Politics live as Malcolm Turnbull's company tax cuts go before the Senate

Time for me to call it a day. What happened?

• company bosses are in town to do a bit of (very) last minute lobbying on company tax cuts;
• compare this with new unions boss Sally McManus saying the very rich have too much power;
• there is only one sitting day left before the six week pre-budget break and the tax cuts are the government's highest priority;
• question time - again - descended into a debate about character;
• both the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader would like to head into the break having scored some points; and
• former speaker Peter Slipper was in town to unveil an official portrait of himself.

My thanks to Andrew Meares and Alex Ellinghausen for their super work and to you for reading and commenting.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Alex, Andrew and I will be back in the morning. Until then, good night.

The Senate is preparing itself to sit late tomorrow night - and into Friday if necessary - so it can deal with company tax cuts, 18C, some changes to native title and the opposition's private member's bill on penalty rates.

Don't forget that tomorrow is supposed to be the last sitting day before the six week pre-budget break.

And don't forget to follow me on Facebook.

Greens MP Adam Bandt seeks to explain himself (see 2.23 pm post).

"By spruiking more coal-fired power stations, the Prime Minister is knowingly failing to protect Australians against more intense cyclones and the stress is starting to show," Mr Bandt said in a statement.

"Everyone, including the Greens, are thinking of people in Queensland and we are thankful for the work of our emergency services. But we want to make sure that the next cyclone isn't more intense and violent, so we'll continue to hold the Prime Minister to account for his failure to protect the Australian people."

The CEOs said only they had a plan for creating jobs but they could only get started if they had their tax rate lowered.

Contrast this with the message of the ACTU president, Sally McManus, earlier today who said the "very wealthy have too much power".

The government has been dark about the CEOs lack of public support - or lobbying of crossbenchers for that matter - for a policy that would greatly benefit them.

Better late than never.

We'll see how the vote goes.

The Business Council of Australia has finally dragged a few CEOs to Canberra to do a bit of lobbying about company tax cuts. 

It's a shame it's about one minute to midnight on that front by anyhoo.

The heads of Qantas, the Commonwealth Bank, BHP, Wesfarmers and a couple of others have held a press conference to urge senators to vote in favour.

Another red meat question time that doesn't make for particularly edifying viewing.

It's hard to imagine anyone watching that and thinking "hmmm, yup, I'd like to be a part of that".

But it does highlight how focussed Mr Turnbull is on stomping all over Mr Shorten's character. It's worth remembering that although the Coalition might be struggling in the polls, people aren't hugely keen on Mr Shorten as alternative prime minister.

And that's it for question time.

"We are talking about character, conviction and commitment, and the Leader of the  Opposition lacks them all. He wouldn't stand up for anybody apart from himself," Mr Turnbull thunders.

"I've built businesses, I've employed workers, I'm driven to employ more Australians in more jobs in more businesses. And now as Prime Minister, I and all of my government stand up for 
Australians, defending their jobs, securing their future."

"What does the Leader of the Opposition do? He sells them out, just like he sold out the members of the AWU, just like he would sell out Australia if he got to run it like a union."

Mr Turnbull has finished on a high note (if you can finish on a high note when your voice is going): "Throughout my life I have represented many people. I have represented people with lots of money and people with no money. I've represented the battlers and I've represented the big end of town, but the one thing I've always done is I've always done the best, I've always done the best for them, and now I'm representing every Australian and I'm doing the best for them now."

Mr Dreyfus comes back for a third attempt.

Mr Turnbull: "Is the honourable member seriously saying that litigation should not be settled? Is that the briefless barrister's dream?"

(The opposition is pushing Mr Turnbull here hoping for some kind of eruption that works to its advantage.)

Mr Turnbull bites back and attacks Mark Dreyfus, who asked the question, for living outside his electorate.

"He observes it objectively from a great distance," Mr Turnbull.

Well, they do say all politics is personal.

Mr Smith rules out of order a question from the opposition to Mr Turnbull about his role in the collapse of insurance company HIH - still the biggest corporate failure in Australian history.

This is because it refers to the period before Mr Turnbull was an elected representative.

The opposition tries again and gets the same response.

Two government members have been sent out of question time including Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher who is not normally known for being one of question time's showier performers.

Mr Shorten tries an old trick.

"Do you even know what the minimum wage is?" he asks the Prime Minister.

Mr Turnbull does. It's $672.70 he replies.

Mr Turnbull says the question is "contemptible" given Queenslanders are only just beginning to clear up after the cyclone.

Members of the Australian Defence Force are on the ground "ensuring that Australians are safe and that they recovering from this cyclone".

"The honourable member wants to take this occasion to make his own political point," Mr Turnbull says.

He stops short of sending Mr Bandt to the naughty corner.

Greens MP Adam Bandt wants to know why "on the very day Queenslanders were preparing for Cyclone Debbie" the government was talking up the benefits of a new coal fired power station.

"Why do you push policies like burning more coal that will make cyclones more intense?" Mr Bandt asks.

Mr Turnbull has a croaky voice.

"Are you hungover?" workplace spokesman Brendan O'Connor asks the Prime Minister.

It probably wasn't a bright idea to say that right into the microphone at the dispatch box.

Speaker Tony Smith sits him down straightaway.

Question time begins.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten asks Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull about company tax cuts.

Mr Turnbull springs to his feet, alert to his campaign of traducing Mr Shorten's character: "Nothing is more phony than this Leader of the Opposition."

"We have seen him snuggling up to big business....It's doing real business with big business."

A quick update on the Senate before question time.

Debate on the company tax cuts has been adjourned because Senator Xenophon has had a death in the family and is on leave.

Senator Xenophon wants to speak on the issue so the Senate will wait until he returns.

There's not much time left in the day so there will not be a vote on 18C either.