Australia Politics Live: Barnaby Joyce defends Julie Bishop over NZ Labour claims
Tony Abbott links same-sex marriage debate to decision by a Melbourne council to move Australia Day celebration date.
PoliticsNow: The Barnaby Joyce citizenship fiasco dominated Parliament on Wednesday; the government’s media reforms hang in the balance; and a Melbourne council’s vote to axe Australia Day celebrations on January 26 are attacked by the Prime Minister.
Here’s how today played out.
Remy Varga 5.41pm: Abbott launches into ‘mad leftie council’
Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott has linked the same-sex marriage debate to the decision by a Melbourne Council to move the date of its Australia Day celebrations.
Applauding the Turnbull government for “responding very firmly to this outrageous and completely over-the-top attack on Australia Day by this mad leftie council”, Abbott told Ben Fordham on 2GB the decision by the Yarra Council was the latest example of a “larger war on our way of life.”
“Whether it be political correctness rampant in our schools, the gender fluidity stuff which is part of the Safe Schools program which has been institutionalised in Victoria, so many people are anxious about these assaults on things we have always taken for granted.” he said.
“And this is one of the reasons why I think the same-sex marriage vote is suddenly in all sort of trouble, because people are worried about the real agenda of the people that are pushing these things.”
The Yarra council voted unanimously to scrap all Australia Day celebrations and citizenship ceremonies on January 26 and will instead host a “culturally-sensitive event acknowledging the loss of culture, language and identity felt by the community on January 26.” The decision came after the council consulted with community and indigenous groups.
The Turnbull government stripped the Melbourne council of its power to hold citizenship ceremonies this afternoon, after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull earlier condemned the move as “utterly out of step with Australian values.” The PM accused the council of “seeking to turn a day which unites Australia into one which divides us.”
Listen to the full interview below.
Greg Brown 4.40pm: ‘No-one will mourn Sharrouf’
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton won’t confirm if Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf has been killed but said his death would be nothing to mourn. Mr Dutton said the Islamic State fighter and his wife were “horrible people” and “atrocious parents” with reports two of their sons had also been killed by the US Joint Special Operations Command. “The point to make though is that no Australian would mourn the loss of Khaled Sharrouf. He was a terrorist, he sought to harm Australians and if he returned to our country he would be a significant threat to this country.’’ Mr Dutton said nobody wanted to hear that Australian children were killed in a warzone. “(But) the fact is Sharrouf and his wife took their children into a warzone and if they had been killed then what other outcome would they expect?” he said.
“They were obviously horrible people, atrocious parents and to take their children into that warzone ..who would expect any other outcome from parents as evil as their father.’’ Read more here.
SAMANTHA HUTCHINSON 4.20pm: Govt strips council of citizenship role
A Melbourne council which has chosen to scrap Australia Day celebrations has been stripped of its power to hold citizenship ceremonies. The Turnbull government this afternoon removed City of Yarra councillors’ ability to conduct citizenship ceremonies, following the council’s controversial decision to cancel Australia Day celebrations and citizenship ceremonies on January 26. City of Yarra councillors on Tuesday night voted unanimously to scrap all council-run celebrations acknowledging January 26 as Australia Day, after a consultation process in which community and indigenous groups called the date a day of mourning.
From 2018 onwards, the council near the centre of Melbourne will instead mark Australia Day with a “culturally-sensitive event acknowledging the loss of culture, language and identity felt by the community on January 26.”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull condemned the council’s decision as an attack on the national holiday which celebrates Australia values, while Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Alex Hawke slammed the council for its attempt to use citizenship ceremonies as a political device in a broader push to change the date of Australia Day.
This afternoon, Mr Hawke announced he had signed off on a new instrument under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 which meant City of Yarra councillors no longer had the ability to receive a pledge of commitment at a citizenship ceremony. Read more here.
David Crowe 3.45pm: QT: What we learned
There is no weapon in parliament that cuts as deep as a laugh. Labor’s chief tactician, Tony Burke, proved that again on Wednesday when he made the most of the comedy in the government’s histrionic claims about foreign interference in Australian politics. Labor was right to play it for laughs. Read David’s Question Time verdict here.
3.10pm: Crossbench back Labor
The entire House of Representatives crossbench, including Bob Katter, Cathy McGowan, Adam Bandt, Andrew Wilkie and Rebekha Sharkie has voted with Labor, but Pyne’s motion still gets up, 72 votes to 64.
3.02pm: Suspension of standing orders — again
In what is now becoming a daily event, Manager of Opposition Business Tony Burke moves for a suspension of standing orders so that the house can note that:
a) On Monday this house unanimously asked the High Court to determine whether the Deputy Prime Minister is constitutionally qualified to be a member of parliament.
b) On Tuesday, he admitted he was a citizen of a foreign power until the weekend.
c) former minister Matt Canavan has resigned from cabinet and will not vote in the Senate until the High Court resolves doubts about his constitutional qualifications to be a member of the parliament
d) yesterday, the Turnbull government refused to accept the Internal Affairs Minister of New Zealand was telling the truth.
And e), this morning on Sky News, the Foreign Minitster refused whether she could work with the New Zealand government.
Burke called on the government to rule out accepting Mr Joyce’s vote while his constitutional qualifications are in doubt and for him to immediately resign from cabinet.
Leader of the House Christopher Pyne responds as he did yesterday in moving that Mr Burke be no longer heard.
The House divides to vote on Pyne’s motion.
