Tag Archives: Canberra

The Week That Was – June 30 to July 6

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This week was the start of the 46th Parliament. So members were sworn in en masse and legislation being pushed through, but first, the new Governor-General, General David Hurley, was sworn in – Hurley’s first words as Governor-General were in the language of the Ngunnawal people, whose land encompasses Canberra.

Once all the politicians were sworn in, the government got to work on getting their legislation passed through the House of Representatives and the Senate. The government’s primary focus this week has been the tax cuts that it promised in both the Budget back in April and during the election campaign. With a majority in the lower house, the tax cuts passed easily. However once in the Senate, the government still had to negotiate with the crossbench, and it seems that the government has found a bloc of senators to make deals with that doesn’t involve Pauline Hanson and her One Nation Party. Instead, for this legislation, the government has Cory Bernardi, who thinks tax cuts are awesome, two Centre Alliance Senators – who have been promised changes to the pricing and exports of natural gas – and Jacqui Lambie (yep, she’s back) who has been promised that certain subsided housing debts will be waived.

Labor did, in the end, support the tax cuts too, but they really only support the first round of cuts for low and middle-income earners. They’re not too excited about the changes coming in 2022 which will decrease the tax rate for those on incomes between $46,000 and $200,000 to 30 cents in the dollar. However, there’s a suggestion that should they win the 2022 election they might repeal that second round of tax cuts.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut interest rates to a record low of 1% this week, and economists expect there to be at least one more rate cut by the end of the year – not so great for those investing and saving, but pretty awesome for those who are borrowing. Part of the reason that the Reserve Bank continues to drop the interest rate is that they are concerned about the economy. The RBA wants to see unemployment rates drop to 4.5% (but actual higher-paying jobs, not minimum-wage service jobs), and more infrastructure investment. As it turns out, New South Wales is setting the example, with the government investing in public transport infrastructure, creating jobs and boosting the NSW economy.

The federal government seems reluctant to do this, and it seems to be because they desperately want to deliver a surplus this financial year. Economist Tim Harcourt, a Fellow at UNSW and an advisor to the South Australia Government, has suggested the economy could be negatively affected by the government’s “surplus fetish” – saying on ABC News that it is actually perfectly normal and okay for there to be a budget deficit when the economy is slowing down. This “surplus fetish” (which is now my new favourite phrase), is also the reason that the aforementioned second round of tax cuts isn’t happening until 2022.

This week also saw terror arrests in Western Sydney, which foiled a plot to attack “Sydney landmarks” – as they caught their suspects before they decided on a concrete target. This now makes 16 plots that the AFP and their state counterparts have foiled. The thing that surprised me this week about the whole thing is that the Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton decided to tell Australians “that the threat is not diminished” and not going away. Why not applaud the AFP and the other agencies that have worked hard to prevent these potential attacks?

Finally this week, Australian Alek Sigley, who was living in North Korea, was released from detention in the DPRK and reunited with his family, leading the government and the opposition to tell Australians going to North Korea is not necessarily a good idea; and the indigenous site of Budj Bim has been recognised as a World Heritage Site.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

RBA Governor Philip Lowe wants the government to stimulate the economy – ABC Online

Hong Kong’s future generation was always going to rebel against China – ABC Online

The Week That Was – February 8 to February 14

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Tony Abbott has survived the spill motion this week, after making a “captain’s pick” to move the spill vote forward from Tuesday to Monday. It upset a few pro-spill voters, who suggested that the change could work against him. Abbott had an interview on ABC News on Sunday, and seemed contrite about the whole thing, using hypothetical words and phrases.

On Monday morning, the spill motion was voted on, and it did not succeed.

He then spoke to the party room, describing the events as a “near death experience” and that the party was not going to end up like the Labor Party. He then recorded a statement for the media.

