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Cathy McGowan introduces national integrity commission bill – politics live Cathy McGowan introduces national integrity commission bill – politics live
(35 minutes later)
https://t.co/CzXk4THg9V The Government didn’t have the numbers to stop a motion for a federal integrity commission. It’s good to see the now power-sharing Parliament reflect the will of the people but don’t hold your breath that this Government will act on it. #auspol #politas
We are on the downhill slide to QT. And it is promising to be a doozy.
Scott Morrison still has not commented (publicly) on the Victorian election result.
Tony Burke had a few things to say to the House this morning:
I rise today to refer to what ethnic community functions are going to see happen over the next few months.
After we have had a government that has run fear campaigns around people of Chinese background, fear campaigns around people of African background and fear campaigns around people whose faith is Islam, we now go through the season in the lead-up to an election where members of the government turn up to function after function and say, ‘By the way, we weren’t talking about you.’
This is where they turn up, function after function, and say: ‘Oh, no, no. When we say we’re going to do all these things to immigration, we are talking about those other people, not about you.’
I simply want to make clear here in the House today that no one should think that dog whistling works anymore. The concept that you can give a coded message and it will only be heard by certain people in the community is not how things work any more. They’re not dog whistles; they’re foghorns.
Everybody knows what the government is up to when it uses those so-called coded messages. People will not forget a government that tried to introduce, as a condition of citizenship, that you would have to pass a university-level English test – but not everyone is going to have to pass a university-level English test.
If you came from an English-speaking country, you might have to pass a university-level English test; you might not.
There are about 50 countries in the world where English is an official or regular language there, but only five of those countries were exempt from the university-level test, and they just happened to be the five white English-speaking countries: Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand.
You can be speaking English your entire life and come from Singapore and you’ll need university-level English under the law that those opposite all voted for; but, if you come from Canada, you won’t. That is how they have behaved this term.
When people go to vote at the next election, they need to remember not the fact that the government, over the last few months, will have suddenly said all the right things at community events, but the fact that this government has behaved this way the entire term and will be trading preferences with Pauline Hanson at the election.
Nevertheless we call on the government cooperate with us and the crossbench to get this done properly, and as soon as possible. @cporterwa needs to step out of his bizarre denialism - let's get to work! #auspol (2/2)
Lots of questions on what is the difference between an absolute majority and a majority – the people who run the Twitter account for the House of Reps have you covered:
If only there was a handy infographic to explain this oh wait pic.twitter.com/8S9MbuHccI
This also happened this morning:
#BREAKING: A legal action against Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has put a serious cloud over 1,600 visa cancellations and deportations he has ordered since 2016. @Riley7News pic.twitter.com/MeAzmvjFhO
Richard Di Natale is chatting to the ABC.
On the Victorian result, he has this to say:
No question it was a grubby campaign from Labor. They have a massive dirt unit. They turned their guns on us. They knew they were safe. And they turned their guns on us. To me is that we need to improve the way that we vet our candidates.
If you trawl through social media history and point out a page that they have liked when they were 12 or 13 years old and basic campaign around that, what you are saying to people is that we don’t want good, decent, ordinary people in politics.
The concurrence motion passes on the voices (no division) but that is not the bill. That vote is coming later.The concurrence motion passes on the voices (no division) but that is not the bill. That vote is coming later.
“We have issue after issue where questions are being raised and not being addressed,” Andrew Wilkie says.“We have issue after issue where questions are being raised and not being addressed,” Andrew Wilkie says.
The government benches are all but empty as this debate is occurring. I can see Sussan Ley, Nicolle Flint, Christopher Pyne and Christian Porter but not many others.The government benches are all but empty as this debate is occurring. I can see Sussan Ley, Nicolle Flint, Christopher Pyne and Christian Porter but not many others.
Rebehka Sharkie pleads with Christian Porter to “lead from the front on this” and help come up with a workable model if the government is not happy with what has been presented.Rebehka Sharkie pleads with Christian Porter to “lead from the front on this” and help come up with a workable model if the government is not happy with what has been presented.
“I know with corruption there is often history ... there is frequently a story which needs to be understood,” Cathy McGowan says, on why retrospectivity is included in the bill.“I know with corruption there is often history ... there is frequently a story which needs to be understood,” Cathy McGowan says, on why retrospectivity is included in the bill.
She says she is more than happy to work with the AG’s office to make it work.She says she is more than happy to work with the AG’s office to make it work.
