Sunday preselection snippets

Further dispatches to keep the ball rolling until the glorious day when paged comments return:

Nicole Hasham of the Illawarra Mercury reports on possible successor to Liberal MP Joanna Gash in the southern NSW seat of Gilmore. The front-runner is said to be Shoalhaven deputy mayor Andrew Guile, a one-time staffer to Gash who is evidently not on good terms with his former employer. According to the report, the South Coast Register published a letter from Gash in August which criticised Guile for sharing a $1080 meal with other councillors at a Sydney restaurants at which various preselections were said to be discussed, including her own. Also named as a possible contender is Gash’s “close Liberal associate” Clive Brooks, who “owns South Nowra business Great Southern Motorcycles”.

• The Daily Telegraph reports Craig Laundy, “general manager of his father Arthur’s $500 million hotel empire”, has Tony Abbott’s backing for preselection in the central western Sydney seat of Reid. According to the report, “a senior Liberal source said Mr Laundy had been to see Mr Abbott, party president Arthur Sinodinos, state director Mark Neeham and moderate faction leader Michael Photios about his run for the seat”. He may face opposition in the shape of Dai Le, ABC Radio National producer and two-time state candidate for Cabramatta.

• Christian Kerr and Lauren Wilson of The Australian report that some in the Nationals camp hope the party might be able to poach the New South Wales seat of Hume from the Liberals if Alby Schultz retires as expected at the next election, by fielding Senator Fiona Nash as their candidate. One virtue of the plan is said to be that Nash is seen as “a possible party leader, a more stable alternative to (Barnaby) Joyce”.

• Similarly, the WA Nationals are said to be hopeful of winning Durack if the current Liberal member Barry Haase does not contest the next election, “as many predict”.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

469 comments on “Sunday preselection snippets”

Comments Page 9 of 10
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  1. Frank, the mendacious extortion of Alan Joyce is exactly what the #occupy movement is on about. They are the good guys.

  2. [Frank Calabrese
    Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:28 am | Permalink

    Ahh the bright minds of Occupy “Whatever”

    Imlay1992Imlay

    if FWA halts TWU strike against qantas without pay negotiations itll be a direct hit to workers rights & democracy #auspol #occupymelbourne

    1 minute agoFavoriteRetweetReply]

    They have a point. Lockouts are very rare in Australia. This reminds me of the Seamen’s strikes and lockouts of the 1890’s. Similar issues. Similar result too, I suspect.

  3. [Frank Calabrese
    Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:29 am | Permalink

    briefly

    Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:28 am | Permalink

    Puff, the Magic Dragon.
    Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:21 am | Permalink

    Frank,
    Actually, no he doesn’t have to go by your pronouncement. If everyone who posted inappropriate stuff on social media, even abhorrent views, lost their jobs there would be a lot of people out of work in this country.

    Targetting employment like that is wrong, unless it is directly relevant to the office held.

    With you 100%, puff

    Enjoy being in the minority 🙂 ]

    Don’t worry Franco, being in disagreement with you is usually a good indication that the opinion being expressed is correct….:)

  4. [briefly

    Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:35 am | Permalink

    Frank Calabrese
    Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:29 am | Permalink

    briefly

    Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:28 am | Permalink

    Puff, the Magic Dragon.
    Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:21 am | Permalink

    Frank,
    Actually, no he doesn’t have to go by your pronouncement. If everyone who posted inappropriate stuff on social media, even abhorrent views, lost their jobs there would be a lot of people out of work in this country.

    Targetting employment like that is wrong, unless it is directly relevant to the office held.

    With you 100%, puff

    Enjoy being in the minority

    Don’t worry Franco, being in disagreement with you is usually a good indication that the opinion being expressed is correct….:)
    ]
    See Dan’s and Drake’s Comments Briefcase.

    THey are more clued than you will EVER be.

  5. Briefly, the #occupy movement has a very good point. Joyce is the epitome of corporate greed. Awarding himself a %70 pay rise while begrudging his workforce a 2% rise to cover inflation, further its a ploy on his behalf to send jobs off-shore

  6. [Drake,
    Depends on the job.]

