The latest edition of the Democratic Audit of Australia’s invaluable newsletter taught me the following things I (mostly) didn’t already know:
• Griffith University commissioned Newspoll to conduct two polls on “constitutional values”, in May 2008 and March 2010, and has handsomely published the full results in a comprehensive report. This finds the most pressing item on the public’s constitutional agenda to be “a referendum to decide which level of government is responsible for doing what”, which 54 per cent rate “very important”, followed by “what levels of government Australia should have” on 47 per cent, indigenous recognition on 43 per cent and a republic on 38 per cent. Support for recognition of local government is very high in Queensland (and, relatedly, among Nationals voters), but shaky everywhere else. However, the 2008 survey found the public would be highly favourable “if changes state there must always be a system of local government, set rules and standards of accountability, and guarantee a reasonable level of funding for local government”.
• The High Court has published its reasons for finding in favour of the GetUp!-backed plaintiffs who challenged the early closure of the electoral rolls introduced by the Howard government in 2006. The ruling restored the old regime under which new enrolments and changed details were accepted during the first week of the campaign, obliging the Australian Electoral Commission to accept over 100,000 applications that would otherwise have been frozen until after the election. There is a summary here and full judgement here. The court was finely poised on the issue, with Chief Justice Robert French and Justices William Gummow, Virginia Bell and Susan Crennan forming the majority, and Kenneth Hayne, Dyson Heydon and Susan Kiefel making dissenting judgements.
• Daniel Kreiss and Philip N. Howard probe the laxity of regulation surrounding political parties in the English-speaking world in “Political Parties and Voter Privacy: Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and United States in Comparative Perspective”, published on the online journal First Monday.
• An Australian Parliamentary Library report tells us that a federal redistribution in South Australia should occur during the current parliament, with the seven-year time limit on the existing boundaries expiring this month. Other than the Victorian redistribution that has just been finalised, this is the only redistribution likely for the current term.
• The Queensland government has produced an 18-page paper entitled Reforming Queensland’s Electoral System, which canvasses “on political donations, caps on expenditure by candidates, parties and third parties, and automatic enrolment of eligible voters”.
• The Democratic Audit’s Joo-Cheong Tham has published a paper on regulation of NSW local government elections.
• The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters has initiated its inquiry into the 2010 election, and will accept submissions until February 16.
[You’d have thought that “action man” would have gone into action like Kevin, but he just stands around and gives useless advice.]
and taking names and addresses so that he can beat up on some hapless ‘shiney bummed bureaucrats’ when he gets a complaint.
Jeez, I fell sick after hearing you lot saying Franklin was beating up on the PM on Ch9. He is a very nasty piece of work doing the bidding of his nasty Master and yet he says ‘I want to be loved’. Fat chance of that!
Abbott is still fighting the election.
Anything that happens is just an opportunity to hit the govt.
It was sooooo nice when he went away for a bit.
victoria
[Dee
the authorities do hold fears for people in that region. I hope your friends turn up very soon, safe and sound.]
They’re probably whooping it up somewhere!
lizzie
Where is the outrage that Abbott is politicising this tragedy. MSM do your bloody job!!
Britain:
Oldam East/Saddleworth Byelection results
Labour retains the seat, and its majority increases to 3,500.
Lib Dems did OK in 2nd place, woeful 3rd place for the Tories.
[Where is the outrage that Abbott is politicising this tragedy. MSM do your bloody job!!]
And pigs might fly, vic!
victoria
They really are unbelievable. Just for a day or two we only got news reporting. Now action man is back, they’ve become moronic again.
Gillard is getting a caning on commercial talkback radio, but nothing new there.
And I’m sure it won’t take long for the MSM to turn on Anna Bligh.
A woman’s body was just found at Grantham. No.16! 😥
[why is Gillard in trouble?]
Because she wore the wrong coloured jacket
Because she didn’t put on a show of water works
Because she didn’t sound like Churchill during the war
Because she doesn’t have a dick.
BH @ 3147,
[I thought Howard was a clever politician but Abbott is surpassing him (unless he’s being given instructions from Howard).]
I think it’s been pretty obvious Abbott’s been taking advice from Howard from the moment he became the Liberal Party leader.
Didn’t take long for Abbott and his gaggle to get involved and bring poilitics into the tragedy.
Abbott will want to be very, very careful how he sets himself up. People will see what is being done on the ground to help them. Yes, there will be a minority who complain but I think this is a situation where people will not take any crap.
Abbott at some stage will turn on the rebuilding. He will not be able to help himself. However, he will come up against a very experienced Major General who has sounded already as if he also will not take any crap.
This might be a bridge too far for Abbott this time.
Hope the media keeps its focus on what is happening not the politics.
[Where is the outrage that Abbott is politicising this tragedy. MSM do your bloody job!!]
