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George Brandis may face snap Senate inquiry – politics live Labor blames Coalition for backpacker tax tussle – politics live
(35 minutes later)
9.47pm GMT 1.58am GMT
21:47 01:58
Penny Wong was also asked on Lateline about Labor’s policy to crackdown on 457 visas which require stronger labour market testing before temporary foreign workers are employed. Arggghhhh.
Wong said 457 workers have been a part of the Australian labour market for a long time. Liberal MPs say it was the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) that changed the tax. There were decisions by the AAT relating to residency but this policy stemmed from a Coalition government decision in the 2015 budget.
The key policy question that I think most Australians want to ensure is that those jobs are available first to Australians who are willing and able to do them. If you don’t believe Hockey’s budget speech, here is more evidence of the backpacker tax origins from the first few pars of a research paper from the parliamentary library.
Emma Alberici: Labor gave 285 foreign workers jobs at McDonald’s in Australia, 74 at Hungry Jack’s and 88 at KFC. Were there no Australians that could do those jobs when Labor was in Government? Changed rules for working holiday makers
I’m responding to the direct policy point which is we had an approach which required labour market testing, that is the safeguard. Budget Review 2015–16 Index
Alberici: These happened...when you were in government. Les Nielson
I’m not able to tell you what happened in respect of every single one of those workers. In the 2015–16 Budget the Government proposes to change the tax status of temporary working holiday makers from that of resident, to that of non-resident, from 1 July 2016.[1]
Alberici: Bill Shorten was Employment Minister at the time. 1.44am GMT
The reality is there was a safeguard which existed under the Labor government. The government sought to remove that under trade agreements. I and others raised concerns about that because we think it’s legitimate and a fair safeguard. At the time, I recall being criticised, as Labor was, by the government about that fact. 01:44
9.28pm GMT Labor agriculture shadow Joel Fitzgibbon reminds the house of treasurer Joe Hockey’s speech in the 2015 budget relating to the backpacker tax because Barnaby Joyce and others have claimed it was not the Coalition’s idea.
21:28 Joe Hockey’s budget speech in May 2015 when the change was announced:
Penny Wong appeared on Lateline last night – why not, with the Senate sitting until 1am? And anyone on a working holiday in Australia will have to pay tax from their first dollar earned, rather than enjoying a tax‑free threshold of nearly $20,000. This will save the budget $540m.
She enunciated the line of attack against George Brandis today. Fitzgibbon said he rang the National Farmers Federation on 2015 budget night to ask if they were concerned.
Let’s start with the primary problem. It is this … statements and undertakings given to the Senate today are inconsistent with statements made by the Western Australian treasurer, to the Western Australian parliament. So either George Brandis isn’t telling the truth in this parliament, or Dr Nahan is not telling the truth in the Western Australian parliament. Because both sets of statements in respect of three key facts cannot be true. ‘No’ was response … no problem there … Initially we didn’t criticise the backpacker tax, we assumed they had been consulted and agreed with the proposition.
And the three key differences are: was there any agreement? Then like the government when things got hot, [the NFF] had came up with 19%, he says.
Second, the involvement of Christian Porter. He says the Labor party has dragged the Coalition to a lower rate.
And thirdly, the involvement of Kelly O’Dwyer.
Completely inconsistent statements made to two parliaments. Who is telling the truth?
I again remind you and all of the fact that Dr Nahan has said, the treasurer of Western Australia has said, very clearly to the Australian parliament they had a deal. “We had a deal.”
That’s inconsistent with what Senator Brandis said today.
UpdatedUpdated
at 9.36pm GMT at 1.56am GMT
9.11pm GMT 1.35am GMT
21:11 01:35
Good morning after the night before, Gareth Hutchens
There is a whole lot of bluff and bluster around this morning and the only way to pick our way through it is to follow the chambers like a good kelpie. The Greens held their partyroom meeting this morning.
Those chambers don’t sit until midday to allow party-room meetings to occur. Topics of discussion:
The Senate sat until nearly 1am debating the Australian Building and Construction Commission bill to bring back the Howard industry watchdog. The bill has passed its second reading stage which means it now goes to committee stage, when other senators get to act like journalists and fire off questions at the minister in charge. George Brandis:
The communications minister, Mitch Fifield, told the ABC this morning the government had One Nation support and David Leyonhjelm but discussions were continuing in efforts to win Nick Xenophon’s three votes and Derryn Hinch. They say Brandis has still not addressed the fundamental accusation levelled at him: that he instructed Justice Gleeson not to run a particular argument in the High Court.
Fifield is asked about the hoary old chestnut, extending the parliamentary sitting past Thursday – being the last sitting day of the year. They have already tabled a motion, co-sponsored with Labor, to establish an inquiry to get to the bottom of the Brandis affair.
Everything is in the hands of the chamber itself … the crossbench has accepted management of Senate is the responsibility of all senators. If the inquiry is established, they will be moving for invitations to be sent to Joe Hockey, Mike Nahan, and Michael Mischin, to appear - despite preliminary advice that the senate will not have the power to compel them to appear.
