Chalmers repeats party line on Payman
On Fatima Payman’s suspected exit from the Labor party, Jim Chalmers said he wasn’t sure if she was leaving but:
I mean she’s certainly chosen to sit herself outside the obligations that all of the rest of us sign up to. We’re a party of progress, not protest, we believe that we get more done collectively than individually. That’s been one of the reasons for our success over a really long period of time.
The path that Fatima has chosen has been chosen by her, not for her, and my hope is that we can welcome Fatima back into the fold at some point when she’s prepared to be subjected to those obligations that all the rest of us have signed up to when we become Labor members and senators.
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I mean she’s certainly chosen to sit herself outside the obligations that all of the rest of us sign up to. We’re a party of progress, not protest, we believe that we get more done collectively than individually. That’s been one of the reasons for our success over a really long period of time.
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The path that Fatima has chosen has been chosen by her, not for her, and my hope is that we can welcome Fatima back into the fold at some point when she’s prepared to be subjected to those obligations that all the rest of us have signed up to when we become Labor members and senators.
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The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is on his feet in the house introducing the Future Made in Australia legislation. (This part of the legislation is on Treasury’s role, which is why Chalmers has carriage over it.)
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Chalmers seems to be speaking to the bill as though it is going to become a part of the nation’s history books and thus needs some good lines:
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Our goal here is to power the future, not manufacture the past. Our strategy is to engage and invest not retreat and protect.
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Our emphasis is on attracting private investment, not replacing it.
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To prosper from change, not just protect ourselves from it.
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And the Bill I’m introducing today is putting this plan into practice – to help make Australia a renewable energy superpower, and an indispensable part of the global net zero economy.
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To more closely align our national security and economic security interests. To modernise and strengthen our economy, in a world built on cheaper and cleaner energy.
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To grab the vast industrial and economic opportunities from the world’s shift to net zero. And share the benefits of those opportunities with every Australian.
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Nick McKim is asked about some of the criticism from Labor MPs, including Queensland’s Graham Perrett who described Adam Bandt to the Saturday Paper as “an opportunistic, vote-harvesting stunt master who can go eff himself.”
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McKim says:
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He [Perrett] is under pressure from people in his electorate who don’t support what the Labor party is doing and who want Labor to sanction the Israeli government, who want Labor to stop being complicit in a genocide. And of course, he is under pressure and of course, he’s going to lash out at us.
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Now, ultimately, everything that we do is political. We are not doing anything other than our job here. And our job is to come into this place, to speak for the millions of Australians who don’t support the genocide that’s under way in Gaza, to speak for the millions of Australians who want the Labor government here in Australia to stop being complicit in this genocide, to put in place sanctions against the Israeli government.
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Those are the things that we’re going to focus on. And Labor can, Labor will do whatever they do. We have a job to do here. And we’re proud to speak for the millions of Australians who want Labor to take a different position, who want to see an end to weapons exports, and military hardware exports to Israel.
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Those are our jobs. Mr Perrett is entitled to run off and lash out at whomever he wants. We are proud of the position we have taken and we’ll continue to advocate for peace in Gaza.
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Hello and welcome back to Politics Live – and the second last sitting day before the parliament rises for the winter break.
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You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day.
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Ready?
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Let’s get into it.
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A branch of the Australian Services Union has backed the Labor senator Fatima Payman, saying she was acting in line with the party’s platform when she crossed the floor to vote in favour of a Palestinian state.
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Despite federal Labor MPs and senators yesterday endorsing Anthony Albanese‘s decision to suspend Payman from the caucus, the ASU’s NSW & ACT services branch has issued a statement commending her “for supporting the Labor platform”. The statement said:
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We call on all Labor politicians to uphold the Labor platform and recognise Palestinian statehood as a priority in their voices and votes in our Parliament and in United Nations forums.
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The Labor party should be focused on doing everything in its power to stop Israel committing genocide in Gaza, rather than focusing on its own MPs who speak up for peace and recognition of Palestine in accordance with their own party platform.
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The Labor platform – reaffirmed at the party’s national conference last August – expresses support for “the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist as two states within secure and recognised borders” and “calls on the Australian government to recognise Palestine as a state” as “an important priority”.
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The ASU, which is affiliated with the Labor party and is aligned with its left faction, said the party’s platform was “developed by thousands of party and union members committed to peace and justice for the Palestinian people”.
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Anthony Albanese says he wants Fatima Payman rejoin Labor – “and that option is certainly available to her” – but has also hinted at the potential for her not to return to the government partyroom.
