Craig Hill Media and Consulting
Julia Gillard
Australian Prime Minister commits to cutting Australia’s international reputation by 30% before 2015
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has set an ambitious target to reduce the nation’s standing in the international community by almost a third over the next seven months. The Prime Minister hit back at critics who suggested the status abatement target is too high, saying much of the work is already underway. “In just nine … Continue reading
Australia has a new government
Tony Abbott has become Australia‘s 28th prime minister, declaring from today “Australia is under new management .” Abbott said he was “proud and humbled” to “shoulder the duties of government”, as he spoke to his supporters today after his victorious win. “I now look forward to forming a government that is competent, that is trustworthy, … Continue reading
Australian government focus on jobs, training ahead of election
Officially launching Labor’s campaign, Kevin Rudd has urged voters to choose the ALP at this Saturday’s election to save jobs and protect family budgets from Tony Abbott’s cuts. Warnings about the Opposition Leader featured heavily in the Prime Minister’s speech – a crucial address, especially given there are just five days left in the campaign. … Continue reading
China concerned by US military buildup in Australia
China has expressed concern at the US decision to ramp up its military presence in the region by establishing a special naval task force to support its troops based in Darwin. A technical “amphibious lift” group will be in place by 2018, possibly in Guam, to help the US mobilise its Australia-based troops quickly in … Continue reading
Australian government will legalise gay marriage if reelected
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Monday it was time to end the “acrimonious” debate on gay marriage, after he vowed to introduce a bill legalising same-sex unions if returned to office. If re-elected on September 7, Rudd said Labor would introduce a bill within 100 days, becoming the first Australian leader to promise to … Continue reading
Australian government recruits Obama’s social media team
The Australian Labor Party’s recruitment of “Team Obama’s” campaign heavyweights and “digital attacks dogs” for the upcoming election campaign is no surprise. Political parties around the globe, with varying degrees of success, are embracing social media because they have seen what it can do. According to the Pew Internet Project’s Civic Engagement in the Digital Age … Continue reading
Australia and China resume free trade talks
Australia will undertake a major rethink of its investment stance towards China, with the Rudd government now prepared to discuss reducing hurdles to Chinese investment as it strives to conclude a free trade agreement with Beijing. New Trade Minister Richard Marles is preparing to fly to China for talks on the FTA and has signalled … Continue reading
Australia to have referendum to recognise Aboriginals
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Wednesday used the 50th anniversary of the indigenous land rights movement to pledge a referendum on recognising the country’s Aborigines in the constitution if Labor is re-elected. His predecessor Julia Gillard shelved a plan to hold a vote this parliamentary term, citing low public support, but Rudd made clear … Continue reading
Australia seen as patronising and arrogant by Indonesians
Many Indonesians find it hard to control their temper each time they read or hear any kind of provocative remark from the Australian media, military, politicians or celebrities. The country is perceived as an arrogant neighbour with a strong sense of superiority towards Indonesia and no more important agenda than to destroy its territorial integrity. … Continue reading
Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme offers better quality of life
The seed of DisabilityCare Australia, also known as the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) was sown in a conversation in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne one day in 2006. On a visit to a kindergarten, Bruce Bonyhady, then chairman of disability service provider Yooralla, was confronted by a woman who demanded to know why she … Continue reading
Australia’s new asylum policy hits Iranians hardest
Asylum seekers from ethnic and religious majorities in their own countries will have great difficulty establishing a valid claim for refugee status in Australia under new Rudd government policy. This will strike hardest at Iranians, currently the single largest and most troublesome component of the asylum-seeker flow. Most Afghans and Pakistanis would still pass the … Continue reading
China warns Australia not to take advantage of friendship
China has welcomed the return of Kevin Rudd, but warned the new Prime Minister not to use the the strength of the nation’s largest trading partner to its advantage. Mr Rudd has built solid ties with China during his time in politics and as a diplomat, and sought to make relationships with the government and … Continue reading
Australia moves to diversify away from China under Kevin Rudd’s leadership
Australia’s second-time Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has wasted no time hammering a nail in the coffin of the China boom after ending the political career of his predecessor. Making his first press statement Wednesday night after successfully challenging Julia Gillard for the Labor Party leadership, the Mandarin-speaking Rudd said Australians must diversify away from the … Continue reading