    In what circumstance would the unlawful acts of an employee not have relevance to an employer? If, to use your example, a painter of park benches is inciting the public to violence and making racist slurs in a public forum, how could that possibly be irrelevant to their employer? Does the employer deal with the fallout by simply saying that the employee paints well? Are you seriously suggesting that the employer would prefer not to know about the unlawful activities of their employee?

  7. [See Dan’s and Drake’s Comments Briefcase.

    THey are more clued than you will EVER be.]

    Puff has a good point. I don’t believe in mob-justice and summary judgement, which is what you appear to be advocating. In a trial by public opinion, an accused person will never get a fair hearing. Just a thing for me……I like due process. It exists for very good reasons that still apply in the age of social media.

  8. [
    briefly

    Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:42 am | Permalink

    See Dan’s and Drake’s Comments Briefcase.

    THey are more clued than you will EVER be.

    Puff has a good point. I don’t believe in mob-justice and summary judgement, which is what you appear to be advocating. In a trial by public opinion, an accused person will never get a fair hearing. Just a thing for me……I like due process. It exists for very good reasons that still apply in the age of social media.

    ]

    As I xsaid – enjoy being in the minority.

  9. [Puff, the Magic Dragon.

    Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:46 am | Permalink

    Drake,
    Don’t you mean alleged unlawful acts? Who has been convicted?
    ]

    They were posted in Black and white.

    Admit you are in the minority.

  10. Puff has a good point. I don’t believe in mob-justice and summary judgement, which is what you appear to be advocating. In a trial by public opinion, an accused person will never get a fair hearing. Just a thing for me……I like due process. It exists for very good reasons that still apply in the age of social media.

    This says what I was thinking very well; bravo Briefly and Puff. Inciting organizations to sack someone because they said something stupid in off-the-cuff comments makes me very uncomfortable, regardless of the distribution of social media…

  11. [On an admittedly incomplete reading of events, it seems to me the application by the Government on Friday to FWA for suspension orders to be granted seems to have had quite a bit to do with the decision to lock out workers.]

    The application was made last night, not friday.

    [I don’t believe in mob-justice and summary judgement, which is what you appear to be advocating.]

    What we are advocating is the expressing of an opinion to the employer of a man who himself is advocating that everyone find a unionist and bash them, as well as referring to delegates at CHOGM as “coons”. How you leap to a finding of mob justice, given his employment is not controlled by us, or summary judgement, given he himself admits his comments were offensive, is not clear to me.

  12. [Mick Collins

    Briefly, the #occupy movement has a very good point. Joyce is the epitome of corporate greed. Awarding himself a %70 pay rise while begrudging his workforce a 2% rise to cover inflation, further its a ploy on his behalf to send jobs off-shore]

    Sure, they have a point. Aviation is an internationally-traded service. There are intense cost pressures and they manifest as pressure on workers’ incomes. Joyce claims to be paid less than a pilot in base salary, and to derive the rest if his income from share-options which have been out of the money for the last few years. In any case, it is a very bad look……wage justice being an important issue.

    The pressure is on Joyce and the Qantas board, no doubt. They may have completely wrecked the brand. This has been building for years from my perspective. But as I say, I could not care less about Qantas. They are monumentally arrogant. Equally, the unions have been fighting a losing battle imo. Aviation is just a really bad business. It’s hard to build secure jobs and high incomes in an industry that doesn’t make much money.

  13. [As I xsaid – enjoy being in the minority.]

    Franco, I prefer to take my inspiration from the PM. If I have to chose, it is better to be correct rather than popular.

  14. Frank,
    Being in the minority has never bothered me. You should be able to argue the point of the issues in the social media where the comments were made.

    The sword you are wielding against that twitterer has two edges.

  15. [ Drake,
    Depends on the job.

    In what circumstance would the unlawful acts of an employee not have relevance to an employer? If, to use your example, a painter of park benches is inciting the public to violence and making racist slurs in a public forum, how could that possibly be irrelevant to their employer? Does the employer deal with the fallout by simply saying that the employee paints well? Are you seriously suggesting that the employer would prefer not to know about the unlawful activities of their employee?]

    [Drake,
    Don’t you mean alleged unlawful acts? Who has been convicted?]

    Puff,

    No, I didn’t mean alleged unlawful acts. I meant exactly what I said – unlawful acts. The problem with your ‘gotcha’ is, I was talking about a hypothetical park bench painter.

