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 – November 15 to November 21

As the world recovered from the shock of the Paris attacks, people either tried to encourage calm and tolerance, while others encouraged negativity towards others. Thankfully, the Turnbull government appears to be in favour of the former.

While continuing his “World Tour”, Malcolm Turnbull travelled to Turkey for the G20 where they spoke a bit about a collective response to terrorism, and how there really needs to be a political solution in Syria, even if it means allowing Assad to remain in power while Islamic State is defeated, while also reminding Australia that we have good security measures in place and shouldn’t start freaking out. This year’s G20 was a huge improvement for Australia’s image, with Turnbull placed in a prime spot in the ‘Family Photo’ and during some discussions. The PM was also invited to visit President Obama at the White House at the start of next year. After the G20 was the APEC Meeting in Manila, in the Philippines, where Turnbull was bombarded with concerns about the Darwin Port lease – which is covered in more detail below – especially because the USA didn’t find out through official channels, but through the Wall Street Journal, to which Turnbull told them to get a subscription to the NT News. Turnbull returned to Australia, spending some time in Darwin before flying out to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit starting this coming week.

Terrorism has been infiltrating our news feeds this week, after the Paris Attacks, in which one of the attackers is believed to have gotten into France through the Eastern European refugee channels. This has lead to concerns around the world about just who they might be letting in, especially in the United States, where more than half of the States have decided to refuse to take in some the 10,000 refugees the US will allow into the country to help lessen the burden the European Migrant Crisis is having on the region. Meanwhile France began more airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria and Iraq and France is believed to be talking with several nations including the US and Australia about increasing their involvement. Meanwhile the NSW government has announced that police will now have the power to act without question (presumably lethally) if they believe someone is being killed or attacked in front of them, while other States and the ADF are considering similar powers.

Foreign investment is starting to cause concern this week with three different situations arising. The first is the Darwin Port lease, in which the Northern Territory Government leased the port to a Chinese company, this has caused concerns given that people in the company have links to the Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army. This seems to be surprising people even though it’s common for Chinese companies, especially the State Owned Enterprises (SOEs), to have these links. It is also concerning because the Darwin Port’s lease area also encompasses a naval base, which has become a security concern.

The second investment issue this week has been the Treasurer’s decision to deny an application for a company, believed to be a Chinese company, from buying all of the Kidman Family farmland, as part of the land in South Australia backs onto the ADF weapons testing site at Woomera – a national security issue. The third is the concern that the NSW government will sell off their electricity assets to a Chinese SOE – which is another national security issue.

All of this is also leading to cabinet disagreements, which is leading to the perception of disunity in the party. This could be problematic for Turnbull, who is trying to balance all of the views in his party and cabinet to keep people happy.

Finally this week, the Trade Union Royal Commission has recommended that the people who gave evidence into the NUW last week should be prosecuted for their actions; the “On water operational matters” curtain was raised when a boat was turned back from Christmas Island – whether it was refugees or some wayward fishermen is unclear;  the Arts Minister is moving some finding back to the Arts Council, which will benefit individual performers and artists, but will still disadvantage small companies;  the top-secret ASIO part of the Sydney Siege Inquest has begun and it’s believed that any recommendations from this section will never be known to the public and Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall finished their visit to Australia and New Zealand and headed home.

Tweet of the Week

Waleed Aly on how Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) is weak.

Waleed talks about how we can stop ISIL #TheProjectTV
Written by Waleed & @twhittyer https://t.co/tX6mRNXZK1

— The Project (@theprojecttv) November 16, 2015

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

First Dog on the Moon on Paris – The Guardian

Durex wants a condom emoji – Junkee

Lee Lin Chin Interviews If You are the One host Meng Fei (subtitles)

Tea and Consent

 

More News on the Sydney Siege

This is simply to keep people informed on the situation.

I originally posted this on Tumblr as I was concerned people would become misinformed.

• Three people have escaped the cafe, one through the fire door, two through the front door
• There is a command/information centre set up in Hyde Park
• High visibility of police around the City and transport hubs – ask them questions if you need too
• No one has been harmed as far as the police are aware
• Police negotiators are in contact with those in the cafe
• There is no information on who the perpetrator is or their motivation
• safety of the hostages is key – do not speculate
• Two female staff members are now out of the cafe, although it is unclear if they escaped or were released – 5 people are now free, three of them Lindt Staff
• as of 5pm AEDT the situation has been going for just over 7 hours
• NSW Police are in contact with the gunman
• National Security Committee is meeting for a second time
• The flag, with Arabic writing reads (loosely translated) “There is no god but God [Allah], Muhammad is the messenger of God.” – it is a testament of faith, and is also seen on the Saudi Arabian national flag and across the Islamic World.

Again, information is from the ABC, the Guardian feed, and verified/trusted Twitter accounts.

Again, I will remind you, the situation is ongoing, and things could change.

