The week began with the ABC revealing the Abbott government cabinet had considered banning welfare for those under the age of 30 or limiting assistance to those with a “solid work history” in order to save money during the 2014 Budget. Bureaucrats convinced the government it could lead to homelessness and crime amongst young people, which prevented them from going ahead with the idea. Next, the ABC revealed that the then-Immigration Minister Scott Morrison asked ASIO to delay checks on some refugees, which could be a breach of due legal process and lead to legal action. It’s unclear if ASIO actually did that, as they aren’t bound by the request.
Both of those documents were cabinet papers. This means that they aren’t supposed to be seen for 20 years – so in about 2034 – so how on earth did the ABC get those documents?
Well, it turns out that somehow two locked filing cabinets with missing keys were sent to an ex-government furniture sales yard. They were sold on the cheap, because they were heavy and had no keys. When the buyer took a drill to them to bust them open they found the cabinet papers and handed them to the ABC. Yes, someone in the government was stupid enough to get rid of locked filing cabinets without knowledge of what was inside. It’s an extraordinary breach of national security, as several of the documents were considered “top-secret” or “for Australian Eyes Only (AUSTEO)”, and while the ABC only ever revealed “Cabinet in Confidence” papers for national security reasons, to think that these were floating about Canberra is a little concerning.
Soon after announcing how they got a hold of the papers, the ABC had a visit from security officials who brought in new filing cabinets. The ABC also began negotiations with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet over the return of the papers – those negotiations were finished on Friday and the ABC gave back the papers (which was probably always the plan) while protecting their source. The best part of this has to be the fact that the ABC kept the country guessing for two days before revealing how the papers came to be in their possession.
Meanwhile, there has been a change in the Senate. Senator Lucy Gichuhi, the woman who filled the vacancy left by Family First Senator Bob Day, has joined the Liberal Party. Prior to this change, she was an independent after the Family First Party was absorbed into the Australian Conservatives Party.
There is another victim of the section 44 saga, with David Feeney, the MP for Batman (pronounced bat-muhn) resigning. He will not contest the by-election that he’s created, mostly because he still can’t find his paperwork, and instead ACTU President Ged Kearney will run in the seat. The seat is a very progressive marginal seat, with the Greens nearly taking the seat at the 2016 election. This has led the Liberal party to decide not to run, and let the Labor party and the Greens have at it.
It appears this year is the year of “Oh my goodness, the cost of living is too high” in the government. This is because both Bill Shorten and Malcolm Turnbull have been outlining their plans for the year and have announced that they will tackle the cost of living. Malcolm Turnbull through middle-income tax breaks, and Shorten, well he doesn’t necessarily have to have a plan just yet, because he’s not in government, although it’d be nice to know the plan.
There are concerns that there is now an oversupply of childcare services in some areas, which is leaving some community based providers to raise costs. It appears that some large companies have seen the benefit of running a childcare centre as providers get government assistance, which allows for-profit providers to spend big on advertising and sweeteners to encourage parents to pick them. Some are suggesting the government become a little more involved, perhaps by planning where the centres need to go, so that there isn’t an oversupply.
Finally this week, the government has decided to become a major arms dealer, but will only supply allies; Malcolm Turnbull has been revealed as the biggest individual donor during the last election having donated 1.75million to the Liberal party; a university study has suggested means testing government funding in private schools; and there is a massive backlog of people who have been assessed for home care assistance but are yet to have their package delivered.
Tweets of the Week
Oh and another Wallaby got loose in the city…
Things I’ve Been Looking at Online
More info on “The Cabinet Files” – ABC Online
First Dog on the Moon on selling arms to our allies – The Guardian
Kara L 