Alex Antic hits out at Ley after criticism of conservatives’ ‘insensitive’ remarks on stillbirth leave bill
In the Senate, ahead of question time, conservative Alex Antic hit out at Sussan Ley over her comments to ABC AM this morning, in which she said that remarks linking “late-term abortions” to a bill to protect leave pay for parents of stillborn children were “insensitive”.
Antic used his 90-second statement to defend his colleagues, Andrew Hastie, Barnaby Joyce, Henry Pike and Tony Pasin.
The South Australian senator had moved an amendment to the bill in the Senate, which was defeated. Antic directly called out Ley:
How can it be insensitive to raise the issue of a clear loophole in a federally mandated scheme in a parliament which votes on the scheme? That is their right, and my right, and that is the very purpose of debate in this parliament.
Key events
Shadow environment minister ‘won’t enter into ifs or buts’ over net zero speculation
Angie Bell, the shadow environment minister, has refused to answer if she considers it would be risky electorally for the Liberal party to dump the 2050 net zero target and oppose the proposed nature laws.
Appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing a short time ago, Bell was asked how it could do both and remain a credible party on the environment.
Bell said:
Well, I think you are assuming what we will do. Neither of those things have actually been done at the moment. Both of those things are in train … I think it’s important that we look at where those two processes are up to.
It’s unfair [to say] that we are poised to do anything. We have another party room coming up outside of parliamentary sitting.
Bell was then asked: “If you were to say no to both, do you see that would be risky electorally?”
Bell responded:
I won’t enter into ifs or buts on that. We will continue with the process on both of those things.
Ben Doherty
Republicans accuse Pentagon officials of undermining Trump’s commitment to Aukus
Debate over America’s commitment to Aukus continues within that country’s fiercely contested domestic politics, with key Republican figures accusing Pentagon officials of an insufficient commitment to the deal.
The tripartite nuclear submarine deal – between the US, the UK and Australia – is the current subject of a Pentagon review, but received full-throated backing from the president during the Australian prime minister’s recent trip to the US: “We’re just going full steam ahead,” Donald Trump said last month.
Republicans on the influential Senate Armed Services committee told a hearing in Washington DC they were concerned that the Pentagon’s policy team, led by undersecretary of defence Elbridge Colby, was undermining the president’s defence agenda.
Senate committee chair Roger Wicker, a Republican from Mississippi, told the committee in a statement:
At times, Pentagon officials have pursued policies that are not in accord with President Trump’s orders.
I have been disappointed to see the president’s decisions apparently slow-walked or reversed at other points this year … the Aukus deal was cast into doubt despite the president’s strong support of the agreement – much to the surprise and dismay of Australia, one of our most steadfast allies.
Senator Dan Sullivan, Republican from Alaska, told a committee hearing that key decisions made by the Pentagon’s policy were “undermining what the president is trying to get done”. He said senior Pentagon figures were secretive and unaccountable:
I can’t even get a response, and we’re on your team!
The comments were made during a nominations hearing for a series of positions within the Department of Defense.
Ima Caldwell
Greens say they will oppose Labor’s environment law changes in lower house
The Greens will vote against the government’s EPBC environmental laws in the lower house this week.
As reported yesterday, the party does not believe the legislation goes far enough to protect forests and address climate change, leaning too much towards mining and industry interests, but hasn’t ruled out amendments in the Senate.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young confirmed this afternoon the party “cannot support this package and will be voting against it in the House of Representatives”:
These laws have been criticised by every major environment and climate group, but welcomed by the likes of BHP, Chevron and the BCA. This shows exactly who the laws are written for.
It is now up to the Prime Minister to decide if he wants to again let mining and logging lobbyists and their political representatives like Roger Cook run the show, or if he wants to protect nature, forests and our climate.
The Greens have one member in the federal lower house: MP for the Queensland seat of Ryan, Elizabeth Watson-Brown.
Jordyn Beazley
Hello, I’ll now be with you until this evening.
Krishani Dhanji
Thank you all for following along on the blog with me today.
I’ll leave you with the lovely Jordyn Beazley, and will see you here bright and early tomorrow morning for the final sitting day of the fortnight.
Tl;dr here’s what happened in question time
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The opposition started out attacking the government on cost of living again, and we got very similar questions and very similar answers to what we’ve been hearing all week.
