Tag Archives: Palmer

Ballot Draws, Preferences and #Watergate

Posted on by

The week began with Easter Sunday – one of the agreed “days off” this elections campaign, although the media did follow both Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten to their Easter Services. Morrison and his family worshipped at his local church – Horizon Church in Sutherland – while Shorten and his wife Chloe attended his parents in-law’s church St Andrews in Indooroopilly in Brisbane.

The week also saw a pause in campaigning on ANZAC day, and only two retiring parliamentarians attended overseas dawn services – Liberal MP Christopher Pyne and Labor MP Michael Danby attended the dawn service in Villers-Bretonneux to represent the government and the opposition. This has meant that we haven’t seen a great deal of policy promises this week. The Liberals have promised more help for drought-affected farmers. And Labor has continued to talk mostly on their health policy.

The AEC ballot draw took place…and the results are interesting. On the Victorian Senate ballot paper, you’ll see the Liberals in the first column, and Labor in the 24th (and last) column. In Queensland, One Nation and the United Australia Party have ended up first and third on the ballot paper.

With these ballot positions clear, the preference deals between parties are starting to take shape. The Liberal Party has done a deal with Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party that seems to be in part, a way to sure up the Liberal party in the hope they might retain government, but could also give Palmer a decent chance at getting a seat in the Senate. Palmer has said that he also spoke with Labor – however Shorten said that if he were to agree to a preference deal with Clive Palmer, it would be on the condition that Palmer finish paying off his Queensland Nickel employees who are still owed entitlements.

Anti-Adani Mine protesters have a convoy travelling around Queensland at the moment, raising awareness about what they see as the detrimental impacts of the potential mine. Towards the end of the week they ended up in “coal country” where they were met with quite a bit of resistance from pro-mining locals and some of the unions. However, they’re unfazed and will spend a few days in the area holding rallies before moving on.

There are questions over the WeChat accounts of Scott Morrison, Bill Shorten and several other senior MPs. WeChat – the Chinese version of WhatsApp or Messenger – is being used to engage with voters in the Chinese community, but there are questions over who owns or has started these accounts on the Chinese mainland. Not only that, but WeChat users have to follow Chinese censorship rules, which has led some to question if Bill Shorten and Scott Morrison who have both done Q&A sessions on their accounts have censored themselves. Scott Morrison refused to answer, while Shorten said that the translators were the ones who chose the questions.

The saga that has been dubbed #Watergate by the Australian media has continued into this week. On Barnaby Joyce’s authority, the government bought back $80 million worth of water – that experts believe doesn’t actually exist – from a company registered in the Cayman Islands. The company formerly employed Energy Minister Angus Taylor – and while Taylor says that neither he nor his family have any links to the company at the time of the buy back, it doesn’t exactly pass the “pub test”. Barnaby Joyce was interviewed on the ABC by Patricia Karvelas, but it did not go well.

Finally this week, controversy has followed Fraser Anning into the election campaign, with one of his supporters allegedly assaulting a news photographer during Anning’s candidate announcement at Cronulla Beach.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Mark Humphries’ take on the #watergate issue – ABC

Michael Rowland on the rise of vitriol as the election campaign continues – ABC

What we can learn from fashion on the campaign trail – SMH

 

The Week That Was – May 1 to May 7

Posted on by

It was the week of the Budget, which is always interesting – and also results in information overload.

In this year’s Budget, Scott Morrisson’s first, a lot of stuff was announced. They key ones are: $1 billion set aside for schooling, there’ll be a small tax cut for small to medium size businesses, $5 billion for public transport, a change to the tax brackets to help solve issues with bracket creep and inflation and the tobacco excise will increase. There’s some others and you can get a better picture on the ABC’s website – where they have an entire section dedicated to it.

Negative gearing is not on the table in this budget, but it remains a key plan of Labor’s, as does the excise. Labor is currently trying to get answers out of the Liberals over their ten year tax plan that they have forecasted ahead only four years. An answer will be unlikely, given the election is due to be called over the weekend.

A female refugee has become the second person to self-immolate on Manus Island, and has been sent to Brisbane for treatment. The Sudanese woman is as of Saturday night, still alive but there is no word on her progress. Meanwhile Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has been accusing social workers and other people working on Manus and at other detention centres are encouraging people to self harm. This is a dangerous allegation for him to make. First, it’s unlikely to be true that people working in social work and psychology in detention centres are encouraging people to self harm, and second, if it is true, then he should have evidence to back it up – and we have none other than his word.

