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Turnbull says Michaelia Cash 'acted entirely properly' over leak of AWU raid – politics live Turnbull says Michaelia Cash 'acted entirely properly' over leak of AWU raid – politics live
(35 minutes later)
5.19am BST
05:19
Kelly O’Dwyer gets a go on the dixer express after all of that to tell us how well the government is working to protect workers’ money. She uses this example of why the government says there needs to be more transparency:
Questions were asked of the former RBA Governor and industry fund director Bernie Fraser in a recent Senate committee inquiry about a payment made by Australian super to the AWU in the 2006-7 financial year, specifically described by the AWU in its 2007 declaration as a donation. The $27,500 payment was made at the same time that the Leader of the Opposition was the AWU national secretary, and also a director ofAustralian Super. Alongside Bernie Fraser, current Labor Senator Doug Cameron, and former Labor MP Greg Combet. A subsequent donation was subsequently made by, yes, the AWU, to the Leader of the Opposition’s political campaign in the seeds of Maribyrnong, but it was only when this payment by Australian Super to the AWU in June following reports by the Australian newspaper that the AWU resubmitted its original declaration, changing the very nature of the AWU payment from donation to other receipt on the 15June this year, some 10 years later. What role did the Leader of theOpposition have in deciding that a payment should be made to his own union when he was both a director ofAustralian Super and the national secretary of the AWU? What steps did the Leader of the Opposition take to fully disclose his conflict to the board, and how did he and fellow Australian Superannuation directors satisfy themselves that this was an appropriate use of members’ money?
And question time is officially ended.
5.14am BST
05:14
Divisions are still occurring in the house, but it’s not a time waster for everyone.
Katharine Murphy, who is in the chamber tells me that Barnaby Joyce spent most if his time in question time signing documents and spending more time on his folder than usual. Watching Joyce on the feed, he seems to have been isolated today. He is definitely not engaged in what is happening around him.
5.10am BST
05:10
Malcolm Turnbull put a new test in that question time for ministerial responsibility:
A minister is accountable for what she says and her obligation is to speak the truth. She was misled, as she said. She was misled, as she said. And once her staff told her the truth and made the admission that he had done the wrong thing, she corrected the record. She acted entirely properly.”
Labor came prepared. Here are some of the examples Bill Shorten’s office had prepared on Turnbull’s previous positions on ministerial responsibility:
Utegate:
“But the fact of the matter remains that the seriousness of the treasurer’s conduct cannot be overstated, because it is not simply a matter of misleading the house – that in itself is bad enough and justification for him to resign.
Speech – 22 June 2009
“… when I criticised the prime minister and said that, unless he could justify his actions and reconcile the contradiction between the evidence of the treasury official and his own statements, he should resign.
“The opposition’s calls for the treasurer to resign rely on the solid, incontrovertible evidence drawn from those emails presented by Treasury. All of that evidence is authentic and beyond dispute.
Speech – 24 June 2009
“Wayne Swan has misled the parliament about the way in which he’s dealt with John Grant, this crony and benefactor of the prime minister, and he must resign.
Look, the only person whose tenure in the parliament is in issue today is Wayne Swan. He’s the one that has misled the parliament. That is an offence that should result in the dismissal or resignation of a minister. It is perfectly clear.
Doorstop – 23 June 2009
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05:04
Labor tries again, with Brendan O’Connor managing “the prime minister must show some leadership” before there is another gag motion.
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04:59
Anthony Albanese manages to get in: “It’s time to cash out this minister” before he is also interrupted by a second gag motion and the house divides again.
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04:58
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04:55
Side note from me: given that the government is clearly moving to back Michaelia Cash, with the prime minister using question time to defend her, her actions and her integrity, it seems a little strange that the government would seek to gag this debate. It doesn’t look good. The smarter move would have been to allow the debate, and continue to defend your minister. But maybe there is a reason I am not a politician (and never will be).
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04:53
Labor calls on Turnbull to sack Cash
Tony Burke is back to suspend standing orders.
Maybe the prime minister should have got Burke to give his pre-question time briefing, because the back bench is suddenly very excited.
I move that so much of the standing orders be suspended from moving the following motion immediately. The house notes that yesterday morning the media aired an allegation the Employment Minister’s office had leaked the raids, which allowed television crews to turn up to the rates before the police did. By midday yesterday the Employment Minister had five times denied that her office had been involved in leaking the raids. At the Prime Minister’s QuestionTime briefing yesterday attended by the Employment Minister and the senior media adviser who has now resigned for leaking the raids, the Prime Minister according to the government’s account failed to ask a single question about the involvement of the Minister’s office in leaking the raids. At 6:10pm Alice Workman, an employee of Buzzfeed confirmed journalists received a tipoff before the raids began. At 7:30pm, after the truce had been exposed, only then did the Employment Minister finally admit that she had misled the Senate on five separate occasions. And during the Utegate scandal the Prime Minister himself said that misleading Parliament should result in the resignation or dismissal of a minister. It’s perfectly clear. And therefore calls on the Prime Minister to therefore sack the Employment Minister for breaching ministerial standards for misleading the Senate, and explain to the house his involvement, is officers’ involvement and his government’s involvement in this serious public matter where the public statement of events does not add up.
