Morrison Government

The Morrison Government is the federal executive Government of Australia led by the Prime Minister of Australia, Scott Morrison of the Liberal Party of Australia since 24 August 2018. The government consists of members of the Liberal-National Coalition. Michael McCormack is the leader of the junior party in the Coalition, the National Party, and serves as Deputy Prime Minister. The prime ministership of Scott Morrison commenced on 24 August 2018, when he was sworn in by the Governor-General of Australia. Following Morrison's victory in the 2019 federal election, the Second Morrison Ministry was formed in 2019; this succeeded the First Morrison Ministry, which was dissolved in May 2019.

Morrison Government
In office
24 August 2018 –
MonarchElizabeth II
Governor-GeneralSir Peter Cosgrove (24 August 2018 – 1 July 2019)
David Hurley (1 July 2019 – present)
Prime MinisterScott Morrison
DeputyMichael McCormack
PartyLiberal and National (Coalition)
StatusMajority (August 2018 – October 2018; May 2019 – present)
Minority (October 2018 – May 2019)[lower-alpha 1]
OriginMorrison wins second 2018 Liberal leadership spill
PredecessorTurnbull Government
This article is part of
a series about
Scott Morrison

Member for Cook

Prime Minister of Australia
(International trips)

Royal Commissions

The Turnbull Government ended in leadership turmoil in 2018. Morrison won the subsequent Liberal Party party room ballot for the leadership, and became Prime Minister of Australia.[1] Josh Frydenberg replaced Julie Bishop as the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and Morrison as Treasurer. Turnbull resigned from Parliament leaving the Coalition in minority government following the 2018 Wentworth by-election. Tensions remained as Turnbull lobbied for the removal of rivals. Morrison reformed Party rules to make it harder to remove elected Prime Ministers.

In Foreign Affairs, the Morrison Government concluded the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement. On the economy, after the lowest deficit in a decade, Morrison predicted a small surplus in the 2019 Federal Budget, but then had to stimulate the economy due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Background
Main article: Turnbull Government

The Liberal-National Coalition won office under the leadership of Tony Abbott in the 2013 Australian federal election held on 7 September. Abbott defeated the second Rudd Government, ending six years of Labor Government.[2] Less than two years later on 14 September 2015, Malcolm Turnbull defeated Abbott in a leadership ballot, 54 votes to 44 and the Turnbull Government became the federal government of Australia.

Turnbull cited Newspoll results and "economic leadership" as reasons for mounting his challenge against Abbott.[3] Under the slogan "jobs and growth," Turnbull led the Coalition to the 2016 Election in which their majority in the House of Representatives was reduced to one seat.[4]

Turnbull's ousting of Abbott had divided the Liberal Party rank and file and tensions continued in the parliamentary Party.[5][6][7] The Government reached the 30-consecutive-Newspoll-losses benchmark Turnbull had used to unseat Abbott, in April 2018.[8] The government suffered by-election losses in July 2018.[9] Dissent from conservative MPs over issues such as energy prices and immigration levels grew during Turnbull's final months. On 21 August, Turnbull announced a leadership spill ahead of his 39th consecutive Newspoll loss, which he narrowly won against Peter Dutton. Turnbull resigned three days later after losing the confidence of his party room. Morrison won the resultant spill for the Liberal leadership, defeating Dutton and Julie Bishop. He became Australia's 30th Prime Minister.

Aftermath of Turnbull defeat

Minority government

The Turnbull Government had won the 2016 federal election with a single seat majority in the House of Representatives (76 seats out of 150). Turnbull's quitting of Parliament and the defection of two of the Coalition's MPs to the crossbenches following his removal as leader subsequently reduced the Coalition to a minority on the floor of Parliament. National Party MP Kevin Hogan had threatened to move to the crossbench if Turnbull was ousted as Prime Minister. On 27 August 2018, three days after Morrison succeeded Turnbull as leader, Hogan confirmed that he would sit on the crossbench, while remaining a member of the National Party and providing confidence and supply to the government.[10] The Coalition slipped further into minority with the departure of Turnbull from Parliament and loss of his seat to an independent, and with the defection of Julia Banks to the crossbench.

Wentworth by-election

A week after losing the leadership, Turnbull formally tendered his resignation from federal parliament.[11] He refused to campaign for Dave Sharma, the Liberal candidate to replace him in the seat of Wentworth.[12]

The by-election was held on 20 October 2018, and independent candidate Kerryn Phelps was elected, with a swing of almost twenty percent away from the Liberals.[13] It was the first time since the inaugural 1901 election that the seat had not been represented by the Liberals, its predecessors, or party defectors.[14]

One of Phelps' campaign promises was to bring more humane treatment of asylum seekers held on Manus Island (in the Manus Regional Processing Centre) and Nauru (in the Nauru Regional Processing Centre), which was partly brought to fruition with the passing of the "Medevac bill" early in 2019.[15]

Julie Bishop

After an eleven-year run as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop had put herself up for election as Leader following Turnbull's resignation as Prime Minister. She garnered just 11 votes out of the 85-member party room, and quit her position as Foreign Minister to go to the backbench.[16] Bishop tied the ousting of Turnbull to women's issues, telling a Women's Weekly awards event on 6 September that it had prompted discussion on the "bullying, intimidation, harassment and coercion" by federal politicians and "unfair unequal treatment of women".[17] She joined Turnbull in calling for "clarity" around Dutton's eligibility to sit in Parliament, and refused to say how she would vote in the event of a referral.[18] Bishop announced she would quit politics and not re-contest her seat in a statement to parliament in February 2019.[19]

Defection of Julia Banks

Following Turnbull's loss of the Liberal leadership in August, the Liberal member for the seat of Chisholm, Julia Banks - a Turnbull supporter - began signalling dissatisfaction with the Party. On November 27 she announced to Parliament her departure from the Liberal Party to sit on the growing crossbench, reducing the Government's numbers to 73.[20] Banks made the announcement while Morrison was announcing a timetable for Budget surplus in 2019. She told Parliament her former Party had "changed largely due to the actions of the reactionary and regressive right wing who talk about and to themselves rather than listening to the people." The Guardian reported that the move undercut Morrison's efforts to stabilise the government and project a plan for the next election.[20][20] Banks promised confidence and supply to the government.[20] She told Fairfax Media that she was prepared to refer Turnbull's challenger Peter Dutton to the High Court over his eligibility to sit in Parliament, a move that would further reduce the Government's numbers on the floor of the House.[21]

