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| Bill Shorten asks Labor to endorse Pat Dodson to replace Joe Bullock – politics live | Bill Shorten asks Labor to endorse Pat Dodson to replace Joe Bullock – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 12.20am GMT | |
| 00:20 | |
| While Labor’s Senate leader Penny Wong is shouting at the Liberal Senator Ian MacDonald in the chamber, a statement from Family First Senator Bob Day. | |
| It begins: Family First Senator Bob Day has lamented the conversion of the Senate into a Green rubber stamp for the Liberals, with the indications very clear that today electoral laws will be rammed through without proper debate. | |
| Bob Day: | |
| This is what your new Senate looks like. It is no longer a house of review – it is a house of back room deals and legislative ramming. The Liberal, Nationals, Nick Xenophon and Greens have decided the will of voters no longer matters, they have the numbers, the power and control, and they will force this legislation through the Senate despite its clear errors, irrespective of what others have to say, or the unintended consequences. | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.22am GMT | |
| 12.09am GMT | |
| 00:09 | |
| Richard Di Natale: | |
| We are going to get this reform done and we are going to ensure voters get the people into parliament they vote for, not [through] some backroom deal. | |
| We believe in the reform. | |
| The Greens leader says there have been no discussions with the government about preference swaps. | |
| No, no discussion about preferences. | |
| 12.05am GMT | |
| 00:05 | |
| Di Natale says he’s confident that the Greens will hold Sarah Hanson Young’s Senate spot under the new reforms. There’s analysis around suggesting she’ll be a casualty. | |
| 12.03am GMT | |
| 00:03 | |
| Green Senator Lee Rhiannon (speaking to reporters) is currently urging ALP Senators like Stephen Conroy and Sam Dastyari to come on board with senate reform and leave behind their power broking past. | |
| Leave that path behind! | |
| On double dissolutions, Greens leader Richard Di Natale says he believes the government should not go to a double dissolution. He suggests that will look like the government is running scared. | |
| 11.50pm GMT | |
| 23:50 | |
| Double dissolutions in our time, anytime after July 1 | |
| Gabrielle Chan | |
| More on the Senate voting reform package. | |
| A locked-down deal between the Coalition and the Greens on Senate voting reforms has paved the way for a double dissolution election anytime from 1 July. | |
| As we’ve already noted, the government has accepted the joint committee recommendation for optional preferential voting below the line. Prior to the deal, the government had designed a bill for optional preferential voting above the line only. | |
| The Greens have insisted that the government allow the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) time to implement the reforms – at least until 30 June. | |
| As a result, the deal would give Malcolm Turnbull the option of a double dissolution from 1 July onwards with a new Senate voting system of optional preferential voting if the legislation. | |
| The AEC told the JSCEM committee yesterday it would need three months to implement the new system – longer if the bill was amended. | |
| 11.44pm GMT | 11.44pm GMT |
| 23:44 | 23:44 |
| To one other piece of news I haven’t had a chance to cover off yet. Private health insurance premiums will rise by an average of 5.59% this year. That’s quite a big increase, given inflation is low, but the health minister Sussan Ley has managed the claw back the hike the insurance companies originally wanted. | To one other piece of news I haven’t had a chance to cover off yet. Private health insurance premiums will rise by an average of 5.59% this year. That’s quite a big increase, given inflation is low, but the health minister Sussan Ley has managed the claw back the hike the insurance companies originally wanted. |
| Sussan Ley, on the ABC: | Sussan Ley, on the ABC: |
| A record number of insurers resubmitted lower price rises in response to a direct request from me to reconsider and recognise that for consumers, affordability and value is vitally important in their hanging on to their private health insurance. | A record number of insurers resubmitted lower price rises in response to a direct request from me to reconsider and recognise that for consumers, affordability and value is vitally important in their hanging on to their private health insurance. |
| 11.33pm GMT | 11.33pm GMT |
| 23:33 | 23:33 |
| From one star recruit to another. Lovely shot. | From one star recruit to another. Lovely shot. |
| 11.24pm GMT | 11.24pm GMT |
| 23:24 | 23:24 |
| 11.20pm GMT | 11.20pm GMT |
| 23:20 | 23:20 |
| Scrap that. The government’s response to the JSCEM recommendations on Senate voting reform no longer anyone’s guess. The government will roll over. | Scrap that. The government’s response to the JSCEM recommendations on Senate voting reform no longer anyone’s guess. The government will roll over. |
| Here’s a statement from Malcolm Turnbull and Mathias Cormann: | Here’s a statement from Malcolm Turnbull and Mathias Cormann: |
| The government welcomes the supportive report and recommendations of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters into our proposed Senate voting reforms. | The government welcomes the supportive report and recommendations of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters into our proposed Senate voting reforms. |
| We thank the members of the committee and all those who have made submissions and given evidence to the inquiry. | We thank the members of the committee and all those who have made submissions and given evidence to the inquiry. |
| Our proposed reforms to Senate voting are designed to ensure that the results of future Senate elections reflect the will of the people. | Our proposed reforms to Senate voting are designed to ensure that the results of future Senate elections reflect the will of the people. |