The political analysts are all suggesting that Tony Abbott is on borrowed time, and that if he doesn’t start showing improvement, the Liberal Party will sack him and pick someone else. They also said that Abbott should be concerned, because the Abbott supporters had said that they had a guaranteed 70 votes, and only received 61, so nine people lied to the Abbott camp. If one also looks at the numbers, if all those who voted for the spill were backbenchers, then two-thirds of the backbench do not support the PM. Another point made was that Abbott is still talking about “fighting” Labor, as if he is still an Opposition Leader, and not a Prime Minister – and he was formidable as an Opposition Leader.

People are also talking about how the Prime Minister should sack the Treasurer Joe Hockey and his Chief of Staff Peta Credlin. It appears that they will likely keep their jobs for the moment, as Abbott has promised to consult more with the backbench. However, in the last couple of days, Philip Ruddock has been sacked as Chief Whip, and replaced by Deputy Whip, Scott Buchholz. Many senior Liberals have been shocked by the decision and it is unclear why he was sacked.

In the days leading up to the spill vote, Abbott told several South Australian MPs and Senators that the submarine contract would be the subject of an open tender or a competitive evaluation process. It is unclear which, and no one is sure what the latter means. There are also rumours that a secret deal has been done with Japan and that this “competitive evaluation process” stuff was a way for Abbott to guarantee SA MPs and Senators.

The Human Rights Commission released a report on children in immigration detention, condemning both the current Liberal and the previous Labor governments for imprisoning children. The children in detention are mentally ill, and think they will die in detention. The report recommends that the government release all children immediately and that a Royal Commission be started. Tony Abbott is not impressed with the report at all, saying it is partisan, politicised and that the Commissioner, Professor Gillian Triggs should resign or be sacked. Professor Triggs has denied that the report is politicised.

It is becoming more apparent that the Bali Nine ringleaders are likely to be executed in the next few weeks, with Australian religious leaders pleading with the Indonesian government to spare the lives of the the men. The Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fisher, and the Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, have made contact with the Indonesian government in the hope that the deeply religious country might respond better to religious leaders than politicians. However, there are rumours that the two men will be moved from Kerobokan Prison in Bali, to the prison where they will be executed in the next few weeks. Furthermore, Australian diplomats, along with diplomats from other countries have been called to the government offices in Jakarta, suggesting that their execution is nearing.

Channel 9 and Channel 7 had duelling Sunday night current affairs programs on the Sydney Siege, with Channel 9’s 60 Minutes and Channel 7’s Sunday Night both broadcast interviews with survivors, some of whom are believed to have been paid $300,000 for their stories. It has also come to light that the NSW Police negotiation van was not available on the day and the police had to be based in the NSW Leagues Club.

There were terrorism raids in NSW this week, with two men charged with planning a terrorist attack. Police say a machete, a flag affiliated with the Islamic State group, and a video were found in the raid, with the video apparently outlining the attacks and the reasons for it. Tony Abbott was briefed on the incident and shown the video, which he later quoted in parliament. This has concerned the legal community who suggest that the Prime Minister may have compromised the trial by publicly talking about the video.

Also this week, student protesters were pepper sprayed by police in Sydney, the two remaining Al Jazeera journalists were released on bail, there are changes to teaching qualifications for primary and secondary school teachers, and unemployment is on the rise.

Tweet of the Week

Lee Lin Chin.

https://twitter.com/corbinbluwaffle/status/564795020839235585

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

The Buzzfeed Australia editor (who is not Australian) makes his first trip to Canberra – Buzzfeed

Pets watching Q&A – Buzzfeed

Confusion over the whole submarine tender issue – Sky News

Tanya Plibersek on her husband’s drug conviction and the changes he made afterwards

The Week That Was – February 1 to February 7

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This week has been one of the crazy ones, and it’s not going to calm down anytime soon.

The Queensland election appears to have resulted in a hung parliament, with most people believing that Labor will have government with the support of the three other MPs. Most people in the Liberal Party are blaming Tony Abbott, and the fact that he gave Prince Phillip a knighthood for the election loss. There is concern in NSW, that given the results of the Victorian and Queensland elections, that the Liberals could lose the NSW Election in late March if Abbott stays as PM.

