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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2017/oct/16/parliament-turnbull-coalition-politics-live
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| Parliament dominated by energy with one eye on the high court – politics live | Parliament dominated by energy with one eye on the high court – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 12.54am BST | |
| 00:54 | |
| Brendan Nottle from the Salvation Army has been greeted by MPs outside parliament after walking from Melbourne to Canberra to raise awareness about homelessness. | |
| Wonderful to welcome @brendannottle to Parl House after walking 703km from Melb to Canberra to raise awareness for homelessness pic.twitter.com/ydDtWfZxUq | |
| Bill Shorten was one of those who welcomed him: | |
| I understand that what you’ve done today is not only drawn attention to the 100,000-plus people who are homeless, including 17,000 kids, not just all of the challenges, but what you’ve done, Brendan, is you’ve given politics a little bit of self-respect. Because you walking up this hill and those 700km beforehand, you are saying that you trust the political system and the parliamentarians to be fair dinkum on homelessness, to be as fair dinkum as you are, to be as fair dinkum as this group. We will not let you down. Thank you for making me look at this parliament with different eyes today. You are a rockstar, mate. | |
| Updated | |
| at 1.04am BST | |
| 12.48am BST | |
| 00:48 | |
| But it looks like Labor won’t be joining Richard Di Natale on the picket lines if Adani’s Carmichael coalmine in Queensland goes ahead. | |
| The Greens leader told Sky News on Sunday that if his party could not stop the mine in the parliament, they would do it by standing in front of the bulldozers. You can read more about that here. | |
| Queensland Labor, which is preparing to head to a tough state election, supports the project but doesn’t support government subsidies (outside the royalty holiday it has granted). | |
| Mark Butler says the parliament is dealing with the question of government assistance: | |
| Labor is clear that the one matter before the federal parliament is the question of a concessional loan to the Adani project and federal Labor is definitely opposed to any of the subsidies. Beyond that, there are a range of different views about whether this is a project that stacks up economically and environmentally. My position has been made clear on a number of occasions publicly. But the matter before the Australian parliament is whether taxpayers are going to subsidise this operation in the Galilee Basin. | |
| Updated | |
| at 1.04am BST | |
| 12.42am BST | |
| 00:42 | |
| Labor’s energy spokesman, Mark Butler, has held a press conference to discuss all things energy. He was criticised by Mathias Cormann this morning for rejecting the government’s energy policy before seeing it – speaking to the ABC’s Insiders on Sunday, Butler said if there was no clean energy target, then Labor was out. This morning, he was a little more open to listening to the government: | |
| We want to wait and see what comes out of the cabinet discussion tonight and tomorrow. We still do hold out some hope that Malcolm Turnbull and Josh Frydenberg will see some sense, will support the broad coalition of support that exists for the clean energy target and come up with something sensible tomorrow. If they don’t, we’ll have to consider our position, we’ll talk to business groups, the energy sector and other stakeholders about what the way forward should be. But the test today is for Malcolm Turnbull, not for Labor. We’ve indicated our position. We’ve shifted from our election policy, a substantial shift, to try to develop some bipartisanship around this question. The test now is that there are two paths for Malcolm Turnbull: Tony Abbott’s path or the path urged on him by pretty much everyone else in the community. | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.48am BST | |
| 12.37am BST | |
| 00:37 | |
| The NSW Nationals leader, John Barilaro, has had a chat to Laura Jayes on Sky after the Nats’ byelections over the weekend which left heartland seats Cootamundra and Murray – once some of the safest in the state – reduced to marginal seats. | |
| So while his party won, he’s not feeling overly celebratory. He told Jayes he thinks what is happening federally has a lot to do with what happened in NSW over the weekend. | |
| “What we are seeing is a government that has lost its way,” he said, naming the citizenship hearings and leadership tensions as distractions. | |
| The Liberals’ Craig Laundry, who has seen his biggest mentions in the press lately in relation to his brother Stu, who is a contestant on The Bachelorette (sentences I never thought I would be writing #8765) said he believed there was “frustration with politics across the board”. | |
| I think the default position when that happens is the government of the day, irrespective of ilk, gets marked down. However it is also a frustration that issues that aren’t of great relevance are hijacking all the oxygen, and for us it is a great grind to keep talking about the important day-to-day issues – and let’s face it, power prices and cost of living and power prices for businesses is absolutely some of those.” | |
