The Week That Was – April 17 to April 23

The week began with Parliament being recalled, with three weeks for the Senate to pass the ABCC legislation, before Malcolm Turnbull calls a double dissolution election. The Senate didn’t let Turnbull wait long, rejecting the legislation a second time and giving Turnbull his trigger. Most media outlets are so certain that there will be a double dissolution, they’ve started using their “Australia Votes” graphics already, even without the actual campaign.

The issue is however, that while a double dissolution would have been great for Turnbull and the Liberals a few months ago, there is now a risk of either a hung parliament or a win to Labor. While there is still a decent chance of return of Liberal government, albeit without a couple of marginal seats that were always going to swing to Labor, that chance is reduced. Part of that is due to complacency from the Liberal Party, in thinking that their very popular leader would help them coast through, as well as limited change from the previous Abbott government’s policies and the fact that it became so obvious earlier this year that a double dissolution was on the cards that Bill Shorten was able to plan and get ahead of the Liberals in the policy-selling stakes.

The week also began with several Canberra rallies for and against the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT). Those against it are owner-drivers and small trucking business owners, concerned they will be priced out of the market, supported by the Liberal Party. Meanwhile, Bill Shorten and Labor, along with other truck drivers, usually employed by bigger trucking companies have argued the benefit of it, in that it keeps drivers safer. The government also added the legislation to remove the RSRT in the Senate this week, and that was successful.

The politics over banks has continued, with Bill Shorten and Labor still talking about having a Royal Commission into the industry while Turnbull and the Liberals came up with the alternative of making those who ASIC investigates foot the watchdog’s bill. There has also been some drama over dental health funding, with the Liberals announcing a $5 billion injection of funds into state run dental clinics. However this is at the cost of a $3 billion children’s dental care voucher program.

South Australia also got some attention this week with the government announcing that South Australian ship builders will be involved in the building of offshore patrol vessels and frigates, with patrol boats being made in Perth when it comes time for the South Australian to make the frigates. There are concerns though about whether or not that promise will be kept, and if the submarines will be made in SA, once the government finally picks a model – although it probably won’t be long now.

It’s been announces that the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) was hacked, presumably by Chinese People’s Liberation Army agents, back in December. The Bureau has links to the Department of Defence, and it is believed that it cost hundreds of millions to re-secure the Bureau’s systems. But that’s not all, recently the USA informed Australia that Parliament House had been hacked and that China could see all emails, from the PM down. Oops. It’s also been confirmed that the Australian Signals Directorate has the capability to hack other nations too.

Johnny Depp’s wife Amber Heard appeared in court this week over the drama last year involving her dogs, Pistol and Boo. Heard plead guilty to falsifying her quarantine document, was given a good behaviour bond and made a video with Depp about Australia’s quarantine laws, which makes for some interesting viewing…

Meanwhile, Bronwyn Bishop lost preselection for the seat of Mackellar and Jason Falinski will now be the Liberal candidate in the blue-ribbon (i.e. almost always safe Liberal) seat. There was also some major drama and controversy in Parliament house when Tanya Plibersek’s hand was not shaken by the Governor-General, and Labor’s Stephen Conroy got a bit too riled up about it, and suggested Australia become a republic and that Governor General Cosgrove was akin to Sir John Kerr.

Finally this week, Clive Palmer’s company Queensland Nickel will be liquidated and Palmer and his nephew will likely be pursued in the courts by creditors and/or the government; Malcolm Turnbull has said the Channel Nine journalists were “most unwise” to have gotten involved (including paying) in the ‘retrieval’ of two kids from their father in Lebanon, which resulted in their arrest; and Australia signed the Paris Climate deal, and now need to ratify it in Parliament, which they will do along with the second part of the Kyoto agreement.

Tweet of the Week

https://twitter.com/workmanalice/status/722360331079581696

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Calling things Marxist is the new political correctness – The Guardian

Leigh Sales (of ABC’s 7.30) on the ‘vibe’ of the 2016 election – ABC The Drum

Annabel Crabb on political discipline and the election – ABC The Drum

I watched my lesbian girlfriend marry a gay man – The Guardian

Adventures in the Register of Members’ Interests

This is one of those times where I become acutely aware of just how much of a nerd I am when it comes to politics. I came across a Twitter account called Disclosure Bot, which essentially tells people when politicians update their interests. So one day, I looked and I had some fun (yes, fun is subjective, but I live for this kind of stuff). From there, I found the Register of Interests for both the Senate and the House of Representatives and looked through some interesting paperwork.

