Health News at Your Fingertips

Adam Bandt to Jim Chalmers:

I congratulate the Prime Minister and the government on the election. Stage three tax cuts will cost the public over 220 billion dollars and give billionaires a $9,000 a year handout at the taxpayer expense. With inflation fighting in the governments and the budget is under pressure, will you dig these and put it into dental and Medicare instead to help relieve the cost of living pleasures on everyday people.

Chalmers:

I thank the Member for Melbourne and congratulate him on his re-election and [on] the election of his colleagues on the crossbench as well.

As the Member for Melbourne knows, the legislated tax cut are already in the Budget and they do not come in for a couple of years and we said we do not intend to change that.

Our position is on that as is respectfully your position is known on that as well. We also should knowledge that when it comes to those stage III tax cuts, your idea was to prevail, it would not do anything about the new time inflation challenges.

Yes, we have budget challenges right now the most thing that we can focus on is high and rising inflation, falling real wages and some of our choices have been constrained so our priority, when it comes to tax reform, first of all, the only legislation that I have introduced from this place in the first day, is to make electric vehicles cheaper and we are proud of that, working closely with the minister for climate change but beyond that, repairing the Budget, the Member knows our focus is on making multinationals pay their fair share of tax as well as measures on tax compliance and making sure the foreign investment regime retains some money to the Budget as well.

That is our priority when it comes to taxes and charges and repairing the Budget. More broadly to budget repair, you would be familiar, as is the whole house, particularly the Member for Hume would know this, as we inherited a lot of waste in the Budget and frauds that we are going through those rorts advice to find other alternatives like investment in skills, the Skills Minister was talking about before, like investment in childcare that the childcare Minister was talking about.

We talk about taking unproductive, politically motivated spending for which the Member for US the poster child, and directing it to more productive spending in the

Budget that begins cutting back on lots of waste and includes making sure we are investing on the things that can get the economy growing the right way. Budget repair, responsible investment is part of that and the onus is on the government to do what we came to repair the Budget. We have had a decade of rorts and waste which is led to $1 trillion of debt without enough to show for it so we want to make sure every dollar which is borrowed which now costs more to service is actually delivering a dividend for the Australian people.

Melissa Price to Anthony Albanese:

Is a Prime Minister aware that senior judges at the Federal Court and the CFMEU [described] behaviour as notorious, an embarrassment to the trade union movement, with displays an outrageous disregard for Australian industrial norms? Given the minister’s decision to abolish the dedicated industry watchdog, would this make a bad situation worse and increase the cost of new schools and hospitals?

Albanese:

I thank the member for her question, and I am asked about the Federal Court and the CFMEU and the ABCC. This is what the Federal Court did in 2017 that I am aware of. A blast of the ABCC awaiting time and taxpayer public money prosecuting two CFMEU officials for, to quote from a Federal Court decision, having a cup of tea with a mate.

Having a cup of tea with a mate. And this is what Justice North described… He described as a minuscule insignificant affair. And then he said this is all external forces that are beating up what is just a really ordinary situation that amounts to virtually nothing. That is the Federal Court’s ruling in the decision.

There are a lot of interjections and points of orders, which are rejected.

Albanese:

It is just extraordinary. I can’t be more specific. Justice North went on to say, when the ABCC was talking about, use public resources to bring the bar down to this level, it really calls into question the exercise of the discretion to proceed. That is what they had to say at that time. The Federal Court has also dismissed the ABCC for its prosecutions labelling them unnecessarily inflammatory and another quote, conducted as a blood sport. It is what the Federal Court have had to say about these actions that the member raised, and I thank you very much for her question.

Anne Aly is asked about the childcare reforms and says:

May I take this opportunity to pay heed to my predecessor in this space, the Minister for Social Services. (Amanda Rishworth)

When as the Shadow Minister for the Arts was architect of Labor’s plan, and who continues to be a fierce advocate of early childhood education. On this side of the chamber, we know that childcare costs are eating a bigger and bigger hole in the household budgets, and putting more financial strain on families.

Almost 73,000 families are locked out of the child system because it is unavoidable. That means that children are missing out on important early learning and parents and in most cases mothers who are the primary caregivers are not able to work the hours they want, they are not able to progress their careers and they are not able to contribute to the household finances in the ways in which they would like to. Labor’s cheaper child care plan will make early childhood education for affordable for a 1.26 million families by increasing our childcare subsidy rate.

