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Labor grills Turnbull on company tax cuts – question time live | |
(35 minutes later) | |
Adam Bandt has the independents question and he uses it to talk about Batman. | |
“Wasn’t Bernie Sanders right when he said the electricity grid should be in public hands because it’s an essential service and shouldn’t be run for profit?” is the basic gist of the question. He ends it with a call to “bring a bit of Bernie to Batman” and elect a Green. | |
Malcolm Turnbull: | |
I couldn’t find anything in it that the Labor candidate for Batman would disagree with. I was wondering whether the manager of opposition business had dropped some speaking notes from the Labor Batman campaign – nationalising the energy grid? I’ve heard Ged Kearney talk about that. Mr Speaker, it’s got a certain retro aspect to it. I think we have all learned that nationalisation and state intervention of that kind has not been successful. I know in the Greens party they hanker for the good old times. They want to get back to the USSR but sadly that’s all over from their point of view. Happily for everybody else. | |
I guess we are all meant to forget that for a good chunk of last year, the government was talking about building a new coal-fired power station? I suppose that is different. | |
Tony Burke has a question on Adani (the reports he is talking about is ours, and you’ll find it here.) | |
I refer to reports Adani tampered with scientific evidence in relation to contamination of sensitive wetlands with coal laden water. Is the government investigating this matter? Who is conducting the investigation? And will it report publicly? | |
Josh Frydenberg: | |
The shadow minister knows that is a state matter. And we on this House look after the most vigorous environmental assessment on the Adani mine and it led to 36 of the strictest requirements. And, as a result of the Adani mine going ahead, thousands of people will be employed in regional Queensland. Thousands of people. In Mackay, in Townsville, and where are those opposite standing up for workers in their electorates? And the leader of the opposition, he once said that Adani should go ahead. He was in favour of the Adani project. But then when Mr Feeney, the then member for Batman, lost his homework, Mr Speaker, lost his homework, subsequently resigned from his seat, Mr Speaker, and now they’re in a battle with the Greens, he’s had to move his policies to the left to placate the green left flank of the Labor party. So it’s a state matter, we continue to impose the most rigorous environmental assessments. | |
Scott Morrison is the next to be delivered a dixer, and as usual, he gives his ‘angry uncle shouting at the ref through the TV’ performance. | |
Tanya Plibersek gets the next opposition question: | |
Why is the PM increasing taxes on ordinary working Australians by about $300 every year at the same time as wages growth is at record lows? | |
I think you can guess Labor’s theme for this week (and year) | |
Malcolm Turnbull: | |
The honourable member opposite, when she talked about the cost of living, failed to note that Labor has opposed the National Energy Guarantee. They opposed our action on gas. They mocked our action with retailers. Thousands of Australian families are already saving hundreds of dollars on their energy bill thanks to their efforts and the efforts in particular of the energy minister. And they have mocked ... they have mocked Snowy 2.0, the biggest battery ever in the southern hemisphere. So there is not one part of our policy, whether it is on energy, whether it is on tax, whether it is on investment, that is not about delivering better times for Australians and reducing the pressure of higher household expenses and living costs. | |
The first dixer for 2018 is on exactly how amazing the government has been in driving “jobs, investment and economic growth”. | |
I know some of you want the answers to these dixers, but I would direct you to a government media release, which can be found on their Twitter and individual MP websites, if you are that desperate to hear the answers to questions like these. | |
If someone asks something which is actually about their electorate and not written by a ministerial staffer, I’ll let you know. If the answer gives some information which is not just an attack or propaganda, I’ll let you know. In the mean time #deathtodixers | |
The first question from Bill Shorten, and it’s on the company tax cuts. | |
Last year company profits increased by 20%. Average wages for Australians increased by just 2%. So why is the PM giving the top end of town a $65bn tax cut while increasing taxes on ordinary workers up to $300 every year?” | |
Can you guess the answer? I bet you can. | |
Malcolm Turnbull starts with joke that he is glad the questions are the same as last year. That could have something to do with not having magically solved all the issues of last year, despite the clock ticking over to 2018, but details, details. | |
He has opposed legislation that has gone through this parliament in the course of the last 18 months which is creating those 403,000 jobs. The tax cuts for small and medium businesses overwhelmingly family-owned Australian businesses, these are businesses that are investing and they are employing and the leader of the opposition wants to take those tax cuts away. He wants businesses to they more tax. He wants families to pay more tax. He wants more tax on investment and on property. He does not have one policy to encourage one business to invest $1 or hire one employee.” | |
Speeches have moved to the Federation Chamber. | |
Malcolm Turnbull is now giving a speech on Michael Gordon’s untimely passing over the weekend: | |
