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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2018/nov/26/scott-morrison-victoria-labor-coalition-politics-live
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| Kerryn Phelps condemns offshore detention in first speech – politics live | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Now this is how you do a social media video: | |
| Much watch Labor video featuring Liberal President Michael Kroger explaining why they won on Saturday.... pic.twitter.com/Dqn4VZjyEn | |
| The Senate has also passed this motion: | |
| The Senate – | |
| 1. Notes the Flinders University research published in Nature’s Scientific Reports, which shows that, “Climate change and human activity are dooming species at an unprecedented rate via a plethora of direct and indirect, often synergic, mechanisms.” | |
| 2. Notes that climate change is, without a doubt, the biggest threat to life on our planet. | |
| 3. Calls on the government to develop and implement a serious climate and energy policy, with a plan to reduce carbon pollution and overhaul our environmental laws to protect life on earth. | |
| Sarah Hanson-Young says: | |
| The biggest threat to humanity and life on this planet is climate change, and still the Liberal government don’t have a plan to reduce pollution. | |
| “The consequences of the Liberal government’s head in the sand on climate – and addiction to burning fossil fuels – are playing out before us now. We’re seeing more extreme weather, mass extinction, a planet under constant stress. | |
| “The alarming recent research from Flinders University showed we are dooming species across the globe due to our inaction on climate change. This anti-science, anti-environment prime minister, energy minister and environment minister are standing in the way of real action on climate change. | |
| “We have some of the most beautiful, unique flora and fauna in the world, but also one of the worst track records on extinction. The Liberal government cannot be trusted to reverse this harrowing trend. | |
| “The time to act is now. We can be the generation that saves the planet, instead of continuing to contribute to dangerous climate change.” | |
| Adam Bandt follows question time with a statement telling school children to ignore Scott Morrison”s “hectoring” in parliament today. | |
| Bandt asked the prime minister if he would join the Greens in praising the students and if he would meet with some of the students when they come to parliament this Wednesday. The prime minister’s response was an ignorant condescending lecture. | |
| “The PM is unbelievably out of touch with young people, not only in Australia but around the world,” Bandt said. | |
| “These students want a leader to protect their future, but they got a hectoring, ungenerous and condescending rebuke from someone even worse than Tony Abbott. | |
| “Students and young people are striking this Friday because governments have failed them in Australia and around the world. | |
| “I met with some of these courageous young people from my electorate last week and I am proud to be their local MP and I am proud of their actions. | |
| “Labor’s approval of another giant coal mine for the Galilee Basin shows they are just as out of touch with the mood of young Australians.” | |
| It’s hugs and kisses all round, as both sides of parliament congratulate her. | |
| Then it’s back to the business of the day. | |
| She finishes with this: | |
| I want to see Australian politics move back to that SENSIBLE CENTRE and strong, local independent voices can help to achieve that. | |
| “I say to the people of Wentworth – I am here to represent you. | |
| “I will support policies that not only encourage a thriving economy, but a thriving community. | |
| “I want our parliament to unite us as a nation, in equality, justice and opportunity. | |
| “And to achieve that, I will focus on the human experience that is generated by political decisions ... a vision for the future we will be leaving for our children and our grandchildren.” | |
| Phelps says she believes her election is a rejection of extreme partisan politics: | |
| The Australians I represent have said that they want more from their government. | |
| “They want authentic voices. | |
| “They want representatives who will focus on the future of our health system, for compassionate aged care and for lifelong education. | |
| “Representatives who will stand up for small business. | |
| “Who will fight for action on climate change. | |
| “Who will fight to ensure that women have equal political representation based on merit. | |
| “Who will fight for recognition of our First Nations people. | |
| “Who will fight for the humane treatment of asylum seekers. | |
| “And who will fight against discrimination, prejudice and bigotry in all of its manifestations. | |
