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Victoria attorney general announces bill to ban Nazi salute in public
Adeshola Ore
Victoria’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, says the Andrews government will take “active steps” to ban the Nazi salute after a demonstration by neo-Nazis over the weekend.
Anti-transgender activists clashed with pro-transgender rights activists outside state parliament on Saturday after an event held by controversial UK gender activist Kellie-Jay Keen. A group of about 30 men from the National Socialist Movement also marched along Spring Street, repeatedly performing the Nazi salute.
Symes said the government would aim to introduce new legislation to ban the salute within months:
The behaviour we saw on the weekend was cowardly … It’s clear this symbol is being used to incite hatred against a variety of people, a variety of minority groups.
Last year, Victoria became the first Australian jurisdiction to ban the public display of the Nazi swastika.
Key events
Daniel Hurst
In response to the Greens’ attempt to suspend standing orders in the Senate, the Coalition’s Michaelia Cash has argued that the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was “based on the best possible advice at the time”. Cash told the Senate of Saddam Hussein:
He was a brutal dictator who subjugated his own citizens, invaded neighbouring countries and used chemical weapons against his own people. Australian troops without a doubt served their country with honour and fought with dignity in Iraq and deserve to be recognised for the important contribution they had in the removal of the brutal dictator. It is clear that mistakes were made in the course of the war, however we should not be abandoning our strong alliance with the United States and the United Kingdom… We on this side of the chamber do not shy away from our strong support of the United States and the United Kingdom.
Benita Kolovos
Pesutto says moving to expel Deeming ‘a necessary decision’
The Victorian opposition leader, John Pesutto, says he’s confident he’ll have the numbers to expel Deeming from the Liberal party room:
I would consider it a great failure of leadership if I didn’t take this action … Politics carries with it great responsibilities, and those responsibilities often involve tough decisions. But this is the right decision. It’s a necessary decision. And it will tell Victorians that we are serious about being viable opposition and serious about forming government.
Daniel Hurst
Greens attempt to open debate on Australian involvement in Iraq war
The Greens have sought to suspend standing orders in the Senate to bring on debate about the Iraq war. Senator Jordon Steele-John wants to move a motion to say the Senate recognises that “in 2003, Australia was a part of a United States-led coalition which illegally invaded the sovereign nation of Iraq – with catastrophic consequences for Iraq and the broader region”.
The motion, if passed, would also urge “the Australian Parliament and government to learn the lessons of the past and to never again be dragged into another country’s unjust war of aggression” and call for “the withdrawal of ADF personnel still deployed to Iraq today under Operation Okra and Operation Accordion”.
The government said it would not support the suspension of standing orders, saying there were other opportunities to debate the matter. Murray Watt, for the government, said the Greens were not alone in opposing the Iraq war at the time; Watt pointed to Labor’s position elaborated by then leader Simon Crean in 2003. Watt also said the government’s decision to enter into the Aukus arrangement was a sovereign decision and added that any decision to deploy those submarine capabilities in future would also be a sovereign decision for Australia.
The Coalition’s Simon Birmingham said there were lessons learned but he also said Saddam Hussein had been a brutal dictator. Birmingham said the Iraqi people did now have “more say over their future”.
Benita Kolovos
Victorian Liberal leader speaks to reporters over move to expel Moira Deeming from party
The Victorian opposition leader, John Pesutto, is holding a press conference after he announced last night he will move to expel MP Moira Deeming from the parliamentary Liberal party due to her involvement in an anti-trans protest attended by a neo-Nazi group.
I have not taken this decision lightly but the events which were brought to my attention over the weekend, not far from where we stand, there was a protest which attracted Nazis on the steps of this magnificent parliament. It will never be acceptable in Victoria for Nazis to get a platform or anyone who shares their views, or anyone who works with them to help them promote the odious agenda.
Pesutto said organisers of the protest had “known and established links” with the neo-Nazi groups who attended:
That is odious and unacceptable … I’m here to say it will never be acceptable in this state, Victoria, as a member of the Liberal Party to associate with anybody who, was connected with, or shared platforms with Nazis white supremacist ethno nationalists
Pesutto outlined why he is moving to expel Deeming from the parliamentary Liberal party:
Moira Deeming has had an association with people who organised the rally, along with various asistants, who have shared platforms with and viewpoints with people who promote Nazi views, or sympathies. That’s the first thing second, is staying at the rally when the Nazis arrived. Thirdly, having seen the ugly side and having had an opportunity to distance and dissociate from those very people, she still chose to celebrate as evidenced on social media. Now as a responsible leader for a major political party that wants to govern for all Victorians in 2026 and in the meantime, be an effective, mature, responsible opposition. That can’t and is not acceptable.
Josh Butler
Indigenous voice referendum timeline dependent on passage of two bills in next fortnight
There’s lots of focus on the government’s climate safeguard and housing bills this week, but this sitting fortnight is a crucial one for the Indigenous voice referendum, with Labor needing to pass two separate bills to keep its preferred timeline on track.
