Health News at Your Fingertips

Dutton supportive of wage rise for aged care workers

Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, has said he believes there should be an increase in pay for aged care workers. Dutton is not putting a figure on the increase, saying it is a decision for the independent Fair Work Commission.

The stance is different to what the Coalition put forward during the election campaign when the former prime minister, Scott Morrison, was critical of Labor’s position to fully fund any increase.

The Coalition eventually said it would honour any decision from the Fair Work Commission, but did not commit to fully fund it.

Speaking in Brisbane earlier this morning, Dutton said it was a very important issue that needed to be addressed:

We want to support extra pay for aged care workers and at the same time, we want aged care to be affordable for residents, particularly those on an aged pension, those that can’t afford to go into aged care. We have a time where there are higher acuity needs, the issue particularly around early onset dementia, the higher care needs for people is a real issue. The Government promised at the last election that they would fix the situation in aged care and I want to make sure they are not making a bad situation worse.

The ABC is reporting Dutton’s stance is softer than front bencher Jane Hume, who accused Labor of being beholden to the union movement and simply doing this because the unions are demanding it.

Summary of Barilaro evidence this morning at inquiry

Christopher Knaus

The inquiry has broken for lunch. It will resume with Barilaro’s evidence at 1pm.

So, what did we learn? Here’s a summary of this morning’s evidence.

• Barilaro told the inquiry he had done nothing wrong and that, if he knew what he knew now, he never would have applied for the role of New York trade commissioner or walked into the “shit show” that it has become.
• He said he raised the prospect of applying for the job with the treasurer Matt Kean, who responded favourably. This evidence is the first time we’ve heard of Kean’s apparent knowledge of Barilaro’s intentions. Barilaro said no one within government ever raised any concern with him about his pursuit of the job.
• He also gave evidence of telling the premier Dominic Perrottet that he had applied, following a random encounter in Martin Place. He said the premier said words to the effect of “go for it”.
• Barilaro said he had been through significant “trauma” over the past six to seven weeks. He said he could also understand highly credentialed candidate Jenny West’s trauma, after she was told she had the job, only for it to be taken away. Barilaro also said he did not know West had been offered the job, despite his signature appearing on a briefing document that named her as the preferred candidate. Barilaro said he knew nothing of the brief and suggested it was an e-signature that he may not have seen.
• The former deputy premier also denied he attempted to change the appointment process for such roles to facilitate them being given to ex-MPs like himself. He strenuously denied he had created the New York role to give to himself.
• Barilaro denied using information he had gleaned from his time as trade minister to help him in the recruitment process.
• There is an unresolved question about the identity of Barilaro’s third referee – the other two being ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos and senior NSW public servant Gary Barnes. Barilaro is using the lunch adjournment to check with his third referee, to see whether the individual is comfortable being named. He earlier resisted answering the question.
• Barilaro was also asked about his post-parliamentary job with a property company known as Coronation Property. Barilaro said he met with the state’s building commissioner on behalf of the company. That meeting followed Coronation being issued with a breach notice.

Adelaide Crows potential class action

Mike Hytner

Several Adelaide Crows players are reportedly considering filing a class action over the AFL club’s 2018 pre-season camp, further claims about which have emerged in the past week following the publication of Eddie Betts’s biography.

Betts, one of the AFL’s greatest players and an Indigenous icon, claimed in his book that he suffered trauma at the camp, which he says was “weird” and “disrespectful”.

Betts claimed that information he had confidentially disclosed was yelled at him in front of other players during one session. Adelaide and the AFL apologised to Betts last week but lawyer Greg Griffin has said that may not be the end of the story.

Speaking to the ABC, Griffin said he had spoken to “well in advance” of the minimum seven players needed to be part of a class action and that the group, who were with Betts at the camp, are considering taking their grievances to the supreme court of Victoria.

Griffin said the group of players have been given heart by the release of Betts’s book:

They now very much are emboldened by the fact that the public and also the Crows and the AFL are now, for the first time, looking like coming clean as to what actually happened.

He said any class action would potentially be based on an alleged breach of the players’ contract with the AFL and Adelaide.

As the two parties are actually parties to the contract you’ve got six years within which to bring proceedings so there’s no time problem at all on this.

He added:

I can’t imagine any current player being in any way prejudiced or being worked against if he were to join the class action.

A SafeWork SA investigation last year cleared Adelaide of breaching health and safety laws and an AFL investigation in October 2018 cleared the Crows of any rule breach.

The AFL released a public statement last week saying the organisation “acknowledges the hurt Eddie Betts, his family, his community, and by extension all Indigenous players experienced as a result of Adelaide Crows’ pre-season camp in 2018.” The actions the league has taken are detailed in that statement.

