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Trump has ‘greatest chance’ of anyone to push Gaza ceasefire: Penny Wong
Sarah Basford Canales
US president Donald Trump has the “greatest chance of any political leader” to broker a ceasefire deal in Gaza, Penny Wong has said.
In an interview with Sky News on Tuesday afternoon, the foreign affairs minister acknowledged the key role the US, a strong supporter of Israel, plays in reaching peace between Israel and Gaza as the catastrophic humanitarian crisis continues.
Overnight, Australia joined with 27 other countries in a statement condemning Israel for denying humanitarian aid to Palestinians. More than 800 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in recent months while seeking aid from distribution centres.
Wong said Australia’s decision to become a signatory to the statement, alongside countries including the UK, Canada, and France, reflected the “concern” and “distress” Australians felt from seeing the images of starving Palestinians in Gaza.
But when asked by Sky News presenter Andrew Clennell who’s responsible for disallowing aid into Gaza, Wong deflects:
I know that people want a political argument. The purpose of what we advocate for internationally – and we’re not the central player, as I always remind people, but we add our voice to the calls from the international community for things to happen. And this is what this statement is, we want aid to enter unimpeded.
Why do we want to do that? Because there are innocent civilians, there are women and children who are not getting enough food to eat. We need to fix that.
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Tim Ayres calls Faruqi’s protest ‘disrespectful to the parliament’
Tim Ayres, the minister for industry and science, was asked on Afternoon Briefing about his thoughts on Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi’s protest during governor general Sam Mostyn’s speech today. Ayres had this to say:
I think it’s disrespectful to the parliament.
Parliamentary institutions, the ceremonies and the way that today has unfolded actually is important for the dignity of the institution.
Host Patricia Karvelas asked Ayres if he believed Faruqi had degraded the institution of parliament. Ayres replied:
I think she has diminished herself …
The institution is pretty robust but we’ve all got a responsibility to think about the way we participate in the institution and in public debate and in civic debate to lift the country up to get more people engaged. I don’t think that’s served that purpose very well and I don’t think it assisted the cause of Palestinians in Gaza one little bit.
Krishani Dhanji
And with that I will leave you in the wonderful hands of Nick Visser to take you through the rest of the afternoon.
Parliament will begin sitting at 5pm, where the some of the new MPs will give their first speeches.
Thanks for joining me today, I’ll be back with you bright and early tomorrow!
Governor general declares parliament open
Mostyn ends her address, calling Australia’s democracy a “golden thread” that unites the country, and declares the 48th parliament open.
As she and the prime minister leave, senator Mehreen Faruqi says to Albanese:
Prime minister, Gaza is starving, will you sanction Israel?
Near the end of apex of the Senate chamber, Bob Katter, the colourful 80-year-old Kennedy MP, and father of the house, is falling asleep while Sam Mostyn speaks.
He’s sitting next to fellow independent MP, Helen Haines.
Pictures from the chamber:
Monique Ryan to introduce amendment to reverse Coalition-era job-ready graduates scheme
Tom McIlroy
The independent MP for Kooyong, Monique Ryan, will introduce an amendment to Labor’s bill on student debt relief, calling for an end to the Coalition-era hikes to the cost of humanities degrees.
Labor’s 20% Hecs cut plan is expected to sail through parliament with support of the Coalition and the Greens, but in the lower house, Ryan will push for a reversal of the job-ready graduates scheme.
The scheme, designed to prompt more take-up of degrees in fields including computing and engineering, increased the costs of humanities degrees.
Ryan said students undertaking mandatory unpaid work placements needed additional financial assistance, including for travel, accommodation, or living expenses.
Labor has long criticised the unfair, inequitable Morrison-era job-ready graduates scheme.
Its reversal is long overdue. This is the time to make that change.
The bill is expected to be the first government legislation of the new parliament and will be introduced on Wednesday.
