Saturday Extra

It's been a very interesting, in fact you could say momentous couple of weeks in Federal Parliament.

The parliamentary session began with the arrival of Malcolm Turnbull as new leader of the Opposition.

But no sooner had Turnbull claimed that mantle than we were waving goodbye to Kevin Rudd as he jetted off to New York for a meeting of the UN General Assembly.

That trip proved the trigger for some good old fashioned grandstanding in Question Time.

'Kevin 747' was the refrain from the Opposition benches, as they tried to make mileage out of the PM being out of the country during a sitting week, while the government countered with some Shakespearean barbs directed at Malcolm Turnbull.

Indeed they dubbed him the Merchant of Venice, a reference to a recent Italian holiday to Italy and the fact that he was formerly a merchant banker.

But all of this really took place in the shadow of the US financial crisis, a situation that now seems without precedent in terms of its magnitude and the possible long term impact on global capital and private wealth, including retirement savings and superannuation.

Guests

Geoff Gallop
Director of the Graduate School of Government at the University of Sydney, and former premier of Western Australia.

Dr Sharman Stone
Member for the federal seat of Murray and Shadow Minister, Immigration and Citizenship.

Story Researcher and Producer

Scott Wales

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