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Scott Morrison to take over home affairs after Turnbull survives leadership spill – politics live
Peter Dutton addresses media after failed leadership challenge – politics live
(35 minutes later)
Peter Dutton will hold his first press conference as a back bencher at 1.15.
Just back to the Senate temporarily. The debate on the government’s company tax cuts is still raging on. Crossbench senator Derryn Hinch is asking for a $500m cap that would prevent the tax cut going to big business.
He has chosen the favourite of the backbencher press conference locations - the Senate courtyard.
That’s rejected out of hand by finance minister Mathias Cormann. Cormann said it would create a “perverse incentive” for businesses to keep their turnover below $500m in order to retain a lower tax rate.
Everything is totally fine - this is the face of a man who thinks everything has been absolutely worth it.
He also said it would permanently lock in a higher tax rate for such businesses, which any future government would struggle to change.
Can’t you tell?
“If we now locked in a $500m cap, we would never, ever revisit it. It would be absolutely impossible for us to say to the public ‘we want you to now just support a tax cut... just for businesses with a turnover of $500m’,” Cormann said.
Take-away from that press conference: with treasury and home affairs, Scott Morrison is effectively running the machinery of government right now.
“The practical effect is that we would be locking in ... a 5% higher tax rate for businesses with a turnover of more than 500m.”
We have gone international! From the Chinese state media:
So what just happened there?
Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull survives challenge to leadership from Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton https://t.co/MYOkFqQg5i pic.twitter.com/63VJuCx9Bn
Well, we were introduced to the ‘real’ Peter Dutton, the one who can smile and joke and will happily pose for soft at-home features for the weekend papers, which I assume are being organised as we speak.
And how did the government manage to narrowly win that vote? Murray Watt thinks he knows:
He ran us through his job credentials, giving us his LinkedIn profile on camera, before refusing to rule out challenging for the leadership again and making it absolutely clear he believes himself to be the best chance of defeating Malcolm Turnbull.
Pauline Hanson just missed the vote on company tax cuts, meaning it passed 2nd reading stage. Now in committee. She must now make amends, by voting against them, at 3rd reading stage, to kill them off. https://t.co/1hymXh7C9k
If anything, future prospective employers, he probably cares too much. His biggest fault is he is a perfectionist.
The government has narrowly won a vote to keep its company tax cut bill alive. It won a vote on the second reading stage 35-34. It is now moving amendments to exclude the big four banks from the lower tax rate. It’ll no doubt anger the banks, but might win the government more support from the crossbench.
If he had a glass of water, I am sure he would have overfilled it to demonstrate that he ‘always gives 110%’ to everything he does.
Finance minister Mathias Cormann says: “In the interests of a compromise, the government is willing to move these amendments to exclude the … big four banks to accessing the reduced company tax rate,” he said. Cormann challenges Labor to now support the amended bill.
In the real world, we call that a job application.
Labor, you’ll remember, have campaigned hard against giving tax cuts to the big banks, which have had their reputation trashed in the royal commission. “If it’s all about the big four banks, no doubt you will vote in favour of these amendments and then vote in favour of the legislations as a whole,” Cormann says. It’s safe to say Labor is unimpressed.
Just in case it is not clear, here is Peter Dutton not ruling out challenging for the fifth time in a row, coming just after he detailed his credentials:
Labor senator Doug Cameron responds: “Well, what a pathetic performance that was from Senator Cormann, from a pathetic government that’s on the rocks.”
I believed I was the best person to lead the Liberal party to success at the next election. I respect the view of the party room and accept that outcome and I will do whatever I can now to make sure that we are in a position to win the next election and to make sure that Bill Shorten never becomes prime minister.
Malcolm Turnbull goes to leave, but Julie Bishop stops him and asks if she can say something.
BUT WILL HE CHALLENGE AGAIN?
Bishop refuses to say if she was anticipating a challenge from Greg Hunt for the deputy leadership and instead echoes Turnbull:
I am not going to provide critiques. The critique I am willing to provide is in relation to Bill Shorten because I think he is unfit to be prime minister of this country. I will make sure that I can do all I can to make certain that the Coalition wins the next election and that Bill Shorten never ever becomes prime minister.
