Can you imagine how the ANZUS Treaty and trade agreements would play out under Donald Trump and the Son of Abbott?

The mind boggles at the thought of how a grossly ineffectual Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull would even begin to protect Australia from a barking mad President Donald Trump.

However, it appears the Turnbull Government may be attempting to engage with Trump early – just in case he does turn out to be the forty-fifth president of the United States of America after the 8 November 2016 federal election.

The Daily Telegraph, 8 October 2016:

CONSERVATIVE Liberal backbencher Cory Bernardi believes Donald Trump could be the next US president.

In a surprise announcement, Senator Bernardi told Sky News in New York that Americans might do “pretty well” out of a Trump presidency.

Senator Bernardi said Trump was tapping into a well of discontent that politicians around the world would be wise to listen to.

His policies were about protecting America and standing up for people who felt dispossessed by mainstream politics.

The Australian Government has previously shied away from showing favouritism towards either party throughout the US election campaign, however Senator Bernardi is not the first politician to get involved.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop met with a key Trump adviser last Friday to discuss challenges the she thought the new Clinton or Trump administration would face, according to The Australian.

The Australian, 19 September 2016:

A top Republican strategist has reassured foreign minister Julie Bishop that Donald Trump, who has trashed a carefully negotiated 12-nation Asia-Pacific trade deal including Australia and criticised US allies’ military contributions, would value highly the US relationship with Australia.

Ms Bishop met with former Congressman Mike Rogers, Donald Trump’s national security adviser, and the Democrat’s Jake Sullivan in Washington DC on Friday, discussing some of the challenges she thought the new Clinton or Trump administration would face.

Turnbull Government staffer showing the world just what insensitive, boorish fools Australians can be when holidaying overseas

Third from the left appears to be Defence Innovation Adviser Jack Walker with his pants around his ankles
The West Australian

The Australian, 4 October 2016:

An adviser to cabinet minister Christopher Pyne has been revealed as one of nine Australians arrested for stripping down to Malaysian flag-themed underwear at the country’s Formula One grand prix.

The men, aged between 25 and 29, were reportedly intoxicated when they undressed and began to dance in front of thousands of spectators at the Sepang Inter­national Circuit in celebration at Australian Daniel Ricciardo’s race win.

Jack Walker, who is Defence Innovation Adviser in the Defence Industry Minister’s office, was among them.

Mr Pyne’s spokeswoman told The Australian: “This matter is being handled appropriately by the Australian High Commissioner. Until we have a clearer picture of the process at hand it would be unwise to comment further”.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s department confirmed it was assisting the men.

“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance, in accordance with the Consular Services Charter, to a group of Australians who were arrested in Malaysia,” a spokeswoman said. “Due to privacy obligations, we are unable to provide further information.”

Treasurer Scott Morrison hoped the incident would encourage young Australians to respect local customs when travelling abroad.

“They are their laws, their rules. You’re on their ground, so you’ve got to comply,” Mr Morrison told Sydney radio 2GB this morning.

“It’s a timely reminder for young people when they travel overseas, know what the laws and rules are and respect them.”

Mr Walker has spent most of his professional life at Mr Pyne’s side, having joined his office in 2013. Mr Walker previously worked at PremierState, the lobbying firm chaired by Liberal factional warlord Michael Photios, and interned at Macquarie Bank.

Mr Walker has served the minister in numerous roles including as Mr Pyne’s executive assistant and as a liaison with Coalition backbenchers. He was appointed Mr Pyne’s Defence Innovation Adviser in July.

Mr Walker claims to have studied international relations at the University of Sydney, according to his resume uploaded to website LinkedIn.

“(I am) confident, hard working and always open to new experiences,” he wrote.

“I enjoy working with people and am always open to opportunities that will increase my personal development.”

The Star, a local Malaysian newspaper, quoted Sepang police chief Abdul Aziz Ali as saying the group was detained moments after the incident.

