THE (ir)REGULAR RANT
The minimum read for the maximum knowledge.
I wanted to send out an EMERGENCY midweek mull/fortnightly filibuster/random rant, as a few of you have written to me asking me what on earth is going on with our government.
1. HASHTAG LIBSPILL
Well! In short!
The Liberal Party has been divided for its entire term, split between right-wing conservatives (Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton, Kevin Andrews, George Christensen etc), and more progressive moderates (Malcolm Turnbull, Christopher Pyne, Julie Bishop (Yay! A woman!))
Given that they only hold majority by one seat and have been forced to replace members due to the Section 44 citizenship scandal, along with losing extreme-conservative Cory Bernadi (famous for his claim that same-sex marriage leads to beastiality, and that “non-traditional” families lead to higher violence in boys and promiscuity in girls) to his own party, Turnbull has to appease all members in the Liberal Party in order to push through legislation.
Felled former-PM Tony Abbott has been sitting on this backbench since Turnbull outed him in 2015 and regularly causes distraction. It is an understatement to say that he will stop at nothing to see Turnbull out of his job.
So — why has this all flared up this week?
There were several by-elections recently thanks to ineligible Labor MPs and Senators, and the Liberal Party were expecting to closely contest all of them. They won none.
The polls have shown Labor ahead of Liberal in a two-party vote since September 2016, albeit Turnbull has been the preferred PM throughout that time.
Turnbull tried to put together an environmental policy — the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) — to address climate change. You know, topical given that 100% of NSW is in drought and there are currently 60 bushfires raging in the state… in winter. It was not a particularly ambitious policy to start with, especially given that, in his former life Turnbull’s belief in climate change/strong energy policy saw him lose the leadership, but it was severely watered down by the right of the party who don’t believe in climate change (how are we still having this debate?!)
Some on the right were still saying it was too much (George Christensen) and they wouldn’t vote to pass it. Some of the moderates were saying that it wasn’t enough. Therefore, it wasn’t taken to a vote, on the assumption that it wouldn’t pass (it is more embarrassing to lose a vote rather than not have it in the first place).
This was the catalyst for Dutton and co (supported most vocally and ardently by Abbott) to say that they had no faith in Turnbull as leader anymore, and it was time for him to step aside.
An anonymous vote was held on Tuesday and Turnbull won, 48–35 against Dutton.
Dutton resigned from his position as Minister for Home Affairs, along with another seven Senators and MPs that attempted to resign (Turnbull didn’t accept them all)
Dutton said he would respect the result, but of course didn’t, and has been agitating for another vote, confident that he has stronger numbers now. He tried to push for one today, but Turnbull declined calling a meeting.
National’s MP (who partner with the Liberal Party to form the Coalition) Kevin Hogan has stated that if there is another leadership vote, regardless of the outcome he will move to the crossbench. He has said that he’ll still vote with the Nationals, so it doesn’t pose an issue in terms of passing legislation, but it is bloody embarrassing for the Liberal Party.
Today was the last sitting day of Parliament before September, so as of next week, all MPs head home to their local constituencies. Hence the time pressure on Dutton’s move.
Okay — so what happened today?
Another three Senators came forward this morning stating their lack of confidence in Turnbull: Mitch Fifield, Michaelia Cash and Matthias Cormann
Treasurer and temporary Minister for Home Affairs, Scott Morrison, has now said that if/when there is another vote he will step forward and contest leadership against Dutton.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, also Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party since 2007, will contest the leadership as well.
At 1pm, Turnbull spoke to the press. He was casting loads of shade on former PM Abbott and former Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton and has definitely played the game. The conclusion is:
If he receives a letter with 43 (majority) signatures on it asking for a leadership spill, he will hold a party meeting tomorrow (Friday 24th) at midday.
He has requested that names be put on this letter — that it not beanonymous (that has not been done since the 50s, I believe…?)
If there is a call for a new leader, he will not contest
That effectively means that he resigns
He also said that former PMs serving on the backbench help nobody (hello Abbott!), which means that as soon as a new PM is in, they will have to organise a by-election in Turnbull’s seat of Wentworth. If they were to lose that seat, they would lose their majority.
To add confusion to all of this — there is the slim possibility that Dutton is not eligible to sit in Parliament due to a conflict of interest with his family trust. That trust owns two childcare centres in Queensland, bothwhich receive federal funding.
Turnbull has asked that this be investigated by the Solicitor General, who is to inform the party room tomorrow morning of his findings.
Because of the malarkey, the Liberals did not turn up to Parliament today: no one knows who is still there and who is not and which cabinet position they hold.
Lots in the media and in Opposition are calling for a general election. That may yet happen, but I would be surprised.
Right — so what now?
If Dutton can get 43 names on a letter, there will be a party-room vote for a new PM at midday tomorrow
If Dutton is found to be eligible to sit in Parliament, he will contest the leadership, along with Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop.
It is worth remembering that while the Liberal Party has been exploding, no one has been governing the country. So, I took the liberty of writing a quick list:
10 Things That Are More Important Right Now Than Liberal Party Egos
A 12-year-old girl held in detention on Nauru (despite the fact that our government says there are no children in offshore detention. There are actually116 on Nauru, including many that were born there and have never known anything different) tried to set herself alight. Another boy has not eaten for 20 days.
