tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/bridget-mckenzie-31169/articlesBridget McKenzie – The Conversation2023-10-09T07:13:51Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2152632023-10-09T07:13:51Z2023-10-09T07:13:51ZSenate committee says government should ‘immediately review’ its rejection of Qatar flights<p>A Senate inquiry into the Albanese government’s refusal to agree to the extra flights sought by Qatar Airways has recommended the decision be immediately reviewed. </p>
<p>The inquiry’s report, tabled Monday, is also sharply critical of Qantas, whose executives came under hostile questioning over its treatment of customers, when they appeared before the committee. </p>
<p>In its majority report the committee, chaired by the Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie, asks the Senate to re-appoint it so it can bring before it former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce, who declined to appear saying he was overseas. This will require a Senate vote.</p>
<p>Qantas opposed the Qatar application, on the ground it would distort the market. </p>
<p>The report criticises Transport Minister Catherine King for not clearly articulating the factors in her decision not to approve the Qatar application. She has maintained she acted in the “national interest”, and given various reasons at different times. </p>
<p>“A wide range of witnesses, including key stakeholders in Australian aviation, submitted that they did not fully understand the basis for the decision,” the report says. </p>
<p>“The weight of evidence before the committee indicates the national interest would have been well served by agreeing to Qatar’s request.” The report also criticises the government’s refusal to provide the committee with information it sought. </p>
<p>Evidence suggested the decision cost the economy a loss of up to $1 billion; it was also a missed opportunity for tourism and trade, particularly agricultural exports that use passenger planes, the report says. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/qantas-chief-alan-joyce-quits-early-amid-customer-fury-at-the-airline-212845">Qantas chief Alan Joyce quits early, amid customer fury at the airline</a>
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<p>The inquiry recommends that in deciding on bilateral air agreements, the government should look at a cost-benefit analysis, consult widely with stakeholders including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and publish its reasons for decisions. </p>
<p>In the wake of the government’s rejection, Qatar has asked for consultations.</p>
<p>King responded to the report by denouncing the inquiry as a “political stunt” by the Coalition. The committee has repeated its request to King to appear before it, which she has declined to do.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-transport-minister-catherine-king-struggles-to-find-a-landing-strip-amid-qatar-turbulence-213076">Grattan on Friday: Transport Minister Catherine King struggles to find a landing strip amid Qatar turbulence</a>
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<p>The committee comprised three Coalition senators, one from the United Australia Party, two from Labor and one from the Greens. </p>
<p>In their dissenting report Labor senators Tony Sheldon and Linda White said many of the majority recommendations “appear blissfully ignorant of the current policy framework underpinning Australia’s aviation sector”. Green senator Penny Allman-Payne also dissented on some issues.</p>
<p>The report recommends reinstatement of the monitoring of the airline industry by the ACCC. </p>
<p>It says that in addition to this broad monitoring of competition in aviation, “the committee would support a specific investigation by the ACCC into Qantas’ actions in the aviation market. </p>
<p>"The committee is concerned by evidence suggesting Qantas may be especially aggressive when seeking to maintain its market share. This muscular approach towards competitors and new entrants can compound the problems that are already caused by a lack of competition.”</p>
<p>The Qantas group has “significant steps to take to repair trust” with consumers, the report says. “The committee expects tangible improvements regarding their behaviour toward their customers.”</p>
<p>The committee recommends the government develop consumer protection reforms in the aviation industry as soon as practicable to address delays, cancellations, lost baggage and devaluation of loyalty programs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/215263/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The inquiry’s report is sharply critical of Qantas, and has recommended the decision to block extra flights sought by Qatar Airways be immediately reviewedMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2130762023-09-07T11:14:11Z2023-09-07T11:14:11ZGrattan on Friday: Transport Minister Catherine King struggles to find a landing strip amid Qatar turbulence<p>A few days ago, the furore over the government’s rejection of Qatar Airways’ bid for more flights into major cities was all about cheaper tickets and additional seats.</p>
<p>Now the issue has doubled back to become, apparently, at least in part about the mistreatment of the Australian women who were hauled off a flight in 2020 and subjected to invasive body searches, after a newborn was found abandoned in Doha Airport. </p>
<p>Five of the women have a legal case on foot. It is back in the Federal Court on Friday for the 21st time.</p>
<p>Transport Minister Catherine King, in yet another attempt to explain, or dodge explaining, her rejection of the Qatar application, said on radio on Thursday morning that the 2020 incident “wasn’t a factor in the decision, but it was certainly context for the decision”. </p>
<p>This is as baffling as most of the other explanations King and other government members have given. Isn’t “context” a “factor”?</p>
<p>Well yes, it seems. Only an hour or so earlier, at a crack-of-dawn news conference at Canberra airport, where she released a green paper on aviation policy, King suggested the 2020 incident was a factor, although “there was no one factor that influenced my decision in relation to the national interest”. She argued: “I don’t think it’s helpful for me to point to any one factor.” </p>
<p>On Thursday night on the ABC, she did spell out some factors – what was happening in the aviation market, capacity coming back into the market, jobs.</p>
<p>While initially it was thought the 2020 incident might have been a reason behind the decision, King had subsequently indicated that it was not, finally settling on this nebulous concept of the “national interest” to justify the government’s stance. </p>
<p>But the 2020 incident has hung there in the background of the controversy. On July 10, the day she made the decision, King wrote to the five women, who had contacted her strongly opposing the additional access, to assure them Qatar was not being considered for more flights. </p>
<p>In their letter the women had said the airline was “not fit to carry passengers around the globe let alone to major Australian airports”. </p>
<p>“When you are considering Qatar Airways’ bid for extra landing rights, we beg you to consider its insensitive and irresponsible treatment of us,” they wrote. “We implore you to instead consider an airline that will uphold human rights.” </p>
<p>On Monday this week, Foreign Minister Penny Wong had a phone conversation with the prime minister of Qatar. </p>
<p>Wong has said that in the call, which she initiated, they discussed bilateral matters, as well as multilateral issues ahead of the United Nations UN General Assembly meeting later in the month. They did discuss the 2020 incident; they did not canvass the flights matter. That seems extraordinary. After all, the Qatar government owns Qatar Airways and flights involve country-to-country agreements.</p>
<p>Could this resurrection of the 2020 incident be one way of seeking to neutralise an issue that has been debated – to the Albanese government’s detriment – in terms of limiting competition? </p>
<p>King insists she made the decision herself. She says she consulted colleagues, whom she doesn’t name. She has fudged when probed about what her department recommended. She said she told Anthony Albanese of the decision before it became public later in July, but stonewalled when pressed in parliament for the date on which she informed the prime minister. </p>
<p>Before the attention focused on King, Albanese was copping the heat, because the decision was seen to be in line with his perceived closeness to former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce (who quit prematurely this week, as part of that airline’s attempt to quell public anger at it). </p>
<p>King, from the left, is one of the longest-serving House of Representative members, having won the Victorian seat of Ballarat in 2001 from the Coalition. She was briefly in the ministry in 2013, at the tail end of the former Labor government. </p>
<p>Transport wouldn’t have been King’s first choice of portfolio. She was shadow health minister (she had a background in health policy) for two terms under Bill Shorten, and looked forward to being health minister after the election Labor thought it would win in 2019. The unexpected loss meant major changes in the frontbench under Albanese, which saw King moved to infrastructure, transport and regional development.</p>
<p>King will survive this imbroglio, but the affair is salutary for the Albanese government. </p>
<p>Much of the trouble over the Qatar decision comes from public anger about Qantas and its poor service and arrogant attitude. The rejection of the Qatar flights, which benefited Qantas, became a lightning rod. The government failed to pick up on the strength of feeling about Qantas – if it had, Albanese might not have appeared with Joyce at the airline’s recent event to back the Voice, including with travel assistance for “yes” campaigners.</p>
<p>The Qatar matter shows the government can’t just expect to fob off questions by invoking generalities such as the “national interest”. It also reaffirms the point that while parliament’s question time is mostly useless, it can on occasion expose the weaknesses of a minister under pressure.</p>
<p>Finally, there is a lesson here about the role of cabinet. King might argue such decisions are “routine” and say she consulted (unspecified) colleagues, but the matter would have been better taken to cabinet. A cabinet discussion can tease out competing arguments for and against a decision, and reinforce a government’s case. In her defence in parliament, King tried to make a virtue of ministerial autonomy, but it doesn’t always serve a government. </p>
<p>Thanks to its own bungling, the government on Tuesday facilitated the Senate setting up an inquiry this week that will do a deep dive into its mishandling of the Qatar affair. </p>
<p>Nationals senate leader Bridget McKenzie proposed the inquiry. The government got the Greens onside to vote against it, by accommodating their push for another inquiry – into the Middle Arm export facility in the Northern Territory. </p>
<p>But it neglected to attempt to peel off other crossbenchers until the very last moment. McKenzie had already done the rounds. On Thursday, the government did manage to tweak the terms of reference to look back into some of the Coalition’s years.</p>
<p>Courtesy of the inquiry, a good deal more is expected to emerge about this imbroglio.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213076/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>At a crack-of-dawn news conference at Canberra airport, King suggested the 2020 incident was a factor, although “there was no one factor that influenced my decision in relation to the national interest”.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2126062023-08-31T10:27:47Z2023-08-31T10:27:47ZGrattan on Friday: It can be a battle to get information from the Albanese government<p>Thank goodness for Senate committees. This week, they’ve proved, yet again, to be worth their weight in accountability gold.</p>
<p>On Monday, at an inquiry into the cost of living, senators from both sides gave Qantas boss Alan Joyce a salutary roughing-up, over everything from yet-to-be-returned flight credits to the government’s blocking of extra Qatar Airways flights and Joyce’s contacts with Anthony Albanese. (Subsequently, Qantas has announced it is removing the expiry date on the COVID travel credits.) </p>
<p>On Tuesday, the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References
Committee, which is probing the operation of the federal Freedom of Information laws, heard disturbing evidence from former FOI commissioner Leo Hardiman, who months ago resigned only a year into his five-year term. </p>
<p>Hardiman detailed a litany of obstacles in resourcing and culture in the administration of FOI, which he could not overcome. </p>
<p>The regular Senate estimates hearings, which grill bureaucrats, are welcomed and feared, depending where people sit in the political process. </p>
<p>It was Senate inquiries, it might be remembered, that did the deep diving into the PwC scandal and the entrails of other consultancy firms that receive huge amounts of taxpayer money. Labor backbencher Deb O'Neill and the Greens’ Barbara Pocock were forensic in their questioning.</p>
<p>Like most governments, this one arrived in office promising more accountability and transparency. Also like others, in practice it has a penchant for control and secrecy. </p>
<p>It did set up the National Anti-Corruption Commission, and for that it has been rightly praised. </p>
<p>Even there, however, there’s arguably too much secrecy – and that’s leaving aside the minimalist approach to public hearings specified in the NACC legislation.</p>
<p>Surely it will be a problem if we are not told what inquiries the NACC is pursuing. </p>
<p>Serious allegations demand investigation, but if it’s not known whether the NACC has taken the matter up (or passed it to another agency), what can a government do? It can hardly set up another inquiry, given this information vacuum. </p>
<p>Once the NACC has decided on an investigation, there’s a solid case for it to say so – which it has the discretion to do. </p>
<p>Whatever one thinks of secrecy around the NACC, there are plenty of other areas where it is clearly excessive. </p>
<p>Rex Patrick is a former senator who started with the Nick Xenophon Team and later became an independent. He lost his seat in 2022. While in parliament, Patrick fought the Coalition government’s secrecy; out of parliament he is in full pursuit of its Labor successor. He’s able to devote himself to poking numerous bears thanks, in part, to financial backing from business figure Ian Melrose. </p>
<p>Patrick defeated, in a legal judgment, the Morrison government’s attempt to keep secret all the documents of the National Cabinet. After the election, he was still given the runaround, but finally he’s nailed that one. National Cabinet documents are now treated according to ordinary freedom-of-information provisions.</p>
<p>Currently, Patrick is after Anthony Albanese’s official diary, Treasury’s briefing to Treasurer Jim Chalmers on the Stage 3 tax cuts, material on AUKUS and much else besides. </p>
<p>The PM’s diary is particularly interesting. In opposition, then shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus sought then Attorney-General George Brandis’ diary and finally, after some trouble, extracted it. </p>
<p>But Patrick’s attempt to peek more deeply into Albanese’s schedule was blocked, as was another application from the Australian Financial Review. </p>
<p>In a submission to the Senate FOI inquiry, Patrick noted the reason given was that processing “would unreasonably divert” staff resources and also unreasonably interfere with the PM’s work. </p>
<p>Patrick said this “flew in the face” of the Federal Court decision in the Dreyfus case, in which more days of the relevant diary were sought (causing more work for fewer staff). The matter has gone to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. </p>
<p>The reluctance to publish the PM’s diary is at odds with the release of those of most ministers (including Chalmers and Foreign Minister Penny Wong). </p>
<p>Why should we have leaders’ diaries? Among other reasons, because they show who has access to a government’s top decision-maker. In Albanese’s case, it might even yield the odd clue about his relationship with Alan Joyce - who, incidentally, has been asked by those pesky senators to supply dates of any Qantas contact with the PM over the Qatar matter. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Greens Senator David Shoebridge is trying to get hold of a report on the national security threats global warming poses. Albanese before the election promised an inquiry into this, and later commissioned one from the Office of National Intelligence. Now, apparently even a redacted version is too sensitive to release – because of national security.</p>
<p>Other crossbench senators, including independent David Pocock, have been interested in this report too. But a move in the Senate to force the issue was stymied by a cosy alliance of government and Coalition. Interesting companionships can be formed in the name of confidentiality. </p>
<p>Separate efforts in the Senate by Shoebridge and One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts to obtain documents relating to the March ditching of a Taipan helicopter at Jervis Bay failed. The government said there was an inquiry, which we haven’t seen. Subsequently, another Taipan crashed off the Queensland coast, with multiple fatalities. </p>
<p>Then there’s the politically delicate issue of the passenger manifests of VIP flights. Once, destinations and passenger lists of these flights were routinely made available by governments. That stopped under the Morrison government, and the suppression remains. A review, chaired by the Australian Federal Police and launched in 2022, recommended continued secrecy.</p>
<p>Again, national security is the excuse. But it’s not convincing, review or not. Knowing, well after the event, that a PM took a couple of mates, relatives or political contacts on a flight can give insights into a leader’s use of their privileges, or reveal who’s in a PM’s ear.</p>
<p>To some extent, this secrecy has been stymied. Passenger lists might not be available but destinations of VIP flights are, through tracking apps. At present Deputy PM Richard Marles is under criticism for taking VIP flights to Avalon, near his Geelong base, rather than catching a commercial flight to Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport. </p>
<p>At Tuesday’s Senate Committee hearing, Hardiman said: “FOI may not be considered a sexy subject matter or as being of life-changing importance. […] however, the FOI system is an important adjunct to the doctrine of responsible government inherent in our Westminster system of government.”</p>
<p>At the moment, the problem is not just the serious flaws of the FOI regime, but that the government is not living up to its own commitments to the people’s right to know.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212606/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Like most governments, this one arrived in office promising more accountability and transparency. Also like others, in practice it has a penchant for control and secrecy.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1840412022-05-30T04:57:03Z2022-05-30T04:57:03ZNew Nationals leader Littleproud says ‘sensible centre’ is where elections are won<p>Former agriculture minister David Littleproud has ousted Barnaby Joyce to become Nationals leader.</p>
<p>Perin Davey, a senator since 2019, has been elected his deputy. </p>
<p>Littleproud, 45, who was deputy leader, is from Queensland; Davey, 50, is from New South Wales. Bridget McKenzie, from Victoria, remains the party’s senate leader. </p>
<p>The Liberals, as expected, elected Queenslander Peter Dutton, 51, and Sussan Ley, 60, from NSW, as leader and deputy, respectively, after the pair stood unopposed. </p>
<p>Dutton immediately pitched to the suburbs and small business. He told a news conference: “I want our country to support aspiration and reward hard work,” as well as to “take proper care of those Australians who short-term or long-term can’t take care of themselves”.</p>
<p>“Our policies will be squarely aimed at the forgotten Australians, in the suburbs, across regional Australia. </p>
<p>"Under my leadership, the Liberal party will be true to our values, that have seen us win successive elections over the course of the last quarter of a century.” The Liberals would not be “Labor-lite,” Dutton said. </p>
<p>Joyce won back the Nationals leadership last year, and the Nationals held all their seats at the election and gained a senate seat. But Joyce cost the Liberals votes in the “teal” seats, with teal candidates saying moderate Liberal MPs in those seats, whatever their attitudes on climate change, had voted with Joyce. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/littleproud-ousts-joyce-in-nationals-leadership-spill-as-liberals-give-dutton-clear-run-181420">Littleproud ousts Joyce in Nationals leadership spill, as Liberals give Dutton clear run</a>
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<p>Littleproud was prominent in the last term, arguing for the Nationals to embrace the net zero 2050 greenhouse emissions target, which they eventually did. </p>
<p>He entered parliament in 2016, having previously been an agribusiness banker. </p>
<p>Littleproud said after the vote that “a sensible centre is where you win elections”. He said “chasing extremities” would not win. </p>
<p>He hailed having “two bright, articulate” women in the Nationals leadership team. </p>
<h2>Suburbs and small businesses are Dutton priorities</h2>
<p>Dutton stressed he wanted to send “a clear message to those in the suburbs”, and said policies would be targeted to small and micro businesses. But, asked about the “teal” seats, he said, “I am not giving up on any seats”. </p>
<p>While the Liberals would work with big business, Dutton said these days a lot of chief executives were closer to other parties than to the Liberals. He lamented that these business leaders, unlike years ago, were not advocating for tax reform and industrial relations reform. </p>
<p>“I think we are a poorer country for that. I think many of them are probably scared to step up because they are worried of an onslaught by Twitter.</p>
