tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/centre-alliance-62617/articlesCentre Alliance – The Conversation2020-10-06T02:35:35Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1475682020-10-06T02:35:35Z2020-10-06T02:35:35ZGovernment wins crossbench support for new tertiary fees<p>The government’s controversial changes to higher education fees now appear set to pass the Senate, with Centre Alliance giving its support.</p>
<p>The minor party, whose two federal parliamentarians come from South Australia, has won modest concessions, including 12,000 extra places for students in SA, in return for agreeing to back the bill.</p>
<p>Centre Alliance now has only one Senate crossbencher, Stirling Griff, whose vote will be crucial to get the legislation across the line.</p>
<p>The revamp of fees will mean a major rise in what students have to pay for some courses, including the humanities and law, but reduce the student cost of courses such as nursing and teaching.</p>
<p>The government says the new structure will provide incentives for students to choose courses which are “more job-relevant”.</p>
<p>Pauline Hanson’s One Nation will vote for the changes, but crossbenchers Jacqui Lambie and Rex Patrick are opposed.</p>
<p>Patrick, an independent who is formerly from Centre Alliance, attacked that party’s education spokeswoman and member for Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie, who negotiated with the government.</p>
<p>After Sharkie said on Twitter she would be “forever grateful” for her arts degree, Patrick tweeted: “So, whilst you are forever grateful for the opportunity afforded you, you don’t care for future students in your electorate or state that might want the same opportunity.”</p>
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<p>The Senate debates the bill on Tuesday, but it is not clear when the vote will take place. If it is not this week, the next opportunity would be in November. The new fees regime is due to start next year.</p>
<p>Sharkie said the reforms would “encourage universities to strengthen industry relationships and produce job-ready graduates”.</p>
<p>The changes have won support in principle from most universities, with calls for specific alterations. But critics attack the bias against the humanities and dispute the government’s claims about the number of new places that will be created.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147568/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>Centre Alliance has given its support to the government’s JobReady Graduates bill, which now seems set to pass the Senate.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1316702020-02-12T06:26:02Z2020-02-12T06:26:02ZPauline Hanson stymies bid to hobble Mathias Cormann<p>A bid to hobble Senate leader Mathias Cormann in retaliation for the government’s refusal to produce the report from top public servant Phil Gaetjens on Bridget McKenzie failed after Pauline Hanson withdrew her support and Centre Alliance split.</p>
<p>Under the plan, Cormann would not have been allowed to answer questions in the Senate on behalf of the prime minister, represent him at estimates, or sit at the centre table in the chamber. The ban would have applied until March 6 unless the government tabled the report.</p>
<p>Initially Pauline Hanson signed up to the motion but then at the last moment withdrew her support. One Nation was the decider - if its two votes had stayed with the Labor-initiated motion, it would have passed.</p>
<p>With one Centre Alliance senator abstaining, the vote was lost 35-36.</p>
<p>Centre Alliance’s Rex Patrick spoke strongly in favor of the motion, saying the Senate needed to push back against the government running to a bunker called “cabinet”.</p>
<p>His party colleague Stirling Griff, explaining his abstention, said later he supported the premise behind the motion but the penalty would have had no real consequences other than humiliating Cormann. </p>
<p>Hanson told the Senate on reflection she was against setting a precedent. “Senator Cormann is an elected member of this chamber. He has a right to his place in this chamber,” she said. “It is not up to us to take away that right that was given to him by the Australian people when they voted for him.”</p>
<p>Cormann said the ban proposal was completely unprecedented in the Senate’s history and claimed it exceeded the Senate’s powers.</p>
<p>Earlier this week the government defied a call from the Senate to produce the Gaetjens report on McKenzie’s conduct in the sports rorts affair.</p>
<p>Morrison asked Gaetjens, the secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (and his one-time chief of staff), to advise him on whether she had breached ministerial standards. </p>
<p>This followed an Auditor-General report finding her decisions on grants were politically skewed. </p>
<p>But Gaetjens concluded political considerations had not been the primary determining factor in the grants’ allocation, although he did find she had breached ministerial standards by not declaring her association with gun organisations. On this basis she resigned from the cabinet, and the deputy leadership of the Nationals – which set off a train of events still destabilising the Nationals.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-we-need-to-see-gaetjens-report-on-mckenzie-not-least-for-gaetjens-sake-131144">View from The Hill: We need to see Gaetjens' report on McKenzie – not least for Gaetjens' sake</a>
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<p>In response to a Senate order to produce the report, the government claimed public interest immunity, saying it was a cabinet document. </p>
<p>Labor’s Senate leader, Penny Wong, accused the government of a “disgusting political coverup” in refusing to table the Gaetjens report and other documents.</p>
<p>“This is all about protection of the prime minister, who is up to his neck in the sports rorts scandal,” Wong said.</p>
<p>“We’re being asked to accept that the findings of an independent statutory officer, the Auditor-General, should be overridden by a secret report authored by someone of dubious credibility - because Mr Gaetjens is Mr Morrison’s mate, his former chief of staff, and that inquiry was commissioned by Mr Morrison to get exactly the advice he wanted so that he could do what he had already decided,” Wong said.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, crossbencher Jacqui Lambie launched a scathing attack on the government’s refusal to release the report. </p>
<p>“We’re supposed to trust this so-called independent process that found that senator McKenzie made a mistake in not declaring her shooting club membership, but not that she misused taxpayer funds. </p>
