I worked all last weekend, so you get a rather busy two weeks to contend with.
The same-sex marriage postal survey is plodding along, as are the “yes” and “no” campaigns. The no campaign tried to sky write ‘vote no’ over Sydney on one of the windiest days we’ve had, and the yes campaign upset the no campaign by sending text messages. This led the yes campaign to point out that the no people got the survey/vote they wanted and now they had to contend with the yes people actively campaigning for their dignity.
Meanwhile, American rapper Macklemore (apparently pronounced “Mack-Le-More” and not “Mackel-more”) upset the “no” campaign’s apple cart by announcing that he would be singing Same Love as one of the five songs on his NRL Grand Final set list. Tony Abbott wants the song to be banned because “politics has no place in sport” – despite the fact every Prime Minister in my lifetime has gone to an AFL and/or NRL grand final. George Brandis had the best response to Abbott’s comments by saying that he thought Abbott liked free speech. Macklemore has said he will donate the Australian proceeds of sales of Same Love to the Yes Campaign.
Speaking of Tony Abbott – he got head-butted in Hobart earlier in the fortnight by a DJ wearing a “yes” badge. As it turned out the DJ, called Astro Labe (because why not?) didn’t head butt the former PM because of the same-sex marriage debate, but because he felt like it. He basically did what a large number of people in this country have at least once considered doing. I don’t condone head butting former Prime Ministers, but t was a tad amusing, and I’m sure for some people vicariously cathartic.
It looks as if there is another push to teach phonics to primary school children as a way to teach them to read – which most teachers suggest is all well and good, except when the government suggests national benchmark tests in Year One to go along with it. The teaching union is concerned that this leads to teaching to a test rather than just teaching them. While some schools do already do phonics testing and teaching, the government has since said it’s the responsibility for the states, which is one of the reasons being in a Federation is annoying – because it gets confusing as to who is responsible for what.
The government’s most favourite subject for the last three or four weeks – energy – has remained so, with the government still trying to get AGL to keep the Liddell plant going, and tring to keep more local LNG in the country to avoid a shortfall. AGL took the media around the ageing Liddell plant in what had to be the weirdest show off tour ever, showing the public what was broken and wasn’t working. Malcolm Turnbull wants to prevent a gas shortfall that is expected in 2018. He met with and attempted to encourage the gas comapnies to sell their gas in Australia first before exporting it overseas – which is what they currently do with most of Australian LNG.
The government has also announced we’ll be getting a space agency – only they don’t really know where it’ll be based or how much it will cost, so basically all that practical stuff.
A group of refugees who were going through “extreme vetting” have been accepted to be settled in the United States. Whether or not they’ve gone yet is unclear to me – but Australia is hoping that an addition 1200 will be accepted to settle in the USA in the coming months.
The NDIS is in the news again after a Cate Blanchett-voiced artificial intelligence computer program was shelved. The idea was that this AI program, called Nadia, would help people on the NDIS get information as more and more people move to the scheme. However, concerns with security – especially after the Census and other government computer-y problems, they want to wait to make sure it won’t break or something. Meanwhile, NSW has stopped the subsidy scheme for specialised smoke alarms for deaf people in preparation for the NDIS – only problem being that not everyone in NSW is on the NDIS yet and if they need a smoke alarm between now and when they do they’ll be out of pocket by a large amount of money without the subsidy scheme. There are concerns that other states will follow suit, leaving deaf people with no smoke alarms.
The High Court has ruled that Malcolm Roberts was a dual citizen at the time of his nomination and election to parliament, meaning it is quite likely he could lose his job under section 44 of the constitution. He’s also been declared a bit of an idiot in my house after he claimed he had no clue he was a British citizen, despite the fact an Australian citizenship form he filled in clearly stated that he was a few years ago. Centrelink is also in the news after it was revealed that several indigenous communities where welfare recipients work for the dole have to spend hours on the phone to avoid fines for not showing up to their required work for the dole activities if they have a good reason – e.g. going to a funeral or a medical appointment.
Also this week, it’s been revealed that a company lobbying the government is run by a member of the Nationals, who is also in the party leadership. He’s not on the registered lobbyist list and may not even be involved in the lobbying, but Griffith MP Terri Butler is concerned.
Finally during this fortnight, New Zealand went to the polls, and while Jacinda Ardern and the Labour Party didn’t win, there has been a swing to the Labour in NZ, suggesting ‘Jacinda-mania’ may have been moderately strong; Marise Payne and Malcolm Turnbull dedicated a new HMAS Hobart; big banks are scrapping their ATM fees; and unions are appealing the Fair Work Commission’s penalty rates ruling from earlier in the year.
Tweets of the Fortnight
Lee Lin Chin – need I say more?
TV News professionalism at its prime….
Things I’ve Been Looking at Online
Mark Riley on the church and ‘straw-man arguments’ – The West Australian
The Red Rooster Line – Honi Soit
The “ghost” candidate in the North Sydney Council Election – SMH
Male primary school teachers to be extinct – ABC News
Kara L 