The Week That Was – July 27 to August 2

Again this week, international investigators attempted to get to the MH17 crash site, and finally arrived by the end of the week. The AFP and the Dutch police are both there to secure the site, with no ADF, because it is a humanitarian mission. Julie Bishop remained in Kiev meeting with Ukrainian politicians and the Red Cross as part of the response to MH17. Both she and Angus Houston have been in Ukraine while waiting for the international investigators to get close to the crash zone and have shared the OSCE’s frustration when the missions failed. There are now new sanctions on Russia from the US and the EU. At the moment the Australian Government is not imposing sanctions (Our main focus is to “bring them home”) but the government could revoke Russia’s G20 invite if they so choose.

There’s been a suggested change to welfare again, this time suggesting the expansion of the “work-for-the-dole” plan to all those on welfare under 50. Those on welfare could do between 15-25 hours of work depending on their age and must apply for 40 jobs per month. The opposition has labelled it cruel, and businesses are not impressed, because it means that they have to trawl through thousands of applications and possibly write back to all of them so there is evidence that the applicant, should they be on welfare, did apply but was rejected.

Onto the Asylum Seekers that are now no longer floating out near Christmas Island, but were sent to Curtin Detention Centre via the Cocos Islands. The Indian High Commission stated that they would not be repatriating anyone against their will, while lawyers have argued that technically, because they’re here, Indian officials shouldn’t be talking to the refugees, Australian officials should. Scott Morrison has been saying that because the Indian refugee camps are “safe” those who have come to Australia are economic migrants, not refugees. But in the last day or so, it appears that because the asylum seekers refused to talk to the Indian officials, they have all been secretly flown to Nauru. The government blames the lawyers, saying that they instructed the refugees to say nothing, which the lawyers deny – they haven’t been able to talk to the asylum seekers at all. The lawyers are now thinking about launching a second case, while Tony Abbott is telling asylum seekers “they’ll never stay” and that “If we stop the boats, we stop the deaths”. The government has had to apologise this week to former cricketers Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath after asking them to sign bats, which were then given to the Indian officials who were going to talk with the asylum seekers.

There has also been an Inquiry into Children in Detention this week. The results are quite shocking: there are large numbers of children  with mental illness, and the government asked the people doing the survey to remove that statistic from the report. Other children have had their medication confiscated, the medical centre on Nauru frequently runs out of supplies and because there are no child protection laws or protection services in Nauru, the children are in strife.

The Government is also planning to change national security laws in an aim to deter people from travelling to the Middle East to fight with ISIS. It reverses the onus of proof – meaning that instead of the police proving that you did something wrong, you have to prove that you did nothing wrong. This essentially restricts people’s human rights, as it presumes guilt over innocence, instead of the other way around (It is a human and civil right that a person be treated as innocent until proven guilty – usually in a court of law).

The ABC has got a promise tracker going – you might be surprised by the results

Finally this week, Peter Slipper has been found guilty of dishonesty regarding Cabcharge vouchers, the CSIRO is helping with the African Ebola outbreak and Wikileaks is telling people what a suppression order won’t let them find out from mainstream media regarding an RBA corruption scandal.

Tweet of the Week

Young boy in #Gaza pretending to be a journalist with his home made flak jacket, had to lend him my helmet. pic.twitter.com/CnlUShdixI

— JoMa Sommarstrom (@ekmathia) July 31, 2014

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening to etc

Julia Gillard appeared to launch Greg Combet’s new book…mentioning ABC News NSW anchor Juanita Phillips at the end:

So a Guardian Australia staffer applied for 40 jobs in nine minutes – Guardian Australia

Behind the Baden-Clay trial – ABC Backstory

The Q&A Protest

In case you missed it, a bunch of university students from the Socialist Alternative staged a protest on the ABC’s political panel show Q&A.

While I fully respect their right to protest, I don’t think it was the best idea to protest on Q&A. Yes, unfurling a banner on national TV is going to get you noticed and you will be seen, but to do it on a show where the aim is to give people a chance to question their political figures and get answers (hence the name Q&A), you should actually give the person a chance to answer before yelling them down.

Before you ask, yes, I am a university student, and yes, I do have concerns about the possible cuts or change to funding, so I can see why they would protest. However, I do not see how yelling and chanting “No cuts, no fees, no corporate universities” over and over again allows for any form of intelligent discourse. One could easily have let Pyne answer the question, and then someone else could have questioned him further – intelligent discourse and a chance to get more than just what could have been a roundabout answer.

The ABC is probably quite annoyed, and rightfully so. It can sometimes take a lot of effort to convince someone to be on Q&A, especially given the nature of the program. According to The Guardian, the ABC does vet its audience, primarily in order to have a balanced representation of different voters, and “audiences are given a comprehensive briefing on how to conduct themselves and ask questions before the show is broadcast live…“, but they shouldn’t have to search their audience members’ bags for banners.

