The Two Weeks That Were – December 20 to January 2

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Before Christmas, there were a few announcements, starting with the Health Minister announcing that there would be $1 billion in funding to help eradicate Hepatitis C, however the concerns about the bulk billing of pathology are still rife. Then, the Productivity Commission recommended that Sunday penalty rates should be wound back from their current level to the current Saturday penalty rates. Labor and Unions are not impressed by the suggestion, while the Government is trying to distance itself from the recommendations and blame the Productivity Commission, even though they commissioned the report and set the terms of reference for the commission to investigate.

The Adani Abbot Point Coal Terminal in Queensland has been approved by the federal government, with the dredge spoil to be dumped on land and not in the Great Barrier Reef. This could increase export capacity, however there are strict environmental rules Adani has to follow. The other major issue is that Moodys is planning to give the development “junk status” in terms of its financial health, and the government is refusing to give financial assistance at this point, meaning the development may not even go ahead, which would make environmental groups pleased.

After Christmas, a whole heap of negative news was released, presumably in the hope that people wouldn’t notice. First, two ministers have left the frontbench, with Mal Brough – the Special Minister of State – being stood down temporarily until the police investigation into Slippergate is resolved; and Jamie Briggs – the Minister for Cities – has resigned or was forced to resign as a result of an investigation into a complaint made by a female public servant in Hong Kong. The Briggs scandal has grown in recent days, with the revelation that a photo of his Chief of Staff and the public servant (whose face was pixelated) that ended up on the front page of some papers, was taken by Briggs and sent to colleagues by Briggs himself, despite saying he wanted to protect the identity of the woman. Either way, this means that there are now two spots to fill in cabinet. Some think Turnbull should have more women, while others think Tony Abbott should be on the front bench.

The Trade Union Royal Commission has delivered its report, recommending over 40 people to the relevant authorities for further investigation and releasing almost eighty recommendations. The government is saying that the public should be appalled by the level of misbehaviour in the union movement, while Labor and the Unions are suggesting there are just a few bad apples in a very large barrel. Either way it appears that the next election (due this year!) could be run on busting union corruption and other industrial relations issues. This could be interesting to see given the last time an election was run on those issues, its was 20o7, and just after WorkChoices was introduced, which was so poorly received that Labor won convincingly.

Cabinet Documents from 1990 and 1991 have been released, and it is creepily reminiscent of the last year or so. A sluggish economy, issues with submarine building, refugee issues and a war in the Middle East were all from 1990 and 1991 and were still issues in 2015. And hey, two attempts at booting the party leader, with the second being successful? It would appear that Paul Keating and Malcolm Turnbull have something in common – although Keating was behind both in the 1990s and Turnbull appeared to have nothing to do with the first in February 2015.

Finally this fortnight, the people living near the Williamtown RAAF base have been able to speak at a Senate Inquiry, Border Force stopped entry of a French national of arabic background from entering the country earlier in December, Malcolm Turnbull made Dr Who references regarding the TARDIS, and concerns about Childcare reforms are rearing their heads again.

Tweet of the Fortnight

https://twitter.com/hamishNews/status/679413177013022720

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Not much really – it was Christmas.

The ABC News Year in Review (from the 31/12/15) – ABC Online

The Week That Was – October 25 to October 31

For the first time in a long time, Australian politics was quite calm and sensible.

This week a Senate Enquiry was based in the far-western NSW town of Broken Hill, where locals told Senators that the drought and the Murray Darling Basin Plan mean that the town is running out of water. The Darling River is stagnant and there are suggestions that the water was taken too early from Broken Hill’s part of the Murray Darling Basin in order to help those further downstream.

Former Treasurer and MP Joe Hockey’s seat of North Sydney (I live in the electorate) will be going to the polls on December 5th to elect a new member. The seat is safe Liberal, however it has fallen to independents in previous elections. There was drama at the start of the week when a story on 7.30 on the ABC suggested that the guy tipped to be the Liberal Candidate, Trent Zimmerman, was going to get the candidacy because the part executive, including Zimmerman himself, had rejigged the rules meaning that the grassroots members would have no say. He did get pre-selection in the end, which I discovered when Malcolm Turnbull’s voice in a robo-call told me I should vote for Zimmerman. So far, Zimmerman is running in the seat, as is Fred Nile’s wife Silvana Nero for the Christian Democrats and Arthur Chesterfield-Evans will run for the Greens. Labor will not run a candidate, and other prospective candidates have until November 12 to nominate.

