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RUBY:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Ruby Jones - this is 7am.

Australia’s anti-lockdown movement reached Federal Parliament this week, when a rogue Coalition MP took to the floor to blast public health measures used to limit the spread of Covid-19. The comments highlight growing divisions in the government over Australia’s national approach to the pandemic. Today, columnist for The Saturday Paper Paul Bongiorno on the challenges Scott Morrison is facing from his own side, and why he’s unwilling to openly confront them.

It’s Friday August 13.

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RUBY:

Paul, let’s start by talking about some of the wild scenes in Parliament this week. The anti-lockdown movement found a voice willing to articulate its views in the House of Representatives, so can you tell me about that?

PAUL:

Well, Ruby, just before Question Time, the Queensland Nationals MP George Christensen stood up in the chamber and gave vent to conspiracy theories that are running rampant and undermining the country's efforts to stymie Covid-19.

Archival Tape -- George Christensen

“Lockdown's don't destroy the virus, but they do destroy people's livelihoods and people's lives. Studies have shown they can even increase mortality rates.”

PAUL:

He launched a tirade against the madness of lockdowns, claiming that masks and other public measures do nothing to counter the virus. He then rolled out his own facts, which are not supported by the overwhelming mainstream scientific consensus. He said it's time we stopped spreading fear and acknowledged some facts.

Archival Tape -- George Christensen

“Masks do not work - fact. It has been proven that masks make no significant difference in stopping the spread of Covid-19. Lockdowns don’t work - fact”

PAUL:

‘Masks don't work, in fact’, he said, ‘it has been proven that masks make no significant difference in stopping the spread of Covid-19’. And he added ‘FACT’.

Archival Tape -- George Christensen

“Our posturing politicians, many over there, the sensationalist media elite and the dictatorial medical bureaucrats need to recognise these facts and stop spreading fear.”

PAUL:

He also claimed that what he called sensationalist media elite and the dictatorial medical bureaucrats need to recognise the real facts and stop spreading fear. And theatrically, he ended his rant with a call to arms.

Archival Tape -- George Christensen

“What we should never accept is a systematic removal of our freedoms based on a zero risk health advice from a bunch of unelected medical bureaucrats.”

PAUL:

Open society, back up, restore our freedoms and end this madness, he concluded. Well, then on Wednesday, he went even further.

Archival Tape -- Interviewer

“George Christensen, good morning to you.”

Archival Tape -- George Christensen

“Good morning, Ben. I now know what it's like to be slapped with legislation.”

PAUL:

Appearing on radio 2GB, questioning whether lockdowns would ever end.

Archival Tape -- George Christensen

“My question is, can we get a document signed in blood by all of our political leaders? That says, it doesn't matter whether cases continue and whether hospitalisations continue, we won't have lockdown's anymore.”

PAUL:

And demanding a document signed in blood from politicians promising an end to future lockdowns.

RUBY:

Right, OK. And so how have these comments been received by his colleagues, Paul? Because they're fairly incendiary things to be saying amidst another outbreak. So have others in his party been condemning the statements?

PAUL:

Well, I'm happy to tell you, Ruby, they didn't go down very well. Deputy Nats leader David Littleproud sought to distance himself from Christiansen's statements, saying that his views do not represent the National Party's views. Christiansen's outburst defying Government health advice, well it was certainly a challenge to Morrison's authority. And Labour leader Anthony Albanese seized the opportunity to make sure no one missed it.

Archival Tape -- Anthony Albanese

“The House calls on all members to refrain from making ill informed comments at a time when the pandemic represents a serious threat to the health of Australians.”

PAUL:

He interrupted Question Time, seeking leave to move a motion praising the heroes of the pandemic scientists, doctors, nurses and other health care workers. And Albanese condemned Christensen for spreading misinformation.

Archival Tape -- Anthony Albanese

“This house condemns the comments of the Member for Dawson prior to Question Time, designed to use our National Parliament to spread misinformation and undermine the actions of Australians to defeat Covid.”

RUBY:

OK, and so how did Scott Morrison respond to that, Paul? Because, Christensen, he's part of Scott Morrison's coalition, so there is some responsibility here.

PAUL:

Yeah, well, while the Government usually prevents the suspension of standing orders that Labour used to call for a parliamentary debate, Morrison allowed it this time and tried to use the opportunity to his advantage.

Archival Tape -- Scott Morrison

“But, Mr Speaker, this is what Australians have achieved. More than 30000 lives saved, Mr Speaker.”

PAUL:

The Prime Minister spent a good whack of his time defending his government's response to the pandemic with heavy emphasis on 2020 rather than this year. But he couldn't bring himself to repudiate George Christensen by name. He said if others wanted to undermine the government's job, looking after the health of the nation, it's up to them.

Archival Tape -- Scott Morrison

“That is what we've done, Mr. Speaker, and that's why my government does not support misinformation in any way, shape or form. We do not, Mr. Speaker, that is not the position of the government.”

PAUL:

But the Prime Minister said we do not support misinformation in any way, shape or form. Well, sure. But Morrison certainly supports George remaining on the government's benches. Should Christensen follow fellow Covid conspirator Craig Kelly to the crossbench, the government would be plunged into minority.

Archival Tape -- Interviewer

“Federal Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese joins me on the programme. Good morning, Mate”.

Archival Tape -- Anthony Albanese

“Good morning, Max. Good to be with you.”

PAUL:

Albanese lampooned Morrison for failing to name him

Archival Tape -- Anthony Albanese

“It’s like Voldemort from Harry Potter. He was the person who could not be named. Now, that's not leadership.”

