Scott Morrisonīs first summit season as prime minister begins with the Asean gathering in Singapore. All the dayīs events, live 10.45pm GMT The bells have rung for the Senate and itīs back to looking at the GST debate. Or, as the government wants you to call itīs legislation, `making sure every state and territory gets their fair share of GST`.The parentheses in legislation these days is a masterclass in Orwellian language. 10.39pm GMT And as Katharine Murphy reported earlier this week, Shinzo Abe is coming to Australia.Scott Morrison:I am pleased to announce that His Excellency Shinzo Abe, prime minister of Japan, will visit Darwin on 16 November. Japan is a special strategic partner with whom we have a strong and enduring friendship, built on solid economic, security, community and historical ties. It is one of immense progress and opportunity. 10.37pm GMT New Zealand has appointed a new man - or in this case woman - for Canberra. From Winston Peters statement:Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has announced the appointment of Dame Annette King as High Commissioner to Australia. 10.33pm GMT Having a look at what happened last night after I was temporarily cut free from parliamentīs shackles, there was a bit of debate about the governmentīs GST changes.They are going to pass, because Labor is in support, so thatīs not the problem.The thing about the GST distribution is that itīs a win/lose scenario. Giving more to WA must involve giving less to other states, particularly those that are typically overfunded - South Australia and Tasmania, in particular. Itīs time to get real. Instead of trying to keep everyone happy, the government should announce that the distribution of GST will move to a per capita basis over a five-year time frame, for instance, and in the short term those states that lose out would be partly compensated. 10.27pm GMT Well, we knew the signing of the free trade agreement with Indonesia had been delayed.And we knew, even if our government ...
|
