Labor's national executive takes over Victorian branch – as it happened

The foreign minister, Marise Payne, is answering questions now at the ANU’s national security college.

She was asked about Scott Morrison’s Lowy speech last year – which had led many observers to focus on his remarks about “negative globalism” – and whether the government was now rediscovering multilateralism.

Payne said the audit commissioned by Morrison had enabled the government to perform a contemporary evaluation of the current international environment and Australia’s role in it. She said Morrison’s speech had emphasised the need to prosecute Australia’s national interest.

“So in fact this is a logical and lateral progression.”

Asked about America’s retreat from multilateralism, Payne said the US would make its own decisions about engagement with global bodies. She said “it would be hypocritical in the extreme for Australia” to say otherwise.

On tensions in the relationship with China, Payne argued the Australian government had addressed recent issues in a “very calm and consistent and considered way”.

“There will be differences and those differences need to be addressed constructively between us.”

Investigators were seen at the home of now former Victorian Labor minister Adem Somyurek this afternoon. Victoria Police indicated it was investigators from the Independent Broad-based Anti-Corruption Commission (IBAC).

According to reports he didn’t answer the door.

IBAC didn’t deny it was their officers involved but a spokeswoman said IBAC could not comment for legal and operational reasons.

Here’s my colleague Daniel Hurst’s full run down of foreign minister Marise Payne’s speech.

Australia’s foreign minister has accused China of spreading disinformation that “contributes to a climate of fear and division” while declaring Canberra would take a more active role in global bodies.

Payne used a major foreign policy address in Canberra tonight to reveal the government’s long-awaited response to the audit ordered by Scott Morrison last year when the prime minister warned against “negative globalism”.

Far from heralding a retreat from United Nations bodies that are pilloried by some conservatives in the Coalition, the review reaffirmed the vital importance of international cooperation.

In a warning against isolationism, Payne said Australia’s interests would not be served by retreating from global bodies and “leaving others to shape the global order for us”.

While calling for reform to ensure UN bodies are “fit for purpose” and “free from undue influence”, Payne signalled that Australia would actively pursue “effective multilateralism”.

Payne labels the warnings from China that students in Australia may face racist attacks as “disinformation”.

I can say emphatically that Australia will welcome students and visitors from all over the world, regardless of race or gender or nationality. Our law enforcement agencies can, will, do, respond to individual crimes, and we will continue to move beyond this pandemic true to our status as the world’s most successful multicultural society.

The prime minister and the government have repeatedly called out racist behaviour. He has gone to considerable lengths to remind our nation that Chinese-Australians returning from China in thousands in the early period of Covid-19 provided this country with one of the greatest defences against the spread of the virus, and he has thanked them for that commitment.

Payne says institutions such as the WHO must “serve as unimpeachable repositories of information, and they must serve against disinformation.”

“Let’s be clear - disinformation during a pandemic will cost lives.”

Payne points to an EU report blaming foreign actors including Russia and China for spreading misinformation during the pandemic, and mentions Twitter banning tens of thousands of accounts linked to misinformation campaigns from China, Russia and Turkey.

Payne says Australia has been an active and pragmatic voice in the WHO, and the “early co-sponsorship and shared role in negotiating the text of EU resolution is consistent with that approach”.

The foreign minister says Australia wants to see a stronger, more transparent, and more independent WHO after the Covid-19 crisis.

“We cannot let the vital and practical work that the WHO does on the ground be overshadowed by questions about the approach of its headquarters in Geneva.”

Payne on the international community banding together during the Covid-19 crisis:

We have ... seen admirable instances of the international community coming together to share information and resources to assist in the repatriation of tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of citizens, and to work together to save lives and to rebuild economies.

I can actually speak from direct experience about the value of cooperation and communication at this time of crisis. I am meeting in virtual mode almost every day with other foreign ministers and leaders from across the globe, sharing ideas, approaches and strategies.

Last week, we held our ninth call of the Canada-led Ministerial Coordination Group on Covid-19 with Indonesia, Morocco, Peru, Singapore and South Korea. I have had discussions with Five Eyes counterparts, South-East Asian counterparts, Pacific counterparts.

I’ve been involved in multiple meetings of female foreign ministers and ministers for women. In all of these conversations, colleagues are genuinely interested in sharing the experiences of the challenge that has been thrown at us all.

Foreign minister Marise Payne is giving a speech at ANU’s national security college. I will update as we go, but we will get a full report soon.

A craft beer brand, Colonial, has been removed from sale from a boutique chain of liquor stores in Melbourne after an email campaign about the name, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Blackheart & Sparrows acknowledged the name ‘Colonial’ is a “problematic word”, with colonialism and colonisation causing “irreversible harm to the First Nations people in Australia and Indigenous populations around the world.”

The Margaret River brewery has had the name since 2008, and said it wasn’t chosen to celebrate colonisation, but because it was the one of the first craft breweries in Margaret River.

The latest on the ongoing live exports case in WA.

Communications minister Paul Fletcher was on 2GB earlier, and he said any claims that coronavirus is linked to 5G is “complete nonsense” and research into mobile communications and health effects have been going on for 40 years.

Obviously the message has yet to get through – there were about five petitions tabled in the House of Representatives yesterday related to 5G, including one that had more than 21,000 signatures, claiming, among other things, that the rollout of the network had been accelerated while coronavirus restrictions in Australia were at their peak.

This is wrong, as network rollouts are planned months to years in advance.

Well once again, it has been A DAY.

2020 just keeps on rolling with the greatest hits.

I’m going to step away from the blogger’s chair until tomorrow morning, leaving you in the very capable hands of Josh Taylor for the next few hours.

I’ll be back tomorrow morning. You can catch me here or here in the meantime.

Thanks for joining me – and please, take care of you.

The Senate has just begun debating the following matter of public importance:

“The Morrison government’s incompetence in failing to appoint any civil society or union representatives to the Modern Slavery Expert Advisory Group, thereby establishing an unbalanced group that overwhelmingly represents business interests, and undermining Australia’s progress to eradicate modern slavery in supply chains.”

Here’s my story on the topic that was published this afternoon:

Ummmmmm – how is this the first time this has been put into the Hansard?

How Mike Bowers saw question time:

Ed Husic finishes with this point, acknowledging that his views are his assumptions:

I’m absolutely making assumptions. I agree with you there. I absolutely draw on some extraordinary events that have occurred over the last 12 months that I never would have thought – if it wasn’t that bad an issue, why did you have most people within those organisations get up in arms about them?

Because they knew a line had been crossed as well.

And I think the focus should go on the government and it should be free of any suggestion that we have to wait any further on a response from the government on the digital platforms review.

Frankly, I don’t care. I will cop a lot of criticisms for it. I frankly don’t care. It is a democracy. I’m entitled to raise my views. And I’m entitled to put forward that debate and they can prove me wrong.

Ed Husic is then asked to explain his criticism of the media, as mentioned in his comment:

You had last year, Patricia, the extraordinary instance of Channel Nine hosting a political fundraiser on its own turf*.

Largely because the proprietors, who understandably – this is a big issue for them in terms of digital platforms.

To have a fundraiser on the grounds of the media outlet – wrong.

Look at the coverage over the weekend. All you have to do is look at the Sydney Morning Herald – bag at China or superannuation and you are guaranteed major coverage. Not by frontbenchers, backbenchers.

This is raising a question about whether or not, from my point of view – I’m happy to have the argument, happy to be bagged out for it – in terms of dragging this out.

The government should not have this dragged out further. They should deal with the digital platforms inquiry, give assurance to the media players in this country that they can tackle Google and Facebook, and move on.

You know, as I said before, the other piece of evidence I would cite is the fact they have hardly laid a glove on this government over one of the worst budget bungles in Australian budget history.

*The journalists at the SMH roundly criticised the fundraiser when they learned of it, and the paper published several critical articles on it, including this one, from former editor, Darren Goodsir

Ed Husic is speaking to Patricia Karvelas now – he gets the panel time to himself, because Matt Canavan is stuck in Senate divisions.

He outs himself as the Labor MP who told the caucus that the government’s digital platform review is taking too long.

Asked to explain, he says:

I think the government’s taking too long on this. They have dragged the chain on this – on the response and then out of the blue, in the middle of a pandemic, decided they would break off the discussions that were being held, in terms of the draft, believing they weren’t satisfied on things.

I think the level of uncertainty is unacceptable, and I am concerned the proprietors in this climate do not want to take any wrong step to upset the government.

I cannot believe, for example – and I’ve had very deep concerns, and I am sure I will get pummelled for this by members of the media when I make this statement – but, you know, the government committed one of the worst budget bungles in Australian history, and they basically got slapped with a tissue, frankly.

I cannot believe that in this climate, given that decision, that that happened. I believe that the treasurer should not be the person calling the shots on the response for the ACCC digital platforms inquiry. It should go to the comms minister.

Why has it taken eight years to determine their future?

I missed this earlier this morning, but Alan Tudge phoned in to Brisbane ABC to talk to Rebecca Levingston about the refugees at the centre of the Kangaroo Point protests.

He makes the claim they “haven’t been detained for eight years” – because they had been “in Nauru or PNG for the last five years” which he says isn’t detainment, because they are “open facilities” and they can work and live in the community.

The latest donation towards Covid-19 research in Australia comes from an unlikely source: the video-sharing platform TikTok.

