Hey everyone, welcome back to everyone’s favourite Friday segment, where we look back on the news of the week. Let’s get right into it.

Starting with news on the political landscape, and it was an interesting first week in office for new Prime Minister Scott Morrison, with his Cabinet announcement taking place on Sunday afternoon. There were quite a few changes made, most notably Angus Taylor being given the Energy portfolio, and a new Education Minister in Dan Tehan, who happens to be a Christian very much like Scott Morrison. There were also non-Cabinet jobs offered to former leaders of the LNP, with Barnaby Joyce being given a role as special envoy for the drought, and Tony Abbott being offered the role of special envoy for Indigenous Affairs, a job which after much consideration he has accepted. Meanwhile Matthias Cormann has retained his job as Finance Minister and Leader of the Government in the Senate, Greg Hunt has kept the Health portfolio, and, despite the challenges and chaos, Peter Dutton has taken back the role of Minister for Home Affairs. Meanwhile, Julie Bishop has declined the offer to continue as Minister for Foreign Affairs, opting to sit on the backbench, with the role being handed to Marise Payne, who Bishop recommended for the job. The Cabinet has since been sworn in, and are already working in their portfolios.

Meanwhile in other news out of Canberra, and Liberal MP Julia Banks, the member for Chisholm, has announced this week that she will not be contesting the next election, citing bullying and intimidation, particularly in the events which took place last week, as her reason for leaving Parliament. Banks won the seat of Chisholm in the 2016 election, after it was held by Labor for 16 years. She supported Malcolm Turnbull in the leadership debacle last week, and wanted to see him continue as Prime Minister. She has claimed that there were three members of the Liberal Party who bullied and intimidated her, however they have not been named. In addition to this, Scott Morrison, a Christian man, has this week had his Christian faith mocked and criticised by many, including a despicable and appalling segment on the ABC Comedy television show the Tonightly with Tom Ballard. The show has already been cancelled and is seeing out its last season, however they decided to do a segment this week which just mocked and made a joke out of the new Prime Minister’s faith. It’s just shocking to see how politicians of the Christian faith have been criticised and practically persecuted for their faith. Education Minister Dan Tehan, also a Christian, has had comments made on his faith, and it’s truly appalling. It has also been announced this week that former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will resign from Parliament today, with a by election to be held in the seat of Wentworth, which is expected to occur on Saturday the 6th of October. And also in politics, Peter Dutton has come under fire once again this week, after he allowed two more au pairs to stay in Australia despite their visas expiring. He had already allowed one to stay back in 2015, and this week allowed a French au pair to stay in Australia despite his department strongly recommending not to. And today, it came to light that he has now allowed an Italian au pair to remain in Australia, reigniting the so-entitled scandal, and leaving many wondering, what is the go with the au pairs? There will most likely be more on this in the coming weeks.

In sports news now, and star Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt will make his debut for the Central Coast Mariners in their trial match against a local Central Coast club tonight, after working hard in training over the last couple of weeks. He will most likely come of the bench at some point in tonight’s match, more likely towards the end of the match. Bolt has impressed in his training sessions with the team, receiving praise from Head Coach Mike Mulvey. It will be an exciting event which will more than likely attract a good crowd, and Bolt will be looking to make a good impression on his debut.

And in a bit of other news, this week saw the tragic passing of US Senator and Presidential Candidate John McCain, who had been fighting brain cancer for just over a year. The well-respected Senator had served his country in a variety of ways for many decades, both in the US Navy and as a politician. He ran as the Republican presidential nominee in the 2008 US General election, however did not win the position of US President, with the position going instead to Democrat Barack Obama. The Senator continued on however, and played a significant role in the US Senate up until December last year. He passed away surrounded by his family on Saturday August 25th at the age of 81. Our hearts and thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.

And that’s it for another Flashback Friday. I’ll be back with more in the coming weeks, so be sure to keep an eye out for more posts. Have a good one!

JJ