Two new polls, including the first Newspoll conducted under the wing of Galaxy, show no signs of change in the relative standings of the two major parties, and record both Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten sinking on personal approval.
The latest monthly Ipsos poll for the Fairfax papers also adds to the weight of surging support for the Greens, but is otherwise largely unchanged on last time. Both major parties are down on the primary vote – Labor by two points to 35%, and the Coalition by one to 39% – making room for a two point increase for the Greens to 16%. Labor’s two-party preferred support is at 53% on both respondent-allocated and previous election measures, respectively amounting to a one-point drop and no change. Both leaders have taken a hit on personal approval, with Tony Abbott down four points on approval to 36% and up five on disapproval to 59%, while Bill Shorten is down six to 35% and up eight to 55%. Shorten’s lead as preferred prime minister has nonetheless widened from 42-41 to 43-39. The poll was conducted from Thursday to Saturday from a sample of 1402.
The Newspoll result for The Australian has Labor leading 52-48, from primary votes of 40% for the Coalition, 37% for Labor and 13% for the Greens. Tony Abbott’s personal ratings of 33% approval and 60% disapproval are the worst he has recorded from any pollster in about two months, while Bill Shorten’s respective figures of 28% and 54% slightly shade the last Newspoll as his worst numbers ever. The two are level on preferred prime minister at 39% apiece. Given that this is the result of an entirely new methodology, combining automated phone and internet polling with a sample of 1631 (compared with the old Newspoll’s interviewer-administered landline phone polling and samples of around 1150), comparing it with previous results is more than usually unilluminating.
TPOF:
I’m inclined to think Dutton also believes himself to be brilliant, hence his arrogance.
Boerwar
[
Apparently the unwealthy Slovakians ]
That’s what happens when EU chappies effectively bail out private banks and load the crap onto taxpayers. Happy bankers , sad taxpayers.
[AFP wants Aussies to show official identification papers before traveling by plane domestically. Like China.]
The last time I flew to Perth a couple of months ago I had to show my drivers licence. Does this not happen in other states or between states?
fess
I have been amused to see Dutton hanging around behind Tony with his mouth ajar, listening to the wisdom of the Leader. No, not amused, rather revolted.
fess @ 1147
[I did not see Greg Sheridan. What was he defending Shorten on?]
He took the Tony Shepherd line, but far more bluntly. He pointed out that if you go after moderate union leaders like Shorten who try to negotiate agreements that are all round wins, then only the thuggish union model is left.
I only have to show ID domestically if I check in over the counter
Remember all the angst re stripping citizenship?
[In findings that will potentially embolden advocates of the move within the Abbott government, an exclusive Fairfax-Ipsos poll of 1402 voters, conducted from Thursday evening to Saturday night, revealed that 75 per cent of voters support the proposal, with 21 per cent opposed and just 4 per cent undecided.]
Link
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/poll-shows-huge-support-for-stripping-sole-nationals-of-australian-citizenship-20150706-gi6416.html
[ He pointed out that if you go after moderate union leaders like Shorten who try to negotiate agreements that are all round wins, then only the thuggish union model is left.]
Wow. Who’d have thought!
And Exhibit A on the latter: the CFMEU in WA.
not sure of exact comment last night, but something about Greece embracing refugees. Really?
People i know who live in both Italy and Greece, do not have a very empathetic view of refugees landing on their shores. Quite the contrary.
Victoria @ 1150
Marles did not need to commit. He could have and should have done a better job of lobbing the ball back into the Government’s court. They are in charge and they are the ones who are failing in their duty of care to detainees, as well as screwing up international relations by the way they appear to be carrying out boat turn backs.
Marles should simply and bluntly have told Jones that he is not a spokesman for government policy and if Q&A can’t get a government member to come on Q&A to explain the Government’s policy, that is the ABC’s problem not the Labor Opposition.
Confession
Sheridan said Shorten was a nice bloke and the RC into unions will dig nothing up on him.
