monkeu posted:

Hahah Labor trying to suspend standing orders again right now. This week is going to be hilarious.

bandaid.friend posted:

Phelps introduced a bill to get sick people off Nauru today, maybe they want to see where that goes

Ora Tzo posted:

quote:

New South Wales MPs agree Canberra politicians have made the Liberal brand so toxic that an early federal election is the Berejiklian Government's best hope of holding onto power at the ballot box in March.

One MP told the ABC: "If we had our way, we'd like ScoMo to call an election this afternoon."
However, most are not holding out hope that Prime Minister Scott Morrison will heed his predecessor Malcolm Turnbull's advice to call an election as soon as possible after the summer break.
"Look, there's Buckley's chance of that happening, but it could save our bacon if it did," one minister told the ABC.
"Malcolm Turnbull is just saying what everyone wants — an early federal election," said a backbencher.
"The damage from the feds is just unbelievable — without an early federal poll we're going to be taken out as collateral damage and for no reason whatsoever."

...

But others caution it is too early to raise the white flag.
One MP said: "There are still four months to go, voters aren't even switched on yet".

quote:

Labor's Senate leader Penny Wong has accused the government of "perverting the course of the Senate" after it killed off a move to scrap laws that allow religious schools to kick out LGBT students.

Finance minister Mathias Cormann - the leader of the government in the Senate - successfully suspended standing orders minutes before the chamber was due to vote on Labor's legislation on Monday afternoon.
The proposed changes to the Sex Discrimination Act, which has included exemptions for religious schools since its introduction in 1983, would strip non-government schools of the power to exclude or expel students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Cormann was aided in his 11th hour move to prevent the chamber passing Labor's legislation by the two Centre Alliance senators, Stirling Griff and Rex Patrick, who had previously indicated their support for the bill.
With their help, the government won a vote to overturn an order made by the Senate last week that Labor's legislation had to be debated and voted on by 1:50pm today.
David Leyonhjelm, Cory Bernardi, Brian Burston, Fraser Anning and the two One Nation senators voted with the government.
Labor, the Greens, Tim Storer and Derryn Hinch voted against the government's move.
By using procedure to block the legislation passing the Senate, the government has saved itself the embarrassment of having its numbers tested on the floor of the House of Representatives.
All while claiming it still supports the legislation.

bell jar posted:

They don't want it to pass as-is and don't have the numbers to ensure that the amendments they want get in

bell jar posted:

You'd think after the light rail fiasco they'd avoid building new poo poo and instead focus on making the existing infrastructure workable. Or like, build schools, hospitals, etc

monkeu posted:

poo poo’s gonna get way funnier:

quote:

Labor's bill to scrap laws that allow religious schools to kick out LGBT school students has been delayed until next year, after the government proposed amendments lawyers fear would replace one form of discrimination with another.

...

"This is the situation we face: Centre Alliance senators Griff and Patrick have made public that they will support the government's amendment to insert a new provision that exempts teaching activity in religious schools from the Sex Discrimination Act," Wong told the Senate.
"The advice from legal experts is clear - this amendment, passed with the support of Senators Griff and Patrick, would destroy the intent of the bill—that is, to remove discrimination against LGBTIQ students.
"Worse still, the advice is that the government's amendment - which would pass with the support of Centre Alliance - would worsen discrimination against LGBTIQ students, allowing positive discrimination by staff and even allowing teachers to refuse to teach LGBTIQ students."

...

Minutes after the Senate agreed to postpone a vote until next year, prime minister Scott Morrison held a press conference to say he was willing to have "one more go" at removing discrimination. But only if Labor agreed to his amendments.

hidys posted:

No you don't.

That is literally what this law would force you to do.

What is the plan for those without voter ID?

quote:

A company awarded a $70 million contract to operate outsourced Centrelink call centres was responsible for wrongly cutting tens of thousands of vulnerable people off benefits in the United Kingdom.
Concentrix — hired by the Australian Government to help improve service delivery from Centrelink — was slammed for "gross failings of customer service" after an investigation by the Work and Pensions Committee of the UK House of Commons.
"Vulnerable people lost benefits to which they were entitled through no fault of their own," the damning report by the cross-parliamentary committee found.
"Some were put through traumatic experiences as a consequence of avoidable failures.
"The hardship … meant some claimants took out expensive loans or accumulated rent arrears, exacerbating their financial difficulties."

Zenithe posted:

I missed something.

Why is there a data encryption/border protection/electricity price bill.

Or is it three separate things.

Synthbuttrange posted:

South Australian Parliament toilets 'significantly soiled' during spate of incidents
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-07/south-australian-parliament-toilets-significantly-soiled/10595406

quote:

According to the email, the messes have only been appearing during sitting weeks.

Ranter posted:

Does the encryption bill allow the government to access encrypted communications without a warrant? Sorry if that's not technically the right word for Australia. Does a judge, independent of the government, have to approve it?

WhiskeyWhiskers posted:

quote:

The State Government showed its hand too early and failed to keep records of vital meetings while negotiating the $16 billion lease of the electricity distributor Ausgrid, the NSW auditor-general has found.

...

The then Treasury Secretary met with representatives from IFM Investors and AustralianSuper on 14 September, 2016.
According to speaking notes, he was to tell them a minimum acceptable price at which negotiations could continue.
"Later the same day, the proponent revised its proposal to match exactly the dollar price suggested by the Treasury Secretary," the report said.

...

The report found minutes of two important meetings, when price was discussed, were also missing.
"No records were provided to show the Treasury Secretary had prior authorisation to disclose a specific price," Ms Crawford said in the report.

Memento posted:

You probably have this extension installed

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/millennials-to-snake-peop/jhkibealmjkbkafogihpeidfcgnigmlf

Whitlam posted:

Their parliament is weird. Nobody has desks, there are microphones hanging from the ceiling, there are so many of them squashed into a tiny room, and they randomly stand up sometimes.

For real perspective, we aren't the least functional biggest gently caress up in the Commonwealth this week.

quote:

Speaking today, Mr Morrison said it was crucial the public had confidence in Commonwealth employees and agencies.

The new commission will have two divisions — a law enforcement integrity division and a public sector integrity division.

"We have looked at all the alternatives and we believe that this is the best way to achieve this, the most sensible, measured, carefully considered way to address these issues," Mr Morrison said.

quote:

The Australian Government has approved the export of dozens of shipments of military items to Middle Eastern countries embroiled in the bloody Yemen war, a conflict dogged by accusations of war crimes and indiscriminate civilian killings.

Internal Defence Department documents obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) and from parliamentary hearings reveal since the beginning of 2016, Canberra has granted at least 37 export permits for military-related items to the United Arab Emirates, and 20 to Saudi Arabia.
They are the two countries leading a coalition fighting a war against Houthi rebels in the Middle East's poorest nation, Yemen.
The four-year war in Yemen has killed tens of thousands and an air-and-sea embargo has led to more than 85,000 Yemeni children under five dying from hunger, according to one children's agency.
Australia's burgeoning exports to the UAE and Saudi Arabia may be connected to a plan announced by then-Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in January to drastically increase defence sales over the next decade.
Australia will spend $200 million between now and 2028 in order to make Australia the 10th-largest arms exporter in the world. It is currently the 20th largest.
The strategy states the Middle East is a "priority market" for defence exports.