Newspoll has released its first New South Wales state poll since the March 2007 election. The poll was half conducted before the Wollongong City Council scandal broke, and half after. It shows the two parties locked together at 50-50 on two-party preferred, with the Coalition on 39 per cent of the primary vote and Labor on a dismal 34 per cent. The two-party figure might be subject to the Labor bias which Peter Brent at Mumble noted in respect to last week’s ACNielsen poll. Newspoll has Morris Iemma’s approval rating down to 32 per cent from 47 per cent at the time of the election, which is very close to ACNielsen’s 52 per cent to 34 per cent. The Australian’s article hints intriguingly at a five-point turnaround on preferred premier after the Wollongong story broke, but says nothing about voting intention. The Australian’s graphic possibly has more, but my browser crashes when I try to open it (UPDATE: No, I wasn’t really missing anything).
Also from Newspoll today are comprehensive figures on perceptions of the two party leaders, which show Kevin Rudd wiping the floor with Brendan Nelson on every measure.
Nice to wake up to yet another breathtaking example of the NSW government’s arrogance isn’t it?:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/costa-sidesteps-the-issues-and-plays-the-dance-card/2008/03/06/1204779968966.html
As a lefty I have had to recognise this truth: It really is time the NSW government was thrown out. These sham workers’ representatives are interested in 3 things:
1. Keeping the standard & poors AAA rating because they think this will keep them in the white cars (current prime example the power sell-off).
2. Looking after themselves (prime example Costa) their families (prime example Obeid) their donating mates (prime example Sartor).
3. Head-kicking anyone who isn’t as right-wing and arrogant as they are (prime example Costa).
Before anyone says, ‘but wait the opposition is worse’, I’ve heard it all before from my mates in the ALP left, but that is no reason to keep supporting a corrupt mob of gangsters. (“If I must choose the lesser of two evils, I will choose neither”). They won’t improve in the next 3 years – they are terminal.
Hopefully the greens get the balance of power in the upper house.
101 jaundiced – hell, is that all. How would that be the straw to break the camel’s back?. By all means throw the government out for genuine reasons but this is BS.
The case against putting tax cuts into super is here:
http://petermartin.blogspot.com/2008/03/six-reasons-not-to-pour-more-money-into.html
Gary B @ 101 –
Agreed that is no more than another sign of Costa’s juvenile arrogance – but it is also a window into the little shop of horrors that the NSW ALP has become – and the horrors all have their fingers in the till 🙂
“and the horrors all have their fingers in the till” – you mean illegally or like all governments do? If illegally has this been proven yet? I’m not trying to be a smart alec here, I really don’t know (I’m from Victoria).
Gary Bruce I think there are countless reasons to throw out the NSW Government. Unfortunately there aren’t so many reasons to elect the alternative… perhaps the ALP could pledge to flush in at least 50% new members next election. It doesn’t help that Iemma even looks like a crook.
Gary B @ 105 – Yes, true, no government can be trusted, but this one has gone beyond anything I’ve seen since the Askin years. The problem is the party has allowed people who are good fundraisers to take it over. Being a good fundraiser often means being part of a world of favours-in-return. Eddie Obeid is one of the key power-brokers, and he was sacked because of apparent rorting in South Sydney to benefit his family, Frank Sartor and others are tainted by other obvious rotrts like, among many, the sale of the Labor council’s Currawong cottages to his donor mates who get him to take over and determine the zoning for the re-development as planning minister. And there was a perfectly good offer on the table form National Parks. Tridopi has got his crooked Wollongong mate into a $200,000 a year job, but has put up enough Chinese walls to make it technically kosher -but it isn’t really. That list is endless. In the meantime, land clearing goes on unchecked, the hospitals amd public transport are rooted, they want to sell the supply of electricity. Oh yeah, they have to go alright.
107 jaundiced – fair enough but why haven’t political heads rolled? If you’re aware of this the authorities must be. Are their actions illegal or not?
The latest Sky News poll question – “Should the goverment guarantee the carers’ bonus in the budget?” Why not just ask, “Do you believe in motherhood?”
Gary B @ 108 – There is an inquiry underway at the moment about Wollongong that may possbly expose a minister. The ICAC has investigated a few of them, but they cover their tracks too well. In short, no criminal convictions yet, but morally, ethically and politically they are a proverbial crock.
@ 109 Ha! Indeed, a typical MSM poll question.
The carers stuff is the biggest beat up this year. First of all they seem to be fixated on a $1600 figure – bull butter.
The figure is either $1000 or $600 depending on which benefit you get. So where the $1600 figure comes from I don’t know – maybe a situation where a couple are both recieving some sort of benefit to look after a child under 16.