| As for the NSW byelections, Laundry says he believes some local issues played into the results, naming council amalgamations as one of those factors. | |
| Updated | |
| at 12.46am BST | |
| 12.22am BST | 12.22am BST |
| 00:22 | 00:22 |
| Labor’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, is talking at the same international relations conference as Julie Bishop. | Labor’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Penny Wong, is talking at the same international relations conference as Julie Bishop. |
| In a transcript of her speech, Wong lays out a number of ways Australia can work better with China: | In a transcript of her speech, Wong lays out a number of ways Australia can work better with China: |
| I’ve identified six main principles that I think will help us to engage better with China. There is no overarching simple answer to how we engage with China; we constantly need to steer through the intersecting dimensions of issues and opportunities. | I’ve identified six main principles that I think will help us to engage better with China. There is no overarching simple answer to how we engage with China; we constantly need to steer through the intersecting dimensions of issues and opportunities. |
| First: we must have a clear idea of what our national interests are, and recognise where they may and may not align with those of China. | First: we must have a clear idea of what our national interests are, and recognise where they may and may not align with those of China. |
| Second: we need to accept that we live in a disrupted world – we deal with the world as it is in order to better shape it as we want it to be. | Second: we need to accept that we live in a disrupted world – we deal with the world as it is in order to better shape it as we want it to be. |
| Third: we engage with China as it is, not as others might perceive it or as China might represent itself. | Third: we engage with China as it is, not as others might perceive it or as China might represent itself. |
| Fourth: we accord to our relationship with China the priority it merits. | Fourth: we accord to our relationship with China the priority it merits. |
| Fifth: we pursue a more integrated and coordinated approach to the various strands of the relationship. | Fifth: we pursue a more integrated and coordinated approach to the various strands of the relationship. |
| And sixth: we work with China in a regional framework, recognising that this is the region in which we both live, and the importance of the rules-based order that has underpinned stability and prosperity to the benefit of both our nations, and the region.” | And sixth: we work with China in a regional framework, recognising that this is the region in which we both live, and the importance of the rules-based order that has underpinned stability and prosperity to the benefit of both our nations, and the region.” |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.28am BST | at 12.28am BST |
| 12.00am BST | 12.00am BST |
| 00:00 | 00:00 |
| The parliament will welcome a special guest today. | The parliament will welcome a special guest today. |
| The Prime Minister will welcome His Excellency Mr Michael D Higgins,President of Ireland, to Parliament House at 10am #auspol | The Prime Minister will welcome His Excellency Mr Michael D Higgins,President of Ireland, to Parliament House at 10am #auspol |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.06am BST | at 12.06am BST |
| 11.56pm BST | 11.56pm BST |
| 23:56 | 23:56 |
| The bells are ringing! Which means parliament is about to officially get under way. | The bells are ringing! Which means parliament is about to officially get under way. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.06am BST | at 12.06am BST |
| 11.55pm BST | 11.55pm BST |
| 23:55 | 23:55 |
| Labor’s climate change spokesman, Pat Conroy, has been doorstopped on his way into parliament today. | Labor’s climate change spokesman, Pat Conroy, has been doorstopped on his way into parliament today. |
| There are plenty of ways in and out of parliament without walking past the media. So if MPs choose the doors where the cameras are hanging out, it’s because they have something to say. Today Conroy had quite a bit to say about energy, the ACCC report and Tony Abbott: | There are plenty of ways in and out of parliament without walking past the media. So if MPs choose the doors where the cameras are hanging out, it’s because they have something to say. Today Conroy had quite a bit to say about energy, the ACCC report and Tony Abbott: |
| We’ve got a doubling of wholesale energy prices because of two things: skyrocketing gas prices, and all this government is doing is talking about it and not taking concrete action; and secondly the investment strike. | We’ve got a doubling of wholesale energy prices because of two things: skyrocketing gas prices, and all this government is doing is talking about it and not taking concrete action; and secondly the investment strike. |
| We’ve had seven coal-fired power stations come out of the system in the last four years with no replacement dispatchable capacity because people don’t know what the rules of racing are. | We’ve had seven coal-fired power stations come out of the system in the last four years with no replacement dispatchable capacity because people don’t know what the rules of racing are. |