TPOF
Agree that Marles should have simply made a statement along those lines. But it does not change the fact that many in team Labor are on the same page as the govt on asylum seeker policy. Bottom line is that they dont want people smuggling operations to continue in any shape or form
Re: support for stripping citizenship. It is possible that many voters believe that the potential ‘terrorists’ were not born in Australia but acquired citizenship later. They were dem dere cheating asylum seekers, so deserve what they get.
Australia should strip Nick Kyrgios of citzenship
I got the impression Sheridan’s defense of Shorten was more like a warning shot at the Rabbott.
We can’t forget these journos are wired into Rabbott’s office publishing exclusives only to have their reliable source, ‘Rabbott’, backflip deny and lie.
Makes them look rather foolish!
I got the impression Sheridan’s defense of Shorten was more like a warning shot at the Rabbott.
We can’t forget these journos are wired into Rabbott’s office publishing exclusives only to have their reliable source, ‘Rabbott’, backflip deny and lie.
Makes them look rather foolish!
Victoria @ 1163
[Bottom line is that they dont want people smuggling operations to continue in any shape or form]
That’s true and to give him his due Marles did make that point clearly and explicitly before Jones derailed the discussion in a desperate attempt to get Marles to sign up to the Government’s ‘whatever it takes’ approach to boat turn-backs, without knowing the whatevers being employed by this government are. Marles should have shut Jones down but didn’t on that point.
Noice one 🙂
Capitalism – with Chinese characteristics.
[ Peak Desperation: China Bans Selling Of Stocks By Pension Funds
What do you do when two policy rate cuts, $19 billion in committed support from a hastily contrived broker consortium, and a promise of central bank funding for the expansion of margin lending all fail to quell extreme volatility in a collapsing equity market?
Well, you can simply ban selling, which is apparently the next step for China.
From FT –
Financial magazine Caijing reported on Monday that the National Social Security Fund had told its external fund managers they could buy stocks but were not permitted to sell them.
Central Huijin, a unit of China’s sovereign wealth fund, also said on Sunday it was supporting the market by buying blue-chip exchange traded funds.
…The pension selling ban comes just days after China moved to curtail margin calls in a similary ridiculous attempt to stop the bleeding by simply making selling against the rules.
…Moody’s – underwriting leveraged positions will sow seeds for greater market peril.]
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-06/peak-desperation-china-bans-selling-stocks-pension-funds
BW
[Apparently the unwealthy Slovakians]
I thought they were doing ok. Around the Eurozone average?
lizzie
out in voterland, i can tell you that there is a mistrust of those from the middle east. Whether born here or not. Asylum seeker policy and stripping citizenship are viewed in the same way.
As i have said on previous occasions, this racism is not just the purvey of anglo saxons, as a child of a migrant, I can tell you that whether young or old, those from the middle east are not viewed in a favourable way. This view is particularly strong in areas where they actually reside. I am too embarrassed to tell you what I get told by those who have to deal with parents of students from this background and the students themselves for eg
Thanks Dee. Sheridan’s defence of Shorten is at odds with the editorial position taken by the paper he writes for. The Oz thinks Shorten has ‘more questions to answer’ or whatever.
[Peter van Onselen @vanOnselenP 3m3 minutes ago
Why the hell has the name in the PMO re the Monis letter been redacted? I thought we lived in an open and transparent democracy. Aust p.6]
lizzie
In fact, it was only a few weeks ago, that a family member had a run in with a group of students at the school where their child attends.
Greeks in Greece have only in recent times turned on refugees.
They were embracing them in their thousands for quite some time.
Desperate times have heralded that change.
I remember well,recent times, 60,000 refugees in a month flowing through the tiny island of Cyprus.
There were calls for an inquiry as to why it was taking more than 14 days to process these people.
That’s changed too….think most are now firmly in the no camp to refugees but think that, as in Greece, is to do with hard economic times.
Dee
Even in Italy they embraced refugees for a time. Not any more. I have aunts, uncles and cousins who live in Italy, and they are very resentful of refugees. They want them out of Italy.
victoria
There was a recent protest by Syrian refugees in Greece. They didn’t want asylum in Greece —
[Syrian refugees usually avoid applying for asylum in Greece because the process is slow with very low acceptance rates…European rules prevent them from seeking asylum in another European country once they have applied here.]
but to be allowed to transit through to other countries.
