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John Setka abandons challenge to his expulsion from Labor party – politics live John Setka abandons challenge to his expulsion from Labor party – politics live
(32 minutes later)
On the government not releasing reports or answering questions, Richard Marles says:
I think there is a creeping culture of secrecy. I think it’s more than creeping. I think from day one, you know, this secrecy has characterised the way in which this government has gone about its business and I think the way in which the prime minister actually has gone about his business both as a minister and now as prime minister.
And it is a concern. You know, the way in which we build confidence in the ADF but in government action and in the institutions of government is actually to have transparency and allow people to see for themselves.
And I definitely think that really going right back to 2013, you know, when we all remember the on-water matters being the way in which this government went about its engagement with that issue, that secrecy has been the characteristic of how this government’s gone about its business.
Speaking to Patricia Karvelas on the ABC, Richard Marles addresses Christian Porter’s assertion Labor should no longer take donations from the CFMEU and John Setka’s future:
Well, ultimately John Setka’s relationship to the CFMEU is a matter for it. What we get to determine as the Australian Labor party is John Setka’s relationship to the ALP.
And it has been about his behaviour and his conduct and the sense of it being inconsistent with the values of the Labor party.
Now, the CFMEU is a much bigger organisation than just one person, and so, too, you know, to define it in terms of John Setka would not be correct and that obviously is what Christian Porter is seeking to do.
But let’s get back to the main point here. Anthony Albanese saw that there was a wrong and a problem here in terms in the way in which John Setka was behaving and what that did in terms of its potential to affect the way in which the Labor party was perceived within the Australian community.
The fact that this was conduct inconsistent with values which are dearly held by the Labor party in the face of a difficult situation, he stayed the course with courage and get to this outcome today and that is a big win.
Well this is interesting:
EXCLUSIVE | Hillsong Pastor Brian Houston live in the studio with @BenFordham tomorrow. Was he invited to join the PM at the White House? #auspol pic.twitter.com/MLscwERVd0
The manager of Opp business ⁦@Tony_Burke⁩ asks a question. Ministers find things on their phones interesting. #qt ⁦@AmyRemeikis⁩ ⁦@murpharoo⁩ ⁦@mpbowers⁩ pic.twitter.com/HVZ5bgesOn
Mark Dreyfus on Malka Leifer:
In 2013 I worked with Prime Minister Gillard to establish the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The work of that Royal Commission exposed how widespread the scourge of child sexual abuse extends through our community. In particular, it showed that sexual abuse has been perpetrated in the schools of people of many faiths.
Dassi Erlich and Nicole Meyer are here today in the gallery. They suffered sexual abuse when they were students at the Adass Israel School in Melbourne. The principal of the school at the time, Malka Leifer, stands accused of those crimes. But eleven years ago she fled to Israel, and remains there to this day as a fugitive from justice, in hiding from justice in the state of Israel.
Israel’s Declaration of Independence declares that the State of Israel will…
“be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel.”
And Deuteronomy records that it was Moses who declared as an imperative for the people of Israel –
“Justice, justice you shall pursue – Tzedek, tzedek, tirdof”. (16:20)
It is long past time that Ms Leifer was extradited to Australia to face justice for her horrific crimes, and for Israel to honour its commitment to the rule of law and to justice.
I acknowledge the courage of Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper in their pursuit of justice.
I thank the Members for Wentworth, Macnamara and Goldstein for adding their voices to that pursuit.
So I guess any businesses with upheld harassment complaints or unsafe work practices, or the banks who were named in the royal commission, or, I don’t know, any donor with a sketchy element of any kind are now off limits.
This is why all donations to political parties should be banned and elections should be publicly funded. At least then you know where the money comes from.
And Christian Porter has just put out this press release:
Anthony Albanese still has a key question to answer today after John Setka’s departure from the Labor Party.
Will Mr Albanese and Labor continue to take funds from the CFMMEU?
If Mr Albanese was serious about wanting to rid Labor of rogue union thugs, he should stop the Labor Party taking money from Mr Setka’s union. Labor takes about $1 million a year from the CFMMEU.
Whilst wanting to rid his own party of the thuggery and intimidation of one of the CFMMEU’s leaders, Mr Albanese is still willing to inflict this behaviour on Australian workplaces.
John Setka is only part of the problem. As I told Parliament last month, John Setka is responsible for 22 of the 2,190 contraventions by the CFMMEU in the last 15 years – less than one per cent.
