Albanese says he wants Payman to rejoin Labor caucus
Josh Butler
Anthony Albanese says he wants Fatima Payman rejoin Labor – “and that option is certainly available to her” – but has also hinted at the potential for her not to return to the government partyroom.
The prime minister gave a cagey interview to ABC 7.30 last night which focused on Payman’s suspension from the Labor caucus following her support last week of a Greens motion relating to Palestine. Albanese upgraded her suspension from one week to indefinite after she gave an interview to Insiders on Sunday saying she may cross the floor again.
Albanese said Payman’s future in Labor “is a decision for her”.
“She has made the decision that she can’t be bound by what puts our team together. And I would like to see her rejoin the team and that option is certainly available to her,” he told 7.30.
But he then went on to say: “I’ve been around a while, and I’ve seen people at various times make decisions to change the direction upon which they were elected.”
The PM said it was “a pity” Payman had taken the course of action she had, and that it was “not acceptable” for her to reportedly be speaking to Muslim groups seeking to campaign against Labor MPs in some western Sydney and Melbourne seats.
“The idea that this happened just in the last 24 hours is I think not what has occurred,” he said.
“Someone doesn’t just pop up on Insiders because they were walking past the studio on Sunday. Now, I asked for an explanation of why, what the motivation of that was. I haven’t received one. Just as Senator Payman’s caucus colleagues weren’t given the courtesy of any advance notice that she would cross the floor to vote for a position that is not consistent with Labor’s position, when it comes to the Middle East.”
Key events
McKim: Greens are ‘proud of the position we’ve taken’ on Gaza
Nick McKim is asked about some of the criticism from Labor MPs, including Queensland’s Graham Perrett who described Adam Bandt to the Saturday Paper as “an opportunistic, vote-harvesting stunt master who can go eff himself.”
McKim says:
He [Perrett] is under pressure from people in his electorate who don’t support what the Labor party is doing and who want Labor to sanction the Israeli government, who want Labor to stop being complicit in a genocide. And of course, he is under pressure and of course, he’s going to lash out at us.
Now, ultimately, everything that we do is political. We are not doing anything other than our job here. And our job is to come into this place, to speak for the millions of Australians who don’t support the genocide that’s under way in Gaza, to speak for the millions of Australians who want the Labor government here in Australia to stop being complicit in this genocide, to put in place sanctions against the Israeli government.
Those are the things that we’re going to focus on. And Labor can, Labor will do whatever they do. We have a job to do here. And we’re proud to speak for the millions of Australians who want Labor to take a different position, who want to see an end to weapons exports, and military hardware exports to Israel.
Those are our jobs. Mr Perrett is entitled to run off and lash out at whomever he wants. We are proud of the position we have taken and we’ll continue to advocate for peace in Gaza.
Greens say Palestine bill isn’t about internal Labor politics
The Greens have reserved their right to bring another motion before the senate on Palestinian statehood. The last time the party brought forward a motion on Palestinian statehood is when Labor senator Fatima Payman crossed the floor. Nick McKim is asked if a motion would be put to the senate today and says:
What the Greens will do is what we have always done, for us this is never about internal Labor party politics, this is about trying to put pressure on a Labor government in Australia to sanction the Israeli government, to stop being complicit in a genocide and it’s always for us been about representing the tens of thousands of people in Gaza who have been slaughtered by a genocidal Israeli government. And we will keep doing those things.
… All of these things are under consideration for us. But our thoughts are about those issues that I have just mentioned, not about internal Labor party politics.
Nick McKim says this is now ‘moment of choice for Labor’ over supermarket powers
Sticking with senators: Greens senator Nick McKim, who introduced a private members’ bill to give the ACCC divesture powers over the big supermarkets, is feeling some type of way over the Coalition now deciding they are also for divestiture powers (although the Coalition says they are for different divestiture powers than the Greens).
McKim told ABC News Breakfast:
[I’m] pretty happy. When we set up the select committee on supermarket prices our whole aim was to bring down food and grocery prices in Australia and we’re a step closer to that.
The Labor party is the only party standing with Coles and Woolworths and their billion-dollar profits and their price gouging of Aussie shoppers. This is now a moment of choice for Labor.