<p>"According to the prime minister, we’re supposed to trust that there was no basis for the suggestion that political considerations were the primary determining factor,” she told the Senate. </p>
<p>“Does he take millions of Australians out there for absolute morons?”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131670/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>An attempt to hobble Mathias Cormann in retaliation for the government’s refusal to produce the Gaetjens Report on Bridget McKenzie failed after Pauline Hanson withdrew her support.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1275272019-11-21T10:22:48Z2019-11-21T10:22:48ZGrattan on Friday: Scott Morrison will go into 2020 with a challenging cluster of policy loose ends<p>Scott Morrison’s government is heading to the end of 2019 amid a debate about its economic judgement and with a number of substantial policy moves started but not completed.</p>
<p>Morrison this week delivered to an audience from big business what was described as his most important speech for the rest of the year. He wanted the voters to know the government is not – underscore NOT – panicking about the economy.</p>
<p>Even so, it is putting in a little extra stimulus by fast tracking some infrastructure.</p>
<p>Whether the government should be panicking is the question - we’ll be able to better answer that when the September quarter national accounts are released next month.</p>
<p>Morrison points out that since the election the Coalition has injected an additional $9.5 billion for 2019-20 and 2020-21 - through tax relief, the infrastructure bring-forwards and extra funding, and drought assistance to communities.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/government-to-inject-economic-stimulus-by-accelerating-infrastructure-spend-127358">This week’s modest infrastructure initiative</a> will amount to little in itself in terms of economic activity - it is a holding message as the government waits to see whether it will have to do more in the near term while firming up plans for its preferred timetable of some action in the budget.</p>
<p>Next week begins the year’s final parliamentary fortnight, with the main attention on the fate of two bills.</p>
<p>The ensuring integrity legislation, to crack down on bad behaviour in the union movement, seemed set to pass the Senate last week. After amendments had been promised to Centre Alliance, the government needed just one extra vote out of the combined three votes of One Nation and Jacqui Lambie.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-courting-quiet-australians-from-bubble-central-its-been-a-remarkable-first-year-for-scott-morrison-122260">Grattan on Friday: Courting 'quiet Australians' from 'bubble central', it's been a remarkable first year for Scott Morrison</a>
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<p>Lambie had earlier declared she’d support the legislation if maverick construction union official John Setka didn’t quit his post (which he has no intention of doing).</p>
<p>Then Lambie baulked, worried about the danger of some unions being caught on technical breaches. Pauline Hanson’s attention, meanwhile, was on other things. Hanson has now engaged with amendments; the government has done more tweaking; the legislation again seems set to pass.</p>
<p>The other bill in the spotlight would repeal medevac. The government’s determination on this is driven by its desire to look tough (and reverse the humiliation the passage of medevac inflicted on it) rather than by need. Medevac applies only to the dwindling number of people still in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, not to any future arrivals; the people smuggling trade hasn’t restarted.</p>
<p>Lambie is the swing vote on the repeal bill and, for reasons unclear, she has been refusing to disclose her position. The bill is on the Senate notice paper for Wednesday.</p>
<p>Beyond immediate legislation, and despite the conventional commentary about it lacking an “agenda”, the government in fact has set itself quite a lot of work.</p>
<p>Much of it falls under Christian Porter, who as attorney-general and industrial relations minister is one of the busiest people in the Morrison ministry.</p>
<p>The issues he’s dealing with bring fierce battles. As he lamented at the National Press Club on Wednesday: “Every new task I am allotted does seem to inevitably support the observation that rights in practice collide with each other rather than neatly contouring into each other.”</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-jackie-lambie-should-not-horse-trade-on-medevac-repeal-bill-124639">Grattan on Friday: Jackie Lambie should not horse trade on medevac repeal bill</a>
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<p>Religious freedom is an obvious case, as he’s found in consultations with more than 90 different stakeholders. He announced this week the draft bill will be changed so religious groups running hospitals and aged care facilities would be able to discriminate in favour of employing people on faith grounds, in the same way religious schools can.</p>
<p>Originally it had been hoped the legislation would be done and dusted this year, but this proved impossible. Indeed its eventual fate remains in question; the government will engage with Labor to try for a unity ticket.</p>
<p>Also in Porter’s bailiwick is press freedom, which became a hot issue after the raids on the ABC and a News Corp journalist.</p>
<p>A report on some aspects by the parliamentary joint committee on intelligence on security has been delayed until near Christmas. Chairman Andrew Hastie explained the committee is “endeavouring to achieve a bipartisan report, which delivers tangible areas for reform and consideration”.</p>
<p>One crucial area is whistle blower protection. Porter said the government would soon respond to an earlier review of this to ensure “the act is easily and readily understandable to the people who need to use it”.</p>
<p>How much ground the government is willing to give on media freedom is yet to be seen. It would prefer to yield as little as possible; its default position is secrecy. Porter is open to some reforms, including on problems in the freedom of information system and on whistle blowers, but it’s a matter of their degree.</p>
<p>Also still to come is legislation for an integrity commission. This was a reluctant pre-election commitment, essentially forced by the politics.</p>