My impression originally was a mixture of “OOOOH, this is so cool” and “Holy crap, this is so detailed and anal-retentive” – because there is some detailed information in these documents. It’s is good that it is so detailed because you can’t say that it isn’t transparent. It’s also fascinating which members get what gifts and who keeps them.

I’ll start with the rules, thanks to the Registration of Members’ interests: Requirements of the House of Representatives document that I found on the House of Representatives page. The rules for Senators’ interests are the same, except they report to a Senate Committee rather than a Registrar, and are required to update slightly less frequently.

Within 28 days of being sworn in, a Member of Parliament must register their interests, and the interests of their spouse and dependent children. They must also register any changes to their interests within 28 days of the change.

They must report any of their, or their spouse’s and children’s, shares in private and public companies, any trusts they benefit from, real estate they own and their purpose, if they direct any companies and if they part of any partnerships. They also have to declare any liabilities or debts and the creditor involved, any bank accounts and the bank they belong to as well as any assets they own valued at more than $7,500 – that aren’t personal affects.

But there’s more.

Members have to declare gifts over $750 from official sources, and over $300 from other sources unless they are personal gifts from family and friends. They must also declare sponsored travel over $300 and any membership of organisations and any other interests that may be considered a conflict of interest.

If they knowingly fail to notify the registrar or make a false declaration, then they are considered guilty of contempt of the House of Representatives. It’s unclear what happens if you do the same if you’re a Senator.

So what did I find out? Well, lots of things.

I learned the extent of Clive Palmer’s business empire – Palmer is the director of so many companies and has so many trusts and investments, he had to supply an attachment 11 pages long to his original register form. The same goes for Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull, who have a lot of trusts and investments – they supplied a 5 page attachment to Malcolm Turnbull’s original register form.

Most politicians get membership of airline Frequent Flyer programs for free, as well as free Foxtel subscriptions for their offices. Many also get upgrades on flights. Almost every MP out of the probably thirty that I looked at has declared those freebies at one point or another. Many of them also get some offical gifts from people when they go on trips or get invited somewhere, and that’s where it gets very, very interesting.

Jenny Macklin, the Member for Jagajaga, gets lots of arts-related gifts. She generally keeps them and pays the difference if they are above the allowable limit. Tony Abbott, Member for Warringah, on the other hand, only keeps the gifts if below the limit, and even then he generally says in his declarations he only intends to keep them for the duration of his time in parliament, or for some of them, his Prime Ministership. Once that time is over, he plans to either donate the gifts to organisations or leave them with the Department of PM and Cabinet. This means a bunch of them have already made that transition or remain in the PM’s office, where Turnbull can admire them. However, when Abbott gets cycling gear, he keeps it, and if it’s over the limit he’ll pay the difference.

Bronwyn Bishop, Member for Mackellar,  on the other hand, seems to keep everything she gets – or at least that’s the impression I get as she doesn’t put the section numbers on – whether it be cases of wine or tickets to the Opera. You don’t even know if they’re within the limit or not, because she doesn’t note that down. It’s quite amusing.

Last but not least, Andrew Leigh, the Member for Fraser. He declares pretty much everything even noting in parentheses at one point when declaring that the National Press Club sponsor NAB provided seating for his staff and guests, “this probably doesn’t need to be disclosed, but I’m erring on the side of caution” – which seems to be his modus operandi. He notes everything in detail, such as what class a flight was booked on when it was “involuntarily” upgraded (yes, he says that in early declarations).

So, whether you want to figure out if your local member has an investment property that they might be negatively gearing or you just want to find out their middle name – and trust me, some of them are awesome – check out the registers for the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Hopefully you’ll have just as much fun as I did.

 

 

 

The Week That Was – January 17 to January 23

The week has been relatively quiet with Malcolm Turnbull back on tour. He first travelled to Iraq and Afghanistan to meet with troops, before travelling  to the USA to hang out with Obama after his invitation in November.

