BoM warns of destructive wind gusts as Tropic Cyclone Megan expected to cross northern coast of Australia

Meanwhile, Tropical Cyclone Megan is expected to cross the coast later this afternoon or this evening.

It is currently sitting at a category three, with sustained winds near the centre of 140 km/h and wind gusts to 195 km/h.

It is sitting 70km from Borroloola and 45 km from Port McArthur, moving at 8 km/h.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the warning zone included Port Roper in the NT to Mornington Island in Queensland, extending inland to Borroloola, McArthur River Mine, and Robinson River.

The VERY DESTRUCTIVE CORE of Megan, with wind gusts up to 200 km/h, is now impacting the Sir Edward Pellew Group and adjacent coastal areas between Port McArthur and the NT/Qld border.

DESTRUCTIVE WIND GUSTS to 140 km/h are forecast to extend to adjacent inland areas near the forecast track southeast of Borroloola this evening and tonight.

Graham Quirk says Victoria Park stadium recommendations were not ‘just for the games’ and represent ‘value for money’

The former Lord Mayor of Brisbane Graham Quirk is appearing on ABC News, following the rejection of his Victoria Park stadium plan. The Queensland premier, Steven Miles, sensationally rejected the independent recommendation for the multibillion dollar Olympic stadium to be built earlier today.

Quirk says they had a “good hard look” at all sites on the table and Victoria Park was the “clear, best option” due to the legacy it would have for the Queensland community after the conclusion of the Olympics.

Anyone who reads the report will see the findings that led to our recommendations … we had not recommended anything that was just for an Olympic and Paralympic games … we have tried to avoid building something just for the games.

We’ve gone about presenting a report to the government in good faith … and that’s what we have done. They are independent recommendations based on legacy and value for money.

LNP says Steven Miles has ‘bothced’ Olympic infrastructure decisions for Queensland

Deputy LNP leader Jarrod Bleijie has promised to go back to the drawing board and ask yet another body to review planned Olympics infrastructure if elected.

But he refused to say whether his party preferred the original Gabba proposal, or Graham Quirk’s Victoria Park idea, or an upgrade of the Nathan Queensland Sports and Athletics Centre. Mostly, he just thinks premier Steven Miles has stuffed the whole thing up.

Seriously, Steven Miles must be held accountable. Steven Miles has botched this. This is costing Queenslanders billions of dollars.

If I was in the International Olympic Committee, or Olympians around the world at the moment ... I’d be looking at all these announcements - and it changes every day - and shaking my head in embarrassment for this state.

Bleijie said if the LNP are elected in October it will ask the planned Olympics independent delivery authority to decide which projects are necessary.

What we will absolutely be doing, if we’re honoured to serve in government after October, is telling the independent infrastructure delivery authority that these are your decisions; go back to the original agreement that was made with the International Olympic Committee.

TikTok embraces more gambling content despite criticism from public health experts

Social media giant TikTok has further embraced the gambling industry and accepted paid ads from lottery companies, despite criticism from public health experts.

All gambling advertising was banned on TikTok before late 2022 when the company started a trial with the online wagering giant Sportsbet. The trial was later expanded to include Neds and Dabble. These companies now target a younger audience on the platform with social media influencers.

TikTok, which is facing growing calls to be banned in Australia, has decided to also allow lottery companies to advertise on its platform. One ad seen by Guardian Australia from Oz Lotteries sells tickets to its $40m Powerball competition.

A TikTok spokesperson said:

After a carefully controlled pilot for gambling related advertising, we are now allowing certain lottery organisations to advertise on the platform. All ads are strictly monitored and are targeted at people over 18 years of age. There is an opt out feature for those who do not wish to see the ads.

Advertising from Sportsbet, Neds and Dabble is restricted to people aged 21 and older.

Lotteries are treated as a form of gambling and strictly regulated by state wagering authorities. The NSW regulator describes them as “one form of gambling that’s a source of harmless entertainment for most people - just don’t get too attached to the idea of winning”.

A parliamentary inquiry in June, led by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy, called for a blanket ban on gambling advertising. But in a bipartisan report, the inquiry called for lottery companies to be exempt as they “have a lower risk of gambling harm than other forms of online gambling”.

AMA says health costs of dealing with vaping will dwarf potential tax losses under regulation

The Australian Medical Association – the nation’s peak medical body – along with more than 50 specialist medical associations have met with government leaders in Canberra today to discuss system-wide health sector reform.

The AMA’s president, Prof Steve Robson, called concerns around $9bn of potential tax revenue lost in over the counter vape sales “laughable”. Robson told Channel 10 the concerns stem from people who stand to profit from vaping:

The government should absolutely stamp out vaping if it possibly can in this country. And talk by people who profit from vaping - people who want to sell vapes and make money - about taxes is absolutely laughable, because the amount of money you make from taxes will be dwarfed by the health costs of dealing with the consequences of vaping.

So that’s a silly argument, and we should see it for what it is. We support the legislation to try to control vaping going to the parliament, and we really hope it succeeds.

Hear the Gaza protestors in the House of Representatives

As we mentioned earlier, this afternoon’s question time was disrupted by a lively protest in the public gallery. Protesters shouted “shame” and called for “ceasefire now” while yelling about the experiences of Palestinians in Gaza.

We can run this footage as it is from the gallery broadcast – you can’t actually see the protestors, (just the awkward reactions of MPs), but you can hear them.

Have a listen:

Kids help hotline workers stop work

Child protection workers who answer calls on Australia’s after hours hotline for the public to report at-risk kids have stopped work this evening over what the Public Service Association (PSA) alleges is chronic overwork, arbitrary staff suspensions and unreasonable workplace directives.

The snap two-hour stop work meeting comes after call centre workers had work from home arrangements revoked, with staff reporting working in excess of 18 hours at a time to keep the hotline open.

PSA’s acting general secretary, Troy Wright, said the child protection system was “in crisis”:

We’ve been telling anybody who’ll listen the child protection system is about to collapse but no-one is listening … the after-hours response team take calls from members of the public who are worried about the welfare of our most precious resource, our children.

Already chronically overloaded case workers at the district level are now picking up the slack of the after hours response team which has them being woken up at all hours to rescue kids in need – that’s on top of their day job.

On that note, I am going to hand you over to Caitlin Cassidy to guide you through the evening. She’ll bring you more news of the day, so stick with us!

I’ll be back early tomorrow morning for day two of the sitting. Until then, take care of you Ax

Queensland will not upgrade Gabba stadium to full accessibility for people with disabilities

Let’s check back in with Queensland where the premier, Steven Miles, has conceded the government will not press ahead with upgrading the Gabba stadium so it is fully accessible for those with disabilities.

Miles said the government will allocate more than half a billion dollars to revamping the stadium but it will not receive upgrades to make it completely accessible.

I think [our proposal] is [of] great value. It delivers us three upgraded stadiums and a new arena.

