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Government outlines changes to Safe Schools program – politics live | |
(35 minutes later) | |
4.19am GMT | |
04:19 | |
Green Adam Bandt rises to support the amendments. Labor’s Anthony Albanese rises to oppose them, and in so doing welcomes the Liberal/National/Green coalition. | |
4.13am GMT | |
04:13 | |
The Labor leader Bill Shorten isn’t in the chamber. Tony Burke is launching the response. He says imagine if your only achievement as prime minister was this: rorting the Senate vote. | |
Updated | |
at 4.16am GMT | |
4.11am GMT | |
04:11 | |
Malcolm Turnbull says this will end the practices of back room deals and preference harvesting. He says Labor used to support this change, but has flipped because of political opportunism. Only Gary Gray in the Labor party had a position of integrity. | |
4.08am GMT | |
04:08 | |
Mr Speaker this is a great day for democracy. | |
The prime minister, launching the formalities in the House. | |
4.04am GMT | |
04:04 | |
Here comes the bells, here comes the House, to stamp Senate voting reform. | |
Updated | |
at 4.09am GMT | |
4.00am GMT | |
04:00 | |
A couple of pictures. And education minister, trying to walk a line. | |
And a prime minister, trying to look historical. | |
Better than hysterical. Which is where Magic Mike and I are hovering, just quietly. | |
3.54am GMT | |
03:54 | |
Christensen adds one more point. He says Birmingham has told him that if the Safe Schools coalition reject what the government’s put forward then the funding will just be suspended. | |
That’s my understanding from my conversation with the minister. | |
3.51am GMT | |
03:51 | |
George Christensen. | |
I am very surprised that [Simon Birmingham’s] gone as far as he’s gone. It is better than an inquiry. Effectively, gutting the program of all of the concerning content is what I wanted at the end of the day – or the program shut down. | |
3.50am GMT | |
03:50 | |
Conservative backbencher George Christensen is speaking to reporters, apparently suing for peace. He says the program has been gutted. | |
Essentially the program’s been gutted of all of the bad content that’s been in it, all of the concerning content that’s been in it, and what we’ll see in schools will be something that is truly an anti-bullying program. | |
He says the Safe Schools coalition will likely reject Birmingham’s proposal. | |
3.46am GMT | |
03:46 | |
Shalailah Medhora | |
Meanwhile back in the red room, Labor and the crossbench have passed a motion making it harder for the government to call a double dissolution election by limiting its ability to recall the Senate. | |
On Friday afternoon, manager of government business in the Senate, Mitch Fifield, proposed a motion that the Senate rise until Tuesday May 10 “or such other time as may be fixed by the president”. | |
Labor, the Greens and five independent and minor party senators joined forces to pass an amendment to that, saying that the president or deputy president can only only recall the Senate with the “absolute majority of senators where the leader or deputy leader of a party in the Senate can concur on behalf of every senator in that party”. | |
It makes it harder to sprint to an early election. It doesn’t make it impossible. | |
Updated | |
at 4.04am GMT | |
3.38am GMT | 3.38am GMT |
03:38 | 03:38 |
Birmingham says the program won’t be funded past its current life, and there was never any intention to fund it in perpetuity. | Birmingham says the program won’t be funded past its current life, and there was never any intention to fund it in perpetuity. |
The education minister is asked about advocates for the program over-egging and being ideological. He’s advised people to not to over step. (His message couldn’t be clearer: I’m trying to defend this program against a tide of internal opposition, please help me do that.) | The education minister is asked about advocates for the program over-egging and being ideological. He’s advised people to not to over step. (His message couldn’t be clearer: I’m trying to defend this program against a tide of internal opposition, please help me do that.) |
Simon Birmingham. | Simon Birmingham. |
Just as prosthelytising is not part of the school chaplaincy program, advocacy must not be part of the Safe Schools program. This is here to help children in their wellbeing in schools and people who might have engaged in the past as presenting themselves as representatives of the program and in doing so speaking about political matters and advocating in those political matters have frankly done themselves and the program an enormous disservice and would be well advised to keep their mouths shut on such matters in future. | Just as prosthelytising is not part of the school chaplaincy program, advocacy must not be part of the Safe Schools program. This is here to help children in their wellbeing in schools and people who might have engaged in the past as presenting themselves as representatives of the program and in doing so speaking about political matters and advocating in those political matters have frankly done themselves and the program an enormous disservice and would be well advised to keep their mouths shut on such matters in future. |