Tag Archives: FTA

The Week That Was – October 18 to October 24

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This week wasn’t too insane, which is probably a good thing for the government as it might actually be settling down and doing something.

Speaking of, Senate cross bencher David Leyonhjelm thinks that the only reason the government is making such strict anti-terror laws is so that it looks like something is being done, while Cathy McGowan is calling on the Attorney-General to change the legislation so that abusive ex-partners can’t cross-examine their victims in court, which only a few states ban. The idea behind this is that it intimidates and terrorises the victims, giving the power back to the perpetrator.

Malcolm Turnbull turned 61 on Saturday, and celebrated with some interviews being published in the weekend papers that outlined some of his plans, which include borrowing money to invest in public transport projects as well a dealing with union corruption. Polls at the start of the week show that he has a 68% approval rating – which analysts are attributing to the fact that the bitterness of the Rudd-Gillard-Abbott period is over and the government appears to be acting sensibly.

Badgerys Creek Airport has taken a step towards actually being made instead of just being mused about, with a plan for the build and the environmental statement released. It’s been received mostly positively with tourism and business groups applauding the plan’s release, but concerned about the fact that there is no train line to the prospective airport mentioned. Warren Truss, the Transport Minister, has said that the train and other public transport will come eventually. The environmentalists are worried too, because they feel not enough is being done to protect native endangered species. If Badgerys Creek Airport is ever built (sorry, I live with parents who have heard about this plan since they were kids), construction would start next year, with 6 years to be spent levelling soil, and another few years to build the actual airport – at least ten years in all.

This week Senate Estimates brought to light an incident that occurred on the night Tony Abbott lost the spill. Dubbed “Tablegate” by the media, the gist of the story is that a bunch of people had an alcohol fuelled party in Abbott’s Prime Ministerial Office, in which people got a tad drunk and someone climbed atop a marble coffee table and danced. It is understood that the table then gave way, in Penny Wong’s words, “smashing” to pieces, and possibly injuring the dancer – and people are believed to have taken bits of the table as souvenirs. What makes the whole thing even better is the ABC’s reenactment of the event they filmed for the nightly news, which was quite funny and which I have turned into a gif.

Marble Table

Meanwhile, the people of the electorate of North Sydney (including me) are bracing themselves for a by-election after Joe Hockey made his valedictory speech in Parliament this week. Usually during elections the seat is ignored a bit because it’s a safe Liberal seat and Joe Hockey’s win is essentially a given, so I think some of us in the electorate are looking forward to a little attention.

The Somali refugee that was flown back to Australia after the government said she “changed her mind” about having an abortion after being raped in detention at Nauru has written a statement that contradicts a lot of what the government says. The woman, who is being referred to as Abyan (not her name), says that when she came to Sydney to get the abortion (illegal in Nauru, hence the reason she was flown here) she never saw a doctor, nurse, midwife, or even an interpreter. The government is yet to respond further as far as I have seen, while her lawyers and other activists protested the decision to send her back with no treatment.

Finally this week, Labor has agreed to the China free trade agreement as long as there are certain checks and balances in place; there are going to be changes to renewable energy legislation; Warren Entsch and Eric Abetz have differing views over whether pre-emptive same-sex marriage legislation should be written so that when the country passes it in a plebiscite they can push it through quickly; Bill Heffernan is accusing the judiciary of a cover-up of child abuse, saying he has police paperwork to prove it which includes allegations of child abuse by a former PM; the Trade Union Royal Commission is recommending charges against a union figure and the Social Services Minister Christian Porter bungled an interview question during the week which lead to some savage questioning from the Opposition during Question Time this week.

Tweets of the Week

https://twitter.com/workmanalice/status/656320299466518528

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

First Dog on the Moon on Joe Hockey – The Guardian

The ABC’s look back at Joe Hockey’s political career

The Week That Was – September 27 to October 3

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The realm of politics seems to have settled a bit, which is good because it’s hot this long weekend and I don’t want to work too hard.

