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Senate votes on Nauru bill Scott Morrison has vowed to fight – question time live
Senate votes on Nauru bill Scott Morrison has vowed to fight – question time live
(35 minutes later)
Bill Shorten to Josh Frydenberg:
Ed Husic is still going.
Can the Prime Minister please tell the house which clause in his divestments legislation prevents the government from forcing states to privatise the electricity assets.
This is what everyone is watching in QT right now. No one is listening. Everyone is just waiting on the Senate.
That is what we were talking about earlier.
I really can’t believe I can get away with this rn. I don’t think Hart is going to forgive me. I think I’m going to start following a stack of bad twitter accounts on his behalf
It’s all about getting to Bob Katter right now.
If you needed any more proof everyone is just winding down the clock, Ed Husic has gone back to Twitter.
Section four, schedule one, item one, page 25, lines pre18, he made it very clear that if the body corporate is an authority of the Commonwealth or an authority of the state or territory, the court may order the body corporate to dispose of those assets... This is the amendment that the member for Kennedy was making clear. To avoid doubt the court can not make an order under subsection three for the body corporate to dispose of interest in securities or assets otherwise in accordance with paragraph three A.
When Ross leaves hs twitter open and Ed Husic is around, this will be dangerous
It really says something about this question time that no one noticed a member jumping up in fright and spilling water everywhere.
Ed Husic is officially back on Twitter, commandeering Ross Hart’s Twitter account - AMA rn
There was a spider in the House
Mathias Cormann is on his feet defending the Cory Bernardi filibuster.Cormann:
Claire O’Neil just jumped up like a bolt of lighting.
We should not be dealing with this bill until the proper consideration of the Senate has taken place. Mr Shorten knows this is a reckless move when it comes to our national security. He’s quite happy to sacrifice … our offshore processing arrangements.”
Stephen Jones killed it with his iPad.
Jenny McAllister says the filibuster is “pathetic”, one of many Labor interjections. Liberal senator Zed Seselja asks they be called to order.Penny Wong: “Time wasting – more time wasting. We have a national security bill to deal with later today.”We’re now having a four-minute bell ring and a vote on Bernardi’s stalling tactics.
IT IS ALL HAPPENING
Last night the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence and security handed down a bipartisan report with 17 important recommendations for amendment to the telecommunications and other legislation amendment (assistance and access) bill.
There was another question on energy.
The government provided Labor with more than 167 amendments, totalling 49 pages, at 6.30am this morning, and yet more amendments at 9.22am.
I’m keeping an eye on the Senate and dipping in and out, so you might not get the same level of Q and A back and forth at the moment.
In the limited time we have had to scrutinise these amendments, it is clear that they do not fully reflect the recommendations put forward by the committee.
There are 15 amendments being put forward on the medical evacuation bill.
Therefore Labor will move some minor but important amendments in the Senate to make the amended bill conform with the recommendations of the committee. The government already tried to cut off the committee’s work before – it shouldn’t ignore it completely.
So it is going to be a bit of a procedual mess before it arrives in the House.
Labor is working constructively with the crossbench to secure support for our amendments.
Scott Ryan has cut down each division to a minute and is trying to pass as many as possible on the voices.
As Katharine Murphy reported, Cory Bernardi is helping to wind down the clock:
Bill Shorten to Scott Morrison:
Another #senate chamber chat between @MathiasCormann and Cory Bernardi pic.twitter.com/GKfFk2EIQk
Is he aware that yesterday the Queensland LNP leader, Deb Frecklington, said about the government plans to force Queensland to privatise electricity assets: ‘The prime minister’s plan is out of touch. Queenslanders want lower power prices, not asset sales.’ Isn’t the leader of the Queensland party correct when she says the prime minister’s plans are completely out of touch?
For those wondering how the government finishes parliament early.
Here is what Frecklington said to Sarah Vogler from the Courier Mail yesterday:
As the notice paper stands, the adjournment is scheduled for 4.30pm. That is usual. And then, with all the business, it usually gets extended.
Opposition Leader Deb Frecklington has also dismissed the federal government’s divestiture threat.
This time, the government is attempting to ensure it won’t be extended. That parliament automatically rises after the adjournment debate at 4.30pm.
“I don’t support the federal government’s plan.
No motion. No vote.
“The people of Queensland have spoken in relation to the sale of assets and there is no appetite for that.
The scheduled time, which is always changed, will stand.
“… The PM’s plan is out of touch,” Ms Frecklington said.
So Scott’s Choice – encryption, or not?
“Queenslanders want lower power prices but they don’t want asset sales.
As Murph just pointed out, it is now encryption v medical evacuations.
“We believe our electricity assets should be kept in public hands, so the government can control the prices.
If the government wants encryption to be passed, it has to keep sitting.
“You can lower power prices and keep assets in public hands which my plan will do.”
If it keeps sitting, then the medical evacuation bill can come up.
Josh Frydenberg takes it:
The government will lose that vote.
The leader of the opposition refers to the LNP leader in Queensland, Deb Frecklington.