Not only is there some concern in NSW, but also federally, with Abbott’s approval rating quite low. The PM made a speech at the National Press Club on Monday, in which he relinquished his involvement in Australia Day Honours, promised he’d listen more and has told Australians that they voted him and the government in, and only the electorate can vote him out – which is incorrect in terms of the leadership, as he can be toppled by the party if they so wish. In the days that followed, ministers and other senior Liberal figures have come out in support of the PM as rumblings of discontent within the party grow, and several backbenchers have publicly spoken about how they no longer support Abbott as the Prime Minister.

It came to a head on Friday with West Australian MP Luke Simpkins asking the Chief Whip, Philip Ruddock, for a spill motion during the party room meeting on Tuesday. Ministers, including the top contenders for the leadership – Julie Bishop and Malcolm Turnbull – have publicly said that they will not support the motion, although it is a secret ballot, so no one will know.

The crazy week in federal politics has led to some amusing slip-ups and some great pop culture references though. Defence Minister Kevin Andrews at one point said he supported the Tony Abbott and Julia Gillard leadership team, and Abbott made reference to Game of Thrones. Although his was more a reference to the title than to a specific part of the franchise (unlike the Harry Potter comments made in 2013).

Meanwhile, the Northern Territory had a more dramatic week, with Willem Westra van Holthe challenging Adam Giles for the NT Country Liberal Party leadership (and also the role of Chief Minister). Westra van Holthe called a press conference at one in the morning to say he was in charge, and was due to be sworn in before noon, only for no-one to show up. It turned out Giles was refusing to sign his resignation letter, so he and Westra van Holthe were sent to a room to come to a solution. The solution? Adam Giles is to remain Chief Minister, and Willem Westra van Holthe will be his deputy – much to the amusement of the rest of the country.

Finally this week, Peter Greste has been released from prison and is now back in Australia, the Bali Nine ringleaders are due to be executed this month, and the UK Defence Minister is in town for talks with his Australian counterpart.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve been Looking at Online

ABC News Librarians – ABC Backstory

Tony Abbott hashtag backfires – SMH

Reporters looking back on the Sydney Siege – ABC Backstory

The Week That Was – December 21 to December 27

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It was inordinately busy in the days leading up to Christmas this year.

It began with a reshuffle of Tony Abbott’s Cabinet, during which he sacked David Johnston as Minister for Defence, putting Kevin Andrews in his place. That meant the role of Minister for Social Services was given to Scott Morrison, and Peter Dutton was made Minister for Immigration. Sussan Ley becomes the second woman in Cabinet, as Minister for Health and Sport, and there has also been a change of Parliamentary Secretaries and Assistant Ministers. You can see who has gone where on the ABC website.

At least two Australians are being implicated in the brutal treatment of Yazidi women by Islamic State militants. It’s believed that the ISIS militants have either sold women and girls into sex slavery, forced them to marry ISIS militants or sexually assaulted them. Activists and charities that have rescued and helped these women have reported that at least four Yazidi women were held by militants well-known to be Australian.

There are thoughts that the GST will be changed in the next budget, after the white papers on taxation are tabled. This announcement that the GST could change has led to State Treasurers clambering for more money, while also reminding the government that if their share of the GST is decreased they will not accept the changes.

Consumer confidence could rise after the Boxing Day sales given the high turnout, but it could be a one-off given that people are still concerned about the budget and the uncertainty in Canberra. It’s thought that retailers will keep the sales going for as long as possible in order to keep consumer confidence up for a bit.

Finally this week, it’s understood that someone warned the authorities about Man Haron Monis (the perpetrator of the Sydney Siege) two days before the siege, the siege victims have been farewelled at funerals and memorial services, two men were arrested in terrorism raids on Christmas Eve, and the Climate Change Authority is concerned that Australia will not meet its 2020 emissions target. Plus, it is looking like Peter Greste may be released very soon.

