Australia politics live: Sam Mostyn sworn in as governor general; international student visa fees more than double overnight | Australian politics

On Fatima Payman’s assertion that she is representing what the rank and file members of the Labor party want to see from their representatives, Katy Gallagher says:

I respectfully disagree with Senator Payman on that matter. You know, all of the issues in the Middle East are felt deeply across our caucus. They have been a subject of much discussion and, indeed, policy decisions that have been taken by the Australian Government, including at the United Nations.

You know, we have consistently, for months, called for a ceasefire. We have supported the people of Gaza with financial assistance and aid. We have urged Israel not to act when it has threatened to do so. Our position has been very strong under the leadership of the PM and the Foreign Minister.

And so, I don’t agree with Senator Payman. I think those issues, the issues and concerns of our membership have been reflected in our decision-making

Finance minister Katy Gallagher held a doorstop (quick press conference) with the intention of talking about the tax cuts and other cost of living relief measures coming into effect with the financial year.

But the decision to suspend senator Fatima Payman dominated the questions.

Gallagher:

I think we’ve tried to respond, and we all accept – all of us deeply feel the issues in the Middle East. You know, the horrific events we’re seeing in Gaza. We all do that, which is why our position as a government has been so strong under the leadership of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. And so, we have tried to support Senator Payman. We’ve been mature and respectful. But ultimately, these are decisions that she has taken and the caucus has had to respond.

…We want her to remain within the Labor Party. She was elected as a member of the Labor Party. And she, you know, for the people of Western Australia, she is their Labor senator. But it is ultimately a matter for her. She has made decisions over the past week. There have been consequences to those decisions. But now, any further decision she takes is a matter for herself, and she has to be responsible.

Paul Karp covered off the possibility the government would go this route in increasing student visas in April – but the government stayed very quiet about its plans.

International student visa fees more than double overnight

The 21-gun salute has been fired and it is all official-official – Sam Mostyn is the 28th governor general of Australia.

Mostyn continues:

Care is at the heart of our distress, of the shocking number of deaths of women through family violence and at the heart of our growing acceptance and celebration of cultural, sexual and gender diversity in all its forms.

Our focus on mental health, particularly for young Australians is an act of care, as is the focus of on our aged and disability sectors where respect and dignity will define that care.

I hope we can continue to extend that sense of care to our beautiful continent, landscapes and the natural environment.

But also to our institutions, our public debates and our sense of civic responsibility. To the way in which we challenge ourselves and one another and engage in the contest of ideas that will guide the tough decisions that are needed for our country to thrive.

Care has a deep and resonant place in our Australian identity.

Care is that gentle thought and the outstretched hand that Australians have always been read to share when great challenges present themselves. Care is the quieter better part of ourselves and it is that sense of care that [husband] Simeon [Beckett] and I will seek to depict and amplify as we take on this role.

‘Testing times’ call for kindness, care and respect, new governor general says

Sam Mostyn:

Everyone I spoke with, from former prime ministers to people in the street, proudly described our country as confident and successful.

Yet in 2024, it’s true contemporary challenges are placing strains on that confidence.

Many Australians expressed concerns about the global political environment and the range of conflicts around the world at this time.

They ask whether young Australians will enjoy the benefits of this country in the way that older generations have.

There is concern for rising lack of respect for women, of shrinking opportunities for some men and the need for respectful conversations to understand the place of men in our communities now. Of growing inequality in a country that has always held equality dear, of sometimes filling this personally through a cost of living challenge, we are making ends meet as become harder for many.

Of the lingering impacts of Covid-19 pandemic, the pernicious impact of social media we hear about every day and the challenges to our mental health as a nation.

Finally and constructively, many people expressed their concern that we might lose our capacity to conduct robust and passionate arguments and debate with civility and respect, without resorting to rancour or violence.

Yet despite all these challenges, I will always feel tremendous optimism for Australia.

