Geelong has been the focal point of the electorate of Corio since it was created at federation, its name being derived from the bay on which the city is situated. However, it originally extended northwards to encompass areas beyond Melbourne’s limits including Sunbury, Melton and Bacchus Marsh, became more strongly focused on Geelong after the expansion of parliament in 1949. The continuing growth of Geelong has been such that the its south-western suburbs of Highton, Belmont and Grovedale are now accommodated by Corangamite, a once rurally oriented and safe Liberal seat that has more lately been highly marginal. Corio nonetheless extends south to cover the Bellarine Peninsula, and north to encompass Lara 20 kilometres to Geelong’s north.
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| Red and blue numbers respectively indicate size of two-party Labor and Liberal polling booth majorities. Click for larger image. Map boundaries courtesy of Ben Raue at The Tally Room. |
Now a safe seat for Labor, Corio was a litmus test electorate early in its life, having changed hands along with government in 1910 (to Labor), 1913 (to Liberal), 1914 (to Labor), 1917 (to the Nationalists), 1929 (to Labor) and 1931 (to the United Australia Party). It fell to Labor ahead of schedule at a 1940 by-election after Richard Casey was appointed ambassador to the United States (he would return to parliament in 1949 as member for La Trobe), a result that played a crucial role in Bob Menzies’ defeat on the floor of parliament the following year. Cycling hero Hubert Opperman recovered the seat for the Liberals with the 1949 election win, eventually serving as Immigration Minister before taking up a diplomatic post in 1967. Bob Hawke unsuccessfully contested the seat for Labor in 1963, and newly arrived Labor leader Gough Whitlam encouraged him to do so again when Opperman departed mid-term in 1967. Hawke preferred to pursue his designs on the ACTU presidency at that time, and the by-election was won for Labor by engine driver Gordon Scholes, in an early electoral success for Whitlam. Scholes consolidated his hold over time, managing to survive by just 20 votes in 1975, and the seat had become fairly safe for Labor by the time he retired in 1993.
The next member was Gavan O’Connor, who rose to the front bench in 1998 but became increasingly imperilled as local Labor branches fell under the control of the Right. This enabled ACTU assistant secretary Richard Marles to unseat him at a preselection vote held in March 2006, winning 57% of the local party vote. O’Connor registered his displeasure by running as an independent, complaining that Kevin Rudd – who had not in fact been leader at the time – had told him he lacked the power to prevent Marles’s union backers from rolling him. O’Connor managed only 12.7% of the vote, with the Labor vote falling only 1.2% and increasing by 3.3% on two-party preferred. Without the complication of O’Connor in 2010, and with Labor performing well across the state, Marles added 5.3% to his margin, before a 5.7% correction in 2013 reduced it to its present level of 7.7%.
Marles was quickly promoted to parliamentary secretary in June 2009, but took a further four years to attain ministerial rank. After remaining in the Julia Gillard camp during Kevin Rudd’s first leadership challenge in February 2012, Marles came out in support for Rudd during his abortive second bid a year later. He resigned as parliamentary secretary when the challenge failed to eventuate, joining an exodus that also included Chris Bowen, Martin Ferguson, Kim Carr and Simon Crean. When Rudd succeeded in toppling Gillard in June, he won promotion to cabinet as Trade Minister, a position that had been vacated by the resignation of Craig Emerson. Since the 2013 election defeat he has held the position of Shadow Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.
Laura Tingle brings class to the panel.
Pyne now trying to insist he’s spent the last 6 years focused on education policy. Yeah, right.
I find it completely ironic that Pyne is trying to say that politics should not be like a football match and instead be about getting the right policies through.
Raaraa:
Not surprising. From memory the coronial inquiry had some not very pleasant things to say about Carnell’s govt in the wake of that girl’s death.
Pyne now trying To insist he’s spent the last 6 years focused on education policy. Yeah, right.
He was developing his policies in secret. Although he is very enthusiastic about his ‘reform’ proposals, he ‘forgot’ to mention them in the run-up to last year’s election.
William a request
________
I object most strongly to the endless posts by ESJ about my alleged drinking habit.. They are quite defamatory
In fact … all the more objectionable….that
tonight ESJ..with the tacit approval of D Laver has referred to me as one of those “oldies ” most likely to abuse Bulk Billin
Does PB now tolerate “ageism”
none of this is true and I suggest he demeans this site by inventing stories about posters and their heslth practices…out of sheer malice
see posts 1618/1639……
How do this aid debate on this site ?
