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| Thousands of doctors appeal to Jacqui Lambie ‘to save medevac’ – politics live | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| More than 5,000 doctors urge senator to ‘show humanity’ as Labor continues to pursue Angus Taylor. All the day’s events, live | |
| Meanwhile at the ABC, a power outage at Ultimo headquarters has not only crashed the news homepage, but sent readers into a timewarp. | |
| Due to some technical shenanigans, readers this morning were greeted with a front page full of stories from 2011. Julia Gillard was PM, the mining and carbon taxes were the big ticket issues, and the Aussie dollar was near parity with the US. | |
| As of 11am the glitches are still continuing. | |
| The ABC news homepage has now been turned into...one giant liveblog – providing stiff competition for our own. | |
| It’s certainly a novel way for Aunty to get the stories out, but technical issues mean that they can’t seem to use hyperlinks. So you have to scroll manually to find the story you want. | |
| It’s unclear how long the outage will last, but we think our crown is safe for now. | |
| Labor’s Andrew Leigh has taken exception to suggestions by Liberal Tim Wilson that calling Westpac back to face the house economics committee could prejudice legal action against it by Austrac over the bank’s money-laundering and child exploitation scandal. | |
| Wilson is chair of the committee and Leigh is deputy. | |
| “The lame excuse that an economics committee hearing would interfere with legal proceedings is simply false,” Leigh told the Guardian. | |
| “Westpac faces a judge-only trial in the federal court, and it is entirely appropriate that the economics committee also inquiring into the surrounding institutional issues. “Under this spurious argument, Australian couldn’t have held a royal commission into the banking sector until every court case against a bank was concluded.” | |
| Given Westpac’s stated intent that it wants to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and former chief executive Brian Hartzer’s statements that the bank accepts almost all of Austrac’s allegations, it is highly unlikely the case will ever go to trial anyway. | |
| The Parliamentary Budget Office has released its national fiscal outlook, which examines the national position by combining budget figures from commonwealth, state and territory governments. | |
| It finds that the nation’s budgets are in surplus by $20bn for 2018-19, and will rise to $45.2bn or 2% of GDP by the end of 2019-20. | |
| The PBO said: | |
| While commonwealth debt is projected to decline as the budget returns to surplus, state and territory net debt will increase to its highest level for two decades. National net debt will change composition from being 10% state-held in 2018-19 to 30% in 2022-23. | |
| The PBO warns that “risk remains”: | |
| The difference between Labor’s call for Angus Taylor to stand aside while the police investigation was carried out, and the red shirts police investigation which involved 21 Victorian Labor MPs, including six ministers (none of which stood aside) is all about the allegation of misleading parliament, Anthony Albanese told Sky News this morning: | |
| The National Fiscal Outlook statement has been issued by the PBO. | |
| You’ll find that here | |
| Over in the federation chamber, LNP MP Keith Pitt was talking about a palliative care facility for Hervey Bay, when Labor moved a gag motion. | Over in the federation chamber, LNP MP Keith Pitt was talking about a palliative care facility for Hervey Bay, when Labor moved a gag motion. |
| Labor is attempting to prove a point, after the government shut down debate on Angus Taylor yesterday. | Labor is attempting to prove a point, after the government shut down debate on Angus Taylor yesterday. |
| It is why they have repeatedly called for quorums this morning. | It is why they have repeatedly called for quorums this morning. |
| But they might want to pick their moments a bit better. A lot of community grassroots issues are discussed in the federation chamber. Hervey Bay desperately needs some new health facilities, including for palliative care, given the age of its population. | But they might want to pick their moments a bit better. A lot of community grassroots issues are discussed in the federation chamber. Hervey Bay desperately needs some new health facilities, including for palliative care, given the age of its population. |
| Shutting down a MP speaking about that need, to make a political point, seems a bit counterproductive. | Shutting down a MP speaking about that need, to make a political point, seems a bit counterproductive. |
| Greens senator Nick McKim is on Sky News and says Scott Morrison’s phone call to Mick Fuller was “inappropriate”. | Greens senator Nick McKim is on Sky News and says Scott Morrison’s phone call to Mick Fuller was “inappropriate”. |
| “As it stands, there is a whiff about this, and it should be cleaned up,” McKim says. | “As it stands, there is a whiff about this, and it should be cleaned up,” McKim says. |
| He wants Morrison to release a transcript of the call. | He wants Morrison to release a transcript of the call. |
