Tag Archives: Reforms

The Week That Was – November 1 to November 7

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As the North Sydney by-election campaign continues, the Federal Government appears to be laying groundwork for tax reform. I should be interesting to see how a popular PM deals with selling unpopular tax reforms. It’s thought that the GST will be raised to 15% and all exemptions will be removed, however this is all speculation and it’s believed that the PM and the government are letting all this speculation run rife in order to lay the groundwork and see what the public think.

Some MPs believe that they could sell GST changed but they would have to come in a package with other sweeteners – such as income tax cuts and increases in pensions – in order for that to happen. Meanwhile the opposition is against any tax changes util they see the maths behind it. Turnbull will also have to convince the state premiers that it is worth the rise in the GST – especially Western Australia who feel – thanks to the way the GST paybacks to states are calculated – that they are not getting as much money as they should.

Peter Dutton travelled one of the biggest refugee camps in the world this week, on his trip to Jordan. Dutton had a tour of the camp, meeting residents, before giving visas to the first few dozen refugees that Australia is taking in. There was one guy the cameras filmed getting his visa and shaking Dutton’s hand, professing his gratitude and promising that his family would be good people in Australia – which shows just how desperate these families are to get out of Syria and the Middle East.

This week the Trade Union Royal Commission looked into the NUW, with revelations that several employees were using their union-issued credit cards for personal expenses, such as online dating and holidays. Some of these employees are members of the same family. Furthermore, TURC released a statement exonerating Bill Shorten of any wrongdoing while at the helm of the Australian Workers Union, but faced criticism for releasing this statement at 8pm on a Friday night.

Finally this week, Malcolm Turnbull made a speech this week talking about his plans and vision – He wants Australia to be a high-wage nation with a generous social net and “fair” tax systems – he also got rid of Knights and Dames and Bill Shorten has been revealed as an awkward dad dancer. Other than that, there hasn’t been much else on, or I missed it.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Bit of a Melbourne Cup theme this week…

The pooping pony at a Sydney cafe on Melbourne Cup Day – ABC News

Jana Wendt’s profile on Wyatt Roy – SBS News

Malcolm Turnbull just doesn’t care about the Melbourne Cup – Buzzfeed

How Admire Rakti (one of the horses that died at last year’s Cup) saved his jockey’s life – The Age

The Week that Was – October 12 to October 18

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It’s been announced that Russia will be sending a delegation to the G20 in Brisbane, including President Vladimir Putin during talks while Joe Hockey was chairing a G20 Finance Minister’s meeting in Washington D.C.. Tony Abbott said that we had to accept their arrival but not embrace the Russians when they arrived and has also promised to talk with Putin about MH17. This nice promise of a discussion went down the drain however, when Abbott said this:

The comment led to confusion among the general population, as people struggled to define the term “shirtfront”. From what I can gather, it’s a shoulder charge in AFL – no longer allowed as they try to make the game safer – and the clips I’ve seen aren’t pretty, and in ABC Political Reporter Mark Simkin’s words: “hardly diplomatic”. It’s lead to a bit of a back-and-forth with the Russians, both at the Embassy and in Moscow, with Russian Embassy staff saying the Australia hasn’t even booked in a meeting with the Russians, and that Abbott shouldn’t be making the meeting physical anyway. The Russian PM, Dmitri Medvedev, has told Tony Abbott to behave, as have Australian politicians – namely Sarah Hanson-Young and Jacqui Lambie. Relations are believed to be at their lowest at the moment, but things are looking up after Julie Bishop met with Putin on the sidelines of a summit in Milan, where she asked Putin to use Russian influence to get the rebels to allow investigators back to the MH17 crash site, and found out that Putin is still coming to the G20.

The Australian Defence Force has been in the news a bit this week. Firstly, a group of veterans who were involved in humanitarian efforts during “Iraq 1” (The Gulf War), are wanting to have their deployment recognised as active service. The non-combat mission involved humanitarian aid to help Kurdish refugees, and involved 75 personnel, mainly medical staff and engineers. Many suffer mental anguish and a few have ended their lives, yet because their mission was not deemed to be active service, they don’t get their pension, a service medal or recognition of their mission. Many have said they would prefer the recognition over the pension, as the recognition proves that they did something a served their country.

Also this week, the Department of Defence has been in negotiations over pay increases for the armed forces. The government has offered a 1.5% increase every year for three years, but lose a day’s leave at Christmas. The main criticism is that the increased aren’t in line with inflation, and that the politicians deciding on their pay recently got a massive pay rise, and the defence force isn’t getting as big a pay rise. Bill Shorten has come out in support, saying the defence force should be paid more, and there have been many saying that more pay would mean more productivity.