Mehreen Faruqi holds up ‘Sanction Israel’ sign in Senate as governor general outlines Labor’s priorities
Sam Mostyn is listing a number of the priorities and promises the government has made since being re-elected.
The government writes the speech for the governor general.
In this, the 48th commonwealth parliament, the government will act to respond to challenges and to secure the opportunities before us. This started delivering lasting cost-of-living relief, helping Australians keep more of what they and, strengthening many can that Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, making education and training more affordable and assisting more people realise their dream of owning a home.
Meanwhile, the Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi is holding a sign that says: “Gaza is starving, words won’t feed them. Sanction Israel”.
I’m sitting in the Senate chamber, as all the MPs return to the lower house to hear again from the governor-general.
This is the last of the main formalities for the day; after Sam Mostyn speaks, there will be the 19-gun salute, and the chambers will begin sitting at 5pm.
‘Care for each other’, governor-general reminds MPs in Canberra
The procedure continues!
The governor general, Sam Mostyn, is now at Parliament House, addressing members and senators.
As part of procedure, Milton Dick has just “presented” himself to the GG as the new speaker.
Mostyn talks to the MPs about the importance of care in parliament and in politics.
Care for each other, care for those that do the caring for others, care for our continent and our extraordinary environment…
And if we make the mistake of thinking that care is soft, I always talk to people and remind them and remind myself that in its most powerful form, care is tough. It’s accountable and measurable. Often hard to do consistently and persistently, but always essential to our nation’s future and our cohesion as a modern society.
She says the way she cares for herself is by carrying the constitution with her (that gets a few laughs from the crowd). Mostyn says it’s a copy that was signed by Sir William Deane, who said she should always “act with compassion”.
Two pieces of legislation at the top of Labor’s agenda this week – Hecs debt cuts and a childcare safety bill – are likely to pass without too much drama.
The Coalition has said they will support both, the Greens have also said they’ll support the childcare bill, but want to end indexation on Hecs debts.
You can read more from my colleague, Tom McIlroy, here:
Faruqi labels Albanese and Wong 'cowards' at pro-Palestine rally
Sarah Basford Canales
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has criticised federal politicians for “moral cowardice”, including labelling the prime minister and foreign affairs minister “heartless and gutless cowards” in an impassioned speech at a pro-Palestine rally outside Parliament House.
The outspoken NSW senator took to the small stage on the parliamentary lawns where she chastised the Israeli government, the Albanese government and the special envoy for antisemitism, Jillian Segal.
Faruqi told the audience of a few hundred that Labor politicians used “weasel words” instead of labelling the Israel’s actions in Gaza as an “inhumane, brutal genocide”, “apartheid” and an “occupation”:
To be honest, I have never seen such moral cowardice in my whole life that I see in there, in that Parliament, because nothing has moved. And you’re right, [Anthony] Albanese and [Penny] Wong are gutless. Nothing has moved these heartless and gutless cowards and politicians in that building, week after week, headline after headline, homes flattened, refugee camps bombed, aid convoys attacked. Entire families have been wiped out.
Faruqi used the speech to criticise Segal’s report delivered to the federal government last week. The report had recommended funding for universities and artists be withheld if they fail to act against antisemitism as well as deporting visa holders found to hold antisemitic views. Faruqi said:
This plan… should be outright rejected by the Albanese government and everyone else in there.
Protests calling for sanctions on Israel continue outside parliament
While the formal proceedings have been taking place inside parliament, hundreds of protesters have gathered outside parliament, calling for sanctions on Israel.
Overnight, the government co-signed a statement calling for an immediate ceasefire and warning “the suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths”.
The Coalition has said it’s “disappointed” the government signed the statement.
Taxing war of words rolls on after accidental Treasury advice leak
Labor have batted away a few questions this morning on whether they will increase taxes this term.
The questions stem from a Treasury department freedom of information response provided to the ABC, which accidentally contained a small amount of information that was supposed to be redacted.
