Peter Dutton after question time at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday. The opposition leader did not ask a question during today’s session. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Peter Dutton after question time at Parliament House in Canberra on Monday. The opposition leader did not ask a question during today’s session. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Safeguard mechanism a ‘venomous attack’ on coal industry: Bob Katter
Bob Katter voted against the safeguard mechanism, along with the opposition and independent Dai Le, on the grounds it was a “venomous attack” on the coal industry.
Now you want to cold bloodedly go and destroy the jobs of 200,000 people,.
And I sure would like some of our so-called trade union leaders to stand up here because, it seems to me I’m one of the very few that’s standing up.
It’s alright for everybody here, with a nice warm job and their $250,000 a year.”
I think from the votes that the Liberal MP Bridget Archer abstained. Last week she said she couldn’t vote for the bill in its current form, but she wouldn’t be voting against it either.
A reporter has asked the Victorian Liberal leader, John Pesutto, what happens if one of his MPs attends an anti-trans rally next week. Here’s his reply:
What I encourage all people no matter what political viewpoints, I’ve said this many times, ‘When you engage in debates particularly on important social and personal issues, we should never dehumanise one another.’ When I talk about being civil and respectful, you need to respect and appreciate the common bond of humanity we all share. And that means no matter what events you go to, if you see violence against other people, that’s never justified. If you see vilification, that dehumanises others – call it out, no matter what side of the debate you might be on. And those are my road marks for anybody engaging in public debate and entering the public square
‘Hugely positive step’: Spender on safeguard mechanism deal
The independent MP Allegra Spender on the safeguard mechanism:
This deal looks like it will significantly strengthen the safeguard mechanism. It’s a hugely positive step towards net zero and reflects strong collaboration between the government, crossbench, and Greens.
The deal includes many of the changes that I and other crossbench members have been advocating – including a hard cap on emissions and restraint on the use of offsets.
We also see strong action on new entrants, prioritising the future of Australian industry over polluting fossil fuels.
We were elected to deliver on climate action. Today’s announcement shows that this parliament is doing that.
The shadow minister for energy, Ted O’Brien is holding a press conference criticising the government for dealing with the Greens on the safeguard mechanism, a piece of legislation the opposition said no to at the starting block, dealing itself out of the negotiations.
O’Brien is now complaining about the outcome of these negotiations.
I know we’re in politics and we look at these things through a political lens, but there’s a human element and the human element is that you want people to learn and to grow. And sure, I would have preferred. In fact, but I demanded ... she did that on Sunday but she’s done it and now she has an opportunity to work on it.
Pesutto says Deeming has nine months to “prove herself”:
I’m giving her the chance. And what I’d ask is we all give her the chance over the next nine months to prove herself. She’s got a great opportunity to do that. I thought and still considered that it was the sensible, reasonable and fair thing to do. Having seen her condemn it this morning, albeit many days too late, But nevertheless she’s condemned it.
Opposition leader John Pesutto says Deeming accepts there must be consequences for her actions:
Everything I said last week I can proudly stand by because she condemned the conduct which prompted the motion I brought, she’s accepted there must be serious consequences for not having done that earlier. And she accepts as a consequence losing the whip’s position as well, what we want. Remember, we want people to learn from these experiences.
He denies he didn’t bring an expulsion motion forward because he lacked the numbers in the party room:
So Moira Deeming condemned the material in the dossier at 6.30am ahead of the meeting, but so far the condemnation stays private.
And apparently that is all that John Pesutto wanted. So she is now suspended from the Liberal party for nine months.
What about her anti-trans rights views?
What she’s accepted is that our discussions around this must always be respectful and inclusive, even if people disagree. Remember, we live in a democracy and the main thing is to make sure that when people are engaged in public discourse, they do it in a courteous and civil way they can disagree.
John Pesutto says that Moira Deeming has “specifically” condemned the anti-trans rights agitator Kellie-Jay Keen and a tweet in the dossier which was put together by Pesutto when he first announced the expulsion which is “what I wanted all along”.
So Moira condemned the references to the Nazi material that you saw in the Kellie-Jay Keen references in the dossier, and also the Angie Jones tweet. So you’ve seen that from the dossier and for me, that’s what I wanted all along. I wanted it to be condemned, and she’s done that.
John Pesutto says he had sought the concessions from Moira Deeming last weekend. She did not provide it until this morning, but Pesutto says it contained the condemnation he had been after. And because of that, Pesutto put forward the suspension proposal:
What I can say is that the proposal I put to the party room was met with unanimous support. So out of this whole exercise, which began last weekend, we have a situation where the conduct I’d wanted condemned has been condemned, where there is a consequence that follows from not having condemned that when the first opportunity arose, and certainly when my colleagues and I sought a remark, and we’ve got a party room was unanimously behind the outcome. So we’re very pleased with that.