<p>The body would be heavily circumscribed; as Porter reaffirmed this week, it wouldn’t be able to make “corrupt conduct findings” against politicians or public servants. Rather, in such cases it would investigate and send evidence to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.</p>
<p>Porter is also following up Morrison’s concern – which has sparked a sharp reaction - about resource companies being targeted by environmental activists.</p>
<p>As well as all this, Porter is running the government’s industrial relations reform process, which is taking a softly-softly-catchee- monkey approach, gradually moving through specified issues.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-coalitions-approach-to-religious-discrimination-risks-being-an-inconclusive-wasteful-exercise-125486">The Coalition's approach to religious discrimination risks being an inconclusive, wasteful exercise</a>
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<p>This week Morrison flagged another priority area – reducing the “administrative clutter” around awards as well as in other parts of the system.</p>
<p>“While the number of awards has reduced, it appears that they have not become simpler – indeed many believe that they have become more complex,” he told his business audience, again exhorting them to make the case for reform (meaning, not to leave the jawboning to him and his colleagues). </p>
<p>In his speech, Morrison gave the government’s plans to deregulate procedures for the approval of major projects a push along, saying environmental approval processes were “overly complex, duplicative and they take too long”. </p>
<p>Simplifying them seems a no brainer. The issue will always be, however, whether that goes further and cuts into proper scrutiny and environmental protections.</p>
<p>Among the initiatives the government has put on its plate since the election is the pursuit of indigenous recognition in the constitution.</p>
<p>Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt again asserted this week: “I am committed to delivering constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians in this term of parliament.” It is a desirable but very ambitious aspiration that will be extremely hard, if not impossible, to land. </p>
<p>In sum, the government will finish 2019 with a cluster of loose ends. The challenges ahead in managing the politics of trying to tie them up should not be under-estimated.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127527/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>Next week begins the year’s final parliamentary fortnight, and the main attention will be on the fate of two bills - the ensuring integrity legislation, and the medevac repeal.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1238802019-09-19T11:38:47Z2019-09-19T11:38:47ZGrattan on Friday: Morrison government solid on industrial relations reform but bootlicks One Nation on family law<p>John Howard is remembered by his Liberal tribe as a reformer, but his legacy is mixed. The GST has endured but he essentially doomed his government when he let his ideological obsession with industrial relations run away with him.</p>
<p>The Liberals lost the next election, and had to stand by as Labor dismantled WorkChoices.</p>
<p>Now a subsequent Liberal government is starting on workplace change, with industrial relations minister Christian Porter on Thursday releasing the first discussion papers.</p>
<p>It’s early days and in politics sheep can always put on wolves’ clothing. But on what we see, the measured approach of Scott Morrison and Porter is a far cry from that of Howard and likely to be more successful and lasting.</p>
<p>That’s not to ignore the government’s tough stand against militant unionism. The Ensuring Integrity bill from last term is back, and its prospects – provided there is some fine tuning - appear better this time, thanks in no small part to the antics of John Setka.</p>
<p>(On Thursday the Senate referred Setka to the privileges committee which will investigate the claim his comments at a private union meeting amounted to a threat against Centre Alliance senators in relation to their vote on the integrity bill. The CFMEU immediately declared it looked forward to appearing before the committee.)</p>
<p>More broadly, the government says industrial relations changes should meet three criteria: they need to create jobs and put upward pressure on wages, boost productivity, and promote economic growth.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-major-parties-stack-up-on-industrial-relations-policy-116256">How the major parties stack up on industrial relations policy</a>
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<p>Porter, in his Thursday address to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA), said the matters selected for scrutiny were based on what stakeholders had been telling the government.</p>
<p>The first two discussion papers cover proposed criminal penalties for wage theft, and extending the permitted length of greenfields enterprise agreements for major projects.</p>
<p>They have been chosen strategically. The second is relatively uncontroversial. The first is pitched towards workers.</p>
<p>These will be followed by papers on the building code that applies to Commonwealth-funded building work; casual employment; the small business fair dismissal code, and several aspects of enterprise bargaining. Some of these will be more controversial than the initial ones.</p>
<p>Porter sought to put the need for change in perspective: “the present system benefits from the great virtue that in most sectors most of the time it is a relatively orderly rules based system”.</p>
<p>Howard went for root-and-branch change; the Morrison government is looking for incremental reform.</p>
<p>Morrison is not an industrial relations crusader. Crucially, in all areas he is outcomes-oriented. He wants the changes he seeks to get through the Senate, where he would need crossbench support. Having unexpectedly won control of the Senate at the 2004 election, Howard had no check on his ambitions.</p>
<p>As Porter puts it, there are two crucial questions before a government wanting IR changes: what improvements are most important to strengthening the economy and “what possible changes can achieve a significant enough degree of consensus that they can be supported through parliament?”</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/jacqui-lambie-mixes-battler-politics-with-populism-to-make-her-swing-vote-count-123175">Jacqui Lambie mixes battler politics with populism to make her swing vote count</a>