Lastly, on Friday afternoon, the government announced a new deal with Singapore, in which the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the tiny island nation was updated, visa restrictions were relaxed, tourism and university links will be created and nearly 14,000 Singaporean troops will be trained in Australia, mainly because we have the space. It makes Singapore the closest ally Australia has in Asia, mainly to counter China, although no one is saying that out loud in politics land.

Finally this week, Clive Palmer has announced he will not re-contest his seat of Fairfax at the next election; an Australian fighter in the Middle East, believed to be a key planner of several plots in Australia, has been killed by a US airstrike; and Stan Grant has been talking about constitutional recognition of Indigenous people.

Tweet of the Week

The election hasn’t even been called yet (as of Saturday) and the the stunts have begun.

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Lenore Taylor on this whole “class war” thing – The Guardian

Annabel Crabb on policies and Labor’s budget reply – ABC The Drum

And because it’s cool, Nobel Laureates in North Korea – from the BBC

The Week That Was – April 10 to April 16

Posted on by

This week started off calm, and then Malcolm Turnbull went to China and an important preselection battle took place

The start of the week involved the Liberals supporting owner-driver truck operators and small trucking businesses over the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal’s (RSRT) future. The tribunal, set up under the Gillard government essentially keeps truck drivers’ payments at a level that would allow them to work safely and not cut corners in trying to make money. It is argued that the smaller operators could be priced out of the market, giving a monopoly to the larger operators. The Coalition wants to got rid of the RSRT, while Labor has agreed to put off the next pay rise the RSRT has recommended for a few months. However, the legislation for the removal of the RSRT and the legislation for the reincarnation of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) will both be brought before the Parliament when they return on the 18th of April after being recalled by the Governor-General.

Meanwhile, Labor has decided to announce that if they win the next election they will hold a Royal Commission into the banking industry after the scandals of the last few months. The Liberals have called the announcement “distracting” and unnecessary, given the existence of ASIC, but given their budget cuts, it’s thought a Royal Commission might be able to investigate more thoroughly and independently.

As what seems to be the longest unofficial election campaign known to man continues, snippets of the budget are being announced. There will be rises in tax – or “revenue measures” if you want to get all Scott Morrison on semantics – but it seems to be mainly in taxes that don’t directly affect the voting public. The announcement came after the people at Moody’s suggested Australia could loose its prized high credit rating if it only focused on cutting government spending, leaving Labor a chance to dig in and talk about fiscal responsibility.

The election drama continued on Saturday when the one hundred or so people who can vote in preselection battles in the electorate of Mackellar spent five hours in Dee Why RSL before finalising who would become the candidate. The three way contest, involving incumbent Bronwyn Bishop, the Abbott-supported Walter Villatora, and another candidate, Jason Falinski, resulted in the branch members choosing the more moderate Falinski. It suggests that the Liberal Party members of Mackellar are ready for someone fresh, moderate and different, with no apparent links to the former PM.

Malcolm Turnbull spent a few days in China, as part of the now annual “Australia Week” trade missions, in which businesses and politicians travel to Shanghai and Beijing to sell Australian goods, services and tourism to the growing middle class. Turnbull announced that a game in the 2017 AFL season would be played in Shanghai, while the issue of China’s actions in the South China Sea were mentioned but not broadly the focus of a very much trade-oriented trip.

The administrators appointed to deal with the drama and Queensland Nickel (QNI) have released a report scathing of the actions of Clive Palmer, suggesting he was a shadow director and that hundreds of thousands of dollars were shuffled between the various arms of Palmers business empire, including the Titanic II project and his failed resort project. It is likely that QNI will be liquidated, with the Federal Government paying out the entitlements owed to workers and their families. However, the Queensland Government has said they will make QNI, or one of the other Palmer businesses that technically owns it, clean up the site at their own cost, while the Federal Government has said it will pursue Palmer and/or his businesses in Court to pay back the costs of the entitlements to workers.

Finally this week, the Japanese Self Defence Force brought a submarine into Sydney Harbour for the first time since World War Two; Australia has opened its first medical marijuana farm even if nothing can be grown on it yet because they need to sort out the licensing system first; Bob Day’s challenge to the Senate reform legislation will be heard in the High Court on May 2 and May 3; and Stan Grant will join the council advising the government on the Indigenous Recognition Referendum.

Tweet of the Week

https://twitter.com/workmanalice/status/720120601508253696

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

It’s a Buzzfeed week this week – but the stories are good reading.

