Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top stories after an extremely busy night in Canberra before Emily Wind fires up for one last shift from the capital after a busy two weeks.
It’ll be the morning after the night before for senators after their marathon overnight sitting last night. More than 30 bills passed the upper house, including controversial migration laws that allow the government to pay third countries to take non-citizens and ban travellers from specified countries. The world’s first attempt to ban young people from social media platforms went through as well to make a historic night. We have more details, analysis and reaction coming up.
The government might be pleased with its night’s work but it always comes at a cost. Our exclusive story this morning reveals that Tanya Plibersek struck a deal in writing with both the Greens and independent senator David Pocock on supporting her Nature Positive legislation before Anthony Albanese vetoed it hours later in a private meeting with Adam Bandt and Sarah Hanson-Young.
Queensland’s new LNP government has admitted that its signature youth crime legislation will “directly discriminate” against children by limiting their “protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”. A veteran human rights lawyer in the state, Terry O’Gorman, who famously took on Joh Bjelke-Petersen, is highly critical of the new laws and say they remind him of the infamous former premier.
Key events
Bandt says Greens ‘did push hard’ on housing legislation, but ‘for a reason’
Adam Bandt also weighed in on whether that had been an impasse between the Greens and Labor over legislation in recent months, with the government routinely labelling them as “blockers”.
The Greens leader said when it came to housing, “we’ve been saying to the government, you’ve got to take this seriously, and there’s an opportunity in this Parliament to actually do something about it.”
We pushed the government hard on stage three tax cuts early in the [year], and they changed their mind on that … We were hoping that we might get the government over the line on things like rent caps and reforming some of those unfair tax concessions [to level] the playing field [for] first home buyers. And so yes, we did push hard … but we did it for a reason …
We were going to the point where they were costing the [negative] gearing changes and actually looking at this and examining it, so we got pretty close.
Bandt argued that as a result of this, “the debate has changed” in the lead up to the next election and there is “an understanding that we’re going to have to dig deep” on housing.
Bandt believes minority government possible at next election
The leader of the Greens, Adam Bandt, believes a minority government is possible at the next election.
Speaking with ABC RN earlier, he spoke about the negotiations the Greens made with Labor to pass its “guillotine” motion in the Senate yesterday – and what it got in return for this – and said:
We’ve pushed us as hard as we can, got what we could. And now for us, the attention turns to the election – keeping Peter Dutton out and taking some of these issues, like the housing and climate crisis, to what may well be a minority parliament at the next election.
Bandt said Australia was in the situation where “less than a third of the country votes for the government, more than a third of the country votes for the opposition and about a third of the country votes for someone else”.
[As] those trends continuing, I think that puts an obligation on all of us to work together. And I think we’ve seen at the end of this parliament, that where there’s goodwill and there can be constructive negotiations. We can get things done that actually make a difference to people’s lives.
Canavan says under-16 social media ban has caused new generation to become passionate about democracy
Nationals senator Matt Canavan was loudly outspoken against the under-16 social media ban bill and voted against it – but as we know, the bill ultimately passed.
In a late-night post to X after the legislation passed, he said there would be a “silver lining” from the “shameful stitch-up in the Senate” – that a “whole new generation of young Australians are now activated and passionate about their democracy.”
It has been great seeing people learn how the parliament works. And with that in mind, note that the social media bill is not yet law. Tomorrow morning it heads back to the House of Representatives because there were amendments passed in the Senate tonight. It then has to go to the governor general. But both these steps are almost certain to happen.
Thanks again for all of your help and support. We got some amendments on digital ID so it was not for nothing and the fight continues.
RBA’s Bullock signals interest rate cuts still unlikely in the near term
Peter Hannam
The Reserve Bank thinks the country’s inflation rate is still some way off from easing to a “sustainable” level within its target 2%-3% range, governor Michele Bullock told a dinner in Sydney last night.
With one more RBA board meeting in 2024 (on 9-10 December), Bullock underscored the reasons why the market gives just a 6% chance that the RBA will cut its cash rate at the gathering. By next May, though, investors are betting a 25 basis-point cut from 4.35% to 4.1% is all but a certainty.