His comments came after the government ditched its proposal to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games at the Gabba. The state government has also rejected an independent review’s recommendation to scrap the $2.7bn Gabba rebuild and construct a $3.4bn stadium at Victoria Park.

The government will instead hold the opening and closing ceremonies at Suncorp Stadium.

We asked Miles if he felt Queenslanders were still excited about the Olympics after several reviews, uncertainty about where the Games would be held and cost-of-living pressures. Miles:

Of course it varies [depending] where in the state you are, who you’re talking to, and how much they’re struggling. And I understand that. I believe that we can deliver a fantastic Olympic and Paralympic Games while also focusing on the priorities of Queenslanders right now. That’s the message I’ve heard from them.

Why aren’t there any images of the House gallery protestors?

The not-allowed-to-show-the-gallery-on-broadcasts rule extends to photos: press photographers are not allowed to take photos of the public galleries, unless there is an acknowledgement from the speaker.

To take the photo, or run it, usually leads to a penalty, which includes being banned from entering the press gallery for a period of time.

It is an archaic rule that means quite a few protests can not be shown.

Protestors removed after accusing Albanese of supporting genocide

Paul Karp was in the chamber and saw the protest (we can only hear it on the broadcast, as there is a rule about not showing the public galleries, unless someone is acknowledged by the speaker). Karp says the protesters were yelling:

You support genocide.

Albanese, your hands are red. 15,000 children dead.

There were a group of five, and as they were being removed, a seperate group of five stood up and continued the protest. They were removed in two blocks.

Murray Watt says cancelled-then-uncancelled visas the result of ‘additional information’

The emergency management minister, Murray Watt, earlier in Senate question time responded to questions over the cancelled-then-uncancelled visas for some Palestinians fleeing Gaza.

Liberal senator Dave Sharma asked how visas had been granted to Palestinians in the besieged territory, how many had been cancelled and how many had since been reinstated?

Watt didn’t offer any figures but explained the process to date:

Decisions were made to award visas to some applicants - not all. And those decisions were based on information that was available at the time those decisions were made.

Further information, in some cases, came to light. And on the basis of that information, the security advice was that some visas should be cancelled and that action was taken. And then as time progressed, additional information came to light which required the reinstitution of some of those visas that had been cancelled.

That is ordinary practice for any government of any political persuasion to make visa decisions based on information that’s available. And that is based on security advice from security agencies.

Sharma asked why some had been cancelled and then reinstated based on reporting in the media. Guardian Australia on Friday had revealed some visas had been cancelled while Australian authorities investigated the way in which they managed to leave Gaza. Some of those visas have since been reinstated.

Watt responded to Sharma, referencing his experience as an Australian ambassador to Israel:

I would expect that as an experienced member of parliament and a former diplomat you would know that governments do not provide that level of detail about security advice that they receive. And simply being a member of the opposition doesn’t automatically entitle you to ask those sorts of questions or get that sort of information.

You would surely know that governments don’t provide that kind of security information.

Anika Wells becomes the latest Labor MP to use the phrase “every single taxpayer will get a tax cut” under the stage-three tax cut changes in a dixer, which is not true. People on jobseeker (so earning about $19,000 on the maximum) will not receive a tax cut, however they do pay tax.

It is not correct to say every taxpayer will receive a tax cut.

Dan Tehan pursues lines about ‘foreign criminals’ over high court detention ruling

OK. We are now going there.

Dan Tehan asks: How many foreign criminals over the next six months will finish a custodial of your sentence and be released into the community instead of going to immigration detention?

Andrew Giles:

I remind him and the House that what we’re talking about here arises from a decision of the high court. A decision indeed that we argued strongly against, but one that any government like any government we must obliged to follow the law and comply with the orders of the court. Which we are doing.

In relation to the question he asks a moment ago, I dealt with some of the steps ... that is why we have put in place four layers of protection.

Tehan repeats his question – he wants a number. There is a particular emphasis on the phrase “foreign criminals”. Milton Dick reminds Tehan he can’t order how a minister answers the question, just that they stay relevant.

Giles continues:

What this question shows is exactly why the shadow ministers uninterested in the legal briefing because he prefers fear factor. Fear to fact every time.

He well understands the issues he would be briefed on and that is why he is choosing not to be briefed by me.

The rukus continues and MCM repeats “a lot of worried property investors”, but he is made to sit down. Anthony Albanese uses the rest of his time to sledge MCM and we all lose another three minutes of our lives.

Sidenote: MCM’s staff have asked some journalists whether or not they rent when they ring up to ask questions, which has taken some journalists aback, but it is one way of working out the understanding of the issue.

Greens pressure Labor on property tax discounts and negative gearing: Albanese says it’s all about supply

Max Chandler-Mather has the first of the crossbench question and it is for….Anthony Albanese:

To the prime minister: why is Labor refusing to phase out the big tax handouts for property investors, including the capital gains tax discount and negative [gearing] that benefit … property investors like yourself and the 75% of Labor politicians who own an investment property?

Albanese:

I thank the member for his question and I look forward to his discussion – in the body are property developers in the Senate who are currently having proposals to carve through koala habitats in his party room, but that is fine.

(Amy note: student politicians never truly leave student politics.)

Our position with regard to housing is that the key to addressing housing shortage is supply. It is our position.

That is why we have the housing Australia future fund which was opposed by those opposite all the way through and was opposed by the crossbenches for a considerable period of time as well. Eventually they voted for it ...

Of course there is a bill before the Senate now, to help to buy a bill that is about putting people into home ownership. It is a shared equity scheme, something that the greens … party so that the last election was their policy … There were two elections and it was their policy but instead of that of course they are now opposing that move as well….

MCM has a point of order. Milton Dick warns him he can’t really be on relevance because the question was so broad. MCM says it is on relevance and the Labor caucus goes wild.

MCM:

A lot of worried property investors?

Labor refuses to apologise for UNRWA funding pause

The government’s Senate leader, Don Farrell, defended the original suspension of funding to Unrwa (which has since been un-paused). He said the Australian government stopped the $6m from going out the door “because there was good reason to make a decision to review the contribution based on evidence that had been provided”.

In response to an interjection that “there was no evidence”, Farrell said:

Well, with respect, Senator [Nick] McKim, there was evidence that resulted in this government making the sensible decision to review. But we have resumed the contribution.

The deputy leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi, pressed the government to “admit your gross mistake in suspending Unrwa funding and apologise for it at least”.

Farrell replied:

No, Senator Faruqi. I won’t apologise [for] it. We took the appropriate action in the circumstances to review our humanitarian contribution to UNRWA based on the evidence that had been provided. We’ve now resumed those payments and we’ve done that with a range of other countries.

Faruqi, in a follow-up question, told the Senate that “after forcibly displacing Palestinians in Gaza to Rafah, having murdered over 31,000 Palestinians, Israel is now starving children to death”. She asked when the Australian government would stop supporting Israel.

