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| Jacqui Lambie says Syria crisis could affect her medevac repeal decision – politics live | Jacqui Lambie says Syria crisis could affect her medevac repeal decision – politics live |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Back in the chamber, the crimes legislation amendment (sexual crimes against children and community protection measures) is being debated. | |
| Labor wants to move this amendment to the legislation: | |
| Labor moving a second reading amendment to the bill #auspol pic.twitter.com/1JpmidGbVU | |
| Kenneth Hayne finished with this: | Kenneth Hayne finished with this: |
| To take any step of that kind will require honesty and courage. It will take honesty to recognise that there may be a problem and courage to devise means for dealing with it. It will take honesty to recognise that slogans may sell, they do not persuade. It will take courage to recognise that slogans sell by appealing to emotion not thought or reason. It will take courage to engage with facts and issues knowing that their depth and breadth cannot be reduced to, or explained by, a series of sound bites that capture a single 24 hour news cycle. It will take courage, in the world as we now know it, to engage with facts and issues rather than pursue the path to populism. | To take any step of that kind will require honesty and courage. It will take honesty to recognise that there may be a problem and courage to devise means for dealing with it. It will take honesty to recognise that slogans may sell, they do not persuade. It will take courage to recognise that slogans sell by appealing to emotion not thought or reason. It will take courage to engage with facts and issues knowing that their depth and breadth cannot be reduced to, or explained by, a series of sound bites that capture a single 24 hour news cycle. It will take courage, in the world as we now know it, to engage with facts and issues rather than pursue the path to populism. |
| Honesty and courage are needed if we are to maintain trust in our institutions. Maintaining trust may require the legislature to explain better than it now does what policy choices are made in the law it enacts and why they were made as they were. | Honesty and courage are needed if we are to maintain trust in our institutions. Maintaining trust may require the legislature to explain better than it now does what policy choices are made in the law it enacts and why they were made as they were. |
| If trust has been lost or has been damaged, we can hope to repair it only through qualities of the kind we celebrate with the awards that are made today. And central to the criteria for those awards are what I earlier called standards of eloquent simplicity: honesty and courage. | If trust has been lost or has been damaged, we can hope to repair it only through qualities of the kind we celebrate with the awards that are made today. And central to the criteria for those awards are what I earlier called standards of eloquent simplicity: honesty and courage. |
| Kenneth Hayne: | Kenneth Hayne: |
| If you seek a model of the kind of argument I have in mind, go back and look at the submissions that were made to Cabinet in 19651 and again in 19672 about what was to become the Constitutional Alteration (Aboriginals) Act 1967. Those submissions laid out in elaborate detail the arguments for holding a referendum to amend constitutional provisions referring to Aboriginal Australians. And the submissions identified the arguments that were later placed before the voters before the referendum which so decisively made the amendments to s 51(xxvi) and s 127 of the Constitution. (See footnotes at the end.) | If you seek a model of the kind of argument I have in mind, go back and look at the submissions that were made to Cabinet in 19651 and again in 19672 about what was to become the Constitutional Alteration (Aboriginals) Act 1967. Those submissions laid out in elaborate detail the arguments for holding a referendum to amend constitutional provisions referring to Aboriginal Australians. And the submissions identified the arguments that were later placed before the voters before the referendum which so decisively made the amendments to s 51(xxvi) and s 127 of the Constitution. (See footnotes at the end.) |
| We readily accept that electors should not be asked to consider constitutional amendment without articulation of the arguments for and against the proposal. Are we at a point where we need to think again about how we are recording and publishing why policy choices embodied and reflected in legislation were made as they were? | We readily accept that electors should not be asked to consider constitutional amendment without articulation of the arguments for and against the proposal. Are we at a point where we need to think again about how we are recording and publishing why policy choices embodied and reflected in legislation were made as they were? |
| We have long required judges to state their reasons for decision. More and more we require administrative decision makers to give reasons for decision. Are there some analogous steps that the political branches of government, and in particular the legislative branch, should consider taking? | We have long required judges to state their reasons for decision. More and more we require administrative decision makers to give reasons for decision. Are there some analogous steps that the political branches of government, and in particular the legislative branch, should consider taking? |
| Kenneth Hayne continued: | Kenneth Hayne continued: |
| Notice that I divide the issues in three: how policy is formed; how the policy that is formed is explained and justified; and how the policy is being applied. | Notice that I divide the issues in three: how policy is formed; how the policy that is formed is explained and justified; and how the policy is being applied. |
