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| Closing the Gap progress has been 'mixed, says Malcolm Turnbull – politics live | Closing the Gap progress has been 'mixed, says Malcolm Turnbull – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 2.59am GMT | |
| 02:59 | |
| Daniel Hurst | |
| Just an inflection on the South China Sea issue and Plibersek’s reluctance at the press club to endorse announcements about Australia’s exercises because they might be seen as deliberately provocative. | |
| This is shadow defence minister Stephen Conroy last month, saying the opposite: | |
| Firstly, Australia currently has ships and planes that engage in activities across this region, but neither the prime minister nor the defence minister will actually state what they’re doing. In fact recently – as I’m sure you heard, and your listeners heard – a BBC recording was made of China challenging an Australian plane that wasn’t, we understand, within any disputed territorial waters. | |
| So the first thing is, why are the government hiding what activities our planes and our ships are engaged in? I don’t understand why the Australian government refuses to outline to the Australian public what activities our military assets are engaged in. Why are we hiding it, why won’t we talk about it? | |
| 2.53am GMT | |
| 02:53 | |
| Delighted to meet with @KristinDavis today to discuss her work in UNHCR and raise awareness of the IWill campaign pic.twitter.com/dTPAmcPpEn | |
| 2.49am GMT | |
| 02:49 | |
| We also have a special guest in the parliament today – Kristin Davis of Sex in the City fame. Davis is a refugee advocate working with the UN. | |
| Look where I am! Parliament House, Canberra, AU with @UNrefugees #UNHCR @Refugees pic.twitter.com/7f5DDBCfUP | |
| 2.46am GMT | |
| 02:46 | |
| Because I need some Magic Mike to power me through question time. Estimates, in two pictures. The defence secretary Dennis Richardson. | |
| 2.41am GMT | |
| 02:41 | |
| Shalailah Medhora | |
| Reaction has started pouring in on today’s Closing the Gap progress report. Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander community leaders have welcomed the prime minister’s commitment to talking to and collaborating with Indigenous people. | |
| “We really need to hear the voices of our people,” co-chair of the Close the Gap committee, Jackie Huggins, said. “We are decent, dignified human beings; we expect the best and we expect what is afforded to other people in this country.” | |
| But Huggins expressed frustration at the slow progress in reaching critical health, education and employment targets. “We are sick and tired of going to funerals on a very regular basis. We want it to stop for our people,” she said. She warned Malcolm Turnbull that Indigenous Australians would “hold him to his word” on his pledge to improve the lives of the nation’s first peoples. | |
| Labor acknowledged that there were “areas of profound disappointment” in the report, but urged the government to put money towards implementing a plan on improving Indigenous people’s health. It continued its push for a new target on lowering the number of Indigenous people in jail. “We walked free, once many years ago in this country, but now my mob are locked up,” Aboriginal senator, Nova Peris, said. | |
| Updated | |
| at 2.50am GMT | |
| 2.38am GMT | |
| 02:38 | |
| And that’s a wrap at the press club. | |
| A quick performance assessment. We need to appraise because Plibersek is a future leadership contender for the Australian Labor party, and she’s very rarely tested. So here’s my thoughts. Strong speech, well articulated. It would have taken a deal of preparation and thought. Questions and answers mainly fine. Small but perceptible wobble on the South China Sea answer, which is odd. That’s the question that she should have prepped for with that speech and in this forum. Really not the question you want to wobble on. | |
| Question time is beckoning. Pop the kettle on everyone, there’s just time to freshen the pot. | |
| 2.27am GMT | 2.27am GMT |
| 02:27 | 02:27 |
| Plibersek gets a follow up question on the Palestine debate at the NSW Labor conference. She repeats what she said before about trips being beneficial, and hoses down the idea that this will be a big noisy stoush. (If this follows usual practice, there will be a significant amount of arm twisting and bartering and a joint motion with cross factional support will ultimately be put and carried. But maybe this one will be different.) | Plibersek gets a follow up question on the Palestine debate at the NSW Labor conference. She repeats what she said before about trips being beneficial, and hoses down the idea that this will be a big noisy stoush. (If this follows usual practice, there will be a significant amount of arm twisting and bartering and a joint motion with cross factional support will ultimately be put and carried. But maybe this one will be different.) |
| 2.23am GMT | 2.23am GMT |
| 02:23 | 02:23 |
| David Speers from Sky News invites Plibersek to have a crack at Russia in the current airstrikes in Syria. She ponies up on that one. | David Speers from Sky News invites Plibersek to have a crack at Russia in the current airstrikes in Syria. She ponies up on that one. |