[Most want to travel to northern Europe but cannot do so legally, leaving many to complain that they are trapped in a country without any prospects but with increased hostility toward immigrants.]
[The crisis-hit country, a popular entry point into Europe for thousands of undocumented migrants from Asia and Africa, warned in September that it was slipping into a “danger zone” without adequate funds or resources to handle a fast-growing wave of refugees from war-torn nations like Syria.
Greece, which holds the EU’s immigration portfolio, wants to reform the Dublin Treaty, which makes asylum seekers the responsibility of the first EU country they enter.]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/02/us-greece-immigrants-idUSKCN0JG1S020141202
Even more ominous is this report –
[Not much happens in Praggi. So when 150 Syrian refugees arrived in the village, high in the flatlands of far-flung north-eastern Greece, it was not something residents were likely to forget.
Some of the Syrians were huddled against the biting cold in the courtyard of the church; others had congregated beneath the trees of a nearby forest. All had made the treacherous journey from Turkey – crossing the fast-flowing waters of the Evros river – in a bid to flee their country’s war. Then came the white police vans and the Syrian men, women and children were gone.
“Ever since we have lost all trace of them,” said Vasillis Papadopoulos, a lawyer who defends the rights of migrants and refugees. “They just disappeared. Our firm belief is that they were pushed back into Turkey.”]
[..Activists, lawyers, human rights groups, opposition MPs, immigration experts and international officials are becoming increasingly concerned about the heavy-handed tactics Greek authorities use to keep immigrants away.
In a recent report released by Amnesty International, Greece was strongly criticised for its “deplorable treatment” of would-be refugees, especially Syrians..]
[..In contravention of international conventions signed by Athens, coastguard officials and police officers have waged a concerted campaign to stop thousands from accessing EU territory via Greece. Illegal pushbacks have been the focus of those efforts, according to human rights groups.]
[.. authorities have faced charges of violently apprehending migrants, beating them and stripping them of their belongings. Special coastguard units – often masked and dressed in black – have been accused of dumping migrants, without any consideration for their safety, in Turkish territorial waters.]
[..With allegations of torture also on the rise, two senior coastguard officials were jailed last month after a military court found them guilty of subjecting an asylum seeker to a mock execution and water-boarding.]
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/24/greeks-protest-refugees-disappear-praggi
(from 2013, before the change of government)
In other words, just because thousands of refugees arrive in a particular country doesn’t mean that the country actually wants them.
Dee
I should add that my relatives have said on many occasions that Italy is stuffed and the refugees are the biggest reason. Probably unfair but that is how they see it
zoomster
The same thing is now happening in Italy. There needs to be a global response to the refugee problem, but no one really wants to deal with it properly
victoria
I understand you completely. A natural suspicion of other tribes “not like us” is inborn. Anything else I say may be taken as ‘racist’ and I think that’s absurd.
Adam Carr From Bus Spectator
[ The next act in the Greek drama
It’s crunch time, apparently.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is running around arguing that Sunday’s referendum was not “a mandate of rupture with Europe”, but that’s not how many in Europe see it.
Tsipras’ error was in not recognising that other European countries also respect the democratic process. They too have to justify their decisions to their citizens. Like why they are using national tax revenue — perhaps better used for domestic purposes — for the Greeks.
So, while the loony-radical Greek Left may puff out their chests and talk of national pride or freedom, such rhetoric has earned nothing but contempt from their more learned Greek and European brothers.
…Greek banks face insolvency and the talk is that if a deal isn’t made soon, then the daily withdrawal limit Greek’s are allowed will be cut from €60 euro’s a day to €20.
…The fundamental issue is that Greece wants debt relief — the IMF and the US are pushing aggressively for it. The Europeans, for their part, aren’t opposed to debt relief.
Importantly though, and unlike the IMF and the US, they want to see signs of reform first.
Think of it from Europe’s perspective: What is the point of reducing Greece’s debt burden, giving debt relief, without clear proof that the Greek government will reform? This is the true kicking of the can because the fact is Greek government spending is unsustainable.