Turnbull signed a cybersecurity agreement with the FBI, Twitter and Facebook, spoke to Obama and Defence Secretary Ash Carter about fighting Islamic State and having “the right boots on the right ground”. He then went to Hawaii to meet the Commander of the US Pacific Command and talked about concerns about China’s claims in the South China Sea.

The economy is causing concerns again, with Australian shares down 8% since January 1st. There are questions over whether or not the Australian economy will have a recession, which some experts are saying may not be all that bad. Either way, Scott Morrison has called for “sober and wise heads”.

Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel (QNI) company has gone into voluntary administration with continuing concerns about the company’s finances and how much money has been given to the Palmer United Party (PUP). As the administrators get to the bottom of the whole thing, Palmer has announced that two other companies he founded/owns (it’s complicated because of the whole political thing) will give QNI around $250 million to help them get back on their feet.

As we begin an election year, there are tensions within the NSW Liberal Party over the candidates in certain seats. Because NSW has been redistributed by the AEC this year, some MPs no longer live in their original electorates, and also due to some scandals, and the fact that we have a moderate PM, there are certain seats that are being fought over between the conservative and moderate factions of the party. Mackellar – held by Bronwyn Bishop, Berowra – held by Phillip Ruddock, and Hughes – held by Craig Kelly are at risk. It is believed that the plan is to put forward younger, more moderate candidates, supported by the moderate faction. Two others, Angus Taylor and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, while at risk have been supported by Turnbull and it might be less concerning for them.

Finally this week, NSW Premier Mike Baird has spoken about accepting and welcoming refugees into Australia, using the example of lawyer Deng Adut (of Western Sydney University advertisement fame) to remind people that refugees do make positive contributions and Turnbull has moved into the lodge.

Tweet of the Week

Bauer announced the end of Cleo.

#Cleo closure: Founding editor Ita Buttrose says closure like 'a death in the family'https://t.co/zyYGmOjthz pic.twitter.com/XG5S3EGdNP

— ABC News (@abcnews) January 20, 2016

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Lisa Wilkinson on being one of the editors of Cleo – Huffington Post Australia

First Dog on the Moon on Border Force Medals – The Guardian

*I would have also linked to Sharri Markson’s piece on the folding of Cleo, but it’s on The Australian website behind a paywall.

The Year That Was – 2015

Another year, another batch of numbers.

Leadership Spills: 2

The first in February this year, saw Tony Abbott survive a ballot to see if there would even be a spill. The second saw Tony Abbott rolled by Malcolm Turnbull, who has brought Australia some calm in the political realm.

Elections: 4

Queensland State Election – saw the first term Liberal government go from over 80 seats in a less than 100-seat House of Representatives to a hung parliament lead by Labor with around forty seats each for the major parties.

New South Wales State Election – The Liberals, under Premier Mike Baird, remained in power in NSW, albeit with a reduced majority, and the Greens had one of their best showings with four seats – two in the Sydney Metro area, and two on the north coast.

Canning By-election: Andrew Hastie, a former SAS captain, retained the seat for the Liberals less than a week after Malcolm Turnbull took over the country. Hastie replaces the late Don Randall.

North Sydney By-election: Won by Trent Zimmerman for the Liberals. Nominated for the seat under controversial circumstances, Zimmerman is the first openly gay MP in the lower house and replaces former Treasurer Joe Hockey, who is now the incoming Australian Ambassador to the US.

Scandals: 2

First, the knighting of Prince Phillip (the Queen’s husband) by Tony Abbott, resulting in the non-spill in February. Second is Chopper-gate in which former Speaker Bronwyn Bishop was discovered to have used taxpayer dollars to charter a helicopter to travel to an event that she could have easily travelled to by car. The scandal resulted in Bishop’s resignation after more than two weeks.

Women In Cabinet: 5

Julie Bishop: Minister for Foreign Affairs, since 2013 Election

Sussan Ley: Minister for Health and Sport, since December 2014

Kelly O’Dwyer: Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer, since September 2015 (Turnbull’s Reshuffle)

Marise Payne: Minister for Defence, since September 2015 (Turnbull’s Reshuffle)

Michaelia Cash: Minister for Employment and Minister for Women, since September 2015 (Turnbull’s Reshuffle)

Changes to the AEC’s Ballot Paper Protocols: Many.

