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Australia politics live: Albanese accuses Dutton of ‘dog-whistling’ over Cop27 climate damage fund | Australian politics

Question time begins

The first question from Peter Dutton takes us back to rhetoric and times a lot of people hoped we had moved on from.

But Dutton, as Murph highlighted in a recent column, is hoping to reignite a culture war which served the coalition well for many years.

Dutton:

Prime minister, at a time when Labor’s policies are driving up cost-of-living pressures for families, the government has just signed up to funding a $2tn loss and damage climate fund which will send money overseas and beyond our region. Prime minister, doesn’t charity begin at home? And when will you start helping Australian families instead of giving away their money?

Anthony Albanese:

And I do thank the leader of the opposition for really repeating a question that he answered last week. And I will begin the same way. I’ll tell you what we will do – or we won’t do, which is to stand at a press conference … with a microphone making jokes about Pacific Islands drowning.

That is what we won’t do. And the misleading statement from the leader of the opposition aimed clearly…

Paul Fletcher interjects, because that seems to be his main job now –arguing that an opposition MP has been “reflected upon” and then being told he does not have a point of order.

Albanese:

Thanks, Mr Speaker. I tell you what was offensive, it was the tactics committee meeting that came up with that question this morning. That was what was offensive. Because the idea, the idea that any foreign aid is giving Australians money to foreigners ahead of Australian interests, the Leader of the Opposition knows better, and he knows exactly what he is doing with that question. He knows exactly. And the only people who are pleased about that question are the people sitting in the corner up there. Because they represent seats that have rejected that sort of dog-whistling tactic from the Liberal party, from the Liberal party.

…The leader of the opposition, who pretends he wants to be kinder and gentler, comes into this house … comes into this house and asks a question like that.

Well, I tell you what the entry fee is to enter into discussions around the table with our international partners. Whether it’s the United Kingdom, whether it’s the United States, whether it’s Japan, whether it’s India, it is taking climate change seriously.

That is the entry ticket that you need in international affairs in 2022. What you don’t need is that sort of nonsense. And for a political party who say that Australia … isn’t good enough because we need a global reduction in emissions, but then to press that button shows the contradiction which is there, shows the contradiction which is there.

I’d say to the leader of the opposition, “You’re better than that. You’re better than that.” Or maybe you’re not.

Key events

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Jim Chalmers takes a dixer on flood support and gives this update:

Our immediate support to individuals includes the one-off disaster recovery payment, $1,000 for adults and $400 for children. These are currently available to 46 local government areas. The disaster recovery allowance provides up to 13 weeks’ income support, has been activated for 150 local government areas.

So far, more than $55m in direct financial assistance has been provided to more than 47,000 claims across New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania.

And as the House knows, we also provision something like $3bn in the budget in October to help communities with the recovery. Now, this is first and foremost a human tragedy. It does have economic consequences as well.

Pressure on our supply chains, pressure on the price of groceries, and it will have an impact on economic growth in the near term as well. Now, these economic and budget considerations are substantial, but they are secondary to helping people through these difficult times.

And so I say to people in flood-affected communities, your government will be there for you, you are not on your own, communities will need to rebuild, the bill will be substantial, and the federal government will play its part and pay its share.

Helen Haines has the first crossbench question and it is an actual question about people in her electorate.

In my electorate, the same record rainfall that’s caused widespread flooding has also caused a massive landslide which has cut off access to Falls Creek for five months, decimating the summer season economy. But those affected look at the Services Australia website and only see financial assistance for people directly affected by floods. Can the minister confirm these people are eligible for the Disaster Recovery Allowance and are there plans for further support?

Bill Shorten:

Many local government areas right across Australia have been affected by incredibly damaging natural disaster events. Falls Creek, in the Alpine Shire in the north-east of Victoria, is one of 153 communities that are currently eligible for disaster assistance. There’s been a landslide on the way to Falls Creek and it’s affected the businesses, and Falls Creek, whilst it’s a year-round tourist facility, most of its season is in the winter. But there are businesses who still seek to operate all year round.

Now, residents at Falls Creek, I can inform the member, are eligible to apply for Disaster Recovery Allowance, and also a Commonwealth-funded disaster recovery funding arrangements. Services Australia has investigated for me today, in the course of today, about Falls Creek and whether or not there were payments which people were eligible for and haven’t been made.

As I understand, there have been 46 claims made for Disaster relief allowance. They have all been paid. There is one claim where the status is indeterminate, but 46 out of 47 have been made. In terms of the businesses affected year-round, that doesn’t fall within the immediate preserve 6 Services Australia, and I will certainly raise it with the Victorian Government.

