This week the Turnbull Government were in a total shambles. Here is the 5and5
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As everyone heads home at the end of the parliamentary session the changes that are going to be hitting Australians are real. This was the final week to stop the cuts to penalty rates and the last chance to stop the tax cuts to millionaires. Here is the 5 and 5.
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You don’t need inside information from me to know how this week was marked by division within the Government over how to respond to climate change. Remember they used to argue we couldn’t act on climate change because prices would go up and energy would be less secure? Well the Finkel report, which the Government asked the Chief Scientist to write, came back recommending a Clean Energy Target saying it will put downward pressure on prices and increase energy security.
But the hard right of the Liberal and National Parties weren’t going to let evidence get in the way of an internal brawl. Here’s the #5and5:
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It was tax, health and education this week. Well all that, plus infrastructure, climate, One Nation and finally a strange tale involving a giraffe. Let me have a go at explaining the five best and worst things of this week in Parliament.
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Understandably the news focussed on international events and responses. So you won't have heard much about the other issues we pursued in Parliament this week. Here's the #5and5
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The Government’s plan was clear. The Budget was intended to reset the entire political debate. Like the final scene in a Men In Black movie the entire Australian population was meant to erase every memory Australians had since the 2014 Budget.
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We’ve been winning the argument but last night we also won the vote in the Senate on whether there should be permission for more racist hate speech in Australia. I’m still astonished that we even had an official Government proposal to weaken our laws protecting people from this form of racism.
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I remember saying that Malcolm Turnbull’s transformation was complete when he had gone full Tony Abbott.Then he went full One Nation.
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We had Tony Abbott going after Malcolm Turnbull in the media, George Christensen resigning as the Nationals Whip (which I wish he’d done before that photo with the whip was ever taken - still trying to erase that memory), and we had leadership speculation about Peter Dutton. Sorry that wasn’t a typo - we had leadership speculation about Peter Dutton.
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