Final pre-selections

In November, reports emerged that the "moderate faction" of the NSW Liberal Party had relegated Liberal Senator Jim Molan to an "unwinnable" fourth position on the NSW Senate ticket, and were moving to dump conservative NSW MP Craig Kelly - a three term MP with a 9% margin in his electorate.[22][23] The Australian's foreign editor Greg Sheridan called the move against Molan an act of "self-mutilation" against "the most capable, the best-known and the most impressive backbench senator in Australia".[24] Journalist Michelle Grattan described Kelly as "all over the place in his comments", comparing media reports of Kelly's comments to branch members as reported by the ABC, and an interview with Sky News.[25] Kelly indicated he might run as an independent if the Party dis-endorsed him,[26][27][28] and Kent Johns was offered a $350,000 six-month job to withdraw from the preselection race by the president of Morrison's federal electoral conference.[29]

When Morrison moved to head off the factional dispute over Kelly and others by using state executive powers to automatically endorse sitting members, Turnbull launched a failed intervention to prevent the outcome, hoping Kelly, a Dutton backer, would be ousted.[30] Turnbull had approved a similar move by the Victorian state executive in July.[31] He had also previously personally endorsed Kelly himself, but dismissed comparisons to his own intervention to save Kelly in 2016, citing recent campaigns in NSW to allow grassroots members more say in pre-selection contests as the reason for his intervention against Kelly this time.[30]

When news of Turnbull lobbying against Kelly became public, Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman said that Turnbull's intervention "meant that it became an issue about the Prime Minister's authority, and that swung the dial in favour of acceding to the request the Prime Minister had made of the Executive".[31] Moderate members of the NSW branch agreed to abstain from a vote, effectively allowing Kelly and other sitting members such as Jason Falinski, John Alexander and Lucy Wicks to be re-selected.[27]

Journalists Michelle Grattan and Patricia Karvelas criticised the intervention for Kelly. Grattan wrote there had been no intervention in favour of moderate female candidate Jane Prentice, who had been an assistant minister.[32] Karvelas wrote that it was extraordinary the party would intervene to "save a bloke" when "women MPs like Jane Prentice and Ann Sudmalis are not afforded the same intervention to stay on in Parliament when faced with preselection challenges."[33] Zimmerman dismissed the comparison in an interview with Karvelas on ABC Radio, saying Sudmalis had quit, while Prentice's preselection had occurred prior to the instability occasioned by the departure of Turnbull.[31] Despite being expected to win preselection, and being asked to remain by Morrison, Sudmalis had quit as a candidate for her marginal electorate following the removal of Turnbull as leader, citing grievances with the NSW division of the Party.[34]

Morrison reforms party leadership

In December, Morrison and Frydenberg won support from the Liberal Party room for a change in Party rules regarding leadership spills, and announced that a sitting prime minister who has won an election could no longer be removed by the Party room unless there was a two-thirds majority calling for the change. Opposition Leaders could still be challenged with a simple majority. Morrison said the move was in response to public disgust at the repeated rolling of Prime Ministers over the preceding decade.[35]

Ministry
Main articles: First Morrison Ministry and Second Morrison Ministry

Morrison was sworn in as prime minister on 24 August 2018, by the Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, in a ceremony at Government House. The newly elected deputy leader of the party Josh Frydenberg was the only other minister sworn in, as Treasurer.

Julie Bishop quit the frontbench, and her replacement as Foreign Affairs Minister was Marise Payne.[36] The rest of the Ministry was sworn in on 28 August 2018, with many Dutton supporters being granted ministerial posts.[37]

On 17 December 2018, Andrew Broad resigned over a sex scandal.[38]

On 19 January 2019, Kelly O'Dwyer, Minister for Women, Jobs and Industrial Relations, announced that she would not be contesting the upcoming election as her two children would be approaching primary school age and she wanted to give her and her husband the best opportunity for a third child.[39] Within one week, Human Services Minister Michael Keenan and Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion also announced that they would not recontest their seats at the 2019 election, widely attributed to the low chances of the Morrison Government being re-elected.[40]

First term of government 2018–2019

Economy
Main article: Economy of Australia

Morrison had served as Treasurer in the Turnbull Government, and was succeeded by Josh Frydenberg in the role. In September, Treasurer Frydenberg announced that the government would deliver a smaller budget deficit than forecast for 2017-18, and that the budget was on track to return to balance by 2019-20. The Final Budget Outcome deficit of $10.1 billion was $19.3bn smaller than predicted, and the smallest recorded since the Global Financial Crisis. The result had been assisted by larger tax intakes and less spending on social security than expected. The Treasurer credited the result to the Coalition's economic management with real spending growth down to its lowest level in half a century.[41] In October 2018, The Economist described Australia as possessing "the world’s most successful economy".[42]

The "tampon tax": the Goods and Services Tax applied to feminine hygiene products, will be removed as of 1 January 2019.[43]

The Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry was handed down in February, with 76 recommendations. There were only five remaining sitting days in Parliament, so there is little time for a legislative response before the election.[44] Labor has indicated that it intends to work with the crossbench to extend the sitting days for Parliament,[45] however, Christopher Pyne, speaking for the government, has pointed out that these laws are complex and should not be rushed through.[46]

Federal Budget

Morrison said the government would “continue to consolidate the budget”, but its priorities for spending included additional school and hospital funding, affordable medicines and the national disability insurance scheme.[47] In November, Morrison and Frydenberg announced the 2019 Federal Budget would be brought forward a month to April 2. "We will be handing down a budget and it will be a surplus budget. It will be a budget which is the product of the years of hard work of our government," Morrison said.[48][49]

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg handed down the budget in a speech to parliament on the night of 2 April. The budget forecast a small surplus of $7.1 billion in the upcoming financial year (2019–20), though it was technically in deficit as the existing financial year came to a close.[50] The leading statements made were a cash rebate targeted toward lower and middle-income earners, with the Coalition promising to double the low and middle income tax offset it offered workers in the previous year's budget, giving voters on incomes between $50,000 and $90,000 a rebate of $1,080, similar to the Labor Party's proposals.[50] The budget was criticised by the opposition for proposing to flatten the tax rates of all income earners between $45,000-$200,000 to 30% in the long-term, though the Treasurer argued that doing so would provide an "incentive [for] people to stay in work, to work longer, to work more."[51][52] The government also promised $100 billion infrastructure funding over the decade and offered one-off payments for nearly 4 million welfare recipients to cover the cost of energy prices, which Labor supported.[53][54] Labor's budget reply differed from the government most notably with a $2.3 billion proposal to cover medical imaging, consultation and medicines' costs for cancer patients.[55] Overall, Labor had approximately $200 billion more funding than the Coalition to utilise over the decade; as it proposed more revenue raising, including scaling back negative gearing and abolishing cash refunds for excess franking credits, policies which were vociferously opposed by the government.[53]

Foreign affairs
Main article: Foreign relations of Australia
See also: List of international prime ministerial trips made by Scott Morrison
Morrison with President Joko Widodo of Indonesia on his first overseas visit as prime minister.
Morrison with U.S. President Donald Trump at the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires

