Federal politics live: HECS indexation changes pass parliament ...

'Bold-faced racism at its most vile': Lidia Thorpe responds to Hanson clash

3 minutes agoWed 27 Nov 2024 at 12:06am

???? Payman, Hanson clash over section 44 claim

57 minutes agoTue 26 Nov 2024 at 11:13pm

Govt kills nature positive negotiations 'this week'

1 hours agoTue 26 Nov 2024 at 11:04pm

A ban on children and teens accessing social media is one step closer to becoming law after the proposal sailed through the House of Representatives.

Both major parties are eager to see the bill passed before Thursday — the last scheduled sitting day for the year.

Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor to vote against the bill with the Greens.

Independents Zoe Daniel, Monique Ryan, Kylea Tink and Zali Steggall were joined by Bob Katter, Rebekha Sharkie, Dai Le and Andrew Wilkie in also voting against it. 

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3m agoWed 27 Nov 2024 at 12:06am

Senator Lidia Thorpe has released a statement after she clashed with Senator Pauline Hanson over her attempt to table a letter questioning the Senator Fatima Payman's eligibility.

She calls Hanson's attempt "bold-faced racism at its most vile."

"I was left shaking and feeling sick afterwards, and so were other Senators of colour," she says.

"It's a clear example of why we need much better standards around racism in parliament, which can be such a violent, racist place.

"We wouldn't accept racism like this in any other workplace, and we shouldn't accept it in parliament.

"We need to set a much better example and standard for the rest of the country."

Thorpe also flags a racism report released yesterday, calling for stronger standards around racism in parliament and her own call for a racism inquiry. 

She adds that Hanson is given "free reign in the Senate to continue her racism and violence."

"The government needs to take this issue much more seriously," Thorpe says.

"They must fully fund and implement all the recommendations made by the Race Discrimination Commissioner, and support the inquiry that Senator Faruqi and I have called for."

It must be getting close to election season when a baby is trotted out.

Education Minister Jason Clare didn't hesitate to take his victory lap literally today, praising the benefits of a 15% wage increase to early childhood education and care workers.

"Ask any mum and dad who have a child in early education, and I'll tell you that this will help to change their lives," he says.

More importantly, Clare was asked about HECs indexation relief finally passing.  

He told reporters the Australian Taxation Office will start  processing the credits and refunds over the next few weeks.

He also flagged the government's election promise to wipe a further 20% off student debt.

"That will make a world of difference for a lot of young people, just out of uni, just out of TAFE, just out of home, just getting started," he says.

"It's all about building a better and a fairer education system, helping Australians with the cost of living, and making sure that we're setting this country up for the next generation of Australians.

"Young Australians like this little champion right here."

Several prominent Australians, including journalists and former soldiers, have been presented with Timor-Leste's highest honour, recognising their decades of work in helping the developing nation.

President José Ramos-Horta has given the Order of Timor Leste to dozens of Timorese citizens and foreigners, as well as to the 2/2 Commando Association which represents Australian veterans who served in the region during World War II.

Speaking at a ceremony held in the capital Dili, the president has thanked all recipients for helping his emerging nation.

"All (of you) in some way, directly ...  contribute to peace, tranquility, development of this country," Horta said.

Among those recognised overnight was federal Labor MP and former soldier Luke Gosling and his brother Daniel Gosling and Hayley Gosling, as well as ABC journalist Matthew Carney.

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57m agoTue 26 Nov 2024 at 11:13pm

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1h agoTue 26 Nov 2024 at 11:04pm

Crossbench negotiations on Labor’s cornerstone environmental protection reforms are heading towards a dead-end after the government shut down prospects of clinching a deal with the Greens to legislate this week.

A senior government source told the ABC a short time ago there will be "no deal this week".

Greens environmental spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young revived prospects of an agreement to overhaul the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Act after she offered last week to drop demands for a "climate trigger" in return for greater protections against native forest logging.

Since then both sides have been in talks with a separate source saying negotiations between the Greens and the government "came close" to success on Tuesday.

Failure to pass the legislation this week comes close to effectively scuttling the changes this term, amid widespread speculation the government may not return to parliament ahead of an election next year.

At present, parliament is due to return in February.

Shelving the so-called nature positive reforms, which Labor took to 2022, follows the government's decision to halt efforts to legislate a ban on gambling advertising.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is understood to be reluctant to countenance further deal making with the crossbench, with Labor sensing the Greens are losing votes for holding out on key legislation.

