Barnaby Joyce accuses Malcolm Turnbull of trying to bring down the government
Barnaby Joyce says the former prime minister is “wrecking and sniping” and part of an “active campaign to try and remove us”.
- Turnbull “trying to bring us down”
- Bishop blasts ‘appalling’ culture
- Quaedvlieg ‘bitter’ over lost job
- Dutton rejects Turnbull swipe
- Bishop questions Dutton’s eligibility
Today in politics, Peter Dutton came under more pressure over his eligibility to sit in parliament, Julie Bishop blasted the Libs over bullying, and Barnaby Joyce accused Malcolm Turnbull of trying to bring down the government. Meanwhile, there’s a Liberal storm over preselection for Mr Turnbull’s old seat of Wentworth.
Deborah Cornwall 4.30pm: Fury at Wentworth intervention
Liberal Party elders say two former PMs should be held personally responsible if the party goes to the Wentworth by-election with a “dud candidate”.
It comes as John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull backed Dave Sharma as Liberal candidate for the seat.
Their 11th hour intervention has triggered fury in the Liberal Party.
Mr Howard advised Mr Sharma to stay in the race and resist pressure to pull out have a female candidate selected.
Mr Turnbull has also reportedly backed Mr Sharma in direct defiance of a directive by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that he wants a woman candidate for the blue ribbon seat.
Recent polling figures have shown party support in Wentworth has plummeted so dramatically following the resignation of Mr Turnbull that the Morrison government is in real danger of losing its one-seat majority in parliament.
Chris Kenny 3.30pm: More women, less tokenistic fixes
The Liberal Party is doing its best to muck up the Wentworth preselection in precisely the same fashion that Coalition governments in NSW and Canberra have lost their way — by dancing to the tune of their critics.
The conservative side of politics is supposed to stand up for its values and eschew political fashion. When it follows Labor down the path of poll-driven politicking and attempts to assuage its progressive critics in the media, it is on the road to ruin. Read more here.
Greg Brown 3.15pm: Albanese booted out
Bill Shorten asks why quotas for Nationals MPS is okay but not for women.
Scott Morrison accuses Labor of playing politics.
“In this week, we have had not one serious question from those opposite about drought,” the Prime Minister says.
“They are not interested in the drought, only in exploiting it, only in intending to exploit and not listen to farmers or others around the country.”
Anthony Albanese interjects with a point of order, arguing Labor was not allowed to ask a question to the special envoy for drought assistance, Barnaby Joyce.
Speaker Tony Smith says the point of order is “frivolous” and kicks Albanese out of parliament.
Greg Brown 3pm: Raise your hands stand
Scott Morrison gets his MPs to raise their hands if they have been a part of the private sector, in contrast to the union-dominated past of Labor MPs.
“I will ask those on this side of the house: Who has run a small business here. There we go. Who has ever worked in the private sector here” There we go,” Morrison says.
“Who has ever been a police officer here? A police officer up the back.
“The Liberal Party and the National Party is the party of ordinary, everyday Australians, going out there every day, having a go and getting a go. That’s what we stand for.”
Greg Brown 2.55.pm: No illegal bullying: ScoMo
Opposition health spokeswoman Catherine King asks Scott Morrison if he heard Julie Bishop allege bullying in the Liberal Party could amount to “illegal” behaviour.
The Prime Minister says he has “no truck with bullying”. He says he does not believe “illegal” bullying took place.
“I have said on a number of the cases in this house that the process we have on our side of politics to ensure the proper care and welfare of our members and exactly the same as that followed courtesy by the opposition through the whip, and that is what we have done,” Morrison says.
Greg Brown 2.50pm: Dutton: Eligibility “beyond doubt”
Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus goes again on Peter Dutton’s eligibility woes. He asks Dutton why he won’t refer himself to the High Court.
Dutton says there is no need to.
“I have complied with the requirements under the statement of ministerial standards, and the cabinet handbook and I have taken advice in relation to my position which put the question beyond doubt,” Dutton says.
Greg Brown 2.40pm: More Dutton saga
Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus asks Scott Morrison if he saw Julie Bishop’s comments on the Peter Dutton saga.
