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Labor lays into Turnbull over 'second-rate' NBN – politics live
Labor lays into Turnbull over 'second-rate' NBN – politics live
(35 minutes later)
7.42am BST
07:42
Paul Karp
In Senate estimates Greens immigration spokesman, Nick McKim, has said a speech given by the head of the immigration department Michael Pezzulloshowed “fascist tendencies”.
McKim was referring to a speech given by Pezzullo to justify the Home Affairs department of which he is secretary-designate. According to The Mandarin, Pezzullo warned a “dark universe” is emerging as a consequence of globalisation and Australia needs the new security mega-department to confront the forces of evil.
McKim: “I read your speech you gave for the philosophical context of the new department with interest and terror - equal parts I might say.” Pezzullo: “Sorry, you were terrified?”
McKim: “I was terrified of your thought processes, yes, I don’t like fascists and authoritarians.” Pezzullo: “I beg your pardon?”McKim: “I thought that some fascist tendencies came out in that speech.”
McKim is asked to withdraw the comment, and he does so. He did not elaborate which part of the speech he was referring to.
7.41am BST
07:41
Just on Kevin Rudd being blamed for the “train wreck” (Malcolm Turnbull’s description, not mine) of the NBN, he’s had a few things to say
.@MrKRudd responds to @TurnbullMalcolm blaming Labor for the #NBN “train wreck”. More tonight on #abc730. #auspol @4corners pic.twitter.com/hcM7RZiVYJ
7.39am BST
07:39
Penny Wong says she has “quite a few questions” from John Lloyd’s description of how Nigel Hadgkiss’s resignation came about.
Was he aware of the fact of the federal court proceedings? No
Was he aware of the fact of the behaviour which formed the basis of the court proceedings? No
Was he ever asked to provide advice? No
He took no notes, that he recalls, during his discussions with Hadgkiss over his resignation. He can not recall if there are any records of those conversations, which included over the telephone. Over the two days, there were between eight and 1o phone calls.
Was he particularly unhappy with being asked to resign? “I think that initially he was surprised, as I say initially he took some time to consider it before he rang me back. Then I think he came to the view that as a senior public servant, that that was the course that was going to eventuate.”
Lloyd said he would describe Hadgkiss’s initial reaction as “surprised” he was being asked to resign.
How many other persons, in statutory office, has Lloyd been asked to procure a resignation from? Lloyd can’t think of any.
“It wouldn’t the usual role for the Australian public service commissioner to procure the resignation of a statutory officer?,” Wong asks.
Lloyd says he talks to other secretaries about the performance of statutory officers.
As for how he convinced Hadgkiss he should resign – “As the minister and I had discussed, there was nothing more to add to it than that, really. It was up to him to consider it.”
Updated
at 7.42am BST
7.19am BST
07:19
Back on the house debate over increasing the Medicare Levy, Chris Bowen had this to say in a statement:
The Turnbull Government’s plan to increase the Medicare Levy would increase the tax burden on Australians earning a little as $21,000 a year.
This from the party of lower taxes.
Mr Turnbull’s tax increase will mean a worker on $55,000 would pay $275 extra a year in tax, while someone on $80,000 would face an extra $400 in tax.
Updated
at 7.31am BST
7.18am BST
07:18
Picking up on one of those headlines, Labor’s health spokeswoman, Catherine King, has taken a different view on the Victorian euthanasia debate to the former PM Paul Keating:
My view is yes it should be passed. I think this is a very limited form of voluntary assisted dying, a very conservative model that the Victorian proponents of the legislation, Jill Hennessy as the health minister has put forward. It’s been something that has been, not suddenly put before the parliament, there has been a major inquiry in Victoria into the area. This is a very conservative model that the Victorians are putting forward. Obviously it now has the support of the lower house, there will be a couple of weeks break and then debate in the upper house and I do think it is time for this legislation to be passed in Victoria.
Updated
at 7.30am BST
7.17am BST
07:17
Kevin Rudd is the latest MP to launch a book (part one).
He’ll be chatting to 7.30 tonight but this morning had this to say:
I'm launching my book today that deals with the impact of Murdoch on the deterioration of Australian democracy, and they run this. #classic pic.twitter.com/D3FVgiU9x6
Updated
at 7.21am BST
7.15am BST
07:15
Under questioning from Penny Wong, John Lloyd described how Nigel Hadkiss’s resignation came about:
Following a discussion with the minister and [her staff] I later on in the evening conveyed to Mr Hadgkiss the government’s position that he consider his position, tendering his resignation. Following that, there were several discussions in the evening with Mr Hadgkiss. He obviously took some time, to consider the developments and the advice he received from me, so there were a number of discussions and some the next day and the arrangements were worked through, things like timing of the resignation, when it ought to take effect, and how an announcement would be made. Those arrangements are quite common in a situation like this.
