What did we learn in question time?
Question time ends.
Once again, I am not sure if we learned anything of substance.
The Coalition tripled down on what looked like an off-the-cuff policy remark from Peter Dutton this morning, calling for a blanket ban on Palestinians from Gaza being able to come to Australia.
Every question the Coalition asked was around the issue of the security checks for Palestinians who have been granted visas, whether Palestinians would be given permanent visas, and Tony Burke’s role in approving visas his constituents make representations on.
Tony Burke was prepared – he outlined the arrangements in place in the case of a conflict between his job as a local MP and his role as immigration minister (he doesn’t make the decision in those cases), he had the figures on how many visas had been approved and rejected (almost three times as many had been rejected compared to those that had been approved since 7 October), and he was able to talk about some of the security checks in place, including how often Asio’s watch list was updated (every 24 hours).
The government tried to keep the focus on cost of living and Future Made in Australia, but it was clear the Coalition seized on the chance to try to put the government on the back foot over the issue of Palestinian visas.
Key events
Thanks Amy and good afternoon (or I should say evening by now) everyone!
Amy Remeikis Natasha May will guide you through the evening now – I will be back early tomorrow morning for the last sitting day of this week. Until then, take care of you.
For those who missed it (lucky you) here is the former deputy prime minister of Australia withdrawing calling the current prime minister of Australia a “sook” in the parliament:
Andrew Wilkie popped into the other place (for him, given he usually sits in the house) to see how the Senate was handling debate on gambling advertising this afternoon.
David Pocock joined him on the edges of the chamber.
Birmingham tells Sky News Dutton’s comments on Palestinian visas ‘entirely consistent’ with Coalition policy
Liberal senator Simon Birmingham was on Sky News this afternoon, where he appeared to be trying to clean up some of what Peter Dutton had said this morning regarding Palestinians coming to Australia.
Dutton said:
I don’t think people should be coming in from that war zone at all at the moment.
It’s not prudent to do so and I think it puts our national security at risk.
There has been no suggestion from security agencies that national security has been placed at risk. The director general of Asio, Mike Burgess, said all security checks of people applying for visas were being undertaken in the usual ways, as recently as Sunday.
In his interview this afternoon, Birmingham was asked when Dutton’s statement became official Coalition policy and said:
Look, this is entirely consistent with what we’ve said for some time, and that is that nobody should be coming here without full and thorough screening.
Particularly screening in relation to security issues when they’re coming from a terrorist-controlled territory.
Now, it’s evident from all of the advice and information to date that that full, comprehensive, thorough screening is not possible to be done out of Gaza at this point in time.
The flow on from that is that we shouldn’t be processing people, and they shouldn’t be coming at this point in time until that sort of thorough checking can be undertaken.
The Rafah border, which runs along Gaza to Egypt and had been the only exit point for Palestinians wishing to leave Gaza, was seized by Israel on the Palestinian side in May and closed. Since then, only in the rare cases of approved medical transfers has anyone been able to leave, regardless of whether they have a visa or not.
Australia’s rejection of thousands of Palestinian visas a ‘shocking abdication’ of obligations, says Amnesty International
Amnesty International Australia has released a statement on the visa numbers – and rejections – that Tony Burke announced in today’s question time.
The Australian Government’s rejection of over 7,000 Palestinians fleeing Israel’s relentless assault on Gaza is a shocking abdication of its legal and moral obligations to provide safety to those in crisis. Despite the catastrophic toll on Gaza’s population, the government’s response remains inadequate.
For more than two million Palestinians, there is nowhere safe to go. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) estimates 75% of the population of Gaza are displaced, yet Australia has failed to offer them adequate humanitarian protection. The International Court of Justice has recognised the grave risk of genocide faced by Palestinians in Gaza, exacerbated by Israel’s siege on Gaza and blockade of essential aid.
Amnesty says Canada announced the expansion of its visa cap to 5,000 and granted refugees rights to work, study and access medical care, as well as looking at streamlined processes for processing refugee claims.
Australia granted more than 11,000 Ukrainians temporary visas and offered an additional 6,000 places over three years for Afghan refugees under the humanitarian program.
Mohamed Duar, Occupied Palestinian Territories Spokesperson at Amnesty International Australia, said:
The Department of Home Affairs has imposed severe restrictions on visa issuance for Palestinians fleeing the devastation in Gaza and cancelling visas on the grounds of perceived ‘security risks’. All visa applicants are subjected to stringent security checks, a process that is inherently inadequate and unfair. These checks have become a barrier to those in desperate need of safety, further limiting the already inadequate response to the humanitarian crisis.
