Australia politics live: tears and hugs in parliament as PM says government will reopen thalidomide survivor support program

Prime minister delivers national apology to Australians impacted by thalidomide apology

Anthony Albanese is delivering the national apology to Australians affected by thalidomide.

Today, at long last, Australia will say sorry. I want to acknowledge and welcome all the thalidomide survivors and their families here with us in the parliament.

I extend that same respect to all those watching from afar here with us in spirit, you have been survivors from the day you were born. More than that, you have been advocates, organisers, champions and warriors.

Time and time again, you have summoned remarkable resolve. You have shown an extraordinary strength of character. Yet for so long, parliaments and governments have not proved equal to this or worthy of it. Too often, we have let you down. Today – your presence lifts all of us up.

And together, today we mark an absence too. At the conclusion of these proceedings, we will join in a minute’s silence to remember and honour all those this strategy took from us far too soon.

Because this apology will forever belong to those Australians as well.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese delivers a national apology to all Australians affected by the thalidomide tragedy at Parliament House. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 18.41 EST

Key events

Labor party members from western Sydney have met with several federal MPs to urge the government to call for an “immediate, permanent and just ceasefire” in Gaza.

The 15-strong delegation was led by Suzan Wahhab, the president of Palestinian Christians in Australia, who told reporters at Parliament House a short time ago:

We believe that there’s a humanitarian catastrophe right now that is engulfing the whole of Gaza, and we can’t stay silent and see those people die from starvation, from lack of access to clean water, and lack of access to medicine …We cannot stay silent and see those people die in front of our eyes on TV screens, we will not let that happen. So we are asking every single politician and normal ordinary Australian people to find it your hearts to show mercy and ask your representative for a permanent, immediate ceasefire.

Dr Mohamad Assoum, an infectious diseases epidemiologist and the vice-president of the Labor party’s Auburn-Lidcombe branch, told reporters:

We have doctors operating without anaesthetic, children having to have their limbs amputated because of the utter deterioration of the humanitarian condition in Gaza. International law is very clear, the Geneva Conventions is very clear. The UN is very clear, the WHO are very clear: we need an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

The group said the federal MPs they met included Jason Clare, Andrew Charlton, Linda Burney and Anne Stanley.

Asked if the delegation got any sense MPs were open to demanding a full ceasefire, Assoum said:

We understand that everyone is on the side of human rights. And we do get the inclination that many many politicians in Canberra are seeking a permanent ceasefire as well.

To date the government has signalled it would welcome the extension of the current truce between Israel and Hamas but has said any ceasefire cannot be “one-sided”.

Bill Shorten’s team continues to abuse meme formats. (Evergreen statement)

Queensland Labor senator Anthony Chisholm remembered some of the lessons of campaigning language it seems, after he was asked whether or not the government should be re-considering the stage three tax cuts (as some backbenchers would like to see happen, following ‘feedback’ from their electorates, on the ABC.

Chisholm answered:

That’s not something the government are considering at this time, Greg. I certainly know… it’s not something we are considering.

That little gap there is Chisholm remembering what happens when politicians say things like ‘at this time’ (the immediate response being SO MAYBE AT ANOTHER TIME?!

Chisholm finished all of that answer with:

What I know is… we’ve got great backbenchers who are out and about in their community.

…We know that inflation and cost of living is significant. The [inflation] numbers reported today were encouraging. It’s great. We know it is the central focus of the government in doing what we can but getting the balance right between dividing cost-of-living relief are not adding to that inflation challenge, it’s obviously significant that we think we’re getting the balance right but the Prime Minister and the treasurer have indicated there will be more to do the next budget. I’m sure they will take on board feedback from their great hard-working backbenchers who are out talking to the community and providing that in touch commentary that you’d expect.

Patrick Dodson bids the Senate farewell in a final speech

Readers following politics yesterday will know the father of reconciliation, Patrick Dodson, is bowing out of politics because of ill health. I wrote a piece yesterday marking that departure. You can find that here if you’d like to catch up.

