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PoliticsNow: “The last thing we need is a revolving door priministership,” Tony Abbott tells ABC’s 7.30 | WATCH

Rosie Lewis and Jared Owens
21 min read
4:04PMOctober 19, 2016.
Updated 9:22PMOctober 19, 2016
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Question Time: Debate on the Adler 110 lever-action shotgun

That’s where we’ll leave PoliticsNow for today. We’ll be back tomorrow with more live coverage of federal politics from The Australian’s Parliament House bureau in Canberra.

8.19pm:Abbott ‘not expecting’ PM vacancy

Former prime minister Tony Abbott insists he’s not expecting a vacancy for his old job any time soon.

“The last thing we need in this country is a revolving door priministership,” he told ABC’s 7.30 program on Wednesday.

Mr Abbott’s public appearances have shot up in the past week as he’s taken up the cause of pushing NSW Liberal party reform and weighing into the controversial debate over the Adler shotgun.

He raised eyebrows on Tuesday after tweeting his thoughts that it was “disturbing” to see reports of the government apparently horse-trading on gun laws.

Mr Abbott says while he’s still determined to be the best local member for Warringah “in this term of parliament”, he would naturally air his feelings on such major matters.

“Occasionally on important national and international issues, as a former prime minister, I will have something to say.”

Mr Abbott insists he wants Malcolm Turnbull to be the best possible prime minister throughout this term and the government to succeed. “It’s not a question of what I might like, it’s a question of what the party room wants and the party room wants to end the revolving door priministership.”

Mr Abbott maintains he never made a deal with a crossbench senator to change gun laws, insisting it was his government that “stopped the guns”. Key crossbench senator David Leyonhjelm claims the Abbott government made an agreement with his office to insert a sunset clause of 12 months on the importation of the Adler lever-action shotgun.

But the former prime minister says every piece of legislation has a sunset clause and letters purporting of such a deal was about telling Senator Leyonhjelm what was happening anyway.

“No deals from me. No deals from my office. No deal,” he said.

These guns were stopped because of his government, he said.

“But for the Abbott government we would now have tens of thousands of these weapons in this country,” Mr Abbott said.

“The Abbott government stopped them.”

Trump comments ‘smutty’

When pressed by 7.30 host Leigh Sales, Mr Abbott said Donald Trump’s “smutty” comments about women were “absolutely reprehensible”, but wanted to refrain from making comments about the US election.

“It’s not a good look ... for former Australian prime ministers to be buying in to elections overseas,” he said.

He said it was important that Australia had the best possible relations with the future American president. “And that’s why I think we should try to avoid offering a gratuitous commentary”.

“Of course the smutty stuff that came out last week is absolutely reprehensible. “But, in the end, the leader of America, the president of the US, is the leader of the free world and whoever that person is, the Australian government needs to work very closely with him or her.”

Last week, Mr Abbott said many of Mr Trump’s policy positions were “reasonable enough” and that his supporters were “not deplorables” but voters just wanting to see change in America.

4.00pm:Xenophon’s warning to PM

Before Question Time independent senator Nick Xenophon said he understood why his crossbench colleague David Leyonhjelm felt he had been “dudded” by the government over the Adler shotgun import ban, adding a warning to Malcolm Turnbull.

“That’s something that doesn’t bode well for a crossbench in negotiating with the government of the day,” Senator Xenophon said. “You need to be up front, transparent in terms of any deals that have been done.

“It seems the government at least has been embarrassed by what appears to be a broken promise.

“In terms of the merit of (the ban), we think we’ve got the right mix and right approach in terms of gun laws in this country.”

3.55pm:What we learned in Question Time

Bill Shorten spotted Malcolm Turnbull’s weakness on gun laws yesterday and continued to try and keep the pressure on.

The Prime Minister was more prepared for the line of questioning, and turned the focus on Labor’s reluctance to support mandatory sentencing on the trafficking of illegal firearms.

In addition, the government clearly wanted to focus on one thing: the re-establishment of the Australian and Building Construction Commission.

Highlights

* Labor leader Bill Shorten has written to the Prime Minister proposing gun smugglers be jailed for 20 years, instead of the 10 years that now applies and the government’s plan for a minimum mandatory sentence of five years.

