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.
Bloody hell – check out that 18-24 result.
https://twitter.com/GhostWhoVotes/status/456081044114923521/photo/1
And remember that this poll is from the sample that had support for the Greens at 17%.
@William/401
Indeed, why would younger people not support a republic?
To strip your question of its rhetorical element, this is the work of William and Kate.
Unfortunately, William, I don’t keep up with the Royals these days that much.
Care to expand?
Just ask Perez Hilton:
http://perezhilton.com/cocoperez/2014-04-14-kate-middleton-cricket-game-christchurch-new-zealand#.U01IU_mSwkQ
William is second in line to the throne. Kate is his pretty young wife, who recently had a baby. They are very popular, and get a lot more coverage in the soft media than whatever might be animating discussion on PB at any given time.
[ and get a lot more coverage in the soft media than whatever might be animating discussion on PB at any given time.]
You lie!
😆
407
Second being the operative word. We shall have to see how King Charles does.
And Queen Camilla.
Yes William’s right
____________________
The Royals are the ultimate celebrities,,and they are like some super-soap Opera…better than “Downton Abbey” and didn.t we all love that
The Royal Soap has got it all
a grand old Grannie..grumpy old Grandad
grown up kids and grand-kids and now a new generation all soft and cuddly
I fear I’m turning into a Monarhiost myself
what have we Repubs to offer in contrast…A Pres elected by a 2/3 majority..what fun
Might turn out to be Shorten…there’s a treat in store
If Charles does not abdicate his succession to the throne when (if, perhaps?) his mother predeceases him, Australia is almost certain to become a Republic, I feel.
If we change over directly from Elizabeth to William, on the other hand, it’s likely that we’ll remain under the Monarchy at least for the next generation.
I have no problem with either outcome, myself.
[sceptic
Posted Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 10:19 pm | Permalink
dave@ 354
Do you really think it likely that BOF ( or anyone at home) would have signed for the Grange & ICAC not have that evidence already.
Here is ICAC link to courier invoice
http://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/images/Credo/C111.pdf
Would Barry be that stupid… the Grange is just a diversion… The Drim fell for it.. 7.30 Report fell for it….
]
I wonder why a recipient generated copy of the invoice, which is just a copy of the entry in the AWH accounting system, was tendered not the actual courier company invoice or POD.
“deblonay
and making silly remarks about me isn’;t a suibstitute for informed debate…which you seem …in your gheneral ignorance…incapable of conducting”
where are you heading deblonay? what are the consequences of your thought. it might be one thing to criticise america – in this instance i dont – but is that justification to putin’s antics? where would you or he stop – tell me do you support his annexation of past ussr states??? where would that stop. he has wanted to do this for years, 20 years, and you trust him and say america is to blame. i am normally a most erudite of thinkers but in your instance i make an exception.
i esp make an exception to your poor expression. you criticise mine once. i will not debate with you further, esp while you show such disregard for basic human linguistic style. volga russophilian language
#Auspol Nett_NEWS++™ @ http://bit.ly/1aQcqOy #abbott’s Jumbo Jest – Come Fly w’ me … ♯♫♪ by @rowe_david © http://bit.ly/Qnwa7Z
Greetings from Berlin bludgers. Why is support for the republic so weak among the youngest age group? Partly the greatly improved image of the Royal Family over the past decade, to be sure. But also this is the generation who have grown up under the Rudd-Gillard government, when two successive Labor Prime Ministers did nothing whatever to provide leadership on this issue. The only reason republicanism was on the agenda in the 1990s was because Keating put it there. Beazley waffled around the subject, Rudd and Gillard dropped it altogether. Why? Presumably because polling told them that swinging voters see it as an elite inner-city issue in which they are not interested.
And here’s one for you, Deblonay: “We don’t want Ukraine. Ukraine doesn’t exist for us. There are no people called Ukrainians. There are just Slav people who used to be in Kievan Rus, before Jews like Trotsky divided us.” (Quote from one of your beloved Russian militants occupying a government building in Slavyansk, from today’s Guardian.) These are the people you are supporting.
Speaking as someone who is indifferent to a Republic, I’m relaxed about young people not supporting one. It’s a massive red herring.
I suspect the complete shambles into which local ruling politicians have allowed themselves to sink has rather soured the perceived advantages of having a President.