| The Finkel review said if you can provide some certainty around a bipartisan energy mechanism that would get investment flowing and that would lower power prices, and the energy minister agreed with him as recently as two months ago. | The Finkel review said if you can provide some certainty around a bipartisan energy mechanism that would get investment flowing and that would lower power prices, and the energy minister agreed with him as recently as two months ago. |
| Nothing has changed. This government will use the ACCC report as cover to back away because they are craven and cowardly, and they are more worried about what Tony Abbott can do in their party room. | Nothing has changed. This government will use the ACCC report as cover to back away because they are craven and cowardly, and they are more worried about what Tony Abbott can do in their party room. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.11am BST | at 12.11am BST |
| 11.49pm BST | 11.49pm BST |
| 23:49 | 23:49 |
| Here’s a little bit more from that speech Julie Bishop was giving to the AIIA: | Here’s a little bit more from that speech Julie Bishop was giving to the AIIA: |
| Australia is seeking to serve on the UN human rights council, the first time we will have served on this body. The vote takes place at 2.00am our time, so I will be able to tell you tomorrow how we went. We put in a very strong campaign and received a lot of written pledges for offer to serve on the human rights council campaign and we have most certainly put forward a very strong case to bring a very principled and pragmatic approach, just as we did when we served on the security council and we had five themes in relation to gender empowerment and freedom of speech and strengthening democratic institutions and human rights institutions and Indigenous rights and the like. | Australia is seeking to serve on the UN human rights council, the first time we will have served on this body. The vote takes place at 2.00am our time, so I will be able to tell you tomorrow how we went. We put in a very strong campaign and received a lot of written pledges for offer to serve on the human rights council campaign and we have most certainly put forward a very strong case to bring a very principled and pragmatic approach, just as we did when we served on the security council and we had five themes in relation to gender empowerment and freedom of speech and strengthening democratic institutions and human rights institutions and Indigenous rights and the like. |
| We’ll update you on the outcome of that vote tomorrow morning. | We’ll update you on the outcome of that vote tomorrow morning. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.00am BST | at 12.00am BST |
| 11.38pm BST | 11.38pm BST |
| 23:38 | 23:38 |
| Does Malcolm Turnbull “have to fall on his sword – FOR THE GOOD OF THE PARTY, MR ABBOTT,” as Hadley very animatedly asks? | Does Malcolm Turnbull “have to fall on his sword – FOR THE GOOD OF THE PARTY, MR ABBOTT,” as Hadley very animatedly asks? |
| Well, the Newspoll count was Turnbull’s test, not Abbott’s, the former PM says, but he doesn’t say whether he agrees with Hadley. | Well, the Newspoll count was Turnbull’s test, not Abbott’s, the former PM says, but he doesn’t say whether he agrees with Hadley. |
| Abbott thinks his view on energy policy will see the public take a “big sigh of relief”: | Abbott thinks his view on energy policy will see the public take a “big sigh of relief”: |
| I think the focus shouldn’t be on the polls, I think the focus should be on being the best possible government. Let’s see what comes out of the cabinet … it has got to be right, we have to get it right and I hope that a lot of very serious thought has been given to this matter by minister Josh Frydenberg, a bloke I respect. | I think the focus shouldn’t be on the polls, I think the focus should be on being the best possible government. Let’s see what comes out of the cabinet … it has got to be right, we have to get it right and I hope that a lot of very serious thought has been given to this matter by minister Josh Frydenberg, a bloke I respect. |
| Hadley tries one more time to get Abbott to say something about Turnbull resigning. In the end he says the only way ex-prime ministers could come back would be if they were drafted and that’s “almost impossible to imagine”. | Hadley tries one more time to get Abbott to say something about Turnbull resigning. In the end he says the only way ex-prime ministers could come back would be if they were drafted and that’s “almost impossible to imagine”. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 11.43pm BST | at 11.43pm BST |
| 11.32pm BST | 11.32pm BST |
| 23:32 | 23:32 |
| Ray Hadley is straight into the London speech. | Ray Hadley is straight into the London speech. |
| “It’s nice to see that people were listening; I am not sure if all the people who were criticising it have actually read it,” Abbott says. | “It’s nice to see that people were listening; I am not sure if all the people who were criticising it have actually read it,” Abbott says. |
| But he doesn’t think there have been “any big shifts” in his views on climate change (Crikey added them up and found Abbott has held 17 different views). | But he doesn’t think there have been “any big shifts” in his views on climate change (Crikey added them up and found Abbott has held 17 different views). |