Farrell replied that it was “as if those terrorists in Hamas in October last year don’t exist based on your question, Senator Faruqi”. Farrell said the Greens must understand that “innocent men, women and children on the southern border of Israel were massacred in a terrorist assault by Hamas”.

Back on the Olympic Games for a moment.

The Queensland premier, Steven Miles, has just announced;

• Suncorp Stadium will be upgraded to host the opening and closing ceremonies;

• The Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre will be upgraded for the athletics events;

• Gabba Stadium will not be demolished and cricket and AFL will continue to be played there before it is eventually upgraded;

• Brisbane Arena will proceed as an events centre within Roma St Parklands;

• The government will not follow a recommendation by the Graham Quirk review to rebuild a new $3.4bn stadium in Victoria Park; and

• The government will explore transport opportunities to link QSAC, QEII hospital, and Griffith University with city precincts.

Labor says renewed funding of Unrwa shows commitment to preventing starvation in Gaza

After the Senate exchange between the Coalition and the government over Unrwa funding, the next questioner was the deputy leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi. Faruqi told the Senate:

Under intense pressure from the community and the Greens, the Labor government has been forced to reverse its disgraceful suspension of Unrwa funding. It is clear funding was suspended by Minister [Penny] Wong without any evidence and compounded starvation and suffering for Palestinians. The Human Rights Watch, Oxfam and others, have said Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war. At least 23 children in northern Gaza have died from malnutrition and dehydration …

There were quite a few interjections, prompting the Senate president, Sue Lines, to say Faruqi had the “absolute right to ask her question in silence – from both sides of the chamber”. Faruqi continued:

At least 23 children in northern Gaza have died from malnutrition and dehydration, adding to over 13,000 already killed by Israel. In a world where Palestinians’ lives mattered to the Labor party, it would be an absolute political scandal for a sitting minister …

The time for asking the question expired. Faruqi complained that this was because some senators were shouting. Lines said it was an “extremely long” question.

The government’s acting Senate leader, Don Farrell, responded:

Well, of course, the Labor party doesn’t want to see anybody starving. And that’s the case in respect of the Gaza [Strip]. And that is why Australia has committed $52.5m in humanitarian aid. And that’s why Australia has resumed its contribution towards Unrwa and will continue to provide humanitarian assistance where it’s needed in Gaza. I mean, the circumstances in Gaza are terrible. We all know that.

Giles says government position on long-term detainees will be defended before high court

Back to the House questions and Dan Tehan:

The solicitor general told the high court on 8 November 2023 that up to 340 people in long-term detention could be released as a result of the NZ-YQ case. [Is] that the number of criminals that the government expects to release, as referred to in its secret briefing to journalists on Friday?

Yes, so secret it was reported.

No numbers were reported in the off the record briefing, where they took questions, but still didn’t provide answers.

Andrew Giles:

I thank the shadow minister for this question and his apparent new-found interest in legal matters. Today is 105 days since we offered a legal briefing on the issues going before this …

Now, at the time it was offered, [the opposition] were too busy, to be fair. One of the shadow ministers was at Harvard on a study tour, another one could not escape the Sky studios, another was at the races. Now, as for the 104 days since then, I don’t know what they’ve been doing …

Tehan uses his very serious voice to be very serious in a point of order, which is not a point of order. Giles continues:

[Tehan] seems well acquainted with his secret briefing. I would encourage him to be briefed on the real legal issues going to these issues so that he can make a constructive contribution to community safety.

That he chooses not to do is inexplicable, other than if he wants to retain some licence to free-range on issues that he knows he’s in the wrong on.

I can’t get into the details of cases before the high court. I won’t. But I will say this – the government believes that these individuals, those who are not cooperating with their removal, should be removed from Australia as a priority and if, while they are not, they should remain in immigration detention.

This is the position that was successfully defended before the federal Court. We will be vigorously defending this before the high Court.

Labor says NZ is ‘our most trusted ally’ after Liberal questioning over Unrwa funding

Still in Senate question time, the shadow assistant foreign minister, Claire Chandler, demanded to know whether the Australian government consulted “with the United States prior to announcing the resumption of finding to Unrwa”.

The government’s acting Senate leader, Don Farrell, didn’t give a direct answer, saying only that “we make our own decisions about who we make humanitarian grants to”. Chandler followed up with the question:

Why is the Albanese Labor government acting in opposition to the US, our most trusted international partner, who await the outcomes of the investigation into UNRWA and in the interim is pursuing alternate means of delivering more humanitarian assistance?

Which prompted a somewhat curious response from Farrell, who is minding the fort for Penny Wong (she’s expected back tomorrow):

Well, I take issue with your first statement there. I’m not sure that the United States is our most trusted ally. I would have said New Zealand, in the whole history of time.

(This sparked quite a few interventions and the Senate president called for order.)

When the chamber quietened down, Farrell maintained that he “would have said our closest international ally is New Zealand”. Farrell - who is from the right of the Labor party, a faction not known for any hostility to Australia’s relationship with the US - added:

We are very close to the United States – I freely concede that. And we’ll continue to work closely with the United States on a range of international issues.

Condolence motion to Fitzgibbon family to be held Thursday

Anthony Albanese thanks the speaker, Milton Dick, for delaying question time so that MPs could go to Jack Fitzgibbon’s funeral.

A condolence motion will be held on Thursday, when the Fitzgibbon family will be present.

Memorial speeches for Linda White conclude

Sussan Ley delivered a speech and the rest will move to the federation chamber. The house rises for a moment of silence. The house should now move to QT.

Greens and Liberals pressure Labor over suspension – and unsuspension – of Unrwa funding

In Senate question time, both the Coalition and the Greens have sought to put pressure (from different directions) on the government over its handling of the suspension and then resumption of $6m in funding to the aid agency Unrwa.

A quick recap: the foreign minister, Penny Wong, announced on Friday that the Australian government would “un-pause” the funding, as an updated agreement with Unrwa would include guarantees of staff neutrality and other measures to improve confidence in supply chains.

Australia was among more than a dozen donor countries to suspend funding to Unrwa in late January, after the Israeli government alleged that 12 Unrwa staff members were involved in the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on Israel. Friday’s decision to reinstate Australian funding follows similar moves by Canada, Sweden and the European Union.

The Coalition senator Claire Chandler began by pressing the government to release the advice surrounding the reinstatement of funding, and to outline what undertakings had been given.

The government’s acting Senate leader, Don Farrell, said:

The allegations against UNRWA were obviously serious, they were grave and they warranted an immediate and appropriate response.

Farrell said “a number of countries” including Canada, Sweden, and the EU had since taken the decision to resume funding.

