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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2016/oct/18/malcolm-turnbull-rejects-amnesty-claim-that-detention-akin-to-torture-politics-live
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| Tony Abbott joins Bill Shorten's criticism of 'horse-trading' on gun laws – politics live | Tony Abbott joins Bill Shorten's criticism of 'horse-trading' on gun laws – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 3.59am BST | |
| 03:59 | |
| Leyonhjelm has released letters and complained the Turnbull government has now dudded him on the Abbott government’s deal. He reads out a government email to him: | |
| We confirm ministers Dutton and minister Keenan have agreed the government will amend the limited imports regulation to insert a sunset clause which banned the lever action short guns importation with a magazine capacity of more than five rounds. The effect of the sunset clause would be that 12 months after this amendment comes into effect, the ban would automatically cease to be in place. | |
| We also confirm the government commitment to ongoing consultation between minister Keenan and a wide range of key stakeholders...in return David Leyonhjelm will vote against the migration amendment strengthening biometric integrity bill 2015. Please confirm David Leyonhjelm’s agreement. That agreement was confirmed. | |
| Q: That was an ironclad agreement? | |
| I treated it as an ironclad agreement. In August this year they reintroduced the ban on the seven shot Adler in contravention of this agreement, says Leyonhjelm. | |
| 3.53am BST | |
| 03:53 | |
| Aforementioned David Leyonhjelm: | |
| Q: Could you perhaps explain to people who don’t own guns why one would need a shotgun that can carry 10 bullets instead of five? What is the practical purpose? | |
| I am a libertarian and I don’t answer questions like that. My response to that is, why shouldn’t they have a shotgun that carries more than five rounds? | |
| Q: What does it allow the user to do? | |
| If you are shooting pigs, for example, which is, in my view, practical environmental management, because they are nasty, feral animals in the wild and should all be shot. They frequently have substantial litters and so if you have more than five rounds you might kill the entire litter rather than miss some and reload. Shotguns, with the magazine, are slow to reload. Having seven rounds might mean you clean up the litter and rid the country of more pigs. | |
| Updated | |
| at 3.56am BST | |
| 3.47am BST | |
| 03:47 | |
| I feel the day is accelerating which I did not think was possible. | |
| Thanks to the readers for #CrowdFactcheck – my new thing – for pointing out the deal that Tony Abbott did with Leyonjhelm in 2015. | |
| This was the story at the time: | |
| The federal government has agreed to allow the importation of a controversial shotgun in one year’s time, in exchange for the support of a crossbench senator on migration issues. | |
| The government temporarily suspended the importation of the Adler lever-action shotgun in July, while it reviewed firearms laws in the wake of the Martin Place siege. | |
| Gun control advocates oppose its importation because of its fast firing rate and seven-shot magazine. | |
| The government has now agreed to introduce a sunset clause, as part of a deal with NSW Liberal Democratic senator David Leyonhjelm. | |
| “These firearms are not dangerous, they aren’t used in crime, there’s nothing about them that warrants any special action,” Senator Leyonhjelm said. | |
| “Nonetheless, there are some people who don’t like guns and they see this as the next area in which they can encroach.” | |
| Updated | |
| at 3.48am BST | |
| 3.35am BST | |
| 03:35 | |
| Innovation and excitement: electronic voting in the house | |
| Katharine Murphy | |
| Meanwhile, in the Coalition party room – there are a couple of things to know. The first is both the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, and the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, have told colleagues the government has to make their policies more “tactile.” | |
| Yes, it does sound vaguely disturbing but I gather it means the government needs to talk about policies that have real impacts on real people. | |
| The other main thing to know from today is that, courtesy of a discussion in the party room kicked off by Kevin Andrews, Christopher Pyne will now bring a submission to cabinet considering introducing electronic voting in the House of Representatives. | |
| Government MPs were concerned that a whole lot of time gets wasted in the House during votes. There was talk of MPs being given a card that they could insert into a reader to record their presence during votes, rather than the current practice of whips counting numbers. | |
