Politics with Michelle Grattan: Andrew Hastie on foreign influence, security and veteran mental health
In this podcast, Andrew Hastie speaks with Michelle Grattan about growing concerns over Chinese influence in Australian politics, security clearances for politicians and the mental health of veterans.
Following the 2019 federal election, only 59% of voters said they were satisfied with the way democracy was working.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The final parliamentary week for the year finished on a strange note with Angus Taylor’s dispute with an American writer. On the policy front, the medevac repeal went through and cuts to the public service were announced.
Morrison would rather live with a problem minister in a key post than give a scalp to Labor.
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The situation with Naomi Wolf is another case of Angus Taylor being sloppy with facts and refusing to clean up his mess quickly.
Andrew Metcalfe, sacked by prime minister Tony Abbott, has done a full circle and is being appointed to head the new department of agriculture, water and the environment by Morrison.
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Morrison said the shrinking of the number of departments was “to ensure the services that Australians rely on are delivered more efficiently and effectively”.
Following conflicting accounts on whether there was a deal, Richard di Natale said Cormann had ‘walked over to senator Lambie and said, “Is it OK if I say there’s no deal?” We heard you say it’.
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After securing a condition which she cannot disclose “due to national security concerns”, Jacqui Lambie has voted with the government on the repeal of the medevac laws.
Pauline Hanson’s One Nation blindsided the government by voting with Labor against the Ensuring Integrity Bill in the Senate.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
The government was caught completely unawares when Hanson and her colleague Malcolm Roberts lined up against the bill, which was lost in a tie.
“The government was totally taken by surprise” when the One Nation senators and Jacqui Lambie voted against the ensuring integrity legislation, says Michelle Grattan.
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University of Canberra Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Leigh Sullivan and Michelle Grattan discuss this week in politics, and talk about what to expect in the year’s final parliamentary sitting week.
A leader with any appreciation of process should know that by directly contacting the commissioner he was opening himself to attack.
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With one parliamentary week remaining, Angus Taylor has been discredited, and Scott Morrison has been embroiled and embarrassed – or embarrassed himself. And the whole thing was avoidable.
Morrison told parliament: ‘What I did yesterday is what I told the house I would do.’
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NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller, who knows Morrison personally, defended the PM, saying he ‘didn’t ask for anything that was inappropriate and I’m comfortable with the discussion that we had’.
The new fund will put up 10% to 40% of capital investments by businesses.
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The Australian Business Growth Fund will be backed by each of the big four banks.
Rudd said Australia must once again become the international champion of the South Pacific nations: ‘The so-called 'Pacific step-up’ is hollow.‘
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Launching journalist Peter Hartcher’s Quarterly Essay, Red Flag: Waking up to China’s challenge, Rudd said “we have become too China-dependent. We need to diversify further”.
The affair started when Taylor wrote to Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore after the council declared a climate emergency, seeking to score a political point.
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In a statement to the house, Morrison said he had spoken to the NSW police commissioner about “the nature and substance” of the police inquiries.
The alleged attempted penetration of federal parliament is significant, given (if true) its deep implication for Australia’s democratic system.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Most of the money will go to providing an extra 10,000 home care packages, after the commission said many people were dying while waiting for them.
Westpac has its Annual General Meeting on December 12. “No doubt, there’ll be some very hard discussions between now and then,” Joshn Frydenberg said.
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The government at the weekend piled on more pressure for Westpac heads to roll over the bank’s money laundering scandal, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg saying the affair had a long way to play out. “These…
“[The Westpac scandal] comes at a bad time for the government which has legislation before parliament to crack down on union behaviour that goes off the rails, and here you have business behaviour being even worse,” says Michelle Grattan.
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University of Canberra VC Deep Saini and Michelle Grattan discuss this week in politics, and talk about what to expect in the last parliamentary sitting fortnight, which starts this Monday.
Albanese describes Australia as presently in a ‘productivity recession’.
Joel Carrett/AAP
In his second “vision statement” Albanese says he wants to pursue his “productivity project”, and paints himself as a fiscal conservative well removed from Bill Shorten’s tax and spend approach.
Morrison this week delivered to an audience of big business what was described as his most important speech for the rest of the year.
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Next week begins the year’s final parliamentary fortnight, and the main attention will be on the fate of two bills - the ensuring integrity legislation, and the medevac repeal.
Bowen will also highlight the rising gender gap in the study of economics.
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In a lecture to be delivered on Wednesday, Chris Bowen says he is concerned that “the nation will lose out…if fewer young people are trained in the fundamentals of good economic decision making”.
In a speech on Wednesday night, Morrison will insist this bring-forward does not mean the government is panicking about Australia’s economic conditions.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Following increasing calls for stimulus to be injected into the economy, the government will outline an infrastructure bring-forward of A$3.8 billion over the next four years.
The present income averaging system will continue to be used in assessing debt. The key “refinement” will be the addition of “proof points”.
Mick Tsikas/AAP
The Department of Human Service’s customer compliance staff will now be required to seek “additional proof” rather than solely relying on income averaging when determining if there is a debt.
Keating attacked The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in particular for their China coverage.
Darren England/AAP
Amid debate about China’s refusal of visa to two federal MPs, former PM Paul Keating denounced the media for ‘failing to present a balanced picture of the rise, legitimacy and importance of China’.
Andrew Hastie (right) with Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Morrison appointed him chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security.
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