<p>"I hope that we can continue to work with them but I need them to work, to speak up on many policies, not just social policies but economic, not just climate change.” </p>
<p>On China, on which Dutton has taken a strong and uncompromising position in government, he said: “The issue of China under President Xi is the biggest issue our country will face in our lifetimes.”</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-peter-dutton-faces-his-own-long-march-184042">View from The Hill: Peter Dutton faces his own 'long march'</a>
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<p>Dutton again acknowledged he had made a mistake in boycotting the Rudd government’s apology to Indigenous people and particularly the stolen generations. </p>
<p>“I worked in Townsville. I remember going to many domestic violence instances, particularly involving Indigenous communities, and for me at the time I believed that the apology should be given when the problems were resolved and the problems are not resolved.”</p>
<p>Asked about the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament, he said the Liberals would look at what Labor proposed but said he wanted the symbolic policies on Indigenous affairs to be accompanied by practical responses, on issues such as child abuse. </p>
<h2>Support for anti-corruption body</h2>
<p>He also said he favoured an anti-corruption commission: “I believe in transparency.”</p>
<p>Dutton once again said there was more to him than the public image. “I’m not going to change but I want people to see the entire person I am.”</p>
<p>Ley said her message to the women of Australia was: “We hear you. We’re listening. We’re talking. And we are determined to earn back your trust.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184041/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Barnaby Joyce rolled by party leadership spill, while Peter Dutton pledges to lead the Liberals with “policies squarely aimed at the forgotten Australians in the suburbs”.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1704652021-10-22T06:57:53Z2021-10-22T06:57:53ZPolitics with Michelle Grattan: Bridget McKenzie on the need for the Nationals to be noisy<p>Bridget McKenzie is a cabinet minister and Nationals leader in the Senate. But her seniority hasn’t inhibited her being one of her party’s most outspoken advocates demanding protections for the regions before it signs up to the target of net zero emissions by 2050. </p>
<p>In this podcast, recorded two days before the Nationals’ meeting to consider the results of Barnaby Joyce’s negotiations with Scott Morrison for a deal, McKenzie makes clear her view the Nationals must have a loud and distinct voice for the people they represent, not just on this issue but generally. </p>
<p>“When we run our own race, that’s what people like about the National party,” she says.</p>
<p>She’s blunt about the distinctions between the Nationals and the rural Liberals, which she says go to philosophy and ethos. Like the rural Liberals, the Nationals believe in free trade and markets “but we also don’t think that the market will be simultaneously a determinant of a fair and just society.”</p>
<p>“I think the Libs, you know, they maybe subscribe to Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations as the only tome he ever wrote. Whereas I think we would say the reason you have Wealth of Nations from Adam Smith is because of his [The Theory Of Moral Sentiments] – that the purpose of the market is actually to drive a fair and just society”.</p>
<p>Speculation over the years has suggested McKenzie hoped to move to the lower house but she insists “I have never had a desire to be in the House of Representatives. I adore the Senate.”</p>
<p>Reflecting on the sports rorts affair, which saw her forced to the backbench, she says “I learnt a lot.</p>
<p>"I learnt how brutal and ruthless politics can be. I learnt that truth and fact can be incredibly distorted. I learnt […] how important ministerial discretion actually is in a democracy. </p>
<p>"I learnt in a very real way the cowardice and cruelty of
keyboard warriors through social media. And I also […] was reminded how much of a difference you actually can make from the backbench.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170465/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Michelle Grattan speaks with MP Bridget McKenzie about the Nationals, climate negotiations and her reflections on the sports rort affairMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1703882021-10-21T10:17:58Z2021-10-21T10:17:58ZGrattan on Friday: Can Barnaby Joyce sell his supporters the net zero he’s previously trashed?<p>Barnaby Joyce will probably never again have so much power as he does at this moment, in his trading with Scott Morrison over support for the net zero by 2050 target.</p>
<p>Yet it’s a negotiation forced on him, for an objective he doesn’t believe in and which he fears could cost him and his party at the election.</p>
<p>Joyce never accepted relinquishing the Nationals leadership, never stopped his quest to seize the job back. He and his supporters undermined Michael McCormack, in effect dubbing him Morrison’s doormat and insisting that on climate policy the prime minister would walk all over him.</p>
<p>Now Joyce has found himself needing to deliver to Morrison for Glasgow, albeit not as much as the PM wanted – the Nationals would not contemplate a bigger 2030 target – but enough to put the party into an awkward position in some of its seats.</p>
<p>For all his rambunctious style, Joyce doesn’t want the Nationals to blow up Morrison or the government. But nor does he want to self-destruct by losing seats.</p>
<p>He used opposition to net zero as weaponry in overthrowing McCormack. Not long ago Joyce was as strongly against it as his close mate Senator Matt Canavan, who will never sign up to it, whatever deal the Nationals get from Morrison. Canavan says: “In the past decade, opposing radical climate action has won us the support of blue-collar workers and saved the Nationals from the ashes.”</p>
<p>In the jam in which he finds himself, Joyce has decided to lead by following. He declared from the start the Nationals’ position would be decided by the party room, not by him or even the leadership team. One National describes him as “facilitator-in-chief”.</p>
<p>Morrison is holding himself in but must be privately apoplectic. The PM’s preferred style, when it comes to governing, might be characterised as “we are me”. He’s all about control, discipline, paying lip service to his troops, but denying them any real clout.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/joyce-says-nationals-dont-want-bigger-2030-climate-target-as-party-room-frets-about-regional-protections-170085">Joyce says Nationals don't want bigger 2030 climate target as party room frets about regional protections</a>
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<p>Now here is Joyce not just giving his party a voice, but with frontbenchers running free and wild.</p>
<p>Which brings us to the Nationals’ Senate leader, Bridget McKenzie, the woman Morrison forced to fall on her sword when the sports rorts affair became dangerously hot.</p>
<p>In the Senate McKenzie was asked, did she agree with Canavan that if Morrison adopted net zero without Nationals’ support it would be “ugly”, and did Joyce agree?</p>
<p>“I think that it will be ugly. I agree with Senator Canavan,” McKenzie said. “You’ll have to check with Barnaby about whether he doesn’t.” </p>
<p>This followed multiple interviews when McKenzie said the Nationals had been dudded in the delivery of promises in the past and it shouldn’t happen again.</p>
<p>The Nationals have been anarchic over the past few years but, in another irony in this imbroglio, they have shown organisation and, despite their internal differences, a degree of solidity in dealing with Morrison.</p>
<p>Of course if Joyce wasn’t the leader, he’d be destabilising. Indeed, McCormack pointedly urged the party room this week to show integrity and not to leak like it did when he was leader.</p>
<p>A committee drew together the Nationals’ demands to be put to Morrison; it included McKenzie, deputy leader David Littleproud, resources minister Keith Pitt and Kevin Hogan, assistant minister to Joyce. It’s now being left to Joyce to clinch the deal with Morrison, before it comes back to the party room on Sunday.</p>
<p>The party sees itself in a pivotal moment in which it must extract guarantees. Nationals have said their focus is on support and security for regional industries and jobs rather than a string of specific projects financed by a big buckets of money (“this is not about 30 pieces of silver”, says McKenzie), though it would be surprising if a good amount of funding isn’t involved.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-undermining-the-paris-agreement-no-matter-what-morrison-says-we-need-new-laws-to-stop-this-170198">Australia is undermining the Paris Agreement, no matter what Morrison says – we need new laws to stop this</a>
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<p>Money is one thing, and not that painful to provide now the government doesn’t talk “debt and deficit”. Demands, for example for changes to environmental legislation, can be harder because they can set off fresh arguments for the government.</p>
<p>The trade-offs are important in the selling challenge ahead, but they’re not a magic carpet. Morrison might have a host of lobby groups and a News Corp tabloid campaign on side, but there is plenty of angst in the Nationals’ Queensland base and among some high-profile conservative commentators (such as Sky’s Peta Credlin) who appeal to that base.</p>
<p>In electoral terms, the Nationals’ fears are focused on central Queensland, where they hold three seats: Flynn, Capricornia and Dawson. The first two are mining seats; Dawson is economically and in other ways also tied into mining.</p>
<p>According to Nationals sources, polling in central Queensland shows strong opposition to net zero among their hard-core supporters.</p>
<p>All three of these seats have seemingly very safe margins. But that can be deceptive.</p>
<p>Flynn is on 8.7% now, but went into the 2019 election on 1%. Capricornia sits on 12.4%; before the last election it was on 0.6%. Dawson has a 14.6% buffer, compared to 3.4% in 2019. Queensland is a state of big swings.</p>
<p>In Flynn and Dawson the members, Ken O'Dowd and George Christensen respectively, are retiring.</p>
<p>Of the three seats Flynn is the most vulnerable, with Labor running a strong candidate, Gladstone mayor Matt Burnett.</p>
<p>The Nationals are worried about votes being eroded on the right in Queensland. One Nation will be active and Clive Palmer will be throwing around a large amount of money in advertising.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-a-small-step-for-everyone-else-is-a-big-leap-for-the-nationals-170138">View from The Hill: A small step for everyone else is a big leap for the Nationals</a>
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<p>Joyce has always sold himself as an effective retail politician. But he’s politically stronger when he’s on the attack than defending a policy – let alone one he doesn’t actually believe in.</p>
<p>There’s a lot of the contrarian in Joyce. The government will invoke modelling to reassure doubters that net zero won’t harm jobs, indeed that it will help create them. But this week in parliament, Joyce was casting aspersions on modelling in general. “Modelling is not a letter from God. It is no more than the opinion of people.”</p>
<p>After Morrison flies off next week with net zero in his bag for the Glasgow climate conference, Joyce will be acting prime minister, fronting cameras and microphones, promoting what the Nationals have received in the deal and making the best he can of the 2050 target.</p>
<p>Both he and his prime minister will be nervous about how he’ll go in those early days when he’s in the spotlight.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170388/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the Liberal and National parties attempt to agree to net zero, Barnaby Joyce needs to find a way to sell a policy to his electorate that he doesn’t believe inMichelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1634752021-06-27T08:46:21Z2021-06-27T08:46:21ZJoyce repays supporters and demotes opponents in a ‘reward and punishment’ reshuffle<p>The Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie has been restored to cabinet and Darren Chester has been dropped to the backbench in a reshuffle of blatant reward and punishment following Barnaby Joyce’s elevation.</p>
<p>The reshuffle comes as Newspoll, published in The Australian, shows the Nationals’ turmoil and problems with the vaccine rollout have had little impact on polling numbers. </p>
<p>Labor went to a 51-49% two-party lead, compared with a 50-50 result in the previous poll. But the Coalition primary vote was stable on 41% while Labor improved one point to 37%. Both leaders had small improvements in their satisfaction ratings. There was little change on the measure of “better PM”, where Scott Morrison leads Anthony Albanese 53-33%.</p>
<p>In the reshuffle Andrew Gee, whose switch to Joyce was important in his victory, goes from the outer ministry into Chester’s cabinet spot, and his portfolios of veterans affairs and defence personnel. Chester had been an outspoken supporter of ousted leader Michael McCormack.</p>
<p>McKenzie becomes minister for regionalisation, regional communications and regional education, as well as minister for drought and emergency management. It had been speculated that she wanted responsibility for agriculture.</p>
<p>Deputy leader David Littleproud retains agriculture but loses emergency management while gaining responsibility for northern Australia. He will retain a stake in the policy side of drought, which he previously had responsibility for, through his agriculture job.</p>
<p>It is something of a slap for Littleproud – who would have run for leader if McCormack had not stood – given his deputy position. Emergency management has a high profile.</p>
<p>Keith Pitt keeps resources and water but is dropped to the outer ministry and loses responsibility for northern Australia. Questioned about the demotion of mining to the outer ministry Joyce said Pitt would remain “over this portfolio like a bad suit”.</p>
<p>The very political nature of the changes, with their paybacks, risks reinforcing the divisions that have plagued the Nationals.</p>
<p>In the Coalition, the Nationals leader chooses their team but has to negotiate with the prime minister on portfolios. In this reshuffle the Nationals have not been able to encroach on any portfolios held by Liberals.</p>
<p>The changes were announced by Scott Morrison.</p>
<p>Morrison forced McKenzie’s resignation in early 2020 in the wake of the sports rorts affair.</p>
<p>Morrison said McKenzie would have “a clear focus on service delivery in regional Australia and be responsible for the continued work developing Australia’s disaster management capability”.</p>
<p>David Gillespie joins the ministry as minister for regional health, and will be deputy leader of the House, a post Chester held. Mark Coulton is relegated from the junior ministry to the backbench.</p>
<p>Kevin Hogan will be assistant minister to Joyce, as he was to McCormack, and becomes assistant minister for local government.</p>
<p>Michelle Landry continues as assistant minister for children and families, but loses her previous post of assistant minister for northern Australia.</p>
<p>Outside the formal executive senator Susan McDonald, from Queensland, another Joyce supporter, has been given the role of “envoy for northern Australia”.</p>
<p>Morrison said: “These changes will provide the strongest female representation in an Australian government cabinet on record, building on the previous record also achieved under my government”.</p>
<p>One of Joyce’s political problems is seen to be the opposition from significant women in the rural community, as well as the doubts about him from some within his party given that a claim (which he rejects) of sexual harassment was key to his resignation from the leadership in 2018.</p>
<p>Chester said in a statement: “I will continue to advocate strongly for Australians to understand that the majority of veterans will transition successfully to civilian life. The myth that all veterans are broken is damaging to their well-being and creates a vicious circle of despondency and desperation.</p>
<p>"As a grateful nation, we must support those who need our help but at the same time promote the many achievements of our veteran community.”</p>
<p>Labor’s shadow minister for resources Madeleine King and shadow minister for Queensland resources Murray Watt said the government “has delivered a slap in the face to mining and resources communities around Australia by dumping the portfolio from cabinet”.</p>
<p>The limit of Joyce’s clout was shown at the weekend when one of his supporters, Northern Territory senator Sam McMahon, was defeated for preselection by Jacinta Price, an indigenous woman who is Alice Springs deputy mayor.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/163475/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie has been restored to cabinet and Darren Chester has been dropped to the backbench in a reshuffle of blatant reward and punishment following Barnaby Joyce’s elevation.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1629412021-06-17T11:15:52Z2021-06-17T11:15:52ZGrattan on Friday: Will bolshie Nationals or Joe Biden have more sway with Morrison on 2050 target?<p>Many observers have been assuming Scott Morrison’s strategy is to creep towards endorsing the 2050 target of net zero emissions, finally embracing it before the Glasgow climate conference in November.</p>
<p>But this week’s developments suggest the prime minister might have to adopt another course.</p>
<p>He could stay with his present position, which has the target as an aspiration he surrounds with a web of subsidiary policies, such as the multiple bilateral technology agreements he announced while he was overseas.</p>
<p>Morrison’s present commitment, reiterated in his major speech in Perth before leaving Australia, is to reach net zero “as soon as possible, preferably by 2050”.</p>
<p>In London British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in an intriguing but unexplained moment at their joint news conference, stated Morrison had “declared for net zero by 2050”. Of course he hadn’t, and Johnson was aware of that – he has been urging him to do so. We don’t know whether there was intent in Johnson’s comment, or just sloppiness.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/boris-johnson-overstates-morrisons-climate-ambition-as-australia-uk-trade-agreement-reached-162790">Boris Johnson overstates Morrison's climate ambition, as Australia-UK trade agreement reached</a>
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<p>In the mouth of a politician, the word “preferably” is like that handy phrase “the government plans to …” (or “has no plans to …”). It is cheap coinage. It certainly wouldn’t buy much in Glasgow.</p>
<p>But it is useful and it may be the coinage Morrison will need to continue to deal in. Remember we are talking here about political reality, not what is the best policy, which clearly would be to sign up to the target.</p>
<p>We’ve thought Morrison would want to shift before Glasgow so Australia would have a more credible position internationally, respond to the pressure from the US and Britain, and minimise isolation. That’s apart from the electoral implications surrounding an issue many voters feel strongly about.</p>
<p>But Morrison this year has already worn the awkwardness of taking Australia’s weak position through Joe Biden’s “virtual” climate summit and maintaining it during his trip to the G7 meeting.</p>
<p>And even if he changed for Glasgow, other countries wouldn’t be convinced. There’d be no foreign applause. The sharp point of the debate has moved from 2050 to the medium term, and Morrison won’t make Australia’s 2030 targets more ambitious (though he’ll argue it will exceed them and possibly even project to 2035).</p>
<p>The US and the UK have leaned on Morrison, and he hasn’t firmed his 2050 stand. Now, at home, it’s increasingly looking dangerous for him to do so, even though work is under way to map out Australia’s emissions technology plans and what that means for reductions.</p>
<p>It’s a risk-benefit judgment for Morrison, and the risk of moving could be high.</p>
<p>Not all the Nationals oppose the 2050 target but enough of them do – and very strongly – to create a serious obstacle for the PM. The opponents within the minor party are bolshie and willing to fight.</p>
<p>Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie was a minister until she became the fall girl in the sports rorts affair. She doesn’t owe anything to Morrison or her leader, Michael McCormack.</p>
<p>McKenzie was on Sky with Alan Jones this week. “The National Party is the second party in this Coalition government. [It] has not signed up to net zero anything at any time and we’ll take a lot of convincing that that is actually the destination we need to get to,” she said. “Because we know it’ll be our miners, our farmers, our manufacturers that will be paying the price for all this posturing.</p>
<p>"We will not let our people be put under the bus to chase some fake ambition to appease overseas masters.”</p>
<p>In normal circumstances, Morrison might expect the Nationals’ leadership to be able to get a desired result – by pointing out there could be benefits for farmers – regardless of noisy dissidents.</p>
<p>But nothing is normal in the Nationals. It’s a wasps’ nest. Poke a stick in and anything could happen. McCormack, with a tenuous grip on the leadership, could easily be stung to death.</p>
<p>McCormack knows this. Pressed in a Wednesday <a href="https://theconversation.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-acting-pm-michael-mccormack-on-net-zero-2050-and-prospects-for-a-new-coal-fired-power-station-162853">podcast with The Conversation</a>, he said the Nationals wouldn’t be agreeing to the target this year. When it was put to him, “we can be sure that the Nats would not embrace that target?”, he replied, “Correct”.</p>
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Politics with Michelle Grattan: McCormack on 2050.