But as far as my ministerial obligation are, everyone who has put in a claim has actually had it processed. If there are other people who the member is aware of who haven’t, we’ll, of course, attend to it straightaway.

And I just want to thank Services Australia staff. They have been working all around Australia right through Central New South Wales to Rochester and Victoria, and they’re doing a great job, and I send them our best wishes from the parliament for helping people affected.

Back to question time and Peter Dutton joins Anthony Albanese in welcoming Sean Turnell’s release:

I join with the prime minister and congratulate the government on this outcome.

Sean Turnell, somebody who went to try and provide assistance and a better way of life and future for the people of Myanmar. He worked very closely there with a number of Australian colleagues who were involved in that cause.

And, of course, we were all shocked when he was taken into custody, and the operation to release him commenced on that very day. We acknowledge the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Defence, many other departments that have been involved in this operation to lead to the point of his release.

I want to say thank you very much for the perseverance that the prime minister spoke of, of many of our near neighbours and friends within ASEAN, with whom we’d had close conversations over a long period of time, every angle of opportunity to bring pressure to bear to see him released has been under way for about 650-odd days, and I want to say thank you personally to the prime minister as well.

It’s right that he’s been released. It was wrong that he was held for so long. And I hope that it sends a message to the rest of the world that Australia will never tolerate our people being incarcerated in circumstances like that, and we will fight every day until they’re released.

Children taken to hospital after chemical explosion in Sydney’s north

Breaking into question time for this breaking news from Elias Visontay:

A group of primary school students have been taken to hospitals on Sydney’s north following reports of a chemical explosion.

Children believed to be about 10-years-old were treated at Manly West public school on Monday afternoon, with some transported to hospitals for further treatment.

The number of students and exact cause of the incident is not yet clear. Some media are reporting between 10-12 students were injured.

A New South Wales Ambulance spokesperson told Guardian Australia the chemical explosion appeared to be the result of a class science experiment.

New South Wales Police officers responded to reports of a “Hazmat incident” at about 1:20PM on Monday afternoon.


A number of students, believed to be around 10-years-old, have been treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics and will be taken to various hospitals,” a police statement said.

The next dixer (government question written for government minister) is on Professor Sean Turnell’s release.

Anthony Albanese:

Indeed, it was a great day last week when Professor Sean Turnell was released after 650 days in detention by the Myanmar regime. 650 days in a Myanmar prison. It was one of the great honours of my life to have the phone call with him when he landed in Bangkok at around about the same time that I did the other evening.

It was fantastic that he was able to reunite with his wife, Dr Havu, an economics lecturer, in Melbourne on the weekend after 22 months apart, and they were able to be flown home to Sydney.

Mr Turnell is a great Australian and he’s very proud to be an Australian, and we should all be proud of him. What was extraordinary about the conversation I had with him was that he was just busy thanking people, thanking the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, thanking the Foreign Minister Penny Wong, thanking the embassy staff in Yangon and in Bangkok, thanking the Australian people who had campaigned so strongly for his release from that hellhole in prison. When I spoke to him, he spoke about getting food in a bucket, but that the Australian Embassy would deliver food for him, food hampers, with an Australian bag with the crest of the emu and the kangaroo.

The emu and the kangaroo, of course, don’t go backwards, they only go forwards. And he would put their bag facing outside of the cell so that those people who had incarcerated him would see his pride in Australia. He is a great Australian.

He, of course, is a highly respected academic. He developed a specialty in the Myanmar economy and he worked as an adviser long-term to Aung San Suu Kyi, who he met in the 1990s. He continued to live in Sydney but he travelled regularly to Myanmar to provide advice to that country on how they might develop. He was detained on 6 February 2021, five days after the military coup.

I do want to thank our friends in ASEAN who made strong representation, our friends throughout, including the Cambodian … prime minister, but others as well, from Vietnam, from I pay tribute to him for his courage, his determination and his resilience, and I wish him and his family all of the best

Angus Taylor is up next and continues his one-man show “irony, is it even a thing?” as he asks:

The chief economist of Goldman Sachs has warned that the cash rate will continue to rise to 4.1% over the next year, meaning Australian mortgage-holders will be paying more for longer under this government. Will the prime minister confirm the promise of cheaper mortgages is now just another broken promise?

Treasurer Jim Chalmers takes this one:

Given the shadow treasurer seems temperamentally incapable of asking me a question, I’ve gotta take my chances when I can.

I’ve gotta take my chances when I can. Mr Speaker, since 25 October, there have been two eclipses – one solar, one lunar – and there have been two questions from the shadow treasurer to the treasurer about the budget.

Questions from the shadow treasurer to the treasurer after the budget are as rare as a very rare celestial event, Mr Speaker. And so I’ve gotta take my chances when I can and jump when I can.