Bullock told the Committee for Economic Development of Australia event:
As it currently stands, underlying inflation is still too high to be considering lowering the cash rate target in the near term.
The strength of the jobs market has been one surprise – and the reason why the RBA isn’t in a hurry to reduce borrowing costs.
“At present, we judge that conditions in the labour market remain tighter than what would be consistent with low and stable inflation,” Bullock said, adding later, conditions in that market “appear unusually tight, relative to those in other peer economies”.
During the question and answer session, the Governor said the September quarterly inflation figures were “positive” but it would take more than “one or two data points” alone to determine it was the right time to start reducing interest rates.
The December quarter inflation figures land on 29 January, with the first RBA board meeting of 2025 (on 17-18 February) looming as the possible last chance for an interest rate cut this side of the next federal election.
But not all bills welcomed
Continuing from our last post: not all of the bills have been warmly welcomed. The Digital Industry Group said “significant questions” remained about the impacts of the under-16 social media ban on young people.
Managing director Sunita Bose said it would work with the government “as its implementation questions are explored”.
This law has passed despite advice from Australia’s human rights commissioner, the children’s commissioner, the privacy commissioner, 100 youth experts in an open letter to the prime minister and a coalition of mental health organisations. The consultation process must be robust in addressing their concerns…
While there are technical and privacy questions, the most important questions are those relating to the safety of young people. The social media ban could push young people into darker, less safe corners of the knternet that do not have the safety guardrails that exist on mainstream platforms.
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre labelled the migration bills which passed the Senate as “deplorable, political game-playing that causes devastating harm”. CEO Kon Karapanagiotidis said:
The Albanese government and the Coalition blatantly colluded in the ultimate betrayal of Australia’s multicultural communities … our two major political parties sent a clear message that they are prepared to punish refugees, people seeking asylum and migrant communities by tearing families apart, jailing people unjustly, detaining them indefinitely and deporting them back to the very persecution and harm they fled…
Our clear message to those political leaders today is: you are wrong and the fight is not over.
Oxfam welcomes ‘step forward for tax transparency’
Organisations and groups have woken up to a slew of bills having passed the Senate, and welcomed different pieces of legislation they have advocated for.
Oxfam Australia has welcomed the passing of legislation outlining country-by-country reporting rules of multi-national corporate tax and profit information as “a significant step forward for tax transparency.” Chief executive officer Lyn Morgain said:
It’s not just Australia that will benefit. Many multinational corporations that operate in Australia also operate in many other countries across the world. Australia’s transparency will have ripple effects that benefit low-income countries who desperately need the tax revenue for basic services.
Meanwhile, the Digital Industry Group (Digi) welcomed the privacy amendment bill as helping “level up children and young people’s privacy on a wide range of services”. Managing director Sunita Bose said:
Digi fully supports the need to reform the Privacy Act to give Australians more choice, control and transparency over their personal information and to drive greater corporate accountability economy-wide. We’re glad there’s been progress towards the wider privacy reform efforts through the passage of this first privacy bill, and look forward to engaging in the next stages of the process.
Good morning
Emily Wind
Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties – many thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us.
After a huge night in the Senate, with 32 bills pushed through as part of the government’s “guillotine” motion, the lower house has already kicked off for the day.
Any bills with amendments in the Senate last night will now have to go back to the lower house, and passed. First on the agenda this morning is the Commonwealth entities (payment surcharges) bill 2024.
The whole Canberra team will be back with you today, bringing you the latest – Karen Middleton, Paul Karp, Josh Butler, Sarah Basford Canales and Mike Bowers. Hopefully a less chaotic day than yesterday, but it’s only 7am, and after this week it seems anything can happen.
Let’s get into it.
Martin Farrer
The federal government’s social media ban for under-16s has been passed in the Senate.
It is unclear how the new rules will be applied or enforced, and if the legislation will require all Australians to hand over more of their personal data.
