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George Brandis repeals his Justin Gleeson direction – politics live
Turnbull questioned on effect of Donald Trump's election win – question time live
(35 minutes later)
3.18am GMT
3.54am GMT
03:18
03:54
First question is Shorten to Turnbull: This morning on social media the Member for Hughes said in response to Donald Trump’s plan to cancel the Paris agreement on climate change “Paris is cactus”. Is this comment from the Member for Hughes [Craig Kelly] consistent with the Prime Minister’s announcement today Australia has ratified the Paris agreement?
Labor’s Nick Champion to Malcolm Turnbull: This morning when asked about the policies the government has put in place that saw auto jobs lost in SA, the deputy prime minister said “There are not many car plants in National Party seats. Who are we looking after? Our people.” Why should South Australian workers trust the Prime Minister with their jobs when his own deputy admits he doesn’t care. Isn’t it a case the divisions in this government mean the prime minister is only focused on one job - your own?
Turnbull says the government has ratified the Paris Agreement, (in many more words than that).
Kelly of course, is chair of the Coalition’s environment backbench committee which means he overseas the consultations on environmental policy. Climate change. He does not accept the science and only this week linked renewable energy policies and their effect on electricity prices with childhood drownings.
Here is his post:
Good to see he is reading the Guardian.
Updated
at 3.18am GMT
3.14am GMT
03:14
Bill Shorten on Trump: the alliance doesn't mean trading away shared values
But Shorten also says this:
Ours is a partnership between two nations which look at each other and see something of themselves. The frontier and the bush, spacious skies and boundless plains, the fair go and the American dream.
The abiding friendship between our nations is strong enough for honesty. In fact, true friendship demands nothing less. It is never acceptable to mock people for their disability. It is never acceptable to ridicule prisoners of war for their service.
When this parliament sees women being disrespected we have an obligation to speak up.
When this parliament sees people being discriminated against because of the colour of their skin or their religion, we have an obligation to speak up. The US alliance does not mean trading away our shared values, it means standing up for them.
Updated
at 3.20am GMT
3.11am GMT
03:11
Bill Shorten now:
As fierce and as hard as we fought this year’s election, I believe we can be proud of the standards and relative civility we held ourselves to. Now, Mr Speaker, the American people have spoken, they have made their choice. As common believers in democracy, as servants of the people ourselves, we respect their decision. On behalf of the Australian Labor Party, I congratulate President-elect Donald Trump on his victory. Seasoned pundits and pollsters under-estimated his electoral appeal and the resonance of his message.
3.09am GMT
03:09
Turnbull:
Turnbull:
It is in our nation’s mutual interest to maintain the strongest and closest ties between the United States and Australia’s defence forces, a relationship that has seen American and Australian troops fight side-by-side in every major conflict in the last century. Indeed, tomorrow, Remembrance Day, we will commemorate the day 98 years ago when the guns fell silent on the Great War. A victory won in no small measure by the brilliance of Australia’s General John Monash and the courage of the Australian, British and American troops that went into battle.
The reality is that Australia’s greatest opportunity is an advanced manufacturing. The reality is that the most advanced manufacturing isin the Defence sector. The reality is that it was the Labor Party that abandoned the workers at Osborne, that abandoned defence industry. Six years and nothing was done.
Australia has close, indeed intimate, security arrangements with other friends and allies but our alliance with the United States is unquestionably our single most important security relationship underpinned by our mutual security pact, the ANZUS treaty, concluded between Australia, New Zealand and the United States in1951.
3.50am GMT
The ties that bind Australia and the United States are strong, profound, they’re based on the experience, on the engagement of millions of Australians andAmericans but, above all, they are based on our enduring national interests. Americans know they have no better ally, no better friend, than Australia.
03:50
Turnbull talks about trade relationships and Americans and Australians fighting against Daesh now.
The decision in the United States election has been a great and momentous one and we wish President-elect Trump and his Administration all the best in their work in the future.
The fate of the world, the future of the world, depends on strong American global leadership. America has been the bedrock of global stability, of peace in the world and we look forward to a strong America, a committed America and Australia will be, as it has been in the past, a strong and committed ally as America stands for peace in the world today.
