Nationals argue low gun buyback price doesn’t sit well with the constitution

Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie says the first and only deal so far negotiated between the commonwealth and NSW to buy back guns in the wake of the Bondi terror attack might not work with the constitution.

The scheme will give licence holders a fixed compensation fee based on their type of firearm when they surrender it to NSW police.

McKenzie tells the ABC’s AM program that the deal doesn’t take into account the cost of firearm accessories and falls foul of a provision in the constitution that requires fair compensation:

Does a buyback need to be on just terms? Yes, it does. Does it need to ensure that market value is paid to Australians for their own assets? Of course it does. And under the federal constitution, that’s a requirement.

If that sounds a little familiar to you, it’s the same argument Darryl Kerrigan (or rather his more erudite lawyer) made in the film The Castle: that the Commonwealth may acquire property on “just terms”, as set out in section 51(xxxi).

Debate on NDIS legislation begins in the Senate today

The minister for the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS), Jenny McAllister, says she’s confident there is a deal to be reached with the Coalition overhauling the program.

Debate in the Senate will begin today and the government wants the legislation passed this week.

On Friday, the extended Senate inquiry examining the legislation handed down its report.

McAllister tells RN Breakfast:

I’m confident that there is an agreement to be reached here, and I say it for this reason. The Coalition has said publicly that they think that reforming this scheme does matter. They’ve said that they’re up for that task.

Asked whether participants who will no longer be eligible to be on the scheme under the changes will be left high and dry with the states and territories dragging their feet on alternative support, McAllister says everyone will still be able to access help.

We’ve been really clear that we won’t leave people without supports and it’s why we’ve initiated a conversation about foundational supports well before any access changes. We don’t expect any changes to access to the scheme to occur until 2028.

We don’t want to leave people without supports and we don’t want to see people fall between two stools.

Joyce says One Nation are ‘not homophobes’, but won’t be seen at Mardi Gras

One Nation leader Barnaby Joyce says his party are not homophobes, but will absolutely not attend a Mardi Gras event.

Last week Joyce said One Nation was “one of the gayest parties in Australia” after comments surfaced from a failed candidate describing same-sex attraction as a mental illness.

Then Pauline Hanson was asked whether she still held her views from 1996 in when she said she didn’t like the event, and yesterday told News24 she still doesn’t like it. She said she has “no problem” with same sex marriage, but that people should keep their sexuality “behind closed doors”.

Joyce told Sunrise this morning the party is saying that an individual’s sexuality is “their business”.

Everybody’s trying to make us as a pack of homophobes, which we’re not. It’s just ridiculous. And we’re not racist, we’re not homophobes, but we always get these tropes thrown at us …

You can absolutely bet I would not go to the Mardi Gras. But that’s my business, and we just want you to live your own life.