Students where I teach regularly say of the majors “they are both disgusting aren’t they?”
I can’t polemicise at work so I just shrug my shoulders and say “that’s often said”.
Grangegate…. the Couriers have been found and have called to appear before ICAC.
The truth is out there
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pM9TW_w9Aw
Psephos
[ Presumably because polling told them that swinging voters see it as an elite inner-city issue in which they are not interested.]
And because the ALP reflexively rejects the views of perceived inner city elites when the said elites aren’t rich or well-connected enough enough to be authentically elite in a non-Howard/Murdoch sense.
Instead, the ALP embraces the views of plebeians whose perspectives are for some reason only comprehensible after they’ve been parsed by the kind of actual elites that control major media outlets and mines and real estate or their lackies.
That makes far more sense.
Psephos
Posted Wednesday, April 16, 2014 at 4:46 am | PERMALINK
And here’s one for you, Deblonay: “We don’t want Ukraine. Ukraine doesn’t exist for us. There are no people called Ukrainians. There are just Slav people who used to be in Kievan Rus, before Jews like Trotsky divided us.” (Quote from one of your beloved Russian militants occupying a government building in Slavyansk, from today’s Guardian.) These are the people you are supporting.
—————–priceless. would like to know what deblonay does believe – but the rat in our ranks probably sleeps during day
Psephos
enjoy lovely Berlin … the only postmodern city
in berlin you have intelligent conversations with complete strangers readily at 1am on underground … public transport to die for, and EVERYONE uses it
Morning all. I would not say I am indifferent to a republic, but I can understand the lack of support. Psephos and Fran both give good reasons why – no effort to sell it, major party credibility at a historic low, and not enough good reasons given last time. It should be something that makes us more democratic, and guards individual freedoms, not a rant by anti-toris.
Wills and Kate are probably closer in both age and attitudes to young voters than recent Labor appointments to the Senate. No wonder they are more popular.
Socrates
But in any event, it really is a purely cosmetic issue as things stand. The monarchy plays no part at all in the polity here, and even the UK has virtually zero influence over local politics, and to the extent it influences matters here at all, the Republic wouldn’t change that. The UK probably has more influence over the US than over us.
If this country underwent a radical shift to the left, and began laying the foundations for inclusive governance, then I daresay one of the changes in the decor would be putting the monarchy out on the council clean up pile, but really, amidst the far more important things going on, one might well fail to notice.
Ed Husic
[A lift versus an airport – a lopsided contrast but a telling one. It reflects an unacceptable reality for western Sydney residents that simple infrastructure demands are ignored while billions are found for a brand new airport. In this case, while the stations won’t be upgraded, their commuters will feel the impact of extra passengers being fed into a crowded Sydney rail network by a new airport.
I doubt the Abbott government will put in the serious dollars needed to address the traffic and rail problems that plague western Sydney. They will do just enough to link the new airport to existing road and rail networks without alleviating the growing pressure on this infrastructure.
But the greatest insult to the people of western Sydney – the insult that simply fuels the ”east versus west” debate – is the Abbott government’s insistence that Badgerys Creek Airport must operate 24 hours a day while the eastern suburbs enjoy the protection of an 11pm to 6am curfew.]
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/how-abbott-duped-the-people-of-western-sydney-over-badgerys-creek-20140415-zqv2s.html#ixzz2yziQ0uTI
Now we know why Libs were getting stuck into Quiggin. They won’t admit they’re making stuff up.
[A top Treasury official has admitted that no one he knows has seen a copy of the Abbott government’s Commission of Audit report yet, despite Coalition promises it will be released before the May 13 budget, which is less than a month away.
It comes as leading economist John Quiggin, an Australian Research Council Federation fellow, slammed the Commission of Audit as a “piece of political theatre,” saying there is no way in which its outcomes will be serious.]
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/commission-of-audit-report-yet-to-be-seen-by-treasury-top-official-20140415-36pzt.html#ixzz2yziq0HJh
Louise Pratt finally lets rip, after the stupidity of the WA Labor Senate campaign is confirmed.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-16/senator-louise-pratt-launches-attack-on-joe-bullock/5393008
Abbott must be euphoric at Bullock’s election. He gets six years to have another ready excuse to attack the union movement and spotlight the union puppets critique of Labor (based on fact) while Bullock is sitting right there in Canberra, and all the while there is one less safe spot for Labor to introduce any new talent into parliament.