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The prime minister gave a cagey interview to ABC 7.30 last night which focused on Payman’s suspension from the Labor caucus following her support last week of a Greens motion relating to Palestine. Albanese upgraded her suspension from one week to indefinite after she gave an interview to Insiders on Sunday saying she may cross the floor again.
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Albanese said Payman’s future in Labor “is a decision for her”.
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“She has made the decision that she can’t be bound by what puts our team together. And I would like to see her rejoin the team and that option is certainly available to her,” he told 7.30.
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But he then went on to say: “I’ve been around a while, and I’ve seen people at various times make decisions to change the direction upon which they were elected.”
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The PM said it was “a pity” Payman had taken the course of action she had, and that it was “not acceptable” for her to reportedly be speaking to Muslim groups seeking to campaign against Labor MPs in some western Sydney and Melbourne seats.
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“The idea that this happened just in the last 24 hours is I think not what has occurred,” he said.
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“Someone doesn’t just pop up on Insiders because they were walking past the studio on Sunday. Now, I asked for an explanation of why, what the motivation of that was. I haven’t received one. Just as Senator Payman’s caucus colleagues weren’t given the courtesy of any advance notice that she would cross the floor to vote for a position that is not consistent with Labor’s position, when it comes to the Middle East.”
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Good morning and welcome to our rolling politics coverage this Wednesday. I’m Martin Farrer and before Amy Remeikis comes along, I’ll be running through a few of the big overnight stories.
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A famous Labor dissenter has advised Fatima Payman to “stick to her guns” as her dispute with the party continues to dominate the discourse in Canberra. Harry Quick, the last federal Labor MP to vote against his party when he opposed Howard-era anti-terror laws, urged Fatima Payman to be true to her principles as she faces intense pressure to toe the line on Palestinian statehood or leave Labor.
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His support came as Anthony Albanese criticised Senator Payman for talking to Glenn Druery, after the political strategist and so-called preference whisperer confirmed he was having “informal conversations” with Payman and Muslim community groups about the next election. However, he also said he wanted her to rejoin the Labor caucus. More coming up.
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Melburnians are waking up to a very cold morning today, with the mercury forecast to be not far off 0C (at the time of writing, it was 1.2C at the Olympic Park weather station in the middle of the city and just 0.5C at the airport). And as they do so, many will be wondering why their house is so poorly insulated. Our data specialist Josh Nicholas has come up with one of his big charts to illustrate the problem – namely, that the average Australian home built before 2003 averages just 1.8 out of 10 for insulation, and that’s 70% of Australian homes.
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And a new report from the Human Rights Centre calls for the repeal of anti-protest laws across the country that are criminalising a fundamental right. More on that, too, soon.
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Key events
Caitlin Cassidy
New CEO of Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
Stephen Gniel has been formally appointed as the new CEO of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara).
Gniel had been seconded into the role on an acting basis since November following the resignation of David de Carvalho. He was previously the CEO of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (Vcaa).
The body came under fire last year for a series of errors discovered in VCE exams, prompting the state’s education minister to launch an investigation.
His three year appointment into the new role was decided by Acara board members and a representative from the Department of Education, with consideration by federal cabinet.
Gniel:
I’m delighted at the opportunity to lead Acara at this very important time for education in Australia. Our relentless focus will continue to be on ensuring we support our teachers and inspire improvement in the learning of all young Australians through world-class curriculum, assessment and reporting.
The minister for education, Jason Clare, congratulated Gniel on his appointment.
Gniel … brings a wealth of experience across early childhood education, schools, and tertiary portfolios in the education sector.
Chalmers says Nationals ‘making it up as they go along’ on competition policy
Jim Chalmers, though, says he won’t be pushed on divestiture powers for the supermarkets:
Now the difference between us and the Coalition is we devise and implement our competition policy in a considered and a methodical way, relying heavily on the advice of the ACCC and others.
What we see with our opponents is the Nationals making it up as they go along, riding roughshod over the Liberals, rolling Angus Taylor once again like he’s been rolled on tax and he’s been rolled on public funding for nuclear reactors as well. So this is the same kind of shambles as we saw with nuclear and with migration. They can’t explain the most basic details.
One of the reasons why the last three big reviews of competition policy hasn’t recommended we go down this path is because of the possible unintended consequences. If you made supermarkets sell, are they allowed to sell to another big rival? Does it mean they close down more stores in local communities? And does that mean less competition rather than more competition in local communities?
Chalmers is also keen to point out the doubts those in the Liberal party have previously expressed about the idea:
Not that long ago Jane Hume was saying that she was worried that divestiture wouldn’t decrease prices. She’s on the record as recently as April making that clear.
