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Malcolm Turnbull addresses Coalition MPs as Cory Bernardi defects – politics live | |
(35 minutes later) | |
12.24am GMT | |
00:24 | |
Night of the living dead: zombie budget measures make budget hard to balance | |
Gareth Hutchens | |
The Parliamentary Budget Office has published an update on the budgetary impact of legislation still stuck in the senate. | |
Labor will try to capitalise on it today, which the government won’t appreciate. | |
It’s a quiet reminder of the problems the Coalition has faced in the senate since the Abbott government’s infamous 2014 budget. | |
According to the PBO: | |
The impact of the unlegislated measures on the budget deficit will be $8.5bn in 2019-20, and $42.8bn in 2026-27. | |
That means the government’s attempt to return the budget to balance by 2020-21 will be impossible, keeping other things equal, if the measures remain unlegislated. | |
12.20am GMT | |
00:20 | |
Katharine Murphy has done a little bit of decoding of the various barrows being pushed around the Bernardi defection. | |
But folks intent on running a line of defence that says how dare Bernardi offend the custom and practice of the political establishment in Canberra, and think that is somehow a resonant argument, must have missed the past two years in politics. | |
If somehow you missed the past two years in politics, the bit where Brexit happened and Trump got elected and One Nation returned to the political scene, then you have only to read Monday’s Newspoll to know that Australian voters are parting ways with the major parties and are actively looking for alternatives. | |
If you want to put some wind under the sails of a red meat conservative, who is looking to build a new political movement on a bedrock of disaffection, and is looking (somewhat against his own history) to position himself as a political outsider – I’d start throwing around words like “rat”. | |
2. Murpharoo suggests the suggestion that the defection is another test for Turnbull is bollocks. | |
Let’s get real. Looking at Turnbull, it really is hard to see how he could get more conservative than he currently is without also triggering a full-scale rebellion by party moderates. | |
So let’s call this one out. The hard right of the Liberal party just don’t like Turnbull, so it doesn’t matter what he does, it won’t be enough. | |
Have a read here. | |
Updated | |
at 12.23am GMT | |
11.58pm GMT | |
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The minister for investment opportunities. The former minister of health. | |
Updated | |
at 12.11am GMT | |
11.53pm GMT | |
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Then and Now- fellow SA sen. David Fawcett takes Cory's seat in the party room this morn @gabriellechan @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/AjojsbPGKI | |
Updated | |
at 12.12am GMT | |
11.48pm GMT | 11.48pm GMT |
23:48 | 23:48 |
We will hear from the party rooms shortly but in between times, it is worth remembering great Cory quotes relating to the prospect of a separate party. | |
In 2014, when the former SA MP Martin Hamilton-Smith defected, Bernardi was scathing. | |
We’ve supported him over successive elections, he was a former leader of the Liberal party, of course we’re disappointed and the people of Waite should be disappointed too because you can’t just jump ship and join the other team and claim it’s the national or public interest because it’s not. | |
In 2015 he told Annabel Crabb on Kitchen Cabinet: | |
I don’t think there’s an appetite for an alternative party. I think people want to make the Liberals work. | I don’t think there’s an appetite for an alternative party. I think people want to make the Liberals work. |
When he set up Australian Conservatives last year, he told Katharine Murphy: | When he set up Australian Conservatives last year, he told Katharine Murphy: |
My intention is to make the Liberal party stronger. | My intention is to make the Liberal party stronger. |
Updated | |
at 11.56pm GMT | |
11.35pm GMT | 11.35pm GMT |
23:35 | 23:35 |
Oh dear. | Oh dear. |
I guess this is the time to mention that Cory and Tony have had a bit of a falling out, as reported by Katharine Murphy last night. | I guess this is the time to mention that Cory and Tony have had a bit of a falling out, as reported by Katharine Murphy last night. |
The two men fell out publicly at Christmas time as Bernardi was planning his exit from the Liberal party – and Bernardi told confidantes during December he was profoundly irritated that Abbott was using the prospect of his defection as a trigger for a renewed bout of aggression against the current prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. | The two men fell out publicly at Christmas time as Bernardi was planning his exit from the Liberal party – and Bernardi told confidantes during December he was profoundly irritated that Abbott was using the prospect of his defection as a trigger for a renewed bout of aggression against the current prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. |
Abbott positioned himself in December to make the Bernardi defection a test of leadership for Turnbull, writing at the time Australia did not need a new conservative party, it needed “a credible agenda for the mainstream conservative political movement that already exists”. | Abbott positioned himself in December to make the Bernardi defection a test of leadership for Turnbull, writing at the time Australia did not need a new conservative party, it needed “a credible agenda for the mainstream conservative political movement that already exists”. |