Christopher Knaus

Barilaro denies trade minister role helped him pursue NY job

John Barilaro denies that he used information he had access to as trade minister to help him in his pursuit of the role.

Labor’s Daniel Mookhey says:

You were using information you obtained as a minister for your personal benefit.

Barilaro:

No, I disagree entirely.

He says the information he referred to in his CV and his cover letter was public.

The idea that somehow I used inside information … I had no other information than any other candidate who applied for the role.

Mookhey says it is “highly implausible” that Barilaro didn’t use information gleaned from his time as trade minister to help him during his appointment for the role of New York trade commissioner.

Do you understand how implausible it is to tell us that you didn’t utilise information available to you as a minister …?

Barilaro interrupts the question to repeatedly refute it.

He is asked about senior NSW public servant Gary Barnes, who gave Barilaro a reference. Mookhey asks about the perception that Barilaro received the reference after helping Barnes, now the most senior public servant in the Department of Regional NSW.

Barilaro rejects the suggestion the pair did each other favours. He says it is a slur.

That is a slur on an apolitical public servant that I believe has been in the public service for over 35 years under governments of all stripes.

Christopher Knaus

Barilaro seeking permission to reveal identity of third referee, inquiry hears

John Barilaro is refusing to name the individual that acted as his third referee for the job. Barilaro says his other references – which include former Liberal senator and current ambassador to the US, Arthur Sinodinos – are “being hounded”.

Labor’s Daniel Mookhey persists:

Who was your third referee?

Barilaro:

I won’t be answering that.

Mookhey:

Why not?

Barilaro:

I don’t believe I have to.

The line of questioning prompts interventions from other members of the committee, who say it is a non-lawful question because it seeks information that may be privileged.
The question is ultimately deemed lawful but Barilaro is told he is not compelled to answer the question.

Barilaro wants time to contact his referee over lunch and seek their permission. The question remains unresolved.

There were 2,504 new cases in the last reporting period, and 26 people are in intensive care.

Barilaro tells inquiry trade role wasn’t ‘jobs for the boys’ and he was surprised to be selected

Christopher Knaus

John Barilaro says he did not seek the advice of the parliamentary ethics adviser before applying for the job. The inquiry hears this wasn’t a requirement, but was an option available to him.

He is asked whether anyone ever expressed concern to him about his application for the job.

No one, no one. Ever.

He says he went through a public service appointment process with an independent panel.

He says he was surprised to have been selected.

I was surprised to have gotten through, like anybody else would have been surprised.

Barilaro says this wasn’t a “jobs for the boys” situation.

This was a public service job. I applied for it.

He says he had no idea about flaws with the process that saw him appointed.

If I had [known] about the mess that I had walked into, in terms of the process, [I wouldn’t have done it]… I didn’t seek out special treatment, I went through a public service process, and that’s what I believe I did.

Christopher Knaus

Barilaro tells inquiry he can understand West’s trauma

John Barilaro is being asked about contacting Arthur Sinodinos, the ambassador to the US, about obtaining a reference for the trade role.

He says he had Sinodinos’s mobile phone number. He also contacted Sinodinos through his assistant to set up a phone hook-up.

The line of questioning about the Sinodinos interactions is interrupted.

Barilaro is then asked whether he acknowledges the trauma Jenny West faced, after having the job given to her and then taken away and told it was to be made by ministerial appointment.

Barilaro says he can understand her trauma:

She would have been making the same decisions that I was starting to make, and then it gets flipped, so I can understand that.

Barilaro again rejects the suggestion that he created the job for himself.

I absolutely reject that I somehow created these jobs … for my own self-purpose.

Paul Karp

Greens want Labor to go further on social housing

Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather has responded to the housing minister, Julie Collins’s call for Australians to stop resisting public housing and help find a solution for homelessness “in their backyard”.

Chandler-Mather told ABC Radio:

It’s good that the federal government wants to talk about building more social housing but I think the major problem with their plan is it won’t even come close to touching the sides of the issue that we’re facing. Of that 30,000 homes over five years that they’re talking about, only 20,000 are touted as social homes. To put that in perspective, just the social housing waitlist alone right now is over 160,000 households nationwide. It increases by about 7,000 homes per year. Labor’s plan will only see 4,000 social homes built per year. So not only will they not decrease the waitlist, under their plan the waitlists will actually increase …

The rhetoric is not matching the reality of their plan. For some reason for our political class it’s become acceptable to leave hundreds of thousands of people waiting for an affordable home and that’s something that the Greens are going to be focusing on and hopefully work with the government to dial up that number over the next few years.

