Fiery stoush in Senate estimates over reports of Dutton’s 2009 shareholdings
Josh Butler
A fiery stoush has erupted in Senate estimates over reports about Peter Dutton’s shareholdings from 2009, with the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, challenged by Liberal counterparts Jane Hume and James McGrath to repeat her claims outside the protection of parliamentary privilege.
This goes to a story, first broken by news.com.au, about Dutton’s stock interests in 2009, including a disclosure on his parliamentary register of interests of buying shares in big banks – which he disclosed the day before the then-Labor government announced a package to assist banks during the global financial crisis. Labor said Dutton has “questions to answer” about the timing.
We’ve just gotten a new statement from Dutton’s office on this, with a spokesperson saying “Mr Dutton had no access to any sensitive information on these matters, nor was he privy to government briefing on the GFC.” Dutton’s statement went on to criticise Labor’s “dirt unit” of “obsessing about Peter Dutton”, adding “all updates to Mr Dutton’s register of interests were made at the appropriate time.”
In estimates just now, Gallagher was at the table with officials from the Australian Public Service Commission, as Labor senator Jana Stewart asked questions about how APS workers had to deal with sensitive information.
Gallagher said:
So for example, if a public servant was to know, hypothetically, that the banks were to be bailed out during the GFC, and sought to buy up shares in all those major banks on the eve of that announcement, I imagine there would be serious consequences.
Hume:
Want to say that outside of parliamentary privilege, minister?
McGrath added “please, please”, as Gallagher claimed Dutton had “genuine questions to answer.” McGrath added “all you’ve got is mud.” The three senators spoke over each other, as the committee chair tried to restore order.
McGrath:
Go on Sky News, go on the ABC even, say it there … you’re throwing mud at Peter Dutton, that’s all you’ve got.
Gallagher:
It was just a coincidence, was it? That there was a lot of shares purchased the day before a bank bailout?
Hume continually called out “grubby”, as McGrath claimed Gallagher’s comments “defame the leader of the opposition”. The hearing was briefly suspended to restore order, before it resumed again shortly afterward.
Key events
Amanda Meade
ABC’s editorial director asked about use of term ‘genocide’ in relation to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza
ABC journalists may use the term “genocide” in relation to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza but they must also reference Israel’s denial that they are committing genocide, the ABC’s editorial director has told Senate estimates.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi asked if the ABC had changed its editorial guidance in relation to the use of the word “genocide”.
The public broadcaster’s editorial director, Gavin Fang, said:
I don’t believe we’ve actually changed our guidance on genocide, nor have we ever said that the term genocide could not be used.
What we’ve put in our guidance to staff is that it’s a highly contentious matter and that, by and large, on most occasions that you would, if you are reporting on allegations of genocide, you need to provide the other perspective on that.
Lisa Cox
Confusion over whether Labor will try again to establish national environment watchdog
There was a very confusing exchange in environment estimates overnight about whether a re-elected Albanese government would reintroduce laws to establish a national environment protection agency.
The Labor senator Tim Ayres initially made some clear remarks, telling Coalition senator Jonno Duniam “the legislation will not be reintroduced” and:
I think it would have been much better for the country if the Senate had engaged in a serious way with the government’s reform agenda but that legislation won’t be re-introduced.
And that opportunity for reform has been missed but of course there are still issues there that need to be resolved.
Duniam interpreted this as meaning the national “EPA is never coming back” but he was then told by another participant that was not what Ayres had said.
A confusing exchange ensued.
By the end it was unclear whether Ayres meant the very same bill that had been put to the parliament this term would not be reintroduced – but perhaps Labor would introduce different legislation for an EPA at a future date – or if the proposal for an EPA was off the table entirely.
We sought clarification from the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, who declined to provide a comment on record.
Ayres and environment officials told the estimates hearing that broad work on environmental reform – a much larger task than the single issue of an EPA – continued.
Duniam did try rephrasing his question to ask whether legislation to establish an EPA could be introduced in the next term of parliament and pressed Ayres to clarify whether he meant Labor would not reintroduce it at all.
To which Ayres replied:
What I said was the legislation that was before the parliament will not be reintroduced.
Labor senator Penny Wong has previously told the Senate the legislation that was before the parliament would not be reintroduced this term.
Andrew Messenger
Tens of thousands to be inconvenienced by bus strike, Brisbane council says
More than 75,000 residents of Brisbane would be inconvenienced if the bus drivers’ union goes ahead with planned strike action on Friday, according to their employer.
Brisbane city council is locked in negotiations with the Rail Tram and Bus Union.