Melbourne’s Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity thanked TikTok for the $2.9m in funding in a press release today, saying the “generous donation will significantly enhance our efforts to perform innovative clinical trials for Covid-19 and similar viruses”.

The director of the Doherty Institute, Prof Sharon Lewin, said that the institute had been “extremely impressed by the ingenuity of TikTok users to create content that promotes hand washing, social distancing and the role of healthcare workers during the pandemic, and we’re excited to see the community’s creativity in celebrating science through #scienceathome”.

In the same statement, TikTok Australia’s general manager, Lee Hunter, said the company was “committed to playing our part in supporting the communities impacted by Covid-19 both globally and locally”.

The donation is part of a broader, global package of Covid-19-related funding announced by TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese internet giant ByteDance.

The Australian Department of Defence is reported to have barred its employees from using TikTok on work devices – following in the footsteps of The Pentagon amid national security concerns.

Zali Steggall also spoke on the need for Australians to better understand their history:

We should have our Indigenous culture and history as a subject. You know, I know our children spend a year learning about, well, they spend many years learning about English and the monarchy and colonialism and Captain Cook.

Why are we not learning more about the inhabitants, the First Nations on this continent, the journey, the fact that we have [the oldest continuing culture on earth], that Aboriginal people survived the Ice Age on this continent?

Young people are really focused on a lot of the challenges and existential challenges we have, so it is important to understand, may become a bit more of our past.

Zali Steggall is speaking to the ABC about the lack of a federal integrity bill:

I think it is of great concern that it is only people in this place, in Canberra, that are above scrutiny. There was a promise at the election, a commitment by the government, to introduce legislation for a national integrity commission. We have missed the deadline. It was supposed to be December. The attorney general claims that due to the coronavirus it has been delayed, but we have a situation where a bill has passed the Senate, with support of the opposition and the crossbench, for integrity commission.

And the government is, at the moment, and on several occasions, refusing to allow debate or a vote on it. So I think that is of great concern. 80% of Australian support a national integrity commission.

Christian Porter on the passing of the minimum mandatory sentencing for child sex offenders:

Look, it has taken three years. The first version of this bill was introduced in, I think, September 2017.

Three years, but I think parents of children all around Australia will be able to sleep a little bit safer tonight, because for the first time we have an appropriate sentencing regime of the worst child sex offenders.

This is a growing problem, very sadly. The view that the government has taken for some time is that the penalties that were being handed down were not sufficient enough to drive deterrence into the system.

Now we’ve got those deterrents in the form of this bill. It was enormously disappointing, the amount of time and energy, three years and multiple attempts, to finally get Labor to support this bill. The energy and effort that took over three years, it should have happened over three months.

So that is very, very disappointing, but the coalition government is firmly on the side of parents with this bill.

This bill makes children safer, whether they are online, or in whatever context, they are safer, because for the first time, at a Commonwealth level, there is an appropriate sentencing regime for these offenders, who are the worst of the worst.

On the Black Lives Matter movement generally, and in response to a question about the two SA police officers who have been placed on administrative leave after footage emerged of their arrest of an Indigenous man, Kevin Rudd says:

I don’t know the details of the South Australian [arrest] that you have just referred to, but you know something? It is time that we as a nation turned wrongs to right on this question, and don’t push it to one side.

Kevin Rudd is the Afternoon Briefing guest.

He is asked by Patricia Karvelas about how common branch staking was during his time in politics:

Rudd:

I think it is fair to say that if you look at the example of the Liberal party in New South Wales and the massive fight between the so-called moderates in New South Wales, that is, the left of the Liberal Party, and the Conservatives, run by some, as it were, church-affiliated groups on the right, that there has been, shall we say, industrious activity in terms of branch development by the Liberal party.

Now, in the case of the Labor party, you are right, Patricia. This has existed in the past. But what is remarkable about the reporting so far of the Somyurek affair is its alleged scale and also the purported influence with which this individual has had on the selection of individual candidates for higher office within the party. That is why we need to get to the bottom of it.

PK: If somebody controls 4,000 votes in a political party with 16,000 members, as Mr Somyurek claims to have done, how much power does that actually give them?

Rudd:

Well, I went to school in Queensland and we did primary and high school mathematics, so I would say at least 25%.

But the bottom line is, Patricia, that when you have keenly contested local preselections at the council, state and federal level, the ability to move a block of votes matters. And this goes to the heart of the problem on either side of politics, when you have the factional powerbrokers relying on an artificial inflation of branch numbers to prop up their internal power within an organisation, so that ultimately they can threaten others. I have had some experience of this in terms of the factional shenanigans which ultimately culminated in the [coup] 10 years ago against the then democratically elected prime minister of the country.

Christian Porter has called a doorstop at 4pm to talk about the passing of the bill – without amendments

The bill then heads off to the governor-general, for royal assent, and then it is law.

For the record – this bill only applies to those convicted under federal laws. States have their own laws.

I have been sent a distressing video from quite a few people today, showing the arrest of an Indigenous man* in South Australia.

You may be interested in this update:

*I have since been told he is not a teen (which was my mistake)

This should be very interesting.

If you know anyone with a fondness for tinfoil hats, send them this way tonight

The bells are ringing in both chambers.

The parliament building is an echo chamber at the best of times.

The Anthony Albanese speech Scott Morrison was referring to, is this one, which was put up on the Ceda website.

Albanese ended up doing a Q&A session with the host.

The speech includes this:

I want to rebuild our capacity to have constructive national conversations about the big issues. It’s a capacity that has been corroded by culture wars — but it is not beyond repair. The starting point is strengthening the health of our democracy is inclusion.

We must be respectful, open and accountable. And we must create a First Nations voice to parliament, consistent with the historic Uluru Statement from the Heart. Without that voice, we will never be truly democratic.

Of course, one of the biggest issues we need to be having a grown-up conversation about is climate change.

The long, brutal fire season we endured is something we hope to never go through again – although hope will have little to do with it. Only preparation can help avert further tragedy. Those who most loudly question the cost of action are oddly incurious about the greater cost of inaction.

But last year, the CSIRO found that net zero emissions by 2050 would result in higher wages, higher growth and lower energy costs.

That’s why I announced a Labor government would adopt the carbon neutral target of zero net emissions by the year 2050 – a commitment now made by every Australian State and Territory as well as many of our nation’s largest companies.

This should be as non-controversial in Australia as it is in most nations — and as it is with so much of business.

If there is a good thing that’s come out of the pandemic, it’s the sharp reminder of the value of listening to and respecting experts. I hope it’s a lesson that stays in our collective minds when it comes to climate change.

Dealing with that is just one of our tasks as we look ahead to Australia after the pandemic.”

You can read it all, here

You can read the entire speech the prime minister gave, here

And then Scott Morrison adds to the earlier question about the contract looking at global sentiment about the Australian bushfires:

Adding to an answer raised by the leader of the opposition and I thank you for his comments on indulgence on the other matter. Australia Trade initiated the contract that he referred to assess the reputational impact on Australia as a result of the bushfires. It was of a broader allocation to DFAT as an assessment that could damage Australia’s economy.

It was a package presented and recommended to the government by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The imputation in the leader of the opposition’s question was to suggest that this was some sort of consumer marketing exercise. That is a false assertion. This was responding to the very careful advice provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. We were responding to what was very important advice at a very critical time for Australian businesses.

And question time ends.

Anthony Albanese:

I want to associate the Labor party with the comments on the minister. The truth is that we, as a parliament, all sides, have failed on these issues in the past. We need to do much better and we need to work together wherever possible to achieve better outcomes and indeed celebrate the wins that are here. There are two wins sitting here in this chamber, the fact that the minister and the shadow minister are the first Indigenous Australians respectively to hold their positions.

Ken Wyatt takes a dixer on the education of Indigenous children:

One of the key foundations of life is the beginning journey for a child in a family environment, which consolidates the way in which the nurturing love is the basis for great opportunity. Let me acknowledge the member for Barton because she and I many years ago worked on a document called Solid Foundations which went to a number of aspects of not just the elements of the way in which children were given an opportunity that gave them a better future.

The Morrison government has invested a further $243m over the AIS safety and wellbeing program that includes funding for social and emotional wellbeing support for families and youth, violence reduction and victim support for families.

Crime prevention, diversion and rehabilitation and reinvigoration activities.

But also youth alcohol and substance prevention and treatment activities. One of the things that we need to think about in the protection of families and children is that when they experience a disruptive life in which domestic violence or sexual abuse is part of their life, it leaves an indelible scar that carries on onto their future years and often is an imposition to their success within their journey on life.

It impacts on their education so the interventions that we are putting into place are being done in working with community, working with our women who are our leaders in so many fronts in health and education and family violence.

But also with our men to take their place in the protective role that they also have to carry and be involved in. If we are to change the dynamics then it is important that all of us in this chamber build on those strategies.

We are focused every single day on getting more children to school, reducing suicide rates, which is a scourge on our communities, creating jobs and economic opportunities for all Indigenous Australians because all of those have flow-on effects that will make a difference and we are succeeding. Successive governments have built success.

We should celebrate success, not always focus on the gap. While the new report for Closing the Gap has significant targets, we must celebrate every achievement because by celebrating achievement we will give people the and aspiration for a better future.

Mathias Cormann has moved for the child sexual abuse bill containing mandatory minimum sentences to go into committee phase – clearing the way for it to pass the Senate, now Labor has resolved to wave it through.

