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| Shorten: Morrison has 'sought to weaponise this dispute' on discrimination in schools – politics live | Shorten: Morrison has 'sought to weaponise this dispute' on discrimination in schools – politics live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Bill Shorten to Scott Morrison: | |
| The Courier Mail says the Morrison government is threatening Queenslanders with the forced privatisation of their state-owned power assets with the Energy Minister saying they’re on notice. Why does the Prime Minister support this?[given privatisation drives up prices] | |
| Morrison: | |
| As is his habit, the leader of the Labor Party is not telling the truth. One truth he can point to, though, is the Queensland electricity industry is owned by the Queensland government. | |
| As the Queensland government has been dividend stripping out of the Queensland electricity industry to prop up their financial mismanagement, you know who’s been paying for it? Queenslanders, Mr Speaker. Why are power prices higher in Queensland for Queenslanders? Because the Queensland government is gouging them, | |
| Mr Speaker, it is because they Queensland Labor government that doesn’t know how to manage money -- they are irresponsible. They’ve been jacking up power prices to strip that money away from mums and dads and pensioners and small businesses and family businesses. | |
| If the leader of the Labor Party wants to come into this house and talk about the ownership of electricity assets in Queensland, he must take responsibility as the leader of the Labor Party for having a partnership with a Queensland Labor government happy to rip off electricity customers and put the money in their own failed budgets.” | |
| Very quick fact check, because Queensland is one topic I am very familiar with in this parliament (you’re welcome) this is not entirely correct, but it’s not incorrect either. | |
| The Palaszczuk government, in a bid to shift debt off the government books, transferred a huge chunk of it to the GenCos - the generation companies it owns. And to try and manage that debt, prices were put up. The government then denied the Gencos the right to do that, at least for a bit, so it is at a bit of an impasse, at the moment. | |
| Testy Christopher Pyne is still testy. | |
| Which is a shame. He always seemed to have so much fun with the daily unions-are-terrible dixer. | |
| Michelle Rowland to Scott Morrison: | |
| Is the prime minister aware that according to today’s media reports, energy companies, business groups and even government members are warning that the prime minister’s discredited forced divestments policy sets a dangerous precedent that would threaten investment across the economy? Does the prime minister agree? | |
| Morrison: | |
| I don’t, Mr Speaker. I don’t support that. Mr Speaker, what the ACCC retail electricity pricing inquiry report found, and I initiated that report, Mr Speaker, as treasurer, we’ve been taking action on electricity prices. | |
| We have been doing things to force them [down], unlike the Labor party. They found retailers taking advantage of confused and disengaged customers and competition restricted through dominant players choosing not to offer financial contracts, and conduct undermining the operation. | |
| Mr Speaker, that is the misconduct, that’s the practices which they found, Mr Speaker, and the member opposite says what did they say about divestments? It’s a very good point. | |
| The ACCC didn’t recommend divestments, what they recommended was if you could do everything you possibly could, it wouldn’t be necessary, but those options are available, Mr Speaker, and our government has taken the decision, and it was also taken under the previous prime minister, that we would introduce divestments powers to ensure big electricity companies did not take advantage of Australian consumers. | |
| It’s pretty simple – you’re either with the top end of town over there, and big electricity companies, or you’re standing with the government, who wants to put in place – and even up with the national laws – to ensure those big electricity companies cannot play the mark-it-up [game] and cannot play mums and dads who are paying too much for their electricity prices. | |
| I know why Labor probably don’t want to support this measure – because they’re for higher electricity prices | |
| How do I know? They have a 45% emissions reduction target, which will drive up prices. When they were in government they doubled those prices despite the fact they gave $1 billion to brown coal generation, Mr Speaker ... they just had to send them their bank account details! I’m not going to take lectures from the Labor party, who only has one agenda – to punish mums and dads, pensioners and small businesses with higher prices as they cuddle up to the big energy companies. | |
| Kelly O’Dwyer finishes her dixer with “which is why we say, don’t vote Labor”. | |
| “Well, we wouldn’t expect you to say vote Labor, to be fair,” Bill Shorten replies. | |
| Mark Butler to Scott Morrison: | |