Updated
at 7.20am BST
7.11am BST
7.11am BST
07:11
07:11
Tony Abbott has decided to weigh in on the Manus situation:
Tony Abbott has decided to weigh in on the Manus situation:
For years, Greens and Labor allies demanded Manus close. Now it's closing, they're still complaining. They just can't be trusted on borders
For years, Greens and Labor allies demanded Manus close. Now it's closing, they're still complaining. They just can't be trusted on borders
What they are ‘complaining’ about is whether or not there are any services, like health and security, in place for the remaining refugees (about 600), given the centre is closing in a few days.
What they are “complaining” about is whether or not there are any services, like health and security, in place for the remaining refugees (about 600), given that the centre is closing in a few days.
Updated
at 7.17am BST
7.00am BST
7.00am BST
07:00
07:00
Penny Wong has now turned her attention to John Lloyd, the Public Service Commissioner, over Nigel Hadgkiss’s resignation.
Penny Wong has now turned her attention to John Lloyd, the public service commissioner, over Nigel Hadgkiss’s resignation.
Updated
at 7.17am BST
6.57am BST
6.57am BST
06:57
06:57
Talking about estimates hearings which are coming up, this has just lobbed from Joel Fitzgibbon:
Talking about estimates hearings which are coming up, this has just lobbed from Joel Fitzgibbon:
The Government tabled the Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture & Water Resources after Question Time today despite the fact Barnaby Joyce received it on September 27.
The Government tabled the Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture & Water Resources after Question Time today despite the fact Barnaby Joyce received it on September 27.
Senate Estimates for the Department begin tomorrow.
Senate Estimates for the Department begin tomorrow.
The 11th hour tabling of the Annual Report is a shameless attempt by the Turnbull Government to protect Barnaby Joyce and his mismanagement of his portfolio.
The 11th hour tabling of the Annual Report is a shameless attempt by the Turnbull Government to protect Barnaby Joyce and his mismanagement of his portfolio.
The Annual Report is a critical document for Senate Committee scrutiny and the Opposition should have been given more time to study it. The Department no doubt has found it challenging to justify Barnaby Joyce’s various boondoggles, pork barrelling exercises and massively underspent, poorly thought-through programs.
The Annual Report is a critical document for Senate Committee scrutiny and the Opposition should have been given more time to study it. The Department no doubt has found it challenging to justify Barnaby Joyce’s various boondoggles, pork barrelling exercises and massively underspent, poorly thought-through programs.
Barnaby Joyce can run but he can’t hide.
Barnaby Joyce can run but he can’t hide.
*end statement*
*end statement*
6.55am BST
06:55
Penny Wong versus George Brandis is one of the highlights of any estimates hearing. For what it is worth, Brandis appeared to take quite a few questions on notice. Given that, it might be worth notice that he currently has 18 answers overdue for questions relating to his role as attorney-general on notice, with one dating back to October last year. They are supposed to be answered within 30 days.
As minister representing the prime minister, there are another 26 questions unanswered, but to be fair, the prime minister i s the hold up there. (He still has to answer them, despite Brandis representing him in the Senate).
As for estimates questions, Brandis has not returned answers on any of the questions he took on notice at the May budget estimates round for the attorney-general’s department. Lucky for us, there is another hearing featuring the AG tomorrow.
6.43am BST
06:43
Paul Karp
Labor infrastructure spokesman, Anthony Albanese, has said officials in Senate estimates have confirmed that the Coalition government has spent $3.9bn less on infrastructure than promised.
The Senate committee heard that the annual underspend on infrastructure was $829m in 2014-15, $1.2bn in 2015-16 and $1.7bn in 2016-17.
Albanese:
It appears the tactic here is to promise big on budget night, when Australians are watching the treasurer’s budget speech, but then fail to deliver what was promised in the hope nobody will notice.
In September the infrastructure minister, Darren Chester, said the Turnbull government had committed to a record $75bn in infrastructure investment.
Updated
Updated
at 6.54am BST
at 7.17am BST
6.42am BST
06:42
I missed this earlier, while watching another committee, but worth noting.
" I don't think torture is a laughing matter"- @NickMcKim and Mike Pezzullo clash over the closure of Manus Island RPC pic.twitter.com/oUAYGwANsj
6.40am BST
06:40
The Labor senator Jenny McAllister has had a bit of fun with Fiona Scott’s appointment to the National Film and Sound Archive.
McAllister says that among Scott’s qualifications is the fact that she “grew up visiting Disney and ABC film sets” with her grandfather and she was “wondering if that’s the kind of experience the cabinet ... was contemplating for making appointments of this kind”.
George Brandis assures McAllister that Scott’s experience was “more extensive than that”.
Updated
at 6.53am BST
6.26am BST
06:26
The lengths the government and NBN Co have gone to today to get ahead of tonight’s Four Corners report shows just how worried they are about it.
The NBN has been bubbling along as an issue for a while now. With more connections come more complaints and Labor has belatedly grabbed hold of that. The PR blitz, combined with releasing entire transcripts of interviews (which is not a usual step, at least for the year and a bit I’ve been covering federal politics) only seems to have pointed attention at the flaws.
