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| Numbers indicate size of two-party preferred booth majority for Labor. Click for larger image. Map boundaries courtesy of Ben Raue at The Tally Room. |
The electorate of Port Adelaide includes Port Adelaide itself and the adjacent Le Fevre Peninsula, including the suburbs around Sempahore and Largs Bay, along with Woodville and its surrounds to the north of the city and, some distance to the north-east, a stretch of suburbs from Parfield Gardens north to Salisbury North, which are separated from the rest of the electorate by the Dry Creek industrial area. A very safe seat for Labor, its margin after the 2013 election was 14.0%, pared back from a redistribution-adjusted 20.9% by a 6.9% swing to the Liberals.
Port Adelaide was created with the expansion of parliament in 1949 from an area that had previously made Hindmarsh a safe seat for Labor. Such was Labor’s strength that the Liberals did not field candidates in 1954 and 1955, when the only competition for Labor came from the Communist Party. Rod Sawford assumed the seat at a by-election in 1988 upon the resignation of the rather more high-profile Mick Young, who had been the member since 1974. With Sawford’s retirement at the 2007 election the seat passed on to Mark Butler, the state secretary of the Left faction Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union and a descendant of two conservative state premiers: his great- and great-great-grandfathers, both of whom were called Sir Richard Butler.
Butler quietly established himself as a rising star over Labor’s two terms in government, winning promotion to parliamentary secretary in June 2009 and then to the junior ministry portfolios of mental health and ageing after the 2010 election. The latter promotion came despite his noted hesitancy in jumping aboard the Julia Gillard bandwagon during the June 2010 leadership coup. Butler was elevated to cabinet in December 2011 when social inclusion was added to his existing responsibilities, and he further gained housing and homeless in the February 2013 reshuffle which followed the departure of Nicola Roxon and Chris Evans. He remained solidly behind Gillard when Kevin Rudd challenged her for the leadership in February 2012, but emerged among the decisive defectors to the Rudd camp ahead of his successful leadership bid in June 2013. The subsequent reshuffle saw him promoted to environment and climate change, which he retained in the shadow ministry following the election defeat.
I really like post-rock, actually. The () album by Sigur Ros is one of the most beautiful things I’ve heard. Mogwai does similar things with tone. They’re not afraid to experiment and seem to understand the point where it’s just stupid.
[mikehilliard
Posted Sunday, January 26, 2014 at 9:12 pm | Permalink
Did anyone hear Abbott’s speech at the Australia Day Citizenship ceremony in Canberra.
Australians are “the grateful inheritors of two rich strands of history: a British heritage and an Aboriginal one,” prime minister Tony Abbott has said in his address to the first group of people taking Australian citizenship today in a Canberra ceremony.
WTF, did he really say that. What about all the other nationalities & their histories that comprise our society?]
If the Yanks had known that back in WW2 they might not have bothered with the Battle of the Coral Sea.
Tills, there is something odd going on. For example, I didn’t know that Aborigines were co-stranded with the Judeo-Christians.
Diogenes
[Rafa lost popularity because he spanked Federer stupid. No-one likes to see a champion get obliterated.]
Suspect so. Federer is a charming and modest fellow too. Then again, Nadal also seems a nice enough man and is obviously awesomely talented.
248
He is a conservative of some fame and popularity and has visited Australia.
Centre
Betfair alone has already had $600M in bets on the BBL!
The Melbourne Cup and tennis are almost insignificant in comparison.
[mikehilliard
Posted Sunday, January 26, 2014 at 9:16 pm | Permalink
Boris Johnson is Honorary Australian of the Year, why?]
Let’s see. Here are four possible reasons:
(1) He is noted for his inclusive approach to society.
(2) He is a noted campaigner for global action against climate change.
(3) He is a noted worker for the poor, the homeless and the sick.
or
(4) He is a main-chancer reactionary who wants to have a crack at running GB.
I observe that Lewie McKirdy from Triple J looks like a hipster from central casting. This surprises me, as he talks like a member of the Corby family.
http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/people/lewis_mckirdy.htm
[Boris Johnson is Honorary Australian of the Year, why?]
Since when have we issued ‘honorary’ AOTYs? Seems counter-intuitive. Either you’re Australian or you aren’t.