3.00pm: ‘Tax reform creates jobs’
Social Services Minister Christian Porter takes a Dixer on company tax cuts and takes the opportunity to read some quotes from a speech Labor backbencher Wayne Swan gave as treasurer to the Australian Council of Social Services, which he says has been removed from Mr Swan’s website. “This mysteriously missing speech took some digging, but we found it,” Mr Porter said. “No wonder it was so well hidden because this is what it said: ‘Reducing the corporate tax rate is an investment in the Australian people, including people who may be on welfare’.”
Mr Porter also quoted Bill shorten rejecting an increase to the rate of Newstart, saying the government needs to encourage employment, not welfare dependency. “But it got better, the Leader of the Opposition then went on to give specific advice: ‘Lowering the tax rate for smaller business only creates an artificial incentives for businesses to downsize’,” Mr Porter said.
“Friends, corporate tax reform creates jobs right up and down income ladder.”
2.59pm: Bishop gets stuck in
Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek notes the irony that Julie Bishop has talked about working constructively with Russia and Iran but casts doubt about working with a New Zealand Labour government. Bishop gets stuck in.
“This is a question from a member of parliament who called Ariel Sharon a war criminal and called Israel a rogue state. She has no credibility whatsoever because she thinks Africa is a country, not once, not twice, but three times she called Africa a country,” Bishop says. “I know how sensitive the Member for Sydney is, to be reminded of her faux pas in foreign affairs when she was shadow minister, it was so embarrassing she had to be moved on.”
2.57pm: Shorten’s union past
Christopher Pyne takes up the attack on Bill Shorten’s union past with a Dixer on the importance of union leaders acting in the best interests of unions. He says Shorten has been referred to the Registered Organisations Commission for his failure to provide evidence over the $100,000 donation that he gave to GetUp! in 2005 in “start-up capital”.
Mr Pyne says that if Bill Shorten had nothing to hide, he would have produced meeting minutes showing Australian Workers’ Union had passed motions authorising the donation which was made when he was union leader.
“The Leader of the Opposition has yet again adopted the tack that he always adopts, which is to simply stone wall anything unpleasant about whether it is the union movement when he was the national secretary or the Australian Workers’ Union, the donations that he received from companies like UniBuild and Australian Super, when he was the candidate for Maribrynong, Mr Speaker, there is quite a charge sheet when it comes to the Leader of the Opposition not providing evidence to back up the assertions that he makes,” he said.
“Yet again, we see him being tricky and sneaky with the issue of undermining the relationship between Australia and New Zealand.”
2.55pm: Out of order
Tony Burke asks about conspiracy theories. “Which is Labor’s fault: that the Leader of the House moved a motion to refer the Deputy Prime Minister to the High Court; that the deputy admitted yesterday he was a citizen of a foreign power; or that the Deputy Prime Minister’s father was born in New Zealand in 1924?” Speaker Tony Smith rules it out of order.
2.52pm: ‘Welcome to Parliament’
Speaker Tony Smith announces there’s a delegation in the public gallery from Uruguay.
“Lucky they’re not from New Zealand,” Labor yells.
2.50pm: Burke keeps up attack on Bishop
Manager of Opposition Business Tony Burke keeps up the attack on Julie Bishop.
“Would the Minister for Foreign Affairs please tell the house some more about the evil, treacherous conspiracy she has exposed?” Burke asks.
Ms Bishop says the hubris of the Australian Labor Party is “extraordinary” and accuses them of believing they are above the law.
“Craig Thomson was allowed to sit in this parliament when he was in clear breach of the law,” she says.
“The Leader of the Opposition condones the lawlessness of his unions. The Labor Party have breached the most fundamental international principle and they laugh about it?”
“The Labor Party had set up the New Zealand Labour Party to undertake a series of actions that the Labour Party in New Zealand have now admitted were wrong, inappropriate, unacceptable and should not have happened.
“It was all at the behest of the Australian Labor Party, who stop at nothing, will trash any principle, trash any promise, trash any element of decency in order to gain a political advantage.”
Ms Bishop said the issue was sufficiently serious that NZ PM Bill English had pointed it out.
“For Labor to find it amusing that Senator Wong would direct her Chief of Staff to contact a sitting member of another parliament, to use another parliament, as a platform to launch an attack on the Australian Deputy Prime Minister is an utter disgrace,” she said.
“And the New Zealand Foreign Minister was asked whether he thought I was correct in raising this issue. And the New Zealand Foreign Minister said, it’s a perfectly reasonable reaction given a New Zealand MP, under the influence of the Australian Labor party is asking questions, clearly designed to remove a government member in Australia.”
2.45pm: ‘Greens failed reef’
Greens MP Adam Bandt congratulates the “leadership” of the City of Yarra for scrapping Australia Day celebrations and citizenship ceremonies. He then asks about the Great Barrier Reef and the government’s support of the Adani coalmine in Queensland. “During a recent debate about coal, climate change and the Great Barrier Reef in this chamber, one of your back benchers, and I quote from Hansard, ‘there is nothing wrong with the reef, I live on the reef’ will you condemn it or is it your official position?” Bandt says. Health Minister Greg Hunt takes the question as Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg is on leave. Hunt says the Greens and Labor failed to protect the reef when they had the power. “They sat there when they were in a partnership with a Labor government which saw the reef placed on the world heritage in-danger watch list. They sat there and did nothing,” Hunt says.