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1h agoTue 26 Nov 2024 at 10:53pm

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1h agoTue 26 Nov 2024 at 10:46pm

Fatima Payman has accused Pauline Hanson of racism after the One Nation senator attempted to table a letter questioning the independent's eligibility.

Hanson attempted to table a document alleging that Payman is ineligible to serve as a senator under Section 44 of the Constitution, which bars individuals holding citizenship of another country from sitting in parliament.

After the Greens denied Hanson leave to table the document, she moved to suspend standing orders (the pre-arranged order of the day) so she could do so.

Hanson accused the Greens of "running a protection racket" for Payman.

The ex-Labor turned independent senator said the motion was "disgusting" and "disgraceful" and accused Hanson of being racist.

Payman was forced to withdraw her claim of racism.

"She's holding up (the) business of the day because she is obsessed with me. Well done," Payman said.

The independent senator encouraged Hanson to go to Afghanistan and talk to the Taliban herself.

"Clearly when the Labor Party put me up as candidate, they did their homework," she said, offering to hand the legal advice to Hanson.

The advice Payman has previously sought says she is not disqualified until section 44 because of the "impossibility of progressing my application to renounce Afghan citizenship following the takeover by the Taliban".

The government and the Coalition both supported the Hanson motion to table the documents, as per Senate conventions.

Liberal frontbencher Anne Ruston said it was in "no way a reflection of the views of the Coalition in what is contained in the document".

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher agreed. She says the government gave leave for Hanson to table the documents, but there would be no speeches.

"The documents would be tabled and we would move on," she says.

After a vote, Hanson was able to table the documents.

Liberal senator Alex Antic has indicated he will also split from the Coalition and vote against the social media ban.

He told Nine Radio the parliament deserves more time to work through the detail of the bill.

"This time last week, we were of the view that YouTube would be captured by this legislation, now it won't be because it's been amended on the run," he said.

"This is a complicated area … I don't see what the rush is."

Last night, Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer confirmed she would vote against the bill, while Queenslanders Keith Pitt and Matt Canavan have also expressed reservations.

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2h agoTue 26 Nov 2024 at 9:45pm

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has welcomed the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah.

Speaking to reporters in Canberra, Wong says she hopes "that this is a catalyst for a broader ceasefire in the region, and we look forward to the day when there is a ceasefire too in Gaza".

"We've been calling for a ceasefire in Gaza for over 11 months now, and we see every week the death toll rising, more children, more women," she says.

"We again join with the overwhelming majority of the international community (calling for a) ceasefire in Gaza, but today, we are very pleased to see that there is a ceasefire with Hezbollah, and that the people of Lebanon and Israel can know some peace."

Wong is asked if the ceasefire deal shows international pressure on Israel is working. She says she won't comment on the reasons why "this has occurred".

"What I would say is Australia has been advocating for a ceasefire, along with the majority of the international community, for a long time in Gaza, and we made clear our opposition in relation to Lebanon earlier.

"Obviously, we want to see diplomatic efforts to ensure that the relevant UN Security Council resolutions are complied with. That is in the interest of all parties."

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has confirmed she will vote against the proposal to ban under 16s from social media.

In a statement to X, Thorpe says its ineffective and will lead to "unintended harm".

"Young people use social media to participate in politics and activism," he says.

"Many young people are critical of Labor online, so maybe that's what this is about, but I think it's good that young people are engaged.

"We should crack down on social media companies directly for the harm they do. Banning kids isn't the answer."

Andrew Wilkie was also asked whether he thought the government would move to restrict gambling advertising before the next election.

The independent was pretty frank in his response.

"They don't want to go near this before the next election," he says.

"This might be the last sitting week of this parliament. Maybe we'll come back for a couple of weeks next year. But basically, the government's run out of runway. But they don't want to do it anyway," he says.

He accuses the government, and the opposition, of being "scared stiff" of the gambling companies, commercial media and sporting codes "that pockets hundreds of millions of dollars in gambling advertising".

"The government doesn’t want to go anywhere near this. And I think this is one of the most shocking trials in the public interest I've seen in my 14 years in parliament."

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2h agoTue 26 Nov 2024 at 9:23pm

Andrew Wilkie also stopped by the RN Breakfast studio this morning. The independent says he's backflipped on the social media ban for under 16s in recent days.

"I got it wrong, and I've changed my mind," he says.

The Tasmanian MP says he has two teenage daughters and three teenage stepsons and when he first heard the announcement he "agreed with joy".