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<p>Resources Minister Keith Pitt told the ABC on Thursday that for the government policy to change to endorsing net zero by 2050 would require the Nationals’ agreement “and that agreement has not been reached or sought”. Asked what the mood of their party room would be now, he said: “I think they’d be unsupportive, but we are yet to have that discussion.”</p>
<p>If Morrison wants to trigger “that discussion”, it could be very messy and divisive in the latter months of this year.</p>
<p>Failing to embrace the target would not do the Coalition any harm in regional seats in Queensland – in fact it would maximise the difference with Labor. But what about climate-sensitive southern seats, such as Higgins in Melbourne and Wentworth in Sydney?</p>
<p>It would obviously be unhelpful. But many of those for whom climate is a major vote-changing issue may have shifted their vote anyway.</p>
<p>The prospects of independent Zali Steggall retaining Warringah would probably be assisted by the government failing to endorse 2050. But the Liberals are not reckoning on regaining this seat unless former NSW premier Mike Baird runs, and he has resisted that.</p>
<p>So while there would be clear costs in staying with the weasel words, “as soon as possible” and “preferably”, they are arguably not as great as a potential blow-up in the Nationals that could have unforeseen consequences.</p>
<p>How embarrassing would failure to have a firm target be for Morrison at Glasgow? Greater if he were there than if he just sent Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Energy Minister Angus Taylor, who wouldn’t be noticed. But will he go?</p>
<p>He’d remember Kevin Rudd’s presence at Copenhagen in 2009 played badly for him. Morrison has said he hopes to go to Glasgow. Could he find a way to avoid an engagement that would have no upside for him? It would be a matter of scheduling.</p>
<p>He’ll be in Rome for the G20 at the end of October. The Glasgow conference, which runs from November 1-12, is expected to have a leaders’ segment at the start, facilitating them going straight from the G20.</p>
<p>If he attends, Morrison will be armed with a heap of policy on technology and how it will cut emissions. But he still mightn’t have that hard and fast 2050 target in his kit bag.</p>
<p><em>Correction: This article has been edited to remove an incorrect reference to Tony Abbott and include a response (below) from former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.</em></p>
<p><em><strong>Response from former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd:</strong> Michelle Grattan’s suggestion that Morrison could try to avoid embarrassment by staying away from this year’s Glasgow Climate Conference is astute. However, she is wrong to suggest that this wouldn’t be unprecedented.</em></p>
<p><em>Grattan claims Tony Abbott deliberately spurned the 2015 Paris Conference, and that my personal attendance at the Copenhagen Conference in 2009 “played badly”. This is wrong on two counts.</em></p>
<p><em>First, Abbott didn’t attend the Paris Conference in 2015 because he wasn’t prime minister at the time. Malcolm Turnbull, who was in office, did attend. If Morrison hides under the doona this November, it will cement his reputation as both a climate pariah and a political coward.</em></p>
<p><em>Second, Grattan’s suggestion that my attendance at Copenhagen “played badly” is reductive and focuses only on the heat and light of public parliamentary debate. Copenhagen is often remembered for what it didn’t deliver, but the fact remains that Australia’s leadership laid the groundwork for what would become the Paris Conference six years later.</em></p>
<p><em>The Copenhagen Accord was the first time we committed to a global target of keeping temperature increases this century below 2 degrees Celsius. It was also the first time that both developed and developing countries agreed to act to reduce greenhouse gases. Prior to that it was only developed economies, thus leaving China off the hook. Also born at Copenhagen was the concept of countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions on greenhouse gas reductions – as climate targets set individually from the bottom up, rather than the top down – and an Australian idea.</em></p>
<p><em>All three of these were the product of active negotiations in the room by a limited number of heads of government. It wouldn’t have happened with just bureaucrats, because they were not empowered to make decisions. That’s why I went. And I knew it was a political risk worth taking. If these decisions were not taken at Copenghagen, Paris would not have been possible. End of story.</em></p>
<p><em>Even in political terms, I doubt my attendance at Copenhagen was a political drag. The conference took place within a few days of Malcolm Turnbull’s ouster and the rise of Tony Abbott, who then teamed up with the Greens to thwart our carbon pollution reduction scheme. Against that background noise, it is impossible to isolate and attribute movement in the polls to any one thing.</em></p>
<p><em>In any case, let’s imagine the counterfactual; how badly do you think it would have played for the Prime Minister to hide out in Australia when the world’s leaders were gathering in Copenhagen to set the course for the global economy?</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162941/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In reaching a policy for net zero by 2050, Scott Morrison will face conflicting internal and external pressures.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1627902021-06-15T13:03:23Z2021-06-15T13:03:23ZBoris Johnson overstates Morrison’s climate ambition, as Australia-UK trade agreement reached<p>British Prime Minister Boris Johnson put Scott Morrison on the spot when he told their joint news conference he thought the Australian PM had “declared for net zero by 2050”.</p>
<p>When Johnson made the statement a journalist interjected to point out Morrison’s policy was to get to net zero “preferably” by 2050.</p>
<p>Johnson pressed on to say this was “a great step forward when you consider[…] the situation Australia is in. It’s a massive coal producer. It’s having to change the way things are orientated, and everybody understands that.</p>
<p>"You can do it fast. In 2012 this country had 40% of its power from coal. It’s now less than 2%, going down the whole time. […] I’m impressed by the ambition of Australia. Obviously we’re going to be looking for more the whole time, as we go into COP26 in November.” </p>
<p>The net zero moment came as the two stood together to announce they had reached an in-principle agreement on a free trade deal between Britain and Australia – the first such deal the United Kingdom has done post Brexit.</p>
<p>Johnson had been asked whether he wanted Australia to go beyond its present 2030 emissions reduction target.</p>
<p>Morrison has been under strong pressure from both Johnson and United States President Joe Biden to embrace the 2050 target. But he has so far not done so, despite edging towards it. His position is to get to net zero “as soon as possible, preferably by 2050.”</p>
<p>Formally embracing the target would threaten a fight within the Nationals that could destabilise the party’s leader Michael McCormack.</p>
<p>Nationals Senate leader Bridget McKenzie warned this week: </p>
<p>“There is no agreement with the second party of this Coalition government on any target date for zero emissions. In fact it would fly in the face of the Nationals public policy commitment.”</p>
<p>The free trade agreement, which still has details to be finalised, would reduce barriers on the mobility of workers between the two countries as well on trade in goods and services.</p>
<p>The deal would promote more exchange of young people, allowing them to stay and work in each country for three years instead of two. This arrangement would apply to people up to age 35 rather than 30, as at present.</p>
<p>The federal government says Australian producers and farmers would “receive a significant boost by getting greater access to the UK market” while Australian consumers would “benefit from cheaper products, with all tariffs eliminated within five years, and tariffs on cars, whisky, and the UK’s other main exports eliminated immediately” the agreement started.</p>
<p>Australia would within five years place less onerous conditions on British backpackers, who presently have to spend a set time working in agriculture, or other sectors of labour shortage in regional Australia, to get an extension of their visa.</p>
<p>A separate agriculture visa would be established for UK and Australian visa holders, to get more two way traffic (for example, of shearers) in the agricultural sector.</p>
<p>Over 10 to 15 years the UK would liberalise Australian imports of beef and sheep meat, with shorter periods for sugar and dairy products.</p>
<p>The agricultural sectors in both Britain and Australia expressed concerns when the agreement was being negotiated. In Australia farmers have been worried about the possibility of losing labour if the conditions on backpackers were scrapped.</p>
<p>Johnson said the deal would be good for British car manufacturers and the export of British financial and other services, and he hoped for the agricultural sectors on both sides.</p>
<p>On agriculture “we’ve had to negotiate very hard. […] This is a sensitive sector for both sides, and we’ve got a deal that runs over 15 years and contains the strongest possible provisions for animal welfare.”</p>
<p>The removal of the farm work requirement would make it easier for British people and young people to go and work in Australia, he said.</p>
<p>Morrison said the deal would open the pathway to Britain’s entry into the The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).</p>
<p>He also indicated it was “enormously helpful” in the context of the difficulties with China. “Where you have challenges with one trading partner from time to time, then the ability to be able to diversify your trade into more and more countries is incredibly important.” </p>
<p>Morrison and Johnson discussed the final points of the agreement in principle over a dinner meeting at 10 Downing Street. Their talks also included climate change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162790/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>British Prime Minister Boris Johnson put Scott Morrison on the spot when he told their joint news conference he thought the Australian PM had “declared for net zero by 2050”Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1331602020-03-06T06:12:00Z2020-03-06T06:12:00ZMore ‘sports rort’ questions for Morrison after Bridget McKenzie speaks out<p>Scott Morrison is facing new questioning over the sports rorts affair, after former cabinet minister Bridget McKenzie issued a statement denying she had made last-minute changes to a list of grants.</p>
<p>Evidence to a Senate estimate committee from the Audit Office this week reinforced allegations the Prime Minister’s Office - which exchanged numerous emails with McKenzie’s office during the $100 million grants process - was more deeply involved than Morrison has admitted. He has sought to portray its role as just passing on representations.</p>
<p>McKenzie, then sports minister and the decision-maker for the program, signed off on a list of grants on April 4 2019, and she sent this to the Prime Minister’s Office on April 10.</p>
<p>But in an email from McKenzie’s office to Sport Australia early on April 11, the day the election was called, one project was taken off the list and one added. According to the Audit Office’s evidence, this change was at the request of the PMO. This email was sent minutes after the parliament was dissolved.</p>
<p>Several hours later, with the government in caretaker mode, one project was removed and nine added, in another email from McKenzie’s office to Sport Australia. The Audit evidence about these was that “none were evident as being at the request of the Prime Minister’s Office rather than the minister’s office”.</p>
<p>In her statement, McKenzie said she had “become aware” through the Senate estimates process this week “of changes made to a Ministerial decision brief that I signed in Canberra on 4 April 2019” for the final round of the program.</p>
<p>“The brief authorised approved projects for the third round - this included nine new and emerging projects which, it must be emphasised, had been identified and sent to Sport Australia in March for assessment in line with program guidelines.</p>
<p>"I did not make any changes or annotations to this brief or its attachments after 4 April 2019. My expectation was that the brief would be processed in a timely and appropriate manner,” she said.</p>
<p>“Nevertheless, changes were made and administrative errors occurred in processing the brief.</p>
<p>"I have always taken responsibility for my actions and decisions as a Minister, and this includes actions by my office.</p>
<p>"I was the Minister for Sport and therefore ultimately and entirely responsible for funding decisions that were signed off under my name, including and regrettably, any changes that were made unbeknown to me.”</p>
<p>When a reporter tried to ask Morrison about the McKenzie statement at his Friday news conference, which was about the coronavirus, he cut her off before she could get her words out. He finished the news conference without taking questions on general issues.</p>
<p>McKenzie is due to appear before the Senate committee that is examining the sports rorts affair.</p>
<p>The Audit Office found she had allocated grants on a politically skewed basis, but she and Morrison have always defended the substance of the decisions made.</p>
<p>She was forced to resign from cabinet on the more technical ground she did not declare her membership of sporting organisations that benefited from the scheme. It is well known she feels badly done by, because it was clear Morrison wanted her resignation to try to limit the political damage of the affair.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133160/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scott Morrison is facing new questioning over the sports rorts affair, after former cabinet minister Bridget McKenzie issued a statement denying she had made last-minute changes to a list of grants.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1318382020-02-14T08:09:30Z2020-02-14T08:09:30ZGaetjens criticises McKenzie’s handling of grants decisions, but defends his finding funding wasn’t politically biased<p>The secretary of the Prime Minister’s department, Phil Gaetjens, has criticised “significant shortcomings” in Bridget McKenzie’s decision-making in the sports rorts affair, while outlining his argument that her allocation of grants was not politically biased.</p>
<p>Gaetjens has made his first public comments in a submission to the Senate inquiry set up to investigate the affair, which cost McKenzie her cabinet job and the deputy leadership of the Nationals.</p>
<p>The government has been under intense pressure to release his report, commissioned by Scott Morrison, which was used to determine McKenzie’s fate. Gaetjens, a one-time chief of staff to Morrison, exonerated her from any breach of ministerial standards on the substance of her decisions but found she had breached them by not disclosing membership of gun organisations.</p>
<p>While his report remains confidential Gaetjens has set out his findings in detail, which were at odds with the Audit Office conclusion the allocation of grants had a political bias. </p>
<p>At a bureaucratic level, the sports affair has become something of a head-to-head between the Auditor-General and the country’s most senior bureaucrat.</p>
<p>Gaetjens says in his submission his advice to Morrison was based on information from Sport Australia, McKenzie, and her staff.</p>
<p>He says there were “some significant shortcomings” in McKenzie’s decision-making role, as well as in the way Sport Australia administered the assessment process.</p>
<p>These included “the lack of transparency for applicants around the other factors being considered, and the disconnect between the assessment process run by Sport Australia and the assessment and decision-making process in the Minister’s Office”.</p>
<p>“This lack of transparency, coupled with the significant divergences between projects recommended by Sport Australia and those approved by the Minister have given rise to concerns about the funding decision-making,” he says.</p>
<p>“The discrepancy between the number of applications recommended by Sport Australia and the final list of approved applications clearly shows the Minister’s Office undertook a separate and non-transparent process in addition to the assessment by Sport Australia”.</p>
<p>Gaetjens says McKenzie informed him her approvals were designed to get “a fair spread of grants according to state, region, party, funding stream and sport, in addition to the criteria assessed by Sport Australia”.</p>
<p>He rejects the Audit claim McKenzie’s approach was based on the much talked about spreadsheet of November 2018 that was colour coded according to party, and says she told him she had never seen that spreadsheet.</p>
<p>“The ANAO Report … asserts that the Adviser’s spreadsheet is evidence that ‘the Minister’s Office had documented the approach that would be adopted to selecting successful applicants’ before funding decisions were made. However, there is persuasive data that backs up the conclusion that the Minister’s decisions to approve grants were not based on the Adviser’s spreadsheet,” Gaetjens writes.</p>
<p>The evidence included the significant length of time between the spreadsheet and the approvals. Also, 30% of the applications listed as successful on the adviser’s spreadsheet did not get funding approval .</p>
<p>“So, on the evidence available to me, there is a material divergence between actual outcomes of all funded projects and the approach identified in the Adviser’s spreadsheet. This does not accord with the ANAO Report”, which found funding reflected the political approach documented by McKenzie’s office.</p>
<p>Gaetjens says had McKenzie just followed Sport Australia’s initial list, 30 electorates would have got no grants. In the final wash up only five missed out (no applications had come from three of them).</p>
<p>“I did not find evidence that the separate funding approval process conducted in the Minister’s office was unduly influenced by reference to ‘marginal’ or ‘targeted’ electorates. Evidence provided to me indicated that the Adviser’s spreadsheet was developed by one member of staff in the Minister’s Office, using information provided by Sport Australia in September 2018, as a worksheet to support an increase in funding for the Program.</p>
<p>"Senator McKenzie advised me in response to a direct question that she had never seen the Adviser’s spreadsheet and that neither she nor her staff based their assessments on it.</p>
<p>"Her Chief of Staff also told the Department of the Prime Minster and Cabinet that the Adviser had categorically stated she had not shown the spreadsheet to the Minister.”</p>
<p>Rejecting the Audit Office conclusion of a bias to marginal and targeted seats, Gaetjens says “180 ‘marginal’ and ‘targeted’ projects were recommended by Sport Australia, and 229 were ultimately approved by the Minister, representing a 27 per cent increase. This is smaller than the percentage increase of projects recommended (325) to projects funded (451) in non-marginal or non-targeted seats which was 39 per cent.”</p>
<p>“The evidence I have reviewed does not support the suggestion that political considerations were the primary determining factor in the Minister’s decisions to approve the grants”. So he had concluded she did not breach the section of the ministerial standard requiring fairness, Gaetjens writes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Phil Gaetjens has released submissions to the Senate inquiry into the “sports rorts” scandal, the government continuing to resist releasing the formal report.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1313052020-02-06T06:30:05Z2020-02-06T06:30:05ZPolitics with Michelle Grattan: Michael McCormack moves on from his near-death experience<p>Starting the year with a leadership spill will be seen by many, especially those hit by the bushfires, as the Nationals being particularly self-indulgent.</p>
<p>Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack admits as much, but notes he wasn’t the initiator of his party’s bad behaviour.</p>
<p>“We should not have been talking about ourselves. This was never of my making or doing. And we should have spent the entire day, not just those sitting hours, but the entire day reflecting on just what has taken place this summer,” he tells the Politics podcast.</p>
<p>McCormack also says he supported Bridget McKenzie “the whole way” through the sports rorts controversy and he again stands by her decision-making. </p>
<p>The National leader defends his new frontbench line up against criticism that it’s short on women, mounts a strong pitch in favour of coal, and rejects claims he’s been too invisible and a weak leader.</p>
<h2>Transcript (edited for clarity)</h2>
<p><strong>Michelle Grattan:</strong> The Nationals have had their worst week since Barnaby Joyce quit as leader in early 2018 amid a scandal around his personal life. </p>
<p>On Sunday, Nationals Deputy Leader Bridget McKenzie was forced to quit cabinet in the sports rorts affair. Two days later, Michael McCormack faced a leadership challenge from Joyce, who argued that the Nationals need a stronger voice. In between, Cabinet Minister Matt Canavan resigned from the frontbench to support Joyce. </p>
<p>Michael McCormack survived the challenge, but his colleagues will be watching carefully whether he can improve his leadership style and most important in their eyes, heighten the party’s profile. The deputy prime minister joined us today to discuss the week’s events and the future. </p>
<p>And please ignore some ringing of the bells during this interview. </p>
<p>Michael McCormack, did you fight for Bridget McKenzie, who in the end, after all, resigned on a technicality of failing to disclose membership of sports organisations, or did you accept the inevitable that she had to quit? </p>
<p><strong>Michael McCormack:</strong> I supported Bridget McKenzie the whole way through Michelle, and I know the sports grants program was a good program, I know the delivery it had, particularly for regional Australia, and Michelle, Bridget had ministerial discretion over these grants. She exercised that ministerial discretion while, of course, taking on board the advice and the recommendations given to her by Sports Australia, of course. And the decisions were all eligible projects. All the decisions she made were eligible. I did support her. I always supported Bridget, she was a very good deputy leader and we got on very, very well. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> But you couldn’t save her in the end. You could not save her.</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> She resigned. She resigned. She understood and accepted the fact that the Wangaratta Clay Target club membership had not been put onto her register of interests and the associations that she had. And unfortunately, as you say, on this technicality, she accepted that Phil Gaetjens, the secretary of PM&C, Prime Minister and Cabinet found that that was an apparent breach of ministerial standards. And so, Bridget accepted that this was the case and resigned. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> Now your new deputy, David Littleproud the other night suggested that the approach to the sports grants with the party colour coding spreadsheet and the like, was overly partisan. How does that square with your defence, which you’ve just made again, that the distribution was all proper? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Bridget also made clear that she hadn’t seen that document, as I understand. And whilst, yes, there was a colour coded document that somehow found its way to the ABC, the Sports Australia recommendations that Bridget McKenzie received, she made sure that there was 8% more allocations to Labor seats than was first given to her by Sports Australia. </p>
