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.
The Hat from Texas – from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/hang-onto-your-hat-abbotts-big-in-texas/story-fn59niix-1226954256330
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
Kara L 