The Two Weeks that Were – September 15 to September 28

The previous fortnight saw a new government sworn in.

Tony Abbott is now officially Australia’s Prime Minister, and there is only one woman in his cabinet. People aren’t impressed. Among them Liberal Party MPs and Ita Buttrose. The defence is that they are being chosen for their merit, but that has to be a bit of an insult to women, implying that none of them have the merit to be a cabinet minister. The swearing-in was relatively normal, with Tony Abbott’s family watching on proudly.

As promised the government went straight to work, sacking public servants and getting rid of the Climate Commission, which recently restarted itself as a community-funded NGO.

We’ve also not been told that much about asylum seeker boats, only once a week. That’s lead to accusations of “hiding the boats” from the opposition. While in New York for the UN General Assembly, the Indonesian Foreign Minister made it very clear that he was not going to accept a policy that encroached on Indonesian sovereignty. An Indonesian MP says it’s illegal – ABC’s FactCheck took a look, you can see it here.

Julie Bishop had her first big engagement as Foreign Minister. At the UN she met with many Foreign Ministers and she condemned the Westgate Mall attack in Kenya. She did really well and didn’t screw up, which is always good.

Tony Abbott and Julie Bishop are due in Indonesia on Monday.

Tweet of the Fortnight

.@havyatt @MaddattoHenry After 18 hours my upload toYouTube is one-quarter complete. Who needs NBN when we have a perfectly good system?

— Craig Emerson (@DrCraigEmerson) September 21, 2013

Faux Pas of the Fortnight

Apparently, this was a typo…Oops.

Source: http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2013/09/22/1226724/779294-eda22068-2384-11e3-b47e-e750ec1e8f24.jpg

The New Cabinet

Tony Abbott has presented his cabinet and people are not impressed. Mainly because there is only one woman in the inner cabinet. Her name is Julie Bishop and she will be the Foreign Minister.

People are not happy, not only in the Twitterverse or the Federal Opposition, but within the party itself. I don’t blame them. It may be that they have been chosen on their “merit” and “experience”, but other than Julie Bishop or Sophie Mirabella (whose chances of losing have increased), there has to be some intelligent, smart women within the Liberal Party who could have earned a Cabinet position on their merit. To see who go in on merit, it’s here.

Tony had a slip of the tongue during his announcement, though and Twitter had a laugh.

or not. “@joshgnosis: Tony Abbott says he "regrets [Sophie Mirabella's] presence" . I think he meant absence.”

— Jonathan Green (@GreenJ) September 16, 2013

Oops. I really do hope he meant “absence” or he has another problem on his hands.

Both Julie Bishop and Bronwyn Bishop have hit back, defending the number of women and men in the cabinet, pointing out there are quite a few women in the outer ministry (i.e. the Parliamentary Secretaries). That may be, but it is the Ministers that everyone usually pays attention to and scrutinise.

People are starting to poke fun at it, and I have to say, this is one of the funnier ones. Ita Buttrose even got in on the conversation.

Ten’s New Look

So, if you decide to spend some time on YouTube searching for old news openings (or am I the only one?) or you’re a bit older than me, then you will remember this retro 80s stuff:

Channel Ten’s news was branded “Ten Eyewitness News” and had quite a few good journos there – Anne Fulwood, Juanita Phillips and Ron Wilson. Then in the mid-1990s, they turned into “Ten News“, and it looked like this (from 2000):

They have had a few tough years, lost (or sacked) a few goodies and despite desperately trying to have a breakfast show, they failed. Possibly because people didn’t like the presenter from New Zealand who, in my humble opinion, was a bit of a pain. However, they’ve kept some of their political reporters and anchors for years, like Paul Bongiorno and Hugh Riminton. Not to mention Sandra Sully, who is best known for her rolling coverage of 9/11 during what was the late news, and turned into 24-hour coverage that lasted several days.

In the last few years they have hired some journalists of excellent calibre, such as Hamish Macdonald, who hosts Ten Late News.

