Two Labor MPs sacked as coalition steps up pressure on Albanese over golf club grant
Coalition increased pressure with front bench Tony Pasin asking the Prime Minister to explain the reason for a $6 million grant to a golf club in his electorate, a club of which he is an honorary member.
Before the Prime Minister can begin to respond, the Labor MP Ash Ambihaypahar kicked out of his cell for interfering too much.
Anthony Albanese quite quickly gets to the big clarion call by declaring (as he did this morning) that it was one of three grants given to his constituents, and that the money was intended to stop sewage flowing from the highway into the local Cooks River.
He also claims that he did not know that he had received honorary membership.
People ask me about honorary membership. In 2012 I was informed that I had received honorary membership, someone made a decision. I don’t have a card. I don’t go to the club.
Front bench Aaron Violi then tries to place documents in the house that “clearly show the Prime Minister’s long-standing relationship with Marrickville Golf Club, including the location where he injured himself, suffered a black eye and a broken rib”, but the government blocks the attempt.
When this happens, the Labor MP Alison Byrnes also thrown out of the chamber!
Key events
Australian woman linked to Islamic State denied bail
The Australian wife of an Islamic State militant who says giving birth left her out of support for the terror group has been refused bail by a judge concerned she holds extremist views. AARP reports.
After spending years in a Syrian refugee camp, Zeinab Ahmad was charged with slavery-related offenses and taken into custody upon her return to Australia along with other family members of former Islamic State fighters in May.
She applied for release in the Supreme Court of Victoria, arguing she did not pose a risk to the safety of others.
But the young 31-year-old mother could not convince justice. James Elliott she demonstrated exceptional circumstances and renounced her extremist beliefs.
[Her] extreme ideology in the past combined with extreme cruelty [of IS] means that any associated behavior, including indirect influence on others, has the potential to have disastrous consequences.
I acknowledge that the risk is small, but it is real.
Krishani Dhanji
Thank you so much to everyone who followed today’s blog!
I’ll leave you in very good hands Ahol Arok and I’ll see you here tomorrow bright and early.
TL,DR: This is what happened during questions
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The Coalition had a wide range of issues today, including trust fund taxes, a $6 million grant to Marrickville Golf Club, a home battery reduction scheme and tobacco excise duty.
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Anthony Albanese defended the grant – which was available by invitation only – and said he did not know he was an honorary member.
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Independent Monique Ryan tried her luck to get a more fruitful response from the Prime Minister on transparent merit-based grants, but her mate in the House Sophie Scamps he was eventually kicked out for shouting at the Prime Minister during his response.
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Chris Bowen he was asked about reports that a cheaper home battery scheme had been broken and that some households had received unsafe installations, but he dismissed the claims.
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The rogues and two Labor MPs were kicked out in about the first 25 minutes of questions, but after that everyone seemed to calm down.
Joyce denies calling Hastie a traitor
Barnaby Joyce says he never called Andrew Hastie a traitor and never once said a “bad word” about him.
Hastie, a Liberal MP and SAS veteran, accused Joyce and Pauline Hanson about them being “lying cowards” on News24 earlier today after both had previously denied abuse.
Hanson posted a One Nation cartoon video on social media that called Hastie a “traitor” several times.
Hanson told the Nightly newspaper that she didn’t call Hastie a traitor, but would call him a “jerk.”
Joyce told Guardian Australia he was not aware of the One Nation video.
I never called Mr. Hastie a traitor, nor did I dare even approach such a story about him. I never actually had a bad word to say about him. I spoke out in support of Mr Hastie and his family at a press conference in Canberra this morning. When asked, I noted the fact that Ms Hanson stated that she never called Mr Hastie a traitor. Now this is becoming an obvious fact. A satirical cartoon that made this claim caught my attention. I didn’t see it or realize it.
Time for questions ends
After the final dixer Mark ButlerThe Prime Minister rises to announce QT time.
National MP Michael McCormack goes to the mailbox to try his luck and ask a follow-up question before the QT ends.
Anthony Albanese says he would have asked the opposition a follow-up question if the issue was about funding the golf club, and then jokes:
Tell my constituents what a good local MP they have, Mr Speaker.