So we make our competition policy on the advice of the ACCC, not on the advice of the National party riding roughshod over the Liberals.
Australia Institute supports Coalition backing supermarket divesture powers
The Coalition’s support for divestiture powers over the major supermarkets which it announced yesterday (after months of the Greens making the same recommendation) has support from an unlikely (at least for the Coalition) source – the Australia Institute.
The institute’s senior economist, Matt Grudnoff, said the proposed divestiture powers could help keep down inflation and make groceries cheaper.
Research from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, released at the beginning of 2023, showed that corporate profits, not wages, were the major driver of the burst of inflation in Australia that followed the Covid lockdowns.
The Australian economy has become less competitive over the last few decades and these laws would go some way to addressing that structural imbalance.
… Divestiture powers will enable the government to break up large businesses abusing their market power and force them to compete, leading to lower prices and better service for consumers.
MPs and family and domestic violence workers call on government to address delays in funding and hiring
Goldstein independent MP Zoe Daniel is calling on the government to address the delay in frontline family and domestic violence workers.
Daniel has invited organisations from the sector to attend the parliament and have their voices heard, including:
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Elise Phillips, Domestic Violence NSW
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Karen Dini-Paul, Warringu Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation
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Leeanne Caton, NT representative
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Kathleen Maltzahn, Sexual Assault Services Victoria
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Yvette Cehtel, Women’s Legal TAS
Larissa Waters from the Greens and the Liberal’s deputy leader, Sussan Ley, have also been raising the issue.
The government has said it has funded the positions, but the states and territories have not hired enough fast enough. Daniel and the sector says the excuses and delays have gone on for too long.
Labor moves motion to suspend standing orders for vandalism condemnation be adjourned
Back on today’s motion to suspend standing orders for a motion condemning the vandalism of the war memorials and Jason Clare has moved it be adjourned – for much the same reasons Matt Keogh outlined yesterday (see below)
Minister for veterans affairs condemns war memorial ‘defacement’
In moving that the motion be adjourned yesterday, the minister for veteran affairs, Matt Keogh, said:
What I seek to do is to condemn what they have done, because it cuts against the exact freedom that they are espousing and it cuts against the exact freedom they are afforded in being able to exercise those free democratic rights in every other way that they or anyone else may seek to raise their cause in this country.
That is what makes what has happened here not just truly abhorrent but problematic.
In saying all of that, it confirms exactly what the member for Canning has sought to do by bringing forward this motion today and it confirms why Senator Lambie brought forward her motion at the beginning of the week.
That motion was supported by the government, and the sentiments were supported by the prime minister in his answer in question time yesterday, in the speech made by the member for Spence, in the public comments made by the minister for defence on Sunday and in the comments that I have made previously in relation to these things occurring at other memorials.
I think both sides of this House and many on the crossbench join together in those sentiments. It is deeply concerning to me that there was a political party in the Senate that voted against that motion on Monday. I think we all agree with that.
LNP attempt to condemn pro-Palestine graffiti on war memorials
Over in the House and LNP MP Phil Thompson is trying to suspend standing orders to move another motion to have the house condemn the recent anti-genocide vandalisation on Australian war monuments in Canberra.
That the House condemns the act of defacing war memorials by pro-Palestinian protestors which is deeply insulting for current and former members of the Australian Defence Force and undermines the significance of these memorials as symbols of national pride and remembrance.
Keith Wolahan is the seconder.
A similar motion moved by Andrew Hastie yesterday was adjourned.
Chalmers repeats party line on Payman
On Fatima Payman’s suspected exit from the Labor party, Jim Chalmers said he wasn’t sure if she was leaving but:
I mean she’s certainly chosen to sit herself outside the obligations that all of the rest of us sign up to. We’re a party of progress, not protest, we believe that we get more done collectively than individually. That’s been one of the reasons for our success over a really long period of time.
The path that Fatima has chosen has been chosen by her, not for her, and my hope is that we can welcome Fatima back into the fold at some point when she’s prepared to be subjected to those obligations that all the rest of us have signed up to when we become Labor members and senators.
Chalmers says Labor policies helping on inflation
On the speculation that the Reserve Bank may be considering another interest rate rise, Jim Chalmers said:
I think people have got different interpretations about those Reserve Bank minutes that came out yesterday, and again I don’t make predictions about decisions they take independently.
My job is to focus on this fight against inflation. You and I have spoken about it a heap of times on your show. Getting the budget into surplus is part of that effort. Rolling out this cost‑of‑living relief in a substantial and meaningful but also a responsible way, that’s part of us doing our bit to get on top of this inflation challenge.
Inflation’s higher than any of us want to see it but it’s much lower than it was when we came to office and our policies are helping.