Morrison shifted Marise Payne from the Defence Portfolio to the role of Minister for Foreign Affairs, following the resignation of Julie Bishop from the role. He visited Jakarta for the Australia–Indonesia Business Forum and met with President Joko Widodo on his first overseas visit as prime minister.[56][57] The Morrison Government and Indonesia announced the substantive conclusion of negotiations on the Indonesia -Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) on 31 August 2018.[58]

During the Wentworth by-election campaign, Morrison announced reviewing whether Australia's embassy in Israel should move to from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.[59] This was regarded as potentially endangering the Indonesian fair trade agreement.[60] Indonesia responded by putting the free trade agreement on hold,[61] though it was eventually signed in Jakarta in March 2019.[62] In December 2018, Morrison announced Australia has recognised West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel but will not immediately move its embassy from Tel Aviv.[63]

Morrison has signalled that his government could accept New Zealand's offer to accept refugees detained by Australia on Manus and Nauru if they were subject to a lifetime ban from coming to Australia.[64]

Due to the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi, the Australian government has pulled out of the Future Investment Initiative summit in Saudi Arabia.[65]

The Indonesia–Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) was signed in March 2019, following years of negotiations. Australia ratified the agreement in November 2019 (alongside CEPAs with Peru, Hong Kong and China)[66] and Indonesia followed suit in February 2020, with its provisions coming into effect in April 2020.[67][68]

Pivot to the Pacific

Ahead of the 2018 APEC Forum in PNG, the Morrison government announced increased defence co-operation with Pacific nations including a plan to jointly develop a naval base on Manus Island with Papua New Guinea and a "pivot to the Pacific" involving the establishment of a $2 billion infrastructure bank for the Pacific to be known as the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility, to issue grants and long-term loans for projects such as telecommunications, energy, transport and water development. Morrison also pledged to open diplomatic missions in Palau, the Marshall Islands, French Polynesia, Niue and the Cook Islands.[69][70] The "pivot to the Pacific" has been read as a way of undermining Chinese influence in the region.[71]

At the Pacific Islands Forum in August 2019 the 'Pivot to the Pacific' was severely undermined by Morrison's intransigence on the topic of climate change. In the face of an existential threat to those Morrison refers to as "family", Morrison refused to offer more than tokenism. The "very insulting and condescending" behaviour offered by Morrison [72] comes as the Deputy PM tells an Australian business group that Pacific Islanders will survive “because many of their workers come here to pick our fruit”.[73]

Energy and climate change
Main articles: Energy policy of Australia and Climate change in Australia

After taking office, Morrison appointed Angus Taylor as Minister for Energy, saying "I am going to be the Prime Minister for getting electricity prices down. Angus Taylor is the minister for getting electricity prices down and that is a core focus of my government..."[74]

Morrison committed to remaining in the Paris Agreement settled under the Abbott and Turnbull Governments, but promised a greater focus on reduction of energy prices. He described coal as remaining "a key source of keeping electricity prices down and keeping the lights on, and I intend for it to stay there".[75][76][77] The Morrison Government did not commit to replacing the existing renewable energy target with anything when it expires in 2020, stating that it will not be needed to meet emissions reduction targets.[78]

The government has implemented the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's review recommendations into electricity prices by asking energy retailers to introduce a default market offer for households and small businesses, which would be standard across all retailers.[79] This is designed to assist consumers who do not regularly change their power provider.[80]

Australian school students were inspired by Greta Thunberg to strike for three days after 28 November,[81] ignoring the call of their Prime minister Scott Morrison who said in the parliament that "what we want is more learning in schools and less activism".[82]

According to the Government's 2018 emissions projections report, Australia will not achieve its 2030 emissions reduction target of 26-28% less emissions than in 2005, and is only expected to achieve a 7% reduction on 2005 levels by 2030. The Government expects Australia will meet its 2020 target.[83]

As of February, the Morrison Government announced that it was taking its energy bill to the election, as it would likely be amended to prevent government funding of new coal-fired power stations.[84]

Morrison has allocated $2bn over 10 years to the Abbott Government-era Emissions Reduction Fund, renaming it the Climate Solutions Fund.[85] A project that is expected to benefit from the Climate Solutions Fund is the Tasmanian Battery of the Nation hydro-electric project.[86]

The government has endorsed the Snowy 2.0 hydro-electric project, a proposal of the Turnbull Government.[87]

Social security
Main article: Social security in Australia

Morrison changed the age at which Australians can receive the age pension back to 67,[88] from an age of 70, which had been government policy since the 2014 Australian federal budget.[89] In September 2018, the base Newstart rate was raised by $2.20 per week,[90] but further increases to Newstart have been ruled out by Morrison, who has stated that it is a "very expensive undertaking".[47] The Liberal and Labor parties voted for a bill which would enforce a wait of four years before new migrants could receive social security payments.[91]

In response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, Morrison delivered on 22 October 2018 a National Apology Address in the Australian Parliament to victims of child sexual abuse on behalf of the Australian people, the parliament and his government. He also announced the establishment of a National Redress Scheme for victims of child sexual abuse; an Office of Child Safety within the Department of Social Services; and a National Centre of Excellence to raise awareness and understanding of the impacts of child sexual abuse, to deal with the stigma, to support help seeking and guide best practice for training and other services.[92]

Aged care and disability
See also: Aged care in Australia and National Disability Insurance Scheme

Morrison brought forward aged care funding by $90 million, mainly focusing on regional areas.[93]

On 16 September 2018, Morrison revealed that a royal commission would be held into aged care facilities, focusing on the quality of care in residential, home and community aged care.[94][95] On 5 April 2019, Morrison announced another commission, this time to examine violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation within the disability sector. The commission is headed by former Federal Court judge Ronald Sackville and will last for three years. Morrison was emotional at the announcement of the commission, paying tribute to his brother-in-law who has multiple sclerosis.[96] The announcement was met with praise from Labor leader Bill Shorten, whose party had supported the idea in the past, as well as from Greens senator Jordon Steele-John, who had spent the previous year agitating for the government to support the policy and had heckled the government on the floor of the House of Representatives earlier in the year when it rejected holding a vote on a commission.[97] In relation to disability funding, the government announced price increases of up to 22 per cent for NDIS service providers, though it was criticised for a $1.6 billion under-spend on the scheme in the budget. Labor argued the under-spend was due to the government's desire for a surplus budget, though the government countered that by arguing no one who needed care would be neglected and that the scheme was responding to actual demand.[98]

Food safety
Main article: Food safety in Australia

In response to the 2018 Australian strawberry contamination, Morrison announced an increase in the maximum jail term for the federal offence relating to contaminating food from 10 to 15 years.[99] However, when a woman was arrested for the crime, she was charged under the Queensland Criminal Code.[100]