Bernardi hit back just before Christmas, rebuking Abbott on social media. “While most on break, [the] only person talking up division in [the] Lib party this past week is Tony Abbott. Always back the horse named self-interest.” | |
With Bernardi expected to confirm his decision to set up a breakaway conservative movement on Tuesday, when federal parliament gets under way for the new year, Fairfax Media revived the December row late on Monday, which prompted Abbott to take to social media to deny leaking sensitive information against Bernardi just before Christmas. | With Bernardi expected to confirm his decision to set up a breakaway conservative movement on Tuesday, when federal parliament gets under way for the new year, Fairfax Media revived the December row late on Monday, which prompted Abbott to take to social media to deny leaking sensitive information against Bernardi just before Christmas. |
Falsehoods in SMH. I don't leak against colleagues. Never have, never will. | Falsehoods in SMH. I don't leak against colleagues. Never have, never will. |
Updated | Updated |
at 12.12am GMT | |
11.28pm GMT | 11.28pm GMT |
23:28 | 23:28 |
Laura Tingle of the Australian Financial Review has written a good column on the Bernardi threat. | |
Some people may find it vaguely reassuring that, while the western world – well, the whole world really – experiences an existential crisis as it watches the festival of bizarre in the White House, Australian politics can still trundle on, paralysed by a level of puerility that would be almost as hard to make up as Donald Trump. | |
So Cory Bernardi is about to leave the Liberal party. Yes, he really is apparently going to do it this time. | |
Well off you go, Cory. Turn off the lights as you go will you? And perhaps apologise to the preselectors and voters who guaranteed you a six-year Senate spot just eight months ago. | Well off you go, Cory. Turn off the lights as you go will you? And perhaps apologise to the preselectors and voters who guaranteed you a six-year Senate spot just eight months ago. |
Perhaps you could take with you all the senior colleagues and washed-up figures in your party who are all furiously trying to position themselves to shape and control the conservative wing of your party. | Perhaps you could take with you all the senior colleagues and washed-up figures in your party who are all furiously trying to position themselves to shape and control the conservative wing of your party. |
Few people in Canberra, when it comes down to it, really take the threat posed by a Bernardi party all that seriously. The splintered conservative party vote is, after all, quite contested space. | Few people in Canberra, when it comes down to it, really take the threat posed by a Bernardi party all that seriously. The splintered conservative party vote is, after all, quite contested space. |
Totally agree. Christensen has done the smarter thing to pursue his causes – much as you may hate them. Stay inside and apply pressure. And he can still cross the floor. But Bernardi can do nix once he has gone. | Totally agree. Christensen has done the smarter thing to pursue his causes – much as you may hate them. Stay inside and apply pressure. And he can still cross the floor. But Bernardi can do nix once he has gone. |
Updated | Updated |
at 12.15am GMT | |
11.22pm GMT | 11.22pm GMT |
23:22 | 23:22 |
Former WA Senator Rod Culleton is planning on attending the opening of Parliament today + wants to meet fmr Senate colleagues #auspol | Former WA Senator Rod Culleton is planning on attending the opening of Parliament today + wants to meet fmr Senate colleagues #auspol |
11.21pm GMT | 11.21pm GMT |
23:21 | 23:21 |
The education minister and Cory Bernardi’s fellow South Australian Liberal, Simon Birmingham, has been interviewed on his home state radio 5AA. He is asked about the 250,000 Liberal voters who voted for Cory at the last election. | The education minister and Cory Bernardi’s fellow South Australian Liberal, Simon Birmingham, has been interviewed on his home state radio 5AA. He is asked about the 250,000 Liberal voters who voted for Cory at the last election. |
Birmingham, in his mild-mannered way, points out that it was actually more like 345,000 and they had plenty of choices. The minister is a key moderate. | Birmingham, in his mild-mannered way, points out that it was actually more like 345,000 and they had plenty of choices. The minister is a key moderate. |
I’ll let others undertake the colourful caricatures or descriptions, but you were right – although you slightly shortchanged it – that at the last election the Liberal Senate voted, South Australia grew by more than 5% and more than 345,000 South Australians chose to vote for the Liberal party. They chose the Liberal party ahead of the Labor party, or the Greens, Nick Xenophon or One Nation. They had plenty of choices the left and the right of the Liberal party and those more than 345,000 South Australians chose the Liberal party, electing four Liberal senators and I’m sure that they expected to have four Liberal senators serve out their terms and they will rightly be disappointed. | I’ll let others undertake the colourful caricatures or descriptions, but you were right – although you slightly shortchanged it – that at the last election the Liberal Senate voted, South Australia grew by more than 5% and more than 345,000 South Australians chose to vote for the Liberal party. They chose the Liberal party ahead of the Labor party, or the Greens, Nick Xenophon or One Nation. They had plenty of choices the left and the right of the Liberal party and those more than 345,000 South Australians chose the Liberal party, electing four Liberal senators and I’m sure that they expected to have four Liberal senators serve out their terms and they will rightly be disappointed. |