I have seen leadership challenges before and this was a resounding vote of support in the leadership team. We don’t take it for granted, but what I say to all those who didn’t vote for the Prime Minister, we now have the opportunity to focus on what the electorate want to hear from us. And that is we are directing all our energies, all our efforts into lower taxes, lower costs, particularly energy costs, and more jobs in the Australian people. That is what we are going to continue to deliver.”
Yeah, but will he challenge again? And would there be room for Tony Abbott on the frontbench?
Malcolm Turnbull will not say if any other members of his cabinet voted against him:
I have gone through what my job is now and that is to make sure that I can help the Coalition win the next election.
It is a secret ballot, my job is to do everything I can to ensure that we are united and work together. As you know, I don’t bear any grudge against Peter Dutton for having stood up and challenged me today, and I invited him to continue in his position. It is really important that we put this sort of, differences – there are always differences in political parties, of course – that we put these differences behind us and get on with our job of looking after the 25 million Australians who have put us here. That is our job, looking after them. And we have to put 25 million Australians first. They hate it when we are talking about each other, political dramas, meat and drink for the press gallery but Australians want lower taxes, lower energy bills, record spending on essential services, strong economic growth, and record jobs growth. Our job is to work for the people who put us here.
But will he challenge again?
Malcolm Turnbull confirmed he asked Peter Dutton to remain in the cabinet, but Dutton declined.
In terms of colleagues, I am grateful for the support they have provided and grateful for the encouragement they have given me. I am proud to put my hand up because I believed it was for the right purposes. As I said before, I harbour no animosity towards Malcolm Turnbull and have always had a productive working relationship with Malcolm Turnbull and I harbour no animosity towards the prime minister now. I want to make sure that I can support the party and make sure we win the next election.
Scott Morrison will take over the home affairs portfolio.
Will he challenge again?
What did he say to his colleagues?
It is not my job, but having lost the ballot today, my job is to respect the view of the party room, which I do. I have been in the parliament for 17 years and on the frontbench for 14. I will work every day to make sure that the Coalition is elected at the next election and I want to make sure that I support the prime minister and make sure that we support the policies of the government because ultimately I never ever want to see Bill Shorten as prime minister of this country because it would be a disaster. My job from here, my next step, my job from here, that is to make sure I can prosecute the sort of messages that I have just spoken about and that is what I am focused on
What I say is exactly what I said to them in the party room – to all of my colleagues, that we need to be united. And united we are able to deliver the great results that we have for all Australians.
Where to now?
You cannot deny the achievements of our government. We have delivered lower taxes, record spending on essential services, we have started to turn the corner on energy prices. We are seeing the strongest economic growth we have had for a long time, and last year was the strongest jobs growth in the history of the country.
My position from here will be to do what I can as a backbencher to make sure that I support the government, to make sure we are elected and can keep Bill Shorten from the Lodge. I believe strongly that we can win the election if we get the policies and the message right about lowering electricity prices, about making sure that we can do more on infrastructure and in particular around the migration program, until the infrastructure can catch up in our capital cities.
He comes out with a giant smile and all of the sweeping hand movements.
We need to invest more in water to get farmers out of drought so they do not go through what they go through at the moment. We need to invest record amounts into health and education, aged care and other areas as well. I would like to contribute to public debates. I very much want to support the government and make sure the Coalition can win the next election.
Our job is to ensure that we do everything we can to ensure their taxes are lower, their energy bills are lower, that the economy is growing, that their businesses have great prospects, but they have a better chance of getting a job. Here are more opportunities, and we have the resources to enable us to spend on essential services, or record amounts into health and education, infrastructure, and keeping Australians safe.
On why he put his hand up:
Australians expect us to be focused on them, and talking about their issues. They don’t like us being focused on ourselves or talking about each other. That is why it is very important that today the Liberal party room has confirmed our leadership of the party. A reminder for parties and governments to be united and determined to keep delivering for the people for whom they work – 25 million Australians. We know that disunity undermines the ability of any government to get anything done. Unity is critical. We cannot allow, as I said in the party room today, our internal issues to undermine our work, to create a risk, a real risk, that Bill Shorten will be the prime minister.
