Key events 40m ago Gold Coast mayor tells journalist to ‘fuck off’ during press conference 1h ago Nassif threatens to pull out from Icac hearings mid-rant 1h ago ‘I am not corrupt’: Jean Nassif declares innocence 1h ago Immediate action taken against Labor staffer Muldoon ‘appropriate’, PM says 2h ago Not question time, but ‘smears’ time: Albanese 3h ago NDIA announces voluntary redundancies for first time since creation 3h ago ‘We never spoke about a gas reservation policy’: Hanson denies Guardian report 4h ago Hanson offers qualified apologies to Albanese and Indigenous Australians 4h ago Hanson denies migration plan will send country into recession 4h ago Taylor says One Nation’s comments fail ‘basic test on decency’ 5h ago Sydney Sweeney ad for US gambling company ‘pretty disgusting’, Steggall says 6h ago Queensland to ban ‘green groups’ from objecting to mining projects 6h ago Queensland to introduce new crackdown on parole 7h ago ‘Up to the Coalition’ to team up with Labor on immigration, Chris Bowen says 7h ago Campuses would shut down under One Nation plan, university peak body warns 8h ago Hanson should apologise for ‘deeply hurtful’ comments, says McCarthy 9h ago Malinauskas still optimistic about steel making in South Australia 9h ago O’Neil defends transport minister’s top-tier Qantas membership 9h ago Barnaby Joyce says One Nation will pursue immigration policy ‘no matter the cost’ 10h ago Andrew Hastie says Pauline Hanson hasn’t ‘had the courage’ to front media 10h ago Chris Bowen downplays reintroduction of fuel excise relief amid renewed surge in oil prices 10h ago Albanese speaks with King Charles 10h ago Welcome ‘You’re making this up as you go along’: Butler hits back at Coalition over changes to private health insurance rebate I’m feeling a bit of whiplash today because the opposition has changed tack again and is now asking about reducing the private health insurance rebate for over 65s. Nationals deputy leader Darren Chester asks why the government is “making life harder for 1.5 million aged pensioners”, based on parliamentary budget office data for independent Monique Ryan showing half of the $3bn saved by the measure will be paid for by pensioners. Mark Butler says the savings will go directly into aged care where it’s sorely needed.
He adds that the Coalition hasn’t said where that money for aged care beds should come from instead. double quotation mark The leader of the opposition says, ‘don’t make the cuts’, presumably, he has an alternative way of funding the additional aged care services that older Australians require, or he’s just not going to support them. He’s just not going to support the additional beds or the additional packages that’s going to go into aged care? Are you making this up as you go along?
They’re making this up as they go along ... Health and aged care minister Mark Butler. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images Government is ‘pro-supply’ amid record number of construction insolvencies, O’Neil says Nationals MP Jamie Chaffey is next to the mic (curiously Angus Taylor still hasn’t asked a question as yet), and says 1,700 construction businesses have gone bust in the three months since the budget, the highest quarter of construction insolvencies on record.
Where will Australians live if the construction industry goes broke, he asks. The housing minister, Clare O’Neil , says the government is “pro-supply” and has a “pro-supply budget”. The opposition interrupts but they don’t get very far because Milton Dick says O’Neil is being relevant.
O’Neil says: double quotation mark I’m actually literally quoting from the federal budget, which is what the question was about. The budget will support up to an additional 30,000 homes over the next decade and more, as the benefit of productivity-enhancing reforms flow through to the housing market. Housing minister Clare O’Neil.
Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images Bowen and Tehan accuse each other of ‘hyping’ green hydrogen Dan Tehan’s brought some receipts to check, asking Chris Bowen about his comments to the ABC last night – “I never quite bought all the hype on green hydrogen” – when on 17 November 2023 the energy minister said “Australia’s hydrogen industry is projected to generate $50bn in additional GDP by 2050, creating tens of thousands of jobs in regional Australia, as Australia transforms to a renewable energy superpower”. He asks if Bowen’s “wiped” that 2023 statement from his mind. Bowen says he does remember that quote, and that green hydrogen has been overhyped.
A few years ago, he says, green hydrogen was hypothesised to heat homes and fuel cars. double quotation mark You know how many hydrogen cars were sold in Australia last year? One vehicle, Mr Speaker. One vehicle.