Ayres says he thinks Ed Husic will be out there promoting Future Made in Australia bill as well
So why is it that Tim Ayres, the assistant minister, is speaking on this and not the industry minister, Ed Husic? (The suggestion in the question is that Husic is not doing interviews on the legislation so he is not asked questions about Fatima Payman.)
I think every minister who’s been engaged in this, including Ed, will be out there spruiking this policy.
It is it is a centerpiece for the Albanese government. This piece of work is as I said, a lot of the focus this week has been on the here and now, dealing with the cost of living pressures for ordinary Australian households.
But the second focus of this government is about making sure that we’re making the big changes for the long term to make the economy more resilient, to lift our national productivity, to make sure that we’re creating the jobs of the future in the regions and suburbs.
Sidenote: there are a lot of auditions occurring at the moment for the cabinet reshuffle Albanese will most likely carry out over the winter break. Ayres is one of those putting themselves forward for a promotion (although the Senate is a little bit tricky and he is in the same faction as Jenny McAllister, who is in the same boat)
Ayres dodges question on effect of potential Trump victory on Albanese economic plan
What if Donald Trump wins the next US election? Will that impact the Albanese plan? Tim Ayres:
We’ve seen a shift across the world in terms of the way that countries engage in trade. It has become a feature of statecraft.
And Australia has has of course seen its fair share of impediments placed in front of Australian exporters and we are determined to diversify our trade relationships.
That that isn’t just about market diversification, although that’s very important. It’s also about diversifying the products and services that we offer the world and about making sure that we not only secure our supply chains, but make the Australian economy more resilient for the future where in an uncertain or less certain world.
We can’t afford complacency about our economic future. And that is that is one of the driving features, or the driving imperatives behind this piece of legislation and behind the Albanese government’s approach to manufacturing.
We need to diversify the range of products and services that we’re offering the world and go up the value chain to make sure that we’re creating the jobs of the future and making Australia more economically resilient.
Tim Ayres says Future Made in Australia ‘won’t be a pork barreling exercise’
Future Made in Australia is the domain of the industry minister, Ed Husic. But this morning, it was the assistant minister for manufacturing, Tim Ayres, who was doing the media on the legislation.
Ayres was asked whether the legislation could be used for pork barrelling (see below) by ABC radio’s AM host, Sabra Lane, and said:
It certainly won’t be a pork barreling exercise. We’ve seen enough of the old style grant schemes under the Morison government.
These projects will have to be either key to the net zero transformation of our economy – so capturing those big investment opportunities here in Australia or they will need to be where Australia could have a genuine comparative advantage in the future or to deal with their economic or national security imperative.
That’s what the legislation is designed to do, to protect the interests of Australia for the future.
So will it be a politician or a public servant who makes the final decisions?
Ayres:
The focus of decision making here will either be with Treasury or of course some of the investment vehicles that the government has here, so Export Finance Australia, the national reconstruction fund, that is where the decision making about some of these programs will be. But of course [there’s also] the national interest framework, just like the foreign investment review board does now.
That will that will be the locus of decision making there.
Labor to introduce Future Made in Australia laws today
The government will be introducing its Future Made in Australia legislation today, which it hopes will act as a bit of a circuit breaker in all the Fatima Payman talk. (Hope is a dangerous thing to have, as LDR says)
The legislation lays out the framework to allow private sector investment in renewables and critical minerals, while also protecting national interest (you may remember some talk about whether China will be able to invest in Australia’s critical mineral sector – you’re about to get your answers). There will also be community benefit principles laid out for investment decisions.
The press release on the legislation introduction lays out those principles:
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Promote safe and secure jobs that are well paid and have good conditions;
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Develop more skilled and inclusive workforces, including by investing in training and skills development and broadening opportunities for workforce participation;
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Engage collaboratively with and achieve positive outcomes for local communities, such as First Nations communities and communities directly affected by the transition to net zero;
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Strengthen domestic industrial capabilities including through stronger local supply chains; and
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Demonstrate transparency and compliance in relation to the management of tax affairs, including benefits received under Future Made in Australia supports.