A 300-page review into the nation’s education system has been released this week, with recommendations that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island history and Australia’s place in the Asia-Pacific region should be taught as specific units and not just as a theme and a simplified curriculum – what that means is unclear, but it has something to do with the parents. Christopher Pyne has said that as far as he can tell, the review is not politically motivated. However, there has been controversy this week after the man in charge of the review into the English curriculum, Barry Spurr, has been stood down by the University of Sydney for sexist, racist and basically offensive emails. Spurr is well-known for focusing on Judeo-Christian literature, and essentially ignoring other authors in Australia. There are concerns that his views may have influenced the review and questions are being asked about who else in the review team who may have something to hide. Christopher Pyne has defended his role as Education Minister, saying that he didn’t pick Spurr and that he condemns offensive, racist and sexist comments like Spurr’s.

The Budget still isn’t through in its entirety, and this week concerns have been raised over the fuel excise and the way that the Greens reacted when they first heard about the plans. Originally, the Greens had believed that the government had seen the light when it was announced that the fuel excise would be raised, until they became aware that the money for the excise was going towards road building. There is disagreement over whether the government and the Greens had a chat, but regardless, the Greens had some turmoil within the party and the realisation that the government was going to build roads anyway. Mathias Cormann has also been criticised for calling Bill Shorten an “economic girlie man”, because he’s blocking Budget changes. Tanya Plibersek has said that that’s because the Labor Party sees the Budget as something pretty awful, and don’t want to pass it.

Australian states have bought isolation pods to transfer Ebola patients should any turn up in Australia, while Queensland Health has activated its Ebola medical teams. Each state has a specific hospital for treating Ebola, and they’re equipped pretty well, except for the isolation pods. There is still criticism of the government, who is refusing to send medical teams to Africa until they have a definitive evacuation plan, allowing for stops in countries along the route in order to refuel along the 30-hour flight. Oh, and the Defence Force doesn’t own a pod. Australia is also looking to the USA at the moment to see exactly what happened with the breakdown in protocol after two nurses who worked on the Liberian man who died in a Texas Hospital contracted the virus.

Finally this week, an Australian author who won a book prize is ashamed to be Australian because of the current government’s climate change policy, Australia has completed ‘successful’ airstrikes in Iraq, and a committee looking into the government’s terror legislation have said that the government can’t declare countries or regions no-go zones.

Tweets of the Week

The pro-democracy protests continue in Hong Kong

And the storm in Sydney at the start of this week led to entertaining news graphics

Things I’ve been Reading, Watching or Hearing

An ABC cameraman on his experience and how one can improve skills – ABC Backstory

A Blue Mountains school principal has received a Papal Medal for helping his students in last year’s bushfires – ABC News

University lecturers defend themselves against Sharri Markson’s article about their teaching – The Guardian

The Week That Was – August 31 to September 6

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So it’s officially been a year since Tony Abbott became Prime Minister.

Over the last weekend, March in August protests were held run by the March Australia movement. There was thought to be about 5,000 people protesting in Sydney, as well as thousands in other major cities and towns across the country. They’re not happy with the government for quite a few reasons, like the budget, asylum seekers and marriage equality, and they really don’t like Tony Abbott.

Australia will be sending more aid to Iraq to help with the crisis, as well as flying weapons into Iraq to give to the Kurdish fighters. The weapons won’t be Australian, and the flights carrying weapons will land so they know who they’re giving the weapons to. Tony Abbott is justifying the decision by saying that Australia should do what it can to help stop genocide. Bill Shorten isn’t happy that Australians could be in harm’s way but understands that this needs to be done, while the biggest critique has come from both the Greens and Independent Andrew Wilkie, who says that Australia has picked a side and therefore we’re at war and want a debate about whether we send Australians in. Tony Abbott seems to be having a little too much fun scaring people about IS (ISIS/ISIL) and this week has called them a “death cult” – at least they’ve got something to distract people from the budget.

Staying with war zones, Australia will have no new exports or export uranium to Russia, as part of more sanctions being announced by both Australia, the US and the EU. Australia is also setting up a temporary embassy in Kiev (there wasn’t one already?) where police and non-lethal military support will be based along with a few diplomats. Most of them are involved with the investigation into MH17, and will remain there for some time.

This week the Mining Tax repeal passed. The school kids bonus will remain in place until 2016, however the one thing that is upsetting people is that Superannuation increases will not occur until 2021 – in seven years time – which could make people’s super $20,000 worse off. Super experts, the Opposition and workers aren’t too happy and the government is being accused of hypocrisy. It’s thought that this could become an election issue. Tony Abbott also had a hissy fit, saying that the Opposition didn’t accept his mandate.