| I think that moderate groups are deliberately being targeted by the Russians to strengthen the hand of the Assad government. I think the Russians would prefer the West to be making a choice between the Assad government and IS with no middle way. | I think that moderate groups are deliberately being targeted by the Russians to strengthen the hand of the Assad government. I think the Russians would prefer the West to be making a choice between the Assad government and IS with no middle way. |
| Q: Would she support partition? | Q: Would she support partition? |
| No, she would not. | No, she would not. |
| Where would you even begin to draw the borders? | Where would you even begin to draw the borders? |
| 2.20am GMT | 2.20am GMT |
| 02:20 | 02:20 |
| Mark Kenny from Fairfax invites Plibersek to disavow Australia’s current military contribution in Iraq. Unsurprisingly, she declines to disavow. | Mark Kenny from Fairfax invites Plibersek to disavow Australia’s current military contribution in Iraq. Unsurprisingly, she declines to disavow. |
| I think we have a monstrously complex situation but I continue to believe that the threat from IS or Daesh in attacking civilians across the border into Iraq justifies our engagement. | I think we have a monstrously complex situation but I continue to believe that the threat from IS or Daesh in attacking civilians across the border into Iraq justifies our engagement. |
| 2.17am GMT | 2.17am GMT |
| 02:17 | 02:17 |
| Peter Hartcher, Sydney Morning Herald. | Peter Hartcher, Sydney Morning Herald. |
| Q: Should the Australian navy and air force conduct and announce regular freedom of navigation exercises within the twelve nautical-mile territorial limit on disputed territories and reefs in the South China Sea? | Q: Should the Australian navy and air force conduct and announce regular freedom of navigation exercises within the twelve nautical-mile territorial limit on disputed territories and reefs in the South China Sea? |
| Well, Peter, as you would know, the Australian navy has often sailed through these areas and we urge the Australian navy to continue the practice that it has followed in this area. | Well, Peter, as you would know, the Australian navy has often sailed through these areas and we urge the Australian navy to continue the practice that it has followed in this area. |
| Q: Announcements, though? | Q: Announcements, though? |
| We don’t think it’s useful to raise tension s in the sense that sometimes announcements can be perceived as deliberately provocative so you’d have to take a case-by-case approach depending on the mission you were talking. | We don’t think it’s useful to raise tension s in the sense that sometimes announcements can be perceived as deliberately provocative so you’d have to take a case-by-case approach depending on the mission you were talking. |
| (Sail by quietly? Not entirely convincing, that answer.) | (Sail by quietly? Not entirely convincing, that answer.) |
| 2.13am GMT | 2.13am GMT |
| 02:13 | 02:13 |
| Into questions now. | Into questions now. |
| Andrew Tillett from the West Australian. | Andrew Tillett from the West Australian. |
| Q: I want to ask you about at the Labor party, your branch of the Labor party’s conference this weekend there will be a debate on Israel and Palestine including a motion that MPs and other Labor identities be banned from taking sponsored travel to Israel. Could it be a compromise that if you go to Israel you have to spend half the time also in Palestine? TheWA Labor party branch has had a motion of its own put up through its channels that if an MP takes a visit to Palestine the MP has to spend 50% of their time in Israel. I was wondering what’s your take on all this? And also, too, if you could explain what your response is to the view that Labor policy on the Israel-Palestine questions being more overly influenced by electoral considerations in Sydney? | Q: I want to ask you about at the Labor party, your branch of the Labor party’s conference this weekend there will be a debate on Israel and Palestine including a motion that MPs and other Labor identities be banned from taking sponsored travel to Israel. Could it be a compromise that if you go to Israel you have to spend half the time also in Palestine? TheWA Labor party branch has had a motion of its own put up through its channels that if an MP takes a visit to Palestine the MP has to spend 50% of their time in Israel. I was wondering what’s your take on all this? And also, too, if you could explain what your response is to the view that Labor policy on the Israel-Palestine questions being more overly influenced by electoral considerations in Sydney? |
| Thank you for that question, Plibersek says, not meaning that in the slightest. She says she expects “a reaffirmation of our position from the national conference which says that we support, of course, a two-state solution.” | Thank you for that question, Plibersek says, not meaning that in the slightest. She says she expects “a reaffirmation of our position from the national conference which says that we support, of course, a two-state solution.” |
| Then on the trips: | Then on the trips: |