Greens senator Nick McKim attacks Labor for its “appalling backflip” after voting against mandatory minimums in the Senate on Monday, now helping the government pass the bill.

He said the bill “places at significant risk teenagers in Australia, engaging in what has throughout human history been quite normal teenage behaviour” with sentences of four, five, six or seven years in prison for underage sexual activity.

The bells are now ringing because the Greens called for a division.

The few Labor senators who have remained in the chamber are voting with the government, so it will sail through.

From there it will depend if amendments are moved or we go straight to a third reading, but it looks like this is going through this afternoon.

(Division - 41 to 8)

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

On the 29 May the prime minister said the government has a job target. What is it?

Morrison:

We went to the last election committing to generate another 1.5 million jobs, that’s what we did, Mr Speaker. We went to the election with that very commitment, and because Mr Speaker in our first six years that is exactly what we achieved.

We generated in the policies that we put in place, Mr Speaker, and working with the Australian economy and the businesses that make it up in the many small and medium-sized businesses, that is what we achieved. Mr Speaker Covid-19 crisis wiped 30 months of job growth from the Australian economy. And that is a devastating outcome.

But what the Australian people know, Mr Speaker, is that this government has already demonstrated its ability to work with businesses and employers and employees across this country to generate jobs and we know we can do it again, Mr Speaker, and they know that is what they need.

They know they need a government who knows how to create jobs. And that is what the jobmaker program is all about, Mr Speaker, and that is the program I have been outlining to the country and indeed the treasurer will add further to when the economic statement is released later in July and of course the budget in October, Mr Speaker.

This government knows how to generate jobs, Mr Speaker and it is jobs that Australians need. And that is why we will remain committed to generating those jobs and regaining those jobs that have been taken from Australians by the Covid-19 crisis, Mr Speaker, and our government has the policies to achieve it.

The leader of the opposition, I had the opportunity, I have the opportunity to see a copy of the speech he was supposed to deliver on economic policy this week, and I am not surprised he did not decide to deliver it, Mr Speaker.

Because there was nothing in it, Mr Speaker. There was nothing in it. The leader of the opposition’s great national solution to the problems of jobs in this country is a national driver’s license. What’s next? Harmonisation of driver’s licences?

Tony Smith:

The prime minister has moved off the policy.

Morrison:

We will be working to restore those jobs Mr Speaker would have been lost and generate even more and we will update on those targets, Mr Speaker, when we present the budget later this year.

And our government has delivered jobs and we will deliver jobs again.

Our government will balance the budget again and Mr Speaker, we will be putting in place the decisions to do it again, Mr Speaker.

The Australian public know that we know how to run an economy, particularly at a time like this. This leader of the opposition, Mr Speaker, is shallow-thin when it comes to economic policy, Mr Speaker.

He has no experience on the issue of economic policy and his shadow treasurer has even less.

Over in the Senate, Paul tells me the chamber is moving to vote on child sexual abuse mandatory sentences.

That is the bill Labor, with support from the crossbench, amended last night, but have accepted will need to go through without amendment.

Labor’s Jess Walsh is cross-examining aged care minister Richard Colbeck about why he announced on 20 March the government will give payments of up to $800 “after tax” to residential aged care workers.

According to Labor, these payments are subject to tax, they are not tax free. So why did Colbeck say $800 “after tax”.
Colbeck:

“After tax does not mean tax free.”

Labor asks follow-ups about what “after tax” means - if not “tax free”, but Colbeck repeats similar formulations. Labor senators - especially Louise Pratt - start interjecting, shouting at Colbeck that he meant “before tax”.

So it seems the payment is subject to tax, and the only way you’d get “up to $800 after tax” is if your income is below the tax-free threshold.

Incidentally, the Australian Nurses and Midwifery Federation has raised concerns about the lack of detail on these payments and lack of assurance providers won’t pocket $750m of extra funding given during the Covid-19 crisis.

Bill Shorten to Stuart Robert:

In March 2017, the administrative appeals tribunal found there was no legal basis for the method used by the government to raise robodebts debts. When did the minister know robodebt was illegal?

Robert:

As I’ve said previously in the House and as the ombudsman report reflects common use of income averaging to raise debts has been a long-standing practice of governments.

So long-standing that in 2009, 16% of debts raised in that year, from a sample of 500 were used using solely or partially income averaging, in 2011 that jumped to 24% of debts raised that year, wholly or partially from income averaging.

That’s been done from a sample of 500, which just demonstrates the long-standing nature of how this practice has been going.

Those ministers in 2009 and 2011 ...

Tony Smith beats Shorten to the point of order:

I was just about to intervene myself and say, as I’ve said to the minister before, he is entitled to a preamble but that is now approaching a minute. The question was very tight, it had a statement of fact necessarily for the specific question, and there was no commentary or debate on the matter. As I said, the minister is entitled to a preamble but he now needs to bring himself to the specifics of the question or wind up his answer.

Robert:

Since it was such a long-standing practice to use averaged income data from the ATO, as soon as I was informed I moved to [amend] the program. I announced that 19 November last year. I did a press conference to say ...

Shorten:

On the point of relevance, it was when did the minister find out it was unlawful, not when did he decide to do something about it or tell us publicly, when did the minister know robodebt was unlawful? It is a date, Stuey.

Smith:

The member for Maribyrnong needs to refer to members by their correct titles, those last two words were unnecessary. No, I make the point seriously. When, you know the football turns over and the boot is on the other foot, people tend not to like it. Not everybody likes their nickname. The minister does need to address himself to the specifics of the question. Or wind up his answer.

Robert:

As I said last week in the house as soon as I was informed I moved expeditiously to inform the Australian people and that date was 19 November.

Perhaps Peter Dutton missed this entreaty from the Carly Ryan foundation (which was sent to all MPs today).

The Carly Ryan Foundation is calling out the bad behaviour of politicians, to stop having a battle of wills, name-calling and bullying type behaviour over the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Crimes Against Children and Community Protection Measures) Bill 2019.

This behaviour seems to happen all the time in politics, but enough is enough. The foundation delivers online safety programs throughout Australia, where we teach students how to look after themselves online and critically think about what kind of identity they are portraying online. Our representatives regularly behave in a way that is in complete contradiction to the message we are delivering to students in schools. Cyberbullying. Name calling. Blame-shifting. Unkindness. We are having to tell children that the adults in their lives may not be the best examples. The prioritisation of political point-scoring above meaningful, representative (in the truest sense) collaboration on this issue is disappointing to anyone who works in the protection of children.

This should not be a political jousting match but a coming together, particularly when it comes to the protection of children.

Peter Dutton then takes it to this place:

In the Senate last night the government sought to introduce legislation, which was not supported by the leader of the opposition or the Labor party.

That is the truth, Mr Speaker! We wanted to introduce minimum mandatory sentencing for paedophiles, and you opposed it!

You opposed it! And you were captured by the Daily Telegraph today.

And, Mr Speaker, the government, as offended as parents are, around the country, Mr Speaker because the leader of the opposition stood in here last week instead that he would assist us in relation to these matters, in any way he could, and yet this week he demonstrates, Mr Speaker that he will not support us on these very important matters.

Labor says it’s a principle issue for them, they won’t support any mandatory sentencing.

The fact is the Labor party has supported mandatory sentencing.

In relation to terrorism -related offences, they have supported mandatory sentencing in relation to offending of, they have supported in Victoria, Mr Speaker, mandatory sentencing for people that commit offences, assaults against emergency services worker, and they have supported mandatory sentencing in relation to people smuggling offences.

The leader of the opposition needs to reconsider his position, we are all absolutely committed to seeing the original bill, with its original intent, gone back into the Senate and supported, with a Labor party did not last night.

This came yesterday on a day of great shame to the Australian Labor party, where Milton Orkopoulos was charged with offences and all I can say is think of those victims, when you make these decisions.

For the record, Labor announced it was supporting the mandatory sentencing legislation, unamended, earlier today.

Peter Dutton is answering a dixer on the mandatory sentencing for child abusers bill.

It includes this:

You can imagine the devastation of the police, the investigators, and the victims and mothers and fathers and family members, when those offenders go to court, and in many cases receive no jail time at all. The government has spoken to a lot of victims groups, spoken to a lot of individual police officers, about how this work has scarred their lives, in many cases for ever, and, all of them say to us, please do whatever you can to increase the jail time for those sex offenders. So the government was shocked last night in the Senate when the Labor party opposed the bill that we had put in place.

Tony Burke is on his feet immediately:

On reflections on members, claiming that members voted in a different way to how they did, is both dishonest in the House and the minister should withdraw and should not be allowed to continue with an answer that he knows is not true.

Dutton responds:

On a point of order, goes to the contributions made by the honourable member opposite, the statement that he made was incorrect. The comments he made in relation to me were false and I would ask you to ask him to withdraw those comments.

Tony Smith:

Can I just say those members, behind the leader of the opposition, they are not helping anyone. Including the leadership when they interject like this. I need to deal with what is a very serious matter, and all they do is hinder the performance of the House, can I say that is not what they were elect to do. What I will say to the manager of opposition business, two things, and to the minister for home affairs.

It is well-established that when it comes to questions and answers, the chair is not in a capacity to judge the accuracy. I would be suspending the House and going to check on facts and figures all day.