Updated | Updated |
at 11.28pm GMT | at 11.28pm GMT |
11.06pm GMT | 11.06pm GMT |
23:06 | 23:06 |
Paul Karp has gone to the high court to cover the Bob Day case. AAP has previewed the case for us: | Paul Karp has gone to the high court to cover the Bob Day case. AAP has previewed the case for us: |
The question of how to fill the Senate seat left vacant by former Family First senator Bob Day is set to be argued in the high court. | The question of how to fill the Senate seat left vacant by former Family First senator Bob Day is set to be argued in the high court. |
Lawyers for attorney general George Brandis will argue the South Australian seat should be filled by a special count when the matter comes before the high court, sitting as the court of disputed returns, in Canberra on Tuesday. | Lawyers for attorney general George Brandis will argue the South Australian seat should be filled by a special count when the matter comes before the high court, sitting as the court of disputed returns, in Canberra on Tuesday. |
The court will need to determine whether Day had a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a lease agreement between the owner of his electorate office premises, Fullarton Investments, and the federal government. | The court will need to determine whether Day had a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a lease agreement between the owner of his electorate office premises, Fullarton Investments, and the federal government. |
Under the constitution, such an arrangement would disqualify him from sitting in parliament. | Under the constitution, such an arrangement would disqualify him from sitting in parliament. |
If he is found to have been disqualified a recount would be needed, but if he wins, Family First would fill the casual vacancy caused by his resignation last year. | If he is found to have been disqualified a recount would be needed, but if he wins, Family First would fill the casual vacancy caused by his resignation last year. |
Updated | Updated |
at 11.29pm GMT | at 11.29pm GMT |
11.03pm GMT | 11.03pm GMT |
23:03 | 23:03 |
Updated | Updated |
at 11.29pm GMT | at 11.29pm GMT |
10.54pm GMT | 10.54pm GMT |
22:54 | 22:54 |
We are entering the Matt Hatter zone. Herewith, a visual representation of the Cory Bernardi defection. | We are entering the Matt Hatter zone. Herewith, a visual representation of the Cory Bernardi defection. |
@gabriellechan Hi🎭. Following the official returning of the LNP stapler, Mr Bernardi then performed a traditional SA Liberal exit ceremony. pic.twitter.com/xpzTNgbc9f | @gabriellechan Hi🎭. Following the official returning of the LNP stapler, Mr Bernardi then performed a traditional SA Liberal exit ceremony. pic.twitter.com/xpzTNgbc9f |
How I missed that Matt Hatter. | How I missed that Matt Hatter. |
Updated | Updated |
at 11.30pm GMT | at 11.30pm GMT |
10.52pm GMT | 10.52pm GMT |
22:52 | 22:52 |
Malcolm Turnbull reportedly tells the party room that Bernardi did not try to justify staying in his Senate seat after being elected as a Liberal. | Malcolm Turnbull reportedly tells the party room that Bernardi did not try to justify staying in his Senate seat after being elected as a Liberal. |
PM Turnbull just now in partyroom "I asked him how he could justify remaining in the Senate having been elected ...1/2 | PM Turnbull just now in partyroom "I asked him how he could justify remaining in the Senate having been elected ...1/2 |
...as a Liberal only seven months ago. He could not answer that question" 2/2 | ...as a Liberal only seven months ago. He could not answer that question" 2/2 |
Updated | Updated |
at 11.30pm GMT | at 11.30pm GMT |
10.50pm GMT | 10.50pm GMT |
22:50 | 22:50 |
Turnbull: Australians must know their government determines who comes to Australia | Turnbull: Australians must know their government determines who comes to Australia |
Malcolm Turnbull: | Malcolm Turnbull: |
Look around the world at the grief and the turmoil that you’ve seen through lax border protection. | Look around the world at the grief and the turmoil that you’ve seen through lax border protection. |
We have now gone over 900 days without a successful people-smuggling venture coming toAustralia. That is a remarkable achievement and one on which we can never be complacent. | We have now gone over 900 days without a successful people-smuggling venture coming toAustralia. That is a remarkable achievement and one on which we can never be complacent. |
Australians know that the Coalition, the Liberal and the National pParty Coalition will keep their borders secure. That is the foundation of our … immigration policies. It is the foundation of our multicultural society. Australians must know that their government and their government alone determines who comes to Australia. That is their sovereign right. That is our sovereign right as a nation. | Australians know that the Coalition, the Liberal and the National pParty Coalition will keep their borders secure. That is the foundation of our … immigration policies. It is the foundation of our multicultural society. Australians must know that their government and their government alone determines who comes to Australia. That is their sovereign right. That is our sovereign right as a nation. |
Updated | Updated |
at 11.32pm GMT | at 11.32pm GMT |