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| Chaos in parliament over Coalition's union-busting bill – question time live | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Scott Morrison announces cut in number of government departments as part of public service overhaul. All the day’s political news, live | Scott Morrison announces cut in number of government departments as part of public service overhaul. All the day’s political news, live |
| Mark Butler turns the attack to Angus Taylor. He asks a question that mentions allegations Taylor lied about going to Oxford with US author Naomi Wolf, who Taylor spoke about in the context of students warring on Christmas and wanting to remove a Christmas tree from their common room. | |
| Taylor comes out swinging. He reckons he did see Wolf at Oxford, despite her saying she was on the other side of the world at the time. | |
| The last bit provokes uproar. Anthony Albanese wants him to withdraw the accusation that Labor is anti-semitic, which didn’t really make any logical sense. | |
| Taylor withdraws. | |
| Morrison continues: | |
| He accuses Labor of attempting to attack his faith, which prompts uproar from Labor. Morrison: | |
| Tony Burke is furious and says that attack is “very personal” and should be withdrawn. | |
| Labor’s deputy leader, Richard Marles, asks Scott Morrison why he doesn’t believe in integrity and accountability, before rattling off a series of examples. The treatment of the union bill this morning, misleading parliament, his phone call over the NSW police investigation into Angus Taylor, why he was sacked as chief executive of Tourism Australia, and why he invited Brian Houston to the White House. | |
| The question prompts shouts of “smear”, “smear”, “no policy” and “muckraking” from the government benches. | |
| Morrison repeats a line from earlier this week. | |
| Tanya Plibersek asks why Scott Morrison has lied about reducing funding for Tafe. He responds: | |
| Scott Morrison is asked a question on what he is doing to increase the number of nurses in aged care facilities. | |
| He speaks about the aged care royal commission. | |
| Morrison says they are increasing the number of aged care places, and reducing the use of chemical restraints and the number of young people ending up in care. | |
| A couple of economic questions from Labor. The shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, asks why we have falling investment, a weakening economy, flat wages and rising unemployment, when the government promised to build a stronger economy. The treasurer, Josh Frydenberg: | |
| Heaps of gesticulating for the dixers. Andrew Laming giving it a red hot animated go with his “down, down, Labor debt down” line to Josh Frydenberg. | Heaps of gesticulating for the dixers. Andrew Laming giving it a red hot animated go with his “down, down, Labor debt down” line to Josh Frydenberg. |
| Albanese asks again about the government’s rushing through of the union-busting bill this morning without debate. | Albanese asks again about the government’s rushing through of the union-busting bill this morning without debate. |
| Morrison says the bill was debated extensively last week. | Morrison says the bill was debated extensively last week. |
| He continues: | He continues: |
| Last day of school vibes going on here. Couple of Labor MPs have been booted, including Joel Fitzgibbon. | Last day of school vibes going on here. Couple of Labor MPs have been booted, including Joel Fitzgibbon. |
| Michael McCormack leaps up. He’s had a running war with Fitzgibbon all week. | Michael McCormack leaps up. He’s had a running war with Fitzgibbon all week. |
| Albanese asks the prime minister, Scott Morrison, why he has failed to bring on legislation following the banking royal commission but broke precedents to ram through the union-busting legislation this morning. Morrison said: | Albanese asks the prime minister, Scott Morrison, why he has failed to bring on legislation following the banking royal commission but broke precedents to ram through the union-busting legislation this morning. Morrison said: |
| He said “ugly militant unionism should have no place in this country”. | He said “ugly militant unionism should have no place in this country”. |
| Morrison gets a tough one from his backbenches. Australia is the best country in the world, as we all know, so tell us why you’re so great etc etc. | Morrison gets a tough one from his backbenches. Australia is the best country in the world, as we all know, so tell us why you’re so great etc etc. |
| Question time is upon us. Anthony Albanese says the government won’t support freedom of speech, won’t support freedom to protest and now won’t support debate in parliament. He refers to the union-busting legislation that was pushed through the lower house without debate. | Question time is upon us. Anthony Albanese says the government won’t support freedom of speech, won’t support freedom to protest and now won’t support debate in parliament. He refers to the union-busting legislation that was pushed through the lower house without debate. |
| Morrison says: | Morrison says: |
| Morrison says Albanese has spent his political career focussed on the “bubble of this place” and the “tawdry drama of Canberra”. | Morrison says Albanese has spent his political career focussed on the “bubble of this place” and the “tawdry drama of Canberra”. |
| The mystery of the missing bills, by Mike Bowers. | The mystery of the missing bills, by Mike Bowers. |
| OK, I’m calling it. Speech of the week goes to Tim Watts. Hands down. | OK, I’m calling it. Speech of the week goes to Tim Watts. Hands down. |
| Watts is the Labor MP who last week tweeted about Angus Taylor’s first speech and its references to Naomi Wolf and a plot to remove a Christmas tree from their Oxford common room. The US author has since slammed Taylor’s speech as wildly inaccurate and ethnically divisive. | Watts is the Labor MP who last week tweeted about Angus Taylor’s first speech and its references to Naomi Wolf and a plot to remove a Christmas tree from their Oxford common room. The US author has since slammed Taylor’s speech as wildly inaccurate and ethnically divisive. |
| “The response was, well, unexpected,” he says. | “The response was, well, unexpected,” he says. |
| “It was a cautionary tale straight [from] Aesop’s Fables that summed up the minister’s career to date. You could call it: the boy who cried Wolf.” | “It was a cautionary tale straight [from] Aesop’s Fables that summed up the minister’s career to date. You could call it: the boy who cried Wolf.” |
| I’ll let Watts, who read from a mock book of fairy tales, do the rest. | I’ll let Watts, who read from a mock book of fairy tales, do the rest. |
| Labor is moving a motion saying the government’s attempts to push the union-busting bill through without debate was “anti-democratic”. | Labor is moving a motion saying the government’s attempts to push the union-busting bill through without debate was “anti-democratic”. |
| Better still is this bit of the motion: | Better still is this bit of the motion: |
| Yeah, dunno, but not sure the government will go for this one. | Yeah, dunno, but not sure the government will go for this one. |