“They were under the influence of alcohol,” Assistant Commissioner Abdul Aziz said.

“Investigations revealed they bought the undies down under.”

Under Malaysian law, the offences of provocation and indecency can attract jail terms of up to two years.

The underpants were reportedly purchased from an Australian swimwear brand based in Manly, Sydney, and cost $55 each.

The company sells briefs based on the Brazilian, US, French and Japanese design, among others.

The nine men will be held for four days while police investigate claims of public indecency and disrespecting the Malaysian flag.

After all nine offenders plead guilty to a charge of public nuisance and received cautions they promptly returned home under the full gaze of the media. 

One suspects that a certain Defence Innovation adviser to Liberal MP for Sturt and Australian Minister for Defence Industry Christopher Pyne was hoping to quietly slip back into the country, with the media focused on those offenders who returned as a group through Sydney on Friday morning 7 October.

However, even after shaving off his beard he still found the media waiting as he left Perth International Airport on Friday afternoon.

Unfortunately for Walker evasion was never going to be an effective strategy as he had already been effectively skewered in The Spectator issue of 5 October 2016:

Walker isn’t a once off. He’s a part of growing culture within the Liberal ranks; the staffer brat.

The staffer brat is a twenty-something, arts degree graduate, typically moderate-leaning, Kool-Aid drinking political adviser.

With their Young Liberal membership firmly tucked in their chinos, they stroll the blue carpet of the Ministerial Wing with superficial busyness, often in the direction of free booze and networking. They flash their blue ministerial passes at Aussies to crush the spirits of junior staff who secured a rare trip to Canberra. They’ve seen the inside of the Qantas Chairman’s Lounge and they won’t let you forget it.

They greet senior ministers as close friends. They are the fly-in-fly-outs, over-promoted, under-qualified and full to brim with travel allowance to supplement their already over inflated salaries. They do not serve on the frontline, rarely accountable to voters and lean heavily on their department for support.

Their policy expertise often only extends to PVO Newshour and 140-character commentary. Their Instagram is laden with West Wing-style images of riding VIP jets, post-run selfies with the Foreign Minister and artsy pictures of the parliamentary courtyards.

The wanker filter is, unsurprisingly, always in heavy use.

And while potentially bright and occasionally competent, the electorate often proves more complex than their life experience allows.

Given Australia's love of alliterative nicknames, he now runs the risk of forever being known as Wanker Walker.

Having been invited to resign - which he did on Saturday 8 October - Jack Walker can now enjoy a few days of leisure before the Liberal Party old boys network finds him a new position where white male entitlement and boorish behaviour are considered career assets.

ACCC: "If the proposed acquisition proceeds, News will own both The Courier Mail and the local paid newspaper in nearly every city or town in Queensland"

The Australian Securities & Investment Commission’s preliminary view is that the proposed acquisition of Australian Regional Media (part of APN News and Media) by Murdoch’s News Corporation may be likely to substantially lessen competition in the supply of local news and information and/or advertising opportunities to consumers/readers/businesses in Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Gympie, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Ipswich, Warwick, Caboolture/Bribie Island, south west Brisbane, Brisbane northern bayside, Logan, southern Gold Coast in Queensland and Tweed Heads on the Far North Coast in NSW.

The matter of competition is not an issue in the Clarence Valley at the southern boundary of Far North Coast as there is only one local paid newspaper, The Daily Examiner, and News Corp’s existing substantial shareholding in APN News and Media ensures that articles from its existing media platforms already dominate much of that local paper’s column inches.

Australian Securities & Investment Commission

News release

6 October 2016

ACCC INVITES FEEDBACK ON NEWS CORPORATION’S PROPOSED ACQUISITION OF APN'S AUSTRALIAN REGIONAL MEDIA DIVISION

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released a Statement of Issues on the proposed acquisition of Australian Regional Media (ARM) from APN News and Media (ASX: APN) by News Corporation (ASX:NWS).

