Another post to keep the threads brief pending re-establishment of paged comments. Essential Research will as always reports its latest poll result today, but it’s an off week for Newspoll.
• Imre Salusinszky of The Australian reports on yet another figure of the Howard years being mooted for a comeback: Jim Lloyd, who lost Robertson to Belinda Neal in 2007. The report says the Liberals have used automated phone polling locally to test the name recognition of Lloyd, current Labor member Deb O’Neill and the Liberals’ unsuccessful 2010 candidate, Darren Jameson. It also quotes Peter Reith’s post-election review criticising the party’s failure to encourage Lloyd to run last time, which “caused disaffection in a number of the branches”. Lloyd is now 57 and “has worked as a tour bus driver and for a local marine research firm” since his exit from parliament.
• Imre Salusinszky of The Australian (again) reports the NSW Liberals’ decision to deal promptly with preselections for 16 seats it currently holds is likely to bolster Mitchell MP Alex Hawke in a preselection challenge from his foes in the David Clarke Right sub-faction. The report speaks of “vigorous recruitment in Mitchell by Mr Hawke’s enemies, but the opening of nominations means members who have joined in the past nine months will not be eligible to participate”. It also says Philip Ruddock is unlikely to be challenged if he seeks another term in Berowra, despite long-term jockeying in the seat by the David Clarke Right faction. The likely candidate to succeed Ruddock is said to be political staffer Noel McCoy, but he has ruled out nominating against Ruddock.
• Usman Azad of the Kalgoorlie Miner reports the WA Liberals have “set a $500,000 target for a war chest to topple O’Connor MP Tony Crook, with most of the funds destined to build name recognition for his challenger Rick Wilson”. The party reportedly believes television advertising funded by Clive Palmer was responsibile for the Nationals’ win in 2010 at the expense of Liberal veteran Wilson Tuckey, and is determined not to be outdone again.
BB:
Not sure whether Assange is a rightwinger or not, but I just regard him as a pretentious wanker, full of his own self-importance.
spur:
Thanks for the link!
Will have a listen later.
In the Radio National Breakfast interview I heard here in WA, Joyce unequivocally said the Tele story was wrong and that the decision to ground would not have changed if he had spoken to the PM and that he did not expect her to call him back and had not asked her for that.
The ABC continues to have articles online carrying a story already dismissed as fiction on its own shows.
As I and others have been saying for months, soem of the mainstream journos have painted themselves into a corner with their constant predictions of doom and gloom for JG. They are now completely compromising what remains of their integrity to avoid admitting they were wrong.
ABC radio news Perth this morning ran an anti-government tirade from Michael Keenan on boats. Nothing queried and no govt respo0nse. I am tipping the opposition to go back to boats today – a sure sign they’re in trouble on issues of the day.
Of course commentators are now even more angry because they had set up the group think story to be can Gillard survive last week of Parliament. It is now beyond even their inventive powers to maintain that meme. Mind you, I’d guess at least one will be desperate enough to claim Kevin Rudd hasn’t commented on the Qantas situation and that signals a challenge.
Given their utter obsession with him last week I’ll tip Kelly and Grattan as my quinella for that particular race.
[ShockJockCoach Fake Coaching
by latingle
Julia could personally disarm hijackers & land the plane & the listeners would complain she delayed the food service #shewillneverwin]
Ain’t that the truth!
[Left right should not matter when it comes to free speech – this is very hard for lefties to grasp but free speech applies to fascists as well as communists, Catholics and Wiccans, peoples revolutionaries and monarchists.]
I’m struggling to find anyone here who has said any different. Isn’t it bias that’s being addressed and not who can say what when?
[151
confessions
Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 12:18 pm | Permalink
BB:
Not sure whether Assange is a rightwinger or not, but I just regard him as a pretentious wanker, full of his own self-importance.]
Spot on. He is the original ponce.
daretotread
Telling lies about someone’s racial past & job to make a hostile point regarding a race issue, does not count as “free speech”, if that means freedom from being being taken to court by that individual and getting a slap on the wrist for it. If Assange thinks the principal of free speech is somehow under threat because of that, or that it should be open slather to say whatever regardless of the truth, it proves the shallowness of the Libertarian concept.
[The more I read about the whole Qantas debacle the angrier I get. Tony Sheldon has been great in raising the key issues – including the trickiness and perhaps rubber-figureiness of the $200m loss-making of the international routes. I notice those questions are now emerging in a couple of articles. Sheldon has pointed out that Qantas management have not provided the actual figures that show these losses and there is great suspicion throughout the workforce that Jetstar is being propped up at the expense of the international routes which is the most expensive to staff. This action has been about union-busting, pure and simple.]