That is why personal explanations are allowed at the end of question time. I will say very clearly, that, reflections on members, and imputing motives, there is no tolerance for within the practice, and I’m just saying that, as a piece of information, that is very, very important.

So, both the manager of opposition business and the minister, can have their personal explanations at the end of question time they so wish and we will deal with that then, in the meantime I will listen to the minister.

Amanda Rishworth to Scott Morrison:

When it comes to slashing mail deliveries, the prime minister says “pandemic measures will last until the middle of next year”. So why is he kicking childcare workers off jobkeeper in July?

Morrison:

I’ll ask the minister for education to further respond to this question. What we are doing is providing additional support to childcare operators, more than $700m of support in addition to the rebates that are received by childcare operators so they can support all workers, not less, Mr Speaker. And that has occurred as a result of the consultations undertaken by the minister for education, Mr Speaker. The government not only stepped in to provide childcare support by offering free childcare when the childcare sector was dropping like a stone, Mr Speaker, in relation to the Covid crisis, we stepped in, worked with the sector and added that additional subsidy support as they transition back to their operations in the future. We stepped in, we are providing the support, we have worked with the sector, those opposite seek to make hay over a crisis, and they should be ashamed of themselves.

Dan Tehan:

I would remind the House, we put in place a temporary measures to help the childcare sector and demand was dropping.

Can I say on behalf of the government, I think this would be on behalf of all member for the House, to all those early childhood educators who worked through the pandemic, 99% of childcare services remained open through the pandemic.

If you have a look what happened right across the world, we are unique in this regard, and I thank all those early childhood educators who worked through the pandemic.

They provided much-needed services to those essential services workers, in particular to the vulnerable children who needed care.

What we put in place was temporary, for when demand was dropping. We have now put in place transition arrangements to support the sector as demand comes back into it. It has reached 74%.

What we did, with regards to the employment guarantee that we put in place, and the transition payment of $708m the prime minister mentioned, what that means now, is 200,000 employees are supported, rather than the 120,000 employees who were supported under the temporary measures that we put in place.

One was there for when demand was dropping, we have now put in place new arrangements as demand increases, we will continue to work with the sector, we will continue to consult with the sector, but can I once again, commend the sector for the outstanding job they did, and making sure they were there to provide the care we needed 99% of services open.

Senator Jacqui Lambie has asked whether members and former members of the ADF being investigated for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan will get access to commonwealth funded lawyers of their choice.

Defence minister, Linda Reynolds, replied that there is an “extensive and complex” war crimes investigation underway, with a report to go from the inspector general of the ADF to the chief of defence force “in coming months”.

She said:

Australians would rightly expect these matters would be examined, they would also expect all ADF members will be treated with utmost fairness, and also their family members.I can confirm: legal support will be provided, and I am currently discussing this with the chief of defence force and the attorney general.”

Lambie repeated the question - emphasising whether the lawyers will be those of the ADF members’ choice.

Reynolds then replied, suggesting there was a degree of discretion in provision of legal support - ie that it will be provided if the ADF member acted “responsibly and reasonably”. I’m a little confused - does this mean if they did not act reasonably, they will not get taxpayer funded lawyers?

Lambie suggested the promise amounts to “lip service”.
Reynolds replied:

As I’ve said - as I’ve stated twice, support is being provided and will continue to be required.”

Paul Fletcher shows a remarkable ability to speak for three minutes on just the one breath.

If you want to know why the bushfire recovery is in Labor’s sights again, it is because the bushfire royal commission is on again this week.

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

Why are all the media and communications positions at the national bushfire recovery agency filled but the three economic recovery positions are still vacant? Why is the prime minister focused on marketing instead of delivering for the bushfire survivors?

David Littleproud gets the nod again:

Can I just say the local economic recovery plan starts on 1 July. They start on 1 July because it is very important that we engage with the community and make sure that we did it region by region.

So we took time to bring the community together, to bring those civic leaders together because we didn’t want a Canberra-led recovery, those on the other side would like to see it all centralised from here, we want to engage with the local community.

And so therefore the commitment about the rebuilding of those communities will be important, community by community. In terms of having media people within the national bushfire recovery agency, it was important.

There was important information that needed to be put out. In fact 240,000, $240m, sorry, in nearly $240m in immediate relief was put out, that message was important to get the people, it was important we support the state in articulating the small business grants, the other grounds, the confessional and so people understood what was available.

They were going through trauma, it was important we were able to communicate the programs that were available both centrally and on the ground. And that is why we continue to put additional personnel for the national bushfire recovery agency on the ground. This has been a multifaceted approach. And next phase is about recovery.

It is about the local economic recovery plans. A local-led recovery, not a Canberra-led recovery. Ensuring that they are empowered to make the decisions about what that recovery looks like, building back better. They should determine that, not someone from Canberra.

And that is exactly the strategy that we have undertaken and will continue to undertake, because we want to build this nation back better for those that have been impacted and this is what is all about. Calmly methodically working through, ensuring that $2bn in additional support will get out there.

... That is because we have been able to communicate with those that need it the most, get it out of our pocket into their pockets.

That is what you should do in this recovery is look after them. And we have done that calmly and methodically and we say to those opposite, we are open and transparent, happy to work through any issues you may have, this is more about politics, more than about politics, this is about people.

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

The bushfire recovery agency admits months after bushfire ripped through Snowy Monaro, not one of the properties has been cleared of debris, why is this prime minister spending money on marketing and not bushfire survivors?

David Littleproud gets the nod:

Thank you Mr Speaker, obviously, the properties that were damaged across Eden-Monaro was something we worked with the New South Wales government in making sure the cleanup is taken as quickly as it can.

There is complexity around the cleanup and that some of those buildings contained asbestos. It also took time in which to be able to get personnel into those areas to make assessments about whether there was asbestos and when the fire abated, trees had fallen so they could get people in safety.

You cannot put other Australians in harm’s way. Professional men and women make these assessments, they are held by state governments to pay them to make sure they keep all of us say.

The New South Wales government has done that and made a commitment to have all homes in NSW cleaned up by the end of July. Eden-Monaro I will tell you the numbers from 16 June, and the Snowy Valley, 188 homes have been cleared out of 208, Snowy Monaro, 11 out of 81.

... This is a complex program and I have to congratulate the New South Wales government being able to do this in a professional way and as quickly as they possibly can.

South Australia is in fact completed. Victoria will not be completed until the end of August.

All of this data, we make sure is available on the national bushfire recovery agency website.

There is full transparency to make sure that everyone understands the progress of every program in which the federal government runs itself, or we asked the state governments to run on our behalf.

We are working collaboratively together. We will not blame the states, we will work with the states because this is not about politics, this is about people.

Tony Burke asks him to table the document he is reading from (detailing the number of repaired homes) but he says it is confidential.

Sussan Ley takes a dixer on women’s participation in paid employment.

Which makes sense – women have been hit very hard by the economic impacts of Covid.

Her answer includes this:

I know she [the member for Lindsay] would understand really well that the choices women make for themselves, for and with their families in the workplace are all optimised by strong and resilient economy.

Also within the Coalition, is Gerard Rennick, who thinks the only choice people should have is whether to spend the day cleaning, or the day cooking, while also taking care of the children. Just as long as they are at home looking after the children. [No shade to people who choose to stay home, or want to – more power to you for having the choice.]

At the end of the day, if you can keep a child at home and if you can keep a parent at home, you’re going to halve the congestion on the roads, you’re going to halve the pollution and you’re going to increase the quality of life for young children and their parents,’’ he told parliament.

That is a choice. What we would like to do is to provide a choice. Dorothy didn’t tap her shoes together and say, ‘There’s no place like childcare.’ She said, ‘There’s no place like home.’”

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

I have in my hand an old tender contract notice which reveals during the bushfire crisis the government entered into a contract for global sentiment monitoring of Australian bushfires costing taxpayers $293,000. What is the government doing spending money monitoring what the world thinks about our bushfires?

Morrison:

I’d be happy to take the information the leader of the opposition has and come back to him on this matter, I’m happy to provide that to him.

I do recall, at the time one of the concerns especially of our tourism industry at that point was their worries about how Australia was being perceived and they had very real fears and that was pre-Covid-19, that people might cancel holidays to Australia.

[Maybe they were even considering Hawaii as an alternative.]

Morrison:

I must say, at the time when I was talking to various global leaders, there was quite an inaccurate picture of the extent of where the fires were across Australia at that time.

And that was causing real concern about international bookings into Australia, especially in places like Western Australia and parts of western Victoria, and along the great Ocean Road and the Northern Territory, so I’m happy to look at the specific issue that the opposition leader has raised, but I can say on the broader issue of understanding, what global perceptions were at that time, there was a concern in the government, and there was a concern in the tourism industry about how we can be tasking our missions overseas, to be addressing any misperceptions about those arrangements to make sure the terrible damage that was being caused by the bushfires, was not made worse by misinformation being in the global domain.

Josh Frydenberg has just rediscovered the word “alternative” which he says as if he’s just been taught it at Hogwarts and is looking for Snape’s approval.

Helen Haines has the independent question today. It is for Dan Tehan:

My question is to the member for education, on Friday he will address the press club on the crucial role of universities and producing job ready graduates for the Covid-19 recovery. There’s been a surge in applications but some universities do not have places ready to meet the demand. Will the minister consider funding more places for domestic students in areas with skills shortages such as nursing and allied health in regional campuses of La Trobe and Charles Sturt universities for instance?

