No FuelWatch effect from Morgan either: indeed, their face-to-face poll conducted last weekend shows Labor’s lead up to 63-37 from 61-39 the previous week. Labor’s primary vote is down slightly from 53 per cent to 52.5 per cent, but the Coalition’s has fallen further – from 34 per cent to 31.5 per cent, their worst result since mid-March.
[And the only person in WA was charged last month ]
And I should also say has appeared in court and has been found guilty, and is awaiting sentencing.
I can hear the sound of hard drives being shot to pieces so the data can’t be retrieved etc.
I’ll buy tickets on the shorten bus on that performance. Smart cookie with great communication skills.
Tony would have been rejoicing that he wasn’t up against another one of those quality ALP women, but all to no avail.
He’ll never make a diplomat, or even the trade portfolio with his bagging of Obama. Shorten praised both sincerely, while favouring Obama through political reason as opposed to a playing the man like Tony the dolt.
97 – The reason the AFP probably went public was they had an AFP officer involved. If the story had broken without arresting one of their own there would be more suggestion of conspiracy than there is now.
Plus amongst the 1500 suspects there were probably a lot that were struggling to have a case made against them. If evidence was strong enough than you would expect charges to be laid six months after the event.
Another alternative is the story had broken overseas at some stage in past 6 months and some bright spark in the MSM had suspected that there would be Australians involved and has now started asking questions. For all we know it was in December last year given the average time that an Australian journalist takes to work out the most basic of ideas (in this case, a “world wide web” might included Australians).
{I can hear the sound of hard drives being shot to pieces so the data can’t be retrieved etc.}
Frank, that was the first thought to come to mind when I read that they had made 40 or so arrests and there were more than 1500 suspects.
In publicly announcing it, they gave most of them ample opportunity to destroy any evidence linking them to the offense.
Most previous webs that have been busted have been coordinated operations where all suspects have been picked up simultaneously.
This smacks of total incompetence or worse. Was there many more police and other high profile potential suspects.
We’ll never know now.
Tony Abbott was again demonstrating his people skills on Lateline tonight.
Shorten got him a beauty when he told him that the reason they lost the election was because they wouldn’t listen to people.
People Skills looked as though he had been “tazered”.
Didn’t the AFP do something very similar last year when they (confidentially of course) told Howard his Queensland knuckleheads were about to be raided on suspicion of rorting their allowances?
Very intersting to hear Bill Shorten say that McCain was the real deal regarding his war record. Basically finding positives about the Repubs
Tony Left ear abbot by contrast couldn’t stop himself from questioning the experience of the dems candidate.
I think Blinky Bill played that question better
The AFP, creatures of habit and operating true to form.
Just watched a replay of Stephen Smith on Lateline last night.
Very impressed with his performance so far and feel that he was a great choice by Rudd for this position.
For that matter, all Labor Front Benchers are performing admirably and are a real contrast to the previous lot.
Um, Senate Watch, I understand that this is a psephy site, but some of us come here to learn (and to make snarky comments), however, for those of us who are here to learn, it would be useful to know what the hell you’re talking about. You may want to think about what you know, and then how you might then tell someone like me who’s interested in politics.
Scorpio, that’s no compliment. A flock of sheep would be an improvement on Howard’s lot.
Yeah, FS. Probably a good explanation as to the 63-37 2PP result in this poll and the consistently high polling results since the election.
The Libs seem determined to see how long they can maintain Labor’s so-called “honeymoon”.
They may set a record here that might never be broken. LOL
On the other hand, they might all just be “rogue polls”.
Isn’t it a classic sign of insecurity in a leader (and vice versa) when he picks talentless deputies that follow him meekly and will never offer a threat. It reminds you of Margaret Thatcher’s closing years and teh vacuum that followed. Whereas Rudd has consciously selected rising stars like Penny Wong to develop teh next generation of Labor leaders. The contrast is stark indeed.
Please say its true. What makes people believe Costello is popular? The last time I saw him do a doorstop he behaved like a child.
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23822910-952,00.html
I saw Nelson on 7 News telling all that would listen petrol would be 5c cheaper a litre under a coalition government. Never mind people have already passed judgement on that idea in the latest round of polls.
I was surprised how unimpressive Costello was during the last election campaign and also after when Howard made them a duo. He also struggled in his debate with a nervous Swan. He also doesn’t speak that well to the camera in interviews, not like in parliament.
There may be a reason why he has never gone for the top job, lack of confidence in his ability to be out front as number one. But of course he should improve quickly. You have to ask yourself since 1995 why has he been so weak about challenging for the Leadership?
I admit though that he may be a more seriously taken candidate than the others.
But from Costello’s point of view what is the point? He has to invest 2-3 years as leader of the also-rans who lack a fair bit of talent, have quite some dysfunction – only to lose the election which is the more likely course of events.
