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Coalition wants voter ID laws for federal elections – politics live
Coalition wants voter ID laws for federal elections – politics live
(35 minutes later)
The crossbench wrangler
From question time
Tony Burke is allowing the motion to be moved (to adjourn the debate) but just the once and once only.
The House divides. AGAIN
There are now two clerks assisting the Speaker on this issue. It is a two-clerk situation.
Tony Burke then tries to move that the debate be adjourned.
Tony Smith says there has been a contingent motion passed to allow the debate to occur.
And that we are now on the second motion.
Burke has the procedure book out in front of him.
He’s arguing over the “later hour” part of Christopher Pyne’s motion and that the Clerk has now called the bill on as the next order of business.
Burke says that now that the contingency motions over the “later hour” are finished, and the debate has officially been called on, then he can call for the debate to be adjourned.
Does anyone actually understand what is going on, or is it just me?
Labor loses the motions and the government gets to bring on the second reading debate.
AYES: 75
NOES: 70
Ayes: 74
Noes: 71
Then Pat Conroy has a go at shutting it down, but he gets about three words out before Christopher Pyne is back on his feet shutting him down.
To another division we go.
But looking at the floor, the government has the numbers to get this second reading debate brought on.
Looking at the chamber, Josh Frydenberg has been sitting next to Bob Katter throughout these divisions. The other crossbencher voting consistently with the government is Andrew Wilkie.
That’s suggestive that they have the numbers to get the package through the lower house, but nothing is certain. In any event, the objective appears to be bringing on the debate.
You may remember that Katter received about $200m from the federal government for water projects in north Queensland right around the time it went into minority.
Anthony Albanese then had a go at seconding Mark Butler, and Christopher Pyne moves that he no longer be heard as well and the count starts again.
AYES: 74
NOES: 71
For those who are confused over what is going on, which includes me, the government appears to want to bring on the second reading debate for its divestiture legislation (formally known as the big stick).
Labor does not want this debate to come on.
But it would appear the government has the numbers from the crossbench, given that it is winning the motions – at least so far.
Whether or not it wants to bring this to a vote or not today is a whole other question. We don’t know as yet and, to be honest, I am not sure if the government knows yet either.
Mark Butler starts his “the government are bringing this on too quickly and there are a lot of pages of notes to consider and what’s the rush” speech and Christopher Pyne moves that he is no longer heard.
The House divides for the millionth time on this.
Mark Butler is now trying to suspend standing orders to stop the bringing on of the energy bill, because there hasn’t been enough time to scrutinise the bill.
Christopher Pyne says the new suspension of standing orders is too similar to the one the House just voted on.
The government is trying to bring on the divestiture laws. Labor does not want them brought on. The whole House is a dog’s breakfast at the moment and I am not sure anyone knows what is going on, other than the government wants something, and the opposition doesn’t.
AYES - 74
NOES - 71
Christopher Pyne moved a motion that the second reading debate (on the energy motion) be set for a “later hour” and Chris Bowen amended that motion to say the “later hour” be the first parliamentary sitting in 2019.
Christopher Pyne moved a motion that the second reading debate (on the energy motion) be set for a “later hour” and Chris Bowen amended that motion to say the “later hour” be the first parliamentary sitting in 2019.
The House is dividing again and it looks like Cathy McGowan is changing her vote.
The House is dividing again and it looks like Cathy McGowan is changing her vote.
AYES: 75
AYES: 75
NOES: 70
NOES: 70
While we wait to see the outcome of the House division, it is worth mentioning this:
While we wait to see the outcome of the House division, it is worth mentioning this:
Tasmanian Greens Senators Nick McKim and Peter Whish-Wilson have tabled the Senate’s largest ever petition, calling for takayna/Tarkine to be protected as a World Heritage Area.
Tasmanian Greens Senators Nick McKim and Peter Whish-Wilson have tabled the Senate’s largest-ever petition, calling for the takayna/Tarkine to be protected as a world heritage area.
“takayna/Tarkine is a precious part of Tasmania that should be looked after on behalf of the entire world,” Senator McKim said.
“takayna/Tarkine is a precious part of Tasmania that should be looked after on behalf of the entire world,” Senator McKim said.
“Some 270,000 people have signed this petition, which just shows the depth of feeling about takayna across Tasmania, Australia and the world.”
“Some 270,000 people have signed this petition, which just shows the depth of feeling about takayna across Tasmania, Australia and the world.”
“We invite Prime Minister Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to visit takayna/Tarkine and see for themselves why this area is worthy of World Heritage protection.”
“We invite prime minister Morrison and opposition leader Bill Shorten to visit takayna/Tarkine and see for themselves why this area is worthy of world heritage protection.”
Senator Whish-Wilson said:“takayna is a place of incredible natural and Aboriginal heritage value.”“It is one of the last strongholds for the Tasmanian devil and contains one of Australia’s largest temperate rainforests.”
Senator Whish-Wilson said:“takayna is a place of incredible natural and Aboriginal heritage value.” “It is one of the last strongholds for the Tasmanian devil and contains one of Australia’s largest temperate rainforests.”
“It’s time for the Labor and Liberal parties to step up.”
“It’s time for the Labor and Liberal parties to step up.”
“We thank the Bob Brown Foundation and Patagonia for their ongoing campaign to protect takayna.”
“We thank the Bob Brown Foundation and Patagonia for their ongoing campaign to protect takayna.”
Tony Abbott is talking to Ben Fordham on 2GB.
