The LNP’s Julian Leeser is now speaking on the motion, calling it a “domestic terrorist crisis” in the country “the sort of which Australia has never experienced”.

He then criticises Labor and the teals (maybe forgetting that it was Allegra Spender who brought this motion)

Leeser:

If you criticize this government, Labor and the Teal say you are politicising the issue. This is despite the fact that Jewish communal leaders, former Labor MPs and Labor Party members, are making the same criticisms that I, the leader of the Opposition and my colleagues are making.

Let me be clear, I will not cop criticism for standing up for my family, my community, or the country I love, in the face of a government that has constantly let down the Jewish community and every law abiding Australian who just wants to live in a country where they are afforded the full protection of the law. Australians want to see this government do all that they can, but the Prime Minister and the government have failed to do all they can, there has been moral equivalence, right from the beginning.

Leeser then brings in the university protests, and the regular street marches which were overwhelming standing against genocide, claiming “Jew haters” were allowed to “run amok on campuses”.

The protests were established in response to the actions of the Israeli military in Gaza, and the West Bank, which multiple credible organisations have established as carrying all the hallmarks of a genocide, an established charge being investigated by the International Criminal Court.

Labor MP Josh Burns is speaking on the motion now and says he will work with anyone to address the issue.

We cannot let anti-Semitism become a partisan issue. It has never existed on a political spectrum. And I say there are things that I disagree with the Liberal Party about, but not this. I will work with anyone, and I have stood with anyone in the past in order to ensure that we present a united voice on this, that we confront this together, that we restore Australia together. And I would urge all members of the House join us in coming together to send the clearest of messages that we will not fight because the fight is not in here, it is for the Jewish people of Australia.

This is personal. I want this to end. I want this all to end. First of all, I can’t I dread of turning on my phone and looking at the news seeing another attack. We want this to be over, so we need to commit ourselves and take on the full responsibility of taking this on and doing whatever is in our power to combat it. We have increased security, we have banned Nazi salutes, we’ve criminalized doxing, we’ve appointed a special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, and over summer, I spent countless hours holding our university Vice Chancellors to account to ensure that students who return to university on day one have a safe place to go, but we need to do more. We are going to work together this week to create new laws to outlaw hate and incitement. We need to protect people from that. Anti-Semitism is a wicked problem. It has existed. It has always been there in Australia, but it’s laid dormant and is always been in the corners of our society. Well, it is not anymore, and it is up to each and every member of this house to stand firmly and strongly, to do whatever is in our power to ensure that Australia is a safe place for the Jewish people, because it is not just the Jewish people who are watching.

The motion, as put forward by Wentworth independent MP Allegra Spender reads:

That this House: 
1) Deplores the appalling and unacceptable rise in antisemitism across Australia – including violent attacks on synagogues, schools, homes, and childcare centres; 

2) Unequivocally condemns antisemitism in all its forms; and

3) Resolves that all parliamentarians will work constructively together to combat the scourge of antisemitism in Australia

The wash up of all of that was, the standing orders are suspended to debate the motion, as put forward by Wentworth MP Allegra Spender, with each MP given five minutes to speak, no amendments to the motion can be made, the question has to be put (voted on) no later than 1.25pm and only a minister can vary those orders.

The debate begins.

The house of reps then moved on to a motion relating to anti-Semitism, which was put forward by independent MP Allegra Spender.

There has been some too-and-fro with parliamentary gamemanship, but Tony Burke is moving that the motion be debated after the matter of public importance (which is the debate immediately after question time) which also puts it out of the main news cycle, occurring too late for the evening news and some print deadlines.

OK, so the parliament is sitting. LNP MP Keith Pitt’s resignation has officially been accepted by the speaker, but there will be no byelection because the general election is so close (which is the same as Bill Shorten’s seat).

We understand preselection is underway in Hinkler (and that the branch looks like making the decision, which is noteworthy in this climate!)

There were also a buttload of bills (the technical term) of bills which have been given royal assent by the Governor-General

You can find that list, here.

Ahhh, the parliament sitting is about to begin in earnest.

Go grab a coffee, or matcha, or whatever takes your fancy while we relocate and then we’ll get underway covering the parliamentary happenings.

Returning to the rah-rah Peter Dutton gave the Coalition troops in the joint party room meeting this morning (the public one with the cameras present – the meeting continued in private) he once again gave some favoured numbers:

When I was Immigration Minister and Home Affairs Minister we cancelled 6,300 visas of people who had committed serious crimes against Australian citizens. The government has dropped the ball in relation to that important issue. I think we need to have a strong approach to keeping our country safe, to making sure that we can stamp out anti-Semitism and we don’t do that by trying to pander to the left and to the Greens.

Not to make this an issue about migration, or to cheerlead for visa cancellations, but it is worth noting that about 95% of those cancellations Dutton brags about, were mandatory – which means that there were breaches (court convictions with minimum 12 month sentences etc) which led to the automatic cancellation of the visas. Which is part of the normal work of the department and happens no matter who is the minister.

So Dutton is taking credit for the work of the department. Kinda funny given he is also banging on about wanting to cut the public service which makes up those departments.

The ABS has released the spending data Grogs previewed a little earlier. Senior economist Matt Grudnoff has taken a look at the figures;

The ABS has released data on monthly household spending. It shows a small uptick of 0.4% for the month. While this is encouraging, it comes after months of data showing households are struggling. This is consistent with yesterday’s retail trade figures for the December quarter, which showed an increase in volume terms. But this is an increase from a very low base. If you look at the last two and half years, the volume of retail sales has gone backwards.

What does this mean for interest rates? The inflation rate continues to come down with headline inflation now well and truly in the RBA’s target band. Almost everyone now expects the RBA to cut rates at its meeting later this month.

The ABS data continues to show that households have been smashed. The RBA has run out of excuses not to cut rates.

Ok, Grogs is back in bed. Good.

Let’s check in on the US, where AAP reports a new energy secretary has been confirmed:

The US Senate has confirmed Chris Wright, a fracking executive, to be President Donald Trump’s energy secretary.

The vote was 59-38.

Wright, 60, the CEO of Liberty Energy since 2011 has said he will step down from the company once confirmed. 

He wrote in a Liberty report last year he believes human-caused climate change is real, but that its hazards are “distant and uncertain.” He has also said top-down governmental policies to curb it are destined to fail.

Wright will be in charge of an agency that has about a $US50 billion ($A81 billion) budget with about half of that going to maintain the country’s nuclear weapons stockpile.

He will also be in charge of the department’s 17 national labs that cover everything from research fusion energy to super-computing.

The centrepiece of Trump’s energy policy is “drill, baby, drill,” and he has pledged to dismantle what he calls Democrats’ “green new scam” in favour of boosting production of fossil fuels such as oil, natural gas and coal that emit planet-warming greenhouse gases.

Oh good. What could go wrong? It’s not as if Australia would ever put a gas executive in charge of an energy policy….oh wait. We did that with Morrison. Carry on.