The Week That Was – September 14 to September 20

This week saw more information about Australian Defence Force personnel heading to the Middle East. 600 Australian troops will be stationed in the United Arab Emirates, and could be there for quite some time. It’s mainly air force and some tactical staff that we’re sending for this round’s “coalition of the willing”, along with the UAE, Bahrain, France, the UK and Saudi Arabia and it’s unclear when they’ll return. It will cost the country half a billion dollars and there are concerns this coalition could play into Islamic State (aka ISIS/ISIL) hands. Tony Abbott is still calling Islamic State a “death cult”, while Greens Leader Christine Milne is suggesting that we are once again blindly following the US into battle. Other concerns include the absence of an exit strategy, and the fact that the US is calling this a ‘war’ while Australia is not.

Late in the week, it was announced that raids had been carried out across Sydney and Brisbane, after a terrorist plot was uncovered in which people were to be abducted off the street and executed by a group with links to ISIS. 15 people were arrested and two were charged with terror offences, with all but one no longer in custody. The government hasn’t been entirely clear on whether or not this plot was the reason for last week’s rise in the terror threat level, but were are being told to keep calm and carry on. Tony Abbott also told people that all they needed for a terrorist attack of this kind is a knife, an iPhone and a victim – probably wasn’t the best idea to give a how-to guide. There has also been suggestion that Parliament House, along with other tourist destinations, while the US uses Australia’s raids as an example of why they have to go deal with ISIS.

There are also new terror laws being tabled to allow police more powers. These amendments to national security laws want to change the wording so that authorities can act when they “reasonably suspect” something will happen as opposed to them only acting when it is reasonably believed that something will occur. Entire nations could become no-go zones, punishable by 10 years in prison, and people suspected of going to fight can have 21-day suspensions of their passports.

The Muslim community is a bit concerned though, because in the last decade or two, whenever Muslim extremists start planning anything and get caught for it, the rest of the well-behaved, law-abiding members of the Muslim community are the ones that cop all of the abuse, racism and xenophobia from the rest of us. It also doesn’t help when people like Cory Bernardi tweet things like this:

https://twitter.com/corybernardi/status/512381674881949696

Tony Abbott finally made true on his promise about spending a week in Arnhem Land, even if he though he might have had to leave early. He was invited by clan leaders, and was planning to talk with them about issues they have, such as land rights, housing and recognition. They have said they don’t just want the PM to listen and have some photo opportunities, they want action. Unemployment is high, and clan leaders want constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians. However, while the PM promised to lay out a timeline soon, the referendum may not take place until 2017. Also, it’s been proved that the government can be based in a remote area for a week and not fall apart.

This week also saw Scott Morrison talk about the success of Operation Sovereign Borders one year in. The government turned back 12 boats of asylum seekers, most in the vessel they were intercepted with, except for four groups of asylum seekers, who were sent back in orange lifeboats. Tanya Plibersek has criticised the government for gloating about it.

Finally this week, Julia Gillard and Bill Shorten were mentioned at the Trade Union Royal Commission, Australia is increasing aid funding for fighting Ebola and the Russians were at the G20 Finance Ministers’ Meeting.

Tweet of the Week

Now we know who was running the spoof Mia Freedman account:

https://twitter.com/mckinnon_a/status/512115740069994497

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

The power of words and censoring them – ABC The Drum

Why men still run newsrooms – The Conversation

Victorian men charged with gay sex crimes will be exonerated – ABC News

The Two Weeks that Were – June 15 to June 28

I had exams and family engagements in the last fortnight, which is why I’ve bunched two weeks together. It’ll be a bit long, but I will be back on my regular schedule next week.

So, Tony Abbott left the US, via Hawaii where he visited Pearl Harbor. He says that he will wait for guidance, presumably from the Americans on how to approach the crisis in Iraq, calling the situation a “security disaster”.

He’s returned to Australia, where he faced internal dissent regarding the deficit levy. It isn’t supported by Senator Ian Macdonald and Cory Bernardi. Bernardi abstained the vote because he feels the rich pay enough tax, while Macdonald voted against because he thinks that companies should be paying too. The Paid Parental Leave is also an issue dividing the Coalition.

Tony Abbott was also handed a Double Dissolution trigger by the by the Opposition. They’ve rejected the bill to remove the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. It doesn’t mean it will be used, but because of how the Constitution works – if Abbott so pleases he may dissolve all houses of parliament and put the country through yet another election. Christine Milne and the Greens have essentially dared him to do it, while the Government is planning to reintroduce it when the new Senate sits after the 1st of July….but that could be an issue too, depending on how the beholders of the balance of power decide to vote.

