The Week That Was – August 10 to August 16

So this week, Tony Abbott went to the Netherlands with the Chiefs of the ADF and the AFP. They went to say thank you to the Dutch and Australian officials working on identifying victims of the crash. Abbott met with the Dutch Prime Minister and other politicians to discuss the investigation as well as sanctions against Russia – it is still unclear as to whether or not Putin still has an invite to the G20 meetings in Australia later this year. Abbott also visited the UK, where he talked with the British PM and was briefed on the UK’s aid mission to Iraq, and announced that he was exploring all his options when it came to Iraq, but for the moment all Australia is doing is assisting the US and UK with aid drops. He also made a visit to wherever in the Middle East the air force crews are stationed to thank them for helping – when he got back to Canberra on Friday morning, the PM’s car nearly left without Peta Credlin.

Speaking of international trips, Julie Bishop’s phone was compromised while she was on her trip in Europe after MH17. It is unclear as to whether it was hacked, tapped or compromised in some other way, but intelligence officials took her phone from her when she got back and replaced it. This week though, she played host to US Secretary of State John Kerry during the AUSMIN talks. It’s thought that Australia could help the US with more than aid missions in the future, primarily due to the release of an image of a 7-year-old boy, who is the son of an Australian fighting in Syria, holding the severed head of a Syrian soldier. It appears that, at least for now, Australia will only be helping with aid missions.

It also turns out that the aforementioned Australian man fighting in Syria was a welfare recipient, leading the government to announce that people’s welfare payments are to be cancelled if they are a national security risk, because Australians shouldn’t have to deal “terrorism tourism on the taxpayer” (say that five times fast).

Finally this week, Joe Hockey got in trouble for saying that the fuel excise (a tax on petrol, which is yet to get through the Senate) would not affect low-income households because “the poorest people don’t drive cars, or actually don’t drive very far”, which lead to backlash from the opposition and his own party.

ABC’s FactCheck even checked out whether or not what Joe Hockey said was true, regardless of how classist the comment was.

Some of his more high-profile colleagues have said they support Joe Hockey in his job, but have not said specifically that they support his comment. He apologised on 2GB later in the week, multiple times. However, many people feel he is out of touch with the people of Australia.

Also this week, the “Pollie Pedal” began with five government MPs, including a Cabinet Minister, Peter Costello suggested rubbishing the $7 co-payment, and Christopher Pyne has decided that politics is about the end result, not the day-to-day running of the government.

Tweet of the Week

Radio Australia’s  Asia Pacific program is now off air, thanks to government cuts, along with RA Mornings and Asia Review.

https://twitter.com/RAAsiaPacific/status/500208353939685376

Things I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

The MythBusters talked with Julia Baird on The Drum – ABC The Drum

Interest in politics is waning – ABC Online

A look at what happens after high-profile suicides at crisis hotline centres – News.com.au

The Week that Was – February 16 to February 22

A lot happened this week.

This week the report into Indonesian border incursions was released, revealing that the navy has breached Indonesian waters six times, all, they say, were inadvertent because incorrect calculations were made regarding the location of the water border. Some have been asking how that’s possible given all the GPS technology that would’ve told them there was a problem. Indonesia did bring up Operation Sovereign Borders with the Americans, but it seems no one really asked about that chat because John Kerry didn’t bring it up in public.

Speaking of bringing up issues, the Chinese brought up the treatment of asylum seekers in scheduled talks with Australian officials. Usually the Australians are the ones being concerned about the human rights issues in China, and they did bring it up, but never have the Chinese lectured Australia on treating people humanely. Australian officials said they explained everything to the Chinese and that once explained, everything was ok.

Tony Abbott spent last weekend in areas of drought in western Queensland and north-western New South Wales and it seemed as if he brought rain with him as a gift. And while it sounds a tad mean, it’s hard to not laugh when you’re talking about drought relief when it is raining, and quite heavily at that. Farmers have made it clear that they don’t just want help because there is a drought, they want long-term support.

Still with the Prime Minister, he’s saying that he wants his government to be “the best friend Medicare has ever had”, despite people flagging changes to the system. They’re suggesting $6 co-payments when you visit the doctor. However, some have been asking why we can’t just raise the Medicare levy, given that’s how we already pay for Medicare anyway. Which is a valid point, as is the suggestion that maybe decreasing or removing rebates for some of the expensive elective surgeries that people have.

Moving on, Craig Thompson was found guilty of fraud and theft for using his union credit card to pay for things that he shouldn’t be using that card for. A few of the charges were thrown out, but he was still found guilty of most of them. Now he is waiting to be sentenced. Bill Shorten and Tanya Plibersek have both made it clear that no one is above the law and that they are pleased that the law has caught up with him.

Speaking of Labor, the former government’s confidential cabinet files could be unsealed for the Royal Commission being held to look at the “pink batts” scheme – an insulation scheme carried out during which four workers were electrocuted. There’s a bit of fuss about that, because they are released 30 years later (e.g. 1983 cabinet files were released at the end of last year, 2013). Never have they been released while the following government is in power.

This week, an 75-year-old Australian missionary was arrested in Pyongyang for handing out religious leaflets. He apparently left some in a Buddhist temple while on a tour, and has reportedly admitted that tourism was not the only reason for his visit. He could face time in prison or a labour camp, and because Australia has no diplomatic presence in North Korea, the Swedish Embassy is representing our interests there.

The G20 had the Finance ministers’ meeting in Sydney this weekend, and while they aren’t finished yet nothing major has occurred. Joe Hockey has been talking with lots of people, and he wants “measurable” results from these meetings, which are often criticised as talk-fests. He’s also said a couple of times that government spending needs to be sustainable, which is fair enough.

Finally, we get to the big newsmaker this week – the chaos on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea, where there is an Immigration Detention Centre. It began when a few asylum seekers either escaped or at least attempted to after being told they would not be settled in Australia. It soon turned into what appeared to be a riot, in which one Iranian asylum seeker was killed and many others were injured, and at least three were transferred to Australia for medical treatment, one believed to have a gunshot wound. Journalists were not allowed in, but the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre released a call they received from one of the detainees inside.

Right now there’s a bit of a blame game going on, with Manus Island residents blaming the security staff, both Australian and Papua New Guinean. The security staff says that they were provoked by the asylum seekers saying nasty things about PNG. While the Papuan Prime Minister says that it was the Australian security staff, not the locals. There will be an inquiry, but it will take a while.

Tweet of the Week

The ABC's PNG correspondent @Liam_Cochrane has been joined on the ground by the last one @liamfoxpng. Other ABC Liam's on standby.

— Mark Scott (@mscott) February 22, 2014

What I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Correspondents Report – an ABC Radio program which, as their website says: “the ABC’s overseas reporters give their interpretation and analysis of the week’s major events.”