Tag Archives: Leyonhjelm

The Three Weeks That Were – June 24 to July 14

Posted on by

The week of June 24 was the last week of parliament before winter break, so after that, with the exception of “Super Saturday” campaigning, was pretty quiet.

  1. The tax battle continued in parliament over the last week of sitting, with the government really trying to get their corporate tax cuts through. It mostly involved trying to figure out whether Pauline Hanson and her one remaining One Nation colleague were going to support it, and it now appears she won’t. Pauline Hanson and said that she wouldn’t, then that she would, and then flipped back to not supporting it – before denying she was flip-flopping. In fact, it got to the point where the government decided to wait until after the Winter Break to continue pursuing the tax cuts.
  2. The Banking Royal Commission has shown the banks to once again be pretty horrible to people. This time the focus was on farmers and the indigenous community. Farmers were being treated badly when it came to paying back loans during droughts when money is tighter, forcing many off their farms, while the indigenous community is being exploited due to poor financial literacy – mostly by small operators looking to make a quick buck.
  3. Super Saturday campaigning is continuing, with Labor looking safe in the two WA seats to the point where federal political news is very sparse on it. Meanwhile the seat of Longman in Queensland and Braddon in Tasmania could be won by the Liberals. This is virtually unheard of as usually the swing in a by-election is against the government, not to it. In Mayo, however it looks as if the main battle will be between the incumbent Centre Alliance candidate Rebekha Sharkie, and Liberal candidate Georgina Downer (daughter of former MP Alexander Downer). Sharkie got into parliament on the coattails of Nick Xenophon, and now with the Xenophon mania fizzing out, Sharkie has to work harder – she has however been lucky to have the support of Bob Katter and Cathy McGowan. On the other hand, Downer is facing criticism for being an outsider that has been parachuted in.
  4. Bill Shorten caused some commotion during the last three weeks, making a “captain’s call” (remember those from the Abbott era?) about repealing mid-size business tax cuts. Most of the higher-ranking shadow Cabinet members did try to convince the public it had been discussed prior to Shorten’s off the cuff announcement – they weren’t totally convincing – and it did not help that some of the backbenchers essentially confirmed it was a captains call. Shorten and Chris Bowen have since announced a backflip, and these tax cuts will remain in place.
  5. Denison MP Andrew Wilkie has revealed (under parliamentary privilege) that the government is prosecuting a former ASIO spy known as Witness K and his lawyer Bernard Collaery under the espionage act for revealing that Australia bugged the East Timorese Cabinet during negotiations regarding an oil field between the countries.
  6. Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson has now been sentenced to 12 months in prison – but is more likely to spend it under house arrest with his relations rather than in an actual jail cell. Wilson was found guilty of concealing child abuse while a bishop in the Hunter Valley/Maitland area decades ago. He is yet to resign his role as Archbishop, and he is planning to appeal.
  7. David Leyonhjelm and Sarah Hanson-Young are having an epic fight right now, with Hanson-Young calling in the lawyers. During Hanson-Young’s speech in the Senate on domestic violence, Leyonhjelm told her to “stop shagging men” and when she confronted him on it, he told her to “f- off” (or at least that’s what Hanson-Young said). Anyway, Leyonhjelm was invited to a Sky News politics show the weekend following this exchange where he made comments about Hanson-Young’s character that amounted to slut shaming – no one else is broadcasting what he actually said because Hanson-Young is now suing Leyonhjelm for defamation.
  8. Tony Abbott has gone back to doing the thing he does best – causing trouble and stirring the pot. He’s decided that Australia needs to abandon the Paris Climate Agreement that he signed up to – saying it was an aspirational goal not a commitment to a goal, which is not what he said back when he signed Australia up for the agreement.
  9. The “GST pie” is being re-divided and it is very confusing. Essentially, Western Australia, now without their Mining boom, needs a bit more of the share of the GST, and so the government is going to top up the GST money pile to help that transition. Other than that, NSW and Victoria, being the richest states will be the benchmark states to help determine what the other states get.
  10. Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has called in the farmers and the banks to hash out a deal that allows farmers who are doing it tough in the current drought in NSW and Queensland can survive and keep their farms. The basic idea, from what I understand, is that during the drought years, levies and loans will be cheaper to pay back, balanced out by paying more in the good years. It’s thought the banks will probably agree to this suggestion so that they can reclaim some of their tattered reputation after the Banking Royal Commission.
  11. Mark Latham has re-emerged in the political sphere, this time voicing a robo-call for One Nation in the seat of Longman. Labor doesn’t seem concerned – saying if he repeats the result he gave the Labor party as their leader in 2004 (spoiler: it was a terrible showing for Labor) then they have no concerns about the rise of One Nation in Longman.
  12. The ACCC has revealed that with some help from state government and the regulators, electricity bills could be made cheaper for households and businesses. The ACCC report says that confusing bill structures as well as the “lazy tax” (where people who are loyal or stay with the same provider are charged more and they are unlikely to pay attention to their bills) are what is making it most expensive for people.
  13. NSW State MP Daryl Maguire has stepped down from the Liberal Party and his parliamentary secretary role after an ICAC investigation revealed he was trying to get a kickback from a property developer.
  14. The public is being reminded to only claim what they are actually entitled to in their tax returns, reminding people that the cost of travelling to and from work is not claimable, and neither are clothes you buy to wear to work (unless it is a uniform with a logo and you always have to wear it).

