The Week That Was – June 30 to July 6

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

Watching Sky after Dark inadvertently and Spectator editor Rowan Dean persistently is calling pro-Brexiteer Ann Widdecombe "Anna Widdecomb". Jeez you'd think he'd be across that.

— Annabel Crabb (@annabelcrabb) July 5, 2019

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 Election Has Been Called!

So yesterday (April 11, 2019) Scott Morrison headed to the Governor General Peter Cosgrove and requested that an election be called for May 18, 2019. That request was granted and Australians are now headed to the polls.

I’ve listened to both Scott Morrison’s and Bill Shorten’s first speeches of the campaign, which have outlined what their campaigns will entail.

Scott Morrison painted this election as a choice between a strong economy, a good budget and low taxes if voters choose the Coalition or a weakened economy, poor money management and higher taxes if voters choose the Labor Party. Morrison also recalled his government’s achievements including the budget surplus – except that surplus is technically prospective, as the surplus is due not this financial year (2018-19) but next financial year (2019-20).

On the other hand, Bill Shorten has framed what he will be campaigning on. It was a slightly more complex speech, but he reiterated his pledge from his Budget Reply speech that a government he leads would ease the out-of-pocket costs of medical tests, specialist consults and treatments for cancer patients, as well as promising greater investment in education and health. He also reiterated a promise the Labor party has for quite a few years that they will remove negative gearing for new investment properties after January 1, 2020.

Here are the speeches, if you want to watch them yourself…

Scott Morrison

Bill Shorten

Stay tuned for more, as the election heats up – I’ll leave you with some helpful links..

The AEC Website – don’t forget to check your enrolment, you have until April 18 to change your details or enrol to vote!

ABC Elections – a place to find coverage of the election and the home of the extensive information that the inimitable Antony Green offers.

VoteCompass – a way to see where you stand in comparison to the major players at the election. It’s really interesting to see where you sit on the political spectrum.

The Week That Was – June 3 to June 8

Barnaby Joyce’s interview with Channel 7’s Sunday Night aired on Sunday and it appears that the only viewers were the Canberra Press Gallery – the interview didn’t really garner the attention or the rise in viewership. Even Scott Morrison admitted he was watching singing reality show The Voice. Joyce’s performance was all sorts of weird (from what I’ve seen from clips on the ABC) in which he disparaged some of his colleagues, implied his partner Vikki wasn’t an adult woman with a mind of her own, and admitted he knew that he was in trouble when Vikki got pregnant. People in his electorate seemed to have been forced by the local pubs to watch the interview, and as one younger viewer commented  to the ABC (we’re talking a 20-30 year old) thought Joyce was bit of a tool.

There are now questions over whether Joyce will be able to survive pre-selection this time around. Most MPs aren’t really commenting on it, although it appears that they wouldn’t mind if Joyce didn’t come back after next year’s election. Tony Abbott on the other hand, seems to be very supportive of Joyce, which could be a blessing or a curse – we shall have to see.

So while Joyce takes some time off, the rest of Australia can get on with their lives.

Malcolm Turnbull and local MPs across regional New South Wales and Queensland have been inspecting drought ravaged areas. He’s pledged assistance and help but it is not totally clear exactly what that help will be just yet.

The economy is doing alright at the moment, with GDP up by 1% in the March quarter, and up 3.1% for the year. It’s a positive picture, and a good start to 2018. However, it is mostly exports and predominantly to China, which isn’t necessarily an issue, but does suggest we’ll be in trouble if China has a slump.

The Public Service Commissioner, John Lloyd, who is responsible for public service pay and conditions, has quit. There have been questions over his conduct and independence, as he has links to the right-wing think tank the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA). He will leave the role in August, and it appears that quite a few people are relieved that he’s going.

