Blog pause

This suppository is closed until January.

Nauru asylum centre 'better than mining camps'

Foreign Minister Julia Bishop has described conditions at the Nauru immigration processing centre as being better than those of most Australian mining camps.

Ms Bishop's comments follow a damning UNHCR report last month, which said the centre was not appropriate for asylum seeker families and their children.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-19/an-bishop-says-nauru-better-than-mining-camps/5168144

Abbott flags changes to parental leave scheme

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has signalled his signature multi-billion dollar paid parental leave scheme may face changes, as the Government works to have it passed by the Senate.

The Federal Government has come under pressure to scale back the scheme, given the dire economic forecasts it released yesterday in the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-12-18/abbott-flags-changes-to-paid-parental-leave/5164870

Hockey reveals budget blowout

The Abbott Government's first budget statement has revealed an economy in dire trouble with historically deep deficits, more people out of work, slower wage growth and massive revenue write-downs.

Treasurer Joe Hockey has unveiled the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) in Canberra, warning that wasteful spending will have to be "eliminated" but that Australians will also wear some hip-pocket pain. ABC

Immigration Health Advisory Group cut

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has dismissed criticism of a decision to axe an independent committee that provides advice on the health needs of asylum seekers as "a complete beat-up".

The Immigration Health Advisory Group (IHAG) was established in 2006 but all of the group's members except the current chair, Dr Paul Alexander, have now been sacked. ABC

Abbott Government: Week 13 in review

Missed some posts so this is a bit of a catchup.

• Holden to stop making cars in Australia, Abbott says no bailout
• High Court says no to ACT gay marriage laws
• Royal Commission into union slush funds
• Concerns over Abbott delegating environmental approvals back to the states
• Abbott hosts COAG
• Aged care workers pay rise is cancelled
• Something about Qantas
• Abbott: a gentle smack can be good for children
• Peta Credlin rules Abbott office with an iron fist

High Court throws out ACT's same-sex marriage laws

The High Court unanimously ruled that the ACT's laws were inconsistent with the Federal Marriage Act, and were therefore unconstitutional.

The ruling is a victory for the Commonwealth, which had launched the appeal against the laws. ABC

No pay rise for aged care workers after Coalition scraps Workforce Compact fund

Thousands of aged care workers will miss out on an expected pay rise after the Federal Government dumped a $1.2 billion fund set up by Labor. ABC

Abbott Government: Week 12 in review

• The Government does another 180 on Gonski funding,
• news.com.au photoshops Tony Abbott as the Grinch.
• Coalition MPs attack the ABC.
• Joe Hockey hops in bed with Christine Milne, to do a debt deal.
• Ian McDonald goes off message to criticise the PM's office.
• Julie Bishop goes to Indonesia and says some things about cooperating
• Meanwhile T-Abbs says the spying will continue
• Tony is also very angry at Holden for having everyone on tenterhooks, says they won't get any extra money now.

Holden won't get extra money, says Tony Abbott

Responding to another round of speculation that Holden will shortly quit its Australian assembly operations, Tony Abbott told 3AW on Friday the government would appreciate clarity from the company: “I do wish that Holden would clarify their intentions because at the moment they've got everyone on tenterhooks.”

Abbott said there would be no extra money for Holden “over and above the generous support the taxpayers have been giving the motor industry for a long time”. Guardian AU

Abbott says spying will continue

Mr Abbott on Friday said Australia had not given any undertakings not to spy on Indonesia, in the wake of the espionage row that has seen the diplomatic relationship between Jakarta and Canberra sink to its lowest point in more than a decade.

The comments come after Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, following high-level talks with Dr Natalegawa on Thursday, said Australia would "not undertake any act or use our assets and resources, including intelligence assets, in any way to harm Indonesia". Fairfax

Julie Bishop diplomatic superstar

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has agreed Australia will adhere to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's six-point roadmap to restore relations between the two countries, and also to set up a “hotline” to manage the details of Indonesia's withdrawal of co-operation.

Ms Bishop brought a high-level delegation of bureaucrats and advisers to meet Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natelegawa on Thursday, to begin, in her words, to “restore the relationship” after damage caused by phone-tapping revelations. Fairfax

LNP Senator criticises Abbott advisers 'obsessive control'

Tony Abbott's senior advisers have copped strident criticism from a long-standing Liberal National Senator, who has accused them of having an "obsessive centralised control phobia" over Government business.
Queensland Senator Ian Macdonald made the comments in the Senate this morning in relation to the arrangements for an inquiry into the economy of northern Australia. ABC

Joe Hockey cuts deal with Greens to scrap debt ceiling

Strange bedfellows. Fairfax

Coalition MPs attack ABC

SPEAKER Bronwyn Bishop has taken aim at the ABC, accusing the national broadcaster of not sticking to its charter requiring it to be fair and balanced.The attack came during a meeting of Coalition MPs.
At the meeting, South Australian Senator Cory Bernardi said the ABC was a "taxpayer-funded behemoth" that does not need four TV channels.
He said the ABC should not be privatised but needed to be reformed because "it is not our ABC". He said the ABC was "cannibalising" commercial media, a claim rejected by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull. News ltd

"Grinch" Abbott

In which news.com.au photoshops Tony as the Grinch.

TONY Abbott today told his troops they will be stuck in Parliament until close to Christmas Eve if Labor doesn't bow to the Government's legislative program.The Prime Minister said he wanted to "ramp up the pressure" on the Labor Opposition, whom he accused of being in denial. News ltd

Govt changes mind again, honours Gonski deals

The Government has moved to quash criticism that it was breaking a promise over schools funding, announcing it will honour Labor's Gonski commitments for four years and boost spending to those states that had not signed up by $1.2 billion. ABC

Abbott Government: week 11 in review

• Chris Pyne washes his hands of Gonski
• The Indonesian President writes back to Tony Abbott
• The plug gets pulled from drug and alcohol assistance
• Julie Bishop annoys China
• Joe Hockey offers billions for states to sell off assets
• Nothing says I'm sorry like an old C-130
• Hockey decides the national interest coincides with the Nationals interest
• Someone got a hold of Abbott's Oxford grades
• Tony Abbott quibbles over what a promise really means

We never promised, says Tony

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says the Coalition will honour election promises it has made, not those voters "thought" it was making.

ABC