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<p>Unsurprisingly, wrangling legislation through the upper house preoccupies the government. The Senate this term, with its smaller crossbench, is easier to deal with, though not necessarily easy. The half a dozen non-Green crossbenchers include Cory Bernardi (now in practice a government vote), two One Nation senators, two from Centre Alliance and Jacqui Lambie.</p>
<p>When Labor and the Greens vote against legislation the Coalition needs four of these crossbenchers to carry it. The government is shameless in throwing them bones of various shapes and sizes.</p>
<p>For Lambie’s support on the tax package, it forgave Tasmania’s $157.6 million housing debt.</p>
<p>This week Pauline Hanson was given a win, for past and future favours, when the government announced a joint parliamentary committee would examine the family law system.</p>
<p>Hanson, who thinks men get a bad deal in the system, has been constantly agitating for an inquiry, including putting some draft terms of reference to Porter. On Tuesday came the statement from Morrison and Porter.</p>
<p>The government is appointing as chairman Kevin Andrews, a Liberal conservative with a strong, long-term interest in and commitment to marriage counselling. It is backing Hanson as deputy chair (a position formally chosen by the committee). Of the ten-member committee five will be from the government; the ALP (which opposed the inquiry) will have three, and there will be one lower house crossbencher (Zali Steggall, who as a barrister specialised in family law).</p>
<p>This inquiry, though supported by the Law Council of Australia, seems unnecessary and is provocative.</p>
<p>Unnecessary, because the government already has a detailed report from the Australian Law Reform Commission, which it asked for, with a large number of recommendations on family law policy. That came earlier this year and the government has yet to address it. There was also a parliamentary inquiry last term that focused on protecting people affected by domestic violence in the family court system. There has been a plethora of other reviews over the past decade.</p>
<p>Provocative, because it is all about Hanson. </p>
<p>She caused immediate outrage after the announcement by her comment that “a lot of the women out there abuse the system by instigating false DVOs against their former partners or their husbands. They use that to further their needs”.</p>
<p>She also said: “In legislation there is 50/50 custody but it is at the discretion of the judges and I don’t think that is good enough.”</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-new-family-super-court-may-not-save-time-or-result-in-better-judgments-97454">A new family 'super court' may not save time or result in better judgments</a>
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<p>Anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty said in reply to Hanson’s DVO claim: “Obviously there are some women who do abuse the system, but overwhelmingly we know that one woman a week is being murdered at the hands of a violent man”.</p>
<p>Batty said Hanson’s comments showed she already had an agenda. “It cannot possibly be an unbiased inquiry with these two people heading it up,” she said.</p>
<p>The family law system is one of the most fraught and sensitive policy areas. It is more than unfortunate that it has become a pawn in the wider Senate play. This is all about politics. It’s far from a best practice path to reform of a system that affects so many people – critically, so many children.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123880/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 government starts its work on workplace change, it gave Pauline Hanson a win, for past and future favours, making her deputy chair of a joint parliamentary committee into the family law system.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1237982019-09-18T10:40:39Z2019-09-18T10:40:39ZView from The Hill: Now the senators are taking on John Setka<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/292975/original/file-20190918-187940-1ld6170.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">John Setka is battling attacks from all sides after union meeting recording leaks.
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Julian Smith</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rogue construction union boss John Setka is already in fights with the Labor party and the ACTU leadership. Now he faces a battle with parliament.</p>
<p>Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick is moving to refer an alleged Setka threat against CA to the privileges committee. Patrick has also sent the matter to the Australian Federal Police.</p>
<p>The reference to the privileges committee will sail through. The ALP, which is battling to expel Setka, will support it as enthusiastically as the government. The Greens are considering their position before the Thursday vote.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/albanese-one-step-closer-in-long-march-towards-john-setkas-expulsion-122457">Albanese one step closer in long march towards John Setka's expulsion</a>
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<p>Setka attracts condemnation across the spectrum. But so far his critics have found actually landing outcomes – whether expulsion from the ALP or resignation from his union office – elusive.</p>
<p>The latest chapter in the Setka story arose from a union meeting where his inflammatory comments were recorded, and then <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/john-setka-uncut-refuses-jacqui-lambie-s-demand-to-quit-20190913-p52r37.html">leaked to Nine media</a>. (While Setka rages about leaks against him out of these meetings, it doesn’t seem to occur to him to avoid making comments worth leaking.)</p>
<p>On the recording, Setka is heard recounting what he’d told senator Jacqui Lambie – who had cooked him a roast and tried to persuade him to quit his union job – when they discussed the government’s Restoring Integrity bill. This legislation contains sweeping powers to deal with recalcitrant unions and officials.</p>
<p>“If them fucking other crossbenchers want to fucking vote for this Integrity bill, let ‘em fucking vote for it but they will wear the consequences of it. Because [with] the money we are saving by not giving to the ALP, we will start a fucking campaign,” he said.</p>
<p>Setka went on to say that when Nick Xenophon had voted for the Australian Building and Construction Commission “we launched a campaign in South Australia … we fucking destroyed that fucker”.</p>
<p>Centre Alliance is the old Nick Xenophon Team rebadged.</p>