The political attention will be heaped on George Brandis today as the Greens and Labor try to get up an inquiry into the Bell Group litigation matter. The motion that’s before the senate would compel the attendance of George Brandis and Mathias Cormann.
The Fin’s Laura Tingle, who broke the original story about the falling out between Justin Gleeson and Brandis, neatly encapsulates the key question left hanging after the attorney general’s statement yesterday. They will also be inviting members of the House of Representatives to appear: Kelly O’Dwyer and Christian Porter. They will not be compelled to appear.
Did George Brandis prevent, discourage or inhibit attempts to challenge a West Australian bill that would have favoured WA over federal taxpayers to the tune of $300 million? On the ABCC:
Paul Karp is beavering away to check the numbers for a Brandis Senate inquiry. We know Greens and Labor will support. Xenophon is a no. One Nation is a no as of yesterday. Hinch said Brandis had better have a good explanation. Leyonhjelm and Lambie are maybes. They say they’re concerned about the deal the Turnbull government cut with David Leyonjhelm with respect to the ABC, which forces the ABC and SBS to hold regular meetings in regional Australia.
Onwards and upwards. Talk to us on the Twits @gabriellechan and @mpbowers or you can talk to me on Facebook or in the thread. They think legislation will be needed to amend the ABC Act to put Leyonjhelm’s deal into practice. They won’t be supporting any legislation that amends the ABC Act. Today they’ll be calling on Labor and every other crossbencher to commit to opposing it.
On the ABCC generally, the senate will be debating amendments to the bill from 12.30 today for a couple of hours, and from about 6.30pm to midnight.
The Greens will be moving two sets of amendments: a requirement for local steel to be used on projects covered by the building code, and a requirement for employers to first advertise jobs to Australians before trying to hire a foreign worker.
On oil and gas companies:
The Greens will be moving for a senate inquiry into the existing legislation to see what needs to be tidied up.
They want to know if the legislation actually needs to be changed, or if the problem is simply about inadequate monitoring of deductions.
Parliament House security measures:
They say they’re troubled by reports of a planned increase in security measures at Parliament House.
They’ll be giving notice of a motion today, which will be debated tomorrow, opposing the changes.
1.23am GMT
01:23
Chris Bowen is still speaking on backpackers tax.
The Liberal party are meant to understand business. The National party is supposed to understand regional Australia. This issue shows they don’t understand either.
Bowen suggests Labor supports the 10.5% rate, as if the party always supported this rate.
Labor will continue our consistent approach to this.
Labor has not been consistent on this issue.
For more than 12 months, Labor had no position on the backpacker tax - at least no rate. Labor opposed the backpacker tax in theory but would not nominate a rate from May 2015 until well after the July 2 election in 2016 - even though they booked the savings in their election financials. Then, at the 11th hour, they jumped on board the Jacqui Lambie express.
There is so much manure on both sides of this policy debate. *sniff*
1.07am GMT
01:07
The house has begun and the first bill is the backpacker tax.
Chris Bowen, Labor shadow treasurer, says the 15% bill is:
A humiliating backdown from an incompetent treasurer on the run. He announced it at a press conference which was immature and petulant even for him.
UpdatedUpdated
at 9.35pm GMT at 1.16am GMT
1.01am GMT
01:01
Sometimes you really have to wonder whether the government is concerned with housing affordability.
NSW planning minister Rob Stokes let the negative gearing genie out of the bottle last week when he said housing supply alone could not fix affordability issues. Perhaps we need to look at tax deductions, he said.
Earlier this year the NSW government was ready, willing and able to have a discussion about tax. Disappointingly our leadership on this issue fell victim to the Canberra culture that promotes opposition over consensus.
Surely the focus of the tax system should be directed towards the type of housing we need. Why should you get a tax deduction on the ownership of a multimillion-dollar holiday home that does nothing to improve supply where it’s needed?
Labor went to the federal election with a serious change to negative gearing. While Scott Morrison originally said negative gearing was a little excessive, the Coalition decided to rule it out on the grounds that it would allow them to beat Labor.
Last Saturday – yes Saturday in between two sitting weeks – Morrison released a change in the foreign buyer rules which had previously only allowed foreign buyers to on sell to Australians. I shall let him explain from his press release.
The Turnbull government will implement changes under the foreign investment framework to allow foreign buyers to purchase an off-the-plan dwelling when another foreign buyer has failed to reach settlement.
This change addresses industry concerns, and means property developers won’t be left in the lurch when a foreign buyer pulls out on an off-the-plan purchase.
This action will ensure that markets will not be impacted negatively by an increased amount of off-the-plan sales, particularly from foreign purchasers, not being completed.
It is common sense that an apartment or house that has just been built, or is still under construction and for which the title has never changed hands, is not considered an established dwelling.
On Monday, the ABC China correspondent Bill Birtles reported:
Thousands of Chinese property investors who bought apartments in Australia are still scrambling to save their investments, six months on from a bank clampdown on foreign lending.