| Does the prime minister agree with the now independent member for Chisholm that the forced divestments policy of the government is totally counter to values of free enterprise and small government and will be a deterrent for future investment, and won’t lower energy prices but will in fact have the reverse effect? | |
| Morrison: | |
| The Liberal party members in this chamber want to see electricity prices come down, and we are going to side with the customers who have been paying too much and have been taken advantage of by big electricity companies, and that is what our bill is designed to achieve. | |
| That is why we are taking action, because we want to stand by the families and small businesses and family businesses of Australia who are paying too much. Why would the Labor party not want there to be a power to take action against price gouging and the sorts of conduct that would be anti-competitive and could lead to an increase in prices?Why would he be opposed to a power that would help even out the score for mums and dads and businesses? We ... know who we stand for – mums and dads and small businesses ... | |
| (what if you are not a mum or dad or small business owner?) | |
| Butler asks about relevance, but Morrison has decided he has had enough. | |
| He is not Robinson Crusoe there. | |
| Christian Porter ran out of time to talk encryption, so lucky he has had a million media opportunities and press releases and speeches to do just that. | |
| Chris Bowen to Josh Frydenberg: | |
| Can the treasurer confirm reports this morning that the member for Curtin told the government that its discredited energy investment policy could be regarded as sovereign risk and was inconsistent with Liberal values? | |
| The member for Curtain is Julie Bishop, who is very busy doing paperwork at her desk. | |
| Frydenberg: | |
| We introduced legislation to lower power prices and it’s awesome. | |
| Josh Frydenberg takes the next dixer, which is basically surplus, surplus, Labor bad, poor pensioners, good economy, us good. | |
| Adam Bandt questions the minister for big sticks turned bubble-wrapped wooden spoons, lowering electricity prices and whatever else gets added to this before the election. Angus Taylor responds: | |
| Of course, we are seeing, over the next 2.5 years, an investment of $15 billion, $15 billion committed to new generation in the electricity sector. That will see a 250% increase in the solar and wind in our sector from 9% of generation up to 23% of generation in the next 2.5 years ... By the early 2020s we will get to that percentage, but we need to have enough despatchable 24/7 power to keep the lights on and keep prices down. | |
| We are underwriting new generation and new supply, to make sure those prices come down. Mr Speaker, we are also taking on the big energy companies. We are taking on the big energy companies and we are doing that because we have seen dodgy practices, we have seen manipulation, we have seen price gouging from those in the energy sector who are more interested in the bottom line than the interests of customers. Those opposite have a big decision to make. Whose side do they sit on? Do they sit on the side of the hard-working small businesses and families of Australia, or do they sit on the side ... | |
| Bandt interrupts with something that is, basically, answer the question. | |
| Taylor jumps up to answer, but he hasn’t been called by the Speaker yet, because this whole place has just decided rules don’t apply anymore. Honestly, it’s like the last day of school for a group of sugared-up prep students. | |
| Tanya Plibersek to Scott Morrison: | |
| Does the prime minister agree with the Business Council of Australia which today said about the government’s discredited energy policy and I quote: “It’s surprising to see this legislation proposed by the Liberal government. This is the kind of intrusive heavy-handed intervention you would expect from the Greens. Bad policy created this mess and ill-conceived and rushed policy won’t achieve what’s desperately needed – lower electricity bills for families and businesses”. | |
| “Ouch, ouch, ouch,” says someone near Plibersek, close enough to be picked up by her microphone. | |
| Morrison: | |
| The Labor party spends most of their time saying ‘we’re the champions of big business’ Mr Speaker. I’ll tell you who is sitting in bed with big businesses that want to rip off Australian customers and their electricity prices – the Labor party, that’s who it is, that’s who it is!” | |
| Again – can you be on the side of unions or “union bred, led and fed” if you are also on the side of big business? | |
| The member for Barker reminded us this week that when Robert Menzies said we stand up for the forgotten people, that didn’t mean forgotten energy company executives, Mr Speaker, it meant mums and dads and people paying electricity prices, Mr Speaker. | |
| That’s who we are fighting for. In the Liberal and National party, we’re fighting for small businesses who are out there working hard, fighting for family businesses, fighting for people that go out and earn a wage and pay tax, fighting for people who haven’t got the time to go out there [and fight]. | |