We were, all of us, shocked and saddened, astonished, really, by Michael’s death, on the weekend. He was gentle, he was wise. He was always calm in a business not known for calm. A great man, a good man, great writer and mentor. In the maelstrom of a newsroom, as political stories broke and events moved and shifted, Micky was the personification of calm. He was able to do that rarest of things under pressure, reflect on what was before him rather than rush to judgment. | |
Bill Shorten: | |
As a journalist he never chose to put himself in the centre of things or make himself the star. He wasn’t interested in sensationalism or sneering. He was a genuine reporter. He cared about the story. He was an understated earnest man who in that understated earnest way gave the reader the respect of intelligence. When an article had Michael’s byline, you knew that what was written was sincerely believed and to be believed. If he was critical of you it was genuine. You were being weighed and measured by the very best.” | |
Press gallery members, friends & colleagues of journalist Michael Gordon placed a Banksia in the colours of his beloved Hawthorn Football club at his empty seat in the House before #qt this afternoon @AmyRemeikis @GuardianAus #politicslive pic.twitter.com/KoOuaVNMMO | |
Michael Gordon’s seat, five chairs in on the front row, on the right of the press gallery, has been marked with a flower, tied with the colours of his beloved Hawthorn. | Michael Gordon’s seat, five chairs in on the front row, on the right of the press gallery, has been marked with a flower, tied with the colours of his beloved Hawthorn. |
We start with condolence motions for Flo Bjelke-Petersen, Barry Cohen and Brian Conquest. | We start with condolence motions for Flo Bjelke-Petersen, Barry Cohen and Brian Conquest. |
A floral tribute is placed at the seat Michael Gordon usually sat at, ahead of Question Time in the House of Representatives pic.twitter.com/W1YQ1FODDd | A floral tribute is placed at the seat Michael Gordon usually sat at, ahead of Question Time in the House of Representatives pic.twitter.com/W1YQ1FODDd |
Oh dear. How long ago was it that Jim Molan was sworn in? | Oh dear. How long ago was it that Jim Molan was sworn in? |
Looks like he has been caught sharing videos from Britain First. The same group which got US President Donald Trump an admonishment from Theresa May | Looks like he has been caught sharing videos from Britain First. The same group which got US President Donald Trump an admonishment from Theresa May |
I’ll be heading into the chamber to cover this first question time, so let me know your predictions. | I’ll be heading into the chamber to cover this first question time, so let me know your predictions. |
Coming up to question time at 2pm and so far this morning we have had: | Coming up to question time at 2pm and so far this morning we have had: |
• Adani• Citizenship drama • Energy | • Adani• Citizenship drama • Energy |
For a moment there, I thought it was still 2017. This is doing nothing to sway me from my theory that the end of the world actually occurred in 2007 and we have all been living in some sort of purgatory since then. How early is too early to add vodka to your coffee? Asking for a friend. | For a moment there, I thought it was still 2017. This is doing nothing to sway me from my theory that the end of the world actually occurred in 2007 and we have all been living in some sort of purgatory since then. How early is too early to add vodka to your coffee? Asking for a friend. |
At a press conference in Canberra Matt Canavan has spruiked the benefits of the Adani Carmichael coalmine and attacked Bill Shorten for positioning Labor to find a way to kill the project. | At a press conference in Canberra Matt Canavan has spruiked the benefits of the Adani Carmichael coalmine and attacked Bill Shorten for positioning Labor to find a way to kill the project. |
Asked if there is some other way for the federal government to help the mine other than the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, Canavan said: | Asked if there is some other way for the federal government to help the mine other than the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, Canavan said: |
The only proposal before us was the [Naif] loan, that has now been vetoed by the Queensland government, which is their right. As I said last year, that’s that. That particular path is closed. There is another proposal from Aurizon ... the Queensland government is yet to come back to us on what their position on that project is. | The only proposal before us was the [Naif] loan, that has now been vetoed by the Queensland government, which is their right. As I said last year, that’s that. That particular path is closed. There is another proposal from Aurizon ... the Queensland government is yet to come back to us on what their position on that project is. |
Asked if there was some way to directly fund the project, the northern Australia and resources minister said: | Asked if there was some way to directly fund the project, the northern Australia and resources minister said: |
Well that proposal is not before us and no, we can’t do that without the legislative authority, of course. We had that availability through the Naif [and because of] the constitutional reasons that became apparent when that legislation went through we’ve had to go through the states. | Well that proposal is not before us and no, we can’t do that without the legislative authority, of course. We had that availability through the Naif [and because of] the constitutional reasons that became apparent when that legislation went through we’ve had to go through the states. |
Matt Canavan has just held a press conference. Shock, horror, he was defending Adani. | Matt Canavan has just held a press conference. Shock, horror, he was defending Adani. |
He suggested Labor’s switch in position on Adani had something to do with the Batman byelection. | He suggested Labor’s switch in position on Adani had something to do with the Batman byelection. |
Will wonders never cease? | Will wonders never cease? |