Albo tells caucus to get used to supporting Coalition bills
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- Category: Uncategorised
- Created: Wednesday, 31 July 2019 19:40
- Written by Greg Brown - The Australian
Anthony Albanese has told his MPs to get used to backing flawed legislation as he compared Labor’s position in parliament to that of 2004, when the Howard government held a majority in both houses.
The Opposition Leader used yesterday’s caucus meeting in Canberra to tell Labor MPs the opposition had less power to change or block legislation than under Bill Shorten’s leadership, declaring there was a “conservative majority” in the Senate and most of the government’s agenda would pass the 46th parliament.
Mr Albanese’s warning came as Labor senators Louise Pratt and Kim Carr questioned why the party was supporting the government’s child exploitation bill, despite the legislation including minimum mandatory sentencing, which is against Labor policy.
Labor has supported the government’s income tax package and foreign fighters bill despite opposition to elements of the reforms. “Even though it’s only dawning on people slowly, effectively the government is in a similar position in the Senate now as 2004. And they will get most of their agenda through parliament,” Mr Albanese told caucus.
“We will often be confronted with circumstances where we will vote on an issue which includes measures we agree with and measures we disagree with. That is exactly what happened with tax and it will keep on happening.
“The Green party has not noticed the government has won. All their focus is on us.”
In a break from policy, caucus agreed yesterday to support a Coalition bill that included minimum mandatory sentences of four years’ jail for possessing child abuse material or childlike sex dolls.
Opposition spokeswoman on home affairs Kristina Keneally recommended that caucus back the bill, which creates an offence of failure to report or protect children at risk of child abuse, as well as making it easier to prosecute Australians who abuse children overseas.
The consensus was reached that, while Labor did not support minimum jail sentences, it could not oppose recommendations from the royal commission into child sex abuse — one of the Gillard government’s key legacies.
Six frontbenchers rose to back Senator Keneally, including former Labor leader Bill Shorten, while five backbenchers also spoke at the meeting.
The other frontbenchers who urged the caucus to support the bill were Jason Clare, Clare O’Neil, Joel Fitzgibbon, Mark Dreyfus and Tony Burke, who declared that the bill helped implement the royal commission recommendations.
The bill, introduced into parliament by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton in February, also defines marriages to children under 16 as “forced marriages”. It is expected to be debated when parliament resumes in September.
In the last parliament, Labor tried to stop the government from introducing minimum mandatory sentences for child sex offenders. Former justice spokeswoman Ms O’Neil told parliament in 2017 that minimum mandatory sentences did not work, despite facing government accusations that she was being soft on pedophiles.
Introducing the bill in February, Mr Dutton said the legislation was part of implementing recommendations from the child abuse royal commission.
“In December 2017, the royal commission released its final report, which detailed too many instances of people who had been entrusted with looking after Australia’s children doing too little to protect those children from unimaginable harm,” he said.