3.04am GMT
03:04
Statement on indulgence Mr Speaker.
Turnbull talks about his Trump call.
As President Obama said overnight: Campaigns are hard and sometimes contentious and noisy. He added “Many Americans are exalted today, a lot of Americans are less so but that’s the nature of campaigns, that’s the nature of democracy”. It shows the enduring strength of the democratic system where the power to choose the Government resides with the people.There has been perhaps no greater demonstration of that process than in the United States.
More people voted in this United States election than in 2012 with voter turnout up nearly 5%. That’s a very good thing for democracy. It was noticeable that, despite an intense and at times very confronting campaign, President-elect Trump immediately reached out to bring Americans together in his victory speech and, in doing so, praised and thanked Secretary Clinton for her public service.
3.01am GMT
03:01
Crikey I almost forgot question time. *live blogger gets a hold of herself*
2.54am GMT
02:54
Leading Jewish community group says no case to alter 18C
Peter Wertheim of the Executive Council of Australia Jewry has said there is no case to change 18C and 18D.
He does not believe a case has been made to change the law but he does believe the changes could be made to improve the likely of striking out claims without merit earlier.
We do not believe that any case has been made to alter sections 18C and 18D of the RDA. We believe sections 18C and 18D of the RDA strike a careful balance between freedom of expression and freedom from racial vilification. Indeed, the actual result in the QUT case entirely vindicates the correctness of that balance. The decision expressly confirmed that section 18C does not extend to “trivial slights” but requires “profound and serious effects”.
Whilst there is no evidence whatsoever that the percentage of unmeritorious claims made under section 18C of the RDA is higher than under any other statutory regime for relief, such as the law of defamation, copyright, consumer protection and trade practices, we nevertheless welcome any constructive and appropriate proposal to improve the complaints-handling process and to identify and filter out unmeritorious complaints at an early stage.
In particular we welcome the ideas put forward by Julian Leeser MP, the Member for Berowra, in his address to the Chinese Australian Services Society on 4 November 2016, proposing that the Australian Human Rights Commission Act be amended so as to minimise the likelihood of unmeritorious claims proceeding to court.
2.42am GMT
02:42
George Brandis repeals his own "Justin Gleeson" legal direction to avoid embarrassing vote
Paul Karp
Paul Karp
Attorney general George Brandis has issued a new legal instrument that repeals the part of a legal services direction that gave him control over the process of seeking advice from the solicitor general.
Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, has moved in the Senate to suspend standing orders and a motion for the Senate to call on the government “to reconsider the Australia-US alliance in light of the results of the US presidential election”.
The direction sparked a public spat between Brandis and former solicitor general Justin Gleeson, who first contradicted Brandis’s claim he had consulted him before making the direction, ignored the direction claiming it was invalid, then resigned under a flurry of criticism from the Coalition for allegedly politicising his office.
Labor is not impressed:
On Tuesday the opposition-controlled legal and constitutional affairs references committee said the attorney general should be censured for misleading the Senate about the consultation and recommended it tear up the direction.
The Greens want Australia to renounce ANZUS without notice, during #QT, while Obama is still President. Very silly stuff. https://t.co/X98OATqJRE
Brandis denies that he misled the Senate or failed to consult. Labor, the Greens and Nick Xenophon Team were set to disallow the direction at 3:30pm on Thursday, although it appears Labor and the Greens lack the numbers for a censure.
Defence minister, Marise Payne, said the government has always said whoever the US people chose, Australia would work with their choice.
But the Legal Services Amendment (Repeal of Solicitor-General Opinions) Direction 2016 made by Brandis on Thursday saves them the bother of disallowing the direction, repealing the part that former solicitor general Gavin Griffith said recalled the image of a “dog on a lead”.
She said the Anzus treaty is an “enduring and strongest possible commitment” for Australia and the US to defend each other from attack.
One Nation senator, Malcolm Roberts, reveals he has “reached out” to the Trump team.
I get it, the Greens don’t like the result of the American election result ... Trump’s victory is a victory for freedom.
