Australian Headlines, Auspol headlines Wednesday 20 September 2017

aussienews (53)in #politics • 7 years ago

New Parliament House security fence prompts criticism.

The new security fence around Parliament house has prompted much criticism in the media. Many commentators are saying that the terrorists have won. The merits of the fence have long been debated but installation has shown it to be far worse than first thought. The construction of the 2.6-metre high fence atop Canberra's Parliament House now seems perhaps to be a step too far and confronts us with the historic symbolism of our paranoia. At first it was security guards with loaded automatic weapons that were clearly visible at the public entrance, now it is a huge security fence. Neither Speaker of the House Tony Smith, nor the President of the Senate Stephen Parry, will tell inquiring journalists the basis for Parliament's decision to spend $126 million on upgraded security, including that new security fence.

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The No vote splits.

One week into the same-sex marriage campaign and Eric Abetz has turned on his own. It was supposed to be the Yes campaign which split, divided between those who oppose the process of holding a non-binding postal survey and those who just want to get the job done. However, it is the no campaign that has split, prompted by Treasurer Scott Morrison's stated belief that any supposed threats to religious and other freedoms can be addressed in the legislation in the event that the Yes vote prevails. Morrison's insistence, consistent with government policy, that there was no need to detail those protections in advance of the vote was a direct repudiation of the No campaign’s principle argument, one that has been put forward by it's highest profile advocates like John Howard, Tony Abbott, Corey Bernardi and Lyle Shelton. They say that the government is being sneaky by not detailing the legislation in advance. Conversely, the Yes campaign says all the undefined threats to freedom espoused by the No campaign are a smokescreen because the No campaign is unable to argue against the very substance of the question. The No campaign is running a campaign on false issues. This is about equality before the law, and only that.

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Australia offers to pay Rohingya refugees to return to Myanmar.

Rohingya sent to detention in Papua New Guinea are being pressured to return to Myanmar, where thousands have fled ethnic persecution. Australia is promising thousands of dollars to Rohingya refugees who agree to return to Myanmar, a country that has been accused of ethnic cleansing against the Muslim minority. Asylum seekers in the detention centre on Manus Island have been pressured by officials to return to their home countries, even if they face violence. The Australian and PNG governments have promised that the Manus detention centre will be completely shut down by 31 October. Reportedly Officials have been withdrawing basic services in different sections to force people out.

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Ten creditors vote in favour of CBS bid, rejecting Murdoch and Gordon bid.

Ten Network creditors have voted to accept CBS's bid for the embattled broadcaster, rejecting a rival proposal from Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon. The creditors voted in a meeting in Sydney just hours after the US media company raised the amount it said it would give unsecured creditors, from it's initial proposal of $32 million to more than $40 million. A proposal from shareholders Lachlan Murdoch and Bruce Gordon was rejected, a day after Mr Gordon failed in a court bid to derail the CBS takeover. After being accepted by Ten creditor's the CBS deal now needs court and Foreign Investment Review Board approval.

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