The opposition is unimpressed and protests, but then the QT ends.
Attorney General says automated decision-making will have ‘robust safeguards’
Let’s go back to the bench Kate Cheney asks the attorney general when the government will legislate an automated decision-making system that includes safeguards, human oversight and transparency. She says it has been three years since the Royal Commission on Robotics recommended legislation to limit automation in government.
Michelle Rowland says the government is working on a nationwide automated decision-making system.
This framework will include robust safeguards to ensure transparency, human oversight and review rights. The development and operation of these safeguards have been and will continue to be based on extensive consultation.
I can assure the participant that he is working at the right pace. The Albana Government’s approach is forward-looking, enabling Australians to responsibly adopt new technologies, deliver high-quality services more efficiently and prevent the systemic failures identified by the royal commission into robo-debt.
One Nation Coalition ‘led by the nose’ on tobacco excise tax: Butler
Liberal MP Mary Aldred Next up is asking the Prime Minister whether he will cut the tobacco excise tax – yes or no – indicating that he refused to rule it out when asked recently.
Minister of Health, Mark Butlerasks a question instead (which prompts ridicule from the opposition).
Butler claims excise duty was raised by 215% under the previous government, but the money was not spent on law enforcement or public health campaigns.
It uses lines like this to Anthony Albanese enforcement and border control are the focus this morning, and then he decides to strike at the Coalition.
Of course, we are open to other reasonable ideas on how we can fight organized crime without damaging our most important public health campaign. But that is the problem I have with the statements that One Nation made first and then, of course, led by the nose, the Coalition followed.
Labor is considering calls for a nationally agreed definition of affordable housing
Will the Government support a nationally agreed definition of affordable housing so it can be provided for nurses, teachers and other key workers, an Independent MP asks. Nicolette Boele. She says more than 12,000 Australians have signed a petition calling for a national approach.
Treasurer, Jim Chalmers (we answer questions Claire O’Neill today, who is missing) recognizes that all states and territories have different definitions.
Chalmers says the government is aware and looking into the issue.
The Australian Housing Future Fund requires that affordable housing rents be set at a 25% discount from market rents. This is exactly what Huff does, but it varies from state to state and program… [O’Neil] asked the Treasury to undertake work on definitions of affordable housing, including looking at the different definitions and frameworks that are currently in place across Australia, and to see what options we have for greater consistency. We believe this is an important goal.
‘I don’t play golf’: Albanese rejects questions about honorary membership
And we’re back to Marrickville Golf Club’s $6 million grant with the National Championship deputy leader, Darren Chester asking whether the Prime Minister should update his register of interests to include honorary membership since full membership costs $1,100 per year.
Anthony Albanese repeats that he was just told that he “apparently” received honorary membership in 2012 without his knowledge.
He then joked that he did not play golf and would leave this sport to the Deputy Prime Minister. Richard Marles. It’s quite funny because Marles has previously faced some nasty questions about whether he ever used taxpayer-funded RAAF VIP flights to travel to golf courses.
Albanese says he doesn’t even go to the golf course except to walk his dog on it and once attended a dog’s birthday party there.
The thing is, in 2012 they said, “You are an honorary member.” I don’t have a card, I’ve never received anything, I don’t use the amenities, I don’t do anything for it.
Claims of systemic fraud in home battery scheme ‘lies’, says Bowen
National MP Alison Penfold takes the baton from Tehan and asks Chris Bowen in more detail when he “first became aware of the allegations affecting the government’s program to make home batteries cheaper?”
Bowen says there is a committee that provides regular feedback on the scheme, which includes the Clean Energy Regulator.
He says complaints about cheaper home battery installations have halved since the program began.
The opposition is moving quickly to hammer out an order because they want Bowen to say the date he learned of the allegations and security concerns. Speaker Milton Dick agrees and says that the question was very specific.
Bowen says accusations of systemic problems are false:
I started receiving updates on the program… July 1, 2025 and receive them regularly. These updates have shown that the opposition manager’s claims of systemic fraud are untrue and false.