Both major party candidates in a Brisbane electorate are gay – Buzzfeed

The Keating Fandom – Buzzfeed

People are falling in love with the Electrical Trade Union guy – Buzzfeed

Adventures in the Register of Members’ Interests

Posted on by

This is one of those times where I become acutely aware of just how much of a nerd I am when it comes to politics. I came across a Twitter account called Disclosure Bot, which essentially tells people when politicians update their interests. So one day, I looked and I had some fun (yes, fun is subjective, but I live for this kind of stuff). From there, I found the Register of Interests for both the Senate and the House of Representatives and looked through some interesting paperwork.

My impression originally was a mixture of “OOOOH, this is so cool” and “Holy crap, this is so detailed and anal-retentive” – because there is some detailed information in these documents. It’s is good that it is so detailed because you can’t say that it isn’t transparent. It’s also fascinating which members get what gifts and who keeps them.

I’ll start with the rules, thanks to the Registration of Members’ interests: Requirements of the House of Representatives document that I found on the House of Representatives page. The rules for Senators’ interests are the same, except they report to a Senate Committee rather than a Registrar, and are required to update slightly less frequently.

Within 28 days of being sworn in, a Member of Parliament must register their interests, and the interests of their spouse and dependent children. They must also register any changes to their interests within 28 days of the change.

They must report any of their, or their spouse’s and children’s, shares in private and public companies, any trusts they benefit from, real estate they own and their purpose, if they direct any companies and if they part of any partnerships. They also have to declare any liabilities or debts and the creditor involved, any bank accounts and the bank they belong to as well as any assets they own valued at more than $7,500 – that aren’t personal affects.

But there’s more.

Members have to declare gifts over $750 from official sources, and over $300 from other sources unless they are personal gifts from family and friends. They must also declare sponsored travel over $300 and any membership of organisations and any other interests that may be considered a conflict of interest.

If they knowingly fail to notify the registrar or make a false declaration, then they are considered guilty of contempt of the House of Representatives. It’s unclear what happens if you do the same if you’re a Senator.

So what did I find out? Well, lots of things.

I learned the extent of Clive Palmer’s business empire – Palmer is the director of so many companies and has so many trusts and investments, he had to supply an attachment 11 pages long to his original register form. The same goes for Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull, who have a lot of trusts and investments – they supplied a 5 page attachment to Malcolm Turnbull’s original register form.

Most politicians get membership of airline Frequent Flyer programs for free, as well as free Foxtel subscriptions for their offices. Many also get upgrades on flights. Almost every MP out of the probably thirty that I looked at has declared those freebies at one point or another. Many of them also get some offical gifts from people when they go on trips or get invited somewhere, and that’s where it gets very, very interesting.

Jenny Macklin, the Member for Jagajaga, gets lots of arts-related gifts. She generally keeps them and pays the difference if they are above the allowable limit. Tony Abbott, Member for Warringah, on the other hand, only keeps the gifts if below the limit, and even then he generally says in his declarations he only intends to keep them for the duration of his time in parliament, or for some of them, his Prime Ministership. Once that time is over, he plans to either donate the gifts to organisations or leave them with the Department of PM and Cabinet. This means a bunch of them have already made that transition or remain in the PM’s office, where Turnbull can admire them. However, when Abbott gets cycling gear, he keeps it, and if it’s over the limit he’ll pay the difference.

Bronwyn Bishop, Member for Mackellar,  on the other hand, seems to keep everything she gets – or at least that’s the impression I get as she doesn’t put the section numbers on – whether it be cases of wine or tickets to the Opera. You don’t even know if they’re within the limit or not, because she doesn’t note that down. It’s quite amusing.

Last but not least, Andrew Leigh, the Member for Fraser. He declares pretty much everything even noting in parentheses at one point when declaring that the National Press Club sponsor NAB provided seating for his staff and guests, “this probably doesn’t need to be disclosed, but I’m erring on the side of caution” – which seems to be his modus operandi. He notes everything in detail, such as what class a flight was booked on when it was “involuntarily” upgraded (yes, he says that in early declarations).

So, whether you want to figure out if your local member has an investment property that they might be negatively gearing or you just want to find out their middle name – and trust me, some of them are awesome – check out the registers for the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Hopefully you’ll have just as much fun as I did.