Trade with the Middle East has been put into a predicament with George Brandis announcing that Australian Government Documents will now refer to what is considered my most countries to be “occupied Israeli settlements” as “disputed”. Why? Well, apparently “occupied” is a loaded term – which I thought was the point anyway – and “disputed” apparently shows that the government still supports a two-state solution. Regardless of whether or not that’s the case, some Middle Eastern nations are not amused and are thinking of sanctioning Australia’s trade. They met with Julie Bishop and DFAT, but were not impressed.

Peter Greste, the Australian journalist held in Egypt has, along with several other Western and Egyptian journalists been sentenced to 7 years prison, essentially for doing their jobs. The Australian government had been, and still is, communicating with Egyptian authorities and ministries, and Julie Bishop will again talk with the Egyptian leadership as will Abbott in the hope of fixing the situation. Australia doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Egypt, which means he cannot be transferred here to carry out his sentence. So now it’s a waiting game for the judicial system to take its course.

Oh, and in case we didn’t have enough on our foreign affairs plate, Indonesia’s Presidential candidates have given Australia a bit of a dressing down. One of the candidates says that while he wants Indonesia to have better relations in Australia, he is under the impression that we think that they are a poor, backward country.

Ouch.

There is a huge amount of controversy at the moment, because the Government wants to change financial advice laws. They want to water down strict rules that protect the consumer including one that makes sure there are no loopholes. It comes as the aftermath of a major scandal at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) pans out involving unauthorised investments of consumer’s money that lost money a few years back. There have been calls for a Royal Commission into the CBA but Tony Abbott is resisting it, saying it was good that the scandal was exposed. There is an investigation into similar crimes committed at other banks, however it isn’t looking at the specific crime the CBA employee committed and submissions are closed anyway. Joe Hockey – whose mother was in fact a victim of this scandal – has criticised the CBA’s handling of the incident, but hasn’t said much more.

The UN World Heritage people have declined the Government’s request to reduce the World Heritage area in Tasmanian Forests. The request was denied within five minutes, and the application was described by delegates as feeble. They also declined a request to do something on the Great Barrier Reef (I don’t remember what it was). Tony Abbott is a bit disappointed about it.

Clive Palmer has been earning some comments in my house, particularly about his strategy. Palmer met with Al Gore in the last week and announced the he would support the abolishment of the Carbon Tax – as long as the savings are passed onto the people’s bills and cost of living. It will also exclude the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and there will be no “Direct Action Plan” or any moves until our trading partners move to do the same – i.e. China.

The Liberal-National Council met in the last couple of days, and there were lots of speeches from Joe Hockey, Julie Bishop and of course Tony Abbott. Abbott encouraged the incoming Senators to accept his government’s election to power as he would their election to their seat – translated as: let my changes go through the senate. There was disagreement on a party constitution change between Christopher Pyne and George Brandis. But more interestingly, there is the suggestion of giving more sovereignty to the states. Labor Premiers like Jay Weatherill are not happy, saying it means cuts to the states. Liberal Premiers, like Denis Napthine have been more cryptic, saying they’re looking forward to the definitions.

The Government is relaunching Temporary Protection visas, which they won’t get through the current Senate, but will try after July 1st. The Government has also been stopped by the High Court from trying to limit the number of protection visas that can be issued each year. There may or may not be an asylum seeker boat (or maybe two) off Christmas Island – but it’s an “on water operation” at the moment so no one will say anything.

Finally in the last fortnight, James Ashby has dropped his case against Peter Slipper, the Greens will be rejecting the fuel excise because they want more funding in public transport and not roads, and Tony Abbott thinks protesting is “un-Australian” and that we not only need to “stop the boats” but “stop the jihadists” – in reference to the Australians fighting in Syria and/or Iraq – usually for ISIS.

Tweet of the Fortnight

Cynical Sydneysiders are awesome

People really are quite witty sometimes (via @otiose94) pic.twitter.com/AVmR2tCl59

— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) June 24, 2014

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Other than my revision?

A Fact Check  on how much Tony Abbott says households will save if the Carbon Tax is repealed – ABC FactCheck

A look at what different cultures consider beautiful – estherhonig.com

Graham Creed talked to a Year 3 class at the British International School in Shanghai about climate – ABC Backstory