Scientists, traditional owners & community call on NSW Premier Berejiklian to withdraw the Water NSW Amendment (Warragamba Dam) Bill 2018 from the NSW Parliament, and that plans to raise Warragamba Dam be taken off the table immediately

Water NSW Amendment Bill 2018 - Proposed Inundation of the Blue Mountains National Park by clarencegirl on Scribd

This Liberal politician thinks the national electorate is composed of gullible fools

Under Labor, the gender pay gap increased from 15.5% to 17.2%. Under our Government it has fallen to 14.5% and heading in right direction #Moretodo.

— Scott Morrison (@ScottMorrisonMP) September 22, 2018

What Australian Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison is failing to point out in that tweet is that these statistics were released by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. 

An Australian Government statutory agency created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 which is a piece of legislation passed during the period that Labor MP Julia Gillard was prime minister.

This Agency is charged with promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces.

The reporting requirements under the Act apply to all non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees. Although smaller employers do not need to report, it is an explicit function of the Agency to provide education and advice to all employers – large and small.

Morrison failed to point out that the 14.5% he is bragging about is a national average, with most states having a lower gender pay gap percentage. Although women living in West Australia have to endure an eye watering 24.9% less in their pay packets than men.

He was also careful to ignore the fact that in November 2014 under an Abbott Coalition Government (in which Morrison was a cabinet minister) the national gender pay gap average was 18.5% - the highest it has ever been.

In addition Morrison neglects to mention that in Australia; The full-time total remuneration gender pay gap based on WGEA data is 22.4%, meaning men working full-time earn nearly $26,527 a year more than women working full-time.

However, what is unforgivable about Scott Morrison's tweet is that the Liberal Party objected to the bill which created the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 and Morrison himself tried to vote the bill down at 16:11 on 18 March 2012 according to Hansard.

Labor calls for Australian Communications Minister Mitch Fifield's resignation and points the finger at the Institute for Public Affairs

MEDIA RELEASE - FIFIELD NOT FIT MINISTER FOR OUR ABC - 28 SEPTEMBER 2018

Scott Morrison needs to act and move Senator Mitch Fifield out of the role of Minister for Communications, with Fifield’s fingerprints all over the political interference scandal at the ABC. Senator Mitch Fifield’s role as minister responsible for the ABC is untenable.

According to reports, Minister Fifield was present at the meeting with Malcolm Turnbull and Justin Milne which prompted the former ABC Chairman to ring former Managing Director Michelle Guthrie and demand the sacking of an ABC journalist.

Minister Fifield has not denied he was present at the meeting, which reportedly left the ABC Chair with the impression a journalist needed to be sacked in order for the ABC to receive government funding.

While Minister Fifield has released a statement denying involvement in staffing matters, it is apparent that Justin Milne was influenced by his meeting with Turnbull and Fifield.

It is the role of the Minister for Communications to act as custodian of the ABC, not as a conduit for Liberal Government interference.

Minister Fifield’s attendance at the meeting that left the ABC Chairman with the impression that an ABC journalist needed to be sacked cannot possibly be consistent with his role as Minister for Communications.

Yesterday Justin Milne resigned his role as ABC Chairman over this political interference scandal, and it is incumbent upon Senator Fifield to now do the same.

Mitch Fifield has a long record of attacking and undermining the ABC:

He is a card-carrying member of the Institute for Public Affairs (IPA) which advocates that the ABC be ‘broken up’ and privatised

He has made a private donation to the IPA, as revealed by answers to Questions on Notice

He addressed the Australian Adam Smith Club in October 2008 stating: “Conservatives have often floated the prospect of privatising the ABC and Australia Post. There is merit in such proposals.”

He was rebuked by former ABC Chairman Jim Spigelman in November 2016 for attempting to influence ABC internal staffing policies

He used the ABC as a bargaining chip in a deal with One Nation in August 2017

He is a serial complainant to the ABC on everything from the date of the Hottest 100 to the content of comedy sketches

He is behind the budget cuts, three bills and two inquiries that form part of the Liberal Government’s latest rounds of attacks on the ABC. 

The ABC doesn’t belong to the Liberals and Mitch Fifield – it belongs to the Australian public.

Fifield must resign or be removed from the role of Minister for Communications before he does any more damage to Australia’s national treasure, the ABC. [my yellow highlighting]

A tale of NSW Liberal politicians & a printing company with no commercial printer

BuzzFeed, 25 September 2018:

In a perfectly manicured cul-de-sac in Bella Vista, a suburb in the Hills district northwest of Sydney’s CBD, a business called Zion Graphics operates out of a mansion.