* In the past 12 months the government has cancelled 1013 visas, including for more than 100 outlawed motorcycle gang members involved in armed robbery, assault, drug offences, fraud, kidnapping and murder, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton informed MPs.

* The earnest Small Business Minister Michael McCormack is no Bruce Billson, the ultra-enthusiastic holder of the office in the Abbott government.

What we didn’t learn

* What position the commonwealth will take to a meeting of the nation’s police ministers on the importation of the now infamous seven-shot Adler shotgun.

* Which of the defence ministers in cabinet is the more senior: Marise Payne or Christopher Pyne.

What the government wanted to spin

Law-abiding work places, law-abiding unions and employer organisations are vital for our economy. We cannot stand idly by while militant unions continue their thuggery and bully-boy tactics, continue standing over rank-and-file members, of other unions, and contractors.

What Labor wanted to talk about

Does the prime minister want the import ban on the seven-round Adler shotgun to be permanent or should we just direct the question to the leader of the Nationals?

They said what

“They call it smugglers cove over there. All he needs is a parrot and he could be a pirate.” - PM lampoons opposition MPs, and more specifically shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus, over Labor’s refusal to back tough penalties for gun smugglers.

Tweeted

@edhusicMP: “I was going to tweet “Shorter Turnbull...” but the internet is no place for unbelievable claims.”

— AAP

3.15pm:Brandis appointments queried

Manager of opposition business in the House Tony Burke asks the PM why 37 new appointments by Attorney-General George Brandis to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal were not advertised, nor the candidates recommended by Senator Brandis’ department.

“Given the 37 jobs have a salary of up to $370,000 each year, does the Prime Minister consider this process acceptable?”

Mr Turnbull says: “The appointment of Australians to offices of this kind is a very important responsibility of government. The government takes that responsibility very seriously. The Attorney-General is an office holder of considerable discernment. I have no doubt that all the persons appointed were excellently qualified for the position that they have been selected for.”

3.05pm:Pyne or Payne?

Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne is asked if he can answer who is the most senior minister in the defence portfolio, given Defence Minister Marise Payne refused to answer earlier today and then said they were equal.

Mr Pyne ignores the question and talks about Labor’s varying views on the South China Sea. The question of seniority is a “trivial matter”.

“It is extraordinary on a serious note - right now in Australia our defence force is serving in combat in Syria and in Iraq. We have troops in the Middle East, in Afghanistan taking part in serious operations, members of the air force, members of our command who are putting their lives at risk. The only question that the shadow minister for defence (Richard Marles) can think of to ask me, the first question ever he can think of to ask me is such a trivial matter.”

2.55pm:‘The Santa Claus of politics’

Deputy PM and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce is asked by Ms Plibersek if he supports lifting the import ban on the Adler shotgun for use in agriculture. Was his department consulted on this ban? He doesn’t go to the question at first, instead regaling the House with this: “I have been waiting a year for a question from the member for Hunter (Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon). Whilst I have been waiting, the Samsung 7 has blown up, caught on fire. Brad and Angelina are no longer. I have been waiting for the Santa Claus of politics, the member for Hunter, but he only comes once a year. It is not my day.”

Mr Joyce says the import ban is a question for state ministers and he looks forward to their deliberations. He skirts around the question.

2.50pm:‘An unparliamentary remark’

Kelly O’Dwyer, the Minister for Financial Services and Revenue, has taken issue with comments she says the member for Greenway Michelle Rowland made during one of the PM’s answers.

“The member for Greenway made an unparliamentary remark and referred to shooting people. I ask her to withdraw.”

Speaker Tony Smith didn’t hear the comment and Ms Rowland says she said no such thing. Debate resumes.

2.45pm:Labor ‘contempt’ for the bush

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek wants to know “why so many members” of the Turnbull government are preparing for the Adler shotgun to “enter Australia”. She’s referring to a number of Coalition MPs who are hopeful the temporary ban on the gun will be lifted. The PM comes to the despatch box.

“The honourable member should recognise, and I am sure she does, that there are legitimate views about the way in which different weapons should be classified. To try and demonise Australian gun owners and shooters because they have a particular view about the appropriate classification of a firearm is outrageous. It is the contempt that people on the Labor Party have for people in regional and rural Australia who need guns in order to sustain their livelihoods in terms of exterminating feral pests on their own properties, in terms of recreation,” he says.

