If you weren’t paying attention this week, we’ve got you sorted.
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Joe Hockey leaves parliament
Earlier this week, Joe Hockey retired from the House of Representatives after 19 years of service. Hockey left with the respect and admiration of his peers. A sentiment seen across both sides of parliament as not only Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull made a speech, but Opposition Leader Bill Shorten as well. At one point in his career, Hockey was tipped as future Liberal leader, however, his popularity sharply declined following his 2014 budget. In his 25-minute valedictory speech, Hockey didn’t appear bitter, despite being dumped as treasurer, and instead wished the new government all the best.
New South Wales reviews hate speech laws
New South Wales is looking to tighten their hate speech laws in an effort to decrease “race hate preachers and violent extremists”. The review will consider recommended changes to section 20B of the anti-discrimination act made by a standing committee on law and justice in 2013. It recommended increased penalties for hate speech and stricter definitions of what is included. Proposed law changes will ban violent hate speech against gay and transgender people. Under current laws, there have been roughly 30 cases put forward but no successful persecutions.
New billion dollar Crown Resort announced
Crown Resorts announced this week that a new Queensbridge Hotel Tower and precinct will be built in Melbourne’s Southbank area. The 90 story “Tower of Light” will expectedly stand much taller than the Eureka Tower, and will comprise 388 rooms and 680 apartments. The luxury “six-star” hotel, according to Crown, is expected to cost around $1.5 billion. It will feature a unique special event space and a publicly accessible restaurant, lounge and garden terrace at the top of the tower. “Melbourne just keeps getting better as a city, but we can’t take this success for granted,” James Packer, Crown Resorts executive director said. “A new hotel is the next evolution of Crown Melbourne. I am committed to this city and committed to keeping Crown Melbourne at the forefront of Australian tourism.”
A new landmark hotel to boost Melbourne Tourism, Crown today announced plans to build a six-star luxury hotel. pic.twitter.com/E9miGZMxJv
— Crown Resorts (@CrownResorts) October 19, 2015
Dogs let loose in photo booths
New book by Lynn Terry includes adorable pictures of dogs taking photos in photo booths. From smiling bulldogs to pouting Pomeranians, “Tails from the Booth” first began when Terry started taking pictures of her dogs in a photo booth to raise awareness for animal shelters. Her pictures soon became a worldwide sensation, which eventually inspired her very own book. The photos capture the dog’s personalities, sense of humour, their need to socialise and their eagerness to improvise. “Being able to spend most of my days photographing these animals brings a lot of joy to my life,” Terry said. “I’m happy and honoured I could bring a little piece of joy to others.”
Dogs in photo booths. That is all … and it is enough. https://t.co/isZbCjjAyt pic.twitter.com/NcC6EwB2Lq
— Lauren Johnston (@laurenjohnston) October 21, 2015
Week two: trade period
The trade period officially finished at 2pm Thursday, and there were some big last minute deals secured. Collingwood swooped in the second week of trades by securing Jeremy Howe from Melbourne and midfielder Adam Treloar from Greater Western Sydney. The Treloar deal was finally confirmed after a video prematurely surfaced of Treloar talking to Collingwood about his move. James Aish’s wish to play for Collingwood was also granted in the last day of the trade season. Around 30-minutes before the trade-window closed, Chris Yarran joined Richmond. Jake Carlisle was embroiled in controversy on the day he was traded from Essendon to St Kilda, after a SnapChat video was sold to A Current Affair. He has since released a statement.
Rugby World Cup thriller
The Wallabies snatched a one-point win from Scotland in a Rugby World Cup quarterfinal nail-biter. The Wallabies trailed by two points but Bernard Foley slotted a controversial last-minute penalty to win the game for the Wallabies 35-34. The Wallabies will play Argentina in the semi finals on Monday, 26 October from 3am (AEDT).
Caulfield Cup
Favourite Mongolian Khan didn’t disappoint, winning the Caulfield Cup after hitting the front a long way from the finish. The four-year-old Kiwi horse will be a warm favourite to win the Melbourne Cup in November. English raider Trip to Paris, closed in at the end to finish the race second.
NZ raider Mongolian Khan wins the 2015 Caulfield Cup, with Trip to Paris finishing second and Our Ivanhowe third. http://t.co/d6wp8GSCTQ
— smh.com.au (@smh) October 17, 2015
ABC announces new news director
Gaven Morris, the man behind ABC News 24, has been announced as the new director of ABC News. Kate Torney, the former head of the news division, announced her resignation in July. Current head of news gathering, Craig McMurtrie, has also been given the new position of deputy director. Managing director Mark Scott said: “Gaven comes to this role with a strong record in managing the complexity of large newsrooms and, in particular, building news brands such as ABC News 24.” Scott announced that he was stepping down from his position earlier this year.
Netflix causes decline in piracy
A decline in online piracy in Australia has been attributed to the rise and popularity of streaming service Netflix. A report by the Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation released by the Australian International Movie Convention, revealed that online piracy declined across all age groups from 2014 to 2015, except for 35-49 year olds. Many are arguing that this demonstrates that a significant amount of online piracy is motivated by a lack of legal access to content.
Final Star Wars trailer released
The final trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out this week, and was warmly received by social media with many ecstatic about the glimpse of the upcoming film.
Audio produced by: Jack Howard.
Feature image: Jake Stevens.
Joely Mitchell, Tam Kendi, Ewa Staszewska, Tijan Biner, Johanna Brasier and Ethan Miller are the editors of upstart this semester. They are all third-year Bachelor of Journalism students at La Trobe University. You can follow them on Twitter here: @joelymitchell, @tamkendi, @EwaStaszewska, @tijanb, @JohannaBrasier and @ethanmiller1994.