Run by Rudy Limantono, the president of the Bella Vista Liberal branch and also a party donor, Zion Graphics is the printer of choice for the local federal member of parliament, Alex Hawke…..

Hawke, 41, was recently promoted to the ministry after the latest Liberal leadership spill that saw Morrison take the top job. Hawke is now the special minister of state, responsible for integrity and parliamentarians’ spending, and is Morrison’s representative on the NSW Liberal state executive.

Hawke uses Zion Graphics to print his newsletters, flyers, community surveys, and more…..

Limantono also would not disclose the amount of business Hawke has sent him, claiming “commercial in confidence”. He said that he has been Hawke’s go-to printer “since his election” but would not specify how many years. Hawke was first elected to federal parliament in 2007.

Zion Graphics has no website or Facebook page. The phone number connected to the business is registered at the Limantonos’ family home.

And BuzzFeed News understands the company doesn’t actually own a commercial printer…..

Hills Banners (which recently merged with Bannerworld in Winston Hills) confirmed to BuzzFeed News that it has been printing material for Zion Graphics for at least the last two years.

Hills Banners said it received electronic files (PDFs) from Zion Graphics and would print tens of thousands of copies. Depending on the size of the order, it would take four to seven working days to complete the job.

NSW Liberal sources say that Zion Graphics charges clients a premium rate, then contracts out the actual printing to Hills Banners, which charges much less for the same service, leaving Zion Graphics with a tidy profit.

Limantono did not deny this, but told BuzzFeed News there was no “impropriety”….

BuzzFeed News asked Zion Graphics how much it would cost to print 30,000 newsletters and received a quote for $7,150 + GST. Hills Banners said it would charge $4,000 + GST for the same job.

BuzzFeed, 26 September 2018:

Hawke isn’t the only Liberal politician that uses Zion Graphics. Limantono refused to reveal who his clients were, claiming "commercial in confidence".

But BuzzFeed News has found at least eight other Liberal politicians who have given hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funded business to Limantono.

Federal families and social services minister Paul Fletcher; federal backbencher Julian Leeser; NSW treasurer Dominic Perrottet; NSW minister for mental health, women and ageing Tanya Davies; NSW minister for Western Sydney Stuart Ayres; NSW minister for innovation and better regulation Matt Kean; NSW member for Seven Hills Mark Taylor; and NSW member for Baulkham Hills David Elliott use Zion Graphics to print documents including newsletters, flyers and community surveys.

Tweet of the Week

The absurdity of the appointment of Mr. Abbott to the role of 'envoy' on Indigenous affairs demonstrates the Government's lack of respect for First Nations.
As one of my good friends, an old West Australian man told me:
'We don't need an envoy. We need an Abbott Proof Fence.' pic.twitter.com/sMEi8AocMR

— Patrick Dodson (@SenatorDodson) September 20, 2018

Fran Kelly asked if he supports the #Uluru Statement.
SM: "Yeah, I don't support a third chamber."
FK:"It's not a third chamber, its a representative body."
SM:"But it is though."
FK: "No, it's not."
SM: "Two chambers is enough."
FK: "It's not a chamber of parliament."

— Calla Wahlquist (@callapilla) September 25, 2018

Two Boats: Australian Prime Minister caught out by media

News.com.au, 20 September 2018:

Mr Morrison was the immigration minister who enforced the controversial policy to stop asylum seeker boats reaching Australia.

The Prime Minister addressed the trophy in an interview with the Nine Network on Thursday.

“It was given to me by a mate down in the Shire who runs a sign business. He loved the fact that we did that,” Mr Morrison said.

“It has been sitting in my office, by the way, for about five years. I don’t think that there is anything terribly new about it.”

The Guardian, 22 September 2018:

Scott Morrison gave a model of an asylum-seeker boat emblazoned with the words “We stopped these” to Roman Quaedvlieg as a thank-you gift for his work on the Coalition’s border protection policy, Quaedvlieg has said….

Morrison said his model had been with him for about four years but he did not mention that he had also given out others as gifts….

It’s understood other [boat] trophies were also handed out.

Only one Liberal female federal politician was brave enough to stand up and publicly name an alleged political bully

Image: 9News

This was the Liberal MP for Gilmore Ann Sudmalis according to Hansard on 17 September 2017:

To date NSW Liberal MLC Gareth Ward has not specifically denied Ms. Sudmalis' detailed allegations. 