Ms Bishop said it was up to Dutton to refer himself to the High Court if there were questions surrounding his eligibility.
“Isn’t the referral to the High Court the only step to clarify whether the Minister for Home Affairs is qualified to be a member of parliament and to be a minister in his government?”
The Prime Minister says he saw Bishop’s comments.
“I’m aware of those comments, and, no, I don’t agree with the assertion put as to what the next action is,” he says.
Greg Brown 2.25pm: “It was the lawyer’s fault
Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus asks if Scott Morrison will take Malcolm Turnbull’s advice and refer Peter Dutton to the High Court.
The Prime Minister says the house voted down a referral a fortnight ago, before passing the answer off to Attorney-General Christian Porter.
Porter ridicules Bill Shorten for delaying referring ineligible Labor MPs for 126 days.
“But of course it wasn’t his fault, remember that. It was the lawyer’s fault,” Porter says.
Greg Brown 2.20pm: Katter on repeat
A verbose Bob Katter — known for hardly ever getting through a question in the allocated time — gets half way through his question before being asked to start all over again because he was interjected.
The house groans as he was halfway through a lengthy list of why electricity privatisation has failed.
“You thought it was so good you want me to run again. I appreciate that,” Katter says.
Speaker Tony Smith hits back: “If you could read my mind”.
Katter doesn’t quite get through his question in 45 seconds but the gist was that privatisation was bad.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg responds by naming the measures the government has implemented to reduce power prices.
Greg Brown 2.15pm: Labor-ing the point
Bill Shorten asks why Malcolm Turnbull was rolled as leader.
Scott Morrison said it was the result of a spill motion.
“It was carried. My colleagues elected me to be the Leader of the Liberal Party and hence the Prime Minister of the country, and that’s what I’m focused on,” the Prime Minister says.
“I tell you what, they are having a good look at me but they’ve already had a good look at you, and they don’t want you.”
Greg Brown 2.10pm: Labor “playing games”
Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek asks Scott Morrison whose ambition it was to roll Malcolm Turnbull.
The Prime Minister accuses Labor of playing games.
“I tell you what I’m ambitious for, I’m ambitious for the Australian people,” he says.
Greg Brown 2.05pm: “All about opportunism”
Bill Shorten opens up question time quoting Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who said Malcolm Turnbull was rolled as leader because of “ambition”, “Newspolls” and “opportunity”.
Scott Morrison says the Opposition Leader knows all about those terms.
“He knows all about that, that’s what he has been doing as the leader of the Labor Party for the last five years,” the Prime Minister says.
“What do we know about the Leader of the Labor Party? It’s all about opportunism, all about politics, all about coming in here and the games that are played which the Australian people are absolutely sick and tired of.”
Dennis Shanahan 1.45pm: Howard backs Sharma
John Howard is backing Dave Sharma as the Liberal Party’s candidate and has advised him to stay in the race and resist pressure from factions.
Greg Brown 1.30pm: “Why is Malcolm doing this?”
Barnaby Joyce has slammed Malcolm Turnbull, accusing the former prime minister of taking part in an “active campaign” against the Morrison government.
The former deputy prime minister said he was “very disappointed” Mr Turnbull publicly urged Scott Morrison to refer Peter Dutton to the High Court.
“First of all I am disappointed that the person who was prime minister of Australia … would first of all say ‘well I’m out so I’m going to resign so you might lose the seat of Wentworth and therefore you could go towards losing the government’, the government which he relied on for a one-seat majority,” Mr Joyce told Sky News.
“And then the next iteration of that is really an active campaign to see if we can lose another seat, which is the seat of Dickson.
“It seems like he has an active campaign to try and remove us as the government. Boy, that is bitterly disappointing”, AAP quotes Mr Joyce as saying.
Mr Joyce said it would be fair to characterise Mr Turnbull’s intervention as “wrecking and sniping”.
“Why is Malcolm doing this? What is the purpose of it?” he told Sky News.
“I didn’t know why the Liberal Party changed leaders, I didn’t get that, but to be quite frank I’m starting to get an inkling now.”
