Flagpost is a blog on current issues of interest to members of the Australian Parliament
Blog entries
Early on 14 September 2019 two of Saudi Arabia’s most significant oil facilities, the Abqaiq plant and the Khurais oilfield, came under coordinated attack, causing the largest-ever disruption to global oil supply and raising concerns about a further escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf. As assessment of the global fallout continues, this is what we know so far. Read more...
The Combatting Child Sexual Exploitation Legislation Amendment Bill 2019 (the Bill) was introduced into the House of Representatives on 24 July 2019. The Bill is substantively similar to an earlier Bill (with the same name) which lapsed with the dissolution of the 45th Parliament. The Bill will mainly amend the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Criminal Code). Schedules 1–6 introduce a series of new offences into the Criminal Code. Schedule 7 will make amendments to the Crimes Act 1914, the Customs Act 1901 and the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 to reconstitute the terms ‘child abuse material’ and ‘child pornography material’ into a single definitio... Read more...
With the swearing-in of Sarah Henderson on 12 September 2019 to the Senate to fill the casual vacancy created by the resignation of Mitch Fifield (Lib., Vic.), the Senate now comprises 38 women and 38 men. This is the first time in the Senate’s history that it has had equal gender representation. Read more...
On 12 September 1919, Governor-General Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson presented to the Commonwealth Parliament a Bible and lectern on behalf of the Victorian branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The 100th anniversary of this occasion falls on 12 September 2019. Read more...
With the Senate Community Affairs Committee holding an inquiry into the adequacy of Newstart Allowance and an ongoing debate over the cashless debit card, it’s worth revisiting the origins of unemployment benefits in Australia. Read more...
The appointment of Mike Burgess (currently the head of the Australian Signals Directorate) as the next Director-General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation continues a pattern over ASIO’s 70-year history of appointing a male Director-General from outside the Organisation. The second of ASIO’s 14 Directors-General, Peter Barbour (1970–75), remains the only career ASIO officer to have been appointed Director-General. In comparison, the UK’s Security Service (MI5), ASIO’s much older British equivalent on which it was modelled, has a somewhat different pattern of appointments for its 17 Directors-General over the 110 years since it was founded in 19... Read more...
France recently became the first major European economy to legislate a Digital Services Tax (DST), resulting in the following response on Twitter from US President, Donald Trump. This Flagpost discusses the broader implications of France’s actions and Australia’s current position on a DST. Read more...
Two recent court cases, one ending in a High Court decision and the other in a settlement agreement, may have significant implications for compensation payments from Australian governments to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Read more...
In Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Kobelt a majority of the High Court rejected the proposition that Mr Kobelt’s provision of book-up credit to a remote Indigenous community was unconscionable conduct in connection with financial services, pursuant to section 12CB of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (ASIC Act). Background Mr Kobelt operated a general store in Mintabie, South Australia. He sold goods including food, groceries, fuel and second-hand cars. Almost all of his customers were Anangu persons who resided in two remote communities in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands (APY Lands). Mr Kobelt provided credit to Anan... Read more...
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recently released data from 2017-18 Survey of Income and Housing (SIH). The SIH is a household survey which collects information on sources of income, amounts received, household net worth, housing, household characteristics and personal characteristics of persons aged 15 years and over in private dwellings throughout Australia (excluding very remote areas). This Flagpost provides a summary of housing occupancy and costs of housing in Australia. Australian households Fewer people owned their own homes with or without a mortgage in 2017-18 compared to those in 1997-98; in contrast, households who rent have increased: 30% own their own home... Read more...
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