Senate passes Foreign Fighters bill
The Senate has approved the Foreign Fighters Bill, making it illegal to advocate terrorism and declaring overseas conflict areas no go zones for Australians. The bill passed the Senate easily 43 votes to 12 with Labor and the Palmer United Party supporting the government. Only the Greens, independent Nick Xenophon and Liberal Democrat David Leyonhjelm […]
GST increase on the agenda despite government denials
Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Parliament on Tuesday he wants a mature national debate on the goods and services tax but has denied that the government plans to increase the tax. Despite repeated opposition questions suggesting the government plans to increase GST, Mr Abbott, backed up by his ministers, said he just wanted to see […]
73 passports cancelled over terrorism fears
The passports of 73 Australians have been cancelled because the government is concerned about fighters returning from the Middle East, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Parliament on Monday. The passports belong to people whom Australia’s security agencies are concerned want to travel to Iraq and Syria to fight with extremists. Ms Bishop said the number […]
Protestors march against Gaza bombings
About 3000 protestors took to the streets of Sydney on Sunday to rally against Israeli bombing of Gaza. For the third week in a row protesters gathered at the Town Hall at 1pm, where speakers addressed the crowd and led chants against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza and the Abbott government’s perceived pro-Israeli stance. More than […]
End of an era as Blues take Origin series in close game
The New South Wales Origin side has ended an eight-year losing streak in a thrilling match which looked poised to go either way right up to the final minutes. The Blues failed to score a single point until the 70th minute when half-back Trent Hodkinson ran over the line after fooling the Maroons with a […]
Baird channels Keating to describe budget as ‘a beautiful set of numbers’
NSW Premier Mike Baird evoked former prime minister Paul Keating when he told parliament the state budget was a “beautiful set of numbers” during question time yesterday. Despite the risk of Keating’s 1990 comments jinxing the budget (with recession setting in soon after the words Keating uttered as federal treasurer), Mr Baird was triumphant in […]
Mayor slams budget cuts
Savage cuts to local government will flow from the federal budget, Blue Mountains Labor mayor Mark Greenhill warned this week. Cr Greenhill said the budget would cost the council $267,000 in the first year and more than a million dollars over four years. “If you vote against resisting this cut, you are in effect voting […]