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Alex Hawke, Jim Chalmers and Tony Burke traded barbs over calling MPs “liars” in the chamber.
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Nicolette Boele asked Chalmers about tax incentives for food donation charities – there was no clear answer on whether the government would introduce them.
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The opposition then cited data from Foodbank to attack the government, which saw a prompt return serve from the PM who questioned their tactics committee and said the Coalition had stripped funding from the charity.
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Anthony Albanese was asked twice about a Labor backbencher’s media appearance, telling the public energy bills will dip 20% (on the second try we got an actual answer from him on where the figure had come from).
Hang in there folks – one more sitting day to go!
Alex Antic hits out at Ley after criticism of conservatives’ ‘insensitive’ remarks on stillbirth leave bill
In the Senate, ahead of question time, conservative Alex Antic hit out at Sussan Ley over her comments to ABC AM this morning, in which she said that remarks linking “late-term abortions” to a bill to protect leave pay for parents of stillborn children were “insensitive”.
Antic used his 90-second statement to defend his colleagues, Andrew Hastie, Barnaby Joyce, Henry Pike and Tony Pasin.
The South Australian senator had moved an amendment to the bill in the Senate, which was defeated. Antic directly called out Ley:
How can it be insensitive to raise the issue of a clear loophole in a federally mandated scheme in a parliament which votes on the scheme? That is their right, and my right, and that is the very purpose of debate in this parliament.
Dan Jervis-Bardy
WA premier gives qualified support to federal environment law reforms
The Western Australian premier, Roger Cook, has given his conditional support for the Albanese government’s revised nature laws as he backs Murray Watt’s aim to pass them before Christmas.
Cook campaigned against federal Labor’s first attempt to reform the EPBC Act, joining forces with the state’s powerful mining lobby to pressure Anthony Albanese to sink the so-called Nature Positive Plan ahead of the May election.
The WA premier – who was preparing for his own state election at the time of that campaign – has adopted a far more conciliatory approach with the latest iteration.
In Canberra as part of a separate parochial fight to protect the state’s lucrative GST deal, Cook indicated he shared the mining industry’s concerns with a proposed new definition of “unacceptable impact” on the environment that, if met, would result in a project being immediately refused.
But Cook said he was confident the issue could be “overcome”, suggesting he believed Watt was open to revising the definition.
The premier said the WA government “had a little way to go before we’re in a position to endorse every aspect of [the bill]” but was adamant the bill should pass – and quickly.
We need the Greens and the Liberals to basically get on board. We can do this. We can produce legislation which both encourages industry and protects the environment, and I think it’s now is the time for the parliament to act.
Question time ends
After a final dixer to the infrastructure minister, Catherine King, question time is over for another day.
Just one to go for the fortnight!
Independent Dai Le asks about bulk-billing changes for mental health consultations
Back to the crossbench: Dai Le, who represents the western Sydney seat of Fowler, asks the government about concerns by GPs that the latest changes to Medicare bulk-billing, cutting Medicare items 2712 and 2713 – which are items for mental health consultations – “removes the flexibility to provide longer meaningful consultations for complex mental health cases.”
The Royal Australian College of GPs (RACGP) has said that it’s also very concerned about these changes.
From 1 November, “key MBS mental health items will be scrapped, including item 2712 to review a mental health plan, and item 2713 for a mental health consultation longer than 20 minutes. Generic time-based items will be used for this care instead,” they said.
The health minister, Mark Butler, says “as far as I can tell” every GP practice in Fowler will be bulk-billing under the new funding changes. Le stands up on a point of order, to call on the minister to directly address the mental health items.
Milton Dick says it’s too early to say whether Butler is being relevant and tells him to continue. Butler says:
The College of GPs, increasingly they say the number-one issue that GPs are consulted about, about 70% of GPs report the number-one issue they consult about is mental health … the affordability of access to GPs is more important for mental health support than probably any other condition we can think of. I am surprised, frankly, that the member would minimise the impact of the record investment rolled out on Saturday for the access and affordability of mental health support and GPs. That was one of the overriding priorities when we designed the system that we rolled out on Saturday.