Members walked off the job for two hours last week at 4am on Thursday but disruption was limited because the industrial action was so early in the day.
However, the council says plans by the union to strike between 4pm and 6pm on Friday – during afternoon peak hour – would affect about six times as many services.
The deputy mayor, Fiona Cunningham, said residents should plan for “traffic chaos”, accusing the union of holding the city to random.
Cunningham said:
Disrupting afternoon peak-hour could cause mass mayhem and people should expect significant impacts right across the network.
Bus union bosses aren’t just disrupting Brisbane residents heading home for the weekend.
They’re also disrupting thousands of people heading to Boondall to see one of the world’s biggest country music stars [Chris Stapleton] play to a sold-out crowd.
The strike only affects services contracted out to Brisbane city council, not other transport providers in south-east Queensland.
Amanda Meade
ABC regularly defends its journalists from Murdoch media queries, Senate estimates told
The ABC news director, Justin Stevens, has told Senate estimates that the ABC regularly defends its journalists from “multiple queries” from Murdoch outlets, including The Australian.
In a response to a question from Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Stevens said:
Despite the very small readership, we do engage and respond to a lot of their queries quite regularly, and we do defend the work of our journalists. Almost every week there’s multiple queries.
Having said that, as a public broadcaster, we must be subjected to scrutiny, and we must have a culture of accepting scrutiny and self-reflection where we get things wrong and be transparent about that.
Amanda Meade
ABC has spent $1.1m on external lawyers in Antoinette Lattouf case, Senate estimates told
The ABC has tried to settle out of court the Antoinette Lattouf unlawful termination case multiple times and has spent $1.1m on external lawyers so far, the broadcaster has told Senate estimates.
The acting ABC managing director, Melanie Kleyn, who is standing in for the outgoing managing director, David Anderson, said the ABC maintains “that it did not terminate” Lattouf.
Kleyn:
The ABC has tried on multiple occasions to settle the matter on a commercial basis without admission or liability.
We do understand this is an impost on public funds.
Kleyn announced the launch of Your Vote, Your Say across the ABC on Thursday before the federal election.
She said:
This initiative harnesses our unmatched network of reporters and radio programs – based in more than 60 locations across remote, regional and metro Australia – to make sure people’s voices are heard and their concerns are addressed.
Coalition senator James McGrath labels the Greens ‘racist’ and ‘antisemitic’
Coalition senator James McGrath has called the Greens a “racist, antisemitic political party” during a heated exchange in budget estimates.
McGrath got into a disagreement with the Greens senator Barbara Pocock after she accused him of “speaking over the top of women” during the estimates hearing.
Pocock accused McGrath of having referred to her as “antisemitic”, saying:
I am the only Greens senator in this room, and you have referred to me, and my party, as antisemitic.
It is a lie. It is not true and I insist that you withdraw it.
McGrath, a Queensland Liberal National party senator, said he had not described Pocock “personally” as being antisemitic or racist but he had described her political party in this way.
He was asked three times by the chair of the committee to withdraw his remarks but he refused.
McGrath said:
I am not withdrawing that the Greens are a racist, antisemitic political party. I am not withdrawing that.
Caitlin Cassidy
Mostyn defends appointment as governor general and says you need ‘diversity’ in career to understand role
Continuing from our last post: Sam Mostyn said she knows why people criticise her appointment but you “need diversity” in your career to understand the role, particularly one that has been defined by modernity.
When the term is governor general, and the word general is there, and it’s constitutional, and the history of this role is people who have often been generals … and done magnificent jobs …
There’s nothing here that says you have to be someone that has a military background or been a general elsewhere … but someone who in a modern sense has enough general skills and understanding to bring together the things this job uniquely gets to see, and reflect that back to those that need to hear it.
Caitlin Cassidy
Governor-general says young people losing faith in democracy
The governor-general, Sam Mostyn AC, says young people are losing their faith in democracy and feel politicians have “lost the capacity” to talk with and listen to the community.
Appearing at a higher education summit headed by Universities Australia in Canberra alongside UA’s chair, professor David Lloyd, Mostyn said she couldn’t have predicted Australia would be heading to a world where the words “care and kindness” were seen as “soft or irrelevant” when she was offered the role.
When we talk about social cohesion or the breakdown of social fabric … we’re not arguing well anymore. We’re allowing ourselves to get to anger, fury … and we lose the opportunity to debate.
She said young people “deeply care about the future” but have a lack of trust over democracy, exacerbated by a declining understanding in civics education.
