So, Tony Abbott made Prince Phillip a Knight of the Order of Australia. That announcement kind of took away from the fact that Angus Houston – the former Defence guy that was coordinating the search of MH370 and represented Australia for a bit after MH17 – also received a knighthood, and that anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty was named Australian of the Year.
Other than the awkwardness of the Prince Phillip knighthood “captain’s pick” issue, Australia Day was relatively normal, other than the heavy rain in Sydney. People who did some great things were recognised, there was some interesting helicopter and boat choreography on Sydney Harbour and Prince Phillip received a knighthood (the whole knighthood thing took over for a bit). Indigenous people also reminded people that they still see this day in a more negative light, treating it as a “Day of Mourning” or a “Day of Survival”, since over 200 years ago, they were basically invaded and colonised by the British.
Tony Abbott has been having a tough time this week, especially after his captain’s pick for the knighthood, with ministers and backbenchers saying they had no idea that was the plan and saying that it isn’t really an appropriate knighthood to have given. Those who haven’t specifically said that the knighthood was the worst idea ever, have at least placed all the blame on Abbott who has ignored social media backlash over the whole thing, calling it “electronic graffiti”. However, there’s more to it, because now there are rumours of serious rumblings behind the scenes over Abbott’s leadership, while some of his closest supporters in the media, like Andrew Bolt and Alan Jones, are suggesting his leadership could be at an end.
Abbott has admitted he should have consulted more with his party and the public over the whole knighthood saga, but the rumours have continued with talk that Julie Bishop, Malcolm Turnbull and others, including Mal Brough (responsible for the whole Ashby-Slipper saga back in the Gillard days), are canvassing the party for numbers, or if not them, backbenchers who think that some of these Ministers could be PM and win them the next election.
The whole thing got a little bit more insane and ridiculous when Abbott said the reason ministers like Malcolm Turnbull, Julie Bishop and Scott Morrison are any good at their jobs was because he is a great leader.
Meanwhile, the Queensland LNP is fully ready to blame Abbott if they get a poor result in the Queensland State Election, held on Saturday, which now looks increasingly likely. The number of seats needed by a party to rule Queensland is 45, and at last count just before midnight on Saturday night, the LNP had 40 seats, Labor had 43 seats, with three seats in doubt, and three seats to other parties and independents. The prediction is that Labor will get 45 (the magic number) and win the election, most likely with support from the three other MPs – a result nobody expected.
Matthew Gardiner, the Labor Party President in the Northern Territory, has left Australia for the Middle East in order to help the Kurdish forces fight against Islamic State. It has shocked the country, with Bill Shorten telling people it’s a bad idea to go, and asking Gardiner to return to Australia. Furthermore, the government has pointed out that regardless of who you are fighting for, it’s still illegal to go fight overseas.
While the Manus Island Detention Centre protests are over, it appears that the allegations of violence on the part of the security forces and PNG Police may have had some truth to them, with images showing detainees with what appears to be evidence of being beaten. 40 of the Detention Centre’s detainees have also been arrested by the PNG government, however, once again, both the Australian and PNG governments aren’t saying much.
Finally this week, Whitlam and Hawke government minister, Tom Uren died this week; it’s looking more and more likely that the two Australians on death row in Indonesia for drug offences will be executed in the next few weeks; the Sydney Siege Inquiry has begun; the Royal Commission into Child Abuse has released its recommendations for compensation and reconciliation for victims; and Brazil is upset that a NSW court acquitted all but one of four cops charged with a Brazilian student’s death – and the one that was found guilty was charged with assault for using three cans of pepper spray on the student and didn’t even get a conviction recorded.
Tweet of the Week
So Triple J disqualified Taylor Swift from the Hottest 100, only to play another Top 40 song in spot #6
https://twitter.com/KKeneally/status/559657461620027392
Things I’ve been Looking at Online
Kristina Keneally is a Catholic and a Feminist – The Guardian
Things that would have been different if Harry Potter was set in Australia – Buzzfeed
Your Argument is Wrong: “Guns don’t kill people”
Kara L 