3.48am GMT
03:48
The Liberal Party’s delegate to the United Nations, Senator Cory Bernardi, has lauded the election of Donald Trump as a movement against the establishment political parties. Is the Prime Minister concerned by the movement against establishment political parties particularly by conservative groups based in SA and what implications does this have for government policy?
(It was a question we were wondering...)
Turnbull says it is Labor’s fault that voters are cranky with established political parties in South Australia.
Nobody has less moral right to talk about workers’ jobs, manufacturing industry than Labor members from SA. You abandoned the workers of SA. You abandoned the workers at Osborne. It was the Liberal Party, the National Party, our Coalition, which has given them hope for an advanced manufacturing future. We did that.
3.43am GMT
03:43
Now a government question to defence industry minister Christopher Pyne on the defence relationship between Oz and the US.
Don’t put those relationships at risk through bad judgement, says Pyne.
Drumroll ... Bill Shorten’s poor judgment.
Updated
Updated
at 2.49am GMT
at 3.54am GMT
2.41am GMT
3.41am GMT
02:41
03:41
The Senate is filibustering because it did not want to debate the backpacker-tax bill (which is likely to be amended).
Labor to foreign minister Julie Bishop: Could the Foreign Minister please advise the House why, in her previous answer, she did not refer to the Deputy Prime Minister describing Donald Trump’s political positions as cruel and nasty, did not refer to the Leader of the House describing the advent of the Trump campaign as terrifying, explain why she didn’t refer to the Minister for Environment describing him as a drop kick or John Howard saying he was too unstable to hold the office, or herself as saying she didn’t see the US as having a global leadership role?
Although the backpacker bill was not listed, Labor decided to move to force the Coalition to bring it on. Labor argued, you reckon this bill is urgent, well bring it on.
Now we have dropped into this slanging match between who called Donald Trump the worst names.
No, said the Coalition. We don’t want to. (We will lose.)
Bishop:
The government tried to gag the debate but lost.
I didn’t mention the fact that the Deputy Leader of the Opposition called Israel a rogue State and Ariel Sharon a war criminal. I didn’t mention the fact that the Leader of the Opposition, who presents himself as the alternate Prime Minister of this country, has chosen to denigrate and demean the presidential candidate in another country. This sorry tactic of trying to blame everybody else for his personal failings will not wash.
Under the Labor motion, the Senate only has up until question time at 2pm to debate the backpacker tax.
3.37am GMT
So now government members are filibustering on other bills to get to 2pm so they don’t have to bring their own (urgent) backpacker tax bill on for debate.
03:37
The filibuster saw Liberal senator Ian Macdonald reminiscing about the time the police raided his farm because they thought he was growing dope. Of course, he was doing nothing of the sort. He doesn’t smoke dope. (Unlike some others around here, according to Macdonald.)
Trade minister Steve Ciobo gets a Dixer on the Australian relationship with the United States.
Updated
3.35am GMT
at 2.47am GMT
03:35
2.24am GMT
Indi Independent Cathy McGowan to Barnaby Joyce: there are over 100 dairy farm families who live in the valleys of the upper Murray, Mitwa and King Rivers. Up to 60% are in need of assistance and 20% desperate. The government’s emergency dairy support package promised a process of fast-tracking household support allowances but farmers in these valleys are reporting a delay of up to 20 weeks to get assistance. Will the Deputy Prime Minister please commit to holding a round table, preferably in my electorate, to review the process, to increase staff on the ground and allocate additional resources to clear the backlog?
02:24
Joyce talked about the loans available and the recent drop in the concessional rate. He says Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie will hold a round table in McGowan’s seat of Indi.
Lunchtime politics
It never ceases to surprise me when an answer is actually supplied.
Updated
3.30am GMT
at 2.32am GMT
03:30
2.03am GMT
Labor to Turnbull: Yesterday speaking about the US election, the Minister for Foreign Affairs said “I don’t expect there to be any change to the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement, it hasn’t been mentioned”. Is thePrime Minister aware Donald Trump’s campaign has committed to renegotiating all US Free Trade Agreements? What preparation has the government undertaken in relation to our own Free Trade Agreement with the US and was it raised in our phone call today?