"I thought that's a great idea but as soon as I started to research it, as soon as I started to hear commentary from youth and adolescent mental health experts, from youth welfare experts, from technical experts, to talk about the practicalities of this, I realised the whole thing's nonsense."

He says he's doubtful the ban will ever be realised.

Wilkie adds the challenge will be to rein in the big tech companies that run the social media platforms.

Key Event

2h agoTue 26 Nov 2024 at 9:18pm

Chris Bowen was also asked about US President Joe Biden confirming a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon will come into effect from midday.

He says the news had only come through while he was on air with ABC's RN Breakfast. 

"I know Penny Wong would be very closely monitoring that, and we will respond in due course," he says.

"But obviously, any step towards peace in this terrible conflagration which the world and Gaza in particular has been subjected to over the last year would be a welcome development.

"I'll leave it to Penny to respond fully, after she's had a chance to fully digest the information."

You can read more about the ceasefire deal in our separate live blog.

A law that requires the government to seek advice on future emissions targets is being blamed as the reason why Labor may not reveal its climate targets ahead of the next election.

Under the Paris Climate Accords, Australia is expected to set a 2035 target next year.

But the legislation that enshrines the 2030 target to cut emissions on 2005 levels by 43 per cent — which was supported by the Greens and crossbench — requires the government to base future targets on advice from the Climate Change Authority.

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen told ABC's RN Breakfast not doing so would be unlawful.

"It's unlawful to set a target before I get Climate Change Authority advice," he says.

"I consider that advice. I then take it to cabinet. Cabinet considers my position when that process is complete. Not a day before, not a day after. That's when we release our 2035 targets."

As the ABC reported last week, the Climate Change Authority now believes it needs more time to model and consider the impact of Donald Trump's US election win on climate, energy and technology trends.

Bowen says he's happy for Labor to be compared with the Coalition, which has not revealed its 2035 target, at the next election.

Australia is on track to meet its 2030 climate target, according to new scorecard being previewed by the government today.

The numbers are an improvement on on last year's analysis. Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen was asked on ABC's RN Breakfast about what changed.

He says it's all down to the policies implemented by the government over the past year and the safeguard mechanism working.

But he insists the government won't "take the foot off the accelerator" or be complacent.

"I'm not complacent, but it is encouraging signs that the government's policies are working, the private sector investment is flowing and we're getting on with the job that we 100 per cent need to do," he says.

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen will claim a major win in the fight to meet Australia's 2030 emissions target after closing part of the predicted pollution "gap" with policies to get more Australians into EVs and expanding use of grid-scale batteries.

Bowen will present parliament on Thursday with the latest annual official scorecard by the Department of Climate Change and Energy.

It shows decisions over the past year mean emissions will fall 42.6 per cent compared to the 2005 level.

At present, emissions are tracking 3 per cent below the 2021 to 2030 "emissions budget", the departmental analysis shows.

A year ago, in its 2023 report to parliament, the department calculated the country was on track to cut climate pollution by 37 per cent, with emissions about 1 per cent below budget.

The improvements come as Labor and the Coalition lock horns over when to release Australia's global 2035 emissions pledge, which the government shows signs of seeking to push beyond the coming federal election.

You can read the rest of the report at the link below. 

Parliament is rushing through a proposed social media ban to make it look like it is doing "something", Nationals senator Matt Canavan says.

Both major parties are eager to see the bill, which would see children under 16 banned from social media platforms, passed before Thursday — the last scheduled sitting day for the year.

But Canavan says he won't be supporting it, insisting the parliament needs more time to get it right.

"The secret that they won't tell you is it doesn't come into effect until 2026. So it's like 13 months away from being in law," he told the Today Show.

"So why are we rushing it through this week? We're just trying to be seen to be doing something."

Another issue, he says, is that there is no mention of parents in the bill.

"I'm all for restrictions on the use of social media for children under 16. But I don't want, I don't need the government to replace me as a parent," he says.

Education Minister Jason Clare is on a victory lap this morning, after a tweak to how the HECs indexation is calculated passed parliament last night.

It means the indexation rate will now be pegged to either the Wage Price Index (WPI) or CPI — whichever is lower.

Clare says if you've got the average debt of $27,000, you'll receive a $1200 credit.

Analysis in the Australian Financial Review suggested the change, paired with Labor's election pledge to slash students debts by 20 per cent, will come at a cost of $9.4 billion to the budget.

Clare says the change is the right thing to do as university has become more expensive.

"It's got harder to pay off that debt and to get a loan to buy a house. So we want to make it a bit easier," he says.