Burke points finger at Dutton on immigration
Dan Tehan, the shadow immigration minister, has asked if net overseas migration is currently higher or lower than under the Kevin Rudd “big Australia policy”?
Tony Burke responded that Tehan asked the question “on the exact day that those opposite commit[ed] publicly that they are going to vote to push net migration higher”.
Do you think we should put a restriction on Australian citizens coming home? Because that affects overseas migration, but apparently you don’t know that. Do you think we should put limits on whether Australian citizens are able to work overseas? Because that is part of overseas net migration.
Burke responded that net overseas migration has gone up, and continued:
If you take that 2010 benchmark, what year was the highest? When did we hit a record number of visas issued? When did we hit 9.6m visas issued? The biggest upward pressure could get a net overseas migration? 2017 to 2018.
And who do you was in charge issuing each of those 9.6 million visas granted? The leader of the opposition now … Any immigration minister in the future will have a hell of a time trying to catch up with the number of visas issued by that man.
Key events
Caitlin Cassidy
Greens respond to claims they are ‘in bed’ with Liberals on immigration
As Question Time wraps up, the Greens have responded to repeated claims from the education minister that they are “in bed” with the Coalition by opposing the international student cap. As Jason Clare said earlier:
Never in my life did I expect to see this opposition leader get into bed with the Greens on immigration. But that is exactly what is happening.
Greens deputy leader and spokesperson for higher education, Mehreen Faruqi, said the party had opposed caps “from day one” because they were “never about education”.
They were going to throttle the sector and scapegoat international students in Labor’s bid to look strong on migration. Let’s be clear, Dutton’s Coalition doesn’t care about international students or universities, they are opposing this bill so they can be even worse than Labor on migration.
Faruqi said decades of funding cuts by both major parties had resulted in an over-reliance on international students who were being used as “cash cows” to cross-subsidise research.
Labor needs to go back to the drawing board and come back with a plan to fully fund universities for learning, teaching and research.
Question time ends
And with that, question time has wrapped up in the House of Representatives.
Health minister questioned on regional doctors shortage
Independent MP for Calare, Andrew Gee, has asked a question about the state of healthcare in central western NSW with a noticeable doctors shortage he describes as “appalling”.
Would the health minister visit the region and meet with local doctors and concerned residents to see the shocking effects this crisis is having, he asked?
Mark Butler responded that “we’ve had a couple of discussions about this already” and listed some government responses to this matter more broadly, arguing “the last two years have seen the biggest increase to doctor numbers in a decade”.
Now we know there is more to do … We will address the sort of challenges the member has talked about directly with the member … I’m more than happy to sit down with him, and I’ll reach out soon.
Josh Butler
MPs spotted clock-watching during question time in PM’s absence
While this edition of question time is undeniably thrilling – with the major parties accusing each other of wanting to throw open the floodgates on migration and muscling up to portray themselves as the tougher side on cutting student visas – there are some people in the chamber who are busying themselves with other tasks.
From our vantage point up in the press gallery, we’ve see more than a few MPs working on their Christmas card list, quietly signing papers, and tapping away at laptops or tablets.
QT is always a bit muted and a bit looser when the prime minister is out of town, but this is a bit more so than usual. Everybody seems to be checking their watch or watching the clock.
Chalmers says opposition ‘just throwing rocks’ on inflation
Back at question time, the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, has asked about comments from the RBA governor that aggregate demand in the economy is still too high.
He argued that population growth is causing this, and asked if the government’s approach is putting upward pressure on inflation?
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has responded, saying Taylor and his colleagues “need to decide, do they want immigration to be lower or higher?”
Because they say they want it to be lower, but then they say they’ll vote for it to be higher …
The two most important things the governor [Michele] Bullock has said is reasonable public demand is not the main game when it comes to the outlook for inflation, and the government has the right attitude when it comes to inflation. She could not be clearer.
He accused Taylor of “vacat[ing] the field and … not providing any direction [but] just throwing rocks, because he has no credible and costed alternatives”.
Christopher Knaus
NSW lawyers urge reform on child sexual abuse after high court decision
Lawyers representing survivors of child sexual abuse have written to the New South Wales attorney general, Michael Daley, calling for law reform, after a high court decision that significantly limited the liability of the Catholic church for paedophile clergy.
The high court last week ruled that the Ballarat diocese was not vicariously liable for the abuse of a child by an assistant priest because he was not directly employed by the church. That overturned a Victorian court of appeal decision that found the diocese was liable because the priest, despite not being a formal church employee, was a “servant of the church” whose position gave him access and power over children.
The decision prompted widespread concern, including from former prime minister Julia Gillard, about barriers to justice for survivors.
The NSW government has already introduced laws to address the issue, but they are only for abuse that has occurred since 2018.
Peter Karp, partner at Karp O’Neill Lawyers, this week wrote to Daley urging for the laws to be made retrospective. Karp said failure to do so “creates two classes of individuals and therefore an inequity for survivors“.
What Katter says in private and how he votes is the same: Marles
Bob Katter is now up to ask a pretty broad question on Queensland, which Tony Burke has answered – somehow again bringing it back to the Liberals and Greens not supporting government legislation.
Marles said that what Katter says in the house, privately and how he votes inside the house are “always the same thing”:
And whether you agree or disagree with the views of the member for Kennedy, he is always fearlessly in support of his electorate, and he always has conviction in how he votes in this chamber.
