It’s been a torrid week in Australian Politics, and with the Lower House only sitting on Thursday it was the last full sitting week for the Lower House for the year. It went places the sitting week in Parliament, On Monday Labor tried to pass new laws on the Indefinite Detention Immigrants and the Greens blocked it due to it being too strident and harsh while the Coalition blocked the reforms on the basis of it not being tough enough, but interestingly enough they did not offer any amendments to the bill this time which meant that Labor saw an opportunity to attack the Coalition for talking tough while not taking action on the matter. This went down well in Parliament where Claire O’Neill the Home Affairs Minister alleged that Peter Dutton was standing with pedophiles and hardened sex offenders which went down like a lead balloon with the Coalition who immediately called for an apology from the Minister, which as of me writing has not been forthcoming. That really was the theme of the week of an unedifying week in Politics where both sides got down in the mud and fought ugly. This has been a growing theme from the Labor Party who as their honeymoon period has ended has gone for the jugular on Peter Dutton with the rhetoric that he was tough on talk but limited in action as the Home Affairs and Defence Minister. Labor also pointed out that the Coalition and Dutton in particular used similar language as a Minister but I’d say a few things on that, firstly two wrongs don’t make a right and secondly Labor were elected in part to be better than the Alternative and this looks entirely to me like being like the old guy which isn’t good. Meanwhile in other news and the Government has been picking off fights with the States on a number of issues which sets the stage for some interesting National Cabinet meetings this week. First there was the obvious scrap with particularly the Queensland Government over the Transport and Infrastructure spends and the changes to the funding calculator for how the governments split the bill. This last week the fights split to two new areas each with potential nasty political side effects. The first was on the NDIS and the plan by Bill Shorten to change the funding arrangements to give States back some of the power on NDIS Spending. This would be a partial return at least to the old days of State Disability Services being the major provider of services and Federal Government being able to make the NDIS more sustainable by returning some clients back to state care. This went down like a lead balloon with the States who are quite enjoying the way things are with the Federal Government now footing the entire NDIS/Disability tab. The other issue that has come up is in the Treasury Portfolio and its the oldie but the goodie GST Distribution. That became an Issue under the Mathias Cormann and Joe Hockey days when fearing a retribution in WA Particularly the Feds came to an agreement that GST funding would be distributed in such a way that no states were left worse off. This was an electorally popular move but is completely unsustainable from a budget point of view which is why the Government are now looking to revamp the structure to make it more sustainable. As you can guess, the states don’t like this new proposal and are seeking to fight tooth and nail to stop this proposed change from going through. What makes this more embarrassing for the Labor Party is that besides Tasmania every state and Territory is now Labor held but if there’s one thing that doesn’t get partisan its the old fashioned bashing of the feds. Another issue of the Parliament that got raised in the last week was the issue that doesn’t get enough attention in Parliament and that is the issue of Domestic Violence. It has particularly gained prominence in South Australia where 6 people have allegedly been murdered in 18 days due to DV and as a result it got national media attention this week when two Independent MPs asked about it in QT. Lastly, the being the halfway point of the Political term preselections and retirements start to kick up and there was an important departure and arrival to Politics this last week, both from the Senate. From the Labor side you had Pat Dodson, sometimes referred to as the Father of Reconciliation announce he was resigning from Politics after a long Cancer battle, he chose the 26th of January as his departure date which was interesting given his role in Indigenous Affairs and the long protracted battle over the date of Australia Day. Then from the Liberals side you had Dave Sharma the former member for Wentworth re-enter the Senate as the Senator for NSW as he won preselection over two Dutton hand picked nominees, namely that of former ACT Senator Zed Seselja and also more Moderate former Senior NSW Minister Andrew Constance. The addition of Dave Sharma is a boon for Politics in my eyes as he is a former diplomat and has a wealth of knowledge in the Foreign Affairs Portfolio. In the rest of my blog I will talk about the events of the last week of Politics before moving onto the numbers as they stand as the Political Year comes to a close.
The now former head of the Department of Home Affairs was shown the door of his job as Chief Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs on Monday as the fallout from his alleged impartiality while being the Head was fallen out. The Federal Government and the Greens reached a landmark deal on the Murray Darling Basin plan on Monday which will flow more water through for environmental purposes, the Nats and the more Conservative Liberals were less than impressed at this deal. On Newspoll everyone was atwitter at the fact that Newspoll showed the 2 Parties locked at 50-50 2PP. Adam Bandt has warned there would be more Climate Protests if Labor approved new Gas and Coal Projects. Andrew Giles the Immigration Minister announced more laws to place even more restrictions on Immigrants who had been released from Indefinite Detention. Finally Former Bank of England Expert Andrew Hauser will serve as Chief Deputy of the RBA for the next five years. That takes us to Question Time and the first question was from the Leader Of the Opposition on the Chinese Alleged Navy encounter. After another question from the LOTO on that topic it was the Shadow Treasurers turn to get a question on core inflation levels. The Shadow Climate Change and Energy Minister had the next question and it was on the topic of Renewables Scheme. There was then the daily Deputy Leader of the Opposition Question and it was on the Failed Voice to Parliament Referendum. After two more questions on Climate Change and also on if there were any Policies upcoming to change taxation on the Family Home, Question Time ended.