<p>If the Centre Alliance senators voted for this bill, Setka said, in 20 years time someone would point to them in the street, saying they had “fucked up” not just construction workers but all workers in Australia. It is this part of the Setka tirade on which Patrick is basing the case about his making a threat.</p>
<p>On radio on Wednesday Setka claimed there was nothing to hear in all this. Perfectly normal. “It’s called campaigning. It has actually been around for a few hundred years.</p>
<p>"There has been no threat made. We don’t go around threatening politicians or senators,” he said.</p>
<p>As it happens, Patrick has some first hand knowledge of what had happened to Xenophon. He says he was witness to two CFMEU workers “accosting” Xenophon at a Perth airport lounge around the time of the ABCC legislation being voted on.</p>
<p>Setka told the ABC he had “always treated people with respect” and if the crossbenchers thought differently “maybe they should toughen up a little bit because it is called campaigning and if they’re not used to campaigning, maybe they are in the wrong job”.</p>
<p>Actually, Patrick is quite tough. Certainly he is willing to take on those he thinks are seeking to challenge or stand over him in any way.</p>
<p>A while ago, Patrick made a big fuss when Mike Pezzullo, secretary of the Home Affairs department, rang him. Pezzullo had taken exception to Patrick’s comment about him in the wake of the police raid on a News Corp journalist’s home. The senator said Pezzullo hated media scrutiny. Patrick accused Pezzullo of trying to silence him by the phone call (an accusation Pezzullo strongly rejected).</p>
<p>On the Labor front, Setka’s ALP membership is already suspended and Anthony Albanese is adamant that he will have him expelled from the party. But getting him out of the party hasn’t been so easy. Setka launched court action. He lost, but he’s appealing the decision.</p>
<p>Now that he will be defending himself against the claims in the privileges committee, he’s become a one-man lawyers’ picnic.</p>
<p>He has also turned into the best friend the Morrison government could have in its effort to get through that Ensuring Integrity legislation.</p>
<p>Although the legislation would not apply to Setka’s past action, his current carryings-on give, from the government’s point of view, an ideal backdrop to its argument against parts of the union movement, most notably the CFMMEU.</p>
<p>The government needs crossbench support to get the bill through the Senate. Lambie plans to vote for the legislation if Setka doesn’t step down from his union role. Centre Alliance has concerns about the bill but Patrick said Setka “has done his own cause a disservice because I am now privy to exactly [what] some members of the Victorian construction industry tell me that they have to put up with when dealing with the CFMEU”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fall-out-from-setka-affair-could-give-coalition-easier-passage-of-union-bill-120586">Fall-out from Setka affair could give Coalition easier passage of union bill</a>
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<p>Setka saya he’ll stay “as long as the members want me”. The loyalty of his members to a man who is doing so much damage to the union movement defies reason.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123798/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>Rogue construction union boss John Setka is already in fights with the Labor party and the ACTU leadership. Now he faces a battle with parliament. Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick is moving to refer…Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1208302019-07-23T05:16:11Z2019-07-23T05:16:11ZPolitics with Michelle Grattan: Centre Alliance’s Stirling Griff on Newstart<p>The two Centre Alliance senators, Stirling Griff and Rex Patrick will often be pivotal to the fate of government legislation. The smaller non-Green Senate crossbench this term means that if the government can muster Centre Alliance support, it only needs one other crossbencher to pass bills, as was the case with the government’s tax package. </p>
<p>In this podcast Michelle Grattan talks with Stirling Griff about the party’s position on a range of issues - including the widespread pressure for an increase in Newstart.</p>
<p>Griff says Centre Alliance is willing to use its bargaining muscle to try to get the government to raise the payment. </p>
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<p>We’ll exert as much pressure as we possibly can to, at the very least, have a minor increase from where [Newstart] is now. </p>
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<p>Centre Alliance has struck up a consultative relationship with Tasmanian independent Jacqui Lambie. “Ahead of a sitting week, or a sitting fortnight, we share our thoughts on which way each of us intends to vote and if we can arrive at a common position we will do so.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Senate leader Mathias Cormann remains apparently well-placed to wrangle the cross-bench. “[Cormann] is held in very high regard by pretty much everyone in the chamber. Certainly, we have a very good relationship with him.” </p>
<h2>New to podcasts?</h2>
<p>Podcasts are often best enjoyed using a podcast app. All iPhones come with the Apple Podcasts app already installed, or you may want to listen and subscribe on another app such as Pocket Casts (click <a href="http://pca.st/BVa3#t=3m34s">here</a> to listen to Politics with Michelle Grattan on Pocket Casts).</p>
<p>You can also hear it on Stitcher, Spotify or any of the apps below. Just pick a service from one of those listed below and click on the icon to find Politics with Michelle Grattan.</p>
<p><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/politics-with-michelle-grattan/id703425900?mt=2"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233721/original/file-20180827-75984-1gfuvlr.png" alt="Listen on Apple Podcasts" width="268" height="68"></a> <a href="https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly90aGVjb252ZXJzYXRpb24uY29tL2F1L3BvZGNhc3RzL3BvbGl0aWNzLXdpdGgtbWljaGVsbGUtZ3JhdHRhbi5yc3M"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233720/original/file-20180827-75978-3mdxcf.png" alt="" width="268" height="68"></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-conversation-4/politics-with-michelle-grattan"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233716/original/file-20180827-75981-pdp50i.png" alt="Stitcher" width="300" height="88"></a> <a href="https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/Politics-with-Michelle-Grattan-p227852/"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/233723/original/file-20180827-75984-f0y2gb.png" alt="Listen on TuneIn" width="318" height="125"></a></p>