After 11 years as top dogs he can only put himself of for scrutiny if he took the job and there is something Swan and co would like to say about inflation, lack of infrastructure investment etc.
Not much in it for Costello, except if he wanted to trash Howard’s legacy and policies and set a different course he knew Howard would hate.
Costello,
I guess Costello thinks Swan is just keeping the seat warm.
What an arrogant S.O.B.
“But MPs, who have acknowledged the strong performance of Liberal leader Dr Brendan Nelson over the past fortnight, say they have no intention of publicly rocking an increasingly stable Coalition boat.”
They must have been watching a different QT to me. Looks like though Nelson will stay for the moment. Media are determined to ram him down our throats – I wonder why.
The Libs by pushing their populist line and trying to play santa Clause with the $22bil surplus are simply cementing it in the sub concious of the population that the budget is responsible and is tough – at least tougher than they would have brought in. People are not buying this line despite the so-called “journalists” wishing it were so.
Costello is only strong in Parliament when he has the full weight of Gov’t behind him and can do headkicking. He would be a different man in the Opposition front bench – like Abbot.
Video of Hetty’s reaction to the desicion not to charge Bill Henson.
She single-handedly set back the cause of Sexual Abuse Advocates by a good century.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2008/6/6/2267661.htm
Shorten’s quite silly statement about McCain’s ability ,flies in the face of a thousand opinions from American commentators in recent days, who see McCain as a poorly informed and of an extremely reactionary mindset
McCain’s Foreign Policy agenda consists of nothing more than a promise to bomb any nation which gets in the way of the neo-cons Bushite agenda…and worst of all he used the conference of peak Zionist-Jewish groups in Washington to grovel for the Jewish vote and make belligerent statements about Iran and Palestine
The problems of the US in the M E will be endless until they unhitch themselves from their disasterous alliance with Israel,and as a Jimmy Carter makes clear in his recent book, only when the Palestinians have justice will there be a chance for peace in the M.East. The zionist lobby now denounces Jinny Carter as if he was a neo-nazi..but that the way they operate in the USA. and here too !
Like Mad Hilary who says she would” obliterate”Iran if it threatened Israel(all 8o million people!???)
McCain made a disgraceful fool of himself when he sang “Bomb.Bomb Iran” to an old ’50ies tune’
Bill Shorten should have know more about all this, before he offered an opinion,,,if he is quite ignorant as I suspect is the case..silence would be better than blather we heard tonight from him on ABC !!
The recent Lateline interview was the first time I saw Bill Shorten on the box. He struck me as solid but a bit defensive – and although I rarely agree with Tony Abbott, Shorten does waffle. Fortunately, Abbott’s so smug he couldn’t win a debate if he tried. Abbott for next opposition leader please!
Shorten being part of the elected government has certain responsibilities and as well he is not Howard and, not about to provide negative comments on a person who could end up being President. I could just see the MSM jump on Rudd for that! Privately they all know that McCain is probably not up to the job.
I look forward to President Obama meeting with Kev in 18 months time in Australia.
One other thing about much US comment on McCain..the man is aged 72,..one writer in Vanity Fair recently thought that McCain was likely to have great physical difficulty in the long campaign. ahead ..up till now he has sat on the sidelines…some note his lack of vigour…recently trying to bound up to the stage he left an impression of being a bit doddery…remember John Howard’s looking old and tired at the end of his last campaign ?..that may be McCain’s real problem in the long days ahead.
Obama’s task will be to avoid the assassin’s bullet !!!
Forty years ago today Bobby Kennedy was shot dead in L A !!
Let’s hope Obama makes it safely into the White House ,
Gary from your link at 114.
[But none would go on the record as Mr Costello remained tight-lipped about his chances of following former prime minister John Howard out of the political grave and doing a “Lazarus with a triple bypass”.
“Firepower like that shouldn’t be wasted,” said one MP.]
Not surprising that Liberal MPs from Queensland would not want to go on the record. Now they have been taken over by the Nationals who have become a franchise of Clive Palmer all their public utterances probably have to be approved by a Western Australia Mining Company.
I think the Queensland Liberal MP’s would be well advised to leave Federal Politics alone and to work out how they are going to retain even eight seats at the next state election as it is doubtful the Queensland voting public will vote for an instable franchise owned by one man.
Costello is too lazy to be PM let alone opposition leader.
As far as Shorten went on Lateline, he was a little (a lot) nervous as he has only been in Parliament and Government for 6 months. What he did say was that he preferred Obama as President because he represents a new change for the USA. He definitely could not be critical of McCain, that would be political suicide. Abbot would not stop mumbling in the background and he did criticise Obama for being young and inexperienced.
Brian @ 123: I really think that is the major danger for Obama not winning the Presidency. Scary to think about.
