Labor says targeting PM in campaign ad 'entirely legitimate' – politics live

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2018/jun/25/coalition-polls-tax-hanson-politics-live

Version 3 of 15.

Malcolm Turnbull has met with Vanuatu’s prime minister, Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas. The official take is below:

It is my great pleasure to welcome the prime minister of Vanuatu, the honourable Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas, to Australia.

Australia and Vanuatu share a long history of close co-operation and today Prime Minister Salwai and I reinforced our commitment to this deep and enduring economic and security partnership.

We agreed to commence negotiations on a bilateral security treaty on common security interests, such as humanitarian assistance and disaster response, maritime surveillance and border security, police and defence cooperation.

Australia will provide technical assistance to support Vanuatu to develop its first national security strategy. This strategy will support Vanuatu’s vision for a ‘stable, sustainable and prosperous Vanuatu’, in line with its national sustainable development plan.

We agreed to enhance official police-to-police co-operation. Australia will provide assistance to recruit and train 200 new police officers by 2020, to refurbish the existing police college in [the capital] Port Vila and to support executive leadership capacity in the Vanuatu police force.

We are furthering our cyber security partnership with $400,000 in support to strengthen the capacity of Vanuatu’s computer emergency response team and develop Vanuatu’s cyber policy and legislation.

We also agreed to deepen our co-operation on labour mobility. This will increase employment opportunities for Vanuatu’s workers in Australia and help fill critical labour gaps in Australia’s rural and regional areas.

Lastly, we will continue our long-standing support for Vanuatu’s education sector with up to $19.5m to promote better education outcomes for ni-Vanuatu boys and girls. The funding package will help improve school enrolment, literacy and numeracy rates, strengthen teacher training, provide scholarships and develop and roll out a new curriculum.

Vanuatu is one of Australia’s key partners in the Pacific. I look forward to continuing our work together to foster stability and prosperity through the implementation of Australia’s stepped-up engagement in the region.

Paul Karp wrote up the latest Pulse poll, which found that most Australians don’t feel as if they have benefited from almost three decades of consecutive growth:

After 26 consecutive years of economic growth most Australians either believe they have not benefited or don’t know if they have gained, according to a new poll.

The national poll of almost 3,000 people for the Committee for Economic Development of Australia is evidence of what it calls an ‘economic disconnect’, with perceived winners including large corporations and executives.

The results are published in Ceda’s Community Pulse 2018 report, released on Monday, and provide grist for political arguments about addressing wage stagnation through tax cuts.

You’ll find the rest of that story here

Just a totally candid moment, chillin’ with the locals.

The education minister, Simon Birmingham, has been out and about almost every day in the last week or so, as the deadline to switch over to the government’s new childcare system fast approaches. One week to go:

On average, eligible families will be $1,333 a year better off per child under the Turnbull government’s reforms, but families need to make the switch to the new system or they risk disrupting their payments.

We’re investing an extra $2.5bn and overhauling the system by retargeting subsidies to families working the most and to families earning the least, abolishing the annual rebate cap for most families, and introducing an hourly rate cap to put downward pressure on fee increases.

Parents and carers need to log on to myGov or visit www.education.gov.au/childcare and update their details if they haven’t done so already. The clock is ticking, Australia.

Labor has announced it will set up a NBN service guarantee if it wins the next election. From Michelle Rowland and Stephen Jones’ joint statement:

Labor will deliver a better experience for NBN consumers with a plan to establish an NBN service guarantee that will set regulated timeframes and wholesale service standards for:

fault rectification

installations

missed appointments

The NBN service guarantee will be enforced through financial penalties that will apply if service standards are not met.

Inside the Coalition party room, the energy debate is still bubbling away, as the energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, and the moderates work to fight off Tony Abbott’s attacks. More and more MPs – and traditional supporter groups – are lining up to talk up the policy.

How will Abbott react? Well last week he warned the government was ignoring the backbench and hinted he may cross the floor. But so far, it has been a lot of bluster, with not a lot of support – at least not from outside the usual suspects. Abbott is fighting a few battles within the party room at the moment – energy, Craig Kelly’s preselection – but doesn’t seem to be gaining that much ground, at least not yet.

