The Liberal Party ended up winning the NSW election – just. They’re going to have a margin of two seats. Michael Daley, the Labor leader said he would stay on as leader, but within days he was announcing a leadership ballot for after the federal election (so as not to distract from Federal Labor, who are looking really good in the lead up to the federal election), and then announced that he wouldn’t contest the ballot. This makes Daley the shortest serving Labor Opposition Leader in nearly 100 years in NSW.
One Nation is also in hot water after an undercover investigation by Qatari news network Al Jazeera English (AJE) revealed that One Nation had approached the National Rifle Association to see if they could provide financial and strategic support. The AJE journalist Rodger Muller spent almost three years pretending to be a pro-gun activist and befriended Pauline Hanson’s chief of staff James Ashby (currently banned from Parliament House after having a punch-up with Brian Burston) and One Nation’s Queensland Leader Steve Dickson. They travelled to the USA where they met with the NRA and other pro-gun groups, explaining that donating millions to the party would help One Nation gain 8-20 seats in parliament and would allow them to negotiate what they wanted from the government of the day.
The NRA donations never came to fruition, as foreign donations to political parties are now banned. Regardless, Hanson, Ashby and Dickson are very upset that they were duped and caught out and have accused Al Jazeera being an agent of Qatari interference in Australian politics. They’re also a tad annoyed at the ABC, who broadcast the Al Jazeera investigation on Australian TV. It should be noted that the ABC had no involvement in the program – they just bought the rights to broadcast it in Australia.
Meanwhile, Labor has begun to furnish its war chest in preparation for the election. They’re reiterating their promise to change the rules around negative gearing, announcing that any investment property bought after January 1, 2020 would not be eligible for negative gearing. They’ve also announced they will legislate a minimum wage, but haven’t said what that will be – and small business are concerned as to whether they’ll be able to afford a legislated minimum wage.
The government is being asked to prove that the NDIS has been underfunded, after announcements from some NDIS providers that they were going to increase their fees. They’re increasing their fees in part because they’re only being paid to see their clients but not to fill in all the paperwork that comes with it. There has also been concerning revelations about abuse in the disability sector – with a Royal Commission announced to look into the abuse in the sector. However, Greens Senator Jordan Steele-John, who uses a wheelchair, has concerns that two of the commissioners have worked in the sector and have a conflict of interest. He’s also helped reveal that in NSW and South Australia alone there have been almost 1,500 reports of abuse to the NDIS watchdog, 62 of which have been sexual abuse claims.
There are also calls to for the government to help the children of now-deceased ISIS fighter Khaled Sharrouf, who are stuck in a camp in Syria after fleeing the now defunct caliphate. While the eldest daughter is now an adult, she and her four siblings (although two have died in Syria) were all underage when their parents took them to Syria with them when they went to fight for ISIS around five years ago. Their grandmother, Karen Nettleton, wants the government to provide the children (and the eldest daughter’s toddlers) safe passage to Australia. However the government hasn’t said much about it because they don’t want to be seen to be supporting terrorists but they also don’t want to be seen to be mean because they won’t help a couple of children.
We also had the Budget, where Josh Frydenberg announced that Australia is “back in black”, which isn’t exactly right. For the financial year 2018-19, there is a deficit of $5.2 billion and the surplus for 2019-20 of $4.1 billion is prospective, and based not on particular savings within the budget but the government’s savings account and the Future Fund, which is supposed to help pay public service pensions.
Meanwhile the Opposition’s Budget in Reply, announcing that their budget would invest in health and education, as well as $2 billion to reduce, if not eradicate the out-of-pocket costs of the tests, consultations and treatments for cancer. They’ve also announced that they will provide incentives for companies to make more electric vehicles by 2030, so that half of cars on sale by then are electric – which led the government to blatantly lie to the public, saying Bill Shorten was going to take their utes away.
So began what I call the Budget Grand Tour, where the government and the opposition travel around the country, selling their budget, or their alternative budget.
Except given the election could be called at any minute, it’s also like a pre-election campaign…..
Tweets of the Fortnight
Things I’ve Been Looking at Online
Annabel Crabb on the Budget – ABC Online
First Dog on the Moon on the Budget “Lock-Up” – The Guardian
Kara L 