Jodie Belyea’s first day in parliament: in pictures

Our own Mike Bowers, photograher at large, was there for Jodie Belyea’s first steps into the chamber:

David Littleproud and the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, who was close to Linda White, have also spoken on the condolence motion.

Labor trolls Liberals over gender issues in Senate question time

Over in Senate question time, Labor is poking a little fun at the Liberal party about its gender representation woes.

On Saturday, backbench senator Alex Antic snatched the top spot on the Liberal party’s South Australian upper house ticket from the shadow health minister, Anne Ruston. It’s reignited concerns the party is not tackling its women problem.

In a dixer from Victorian Labor senator Jess Walsh, the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, is asked: why is it important to listen to women? And what difference does it make having women at decision-making tables?

Gallagher gave this tongue-in-cheek response:

I’m very proud, along with all of my colleagues in the other place, to be a member of the first federal government that has a majority of members who are women. And that hasn’t happened by accident.

And we know there’s still some political parties that struggle with the role they want women to play in their political party. But we have made a very clear decision to increase the number of women and it’s paid off.

The emergency management minister, Murray Watt, who is known as a bit of a troll in the upper house’s question time, repeats: “Who could that be?”

The opposition benches erupt in heckling. Watt knows his audience.

Marles says Linda White’s legacy is gender equity in the Labor caucus

Richard Marles is next to speak on Linda White, who he knew for 25 years:

Because of Linda, there are now thousands of women in this country who are paid more, who enjoy conditions of employment such as paid parental leave which enable them to balance work and family much better.

They are the beneficiaries of her work, but so is our nation. Because the innate dignity of their work - which Linda always understood - because of her work is now much better honoured in the Australian workplace.

And in the ALP, Linda brought an eye to detail. To finances, to government, to administration that our party is well-run is wholly unremarkable, but everybody in this chamber knows that, when the reverse is the case, it can be disastrous.

But I think Linda’s greatest achievement is her commitment to, her championing of, her defence of, the ALP’s affirmative action targets. And the legacy of her work is sitting behind me now – a caucus which is now made up of equal numbers of men and women. In fact, slightly more women than men.

And having been a member of this caucus since 2007, I cannot overstate how much better it is that we are a caucus which properly represents those who vote for us. We are able to harness the full talent of our base.

And the issues that we speak about and the way in which we speak about them is completely different, and the outcomes are there for everyone.

Dutton joins rememberance of Labor senator Linda White

Peter Dutton is also delivering a speech in honour of Linda White:

During the time in which we all serve in this place, we all see many colleagues exit the political arena. Some call time on their careers. Others leave in the defeat which comes from the democratic process. But in both cases, our former colleagues get to know life away from politics. And that life affords time for reflection.

Time for new opportunities. And most importantly, more time with those whom we love and cherish the most.

Death is, of course, the most unfair exit from this place, because death deprives our colleagues of these times. Our hearts break whenever fate thrusts an unfair exit on our fellow parliamentarians, regardless of their political stripes.

In this 47th Parliament, fate has been thrust unfair exits on Jim Molan, Peta Murphy, and now on Linda White.

In Linda’s maiden speech, she said she was saving many stories for her memoirs. And while those stories will sadly not be written, Linda’s stories will live on in the memories of her colleagues and friends, especially those opposite me.

Albanese remembers Linda White as ‘strong, brave, extraordinary’

Anthony Albanese continues:

When I visited her in hospital weeks before her passing, Linda was in good spirits.

She was focused on the Dunkley byelection and even apologised for not being on the ground campaigning.

She had so much more to do. I take the opportunity to thank the leader of the opposition for the discreet way in which Linda’s health issues were handled in this place and in the other.

Linda was determined to not let people know just how sick she was – and very few people were aware, which is why her passing has come as such a shock to so many in the Labor family.

It said a lot about her and her character that she didn’t want people to make a fuss. She just dealt with it as the strong, brave, extraordinary person that she was.

The house is holding a condolence motion for Labor senator Linda White, who passed away last month.

Anthony Albanese:

The day that Linda entered the parliament was a good day for the Australian Labor party, for the Senate but, more importantly, for the nation.

A perfect picture of the new senator was provided by her extraordinary and varied group of supporters packing out the public gallery for her first speech to the Senate.

What they heard that day was someone with a full appreciation of the privilege and the responsibility of elected office, and how the need to listen is as powerful as the need to act. In Linda’s words, there’s no doubt in my mind that governments change lives.

That strong, progressive Labor governments change them for the better. But sometimes, governments need a helping hand to stay on track. As I often say - sometimes, we need someone else to show us our best selves.

Sadly, Linda was not destined to be in the Senate for long, but she made powerful use of the brief time she had, making a profound impact on matters of significance, including the National Anti-Corruption Commission, better access to superannuation for women, and the important check on executive power, the scrutiny of delegated legislation committee.

She may well have been the most senior new backbencher to have ever existed.

Labor’s Jodie Belyea, winner of Dunkley byelection, sworn in

Labor’s newest MP, Jodie Belyea, has been welcomed into the chamber as the newest member for Dunkley.

She is sworn in and receives a standing ovation.

Greens indicate they will fight gas project changes ‘tooth and nail’

The Greens leader Adam Bandt has accused Labor of “shameful” conduct around a plan that could reduce consultation with First Nations communities on gas projects, saying his party would fight it “tooth and nail” in parliament this week.

The party’s First Nations spokesperson, Dorinda Cox, claimed the proposed change would constitute “denying us a voice”, raising alarm about the effect of the changes on sea country.

Bandt claimed the bill could be potentially “the most significant bill” of this parliament. Paul Karp has been reporting on this extensively, with concerns raised by some MPs and Indigenous communities about whether their voices may be shut out of consultation on new resources projects.

In a press conference this afternoon, Bandt accused the government of a “broken election promise”, and urged the government to work with the Greens instead of the Liberals on the plan. The Greens have offered to pass the government’s fuel emissions standards if Labor instead drops the gas changes.

Cox, a Yamatji-Noongar woman, was scathing of the potential changes and its possible impact on Indigenous communities.

“We as traditional owners stood beside the Albanese government during the voice referendum campaign, invested all of our power in a government that said they wanted a voice to parliament to tell them how the system was broken,” she said.

“It is this government who are driving a stake into First Nations people’s hearts by denying us a voice of opposition to gas projects on sea country.”

Medical association calls for independent health workforce planning agency

As we mentioned earlier in the morning, peak medical body the Australian Medical Association, along with more than 50 specialist medical associations – everyone from the Hand Surgery Society to the Gastroenterological Society - are meeting with government leaders in Canberra today to discuss system-wide health sector reform.

The AMA’s pre-budget submission is asking for a $1bn commitment to create an independent national health workforce planning agency. Its president, Prof Steve Robson, says it’s needed to guide a workforce that has “essentially been a rudderless ship for a decade now”. Robson told Channel 10:

The old agency that looked after the healthcare workforce in Australia was disbanded a decade ago. And really, nobody has had oversight.