Oh, and before I forget: Tony Abbot announced that his greatest achievement as Minister for Women was the repeal of the Carbon Tax.

Tweet of the Week

An ABC Journalist in the Canberra Press Gallery is leaving the ABC for a new job:

…and NSW, QLD and Victoria police discuss what they’ve left out for Santa

https://twitter.com/jamus__/status/547737670248435712

Things I’ve been Looking at Online

Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin – NYT

Richard Glover on ‘staycations’ – SMH

Small NZ children re-enact the Christmas Story

The Week That Was – November 30 to December 6

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The Victorians held an election last weekend, and a first term government was thrown out. That hasn’t happened in decades. Labor won a comfortable majority to beat the Liberal/National Coalition. There is a suggestion from the left that the current government is to blame for the Liberal election loss, and that this is, or at least should be, a wake up call to the current federal government, telling them that people are not happy with them. The new Victorian Premier, Dan Andrews has said that he will work with the federal government and Tony Abbott, but not for them. The election loss of a one term government isn’t the only shock though. Shepparton, which was considered the second safest seat in Victoria and held by the Nationals, has swung 32 percent against the Nationals to become an Independent-held seat.

After a shocking week last week, Tony Abbott held a 45-minute long press conference in which he took responsibility for some of the broken promises, and announced that the government will give back the days off it was planning to take away from people in the ADF. The budget is still in trouble, not just because the government hasn’t got major legislation through but because mining revenues are down, which is how the government was making a lot of money before. This week is the last week of sitting for 2014, so the government is hoping next week is better. To add to the government’s concerns, the GDP is down again, and worse than the most pessimistic forecast.

With this week being the last week of Parliament for 2014, there has been a lot of nagging about legislation that people want to pass through the Senate, especially the university fee deregulation legislation and Temporary Protection Visa (TPV) legislation. The university fee legislation did not pass, with PUP senator Glenn Lazarus complaining that Education Minister Christopher Pyne had been texting him non stop about it – Lazarus was in hospital with kidney stones last weekend and Monday. Pyne was not to be deterred, as he has tweaked the legislation and is sending it through next year, although my understanding is that the tweaking will not mollify students as they are more concerned with the cost of tuition than with having to pay it back. One success for the government has been the passing of legislation for Temporary Protection Visas. TPVs will be introduced, allowing genuine asylum seekers to be released into the Australian community.

There is frustration among rural communities, and in particular indigenous communities, with the announcement that people will have to work five hours a day, five days a week all year round in order to receive their welfare benefits. It’s meant to stop “sit down welfare”, but it also forces people into jobs. It’s also criticised as discriminatory as it only affects rural and indigenous communities and not people in the city.

The Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has announced that DFAT is going to be stricter on Australians who cause trouble abroad, suggesting that they may charge some people for consular assistance and may not even help some people who break local laws. Bishop has said that consular assistance is a privilege and not a right, and has also said that people need to stop asking DFAT stupid questions, like if they will feed your pets while you are away or requesting an embassy car to take people to and from their hotel.

Meanwhile, the Department of Defence is beginning an investigation into the leaking of receipts from restaurants, showing that the Defence Minister, while wining and dining foreign officials, has spent thousands of taxpayer dollars on food and drink at upscale establishments, including at Adelaide Casino, where a steak that cost $98 was ordered, along with several hundred dollars on drinks.