Tehan starts rabbiting on about something, that (shockingly) is not addressing the question Haines asked. Which she points out.

So Tony Smith tells him to get on with it.

Tehan:

Just so I am very clear, there were additional places for those short courses, that’s what I was talking about, when it comes to performance-based funding, they are additional courses, that’s what I was talking about. We are offering additional courses through the regional university centres, we made a further announcement about those regional university centres last week, nine new regional university centres, taking 225, the number of regional university centres now rolled out across the nation. Each one of those brings additional places with that and as the member knows, we are working with her community and Wangaratta to put in place a regional university centre there.

PLOT TWIST.

David Littleproud gets up, looking like that red-headed dude in CSI who was always taking off or putting on his sunglasses to make a point just before The Who screamed.

Or at least that is what it seems like it looks like in his head.

Littleproud:

I can advise the house that Tamara and Craig in fact have received a grant, they received it on the 26 May.

The leader of the opposition in fact tweeted this on the 27 May, that they didn’t receive the grant.

This is a very serious issue, a very serious issue, we are playing with ... Either this is about us working together as a nation, making sure we are working with state agencies who are rolling out these programs, making sure that we support them, we will not blame the states we will help them, we have done so much we have put on an additional 30 bushfire recovery agency staff to be on the ground and support the states and rolling out the programs that we are asking them to deliver.

And we are happy to work with every level of government, to identify anybody that may have been left for through the cracks. No one will be left behind, this government had made this commitment to every bushfire victim, we will make sure the states and federal government work together to look up to fellow Australians who went through one of the worst bushfire disasters in our nation’s history.

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

I recently met Craig and Tamara who are beef farmers in Cobargo, whose herd was devastated when bushfire tore through their property. They say they haven’t been able to access the bushfire recovery grant. Why is the prime minister leaving people like Craig and Tamara behind?

Morrison:

Thank you Mr Speaker. In relation to primary producer grants in New South Wales, they have been available in 49 local government areas, 2,236 applications have been received and 1,341 grants have been approved. And that is worth some $84.6m, Mr Speaker.

In fact what has been occurring with the primary producer grants is that they have been running ahead of what our estimate has been for the provision of those grants to primary producers.

Theyreare certainly eligibility criteria which I think the leader of the opposition would think was necessary when you are providing any grants programs, our eligibility criteria that apply to those grants. I know that those primary producer grants have been incredibly important to those who have been able to receive [them] and have been eligible for those grants because assisting them as they are able to restock their properties and deal with the significant damage in some $75,000 that those grants apply to, I have seen their benefit first-hand across Australia including in those communities that the member refers to but I have also seen how they were applied in earlier times in relation to other disasters like the floods in North Queensland. So Mr Speaker, the minister for agriculture has further information that he can provide to assist the member with his inquiry.

Michael McCormack is showing just what would happen if we taught a bowl of white rice to talk.

Moving on.

Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:

Yesterday the prime minister said and I quote “The challenge of jobkeeper is that businesses will form views about those employees who they will be able to keep on longer term and who will not.” Why won’t the prime minister just be honest and tell the Australian people how many jobs he will end in September?

Frydenberg:

Jobkeeper is supporting more than 3 million workers, Mr Speaker. More than 3 million workers, Mr Speaker, across gymnasiums ... The jobkeeper program, the largest such support program in Australia’s history at around $70bn, supporting more than 3 million workers, is helping to maintain that formal connection between employers and employees, and it is part of a suite of measures that the government has deployed.

Some $260bn, 13.3% of GDP. The states and put in around $36bn, we have contributed in terms of economic support some $260bn.

Mr Speaker we have said that when it comes to the future of the jobkeeper program we will undertake a review that Treasury is currently conducting.

But I am asked about jobs and I point the member for Rankin to the ABS weekly payroll and jobs data that was out today, and it showed that the total payroll jobs increased by 1% through May.

And that payroll jobs worked by females increased by 1.4% through May compared to 0.4% for males, Mr Speaker.

And when I talk about younger workers, who, like female workers have been really badly hit by this covert crisis, it made the point that payroll jobs in this final week of May increased by 2% for those aged under 20, and 0.4% for all jobs.

Mr Speaker, that is a reflection of the fact that some of those sectors, where young people and women are more prominent, and I am talking about the hospitality sector and the retail sector, that they are starting to open up as a result of the success that we have had as a nation, in flattening the curve, people are starting to get back to work and it is the Coalition who can be trusted to keep people in jobs and to ensure that this transition to helping the economy get back on its feet will occur.

Oh good. Josh Frydenberg has once again forgotten how microphones work, in that they amplify your voice.

Nature is yadda, yadda, yadda

The first dixer is on jobmaker and just HOW amazing it is, delivered in someone’s best ‘I should have been school prefect’ voice, because it seems impossible to just ask a question as a backbencher these days, without pretending its being delivered to a private school hall.

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

Yesterday in this House, the prime minister admitted more Australians would lose their jobs because he’s planning to withdraw the jobkeeper wage subsidy in September. How many jobs is he planning to sacrifice to his snap back?

Morrison:

The leader of the opposition misrepresents. In fact, he is completely wrong about what we said yesterday. I said that we’re in recession, and in recession, people lose work, and it’s an awful tragedy for those Australians, Mr Speaker. And that’s why the government has put in place record supports through jobkeeper and through jobseeker and the cash flow allowance and the support put in there.

Over $200m worth of support. That’s what the government was doing as part of that. And as a result of the interventions that our government had, Australia is weathering this economic storm better than almost every other developed country in the world today.

Providing the support that Australians need. And we will continue to provide the support that they need and the most important thing that this country needs for those jobs is for our economy to grow again, for businesses to move forward again, for our economy to reopen and for those Australians to find themselves back into those jobs.

And our jobmaker plan is not just about the demand for support that is occurring right here and right now, and with the assistance that Australians need, but the important changes that we need to make in so many areas so we grow the economy next year, the year after, over the next five years to take back what has been lost as a result of this COVID-19 crisis.

If the leader of the opposition wants to sell the Australian people that in a recession there is no hardship, then he is a fool.

Jim Chalmers and Brendan O’Connor have put out this statement a few minutes before QT, if you were wondering what Labor would be looking at today:

New ABS data today confirms that around 750,000 payroll jobs have been lost since the outbreak of coronavirus.

The devastation of the labour market is being made even worse by the Morrison Government’s botched roll-out of vital support programs like JobKeeper.

Since the outbreak of the virus, the biggest job losses have been concentrated in hospitality and the arts, with young Australians and women hardest hit.

Today’s Weekly Payroll Jobs and Wages in Australia by the ABS shows that since 14 March:

• The Australian economy shed 750,000 payroll jobs, and total wages paid has fallen 8.3%.
• Payrolls jobs for women declined by 8% and male payroll jobs decreased by 6.3%.
• Payroll jobs in the accommodation and food services sector decreased by 29.1% and fell by 26.3% in the arts and recreation industries.
• Payroll jobs worked by people aged under 20 decreased by 16.5%.

These figures come as the Reserve Bank warns that the downturn is “likely to have long-lasting effects on the economy.”

Too many Australians are left out and left behind, some accidentally but many deliberately.

Support could be better targeted, or tapered, but it shouldn’t just “snap back” on an arbitrary timeline which doesn’t reflect the reality in workplaces and communities.

As we know from the Labor caucus meeting, Labor will support the mandatory sentencing bill for child sex offenders, as it is (without amendment).

Josh Burns says Labor is not comfortable with mandatory sentencing as a policy, but is supporting this bill because of the subject matter:

Because the Labor party has said all along that paedophiles and people who commit child sex abuse need to be dealt with, with the strongest legislative tools possible to government. And we sought to amend a bill to make it harder for these people who commit these abhorrent crimes to avoid justice. And we sought to engage constructively with the government on the way in which we thought we could strengthen this legislation. It’s gone through the usual parliamentary processes and now we find ourselves where ultimately, there’s a bill before the House and we’ll support that, because anything and any step towards making these really abhorrent crimes harder to evade, then we’ll obviously support that.

Following up on Paul’s earlier post about the disquiet inside the Labor caucus over mandatory minimum sentences, Scott Morrison confirmed to the Coalition party room meeting that the government would not compromise on the bill.

The Senate has passed amendments to remove mandatory minimum sentences from the government’s child sexual abuse bill.

Morrison told his colleagues they would send the legislation back to the Senate as soon as possible. He said the government was prepared to send the bill back to the upper house with mandatory minimum sentences restored “time and time and time again”.

“We are proud – we stand up for kinds, especially the most vulnerable and defenceless.

“We are not negotiating on this. We expect the Labor party to vote for this bill.”

Josh Burns is speaking to the ABC. In the 60 Minutes/the Age story, Adem Somyurek claimed the McNamara MP relied on his support.

Burns says:

Well, it’s not true. And ... I am my own person in the Labor party. I am proud to be a preselected member of the Labor party, and I’ll continue to work hard for the people of McNamara who gave me one of the most incredible opportunities and privileges I’ve ever had, is to be a member of parliament.

To come into this place and to represent over 100,000 people locally from the Yarra River down to the Caulfield racecourse.

It is a great honour and I’m very grateful for that opportunity, and I didn’t join this Labor party to be involved in factions or anything like that.

I came because the Labor party is a great vehicle for change. It is the vehicle in this country that has done some of the most important reforms, from education to healthcare, to industry policy.

