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Labor trumpets Coalition divisions on superannuation – politics live
Police called to Canberra hotel after reports of incident involving Victorian state MP – politics live
(32 minutes later)
Odds are Scott Morrison will be talking about this story in the Australian at his press conference:
Scott Morrison has signalled immediate and sweeping reforms to the public service to make mandarins more accountable and ensure they are serving the “quiet Australians”, confirming a changing of the guard at the top levels of the bureaucracy.
The Prime Minister has told The Australian he plans to move swiftly with a cultural shake-up across the 18 government departments and more than 100 agencies before the final recommendations from a 12-month review of the public service.
“We don’t expect the public service to run the government. That’s what we were elected to do,” Mr Morrison said. “In my experience, the public service always works best when it has strong guidance and leadership.
By now aficionados of climate science / people who do not want the world to reach catastrophic levels of heating will be familiar with the distinction between weather (brrr it’s cold today) and climate (oh my god, on average the world is 1.5 degrees hotter and we’re headed for much more).
But not so Nationals MP George Christensen who has this morning told his Facebook followers not to worry:
“Normally, on the road to Parliament House, MPs and Senators are greeted by extreme green protesters with alarmist banners banging on about global warming and declaring that there is a ‘climate emergency’. This morning, with a temperature of -3 degrees, there’s not a protesting soul in sight.
I don’t know why. For a North Queenslander, -3 degrees is a bloody climate emergency. It’s just not global warming.”
Scott Morrison has called a press conference for 10.45am in the prime minister’s courtyard – the Beyoncé of political press conference locations.
Rex Patrick’s motion to suspend standing orders was defeated, 36 to 36 (when there is a tied vote, the status quo rules, which means continuing on with the schedule in this case).
The Finance Minister @MathiasCormann chats to One Nation’s @PaulineHansonOz during the vote on Senator Patrick’s TEO bill motion. #senate @AmyRemeikis @murpharoo @mpbowers pic.twitter.com/qcUDNKafUB
There seemed like an easy fix to this – giving Centre Alliance a private (and confidential) briefing of the advice. But that doesn’t appear to have been made available, which is a strange tactic, given how important Centre Alliance is in the Senate.
Oh, and Labor is still keeping count on government MPs.
Ed Husic called for a quorum after noticing there were less than 31 government MPs this morning.
For those who missed it, after the government pulled some shenanigans on Monday, rushing a bill through, Labor told the government it would play hardball of its own.
And it is, calling for a quorum every time there aren’t enough MPs in the chamber. Usually it is one of those rules that is just politely ignored. But not this week.
The Senate is dividing to see if Rex Patrick can suspend standing orders.
Doesn’t look like he has the numbers.
It’s excitement plus in the House right now.
The offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage amendment bill is being debated.
I may need a fainting couch, I am so overcome.
For those interested, there is also this:
Of special interest today, it's #Budget2019 Day! ...Sort of. Appropriation Bills 1 and 2, plus Parliamentary Appropriation Bill 1, will be introduced this morning. Interim supply bills were passed following the actual Budget in April. pic.twitter.com/w3A7i7kwNp
Police are speaking with a man at Civic police station.
Politician in Canberra hotel incident now confirmed to be Victorian Labor MP Will Fowles https://t.co/b9xPzqHGGk
Pauline Hanson says she trusts the law is constitutional because the government told her it was
Whole lotta lobbying goin’ on. One Nation gets lobbied by Senator Rex Patrick (top pics), and the Finance and Defence Ministers (bottom pic). On Senator Patrick’s motion on the TEO bill. @AmyRemeikis @murpharoo @mpbowers pic.twitter.com/cmkJaBp3O8
The government denied Rex Patrick leave to move his motion – which is why we are having this debate.
So it will come down to whether the rest of the crossbench supports him. Labor and the Greens are in.
There could be two votes – one to suspend standing orders in order to move the motion.
If that fails, that is it. If it succeeds, then there is another vote on the motion itself.
It looks like Pauline Hanson is against it.
Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick moves in the Senate a motion to (as he says) improve the constitutionality of the TEO legislation. @AmyRemeikis @mpbowers @murpharoo pic.twitter.com/9XX5o4nxTg
The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age have reported this:
The Sydney Morning Herald and the Age have reported this:
First term Victorian Labor MP Will Fowles has been questioned by police over a disturbance at a Canberra hotel on Thursday morning.
First term Victorian Labor MP Will Fowles has been questioned by police over a disturbance at a Canberra hotel on Thursday morning.
...When approached for comment by the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald Mr Fowles would not comment on the incident but said he would make a statement later in the day.
...When approached for comment by the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald Mr Fowles would not comment on the incident but said he would make a statement later in the day.
Rex Patrick is attempting to suspend standing orders in the Senate, in an attempt to demand the government release constitutional advice about temporary exclusion orders.
There are questions over whether the legislation is constitutional.
What is a temporary exclusion order? Australia's foreign fighters bill explained
The bells are ringing - parliament is about to start.
Update: I’m told the man who kicked in a door at a hotel in Kingston is not a federal politician pic.twitter.com/HzRMjwrX2W
Remember how I said Labor had a spring in its step over the super split in the Coalition party room? This was Jim Chalmers this morning, speaking to ABC radio:
This is a test of authority, of Frydenberg’s authority and Cormann’s, and also Scott Morrison’s. Remember he went to the party room on Tuesday and said to his colleagues, “please stop talking publicly about super”.
And since then we’ve had multiple Liberals out there bagging Frydenberg and Cormann’s position.
There are reports a MP has been involved in an incident at a Canberra hotel. Former journalist Kellie Sloane tweeted about the incident on Twitter
So here’s the latest. A politician (I don’t know who) has gone into a rage after discovering he couldn’t access his luggage. Police say he’s now calmed down but is facing charges. pic.twitter.com/VRKu5p2s2t
Details are sketchy. Calls are in to PMO. We’ll update you as facts come to hand.
There were five names on this press release, but the future drought fund is a reality (the money won’t flow until July 2020 though).
Farmers and rural and regional communities which have been suffering years of unrelenting drought will now have access to the tools they need to prepare for, manage and sustain their businesses with the passage of the Future Drought Fund legislation through the Senate today.
The Future Drought Fund will grow from $3.9 billion to $5 billion over the next decade, while facilitating a $100 million a year additional investment into drought resilience and preparedness, even in the good years, every year from 1 July 2020.
The Government is backing in our farmers, and we will always stand up and support our drought-affected communities. The Future Drought Fund is about more than just money – it is about giving our farmers the best possible tools to face drought, now and in the future.
Despite Labor’s attempts to stop the Government from establishing the Future Drought Fund, the Government has delivered on its election commitment to guarantee a sustainable source of funding for vital drought resilience projects in rural and regional communities.
A consultative committee will soon begin engaging with farmers and rural and regional communities to ensure the money is well spent when the additional funding becomes available from next year.
The Government will work swiftly to establish the Future Drought Fund Consultative Committee and put in place rigorous governance arrangements for the appropriate selection and prioritisation of projects.
Drought is a fact of life in this country. Our Future Drought Fund will ensure our farmers, who are among the best in the world and regional communities are better equipped to deal with its effects when it happens again.
The Future Drought Fund comes on top of the Government’s $2 billion in additional drought initiatives we have already previously announced.
Marise Payne is off to Fiji:
I will travel to Fiji from 24 to 26 July to represent Australia at Pacific Islands Forum ministerial meetings and further strengthen cooperation to promote security and prosperity in our region.
At the special Forum Economic Ministers’ Meeting on 25 July, ministers will discuss opportunities and proposals to support a resilient and stable Pacific.
At the Forum Foreign Ministers’ Meeting the following day, I will join other foreign ministers to discuss how we can work together to secure our region, the Blue Pacific, including through managing fisheries and finalising maritime boundaries.
I am also looking forward to discussions on how we can strengthen regional security under the Boe Declaration.
Australia is working with Pacific partners to implement two key regional security initiatives in support of the Boe Declaration – the Pacific Fusion Centre, and the Australia Pacific Security College.