Each $1 USD rise in the oil price equals a rise of about 0.75 cents per litre in the cost petrol. The $16 rise in the last two days will see petrol rise by about 12 cents. (Oil had fallen about $10 in the previous week and a half however).
Nelson and his 5 cents tax cut is hardly going to help much when you 12 cent rises in a matter of days. It will be seen as fiddling whilst Rome burns. Plus a five cent tax will cost as much as Family Tax Benefit B costs (which is paid to some 1.5 million Australian families).
Oil is likely to hit US@150/barrel within a month, and may well hit $200 by late this year/early next. Of course this assumes Israel doesn’t carry out its latest threat to attack Iran.
Playing with a few cents here and there is nonsense. We have to accept that oil will never be as cheap as it was just a couple of years ago and begin re-ordering our societies accordingly. That’s where we need to spend our taxes, not on pathetic vote buying sprees that achieve SFA.
I forgot to add that a fall in oil is just as likely as a rise. The current supply is a little higher than usage. At $100 a barrel many more fields have become profitable and production just takes time to get online. If oil does reach $200 a barrel, it is a bubble and it will burst.
I don’t believe “the sky is falling” all the time like some people.
#132 B. That’s a pity. I was looking forward to a resurgence in public transport.
A cut of 5c per litre would save most people what? $1 – $1.50 per week?
Can anyone out there in voter-land fail to see this as nothing more than a really expensive political gimmick?
Yep, Milne, Shanahan, Albrechtsen, Bolt, Ackerman, Toohey, Henderson, Uhlman…. in fact, the whole press tool box.
#135 Evidently, Jenny Macklin too alas.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/25/2254856.htm?section=business
Abbott reckons that fuel should be exempted from the carbon trading regime because it is ‘inelastic’ and usage doesn’t change with its price, thus putting a premium on it wont help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Unfortunately for him we see people in cities using public transport more because of the increased fuel price and, Garnot saying that we will exceed our Kyoto targets because of the increase in oil prices.
Abbott obviously runs everywhere and feels no personal effect from fuel prices.
NV, I hear you, but isn’t there a point of principle involved in removing GST from petrol, when in reality it is already being taxed under the name of excise duty?
The Government would be more honest in increasing the rate of excise than taxing on its taxes and then washing its hands of its hypocrisy by claiming the GST component is somehow the States’ fault as they get the benefit.
The reality is that the taxing system is riddled with inequities, but equally neither this government nor the alternative rabble have the courage or desire to deal with the issue.
[Abbott reckons that fuel should be exempted from the carbon trading regime because it is ‘inelastic’ and usage doesn’t change with its price, thus putting a premium on it wont help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.]
The fact it is inelastic is a reason to include it in carbon trading, because a further increase in price may force people to reduce their consumption, or at least buy cars that use the same amount more efficiently.
GST on Fuel
Jenny Macklin only said they would review it. Apparently all tax is on the table for the Review.
A review is different to actually saying that you would definitely remove it. It was floated some time ago. There is no confusion between considering and doing. One is one and the other is the other.
I would want to see a proper review and this includes looking at the GST, tax, excise and whatever else and how they interrelate.
Oil is probably the most important of polluters. If there is no carbon tax on it it is likely we should forget the idea altogether. Poor Planet!
Doug, you are of course right, all tax is on the table for review.What is wrong with that?
The LNP are grasping at straws and the media are trying their hardest to keep this alive. Why? I don’t know.
I think you’re wrong there Fulvio. The tragedy of the Commentariat is that the Usual Suspects you have listed (and a few more than just them) do see the gimmick in it all but, as they trade in gimmicks for a living, they don’t care.
They have said as much, frequently, with statements like, “While the Nelson 5c excise cut is irresponsible and a pure politicial tactic, it has wedged Rudd Labor and caused the Honeymoon to be finally over…” &etc.
At one stage, a couple of weeks back, Milne tried to make out that the only people who objected to Nelson’s 5c cut were hoighty-toighty “economic elites” (which was rich, coming from him and his overuse of the word “paradigm”). But it didn’t run as a serious point for long. He eventually lapsed back into the far easier “Gotcha!” game, with the rest of the lazy sycophants that make up the laughingly-called “MSM”.
It’s all just a passel of fun for them, as long as Labor is embarrassed.
Oh dear… (shadow minister for environment / climate change / unlimited government hand outs) Greg Hunt’s way of aiding the solar industry is to jump out of an airplane:
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23826723-12377,00.html
And how much carbon dioxide was released into the atmosphere by the plane that carried Greg Hunt to do this stunt?
They will not admit that some of their old policies were not 100 % correct. The Rudd government did not break a promise, they are going to make it more efficient, by subsidising the correct building structures that provide the best outcome. Also they are working on a plan to have the solar panels feed into the power grid, the excess power generated and get paid for that power, consequently receiving a continuous income, instead of a government subsidy.
