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Mundine says no campaign has ‘several million’ in funding
Josh Butler
Warren Mundine, leader of the no campaign in the Indigenous voice referendum, says it is “common sense” for the two main opposition groups to merge – claiming their new united organisation has “several million dollars” on hand.
As Guardian Australia reported this week, Mundine’s Recognise A Better Way is merging with Fair Australia, another no campaign group led by the Nationals senator Jacinta Price and the Advance conservative lobby group. The new entity will be known as Australians For Unity; Mundine told us the merger came in a bid to be more efficient with resources, to avoid “competing” with each other.
Key events
The reporting date for the robodebt royal commission has been extended – for the second time.
It was due to report 18 April, then 30 June – but it has now been extended to a week later to the 7 July.
That has been approved.
Anthony Albanese continues:
You don’t have to take your Instructions from the Liberal Party. Stand up for yourself. Back yourself in! Have a bit of confidence. (this is to David Littleproud)
[Still quoting Littleproud]‘We didn’t get it right’ and the fact the backlog was there he said, ‘and I congratulate Andrew Giles for the work he has done that in a pragmatic way making we can go forward’.
I can go to the leader of the Liberal Party because this is what he said, when we made that announcement in relation to the migration move. ‘He said it was too little, too late, he wanted more, more and sooner, he said this decision to lift the migration should have been made 100 days ago when the Government was elected’.
He said ‘we need an increase in migration announcements, these are all brand new announcements I want to see the rubber hit the road, it is clear the migration number has to be higher’.
He then runs out of time.
PM quotes Littleproud’s comments on migration in response to Dutton
Anthony Albanese:
They have had a further 24 hours to consider the magnificent budget [handed] down by the treasurer.
And they have come up with the same first question as yesterday. When they asked just one question of me in the shadow treasurer just asked one question of the treasurer.
Remarkable.
I’m asked about migration. And yesterday I told the House and wasn’t challenged that the numbers were going to be higher under them.
That is just a fact.
And … I’m going to quote my friend the leader of the National party again here, because he had some advice for the Liberal party leader, about immigration or where policy was.
He said this: “We will be constructive with this government and … we welcome the changes they are bringing forward. We believe permanent migration is important.”
He went on to say this: “We have to acknowledge some of the challenges we left behind, like the fact there were nearly a million unprocessed visas was a failure. You have got to put your hand up. You have to be honest with people.”
The current leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud has a point of order here that the question was about the 1.5 million people, but the speaker, Milton Dick, rules this is not a point of order.
Question time begins
Peter Dutton kicks things off – with “big Australia” rhetoric.
There is a caveat which has been added to these questions – which was present in interviews today as well – “we all support immigration”/“migrants are great”.
That’s to try and get ahead of any attacks that these questions/attacks are based on anti-immigration sentiment and instead are focused on concerns about infrastructure and housing.
Dutton:
As a great multicultural society, we all support the well-planned migration program.
With … congestion and growing cost-of-living challenges, why is the prime minister adding another 1.5 million people from overseas over the next five years, including an extra 400,000 this year – and why was this hidden from the budget speech?
Why [does] the prime minister’s migration policy make life harder for the great number of working poor Australians?
Paul Karp
Greens say housing bill is ‘highest priority’
The Greens housing spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather, has told reporters in Canberra that “despite all the bluster … the Greens are committed to negotiating a good outcome”.
He said the bill was “our chance” to force the government to take bolder action on the housing crisis.
Chandler-Mather revealed the Greens party room will be meeting on Friday to discuss negotiations. “We are treating this as our highest priority right now.”
That’s an interesting hint given finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said business could be rearranged to facilitate passing the bill.
Could we see a Friday sitting to rubber stamp a Labor-Greens deal? Anthony Albanese is clearly involved in the last-minute push – eagle eyed Mike Bowers spotted him lobbying Chandler-Mather in the house before his press conference.