Since January 2017, more than 80 CFMMEU officials have breached industrial relations laws on more than 420 occasions. None of them is John Setka.
Courts have repeatedly found that the CFMMEU regards intimidation and thuggery as an integral part of its business model.
By profiting from and defending that behaviour Mr Albanese makes that same intimidation and thuggery an integral part of the operating model of the Parliamentary Labor Party.
If Mr Albanese cared about workers he would instruct his party to support the Government’s Ensuring Integrity and the Proper Use of Worker Benefits Bills.
These Bills will ensure registered organisations work in their members’ best interests and within the law.
Any failure by Mr Albanese and Labor to support the Bills would be yet another clear demonstration of why Labor can’t be trusted to manage the Australian economy.
Rex Patrick came back in to the committee after the adjournment and defended the whistleblowers or, at least, noted there were “different perspectives” on the claims made by ATO commissioner Chris Jordan.
On Richard Boyle, Patrick said there “are some questions about the way the ATO handled the public interest disclosure”, including the fact it “self-investigated” Boyle, and noted that the inspector general of tax and small business ombudsman had concluded there were “anomalies in the Adelaide office at the time Boyle was there”.
In relation to Ron Shamir, Patrick said that the ATO had conceded in the Fair Work Commission that Shamir had an “impeccable record until 2012 when he made a disclosure, after that certainly there were some workplace issues”.
John Setka’s lawyers have put out a statement:John Setka’s lawyers have put out a statement:
Andrew George, Director of Doogue + George confirms that Mr. Setka has not been expelled from the ALP today. The National Executive meeting to consider the charges brought by Mark Dreyfus under the Victorian Rules was to take place this Friday 25 October.Andrew George, Director of Doogue + George confirms that Mr. Setka has not been expelled from the ALP today. The National Executive meeting to consider the charges brought by Mark Dreyfus under the Victorian Rules was to take place this Friday 25 October.
Any decision as to penalty, if the charges were proven would be a matter for that meeting. Any assertion that Mr. Setka was expelled from the ALP is wrong.Any decision as to penalty, if the charges were proven would be a matter for that meeting. Any assertion that Mr. Setka was expelled from the ALP is wrong.
Mr. Setka wanted a short adjournment of the meeting as he is Adelaide at a National conference this Friday, but the National Executive refused. Given that decision it is our view that the ALP was not intending to provide him with procedural fairness.Mr. Setka wanted a short adjournment of the meeting as he is Adelaide at a National conference this Friday, but the National Executive refused. Given that decision it is our view that the ALP was not intending to provide him with procedural fairness.
We can confirm that after discussions with lawyers for the ALP there has been an agreement that Mr. Setka will withdraw his application to the Court of Appeal. It was our advice that once the ALP agreed to deal with Mr. Setka under the Victorian Rules then pursuing the appeal was inappropriate. This is because the ALP was now acting under the Victorian Rules as Mr. Setka has always argued they should.We can confirm that after discussions with lawyers for the ALP there has been an agreement that Mr. Setka will withdraw his application to the Court of Appeal. It was our advice that once the ALP agreed to deal with Mr. Setka under the Victorian Rules then pursuing the appeal was inappropriate. This is because the ALP was now acting under the Victorian Rules as Mr. Setka has always argued they should.
After careful consideration Mr. Setka made the decision to resign from the Australian Labor Party for reasons outlined in his media release earlier today.After careful consideration Mr. Setka made the decision to resign from the Australian Labor Party for reasons outlined in his media release earlier today.
It doesn’t seem like Treasury has modelled what impact the ‘big stick’ legislation will actually do to electricity prices It doesn’t seem like Treasury has modelled what impact the ‘big stick’ legislation will actually have on electricity prices.
Katy Gallagher (in finance estimates) :Katy Gallagher (in finance estimates) :
Did Treasury perform any economic analysis or modelling of the ‘Big Stick’ reforms’ impact on electricity prices? Did Treasury perform any economic analysis or modelling of the ‘big stick’ reforms impact on electricity prices?
Structural reform division acting head Damian Dunn:Structural reform division acting head Damian Dunn:
No Senator, we haven’t done any modelling.” No senator, we haven’t done any modelling.
It is worth noting here that Labor supports big stick now It is worth noting here that Labor supports big stick now.
Senators seem slightly stunned by ATO commissioner Chris Jordan’s statement. Labor’s Katy Gallagher said it was “extraordinary” and checked if he had cleared it with the treasurer. (Answer: no).