So there was a lot of hype in previous years about green hydrogen. He then suggests that Tehan himself had flogged Australia’s capacity to export hydrogen during the Morrison government. double quotation mark It’s also been said – exporting green hydrogen will supply overseas processing, which will put Australia at the forefront of an emerging renewable energy market leading to new jobs and environmental dividends. Well said, Dan.
Well said ... He was referring to the announcement that the Morrison government is working to continue with international colleagues to establish Australia as a hydrogen export powerhouse. Climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen.
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Katter explores benefits of east coast gas reservation scheme Over to the crossbench, Bob Katter asks if a “genuine” east coast gas reservation scheme will bring down gas prices from “around $17 to below $7”, comparable with Western Australian and world prices, and save copper mining operations in Mt Isa – in his electorate. Bob Katter. Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images Best believe the government won’t commit to a number.
The prime minister gives a broad brush statement about how good a reservation scheme on the east coast would be before handing over to the resources minister, Madeleine King . King says the WA policy was hard to get over the line back in 2008, and that in 2022, federal Labor inherited a “gas policy bin fire”. She then goes off on a bit of a tangent, talking about Pauline Hanson and One Nation’s support for a gas reservation scheme just a couple of months ago. double quotation mark The leader of One Nation, Senator Hanson, very much supported a gas reservation policy.
Indeed, in March, she introduced legislation for it in the Senate. And in June, unfortunately for households around the country and for industry, she has backtracked on that, and is now not supporting a gas reservation policy. We’ve been very clear on this policy, which is more than can be said of the One Nation party.
Not question time, but ‘smears’ time: Albanese Liberal MP Simon Kennedy is next and asks about a report in the Australian that the prime minister attended a fundraiser with a man who was later charged by police with selling banned weapons including swords and knives. Kennedy asks what Albanese spoke to this man about over dinner. There’s some argy bargy on the language of the question and even after a minor rephrase, leader of the house Tony Burke and Milton Dick aren’t happy with it, and don’t believe it’s in line with standing orders.
Kennedy gets a third go and asks how the dinner including this man “aligns with your agenda in keeping Australians safe”. Anthony Albanese criticises the question, and says it “shows the state of the opposition”. double quotation mark The 600 workers who lost their jobs was worth one question, then we go from questions without notice, to smears without notice. Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese.
Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Angus Taylor tries to make a point of order on relevance but then Albanese sits down, and indicates he’s finished his answer. There’s a little awkward encounter afterwards. Susan Templeman is already standing up to ask her dixer when the PM sits down, but first-time Labor MP Emma Comer stands up at the same time ready to ask her question.
They look at each other a little awkwardly and Templeman says, “it’s me first.” It’s question time! Liberal MP Tom Venning kicks us off today, and asks why the government has paid millions of dollars for hotels in Fiji for the COP climate agreement, but could only stump up $10m for Whyalla after it closed one of its blast furnaces – resulting in the loss of more than 500 jobs. Pat Conroy , representing the minister for industry, takes the question and says “we won’t be lectured about support for manufacturers and workers by those over there”.
Just 21 seconds in the opposition intervenes, but their complaint is swiftly dismissed by Milton Dick . Conroy says the failure of the steelworks are entirely on the shoulders of the company that owned it and its boss, Sanjay Gupta . He says the government allocated $3bn to save the future of steelmaking in South Australia, and there are two bidders currently interested in continuing steelmaking in Whyalla. double quotation mark The truth is that years of failure to invest in the steelworks by the previous owner have resulted in the blast furnace being beyond repair.
Those opposite would ask us to ignore the laws of physics and workplace safety. Let’s be very frank about this. Let me be very frank with the chamber.
The Gupta Group had a responsibility to the workers of Whyalla Steelworks, and failed them. This is entirely Gupta’s fault. We won’t be lectured by those who’ve shut down the South Australian car operations, those who’ve shut down two naval shipyards in this country, those who allowed three oil refineries to be shut down.
Whyalla Steelworks. Photograph: Isabella Ward/AAP Government shuts down motions on political advertising laws and veterans’ affairs The House has been busy today with multiple suspensions of standing order motions flying around. Independent MP Zali Steggall tried to bring on truth in political advertising laws – something she has been pushing for a while.