Muskiemp – feed in tariffs are already well on the way. Here in SA we’ll be getting 44 cents for every KW pumped into the grid as of 1st July with a guaranteed payment of at least double the standard tariff for the next 20 years. QLD is paying the same, but not sure if they’ve already started, and I believe the you get even more in the ACT.
However, without the $8,000 subsidy, 44 cents/KWh would only return about 4% on the initial investment of $15,000 for a nominal 1KWh system assuming all the generated power was fed into the grid which is unlikely in practise.
However, likely steep increasing in tariffs in the next few years may change the equation.
I always though a “share” system would have been a good idea for solar panels.
You purchase the panels with your subsidy (means-tested or otherwise) and instead of having them installed on the roof of your house where leaves, shadows from trees and limited space all hinder efficiency, you have them installed in a regular solar farm on rural land, feeding directly into the grid. Most cities have this kind of land, for example all that government-owned land at Badgery’s Creek in Sydney, originally slotted for the second airport.
Another advantage of grouping all the panels together in open space at ground level is that installation costs would plummet. This means either the same number of panels for less, or more panels installed for the same price. Instead of having to use expensively insured tradespeople with licences to work up on roofs, doing three or four panels per day at one domestic site (plus cartage etc.), you would have the same number of workers at ground level installing thirty or forty panels in a much more efficient and productive manner at the solar farm.
There could be a workshop or secure lockup at the farm for leaving tools behind so that you wouldn’t have to cart them to and fro and pleanty of sunshine, all day ’round, instead of when the sun peeks from behind a large decorative gum tree, or emerges from the shadows on the other side of the roof. East, north, west or southerly pointing houses would not be a problem as all panels would be optimally situated (even perhaps on rotating devices to maximise sun exposure).
Much prettier, too. We don’t want any more visual blight on the landscape too add to television aerials and telegraph poles.
The financial model would be that your panels remain your property despite not being literally on your roof. You still own them and so can move house and retain the benefits of your investment. Or they could be tied to the property as a type of “remote fixture” and sold along with the house. Or they could be sold on the open market at whatever the going price of the day happened to be…just like shares, only subsidised by the government.
It wouldn’t be long until such a solar farm would be producing a lot of electricity. But even at a small scale a pro rata contribution to the grid would be made. Solar farms are almost infinitely scalable, up and down. You wouldn’t have to finance a 100 megawatt farm to kick off. A single megawatt would do. Or for that matter a kilowatt. Grid connection infrastructure could be added as required and the only maintainence required would be a crew of people walking up and down the rows of panels with a feather duster.
I once put this idea to Origin Energy who said of course it made sense. But they couldn’t do it because the Federal and state governments wouldn’t give them a license to operate such a farm. No reason given, just “No” for an answer.
The manager at Origin I spoke to strongly suspected that the state and federal governments were protecting the coal miners and other vested power interests. He said that state politicians he had spoken to told him that if he wanted to compete with the “big boys” in power generation, then they would have to pay the same rates of taxes and levies as the “big boys” did… no subsidies.
Perhaps that line of thinking is closer to being changed, what with global warming around the corner.
Funny this… how come the Nelson 5 cent excise reduction did not translate into 5.5 cents off at the bowser – given the GST would be applied to only a 33 cent excise?
This would mean foregoing $2.2b, not the $2b being widely mentioned.
I suspect this was another masterful, well thought out, deeply considered Coalition policy – on the back of a postage stamp – just where Nelson’s predecessor left off.
Have they learned anything on opposition?
BB @147
kinda depends on the land you have available – badgery’s creek isnt necessarily the best (transmission aside, there are some areas of natural bushladn plus older farmlands). The problem I have is that we keep looking at parking power generation somewhere else instead of closest to its point of usage, and on land that is currently non-urban. We alienate land from farm production or we far from urban areas. This is unclever. We could utilise the many hectares (hell, many square kms) of roofs for ths purpose, decentralising power generation. And Badgery’s Creek? Well, if we want to keep chewing up the food producing areas of Sydney thats fine, but DON”T ask for a green vegetable then – given that 80% of them come from the Cumberland Plains. And then we get to native vegetation, and its regeneration…
So, stick the panels on your roof, unplug the appliances, and get your food from places nearby – simple really, and ready-made for a Low Carbon future…
And could PBers please not give the 5c rubbish any more air. WE all know its a crap policy (for economic, greenhouse, fuel efficiency etc etc reasons). If we are so concerned lets all go out and tell our neighbours (etc etc) and get them to change their behaviour – sell the 2nd car, switch to public transport, write to their Transport Minister/Premier, write to the paper and so on.