Chandler-Mather argued the government could afford to do more, citing the stage three income tax cuts set to cost $224bn over 10 years.

Christopher Knaus

Barilaro asked about role with Coronation Property

The questions are continuing about John Barilaro’s role with Coronation Property, which he took up after parliament. He is asked who he met with in government as a representative of the property company.

He says he met with the NSW building commissioner. Asked about the context of that meeting, he says it was organised after Coronation Property was issued with a breach notice. But he says the breach notice was not the subject of the meeting.

He said the meeting was designed to “get a feel for Coronation” from the building commissioner.

Barilaro is getting frustrated by this line of questioning, saying he was not prepared to ask questions about the Coronation job.

Labor’s Daniel Mookhey asks whether his role with Coronation created a conflict of interest. He asks Barilaro whether he declared his job with Coronation to Investment NSW while he applied for the job.

Barilaro:

Why would I?

Mookhey:

For the very simple reason, that might be a material matter for them.

Barliaro:

No I’m sorry, but I disagree with that entirely.

Barilaro: ‘I wish I had never applied’ for trade job and ‘walked into shit show’

Christopher Knaus

John Barilaro is asked whether he still believes he was afforded the same appointment process as other candidates. He says he couldn’t comment, but adds:

I will say this, if I knew what I know now I wish I had never applied. If I knew what I knew now I wouldn’t have walked into a shit show. And I will use those terms because the trauma I have experienced in the past few weeks is significant.

He had withdrawn from the appointment process about 23-24 February. He said he had been accepted for a job with a property company, Coronation Property, and had a looming defamation case against Youtuber Friendlyjordies.

I just at that point felt like I don’t need to do this, I now have a really good job, I am comfortable with what was being offered as an executive director at Coronation Property. I thought I would withdraw.

He then left Coronation Property when he was offered the trade role.

Barilaro is then asked whether he was lobbying government for Coronation Property. He says he had special dispensation from the ethics advisor to take the role. But he says it’s unfair to describe his job as “lobbying” government.

I didn’t come here prepared to answer questions in relation to my role as an executive director with Coronation.

Christopher Knaus

Barilaro denies he attempted to change appointment process, inquiry hears

John Barilaro has rejected a suggestion that he attempted to change the statutory appointment process – making it a ministerial appointment process – to facilitate the giving of overseas trade roles to ex-MPs.

I reject all. that, I reject that statement and I reject that accusation. The government decided, the cabinet of the day decided they wanted to elevate these statuses. There was plenty of debate. I recall the debate in that room and the support was significant.

He said the push to change the appointment process was purely concerned with attracting a better calibre of candidates.

Barilaro is asked whether the change was designed to benefit him.

Absolutely not. Absolutely not.

The inquiry hears that Barilaro signed a brief in August confirming that Jenny West was the preferred candidate for the role. Barilaro says he wasn’t aware of the brief, despite his signature being on it. He is asked if that is seriously his evidence.

Barilaro:

It is. I wouldn’t say that under oath if I didn’t believe that to be the case. As the minister I will take responsibility. My e-signature was used therefore that note stands and I have to accept that Jenny West was a candidate.

Christopher Knaus

Barilaro responds to fast-tracking cabinet submission

Barilaro is being asked why a cabinet submission was rushed through to make overseas trade roles by ministerial appointment. Barilaro said he was “pleasantly surprised” at the speed with which the cabinet submission was considered. He said it came back within a week to 10 days. He is asked why he wanted it processed “ASAP”.

Everything is ASAP. I don’t sit back. I’m a minister that just gets on with the job so the timing may look to this forum and the public may look like it is rushed through. A comment like ASAP, I was pleasantly surprised that the parliament was able to turn around a cabinet submission so quickly. Sometimes if the agendas align you can get things onto the agenda quickly. The premier has the sign off on this getting on to the cabinet agenda. By luck or chance this particular cab sub got on to the agenda and approved by the cabinet.

Barilaro says he never knew that Jenny West had been chosen as the successful candidate for the role. He described the timing as unfortunate for West.

I was a big fan of Jenny West. I will make this absolutely clear in this forum. She was a strong professional, a fantastic public servant and someone that did a fantastic job for me in that role. So I have in issue with Miss Jenny West but the clash of timelines unfortunately has interrupted what was – now that I understand she was offered a job.

Barilaro is asked whether he had any conversation or meeting with Investment NSW chief Amy Brown about the role. He said he did not have any contact with her until she called to congratulate him on the role.

Christopher Knaus

Barilaro says he did not know Jenny West was offered job, inquiry hears

John Barilaro is asked when he decided to leave politics. He said he first thought about leaving in budget week in 2021. But he said the resurgence of Covid kept him in parliament.

