Politics Live: Senate showdown looms for government's income and company tax cuts

Gallagher has serious backing for that effort. This is what Labor Senate leader Penny Wong told ABC yesterday:

"In terms of preselection for the next election, Bill Shorten has made clear, I have made clear, as have other senior leaders and senior members of the Labor Party both at the territory level and federally, that we want Katy back in the Senate. She is a very important part of our Senate leadership team. As Senate leader, I want her back and I know Bill and others do as well. Obviously, there will be a preselection for the next election."

"We will lose all our heavy industry if we keep going down this path and my worry is that the party room might be asked to back something which is effectively a carbon tax in disguise," he told 2GB. "Now there is no way this government can support anything which is a carbon tax in disguise."

He said manufacturing and heavy industry will die without cheap and reliable power. 

"The government says it's technology-neutral but plainly that's not true," he argued, pointing to the government spending on the Snowy Hydro 2.0 project.

"Plainly, that is a massive intervention in the market. Plainly it's a sign of support for particular technology," he said.

"And this idea that this we've got to let the market. Well, I mean, the market was corrupted a long, long time ago here. And the truth is that political risks means that no ordinary private company is going to build a new coal-fired power station. If we are going to get coal-fowed power stations built in this country today, the government will have to build them. And that's why I say let's get on with it."

Former prime minister Tony Abbott was also asked about it on 2GB and was even more critical.

He said people were sick of "personality cult politics" and expressed concerns about wealthy people buying their way into Parliament.

"We now know what he's like. He's driven every business that he's ever run into the ground. The money he's made has all been made by wheeling and dealing, not by building businesses up from scratch. And the last thing we need is more spivs in the Parliament," Abbott said.

Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek had this to say:

If the Liberals actually care about a fairer tax system, they should vote with Labor and others in the Senate today to abolish the tampon tax.

It’s time this arrogant and out of touch Prime Minister gave women a tax cut, instead of his mates at the big banks.

Read more on that here. 

The Liberals talk about doing more for women, but never do – today Malcolm Turnbull has a chance to change that.

Or does Mr Turnbull agree with Tony Abbott, who says scrapping the tampon tax is a “politically correct mistake”?

Or does he agree with his Liberal colleague Stuart Robert that it’s more important to abolish the GST on superyachts than on tampons and pads?

Malcolm Turnbull reckons the tax system is gender neutral, but tampons are taxed, while Viagra isn’t.

Back in April, Labor announced that we would end Australia’s unfair and discriminatory tampon tax by partnering with the states and territories to remove the GST on women’s sanitary products.

Scrapping the tampon tax will make sanitary products more affordable – but just as importantly, it will be an important step forward in gender equity.

The tampon tax is a tax on women.

Australian women spend around $300 million on sanitary products – tampons and pads – each year.

Currently, every single one of these products is hit with the 10 per cent GST – around $30 million a year in tax – because they are not considered necessities.

At the same time, products such as incontinence pads, sunscreen and nicotine patches are exempt from the tax.

The tax shouldn’t have been applied in the first place – there is no question that sanitary products aren’t a luxury item. They are necessary for reproductive health and hygiene.

Read more on that here. 

An update on the NEG last Friday offered new details to keep MPs on edge, setting up another chance for conservatives to push back against Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg on the ambition to reduce carbon emissions.

Frydenberg also faces demands from the left that the NEG be amended or replaced to set a bigger ambition to cut emissions and help renewables.

Read the full piece here. 

The seven-year, three-stage income tax package is the main game. But a showdown looms. While the government insists it will not split up the package, Labor and other are resisting pressure to back all three stages. 

Here are the top stories in politics this morning:

My name is Fergus Hunter – you can find me on Facebook here and Twitter here. Photos today will be from Alex Ellinghausen. He's on Twitter here.