Tony Abbott’s “” was quickly watered down as discussions with President Vladimir Putin loomed on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
The pair met to discuss the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 disaster and while no punches landed, Abbott didn’t mince his words with the Russian leader.
In short, he asked Putin to to the families of the 38 Australian victims killed in the tragedy.
The longer story reads that Abbott told Putin that Australia had reliable evidence that it was a Russian missile fired from Eastern Ukraine which shot down the airliner.
Pretty strong stuff.
Abbott also revealed that the country’s special forces are finally , almost two months after they were deployed to the Middle East.
And Australia isn’t the only ones moving troops.
The week ended with Russian warships lurking in international waters off Australia, an unwelcome distraction for the Coalition and early Christmas gift for the graphics departments at News Corp.
Climate change clashes
But Putin was the least of Abbott’s concerns by the end of the APEC gathering.
Like the rest of the world, he was caught by surprise on Wednesday when the US and China announced a .
The timing couldn’t be worse for the Prime Minister.
Not only had he repeatedly stated that climate change wouldn’t be on the agenda for this weekend’s G20 Summit, but negotiations over a reduction in Australia’s renewable energy target had disintegrated just hours before news of the US China deal broke.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten pulled no punches, saying Abbott's "flat-earth views" were an embarrassment, while Greens leader Christine Milne labelled the announcement a “wake up call”.
And it only got worse for the Coalition as the evening went on, with joining the push to include climate change on the G20.
Protesters bury their heads in the sand highlight the Prime Minister Tony Abbott's refusal to include climate change in the G20 agenda. (AAP Image/350.org Australia, Tim Cole)
Of course, it wasn’t all bad news.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt used the announcement as an opportunity to highlight his abolishment of “Labor's ineffective and costly carbon tax”, while Family First Senator Bob Day voiced his support for another axing – this time, the RET.
PUP off the chain?
It’s a pup-eat-pup world in parliament, at least for the Palmer United Party.
Its members have been nipping at each other since party leader Clive Palmer slammed a by Senator Jacqui Lambie, who urged the public to turn their backs on Coalition members at November 11 services.
The Tasmanian senator soon hit back, telling the ABC that Palmer and her Senate colleagues needed to get off the fence and “”.
“I’m not going to sit here and make my PUP senators or Clive Palmer look good when I’m not feeling that way about them,” she said.
“… If the party is going to survive then they’d better come up with a bloody better plan of attack than what they’ve been using.”
The spat soon escalated with Palmer Rob Messenger from the party, telling the rogue Senator to either challenge or get on with the job.
Palmer United federal leader and member for Fairax Clive Palmer speaks to media in Melbourne. (AAP Image/Tracey Nearmy)
But with Lambie saying she’d make a better party leader and crossbench Senators offering her a seat in their voting bloc, the winner of these games remains to be seen.
Chopping blocks and black holes for finance heads
And it’s another wait and see for our country’s finance men after a week of ups and downs.
Our beleaguered Treasurer Joe Hockey faced a new battle on Tuesday with a in the budget, courtesy of a stubborn Senate.
Treasury had expected a $29.8 billion deficit this year, but the report from consultancy firm Macroeconomics indicates that his mid-year financial outlook may bring a black day for the Coalition.
Hockey this week ruled out any a mini budget or any “large structural changes” to his budget in next month’s announcement.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister managed to sidestep the excitement, appearing on ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet instead.
Mathias Cormann skimmed over the budget with a few laughs over a chopping board, with discussion instead focussed on beer, sausages and the wonders of Perth.
Bottoms up: Mathias Cormann and Kitchen Cabinet host Annabel Crabb (ABC)
There was, of course, talk of *that* cigar photo.
“The only prank that has been played on me recently is shortly before the budget when I was catching up with Joe and some camera was hiding 250 metres in the bushes,” Cormann said.
“Outrageous.”
The foreign minister and the feminist
It’s been a better week for the Foreign Minister.
Not only has Julie Bishop been working the room with international leaders, she’s also been unveiled as .
Bishop – who this year has already picked up international acclaim and the rare Dutch foreign ministry order of merit – used the title to again press her rejection of the .
“Stop whingeing, get on with it and prove them all wrong,” she said of feminists.
It’s not a statement that went down well with everyone in parliament, with her Opposition counterpart Tanya Plibersek hitting back with some choice comments of her own.
Writing in Fairfax Media, the Deputy Opposition Leader said she was feminist not because she was a whinger, but due to her gratitude for her position.
This back and forth is probably the last thing Madeleine Albright imagined when she first uttered her now famous line, “there is a special place in hell for women who don't help other women”.
The final bite
In between the drama of APEC and the G20, people may have forgotten that the fuel excise came into effect this week.
The news was overshadowed by the passing of former Queensland Premier and Labor stalwart , who succumbed to ill health at age 63.
A state funeral has been offered for Goss, who Labor leader Bill Shorten described as a “great Queenslander and a truly great Labor man”.
Another figure from our political past made headlines this week, with former prime minister John Howard delivering the outside the Australian War Memorial on Remembrance Day.
Howard fronted the media afterwards, weighing in on Islamic State militants and defending his decision to commit troops to Iraq.
“We’ve gone to war to defend values and principles, and we ought to always remember that,” he said.
“And we should never apologise for the stand that we’ve taken in the past or the stand that we take now.”
Of course, the government does occasionally get things wrong, as the pointed out this week.
Caricatures of Prime Minister Tony Abbott and US President Barack Obama (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
But now is the time to look ahead with the world’s leaders flooding not only Brisbane for the , but also parliament and even Tasmania in the days to come.
Malcolm Turnbull and Tanya Plibersek will also be on Monday’s Q&A program, following this week’s double act of Greg Hunt and Anthony Albanese.
Surely they’ll manage to keep the shirtfront threats to a minimum.