<p>So there was no bias shown against Labor seats. And I know that Anthony Albanese, the Labor leader, Catherine King and others acknowledged and recognised the fact that their electorates received large grants. And in fact, even the opposition leader thanked Senator McKenzie for the allocation of funds to the Grayndler electorate, as I understand. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> How do you expect Australians in the regions who are beset by drought, now by fires, to react to the National Party indulging in a leadership spill on the very day that the parliament was dedicated to the victims and the heroes of these bushfires? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> And it should have been dedicated wholly and solely. We should not have been talking about ourselves. This was never of my making or doing. And we should have spent the entire day, not just those sitting hours, but the entire day reflecting on just what has taken place this summer and for those more than 30 people, for those volunteer firefighters who’ve lost their lives. </p>
<p>We did honour and recognise them in an appropriate way. And the lives that have been lost will be forever remembered as a very dark day in Australia’s history - very dark days. And we should have been focusing on that. We should have been focusing on the drought. We should have been continuing. That’s always been my focus, Michelle, I’ve never swayed from the fact that, yes, the drought is ongoing, and, yes, the bushfires have been very bad. That’s always been my focus. </p>
<p>And indeed, I didn’t ring around every member because I was in important meetings the previous day. We had about seven hours of ministry meetings, including six of cabinet the previous day. And I was very much tied up with that, focusing on why people actually sent me here to do the job for them. To talk about drought, to talk about the fires, and more importantly, to come up with the recovery and relief efforts and the right answers for the Australian people that I serve and that we as National party members serve. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> Now, you’ve said that you don’t think Barnaby Joyce will challenge again. </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Well, he said he won’t. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> I actually heard you say you also believed in the tooth fairy for a while.</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> No, I didn’t. Well, the question was put to me, do you still believe in the tooth fairy? And unfortunately, somebody who is listening to that broadcast sent me an email yesterday saying their young child was then questioning as to why the tooth fairy wasn’t real. And for all of the children listening, put your tooth under a little thimble and you might get a coin from the tooth fairy. That’s really important. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> But the lesson of history is that once an aspirant challenges, he is likely to challenge again. Are you saying the Nats are different from other parties in this regard? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Well, I hope we draw a line under this and move on. It’s so important for regional Australia. They need to know that we don’t come here to serve ourselves, we come here to serve them. This sort of thing is, it’s really, it’s about power, it’s about self-indulgence. Look, as Barnaby has said himself, the boil has been lanced. He spoke of the the fact that he was now going to support me and to support the National Party. He needs to keep his word and I’m sure he will keep his word. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> There’s a move to have a rule that would stop random spill attempts. </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Similar to the Labor and Liberal parties. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> You’ve supported this, although Barnaby Joyce opposes it, not surprisingly. Will it go ahead and what’s the process? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Well, it’s not a matter for me. That’s a matter for the party and the party’s management. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> Is that the management committee or… </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> That would be the federal executive.</p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> So what would that process be, that it goes through the federal executive and then the parliamentary party? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> I can imagine that would probably be the case, yes.</p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> And do you think… </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> I have had nothing to do with this, by the way. It was a proposal brought forward. In fact, it was a proposal raised at a party meeting last year after we won the election, to avoid the intense media speculation as to “will there be a spill, won’t there be a spill?”. And there was a case back in, I think it was about December 2018, around about the last parliamentary sitting week, where in an editorial view written in a Melbourne newspaper, then led rise and belief to the fact that there might have been a spill on because that’s seen as killing season, and no such spurious allegations or suggestions were being raised, but that then, of course, set the rabbits running. And of course then, we had all this intense media speculation and it shouldn’t have been the case then. It should not be the case now. </p>
<p>And, you know, we’ve drawn a line under it. I’ve now put myself up for the leadership three times: in February 2018 when Barnaby Joyce resigned, just after the election when we won in May last year, and again this week. Three times in less than two years. I think that shows that the party supports me. We need to move on. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> The Coalition party room debate on Tuesday showed that the the National party rebels, if we can call them that…</p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> I wasn’t in that particular phase of the party room. Scott Morrison and I had gone out to meet the families of the bushfire victims. So I need to place that on the record. I wasn’t in on that discussion in the joint party room.</p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> But you’re obviously across it. And they have shown that they’ll resist hard any nuancing of the government’s climate change policy… </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Which we took to the election. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> Would you accept any changes? Would you personally accept any changes to that policy as the government approaches the next election? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Well, we always look at what we’re doing and how we’re doing it, and of course the mood of the of the country. That’s what we did leading up to the May election last year. And of course, that’s what we do all the time. There’s hopefully a long time between now and the next election. But the policies that we took to the election were endorsed by the people of Australia. And that’s why we retained government. That’s why we make the decisions in cabinet, and that’s why we still hold the treasury benches, because the majority of the Australian people wanted us to continue to govern for and on their behalf. And that’s what we’ll do. We took our climate action policies to the election and the Australian people endorsed us and endorsed those policies. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> But as you know, there are different views, especially in different parts of the country. </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Of course. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> Do you at least understand the viewpoint of southern Liberals who want more done on climate change, or do you think they’re simply wrong? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> I understand their views. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> But you don’t agree with those views? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Well, what we do need is a vibrant resources sector, and I’m really pleased that this morning I announced that Keith Pitt would be the minister for resources in Northern Australia. Of course, adding water to that portfolio as well, but really pleased that he will continue the strong advocacy for our resources sector that Matthew Canavan has championed for so long. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> Now, Keith Pitt is a strong supporter of nuclear power. What’s your attitude to nuclear? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Well, we had a committee looking at this headed by Ted O'Brien. It, of course, has made various suggestions as to where we need a mix of energy, but it has to have bipartisan support. I mean, to take a partisan approach to something like this to the parliament would be, in all honesty, probably a waste of time, because it would just cause a lot of dissension amongst the parliament, let alone the people of Australia. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> Now, in your reshuffle, which you and prime minister just announced you still only have one woman on your frontbench and she remains in an assistant minister position, yet the election produced several new women in your parliamentary party. Won’t women supporters in the regions be disappointed by this failure to have more women on the frontbench? And is the message that in the Nationals it’s a case of waiting your turn for promotion rather than a principle of merit? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> I’m glad that Sam McMahon from the Northern Territory, Susan McDonald from Queensland, Perin Davey from New South Wales, and indeed Anne Webster from the house of representatives seat of Mallee have all taken their place in the parliament. But they’re new members and I’ve only been here a matter of months, and I don’t believe that somebody should be thrust into a ministerial position, let alone cabinet in their first few months as a parliamentarian. They need to serve the communities who sent them here to Canberra to do the job. They need to be able to ensure that they’ve got that grassroots representation right. And look, they’re very, very talented women. </p>
<p>And, of course, Michelle Landry and Bridget McKenzie, they were both in the ministry I put together. I had both of my women in ministerial positions. And to think that the National Party has gone from from two to six women in one election is really important. And I think that says also something about the way I lead the party and that the way that I’ve taken the National Party forward. And I’m sure they will, as you say, get their turn. It has to be merit based, Michelle, I’ve always believed that you should be getting positions on merit. Yes, of course, gender has its place. Yes, of course, geography has its place in ministerial decisions. But you have to be able to do the job. And I’m sure those women who I’ve mentioned and others besides will get their turn eventually. </p>
<p>But it’s a cut and thrust game this politics. And we need the best people serving in the ministerial positions and around that cabinet table. I’m really pleased with the people that have been elected to those ministerial positions for the National Party. And I’m sure that they’ll serve Australia, particularly regional Australia, very well going forward. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> To go back to the resources area, the government before the election promised an inquiry into whether a coal-fired power station was feasible in central Queensland. </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> In Collinsville, yep. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> Where is that up to, and do you want to see such a project eventuating if possible? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Well, I think it’d be good, because what we want to do is make sure that resources rich area in and around Gladstone is well serviced by the energy needs that that wonderful port city is going to require going forward. The port at Gladstone is a magnificent facility. The activity on that port is so important to not just central Queensland, but indeed the state and the nation. So we want to make sure it has the energy needs. The Collinsville project, the proposal, should it tick all the boxes, and I know that it is being put through the rigour at the moment, and sure enough, it’s got to pass that those tests. It’s got to pass those environmental outcomes. Of course, there are state implications as well. </p>
<p>But should it measure up, I think it’d be a great thing for Gladstone. And that’s what it’s aimed at. That’s what it’s based on. We look at the Tomago smelter in the Upper Hunter and around that area of New South Wales. Sometimes it has to load shed and not necessarily have full output because we’ve got too much power being used in New South Wales. We need our industries, we need our factories, to be running at full bore. We need to be able to turn the lights on, we need to be able to keep the wheels of this nation turning. We can only do that if we’ve got reliability in the sector. </p>
<p>Affordability is also important, and that’s why I am a supporter of coal. That’s why I am a supporter of the resource sector. And you just take coal, $62 billion of exports, that pays for a lot of state schools and state hospitals, 55,000 jobs. So many people get up of a morning and put a uniform on and go to work in that sector - they should have the opportunity for a better future to for themselves and their families. And of course, not to mention the two-thirds of our energy needs are coming from coal. So it’s an important part of our resources sector, of our energy needs and our nation. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> Well, that’s a pretty strong coal statement. And one of the issues in the… </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Pro-job statement as Michelle, if you don’t mind me just saying that. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> One of the issues in the leadership contest was that the Nationals should be more assertive within the government and within the electorate. Do you take that point and will the party be speaking out more loudly in the future? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> I always speak out. My inaugural speech to this place, I said I won’t be silent when I ought to speak. But I think sometimes, too, you need to have those debates behind closed doors. And I’ve had great success in making sure that we’ve got the infrastructure spend that we need for regional Australia. And I’ve had those discussions behind closed doors at times with Malcolm Turnbull, at times with Scott Morrison, and I’ve had some good wins along the way. Just because you might get a blood nose or give a blood nose behind closed doors doesn’t mean to say you need to come out with that trickle still down your nose for yourself or the other person. And the public doesn’t always need to know what goes on when you’re having those important meetings in discussing the needs and wants of regional Australia or indeed Australia in general. </p>
<p>I know it might satisfy the the media and it might grab you a headline, but I would rather get a project up for a regional town or centre, than get a page six headline in a leading daily newspaper in metropolitan Australia. I would prefer that any day of the week. I’ve sent here to get delivery, to get things done. And I know I’ve been doing that. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> You probably find it a bit galling, all the criticism that’s been made of your leadership in the last little while. But do you think you need to be making any changes in the way you do your job? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> I think we can always take a look at ourselves and think about how you can do things better. I’m not perfect, never suggested I was. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> So what are you working on? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Well, I’m certainly working on making sure that we get even more regional delivery for Australia. More outcomes for regional Australia. What I want to do this year is build dams. I’ve been frustrated at the state’s lack of cooperation in this regard, I’m so pleased that I’ve established the national water grid. I’m working well with New South Wales and Queensland to do just that. Constitutional rules dictate that states play a big part in this. And I think the Australian public wants to see shovels in the ground and bulldozers busy at work on sites where dams have been projected and proposed for too many years now. So I’m looking forward to seeing bulldozers in the ground at Stanthorpe in Queensland. That Emus Swamp dam is going to be, I think, the catalyst for more water infrastructure to come. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> And will people be seeing more of you in the regions or do you think…? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> I don’t think you can see any more of me in the regions, I’m there all the time. But I’ll tell you one thing I don’t Michelle, and that’s I don’t always take necessarily banks of cameras with me. Camera crews following along behind. And I think that served me very well. And indeed, moreover, the communities that we try to serve best, during the bushfire season. I went to and visited so many of those evacuation centres, communities where people have lost their homes, their farms, their businesses, and I think they really appreciate the fact that I didn’t have Channel 9 and Channel 7 and every other camera crew trailing along behind for that photo opportunity. </p>
<p>I tell you what, when they asked me for a financial counsellor, when they asked me for a counsellor in general to help with their mental health, when they asked me for a ADF support or a pop up for human services, I was able to ring the minister there and then and provide it, if not within hours, within days. And that’s the sort of delivery that I think regional Australians would much prefer than to see a minister or a deputy prime minister, indeed, who, yes, gets the one line grab on the six o'clock news bulletin, but then doesn’t provide that generator or that counsellor all that support for their communities when they’re at their lowest ebb. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> Just finally, before we came for this interview, I did hear a woman on television from somewhere on the South Coast saying that it was very difficult to actually get to the services one needed. The suggestion was that when you didn’t have any resources after going through this bushfire, doing all the things you have to do to get those services is pretty taxing. Do you think that the recovery effort is going smoothly or does the government need to do more so people can cut through bureaucracy and get what they need? </p>
<p><strong>MM:</strong> Everybody’s not going to get what they want right when they want it, and particularly tough for those people who’ve lost everything other than the clothes they’re wearing . And many of them, they have different levels of frustration. I know speaking to some people who’d lost everything, they were still optimistic. And those who perhaps had been only slightly touched by fires are very angry and very frustrated. So the moods differed as to where you went. Yes, we can, and we’ve been doing everything humanly possible to get the assistance to where it’s most needed. But charities need to play a part in being a bit quicker. Yes, governments do, too. And we’ve had a lot of lessons learned from this summer. </p>
<p>And I’m sure that the royal commission and the review that New South Wales is conducting and and and other states will as well, I’m sure we’ll take some some lessons from this summer and put in place measures to ensure that in future there is a more rapid response. But it’s been devastating this summer and of course it’s not over yet. There’s still bushfires raging out of control as we speak. But those volunteer firefighters, people such as Shane Fitzsimmons, the commissioner here in New South Wales, have been magnificent. Andrew Colvin worked day and night heading up the National Bushfire Recovery Agency. The work that he’s done has really helped support those communities. And I want to make special mention of the ADF. When they were sent in 6,500 uniforms on the ground and for my own home city, Wagga Wagga, first unit mobilized, went to Batlow, went to Tumbarumba, made such a difference on the ground, Michelle. </p>
<p>And yes, there will be lessons we learn from this. We need to adapt those measures in time for the next summer fire season, which you and I both know and everybody else does, they’re coming forward earlier. The first fires this summer were in September. Who knows, this year, it may well be August, but we need to be responding quicker, as you say. We’ve learnt lessons from this summer, and let’s just hope we get through the rest of these hotter months without any more tragedy. </p>
<p><strong>MG:</strong> Michael McCormack, thank you very much for making time for us on what’s a very busy day for you.</p>
<p><strong>The re-vamped Nationals frontbench line up following changes:</strong> </p>
<ul>
<li><p>Michael McCormack: Leader of the Nationals, Minister for Infrastructure</p></li>
<li><p>David Littleproud: Deputy Leaders on the Nationals, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Drought and Emergency Management</p></li>
<li><p>Darren Chester: Minister for Veterans Affairs</p></li>
<li><p>Keith Pitt: Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia</p></li>
<li><p>Mark Coulton: Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government</p></li>
<li><p>Andrew Gee: Minister for Regional Education, Decentralisation, Minister Assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment</p></li>
<li><p>Michelle Landry: Assistant Minister for Children and Families, Assistant Minister for Northern Australia</p></li>
<li><p>Mr Kevin Hogan MP: Assistant Minister to the Deputy Prime Minister</p></li>
</ul>
