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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2018/jun/21/coaltion-labor-politics-live-tax-turnbull-shorten
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| Tax plan to pass after Pauline Hanson confirms support – politics live | Tax plan to pass after Pauline Hanson confirms support – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| While the House votes to send the amended tax package back to the Senate, Penny Wong is in the red chamber attempting to move a motion to force a debate on the tax package. | |
| Just in case you missed it yesterday, Tony Abbott has decided to openly go to war with his government over its energy policy. | |
| Obviously he has been vocal with his criticisms for some time. But just a couple of weeks after warning the prime minister about anarchy if Craig Kelly gets rolled at this upcoming preselection (which we are told still looks like happening), he is now openly bitching about party room meetings and sounding the horn for the backbench to rise up. | |
| This is what he said to Sydney radio 2GB last night about whether he would cross the floor over the Neg: | |
| I hope it is not going to come to that. I really hope it is not going to come to that. | |
| “But I do think the government, the executive government, needs to understand that you can’t take the party room for granted. And I think there has been a bit of that, a bit of taking the party room for granted. | |
| “For instance, the prime minister has developed this practice of discussing legislation at ENORMOUS length, every party room meeting, before we actually get to backbenchers’ questions and comments. | |
| “Now, this is completely unprecedented. When John Howard was the leader, when I was the leader, Malcolm Turnbull was the leader last time round, when Brendan Nelson was the leader, we always went straight from the leadership statement to the backkbench questions and comments. | |
| “But this has almost never happened under the current prime ministership. | |
| “... It is a fundamental failure of process and it is stifling the proper debate that we should be able to have inside our party room. | |
| “And the other point I should make – obviously, because it has to, the government spends an enormous amount of time negotiating with the crossbench. I reckon the government needs to spend a bit more time talking to the backbench. | |
| “Yes, the crossbench senators are important – don’t forget the backbench – because you are only in government because you have a backbench that is prepared to support your legislation. | |
| “I hope it doesn’t come to questions of crossing the floor, I really do. It is not something that any Liberal would like to do. But, but, I don’t think we can be expected to support a policy that will continue to drive prices up, and which will deny our industries the affordable 24/7 power for jobs to continue.” | |
| The other thing to remember with these tax cuts, is the first tier – a maximum of $530 in a tax offset rebate for those who earn under $125,333 – doesn’t come in until 1 July 2019. | |
| There will be an election before then. So no one will get anything before the election, and the government will be telling you to vote for them, based on passing something in this term, which you won’t get until the next term. | |
| The house is voting to send the income tax bill back to the Senate. | |
| Wayne Swan had a chat to Sky News this morning, calling bupkis on the idea that a flat rate tax – the third tier of the government’s income tax plan – will benefit those looking to “aspire” to a higher wage: | |
| It’s a recipe for inequality, it makes the tax system far more unfair, and what it does is reduce the capacity to give tax cuts to the majority of the workforce, while creating the situation where there are further cuts to health and education because they are basically cutting away at the tax base. | |
| … Trickle down economics doesn’t make sense, greater inequality doesn’t make sense, because greater inequality in Australia, giving more to the people at the top, hollowing out the middle class and creating armies of working poor, is a handbrake on growth and it poisons our society. | |
| Things got a little messy in the Senate last night. | Things got a little messy in the Senate last night. |
| Penny Wong and Labor, and the Greens, as well as Tim Storer were FURIOUS the vote was occuring last night without debate. | Penny Wong and Labor, and the Greens, as well as Tim Storer were FURIOUS the vote was occuring last night without debate. |
| The government won the motion to guillotine the debate, which means they voted through the amended package without continuing the debate and sent the bill back to the house. | The government won the motion to guillotine the debate, which means they voted through the amended package without continuing the debate and sent the bill back to the house. |
| Malcolm Turnbull said the government would send the package straight back to the Senate, rejecting its amendments. There will be no more debate – it will go to the vote, and based on the numbers as we know them, it will pass. | Malcolm Turnbull said the government would send the package straight back to the Senate, rejecting its amendments. There will be no more debate – it will go to the vote, and based on the numbers as we know them, it will pass. |
| Rex Patrick was on Radio National this morning explaining why Centre Alliance was going to let the whole income tax package go through, despite having voted to split it yesterday: | Rex Patrick was on Radio National this morning explaining why Centre Alliance was going to let the whole income tax package go through, despite having voted to split it yesterday: |
| Yes, we are. We’ve gone on record and said that. We’re interested in making sure that low- to middle-income earners reap the benefits of our much stronger economic position. The dilemma for us is that if we were to knock out all of the tax package, then no one gets any benefit. | Yes, we are. We’ve gone on record and said that. We’re interested in making sure that low- to middle-income earners reap the benefits of our much stronger economic position. The dilemma for us is that if we were to knock out all of the tax package, then no one gets any benefit. |
