Tag Archives: MYEFO

15 Things That Happened in the Last Three Weeks (December 17 to January 6)

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For the first time in a while, Australian politics actually went on holiday. So, here’s what happened, in case you missed it.

  1. A man was arrested in Sydney for allegedly acting as an economic agent for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (aka North Korea). Apparently he was trying to help them get WMDs, although the facts available are very basic given it’s a National Security issue.
  2. John Alexander won the Bennelong by-election.
  3. The first church services took place since the Royal Commission released their report.
  4. Scott Morrison and Mathias Cormann presented MYEFO (Mid Year Economic & Fiscal Outlook) and revealed that we are to expect a surplus in 2021, and that they have made $3 billion in savings by capping university places, increasing the wait to three years for migrant welfare claims and cutting the rebate for after hours GP services.
  5. Oh, but somehow Australia can still have personal and corporate tax cuts even though the government needed to cut some money from other things.
  6. Chris Bowen, the Shadow Treasurer,  responded to the MYEFO announcements, saying that the Liberals have their priorities wrong.
  7. A cabinet reshuffle – where several senior Nationals ministers were dumped in favour of some young blood, suggesting instability within the National Party.
  8. The new cabinet the got sworn in – and Peter Dutton is the most powerful national security minister Australia has ever had.
  9. George Brandis is going to be High Commissioner in the UK, so Christian Porter is the new Attorney-General and will have to keep Dutton on a tight leash.
  10. Florence Bjelke-Peterson – former senator and wife of controversial QLD Premier Joh Bjelke-Peterson – died aged 97.
  11. The replacement for Fiona Nash (who was caught up in Section 44 drama) was finally selected – Jim Molan. There are still questions surrounding whether he will get a 3-year or 6-year term in the Senate.
  12. Christmas happened as usual, with images of Malcolm Turnbull helping out at the Wayside Chapel Christmas Lunch in Sydney and dancing with guests.
  13. The end of 2017…
  14. New Years Day 2018 saw the release of the 1994/1995 Cabinet Papers – revelaing that Keating was warned about allowing the Australian people to vote for the President if Australia becam a republic because we plebeians might pick someone “of the wrong calibre” (read: we might pick someone like Trump).
  15. It was also revealed that after Sydney won the right to host the 2000 Olympics, that champion swimmer Kieran Perkin’s swimming record dating back to when he was 12 years old was used to argue for a 6-year funding plan for sport in order to increase the medal tally.

 

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

MYEFO Explained by ABC’s Emma Alberici

Huw Parkinson’s take on Australian Politics with some help from Harry Potter

The Two Weeks That Were – December 18 to December 31

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This Christmas and New Years period was possibly the least insane for politics in a very long time. The first few days had a bit of drama but nothing too major.

The long-awaited Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), showed us that the deficit is now $36.5 billion, and debts will be bigger until a forecasted surplus in 2020. The government is on track for 12 continuous deficits and the country’s growth is down. Part of the reason for the bad news is because there are still 2014 Budget ‘zombie measures’ that still haven’t passed the Senate, however they do think some money could be recouped in the next year or so by collecting welfare debts.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull caused some division amongst the Liberal Party when he attended a dinner hosted by the Republican Movement, who want to see australia become a republic rather than stay as a constitutional monarchy. The move to become a republic is unlikely while Queen Elizabeth II is still alive, however Turnbull has outlined his vision for the move to a republic, with a plebiscite to decide on the model, and a referendum to follow to make the final decision – a marked difference from the failed referendum in 1999.

Meanwhile, there are concerns among the Liberals that some more conservative members may split from the party. Both Cory Bernardi and George Christiansen are fans of Donald Trump, and have concerns about national security and Bernardi’s conservative movement is going well. Many in the party are encouraging the party to stay unified and not be divided “like Labor”. The issue also had Tony Abbott talking on radio about staying with the party, which drew criticism.

There were arrests in Melbourne just before Christmas, in which several people for arrested for allegedly planning to attack some of Melbourne’s key landmarks on Christmas Day. From what the police have said they were inspired by Islamic State and the police have been keeping an eye on them for a while. Meanwhile, Malcolm Turnbull has called for calm, and reminded people that they should not cower in fear, as that is what the terrorists want.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party is looking to do well in the next few years as State elections take place in traditionally conservative States such as Western Australia and Queensland. Critics are saying that Pauline Hanson “is for Pauline Hanson” – an allegation she and her supporters deny, saying that she is for the country. Meanwhile she’s having to deal with the Culleton validity scandal – and the fact that Rod Culleton just quit her party.