Cory Bernardi has tried to suspend standing orders, twice. The first attempt lost 31-29.
I would share with their house a statement.
He’s now on his feet pulling a similar trick. One Labor senator asks him if he’s “doing the government’s dirty work”. There are now heckles of “which government – are you rejoining them, Cory?”
LNP leader Deb Frecklington has welcomed confirmation that the federal government’s legislation to prohibit misconduct in the energy sector will not allow Queensland’s electricity assets to be sold. We welcome efforts to stamp out misconduct and ensure the lowest possible prices for consumers.
Bernardi says the bill has been “hijacked” and turned into “a weapon of political destruction”. He accuses Labor and the Greens of “sheer bastardry by the use of numbers” to cut short debate.
Queenslanders want lower prices, but they don’t want asset sales, Mr Speaker.
“It’s about sick kids,” respond Labor senators.
Then, this is what is difficult for the leader of the opposition, from Deb Frecklington,
Christopher Pyne is attempting to wind Labor up into heckling, by talking about the deaths at sea and the “cheap political stunt Labor wants to pull today to impress their friends” and force the men and women of the Australian defence force to pull dead bodies from the sea.
“Unfortunately, the Annastacia Palaszczuk government has been using electricity as a secret tax for years,” Mr Speaker.
I kid you not.
“Labor is drunk on the revenue this tax generates and, according to its own budget, will rip off more than $8.5bn from Queensland electricity customers over five years, so which side is the leader of the opposition on, Queensland consumers, or Queensland energy companies and the state government?” And she goes on. She goes on.
The reply to this is from the former IHMS chief medical officer on Nauru.
Instead of lowering prices, the Annastacia Palaszczuk Labor government is solely focused on profit maximisation and has allowed government owned generators to abuse their market power and price gouge, Mr Speaker. And it goes on.
The situation has never occurred. Never. He is making up ridiculous scenarios.
This is the most relevant statement from Deb Frecklington for the leader of the opposition, because she says Bill Shorten, the leader of the opposition’s reckless 45% emissions reduction target well, according to Queensland’s Labor’s expert panel on renewable energy, courts and early closures of Queensland coal fired power stations.
This entire question time is like a visit inside Michael McCormack’s head.
So, Mr Speaker, Deb Frecklington has a lot to say today, she has a lot to say. She says the leader of the opposition is sending up our prices for Queenslanders, she says about the blue-collar workers in Queensland at those coal-fired power stations that Labor is selling it out and she says she is on the side of the Liberal and National government at the federal level and that they are doing everything they can to lower the power prices.
While question time is under way, just a brief sit rep on the tactical outlook for the afternoon. Right now the Senate is moving through the amendments to the Migration Act. Cory Bernardi is assisting the government in dragging out that debate at the moment.
Mr Speaker, this legislation is a test, this legislation is a clear test of the leader of the opposition. Will he continue to be a proxy for big business and big energy companies, or will he join with us to stamp out misconduct to ensure the lowest possible energy prices for Australian families and businesses?
The objective is to drag out the final vote in the Senate for as long as possible. The House of Representatives adjourns automatically at 4.30pm.
The first dixer, from Trevor Evans is on border security.
The House will need about 45 minutes to deal with the message from the Senate. If the Senate vote is dragged out, it is possible the House will adjourn before the message is resolved.
It’s a repeat of the “what we did, what I did” press conference from earlier.
There is a but here though. The Senate is also dealing with the encryption bill today, and amendments are expected. That bill can only be proclaimed if the House continues to sit, and agrees to the amendments.
Scott Morrison is working very, very hard at not yelling.
We’ve been saying it all day, in one form or another.
Tony Burke to Scott Morrison:
Some game of chicken, this.
Can the prime minister confirm that since deposing Malcolm Turnbull, he lost Wentworth, lost the member for Chisholm, ensured just 10 sitting days in eight months? Can he also confirm that today he lost control of himself delivering one of the most hysterical press conferences in Australian political history. Why isn’t Malcolm Turnbull prime minister? None of it happened under him.
Morrison:
When it comes to losing control, the Labor party lost control of our borders and they should be ashamed of it.
That’s it. That’s the whole answer.
Senate question time is delayed while these votes play out.
We are still facing the prospect of the House adjourning at 4.30pm.
That’s almost as bad as losing a legislative vote. Both say you don’t have control of the floor.
The Senate is dealing with the last bit of the medical evacuation bill.
Mathias Cormann attempted to adjourn the debate. That failed 32 to 30.
House of Representatives Practice has this to say on headwear: 'Members [are] permitted to wear hats in the Chamber but not while entering or leaving or while speaking.'https://t.co/A2TO00cYY2 https://t.co/L0nvVWqaEv
We are in the chamber for the final question time of the year.
Scott Morrison has just arrived.
Cormann’s motion to adjourn the bill was defeated 32 votes to 30.
Senate president Scott Ryan says the time allotted has expired, so we’re now onto votes of substance on each amendment.
Cory Bernardi’s second reading amendments are up first, he wants them split because senators may have different views.