“What we are doing here is ensuring that the state and territory police ministers have the opportunity to consider and reclassify lever action shotguns. There is a difference of opinion in the community about the appropriate classification but can I say, I am not aware of anybody that wants to leave the classification as it is.”

2.40pm:‘Mythbusting’ on lever action shotguns

Former senator Ricky Muir made a short video, while still in parliament, that set out to clarify the shotgun debate. Watch it below:

2.35pm:‘The Fixer’ chimes in

Christopher Pyne, the Defence Industry Minister who’s received a bit of attention during Senate estimates today, is telling the House why unions donate to Labor: they pay “cash for outcomes”, he says.

“The Opposition Leader can prove us all wrong by reversing his position and supporting the ABCC and the ROC (Registered Organisations Commission) and that will prove that he isn’t the cat’s paw of the union. If he does not, unfortunately he stands condemned.”

2.25pm:Statistical anomaly?

Independent MP Cathy McGowan wants to know why the Australian Bureau of Statistics has indicated it will not have the resources necessary to “undertake all the activities that fall within its legislative mandate” – noting this could impact rural and regional Australia who need ABS data for planning purposes.

Small Business Minister Michael McCormack says: “I can assure the member that no decisions will be made without full consultation with all stakeholders. This side of the house recognises the importance of data and the role that the ABS plays.”

2.15pm:Gun debate v ABCC

Mr Shorten asks Mr Turnbull about comments former PM Tony Abbott made to Guardian Australia last night – that there was “no way on God’s Earth” he would’ve allowed eight-shot Adler guns to “flood into the country” while he was in charge.

“The honourable member is correct to remind us that it was my distinguished predecessor, the member for Warringah, who entered into the arrangements in 2015 to impose the 12-month ban on the importation of lever action shotguns of more than five rounds,” the PM says. “That was a decision of his government and it was the right decision.”

He moves on to talk about “national security”, again attacking Labor for refusing to support the introduction of mandatory sentences for gun smuggling.

The government, meanwhile, clearly wants to focus on one thing: the re-establishment of the Australian and Building Construction Commission.

2.10pm:First shot

Question time is up and the first question from Bill Shorten is about – no surprises – gun laws. He spotted Malcolm Turnbull’s weakness on this issue yesterday and is still pressuring the PM today. Turnbull is angry.

“Can I say again categorically my government will never weaken Australia’s gun laws. I wish I could say the same, however, for the opposition. As this duplicitous Opposition Leader knows, to stand up dripping with sanctimony about guns, he is the leader that has twice opposed mandatory sentences for people who smuggle guns. The guns that kill. The guns that terrorists use, smuggled guns, illegal guns. We know that and so do the families of their victims. We want to stop that.”

2.05pm: Avocado update

Nick Xenophon has called any attack on avocadoes and toast “plainly un-Australian”, noting the delicacy of avocados and fetta is “very, very appetising”.

“One of the problems with housing affordability in this country is that it is so damn difficult to get into the housing market, particularly if you’re a young person. The casualization of the workforce probably makes it even more difficult,” he says.

“The median house price in Sydney is over $1 million, in South Australia it’s about $400,000 – it’s very tough. Rather than picking on young people having avocadoes on toast maybe we should look at a whole range of measures to make houses more affordable. It also relates to people have good, secure jobs, permanent jobs rather than casual jobs so they can get a home loan in the first place.”

2pm:Question Time underway

You can watch the livestream at the top of the page.

1.50pm:

1.30pm:‘Ignore tax cuts at our peril’

A recap from this morning:

John Fraser, the head of Treasury, warned Australia can ignore the need for a more competitive tax system for business at its peril.

As the Turnbull government struggles to garner parliament’s support for its 10-year tax plan - the cornerstone of this year’s budget - John Fraser has reiterated to a Senate hearing the positives of a reduction in the company tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent.

“If we ignore tax competition, we ignore it at our peril,” Mr Fraser said. Treasury will be reviewing its economic forecasts and assumptions in the next couple of weeks for the mid-year budget review due mid-December. Notably, coking coal prices have more than doubled from the assumption made in the May budget to over $US200 a tonne. - AAP

12.55pm:

If you missed it, Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson raised the avocado row in an estimates hearing this morning.