[confessions
Posted Sunday, January 26, 2014 at 9:29 pm | Permalink
Boris Johnson is Honorary Australian of the Year, why?
Since when have we issued ‘honorary’ AOTYs? Seems counter-intuitive. Either you’re Australian or you aren’t.]
My theory is that it means that, should he arrives on a yacht, he won’t be towed back.
Fran
Rafa and Fed are both absolute class acts.
Well, that sort of rounds of a symbolic nid nod in all directionss except the war mongering muscular Judeo-Christian Jihadi crusading tradition of Australian militarism.
Achtung! Cosgrove, wo bist du?
Boerwar:
If Boris Johnson is the response to the Australian you have when you’re not having an Australian, then the question is all wrong.
Is Boris Johnson locked up on Manus or Nauru these days?
Well, here’s the obvious answer to why Boris…
[Expenses controversy
Johnson in 2013
Several expense claims for very short taxi journeys were submitted by the Mayor, many of which included charges for taxis to wait several hours for the Mayor to use them with the meter running (for example, a return journey from City Hall to Elephant and Castle – a journey of 3 miles/5 km – which cost £99.50).
There are questions about whether some of this expenditure was allowed under GLA rules, which state taxis should be used only when there is no feasible public transport alternative and which ban paying taxis to wait more than 20 minutes.]
From Wikipedia.
Mike Hilliard @ 244,
Because the other “races” are inferior,
Mike Hilliard @ 248,
Because he’s a Brit. And puhLEESE don’t mention his Turkish ancestry.
William,
I would have thought working at a Uni you’d be aware that’s not particularly uncommon. Quite a few of my friends became hipsters after school despite being from boganville…
That said, there may be a reason for it, referenced somewhere within this rant http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/01/17/razers-defence-of-triple-j-its-all-in-the-mix-and-the-kids-like-it/?wpmp_tp=3
Johnson earlier had some very, very nasty things to say about Islam… from which he has since resiled.
He is also a keen cyclist.
Boerwar,
Des Deutschen Vaterland?
That said, considering some of the comments on Abbott’s holiday and speech maybe this stanza is relevant
[Ist’s Land der Schweizer? Ist’s Tirol?
Das Land und Volk gefiel mir wohl.
Doch nein, nein, nein!
Sein Vaterland muss größer sein!]
I would have thought that Abbott might have liked the new head of NHK… particularly since he announced before the election the importance of the focus on Asia and because the Abbott Government has announced that Japan is Australia’s best friend in Asia.
Momii appears to think tht Australia was involved in mass rape by way of forced prostitution:
[TOKYO (AFP) – The newly appointed head of Japan’s public broadcaster NHK has stirred controversy by saying the system of forcibly drafting women into military brothels during World War II was “common in any country at war”]
Boerwar:
Plus Boris can be a pretty funny guy.
But..but…but now we’re on a ‘national crusade’ towards indigenous recognition, do we really want our honorary Australian of the Year to be a Brit?
I am sure that any day now Great Britain will nominate Concetta as the Honorary Briton of the Year.
c
Yes, perhaps Abbott wanted a reactionary with wit to offset Abbott’s unfunny standup stodge.
Bob Ellis on Blair
________________
a great hatchet job on what he calls a “half-mad god-botherer, who Thatcherised the UK Labour Party”…. and much more venon…..
Great stuff on the war criminal former UK PM…
a great read
http://www.ellistabletalk.com/2014/01/26/tony-sorts-it-out/#comments
[I am sure that any day now Great Britain will nominate Concetta as the Honorary Briton of the Year.]
😆
Well, at least she won’t have any awkward language barriers to overcome.
I hope the iDIOts who booed Rafa are feeling pretty ashamed of themselves.
d
I do believe that describing an act as a hatchet job is designed to impugn the hatcheteer.
Dio
(Not watching the tennis)
Why, did Nadal win?
Diogenes
They are cheering now cost they want a fifth set. fickle fans
They don’t sound very Australian.
Good night all.
Night
Boerwar
My last night in Bangkok. Everything is completely quiet and normal, with the protesters maintaining only a token presence at most of their campsites. They don’t need to do more, since they know they police won’t try to clear the intersections even if the government orders them to, which it won’t. Last week’s “state of emergency” was a weak bluff and a major mistake which only exposed the government’s impotence.