Mr Joyce said Mr Turnbull risked diminishing his legacy.
“The best thing Malcolm has got is a legacy, he’s got a good legacy, and he shouldn’t impugn it with actions subsequent to what I know is the great hurt of losing your position,” Mr Joyce said.
“These things are starting to look like malice and not like anything to do with the reflections of the former prime minister of Australia.”
Greg Br own 1.15pm: O’Dywer quiet on Libs bullying
Jobs and Women’s Minister Kelly O’Dwyer would not be drawn on claims of “illegal” bullying in the Liberal Party as she talked up the nation’s jobs growth.
Ms O’Dwyer said unacceptable behaviour should be “called out” but played down claims of illegal behaviour by Julie Bishop.
“That’s clearly a question you ought to raise with the person who’s posed it,” Ms O’Dwyer said this morning.
“As Minister for Women, as Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations, I believe very strongly that men and women have got an equal place in our workplaces right across this country and that there are certain behaviours at work that are acceptable and certain behaviours that are not acceptable. Those behaviours ought to be called out.”
Ms O’Dwyer said the nation’s economy was in good shape following an extra 44,000 jobs added in August, with unemployment remaining at 5.3 per cent.
We should begin to see that feed through to strong wages’ growth over time, and the government is not resting on its laurels, we know that there is more to be done,” Ms O’Dwyer said.
Dennis Shanahan 12.55pm: Wentworth candidate digs in
Dave Sharma is resisting pressure from Liberal Party factional leaders to pull out of the Wentworth preselection tonight and enable Scott Morrison to have a female candidate selected.
The Australian understandsin recent days Mr Sharma — a former Australian Ambassador to Israel — has been pressured by Liberal factional leaders to stand aside and allow a woman to run in Malcolm Turnbull’s former electorate.
Turnbull ally Andrew Bragg has already pulled out of the race but Mr Sharma has decided — after consulting other party elders — that he will stand for the sake of his own integrity and not give in to factional pressure.
Greg Brown 12.50pm: RUOK?
Deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie promotes RUOK? Day for people in the regions.
Today is #RUOKDay - life can get pretty stressful, especially in our dry regions. Take a moment to pause, reflect and reach out. Listen to your friends, family and colleagues and take note if someone seems down @ruokday #reachout pic.twitter.com/ktlLunXei1
— Senator Bridget McKenzie (@senbmckenzie) September 13, 2018
Greg Brown 12:40pm: ‘Why is Morrison so afraid of Dutton?’
Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus has put increased pressure on Scott Morrison to refer Peter Dutton to the High Court.
Mr Dreyfus said senior party figures were considering trying to suspend standing orders in the House of Representatives to refer Mr Dutton.
The government has a slim majority in the house but Mr Dutton could be in strife if disgruntled government MPs cross the floor and vote with Labor.
“We’re going to consider our options but our preference is for Mr Morrison to show some integrity and some leadership and refer Mr Dutton to the High Court to clear this matter up. Seriously, why is Scott Morrison so afraid of Peter Dutton? I think, probably people do know the answer to that,” Mr Dreyfus told ABC radio.
Mr Dreyfus defended Malcolm Turnbull for calling for last night Mr Dutton’s referral, despite voting against a referral in his last week of parliament.
“At that point, he didn’t have the Solicitor-General’s advice that was obtained the following day. The Solicitor-General made it absolutely clear that there is doubt about this position that can only be cleared up by the High Court,” Mr Dreyfus said.
“The Solicitor-General said that he has been given very little facts with which to provide his opinion and let’s also bear in mind that the failure to refer, the refusal to refer was only carried by one vote, Peter Dutton’s vote.”
Dennis Shanahan 12.35pm: Revolt within the walls of Rome
Malcolm Turnbull has proven he’s Tiberius on Twitter; his latest tweet demonstrates his intention to take revenge on his colleagues. Read more here
Greg Brown 12.35pm: Morrison accused of protecting Dutton
Manager of Opposition Business Tony Burke says Scott Morrison is providing “protection” for Peter Dutton over his eligibility concerns.