Earlier this year, the big four banks cut off lending to offshore investors in a bid to reduce the amount of risk they took on.
They were spooked by some applications with fraudulent proof of income, and wanted to rein in lending to avoid being too reliant on Chinese borrowers.
And
Property developers in Australia have, in recent months, reported Chinese buyers rescinding their contracts as the squeeze takes hold.
What is one property developer’s negative impact is another (first home) buyer’s good deal.
As the Australia Institute’s Richard Denniss notes in the Fin today:
Just as market forces were about to push the price of housing down in Australia, the treasurer stepped in with some new regulation. Phew. Some first home buyers nearly snatched a good deal but luckily the treasurer was there to protect the property developers from the oversupply their building bonanza created.
Just a little background ahead of NSW premier Mike Baird’s address to the press club.
Updated
at 1.49am GMT
12.34am GMT
00:34
On the menu in the lower house today
This is what we are expecting when parliament sits at midday.
In the lower house:
Updated
at 12.39am GMT
12.29am GMT
00:29
This is a snippet from a Senate committee in which a Australian Tax Office official confirmed that he was asked about the Bell litigation case by ministerial staff from either the assistant treasurer or the treasurer’s office.
It goes to the contact between the commonwealth and the WA government. But the question as to whether the attorney general or someone else in government tried to rein in the commonwealth in favour of the WA government remains unanswered.
O'Dwyer won't say if she interfered in Bell litigation, but here's what happened at Estimates when I asked ATO if Ministers contacted them. pic.twitter.com/6SOY9MWjoj
They had representations by the West Australian government as I recall, says the ATO officer.
Updated
at 12.40am GMT
12.18am GMT
00:18
Common sense lives here.
Cory Bernardi, Conservative and author of Common Sense Lives Here blog, is still at the United Nations.
Don’t worry. He will be back shortly as his time is drawing to a close, as he wrote last week.
It’s three degrees and the first tiny flakes of snow are falling in Manhattan. Somehow I find it symbolic, given that my secondment to the United Nations and my stay here is drawing to a close. The end of one season and the beginning of another.
While he is away, assistant minister for industry, Craig Laundy is trolling him from the party room, sitting in his favourite chair which is placed under the prime minister.
12.09am GMT
00:09
Party room meditation.
11.43pm GMT
23:43
11.40pm GMT
23:40
Immigration minister Peter Dutton is really polishing up his lines of late. He always does a bit of a comic act in question time – usually involving Bill Shorten and the CFMEU.
This morning, Dutton turned his attention to Labor shadow attorney Mark Dreyfus, who Dutton believes is obsessed with George Brandis. After an interview with the ABC, he said Dreyfus was like the Robin Williams character in One Hour Photo – a creepy film in which Williams plays a stalker.
Updated
at 11.48pm GMT
11.15pm GMT
23:15
A statement from the first female chief justice of the high court
The chief justice designate of the high court of Australia, the Hon Justice Susan Kiefel AC, today said she was deeply honoured to have been appointed and would work to uphold the importance of the High Court as an institution in our society and to maintain its independence.
“The high court remains as relevant today to Australians as it did at federation. The issues that come before the high court affect many aspects of the life of the nation.
“It will be a privilege to walk in the footsteps of the eminent jurists who have been appointed chief justices since the court was established in 1903.”
Updated
at 11.49pm GMT
11.10pm GMT
23:10
NSW premier Mike Baird will be speaking at the National Press Club at lunchtime. Katharine Murphy has previewed the speech and provided the context. For federal Liberals, this is important.
Baird’s appearance in Canberra on Tuesday follows a public intervention last week by Rob Stokes, the NSW planning minister, who urged Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison to rethink their opposition to negative gearing reform.
Stokes argued that boosting supply alone would not solve Sydney’s problem with housing affordability. The tax system needed to be geared towards productive investments.
“Earlier this year the NSW government was ready, willing and able to have a discussion about tax,” the planning minister said. “Disappointingly our leadership on this issue fell victim to the Canberra culture that promotes opposition over consensus.”
This will be a major focus of questions today.
10.56pm GMT
22:56
Malcolm Turnbull addressed his party room.
And we said we would make the 45th Parliament work, and we said that we would deliver. And we are delivering. Thanks to you. Thanks to your hard work, thanks to working with the crossbenchers in the house and above all, in the Senate.
Turnbull names:
When we wrap up the parliament this week for the summer vacation, for the Christmas vacation, all of us will be able to go back to our electorates and say ‘we came to you in the election with an economic plan’. We laid it out. We sought your support and you returned us to government and we are delivering. We are getting the runs on the board. We are defying the critics. We are delivering the 45th Parliament is working, the government is governing, the government is leading, the government is delivering on its promises.
10.45pm GMT
22:45
Bill Shorten says the Coalition is about the “survival of the fittest” and “the law of the economic jungle”.
If you fall behind, you get left behind. We are different. We’ve always been different and we remain strong and proud in our difference to the Liberals. We know that it is our job in this parliament to make economic change work for everybody, to make the economy work in the interests of working class and middle class people.