Turnbull’s new economic team has met with interest groups and service organisations to see what they want and need. Obviously the government can’t give everyone everything they want, but the key thing for the groups seemed to be that they were being listened to. That seems to be Turnbull’s signature at the moment, going places and listening to people and seeing what they want, which was one of the things he promised to do when he said the government would be a consultative one. There are still concerns with the China FTA and Greens leader Richard Di Natale seems to think the government will over-promise and under-deliver. But if you were anywhere near Turnbull, you’d be hearing about new markets and great opportunities.

Meanwhile, Ken Wyatt, an Indigenous MP has been made Assistant Health Minister. This means he gets to deal with the new Medicare review, the lucky thing. While the AMA and other medical interest groups are divided, some calling the review unnecessary, and others saying it’s worth a look. The issue seems to be, at least from the government’s point of view, inefficiency, with people having “unnecessary” tests and treatments, while also saying that Australia needs a medical system for the 21st Century (I think this is part of the Turnbull government spin script at the moment). The medical experts seem to be concerned that the cutting of unnecessary items is all that is going to happen, and that the introduction of more efficient ones will not occur, disadvantaging Australian patients.

Julie Bishop has been in New York for UN meetings this week, taking part in a counter terrorism forum, announcing that Australia will co-operate (and only that) with Russia and the Assad government to defeat ISIS, on the proviso that Assad would step down and allow reforms once ISIS had been defeated. Australia has also decided to nominate for the UN Security Council for the 2029-2030 term, which seems way to far away, but apparently starting now is good because we will not have to spend as much as we did to get ourselves on the UNSC for 2013-2014. Julie Bishop said that while she probably wouldn’t be in politics when we hypothetically win this UNSC seat, she’d be more than happy to hear what Future PM Wyatt Roy would have to say. It also seems that Turnbull has a more favourable view of the UN than Abbott did given our decision to nominate. Australia is also trying to get on the UN Human Rights Council, but there’s obviously the whole thing with detention centres that we have to deal with.

Tony Abbott has appeared at two radio stations this week, talking with Ray Hadley on Sydney’s 2GB and Neil Mitchell on Melbourne’s 3AW. In the interview with Hadley he said that he would’ve won the next election, and was upset about the lack of faith his party had in him. Abbott has decided for the moment to stay in politics, because he is “too young” to retire (which led to the suggestion in my house that Abbott should be the next Ambassador to the Holy See) and that he would “grit his teeth” and support Turnbull as PM. On 3AW, he was mildly miffed that the government had shelved the university fee deregulation legislation, tried to save his legacy and took a dig at Turnbull, suggesting that Turnbull did not stay in the Parliament after 2010 not to be Prime Minister.

Also this week, there was a police shooting in Parramatta, in Sydney’s west. It’s understood that a 15-year-old boy, who is believed to have been radicalised, shot a police civilian employee (someone who works for the police force in an unsworn role – basically they’re not an officer) as they were leaving the Parramatta Police HQ and was then shot dead by officers. The boy was not known to police and was not on anyone’s radar, although his sister is believed to have travelled to Iraq or Syria to be with ISIS fighters. It is also understood that the boy’s brother called the police to tell them he thought he knew who their perpetrator was. NSW police are calling it a politically motivated act of terrorism, while both NSW Premier Mike Baird and NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione are calling for calm and respect and unity.

Finally this week, the Manus Island police are annoyed that the company running the detention centre is flying out people accused of committing crimes on the island before they can be dealt with; the satellite that is to deliver the NBN to regional Australia, named “Sky Muster” by a School of the Air student, has been launched, with the new Communications Minister saying “Thunderbirds are go”; Australia denied visas to musician Chris Brown (who has a domestic violence conviction) and an anti-abortion activist and there is confusion over what will happen now that Russia has begun bombing in Syria.