Kevin Rudd is Australia’s Prime Minister again
New Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will have to recruit a ministry short of critical experience as hostile ministers close to Julia Gillard refuse to serve under him. Treasurer Wayne Swan, Communications Minister Stephen Conroy have already stepped down, as have Climate Change Minister Greg Combet and Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig. Mr Rudd will have … Continue reading
Major Australian newspaper calls for Prime Minister to resign
The following is today’s editorial from Melbourne’s The Age newspaper: It is time for Julia Gillard to stand aside as leader of the federal parliamentary Labor Party, as Prime Minister of Australia, so that vigorous, policy-driven democratic debate can flourish once again. Ms Gillard should do so in the interests of the Labor Party, in … Continue reading
Australian plan to pay Indonesia to stop asylum seekers
The federal opposition has offered bipartisan support for a boost to funding to Indonesia to deal with asylum-seekers, ahead of an election-eve visit by Julia Gillard for talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor today insisted the July 4-5 visit was a “scheduled”, and warned against “overnight miracles” that would solve the … Continue reading
Australian people fed up with growth in asylum-seeker numbers
The Australian people are completely fed up with the boatpeople saga. Chief among their concerns is a decent humanitarian desire to stop the drownings that accompany the people-smuggling trade. But that is not the whole story. The Australian people in their overwhelming majority want the national government to reassert national sovereignty over our borders. When … Continue reading
Australia’s Federal Education Minister banned from schools by state government
Queensland has banned Federal Education Minister Peter Garrett from visiting two state schools as the row over the Gonski funding changes escalates. Queensland Education Minister John-Paul Langbroek has expressed his concern to Mr Garrett that “schools are being used as political stages,” adding that his Government does not “think this is good for either students … Continue reading
Kevin Rudd tipped to resume as Australia’s Prime Minister
Labor is being swept with expectations that Julia Gillard will be replaced as Prime Minister before parliament rises for the election, with Kevin Rudd now seen as the party’s only hope of averting electoral disaster. Shocked by polling and amazed at the former prime minister’s reception in Geelong on Friday, some of Ms Gillard’s staunchest … Continue reading
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd praises Australia’s asylum ‘decency’
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has entered the asylum-seekers debate, declaring Australia has always “been decent” in its treatment of refugees. Days after Laurie Ferguson, a staunch supporter of Julia Gillard, warned that Labor would be “dead” in western Sydney if the Prime Minister did not take a strong lead on the troubled asylum-seeker … Continue reading
Cyber bully China cannot be denied, including by Australia
The Gillard government should publicly reveal what it knows about the severity of Chinese cyber attacks on Australian interests and engage with its leaders on the issue, the nation’s top defence research group says. “Both the US and the UK have ‘called out’ China publicly for its relentless cyber assaults,” Tobias Feakin, senior analyst for … Continue reading
Violent asylum seekers released onto Australian streets
Asylum seekers involved in violent attacks while in immigration detention are being released into the community, including one man who assaulted staff and was involved in more than 250 incidents. The violent detainees are released before security checks into their background are completed, according to an insider with intimate knowledge of the detention system. The … Continue reading
Foreign workers in Australia are being rorted
If Julia Gillard and her government are serious about stopping the rorts arising from Australia’s migrant worker scheme, then something will be done about the cleaning workers who have not only just lost their jobs but their entitlements too. The sad truth is that when a business goes bust Australian workers have their leave, unpaid … Continue reading
Australia’s asylum policy fails to have an impact
It was the foundation stone of Julia Gillard‘s plan to stop, or at least substantially slow, the flow of boats arriving uninvited on our shores, and it had a certain simplicity and logic on its side. If asylum seekers could extract ”no advantage” by paying people smugglers and risking their lives on leaky boats, compared … Continue reading
Australian Prime Minister tells failed refugees to go back to where they came from
The Australian prime minister says failed refugees should return to their homeland, and shouldn’t expect financial support from the government. Julia Gillard was responding to a News Limited report that thousands of asylum seekers, including women and children, faced being left without the right to work or financial support from the government once their refugee … Continue reading
Craig Hill Media and Consulting 