Royal commission into unions

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has announced a royal commission into union governance and corruption to "shine a spotlight into the dark corners" of the union movement.

It will be headed by the former High Court Justice Dyson Hayden.

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-10/government-announces-royal-commission-into-union-corruption/5249898

Week in Review: 9 February

Resuming normal service:

• Youtube suspends Tony Abbott's account
• the Liberals raked in $13m in donations last cycle
• a question mark is raised over penalty rates
• Joe Hockey tells us to prepare for cuts
• No really he means it, too many tax dollars spent on handouts
• a lifeboat lands on the Indonesian coast
• Brandis v Human Rights Commission

Change to law governing Human Rights Commission

Federal Attorney-General George Brandis is planning to legislate reforms for the Human Rights Commission amid concerns it focuses too heavily on anti-discrimination issues.
Senator Brandis has previously criticised the commission for being too narrow and selective in its view of human rights.
He says he will introduce legislation into Parliament this year to ensure the commission carries out the role it was designed for.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-09/government-plans-legislation-to-change-human-rights-commission/5248006

Hockey says individuals, business sector must 'stand on own feet'

Treasurer Joe Hockey has given his strongest warning yet that the May budget will contain cuts to welfare, warning "too many tax dollars" have been spent on family payments as well as corporate handouts.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-06/hockey-economy-speech/5243310

Lifeboat carrying asylum seekers lands on Indonesia coast

Asylum seekers discovered last night on the Indonesian coast say they were nearly ready to disembark at Christmas Island when the Australian Navy sent them back.

The ABC has obtained exclusive footage of an orange lifeboat after it landed on Java's south coast last night.

Local police have described the vessel as alien-looking.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-06/lifeboat-carrying-asylum-seekers-lands-on-indonesia-coast/5243990

Hockey lays ground for cuts

Treasurer Joe Hockey has signalled an early release of the Commission of Audit’s findings, and argued the public needs to understand the magnitude of the task facing the government if it is going to support the necessary budget cuts.

http://www.afr.com/p/national/hockey_lays_ground_for_cuts_KF85IKpfopp7oyN79jDn5H

Coalition questions relevance of penalty rates

The Abbott Government has asked a major review of workplace awards to assess whether minimum terms and conditions, including penalty rates, are still relevant.

The Government is also encouraging the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to take the cost of labour into account when reviewing the awards which set basic terms and conditions.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-04/coalition-questions-relevance-of-modern-awards/5238298

Political donors gave Liberals $13 million

Figures for the last financial year show the Liberal Party's national and state divisions received more than $13 million in donations, while Labor was given $3.6 million.

Ros Packer, widow of the late media magnate Kerry and mother to gambling tycoon James Packer, was the biggest individual donor in the 2012-2013 financial year, giving a total of $580,000 to the Liberal Party.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-03/liberal-pre-election-political-donations-outstrip-labor/5234544

YouTube suspends Abbott's account

Soon after it was released, the Prime Minister's video was suspended by YouTube after social media users claimed it contained 'deceptive content'.

YouTube's guidelines state videos are reviewed when "a video gets flagged as inappropriate". YouTube then suspended Mr Abbott's entire account.

http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/youtube-suspends-prime-minister-tony-abbotts-youtube-account/story-fn5j66db-1226816451591

Lifeboat sent back to Indonesia

The fully enclosed and submersible 8.5m x 3.2m survival capsule, fitted with safety belts, navigational equipment, life jackets, food, water and an inboard diesel motor, came ashore in remote Cikepuh, in West Java, on the afternoon of January 15.

The asylum-seekers - said to be mostly Iranian and Sri Lankan - told the husband and wife the Indonesians jumped out close to shore and handed the controls to an Iranian, who ran the boat into a coral reef.

They waded ashore wearing life jackets and spent two days wandering terrified in the jungle before a sheepherder directed them towards a road, where they grabbed minibuses and motorbikes to take them back to Cisarua.