| MPs would still required to be present during votes, they couldn’t just say aye or nay from their offices. I’m honestly not sure how having a card would save time if you’ve got to show up, but there it is. Apparently the foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, said during the conversation the Ukraine had this system, and Singapore had that system. | |
| And so it goes. | |
| Updated | |
| at 3.41am BST | |
| 3.32am BST | |
| 03:32 | |
| Back in Legal and Constitutional Affairs committee. Liberal senator Linda Reynolds is still questioning Human Rights Commission president Gillian Triggs about the Saturday Paper. It seems she - the senator - finds some of the references hurtful. This is the interview she references. | |
| One can be astonished at the very simplistic level at which I need to speak. Our parliamentarians are usually seriously ill-informed and uneducated. All they know is the world of Canberra and politics and they’ve lost any sense of a rule of law, and curiously enough for Canberra they don’t even understand what democracy is. Not an easy argument to make, as you can imagine: me telling a parliamentarian they need to be better educated. [laughs] But it’s true. | |
| Ramona Koval: Have you done that? | |
| Oh, I have. And I have to say that some parliamentarians, and surprising ones, a Nationals MP, says “Come and give us a seminar.” Another one asked me to come up and work in parliament with the members of a particular committee that she was on. Terrific! But they listened to me and do you know, the response of some of them was, “Well, we had no idea Australia had signed up to these treaties. We should withdraw from them!” So backward steps! You still hear people say we must withdraw from the Refugee Convention or we must withdraw from the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. | |
| It seems Reynolds is trying to get a lot of these comments into the attention and Hansard. | |
| Reynolds then quotes another speech Triggs gave about the suitability of lawyers helping governments to draft laws that contravene treaties. Reynolds questions this opinion questioning others in her own profession. Triggs points out she was giving the speech to young lawyers (whom she mentors) and they were after something “edgy”. | |
| Essentially it would appear Reynolds is trying to paint her as interventionist in her role. Reynolds says much of it is Triggs “opinion”. | |
| My mandate is the human rights under the international treaties. | |
| 3.14am BST | 3.14am BST |
| 03:14 | 03:14 |
| From Jasper Lindell: | From Jasper Lindell: |
| The United Nationals special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst, has called on the Australian government to enact an action plan on human rights in response to the “chilling effect” of wide-ranging measures that have mounted pressure on human rights defenders. | The United Nationals special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Michel Forst, has called on the Australian government to enact an action plan on human rights in response to the “chilling effect” of wide-ranging measures that have mounted pressure on human rights defenders. |
| The statement outlined concerns including | The statement outlined concerns including |
| These ‘unnecessarily restrict access to government information’, Forst says. | These ‘unnecessarily restrict access to government information’, Forst says. |
| Forst also criticised the Border Force Act, which criminalises whistleblowers speaking out against practices on offshore detention centres. He noted that people who had worked at the offshore detention centres did not speak with him out of fear of retaliation. | Forst also criticised the Border Force Act, which criminalises whistleblowers speaking out against practices on offshore detention centres. He noted that people who had worked at the offshore detention centres did not speak with him out of fear of retaliation. |
| Forst refused to be drawn on whether the Border Force Act had detrimentally affected the conditions on Manus Island and Nauru detention centres, saying his “role was not to investigate conditions on Manus Island and Nauru”. | Forst refused to be drawn on whether the Border Force Act had detrimentally affected the conditions on Manus Island and Nauru detention centres, saying his “role was not to investigate conditions on Manus Island and Nauru”. |
| A UN report into conditions in the detention centre will be released in November, Forst said. | A UN report into conditions in the detention centre will be released in November, Forst said. |
| He also criticised politicians and the media for “seriously [attacking] senior officials”, including the president of the Human Rights Commission, Prof Gillian Triggs. He said that he “had not been informed of any investigation into the attacks”. | He also criticised politicians and the media for “seriously [attacking] senior officials”, including the president of the Human Rights Commission, Prof Gillian Triggs. He said that he “had not been informed of any investigation into the attacks”. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 3.22am BST | at 3.22am BST |
