After arguments were heard in the High Court at the start of the fortnight, the government won their case 7-0, and we will now have a postal plebiscite survey. The survey started being posted out on the 12th of September, and some people have already got them. Hopefully you all fixed your enrolment and will get your letters – if not, hopefully the people living in your old home will be kind enough to try to contact you (and if you find one in your letterbox for the previous resident, see if you can find them online – that’s what some people are trying to do). Send it before November 7 so it gets counted.
There have been “yes” rallies across the country, with some awesome banners and signs. One of my favourite messages was “I could have done this on SurveyMonkey for you for free”. The Liberals and Nationals for Yes group is starting with Turnbull, Christine Forster (Tony Abbott’s sister – who is gay), and several key Liberals from years gone by – mostly from NSW because the meeting I saw was in Sydney.
Section 44 – the bit of the constitution that is catching out unaware dual citizens – was brought up again at the start of the fortnight with Bill Shorten and former PM Tony Abbott being forced to prove they’d denounced their British citizenship prior to being in Parliament. The Liberals did try to focus the attention on Bill Shorten in question time about it, but it backfired on them when Bill Shorten waited until after Question Time to prove he wasn’t a British citizen – meaning that Barnaby Joyce, who is likely a dual Australian and New Zealand citizen and is refusing to step down as Deputy PM – got all the attention.
The government has decided that AGL’s Liddell coal plant in the Hunter Valley can’t shut down when AGL plans to in 2022. The government wold like it to stay open for another five years, closing in 2027 instead, which is when AGL plans on shutting a second plant down. It appears that people are blaming the East Coast’s power issues on the shutdowns of coal plants, such as the Hazelwood Plant in Victoria earlier this year. However, AGL is adamant the plant will shut when planned, and that by then they will have a non-coal alternative. At the moment, AGL’s whole thing is “getting out of coal” – as seen in their ads.
AGL’s people met with the government later in the fortnight, where AGL was told to either keep Liddell going, sell it to someone who would or replace with an alternate reliable source – and it appears AGL is set on the latter, which will most likely end up being gas. Oh, and um the Clean Energy Target is getting a new name so that the pro-coal Liberal backbenchers won’t roll Turnbull.
Media reforms passed the senate in the latter part of the fortnight, 31-27. With an NXT amendment to help support regional publishers, the “reach rule” and the “two-out-of-three rule” appear to have been abolished. The “reach rule” stopped a TV broadcaster from reaching more than 75% of the population, and the “two-out-of-three rule” stopped someone from owning newspaper, radio and television networks in the one market. This change is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as people don’t go mad with power and do stupid things.
Also during this fortnight, the government is still trying to figure out where they will be placing the people who have been found to be refugees when Manus Island closes in October. It appears some were taken to Port Moresby recently, where they were interviewed by US officials. This does suggest that some of them may be going to the United States soon.
Finally this week, the WA Liberals passed a motion to look into the possibility of succession (WAxit?); the Nationals Conference narrowly defeated a motion introduced by George Christiansen to ban the burqa; Australia now has a memorial for peacekeepers at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra; and Clive Palmer has revealed that his nephew – who worked for the collapsed Queensland Nickel and has a warrant out for his arrest – is being paid $4000 a week, which Palmer says is his own money.
Tweets of the Fortnight
Jacqui Lambie smacks down those attacking the ABC
SUPER IMPORTANT TO NOTE – Don’t mess with the question on the survey, it’ll be considered invalid
https://twitter.com/lanesainty/status/907847393265295361
Things I’ve Been Looking at Online
Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American state legislator – TIME Magazine
The generation gap between China’s millennials and their parents – ABC Online
Kara L 