They’re not bad to look at either.

Anyway, Ten’s decided to get serious about their news, shown by the fact that between 5pm and Midnight on weekdays there are four regular news programs, including a repeat of The Project. They’ve also recently started a show called Revealed with Hugh Riminton. So that makes five news/current affairs programs on Thursday.

Now that Peter Meakin (Head of News for Channel 9 and Channel 7) working for Ten, it looks like they’ve gone back to the Ten Eyewitness News brand. They’re launching it today (Monday 16th September) and Ten is really promoting it.

However, it isn’t all smiles today, with the news that Hamish Macdonald is leaving Ten. He tweeted to his followers today:

https://twitter.com/hamishNews/status/379401105374855169

https://twitter.com/hamishNews/status/379401234970451968

https://twitter.com/hamishNews/status/379401326964129792

https://twitter.com/hamishNews/status/379401392407863296

No-one really has any idea where he’s going after the short break, but it looks like there are a couple of offers on the table, including from some international broadcasters. He’s an excellent journalist and very smart, good luck to him. His last Ten Late News will be on Thursday September 26. Here’s hoping that the ratings don’t fall too dramatically after he leaves…

The Week That Was – September 8 to September 14

So, the first week of Tony Abbott’s Prime Ministership (well, he’s actually PM-elect) is going ok and the sky hasn’t fallen, as many predicted. However, anyone who said that they were going to leave the country if Abbott ever became PM are now in a difficult position.

This week, we’ve seen the counting continue, especially in the seat of Indi (Sophie Mirabella’s seat before the election) where it is so close between Mirabella and Cathy McGowan, an Independent, that they are having to go through and look at all of the preferences. There was controversy too, when the AEC found 1,000 misplaced votes for McGowan – the AEC says it was a clerical error, so no conspiracy. If McGowan does win the seat, Mirabella will be one of, if not the only, Liberal MP to lose their seat this election, which leaves Abbott with another issue – now there is only one woman, Julie Bishop, in the yet to be sworn in Cabinet, and that could be a real problem.

Even more controversy was created on Tuesday, when Foreign Minister-elect Julie Bishop sacked the Consul-General-to-be Steve Bracks from his post. He was meant to be going to the New York Consulate as Consul-General, and was still in Canberra, presumably for briefings and training when he lost his job. That has sent Labor into a bit of a tantrum, and I’ll let them have this one, because I thought it was a little bit vindictive.

We’ve also seen some of the new senators-elect on TV:

David Leyonhjelm

Wayne Dropulich

Ricky Muir – on the ABC Website

With Kevin Rudd no longer the Labor leader, there is now the question on who will. There is a choice between Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese – and not just for Caucus. Members of the Labor Party can join as well. The only issue is how it’ll work. It’ll take about a month to find out who’ll lead the Opposition.

Hmm. At least the election campaign is over.

Last, but not least, the story of the New York Times journalist and photographer who took an asylum seeker boat to Christmas Island – they had visas, so they aren’t going to Manus Island, but hey, it’s interesting. You can read the story here.

Links

To read Julia Gillard’s piece in the Guardian, click here.

To read Antony Green’s piece about Senate preferences, click here.

Tweet of the Week

https://twitter.com/hamishNews/status/377731382983680000

Amusement

Craig Emerson singing, Skyhooks, and somewhat veiled insults on the ABC…

The Aftermath

In place of The Week That Was, I have an election aftermath special. All will be back to normal next week.

So, for those of you who watched DVDs on Saturday night to avoid the coverage, or just forgot, Tony Abbott has become Prime Minister. As of Sunday night, the Liberals have 86 seats, Labor has 57, one seat for the Greens, one Independent (Andrew Wilkie) and one Katter Party. Four seats are still in doubt, two of which could go to Palmer United Party.

Here is Kevin Rudd’s concession speech – it’s long, but he is being a good loser.