Reports from Mumbrella and The Guardian suggest that the ABC are going to review and change their procedures when it comes to Q&A and if that makes it more difficult to become part of the audience, a small number of people will have spoiled the fun for the rest of the public.

While their message may have gotten on national TV, it’s not something that I, as a uni student, am proud of. They’ve not only given themselves a bad name in the eyes of some, but also university students – and that could lead to issues down the road.

The Week That Was – January 26 to February 1

So, this week began with controversy. The guy who runs one of Australia’s pro-monarchy groups thinks that a referendum on Indigenous recognition could lead to “violence in the streets” against those who do not support it. He’s been criticised for his comments because, really, I don’t think Australians would be that stupid as to get violent just because people don’t agree on a topic. If we were, there wouldn’t be many of us left, and no-one would want to be a politician.

The ABC and Fairfax revealed that there is corruption and criminality in the CFMEU (the construction union) and at some of Australia’s major building sites. Tony Abbott says he isn’t surprised, and says that if the Labor Party is serious about tackling corruption they will “stay out of the way”. Abbott used to be the minister that oversaw this kind of stuff, and there was a Royal Commission. He wants another now, but the unions don’t. They don’t see why the government can’t leave the investigating to the Australian Federal Police.

Tony Abbott had a go at the ABC too, not for the story they broke about the CFMEU and construction industry, though. You see, the Prime Minister seems to think that the ABC is “on everyone’s side but Australia’s”. Labor thinks that the government should leave the ABC alone. And in what seems like the worst timing possible, the next day Malcolm Turnbull announced an efficiency review into the ABC and SBS (which is partially taxpayer-funded). Turnbull appeared on the ABC and explained what the review was going to be about. You can see that here.

There has also been a bit of a change in the stories about how the asylum seekers got burnt. They’re still blaming the Australian Navy, but one now says that they were sprayed in the eyes with pepper spray and as he couldn’t see, he walked into the engine, burning his hands. Another says that asylum seekers were thrown onto the engine when they confronted the sailors. Meanwhile, Scott Morrison appeared in front of a Senate Committee, and answered some questions on Operation Sovereign Borders. He didn’t answer some of them because the people smugglers would have found out. But why any other nation would broadcast Australian Senate Committee sittings confounds me, given other nations don’t really seem to care about Australian politics, unless the leader changes,.

Also this week, Peter Cosgrove was named the next Governor-General of Australia. He still has to be approved by Parliament and the Queen, but most people seem pleased and Labor appears to like him.

Tweets of the Week

The ABC News and Current Affairs staff got a bit cheeky after the PM said they weren’t patriotic.

Tonight's edition of @abc730 will lead with @leighsales' performance of Advance Australia Fair, and a reading of the Lord's Prayer. #abc730

— ABC News Intern (@ABCnewsIntern) January 29, 2014

What I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening

Opinion on the Coalition vs. ABC – Guardian Australia

Tracey Spicer at TEDxSouthBankWomen

Jonathan Holmes on Scott Morrison and the ABC – Sydney Morning Herald

Faux Pas of the Week

Julie Bishop is usually intelligent, but someone must not have checked that she knew what electorate she was in, because she kept calling Griffith (Kevin Rudd’s old seat, currently in a by-election campaign) “Griffin”. Oops. (it starts at about 0:35)

The Two Weeks that Were – 30 June to 13 July

The last two weeks have been relatively calm and relaxed, if we put it in comparison to what happened in that last week of June.

It was a nice change.

In the first week of July, if you had the pleasure of watching Q&A on the Monday, you got to see Sophie Mirabella (Liberal) not answer questions properly and hurl insults at Tanya Plibersek (Labor) – at least that’s how it seemed to me. Thursday was interesting, with an Indonesian-centric Q&A live from Jakarta, and it was nice, calm and intelligent conversation – I didn’t feel like throwing things or yelling at everyone – which was a good change.

Kevin Rudd went to Indonesia, and has been flying around the country. At the last count he has travelled more that 22,000km in the last two weeks.This week, he’s been primarily in Arnhem Land, for the celebrations of the Bark Petition, a huge moment in Indigenous Australian rights.

Other than that they haven’t really been doing much, given that parliament is on break, however it seems that we might be having our election later than September 14th.

Quotes of the Fortnight

“Calm down” – Tony Abbott to a female journalist from the Guardian Australia Newspaper

“We’re committed now to rolling out the constitutional recognition for the first Australians and we want to get that work done” – Kevin Rudd in his speech about the Bark Petition.

Tweet of the Fortnight

This is just some perspective on just how long it has been since Tony Abbott appeared on ABC News and Current affairs shows

the late media “@KnottMatthew: Tony Abbott last appeared on Q&A 1054 days ago; Lateline 583; RN Breakfast 368; Insiders 362; 7.30 72 ”

— Jonathan Green (@GreenJ) July 6, 2013

Faux Pas of the Fortnight

Tony Abbott tells a female journalist to calm down – Oops.