As if it couldn’t get more confusing, Rod Culleton has also been declared bankrupt, and although he has 21 days to appeal, he’s technically ineligible to be a Senator. It gets confusing because the validity issue is the more important constitutional issue than the undischarged bankrupt issue. So, if Culleton loses the bankruptcy appeal, but wins his validity case, then One Nation chooses the replacement. If Culleton is found to have been invalidly elected, then his replacement is chosen by seeing who came after him in the count.

Also during this fortnight, there have been concerns about the rental agreement between the government and the rifle range, in which it appears they are paying a lower rate of rent for the land. The other concern is that David Leyonhjelm’s comments about the rental agreement suggest some secret back room horse trading between the government and the cross bench senator.

Finally during this fortnight, there was an explosion at the Australian Christian Lobby building in Canberra – which police say was not ideologically motivated; mining company Adani is facing probes in India, leading to concerns in Queensland, where they are due to start a mine; there will be a national AUSLAN curriculum set up to help teach people sign language; and an asylum seeker has died in Brisbane after not receiving appropriate medical care on Manus Island before collapsing.

You can catch my 2016 Year in Review here.

Tweet of the Fortnight

The ABC’s James Glenday was covering the Berlin Terror Attack, and all the feedback he got was about staying warm.

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

ABC 2016 Year in Review

The Week That Was – December 13 to December 19

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As Christmas approaches, the world of politics has mellowed a bit.

The week began with a Climate Change agreement in Paris, with an aspiration to cap temperature rises to 2ºC if not 1.5ºC. Australia did not get all of the things that it wanted, but nor did other countries.The next step, as Julie Bishop said, was the implementation of changes.  According to experts and activists the changes need to ba made now and that the government should do more than just the 26-26% reduction it promised at the talks in Paris – with suggestions that Australia needs to become a carbon neutral economy sooner rather than later.

As always, just before Christmas, the government releases MYEFO – basically a budget update in which, at least for the last few years, we’ve been told the deficit is just a little bit worse. It was the same this year, as iron ore prices continue to drop and tax reform is yet to occur, meaning that other options have been considered. The government has announced that bulk billing incentives for pathology services will either be decreased or removed, causing issues for patients who need regular scans, blood tests or other services, causing concern among doctor’s groups, as well as patient and community groups.

Malcolm Turnbull spent the end of this week in Japan, meeting with academics and other tech experts to talk about innovation, Turnbull took a selfie with a robot.

He also met with Japanese PM Abe, and talked about the economy and also about issues with Southern Ocean Whaling, after Japan set off this year for the Southern Ocean after a year off.

Finally this week, it has been a year since the Sydney Siege and a memorial service was held in Martin Place, Ian Macfarlane has been stopped by LNP state executive from changing party rooms, and Australia is now doing freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea to keep an eye on China.

Have a Merry Christmas.

Tweet of the Week

Hilarity from the latest Chat 10, Looks 3 episode

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Annabel Crabb on the Paris Agreement – ABC The Drum

An AFR article on outgoing ABC Managing Director – AFR

2015 on ABC News 24

The Two Weeks that Were – November 29 to December 12

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I probably made the worst choice of weeks to put together, but this is what happens when you work at a by-election and help people move into apartments. Plus I missed a day of news so if I’ve missed anything that went on, that’s probably why.

Back at the end of November, Turnbull was in Malta for CHOGM, where he met the Queen, chatted about security and the economy with Commonwealth leaders before heading to Paris for the Climate Conference, where he made a speech about how Australia plans to decrease emissions by 26-28% by 2030. While in Paris, Turnbull, his wife Lucy and New Zealand PM John Key, laid flowers at the Bataclan Theatre. Since becoming Prime Minister, Turnbull has been placed in good positions in the photos of leaders at events, which shows that he’s not only making people in Australia happy, but world leaders and other important people respect him too.

With MYEFO due in the coming week, the Budget has become a focus again, with reports of a deficit continuing for some time thanks to the mining boom winding up and revenue issues. While the numbers aren’t clear yet, it does seem like the government is having trouble putting the country back into surplus. Meanwhile there are discussions again about how to change the GST, with states, especially Western Australia, wanting more money, and the concern that if they increase the rate of the GST the public and community groups would not be happy. There is also a suggestion of increasing the Medicare levy in order to pay for more healthcare, which was discussed at COAG, but no real decision was made.