<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>AAP/ Sam Mooy</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120830/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>Centre Alliance Senator Stirling Griff tells Michelle Grattan that his party will pressure the government to raise Newstart.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1199242019-07-05T01:47:05Z2019-07-05T01:47:05ZVIDEO: Michelle Grattan on the 46th parliament’s first week, and Jacqui Lambie<figure>
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<p>Michelle Grattan talks with University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Deep Saini about the new parliament’s first week back on the hill, including how Jacqui Lambie and Centre Alliance’s vote made it possible for the government’s tax cuts to be passed, and the Reserve Bank’s decision to further cut interest rates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119924/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>After a hectic first week for the new parliament, Michelle Grattan speaks with Deep Saini about Jacqui Lambie’s role in helping pass the government’s tax cuts, and a further cut to interest rates - now 1%.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1199022019-07-04T12:09:21Z2019-07-04T12:09:21ZGrattan on Friday: A kinder, gentler Senate - at least for now<p>This first week of the new parliament has been bitter sweet for Senate leader Mathias Cormann.</p>
<p>With journalist Niki Savva’s book Plots and Prayers out on Monday, Cormann that morning <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/new-book-plots-and-prayers-dissects-malcolm-turnbulls-demise/11266386">faced yet another barrage of questioning over his role</a> in last year’s coup against Malcolm Turnbull.</p>
<p>His spectacular desertion of the then prime minister has much tarnished Cormann, and it is certainly not pleasant to be asked in a radio interview about being seen as a “political Judas”.</p>
<p>But while Cormann’s personal reputation has taken a big knock from the events of August, his reputation as a Senate wrangler has been retrieved with the Thursday passage of the government’s $158 billion three stage tax plan. Cormann had failed last year to get the then crossbench to pass the tax cuts for big business, which he persuaded Turnbull to hang onto for far too long, costing the government votes in the Longman byelection of Super-Saturday.</p>
<p>Despite Cormann’s insistence there would be “no deals” to secure the income tax package, agreements there were, although there’s some lack of clarity around the edges. Centre Alliance extracted undertakings on gas policy. Jackie Lambie, the last crucial vote, <a href="https://theconversation.com/morrisons-158-billion-tax-plan-set-to-sail-through-senate-after-deals-with-crossbenchers-119873">has been promised help for Tasmania on the housing front</a>. There may be debate about what constitutes a “deal” but the government would fail to live up to its word at its peril.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/morrisons-158-billion-tax-plan-set-to-sail-through-senate-after-deals-with-crossbenchers-119873">Morrison's $158 billion tax plan set to sail through Senate after deals with crossbenchers</a>
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<p>There will also probably be plenty of such deals ahead, even if Cormann declines to acknowledge them as such.</p>
<p>This initial parliamentary week has vindicated the observation that the Senate non-Green crossbench, smaller than the last, is set to be easier for the government to cope with.</p>
<p>Notably, the two Centre Alliance (formerly called the Nick Xenophon Team) senators have a consultative arrangement with Lambie (back in parliament after her time out because of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-14/jacqui-lambie-resigns-over-citizenship/9145716">her citizenship problem</a>). This is not an alliance, and they and she are very different politically. (Centre Alliance has shades of the old Australian Democrats, with which the Howard government struck important agreements over legislation, especially on tax and industrial relations.)</p>
<p>But the Centre Alliance-Lambie arrangement to talk on issues should work to the government’s advantage, not least because it will mean the very volatile Lambie won’t be so isolated, and thus angry and alienated, as often <a href="https://twitter.com/abchobart/status/1129735963561930756?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1129735963561930756%7Ctwgr%5E393039363b636f6e74726f6c&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthenewdaily.com.au%2Fnews%2Felection-2019%2F2019%2F05%2F23%2Fjacqui-lambie-election-2019%2F">in the past</a>. The Centre Alliance senators, Stirling Griff and Rex Patrick, showed her respect by going to Devonport after the election – and Lambie craves respect.</p>
<p>Whenever the government can work with Centre Alliance and Lambie, it won’t require One Nation’s two votes, something that <a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-those-tax-cuts-test-albanese-and-provoke-hanson-119185">will infuriate Pauline Hanson</a>, who needs relevance.</p>
<p>The government was desperate to get the tax cuts through this week, despite time being tight due to the ceremonial commitments with the opening of parliament and the tributes to the late Bob Hawke. It wanted the first stage to be available for payment as quickly as possible after the due date of July 1. The money will be flowing in a week or so.</p>
<p>Labor was always going to be placed in a difficult position over the tax package. It felt it could not drop its argument of the election campaign that the third stage, paid from 2024-25 and costing $95 billion, was irresponsible given economic circumstances can’t be known so far ahead.</p>
<p>But to be voting against tax relief on which the re-elected government could be considered to have a clear mandate (if campaign promises mean anything) would leave Labor open to continued attacks.</p>
<p>The opposition’s contortions have been understandable but awkward, making the early days of new leader Anthony Albanese messy.</p>
<p>Inevitably, <a href="https://anthonyalbanese.com.au/media-release-income-tax-cuts-thursday-4-july-2019">Labor’s final position</a>, announced shortly before the Senate vote, was that if it couldn’t get its way with amendments it would not oppose the package.</p>