Mr Burke said Barnaby Joyce referred himself to the High Court despite legal advice arguing he was not in contravention of section 44 of the constitution.
“With Barnaby Joyce, they had advice from the Solicitor General that was probably stronger than what they’ve got on Peter Dutton and they said we’ll refer to the High Court anyway and check,” Mr Burke told Sky News.
“What is happening now is Scott Morrison is providing protection for Peter Dutton that was never provided for the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.
“I don’t know whether Peter Dutton is going to be found to be eligible or not but the concept that the High Court won’t even be allowed to check is just a different standard for him than any other member of parliament.”
Rosie Lewis 12.30pm: Bishop blasts ‘appalling’ culture
Julie Bishop says it is difficult to name colleagues accused of behaviour that “could be in some instances illegal”, while declaring there was a culture of undermining in federal politics and “appalling behaviour” — particularly towards women. Read the full article here.
Greg Brown 12.20pm: Turnbull hit with more criticism
Nationals MP Keith Pitt has criticised Malcolm Turnbull for publicly urging Scott Morrison to refer Peter Dutton to the High Court over eligibility concerns.
“I will be very frank, I was disappointed that Malcolm has taken that position. I think that he is someone of integrity, he demonstrated that while he was here, I think he should continue to do that while he is not here,” Mr Pitt told Sky News.
“I think when you leave this place as prime minister you can be John Howard, you can be the statesman, or you can be Kevin Rudd and I think we can all reflect on former prime ministers and the work they have done. This is the greatest office in the nation, it should be treated as such.”
Greg Brown 11.30am: Quaedvlieg ‘bitter’ over lost job
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton says the actions of former Australian Border Force boss Roman Quaedvlieg showcased a “sad story”.
Mr Dutton said Mr Quaedvlieg was a “discredited witness” who could not be believed in his claims Mr Dutton used ministerial intervention to get his friends jobs.
“He has given evidence that can’t be relied on, he is a discredited witness, it is a sad story really because he had a long and successful policing career but was under investigation, it is on the public record that he is still under criminal investigation,” Mr Dutton told 2GB radio.
“He is obviously bitter at the fact he lost his job and those matters have all been well documented, even the latest version of his evidence now has been discredited as well, I think people need to look at the motivations.
“I have conducted myself with integrity at all times.”
Mr Quaedvlieg responded on Twitter to Mr Dutton’s 2GB comments.
“Goes from a searing media statement questioning my mental health and integrity, to attacking me appallingly under parliamentary privilege, to an apparently begrudging acknowledgment of my career and a confected sympathy. Ridiculously flailing in my view,” he tweeted.
“Let’s sprinkle in the word ‘discredited’ at every opportunity and hopefully it’ll become synonymous with my name. Transparently pre-emptive it appears from my perspective.”
Goes from a searing media statement questioning my mental health & integrity, to attacking me appallingly under parliamentary privilege, to an apparently begrudging acknowledgement of my career & a confected sympathy. Ridiculously flailing in my view. https://t.co/JpaOC6NZ5Z
— Roman Quaedvlieg (@quaedvliegs) September 13, 2018
Greg Brown 11:00am: Dutton returns Turnbull swipe
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has hit back at Malcolm Turnbull for urging the government to refer the Home Affairs Minister to the High Court due to eligibility concerns.
Mr Dutton said he was eligible to sit in parliament and urged the former prime minister to “enjoy his retirement”.
“I think John Howard has got the gold standard here, I think he conducts himself with dignity and I hope that all former prime ministers can do that,” Mr Dutton told 2GB radio.
“I hope that Mr Turnbull is able to enjoy his retirement and contribute to the Liberal party in a way that John Howard has, that would be the ideal circumstance.”
Mr Dutton said Labor raised the issue of his eligibility in Senate estimates last year and nothing came of it.
“Mr Turnbull never raised once with me any issue around section 44, his staff never raised it with my office, he never asked me for the legal advice that I had that showed I had no problem at all. And the first it was ever mentioned by Malcolm Turnbull was during the leadership week,” he said.