And I think that’s a big part of the reason we’ve ended up in the problems that we are, with big shortages of specialities like general practice, psychiatry and others … you can’t see a lot of doctors in rural Australia.

It’s absolutely time that the Government stepped up, create a workforce agency that can look at the healthcare needs of Australians, where they are and what care they need, and plan a workforce.

If we don’t do that, we’re not going to get out of the mud that we’re stuck in at the moment.

Dr Astha Tomar, the president-elect of the peak body of psychiatrists, says they are requesting 45 extra training places for more doctors to be able to pursue the specialty.

Crossparty-supported Rohingya refugee event to follow QT

A little after question time, Craig Foster will join representatives from Amnesty International and Médecins Sans Frontières to give an update on what Rohingya refugees are experiencing.

The delegation wants the Australian government to take a lead in the resettlement of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, establish a targeted quota for refugees from Myanmar to be resettled in Australia and to increase Australia’s humanitarian intake to 40,000 places a year.

Also speaking at the event is Amnesty International’s refugee rights advisor, Graham Thom, and Médecins Sans Frontières Australia’s executive director, Jennifer Tierney, as well as Kylea Tink MP, Bridget Archer MP and Senator Janet Rice. Foster:

Late last year I travelled to Cox’s Bazar [in Bangladesh] to see firsthand the situation facing nearly one million Rohingya refugees and to take their stories to decision-makers in Australia on their behalf.

The scale of human tragedy, right on Australia’s doorstep, is impossible to capture in words alone. Crisis, catastrophe, unfathomable suffering, none of these words can truly speak of the anguish, pain and desperation of a million people trapped in these refugee camps.

Question time looms …

The house has moved on to the airing of the MPs’s grievances – the 90-second statements.

QT will begin in about 15 minutes.

Funeral for ADF member Jack Fitzgibbon has concluded

Politicians are returning from Cessnock where the funeral for Joel Fitzgibbon’s son, Jack was held. Fitzgibbon pre-recorded his eulogy, which was played at the funeral.

As AAP reports – and as you would expect – it was a deeply emotional affair.

Cpl Fitzgibbon also deeply loved his family. We are in no doubt about that. (Breaking into tears)

… This is why I’m not doing this live.

Angus Taylor attempts to amend superannuation bill to highlight Labor’s ‘broken promise’

Because there is a bit of extra time in the chamber today for debates, there are a few amendment attempts getting a little more attention than usual.

Angus Taylor has moved an amendment on a superannuation bill Jim Chalmers has introduced into the house. Taylor wants the house to acknowledge:

(a) the former government delivered major reforms to superannuation that supported better member outcomes, better performance, and transparent governance, and that were driven by the clear understanding that superannuation is Australians’ money;

(b) the prime minister and the treasurer promised no changes to superannuation prior to the election and the prime minister promised “no major changes” to superannuation in February 2023, but have since broken that promise by introducing a new superannuation tax on unrealised capital gains, which is a world-first wealth tax that will hurt farmers and family businesses and force Australians to pay tax on money they have not earned; and

(c) that the government’s failure to index their new superannuation tax means up to two million young Australians earning average wages today will face a wealth tax, according to analysis of Treasury modelling published in the Australian; and

(2) calls on the government to abandon its broken promise on taxing superannuation

Pretty sure I can say the government is not going to support that one.

China’s foreign minister in NZ

Wang Yi is on his way to Australia – but first, China’s foreign minister has stopped off for a meeting with New Zealand leaders. As AAP reports:

China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, has begun his diplomatic tour of Australia and New Zealand, meeting with his Kiwi counterpart at Wellington’s Parliament House. The deputy PM and foreign minister, Winston Peters, greeted Wang, who is the most senior Chinese politician to visit NZ since his last trip in 2017. Peters:

We are honoured to host you here in the Grand Hall at the New Zealand parliament, the heart of New Zealand’s democracy.

There have been some significant developments since we last met, not least a global pandemic that impacted both our countries. Today is a valuable opportunity to reflect on the challenges and opportunities that are now before us.

NZ and Australia are formal allies, but the two countries have distinct relationships with Beijing.

Just a reminder that question time will be held at 3.30 today to accommodate Jack Fitzgibbon’s funeral.

Palestinian ambassador calls initial refugee visa cancellations ‘regrettable and disappointing’

Palestine’s ambassador to Australia says it was “regrettable and disappointing” that the government cancelled some visas of people who escaped from Gaza, and has called for more consular assistance for those people who haven’t been able to leave the war zone yet.

The government announced overnight that some Palestinians who had been granted Australian visas, and subsequently had those visas cancelled, would now be free to travel after all.

Izzat Abdulhadi, the head of the general delegation of Palestine, said he welcomed the reinstatement of some visas but said Australia should also restore the remaining ones.

“It is regrettable and disappointing that the Australian government decided to cancel a number of visitor visas (subclass 600) held by those who, after extreme and exhausting difficulties, were finally able to leave Gaza through Rafah and were already en route to Australia,” he said in a statement.

The justification provided by Home Affairs for the sudden cancellation of these visas was neither convincing nor sufficient, having left people stranded in transit countries where they can only stay for a limited time, suddenly unable to travel onward to the family and safety waiting for them in Australia.

A spokesperson for the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, said last week that visa applicants “are subject to ongoing security assessments” and that the government “reserves the right to cancel any issued visas if circumstances change”.

If people make it out of Gaza without explanation, or their circumstances change in any meaningful way, we will take the time to understand those changes before proceeding.

Abdulhadi said he was concerned about people who may be forced to return to Gaza.

The general delegation further calls on the Australian government provide consular services to assist those still in Gaza holding Australian visitor visas to leave and come to Australia.

Karen Andrews moves into Scott Morrison’s old office

For those who like to keep an eye on some of the inside baseball events in this place, you may be interested to know that there is a new tenant in Scott Morrison’s backbencher office.

Morrison had the office right near the House of Representatives coffee cart. People who went to the cart were stared down by a Morrison lookalike garden gnome (complete with glasses) that had been stationed in the window.

The gnome exited the window once Morrison completed his final speech – it was how people knew he had finally left the building himself.

Now we are told the former home affairs minister Karen Andrews, who was the only Morrison minister to actually call out the former PM for secretly swearing himself into five other portfolios, including her own, has now moved into the office.

In what is a fairly new event, former PMs who move to the backbench are offered offices with a slightly larger meeting room (just a bit more square footage to help salve the pain). We are unaware whether Morrison’s former office was one of the sought after spaces, but there is a certain lovely irony in Andrews moving into Morrison’s old space.

(The gnome has been replaced by vases and a pot with butterflies on it)

Katter advocates for more cancer types to be included in PBS

Bob Katter is using his platform to raise the plight of a constituent who is ineligible for a potentially life-saving cancer treatment through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme because she has the “wrong” kind of cancer.