Education
Main article: Education in Australia

The method of funding non-government schools was changed from using census data to using parental tax information; to take effect in 2020.[101] On 20 September, Morrison announced a $4.6 billion funding deal over 10 years starting from 2020 for Catholic and Independent schools as a peace deal with two non-government sectors, after they bitterly opposed the Coalition's 2017 school funding changes. The agreement was seen as controversial to some including Labor and the Australian Education Union, who cited the fact that it did nothing for public schools.[102]

The National School Chaplaincy Programme, following the extension of its funding confirmed during the 2018 federal budget, will be the subject of a new agreement between the states and the commonwealth, requiring complaints against chaplains to be centrally recorded.[103]

Indigenous affairs

Senator Nigel Scullion carried on as the Coalition's Minister for Indigenous Affairs in the Morrison Government, and in a conciliatory move by Morrison, the former Prime Minister Tony Abbott was appointed the Prime Minister's Special Envoy on Indigenous Affairs, with a brief to focus on school attendance and performance. After initial scepticism, Abbott accepted the role.[104][105]

Remote education

Abbott presented his first report to Parliament as Special Envoy in December.[106] He recommended increasing substantially the salary supplements and the retention bonuses for teachers in very remote areas; waiving HECS debt of longer term teachers in very remote schools; incentives for communities to adopt debit card arrangements; an extension of the Remote School Attendance Strategy, with more local school buy-in and engagement; extension of the Good to Great Schools program that has reintroduced phonics and disciplined learning for further evaluation and emulation; and that the government should match the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation's private and philanthropic funding on an ongoing basis.[107]

Australia Day

Morrison criticised Byron Shire Council for moving its citizenship ceremonies from Australia Day, rejecting calls to change the date of Australia Day and proposing a new national day to recognise Indigenous Australians.[108]

Uluru Statement and Indigenous voice to government

Morrison has rejected the Uluru Statement from the Heart, characterising the recommended "Indigenous voice to Parliament" as a third chamber.[109]

However on 30 October 2019, Ken Wyatt AM, Minister for Indigenous Australians, announced the commencement of a "co-design process" aimed at providing an Indigenous voice to government. The Senior Advisory Group (SAG) is co-chaired by Professor Tom Calma AO, Chancellor of the University of Canberra, and Professor Dr Marcia Langton, Associate Provost at the University of Melbourne, and comprises a total of 20 leaders and experts from across the country.[110] There was some skepticism about the process from the beginning, with the criticism that it did not honour the Uluru Statement from the Heart's plea to "walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future".[111] According to Michelle Grattan, "...it is notable that it is calling it a 'voice to government' rather than a 'voice to parliament' ". Morrison rejected the proposal for a voice to parliament to be put into the Australian constitution; instead, the voice will be enshrined in legislation. The government also said it would run a referendum during its present term about recognising Indigenous people in the constitution "should a consensus be reached and should it be likely to succeed”.[112]

Media

The government announced an inquiry into the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, following the sacking of managing director Michelle Guthrie and reports that Guthrie had resisted a call from ABC Chair Justin Milne to fire journalist Emma Alberici.[113] Milne was replaced by Ita Buttrose.[114]

Commonwealth Integrity Commission

In December, the Morrison Government proposed a national integrity commission framework.[115] The previous August, Griffith University researchers had laid out a plan for a Commonwealth Integrity Commission,[116] and Attorney-General Christian Porter had been working on adapting the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity into an anti-corruption watchdog in the Turnbull government.[115] The framework has been criticised for its narrow remit and the decision not to allow public hearings, and not being allowed to take tip-offs, as well as the high burden of proof needed before an investigation can take place.[117]

Environment

Algal blooms caused the death of over 10,000 fish in the Darling River just before Christmas 2018.[118] A second fish kill event happened in January, near the Menindee Lakes, which are a critical breeding ground for fish throughout the Murray-Darling.[119] A report by the Productivity Commission was released in January 2019 that said that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority should be broken up.[120] A third fish kill event occurred at the Menindee Lakes in late January. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian attributed the fish kills to the weather.[121]

During the 2018-2019 summer season, there were also bushfires in Tasmania's heritage-listed areas and the 2019 Townsville flood. Melissa Price, the Minister for the Environment, was criticised as being absent from announcements made by Morrison, McCormack and David Littleproud on these events.[122]

Drought assistance

As Morrison took office, much of eastern Australia was suffering severe drought. In a politically conciliatory move, he appointed former National Leader Barnaby Joyce as a Special Envoy for drought assistance and recovery.[123][124]

In October 2018, Morrison announced a drought assistance package, the Drought Future Fund, of $5 billion. The Drought Future Fund is intended to operate similarly to the Medical Futures Fund. However, the Drought Future Fund drew criticism from disability advocates, as $3.9 billion of the package's funding was drawn from money earmarked for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.[125]

Land-clearing inquiry

The Morrison Government announced an inquiry into land-clearing laws following the Queensland bushfires. The Queensland Government had introduced laws against broad-scale land-clearing in May 2018, and David Littleproud said "If Queensland’s laws are locking up agriculture’s potential and making fires worse, we need to know about it".[126]

Medical transfer of refugees
See also: Immigration detention in Australia § Medevac bill

On 12 February 2019, the Morrison Government suffered the first substantive defeat on the floor of the House of Representatives since 1929, after the Labor Party and several cross-benchers supported amendments to the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2018 (the Home Affairs Bill) proposed by the Senate. The proposed amendments would give greater weight to medical opinion in allowing the medical evacuation of asylum seekers to Australia from Nauru and Manus Island. Further amendments followed negotiations between the Opposition and the House of Reps cross-bench members, before the Senate considered and agreed to the amendments to its original amendments on the following day, 13 February.[127] The amended legislation, which affected three laws, being the Migration Act 1958, the Customs Act 1901 and the Passenger Movement Charge Collection Act 1978,[128] became known as "the Medevac Bill", before being passed in the House by 75 votes to 74 and passed in the Senate by 36 votes to 34.[129][130][131]

In response to the bill passing into law, Morrison announced the re-opening of the Christmas Island detention centre,[132] intimating that this change in the law would provide the signal that people smugglers to begin operating again. In the days following, Dutton said that because of this change in the law, Australians on waiting lists for hospital treatment and those already in public housing were going to be adversely affected.[133] This was seen by Robert Manne as a turning point in Labor Party policy, after having had almost identical asylum seeker policies as the Coalition for the past five years. He also pointed out the numerous obstacles any potential people-smuggler or asylum seeker would have to face, because the deterrent aspects of the policy were still firmly in place, and the new legislation applied only to the approximately 1,000 people still on Nauru and Manus (of whom only a relatively small number will be allowed to access the urgent medical attention they need).[133]

However, the 2018 ruling was overturned in December 2019, after 37 votes to 35 supported the government's move to repeal the law.[134]