Albanese asked again about MP’s claim electricity prices will drop
The opposition have another go of trying to get Anthony Albanese to confirm whether energy prices will drop by 20% as Luke Gosling said in an interview on Sky News, this time asked by Nationals MP Anne Webster.
This time Albanese doesn’t take us down a long tangent, but whips his phone out and quotes from the Climate Change Authority’s advice to the government on the 2035 targets:
Expert analysis by the Australian energy market commission predicts residential electricity prices will fall by 13%, about 5c per kilowatt hour. Average household energy costs will fall by about 20%, around $1,000 a year over the next decade under a coordinated renewables rollout. That is the direct quote.
Dan Tehan stands up to make a point of order, but Milton Dick doesn’t even hear it and tells him to sit down. Albanese says Gosling was quoting that CCA report.
Katter asks agriculture minister about invasive weeds
Speaking of journeys, Bob Katter gets the next crossbench question, but he’s very serious today.
He asks the agriculture minister, Julie Collins, about what the government is doing about the prickly acacia and buffel grass, which he says the cattle industry is being overrun by.
Collins says the government will work with the states and territories.
Any future decisions on weed priorities including decisions on this one would be made collaboratively by all state and territory governments along with the commonwealth because as the member would be aware and territories are responsible for the management of pests … in their jurisdictions.
Albanese answers question about energy bills … kind of
Staying on energy, Liberal MP Simon Kennedy asks the PM if the member for Solomon, Luke Gosling’s “promise” on Sky News yesterday that there will be a 20% decrease in energy bills, is Labor policy.
Albanese goes on a real tangent in his answer – it’s quite the journey (and doesn’t really answer the question).
He starts by saying that no non-Coalition members go on Sky News (cue some chuckles) and then tries to quote previous work by Kennedy on net zero while he worked at McKinsey (which Albanese also did yesterday). Before he can get to those comments there’s a point of order, which is quickly shut down by Milton Dick.
Albanese then praises Sky News host Kieran Gilbert (who hosted the panel that Gosling and Kennedy were on), then talks about Gilbert coming to Apec, and then just talks about Apec.
Albanese then circles back to Kennedy’s net zero work at McKinsey, and says it’s the “hunger games” in the Coalition party room (a journey right?!)
I recommend to the member for Cook, if I can give him some advice, back in the former member for Cook [Scott Morrison]’s policy of net zero by 2050.
Bowen defends solar sharer program
Michael McCormack throws a question next to Chris Bowen on the government’s solar sharer program. He cites energy analyst Saul Kavonic, who describes the program as a “thought bubble”.
Bowen says McCormack “could have found a better expert”, as Kavonic has made several videos critical of Bowen and supporting an independent candidate in the minister’s seat of McMahon. “That’s how impartial he is,” Bowen says.
Bowen cites a bunch of other expert groups like Tim Buckley, the CEO of Clean Energy Finance who called the program “excellent”.
Albanese attacks Coalition over food bank funding
The shadow attorney general, Andrew Wallace, stands up next and also asks about data released by Foodbank, which found nearly 200,000 Queensland families went an entire day without eating in the past year.
Anthony Albanese says it’s “somewhat perplexing” that the opposition is asking about a report by Foodbank, when the former Coalition government cut their funding.
How in tactics committee when someone came up with the question of let’s ask about Foodbank, [someone] did not go: ‘Actually, what might be a little uncomfortable is the fact we ripped out $20m per year out of funding for Foodbank.’
Sussan Ley tries to make a point of order as Albanese keeps slamming the opposition, but she’s shut down by Milton Dick.
Chalmers asked about tax incentives for food bank donations
Over to the crossbench, the member for Bradfield, Nicolette Boele, asks the treasurer if he will legislate a national food donation tax incentive proposed by Foodbank that would “make it cheaper for food producers to donate excess food to those in need, reduce food waste and save taxpayer dollars”.
Jim Chalmers, who always takes an opportunity to have a dig at the Coalition, congratulates Boele for her “comprehensive victory” over the Liberal party in Bradfield.
Chalmers gives Foodbank a shoutout but doesn’t commit to a tax incentive. He says similar ideas have been previously canvassed and considered, including by a Senate inquiry.
We also know there is more than one way to help wonderful organisations doing the right thing by people in our local communities.
This government is providing additional $20m each year to help food and emergency relief organisations.