This week marks 30 years since former Prime Minister Bob Hawke promised a treaty between the government and Australia’s indigenous population. There hasn’t been a treaty, and this leaves Australia as the only Commonwealth nation with no treaty with the Indigenous population. However three states – Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory – have begun the treaty process with land councils, with varying success. This week saw the Northern Territory’s Chief Minister sign Memoranda of Understanding with three Central Australian Land Councils. Bill Shorten has also announced that he will act on the recent Uluru Statement and implement a federal Indigenous advisory panel.

The Australian military’s special forces (SAS) is being investigated for their conduct and behaviour while deployed. This information has come through leaks to the media making some politicians concerned. While the SAS does get some latitude and secrecy given the nature of their missions, it appears that some of their behaviour may have been illegal – so Mark Binskin, the head of Australia’s armed forces, has asked that this investigation continue and finish quickly without interference.

While the Royal Commission wasn’t in hearings this week, the banks still had a bad time. First, the Commonwealth Bank has been fined $700 million for breaching money laundering laws. There were over 53,000 breaches where the bank knowingly let suspicious transactions take place and potentially let money go to criminal organisations and terrorist groups. The fine could have been a lot worse, so CommBank is very, very lucky.

Meanwhile, the ANZ, Citibank and Deutsche Bank have been charged with cartel behaviour. The important thing here is that these are criminal charges, not civil. This means that they have also arrested people – mostly former CEOs and executives. It involves the ANZ approaching Citibank, Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan to help them increase their shares. JP Morgan has not been charged in the case, because they are helping in the investigation and case and getting immunity in return.

This week has been an interesting one for Australia-China relations, with China getting anxious about the government’s plans to introduce foreign interference laws in time to protect ‘Super Saturday’ by-elections on July 28 – because apparently China is going to try to affect the outcome. From my perspective, it’s unlikely that China is going to get involved in five by-elections that are unlikely to dramatically affect the government’s standing in parliament – yes three more seats will make the Coalition more comfortable, but it’s not going to change the course of history.

Australia is also under pressure to get involved in freedom of navigation activities in the South China Sea, and it became really awkward when it became apparent that a suspected Chinese surveillance ship had been following HMAS Adelaide around the South Pacific, somewhat confirmed when they both pulled into port in Suva, Fiji.

Finally this week, technology companies are trying to figure out who the government is going to approach access to encrypted messages – essentially the government wants ways to access messages and informations on people’s phones when they are doing investigations; Qantas has bowed to Chinese pressure to label Taiwan as a region of China, making the government (potentially) a bit concerned; NBN quotes for people who are wanting to upgrade from fibre-to-the-node (or curb) to fibre-to-the-premises are ridiculously high and it’s unclear why that is the case; and eyes are now on a charity that has been named by an Australian teenager arrested in Lebanon for allegedly trying to join ISIS – he says the charity encouraged him to join.

Tweet of the Week

https://twitter.com/leighsales/status/1004875931134017536

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Laura Tingle on the political football that is the ABC – ABC Online

Lucy Barbour on Malcolm Turnbull’s ‘drought tour’ – ABC Online

 

The Two Weeks that Were – February 26 to March 11

Uni returned and work schedules changed so you’ve got two weeks rolled together again.

Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s President, finally made his way to Australia and met with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. They talked about Australian and Indonesian military and maritime partnerships and announced that there would be a new Australian consulate in Surabaya.

Penalty rates are still causing issues, with Labor continuing to paint the issue as one Malcolm Turnbull is responsible for. Turnbull doesn’t seem to be making it easier for himself by not stating his position clearly. Ann Sudmalis MP didn’t make it easier either, after she was quoted as saying that penalty rate cuts were a ‘gift’ to young people. Meanwhile the government is hoping that the Fair Work Commission can phase in penalty rate cuts in order to ease the blow on workers.

