Tag: Tony Abbott

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. "It has been an immense honour to be the longest-serving Member for Curtin and also to be the deputy leader of the Liberal Party, the first female to hold the role, [and] for 11 years, over half my entire political career," she told the Parliament. She served in that role in opposition under Brendan Nelson, Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott. After the party won the 2013 election, she became foreign minister and remained in the job until Mr Turnbull lost the Liberal leadership last year. Ms Bishop ran in the ballot to replace Mr Turnbull against Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton but was eliminated in the first round of voting. Mr Morrison, who won the leadership ballot and became the Prime Minister, paid tribute to Ms Bishop and her "tremendous service to her country". "She is an incredibly classy individual. "Her successor will have big shoes to fill, and we know that Julie has the best shoes in Parliament." Opposition Leader Bill Shorten described her as a "trailblazer", even if they had not shared much in common when it came to politics. Ms Bishop had little to say as she left Parliament House for the week after making her announcement.

Read more: If the Liberals have any hope of rebuilding, they might take lessons from Robert Menzies It also accords with what modern psychology and social science would lead us to expect in circumstances where a person or group experiences what they perceive to be unjust treatment at the hands of an adversary. The emotional basis of revenge The predisposition to harm those who are perceived to have harmed us – the essence of revenge – is a fundamental human desire. Psychologically, this helps the avenger restore an ego deflated by their previous humiliations. Revenge, to put it bluntly, helps the humiliated person feel better about themselves. Inflicting harm on those who have previously harmed us arouses feelings of pleasure in those parts of the brain regulating emotion. The more we think about revenge, the more we reinforce neural pathways that trigger those thoughts and release those chemicals. Such a character trait typically manifests itself when the person feels themselves, or persons and groups with whom they identify, to be the victim of an injustice. More often than not, they end up being hugely destructive acts. On the one hand, the victim and perpetrator of revenge can both be damaged. On the other hand, revenge can be hugely destructive because it unleashes cycles of further revenge and counter revenge.

It is remarkable for a Coalition government to cut skilled migration during an upswing in the economy. The John Howard government significantly increased the skilled intake when the Australian economy surged from around 2001. Increased use of system alerts to identify visa applications and issues that require additional investigation has been a long-standing priority for Australia’s immigration authorities. But from one year to the next, these lead to a tiny increase in the visa refusal rate, hardly 20,000. How much further is he suggesting visa processing times will increase to explain a cut of 20,000 visas? Australian immigration authorities are more than capable of delivering the program on target without any additional risk to visa integrity or national security. And he could not use Morrison’s explanation that the program would only be delivered below the ceiling if there is a lack of demand. No state/territory premier or chief minister is calling for a cut, and as usual the business community is supportive of maintaining the current program. Could Hanson argue the government has cut immigration as part of her negotiations on the corporate tax cuts (but that the government has not gone far enough so she has withdrawn her support)? But how will he secure credit for something his own department says will be a negative for the economy and the budget?

The recently created home affairs department, headed by Peter Dutton, is a behemoth that its critics fear will compromise civil liberties. But Dutton argues there is no basis for such concerns. “There are no greater laws or arrest powers that have been introduced or a lessening of protections that have been provided for under this new arrangement,” he tells The Conversation. On the growing area of cybersecurity, Dutton says there is a need to “get the balance right” between protection and privacy. In an interview that canvasses the immigration debate sparked by Tony Abbott and the changing face of a department once focused on nation-building to one prioritising national security, Dutton also defends the time taken for the investigation into Border Force Commissioner Roman Quaedvlieg, who has been on paid leave for nine months. “I’m certain of the fact that this has been dealt with in the most expeditious way possible,” he says.