Tag Archives: Newman

The Week That Was – January 18 to January 24

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The unrest at the detention centre on Manus Island has ended albeit with a lot of silence from the government, and conflicting accounts over whether or not violence was used to end it once the health and safety staff cam. The asylum seekers in the detention centre were blockading the entry to one of the compounds to the point where water had to be left outside the gate.

Several passports have been canceled in the hope that those at risk of heading to the Middle East will not be able to go, however communities have been saying that it doesn’t stop radicalisation. They suggest that a cosmetic approach is not enough and that rehabilitation is better than prosecution – to the point where people are setting up counselling and community groups to help people, with one group being funded by an organisation based in Dubai.

It’s believed that the Prime Minister pushed for the change to the Medicare rebate against the advice of both the Treasurer and the Health Minister. It’s also been suggested that once it became obvious that the Senate would throw the policy out when they returned to Canberra (and the public was not going to support it) he abandoned it, and left the new Health Minister Sussan Ley to clean up the mess. While the $20 cut is gone, the $5 rebate cut to doctors is still there, and it’s though that most doctors will pass that change onto patients.

To add to the drama, there are rumblings on the backbench, as people begin to question Abbott’s judgement. There are suggestions that Abbott is a liability, with rumours that people are seeing who might have the numbers to take Abbott on.

The government has cut $271 million from the Social Services budget, leaving community organisations to apply for tenders so that a select few can get funding. Only 700 groups have been shortlisted, and by the end of the tender process 4000 groups will have lost funding, including a suburban Sydney community aid group and a teenage mother support group.

Cross bench senators are making clear that they still do not support the plans to deregulate university fees. Christopher Pyne is indicating that he may compromise further on the policy, but many cross benchers are still saying that any changes to university funding will not be supported at all.

Australia is trying to save the lives of two men on death row in Indonesia after both their pleas for clemency were denied by the Indonesian government. It’s thought that if the executions do go ahead, they will be carried out in the next few weeks. It’s not looking good for them, as Indonesia executed five foreigners for drug trafficking offences last week, including a Dutch citizen and a Brazilian citizen.

Back at the 2010 election, Tony Abbott said that Work Choices was “dead, buried and cremated”. It appear however that some form of Work Choices may be returning after the Productivity Commission said that changes to penalty rates could be on the table. This has made several industries, like the hospitality industry quite pleased as they won’t have to pay workers so much, while workers, particularly those who work for emergency services and in hospitality are not pleased, as part of the reason they put up with being rostered on weekends and public holidays is because they are paid more money.

Finally this week, David Hicks could have his conviction overturned, Campbell Newman has said that the Queensland Labour Party is being funded by bikies, and has also told voters that if they don’t vote for the LNP candidate in their seat they will not get what was promised by the party for the electorate.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

First Dog on the Moon on Australia Day Honours – The Guardian

Emma Watson should run for US president in 2016 – Buzzfeed

The Week that Was – January 11 to January 17

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The Queensland Election is forcing some to start paying attention to politics again, and even those not living in Queensland are hearing about it. In the 2012 Queensland Election, the LNP won in a landslide that left only seven ALP MPs in the House of Representatives, since the there have been by-elections that have pushed that number to nine Labor MPs. This election is being watched closely because while the incumbents are disliked, the Opposition has a lot of ground to make if they are going to win the election, not to mention the fact that should the incumbent government remain in power, their leader, Campbell Newman may lose his seat.

Warren Truss has been in Queensland on the campaign trail for the LNP, as has Bill Shorten for Labor. Shorten has pointed out that the LNP can only get truss and not Abbott. The official excuse for Tony Abbott not being on the campaign trail has been that he is on leave, although some have pointed out that Abbott never showed his face in the Victorian State Election at the end of last year, and suggest that people are trying to keep him out of the way so he can’t mess anything up.

Julie Bishop is condemning Boko Haram’s use of girls as young as ten in suicide bombing missions. The East African terrorist cell has been attacking villages and towns in Nigeria for months, but most recently killed 2000+ people in a village, mostly women and children, and used a ten year-old girl in the suicide bombing of a market, as well as several other young girls on other occasions.