Tweets of the Week

Obama’s words after the mass shooting in Oregon

Matt Moran (who was working for Channel 10) has got a job being Turnbull’s press secretary, so his former colleagues are keeping tabs on him

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Greg Jericho helps the Treasurer out after he got annoyed talking with Leigh Sales on 7:30 – ABC The Drum

The ABC’s Tahmina Ansari on accepting ‘visible’ muslim women – ABC The Drum

Michael Bradley rebukes Miranda Devine on domestic violence – ABC The Drum

The Week that Was – August 30 to September 5

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The week hasn’t been that bad for the government, but it hasn’t been fantastic either.

There are rumours that Tony Abbott is being asked to get rid of Treasurer Joe Hockey, meanwhile Hockey has been dealing with some not-so-great growth data and a fall in average national income. On top of that, Abbott is also dealing with the fallout from a blistering New York Times piece about the Australian Government’s treatment of refugees, as well as a gaffe that offended the Jewish community – Abbott said that Islamic State was worse than the Nazis. Abbott, former PM John Howard and others have been in the West Australian seat of Canning as the by-election heats up.

Unions are still concerned about the way the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will affect the labour market, not only for them but for the workers that could be flown in by China. These concerns seem to have been misinterpreted by the government, who keep reminding people that labour mobility was always part of the agreement and then bad mouth the Unions and the Labor Party, calling them racists. On the other hand, you have the Labor Party trying to get people to understand that they are just concerned about it because there doesn’t seem to be that much information about how the labour mobility thing is going to work. Labor has also said that they don’t want the FTA renegotiated, they’re just worried about Australian jobs.

The Royal Commissioner for the Trade Union Royal Commission, Dyson Heydon has ruled that he does not need to recuse himself due to apprehended bias. He’s said that the average fair-minded lay person (which is a legal concept and doesn’t actually exist) would not think he’s biased. Heydon has also pointed out that he can’t use a computer and can only read emails if they’ve been printed out by his assistant.

The plight of the Syrian Refugees is hitting home this week after the image of the drowned toddler went viral. It has leads some Liberal Party figures to speak about how Australia should take in more refugees. Both Mike Baird, the NSW Premier and Craig Laundy, a Federal MP, have called on Abbott to consider letting more refugees in to Australia, particularly from Syria, with Laundy saying that he and his family had talked over dinner about whether or not they would jump on a boat to escape Islamic State and that the family agreed that they probably would. The Prime Minister is keeping his cards close to his chest, while the Greens are demanding that Australia take in 20,000 Syrian refugees.

Finally this week, there will be a Senate Inquiry into the 7-Eleven pay scandal, which will also incorporate United service stations, the citizenship legislation is probably going to be challenged in the High Court, and it’s looking very likely Australia will join the USA in bombing Syria – Oh and Johnny Depp had a go at Barnaby Joyce, which you can see here.

Tweet of the Week

Scott Ludlam on Dyson Heydon’s decision…

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Julia Baird (Host of The Drum on ABC TV) on her cancer diagnosis – New York Times

Michelle Grattan on Abbott and his government – The Conversation

Emma Alberici on how Trump is reminding people of Ronald Reagan’s campaign – ABC The Drum

The Week That Was – August 23 to August 29

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This week Tony Abbott spent his promised week with the indigenous community in the Torres Strait Islands, visiting Thursday Island (Mer) to visit Eddie Mabo’s grave, as well as meet with elders and run the country. He attended a memorial service for those in the region who fought in the Second World War, who protected the islands in the Torres Strait from invasion, despite bombing raids from the Japanese Army. Abbott also spent some time on one of the school buses in one community, helping children get to school. Generally, it’s been a good week for Abbott, however, there have been a few hiccups – first, several establishments have claimed that the PM’s Office booked hotel rooms, which were cancelled at the last-minute when Abbott decided to stay in the army barracks instead, costing the hotels money, as they had been preparing for the PM, Ministers and other government officials. Second, Abbott may have gotten his teaching methods mixed up, crediting improvement in one school to “direct instruction” (where the concept is broken up into pieces and taught directly), when it fact it was “explicit instruction” (aka “I do, we do, you do” where the teacher does one example, the class does one together and then the students work on their own) that was helping.