The Week That Was – October 16 to October 22

Posted on by

Apologies for the absence over the last few weeks, but we’re back to regular programming.

Malcolm Turnbull began the week hoping to get his ABCC legislation through the Senate, but all did not go to plan, with Family First Senator Bob Day – a key supporter of the ABCC legislation – resigning from parliament after his house construction company went into liquidation. He believes his spot is untenable and that he needs to focus on paying back creditors, which is fair enough, and now there is a casual vacancy in the Senate for Family First in South Australia. Fair Trade has gotten involved in the liquidation as families with homes under construction and there are also questions over whether the company traded insolvent.

It got worse for Turnbull when Liberal Democrat Senator David Leyonhjelm claimed that in return for his vote on legislation, he was promised a the government would reconsider the import ban on Adler A110 guns. When the 12-month sunset clause passed and the gun’s import ban remained, he felt betrayed and went to the media. Basically it appears the deal was done by the Justice Minister Michael Keenan and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton. There is then contention over whether Tony Abbott knew of the deal, of which he says he knew nothing, while Turnbull says the then-PM’s office knew.

This leads me to suspect that the then-Prime Minister’s Office knew, but the Prime Minister himself did not. It could be one of these things that Credlin knew that she either decided Abbott didn’t need to or she never got the chance to tell him. Regardless, Turnbull’s declaration in Question Time, that Abbott then got up to refute saying he had been “most grievously” misrepresented, has led to a suggestion from commercial media that there is a Turnbull-Abbott feud, which really distracts from the government actually running the country and wanting to talk about that more than the whole guns saga.

Senate Estimates also took place this week, with some epic moments. Top of the list though had to be the response of Defence Minister Marise Payne to a question about the three defence focused ministers. She was asked who was the most senior minister among the three ministers and what each minister’s roles were – she couldn’t really tell them. Oops.

Finally this week, Labor won the ACT election; the new Reserve Bank chair suggests there could be another interest rate cut; the AMA is recommending a $2 price rise for GP consultations as the Medicare rebate remains at 2014 levels; and the Liberals in NSW may allow the rank and file members to vote in preselections.

Tweets of the Week

Aussie accents get noticed everywhere

And the smashed-avo-breakfast-gate

https://twitter.com/dtsmith_sydney/status/787584914635919361

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Cafés are having a bit of (cheap) fun with the whole breakkie vs housing thing  – ABC News

Michael Janda on why Gen Y should postpone buying a home – ABC Online

The Week That Was – October 18 to October 24

Posted on by

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 – August 16 to August 22

Posted on by

This week following one of Abbott’s worst weeks in a long time was better for him, but not by much.

First there is disagreement in the party about how the same-sex marriage vote will work. Will it be a plebiscite (a massive opinion poll) or a referendum (that enshrines something in the constitution)? Do we have it before, during or after the election due in 2016? The details are sketchy, and what’s more, a referendum or plebiscite – whichever it ends up being – will be incredibly expensive, even if bundled together with a general election. Cabinet was meant to discuss details, but it seems we still have no idea about how this whole thing will work.

There were leaks to journalists this week in parliament, which had Eric Abetz talking to the media about how leakers are gutless and asked why journalists publish these leaks that are, according to Abetz, untrue. This seems to have backfired because hours later someone leaked the day’s press guide to the media which had some scripted “jobs, growth and community safety” lines in it and a directive to answer any questions about party stability with a variation on the above jobs and growth as well as a swipe at the Labor Party.

