Galaxy has produced a poll of federal voting intention in Queensland shows the Coalition leading 52-48, representing a swing to Labor since the election of 5%, with further detail presumably forthcoming courtesy of the Courier-Mail. UPDATE: The primary votes are 33% for Labor (steady since February, as is the two-party result), 41% for the Coalition (steady), 7% for the Greens (steady) and 12% for Palmer United (up one). The poll also has a surprisingly high 48% in support of the GP co-payment with 50% opposed, 46% and 48% for increasing the GST, and 25% and 72% for raising the pension age to 70.
In other Queensland news, it today emerged that a state by-election looms in the inner Brisbane seat of Stafford following the resignation of Liberal National Party member Chris Davis. This neatly coincides with a ReachTEL automated phone poll of 687 residents in the electorate, which did not canvass voting intention, but found Davis’s recent dissident activity had made him considerably more popular in the electorate than the Premier. The poll also furnishes rare data on opinion concerning campaign finance laws, finding 60% opposition to the government’s removal of caps on political donations with only 22% in support.
Morning all
I am curious to see what approach Labor takes this week when parliament resumes.
As stated by smaug, there are so many nasties in the budget, but the changes to higher education snd the whole concept of earn and learn is an absolute shocker for this generation of young people.
baba
The trouble with the Australian is that the Canberra Press Gallery has been reading it like its their commentary bible.
The Australian is not a newspaper. It is a shouty right-wing blog with access to a printing press
My OH has The Oz delivered on the weekends. I comes in a plastic covered, very tight, roll. We now have little stacks of tightly wound newspapers all around the house – generally used for swatting pests and being undone for the guinea pig…. I really must find a way of stopping that subscription.
My father in law reads it like it is the gospel; says a lot about his politics and why I try to avoid discussion with him.
I have not posted for a long time can someone please remind my of how to quote other posters when I post.
thanks
Guytaur@102. Not so much lately, I don’t reckon. The Oz seems to be breaking very few major political stories these days and their leading commentary writers are ex-pollies/political advisers. Like the Bulletin a decade back, I think it only survives because of its enormous sentimental value to its ageing owner.
My sense is that the online Guardian – which is being very well-managed and must be cheap as chips for its owner to produce – is blowing away the Oz and possibly even the Smage. It’s very well-tailored to meet the needs of the niche market of modern-day consumers of quality online journalism.
I’m really surprised to see how well it is doing. But it has the benefit of being able to set itself up as a lean and mean operation from the outset. Fairfax is trying very hard to play catch-up, but their cost base is still much higher. They probably need to partner more closely with an international news organisation ASAP.
Fran your take on the UK council elections left me breathless.
I think I’ll take the BBC’s results over the official Green Party Spin. Lets see at current count on Eng councils & council seats
Labour 81 +6 , 1891 +292
Conservative 41 -11 , 1259 -201
Liberal Democrat 6 -2 , 404 -284
UKIP 0 0 , 157 +155
Independent 0 0 , 68 +19
Residents Association 0 0 , 38 +7
Green Party 0 0 , 35 +17
So the UKIP result is disappointing but the Greens have something to smile about. Now that’s world class spin
Hi scoutdog
Good to see you posting
just use close brackets to indent quote [. ]
baba
Reader wise I agree with you. Press Gallery nope. The last couple of weeks has been an exception because the Oz has been busy polishing the turd and even the press gallery can’t swallow that.
meher baba
Do you have any thoughts who might be behind the strategic leak of the “scholarship”.
This is what the oz headline says
https://mobile.twitter.com/chrismurphys/status/469942758115774466/photo/1
Kevjohnno
[Fran your take on the UK council elections left me breathless.
I think I’ll take the BBC’s results over the official Green Party Spin. Lets see at current count on Eng councils & council seats
Labour 81 +6 , 1891 +292
Conservative 41 -11 , 1259 -201
Liberal Democrat 6 -2 , 404 -284
UKIP 0 0 , 157 +155
Independent 0 0 , 68 +19
Residents Association 0 0 , 38 +7
Green Party 0 0 , 35 +17
So the UKIP result is disappointing but the Greens have something to smile about. Now that’s world class spin.]
You’d expect me to tell my colleagues’ side of the story. I didn’t say that Labour had done badly.
On the figures above, the Greens over in England have gained 17 — which can reasonably described as doing fairly well. The UKIP seems to have profited, to the extent they have, at the expense of the Tories, who lost 201 while the UKIP gained 155.
In a number of places the Tories have placed behind Greens.