Many of these 116 children have been diagnosed with Resignation Syndrome, where they have literally lost the will to live and their bodies have started shutting down.
41 women have been killed by men — mostly their current or former partners — so far this year. That is one every five and a half days.
100% of NSW is in drought and there are over 60 bushfires burning. It is winter.
The Great Barrier Reef is dying at unprecedented levels with over 50% bleached since the start of 2016.
100% of all children in prison in the NT are indigenous.
Double the number of Indigenous children have been taken from their families since the Stolen Generation apology (this number is set to triple by 2036 unless a government decides to care about our First Australians).
Homelessness has increased 15% in the last five years so that over 100k Australians are now without a home.
The largest five Australian cities have all been ranked as “severely unaffordable” in terms of housing by an International Think Tank.
Hate crime against minorities has increased, largely thanks to racist rhetoric for Dutton and others in the Liberal Party. (Today, Alan Jones said the N-word on the radio and faces no ramifications).
Note that these are just domestic issues and says nothing on the infinite list of international matters that are more important.
I am legit terrified of the sort of person that Dutton is, but let’s be clear: he is the worst of a bad bunch. For mine: all support offshore processing (as does Shorten and the Labor Party), but Julie Bishop aside, we have the choice of a man who was Immigration Minister when Reza Barati died, or when Faysal Ishak Ahmed died. 12 asylum seekers have died on Manus Island and Nauru under this government. There may yet be more. That this #libspill happened on a day that I supported a refugee friend at the Department of Home Affairs in Melbourne as he spent eight hours being interviewed for a new bridging visa, lest he be sent home and killed/tortured, is not lost on me.
But! As I said, Dutton is the worst of a bad bunch.
For a bit of background, I saw this by March Australia and think it’s a great summary:
If you’re wondering why he is widely disdained, here is a quick break down of the political timeline of an incompetent, racist, sexist idiot who seems to barely be able to comprehend the use of technology:
2008 — Having recently been promoted to the Shadow Cabinet, Dutton, decided to remove himself from chamber during the apology to Stolen Generations.
2015 — Peter Dutton is voted to be the Worst Health Minister in 35 years by the readers of Australian Doctor magazine.
2015 — Dutton puts in place a spying operation during Senator Sarah Hanson-Young’s trip to Nauru Island. When called out for spying on the Senator, Dutton, labelled Hanson-Young an attention seeker. The spying operation was confirmed, as was the systematic rape and abuse of children that was uncovered due to Sarah Hanson-Young’s work on the island.
2015 — Whilst standing under multiple boom mics, in front of multiple tv cameras at a summit addressing the plight of rising sea levels for Pacific Island nations, Dutton, attempted to make a sly joke to then prime minister Tony Abbott. The joke took aim at the professionalism of Pacific Islanders through a racist trope and was then followed up with a remark emphasising Dutton’s lack of care for climate change in the region. Dutton refused to apologise for the joke.
2016 — The now Minister for Immigration labels refugees as illiterate and attempted to spark the fear mongering language of “they’ll take Australian jobs”. Der tookh er jerbs.
2016 — Dutton survives his own election battle on the razor edge margin of 1.6% (3000 votes).
2016 — Peter Dutton labels News Corp’s Sunday political editor Samantha Maiden a “mad fucking witch” in a text message intended for Member of the House of Representatives Jamie Briggs. Rather than sending it to Briggs, Dutton sent the message directly to Maiden.
2016 — Dutton labels Lebanese immigration as a mistake. These comments were made in regards to terrorism, suggesting Dutton believes the Australian Lebanese community to be terrorists.
2017 — Dutton became a leading voice in the campaign against same-sex marriage by publicly condemning a letter from Australia’s leading CEOs to parliament asking for a free vote on same-sex marriage. Saying their companies should be “publicly shamed”. These comments later led to an attack on Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.
2017 — Dutton tells an outright lie as to why the PNG defence force fired shots into the Manus Island Detention Centre. Claiming shots were fired due to refugees sexually assaulting local children. The local police commander condemned and proved false these claims.
2017 — Throughout the closure of Manus Island, Dutton denied any wrong doing, refused international aid and covered up a humanitarian crisis.
2018 — Peter Dutton begins his dog whistling scare campaign against African immigration. Sparking the ongoing, deeply racist and lie fuelled “African Gang” debate. Dutton will go on to blame the death of a teenage girl on African Gangs.
2018 — Peter Dutton puts forward the idea that we need to help White South African farmers and treat them as refugees, stating they needed help from a “civilised society”. This motion was rejected and disdained by South African authorities.
2018 — Dutton changes long standing immigration policy with New Zealand to subtly favour white and wealthy immigration. Deporting over 1300 kiwis in the process.
This man is dangerous, deeply racist and quite possibly soon to be our incompetent Prime Minister.
My thoughts? They’re all mugs. Let’s go to an election, vote them out and put pressure on the Labor Party to be better.
I’ll try to write more tomorrow as it happens.
Enjoy your Fridays.
(Also - I have started trying to write more on medium.com - would love for you to follow me here)
As of August 23rd 2018, 41 women in Australia have been killed due to domestic violence.
That is one death every 5.7 days.