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<p><a href="https://radiopublic.com/politics-with-michelle-grattan-WRElBZ"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-152" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233717/original/file-20180827-75990-86y5tg.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" alt="Listen on RadioPublic" width="268" height="87"></a> <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/5NkaSQoUERalaLBQAqUOcC"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/237984/original/file-20180925-149976-1ks72uy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=268&fit=clip" width="268" height="82"></a> </p>
<h2>Additional audio</h2>
<p><a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/The_Big_Loop_-_FML_original_podcast_score/Lee_Rosevere_-_The_Big_Loop_-_FML_original_podcast_score_-_10_A_List_of_Ways_to_Die">A List of Ways to Die</a>, Lee Rosevere, from Free Music Archive.</p>
<p><strong>Image:</strong></p>
<p>Mick Tsikas/AAP</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131305/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>On this podcast, the Nationals leader defends his new frontbench line up against criticism it's short on women, mounts a strong pitch in favour of coal, and rejects claims that he's a weak leader.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1310352020-02-06T01:32:43Z2020-02-06T01:32:43ZAfter the fires, a reason for optimism: our civic engagement has never been higher<p><em>This article is based on a longer essay published in the <a href="https://www.griffithreview.com/">Griffith Review</a>’s latest edition, Matters of Trust.</em></p>
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<p>Much has been written about Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s missteps and leadership failures in the bushfire crisis that has consumed Australia this summer.</p>
<p>His <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-11-14/former-fire-chief-calls-out-pm-over-refusal-of-meeting/11705330">refusal to meet with fire and emergency leaders</a> months before the fires to discuss ideas and strategies informed by their collective experience. The <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/voters-turn-on-pm-over-pathetic-response-to-bushfire-crisis-20200202-p53wy9.html">flat-footed response to the crisis</a> itself and reluctance to link it to <a href="https://theconversation.com/listen-to-your-people-scott-morrison-the-bushfires-demand-a-climate-policy-reboot-129348">climate change</a>. His unwillingness to relent from hyper-partisan efforts to <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6603176/pm-setting-out-much-bigger-role-for-feds-in-managing-fire-risk/">deflect blame to the states</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/scott-morrisons-biggest-failure-in-the-bushfire-crisis-an-inability-to-deliver-collective-action-129437">Scott Morrison's biggest failure in the bushfire crisis: an inability to deliver collective action</a>
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<p>Morrison’s government has since been further wracked by the “sports rorts” corruption scandal. The prime minister was roundly criticised for defending Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie in the face of <a href="https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/award-funding-under-the-community-sport-infrastructure-program">overwhelming evidence</a> she used the sports grants program as a political slush fund targeted to marginal seats before last year’s federal poll. </p>
<p>Morrison appeared unabashed and perhaps convinced he could tough it out as he had during earlier controversies involving ministers Michaelia Cash, Stuart Robert and Angus Taylor. His <a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-we-need-to-see-gaetjens-report-on-mckenzie-not-least-for-gaetjens-sake-131144">refusal to release the Gaetjens report</a> into McKenzie’s actions raised questions about how the apparently competing interpretations of Australia’s most senior public servant and the independent auditor-general might be reconciled.</p>
<p>After a brutal summer, Morrison returned to parliament this week a diminished and damaged shadow of his “miracle” election-winning self. And some fear all this portends 2020 will be yet another “annus horribilis” in the sorry recent history of Australian politics. </p>
<h2>How crisis bring out the best in Australians</h2>
<p>However, there is reason for optimism. Like the green shoots emerging from the hundreds of thousands of singed hectares across our country, Australia’s institutions are strengthening. Individuals and communities are engaging in both politics and the public sphere in ways they haven’t in a very long time.</p>
<p>Volunteer firefighters have been at the forefront of the bushfires, defending the lives and properties of their neighbours and friends – sometimes tragically, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-26/parliament-to-pay-tribute-to-lives-lost-in-summer-bushfires/11902290">at the cost of their own lives</a>. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313607/original/file-20200204-41541-1webzh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313607/original/file-20200204-41541-1webzh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313607/original/file-20200204-41541-1webzh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313607/original/file-20200204-41541-1webzh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313607/original/file-20200204-41541-1webzh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313607/original/file-20200204-41541-1webzh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313607/original/file-20200204-41541-1webzh7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The vast majority of firefighters in Australia are unpaid volunteers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Brendan Esposito/AAP</span></span>
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<p>Other front-line workers – ambos, nurses, doctors, police and many others – have showed again and again why public trust in these individuals remains high, in stark contrast to evidence of its <a href="https://theconversation.com/australians-trust-in-politicians-and-democracy-hits-an-all-time-low-new-research-108161">precipitous decline in other institutions</a>. </p>
<p>Journalists are doing the job we need them to do as a key pillar of our democracy, keeping Australians informed and holding those in power to account. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lots-of-people-want-to-help-nature-after-the-bushfires-we-must-seize-the-moment-130874">Lots of people want to help nature after the bushfires – we must seize the moment</a>
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<p>Local political leaders – councillors and MPs, mayors and premiers – have showed courage and compassion as they have made difficult decisions and prioritised resources to support bushfire-affected communities. Businesses and civic organisations have also mobilised to respond to the crisis.</p>
<p>And an array of unconventional alliances has developed among health care professionals, tradespeople, chefs, artists, musicians, writers, craft groups, wildlife carers and others, who have volunteered their time, resources and expertise to <a href="https://authorsforfireys.wixsite.com/website">raise funds and lend much-needed support</a>.</p>
<p>Innovative groups have also emerged to respond to communities in need, such as <a href="http://findabed.com.au/about/">Find a Bed</a>, an online platform to help those who have been displaced from their homes (many more than once) find accommodation. Other programs have been launched to provide victims with food, clothing, transport and other necessities.</p>
<p>Countless people like these have embraced the role we all play in the continuing national project of ensuring the safety and well-being of all Australians – wherever they live.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313608/original/file-20200204-41516-nm92gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313608/original/file-20200204-41516-nm92gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313608/original/file-20200204-41516-nm92gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313608/original/file-20200204-41516-nm92gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313608/original/file-20200204-41516-nm92gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313608/original/file-20200204-41516-nm92gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313608/original/file-20200204-41516-nm92gr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A kangaroo being treated by WIRES, Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organisation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Steven Saphore/AAP</span></span>
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<h2>A strong, resilient democracy</h2>
<p>For some time, I have wondered whether institutional thinking could be revived in Australian politics. By this, I mean decision-making that emphasises long-term planning and the public interest, as well as a respect for the principles and conventions that constitute the “rules of the game”. This type of institutional thinking has been seriously eroded under recent governments. </p>
<p>The last decade has made me nervous. Many of the world’s most enduring liberal democracies are teetering on the brink. It wasn’t impossible to imagine the same happening in Australia. </p>
<p>This summer – brutal though it has been – has reminded me that I should have had more confidence. Whatever our differences, Australians’ essential empathy and yearning for connection always come out in times of crisis. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/might-the-bushfire-crisis-be-the-turning-point-on-climate-politics-australian-needs-129442">Might the bushfire crisis be the turning point on climate politics Australian needs?</a>
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<p>Our democracy has many challenges, notably in terms of the government’s relationship with Indigenous peoples, the need to restore an appropriate balance between Commonwealth, state and local governments, and the recovery of our capacity for innovation and reform. </p>
<p>But despite these challenges, our democracy is strong and resilient. We have a collective responsibility to be vigilant to make sure it stays that way.</p>
<p>Politically engaged, active citizens represent a clear and present threat to the careerists, chancers and zealots who have come to dominate the political parties, lobbying groups and tabloid media. </p>
<p>The public reaction to the government’s failures in the bushfire crisis and the widespread disgust over the “sports rorts” controversy is a reminder of this. We need to continue being active citizens by enrolling to vote, taking an interest in policies and important debates, getting involved and exercising our hard-won democratic rights, including the right to protest. </p>
<p>These are powerful forces against the cynical politicians, who <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2019/08/29/the-corrupting-of-democracy">as The Economist described it</a> last year, “denigrate institutions, then vandalise them”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131035/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anne Tiernan has received research funding from the Australia and New Zealand School of Government and the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Whatever our differences, Australians’ essential empathy and yearning for connection always come out in times of crisis. We have a responsibility to make sure it stays that way.Anne Tiernan, Professor of Politics. Dean (Engagement) Griffith Business School, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1311642020-02-04T11:12:20Z2020-02-04T11:12:20ZView from The Hill: Michael McCormack’s battle to hold off a second shot from Joyce’s locker<p>Scott Morrison dodged a bullet when the Nationals clung on to Michael McCormack. There was palpable relief when the news came through to the Liberals. “We still have a Coalition,” one MP was heard to say during the Liberal party meeting.</p>
<p>But it had been the Prime Minister who created the circumstances for Barnaby Joyce to get his gun out of the cupboard.</p>
<p>If Morrison hadn’t been in such a politically weak position, due to his summer missteps, he’d probably have brazened out the sports rorts affair.</p>
<p>Morrison didn’t force Bridget McKenzie from cabinet because she skewed the grants scheme - for which she deserved sacking.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-bridget-mckenzie-falls-but-for-the-lesser-of-her-political-sins-131011">View from The Hill: Bridget McKenzie falls – but for the lesser of her political sins</a>
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<p>He acted because the price of keeping her became too high. But then suddenly the cost of ditching her skyrocketed when Joyce seized the moment. Morrison found he had destabilised the deputy prime minister he desperately needs to keep in place.</p>
<p>How things will pan out now is the unanswerable question. Of course no one believes Joyce’s protestation that “I support the vote of the [party] room”. Joyce can’t bear not being the macho top dog and he and his ally Matt Canavan – self-exiled from cabinet and a huge loser from the day – will continue to create trouble for McCormack.</p>
<p>The Nationals don’t release their voting numbers. McCormack people claim he had a healthy margin; the Joyce camp says they were line ball. If McCormack’s backers are right the secrecy harms him, fuelling uncertainty and the opportunity for mischief.</p>
<p>The easy consensus is McCormack must “lift his game”. Might as well tell a jogger to become a sprinter. McCormack isn’t the worst of leaders but he’s never going to be more than average.</p>
<p>And having acquired the reputation of a poor performer, he can’t win. Thus he’s criticised for having a low profile when Morrison was in Hawaii. But could he have raised it when the prime minister’s office was trying to hide their boss’s holiday?</p>
<p>The rebel (for want of a better description) Nats attack McCormack for not standing up to the Liberals, in particular to Morrison. They seek a more distinctive Nationals branding.</p>
<p>Now this is a real issue. A well-functioning National party has to strike a balance within the Coalition between, if you like, growling and purring. Each Nationals leader must find a sweet spot. Assertive but supportive in the government’s inner sanctums. In the electorate, distinctive while also a team player.</p>
<p>But if McCormack follows the wishes of the Nationals to be more aggressive, this carries its potential dangers. On the flip side of that coin is “division”, a bad look for the government as a whole.</p>
<p>McCormack might be a pushover but Morrison has not been sensitive to their mutual interest in the Nationals’ profile. John Howard gave them a few wins, and recognition. Morrison tends to occupy whatever space is available. His very personal central role on drought issues, for example, has overshadowed the Nationals on their home ground.</p>
<p>If Morrison wants to prop up McCormack he needs to pump his tyres. As former Nationals senator John (“Wacka”) Williams told Sky, there was a message in Tuesday’s events for Morrison: “Don’t make the Nationals irrelevant”. The Nationals had to be treated with respect and get some pats on the back, Williams argued.</p>
<p>The Nationals’ schism triggered a reminder that Morrison is in a no win situation internally on climate change policy, as he faces an increasing need to nuance it.</p>
<p>In Tuesday’s Coalition parties meeting (coming immediately after the vote) a bevy of Nationals - Joyce, Canavan, George Christensen and David Gillespie - sent hardline messages on climate among talk of regional jobs and industry. Joyce said some people were trying to push their hobby horse issues out of the fire tragedies. To one Liberal source, these outpourings from the Nationals’ losing side were a bit weird and not very coherent.</p>
<p>They were met by a counter from some moderate Liberals. Earlier, in the separate Liberal party meeting, Queenslander Andrew Laming criticised those who went on policy “solo flights” on climate. The government’s policy was based on the science, which had been overwhelmingly accepted, Laming said – to contest the science undermined the policy.</p>
<p>McCormack’s next test is immediate – recrafting his frontbench. He has two cabinet vacancies, with Victorian Darren Chester expected to fill one.</p>
<p>What happens with the key resources portfolio vacated by Canavan will be crucial, given the coal issue and energy battles. Whether McCormack should have invited Canavan back is a moot point. Canavan (a loud voice for the coal industry) has a sharp policy mind; also, he might have been less trouble for McCormack if still on the frontbench than rampaging round the backbench.</p>
<p>Among the complexities of the reshuffle is that with the fall of McKenzie and Canavan the Nats have no Senate minister, but the remaining three senators (all women) are parliamentary newcomers. Still, one of these women will surely be in line for promotion, at the least to an assistant minister. McCormack sources believe all six women in the 21-member party voted for him; certainly most did. </p>
<p>The significance of the Nationals new deputy, David Littleproud, should not be overlooked in considering the future. Littleproud is competent, ambitious and articulate. He was frustrated at having his portfolio sliced back after the election.</p>
<p>His presence could assist McCormack. At 43, he has plenty of time and, in the National party tradition, an incentive to support his leader and inherit the mantle rather than trying to snatch it.</p>
<p>But if McCormack can’t survive until the election, the party would be better off turning to Littleproud than to Joyce, who would carry a maximum risk factor, not least for Morrison.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131164/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Scott Morrison dodged a bullet when the Nationals clung on to Michael McCormack. There was palpable relief when the news came through to the Liberals. “We still have a Coalition,” one MP was heard to say…Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1311442020-02-04T04:28:01Z2020-02-04T04:28:01ZView from The Hill: We need to see Gaetjens’ report on McKenzie – not least for Gaetjens’ sake<p>When he announced the result of the review by his departmental secretary Phil Gaetjens into Bridget McKenzie’s conduct, Scott Morrison was very clear. Gaetjens’ report was a cabinet document and it wouldn’t be made public.</p>
<p>Morrison just quoted from Gaetjens’ findings. The essence of these are that while the then sports minister had breached the ministerial standards by failing to disclose her membership of gun organisations, her allocation of grants wasn’t politically skewed.</p>
<p>“He said, ‘I find no basis for the suggestion that political considerations were the primary determining factor,’” according to Morrison.</p>
<p>Given this was totally at odds with the Audit Office conclusion of a bias towards marginal and targeted seats, Morrison’s failure to produce the Gaetjens’ report potentially harms the credibility of his most senior public servant.</p>
<p>We need to see the detail of Gaetjens’ argument that the Auditor-General was wrong about the grants being skewed. The report from the Audit Office – a respected, expert and politically neutral body - is very detailed in its information. A senior bureaucrat rejecting it would be expected to have strong, well-argued grounds. How did Gaetjens come to his conclusions on this matter?</p>
<p>Morrison produced a couple of statistics from Gaetjens but they hardly refuted the Audit case. </p>
<p>Gaetjens had looked at the grants rounds “in their entirety”, Morrison noted. But what was his justification for focusing on the entirety, when McKenzie’s allocations became blatantly more political as time went on?</p>
<p>And is there nuance in Gaetjens’ statement that political considerations weren’t the “primary” factor?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/remembrance-of-rorts-past-why-the-mckenzie-scandal-might-not-count-for-a-hill-of-beans-130793">Remembrance of rorts past: why the McKenzie scandal might not count for a hill of beans</a>
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<p>Gaetjens’ was an awkward position even before Morrison drew him into the McKenzie imbroglio.</p>
<p>Formerly Morrison’s chief of staff, he was appointed first to head treasury when Morrison was treasurer and then brought over to lead the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.</p>
<p>While contemporary PMs like to have their own man (there has not been a woman) as their department head, Gaetjens was seen, more than most, as a “political” appointment, despite his quite extensive bureaucratic background.</p>
<p>Public servants could (and did) reasonably ask, as leader of the public service, was he likely to stand up for their interests?</p>
<p>They might have had their fears heightened after Morrison chopped off a bunch of senior heads before Christmas.</p>
<p>Because of their personal closeness, Morrison’s asking Gaetjens to investigate McKenzie was inevitably placing the secretary in a very hot place.</p>
<p>It was clear, as the publicity over McKenzie intensified, that whatever Gaetjens found would determine her fate. Morrison had effectively said so.</p>
<p>Further, Gaetjens was investigating against a background of two factors. McKenzie had become a serious political liability. Yet the government had dug in to defend her funding allocations.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sports-rorts-affair-shows-the-need-for-a-proper-federal-icac-with-teeth-122800">The 'sports rorts' affair shows the need for a proper federal ICAC – with teeth</a>
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<p>Former public service commissioner Andrew Podger says Gaetjens “was the wrong person to have asked [to do the inquiry] and I’m surprised by his advice as reported by the PM”.</p>
<p>The timing of Gaetjens’ presentation of the report worsened the optics.</p>
<p>On January 22, Morrison’s office announced he’d asked Gaetjens to look into whether McKenzie had breached ministerial standards.</p>
<p>In the normal course of events one would have thought Gaetjens would have finished his work by, say, the end of the Australia Day long weekend. The material and the minister were at hand; it was not an excessively complicated exercise for someone who’s had plenty of experience of working quickly.</p>
<p>Morrison told his Sunday news conference he received Gaetjens’ report late Saturday night - which did seem an odd time to present a report - inviting speculation of sequenced choreography.</p>
<p>Morrison previously had been able to say he hadn’t received the report. But had he been briefed on it by Gaetjens?</p>
<p>Morrison’s office has produced a list of precedents of when probes into ministerial conduct were not released (a 2019 letter from then departmental secretary Martin Parkinson to the PM on whether former ministers Pyne and Bishop had breached standards was provided to the Senate in response to a Senate order).</p>
<p>But if the PM continues to hide behind cabinet confidentiality and precedent, it won’t just be his skin that sustains bruises, but that of his right hand bureaucrat. And anyway, there is always the prospect of a Senate order, and the certainty of Senate estimates hearings.
