Abbott's gay sister is engaged

Totes awkward at family dinners.  News

Action man Abbott helps out RFS

Also poses for a few photos

Abbott Government: Week 5 in review

What new ways has Tony found to ruin Australia this week?

• Government at odds with IMF over carbon pricing
• Number of women on opposition front bench is 11x greater than on Tony's
• George Brandis' $13,000 bookshelf is too big to fit in his office
• Tony releases carbon repeal bill, urges Labor to 'repent' on carbon
• Govt floats the idea of flogging off the HECS debt
• Backbencher Don Randall buys an investment house, like everyone else in Australia.
• The cops are called over expenses. They decline to probe further
• Billionaire Twiggy Forest gets offered a job heading a review into Indigenous employment.
• Abbott revokes clean energy grants, saying 'you didn't say no takebacks'
• Temporary Protection Visas return 
• Tony Abbott proposes digging up the dead, reburying them in Canberra

A little quieter than previous weeks, sure, its tough work being Tory.

Bring out your dead

Prime Minister Tony Abbott proposes national war cemetery for Canberra. Senior members of the Returned Services League (RSL) have poured cold water on the idea. "I would be horrified at the thought of people proposing to dig up and uproot graves of people that are long dead or recently dead," he said. ABC

TPVs are back

The Federal Government has officially re-introduced the Howard-era temporary protection visas (TPV) in a bid to deter more boat arrivals.

Under the Migration Act, the visa gives refugees protection for up to three years and prevents the visa holder from applying for permanent protection. ABC

Should have said "no takebacks"

Abbott to revoke $53m clean energy grants.  Guardian

Jobs for billionaires

Mining magnate Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest will head a review initiated by the Federal Government into Indigenous employment and training programs. Indigenous Times

Update: police not probing Abbott, Brandis

thanks for that headline, Courier Mail

Federal Police called over expenses

A federal Labor MP has formally asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate the travel claims of the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General "as a matter of urgency". ABC

Scraping around the bottom of the backbench barrel

Another Liberal expenses fiddler: Don Randall checks out an investment home in Cairns on the taxpayer dollar ABC

Government to flog off HECS debt

The Government has not commented on claims in the West Australian newspaper that it could look at privatising some of the more than $20 billion it is owed through HECS at the upcoming Commission of Audit. ABC

Abbott urges ALP to repent on carbon

Draft legislation released.  Abc

George Brandises library

His $13000 bookshelf is too big to move into his new office. Fairfax

11:1

that's the number of women in shadow cabinet compared to in Government. ABC

Abbott set for carbon clash with IMF

THE Abbott government is heading for a clash with the International Monetary Fund and the OECD over its plans to abolish the carbon tax.

The leaders of both institutions have strongly endorsed carbon pricing and will report on steps being taken to introduce it in their assessments of member economies. "Our message to finance ministers is you can raise your revenue by doing the right thing, and by the same token you are going to also take care of the future of your grand children," IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said at the fund's annual meeting in Washington. Australian

Abbott Government: Week 4 in review

A relatively quiet second  half of the week as Abbott seeks to consolidate progress made on ruining Australia.

• In the wake of rortgate, Abbott rules out reform on MP expenses
• Tony and Mal Brough take home the silverware at the Ernies
• Clive Palmer thinks he has Abbott on the ropes, legislatively speaking
• Abbott speaks of his desire for three Free Trade Agreements in 12 months. And a pony.
• Scott Morrison takes a break from hoping people don't notice any boats to hoping people won't notice he paid back expenses.
• Soon afterwards the Coalition claimed GREAT SUCCESS as only one boat arrived this week.
• Scott also convinced some asylum seekers that the Coalition has made Australia so terrible, they went back where they came from.
• Everyone loves a good expenses scandal, even the Poms.
• George "I'm a QC you know" Brandis confirms the Government feels threatened by gay marriage and will challenge the ACT's prospective laws.

Brandis confirms challenge to ACT gay marriage

Attorney-General George Brandis described the territory laws on Thursday as ''a threat'' to the ''well-established position'' that marriage laws should be nationally consistent and were the domain of the Commonwealth.

Senator Brandis informed the ACT government of the legal challenge in a phone call on Wednesday night before confirming the move at a meeting of state and territory attorneys-general on Thursday.

Fairfax

View from abroad: Torygraph

Tony Abbott, Australia’s prime minister, has defended his use of tens of thousands of dollars of parliamentary expenses to attend weddings and sporting events, saying MPs should not be “prisoners of their offices”. Tele UK

Go back where you came from

So sayeth Scott.

Boatwatch

Just the one according to the drip feed of information the public is allowed. News