Finally this week, the Child Abuse Royal Commission investigated a yoga retreat where children were abused, there are mutterings of a cabinet reshuffle with the Treasurer and Defence Minister in the rumoured firing line, Australian medics are will soon be off to West Africa, once they’ve completed some critical situation training and safety training in Australia, and ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher is stepping down in order to be eligible to be considered for the casual vacancy that Kate Lundy is leaving in the Senate.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve been Looking at Online

Australian parents publish a correction in the Births, Deaths and Marriages section of the local paper – Mirror UK

Dame Quentin Bryce says men have to confront domestic violence – The Guardian

The ABC’s top 30 clips on YouTube

The Week That Was – November 16 to November 22

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The G20 continued over Sunday with leaders having a “robust” discussions with Putin, who left the G20 a little early, he says to catch up on sleep, but others say he was feeling hardly done by. Obama kept talking about climate change while Abbott kept talking about coal. However, the G20 is mainly about the economy, so they’ve promised to work harder to fight corporate tax evasion as well as try to get 100 million women into the work force. It was 42ºC in Brisbane over the weekend, making it very hot for some of the northern hemispheric heads of state, who are heading into winter.

China’s President, Xi Jinping arrived in Canberra shortly after the G20, he made a speech to Federal Parliament and signed a Declaration of Intent regarding the finalised Free Trade Agreement (FTA).

In the FTA, tariffs on dairy, beef and wine will decrease or be removed, mining tariffs will be gone in a decade and Australian service companies, like hotels, will have it much easier in China. Xi also visited Tasmania, making him the first Chinese head of state to visit every Australian state and territory. He met some school children – presumably the ones who wrote him a letter in Chinese – saw Tasmanian devils and went to Tasmania’s government house. His wife, Peng Liyuan, also visited a girls school on Sydney’s upper north shore and met some of the students and watched a Chinese lesson.

Narendra Modi, the Indian PM, also came to Canberra, but visited Sydney first, where he made a community address at Sydney Olympic Park. There were thousands there including some from Melbourne who took an overnight train to Sydney, dubbed the “Modi Express”. Modi spoke in Federal Parliament, where he suggested that making the members both houses sit through three speeches by Heads of State over the course of five days was Tony Abbott’s way of “shirtfronting” them.

Angela Merkel, Matteo Renzi and François Hollande also stayed in Australia a little longer, although they didn’t go to speak at Parliament House. Merkel visited a technology park in Sydney, Renzi visited Kellyville, a suburb in Sydney’s northwest, where an Italian company is working on part of a transport build, and Hollande hung around Sydney with the Governor General.

The Jacqui Lambie Saga continued this week with her being removed from her role as the PUP’s Deputy Senate Leader, and suspended her from attending party room meetings. The PUP has also removed references to her from their site, and she has removed references to them off hers. Lambie, along with the Motoring Enthusiasts’ Ricky Muir, voted with Labor, the Greens and Nick Xenophon against government changes to FOFA legislation. Lambie is looking at her options, because while she has every right to leave the party, should she pass away or be forced to quit, the casual vacancy will be filled by a PUP member and not by an independent or a member of Lambie’s alternative party, should she create one. This does make Senate more difficult at the moment, as it forces the government to negotiate with more people.

Julie Bishop was in New York this week in the blistering cold to chair the last meetings of the UN Security Council that Australia has the Presidency. The UNSC took a veiled sweep at nations like Australia that are restricting or stopping visa applications from the Ebola hot zone. Bishop called Ebola more than just a “health emergency” and that more needed to be done to help. The opposition was not impressed, suggesting that Australia says one thing internationally and does another thing domestically.

The ABC will lose almost 5% of its budget over the next five years, which is about $300 million dollars. The Opposition is telling people that Abbott lied during his election campaign, which he did, and money will also be taken from SBS, which will be allowed to play more advertising during prime time to help make up for the loss. Malcolm Turnbull has said that people shouldn’t be blaming the government, but some seem to think the government will be blamed. The ABC has suggested that they may have to close down foreign bureaux, cancel some programs and close a production unit based in South Australia, the latter making Christopher Pyne start a petition to stop the ABC from shutting the unit down. This week also saw rallies across the country with people coming to support the ABC – many fearing they will lose news coverage and entertainment.

