Politics live as Labor puts pressure on the government on same-sex marriage

The maiden speeches are continuing in the lower house, so with a wink (courtesy of Alex Ellinghausen's shutter) and a smile, we will leave you here for today.

What have we learnt?

The Australian Christian Lobby has thanked Bill Shorten for Labor's plebiscite decision - while also criticising Bill Shorten for Labor's plebiscite decision

The High Court rejected the vibe of retired politicians who thought they deserved a little more in entitlements 

Tony Abbott is popular (in the House) again 

The Prime Minister of Singapore is in town

Warren Entsch is now fighting a battle on two fronts 

Stephanie Peatling, Andrew Meares and Alex Ellinghausen will be back with you tomorrow morning, so thank you for reading and have a lovely night. 

The new Labor Member for Oxley - former Brisbane City Councillor Milton Dick - is now giving his first speech in the lower house.

They like me - they really like me!

Or, as Tony Wright describes Tony Abbott's return to his feet

He looked as relieved as a schoolkid who's been excluded from the cool bunch for months...and out of the blue, someone offers to share sandwiches at lunch, or maybe a smoke behind the shelter shed.

"C'mon down," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull motioned to ex-prime minister Tony Abbott. Abbott's grin could very nearly have split the air. He rolled into an "aw shucks" shuffle as he made his way down from the loneliness of the backbench.

From our colleague Adam Gartrell - some movement on entitlements - at least for those no longer in office. 

The Turnbull government has revived plans to abolish the Life Gold Pass - which gives former MPs free business-class travel on the taxpayer - in the wake of a High Court ruling on politicians' perks.

Special Minister of State Scott Ryan says an Abbott government-era bill to kill off the controversial entitlement will be reintroduced to Parliament in the coming weeks, after lapsing at the July election.

The new Liberal Member for the WA electorate of Tangey, Ben Morton, is giving his first speech to the chamber.

Looks like the debate on the same-sex marriage plebiscite will be resumed a little later. 

Our colleague Tony Wright has had a look at why some retired politicians thought they deserved more than they already had in exchange for their public service.  

If you got 10 free flights a year, an annual pension of somewhere between $80,000 and $120,000, plus large bonuses if you happened to be have been anything but a bog-standard backbencher, you'd reckon you'd take your good fortune to a sun-kissed beach somewhere and giggle crazily as you waddled in your board shorts all the way to the nearest ATM and back.

But no. The age of entitlement goes on forever in the minds of some old politicians.

Just a reminder that none of the recommendations from the entitlement review ordered after 'Choppergate' still haven't been implemented.  

From earlier in the day (it seems so long ago) a great shot from Andrew Meares

Senator Nick Xenophon has given a big thumbs up to the High Court's thumbs down to allowing retired politicians bigger pensions and more free travel.

"The High Court's decision today is great news for long suffering taxpayers and a blow to the entitlement mentality that has for so long characterised federal politics," he said in a statement.

"...No one should be surprised that High Court unanimously ruled that amendments to the Superannuation Act and the Life Gold Pass Act and rulings by the Remuneration Tribunal did not constitute the acquisition of property other than on just terms, within the meaning of section 51 of the Constitution. 

"Nor should there be any surprise that the High Court has directed that the four former MPs meet the likely substantial cost of the proceedings.  That too should be a relief for taxpayers."

That's it for question time.

And for me. 

You can follow me on Facebook.

In the meantime, Amy Remeikis is taking over to keep you up to date. Thanks for your company thus far.

Back to the plebiscite and the opposition would like to know if the Prime Minister will allow a conscience vote.

"If they want gay couples to get married, vote for the plebiscite," is Mr Turnbull's response.

"The door is open. The reality is the Labor Party wants to play politics with this issue much more than they want same-sex couples to get married. You're putting politics ahead of the interests of gay couples."

It's a hard life.

The inhabitants of Parliament House just received a memo apologising for the lack of hot chips in the cafeteria today.

The deep fryers broke.

"The Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) apologises for this inconvenience. Urgent maintenance will be carried out on the equipment as soon as possible. In the meantime, DPS is developing a work-around strategy to ensure that IHG are able to provide you with a full menu by lunchtime tomorrow," the email wrote. #firstworldproblems #polilfy

Now seems like a good idea to resurrect this brilliant picture of Mr Abbott's visit to Singapore last year.

Mr Abbott grins.

"It's nice to be popular, Mr Speaker," he observes.

Trade Minister Steve Ciobo dryly begins by noting how nice it is to see such enthusiasm for such an important matter.

He goes on to talk about the importance of trade with Singapore.

The chamber erupts into cheers and standing ovations as Tony Abbott gets to his feet to ask a question.

It's the first time Mr Abbott has stood up in question time since you-know-what-happened last year.

It's about trade, by the way.

The opposition turns to the plebiscite and asks about its possible mental health impacts.

Mr Turnbull says "there will be a minority of small groups that will act intemperately" but that should not prevent the rest of the country from having its say on the matter.

As you would expect the Coalition is making the most of the visit of the Singaporean Prime Minister.

Everyone has just returned from a fancy lunch with the gentleman in question so you would think they would be a good mood.

For the third day in a row, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has begun with a question about Medicare.

It's interesting that Medicare has been a focus of the opposition throughout question time this week. And yet outside the chamber the opposition has been pursuing the plebiscite as the issue du jour. It would suggest that health is a much bigger issue for the opposition's constituents, despite all the focus on the politics of the plebiscite.

Nearly question time.

"We don't yet know to what extent online abuse translates into physical violence. But I am certain the connection is real, that women feel and fear it, and that it is preventing women from standing up and serving in public life," Ms Gillard writes.
 

"Beyond sexism, there are other very real risks that women in public life must face, and I fear those are much greater than they were when I commenced my own journey into public life," Ms Gillard writes.

"As a woman in public life, the violent threats take on another sickening dimension. Threats of violent abuse, of rape, are far too common. A woman in public view may expect to receive them almost daily."

"These voices weaken, ridicule, humiliate and terrify. Not only do they challenge the resolve of the women who cop the abuse, but they deter other women from raising their hand to serve in public life. For all the structural barriers to women's participation in politics, and for all the gender bias and sexism that must be addressed, so too must we challenge and defeat the online abuse."