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Australia politics live update: new Covid variant Omicron detected in Sydney and NT as government asks for review of booster shot timings; NSW floods worsen Australia politics live update: new Covid variant Omicron detected in Sydney and NT as government asks for review of booster shot timings; NSW floods worsen
(32 minutes later)
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Scott Morrison, in this dixer is claiming his social media legislation will “un-mask the trolls”. In case you missed this in the senate
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
If he doesn’t know how many funds in his budget are allocated at the discretion of the minister and the total value, we provide this answer at the end of today’s Question Time. Shouldn’t the Treasurer know how much of his trillion dollars in debt he has borrowed to spray around marginal seats?
Frydenberg (who now has a document to read from)
Frydenberg decides he has said enough and sits down.
Chalmers asks him to table the document.
Andrew Wallace asks Frydenberg if it is a confidential document, and Frydenberg says no, it’s publicly available. Tony Burke enters the fray and says in that case, he needs to table it, because Wallace didn’t ask if it was publicly available, he asked if it was confidential. Wallace seems lost. Peter Dutton gives him an out.
We move on.
Jim Chalmers to Josh Frydenberg:
How many funds in his budget are allocated at the discretion of the minister and what is the total value?
That’s related to this story from Murph:
Frydenberg (who does not seem at all prepared for this question)
Greg Hunt is using his statesman voice again for dixers.
That’s how you know the government is back in your life.
He keeps pointing out Australia’s low fatality rate from Covid – which is true, thanks to the border closure. But where did most of the fatalities occur? Aged care homes. Which are a federal government responsibility.
Andrew Wallace is still struggling in the Speaker’s chair.
He is now saying he is “not in a position to determine whether the treasurer should allocate a certain percentage of his answer” to a particular topic. That’s after Josh Frydenberg spent almost his entire answer speaking about “alternative approaches” of the opposition – which is just an excuse to sledge Labor on the floor of the parliament.
Tony Burke points out that determining how much of an answer can be dedicated to something is kinda the Speaker’s job:
Wallace says the treasurer is relevant.
All is going really well with the new Speaker. He is totally nailing the bipartisan thing (upside down head emoji).
Scott Morrison ends his answer to Bob Katter with this attack on Labor – which takes Peter Dutton’s commentary and steps it up:
Bob Katter asks a question which I think is on national sovereignty. I think.
It’s always a little hard to find the question in the preamble.
Scott Morrison says his government is protecting Australia’s sovereignty in his answer, so let’s just stick with that
Ed Husic to Scott Morrison:
More than a year ago the industry minister announced Australia would be producing its own mRNA vaccines by now. Since there have been several announcements promising further announcements, yet nothing has happened, why not?
Morrison:
Angus Taylor then takes the answer, but he doesn’t really have anything to say other than ‘we are working through it’.
The trade minister, Dan Tehan, is not in the House. He flew to Geneva late last week in expectation of attending the 12th ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (which was due to begin tomorrow). But in an unfortunate turn, the meeting was cancelled while he was up in the air.
As the WTO explained it: “The General Council agreed late Friday to postpone the imminent ministerial conference after an outbreak of a particularly transmissible strain of the Covid-19 virus led several governments to impose travel restrictions that would have prevented many ministers from reaching Geneva.”
Tehan popped up on Sky News yesterday morning, when he explained that he would still meet with the director-general of the WTO, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Speaking from Geneva yesterday, Tehan explained:
The current deputy prime minster, who took an online rumour which did not have a huge amount of traction and spoke about it publicly on mainstream media, thereby amplifying it well beyond a social media echo chamber, is now speaking about anonymous accounts on social media and the issues with that.
Mark Butler to Scott Morrison:
Why doesn’t Australia have any federal quarantine facilities to strengthen our defences against new variants?
Why does the prime minister always go missing when he has a job to do?
Morrison:
Scott Morrison in this dixer is claiming his social media legislation will “unmask the trolls”.
It won’t. That is not what it is about. It’s about defamation – which is an option open to a very select, powerful few.It won’t. That is not what it is about. It’s about defamation – which is an option open to a very select, powerful few.