Dodson has given his final speech in the Senate today. It’s fair to say there were few dry eyes in the chamber. Dodson has expressed his disappointment about the defeat of the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum. But he told the Senate the repudiation needed to be a moment of “fresh opportunity” to pursue substantive matters of reconciliation.

This renewed conversation must proceed under a human rights framework, Dodson said today. “We can begin that journey by implementing the United Nations declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples,” he said. Dodson said the other important component of next steps was to help First Nations people “achieve and enjoy economic independence”. He said Indigenous Australians needed to create economic independence by “leveraging up their significant asset bases”.

He said:

We have the opportunity now to approach reconciliation on the basis of justice.

That will strengthen our integrity as a nation. Australians have become more aware of these issues now than they were before the referendum process.

Dodson said the next chapter of reconciliation would be written by the next generation – younger Indigenous leaders and non-Indigenous people – “those with ambition, those with hope, those who love this nation”.

The emotion caught up with him at that point.

I’ll leave it to them.

Dodson said durable reconciliation required healthy country, where the use of resources was balanced “and sacredness is embedded in the landscape”. It also required healthy spirit – strong communities, where people mattered and were valued.

He signed off.

I’ll see you when I see you. Thank you.

Senators replied with a standing ovation.

Updated at 21.53 EST

Closing the Loopholes IR bill passes House

In between all of that, the Closing the Loopholes IR bill has passed the House (which, of course it would, the government controls that) and is on its way to the Senate where negotiations with the crossbench continue.

Tony Burke would like you to know, judging from his press release on the bill’s partial passage through the parliament, that the Coalition voted against it. There are dot points. You get the picture.

Updated at 21.54 EST

We are now 20 minutes out from question time, where there will be more focus on the indefinite detention decision and the coming preventive detention legislation.

So grab what you need to get through it now.

The Greens have continued their advocacy for a permanent ceasefire in the Senate chamber:

Updated at 21.42 EST

Bill Shorten questioned over David Van’s appearance alongside Tanya Plibersek

Continuing on from that earlier press conference with Bill Shorten, one reporter asked the former Labor leader about David Van’s appearance alongside Tanya Plibersek yesterday.

To speed readers up, the environment minister and Van held a joint press conference on Tuesday after the government agreed to the Liberal-turned-independent senators’ amendments on the restoring rivers bill.

Van confirmed on Tuesday the parliamentary workplace inquiry into sexual misconduct allegations made against him, sparked by a referral from his former leader, Peter Dutton, was “an ongoing confidential process”.

A reporter queried Shorten about whether he was comfortable his colleague had “elevated” Van’s status by conducting the joint presser with him given the ongoing inquiry.

Shorten responded:

This is a government who works with, leaving aside Senator Van, we work with, sometimes, the Greens, we’ll work sometimes with One Nation, we will work with the Liberals and the Nats. It’s a democracy and we’ve got to work with the people that the people give us.

The independent senator Lidia Thorpe had alleged Van had acted inappropriately against her in June – a claim he has denied.

Van said in June, upon being stood down from the Liberal party room, that he had been denied a presumption of innocence after multiple inappropriate touching allegations were made against him.

Updated at 21.44 EST

Traditional owners ask for Roper River to be protected from water intensive industries

I missed this in the parliament yesterday (apologies, was a very busy day) but traditional owners from the Northern Territory travelled to Canberra to ask politicians to protect the Roper River from “new water intensive industries in the catchment and to be at the forefront of decision-making for the river”.

Representatives from communities across 20,000km of the NT, which covers the catchment, presented a 13-metre hand-painted cultural map to the parliament and a statement, signed by community members, asking for the river to be protected.

Alawa traditional owner Naomi Wilfred said:

We’ve got so many important springs to protect.

We made that map to show Canberra about the water connection. The threat we’re worrying about is cotton is coming in and I think we’ll have no water left. We want to tell them to stop taking water and start listening to the rightful traditional owners.

We want to see this river protected for our future generations.