Subheadings suggesting the government would need to raise taxes and curb spending to make the budget more sustainable were visible. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, took a swipe at the government on the issue earlier today:
Clearly there is work going on to increase the taxes on hardworking Australians, and we know this because of leaked Treasury advice that demonstrates that there will be a plan coming forward to tax Australians more.
A short time ago, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, returned serve to the opposition leader with this statement:
Sussan Ley wants Australians to forget the Liberal party just went to an election promising to legislate higher taxes for every Australian taxpayer. Sussan Ley was the one who said they’d ‘absolutely’ roll back our tax cuts.
Every single Australian taxpayer would be paying more tax if Sussan Ley had her way.
A break until the governor general arrives
We have a pause in proceedings now, until 2pm when the governor general arrives at parliament to address all MPs and senators.
Why is the GG only arriving this afternoon, you ask? Here’s a little trivia for you …
Before the Senate president and House speaker are elected, there is no “appropriate presiding officer” in office to swear in the new and re-elected members. So, the governor general appoints a deputy, usually a justice or chief justice of the high court.
When the GG arrives, the elected president and speaker will meet with her, and then she will address both houses (again from the Senate chamber).
After that, as we mentioned earlier, there will be a 19-gun salute.
Sarah Basford Canales
Greens welcome Australia joining letter condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza but push for aid to be sent directly
The Greens have welcomed the Albanese government’s decision to join with more than two dozen countries in condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza but have warned “a strongly worded letter isn’t going to deliver food to the people who are starving”.
At a press conference in Parliament House, the Greens leader, Larissa Waters, said Australia should send aid directly to the area with the assistance of other countries signed on to the letter. Waters said:
We need to do everything we can to address what is this war of starvation and Australia could be sending aid to that area, and they should.
The deputy leader, Mehreen Faruqi, said “Gaza is starving. Letters are not going to feed them. Letters are not going to stop genocide”.
The party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, David Shoebridge, said Anthony Albanese should use his first one-on-one meeting with US president Donald Trump to stand up for Australian values against a genocide.
I believe that Australians want a prime minister with a ticker to stand up to a bully and to call out a genocide, and we expect that in the exchange. Will that be tough and rugged? It may well be, but I’ll tell you one thing about bullies - unless you stand up to it, unless you call out their behaviour, their behaviour escalates.
Read more here:
Patrick Commins
Last rate hold decision was made six to three, minutes show
Following from our last post…
For the first time, the decision also came with a voting record, which showed six members in favour of no change, and three in favour of a cut.
Those voting for a cut were more worried than their fellow board members about the risks to the economy from threats overseas and the slow rate of growth at home. The minutes said:
That in turn posed a risk that underlying inflation would moderate somewhat more rapidly than envisaged in the May projections.
The minutes are unlikely to add much to the sum of our knowledge about what the RBA is thinking. It’s worth noting, however, that new figures last week showed some cracks in the resilient jobs market, after unemployment climbed to 4.3% from 4.1%.
Investors are pricing in a rate cut following the next meeting on 12 August, and all eyes have turned to next Wednesday’s crucial quarterly inflation report.
Reserve bank minutes confirm rate cuts a matter of when, not if
Patrick Commins
Exiting parliament house for a moment, the Reserve Bank board minutes released this morning confirm that more interest rate cuts are a question of when rather than if, with the “focus” of this month’s meeting on “the appropriate timing and extent of further easing”.
The RBA shocked the market and most economists when they failed to deliver a widely predicted cut, instead choosing to hold the cash rate at 3.85% on 8 July. The minutes stated:
All members agreed that, based on the information currently available, the outlook was for underlying inflation to decline further in year-ended terms, warranting some additional reduction in interest rates over time.
The board said stronger-than-anticipated data across inflation, spending and the jobs market ahead of the most recent meeting “pointed to the benefit of waiting for a little more information to confirm that inflation remains on track to be at 2.5% on a sustainable basis”.