The scaremongering about terrorism has continued, with politicians equating ISIS to Pol Pot or Adolf Hitler, trying to express the need for Australians to support the government’s plans to join the US in bombing ISIS targets in Syria. Despite the fact that it is believe that the government engineered the request from the US to join, there are still legal issues to consider, given there is no UNSC Resolution or formal request from Syria. However, it’s thought that Australia may get around these issues by claiming self-defence or by claiming the land they are bombing is “ungoverned space”, as Australia does not recognise either the Assad government or ISIS as legitimate governments.

Joe Hockey meanwhile has been talking about one of life’s certainties – taxes. There is universal concern that as inflation rises, more and more people are going to fall into the next highest tax bracket – a phenomenon known as ‘bracket creep”. Despite the Treasurer’s concern with bracket creep, it appears that Hockey is still only talking about it, and doesn’t yet have any policies on the table, which concerns some analysts.

Unions are worried about the Free Trade Agreement with China, especially because Chinese companies will be able to bring in their own workers for some projects. This concerns the unions, not just because it would detrimentally affect the local workers, as there would be fewer jobs, but also because it’s possible the Chinese workers flown in will not be paid according to Australian labour laws. Labor has suggested that if the workers are going to be affected negatively by the Free Trade Agreement, then they may not support it, which led Tony Abbott to warn that if Labor and the unions had their way, then there would be a new “White Australia Policy” – which left me speechless.

The week was an improvement for the government, at least until Friday, when the Australian Border Force release a press release announcing that they were going to check the identity documents of anyone they came across in Melbourne over the weekend. It’s been equated with Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia, and others expressed concerns that it would lead to racial profiling – lawyers also told the media it was illegal. By Friday afternoon the protesters were out in force in Melbourne’s CBD, and the police and Border Force cancelled their operation. There have been questions over whether or not the Minister or the PM knew about the program.

Finally this week, Heydon delayed his judgement on his recusal due to his apprehended bias, people are bringing up the possibility of having a referendum on becoming a republic, and George Brandis is under fire for not filling a regional judge vacancy after the retirement of one of the three judges.

Tweet of the Week

Judges in Peter Greste and his colleagues’ retrial in Egypt delivered the verdict on Saturday

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Not much, given I had an assignment for uni this week…

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

The Week That Was – February 15 to February 21

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This week was a little less crazy as the last, but there was still some drama.

Philip Ruddock has spoken out about his sacking, saying that he was never approached by Tony Abbott about his performance as Chief Whip. Some have suggested that Ruddock was sacked because he allowed the spill motion to go ahead last week, or that the sacking was a way to show the backbench that he was serious about change and that he wants to communicate with them differently.

The Bali Nine ringleaders are getting closer to execution, although it was closer at the start of the week, when the authorities decided to move them to the execution prison by Wednesday. However that changed, and the two men will not be transferred for some time, so they can have more time with their families. Tony Abbott and the government have been trying to save the two men from execution, saying that if it goes ahead, Australia will make their disappointment known diplomatically. Abbott also said that because of the $1 billion in aid Australia gave to Indonesia after the 2004 Tsunami, Indonesia should pay us back by saving the two men from execution, which Indonesia did not like, saying that threats were not part of diplomatic language and foreign aid was not a bargaining chip. It put strain on the relationship and Julie Bishop ended up apologising to the Indonesian Foreign Minister for the gaffe.

The Social Services Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out including the family home in the means-testing calculations for the aged pension, after rumours that it would be included. Morrison has asked for ideas on saving money so he doesn’t get in trouble from the public for doing something they don’t like.

