Yet more polling woe for Labor, with the latest Essential Research poll – which being a two-week rolling average is less prone to variability than other polls – putting the Coalition lead at a new high of 56-44. The primary votes are 49 per cent for the Coalition (up one), 32 per cent for Labor (steady) and 11 per cent for the Greens (steady). We also have the frankly bizarre finding that perceptions on the economy have tanked in the two months since the budget, with “right direction” down eight to 37 per cent and “wrong direction” up 14 to 43 per cent. The Liberal Party has a telling lead of 43 per cent to 26 per cent on the question on “best party at handling economy”. On the question of same-sex marriage, 54 per cent are in favour and 35 per cent opposed: these results are more favourable than when the question was last asked in May, but basically the same as the previous result from November last year.
We’ve got to be past peak Abbott soon. Nobody can stay top of the pops forever, especially if avoid scrutiny as much as Abbott. These things have got to be noticed.
[Have to agree that was poor form.
He was only “one” Member of the Party.
Were the rest of them knocked out with valium or something.]
The same can apply to Gillard then.
Abbott is still insisting there will be a tax on petrol when the CT comes in. He’s going to look very silly when there isn’t.
Cuppa
.
Re Chalk and Cheese Abbott and Beazley they were also both Rhodes Scholars. Although Tony went on to become The Rodent’s Scholar.
[His opinion was that since Julia Gillard became PM nothing seems to have happened.]
That’s the sort of statement that floors me. These people really must be living on another planet.
Funny you mention pensioners, with the indexing of pensions to the new pension index or Average Male earnings or CPI, plus the CT bonus, plus quarterly indexing, It will eventually pass the minimum wage. 😉
Maybe the PM ought to get onto the front foot in her appearances in front of the press for a change: Do a bit of a Bob Brown and call-out the News Ltd drones.
Plus perhaps she could channel Keating for a bit and remind that bunch of snivelling ingrates that apparently constitutes the Australian public these days that without the stimulus package and the Government’s prompt action during the GFC, we’d be sitting on 10 to 15 percent unemployment like the rest of the developed world. Perhaps she should remind the punters of what a Liberal economic rationalist’s response to the crash would have been: “Let the market sort itself-out and if a few of the little people lose their retirement savings/homes/jobs, well that’s just the market working its magic for the greater good.”
Get stuck in to the whining wankers.
janice2 @ 61
That sort of meme is pumped out continuously by hate radio in Sydney and elsewhere. Unfortunately it spreads like a contagious disease.
Darn
[Abbott is still insisting there will be a tax on petrol when the CT comes in. He’s going to look very silly when there isn’t.]
Let’s hope. Just remember it was he who said ‘Why not do it with a simple tax?’ not so long ago yet the media seemed to just quietly forget that.
The only thing Abbott has passed since the election is wind.
Poroti,
Fair enough. I wonder how Abbott was selected for the Rhodes Scholarship. Perhaps by virtue of his boxing prowess … because he sure shows no indications of being an intellectual.
[The ‘bizarre comment’ about the economy. You obviously don’t mix in the real world because there is a real feeling of economic insecurity in the community. ]
Ask the average Australian who is aware of the degree of financial despair of the average person in the likes of Spain, Greece or the US. Great Britain even, if they would like to swap places with some one there.
Economic insecurity, bulldust.
Rightwing shockjock fear-mongering I’ll accept.
I can bet the Libs will start to constantly use the ‘Greens Government’ or “Greens owned Government’ or some such to counter the the Government’s use of ‘Labor Government’.
bemused
[That sort of meme is pumped out continuously by hate radio in Sydney and elsewhere. Unfortunately it spreads like a contagious disease.]
My feeling as well and we forget that most people have busy lives and get their opinions from what they hear while they are “on the go”.
Ah, a bad poll for the government and TP arrives.
A Murdoch-owned Opposition calling the Government Green-owned. That’s rich.
I’ve just mopped up a bit of unpleasantness, and ask that those involved desist. The comment that started it all was a) personally directed and hence highly unhelpful, and b) nowhere near as bad as its critics were suggesting.
That aside, I’ve been greatly pleased by the standard of discussion here over the past few days.
This is truly sad. Labor put a great deal of effort to get the lead in this area of perception among others, and now its gone, its all gone.
[I make angrier statements here than I might because of the unwillingness of so many to even contemplate error by the current government. ]
If errors had “not” been made, even with a largely hostile & partisan media, we would not be seeing the polling figures we have been seeing for some time now.
Both Riley and Oakes mentioned Labor are going to conduct a mail out that will highlight the cost of Tony Abbott’s Direct Action con to the taxpayer.
Kersebleptes @ 67
It seems William has his scissors out so I will limit my response.
What MTBW says about the NSW ALP is usually, sadly, all too true. I am sure she speaks more in sorrow than in anger.
If you wish to defend the antics of the controllers of the ALP in NSW and their insidious influence federally then go for it. It should be most entertaining and highly imaginative.