Ross Gittins – (and bless him for the correct use of ‘phenomenon’).
[The unwritten story is there’ve been big changes in what Australia’s manufacturers produce: less stuff that relies on protection against imports and more stuff that fits with Australia’s comparative advantage.
You see that with food products – including things such as wine-making – now being the biggest category within manufacturing, employing 20 per cent of all manufacturing workers.
You see it also in the growth of manufacturing employment in the mining states – a spillover from the resources boom.
Manufacturing is undoubtedly suffering from the recent high dollar. But, apart from that, it’s in good shape. It has shed some fat and is fitter and wirier than it has ever been, better able to survive in a harsh world. ]
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/death-of-manufacturing-nothing-to-whine-about-20140415-zquwd.html#ixzz2yzjZI8D9
William @ 401
Monarchy & youth…… It’s dead simple, the youth are into selfies, celebrity & narcissism .
Fran 425
Agreed. A change at present would make no difference. Who would Labor want to appoint as pres? (democratic elections being verbotten). I would need to ask the SDA to find out.
Go Fiona!
[Leading health researcher Fiona Stanley has warned that children will pay the price if more is not done to address climate change.
Speaking before a special address to doctors and medical students yesterday, the Telethon Kids Institute patron said climate change was the biggest global health issue of this century and she worried that sceptics were taking over the debate.]
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/22668720/stanley-in-climate-change-plea/
Take the claim from Trade Minister Andrew Robb that cars from Japan on average will be about $1500 cheaper because of the Japanese trade deal.
There’s a grand assumption in this statement that the tariff cut will be passed on to the consumer. But beyond that the calculation is also wrong.
The 5 per cent tariff on cars is not calculated on the retail price. It is assessed from the customs value of the imported vehicle. The tariff impost on a car that retails for $20,000 is likely to be about $500 to $600. The minister’s office claims that the $1500 figure is the reduction on a $30,000 car but even a car that retails for $40,000 does not carry a tariff impost of this amount.
Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/tony-abbotts-mickey-mouse-trade-deals-20140412-36jz6.html#ixzz2yzlR3b99
[“I’m not a climate change expert but I do trust the incredible scientific evidence, although no science is ever perfect,” she said.
“To expect science to be able to predict something as complex as what is going to happen on this planet, given human activity and other things, is extraordinarily challenging and I think it is pathetic of people to criticise the imprecise nature of the science.”
Professor Stanley said the data was very compelling, particularly about the extremes in factors such as temperature.
“It’s like child abuse and neglect, we don’t actually know if it’s on the rise but all the risk factors for it are on the rise,” she said. “The way we are living on this planet is unsustainable, and that’s why I’m worried for my children, and my grandchildren and their children.]
She’s always had a way of communicating that is utterly compelling. That rare gift of being able to convey complex matters in very simple terms. Norman Swan is the same the times I’ve heard him speak at conferences.
Sceptic
In my experience that is no more true of all youth than it is true of all babyboomers. The reality is they vary. Right now most are just worried about getting/keeping a job good enough to some day but a home. I take it you do not have much contact with many young people?
Barry O’F looked very shifty on Ch10 news last night, denying, stumbling over his words, worried visage. Mrs Sprocket opined that his micro expressions were indicative of lying, and she hadn’t seen that in him before.
And now getting a bollocking in the Fairfax media
[There are moments when political careers turn on a single question from a barrister.
NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell wasn’t even present late on Tuesday morning when Geoffrey Watson, SC, counsel assisting the Independent Commission Against Corruption, began his fateful foray.
“Did you give any gifts to Mr O’Farrell?” Watson asked the former head of Australian Water Holdings, Nick Di Girolamo. O’Farrell’s day went downhill from there.
Watson didn’t know what was coming. ICAC investigators had found an invoice for $2978 from a liquor store but assumed it was for a case of expensive bubbly.
Watson didn’t know it was for one bottle, but as he spoke a minor miracle occurred. After a day battling dreadful memory loss akin to amnesia, it all snapped back and everything was clear for Di Girolamo.
