Online Press review 7 May 2015

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FRONT PAGE

 New Greens leaders seek ‘common ground’ on reform (AUS) Crowe The Greens are promising a fresh look at major budget savings after the sudden installation of as the party’s new leader signalled a dramatic shift in power to a new generation but stirred internal rancour.  Get over historical indigenous wrongs: Noel Pearson (AUS) Bita Aboriginal leader Noel Pearson has challenged indigenous Australians to get over their traumatic history in the same way that Jews survived the Holocaust.  Federal budget 2015: GST on Netflix and more on the way (CAN+SMH) Martin The federal government will move to impose the goods and services tax on services such as Netflix under new rules set to be included in next week's budget.  Federal budget 2015: Census saved, $250m investment in Bureau of Statistics (CAN) Martin The census has been saved and the Australian Bureau of Statistics will get a $250 million funding boost as part of the biggest technology upgrade in its 110-year history.

DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

POLITICS  Abbott rejects slur on Paris meeting as Fairfax Media slammed (AUS) Owens has denied knowing that ambassador Stephen Brady’s male partner had been instructed to leave the tarmac of a Paris airport before the Prime Minister’s arrival on Anzac Day.  Smearing Tony Abbott as a homophobe is victory for hatred (AUS/Comment) Kenny Given Tony Abbott has been dubbed a misogynist, Islamophobe and racist, I suppose the - occasional allegation of homophobia shouldn’t be a surprise.  Senator Glenn Lazarus to bankroll push north after split with PUP (AUS) Lewis Independent senator Glenn Lazarus will use his $200,000 annual salary to open a second office in Cairns, in a bid to rebadge himself as a voice for regional Queensland.  'Disgraceful': Liberal frontbencher challenges report of PM snub (CAN+SMH) Massola Liberal frontbencher Alan Tudge has leapt to the defence of Tony Abbott, describing as "disgraceful" a report of a bizarre incident that saw the gay partner of Australia's ambassador to France snubbed during a prime ministerial visit.  Party divisions stymie national consideration of same-sex marriage (CAN/Opinion) Warhurst Relaxing party discipline and punishment for those who went against policy in a conscience vote would advance Australian democracy.

Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]

THE GREENS CHANGE LEADERS  Long road for Richard Di Natale from bottom of garden to The Lodge (AUS/Comment) Shanahan On becoming the Greens leader, Richard Di Natale repeatedly declared that his MPs represented “progressive mainstream Australia”, were a political threat to all the major parties, were not ideologues and were interested in outcomes.  Senate success or failure will shape Greens under Di Natale (AUS/Comment) Van Onselen The changing of the guard at the top of the Greens yesterday could have profound implications on the body politic and environmentalism in this country.  The Greens in transition as Christine Milne moves on (AUS/Feature) Denholm When Christine Milne took over the leadership of the Greens from , both insisted she was not a transitional leader — a temporary bridge between the Tasmanian eco-warriors and the new Green urbanites in the mainland capitals.  Richard Di Natale: opportunity for Abbott, risk for Shorten (AFR/Comment) Tingle As the desperately tries to remake its relationship with voters through its second budget, some of its more pragmatic members must have looked wistfully at the Greens leadership transition on Wednesday and wished that such a huge chance for a relatively painless transformation was within its grasp.  New Greens leader Richard di Natale flags petrol policy shift (AFR) Coorey New Greens leader Richard di Natale has given the government cause for optimism on the eve of its second budget by opening the door to supporting the indexation of petrol excise.  Meet Richard Di Natale: sports fan, doctor and new Greens leader (AFR/Feature) Mather The have elected a sports-loving doctor as their new leader.  Christine Milne's departure a win for Tony Abbott (CAN+SMH/Comment) Kenny Even in politics it turns out that good things come to those who wait. Eventually.