12.50pm:Pyne v Payne

More from the Senate estimates committee, when Senator Payne was asked if she was more senior than Pyne.

Are you the senior minister in this portfolio?” asked Labor frontbencher Kim Carr.

Senator Payne said Mr Pyne was Leader of the House which gave him a particular role in the leadership group.

So, he is the senior minister, Senator Carr replied.

Senator Payne said she didn’t see it in those terms.

Defence department secretary Dennis Richardson, a long-time and very senior public servant, couldn’t shed much light on the issue.

“It is very simple - minister for defence, minister for defence industry, I know what they’re responsible for,” he said.

Mr Richardson said Senator Payne was a member of the national security committee of cabinet, the government’s peak decision-making body for security, and had overall responsibility for defence policy and the defence budget. The Department of Prme Minister and Cabinet gave him no direction on who was the senior minister.

“It’s simply not been relevant to me. I know who’s responsible for what,” he said. - AAP

Defence Minister Marise Payne. Picture: Kym Smith
Defence Minister Marise Payne. Picture: Kym Smith

12.30pm:A question of seniority

Is Defence Minister Marise Payne or Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne the more senior Minister? We still don’t know.

The question was asked during a Senate estimates committee hearing this morning and Senator Payne noted Mr Pyne had been in cabinet longer, but she regarded them to be of equal rank. “It is not a matter of seniority. We are both members of cabinet,” she said.

12.20pm:

It’s just not across Australia that Bernard Salt’s ‘smashed avocado’ column has ignited debate, it has also caused discussion here at The Australian.

Chris Kohler presents the case for the defence:

Smashed Avo Outrage: The real reason young Aussies aren't buying property

Although Bernard is not backing down ...

12.10pm:Avocado row hits senate estimates

Bernard Salt’s column in the Weekend Australian continues to make headlines — and his $22 smashed avocado was raised in senate estimates this morning.

Salt wrote: “I have seen young people order smashed avocado with crumbled feta on five-grain toasted bread at $22 a pop and more. I can afford to eat this for lunch because I am middle-aged and have raised my family. But how can young people afford to eat like this? Shouldn’t they be economising by eating at home? How often are they eating out? Twenty-two dollars several times a week could go towards a deposit on a house.”

And Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson has raised the matter with Treasury Secretary John Fraser, even brandishing an avocado to illustrate the point.

“Have you managed to upgrade your advice for the price of smashed avocados in this country?” Whish-Wilson asked. “Do you agree with Bernard Salt that young Australians are spending too much money? ‘Millennials’ are spending too much money on $22 smashed avocados at cafes rather than save to invest in a house?”

Fraser replied: “I understand the issue. I’d prefer people to start talking about the exorbitant cost of coffee in Melbourne, its got to be the highest in the world.”

Earlier, talking about housing affordability, Mr Fraser said: “I think housing affordability is a massive issue. it worries me ... and I’m not just talking about young people entering the market as professionals, I’m talking particularly about the low income workers and its an area I do worry about.”

Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson in estimates this morning.
Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson in estimates this morning.

11.35am:

Health insurers have welcomed $86 million in medical device cuts and promised to pass the savings on to members.

Health Minister Sussan Ley said she expected “every dollar of that $86 million” to go towards making insurance cheaper for consumers.

But Ms Ley avoided saying how much the cost of premiums would change, as did industry body Private Healthcare Australia, despite describing the cuts as a win for consumers. Full story HERE.

11.25am:PM wants Labor to back tighter trafficking move

Turnbull is moving to turn the tables on Bill Shorten in the political brawl over gun control, challenging him to drop Labor’s objections to tougher laws on gun trafficking.

The Prime Minister wrote to Mr Shorten on Wednesday morning to seek support for a bill to impose mandatory jail terms on people caught trafficking in firearms, opening a new front on the issue. Full story HERE. Letter below.

10.50am:Shorten blasts ‘weak’ Turnbull

Bill Shorten has been speaking about the ongoing gun rows.

“Malcolm Turnbull is so weak that anyone can tweak his tail and make him change his mind,” the Labor leader said.

“The proposition that they would water-down a ban on lever-action shotguns, more guns in Australia, in return for a vote on industrial relations legislations shows you just how weak Malcolm Turnbull has become.”