ESJ is simply lying as he knows nothing of me
Raaraa@1633
I thought the driver could see if any of the doors were open and the train could not leave until all were closed.
But faults certainly do occur.
When I worked for a while at a railway organisation, they got 2 lengthy faxes each morning at HQ, one listing the previous days Signalling faults and one listing all the Electrical & mechanical Faults (I think that breakdown is right – a while ago now). The general public is blissfully unaware of most of these faults. Only breakdowns or safety issues ever impact on services.
Fair enough, Deblonay. No more insinuations that other posters are drunk. This is particularly directed at ESJ, Bemused and GG.
Why doesn’t someone ask Pyne why he hid his intentions regarding education before last year’s election? Or for that matter why he had almost nothing to say about it?
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/29/golden-dawn-australian-branch-of-far-right-greek-party-raises-cash
confessions@1634
Pizza home Delivery? 👿
[Why doesn’t someone ask Pyne why he hid his intentions regarding education before last year’s election? ]
Cause that was a year ago. People want to know what they’re intending to do.
But appropos of nothing, imagine if Wayne Swan had spoken like this as Treasurer rather than in that haltingly, unconfident manner.
WB 1657
Add being under medication in that list too.
1656
Again with the media, they will only give focus only at specific times and has an amnesiac memory to this.
This is a Pyne Q&A.
William:
You need to add ‘taking medication’ or various iterations of to that same edict.
Actually Pyne is being less obnoxious than usual. And Tony is keeping him under better control.
[This is a Pyne Q&A.]
They always are when he’s on.
Say what you like about Pyne, but he’s highly effective at commanding attention in a format like Qanda.
As I suspected Pyne is bombing badly despite Carnell trying to help.
Tingle Swan and Barry have changed the debate. Next QT wlll be harder for Pyne
It’s a recipie for rank inequality – which is what the Liberals believe in.
There’s a big difference between being happy to pay it and actually having to pay them all back.
Tony Jones is refreshing tonight.
From a partisan viewpoint his zinger about the next government doing royal commissions was great
confessions @ 1588
If Laura Tingle is one of the best political commentators we have then she would not have been sucked in by the Clive Palmer Al Gore sideshow like she was. Not her finest moment.
Katter will be on Q&A next week.
And so will his hat.
This is going to be fun.
Katter next week.
Jesus. The tabloid venture of Qanda continues.
Confessions
Given Katter’s issues a mental health episode is appropriate.
Well known for his advocacy on suicide prevention.
guytaur @1674
This is a fair statement. In the previous parliament, Katter emphasised a lot of farmer suicides in his electorate.
I wonder, considering the voter fraud in Indi, how many more might take place in other electorates? I think what matters most is are there enough to actually affect those really marginal seats?
I wonder how many votes the LNP lost during QandA tonight?
I certainly do not think they won any.
“@GhostWhoVotes: #Newspoll QLD State 2 Party Preferred: LNP 54 (+5) ALP 46 (-5) #qldpol #auspol”
BBC World showing Hong Kong live. Tens of thousands protesting now.
It looks like the previous Qld State Newspoll was the outlier and this one has just brought us back to the trend line of about 54% +-3% for the LNP in Qld.
I’ve updated by ReachTEL Ashgrove poll post to accommodate the Newspoll result:
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2014/09/29/reachtel-56-44-to-labor-in-ashgrove/
ML no the previous QLD Newspoll result was when the government just came out of a damaging fight with doctors and were in the middle of an even more damaging fight with the legal profession. The LNP were at a very low ebb three months ago.
I am surprised they have recovered this much though.
DWH
I am surprised too.
Goodnight
Yes good point dwh.
It is just that this poll is much like the one before the last and the one before that too, making the last one look a little out of place. Then again, the changes might reflect real changes rather than an outlier. I guess we will never know!
I have a sneaking suspicion that it might not be all over for the Libs in Vic either, notwithstanding every poll is saying that it is. What with the redistribution and the sophomore effect I wouldn’t be surprised if they scrape through and retain government as Mumble has suggested remains a reasonable possibility.
Did the ALP LOTO get implicated in that leak or did he manage to escape?
