Malcolm Turnbull faces Christmas deadline for double dissolution bills

• 2:06pm

Mr Turnbull is making himself laugh so much he has to take a moment to compose himself.

You will note that Mr Turnbull did not rebut what Mr Baird said.

• 2:04pm

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten asks Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull what he thinks of NSW Premier Mike Baird's comments about negative gearing needing to be reconsidered.

"I think I"ll check what the NSW Premier said," Mr Turnbull says.

"He [Mr Shorten] has a bit of a track record of misrepresentation."

"Any resemblance between what he says and the truth is a coincidence."

• 2:01pm

Question time begins.

• 2:00pm

The Hansard reporters should have fun transcribing that.

• 1:46pm

And here you can see it for yourself:

• 1:41pm

One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts is clucking like a chicken in the Senate.

His point is that Labor senators are behaving like Chicken Little when it comes to industrial relations reform.

I think....

• 1:19pm

You might be aware One Nation leader Pauline Hanson dropped by the Great Barrier Reef at the weekend.

It was a visit that was not without controversy.

The Age's Adam Morton offers some analysis of why her claim that the reef is fine is incorrect.

• 1:04pm

Regular readers will know my love of political memorabilia.

I just received my copy of West Australian Liberal MP Ian Goodenough's 2017 calendar and I'm very happy about it.

• 12:28pm

The Senate is about to get on with its work for the day.

First up - the continued debate about the government's building industry watchdog legislation.

• 12:27pm

A bit of housekeeping.

Annika Smethurst of The Herald Sun has won the 2017 Wallace Brown Award for best young press gallery reporter. Primose Riordan from The Australian Financial Review was highly commended for her work.

Congratulations to both of you.

• 12:25pm

You might like to read a bit more about the reshuffle speculation going around in this piece by political correspondent James Massola.

Attorney-General George Brandis is not the only name being mentioned in dispatches. Defence Minister Marise Payne (who is currently recovering from surgery) and Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion have also been mentioned.

• 11:42am

Ms Landry made what would seem to be a very obvious point - that such comments are very unhelpful to marginal seatholders such as herself.

• 11:41am

Over in the Coalition party room people are getting a bit worried about unity and the perception thereof.

My colleague James Massola reports that Michelle Landry took a swipe at colleagues who do things like threaten to cross the floor if a particular bit of legislation they don't like goes to Parliament (not mentioning any names George Christensen).

• 11:13am

A little while ago my colleague and I were walking past the Great Hall and heard a band playing. We wondered what it was in aid of and who they were. Fortunately that trusty man about the house and Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester was already on the case:

• 11:06am

If you, like me, have memories of rolling down the verdant lawns outside of Parliament house hold onto that memory. An imminent security upgrade means the public's access to the lawns covering the building could soon be out of bounds.

Politicians are muttering many things like 'needing to keep people safe' but even Finance Minister Mathias Cormann thought this morning that "children rolling down the hill isn't a security risk".

• 10:41am on 29 Nov 2016

Let me point you in the direction of a couple of stories that we've not discussed.

A Senate inquiry has found that many of Australia's coal-fired power stations will shut in coming years no matter what the government does, but a national plan will be needed to ensure the lights stay on and price rises are limited while they are replaced with cleaner models.

(You might like to pause and reflect on former prime minister Tony Abbott's theory that the Coalition should make power prices a bigger stick with which to whack Labor.)

And it seems like Labor MP Terri Butler will have to front up to court after a student who says she defamed him rejected Ms Butler's apology.

• 10:33am on 29 Nov 2016

The Senate is planning to sit late tonight and tomorrow. The "we'll-sit-until-Christmas-if-we-have-to" line has not yet been rolled out but there's still time.

• 9:42am on 29 Nov 2016

Well that's enough of that then.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is revving up the Labor caucus in his regular Tuesday morning meeting.

"I don't think that Malcolm Turnbull has the guts to sack the most accident-prone and incompetent minister in an accident prone and incompetent government whilst Parliament sits. But as soon as the Christmas turkey goes in the oven, George Brandis will be cooked," Mr Shorten says. 

(The spirit of Christmas is more of an aspiration than anything else in politics.)

• 9:33am on 29 Nov 2016

Of course there are also questions about the possibility of a reshuffle.

"I have an excellent ministry," Mr Turnbull says.

"I'm delighted with the work my colleagues are doing."

• 9:28am on 29 Nov 2016

Questions are being asked about, you guessed it, the story of the day.

Mr Turnbull says all that needs to be said was covered in Senator Brandis's statement to the Senate yesterday, "which you [Senator Brandis] said was lengthy but I'm sure it was captivating".

"Well, it did attract some attention," Senator Brandis says modestly.