Mal Brough is being hounded in Question Time, after the police came to interview him regarding Ashby-gate. It’s believed that back when Peter Slipper (remember him?) became Speaker and angered all of the Liberals, Brough asked Slipper’s staffer James Ashby to (possibly illegally) copy Slipper’s diary. Why he needed the diary is unclear, but now the police are interested so one can’t help but think it’s not good. Meanwhile, former Liberal minister Ian Macfarlane has defected to the Nationals, most likely in the hope that he can get back into cabinet, even though it’s not a given.

Malcolm Turnbull has introduced his big innovation plan, with tax breaks for investments in startups, money for research and more forgiving bankruptcy legislation. It’s Turnbull’s signature policy, with a $1 billion price tag and it appears that Turnbull has a long term plan for it. It has come with coverage showing some interesting projects that have fascinated the inhabitants of my house.

Liberal Trent Zimmerman won the seat of North Sydney, which was expected. However there has been a 13% swing. With the seat originally being a safe seat with a 15-16% margin while Joe Hockey was there, it appears that the seat is now somewhat marginal at 2-3%.

Finally this fortnight, the family court has a massive backlog of cases to get through because the government won’t replace retiring judges, Joe Hockey is off to Washington to replace Kim Beazley as Ambassador to the US, Tony Abbott’s been speaking about Islam, and Cardinal Pell has disappointed and angered victims of church sexual abuse by being to ill to appear at a Royal Commission hearing in Ballarat – with suggestions he’s not actually ill.

Tweet of the Fortnight

https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef/status/671452808520974336

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

The Simpsons and the LGBT community – SBS Online

Who follows who in Federal Parliament – SBS Online

Leigh Sales and Malcolm Turnbull banter on the ABC

 

The Week That Was – December 14 to December 20

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It hasn’t been the best week.

Sydney was rocked by a siege at the Lindt Chocolate Café, which left two hostages dead and the perpetrator dead as well. It’s understood the perpetrator, Man Haron Monis, was known to police. Tony Abbott was relatively decent for the first few days following the end of the siege, but as the week went on, he started to get a bit on the scaremongering side. The AFP are in strife after giving the Prime Minister’s Office incorrect information about whether or not Monis had a gun license – he didn’t. Abbott wants an investigation into why Monis was in Australia (he came requesting political asylum), why he had citizenship and why intelligence wasn’t watching him. He was also out on bail on charges of being an accessory before and after the murder of his ex-wife, which has led to some people deciding it is a good idea to threaten the magistrate that let Monis out on bail and the lawyers who have represented him in various court cases.

Meanwhile, there has been a growing mountain of flowers in Martin Place, near the Lindt Chocolate Café, and a positive has come out of the whole thing: a hashtag #illridewithyou, in which you say “on the xx bus or train, I will look out for people in religious clothing (Muslim women wearing headscarves in particular) in case racist idiots decide to torment them”.

Clive Palmer’s media guy has been arrested by Queensland Police. He’s alleged to have held a NAB banker against their will in Bali, using Palmer’s name to lure them. It’s understood Palmer has no idea of the plot, which also involves a former AFL player.

The Trade Union Royal Commission has returned its interim report. Julia Gillard has been cleared of wrongdoing, although she has been criticised for being naïve – she is demanding an apology. Several people have been referred to State DPPs and the CFMEU is under fire. Some parts of the 1800 page report have not been released in order to protect witnesses.

Craig Thompson’s Appeal has been somewhat succesful for him, with Thompson being acquitted of majority of the charges, and being fined $25,000 for those he was found guilty of. The judge agreed that Thompson did wrong but legal issues meant that she could only find him guilty of a few of them.

The Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) went ahead on Monday, during the siege, and it’s become apparent that the budget is worse. The deficit is now close to $40 billion and Joe Hockey has said that he “wasn’t conservative enough” when it came to the budget. The government will make more cuts to the public service and Hockey and Mathias Cormann have said that we may not have a surplus until 2020. This is mainly because Australia is not earning as much money as it was, due to the end of the resources boom, as well as a decline in corporate tax, because a decrease in sales.