Now, let me get this straight, let me get this straight, Mr Speaker. One of the worst ministers since Federation, the member for Hume, in one of the worst governments since Federation, one of the least responsible when it comes to the budget since Federation, which racked up a trillion dollars in debt and had almost nothing to show for it, who sprayed billions of dollars around to their mates in the interests of their political purposes and their political objectives, now wants to get up and talk about spending in the budget. I mean, give me a break, Mr Speaker.

What was different about this budget in October compared to the budget handed down by those opposite in March is, what we did when we got a temporary boost to revenue from high commodity prices, we returned for two years 99% of that upward revision.

That meant over the forward estimates there’s less debt in my Budget over the forwards than there was in the budget handed down by treasurer Frydenberg from this dispatch box.

And so what that has meant is our budget was geared towards the inflation challenge because we know that high inflation is pushing up interest rates.

Now, treasury modelling released today, and reported on today, showed that if we had spent that $114bn of tax upgrades, like those opposite would have wanted to do and would have done in our position, then interest rates would be another 1.4% higher, percentage points higher, than they are.

And so that has meant – that has meant that the rising interest rates that we inherited from those opposite, interest rates started going up before the election, which might be news to the shadow treasurer as well – had we not handed down such a responsible budget, then interest rates would be higher than otherwise, and inflation would be higher than otherwise.

And that’s why we did put so much effort into it, at the same time as we kept faith with our election commitments on cheaper early childhood education and fee-free Tafe and all of the other priorities in the budget. We made sure that we showed spending restraint, which is completely foreign to those opposite. They used to spend 60% of revenue upgrades.

The Howard government used to spend 70% of revenue upgrades. We spent 1% over the next two years. That’s how you hand down a budget which doesn’t make the inflation problem worse.

Anthony Albanese’s first dixer is on his recent trip and the importance of it for Australia:

I held 14 bilateral meetings, the important one, of course, the first meeting with China for six years. It was a very constructive meeting with President Xi and I want us to move forward together with a stabilisation of the relationship.

It’s very clear that we have differences, but dialogue promotes understanding. My attitude towards China is that we must cooperate where we can, disagree where we must, but engage in our national interest.

I also had an important meeting with prime minister Modi, and I will lead a business delegation to India in the first quarter of next year. In addition to that, we were able to further develop the constructive relationship that we now have with president Macron of France and other European leaders to promote the EU-Australia free trade agreement that I’m hoping to advance next year.

Question time begins

The first question from Peter Dutton takes us back to rhetoric and times a lot of people hoped we had moved on from.

But Dutton, as Murph highlighted in a recent column, is hoping to reignite a culture war which served the coalition well for many years.

Dutton:

Prime minister, at a time when Labor’s policies are driving up cost-of-living pressures for families, the government has just signed up to funding a $2tn loss and damage climate fund which will send money overseas and beyond our region. Prime minister, doesn’t charity begin at home? And when will you start helping Australian families instead of giving away their money?

Anthony Albanese:

And I do thank the leader of the opposition for really repeating a question that he answered last week. And I will begin the same way. I’ll tell you what we will do – or we won’t do, which is to stand at a press conference … with a microphone making jokes about Pacific Islands drowning.

That is what we won’t do. And the misleading statement from the leader of the opposition aimed clearly…

Paul Fletcher interjects, because that seems to be his main job now –arguing that an opposition MP has been “reflected upon” and then being told he does not have a point of order.

Albanese:

Thanks, Mr Speaker. I tell you what was offensive, it was the tactics committee meeting that came up with that question this morning. That was what was offensive. Because the idea, the idea that any foreign aid is giving Australians money to foreigners ahead of Australian interests, the Leader of the Opposition knows better, and he knows exactly what he is doing with that question. He knows exactly. And the only people who are pleased about that question are the people sitting in the corner up there. Because they represent seats that have rejected that sort of dog-whistling tactic from the Liberal party, from the Liberal party.

…The leader of the opposition, who pretends he wants to be kinder and gentler, comes into this house … comes into this house and asks a question like that.

Well, I tell you what the entry fee is to enter into discussions around the table with our international partners. Whether it’s the United Kingdom, whether it’s the United States, whether it’s Japan, whether it’s India, it is taking climate change seriously.

That is the entry ticket that you need in international affairs in 2022. What you don’t need is that sort of nonsense. And for a political party who say that Australia … isn’t good enough because we need a global reduction in emissions, but then to press that button shows the contradiction which is there, shows the contradiction which is there.

I’d say to the leader of the opposition, “You’re better than that. You’re better than that.” Or maybe you’re not.

The speeches from Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton end (with no mention of children overboard) and the condolence motion heads to the federation chamber.

Question time begins.