2.40pm: Journo query
Labor legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus asks Julie Bishop why she doesn’t believe a New Zealand government minister who says it was a question from a journalist who sparked an investigation into Barnaby Joyce’s citizenship. Bishop says the New Zealand government did not have to investigate inquiries from journalists. “It was the questions put on notice and raised in the New Zealand parliament that sparked the New Zealand government to act. Because the questions from the Fairfax media, in fact, do not give rise to an obligation on the part of the New Zealand government to answer it,” Bishop says.
2.35pm: Bishop on NZ
Julie Bishop is asked by a government backbencher about the importance of not interfering with the domestic affairs of foreign nation’s, leading to yells of laughter from Labor. Labor backbencher Rob Mitchell gets kicked out of the House. Bishop accuses the ALP of orchestrating a question being asked in New Zealand parliament to undermine the Australian government. “The questions from the New Zealand Labour member at instigation of Labor that sparked the entire incident,” she says. “As the New Zealand media are reporting, the New Zealand government is under no obligation to answer questions from the Australian media, but as soon as the questions were put on notice in the New Zealand parliament, the New Zealand government had an obligation, a legal obligation to answer.”
2.30pm: Shorten on Aus Day
Shorten responds on Australia Day, saying there is no doubt that it’s a most important national day. “It does commemorate the first British penal colony established in Australia, and it also, I believe, is a source of great celebration for Australians right up to the current day.
“But it does also acknowledge, as the Prime Minister said, that for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the 26th can speak of dispossession and sorrow.
“It also needs to recognise, I believe, that before the British settlement there were 65,000 years of continuous occupation by the world’s oldest continuing culture, in our country.”
Mr Shorten said he did no support changing the date of Australia Day. “It is a day of citizenship ceremonies, of looking to the future, of celebrating all our cultures and faiths and traditions,” he said. “Reconciliation is more about changing hearts and minds than it is about moving public holidays, but, of course, if we look at national days important in the history of this country, there is March 1, 1901, when the Australian parliament, the Australian nation came into being, when our old friend, the Constitution came into being.”
Labor roared, at Barnaby Joyce’s expense. “And there is of course, another potential national public holiday, which has not yet been gazetted. And that will be when we finally have an Australian head of state.”
2.25pm: PM’s Australia Day statement
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull then seeks to make a statement on indulgence regarding Australia Day, after last night’s controversial decision by Melbourne council the City of Yarra to scrap Australia Day celebrations and citizenship ceremonies. “Mr Speaker, we celebrate on Australia Day the most successful multicultural society in the world,” Mr Turnbull says.
Labor gets very rowdy.
Mr Turnbull says that while Australians recognise that the history of European settlement in Australia has been complex and tragic for indigenous Australians, on Australia Day, we recognise the greatness of our achievement as Australians.
“We recognise the remarkable nation we have become,” he says. “We recognise and honour our first Australians and our newest migrant citizens.
“We bring all that together in a day that is uniquely and proudly Australian and that is why, Mr Speaker, my government and every government before me, in this house, has urged Australians to celebrate Australia Day, to get behind it, to be proud of it and to be committed to it.
“And that is why the decision of the Yarra Council is utterly out of step with Australian values.
“They are seeking to turn a day which unites Australia into one which divides us.”
2.20pm: MP gets the boot
Labor backbencher Brian Mitchell gets the boot before a question is asked for a sledge on Barnaby Joyce. Bill Shorten asks Malcolm Turnbull if he can guarantee the government meets the requirements of the Constitution. Turnbull: “Yes.” That answer brought plenty of jeers from the Labor Party.
2.12pm: Condolences
Question Time has kicked off with condolence motions from Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten for former Liberal senator Brian Gibson.
Mr Turnbull said Mr Gibson had been “public service royalty” who had bold ideas for improving the way government did business.
“By the time the Coalition won office in 1996, he had already proposed major reforms to the gudget process, including the charter of honesty,” he said.
“Even though his time in the Howard ministry was cut short, he contributed enormously, in particular, the GST, reform of capital gains and company taxes.
“His contribution through committees was legendary with him being described as one of the best chairs of a parliamentary committee he had ever seen, and he was a hard marker.
“In his valedictory in 2002, Senator Robert Hill said, ‘Somebody once said to me, Brian Gibson is far too good for politics and I sometimes think there was an ounce of truth in that’.
“Though must much of his work was behind the scenes, it will sustain us for years to come.
Mr Shorten said Mr Gibson had come to the Senate in 1993 from business success
“He spoke first of the need for microeconomic reform, for more jobs and investment in Tasmania and for more rigorous fiscal discipline and he left nine years later, hammering exactly the same message,” he said.
Greg Brown 1.50pm: Bishop’s ‘understandable reaction’
New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English has defended Julie Bishop for saying she may not trust a Kiwi Labour government, saying the response was “understandable” given the slim majority of the Turnbull government.
Mr English said Ms Bishop’s attack on the New Zealand Labour Party was not a measure of the relationship between the two nations.
But he avoided repeated questions on whether Ms Bishop’s comments were appropriate given New Zealand was in the middle of an election campaign.
“I think it was an understandable reaction given the seriousness of a one vote majority government looking at the possibility of their member of parliament being ejected from parliament,” Mr English said.
“But we wound’t want to let those comments get in the way of a positive relationship, I don’t think they were a measure of the relationship between Australia and New Zealand.”
Mr English said the relationship between the two nations would be back to normal once “emotions cooled”.
“The Australian government has a majority of one, they reacted I think to the appearance of the New Zealand Labour Party somehow being involved with the potential removal of one of their politicians,” he said.