They don’t trust the figures [in] or the way we construct our democracy … I think that’s because many in those trusted positions have lost the capacity to talk with and listen to communities … rather than using language that’s either distant or not consistent with what communities see.
Emily Wind
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, Catie McLeod will be here to take you through the rest of today’s news. Take care.
Kelly Burke
Asia Pacific Awards finalists speak out about Creative Australia decision
Continuing from our last post:
A number of the finalists in the Asia Pacific Awards have been vocal on social media and through open letters and petitions decrying the Creative Australia decision, and calling for the reinstatement of Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino.
Finalist Blacktown Arts posted on Instagram last week that it was disappointed in the Creative Australia decision, and endorsed a message by the Western Sydney Arts Alliance alleging political interference in the decision and calling for a transparent inquiry into the controversy.
Parramatta-based artist initiative Pari, a co-finalist with artistic partner Arab Theatre Studio, has called for Creative Australia to issue a public apology to Sabsabi, Dagostino, “and the entire arts sector”.
Another finalist, Campbelltown Arts Centre, was run for more than a decade by Dagostino before he relocated to the University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Museum 18 months ago.
Three individual artists who are finalists in the awards – Latai Taumoepeau, Abdul Abdullah and Angela Tiatia – are signatories to the Memo petition condemning Creative Australia’s decision as “a concerning precedent for artistic freedom and sectoral independence”.
Kelly Burke
Creative Australia postpones annual award ceremony amid Venice Biennale controversy
Creative Australia has postponed its annual awards recognising artist and arts organisations’ contribution to the Asia Pacific region, just six days before the awards ceremony was due to take place.
The organisation has given no reason why it has suddenly postponed the Asia Pacific Arts Awards, which were scheduled to go ahead next Monday at Arts Centre Melbourne.
A Creative Australia statement posted on its website only said the organisation remained “committed to recognising and celebrating the achievements of the Asia Pacific arts community” and that “the incredible work of the shortlisted nominees will be acknowledged at a later date”.
Creative Australia staff nationwide were informed of the decision this morning.
The beleaguered government cultural funding body is scheduled to appear at tonight’s senate estimates hearing where its chief executive, Adrian Collette, is expected to be grilled over the Venice Biennale controversy, which saw Lebanese-born Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino withdrawn as Australia’s representatives at the 2026 Venice Biennale, just six days after being announced as the successful candidates.
Acoss says Coalition’s intention to cut public sector jobs to fund Medicare is ‘grave cause for concern’
The Australian Council of Social Services says it strongly opposes the Coalition’s intention to cut public sector jobs to fund Medicare.
In a statement, the Acoss CEO, Dr Cassandra Goldie, said it welcomed Labor’s $8.5bn pledge to increase GP bulk billing access, and the Coalition’s commitment to match this. But she said the Coalition’s intention to cut 36,000 jobs to do so is “grave cause for concern”:
The public service delivers a range of essential supports for people on low incomes in need including delivering income support, the NDIS, aged care and other essential services.
The addition of 3,000 permanent staff in Services Australia in 2023 was most welcome because it reduced the unacceptable call wait times and backlog of payment claims.
We must not return to a state where it takes months to get essential income support payments or people spend hours on the phone trying to speak to someone about their payment.
Goldie said Centrelink and other essential services are “human services and need humans on staff to deliver them”. She is calling on the Coalition not to cut public service staff from essential services, and for permanent staff to not be replaced by contracted staff.
Watch: Reynolds asks Gallagher to apologise for ‘all the damage’ done during Lehrmann saga
Here is a video of the interaction between Linda Reynolds and Katy Gallagher in Senate estimates, which we brought you just earlier:
Fiery stoush in Senate estimates over reports of Dutton’s 2009 shareholdings
Josh Butler
A fiery stoush has erupted in Senate estimates over reports about Peter Dutton’s shareholdings from 2009, with the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, challenged by Liberal counterparts Jane Hume and James McGrath to repeat her claims outside the protection of parliamentary privilege.
This goes to a story, first broken by news.com.au, about Dutton’s stock interests in 2009, including a disclosure on his parliamentary register of interests of buying shares in big banks – which he disclosed the day before the then-Labor government announced a package to assist banks during the global financial crisis. Labor said Dutton has “questions to answer” about the timing.
We’ve just gotten a new statement from Dutton’s office on this, with a spokesperson saying “Mr Dutton had no access to any sensitive information on these matters, nor was he privy to government briefing on the GFC.” Dutton’s statement went on to criticise Labor’s “dirt unit” of “obsessing about Peter Dutton”, adding “all updates to Mr Dutton’s register of interests were made at the appropriate time.”