Instead saying he was "too busy" to have conducted a campaign against Sudmalis, suggesting it was all a case of "sour grapes".

Shoalhaven councillor, Andrew Guile, described her speech as an appalling abuse of parliamentary privilege. 

As is becoming usual for the current Prime Minister, he still refuses to publicly admit there is a culture of bullying in the Liberal Party.

But make no mistake the Liberal Party has mobilised and, Morrison is now making sure that Ann Sudmalis is incapable of anymore spontaneous truth telling over the next five parliamentary sitting weeks, by appointing her as the Coalition member of a two-member Australian delegation to the United Nations until the end of 2018.

After which she will be further neutered by the early December to start of February long parliamentary break and subsequent est. twelve weeks between when Morrison announces the federal election date and the return of the writs in May 2019.

Indeed after her New York sojourn at the United Nations we will probably never hear from Ann Sudmalis again.

Sometime Australian Prime Minister & MP for Cook, Scott Morrison, is the protector of religious freedom? Don't make me laugh

This was Australia’s most recent Liberal prime minister quoted in The Sydney Morning Herald on 17 September 2018:

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will enact "preventative regulation and legislation" to shield freedom of religion from future enemies, giving his strongest hints to date about the government's intentions regarding "religious freedom" laws.

What a load of codswallop, manure, dung, heifers dust, cowpats, meadow cocktails – what ABSOLUTE BULLSH*T!

The Liberal Member for Cook Scott Morrison already knows that the Australian Constitution without qualification guarantees religious freedom in this country at federal level:

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT - SECT 116

Commonwealth not to legislate in respect of religion

                   The Commonwealth shall not make any law for establishing any religion, or for imposing any religious observance, or for prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust under the Commonwealth. [my yellow highlighting]

As the Australian Constitution is the highest source in the land on this issue, one can only suspect that:

a) Scott Morrison has never read the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act (as amended up to 1977); or

b) Scott Morrison is shamelessly pandering to his far-right, ideologically blind & bigoted supporter base, in the hope of being re-elected in 2019.

He appears to forget that Australia has also ratified a number of UN resolutions which directly or indirectly protect religious freedom and these have been upheld by the courts.

While he ignores the fact that Tasmania has had a religious freedom provision written into its state constitution since 1934 and Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, the Northern Territory as well as the ACT have passed legislation prohibiting direct and indirect discrimination on the ground of religion. Only South Australia appears to have no legislation specifically covering religious freedom to date.

Morrison also forgets that whatever legislation he forces through this parliament, or whatever regulations he imposes, can all be undone in the first instance by subsequent federal parliaments and in the second instance by the minister of the day.

If he really wants to genuinely strengthen existing religious freedoms he would call a referendum to change the Australian Constitution.

Even a callow first-year-in-parliament politician knows that when state law is in conflict with federal law it is federal law which usually prevails and, if either is in conflict with the Constitution it will be the Constitution which prevails.

Having well and truly politicised his own faith Morrison may in fact be creating his own "future enemies" - he has all but guaranteed that someone will take his legislation and regulations to the High Court of Australia - where every word, phrase and punctuation mark will be studied closely.

The Morrison Government continues to internally haemorrhage

“On the local scene since the day of winning preselection in 2012, the local, self-determined senior Liberal has been leaking damaging material to the media and having publicity stunts that are completely against federal policy initiatives. And more recently he approached friends asking me to nominate my retirement date and then he'd call off his people.”  [Liberal MP for Gilmore Ann Sudmalis in House of Representatives Hansard, 17 September 2018, p.103]

As a Liberal Party candidate Ann Sudmalis was elected to the House of Representatives for Gilmore, New South Wales, in 2013 and 2016.

At 63 years of age with 5 years of parliamentary service behind her, it now appears the boys club has stack her home branch and attempting to squeeze her out as the Liberal Party’s preferred candidate at the next federal election in 2019.

The NSW boys club's preferred candidate is former Australian Federal Police sergeant, sometime public servant and now real estate agent Grant Schultz (left), son of the former member for Hume Abby Schultz.

This will be the son's second try to become the Liberal candidate for Gilmore and as not uncommon for male Liberal candidates he appears to have a bit of a past.

His mentor NSW Liberal MLC Gareth Ward appears to suffer from a similar image problem.

Ann Sudmalis told parliament on 17 September that; "I endeavoured to hold my decision in private until after the Wentworth byelection. Unfortunately, that is now not possible."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison endeavoured to do likewise.