| Actually, no scratch that about bringing Westpac back: Ben Butler has just spoken to Tim Wilson, the committee chair: | Actually, no scratch that about bringing Westpac back: Ben Butler has just spoken to Tim Wilson, the committee chair: |
| David Isaacs from the Royal Australian College of Physicians is in Canberra making the case for maintaining the medevac regime. | David Isaacs from the Royal Australian College of Physicians is in Canberra making the case for maintaining the medevac regime. |
| As has been the case for some time, the fate of the legislation hinges on the vote of Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, who has likely been overwhelmed by lobbying efforts in recent weeks. Isaacs said the group of more than 5,000 doctors were appealing to Lambie to “save medevac because it saves lives”. | As has been the case for some time, the fate of the legislation hinges on the vote of Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, who has likely been overwhelmed by lobbying efforts in recent weeks. Isaacs said the group of more than 5,000 doctors were appealing to Lambie to “save medevac because it saves lives”. |
| “Jacqui Lambie talked about humanity and said making these sorts of decisions when humanity is involved is really difficult, but I don’t think it is difficult, I think if you want to show humanity when someone is sick, you let doctors decide, not politicians.” | “Jacqui Lambie talked about humanity and said making these sorts of decisions when humanity is involved is really difficult, but I don’t think it is difficult, I think if you want to show humanity when someone is sick, you let doctors decide, not politicians.” |
| You can read the letter from the RACP here: | You can read the letter from the RACP here: |
| Labor keeps calling government MPs back to the chamber, to keep the debate alive, under quorum rules. | Labor keeps calling government MPs back to the chamber, to keep the debate alive, under quorum rules. |
| On Tuesday an hour’s motion went through allowing debate til 9pm yesterday and midnight tonight to get through second reading speeches on the ensuring ontegrity bill for a final vote on Thursday. | On Tuesday an hour’s motion went through allowing debate til 9pm yesterday and midnight tonight to get through second reading speeches on the ensuring ontegrity bill for a final vote on Thursday. |
| This was widely interpreted as a sign the bill was squared away with the crossbench – after the government agreed to joint amendments with Centre Alliance and a separate set from One Nation. | This was widely interpreted as a sign the bill was squared away with the crossbench – after the government agreed to joint amendments with Centre Alliance and a separate set from One Nation. |
| Despite Pauline Hanson appearing on Sky News on Monday and Tuesday urging more scrutiny of amendments and warning One Nation’s two Senate votes could not be taken for granted, Guardian Australia now understands the minor party’s position is settled, and it has largely stopped engaging with unions on the issue. | Despite Pauline Hanson appearing on Sky News on Monday and Tuesday urging more scrutiny of amendments and warning One Nation’s two Senate votes could not be taken for granted, Guardian Australia now understands the minor party’s position is settled, and it has largely stopped engaging with unions on the issue. |
| Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil disputes this, telling Guardian Australia “we have had and are still having constructive discussions with One Nation”. | Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil disputes this, telling Guardian Australia “we have had and are still having constructive discussions with One Nation”. |
| Of course it’s not over til the opera-shaped lady sings but – from One Nation perspective, privately, if not publicly – they’re now going through the motions. | Of course it’s not over til the opera-shaped lady sings but – from One Nation perspective, privately, if not publicly – they’re now going through the motions. |
| The bells have been going off this morning because the House of Reps chamber hasn’t had enough members sitting in it. | The bells have been going off this morning because the House of Reps chamber hasn’t had enough members sitting in it. |
| Just another totally normal day in this place | Just another totally normal day in this place |
| Jim Chalmers had a chat about bringing Westpac execs back to front the parliament committee: | Jim Chalmers had a chat about bringing Westpac execs back to front the parliament committee: |
| Josh Frydenberg says he sees no problem with it, which is code for: this will most likely happen. | Josh Frydenberg says he sees no problem with it, which is code for: this will most likely happen. |
| Stopped in the hallway after his ABC interview this morning, Anthony Albanese was again asked about the police commissioner phone call and whether it was inappropriate: | Stopped in the hallway after his ABC interview this morning, Anthony Albanese was again asked about the police commissioner phone call and whether it was inappropriate: |