Josh Frydenberg moves to gag the debate. The house divides.
4.48am BST
04:48
Bill Shorten: Is the reason why it the employment minister has not been sacked by the prime minister the fact that the prime minister is up to this to his neck?
The speaker, Tony Smith, has a problem with the question and thinks it might out of order. He goes to hear from Tony Burke, who begin to move a motion, but Smith shuts him down and moves to the next question.
It’s a dixer for Peter Dutton. He has not finished speaking, but I can take a guess that the answer is basically – you are very safe, the Coalition respects the police, unions have thugs and Labor does not support the working class.
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04:4404:44
Christopher Pyne takes a dixer on behalf of Michaelia Cash’s portfolio and has a lot of fun talking about what the royal commission into trade unions found.Christopher Pyne takes a dixer on behalf of Michaelia Cash’s portfolio and has a lot of fun talking about what the royal commission into trade unions found.
A lot of fun. It is the most alive anyone in the government has looked in days. A lot of fun.
It is the most alive anyone in the government has looked in days.
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04:4104:41
Tony Burke: My question as to the Prime Minister. During the recent scandal, the prime minister spoke of following, saying it was ‘an offence that it should result in dismissal and minister, it is clear’. Given it is patently clear that the employment minister misled the Senate five times, why won’t the Prime Minister, in his own standards, sack the employment minister?Tony Burke: My question as to the Prime Minister. During the recent scandal, the prime minister spoke of following, saying it was ‘an offence that it should result in dismissal and minister, it is clear’. Given it is patently clear that the employment minister misled the Senate five times, why won’t the Prime Minister, in his own standards, sack the employment minister?
Malcolm Turnbull: ...The minister for employment, senator Cash, gave evidence in the course of estimates in which he described the facts of the matter as known to her at the time. When a staffer admitted to doing the wrong thing, she corrected the record, in light of that admission. That is precisely what she should have done, and she did it with integrity that the Honourable member might reflect is has been all too readily shown by those who claim to represent and lead trade unions in this country.Malcolm Turnbull: ...The minister for employment, senator Cash, gave evidence in the course of estimates in which he described the facts of the matter as known to her at the time. When a staffer admitted to doing the wrong thing, she corrected the record, in light of that admission. That is precisely what she should have done, and she did it with integrity that the Honourable member might reflect is has been all too readily shown by those who claim to represent and lead trade unions in this country.
4.38am BST
04:38
Bill Shorten: My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the prime minister’s answer: Is even now the position of the government that staff can mislead their ministers? How are your ministers meant to be running the country when they can’t even run their offices?
Malcolm Turnbull: The honourable member knows very well that the minister is accountable. A minister is accountable for what she says and her obligation is to speak the truth. She was misled, as she said. She was misled, as she said. And once her staff are told her the truth and made the admission that he had done the wrong thing, she corrected the record. She acted entirely properly.
That stands in stark contrast to the actions of the leader of the opposition, Mr Speaker. It is not a question of his staff. It is a question of the people that own him. He is a wholly owned subsidiary of the CFMEU. He is a wholly owned subsidiary of a trade union, a military trade union,cashed up and powerful, that defies the law.”
There is more, but he is yelling so much that not even Tveeder, the service which captions question time, can make sense of the words. It’s along the lines of Labor is the party of the workers’ representative, not the worker.
Greg Hunt gets his ride on the dixer-go-round, this time about hospitals in Queensland.
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4.32am BST
04:32
Barnaby Joyce, in what may be one of his last times in the chamber for a while, depending on how the high court rules tomorrow, gets his go on the dixer express. He gives his usual “Labor have given up on the blue collar worker: answer, which is becoming his standard answer, no matter the dixer.
He finishes and Labor claps and waves, yelling things such as “valedictory” and “bye, bye Barnaby”.
So at least some people are having fun.
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4.29am BST
04:29
Tony Burke to the prime minister: Does he expect Australians to believe that the media reported yesterday an allegation that the employment minister’s office had leaked the raids? The employment minister then came to the prime minister and said she herself had not personally leaked the raids, and the prime minister, with all his training as a cross examiner, didn’t think to ask if her office had leaked the raids, which was the only allegation that had been made? Did the prime minister in fact ask this question or had he already been advised it was safer not to ask?”