It was Rudd that got Labor cudos for economic management as well as in many other areas, most of which have since fallen. Rudd did a great job in building a positive perception of Labor. This has been squandered by abysmal efforts since. It seems the public doesn’t give a rats about this govt.
kudos
Labor will now be criticised for using paper to promote a measure aimed at saving the environment. Please God let the PR people have enough common sense to employ print companies which use carbon neutral processes.
They both also featured this story in their news items
[
The Transport Workers Union says truck drivers may take industrial action if Govt goes ahead with a carbon tax on fuel for heavy vehicles
]
http://twitter.com/Simon_Cullen
[Labor will now be criticised for using paper to promote a measure aimed at saving the environment. Please God let the PR people have enough common sense to employ print companies which use carbon neutral processes.]
And recycled paper.
[ Christ, the Libs leading 43 to 26 on the better economic managers question.
This is truly sad. Labor put a great deal of effort to get the lead in this area of perception among others, and now its gone, its all gone.]
From memory, that was the last figure that Labor achieved to get the complete set!
Can someone remind me again, who the Labor Leader was when that happened?
Seems strange that that very same leader can be blamed for the catostrophic drop in not only that figure, but most of the others also. 😉
William @ 67
Since some of my posts have disappeared, I presume I transgressed. Can you explain how? I merely identified an ad hominen attack on another poster and made further mild responses.
From memory the mail out was going to use the $720 cost to each taxpayer figure in relation to Abbotts Direct Action Con. I think it took the form of a mock invoice.
A Louis Nowra article from a year or so back seems pretty well explain Tones post election behaviour.
.
It should have been me———-“when he failed to play rugby for the school firsts, he could not conceive that it was because he wasn’t good enough – it must have been a conspiracy against him. This arrogance and sense of self-entitlement annoyed many of his peers.” .
Tones Stuntathon ?————–“His great political flaw is like that of his boxing, when he defeated his opponents with his whirling dervish attacks on them. If his opponents had had better defence, they would have avoided his initial attacks, let him become exhausted and then picked him off, slowly and relentlessly. Abbott places everything on attack and as such leaves himself wide open to dying a death of a thousand cuts. ”
.
http://www.themonthly.com.au/monthly-essays-louis-nowra-whirling-dervish-tony-abbott-2250
Am I out of touch with the rest of the country?
I am on a fixed income, the DSP. I do own my house so pay no mortgage or rent.
My experience is that things are getting cheaper, my fortnightly shop is the same cost but it now buys “luxuries” like Welsh cheddar cheese and eye fillet steak. I bought a new car a few months ago. All on $739 a fortnight.
What are people complaining about?
[The Transport Workers Union says truck drivers may take industrial action if Govt goes ahead with a carbon tax on fuel for heavy vehicles ]
Blimey, we might get to see Joe 6 pack on TV! 😉
From the previous thread
[Danny Lewis
Posted Monday, July 4, 2011 at 5:05 pm | Permalink
Boerwar: is Abbott still saying he won’t abide by the outcome of the plebiscite if it is a yes rather than a no?
I thought I read a quote from him earlier which indicated he had changed his mind and would be bound by it as well.
As such, doesn’t that qualify as a genuine attempt to force a plebiscite, rather than just a stunt – which the first one clearly was?]
It should still qualify for a stunt, because he did not put the backflip in writing.
Spur212, from previous thread:
[As for Tony Abbott, from what I’ve read and heard of him, is that he’s very sympathetic to trade unions and the only reason he takes a stand on IR issues is to be considered apart of the mainstream of the Liberal party.]
Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.
Ambiguous tweet from Possum:
[Pollytics Possum Comitatus
Our national politics changed in quite a profound way today. Yet Labor – the party that *needs* to leverage off it, did {censored} all
3 minutes ago]
[spur212
Posted Monday, July 4, 2011 at 5:57 pm | Permalink
If it’s of any political comfort, you can be almost guaranteed that the next Coalition government will be found out on the economy the next time they get into government..]
No they will just blame the ALP Government waste and mismanagement. Just like they used the 17% interest rate, which occurred in 1998, from 1996 to 2004 and still tried to use it in 2007.
William: because the tax is getting closer. And the closer it gets the worse it will get. This latest poll slump in 2pp has occurred straight AFTER the Get-Up ads got blanket coverage on the networks.
News today of the retail sales slump in May mirrors Essentials findings on the economic questions and must start business talking about the prospect of a technical recession.
Will the compensation turn this pessimism around? I don’t think so. The situation Labor has got itself into is diabolical, imo, and there is strong possibility now there will be no tax but an election instead.
ruawake,
[I bought a new car a few months ago. All on $739 a fortnight.
What are people complaining about?]
It would be hard if you were on a fixed income & paying rent though.
My elderly Mum was talked into selling up & moving closer to my two sisters so they could be closer to monitor her health wise Y help if needed.
She was paying $700 per fortnight rent and it was killing her financially. It proved better for her to buy another house and take on a smallish mortgage than to pay rent.
Taking on a mortgage when you are on the pension & over 80 is quite daunting, I can assure you.
madcyril @ 75
Do they do this whenever there is a fuel price rise?