Now for another round of Government Policy Gymnastics. Earlier this week it was announced that the rebate cut of $20 for short (10 minutes or less) consultations that Peter Dutton – former health minister, now immigration and border protection minister – decided to make were to begin on January 19. It was made clear that both Labor and a majority of the Senate’s crossbenchers would support a disallowance motion that would effectively stop it. However, the new Health Minister, Sussan Ley, had announced that it won’t come into effect, and that while she supports a co-payment or change to the medicare rebate to those who can afford it, she wants to consult people before she makes a change.

Several asylum seekers are on hunger strike, some have sewn their lips together and some have recently attempted suicide. The government has said that actions like these will speed up the refugees’ applications, although I am inclined to think that these actions are more to do with the mental health of asylum seekers than their wish to move up the list and be allowed to move to Australia.

Finally this week, Australia has been appealing to Indonesia to spare the lives of two Australian men on death row for drug trafficking, the USA is thanking Australia for its help with the fight against ISIS, and a security expert is suggesting that one way to deal with people returning from Syria or Iraq, who are suspected to have fought, should be made to wear GPS trackers to surveil them.

Tweet of the Week

Shorten was talking about Medicare the other day and decided to quote a famous Australian movie.

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

First Dog on the Moon’s Love Letter to Medicare – The Guardian

Yes they Can: Women of Wit are Winning – SMH

Is YouTube a “Real Job”?

The Two Weeks That Were – December 28 to January 10

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Happy New Year. As the government slowly heads back to work after the holidays, Penny Wong has suggested that Tony Abbott’s New Years Resolution should be to stop breaking promises, while Abbott has told senate cross benchers to stop being selfish and think about the big picture, and Nick Xenophon thinks that Abbott is still acting like an opposition leader as opposed to a PM.

After the Air Asia crash just before New Year, Australia began to help in the search for the plane, as has the USA, Russia and other countries Indonesia has asked. It’s believed that some Australian searchers found some bits of wreckage, and Tony Abbott, ever the philosopher, said it was neither a mystery like MH370, nor was it an atrocity like MH17 (Air Asia is a Malaysian budget/low-cost carrier).

In some slightly good news for Peter Greste, judges have overturned his and his colleagues convictions, but they will have to be retried. The Al Jazeera journalists were not given bail, however two have applied to be deported – Greste and his colleague with Canadian citizenship – the other is Egyptian and has no other citizenship. It’s unclear if that will happen, and both Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and the Greste family are not getting too hopeful. Qatar and Egypt have apparently improved their relationship slightly, which will help in the case as Al Jazeera is based in Qatar and run by a member of the Qatari Royal Family.

Meanwhile, more has come to light in the saga involving one of Clive Palmer’s staffers. It’s alleged that he helped with a plan to lure a NAB executive to Bali in order to hold the executive against his will and force him to retract a witness statement he was going to make in court. It turns out the executive reported it to NAB and the Queensland Police Fraud Squad, and nothing was done. It wasn’t until 2014, when Taskforce Maxima – an anti-bikie taskforce – came across the case while looking into other matters and they arrested Palmer’s staffer and some of the other people involved, while also reporting the dodgy fraud squad investigation to Queensland’s corruption watch dog.

Ton Abbott went to Iraq just after New Years to meet with the Iraqi Prime Minister and Australian troops and talk about the fight against ISIS. He talked about decimating the ISIS “death cult” and how everyone wants the ADF to be out there fighting against ISIS. Reports are that the Iraqi PM wants Australia to send more troops and equipment to help, which Labor has said it would like information about before they vote for it. Abbott also went to see air force staff based in the UAE, who have been helping with airstrikes on ISIS strongholds.

Cabinet Papers from 1988 and 1989 have been released showing Australia’s concern about the Cold War, including the bugging of the Australian Embassy in Moscow, the aftermath of the Tiananmen Incident, and the expulsion of spies. There were also concerns about the introduction of HECS – the current tertiary funding model – and cabinet papers also show the tension already brewing between Hawke and Keating.