Uranium mine

Just prior to the federal election, Melissa Price approved the Yeelirrie Uranium mine north of Kalgoorlie. Traditional owners challenged the former Barnett Government's approval for the mine in court.[135]

2019 federal election
Main article: 2019 Australian federal election

Morrison called the election for 18 May 2019, the last date on which a concurrent election for both the Senate and House of Representatives could occur. The government was widely anticipated to lose the vote, as almost all public polling conducted before and during the campaign suggested the Labor Party was on track to win a narrow majority.[136] The government's focus during the election was on providing income tax cuts for Australians in all tax brackets. Though both major parties policies on income tax cuts was similar in the short term, in the long term the Coalition sought to rise the top income threshold for the 19, 32.5 and 37 per cent tax brackets from July 2022, before eliminating the 37 per cent bracket in July 2024, which Labor considered fiscally irresponsible.[137] The government also strongly opposed Labor's proposals to abolish cash refunds for franking credit recipients and negative gearing allowances for new properties.[138]

The Coalition won 77 seats at the election and won 51.5% of the two-party preferred vote. Morrison credited the victory to voters he called "the quiet Australians".

Second term of government 2019–
See also: Second Morrison Ministry and 46th Parliament of Australia

Income tax cuts

The government's income tax cut election commitments were legislated in the form of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Relief So Working Australians Keep More Of Their Money) Bill 2019.[139] In total the legislation provided $158 billion in income tax cuts. Despite opposing Stage 3 of the legislation (set to come into effect after 2022) which flattened the tax rate to 30% for all workers earning between $45,000 and $200,000, the Labor Party voted in favour and only the Greens voted against the bill.[140]

Counter-terrorism

The Counter-Terrorism (Temporary Exclusion Orders) Bill 2019[141] and related legislation passed the parliament on 25 July 2019. The legislation gave the Minister the power to block a person aged over 14 years of age (including an Australian citizen) from returning to Australia for up to two years if the minister "suspects on reasonable grounds" that a temporary exclusion order would prevent support or assistance to a terrorist organisation.[142] The government controversially refused to support all the amendments recommended by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, which were supported by the opposition parties.[142][143]

Religious freedoms

The dispute between professional rugby player Israel Folau and Rugby Australia was a major story during the federal election campaign.[144] In the previous parliament, the two major parties had been unable to agree on legislation which would have removed the right of religious schools to expel LGBT students and sack gay teachers.[145][146] Amidst intense pressure from conservative MPs, the government in August 2019 released a draft bill focusing on religious freedom. The draft legislation included provisions preventing employers from limiting the religious expression of workers in their private capacity (unless the business can prove it is a "reasonable" limitation and necessary to avoid unjustifiable financial hardship) and explicitly overrides a Tasmanian anti-discrimination law, which prohibits conduct which "offends, humiliates, intimidates, insults or ridicules" based on protected grounds including gender, race, age, sexual orientation, disability and relationship status.[147] The government had promised to introduce the bill to the parliament before the end of 2019 but objections from conservative religious groups and equality advocates forced to government to delay and re-draft the bill.[148]

Industrial relations

The Government introduced legislation that would tighten the rules around the behaviours of unions and their officials. The legislation, named the Ensuring Integrity Bill, would allow automatic disqualifications of "registered organisations" and grant the Federal Court the power to prevent officials from holding office in certain circumstances and broaden the court's power to order remedial action with respect to union disputes and governance.[149] Trade union groups, Labor and the Greens opposed the bill, saying it was "contrary to international law and Australia’s commitments" and "hostile to the interests of working people". Industry groups and the Business Council of Australia argued the bill would "raise standards of conduct in the system" and would enforce penalties against "recalcitrant organisations".[149]

The legislation passed the House of Representatives where the government had a majority, though failed to pass the Senate in late November 2019, after the third reading was deadlocked at 34-34 votes.[150] The votes of crossbench Senators Jacqui Lambie and Pauline Hanson were crucial to the outcome, with the government having brought the legislation to a vote under the impression Hanson and her One Nation party colleague would support the bill. The government responded by refusing to rule out the possibility of bringing back the legislation at a later date if it felt it could command newfound support in the Senate.[150]

Bushfires

The extent of the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season led to controversy over the federal response to the fires and its policies on reducing or adapting to climate change, after ministers initially downplayed the severity of the crisis.[151]

Sports grants scandal

The "sports rorts" affair led to the resignation of Bridget McKenzie from the cabinet. The subsequent election of a new deputy leader of the National Party turned into the 2020 National Party of Australia leadership spill when Barnaby Joyce unsuccessfully challenged for the leadership.

A report by Phil Gaetjens, the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Morrison's former chief-of-staff, found that the allocation of grants was not politically motivated, but that McKenzie had breached ministerial standards by allocating a grant to a gun club which she was a member of. The Gaetjens report was not released, with Senate leader Matthias Cormann claiming public interest immunity.[152] Morrison maintained at this time that the grants program was not politically motivated, and that all projects that were funded were eligible,[153] disputing the Auditor-General's report, which found that 43% of projects funded were ineligible, and that the grants program disproportionately favoured marginal and target seats.[154] It was later found that the offices of Bridget McKenzie and Scott Morrison exchanged 136 emails concerning the sports grants,[155] and McKenzie breached caretaker convention to make changes to the list of projects to be funded after the election was called, in at least one instance at the direction of the Prime Minister's Office.[156] Morrison denies involvement.

Coronavirus
Main article: COVID-19 pandemic in Australia

The Morrison Government announced an economic stimulus package to combat the effects of coronavirus on the economy.[157]

On 12 March 2020 the Government announced a A$17.6 billion stimulus package, the first since the 2008 GFC.[158][159] The package consists of multiple parts, a one-off A$750 payment to around 6.5 million welfare recipients as early as 31 March 2020, small business assistance with 700,000 grants up to $25,000 and a 50% wage subsidy for 120,000 apprenticies or trainees for up to 9 months, 1 billion to support economically impacted sectors, regions and communities, and $700 million to increase tax write off and $3.2 billion to support short-term small and medium-sized business investment.[158][160]

On 30 March the Australian Government announced a $130 billion "JobKeeper" wage subsidy program. The JobKeeper program would pay employers up to $1500 a fortnight per full-time, part-time or casual employee that has worked for that business for over a year. For a business to be eligible, they must have lost 30% of turnover after 1 March of annual revenue up to and including $1 billion. For businesses with a revenue of over $1 billion, turnover must have decreased by 50%. Businesses are then required by law to pay the subsidy to their staff, in lieu of their usual wages.[161] This response came after the enormous job losses seen just a week prior when an estimated 1 million Australians lost their jobs. This massive loss in jobs caused the myGov website to crash and lines out of Centrelink offices to run hundreds of metres long.[162] The program was backdated to 1 March, to aim at reemploying the many people who had just lost their jobs in the weeks before. Businesses would receive the JobKeeper subsidy for 6 months.[161]

The announcement of the JobKeeper wage subsidy program is the largest measure announced by the Australian Government in response to the economic impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak. In the first hour of the scheme, over 8,000 businesses registered to receive the payments. The JobKeeper wage subsidy program is one of the largest economic packages ever implemented in the history of Australia.[161]

gollark: Your I²C transceiver implodes.
gollark: This is also possible.
gollark: Makes allocating them centrally very weird.
gollark: But there are only 256 addresses.
gollark: They take turns and presumably use a "transistor" to shut off unwanted things when not in use.