“The other point to make of course is that Mr Turnbull, when the Labor Party sought to refer the matter to the High Court, voted for it not to be referred so people can draw their own conclusions and judgments.”
Rosie Lewis 10.55am: Bishop encourages Dutton eligibility inquiry
Julie Bishop has left open the possibility of voting to refer Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton after Malcolm Turnbull revealed he had encouraged colleagues to send his election to the High Court. The former Foreign Minister and deputy Liberal leader said all MPs had a personal responsibility to ensure they were eligible to sit in parliament.
.@JulieBishopMP: We have personal responsibilities to ensure we are eligible to sit in parliament and we've seen, in recent times, steps taken by members to clarify their status. Other could refer it, but that's a matter for them.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) September 13, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/ykweMevBOK #SkyLiveNow pic.twitter.com/rNPSQfbCmy
10.20am: Katter sets conditions for PM support
Extending the banking royal commission and giving indigenous people better land rights are the keys to Prime Minister Scott Morrison winning independent MP Bob Katter’s support, AAP reports.
Numbers are deadlocked in the lower house while the by-election for Malcolm Turnbull’s old seat of Wentworth is held, putting Mr Morrison under pressure to keep crossbench MPs onside.
Mr Katter has met with Mr Morrison and promised not to vote for no confidence motions.
But the veteran Queensland MP wants to see an extension of the banking inquiry and title deeds for First Australians.
“I want to see whether he’s going to be fair dinkum about these policies, and if not I will withdraw my support, as I did for Turnbull,” Mr Katter told Sky News on Thursday.
Greg Brown 9.50am: Three reasons Turnbull was rolled
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack says Malcolm Turnbull was rolled because of “ambition”, “Newspolls” and “opportunity”.
The Nationals leader gave the clearest answer yet from government ranks as to why Scott Morrison took the top job.
“There will be books written about it but the fact is, I guess, ambition, Newspolls, the economy was going well, the economy is going well,” Mr McCormack told Sky News.
“But when you combine those sorts of things: ambition and Newspolls and the like, and opportunity, you know people take those opportunities and we’ve got a new Prime Minister.
“But he has hit the ground running, he is doing very well and I’m glad he has placed drought as his first priority.”
.@M_McCormackMP: The fact is @PeterDutton_MP is doing an outstanding job.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) September 12, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/pIh8EeVvXy #amagenda pic.twitter.com/pJ4tsIFsdy
Will Glasgow 9.30am: Greens Senator heckles PM
Another Midwinter Ball, another scandal, this year starring Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was near the end of his speech last night, which because of the black-tie event’s rules, we are not allowed to report.
Those conventions, however, do not cover heckling.
“Bring back Malcolm!” shouted a woman from the middle right-hand-side of Canberra’s Great Hall.
There was shocked silence. Then much groaning. Then a smattering of awkward laughter.
Who could be so rude as to heckle a prime minister?
And a prime minister of less than three weeks, struggling through one of the job’s trickier speeches?
“Bring back Malcolm!” shouted the woman again.
Suspicions turned to a bruised Liberal staffer, who had drunk too much. Likely still dealing with the trauma of recent weeks.
Those suspicions were completely wrong. The heckler was a member of the federal upper house, Hanson-Young, a guest of departing SBS boss Michael Ebeid, who was said to be mortified by the incident.
The Greens senator didn’t hang around long after her inglorious contribution to Canberra’s big social night.
Meanwhile, as her colleagues were at the Ball, departing Liberal Julia Banks gave a speech in the House of Representatives on the “culture of appalling behaviour” she had encountered in her brief political life.
She is not making it up.
Andrew Clennell 9.00am: PM pick favourite for Wentworth
The favourite to win Liberal preselection for the seat of Wentworth is a former long-time political staffer in her early 50s who has recently been deputy mayor of Woollahra council.
Katherine O’Regan, whom Liberal Party sources say is favourite to win preselection for the seat tonight, is seen as the most likely to win after Scott Morrison stipulated that he wanted a woman to contest the seat.
Read the article in full here.
Greg Brown 8.45am: Wentworth ‘a close fight’
Scott Morrison says he has no expectations the Liberal Party candidate will win the Wentworth by-election.