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<em>Updated 5 February 2020</em></p>
<h2>Senate tells government to produce Gaetjens report and establishes inquiry into sports affair</h2>
<p>The Senate on Wednesday established an inquiry into the sports rorts affair, and also called on the government to table the Gaetjens advice.</p>
<p>The select committee will have a remit to investigate if Scott Morrison’s office had any role in the grants allocation.</p>
<p>Its terms of reference cover:</p>
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<li><p>program design and guidelines</p></li>
<li><p>requirements placed on applicants for funding</p></li>
<li><p>management and assessment processes</p></li>
<li><p>adherence to published assessment processes and program criteria</p></li>
<li><p>the role of the offices of the minister, the prime minister and deputy prime minister, and any external parties, in determining which grants would be awarded and who would announce the successful grants.</p></li>
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<p>The committee is to report by March 24. It will have two senators appointed by the government, two selected by the opposition and one from the Greens.</p>
<p>Apart from calling for the Gaetjens report, the Senate has called on the government to produce the advice the Attorney-General, Christian Porter, gave on the legal authority of then sports minister Bridget McKenzie to make decisions on the grants, a colour coded spreadsheet used in the minister’s office, and communications between ministerial offices including the prime minister’s office.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131144/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If the PM continues to hide behind cabinet confidentiality and precedent, it won’t just be his skin that sustains bruises, but that of his right hand bureaucrat.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1310292020-02-03T02:20:24Z2020-02-03T02:20:24ZRichard Di Natale quits Greens leadership, as Barnaby Joyce seeks a tilt at Michael McCormack<p>Richard Di Natale has quit the leadership of the Greens, telling his party room on Monday he will also leave the Senate.</p>
<p>Citing in particular family reasons for his shock departure, Di Natale said: “It’s a tough and demanding job and my boys are nine and 11, and I want to be present in their lives. My wife has been a huge support for me in my career and I want to be able to support her in her career.”</p>
<p>He also said he’d had major surgery at the end of last year which “took a bit out of me”.</p>
<p>The shock resignation comes as former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce announced he would challenge Nationals leader Michael McCormack if there was a move for a leadership spill at Tuesday’s party meeting.</p>
<p>The Greens will elect their new leader on Tuesday morning. The party’s sole lower house member, Adam Bandt, immediately announced he would stand.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/greens-on-track-for-stability-rather-than-growth-this-election-116295">Greens on track for stability, rather than growth, this election</a>
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<p>Di Natale was elected to the Senate at the 2010 election and became leader in 2015 after Christine Milne quit. He was hailed as likely to broaden the appeal of the party, potentially picking up more centrist voters and expanding its electoral footprint. That promise has not materialised. </p>
<p>The party maintained its Senate representation of nine in last year’s election, as well as holding Bandt’s seat of Melbourne.</p>
<p>Di Natale said he left the party in good shape, with its second best result at last year’s election. “If we just repeat that result we will elect three new senators and have a shot at the balance of power. I think we’ll do better than that,” he said.</p>
<p>He knew his decision would shock members and supporters but the time was right – for him and for the Greens. “We are bigger than one person.” He did not know what would come next for him, but he would remain involved in Green issues.</p>
<p>He highlighted the Greens’ role in elevating the climate debate. “We Greens put climate action on the agenda at the last election and that was just the beginning. Every election from now on will have the climate emergency front and centre.” </p>
<p>He believed former leaders should not hang around in parliament. He would resign from the Senate when his replacement was chosen. He anticipated that would be about mid-year.</p>
<p>The Nationals are also dealing with leadership changes. Barnaby Joyce, who resigned the party’s leadership amid a furore over his personal life in early 2018 and has long wanted to reclaim the post, told Seven: “If there is a spill then I will put my hand up.” He noted he had always said that if there was a vacancy for the leadership he would stand.</p>
<p>The Nationals have been destabilised by Bridget McKenzie being forced to resign from cabinet for breaching ministerial standards in the sports rorts affair, over failing to declare her memberships of gun organisations. She said on Monday she accepted she should have declared the memberships in a more timely fashion but she did not believe they had constituted a conflict of interest.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/remembrance-of-rorts-past-why-the-mckenzie-scandal-might-not-count-for-a-hill-of-beans-130793">Remembrance of rorts past: why the McKenzie scandal might not count for a hill of beans</a>
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<p>The Nationals will elect a new deputy leader to replace McKenzie on Tuesday.</p>
<p>To get a spill for the leader’s position needs only a mover and seconder.</p>
<p>McCormack said: “The fact is there is no vacancy for the leader of the National party. We have a vacancy for the deputy of the National party.”</p>
<p>Victorian National Damian Drum said he did not think Joyce had the numbers, so he did not believe it would come to a vote on McCormack’s position. </p>
<p>Party sources believe McCormack has the support to keep his position, despite considerable internal and external criticism of his performance. But if Joyce ran and got a substantial vote, that would put McCormack under severe pressure. The last thing Scott Morrison wants would be for Joyce to make a comeback.</p>
<p>Water Resources minister David Littleproud, a Queenslander, is considered frontrunner for the deputy leadership. David Gillespie, from NSW, has said he will run for deputy. </p>
<p>Frontbencher Darren Chester ruled himself out as a candidate for deputy. In the reshuffle he is tipped to be returned to cabinet. </p>
<p>Chester told Sky McCormack was “absolutely” safe; “there is no vacancy”, he said, adding the Nationals did not try to roll leaders halfway through a term.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131029/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Natale’s shock resignation comes as former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce announced he would challenge Nationals leader Michael McCormack if there was a move for a leadership spill on Tuesday.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1310112020-02-02T08:53:18Z2020-02-02T08:53:18ZView from The Hill: Bridget McKenzie falls – but for the lesser of her political sins<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313170/original/file-20200202-41476-1xvx16p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Mick Tsikas</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Agriculture Minister and Nationals deputy leader Bridget McKenzie has finally fallen on her sword, after intense pressure on her to limit the government’s damage from the sports rorts affair ahead of parliament resuming this week.</p>
<p>But McKenzie has been pushed out not for rorting the sports grants program for political advantage – as shown by the Auditor-General’s investigation - but on the lesser matter of failing to declare her membership of gun organisations.</p>
<p>Scott Morrison announced her resignation from cabinet late on Sunday after receiving a report from his departmental secretary, Phil Gaetjens, on whether she breached ministerial standards. She has also stepped down as Nationals deputy.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/remembrance-of-rorts-past-why-the-mckenzie-scandal-might-not-count-for-a-hill-of-beans-130793">Remembrance of rorts past: why the McKenzie scandal might not count for a hill of beans</a>
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<p>Gaetjens’ controversial finding is that she did not unduly favour marginal seats in allocating the sports grants.</p>
<p>This is in stark contrast to the audit report highlighting a “distribution bias” in the decisions of the then sports minister, who did not follow the ranking from the independent assessment process undertaken by Sport Australia.</p>
<p>The audit found funding reflected the approach of the minister’s office “of focusing on ‘marginal’ electorates held by the Coalition as well as those electorates held by other parties or independent members that were to be ‘targeted’ by the Coalition at the 2019 Election”.</p>
<p>Morrison said Gaetjens had found that “applications from marginal or targeted seats were approved by the minister at a statistically similar ratio of 32% compared to the number of applications from other electorates at 36%”.</p>
<p>The prime minister quoted Gaetjens – whose report he will not release - as saying he found no basis for the suggestion that political considerations were the primary determining factor.</p>
<p>But Gaetjens did find McKenzie breached ministerial standards in failing to disclose her membership of the Wangaratta Clay Target Club, which received a grant. </p>
<p>Gaetjens indicated she should have declared a conflict of interest and stood aside for another minister to make the relevant decisions in relation to any organisation of which she was a member.</p>
<p>She also had a problem with her membership of Field and Game Australia, which had not been disclosed until later. A couple of this association’s parts had received grants.</p>
<p>The government has defended from the get-go the distribution of the grants. At the same time, ministers have wanted McKenzie gone, to stem the political damage of the affair. But the opposition will pursue the issue in parliament, and there could be a Senate inquiry.</p>
<p>After receiving the Gaetjens report on Saturday night, Morrison on Sunday took it to the governance committee of cabinet, which was briefed by the secretary. Morrison asked Nationals leader and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack to speak to McKenzie, who was also briefed by Gaetjens.</p>
<p>McCormack was not at the Morrison news conference. Morrison said he was on his way to Canberra.</p>
<p>The Nationals must now elect a new deputy to replace McKenzie, with Water Resources minister David Littleproud the frontrunner. The party will meet on Tuesday. McCormack will then reshuffle his frontbench. Morrison ruled out a wider reshuffle.</p>
<p>McKenzie, who said she will stay in parliament, said in a statement she accepted the Gaetjens report but strongly defended herself.</p>
<p>“I maintain that at no time did my membership of shooting sports clubs influence my decision making, nor did I receive any personal gain.” However she acknowledged “my failure to declare my memberships in a timely manner constituted a breach of the Prime Minister’s Ministerial Standards”.</p>
<p>McKenzie said “elected representatives are responsible for public expenditure and take advice, not direction, from the public service and others. The operation of ministerial discretion is important to our democratic process.</p>
<p>"My support for the sport of shooting is well known and fully disclosed through my public advocacy. I will continue to back our sporting shooters against the ongoing, often misinformed, public debate about a sport that routinely wins Australian medals at the Olympics”.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-coronavirus-adds-to-scott-morrisons-many-woes-130889">Grattan on Friday: Coronavirus adds to Scott Morrison's many woes</a>
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<p>Morrison was fulsome in his praise of McKenzie, saying she had done “amazing work” for regional Australia, showing “incredible application”. But “there are standards that must be upheld and she understands that and so do I.”</p>
<p>Looking to the future, Morrison stressed the government was adopting the Audit Office recommendation to bring in a consistent framework for situations where a minister decides upon the award of grants. </p>
<p>The Audit report said the advising, decision-making and reporting requirements applying where ministers approve grant funding should “be extended to apply to corporate Commonwealth entities in situations where a minister, rather than the corporate entity, is the decision- maker”.</p>
<p>The government had already announced it would adopt this recommendation.</p>
<p>Morrison also said Attorney-General Christian Porter had advised, after consulting the Australian Government Solicitor, that McKenzie did have the legal authority to make decisions about the grants. The question of this authority had been raised in the audit report but not answered.</p>
<p>Opposition leader Anthony Albanese said: “How does Angus Taylor remain in cabinet while Bridget McKenzie does not?” Energy Minister Taylor, on Sky on Sunday night, refused to say whether he had been interviewed by the federal police, who are considering the affair of an alleged forged document he used to make false claims about the carbon footprint of City of Sydney councillors.</p>
<p>Meanwhile the latest Newspoll, published in Monday’s Australian, shows a further worsening of the Coalition’s position, in the wake of a torrent of publicity about the sports rorts, as well as continuing debate about the response to the bushfire crisis. </p>
<p>The Coalition now trails Labor on a two-party basis 48-52% compared to 49-51% three weeks ago. The Coalition primary vote has fallen 2 points to 38%; Labor is down a point to 35%. </p>
<p>Albanese leads Morrison as better prime minister 43-38%.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131011/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite the Nationals deputy leader resigning, the so-called “sports rorts” scandals is far from resolved.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1307932020-02-02T06:49:51Z2020-02-02T06:49:51ZRemembrance of rorts past: why the McKenzie scandal might not count for a hill of beans<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313166/original/file-20200202-41476-1yy3zx6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Mick Tsikas</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The sports rorts scandal has evoked in some commentators considerable nostalgia. There was a time, we are assured, when politics was governed by genuine integrity. Andrew Peacock offered John Gorton his resignation after his wife appeared in an ad spruiking bedsheets. Mick Young had to step aside from the Hawke ministry over a failure to declare a Paddington Bear on his return to Australia from an overseas visit. The inevitable comparisons have been with an earlier sports rorts affair, sometimes also recalled as the whiteboard affair. It resulted in the <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/from-the-archives-1994-ros-kelly-quits-over-sports-rorts-affair-20200116-p53rxw.html">resignation of Keating government minister</a> Ros Kelly in 1994.</p>
<p>By way of contrast, an adverse Australian National Audit Office report disclosing <a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-bridget-mckenzie-has-made-herself-a-sitting-duck-130474">political rorting on a grand scale</a> of a A$100 million government grants scheme was insufficient to blast National Party Deputy Leader Bridget McKenzie from her job. Rather, she has been forced from her position on the ludicrously narrow and contrived grounds of a conflict of interest – a grant to a gun club of whom she was an undeclared member. Let the jokes about Al Capone and tax evasion flow!</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-coronavirus-adds-to-scott-morrisons-many-woes-130889">Grattan on Friday: Coronavirus adds to Scott Morrison's many woes</a>
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<p>I recall learning about “individual ministerial responsibility” in high school politics classes. The textbook told us that while the principle was among our borrowings from Westminster and Whitehall, it had been applied with some flexibility in the modern Australian context. This was true, but only barely so. I studied such matters in 1986 and, up to that point, Australia had experienced a decade in which the principle had been rather strictly applied.</p>
<p>The key figure here was Malcolm Fraser, prime minister from 1975 to 1983. Fraser had good reason to be firm in maintaining proprieties. In 1971 he had risen in the parliament and declared John Gorton “not fit to hold the great office of Prime Minister”. While Fraser was aggrieved at what he saw as Gorton’s disloyalty to him, the prime minister’s unorthodox personal and political behaviour had been causing considerable grief among Liberals used to the reassuring somnolence of the Menzies era. A party room ballot for the leadership resulted in a tie, and Gorton threw in the towel.</p>
<p>In November 1975, Fraser brought down another prime minister, this time from the Labor Party, in <a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-politics-explainer-gough-whitlams-dismissal-as-prime-minister-74148">far more dramatic circumstances</a>. But it was ministerial scandal that had offered Fraser his chance. On becoming Liberal leader earlier in 1975, he had assured the public that he would use the government’s numbers to block supply in the Senate only if there were “most extraordinary and reprehensible circumstances”. Fraser believed these circumstances had been created by <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/how-the-loans-scandal-became-an-affair-to-remember-20050101-gdzadn.html">the Loans Affair</a>, which involved two government ministers in unorthodox loan-raising activities. The fall of the Minister for Minerals and Energy Rex Connor and Treasurer and Deputy Prime Minister Jim Cairns, undermined public confidence in an already ailing government. The married Cairns’s very public relationship with a female member of his staff, Junie Morosi, also contributed to the atmosphere of chaos.</p>
<p>A prime minister such as Fraser, whose own political legitimacy derived in large part from his claims to a superior integrity, could not afford to indulge his ministers. Even heavy-hitters sometimes went down for seemingly minor transgressions. </p>
<p>One of his most ruthless henchmen, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/nov/18/reg-toecutter-withers-former-fraser-government-minister-dies-at-age-90">Senator Reg Withers</a> – he did not get his nickname “The Toecutter” at Sunday school – went for the capital crime of influencing the renaming of a federal electorate. Phillip Lynch, Deputy Liberal Leader and Treasurer, <a href="https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/original/00005947.pdf">went for alleged improprieties</a> involving land speculation in Victoria. Future National Party Leader Ian Sinclair also lost his ministry over business dealings. Most amusingly, Senator Glen Sheil<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Sheil"> was sacked before his appointment</a> as a minister was even finalised. He was foolish enough to offer the media his (favourable) views on South Africa’s system of apartheid, which Fraser hated with intensity.</p>
<p>Bob Hawke was hardly less strict than Fraser, even if his ministers gave him less to worry over. He was deeply distressed to have to rid the cabinet of his mate, Mick Young, in the early months of the government in 1983 after Young divulged to an associate a cabinet decision to expel a Soviet diplomat. </p>
<p>As prime minister, Paul Keating had more scandals to worry over, including Kelly and sports rorts. Right-wing powerbroker <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-notsoquiet-achiever-20091023-hddk.html">Graham Richardson lost his place</a> after intervening with the government of the Marshall Islands on behalf of a relative who had landed himself in hot water over some dubious business affairs. But Richardson later returned to Cabinet. In late 1995, in the so-called <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/lawrence-leaves-stew-of-politics-20070330-ge4jxh.html">Penny Easton Affair</a>, Carmen Lawrence survived a finding by a Western Australian Royal Commission that she misled parliament while she was premier. After Lawrence was later charged with perjury, she stood aside as shadow minister until she had been acquitted.</p>
<p>The Easton Affair, although occurring late in the life of the Keating government, might have been the turning point. If not, the early Howard years surely were. The new government adopted a sparkling ministerial code of conduct, but lost seven ministers in its first 18 months. The code’s application became increasingly flexible, with Howard seemingly more inclined to calculate whether more damage would be done to his government by a sacking than by grim resistance. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/sports-rorts-shows-the-government-misunderstands-the-public-service-130796">'Sports rorts' shows the government misunderstands the public service</a>
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<p>By the time of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/oct/12/awb-made-secret-payments-worth-us220m-to-saddams-iraq-court-hears">Australian Wheat Board affair</a>, the idea that the Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer might be held in any way responsible for the industrial-scale misbehaviour involved in the AWB’s United Nations sanction-busting Iraqi wheat sales had already become rather quaint. Nor did any minister pay the price when an Australian citizen was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Solon">illegally deported</a> and a permanent resident <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelia_Rau">illegally detained</a>. No minister was held responsible for the arrest, and vindictive and illegal visa cancellation, of an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/23/australia-sorry-doctor-terrorism-charges">Indian doctor falsely accused</a> of involvement in terrorism.</p>
<p>This is essentially the political world in which we live now. McKenzie was forced out because of a political calculation that the damage of her holding on had become too great, and that her removal would not cause intolerable turbulence in the Coalition. But it is unclear that the scandal has done the government much lasting damage in any case. </p>
<p>Even young journalists today have been reared on a rational understanding of politics that says if a government behaves badly enough, it incurs damage that might threaten its future. But what if the overall effect of this scandal is simply to confirm for the minority of voters paying attention that politicians are self-serving and untrustworthy, and politics an elaborate racket?</p>
<p>Scott Morrison’s prime ministership is a creature of the Trump era. He knows that it is right-wing populists who have yielded the benefits of the collapse of political trust. His celebration of quiet Australians carries the message: “Let us get on with things and we’ll see you in three years”. His Sunday afternoon political stitch-up wasn’t elegant, but it will serve its immediate purpose of taking a bit of heat out of the affair. There are still few signs that anything like a majority of voters are alive to his confidence tricks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130793/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frank Bongiorno does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It’s much harder to remove a minister these days than it used to be – and there’s no sign Bridget McKenzie’s departure will prove a damaging blow for the Morrison government.Frank Bongiorno, Professor of History, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1308892020-01-30T11:27:07Z2020-01-30T11:27:07ZGrattan on Friday: Coronavirus adds to Scott Morrison’s many woes<p>Remember when the Morrison government had a “horror week” as parliament was winding down in late November, with the Angus Taylor scandal and the failure to pass key union legislation?</p>
<p>In retrospect, that looks small beer compared to the waves of trouble engulfing it as the 2020 parliamentary sittings begin next week. </p>
<p>Just look at what’s happened since.</p>
<p>The bushfires, already alight then, became a thousand times worse, and turned into a political albatross with Scott Morrison’s missteps and widespread criticism of the government’s handling of climate change.</p>
<p>Doubts about the economy’s prospects have remained deep.</p>
<p>The projected budget surplus weakened to $5 billion in the December update and could disappear altogether.</p>
<p>The Wuhan coronavirus sprang out of nowhere, its tentacles – their lengths as yet uncertain - stretching in various directions.</p>
<p>The row around deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie’s sports rorts has put the Taylor affair, involving an allegedly forged document, into the shade (though that’s not resolved yet).</p>
<p>Parliament will reopen in the final month of a summer of horror for the country in general and Morrison in particular.</p>
<p>It’s not just the issues, substantive and political, that he and his ministers must deal with. It is the uncertainties they bring.</p>
