First off, a link here to Rudd’s new look ministry (haven’t tried this from a smartphone/tablet so not sure how well it will work). Was very pretty lookin on my computer though and I preferred the layout than just using a list.
Secondly, a link to the ABC news article on the most recent “boat people” crisis issue that is making it into the news. Personally, I am not surprised Abbott is taking a hard public line on this as it is traditionally a divisive community issue and his hardline may win him some additional support. You will of course notice the references to Howard who had a “successful” reduction in the number of refugees arriving by boat (my students know how I feel about this, so I won’t go off into a rant). This is shaping up to be an election issue again. Remember that later in the course we will look at human rights and their applicaiton in the Australian system so this will be relevant to Politics and Law 3B! The link to the article can be found here.
Thirdly, this was a small article which has the potential to become a big deal in the lead up to the election, it relates back to spending reforms/budget and funding for the Gonski review. It caught my eye after my acocuntant took great pleasure in informing me over the weekend that “If you plan to do your PhD Mel, you need to vote Abbott in to get rid of the $2000 cap on additional learning. Otherwise you’re stuffed!” Uuuuuuhhhhhhhhh – article here.
Finally, my students will all be starting to look into alternative accountability mechanisms over the holidays and in week 1. Part of that will be examining Royal Commisions and the role they play. The most contemporary one you can look at is the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (this links to the wiki article, remember that wikipedia is fine to give you a general background on something but NEVER okay as a source!). This is a brilliant contemporary example that is not in your text book. This links to a more general article on the topic and you can also find reference to terms of reference, compensation and costs mentioned in the article.
Enjoy your holiday break 🙂
Mel
P.S. Enjoy this political cartoon…it made me grin!
P.P.S This link is from Brendan and is….interesting! Fraser as a green (okay, okay supporting the greens) was not something I thought I would see. Although understandable given his views on asylum seekers – link here.
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