| Abbott says he abolished the carbon tax, and is the only prime minister to have brought the clean energy target down. (That would be the carbon tax that his former chief of staff Peta Credlin said in February wasn’t really a carbon tax.) | Abbott says he abolished the carbon tax, and is the only prime minister to have brought the clean energy target down. (That would be the carbon tax that his former chief of staff Peta Credlin said in February wasn’t really a carbon tax.) |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 12.17am BST | at 12.17am BST |
| 11.25pm BST | 11.25pm BST |
| 23:25 | 23:25 |
| A quick wrap of some of the interviews this morning: no one is worried about the Newspoll (that would be the one showing for the 21st time in a row, the government is less popular than Labor) and energy solutions are on their way. | A quick wrap of some of the interviews this morning: no one is worried about the Newspoll (that would be the one showing for the 21st time in a row, the government is less popular than Labor) and energy solutions are on their way. |
| Paul Karp gave us a wrap on what Mathias Cormann had to say on energy a bit earlier – the finance minister also said he was not worried about the poll and, as the next election approached: “We are hopeful that we are able to convince a majority of people in the majority of seats to support the Coalition again.” | Paul Karp gave us a wrap on what Mathias Cormann had to say on energy a bit earlier – the finance minister also said he was not worried about the poll and, as the next election approached: “We are hopeful that we are able to convince a majority of people in the majority of seats to support the Coalition again.” |
| Simon Birmingham also had a bit to say when chatting to Sky News – he won’t be distracted by polls, or former prime ministers (ahem, Tony Abbott) and is “getting on with all these important issues like dealing with an energy crisis”. | Simon Birmingham also had a bit to say when chatting to Sky News – he won’t be distracted by polls, or former prime ministers (ahem, Tony Abbott) and is “getting on with all these important issues like dealing with an energy crisis”. |
| Speaking of our nation’s greatest onion advocate – he is coming up on Ray Hadley’s 2GB show imminently. | Speaking of our nation’s greatest onion advocate – he is coming up on Ray Hadley’s 2GB show imminently. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 11.29pm BST | at 11.29pm BST |
| 11.16pm BST | 11.16pm BST |
| 23:16 | 23:16 |
| Julie Bishop is speaking at the Australian Institute of International Affairs National Conference. We only caught the beginning of it, before Sky News diverted to something else, but she opened the speech by saying there was a chance in the foreseeable future that Australia could sit outside the worlds 20 biggest economies. | Julie Bishop is speaking at the Australian Institute of International Affairs National Conference. We only caught the beginning of it, before Sky News diverted to something else, but she opened the speech by saying there was a chance in the foreseeable future that Australia could sit outside the worlds 20 biggest economies. |
| She said: | She said: |
| [Taking] one PWC study as one guide, by 2030, Indonesia, Pakistan and Thailand will all have larger economies than Australia. Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines will be approaching parity with Australia in absolute economic size. | [Taking] one PWC study as one guide, by 2030, Indonesia, Pakistan and Thailand will all have larger economies than Australia. Vietnam, Bangladesh and the Philippines will be approaching parity with Australia in absolute economic size. |
| .@JulieBishopMP also notes the majority of emerging powers in Asia are not US allies, unlike in the second half of last century | .@JulieBishopMP also notes the majority of emerging powers in Asia are not US allies, unlike in the second half of last century |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 11.46pm BST | at 11.46pm BST |
| 10.57pm BST | 10.57pm BST |
| 22:57 | 22:57 |
| Parliament officially begins at 10am – you’ll find the house schedule here and the Senate here. Cabinet is meeting today, where the government’s energy policy will get its final tickoff. Then it heads to the Coalition party room on Tuesday, and from there, the world. | Parliament officially begins at 10am – you’ll find the house schedule here and the Senate here. Cabinet is meeting today, where the government’s energy policy will get its final tickoff. Then it heads to the Coalition party room on Tuesday, and from there, the world. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 11.19pm BST | at 11.19pm BST |
| 10.51pm BST | 10.51pm BST |
| 22:51 | 22:51 |
| Speaking of policy that has dropped off the agenda, the government’s controversial citizenship changes, which caused uproar in April when Peter Dutton announced them, look to be heading nowhere fast. The Nick Xenophon Team maintains it cannot support the legislation in its current form, with Nick Xenophon encouraging the government to “go back to the drawing board”. | Speaking of policy that has dropped off the agenda, the government’s controversial citizenship changes, which caused uproar in April when Peter Dutton announced them, look to be heading nowhere fast. The Nick Xenophon Team maintains it cannot support the legislation in its current form, with Nick Xenophon encouraging the government to “go back to the drawing board”. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 11.18pm BST | at 11.18pm BST |