 

 

 

The Week That Was – January 24 to January 30

Posted on by

Despite the public holiday this week, politics is revving up again in preparation for the first sitting of Parliament for 2016 in the next week. There are discussions about the GST and the economy, with Scott Morrison ignoring calls from state and territory Premiers to tell them what the GST plan was. Morrison has said that he is still figuring it out and that the less he says about it, the more ideas come in that he can consider. Meanwhile economic data shows that NSW is currently the best economy in the country, thanks to its infrastructure boom, while the resource-reliant states are falling towards the back as they struggle with falling resource prices and the difficulty of transitioning their economies.

As we head back into full on political fun, the opposition has begun to sell itself for the 2016 Election (yep, it’s an election year!) and parties are beginning to field candidates. As the infighting in the Liberal Party between the party’s right and moderate factions over candidates in some blue-ribbon seats with long-serving MPs, Tony Abbott has announced that he will stay in his seat to fight the next election. This is despite the giant carrot the Prime Minister waved in front of him in the form of the next High Commissioner to the UK – with people suggesting he wants to stay in order to have another go at the leadership. I wonder if Abbott might go if he’s offered the job of Ambassador to the Holy See, but I could be quite wrong there.

Meanwhile Labor has been selling their new education plan as the election year heats up. Labor wants to re-introduced needs-based education funding from the Gillard days, which will cost around $37 billion, which Labor claims it has found savings for. The Government says that increased spending may not mean actual improvement, and that spending billions that they may not have is stupid, but that’s about it. It is still unclear when the election will be, but general consensus is it will happen later in the year; bearing in mind that the second weekend in September heralds Council elections in NSW.

It was Australia Day this week, in which we welcomed around 16,000 new citizens and the naming of the 2016 Australian of the Year as former Army Chief David Morrison – being credited for his advocacy for gender equality. There was a little controversy, after Catherine McGregor, a transgender advocate and Morrison’s former speechwriter criticised the judges for going with a “conventional” choice and then Veterans feeling hardly done by because Morrison didn’t mention them in his acceptance speech. McGregor has since apologised, and Morrison has clarified that he will also work to support veterans in his role as Australian of the year.

The drama with Queensland Nickel (QNI) continues, as it has been revealed that while Fairfax MP and owner of QNI, Clive Palmer, is happy to be the last creditor to be paid, he is likely to be protected from any collapse of QNI. This is because the QNI refinery is technically (and totally legally) owned by two other Clive Palmer companies. It may also mean that the taxpayers will have to foot the redundancy payment bill for QNI workers. However, no matter how protected Palmer is from the collapse of QNI, he won’t be protected from the collapse in his support in Fairfax. It’s believed that Palmer may loose the seat at this year’s election, which he holds on a small margin.

Finally this week, the Republic debate is revving up again; the Royal Commission into Child Abuse has demanded that victims of abuse at the Parramatta Girls home receive compensation; the town of Hill End has been told it will not be the location of the nuclear waste side and health insurance companies are being told by the Health Minister to come back with a better deal for Australians, after requesting permission to increase premiums by 6%.

Tweet of the Week

Malcolm Turnbull’s adventures in Melbourne at the end of the week included traffic control at a tram stop.

Thing’s I’ve Been Looking at Online

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

Matthew Mitcham’s retirement from diving in quotes – ABC News

First Dog on the Moon on First World Problems – The Guardian

The Week That Was – January 17 to January 23

Posted on by

The week has been relatively quiet with Malcolm Turnbull back on tour. He first travelled to Iraq and Afghanistan to meet with troops, before travelling  to the USA to hang out with Obama after his invitation in November.

Turnbull signed a cybersecurity agreement with the FBI, Twitter and Facebook, spoke to Obama and Defence Secretary Ash Carter about fighting Islamic State and having “the right boots on the right ground”. He then went to Hawaii to meet the Commander of the US Pacific Command and talked about concerns about China’s claims in the South China Sea.

The economy is causing concerns again, with Australian shares down 8% since January 1st. There are questions over whether or not the Australian economy will have a recession, which some experts are saying may not be all that bad. Either way, Scott Morrison has called for “sober and wise heads”.

Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel (QNI) company has gone into voluntary administration with continuing concerns about the company’s finances and how much money has been given to the Palmer United Party (PUP). As the administrators get to the bottom of the whole thing, Palmer has announced that two other companies he founded/owns (it’s complicated because of the whole political thing) will give QNI around $250 million to help them get back on their feet.