It’s just good ol’ Tony though. He doesn’t mean to come off as bad. Look at him, the guy is a hero. OTOH, that bitch Gillard seemed a bit cold today, when is the challenge against her leadership gonna be?
to say abbott did the correct thing and stay away now thats certainly and new spin if ever i heard spin.
dont you all remember what happend when latham did that.
some one should try to google a piece from franklyn back then
[Abbott at some stage will turn on the rebuilding. He will not be able to help himself. However, he will come up against a very experienced Major General who has sounded already as if he also will not take any crap. ]
Hi Doyley
He has already said that the most important thing is to get the budget back to surplus, which was what made me very angry before. I think that rebuilding and helping people is more important than this.
As for Major General Mick, I agree with you. He said last week he was sick of the politics being raised around this issue. I know whose side I would pick and it wouldn’t be the rabbott’s.
was franklyn a reporter in the aust those days.
I think we can safely assume Mr Franklin will not be on ModLibs list of left leaning journalists.
It has perhaps reached the time where every single presser question from an Oz journo is answered with the preamble – “given your newspaper’s committed support to the Liberal party I do not expect this to be reported accurately, but”.
I am about to get shot down for what I am about to say but …
It has been a horribly humid day today and I have been in front of a fan for most of the day and listening to ABC Sydney Radio and commercial stations.
Julia is in deep trouble out there.
There are many phoning in saying exactly what was mentioned here yesterday over and over again. Those who raised these things yesterday were dismissed.
People have had a comparison in Anna Burke in the last few days and they like what they see. They see her as gutsy compassionate articulate clear and informative. She is giving clear and concise off the cuff responses to questions and has given confidence to people in some of the worst times of their lives.
Yes with Julia they talk of hand gestures and clothes but they are peripheral to the real issue which bothers them. They think she is robotic and not giving of her heart and soul.
I have worked on more campaigns than I can remember and run a few of them. You get a feel for the response to your party. I have said on here before that voters are not members of a “fan” club they want leadership and confidence from their Government.
We ignore some things at our peril.
I am only saying what I am hearing and seeing among some of my friends and family and over the air waves.
Now I am going to go hide behind a chair before the bricks are thrown.
[LATIKAMBOURKE | 2 minutes ago
QLD Premier Anna Bligh says looking into the background of #qldfloods will be done in a public and transparent way]
[He has already said that the most important thing is to get the budget back to surplus, which was what made me very angry before. I think that rebuilding and helping people is more important than this.]
if aust. where ask about he budget i think i know the answers australians and their families come first no matter where they live. It doesnt matter if we dont get back to budget to 2015 as long as we help
doesnt charity begin and home.
[LATIKAMBOURKE | 1 minute ago
Anna Bligh says the flooding in Grantham was without warning ‘this was a like a bomb descending on them from the heavens.’ #qldfloods]
[I would love to ask the Rabbott. Is he going to criticise the ADF, the Local Councils, or just the federal govt? because it suits him to be a arskhole!!]
Betcha he won’t be criticising the Liberal Brissie Council but why criticise at all – why not get the positives out. It will help people get through this much better if the negativity is tossed aside.
MTBW
So what you are saying is that at the next election in September 2013, people will not vote for Federal Labor because Julia appeared robotic in some press conferences?
[was franklyn a reporter in the aust those days.]
Good question. When did they spawn him from that pit of bile?
[3218 Mytwobobsworth
Posted Friday, January 14, 2011 at 5:19 pm | Permalink
I am about to get shot down for what I am about to say but ]
i think Julia does come across sometimes taht way, i think she is very nervous about how to act, but then you wouldnt know if all these people rining tb are liberals
the trouble is you are born with your personality.
Now kev would cop it because he was to folksy but then the qld probably are reacting because some want kevin back perhaps
I feel for Julia i dont think she is like that at all but she is not sure just how to conduct her self when you see her among the people she is different to when she is at a news conf.
vic just tweeted mark colvin (@colvinus)
[StGusface @Colvinius Where is the outrage that Abbott is politicising this tragedy. MSM do your bloody job!! ]
hope you dont mind me using your words
🙂
that campbell person his mother and father where in politics in Tas
his mother was a liberal senator
thanks gus send a tweet to every one of them and prick their conscious
Victoria
I am saying that something has to change because what is happening isn’t impressing anyone.
[Posted Friday, January 14, 2011 at 5:26 pm | Permalink
Victoria
I am saying that something has to change because what is happening isn’t impressing anyone]
CAN YOU CHANGE YOUR PERSONALITY your born with it mostly.
thats the way she is i think she is proably very SHY
Fortunately, impressing armchair activists and keyboard crusaders isn’t a priority of the PM right now. DOING HER JOB IS.
1. Abbott doesn’t know how not to be adversarial.
2. Sorry Julia fans, but she’s looked rather wooden to me! I just don’t think she shares Anna Bligh’s ability to be both on top of the detail & show the right level of emotion.
Gillard is better in a committee room, obviously a skilled negotiator – she might be better off working on the planning for the recovery effort, and leaving the public statements to Bligh/Newman/Andrew Fraser etc.
My say
[i think Julia does come across sometimes taht way, i think she is very nervous about how to act]
I think you have hit the nail on the head!
MTBW
I don’t doubt what you are saying is right, and Julia is in a no-win situation.