| “Wentworth has shown that being positioned in what I call ‘the sensible centre’ ... meaning economically conservative and socially progressive ... does have a home in the Australian political landscape. . | |
| “The people of Wentworth seemed largely unconcerned about the prospect of the cross bench having the so-called balance of power. | |
| “I prefer to think of it as the power of balance.” | |
| So why did Phelps decide to stand as an independent, and not as a political party candidate? | |
| Because of what she saw during the marriage equality debate. | |
| Politicians who I knew privately to be supporters of equality were forced by their parties to publically speak out against their own conscience and beliefs, putting their party before the people or the principle... failing to understand or not caring about the human experience that would result from their politicking and deal-making. | |
| “This was one of the most important influences on my determination to stand as an independent.” | |
| Kerryn Phelps also mentions why closing off-shore detention centres is so important to her: | |
| I cannot be an idle bystander to the reports of the shocking mental and physical state of the children held on Nauru – helpless victims of Australia’s offshore processing policy. Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers is a source of shame and sorrow for me and for many thousands of my medical colleagues and other Australians. | |
| “This cruel treatment of asylum seekers asking Australia for help, to return to my earlier theme, ignores the human experience at the heart of the policy of offshore processing and indefinite confinement on Manus Island and Nauru. | |
| “No longer can we tolerate our Government holding the lives of these children and their families to ransom to make a point about maritime arrivals. | |
| “Yes, we need strong border protection. But it is not ... and must not be ... a choice between deaths at sea and indefinite offshore confinement. | |
| “There is a mismatch between what the Australian government has been doing and what the majority of the people of Australia want, and this must be resolved. | |
| “We must find a compassionate compromise.” | |
| And on why climate change is so important: | |
| This is not about the numbers. It is about the people. We have to think about the human experience that will result from failure to take action. The imminent disappearance of island nations like Kiribati or Tuvalu, altered food supply, drought, floods, increases in water-borne and insect-borne diseases. | |
| “The people most vulnerable to the effects of climate change will be children, the poor, the sick, the elderly. | |
| “We have an abundance of raw materials for renewable energy: Sun, wind, and water. What we are running out of is excuses for failing to act. We have to make sure we have a carefully planned, orderly transition to the renewable energy economy. | |
| “What we do in this house, what we decide here, creates the world of our grandchildren. We all have a responsibility to them. | |
| “And it is not only our own children and grandchildren who matter, whose lives we have the power to impact.” | |
| On climate change: | |
| Climate change has been described as the greatest moral, the greatest political, the greatest social and the greatest public health challenge of our time. The time to take action is NOW – there can be no excuses for continuing climate change policy paralysis. | |
| “Look at the symptoms, examine the evidence, turn to the experts... The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report warns of the catastrophic consequences of continuing down the current path of global warming. | |
| “And I would like to thank a former member for Wentworth, Dr John Hewson, for his expert advice to me on climate change policy.” | |
| Kerryn Phelps on her medical activism and her politics now: | |
| My philosophy was then, as it is now, that the human experience must be at the heart of the political decisions being made about health policy and health economics. | |
| Phelps, on her approach to politics: | Phelps, on her approach to politics: |
| I have been a general practitioner in my electorate for almost 20 years. I have had the privilege of seeing it from a profoundly human perspective. I have helped to deliver my constituents’ babies, guided them through cancer diagnosis and treatment, grieved with them for the loss of loved ones, helped them wrestle with depression, and celebrated their happy news. | |
| “A career in general practice grounds you in reality like no other profession possibly can ... it is a career that deals with life and death and all that lies between. It is a career where what really matters in this world is presented to you every single day. | |
| “As a doctor I was trained to examine evidence, and to draw careful conclusions. Doctors are presented with symptoms, we arrange appropriate investigations, we diagnose the problem, devise a management plan and see that plan through to a resolution. And we know when to call on a specialist for expert advice. | |