Malcolm Turnbull has had shocking fortnight in the polls after Tony Abbott decided to make comments about the direction of the Liberal Party and what the government needs to do to keep their voters from moving to One Nation. While Abbott doesn’t have the numbers, people think he might be trying to get someone from the party’s right, like Peter Dutton, into the Prime Ministership instead. The polls the next week were in Labor’s favour on two-party preferred, and Turnbull’s approval has taken a dive

George Christiansen has quit at the Chief Whip of the National Party, but says he does not intend to quite the Party. This is something that Pauline Hanson is advising Christiansen to do (unsolicited) because she thinks the voting public will not be too happy with an unstable House of Representatives and government. Meanwhile the Queensland LNP had a crisis meeting last weekend in which they discussed the growth of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. Pauline Hanson has been pointing out the similarities One Nation has with the Coalition, while her critics are suggesting that her party not that much of an alternative party, and closer to the Liberal Party. Although she has been casting doubt on the benefit of vaccinations – making the AMA and mainstream politicians wary.

Meanwhile the Joint Strike Fighter planes were flown to Victoria via Queensland for an airshow to be shown off. All looked good, until it was announced that they were not going to fly to Queensland when they were planned to because they didn’t yet have lightning protection and couldn’t fly in bad weather.

Finally this fortnight, intelligence sharing is unlikely to be looked at during the Lindt Siege Inquest; the economy grew 1.1%, therefore avoiding a recession; there is an increase in Indigenous students going to university, but more support for students is needed; Western Australia has gone to the polls, and it looks as if the Labor party will win; and The Australian cartoonist Bill Leak has passed away.

Tweet of the Fortnight

A stern warning on Election night in WA

https://twitter.com/sallyjsara/status/840444700339257344

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Vale Bill Leak – ABC Online

A look at One Nation in the WA Election – ABC Online

 

The Week That Was -May 22 to May 28

The third week of the election began with Bill Shorten campaigning for the Labor candidate in Malcolm Turnbull’s seat of Wentworth, while Malcolm Turnbull announced $7 million for young people to get into clinical trials while at a food and wine festival. They’ve mostly talked taxes and parliamentary entitlements while people aren’t really paying attention. That’s probably because at this point in an average campaign, we’d be two to three weeks out and heading toward the home stretch.

There’s also been some drama over health policy, with Health Minister Susan Ley suggesting that she was not allowed by Treasury and other senior ministers to create the health policy she wanted, instead having to remain with a co-payment and a freeze on Medicare rebates. It led Labor to tell the public that Ley essentially believes that their health policy is better, while Turnbull and Scott Morrison are insisting that there needs to be sustainable spending.

The only other real issue has been the dispute over how costings are done. Both parties agree there is a deficit, and that spending needs to be sustainable. However, while Scott Morrison believes that the promises Labor has made will put a $67 billion hole in the budget. Labor’s Chris Bowen disputes this, suggesting the maths is incorrect, and one could argue it is, given that the Liberal Party has included policies the Labor party has blocked since the 2014 budget and other measures that Labor has disputed. Tony Burke slammed the coalition, saying they were consciously misinforming the public. It also didn’t help that Bill Shorten talked about a ‘spendometer’ when making a comment about the media while making some funding promises at a community meeting.

Two gaffes this week saw Barnaby Joyce suggesting Indonesia was behind the influx of asylum seekers coming by boat, after the Labor government halted the live cattle trade a few years ago after concerns about humane treatment, leaving Malcolm Turnbull and Julie Bishop to do damage control. Meanwhile Mathias Cormann had a moment where he forgot who his Prime Minister was, saying Bill Shorten was a nice, caring, intelligent person, when he meant to say Malcolm Turnbull – Shorten jumped on the mistake, saying the Liberal scare campaign was ‘terminated’.

With Monday this week having been the cut-off for enrolling to vote, it was suggested that nearly 955,000 eligible people were yet to enrol, of which they believe 300,000 are younger voters. Parties are being reminded not to ignore the youth vote, because young people are not disengaged with politics. Others are suggesting that we need an easier and simpler enrolment system.

Finally this week, Bill Shorten and Malcolm Turnbull agree that more needs to be done for reconciliation and upset Mathias Cormann by suggestion that Australia still has issues with racism; there are concerns that the rural delivery of the NBN is and will be sub-par; and dairy farmers are angry after milk suppliers Fonterra and Murray Goulburn drastically cut milk prices, leading to massive public support with people purchasing name-brand milk over $1/L supermarket brand milks.

