Welcome to our live politics blog, where you can follow all the latest news from Canberra.

2:50pm

Mr Shorten gets some laughs from his own side of the House with a riff on Malcolm Turnbull.

“The conservatives see the invisible hand of Malcolm Bligh Turnbull in every decision. Like this Tiberius with a Twitter handle,” he says.

“He must be wondering how come he never had this kind of mythical influence when he was the prime minister of Australia.”

Meanwhile, the government benches are busily ignoring Mr Shorten’s speech. Many MPs have suddenly discovered something very interesting to read on their phones.

2:45pm

Oooh, a stunt.

Mr Shorten moves for standing orders to be suspended for a vote calling on “this ramshackle, reactionary government to stop fighting itself and start focusing on the needs of the Australian people”.

He reels off a big list of the government’s sins.

“This is a government which has simply ceased to govern. Not only have they given up governing, they’ve given up pretending to govern. They have no agenda and no legislation. They’re just swept along by the currents of hate and division in the river which is the Coalition ranks,” he says.

2:40pm

Tony Burke suggests Mr Morrison is scared of more MPs defecting.

“Is this why the Prime Minister has a policy to have a part-time parliament? Because he can’t bear the consequences of having all the members of the government in the one place at the same time?”

“It’s all about politics and smear,” the Prime Minister says.

“The Labor Party doesn’t come in here and talk about policies that make the economy stronger.

“They just come in here and think all they have to do, full of hubris, full of arrogance, full of the swagger, full of the swagger that you’re used to seeing with the cocky union militant official walking on to the site, walking up to a small business owner and telling them how it’s gonna be.

“That’s what the Labor Party are proposing for the Australian people. They’re swaggering around electorates all around the country and they’re going to be changing it all, changing it all, Mr Speaker, if they get the opportunity to win the next election.”

2:35pm

Kerryn Phelps, with her first ever quesiton, asks about the My Health Record, and the risk of patients’ data being monetised.

“Will the Prime Minister guarantee to provide the business case for the My Health Record database to this House in this sitting fortnight? This will be the final opportunity before the opt-out period ends on 31 January 2019, and Australians need to be assured about the true intentions of this program,” Dr Phelps says.

Sitting behind her, nodding along with her question, is the now former Liberal MP Julia Banks.

Health Minister Greg Hunt starts his answer by congratulating Dr Phelps on her victory in Wentworth.

“In relation to the My Health Record, legislation was passed unanimously through this House this week, on Monday, and I am very happy to inform that that included a guarantee that My Health Record would be in public ownership forever. There is no scope for revenue, there is no revenue which will be raised,” he says.

“So I’m happy to provide a guarantee that there is no capacity, there is no projection, and there is no revenue that is anticipated. I am also happy to provide the very documents which she is seeking.”

Kerryn Phelps asking her question.

Kerryn Phelps asking her question.Source:Supplied

2:30pm

Tanya Plibersek brings up this tweet from Malcolm Turnbull.

“Does the Prime Minister agree with Malcolm Turnbull? How does the Prime Minister explain to his international counterparts why Malcolm Turnbull is no longer the prime minister?” she asks.

“I agree with Malcolm Turnbull when he says that the leader of the Labor Party is the biggest risk to the Australian economy. That’s what I agree with Malcolm Turnbull on, and have for many, many years,” Mr Morrison says.

2:23pm

Bill Shorten gets the next go.

“This Prime Minister has spent two years voting against a banking royal commission 26 times. Spent three years trying to give the big banks a $17 billion tax handout. And last night voted against tougher 15-year jail sentences for corporate criminals, whilst at the same time cutting billions from schools and hospitals. Why does the Prime Minister put big banks ahead of schools and hospitals?” he asks.

“Why does the leader of the Labor Party lie all the time?” Mr Morrison says.

The Speaker quickly jumps in, taking issue with the word “lie”.

“No, the Prime Minister needs to withdraw that,” he says.

Mr Morrison rephrases to say the same thing more politely, accusing Labor of “misrepresenting the truth”.

“It’s the Literary Awards next week here in this chamber, and the Labor Party’s

policies will be making an entry in the fiction condition.”

2:15pm

Clare O’Neil gets the first question. She accuses the government of sticking up for the big banks and “the top end of town”.

Mr Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg say Labor failed to increase the penalties for misconduct when it was in government.

Within about 20 seconds, Speaker Tony Smith has to deliver his usual lecture about interjections.

“It’s not only disruptive, it’s demeaning to the House,” he said.