Criticism has been cast on a Centrelink measure meant to help with income management. Originating in the Northern Territory during the intervention years under John Howard, the Basics Card is being rolled out in other towns with high rates of unemployment and Centrelink payouts. Half the Centrelink payment is put on the card, with the idea being that you spend it on essentials like food and it can’t be used to buy alcohol or cigarettes – two major concerns when the intervention took place. The issue is, most people getting the card in NT were adults in family units, and the card was beneficial because it meant that the kids got food and their parents didn’t spend all the money on alcohol, drugs or cigarettes, whereas the people getting them in other towns are young, childless, singles. There are benefits to not being able to buy alcohol on the card, however the restrictions mean that young people have no freedom on the Basics Card to buy things that they want. People have been finding ways around the Basics Card restrictions and some have resorted to bartering, while other criticisms include the issue with addiction. The card just stops your from buying the alcohol and/or cigarettes, and there are no programs to help with quitting or treating the addiction.

Tony Abbott spent the end of this week in India and Malaysia. In India, Abbott paid respects to those killed in the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks in 2008, had a lunch or breakfast with investors, talked to Mumbai University students about the “Colombo Plan” which allows Indian international students to study in Australia and of course, talked about Australia being “open for business”. He also met with Narendra Modi, signed a deal on uranium trade, with the promise the uranium would only be used for energy purposes, and not for weapons. In Malaysia, Abbott and the Malaysian PM discussed the Malaysian Airlines flights MH370 and MH17, spoke about how Australia and Malaysia were great friends and condemned ISIS. Malaysia, being a Muslim-dominated nation is one nation that the West wants to keep onside.

Unfortunately this week, an asylum seeker passed away from septicemia/sepsis after cutting his foot. It has led to concerns that the Manus Island Detention Centre is ill-equipped and poorly maintained. There is also concern that the asylum seeker may have been mistreated, which the government denies. The Queensland Coroner will hold an inquest and the Immigration Department will also investigate. The opposition wants a fully independent investigation and that all the information be publicly available.

There have been concerns about the number of students doing Maths and Science at school, with the main concern being that Australia could fall behind dramatically. Experts have been suggesting that universities and companies should get involved with education as well as work with each other, as well as the provision of education and training for teachers.

Finally this week, an application at ICAC for a suppression order regarding emails that could be private due to parliament privilege is upsetting journalists, the Royal Commission into Labor’s insulation program returned, critical of the governmental departments in charge of the scheme, the Royal Commission into Child Abuse got more time and money, and we learned that CFMEU construction workers have a tendency to swear to the Trade Union Royal Commission.

Tweet of the Week

You know something has a lot of swearing when ABC News 24 stops the live cross to it:

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Hamish Macdonald reflects on Steven Sotloff, the US journalist killed by ISIS this week – SMH

Jim Middleton leaves the ABC and Australia Network

Not allowing YouTube comments on videos

The Week That Was – August 17 to August 23

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The big story this week was Clive Palmer’s attack on the Chinese. When asked about the court case involving him and a Chinese State Owned Enterprise on Q & A, he got overly defensive.

The Chinese Embassy responded by saying that Palmer is ignorant and prejudiced and the Australian government has gone into damage control, telling China that they don’t agree with Palmer – FYI, there is a Free Trade Agreement under negotiation at the moment. Jacqui Lambie isn’t making it easy though, as she believes that the Chinese are going to invade us at some point – which is absolutely ridiculous.

Ricky Muir from the Motoring Enthusiasts’ Party appeared from the shadows at the end of the week. He appeared and had a press conference at a car show, in which he said that while he does vote in the Palmer United Party bloc, he is his own man and does not agree with PUP’s views on China. He also said that he had talked with treasury people – apparently getting calls at all hours – and told the press that he still isn’t sold on the $7 GP co-payment or the Higher Education changes.

Speaking of the co-payment, the Australian Medical Association (AMA) has suggested an alternative plan for the co-payment. The AMA suggests that consultations for children, concession card holders and pensioners should not be subject to the co-payment. Both sides of politics, as well as other lobby groups are calling this plan a money grab, not a nice alternative, given something like $2-$3 goes to them out of the co-payment. However, the government is also being criticised for trying to sell the co-payment as a Medicare-strengthening measure because the government’s slice of the co-payment goes into a Medical research fund, and not into the budget or Medicare.

The Prime Minister has been busy this week. The start of the week saw the Pollie Pedal end in Penrith and Tony Abbott join in for the last few (wet) days and at a First World War memorial on Cockatoo Island. He was also on 2GB this week talking about the previous week’s NSW ICAC scalps – saying it was “a bad look” for the Liberal Party – but criticised the previous NSW Labor Government for changing the rules, making it illegal for property developers to make donations. According to the PM, it is unclear in the legislation what constitutes a property developer and arguing that private donations are better that publicly funded elections. He was also asked by 2GB presenter Ray Hadley about the ASADA investigation, saying that the ASADA claims were meant to be the previous Federal Labor government’s distraction from Julia Gillard, although Ray Hadley didn’t actually call Gillard by her name, he called her something along the lines of “that woman“. In the same interview, he was asked about a flag that had been seen in Sydney’s west that looked like it could be an ISIS flag (it wasn’t), and Abbott said that the only flag that should fly is the Australian flag – forgetting that most of the time the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags are often required to be flown as well.

