The Two Weeks That Were – April 2 to April 15

Hopefully now that uni and work have petered out a bit, I should get back to my regular posting schedule… Hope you are all having a lovely Easter Weekend.

The past fortnight began, with flood and cyclone damage being cleaned up across the bulk of the north-east coast. The NSW town of Lismore, and Queensland town of Rockhampton as well as the Whitsunday Islands were the three areas with the bulk of the damage. Researchers have also been able to survey the Great Barrier Reef – and it has had a tough run, with some major damage and stress bleaching.

Interest rates may go up in the next few months, due to the high rate of investment buying and interest-only loans. However the RBA is anxious about raising these rates because it will cause stress on the mortgages of low-income households, as well as lead to defaults on mortgages in some cases, as many households do not appear to have enough of a buffer if the earners were to lose their jobs.

The other issue is that somehow, an internal Liberal Party debate on whether to allow people to dip into their super to buy a house has been played out in the public, making the party look a bit uncoordinated. The suggestion has been panned by many people, including the people in my household, because it is a stupid idea. The only place that does allow superannuation to be used to buy a home is Singapore – but Singapore’s super contribution level is 33%.

Pauline Hanson had a tough time with an ABC Four Corners exposé on the One Nation Party. There have been accusations of mind-control and manipulation. One former member has claimed the party is run like a dictatorship, and the journalist behind the stories was asked multiple times by James Ashby (remember him?) to leave one of Pauline Hanson’s press conferences.

A documentary has been made about life on Manus Island, which shows the centre as quaint and quiet, but also reveals the uncertainty of the detainees. Filmed on a phone, the clips had to be sent bit by bit to the co-director in the Netherlands, the Manus-based co-director wanted a record of what happens on Manus before the centre closes in October. Manus was also rocked by a shooting incident this week, in which Papua New Guinean military staff attempted to break in to the centre armed with guns.

There are concerns that staff working on the NDIS are not familiar enough with some of the disabilities they are meant to be catering plans to. Several plans are missing or omitting vital equipment needed by recipients, and many consults are being done over the phone, leading to suggestions that maybe staff need more training or to meet with recipients face-to-face.

Finally this fortnight, Malcolm Turnbull went to India for bilateral talks; private schools are concerned that they will lose funding from the federal government; Australia has supported the launching of nearly 60 tomahawk missiles by the USA, targeting Assad Government sites in Syria; The Emissions Reduction Fund is running out; and Scott Morrison has been dumped by Ray Hadley for ‘cheating’ on him with ABC Radio in Melbourne.

Tweets of the Fortnight

Just on air on @BBCWorld I said President Xi Jinping would be mortified if he copped an awkward Trump handshake…screen goes black in China

— Stephen McDonell (@StephenMcDonell) April 6, 2017

That feeling when you're caught daydreaming at work 🙂 (via @UmmRKSZ ) #mediawatch pic.twitter.com/lRkTbpygfo

— Media Watch (@ABCmediawatch) April 9, 2017

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Euthanasia debate on Q&A  – ABC Online

Ben Pobjie on John Clarke’s passing – ABC Online

The Two Weeks That Were – March 19 to April 1

Apologies for the late posting – uni and work has been a bit busy….

The fortnight began with debates on several issues in parliament, including Childcare, company tax, and the Racial Discrimination Act. The Government wanted to pass changes to childcare rebates to allow the lower income earners to have more of their childcare costs covered, which in theory encourages more women to rejoin the workforce. Labor isn’t too thrilled, and the sector has concerns about the legislation, mainly because it cuts rebates to unemployed parents who aren’t actively looking for a job or volunteering.

The government also tried to change the Racial Discrimination Act, in particular the wording to section 18C, but also the process of making and dealing with a complaint. The plan was to change the words in 18C to “offend, insult and humiliate” to the word “harass”. They couldn’t have picked a worse day to introduce the change to parliament – Harmony Day – and Labor made sure to point that out. The wording change did not get through the senate, but the process changes did thanks to the NXT and other cross benchers.

There is still argy bargy over power and energy in South Australia but the real issue now its the fact that the Hazelwood Mine is closing in April. The sector, the South Australian based NXT, and other groups want a plan for what will happen next. The big plans in SA and the Snowy hydro plan will take a few years to sort out, and there will be a shortfall in energy production on the east coast. The government seems to have committed to putting together a plan after they negotiated with the NXT to get their company tax legislation through the senate.

Pensioners now have the option of changing in-home care service providers if they so wish. The federally funded package has introduced ‘portability’ which allows people to take all their services – help to cook, clean, bathe, etc – and move to another provider if they don’t like the current one. Private companies have become involved, and are now in competition with mainly church-run providers, which the government believes will increase competition.

It’s been discovered that many young people don’t know a lot about their superannuation (no kidding). They are unclear about what super options are out there, what kinds of super plans there are and many don’t know how to check their balances. The study has recommended that, given many young people have several different super plans from different jobs, workers should be given one super fund when they join the workforce and be able to take that super fund with them everywhere they go and not be forced to join their employers’ chosen super fund every time they changed jobs.

Also this fortnight, Cyclone Debbie hit the North Queensland coast causing damage and flooding across Queensland and Northern NSW. Floodwaters are still causing issues in Queensland, but is now receding in New South Wales and the clean-up has begun.

Finally this week, there is still hostility between the Liberal and the Labor parties over the Fair Work Commission decision to cut penalty rates; Li Keqiang, the Chinese Premier, paid a visit to Canberra and Sydney to have talks with PM Turnbull and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian; and Julia Gillard has become the new Chairperson of mental health group Beyond Blue, taking over from former Liberal Premier of Victoria Jeff Kennett.

Tweet of the Fortnight

https://twitter.com/LauraKParr/status/845840154971406336

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

People share their experiences of racism – ABC Online

Why Older people are scared of a cashless society – ABC Online