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Victoria records no coronavirus cases and NSW one as federal parliament returns – question time live Victoria records no coronavirus cases and NSW one as federal parliament returns – question time live
(30 minutes later)
Melbourne lockdown extended as authorities monitor outbreak in city’s north, while Treasury chief faces questions at Senate estimates. Follow all the latest updatesMelbourne lockdown extended as authorities monitor outbreak in city’s north, while Treasury chief faces questions at Senate estimates. Follow all the latest updates
Andrew Leigh was kicked out of the chamber for heckling Josh Frydenberg during his first answer on what he knew about the Asic drama, and when David Littleproud just proved it was possible to talk about policy important to regional and rural electorates and represent the National party without sounding like a wet sponge.
Josh Frydenberg is now taking a dixer on how much the Victorian lockdown has cost. And without a forced homily, or attacking the opposition.
Just Victoria. No one is after personality here. Just competence. It is possible.
Scott Morrison is talking, in answer to a question from Adam Bandt, about how the Liberal-National government “smashed” its emissions target. Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
“Because that is what LNP governments do,” Morrison says. Why is the Prime Minister “appalledand shocked” at the behaviour of a government employee who spent $20,000 of taxpayers’ money on Cartier watches, when the Prime Minister himself and ministers sitting behind him have repeatedly shown they draw no distinction between taxpayers’ interests and their own political and private interests when spending tens of millions of taxpayer dollars?
I thought he was going to say “smash thing” but he catches himself.
He then begins to smash up Labor for not having a 2030 target. (There is no point Labor having a 2030 target, because by the time of the next election, things will have moved so far, that there won’t be a lot anyone can do to change course.)
Morrison:Morrison:
Michelle Rowland to Paul Fletcher: There is a bunch of Richmond talk.
Fletcher starts by talking about how quickly the government moved to have Australia Post boss Christine Holgate step aside while an investigation was carried out into the Cartier watch controversy. Moving on.
Asked about relevance, he says that “I’m asked about political appointments” and starts listing ones Labor did – from 2008. Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
He is shouted down from the other side and there is another point of order on relevance. He says he has completed his answer. My question is to the prime minister: is the reason why the Morrison government hasn’t introduced legislation for a national integrity commission because of the corrupt sports rorts scheme, the Leppington Triangle land scandal, stacking the AAT with Liberal mates, the Liberal mate paid more than $1 million for market research, wasting $20,000 on Cartier watches, and the minister for energy’s involvement in countless scandals – too many to mention?
Michael Sukkar, meanwhile, has to pretend like everything he hears coming out of Fletcher’s mouth is hilarious, given his position in the chamber and the camera. Morrison:
It’s a better performance than that answer. *This from someone who has posted about buying an inflatable shark for Christmas.
Nothing says never-ending Monday like a Michael McCormack dixer answer. Labor’s Louise Pratt is probing what sort of assumptions the attorney general’s department has made about how many insolvent companies are going to need taxpayers to pick up their unpaid wages bill.
Excuse me while I go squeeze out the wet sponge in the work kitchen. It has more substance. The estimate is that there will be claims for 34,000 employees this financial year, requiring taxpayers to fork out $468m. But these estimates were done in April and are already out of date, because stimulus measures have saved many businesses from insolvency.
Scott Morrison has taken a dixer on how great Australia has done during the Covid crisis. By this stage in the financial year, the department expected 9,000 claims but has received only 1,400.
The House gets rowdy at this point: Last year, $162m was paid out for unpaid wages at a rate of 1,031 claims a month. That is down to 469 claims a month this year.
That’s because the Covidsafe app has been as successful as my acting career. In that it hasn’t been. Labor’s Murray Watt says there is a “tidal wave coming” but the government is “delaying the inevitable” with changes that make it “virtually impossible” for companies to go insolvent.
And it is straight into it. One also shudders to think what happens when jobkeeper runs out.
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg: Labor’s Tony Sheldon is querying why migrant workers don’t get access to the fair entitlement guarantee (the unpaid wages safety net), as recommended by the migrant workers’ taskforce.
Why did the Treasurer claim the auditor general’s concerns about Asic’s leadership were only brought to his attention last Thursday? They’re considering it, apparently.
Frydenberg is ready – he comes with a written answer: Some mirth from defence estimates:
We are about 15 minutes out from the fourth-last question time of the week (I find counting down an easier way to handle them, psychologically speaking). During an exchange about the cost and timing of the future frigate program, an official refers in passing to the step “design productionisation”, prompting Penny Wong to remark with a smile:
Judging from today’s estimates performance, it looks like accountability will be the topic of the day. “No I didn’t make that up,” the official replies.
I’d suggest having a read of some of Murph’s posts on the polling company for a refresher. (Wikipedia describes productionisation as “the process of turning a prototype of a design into a version that can be more easily mass-produced”.)
Coincidentally, this is exactly the face I most remember my teachers pulling following one of my regular “why...?” speeches. Peter Dutton thanks a member of his own government for his interest in what the government is doing.
Followed by my parents’ faces once my report card lobbed. The bar is pretty low, ladies and gentlemen.
I will always take any opportunity to remind you to stay hydrated. Richard Marles to Scott Morrison:
Independent senator Rex Patrick is asking now about the Covid vaccine assumption in the budget. My question is to the Prime Minister: Evidence at Senate Estimates today confirms that long-term Liberal mate and former Crosby Textor pollster Jim Reid received more than $1million in government contracts at the behest of the Prime Minister’s department. So why does the PrimeMinister treat taxpayers’ money as his own?
