in the farming sector or to the manufacturing sector or the services sector.”
Greg Brown 2.17pm Tardy Tony’s awkward arrival
Tony Abbott strolls into QT, 13 minutes late.
He is just in time to hear Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek accuse him of trying to undermine Malcolm Turnbull.
“Is this the reason the Prime Minister is promising coal forever? (Is he) doing everything he can to stop the former prime minister and the former deputy prime minister from undermining his government forever?”
The Prime Minister avoids the part about Abbott, only saying the energy policy was technology neutral.
“Labor is still committed to ideology and idiocy which can only have one result and that is less reliable, less affordable power. That is not fair to the hardworking Australian families the Labor Party claims to care about,” he says.
Greg Brown 2.12pm Shorten’s ‘war on business’
Malcolm Turnbull uses a Dixer to declare Bill Shorten has declared “war” on small business, while ridiculing Labor MP Ross Hart for refusing to endorse the Opposition Leader’s plan to repeal tax cuts for small businesses on 13 occasions after calling up a radio station.
“The best commentary on this, of course, came from the member for Bass,” Turnbull says, noting Hart refused to endorse the policy.
Turnbull says the viability of small and medium businesses would be at risk under a Labor government.
“One small business after another will have their viability threatened and the jobs of their employees threatened by Labor seeking to jack up the taxes they are paying,” he says.
Greg Brown 2.07pm QT kicks of with energy debate
Bill Shorten opens up question time on energy, asking about Malcolm Turnbull’s comments yesterday when he said coal-fired power stations could be part of the energy mix forever.
“Isn’t it the case that the Government’s plan to prop up coal-fired power with taxpayer funds will affect the viability of Snowy 2.0?”
The Prime Minister says “absolutely not”.
“Coal is a big part of (of the energy market) now. I believe it will be a big part of it for a very long time. Let the market and the competing technologies work it out,” he says.
Joe Kelly 12.35pm: ‘Let’s talk tax another time’
Tasmanian Labor MP Ross Hart has refused to endorse Bill Shorten’s plan to repeal tax cuts for small businesses on 13 occasions after calling up a radio station, batting away questions with responses such as: “Let’s have a conversation about that another time.”
Read the story in full here.
Greg Brown 12.05pm: Albo — I wasn’t pitching against Bill
Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese has denied his speech to the Gough Whitlam Oration last Friday was a pitch for an alternative vision for the Labor Party with him as leader.
Mr Albanese said he was not having a crack at Bill Shorten when he said Labor needed to work more with business, less with unions and appeal to “aspirational” Australians.
“That was one of a range of points that I made, was that Labor has to appeal to not just members of trade unions, but we have to appeal to small businesses, to people who are contractors, to people who are professionals and aren’t in any union and that’s just common sense,” Mr Albanese told Adelaide radio station 5AA.
“That’s what I did and Bill did and others all did as members of the Rudd and Gillard governments. That’s what Hawke and Keating did. That’s what Whitlam did. That’s what modern Labor is about.”
Mr Albanese said he was comfortable with the Opposition Leader’s captain’s call yesterday to announce Labor would repeal tax cuts for businesses with a revenue of more than $10 million.
“I think that Bill Shorten has got a right to announce Labor policy. He did that. He did that consistent with the way that Labor had voted in the House of Representatives and the Senate when these changes were considered,” Mr Albane
Greg Brown 11.40am: Labor may vote against NEG
Opposition energy spokesman Mark Butler has warned Labor could vote against the national energy guarantee if the government includes a provision that would subsidise coal.
“We’re not going to agree to a model that seeks to fly in the face of all of the expert advice, from industry and stakeholders, that building new coal-fired power stations would mean there is no way of achieving our commitments under the Paris Agreement and also would deliver higher priced electricity to households and businesses,” Mr Butler told ABC radio.
Mr Butler said Malcolm Turnbull was wrong for telling parliament yesterday that coal-fired power could be part of Australia’s energy system “forever”.
“That is an extraordinary proposition given all of the advice globally about what the future of the energy system is going to be, and frankly has to be if we are going to deal with climate change,” he said.
Greg Brown 11.30am: Butler ‘comfortable’ with captain’s call
Opposition energy spokesman Mark Butler says he is comfortable with Bill Shorten’s captain’s call to repeal company tax cuts for businesses with a turnover of more than $10 million.
But he would not say if the position was discussed in shadow cabinet, citing confidentiality.