Sam Mostyn addresses Senate chamber after swearing in

The new governor general, Sam Mostyn, is addressing the Senate chamber (where she has been sworn in to her new office) and says she has met with each of her five predecessors to ask them how they saw the role and how it should be conducted.

But she says she will be taking most of her cues from the Australian people:

In recent months I have spent time with people in our cities, in our regions and in the country from businesses, civil society, philanthropy, frontline services and community organisations as well as our scientific sports, arts and cultural sectors. Every day I met impressive Australians who do not hold high office or any office at all. I listened to them in airports, shopping centres, on the boundaries of sporting grounds, in theatre foyers and galleries and just often on the street.

Women and men and often children stop me regularly to talk about this country they love. Across a wide range of backgrounds, life experiences and opinions, all of them wished for a brighter future for Australia.

A desire for unity and optimism, a renewed sense of national possibility in building the future together. It struck me that the former governors general whom I met expressed the same desires for this country in almost the same words as did every day Australians.

They also reminded me that the role of governor general is not simply to be an observer of an Australian life, but to be a participant. To reflect the Australian character and its fundamentally democratic spirit.

‘You sign up to making decisions together’ when in Labor caucus, says Gallagher

Speaking to the Nine network a little earlier this morning, Katy Gallagher said there was “frustration” when a member of the Labor caucus “chooses to step out” as the caucus has to “rely on each other”.

But, she said, she hoped Fatima Payman remained part of the Labor caucus (which would mean not crossing the floor or speaking out against the party decisions):

The decisions she’s made in the last week have been of her own making. She’s made those decisions. It’s a privilege to serve in the Labor caucus. And when you serve in the Labor caucus – not many people get the opportunity to do so – you sign up to making decisions together and standing together. And when somebody doesn’t stand with you, there has to be consequences. But I hope not. Really, the Prime Minister has said, until she can commit to you know that solidarity that we expect in the Labor caucus, she’ll have to sit outside. But the decision now is over to her.

Sam Mostyn sworn in as governor general

Joyce says life without alcohol ‘incredibly boring’ as he has to ‘actually talk to people at functions’

Barnaby Joyce also spoke about his decision not to drink alcohol, which came about after he was filmed lying on his back on a Canberra street near a planter box, speaking incoherently into his phone.

Joyce says life is “incredibly boring” as he now has to hear what people speak about at functions:

When I went stomach to the stars, I thought, ‘That’s a disgrace, can’t do that again’. I literally woke up the next morning and said, ‘That will do.’

So I’ve given up the smokes, given up alcohol, life’s incredibly boring, having to actually talk to people at functions. You know the sort of rubbish they prattle on about, it’s incredible.

​Will he continue being sober?

​Joyce:

Ah, no, look, I’m not saying that. I think you put too much pressure on yourself.

But look, I haven’t had a drink, and I’ve just, you know, lost weight, and yeah, you’re sharper, and but that’s my choice, nobody else’s choice. I’m not a wowser.

If you want to have a drink, you know, that’s absolutely and utterly your choice. I’ve made a choice, whether it’s for life, or for as long as it goes, I don’t know. But it didn’t worry me, I just woke up and stopped.

Joyce labels Labor pledge to vote with party a ‘relic’

Tanya Plibersek’s “debate” partner on the Seven breakfast show, Barnaby Joyce, also weighed in on that same issue.

Joyce made his name in the Nationals by crossing the floor – most famously while a senator on the issue of the Telstra sale (although not in the final vote, which led to the nickname “Backdown Barnaby” for a while). Joyce has crossed the floor 28 times as of 2019, the most of any MP for the period from 1950 to 2019.

Here is what he had to say on Payman:

What you have for the Labor party is a dilemma between party discipline and votes, and they don’t know how to deal with it. They want to keep the votes out in the western suburbs, but they want to also stick to this pledge. Just saying, people, no, that’s not a pledge. It started 130 years ago, a pledge to do whatever the party tells them.