There are proposals for the river catchment to be used to help with cotton, fracking and mining industries. Traditional owners saw they have not been properly consulted about the proposals and their cultural knowledge and the aspirations of their communities have not been taken into account.

Updated at 21.46 EST

Jess Rudd has a couple of simple points and she is making them over and over again.

What can be done to improve the early childhood sector now?

Rudd:

We can fix the activity test. We can fix wages so that educators have a wage increase that they can live on. That’s critical if we want to actually get people into the sector or for them to see themselves as having that as a professional career. I think that these are the sorts of things that could be done now, and I really look forward to seeing where this multi-employer bargaining process takes the government because it will be good to see government at the table as a funder of this important economic reform.

Updated at 21.37 EST

Jess Rudd says when it comes to finding the money for the government to act, there also needs to be acknowledgement of the money it can also save:

I am not sitting at Treasury with a calculator. And – so – and I’m really bad at Excel Spreadsheet. I’ve got to put that out there. But what I know is that this is an investment in our future.

If I had to pick one thing to do, it would be this. I would say that ‘cause I’m an advocate in this space.

But I can see what Danielle Wood at the Productivity Commission was saying. She was saying that it would deliver for the economy, that it would deliver for education and it would deliver for equality. Show me another policy that does all of that in one hit? We’re in an inflationary cycle, people are struggling to pay for life. They need two incomes, they can’t afford to get two incomes. Fix it.

Updated at 21.36 EST

Jessica Rudd says childcare pricing needs ‘cop on the beat’

Back at the press club, Jess Rudd was asked about childcare providers who put their prices up in response to the government increasing the childcare subsidy.

She said the Parenthood had heard from countless members about costs increasing and that it is time for the government to intervene in the market:

We need a cop on the beat when it comes to pricing because there are providers who are looking for the opportunity to line their pockets. That’s what happens in a system that has been cobbled together over so many years and is no longer fit for purpose in the 21st century.

I mean, it’s virtually the same system that my mum and dad were dealing with when they were seeking early childcare education for me and I turn 40 next week.

We need reform. We need reform and we need someone to concentrate on what’s happening with prices. And anyone who’s trying to charge in excess of the cap and claim the subsidy needs to be able to demonstrate why they’re doing that.

What are they doing additionally? What is the additional service they’re providing?

These are the things that need to be looked at and I’m looking forward to reading the ACCC’s final report … and also the Productivity Commission report in the middle of next year.

Updated at 21.31 EST

Bill Shorten says national cabinet will discuss potential changes to NDIS funding

Bill Shorten has said the states and territories have received 1,200 pages of supporting information ahead of a national cabinet meeting next week to discuss potential changes to the way the NDIS is funded.

In a press conference on Wednesday, the NDIS minister said the discussions would centre around how the scheme, which supports more than 600,000 Australians with disabilities, would achieve an 8% cost growth cap from 2026.

It’s no secret the scheme is growing faster than was intended and so we and the premiers and the prime minister had set a target of 8%. Now, what we’re doing is putting the meat on the bone of reforms to achieve that 8%.

Shorten said there would be a “long overdue” discussion about what the states and territories can do to support disabled people whose disability is “not so severe they need to be on the NDIS” but will still need to have support services.

The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

It will take years to increase the level of broader disability support around the country outside of the NDIS scheme, Shorten said, but he also flagged there wasn’t “an infinite amount of time” to spend sorting through the issues.

Shorten also flagged the federal government had put out a consultation paper with the states earlier this month on the issue of twin pricing.

Twin pricing enables providers to charge a public price for disability support equipment, such as walking sticks and wheelchairs, and a higher price for those on NDIS packages.

The minister flagged it was planning to release more information about its potential solution next month.

Hopefully, we’ll have more news about that early December about making new laws to outlaw the practice of ripping off people on the NDIS.

Updated at 21.17 EST

Albanese and Dutton meet with thalidomide survivors

Going back to the thalidomide apology, Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have also met with survivors and their families at a special morning tea in Parliament House.