Zimmerman spent some time in Chatswood on Saturday with Gladys Berejiklian talking with voters and with the media. Zimmerman is pro-marriage equality and wants more public transport in the electorate. If he wins the seat Zimmerman will become the first openly gay member of the House of Representatives.

While on the topic of elections and voting, Bill Shorten has announced that the Labor party will move to decrease the voting age from 18 to 16. His argument is that at the age of 16 you can join the army, own a gun and some even pay tax, yet they have no say over how the country is run. The Coalition believes that this is a stunt, and a number of vox pops on the ABC News on Saturday night from 16 and 17 year olds suggest that they don’t know much about politics and many said they wouldn’t know who to vote for – and hey, neither do I half the time!

Environmentalists are calling on the government to commit to reducing coal power considerably in time for the Paris conference at the end of the year. The Liberal and Labor parties don’t seem so thrilled with the whole idea, while the Greens are all for it and are arguing the only way to help deal with climate change is if coal is significantly reduced.

Tony Abbott made headlines again this week, speaking at an event at the Margaret Thatcher Centre on what some are calling his “Stop the Boats World Tour”. He spoke about needing to fight ISIS in order to end them and then went on the say that Europe is making a mistake by allowing asylum seekers in, especially those that came by boat. This is despite the fact that the current European Refugee Crisis is on a larger scale than Australia’s refugee issues and critics are encouraging the world to ignore him.

Finally this week, there has been some drama at the Trade Union Royal Commission; Australian doctors had a “day of action” to protest the fact that there are still children in detention, and are also refusing to discharge refugee children in their care, as they are likely to go back to detention; there are debates on whether or not a nuclear waste processing site will be built in South Australia; and Malcolm Turnbull is still a popular people person.

Tweet of the Week

As the North Sydney By-Election begins, I found an amusing and snarky Twitter account that has been giving updates.

https://twitter.com/nthsydneyvotes/status/658419221597065216

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

First Dog on the Moon covers “Biff Bootface” and his trip to ‘Guano Island’ – The Guardian

First Dog on the Moon talks about Abbott’s Margaret Thatcher Centre speech – The Guardian

SBS2’s The Feed’s “Douche of the Week”

The Week that Was – August 30 to September 5

The week hasn’t been that bad for the government, but it hasn’t been fantastic either.

There are rumours that Tony Abbott is being asked to get rid of Treasurer Joe Hockey, meanwhile Hockey has been dealing with some not-so-great growth data and a fall in average national income. On top of that, Abbott is also dealing with the fallout from a blistering New York Times piece about the Australian Government’s treatment of refugees, as well as a gaffe that offended the Jewish community – Abbott said that Islamic State was worse than the Nazis. Abbott, former PM John Howard and others have been in the West Australian seat of Canning as the by-election heats up.

Unions are still concerned about the way the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will affect the labour market, not only for them but for the workers that could be flown in by China. These concerns seem to have been misinterpreted by the government, who keep reminding people that labour mobility was always part of the agreement and then bad mouth the Unions and the Labor Party, calling them racists. On the other hand, you have the Labor Party trying to get people to understand that they are just concerned about it because there doesn’t seem to be that much information about how the labour mobility thing is going to work. Labor has also said that they don’t want the FTA renegotiated, they’re just worried about Australian jobs.

The Royal Commissioner for the Trade Union Royal Commission, Dyson Heydon has ruled that he does not need to recuse himself due to apprehended bias. He’s said that the average fair-minded lay person (which is a legal concept and doesn’t actually exist) would not think he’s biased. Heydon has also pointed out that he can’t use a computer and can only read emails if they’ve been printed out by his assistant.