PAUL:

The opposition leader certainly scored a hit with his parliamentary manoeuvre. Ruby, it was only the second time in 25 years that an opposition proposed motion was passed by the House unamended.

RUBY:

Mm hmm. So how significant is this for the internal machinations of the coalition? Paul, does it signal some real discontent? Do you think there is real trouble brewing here between the Nationals and the Liberals, or is this something that you think is likely to blow over?

PAUL:

Well, there is discontent in both the Liberal and National parties on some of the aspects of the pandemic. But depending how you look at it, fortunately for the Coalition, George Christensen has said he won't contest the next election, but he's also said he won't be leaving quietly and announced he's going to start his own news site with Pro-Freedom Information. But that doesn't resolve all the government's problems. As I said, Anthony Albanese, in fact, was expecting Morrison to stick to his usual playbook and shut down the opposition motion. The fact that he didn't is a sure sign that Morrison realises the politics of the pandemic have turned against him.

RUBY:

We'll be back in a moment.

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RUBY:

Paul, Parliament wasn't all about George Christensen and Lockdown's this week, there was also a crucial vote on one of the government's key economic stimulus measures, JobKeeper - that initiative wrapped up earlier this year. So can you tell me about what it was that was up for debate?

PAUL:

Well Ruby, you might remember that JobKeeper ended earlier this year. It was a measure to maintain people's jobs with the same employer and buffer the economy from the nationwide Covid lockdown last year.

Archival Tape -- Scott Morrison

“Today, we are introducing a 1500 dollar per fortnight JobKeeper payment. To keep Australians in their jobs, even when the work may dry up.”

PAUL:

It was in fact the biggest single social safety net programme in Australia's history, costing over 90 billion dollars. Now, while the programme did certainly help keep a lot of people in jobs, it was poorly designed with no transparency. A large number of public companies who access the payments subsequently posted huge profits. Many of those businesses paid out CEO bonuses and dividends to shareholders.

Archival Tape -- Rex Patrick

“Because you cannot rewrite history, Senator Birmingham, we need to go back to what this programme is about. I'm going to read from the ATO website”.

PAUL:

And on Monday, independent Senator Rex Patrick took the Finance Minister, Simon Birmingham, to task over how much money had been wasted as a result of this financial package.

Archival Tape -- Rex Patrick

“So don't you come in here and tell us that it is a build for economic stimulus. Because if you'd come to us during the middle of a pandemic and said, I want to give a whole bunch of companies money, it would not have gotten past this chamber. So please do not rewrite history."

PAUL:

And last week, Patrick successfully amended the government's legislation for a new financial support payment for workers and businesses affected by the latest covid Lockdown's. Now, the amendment would have required the Tax Commissioner to publish the names of all companies who earn more than ten million dollars and who have received JobKeeper and, of course, the amount they've received. This, of course, would reveal to the community which companies profited from the programme.

RUBY:

So what happened to that amendment? Did it pass?

PAUL:

Well, it did originally pass the Senate with the support of Labour, but in the House of Representatives, the Coalition got rid of it. So the original bill went back to the Upper h=House, without Patrick's amendment, Labour changed its position and voted with the government.

RUBY:

Right. Why did they do that?

PAUL:

Ruby, the Patrick amendment was tacked on to a government bill to facilitate increased Covid disaster payments to those in lockdowns in Sydney and Melbourne and wherever they're occurring and governments can do, they said they wouldn't accept the amended bill, which would then delay or stymie urgently needed payments going out to desperate people. Now, the government may have blinked eventually, but there's no doubt Labour would have been blamed for denying this urgent assistance. And Rex Patrick accused Labour of being chicken and standing for nothing. But frankly, his grandstanding was without consequence for him. And Ruby, this happened at the same time as it was revealed the government is chasing 11, 000 welfare recipients for what it describes as JobKeeper overpayments.

RUBY:

So the government is refusing to try and get back any of this money from big businesses. In fact, it won't even identify what those businesses are. But at the same time, it is trying to get money out of welfare recipients who receive JobKeeper, right?

PAUL:

Well, that's right. According to Services Australia, approximately 32 million dollars in debt has been identified, owed by welfare recipients who were the beneficiaries of JobKeeper, and they'll need to pay it back. Ruby, it says a lot about the government's priorities that they're chasing welfare recipients in a process reminiscent of the failed robodebt scheme while letting Gerry Harvey and other billionaires off the hook.

RUBY:

Paul, thank you so much for your time.

PAUL:

Thank you. Ruby, bye.

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RUBY:

Also in the news today...

The ACT has entered a seven day lockdown, after the region recorded one positive case of COVID-19. Authorities said the case - a man in his 20s - had been infectious in the community since Sunday. NSW recorded 345 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases yesterday, there were 21 new cases in Victoria and 10 in Queensland.

And the high court has rejected a bid from the Murugappan family from Biloela to hear an appeal on the protection visa application of the youngest daughter, four-year-old Tharnicaa.

The family says its disappointed with the decision, which they say puts their fate back in the hands of the Immigration Minister Alex Hawke.

7am is a daily show from The Monthly and The Saturday Paper. It’s produced by Elle Marsh, Michelle Macklem, Kara Jensen-Mackinnon and Anu Hasbold. Our senior producer is Ruby Schwartz and our technical producer is Atticus Bastow.

Brian Campeau mixes the show. Our editor is Osman Faruqi. Erik Jensen is our editor-in-chief. Our theme music is by Ned Beckley and Josh Hogan of Envelope Audio.

I’m Ruby Jones - this is 7am - have a great weekend.

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