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Chaos in parliament over Coalition's union-busting bill – politics live Chaos in parliament over Coalition's union-busting bill – politics 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, liveScott Morrison announces cut in number of government departments as part of public service overhaul. All the day’s political news, live
Couple of economic questions from Labor. 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. 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.
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.
He continues:
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.
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”.
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 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 fairytales, 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.
We’re now moving through the votes for the government’s union-busting bill.
The Community and Public Sector Union, the main union representing public servants, said the changes announced by the prime minister today will do nothing to enhance service delivery.
The union says the major review of the public service, conducted by David Thodey, did not suggest creating new super departments, and instead suggested the opposite. The CPSU national secretary, Melissa Donnelly, said:
Rightio. Well, now the speaker has done a bit of digging. And it turns out there were in fact copies of the bills in the House, despite all of that. Speaker Tony Smith says:
Prior to the ringing of the bells there were 25 copies, Smith says. Another 40 copies were being brought in. More were being printed.
Enough for everyone!
Mike Bowers captured the government benches as they attempted to gag debate and pass union-busting legislation on the last sitting day of the year.
He’s still in the chamber and tells me the clerks and attendants are running around, pointing at to a pile on the desk, and saying they were there all along.
Anthony Albanese is responding to that mess in the House as we speak.
Albanese likens the government’s actions to a “totalitarian state”.
Right, well, that was a bit of a circus. My head is still spinning.
Just to recap:
the government sought to move quickly on its union-busing legislation this morning, suspending usual business to get straight to it.
then it tried to gag debate in a way Tony Burke described as “unprecedented”.
then the vote was called. But the opposition said it had not seen a copy of the bill it was supposed to be voting on. The government said there were copies in the chamber, but Labor insisted it hasn’t seen them.
it prompted uproar. Labor are and were outraged.
All the while, MPs are unable to stand to speak during the division, so they’re sitting down with pieces of paper or books on their head as a signal they have the call.
Speaker Tony Smith considers the issue momentarily. He decides that, yes, people probably should have access to copies of the legislation they are voting on. Fair, I would have thought.
He suspends the vote for 15 minutes to get copies.
Anthony Albanese has called a press conference.
The vote is being called off momentarily so we can all cool our heads. We’ve suspended sitting for about 15 minutes to sort it all out.
We’re now stuck in the lower house in a very bizarre situation. Labor are saying they do not have copies of the union-busting legislation they are voting on. The government says it brought 60 copies in yesterday.
The speaker, Tony Smith, initially demands legislation be brought in. Then there’s confusion because he receives updated advice saying the copies of the legislation were previously in the chamber.
Stay tuned.
There’s an interesting development in the Senate. Labor has moved (with government support I gather) to establish a new select committee into foreign interference in democracy through social media.
Chris and I (and other colleagues at Guardian Australia) have been very attentive to this fake news/misinformation phenomenon having looked deeply into the death tax campaign on Facebook during the May election. Here’s the meat of the motion that’s about to be moved by the Labor senator Jenny McAllister.
This inquiry will be one to watch in the new year. Incidentally, Labor has also asked the JSCEM (the joint parliamentary committee on electoral matters) to look at the role of misinformation on the platforms as part of the inquiry it does every election cycle into the conduct of the last federal election.