I made a decision not because I had any animosity towards Malcolm Turnbull. I made a decision to contest this ballot because I want to make sure we can keep Bill Shorten from ever being prime minister of this country. We have an incredible country and I served for17 years in the parliament. I served for almost 10 years as a police officer and for many of us in public life, we are determined to do the best thing we can for the country.
Craig Kelly has broken his long-held silence (it may actually be about three hours since we last heard from him) and told ABC radio it was time to move on:
The problem is that Bill Shorten would be a disastrous prime minister of this country and I believe I had the best prospect of leading the Liberal party to success at the next election. That was not to be today and I understand and I respect the outcome and I fully support the prime minister and the cabinet.
It is now time for stability. It is time to get back and to argue the differences between the good work we are doing in the Coalition and the alternate, which is the reckless and ideological and economically damaging policies that the Labor party offers this nation. It is our job, as every single Coalition member, to make sure that we get together and we do not allow Bill Shorten to become the next prime minister of this country.
Peter Dutton’s pitch:
Malcolm Turnbull has called a press conference, with Julie Bishop, for 12.30pm – in the prime minister’s courtyard.
Firstly I would like to say thank you to my colleagues for their considerable support in the party room.
Which, as we know, is the most serious of the press conference locales.
The conversations and words of encouragement that I have had with them in recent times, I am quite grateful for the support they have provided to me. I am also incredibly proud of the work that our men and women do day and night within the agencies of home affairs to keep Australians safe.
And it is almost a week to the moment he stood in that same spot and declared victory on the Neg battle in the party room.
It is a serious business and when we have the threats that we do to a country like ours, you do need to make tough decisions and you have to make tough decisions that are ultimately are in the best interests of all Australians.
Trent Zimmerman is trying to find the silver lining.
I did that for border protection, I did it in relation to the home affairs portfolio. I have been on the frontbench for 14 years and have served four Liberal leaders loyally, including Malcolm Turnbull. Over that period of time I have been assistant treasurer to Peter Costello and John Howard, with whom I work quite closely and to this day I consider a mentor. I have been the shadow minister for health and finance, I have been the health minister, the minister for sport and I have been the minister for workforce participation.
He was doorstopped and described the feeling in the party room as:
But I have most enjoy being minister for home affairs because of the people who work within those agencies and the incredibly important work that they support. I am proud of the fact that I got children out of detention. We have now moved almost 400 people off Manus Island and Nauru and that is a significant achievement. I worked closely with Malcolm Turnbull to make sure we can achieve that. We closed the detention centres and we kept the boats stopped and we know that threat still exists and like no other country in the world, we have been able to deal with our migration program.
I think there is relief that what has been a messy week, to be frank, is now behind us, and there is a strong sense that we need to move on and we need to be focusing on those issues that Australians want us to be focussing on.
We have been a good government, we will continue to be one and hopefully the events of the last week are now behind us.
Narrator: They were not
After rubbishing it for weeks, the government is now attempting to carve out the banks from the company tax bill in a last-ditch attempt to win the bill.
This could be to keep the bill alive past the second reading stage.
If Peter Dutton eventually becomes prime minister, how many voters will have heard of him?The progressive thinktank the Australia Institute has run regular polling on “ministerial recognition” for a couple of years. Its most recent poll was conducted in March and April.
One of the questions: “Which, if any, of the following government ministers have you heard of?” Results:
Julie Bishop is the most recognisable minister (79% of voters). She’s been at the top since March 2016.
Christopher Pyne is the second-most recognisable (58%). He’s enjoyed that position for as long as Bishop.
Peter Dutton’s visibility has been on the rise. He is now the third-most recognisable minister (57%). He overtook Scott Morrison in September last year. Morrison has dropped from third to fourth (54%).
Then there’s a big gap.
Mathias Cormann comes in fifth, at just 33% of voters. He’s followed by Greg Hunt (31%) and Michaelia Cash (31%), Josh Frydenberg (30%), Kelly O’Dwyer (26%) and Arthur Sinodinos (23%).
* The Australia Institute surveyed 1,557 Australians between 27 March and 7 April 2018 online through Research Now, with nationally representative samples by gender, age and state and territory.