National cabinet will meet tomorrow afternoon.National cabinet will meet tomorrow afternoon.
I am told that the 2022 sitting calendar will be tabled after question time ends.I am told that the 2022 sitting calendar will be tabled after question time ends.
Let the election guessing games get even more intense!Let the election guessing games get even more intense!
Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:
Nearly two years after Covid reached Australian shores, how many new federal quarantine facilities have opened?Nearly two years after Covid reached Australian shores, how many new federal quarantine facilities have opened?
Morrison:Morrison:
Bob Katter is using his 90-second speech to call for a ban on all oil/petrol exports from Australia.Bob Katter is using his 90-second speech to call for a ban on all oil/petrol exports from Australia.
“It’s disgraceful,” he says.“It’s disgraceful,” he says.
He wants one of the major parties to support him.He wants one of the major parties to support him.
“We’re going to ban it,” he says.“We’re going to ban it,” he says.
Asked about her own former anonymous social media account ‘Mandy Jane’ (you can catch up on that whole 2020 snafu here) Amanda Stoker tells the ABC it was more of a ‘technical” issue than anything.
Stoker is well and truly a millennial. In some of the posts ‘Mandy Jane’ made, Stoker defended Amanda Stoker by referring to herself in the third person.
Stoker later admitted ‘Mandy Jane’ was her personal profile.
Fantastic, Great Move, Well done.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi says it is time for Australia to step up and co-sponsor an intellectual property waiver on Covid-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organisation.
India and South Africa suggested the intellectual property waiver over a year ago.
Faruqi:
First Nations Justice campaign director Larissa Baldwin has responded to the failure of the Senate to disallow the public funding for fracking exploration in the Beetaloo Basin:
More hearing locations have been announced for the royal commission into veteran suicides:
The royal commission into defence and veteran suicide has announced public hearings will be conducted in Sydney, Canberra, Townsville and Wagga Wagga.
More details will be available once dates have been confirmed.The announcement was made in Brisbane today, at the first public hearing to hear evidence from witnesses.In his opening address, counsel assisting the royal commission, Kevin Connor SC, said for many veterans, defence service was an “enriching experience from which they progressed to other fulfilling roles and careers”.“Unfortunately for others, this is not their reality. They suffer and their families and loved ones suffer.”Connor revealed two public hearings will take place in Sydney, in February and March. The February hearing will run for 10 days.Connor also confirmed the royal commission would conduct hearings in locations where ADF facilities were located.These include:
Wagga Wagga, where the army recruit training centre is located Kapooka
Townsville, where the Lavarack army barracks and a Royal Australian Air Force Base are located.
Canberra, which is home to the Royal Military College Duntroon, the Australian Defence Force Academy and the Departments of Defence and Veterans’ Affairs.
Less then an hour until QT and we have only heard from the prime minister in two commercial TV breakfast interviews this morning.
We’ve heard even less from Anthony Albanese. Seems like everyone needs a bit of a break.
As expected:
Katharine Murphy has an update on the Kate Jenkins review into parliament workplace culture:
The Australian Human Rights Commission has agreed to brief the former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins before it hands over the much-anticipated review into whether parliament house has a toxic workplace culture to the Morrison government.
Guardian Australia understands the commission initially flagged Higgins would not be briefed until the final report was made public by tabling in parliament. This is despite the former Coalition adviser being the catalyst for the investigation.
But that position has shifted in recent days.
The briefing is imminent, because the report is due to be handed to the Morrison government on 30 November.
The Greens are again attempting to disallow the public funding for fracking in the Beetaloo Basin – Labor has not been supporting these motions in the past, so this won’t have the numbers to pass.
It is certainly a slower start to the parliamentary week than it was last Monday – looks like there has been a bit of work done behind the scenes to corral the ‘rebels’ and bring about at least the appearance of unity within the government.
The Northern Territory has reported its first case of a traveller testing positive for the Omicron Covid variant – they are in quarantine and have been since arriving in Australia on 25 November.
There have been two more local cases which have brought the local Katherine cluster to 58.