Dyson Heydon’s week hasn’t been that great either. Labor wants him gone, as do the unions, while Heydon tried to put out the fire by saying he was an idiot and didn’t read the entire messages that his staff printed out for him. Given some of the messages explicitly mentioned the party in the subject lines, there is the theory that he always knew and either hoped to get away with it, or thought that his job as Royal Commissioner for the Trade Union Royal Commission would be over. Furthermore, it has been revealed that Justice Heydon, who was a Law Professor at Sydney University in the 1970s and 1980s was on the board of selectors that chose Tony Abbott for his Rhodes Scholarship in 1981. The unions have applied for Justice Heydon to be removed from his position because of “apprehended bias” – a legal term basically meaning that even if Heydon isn’t biased at all, he looks like he is to the average person and therefore may as well be, meaning he has to go. Catch is, he’s hearing the application himself – leading to quips about marking one’s own exam, among others –  and is due to deliver his verdict on Tuesday.

Also this week, the by-election in the seat of Canning is revving up. It’s been marred by the revelation that the Liberal Party candidate for the seat, Andrew Hastie, a former army captain, was the leader of a group that is being investigated for violating the rules of war by desecrating corpses. Members of the group cut the hands off dead Taliban insurgents – purportedly to have a way of identifying them. Hastie has said that he was not with the group at the time, and was up in a helicopter circling the location where the incident occurred, also claiming that when he became aware of what had taken place he reported the incident to his superiors.

Finally this week, the Abbott government is going to fight the war against “green warfare” by making it more difficult for groups not directly affected by development to launch legal action against it, the USA has asked Australia to consider bombing in Syria, which does have legal issues to resolve, GST will be introduced to online purchases in 2017, the Victims of the Martin Place Siege can only access NSW State victims compensation and not the Federal government scheme, because their incident didn’t take place overseas, and David Leyonhjelm has suggested that if you are the victim of a gun crime you aren’t allowed to have an opinion about gun control, after victims of the Port Arthur Massacre began campaigning to have a gun banned in Australia.

Tweet of the Week

Leigh Sales puts on her “serious voice” and ends up singing with Tim Minchin

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

How id the AFR dealing with Mark Latham after some derogatory comments – Buzzfeed

2015 Canning By-election – Antony Green’s ABC Election Blog

A look at where Australia stands when it comes to endangered species – ABC Fact Check

The Week That Was – August 3 to August 9

Posted on by

This week there were MH17 memorials in Western Australia and Queensland and more bodies were found at the crash site. The people living in a town close to the crash site also held a memorial. Meanwhile, the Russians have imposed sanctions on Australia, the EU and the US, in retaliation for the sanctions placed on them (which I thought Australia was not a part of, because our main aim was to bring our dead home). These sanctions stop Australia from trading dairy and livestock. Tony Abbott has said Australia will now consider more sanctions on Russia. Also, the Prime Minister is due to travel to the Netherlands and the UK in the next week.

So it turns out the asylum seekers were moved to Nauru on Friday night last week. Scott Morrison has been saying that the Tamils are from Indian camps and most have long-term Indian residency. The lawyers for the High Court case have also begun to claim that their clients were taught to drive lifeboats and read maps to show them where to go. Meanwhile a report has come out about the asylum seekers that claimed to have been burnt by being forced to put their hands on boat engines by Australian authorities. The heavily censored report suggests that the asylum seekers were burned when trying to light a fire on their boat and not by the actions of the Australians. There has been no response from the Indonesian authorities, who treated the asylum seekers at the moment.

Unemployment is now at a 12 year high – at 6.4%. Only 300 jobs were lost in the last month, but more people have been looking for jobs, making the unemployment rate rise. Youth unemployment is worse, with a little over 20% in the 15-19 age group and nearly 15% in the 15-24 age group. South Australia and Tasmania have had a drop in the unemployment rate, while the other states have had a rise, with Sydney having one of the worst youth unemployment rates, especially out in Sydney’s west. The Paid Parental Leave Scheme may have been shelved or delayed. It’s thought to be because some backbenchers – primarily those in rural or low-income areas – are still not supporting it. The government claims that the budget is the priority at the moment, so they haven’t brought up the scheme yet.

Joe Hockey has also been disputing Treasury numbers, after information was released stating that many families would be up to $490 worse off because of the 2014 Budget. In fact, the table that explains this was omitted from the budget papers, and those who wanted to know what the table said had to make Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. However, it appears most FOI requests, including one from the ABC was denied. Joe Hockey says that the numbers are wrong because the Deficit Levy imposed on higher-income households wasn’t factored in and there could still be changes. Either way, there are still negotiations between the Government and the cross benchers in the Senate – David Leyonhjelm has said that these discussions should have begun before July 1.