| The second issue, the one that you’ve raised specifically, is about trips to Israel and Palestine. Look, I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for members of parliament and for others to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories. I think it’s great. I don’t actually think you can really understand the geography, how close people live, how intertwined the communities are until you have visited so I’m a great supporter of people visiting. | The second issue, the one that you’ve raised specifically, is about trips to Israel and Palestine. Look, I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for members of parliament and for others to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories. I think it’s great. I don’t actually think you can really understand the geography, how close people live, how intertwined the communities are until you have visited so I’m a great supporter of people visiting. |
| 2.04am GMT | 2.04am GMT |
| 02:04 | 02:04 |
| Daniel Hurst | Daniel Hurst |
| Some context around this announcement from Plibersek. Timor-Leste last year announced it would resume a formal challenge against a 2006 oil and gas treaty that became mired in controversy following claims Australia bugged the cabinet room in Dili to gain the upper hand in negotiations. | Some context around this announcement from Plibersek. Timor-Leste last year announced it would resume a formal challenge against a 2006 oil and gas treaty that became mired in controversy following claims Australia bugged the cabinet room in Dili to gain the upper hand in negotiations. |
| But the government of Timor-Leste withdrew an International Court of Justice case against Australia relating to evidence it said was wrongly seized by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) in raids in Canberra in December 2013. | But the government of Timor-Leste withdrew an International Court of Justice case against Australia relating to evidence it said was wrongly seized by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (Asio) in raids in Canberra in December 2013. |
| Plibersek has now called for a resolution, noting Timor-Leste had suffered decades of war and starvation and Australia’s role in securing the country’s independence was “a proud moment for many Australians”. | Plibersek has now called for a resolution, noting Timor-Leste had suffered decades of war and starvation and Australia’s role in securing the country’s independence was “a proud moment for many Australians”. |
| Timor-Leste has said it remained willing to resolve the dispute directly with Australia even as it launched new arbitration proceedings in September last year. Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, and the attorney general, George Brandis, have previously said they were disappointed with the decision and they would prefer to resolve the issue “through dialogue rather than legal action”. | Timor-Leste has said it remained willing to resolve the dispute directly with Australia even as it launched new arbitration proceedings in September last year. Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, and the attorney general, George Brandis, have previously said they were disappointed with the decision and they would prefer to resolve the issue “through dialogue rather than legal action”. |
| 2.02am GMT | 2.02am GMT |
| 02:02 | 02:02 |
| Plibersek flags submission to international adjudication to settle the maritime boundaries between Australia and Timor | Plibersek flags submission to international adjudication to settle the maritime boundaries between Australia and Timor |
| Picking up this theme, some news on Timor-Leste. | Picking up this theme, some news on Timor-Leste. |
| Tanya Plibersek: | Tanya Plibersek: |
| Australia regularly calls on other countries to abide by international laws and to settle disputes in line with the rules-based system. If we want to insist that other nations play by the rules, we also need to adhere to them. | Australia regularly calls on other countries to abide by international laws and to settle disputes in line with the rules-based system. If we want to insist that other nations play by the rules, we also need to adhere to them. |
| We have a good record of doing so but not a flawless one. | We have a good record of doing so but not a flawless one. |
| Timor-Leste suffered decades of war and starvation before gaining independence. Australia played a key role in securing that independence, a proud moment for many Australians. | Timor-Leste suffered decades of war and starvation before gaining independence. Australia played a key role in securing that independence, a proud moment for many Australians. |
| The maritime boundary dispute has poisoned our relations with our newest neighbour. This must change for their sake and for ours. | The maritime boundary dispute has poisoned our relations with our newest neighbour. This must change for their sake and for ours. |
| A Shorten Labor government will redouble our efforts to conclude good-faith negotiation with Timor-Leste to settle the maritime boundaries between our two countries. | A Shorten Labor government will redouble our efforts to conclude good-faith negotiation with Timor-Leste to settle the maritime boundaries between our two countries. |
| If we are not successful in negotiating a settlement with our neighbour, we are prepared to submit ourselves to international adjudication or arbitration. | If we are not successful in negotiating a settlement with our neighbour, we are prepared to submit ourselves to international adjudication or arbitration. |
| (That one gets applause in the room.) | (That one gets applause in the room.) |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.07am GMT | at 2.07am GMT |
| 1.59am GMT | 1.59am GMT |