| Our reforms will empower Australian voters to determine what happens to their preferences when voting for the Senate above the line, instead of having those preferences traded and ultimately directed by political parties through insufficiently transparent group voting ticket arrangements. | Our reforms will empower Australian voters to determine what happens to their preferences when voting for the Senate above the line, instead of having those preferences traded and ultimately directed by political parties through insufficiently transparent group voting ticket arrangements. |
| The government has considered the issues raised and the recommendation of the Joint Standing Committee to introduce a form of optional preferential voting below the line as well as above the line and has decided to adopt that recommendation. | The government has considered the issues raised and the recommendation of the Joint Standing Committee to introduce a form of optional preferential voting below the line as well as above the line and has decided to adopt that recommendation. |
| The government will move amendments to that effect during the committee stages of the debate on the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Bill 2016. | The government will move amendments to that effect during the committee stages of the debate on the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Bill 2016. |
| Those amendments will provide for instructions to voters to number at least 12 boxes from 1 to 12 in order of their preference when voting below the line, together with a related savings provision that any vote with at least 6 boxes numbered from 1 to 6 below the line would still be considered formal. | Those amendments will provide for instructions to voters to number at least 12 boxes from 1 to 12 in order of their preference when voting below the line, together with a related savings provision that any vote with at least 6 boxes numbered from 1 to 6 below the line would still be considered formal. |
| These are important reforms in the public interest that will ensure election results reflect the will of voters. We again call on Labor to reconsider their position and to follow the considered advice of their highly regarded shadow minister for electoral Matters Gary Gray instead of just succumbing to the pressures of the union lobby and Labor’s backroom operators. | These are important reforms in the public interest that will ensure election results reflect the will of voters. We again call on Labor to reconsider their position and to follow the considered advice of their highly regarded shadow minister for electoral Matters Gary Gray instead of just succumbing to the pressures of the union lobby and Labor’s backroom operators. |
| 11.16pm GMT | 11.16pm GMT |
| 23:16 | 23:16 |
| Let's recap in case you are just tuning in | Let's recap in case you are just tuning in |
| That opening of super (Wednesday) is hectic enough to warrant a quick recap of events. | That opening of super (Wednesday) is hectic enough to warrant a quick recap of events. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 11.22pm GMT | at 11.22pm GMT |
| 11.01pm GMT | 11.01pm GMT |
| 23:01 | 23:01 |
| Labor has lost the suspension. | Labor has lost the suspension. |
| Green-Lib gag underway in the Senate. Greens abandoning principle in pursuit of Senate voting deal. #auspol | Green-Lib gag underway in the Senate. Greens abandoning principle in pursuit of Senate voting deal. #auspol |
| The Senate voting reform bill will therefore come on for debate. | The Senate voting reform bill will therefore come on for debate. |
| 10.57pm GMT | 10.57pm GMT |
| 22:57 | 22:57 |
| JSCEM advises the government to amend the Senate voting reform bill. (Again.) | JSCEM advises the government to amend the Senate voting reform bill. (Again.) |
| Gabrielle Chan | Gabrielle Chan |
| Just a quick clean up on Senate voting reform and the key recommendations from the JSCEM report. As we’ve already flagged, any reforms to the senate voting system should include optional preferential voting below the line, with voters instructed to number a minimum of 12 boxes, according to the bipartisan joint parliamentary committee. | Just a quick clean up on Senate voting reform and the key recommendations from the JSCEM report. As we’ve already flagged, any reforms to the senate voting system should include optional preferential voting below the line, with voters instructed to number a minimum of 12 boxes, according to the bipartisan joint parliamentary committee. |
| The committee, headed by Liberal MP David Coleman, supported the government bill to change the senate voting system - but only if it was amended to include optional preferential voting below the line. | The committee, headed by Liberal MP David Coleman, supported the government bill to change the senate voting system - but only if it was amended to include optional preferential voting below the line. |
| The existing bill abolishes group voting tickets, the party-submitted mechanism to decide how preferences flow for supporters who simply vote “above the line” rather than filling in all the candidate squares “below the line”. | The existing bill abolishes group voting tickets, the party-submitted mechanism to decide how preferences flow for supporters who simply vote “above the line” rather than filling in all the candidate squares “below the line”. |
| The committee has also recommended a “savings provision” which would ensure any ballot paper with at least six boxes numbered sequentially from one would also be considered formal. | The committee has also recommended a “savings provision” which would ensure any ballot paper with at least six boxes numbered sequentially from one would also be considered formal. |
| “Preferential voting below the line is most important to ensure that voting below the line is not an extraordinarily arduous process that it currently is and acts as a disincentive to voters to vote below the line,” said Coleman. | “Preferential voting below the line is most important to ensure that voting below the line is not an extraordinarily arduous process that it currently is and acts as a disincentive to voters to vote below the line,” said Coleman. |
| 10.53pm GMT | 10.53pm GMT |
| 22:53 | 22:53 |
| Back to that point about tribalism. | Back to that point about tribalism. |
| Dodson optimistic on bipartisanship: " not swapping indigenous tribalism for white fella tribalism". @murpharoo | Dodson optimistic on bipartisanship: " not swapping indigenous tribalism for white fella tribalism". @murpharoo |