Hanson tells PM: accept defeat on tax cuts

Pauline Hanson has told the PM to accept defeat on his company tax cuts as he came under pressure to ditch the package.

Senator Pauline Hanson in Hobart yesterday. Picture: Sam Rosewarne

Pauline Hanson has told Malcolm Turnbull to accept defeat on his company tax cuts as the Prime Minister came under pressure from Labor to ditch the package and reveal the contents of a now defunct “secret deal” with One Nation to secure its support.

The Australian can reveal further elements of the confidential agreement, which Senator Hanson has now torn up, including government commitments on a new gas pipeline and a “security of payments” clause in government contracts for small businesses to be paid within 30 days.

The One Nation leader yesterday revealed that, while she ­respected the negotiating efforts of Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, she was concerned with ­elements inside the Nationals who she claimed were trying to steal credit for the outcomes she was securing.

“He (Malcolm Turnbull) has got to consider that this is a defeat to him,” Senator Hanson told The Australian yesterday. “I feel good with my decision because I feel it’s in tune with what Australians want. I’m not going to change my way of thinking again.”

Questioned by Labor Senate leader Penny Wong in an estimates hearing over the One ­Nation deal, Senator Cormann acknowledged that “aspects” of it were codified in a written agreement. He conceded the tax cuts were in doubt following One ­Nation’s withdrawal of support, revealed in The Australian yesterday, over its disappointment at the budget and the government’s refusal to support a new coal-fired power station or pull back on the migration intake.

GRAPHIC: One Nation’s ‘secret deal’

“If there is an opportunity to find common ground across a whole range of related policy areas which facilitates securing the passage of important economic reform, then of course the government will engage (with the crossbench),” Senator Cormann said. “Looking at the front page of The Australian today it looks we might not ever get to that point.”

Labor used question time to pummel the government over the details of all commitments it finalised with One Nation in March and launched an unsuccessful attempt to suspend standing orders.

Mr Turnbull hit back, blaming Labor hostility in the Senate for forcing the government into ­negotiations with the crossbench while defending the necessity of maintaining confidential discussions over his legislative agenda.

“We have to seek the support of the crossbench and we do so with respect,” the Prime Minister told parliament. “We do so constructively. All those negotiations are conducted as indeed they are from time to time with the opposition in confidence. If and when agreement is reached and legislation is passed, all is revealed.”

Mr Turnbull warned that Labor was engaged in a “relentless attack on business” that would lead to job losses. He added that the “ability of Australians to realise their dreams would be dimmed”.

Senator Hanson confirmed yesterday that, in her previous discussions over the corporate tax-cut package, the government had agreed to seek expressions of interest in the construction of a pipeline from the west to the east coast.

“That all tied into everything that I was trying to do,” she said.

Senator Hanson said the proposed “use it or lose it” policy she was negotiating for gas reserves off the West Australian coast would drive greater competition and result in the state having an “oversupply” of gas. “That’s why that gas would then be transported by pipeline from the west coast to the east coast and that was all my way of thinking,” she said.

The Australian can reveal there was an agreement on a “security of payments” clause to be inserted into government contracts to ensure businesses that won work from the commonwealth could be paid in a timely fashion. It is understood that companies tendering for government contracts would need to sign up to a code ensuring that subcontractors and suppliers were to be paid within 30 days.

One Nation’s NSW senator Brian Burston also pushed for a $55 million assistance package for communities affected by PFAS-contamination, including residents living around Williamtown air force base near Newcastle.

While it is unclear if this was included in the written agreement, the government committed $34.1m over five years from 2017-18 for the establishment of a PFAS Remediation Research Program and additional resourcing for the Environment Department in the budget this month.

It is understood that One Nation requested that the energy supplement, which provides those on the pension with up to an additional $14.10 per fortnight, was also to be maintained in return for the minor party’s support for the company tax cuts. Other aspects of the agreement would force floating LNG plants off the West Australian coast to supply 15 per cent of their gas to the state under its domestic reservation policy or pay the equivalent as a form of royalty.