| 01:59 | 01:59 |
| Plibersek is currently outlining her view of the key difference between conservatives and progressives on foreign policy. She frames this difference around the concept of being a good global citizen. She says moral global citizenry is a duty at the heart of Ben Chifley’s timeless definition of the Labor mission: working for the betterment of mankind. | Plibersek is currently outlining her view of the key difference between conservatives and progressives on foreign policy. She frames this difference around the concept of being a good global citizen. She says moral global citizenry is a duty at the heart of Ben Chifley’s timeless definition of the Labor mission: working for the betterment of mankind. |
| 1.52am GMT | 1.52am GMT |
| 01:52 | 01:52 |
| On China, the relationship, the AIIB and disputes in the South China Sea. | On China, the relationship, the AIIB and disputes in the South China Sea. |
| Tanya Plibersek: | Tanya Plibersek: |
| We’re proud that Gough Whitlam reached out to China when people said it was folly. We’re proud that Bob Hawke and Paul Keating fostered inclusive cooperation in our region through APEC when their critics mocked it as vanity and an elitist obsession. | We’re proud that Gough Whitlam reached out to China when people said it was folly. We’re proud that Bob Hawke and Paul Keating fostered inclusive cooperation in our region through APEC when their critics mocked it as vanity and an elitist obsession. |
| We’re proud of the work Julia Gillard did to establish regular and formal leader-level meetings between China and Australia, a foreign policy achievement which will only be enlarged over time. Our history with China means a Labor government would have acted differently when it came to the Asian infrastructure investment bank. This was a way of positively working with China to reduce the infrastructure deficit in our region. | We’re proud of the work Julia Gillard did to establish regular and formal leader-level meetings between China and Australia, a foreign policy achievement which will only be enlarged over time. Our history with China means a Labor government would have acted differently when it came to the Asian infrastructure investment bank. This was a way of positively working with China to reduce the infrastructure deficit in our region. |
| Instead, division around the Coalition Cabinet table and botched public diplomacy led to it being seen as a great US-China power struggle with Australia caught in the middle and China coming out on top. And now it seems that Australia will miss out on a position as one of the vice presidents of the AIIB due to our perceived reluctance at the period of sign-up. We should have gotten in early, we could have had more influence in setting the rules. | Instead, division around the Coalition Cabinet table and botched public diplomacy led to it being seen as a great US-China power struggle with Australia caught in the middle and China coming out on top. And now it seems that Australia will miss out on a position as one of the vice presidents of the AIIB due to our perceived reluctance at the period of sign-up. We should have gotten in early, we could have had more influence in setting the rules. |
| Our close economic and diplomatic relationship with China binds us but it does not blind us. On the question of relations between China and the United States and between China and the rest of the region, we are clear-sighted. | Our close economic and diplomatic relationship with China binds us but it does not blind us. On the question of relations between China and the United States and between China and the rest of the region, we are clear-sighted. |
| On the South China Sea we are not disinterested observers. We have a national interest in defending freedom of navigation and in upholding the international system of laws and accepted behaviours. | On the South China Sea we are not disinterested observers. We have a national interest in defending freedom of navigation and in upholding the international system of laws and accepted behaviours. |
| 1.46am GMT | 1.46am GMT |
| 01:46 | 01:46 |
| Plibersek outlines her thoughts on the US alliance. Close, but not supine. | Plibersek outlines her thoughts on the US alliance. Close, but not supine. |
| We have never sought for Australia the tinny badge of deputy sheriff. We believe that we are a more valuable ally if we have the maturity and confidence to speak frankly and act independently within the alliance. Australia will disagree with the United States on occasion and we should have disagreed in 2003. The decision to invade and occupy Iraq was a terrible mistake. | We have never sought for Australia the tinny badge of deputy sheriff. We believe that we are a more valuable ally if we have the maturity and confidence to speak frankly and act independently within the alliance. Australia will disagree with the United States on occasion and we should have disagreed in 2003. The decision to invade and occupy Iraq was a terrible mistake. |
| The cost in lives, money and the reputational damage to the United States and other members of the Coalition of the Willing was not matched in gains for Iraq, for the United States or for the world. | The cost in lives, money and the reputational damage to the United States and other members of the Coalition of the Willing was not matched in gains for Iraq, for the United States or for the world. |
