Monthly Archives: August 2016

The Week That Was – August 21 to August 28

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The week began with a commemoration of the Wave Hill walk off fifty years ago, with the Lingiari and Mabo families meeting up together for the commemorations. It began the movement for Indigenous land rights in Australia, as well as Indigenous working conditions.

There are questions over whether the change in funding of sport is working after we only won half of the gold medals that we won in Sydney in 2000. As the Olympians returned from Rio, it was announced that there would be a review into the “Winning Edge” funding program and the falling medal tally.

Parliament has been interesting this week with the new Senators having orientation day, and police raids in the office of Senator Stephen Conroy over NBN leaks. Labor has claimed parliamentary privilege on some of the documents seized by the police, meaning the Senate has to vote on whether or not to allow the police to take them as evidence.

Meanwhile, Scott Morrison made a speech about no being complacent about the risk of a recession as the mining boom ends, Barnaby Joyce has announced an investigation nto the dairy industry, especially how pricing is determined, and Malcolm Turnbull is condending with an ambitious backbench and a possibly hostile Senate.

Also this week, the Greens have said they will not support the same-sex marriage plebiscite, as they believe it puts the mental health of LGBTIQ youth at risk, instead believing a parliamentary vote on the subject is a better course of action. They’ve also had a reshuffle, in which Sarah Hanson-Young has lost her Immigration Spokesperson role to Nick McKim.

Finally this week, there are concerns over the extent of Chinese involvement in Australia, with most Chinese language media toeing the Communist Party line, as well as Chinese state company donations to politcal parties; Man Haron Monis has been mentioned in is girlfriend’s murder trial, with the prosecution saying that he was the mastermind of the murder of his ex-wife; and the NT election looks to be in Labor’s favour.

Tweet of the Week

An interesting look at which countries allow foreign donations:

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Not much, recently, thanks to uni.

Questions over the “Winning Edge”funding system – ABC Online

The Two Weeks That Were – August 7 to August 20

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The fortnight began with police raids in Victoria and a man being charged with terrorism offences – this time a member of an anti-immigration group. Released on bail he claimed his arrest was part of a conspiracy against the “Patriot movement”, leading the United Patriots Front and other anti-immigration groups to condemn the man for allegedly wanting to commit a terror act.

Meanwhile, after all that hype about the Census and whether or not people’s personal information was safe, the Census fell apart. It’s thought that there may have been some sort of Deliberate Denial Of Service (DDOS) attack or something but the Bureau of Statistics and the tech company IBM aren’t completely sure. There were thoughts that it may have been from China, although they allegedly already did some hacking of the Swimming Australia website after Mack Horton’s comments about a Chinese swimmer at the Olympics.

The Federal government has also denied a Chinese state-owned company’s bid to buy a part of the NSW electricity system – one of the State Premier’s key election promises made last year. Scott Morrison says that it is not in the national interest and that there are national security issues.

Also in the last fortnight, it’s been realised that Malcolm Turnbull will have to find ways to govern without the parliament thanks to an incredibly hostile senate that will make his life difficult. This will be made harder by the fact that the Opposition has insisted they will not provide “pairs” for missing government MPs.

There have been calls for there to be an inquiry into regional detention, especially as the announcement comes that the Manus Island Detention Centre will be closing. While there is not date for closing set yet, the Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has said that none of the will ever come to Australia to settle. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister was interrupted by protesters while giving a speech, in which protesters demanded he close the detention centres.

Finally this fortnight we saw Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott run in the City2Surf in Sydney; we had the Lindt Siege coronial inquest continue with questions over some texts between Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione and Assistant Commissioner Catherine Burn, as it sheds light on how much they knew of the event; and veterans who travelled to Vietnam for the Long Tan memorial were left stranded as the event was cancelled by Vietnamese officials the day before.

Tweets of the Fortnight

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

How not to body shame women – ABC Online

No pets policies damaging housing security – ABC Online

The Week That Was – July 31 to August 6

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It was a relatively quiet week in Canberra, but that doesn’t mean nothing happened at all.

The seat of Herbert was finally declared. It was won by Labor’s Cath O’Toole, the first woman to win the seat. The seat is only held by 37 votes, so it has become very marginal, although it could be contested in the Court of Disputed Returns if the LNP so chooses. The Senate result was also declared, with One Nation winning four seats, Family First and the Liberal Democrats winning one seat each, along with Derryn Hinch and Jacqui Lambie, and the NXT winning three.

The Royal Commission into NT Youth Detention has hit a snag only a week after it was announced. Brian Martin, who was to be the Commissioner has quit after it came to light that his daughter was working in a role in the NT government where she may be required to give evidence in the Commission, which could lead to public perception of a conflict of interest. The Attorney-General has selected Mick Gooda and former QLD Supreme Court Judge Margaret White to replace him.

Finally this week, Malcolm Turnbull has demanded the banks explain why they wouldn’t pass on the entirety of this week’s rate cut; terror raids took place in Melbourne; and the Royal Commission into Child Abuse is looking into allegations against the Anglican Church.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Scandals that show the NT Government is crazy – Buzzfeed

Who’s who of the new Senate – ABC Online

Avoiding the Brexit trap in the same-sex marriage plebiscite – ABC Online