Speaking of ISIS, they gruesomely murdered a journalist this week. The PM described the murder as “evil”, and then decided to also warn Australia that if we let our vigilance down, similar things could happen here.

Moving on though, the budget is still being talked about over three months after it was laid out. The government isn’t overly concerned, because they’ve got the appropriation and supply bills through, but some of their big-ticket items are still on the table and being negotiated. After his “poor don’t drive” gaffe last week, Joe Hockey has been out of sight for a while, leading journalists to question Mattias Cormann about why he was selling the budget over the weekend and not Hockey. Cormann said it was because they’re working together to sell the budget and therefore either of them can appear in front of the media to do so. However, it’s believed that the government may be compromising and giving ground on some of their major policy items in order to get them through.

It was also announced this week that Australia has agreed to take 2200 Iraqi and 2200 Syrian refugees in. However, they will be coming through what Scott Morrison called the “front door”, so therefore they are still stopping the boats, ergo no broken promises. Also, children and their families (where applicable) are being released from detention centres on bridging visas, and the Papua New Guinean authorities have arrested and charges two G4S employees over the murder of Reza Berati, the asylum seeker killed during the Manus Island riots.

Bill Shorten made a statement this week about rape claims made against him last year.

He’s been applauded by both sides of politics for being open and transparent about it now, rather than hiding it and having it come out later on.

So this week, Australia-Indonesia relations have gotten much better, to the point where thy are signing an agreement not to spy on each other…

Finally this week, the NSW Liberal Party has announced they will not put anyone forward for the by-elections in Newcastle or Charlestown, there has been criticism of the NAPLAN writing question, Australia and India have done a trade deal on uranium, there’s another ADFA sex scandal, and the man who was convicted of the Winchester Assassination has been released from prison after his conviction was quashed.

Tweet of the Week

Fairfax staff went on strike this week…

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Eliza Harvey on the only Liberal MP in the Hunter not to quit, and how she’s changed for the better – ABC The Drum

Sean Dorney’s leaving Australia Network and the ABC – ABC Backstory and Australia Network Online

What Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond thinks of Tony Abbott – Huffington Post UK

The Week that Was – July 13 to July 19

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This week was less insane than previous weeks, or at least it was until about Friday.

This week saw the Coalition negotiating with the Palmer United Party to get the Carbon and Mining taxes through the Senate, with the hope that both would get through by the end of the week. Senate ran later on Tuesday and Thursday, and while the Carbon Tax passed the Senate on Thursday, the Mining Tax was not, as the PUP wanted to see the $10 million of welfare that came with it to remain. Regardless, the Government is pleased with itself for removing the Carbon Tax, while the opposition is saying that the government will be judged harshly in the future. Bill Shorten has said that he will take an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) to the next election and Tony Abbott, when asked if he would consider an ETS, said there wouldn’t be a Carbon Tax. It appears that if you are Tony Abbott, there is no difference between an ETS and a Carbon Tax.

The financial regulation laws are floating around too, with the PUP asking for some consumer safeguards to be added before they let it through. There was also the release of an interim report from a financial inquiry, stating that while the market is quite concentrated, it is still competitive. There are also concerns with superannuation though, with funds borrowing money to make investments and high fees, as well as the recommendation that financial advice from banks be called “sales” leaving the term “advice” to independent advisors who aren’t attached to any bank or financial group.

This week also saw this:

Yep, David Leyonhjelm, a Liberal Democratic Senator (different from the Liberal Party), says that basically, the politicians should let people do what they want to do behind closed doors and allow marriage equality. He’s pretty sure that the Greens and Labour will be supportive of his Marriage Deregulation Amendment, and says that he will table it only if he gets a guarantee from the Coalition that there will be a conscience vote on their side. He says that it’s a liberty issue, and that if same-sex marriage were legal, then maybe people wouldn’t make it so hard for the government to get their budget through. He also pulled the “Tony Abbott, what about your sister?” and the “Bill Shorten, think about Penny Wong” cards. In return for the conscience vote, Leyonhjelm has said he will support Temporary Protection Visas in the Senate.

It was going pretty smoothly this week until Friday morning, when the news came through that a Malaysian Airlines flight had been shot down over a rebel-held region in Ukraine. The flight, MH17, from Amsterdam’s Schiphol to Kuala Lumpur, had 298 people aboard, including 3 infants, 15 crew, and 36 (UPDATE: now 37) Australian citizens and permanent residents. Australia has the third highest death toll, behind The Netherlands and Malaysia. The Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop has called for an international investigation, I’m assuming by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) given they have investigated similar incidents (like Korean Air 007). Russia is also under scrutiny, as it is believed that the pro-Russia separatists in the region are being supported by Russia in many ways, and possibly gave the rebels the missile used to shoot down the plane.

