This week saw Malcolm Turnbull overseas in New York City to take part in the United Nations General Assembly. Turnbull visited the 9/11 Memorial, met with wold leaders to talk about asylum seekers at an invite-only migration summit run by Obama, and also met with US Defence Secretary Ash Carter to talk defence as well as US Congress members to convince them to pass the TPP.
While at the migration summit, Australia committed to an increase of $130 million to refugee programs in Australia, and will permanently increase the refugee intake to just under 19,000 after 2018. We will also take some Central American refugees, a decision which has confounded many. There are also questions as to whether Australia’s pledge was exactly what Obama was wanting.
The government is planning some major welfare reform. They’re thinking of going down the same route as New Zealand, with the aim of reducing the overall lifetime cost of welfare payments to people. There are concerns that some could be left behind, and it’s also a very confusing system to wrap one’s head around.
Meanwhile, parents and teachers are angry over proposed changes to the Gonski funding model. The plan, according to Education Minister Simon Birmingham, is to redo the entire education funding model, and it is believed that there will be cuts to some public education, while there are increases to private schools.
Finally this week, Australia was involved in a botched airstrike on Syrian forces; the government settled with the ship that ran aground on Douglas Shoal a few years ago; Nigel Scullion is meeting with Indigenous groups in order to repair the relationship between the government and the Indigenous community; and the National Gallery of Australia is returning two Indian artefacts that were believed to be stolen.
Tweets of the Week
https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef/status/779466847875760128
Things I’ve Been Looking at Online
Michael Fletcher on the NZ welfare model – The Conversation
Annabel Crabb on Pauline Hanson – The Age
Kara L 