Updated
at 6.30am BST
6.10am BST
06:10
Paul Karp
The communications minister, Mitch Fifield, said the government had legislation before parliament to impose a levy on fixed-line broadband, which NBN customers would be exempt from, to make clear the size of the subsidy to the regional network.
When it comes to the mobile network, that is not something that’s readily substitutable for the NBN, in terms of the costs of data, [people] ... will still need a fixed-line network. We don’t have a proposition to apply that levy to the broader mobile network.
Updated
at 6.16am BST
6.05am BST
06:05
The office of Mitch Fifield has taken the somewhat unusual step of releasing the entire transcript of Fifield’s interview with Four Corners, hours ahead of the program’s scheduled release.
Here is a bit of what Fifield said during his press conference just before question time:
I have said that the model that the straight in Labour party adopted was flawed and had failed. We put an alternative model in place, which will see a completed six to eight years sooner than would have been the case under at predecessors, and between $20bn and $30bn less cost
The NBN under our predecessors existed only in theory. The NBN today is a practical reality, available to more than half of the nation. But we do recognise that when you’re talking about a project which is endeavouring to do, in about seven years, what it took over 70 years for the government and PNG to do, there will be a transition. This is a once in 100-year transition, with everybody moving to a new network. There have been some issues and migration.
NBN and retailers have been working hard on those. There has been an important net migration. When it comes to the issue of speeds in the applications that people have, there can be a number of reasons why people don’t have the experience that they would be expecting. One is modems. Sometimes, retailers will send households the wrong modems, or modems that are a poor body. In-house wiring is also an issue for a number of households – poor quality. But this is a issue for retailers. We have done a number of things to address that.
Firstly, we have charged the ACCC and given the money to bid 12,000 probes into premises, to report on the relative expressed that people are having enters a speeds, and what retailers are providing. The ACCC has also given clear guidance to retailers as to how they should their products.
The retailers have not always been doing a good job at that. The ACCC has made it clear to retailers that if they do not lift their game, there, that they will come down on them like a ton of bricks …
I never want to diminish the express that any individual or business has that is not all it should be. We are working hard to improve the customer experience, and the retailers have an absolute obligation to deliver for customers that which they promised.
Updated
at 6.14am BST
6.00am BST
06:00
In round #4,578 between Penny Wong and George Brandis, Wong has asked Brandis about Michaelia Cash’s knowledge of Nigel Hadgkiss.
Wong: She is aware in October 2016 of the conduct, which was subsequently found to be unlawful.
Brandis: I think you’ll find she was made aware of allegations.
Wong: The conduct which was subsequently found to be unlawful, I want to know at which stage the prime minister or is office became aware of that conduct.
Brandis: If at all.
Wong: I would also like to know, did the department attend, or does the department have any record of Senator Cash advising the prime minister of Mr Hadgkiss’s conduct?
Brandis: Senator, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet wouldn’t ordinarily keep a record of a meeting or a conversation between the prime minister and a minister.
(James Paterson attempts to go to a break)
Wong: Well, hang on. He has’t answered the question, I will ask it again. Is the department aware of any advice ...
Brandis: We’ll take the question on notice, but I simply make the point, that ordinarily, if a minister has a conversation with the prime minister, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet would not ordinarily have visibility or awareness of that conversation. It may, but not ordinarily.
And the committee takes a break.
Updated
at 6.03am BST
5.41am BST
05:41
Paul Karp
A little earlier ...
In estimates, Penny Wong has been grilling prime minister and cabinet officials about the former small business minister Bruce Billson’s failure to declare that he was paid a salary by the Franchise Council of Australia while still an MP.
The deputy secretary, David Gruen, sets out the timeline that Billson ceased being a minister in September 2015, his appointment as executive chairman of the Franchise Council was announced on 23 March 2016 and he left parliament on 9 May.
He then reads a briefing note on the outcome of an investigation by the secretary, Martin Parkinson, which concluded:
Billson didn’t breach post ministerial employment provisions because his advocacy on joint employer liability for franchisors and franchisees “fell within the portfolio responsibilities of minister for employment”, not his responsibilities as small business minister; and
Billson didn’t breach lobbying rules because he was not engaged in lobbying activities on matters which he dealt with in the last 18 months as small business minister and didn’t fall within definition of lobbyist in code of conduct, because he was not lobbying for a third-party client. Bilson does not need to be and isn’t registered as a lobbyist on the lobbyist register.
Wong asks a broader question – is it appropriate to receive remuneration from another employer while still an MP?
The attorney general, George Brandis, replies:
It is very appropriate for backbench members to receive remuneration from third-party sources not inconsistent with their responsibilities as members of parliament ... It is both consistent and commonplace.
Updated
at 5.55am BST
5.39am BST
05:39
George Brandis is still in the hot seat in the finance and administration committee and Penny Wong is asking about Nigel Hadgkiss.