Here was Malcolm Turnbull on the Neg this morning:

Well the national energy guarantee is a great policy. It will secure lower energy prices. It will secure reliable and affordable energy. You don’t have to take my word for it. Look at what the Energy Security Board says – it will reduce wholesale power prices.

In fact, we’ve already seen wholesale power prices reduced under our policies by about 30% over the last year. We’ve seen gas prices, wholesale gas prices, come down by about 50% over the last 18 months. We’re starting to see retail prices – which is obviously where it really counts, the electricity power bill you get at home – they’re starting to come down too. So we are turning the corner on higher energy prices because we have a plan for affordable and reliable energy.

The shadow finance minister, Jim Chalmers, had a chat at doors this morning, before heading into work. He said Labor was right to point out what benefit the prime minister receives from his own legislation:

Self-evidently, Malcolm Turnbull would be a big beneficiary, not just of the company tax cuts, but also the personal income tax cuts that went through the Senate last week.

It’s entirely legitimate for us to point out, as we have been doing, that Malcolm Turnbull, as a former investment banker, brings a series of influences to his job as the prime minister. It’s entirely legitimate for us to point out that Malcolm Turnbull always sides with the top end of town over middle Australia. That’s what he did last week with the income tax cuts; that’s what he’s proposing to do this week with the company tax cuts.

This is the most out-of-touch prime minister that Australia has ever had. He brings to this job, not an affinity with working people, but a preference for the investment bankers of Point Piper. We will be pointing that out in a variety of ways between now and the next election.

For those who may have missed it when we have previously talked about this stuff, we usually refer to these little mini-press conferences as “doors” because they are done at the doors to the building. There are several different entrances in this building – including through the basement (once they finally finish the renovations here), so politicians who come through the doors only do so if they have something to say. It’s usually on a bit of a roster – the spokesperson for the particular subject is sent out to lay the foundation of the line for the day.

The debate on Labor’s bill has been adjourned (date to be set) and Bob Katter is now presenting his own private member’s bill, which is on banking system reform.

Which reminds me – Gareth Hutchens is following along with the banking royal commission – so keep an eye out for his updates.

Cory Bernardi has kicked his fundraising up a notch, from the latest Australian Conservatives email:

We need to start campaigning now to restore common sense to Canberra in the next federal election.

But we have only five days left to build the election campaign war chest needed to show Australians how we’ll fight for:

stronger families;

lower taxes; and

restoration of a civil society.

So please give today to help build a $250,000 Conservatives’ campaign war chest by 30 June so we can kickstart our Senate campaign.

Your gift today will help put up the strongest fight possible.

Thank you for helping to show Australians there’s a better way!

Parliament has begun and Bill Shorten has opened with a private member’s bill to protect penalty rates.

Labor is introducing the fair work amendment (restoring penalty rates) bill.

“When working people have an increase in their penalty rates ... what it means is these people spend the money they earn – when you earn $40,000, $50,000, $60,000, you don’t have the luxury of [investing in schemes], you spend every dollar you earn,” Shorten said.

There are a few delegations in Canberra today, worried about upcoming legislation.

Consumer advocates are concerned the payday lenders legislation could be watered down – they are here to put their case (the ABC has spoken to a few of them, which you can listen to here). Meanwhile, the Australian Council of Social Service is also in town to lobby against the corporate tax cuts, among other issues.

The whole kit and caboodle was put on for Charlot Salwai this morning – it is the Vanuatu prime minister’s first visit to Canberra.

Climate change will absolutely be on the agenda – our Pacific islands neighbours know intimately what dangers rising sea levels will bring – as will China’s growing role in the Pacific.

Richard Di Natale addressed Labor’s tax campaign ads during his chat with Sky News this morning – the too-long-didn’t-read version breaks down to, “not a huge fan of negative tactics, but in this case – where’s the lie?”

“It was the government who brought it on last week by attacking members of the opposition, the opposition leader and Tanya Plibersek and so on,” Di Natale said.

“The bottom line is, it is not the prime minister’s wealth which is the problem – it is the fact you have massive corporate donations going to the Liberal party and this is the Liberal party doing the bidding of their corporate mates at the big end of town.

“It is a stinker of a policy, it rips billions of dollars away from where we need them ... It will do very little to actually improve competitiveness within the business sector .