The government in its last term had some draft laws but has basically put them on the backburner. Steggall told the House: double quotation mark Australians will confront an information environment that is rapidly changing at extraordinary speed, Australia lacks a national truth in pol ad laws to protect voters from misinformation and disinformation during election campaigns but also from deepfake content. The motion was shut down by the government.
Zali Steggall. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP Liberal MP Phil Thompson also didn’t have much luck trying to suspend standing orders to force the government to abandon a $5,000 allied health service cap for veterans. It’s an issue the Coalition have been pushing hard in QT.
The Queensland MP and veteran tells the House of veterans who have contacted him to say they’ll lose access to critical support, and calls the veterans’ affairs minister, Matt Keogh “incompetent”. double quotation mark It’s not him who carries the coffins. I carry the coffins, veterans around the country will carry the coffins, this is incompetence from a minister who is out of his depth and laziness from a prime minister who should sack him. Luca Ittimani Canavan says Labor won’t cut far enough in migration negotiations Matt Canavan has said the Coalition is still not willing to make a deal with Labor on migration policy as the government looks for a path to cut back.
The Nationals leader has told reporters in Canberra the talks are ongoing. He said: double quotation mark We’ll be absolutely constructive. ... What’s on the table right now, as I’ve been briefed, haven’t been involved in the direct discussions, but as I’ve been briefed, is the government is still not serious about bringing these numbers down and therefore, it’s not something we can support.
Canavan accused the government of failing to reach a position internally. double quotation mark I think I’ve counted, in reports now, six cabinet meeting that have dealt with migration policy. Tony Burke’s being rolled six times. He said the Coalition was committed to maintaining access to working holiday maker visas and did not want to revise the UK or New Zealand free trade deals, which had contributed to the easy access for overseas backpackers.
One Nation is proposing severe cuts to migration, capping international student visa grants in Australia to 115,000 a year and refusing entry to their families. About 680,000 international students studied in Australia between January and May this year. When asked, Canavan said he had no specific issue with One Nation’s proposal and believed student numbers had to be cut, adding the Coalition would have more to say on the issue.
Nationals leader Matt Canavan. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP Benita Kolovos Victorian premier announces review of Western Renewables Link The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll , has issued a statement just hours after fronting the media to confirm a pause of compulsory reacquisitions while the cost of the Western Renewables Link is reviewed. The Western Renewables Link, a major transmission project managed by AusNet, links Bulgana in western Victoria to Sydenham in Melbourne’s north-west and is due to be completed in 2029.
But opposition to the project has been on display for five years near Daylesford in central Victoria, where a farmer sprayed “piss off AusNet” on to a hillside. In the statement, Carroll said the project was planned “almost 10 years ago and Victorian consumers deserve updated, transparent costings”. He said an immediate, independent assessment will be complete by the end of the year, and its findings will be made public: double quotation mark As it moves along this considered process, Minister Jaclyn Symes has spoken with VicGrid and can reassure the community that no compulsory acquisitions will occur during this time.
Carroll also thanked Labor MPs Martha Haylett , Michaela Settle and Steve McGhie for “their advocacy on behalf of locals on this issue” and said they had “made it crystal clear to me that locals want transparency on this project”. Their respective seats of Ripon, Eureka and Melton are under threat from One Nation and the Coalition, who have already committed to reviewing the transmission project. Victorian premier Ben Carroll.
Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP Henry Belot Public sector union calls for more detail over NDIA redundancies plan The Community and Public Sector Union, which represents NDIA staff, has expressed concern about the agency’s voluntary redundancy plan. The union’s national president, Beth Vincent-Pietsch , says the union is yet to receive details on how many jobs the NIDA would like to see made redundant. double quotation mark The CPSU remains concerned that the government has not provided enough detail about how many jobs will be cut in the NDIA or where those cuts will fall. And we are also deeply concerned for the public sector workers left behind, who will face heavier workloads and greater pressure while the agency continues to spend taxpayer money on expensive labour hire firms.
The NDIA has been contacted for comment. In an email to staff, the NDIA’s chief executive, Graeme Head , said the voluntary redundancies were necessary as its staffing costs were higher than the government’s allocated budget. He said decisions about redundancies would consider the agency’s “workforce capacity” and its “priority areas”, including service delivery.
Source: The Guardian