On the other hand, I bring you Tony Abbott’s acceptance speech, he’s somewhat less of a good winner, but then again, he’s not that kind of person.

Senate is being a little more difficult and the funky preferences mean that the Greens may not be holding the balance of power there anymore. That could belong to a bunch of small peculiar parties such as the Motoring Enthusiasts Party, the Sports Party and Nick Xenophon and John Madigan have their seats. Once again there are questions over whether we should have electoral reform given that there is such a strange mix of senators this election.

There were some interesting tidbits in the ABC News Special on Sunday night that required the 7:30 presenter Leigh Sales, and, at least in NSW, the ABC News weekday presenter Juanita Phillips to cover the news, as opposed to the weekend people. Not only that, but the ABC journalist out in the seat of Fairfax (where Clive Palmer could win) had placed himself right in front of the dinosaur at a golf course Clive Palmer owns – it started moving as the journo began his live cross, leading to a lot of laughs in my living room.

The Last One…

Sorry this is a tad late, but hey, we’re at the end, and we’ve find out who is leading our country…finally.

Wednesday saw the aftermath of the previous night’s Lateline on the ABC, when Roger Corbett, a Fairfax board member and member of the Liberal Party made some comments about Kevin Rudd – they weren’t nice, and the media got into a frenzy. Doug Cameron said that Corbett should “do the right thing and quit,” and Christine Milne doesn’t think it was very nice either.

The ad blackout began on Thursday morning at 12am, so there are no more political ads!

Speaking of which, the Coalition decided that this was when they should release their costings. They will decrease foreign aid by AU$4 billion and put that into infrastructure. They will scrap public transport plans and put more emphasis on roads. There is also that repetitive spiel of “cut the mining tax, cut the carbon tax, cut the waste” which drove me mental.

There was also a bit of a brouhaha in Sydney after there was a stabbing. One of the people involved is a refugee, and Scott Morrison, the Shadow Minister for Immigration decided that he could politicise it, which was probably not the best thing to do, and Tony Burke said that we should be able to make up our own minds.

The last day of the campaign, Friday. Everyone got a bit paranoid – Labor could lose 10-20 seats apparently. Tony Abbott plus one daughter spent time with some cute guide dogs – not that dogs should sway anyone, but the puppies were so cute!

Anyway, Kevin Rudd made one last push, saying that his government has plans and Tony Abbott doesn’t. He may have said something along the lines of “we’ll all be doomed” if Abbott does come to power. Tony Abbott thinks Kevin Rudd is getting desperate and scaring people and doesn’t have a plan – which was a bit mean.

Oh well, no more election campaign! Yay!

Baddies v Baddies, Nerds and Threats

Sunday saw the Labor Launch, in which Rudd announced  policies to help apprentices, such as mandatory employment of a certain amount of apprentices in major projects and giving them an allowance to buy their tools. He also announced tax breaks for small business and told people the election wasn’t over until the last ballots are cast. Tony Abbott was mentioned 26 times and Julia Gillard was acknowledged, which I think was nice. Anthony Albanese said that while Tony Abbott can jump through tires, but Kevin Rudd is a nerd. I’m not going to simplify it.

Speaking of simplifying, Tony Abbott is in a bit of a pickle after saying that the issue in Syria was “baddies versus baddies” – the Labor party has jumped on this saying that this shows that Abbott does not have the capacity to deal with international issues – the Liberals disagree. It’s made international news (why is it always the awkward moments?) but apparently both David Cameron and Barack Obama have used the term “bad guys” – in context Cameron said “you’ve got a lot of bad guys in Syria” and Obama said that they don’t “know who the bad guys are” – either way, Tony Abbott probably shouldn’t have said it.

Monday saw Kevin Rudd go to a high school, I’m not sure why, it had something to with him being a nerd…he keeps telling people not to vote for Tony Abbott too, understandable, given that he wants to win – but still, he says it a lot.