A big part of that is a plan for the ACCC to design a price regulation mechanism that will drive down out-of-pocket costs for families, we have committed to a comprehensive review of the child care sector through the Productivity Commission, with the aim of implementing a universal 90% childcare subsidy for all families.

These reforms aren’t just about the economy. They are also about increased workforce participation. They are about women being able to go back to work in the capacity in which they want to go back to work and participate in the workforce. It means that early childhood education educators are valued for their vital work, but importantly, these reforms are about ensuring all children have access to quality, affordable early learning, investing in their future and in hours.

Paul Fletcher to Brendan O’Connor:

I ask the Minister inform houses to whether he has met with any CFMEU officials regarding the abolition of the construction watchdog?

O’Connor:

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I thank the honorable member for his question. And before I answer the question, I congratulate you, Mr Speaker, on your elevation to office, a well-deserved result in the election yesterday. Can I indicate to the house that I have not spoken to any official of the CFMEU in relation to this matter that has been asked of me by the honorable member.

Co-cordinator at the Antipoverty Centre Jay Coonan says continuing the Basics Card is continuing to punish those living in poverty:

It is galling for them to have misled the public about their intention to “abolish” cashless welfare, because they haven’t. Keeping the BasicsCard is cruel, unnecessary and ineffective. It is worse when the prime minister uses his mother’s experience of social security for political gain, only to punish people like this.

This abhorrent decision leaves the door open to expand income control further under the guise of “community consultations” – when it’s never the voices of people subjected to the card who are consulted. It was a Labor government that expanded cashless welfare last time they were in government and we fear it will be a Labor government who expands it again.”

The minister’s office has been contacted for comment.

Amanda Rishworth is asked a dixer about pensioners being able to relax about being put on the Indue card (which was not the previous government’s policy, but was an attack line Labor prosecuted during the campaign)

Rishworth says it will never happen under Labor (it was not going to happen, as a wider policy, under the Coalition either

Rishworth goes on:

Earlier today, I introduced legislation to start the task of dismantling the Coalition ‘s cashless debit card experiment, and I want to reassure the Member for Bruce that seniors will no longer have to worry that their pension will be linked to the card because no-one in this country will have to worry about it because we are getting rid of it and we are ending the experiment of privatised welfare and it this country*.

Of course, the cashless debit card was an ideological obsession by the former coalition government. It was imposed on immunities and rolling out, rolling out, rolling out and, of course, it was completely – imposing on communities that did not want it and did not like it and when if the evidence came out, when the evidence came out that it was not working, there was no evidence to support it, there were please from communities to and what do? They just kept rolling it out.

They put ideology before evidence, arrogance before consultation. This was a defining feature of the former Morrison government, well, that is not what will happen under this government. The Prime Minister during the election campaign said that this would be a priority, to get rid of the Cashless Debit Card and we’re getting on with job.

*But. There is still no word on what is happening to the Basics Card. The Basics Card is different to the cashless welfare card but it is one of the income management tools.

The APH library describes the card as:

The BasicsCard was introduced to support the [Coalition] Government’s income management initiatives. Various forms of income management operate in locations around Australia including the Northern Territory, Cape York, the Kimberley, Perth, Playford, Shepparton, Bankstown, Logan, Rockhampton and a number of remote Indigenous communities.

The BasicsCard is a PIN protected magnetic stripe card that allows income support recipients to spend their payments at approved businesses. The card works on the EFTPOS system. Cardholders cannot use the card to withdraw cash from automatic teller machines or EFTPOS terminals or to buy alcohol, tobacco, pornography or gambling products.

Only some retailers and service providers are approved to accept the BasicsCard. To get approval, a business must agree to accept a list of obligations that include not allowing people to use the card to buy excluded goods, gift cards or cash.

A common complaint from cardholders in some income management trial sites is that many retailers and service providers do not accept the BasicsCard. For example, Aldi, Bunnings, Officeworks and some government agencies.

There has been no word on whether Labor plans on scrapping this income management card – which a lot of people have been placed on – will be discontinued.

Milton Dick:

The Member for Longman, I just ask the house if the Minister could be heard in silence and you interjected straightaway. Could we cease interjections at least until the Minister starts talking?

There is another question from the crossbench.

Andrew Wilkie:

Minister, the recent 650% in HECS help is unreasonable, especially coming as it does so soon after the previous government reduction of the compulsory fresh. Education was too expensive already. You review the indexation rate and bring relief to the 2.9 million Australians lumbered with HECS.