The Constitutional Court has dealt the expected death blow to the 2 February election by ruling that it can indeed be “postponed”, despite the fact that the law says clearly that it can’t. The Election Commission, which has done everything it can to sabotage the election, will meet on Tuesday and will duly “postpone” it to a date to be decided. The Yingluck government will stay on as a caretaker government, but with its election gambit failed it has no other cards to play. Its only basis of power was its parliamentary majority, and that has now gone. No doubt the courts will soon find a pretext to dismiss it and install a “non-party” government.
The really astounding thing about this is the passivity of the Thai people in the face of this bare-faced theft of their rights. A Bangkok University poll (reported in the New York Times, but not in the Bangkok Post) shows 80% support for the election going ahead. But this counts for nothing. A resident expat friend of mine told me three weeks ago that if this theft happened (again) there would be riots and bombings across the North and North-East. So far, not a whimper. It’s all very depressing. Having been coming here for 10 years, I dearly love the Thais, but sadly the flipside of their loveableness is that politically they are a nation of children.
Why can’t they boo, it’s a sport for goodness sake 😀
Diog, BBL is American Basketball correct?
we live in the funniest and saddest of time
abbott talks of privelege of being an australian with the unstated disclaimer as long as you are a monarchist.
how much of oz now does not come from british stock (and latter does not include irish) …how dare that musty island and its incestuous aristocrats cast any shadow on the land of the wattle …how dare their sons visit any more
[Much to my utter astonishment, the time I spent on Ku’ai (the northernmost island of the main Hawaii chain) was one of the most unforgettable experiences of my life.]
It is essential visiting if going to Hawaii, IMHO and not just because they filmed Jurassic park there.
Well of course both Federer and Nadal are awesomely talented. They are two of the greatest tennis players to ever play the game.
Psephos re “Iran must be dealt with “?
__________________________
That was your statement…and some here are waiting with bated breath re”dealt with” and the meaning of that phrase.
How is this to be done,,?,what kind of war do you have in mind for the Gulf and Iran …. how will it effecct the world economy?
…given the wish of Western business to exploit the opening now taking place re the sanctions(see below re new business ventures with Iran)…how do you persuade people that war is an option after the disaster of Iraq
..and who will fight that war….your Israeli friends…or a reluctant USA ,or perhaps your much admired ADF fresh from Afg”stan…and what death roll can we expect from a war with Iran in this act of”dealing “with Iran
http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-trade-business-reaction-sanctions-lifted-nuclear/25236337.html/
and who willo pay because ity will be more costly than Iraq whcih has brioken the USA will for more wars in the M East
and you7 sounded very like Geoirge Bush with that”Iran is the centre of Evil ” remark…but then you are a neo-con in a kind of way are you not ?
I’ve been instructed by the Elders of Zion to reveal no more of their plans for Iran. But do remember the fate of Haman and Zeresh.
Psephos,
So the accusations of corruption are more outrage that the outright corruption of the government didn’t extend to parliament? It’s quite amazing how little control the Government has over its composite parts. Who, may I ask, has the King’s ear? I assume the same establishment that has created this situation (not that the Yingluck Government necessarily helped itself).
I’m not aware of any serious evidence of corruption in the Yingluck government. Its rice-subsidy scheme is economically foolish and financially unsustainable, but it’s not corrupt. The opposition regard any government linked to Thaksin as corrupt by defintion, but the voters elected Yingluck in the full knowledge that Thaksin was the power behind her party – in fact that’s why they voted for her.
Psephos
But I’m sure Suthep will totally fix things once his unelected council comes to power.
Just trust him. Even though he has no detail beyond “get Thaksin”. And even though his side got to write the constitution last time and it didn’t help. And even though he did nothing to stop corruption himself when he was in power…
I’m also surprised about the lack of reaction in the North. For all that it may have been cynical game-playing Thaksin showed them that they have the numbers to win elections.
If the courts rule as you suspect, would the red-shirts refuse to accept the verdict (if you’re right, an occasion I might agree with the Government refusing to accept the authority of the courts)? I have little knowledge beyond what gets reported in the media of Thai politics, but from what you’re saying it seems as though the Government completely fails to understand the politics it’s dealing with if all these government organisations are scheming against them right up to the courts rejecting the written law.
