Australia politics live: cost of living front-and-centre as question time returns

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Key events

Angus Taylor gets up to ask the second question from the opposition:

Treasurer, unlike small businesses, big businesses like Coles and Woolworths and Qantas can cater inhouse in their corporate boardrooms and do so as a tax deduction. How much does this cost the budget?

The question gets an uproar from the government.

Chalmers begins answering:

Now, Mr Speaker, two points about the Shadow Treasurer’s question. First of all, only the Liberal and National Parties could see taxpayers and workers funding between 1.6 billion and 10 billion to shout their bosses lunch as an issue of fairness. Only those opposite could see that as an issue of social justice, Mr Speaker. And an issue of fairness. The second point I would make is this e Mr Speaker: The nerve of these characters on a day when they have been sprung not releasing the cost of their own policy, jumping up and asking about the costing on a policy which has been longstanding, Mr Speaker.

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Back to question time:

Treasurer Jim Chalmers is asked a dixer about Labor’s “responsible, economic management”.

Naturally Chalmers brings up the Coalition’s tax free lunch policy – a heavy feature in his press conference and interviews this morning, saying:

He wants workers to pay for bosses’ lunches and he will smash the budget in the process. Now, this is the only kind of policy that could have been agreed at the tail-end of a very long lunch, Mr Speaker.

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Daisy Dumas

Continuing from our last post…

Jo Haylen said she has always prided herself on “trusting in people and in the goodwill of people.”

She said that she is “lucky to serve, treating people with respect and acting with integrity, and that I am loyal and always will be.”

It kills me right now that some people might think otherwise of me.

She went on:

Government is a collective effort, and our agenda is more important than one individual. When we came to government, we inherited a public transport system that was on its knees. I’m incredibly proud that we’ve managed to make public transport exciting again. People are voting with their feet. Patronage is up. Public transport is the great social equalizer.

It doesn’t matter how much money you make or how where you live, you can get public transport, get to work, do your job and book after your family. It’s core to our Labor values. Great global cities of the world have great public transport systems, and Sydney is well on its way. I’m disappointed I don’t get to finish the job.

She thanked her colleagues including Josh Murray and her husband and kids.

They’re going to see a lot more of me very soon.

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Daisy Dumas

Daisy Dumas

Jo Haylen says she will continue as the member for Summer Hill

Cutting away from question time, we have more from Jo Haylen’s press conference, announcing she’s quitting.

Jo Haylen has told reporters that she took another trip to the Hunter Valley last year.

I will continue to serve this government as the member for Summer Hill, but I want to put on record and to preempt the questions you probably want to ask.

I did take a trip last year with my husband to the Hunter Valley. It was not the same circumstances as the 25th of January. I was working on that day, but I do want to acknowledge that my use of my personal driver was an error of judgment by me, my mistakes are now causing the government damage.

Politics is difficult. Expectations are high, and I know that from the very minute I was appointed a minister, I have worked my ass off. You don’t clock out from being a minister. You work every single minute of the day, just like you don’t clock out from being a mum. Combining those roles is difficult, but I’m not alone in that challenge.

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Albanese counters Liberal attacks on cost of living

Albanese continues on interest rates:

Under the two to three range that the RBA aim for, in the bottom half of that range. That was achieved without seeing the massive spike in unemployment that we have seen in comparable economies. Employment is 4% – up from 3.9% to 4% on the latest figures. So what we have seen also is that wages increase[d] four quarters in a row. So inflation up, wages down, unemployment low.

That is what has been achieved through the hard work of Australians. We also have received during that period – two – not one, but two – budget surpluses. Back-to-back surpluses. Now, those opposite didn’t worry about inflation at a time when you had that inflation rising, rising, rising, interest rates had begun to rise, what was their response for the March 2022 budget that produced a $78bn predicted deficit, and deficits each year all the way through?

Michael Sukkar, who’s just been promoted to manager of opposition business stands up on relevance grounds, before the PM continues.

I’m asked to compare and contrast. That’s what I’m doing, Mr Speaker. I’ll make this point as well: If they had their way, there wouldn’t be cheaper medicines. If they had their way, it wouldn’t be cheaper childcare. If they had their way, there wouldn’t have been any rebates on energy bills.