Bob Katter says official portrait of him ‘an honour for an ordinary bloke’
Bob Katter has responded to the news he will be receiving an official portrait (an honour usually reserved for prime ministers, presiding officers of the parliament and chief justices)
It is an honour for an ordinary bloke.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and [the speaker] Milton Dick, whatever others may say about them, they are the people who are very comfortable with the ordinary sort of bloke.
John Howard is another a great example. A person who was ordinary bloke who ended up being the second longest serving prime minister in Australian history.
I don’t walk in or out of Parliament without giving a fist-up salute to Charlie McDonald, whose portrait hangs out the front of the chamber. He one of the original speakers of the house who was also the first Member for Kennedy and a magnificent ordinary bloke.
Some might say that the perfect portrait of Katter has already been captured (by our own Mike Bowers):
Khalil says he would welcome Payman back to Labor caucus
Peter Khalil says he “would love to see Fatima back in caucus,” even if she has been speaking to political strategist Glenn Druery.
This might sound unusual, but I forgive people. People make mistakes all the time, and it’s important to forgive. And I think we should do more of that in public life as well. People do the wrong things sometimes. I am not perfect. I’m sure Fatima isn’t.
…I would love to see Fatima back in our caucus. People make mistakes all the time. And it’s important to forgive people. And I think, I mean, the thing is, there’s so much pressure being put on people around these issues so much politicisation of this.
In the end, what we all want is probably the same thing, which is to end to human suffering and to end to a conflict overseas, and we’re doing everything we can, at a diplomatic level through being a party of government. And I think that’s far more effective than running stunt motions in the Senate.
Khalil says there has been “a lot of disinformation spread which we are battling with as well”.
I’m happy to debate our foreign policy, whether we’ve done enough or whether we haven’t, we’ve done too much, or whatever it might be.
And that’s an important debate in our democracy. But it has to be based on on the objective facts of what we’ve actually done. And unfortunately, there’s been a lot of disinformation spread around these issues, and we’re battling that as well.
… [but] Again, I think we need to be a bit kinder to each other and more forgiving of each other and [aim for] a better type of politics.
Peter Khalil: ‘Diversity makes our politics better’
Would Peter Khalil be comfortable having Fatima Payman in the caucus, given the senator has reportedly had discussions with political strategist Glenn Druery?
Politics is a tough game, but you know, there are a diversity of views.
…When I first arrived here, I was one of the few… person of colour. In the last election, we’ve had many, many people been elected and there’s more diversity, but diversity doesn’t just come from your skin colour. It comes from your background, your faith, your socio-economic background … we need more people in politics, you know, maybe to build up against the trust deficit that we get in democracy, because this diversity makes our politics better.
Labor’s Peter Khalil, facing grassroots Muslim Vote group, defends record on Palestine
Labor Wills MP Peter Khalil is speaking to ABC radio RN Breakfast about the electorate campaigns which are being run against him (and other Labor MPs) by a grassroots Muslim Vote group.
Khalil is also being targeted by the Greens.
I’m interested in Palestinian self-determination, Palestinian statehood and justice, in a two-state solution and peace. Everything I’ve done as an MP as a lowly backbench MP is to try and influence our policies to reach that outcome.
And that is real material work, putting up motions in the Senate have no real material impact on the what’s happening on the ground, but actually helping Palestinians get out of Rafah which we’ve done to get back into my electorate, family members to be reunited makes a difference to people’s lives.
Increasing humanitarian aid by over $100m makes a difference, saves lives; calling with the international community to end the conflict to end the fighting makes a difference; that increasing pressure that has been put on through the international community through our diplomatic effort makes a difference.
These are things that will have a material outcome, and I actually have argued very strongly that Australia should play a very constructive and substantive role in doing what we can to contribute to Palestinian statehood going forward and for … a just and enduring peace.
Bob Katter is getting an official portrait to commemorate his 50 years in Australian parliaments.
Sarah Basford Canales reports the Historic Memorials Committee met for the first time since 1973 to make the decision on whether the independent MP should be immortalised and made the decision that, yes, he should be.