The Productivity Commission has released their report into childcare, saying that the cost and the limited places are what keeps parents (usually mothers) at home looking after the kids and not returning to work. The Commission has recommended that there be a means-tested subsidy that is paid directly to the child care providers, meaning that wealthier parents will pay more towards childcare than lower-income parents. If the parents choose to get a nanny, the subsidy can also go towards paying them, however the professional child care providers are concerned about the quality of care children get from nannies. Meanwhile, the Health Minister Sussan Ley is trying to make the Medicare changes more palatable.

David Hicks, an Australian held in Guantánamo Bay by the Americans, has had his conviction quashed after it was ruled that the crime he was charged with did not exist at the time he committed his crime. Hicks has welcomed the development, but has been critical of the Australian and American governments, saying his conviction was politically motivated, and wants an apology from the government, which the Prime Minister has said he will not get because he was “up to no good”. Hicks also wants the government to help him pay his medical bills, as he needs quite a few procedures and long-term treatments thanks to his time in the prison at Guantánamo Bay.

The submarine building drama continues, with the announcement that Japan, Germany and France will compete for the tender to build Australian submarines, meaning that the ASC will have to partner with the company that earns the tender in order to have building jobs available. The Opposition and the unions have said this is a broken election promise. The government has also ruled out the Swedish firm Saab from building submarines, even though Saab said it would be more than happy to have all the building done in Australia, because the Swedish haven’t built a submarine since 1996.

Also, there appears to be someone leaking things to the media, after a story came out on Saturday suggesting that Tony Abbott wanted to send thousands of troops into Iraq. Abbott has denied that he ever brought it up, although it has been suggested that it may have been an informal suggestion rather than a formal idea.

Finally this week, Western Australia is worried that the measures to prevent young Australians heading to fight in the Middle East are focusing too much on the eastern coast after a West Australian man left for the Middle East; George Brandis is trying to monitor social media in real-time; the ADF has been called in to help with the Cyclone Marcia recovery; and there are concerns that Free Trade Agreements might make it easier for incidents, like this week’s Hepatitis A outbreak, to happen again.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve been Looking at Online

Malcolm Turnbull talks to Indonesia through Q & A about the Bali Nine ringleaders (and in the process auditions for the role of PM)

Queensland’s Cyclone Marcia sent rain and wind to Northern NSW – so this happened.

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 – July 6 to July 12

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The week began with a #Bustthebudget March in major cities, protesting the Budget and the government in general.

Then we saw one of the two boats of asylum seekers processed at sea and surrendered to the Sri Lankan Navy. Eric Abetz says the government is acting within its international obligations – but he’s the only one from the government talking. It was confirmed the next day with Scott Morrison defending the move saying “This is what works”. Critics say that may be, but it is possibly somewhat almost illegal under international law , especially when you send Sri Lankan Tamils back to Sri Lanka, where they are discriminated against. The other boat with 153 asylum seekers aboard is in limbo, after a High Court challenge was brought. It’s hoped that the court case will lead to transparency about what is going on, but the government is still saying that they are acting legally. But now the Sri Lankan government has said they won’t take the second boat, which means they’ll be taken to Manus Island or Christmas Island if and when the injunction is lifted. Australia also gifted two patrol boats to Sri Lanka to help “Stop the Boats”. Meanwhile the UNHCR is becoming increasing concerned about the Australian Government’s treatment of asylum seekers and Tony Abbott says he “won’t capitulate to moral blackmail” after being asked about refugees attempting suicide in detention.

The new Senate was sworn in and then decided to postpone the Carbon Tax and Mining Tax votes. Clive Palmer and the PUP have also possibly blown a $7 billion hole in the budget by demanding that the mining tax be gone but the sweeteners be kept. The government then attempted to move to have less debate on the Carbon Tax repeal bill, which was lost because Ricky Muir, the Motoring Enthusiast Party’s senator didn’t vote with the Palmer United Party. Then when it came time to debate and vote, the Palmer United Party withdrew support claiming that the Coalition had “pulled a swifty” on the PUP Senators by not putting their amendment in the way they wanted it. Something they could have missed, given bills are written in legalese. This rejection of the Carbon Tax repeal is not the first and is now a double dissolution trigger for the Prime Minister. We also saw Clive Palmer storm out of an interview with 7:30.