<p>Most notably and immediately, no one can be sure what the implications of the coronavirus will be for Australia. The number of cases locally is likely to be quite small, but there could be substantial broader effects.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-politicians-not-bureaucrats-are-the-ones-in-touch-morrison-claims-in-sports-affair-130795">View from The Hill: Politicians not bureaucrats are the ones in touch, Morrison claims in sports affair</a>
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<p>Obviously Australian authorities have had preparations and protocols in place to deal with such an emergency. Nevertheless this week the government looked as if it were caught by surprise.</p>
<p>Cabinet’s national security committee convened, but the government’s initial reactions were unexpectedly slow and muddled.</p>
<p>For instance it took a while to announce a plan to evacuate hundreds of Australians trapped in Wuhan. </p>
<p>And Education minister Dan Tehan was censorious of schools that had told pupils who’d recently been in China to stay away, but then had to make a sharp U-turn when the medical advice to the government changed.</p>
<p>As the government worked to organise a charter flight, its announcement it would quarantine returnees on Christmas Island for two weeks stirred controversy. </p>
<p>Critics included the Australian Medical Association and the opposition, as well as some of those in China who were weighing whether to take up the flight offer. </p>
<p>Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton insisted quarantine beds wouldn’t be obtainable on the mainland (which might be a matter of how hard the government looked). </p>
<p>The Christmas Island plan is provocative. Having prospective travellers sign a declaration they’d self-isolate surely would have been adequate. But the government probably feared a domestic backlash if precautions didn’t appear tough enough.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/fear-spreads-easily-thats-what-gives-the-wuhan-coronavirus-economic-impact-130780">Fear spreads easily. That's what gives the Wuhan coronavirus economic impact</a>
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<p>Both the bushfires and the coronavirus will take heavy tolls on Australia’s tourist industry. </p>
<p>The fires haven’t affected major attractions for international visitors such as central Australia and the Barrier Reef, but the disaster has received prominent coverage abroad, and people get their impressions from TV images. So it’s not surprising Australia suddenly looks a less desirable destination. </p>
<p>The coronavirus has seen the Chinese authorities quickly cancel group tours. Restoring normality to the China trade goes well beyond perceptions - it will be a matter of time and how the health crisis plays out. </p>
<p>The virus is already having implications for Australia’s education export industry, which draws a huge number of students (who pay very high fees) from China. </p>
<p>Universities are scrambling to make arrangement for those Chinese students who’ll miss the first part of the teaching year. It’s a sharp reminder of a wider issue: the high dependence of Australian universities on foreign, especially Chinese, students.</p>
<p>The full economic impact of the coronavirus for Australia won’t be known for some time. </p>
<p>Henry Cutler, from Macquarie University’s Centre for the Health Economy, says flow-on effects for us will be small if China contains the virus relatively quickly but “the Australian economy may be significantly impacted” if the authorities there struggle to do so. “A reduction in Chinese GDP growth could reduce our exports given China is Australia’s top export market.”</p>
<p>The consensus suggests the fallout for Australia is likely to be limited in the long run, but the first and second quarters of 2020 are another story. And whatever the effect, it couldn’t come at a worse time - like the impact of the fires, it will hit a soft economy.</p>
<p>Growth was revised down in the December budget update. The conclusion from The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/2020-survey-no-lift-in-wage-growth-no-lift-in-economic-growth-and-no-progress-on-unemployment-in-year-of-low-expectations-130289">just-published survey</a> of 24 economists from 15 universities is for growth, which has been below 2% for the last three quarters, “to stay at or below 2% for at least another year, producing the longest period of low economic growth since the early 1990s recession”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/humans-are-good-at-thinking-their-way-out-of-problems-but-climate-change-is-outfoxing-us-129987">Humans are good at thinking their way out of problems – but climate change is outfoxing us</a>
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<p>During the bushfire crisis the government repositioned on the surplus. After earlier confidently proclaiming the budget would be “back in the black”, it now says its priority is bushfire relief and recovery and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg makes no predictions.</p>
<p>This is appropriate, but if the budget is in the red at mid-year that will trash those boasting rights the government had prematurely grabbed. Equally important, a worse-than-anticipated fiscal situation will leave less funds to spend on other areas in the May budget.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, before parliament resumes Morrison has to resolve McKenzie’s future, deciding whether he gets rid of her (which he should) or retains her.</p>
<p>If she’s ditched, the first days of the week will be taken up with the Nationals getting their house in order - electing a new deputy (David Littleproud would be the obvious pick) and leader Michael McCormack rearranging his frontbench (the best way to do this would be to promote Darren Chester back into cabinet, and put one of the new female senators into a junior frontbench position). </p>
<p>Even with McKenzie gone, the opposition would still have plenty of ammunition to keep the rorts issue alive for a while.</p>
<p>Cutting McKenzie loose carries the risk of Coalition trouble, with some Nationals blaming the Liberals for her demise. But if she is kept, the government’s bleeding will be substantial.</p>
<p>No wonder Coalition backbenchers will arrive back in Canberra unhappy and anxious, and with fleas in their ears from their constituents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130889/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Parliament will reopen in the final month of a summer of horror for the country in general and Scott Morrison in particular.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1307962020-01-30T10:44:59Z2020-01-30T10:44:59Z‘Sports rorts’ shows the government misunderstands the public service<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312706/original/file-20200130-154314-1ix2kaw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=509%2C665%2C2929%2C1521&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Public servants are entirely accountable, ministerial advisers scarcely at all.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The government’s defence of Bridget McKenzie and the prime minister’s call for advice from the head of his department reveal a remarkable misunderstanding (or, less surprisingly, a remarkable misrepresentation) of the respective roles of ministers and administrators.</p>
<p>In defending the actions of his deputy, Bridget McKenzie, National Party leader Michael McCormack said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>if we only ever do what bureaucrats tell us, we don’t need ministers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The Attorney-General Christian Porter backed him up:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>what I fundamentally don’t accept is that ministers should not be involved in final approval of projects. That’s their job.</p>
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<p>On Wednesday at the National Press Club, Prime Minister Scott Morrison spelled out what he saw as the strengths of ministers and politicians as decision-makers, saying that in contrast to public servants, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>at the end of the day politicians, members of parliament are elected. We face our electors. We are part of our communities. We live in them. We engage there every day.</p>
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<p>A former Coalition sports minister, Jackie Kelly, has been less diplomatic. She used an appearance on ABC’s The Drum to deride “unaccountable public servants” who she said had “their own axe to grind”, unlike elected members of parliament who understood community needs and were accountable to their electorates.</p>
<h2>Public servants are entirely accountable</h2>
<p>My fear is that these statements reflect misunderstanding – not just wilful misrepresentation – both of the respective roles of ministers and public servants and of respective accountability arrangements.</p>
<p>Of course ministers - if legally authorised to decide on grants - may exercise discretion and are not required to accept the recommendations of public servants.</p>
<p>However, their first role is setting the criteria for the allocation of the funds: sometimes by introducing legislation, and other times by articulating the objectives of programs which form the basis for public service decisions or advice. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-politicians-not-bureaucrats-are-the-ones-in-touch-morrison-claims-in-sports-affair-130795">View from The Hill: Politicians not bureaucrats are the ones in touch, Morrison claims in sports affair</a>
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<p>Having set up frameworks, ministers may be legally empowered to make final decisions (depending on the legislation involved), but can be expected to be constrained by those frameworks just as much as public servants. They will also be required to give reasons, consistent with the frameworks, for rejecting public service recommendations.</p>
<p>The public service is accountable for the advice it provides and the decisions it makes. The Audit Office would quickly highlight a finding that advice was not consistent with the framework the parliament or the government had established.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scott-morrisons-resilience-speech-overshadowed-as-mckenzie-crisis-deepens-130700">Scott Morrison's 'resilience' speech overshadowed as McKenzie crisis deepens</a>
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<p>Where authority for decisions does lie with the public service, the public service is subject not only to the provisions of the Public Service Act (including impartiality) and those of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act (including value for money and performance management) but also to administrative law. </p>
<p>This includes the provisions in the Administrative Decisions (Judicial Review) Act (which effectively define “impartiality”), the capacity for decisions to be subject to legal review, and the requirements under the Freedom of Information Act that ensure (with identified exceptions) public access to documentation.</p>
<h2>Ministerial advisers, scarcely at all</h2>
<p>Under the Constitution, ministers are responsible for the administration of departments. But for a long time, perhaps since Federation, the convention has been not to hold them personally accountable for their department’s administrative failures unless they are personally involved.</p>
<p>This makes the idea of an “unaccountable” public service a figment of the imagination of some politicians and their advisers. If there is a group within the executive arm of government that is unaccountable, it is ministerial advisers, not the public service.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312711/original/file-20200130-154327-1tzi4fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312711/original/file-20200130-154327-1tzi4fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312711/original/file-20200130-154327-1tzi4fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312711/original/file-20200130-154327-1tzi4fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312711/original/file-20200130-154327-1tzi4fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312711/original/file-20200130-154327-1tzi4fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312711/original/file-20200130-154327-1tzi4fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312711/original/file-20200130-154327-1tzi4fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/publications/independent-review-aps_0.pdf">Thodey Review, December 2019</a></span>
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<p>A return to greater independence of the kind recommended in December by the <a href="https://pmc.gov.au/resource-centre/government/independent-review-australian-public-service">independent review</a> of the public service conducted by David Thodey, but <a href="https://pmc.gov.au/resource-centre/government/delivering-for-australians">dismissed by the government</a>, would in no respect reduce accountability. </p>
<p>Rather, it would clarify the respective roles of ministers and the public service and reinforce the values that underpin the distinct role of the public service. </p>
<p>Among these are the merit principle, impartiality and non-partisanship. </p>
<p>Alhough the Sports Commission does not come under the Public Service Act, it has articulated similar values, including “integrity”, and the parliament has given it even greater independence, requiring any directions its minister gives it to be in writing.</p>
<h2>Servants should not investigate masters</h2>
<p>This brings me to the question of whether the head of the department of prime minister’s department, in this case <a href="https://theconversation.com/scott-morrison-orders-probe-into-whether-bridget-mckenzie-breached-ministerial-code-130403">Philip Gaetjens</a>, is the appropriate person to advise whether a minister has behaved consistently with the prime minister’s guidelines on ministerial behaviour.</p>
<p>Malcolm Turnbull set the precedent by referring the behaviour of his ministers <a href="https://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/statement-on-the-hon-stuart-robert-mp">Barnaby Joyce</a> and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/malcolm-turnbull-seeks-advice-on-stuart-roberts-china-trip-20160208-gmojj5.html">Stuart Robert</a> to the head of his department for advice.</p>
<p>There seem to me two possible ways to apply the prime minister’s ministerial standards. </p>
<p>One is to regard them, to the extent they go beyond strict legal requirements, as essentially political, articulating the prime minister’s view of appropriate ethical behaviour. </p>
<h2>Investigations are a job for someone else</h2>
<p>Under this approach (which seems unlikely to pass the famous “pub test”), the prime minister really needs no independent advice but might choose to seek advice from a respected political ally to lend credibility to his decision. </p>
<p>A suitable source might be a former minister or his chief of staff, but certainly not the secretary of his department, who is required to be apolitical under the Public Service Act.</p>
<p>The second approach is to give the standards a firmer status, in which case a more independent assessment of possible breaches would be appropriate.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/so-the-government-gave-sports-grants-to-marginal-seats-what-happens-now-130057">So the government gave sports grants to marginal seats. What happens now?</a>
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<p>But again, the secretary of the prime minister’s department is not the appropriate person to undertake it. This is particularly so given the more recent practice of prime ministers personally appointing people to the role with whom they have personal relationships (most clearly the case with Gaetjens). </p>
<p>The most appropriate body under this second approach would be a parliamentary integrity officer or organisation, either an anti-corruption authority or a <a href="https://ciec-ccie.parl.gc.ca/en/Pages/default.aspx">conflict of interest and ethics commissioner</a> of the kind that exists in Canada.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130796/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Podger does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The government’s approach to Bridget McKenzie reveals a remarkable misunderstanding (or perhaps a remarkable misrepresentation) of the respective roles of ministers and administrators.Andrew Podger, Honorary Professor of Public Policy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1307952020-01-29T09:38:40Z2020-01-29T09:38:40ZView from The Hill: Politicians not bureaucrats are the ones in touch, Morrison claims in sports affair<p>As the suspense over Bridget McKenzie’s future continues, Scott Morrison on Wednesday argued that in allocating public money, it’s politicians rather than officials who understand the community.</p>
<p>Previously, Morrison has highlighted that all the grants then sports minister McKenzie decided upon – overriding the ranking worked out by officials according to the program’s criteria - were “eligible” under the sports scheme.</p>
<p>Answering questions at the National Press Club, he elevated another line.</p>
<p>He recalled when he was social services minister his department had allocated the grants under a program and the result was some “wonderful community organisations” were defunded. He and the then prime minister had to intervene and fix things.</p>
<p>“On other occasions, departments have made decisions which had stripped money from Foodbank, and I’ve had to reverse those decisions,” he said.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scott-morrisons-resilience-speech-overshadowed-as-mckenzie-crisis-deepens-130700">Scott Morrison's 'resilience' speech overshadowed as McKenzie crisis deepens</a>
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<p>In contrast to officials, “politicians, ministers, members of parliament, we’re part of our community. We know what’s happening in our community. We’re in touch with our community. We know the things that can make a difference in our community. And it’s important because we’re accountable to those people in our communities for getting stuff done that’s going to make a difference in their communities”.</p>
<p>Later he elaborated. “It’s not a question of either/or. It’s a question of the two working together. And my best experience as a minister and a prime minister is where you just worked together closely with your public officials and you make decisions.” </p>
<p>Despite Morrison saying how much he respected the “professionalism”, “expertise” and “skills” of the public service, his remarks won’t be lost on federal bureaucrats who already feel somewhat under siege from the PM.</p>
<p>On a literal reading of Morrison’s analysis, McKenzie gets protection on two grounds. The politically-based grants she made were “eligible” and politicians know best anyhow.</p>
<p>This suggests if McKenzie is to be dumped it will have to be on the ground of her failure to disclose her membership of a gun club she funded, rather on the propriety (or rather, impropriety) of her doling out money skewed to marginal seats - which is the more serious sin.</p>
<p>Around the government, there is some bewilderment that Morrison hasn’t dealt with the McKenzie situation before this (which of course does involve Nationals leader Michael McCormack).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-bridget-mckenzie-has-made-herself-a-sitting-duck-130474">Grattan on Friday: Bridget McKenzie has made herself a sitting duck</a>
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<p>It’s impossible to believe Phil Gaetjens, secretary of Morrison’s department, could not have finished his assessment of whether McKenzie had breached ministerial standards days ago if the PM had been minded to take a quick decision.</p>
<p>Whatever method there is in dragging this out isn’t obvious even to some in the Nationals, where McKenzie doesn’t have a great deal of support. It was noticed that on the ABC on Wednesday Victorian National Darren Chester, active in gathering the numbers for McKenzie’s election to the party’s deputy leadership, would not say whether she had his backing.</p>
<p>With parliament returning next week, Morrison can’t dally much longer.</p>
<p>He again played down his office’s part in the sports grants affair, saying “all we did was provide information based on the representations made to us, as every prime minister has always done”.</p>
<p>He also hinted he might make reparations to those organisations that were high on the officials’ list but missed out on grants, and are now squawking.</p>
<p>“There are many, many, many more worthy projects in this area … I will work with the Treasurer to see how we can better support even more projects in the future.”</p>
<p>But beware the fine print in his words. “On any grants program, however it’s done, there will always be many applicants whose projects are very worthy and they’re unable to be accommodated by the budget that we’ve set.</p>
<p>"We’re a responsible government that manages public money carefully.” </p>
<p>The nub of the McKenzie affair is that the government was being “careful” about the politics in how this money was “managed”. For all Morrison’s public rationalisations, the voters understand this – and the PM must know they do. As he said, politicians “are part of our communities - we live in them - we engage there every day”. And no doubt they are hearing loud and clear the community feedback about the sports rorts.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130795/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Despite Morrison saying how much he respected the “professionalism”, “expertise” and “skills” of the public service, his remarks won’t be lost on federal bureaucrats.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1307002020-01-28T19:27:57Z2020-01-28T19:27:57ZScott Morrison’s ‘resilience’ speech overshadowed as McKenzie crisis deepens<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312198/original/file-20200128-81336-1pi604a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sport Australia wrote to McKenzie's office before the election expressing concern it was being compromised by political interference.</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Scott Morrison will use his first major 2020 speech to press his plan for more federal government power to intervene directly when there are natural disasters, including by deploying the defence force without requests from the states.</p>
<p>In his speech titled “An even stronger, more resilient Australia”, Morrison on Wednesday will flag that a bigger role for the military in fires and other disasters will also have implications for the structure and training of the force.</p>
<p>But the Prime Minister’s hope for clear air for his messages is being stymied by the crisis around deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie, triggered by the damning Australian National Audit Office report on the then sports minister’s handling of grants to sporting organisations. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-bridget-mckenzie-has-made-herself-a-sitting-duck-130474">Grattan on Friday: Bridget McKenzie has made herself a sitting duck</a>
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<h2>More damaging information</h2>
<p>On Tuesday Morrison again left her situation hanging, as more damaging information emerged against her in the sports rorts affair.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-28/sport-australia-complained-pre-election-government-grants/11905250">The ABC reported</a> the agency meant to administer the sports grant scheme, Sport Australia, wrote to McKenzie’s office before the election expressing concern it was being compromised by political interference.</p>
<p>Sport Australia assessed applications for grants but its listing was overridden by McKenzie’s decisions, which favoured marginal seats. The ABC also obtained a spreadsheet from December 2018 prepared by the minister’s office. The spreadsheet had projects colour-coded according to the political complexion of seats.</p>
<p>Notably non-committal about the future of McKenzie, now agriculture minister, Morrison told a news conference in Blayney, where he was announcing more drought assistance, he had not yet received advice from the secretary of his department, Phil Gaetjens, on whether she had breached the ministerial guidelines.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/scott-morrison-orders-probe-into-whether-bridget-mckenzie-breached-ministerial-code-130403">Scott Morrison orders probe into whether Bridget McKenzie breached ministerial code</a>
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<p>In his National Press Club address, an extract of which was released ahead of delivery, Morrison will say there is now “a clear community expectation” for the federal government to have greater power to respond in a national emergency or disaster, particularly through the use of the defence force.</p>
<p>“After this fire season and before the next one, this is an area where we need to get clarity and make some decisions, including changing the law where necessary,” he will say.</p>
<p>While Morrison called out defence force reserves to help with the fire effort, he says he is aware of stretching the federal government’s powers as defined in the constitution.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-bridget-mckenzie-has-made-herself-a-sitting-duck-130474">Grattan on Friday: Bridget McKenzie has made herself a sitting duck</a>
