This week’s Morgan and Essential Research polls have prompted a solid move to the Coalition on the weekly reading of BludgerTrack, putting the government in its strongest position since last September on voting intention. Its standing is stronger still on the seat projection, as the movement since that time has favoured it more strongly in the more important states of New South Wales and Queensland than in the marginal seat dead-zone of Victoria – potentially leaving into minority government territory, given that three of the seats credited to “others” are naturally conservative. The six-seat change on last week’s result includes two gains in New South Wales and Queensland, and one each in Victoria and Western Australia. The new leadership ratings from Essential Research cause Bill Shorten’s net approval rating to slip below Tony Abbott’s, though the trendlines for both remain sharply downwards, and Abbott hasn’t quite recovered the lead he lost last week on preferred prime minister.
Further:
• The government is preparing to reintroduce to parliament next month a bill to extend to trade union officals standards of disclosure and financial behviour that apply to company directors, which was rejected by the Senate in March. With the requisite period of three months having elapsed since, a second rejection of the bill would establish a double dissolution trigger on terms that would suit the government’s agenda of associating Labor with union corruption. The only existing double dissolution trigger currently available to the government is its bill abolishing the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the it’s debatable as to whether that counts as it was blocked before the Senators elected in September 2013 took their seats in mid-2014.
• Labor has preselected Leisa Neaton, principal of Frenchville State School, as its candidate for the central Queensland seat of Capricornia, which Michelle Landry won for the Liberal National Party in 2013 after the retirement of Labor member Kirsten Livermore. Austin King of the Morning Bulletin reports that Neaton prevailed with 85 votes ahead of 60 for Peter Freeleagus, a Moranbah miner and former Belyando Shire mayor who ran unsuccessfully in 2013, and 41 for Rockhampton mayor Margaret Strelow. Capricornia is featured in the Seat of the Week post directly below this one.
• The Cairns Post reports Norm Jacobson, state secretary of Together Queensland’s prison officers branch, has been preselected as Labor’s candidate for Bob Katter’s seat of Kennedy.
Cut GST by 5% – or more.
Go to here for some more ideas:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2014/may/09/budget-cuts-revenue-interactive
Get rid of:
– family trust subsidies
– negative gearing
– concessional super subsidies
– delete direct action
– impose a price on carbon
There, that will put the government budget in the surplus – seemingly such a very important thing until recently when it suddenly became a non-issue – within a few years and getting rid of the GST will increase spending by the lower [and upper] income earners and stimulate the economy.
Problem solvered.
So is Bronnie now to be addressed Parliament as “Madame Probationary Speaker” and has the PM appointed a Probation Officer for her to report to??
[I have long wanted to write a story about how much time it would take the average person to become out of touch.
This would be a lengthy piece requiring months of travelling in private planes and vehicles, of never having to hail a taxi much less wait for a bus, of someone carrying my bags, of attending catered functions instead of preparing my own meals, of knowing my retirement is taken care of thanks to a generous superannuation scheme and of having staff organise not only my travel but all my appointments.
How long would it take me to forget the price of a carton of milk or a cup of coffee?
How long would it take me to become out of touch?
No editor has agreed to let me undertake this rigorous piece of investigative journalism because of the cost.]
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/bronwyn-bishops-chopper-use-takes-us-all-for-a-ride-20150720-gifzvu.html#ixzz3gPXgyuqr
True yet another reason for Labor to go with a raise to 12.5%, without worrying what the states think, show some actual leadership.
Or Labor can go with an ETS instead. And not cut Company Tax until the ‘Budget emergency’ is over – it’s only paid by companies making a profit. Wind back negative gearing, restricting it to new dwellings and Australian investors. Wind back the CGT discount in stages – say 40% next year, 30% the year after. Tax Super penisons (the income portion was taxable until 2007) – the recipients have already enjoyed generous tax concessions while they were accumulating their super. Tackle multi national transfer pricing and shuffling profits overseas.
Re: “compensation” for the GST – this is quite meaningless. The “compensation” will be minor cuts to income tax which will only compensate for past bracket creep, and which will be eaten up by further bracket creep within a few more years.
If the GST was actually properly compensated, there wouldn’t be a point in raising it.
Interestingly this argument was falsely (albeit repeatedly and loudly) made in respect of carbon price compensation. In that case, the purpose of the “carbon tax” wasn’t to raise revenue but to shape consumer behaviour away from relatively high-carbon purchases – so compensation was entirely appropriate. This isn’t the case for the GST (unless the intention is to stop people spending money on goods or services).