  16. Briefly, Joyce could have taken the same route as the JAL’s CEO and taken a pay cut.
    He would have gained a lot of Kudos and strengthened his argument for restraint.

  17. [It is understood that all it would have taken for Qantas to cancel the grounding was for Ms Gillard to declare all future industrial action illegal.]

    Ok, what have i missed?? I wasn’t aware that a PM actually had the power to do this, and i one did, i mean, how happy would the lawyers be when the high court challenge happens??

    This appears to be Joyce going straight for Gillards throat via the media. Wonder how Qantas passengers feel about paying money to a company that breaks dumps them overseas or away from home so they can be political pawns??

  18. [leigh_howard leigh_howard
    FWA clearly anticipating that this dispute will be escalated through higher courts, given that they are choosing to write reasons at 2 am]

  19. [What we are advocating is the expressing of an opinion to the employer of a man who himself is advocating that everyone find a unionist and bash them, as well as referring to delegates at CHOGM as “coons”. How you leap to a finding of mob justice, given his employment is not controlled by us, or summary judgement, given he himself admits his comments were offensive, is not clear to me.]

    Such comments are completely unacceptable. Nonetheless, it is not open to us to pursue him just on account of his opinions. It is not open to us to pursue him at all for anything, in fact. The most we can do is disagree with him and advocate alternative views.

  20. Drake,
    I am not a lawyer, so please put me right. Are you saying then that the senator at this point is a shoplifter not an alleged shoplifter and should lose her job right now?

  21. [Mick Collins
    Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:56 am | Permalink

    Briefly, Joyce could have taken the same route as the JAL’s CEO and taken a pay cut.
    He would have gained a lot of Kudos and strengthened his argument for restraint.]

    He reckons he has….in 2009 and 2010….and his “rise” this year is not in cash, but share options….but it is a PR disaster for him. Frankly, they are hopeless with their PR, which makes me think the lockout was not carried out at a time decided purely by Qantas, but in response to the application for suspension……but who knows.

  22. [Drake,
    I am not a lawyer, so please put me right. Are you saying then that the senator at this point is a shoplifter not an alleged shoplifter and should lose her job right now?]

    Puff,

    No, I am not speaking of the senator. I am arguing that it is well within my rights to complain to a man’s employer about offensive comments made on twitter, comments which are still posted and of which the man has admitted have caused offence.

    Are you saying I have no right to make such a complaint?

  23. but in response to the application for suspension

    Have you got a reference for this ‘application for suspension’ – all the reports I have heard had no applications to FWA from any party prior to Qantas announcing the lockout and grounding without notice. The application to FWA from the federal government was made several hours after this event.

    Unless you have other sources of information that contradict this…

  24. Jackol, I was reading it this way after watching Anthony Albanese on 7.30. The timing was not clear, so thanks for illuminating this.

  25. [

    latikambourkeLatika Bourke

    by NewtonMark

    FAIR WORK AUSTRALIA ACCEPTED THAT THE DISPUTE WOULD REOCCUR UNDER A SUSPENSION AND THUS RULED A TERMINATION. #QANTAS

    1 minute agoFavoriteRetweetReply]

  26. [victoria, thanks for the news…..Qantas win a pyrrhic victory….the unions take a slap….lose/lose really…..]

    In real terms i think the Unions have “lost” very little out of this. If no agreement in 21 days we are looking at arbitration, and while no-one will get all their agenda through in this scenario i’d think the pay rises the Unions have been after will substantially get up.

    Qantas management, having focused attention on their off-shoring agenda and seeming to want to sidestep the Qantas Sale Act may be somewhat vulnerable going forward. Particularly now that the threat of a further grounding without notice will always be hanging around in the back of peoples minds.

    This aint over yet. I think if they Qantas want war with the Govt on IR, they will lose.

  27. Yes, I don’t think this changes anything wrt Qantas. In one sense it does lock in the fact that management are going to ‘win’, but ultimately an IR system is never going to prevent that. Qantas as we knew it 20 years ago was a gonner irrespective of what the government or FWA or the public have to say about it, as outlined by Briefly and others above.