“From the bottom of my heart I hope the government will come back and tell us this week [it is in support of the bill]”, she says, adding: “Most of your backbench seems to be in favour of it.”“From the bottom of my heart I hope the government will come back and tell us this week [it is in support of the bill]”, she says, adding: “Most of your backbench seems to be in favour of it.”
Bronwyn Bishop, Starfleet captain pic.twitter.com/LanqZn7haHBronwyn Bishop, Starfleet captain pic.twitter.com/LanqZn7haH
Cathy McGowan responds to Christian Porter by asking “what, when and how”.Cathy McGowan responds to Christian Porter by asking “what, when and how”.
She says that people have waited long enough for a federal commission, and there is no one to go to when corruption at a federal level is alleged.She says that people have waited long enough for a federal commission, and there is no one to go to when corruption at a federal level is alleged.
The Australian federal police may have acted in contempt of parliament by failing to warn the Labor senator Louise Pratt of a raid investigating leaks about Peter Dutton’s au pair decisions, a report has found.
The Senate privileges committee suggested in the report, which was tabled on Monday, that the failure to warn Pratt meant she did not have a proper opportunity to claim parliamentary privilege over seized documents, a possible interference with the functioning of parliament.
The committee upheld Labor’s claim that documents seized in the raid are covered by parliamentary privilege, and said it would recall Australian federal police witnesses to provide further evidence before making a conclusion on whether the failure to warn Pratt constitutes a contempt.
Quick side break to note that Patrick Gorman has brought his young son into parliament while his wife is working in the Pilbara.
Leo is going to be here all week – because the raising of children is not just one parent’s responsibility.
The clock is ticking down on Bob Katter’s latest round of feel-pinions.
But we finally get to where he wants to go.
“I find it very difficult, because I can see the need for it, but on the other hand I see the great dangers which exist here.”
He wants the model worked on.
Bob Katter is referring to the reforms brought in after the Joh Bjelke-Petersen inquiryand the “awful lot of innocent people burnt” by the Criminal Justice Commission (now the Crime and Corruption Commission) .
I’ll be back as soon as I chase down my eyeballs – they have rolled somewhere down by my calves at this speech.
The Asio director general, Duncan Lewis, has called for legislation to allow law enforcement agencies powers to crack encryption to be passed “as quickly as it can be”.
In a parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security hearing on Monday, Lewis said that there were “cases afoot at the moment where this legislation will directly assist”.
Lewis said there was a “general heightening of the threat level over Christmas” but the spy agency had no evidence of a particular attack in a certain place or time in the upcoming holiday season.
Asked if a cutting short the consideration of the bill would harm consultation, Lewis responded that passage of the legislation would be “beneficial” but whether it is passed by Christmas or after was a “matter for the parliament and the government to decide”.
“I really don’t have a position on that.”
Asio witnesses confirmed they had no input or knowledge before the event about Scott Morrison and the home affairs minister Peter Dutton’s decision to call a press conference on Thursday to call for the bill to expedited through committee.
So where are we?
The government is not opposing a national integrity commission but has problems with the model.
Tanya Plibersek says the best way to overcome those issues is to work on the bill in a bipartisan manner.
Tayna Plibersek is going through some of the NSW Icac findings, mentioning some of the cases the Coalition has had go through the commission.
She then mentions the problems the Labor side has seen and says that she welcomed it, because the jailing of Eddie Obeid was like “cutting out a cancer” and that all sides of politics should welcome that.
“This is the time for the absolute most sober, sensible process we can engage in ... that I am sad to say is not in the bill [we are discussing today]” says Christian Porter.
So not outright support. But not, not support.
Andrew Probyn, aside.
Well, this has taken an unexpected turn.AG Christian Porter uses @andrewprobyn's ACMA ruling to argue against the proposed national integrity commission bill:"Under this Bill, no ifs, ands or buts, Andrew Probyn would be found to have committed corruption" #auspol
OMG.
Christian Porter has just used the example of the ABC political editor, Andrew Probyn, being found to have breached the broadcaster’s code with his analysis that Tony Abbott was the most destructive politician of his generation (where’s the lie?), would be found to be corrupt under this model.
The press gallery hallway has exploded into gaffaws. As have much of the chamber.
The attorney general is speaking about issues the government has with the model of the national integrity commission model which has been put forward.
He is not saying that Australia does not need one though.