“It doesn’t have to be loud all the time or rude all the time, and some of the personal abuse that’s coming out.

“I’m just giving fair warning. I’m going to deal with it. I really am.”

2:05pm

Before Question Time starts, the leaders are making statements on the Queensland bushfires.

“Please take the advice you are given. You can rebuild a home, but you cannot rebuild a lost family,” Scott Morrison tells residents.

1:50pm

Here is Cory Bernardi again responding to the Greens’ claims about personal and sexist abuse in the Senate.

1:45pm

We are 15 minutes away from the last Question Time of the week. How exciting.

1:30pm

Scott Morrison has spoken to reporters, reiterating his focus on the government’s economic management.

“A strong economy is what guarantees the essentials that Australians rely on and we have the runs on the board,” Mr Morrison said.

“We know how to manage money in the Liberal and National government.

“The next election will be about who can run that strong economy to deliver the essential services that Australians rely on.”

Mr Morrison and Finance Minister Mathias Cormann are flying to Argentina for the G20 Summit later today.

1:15pm

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young has written for Junkee, talking about what it’s like to be a woman in parliament.

“Some days I just don’t want to go to work. I’ve got the best job in the world. As a politician I work in one of the most privileged workplaces in the country, and I get paid well for it. But some days I just want to hide,” she says.

“On these days, the idea of having to be in the same room as some of my male colleagues makes my stomach turn. The sexist put downs, innuendo and bullying while I’m trying to do my job means some days I just don’t feel up to it. Often it is easier to ignore the slurs and stay silent, let the bullies have their fun, shut up and not make a fuss.”

She refers to the incident in the Senate chamber on Tuesday, when LNP Senator Barry O’Sullivan made a crude joke about her and sparked a furious reaction from Richard Di Natale, who was subsequently suspended from the Senate for the rest of the day.

“On Tuesday, I had enough. I was angry. I was angry because I am sick of being targeted by some men in my workplace who, rather than debating ideas with policies, reason and fact, resort to personal insults and sexualised taunts,” she writes.

“For years I have sat silent and tried not to wince while taunts of men’s names, who I supposedly have had sex with, are whispered or shouted across the room at me, designed to shake me, hit me like bullets and throw me off my game.”

Yesterday we spoke to three of the Senators Ms Hanson-Young has accused. You can read what they had to say here.

12:50pm

Penny Wong’s amendment to stop schools from discriminating against students based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status has been introduced, and will face a vote on Monday.

Debate on the amendment will start later today.

12:30pm

Those Senate Budget estimates we mentioned earlier will be held on April 4 and 5, and April 8-11.

Stick that in your diary.

12:25pm

Mehreen Faruqi has followed up her fiery speech in the Senate with a tweetstorm against Labor and the government.

She says Labor is being “disgusting and cowardly”.

12:15pm

Bob Katter is not going to support Kerryn Phelps’ push to get asylum seeker children and their families off Nauru.

“These people are not refugees,” he told Sky News.

“They are not feeling from, they are fleeing to.”

Remember, Dr Phelps needs an absolute majority of 76, so Mr Katter’s opposition is a heavy blow.

Another, very real quote from Mr Katter: “I am a very mad, crazy and wild person and I’m proud of that.”

12:00pm

Academics Andrew Stewart, Jim Stanford and Tess Hardy have written an article for The Conversation outlining five steps to improve Australia’s wage growth.

They say the country is currently experiencing “the slowest sustained rate of wage growth since the 1930s Great Depression”.

These are their five ideas to fix it:

• End active wage suppression by governments;

• Revitalise collective bargaining;

• Strengthen minimum wage regulations;

• Address the “fissuring of work;

• Improve complaince with minimum wage laws.

You can read about their recommendations in more detail here.

11:50pm

The chances of legislation for a national integrity commission being passed by the end of the year - which in parliamentary terms is the end of next week - look pretty slim.

Labor has resisted a push by the Greens to debate the matter in the Senate, preferring to refer the bill to a committee. That will delay any real progress until early next year.

11:30am

Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi has ripped into Labor for joining with the government to make new migrants wait longer to be eligible for the Newstart Allowance.

For Ms Faruqi, the argument is personal.

“I know the human cost of measures like this firshand, and their impact on people,” she said.

The Senator spoke about her own experience as a new migrant in Australia in 1992. Both she and her husband were engineers, but found themselves unable to get jobs.

“We applied for hundreds of jobs and never got a look in,” she said.

“While no one would give us a job, the support system in Australia at that time did recognise that migrants do need financial assistance to survive, and we were provided this assistance. That was the only way we could survive for the first few months in a new country where we hardly knew anyone.