The prime minister, in particular, was in hot demand for survivors wanting a quick chat. About 80 survivors made the trip to Canberra, with family and friends swelling numbers in the Great Hall into the hundreds. The politicians posed for photographs and signed a few autographs with those affected by the thalidomide tragedy – one woman even presented the PM with a straw hat that she had painted for the day – but survivors and their families did have some mixed emotions about the day.

Anthony Albanese signs a national apology document at a morning tea in the Great Hall. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Trish Jackson, a survivor we have spoken to several times in the lead-up to the apology, said the government’s announcement to reopen the support scheme to new entrants (some survivors aren’t officially included in the public program) was “awesome”. But speaking to media outside the hall, Jackson noted her parents were elderly and could not make the trip – adding that she and other survivors would “never forget what they went through”.

Greg Stevens said the apology was “about time”. He described himself as “one of the lucky ones” in the survivors’ cohort but said he and others needed more support beyond what the government had announced – suggesting higher lump sum payments and better help with securing housing.

“Better late than never,” Stevens said.

Peter Dutton and Anne Ruston at the morning tea. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

The former health minister Greg Hunt, who was part of the former Coalition government that extended thalidomide support in 2020, quietly made his way through the crowd too. He declined to speak on the record but spoke warmly with numerous survivors. It was Hunt as health minister who had kickstarted the moves toward an apology and recognition site for survivors.

Albanese announced in his apology speech that the Thalidomide Survivors Support Program would be reopened “to ensure that anyone who may have missed the previous opportunity to apply for support does not miss out on the support they need and deserve” – with payments also being increased through indexation, another reform.

Lisa McManus, leader of the thalidomide survivors group, said she was happy at the recognition and apology but said she was eager to see the fine details of how the support program would be reformed for her fellow survivors.

Updated at 21.11 EST

We’ll dip out of the National Press Club address for a moment to check in on what’s been happening in parliament.

Updated at 21.07 EST

Jessica Rudd says government must ‘stick to its guns’ on early childhood reform

Jess Rudd says policy reform is never easy but she hopes this government sticks to its promises on early childhood reform, despite the challenges:

Political reformers like this prime minister face far more resistance and [require] core strength and agility.

They must stare down their critics and forge a path through to deliver on ambitious agendas.

Even when those critics are their colleagues, who might seek to temper that ambition in favour of political survival.

And I get that. I get that, as an instinct, particularly when you can see that there’s a lot that could be done in a second term, so political survival matters.

I’m lucky to have had a window into these sorts of political dilemmas. It helps me bring empathy to my current role at the Parenthood. But the empathy that I have for policy-makers is trumped by the empathy I have for parents of young children every single day.

And this is why the government must stick to its guns. It must persevere with what I hope will be its legacy. It’s an education reform. It’s an equality reform. It’s an economic reform.

Updated at 21.06 EST

Jessica Rudd says Albanese government’s first term ‘reasonably complicated’

And this government?

Up the hill events have certainly made the life of our 47th parliament and 31st prime minister reasonably complicated.

We are in the throes of an inflationary cycle tabloided up as the cost-of-living crisis.

There are two major wars under way with devastating humanitarian impacts, not to mention the economic ripple effect in this post-pandemic world.

We’ve had umpteen rate rises and a new RBA governor intent on telling us that we still require further belt-tightening in the form of increased mortgage repayments.

This is a harsh sting for all the battlers out there, particularly those with young children, who haven’t seen their wages grow to pay for it all but I’ll get to that.

Updated at 20.56 EST

Jessica Rudd leans on her knowledge of retail politics to speak about what she knows about first-term governments (which was also the topic of her second fiction novel).

First terms are notoriously haunted by the spark and bright ideas of an all too recent and eager opposition desperate to get there but discovering post-election that things are always easier said than done.

The rusty cogs of bureaucracy creak and events at home and abroad always get in the way of delivering services.

Honeymoons are declared over. Polls narrow. And the three years worth of parliamentary sand slips through the hourglass quicker than you can say Yarralumla.

They then screech into their first election campaign with the equally reassuring and sobering knowledge that very few lose government within their first term.

Updated at 20.47 EST