Tony Abbott has also said that this first week drama is understandable given the new senators are “inexperienced” and Labor is being annoying. PUP Senator Jacqui Lambie was not impressed by that. Abbott also seems to think that Clive Palmer will eventually come around.

Tony Abbott had a guest this week with the visit of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. They signed their Free Trade Agreement and went to look at the mines in Western Australia and talk about trading. Abe also spoke to a joint session of Parliament, making his speech in English and making mention of rugby and Olympian Dawn Fraser – most famous for stealing a flag from outside the Emperor’s Palace at the Tokyo Games in 1964. He also went to the Australian War Memorial where he laid a wreath – he’s since returned home and the FTA will be tabled in Parliament in a few weeks.

Tweet of the Week

So Abe got some RM Williams and wore them in WA

What I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

The National Gay Blood Drive in the USA – TIME Magazine

RJ Aguiar – Bisexuality: Setting the Record “Straight”

The Week That Was – April 13 to April 19

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Well, NSW Political craziness overtook the ABC News NSW and ABC News 24 for the last few days, so I may have missed something. If you want to take a look at what happened in NSW have a look here.

So, this week saw Tony Abbott back from North Asia and Joe Hockey warn us about how tough the budget will have to be in order to fix everything. One idea being floated is raising the pension age to 70. Not immediately, mind you. Currently it is 65, and in a few years it will rise to 67. Only after that will it rise to 70. People seem somewhat unimpressed, but that’s because young people, like myself, will not be able to retire until 70, while people my parents’ age can retire 3-5 years earlier. In some ways I’m sort of expecting people to go on strike and protest this, but I think that’s the result of living in France, where almost anything will have the people go on strike. Anyway, Hockey said that the rises in the pension need to be “sustainable” and if you’ve got a good memory (and paid attention), then you will remember that Tony Abbott said in the election campaign that there wouldn’t be changes to the pension. Oh, and government organisations like the CSIRO are getting a bit antsy over whether or not they are going to have their funding cut.

Badgery’s Creek will become the location for Sydney’s second airport, with construction to begin in 2016. This decision has been made after almost 50 years. It will cost $2.5 billion to build and most of that money will come from the private sector. The government has promised to put in some major infrastructure – train lines and connections to the motorway and freeway systems around Western Sydney, along with some form of ring road. There are a few issues though – will the airport be a 24/7 airport or will it have curfews like Sydney Kingsford Smith? Will Sydney Airport, which has the first right of refusal, try to prevent the Badgery’s Creek Airport from being built and operated? What about the people who are living in the area that will become the airport and runways and the environment surrounding it? The other issue, one that came up on Wednesday, is the NSW Government’s involvement post-O’Farrell. Apparently, there is no need to worry and the Airport will go on as planned.

The Royals are in Australia this week and next week, flying into Sydney on Wednesday. They’ve spent their time here so far going to the Opera House, The Blue Mountains, Bear Cottage, Manly Beach, and Brisbane. Today (Sunday) they’ve been to Church and might be taking George to Taronga Zoo.

Also this week, the ABC-run Australia Network, an Australian news and entertainment channel for the Asia-Pacific Region got landing rights in China, meaning that they can broadcast there, at least through a Shanghai-based media organisation. This is significant, because unlike BBC World and CNN International which are only allowed in hotels (at least that’s what I understand the case to be), they will be able to broadcast not only in hotels, but also to the Chinese people. Maybe the ABC and Australia Network’s funding shouldn’t be cut.

Have a lovely Easter.

Tweet of the Week

Political journo Oscar-style selfies during the NSW leadership ballot

Things I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Tom Meagher (Jill Meagher’s husband) on violence against women – ABC Online’s The Drum

Why Gladys Berejiklian couldn’t become Premier of NSW – SMH

The Lateline Interview that had people talking – ABC Online