A policy which was spectacularly unsuccessful....

Illawarra Mercury, 17 September 2018:

Federal Liberal MP Ann Sudmalis will not contest the next election after last ditch pleas by Prime Minister Scott Morrison for her to stay on, failed.

Ms Sudmalis, who holds the southern NSW coastal seat of Gilmore by just 0.7 per cent, has told The Australian Financial Review that she informed Mr Morrison at a meeting on Monday that she was withdrawing her nomination for preselection.

She did so after she lost control of her local federal electoral conference (FEC) when it was stacked by forces aligned to local state Liberal MP Gareth Ward.

While Ms Sudmalis believed she was still likely to win her preselection against challenger Grant Schultz, she said she would have been unable to work with the people stacked into her FEC, many of whom had no campaign experience.

"I can't work with the team there anymore, they don't know the electorate well, they don't know how to campaign."

SBS News, 17 September 2018:

In a statement to her electorate, Ms Sudmalis blamed one of her "state liberal colleagues" for her decision.

"The [Liberal] has been leaking damaging material to the media .. and has been unfair and unethical," she said.

"My decision has been made after six and a half years of holding my pledge to be a team player in the face of NSW Liberal Party bullying, intimidation, leaking and undermining."

ABC News, 18 September 2018:

"I've been contending with undermining and leaks at the local level for five-and-a-half years and it's been a slow, steady, aggravating, annoying process," she said.

In a statement, Ms Sudmalis went even further.

"My decision has been made in the face of NSW Liberal Party bullying, intimidation, leaking and undermining at a local level," she said.

Party insiders say Ms Sudmalis has a "toxic relationship" with New South Wales Liberal MP and party powerbroker Gareth Ward, and believe he has been behind the campaign to unseat her.

She makes reference to an unnamed "local self-determined senior Liberal" who she claims has been "leaking damaging material to the media and holding publicity stunts" that are "unfair and unethical".

But in a statement, Mr Ward said he had "enjoyed" working with Ms Sudmalis on local projects.

"I wish her and her family all the best for their retirement and look forward to working with her successor," he said….

Ms Sudmalis said she wrote to Mr Morrison last week telling him she wanted to withdraw her nomination, but that he refused to open the letter until yesterday.

"When he did open it, he was pretty disappointed," she said….

The Liberal MP said the final straw came when she lost her campaign team the weekend after the change in Liberal leadership.

"My fundraising committee, my campaign committee, my friends were all outvoted at the AGM," she said.

"It means my core group of people who've been my support for six years have been replaced."

Ms Sudmalis was facing a preselection challenge from local real estate agent Grant Schulz and while she believed she could still win, she said she simply "can't work with the team that's there currently".

"It's just ludicrous that these people have been put in this position," she said….

Ms Sudmalis's announcement will not only affect the Coalition's chances at the next election, it will also further reduce the number of women in Liberal Party ranks.

Victorian MP Julia Banks is not recontesting the next election, Queensland MP Jane Prentice lost preselection, South Australian senator Lucy Gichuhi has been relegated to an unwinnable spot on the state's ticket and there is an expectation former foreign minister Julie Bishop may also be stepping down from her blue ribbon seat in Perth.

* Photograph from the South Coast Register.

Prime Minister Shouty McShouty is just being his normal obnoxious self

There has been some advice offered to Australian Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison by mainstream media.

Some journalists are suggesting that he should shout less.

That would be nigh impossible as it would be going against his very nature as the political version of a weekday schoolyard bully and a Sunday self-righteous prig.

Here are videos of his performance in the House of Representatives as Treasurer to demonstrate that he had little volume control even then :

When a prime minster fails to grasp the basics of climate change policy.....

The Australian Prime Minister for Fossil Fuels and Liberal MP for Cook, Scott Morrison, has been repeatedly insisting since he came to office on 24 August 2018 that Australia is on target to meet its Paris Agreement greenhouse gas emissions targets.

Apparently he is telling journalists that “the business-as-usual model gets us there in a canter”.

Business-as-usual of course includes those cuts to climate change mitigation programs Morrison made as federal treasurer - including no further funding for the Abbott Government's Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) which has so far failed to purchase enough abatement to outpace Australia's emissions growth.

Those agencies outside of Morrison's ‘magic circle’ are quite frankly contradicting his prediction of success.......

