Tag Archives: Canberra

The Week that Was – December 1 to December 7

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I think that having Tony Abbott as Prime Minister is making each week incredibly hectic.

First there was the backflip on Gonski, they said they would, then they said they wouldn’t and now they are again – all in the space of three days. Lovely. The state politicians are happy now – if not still a little irked that they’ve been doing policy gymnastics.

Again, there have been international tensions between Australia and it’s allies this week as well – first there was a raid on the offices of the lawyer representing East Timor. Attorney-General George Brandis ok-ed it on national security grounds. Obviously the lawyer isn’t impressed – he’s representing East Timor in the Hague over a resources deal with Australia a few years back. The Timorese believe that the Australians spied on them so that they could have the upper hand. Either way, I don’t see how raiding the office of a lawyer in an international court case protects national security, but what’s done is done. Julie Bishop got a talking to in China over Australia’s criticism of China’s air defence zone. Before she could even reply the media was bundled out of the room.

The Coalition has also made clear that it doesn’t really like the ABC much. With Senator Cory Bernardi saying they should have their funding cut during a party meeting. Tony Abbott on the other hand was a little more civil when it came to being critical. He said they had poor judgement for running the story on spying on Indonesia as well as name-dropping the Guardian. You can see that here.

Abbott is also annoyed with the senate because they didn’t pass his Carbon Tax repeal. He’s threatening to keep them sitting through Christmas but that doesn’t really work given that the Senate has its own calendar and I don’t think Tony Abbott really wants to spend his Christmas yelling at the Labor party – I’m sure he’d much rather spend time with his family. I could be wrong here, but I think it’s an empty threat.

Also this week, the High Court reserved it’s decision on the ACT Same-sex marriage law, meaning that this week saw some of the first same-sex marriages in Australia – despite the fact that they could be void next week. It seems that some don’t care and have even said they will marry as many times as is necessary. A West Australian State politician, Stephen Dawson, got married in front of Parliament House in Canberra just after midnight on Saturday as did many other couples across the ACT.

So, the ACT is the first Australian state or territory to have same-sex marriage, while also this week, Hawaii became the 15th US State to allow same-sex marriage. That’s 12.5% of Australia allowing same-sex marriage, compared with 30% of the US.

Tweets of the Week

https://twitter.com/JezFernandezABC/status/409448014701273088

What I’ve Been Reading/Listening/Watching..etc

Anton Enus (who was born in South Africa) on Mandela’s death – SBS Online

Adam Spencer left 702 ABC Sydney this week – 702 ABC Sydney

The ABC Camera guy who cooked after Typhoon Haiyan – Manila Bulletin

Liberal Launch, Freaky Arty Things and Upsetting NSW

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Sunday saw the Liberal Party campaign launch, which was a little American-esque. Tony Abbott said it was a “referendum on trust” and that Labor is incompetent. Julie Bishop tried, I think, to make a joke about how Kevin Rudd reminded her of The Hulk. To be honest, I found it more nasty than funny. He’s promised to abolish the mining tax and carbon tax, $200m dollars for dementia treatment, bring the budget into surplus and reduce red tape for a stronger economy.

In an interview with the ABC that evening, he said that there needs to be an audit – fair enough, apparently there hasn’t been one in 20 years – and that his government will have no surprises or excuses. He was asked if he supported military action in Syria, given that there has been talk of it since the reported gas attacks, but all he said was that the UN envoys need to be allowed into Syria to have a look around.

Syria meant Kevin Rudd stayed in Canberra on Sunday, before moving onto Sydney. He keeps saying that Abbott’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme will be really quite bad for everyone and it will damage the economy, and the Labor Party has released this advertisement:

Speaking of advertisements, this is what became news on Monday (you will need to got to about 4:20) :

Also there was some freaky weird art guy in Melbourne as part of something to do with The Greens, which was the source of great amusement in my house.

From funny haha to funny peculiar – there are questions as to why Barnaby Joyce, candidate for the seat for New England, has preferenced One Nation before someone less mental. Not only that but apparently he hasn’t actually been campaigning in the electorate he wants to be MP, he’s been in Queensland. Not only that but there are further suggestions that he actually wanted the candidacy of the seat just across the border in Queensland.

Tuesday brought us the lesson “How to upset the NSW Premier in one easy step” – that step you ask? Well, you suggest that Garden Island, where the Australian Navy has its HQ, should be turned into a cruise ship terminal and the Navy should move to Brisbane. In a way, I see how it works, BrisVegas is closer to places where the Navy would be needed, such as Pacific nations battered by a really bad cyclone.

The experts, who usually know what they are talking about, say that it will be expensive to move the Garden Island stuff to QLD, but is also important to Sydney.

We now have a week and a half to go – if you can’t get to the polls on September 7, find out where you can pre-poll vote here.

Leadership Spill – The Speeches Part I

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Julia Gillard

  • Sent letter to Governor General telling her to allow Kevin to be the PM
  • Will not contest the next election as promised
  • Being the PM was a “great privilege”
  • Thanks the Labor MPs for giving her the chance
  • Says being PM has not been easy
  • Very proud of what her government has achieved
  • Happy about carbon price and other policies
  • Calling Liberal campaigning “reckless”
  • Happy with the Gonski reforms and that 60% of students will have a better education
  • Proud of the Royal Commission and foreign policy achievements with USA and China and India
  • Proud of the Armed forces and their courage
  • Thanks her colleagues for their support despite the media calling for the change of leader
  • Tells her colleagues to win the election – “It can be done”
  • “Heavens knows no one knew I was a woman till I raised it” – good on you –  I laughed a bit
  • Thanks her staff both in Canberra and Melbourne
  • Thanks her family, especially Tim.
  • Warns her pregnant niece that there is one meddlesome great-aunt coming her way

Wayne Swan

  • Driven by social justice
  • Everyone should get a fair go
  • Proud of the Labor governments record
  • Proud of Australia’s avoidance of a major recession and the fact that Australia’s economy is 14% larger than at the end of 2007
  • 1 million jobs created in the last 5 or so years
  • “It say a lot about the Labor Party”
  • Julia is one of the “toughest” and has done a lot for Australia
  • 3 years in a minority government is a substantial achievement
  • Talking about his electorate in Queensland
  • He will contest the election
  • Thanks his family for being so supportive
  • “good team work” in the cabinet
  • Thanks the colleagues and the electorate office staff and his staff in Canberra
  • Labor deserves and can win the election