| Development of policy is almost always very hard. It is hard because, much more often than not, there are competing considerations pulling in diametrically opposed directions. And because there are competing considerations, choices must be made. | Development of policy is almost always very hard. It is hard because, much more often than not, there are competing considerations pulling in diametrically opposed directions. And because there are competing considerations, choices must be made. |
| Yet it remains an essential role of government to explain to the governed why it takes the steps it does. It is essential because, if governments do not do this, trust in the institutions of government is damaged or destroyed. | Yet it remains an essential role of government to explain to the governed why it takes the steps it does. It is essential because, if governments do not do this, trust in the institutions of government is damaged or destroyed. |
| Explanation is often difficult. It is difficult because spelling out an argument simply and persuasively is hard. And it is all too easy to treat simplicity and persuasion as demanding reduction of the argument to some conclusory proposition cast in terms that appeal to or rely upon universally desired objectives like a strong economy, supporting the family, or keeping the nation safe. | Explanation is often difficult. It is difficult because spelling out an argument simply and persuasively is hard. And it is all too easy to treat simplicity and persuasion as demanding reduction of the argument to some conclusory proposition cast in terms that appeal to or rely upon universally desired objectives like a strong economy, supporting the family, or keeping the nation safe. |
| There cannot be a hint of criticism about pursuing those objectives but demonstrating how a particular measure supports the objective demands more than bare assertion. There is always an intermediate step which connects the measure in question with the desired end. Identifying and explaining how a measure contributes to achieving an end like “strong economy”, “supporting the family” or “keeping the nation safe” is no easy task. Not only is it not an easy task, it demands honesty and courage. It demands those qualities because it demands honest acknowledgment of choice and the courage to lay out, for the world to examine and criticise, the argument that supports the conclusion that was reached. | There cannot be a hint of criticism about pursuing those objectives but demonstrating how a particular measure supports the objective demands more than bare assertion. There is always an intermediate step which connects the measure in question with the desired end. Identifying and explaining how a measure contributes to achieving an end like “strong economy”, “supporting the family” or “keeping the nation safe” is no easy task. Not only is it not an easy task, it demands honesty and courage. It demands those qualities because it demands honest acknowledgment of choice and the courage to lay out, for the world to examine and criticise, the argument that supports the conclusion that was reached. |
| Kenneth Hayne, the former high court justice and royal commissioner to the banking royal commission presented the awards to both Cathy McGowan and Tony Smith today. | Kenneth Hayne, the former high court justice and royal commissioner to the banking royal commission presented the awards to both Cathy McGowan and Tony Smith today. |
| In doing so, he made a speech about the trust in institutions, and how the recent increased calls for royal commissions may be a symptom of that. | In doing so, he made a speech about the trust in institutions, and how the recent increased calls for royal commissions may be a symptom of that. |
| Hayne: | Hayne: |
| If I am right to think that trust in institutions has been damaged or destroyed, we must consider what the increasingly frequent calls for Royal Commissions are telling us about the state of our democratic institutions. Has trust in the political processes been damaged? If it has, what can we do about it? | If I am right to think that trust in institutions has been damaged or destroyed, we must consider what the increasingly frequent calls for Royal Commissions are telling us about the state of our democratic institutions. Has trust in the political processes been damaged? If it has, what can we do about it? |
| No doubt individual actors in those processes must have the courage to act and continue to act with complete integrity. Individual integrity is essential for maintaining, or (if restoration is needed) restoring, trust. | No doubt individual actors in those processes must have the courage to act and continue to act with complete integrity. Individual integrity is essential for maintaining, or (if restoration is needed) restoring, trust. |
| But it is necessary to ask whether some additional measures may be desirable, even necessary, to maintain or restore trust. More particularly, do we need to examine more closely the ways in which policy is formed, explained and then given effect? | But it is necessary to ask whether some additional measures may be desirable, even necessary, to maintain or restore trust. More particularly, do we need to examine more closely the ways in which policy is formed, explained and then given effect? |
| Centre Alliance’s Rebekha Sharkie supported that motion. Once the matter of public importance is done later this afternoon, the division will occur. | Centre Alliance’s Rebekha Sharkie supported that motion. Once the matter of public importance is done later this afternoon, the division will occur. |
| Here is the motion Andrew Wilkie wants to move: | Here is the motion Andrew Wilkie wants to move: |
| That the House of Representatives calls on the Australian Government to establish a Royal Commission to inquire into and report on the Australian casino industry, with particular reference to: | That the House of Representatives calls on the Australian Government to establish a Royal Commission to inquire into and report on the Australian casino industry, with particular reference to: |
