The Prime Minister has performed us all the service of advising well in advance that she will call the federal election for September 14, to be formally initiated by a visit to the Governor-General and the issue of the writs on August 12 (remember where you heard it first). Professional strainers for things to say have criticised the move, but not on any reasonable basis that I can see (the rather esoteric concern of the date coinciding with Yom Kippur aside). It’s a bit trite to complain of a decision about election timing being driven by political considerations, which will self-evidently be the case wherever politicians are given discretion over the matter. The salient point is that the public and the political system at large have gone from not knowing something important to knowing it, which can only be a good thing. Antony Green (see video embed at 2:47pm) has more, including the observation that the practice of ambushing the opposition with an announcement five weeks out from the date is a modern development, and a very obviously unhelpful one at that.
Some recent political odds and ends:
• Labor’s national executive has confirmed the endorsement of Nova Peris, who became the first Australian Aboriginal to win an Olympic gold medal as a representative of the women’s hockey team in 1996, as its Northern Territory Senate candidate. Peris’s endorsement occurred at the initiative of the Prime Minister, who was seen to be reacting against the party’s record of failure in securing Aboriginal representation in the federal parliament, and the backlash against Labor in remote areas at last August’s Northern Territory election and the presumed threat to the corresponding federal seat of Lingiari. Local preselection processes were contentiously overridden in seeing off the incumbent of 16 years, Trish Crossin, who had been a supporter of Kevin Rudd’s bid to return to the leadership. Vocal critics of the move included two former Labor Deputy Chief Ministers, Marion Scrymgour and Syd Stirling, along with Senator and Left faction powerbroker Doug Cameron. Scrymgour nominated for the national executive vote along with another former Territory minister in Karl Hampton, who was among those to lose his seat at last year’s election. It was was reported that “at least two” of the 24-member national executive voted against the Prime Minister’s wishes.
• Robert McClelland has announced he will bow out at the federal election after 17 years as member for the Sydney seat of Barton, which Labor holds on a margin of 7.7%. Another backer of Kevin Rudd, McClelland served as Attorney-General from the government’s election in 2007 until his demotion to emergency management in 2011, and was dropped altogether last March in the wake of Rudd’s failed leadership bid. He was seen to have undermined Julia Gillard last June by making an oblique reference in parliament to the AWU affair, which was invoked as validating the subsequent blizzard of news reports into various details of the matter. McClelland’s most widely discussed potential successor as Labor candidate is Morris Iemma, who succeeded Bob Carr as NSW Premier in August 2005, led his party to victory at the 2007 election, and was deposed in September 2008 in a move which doesn’t seem as clever now as it apparently did at the time. Reports have quoted sources saying Iemma is “likely” to put his name forward. Others mentioned have been Shane O’Brien, mayor of Rockdale and official with the Public Service Association of NSW, and Kirsten Andrews, a former staffer who now works with the National Heart Foundation.
• Paul Henderson, who led Labor to defeat in last year’s Northern Territory election, has announced he is bowing out of parliament. This will cause a by-election to be held on February 16 for his northern Darwin seat of Wanguri, where his margin was clipped from 14.4% to 7.0% last August. Labor has preselected Nicole Manison, a former Henderson government media adviser who had backing from both Henderson and his successor as Labor leader, Delia Lawrie. The Country Liberal Party has again endorsed its candidate from last year, Rhianna Harker, a former president of the Young CLP.
UPDATE: Morgan has published a result from its face-to-face polling of the past two weekends, which has Labor down half a point to 36%, the Coalition down 2.5% to 39% and the Greens up 1.5% to 12%. This pans out to a 50.5-49.5 lead to the Coalition on respondent-allocated preferences, and 50.5-49.5 to Labor when preferences are allocated as per the result of the last election.
“I would love to see an outbreak of balanced coverage where facts and polocy details are all on the table.”
Bernard Keane @BernardKeane
Media questions to PM so far: “why are you acting like our confected narrative isn’t totally accurate?”
The winner in all this has to be Chris Bowen who is able to relinquish the poison chalice of Immigration. 😀
Now, who picks it up?
bemused
O’Connor
bemused
O’Conner
So contrary to all the put-downs and snarky comments about him, Speers was right in his report (hours ago) of the ministerial changes.
Oh… Brendan Connor to Immigration.
Good luck Brendan.
Itep – I hadn’t heard Penny wasn’t running, I hope that’s no true
Anyways, time to do some stuff – have a great day All
Hate when I do typo’s with names. BK had correct spelling of course
Julia’s got a cold.
@watermelon_man: Dear journalists – genuine questions. How can you not take pride in your work? How do you sleep at night?
Evans takes another parting shot at assembled journos.
This is the team that is going to the election. The wishful thinking that Rudd would be given a job, any job was bizarre. If Labor gets a majority at the election Rudd will be given a wonderful diplomatic job somewhere.
Can the Ruddistas now get behind the team.
And now Wonder Woman will tell us what we just heard.
Not for me thank you.
“@BernardKeane: The most important legacy of @Bowenchris in the immigration portfolio is lifting our humanitarian intake to 20,000 – an historic reform.”
geee that Presser was a real bummer downer for the PMJG.