Ahead of question time is a condolence motion for Peter Reith.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton will both speak on the motion and then it will most likely head to the federation chamber.

It is time for question time

So get ready for some very lame calls, some fake laughs and some confected outrage.

And she thinks the opposition will be on-board.

Bridget Archer:

I do and I am very pleased that that appears to be the case. I think there will still be discussion and debate around the edges of the legislation, that has probably been foreshadowed in the committee inquiry into the bill on the crossbench has indicated that they seek to move some amendments as well and that is a normal process, and a good one. But I think that I have always said that in order for an integrity commission to be successful, it cannot be political or it will fail at the first hurdle.

Liberal MP Bridget Archer. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

‘There needs to be strong protections for whistleblowers’: Bridget Archer

Liberal MP Bridget Archer says she agrees with the crossbench on the issue of whistleblower protections. She told the ABC:

There needs to be strong protections for whistleblowers as part of an integrity framework.

We have had assurances from the attorney general that there will be additional legislation brought forward to deal with the issue of whistleblowers and that must sit alongside an anti-corruption commission. So I take the attorney general at his word and I look forward to seeing that work through constructively.

Because, much like an integrity commission, I think that these issues should be beyond partisan politics and what Mr Wilkie has said today gives the importance of having protections for whistleblowers.

You need to have people be able to have a mechanism to bring this information forward and know that they are protected. These are very serious matters but, also, there is a lot at stake and whistleblowers risk a lot.

Crossbench comes together to support Andrew Wilkie

The independents on the crossbench have come together to support Andrew Wilkie and his call for stronger protections for whistleblowers.

Kooyong MP Monique Ryan said it is what people voted for.

Six months ago the Australia people told them what action on climate change and action on transparency and integrity in government. Andrew’s actions today are acting on that we are all calling on the government to follow suit.

Peabody and Anglo American deny Andrew Wilkie’s coal export claims

Josh Butler

Josh Butler

Several companies have vehemently denied claims aired by the independent MP Andrew Wilkie that they had been “lying for years about the quality of our coal” and had been engaged in bribes.

As we reported earlier, Wilkie claimed, under parliamentary privilege:

This shocking misconduct includes exports to Japan, South Korea, China and India, and involves companies including Terracom, Anglo American, Glencore, Peabody and Macquarie Bank.

A Peabody spokesperson told Guardian Australia “Peabody strenuously denies Mr Wilkie’s claims.”

A spokesperson for Anglo American also rejected the claims.

The allegations made by Andrew Wilkie MP with regard to Anglo American are entirely false.

We take these matters very seriously and when issues surrounding testing were first reported on by media in early 2020, we undertook an investigation which found no evidence that any of our cargoes had been impacted.

We have communicated with Mr Wilkie’s office to ensure he has correct information.

We’ve also contacted Terracom, Glencore and Macquarie Bank for comment.

Greens to try and block loan for East Gippsland gas project

The Greens will try and stop a federal government commercial loan being given to GN Energy to accelerate the Golden Beach gas production and storage project in East Gippsland. It was granted ahead of the last election, but the Greens are hoping to get support for a disallowance motion to stop the loan from going ahead.

It is unlikely to pass the senate, but Dorinda Cox says it is something worth fighting for:

On Monday, the Senate will have an opportunity to show it’s serious about fixing the climate crisis by blocking public money going to new gas projects.

Labor can’t criticise gas corporations one day, then hand out public money the next.

Real climate action in Victoria means stopping new coal and gas projects from the 12 Apostles to Gippsland, and that is what The Greens will do.”

I have had a few messages from people about why it seems a little quiet today, given how busy the agenda is.

Think of this week as the calm before the storm. The senate is where the real action is. And the government isn’t ready to send all those bills up for debate as yet.

So there is a lot happening behind the scenes as everyone prepares for what is going to be, as Katy Gallagher said, a pretty “wild ride”.

The national anti-corruption legislation has to get through the house and that debate will be a looooong one. Plus, each of the amendments are going to be considered separately. And there are a lot.

They aren’t ready for the vote on IR – that will be the most of the white knuckle ones – and the territory rights bill, which potential IR legislation king maker David Pocock holds in great importance – also has to be voted on before the end of the sitting.

So right no, the “cheaper child care” legislation is in the senate and things are ticking away in the background.

It is going to be a tight race to the finish line for some of these bills. So strap in. (And also get a coffee. And a snack.)



https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2022/nov/21/australia-politics-live-anthony-albanese-industrial-relations-cost-of-living-jobseeker-workplace-reform-greens-senate-pocock-vic-qld-nsw Australia politics live: Albanese accuses Dutton of ‘dog-whistling’ over Cop27 climate damage fund | Australian politics

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