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Dutton starts question time on cost of living

Questions have now begun, and unsurprisingly, we’re starting on the cost of living.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton asks:

My question is to the prime minister: Under this this weak Albanese government interest rates have increased 12 times, energy bills have risen by $1,000, living standards have collapsed, 27,000 businesses have gone insolvent and we’re at a record breaking household recession. Will the prime minister now apologise for promising Australians they would be better off and admit they can’t afford another three years of this weak Albanese Labor government?

The PM retaliates, saying:

When we came to office, real incomes were going backwards, inflation was going up, rising, had a “6” in front of it, and indeed we had people’s living standards going backwards.

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Dutton offers bipartisan support to address north Queensland floods

Back in QT: Peter Dutton is also making a statement to the house on the Queensland floods ahead of questions.

He pays tribute to emergency workers and volunteers who have been supporting Queenslanders.

The work that is under way in north Queensland at the moment not just the response to the initial devastation, but to the clean-up will be quite phenomenal, and we offer on a bipartisan basis to the prime minister whatever support is required to help those people.

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Daisy Dumas

Daisy Dumas

Jo Haylen apologises for letting the public down

The NSW transport minister, Jo Haylen, has quit her portfolio. This afternoon, she told media:

It’s not an easy statement for me to make.

As I said on Sunday, I’ve made some mistakes, people aren’t perfect. I’ve let the public down and I’m very sorry for that.

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Albanese says federal government stands ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’ with every Queenslander

Over in question time, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking ahead of questions on the state of the floods in Queensland.

The speaker has informed the house that Bob Katter and Liberal MP Phillip Thompson are not in the house today due to the floods in north Queensland.

Albanese says:

We are thinking of all those Australians battling natural disasters. I note that the member for Kennedy, the comments you have made, I spoke with Bob late on Sunday night and again yesterday. I note that the member for Herbert is also appropriately absent from the chamber and the member for Dawson [the LNP’s Andrew Wilcox] as well.

Rising flood waters are inflicting devastation on homes and communities, thousands have had to evacuate, and I want to assure the House that in this challenging time, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder [with the] Queensland government and with every Queenslander.

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Jo Haylen quits as NSW transport minister

Elias Visontay

Elias Visontay

In NSW, the embattled transport minister, Jo Haylen, has resigned from her role after days of revelations about her use of a ministerial driver for private trips.

Speculation about Haylen’s future had been mounting after the Daily Telegraph first reported on Sunday she had summoned a taxpayer-funded ministerial driver from Sydney to the Hunter Valley on the Australia Day long weekend to chauffeur her and friends – including the housing minister, Rose Jackson – to and from a long lunch at a Hunter Valley winery.

Using a ministerial driver for private travel is permitted as a benefit ministers are entitled to, but while Haylen did not break any rules in summoning the driver for the 446km round trip, the premier, Chris Minns, has acknowledged it was a bad look for his government, and has vowed to tighten the rules to prevent such trips.

While Minns had initially defended Haylen’s trip as a lapse of judgment, reports of further instances of her using the chauffeur service – including to pick her and her children up from their holiday house to drive to sport in Sydney, as well as a trip to the Blue Mountains – have surfaced in recent days.

On Tuesday afternoon, Haylen confirmed she would step down from the role.

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First question time of 2025 begins

Alrighty folks, MPs are filing their way into the House (and senators into the Senate), and you know what that means … it’s question time.

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Elias Visontay

Elias Visontay

Haylen calls snap press conference

Embattled New South Wales transport minister Jo Haylen has called a snap press conference amid growing calls for her to be removed from her portfolio.

Amid growing reports of Haylen using a ministerial driver for purely private transport – including from her holiday house to a winery and back – the premier, Chris Minns, announced the rules for the vehicle scheme would be tightened to rule out such behaviour.

We’ll bring you updates from Haylen’s press conference shortly.