“I can see why they reacted the way they did but I don’t think it should be a measure of the relationship and I would imagine, as emotions have cooled, we will be able get the relationship on an even keel again.”
Greg Brown 1.18pm: Ministers defend Bishop’s NZ attack
Coalition ministers lined up this morning to back Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s claim that there is a conspiracy between the ALP and the New Zealand Labour Party to try and undermine the Australian government.
Ms Bishop backed her controversial claim this morning while Attorney-General George Brandis accused senator Penny Wong of orchestrating a campaign with New Zealand Labour to oust Mr Joyce.
But the claims did not end there.
Defence Industry Minister Chris Pyne said the ALP had used New Zealand Labor to try and undermine the nation.
“What Labor has tried to do is use New Zealand Labour, which is in opposition not in government, to undermine Australia,” Mr Pyne told Adelaide radio station 5AA.
“Now take New Zealand out and insert China, or South Africa, or Indonesia, I mean can you imagine what the reaction would be in and the public and the media, if it was the Labor Party conspiring with a political party in any other country besides New Zealand to undermine Australia.
“New Zealand is a foreign government, and the New Zealand Labour Party has been attempted to be used by Australian Labor to undermine the Australian government. It is scandalous, and the New Zealand Labour Party leader recognises it.”
Minister for Transport Darren Chester said the government had not overdone its claims of collusion.
“Bill Shorten has formed the dark arts of politics, just ask Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd, and he hasn’t changed,” Mr Chester told Sky News.
“He is the leader of the party which is now reaching out across international boundaries to get foreign nations involved to some extent in Australian domestic politics. It is a very damaging course of action taken taken by the Australian Labor Party.”
Minister for Veterans Affairs Dan Tehan said the Labor Party should have learnt about using foreigners in domestic foreigners through Sam Dastyari’s dealings with Chinese donors.
“I just don’t think the Labor Party are learning their lesson as to why they want to get outsiders, foreigners, in domestic politics here,” he told Sky News.
“We’ve seen this with Sam Dastyari you would have thought that was a lesson enough to say ‘let’s do it ourselves and do it through our own institutions here and do it through the Australian parliament’.”
But Mr Tehan denied New Zealand minister Peter Dunne was lying when he said New Zealand Labour had nothing to do with the revelation Mr Joyce was a Kiwi.
“He is not a liar and he wants to do his best to make sure, rightly, that relations between Australia and New Zealand continue to operate and continue to build what is an incredibly close friendship,” Mr Tehan said.
“I can understand why he said that, but Penny Wong needs to explain, and I think apologise like the New Zealand Opposition Leader did, saying that we should not have involved them in all of this.”
Rachel Baxendale 12.50pm: Bishop gave ‘context to query
Barnaby Joyce has admitted it is stressful to have the question of dual Australian and New Zealand citizenship hanging over his eligibility to be Deputy Prime Minister, but says he sees no reason to resign and is just getting on with his work.
Mr Joyce also defended Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, saying she was simply giving “context” to a conversation her Labor counterpart Penny Wong’s chief of staff had with New Zealand Labour MP Chris Hipkins regarding citizenship.
“Obviously you just manage this issue as you go through,” he said.
“Obviously I’m shell shocked, I’m going to leave it up to the High Court, I’m going to leave it up to people who are a lot wiser than me to deliberate over this case.
“All I can go on is what the Solicitor-General has said to me. He’s said, ‘look, you’ve got a firm case’, and therefore we continue on with our work.”
Mr Joyce said he had come to parliament to do a job and help people like the young farmers he addressed at an event in parliament a short time ago.
“I never came here to profess to be a saint or a sinner or anything else,” he said.
“I came here to help basically people like them, people who live in those weatherboard homes in regional towns, that’s my job. So I want to focus on that. I don’t want to focus on all this other stuff.”
Mr Joyce denied he would give the government clear air if he stepped down.
“If the Solicitor-General gave us different advice that’s obviously something to consider, but he didn’t,” he said.
“He said you’ve got a firm case. If someone says you’ve got a firm case to be in the clear, you continue on with your work.”
Mr Joyce also denied Ms Bishop had overstepped the mark in saying she would find it “difficult” to work with a future NZ Labour government.
“I think that Julie Bishop’s bringing it into context,” Mr Joyce said.
“Obviously it’s a concern if you’re sort of working in the background and trying to do something clandestine that could affect our nation’s government, and if there’s a suspicion of that, you’ve got to be called out on it, and that’s exactly what Julie did.”
Greg Brown 11.50am: Wong ‘trying to lie way out’
Attorney-General George Brandis has accused Penny Wong of lying about her office’s alleged involvement in the revelation Barnaby Joyce was a dual citizen.
Senator Brandis’ attempt to move a censure motion against Senator Wong failed in the Senate this morning but he has not backed down on her claim she was dishonest about the conversation between her chief-of-staff Marcus Ganley and New Zealand Labour MP Chris Hipkins.
Senator Wong said this morning the conversation between her staffer and Mr Hipkins was not about Mr Joyce. She said that Mr Ganley never asked Mr Hipkins to raise a citizenship matter in parliament.
Senator Brandis said her claim was unreliable.
“Penny Wong is trying to lie her way out of this and it is a very serious matter,” Senator Brandis told Sky News.
“You have Penny Wong, lying about the involvement of her chief of staff in an attempt to use a foreign political party, the New Zealand Labour Party, and the processes of the New Zealand political system to try and bring down the Australian government.