Onto Tuesday and the High Court released its reasoning for why the High Court unanimously ruled against the Governments argument and said Indefinite Detainees would need to be released, it comes as refugee advocates continue their call for a Royal Commission into Indefinite Detention. Stephanie Foster has been revealed as the new Home Affairs Secretary. Pat Conroy was the attendee of the National Press Club Gallery and he called out former PM Paul Keating and other Senior Liberal Figures who have been critical of the AUKUS Agreement. Pat Dodson will resign as Labor Senator for WA next year due to ongoing struggles with health and lastly Relatives of Hamas Prisoners gave an impassioned speech to continue the fight to get them released. Question Time started with an impassioned question and answer on the matter of Charles Stevens son the son of the SA Police Commissioner losing his life on the road. After that moment of Seriousness it was back to the normal shiz of asking about the Chinese Alleged Submarine issue. There was then a question on the issue of whether the family home would ever be taxed. Then it was the Shadow Immigration Minister on the Indefinite Detainees High Court Decision. After a question on Inflation and the Economy from Angus Taylor that ended QT.
Onto Hump Day, otherwise known as Wednesday. The PM said it would reopen the Morrison Thalidomide Survival Program. The Government have said they would be open to an extension of the truce between Israel and Hamas. Tanya Plibersek the Environment Minister has reached an agreement with Independent Senator David Pocock on passing the Murray Darling Basin plan through the Parliament. The October CPI data came in and showed Inflation was further slowing at an even faster rate than what Economists were predicting increasing the odds of the Interest Rates being kept on hold in December. Lastly, Pat Dodson gave his final speech to the Senate. That takes us to QT and the Labor Party were asked by Angus Taylor on if the Governments position on implementing the Stage 3 Tax Cuts had changed. Then the Nats had a question on the new Murray Darling Basin Plan. Then there was an Opposition Question on the release of Indefinite Detainees. The rest of the Coalitions Questions in QT were on this topic.
That takes us to the last sitting day of Federal Parliament for the week. The day started with the fallout of the Hamas Israel War, where family of Hamas Hostages had to take coverage in a Melbourne Police Station after Pro Palestine protesters tried to hold them up. Tanya Plibersek has said she would reconsider the future of a controversial Salmon Farm in Tasmania. Lastly, Jim Chalmers met with Backbenchers to discuss the future of the Stage 3 Tax Cuts, it came as the Independent member of Kooyong said she would support the rolling back of stage 3 tax cuts. Onto Question Time and the first question from the Leader of the Opposition was again on the alleged Chinese Submarine Navy incident. Then the leader of the Nationals asked a question on the proposal of having more Senators and MPs in the House as part of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters recommending an increase to the number of Politicians. It was then onto the Dan Tehan show on a number of questions on the release of Indefinite Detained Detainees. That culminated in a Suspension of Standing Orders on this matter which ultimately led to the Leader of the House moving for the debate to happen after the Matter of Public Importance. Then after one last Opposition Question on this topic, question time ended and thank goodness for that.
That takes us to Friday and the day started with the fallout from the nasty and ugly QT on Thursday. Anthony Albanese refused to apologise for the attacks of Claire O’Neill on Peter Dutton while the Shadow Minister James Paterson took to X/Twitter to ask Claire O’Neill to apologise to Peter Dutton for her comments. The Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong attacked North Korea for its Missile Launch and issued new sanctions on the state. The NSW Premier said he would ask the government to reconsider its approach to GST Distribution at National Cabinet next week.
That takes us to the Weekend and the Saturday saw the EU and Australia talk about what the region in Gaza will look like after the war finishes and the move to a permanent two state solution in the area. Sunday was Insiders day and the guest on the show this week was Sarah Hanson Young, the Greens Senator, she said the tone of debate from both sides on Immigration regarding the High Court had hit a new low. She also gave a wide range answer to topics like the New Murray Darling Basin plan and also the potential changes to TV Regulation and a broader conversation on Media Regulation more generally. The Shadow Immigration Minister Dan Tehan was also doing the rounds on TV and said the government continued to have questions to answer on the Indefinite Detention Detainees being released into the community.
So where do we stand at the end of an ugly and vile week of Federal Politics? Well, from a numbers point of view everyone was hyperventilating on Sunday Night into Monday of Last week as Newspoll showed the Coalition and Labor Tied at 50-50 2PP. Those same pundits particularly of the Labor variety were then gloating on Tuesday when a poll that had showed Labor behind last time 49.5 50.5 was now showing Labor ahead 52.5-47.5. This same biased against Labor Poll from last time was now a darling to be worshipped at the altar of. The Honeymoon has definitely ended for the Labor Government and Resolve polling in Queensland and SA Seats, three of which were Greens held showed a growing perception that Albanese is not a strong leader. I’m not sure that’s entirely fair but in Politics perception is a powerful thing and the fact is Anthony Albanese was largely elected at the last Federal Election for not being Scott Morrison and because Albanese has tried to run a traditional Cabinet government where he outsources decisions to his Ministers, there’s a perception he isn’t running the show. And say what you want about Peter Dutton, but being weak is not something you’d use to describe Peter Dutton despite what the Labor Party are trying to smear against the Opposition Leader in Parliament. I went through the Seats for the next election and its not good viewing for the Labor Party at present. They will go backwards or stay even in WA where I think most pundits would admit last election with an omnipresent Mark McGowan was a high watermark for Labor there. NT could be a bloodbath, I think its not inconceivable that the Local Territory is so on the nose that Labor could lose both of its NT seat at the next election. SA is an interesting case, Sturt and Boothby are the only real marginal seats in the State and I think either could fall either way. Tasmania has been a graveyard for Labor for many years now, Victoria is a wait and see, but without Dan Andrews could also have reached a high watermark for Labor, NSW is an intriguing one too, I don’t have a read of which way that state is going to go and Queensland continues too be difficult for the Labor Party.
Thanks for reading my blog, stay tuned for my next blog on USA Politics and anything that may happen in Australia Politics in the last week of the sitting year.
Political Musings from the Man Down Under 