| [Labor, the Greens and the left] want to fill the airwaves with economy-wrecking policies, unlike what we’re doing on this side, standing up for Australians who work hard and are sick of paying too much for their electricity. We’re prepared to take on the big energy companies, the Labor party has folded. | |
| We go from dixer to dixer and Keith Pitt delivers us the latest round of 180 seconds with Michael McCormack. | We go from dixer to dixer and Keith Pitt delivers us the latest round of 180 seconds with Michael McCormack. |
| Bill Shorten tries to table a document showing “corporate profits are up six times wages in this country,” but is denied. | Bill Shorten tries to table a document showing “corporate profits are up six times wages in this country,” but is denied. |
| Scott Morrison is now taking his first dixer on the “strong economy”. | Scott Morrison is now taking his first dixer on the “strong economy”. |
| Two. More. Days. | Two. More. Days. |
| Bill Shorten to Josh Frydenberg: | Bill Shorten to Josh Frydenberg: |
| Today’s national accounts confirm over the last quarter, Australia’s economic growth rate has gone down and living standards have fallen. Growth in household consumption is the weakest in five years, and over the last five years, corporate growth has grown five times faster than wages. Everything is going up except people’s wages. | Today’s national accounts confirm over the last quarter, Australia’s economic growth rate has gone down and living standards have fallen. Growth in household consumption is the weakest in five years, and over the last five years, corporate growth has grown five times faster than wages. Everything is going up except people’s wages. |
| Frydenberg: | Frydenberg: |
| One thing’s for certain, we on this side of the House won’t talk down the Australian economy, Mr Speaker. We won’t talk down the Australian economy. That’s because today’s national accounts reveal ... the economy is still growing strongly. At 2.8%, it is faster than the OECD average, and faster than any G7 country except the United States, Mr Speaker. That’s our economic record. | One thing’s for certain, we on this side of the House won’t talk down the Australian economy, Mr Speaker. We won’t talk down the Australian economy. That’s because today’s national accounts reveal ... the economy is still growing strongly. At 2.8%, it is faster than the OECD average, and faster than any G7 country except the United States, Mr Speaker. That’s our economic record. |
| He goes on, but the answer is basically “it’s still OK, but” and “it’s better than what you did”, which is the political equivalent of “your face is”. | He goes on, but the answer is basically “it’s still OK, but” and “it’s better than what you did”, which is the political equivalent of “your face is”. |
| Stephen Jones gets told to sit down after comparing the annual US president turkey pardon to Scott Morrison’s intervention to save Craig Kelly. | Stephen Jones gets told to sit down after comparing the annual US president turkey pardon to Scott Morrison’s intervention to save Craig Kelly. |
| That gives time for Keith Pitt to ask the government to apply its “big stick” to the Queensland power assets (owned by Queensland). He runs out of time to get all his point across. | That gives time for Keith Pitt to ask the government to apply its “big stick” to the Queensland power assets (owned by Queensland). He runs out of time to get all his point across. |
| It’s time for Who’s that MP as we enter the chamber (virtually today) in time for the end of the members’ 90 second statements: | It’s time for Who’s that MP as we enter the chamber (virtually today) in time for the end of the members’ 90 second statements: |
| It’s .... | It’s .... |
| Justine Keay. | Justine Keay. |
| We are in the downhill slide to question time – the second last one for the year. | We are in the downhill slide to question time – the second last one for the year. |
| If only they had something to talk about *sarcastic thinking face emoji* | If only they had something to talk about *sarcastic thinking face emoji* |
| Speaking of the Nationals, John “Wacka” Williams will be giving his valedictory speech...in February.* | Speaking of the Nationals, John “Wacka” Williams will be giving his valedictory speech...in February.* |
| He was instrumental in convincing the Coalition party room to accept a banking royal commission had to happen. | He was instrumental in convincing the Coalition party room to accept a banking royal commission had to happen. |
| *We were told it was happening today, but have just been informed by his lovely staff that it will be in February (the last sitting weeks before the budget is handed down in April, and basically the last sittings before the election) | *We were told it was happening today, but have just been informed by his lovely staff that it will be in February (the last sitting weeks before the budget is handed down in April, and basically the last sittings before the election) |