[Hi scoutdog
Good to see you posting
just use close brackets to indent quote [. ]
]
thanks!
victoria:
“Labor’s scare campaign laid bare”? Is the Oz for real? Hockey and Abbott not being able to coherently explain or justify their own budget is what’s scaring people.
Meher Baba
It has never been my practice to read The Oz or the Tele. In the old days (the 70s and 80s) I’d read the Herald. Now I don’t read any of their hard copies and only occasionally look at the Rinehart Press online and holding my nose.
😉
scoutdog@112
And make sure you leave a space on either side of the text, so the brackets are cushioned by a space.
[test] no space.
[ test ] space
hmmmm, not showing correctly on preview with cccp.
I’ll see what happens.
To make the PB experience much easier, install cccp.
To use the Crikey Clear Comment Preview script, install in order:
Firefox
Greasemonkey
cccp
or:
Google Chrome
Tampermonkey
cccp
confessions
Hockey and others have spent the past few days bleating on about the misinormation on the. Udget and the scare campaign by Labor. All the stupid journos had to ask what was the misinformation?
bugger!
Budget
[test2]
[ test 2 ]
Something odd going on there, the first has no spaces, the second has spaces, but both look like they are in quotes on preview. Too many for me.
With all this talk of The Oz, I went to the online version for a peek. Dammit, now I am going to be annoyed all day. This line summed it up…
ABBOTT and Hockey may end up with more fans than foes.
Really? You truly believe that?
Suggested HTML tags are in the column to the right of the Blog, scoutdog.
Oakes today:
[For weeks before the Budget Australians were told that everyone would have to make sacrifices. High income earners and even MPs would be required to do their share of the lifting.
It was glaringly obvious on Budget night, however, that the burden was not being fairly shared. The load fell overwhelmingly on those at the bottom of the income scale.
And so it goes.
The latest tactic by the coalition chorus is to brand Australians as whingers and whiners. That is unlikely to go over well with the electorate.]
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/lies-flying-in-war-of-words/story-fni0cwl5-1226929127382
victoria:
Those fluffy TV breakfast shows have done a better job of grilling Hockey than some in the press gallery.
citizen:
Oakes neatly sums up precisely what I’ve been saying the last week.
“@davrosz: Gov’t is burning through political capital foisting this rotten Budget on us. Happily, News Corpse is also burning credibility backing it.”
Shorter version of David Marr’s fancy words:
Abbott makes it up as he goes along.
“Kick head. Move 3 spaces.”
“Can’t keep promise. Back 1.”
“Get out of Jail. Swap with Joe Hockey.”
“Break promise. Blame Labor. Advance to GO.”
Meh.
“News Corpse is also burning credibility backing it” – given that it is a corpse, I assume it must be a cremation.
Is it my imagination or has ABC radio at least changed its presentation style of news items post election. My impression was that, pre-election, most political stories started with “The federal opposition … and ended with a very brief rebuttal, if any, from the government. Now it seems that most political stories start with “The government…” and ends with a brief rebuttal, if any, from the opposition.
Kev Johnno
I can see why the Greens would be happy with the UK results. They have emerged from a minor, minor, practically trivial party to one with a number of seats. They are now sitting where the greens in Australia were say in 1995, just before the complete collapse of the Democrats.
UKIP is probably a one nation Flash in the Pan (but who knows)
It’s Time
We should at least be grateful, The technical problems seem to have ceased now for Labor MPs when doing a presser
I am reading that at present the budget items that may be open for negotiation are the $7 medical (I note that all mention by the ministers is for doctor visits, skating over the pathology and other tests); and the 70 year pension age.
I can’t see that adjusting these will bring much fairness to all the other cutbacks.
I am also unable to see how Hockey’s proposed tax cuts will do much good for the unemployed, the people who earn too little to pay tax, or pensioners.
BB
I thought David Marr’s latest was pretty much “meh”
nappin@120
Mike Carlton had a quote today thats applicable –
*Pigs cleared for take-off*
Morning all. Confessions I must agree that Oz headline is breathtaking. That is not even pretending to report news.
How can Labor’s response to the budget be a scare campaign when they have focused on the budget measures themselves?? There has been no hyperbole about risks like increased crime, damaging foreign relationships (aid cut) or economic decline due toeducation cuts, even though those risks are quite real. Nor any invented panics like “debt tsunamies”. All Labor has done is point out what the budget does to most Australians. And they correctly do not like it.
