Australian Politics – Volume 70 Number 5 Summary Edition

Below is a summary edition from the latest issue of Inside Canberra, the longest running Australian political newsletter covering federal politics and more. If you want the full content select a subscription option over at the Inside Canberra website.

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Published February 10, 2017

The Week in Politics

The week that Parliament resumes after the long summer break is usually replete with atmospherics and this year was no different. The worst kept secret in Canberra was that Cory Bernardi was going to pull the plug on the Liberal Party. He himself had flagged a big announcement and he didn’t turn up for his usual Monday morning spot on FlowFM. When the announcement was made it had the longevity of a comet crossing the night horizon: the news lasted barely half a Sky News day.

John McDonnell

The Week in Parliament

The week in Parliament was dominated by the Omnibus Savings Bill which was introduced into the House of Representatives on Wednesday. It’s still not clear whether the Senate will pass the legislation as it is. Pauline Hanson has said that she will oppose the bill unless the government makes the CEO of Australia Post, Ahmed Fahour, take a substantial salary cut.

 

Kate Critchley

The issues in the Liberal Party?

In his resignation speech to the Senate on Tuesday, Cory Bernardi said that he was establishing his Australian Conservative Party in order to represent the conservative base. In common vernacular these people are known as ‘the popos’ (the pissed on and passed over) and Bernardi contends that they have been treated badly by the government. In a press conference following his resignation from the Liberal Party he referred to a comment by Liberal pollster, Mark Textor, who tweeted that the government shouldn’t be concerned about offending its conservative base because they had nowhere else to go.

John McDonnell

Australia – China Strategic Dialogue: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi Visits Canberra

The Australia – China Strategic Dialogue was held in Parliament House on Tuesday. The meeting allows the Foreign Ministers of Australia and China to discuss areas of strategic interest and mutual concern.

Michael Keating

The Impending Energy Crisis

On Monday the Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, wandered off the scientific reservation and began exploring the political jungle.

 

Michaelia Cash: The Quiet Achiever

Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has had some big wins in recent days. On Wednesday we learned that Derryn Hinch had changed his position on the Australian Building and Construction Commission legislation and that the transition time for non-compliant enterprise bargaining agreements (EBAs) to comply with the building code attached to the ABCC legislation would be cut from two years to nine months. And last week Minister Cash announced that she was going to tidy up the Fair Work Commission provisions applying to EBAs to close loopholes that were being used by unions.

These measures are both politically and economically important.

John McDonnell

The Parliamentary Budget Office Evaluates Budget Repair

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has shown how wicked the problem of budget repair is. Labor and the crossbenchers are holding up measures worth $8.4 billion over the next four years. According to the PBO the savings, or zombie measures as the opposition likes to describe them, amount to $42.7 billion over the next decade. The PBO concludes that without these savings the government will be unable to balance the budget by 2020-21.

From the Gallery

• So, tell us something we don’t know: The Australian National University’s Social Research Centre, in partnership with Fairfax Media and digital information analysts Keiskompass, asked 2600 Australians to agree or disagree with the statement “I am disillusioned with politics in this country”. In what must have come as a stunning surprise, the poll found that three-quarters of those surveyed either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement. Less than 10% disagreed. Didn’t matter whether they were rich or poor, professionals or tradies, the figures were broadly consistent across all demographics. It’s hardly a revelation, given recent changes to superannuation, aged pensions and the like, that one in every two people aged between 55 and 64 strongly agreed with the statement. Still, we suppose it’s good to have evidence to prove what most of us have known for years.
• Why Tony won’t be invited to hook up with Cory: There’s apparently been something of a falling out between the two mainstays of Australian conservatism, Cory Bernardi and Tony Abbott, which is a shame, given that they have so much in common: the Queen and Margaret Thatcher to name but two. According to Fairfax Media, the rift transpired after details turned up on the front page of ‘The Australian’ of a conversation between the pair, which the recently lapsed Liberal is said to have believed to have been a private chat between chums, about the Senator’s lengthy flirtation with a new Australian conservative political party. Despite the former PM’s statement to the effect that he’d never leaked against a colleague – not even to ‘The Australian’ – Cory remains in a state of high dudgeon. It would be churlish to suggest that the Senator might have orchestrated the leak as a means of product differentiation.
• And while we’re on the subject: In the issues surrounding Senator Bernardi’s defection from the Liberal Party, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that it’s hardly unprecedented. Julia Gillard lured Peter Slipper away from the Libs with the promise of the Speakership and, while the general consensus is that that he performed fairly creditably in the role, it didn’t end well with a number of scandals besetting him during his final months in the Parliament. More recently, Ian Macfarlane jumped ship after that serial dumper Malcolm Turnbull first challenged Tony Abbott and then left Macfarlane out of his ministry. Nor were the now defunct Democrats immune to political treachery with Cheryl Kernot quitting the Party leadership to join the Labor Party. And Meg Lees deserted the Dems to form the Australian Progressive Alliance after she was dumped as leader. Cory Bernardi must be hoping that his change of direction is a successful as that of Billy Hughes who, in the course of a 51 year political career, changed Parties five times.

Kate Critchley

Australian Commercial Radio Event in Parliament House

Commercial Radio Australia is the national industry body representing Australia’s commercial radio broadcasters. They held an event at Parliament House on 8 February. The main speaker was Senator Mitch Fifield the Minister for Communications. There was also a Q&A session with Sky News presenters David Speers and Kieran Gilbert, both who started their media careers in radio.

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