Yes, on Wednesday April 20, 2011 his PA, Liz Michael, had bought the Premier a bottle of Grange that Di Girolamo had couriered to O’Farrell’s house in Roseville.
Did he ever get a thank-you note or a call? ”Yes I did,” Di Girolamo confirmed with the zest of the newly healed. “I don’t recall when. I . . . I thought it was a call.”
Curiously, while ICAC had known nothing of the Grange before Tuesday, someone had told the Daily Telegraph about it on March 6, when O’Farrell denied receiving any Grange.
The Premier said the same thing to ICAC. He never saw it. So what happened to a $3000 bottle of plonk on the mean streets of Roseville?
O’Farell recounted a bewildering and entirely plausible series of distractions ranging from 5.30am gym sessions to rushing to join his family at the airport on Thursday April 21 for a 5pm Gold Coast flight.
There were no shortage of suspects who might have nipped off with a missing courier package.
For a wonderful moment the prospect beckoned that the dog had eaten his Grange bottle.]
http://www.afr.com/p/national/grange_missing_on_the_mean_streets_7pq9zmQyGFq3kj7s6HBfQI
[she worried that sceptics were taking over the debate.]
Ten years too late.
[
Monarchy & youth…… It’s dead simple, the youth are into selfies, celebrity & narcissism
]
That’s all well and good, but it wasn’t todays “youth” that voted against a republic in 1999 was it.
Personally, I doubt I’ll see a republic before I hit retirement age (I’m in my mid thirties now). That is unless we get another Keating who comes along and actually drives the agenda. Yeah I know, fat chance of that happening.
Regarding Badgeries Creek, it will make little difference to Sydney transport. Until planes actually start landing there it will make zero difference to Sydney rail. The reality is a frequent bus link a la Melbourne would probable serve it quite well. The Sydney rail network NSW state Labor neglected so badly for so long needs many other things fixed first.
Have a good day all.
Mark Kenny jumps into Badgery with incisive political analysis.
[Sydney’s sometimes rancorous east-west socio-economic rivalry threatens to hobble the city’s second airport at Badgerys Creek before the first plane gets off the ground.
Within minutes of the announcement, key Labor MPs from the expansive western suburbs – home to at least 10 vulnerable seats – were playing the class card in reaction to the idea of a curfew-free 24-hour airport 50 kilometres west of the city.]
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/badgerys-creek-politics-still-a-threat-to-sydneys-second-airport-20140415-zqv3s.html#ixzz2yznCachc
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/pat-campbell-20120213-1t21q.html for western Sydney reidents
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/pat-campbell-20120213-1t21q.html for western Sydney reidents
Hockey loves to talk about our huge welfare bill, and yet you rarely hear him talk up the fact that Australia has one of the smallest welfare budgets in the OECD: 8.7%
Only 4 countries spend less
NZ 9.7% from there it goes into double figures
http://www.afr.com/p/national/cartoon_gallery_david_rowe_1g8WHy9urgOIQrWQ0IrkdO another go from the wonderful David Rowe
Sorry about the double comment and also the spelling mistake “residents”
Among OECD Australia spends the fourth least on pensions as a percentage of our GDP.
Hockey has been talking big about everyone sharing the burden. But he also only talks of expenditure cuts, not revenue increases. He says he wants a discussion about the pension; he also needs to talk about superannuation. He talks about expenditure; he also needs to talk about revenue.
And while he’s at it he might also talk about why he thinks Australia is in an age of entitlement, when it plainly is not.
If no one has seen the “Audit report”, Hockey is just floating his own ideas for our austerity future.
OTOH, since the committee has been stacked so carefully, they would know what he wants them to say.
Complete farce.
Good Morning
Another consideration about youth and the monarchy. The young are at the forefront of sweeping change and insecurity, Climate Change has replaced the nuclear war threat of the 80’s in the doom feeling issue.
They can’t keep up with the technology most notably represented by the mobile phone upgrade cycle. So the Monarchy has the fun celeb factor along with representation of stability in a sea of change.
Also note knights and dames is not popular so its not bringing elitism to Australia that is popular
@latikambourke: Ms @latingle reports PM Abbott will raise taxes in the May budget: http://t.co/xpfM2aJnuV
Why is Abbott spending billions of roads in western Sydeney?
Surely now the boats have stopped and there are no asylum seekers the traffic jams have stopped!!