“@political_alert: The Prime Minister is in Adelaide and will visit the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute this morning #auspol”
Victoria:
[BB
I thought David Marr’s latest was pretty much “meh”]
David Marr is highly overrated.
Abbott is a born boofhead. Loves a fight more than a feed.
Marr puts this down to a lust for power, but I think it’s more just that he like to antagonize people.
Antagonizing people has been his trademark ever since he was a schoolboy, in all kinds of different fields.
The “power” thing came along later in the journey.
It’s Time, it’s certainly not your imagination, and it’s none too subtle either.
Why don’t any of our feerless journos ask Abbott or Hockey why, if the budget is in such crisis and Medicare unsustainable, is the ‘co payment’ going to a dodgy rearch fund?
Further to 134, I think most Australians object to the budget not because it is tough, but because it is unfair. Personally I would also criticise it for being dumb. The ideological cuts to education, health and foreign aid will do a lot of long term damage to our economy and reputation. Meanwhile the real reforms needed to negative gearing, tax concessions and super remain undone.
lizzie
I am still trying to clarify whether the states will now pick up the tab for the pensioner concessions no longer funded by Abbott and Co.
These cover concessions for utilities, council rates and car registration.
I did hear Napthine say something about Victoria picking up the bill, but have not heard what other states are going to do.
Also i maintain that quite seriously the changes to higher education and student loans could and should be one of the biggest issue in this budget.
Most parents aspire that their own children as well as others, should have the opportunity to engage in further learning beyond secondary school.
These proposed changes turn this sector on its head. Making every facet of learning hugely expensive and beyond the reach of many.
As I mentioned a few days ago, Jenny Macklin attended my daughter’s Year 11 class to discuss law and how the parliament works. She was asked questions by the students. One was about tertiary education. Jenny Macklin said fhe proposed changes to higher education are extremely unfair and Labor believe all students should be able to access higher education.
[daretotread
Posted Saturday, May 24, 2014 at 9:18 am | Permalink
Kev Johnno
I can see why the Greens would be happy with the UK results. They have emerged from a minor, minor, practically trivial party to one with a number of seats. They are now sitting where the greens in Australia were say in 1995, just before the complete collapse of the Democrats.]
OK I get now. They have finally achieved about 1% of the available seats. This is threshold of triviality and they can rightfully celebrate this remarkable milestone. Who knows one day soon they might even pass the laughing stock threshold.
Victoria@109. Clearly the leaks to New Matilda are coming from someone who works at the Whitehouse Institute (or worked there until recently).
But the received wisdom among experienced political advisers is that the really nasty and vicious leaks tend to originate from your within your own camp. My sense, based on nothing other than instinct, is that there are two sources: one for the original Guardian story and a separate one for the New Matilda story.
Here’s a theory for you. Two factions seem to be at war with each other in the NSW Libs. Both factions have been spilling stuff to the ICAC. One such tidbit brought down a premier. Maybe this is return fire.
BB
Abbott does lust after power. And Abbott likes to antagonise people. Simply put, he is a psycopath.
Marr is definitely overated, mainly by Marr.
As for The Australian the best thing to do is ignore it. Unfortunately the ABC and probably ALP advisors appear to believe it still sets the agenda. Anyone with the capacity for rational thought can see that this is not the case.
kevjohnno
The Greens vote has gone up in a first past the post election.
For them thats a good result no matter how you spin it
meher baba
I have been thinking that the Vic libs might be totally unimpressed with the machiniations going on in NSW Libs, and they too are playing their hand. What say you?
Looks like the Victorian Liberals are not quite as tough on crime as they like to claim.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-05-23/vic-government-backs-away-from-for-parole-board-recommendation/5474726
I disagree with some progressives who have an in principle position in favor of parole. Ethically speaking, it is not a right, if the prisoner is guilty of harming other persons and there is a (statistically high) risk of doing so again. They do not sufficiently consider the duty of the state to protect the community. Persons convicted of non violent crimes are a different story.
Have a good day all.
Socrates:
Agree about the unfairness being what people object to. And not surprising in that context that the govt can’t mount a convincing case for their budget. There is simply no justification for those on the lowest incomes to be taking a greater load of pain than high income earners.
[Abbott does lust after power. And Abbott likes to antagonise people. Simply put, he is a psycopath.]
That is why he got on so well with George Pell, who would cheerfully sacrifice a few dozen more children to keep a fellow priest at large.
Socrates
I just realised I made yet another typo……. Psychopath.
“@ABCNews24: Fmr NSW Lib leader Kerry Chikarovski: If he’d been a PM who people liked they probably would have laughed it off #wink”