10.20am:SA blackout report

More from the Australian Energy Market Operator report into the SA blackouts:

“Wind farms, like other sources of generation, can be designed to ride through these types of voltage events,” Australian Energy Council, Chief Executive, Matthew Warren said.

“There is ongoing investigation about why this occurred, which will inform how we can run a more stable and reliable system in the future.

“South Australia is a living experiment in how we manage high levels of renewables in modern electricity grids. It is hard to anticipate and test for real world situations like this until they occur.

“While the blackout was caused by a cascading set of events from extreme storms on the day, the most important thing is that we learn from this experience and do everything we can to prevent it reoccurring in the future.

“This is not just about South Australia or wind farms — it is about how we make the transition to a new electricity system.”

10.15am:

10am:Blackout report points to wind farm issue

Line from AAP on South Australia’s statewide blackout last month. A new report has found that nine of 13 wind farms online at the time failed to ride out the drop in voltage when major transmission lines were brought down.

Five system faults occurred within just 88 seconds on September 28, leading to six voltage disturbances, says the Australian Energy Market Operator.

9.25am:

9am:PM turns pressure on Shorten

Malcolm Turnbull claims the government never intended to loosen import restrictions on the Adler lever-action shotgun, despite last year introducing a sunset clause on an import ban to secure the vote of David Leyonhjelm on an immigration bill.

Interviewed on Gold Coast radio, the Prime Minister said the import ban was designed to last until state and federal police ministers could agree on new rules to make the shotgun harder to purchase.

Mr Turnbull then turned the pressure on Bill Shorten. He challenged the Opposition Leader to support mandatory five-year minimum sentences for international gun smugglers, apparently unaware that Labor agreed last week to support the law.

“Most of the gun crime in Australia is done, the vast majority in fact, is done with unregistered weapons illegally imported or obtained weapons and we are seeking to stamp that out and Bill Shorten is not helping. He is opposing the imposition of tough mandatory penalties on gun smugglers. He should get serious about gun crime and he should back the government to make it tougher for these gun smugglers,” he told Gold FM.

The mandatory sentencing plan was bitterly opposed by Labor’s former justice spokesman, David Feeney, who said in March: “There is no convincing evidence to prove mandatory minimum sentencing acts as a deterrent, and the government’s own department says mandatory sentences may create an incentive for a defendant to fight charges, even in hopeless cases.”

Mr Feeney was demoted to the backbench following the opposition’s narrow election defeat.

8.35am:

8.30am: Labor steps up Brandis attack

Labor has intensified its attack on Attorney-General George Brandis, seizing on revelations he bypassed usual processes to appoint 76 new adjudicators to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal on the eve of the election.

Mark Dreyfus, the opposition employment spokesman, also criticised Senator Brandis for failing to answer whether his son had received discounted court representation from one of the appointees, Theo Tavoularis, who is also a Liberal donor.

“This is not a question Senator Brandis can ignore — did Mr Tavoularis give the Brandis family an undeclared gift of discounted legal services, for which he was rewarded with a $370,000 a year job?” Mr Dreyfus said.

“Senator Brandis thinks he can get away with anything. He thinks he can pick mates for plum jobs without the need to advertise, he can refuse to declare conflicts of interest, and then he can refuse to explain.”

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal’s members are responsible for determining whether or not government actions are lawful. The appointments were made without a selection committee process or public advertising.

Senator Brandis said the AAT president Duncan Kerr — a cabinet minister in the Keating Labor government — was satisfied with the procedure to fill the backlog of vacancies.

8.20am:Bishop on Mosul operation

Julie Bishop says “like-minded’ countries will seek to ensure the US remains engaged in the fight to recapture Mosul and the region surrounding the Iraqi city in the event of a Trump presidency in the US.

The Foreign Minister told Sky News this morning the major operation to retake the city of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city which fell to IS two years ago, was an “important milestone in the battle against terrorist organisation ISIL”.

“Taking back Mosul under Iraqi government control is an important milestone in the war against ISIL and we understand it will take some time,” she said. “The Australian Defence Force has been involved in training and advising and assisting the Iraqi security forces, in fact we’ve trained about 12,000 of their security forces.”

Asked if she was concerned the offensive would force foreign fighters to head back to their home countries — including dozens returning to Australia — after fighting for terrorist organisations in the region, Ms Bishop said the issue was “always” a concern for the government.