“This is deeply embarrassing for the Australian Labor Party, it is something that both the Prime Minister of New Zealand Bill English and the Leader of the Opposition in New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, have condemned.”
Senator Brandis noted that Senator Wong never raised the involvement of her staffer until it was unveiled in the media.
“Penny Wong spoke in the debate that followed Question Time in the Senate yesterday, she didn’t say a word about the involvement of her chief of staff in that business,” Senator Brandis said.
“She was exposed in a report overnight and came into the Senate looking very sheepish and had to acknowledge the role of her office of being at the heart of the orchestration.”
Primrose Riordan 11.30am: MPS get payrise
The Remuneration Tribunal has effectively handed politicians another pay rise by increasing their travelling allowance.
The tribunal said the change will apply to those in judicial offices and parliamentarians.
The allowance will rise from $276 per night to $285 per night for politicians when they stay in Canberra to attend parliament.
Parliamentarians can claim over $400 per night when staying in other capitals such as Sydney.
A Senator or Member from Canberra or those representing an electorate adjacent to the Australian Capital Territory and who live within a 30 kilometre radius of Parliament House can now claim a daily expense allowance of $90 for each sitting day.
This is up from $87 a day last time the tribunal made a ruling in 2016.
the changes will come into place on August 27.
Greg Brown 11.10am: ‘Did government cover up citizenship?’
Conservative senator Cory Bernardi has questioned whether the government knew about Barnaby Joyce’s dual citizenship and tried to cover it up.
Senator Bernardi said the government had “overcooked” claims of a conspiracy between the ALP and the New Zealand Labour Party, adding the Liberal Party had questions of its own to answer.
“If the journalist knew about it, the Labor Party knew about it, how did the government not know about it?” Senator Bernardi told Sky News.
“That is the real question: were they trying to cover something up? I don’t think anything wrong has happened here I just think the government has overcooked it.”
Senator Bernardi said Malcolm Turnbull and “a couple of his cronies” called contacts in the British Conservative Party in an attempt to prevent the South Australian from making a speech in Britain.
“Getting factual knowledge is what politics and politicians are all about, they will exploit that for their own base base political purposes,” Senator Bernardi said.
“I know myself that the Prime Minister and others in the government contacted someone in the Tory Party when I was flying over (to Britain) to speak in a conference because they didn’t want me to speak.
“No one here is without sin and they would all exploit the opportunity.”
Samantha Hutchinson 10.55am: ‘Don’t diminish Australia Day’
Malcolm Turnbull has condemned Yarra City council’s decision to scrap Australia Day celebrations and citizenship ceremonies as an attack on the national holiday.
“On Australia Day we celebrate what’s great about our wonderful nation,” he said.
“This is an attack on Australia Day and a repudiation of the values the day celebrates: freedom, a fair go, mateship and diversity.”
Greg Brown 10.40am: Bishop’s ‘hysterical overreach’
Opposition education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek has accused Foreign Minister Julie Bishop of trying to influence the New Zealand election.
Ms Plibersek labelled Ms Bishop’s attack on New Zealand Labour yesterday as her “Godwin Grech moment” and said it was a “hysterical overreach”.
New Zealanders go to the polls on September 23rd.
“She should first of all apologise to every New Zealand citizen for trying to influence the outcome of the New Zealand election. You can imagine how Australians would feel if a larger country started trying to interfere in our domestic elections,” Ms Plibersek said this morning.
“Australians wouldn’t like that very much at all and I’m sure that there are many New Zealanders aggrieved today to have the Australian Foreign Minister trying to dictate the outcome of their domestic elections.
“The idea that our Foreign Minister would be trying to dictate the outcome of the New Zealand election is extraordinary. Her language was intemperate, it was a wrong sentiment to express.
“And particularly given that the New Zealand Prime Minister himself, and the Interior Minister, have both made clear that Barnaby Joyce (was) a New Zealand citizen and that the reason that they started to ask these questions is because of media inquiries from Australian journalists.”
Greg Brown 10.30am: ‘ABC outsourced to Hanson’
Opposition communications spokeswoman Michelle Rowland has attacked the government’s media deal with One Nation, saying it had “outsourced the ABC to Pauline Hanson and One Nation”.
Ms Rowland said that the government’s proposed reforms would make the Australian media market more concentrated.
“We know for a fact from Pauline Hanson’s own words that the next stop is to gut the ABC, to cut its funding. And we know for a fact that this government has form when it comes to cutting the ABC’s budget, including when a leader specifically promises not to do so prior to an election,” Mr Rowland said this morning.
“Australians value their public broadcasters, they value the ABC, and they are sick and tired of seeing such a weak leader, such an increasingly unhinged Prime Minister, outsource our public broadcasters to One Nation.”
Greg Brown 10.15am: Wong censure motion fails
The government’s attempt to move a censure motion against Penny Wong has failed.
One Nation supported it but the Greens, and independents Jacqui Lambie and Cory Bernardi opposed it.
The Senate is back to debating legislation.
Speaking to the ABC earlier about the citizenship query, Ms Wong revealed her chief of staff Marcus Ganley had spoken to the New Zealand Labour MP Chris Hipkins before the question was asked in New Zealand’s parliament.
“I understand it was in the week of the 31st of July,” she told the ABC.
Mr Hipkins asked the question on Wednesday August 9, according to New Zealand media.
But Senator Wong insisted the questions were asked by Mr Hipkins as a result of questions from journalists, not inquiries from Mr Ganley, as the government insists.