Jason Clare:

The power and importance of education, I thank the Member for Clark, he knows very well as well as do you, Mr Speaker and I congratulate you on your election and I note the comments you made yesterday about the parliament in schools program and I look forward to working with you on that.

Last year, the indexation rate was 5.6, this year it is 3.9 calculated based on CPI over the last two years. The Member for Clark mentioned the cost of living and in that regard it is important to remember that payments are set as a set percentage of your income. In other words, they do not go up unless your salary does.

The issue of affordability is an important one, that said, and it will be one of the things that will be looked at by the government as part of the University accord process. It is important to make this point, Mr Speaker, when HECS was first introduced in 1989, less than 8% of Australians had University degrees.

That now stands at about 33%. HECS is largely responsible for that. Amongst younger Australians, the percentage is even higher, more than 43% of younger Australians have a university degree but that figure hides another fact that is the fact that kids from poorer families are less likely to go to preschool, less likely to finish high school and are less likely to get a university degree.

Where you live also matters. My friends on both sides of the house of Representatives regional areas will know this. About 48% of young people in our major cities have university degrees but percentage in regional Australia is about 20% and for our Indigenous brothers and sisters that percentage is even lower, something like less than 10% of Indigenous Australians have a university degree.

We have got to do something about that. I do not want this to be a country where your opportunities in life depend on your postcode, your parents or the colour of your scheme.

Soon I will be announcing a group of eminent Australians will lead that work and look at everything from low economic background, regional Australians, but also transparency, regulations, and deployment conditions, and also the issue that you have raised, and Bataclan, the issue of affordability and is the source of you have raised.

Where are your masks? Labor’s Anika Wells asks Coalition MPs

In answering a question about driving up the take-up of fourth doses of Covid vaccine in aged care, Anika Wells throws in this to the opposition:

I got my fourth dose at one of our efforts to drive up vaccination rates, the focus of our winter plan in aged care. I only regret I cannot follow that lovely team of dedicated clinical ledgers around the country getting my fourth dose at every facility to drive up awareness, such is my determination to leave no stone unturned. That would be against medical advice and we on this side of the house actually follow the medical advice. Where are your masks?

There are about a handful of people wearing masks in the Coalition ranks – Darren Chester, Karen Andrews, Michael McCormack and who I think is Stuart Robert are the ones I can see. But by and large there is an absence of the highly recommended masks.

Angus Taylor asks question about energy costs

There is a dixer on the cost of living, and then it is time for Angus Taylor:

During the campaign, Labor promised a $271 increase decrease in power bills. Will the prime minister guarantee to the house Australians will see that?

Anthony Albanese:

I thank the member for Hume for his question and I congratulate him on his courage for asking it. The paradox of the last government, they were obsessed with power but totally failed on energy, totally failed when it came to energy, and Australia’s families are paying for that.

Peter Dutton:

It is on relevance, and we spent yesterday with you talking about the standards of this place and it is clear that in the words of Speaker Smith, given the tightness of this question, the prime minister needs to answer the question and restrict himself to the question.

Milton Dick:

The question was specific and it mentioned during the campaign. The prime minister is in order and I will listen carefully to what he is saying. If you want a different answer, you will have to ask a different question.

Albanese:

I will go directly to the campaign and what happened, because this is what happened and this is what we did not know was happening while the campaign was on but they knew …

They knew about the price increase in March.

One of the previous government’s final acts was to hide that energy prices would be going up in July. They were advised in March that the default mark offer price per household in NSW would increase by 19.7%, in Queensland up 12.8%. They knew about it in March, but days before the election was called they made a conscious decision to keep the information from Australians until after the election.

And who might that have been? It was the member for Hume. It was the member for Hume, the minister at the time.

What we will do is deliver an energy policy. It will be the first one we’ve had in this country for a decade. They have had 22 announcements and did not deliver one. Did not deliver one.

Paul Fletcher stands up and says something, but Dick tells him he does not have a point of order.

Albanese:

I am asked about energy and energy prices, and I was asked about what we were doing during the campaign, and what happened during the campaign is we promised an energy policy and we will deliver through our Powering Australia plan. They had 22 announcements and did not deliver one. Even when the national energy guarantee went through the Liberal party room twice – twice – instead of implementing the policy, they just rolled their leader.