Since that awkward moment in 2013 when 1,300 senate ballot papers from WA went into the void, causing the AEC to nullify the 2013 result and recall the senate election for the state. Since then the protocols for ballot papers at federal elections, including by-elections, have changed dramatically, with the Canning by-election and the North Sydney by-election becoming test runs.

Last Minute Cabinet Resignations: 2

#1: Mal Brough, stood down until the police investigation into Slipper-gate ends.

#2: Jamie Briggs, resigned after a public servant made a complaint about him regarding a trip to Hong Kong.

ABC News 24 Year in Review

ABC News 24 Politics Unearthed

ABC Digital Most Popular Vines

Happy New Year. Let’s see what 2016 has on offer.

The Week That Was – August 9 to August 15

This week was a crazy one in politics.

The expenses saga came to an end, with Tony Smith being elected speaker on Monday. He says that he will be different, starting with the fact that he will not sit in on party meetings, and that he will help make real change in parliament. He also apologised to Tony Abbott, admitting that he had friends from the other side of politics. The thing is, Smith was not Abbott’s first choice, but Scott Morrison’s  – or at least that’s the rumour. Meanwhile the expenses inquiry is again being talked about, as the Greens call for an independent Integrity Commissioner and it becomes apparent that there is a disconnect between the politicians and the public.

Once the drama with Bronwyn Bishop was over, the Liberal Party had a marathon meeting on Monday night after the topic of same-sex marriage came up. The meeting, which some have described as poorly managed, resolved – with two-thirds majority – to keep the same policy to what Howard legislated in 2004 that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Furthermore, Abbott apparently had a “captain’s pick” moment and announced that there would be a plebiscite or referendum on the issue at or after the next election. There are issues with this however both legal and political. Legally, it is pointless as our marriage laws are an Act of Parliament, not enshrined in our constitution, as Ireland’s was. Politically, as Malcolm Turnbull pointed out, it will continue to distract from the Liberal Party’s policies and reforms.

Another drama this week came when it was revealed that Justice Dyson Heydon, the Commissioner for the Trade Union Royal Commission agreed to attend and speak at a Liberal Party fundraiser. He has since dropped out of the event, however it has led to Labor pointing to perceived bias, if not bias itself. Justice Heydon has said that he did not know it was a party fundraiser, and released a statement saying that people in his office made it clear to organisers that if it was a party fundraiser, Heydon would not be able to attend. Labor wants to see this correspondence, and until they do, they’ll probably run the “of he not biased, then he looks it” line.

The costings for the Government’s environment policies are not due out until 2017, however some information has leaked out, suggesting that the 26-28% reduction will not affect coal industries and will most likely be done through the cheapest means possible. The IPCC is worried about the plans and Labor wants to see the government’s modelling before they show people theirs.

Abbott rounded out one of the worst week’s he’s possibly ever had by trying to make the upcoming 2016 election about trust and the environment, with Abbott talking about how “every election is about trust” and how we only have one planet. This was not received well by the people in my house, with comments about his competency and the agreement with the Labor speakers on the news that Abbott is trying desperately to save his job.

Finally this week, Abbott has had some trouble adjusting to the new speaker, as he referred to Smith as “Madam Speaker” at least once this week, it has been announced that the 2016 Census is going to be carried out primarily online, the Hutchison Ports Wharf workers are due to head back to work after the Fair Work Commission said that they’d been fired unfairly, the world celebrates the end of WWII in the Pacific and there is talk that we are to get involved in airstrikes in Syria.

Tweet of the Week

Abbott took part in the City2Surf last Sunday

https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef/status/630260742285955073

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

NSW and Victoria have a go at each other over Victoria’s new branding – Buzzfeed

New Media Adventures in Oz – ABC Radio National

Jacqui Lambie’s revelation about her son – ABC News

Penny Wong and Joe Hockey meet outside the ABC radio booth on Tuesday morning after the same-sex marriage decision in the Liberal Party room:

The Week that Was – August 2 to August 8

Well, as the edit in last week’s post showed, Bronwyn Bishop resigned. It’s believed that despite her friendship and trust from Tony Abbott, it was causing too much damage and she had to go. Abbott has been trying to shift the blame from her to the system, even announcing an inquiry into the system to see if the rules can be made clearer (which they probably can be). Parliament is due back soon, which means that people are putting themselves forward for the role of Speaker. Constitutionally, the vote for the new speaker will happen first thing, as you can’t run the House of Representatives without a Speaker. There are a few people being suggested for the role, such as Philip Ruddock, Andrew Southcott and the current Deputy Speaker Bruce Scott. There is hope that they will be far less partisan than Ms Bishop was.