This last fortnight also saw the attack on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo (said “ebb-dough” – short for hebdomadaire, meaning weekly in French) in Paris, two men shot journalists and cartoonists, as well as the shooting of a Paris Police Officer and the hostage taking at a Kosher supermarket. The French terror threat level is at its highest level, while Australia’s remains at its second highest, with Tony Abbott drawing links between the Paris attacks and the Lindt Siege, and since Wednesday, has started to scaremonger again, and is also saying that Australia’s safety starts in the Middle East.

Finally this fortnight, Queensland is having an election on January 31, and it is unclear how that will end; Tony Abbott, Bill Shorten, Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and Queensland Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk were at a funeral in Cairns for eight children killed by a family member; and an ISIS propaganda magazine has hailed Man Haron Monis’ attack on the Lindt Cafe, encouraging copycats, and there are reports that another Australian fighting with ISIS in the Middle-East has been killed.

Tweets of the Fortnight

As the Queensland election campaign begins, strange things begin to happen.

After the attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo, people are getting behind the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie

https://twitter.com/ABCNews24/status/553654405036122112

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

First Dog on the Moon’s poignant cartoon about Charlie Hebdo – The Guardian

26 Things about JB Hi Fi – Buzzfeed

2014 in Interactive news stories – ABC Online

Not One More: Leelah Alcorn and how trans* teens in deeply religious families suffer – Huffington Post

The Week That Was – May 18 to May 24

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Well, this week saw further dissent on the budget with protests across the country…and it wasn’t just the young angry ones

The Premiers and Chief Ministers of states and territories had an emergency meeting – called by Campbell Newman – to discuss the budget changes and they will not be taking them lying down – although the WA Premier, Colin Barnett, didn’t show up. They were asked if they were going to ask for a raise in the GST, which to some might seem like a good idea, but Newman said that they were not going to. I can see why though. The Federal Government hasn’t raised the GST in years, and by cutting state funding, the states will then ask for a raise in the GST….making the State governments look bad, and not the federal government. The states will not accept the budget or the budget cuts, and said that Tony Abbott is wrong about when the effects of the Budget will begin to show.

Tony Abbott said the voters were ‘on notice’ about the budget and that the Coalition was upfront, but funnily enough, most people don’t see it that way – including some government backbenchers. The government needs to sell the budget to not only the people of Australia, but independents and small parties in both houses, especially in the Senate, where the Greens and the Palmer United Party hold the balance of power – and Clive Palmer actually seems to be genuinely concerned about the budget, and how it affects the average Australian.

In fact, this budget is the most unpopular in 20 years, and Abbott, as well as the Coalition, have taken a huge hit in the polls. Abbott says the budget was meant to get the country’s finances back on track, not for popularity, and that if the country is borrowing money to pay off other borrowed money, were kind of stuffed – how that was relevant, I have no idea, but it was said. Tony Abbott says that the polls are the least of the governments worries right now, and that the Labor party are being “fiscal vandals”.

Although, if you’re a university student you probably think the “fiscal vandals” are the government. Again this week there were student protests in Sydney, both on Wednesday at an organised protest in the city, and on Thursday outside a debating contest being held at St John’s College, where several key Liberal figures were moderating or attending. Not only that, but when Universities Australia asked the government to reconsider the timeframe for implementing funding changes to universities, Pyne refused. He doesn’t think students will be burdened by costs, and moreover, it appears that there is now confusion over who pays what when the changes get through.

However, the responses from Abbott and Pyne were unfair and unjust. To suggest that these university students “were looking for a rumble” or “wanted to get a riot on national TV” is rude and unfair. They were not looking for a riot or a rumble, but looking to get their voices heard, and given that the government is not listening, but making snide remarks, they are going to continue protesting until they are heard, no matter how long it takes.

Ok, I’ll stop being opinionated now – sorry.

Anyway, doctors are now more concerned about the $7 co-payment. It turns out that people are already avoiding seeing the doctor because they think the co-payment is already in force, to the point where surgeries have been sending texts to their clients reminding them that is not the case – and hey, $5 of the co-payment goes to the government, and only $2 to the GP. Not only that but statistics show that a lot of women in violent and abusive relationships often tell their GPs what is going on before telling anyone else, and there are cuts to Legal Aid and housing/shelters – two other important things that help women in abusive relationships. However, it appears that some doctors are considering waiving the co-payment for these women so that they can get help.

