The Week That Was – August 24 to August 30

This government may be record holders. It’s been over three months since the budget was announced and they’re yet to get their big-ticket items through Parliament. Admittedly, they’ve got appropriation bills through, but they just keep everything up and running. Key ministers and figures have been threatening that they will start doing things that don’t require legislation to save money, which the Opposition is calling blackmail and it appears that the co-payment could be waived when children go for vaccinations. For some reason, this government likes equating the current economic situation with things like bushfires and melanomas, as if that is going to scare us or the opposition into accepting the changes. Meanwhile, the Opposition continues to demand the government drop the budget entirely and start again and some government backbenchers have spoken out against the co-payment and other budget measures they don’t like. Speaking of the co-payment, Clive Palmer has announced his party will not support it, and will not compromise. He’s also apologised to China for his comments last week.

The government announced last week plans to allow around 4,000 Iraqi and Syrian refugees to come to Australia “through the front door”, however concerns have been raised about who will be allowed to come. There are a large number of Iraqis and Syrians in Australia who still have family in the region, who want the government to allow their family members to come, and other concerns have been raised over the fact that the 4,000 or so spots are part of the 13,000 yearly quota set by the government and not an addition to the quota.

Australia may also help the US with strikes against the Islamic State (IS – formerly known as ISIS/ISIL), with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) mobilising and the PM and Defence Minister both saying that while we haven’t been asked yet, we’ll be happy to help. The bulk of the Opposition supports this but there are a few Labor MPs and senators as well as the Greens, who are not so sure about military action.

University Open Days began this weekend, and understandably, prospective students are concerned about the future costs of higher education. There is concern that the Group of 8 Universities might drop nursing degrees, which don’t make much money. This has been denied, as has the possible price hike, with universities saying that they aren’t trying to gouge money from people, they just want to keep a high standard of education. The Nationals are also concerned, with requests that if the money the universities make do go into scholarships, that more scholarships should be available to regional students.

Tony Abbott has done his fair share of annoying people this week, with his comment that the defining moment in Australia’s history is white settlement, saying British settlement made Australia what is today and equated the first Governor, Gov. Arthur Phillip, to George Washington. Abbott is also in trouble for using cancer patients to make it ok for him to go to a private function on taxpayers’ money. He was at a private function in Melbourne on Monday night and visited the cancer research centre on Tuesday morning, meaning he was late to a Cabinet meeting.  The Attorney-General George Brandis has also been annoying people. He went to a meeting with Muslim community leaders, was an hour late, and the community leaders felt their concerns about the terrorism law changes (mainly about the targeting of those in the Muslim community) weren’t really being heard.

Julie Bishop was in Indonesia this week signing the “Joint Understanding Code of Conduct” on the sidelines of something to do with the UN. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono watched on, and now it appears that both Australia and Indonesia are happy.

This week, the World Congress of Families held their event at Catch the Fire Ministries after being cancelled on by every other venue they’d booked. Kevin Andrews pulled out of his appearance, as did a Victorian State Liberal MP. There were protesters outside, and one even got into the hall where the meeting was being held. NSW State MP Fred Nile of the Christian Democrats was there, and was interviewed by an ABC journalist. He implied that the people inside the room were on God’s side and that the protesters outside were on the Devil’s side, then told the ABC and SBS that they had to make a choice about where they stand – despite the fact the ABC is meant to be impartial and have no views.

Finally this week, a memorial might be set up in the grounds of Parliament House for Australians killed in MH17, the Trade Union Royal Commission got interesting when it was revealed that Kathy Jackson from the HSU and the HSU’s barrister at the commission had an affair, Julia Gillard had been summoned to the Royal Commission and Tony Abbott was also at the National Party Council this weekend and said that the Coalition has “saved Australia”.

Tweet of the Week

The World Congress of Families event was on Saturday – and they mentioned NSW State MP for Sydney

A World Congress of Families statement referred to me as a "sexual radical"… Husband got excited #wcf

— Alex Greenwich MP (@AlexGreenwich) August 30, 2014

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

With Gammy making world headlines, the partner of a surrogate in the US shared her story – The Advocate

Zach Stafford tries to make sense of the white cop shooting black men scenarios – The Guardian

 

The Week That Was – May 4 to May 10

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…

"I don't know who these bludgers are who say working til 70 would be tough, do you?" http://t.co/v9CB64F2Fb—
Bernard Keane (@BernardKeane) May 09, 2014

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 Week That Was – March 30 to April 5

So this week was pretty busy too for politics what with Western Australia going back to the polls to re-elect their six senators – Louise Pratt copped judgement for voting below the line and putting herself first – but hey, she has every right to do that and that is how she decided to vote.

The week began with a protest from Qantas workers who are upset that 5000 jobs are going. They are threatening to engage in civil disobedience, but have said that they will warn customers and the public if they plan on doing anything, unlike Alan Joyce when he just decided to ground Qantas flights back in 2011. They have support from some politicians as well, with Bob Katter and Tanya Plibersek attending their protest. Labor has been giving the government a hard time about all these job losses, given they promised to create them, asking if any of the one million jobs they have pledged to create will be in Australia.