“I’m entirely comfortable with the announcement that Bill Shorten made yesterday, I think people had understood our position about company tax cuts,” Mr Butler told Sky News.
Greg Brown 10.33am: Hanson pulls out of tax talks
Pauline Hanson has ruled out supporting Malcolm Turnbull’s big business tax cuts.
The One Nation leader said she had made a final decision this morning to vote against it after a conversation with fellow One Nation senator Peter Georgiou.
She said would not support a reduction in the tax rate for businesses with a turnover of $50 million or more. She said there was no more room for horse trading.
“Let them take it to the next election, let’s see what the people say,” Senator Hanson told 3AW radio.
“We’re standing firm on it, we’re not supporting corporate tax cuts. “It is not changing. I have sent a message to Minister Cormann this morning so he knows.”
Earlier this morning, Senator Hanson told Nine Network she was continuing to talk to the government on the proposal.
“I am still talking to the government. I will be honest,” she said.
“(Finance Minister Mathias Cormann) is doing his job trying to get me over the line.
“What I am saying to him is, ‘start doing something about the multinationals in Australia not paying their taxes’.”
10.15am: PM sends condolences to Socceroos
Malcolm Turnbull has revealed he sent a text of condolence to Socceroos captain Mile Jedinak after the national team was eliminated from the World Cup on losing to Peru last night.
“The boys gave the contest everything. They were fantastic. They had some bad luck — that’s football I guess,” Mr Turnbull told reporters this morning.
“Australia backed them every step of the way and, as I said to Mile last night in a message I sent him, we’ll do so again, at the next World Cup.”
10.00am: Hanson’s flip flops
Pauline Hanson is again shifting her position on company tax cuts. Watch her flip flops below.
Greg Brown 8.50am: PM, Hanson move closer on tax
Malcolm Turnbull has refused to rule out splitting the government’s bill for big business tax cuts and provide relief for companies with a turnover of up to $500 million, as the government pushes to strike a deal with One Nation and Centre Alliance.
The Prime Minister softened on his vow earlier in the week for an all or nothing proposal to cut tax to all companies to 25 per cent by 2026-27, after Pauline Hanson met with Finance Minister Mathias Cormann last night to continue negotiations.
Mr Turnbull kept his cards close to his chest when asked this morning whether the government had reconsidered a proposal by senator Derryn Hinch to give a tax cut to companies with a turnover of up to $500m. The move would carve out the big banks and multinationals, which Senator Hanson is railing against.
“I’m often invited to comment on negotiations with the Senate but we have found over the years that the best way to approach them is privately, constructively and respectfully but not to engage in public negotiation,” Mr Turnbull said.
When asked whether the $500m proposal was out of the question, Mr Turnbull said: “Again, we don’t engage in public negotiation”.
PM @TurnbullMalcolm: @billshortenmp is the biggest threat to a strong economy...his assault on family-owned Australian businesses yesterday has just hit the latest part of his war on business.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 26, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/00rTfQ1yJ1 #FirstEdition pic.twitter.com/O3zFjlv3PJ
Senator Hanson said she met Senator Cormann last night to discuss the policy, arguing she was still pushing for more action to be taken on multinational tax avoidance.
“He is doing his job trying to get me over the line,” she told Nine Network.
“What I am saying to him is, ‘start doing something about the multinationals in Australia not paying their taxes’.”
Senator Hanson rejected any notion her decisions were influenced by the upcoming by-election in Longman, Queensland.
“Australian people — this is always about them, and I am hoping to make the right decision for them and their future and the future generations,” she said.
“Is it not easy to get it right. I don’t have, you know, the resources that the major political parties have and I have to take it on my gut feeling and I also have to take it on advice and listening to what I am hearing and also what I am trying to get for the people. I am really fighting for people to — and is it not all about me, it has nothing to do about me, it has nothing to do about the seat of Longman, about the by-election, that is just absolute rubbish.”
But The Australian has been told Senator Hanson texted Senator Cormann last night ruling out supporting further company tax cuts.
The government is four votes short of passing big business tax cuts, with Centre Alliance and One Nation key to the reform.
Greg Brown 8.30am: ‘We’ve turned corner on energy’
Malcolm Turnbull has refused to be drawn on Tony Abbott’s threat to cross the floor over the national energy guarantee, but noted work was still being done on the final design of the policy which has split government MPs.
The Prime Minister said the government would “continue to have discussions” about the final design of the NEG, after being asked about a push from the Nationals to ensure the policy would favour suppliers of baseload power such as coal and gas.