GST  GST windfall for Western Australia angers premiers (AUS) Burrell Tony Abbott has handed Western Australia an extra $500 million to compensate for its falling share of the GST but the move has angered other states who argue the rescue package should have been linked to economic reform.  Federal Budget 2015: WA wins $500m handout, promises changes (AFR) Coorey One month after Treasurer Joe Hockey complained his budget was not a "magic pudding", the federal government has given Western Australia a $500 million handout to make up for what the state government has claimed to be an unfair distribution of GST revenue.  Prime Minister Tony Abbott in flying visit to Perth to hand over $499m (CAN+SMH) Foster, Nicholson Western Australia has been handed a $500 million windfall from the federal government which appears to be a make good for a drop in its GST allocation as a result of plunging minerals revenue.

BUDGET 2015  Science research spared the budget axe (AUS) Martin Science research infrastructure that was threatened by the government’s controversial higher education reforms will receive a $300 million lifeline in next week’s budget.  Coalition treading water in efforts to reduce budget deficit (AUS) Uren Joe Hockey goes into the 2015-16 budget having achieved $30 billion worth of savings over the past year, but Senate blockages, abandoned measures and new spending also add up to $30bn.  The budget is Joe Hockey’s do or die moment of truth (AUS/Opinion) Savva Two weeks ago Tony Abbott’s new whip, the amiable Queenslander Scott Buchholz, was compelled to deliver a simple, brutal message to the Prime Minister: if the budget tanked, Joe Hockey would have to go.

Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]

 Budgets and the art of car maintenance (AUS/Opinion) Uren Joe Hockey is fascinated by the prospect of driverless cars. He sees them as emblematic of the opportunity that technology will bring despite the future challenges of an ageing of the population. A witty journalist asked the Treasurer what would come first, the driverless car or a budget surplus.  Tony Abbott needs premier power to save the budget (AUS/Opinion) Johns Live within your means was the first principle of good government enunciated by the National - Commission of Audit.  Little sign of many taking Joe Hockey's advice to 'have a go' (AFR/Comment) Hewett An ebullient-sounding Joe Hockey says he wants everyone to "have a go." Of course, the Treasurer has little choice but to happily tell businesses and households to take advantage of low interest rates to borrow and invest. Unhappily, there's little sign of many taking his advice unless it's to invest in property, especially in Sydney.  Budget 2015: Deep recession or dazzling rebound? That's the budget question (AFR/Opinion) Anthony We stare down the barrel of a recession in 2016. On budget night the Abbott government must instil confidence by holding the course on fiscal policy towards a credible and sustainable structural budget path over the medium term and demonstrating its preparedness to do the hard yards on microeconomic reform.

SECURITY/TERRORISM  Don’t leave terror fix to community groups: magistrate (AUS) Akerman The magistrate deciding whether to bail a terror suspect has opened up a debate about who is responsible for ensuring that alleged Islamic extremists don’t seek revenge.

CLIMATE CHANGE  Diversify now, warns UN climate boss Christiana Figueres (AUS) Maher One of the world’s most powerful climate change officials has urged Australia to work on diversifying its economy as it moves to combat climate change and cuts its national emissions.  Australia will have to move away from coal, UN climate head says (SMH) Arup Australia shares a similar challenge in moving away from coal as Saudi Arabia does in reducing its economic dependency on oil, the United Nations' top climate negotiator says.

INFRASTRUCTURE  East West Link axing cost Victoria more than one major project, says former boss (AFR/Feature) Potter Sacked infrastructure chief executive Ken Mathers says the dumping of the East West Link project was devastating both for his own team and the private sector companies who had bought into his vision.  Government rejects calls for delay on light rail contracts (CAN) McIlroy Voters who supported Labor and the Greens at the 2012 territory election understood a light rail line for Canberra was central to both party's policies, Capital Metro Minister Simon Corbell said on Wednesday.

EDUCATION/SCIENCE  Mining slide takes toll on graduates (AUS) Hare A huge dip in the employment rates of new university graduates is likely to be related to the slowdown in the mining boom, but also reflects a worrying national trend as student numbers escalate but employment prospects decrease.

Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]

FOREIGN AFFAIRS

FOREIGN POLICY  Fiji’s Bainimarama blasts Australia’s ‘coalition of the selfish’ (AUS) Callick Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama has launched a blistering attack on Australia, despite being warmly congratulated on his election last year by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who rapidly restored full relations in two visits to Fiji.  The right's endless march of militaristic Anzac folly (AFR/Opinion) Latham Germans, global communism, jihadists and the Chinese: Australia's conservative war party always needs to find an imagined enemy.

ECONOMY  Ramsay Health's chief executive Chris Rex flags more acquisitions (AFR) Moullakis Ramsay Health Care chief executive Chris Rex on Wednesday said the company was assessing several acquisition opportunities across global markets, and that Ramsay had the financial capacity to pursue a transformative deal.

ARTS  Cate Blanchett gets Venetian ball rolling for Australian art (AUS) Westwood The Venice Biennale is famous for its extravagant parties, celebrities and elaborate art install- ations that vie for attention in one of the world’s great cultural destinations.  Fiona Hall inaugurates Australian art's new Venetian villa (AFR) Hutchinson If the Venice Biennale is the Olympics of the art world, then Australia has arrived at the 2015 event with the best kit in the field.

FRANCE

 French women reporters unload on leering and groping male elite (AUS) The Times Female newspaper correspondents assumed that sexist politicians would mend their ways after the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn on rape charges four years ago.  Charlie Hebdo draws applause with contentious PEN award (AUS) AP Under armed guard and a cloud of conflicted opinions and emotions, the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo was presented a freedom of expression award yesterday from the PEN American Centre.  France moves to expand mass surveillance, read emails, bug cars (CAN+SMH) Rubin, NYT The French lower house has taken a long stride towards mass surveillance, overwhelmingly approving a bill that could give authorities their most intrusive domestic spying abilities ever, with almost no judicial oversight.

WORLD

 Joko Widodo sits on law to limit death penalty (AUS) Alford A draft law that tightens use of the death penalty in Indonesia and opens new possibilities for mercy has been sitting in President Joko Widodo’s office for more than a month.

Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]

EDITORIALS

The Australian Financial Review  We can't give up on tax reform Nothing says more about the shrinking horizons of the Abbott government than the course of the tax reform debate over the past six months. As revealed in Jennifer Hewett's column in The Australian Financial Review yesterday, the Business Council of Australia has pared back its tax reform ambitions to incremental change. Trying to manage bite-sized change is better than having the tax debate alarmingly career off into a raw grab for budget revenue rather than genuine reform that would better reward enterprise and productivity.

The Sydney Morning Herald  Richard Di Natale gives Greens a chance to push mainstream credentials The elevation of Richard Di Natale to replace Christine Milne as Australian Greens leader is a potential plus for federal politics.

The Canberra Times  Richard Di Natale's job is to complete Greens' transformation It seems not even Bob Brown, godfather of the Greens, knew that Christine Milne was going to resign as federal party leader on Wednesday. Certainly no political pundit knew what was afoot. The party's 11 federal representatives were ready, however. Within hours of Ms Milne declaring she would not stand for re-election to the Senate in 2016, they had elected Richard Di Natale unopposed as her replacement. The quick, fuss-free transition spoke unambiguously of the Greens' belief in the necessity and virtue of standing foursquare behind the leader. Ms Milne's resignation after a mere three years in the job also underscored a strong belief in the need for renewal.

CAPTIONS & CIRCULATION

AUS = The Australian (News Limited); Circulation WK: 126,901, Sat.: 277,386; Digital WK: 31,240, Digital SAT: 31,381. AFR = The Australian Financial Review (Fairfax Media Ltd); Circulation WK: 68,425, Sat.: 69,012. SMH = The Sydney morning Herald (Fairfax Media Ltd); Circulation WK: 161,169, Sat.: 265,457; Digital WK: 56,559, Digital SAT: 56,113. CAN = The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media Ltd); Circulation WK: 30,420, Sat.: 49,965, Sun.: 31,308.

Ambassade de France en Australie – Service de Presse et Information Site : http://www.ambafrance-au.org/ Tél. : 61 (02) 6216 0150 Email : [email protected]