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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2016/nov/22/registered-organisations-bill-passes-as-national-senators-cross-floor-on-guns-politics-live
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| Registered organisations bill passes as National senators cross floor on guns – politics live | Registered organisations bill passes as National senators cross floor on guns – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 10.39pm GMT | |
| 22:39 | |
| Culleton holding three thick sheafs of paper which he says is evidence of ANZ bank misconduct against farmers. pic.twitter.com/mII9L43mRc | |
| 10.39pm GMT | |
| 22:39 | |
| Rod Culleton has the drivin’ in him. You either do or you don’t. | |
| Culleton is showing the room a video with shots of tractors, trucks and horse-racing - "that's my lead truck" pic.twitter.com/IIRLPOQlZg | |
| 10.13pm GMT | |
| 22:13 | |
| Tony Burke: Malcolm Fraser's mistake was he didn't stop the grandchildren? | |
| That’s enough of last night. Because it is so last night. | |
| The comments by immigration minister Peter Dutton regarding Lebanese Muslim Australians continue to ricochet around the nation. | |
| Dutton said former Liberal party prime minister Malcolm Fraser should not have let Lebanese Muslims into Australia in the 1970s because a small cohort of people had been charged with terrorism-related offences. | |
| The advice I have is that out of the last 33 people who have been charged with terrorist-related offences in this country, 22 of those people are from second- and third-generation Lebanese-Muslim background. | |
| Labor’s Tony Burke, whose electorate of Watson takes in large Muslim Australian communities, was flabbergasted. | |
| I was astonished. I expect the people angriest about this would be security agencies. Peter Dutton has attacked a group that last been cooperating so closely with our security agencies. His argument is Malcolm Fraser should not have allowed certain individuals into Australia based on their race and religion because of the grandchildren they would have? | |
| Malcolm Fraser’s mistake was that he didn’t stop the grandchildren? This is a bizarre, weird argument of racial profiling. I’m sure this is not the sort of argument that the old Malcolm Turnbull would have wanted to lead as prime minister and now that Malcolm Turnbull is back in the country, it will be interesting to see whether or not he is of the same view as Peter Dutton. He’s declared a war on a community that has been so important in cooperation with local authorities. | |
| Which gives you a pretty good idea of what Labor’s first question will be in question time. | |
| My question is to the prime minister. Do you agree with the comments of your immigration minister … | |
| Updated | |
| at 10.38pm GMT | |
| 10.01pm GMT | 10.01pm GMT |
| 22:01 | 22:01 |
| Penny Wong: Your side has never liked trade unions | Penny Wong: Your side has never liked trade unions |
| Penny Wong spoke against the registered organisations bill, describing it as the last instalment in a long line of conservative actions against trade unions. | Penny Wong spoke against the registered organisations bill, describing it as the last instalment in a long line of conservative actions against trade unions. |
| The fact is that those on the other side and their predecessors, the conservatives of Australian politics, have never accepted that trade unions play a legitimate and important role in our workplaces and in our society. From Stanley Bruce, who tried to scrap the federal arbitration system in the 1920s, to John Howard’s Work Choices legislation, which cut pay and conditions for Australian working people, it is the same ideological agenda over decades: Liberals and their predecessors always want to attack trade unions, deregulate the labour market, cut wages and conditions, and reduce the fundamental rights and protections for working people. That is who they are, that is what they believe, and this bill is simply another instalment in that story. | The fact is that those on the other side and their predecessors, the conservatives of Australian politics, have never accepted that trade unions play a legitimate and important role in our workplaces and in our society. From Stanley Bruce, who tried to scrap the federal arbitration system in the 1920s, to John Howard’s Work Choices legislation, which cut pay and conditions for Australian working people, it is the same ideological agenda over decades: Liberals and their predecessors always want to attack trade unions, deregulate the labour market, cut wages and conditions, and reduce the fundamental rights and protections for working people. That is who they are, that is what they believe, and this bill is simply another instalment in that story. |
| 9.56pm GMT | 9.56pm GMT |
| 21:56 | 21:56 |
| Derryn Hinch: extend whistleblower protections from unions to corporate sector | Derryn Hinch: extend whistleblower protections from unions to corporate sector |
| Now to the registered orgs debate. | Now to the registered orgs debate. |
| Senator Derryn Hinch spoke to the bill and gave a sense of the sort of thing crossbenchers have experienced. | Senator Derryn Hinch spoke to the bill and gave a sense of the sort of thing crossbenchers have experienced. |