“... Multinationals make their decisions based on a number of factors and it is not just the headline corporate tax rate; we know it is a lot more complicated when it comes to working out where they are going to invest.

“... We won’t be supporting those corporate tax cuts. I think the prospect of them getting through the Senate is very slim. Having said that, we saw Pauline Hanson say she wasn’t going to support the income tax cuts and change her mind on that. Centre Alliance did the same thing, so I understand that the government is going to be piling the pressure on, but they [the crossbenchers] need to stay strong.”

Malcolm Turnbull has also addressed Labor’s latest campaign ad and Pauline Hanson’s multinational tax avoidance concerns.

On the ad:

The Labor party is just abandoning everything it used to stand for – so they are now – they want to attack me for having a quid. They want to attack me and Lucy for working hard, investing, having a go, making money, paying tax, paying plenty of tax, giving back to the community, which we do – that’s apparently not the Labor way anymore. You are not allowed to have a go and be successful.

The Labor party has turned on everything it used to stand for. It used to be a party that supported aspiration, people getting ahead, people aspiring to build businesses, get on to employ people, make a buck, pay your tax.

If you do that – Luce and I have done that all our lives. Absolutely all our lives, so now they want to attack that.

Really it is aspiration and investment and people having a go and being enterprising that actually makes the economy work.

... I have to say, the old Labor leaders, whether it is my old mate Neville Wran, or Bob Hawke, or Keating, they would be as horrified at Bill Shorten’s politics of envy, this mean-spirited negativity, as they would be as horrified of it, as obviously, Anthony Albanese is.

(Just a reminder that Turnbull inherited $2m – which is how he got his start)

Prime Minister @TurnbullMalcolm: @AustralianLabor wants to attack Lucy & I for having a quid. Labor has turned on everything it stood for. Neville Wran, Bob Hawke or Paul Keating would be horrified by @billshortenmp's politics of envy.MORE: https://t.co/qpyTIxcCeK #FirstEdition pic.twitter.com/TVt4d2WFoj

And on multinational tax avoidance:

We are doing more on multinational tax avoidance than any previous government. Any previous federal government.

In fact, out multinational tax avoidance legislation, which is one of the toughest in the world – many people say it is the toughest in the OECD – has resulted in $7b in additional corporate revenue coming in to the Australian tax net.

And that is one of the reasons why the budget is in better shape. So we have been relentless on this.

We are Liberals, we believe in lower taxes, but tax is not optional. It is compulsory. So we want to have lower taxes, but everyone has to pay their share in accordance with the law. And we are getting very good results from that.

So we are very committed to everyone paying their tax, whether they are big companies or smaller companies, everyone has to pay their fair share of tax.

Scott Morrison addressed the Ceda breakfast in Canberra this morning. It was all, tax, tax, tax, as you can imagine. Afterwards, he had a chat to the media about why the government was still pushing its company tax cuts. (One of Pauline Hanson’s latest demands is that companies be forced to have their call centres in Australia, which is not as an insane proposal as it may have once been, given that we saw the government try and force an energy company to do what it wanted with its privately owned asset not so long ago.)

The government wants to see our entire enterprise tax plan implemented. The reason for that is because we don’t want to shortchange the Australian people. We don’t want to shortchange them on their jobs. We don’t want to shortchange them on their prosperity. We don’t want to shortchange small businesses’ depend on larger businesses because they’re all part of the one economy. Larger businesses are doing better, smaller businesses are doing better, and vice versa.

We want a tax system that makes sure all of our businesses are competitive. If you work for a larger business, you should have the same tax system that supports your business being more competitive than other businesses that are smaller. Your job is just as important if you’re working for a large business, as the job of someone working for a smaller business.

That’s why we’re out there advocating for everybody’s job, every business, because all of those businesses is what creates the stronger economy that everybody [deserves]. Everybody’s infrastructure – their roads, their hospitals, their schools. It all depends on a stronger economy, and you will not get a stronger economy by having corporate tax rates at some of the highest levels in the advanced, developed world.

Darren Chester was on the ABC this morning (no one in the government appears to have a problem with the ABC when they are on it) talking about Labor’s latest campaign:

Well, that’s grubby politics and people see through the grubby personal attacks. The prime minister has made money in his life. He is a successful businessperson. It is grubby politics and it is beneath contempt and it is typical of the way that some people want to play politics in Australia today and I’m surprised the Labor party has gone down to such low levels.