Malcolm Turnbull: Mr Speaker, the member for Watson does his best at innuendo, but he’s not a particularly talented cross examiner. Mr Speaker, here are the facts: the minister gave me the assurance. I told the house about it yesterday, that she had not disclosed the matter to journalists before the raid. And that was the assurance that she gave me. Subsequently, as honourable members know, her media adviser admitted o this wrongful conduct and he has resigned. Mr Speaker, I understand why the Labor party want to focus on the wrongful conduct of our ... a ministerial staffer, focus on that, rather than why $100,000 of AWU money was given to an organisation that wants to put most of those workers out of a job. That is the question, that’s the question. And they want to know why, when the Registered Organisation Commission, asked for documentary information from the AWU, they weren’t provided it. They want to know about that, too. MrSpeaker, what I think Australians will find it very hard to understand is why the opposition, at this time of economic challenges, at this time of high electricity prices, why Labor has not...asking about the National energy guarantee.”
And he finishes with a rousing defence of Michaelia Cash.
No interest in talking about measures that will improve employment. No interest in economic issues. They are only interested in one thing, and that is to protect union officials from transparency and accountability. And, Mr Speaker, the law is catching up with those traditions of the trade union movement, thanks to the hard work and dedication of the employment minister, Senator Cash.”
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04:24
Josh Frydenberg is next to ride the dixer-go-round. It’s on energy and attacking the Queensland state government for its energy policy.
4.22am BST
04:22
Bob Katter has the crossbench question today and the whole chamber holds it breath to see if the member for Kennedy can get his question out before time runs out.
“In May 2014, I raised the issue of skyrocketing North Queensland insurance premiums. ATCC figures show premiums raising 80% in five years with 400% increases. North Queensland is the lead contributor with pre cyclone Tracy old building code buildings all gone. This discrimination cannot now be justified. 2006 Cyclone Larry damage is $1.5m, only $800m. When will the minister establish an authority to underwrite exceptional circumstances, providing a platform for profiteering insurers?”
He does it, he gets there! In a rare moment, both sides of the chamber cheer.
Kelly O’Dwyer says the government is monitoring it. Katter does not look impressed with the answer, despite his feat.
(For those not here last week, Katter stormed out of the chamber after he didn’t get his question out in time, despite having been given 45 seconds to ask it – longer than what is usual.)
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4.19am BST
04:19
The camera turned to Brendan O’Connor at quite the unfortunate time just then. I am not a lip reader, but it looked like he may have said something quite unparliamentary in response to some Coalition heckles as the prime minister was speaking.
4.17am BST
04:17
Looks like Tony Abbott was late to question time again ... and potentially also missed the pre-QT briefing, unless he was held up at the door.
Tony Abbott enters #QT just as Turnbull speaks of how Cash has "ensured the integrity" of registered organisations
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4.16am BST
04:16
Back to opposition questions:
Brendan O’Connor: My question is to the prime minister. Does he expect Australians to believe the employment minister’s office watched the minister misleads the Senate five times yesterday but didn’t say a thing? The senior minister who has now resigned attended the briefing with the minister and said nothing, and the adviser then heard the prime minister asked twice about the matter during question time but still did nothing.
Malcolm Turnbull: I thank the honourable member for his question. Mr Speaker, he has addressed a number of questions to the media adviser concern, who has properly resigned after a very, very wrong, improper act of indiscretion, and he was wrong to do what he has admitted to,but he was right to resign.
Turnbull then begins to read from Andrew Colvin’s AFP statement. O’Connor objects, but Turnbull is allowed to continue.
South Australian Labour MP Nick Champion becomes the first member thrown out under 94A.
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04:13
Scott Morrison then takes his turn on the dixer merry-go-round, and again talks about energy policy.
No one seems to be listening. Labor can’t even be bothered to heckle that hard.
4.12am BST
04:12
The first dixer combines how great the government is at protecting workers, at the same time as lowering energy prices.
Moving on.
Tanya Plibersek: My question is to the prime minister, and I refer to his answer of yesterday. Can the prime minister confirm the employment minister and her senior media adviser, who has now resigned for leaking details of imminent raids to the media, attended that question time meeting yesterday? At what time did it take place? Did it take place in his personal office? And who else was present, including two but not limited to, MPs and members of the prime minister’s office?
Malcolm Turnbull: Well, Mr Speaker, the deputy leader of the opposition is not going to do a very good impression of Perry Mason today. Mr Speaker, she may embark on a fishing expedition, but, Mr Speaker, I repeat what I said yesterday, that the minister for employment is sure she did not advise any journalists about the raid, and that is precisely what she has said in the Senate during estimates.
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