“The questions were lodged after contact had been made by the Australian journalist. The questions I understand were lodged on the Wednesday and the questions...were asked of the New Zealand government on the Monday,” Senator Wong said.
Greg Brown 9.55am: ‘Grubby baseless smear’
Senator Penny Wong says Attorney-General George Brandis is accusing a New Zealand government minister of lying as she argues against a censure motion moved by the government.
Senator Wong said her chief-of-staff had no impact in the New Zealand government confirming Barnaby Joyce was a New Zealand citizen.
She noted New Zealand Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne said the government investigated Mr Joyce’s citizenship because of questions from a journalist.
“This motion by Senator Brandis is a grubby baseless smear in an attempt to distract attention from this government’s problems,” Senator Wong said.
“This is an extraordinary motion because it is actually saying a minister in the New Zealand government is lying, that is what your motion is saying, and he is not a Labour Minister and I know you are happy to trash the relationship.”
Senator Wong she was unaware a New Zealand MP asked a citizenship question in the parliament.
Senator Mitch Fifield said he had never seen seen Senator Wong make such an unconvincing speech.
“Colleagues could not help but sense the uncertainty and the extremely careful choice of words in everything that Senator Wong contributed in her five minute debate,” Senator Fifield said.
Rosie Lewis 9.40am: Brandis moves censure against Wong
Attorney-General George Brandis is moving a censure motion in the Senate against Labor frontbencher Penny Wong, urging the crossbench to support him. The government labelled her conduct over the Barnaby Joyce matter “inappropriate” after it was revealed her chief of staff raised questions about citizenship with New Zealand Labour.
“To conceal from this chamber her own direct involvement in a matter of this gravity is disgraceful, utterly disgraceful,” Senator Brandis declares. “If Senator Wong, knowing what she knew, decided to participate in the debate as she did yesterday afternoon, one would’ve thought that simple honesty would have caused her to at least disclose that fact to the Senate, but she did not. She remained mute about it.”
Greg Brown 9.30am: ABC ‘needs more oversight’
One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts says the ABC needs more oversight to ensure it is balanced in its reporting, rejecting arguments its Charter has worked.
Senator Roberts said legislation was needed to require ABC was fair and balanced, arguing its reporting on climate change rarely aired voices that were skeptical about a need to reduce carbon emissions.
One Nation announced last night it would support the abolition of the two-out-of-three and reach rules in return for the government agreeing to legislate a requirement for the ABC and SBS to be balanced and to publish the wages of highly paid ABC staff.
Senator Roberts said the party would continue to talk with fellow crossbench senator Nick Xenophon, who said he did not support the deal between One Nation and the government in its current form.
“We think it is very important that we get these reforms through because a lot of journalists are facing job losses,” Senator Roberts said this morning.
“I have’t found Nick that reliable but I’m sure that with Mitch Fifield and Nick Xenophon together, especially with Pauline (Hanson), we should be able to do something.”
He would not comment on his citizenship status, noting it was before the High Court, and he also would not comment on Barnaby Joyce’s predicament.
But he accused the Labor Party of not admitting it had dual citizens sitting in the parliament.
Greg Brown 9.25am: Bishop ‘unhinged’ over NZ attacks
Labor defence spokesman Richard Marles has slammed Foreign Minister Julie Bishop as “desperate” and “unhinged” for saying she might not be able to trust a New Zealand Labour government.
Mr Marles said Ms Bishop crossed a “red line” in diplomacy and treated Australia’s strongest ally with disrespect.
“This is unhinged, desperate action in the face of what has unfolded in relation to Barnaby Joyce,” Mr Marles told Sky News.
“Anybody who has done a modicum of diplomacy and foreign policy knows that she has crossed an absolute red line yesterday when she said that our relationship with New Zealand was not above party politics but in fact was in her mind something that was partisan, it is utterly unacceptable.”
Mr Marles rejected Ms Bishop’s claim that Penny Wong’s chief-of-staff Marcus Ganley requested New Zealand MP Chris Hipkins to ask a citizenship question in New Zealand parliament.
Mr Ganley and Mr Hipkins were both staffers to former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark.
“All that’s happened is people across the ditch have had a gossip in the aftermath of what occurred with Scott Ludlam and frankly it was the only thing that anyone was talking about,” Mr Marles said.
“But there was no procurement of questions; there is no link, that has what’s been clearly stated by Penny Wong today.”
Greg Brown 9.05am: Wong ‘up to her neck in it’
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says it would be “extraordinary” if Labor senator Penny Wong had no knowledge her chief-of-staff raised citizenship issues with a New Zealand MP, accusing Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman of “orchestrating” it.
Ms Bishop also dug in over her attack on the NZ Labour Party, saying she has no regrets about saying yesterday she may not be able to trust the party if it won government.
She accused Senator Wong of orchestrating a question in New Zealand parliament which implicated Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.
“Labor feigned outrage that I would question the use of the New Zealand parliament to launch an attack on the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and seek to undermine the confidence on the Australian government,” Ms Bishop told Sky News.
She said the question asked in New Zealand parliament by Labour MP Chris Hipkins resulted in Mr Joyce’s citizenship drama.
This has been denied by a New Zealand government minister who said the information on Mr Joyce’s New Zealand citizenship was released in answer to questions from an Australian journalist.
But Ms Bishop said this morning the question in parliament undermined the Australian government and accused Senator Wong of being “up to her neck in it”.
“She orchestrated what New Zealand Labour themselves call wrong and unacceptable conduct, conduct that should never have happened,” Ms Bishop said.