<p>But it also said it would “review” the third stage closer to the election, due in 2022. This sounds unrealistic – would a Labor government be able to roll back legislated cuts anyway? And it is politically counter-productive, keeping the argument alive.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stages-1-and-2-should-pass-stage-3-would-return-tax-to-the-1950s-119637">Stages 1 and 2 should pass. Stage 3 would return tax to the 1950s</a>
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<p>There are some hints of changed dynamics in this parliament compared with the last. While Scott Morrison pours out the harsh rhetoric at his opponent (“this is a Labor Party which has more in common with Jeremy Corbyn than Paul Keating” he told parliament), the Prime Minister invited Albanese to his office on Wednesday to canvass areas of potential bipartisanship, especially Indigenous reconciliation and recognition.</p>
<p>Talk of bipartisanship is an easy gesture at the start of a term and mightn’t last. There have been such suggestions in previous parliaments. But equally it might be another pointer to Morrison’s pragmatic style. He may want to carve out some battle-free areas.</p>
<p>The new parliament’s first question time, which was on Thursday. also gave a hint of the Albanese approach. The opposition questions were framed tightly, without waffly preambles, designed to stop answers being just a rant. It’s a tactic that forces ministers, and the Prime Minister, into greater relevance.</p>
<p>It is to be hoped the opposition and the Speaker Tony Smith can hold the government to the point in answers this term. It has got away with far too much.</p>
<p>The cloud over the government’s political success this week was the delivery of yet another worrying message about the economy, with the <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/media-releases/2019/mr-19-18.html">Reserve Bank cutting interest rates for the second consecutive month</a> and a fresh exhortation from Bank Governor Philip Lowe for further government action, beyond the tax cuts.</p>
<p>The bank wants unemployment and underemployment down and the spare capacity in the economy taken up. Australia is exposed to the risks in the international economy. Historically-low interest rates could be pushed down further. Lowe pointed to the need for more infrastructure spending and structural reforms that “support firms expanding, investing, innovating and employing people”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/back-to-back-reserve-bank-cuts-take-interest-rates-to-new-low-of-1-119744">Back-to-back Reserve Bank cuts take interest rates to new low of 1%</a>
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<p>The only certainty about the Australian economy in the months and years ahead is uncertainty.</p>
<p>Presumably the government sooner or later will have to respond to Lowe’s high-end hectoring, which will require some challenging decisions that can’t be delivered by deals, however characterised.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119902/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 first week of the new parliament ends on a high for the government, with its $158 billion tax cut package passed, and the first stage of tax relief ready to flow in a week or so.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1198732019-07-04T02:46:02Z2019-07-04T02:46:02ZMorrison’s $158 billion tax plan set to sail through Senate after deals with crossbenchers<p>The Morrison government will finish the first week of the new parliament with its election centrepiece - <a href="https://www.budget.gov.au/2019-20/content/tax.htm#appendix">the $158 billion, three-stage tax package</a> – passed into law.</p>
<p>The first stage of the tax relief – in the form of an offset for low- and middle-income earners when people submit their returns - will be available as soon as the Tax Office makes the necessary arrangements over the next few days. Getting the legislation through this week means there is only minimal slippage from the July 1 start date that was promised in the budget.</p>
<p>The numbers fell into place with Tasmanian crossbench senator <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-04/jacqui-lambie-backs-full-income-tax-cuts/11277064">Jacqui Lambie declaring she would vote for the package</a>. She had negotiated with the government on her demand that it forgive the $157 million social housing debt her state owes the Commonwealth. This would save Tasmania $15 million a year, which Lambie wants used to deal with issues of homelessness and social housing.</p>
<p>Lambie said: “The good will is there and they know that we’ve got housing problems down there.”</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-jacqui-lambie-plays-the-harradine-game-119824">View from The Hill: Jacqui Lambie plays the Harradine game</a>
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<p>While Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, who had said there would be <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/no-negotiation-on-tax-crossbench-told">no horse-trading over the package</a>, was publicly coy about the deal, Lambie is confident it will be delivered.</p>
<p>She said some details still had to be sorted out. </p>
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<p>What I don’t want to be doing is rushing out saying here’s the money and that’s it. We want to make sure that that money is targeted […] we’re still dealing on good faith. And I look very forward to that over the next four to six weeks.</p>
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<p>Cormann told Sky News: “Senator Lambie has been a very forceful advocate.</p>
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<p>She has raised issues with us. We are very happy to work through these issues with her. When we are in a position to make further announcements down the track we will.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/stages-1-and-2-should-pass-stage-3-would-return-tax-to-the-1950s-119637">Stages 1 and 2 should pass. Stage 3 would return tax to the 1950s</a>
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<p>The other crossbench votes needed for the package come from independent Cory Bernardi and the two Centre Alliance senators.</p>
<p>Centre Alliance extracted a deal over action on gas prices.</p>
<p>It said in a Thursday statement that it had "worked with the government on both short- and long-term reforms to deal with gas market concerns.”</p>
<p>The government would announce the full package in coming weeks, it said.</p>