[And even though his side got to write the constitution last time and it didn’t help. ]
That’s why they know that the old formula of election-coup-election-coup won’t work anymore. Thaksin and his proxies have won five elections in a row and they’ll go on winning. So now the elite will have to write a constitution that ends the voting power of the rural masses – in other words to abolish democracy for good.
The King’s role is obscure. Maybe he is senile and General Prem is acting in his name. There is also a behind-the-scenes struggle over the succession.
You would think the logical move by the Phak Prachathipat would be to make themselves more appealing to the rural masses. Apparently not. Would the city elite and the rural majority’s interests really be that different?
Excellent synopsis in the Economist of the present Thai situation and the end-game being played out with the King so near to the end of his reign.
I agree with Psephos “I dearly love the Thais, but sadly the flipside of their loveableness is that politically they are a nation of children.” They may well be in for a hard time soon.
Of course the conservatives of Thailand are no happier about not getting their political way than those in Australia who “spit the dummy” whenever they lose and tell every lie they can to discredit the elected government of the left.
http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21594989-thailands-very-unity-now-under-threat-you-go-your-way-ill-go-mine
http://blogs.hbr.org/2014/01/we-cant-afford-to-leave-inequality-to-the-economists/
Interesting stats from the Harvard Business Review, among them:
[From 1993 to 2013, incomes of the bottom 99% of taxpayers in the U.S. grew 6.6%, adjusted for inflation. The incomes of the top 1% grew 86.1%.
The top 0.1% of U.S. taxpayers claimed 11.33% of overall income in 2012, up from 2.65% in 1978. The top 0.01% got 5.47%, up from 0.86% in 1978.
The average income of the top 0.01% was 859 times that of the bottom 90% in 2012. In 1973 the top-0.01%-to-bottom-90% ratio was just under 80.]
Part of the Thai naivety is caused by the Lese Majeste law that forbids Thai people (or foreigners) to discuss the Royal Family. My Thai wife is scared to talk about whispers involving Suthep and his relationship with the Queen or General Prem and his involvement.
One thing they all seem to be worried about is the Prince becoming King upon the death of his father. The elite fear it most because of the “loyalty” built up over the generations for whoever is crowned the King.
The Prince has a very good relationship with deposed PM Thaksin leading to further instability.
BW @268 re prostitution during war
There are some interesting documents in the papers of Raphael Cilento who was the Director General of Health in Queensland during WW2. He objected strongly to the setting up of brothels for the American “Negro” troops in Brisbane – not because there were brothels but because they were using white prostitutes. He believed blacks were both disease ridden and prone to deflowering pubescent white girls. A suggested solution was to recruit from convalescent aborigines from Palm Island.
There is no mention of whether it was possible to get full French (+/- CIM) during a Lesbian Act (with uniforms) so Craig Thomson would probably not have been interested.
[Of course the conservatives of Thailand are no happier about not getting their political way than those in Australia who “spit the dummy” whenever they lose and tell every lie they can to discredit the elected government of the left. ]
It’s not really the same situation. Mainstream Australian conservatives accept the basic principles of democracy. The Thai elite don’t. They believe the country should be run by the King in the interests of themselves, and that the rural masses are inferior beings who should have no political rights. In the Thai-language media they say this quite openly. Also it’s not really a left-right thing. Thaksin is a former police general and a corrupt self-made billionaire. I’d call him a populist demagogue rather than a leftist. On the other hand Abhisit is an Eton-and-Oxford-educated intellectual who sees himself a liberal democrat. The issue is not whether Thaksin is inherently a better thing for Thailand than the elite parties. It’s the right of the Thai people to elect their own government.
Briefly
Following on from your demeaning US figures the poor in Thailand have seen great increases in their wealth and wages under Yingluk, albeit from very low levels.
The village where my wife’s family lives (central Issan) has seen a huge increase in living conditions. The roads are much better than 3 years ago, improvements are being made everywhere. Fridges, washing machines, air conditioners, flat screen TV’s are now in so many of the homes of the once poor village of 1000 people.
The children are happy, well fed, well educated and well dressed. Of course everyone has a mobile phone!