Asked about the new Liberal party leadership rules, he says: “if we had been better they wouldn’t be needed” and “even members of parliament can have character deficits and conviction deficits” and when he became PM in 2013 he thought “we would have learned that lesson” about changing leaders and have now “learnt that lesson the very hard way.
He also says things like this:
"We need more people like Craig Kelly in the Parliament" - @TonyAbbottMHR on @CraigKellyMP #auspol
"If I'd been a preselector, Jim Molan would have been my number one choice" - @TonyAbbottMHR on Senator @JimMolan #auspol
The government is attempting to bring its energy bill in the House.
Stay tuned.
Coalition members have asked for voter ID laws in the JSCEM report on 2016 election! #auspol pic.twitter.com/FKOQVTY4Hb
Queensland is waging its own little war in the Senate.
James McGrath moved this motion:
That the Senate–
And Larissa Waters responded with this:
The Greens are supportive of parts A and B of this motion – many regional towns in Queensland are doing it tough. Social support networks and hubs have an important role to play in these areas. However, this motion calling for the burden of licensing fees of pubs and hotels to be reduced has been moved by a Senator who’s accepted more than 190 bottles of wine and 21 cases of beer from the Queensland and Australian Hotels Associations over the past six months, and whose party accepted more than $1.1 million from the gaming, alcohol and hotels industries over the past five years. You cannot expect to gain support from the Greens for a motion that advances the interests of that industry.
In the Senate, Nick McKim has just won a suspension of standing orders and successfully moved his and Tim Storer’s motion to bring on a non-contentious government migration bill for debate and a vote by 1.50pm on Thursday.
Why would he be doing that? It’s part of a crossbench plan to pass the Kerryn Phelps bill for emergency medical transfers from offshore detention in the Senate by adding it to a government bill.
I wrote about this on Tuesday – it didn’t succeed then because Labor and Phelps were still in negotiations about the conditions on which it could support her bill. Perhaps Labor voting with McKim and Storer indicates a deal has now been done, I will find this out for you ASAP.
As we start to wind down for the year and prepare for our final politics live for 2018, I would love to know what stood out for you this year. Positive or negative – and I don’t just mean the usual political take aways. It’s been a huge year. A huge one. So what will you remember from 2018 in the Australian parliament?
Keep it short and sweet and I’ll do my best to include the most thoughtful ones in the final blog tomorrow – tweet at @amyremeikis or send me a short couple of paragraphs to amy.remeikis@theguardian.com
Josh Frydenberg has issued his official statement on the National Accounts:
Today’s National Accounts for the September quarter 2018 show the strength of the Australian economy and the strong economic management of the Liberal National government.
We have completed our 27th consecutive year of economic growth, the unemployment rate has fallen to 5% and nearly 1.2 million jobs have been created under the Coalition government. The strength of the Australian economy has recently been recognised by the International Monetary Fund, the OECD and through our AAA credit rating being reaffirmed.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, real GDP grew by 0.3% in the September quarter and by 2.8% through the year and this sees Australia growing faster than the OECD average and all of the G7 nations except the United States.
Growth continues to be broad-based with household consumption, dwelling investment, net exports and new public final demand contributing to growth. These were partially offset by a significant fall in mining investment as the last of the major LNG projects near completion.
New public investment grew by 5.1% in the quarter to be 4% higher through the year. Public investment will continue to be underpinned by the government’s record $75 billion infrastructure rollout.
Compensation of employees, which records total wages and salaries across the economy, rose by 1% in the quarter to be 4.3% higher through the year. Growth was driven by strength in employment.
Because of the Coalition’s strong economic management we will deliver next April the first budget surplus in more than a decade.
The strength of the Australian economy is no accident. The government’s plan of lower taxes and stronger economic growth is working and today’s numbers show the strength of the Australian economy is helping to provide the essential services all Australians rely on.
Community attitudes towards violence against women https://t.co/H0lmTG5rZI pic.twitter.com/pkf0f3Rbr5
Including this here because it is very human and also adorable.
My love of news & politics comes from my parents. From a young age they encouraged me to ask questions about everything! They visited the ABC for the first time (and loved it). Shout out to @MandyBorys who joined Twitter so she can "like" tweets written by my journo friends 😍 pic.twitter.com/yWdmuhQvNN
Tomorrow’s question time, today from Katharine Murphy:
[Malcolm Turnbull] urged his Liberal colleagues to revive the Neg – abandoned as a casualty of the August leadership fight – arguing it was a ‘vital piece of economic policy and has strong support, none stronger I might say, than that of the current prime minister and the current treasurer’.
Labor is proposing to keep the Neg with a 45% emissions reduction target. The text of the speech the former prime minister ultimately delivered on Tuesday morning, now uploaded on his website, did not address the impact of Labor’s higher target.
But an earlier draft of the speech, did.
‘Labor has announced it will adopt the Neg but with a higher emissions target,’ the early draft, seen by Guardian Australia, said. ‘Ours, as you know, was 26% which was only just above business as usual so it obviously had no adverse impact on prices.
‘There is some modelling already from Frontier Economics which suggests that Labor’s 45% target will not result in higher prices,’ the early draft said. ‘That assertion deserves sceptical assessment, but it is also important regularly to review these models in the light of the latest technology and market information.
‘A great deal depends too on whether a 45% reduction means simply that emissions in 2030 – in that year – should be 45% less than in 2005. If that were the case, implying a hockey stick, the additional cost may not be as high as it would appear.’
You can read that whole story, including Turnbull’s response, here.