| In recent weeks, I have spent a lot of time with ministers, shadow ministers, union officials, including from the CFMEU, and other senators. I will be voting for the amended bill, if the planned amendments pass. To get to this position, I have read many proposed amendments. I have supported some, and I have rejected others. The opposition encouraged crossbenchers to work on amendments. I suspect the big picture—as Paul Keating would say—was to get this bill and the ABCC legislation watered down as much as possible so that if, in the end, they did get passed, they would be closer to a gelding than a stallion. | In recent weeks, I have spent a lot of time with ministers, shadow ministers, union officials, including from the CFMEU, and other senators. I will be voting for the amended bill, if the planned amendments pass. To get to this position, I have read many proposed amendments. I have supported some, and I have rejected others. The opposition encouraged crossbenchers to work on amendments. I suspect the big picture—as Paul Keating would say—was to get this bill and the ABCC legislation watered down as much as possible so that if, in the end, they did get passed, they would be closer to a gelding than a stallion. |
| But in the end, Hinch argued the registered organisations bill was needed. | But in the end, Hinch argued the registered organisations bill was needed. |
| This legislation has been a long time coming. It is time, I believe, for a full-time, independent regulator for this sector, which has been wracked with scandal, rather than the current body dealing with it part time. The union movement will only be strengthened if potential members can be confident that all of their leadership are working to benefit members, not to personally benefit themselves. I do not see this as an attack on unions. I see it as an effective way to improve the way that this sector is governed. No-one, including people within the union movement, wants to see a repeat of the Kathy Jackson or the Craig Thomson rorts. Kathy Jackson misappropriated $900,000 from the Health Services Union. Craig Thomson squandered $300,000 of union members’ money—much of it on prostitutes. | This legislation has been a long time coming. It is time, I believe, for a full-time, independent regulator for this sector, which has been wracked with scandal, rather than the current body dealing with it part time. The union movement will only be strengthened if potential members can be confident that all of their leadership are working to benefit members, not to personally benefit themselves. I do not see this as an attack on unions. I see it as an effective way to improve the way that this sector is governed. No-one, including people within the union movement, wants to see a repeat of the Kathy Jackson or the Craig Thomson rorts. Kathy Jackson misappropriated $900,000 from the Health Services Union. Craig Thomson squandered $300,000 of union members’ money—much of it on prostitutes. |
| So Hinch and Nick Xenophon voted for the bill only after amendments were included for whistleblowers. | So Hinch and Nick Xenophon voted for the bill only after amendments were included for whistleblowers. |
| It would cover anonymity, compensation and protection. Even though it now deals specifically with unions, it must in the near future be extended with the same powers and the same protections to whistleblowers in the corporate sector. As my grandma used to say, ‘What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.’ | It would cover anonymity, compensation and protection. Even though it now deals specifically with unions, it must in the near future be extended with the same powers and the same protections to whistleblowers in the corporate sector. As my grandma used to say, ‘What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.’ |
| Hinch said when he was railing against Kathy Jackson and Craig Thomson in his various media programs, he never thought he would be in a position to do something about the “selfish, self-serving thieves”. It became personal. | Hinch said when he was railing against Kathy Jackson and Craig Thomson in his various media programs, he never thought he would be in a position to do something about the “selfish, self-serving thieves”. It became personal. |
| I will admit that in this case it is partly personal. When the stories started coming out about Craig Thomson spending $500 a time on hookers I was actually lying in a hospital bed, and watching members of his old union, the Health Services Union, doing menial tasks for about, I guess, $15 an hour. I remember that I watched a middle-aged European woman with a mop cleaning up after a burst colostomy bag. I thought at the time that her union fees for the year would probably be around the $500 that Thomson spent on one prostitute in one assignation. Maybe better auditing would have sprung people like Thomson, Kathy Jackson and Michael Williamson, and it may have sprung them hundreds of thousands of dollars earlier. | I will admit that in this case it is partly personal. When the stories started coming out about Craig Thomson spending $500 a time on hookers I was actually lying in a hospital bed, and watching members of his old union, the Health Services Union, doing menial tasks for about, I guess, $15 an hour. I remember that I watched a middle-aged European woman with a mop cleaning up after a burst colostomy bag. I thought at the time that her union fees for the year would probably be around the $500 that Thomson spent on one prostitute in one assignation. Maybe better auditing would have sprung people like Thomson, Kathy Jackson and Michael Williamson, and it may have sprung them hundreds of thousands of dollars earlier. |