| 3.04am BST | 3.04am BST |
| 03:04 | 03:04 |
| Amanda Meade | Amanda Meade |
| SBS is up at estimates. The managing director, Michael Ebeid, is giving an opening address. | SBS is up at estimates. The managing director, Michael Ebeid, is giving an opening address. |
| He says SBS TV is now watched by 14m people a month, which he says is quite an achievement on a modest budget. | He says SBS TV is now watched by 14m people a month, which he says is quite an achievement on a modest budget. |
| Ebeid says technology gives SBS more chances to spread the multicultural message and the benefits of diversity. | Ebeid says technology gives SBS more chances to spread the multicultural message and the benefits of diversity. |
| Ebeid says he has met the new ABC managing director, Michelle Guthrie, but the topic of merging the ABC with SBS has not been discussed. Ebeid says he is opposed to the idea, raised by Guthrie’s predecessor, Mark Scott, because SBS is needed far more now than it ever was. Merging it with the ABC is a bad idea because it plays a role in social cohesion, Ebeid says. | Ebeid says he has met the new ABC managing director, Michelle Guthrie, but the topic of merging the ABC with SBS has not been discussed. Ebeid says he is opposed to the idea, raised by Guthrie’s predecessor, Mark Scott, because SBS is needed far more now than it ever was. Merging it with the ABC is a bad idea because it plays a role in social cohesion, Ebeid says. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 3.20am BST | at 3.20am BST |
| 3.02am BST | 3.02am BST |
| 03:02 | 03:02 |
| Lunchtime politics | Lunchtime politics |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 3.20am BST | at 3.20am BST |
| 2.47am BST | 2.47am BST |
| 02:47 | 02:47 |
| DON’T SHOUT! | DON’T SHOUT! |
| Ian Macdonald, Senator for hypocrisy? #estimates pic.twitter.com/f3jgYafixT | Ian Macdonald, Senator for hypocrisy? #estimates pic.twitter.com/f3jgYafixT |
| 2.36am BST | 2.36am BST |
| 02:36 | 02:36 |
| Our favourite legal and constitutional affairs committee has broken for lunch. | Our favourite legal and constitutional affairs committee has broken for lunch. |
| As have the others. Chairman Ian Macdonald did counsel people to get food and not survive on snakes and lollies. | As have the others. Chairman Ian Macdonald did counsel people to get food and not survive on snakes and lollies. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.46am BST | at 2.46am BST |
| 2.34am BST | 2.34am BST |
| 02:34 | 02:34 |
| Labor’s new strong man. | Labor’s new strong man. |
| 2.30am BST | 2.30am BST |
| 02:30 | 02:30 |
| Tony Burke says that, unless the Coalition supports Labor’s motion, they cannot be trusted not to water down the gun laws. | Tony Burke says that, unless the Coalition supports Labor’s motion, they cannot be trusted not to water down the gun laws. |
| A vote on the motion is deferred. | A vote on the motion is deferred. |
| The House in on to the vocational education bills. | The House in on to the vocational education bills. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.36am BST | at 2.36am BST |
| 2.29am BST | 2.29am BST |
| 02:29 | 02:29 |
| Malcolm Turnbull says: | Malcolm Turnbull says: |
| Let me be very clear ... we stand by John Howard’s gun reforms. | Let me be very clear ... we stand by John Howard’s gun reforms. |
| The Adler is a seven-shot lever-action gun. | The Adler is a seven-shot lever-action gun. |
| Turnbull says the Adler gun is category A, the easiest guns of four categories to acquire. | Turnbull says the Adler gun is category A, the easiest guns of four categories to acquire. |
| That is why there has been an import ban. But its classification still has to be considered by the Coag group that does these things. | That is why there has been an import ban. But its classification still has to be considered by the Coag group that does these things. |
| Turnbull says his government has ensured that no lever-action guns with more than five rounds can be imported. | Turnbull says his government has ensured that no lever-action guns with more than five rounds can be imported. |
| We stand by the agreement and want to see it stronger, says Turnbull. | We stand by the agreement and want to see it stronger, says Turnbull. |
| Labor’s attempt to use this is a disgrace, he says. | Labor’s attempt to use this is a disgrace, he says. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 2.36am BST | at 2.36am BST |
| 2.20am BST | 2.20am BST |
| 02:20 | 02:20 |
| Tanya Plibersek now speaks. | Tanya Plibersek now speaks. |
| Everyone in Australia would remember exactly where they were when they heard of the Port Arthur massacre. | Everyone in Australia would remember exactly where they were when they heard of the Port Arthur massacre. |