Finally this week, the guy in charge of looking at the Australian education system, Kevin Donnelly, thinks corporal punishment is ok. Thankfully, no-one else appears to agree with him. The refugees that are somewhere on a boat off Christmas Island are still there and haven’t been handed over yet.

Tweets of the Week

Not sure if this is true, but if it is….

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Oz:  A very supportive nation when it comes to marriage equality, but we still haven’t changed the law – The Advocate

ABC’s Hayden Cooper reflects on the Greste case – ABC Backstory

The Two Weeks that Were – June 15 to June 28

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I had exams and family engagements in the last fortnight, which is why I’ve bunched two weeks together. It’ll be a bit long, but I will be back on my regular schedule next week.

So, Tony Abbott left the US, via Hawaii where he visited Pearl Harbor. He says that he will wait for guidance, presumably from the Americans on how to approach the crisis in Iraq, calling the situation a “security disaster”.

He’s returned to Australia, where he faced internal dissent regarding the deficit levy. It isn’t supported by Senator Ian Macdonald and Cory Bernardi. Bernardi abstained the vote because he feels the rich pay enough tax, while Macdonald voted against because he thinks that companies should be paying too. The Paid Parental Leave is also an issue dividing the Coalition.

Tony Abbott was also handed a Double Dissolution trigger by the by the Opposition. They’ve rejected the bill to remove the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. It doesn’t mean it will be used, but because of how the Constitution works – if Abbott so pleases he may dissolve all houses of parliament and put the country through yet another election. Christine Milne and the Greens have essentially dared him to do it, while the Government is planning to reintroduce it when the new Senate sits after the 1st of July….but that could be an issue too, depending on how the beholders of the balance of power decide to vote.

Trade with the Middle East has been put into a predicament with George Brandis announcing that Australian Government Documents will now refer to what is considered my most countries to be “occupied Israeli settlements” as “disputed”. Why? Well, apparently “occupied” is a loaded term – which I thought was the point anyway – and “disputed” apparently shows that the government still supports a two-state solution. Regardless of whether or not that’s the case, some Middle Eastern nations are not amused and are thinking of sanctioning Australia’s trade. They met with Julie Bishop and DFAT, but were not impressed.

Peter Greste, the Australian journalist held in Egypt has, along with several other Western and Egyptian journalists been sentenced to 7 years prison, essentially for doing their jobs. The Australian government had been, and still is, communicating with Egyptian authorities and ministries, and Julie Bishop will again talk with the Egyptian leadership as will Abbott in the hope of fixing the situation. Australia doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Egypt, which means he cannot be transferred here to carry out his sentence. So now it’s a waiting game for the judicial system to take its course.

Oh, and in case we didn’t have enough on our foreign affairs plate, Indonesia’s Presidential candidates have given Australia a bit of a dressing down. One of the candidates says that while he wants Indonesia to have better relations in Australia, he is under the impression that we think that they are a poor, backward country.

Ouch.

There is a huge amount of controversy at the moment, because the Government wants to change financial advice laws. They want to water down strict rules that protect the consumer including one that makes sure there are no loopholes. It comes as the aftermath of a major scandal at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) pans out involving unauthorised investments of consumer’s money that lost money a few years back. There have been calls for a Royal Commission into the CBA but Tony Abbott is resisting it, saying it was good that the scandal was exposed. There is an investigation into similar crimes committed at other banks, however it isn’t looking at the specific crime the CBA employee committed and submissions are closed anyway. Joe Hockey – whose mother was in fact a victim of this scandal – has criticised the CBA’s handling of the incident, but hasn’t said much more.

The UN World Heritage people have declined the Government’s request to reduce the World Heritage area in Tasmanian Forests. The request was denied within five minutes, and the application was described by delegates as feeble. They also declined a request to do something on the Great Barrier Reef (I don’t remember what it was). Tony Abbott is a bit disappointed about it.

Clive Palmer has been earning some comments in my house, particularly about his strategy. Palmer met with Al Gore in the last week and announced the he would support the abolishment of the Carbon Tax – as long as the savings are passed onto the people’s bills and cost of living. It will also exclude the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and there will be no “Direct Action Plan” or any moves until our trading partners move to do the same – i.e. China.