| Andrew Wilkie’s motion has been delayed until later in the session. | Andrew Wilkie’s motion has been delayed until later in the session. |
| *I misheard that and originally thought it failed on the voices, so apologies. | *I misheard that and originally thought it failed on the voices, so apologies. |
| In the Senate, the Greens will also be moving some motions, including Mehreen Faruqi’s motion calling for an inquiry into truth in electoral advertising (along with a petition on the same issue with 35,00 signatures) | In the Senate, the Greens will also be moving some motions, including Mehreen Faruqi’s motion calling for an inquiry into truth in electoral advertising (along with a petition on the same issue with 35,00 signatures) |
| “We know the last election was riddled with false or misleading advertising which eroded public trust in our democracy. I’m proud to table this petition of tens of thousands of Australians demanding this problem be fixed once and for all,” she said. | “We know the last election was riddled with false or misleading advertising which eroded public trust in our democracy. I’m proud to table this petition of tens of thousands of Australians demanding this problem be fixed once and for all,” she said. |
| “People are really concerned about the total lack of accountability for the scare campaigns run by political parties. They are sick and tired of politicians openly lying to voters with no consequences.” | “People are really concerned about the total lack of accountability for the scare campaigns run by political parties. They are sick and tired of politicians openly lying to voters with no consequences.” |
| The Greens will also be looking to move a motion calling on the government to review the Commonwealth rental assistance rate, after the productivity commission report into low income renters. | The Greens will also be looking to move a motion calling on the government to review the Commonwealth rental assistance rate, after the productivity commission report into low income renters. |
| Stepping outside of the parliament for a moment - former Indi MP Cathy McGowan has just been awarded an integrity award. | Stepping outside of the parliament for a moment - former Indi MP Cathy McGowan has just been awarded an integrity award. |
| The Accountability Round Table (ART), which aims to improve accountability and transparency in the nation’s parliaments, awarded McGowan the Alan Missen award for her “commitments to reforms” which were seen as “essential for open, accountable and transparent government”. | The Accountability Round Table (ART), which aims to improve accountability and transparency in the nation’s parliaments, awarded McGowan the Alan Missen award for her “commitments to reforms” which were seen as “essential for open, accountable and transparent government”. |
| “We recognise her commitment to those in her electorate, and her embrace of significant issues crucial to Australia’s parliamentary democracy, in particular her work on the National Integrity Commission and parliamentary standards bills,” ART chair Fiona McLeod said. | “We recognise her commitment to those in her electorate, and her embrace of significant issues crucial to Australia’s parliamentary democracy, in particular her work on the National Integrity Commission and parliamentary standards bills,” ART chair Fiona McLeod said. |
| Speaker Tony Smith was presented the John Button award for being “an outstanding example of an independent/non-partisan speaker in the finest traditions of the office, and has done much to restore its standing in recent years”. | Speaker Tony Smith was presented the John Button award for being “an outstanding example of an independent/non-partisan speaker in the finest traditions of the office, and has done much to restore its standing in recent years”. |
| Over in the House, Andrew Wilkie has kicked off proceedings by attempting to move a motion to have a royal commission into Crown Casino. | Over in the House, Andrew Wilkie has kicked off proceedings by attempting to move a motion to have a royal commission into Crown Casino. |
| The government isn’t supporting it, so we are heading to a division (which will be lost on the numbers, even if Labor supports it). | The government isn’t supporting it, so we are heading to a division (which will be lost on the numbers, even if Labor supports it). |
| The bells are ringing for the beginning of the parliament session. | The bells are ringing for the beginning of the parliament session. |
| This is what doom sounds like. | This is what doom sounds like. |
| Anthony Albanese: | Anthony Albanese: |
| We’ll continue to hold the government to account in question time. It’s important that the Prime Minister can’t just walk away from questions. We asked a simple question that’s about his evasion, nothing else, about his evasion of whether he sought to have Brian Houston invited to the White House. | We’ll continue to hold the government to account in question time. It’s important that the Prime Minister can’t just walk away from questions. We asked a simple question that’s about his evasion, nothing else, about his evasion of whether he sought to have Brian Houston invited to the White House. |
| How is it that the Prime Minister thinks he can get away with saying, ‘Oh, that’s just a report in the newspaper?’ The question is, is it true or not? | How is it that the Prime Minister thinks he can get away with saying, ‘Oh, that’s just a report in the newspaper?’ The question is, is it true or not? |
| The question is why is this Prime Minister, when he’s asked questions, responding with, ‘Oh, that’s just in the bubble,’ or other prevarications, which are all designed to avoid scrutiny? | The question is why is this Prime Minister, when he’s asked questions, responding with, ‘Oh, that’s just in the bubble,’ or other prevarications, which are all designed to avoid scrutiny? |
| Well, our job, as the opposition, is to hold the government to account and we’ll continue to do just that. | Well, our job, as the opposition, is to hold the government to account and we’ll continue to do just that. |