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<h2>Issues for the the royal commission</h2>
<p>He will outline three issues to be considered by the royal commission he proposes in the wake of the fires. These are:</p>
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<li><p>the constitutional and legal framework that would allow the federal government to declare a national state of emergency, enabling it to act on its own initiative, including deploying the military</p></li>
<li><p>the legal interface between federal and state and territory governments in preparing for and responding to national natural disasters and emergencies</p></li>
<li><p>enhanced national accountability for natural disaster risk management, resilience and preparedness. This would include targets and transparent reporting, with improved national standards.</p></li>
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<p>Morrison will say “an enhanced, more proactive role for our defence force in response to domestic natural disasters will have implications for force structure, capability, command, deployment and training”.</p>
<p>He will argue that too often findings from inquiries into past disasters have been forgotten. </p>
<p>“One of the first tasks of a royal commission will be to audit the implementation of previous recommendations.</p>
<p>"As the years pass, the bush grows back and fuel loads increase, people move in still larger numbers to live in fire-prone areas and dangerous fires occur again in a cycle which must be broken.</p>
<p>"We must continue to learn from this fire season so we are better prepared for the next one. Whether that be the deployment of the ADF, local hazard reduction, access to resources such as aerial firefighting equipment, consistency of disaster recovery arrangements or resilience in the face of a changing climate. </p>
<p>"And we must learn from Indigenous Australians and their ancient practices on how to improve our resilience to these threats.”</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forest-thinning-is-controversial-but-it-shouldnt-be-ruled-out-for-managing-bushfires-130124">Forest thinning is controversial, but it shouldn’t be ruled out for managing bushfires</a>
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<p>Morrison has previously stressed the importance of more emphasis on hazard reduction and holding states accountable for their performance in that area.</p>
<p>“Hazard reduction is as important as emissions reduction. Many would argue even more so, because it has a direct practical impact on the safety of a person going into a bushfire season,” <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/bushfire-hazard-reduction-as-important-as-emissions-reduction-scott-morrison-says">he said recently</a>.</p>
<p><em><strong><a href="https://news.defence.gov.au/media/media-releases/orroral-valley-bushfire-update">Defence has confirmed</a> the heat of the landing light of a defence reconnaissance helicopter that landed in Namadgi National Park is believed to have started the fire now raging near the outskirts of Canberra. It is the worst fire Canberra has faced since the disastrous 2003 burn.</strong></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130700/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Morrison’s hope for clear air for his messages is being stymied by the crisis around deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie, as more damaging information emerges against her in the sports rorts affair.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1304742020-01-23T10:25:54Z2020-01-23T10:25:54ZGrattan on Friday: Bridget McKenzie has made herself a sitting duck<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311555/original/file-20200123-162185-1exoi4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bridget McKenzie's political future could be determined by Scott Morrison's inquiry into whether she breached ministerial standards.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bridget McKenzie’s future is looking bleak, her position having worsened significantly this week.</p>
<p>At its heart, the McKenzie affair is simple. Before last year’s election, the then-sports minister allocated grants to sporting organisations on an overtly political basis, rather than following the objective ranking determined by an assessment process under the program’s guidelines.</p>
<p>It was a clear misuse of taxpayers’ money.</p>
<p>Defences the government offered after she was exposed in last week’s blunt Audit Office report were spurious.</p>
<p>It insisted, for instance, this was different from the notorious “sports rorts” affair that claimed Keating government minister Ros Kelly, who’d famously used a “great big whiteboard” in her pork-barrelling operation. The truth is, it’s little different.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-need-strong-ethical-standards-for-ministers-and-better-ways-of-enforcing-them-130372">Why we need strong ethical standards for ministers – and better ways of enforcing them</a>
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<p>This week Nine newspapers revealed McKenzie had been given membership of a gun club she funded, and she failed to comply with declaration-of-interest provisions.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Scott Morrison could find it easier to get rid of McKenzie on the grounds of this non-disclosure than for rorting the grants scheme, which would involve the government admitting the impropriety of a pretty endemic practice.</p>
<p>The statement of ministerial standards, which covers disclosure, says a minister </p>
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<p>may be required to resign if the prime minister is satisfied that they have breached or failed to comply with these standards in a substantive and material manner.</p>
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<p>In political terms the situation is complicated.</p>
<p>Prime ministers these days hate giving scalps to the opposition. And McKenzie’s blonde head has certain layers of protection.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/video-michelle-grattan-on-morrisons-miracle-election-win-and-labors-leadership-search-117746">VIDEO: Michelle Grattan on Morrison's 'miracle' election win - and Labor's leadership search</a>
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<p>She’s in cabinet not because she’s Morrison’s pick but as deputy leader of the Nationals, elected by her party. Unless Nationals’ leader Michael McCormack consented, Morrison could be stirring trouble with the junior Coalition partner if he insisted she go.</p>
<p>The Nationals could say: what about Liberal Energy Minister Angus Taylor, who’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/nov/26/a-timeline-of-angus-taylors-mystery-document-controversy">mired in the mess of an allegedly forged document</a>, currently being considered by the federal police?</p>
<p>Also, in distributing grants on a political basis McKenzie was likely acting according to the expectations of others around the government. MPs were lobbying for sporting organisations in their electorates. Morrison has admitted his office would have passed on representations (flagged in the Audit report).</p>
<p>The fact McKenzie is a senior woman adds to the political difficulty.</p>
<p>The prime minister has launched a couple of investigations into the affair.</p>
<p>Attorney-General Christian Porter is obtaining advice on whether McKenzie actually had the legal power to make the decisions herself – a question raised but not answered in the Audit Office report.</p>
<p>Crucially, Phil Gaetjens, secretary of the Prime Minister’s department, is examining whether she has breached the ministerial code (which on any ordinary reading she certainly has). </p>
<p>Everything is suddenly hanging on the Gaetjens’ probe. Morrison, who seems to have now noticeably distanced himself from McKenzie, said on Thursday: “I will look at that [Gaetjens] advice and take whatever action is necessary”. </p>
<p>Offsetting the downsides of ditching a senior minister, there could be benefits for the government if McKenzie went, beyond lancing this nasty boil.</p>
<p>There’s been speculation it could open the question of McCormack’s leadership but that’s unlikely. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/bushfires-wont-change-climate-policy-overnight-but-morrison-can-shift-the-coalition-without-losing-face-129354">Bushfires won't change climate policy overnight. But Morrison can shift the Coalition without losing face</a>
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<p>McKenzie, who’s been a poor performer, has sharp critics within her own party. If the Nationals made Water Resources Minister David Littleproud deputy and McCormack promoted one of the women newly elected last year (for example Perin Davey or Susan McDonald, both senators like McKenzie) that could strengthen their frontbench.</p>
<p>The removal of McKenzie would also provide the opportunity for a ministerial reshuffle, and a chance to shift Taylor. But would Morrison feel constrained, unwilling to concede a point to Taylor’s critics? Some say so.</p>
<p>Parliament meets the week after next, with the government in bad shape, thanks to Morrison’s missteps during the fires, the government’s defensiveness on climate change and the ministerial scandals.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/morrisons-approval-ratings-crash-over-bushfires-in-first-2020-newspoll-sanders-has-narrow-iowa-lead-129774">Morrison has taken a predictable polling hit</a> in the wake of his Hawaiian holiday and subsequent problems.</p>
<p>The longer-term risk for him is that some, perhaps many, voters have re-thought the generally positive views they had of him before the election. This goes deeper than just immediate criticism.</p>
<p>We can’t know whether he can erase this negative perception. But it does call for a rethink about his prime ministerial durability.</p>
<p>Remember how after his unexpected May victory there was much talk about Morrison being in the box seat for the 2022 election? Recent events suggest bets at least should be more heavily hedged.</p>
<p>Memories of Kelly also bring to mind the experience of Prime Minister Paul Keating. Like Morrison, Keating performed the political “miracle” of triumphing at what had appeared an unwinnable election.</p>
<p>In the same way as Morrison a generation later, Keating won in 1993 through his sheer ability as a campaigner, bolstered by the personal and policy vulnerability of his opponent.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/against-the-odds-scott-morrison-wants-to-be-returned-as-prime-minister-but-who-the-bloody-hell-is-he-116732">Against the odds, Scott Morrison wants to be returned as prime minister. But who the bloody hell is he?</a>
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<p>But then Keating lost (by a big margin) in 1996. He’d dodged a bullet in 1993, but the electorate kept the gun loaded and fired when it saw no good reasons against doing so.</p>
<p>Few recent prime ministers have proved durable, even when they appeared set up to be.</p>
<p>Bob Hawke was, and John Howard too. But Kevin Rudd, after a strong win in 2007, was brought down in a party coup before he could fight the following election. It was all too late by the time Labor reluctantly reinstalled him, to replace the undurable Julia Gillard.</p>
<p>Tony Abbott followed the path of Rudd, winning from opposition only to be removed before the next election.</p>
<p>One might have expected the popular Malcolm Turnbull to have lasted. But no; after doing badly in 2016 he was ousted in 2018.</p>
<p>Morrison is fortunate on several fronts. His current troubles are early in the parliamentary term. A rule change he executed in the run-up to the election protects him from being brought down in a coup. Anyway, he hasn’t a rival hunting him.</p>
<p>On the other hand, despite being a relatively new PM, he is leading a government in its third term.</p>
<p>Morrison has plenty of time and opportunity to recover. But if the next election goes to Labor, this summer of actual and political disaster might be looked back upon as a decisive turning point.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130474/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The damaging longer-term risk for Prime Minister Scott Morrison is that some people have re-thought their view of him over the sports grants saga and his missteps in handling the bushfires.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1304032020-01-22T10:28:44Z2020-01-22T10:28:44ZScott Morrison orders probe into whether Bridget McKenzie breached ministerial code<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/311353/original/file-20200122-117954-1vrl3dt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Bridget McKenzie was a member of a shooting club that received $36,000 in grant money.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lukas Coch/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prime Minister Scott Morrison has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/22/christian-porter-defends-bridget-mckenzie-over-36000-grant-to-sport-club-she-belongs-to">ordered</a> the secretary of his department, Phil Gaetjens, to advise whether deputy Nationals leader Bridget McKenzie breached the ministerial code of conduct in the sports rorts affair.</p>
<p>A statement from the prime minister’s office on Wednesday night said Morrison had referred the highly critical auditor-general report to Gaetjens last Friday “for advice in relation to any actions in the application of the statement of ministerial standards”.</p>
<p>This referral was not announced at the time.</p>
<p>The statement also said media reports revealing McKenzie had approved a grant to a clay target shooting club without publicly disclosing her membership of it had also been referred to the department.</p>
<p>The audit report on the $100 million sports grants scheme found the “award of grant funding was not informed by an appropriate assessment process and sound advice”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/so-the-government-gave-sports-grants-to-marginal-seats-what-happens-now-130057">So the government gave sports grants to marginal seats. What happens now?</a>
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<p>It said McKenzie, then sports minister, targeted marginal Coalition seats and Labor seats in the government’s sights in allocating grants before the election, rather than following the priority rating provided by the expert assessment process.</p>
<p>Nine newspapers revealed on Wednesday that McKenzie <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/mckenzie-approved-36-000-for-shooting-club-without-saying-she-was-a-member-20200121-p53tbf.html">approved a $36,000 grant for the Wangaratta Clay Target Club</a> without publicly disclosing she was a member of the club.</p>
<p>McKenzie was given membership when she visited the club in January last year before the grant was announced the following month. Her office has said she did not put her membership on the public parliamentary register because it was a gift and below the value set for disclosure.</p>
<p>Sources said that in June she declared in her ministerial statement of interests – which is private - her membership to several gun organisations, including the clay target association of which the Wangaratta club is an affiliate.</p>
<p>In his foreword to the statement of ministerial standards, Morrison says: </p>
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<p>All parliamentarians are required to disclose private interests to the parliament.</p>
<p>Given the additional powers of Ministers and Assistant Ministers, I expect them to provide me with additional information about their private interests to ensure there are no conflicts with their roles as ministers.</p>
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<p>The statement further says: </p>
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<p>Ministers must declare and register their personal interests, including but not limited to pecuniary interests, as required by the Parliament from time to time.</p>
<p>Ministers must also comply with any additional requirements for declarations of interests to the Prime Minister as may be determined by the Prime Minister, and notify the Prime Minister of any significant change in their private interests within 28 days of its occurrence.</p>
<p>Failure to declare or register a relevant and substantive personal interest as required by the Parliament constitutes a breach of these Standards.</p>
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<p>The code also stresses that “ministers must observe fairness in making official decisions … taking proper account of the merits of the matter”.</p>
<p>The Wednesday statement from the prime minister’s office said Morrison would “continue to follow due process”.</p>
<p>He has also asked Attorney-General Christian Porter to advise on the issue raised in the audit report of whether McKenzie actually had legal authority to make the decisions on the grants.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/nationals-elect-bridget-mckenzie-as-new-deputy-88773">Nationals elect Bridget McKenzie as new deputy</a>
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<p>Porter on Wednesday defended McKenzie, saying, “had Bridget McKenzie’s final approval process not gone into the mix, then less Labor electorates would have gotten the money”.</p>
<p>The opposition continued to call for her resignation or sacking.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Morrison announced that the secretary of the health department, Glenys Beauchamp, will retire next month.</p>
<p>The Mandarin, noting Beauchamp has been a board member of the Australian Sports Commission, <a href="https://www.themandarin.com.au/123943-health-secretary-steps-down-medical-doctor-recommended-for-job/">said</a> the official date of her retirement, February 28, is immediately before Senate estimates hearings “where those with knowledge of the grants program will likely be questioned.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130403/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Morrison says he referred the auditor-general report to the head of his department last week to determine if McKenzie breached ministerial standards in her sports grant dispersals.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1300572020-01-17T00:54:03Z2020-01-17T00:54:03ZSo the government gave sports grants to marginal seats. What happens now?<p>When Australians pay their income tax, they assume the money is going to areas of the community that need it, rather than being used by the government to shore up votes for the next election.</p>
<p>This is why the findings of the <a href="https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/award-funding-under-the-community-sport-infrastructure-program">Australian National Audit Office</a> into the awarding of community sporting grants by cabinet minister Bridget McKenzie are serious. Not merely for the grant funding process, but also for trust in our system of government.</p>
<h2>What did the report find?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sportaus.gov.au/grants_and_funding/community_sport_infrastructure_grant_program">Community Sport Infrastructure Grant Program</a> was established in 2018 to ensure more Australians have access to quality sporting facilities, encouraging greater community participation in sport and physical activity. </p>
<p>The Audit Office was asked to examine this grant program to assess whether the award of funding “was informed by an appropriate assessment process and sound advice”. The focus was therefore on whether proper procedures were followed.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.anao.gov.au/work/performance-audit/award-funding-under-the-community-sport-infrastructure-program">report</a> was extremely critical of the way in which the A$100 million in sporting grants were awarded by Minister McKenzie ahead of last year’s election campaign. </p>
<p>It found successful applications were “not those that had been assessed as the most meritorious” and that there was “distributional bias” in the way projects were approved. The problem is many of the grants were awarded to bodies within marginal seats or seats the Coalition wanted to win.</p>
<p>This is a serious matter because it represents a politicisation of a grant system which is supposed to be undertaken on merit. </p>
<h2>What does this mean for the government?</h2>
<p>The fact the Audit Office has made this finding is important. But what happens now and what will the consequences be? Will there be an investigation? If so, by whom?</p>
<p>Importantly, the Audit Office is an independent body. In the absence of a federal integrity commission, it has a significant role to play in ensuring government funds are spent for proper purposes. A central part of the role of the Audit Office is to uncover and report on fraud and corruption in government decisions. But it does not have coercive powers and its report does not have any direct legal effect on Senator McKenzie.</p>
<p>If there is to be a further investigation of this matter, it’s likely to be taken up by a parliamentary forum such as Senate Estimates. What is more significant are the <em>consequences</em> of the Audit report.</p>
<p><strong>Legal consequences</strong></p>
<p>The first point to understand is that the <em>direct</em> legal consequences of the Audit Office finding are minimal. The report made four recommendations for future reform of the sporting grant procedure. While the Audit Office is <a href="https://www.anao.gov.au/work/audit-insights/implementation-recommendations">very well-regarded</a> by decision makers and commands respect, it is not a court. Therefore its recommendations are not binding and can be ignored by government.</p>
<p>What is more significant are the legal <em>implications</em> of the Audit report. </p>
<p>Here the problem is the Audit Office found the minister did not have legal authority to approve the grants in the first place. This is because the legal power to approve the sporting grants is actually given to Sport Australia (under the Australian Sports Commission Act 1989). </p>
<p>That legislation says the minister can give <em>written directions</em> to Sport Australia in relation to the exercise of its powers. But Senator McKenzie actually <em>made</em> the decisions on the grants (rather than merely give written directions to Sport Australia). </p>
<p>This is, however, somewhat of a theoretical argument as it is unlikely anyone will be able to bring this matter to court to invalidate the grant decisions made. Given community sporting groups who were disadvantaged by the improper grant process are community groups in need of funding, it’s unlikely they will be in a position to bring an expensive legal action.</p>
<p><strong>Political consequences</strong></p>
<p>It’s therefore likely the consequences of this report will be political rather than legal. </p>
<p>Here the political convention of “ministerial responsibility” should, ideally, come into play. This gives effect to the broader principle that the Australian people give authority and power to elected politicians and those politicians must be accountable for their actions.</p>
<p>This means McKenzie could be asked to resign. However, the Senator has <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/no-rules-were-broken-mckenzie-defends-sports-cash-splash-in-marginal-seats-20200116-p53ryy.html">indicated she will not resign</a>, saying “no rules were broken” and she was given discretionary powers “for a purpose” in the program’s guidelines.</p>
<p>And this is one of the problems with ministerial responsibility today: it largely depends on whether the relevant party feel it’s politically necessary to pressure the relevant minister to stand down. </p>
<p>The current strength of this principle in modern Australia has been questioned, with many saying it’s no longer effective. For instance, journalist Tony Wright <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/ministerial-responsibility-in-canberra-appears-to-have-all-but-decayed-to-no-responsibility-20190219-p50yul.html">wrote in 2019</a>:</p>
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<p>Ministerial responsibility in Canberra appears to have all but decayed to no responsibility. </p>
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<p>So, there may be no political consequences in this matter at all.</p>
<h2>Implications for Australian democracy</h2>
<p>The Audit Office of Australia is a respected, independent institution and its findings this week should have consequences.</p>
<p>Trust in government, which should be central to a healthy democracy, is at an <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australians-trust-in-government-reaches-new-all-time-low-study-shows">historical low</a> in Australia. Governments need to make decisions which are transparent and fair. A government that bends the rules is a danger to the rule of law and to democracy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130057/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maria O'Sullivan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An audit office report has accused the government of using grants to influence votes. So what are the consequences?Maria O'Sullivan, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, and Deputy Director, Castan Centre for Human Rights Law, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.