Tweet of the Week

#ICMYI: Election 2016 ad tracker: How much are the parties spending? #auspol #ausvotes https://t.co/YwWkJUsqYk pic.twitter.com/q5xULycMnl

— ABC News (@abcnews) May 24, 2016

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Labor should focus on policy, not Turnbull – ABC The Drum

Why Journalists should get off the campaign buses – ABC The Drum

Nova Peris shuts down racism – Buzzfeed

The Week That Was – February 14 to February 20

It seems that the lead up to this years election is all about tax and the economy. Well, that is just wonderful for all of those for whom economics is not easy and for young people who are still learning to adult (and I fit into both boxes). Bill Shorten is trying to get it back on the agenda by changing negative gearing on new purchases, which the government originally just said it was a bad idea before finally deciding that it wouldn’t raise enough money, and then that it would reduce the house prices (which for young people is a plus). There is also confirmation that there will be no changes to the GST, which was covered in a media conference in which Malcolm Turnbull equated himself and new Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce t0 Thelma and Louise – which may not have been the best analogy…

Meanwhile, Scott Morrison had a more difficult week, speaking at the National Press Club, where he said that it would take years for there to be a surplus as they need t0 find savings that the senate will pass, while keeping taxes low and dealing with bracket creep. Bill Shorten is using this indecisiveness to try and show the government in disarray, although there is confidence that the Liberals will win this year’s election with a few seats less than 2013.

As we go into March, we’re going to start seeing preselection fights for seats across the country, with eight people challenging the Liberal preselection for Bronwyn Bishop’s seat of Mackellar – including Bishop. One of the challengers has written references from NSW Premier Mike Baird and former PM and Warringah MP Tony Abbott. Also this week, Labor politicians Alannah MacTiernan and Gary Gray announced their retirement from federal politics. There are also rumours that Australia could vote as early as July, instead of the suggested September-ish timeline a few weeks ago.

The new Cabinet was announced on Sunday and sworn in on Thursday, with some great commentary from ABC journalists Chris Uhlmann and Greg Jennet, who had the histories of some of the Bibles being used during the ceremony such as Senator Scott Ryan’s massive family bible. You can see who moves where on the ABC website, although some notable moves include Fiona Nash as Deputy Nationals Leader, Minister for Regional Development, Regional Communications and Rural Health, Alan Tudge as Human Services Minister and Darren Chester as Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. Cabinet now has six women in Cabinet and ten in the executive.

The Royal Commission is now trying to figure out where to do their vide0 link evidence with Cardinal Pell in Rome, while critics still say he should come back to Australia for it. Some victims and families have raised money to travel to Rome to watch in person – however, whether or not that happens is yet to be seen. Some of that money was raised thanks to this song by Tim Minchin which is causing some controversy.

 

Finally this week,John Key came to visit and stayed in the Turnbulls’ Point Piper home instead of the Lodge, leading to a lot of jokes from the media about a ‘sleepover’; Australian of the Year David Morrison has said he will not be defined by he critics and that he will support veterans, as well as domestic violence and gender equality (which is what he was chosen for in the first place); there is call for there to be a Royal Commission into the banking industry after revelations that the big banks have been using heavy-handed tactics to foreclose on regional properties and electoral change is nigh, with plans for the senate ballot papers.