The Liberal-National Council met in the last couple of days, and there were lots of speeches from Joe Hockey, Julie Bishop and of course Tony Abbott. Abbott encouraged the incoming Senators to accept his government’s election to power as he would their election to their seat – translated as: let my changes go through the senate. There was disagreement on a party constitution change between Christopher Pyne and George Brandis. But more interestingly, there is the suggestion of giving more sovereignty to the states. Labor Premiers like Jay Weatherill are not happy, saying it means cuts to the states. Liberal Premiers, like Denis Napthine have been more cryptic, saying they’re looking forward to the definitions.

The Government is relaunching Temporary Protection visas, which they won’t get through the current Senate, but will try after July 1st. The Government has also been stopped by the High Court from trying to limit the number of protection visas that can be issued each year. There may or may not be an asylum seeker boat (or maybe two) off Christmas Island – but it’s an “on water operation” at the moment so no one will say anything.

Finally in the last fortnight, James Ashby has dropped his case against Peter Slipper, the Greens will be rejecting the fuel excise because they want more funding in public transport and not roads, and Tony Abbott thinks protesting is “un-Australian” and that we not only need to “stop the boats” but “stop the jihadists” – in reference to the Australians fighting in Syria and/or Iraq – usually for ISIS.

Tweet of the Fortnight

Cynical Sydneysiders are awesome

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Other than my revision?

A Fact Check  on how much Tony Abbott says households will save if the Carbon Tax is repealed – ABC FactCheck

A look at what different cultures consider beautiful – estherhonig.com

Graham Creed talked to a Year 3 class at the British International School in Shanghai about climate – ABC Backstory

The Week that Was – June 8 to June 14

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Tony Abbott is continuing to represent Australia on the world stage. After Normandy at the end of last week, Abbot went to Villers-Bretonneux and visited the memorial and the local school L’ecole Victoria (Victoria School – named after the state) where he chatted in French to the students. Unfortunately his French wasn’t that great, but he gets a few kudos points for trying. He wants the Western Front to become more prominent and announced an interactive museum that will be open in time for ANZAC Day in 2018 – the Centenary of the Second Battle of Villers-Brettoneux.

His linguistic adventures continued in Canada, where he may or may not have called the country “Canadia” before quickly correcting himself. He and Stephen Harper, Canada’s PM, are ideologically similar, and so they were very happy to be in the same room as each other and both bashed the Carbon Tax a little bit, calling it “economy destroying” – or something close to that. The Opposition were a bit concerned given that Abbott’s itinerary in United States wasn’t fully sorted before he arrived, but that seems to have been sorted out.

In New York, Abbott visited the 9/11 Memorial, chatted with Ban Ki-moon and rang the bell at the New York Stock Exchange. It was amusing at the NYSE as one of the spots where Abbott stopped for the cameras was near the stock screen for Abbott – a healthcare company with the slogan “A Promise for Life”…

He also had dinner with Rupert Murdoch, defending it by saying it what a Prime Minister should do. If that’s the case, then he should also meet with Mark Scott, David Gyngell, Hamish McLennan and other Australian media CEOs and Directors, not just Murdoch. Abbott then travelled to Washington D.C., where he met with Republican John Boehner. He was also meant to meet with Eric Cantor, another senior Republican, but Cantor lost his primary and so he resigned from his post. He met President Obama as well, and given the situation in Iraq (Al-Qaeda inspired ISIS militants have taken over some cities in the north), the PM assured Obama that we would be there to help if asked by the USA.

He also went to the Arlington Cemetery in Virginia and had talks with the US Secretary of Defence, Chuck Hagel, at the Pentagon. He also went to Texas, where he talked about how amazing coal is and how it was going to fuel our future for years to come, as well as bashing the Carbon Tax again. He also got given a big hat, which lead to George W. Bush comparisons…which I don’t think were meant to be positive.

Still with international affairs, there was concern this week that some Middle Eastern nations might stop or sanction trading with us, because the government recently stopped calling Israeli settlements in the West Bank. For many years, the government has used the term “occupied” but now they’re using “disputed”. It’s been said that our government has a “pro-Israel bias”, which the government has disputed. Barnaby Joyce, the Minister for Agriculture, “says he is leaving foreign policy issues affecting his portfolio to people “smarter” than him” (quote from the ABC). That’s a bit of a cop-out if you ask me, and the government should have kept things the way they were – offending large blocs of trading partners is not a good look.

I’ll leave the international jet-setting fun for now, and move on. Again the Budget is causing trouble, with a “Bust the Budget” protest in Melbourne that not only involved students, but also union members and ordinary people. There are moves to change the welfare system to cut 40-50 payments down to 4-6 payments as well as identifying those who may become “welfare dependent” and putting a stop to it. However, youth unemployment is very high in Australia – almost 20% – and the government wants those on welfare to apply for 40 jobs a month, so there could be an issue when it comes to stopping unemployment when there are no jobs. Oh, and if there is too much trouble getting the Budget through the Senate, the treasurer has essentially said there will be a double dissolution.