“Whenever an Australian leaves this country to seek to take arms with a terrorist organisation in Syria or Iraq, we are concerned about whether they survive and then seek to come back to Australia,” she said.

“So that’s why we have been giving greater resources and funding and support and legislative powers to our law enforcement agencies to be able to deal with these matters and working in partnership with so many countries in our region and beyond so that we can track and deter these foreign terrorist fighters from carrying out further atrocities.”

8.06am: ‘Open to ABCC bill ideas’

Xenophon said the government appeared “open” to legal safeguards to boost worksite safety and security of payments for subcontractors as part of a deal to pass the Australian Building and Construction Commission bill.

“There’s a real role here for the government to ensure that building materials used on building sites meet the Australian standard which I suspect will also make a big difference in boosting local manufacturing as well,” Senator Xenophon told ABC radio.

“The government is willing to talk to us about this and in my most recent, brief discussion with (Employment) Minister Michaelia Cash the government is open to these ideas.”

Senator Xenophon said he could see why David Leyonhjelm was “miffed” about the government’s broken promise to him over the Adler lever-action shotgun.

“If you’re on the crossbench you learn to make sure that what you agree is pretty much fail-safe because governments do change their mind and that can make you look a bit foolish if you’ve been dudded on a particular piece of legislation.”

Asked if he trusted the Turnbull government, the senator answered: “So far so good, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t both be wary of each other in a very constructive way to make sure that we both get what we want.

“My negotiating style … is to be pretty transparent about what we’re doing. There won’t be any last-minute backroom deal that is sprung on the chamber — that’s not a good way or a classy way to go about things.”

7.50am:Xenophon to kill off big business tax cut

Influential senator Nick Xenophon has ruled out supporting company tax cuts for firms with turnover above $10 million, driving a dagger through the heart of Malcolm Turnbull’s centrepiece enterprise tax plan.

Senator Xenophon, whose eponymous Nick Xenophon Team commands three crucial votes in the Senate, told ABC radio it was “fair” to provide tax cuts for small business but not larger firms.

The Prime Minister campaigned at the election on cutting company tax for all businesses to 25 per cent over a decade.

Labor supports tax cuts for firms with turnover of $2m or less, while the Greens have opposed any tax cut.

Senator Xenophon said the Coalition should focus instead on stemming the “tsunami of job losses” afflicting the manufacturing sector.

The Coalition cannot pass legislation that is rejected by each of Labor, the Greens and the Nick Xenophon Team.

7.35am: On the agenda

There’s a lot in the headlines this morning.

• Amid a political storm over Malcolm Turnbull’s apparent willingness to trade “guns for votes” with libertarian senator David Leyonhjelm, influential senator Nick Xenophon has confirmed his party will block the company tax cuts at the heart of the PM’s election campaign.

• Thousands of companies risk being banned from working on commonwealth projects because they struck union-friendly workplace deals that breach a building code that will take effect if the Australian Building and Construction Commission bill becomes law, it has emerged.

• The Prime Minister’s office is also refusing to release five secret letters he exchanged with Clive Palmer before and after the $300 million collapse of the resources tycoon’s Townsville refinery business.

• On the opposition side, Victorian Labor is set to vote on an overhaul of party rules at next month’s state conference amid concern about a “lack of openness” in preselections including the elevation of Bill Shorten’s ally Kimberly Kitching to a plum Senate position.

• The ABC has endured excoriating criticism of its flagship current affairs program, Four Corners, after Monday’s episode about refugee children on Nauru was found to include outdated photographs of facilities and random footage of brawling adults published on YouTube.

• Australian Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs says she is willing to work with Coalition MPs on a bill allowing her to more easily terminate “frivolous” complaints under the Racial Discrimination Act.

• Health funds will be under pressure to rein in insurance premiums after Health Minister Sussan Ley today reveals cuts of $86 million a year to the price of medical implants such as artificial knees, hips and pacemakers.

• The purge of management at the $22 billion National Disability Insurance Scheme has begun following years of blunders and scandals, with federal minister Christian Porter finalising a list of corporate heavyweights to be brought in to replace the board.

More Coverage

‘Guns for votes’ row explodes
DAVID CROWE

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Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/politicsnow-live-rolling-coverage-of-australian-politics/news-story/42debb02f6a038a49128086e67023e20