This party is the party that has helped build what is modern Australia. And I am proud to be a member of it. And I hope to be a part of the rebuilding of the Labor Party in Victoria.

There were a few passing references in the Coalition joint party room meeting regarding the fallout within the Labor party over the Adem Somyurek controversy.

Scott Morrison said the Labor party appeared to have a few struggles at present, but that did not change the challenge for the government.

The deputy prime minister, Michael McCormack, urged colleagues to remember the ideals that brought them to Canberra – not to branch stack or for power for its own stake but to deliver for the community.

Apart from the comments by backbenchers mentioned earlier in the blog – Craig Kelly standing up for Alan Jones, and George Christensen standing up for Peter Ridd – the meeting discussed border issues and how to get information to the community regarding Covid-19 policies.

One issue raised was how to manage the return to Australia of people who had residency rights but were not permanent residency holders. The concern was about families who had been separated and whether there were pathways for them to return to Australia.

Questions were also raised about the pilot programs for international students to return to Australia.

On the issue of international travel, Morrison responded that there were practical issues to manage carefully such as how to ensure people safely passed through airports.

He said the reason the ACT and South Australia had been identified as potential pilots for international education was because their governments had brought forward proposals. Morrison said he would welcome proposals from other jurisdictions, too.

The South Australia border changes (for WA and NT and Tasmanian travellers) come into effect at midnight.

Queenslanders might get a look in early next week – and from 20 July, South Australia will be open to all domestic travel.

Scott Morrison has told his colleagues they should feel a heavy burden on their shoulders as they face the task of getting the country through the recession.

At the Coalition’s joint party room meeting this morning – which was over in just 50 minutes – the prime minister said: “The task we face should feel heavy on the shoulders of all of us, because it is.”

Morrison said it was a sobering time because more people would lose jobs and more businesses faced closure.

However, he argued that when people looked around the world they were grateful to be in Australia.

In a reference to moves in the months ahead to wind down government supports such as jobkeeper and jobseeker, Morrison said Australians were not looking to the government to build confidence simply by doling out cheques.

Instead, the task was to set up the economy for a generation.

There was also a mention of the fabled “quiet Australians”.

Morrison said he had particularly thought about “the quiet Australians” in the last few weeks during the debates over the Black Lives Matter protests and the push to remove some statues. He told his colleagues he was sure that most Australians were asking how this would help them with their job security or the reopening of businesses.

He was confident the quiet Australian would not want the government to be distracted.

This is a fairly rare sight – because of the social distancing rules (which includes cutting down on touching door handles), the doors to the chambers remain open, meaning Tony Smith and Scott Ryan could wave to each other while enduring question time, if they wanted to.

Sad news

John was famous as a Ballarat blacksmith, who, after his 2010 election to the Senate, became the first Democratic Labor Party representative in the federal parliament, since Gough Whitlam was in government.

Craig Kelly has denounced the Australian Communications and Media Authority ruling about Alan Jones’ climate change coverage.

ACMA found that Jones had asserted biomass is a fossil fuel – but Kelly argues when Jones said that “fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas and biomass” make up 70% of New Zealand’s energy, he meant “fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – and biomass”.

Therefore, ACMA had “verballed” Jones and its ruling was “misleading”.

He told Guardian Australia: “This is an example of ACMA acting as the arbiters of truth – a power that a government entity shouldn’t have ... In a free society, you argue your points, if somebody disagrees, they call you out – it’s the contest of ideas. If ACMA is the arbiter of truth, then who arbitrates what the regulator says?”

Nationals MP George Christensen also made a contribution about freedom of speech, arguing that the Peter Ridd case shows it is under threat in universities.

Some classic non-Covid contributions in the Coalition party room today, nature is healing.

• Adam Bandt MP, Greens Leader and Member for Melbourne
  
• Dr Helen Haines MP, Member for Indi
  
• Rebekha Sharkie MP Member for Mayo
  
• Andrew Wilkie MP, Member for Clark
  
• Zali Steggall MP, Member for Warringah
  
• Bob Katter MP, Member for Kennedy

Will hold a press conference at 1.20pm to talk about their bill being shut down by the government.

Well that was fast.

The Greens (and crossbench) will be pushing for a federal integrity body today:

The House of Representatives will today be forced to debate the implementation of a national integrity commission, after the Senate expressed frustration over further delays.

Following further allegations of corruption within the ALP, leader of the Australian Greens Adam Bandt MP and Greens democracy spokesperson Senator Larissa Waters have today urged the Australian parliament to pass a Greens bill – which has already passed the Senate – to create a federal integrity watchdog through the House of Representatives.

Mr Bandt said after speaking with members of the government backbench that a loss for Scott Morrison would signal growing discontent about the refusal to even discuss a federal Icac since the Greens’ bill passed last September.

“With a new rort or scandal hitting the front pages every day, people are losing faith in politics and we need an anti-corruption watchdog to hold politicians to account,” Adam Bandt MP said.

“The government promised to produce a version of an anti-corruption watchdog, but there have been more sightings of Bigfoot than that legislation since the promise was made 18 months ago. The Liberals’ latest excuse was that they couldn’t deal with an Icac because of coronavirus, an excuse that doesn’t even pass the smell test.

“The Liberals are neck-deep in scandals where they’ve helped out their big business mates and Labor is still controlled by factional warlords who don’t care about integrity.”

The 2019-2020 bushfire season had more pyrocumulonimbus events than were recorded in the previous 30 years, the bushfire royal commission has heard.

Pyrocumulonimbus events, or fire storms, occur when a large, hot fire produces a large convection column that begins to draw in wind, creating its own weather systems. You can find a more detailed explanation by Graham Readfern here.

Prior to this summer they were considered “bushfire oddities”, Professor David Bowman from the University of Tasmania told the royal commission into national natural disaster arrangements.

“Unfortunately this last summer, there’s been a tally, Jason Sharples and colleagues have been keeping records of these things, but unfortunately this last summer there was a near doubling of the record of these events, in one event, and that assembly of data goes back about 30 years.

“So something happened this last summer which is truly extraordinary because what we would call statistically a black swan event, we saw a flock of black swans. That just shouldn’t have happened.”

The royal commission is holding three days of hearings this week examining hazard reduction activities.

At Labor’s caucus, the shadow attorney general Mark Dreyfus gave an update on the government’s child sexual abuse bill, explaining that although the Senate had passed amendments to remove mandatory minimum sentences, the government will not compromise.

Labor will now pass the bill in its original form – a controversial move, given Labor’s platform states its principled opposition to mandatory minimum sentences.

Several speakers voiced qualified concerns that Labor now plans to pass the bill, one saying it was “disappointing” it couldn’t pursue the mandatory minimum point, and another raising the importance of the independence of the judiciary (ie don’t tie their hands with minimum sentences). That said, the position was unanimously adopted.

Linda Burney gave an update on the government’s concession the Indigenous recognition referendum will not happen this term, expressing disappointment that Scott Morrison won’t spend any political capital on the issue and the government has lowered its sights to a legislated option instead of constitutional entrenchment.

There was some criticism of how the media is handling treasurer Josh Frydenberg - with a suggestion that the fact the ACCC (in Frydenberg’s portfolio) is responding to the digital platforms review could be helping him get “soft” coverage. News Limited, Channel Nine (which hosted a Liberal fundraiser) and the Australian Financial Review were cited.

Frydenberg was described as an “A-grade networker and reserve-grade treasurer” and shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government is delaying the digital platforms review response and it would be “naive” to believe this wasn’t linked to coverage.

In his speech, Labor leader Anthony Albanese was in expectations management mode with regard to the Eden-Monaro byelection, suggesting on current boundaries the government would have won the seat if not for retiring member Mike Kelly.
He suggested the government’s difficulty will start with the “rollout and rollback” of stimulus programs (after the byelection).

Albanese argued that Scott Morrison’s “arrogant” persona is back and consultation is gone.

The Carly Ryan Foundation has stepped in to ask politicians to pull their heads in.

Sonya Ryan, who founded the organisation in memory of her daughter, wants the political point scoring to stop, and good laws to be passed:

The Carly Ryan Foundation is calling out the bad behaviour of politicians, to stop having a battle of wills, name calling and bullying type behaviour over the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Crimes Against Children and Community Protection Measures) Bill 2019.

This behaviour seems to happen all the time in politics, but enough is enough. The Foundation delivers online safety programs throughout Australia, where we teach students how to look after themselves online and critically think about what kind of identity they are portraying online. Our representatives regularly behave in a way that is in complete contradiction to the message we are delivering to students in schools. Cyberbullying. Name calling. Blame-shifting. Unkindness. We are having to tell children that the adults in their lives may not be the best examples.

The prioritisation of political point scoring above meaningful, representative (in the truest sense) collaboration on this issue is disappointing to anyone who works in the protection of children.

This should not be a political jousting match but a coming together, particularly when it comes to the protection of children.

Child protection is an area that requires voices of reason, that connects all of us because children are our most precious gift and our future.

Sonya Ryan, CRF founder & CEO, implores all sides of government to come together and pass this bill as soon as possible.

“This bill will genuinely help so many people and so many victims of crime.

“There is no question that we want child sex offenders put away for a long time and off the streets, this is an absolute given. As a mother who has lost a child through the actions of a heinous child sex offender, I implore all sides of government work together, compromise and pass this bill as soon as possible with or without mandatory sentencing.”

