Posts Tagged ‘
xenophon ’
Sep 23rd, 2008 |
By David Harper |
Category: Australia, Lead Stories
The Rudd Government has bowed to pressure from the Greens and Independent Senator Nick Xenophon and slashed the proposed income thresholds for the Medicare surcharge to $75,000 for singles, although Health Minister Nicola Roxon wants to leave the proposed new threshold for couples unchanged at $150,000.
Tags: 2008 federal budget, australian labor party, family first, fielding, health, medicare, roxon, rudd, senate, taxation, the greens, xenophon
Posted in Australia, Lead Stories |
64 comments
Sep 22nd, 2008 |
By David Harper |
Category: Opinion
The Liberal leadership saga has overshadowed growing unrest within the Government over industrial relations, which the Prime Minister will again avoid this week. Some backbenchers fear Julia Gillard’s proposed industrial relations legislation is too similar to Work Choices. Last Tuesday, while Brendan Nelson was being dumped, New South Wales senator Steve Hutchins was telling a restive Labor caucus that the legislation was “Work Choices lite”.
Tags: albanese, australian building and construction commission, australian labor party, gillard, howard government, hutchins, keating, keating government, ki-moon, liberal party, marshall, minchin, nelson, Opinion, rudd, trade union movement, turnbull, united nations, workchoices, workplace relations, xenophon
Posted in Opinion |
30 comments
Sep 22nd, 2008 |
By David Harper |
Category: Australia
The Prime Minister today defended the trip as in the national interest, and received some unlikely support today from Independent Senator Nick Xenophon, who said now was the time to talk to world leaders in the wake of the global financial crisis. But Liberal frontbencher Eric Abetz said this morning: “Kevin747 seems to be a very good little tagline for him. It’s, unfortunately, indicative of what he’s been doing in recent times.”
Tags: abetz, australian labor party, foreign affairs, liberal party, opinion polls, rudd, smith, turnbull, xenophon
Posted in Australia |
38 comments
Sep 8th, 2008 |
By David Harper |
Category: Opinion
Amid the train wreck that the Senate became last week there was one consistency - everybody concerned claimed they had a mandate. The highlight was when the Coalition and Family First’s Steve Fielding knocked off the increase to the luxury car tax, worth $555 million over four years.
Tags: brandis, family first, fielding, hockey, liberal party, Opinion, senate, taxation, the greens, xenophon
Posted in Opinion |
No Comments »
Sep 7th, 2008 |
By David Harper |
Category: Opinion
This week saw big problems emerge for the Labor Party in New South Wales and Western Australia, while federally the Nationals shrank even further with the loss of Lyne. In the Senate, Steve Fielding voted down the luxury car tax increase, while in the United States, Sarah Palin has garnered an immediate and positive reaction.
Tags: 2008 federal budget, 2008 presidential election, 2008 republican national convention, 2008 wa state election, australian labor party, barnett, by-elections, carpenter, costa, della bosca, family first, fielding, gryll, hung parliament, iemma, katter, liberal party, lyne, mccain, new south wales, o'farrell, oakeshott, obama, Opinion, opinion polls, palin, power industry, privatisation, rees, republican party, senate, swan, taxation, the nationals, week in review, western australia, windsor, xenophon
Posted in Opinion |
41 comments
Aug 24th, 2008 |
By David Harper |
Category: Opinion, Science Fiction
This week was a week of number twos on a variety of fronts. In the US, Joe Biden became Barack Obama’s new sidekick, while in Australia, the minor parties in the Senate geared up to take on their new roles as second fiddles. Meanwhile, in the entertainment world, ‘Stargate Atlantis’ was cancelled and replaced by ‘Stargate Universe’.
Tags: 2004 federal election, 2007 federal election, 2008 presidential election, australian democrats, australian labor party, berman, biden, brown, clinton, family first, fielding, fuelwatch, howard government, joyce, latham, liberal national party, liberal party, national party, obama, Opinion, rudd, Science Fiction, senate, south australia, star trek, star trek enterprise, stargate, stargate atlantis, stargate the ark of truth, stargate universe, the greens, us senate, vice president, week in review, xenophon
Posted in Opinion, Science Fiction |
No Comments »
Aug 24th, 2008 |
By David Harper |
Category: Opinion
f there was a large swing against Labor in Western Australia, let alone a loss, it would send a jolt right across a continent papered with wall-to-wall Labor governments. Inevitably, federal Labor would feel a touch nervous. This would affect the mood for the busy spring parliamentary session and Labor’s work on its extensive agenda.
Tags: 2008 nt election, 2008 wa state election, australian labor party, by-elections, carpenter, family first, liberal party, Opinion, opinion polls, rudd, senate, the greens, xenophon
Posted in Opinion |
No Comments »
Aug 19th, 2008 |
By David Harper |
Category: Australia, Lead Stories
The Coalition will vote against a number of budget measures when they go before the Senate later this year. The Government will then need the votes of five Greens senators, Independent Senator Nick Xenophon and Family First Senator Steve Fielding to pass its legislation.
Tags: 2008 federal budget, alcopops, ciobo, family first, fielding, health, liberal party, medicare, nelson, roxon, rudd, senate, swan, taxation, the greens, the nationals, xenophon
Posted in Australia, Lead Stories |
38 comments
Aug 16th, 2008 |
By David Harper |
Category: Opinion
The big news of the week, rather surprisingly, wasn’t the Olympic Games. However, the media still found time to complain about the Chinese government. On the local front, Labor managed to hang on in the Northern Territory, Federal Labor actually made a decision, and Peter Costello waited some more for his book launch.
Tags: 2008 nt election, 2008 wa state election, australian labor party, bush administration, carpenter, costello, country liberal party, fuelwatch, georgia, henderson, liberal party, medvedev, nelson, Opinion, putin, russia, saakashvili, sarkozy, senate, south ossetia, water allocations, week in review, xenophon
Posted in Opinion |
No Comments »
Aug 15th, 2008 |
By David Harper |
Category: Opinion
The Government is in a dilemma. Having invested much political capital in FuelWatch, does it move heaven and earth to get it through? Or does simply blame the Opposition for not supporting the policy, and privately breathe a sigh of relief when the Senate shoots what has been widely attacked as a dog of an idea?
Tags: australian labor party, family first, fielding, fuelwatch, Opinion, rudd, senate, the greens, xenophon
Posted in Opinion |
40 comments