| “The downside, if we do vote for all three, is that of course the high-income earners get a tax break, but we’ve got to remember that that doesn’t occur until 2024, and indeed the Labor party have said they are going to repeal that if they were to gain power. | “The downside, if we do vote for all three, is that of course the high-income earners get a tax break, but we’ve got to remember that that doesn’t occur until 2024, and indeed the Labor party have said they are going to repeal that if they were to gain power. |
| Amanda Stoker, who replaced George Brandis, delivered her first speech just before the Senate closed overnight. | |
| Here is some of what she had to say: | Here is some of what she had to say: |
| We need to be prepared to take the difficult case for increased productivity to the community, which offsets the appeal of raising minimum wages and penalty rates, because they both reduce job opportunities for those most in need. I understand that telling lower paid workers they will take home more money today is popular; it’s easy. | We need to be prepared to take the difficult case for increased productivity to the community, which offsets the appeal of raising minimum wages and penalty rates, because they both reduce job opportunities for those most in need. I understand that telling lower paid workers they will take home more money today is popular; it’s easy. |
| But we need to be honest enough to say frankly that each time we do, we deny a job to another person desperately in need of one. The unions rail against casualisation or layoffs, but it is the direct product of the policies for which they advocate. | |
| We must also be honest enough to say that it is the productivity gains that will sustainably deliver real wage growth for those who need it most. We need to introduce competition to workplace representation. Teachers, nurses and trades usually join unions to access insurance and representative services, not to gain a political affiliation. | |
| They don’t trust union representation in a bargaining process, where the unions arrange kickbacks for themselves and forget or sell out the needs of the workers. | |
| A simple way to reduce these abuses of member interests is to end union monopolies. Many workers value workplace representation, but they don’t want politicised workplace representation. Let the market give them the choice. | |
| It is the height of hypocrisy that the Left in this country rails against big business but supports the continued tax-free status of unions, which have become multimillion-dollar businesses with sophisticated commercial operations. It is pure irony that those selling the socialist dream have taken so well to capitalism. | |
| When a union is selling insurance, investing, selling education services and running all manner of start-ups, they should be taxed like the business they are. | |
| We owe the Australian taxpayer no less. And we must never give up on the principle that government should provide the lightest possible burden on the entrepreneurial spirit of Australians.We should test every piece of legislation, every regulation against the standards of necessity and efficacy until red tape and green tape no longer hold back the projects needed for Queensland and Australia to grow and prosper. | |
| Well, the government officially have the numbers. | Well, the government officially have the numbers. |
| In the least surprising news since One Nation lost another senator, Pauline Hanson has confirmed she is on board with the government’s entire income tax plan. | In the least surprising news since One Nation lost another senator, Pauline Hanson has confirmed she is on board with the government’s entire income tax plan. |
| That gives Mathias Cormann the numbers he needs to get the whole kit and caboodle through the Senate. Centre Alliance, after voting yesterday to remove the third tier – which benefits high income earners – has confirmed it will vote through the whole package when it returns to the Senate later today. | That gives Mathias Cormann the numbers he needs to get the whole kit and caboodle through the Senate. Centre Alliance, after voting yesterday to remove the third tier – which benefits high income earners – has confirmed it will vote through the whole package when it returns to the Senate later today. |
| Here is why Hanson said she is giving her support (hint – it’s Labor’s fault): | Here is why Hanson said she is giving her support (hint – it’s Labor’s fault): |
| “[Labor] are talking about the big end of town, you know the millionaires as the Greens are saying, they’re getting these tax cuts, do you really think those on $200,000, you know and they’re making more than that, a $7,000 tax cut is going to make a big difference to them?” she said. | “[Labor] are talking about the big end of town, you know the millionaires as the Greens are saying, they’re getting these tax cuts, do you really think those on $200,000, you know and they’re making more than that, a $7,000 tax cut is going to make a big difference to them?” she said. |
| “It’s not. It’s all about the people below that income, they need a helping hand.” | “It’s not. It’s all about the people below that income, they need a helping hand.” |
| Labor has confirmed it will repeal the parts of the tax bill it doesn’t like if it gets into government. | Labor has confirmed it will repeal the parts of the tax bill it doesn’t like if it gets into government. |
| But for now, it is all done but for the final vote. | But for now, it is all done but for the final vote. |
| Everyone is out and about this morning, so we’ll get straight into it – Mike Bowers caught the vote last night, so I’ll bring you what he saw. Amanda Stoker cried as she was sworn into the Senate – I’ll bring you some of her speech. | Everyone is out and about this morning, so we’ll get straight into it – Mike Bowers caught the vote last night, so I’ll bring you what he saw. Amanda Stoker cried as she was sworn into the Senate – I’ll bring you some of her speech. |
| You can find Sir Mike at @mpbowers and @mikepbowers and me at @amyremeikis. You might also see us on the instagram story at @pyjamapolitics, where we (when we have time) throw up some of our day. | You can find Sir Mike at @mpbowers and @mikepbowers and me at @amyremeikis. You might also see us on the instagram story at @pyjamapolitics, where we (when we have time) throw up some of our day. |
| Does everyone have their morning pick-me-up? | Does everyone have their morning pick-me-up? |
| Let’s get into it. | Let’s get into it. |