Mark Butler also had a chat to the ABC and said that voters have a right to know how politicians benefit from legislation they pass:

It is appropriate that voters and people in the community generally understand what all politicians, whether the prime minister or humble backbenchers, have to gain or lose when we make decisions to vote on particular tax packages. I think, of course, we are in an election contest. This will be a hard-fought election, but it would be ridiculous of Malcolm Turnbull to complain about the ads, given the degree he went off at Tanya Plibersek and her husband in the parliament last week.

Pauline Hanson has appeared alongside senator Derryn Hinch on Channel Seven’s Sunrise to discuss company tax – and both reveal they have been lobbied by Clive Palmer to vote for the Coalition’s package.

Both have a remarkably similar account – that Palmer said he has $450m in the bank and could take that money overseas, presumably because Australia would not be as competitive without a company tax cut.

Palmer has announced a relaunch of his party in the guise of the United Australia Party and even pinched a senator from One Nation: Brian Burston.

Hanson claimed Palmer threatened her by saying “if you don’t back the corporate tax cuts, you won’t get our preferences”. “He’s lobbying for the government for corporate tax cuts,” she said.

Hanson said the government has not given her “any assurances they are going after multinationals to get them to pay their taxes in this country”.

Hinch explains that he wants the threshold for the company tax cut lifted from $50m to $500m, which would give 6,000 more companies a tax cut without rewarding “the robber banks”. He said Palmer had lobbied him too, which he found “insulting”.

Senators @PaulineHansonOZ and @HumanHeadline on corporate tax cuts and why they're NOT supporting them! #auspol #sun7 pic.twitter.com/28VMa5cdGP

I hope you enjoyed your weekend – because things are about to get crazy.

It’s the last sitting week before the six-week winter recess and both sides are doing all they can to position themselves ahead of the byelections – and full-on election mode.

So it is all tax, tax, tax. Selling the package the government just passed to the public, and selling the company tax package to the crossbench – mostly Pauline Hanson.

Hanson blinked late last week and said she would be open to talking to the government about company tax again, if they do something about multinational tax avoidance. Scott Morrison says the government has already addressed that – but it has reopened the chat lines. Longman is still top of Hanson’s mind – the latest Fairfax-Ipos poll showed One Nation was polling at around 6% nationally, but in Queensland, particularly those outer urban areas like Longman, One Nation polls much higher.

Hanson, whose party is now reduced to just one other senator, is fighting for her own political future. So you can expect her to react accordingly.

But Labor has drawn its line in the sand over tax, and it is not backing off. The Fairfax poll I just mentioned showed the opposition was ahead, 53% to 47%, although Bill Shorten is still behind Malcolm Turnbull as preferred leader. That’s a tricky measure – not everyone is as engaged in politics as this community, which means the opposition leader, no matter who they are, usually has a lower profile/recognition factor.

But don’t doubt the campaign has begun.

Labor put out its latest ads overnight, which has the government upset over the oppositon “playing the man, not the ball”. Peter Khalil was just on Sky News addressing that criticism as the government not understanding how football works. “He’s the prime minister, he has the ball,” he said.

Tim Wilson was on minutes later to say: “Labor attacking the prime minister ... yawn, frankly.”

Meanwhile, the government has jumped on Anthony Albanese’s speech on Friday night, when he urged Labor to “stick to its values” as showing division in the party, in terms of strategy. Labor says it is united about wanting to defeat the government. And the ball rolls on.

The Coalition has slammed a new @AustralianLabor ad attacking the Prime Minister over his corporate past. It's a new strategy from Labor which is trying to link @TurnbullMalcolm's personal wealth with the government's plans to cut the company tax rate. #auspol #7News pic.twitter.com/vfGIVoxo9j

And it is not even 9am yet! Mike Bowers is out and about – he is out the front of the building, where the parliament is preparing to welcome the prime minister of Vanuatu for the first time. Follow him at @mikepbowers and @mpbowers. He may also pop up in the story of @pyjamapolitics, if we get time to catch our breath!

You’ll catch me in the comments and @amyremeikis.

Ready?

Let’s go!