MPs have begun to shut up about the whole entitlements saga, after Tony Burke went on the attack on Bishop, which lead Christopher Pyne to go on the attack regarding Burke’s spending, before it was pointed out that Pyne is just as bad as Tony Burke. Since then, MPs have not really said anything because it’s become clear that most of them have done something inappropriate at least once.

Abbott spent his week in South Australia and Victoria, announcing contracts for ship builders in SA, which they hope will improve employment and the Liberal Party’s vote in the state. Meanwhile in Victoria, he’s been focusing on jobs and training, which has made some wonder if South Australia is getting a better deal than Victoria.

NAPLAN tests are showing that there is little to no improvement in Australia’s literacy and numeracy skills overall, although there has been major improvement in Queensland and Western Australia. Most experts and teachers are suggesting that there needs to be more information and resources for teaching staff and a more individual focus on students.

It’s believed that the terrorism legislation may be struck down in the High Court, after it was revealed by legal experts that the legislation is poorly written and extremely broad. It’s believed that people who a caught putting graffiti on Commonwealth buildings could be charged with terrorism offences and lose their Australian citizenship if they are dual citizens.

Malaysia has announced that the piece of plane that washed up on Réunion Island is from MH370. However, the French, who are looking after the plane at the BEA, want to do more tests to double-check.

Finally this week, unemployment is up to 6.3%, it’s been revealed that the Vietnamese asylum seekers who were intercepted off WA a few weeks ago have been sent back to Vietnam, and that under Peter Dutton, 20 boats have been turned back, eight more than under Scott Morrison, Foreign investors are still being cracked down upon, with around 400 sales suspicious, the Productivity Commission has suggested changing penalty rates, and the MUA is picketing at Hutchison Ports (a holding company for Hutchison Whampoa) locations after they sacked workers by email this week.

Tweet of the Week

Taylor Swift continues world domination.

https://twitter.com/taylorswift13/status/628452918308384768

.@taylorswift13 just unbelievably granted a bunch of Aussie actors the chance to Shake It Off http://t.co/4BYpBG8UQ4 pic.twitter.com/kUZAQmLz3X

— BuzzFeed Australia (@BuzzFeedOz) August 4, 2015

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

First Dog on the Moon introduces Ian the Climate Denialist Potato – The Guardian

Kumi Taguchi talks about her father’s experience in Japan during WWII – ABC The Drum

The Week That Was – July 26 to August 1

The ALP Conference finished last Sunday, with an agreement for a conscience vote on marriage equality for the next two parliamentary terms, a promise to introduce a marriage equality bill within the first 100 days of government if they win the next election, and an agreement to make climate change policy one of the key issues at the next election. Commentators believe Shorten has come out of the conference alright, but needs to prove himself as an alternative PM to non-ALP members. Meanwhile, Tony Abbott has been scaremongering on the proposed ETS that the ALP is taking to the next election, saying it is a big scary tax, only for Malcolm Turnbull to point out that the RET is technically a tax too.

Bronwyn Bishop is still under fire, originally for not apologising and going to Sophie Mirabella’s wedding on the taxpayer purse, then apologising because the PM’s office told her to, and then for a $6000 charter flight to seniors’ events and fundraisers two weeks after the $5000 chopper flight that started it all. There also appears to be some sort of link between the Ms Bishop and the charter company she’s been using, but it is not clear what that link is. Meanwhile Labor has announce that it will only support the government in condolence motions in Parliament, Meanwhile Christopher Pyne and Abbott are still supporting the Speaker, while Malcolm Turnbull has been tweeting about the trains he’s been taking and joking about justifying the $4 train ticket.