She couldn’t have done the same as Anna Bligh because
# she didn’t have the local knowledge
# she wasn’t there
# it wasn’t her job.
If she had come in on day 2 or 3 and taken over, I don’t think it would have looked good, yet that was the only way she could have played the same role.
But the public are fickle. Anna will be in trouble again within weeks, I bet.
[franklinmatthew @StGusface I don’t have any colors. But I didn’t c it so I don’t know what they ran or y it wld offend u ]
stumped, i tells ya, stumped
🙁
Mytwobobsworth: Commercial talkback radio is never friendly towards Labor politicians and Julia is no exception, but it’s not just Liberals/right wingers who are a tad disappointed in her performance this week.
Premier Bligh and Rudd have completely outshone her.
if she broke down and cried the media would say she cannot handle it.
I dont recall mrs thatcher getting to emotioal about the Fauklands War
does any one and i have nt seen Campbell in the Uk crying about afganastan/
really this is ridiculous its because she is a woman.
i dont think Kevin would of cried would he, and abbott he is NOT sympathtic to any one
so my to bobs worth say that to your friends.
she is the PM not a sports mistress or a girl guide leader
My say
[i think she is proably very SHY]
If that is the case – and I am not saying it is – why on earth would you go into politics as a profession.
[franklinmatthew @StGusface I don’t have any colors. But I didn’t c it so I don’t know what they ran or y it wld offend u ]
arent the liberals colours blue and green remind him
[If that is the case – and I am not saying it is – why on earth would you go into politics as a profession.]
Because it’s her democratic right.
Lizzie
[She couldn’t have done the same as Anna Bligh because]
No one is asking her to do the same as Anna Bligh.
She put her hand up to become the Prime Minister of this country – there are certain requirements for that position.
[ think Julia does come across sometimes taht way, i think she is very nervous about how to act
I think you have hit the nail on the head!]
I agree also. I love Julia and think she is doing a wonderful job, but other people’s perceptions seem to be different.
My cousin rang up from Melbourne to check on us yesterday and she said what a wonderful job AB is doing, unlike Julia.
She also was comparing them, which I think is totally unfair as they have completely different roles to play. The only saving grace is that she thinks Abbott is sooo much worse.
Evan @ 3236
I totally agree with all of the sentiments you expressed.
[i think she is proably very SHY
If that is the case – and I am not saying it is – why on earth would you go into politics as a profession.]
you ask me, i ran a big business cannot say what here in tas, we won lots of accolades and me i was top manager for the whole of aust.
people would say to me why are you not excited and when things where not good why are you not upset.
i dont show emotion much at all. it doesnt mean i dont fell it. some woman are like that
and i think thats exactly Julia. she hides her emotion she holds the fort
Victoria @ 3223,
[So what you are saying is that at the next election in September 2013, people will not vote for Federal Labor because Julia appeared robotic in some press conferences?]
She comes across as robotic in every press conference she’s done since becoming PM. One thing Abbott has been able to do very well against both her and Rudd is to come across as a real person and not some professional politician going through their rehearsed lines, hand gestures and fake smiles.
Of course Abbott is a professional politician too but that’s the reason behind the OTT action man stuff. A bit like Howard donning the Akubra as soon as he’s a few km’s out of the CBD.
[pFortunately, impressing armchair activists and keyboard crusaders isn’t a priority of the PM right now. DOING HER JOB IS.]
So right, Pebbles. Her presser today at Amberley was good. Haven’t seen her with Anna in the Lockyer Valley yet to. She is doing a good job and the people she meets surely don’t want her crying all over them. Just a hug, a talk and touch is a help.
I wonder if, instead of long preambles at pressers, whether JG should give dot points on the policy issue and then say ‘any questions’. The media could be given a screed 2 or 3 minutes before she enters the conference room.
Do what has been suggested before and announce name and paper of each journo asking the question.
Take up Gos’ suggestion
[“given your newspaper’s committed support to the Liberal party I do not expect this to be reported accurately, but”.]
funny becasue our family in holland
‘ said what a lovley regal Pm you have she is so calm and serene”
but then lets face it europeans have a lot of class when we dont
sometimes
thats there perception and of course they are a monarchy and see woman at the top in a differernt way i have NEVER see the queen cry ever
If the media missed it. Anna Bligh is Premier of Qld. It is her gig.
Julia Gillard is Prime Minister of Australia, she is doing what any PM would do in an emergency, giving Commonwealth aid, per the State-Federal emergency agreements.
This is a system that has been in place for decades.
[I think we can safely assume Mr Franklin will not be on ModLibs list of left leaning journalists.]
Gos, Just got back home so haven’t kept very in touch with what has been happening, sorry. I take it the blog is still on the “media being unfair to Julia” motif?
Any chance someone can give me an honest objective summary of what Mr Franklin actually said (facts not interpretation) and I promise to give you my honest opinion- with the caveat that you need to look at the broad picture of his output not just one report?
Two Bob
[If that is the case – and I am not saying it is – why on earth would you go into politics as a profession.]
Did you know that most actors & many singers are shy?