5&5: Blank Space

Another big week, with big pieces of legislation passing.

On Tuesday we also had a really important event - the 16th anniversary of the National Apology to Stolen Generations.

As Linda Burney told the Parliament:

“Sixteen years ago, one word changed our country forever: sorry. It was not about guilt or blame; it was about facing up to the true history of this nation. Above all, it was about people – people like the stolen generations survivors and their families who join us today. As we reflect on one of the most tragic, brutal and damaging chapters of Australia's story, the shadow of this history is cast long and falls not only on those who were taken but through the intergenerational trauma that was unleashed in our families and communities. To those from the stolen generations and your families: I acknowledge your strength, your courage and your resilience."

Here’s the 5&5.

BEST

  1. Closing Loopholes 2 passed Parliament 🎉

  2. Every tax paying Australian will get a tax cut

  3. Madeleine King's crack at the Nationals

  4. Patrick Gorman’s Valentine’s Day poem ❤️

  5. Anthony Albanese and Jodie Haydon 💍

WORST

  1. Paul Fletcher's lack of Nemesis screen time

  2. Peter Dutton as Health Minister

  3. Criminal wrongdoing 🤝 Peter Dutton

  4. Angus Taylor sabotaging his backbench

  5. The overreaction of all overreactions

1. On Monday we passed our Closing Loopholes legislation to make sure Australians earn more. The Opposition ~ unsurprisingly ~ voted against it and committed to taking a “targeted package of repeals'' to the next election. We know what that means - a package targeted against wages, targeted against job security, targeted against workplace safety and targeted against measures to close the gender pay gap.

2. Not only did we pass legislation to make sure Australians earn more, we also passed our cost of living tax cuts through the House to make sure Australians can keep more of what they earn. The Opposition voted for it, but were pretty angry about having to - even moving amendments to roll them back. More on that later.

3. Madeleine King had a great crack at the Nationals on Wednesday. The Nats kept interjecting when she was talking about the impact of our tax cuts on workers in the resources industry. She didn’t miss a beat - and shot back. “I can hear the leader and the former leaders of the National agrarian socialists over there having a crack. What have you ever done?” They looked back quizzically, like it was the first time it had ever occurred to them.

4. It’s become a bit of an annual tradition now - but I particularly enjoyed Patrick Gorman’s Valentine’s Day poem this year. Check it out for yourself.

5. Speaking of Valentine’s Day - some lovely news this week with the PM getting engaged to his partner Jodie Haydon. Congratulations to them both!

1. We got the final episode of the ABC’s Nemesis documentary this week. Every time someone on our side would mention Nemesis this week you’d look across their backbench and everyone had a radically different expression. No matter who you were quoting, there was someone who was really glad they’d let it out and someone furious it had been said. Paul Fletcher continually was getting up on points of order about it. I can’t work it out. He never appeared on the program. I’m just wondering if he did do 8 hours of interviews and none of it aired.

2. Paul Fletcher took another point of order claiming that Mark Butler wasn’t being relevant when answering a question about the decline of the health system in Australia in the last decade. I spoke to the point of order asking how on earth could you answer the question without mentioning Peter Dutton. Mark quipped: “It would be like speaking about the Super Bowl without mentioning Taylor Swift."

3. In Question Time on Tuesday Clare O’Neil reminded the House of Peter Dutton’s shambolic time as Home Affairs Minister - with a new report spelling out how hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars were funnelled into companies engaged in alleged criminal wrongdoing – including drug smuggling, arms dealing, and money laundering.

“This report exposes the Leader of the Opposition as an absolute fraud, someone who oversaw a system funnelling taxpayer dollars into drugs, guns and human trafficking, all while marketing himself as a tough guy on our borders."

4. The Opposition moved amendments to our tax cuts legislation on Thursday which would roll it back “in keeping with the stage 3 tax cuts” - AKA the previous Morrison government plan. But the way they did it was just plain weird. Sometimes a minister or a shadow isn’t available to move an amendment, so they circulate it and someone else on their behalf moves it. On Thursday we had two backbenchers from the Coalition - Keith Wolahan and Garth Hamilton – move amendments on behalf of Angus Taylor, while Angus was in the room.

The PM summed it up nicely: I've got a bit of advice for the backbenchers there, including the Member for Menzies—and it's not too late for him to have a rethink before he stands next. When a frontbencher gives you an amendment in their name and says, 'You move it on my behalf,' that doesn't show courage. That shows gutlessness. That shows cowardice. That shows them hiding behind their own backbench. It's unbelievable. I've been here since 1996. I've never seen this before. 'I move the amendment circulated in the name of Mr Taylor' is what it says. He's the shadow Treasurer. He's here. I say to the member for Menzies, 'Don't do it.' He's right there. If it's so good, put your name to it, Shadow Treasurer.

As Brian Mitchell said to me - Scott Morrison wanted to do everybody’s job, turns out Angus Taylor doesn’t even want to do his own. Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus.

Parliament doesn’t sit next week. When it returns the following week the tax cuts legislation will be ready and waiting at the Senate and Closing Loopholes will be on its way to the Governor-General.

‘til then,

Tony

PS. Angus Taylor made it clear on Insiders on Sunday - when it comes to workplace relations he used the word “targeted”. We’ve been wanting to know what they’d do and now Peter Dutton is starting to fill in the blanks. So song of the week is “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift.

Tony Burke