There were two inquiries this week:

The first was the Royal Commission into Union Corruption, which this week got onto a case involving the AWU. In particular, this case implicates Julia Gillard’s ex-boyfriend, who created a slush fund. It’s said that Julia Gillard – at the time a lawyer – helped with the legal stuff related to the set up of the fund, but she and the ex-boyfriend, among other witnesses, have said that she had no idea what the fund was for and that all she did was help. There is also suggestions that renovations at her old house were paid for by her ex-partner using this slush fund, but there has been contradictory evidence, and it’s also been pointed out that people in relationships often give each other money at times.

The second is a senate inquiry into what is going on in the Manus Island Detention Centre. A former G4S employee gave evidence as did a Salvation Army official, who attacked Scott Morrison for placing the blame one of their Papua New Guinean staffers, suggesting that witnesses were not questioned properly, and those witnesses say that the Salvation Army staff were trying to help the injured. Two 22-year-old students have also given evidence, saying they were hired by the Salvation Army as case workers. With no training or job interview, the two students were sent to Nauru and Manus Island within days of applying and found themselves counselling suicidal and distressed asylum seekers. One of the students got into a debate/argument with Senator Ian Macdonald over her opinions on asylum seekers and other things (SMH).

Finally this week, Senator-elect Ricky Muir had an interview with Channel 7, which didn’t go so well (see here), and NSW is in the lead-up to its Budget.

Tweets of the Week

Oh, and Tony, just because you delete a tweet with a mistake in it does not mean that people haven’t screencapped it before it disappears.

https://twitter.com/thebleague/status/477624340733632512

(It should be Ange Postecoglou, Mark Bresciano and Tim Cahill)

Things I’ve Been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Tony Abbott’s response to the son of gay parents – SameSame

The explanation of a comment by an Q&A panellist, and why it was so important – New Matilda

A comparison: ABC vs. BBC and CBC – Quadrant

The Week That Was – May 4 to May 10

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So the week began with May Day protests, Christopher Pyne defending the Commission of Audit and Amanda Vanstone (a former Howard minister) wanting to keep her former MP ‘travel gold pass’ – something the Audit recommended, of which she was a Commissioner.

Then on Monday, there was a protest on Q&A about university cuts – it didn’t thrill many, especially the host, Tony Jones, who ended up having to go to a break – which was in fact a musical performance from the archives – while they booted the protesters out. You can read what I thought about the protest here, as well as seeing what the Executive Producer of Q&A thought here and another view from Clementine Ford here.

The talk about the Budget focused on whether or not a ‘debt levy’ should be implemented to help Australia deal with its debt. There is backlash from backbench MPs and the opposition in politics, while Peter Costello, a former treasurer famous for giving Australia at least ten consecutive budget surpluses, has said it’s bad idea. He’s added his voice to the large number of people who have the experience or the qualifications to talk about this kind of thing (i.e. people in the finance/economics sector, former Treasurers…) who are saying that the ideas the government have may not be the best ones.

The government could also be removing a freeze on the Fuel Excise – a tax on petrol and other fuels – making them more expensive. They haven’t sorted all the details out yet, but it’s believed the excise will go up with inflation. The major concern with this is for farmers. They spend upwards of $100,000 per year on fuel for equipment, and a raise in the Fuel Excise will make it more expensive. Many are hoping that if the Fuel Excise rises, then there will be a raise in the diesel fuel rebate to ease the pressure – otherwise agricultural production may face major issues.

Speaking of major issues, young people on the dole seems to be a big one for the government. Apparently, young people on welfare get money from the government so they can just sit on the couch and do nothing. So young people on the disability allowance (i.e. a medical condition prevents them from finding work) will be independently assessed and if they are deemed fit to work they will be sent out into the work force. Again, the people with the qualifications, experience and understanding of the situation are saying this is a bad idea, saying that they shouldn’t be sending people into a workforce where there may not be any suitable jobs for them. Adam Bandt (Greens MP) has said that this is only about the Budget’s bottom line – which it probably is.

Moving on, the government is closing some detention centres on Australian soil as well as combining all of the border protection and customs organisations into one big one called *drumroll* – The Australian Border Force! Ooh, scary. The Australian Border Force (ABF) is something less controversial than Operation Sovereign Borders (no kidding) and will save money – also a plus. Labor likes this plan. However, it does mean jobs will go, which is a good time to also say that there was the annual mention of sacking public servants – because they all sit around in their offices and do nothing. (I don’t actually believe this, but family members who have worked and do work in the public service make this comment in jest anytime cutting public service jobs is mentioned)

Back to border protection and Operation Sovereign Borders, though. Because this week, there’s been another scandal. According to Indonesian authorities, a vessel was turned around last week (when Tony Abbott was meant to be in Indonesia), and while being turned around by the Australian Navy, three people were put on the boat, one Indonesian and two Albanians. Indonesia wants to know how on earth that happened, and the Greens think the Australian Federal Police should investigate – which they probably should, given I am under the impression that what is alleged to have happened could be illegal under international law.