The Overcoming Disadvantage report was released this week, suggesting that things are slowly improving for Indigenous Australians. Mortality is down, life expectancy is up, albeit not by much, and high school completion is also on the rise. However, there is an increase in the number of indigenous people incarcerated, which is being blamed on poor policy decisions, and experts want more investment in mental health services for indigenous people. Indigenous people have said that they should be involved in the decision-making in order to help the community.

The Australian government is receiving criticism this week for deciding that they would not take anymore refugees that registered in Indonesia, in the belief that they will stop people smugglers from sending people to Indonesia in the first place. Indonesia has said that they were not consulted and that this puts all the burden on them to help refugees, which they cannot do. Furthermore, an asylum seeker boat showed up on the island of Yap in Micronesia with refugees who wanted to settle in Australia. Micronesia has never had to deal with this and are now trying to figure out what to do with the 30-odd refugees.

Finally this week, Baby Gammy will likely get Australian citizenship, Westpac is closing accounts of money transfer businesses, making things difficult for workers who send money back to Australia, the Dutch have begun to remove the wreckage from MH17 and Peter Greste could be pardoned if it is in Egypt’s national interest, although DFAT is unaware of anything going on.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

According to Mark Latham, left-feminist women hate kids – Australian Financial Review

Meet Lammily, the normal body alternative to Barbie – The Guardian

FDA Changes regarding blood donations from men who have sex with men – TIME Online

It’s lose-lose for Malcolm Turnbull with ABC cuts – ABC The Drum

The Week that Was – October 26 to November 1

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This week saw the Labor party announce that they may keep the current government’s policy of turning back boats, because it appears to be working. However, they have said that they will only do it with Indonesia’s permission, which probably won’t happen, and then they didn’t say much else about it.

Clive Palmer has signed a deal with the government to pass the Direct Action Plan through the Senate, allowing the government to pay emitters to reduce their emissions. This has annoyed people, because Palmer had initially said he wouldn’t let it through because he believed it to be a wast of taxpayer money, and would only accept an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) if Australia’s allies would do the same, especially China. The government has also found a way to get the Fuel Excise to rise without taking it through Parliament. It will go up by half a cent every six months and is estimated to rain around $19 million. There is a catch though, if the government can’t get Parliament to agree within 12 months the money has to be given back, not to the taxpayers, but to the oil companies. Tony Abbot has also said that he wants an adult debate on the GST so it can be changed. It’s led to a few people wondering about this ‘adult debate’, given Abbott was part of the protests about the Carbon Tax during which he stood in front of some pretty nasty signs about Julia Gillard.

Tony Abbot during Protests about the Carbon Tax (from http://images-2.drive.com.au/2014/08/04/5651350/1407146829758.jpg-620x349.jpg)

Tony Abbott during Protests about the Carbon Tax (from http://images-2.drive.com.au/2014/08/04/5651350/1407146829758.jpg-620×349.jpg)

Ebola scared the bejesus out of everyone again this week, after an 18-year-old Brisbane woman was taken to hospital with a fever after coming into the country from West Africa. She was in self-quarantine in her home before she came down with the fever, and as it turns out, she’s tested negative. However, refugees from West African Ebola countries will no longer be given visas for the time being, and those who already have visas will be quarantined for 21 days. This seems to be the only reaction Australia has made at the moment, as they haven’t forced aid workers into quarantine, like several US states have, although most aid workers are making sure quarantine themselves and check their temperature everyday, as is recommended by health authorities and aid groups. Again, the Australian Medical Association has said Australia should be sending staff to Ebola hot zones to help, however the government is still saying that they probably won’t until they have an evacuation plan in place should anyone contract the virus.

Parliament House got interesting earlier in the week, after three men staged a protest about the burqa ban being overturned. You can see the video from the ABC here.

Nova Peris is embroiled in scandal this week after being accused of using taxpayer money to get an international track star from the Caribbean to come to Australia because she was having an affair with him. She has denied the allegations and the Labor Party is standing beside her, while some believe News Corp may have got the emails illegally. Peris spoke in Senate to say that this is part of a blackmail attempt in a long running child access case.