Victims of crime, innocent children, the Australian community are looking for leaders who will stand up for those who cannot defend themselves, who put political battles aside for the greater good of humanity, who are able to push their egos aside and do what’s right.

As we see it there are two practical options;

1. Pass this legislation with mandatory – a review in three years.

2. Pass this legislation without mandatory - work with the judiciary to increase sentencing overall and make sure adequate sentences are being applied – a review in three years.

Either way our children win. This is a huge step in the fight against those who wish to harm families.

So somehow, the Labor caucus managed to have its caucus meeting without mentioning Adem Somyurek.

Given the allegations and the damage those allegations cause the party and what it is trying to do, that seems very odd.

Oh good.

Looks like Mathias Cormann has an answer to his question (see earlier post) about Labor’s support for the mandatory sentencing for child sex offenders.

Victoria had 12 new cases the day before, showing community transmission is still an issue in that state.

That highlighted paragraph is important – showing people losing their *second* job.

If you were forced to take a second (or in many cases third) job to make ends meet *before* the pandemic, the recovery is going to be much, much slower.

Keep an eye on that – these were the number of people who felt they needed more than one job, when the budget was headed for *surplus*. If that doesn’t show how low wage growth and a slowing economy was hurting before the pandemic, I don’t know what will.

The ABS reports an uptick in jobs (coming from a fairly shocking low base though).

Total payroll jobs increased by 1% through May, according to the latest release of weekly payroll figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

The head of labour statistics at the ABS, Bjorn Jarvis, said: “The latest data showed that the total payroll job losses since mid-March were greatest in the week ending 18 April (8.9%) and had recovered to a 7.5% loss by the end of May.”

Payroll jobs worked by females increased by 1.4% through May, compared with 0.4% for males. However, total female job losses since mid-March were still greater (8%, compared to 6.3% for males).

Some of the industries most heavily impacted by COVID-19 showed slight recovery in payroll jobs through May.

“Payroll jobs in the accommodation and food services industry increased by 5.0% through May, but remained 29.1% lower than in mid-March,” Mr Jarvis said.

Analysis showed jobs worked by multiple job holders were heavily over-represented in job losses. Around 29.0% of jobs lost since mid-March were previously worked by people as a secondary job. Jobkeeper support can be sought for only one job for each eligible employee.

“Looking at the week-to-week changes, there was a 0.4% increase in the number of payroll jobs in the week ending 30 May, following no change recorded in the week ending 23 May (0.0%),” Jarvis said.

The latest ABS report is out.

A small comment on the government’s attack on Labor over the Victoria situation – given its tardiness on a federal anti-corruption body, it has a delicate line to walk.

It doesn’t have anything it can point to, federally, to address these issues, and it has delayed the small attempt it made in that direction ahead of the election.

“Craig Kelly defended” – the precursor to a cursed sentence.

The Coalition party room has concluded. Scott Morrison encouraged his parliamentarians to not get in the way of the unfolding Victorian Labor crisis over allegations of branch-stacking, and also had a swing at Labor and the Greens for combining to block mandatory minimum sentences for child sex offenders.

Morrison also said that future prosperity can’t be built on subsidies and warned of rising unemployment in September and October – echoing his public comments that the government can’t save every job and private sector growth is needed.

Liberal MP Craig Kelly defended Alan Jones after ACMA found he had breached broadcasting codes with his inaccurate commentary about climate change.

The budget won’t be out until October, although we will be getting some more economic updates before then (the June quarter is going to be horrendous)

The helpful folk at the Parliamentary Budget Office have done up a glossary of the budget terms you’ll be hearing a lot in the coming months.

You’ll find it here

Mathias Cormann says it is “extremely disappointing” that Labor and crossbench senators came together to stop minimum mandatory sentencing laws.

That was after very strong concerns from the Australian Law Council over the broad brushstrokes of the law - which would mean that a consensual relationship between an almost 16 year old and an 18 year old, for example, (I am not endorsing, just pointing out one of the theoretical examples) would be subject to mandatory sentencing.

Cormann (representing the government) is not happy:

The Labor party used a procedural trick to vote against the minimum mandatory sentencing for child sex offenders.

It’s extremely disappointing, extremely disappointing.

Last week, Anthony Albanese wanted everyone to believe that Labor was supportive of our legislation he said in the parliament that he would be doing everything he can to help.

And last night his Labor senators, I don’t know whether it was against his wishes or whether he was aware of what was happening, last night, the Labor party in the Senate use a procedural trick to vote down minimum mandatory sentencing for child sex offenders. That is the most heinous crime you can think of.

And the legislation that we’ve put forward, was entirely appropriate – about 39% of child sex offenders don’t do any time in jail. Anthony Albanese has a lot of explaining to do today whether he supports what his Labor senators did in the Senate chamber last night.

It will be another hour until the federal parliament sits, if you were wondering why it was a little quieter than usual today

Mathias Cormann says the federal government is “working as fast as we can” to deliver infrastructure projects.

That’s because there has been a bit of criticism around the delays in infrastructure projects before the Covid crisis.

Christian Porter is appearing remotely for the state of the nation Ceda conference.

He says the coming recovery is not just about money – meaning jobkeeper – but also infrastructure and getting local economies up and running again.

As September inches closer, more and more businesses want answer on jobkeeper and its future.

From everything the government is saying though, the future of jobkeeper is that it doesn’t really have one.

The Victorian parliament will sit at midday.

Does Daniel Andrews still believe, as he said yesterday, Kairouz and Scott have done nothing wrong? (He said yesterday he was assured they had done nothing wrong.)

I will refer you to the statements they have made. They have made a statement. They have been very clear about the fact that they believe they have done nothing wrong. They both have resigned from the cabinet. I support that decision. It is the right decision to take. The Victoria police and Ibac, they will be the ultimate arbiters of whether their contention they have done the right thing is an accurate one or note. That will not be a position – a judgement that I make. Again, I just refer you to the statements. They have made commitments to me and I sought those commitments. They have reiterated their positions and if you want to know more about why they have that confidence or other thinking that might have been part of the decisions that they have made, then you have got to speak to them. I can’t speak to that matter.

On losing three cabinet ministers in two days (Adem Somyurek was sacked, Marlene Kairouz and Robin Scott resigned) Daniel Andrews says:

I am focused and doing our job. Those sort of issues are not a concern to me. What is of a concern, though, is that we have these matters promptly investigated and dealt with and that we get on and do the important work that we have to do. That work clouds the national executive of our party facilitating a restructure of our party, some substantial and meaningful reforms so that we can deal with the very serious issues that the party confronts.

Daniel Andrews looks like he is having a pretty bad day.

Q: Why did she resign today and not yesterday?

Andrews: She has issued a statement. The timing of her statement, the content of her statement is entirely a matter for her. I won be interpreting that for you, nor will I pretend to be a spokesperson for her. What I am doing is I am referring you to the statement she has issued.

Q: Sounds like you are trying to distance yourself.

Andrews: How it sounds is a matter for you. These are serious issues. They are being investigated by Ibac, by Victoria police. I simply won’t cut across that process, I am committed to that process have faith in that process. Ministers have made decisions, they have issued statements. Those statements speak to why they made those decisions and I will leave it to others to interpret that as they see fit.

The A-League has taken its time – but the season has a start date.

It will be back on 16 July, but there is still no broadcast deal in place.

Meanwhile, as reported, the slight uptick in Covid cases won’t stop the restrictions from being eased.

As AAP reports:

Despite new cases of coronavirus emerging, states remain confident about continuing to ease restrictions.

Victoria recorded nine new cases on Tuesday, including a student, prompting the closure of another school.

Of the new cases, two are linked to a known outbreak at Monash Health while one is associated with an extended family cluster in Coburg.

NSW has reported three new cases of the virus on Tuesday, all travellers now in hotel quarantine.

From 1 July the state will almost double the number of people allowed on public transport as more city workers return to the office.

Daily public transport capacity will increase to 1.3 million up from about 875,000.

A small group of Australians are set to arrive in Adelaide from Singapore, where they will have to complete 14 days of supervised isolation.

The Victorian opposition doesn’t want Steve Bracks to be involved in any Labor internal review. The shadow attorney-general has just released this statement:

That federal Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, is considering appointing former premier Steve Bracks to head the much needed review into the culture of political corruption that exists in the Victorian Labor party is deeply concerning and must be ruled out.

Steve Bracks is personally connected with many current senior figures of the ALP which makes it impossible for him to be objective in any review.

Further, as chairman of Maurice Blackburn he is hopelessly conflicted. The justice legislation miscellaneous amendments bill 2019 currently before the Legislative Council will, if passed, enrich its directors and owners.

It would be wrong for Steve Bracks to accept any appointment to review the ALP while he or members of his law firm are actively lobbying for the passage of legislation that will have a significant financial windfall for class action litigators such as Maurice Blackburn.

Just back on the Victoria branch-stacking saga, the state police minister, Lisa Neville, has suggested Marlene Kairouz, who was this morning implicated in the scandal, should reflect on her place in the Victorian Labor party.

Treasurer Tim Pallas made similar (although vaguer) comments minutes earlier.

Indigenous Australians are significantly overrepresented in the number of strip searches conducted by police in New South Wales, representing 12% of all searches in a two-year period despite only making up 3.4% of the state’s population.