Finally this week, polling showed the Coalition government is at 38% approval, down 5 points – all of which have gone to the Greens or other parties, and Malcolm Turnbull was on BBC’s HARDtalk.

Tweet of the Week

Some don’t think this is a good look for Mathias Cormann and Joe Hockey – I wonder why…

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

Calling out Miranda Devine (a conservative columnist) on a somewhat homophobic column – Junkee

A look at gay YouTubers – The Advocate

The Taiwanese animators got on the Packer-Gyngell Brawl bandwagon!

The Two Weeks That Were – January 5 to January 18

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So everyone took two weeks off in political land, and I had a holiday – now we’re back.

First we had Mr Cory Bernardi (a Senator representing South Australia) and his views regarding “non-traditional families” – his definition of “traditional families” appears to be two biological parents (married) and kids. As well as his views on abortion – if you are pro-choice you are pro-death in his view. He’s offended a lot of people, such as Bill Shorten who, it turns out, is a stepfather, and Carrie Bickmore, a presenter on The Project who told Bernardi to “get stuffed”

The Liberals have said this is not their view but haven’t done anything else.

The Australian Navy was also accused of towing at least two asylum seeker boats to Indonesian waters after being detected here. Thanks to the “Operational On Water Matters” cone of silence, it can’t really be verified. We might get the answer though, given the UNHCR has decided to investigate.

Speaking of on the water, the Japanese Whaling fleet is now in Antarctic and/or Australian Waters. While the government did promise to do surveillance late last year, according to the Sea Shepherd, it hasn’t happened yet and at least three whales have been caught. Sea Shepherd says it has got in the way and disrupted some of it, but the government still hasn’t done anything.

Christopher Pyne has announced that he wants to change the education system and focus more on Western civilisation and Judeo-Christian values, which concerns me a little, but they have said that students will learn about all cultures and religions. Hmmm.

Scott Morrison had to apologise to Indonesia because naval ships crossed into Indonesian Maritime territory while carrying out activities under Operation Sovereign Borders – all we got was the admission that the navy screwed up and that they had apologised. They haven’t said much else – again there have been calls for transparency, but I doubt that will happen. Mind you in this saga, Tony Abbott hasn’t been seen at all. It’s been Scott Morrison, Julie Bishop and the military guy in charge, Angus Campbell. Maybe Tony Abbott is off fighting fires in South Australia or Victoria – but we would’ve heard about that.

Back to business next week.

The Week That Was – July 14 to July 20

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Well this week was somewhat uneventful, until we got to Friday.

That’s when Kevin Rudd announced his new asylum seeker policy – to settle those who arrive by boat to Papua New Guinea.

I’m assuming that the idea is to thwart people smugglers, who are sending these boats to Australia, as asylum seekers pay them to get here – the idea being that if it’s obviously apparent that paying a people smuggler to get to Australia, when the likelihood of doing so is incredibly low, the smuggling will stop.

Ok. In a way, I get it. It will stop the people smuggling and that’s a good thing. But I was under the impression that if they ended up on christmas island or Nauru, then they were Australia’s responsibility to process and resettle in Australia, not to palm them off to PNG. In return PNG is getting more development aid. It’s one of these things where, until I have more information – which is what I like to have in order to make decisions – I’m not entirely sure whether or not it’s a good policy.

Earlier in the week, those interested were entertained by Mr Tony Abbott’s comments on the emissions trading scheme Kevin Rudd’s government announced, which you can read in Quotes of the Week below. The emissions trading scheme switch is thought to give the budget 4-6 billion dollar-wide hole. Labor’s denying this though. However, businesses like the idea, and it is how Europe is doing it. Oh, and while the carbon tax was something like $25 per tonne, this is a variable rate, depending on the amount you emit.

Other than that, the asylum seekers are rioting on Nauru – I can’t tell why though.

Quotes of the Week

“This is not a true market. Just ask yourself what an emissions trading scheme is all about…It’s a so-called market in the non-delivery of an invisible substance to no-one” – Tony Abbott on an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS)

“I understand this is a very hard-line decision. I understand the different groups in Australia and around the world will see this decision in different ways,but our responsibility as a government is to ensure we have a robust system of border security and orderly migration on the one hand, as well as fulfilling our legal and compassionate obligations under the Refugees’ Convention on the other” – Kevin Rudd on the PNG policy.

Tweet of the Week

The ABC’s Indonesian Correspondent was the one who had to tell asylum seekers what was going on when he came to interview some of them – they hadn’t got the news yet…

Faux Pas of the Week

Say again?