1.7 million Palestinians in Gaza have endured the horrors of constant bombardment, and displacement after displacement. Australia has a duty to protect civilians and provide a humanitarian pathway to those fleeing to safety.
Greens react to news of NSW Liberals missing nomination deadline for council elections
The Greens NSW spokesperson for local government and the former deputy mayor of Albury, Dr Amanda Cohn, has responded to the news the NSW Liberals have failed to nominate candidates for several councils in next month’s local government elections:
Communities across NSW can be reassured that all 376 Greens local government candidates and 22 mayoral candidates got their paperwork in. There are excellent candidates to vote for on September 14!
CFMEU legislation will not be voted on tomorrow after Labor motion fails
Over in the Senate (a sentence that always makes me shudder) the government just lost a motion to guillotine time for debate on the CFMEU legislation.
Yesterday the government gave notice it would be moving the motion today, which if passed would have set a deadline for debate on the CFMEU administration legislation by 12.15pm tomorrow. That would give it time to get it in front of the house chamber, where the government would vote for it and wham, bam, the bill would have been through the parliament by the end of the first sitting week.
But! Despite Michaelia Cash saying this earlier today:
I invite minister [Murray] Watts to consider what are very reasonable amendments and come back to me, but as we said, as Peter Dutton has made clear, we are prepared to pass the bill this afternoon if the government is prepared to take on board what are very reasonable amendments.
The Coalition just voted against the guillotine motion. Which means unless there is some sort of reverse ferret on the vote, the legislation can’t be voted on tomorrow.
The games continue!
Save the Children CEO urges Dutton to ‘put the politics aside’ to help Palestinians coming from Gaza
Save the Children CEO Mat Tinkler has also responded to Peter Dutton’s comments calling for a blanket ban on people from Gaza coming to Australia.
It was the previous government, which Mr Dutton was a part of, that provided humanitarian visas to Ukrainian and Afghan nationals. Australia retains the very same security and assessment tools to safeguard Australian citizens, and there’s no reason why the same protection can’t be extended now to Palestinians.
It’s time to put the politics aside and help those in need, regardless of their nationality.
Question time as seen by Guardian Australia’s Mike Bowers
There is nothing Ed Husic loves more than using pop culture references from at least 20 years ago in a question time answer.
Today it was Zoolander. Mike Bowers caught the moment of delivery.
Bill Shorten is still having a great time.
We’re confused too, David Littleproud.
Graham Perrett takes one for the team.
Senate to hold inquiry into effect of financial regulation on first home buyers
The Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has secured support for a Senate inquiry into the impact of Australia’s financial regulation on first home buyers.
Bragg said the Senate select economics committee will “specifically explore ways to reduce lending costs and improve accessibility for first home buyers”. He said:
This inquiry will be about people, not institutions.
… If the average working Australian loses access to capital for a mortgage to fund their family home, this will cement the intergenerational divide and destroy the Australian dream.
Revisiting Joyce’s one-man protest against RM Williams
Barnaby Joyce, who put himself front and centre during QT once again, is still continuing his one-man protest against Andrew Forrest renewable’s projects, by refusing to wear RM Williams’ boots.
Instead, Joyce continues to embrace the hipster favourite: cowboy boots.
As Calla Wahlquist points out about his boots, though:
Ariat is a quintessentially American brand – it’s named for the racehorse Secretariat. This would be like an American politician trying to appeal to their patriotic base by wearing boots called Phar Lap.
Catie McLeod The Liberal party has missed the deadline for nominations for the upcoming New South Wales council elections, meaning not all of its candidates will be eligible to run in September.
The opposition leader, Mark Speakman, said submitting the local council nominations was a matter for NSW Liberals state director, Richard Shields, and called on him to explain what happened.
In a statement, Shields said:
With the secretariat resources that we had available unfortunately we were unable to nominate in all of the local government areas that were put forward by the State Executive.
Close to 300 Liberal candidates were nominated with the NSW Electoral Commission, including in areas like Parramatta, Strathfield, Blacktown, Inner West and Bayside where we did not run in 2021.
The status of nominated Liberal candidates will be communicated upon confirmation from the NSW Electoral Commission.
On behalf of the secretariat, I would like to apologise to Liberal endorsed councillors that were not nominated and to the Party membership more broadly.
NSW Liberals miss deadline for council election nominations