“This wrong and unacceptable conduct that should never have happened was instigated by Penny Wong, using a New Zealand member of parliament to ask questions in the New Zealand parliament clearly designed to undermine the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia and undermine confidence in the Australian government.
“I find that extraordinary, her closest adviser, her chief of staff, who it seems was a chief of staff in New Zealand, is contacting a sitting Labour member of parliament in New Zealand and the shadow foreign minister doesn’t know about it? That just beggars belief.”
Greg Brown 8.45am: NZ query ‘unwise’
Labor senator Penny Wong has admitted it was “unwise” of her chief-of-staff to have a conversation with a New Zealand Labour MP about citizenship.
Senator Wong said this morning she had spoken to her staffer Marcus Ganley, a dual New Zealand and Australian citizen, about the conversation but would not say if he had been disciplined.
Senator Wong admitted last night Mr Ganley held a conversation with New Zealand MP Chris Hipkins, who later asked a question in New Zealand parliament which implicated Barnaby Joyce’s eligibility to sit in parliament.
But she denied the conversation between Mr Ganley and Mr Hipkins had led to the New Zealand government admitting Mr Joyce was a Kiwi citizen.
“He has had contact with mates in New Zealand, but again, I want to make it very clear, at no stage in that conversation did he request those questions be lodged,” she said.
“The New Zealand minister has made it very clear that this story broke as a result of contact from an Australian journalist.
“There were questions asked in the New Zealand parliament about this issue, I was not aware that these questions were asked until after this story had broken in Australia on Monday, my chief-of-staff was not aware that those questions had been asked until after that story broke on Monday.”
She attacked Foreign Minister Julie Bishop for saying she would find it hard to trust New Zealand Labour if it won government.
“What Ms Bishop did yesterday was an extraordinary, reckless and irresponsible act from frankly a Foreign Minister who has generally been competent and credible,” she said.
Rachel Baxendale 8.40am: ‘We’re in war of attrition’
House of Representatives crossbencher Andrew Wilkie has called for all MPs with a citizenship cloud over their names to come forward with documents to clear up the uncertainty.
Mr Wilkie said the government had not reached out to him for support directly amid the uncertainty following Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce’s revelation of his New Zealand citizenship, but that he would continue to provide certainty.
“I think the government knows me pretty well by now,” he told ABC radio.
“They know that I’ve made a very clear statement after the election a year ago, I made a very clear statement.
“They know, I think they would know I’m a man of my word, that I remain firm in my position, that I won’t do any deals with any party for them to form government.
“I will approach every vote on its merits, including issues of supply and confidence.”
Mr Wilkie said any MP with any doubt about their citizenship should come forward with documentation.
“I think anyone who’s under a cloud should do what they realistically can to clear their name,” he said.
“It’s not good enough, for example, that (Labor MP) Justine Keay, to say she’s got a letter but she’s not going to show it to us.
“What does that achieve? There are some members like Justine who are understandably under a cloud.
“It’s not good enough to just before the election to send an email off to another country and say I renounced my citizenship. The Constitution requires you taking every step to renounce it.”
However, Mr Wilkie said he would not support the government referring Labor MPs to the High Court.
“Oh no. Any attempt by the government to just send additional Labor names, I mean that would be a nonsense,” he said.
“Any genuine effort to clean this mess up should involve the names of anyone who’s under a cloud from any party or anyone on the crossbench.
“It seems we have a war of attrition. No one knows where a war of attrition could end.
“It could end with the government not having a majority. It could also end with the Opposition losing some seats.
“If they do start sending additional names to the High Court, it’s anyone’s guess where it would end up, who’d be the government at the end of the process.”
Rachel Baxendale 8.25am: Yarra ‘attack on Australia Day’
Malcolm Turnbull has condemned a Melbourne council’s decision to become the first in the nation to stop holding citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.
Yarra City councillors voted on last night voted to stop referring to January 26 as Australia Day and to cease holding any citizenship ceremonies on that day from 2018, saying the move was out of respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Prime Minister said in a statement this morning he was “deeply disappointed”.
“On Australia Day we celebrate what’s great about our wonderful nation,” he said.
“This is an attack on Australia Day and a repudiation of the values the day celebrates: freedom, a fair go, mateship and diversity.”
Rachel Baxendale 8.15am: ADF to join Korea war games
Defence Minister Marise Payne says Australia will participate in joint military exercises with the US and South Korea next week.
The news comes after North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un overnight delayed the planned launch of missiles, saying he would wait and see what the United States does next.
Senator Payne echoed calls from US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defence James Mattis for strategic accountability on North Korea
“(The secretaries) have indicated that they will continue to maintain the pressure in relation to sanctions and other actions on North Korea in an endeavour to persuade them to cease their previously reckless behaviour,” she told ABC radio.
“The response of the regime is one which contributes to a calmer analysis of the situation, and one which I hope progresses into an environment where sanctions are having effect and where there can be a more effective analysis of what can be done.”
Senator Payne said nuclear conflict with North Korea “doesn’t bear contemplation”.
“Everything we are doing is directed at avoiding conflict, and not just everything we in Australia are doing, but our partners in the United States, as both the secretaries have pointed out,” she said.
“It is about ensuring that we persuade the regime to observe the UN Security Council resolutions which are directed at maintaining global peace.
“They have become a destabilising and a disruptive influence in the region and our efforts to persuade them of alternative courses are very important in that regard.”