ML you probably had to live up here to feel how much trouble the LNP was in a few months ago. I’m not sure they are out of the woods yet but 54/46 should be comfortable depending on the primary votes. If PUP still has a significant primary vote then it may still be closer than this poll is indicating.
I think the PUP gloss may be starting to wear a bit though.
Yes, I heard from medical colleagues up there how close Qld came to mass resignations of medical staff. It seems Newman was confusing strength with pig-headedness….but he seems to have eventually grasped reality.
Good night.
Re Interest rates in US…and here??
____________________________________
There is mounting speculation…and criticism.. in the US over th Feds inaction on what some see as a need to raise interest rates after years of being very very low
This arises from a belief that housing et al,is rising in view of the low rates,and a raise now may stop another Bubble …so they should restrain housing starts before a new Bubble creates a situation like 2008 and the GFC
‘Now if the US rates do start to rise…will that feed into a similar sitation here ?
That would be very bad for Abbott
Watching Q&A. Gives me the screaming shits when people get all “thoughtful” and talk about how the education system is not meeting the needs of our kids. FFS, some of these politicians and commentators should just back the F off, stop trying to “reform” every three years and just let people who actually know how to teach get on with it.
On the Western retreat from the Ukrainian financial situation
______________
An Indian site saya the US Govt is shocked at the IMF finding that the Ukraine’s shattered economy needs NOW $19 billion ,and has a debt owing for loans of perhaps more than $50 billion
But one in Europe can give this kind of help,nor do they really want too
Merkel is said to be very critical of the US saying that only a new opening to Russia will help the Kiev regime to survive without major social collapse at home in Ukr in the months ahead as winter closes in
Ukrainian industries are long geared to Russian markets and cannot crack the Euro markets from outsides..fresh food like fruit and veg are a major problem as the Russians were a major market
Merkel is said to want to reopen dialogue there quickly with the Russians
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/09/24/west-beats-retreat-in-ukraine/
Nett_NEWS++™ by @Otiose94 http://bit.ly/1nAtjp1 #Budget2014, #cormann,. #Tax Avoidance Game by David Rowe © http://bit.ly/1vpGsTH
Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
The enigmatic Bill Heffernan sometimes is right on the money. In this case, the TAX money.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/government-senator-says-corporate-tax-avoidance-threatens-services-20140929-10nq8y.html
James Hardie – Ethical Business of the Century.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/james-hardie-paid-an-average-of-0-in-corporate-tax-over-past-decade-20140929-10nntx.html
Greater transparency needed on corporate tax minimisation.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/greater-transparency-needed-on-corporate-tax-matters-20140929-10nhc8.html
Labor will pick its battles with the new anti-terror laws.
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/consumer-security/labor-picks-battles-in-backing-new-spy-laws-20140929-10no60.html
A new era in the Australian security state?
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/29/the-coalitions-national-security-laws-herald-a-new-era-in-the-australian-security-state
Paul Bongiorno – Are Aussie forces in the Middle East just window dressing?
http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2014/09/29/aussie-forces-just-window-dressing-iraq/
Propaganda studies – the ISIL moment.
http://www.ellistabletalk.com/2014/09/29/propaganda-studies-9-the-isil-scare-campaign-revisited/
Dirty tricks already in the lead up to the Victorian election.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/29/anti-abortion-election-leaflets-being-examined-by-electoral-commission
More trouble for WestConnex?
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/westconnex-no-help-to-sydney-olympic-park-traffic-nightmare-20140929-10nctq.html
Probably it’s worth trying.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/police-to-ignore-minor-collisions-in-order-to-cut-congestion-20140929-10nj95.html
Section 2 . . .
Sexual abuse and rape threats alleged by Nauru asylum seekers. They should not worry – Morrison is looking after their interests. It’s not a pretty story.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/sexual-abuse-rape-threats-alleged-by-nauru-asylum-seekers-20140929-10nlun.html
And self harm protests escalate on Nauru after a video message from Morrison was played to asylum seekers. He’s a lovely Christian person is our Scootty!
https://newmatilda.com/2014/09/29/self-harm-protests-escalate-nauru-after-morrison-video-played-asylum-seekers
Neoliberalism has brought out the worst in us.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/29/neoliberalism-economic-system-ethics-personality-psychopathicsthic
Ratbag Lambie’s private member’s bill to ban the burqa may well be unconstitutional.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/jacqui-lambies-attempt-to-ban-the-burqa-could-be-unconstitutional-say-legal-experts-20140929-10nd5e.html
ABC employees come together to save Lateline.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abc-stars-unite-to-save-lateline-from-the-axe-20140928-10n9sh.html
Peter Hartcher – an authoritarian China kicks an own goal in Hong Kong.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/chinas-response-to-hong-kong-election-demonstrations-negates-any-goodwill-it-has-built-20140929-10no7q.html
Everyone’s favourite, Peter Reith, has written an article on ISIS. Go and find it for yourself if you feel inclined!