The Pacific Fusion Centre will inform responses to the security challenges our region faces, including illegal fishing, people smuggling and drug trafficking. The Australia Pacific Security College will strengthen regional security cooperation across the region.
I will meet again with women parliamentarians in Fiji, including the Minister for Women Children and Poverty Alleviation, the Hon. Mereseini Vuniwaqa. I am also looking forward to visiting the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Centre for Pacific Crops and Trees (CePaCT), an important initiative to assist Pacific island countries access vital seeds and staple crops, and the Fiji National University (FNU) to see Australian support for Pacific island students.
Jacqui Lambie is one of the most popular people in parliament these days. Its amazing how having the swing vote can bring all the parties to the yard.
The Tasmanian senator is the deciding vote in the medevac bill. She’s keeping her powder dry in that one.
But she’s also a very important vote in the ensuring integrity bill. And on that, she had some interesting things to say to Phil Coorey in the AFR:
“It’s no secret I have concerns about the behaviour of certain members of the trade union movement. I have made these concerns very clear to Michele O’Neil, [ACTU secretary] Sally McManus and John Setka.”
The bill isn’t due for its final vote until after the winter break, in October or November.
It’s very on-brand for a Liberal to believe a scheme should be voluntary – the power of the individual is kind of their thing, after all.
But this bit in Andrew Bragg’s first speech to the Senate is what has eyebrows raised this morning:
Compulsory superannuation is almost 30 years old. Super is now almost twice the size of the economy and the capitalisation of the securities exchange. We have the fourth-largest private pension pool in the world with only 25 million people.
It remains a strange but huge experiment. The Centre for Independent Studies says one of the preconditions necessary to justify forced saving is that “under-saving for retirement will result in serious harm, including serious levels of old age poverty”.
Super fails at the first gate as the age pension underwrites Australians against old age poverty. Grattan Institute modelling shows super tax breaks will not pay for reduced pension outlays until the 22nd century, if at all!
So what does this money do? Most of the funds invest in the same index-hugging way. The super industry contains layer upon layer of intermediation, with the same request from government: higher and higher mandatory contributions.
As lawmakers, our duty is to focus on the public interest. I do not believe this system is working for Australians. Certainly the case has not been made for ever bigger super. I would change direction. Super should be made voluntary for Australians earning under $50,000. Taxpayers could simply tick a box to get a refund when filing an annual tax return. I commissioned modelling from Rice Warner actuaries, which estimates a saving to government of $1.8bn in the first year alone.
Super is making home ownership so much harder for lower income Australians.
The CIS found that the average deposit for a first home has doubled between 2000 and 2015. Since super started in 1992, every single age group has experienced lower levels of home ownership.
Two answers must be provided, in my view, if we are to keep super as it is today: (1) will more super reduce future pension costs to government – and if so, by how much – and (2) how much better would retirement standards be if we had more super? The last Intergenerational Report showed around 80% of people would take a public pension in 2055. That is not good enough after 70 years of compulsory superannuation. Unless the next edition favourably answers these questions, I would be inclined to make the whole scheme voluntary.
It’s parliament Friday, which means the MPs are itching to get out and back home.
But first there is the business of legislating. Or at least arguing about legislating.
As well as arguing in the party room. Or, as we keep getting told, having “the conversations”. Even if the conversations are not going anywhere. Or are not supposed to be.
But despite both Mathias Cormann and Josh Frydenberg ruling out changes to super, it keeps coming up. Craig Kelly, who you might remember was saved from a looming pre-selection loss by Scott Morrison, the man who then went on to win the election for the Coalition, had his ideas, which he decided to air in the media. Then Andrew Bragg suggested superannuation for those earning under $50,000 should be voluntary.
Plus, there is a group within the party room who are getting louder about scrapping the 12% superannuation guarantee. This has all come after Morrison told the party room to keep their lips shut, at least when it came to the media, and to air their views through the usual party room processes.
That is going great.
But it has put a spring in Labor’s step, for probably the first time since the 18 May election, as the government’s attempts to put the spotlight on unions and the ensuring integrity bill.
Fun times.
Mike Bowers, Katharine Murphy and Paul Karp are on deck for you, and you’ll find me in the comments and social media.