Three people died while crossing a river in the jungle.

http://www.news.com.au/national/first-closeup-look-at-a-lifeboat-the-abbott-government-is-using-to-stop-asylum-seeker-boats/story-fncynjr2-1226815340238

ABC, SBS review

he Federal Government has announced it will conduct an inquiry into the efficiency of the operations of the ABC and SBS.

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced today that his department would complete the study with the help of Seven West Media's former chief financial officer, Peter Lewis.

The study will examine the costs of day-to-day operations and propose options to increase efficiency and reduce expense.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-30/efficiency-study/5228690

Abbott blasts national broadcaster: ABC takes 'everyone's side but Australia's'

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has berated ABC News, arguing that it is taking ''everyone's side but Australia's'' and that journalists should give the navy the ''benefit of the doubt'' when it comes to claims of wrongdoing.

''You would like the national broadcaster to have a rigorous commitment to truth and at least some basic affection for the home team,'' he told Macquarie Radio on Wednesday.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-blasts-national-broadcaster-abc-takes-everyones-side-but-australias-20140129-31lt8.html#ixzz2rn7mNzee

Claims Australia is 'reachable' by Indonesia's air force

Indonesian military officials have today told the Jakarta Post its Navy warships, including frigates, fast torpedo craft and corvettes as well as maritime patrol aircraft, have been deployed to waters off its southern border.

Four Air Force defence radars have also been programmed to closely monitor the area.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/claims-australia-is-reachable-by-indonesias-air-force-as-border-stoush-hits-new-lows/story-fni0cx12-1226808807812

PM prods Indonesia over boat turnbacks

The Prime Minister said Australia was entitled to protect its borders and would continue to do so, irrespective of Indonesian concerns over territorial incursions.

But the statement provoked Djoko Suyanto, the Indonesian security affairs minister, to hit back with a text message to Fairfax Media. Australia ''must understand the meaning of the sovereignty of the republic of Indonesia, which the Australian navy breached in the way it did," Air Marshal Djoko said.

 http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pm-prods-indonesia-over-boat-turnbacks-20140122-31972.html#ixzz2r7dinmCa

Inquiry into customs and navy breach of Indonesian waters

An urgent inquiry into how Australian navy and customs vessels came to stray into Indonesian waters has been asked to report by February 10 but it is not yet clear whether the resulting report will be released.

Speaking at a joint press conference with Immigration minister Scott Morrison in Sydney today, the chief executive of the Customs and Border Protection Service, Mike Pezzullo, said the inquiry would report to himself and the Chief of the Defence Force, and through them to the relevant ministers.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/two-reviewers-to-lead-inquiry-into-customs-and-navy-breach-of-indonesian-waters-20140122-318pn.html

Australian Navy accused of beating and burning asylum seekers

ABC News has obtained video footage of asylum seekers receiving medical assessments of burns that Indonesian police say were inflicted by the Australian Navy.

The Federal Government denies the claims, but Indonesian police say they had to get treatment for 10 asylum seekers, seven of whom had severe burns on their hands after they were picked up in Indonesian waters on January 6.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-22/australian-navy-accused-of-beating-burning-asylum-seekers/5211996

Disabled and dole recipients on hit list

Age pensioners are safe, but those on disability support and unemployment benefits could be on a hit list as the federal government reviews the welfare payment system.

Former Mission Australia boss Patrick McClure, who conducted a welfare review for the Howard government in 2000, will head the new inquiry.
http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=943775&vId=4311446&cId=Top%20Stories

$100m cut to foreign aid budget, focus on recipients in Asia-Pacific region

The Federal Government has announced it will cut the foreign aid budget by more than $100 million this financial year and redirect funds to fighting poverty in the Asia-Pacific region

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-18/federal-government-announces-details-of-foreign-aid-cuts/5206594

Operation Sovereign Blunders

IMMIGRATION Minister Scott Morrison says the government has apologised to Indonesia after Australian authorities "inadvertently'' breached Indonesian territorial waters while conducting border protection operations.

http://www.news.com.au/national/australia-apologises-to-indonesia-over-territorial-breach-by-navy/story-fncynjr2-1226803890311

A thing Malcolm Turnbull said