The metadata laws passed this week, meaning that metadata will be held for two years. This is believed to cost the telecommunications companies money, so they will get subsidies from the government, but it is unclear at the moment as to how much money there will be. There are critics, especially the Greens and Nick Xenophon, but given Labor supported the legislation, it’s gone through.

The government is trying to confirm the death of an Australian ISIS member in the conflict zone. The man is thought to be the most high-ranking Australian in the organisation. Meanwhile, Australian troops are still in the UAE, yet to go to Iraq to advise the military there.

Finally this week, Medibank shares are on sale,  Australian couples are having trouble getting visas to India for surrogacy, Julia Gillard has been found by the Trade Union Royal Commission to have done nothing wrong, farmers are suing the government for damages after the live export ban a few years ago, and the West Australian town of Albany played host to commemorations for the centenary of the first ships leaving Australia for WWI.

Tweet of the Week

Things that I’ve been Looking at Online

How British Colonialism determines which countries celebrate Halloween – The Washington Post

With the US Midterms coming up, people are being reminded to vote:

The Week that Was – October 19 to October 25

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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

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

The Week That Was – August 10 to August 16

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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 – April 20 to April 26

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So the week began on Easter Sunday, with the Royals going to St Andrews Anglican Cathedral in Sydney and later on, taking George to Taronga Zoo, where they opened a bilby enclosure. They took Easter Monday off, visited Uluru on Tuesday, Adelaide on Wednesday and were in Canberra on Thursday and Friday.

This week, as we get even closer to the Budget we’re starting to hear about what may or may not be cut from the budget and what we are going to have to sacrifice. This week seems to be focused on cuts to the health service. There have been suggestions that people on the disability pension will have to go to independent doctors and not their GPs to get the stamp of approval for the pension. There is also mention of cutting the amount of money people on the disability pension earn. One of the major issues here is that those with mental illnesses and disabilities could be disadvantaged as their mental state can vary. There could also be cuts to Medicare Locals, an after-hours GP service. This has major benefits for the chronically ill, who would otherwise have to go to Emergency, saving lots of money.

Another thing people are worried about cuts to is the Indigenous Health Service, in particular mental health and rehabilitation services, as well as the concern with raising the pension age, given the average life expectancy of Aboriginal males is less than 70 years old (ABS). Comments have been made about how cuts are going to make the PM look bad, given he has said he is focused on closing the gap and being there for the indigenous people.

If that doesn’t concern you, at least we’re spending about $12 billion on F-35 fighters from the USA. We originally ordered 14, and now we’re getting 58 more. They’re due in 2020, and have had some major issues, given the development of these planes are over budget and have had some safety issues – to the point where Canada and Denmark are reconsidering their ordering of the planes.

ANZAC Day was on Friday and the royals apparently surprised everyone by showing up to the Dawn Service at the Australian War Memorial – which really doesn’t shock me – and then came back later that day to lay a wreath at the ANZAC Day Ceremony. Then they left the country, with George giving us one of the best pictures of this entire tour – you can see it below in the Tweets of the Week.

And finally this week, a former NSW Premier Neville Wran died this week. He seemed to be liked by most in politics, and brought in a lot of changes for NSW including random breath testing, decriminalising homosexuality, developed modern lotto and started ICAC, only to resign because of it. He is getting a state funeral on May 1.

Tweets of the Week

In the mad rush to cover what was thought to be a hijack of an Australian plane but was just an allegedly drunk passenger, you can type too fast and have spelling issues

Oh, and this is why outsourcing sub-editing is a bad thing

Things I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

A humourous take on why you should support same-sex marriage – College Humor

Behind the scenes of the ABC’s Coverage of Barry O’Farrell’s resignation – ABC Back Story

Hillary Clinton and the Fake Baby Conspiracy – SMH