It also turns out that the Labor-held seat of Page is very important. It changes with the government, like most marginal seats in the cities. The Nationals and Liberals are fighting for it, given that the seats surrounding it are most likely going to them. The Nationals really, really want it, given that it used to be a safe seat for them. Mind you, people thought some NSW state seats were really safe Labor, and then swung 30% the other way, so anything can happen.

Tuesday saw Tony Abbott threaten to have a double dissolution election if he doesn’t get his way with removing the carbon tax. Labor of course wants a floating carbon price. It will be interesting to see what happens…

It also saw this video of Kevin Rudd go viral:

The Australian Christian Lobby (who lost their site to the Australian Cat Ladies) think he will lose votes, and that is their opinion. It is interesting to note that all of the Christian clergy saying that Rudd would lose votes were Protestant and I think mostly Anglican – not a single Catholic clergyman was interviewed as they refused to comment.

Oh well, Saturday is coming…..I’ll leave you with some Antony Green ranting:

The Week that Was – August 25 to August 31

Well, its been an interesting week.

Saturday saw an addition to Tony Abbott’s asylum seeker policy, with him not only trying to “stop the boats”, but if an asylum seeker or refugee does arrive in Australia, they will not be given access to Legal Aid – the people who provide legal advice free of charge. It also saw some sort of brouhaha regarding the Liberal-National coalition. Warren Truss’ head has been cut out of an election advert in the papers and it appears that they are really trying to get the votes off the Liberals.

It’s been an ok week, no major gaffes, not too boring either. But just ok.

Also, if you’d like to look at who is up for election in your seat or your state’s senate seats, have a look here at Below the Line. You can also have a go at ordering the candidates – if in NSW, I would definitely have a look.

Best Moments this Week

Rooty Hill ‘Common Sense Test’ Guy:

Netballers (start watching at about 1:40):

Tweet of the Week

according to antony green: If you want to be ultra safe, fill in below the line and the fill in one of the above the line squares… /2

— Jonathan Green (@GreenJ) September 1, 2013

… The below the line vote takes priority, but if proves to be informal, the ballot paper will revert to the above the line option.

— Jonathan Green (@GreenJ) September 1, 2013

Another Debate, Awkward Netballers and Costings

Wednesday saw another debate, as well as the Liberal Party’s costings coming out, though the didn’t seem to make sense to me – then again my understanding of economics is dodgy at best.

I have to say, the best moment in a debate where I nearly fell asleep due to the constant repetitiveness of party spin, was the guy who asked Tony Abbott about his paid parental leave and said this:

I like him. Anyway, back to the costings. They are, in case you’ve been deaf for the last four weeks, going to cut the mining tax and carbon tax. The only new bit is that they are cutting 12,000 public service jobs – none of which will come from education and health.

Thursday will be the day forever etched in the memories of a netball team told “a little contact never hurt anyone” by Tony Abbott – the players faces were priceless to look at. On the other side, Kevin Rudd got in trouble with the Treasury Department for saying the Coalition’s costings had a hole. Oops.

Rural Queenslanders are feeling ripped off – maybe because all the focus is on Brisbane and Western Sydney. Trying to make them feel better (and to win votes of the Liberals), Warren Truss, the Nationals leader, said that he was announcing rural funds – AU$200m to help towns that need it.

Friday showed just how annoying the tabloid papers can get – I don’t read them for that reason, unless I am searching quotes. Kevin Rudd had a go at them for not asking Abbott about the Liberal’s finance plans. Mind you this is only 24 hours after Treasury corrected him, but even so, they haven’t asked Abbott at all during this election. It has got to the point, it appears, that the Finance Minister herself, Penny Wong, is sick of it. She got asked if the two Treasury Department guys who called Rudd out would still have jobs after the election if Labor won. The intelligent woman she is (sorry, I like her) she rolled her eyes and refused to answer.

Julia Gillard will not be attending the Labor Party launch on Sunday. However, she will be getting an honourary degree from a university in Adelaide.

One week to go….