EDIT 5PM August 2 – Bronwyn Bishop has resigned.

After the Labor Party agreed to have a quota of 50% women in parliament in the next couple of years, which has sparked discussion about why women don’t go into politics, with some suggesting that Question Time has something to do with it. Senior Liberals are not in favour of targets despite the fact that the general belief is that the Liberal Party has problems with women.

The Royal Commission into Child Abuse looked into Jehovah’s Witnesses, where it was revealed that church elders investigated abuse claims internally, and never reported any cases to the police. Members of the church also admitted to destroying notes.

Finally this week, the guy who came back from Syria last week has been charged with terrorism offences, paperwork acquired by the ABC through Freedom of Information shows the ATO was worried about people rorting the small business tax breaks, they may have found a section of the MH370 washed up on the French overseas department of Réunion, and Russia vetoed a UN Security Council Resolution to have a tribunal look into the downing of MH17, which made Julie Bishop angry.

Tweet of the Week

.@InsidersABC host @barriecassidy reckons Bronwyn Bishop yesterday looked like an old lady who'd had her handbag stolen.@BreakfastNews

— Michael Rowland (@mjrowland68) July 30, 2015

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Barrie Cassidy on the Bishop and Goodes Sagas – ABC The Drum

Stan Grant on racism and being Indigenous – The Guardian

SBS2’s The Feed – Douche of the Week

The Week That Was – July 19 to July 25

The week began with “Reclaim Australia” protests in major capital cities, most of which were countered by anti-racism protesters, who had a tendency to call the Reclaim Australia protesters ‘fascists’. At least in Sydney, the police kept the apart for most of the day, considering their operation a success with only five arrests and two people charged.

The saga with Bronwyn Bishop continues, with Bishop insisting that while her use of taxpayer funds to pay for a chopper ride from Melbourne to Geelong (which is perfectly accessible by a highway and you can get there in about an hour) was an ‘error of judgement’, it was official business and she paid back the over $5000 the ride cost. Abbott is standing by Bronwyn Bishop, although she is ‘on probation’, which is leading to calls of hypocrisy from both Labor and the public, given the last time a Speaker got in trouble for spending taxpayers’ money for dubious transport claims Abbott was calling for their resignation. For those who don’t remember, that was Peter Slipper, the LNP MP that became Speaker so that Labor had another vote – he spent $900-ish on cars to wineries.

This week also saw a COAG retreat and meeting, with all of the Chief Ministers and Premiers, along with the PM discussing the GST, Health Funding, Medicare and other ways to bring some more money into the states after the government cut funding to health back in the 2014. No decisions were made but they had “constructive discussions”. They also considered some more finding for domestic violence and also looked into making the Northern Territory a State.

The ALP had its National Conference at the end of the week, with Bill Shorten proposing that 50% of Australia’s energy to be renewable by 2030, with a possible ETS – the Greens were happy with that and the Liberals are not (no surprises there). However, the ALP is not all rainbows and sunshine, with both Bill Shorten and other senior party people proposing that Labor consider turning back asylum seeker boats if they win government. The party voted not to ban turnbacks, which means Labor has the option if they’re in government, but they do have some additional parts to the policy, such as money for the UN Refugee Agency, a Refugee Child Advocate, and doubling Australia’s refugee intake. Dutton suggests that this will make more boats come.

Speaking of boats coming, an asylum seeker boat was spotted off the Western Australian coast, which is believed to have Vietnamese asylum seekers on board – we’re not sure though because of the Operation Sovereign Borders Cone of Silence which also means we have no idea where they are now.

A nurse who ended up joining IS has returned to Australia and extradited to Victoria. He claims that he went to Syria for humanitarian purposes, as he was a nurse, and when hurt in an airstrike was taken to an IS-run hospital where they forced him to join the organisation. He is yet to be charged.

Finally this week, the National Party is split over the Shenhua Coalmine, telcos are upset about the new national security legislation being proposed that lets the government meddle in the way they secure their networks, Mike Baird suggests raising the GST which upsets almost everyone, and incumbent MP for Canning Don Randall died this week – most famous for expenses scandals and not being in Parliament during the apology.

