So the week began on Easter Sunday, with the Royals going to St Andrews Anglican Cathedral in Sydney and later on, taking George to Taronga Zoo, where they opened a bilby enclosure. They took Easter Monday off, visited Uluru on Tuesday, Adelaide on Wednesday and were in Canberra on Thursday and Friday.
This week, as we get even closer to the Budget we’re starting to hear about what may or may not be cut from the budget and what we are going to have to sacrifice. This week seems to be focused on cuts to the health service. There have been suggestions that people on the disability pension will have to go to independent doctors and not their GPs to get the stamp of approval for the pension. There is also mention of cutting the amount of money people on the disability pension earn. One of the major issues here is that those with mental illnesses and disabilities could be disadvantaged as their mental state can vary. There could also be cuts to Medicare Locals, an after-hours GP service. This has major benefits for the chronically ill, who would otherwise have to go to Emergency, saving lots of money.
Another thing people are worried about cuts to is the Indigenous Health Service, in particular mental health and rehabilitation services, as well as the concern with raising the pension age, given the average life expectancy of Aboriginal males is less than 70 years old (ABS). Comments have been made about how cuts are going to make the PM look bad, given he has said he is focused on closing the gap and being there for the indigenous people.
If that doesn’t concern you, at least we’re spending about $12 billion on F-35 fighters from the USA. We originally ordered 14, and now we’re getting 58 more. They’re due in 2020, and have had some major issues, given the development of these planes are over budget and have had some safety issues – to the point where Canada and Denmark are reconsidering their ordering of the planes.
ANZAC Day was on Friday and the royals apparently surprised everyone by showing up to the Dawn Service at the Australian War Memorial – which really doesn’t shock me – and then came back later that day to lay a wreath at the ANZAC Day Ceremony. Then they left the country, with George giving us one of the best pictures of this entire tour – you can see it below in the Tweets of the Week.
And finally this week, a former NSW Premier Neville Wran died this week. He seemed to be liked by most in politics, and brought in a lot of changes for NSW including random breath testing, decriminalising homosexuality, developed modern lotto and started ICAC, only to resign because of it. He is getting a state funeral on May 1.
Tweets of the Week
In the mad rush to cover what was thought to be a hijack of an Australian plane but was just an allegedly drunk passenger, you can type too fast and have spelling issues
Oh, and this is why outsourcing sub-editing is a bad thing
Things I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Listening etc
A humourous take on why you should support same-sex marriage – College Humor
Behind the scenes of the ABC’s Coverage of Barry O’Farrell’s resignation – ABC Back Story
Hillary Clinton and the Fake Baby Conspiracy – SMH
Kara L 