Luke Yeaman says to formulate the assumption, the Treasury looked at the international evidence about availability (when credible global economic bodies were projecting coronavirus vaccine availability) and spoke to colleagues in the Department of Health. Morrison:
The assumption landed on was a vaccine would be available towards the end of 2021. Yeaman says the Treasury did not look at the details of the various vaccines under development. Mark Dreyfus to Scott Morrison:
He says what the department was trying to forecast was when confidence would return to the economy because the health crisis was contained. That could be because of a vaccine. It could be rapid testing. Patrick wants to know what percentage of the population was assumed to be vaccinated. Dreyfus runs out of time to list the 70. The government side starts yelling that he didn’t ask a question and Tony Smith originally agrees but then reviews the question and says there was a question of sorts at the beginning.
Yeaman says the Treasury didn’t consider percentages. He says again the health department was “happy” with the vaccine assumption. Yeaman says the relevant metric is successful containment of community transmission because that success will promote confidence that will in turn promote economic recovery. Christian Porter:
The Liberal senator James Paterson then dives in to clarify some elements of the evidence a few minutes back about the Resolve Strategic contract (I covered this earlier today). Tony Burke:
Paterson invites the Treasury officials to confirm that Jim Reed’s research was not political. Leave is not granted
The officials concur. “It was not political,” the deputy secretary Roxanne Kelley says. Paterson asks if it is true that major campaigns are required to be preceded by market research. The officials concur again. Helen Haines, the independent member for Indi, has expressed hope that several government members will support bringing on her bill for an Australian federal integrity commission. Haines - who presented her bill to the lower house this morning, as flagged in our preview story - said she had worked with MPs from across the political spectrum to refine her bill, including putting in place safeguards to protect the rights of innocent people.
Research has to be done to inform the advertising. She hopes Coalition insiders will push internally for the government to allocate debate in the chamber for the bill
Paterson again invites the officials to confirm that the Reed research informed a number of campaigns. Asked how many Coalition members had expressed support to her, Haines said about half a dozen MPs had come to her to talk to her about the issue, but it was up to them to reveal themselves.
Kelley says it informed a number of campaigns. (Obviously some sensitivity around this contract.) Haines’ proposed body, called the Australian federal integrity commission, would allow public hearings when in the public interest and allow any member of the public to make referrals.
Haines was joined at the press conference in parliament’s Mural Hall by independent MPs Zali Steggall and Andrew Wilkie, Centre Alliance’s Rebekha Sharkie and the leader of the Greens in the Senate, Larissa Waters.
Steggall said the public was “getting very cynical about why, after this long, there is no accountability” and she noted the budget included record amounts of spending:
Waters noted the Senate had already passed a bill to set up the Greens’ version of an integrity commission, but said her party did not mind whose name was on the bill. She backed calls for the government to bring on debate in the House about either of the two bills.
The government says it understands that Hekmatullah, the former Afghan soldier convicted of murdering three Australian soldiers in 2012, remains incarcerated in Qatar.
In defence estimates, the defence minister, Linda Reynolds, has been asked about Australia’s diplomatic outreach to the US and Afghan governments over the continued detention of Hekmatullah.
The family of the three Australian soldiers – Corporal Stjepan Milosevic, Private Robert Poate and Sapper James Martin – have previously described as a “crushing blow” reports that Hekmatullah could be one of the prisoners released as part of an historic peace agreement between the US and Taliban.
Reynolds said Australia’s position was that Hekmatullah had committed “heinous” crimes and should never be released.
She said her latest advice was that on 10 September Hekmatullah was transferred, with five other detainees, from Afghanistan to Qatar and that he remained incarcerated.
Reynolds said she had made “many representations” in writing and over the phone, as had Scott Morrison and Marise Payne. But she said any clarity about whether Australian had secured assurances would have to be provided by Payne, as it was a diplomatic matter.
The main points of reference you’ll be interested in are below:
Specifically the investigation will determine:
The facts around an incident involving the provision of wristwatches to Australia Post staff in late 2018;
The role of the then Australia Post chair and board, and the managing director and chief executive officer in the incident;
Whether there are other instances in Australia Post inconsistent with appropriate behaviour for a GBE [government business enterprise] that require further investigation;
Whether this incident or other instances (including the actions of those involved) are consistent with:
The extent to which Australia Post’s governance arrangements and management culture, in particular in relation to gifts, rewards and expenses, including personal expenses of executives:
A report is to be provided to government within four weeks of the investigation commencement.
Paul Fletcher is once again talking about how quickly the government moved over the Cartier watch bonus issue (if only it moved as quickly as other issues – but you know).
The terms of reference for that inquiry are out.
Daniel Andrews will hold his press conference at 3.15.
Milton Dick, with his very serious face on, wants Paul Fletcher to tell him why an Australia Post outlet had a LNP corflute in the window.
He comes prepared with photos of the corflute in the window.
Fletcher says he is unaware of it, but that if they tell him which Australia Post, he will investigate (his office will investigate) and he will return with an answer.
Ahead of question time, the member for Herbert, Phil Thompson, did some campaigning for the LNP in a 90-second statement.
He brought up the tired argument that crime is out of control in Townsville and only the LNP would deal with it (so far, its suggestion has been a curfew. In areas which would disproportionately impact Indigenous kids. Yup.)
Anyways, if this doesn’t help convince you ...
... there is also the raw data.
Andrew Leigh was kicked out of the chamber for heckling Josh Frydenberg during his first answer on what he knew about the Asic drama, and when.