Tweets of the Week

https://twitter.com/workmanalice/status/700089646705831936

This ABC journo asks tough questions like 'can I have a phone for my birthday dad?' Thanks @JDoyle73 for pix #auspol pic.twitter.com/Z6hjSRN3Za

— Darren Chester MP (@DarrenChesterMP) February 18, 2016

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Some weeks I don’t find much and then there are weeks where I find a lot…

Kristina Keneally on the Tim Minchin song and the Catholic Church – The Guardian

Annabel Crabb on election policies – ABC The Drum

A look at LGBTIQ safe formals – Buzzfeed

Media and Journalism Couples – Crikey

ABC News ACT’s Virginia Haussegger on that Sunrise segment with Kristen Davis – SMH

The Week That Was – January 24 to January 30

Despite the public holiday this week, politics is revving up again in preparation for the first sitting of Parliament for 2016 in the next week. There are discussions about the GST and the economy, with Scott Morrison ignoring calls from state and territory Premiers to tell them what the GST plan was. Morrison has said that he is still figuring it out and that the less he says about it, the more ideas come in that he can consider. Meanwhile economic data shows that NSW is currently the best economy in the country, thanks to its infrastructure boom, while the resource-reliant states are falling towards the back as they struggle with falling resource prices and the difficulty of transitioning their economies.

As we head back into full on political fun, the opposition has begun to sell itself for the 2016 Election (yep, it’s an election year!) and parties are beginning to field candidates. As the infighting in the Liberal Party between the party’s right and moderate factions over candidates in some blue-ribbon seats with long-serving MPs, Tony Abbott has announced that he will stay in his seat to fight the next election. This is despite the giant carrot the Prime Minister waved in front of him in the form of the next High Commissioner to the UK – with people suggesting he wants to stay in order to have another go at the leadership. I wonder if Abbott might go if he’s offered the job of Ambassador to the Holy See, but I could be quite wrong there.

Meanwhile Labor has been selling their new education plan as the election year heats up. Labor wants to re-introduced needs-based education funding from the Gillard days, which will cost around $37 billion, which Labor claims it has found savings for. The Government says that increased spending may not mean actual improvement, and that spending billions that they may not have is stupid, but that’s about it. It is still unclear when the election will be, but general consensus is it will happen later in the year; bearing in mind that the second weekend in September heralds Council elections in NSW.

It was Australia Day this week, in which we welcomed around 16,000 new citizens and the naming of the 2016 Australian of the Year as former Army Chief David Morrison – being credited for his advocacy for gender equality. There was a little controversy, after Catherine McGregor, a transgender advocate and Morrison’s former speechwriter criticised the judges for going with a “conventional” choice and then Veterans feeling hardly done by because Morrison didn’t mention them in his acceptance speech. McGregor has since apologised, and Morrison has clarified that he will also work to support veterans in his role as Australian of the year.

The drama with Queensland Nickel (QNI) continues, as it has been revealed that while Fairfax MP and owner of QNI, Clive Palmer, is happy to be the last creditor to be paid, he is likely to be protected from any collapse of QNI. This is because the QNI refinery is technically (and totally legally) owned by two other Clive Palmer companies. It may also mean that the taxpayers will have to foot the redundancy payment bill for QNI workers. However, no matter how protected Palmer is from the collapse of QNI, he won’t be protected from the collapse in his support in Fairfax. It’s believed that Palmer may loose the seat at this year’s election, which he holds on a small margin.

Finally this week, the Republic debate is revving up again; the Royal Commission into Child Abuse has demanded that victims of abuse at the Parramatta Girls home receive compensation; the town of Hill End has been told it will not be the location of the nuclear waste side and health insurance companies are being told by the Health Minister to come back with a better deal for Australians, after requesting permission to increase premiums by 6%.

Tweet of the Week

Malcolm Turnbull’s adventures in Melbourne at the end of the week included traffic control at a tram stop.

… Where the Prime Minister directs a car to reverse so the tram can get around the corner… pic.twitter.com/x98IWrbxwX

— Andrew Lund (@andrew_lund) January 28, 2016

Thing’s I’ve Been Looking at Online

First Dog on the Moon on Australia Day snacks – The Guardian

Matthew Mitcham’s retirement from diving in quotes – ABC News

First Dog on the Moon on First World Problems – The Guardian

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 Week That Was – January 10 to January 16

This week saw the political machine whirr back into gear, with Bill Shorten touring marginal seats across the nation, campaigning against a rise in the GST. In one of these visits he was at supermarket asking a shopper what variety of lettuce they preferred, which lead to some frivolity with Triple J journalist Alice Workman desperately trying to find out which variety was Shorten’s favourite (you can tell we’re only in low gear at the moment).

https://twitter.com/workmanalice/status/687027060460486656

@workmanalice Butter lettuce, but with four growing on the farm, I’m very inclusionary when it comes to #lettuce .