That’s what got them into trouble in the first place and it beggars belief that anyone would seriously consider debt relief without proof that the Greek’s had changed their ways. If they don’t, then we’ll be facing another Greek crisis 30 years down the track when they’ve racked up too much debt again.
…Europe has bent over backward to accommodate Greece, and got nothing in return.
The European Central Bank for its part has kept the emergency funding cap in place for Greek banks, yet has made it harder for Greek banks to obtain these loans by increasing the collateral required to receive them. Time is short, it seems.]
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/article/2015/7/7/european-crisis/next-act-greek-drama
Victoria
It seems to be the group think during hard economic times.
[The fact that there is more journos concerned about this provision, which has not been tested, than there is about what is happening right now on Manus and Nauru under the auspices of this government is yet another failure of real journalism in this country.]
Caught up with this from last night. Nail – head. Similar to the journo’s reaction to metadata. All care for their own patch and real or imagined incursion on their freedoms which almost all are far too witless and lazy to ever actually use. Couldn’t give a flying for anyone else’s. They are all so far up their own fundamental passages.
Will add, it’s times like this we must be ever vigilant of governments exploiting our ignorance and fear.
Good morning all,
I am sorry to go against the group think here but I thought Marles want ok last night.
Re the turn back policy. ATM there is still uncertainty as to which way National Conference will go on this issue.
The left had its national hook up on the week end to discuss National Conference and my understanding is at the end of it they did not reach agreement re AS policy. So labor is atm negotiating behind the scenes on this. Any definite statement by Marles last night would not of been in the best interests of the party at this stage.
National conference is soon so policy direction will be announced then. Marles did the best he could.
Re his defence of the border protection legislation, what else could Marles do ?
Labor supported the legislation so how stupid would Marles and labor have looked if Marles argued against it last night or refused to answer questions about
Support the legislation in Parliament and defend your actions.
Anyway, Marles stated more than once that doctors etc are protected under the legislation and that the senate committee report,on the legislation confirmed that.
The telling point raised by Marles was that there was no dissenting report from the committee at the time and the chairperson of that committee was Sarah Hanson Young.
A point he raised when the purity driven greens senator started to argue against labor Supporting the legislation.
Cheers.
Even if your friends don’t “empathize” with the asylum seekers, the fact remains that their nations do not torture or rape them. Inflicting mental illness is a form of torture. Turning people back to near certain death, rape or torture in their country of origin is something the Greeks don’t do as a matter of policy, as we do with the support of the ALP.
[Johanna Nicholson @johanna_nic · 5m5 minutes ago
PM Tony Abbott at Woolworths in Sydney. He will speak to the media shortly. ]
PM alert. Duck for cover.
The big problem for me with qanda last night was Tony Jones subbing for Barnarby Joyce, quite explicitly. He offered points that he said Barnarby Jorce would have made if he had attended the show.
Jones would explain it away as “playing the Devil’s Advocate”, but in the specific circumstances of Joyce suddenly choosing not to go on the show, Jone had no place spruiking his point of view. Jones’ performance was a disgrace to the ABC.
Dopey Marles should have stopped him right there and told him that he’d answer Joyce’s point when Joyce showed up, and not before. He then should have admonished Jones for allowing the government to insult his show by both snubbing it and expecting Jones to speak on its behalf.
It was an unedifying performance from both Jones and Marles. This is not what qanda is for: if you turn up you can make your own points, but if you don’t you shouldn’t expect the host to make them for you. It was cringeworthy and pathetic.
Nicholas
Of course, that goes without saying.
Dee
Naturally our govt is playing on our ignorance and fear. But they know that the people are able to be played with in the first instance. Team Labor gets this
The Govts idea of where to go to talk about a ‘small business’ policy – A Woolworths Supermarket.
FMD
Is Malcolm going on Q&A? Woffle, woffle, woffle.
CTar1
Yup. No idea.
Nicholas
[the fact remains that their nations do not torture or rape them]
See my post above, which includes a report that Greek officials water boarded refugees.
Further to my comments re Greece, here’s a sample of the Italian reaction —
[…there was continuing tension outside a centre for refugees, which was repeatedly attacked by local residents during the week.]