Our values define us – not our race or religion. From our Race Discrimination Commissioner.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/chinas-response-to-hong-kong-election-demonstrations-negates-any-goodwill-it-has-built-20140929-10no7q.html
Well the Libs DO like free markets.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/tpgs-controversial-new-fibretothebasement-service-launches-20140929-10ndr6.html
Hockey’s fiscal prang in the Senate. Terrorism scares aren’t going to make this go away.
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/budget-negotiations-remain-in-deadlock-20140929-10nq12.html
Melbourne’s EastWest tunnel project
Section 3 . . .
Melbourne’s EastWest tunnel project has another problem.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/east-west-link-to-need-large-power-switching-station-in-royal-park-area-20140929-10m5rj.html
If it gets going that is!
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/napthine-grants-millions-in-special-compensation-for-east-west-link-after-builder-threatens-to-walk-20140929-10nqg6.html
Prissy Pyne’s night at QandA.
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/christopher-pyne-denies-12-per-cent-youth-unemployment-is-a-crisis-20140930-10nsm2.html
Greg Jericho – The tough fight for jobs is not getting any easier.
http://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2014/sep/29/the-tough-fight-for-jobs-is-not-getting-any-easier
Some perspective from Bruce Petty.
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/bruce-petty-20090907-fdvy.html
And even more perspective from Cathy Wilcox.
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/cathy-wilcox-20090909-fhd6.html
Brilliant work from Pat Campbell!
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/pat-campbell-20120213-1t21q.html
Some resettlement options for Morrison? Ron Tandberg.
http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/ron-tandberg-20090910-fixc.html
David Rowe with a good one on corporate tax avoidance.
http://www.afr.com/p/national/cartoon_gallery_david_rowe_1g8WHy9urgOIQrWQ0IrkdO
Good Morning
@mashable: Want to follow journalists on the ground at the #HongKong protests? Follow this @MashableLive Twitter list: https://t.co/74VrbUHwYy
Pyne had such an interest in his portfolio as Shadow Education that he asked a total of three questions in three years about Education during question time
BK
So it turns out there was going to be delays in starting the work anyway.
Signing that blackmail of a contract could have been held back till the election after all.
A small, self-administered pat on the back to myself here.
I was pleased, watching Media Watch last night, to see that my meta analysis of the Daily Telegraph’s series of stories on Jailhouse Jihadis was spot on, in almost every detail.
You didn’t really have to know the facts to spot a bullshit story, from first principles. Now that the facts have come out they confirm my analysis.
The frameworks of the stories were suspect, their logic hopeless and the sensationalism led to a suspicion of complete beatup.
To see this analysis confirmed by Corrective Services and the NSW Police was comforting.
However I didn’t notice either body coming forward on the day to deny the stories. Only after Media Watch contacted them did they put the true facts forward.
The Daily Telegraph, of course refuses to budge. Somewhere in there, also as I predicted there was a peppercorn of truth, almost a random fact, on which the whole elaborate, rotten tale of terrorist attacks planned from inside Supermax and the “worst riots in 10 years” the day after were based.
Bonus points for pointing out that the photo of prison screws in riot gear was a publicity shot. From Cessnock jail of course.
In summary, the story was a complete crock of shit pretty well from start to finish: made-up, fabricated and presented as truth. It’s no wonder I argue that the nation and its media are being run as a Reality TV exercise. It’s exactly what they are.
Even shorter summary: if it’s in the Tele it’s garbage.
This should set the cat amongst the park-preserving pigeons.
[A Linking Melbourne Authority briefing document warns “substantial augmentation” of the power supply will be needed to build and operate the road, including a “large” power switching station “in the Royal Park area”.]
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/east-west-link-to-need-large-power-switching-station-in-royal-park-area-20140929-10m5rj.html#ixzz3Ek7Vi7ej