| 9.42pm GMT | 9.42pm GMT |
| 21:42 | 21:42 |
| Now to the National party. Senators Bridget McKenzie and John Williams crossed the floor last night. Nigel Scullion, Matt Canavan and Fiona Nash abstained. As cabinet ministers, abstaining was the only option as they would have been sacked. | Now to the National party. Senators Bridget McKenzie and John Williams crossed the floor last night. Nigel Scullion, Matt Canavan and Fiona Nash abstained. As cabinet ministers, abstaining was the only option as they would have been sacked. |
| Katharine Murphy wrote up this story last night so it is worth a read. | Katharine Murphy wrote up this story last night so it is worth a read. |
| Let’s just revisit the facts in this Adler debate. | Let’s just revisit the facts in this Adler debate. |
| As Murph reminds us, the ban prohibits the import of any lever-action shotgun with a magazine capacity of more than five rounds, and firearm magazines with a capacity of more than five rounds for lever-action shotguns, even if not attached to a shotgun. | As Murph reminds us, the ban prohibits the import of any lever-action shotgun with a magazine capacity of more than five rounds, and firearm magazines with a capacity of more than five rounds for lever-action shotguns, even if not attached to a shotgun. |
| The government wants the current import ban to remain in force until state governments decide which category to place the gun in under national firearms regulations. | The government wants the current import ban to remain in force until state governments decide which category to place the gun in under national firearms regulations. |
| The Howard gun reforms categorised weapons between A-D where A is the most accessible category and D is the least accessible. | The Howard gun reforms categorised weapons between A-D where A is the most accessible category and D is the least accessible. |
| The ban came about because the higher capacity Turkish-made Adler shotgun was in a lower category due to its lever action. But it was becoming very popular because of the higher capacity (number of rounds) versions. Right now, there are higher capacity Adlers already in the country being used by licensed owners. This ban only relates to new higher capacity Adlers coming in. | The ban came about because the higher capacity Turkish-made Adler shotgun was in a lower category due to its lever action. But it was becoming very popular because of the higher capacity (number of rounds) versions. Right now, there are higher capacity Adlers already in the country being used by licensed owners. This ban only relates to new higher capacity Adlers coming in. |
| David Leyonjhelm negotiated a sunset clause on the ban to revisit the debate in order to get it lifted. That was what the vote was about last night. | David Leyonjhelm negotiated a sunset clause on the ban to revisit the debate in order to get it lifted. That was what the vote was about last night. |
| So: | So: |
| Bridget McKenzie is a keen shooter and is part of the parliamentary friends of shooters cross parliamentary group. John Williams did not speak on the motion but voted for lifting the ban. | Bridget McKenzie is a keen shooter and is part of the parliamentary friends of shooters cross parliamentary group. John Williams did not speak on the motion but voted for lifting the ban. |
| This is McKenzie: | This is McKenzie: |
| This debate is just full of so many mistruths as people conflate the tragedies of Port Arthur and Lindt Cafe. Increased gun crime – which is an absolute indictment on our law enforcement agencies at a state level and at a federal level – on the streets of our cities from illicit firearms conflates the threat of terrorism into a public conversation where law-abiding firearm owners in this nation are derided and belittled by political elites who think they know better. We need a debate that is informed by fact, not by fiction or emotional language. | This debate is just full of so many mistruths as people conflate the tragedies of Port Arthur and Lindt Cafe. Increased gun crime – which is an absolute indictment on our law enforcement agencies at a state level and at a federal level – on the streets of our cities from illicit firearms conflates the threat of terrorism into a public conversation where law-abiding firearm owners in this nation are derided and belittled by political elites who think they know better. We need a debate that is informed by fact, not by fiction or emotional language. |
| This debate has also been focused on a false argument around categorisation that is not based on science or evidence. For example, the lever-action shotgun currently in category A under the National Firearms Agreement has five shots. To increase that to seven is not an exponential increase in risk. I would urge anybody to bring forward the science on that and also to please bring forward the evidence of a lever-action shotgun being used in crime since the late 1800s. It just is not based on fact; it is based on fear. | This debate has also been focused on a false argument around categorisation that is not based on science or evidence. For example, the lever-action shotgun currently in category A under the National Firearms Agreement has five shots. To increase that to seven is not an exponential increase in risk. I would urge anybody to bring forward the science on that and also to please bring forward the evidence of a lever-action shotgun being used in crime since the late 1800s. It just is not based on fact; it is based on fear. |