Nationals leader asks about government ‘confusion’ over foot and mouth

David Littleproud to Catherine King:

My question is to the minister representing the minister of agriculture and I refer to the chief veterinary officer briefing to the opposition on Thursday where he advised that foot-and-mouth disease is uncontrolled and increasing, and to a subsequent comment from the minister of agriculture on Monday, Indonesia seems to be getting ahead of it. Who is correct? And has this confusion caused thousands of passengers to cross the border of Indonesia without proper screening? Why is Labor making a bad situation worse?

King:

I tell you what is confused. What is your position on border closures? We have one position put by you and all sorts of different members. What have you actually had in terms of your actual position? Again, can I say very, very clearly, this is an issue the government takes very seriously.

We are taking the advice of the chief veterinary officer. We are taking the advice of the agriculture department. We have been rolling out sanitation maps, and I don’t care who wants to claim credit for that, but that is there, and they are put in place now. We know that this is a serious threat to Australia’s biosecurity, and this government has put in place the most serious measures, the most comprehensive measures of any government that we have ever seen.

Richard Marles answers defence question: ‘We understand the challenge we face’

The next question is on defence force capability.

Richard Marles goes through what we already know.

He says:

This country is now under a new management. There is a serious group of people who are in charge, and we understand the challenge that we face. We know the difficulties we face. What we can say is this: whatever we face, there is only one interest which is going to guide the effort we make, the decisions we take, and that interest is the national interest, which is defined by the national security of the Australian people.

Liberal deputy leader asks PM about building watchdog

Sussan Ley to Anthony Albanese:

My question is to the prime minister, and I refer to comments he just made that the watchdog is a waste of taxpayer money. They are currently pursuing [I miss the name] for allegedly pushing, shoving and verbally abusing a female health and safety manager. Does the prime minister seriously believe that pursuing this vile behaviour is a waste of taxpayer’s money, and why is Labor making a bad situation worse?

Albanese:

Thank you very much for the question. I believe if someone commits assault, they should be charged with assault and dealt with. That is what I believe. I am surprised that you don’t. This seems to be a controversial issue. I make this point.

There is a kerfuffle.

Paul Fletcher:

That is an invitation against every member on this side. The prime minister just said that you don’t believe assault is a serious matter. Of course we do.

Milton Dick:

Resume your seat. That is not the point of order. I call the prime minister.

Albanese:

The irony! The question suggested that. That was the point. The point of the question was that I wouldn’t regard that behaviour. That is precisely what I was asked! Precisely what I was asked. And my answer was, where someone commits a crime, they should be charged with a crime of assault if they commit assault.

That is what my view was. If I tell you what the ABCC have spent their money on, $500,000 of taxpayers’ money on an unsuccessful case brought against the union who requested that a women’s toilet be available on the site.

Peter Dutton:

It is a point of order on relevance and it goes to the seriousness of the question that was put to the prime minister. He is not answering that, he is choosing to belittle the question that was put. Instead playing games and getting frustrated, he should answer the question about …

Dick:

The point of order is not on relevance. The prime minister is answering the question and has answered the question, and I asked him to continue.

Albanese:

Thanks very much, Mr Speaker. ABCC spent over $500,000 as well of taxpayers’ money enforcing a blanket ban on putting stickers and posters with union logos up on worksites. How many people died on worksites in the construction sector?

… I have made it very clear that where someone commits a crime, they should be charged with it. Charged with it. I have never heard of this bloke. Never heard of him. No connection with him, and the idea somehow that we’re going to come in here …

The idea we are going to come in here says a lot about why they are sitting opposite.

That they come in here today and they can ask questions about inflation, they can ask questions about cost of living, they can ask questions about the health pandemic, they can ask questions about foot-and-mouth disease, they can ask questions about a whole range of issues, and what do we get? Back to the same old bucket. The same old bucket that saw them have a royal commission into trade unions, that saw them have a royal commission into, at the time, current and former Labor leaders effectively, spend millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money on what was a political pursuit. The federal court said this about the ABCC or its prosecutions, labelled them unnecessarily inflammatory and conducted as a blood sport. Politics should be better than that, but I am not surprised that the opposition isn’t.

To be fair, the head of the ABCC said no one was prosecuted over stickers, and the court case Albanese referenced was not about a women’s toilet.

Catherine King gives an update on foot-and-mouth disease and the response:

This is an issue the government takes very, very seriously and it is why we have introduced the toughest biosecurity measures ever undertaken in Australia. It has been detected in over 70 countries but the immediate and pressing concern is the outbreak in Indonesia.