See also

References

Notes
  1. After Turnbull lost the Liberal leadership, National MP Kevin Hogan left the government benches, but guaranteed confidence and supply and remained in the National party room. However, Turnbull's former seat of Wentworth was lost in a by-election to Kerryn Phelps resulting in a minority government. The government previously held 74 out of 149 seats in the House of Representatives.

Citations
  1. "Scott Morrison sworn in as Australia's 30th prime minister". SBS News. 24 August 2018.
  2. "Abbott government sworn in". news.com.au. 18 September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  3. "Liberal leadership: Malcolm Turnbull's press conference announcing challenge to Tony Abbott". ABC News. Australia. 15 September 2015.
  4. "Election 2016: LNP retains Capricornia, gives Coalition 76-seat majority government". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
  5. NSW Liberals groan as Malcolm Turnbull tells gathering party is not ruled by factions, new PM praises Tony Abbott; Australian Broadcasting Corporation; 10 October 2015
  6. Jeff Kennett attacks Malcolm Turnbull for 'self-interest' and lack of courage; The Sydney Morning Herald; 9 March 2016
  7. Kevin Andrews says remarks about challenging Turnbull for leadership 'hypothetical'; Australian Broadcasting Corporation; 5 April 2016
  8. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull hits 30 straight Newspoll losses; www.theaustralian.com.au; April 18, 2018
  9. Malcolm Turnbull's authority diminished after by-election failures; www.abc.net.au; 30 July 2018
  10. "Kevin Hogan goes to the crossbenches, but remains a Nationals MP". ABC News. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  11. Malcolm Turnbull quits politics, seat of Wentworth set for by-election; www.theaustralian.com.au; Aug 31, 2018
  12. Malcolm Turnbull reveals why he didn’t campaign for Dave Sharma; www.news.com.au; 23 Oct 2018
  13. Alice Workman (5 November 2018). "Kerryn Phelps Is Now Officially The Member For Wentworth". Buzzfeed.
  14. Antony Green. "2018 Wentworth by-election - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  15. Maley, Jacquelene. "Kerryn Phelps led the passage of the Medevac law. Will voters reward her for it?". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  16. Julie Bishop quits as Foreign Minister and will likely retire from Parliament; www.smh.com.au; 26 Aug 2018
  17. Julie Bishop criticises parliamentary colleagues for 'appalling' behaviour; 6 Sep 2018
  18. Turnbull lobbies PM to refer Peter Dutton to high court over eligibility; www.theguardian.com; 13 Sept 2018
  19. "Julie Bishop quits politics". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 February 2019.
  20. "Julia Banks quits Liberal party and says it has abandoned 'sensible centrist values'". The Guardian. 27 November 2018.
  21. Julia Banks breaks silence on Peter Dutton High Court referral; www.canberratimes.com.au; 30 November
  22. Factions will 'boot' Craig Kelly out: Ruddick; www.skynews.com.au; 26/11/2018
  23. Five things to know about Craig Kelly, the conservative Liberal backbencher saved by Scott Morrison; abc.net.au
  24. Liberal machine burns its best and brightest; www.theaustralian.com.au; 28 November 2018 (subscription required)
  25. Grattan, Michelle (3 December 2018). "View from The Hill: Craig Kelly triumphs in the 'outwit, outplay, outlast' game of Survivor". The Conversation. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  26. Craig Kelly is planning to quit the Liberal Party and run as an independent; news.com.au; Nov 29, 2018
  27. Murphy, Katharine; Davies, Anne (3 December 2018). "NSW party bows to Morrison pressure to save Craig Kelly from preselection". the Guardian. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  28. Koziol, Michael (28 November 2018). "Craig Kelly planning to quit the Liberal Party as government braces for more defections". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  29. Koziol, Michael (20 December 2018). "Scott Morrison's fixer offered Craig Kelly's challenger a $350,000 party job to drop out". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  30. Shields, Bevan (2 December 2018). "'Worst and weakest response': Malcolm Turnbull intervenes to kill Craig Kelly peace deal". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 December 2018.
  31. "Trent Zimmerman on NSW re-endorsement". RN Drive. ABC News. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  32. Grattan, Michelle. "View from The Hill: Craig Kelly triumphs in the 'outwit, outplay, outlast' game of Survivor". The Conversation. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  33. "This bitter fight sends one message to voters: the government only talks about itself". ABC News. 3 December 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2018.
  34. NSW Lib turmoil as another MP quits, Craig Kelly faces defeat; www.afr.com; 16 Sep 2018
  35. Former Liberal PMs line up to support Morrison’s leadership rules; www.sbs.com.au
  36. "Scott Morrison announces new ministry". ABC News. 26 August 2018. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
  37. "PM Scott Morrison's new cabinet sworn in". News.com.au. 28 August 2018.
  38. Grattan, Michelle (17 December 2018). "National Andrew Broad forced to quit frontbench amid 'sugar baby' allegation". The Conversation. Retrieved 17 December 2018.
  39. Conifer, Dan (19 January 2019). "Minister for Women Kelly O'Dwyer quitting federal politics in shock resignation". ABC News. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  40. "Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion to become third minister to quit politics". ABC News (Australia). 26 January 2019.
  41. Hutchens, Gareth (25 September 2018). "Coalition reveals smallest deficit in a decade after decline in welfare spending". the Guardian.
  42. Australia’s economy is still booming, but politics is a cause for concern; www.economist.com;27 Oct 2018
  43. Remeikis, Amy (28 November 2018). "Senate changes rules to combat sledging after Barry O'Sullivan comments – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  44. Jennett, Greg (5 February 2019). "'Legislative mathematics that defies calculation': The difficulty of acting on Hayne's report". ABC News. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  45. Remeikis, Amy (6 February 2019). "Coalition could be forced into extra sitting days to deal with banking reform". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  46. Farr, Malcolm (11 February 2019). "Banking royal commission: Labor demands immediate changes". news.com.au. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  47. Karp, Paul (26 September 2018). "Surprise budget news no reason to 'make whoopee', Morrison says". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  48. Scott Morrison announces federal budget on April 2, election in May; www.afr.com; 27 Nov, 2018
  49. Scott Morrison uses early budget to announce federal election; www.afr.com; 27 November 2018
  50. "Australia budget 2019: Morrison splashes the cash in final election sell to the suburbs". The Guardian. 2 April 2019.
  51. "Question over Treasurer's 'flatter, more progressive' tax plan". News.com.au. 3 April 2019.
  52. "The most revealing sentence in Bill Shorten's Budget reply speech". News.com.au. 4 April 2019.
  53. "'Neutralise and move on': Labor to support budget cash splash". Australian Financial Review. 1 April 2019.
  54. "Coalition promises one-off energy payments as Labor pledges to 'reset' budget". The Guardian. 1 April 2019.
  55. "Bill Shorten uses Budget reply to promise billions for cancer patients and match Coalition's tax cuts". ABC News. 4 April 2019.
  56. "Scott Morrison's foreign affairs foray follows predecessors' familiar flightpath". ABC News. 30 August 2018. Retrieved 2 September 2018.