As we begin an election year, there are tensions within the NSW Liberal Party over the candidates in certain seats. Because NSW has been redistributed by the AEC this year, some MPs no longer live in their original electorates, and also due to some scandals, and the fact that we have a moderate PM, there are certain seats that are being fought over between the conservative and moderate factions of the party. Mackellar – held by Bronwyn Bishop, Berowra – held by Phillip Ruddock, and Hughes – held by Craig Kelly are at risk. It is believed that the plan is to put forward younger, more moderate candidates, supported by the moderate faction. Two others, Angus Taylor and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, while at risk have been supported by Turnbull and it might be less concerning for them.

Finally this week, NSW Premier Mike Baird has spoken about accepting and welcoming refugees into Australia, using the example of lawyer Deng Adut (of Western Sydney University advertisement fame) to remind people that refugees do make positive contributions and Turnbull has moved into the lodge.

Tweet of the Week

Bauer announced the end of Cleo.

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Lisa Wilkinson on being one of the editors of Cleo – Huffington Post Australia

First Dog on the Moon on Border Force Medals – The Guardian

*I would have also linked to Sharri Markson’s piece on the folding of Cleo, but it’s on The Australian website behind a paywall.

The Week That Was – January 10 to January 16

Posted on by

This week saw the political machine whirr back into gear, with Bill Shorten touring marginal seats across the nation, campaigning against a rise in the GST. In one of these visits he was at supermarket asking a shopper what variety of lettuce they preferred, which lead to some frivolity with Triple J journalist Alice Workman desperately trying to find out which variety was Shorten’s favourite (you can tell we’re only in low gear at the moment).

https://twitter.com/workmanalice/status/687027060460486656

Shorten even played along, only to frustrate Workman further.

https://twitter.com/workmanalice/status/687049109484654592

The frivolity kind of stopped a bit later in the week, when it was revealed that the NSW ALP boss Jamie Clements was being accused of sexual harassment and many people in the party were asking him to go, such as former NSW Premier Kristina Keneally, NSW Acting Opposition Leader Linda Burnie and Shorten himself. It’s believed that Clements wanted $1 million to go, but whether that happened was unclear when it was announced that he had resigned, as he put it “for the good of the party”.

Clive Palmer and his Palmer United Party are under scrutiny this week after Palmer’s company Queensland Nickel sacked hundreds of workers after they were unable to get financial assistance to the tune of $35 million from the Queensland Government, despite the fact that the company donated nearly $290,000 to the PUP at the end of 2015.

Finally this week, Save the Children staffers have been vindicated over accusations they were causing trouble on Nauru; there are concerns about the share market and commodity prices as the price of oil drops to below USD $30 a barrel; Nick Xenophon and his party the Nick Xenophon Team (NXT) have announced their candidates for this year’s election with a candidate in Tony Abbott’s seat of Warringah; and there are also concerns that the government is trying to make it harder for people to prove they need the Disability Pension.

Tweet of the Week

Something for us all to think about.

And if you can guess who it was, well done you.

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

First Dog on the Moon on killing off carp with herpes – The Guardian

First Dog on the Moon “moonsplains” sexism – The Guardian

The Two Weeks That Were – December 28 to January 10

Posted on by

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 Year that Was – 2014 Politics

Posted on by

New Words: 1

Shirtfront: Tony Abbott said that he was going to “shirt front” Vladimir Putin regarding the suspected Russian involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines MH17.

You bet you are.

Elections: 3

West Australian Senate Seats Re-election: This is what happens when you misplace 1300 ballot papers.

Griffith By-election: To fill the vacant seat left by former PM Kevin Rudd. Labor won.

Victorian State Election: Victorian Labor ousts a one term Liberal/Nationals Coalition government, which hasn’t happened in more than 50 years, and it scared the federal government.

Reshuffles: 1

Just before Christmas, Abbott reshuffled cabinet after Arthur Sinodinos resigned, which also meant that David Johnston was removed as Defence Minister. Other people were moved around which leads us to….

Women In Cabinet: 2

Julie Bishop: Minister for Foreign Affairs, since 2013 Election

Sussan Ley: Minister for Health and Sport, since December 2014

Dramatic Sagas: 1

Jacqui Lambie vs. Clive Palmer: Lambie basically got sick of working with Clive Palmer and the Palmer United Party and left 5 months into her senate term, deciding to vote in the “coalition of common sense” which involved Labor, Nick Xenophon, Ricky Muir and other independents.

Achievements as Minister for Women: 1

Apparently, that achievement is the repeal of the Carbon Tax. How? Well, I think it might have something to do with housework and electricity bills.

Here’s ABC 7:30’s Politics Year in Review.

Happy New Year. Let’s see what 2015 has on offer.

The Week That Was – December 14 to December 20

Posted on by

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