Now lets see what happens. How it is reported …. they must be rats desterting.
Those “two rats” really looked like they wanted to spear the PM.
OC:
Well said!
I’ve learned over the years to have low expectations of Ministers, but here’s hoping that Brendan Connor makes one resolution:
I will never use the phrase people smugglers’ business model
I’m not holding my breath though. I’m betting it occurs in his first presser. Will be pleasantly surprised if he doesn’t.
Oakeshott Country@3363
And can people like you stop sniping at those with the good sense to see Rudd as a better leader even though it is not going to happen?
You only foster resentment and division.
Space Kidette @SpaceKidette
Dear Outdated Media, you’ve just been outplayed. #mediafail #auspol #outdatedmedia
“@leftocentre: .@TonyAbbottMHR that’s how you hold a presser, open, easy, (amazing given the emotion, something you’ll never grasp), took all qs.
@OC and @bemused
Kiss and make up please….
Disunity is death.
Time to let it go now, Bemused
Wow! The PM looked really “rattled”!
Why is the press pack not obliged to identify themselves and their organisation? The cameras should be such that the public can put a face and name to the stupid questions.
Now, for our conservative friends……..when is gutless Abbott going to have the real stomach to do a front bench reshuffle of his walking dead from the Howard era?
That is the question the OM should now be asking.
Oakeshott Country@3373
Exactly what I was suggesting to you.
Oakeshott, you bag Rudd and Ruddites unmercifully, then ask them to ‘get behind the team’. That’s pretty bizarre.
Bushfire Bill talks of poll upswings and downswings, which means the naming of the election date so far in advance, when we don’t know if we’re on the up or on a downer, also is pretty bizarre.
Twelve months to plan reshuffle, two words for OM to get through their thick skulls: long game.
[You only foster resentment and division.]
No, Oakeshott is right: it will likely help unify cabinet.
Whereas ncluding Rudd would help unify potential labor voters.
The question is which is more important, folks.
Bemused
Rudd is the past as far as Parliamentary politics go. His future is bright, but in a new field.
Time to accept this reality.
I am very happy with the team.
BK@3336
Politicians hardly ever get asked difficult questions. Loaded ones maybe, but not difficult. Surely it’s part of a politician’s brief – especially a leader – to be able to handle questioning from the press gallery. It’s a basic skill.
Abbott’s problem is that he can’t answer easy questions.
In hindsight it seems as if JG did in fact invite TA to do his worst. Seems he may have shot his bolt.
Bemused on the singing syrup nice and early I see.
Aguire
Exactly. This is why Abbott cannot win an election campaign. At some point he has to turn up on 7:30 QandA and other debates where he will get asked difficult questions.
He will have to answer them and not have the NSW police arrest someone to distract from them.
Aguirre
[Abbott’s problem is that he can’t answer easy questions.]
Or any questions that he hasn’t been coached on in advance.
Good piece by Gittins
@1RossGittins: Gillard talking surprisingly tough in an election year – my column http://t.co/Z7i4mHqO #ausecon #auspol
Aguirre
Precisely!
lefty e@3378
What an interesting question! But of course it is rhetorical as we know the answer.
Oops … Should be Brendan O’Connor …
“@SwannyDPM: Australia is a better country because of the contribution of Nicola Roxon & Chris Evans. We wish them & their families all the very best”
Greensborough Growler@3383
Are you drunk already GG? It is barely past mid-day.
GG, z etc
It’s definitely 50:50 at the ABC (I had a few ABC producers say it wasted a lot of time getting it that way) but I’m sure the commercial stations don’t have to give exactly 50:50.
ABC24 are onto it. The important part of the announcement was the bit where Gillard got the sniffles. Other than that – get this – it is now being reported as only a minor reshuffle.
From Government in Chaos to Government Not Doing Much in the space of an hour.
The liberal party will be thinking about a new leader surely
the 50/50 media coverage will damage abbott further
“@stephenfry: Oh dear. I’m as ubiquitous and over exposed in Oz as I am in the UK – http://t.co/eu53196m”
News ltd is already crying about , it has to broadcast labor policies
while the coalition has nothing
For christ’s sake Rudd is gone. He will retire either at, or just after the next election. Sooking about him is just a waste of time.
And having Rudd back in cabinet is not good for voters. For a start we’d be back to Cabinet leaking like a sieve which is never an indication of stability and unity!
Get real.
[ABC24 are onto it. The important part of the announcement was the bit where Gillard got the sniffles. Other than that – get this – it is now being reported as only a minor reshuffle.]
By contrast Sky are continuing the chaos narrative. Amazingly Bruce Hawker wonders why the media focus isn’t on Abbott as he isn’t performing well. Hello!
Well Pbers take a bow, some wonderful quotes from you this morning which I have dutifully put on twitter, and now doing the rounds. Hope you don’t mind? 😉
See on open window to twitter have another lot of interactions
tricot:
I not only want know who asks the questions but I would like to be able to hear them better. I guess the gallery is no s keen on the former because it might indentifying their stupidity …as for the latter I guess that might be another reason why they are called the OM.