It would appear that this week has been international summit week, with Tony Abbott attending three summits. The first was APEC in Beijing, where Abbott met Putin on the sidelines, and China probably had way too much fun, placing Putin and Abbott next to each other or near each other at every opportunity. They were sat next to each other at the roundtable and Abbott was placed behind Putin in the “Family Photo” (called that because they all get a photo in the requisite costume). The big thing at APEC was the US-China emissions deal. Abbott then headed to Myanmar for the ASEAN Summit, where he discussed regional security and economy and met Aung Sun Suu Kyi.
Brisbane was shut down for the G20, security was tight, and 19 world leaders came to visit. Russia decided to send ships round to the Coral Sea as a show of force, and climate change was forced onto the G20 agenda thanks to the US-China deal. There was a retreat in Queensland Parliament and Tony Abbott had some words to start their conversation, which included complaining about how he couldn’t get his policies through.
Other than that, they’ve discussed Ebola, the economy, climate change (or at least, Obama made pointed comments that appeared to be aimed at Abbott) and took a family picture, albeit without the APEC costumes. The “wives club” got to cuddle koalas on Saturday.
Australian troops have finally started to head to Iraq, and it appears that Obama may want Australia to send more, but there hasn’t been a specific request yet. They will only be there in an advisory role, helping with tactics and training, but they could be there for a few years.
The Palmer United Party is in turmoil following Jacqui Lambie’s promise to block all government legislation because of a below-inflation wage raise. Clive Palmer and the PUP executive expelled Lambie’s Chief of Staff from the party, called Lambie a “dram queen” and dared her to challenge him for leader. Lambie told Palmer expelling her Chief of Staff from the party was a low blow and that he should take shots at her and not her staff. Lambie is a unique senator, and sometimes says some interesting things, but her interview with Leigh Sales on 7:30 during the week was sensible, coherent and reasoned. There is fear that the PUP could split, which could possibly make the government’s job more difficult as they will have to negotiate with more people.
The government is still trying to pass their university fee legislation, and are hoping to pass it by Christmas. However if it doesn’t, they may have to push back the start date to 2017. Christopher Pyne has told people that the number of university applications are up, which he says shows that people aren’t worried about the new legislation. However, given that next year’s students won’t be affected by the fee deregulation, my money is on the fact that people are getting in to uni without massive fees while they still can.
Finally this week, there are concerns about how Somali workers are going to send money home now that banks are stopping transfers to Somalia because they can’t guarantee that the money isn’t going to terror groups, there was a memorial in Amsterdam for the MH17 victims, and former Queensland Premier Wayne Goss has died.
Tweets of the Week
Things I’ve Been Looking at Online
Concerns about the university assignment black market – SMH
Controversy surrounding the ABC’s airing of a skit about Abbott vs. Putin on 7:30 – The Australian
The CIA ruins people’s fun by telling people how Argo got it wrong
Kara L 