02:03
Turnbull says they did not discuss the US free trade agreement but he does not anticipate any changes.
The lifetime ban bill has passed 73-69. It will now go to the Senate.
3.28am GMT
Updated
03:28
at 2.31am GMT
Foreign minister Julie Bishop takes a Dixer that allows her to give Bill Shorten a bollocking over his remarks regarding Trump in which he called some of Trump’s views “barking mad”.
1.53am GMT
But not content with the personal vitriol, he went even further and denounced thePresident-elect by saying that he was entirely unsuitable to be the leader of the free world. Then, by publicly predicting a Trump loss, he showed utter disregard for the people of the United States and their democratic process. With his mealy mouthed address today, trying to deflect from the fact he was undermining the relationship with the United States, he once more showed his flawed judgement and his reckless immaturity.
01:53
3.25am GMT
The lower house is now voting on the lifetime ban bill.
03:25
Andrew Wilkie’s amendment has been defeated.
On the Paris Agreement politics, Katharine Murphy was interesting about the power plays within the Coalition. She wrote about it last Saturday.
Now they are voting on the bill to ban asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru from ever coming to Australia.
In no rational universe does the Australian government want to be in a position of going to that meeting and telling other countries we don’t intend to ratify the Paris agreement, but nothing is done until it’s done and the process isn’t yet locked down with a cabinet ruling.
1.48am GMT
Obviously, this whole play – “look at those dreadful renewables and, oh look, here’s the Paris agreement” – is a lot more complicated than a simple game of bait and switch.
01:48
The leadership is happy today. Trump? Pffft!
Bowers notes that it’s probably because the markets did not crash.
(I might just blog this office.)
1.42am GMT
01:42
The deputy prime ministers sings his voters home.
I am not going to bore you with all our philosophies. I am happy with the vote I got personally in a hotly-contested seat and what the party got across the board. I never take our voters for granted. We will continue to work incredibly hard. That’s what we did and what we do.
1.34am GMT
01:34
Now back to the house. The lifetime ban bill is still going with Labor speakers.
Given Wilkie and Bandt gave the major parties such a bollocking, here is a clip of Gellibrand MP Tim Watts.
He is less worried about the crossbench and more worried about Turnbull “being led by the nose” by his immigration minister, Peter Dutton.
They cannot be solved by simplistic, scapegoating or snake-oil politics ... Don’t reduce yourself to the politics of scapegoating. If you ride that tiger’s back, in the current environment you will soon be eaten.
If any Coalition MPs would like to send a snippet of their speech on this bill, send up a smoke signal.
Updated
at 1.54am GMT
1.25am GMT
01:25
The prime minister is asked about the TPP again. He notes that both Trump and Clinton were against the TPP. But he says the government’s job to advocate for the national interest and he and the cabinet believe that it is in Australia’s interests that like minded countries sign the TPP. It looks like its toast now.
1.22am GMT
01:22
Energy and environment minister Josh Frydenberg concedes perhaps he should not have called the president elect a “dropkick”.
In the lead-up to the vote, I think the prime minister and foreign minister hit the right note. I concede I probably should have followed their lead.
1.19am GMT
01:19
Turnbull says America will continue to engage in the Asia-Pacific region because it is in their national interest. Don’t you worry about that.
There is a reason why the United States has been such a strong presence in the Asia-Pacific for many decades, for many decades. It has been that Pax Americana for the last 40 years that has underpinned the extraordinary growth in prosperity, the raising of billions out of poverty. That has been the foundation of it. That commitment, I am certain, will continue because it is manifestly in America’s national interest.
As I said, one of the speeches I gave last night, as I think Paul Keating used to say, quoting Jack Lang in the great race of life: always back self-interest because you know it is trying. I have no doubt that America will continue to act in its national interest.
Updated
at 1.37am GMT
1.16am GMT
01:16
Questions revolve around the US-Australia alliance. Asked whether Trump signalled he would withdraw in any way from the region, Turnbull keeps saying Trump is very strong on the alliance.
On the Trans-Pacific Partnership, it sounds like they agreed to disagree.