“The national energy guarantee is a technology agnostic means of ensuring that we have the cheapest possible, most affordable energy and that it is reliable, that is the critical thing,” Mr Turnbull said in Canberra this morning.
PM @TurnbullMalcolm speaking to the media in Canberra about the government's tax plan:
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 26, 2018
'It's vital to continue to back our national economic plan that is already delivering record jobs growth.'
MORE: https://t.co/00rTfQ1yJ1 #FirstEdition pic.twitter.com/4XfWF7629X
“Everybody, families, businesses, large and small, need to have reliable and affordable power, so it focuses on those factors above all and of course enables us to meet our Paris emissions reductions targets.
“So there is continued work being done on the design and we will continue to have discussions but it is a very powerful part of our energy reforms.
“Just remember this: we have turned the corner on energy price rises, we have seen, for the first time in a long time, energy prices come down, retail prices I mean.”
When asked about Mr Abbott’s threat to cross the floor over the policy, Mr Turnbull said: “I don’t engage in public discussions with my colleagues”.
Greg Brown 8.00am: Business ‘kicked in guts’
Scott Morrison has predicted that businesses with a turnover of between $10 million and $50m would pay an extra $1m each on tax over the next decade under Bill Shorten’s policies.
The Treasurer said the Opposition Leader “kicked all of those businesses in the guts” with his captain’s call to repeal legislated tax cuts, arguing the average tax bill could be increased by $1m per business.
“This is a real threat to jobs, it is a real threat to wages, when we finally see what they say this will cost or what the estimate is, you are potentially talking about $1m for every business over the next 10 years,” Mr Morrison told Sky News.
.@ScottMorrisonMP says he has ‘no doubt’ @billshortenmp’s tax policies are based on envy.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) June 26, 2018
‘@AustralianLabor are no longer the party of opportunity… if you want to get ahead in this country, don’t vote Labor.’
MORE: https://t.co/ykweMevBOK #FirstEdition pic.twitter.com/znNjePD8ug
Mr Morrison called on Mr Shorten to “end the mystery” and reveal Labor’s policies for companies with a turnover of between $2m and $10m
“What he should do today, if he can so casually go out and end the mystery about what he was going to do for businesses between $10m and $50m, well let’s end the mystery between $2m and $10m,” he said.
“Because at the last election, they said they were going to reverse the entire enterprise tax plan, everything they have said up until now has not contradicted that, so end the mystery Labor Party and Bill Shorten: tell us what you are going to do before the by-elections, tell us today.
“The best I can tell from what they have said publicly is that if you are a business between $2m and 10m you are gone too. But they can end the mystery today.”
What’s making news:
Bill Shorten has put his leadership on the line after making a “captain’s call” to repeal $20 billion in legislated tax cuts for up to 20,000 businesses in a risk-laden political move that has been privately condemned by shadow cabinet colleagues.
A taskforce has clawed back more than $2.7 billion in unpaid taxes from multinational companies operating in Australia in just under a year since laws were passed to crack down on large-scale tax avoidance.
Malcolm Turnbull has given a private assurance that Coalition MPs will be allowed a free vote on a bill that would restore territory rights to pass voluntary euthanasia laws under an agreement struck between the Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm.
Bill Shorten’s pledge to repeal company tax cuts has consolidated the by-election battleground electorate of Longman as ground zero in the nation’s tax war.
Business leaders have warned Coalition MPs they will unleash a “wrecking ball” on the economy if they splinter over the national energy guarantee and kill its passage through parliament as Tony Abbott intensified his threat to cross the floor over the policy.
Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne has labelled the Labor frontbench “a bunch of hypocrites” and “pathetic” for criticising Malcolm Turnbull’s wealth despite being asset-rich themselves, with substantial investment property portfolios, family trusts and self-managed super funds.
Bill Shorten has urged his party to replace Kate Ellis with another woman in the seat of Adelaide, heightening internal unrest in South Australia as Labor powerbroker Mark Butler considers “all options” in his search for a new parliamentary home.
The stoush between the Australian National University and the Ramsay Centre has escalated, with former prime minister Tony Abbott accusing the university’s leadership of attempting to “rewrite history” in their public defence of a decision not to host a course on Western civilisation.
Dennis Shanahan writes that Bill Shorten has compromised Labor’s company-tax policy, angered party critics and jeopardised the by-election campaigns.
James Jeffrey’s Sketch: a long, tortuous game of snakes and ladders.
More Coverage
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.