I hadn’t noticed.
[there is strong possibility now there will be no tax but an election instead.]
Wanna put a small wager on that?
[netvegetable
Posted Monday, July 4, 2011 at 6:14 pm | Permalink
We’ve got to be past peak Abbott soon]
We had peak Abbott many months ago according to some posters here from my memory.
I know the proletariat here gets feral and abusive with bad polling so this is probably pointless….but, nevertheless…. IMO the missing piece of the puzzle with most responses here is Gillard. This has nothing to do with Abbott, its about how pathetic Gillard was, is, and continues to be. The cattle decision is another case in point- knee jerk decision without proper consideration of consequences. The petrol removal from the Carbon Tax is another example- does she want to reduce emissions or not? If she wants to reduce emissions why is petrol out? Saying petrol is out will do nothing for her stocks as no-one I know believes her (and thats the crux of her problem actually, its nothing to do with Tony- look at the polls disapproval ratins, Australia is fed up with him too!)
I know I have said this before but I do not think it is just media hype about the economy.
Most people I know are hurting quite a bit (except the young ie under 35 who are raking in the dough). Without saying there is any single cause try the following which add up
Professionals with 10-15 years experience unemployed
Professional with 30 years experience unemployed
Small businesses bankrupted (or forced to close)
Experienced book keeper cleaning houses for a living
Small business owners in tears over electricity bill
Teacher driving buses
Senior professionals on short term 6 month contracts
Teacher unemployed and unable to get any sort of work
Public servant now unemployed and getting just short term 2 month contracts
Retired public servant struggling to make ends meet
Retired disabled person facing loss of income due to super losses
Young investor just lost $25,000 on the stock market (OK, OK not much sympathy but he is family)
Maybe I mix with a sorry lot but these are all real people in the here and now – All but two of them labor/green voters also.
In the days of permanent employment before the public service retrenched and offered packages and the rest none of these cases would exist – Or at least 60% of them would not.
[Cuppa
Posted Monday, July 4, 2011 at 6:23 pm | Permalink
Poroti,
Fair enough. I wonder how Abbott was selected for the Rhodes Scholarship. Perhaps by virtue of his boxing prowess … because he sure shows no indications of being an intellectual.]
That’s how he confronts issues: with his metaphorical fists.
He will be found out, though – of that I’m certain.
Tweeted Ms Gratten after her boorish comments earlier
That press conference more pain than gain for gillard?
davidlen2 davidlen
@
@michellegrattan way past your used by date madam, give us a break and go quietly
charlton
.
“That’s how he confronts issues: with his metaphorical fists.
He will be found out, though – of that I’m certain.”
.
Spot on and Louis Nowra agrees with you————–”His great political flaw is like that of his boxing, when he defeated his opponents with his whirling dervish attacks on them. If his opponents had had better defence, they would have avoided his initial attacks, let him become exhausted and then picked him off, slowly and relentlessly. Abbott places everything on attack and as such leaves himself wide open to dying a death of a thousand cuts. ”
.
http://www.themonthly.com.au/monthly-essays-louis-nowra-whirling-dervish-tony-abbott-2250
Bar Bar at 88
There is no chance of the Government calling an early election with polls like these. Do you think the PM has a death wish?
She’ll go long, run to full-term, and hope that once policies like the MRRT and Carbon Price and it’s compensation package are up and running, there will be some turning of the tide.
It is bizarre that Abbott can be PPM, the Coalition can not only be in the lead but by a mile.
These guys are the worst, have performed poorly, are all over the place and couldn’t put a decent policy together if you gave them 10 years. I get the feeling that Abbott could be a stuffed dummy or cardboard cut out and still be a mile in front. This can’t be about perceptions of the Opposition, there is none.
[If it had not been for the foolishness of Dr Evatt, we would have had an ALP government earlier than 1961.]
I, too, appreciate your posts Chris and I remember my grandfather complaining about Evatt’s ‘foolishness’ being the reason for much of the disharmony. I don’t know whether that was right or wrong but Whitlam certainly made a difference when he came along.
[evan14
Posted Monday, July 4, 2011 at 5:23 pm | Permalink
Gillard’s got 6 months to turn it around, or else – Labor’s gambling everything on the carbon tax, which may or may not be a smart strategy.
Time will tell!]
That’s simply daft, Evan. The carbon pricing agreement won’t kick in before July next year. There’s no way anyone will rock the boat before then, and more likely (if at all), for at least 6 months after its application. By then it will probably be too close to an election (from about August 2013) to be worth the risk.
This coming year is going to be taken up discrediting the lies and scares spread by Abbott and media lackeys. It is not just the leadership, but the vast majority of caucus accepts this much from the review: that Labor must stand for something and have at least a solid record of achievement to present to voters.
There is enough in the wings (but still needing to be completed) -carbon pricing, NBN, health reforms, cigarette labelling, pokie restrictions, education, training – to give a substantial record, assuming it’s all accompanied by the current economic/employment performance indicators. Measuring progress by current opinion polling is a much lower priority.