The transfer of the Commonwealth’s astronomy assets, scheduled for Sunday, (CMM Wednesday) can happen. The Senate passed the enabling bill, lunchtime yesterday.

But the chamber did not get around to voting on the Student Loan Sustainability legislation. which reduces the income at which people start repaying their HELP loans to $45 0000, from $52 000, and sets a renewable study debt ceiling of $104 000, $150 000 for medicine, dentistry and vet science students. This wasn’t because the government had lost the crossbench support it needed to pass the bill, word is the numbers were solid yesterday, the Senate just ran out of time.  In part this was because Greens and crossbenchers had a great deal to say Wednesday about the Coalition-Labor agreed foreign interference bill. Yesterday afternoon senators agreed to deal with the security legislation and a dozen other uncontroversial bills before they rose last night for the winter recess. The student loan bill will be back in the next sitting week, commencing August 13 but who knows how crossbench senators will decide to vote then.