Then Centre Alliance’s Rex Patrick suggested it would’ve been better if he had made a submission or requested to give evidence to the inquiry into the inspector general of taxation, rather than airing the grievances in Senates Estimates. He suggested there may need to be a spillover session to give a right of reply to parties named in all the dirty laundry dispatches.
The committee has now been in recess for more than 20 minutes to deal with this issue, because Jordan has attempted to table a timeline and other material refuting whistleblower claims.
The Australian Taxation Office commissioner, Chris Jordan, has just delivered an extraordinary opening speech to Senate estimates criticising public claims made by two whistleblowers and their reporting in the media.
First he had a serve at the Right to Know campaign for the claim that “the Tax Office can take money directly out of people’s accounts but you’re not allowed to know”.
In his opening, closely following this ATO statement released on Tuesday, Jordan said:
“This statement is categorically incorrect and we strongly refute and object to it. We do not take money from people’s bank accounts without extensively attempting to inform them first.”
On average the ATO attempts to contact people 19 times before it starts garnishing their money to repay debts, he said.
Then Jordan targeted the ATO whistleblowers Ron Shamir and Richard Boyle, revealing they were both subject to ongoing workplace investigations for conduct issues that were close to finalisation and likely to result in their termination “well before” they sought whistleblower protections.
Jordan noted the Fair Work Commission full bench rejected Shamir’s unfair dismissal claim and found he was sacked for “unjustified non-performance of duties”.
Jordan said he could not respond to Boyle’s claims in detail because of “an ongoing criminal matter before the courts”. He said charges against Boyle do not relate to speaking out about heavy-handed debt collection practices, but rather to “allegedly providing taxpayer files to third parties and allegedly recording conversations”.
He said the media commentary of Boyle’s case made “blatant and persistent misrepresentations” about the tax system and whistleblowers.
Jordan acknowledged his statement may attract criticism and be considered defensive, but argued he had no alternative because the pair had “repeatedly sought out public eye” and disparaged the ATO.
He concluded by saying the media have an obligation to report with “greater accuracy and faithfulness to the facts ... and where they don’t we believe people have the right to know”.
Christian Porter returns with the number of workplace deaths – so far 121 people have died, while at work, this year.
Ayes 65
Noes 77
The MPs wander back to their seats.
Peter Dutton will finish his speech and then we can go. (The folders are resolutely staying stacked.)
Lucy Wicks has taken advantage of the division to snag a frontbench spot, as has Andrew Lamming and Fiona Martin.
The crossbench are voting with the government (against the gag order), not that it matters because this is not a minority parliament.
But after that moment, we move into the latest HOW SAFE ARE YOU dixer.
I’m asked about the very important issue of border protection. This government has been working day and night to keep our borders secure.
We warned the Labor party and the Greens with the passage of the medevac bill not too long ago that it would result in people coming to the country who...
Tony Smith pulls him up on offering the alternative policy, before outlining the government one. “Otherwise it is an alternative to what,” he says.
Dutton goes back and says the government policy is “well known” before relaunching into an attack on Labor.
“SEVEN SECONDS,” the Labor MPs start yelling.
“You made it seven seconds.”
Tony Burke moves a gag order and the House divides.
Peter Dutton starts his dixer with a moment of indulgence:
On indulgence can I quickly acknowledge Sonya in the gallery today. We have been doing a lot of work with Sonya and the Carly Ryan foundation. Her story is a tragic one, her beautiful 15-year-old daughter online was befriended by somebody who made out to be an 18-year-old male and turned out to be a 50-year-old predator and eventually lured Carly to a remote spot and it resulted in terrible tragedy. Now Sonya has dedicated her life to keeping children online and in real life as safe as possible. I want to say thank you very much for the work you are doing with the federal police and my department.
Last night in the parliament, the annual ‘Taste of Tasmania’ was held – where Tasmanian businesses bring their wares to the Great Hall to promote the great Apple Isle’s produce.
There was a lot of what Tasmania does very well – salmon, gin, whisky and wine. And there were a lot of politicians quaffing it all down. I know, because I was there, because despite loving goat’s cheese, I can’t afford to eat trout and salmon and drink bespoke liquors, so I shamelessly took advantage of the free event.
But to hear those same politicians now starting to laugh about the ‘goat cheese circle’ like they are somehow above such privilege is the reason people hate politics.
Daniel Mulino to Scott Morrison:
When this government oversaw a cut in penalty rates it said there would be more jobs. Will the prime minister admit cutting penalty rates have not created a single job?
Morrison:
JOBS JOBS JOBS