But now the person with the disability gets an extra $500 and the carer gets an extra $500, situation the same or a $400 rise.
What a waste of oxygen – and yes I get a disability support pension. My family will be $400 better off.
[The carers stuff is the biggest beat up this year. First of all they seem to be fixated on a $1600 figure – bull butter.]
See my post in the other thread.
I totally agree, this is a beat up by the Opposition Organ no less. My mother who get’s the carer’s allowance for me gets $90 per fortnight PLUS the $600 Annually.
Plus the Utilities Allowance now includes the Internet as well as your phone, before that was only for people on the Aged pension.
I forgot to add I also get $70 per year on the Continence Assistance Scheme which is meant to last me for 12 months, yet I used mine all up in less than 6 months – $60 alone was spent on an adhesive bond for my leg bag because there was a period where the usual product I was using wasn’t being produced and they were trying to source a cheaper alternative.
The Leg Bag alone is $120, plus add condoms for the baf, plus KT Jelly, Latex Gloves etc and it all adds up., oh and if you have any money left over it doesn’t carry over to the next financial year, and you can only use the funds to et stuff from a preferred supplier as well.
hmm, that should be KY Jelly 🙂 (and yes, there is a legitimate medical use for the lubrication and condoms besides the obvious – lets just say the lubrication is for my ablutions, and the condoms is for the leg bag.
Too much info Frank. I’ll believe you 🙂
I forgot to add the URL for the CAAS Scheme
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/continence-caas.htm
and info on the CURRENT Carers Payments.
http://myaccount.centrelink.gov.au/wps/portal/payments
[Too much info Frank. I’ll believe you ]
It was provided for the benefit of the non disabled members of this blog 🙂
Thanks Frank
The ‘preferred supplier’ garbage would irk me – who is that helping?
I heard classic last night, sort of, but not really, related.
A ‘young’ architect got thoroughly involved in delivering a house design to a client – action well above and beyond the norm. and far beyond the fee paid, but hey, you do what makes you happy. He became good friends with the client and as they were going travelling, they rented the brand new house to him.
So he worked for reduced fees, and then helped them to pay of their mortgage, while they were on holiday!
Classic stuff. He is definitely a much ‘richer’ person for the experience.
I should add that the “Preferred Supplier” in this case is PQ Lifestyles, a divison of the Qld Paraplegic-Quadriplegic Associiation.
Previously the contract was allocated to different disability groups in each state, in WA it was initially the MS Society and then Silver Chain.
Oh and you’re only allowed 5 free deliveries per year, any over and you have to pay frieght.
119 – because obviously the disabled are generally rorters of the system……and their need are all the same, so we can lump them in the same boat.
Ah – it’s could be worse.
same problems run throughout the entire welfare system – treat people like idiots and they’ll live up to their end of the bargain, or in the case of Centrelink, treat em like dogs…..
Enough of this negativity…well I tried- there’s just no good news stories out there.
What the hell is happening in Antarctica – that’s just crazy!!!
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/07/2183690.htm
Fast Eddie is all but gone from ABC too
http://business.theage.com.au/eddy-groves-abc-stake-all-but-erased/20080307-1xrl.html
(with the storie I’ve hear, I’m not surprised)
Seems like the value of the moral high ground is increasing and pricing more than JWH out of the market.
Well, the Libs are in self-destruct mode again.
Latest gossip in my part of the woods is that an unnamed person called for a Local Government Area meeting to determine that Philip Ruddock’s electorate should have a Local Government Conference. eg. endorsed Liberals running for Hornsby Shire Council which is already in the biggest mess with a majority of “Liberal ” councillors embroiled in a controversy locals like to call “QuarryGate.”
It would appear that certain persons want endorsement as part of their push to take over council and perhaps mount a right-based challenge (yet again) on very popular sitting State Member Judy Hopwood, or indeed at semi-retired Ruddock. These certain persons would (naturally) be backed by people with large land holdings in Galston/Dural who have been waiting a LONG TIME for somebody to push through permission to rezone their land for subdivision.
Anyway, the clever person in the Liberal secretariat (the second-highest office holder I believe) who sent out the official notices of this meeting managed to omit two whole branches from the agenda. The notices also did not make it clear to average punter branch members of the implications of the meeting, or indeed, who had called the meeting, or who even would have the right to vote. All very fishy. I understand a complaint to head office has resulted in the meeting being cancelled just the night before it was to go ahead…..
And these people want to be seen as a viable alternative to Iemma’s team of thugs/mafia etc??????