The proposed acquisition would combine the two main newspaper publishers in Queensland, adding ARM’s community and regional publications in Queensland and northern New South Wales to News’ extensive portfolio of community, regional, state, and national publications.

The ACCC is investigating the effect that this would have on competition for both readers and advertisers.

“One area of focus is the loss of competition between ARM’s paid regional newspapers and News’ The Courier Mail.

If the proposed acquisition proceeds, News will own both The Courier Mail and the local paid newspaper in nearly every city or town in Queensland.

This may result in a reduction of quality and diversity of content available to readers. Reinforcing that concern is that both News and ARM have a strong presence in online news through their websites associated with the Queensland newspapers,” ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said.

“The ACCC is seeking to understand whether the competitive tension between News and ARM is an important factor in maintaining quality and range of content, or whether the threat of readers shifting to alternatives, particularly alternative online news sites, will competitively constrain News after the acquisition.”

ARM publishes paid daily regional papers in Mackay, Rockhampton, Gladstone, Bundaberg, Hervey Bay, Gympie, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Ipswich and Warwick.

The ACCC will be looking closely at these areas.

“In particular the ACCC will test how important diversity of content and opinion is to readers when assessing the extent of competition between papers,” Mr Sims said. ARM and News both also publish overlapping community papers in Caboolture/Bribie Island, south west Brisbane, Brisbane northern bayside, Logan, and Tweed Heads/southern Gold Coast.

These are mostly free papers with a strong local focus. The ACCC is seeking to assess the effect on readers and local advertisers in those areas, and to assess whether the reduction in competition is significant.

“The ACCC will be assessing the importance of diversity of local content in these competing community publications.

The ACCC is also seeking to understand whether advertising opportunities on other media platforms, such as local radio, pamphlets, and online, will constrain prices for advertising in the ARM and News community newspapers,” Mr Sims said.

The ACCC invites further submissions from industry participants in response to the Statement of Issues by 27 October 2016. The ACCC expects to announce its final decision on 1 December 2016.

Background

News is a global media company with subscription television, magazines, newspapers and publishing operations and interests.

In Australia, News publishes a number of state, regional and community newspapers as well as its national publication The Australian.

It also publishes websites associated with many of its newspapers as well as news.com.au.

APN is an ASX-listed Australian company with media, radio, publishing and digital assets in Australia, and outdoor advertising assets in Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong.

The ARM division of APN, which is proposed to be sold to News, includes a large number of mostly regional publications in Queensland and northern NSW, including 12 paid daily, 14 paid non-daily and 32 free non-daily community newspapers.

APN's radio and outdoor assets are not part of the proposed acquisition and will be retained by APN.

ACCC Statement of Issues: News Corporation – proposed acquisition of APN News & Media Limited's Australian Regional Media division

Australian's don't expect Turnbull's version of the National Broadband Network to last the distance

An Essential Research online poll released on 4 October  2016 found that 88% of respondents agreed that access to the Internet is becoming an essential service – like access to water and electricity.

That same poll demonstrated that the majority of Australians probably do not believe that the National Broadband Network (NBN) is fit for the future:

http://www.essentialvision.com.au/future-internet-requirements

Be Shark Smart This Summer

  

Was about to have a quick swim at Lennox Head but came across this only a few feet from shore.
Changed my mind!

Mark Thomas, Lennox Head NSW, Monday 3 October 2016

Reported in  The Huffington Post, 6 October 2016

The NSW Government has a Twitter account @NSWSharkSmart (hash tag #SharkSmart) which tweets rolling alerts when aerial patrols or a NSWDPI shark team sight sharks in New South Wales coastal waters.

A useful inclusion on that mobile phone tossed into the beach bag as you head out for a day of sun, sand and surf.

Political Cartoon of the Week

Cathy Wilcox

Headline of the Week

The lights go out in SA and Turnbull flicks the switch to peak stupid

[The Guardian, 1 October 2016]