The COAG Energy Security Council’s Energy Security Board expects that Morrison’s refusal to revive National Energy Guarantee legislation will see the electricity sector “fall short of the emissions reduction target of 26% below 2005 levels”.

According to Dept. of Environment and Energy  total annual emissions for the year to December 2013 fell by 0.8%. No report was issued for the year ending December 2014, however annual emissions rose by 0.4% for the year ending December 2015 and annual emissions for the year to December 2016 rose by 1.4%.

While the Dept. of Environment and Energy's, Quarterly Update of Australia’s National Greenhouse Gas Inventory: December 2017 stated:

Annual emissions for the year to December 2017 are estimated to be 533.7 Mt CO2 -e. This represents a 1.5% increase in emissions when compared with the previous year. Over the year to December 2017, there were increases in emissions from the stationary energy (excluding electricity), transport, fugitive emissions, industrial processes and product use, waste and agriculture sectors. These increases were partially offset by a decline in emissions from the electricity sector. The annual increases in stationary energy (excluding electricity) and fugitive emissions were largely driven by an increase in LNG exports. [my yellow highlighting]

The independent Climate Works Australia reported on 6 September 2018:

Australia is not yet on track to meet its emissions reduction targets under the Paris Agreement but there are many opportunities to still get there, according to new research released today.

The ClimateWorks Australia report, Tracking Progress to net zero emissions, found Australia needed to double its emissions reduction progress to achieve the federal government’s target of 26-28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and triple progress to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The report found Australia’s emissions were 11 per cent below 2005 levels in 2017 but have been steadily increasing since 2013. If Australia sustained the rate of improvement in emissions intensity it had achieved between 2005 and 2013, it could meet the government's 2030 target. But progress has stalled in most sectors and reversed overall. [my yellow highlighting]

Climate Works’ latest report, Tracking progress to net zero emissions: National progress on reducing emissions across the Australian economy and outlook to 2030, was released in September 2018 and although cautiously optimistic it doesn’t suggest that a Morrison Government would be able to just canter towards the commitments given in Paris:

This report uses findings from the Deep Decarbonisation Pathways Project (DDPP) and compares these with the Australian Government's emissions data and projections to examine whether Australia is on track for a net zero pathway and for its first commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. It assesses recent progress since 2005 and the outlook to 2030.

In common with 179 other countries who ratified the Paris Agreement, Australia has committed to keeping global warming well below 2 degrees, aiming to limit warming to 1.5 degrees and to reach net zero emissions. For developed countries like Australia, a 2 degree limit is generally accepted to mean reaching net zero emissions by 2050 – the majority of states and territories have agreed to this goal. Limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees or 1.5 degrees would require an earlier date.

Australia’s current emissions reduction target is 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030. This is less ambitious than the Climate Change Authority’s recommended target range of 45 to 65 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030 for Australia’s contribution to a 2 degree goal (CCA 2015). To make sure the world is on track, all countries in the Paris Agreement have been asked to consider whether their current target is ambitious enough.

We already know Australia can reach net zero emissions by 2050. The Pathways to Deep Decarbonisation in 2050 (DDPP) report (ClimateWorks et al 2014) identified the emissions reductions potential to put Australia on a pathway to net zero in 2050 while the economy continues to grow…

In 2017 Australia’s emissions were around 11 per cent below 2005 levels. This is an increase from their lowest point in 2013. Overall progress was due to strong reductions in the land sector, while emissions rose in most other sectors. Although there were improvements at the whole of economy level and in some sectors, improvements on average were not equivalent to the pathway to net zero emissions by 2050.

Emissions are higher in buildings, industry and transport than they were in 2005. Emissions are lower in the land sector, with the reduction being larger than increases in other sectors. Electricity emissions fell slightly…

There were times of reasonable emissions intensity improvements in industry and buildings but, as with the electricity sector, these improvements then slowed or reversed. This occurred alongside the repeal of the carbon price and related policies. Energy intensity improved in these sectors, suggesting better energy efficiency, but not at the rate needed for net zero. And in industry, some of this improvement was driven by declines in energy-intensive manufacturing….

Without further policies, Australia will not be on track for the net zero pathway or the Government's 2030 target. ClimateWorks’ research previously identified potential emissions reductions on the net zero pathway and this report shows where this potential is not yet being unlocked. The national process of developing Australia’s long term emissions reduction strategy provides an opportunity to unlock this remaining potential and get on track to achieving net zero emissions by 2050, as do similar processes in many state and territory governments. [my yellow highlighting]

Will Dutton face the High Court?