| Labor opposed the decision to join the invasion of Iraq. I spoke against it, I marched against it, when George W. Bush visited our parliament in 2003, I presented Condoleezza Rice with a letter signed by 41 Labor MPs explaining why Labor opposed the invasion of Iraq without UN approval. | Labor opposed the decision to join the invasion of Iraq. I spoke against it, I marched against it, when George W. Bush visited our parliament in 2003, I presented Condoleezza Rice with a letter signed by 41 Labor MPs explaining why Labor opposed the invasion of Iraq without UN approval. |
| If I was presented with the same set of circumstances, I’d do that again. | If I was presented with the same set of circumstances, I’d do that again. |
| But none of this diminishes Labor’s support or commitment to the alliance. As two nations with shared histories, mutual interests and common values, as believers in and defenders of open economies, free societies and individual liberties, there is so much that Australia and the United States can achieve together which is why the US-Australia alliance will always be an important element of Labor’s foreign policy. | But none of this diminishes Labor’s support or commitment to the alliance. As two nations with shared histories, mutual interests and common values, as believers in and defenders of open economies, free societies and individual liberties, there is so much that Australia and the United States can achieve together which is why the US-Australia alliance will always be an important element of Labor’s foreign policy. |
| 1.40am GMT | 1.40am GMT |
| 01:40 | 01:40 |
| Tanya Plibersek: | Tanya Plibersek: |
| I don’t think you’ll be shocked to hear that I’ve never been a big fan of the great man theory of history: the story of the world written as a tribute to an immortal few, deserving to command, taking their citizens by the scruff of the neck and driving them on to glory. | I don’t think you’ll be shocked to hear that I’ve never been a big fan of the great man theory of history: the story of the world written as a tribute to an immortal few, deserving to command, taking their citizens by the scruff of the neck and driving them on to glory. |
| The history that interests me is the more complex story, the ebb and flow of events, the spark and slow burn of resurgence and decline, the shifts in power and influence that see nations rise and fall. | The history that interests me is the more complex story, the ebb and flow of events, the spark and slow burn of resurgence and decline, the shifts in power and influence that see nations rise and fall. |
| Reading about this is one thing but living through it is another. | Reading about this is one thing but living through it is another. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 1.53am GMT | at 1.53am GMT |
| 1.38am GMT | 1.38am GMT |
| 01:38 | 01:38 |
| Daniel Hurst | Daniel Hurst |
| The deputy Labor leader, Tanya Plibersek, is addressing the National Press Club and laying down some markers about her desire to adopt a “broader” approach to foreign policy. | The deputy Labor leader, Tanya Plibersek, is addressing the National Press Club and laying down some markers about her desire to adopt a “broader” approach to foreign policy. |
| She says she wanted to serve a foreign minister in a Shorten Labor government because she believed there was much more that Australian ideas and values could offer the world. | She says she wanted to serve a foreign minister in a Shorten Labor government because she believed there was much more that Australian ideas and values could offer the world. |
| Australia can be a better international citizen, a more active player in our region and a more creative, more confident presence on the world stage. We should choose this path of energy and activism, knowing that it serves our national interest. We see ourselves as a good international citizen and we measure our actions against that. | Australia can be a better international citizen, a more active player in our region and a more creative, more confident presence on the world stage. We should choose this path of energy and activism, knowing that it serves our national interest. We see ourselves as a good international citizen and we measure our actions against that. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 1.47am GMT | at 1.47am GMT |
| 1.30am GMT | 1.30am GMT |
| 01:30 | 01:30 |
| Don’t worry fellow politics tragics, I’ve been looking for a break in the weather too to catch up with the primary in New Hampshire. According to our live coverage – Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are the projected winners. | Don’t worry fellow politics tragics, I’ve been looking for a break in the weather too to catch up with the primary in New Hampshire. According to our live coverage – Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump are the projected winners. |
| 1.26am GMT | 1.26am GMT |
| 01:26 | 01:26 |
| Politics this lunchtime | Politics this lunchtime |
| Just while the going is good – let’s pause for a lunchtime summary. This will give me a chance to stretch to treasury estimates which I’ve thus far neglected to cover. | Just while the going is good – let’s pause for a lunchtime summary. This will give me a chance to stretch to treasury estimates which I’ve thus far neglected to cover. |
| And so it goes. | And so it goes. |