| In my view, this is a categorisation issue. There are many guns out there that are far more powerful than the Adler – that would actually make your hair curl – but they are in higher categories. If you want a higher category weapon, you have to jump more hurdles, qualifying as a professional shooter or a primary producer. | In my view, this is a categorisation issue. There are many guns out there that are far more powerful than the Adler – that would actually make your hair curl – but they are in higher categories. If you want a higher category weapon, you have to jump more hurdles, qualifying as a professional shooter or a primary producer. |
| Under the Howard gun laws, the categorisation issue can only be solved with states’ agreement. Right now, they don’t agree and they don’t look like agreeing for a long time. | Under the Howard gun laws, the categorisation issue can only be solved with states’ agreement. Right now, they don’t agree and they don’t look like agreeing for a long time. |
| The political issue is something else. While no one would argue that McKenzie and Williams were not voting on their values, the Adler vote has given the Nats a chance to distinguish themselves as a party. Set themselves apart from the Liberals. And in a post-Orange byelection world, that is very important for their survival. I note deputy (acting) PM Barnaby Joyce refused to state his view on the Adler ban this morning. That is no accident. | The political issue is something else. While no one would argue that McKenzie and Williams were not voting on their values, the Adler vote has given the Nats a chance to distinguish themselves as a party. Set themselves apart from the Liberals. And in a post-Orange byelection world, that is very important for their survival. I note deputy (acting) PM Barnaby Joyce refused to state his view on the Adler ban this morning. That is no accident. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 9.55pm GMT | at 9.55pm GMT |
| 9.11pm GMT | 9.11pm GMT |
| 21:11 | 21:11 |
| Housekeeping: Parliament will sit at 12pm today. | Housekeeping: Parliament will sit at 12pm today. |
| There are party room meetings this morning. | There are party room meetings this morning. |
| The twin industrial bill to the registered organisations is the Australian Building and Construction Commission bill. That is up for debate in the Senate today. | The twin industrial bill to the registered organisations is the Australian Building and Construction Commission bill. That is up for debate in the Senate today. |
| The superannuation reforms will be debated in the lower house today. | The superannuation reforms will be debated in the lower house today. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 9.55pm GMT | at 9.55pm GMT |
| 8.58pm GMT | 8.58pm GMT |
| 20:58 | 20:58 |
| Nash smash. | Nash smash. |
| 8.56pm GMT | 8.56pm GMT |
| 20:56 | 20:56 |
| That winning feeling. | That winning feeling. |
| 8.49pm GMT | 8.49pm GMT |
| 20:49 | 20:49 |
| The floor crossers unite. | The floor crossers unite. |
| 8.47pm GMT | 8.47pm GMT |
| 20:47 | 20:47 |
| Pass it on. | Pass it on. |
| 8.44pm GMT | 8.44pm GMT |
| 20:44 | 20:44 |
| Winning friends and influencing people. | Winning friends and influencing people. |
| 8.42pm GMT | 8.42pm GMT |
| 20:42 | 20:42 |
| Sam Dastyari and his luxurious locks. | Sam Dastyari and his luxurious locks. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 8.50pm GMT | at 8.50pm GMT |
| 8.39pm GMT | 8.39pm GMT |
| 20:39 | 20:39 |
| Will we, won’t we? | Will we, won’t we? |
| 8.31pm GMT | 8.31pm GMT |
| 20:31 | 20:31 |
| Oh what a night. | Oh what a night. |
| Good morning wise monkeys, | Good morning wise monkeys, |
| Two very significant news items in the Senate. | Two very significant news items in the Senate. |
| I have lots of thoughts about these two events which I will share in a minute. But first, Mike Bowers was up very late and has some wonderful images from these two votes. | I have lots of thoughts about these two events which I will share in a minute. But first, Mike Bowers was up very late and has some wonderful images from these two votes. |
| Is this the moment when employment minister Michaelia Cash works out she has the numbers for the registered organisations bill? | Is this the moment when employment minister Michaelia Cash works out she has the numbers for the registered organisations bill? |
| Lots more pictures to come. I am @gabriellechan and he is @mpbowers if you speak in tweets. If Facebook is your thing, you can find me here. And of course, the thread is open for your business. | Lots more pictures to come. I am @gabriellechan and he is @mpbowers if you speak in tweets. If Facebook is your thing, you can find me here. And of course, the thread is open for your business. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 8.50pm GMT | at 8.50pm GMT |