Now I think the pledge is a relic and it should have been left behind about 50 years ago, and if you put the pledge aside, you wouldn’t have an issue with this. You’d say, “I don’t know, this individual’s decided to go in a different direction”. Who cares? But because they’ve broken the pledge, it becomes a major issue for them, nobody else, just for them.

And what I can say to Fatima Payman is, yeah, well, look, when you decide to put – outside [matters even more] like we saw with the desecration of the War Memorial where people believe this is a licence to do whatever you like, you don’t gain support, you lose support. That desecration of the War Memorial on Anzac Parade, outrageous.

‘Greens motion in the Senate doesn’t fix’ situation in Israel and Gaza: Plibersek

Senior Labor left faction member Tanya Plibersek had her weekly engagement with the Seven network this morning, where she was of course asked about the future of Fatima Payman in the Labor party.

The left faction are meeting this morning (all factions meet on Mondays) where it will be a dominant discussion topic.

Plibersek:

I think it’s appropriate Senator Payman’s sort of set herself aside from the Labor party and made it very clear that she’s not going to vote as part of the group. So I think what’s happened is appropriate.

​But I think we need to go back a step. I really understand why so many Australians are distressed about the attacks on Israel and in the following weeks the civilian death toll in Gaza. It is a very distressing time for a lot of Australians.

​I think it’s important to understand, though, that a Greens motion in the Senate doesn’t fix that. As a government, we’ve been saying that we need to see the return of hostages, get humanitarian access into Gaza, have a ceasefire; all of that is really important, and I think that that’s what our focus as a nation has to be.

NAB survey shows 8 in 10 people trying to save more money

You’re going to hear a lot more about inflation in the coming days, as the government talks about the tax cut changes. That is always the question when anything to do with additional money for workers is raised”: “What will this mean for inflation?!”

(We don’t seem to have the same questions over those with large savings accounts.)

NAB has surveyed on what people plan to do with their additional dollars each week and the results? People want to try to save some money:

• More than a third (36%) plan to save extra money from their stage 3 tax cuts, including more Gen Zs (53%), those earning between $100,000 and $150,000 (49%) and women (39%).

• People also plan to spend their tax cuts on offsetting the higher cost of living (29%), paying down debt (22%) and investing (12%), while just 8% say they’ll splurge it on non-essentials.

• Almost 8 in 10 (77%) say they’re trying to save more money and, on average, they’re looking to create about $17,000 worth of savings.

• One in 3 are saving for a holiday or a rainy-day fund, 1 in 4 for a home and 1 in 5 for retirement.

Non-owner pharmacists’ group calls for better working conditions

The Professional Pharmacists Australia (not the guild – the group which represents non-owner pharmacists) have welcomed the eighth community pharmacy agreement between the government and pharmacists but with some reservations.

The Community Agreement is what lays out what the government will pay pharmacies for dispensing medication, what allowance pharmacists outside the cities will receive and what services can be offered (vaccinations etc).

PPA welcomes all of that, but wants to see more to improve working conditions for employee pharmacists.

Union members call on employers to ringfence funding for staffing to address the significant workplace pressures and burnout experienced by employee pharmacists.

Additionally, funding must be set aside to provide access to high-quality learning and development in paid time and to pay staff appropriately if employers genuinely want the public to access good quality services and safe use of medicines.

With extra compensation flowing for the implementation of 60-day dispensing, increased funding for existing professional services, and the expectation of new funding models for the introduction and implementation of full-scope of practice activities on the horizon, there should be no more excuses from employers for creating Australia’s lowest paid health care workforce.

What’s to come today

There has been a bit going on this morning – and it won’t slow down anytime soon. The government wants all eyes on cost-of-living relief – so the tax cuts, energy bill assistance and minimum wage increases, which come into effect from today. There is also the vaping changes (which will change again in October) which means vapes can no longer be sold without a prescription (until October).

The new governor general, Sam Mostyn, will also be officially sworn in today.

The house won’t sit until 11.30am given the trip to Government House today.