The plight of the Syrian Refugees is hitting home this week after the image of the drowned toddler went viral. It has leads some Liberal Party figures to speak about how Australia should take in more refugees. Both Mike Baird, the NSW Premier and Craig Laundy, a Federal MP, have called on Abbott to consider letting more refugees in to Australia, particularly from Syria, with Laundy saying that he and his family had talked over dinner about whether or not they would jump on a boat to escape Islamic State and that the family agreed that they probably would. The Prime Minister is keeping his cards close to his chest, while the Greens are demanding that Australia take in 20,000 Syrian refugees.

Finally this week, there will be a Senate Inquiry into the 7-Eleven pay scandal, which will also incorporate United service stations, the citizenship legislation is probably going to be challenged in the High Court, and it’s looking very likely Australia will join the USA in bombing Syria – Oh and Johnny Depp had a go at Barnaby Joyce, which you can see here.

Tweet of the Week

Scott Ludlam on Dyson Heydon’s decision…

"am i biased? i don't think so. nope. not biased. no bias here. as you were. so. those unions, hey?" #turc

— Scott Ludlam (@Scottludlam) August 31, 2015

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

Julia Baird (Host of The Drum on ABC TV) on her cancer diagnosis – New York Times

Michelle Grattan on Abbott and his government – The Conversation

Emma Alberici on how Trump is reminding people of Ronald Reagan’s campaign – ABC The Drum

The Week That Was – August 9 to August 15

This week was a crazy one in politics.

The expenses saga came to an end, with Tony Smith being elected speaker on Monday. He says that he will be different, starting with the fact that he will not sit in on party meetings, and that he will help make real change in parliament. He also apologised to Tony Abbott, admitting that he had friends from the other side of politics. The thing is, Smith was not Abbott’s first choice, but Scott Morrison’s  – or at least that’s the rumour. Meanwhile the expenses inquiry is again being talked about, as the Greens call for an independent Integrity Commissioner and it becomes apparent that there is a disconnect between the politicians and the public.

Once the drama with Bronwyn Bishop was over, the Liberal Party had a marathon meeting on Monday night after the topic of same-sex marriage came up. The meeting, which some have described as poorly managed, resolved – with two-thirds majority – to keep the same policy to what Howard legislated in 2004 that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Furthermore, Abbott apparently had a “captain’s pick” moment and announced that there would be a plebiscite or referendum on the issue at or after the next election. There are issues with this however both legal and political. Legally, it is pointless as our marriage laws are an Act of Parliament, not enshrined in our constitution, as Ireland’s was. Politically, as Malcolm Turnbull pointed out, it will continue to distract from the Liberal Party’s policies and reforms.

Another drama this week came when it was revealed that Justice Dyson Heydon, the Commissioner for the Trade Union Royal Commission agreed to attend and speak at a Liberal Party fundraiser. He has since dropped out of the event, however it has led to Labor pointing to perceived bias, if not bias itself. Justice Heydon has said that he did not know it was a party fundraiser, and released a statement saying that people in his office made it clear to organisers that if it was a party fundraiser, Heydon would not be able to attend. Labor wants to see this correspondence, and until they do, they’ll probably run the “of he not biased, then he looks it” line.

The costings for the Government’s environment policies are not due out until 2017, however some information has leaked out, suggesting that the 26-28% reduction will not affect coal industries and will most likely be done through the cheapest means possible. The IPCC is worried about the plans and Labor wants to see the government’s modelling before they show people theirs.

Abbott rounded out one of the worst week’s he’s possibly ever had by trying to make the upcoming 2016 election about trust and the environment, with Abbott talking about how “every election is about trust” and how we only have one planet. This was not received well by the people in my house, with comments about his competency and the agreement with the Labor speakers on the news that Abbott is trying desperately to save his job.

Finally this week, Abbott has had some trouble adjusting to the new speaker, as he referred to Smith as “Madam Speaker” at least once this week, it has been announced that the 2016 Census is going to be carried out primarily online, the Hutchison Ports Wharf workers are due to head back to work after the Fair Work Commission said that they’d been fired unfairly, the world celebrates the end of WWII in the Pacific and there is talk that we are to get involved in airstrikes in Syria.