| “Every decision we make must address the fundamental question: what will this mean for this person’s human experience? | |
| “This is the template for the human-centric approach I bring to the job of parliamentarian and member for Wentworth.” | |
| Phelps on Wentworth: | Phelps on Wentworth: |
| Wentworth is a diverse and harmonious community. | Wentworth is a diverse and harmonious community. |
| “We hear a lot about its “harbourside mansions” but the reality is that many people in Wentworth live in apartments, often renting their homes. | |
| “They come from myriad backgrounds from all over the world. Wentworth has one of the largest Jewish communities in Australia; many families fleeing here from Europe around the time of the second world war. | |
| “Others coming from Russia or South Africa. There are the surfers, the yachties, the young families, the retirees, the business men and women and a large gay community. | |
| “Wentworth is home to some of the wealthiest people in Australia, but there are also those who struggle to make ends meet, and the marginalised and dispossessed who live on the fringes of society.” | |
| Kerryn Phelps is detailing the path she has taken to politics. | Kerryn Phelps is detailing the path she has taken to politics. |
| I’ll bring you more of the speech in a moment, but she has continued the recent Wentworth MP tradition of favouring the word “resolutely”. | I’ll bring you more of the speech in a moment, but she has continued the recent Wentworth MP tradition of favouring the word “resolutely”. |
| My first marriage ended in 1993 and, four years I met Jackie [Stricker-Phelps] and the following year we married in a religious ceremony in New York. | |
| “On our return we were outed by a Sunday tabloid newspaper. Outed. That sounds almost quaint and anachronistic now but [then was used as an instrument of oppression]. [We could have hidden, but that is not in either of our DNA and we] resolutely began a long battle for marriage equality, sacrificing our personal privacy and Jackie , her teaching career. We became accidental activists.” | “On our return we were outed by a Sunday tabloid newspaper. Outed. That sounds almost quaint and anachronistic now but [then was used as an instrument of oppression]. [We could have hidden, but that is not in either of our DNA and we] resolutely began a long battle for marriage equality, sacrificing our personal privacy and Jackie , her teaching career. We became accidental activists.” |
| Christian Porter has announced a press conference for 3.30pm to talk the national integrity commission. | Christian Porter has announced a press conference for 3.30pm to talk the national integrity commission. |
| There is a bit of mopping up to do after that question time. Most particularly calling it a “fringe issue” while simultaneously trying to argue that the government has been working on it for some time. | There is a bit of mopping up to do after that question time. Most particularly calling it a “fringe issue” while simultaneously trying to argue that the government has been working on it for some time. |
| Darren Chester calls for a suspension of standing orders to allow Kerryn Phelps to deliver her maiden speech. | Darren Chester calls for a suspension of standing orders to allow Kerryn Phelps to deliver her maiden speech. |
| Most of Labor and all of the crossbench, except for Bob Katter, are still in the chamber. | Most of Labor and all of the crossbench, except for Bob Katter, are still in the chamber. |
| Less than 20 government MPs remain, Julie Bishop and Julia Banks are watching, as is John Alexander, Trent Zimmerman, Warren Entsch, Julian Leeser, Tim Wilson, Andrew Laming, Sarah Henderson, Kelly O’Dwyer, Ken Wyatt and Christopher Pyne. | Less than 20 government MPs remain, Julie Bishop and Julia Banks are watching, as is John Alexander, Trent Zimmerman, Warren Entsch, Julian Leeser, Tim Wilson, Andrew Laming, Sarah Henderson, Kelly O’Dwyer, Ken Wyatt and Christopher Pyne. |
| Scott Morrison calls an end to question time. | Scott Morrison calls an end to question time. |
| Given the number of side conversations in the government benches, the text messages and the general malaise, it never really started for a lot of the Coalition today. | Given the number of side conversations in the government benches, the text messages and the general malaise, it never really started for a lot of the Coalition today. |
| Dismal. Absolutely dismal. | Dismal. Absolutely dismal. |
| I am not sure there is a more visual representation of regret and despondency than what I am seeing in the government backbench right now. | I am not sure there is a more visual representation of regret and despondency than what I am seeing in the government backbench right now. |