Amy Remeikis
Schrodinger’s election
I regret to inform you we are deep in the “when will the election be called” speculation zone, which happens every time we get to when the prime minister could legally call it (from August) and things are unsettled (timeless statement).
The truth is the government and the opposition have been in election mode for some time – pretty much the beginning of the year. And that is usual for the last year of the electoral cycle. And it is even more usual when the economy isn’t doing too well and people are feeling under pressure.
But because we don’t have fixed terms, you are all going to be subjected to endless speculation that we “could” go to an election. Which of course we could – it is just that none of us know, until we know.
Jim Chalmers was asked about it on the Nine network this morning when he was asked to repeat after the host ‘there will be no early election’.
Chalmers did not, probably because breakfast TV hosts shouldn’t be running the country (or at least not so overtly), leading to a back and forth which included Chalmers saying:
I tell you what, I’m working towards an election next year. … My understanding, my intention is that we go on the usual time frame. That’s certainly how I’m operating.
Benita Kolovos
Victoria’s housing minister, Harriet Shing, is holding a press conference in Melbourne to announce a pilot program aimed at tackling homelessness among First Nations people.
She says the program will see Ngwala Willumbong Aboriginal Corporation take over a City of Melbourne building on Bourke Street to deliver the program.
It will provide wraparound support, including arranging housing and allied health services, from Tuesdays to Saturdays. The corporation already runs outreach vans, which provide rough sleeper kits, meals and hot drinks to about 500 homeless people each night in the CBD and its surrounds.
Shing says up to 15% of people experiencing homelessness identify as Aboriginal despite only making up 0.5% of the CBD’s population.
We also know that homelessness is something which is increasingly being experienced by people in private rentals, and around 80% of the people accessing homelessness services for the first time are coming from the private rental market.
This is where it’s so important, not only to bring additional housing online and to ease the challenges of availability and affordability, but also to make sure that when and as people need that extra support, they are able to access it in a way that is culturally safe.
Karen Middleton
Chalmers explains ‘three pillars’ of Future Made in Australia law
Jim Chalmers has explained the details of his Future Made in Australia legislation and why he says it’s essential for Australia’s future in economic and environmental terms.
We can grasp the jobs and opportunities of the energy transition. The world is moving on and Australia needs to move with it. Because if we get stuck in the past, this country will be poorer. It will be more vulnerable and we won’t make the most of the golden opportunity in front of us.
He says the new law will be built on three pillars:
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The first is a national assessment framework to identify the sectors in which Australia has a comparative advantage in the new clean-energy economy, or in which it needs to invest for future economic or national security reasons.
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The second is what he calls a “robust sector assessment process” aimed at working out what is holding back private investment in Australia.
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And the third is a set of “community benefit principles” to ensure that the public money that’s invested – and the extra private investment it encourages – will have benefits both to the economy and to the community.
The time to act is now. The world is changing with or without Australia. The golden opportunity in front of us will start shrinking if we take any longer.
Bondi Junction stabbing victim’s family says no material action has been taken on mental health
Elizabeth Young said Australia’s governments had promised to address mental health in the wake of the attack which killed her daughter, but she says there has been no material action.
After the horror of the Bondi Junction stabbings, the federal and state and territory governments committed to a national mental health ministers’ meeting, who discussed joint action on mental health reform.
Currently, three months on, no date and no agenda has been set for this meeting.
Please, in the long shadow of the horror of Jade’s death, I beg you, as the voice of three shattered households, please actually do something about the discrepancies, the disparities, the inconsistencies in current mental health funding and management between the federal government and states and between states.
Think as ordinary humans. Think as a mother, a father, a husband, a sister, a brother. Find the courage to work together to coordinate action on mental health reform and funding.
We need a coordinated national approach to mental healthcare so that, no matter where you live, you should be able to receive the care that you’ll need. Australia’s mental health system is in crisis, and now is the time to act.
Mother of Jade Young, Bondi Junction stabbing victim, calls for further mental health support
The mother of one of the victims of the Bondi Junction stabbing attack has spoken at a press conference at Parliament House.
Elizabeth Young said her daughter Jade was described in the media as “47-year-old architect Jade Young” but says she was so much more than that.
She was a loved wife, a most-loved mother of two young girls. She was our treasured daughter, and PJ’s beloved jiějie – Chinese for “big sister”.
Elizabeth has travelled to Parliament House on behalf of Jade’s family to urge the government to do more to address gaps in mental health funding.
Jade was a primary victim of that devastating attack, but three households – two in New South Wales, one in Tasmania – are the collateral damage.
