The politician Steph aspires to be, Penny Wong (queer, Malaysian-Chinese, left, yells in public) cuts Joe Hockey so decisively.
The Coalition party room voted not to allow a conscience vote on same-sex marriage. Tony Abbott has suggested it be put to a popular vote, or maybe a referendum, or maybe a plebiscite, terrifyingly demonstrating that some of our federal politicians don’t understand how our political system actually works.
Liberal Senator Eric Abetz suggested that because Dolce and Gabbana had never married, same-sex couples had no need of marriage.
The Prime Minister caught eating a whole raw spring onion whilst on site.
Liz asks: Is it possible that Tony Abbott just likes onions? Is that a bad thing? Should we as a nation be food shaming him for his unusual tastes when there are so many other weird and terrible things he does? Is it just that it’s quite funny to watch someone eat a whole raw onion, French or otherwise?
An Asylum seeker who is married to an Australian PR was removed from her husband (and the centre in Brisbane where she was living, and the school where she was studying to receive her HSC) and is currently in a Darwin detention centre.
The state of Victoria’s new government logo looks like a map of Tasmania. In every possible sense.
While the eyes of the world are on Ferguson, a Queensland police whistleblower who leaked a video of fellow officers assaulting a chef faces charges. This forms part of a pattern of the Queensland police failing to investigate accusations of brutality from within its own ranks.
“Absolute revhead” and indistinguishable white man Tony Smith becomes Speaker.
Steph says: I know how white person names work. This man has a fake name.
Someone suggested that Indigenous Australians were making booze out of vegemite and so vegemite should be banned in remote Indigenous communities. Vegemite watch began, but has since been retracted.
Steph says: no. Also call them Daesh, cos it makes ISIS mad to be delegitimised in this way and cos actual Middle-Eastern people have suggested we do so – the Western media is the only media who calls them ISIS.
Australia’s politicians come together with respect and honesty over this important issue. #kerning #auspol
— Liz Barr (@_lizbarr) August 12, 2015
no-award.net 
That really is some atrocious kerning and i applaud Ludlam for calling it out (and knowing what kerning is!)
I think the “logic” (scare quotes deliberate), such as it was, on the whole Vegemite thing, went thusly:
* Vegemite is made from yeast
* Yeast is used in brewing
* Therefore Vegemite could be used to make home-brew.
Given this government’s appalling record on science, I’m hardly surprised “domestic science” (or what was known as “Food and Nutrition” when I was in high school) has also landed in the too-hard basket (or possibly in the “boring ladyjobs” basket, given our PM). So it was left to other people than the Minister for Indigenous Affairs to point out the deadly obvious: the yeast in Vegemite is denatured, dead yeast, left over from the brewing process, and the likelihood of live yeast cells surviving in such a salty environment is actually very low indeed. There’s generally more live yeast in the toast you eat the Vegemite on than in the Vegemite itself.
(Incidentally, one hesitates to point out to Mr Scullion that yeasts are floating about in the air we breathe. Mainly because if he heard that, he’d probably want to figure out a way of banning air in dry communities).
My question about the whole thing would be this: given the process of making an Indigenous community “dry” is usually one which involves the whole community, rather than being externally imposed by some government authority or other, surely there’d be a lot lower tolerance within these communities themselves for sly-grogging and home-brew (regardless of what they’re using)? Or am I missing something here?
I choose to believe the onions are a form of witchcraft: someone told him that every time he eats one, the Australian public forgets one of his terrible policies. And/or he becomes invisible.