Also this week, Australia moved closer to sending asylum seekers to Cambodia. It seems that the only things left to be done are to finish negotiations and sign the piece of paper.

And now to this week’s gaffe:

Yep, he winked – and it made international headlines.

Oh and he used an interesting analogy to explain the budget crisis too.

Finally, I thought I’d let you know that this is the 100th post on Kara L. Thanks for reading and following.

Tweet of the Week

Oh, the weather has been lovely in Sydney this week…

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

How #winkgate was covered around the world – ABC Online

The less important, yet interesting, #whitehousegate – New Matilda

A collection of collated social media reactions to the budget – Buzzfeed

The March in May protests on the budget…witty signs galore – Buzzfeed

 

The Week That Was – April 27 to May 3

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This week seemed to be all about the Budget and the Commission of Audit, which meant quite a bit of information, so if I miss something, I apologise.

So, the Commission of Audit (in 1000 pages) has made 80 recommendations, some of which are:

  • Having people pay more for medication and seeing a GP and charging people for going to Emergency
  • Getting more “well off” people to buy private health insurance
  • A reduction in the minimum wage, if not getting rid of it
  • A reduction in family tax benefits – cutting Family Tax Benefits A and B and replacing it with one benefit
  • Forced relocation for young people on the unemployment benefits if they can’t find a job after 12 months
  • Abbott’s Paid Parental Leave max payment should be $29,000 (half of what the Government is suggesting) and funnel what money is saved from that into childcare
  • Higher retirement age (up to 70 by 2053) and making means testing tougher for those on the aged pension

If you have 10 minutes to spare, this ABC 7:30 story summarises the key points and has visuals as well.

I can understand that in the future, Australia is going to be spending a lot of money, as things get more expensive as we go along. So yes, being cautious when it comes to spending does have its benefits. However, while I may not study business, finance or economics, I do know that getting on the wrong side of the people means you get kicked out of government, and if the Coalition want to stay there, they need to be very careful when it comes to deciding what to cut or change in the budget. Especially these days when news programs can easily retrieve footage from the election campaign where you are saying “No new taxes,”.

It is also an issue when economists and business leaders pop up on the news and start telling people that Australia is not having an economic or budgetary crisis right now, despite what the government is saying. They do suggest that putting some preventative measures in place will be beneficial so there is not a crisis in the future. But when the people with degrees directly related to economics, finance and business say things like that, then one should be a little concerned about the governments motives.

We also saw Tony Abbott cancel – at the 11th hour –  a diplomatic trip to Bali this week. The government’s official line is that Abbott is doing Budget related things, despite the fact he hasn’t appeared on the news in days, other than for a COAG photo-op. The ABC suggests it has something to do with “on-water operations” to do with Operation Sovereign Borders – essentially, the navy is most likely in the process of intercepting and turning a boat around and they don’t want to embarrass the Indonesian President. The real reason is still unclear, though, and the Opposition has been asking the government to “please explain,”.

Also this week, the decision was made to call off the aerial search for MH370 – it doesn’t mean they are stopping altogether, just that there is now almost no chance of seeing any wreckage from the air, so they may as well spend the money on the undersea search. It may take a long time to find the plane though, and the underwater search is going to be expensive.

The Palmer United Party has spread to the Northern Territory, where three former Country Liberal backbenchers have joined the party. There does seem to be some concern within the two major parties though, with Queensland Premier Campbell Newman suggesting that Clive Palmer may have paid them or in some way sweetened the deal for them, which Palmer denies.

And finally, Ian Ross, a newsreader and journalist for both Channel 7 and Channel 9 over a 50-year career, passed away this week after battling with pancreatic cancer.

Tweet of the Week

The Independent Commission Against Corruption in NSW has meant that several NSW State Ministers have had to quit.

https://twitter.com/JezNews/status/461364753927921665

Things I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

How Important is a Promise in Politics? – ABC Radio National

Tony Abbott cancelling his Indonesia trip has made the news in Hong Kong – South China Morning Post

A browser plugin that switches Tony Abbott’s image for those of cute cats seems to have caused a stir in the PM’s office – SMH

 

The Two Weeks that Were – October 27 to November 9

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So, in the last two weeks things have been interesting. Senate ballot papers went missing and we were accused of spying on Indonesia.