Peter Hannam
Was Labor’s budget inflationary? Investors don’t think so
With the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, primed for his reply speech this evening, we’ve taken a bit of a longer look at whether investors think the 2023-24 budget was actually inflationary.
In short, financial markets said “meh”:
Investors aren’t infallible, of course, as we saw earlier this month when they were largely blindsided by the Reserve Bank‘s surprise interest rate rise. That’s not to say the RBA won’t hike again, but there’s every reason to think the central bank was well-briefed beforehand by the government, not least because the treasury secretary, Steven Kennedy, sits on the central bank board.
And as the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said on RN Breakfast this morning: “I do speak to the governor [Philip Lowe] about my policies, about my budgets, and the fiscal stance of the government. I do that in advance of releasing the budget and I do it after releasing the budget.”
So if the markets – for the dollar, interest rates and so forth – weren’t fussed by the budget’s impact on inflation, borrowers shouldn’t be too bothered either.
Amy Remeikis
It is almost question time
Time flies when you are staring into the abyss) so get ready for that.
Will it be better than yesterday? We can only hope.
Anthony Albanese’s busy morning – in pictures
Anthony Albanese has been busy in the chamber. Our own Mike Bowers followed him with his lens as the PM:
(One of these interactions was not like the others. See if you can guess which one)
Coalition and One Nation vote against ‘equal parenting’ language amendments to Family Law Act
Meanwhile in the house, there was just a second reading vote on the amendments to the Family Law Act the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, introduced.
The Coalition voted against the changes. But Bridget Archer, who had been in the chamber earlier in the day, seems to have abstained from the vote.
The amendments make some changes advocates have been calling for for some time – including to some language of the presumption of equal shared parenting. In a statement, Dreyfus said the amendments are needed to provide clarity:
As more than two dozen inquiries have now shown, the current parenting framework in the Family Law Act is complex and confusing and urgent reform is needed. It contains provisions which are misunderstood and, in some cases, have led to unsafe parenting arrangements.
… The bill recognises the importance of a child having a relationship with both of their parents which will ensure the court continues to take this into account when making parenting orders.
One Nation is also against these amendments.
Paul Karp
Government fails attempt to move housing bill to top of schedule
The government has moved an amendment restoring the housing bill to the top of the schedule. The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, warned that if the Senate delayed, Labor would be “letting everybody know” the Greens, Liberals and Nationals had voted together “all the way until we get an outcome on housing”.
She said:
What a week. What you’ve done is ensure this bill doesn’t pass, the money doesn’t flow and the houses don’t get built.
She then noted for the benefit of hansard that this was sarcasm.
And then the amendment was defeated 35 to 21, with the Greens and Coalition voting together again.
Housing bill remains stalled as Labor talks of conspiracies
Katy Gallagher is on her feet urging the Greens and the Coalition to “listen to housing advocates,” to listen to the state and territory housing ministers “who know a little about what they are talking about” and pass the bill.
She accuses the Greens and Coalition of coming up with plans to team up and tank the bill “in the dark of the hallways at night”.
But what seems to be happening here is the Coalition is taking advantage of the stalemate between the Greens and Labor over the bill and is stirring up some trouble, which the Greens are going along with, because they are annoyed at Labor for trying to force a vote on the bill when there is still no agreement.
All in all everyone is annoyed at everyone else, fingers are being pointed everywhere and the bill remains stalled.
Paul Karp
Coalition moves to add three government bills to schedule ahead of housing vote
The Coalition is moving in the Senate to add three government bills to the program ahead of the housing Australia future fund bill. These are bills on veterans affairs, vocational education, and whistleblowers.
In the first of a series of votes, the Coalition and Greens voted together, and it passed 36 votes to 21. This could be the nail in the coffin to the Haff bill getting a vote today.
Greens not backing down on housing bill in Senate
Back in the Senate and the housing future fund debate has briefly resumed (it is not going anywhere today).
And the Greens are showing no signs of backing down or softening their approach to the negotiations – Nick McKim just referred to the bill as a “steaming pile of neoliberal rubbish”.
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