Australia politics live: Jacinta Allan warns Coalition against being ‘hard in our hearts and minds in the pursuit of politics’ on Palestinian visas | Australian politics

The term ‘sook’ is having a real moment in the Australian parliament at the moment.

Here is the latest use of it:

Western NSW gold mine ‘unviable’ due to federal protection order

AAP reports the owner of an open-cut gold mine in western NSW has said the project has been “rendered unviable by a federal protection order”;

ASX-listed Regis Resources said a decision by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, to protect Indigenous heritage at the McPhillamys Gold Project in central-west NSW would stop the mine going ahead.

The NSW Independent Planning Commission in March approved Regis’s application to mine gold in the area, despite opposition from some in the local Aboriginal community.

Regis’ chief executive, Jim Beyer, said the company was “extremely surprised and disappointed” that, after nearly four years of assessment, Ms Plibersek had decided to effectively block the development.

“(This) declaration shatters any confidence that development proponents Australia-wide (both private and public) can have in project approval timelines and outcomes,” he said in a statement.

The minister’s Indigenous-heritage protection declaration covers part of the Belubula River, which falls within the footprint for a proposed storage facility for cast-off material.

Jacinta Allan: ‘We should not be so hard in our hearts and in our minds simply in the pursuit of politics’

Adeshola Ore

Burke criticises Dutton call for public disclosure in fiery speech

Tony Burke:

In what universe does any security agency on the planet publicly disclose all its criteria?

In what universe do they do that? And yet the leader of the opposition is calling for that to happen now.

I must say, I haven’t seen his Home Affairs Spokesperson call for something … as off the wall as what’s been moved in the House right now, I haven’t heard his shadow defence spokesperson call for something like that, that we would suddenly take issues that are subject to [confidentiality].

We do share confidential briefings with the opposition. We do make sure that that’s happened, as they did when we’re were in opposition, but to share it with the world, to share it on the floor of the House of Representatives is one of the most irresponsible things, and he knows it.

The chamber divided and the government won the vote to adjourn the debate until tomorrow, so that closes that off (for now – question time is another thing entirely).

Burke says Dutton’s motive for security proposal is not in national interest

That brought Tony Burke to the substantive issue of his speech – “what is the motive” in laying out what the national security checks are for people applying for visas, as asked for in the opposition’s motion.

Tanya Plibersek addressed that point earlier today, given that it had been raised in commentary, by saying that the government wouldn’t outlay all the processes as that would help people who wanted to get around them.

Burke put it a little more plainly in the debate in the House:

What would be the motive for someone saying we should lower our national security principles and let visa applicants know if we’re doing a security assessment on them?

What would be the motive for that?

Because I can’t think of a single motive that’s in the national interests of Australia …

I can think of a motive that might be in the political day-to-day media cycle interests of the leader of the opposition.

But if he’s willing to sacrifice the national security interests of Australia to try to get a grab up in social media now, then that’s his motive. It’s not the government’s motive. That’s his motive. It’s not my motive.

You won’t find me saying that if we’re conducting a national security assessment on someone, we ought to do it publicly, that we ought to phone a friend and let them know that we’re doing it!

Tony Burke reiterates Dutton’s history of targeting migrant groups

Here is a bit more from that speech from Tony Burke, who seems to have relished the opportunity to get some of this into the hansard record.

And you only have to look at the time delay – like it wasn’t much more than the six second delay on radio – between Mike Burgess, as the director general of Asio, telling people to cool the temperature before this guy runs along with a bucket of kerosene, saying, ‘where can I throw it on the fire?’

And he’s got form. He’s got form on trying to divide the Australian community. Look at who he said he won’t fight for. Look at who he said we should all be suspicious of.

At the moment, we’ve got a debate where he wanted to go after Palestinians. But before that, it was Africans, it was Lebanese, it was Muslims.

Granted –he hasn’t tried to declare war on every migrant community. He did stand up for white South African farmers. We remember that.

Paul Fletcher stood up at that point with a point of order that Burke was “attributing a whole range of improper motives to the leader of the opposition” in a breach of standing orders. Burke was asked to uphold the standing orders.

Debate in house to be adjourned

Tony Burke moves the debate be adjourned – the House divides. The government has the numbers, so the debate will be adjourned.

Burke says Liberals throwing tantrum on national security

Tony Burke continues:

We’ve got used to the fact that they’ll throw a tantrum, and if they can’t be in charge of housing policy, they’ll try to stop houses from being built.

We’ve got used to the fact that on policy after policy issue, they’ll vote with the Greens because they can’t be in charge, they’ll their bat and ball on the air and go away.

But I never thought they’d play that game on national security.

I never thought they’d play that game on our Asio systems.

Tony Burke: Dutton is ‘irresponsible and a sook’

Home affairs minister Tony Burke has responded to Peter Dutton’s motion (you can read the whole motion here) with a quite fiery speech:

The leader of the opposition has moved this motion today because the man is irresponsible and a sook and the country doesn’t like either … People have never put up with someone who’s a sook.

Dutton attempts motion attacking PM over Palestinian refugees

Independent MP Kylea Tink has attended a protest outside the parliament, with 140 people standing on the lawns to represent the 140 people still held in Australia’s offshore detention centres.

Tink has reintroduced a bill which would make indefinite detention illegal. Zoe Daniel seconded the bill.

At the same time, Peter Dutton has moved to suspend standing orders in the House of Representatives calling on the prime minister to explain:

(a) which visa applicants are the subject of a security assessment by ASIO;

(b) what are the criteria for ASIO to carry out a security assessment in relation to visa applicants from the Gaza war zone;

(c) how many of the almost 3,000 visas already issued by the Government were granted without an ASIO security assessment; and

(d) whether the House can have any confidence that under this Government’s processes, there is a proper and thorough security assessment of all visa applicants from the Gaza war zone to determine whether the applicant would present a security threat to the Australian community

Government business begins in the Senate

Back in the Senate, the Coalition voted with Labor to shut down Larissa Waters’ motion to debate Labor’s donations from the CFMEU (which came after the Coalition moved a motion criticising the Greens response to the CFMEU allegations, which the government supported).

So with that little back and forth completed, the Senate moves on to the government business of the day – about three hours after the chamber first sat.

Indonesian leader visiting Australia

Greens return fire over Senate motion critical of CFMEU links

In response to that last motion, Greens senator Larissa Waters has moved a motion to suspend standing orders to have Murray Watt explain to the chamber “whether Labor will return any of the millions in donations it has received from the CFMEU”.

The government does not support this motion.

Coalition and Labor team up to attack Greens over CFMEU response

To square off that circle on the Senate motion Simon Birmingham moved a little bit ago – criticising the Greens over its response to the CFMEU allegations – Labor voted with the Coalition to support the motion.

The vote is listed here, in the Senate minutes.