The Prime Minister said the by-election was “important” because of the government’s slim majority in the House of Representatives.
The Wentworth candidate will be chosen by local party members this evening.
“I’m not taking anything as a given here,” Mr Morrison said.
“The circumstances of this by-election are very difficult, there’s no doubt about that, and the circumstances that led up to them. So I think this is going to be a very close fight.”
Mr Morrison said Malcolm Turnbull tried to play down expectations of a victory in the Super Saturday by-elections.
“I similarly have no expectations about results there,” Mr Morrison said.
“What I’ll be doing is on the ground working closely with the local community, with the Liberal Party, our candidate who is selected by our party there to demonstrate to the people of Wentworth why it’s important that we continue to support a government that is keeping our economy strong, that is delivering the tax relief to all households, not seeking to punish some as the Labor Party wants to do, to try to reward others, a sort of give and take approach.”
.@ScottMorrisonMP says he looks forward to finding out who is pre-selected as the Liberal candidate for Wentworth.
— Sky News Australia (@SkyNewsAust) September 12, 2018
MORE: https://t.co/9yaXiwRilT #FirstEdition pic.twitter.com/VxGXCG2SIn
Greg Brown 8.15am: Morrison rejects Turnbull intervention
Scott Morrison has rejected Malcolm Turnbull’s call to refer Peter Dutton to the High Court, declaring voters have had enough of the “lawyers’ picnic” of eligibility issues.
The Prime Minister said he was not distracted by Mr Turnbull’s intervention and respected the advice of the former prime minister.
“Someone once told me in this job, all contributions should be gratefully received, they are,” Mr Morrison said.
“I obviously have a lot of respect for the former prime minister but as the Prime Minister now, then I’ll make the decisions that I believe are in the best interests of the nation.”
Mr Dutton has been accused of being in breach of section 44 of the constitution for having an indirect stake in childcare centres that receive government subsidies.
Mr Morrison said the issue had been voted on in the House of Representatives last month.
“I think people have had enough of the lawyers’ picnics on these sort of issues and they want to focus completely and totally on what the nation needs here and now and that’s to keep our economy strong and guarantee the essential services that Australians rely on,” he said.
Read the article in full here.
What’s making news:
Scott Morrison expressed his “regret” yesterday at holding off from calling a royal commission into the banks as he lashed the “shocking” and “despicable” treatment of the father of a Down syndrome man who was mocked by Freedom Insurance employees as a “bloody whinger” when he attempted to cancel the useless and expensive insurance policy forced on his son.
Scott Morrison has assured key crossbenchers he will not dump renewable energy targets as he hedges against the possibility of the Coalition losing the Wentworth by-election and finding itself in minority government.
The Department of Home Affairs has declared Peter Dutton intervened in just two au pair visa cases despite sacked Australian Border Force commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg claiming his former Queensland police colleague was involved in a third matter.
Pauline Hanson has condemned feminists as “pathetic” for not pushing for the banning of the burka ahead of a motion calling for full face coverings to be removed where “identification is necessary and security is an issue”.
Pauline Hanson’s chief of staff, James Ashby, claims to have achieved more for the Australian people as an unelected adviser than former One Nation senator Brian Burston, dismissing him yesterday as “jealous” of his accomplishments and a “waste of space”.
The nation’s $176 billion welfare system is financially sustainable and on track but new Social Services Minister Paul Fletcher will not say the same about the $22bn National Disability Insurance Scheme, which has been beset by rollout problems.
Union leaders have slammed the ALP caucus decision to defy the trade union movement and back the government in ratifying the trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement.
Liberal Party elder Judith Troeth has suggested female MPs in the Coalition have backed away from bullying allegations because of threats to their careers.
The favourite to win Liberal preselection for the seat of Wentworth is a former long-time political staffer in her early 50s who has recently been deputy mayor of Woollahra council.
Margin Call’s take on last night’s Midwinter Ball: Barnaby Joyce and Vikki Campion absent.
Additional reporting: Will Glasgow, AAP
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