You can read more here:

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Musk-like efficiency role ‘strange’ call for Australia

There have been industry calls to reduce red tape in Australia but introducing an Elon Musk-style minister for deregulation is a “strange” way to go about it, Jim Chalmers says.

The treasurer was responding to a suggestion by the business lobby on Tuesday to follow the lead of US President Donald Trump and slash clunky regulation to boost productivity.

The finance department was already working on streamlining government spending and regulation and creating another department to do the same thing was a “strange way” to seek efficiency, Chalmers said.

Without doing that, we’ve found $92bn worth of savings in our budgets and budget updates.

Regulators have identified excessive red tape was stifling business and making life harder for enforcement agencies, with ASIC’s chair, Joe Longo, calling for a national de-regulation agenda.

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) warned Australia could get left behind and experience a decline in living standards if unwieldy regulatory systems were not stripped back, particularly for environmental approvals and business licensing. BCA CEO Bran Black said:

This election and the period beyond must prioritise reforms that will make our economy stronger and more resilient, boost living standards and, overall, make Australia a better place to invest and do business.

– Australian Associated Press

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As we gear up for question time, here was prime minister Anthony Albanese earlier speaking on Allegra Spender’s antisemitism motion:

‘Our country is better than that’: Albanese speaks during motion against antisemitism – video

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Josh Butler

Josh Butler

Negotiations on electoral donations still unclear

Earlier this morning the Coalition briefed us on their partyroom meeting.

Electoral reform wasn’t discussed in the meeting this week, meaning the contentious reforms to donations and funding for candidates won’t come up for at least another week.

We brought you some of Peter Dutton’s speech earlier where he claimed Anthony Albanese was “not up to his task”, pointing out inflation on food and essential items and claiming the Coalition had “momentum for change”.

Nationals leader David Littleproud called on colleagues to “stay the course” and keep working hard at their election campaigns; deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley was again critical of the government’s policies as they related to small business.

It was a relatively short meeting, a spokesperson said afterwards: only five pieces of legislation were discussed.

The Coalition resolved to support a Commonwealth Workplace Protection Orders bill, as well as a customs amendment around seizure of engineered stone. The Coalition will look to move amendments to a treasury laws amendment bill in hopes of increasing the instant asset write-off for business from $20,000 to $30,000.

On two other pieces of legislation – a transport security amendment and a healthcare legislation amendment on Medicare integrity – the opposition won’t oppose, but is keen to wait for committee reports to come back.

But it was confirmed the electoral reform bill, which we understand is still the subject of furious negotiations between the government and other politicians, was not discussed in the Coalition party room. It remains unclear when, or if, we’ll see that before the election.

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House and Senate debate antisemitism motion

We have some photos of both chambers where Allegra Spender and Jacqui Lambie have introduced a motion on antisemitism.

So far both leaders have spoken, as well as Jewish MPs Josh Burns and Julian Leeser in the House.

Allegra Spender speaks to a motion on antisemitism in the House of Representatives. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Anthony Albanese speaks with Spender after her speech. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Peter Dutton shakes hands with Labor’s Josh Burns. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Independent senator Jacqui Lambie introduces a similar antisemitism bill in the Senate. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
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Lambie tells Jewish community ‘we have your back’

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie was visibly emotional in the senate, speaking on the antisemitism motion.

She was up in response to two amendments – one from the opposition that calls on the government to support mandatory minimum sentencing for terrorism offences, and one from independent Lidia Thorpe to condemn racism “of all kinds”.

Lambie says she “doesn’t want any division”.

[This] shouldn’t come down to politics. It shouldn’t come down to amendments. OK? They [the Jewish community] are feeling the hurt, and they are feeling the pressure, and, God forbid, their kids don’t even want to go to school. It’s not about politics. It’s saying, You know what, we’re here for you … we have your back.

Earlier, Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi also spoke, calling out antisemitism and all other forms of racism. She points to the rise of right wing extremism.

The Greens and I have been calling out racism in all its forms before anyone in here was doing it. We’ve been calling out right-wing extremism, neo-Nazism, which is a threat to everyone in this country.

… And we are seeing the consequences of it right here, because that threat is converting into antisemitism, into Islamophobia.

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