Lisa Laird is on a “final option for treatment”, a drug called trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu), which was listed on the PBS by Mark Butler recently, but only for people diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer, not HER2-negative breast cancer.

Laird, whose cancer has spread to her bones, lungs and stomach, falls into the second category. If you don’t meet the requirements for the PBS cover, then the drug is $13,000 a treatment. Most people need multiple treatments, and Laird needs at least five, which would be $60,000.

Katter has written to Butler’s office to have the drug made available to patients with HER2-negative cancer.

The PBS committee is considering the listing, with the result to be made public later next month.

Katter says he will continue to advocate for Laird and others in her position.

Free makeup anyone?

For reasons unclear, there is a giant L’Oréal stand in parliament’s Mural Hall, where samples of makeup and skin care are apparently being handed out.

For reasons also unclear, former Coalition defence minister Christopher Pyne has been spotted at the event.

Albanese government to argue for right to keep people in detention in high court appeal

In February Guardian Australia revealed the Albanese government is facing an appeal that seeks to extend the high court ruling that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful to a cohort of people who can’t be deported in part because of their lack of cooperation with authorities.

The case, brought by an Iranian man known by the pseudonym ASF17, will be heard in the high court on 17 April. ASF17 can’t be deported because he refuses to meet Iranian authorities. He has said he “fears for his life if he is removed to Iran” because he is bisexual, Christian, a Faili Kurd and because he had opposed “the mistreatment of women by the government in Iran”.

As expected, the government will be arguing for the right to keep non-citizens in detention.

The immigration minister, Andrew Giles:

The government believes these individuals should be removed from Australia as a priority. Individuals who do not cooperate with their removal should remain in immigration detention. We successfully defended this position in the federal court and will vigorously defend this in the high court.

Monique Ryan’s Hecs petition attracts tens of thousands of signatures

The independent MP Monique Ryan has set up a Change.org petition calling on the government to change how people pay back their Hecs debt.

More than 50,000 people have signed it in just a few days.

Paul Keating went on to say it was normal practice for “former Prime Ministers of all countries [to] meet ministers of other countries most if not all the time”. He said:

This is the normal intercourse of national and international discussion that takes place across the world.

Despite his recent strong criticism of Aukus, Keating sought to minimise points of difference with the government in his latest statement:

As to the Australian government, I have strongly supported the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in his desire, in his words, to re-anchor Australian foreign policy in the region. Or as the Prime Minister put it last week at the ASEAN Summit, his commitment to Australia ‘finding its security in Asia not from Asia’.

As I have supported Foreign Minister Penny Wong in her attempts to lower the loud hailer and ‘stabilise’ relations with China.

And, given the chance, I will be emphasising these points to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. Australia has moved substantially from the counterproductive baiting policy the Morrison government applied to China to now something much more civil and productive.

A reminder of Keating’s previous interventions on Aukus:

As expected, the Greens lost that division, six to 63.

The chamber is dividing. Again, there are many MPs who are in Cessnock, attending the funeral of Jack Fitzgibbon so it won’t be a full cohort, but Labor and the Coalition will vote against this.

The funeral for Jack Fitzgibbon, the son of former Labor defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon, is under way in Cessnock.

Bandt urges MPs to condemn Israel’s attacks on Gaza

Greens leader Adam Bandt has moved to suspend standing orders in the house with a very similar motion to the one Jordon Steele-John moved a little earlier in the Senate.

That the House:

(1) notes that since the House resolution of 16 October 2023 concerning Israel and Gaza, which supported the State of Israel’s looming invasion of Gaza by stating that the House ‘stands with Israel’, the following have occurred:

(a) an appalling and increasing toll of deaths and injuries caused by the State of Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza;

(b) a growing humanitarian catastrophe caused by the State of Israel’s blockade, bombing and invasion of Gaza; and

(c) the State of Israel is the subject of recent International Court of Justice orders in South Africa’s case regarding the prevention of genocide;

(2) therefore does not support the State of Israel’s continued invasion of Gaza and calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire; and

(3) calls on the Australian Government to end its support for the State of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

It will see the same result – Labor and the Coalition will not support this.

Could a different Parliament House design promote bipartisan collaboration?

Just on Zoe McKenzie’s contribution – we saw a very similar day of bipartisanship after the death of Labor MP Peta Murphy, with MPs from across the chamber coming together to mourn a colleague who had friends on all sides of politics.

I remember speaking to an older parliamentarian who worked at Old Parliament House and mourned the collaborative nature the old building created.

Before new parliament house was opened in the late 1980s, MPs worked out of the building which had been opened in 1927. Now, there were a lot of issues with that building (it’s size, the lack of female toilets, because why would women ever be in the nation’s seat of power, etc) but there were benefits – the offices for MPs were pretty much a couple of desks. If they wanted to eat, they had to go into the common areas and if they wanted to go to the bathroom, they had to head to shared facilities. All of this naturally meant there was a lot of interaction between MPs from different parties, because they were forced to interact on a daily basis.

Many a bill was debated at the urinal, apparently (which is not an image I think any of us ever needed) but it meant that MPs were better across their opponent’s positions. And it led to more cooperation on policy. Compromises. And actual bipartisanship when it mattered. It seems hard to believe now, but there was a time when the parliament was in lock step about raising the budget deficit to build more homes.

When the new parliament opened, MPs saw their offices become self contained suites, with individual toilets, and kitchenettes. A MP can come into the building and see no one else except their office and those they encounter on the way through to the chamber if they wish.

Not sure if our politics has benefited from such insulation.

Stop the character assassinations and work together, Liberal MP says

You may remember a quite ridiculous hoo-ha over the Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie posting a photo of her with Labor’s newest MP Jodie Belyea after Belyea’s election as the Dunkley MP, captioning it:

Congratulations

You have been a good friend to women across the Mornington Peninsula. Look forward to working with you in looking after paradise!

Which caused anonymous MPs to tell The Australian newspaper that McKenzie had committed “an absolute act of naivety” and an “unforgivable” act against the party by welcoming a new MP, who will cover part of her patch, to the parliament.

McKenzie has delivered a speech to the federation chamber (the spill over chamber for the House of Representatives) reminding those very brave anonymous MPs who spoke to The Australian that she is actually following in the footsteps of some of the Liberal greats who believed in the parliament working together to better the lives of their communities. Even when working together meant working with people from different political persuasions.

McKenzie said she was in her 20s when she first came to work in the parliament, as an adviser with the Howard government, when Labor MP Greg Wilton died by suicide.

I listened to the condolence motion throughout the day. Question Time was canceled, and the speeches rolled through the afternoon and into the evening. In those speeches, I saw something of the character of the men and women I so greatly admired. In this place at that time, John Howard, John Anderson, Tony Abbott, among others. And that day they spoke of their affection for Wilton, a Labor man through his bootstraps, who had served the ASU.