This week also saw a bit of gymnastics on the repeal of section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act. The government has decided not to continue with the repeal of section 18c because Tony Abbott wants to unify Australia, given the threat posed by Australians travelling to the Middle East. Andrew Bolt, along with other conservative commentators and politicians are not pleased. At least one conservative senator is going to launch a private member’s bill to keep the repeal alive.

There are now going to be changes to the Terrorism laws given the threat posed by those travelling to the Middle East perceived by the government. This change, on top of the “burden of proof” proposal last week, means that there will be another $630 million for security agencies, the ability to suspend passports and make it illegal to travel to certain nations without an acceptable reason (burden of proof on the traveller not the police) and telecommunications companies must keep metadata for a certain amount of time.

Now this “metadata” thing has confused everyone. Tony Abbott and George Brandis have been unable to explain exactly what will be retained, and they didn’t let Malcolm Turnbull (one of the guys who probably could explain it) out to talk until a few days later. Other than the concerns over privacy, it is completely unclear at the moment what is going to be retained by the telcos. Now, I am not a computer geek in any way, but from what I understand, what will be retained is the IP address of websites you visit, not the content or the URL of the site. So when you visit this blog, they only see the IP address, not the karaxl.wordpress.com or the content of the blog – in order to see those they need a warrant.

Before I forget, Eric Abetz is in trouble for appearing to link abortions with breast cancer. He said it on The Project on Channel Ten in what he says was a pre-recorded interview that was heavily edited, which Channel Ten denies. By the way, the link has been disproved by the scientific community, despite the fact that some scientists coming to the World Families’ Congress maintain there is a link. The congress will be held in Melbourne later this year, and several Federal Government MPs are planning to attend.

Finally this week, the Federal Liberal Party is being dragged into the NSW ICAC, Australia might become involved in humanitarian drops in Iraq, our Airports are preparing for Ebola checks, and the WA Premier Colin Barnett wants the GST changed, because he feels that Western Australia is ripped off as it contributes quite a bit to the GST and gets less back.

Tweet of the Week

After hitting 5000 followers on twitter this week, the people running Kevin Rudd 2000 (@Rudd2000), a spoof account called it a day, killing off “Kevern”.

(Translation: Albo [Anthony Albanese] ate Kevin [Rudd])

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

Balibo’s ghosts and East Timor’s media laws – ABC The Drum

When journalists stop covering a story without explanation and social media speculation gets out of hand – BBC News

Whitehousegate is still going, and a student at the college is facing criminal charges for blowing the whistle – Business Insider

The Week that Was – July 13 to July 19

Posted on by

This week was less insane than previous weeks, or at least it was until about Friday.

This week saw the Coalition negotiating with the Palmer United Party to get the Carbon and Mining taxes through the Senate, with the hope that both would get through by the end of the week. Senate ran later on Tuesday and Thursday, and while the Carbon Tax passed the Senate on Thursday, the Mining Tax was not, as the PUP wanted to see the $10 million of welfare that came with it to remain. Regardless, the Government is pleased with itself for removing the Carbon Tax, while the opposition is saying that the government will be judged harshly in the future. Bill Shorten has said that he will take an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to the next election and Tony Abbott, when asked if he would consider an ETS, said there wouldn’t be a Carbon Tax. It appears that if you are Tony Abbott, there is no difference between an ETS and a Carbon Tax.

The financial regulation laws are floating around too, with the PUP asking for some consumer safeguards to be added before they let it through. There was also the release of an interim report from a financial inquiry, stating that while the market is quite concentrated, it is still competitive. There are also concerns with superannuation though, with funds borrowing money to make investments and high fees, as well as the recommendation that financial advice from banks be called “sales” leaving the term “advice” to independent advisors who aren’t attached to any bank or financial group.

This week also saw this:

Yep, David Leyonhjelm, a Liberal Democratic Senator (different from the Liberal Party), says that basically, the politicians should let people do what they want to do behind closed doors and allow marriage equality. He’s pretty sure that the Greens and Labour will be supportive of his Marriage Deregulation Amendment, and says that he will table it only if he gets a guarantee from the Coalition that there will be a conscience vote on their side. He says that it’s a liberty issue, and that if same-sex marriage were legal, then maybe people wouldn’t make it so hard for the government to get their budget through. He also pulled the “Tony Abbott, what about your sister?” and the “Bill Shorten, think about Penny Wong” cards. In return for the conscience vote, Leyonhjelm has said he will support Temporary Protection Visas in the Senate.