  57. "Scott Morrison has big shoes to fill in Indonesia — but he started off on the right foot". ABC News. 2 September 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  58. Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement; dfat.gov.au
  59. Murphy, Katharine; McGowan, Michael; Davies, Anne (15 October 2018). "Jerusalem embassy move a 'sensible' proposal, says Scott Morrison". the Guardian. Retrieved 16 October 2018.
  60. "If Australia moves its embassy to Jerusalem, it could put an $11 billion trade deal at risk". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  61. Peatling, Stephanie (14 November 2018). "Jerusalem embassy proposal delays Australia-Indonesia trade agreement". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  62. Hodge, Amanda; Rayda, Nivell (4 March 2019). "Indonesia, Australia finally sign free-trade agreement". The Australian. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
  63. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-15/government-recognises-west-jerusalem-but-keeps-tel-aviv-embassy/10614226
  64. Koziol, Michael (16 October 2018). "Scott Morrison prepared to accept New Zealand refugee offer 'if lifetime ban law passed'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 October 2018.
  65. Smee, Ben (20 October 2018). "Australia pulls out of Saudi summit over Khashoggi death". the Guardian. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  66. "Customs Amendment (Growing Australian Export Opportunities Across the Asia-Pacific) Bill 2019". aph.gov.au. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  67. "Indonesia ratifies long-awaited free trade deal with Australia". The Jakarta Post. 6 February 2020. Archived from the original on 8 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  68. Wyeth, Grant (11 February 2020). "Australia and Indonesia: Close Friends At Last?". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  69. Scott Morrison reveals multi-billion-dollar infrastructure development bank for Pacific; www.abc.net.au; 8 Nov 2018
  70. Major moves: Morrison has remade Australia’s strategic position; www.theaustralian.com.au; 23 Nov 2018
  71. "Australia's Pivot to the Pacific". Australian Institute of International Affairs. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  72. "Fiji PM accuses Scott Morrison of 'insulting' and alienating Pacific leaders". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  73. "Pacific islands will survive climate crisis because they 'pick our fruit', Australia's deputy PM says". Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  74. 'I am not sceptical about climate science': Energy Minister Angus Taylor hits back in new price pledge; www.smh.com.au; 29 Aug 2018
  75. "Australian PM: ditching Paris treaty wouldn't cut energy prices".
  76. Murphy, Katharine (5 September 2018). "Scott Morrison contradicts energy advice, saying Paris targets can be met 'at a canter'". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  77. "Scott Morrison says national energy guarantee 'is dead'". Guardian Australia. 8 September 2018.
  78. Murphy, Katharine (18 September 2018). "Coalition won't replace renewables target after it winds down in 2020". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  79. Murphy, Katharine (22 October 2018). "Coalition asks regulator to intervene on electricity prices". the Guardian. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  80. "Want cheaper power bills? The Government says it can save you up to $800 a year". ABC News. 23 October 2018. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  81. Scott, Elfy. "Australian Students Are Skipping School For Climate Change". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  82. "Australian school children defy prime minister with climate strike". CNN. 30 November 2018.
  83. Cox, Lisa (21 December 2018). "Australia to miss 2030 emissions targets by vast margin, Coalition's projections reveal". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
  84. Murphy, Katharine (14 February 2019). "Coalition shelves 'big stick' energy bill to avoid anti-coal amendment". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2019.
  85. Murphy, Katharine (24 February 2019). "Scott Morrison to reboot Tony Abbott's emissions reduction fund with $2bn". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  86. Parkinson, Giles (25 February 2019). "Morrison's fast-tracking of Tasmania link only makes sense with rapid coal exit". RenewEconomy. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  87. Laschon, Eliza (26 February 2019). "Snowy 2.0 gets $1.38 billion and approval for initial work to begin". ABC News. Retrieved 5 March 2019.
  88. "'The pension age going to 70? Gone'". www.9news.com.au.
  89. "Scott Morrison scraps plans to raise pension age to 70". ABC News. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  90. Henriques-Gomes, Luke (19 September 2018). "'Laughable': $2 Newstart increase won't help with cost of living, unemployed say". Guardian Australia.
  91. Taylor, Josh. "People Moving To Australia Will Have To Wait Four Years To Get Welfare After Labor Made A Deal With The Coalition". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 8 December 2018.
  92. Morrison, Scott (22 October 2018). National Apology Address (Speech). Parliament of Australia. Canberra: Prime Minister of Australia. Retrieved 22 September 2019.
  93. "Government rushes through $90 million in aged care funding – but more needed to solve staffing and funding issues". Aged Care 101. 14 September 2018.
  94. Hutchens, Gareth (16 September 2018). "Morrison to announce royal commission into aged care after string of scandals". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  95. "Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety" (Press release). Prime Minister of Australia. 16 September 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  96. "Scott Morrison gets emotional as he announces $527 million disability royal commission". ABC News. 5 April 2019.
  97. "Senator Jordon Steele-John accuses PM of not treating him as 'equal'". SBS News. 5 April 2019.
  98. "NDIS underspend to be $1.6b". Australian Financial Review. 31 March 2019.
  99. "Prime Minister announces new penalties for fruit tampering 'grubs'". ABC News. 19 September 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  100. Khalil, Shireen (15 November 2018). "Woman faces court over strawberry contamination". news.com.au.
  101. "Private schools to gain billions under new parental-income funding model". ABC News. 20 September 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  102. Karp, Paul (20 September 2018). "Catholic and independent schools given extra $4.6bn in funding peace deal". the Guardian. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
  103. Karp, Paul (1 December 2018). "Government orders states to maintain complaints register for school chaplains". the Guardian. Retrieved 1 December 2018.
  104. "PM offers Tony Abbott special envoy for indigenous affairs role". www.9news.com.au. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  105. Australian Associated Press (29 August 2018). "Tony Abbott accepts job as special envoy on Indigenous affairs". the Guardian.
  106. https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2018/12/06/tony-abbott-calls-parent-fines-boost-indigenous-school-attendance; www.sbs.com.au; 6 Dec 2018
  107. INDIGENOUS UPLIFT BEGINS IN CLASS: HERE’S HOW CANBERRA CAN HELP; first published in The Australian; 8 December 2018
