This week’s Essential Research fortnightly average has the parties at level pegging after two weeks with Labor leading 51-49, with Labor’s primary vote down a point to 37% and the Coalition steady at 42%. The surge to the Greens in Nielsen is not replicated, their vote up only one point to 10%, with Palmer United likewise up a point to 4%. Other findings from the poll:
• A semi-regular question on leader attributes records a slight decline in sentiment towards Bill Shorten since the question was last asked in October, with “intelligent” and “understands the problems facing Australia” down six points and “arrogant”, “superficial”, “erratic” and “narrow-minded” respectively up five, six, seven and eight. Tony Abbott’s ratings are somewhat more negative, with “arrogant” up four points and “out of touch with ordinary people” up five.
• Seventy-seven per cent oppose abolition of the minimum wage, with only 15% supportive.
• Eighty-four per cent of respondents were in favour of spending caps on campaign advertising by political parties, and 78% for caps on advertising by third parties. Opinion here was consistent by party support.
• Fifty-two per cent approve of the free-trade agreement with Japan, versus 13% who disapprove, while the respective numbers for free-trade agreements generally are 49% and 11%. Coalition supporters were most in favour on both counts, while Greens supporters were most opposed.
• Thirty-two per cent think Palmer United’s balance of power position in the Senate bad for democracy versus 27% for good and 19% for no difference. Major party supporters recorded similar responses, but 62% of those in the “others” category were approving.
BB, as I said above, the North Shore of Sydney is a very small world. They are all there, stroking each others’ wallets. Sipping their fine wines. Concocting another “opportunity”.
They disgust me.
Wonder if ICAC have the couriers delivery sheets etc.
We all know how this would have been treated if was Labor –
[ A prominent Liberal Party fund-raiser and associate of the Obeid family “buttered up” NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell by sending him a $3000 bottle of Penfolds Grange, a corruption inquiry has heard.
Nick Di Girolamo… the former chief executive of Australian Water admitted on Tuesday that he sent Mr O’Farrell a bottle of Grange costing $2978 in April 2011, shortly after the Liberal Premier won the March election.
The gift was not declared on Mr O’Farrell’s pecuniary interests register.
“That’s a $3000 bottle of wine,” counsel assisting the inquiry, Geoffrey Watson, SC, said.
“Did you ever get a thank-you note or a thank-you call?” Mr Watson asked.
“Yes I did. I thought it was a call,” Mr Di Girolamo said.
The month following the bottle of Grange being couriered to Mr O’Farrell’s northern suburbs home, Mr Di Girolamo attended a meeting with the Premier on May 27, 2011 to lobby him about the proposal.
Former water minister Greg Pearce has given evidence of being summonsed to this meeting … he felt like a schoolboy being called to the headmaster’s office for not doing his homework.
“I was quite taken aback that it seemed to be so cosy,” he said of the meeting.
The inquiry has heard Australian Water became one of the biggest donors to the NSW Liberal Party in the months before the state election. ]
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nick-di-girolamo-sent-barry-ofarrell–a-3000-bottle-of-penfolds-grange-icac-hears-20140415-36oqz.html#ixzz2yvmdLCmG
…
[2:53pm: On the explosive subject of a $3000 bottle of wine allegedly couriered to his house at the behest of Australian Water boss Nick Di Girolamo, O’Farrell says he’s “certain I would remember receiving a bottle of Penfolds Grange, certainly one from my birth year”.
“I’m no wine connoisseur. I don’t drink a lot these days
2:55pm: Collective intake of breath from the ICAC hearing room.
O’Farrell is shown a phone record showing he called Di Girolamo at 9.29 pm on April 20, 2011 – the day he allegedly received the $3000 bottle of Grange.
This would tally with Di Girolamo’s evidence that O’Farrell thanked him for the gift in a telephone call.
“I have no knowledge,” O’Farrell says of the 28-second call.
3:00pm: Geoffrey Watson is pressing O’Farrell about the coincidental “collision” of dates: the premier allegedly receives a $3000 bottle of Grange and, just over a month later, he meets the alleged sender, Nick Di Girolamo, in state Parliament.
