Politicians warned against taking advantage of Qantas compensation payments – as it happened

Sussan Ley time. Huzzah.

My question is to the prime minister. Under this economically illiterate prime minister, families and small businesses are hurting …

Tony Burke is immediately on his feet.

You made a ruling in response to the manager of opposition business a few weeks ago. That ruling was made at the request of the opposition. You also indicated that if we had questions like this, we would start looking at are simply going to the next question.

Milton Dick asks Ley to reword the question.

Ley:

Families and small businesses are hurting with core inflation having now increased for four consecutive months to 4.4%. As the Reserve Bank Governor said last week, groceries, petrol, health, education, rent, insurance, expenses are all going up. Isn’t this another example of this prime minister’s weak leadership letting Australians down?

Albanese:

That question and the reframing of it says more about the deputy leader of the opposition … and her character than anything else.

Just like we saw on the weekend, the leader of the opposition go from a so-called policy announcement that we know now was actually a mistake that led to them change their position into a full-scale personal attack.

Albanese has a degree in economics, which is another reason why the question was particularly pointed.

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Jim Chalmers continues:

This answer also gives me the opportunity to point out to the shadow treasurer that he has now said twice today something which is factually wrong about international comparisons of inflation, and I thought I would take this opportunity to correct the shadow treasurer for making this mistake twice in the last half an hour or so.

He said a moment ago in the question to the prime minister that core inflation in Canada was going down. Core inflation in Canada is going up.

If the shadow treasurer is unhappy with inflation and at 4% as our way, he must have been absolutely filthy at the 6.1% that he presided over. He must have been absolutely furious at the performance of his own government when they bequeathed us inflation at 6.1%.

Angus Taylor tries again:

After two years of Labor’s homegrown inflation, food is up by 21%, rent up 14%, electricity is up by over 21% and gas is up to over 22%. Isn’t this another example of this prime minister’s week leadership letting Australians down?

Jim Chalmers takes it and it goes as you expect:

As the prime minister indicated in his answer a moment ago, we have to be very careful about the facts that the shadow treasurer points in his questions. And this gives me, and the reason I am so grateful to the prime minister for letting me answer this question is because it gives me an opportunity to correct some of the facts that the shadow treasurer has been pedalling in the last half an hour or so. The first one, if he wants to talk about homegrown inflation, homegrown inflation is non- tradable is, non- tradable inflation is lower under us that it was under them.

The same is true of headline inflation. Inflation when we came to office, as the prime minister rightly said, was 6.1% and now it is 4% in the monthly indicator, and that is too high.

But it is much lower than the inflation that we inherited from those opposite.

Tanya Plibersek continues:

We can’t get to net zero overnight but we are making extremely strong progress and I’ve spoken in this place yesterday about the number of renewable energy projects that we have already approved, 54 renewable energy projects, one every two weeks.

On top of these - the previous environment minister [Sussan Ley] is interjecting about koala habitat, that is pretty rich coming from a government that hid the State of the Environment Report because it said that the environment in Australia was bad and getting worse under the leadership of those opposite.

Nobody has done less to help the Australian environment than the deputy leader of the opposition. On this proposal and others like it we will assess every project project by project for its environmental impacts and it they will be assessed against the Safeguard Mechanism, voted for by those on the crossbench and by the Greens political party climate and their environment spokesperson, her quote on this was under these laws pollution will now go down, not up.

Greens MP for Ryan, Elizabeth Watson Brown asks Anthony Albanese:

Yesterday your government approved a $1bn Gina Rinehart-backed koala habitat destroying gas project with over 150 new gas wells able to run until 2080. In the middle of the climate crisis, billionaires open more coal and gas and will the prime minister reverse this decision?

Tanya Plibersek takes this one:

As I said yesterday as we have been saying all along, our government’s priority is to get more renewables approved and more renewables into our energy system.

The project that was approved yesterday as a domestic, largely domestic credit gas project that will support the manufacture of glass, bricks, cement, food packaging, and as for the misinformation about koala habitat, the member for Ryan is absolutely wrong, in fact one of the conditions of approval for this project is that koala breeding and foraging habitat must be protected.

It is very important to say to the member for Ryan and to others that share her concerns, this project, like any large project in Australia, will be measured against the Safeguard Mechanism.

The safeguard laws, the strong climate protection laws that the Greens and most of the crossbench voted for, is how we keep emissions down in Australia, how we actually get to net zero in this country.

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We reported on part of the US Embassy statement a little while ago –here is a comment from the US Ambassador, Caroline Kennedy on the Julian Assange decision.

(Continued from last post)

Albanese:

Over the two years since we took office my government has engaged and advocated including at leader level to resolve this.

We have used all appropriate channels, this outcome has been the product of careful, patient and determined work.

Work I am very proud of.

The Australian government continues to provide consular assistance to Mr Assange as he returns home.

As we do for Australians, for Australians right around the world. I can confirm that US ambassador Kevin Rudd and it UK High Commissioner Stephen Smith are travelling to Australia with Mr Assange.

I thank them for their work and others at the respective embassy and high commission for helping us reach this conclusion.

This work has been complex and it has been considered. This is what is standing up for Australians around the world look like. It means getting the job done, getting results and getting outcomes.

Having the determination to stay the course and I am very pleased that on this occasion, this has been a successful outcome that I believe overwhelmingly Australians did want to see.

As I said, they will have different views. About the engagement and the activities of Mr Assange, but they will be pleased that this saga has been brought to an end and he will be able to reunite with his family.

Anthony Albanese is prepared for this and reads from a piece of paper:

I think the member for Clark for his question and I thank him, along with the parliamentary group co-chaired by the Member for Fremantle for their commitment to this issue that I recognised has involved some member for all political parties in this place including members of the Liberal party and the National party.

Julian Assange is on his way home to Australia.

A short time ago a United States court in Saipan accepted a plea agreement between Mr Assange and the United States Department of Justice.

Mr Assange has since boarded a flight to Australia and will land in Australia later today.

Regardless of your views about his activities and they will be varied, Mr Assange’s case has dragged on for too long. I have said repeatedly that there was nothing to be gained by his continued incarceration. I am pleased that he is on his way home to Australia to reunite with his family here.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie asks:

Millions of people around the world particularly in Australia are thrilled by the news that Julian Assange has finally been set free and is on his way back home to Australia. Will you join with me in welcoming the end of this long-running saga and will Mr Assange return home to his family?

After a dixer on cost of living policies from the government, Angus Taylor asks Anthony Albanese:

Core inflation in Australia is high and it is rising (he lists some other economies where he says inflation is falling)

Is it another example of this prime minister’s weak leadership letting Australians down?

Albanese:

Some of the premise of that question … are simply wrong. Simply wrong. The fact is that we inherited an inflation rate with a six in front of it, six in front of it and the measures ...

(Michael Sukkar gets his final warning for interrupting)

Albanese:

The fact is that inflation is lower than what we inherited. The fact is that the measures that we have put in place that have put downward pressure on inflation such as energy price relief have had a substantial impact on helping to drive down that inflation.

And when Michele Bullock, the RBA governor, was asked about how is Australia’s experience in regards to core inflation since the beginning of this year different or the same to that which has been observed in the US or Canada or the European area, this is what the RBA governor had to say.

She said this - it is a very similar experience, she went on to say the look at core inflation and services inflation a particular overseas experience there is very similar to here.

(There are more interruptions and the speaker tells the chamber to can it)