… The speeches that day were not just a reflection on Wilton, or the odd bite of bipartisanship required to get stuff done here. They were also a reflection on this place. And how at its core set of compassion, empathy, goodwill and gratitude towards the 180-odd people who’ve been elected to it.

Tony Abbott’s words in that condolence motion were particularly strong when he said Greg Wilton came with high hopes to what he regarded as the greatest institution … for helping people. And yet, he died of a broken heart. He hated the character assassination, which sadly is so much part of the public discourse and the private conversation here, and for which all of us bear a heavy responsibility.

We often complain about the low public standing of politicians but other people take us at our own estimation, and we are always running each other down. Of course, there is a place for judgment and sometimes there is a place for furious denunciation. But I think Australia would be better off without a feral quality that so often contaminates our public lives.

McKenzie then turned to the criticism her party room colleagues had turned towards her:

A few weeks ago in the pages of the Australian newspaper, I was referred to as a new breed of Liberal. I can assure the good folk of Flinders, I am a very much an old breed of Liberal, formed in this place where many of its current inhabitants were still in short pants.

And it was here I learned the values and practices which has been stable, mature, responsible and strong leadership in this country for over a decade from the most successful Coalition government this country has ever known.

(Continued from previous post)

The opposition knows this – they were in government until quite recently and they know exactly what steps have to be taken in order for preventative detention to be accepted by the courts. But for political reasons, there is wilful ignorance that it will be quite easy.

Here is Jane Hume speaking to Sky earlier today:

Quite simply, if the bar is too high, the Coalition will come to the party and help them lower that bar, but we haven’t seen any amendments presented. It’s ridiculous. The government is simply shrugging it’s shoulders rather than doing something. Don’t point to the fire. Put it out.

So, how exactly, should that bar be lowered?

Hume:

It is entirely up to the government to move those amendments. They are the ones that are dealing with the high court’s decision and the inability to put to do create preventative detention orders, that would be legally binding.

The key phrase there is “legally binding” so in a sense Hume pointed out herself how ridiculous her call to “lower the bar” actually is, because the high court has already said yeah, big nah to that. And any attempts to “lower the bar” through legislation would be seen through the recent decisions of the high court. And there is very little point in creating legislation you know will be constitutionally unsound.

The legal quagmire created by the high court’s detention ruling

The high court’s decision that indefinite detention is unconstitutional has created what is considered an “unsettled” legal quagmire. Basically, the court has reminded the parliament it is not constitutionally able to punish people. That’s the job of the courts (it’s that whole separation of powers thing that some people find so pesky when trying to make laws to lock people up).

What that means is that the parliament, in making laws, has to make them within the boundaries this high court bench has set.

That includes with preventive detention. Because you can’t just lock someone up once they have served their time on the basis that they may commit another crime (Philip K Dick covered a lot of the ethics on preventive detention off in his short story The Minority Report. Legally, it is possible, but it requires a very high bar for a reason).

There is a precedent for preventive detention but if a court is going to lock someone up without a new crime, on the basis that preventively detaining them is the only way to keep the community safe, then it is going to need a lot of convincing.

So the government is working through that. (There was a background briefing of the steps the government needed to work through, which is off the record, but essentially is “this will take time, and we need to get it right for it to work”).

(Continued in next post)

Helen Haines calls for cost-of-living help for renters and small businesses

It is budget submission season (when groups put forward their submissions to the government on what they believe should be funded) and independent MP Helen Haines has added her submission to the list.

Haines has prepared a pre-budget submission on what projects she believes needs to be funded for her electorate – as well as general things she believes should be funded for the nation at large.

These measures include:

• substantially increasing the rates of income support payments and rent assistance

• funding initiatives that reduce energy costs for households and small businesses

• more primary health care relief to lower healthcare expenses

• the continuation of fee-free TAFE

MPs debate Liberal’s internet age assurance motion

The House has moved on to debating a motion from Liberal MP David Coleman as part of his ongoing campaign to have mandated age assurance technology (proving that someone is over the age of 18) on internet sites.

He wants the House to condemn the government for:

(a) its refusal to support the recommendations of the eSafety Commissioner to support a mandated trial of age assurance technology; and

(b) failing to support the Opposition private Member’s bill for the introduction of such a trial; and

(4) calls on the Minister for Communications to:

(a) reverse her position on an age verification trial and support the Opposition’s plan to implement a trial;

(b) announce plans for a new trial within 30 days; and

(c) commence a trial of age verification technology within three months.

As expected, the noes won that motion Jordon Steele-John put up – final vote 30 noes to 11 ayes.

The Senate moves on to the paid parental leave amendment.

The Senate is dividing – the chamber is fairly empty. There are a lot of MPs across both chambers who are attending Jack Fitzgibbon’s funeral, so there won’t be a lot of people around in general.

But the Labor and Coalition senators who are here are voting against the motion.

Here is the whole text of the motion Greens senator Jordon Steele-John wants the Senate to debate:

That the Senate

(a) notes that, since the Senate resolution of 18 October 2023 concerning Israel and Gaza, which supported the state of Israel’s looming invasion of Gaza by stating that the Senate ‘stands with Israel’, the following have occurred:

(i) an appalling and increasing toll of deaths and injuries caused by the state of Israel’s bombing and invasion of Gaza,

(ii) a growing humanitarian catastrophe caused by the state of Israel’s blockade, bombing and invasion of Gaza,

and (iii) the state of Israel is the subject of recent International Court of Justice orders in South Africa’s case regarding the prevention of genocide;

(b) therefore does not support the state of Israel’s continued invasion of Gaza and calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire;

and (c) calls on the Australian Government to end its support for the state of Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

Jordon Steele-John pushes for debate on Gaza in Senate

Over in the Senate, the Greens senator Jordon Steele-John is attempting to suspend standing orders to debate a motion calling on the Australian government to “end its support for the state of Israel’s invasion of Gaza”. The Greens have attempted various motions along these lines for the last few months, but they do not receive the support of either the government or the opposition. This one is likely to go down the same path.

While the nation’s lawmakers are looking at TikTok and what is next for the social media giant, the tech world is watching the Australian courts where gaming company Epic Games takes on Apple and Google. It is worth paying attention to what happens in this space – it has a habit of spilling over into the federal political sphere:

Independents trumpet paid parental leave changes

Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock have held a quick press conference on their support for the paid parental leave changes – paid super from 2025 – after securing an agreement from the federal government to help small businesses pay for it.

Jenny McAllister pays tribute to ‘fierce advocate for affirmative action’ Linda White

Labor senator Jenny McAllister has spoken on the loss of her colleague Senator Linda White, who died last month:

This week in the Senate, we’ll also have our opportunity to say our goodbyes. Much has already been said about Linda’s wit, her generosity, her fierce intelligence, and her dedication to make the world a fairer and a more just place. I’m sure that the stories tomorrow in the Senate will be important stories – sometimes funny stories – but stories that overall, reflect the immense contribution that Linda made to this place and to the country more generally.