O’Farrell reiterates that he and his wife Rosemary have no recollection of the gift.
Asked about his involvement in a contract granted to Australian Water during his government, O’Farrell says he had no part in it “at all”. ]
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/icac-barry-ofarrell-in-the-witness-box-20140415-36o9l.html#ixzz2yvnShOnG
“@ABCNews24: Watch LIVE: NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell is talking about his appearance before the #ICAC inquiry http://t.co/TTkTJ5G5Ba”
Plonkers.
O Farrell asked a resign question
g
Yep. He is doing Sergeant Schulz.
O’Farrell should resign.
cud chewer #32
Nonsensical decisions such as backing Bullock as No.1, compromising a hard fought stance on climate change policy using ridiculous terms as ‘terminating the carbon tax, failing to commit to a re-modelling of the MRRT, among others.
[Wonder if ICAC have the couriers delivery sheets etc.]
They do, it will have a signature.
Lynchpin@51
Just for the record —
You might also care to look at how many people on the North Shore of Sydney actually vote Labor.
Certainly not the majority but still heaps of Labor supporters.
Mystery Bottle of wine. 😆
What BB and Lynchpin said.
They are a class below.
[Prime Minister Tony Abbott has hosed down speculation his government is planning to make changes to the age pension.
He vowed to ‘do the right thing’ by all Australians, when quizzed by reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
‘That certainly means looking after the vulnerable,’ he said.
Treasurer Joe Hockey has hinted the eligibility age for the pension might be lifted from 67 to 70, while there are suggestions the government is looking at making changes to indexation arrangements.
Mr Abbott said he would keep to the commitments he made during last year’s election campaign.
One of those commitments was ‘no changes’ to pensions.]
This is a terrible look for O’Farrell. Very damaging.
So how does OL Robertson progress this ? 😆
I think it’s probably more the case that it is in fact quite expensive, but we only get to see this backscratching gear-greasing in a few rare cases that come to light largely by chance.
For every $3000 bottle of Grange we get to know about there could well be 20 bottles (or equivalent) we don’t.
Dave
I am not talking about run of the mill people who live in the North Shore. But there does seem to be an inordinate concentration of “powerful” and connected types from that area of Australia.
[Nonsensical decisions such as backing Bullock as No.1, compromising a hard fought stance on climate change policy using ridiculous terms as ‘terminating the carbon tax, failing to commit to a re-modelling of the MRRT, among others.]
Nice try Rex, but the Premier of NSW has just been possibly caught out fibbing under oath to the ICSC hearing that was supposed to embarrass the Labor/i> Party.
Attention is, needless to say, diverted elsewhere than at Labor’s WA woes.
“@call_me_tomasso: Someone gave me some wine once, and I remember that. Ergo I can’t join LNP. @chrismurphys”
Is it the case that O’Farrell can turn Sydney water into wine?
😆
Lynchpin@66
Fair enough – might have been a good idea to say that as well.
As Clinton would have said “I did not have drinks with that bottle,” .
BB #67
Yes, I’ve commented on it a couple of times.
O’Farrell is floundering. All road lead to the actual courier for the truth. Steve Lewis on the job perhaps ?
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh27-2/186-196.htm
If recreational drugs were tools, alcohol would be a sledgehammer.
In addition to impairing balance, motor coordination, decisionmaking, and a litany of other functions, alcohol produces detectable memory impairments beginning after just one or two drinks.
As the dose increases, so does the magnitude of the memory impairments. Under certain circumstances, alcohol can disrupt or completely block the ability to form memories for events that transpire while a person is intoxicated, a type of impairment known as a blackout.
dave:
[You might also care to look at how many people on the North Shore of Sydney actually vote Labor.
Certainly not the majority but still heaps of Labor supporters.]
Yep, I used to live on the lower North Shore. In fact, I used to live in Bennelong. I always voted Labor. Somebody had to.
“@NickEvershed: question number 1: “did you receive the bottle of wine?” [some minutes later] question number 64: “did you receive the bottle of wine?””
Lynchpin @69
Very clever!
Grange and truffles.
Yum.
GrangeGate.
Sydneywatergate.