Ben Sandilands, who has been a respected writer on aviation matters for many years, has many interesting things to say on this matter on his blog
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/
He has been making this point over many posts going back quite a while now.
[I have always said that Assange is extremely right wing. The only governments that Wikileaks has damaged have been left wing ones, and Murdoch is his hero.
QED.]
He’s also rather sexist.
daretotread
[Leroy, Poroti
Left right should not matter when it comes to free speech – this is very hard for lefties to grasp but free speech applies to fascists as well as communists, Catholics and Wiccans, peoples revolutionaries and monarchists.]
Daretotread wikileaks can leak all the information it wants. Even if Assange has been selectively leaking based on his political agenda I am cool with it. BUT if he is then we have a right to know and he not portray himself as a free speech martyr doing it for humanitarian reasons.
[The ABC continues to have articles online carrying a story already dismissed as fiction on its own shows.]
The ABC’s story is that the false story is now part of the ongoing legend of the Qantas issue. As such it can be quoted and requoted freely.
Each host (TV and radio) will take turns to get their own personal Gillard denials to this story. A denial to another news organization is not a denial.
Just as it was no good Rudd explaining why he used the “sauce bottle” phrase just the once. Each and every interviewer, from each and every news organization had to ask him about it so they could all get the same answer, but an answer to a question they had asked, not someone else. Then they all wrote about it, taking turns.
Just as a poll by another news organization is usually ignored for days because it is not Fairfax’s poll or not News Ltd.’s poll. It’s why Essential and Morgan are usually ignored. If the media organization hasn’t commissioned it, asked the question or written the opinion piece, the issue doesn’t exist as an issue they can be permitted to discuss.
confessions
You’re welcome
Some highlights:
He advocates for onshore processing. Doesn’t support the NT intervention. Criticises Obama for not putting the sword to the neoconservative movement. Praises Gillard on the economy. Rips into Howard and Abbott on a lot of things. Outlines an overarching narrative for the ALP.
Excellent listen. Includes some of his favourite classical music. He’s on 730 tonight on the ABC as well.
http://www.abc.net.au/classic/content/2011/10/31/3349698.htm
Julian Assange;
Here’s some free speech for you
F#$%k off out of it. You overly pretentious boofhead.
[ABC radio news Perth this morning ran an anti-government tirade from Michael Keenan on boats. Nothing queried and no govt respo0nse.]
It was run in Victoria, as well….
Meanwhile, the Federal Opposition says the asylum seeker boats show the Government has no control over Australia’s immigration system.
[The Opposition’s Michael Keenan says asylum seeker boats are going to continue to arrive on Australian shores if the Government does not do more to protect Australia’s borders.
“This is just business as usual for the people smugglers who have been reinvigorated under Labor’s border protection chaos,” he said.]
Quite a disgraceful report with no questioning of his comments and the blocked legislation by the opposition. Effectively a press release as news.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-31/christmas-island-detention-workers-strike/3610072
The difference between a genuinely progressive left winger and a libertarian right winger is minimal in some areas – like free speech.
Contrary to the apparent group think here, there is a reasonable argument that the Bolt decision is bad for free speech and unhealthy for democracy, and that a more robust and US-style attitude to speech would be better for us as a society.
Assange may be a knob on a personal level, I have no idea. But he’s achieved more in a few years than any of us will in our lifetimes. He’s also been held under de facto house arrest in very dubious circumstances. Does it really matter what his personal politics are?
[Assange may be a knob on a personal level, I have no idea. But he’s achieved more in a few years than any of us will in our lifetimes. He’s also been held under de facto house arrest in very dubious circumstances. Does it really matter what his personal politics are?]
Yes, if he has an agenda, and I believe he does.
Oh, shut up.
[Oh, shut up.]
Stop trying to censor me, fascist.
[Yes, if he has an agenda, and I believe he does.]
Surely the consequences of his actions are more important than the motivation?
I can only assume that the media anti-Gillard barrage, as well as being journo face-saving, is also the last crack (a) at the PM before she jets off to G20, so almost no scope for Gillard’s whatever negatives & lies Libs & Journos can spin out of her successes and (b) trying to get Abbott into The Lodge before Christmas/ Easter/ 1 July 2012 in time to save all that nasty anti Big Polluters, Big Mining, Big Tobacco etc etc legislation from getting to the uncomfortable stage where rescinding it costs lower-income families a packet.
Ha ha- made yer jump!
[Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford has decided Alan Joyce is expendable.
