PM Malcolm Turnbull probably shed a tiny tear into his latte yesterday after news broke that Justin Trudeau, undeniably younger and possibly even more handsome than he, won the Canadian election. For the rest of us, it was just enough of a hit until our next leadership spill, perhaps Labor’s turn this time again? This week’s focus was Turnbull’s wealth in the Cayman Islands, and whether that means our PM is avoiding tax. It didn’t have the intended affect we can assume Opposition Leader Bill Shorten and MP Sam Dastyari had in mind, with media discovering quite quickly that most Australian superannuation funds, including one Shorten is a member of, invests some money via the infamous building that supposedly hosts 12,000 corporations.
The government accepted almost all of the recommendations from the Murray Financial System Inquiry, with Treasurer Scott Morrison announcing legislation that will stop merchants from imposing excessive credit card surcharges, saying charges will have to pass the “fair dinkum test”. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, unmoved this week in fifth place, is facing more criticism after he revealed the last meeting between an asylum seeker flown to Australia for an abortion and a GP did not have a translator present. The alleged rape victim’s legal team says she was refused counselling and flown back to Nauru on a chartered RAAF jet on a trip costing over $130,000.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt, up eight places this week into seventh, again approved Adani’s Carmichael coal mine, which will be Australia’s largest and according to Hunt follow “the strictest conditions in Australian history”. Some financial analysts still doubt whether the mine will actually go ahead.
A few months shy of reaching 20 years in parliament, Former Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey gave his final speech in the House of Reps this morning, bringing to an end his brief backbench sojourn alongside former PM Tony Abbott. Abbott is still in second place this week, with ABC’s AM rather extraordinarily running the broken marble coffee table from his defeat party first in its Tuesday bulletin. We’d call that an interesting news value decision.
Crikey Political Index October 8-14
Punters were generally fairly sympathetic towards Turnbull on social media about his accounts on the Cayman Islands…
Social Media Top Five
…And were slightly harsher towards Shorten on talkback, raising his history in front of the Royal Commission into trade union corruption.
Talkback Top Five
Abusive messages on David Jones’ social media accounts (after they announced Goodes as one of six brand ambassadors) ranged from “boo” to “you’ve lost a customer!” A racist-free department store? See you there!
Comparison of media mentions
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