On that note, time for me to wrap up. What happened?
- today was all about penalty rates;
- and opinion polls;
- Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull all but said the government would accept the Fair Work Commission's determination;
- but he tried to suggest this was all Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's fault for setting up the commission's reference a gazillion years ago;
- whether anyone outside the Coalition buys this argument is another matter;
- and we still do not know how much the new fence around Parliament House will cost.
My eternal thanks to Andrew Meares and Alex Ellinghausen and to you for reading and commenting.
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Andrew, Alex and I will be back in the morning. Hope to see you then.
Senator Brandis is currently appearing before the Finance and Public Administration committee where he is doing his best not to reveal how much it costs to allow Mr Turnbull to live in his own house rather than Kirribilli House (or, indeed, The Lodge).
He's going to take the requests for information on notice.
Labor, the Greens and independents Derryn Hinch and Nick Xenophon have written to Senator Brandis asking him to provide further information about his involvement in the matter (this follows a report on the ABC's 7.30 last week which suggested Senator Brandis knew more about the matter than he has previously revealed).
Labor did the same thing last year which resulted in Senator Brandis coming into the Senate to make an explanation.
The same thing could happen tomorrow.
Either way, stay tuned.
Attorney-General Brandis's life is flashing before he dies.
The Bell litigation matter is back.
While we were in question time, Adam Gartrell was writing this story about one of the government's most recent appointments to the board of the ABC.
And yet the government appointed her anyway.
Question time has ended.
Mr Turnbull and Mr Shorten are making some remarks about the plane crash near Melbourne's Essendon Airport last week.
And that's it in a nutshell, the grab that will make it to the nightly news.
Mr Shorten wants to know why Mr Turnbull wants to give big business a tax cut while also cutting the income of low paid workers.
Mr Turnbull cannot say other than to accuse Mr Shorten of being unable to hold a position today that is not a "180 degree turn" on a position he held last year.
Labor tries again this time asking Mr Turnbull if he can assure people like nurses that they will not be affected by future decision on penalty rates.
Mr Turnbull is annoyed saying Catherine King, who asked the question, knows very well that the determination "does not affect any awards other than those dealt with in the decision".
Deputy Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek asks Mr Turnbull what impact the penalty rates decision will have on the gender pay gap (given more women work in the relevant industries).
Mr Turnbull notes that more women work in areas such as retail and hospitality but says there is not yet any clear evidence that they would be more likely to be affected by the decision.
Ran the Tokyo marathon in 2 hours, 42 minutes and 48 seconds at the weekend.
Jogs into question time today.
Back to topThe Greens' Adam Bandt has a go prefacing his question with the assertion that young people "are getting screwed over".
Speaker Tony Smith counsels Mr Bandt against such language because it is "unsavoury".
Labor raises the point that Mr Turnbull has intervened in previous workplace matters such as the Victorian Country Fire Authority and the truckies affected by the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal.
Why won't he do so now, it asks.
"The foundation of the industrial relations in Australia has been an independent umpire," Mr Turnbull says.
Labor continues on the penalty rates front.
Mr Turnbull to talk about Mr Shorten rather than the issue.
This is going to be painful.
"The Prime Minister should stop worrying about me," Mr Shorten says as he seeks to make a point of order.
Sooner or later the Turnbull government is going to have to say if it is going to act on the commission's recommendation.
We begin with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten asking Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull about penalty rates.
I don't think Mr Turnbull can continue to just accuse Mr Shorten of being a hypocrite. The Prime Minister is going to have to say something about the decision itself.
What is he going to do about, is the issue.
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Question time - now just minutes away.
To save you asking later - the livestream is not available today for reasons beyond my ken.
You can catch up on Mr Turnbull's thoughts on why the Coalition received some bad opinion poll figures this morning in this story.
Good grief.
Former minister Eric Abetz has put out a statement on the supposed poor treatment of Aussies.
He has accused the Department of Parliamentary Services of "bully-boy tactics" and trying to "fleece" the small business.
"This is another regrettable classic case of big government bureaucracy unnecessarily burdening small business," Senator Abetz said.
The elephant in the room.
Back on the fence for a moment and Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young would like to know how much the fence is going to cost.
Senator Parry says releasing the information might be a security risk but he could possibly arrange to distribute it among senators privately at a later date.
He says people who would seek to do harm to Parliament House might use the figure in their planning.
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