So I had two weeks off from work and blogging. I missed a pretty crazy two weeks, what with Cory Bernardi leaving the Liberal Party for his own, the Trump-Turnbull phone call and Rod Culleton being ruled invalidly elected.
This week saw some drama as the Liberal Party in Western Australia made a preference deal with One Nation over the Nationals. This has led to suggestions that the Coalition in WA may be at risk of falling apart and has led the Federal Labor party to push the Federal Liberals to promise not to do the same. It appears to be an attempt to save the WA Liberals from losing the State election in March, as it looks as if the swing against the Liberals there could be a large as 12% – leading to a Labor win. Labor also seems to be enjoying making inner city Liberals uncomfortable about the whole One Nation thing.
Businesses, conservation groups and other organisations are pushing politicians to have a bipartisan approach to energy policy. These groups are saying that all this uncertainty is bad for society and the economy.
Malcolm Turnbull has also been caught out after a Freedom of Information showed that Turnbull was told by government officials that the South Australian blackout at the end of last year was not the result of South Australia’s mix of renewable and non-renewable energy. Labor is accusing the Prime Minister of lying to the public, while Turnbull is sort of ignoring the whole thing.
To add to the governments issues is the poor Closing the Gap Report results that came out this week. Only one of the 7 markers is on track at the moment, while the other 6 are behind. It appears that there is little information on what programs are actually working, so the government has decided to start a productivity commission to figure that out.
Meanwhile, the prestigious private school, Barker College, and an Aboriginal Land Council has found a program that seems to be working on the NSW Central Coast, with the school hiring teachers for a co-educational indigenous-only school with a teacher for every 7 students. The school is funded by corporate donations, and the Sydney-based College provides the educators. The school has been incredibly successful with students improving by up to five years – with the school only being open for about a year.
Malcolm Turnbull also made a trip to New Zealand this week to hang out with the new Prime Minister Bill English. The two have discussed the benefits of lower business taxes and free trade, with the aim of telling their Asian counterparts that even if the USA pulls out of the TPP, there are still nations in the region to have free trade with.
And if that wasn’t all – George Christiansen is threatening to leave the LNP.
Finally this week, Bob Katter is demanding that the government create laws to protect Australian made cultural souvenirs, as Asian nations make cheap fakes that we sell here; American official have arrived on Manus Island to begin interviewing asylum seekers; refugees that have been settled in Sydney are having trouble finding homes; and there are concerns over recent job cuts at Air Services Australia – the company that provides air traffic control to the country – with staff saying that the public is at risk.
Tweet of the Week
Things I’ve Been Looking at Online
The cost to the US taxpayer for Trump’s weekly trips to Mar-a-Lago – ABC USA
Richard Glover tells the US why Australia and the USA are friends – Washington Post
Kara L 