I just wanted to reflect briefly on the work that she did for Australian women. There is almost no area of women’s policy where Linda White was not active. She was active on questions of equal pay. She was a fierce advocate for affirmative action. And, of course, she was a keen collaborator on the project to ensure that the super gap was closed, and that superannuation would be paid on paid parental leave. And I think she’d been pleased too about one of the key reforms that will be brought into the Senate this week.

Campaign calls for Australia to give more to international development and aid

Leaders in the health, business, aid and trade union sectors have come together to urge the government to invest more in overseas development to “prevent the world slipping towards crisis points that threaten our stability and prosperity”.

Zoe Daniel launched the Safer World for All commonwealth investment case with Caritas chief executive Kirsty Robertson, ETU national secretary Michael Wright and Burnet Institute director Prof Brendan Crabb.

The paper notes that “on present trends, by 2030, about seven per cent of the world’s population (575 million people) will live in extreme poverty with 600 million people chronically undernourished. Approximately 84 million children will be out of school, 660 million people will not have access to electricity and the cost of supporting nations to deal with the impact of climate change will balloon to USD $671 billion”.

Medical staff shortages top of agenda as health bodies meet in Canberra

The peak medical body, along with more than 50 specialist medical colleges, associations and societies, are meeting in Canberra today to set their agenda for system-wide health sector reform.

Prof Steve Robson, president of the Australian Medical Association, says workforce issues will be top of the agenda:

Everyone, including Minister for Health and Aged Care Mark Butler, who will speak at the meeting, acknowledges the health workforce shortages facing the country, with access and lack of planning continuing to be a problem.

Robson said while the federal government’s significant investments in health over the last year were welcome there was more to be done.

The AMA’s budget submission calls for a national health workforce planning agency to be established to provide evidence-based solutions to address workforce maldistribution and shortages.

Reform of the private health system will also be on the agenda, with the AMA’s pre-budget submission calling for an independent private health system authority to oversee the sector and create a platform for reform.

The parliament sitting doesn’t begin until 10am this morning, so don’t expect to hear too much from the MPs until mid-morning.

‘There’ll be a lot of people grieving today’

Both Barnaby Joyce and Tanya Plibersek were asked about soldier Jack Fitzgibbon, the son of former defence minister Joel Fitzgibbon.

Joyce:

The Fitzgibbon family are a family of honour. Jack died in service to our nation. Joel has served our nation. The family will be absolutely grieving. We hope and pray Jack is with our maker, give comfort to them. You’ve seen the Fitzgibbons, you’ve watched them on television. They’re a great family. He is also my mate. We’ll turn up and give what support we can to Jack’s family.

Plibersek:

It’s just the worst thing that any parent can imagine and so our hearts go out to Joel and Diane and their family and the friends and comrades that Jack had in the service as well. We know there’ll be a lot of people grieving today.

Today is going to be a somewhat quieter day in the parliament. Many parliamentarians are travelling for Jack’s funeral and events like QT will be delayed to accommodate it.

‘Don’t think you have it in the bag’: Joyce on Labor after Queensland byelection

Barnaby Joyce had thoughts about the Queensland byelection results.

He told the Seven Network:

There are two things that lose you an election. Incompetence and arrogance. I was about to say they would have had the arrogance knocked out of them after that but listening to Tanya [Plibersek] then and trotting out the lines, seems like arrogance and incompetence is still there.

Law and order is a big issue up there. Massive issue. If you can’t feel safe on the streets, you will change the government.

The cost of living, of course, is a massive issue but that goes over to the federal sphere. While you’re concentrating on windfarms, solar factories and transmission lines, people are getting poorer to pay for fuel or power.

It doesn’t matter what the rhetoric is, what matters is what’s in my wallet and it is getting less and less because I can’t afford to get through my life.

That’s an issue. That issue will go over to the federal election but a lot of work for the state guys to do between now and the election. Don’t think you have it in a the bag.

Federal attention is also turning to Tropical Cyclone Megan, which has the potential to devastate Indigenous communities in the Top End.

There is a little bit of federal attention on Queensland after the worst byelection results for state Labor in decades. There is a general election in Queensland in October, where the polls are pointing to a whitewash for Labor, with the LNP in the box seat for its third Queensland government since 1989.

David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie will be holding an early morning press conference to speak on the PPL agreement they have made with the government (Sarah reported on it just a few posts down).

AI and internet search to come under microscope of ACCC inquiry

The impact of generative AI on the search industry will be put under the microscope in the competition regulator’s next digital platforms inquiry.

The next instalment, announced today, will look at how internet search is changing, and the state of competition between internet search services in Australia.

The review will consider whether choice screens – which allow users to choose which search site to use in their browser – have had an impact overseas, and whether generative AI is changing the way people search online.

ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said:

Significant changes have occurred since the ACCC last examined search services in 2021. We’ve seen new laws introduced overseas that place obligations on so-called gatekeeper search engines and the emergence of new technologies, like generative AI, that have changed the way consumers search for information online and may be impacting the quality of the service they are receiving.

The ACCC wants to understand the impact of these developments on general search
services and, ultimately, how they affect competition and consumers.

The regulator had previously reviewed general search and browser competition in 2021. The government in-principle supported recommendations for a mandatory code for consumer choice in these products but the issue has not advanced further.

People can make submissions to the inquiry by 17 April 2024.

Greens push to ditch Harmony Week and have ‘honest reckoning’ with racism

The Greens are urging the Albanese government to dump references to “Harmony Week” once and for all, saying the name whitewashes the international day set aside to get rid of racism.

The NSW Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi wrote to immigration minister Andrew Giles last Thursday calling for the week to be renamed “anti-racism week”.

Harmony Day was first established in 1999 under the Howard government to replace the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The international day was first observed in 1966 in remembrance for the 69 killed in the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa six years earlier. The mostly black protesters had been shot at by police as they attempted a peaceful protest against apartheid.

Last year the government dropped references to Harmony Day in favour of its original name. But it continues to use the full week’s title, Harmony Week.

Faruqi said:

Last year the government ditched Harmony Day after our campaign. The next step is to get rid of Harmony Week and Australia’s racism blindspot with it. It’s time for an honest reckoning with white privilege and systemic racism, rather than tokenistic celebrations of skin deep multiculturalism.

Asked whether the government was considering dropping all references to the day, Giles said:

This week provides all of us with an occasion to celebrate our vibrant multiculturalism and reflect on how each of us, and more of us, can do more to help stamp out racism in our communities ... With the release of the Multicultural Framework Review in the near future, the Albanese Labor government is working to ensure that no matter where you’re born or the language you speak, everyone in Australia feels as though they belong.