In estimates just now, Gallagher was at the table with officials from the Australian Public Service Commission, as Labor senator Jana Stewart asked questions about how APS workers had to deal with sensitive information.
Gallagher said:
So for example, if a public servant was to know, hypothetically, that the banks were to be bailed out during the GFC, and sought to buy up shares in all those major banks on the eve of that announcement, I imagine there would be serious consequences.
Hume:
Want to say that outside of parliamentary privilege, minister?
McGrath added “please, please”, as Gallagher claimed Dutton had “genuine questions to answer.” McGrath added “all you’ve got is mud.” The three senators spoke over each other, as the committee chair tried to restore order.
McGrath:
Go on Sky News, go on the ABC even, say it there … you’re throwing mud at Peter Dutton, that’s all you’ve got.
Gallagher:
It was just a coincidence, was it? That there was a lot of shares purchased the day before a bank bailout?
Hume continually called out “grubby”, as McGrath claimed Gallagher’s comments “defame the leader of the opposition”. The hearing was briefly suspended to restore order, before it resumed again shortly afterward.
Reynolds uses final Senate estimates appearance to seek apology from Gallagher
The former defence minister Linda Reynolds has used her final Senate estimates appearance to request an apology from finance minister Katy Gallagher.
She requested an apology to herself, her staff and family “for all of the damage that has been wrought on them by you and by others in the Labor Party”. Gallagher said she had already spoken to this in the chamber, facing two weeks of questions from the opposition on this, but offered:
I am sorry that you have been hurt by all of this. But I – and I’ve gone back and had a look at the questions I’ve asked – I believe the questions I ask, in my role, when you’re a minister and you’re accountable for what happened in your office, were reasonable.
Reynolds interjected, saying “so that’s a no” on whether Gallagher would apologise. Gallagher went on:
No, that is not a no … You were a minister, you were accountable for what happened in your office, and we asked questions about an alleged sexual assault in this building. And I would believe that other senators in a similar circumstance would ask exactly the same questions.
But did I seek to cause harm to you or anyone else? No. I asked questions that I think most people would expect would have been asked with such serious allegations about what has happened in this building and the changes that we have put in place since to make sure something like that doesn’t happen again.
Reynolds stood up and left, again stating “so that’s a no”. Gallagher said that was her “editorialising”. LNP senator James McGrath interjected and the exchange became heated. Gallagher told him:
My conscience is clear … An alleged rape had happened in this building …
Winter crops drop after record season
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says there was a 27% drop in winter broadacre crop production sold in 2023-24, with 50m tonnes of production sold.
Rob Walter, ABS head of agriculture statistics, said the drop in production sold drove a 29% drop in value to $18.7bn:
After having one of the best seasons on record in 2022-23, the drier conditions across large parts of Australia lead to 27% less winter broadacre crop production being sold nationally and generally lower yields.
Wheat, barley and canola made up 93% of total winter crop production sold and was valued at $16.5bn. There were 28m tonnes of wheat sold in 2023-24, a 32% fall from 2022-23. The local value of wheat fell 35% in 2023-24 to $8.8bn.
Australian winter broadacre crops covered an area of 20.5m hectares in 2023-24, 3m hectares less than the previous season, the ABS said.
Australia also produced 29.9m tonnes of sugarcane in 2023-24, 2.7m tonnes less that in 2022-23. Despite this, local value rose by $692m to $2.2bn off the back of strong sugar prices, the ABS said.
Pacific worker labour scheme wage boost changes delayed
Pacific island workers in Australia under a working visa scheme will have to wait nine months longer for changes that would boost their wages, AAP reports.
Workers from 10 countries can come to Australia and be employed across a range of sectors including agriculture and meat processing to fill labour gaps under the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (Palm) scheme.
They have to be paid for at least 120 hours a month, but this was set to change to at least 30 hours a week from 1 July. Hours would be averaged over the course of a month, meaning that in some weeks, workers could do 20 hours and more than 40 in other weeks.
By ensuring people need to be paid for 30 hours a week, this could increase wage payments as businesses would need to account for extra hours in slower weeks, and then still pay overtime in busier weeks.
This change has been pushed back until 31 March 2026 as the federal government reviews the terms following consultations. The employment minister, Murray Watt, said it was “best to leave the Palm settings as they are for the moment while we better understand the impact of the changes that we’ve made”.
His department has been reviewing the scheme’s minimum hours requirement to ensure Pacific workers are adequately paid and not suffering from any unreasonable cost deductions during their time in Australia.
There were around 27,000 participants in the scheme working across almost 500 businesses in December.