“It’s pretty rich of Labor to stand here and tell us we don’t understand the complexities. Well you know what, mate, I’ve lived the complexity. So don’t dare come in here and preach to me.”

11:15am

A group of crossbenchers, led by Kerryn Phelps, Andrew Wilkie, Adam Bandt and Derryn Hinch, has just held a press conference to talk about asylum seekers.

Dr Phelps will introduce a bill to parliament next week in an effort to get children and their families off Nauru.

“This is something that is urgent. This is something that cannot wait until next year,” she said.

“This is a humanitarian crisis. It’s a medical solution, not a political solution.

“As a doctor I can’t go on seeing people, knowing people are suffering on Australia’s watch in indefinite offshore detention.”

Dr Phelps said she “can’t see a reasonable argument” against her proposal and wants to see the House rise above party politics.

“This is genuinely a humanitarian crisis. This is exactly the sort of thing that should trump all other business,” Mr Wilkie added.

“All we can do is appeal to our parliamentary colleagues.”

Dr Phelps will need to secure an absolute majority of 76 votes to bring on the debate on her bill. That means she needs to pilfer a vote from the Coalition.

10:50am

The revelation that Malcolm Turnbull has been in regular contact with his successor in Wentworth, Kerryn Phelps, has fed speculation he had a hand in Julia Banks’ decision to quit the government and move to the crossbench.

One of the Liberal Party sources quoted in The Australian’s report said Mr Turnbull’s “hands are all over the Julia Banks” resignation.

Dr Phelps has already confirmed she knew about Ms Banks’ intentions beforehand. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, meanwhile, did not.

But Dr Phelps could not shed any light on whether Ms Banks had been in contact with Mr Turnbull.

“You’d have to ask Julia about that. Who she had conversations with is really a matter for her,” she said this morning.

We tried to ask Ms Banks, but her office told us she is not doing media at the moment.

Mr Turnbull himself has not addressed the theory, but he has commented on the report more generally, implying his critics are suffering from “paranoia”.

Julia Banks. Picture: Getty

Julia Banks. Picture: GettySource:Getty Images

10:30am

The Australia Institute has released the results of a survey asking Australians which political figures they have actually heard of.

Interestingly, more people (82 per cent) recognise Julie Bishop, who is now a backbencher, than the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison (75 per cent).

Full marks to the 19 per cent of you who know who Matthew Canavan is.

Peter Dutton and Christopher Pyne occupy third and fourth place. Picture: Australia Institute

Peter Dutton and Christopher Pyne occupy third and fourth place. Picture: Australia InstituteSource:Supplied

10:20am

Craig Kelly is still wearing the T-shirt.

10:00am

The government has suffered a mildly embarrassing defeat in the Senate, with Labor succeeding in fiddling with next year’s sitting calendar. The details have yet to be worked out, but essentially, it wants to schedule Budget estimates hearings on April 4 and 5.

The Coalition had scheduled them for May, when everyone will be rather busy with that whole election thing.

There is more stuff happening in the Senate today as well.

Around midday, Penny Wong will introduce legislation to stop schools from discriminating against students based on their sexual orientation, gender identity or intersex status.

She is hoping to start debate on the legislation today and vote on it by Monday.

Penny Wong. Picture: AAP/Lukas Coch

Penny Wong. Picture: AAP/Lukas CochSource:AAP

9:40am

Labor’s Claire O’Neil has taken quite a swing at Kelly O’Dwyer for suggesting the government is “the natural government for Australian women”.

“Hearing Kelly O’Dwyer stand up in parliament and say that the Liberal Party is the natural home of Australian women was one of the most ridiculous statements that has ever been made in the Australian parliament,” Ms O’Neil said.

“Particularly on a day after one of their own female MPs told us that she got bullied out of her own party by people who don’t want to see women in the Liberal Party. It is absolutely ridiculous.”

9:25am

Kerryn Phelps just addressed the report that she has been in regular contact with Malcolm Turnbull.

“Of course I have. Malcolm Turnbull is the former member for Wentworth and he has been very keen to ensure there is an orderly handover,” Dr Phelps told Sky News.

“We just talked about how best to transiition the electorate office over.”

She confirmed Mr Turnbull had allowed his staff to “come in and do a handover" to Ms Phelps’ staff. She denied having discussed anything other than electorate matters with the former prime minister.

“No, not really. You know obviously, people have conversations about what’s going on in the electorate and things that are of local importance,” she said.