Within hours of her death in the hideous aftermath, our New South Wales families were given unconditional support. We were introduced to our police liaison person. We were guided through the first steps of recovery. In the nearly three months since, with the aid of specialist mental health practitioners, we are beginning to emerge from the suffering that has enveloped us as a result of Jade’s death and are trying to give the girls – aged 9 and 14 – a life as close to normal as possible.
But not all of us have been so fortunate. Our son PJ, who lives in Tasmania with his family, received no such treatment. Being nowcomers to Hobart, they firstly had to find a GP, then negotiate their own specialist support, paying out of their own pockets.
Chalmers introduces Future Made in Australia bill
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is on his feet in the house introducing the Future Made in Australia legislation. (This part of the legislation is on Treasury’s role, which is why Chalmers has carriage over it.)
Chalmers seems to be speaking to the bill as though it is going to become a part of the nation’s history books and thus needs some good lines:
Our goal here is to power the future, not manufacture the past. Our strategy is to engage and invest not retreat and protect.
Our emphasis is on attracting private investment, not replacing it.
To prosper from change, not just protect ourselves from it.
And the Bill I’m introducing today is putting this plan into practice – to help make Australia a renewable energy superpower, and an indispensable part of the global net zero economy.
To more closely align our national security and economic security interests. To modernise and strengthen our economy, in a world built on cheaper and cleaner energy.
To grab the vast industrial and economic opportunities from the world’s shift to net zero. And share the benefits of those opportunities with every Australian.
New Greens Senator says Labor’s Future Made in Australia is ‘greenwashing’
The new Greens senator for Victoria, Steph Hodgins-May, stopped by doors this morning (the main entry ways where journalists are waiting, and where MPs who have something to say drop by – there are plenty of other entrances to the parliament where we are not allowed to stop and ask MPs questions)
Hodgins-May says she is not a huge fan of the Future Made in Australia legislation:
Labor’s Future Made in Australia is really a future for coal and gas past 2050 when you look at the fine print.
Enough of this greenwashing from Labor. They can talk a big game on batteries and renewables, but if they’re also keeping coal and gas in the system for longer, we won’t make the transition.
Labor can’t keep putting its foot on the accelerator and the brake at the same time. Real climate action means no new coal and gas.
Outgoing Australian Human Rights Commission president to address National Press Club
Emeritus Professor Rosalind Croucher is coming to the end of her seven-year term as the Australian Human Rights Commission President and will be delivering an address to the National Press Club on creating a national human rights act.
Her speech, “Free + Equal: Safeguarding the rights of all Australians’”will be delivered from 12.30. We’ll carry the highlights, as well as some of the Q&A.
McKim: Greens are ‘proud of the position we’ve taken’ on Gaza
Nick McKim is asked about some of the criticism from Labor MPs, including Queensland’s Graham Perrett who described Adam Bandt to the Saturday Paper as “an opportunistic, vote-harvesting stunt master who can go eff himself.”
McKim says:
He [Perrett] is under pressure from people in his electorate who don’t support what the Labor party is doing and who want Labor to sanction the Israeli government, who want Labor to stop being complicit in a genocide. And of course, he is under pressure and of course, he’s going to lash out at us.
Now, ultimately, everything that we do is political. We are not doing anything other than our job here. And our job is to come into this place, to speak for the millions of Australians who don’t support the genocide that’s under way in Gaza, to speak for the millions of Australians who want the Labor government here in Australia to stop being complicit in this genocide, to put in place sanctions against the Israeli government.
Those are the things that we’re going to focus on. And Labor can, Labor will do whatever they do. We have a job to do here. And we’re proud to speak for the millions of Australians who want Labor to take a different position, who want to see an end to weapons exports, and military hardware exports to Israel.
Those are our jobs. Mr Perrett is entitled to run off and lash out at whomever he wants. We are proud of the position we have taken and we’ll continue to advocate for peace in Gaza.
Greens say Palestine bill isn’t about internal Labor politics
The Greens have reserved their right to bring another motion before the senate on Palestinian statehood. The last time the party brought forward a motion on Palestinian statehood is when Labor senator Fatima Payman crossed the floor. Nick McKim is asked if a motion would be put to the senate today and says:
What the Greens will do is what we have always done, for us this is never about internal Labor party politics, this is about trying to put pressure on a Labor government in Australia to sanction the Israeli government, to stop being complicit in a genocide and it’s always for us been about representing the tens of thousands of people in Gaza who have been slaughtered by a genocidal Israeli government. And we will keep doing those things.
… All of these things are under consideration for us. But our thoughts are about those issues that I have just mentioned, not about internal Labor party politics.