Following the Abbott government’s first budget last week, there has been a lot of analysis of the many cuts that are set to be made to everything from health and education to the Abalone Aquaculture Health Accreditation Workshop (as highlighted by The Guardian’s First Dog on the Moon budget cartoon). There hasn’t, however, been as much…
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On Thursday evening, just days after the Government announced the 2014 Federal Budget, the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten, delivered his Budget reply speech at Parliament House in Canberra. He spoke ‘on behalf of millions of Australians who feel shocked and angry. Shocked by the brutality of this Government’s attack on their way of…
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The government has put forward its scheme to get the budget back into surplus, the contribute and build budget, so named by Joe Hockey. Here is a break down of some of key points in the budget. Health and science The government has proposed $50 billion worth of cuts to health and hospital funding…
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You’ve probably heard of the large-scale movement to close institutions during the 1970s-80s. When we talk about institutions, icy cold baths, electric shock therapy, straight jackets and lobotomies probably spring to mind. It’s no wonder; institutions have quite an unsavoury history and it is commonly believed that institutions and the inhumane practices contained within are…
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A questioner on last Monday’s Q&A on the ABC raised an interesting and important topic for debate amongst the Q&A panellists. Her question, put simply, was: ‘Do feminist women have a place within Australia’s politically conservative domain?’ The idea of feminism and conservatism merging together to create a friendly ideological meeting seems convoluted and…
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Last week, at an event in New York, Chelsea Clinton announced that she and husband Marc Mezvinsky ‘have our first child arriving later this year.’ The world immediately reacted, asking ‘But what does it mean for 2016?’ Mainly via Twitter – ‘news of the pregnancy spread rapidly throughout the political twitter-verse.’ Vanity Fair has concocted…
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Acting Labor leader Penny Wong has spoken up and urged women in politics to not be afraid to call themselves feminists. She argued that the term is not “extreme” and is not exclusive to women who are more left-inclined. Wong is ‘set to take issue with Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women Michaelia Cash’s refusal…
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According to recent comments made in Parliament by Attorney General, George Brandis, people have a right to be bigots. But code of conduct documents leaked from the Department of Prime Minister & Cabinet last week indicate that this doesn’t give you the right to say bigoted things about your boss if your boss also happens to be…
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The media is saturated with messages that Generation Y is entitled, lazy and technology-dependent, but is it fair to be painted in such a way? Since viewing the video of the Newtown High students questioning Tony Abbott, it’s fair to say that perhaps our generation is being judged too harshly. In the nine minutes and…
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Maybe it’s because a lack female leadership in the workplace is still a major problem in Australia, maybe it’s because our first female prime minister was removed amid some mean-arsed gender debates. Perhaps it’s because it’s disheartening that our current government employs one woman in its Cabinet, but my psyche has become plagued with the…
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For the first time ever, the race for the Mayor of Paris was all female. And (gasp) a woman won! The two largest political parties in Paris’ candidates were Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, of the centre-right Union pour un Mouuvement Populaire (UMP), and Anne Hidalgo of the Parti Socialiste (PS). Hidalgo triumphed, claiming 54.5 per cent of…
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Attorney-General George Brandis has caused quite a stir in Australian politics this week with his proposal to amend section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. Clause 18C was added in 1995 and states that it is ‘unlawful for someone to publicly offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate a person or group of people’. The proposal Brandis…
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Nearly thirty years at after the Hawke government abolished the title of Knights and Dames in Australia, Tony Abbott has reintroduced the honour in order to celebrate ‘pre-eminent’ Australians. The first to receive these honours under Abbott’s administration will be the outgoing Governor-General Quentin Bryce, along with incoming Governor-General Peter Cosgrove, who will be knighted this Friday. It was…
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March in March happened all over the country last weekend. The initiative is, according to the website ‘a peaceful, non-partisan citizens’ march and rally at Federal Parliament to protest against the current government’s policy decisions that are against the common good of our nation. This signifies the people’s vote of no confidence in policies of…
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