He said the resignation of former premier Gladys Berejiklian was the catalyst for his decision.

The decision to leave on 4 October was a decision that I made only spontaneously after the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, resigned on the Friday. In my mind I thought ‘This is an opportunity for me to leave, when is it the right time to leave?’ There will be just another crisis or another wave and I thought it was time for a refreshed leadership and speaking to friends and family and I indicated earlier it was actually by coincidence that minister Stokes rang me, at the time he was nominating to be the leader of the Liberal party, he was ringing to check in to if I had any objection to that and the conversation turned to I’m not sure I would be hanging around. After that conversation I made up my mind I am going to leave and on the Monday I made the announcement.

Barilaro said there had been many discussions within government about elevating trade roles to ambassadorial positions to attract a higher level of candidate. He also says he knew Jenny West was a candidate, but says he did not know she was offered a job.

I am making that absolutely clear today. I remember in the leadership meeting, either between myself, the premier the treasurer and my deputy in this particular leadership meeting I recall it was the premier and that is premier Gladys Berejiklian and treasurer Perrottet and myself, I raised the idea that should we be elevating these positions to statutory appointments.

Christopher Knaus

Barilaro told Perrottet he applied for job during random encounter, inquiry hears

Barilaro said that he ran into premier Dominic Perrottet randomly in Martin Place, Sydney, in the early months of this year and raised the fact that he had applied for the job. Asked about the discussion, Barilaro said it was short:

Chat about my wellbeing, his wellbeing, everything else, how it was all going, hadn’t really spoken since the reshuffle, I don’t believe. And then I mentioned to him I had applied so it must have been post the application, so late – end of January, early February.

That was the last interaction he had with the premier about the issue, Barilaro said.
He also spoke to Stuart Ayres, the former trade minister, after Ayres resigned over the affair last week.

He wished me all the best. And indicated how he can’t believe what has occurred. He seems hurt. He resigned his post. That’s all it was.

Christopher Knaus

Barilaro tells inquiry he raised job with treasurer before Christmas

What we’re hearing about the interaction between Barilaro and treasurer Matt Kean about the job is new.

Barilaro said he raised it with Kean just before Christmas. He says he was not testing Kean to see whether he would push back on the appointment.

He said Kean expressed no opposition to Barilaro taking such a role.

Yep. He would have told me bluntly if he thought it was going to be an issue for sure.

Labor’s Daniel Mookhey says:

He never did?

Barilaro:

No one ever raised with me anything that this would be politically sensitive.

Christopher Knaus

No colleagues raised concerns about application, Barilaro says

John Barilaro tells the inquiry that no one raised any concern about him applying for the role. He said he inquired with Stuart Ayres, the former trade minister, in December about the job. The job was not vacant at that point.

Labor’s Daniel Mookhey says:

Do you understand that any other person that might be interested in fulfilling this role might not have had the opportunity to pick up the phone to minister for trade and say, “Hey can you give me an update as to who’s going on with this job?”

Barilaro:

That’s a fair statement.

Mookhey:

Do you think perhaps minister Ayres should have declined to provide that information to you?

Barilaro:

He could have but that’s a question for minister Ayres.

Barliaro also says he raised the potential job with treasurer Matt Kean. He did that in December as well. He said he was texted that he was “considering applying for the trade role”.

Christopher Knaus

Barilaro questioned about recruitment

Labor’s Daniel Mookhey is questioning Barilaro on the specifics of his recruitment for the New York trade commissioner post. Mookhey is seeking detail on when Barilaro first decided to pursue the role. Barilaro says it was “late last year”. Mookhey:

When you say, “Late last year” after your resignation you are referring to your resignation as deputy premier and as minister for trade?

Barilaro:

That is correct.

Barilaro said he formed an interest in the role himself, rather than being encouraged.

No, I formed that idea myself. There’s been lots of speculation that I was offered an opportunity outside, if I was to leave, but that’s not correct. I was looking at options and you know that I resigned quite suddenly because of the opportunity arose when the premier resigned and when you don’t get – your feet don’t hit the ground you sort of get swept up in that whirlwind. I came to an idea that that was an option that I would pursue.

Barilaro said he had numerous conversations with both premier Dominic Perrottet and Stuart Ayres, former deputy Liberal leader, about the role. Barilaro said he initiated the conversations with Perrottet.

Mookhey notes that Barilaro was flagging an interest in the role before it was even open. Barilaro said he was flagging the idea in general of a trade role, rather than expressing interest in an existing and open role.

No one knew that it was open. It doesn’t mean you don’t flag it. That role could have opened in six, month, three months, 12 months or two years. No one knew. I flagged the option of a trade role.