    The broader question of whether this has changed the IR landscape in Australia – I don’t see it. It hasn’t “busted” the unions. I don’t see it opening the door for other businesses or industries to try similar tactics given the mildly extraordinary nature of the airline industry and Qantas in particular. Whatever FWA rules in the end won’t change Qantas’s workforce’s wages and conditions much one way or the other.

    From a political point of view, provided Qantas does actually resume its dysfunctional service shortly, I don’t see any harm to the ALP federal government – and possibly even some validation that the IR system they’ve put in place kind of works when push comes to shove.

    But, in general, a lot of huffing and puffing, and … not much will have changed when the dust settles.

  28. The spin will be all over the place but the essential message is that the government intervened and the problem is now with the independent umpire and flights will resume. problem solved.

    Now is the conciliation doesn’t work in the next 21 -42 days the FWA can sort out Qantas. It is obvious from what I hear about the ruling – Qantas is not is a strong position based on their action re arbitration. Unions may well score a good result out of the idiocy of Joyce. Which Judge likes to sit to all hours on a Sunday night to sort out such petulance? We will see. Night PBs.

  29. [MichaelTunnMichael Tunn

    “It is likely that the actions of the unions – even if taken together – would threaten tourism or transport. It was #Qantas ..” – FWA quote.

    55 seconds agoFavoriteRetweetReply]

  30. What the right were hoping for was a system that got tied up by up by industrial dispute and cripple the nation, so then Abbott could come along and heroically “simplify” the system (ie. “get back to work or you’re on the streets!”) That is why they are chasing the angle that it could’ve ended sooner and that Joyce was the winner. To make it look like the FWA slowed the process down.

  31. [

    gordongrahamGordon Graham

    Abbott would’ve hoped this got tangled in red tape. That hasn’t occurred. Planes back in the air ASAP = great news for Gillard #auspol

    3 minutes agoFavoriteRetweetReply]

  32. Brain Dead comments from a Terrorgraph facebooker:

    [
    Daily Telegraph
    More on the decision by Fair Work Australia to end the #qantas industrial dispute coming here.

    Fair Work Australia terminates Qantas industrial action as PM Julia Gillard plans to use foreign air
    http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au
    FAIR Work Australia has terminated the industrial dispute with Qantas, by upholding the Gillard government’s application this morning…

    Like · · Share · 13 · 15 minutes ago · .

    3 people like this..

    Orsan Sabah What an embarrassment to the country. She acts as if she is 100% aussie yet doesnt help an all australian airline? Pshh get out. She should stand by Qantas and crush the union. Not humiliate the country and it’s people!
    11 minutes ago · Like · 2 people.

    ]

  33. Imacca, I really wonder what the protagonists are going to do from here. Qantas absolutely cannot stabilize and grow their business if they cannot compete with other carriers. The workforce cannot achieve better job security, more satisfying work and higher incomes unless Qantas succeed.

    I don’t get the feeling that Qantas want to fight the Government. Why would they? They have to fix their business model, not take on a fight they cannot win. They have plenty of fights on their plate anyway. The international business is not worth having in its present format. It is just a way to lose buckets of money. If I had a business that was losing millions every week and couldn’t fix it, I would close it. Almost everyone would do the same thing.

    The domestic franchise has great strength. They have to work with that. Somehow, they have to get their workforce onside too. There are some fascinating examples in the management case studies, basically arguing that if something is not working, then you should stop doing it. You should re-set the dynamics by disrupting the status quo and then pursuing transformational changes. The trouble is, when a workforce gets offside about the next 2% pay-rise and feel embittered and maltreated, then change becomes very hard to accomplish.

    Qantas has certainly let its workforce and everyone else know that they will close the carrier of they cannot restructure. There are tough time ahead at Qantas, that is for sure.

  34. And Hartcher also kindly gives us the new media meme. Apparently she should have stopped the ‘crisis’ from ever happening because that’s what good Prime Ministers do…

    [Even so, Qantas should have given the government as much notice as possible. It gave it only three hours. Still, crises test leaders. Gillard has failed the test of this crisis.

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/shutdown-exposes-failure-of-leadership-on-all-sides-20111030-1mqhz.html#ixzz1cHTSzJpr
    ]

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