NO WONDER Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford was keen to push through a huge pay rise for his front man Alan Joyce – this is danger money. On top of bizarre antics like the death-threat publicity blitz, Joyce has presided over a billion-dollar decrease in shareholder wealth and been outmanoeuvred on strategy by his opposite number at Virgin, John Borghetti.
His days were numbered anyway. But now the diminutive Irishman has embarked on the biggest industrial-relations fling since Chris Corrigan took on the maritime unions. Unlike the waterfront, though, Qantas has a customer base and a brand to protect. Its forward bookings have been slaughtered. Borghetti is revelling in it.]
http://www.smh.com.au/business/your-man-is-strapped-into-the-cockpit-in-a-risky-manoeuvre-20111030-1mqcd.html#ixzz1cJu7PEE7
Another aspect of this article that caught my eye was corporate succession at QAN. Borgetti was qantas through and through, there for 20++ years. Alan Joyce a relative new comer via Jetstar (’03) and QAN (’08). Of course there are many instances in which bringing in “outsiders” as CEOs is desirable; but there have been some studies I have seen (albeit from the US) that homegrown management talent is much preferred.
CEO oversight and succession is perhaps the most important (only???) role for the Board; I reckon most Australian companies are weak at this – cf some conspicuous exceptions of good transition management over generations of CEOs in some institutions: RBA; CBA; WOW…
[Ha ha- made yer jump!]
My comment above should be read in the voice of Rick from the Young Ones.
Now I’m going to call Thatcher and tell her we’ve got the bomb.
Poroti
Fair enough – we have a right to know Assange’s political views and judge his selection of releases in that light.
Not sure quite what I think of the Bolt thingy – he is an incompetent idiot and did not check his facts.
But does he have the right to say it? If someone made a comment that the IRA were not Catholics and just pretending to be and were really mostly orange (or that the Ulster men were really Catholics but had joined the oranges for political gain)would that be fair comment.
Patrick,
But what if someone does something to help THE KIDS by this afternoon?
Hippy Neil and the Fascists http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA8Uav7EPlQ
daretotread, you or I have the right to speak bullshit down at the pub but if we write for a daily, with a large readership, we have a responsibility to at least get the facts right.
[Essential Poll: ALP 45 (steady), Coaltion 55 (steady]
May be of *interest* to hockey –
[Colonel Sanders Devours Little Sheep in China ]
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-30/colonel-sanders-devouring-little-sheep-means-69-gain-real-m-a.html
daretotread
[Not sure quite what I think of the Bolt thingy – he is an incompetent idiot and did not check his facts]
That is the thing about the Bolt decision and why I do not think it has any effect on free speech. The judgement makes it clear that the judge had no problem with BoltA questioning people’s racial identity. However repeated printing of blatant crap to smear people was a bit “problematic” for the judge. Perhaps Bolt should listen to the PM’s advice “Don’t print crap” .He is entitled to make up his own opinions but not so entitled to make up his own “facts”.
Was the call by Joyce to PM made? If no, can anyone refer to the site which rubbishes this?
Adam –
http://www.smh.com.au/national/pm-clashes-with-qantas-chief-joyce-never-asked-government-to-step-in-20111031-1mrca.html
Can’t recall this being posted yet: Dennis Aitkens Dispute tests Gillard’s mettle and laws
There’s a 2 min “From the Newsroom” video http://www.couriermail.com.au/ of him & Amanda Lucas on “Qantas political power play”, explaining that the last decades’ reform ethos has been that these sorts of disputes should be solved in workplace & government should not intervene until it has to.
Aitkens also corrects Abbott’s “Should have been settled 3 hours earlier when Joyce called Gillard” misinformation, citing Joyce’s admission that he didn’t phone her, though he had some of her ministers – I assume Albanese, Shorten & others not also tied up with CHOGM.
Not mentioned was that Joyce pulled his stunt when (as he’s admitted) he knew Gillard was tied up in CHOGM. Nor why any CEO should deliberately embarrass the PM, as Chair of CHOGM, in front of so many International leaders. Nor why Abbott should expect the PM to walk out on so many International leaders because a hard-right antiUnionist CEO had, quite deliberately pulled a stunt to embarrass Australia and its PM, West Australia and its premier.
[Was the call by Joyce to PM made? If no, can anyone refer to the site which rubbishes this?]
Adam A; watch video link #182.
Thefinnigans TheFinnigans天地有道人无道
The Govt is applying the blowtorch to #qantas and it is HOT HOT and HOT!!!!!
now
Speaking of Bolta. Has he been demoted over at the Terror ? Checking in and looking at the “Our Top Bloggers” there was not a Bolt in sight. He was inside with all the “peasants” .