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<p>changes to the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM) to deal with current pricing, market transparency measures, measures to deal with the monopoly nature of East Coast gas pipelines and longer term measures to ensure future gas projects deliver surplus supply to the Australian market.</p>
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<p>The gas agreement, canvassed publicly in recent days, has caused some blow-back from the industry.</p>
<p>Faced with the inevitability of the tax package passing, Labor said it would continue to pursue its attempt to split the package and then consider its options.</p>
<p>It is likely not to oppose in the final vote. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/lambies-vote-key-if-government-wants-to-have-medevac-repealed-118905">Lambie's vote key if government wants to have medevac repealed</a>
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<p>Eyes are now on Lambie’s position on the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dutton-ready-to-repeal-asylum-seeker-medevac-laws">government’s bid to repeal the medevac act</a>. Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton on Thursday introduced legislation for the repeal. Lambie said she was still making up her mind on how she will vote when the legislation arrives in the Senate. She is set to be the crucial vote.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119873/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 government’s election centrepiece – its $158 billion, three-stage tax package – is set to pass into law, as the key vote of crossbencher Senator Jacqui Lambie is confirmed.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1198242019-07-03T11:48:38Z2019-07-03T11:48:38ZView from The Hill: Jacqui Lambie plays the Harradine game<p>In an intervention that would resonate with the late Brian Harradine, who was legendary for extracting concessions for Tasmania in return for his Senate vote, Jacqui Lambie has demanded the federal government forgive the state’s housing debt.</p>
<p>The Tasmanian senator – who has returned to the parliament after being disqualified in the citizenship crisis – is the last vital vote if the government is to rely on the crossbench, rather than Labor, to pass its tax package intact on Thursday.</p>
<p>Lambie refused to be drawn publicly until this week, although she’s had plenty of attention. For example the two Centre Alliance senators, Stirling Griff and Rex Patrick, journeyed to Devonport to see her. She and they agreed to keep in touch as issues came up.</p>
<p>In the last couple of days, sources have been sure Lambie was in the government’s tax cart.</p>
<p>But on the eve of the vote, she issued a strong statement and video, saying she had “yet to arrive at a final position”. (She supports the first and second stage of the package but is arguing over the final one, delivered years on.)</p>
<p>She condemned homelessness in Tasmania, linking it to the $157 million the state owes the federal government in social housing debt (involving payments of some $15 million a year).</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/councils-help-with-affordable-housing-shows-how-local-government-can-make-a-difference-94739">Councils' help with affordable housing shows how local government can make a difference</a>
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<p>These debts are from funds borrowed by the states and territories from the federal government between 1945 and 1989 to build new housing, maintain existing stock and provide housing assistance. </p>
<p>“Tasmania is paying 50c in every dollar of our state housing budget back to the federal government in interest and debt repayments. That means we are building half as many homes, helping half as many people,” Lambie said.</p>
<p>“This debt is holding Tasmania back and denying shelter to thousands of Tasmanian families. The Commonwealth coffers don’t need $15 million a year from the Tasmanian budget,” she said. </p>
<p>“It’s only by having the balance of power for Tasmania in the Senate that real debt relief is going to happen and that’s what I am here to fight for. </p>
<p>"There is no way in good conscience I can vote for substantial tax cuts without making sure that the people who so desperately need a roof over their heads aren’t left to go without.”</p>
<p>The Tasmanian Liberal government has been pressing the federal government to forgive the debt, although Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz has opposed that, saying it would lead to demands from other states.</p>
<p>The Morrison government has claimed it won’t do any deals in its push to get the tax package through. In fact, this has not been true – Centre Alliance is confident, following detailed negotiations, there will be measures on gas policy to help smooth the way for its votes.</p>
<p>But Lambie’s demand is a very direct quid pro quo.</p>
<p>Senate leader Mathias Cormann, the government’s negotiator on the tax package, declared on Wednesday: “We are always happy to engage with senators in relation to issues of concern to them and their constituents”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-those-tax-cuts-test-albanese-and-provoke-hanson-119185">Grattan on Friday: Those tax cuts test Albanese and provoke Hanson</a>
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<p>There is a general expectation the tax package with its three stages intact will be passed this week. It’s just a matter of who is blinking.</p>
<p>Does the government throw some money at Lambie, not just to secure her support on this measure but to keep her on side for the future?</p>
<p>Would Lambie retreat from her stand if she was not accommodated and still vote with the government on the package - or would she have a long-lasting hissy fit?</p>
<p>According to some sources, a fix was likely already in with Lambie on Wednesday.</p>
<p>Anyway, Labor is there as a fallback. Despite its objections to stage three, it can’t afford to be endlessly blamed for blocking tax relief.</p>
<p>Regardless, it was clear that every which way Pauline Hanson’s One Nation had been left out in the cold.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/119824/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>“Yet to arrive at a final position,” Senator Jacqui Lambie presses the federal government to forgive Tasmania’s housing debt in exchange for support of the government’s tax cuts.Michelle Grattan, Professorial Fellow, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.