[..Locals had hurled stones, flares and other missiles at the migrant centre, smashing windows, setting fire to dumpster rubbish bins and fighting running battles with riot police during several nights of violence.
They demanded that the facility be closed down and claimed that the refugees from Africa and Asia were dirty, anti-social and violent.]
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11231773/Italy-protests-erupt-across-the-country.html
[The Italian government is locked in a battle with local towns and regions that are resisting—and even ignoring—demands from Rome to resettle the surging number of migrants in their areas.
This month, at least 20 mayors threatened to resign or occupied buildings together with residents to block the arrival of migrants sent by the government. Local associations have organized street protests.]
http://www.wsj.com/articles/italian-towns-push-back-on-growing-burden-of-europes-migrant-crisis-1430085784
More of the same today ?
[ This Is How Much It Cost To Keep The Shanghai Composite Green For A Day
Over the weekend, China scrambled to put together a coherent plan to combat the vicious equity sell-off that has pruned nearly 30% off the market’s world-beating rally.
21 brokers came together on Saturday and pledged 15% of their net assets to support the flagging Chinese stock market. The PBoC later (on Sunday) announced it would channel funds to the China Securities Finance Corp which will in turn use the cash to help brokerages expand their businesses and reinvigorate stocks.
The message was clear: stocks absolutely could not open red on Monday morning.
…the $20 billion or so in committed broker funds needed to be in place the second the market opened and not a minute later…
…That explains the opening 8% ramp on the SHCOMP.
…by the end of the session, whatever boost stocks received from early buying had almost entirely worn off,
…to quote one Bocom equity strategist, “that CNY120 billion won’t last for an hour in this market.” ]
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-06/how-much-it-cost-keep-shanghai-composite-green-day
Nicholas
[Turning people back to near certain death, rape or torture in their country of origin is something the Greeks don’t do as a matter of policy,]
Again, incorrect. Read the articles I linked to above —
[Special coastguard units – often masked and dressed in black – have been accused of dumping migrants, without any consideration for their safety, in Turkish territorial waters.]
Abbott making stuff up.
Abbott: I am not going to make a running commentary on the Opposition Leader’s appearance at the Royal Comm. However, I will say this. There are questions to be answered … and what we want are honest unions.
Everyone note I did not comment 😀 😀
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/11721377/Unintentionally-the-Greeks-have-done-themselves-a-favour.-Soon-they-will-be-out-of-the-euro.html
[Does Greece need debt relief? Obviously so. All its creditors know this, and have already reconciled themselves to having lost most, if not all, their money. Does austerity need to be eased to help the Greek economy get back on its feet? Of course it does. But can this be achieved within the confines of monetary union? With generous creditors, temporarily perhaps, but it can never be a long term solution. Instead, any asset writedowns will have to be done cruelly, by haircutting the depositors of Greek banks. Since the rich ones have already got their money out, it will be the middle and lower classes that will be hit most by this process.
There is a good reason why sensible countries have free floating exchange rates – it is because they provide a natural market mechanism for hair cutting external creditors, restoring competitiveness, and adjusting the external value of assets appropriately. Once these adjustments have been made, foreign capital will come flooding back in search of a bargain. And it is why the Greek debt crisis has become so intractable. It cannot be solved in a monetary union of fiscally sovereign states.
Unintentionally, Greeks have done themselves – and perhaps the rest of Europe too – a favour by voting no. They have been misled by their Government, not to mention a whole host of famous American, salt water economists – Sachs, Krugman, Stiglitz – into thinking they can somehow bring the rest of Europe to heel by facing their creditors down. They cannot. (To be fair, Krugman seems to appreciate better than the other two the vital importance of exchange rate in debt relief). By voting no, they have put themselves on a path to exit and the unilateral debt relief of default. Like Germany in 1953, this offers Greeks the possibility of a new beginning, and with a bit of luck, they might also have fatally wounded the entire euro project. It’s been a long time coming, but there’s a good chance that economics is finally about to triumph, as inevitably it always does, over delusional political will.]
Whatever has become of ESJ?. I do so look forward to his/her demented ramblings about the pending demise of Shorten and the ALP, even as the polls continue to show otherwise.