“Nothing about Julia Banks?” Dr Phelps was asked.

“No. No, no,” she replied.

Some Liberals suspect Mr Turnbull had a hand in Ms Banks’ defection to the crossbench.

“You’d have to ask Julia about that. Who she had conversations with is really a matter for her,” Dr Phelps said.

Kerryn Phelps. Picture: Gary Ramage

Kerryn Phelps. Picture: Gary RamageSource:News Corp Australia

9:10am

The preselection snub of Liberal Senator Jim Molan, who was given a practically unwinnable place on his party’s ticket, has been overshadowed by all the other drama happening this week.

But Mr Molan is clearly feeling hard done by.

He has shared a “fantastic” opinion piece by Greg Sheridan, which rips into the “barking mad decision” to throw him out of parliament.

“Molan looks and sounds like a regular Australian. He is a great figure in our national life, not that I agree with him on everything, but his departure from parliament would be a huge loss of national security experience and capability,” Sheridan writes.

You can read the whole thing here.

9:00am

Here is some more media commentary Malcolm Turnbull will love.

“He’s becoming the man he hates so much, and that is Tony Abbott,” Sky News host Laura Jayes said this morning.

“He is being destructive from without the party, just like Tony Abbott was when he lost the leadership.”

8:50am

Health Minister Greg Hunt is announcing a new strategy to stop the transmission of HIV today.

The government is going to list the medicine Juluca, which works to stop the replication of the HIV virus, on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from December 1, which happens to be World AIDS Day.

It means about 860 people per year will be able to access the medicine, which would otherwise cost them up to $10,800 a year.

Mr Hunt said the move would “put Australia in reach of being one of the first countries in the world to end transmission of HIV”.

“I am proud to say that we are taking decisive action with a range of measure to combat HIV/AIDS in our community,” he said.

8:50am

The Herald Sun has published an explosive poll showing one of the government’s most senior ministers, Kelly O’Dwyer, is at risk of losing her seat at the election.

Labor leads Ms O’Dwyer 53-47 in Higgins, a seat which has previously been held by prime ministers Harold Holt and John Gorton. It was also the seat of Howard government treasurer Peter Costello.

Time to get worried. Picture: AAP

Time to get worried. Picture: AAPSource:AAP

8:40am

Malcolm Turnbull has reacted to a report in The Australian revealing he has been in regular contact with the independent MP who replaced him in Wentworth, Kerryn Phelps.

The newspaper quotes a few agitated Liberal sources. One says the revelation “speaks for itself and confirms everybody’s suspicions” about Mr Turnbull. Another claims he is “consumed by bringing down the government”.

The former prime minister responded on Twitter, implying the sources were suffering from “paranoia”.

Steve Ciobo was just asked about Mr Turnbull on Sky News, and resolutely dodged the question.

“I have no interest in talking about that,” he said.

“If there’s one message we hear from the general public, it’s stop talking about yourselves.”

“Some of your colleagues think Turnbull wants you to lose,” host Kieran Gilbert said.

“The way will win is focusing on what matters to Australians,” Mr Ciobo replied.

He said Australians did not care about “that kind of garbage”.

8:30am

Spotted in the press gallery corridors — Craig Kelly, wearing a T-shirt with Robert Menzies’ face on it.

“Showing where my true loyalties lie,” he said.

Mr Menzies, of course, was the founder of the Liberal Party and Australia’s longest serving prime minister.

Mr Kelly was en route to an interview with Radio National, where he downplayed speculation he is planning to quit the Liberals and run for re-election as an independent.

“I have a contract with the people of Hughes. When I put my name on the ballot paper last year as a Liberal member, I entered a contract to serve Hughes for this term as a Liberal member,” Mr Kelly said.

“I certainly won’t be defecting from the Liberal Party. I am proud to have Scott Morrison as the Prime Minister of this country.”

The suggestion is that Mr Kelly fears losing a preselection battle in his seat, and could quit the party if that happens. Last night he refused to rule that out.

This morning he said he “absolutely” expects to be preselected.

“I actually welcome a preselection contest,” he told Fran Kelly.

“I think it’s good that we all have to put our records on the line.”

Pressed further, he again insisted he had no plans to join the crossbench.

“I haven’t considered that. The other options are to go and coach the Wallabies, given their performance at the moment. Another option is go and be a Tibetan monk and join a monastery.”

Subtle. Picture: Gary Ramage

Subtle. Picture: Gary RamageSource:News Corp Australia

8:15am

Julia Banks still appears to be enjoying herself on the crossbench.