Finally this week, the Prime Minister is reshuffling Cabinet after Arthur Sinodinos resigned, there are concerns that Medibank may tighten limits for chronically ill members no that it is a private company and has shareholders to please, and residents of Badgery’s Creek (where Sydney’s second airport will be based) are concerned about where they will live after they leave their homes, as the suburbs around them are more expensive than Badgery’s Creek and they are not getting much help from the state or federal governments.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve been Looking at Online

Two US pundits on C-SPAN, who are also brothers, get a call from their Mother – Slate.com

Annabel Crabb on the podcast Serial – Medium.com

Graeme Innes’ eulogy for Stella Young

Some Information on the Sydney Siege

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This is simply to keep people informed on the situation.

I originally posted this on Tumblr because I was concerned about people becoming misinformed.

Here’s what I know from the ABC and Twitter right now:

  • there is a hostage situation at the Lindt Cafe in Martin Place in Sydney’s CBD
  • A flag that proclaims one’s Islamic faith, often used by jihadists, has been shown in the window – IT IS NOT AN ISIS FLAG
  • Buildings in the area, some government, some corporate, are locked down or have been evacuated
  • Trains are not stopping at Martin Place Station, Buses are being stopped at the perimeter
  • Buses that normally travel over Sydney’s Harbour Bridge are stopping in North Sydney
  • The Opera House has been evacuated
  • Australia’s national security committee has met
  • A budget update announcement has been postponed until further notice
  • People are being evacuated from the Lindt Building – not the cafe, but the offices above it
  • Bystanders have been moved away from a section of Macquarie St between Hunter St and Hyde Park
  • A man has been arrested near the scene – HIS ARREST IS UNRELATED TO THE SITUATION
  • The situation has made the top of bulletins on CNN, BBC World, Al Jazeera English, and the front page of international news sites
  • The Prime Minister is due to make a statement to the media any time now (12:41pm)

Remember: This is an ongoing situation, it can change suddenly.

The Week That Was – December 7 to December 13

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Tony Abbott still wants his Paid Parental Leave (PPL) Scheme to go ahead, although he may have to lower the cap again, with money saved going to childcare, but won’t share too many details other than the fact that he would prefer “in-home care” – i.e. nannies – and there is disquiet among the Coalition to do with city vs. rural mothers and how much money they get. In case you were wondering, the Labor party’s PPL is paying every primary carer 18 weeks at minimum wage (source here).

The Government is using taxpayer money to pay for advertising to convince people of the benefits of their plan for higher education funding. The government says that it is an “information campaign focused on facts”, while Glenn Lazarus has called the ad campaign “expensive propaganda for dud reforms”. The thing is, the bulk of students (including me), whether at uni, or planning to go in the next few years, still have an issue with the legislation, and it isn’t the fact that the interest on HECS is going up.

The $7 co-payment is technically gone. However, they are cutting $5 from the rebate doctors get from Medicare, meaning that if doctors want to make that up, they are going to have to raise their prices. There is an exemption for children, pensioners, veterans and concession card holders, however there is concern about chronically ill patients or patients needing long-term or ongoing care who are adults, as they will not be reprieved, and it may also lead to clogged Emergency Departments. This policy is yet to be introduced to Parliament, so it may not even get through, but people are worried anyway. Bill Shorten also had some choice words that scared a few people.

This is not a back down by the Abbott Government, this is a GP Tax that Tony Abbott can’t bring through your front door so he is going to bring it through your back door.

Not a pleasant thought, but I guess that’s the point.

NAPLAN is in the news again as it turns out that parents are pulling their kids out of school on NAPLAN day at record rates, because students are pressured to do well, or schools tell parents to keep their kid away in order to make the school look better when the NAPLAN results come out. This leaves an incomplete picture about how students are doing at schools.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko is in Australia at the moment, meeting with Tony Abbott, who is apparently one of the most popular foreign heads of state in Ukraine. Abbott said that it was nice to be popular, even if it was in Ukraine, and that “shirt front” must have translated well into Ukrainian. Poroshenko wants more help from Australia to fight the separatists and also wants energy resources from Australia. Abbott has also been invited to come to Kiev on a visit, which could happen next year.

In the run-up to the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), it has been announced that up to 200 agencies could be axed, including a LGBTI working group and a Returned Servicemen group. The government needs to save $500 million dollars, and the fact that mining revenues are down, as is the petrol price, Australia is not getting as much revenue as it was.