Tweet of the Week

The ABC celebrated five years of ABC News 24…

It's our 5th birthday! Hip hip hooray @ABCNews24 #cakes #celebration pic.twitter.com/q7rl9CydBQ

— Kumi Taguchi | 田口久実 (@kumitaguchi) July 20, 2015

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

How the ABC’s female journalists are changing the newsroom – Daily Life

Virginia Trioli on renewable energy and engineers – The Weekly Review

ABC News 24 looks back at five years:

The Week That Was – November 23 to November 29

The Palmer United Party has split. Jacqui Lambie has left, and become an independent. There are still two PUP Senators for now, five months after they started in the Senate. Clive Palmer has been accusing Lambie of fraud and generally does not seem to be taking the split well, given he started hurling insults at Lambie via the mainstream media. Lambie has indicated that she is willing to negotiate with the government, mainly on Defence pay, but will be blocking changes to university fee deregulation. This now makes the Senate a little more difficult to deal with as there are more groups to negotiate with, especially if Ricky Muir keeps himself independent of the PUP.

This week also saw the ABC announce the cuts it has to make in order to survive the government’s funding cuts – or “efficiency dividend” as the government is calling it. You can read what is going to be cut here. Mark Scott, the ABC’s managing director explained that it was a sad day and that he was upset that he had to sack 400 people. Meanwhile Tony Abbott admitted during question time that he had promised not to make cuts to the ABC or SBS. Mind you, either the ABC executives doing the cutting are very cunning or it was an incredible coincidence, because the five regional outposts being cut are in Liberal or National held seats. The Nowra, Wagin and Port Augusta posts are in the Liberal-held seats of Gilmore, O’Connor and Grey respectively, while the Nationals hold the seats of Gippsland and Flynn, where the outposts of Morwell and Gladstone are based. There were protests at Parliament the next day, while Christopher Pyne bemoaned the ABC’s decision to cut the Adelaide-based production unit, while Australian tweeters called him a hypocrite and trolled his petition.

The ADF has been in the news this week for multiple reasons. First, Tony Abbott has agreed to review the ADF pay issue, to see if there is anything he can do. There is no plan to meet with Jacqui Lambie at the moment, thou, and Abbott has pointed out that you can’t always get what you want. Meanwhile, the Defence Minister, David Johnston, has got himself into hot water over a comment made in the Senate about the Australian Submarine Corporation (ASC), in which he said he would not trust the ASC to build a canoe. That obviously upset the ASC’s staff, as well as the opposition, with people calling for his resignation. It doesn’t help that the government is trying to sell the ASC, and saying something like that, kind of devalues it. Staying with defence, the ADF has released a report into sexual assaults at ADFA. The report says that many senior officers who were told of the allegations either did noting or did not believe the cadets. Some are even calling for a Royal Commission into ADFA and its culture.

Freya Newman, the young woman in court over the leaking of information regarding Frances Abbott’s scholarship to the Whitehouse art school, has been sentenced to a good behaviour bond, with no conviction recorded. This is good for her, however now that the case is over, people have been asking why Newman sent the information to The New Matilda and not the NSW ICAC.

The government has said that a boat carrying Sri Lankan asylum seekers was turned back to Sri Lanka two weeks ago near the Cocos Islands, while the UN committee that looks into torture has condemned the government’s treatment of asylum seekers. Meanwhile, refugee legal services are being inundated with clients wanting clarification over a clause in the “Code of Conduct” they are required to sign. The clause basically tells them that if they engage in anti-social behaviour that disrupts the peace of the Australian community, they can be deported. This makes the refugees concerned, because many fear that if they make an innocent mistake, they could be kicked out of the country.

Finally this week, medics are finally headed to West Africa to join the fight against Ebola, Medibank was listed on the ASX, Clive Palmer was in court to deal with allegations from a Chinese company that was part of a joint venture, Bronwyn Bishop has broken the  record for the most members thrown out in one sitting of the House of Representatives – 18, and the $7 co-payment may be binned.

Tweet of the Week

https://twitter.com/JamelleWellsABC/status/536682521421836288

Fun fact: Annual #OurABC cuts of $50m would fund less than 4 days of Abbott's PPL scheme.