| 10.33pm BST | 10.33pm BST |
| 22:33 | 22:33 |
| Remember the company tax cuts the government promised at the election? Scott Morrison does and last month he signalled he would be working to get it back on the agenda. | Remember the company tax cuts the government promised at the election? Scott Morrison does and last month he signalled he would be working to get it back on the agenda. |
| The Business Council of Australia also hasn’t forgotten – but it says the government would need to go further than its plan to drop the 30% rate to 25% over 10 years if Australia wants to stay competitive in a changing international tax landscape. | The Business Council of Australia also hasn’t forgotten – but it says the government would need to go further than its plan to drop the 30% rate to 25% over 10 years if Australia wants to stay competitive in a changing international tax landscape. |
| Labor, meanwhile, used the weekend to unveil its plan to boost business – announcing a $1bn manufacturing future fund. | Labor, meanwhile, used the weekend to unveil its plan to boost business – announcing a $1bn manufacturing future fund. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 11.17pm BST | at 11.17pm BST |
| 10.25pm BST | 10.25pm BST |
| 22:25 | 22:25 |
| For those wanting to plan out their life (what’s that?) the parliament sits for a week and then heads straight into budget estimates, while the house sits. | For those wanting to plan out their life (what’s that?) the parliament sits for a week and then heads straight into budget estimates, while the house sits. |
| The Senate is scheduled to sit for a week without the house from 13 November, before the final two sitting weeks at the end of November/beginning of December. | The Senate is scheduled to sit for a week without the house from 13 November, before the final two sitting weeks at the end of November/beginning of December. |
| The sitting calendar does rest in the government’s hands though, and this could all change if the high court rules all seven MPs were ineligible to be elected. | The sitting calendar does rest in the government’s hands though, and this could all change if the high court rules all seven MPs were ineligible to be elected. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 11.16pm BST | at 11.16pm BST |
| 10.04pm BST | 10.04pm BST |
| 22:04 | 22:04 |
| Paul Karp | Paul Karp |
| The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, has blasted Labor for ruling out bipartisanship on energy policy when it hasn’t even seen the Turnbull government’s alternative to a clean energy target. | The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, has blasted Labor for ruling out bipartisanship on energy policy when it hasn’t even seen the Turnbull government’s alternative to a clean energy target. |
| Cormann told Radio National that Labor’s climate change spokesman, Mark Butler, was “incredibly reckless and irresponsible” in his comments on Sunday, and accused him of “getting way ahead of himself”. | Cormann told Radio National that Labor’s climate change spokesman, Mark Butler, was “incredibly reckless and irresponsible” in his comments on Sunday, and accused him of “getting way ahead of himself”. |
| It’s always dangerous to lock yourself in before you’ve seen what is on the table. The government will put forward a policy framework that is in the national interest … focused on bringing down the cost of electricity, that is focused on improving reliability of energy supplies, on making sure Australia can continue to meet our emissions reduction targets. | It’s always dangerous to lock yourself in before you’ve seen what is on the table. The government will put forward a policy framework that is in the national interest … focused on bringing down the cost of electricity, that is focused on improving reliability of energy supplies, on making sure Australia can continue to meet our emissions reduction targets. |
| When asked how the government could achieve the trifecta of lower power prices, improved reliability and meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets, Cormann said the government’s new policy would be announced “in due course”. He did not rule out more funding for the emissions reduction fund, which pays polluters to reduce emissions. | When asked how the government could achieve the trifecta of lower power prices, improved reliability and meeting greenhouse gas reduction targets, Cormann said the government’s new policy would be announced “in due course”. He did not rule out more funding for the emissions reduction fund, which pays polluters to reduce emissions. |
| Asked how the government would handle the high court finding the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, and several government senators ineligible to sit in parliament, Cormann said he would “not pre-empt the findings” of the court. | Asked how the government would handle the high court finding the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce, and several government senators ineligible to sit in parliament, Cormann said he would “not pre-empt the findings” of the court. |