It has been detected in 22 of the 37 provinces so the government is taking a two-pronged approach by strengthening measures at our border but also working with our partners, particularly Indonesia, to prevent an outbreak coming here to these shores. An additional $14m committed to strengthen Australian prevention for F&M. A million doses will be provided to Indonesia of the F&M vaccine and the government has assisted through the provision of technical support in the broader vaccination program.

We also have CSIRO Center for Disease preparedness working with the Indonesian minister of agriculture to provide laboratory support and also essential materials. We have got the Indonesian government with signage and biosecurity measures for outgoing Australians.

We are doing everything we can to support our neighbours. It is in the interests of this country that we do so and they get this under control as quickly as possible and we are confident the Indonesian authorities are doing all they can.

Here in Australia, we funded additional biosecurity officers, security detector dogs to this task, the activation of biosecurity powers which have never been actually used before in this country, additional signage and distribution of flyers at major airports, deployment of sanitation mats, expanded social media campaigns and informing travellers of their biosecurity responsibilities.

But what we do know absolutely and utterly is that one of the highest risks is if people illegally import meat or dairy products. We know that we have biosecurity officers checking around certain retail outlets at the moment, those imports have been stopped …

What my message is particularly to the Australian people and particularly to those opposite, this is a very important task for all of us. Anyone coming in from these airports declare, declare, declare.

Absolutely make sure that you do your part to ensure that we maintain this important trade.

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, who has been close friends with Speaker Milton Dick for almost as long as both have been in the Labor party, is in the gallery, along with the Speaker’s brother, the Queensland treasurer, Cameron Dick.

Bob Katter asks PM about infrastructure projects

The next dixer covers ground the treasurer went through this morning.

We move on to the first of the crossbench questions, and it is Bob Katter, who gets cut off under the new time limits for questions, but Anthony Albanese gets that it is about infrastructure and answers anyway.

Albanese:

I thank the member for Kennedy for his question, and also thank him for his hospitality up in his electorate. I have indeed visited it on two occasions … (speaks indistinctly) … I do not think that needed clarification from the member for Kennedy but I thank him nonetheless for his goodwill.

Indeed, I did potentially get into some difficulty in the pub – I was sitting on the wrong seat, apparently, that was reserved for a very large gentleman with a hat bigger than the member for Kennedy.

What we did is exactly look at infrastructure projects and this project, the irrigation project, I understand has had an initial business case that has been forwarded and will be examined by the department as is appropriate. I do also note that the Flinders shire council has been very supportive of the project and I met with the mayor on a number of occasions.

That part of the world has an enormous opportunity with projects like Big Kennedy and Little Kennedy and the Kingston project, a range of renewable energy projects, water projects, potential irrigation project to expand agriculture. I have had the privilege in former capacities of visiting with the member of Kennedy. I know that my colleague, the minister for the environment, and the minister for infrastructure will look at these projects and, of course, it fits in two categories for the minister of environment as well as looking at it in her capacity as minister for water.

Where we can appropriately, within appropriate environmental protections, we should be looking at ways in which we can improve irrigation, expand our agricultural sector. It is important Australia plays a role and potentially a more important role as food resources around the world become more scarce, is to use the fact that we are such a vast island continent, to expand that, and I look forward to working constructively with the member for Kennedy on that.

Peter Dutton asks question about union officials

Peter Dutton to Anthony Albanese:

My question is to the prime minister. Officials from the CFMEU have been charged with thousands of offences. Has the prime minister met with any of the union bosses accused of criminal behaviour, including sexual assault, harassment and rape?

Albanese:

Mr Speaker, if the member opposite has an allegation or wants to know someone I met with, he should say … If he… wants to name somebody, he is perfectly entitled to. But what he is not entitled to do is to engage in that sort of smear tactics …

Dutton:

I do not know if this is a point of order but it is not an answer to the question. Have you met with these officials that have been charged with sexual harassment …

Speaker Milton Dick:

There is no point of order, I call the prime minister. Completed your answer?

Albanese has. Dutton is not impressed and the Coalition benches echo that displeasure.

It seems to be a new experience for quite a few of them.

It takes time to settle into opposition.

Looking at the chamber, Labor and the crossbench is masked up – but once again, there is barely a mask to be seen on the Coalition’s opposition benches.

I’m not sure you could say it is anything other than a deliberate statement at this point.