So, its been a year since Tony Abbott became PM, and he’s pretty happy with his government has achieved so far. Tony Abbott, having returned from South East Asia, spent time with his family. The Liberal Party released a two-minute video and a 19-page booklet, while the ALP released a video of their own and Bill Shorten spoke about how Australians shouldn’t be trusting the government.
You may remember at the end of last week’s post, that the media at ICAC were annoyed about the possibility of a suppression order on some pretty good stuff in ICAC evidence – in fact, some of them had seen it. The suppression order was rejected, and so we now know that Peta Credlin was mentioned at ICAC this week. A company wanting to donate to the NSW Liberals (illegal under NSW law) who is believed to have given money to the Free Enterprise Foundation (the Liberal Party’s federal fundraising arm) which was then funnelled to the NSW Liberals. The former NSW Liberal boss emailed Peta Credlin about the company’s CEO and how he was a fan of the Party and Credlin is believed to have contacted him. However, despite this mention in evidence, she is unlikely to be called to appear at ICAC as it is believed that she only contacted him and had no idea about any donations or the funneling into NSW.
The US has begun to plan what it will so about Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) insurgents in Iraq and Syria, with Australia likely to help with airstrikes in regions held by Islamic State. However, the concern is that with this offer to help, Australia could be seen as siding with nations with Shia regimes.
The outgoing head of ASIO, David Irvine, flagged at the start of the week that the terror threat level might be raised from “medium” to “high”. After arrests in Queensland over the last week, and the fact that it looked more and more likely that Australia would help the US in the Middle East, the terror threat level is now at high, making an attack more likely – people are being told to take the threat level seriously, even though there is no specific threat and the main concern is Australians currently in Iraq and Syria.
James Ashby is causing problems after telling 60 Minutes that before the scandal with Peter Slipper came to light he’d met Christopher Pyne three times and the Pyne had promised him a party-paid lawyer and that there would be a job for him after the scandal died down. Pyne says that Ashby misinterpreted the conversation they had. However, other than that comment, the Liberal Party has been trying to distance itself from the whole thing, and are being very difficult when it comes to questions.
The investigators of MH17 have released an interim report about the crash, which states that the flight was completely normal and that there was no emergency call before it disappeared off radar. It suggests that the flight disintegrated in mid-air and that a high-energy object was the reason the plane went down, with the report not telling us what the object was and who was responsible for the object being launched in the first place.
This week also saw Bill Shorten shouting himself hoarse in South Australia, over the possibility that submarines could be built in Japan instead of in Australia, despite promising to keep Australian shipbuilders building Royal Australian Navy vessels. The government has since said that they are considering all of the options, while Bill Shorten spoke at a union rally – going so far as to mention the Second World War and how the Japanese sunk Australian ships.
Julia Gillard appeared at the Trade Union Royal Commission regarding her legal advice to her boyfriend from twenty years ago when he was setting up a union slush fund.
Finally this week, Jose Ramos-Horta criticised the Australian government, concerns are being raised about indigenous offenders and unemployment has dropped thanks to the creation of part-time jobs, but youth unemployment is still very high.
Tweet of the Week
The ABC is setting up a mental health site called Mental As…
Things that I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc
Antony Green looks at the Scottish independence vote – ABC Elections
Two 90-year-old women marry in Iowa – Huffington Post
A Year in Power – ABC Online
Kara L 