Yes, you read correctly. The AEC lost about 1,300 senate ballot papers in WA. They still counted – the Greens and the Sports Party won – but everyone is pretty sure that there will be a High Court challenge from someone, even the AEC itself.

Tasmanian Palmer United Party Senator-Elect Jacqui Lambie wants the Green looked into. She says they are destroying Tasmania’s brand. Ms Lambie wants a Senate inquiry into the Greens.She also thinks that Queensland Premier Campbell Newman’s crackdown on bikies in the Sunshine State will mean that bikies will come south to Tasmania.

Continuing on, Australia has been accused of spying on Indonesia from the Embassy in Jakarta. I’m not sure if it’s true but the Indonesian Government is definitely not amused. Neither were the Germans when they found out that the US has been spying on Angela Merkel. It hasn’t done much good for the relationship between Australia and Indonesia.

Things got a little more strained when asylum seeker boat got into trouble. The boat was in international waters, but in Indonesia’s search and rescue zone. An Australian ship rescued the asylum seekers and then there were two days of discussions over who would take them, after which Australia backed down and took the asylum seekers to Christmas Island.

Quote of the Fortnight

“Now it’s tourists I want coming across that Bass Strait, not outlaw criminal motorcycle gangs.” – Palmer United Party Senator-Elect Jacqui Lambie on bikies coming to Tasmania thanks to Campbell Newman.

Tweet of the Fortnight

Scott Morrison and the Army guy were refusing to answer questions on the boat that we ended up taking:

What I’ve Been Reading

An interesting article about who owns the lolly companies – from TIME Ideas

The Ten Times ABC News Breakfast got Weird – ABC Online

 

The Debate, NoteGate, The Suppository and Sex Appeal

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Well, It’s been an entertaining few days.

Sunday saw the debate, and while Tony Abbott ran the City2Surf in Sydney, Kevin Rudd went to church with his family. Mr Abbott had a press conference with Malcolm Turnbull at Bondi Beach. The debate ensued. You can find my account of it here.

Kevin Rudd had a bit of a problem when two candidates pulled out of the running for their seats. The one in Queensland was dumped for some unknown reason, and the one in Victoria pulled out after being rude to or about a disabled person a few years ago.

Tony Abbott still hasn’t talked about his budget plans or costings, which does put the Liberals in a tough position, and to be frank, I just wanted answers – and that was what the four random Queenslanders that the ABC talked to after the debate were annoyed about – there weren’t any. The only thing of note was Kevin Rudd’s pledge of a same-sex marriage bill within 100 days of his term if elected.

Of course, on Monday, came the controversy of all possible controversies – NoteGate. Kevin Rudd had notes! Why on earth would someone making a speech or taking part in a debate have notes or facts? Apparently they were only allowed to use the notepad given to them by the National Press Club, but if Kevin and/or Tony had a page or two of notes, I wouldn’t kick up a fuss. In fact, I’d be glad that they were prepared.

The amusement came from Tony Abbott saying:

“No one, however smart, however well-educated, however experienced … is the suppository of all wisdom”

Technically, that’s true, given that a suppository is a drug administered through the rectum. Not a nice image, is it? The general assumption is that he was meant to say “repository” – which is a storage vessel. Oops.

Also, there’s been some asylum seekers who nearly got through the Torres Strait – and Campbell Newman, at least according to the Labor Party, tried to scare people about it – and to be honest, if that’s the case, he’s not being a nice guy.

Then there was the NBN Debate on Lateline. Neither Malcolm Turnbull nor Anthony Albanese did very well at all. There are two very different broadband plans and I didn’t understand a word. The stellar performance came from Emma Alberici – the anchor of Lateline – and she earned herself a stiff drink.

Tuesday just got weird. The Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook (PEFO) was released and the Labor Party called for the Liberals to release their budget costings. Apparently the Treasury used the word “uncertainty” thirty times. Wow.

Then Tony Abbott was asked about how his female candidate for Lindsay compared to the candidate (who as also female) beck in 2010. He said that they both had sex appeal.

Oh well, we still have three and a half weeks of this to go!