Craig Thomson was convicted over $24,000 – that’s only 8 bottles of wine…
kakuru
I and a lot others do the same in North Sydney.
Mike Bailey the former ABC TV Weatherman of over 20 years threw in his job at the ABC to try and defeat hockey and wore out several pair of shoes etc.
Plenty of Labor people around hereabouts.
“@NC_Robinson: Barry O’Farrell’s sons are 20 & 14. Just saying. Courier turns up with 1959 bottle of Grange? A pleasant change from passion pop. #icac”
BOF could be telling the truth.
Maybe he did a reverse Wedding Feast of Cana and changed a Grange wine into Australian Water.
ruawake @ 59
If there were a signature on couriers docket ICAC would have shown it today?
“@political_alert: Shadow Infrastructure and Transport Minister @AlboMP will hold a media conference in Sydney at 4.40pm, relating to Badgerys Creek #auspol”
dave:
[Mike Bailey the former ABC TV Weatherman of over 20 years threw in his job at the ABC to try and defeat hockey and wore out several pair of shoes etc.]
I remember that. 🙂 A shame he didn’t run in a friendlier seat.
Is BOF having a Clinton moment? “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” ?
For BOF it will be “I did not have relations with this wine”….
Lynchpin@69
He can’t remember 🙂
I wonder how good the courier is at keeping records or conveniently destroying records ?
[So how does OL Robertson progress this ?]
He doesn’t. He gets on with the hard slog of policy development and being loto. There are no short cuts and taking cheap shots at BoF will fail.
Let the media do their job.
The $3,000 bottle of wine among Liberal mates is damaging but its the entree, Spicer in 13 days is the main course.
It’s not the a Grange that needs following ( just a distraction), follow the ……shyster lawyers ….
The former managing partner of a Sydney law firm was accused of being an ”old-fashioned shyster fraudster” and a ”bare-faced liar” who created sham documents to ”trick” a corruption inquiry.
Nick Di Girolamo, 44, was the managing partner at Colin Biggers & Paisley until February 2007, when he joined a water infrastructure company now being investigated by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
&
Mr Chalabian, a former partner at Phillips Fox, admitted to a separate ICAC inquiry he helped the Obeids create an elaborate series of trusts and front companies to disguise a $30 million payment the family received in a coal deal.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/chris-hartcher-to-give-evidence-in-two-new-inquiries-20131205-2ytyh.html#ixzz2yvwBpnMI
&
Greg Skehan, a partner at Colin Biggers & Paisley, was another AWH shareholder. Mr Skehan’s role as a front for the Obeids to hide their interest in a mining venture was revealed earlier this year.
rua #90
I concur.
[If there were a signature on couriers docket ICAC would have shown it today?]
Why? Ni Di G is back tomorrow. If they have it BoF has hung himself at the presser after he gave evidence.
http://delimiter.com.au/2014/04/15/nbn-co-kill-tpg-rollout-minister-dithers/
“As a final thought, you do have to wonder what technology NBN Co will use to target the areas TPG wants to target. These areas will very definitely be inside the HFC cable footprint, which means they should technically get HFC extensions. However, NBN Co isn’t slated to get access to the HFC cable networks for an anticipated year or more. Does this mean NBN Co will overbuild its own infrastructure in some metro areas, just to compete with TPG? It’s a fascinating question, isn’t it? :)”
Coalition Party doing everything possible to kill competition & FTTP.
The very same that they supported during opposition 🙂
AC
[BOF could be telling the truth.
Maybe he did a reverse Wedding Feast of Cana and changed a Grange wine into Australian Water.]
Very clever as well!
The pundits will have a field day with this.
Lynchpin,
[Is it the case that O’Farrell can turn Sydney water into wine?]
Is this going to turn into a massive hangover for BOF? Maybe even his crucifixion?
Maybe the courier left it on the front step, after all it’s only worth $3000.
@seanparnell: GRAPHIC: How #ICAC plans to use advanced submarine technology in the search area to find the missing Grange http://t.co/twXZ6jAbdC
[Maybe the courier left it on the front step, after all it’s only worth $3000.]
The fee for delivery was $129, it was signed for.
He can’t remember 🙂
Is he a Country Member?