Let’s break it down. First, there’s the referendum (machinery provisions) amendment bill, which basically sets the rules for the referendum – things like polling places, donation disclosures and pre-polls. That’s gone through the lower house and is in the Senate, where the Coalition is currently planning to oppose it unless the government legislates for millions in public funding for the Yes and No campaigns.
Labor and the Liberals are in negotiations there, which the special minister of state, Don Farrell, was tight-lipped about in an interview on Sunday, only saying he wanted the opposition to give some “goodwill” to the changes. The crossbench has a bunch of amendments already proposed. The bill is listed first up in the Senate today, and Farrell says he is hopeful it will pass by Tuesday.
Then, separately, the government is currently planning to introduce a constitutional amendment bill into the parliament next week. This bill is the main game for the referendum, which will outline the proposed question to go on the ballot paper, and the exact wording of the proposed constitutional amendment. As we reported last week, this is contingent on final advice from the government’s referendum working group arriving and then being considered by the cabinet, likely next week.
The government wants to introduce the amendment bill next week so they can send it off to a parliamentary inquiry, which will run for a few months, in anticipation of voting on the bill in June. That timeline is important because the government has pegged the October-December window as their preferred timing for the referendum.
Quirks in the referendum legislation compel the government to hold the vote between three and six months after passing an amendment bill; so, counting backwards, the government would need to pass the bill in June to have a vote in October.
So basically the government wants a lot of the referendum legislation dealt with in this fortnight. Keep all this in mind as the next two weeks unfold.
Greens and Labor may find compromises on safeguard mechanism
As the negotiations for the safeguard legislation reach the sticky end, you will hear a lot from Labor MPs not directly involved with the negotiations talking about 2019 and the CPRS.
It’s an old fight and a very, very well trodden path from Labor. The Greens aren’t happy with this legislation – the party doesn’t think it goes far enough and points to business being in favour of it as one of the “doesn’t that make you think why?” questions that need to be raised about the legislation.
But the Greens have also given every indication the party room is not willing to completely blow it all up. So stay tuned – negotiations are ongoing and while the government isn’t moving on no new coal or gas, that doesn’t mean there isn’t wriggle room elsewhere in the legislation.
Impact of rate hikes tempered by savings buffers and fixed-rate loans, RBA assistant governor says
AAP has reported on the RBA’s latest thinking:
The large cohort of mortgage holders with fixed-rate loans, plus the significant savings buffers built up during the pandemic, will likely delay the full impact of aggressive interest rate hikes.
Reserve Bank of Australia assistant governor for financial markets Christopher Kent said these two features of the modern borrowing landscape have made it more difficult to gauge how quickly and how hard interest rates are biting.
This is complicating the matter of lifting interest rates to temper economic activity and slow inflation.
The RBA has already lifted interest rates 10 times from historic lows of 0.1% to 3.6% in a bid to push inflation back within its 2%-3% target range.
Kent said while the high proportion of fixed rate loans and sizeable buffers held by many borrowers would most likely drag out the time it would usually take for higher interest rates to weigh on household spending, other channels of monetary policy were behaving as normal.
“For example, the sharp reduction in demand for new housing loans is in line with historical experience given the sharp rise in interest rates and the decline in turnover and prices in housing markets; the demand for new construction has also fallen noticeably,” he said.
“Higher interest rates are making it more attractive to save and more costly for firms to invest; they have also contributed to lower asset prices and so lower wealth, which will impinge on households’ willingness to spend,” he added.
He said all these other challenges were helping to slow growth in aggregate demand and bring down inflation.
Parliament to sit from 10am today
The parliament will sit from 10am and then it is going to be go-go-go given the amount of work the government wants to get through in this fortnight.
It’s going to be one of those sittings where nothing happens and then everything does.
Michael McGowan
Perrottet refuses to commit to debt ceiling in lead-up to Saturday poll
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has started the final week of the campaign by refusing to say how much debt his government will take on if it is re-elected on Saturday.
Perrottet is embarking on his first regional trip of the campaign on Monday, but began with a stop in Sydney’s inner west to announce an increase of the speed limit of the Westconnex motorway.
Trailing in the polls in the final week before the election, the Coalition is keen to highlight the success of the road, one of a series of infrastructure projects which Labor opposed before construction but which has proved popular since being built.
This is all at risk under Labor … You and your family will be worse off under Labor in NSW because they can’t manage money.”
But ahead of the release of the Parliamentary Budget Office costings on Monday, Perrottet refused to say how much debt the Coalition would take on.
Debt has become a key issue in the election, with the Labor leader, Chris Minns, repeatedly saying the government’s decision to rule out any future privatisations in the next term will see deficits continue to rise. Labor has committed to keeping the state’s gross debt below $187bn.
Perrottet refused to commit to a debt ceiling on Monday, while also saying that, though he wouldn’t privatise further assets if re-elected, he still believed in asset recycling.
He said:
I always look at the situation that is in front of us in every budget. We made decisions in relation to the investments going forward in a financially sustainable way in a financially sustainable way.
Peter Hannam
Central banks join forces in coordinated liquidity push
Six of the world’s biggest central banks – but not the Reserve Bank of Australia – have acted to shore up financial stability in global markets, according to the US Federal Reserve.