Read Josh Butler’s explainer about where we are:
Martin Farrer
The political classes may have been more focused on the passage or otherwise of legislation yesterday, but the huge dump of information about how the government is managing the climate crisis is arguably just as important.
Our environment editor, Adam Morton, has been sifting through the data and comes up with six things you need to know about what is happening – from emissions on a downward trend (but not enough) to why the government needs to set even more ambitious targets.
Martin Farrer
Despite the trade-offs, the marathon effort in the upper house has done a lot to cement Labor’s first term agenda, writes our chief political correspondent, Paul Karp.
It came after a year of fighting between Labor and their progressive rivals, the Greens. But when push came to shove there was enough agreement on getting things done. He writes:
This week Albanese and Labor have shown that they can deal for their legislative agenda. They are hoping that the 2025 election won’t see them dealing for the continued life of their government.
Martin Farrer
We should probably start with the real business of last night and the slew of bills passed by the Senate.
You can read Sarah Basford Canales’ account of how they got over the line here:
And here’s the list of 32 bills:
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Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing amendment bill 2024
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Sydney airport demand management amendment bill 2024
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Aged care (consequential and transitional provisions) bill 2024
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Commonwealth entities (payment surcharges) bill 2024
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Commonwealth entities (payment surcharges) tax (imposition) bill 2024
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Commonwealth entities (payment surcharges) (consequential provisions and other matters) bill 2024
-
Treasury laws amendment (responsible buy now pay later and other measures) bill 2024
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Capital works (build to rent misuse tax) bill 2024
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Crimes amendment (strengthening the criminal justice response to sexual violence) ill 2024
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Family law amendment bill 2024
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Future Made in Australia (guarantee of origin) bill 2024
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Future Made in Australia (guarantee of origin consequential amendments and transitional provisions) bill 2024
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Future Made in Australia (guarantee of origin charges) bill 2024
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Future Made in Australia bill 2024
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Future Made in Australia (omnibus amendments No. 1) bill 2024
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Universities accord (national student ombudsman) bill 2024
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Treasury laws amendment (fairer for families and farmers and other measures) Bill 2024
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Superannuation (objective) bill 2023
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Treasury laws amendment (Reserve Bank reforms) bill 2023
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Customs tariff amendment (incorporation of proposals and other measures) bill 2024
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Communications legislation amendment (regional broadcasting continuity) bill 2024
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Crown references amendment bill 2023
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Customs amendment (ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand free trade area second protocol implementation and other measures) bill 2024
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Midwife professional indemnity (Commonwealth contribution) scheme amendment bill 2024
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Treasury laws amendment (2024 tax and other measures No. 1) bill 2024
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Privacy and other legislation amendment bill 2024
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Surveillance legislation (confirmation of application) bill 2024
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Treasury laws amendment (mergers and acquisitions reform) bill 2024
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Migration amendment bill 2024
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Migration amendment (removal and other measures) bill 2024
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Migration amendment (prohibiting items in immigration detention facilities) bill 2024
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Online safety amendment (social media minimum age) bill 2024
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top stories after an extremely busy night in Canberra before Emily Wind fires up for one last shift from the capital after a busy two weeks.
It’ll be the morning after the night before for senators after their marathon overnight sitting last night. More than 30 bills passed the upper house, including controversial migration laws that allow the government to pay third countries to take non-citizens and ban travellers from specified countries. The world’s first attempt to ban young people from social media platforms went through as well to make a historic night. We have more details, analysis and reaction coming up.
The government might be pleased with its night’s work but it always comes at a cost. Our exclusive story this morning reveals that Tanya Plibersek struck a deal in writing with both the Greens and independent senator David Pocock on supporting her Nature Positive legislation before Anthony Albanese vetoed it hours later in a private meeting with Adam Bandt and Sarah Hanson-Young.
Queensland’s new LNP government has admitted that its signature youth crime legislation will “directly discriminate” against children by limiting their “protection from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment”. A veteran human rights lawyer in the state, Terry O’Gorman, who famously took on Joh Bjelke-Petersen, is highly critical of the new laws and say they remind him of the infamous former premier.
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