Finally this week, Tony Abbott has suggested those in the Coalition who are complaining about Peta Credlin are sexist, which has led to people calling Abbott a hypocrite…

…Australia will contribute $200 million to the world Climate Fund, unemployment has risen to a 12 year high, making Joe Hockey’s life more difficult and Nick Xenophon has started his own party.

Tweets of the Week

https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef/status/542852661507137536

Things I’ve Been looking at Online

The 20 Reasons 2014 was the Year of Lee Lin Chin – BuzzFeed

Explaining to American why Australian shops banned GTA5 – Polygon.com

An academic paper by Maggie Simpson and Edna Krabappel got published – Vox.com

The Week That Was – October 5 to October 11

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The week began with Tony Abbott at the NRL Grand Final – where he got booed.

Australia has begun airstrikes in Iraq, which has also led to the question of how to pay for the ‘mission’ (the government still isn’t using the word ‘war’). The Defence Minister believes the mission won’t last too long, but it will take time, in the belief that if they under-promise, it will look like they’ve kept it. However, they still need to pay for it, and it looks like they might have to raise taxes – well it did, until Tony Abbott ruled it out. They could also cut foreign aid, but apparently Julie Bishop has been telling cabinet there is no way she is cutting the foreign aid budget further. The opposition has suggested that Tony Abbott’s Paid Parental Leave Scheme should be scrapped to save money, while Joe Hockey has suggested that if Labor supports the mission to Iraq, then they should also support the Coalition’s Budget measures.

Staying with the Budget, it is getting closer to the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) due in December/January and the Coalition still hasn’t got many of their big ticket items through Parliament, which is important as they play into other budget cuts and spending. There are 16 sitting days left for the House of Representatives and 12 days left for the Senate, which doesn’t give the government long to get things through an unpredictable Senate, as Clive Palmer changes his mind at will. Also, the six month waiting period for welfare could be dropped after the government backflipped on the 40 job applications requirement in order to receive the dole. The PM says it isn’t a backflip, but a ‘response’ to consultation with businesses and community.

The Council Of Australian Governments (COAG) is meeting this weekend, with higher security than normal because of the increased terror alert. It was a “constructive and productive” meeting (the Premiers’ words not mine). They’ve agreed to look into changing the way federal money gets given to the states, and they will also be setting up a federal agency to help guide families through the surrogacy process, but just advice.

Which leads us to the latest surrogacy scandal, this time in India. An Australian couple, whose surrogate gave birth to twins, abandoned one of the babies in India, with accusations of money changing hands. There are concerns that senior Australian government officials tried to speed up the process, and now the PM’s Office, the Attorney-General’s Office and DFAT are looking into the allegations. The reason so many people go to Asia for surrogacy is because surrogacy is illegal in Australia. Bill Shorten is of the opinion that there should be one national law to regulate surrogacy, but Tony Abbott says there will be no changes to the legislation.

The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority is in trouble after losing people to redundancies and resignations. Morale is down in the agency apparently, especially after the decision to dump coal in the reef. Both stakeholders and the agency itself are concerned about the reef’s health.

A nurse from Cairns has been in hospital being tested for Ebola after going to hospital with a fever. The nurse, who travelled with the International Red Cross, has spent a month in Sierra Leone helping with the outbreak. She returned and quarantined herself in her apartment, only leaving to go to the hospital when she developed a fever. The local MP, Bob Katter, asked why she was in the community, and has demanded mandatory quarantine for anyone returning from the Ebola zone. As of Saturday the nurse is improving, and her tests thus far have been negative. Australia is sending financial aid to help fight Ebola, but won’t send actual medical staff until they have an evacuation plan in place. Meanwhile, an isolation pod to put potential Ebola victims in has arrived in Brisbane for use on the East Coast.

Finally this week, Brisbane practiced for G20 transporting a “delegate” around the city with all of the security staff (probably also practicing for a Chaser-like prank), the government will begin to flag “hate groups”, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics is having problem with job numbers, which is being blamed on budget cuts.

Tweet of the Week

https://twitter.com/xinwenxiaojie/status/520383886748966912

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Annabel Crabb and Leigh Sales talk cakes, politics and Annabel’s book – The Saturday Paper

Emma Alberici vs. Wassim Doureihi on Lateline – ABC Online

Where in the World is Kim Jong-Un?