It was going pretty smoothly this week until Friday morning, when the news came through that a Malaysian Airlines flight had been shot down over a rebel-held region in Ukraine. The flight, MH17, from Amsterdam’s Schiphol to Kuala Lumpur, had 298 people aboard, including 3 infants, 15 crew, and 36 (UPDATE: now 37) Australian citizens and permanent residents. Australia has the third highest death toll, behind The Netherlands and Malaysia. The Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop has called for an international investigation, I’m assuming by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) given they have investigated similar incidents (like Korean Air 007). Russia is also under scrutiny, as it is believed that the pro-Russia separatists in the region are being supported by Russia in many ways, and possibly gave the rebels the missile used to shoot down the plane.

Finally this week, the guy in charge of looking at the Australian education system, Kevin Donnelly, thinks corporal punishment is ok. Thankfully, no-one else appears to agree with him. The refugees that are somewhere on a boat off Christmas Island are still there and haven’t been handed over yet.

Tweets of the Week

Not sure if this is true, but if it is….

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Oz:  A very supportive nation when it comes to marriage equality, but we still haven’t changed the law – The Advocate

ABC’s Hayden Cooper reflects on the Greste case – ABC Backstory

The Week That Was – June 29 to July 5

Posted on by

This week has primarily focused on the two Asylum Seeker boats out near Christmas Island. We know they exist, that on of them is possibly from India, that the Detention Centre on Christmas Island is preparing for new people and that they are the first boats in quite a long time. Since then, nothing has been heard from the government who have said it’s an “on-water operation” that they won’t comment on just yet, and we don’t even know if the boats have made it ashore or if the asylum seekers are even alive.

There are concerns that the refugees are being assessed on the boats they arrived on. The UNHCR is concerned as well, reminding Australia that it is illegal to return people to a place where they fear for their safety under international law. However, Scott Morrison appears to be trying to find a way around that and he could use his ministerial powers to intervene in cases.

There are also more suggestions of streamlining welfare payments again. It’s suggested that people with “non-permanent” disabilities could be taken off the Disability Support Pension (DSP) and onto New Start – which is considerably less money. Also, I’d like to know what a “non-permanent disability” is. The Opposition is angry, especially Anthony Albanese, who was raised by his single mother with the DSP as most of her income.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse released an interim report, saying that they had heard shocking stories and that the number of complaints was so high, they would need two more years and another $100 million to continue their investigations. They are investigating at least 70 institutions and say that adults have failed children. The government in considering the request for more time and money. The Royal Commission is also annoyed at the Vatican, because they asked for all the documents pertaining to paedophile priests in Australia and they’ve only received two. And speaking of the Catholic Church, despite Cardinal Pell telling the Commission that the church will stop using the “Ellis Defence” (the defence that says that the Church is not a legal entity that can be sued) in sexual abuse cases, they are still using it.

The NDIS is still facing problems a year after its launch, with many people facing bureaucratic battles. It appears that very few people are aware of their rights under the scheme and are in fact losing out on some of the things they had before. There is also questions over what should be funded and whether or nor iPads are worth funding – despite the fact that some are actually being used to help with communication.

This week also saw the new senators being shown the ropes in Canberra, in what is affectionately called “Senate Kindy”. It appears that Palmer United Party Senator Jacqui Lambie wants to become PM eventually and that the only thing that David Leyonhjelm learnt at Senate Kindy was not to go to wineries in ComCars.

Speaking of David Leyonhjelm, he may just help get the Paid Parental Leave Scheme through the Senate, however he wants to see a deregulation of childcare, such that there are cheaper options for families. Sussan Ley, the Assistant Education Minister, says that while she thinks it could be a good, it isn’t on the cards – something the Opposition and childcare associations are happy about, saying that people want quality and safety when it comes to taking care of their kids.

Finally, the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) saga continues, with the CEO apologising for messing up and telling people that they are opening up an investigation. However, there are still concerns because the investigation will be internal and only after that investigation will anyone external be brought in, and even the CBA will choose who the external person is. The Financial Planning Association does support a Royal Commission, unless the CBA sorts everything out, especially its compensation.

Also this week, a 17-year-old Western Sydney teenager is reportedly in the Middle East, presumably to fight in Syria or Iraq, Julie Bishop travelled to Myanmar on a trip that focused on trade and education, there are plans to ban Australians from bringing back souvenirs from ‘canned hunting’ trips and be aware of a scam in which you are called by someone saying they are from the ATO, recite your tax details and tell you have overdue taxes – somehow some people’s tax details have been sold on the black market.

Tweet of the Week

What I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

The UN now recognises same-sex marriage – Gaystar News

Tony Abbott in trouble for saying Australia was ‘unsettled’ before colonisation – SBS Online