We’re starting to hear about the budget a little bit as it gets closer and closer to May. The government has been saying that it’s going to be tough because according to Tony Abbott, “Labor booby-trapped the budget. Labor booby-trapped the budget” – Yes, he did say it twice – and that means its going to be a tough one. Labor seems to think that isn’t the case, and is saying the government is being over dramatic in order to get away with making huge cuts. To be quite honest I would not be surprised – given that booby-trapping a budget would have been quite difficult if it is computer based – maybe it had a virus…

The International Court of Justice in the Hague has ruled that Japan’s Southern Ocean whaling expeditions are not for scientific purposes as the Japanese have claimed. The court ruling is final, but the Japanese are expected to continue whaling in the Northern Pacific Ocean because they can. But it is a win for Australia and most, if not all, Australians are pretty happy about it.

Also this week, the government is being accused of moving asylum seekers for their own purposes – and not good ones. According to the government, Villawood Detention centre is being renovated and that means the asylum seekers inside need to be moved. The issue is that there are some asylum seekers at Villawood who are suing the government for protection because of a bungle a few months ago that saw their information put on the Dept of Immigration website, and their court cases are due to start this and/or next week. These asylum seekers are being moved to Curtin Detention Centre in a remote part of northern WA, which has what has set off the conspiracy alarms. The suggestion is that the government is moving them to a remote centre on the other side of the country, where there is limited communications and the possibility of not having contact with their lawyers, such that they will voluntarily leave Australia and return home or drop the cases. There were protests outside Villawood Detention Centre on Friday and Saturday, with people blocking the entries on Friday and others clashing with police on Saturday.

Also this week, Angus Houston was put in charge of the Australian-run search for MH370 and Tony Abbott has promised to look for as long as is possible for the flight, the Malaysian PM also came to visit to check on how it was going and to say thank you, Arthur Sinodinos suffered from ICAC Memory Loss Disorder and the ICAC was gatecrashed.

Tweet of the Week

There was mention that the guy who gatecrashed ICAC is a serial pest….

Is a "Cereal Pest" someone who leaves only a few crumbs in the box? #ICAC @Kate_McClymont

— Steve Williams (@therandomswill) April 4, 2014

Stuff I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

A dating site in the US prevented Mozilla Firefox users from entering their site before they read a letter about how the Mozilla CEO was homophobic – SFGate

But was this an overreach by activists? – The Advocate

The Week That Was – December 8 to December 14

I’ve resigned myself to the fact that politics is going to be a lot busier with Tony Abbott at the helm – so I’ve started taking notes.

This week there was a new NewsPoll – the Coalition is down 48 to 52 against Labor in two-party preferred. Admittedly, given there is no election until 2016 – unless a double dissolution is called – the Coalition has plenty of time to sort themselves out. This week, after cutting a deal with the Greens – yes, the GREENS – the Coalition has abolished the debt ceiling. Labor wasn’t impressed, and they’ve been saying that the government is playing Russian Roulette with a loaded gun.

This week also saw Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten in South Africa for Mandela’s memorial service. Abbott said some decent, relatively sage things. While the Prime Minister was away, Warren Truss ran the joint and did pretty well. However, he may have contributed to a not-so-nice early Christmas present to the car industry.

Holden is leaving Australia by the end of 2017. Warren Truss was demanding an answer from Holden, and they replied. This will leave Toyota as the last car maker in Australia, and they could go to. It seems from some reports that Tony Abbott just assumes that Toyota will just stay forever, but I could be misunderstanding. The government cars (which are from Holden) are being replaced too. The new cars will be from BMW. If you ask me, the government should be buying cars from Toyota that are made in Australian factories. For now though, Tony Abbott is trying to put together a compensation package for the Holden workers and affiliated component makers.

The bad news keeps on coming. The High Court ruled that the ACT same-sex marriage law is at odds with the federal marriage law. The couples that did get a chance to marry are disappointed but they aren’t too bitter – they knew it was a possibility. If you remember last week, I did the maths and found that 12.5% of Australia allows same-sex marriage compared with 30% of the USA. Well, the USA is still at 30%, and Australia is back to zero.

This week also saw the Coalition wanting to take back money from Childcare to put into training instead of pay packets, a bit of COAG and the NBN or Coalition equivalent is going to take forever to come. Oh well, hopefully it will all settle down as Christmas gets closer…

Tweet of the Week

Kate Ellis (Labor MP for Adelaide) retweeted this:

There's more than one MP who cd spend a few hours with 2 or 3 toddlers to see what it's like. And then ask them abt taking a pay raise away.

— Stephanie Peatling (@srpeatling) December 10, 2013

What I’ve Been Reading/Listening/Watching etc.

Tea Party-like fun is not (yet) in Australia, thank goodness – ABC Drum Online

The Phobie Awards – The Advocate Online