On 23 August 2018 sixty-nine members of the Turnbull Coalition Government voted down a Labor motion to refer the Minister for Home Affairs and MP for Dickson, Peter Dutton, to the Court of Disputed Returns.

Included in this sixty-nine was Peter Dutton himself and most of the forty-five MPs who a day later refused to support Dutton's second leadership bid, as well as some reported to now be keeping their options open concerning referral to the Court. 

It seems that another motion is being prepared and there is no guarantee that the vote would go Dutton's way in a Morrison Coalition Government. 

News.com.au, 15 September 2018:

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has been dealt another legal blow as constitutional law expert Anne Twomey says her advice for his referral to the High Court is "stronger" than ever.

Professor Twomey told The Australian the Solicitor-General's opinion brings up information about funding for the child care centres owned by Mr Dutton's family trust which "raised considerably the risk of disqualification" under section 44 of the constitution.

This new assessment comes after Julie Bishop called for "clarity" over Mr Dutton's eligibility and backed former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull's calls for his referral.

Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen told reporters in Sydney on Saturday that it was "very important" that Mr Dutton be referred.

"I see one of Australia's most eminent constitutional lawyers, Anne Twomey, suggesting today that the case for the reference to the High Court has been increased, is now stronger," he said.

Mr Bowen wouldn't say if and when Labor would make a second attempt to move a motion to refer Mr Dutton to the High Court, only that "we'll keep our options open."

A Labor motion for a referral was defeated by just one vote on August 23.

Ms Bishop hasn't ruled out crossing the floor to support the motion, saying if a vote was called: "I will make up my mind at that time".

Crossbenchers Cathy McGowan and Rebekha Sharkie told The Conversation on Wednesday that they would vote for a referral.

Ms McGowan said, "it should be done quickly and efficiently and effectively and sorted out."

"I think it's taking up a huge amount of space in parliament at the moment," she said."

According to The Saturday Paper, Mr Dutton only absented from one cabinet discussion on child care, despite having regularly declared his family investments.

A spokesperson for Mr Dutton said: "The minister has complied with the Statement of Ministerial Standards and the Cabinet Handbook. Suggestions to the contrary are false".

News.com.au, 15 September 2018:

The Greens are preparing a vote in parliament to check Home Affairs minister's eligibility over questions about his family financial interest in two childcare centres.

A similar motion failed by just one vote on Malcolm Turnbull's second last day as prime minister.

"I have taken advice in relation to my position, which put the question beyond doubt," Mr Dutton told parliament on Thursday.

Section 44 of the constitution disqualifies anyone who has a "direct or indirect pecuniary interest" in any agreement with the Commonwealth.

Childcare centres now get direct funding from the Commonwealth, which is then passed through to parents.

"Every day he continues on in this place there's going to be a huge cloud over him and over the government," Greens leader Richard Di Natale told reporters on Friday.

Greens MP Adam Bandt has been speaking to Liberal MPs about voting to refer Mr Dutton to the High Court, and the Greens believe support is rising.....

At the height of the Liberal leadership crisis, Solicitor General Stephen Donaghue advised he could not categorically determine Mr Dutton's status and only the High Court could.

However Mr Donaghue found on balance Mr Dutton was "not incapable" of sitting as an MP.....

A News Corp report on Friday claimed two government MPs are considering voting with Labor in forcing Mr Dutton to the High Court.

The report understands the rogue MPs are planning to use the threat of crossing the floor to force Mr Morrison to refer Mr Dutton to the High Court.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he won't act on Mr Turnbull's advice.

He's also checking whether Mr Dutton stepped out of cabinet when the childcare funding changes were discussed.

A sign of increasing desperation on Australian Minister for Home Affairs Peter Dutton's part?

After threatening to bring into the House of Representatives files he kept on members of parliament when he Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Minister for Home Affairs and Liberal MP for Dickson Peter Dutton made sure two particular files were very visible on 11 September 2018.

Images found on Twitter

After he quoted from these files the Opposition requested that they be tabled. A request Dutton refused.

The SPEAKER: The memberfor McMahon on a point of order? Mr Bowen: The minister appeared to be quoting from documents in two folders. Could I ask him to table both folders? TheSPEAKER: Does the minister have confidential material with him? Mr DUTTON: Yes.

Watching these files deployed prior to and during Question Time, in what looked suspiciously like a form of visual intimidation, did little to enhance Dutton's defence of his own actions as immigration minister in 2015.