— Paul Syvret (@PSyvret) November 24, 2014

Things I’ve been looking at Online

Where Mark Latham got it wrong on mothers – AFR

Annabel Crabb on Mark Latham – SMH

23 Things Australians can thank the ABC for – BuzzFeed

Broadcast Battleground

The Week that Was – October 19 to October 25

At the start of this week, Iraq finally found itself a Defence Minister, allowing Julie Bishop to finalise the terms of Australian troops coming to help advise the Iraqi defence forces. While there won’t be direct combat for the moment, the troops, mainly from the SAS, will advise and train the Iraqi army to deal with Islamic State (IS aka ISIS/ISIL). Speaking of Islamic State, Tony Abbott has been mentioned in a propaganda video spoken by a 17-year-old Australian who was able to get to the Middle East undetected by authorities. The young guy, a student from South-western Sydney told his mother he was going fishing and never came back. Abbott has used this to explain why Australia is in Iraq, and both sides of politics, not to mention community leaders are shocked that the young guy is there.

Meanwhile, the decision to make women wearing the burqa to watch parliamentary proceedings from a sealed-off section of the public gallery that is usually reserved for visiting students has been reversed. The Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate met and decided that it would be better if women wearing the burqa were taken aside and asked to remove the covering for a moment so an officer could be satisfied of their identity. Some of the people who supported the burqa ban, such as Cory Bernardi and Jacqui Lambie are calling it ‘political correctness gone mad’, but most people seem to think that the Speaker and the Senate President are doing the right thing.

Also this week, we saw a shocking terrorist attack in Canada.

It saw Tony Abbott make a speech in Parliament about what happened in Canada, as did the Opposition.

Earlier in the week, Tony Abbott visited Indonesia for Joko Widodo’s inauguration. Widodo, often referred to by his nickname “Jokowi”, is the second democratically elected president of Indonesia. Abbott wants Australia and Indonesia to be closer and more friendly, but it is thought that Jokowi is going to be tougher on threats to Indonesia’s sovereignty, particularly by Australia, not to mention the fact that Widodo has domestic issues to deal with, such as a hung parliament and his promises to the Indonesian people.

Australia is apparently starting to frustrate the rest of the world when it comes to the fight against Ebola. The Health Minister has said that Australia will be focusing on the Asia-Pacific region and how we can help an outbreak there, as well as working on research into a vaccine. Australia has also sent $18 million to Africa to help them fight, but the opposition has demanded the government send personnel to West Africa to help fight the virus, as has, it turns out, the UK and the USA. Meanwhile, the chief medical people from each state and territory have met to discuss Australia’s plans to fight Ebola should someone in Australia be diagnosed with it, and they would also like Australian medical staff to be sent to Africa.

This week also saw Australia mourn the death of former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. He died on Tuesday (the 21st) at the age of 98. He’s considered to be one of the best Prime Ministers the country has ever had, making major social change, such as no-fault divorce and free tertiary education. He is also well-known for his changes to Aboriginal land rights, so much so, that several Aboriginal communities entered a period of traditional mourning. Many tributes came in from across the political spectrum, including Malcolm Fraser and all parliamentary business was suspended, except for a sitting to pass a condolence motion and have a few speeches.His State Memorial Service will be held on the 5th of November in Sydney. You can read some editorials and tributes about Whitlam by Julia Gillard, David Marr and Lenore Taylor from the Guardian website.

Finally this week, Bill Shorten spoke about his dislike of hiding behind the bible when arguing against marriage equality, the AMA is criticising the government for its response to Ebola, the Governor-General met up with Australian forces in the UAE and Afghanistan, and Saturday saw National Mosque Open Day, in an attempt to inform people about Islam.

Tweets of the Week

The makeshift Whitlam memorial on the steps of Old Parliament House in Canberra

On the steps where he uttered his immortal 1975 words, flowers and tributes are being left for Gough Whitlam pic.twitter.com/LhO6j88ypk

— Andrew Greene (@AndrewBGreene) October 21, 2014

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Australia’s war on whistleblowers must end – The Guardian

Barry Spurr is the smoking gun of institutional racism – New Matilda

The death of a US-born journalist working for Iranian TV is believed to be the work of Turkish authorities – Daily Mail UK

The relationship you wish you had (about a gay couple on YouTube) – Huffington Post