Senator Payne denied that next week’s military exercises could be seen as provocative.
“These are as I understand it annual exercises as have been occurring for some time. Australia has played a small role itself since 2010, and I think we have just over two dozen ADF members participating on this occasion. In their aspect it is essentially a desktop engagement,” she said.
“I think that given their regularity and given their history, they should not be seen in any way as a provocative exercise.”
Rachel Baxendale 8.05am: ‘Let High Court takes its course’
Defence Minister Marise Payne refused to “engage in a running commentary on the citizenship matters” when asked whether it had been wise for Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to blame New Zealand for Barnaby Joyce’s citizenship situation yesterday.
“What I would say though is that we have indicated that a number of questions go to the status of members of all sides of politics,” Senator Payne told ABC radio.
“We think they should be examined. These matters are before the High Court and we’ll let the High Court processes take their course.”
Senator Payne said she would “let High Court matters take their course” when pressed again on whether she was comfortable with Ms Bishop’s comments.
“I think the most important thing to do now,” she said.
“It is a difficult environment absolutely. I’ve seen two colleagues in the Senate from the Australian Greens leave the Senate.
“I’ve seen other colleagues in the Senate self-refer or be referred to the High Court. It’s obviously a complex web of history and descent and inherited citizenship. I would like to see the High Court play this out.”
Greg Brown 7.35am: Media deal ‘wrong for ABC’
Crossbench senator Nick Xenophon has said he does not support the government’s media deal with One Nation in its current form, warning it would disadvantage the ABC.
Senator Xenophon, whom the government needs to back its proposed media changes to pass the legislation through the parliament, said the ramifications of the deal struck last night between the government and One Nation had not “been thought through”.
Under the deal announced last night, One Nation would support the abolition of the two-out-of-three and reach rules in return for the government agreeing to legislate a requirement for the ABC and SBS to be balanced and to publish the wages of highly paid ABC staff.
But Senator Xenophon would not rule out supporting the bill if the government agreed to some of his own proposals, including tax breaks to small publishers.
“This piece of legislation is not about the ABC or SBS, it is about the existential crisis that the commercial media has found itself, largely as a result of Google and Facebook, the fact that they hoover away $4bn worth of advertising revenue in this country away from commercial media outlets,” Senator Xenophon told ABC radio.
“To me this is about how do you deal with antiquated two-out-of-three rule? How do you deal with the fact that the commercial media is struggling?”
He said he did not see how the changes agreed between One Nation and the government would help commercial broadcasters.
“I support the current (ABC) Charter which reflects to accurate and impartial broadcasting, I cannot see the need for the so-called fair and balanced test,” Senator Xenophon said.
“What that would mean to the ABC in terms of the way it can fearlessly report issues? I don’t think the ramifications have been thought through.
“This talk of the ABC being subject to further restrictions and the ABC staff to have their salaries published, that would be quite unprecedented and put the ABC at a real disadvantage with commercial broadcasters.”
Politics Preview:
In today’s other big political news, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation has struck a deal with the Turnbull government on its long-debated media reforms in exchange for strict new oversight measures for the ABC.
Donald Trump’s plan to build and operate Sydney’s first casino was killed off in 1987 by the NSW government on the back of a high-level police report that warned against the now-US President’s bid because of his “mafia connections’’.
Malcolm Turnbull has moved to shore up control of federal parliament with support from crossbenchers as he tries to fend off an aggressive Labor attack on his leadership and accuses Bill Shorten of engaging in a “conspiracy” to topple the government.
On one side of the ditch, Barnaby Joyce’s New Zealand ancestors spawned one of the great military families in the Otago region; in Australia on his mother’s side, his links go back to settlement in the NSW Riverina.
An independent caught up in a 1990s dual citizenship fight has blasted MPs for having ‘scant regard’ for the lessons.
Hollywood star Amber Heard has weighed into the Barnaby Joyce dual-citizenship saga.
As James Jeffrey sums it up in his Sketch, So it came to pass that the Deputy Prime Minister was in citizenship strife, the government’s tiny majority wobbled, and we kind of declared war on New Zealand. And it was only Tuesday.
Julie Bishop overplayed her hand in trying to prosecute a case of collusion against the NZ Labour Party, writes Dennis Shanahan.
Graham Richardson writes that there’s no room for an honourable Barnaby Joyce resignation with the Coalition’s majority so gossamer-thin.
Legal experts have differing opinions on the outcome of Barnaby Joyce’s High Court appeal, but it doesn’t look good, according to Legal Affairs Editor Chris Merritt.
Almost 17,000 Australians have enrolled to vote ahead of Malcolm Turnbull’s same-sex marriage postal ballot.
On today’s agenda
Sussan Ley will embark on a taxpayer-funded trip to Russia just six months after being forced out of cabinet.
Melbourne’s Yarra City council makes history by becoming the first in the nation to stop holding citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.
Private hospital cover in Australia has fallen to its lowest level in five years amid rising costs.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash tells CFMEU to get on with striking code-compliant agreements after union loses appeal.
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has promised a $50 cut to the average power bill when a $650m solar thermal power plant is running.
A fugitive Malaysian police commando sentenced to death for the murder of a woman with links to the country’s highest political office has appealed to Australian authorities not to reject his application for a protection visa, saying he faces the “very real prospect” of execution if deported.
A number of universities may be unable to absorb the government’s 2.5 per cent efficiency dividend without damaging the quality of teaching and research.
Business is backing higher education reforms, saying they will help determine whether universities are delivering.
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.