Tweet of the Week

Abbott took part in the City2Surf last Sunday

https://twitter.com/MarkDiStef/status/630260742285955073

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

NSW and Victoria have a go at each other over Victoria’s new branding – Buzzfeed

New Media Adventures in Oz – ABC Radio National

Jacqui Lambie’s revelation about her son – ABC News

Penny Wong and Joe Hockey meet outside the ABC radio booth on Tuesday morning after the same-sex marriage decision in the Liberal Party room:

The Week That Was – December 14 to December 20

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

Thanks for protecting my sisters #illridewithyou pic.twitter.com/Qy9l0lN1qB

— Angger (she/her) (@anggerwitasari) December 15, 2014

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

The Week That Was – September 28 to October 4

It’s official. Australia is going to Iraq to take part in US airstrikes against Islamic State (IS, aka ISIS/ISIL). At the beginning of the week, while waiting for confirmation, Australian troops were doing practice flights in the UAE and reconnaissance flights over Iraq. The government has not considered Syria yet, and may decide not to go there in the end. However, according to the government, we’re not going to war, we’re going to help a humanitarian mission – despite this the ABC has been using the term ‘war’, so go figure. Australia’s tactical advisors are yet to begin working in Iraq as they haven’t been given their diplomatic immunity, but apparently that will happen soon. Meanwhile, raids were carried out in Melbourne by Victoria Police and the AFP. There was one person arrested and charged for sending money to finance terror organisations. The police say it had noting to do with the young man killed last week, and that the FBI tipped them off about the guy.

At the end of this week, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate President decided to force women wearing burqas or niqabs to sit behind the glass walled part of the public gallery, usually reserved for school groups. This “security measure”, as they’re calling it, has been criticised by most people, arguing that it treats Muslim women as second-class citizens, with some calling it religious apartheid. On Friday, Tony Abbott spoke with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Bronwyn Bishop and asked her to reconsider the decision.

That mysterious thing called the budget is still haunting the government, as they try to figure out new ways to save money that won’t upset the Opposition, and will allow for the changes to go through. There is talk of lowering the income limit for tax benefits, as well as fiddling with the large family tax benefit. In the meantime, they’ve also got to find cuts in order to have money to fight in Iraq and fund new terror laws, though getting through a hostile senate may be a challenge, especially if Clive Palmer and the PUP decide not to support the changes the government decides to make.

This week, Scott Morrison announced an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse by guards at the Detention Centre in Nauru, after saying earlier this week that he would be “pretty damn cross” if the allegations are true. However, the investigation is also looking into whether or not the children’s charity Save the Children is orchestrating the claims or encouraging asylum seekers to make such allegations.

As the Ebola outbreak continues in Africa, and with the news of the first person being diagnosed of the disease on US soil, officials are moving to quell the fear here. Australia is at low risk, and while airports are on alert and have the capacity to send suspected Ebola cases to hospitals, we shouldn’t be overly concerned. They’ve also pointed out that in Australia, we have the resources to deal with a patient with Ebola.

In other news, the move to fully privatise Medibank is gaining momentum, with advertising now letting people know that they can register their interest in buying shares in the health fund. While some are happy with the move, there are concerns that jobs could be at risk, premiums will go up, and what happens to the many Australians that picked Medibank due to its link with the government. Also, the Trade Union Royal Commission continued this week with bribery allegations against the MUA, as well as the implication of the CFMEU in activities with crime bosses.

Finally this week, Australia Network stopped transmission into the Asia Pacific, and Australian citizen was killed in Afghanistan, and it turns out some Australian companies are not paying the amount of tax they should be.

Tweets of the Week

ICYMI – Hong Kong has been crippled by protests. But they are some of the most well-behaved and polite protesters you will ever see…

They recycle:

Tidiest mass demonstrations ever seen…the recycling continues Thursday morning in Hong Kong. pic.twitter.com/q5ggWEtgjz

— Brian Hutchinson (@hutchwriter) October 2, 2014

They apologise for barricading train stations:

Broken windows, vandalised cars & littered streets- u won't find that in Hong Kong's protests http://t.co/Rh8RyKt3yp pic.twitter.com/ww81jFgkqV

— Paavan Mathema (@paavan11) September 30, 2014

They shield the cops from the rain:

What a photo: Hong Kong's protest is a bit…different. MT @AngusGrigg: the world's politest… pic.twitter.com/0VPxw7pbZH

— Gady Epstein (@gadyepstein) October 1, 2014

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

California adopts “Yes means Yes” consent legislation – TIME Magazine

Only in Australia…Bushfire training for journalists – ABC Backstory

How to Comment – The Not Adam

The Week That Was – September 14 to September 20

This week saw more information about Australian Defence Force personnel heading to the Middle East. 600 Australian troops will be stationed in the United Arab Emirates, and could be there for quite some time. It’s mainly air force and some tactical staff that we’re sending for this round’s “coalition of the willing”, along with the UAE, Bahrain, France, the UK and Saudi Arabia and it’s unclear when they’ll return. It will cost the country half a billion dollars and there are concerns this coalition could play into Islamic State (aka ISIS/ISIL) hands. Tony Abbott is still calling Islamic State a “death cult”, while Greens Leader Christine Milne is suggesting that we are once again blindly following the US into battle. Other concerns include the absence of an exit strategy, and the fact that the US is calling this a ‘war’ while Australia is not.

Late in the week, it was announced that raids had been carried out across Sydney and Brisbane, after a terrorist plot was uncovered in which people were to be abducted off the street and executed by a group with links to ISIS. 15 people were arrested and two were charged with terror offences, with all but one no longer in custody. The government hasn’t been entirely clear on whether or not this plot was the reason for last week’s rise in the terror threat level, but were are being told to keep calm and carry on. Tony Abbott also told people that all they needed for a terrorist attack of this kind is a knife, an iPhone and a victim – probably wasn’t the best idea to give a how-to guide. There has also been suggestion that Parliament House, along with other tourist destinations, while the US uses Australia’s raids as an example of why they have to go deal with ISIS.

There are also new terror laws being tabled to allow police more powers. These amendments to national security laws want to change the wording so that authorities can act when they “reasonably suspect” something will happen as opposed to them only acting when it is reasonably believed that something will occur. Entire nations could become no-go zones, punishable by 10 years in prison, and people suspected of going to fight can have 21-day suspensions of their passports.

The Muslim community is a bit concerned though, because in the last decade or two, whenever Muslim extremists start planning anything and get caught for it, the rest of the well-behaved, law-abiding members of the Muslim community are the ones that cop all of the abuse, racism and xenophobia from the rest of us. It also doesn’t help when people like Cory Bernardi tweet things like this:

https://twitter.com/corybernardi/status/512381674881949696

Tony Abbott finally made true on his promise about spending a week in Arnhem Land, even if he though he might have had to leave early. He was invited by clan leaders, and was planning to talk with them about issues they have, such as land rights, housing and recognition. They have said they don’t just want the PM to listen and have some photo opportunities, they want action. Unemployment is high, and clan leaders want constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians. However, while the PM promised to lay out a timeline soon, the referendum may not take place until 2017. Also, it’s been proved that the government can be based in a remote area for a week and not fall apart.

This week also saw Scott Morrison talk about the success of Operation Sovereign Borders one year in. The government turned back 12 boats of asylum seekers, most in the vessel they were intercepted with, except for four groups of asylum seekers, who were sent back in orange lifeboats. Tanya Plibersek has criticised the government for gloating about it.

Finally this week, Julia Gillard and Bill Shorten were mentioned at the Trade Union Royal Commission, Australia is increasing aid funding for fighting Ebola and the Russians were at the G20 Finance Ministers’ Meeting.

Tweet of the Week

Now we know who was running the spoof Mia Freedman account:

https://twitter.com/mckinnon_a/status/512115740069994497

Things I’ve been Reading/Watching/Listening etc

The power of words and censoring them – ABC The Drum

Why men still run newsrooms – The Conversation

Victorian men charged with gay sex crimes will be exonerated – ABC News

The Week That Was – September 7 to September 13

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…

This is a reinvention of the ABC's logo, "through the eyes of schizophrenia." And it's freakin' awesome #MentalAs pic.twitter.com/FTZKYVmcwA

— Dr Luke Buckmaster (@lukebuckmaster) September 10, 2014

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

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