The boosting of liquidity through standing US dollar liquidity swaps will last from today and run until at least the end of April.
Maturity operations that usually run for seven days will be shortened to daily. Such measures are typically rolled out when there is a sudden jump in demand for US dollars, Bloomberg reported.
The central banks include the Bank of Canada, Bank of England, Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank. (We’ve asked the RBA if they have plans to join in.)
The actions follow the managed takeover of Credit Suisse by Swiss rival investment bank UBS for $US3bn ($A4.5bn). Credit Suisse was one of the world’s ten largest banks.
The RBA may not have been involved in the coordinated liquidity push, but we do have their first comments on the state of Australia’s banks in the wake of the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank earlier this month that triggered a surge of financial market volatility.
Australia’s banks are “unquestionably strong” amid “strained” conditions in global financial markets, says Christopher Kent, an assistant governor of the RBA.
Kent told the KangaNews DCM Summit in Sydney on Monday that “volatility in Australian financial markets has picked up but markets are still functioning”.
“[M]ost importantly, Australian banks are unquestionably strong – the banks’ capital and liquidity positions are well above [the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s] regulatory requirements,” he said. “Even if markets remain strained for a time, Australian banks’ issuance [of bonds] will continue to benefit from the strength of their balance sheets.”
Kent also said higher interest rates were also likely to have a “somewhat elongated” lag in influencing the behaviour of borrowers, compared with past events.
On the one hand, a higher proportion had taken out fixed-rate loans than usual during the Covid pandemic period of low interest rates. Many savers had also built up sizeable buffers.
“This means that it’s likely to take longer than usual to see the full effect of higher interest rates on household cashflows and household spending,” Kent said.
More to follow.
Joyce: ‘It’s going to be really, really difficult’ to outlaw Nazi salute
Victoria is moving to ban the Nazi salute – but what about doing it at a federal level?
Labor MP Josh Burns has been working on it, which Tanya Plibersek raises when asked about it during her weekly endurance test “debating” Barnaby Joyce on Sunrise.
Plibersek on the federal government moving on the ban:
Well, in the first instance you’d want the states engaged. And I’m very pleased that Premier Daniel Andrews has begun this conversation. This is a disgusting ideology responsible for the deaths of millions of people and it has no place in Australia.
It doesn’t matter what your religion, your sex, your gender, your ethnicity, whatever your background – you deserve to feel safe and respected in Australia, and people turning up in black clothes, balaclavas, giving the Nazi salute is completely unacceptable in modern‑day Australia. I can’t even believe in 2023 we still have to say this is unacceptable in Australia.
Host: Yes, so why don’t we outlaw it? We’ve outlawed the symbols, Barnaby, why don’t we take the next step and outlaw this gesture? Are we behind on this?
Barnaby Joyce:
Well, it’s disgusting, isn’t it? And, obviously, from a family that served in the military to fight the fascists and to fight Nazism, it’s especially offensive, as millions died, [were] put into gas chambers, family members.
But I think we’ve also got to understand this is not – it’s a great idea and we should be doing it – but remember, there are people in the union marches, too, who have used it. There are people who have referred to Morrison and Howard who’ve used it.
It’s going to be – it’s a thing that needs to be done, but it’s going to be really, really difficult, because there are a lot of people who are going to – and the police also have to also go into these areas, some of them incredibly hostile, and try and grab these people. Imagine trying to do it in the middle of those idiots or the middle of a union march where they’re protesting against the Liberal party or the National party? What are you going to do?
Q: Yeah, Tanya, do you do this on a federal level? Are you guys going to step in now?
Plibersek:
Oh, look, Josh Burns, my colleague from Melbourne, has already suggested this and, of course, that’s something we would need to discuss.
… I think it’s a disgusting thing in modern‑day Australia that anybody should be giving a Nazi symbol like that and, of course, I support anything we can do to make people feel safer in Australia, to protect them from this sort of harassment and intimidation.
Victoria attorney general announces bill to ban Nazi salute in public
Adeshola Ore
Victoria’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, says the Andrews government will take “active steps” to ban the Nazi salute after a demonstration by neo-Nazis over the weekend.
Anti-transgender activists clashed with pro-transgender rights activists outside state parliament on Saturday after an event held by controversial UK gender activist Kellie-Jay Keen. A group of about 30 men from the National Socialist Movement also marched along Spring Street, repeatedly performing the Nazi salute.
Symes said the government would aim to introduce new legislation to ban the salute within months:
The behaviour we saw on the weekend was cowardly … It’s clear this symbol is being used to incite hatred against a variety of people, a variety of minority groups.
Last year, Victoria became the first Australian jurisdiction to ban the public display of the Nazi swastika.
Given the state of the budget, this isn’t too far from reality:
2023:
Arthur Sinodinos has finished up as US ambassador.
Kevin Rudd will be stepping into the role.
Penny Wong won’t be in the parliament this week:
If you haven’t already, get your booster.
The government is still finding the numbers on this bill though:
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