— Richard Di Natale (@RichardDiNatale) January 13, 2016

Shorten even played along, only to frustrate Workman further.

https://twitter.com/workmanalice/status/687049109484654592

The frivolity kind of stopped a bit later in the week, when it was revealed that the NSW ALP boss Jamie Clements was being accused of sexual harassment and many people in the party were asking him to go, such as former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally, NSW Acting Opposition Leader Linda Burnie and Shorten himself. It’s believed that Clements wanted $1 million to go, but whether that happened was unclear when it was announced that he had resigned, as he put it “for the good of the party”.

Clive Palmer and his Palmer United Party are under scrutiny this week after Palmer’s company Queensland Nickel sacked hundreds of workers after they were unable to get financial assistance to the tune of $35 million from the Queensland Government, despite the fact that the company donated nearly $290,000 to the PUP at the end of 2015.

Finally this week, Save the Children staffers have been vindicated over accusations they were causing trouble on Nauru; there are concerns about the share market and commodity prices as the price of oil drops to below USD $30 a barrel; Nick Xenophon and his party the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) have announced their candidates for this year’s election with a candidate in Tony Abbott’s seat of Warringah; and there are also concerns that the government is trying to make it harder for people to prove they need the Disability Pension.

Tweet of the Week

Something for us all to think about.

Australia Day this year will mark 50 years since a prime minister left office voluntarily. #auspol

— Barrie Cassidy (@barriecassidy) January 12, 2016

And if you can guess who it was, well done you.

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

First Dog on the Moon on killing off carp with herpes – The Guardian

First Dog on the Moon “moonsplains” sexism – The Guardian

The Week That Was – December 13 to December 19

As Christmas approaches, the world of politics has mellowed a bit.

The week began with a Climate Change agreement in Paris, with an aspiration to cap temperature rises to 2ºC if not 1.5ºC. Australia did not get all of the things that it wanted, but nor did other countries.The next step, as Julie Bishop said, was the implementation of changes.  According to experts and activists the changes need to ba made now and that the government should do more than just the 26-26% reduction it promised at the talks in Paris – with suggestions that Australia needs to become a carbon neutral economy sooner rather than later.

As always, just before Christmas, the government releases MYEFO – basically a budget update in which, at least for the last few years, we’ve been told the deficit is just a little bit worse. It was the same this year, as iron ore prices continue to drop and tax reform is yet to occur, meaning that other options have been considered. The government has announced that bulk billing incentives for pathology services will either be decreased or removed, causing issues for patients who need regular scans, blood tests or other services, causing concern among doctor’s groups, as well as patient and community groups.

Malcolm Turnbull spent the end of this week in Japan, meeting with academics and other tech experts to talk about innovation, Turnbull took a selfie with a robot.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Malcolm Turnbull (@turnbullmalcolm)

He also met with Japanese PM Abe, and talked about the economy and also about issues with Southern Ocean Whaling, after Japan set off this year for the Southern Ocean after a year off.

Finally this week, it has been a year since the Sydney Siege and a memorial service was held in Martin Place, Ian Macfarlane has been stopped by LNP state executive from changing party rooms, and Australia is now doing freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea to keep an eye on China.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Tweet of the Week

Hilarity from the latest Chat 10, Looks 3 episode

From the current episode: the title page of Flora's Fancies ping @annabelcrabb @leighsales pic.twitter.com/R8j29tYqv0

— Chat 10 Looks 3 (@Chat10Looks3) December 15, 2015

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Annabel Crabb on the Paris Agreement – ABC The Drum

An AFR article on outgoing ABC Managing Director – AFR

2015 on ABC News 24