  108. Wahlquist, Calla (24 September 2018). "Scott Morrison calls for new national day to recognise Indigenous people". the Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  109. Karp, Paul (25 September 2018). "Scott Morrison claims Indigenous voice to parliament would be a third chamber". the Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  110. "A voice for Indigenous Australians". Ministers Media Centre. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  111. Synot, Eddie (30 October 2019). "Ken Wyatt's proposed 'voice to government' marks another failure to hear Indigenous voices". The Conversation. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  112. Grattan, Michelle (29 October 2019). "Proposed Indigenous 'voice' will be to government rather than to parliament". The Conversation. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  113. McGowan, Michael (26 September 2018). "Government announces inquiry into ABC turmoil – live". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  114. Jeffery, Yasmin (28 February 2019). "How Ita Buttrose became the new ABC chair". ABC News. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
  115. Remeikis, Amy; Knaus, Christopher (13 December 2018). "Morrison government announces new federal anti-corruption commission". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  116. Knaus, Christopher (21 August 2018). "Overwhelming majority of Australians believe federal politicians are corrupt". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  117. Knaus, Christopher (23 January 2019). "Coalition's plan for anti-corruption body a 'sham' set up to protect MPs, former judge says". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  118. Tomevska, Sara (20 December 2018). "'The water is absolutely putrid': 10,000 fish dead in Darling River as water quality declines". ABC News. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  119. Davies, Anne (7 January 2019). "Hundreds of thousands of native fish dead in second Murray-Darling incident". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
  120. Knaus, Christopher (25 January 2019). "Murray-Darling Basin Authority should be broken up, 'damning' report finds". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  121. Davies, Anne; Martin, Lisa (27 January 2019). "Menindee fish kill: another mass death on Darling River 'worse than last time'". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  122. Cox, Lisa (15 February 2019). "'The invisible minister': Melissa Price accused of going missing on the environment". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  123. Barnaby Joyce appointed Special Envoy for drought assistance and recovery; 28 Aug 2018
  124. What do special envoys do and why have Barnaby Joyce and Tony Abbott been given the job?; www.abc.net.au; 30 Aug 2018
  125. McCauley, Dana (26 October 2018). "NDIS funds to be 'repurposed' for drought relief under Morrison plan". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 9 December 2018.
  126. "Queensland bushfires: Palaszczuk blasts Morrison government over land-clearing inquiry". Guardian Australia. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  127. Sloane, Michael (20 February 2019). "Government defeat in the House of Representatives on 12 February 2019" (PDF). Flagpost: Information and research from the Parliamentary Library. Retrieved 3 March 2019. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  128. "Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2018". Parliament of Australia. 17 May 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  129. Murphy, Katharine; Karp, Paul (13 February 2019). "Scott Morrison suffers historic defeat as Labor and crossbench pass medevac bill". The Guardian.
  130. "'Shorten can't be trusted on borders': Morrison's fury after losing asylum medivac vote". SBS News. 13 February 2019.
  131. The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. House of Representatives (13 February 2019). "Home Affairs Legislation Amendment(Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2019. No. , 2019A: Bill for an Act to amend the law relating to migration,custom sand passenger movement charge, and for related purposes (as passed by both houses)" (PDF). Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  132. Grattan, Michelle. "Grattan on Friday: What does "reopening" Christmas Island actually mean and why do it?". The Conversation. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  133. Manne, Robert (2 March 2018). "The myth of the great wave". The Saturday Paper (242). Retrieved 3 March 2019.
  134. Martin, Sarah (4 December 2019). "Medevac repeal bill passes after Jacqui Lambie makes 'secret deal' with Coalition". the Guardian. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  135. Slezak, Michael (26 April 2019). "Controversial uranium mine approved day before election called". ABC News. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  136. "Australia's opposition Labor on track to win election: polls". Reuters. 8 April 2019.
  137. "Coalition and Labor income tax plans compared as federal election looms". ABC News. 4 April 2019.
  138. "Federal election campaign shows major parties divided on income tax cuts, franking credits and negative gearing". ABC News. 13 May 2019.
  139. Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Relief So Working Australians Keep More Of Their Money) Bill 2019
  140. "Coalition's income tax cuts pass Senate in full as Labor backs down". Guardian Australia. 4 July 2019.
  141. Counter-Terrorism (Temporary Exclusion Orders) Bill 2019
  142. "What is a temporary exclusion order? Australia's foreign fighters bill explained". Guardian Australia. 22 July 2019.
  143. "New laws can't stop foreign fighters returning to Australia". 2GB. 26 July 2019.
  144. "How Israel Folau and religious freedom could define Scott Morrison's leadership". ABC News. 27 June 2019.
  145. "Parliament paralysed on laws to prevent religious schools expelling LGBTI students". The Sydney Morning Herald. 6 December 2018.
  146. "Gay teacher law changes will have to wait: PM". SBS News. 6 October 2018.
  147. "Religious discrimination bill: Coalition accused of creating a 'Trojan horse for hate'". Guardian Australia. 30 August 2019.
  148. "Religious discrimination bill gets delayed as PM Scott Morrison announces new draft". ABC News. 30 November 2019.
  149. "What is the Ensuring Integrity Bill, and how will it affect me?". Yahoo Finance. 25 September 2019.
  150. "Federal Government's crackdown on unions rejected by Senate after One Nation sides with Opposition". ABC News. 28 November 2019.
  151. "Why Australia's PM is facing climate anger amid bushfires". BBC News. 20 December 2019.
  152. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6619552/coalition-claims-public-interest-immunity-on-gaetjens-report/
  153. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-16/sports-grants-saga-scott-morrison-will-need-to-change-tack/11965288
  154. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/13/sports-rorts-almost-half-projects-funded-ineligible-audit-office-says
  155. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6649876/prime-ministers-office-exchanged-136-emails-about-sport-rorts/
  156. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-03/govt-added-projects-to-sports-rorts-list-after-calling-election/12019326
  157. https://treasury.gov.au/coronavirus
  158. "Economic Stimulus Package". www.liberal.org.au. 12 March 2020. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  159. Martin, Sarah (12 March 2020). "What the Australian government's $17bn coronavirus stimulus package means for you". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  160. Scott, Jason; Alexandra Veroude, Alexandra (11 March 2020). "Australia Unveils A$17.6 Billion in Stimulus to Combat Virus". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 20 March 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
  161. "Federal Government offers $130b in coronavirus wage subsidies for businesses to pay workers". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 30 March 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  162. "Print Email Facebook Twitter More People urged to go home as lines form around Centrelink offices due to coronavirus, Stuart Robert admits not anticipating MyGov demand". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 25 March 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.