Silly Denis…
Thanks, Dave and Fin.
ALP +2 on the primary vote taking them up to 34. L/NP down 1 taking them to 47. Greens down 1, taking them to 10
http://www.essentialmedia.com.au/wp-content/themes/rockwell/documents/essential_report_311011.pdf
[ The Finnigans
Posted Monday, October 31, 2011 at 1:22 pm | Permalink
Thefinnigans TheFinnigans天地有道人无道
The Govt is applying the blowtorch to #qantas and it is HOT HOT and HOT!!!!!
now ]
I still say the Government should consider an open skies policy for the likes of Singapore Airlines and the Kiwi’s on domestic routes, subject to enforceable guarantees about providing additional Australian jobs with appropriate Australian pay & conditions.
Thefinnigans TheFinnigans天地有道人无道
Jetstar knew on 26oct Wed that #QANTAS was going to do the grounding and lockout
6 seconds ago
[daretotread, you or I have the right to speak bullshit down at the pub but if we write for a daily, with a large readership, we have a responsibility to at least get the facts right.]
Who decides when something is “important enough” that your modified free speech applies? Who decides what level of readership/issue is significant enough? Isn’t this a stone’s throw away from a state-granted licence to publish which can be revoked if the material which is published is deemed unacceptable?
If Bolt writes an article that the sky is green, does that count? What if he writes something wrong about a racial group but only two people read it? Does it count if Bolt writes that I am only pretending to have Anglo-Scot heritage for personal gain? Etc etc etc.
We already have defamation laws to protect individuals who actually suffer harm to their reputation from false and harmful publications. What is the benefit in adding another, vague category which protects groups precisely in circumstances where no-one has actually been defamed?
Adam,
Bit more, the other way here –
[ The opposition said the government had sufficient notice on Saturday to intervene earlier.
“Instead it waited until the house was on fire before they actually decided to do something,” transport spokesman Warren Truss told ABC Television.
and
Liberal backbencher Jamie Briggs said the dispute, which resulted in Qantas grounding its entire fleet on Saturday, arose because the law was changed by Labor.
“Everybody knew this was coming,” he told Sky News, adding it was the fault of Julia Gillard who set up the Fair Work Act during her time as workplace relations minister in the Rudd government.
“She failed to act, when she needed to.” ]
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Gillard-slams-Qantas-over-grounding-pd20111031-N5SAN?OpenDocument&src=hp5
[However repeated printing of blatant crap to smear people was a bit “problematic” for the judge.]
But this wasn’t a defamation action, which is the existing remedy for harm to reputation.
[He is entitled to make up his own opinions but not so entitled to make up his own “facts”.]
I would say he’s entitled to make up his own facts, but he’s not entitled to have his facts be right.
SPUR 212 – Thank you for the Keating link on Throsby. Very impressed that he ended with the finale of Bruckner’s Eighth, surely the greatest musical climax in all of music (the conductor Celibidache described Bruckner’s climaxes as “baptisms of light”, which pretty much says it all).
By the way, where did everything end up with that nasty little conservative kid who was posting the “bash unionists” and “kill unionists” stuff on twitface?
Ta Dave
The relevant paragraphs from PM clashes with Qantas chief: Joyce never asked government to step in (October 31, 2011 – 1:07PM AEDST)
[Qantas spokeswoman Olivia Wirth said Mr Joyce made no request to speak to Ms Gillard on Saturday before he announced he was grounding the fleet.
He had spoken to Mr Albanese, Workplace Relations Minister Chris Evans and Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson – but no requests were made.
“He spoke to ministers Albanese, Ferguson and Evans and indicated that he was available to talk to the Prime Minister but recognised that it would be difficult due to CHOGM,” she said.]
Thefinnigans TheFinnigans天地有道人无道
Joyce never called the PM. Joyce never called Albo directly, in fact Albo has to chase Joyce more 3 times to speak to Joyce directly #qantas
now
Julia is far, far more fluent at the current presser. She’s speaking more quickly now.
She’s arrived!
Keane’s piece to the point – Qantas management substituting union bashing for competence and innovation.
http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/10/31/the-remorseless-logic-and-profound-disdain-of-alan-joyce/
Last para very good:
“The grounding was one of those moments when the mask of capitalism — or at least the version of capitalism we’ve currently settled for — slips to reveal a profound disdain on the part of large corporations towards the communities they profit from. At a time when there’s growing anger about the divide in wealth and power between the so-called “1%” and the rest of us, it’s a risky decision.”