| Labor has not guaranteed pairs for senators found ineligible by the case and, if Joyce is ineligible, he will need to face a byelection in New England. | Labor has not guaranteed pairs for senators found ineligible by the case and, if Joyce is ineligible, he will need to face a byelection in New England. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 10.22pm BST | at 10.22pm BST |
| 10.03pm BST | 10.03pm BST |
| 22:03 | 22:03 |
| Good morning and welcome back | Good morning and welcome back |
| It’s only been a month since the last parliament sitting but for many MPs it feels like a lifetime. | It’s only been a month since the last parliament sitting but for many MPs it feels like a lifetime. |
| But, as always in politics, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And on that point, we are picking back up where we left off, with energy the buzzword on everyone’s lips. | But, as always in politics, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And on that point, we are picking back up where we left off, with energy the buzzword on everyone’s lips. |
| The ACCC has released its report into household power prices – Katharine Murphy has this report – which found prices have increased by 63% on top of inflation over the past decade. That’s mostly down to network costs. | The ACCC has released its report into household power prices – Katharine Murphy has this report – which found prices have increased by 63% on top of inflation over the past decade. That’s mostly down to network costs. |
| But it comes as the government prepares to release its energy policy, having all but announced its plans to walk away from a clean energy target. Labor’s energy spokesman, Mark Butler, said that was a “deal breaker” as far as the opposition’s support goes. But before the government attempts to win support in the parliament, it has to win over the Coalition party room. Given the divide that has plagued the party for the best part of two decades when it comes to energy, that’s no easy feat. | But it comes as the government prepares to release its energy policy, having all but announced its plans to walk away from a clean energy target. Labor’s energy spokesman, Mark Butler, said that was a “deal breaker” as far as the opposition’s support goes. But before the government attempts to win support in the parliament, it has to win over the Coalition party room. Given the divide that has plagued the party for the best part of two decades when it comes to energy, that’s no easy feat. |
| Malcolm Turnbull enters a new parliamentary fortnight with his government behind in the Newspoll for the 21st time in a row – 54% to 46% on a two-party-preferred basis. That comes after the government tackled private health insurance, the domestic gas supply shortfalls and announced additional funding for health research. For those playing at home, Malcolm Turnbull used 30 lost polls as one of his reasons for ousting Tony Abbott. | Malcolm Turnbull enters a new parliamentary fortnight with his government behind in the Newspoll for the 21st time in a row – 54% to 46% on a two-party-preferred basis. That comes after the government tackled private health insurance, the domestic gas supply shortfalls and announced additional funding for health research. For those playing at home, Malcolm Turnbull used 30 lost polls as one of his reasons for ousting Tony Abbott. |
| The change in net satisfaction is one to watch. This was outside the margin of error. https://t.co/IpRWs10EzM | The change in net satisfaction is one to watch. This was outside the margin of error. https://t.co/IpRWs10EzM |
| Meanwhile, we are all waiting on the high court, sitting as the court of disputed returns, to let us know its decision on the election eligibility of seven MPs, including the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce. As several pundits have pointed out, if the decision comes down during question time Joyce would have to be removed under the “stranger in the house” protocol. It’s all in the high court’s hands and we wait along with everyone else. | Meanwhile, we are all waiting on the high court, sitting as the court of disputed returns, to let us know its decision on the election eligibility of seven MPs, including the deputy prime minister, Barnaby Joyce. As several pundits have pointed out, if the decision comes down during question time Joyce would have to be removed under the “stranger in the house” protocol. It’s all in the high court’s hands and we wait along with everyone else. |
| Mike Bowers will be back with us tomorrow so it’s just me following the cut and thrust of Australian political life today. I’ll do my best to keep up. As always, you can chat away in the comment thread or reach me directly on Twitter at @amyremeikis. | Mike Bowers will be back with us tomorrow so it’s just me following the cut and thrust of Australian political life today. I’ll do my best to keep up. As always, you can chat away in the comment thread or reach me directly on Twitter at @amyremeikis. |
| Grab your coffee (or your popcorn, if that’s how you roll) and we’ll get started! | Grab your coffee (or your popcorn, if that’s how you roll) and we’ll get started! |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 11.15pm BST | at 11.15pm BST |