For a week in which the sitting of the House of Representatives was cancelled, a lot happened.
First, aside from federal politics, Queensland’s State election resulted in an apparent Labor party retain, with incumbent Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk leading her party to victory. It’s thought that part of the reason that the LNP did not do so well is that some of their votes went to One Nation, which is major concern for the Liberals, Nationals and the LNP (the Liberals and Nationals merged in Queensland in the late 2000s, while the parties remain separate entities in all other states). It also appears that the Greens could win their first seat in Queensland Parliament.
This week also saw the New England by-election in which Barnaby Joyce won in a landslide – and if this tweet is anything to go by, it was a given very early on..
Meanwhile, Malcolm Turnbull has had an OK week – with drama from Labor (more on that below), the Senate passing the same-sex marriage bill, and the win in New England. However, there has been some drama for him to, mostly in the realm of political gymnastics. After spending nearly two years rejecting a Banking Royal Commission, Turnbull has done a backflip and decided to hold the Royal Commission. Labor is claiming victory, while also criticising the PM and Treasurer for waiting for the banks to give them a “permission slip”. Essentially this backflip is Malcolm Turnbull saving face. By agreeing to it and making the executive decision, he decides the terms of reference and be nice to the banks. Had he not, the Parliament would have pushed for it to happen anyway and that would have left the terms of reference out of Turnbull’s control.
Turnbull also had to deal with NSW Nationals Leader John Barilaro saying Turnbull needs to step down on 2GB radio. It appears that he may have been trying to get on Alan Jones’ good side by saying so. Turnbull suggests this might be the case, saying that if Barilaro truly believed what he was saying on Jones’ show then Barilaro would have had a private conversation. Liberals and Nationals are all coming in to criticise of Barilaro’s remarks. Meanwhile, the Bennelong by-election campaign continues with Turnbull announcing a plan for a tunnel under Herring Road in Macquarie Park near the Macquarie University campus and have a bus interchange. Oh, and Kristina Keneally is accusing the Liberals of preferencing an allegedly One Nation affiliated candidate (he’s a candidate for Non-Custodial Parents) ahead of Labor.
Labor, on the other hand, has had a shocking end to the week, with Senator Sam Dastyari getting into more trouble over links to a Chinese donor to both political parties. Last year he let the donor pay a travel bill for him, and lost his shadow cabinet role as Manager of Opposition Business. This time, he’s in trouble for telling the donor his phone was being tapped (it’s unclear if he knew classified info or just said it for another reason) and also saying that Australia should let China do its thing in the South China Sea, which is contradictory to the Labor Party’s position. So now, Dastyari has lost his job as a whip in the senate – which was given to him earlier in the year when he appeared to have been forgiven – and will now only be a backbencher.
Finally this week, the giant Tesla battery in South Australia was switched on; some of the new accommodation on Manus Island is still not ready, despite asylum seekers being forced to live there; there is a push to change the age of criminal responsibility from age 10 to age 14; a man was arrested in Melbourne for plotting an attack on NYE in Federation Square; and the Greens need to be careful about how they appear – are they a part of the left, or a party to knock off the Labor Party?
Tweet of the Week
Twitter remembers the Lane Sainty’s epic rebuke against Miranda Devine
Things I’ve Been Looking at Online
With the news about the accusations against TV presenter Don Burke, women in the media have been writing a lot this week…
Juanita Phillips on women speaking out on blokes behaving badly – ABC Online
Sandra Sully on women being “too outspoken” – Huffington Post Australia
Kara L 