The Guardian can today reveal that between 2016 and 2018 police in NSW conducted 1,183 strip searches on Indigenous people in the state, including one 10 year old and two 11 year olds.

Michael McGowan has the full story this morning:

Amanda Stoker used the adjournment debate in the Senate to apologise for her “unfortunate choice of words” – those words being the Queensland premier had a “knee on the throat” of Queensland businesses last night.

She made the comments on Sky After Dark, so I guess apologising when the sun goes down makes sense too.

Stoker is fighting for her Senate spot, so don’t think this is the last of these sorts of moves.

I rise to provide context and to apologise for any genuine hurt caused by a comment I made last Thursday, which was raised in this chamber during question time today. The comments made were in response to a question about the closure of Queensland’s borders, an issue which has caused many constituents of mine to contact me with heart-wrenching and emotional accounts of the damage that it was causing to them and to their businesses and to their families. I’d heard devastating stories of livelihoods lost, people whose mental health was tenuous because of the financial stress that they were suffering and stories of families struggling to get by, given the loss of their jobs in the tourism and hospitality industries.

I am willing to admit it: I was angry, I still am. I likened the Queensland premier’s refusal to open the borders to choking the Queensland economy. I used an unfortunate turn of phrase. It wasn’t premeditated, rehearsed or intended to offend.

[Senator Murray Watt interrupts]

… Show some grace, Senator Watt. It was an impromptu comment meant to demonstrate to those people affected by those border closures that someone understood their pain.

Now, some of those opposite have sought to sensationalise that comment beyond its intent. For anyone genuinely hurt or offended, please know that was never my intention. I do apologise for any genuine offence or hurt caused.

But one thing I know is that Labor, and specifically Senator Watt, are not genuinely offended. If they were they would’ve raised it last week. Instead they waited for a news day where they badly needed a distraction from Labor’s corruption allegations. I note that while they are fast to claim outrage when someone who is not part of their political tribe is loose with their language,there is silence – crickets –when a member of the left does the same thing. I won’t repeat my concern about that hypocrisy, which I raised in this chamber last Tuesday, but I did want to put these remarks on the record tonight.

So no new community transmission in NSW – the new cases are returned travelers in hotel quarantine.

Gladys Berejiklian on the new NSW transport restrictions ease:

In view of easing restrictions, we’re also pleased to be able to say that health advice has now allowed us to increase capacity on the public transport network from 1 July.

So from 1 July, the ability of the transport network to carry more people in the peak and during the day has been increased and this has been based on configuration of where people sit or stand on a bus, a train or a ferry, and, in fact, we now will be able to confirm from 1 July that if you see a green dot, it is safe to sit or stand there and that new configuration will be available from 1 July.

Now, this is pleasing for those people who work in places like the CBD, or people who do rely on public transport.

We’re still encouraging people to travel outside the peak where possible, but now we will have extra capacity in the peak, almost doubling capacity in the peak from 1 July, which is great news.

NSW is reporting another 3 cases in the last 24 hours.

It’s party room day – which is why the morning is a little quiet. We’ll bring you the highlights when they are done

AAP has an update on the ASX, for any market watchers (the RBA will publish its June minutes today).

The ASX is set for big early gains following Wall Street’s enthusiasm over the Federal Reserve’s plan to buy individual corporate bonds to help prop up the economy.

The local SPI 200 futures contract was higher by 141 points, or 2.46%, to 5,876.0 at 0800 AEST on Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve’s purchases will be part of its $US1tn ($A1.5tn) bond-buying program to keep lending markets running smoothly, which allows big employers to easily access cash.

They are also the latest reminder the US central bank is doing everything it can to support markets during the coronavirus pandemic, analysts say.

The S&P 500 rose 25.28 points to finish at 3,066.59 - 9.4% below its record set in February.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 157.62 points, or 0.6%, to finish at 25,763.16. The Nasdaq composite added 137.21, or 1.4%, to 9,726.02.

In Australia on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank’s June board meeting minutes will be published.

Economists will be looking for any comments about the Aussie dollar’s recent surge and the expected timing of economic recovery.

Bill Shorten was on the Nine network this morning, where he also spoke about the Victorian branch-stacking allegations:

The party has been trying to clean up branch-stacking across Australia and I think – well, we thought it had, but clearly it hadn’t in Victoria in this case.

No, most people wouldn’t have a clue of this sort of conduct. You saw by the nature of conduct. You saw by the nature of the video, is it not something which is done in public in front of people. I mean, it is interesting, I am not sure any party can throw rocks here of course. I think Malcolm Turnbull has just released a book where he boasts about stacking his branches but that doesn’t make it right. It is no good for the people of Australia.

Anthony Albanese also mentioned that point in his interview with Sydney radio 2GB (so you can see where Labor wants to go with this).

Well, you see it in the Liberal Party. Malcolm Turnbull outlines how he got into parliament, in his book, in Wentworth. From time to time it has occurred. That’s the truth. It’s occurred in the Liberal party, the National party, the Labor party, it occurred in the New South Wales Greens.

We should hear more about the internal review into Victorian Labor a little later today after the federal executive meets.

Steve Bracks and Jenny Macklin are tipped to lead that review.

Meanwhile, focus has shifted to Marlene Kairouz, another of Adem Somyurek’s factional allies and whether she has more questions to answer.

Anthony Albanese spoke about the Victorian Labor situation on 7.30 last night, where Leigh Sales asked him about whether or not he was worried recordings appeared to have been made in a federal Labor MP’s office:

Sales: It is a significant point. Because many MPs would have sensitive discussions in their offices around, for example, matters of national security and intelligence. Will you be investigating further to find out whose office it was and whether any information of that nature may have been compromised?

Albanese: My job isn’t to investigate. Indeed, premier Andrews has forwarded investigations on to the anti-corruption body in Victoria and on to the police and that’s appropriate.

Sales: I’m just surprised that you don’t find that something that you would like to know if there are hidden cameras in the office of federal Labor MPs.

Albanese: Well, the police and the appropriate authorities are investigating all these matters.

Christian Porter and Sally McManus are both slated to speak at the Ceda “State of the Nation” event this morning.

Penny Wong has issued a morning statement on the death sentence handed to Australian Karm Gilespie by the Guangzhou intermediate people’s court in China, saying the Labor party is “deeply saddened” by the sentence.

We oppose the death penalty in all circumstances, for all people.

This is a fundamental Australian value and a long-held bipartisan position.

We note the foreign minister says an appeal opportunity remains and support the efforts of the government to provide Mr Gilespie with all appropriate consular assistance.

Christopher Knaus and William Summers continue their series looking at MP travel expenses:

Michael McCormack and his wife flew to Melbourne on a VIP government jet before the Melbourne Cup, celebrated in the marquee of gambling giant Tabcorp, billed taxpayers for their return flights, and justified the trip by reannouncing a three-year-old funding pledge for a sports hall at an event that dismayed local councillors.

The deputy prime minister, a regular at the races, was last year given tickets by Tabcorp to attend Flemington’s exclusive Birdcage section with his wife Catherine Shaw, alongside a host of other ministers, gambling executives, and Australia’s richest woman, mining billionaire Gina Rinehart.

They took an RAAF special purpose jet – thought to cost taxpayers about $4,6oo per hour – to fly into Melbourne on the Sunday, made the funding announcement on Monday, attended the race on Tuesday, and flew out at public expense on Wednesday, with McCormack going to Canberra, via Sydney, and his wife back home to Wagga Wagga.

McCormack said the trip to Melbourne was needed to make an announcement the day before the Melbourne Cup of $4m in federal funding for a proposed indoor sports facility being built by Stonnington City Council in south-eastern Melbourne.

Not only had that money already been announced by the former member for Higgins, Kelly O’Dwyer, three years earlier, but the project was – and still is – mired in legal proceedings in the Victorian supreme court that have prevented works from commencing.

The Australian government is set to reveal potential changes in the way it engages with the United Nations and other global bodies – after a review sparked by Scott Morrison’s concerns last year about “negative globalism”.

The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, is expected to address the issue when she makes a major foreign policy speech “on the Covid-19 period and beyond” at the Australian National University tonight.

Payne “will outline Australia’s agenda, including the central focus of our national interests and the importance of global institutions delivering on their mandates”, according to an event alert issued by the ANU’s national security college.

In an apparent reference to the forthright role Australia recently played in pushing for an international coronavirus inquiry – a move that triggered China’s ire – Payne is expected to “discuss international cooperation throughout the Covid-19 crisis and Australia’s role in promoting our values to support the rules-based global order”.

The speech, which begins at 6pm, is set to outline any changes to Australia’s engagement with global bodies, stemming from the review Morrison announced in his speech to the Lowy Institute last October when he warned against “a new variant of globalism that seeks to elevate global institutions above the authority of nation states to direct national policies”.

The prime minister argued at the time that Australia should avoid “any reflex towards a negative globalism that coercively seeks to impose a mandate from an often ill-defined borderless global community, and worse still, an unaccountable internationalist bureaucracy” – rhetoric that drew immediate comparisons with Donald Trump.

Contrary to that early positioning, however, there is speculation the “audit” may actually have recommended a more active role for Australia in the multilateral system.

The Australian newspaper reported last week that the review conducted by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade called on the government to seek more Australian representation in key committees, push more strongly for democratic-­nation candidates to take leadership positions, and press for reform when necessary.

Incidentally, a government bill to replenish funding for a number of global bodies sailed through the Senate last week.