I can compare and contrast that behaviour, because it would not be consistent with the rogue point of order that the leader of the opposition gave today, and for the opposition to then be voting with the Greens on – of all things – housing, the environment, and immigration – and yet they had a unity ticket now on all three of those. The member for Kennedy would never do anything like that.
Burke criticises Coalition’s ‘reckless arrogance’ on immigration
Nationals MP Kevin Hogan asked a question around population numbers, and Tony Burke pointed to the Coalition’s decision not to back the international student cap – arguing that “you have to make a decision as to whether you want to take action to contain, start to put downward pressure on the number of people who are arriving in Australia or not”:
And that doesn’t involve media conferences, it involves decisions … If you are not willing to vote for measures that will put downward pressure on that overseas migration, just acknowledge you’re going to let it rip … if that’s the actual approach.
But if you do, as the opposition has decided to do today, which is to think they can run their rhetoric in one direction and their actions in the other, that sort of reckless arrogance gets found out, and this leader of the opposition was found out.
Because today, despite all the rhetoric, he had a decision as to whether or not to act on net overseas migration, and he has made an active decision.
Burke points finger at Dutton on immigration
Dan Tehan, the shadow immigration minister, has asked if net overseas migration is currently higher or lower than under the Kevin Rudd “big Australia policy”?
Tony Burke responded that Tehan asked the question “on the exact day that those opposite commit[ed] publicly that they are going to vote to push net migration higher”.
Do you think we should put a restriction on Australian citizens coming home? Because that affects overseas migration, but apparently you don’t know that. Do you think we should put limits on whether Australian citizens are able to work overseas? Because that is part of overseas net migration.
Burke responded that net overseas migration has gone up, and continued:
If you take that 2010 benchmark, what year was the highest? When did we hit a record number of visas issued? When did we hit 9.6m visas issued? The biggest upward pressure could get a net overseas migration? 2017 to 2018.
And who do you was in charge issuing each of those 9.6 million visas granted? The leader of the opposition now … Any immigration minister in the future will have a hell of a time trying to catch up with the number of visas issued by that man.
Question on nuclear submarine capacity
Andrew Hastie, the shadow defence minister, has asked why the government signed up for the Aukus submarine program when Australia has no existing nuclear submarine industry?
The acting PM and defence minister, Richard Marles, accused him of not knowing “submarines 101” and said the opposition gave the government a 10-year capability gap:
The answer to the shadow minister’s question goes directly to the question of our nation’s submarine capability. We know that in order to have an enduring, long-range submarine capability into the 2030s and 2040s … we have to move from a diesel, electric-powered submarine to a nuclear-powered submarine. And we make no apology for that.
He likened the comparison to the “similarity between a coal-fired power station and a lawnmower”.
Question on student debt
Greens MP Stephen Bates has asked the acting PM about student debt – asking why the government can introduce a bill for fee-free Tafe this week but not a bill to wipe 20% off student debt?
The Greens have been calling for the government to implement its policy to reduce student debt now, rather than wait until after the next federal election.
Richard Marles said that if Bates is talking about parliamentary productivity, “that could be improved if the Greens actually supported government legislation [instead of] teaming up with their partners here, the Liberals, to make sure that they ultimately oppose everything”.
On the policy, Marles continued:
[20% off student debt] is a step that has been taken, which is being opposed by those opposite, to [not only] improve the cost of living but improve the lives of those who study and make university and study in this country much more accessible.
Australia will not sign US-UK civil nuclear deal: Marles
The deputy leader of the opposition, Sussan Ley, has asked another question about the US-UK civil nuclear deal.
She asked whether Australia made any representations to the UK for the inclusion of Australia in its press release to be removed (as we reported earlier).
The acting PM, Richard Marles, reiterated earlier comments that Australia is not signing the agreement:
The Australian government is not signing this agreement, because it is an agreement which goes to civil nuclear energy. That means nuclear reactors, which provide energy to cities and to electricity grids, and we do not have that in this country. And so as a result, this agreement is not relevant to Australia.
Quiet please, MPs
Only a few questions in, and the speaker has asked MPs to quieten down:
You simply can’t have people jumping up. If that was the case, there’s no point of having question time … Standing orders are put in place so that we can run this effectively and efficiently, and if people are going to just take advantage or take the mickey, we’re doing the people of Australia a disservice.
Back in Canberra …
Back at question time, the acting prime minister, Richard Marles, took a dixer on cost-of-living measures and ended with a dig at the Liberals and Greens over immigration:
The Liberals and the Greens are working together on immigration. These two, they have completely abandoned everything they believe in, and they are cooperating simply to maximise the political damage to our country.
So every Australian should be clear that if you go blue, or if you go green, here in Canberra, it’s just the one team and all those parties over there are utterly committed to their own self interest.
Question time begins
Peter Dutton has opened with a question to the acting prime minister, Richard Marles, as to whether Australia will sign on to a civil nuclear deal between the UK and the US.
Sarah Basford Canales had more detail about this earlier in the blog, here.
Marles has told the parliament Australia will not sign on to the deal:
Pursuing a path of nuclear energy would represent pursuing the single most expensive electricity option for Australia … For Australia, pursuing nuclear energy would be pursuing a path which wouldn’t see any new electricity into our grid in 20 years … Because we do not have a civil nuclear industry, [this deal] does not apply to us, pure and simple.
Peter Dutton has wrapped up his presser. Question time is about to begin in the House of Representatives, so stay tuned for that.