Gillard also provided compensation for the Carbon Tax. And guess how well that went down with Abbott & Co.
lizzie
Not many days in Canberra and lots of days spent in an attempt to keep themselves on the gravy train
[Politics is not an easy life. Politicians receive a generous salary, yes, but they work long hours, are on call around the clock, frequently travel, are away from home for much of their time and engage in demanding work.]
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/bronwyn-bishops-chopper-use-takes-us-all-for-a-ride-20150720-gifzvu.html#ixzz3gPYqA81F
For those seeking a laugh at Bronny’s expense
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bronwyn-bishop-choppergate-scandal-inspires-memes-20150720-gig6k0.html
CTar1
The pollies who work very hard and conscientiously must be grinding their teeth at the rotten picture that the rorters present. IMV Abbott is top rorter but he has several enthusiastic apprentices.
Steve777 @2833:
[But isn’t a 5% GST increase a great big new tax on everthing? One thing’s for sure, it will cost the average household more than $550 a year.]
Oh, hush silly. Everyone knows that only Labor costs households anything! Just ask the commercial media!
[As previous posters have said, we should fix the current tax system first before thinking about it. We could start by unwinding the carnage wrought by Howard and Costello.]
But…but…TAX HIKES! SOCIALISM!!
This is a Telstra promoted article. However I do think its worth sharing as it shows how much closer we are getting and exactly how much Abbott is wasting with his spend on the roads not rail thinking.
Of course the biggest difference the AV make is in regional areas where population is too small to justify mass transit.
http://exchange.telstra.com.au/2015/07/16/can-roads-replaced-digital-technology/
Charlie
Good laughs 😀
[2837
Roger Miller
How does a PM put a Speaker in probation? The speaker is either supported by the house or is not the speaker.]
This is a version of Abbott’s usual device when he’s been caught out, viz, “Sometimes it’s better to ask forgiveness than permission.” This is one of those times.
CTari @2857:
[Not many days in Canberra and lots of days spent in an attempt to keep themselves on the gravy train
Politics is not an easy life. Politicians receive a generous salary, yes, but they work long hours, are on call around the clock, frequently travel, are away from home for much of their time and engage in demanding work.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/bronwyn-bishops-chopper-use-takes-us-all-for-a-ride-20150720-gifzvu.html#ixzz3gPYqA81F ]
Sounds like any casual job these days, really. Even a lot of salaried jobs are creeping their hours upward – without any additional compensation.
Why are politicians so special that they deserve such high pay?
Briefly @2863:
Either that, or it’s an attempt to just make the whole thing go away so he can get the media back to his $80m partisan witch-hunt.
Alan Shore@2621
Running way behind, as I have been out sampling the delights of our health system, but couldn’t let this one pass.
There undoubtedly is an element of the Victorian Police force who are very right wing, bordering on fascist in at least some cases. And they are tolerated and apparently given licence to act as they do when they attend a demonstration.
Sadly, even Labor Premiers have, possibly unwittingly sanctioned this and failed to act to stamp it out. Looking at you Steve Bracks.
This is certainly not a new phenomenon as I encountered it personally at the anti-Apartheid demonstration in 1971 under the Hamer Government.
It has persisted ever since.
I have a lot of time for the police generally, and they do an often tough and demanding job. I have also personally encountered great kindness from police dealing with situations that relied on their personal humanity rather than any training they had received.
It has always seemed a great shame to me that the ‘brotherhood’ sentiment seems to protect those in their ranks who do them no credit and probably make their job harder by tarnishing their overall reputation.
Time to put out this low-life, fascist, racist garbage.
Will Dan Andrews take up the challenge? I hope so.
Has Abbott yet properly described why it is that Bronny is on probation?
What was her transgression Tony? Please explain it to us.
CLP buggered in NT.
Holy fuck #newspoll.
Well blow me down with a feather. Aristotle finds that public perception of Tony Abbott being “out of touch” has increased markedly in recent months.
http://andrewcatsaras.blogspot.com.au/2015/07/voters-verdict-out-of-touch-abbott-is.html
Eh? H F Newspoll??
[BK
Posted Monday, July 20, 2015 at 5:10 pm | PERMALINK
Has Abbott yet properly described why it is that Bronny is on probation?
What was her transgression Tony? Please explain it to us.]
Abbott has ordered that Bishop be accompanied at all times by her probation officer:
Tricot
It’s Peter van Bowe again!
I thought NP was now defunct?
BK
Aha!
Some stupid pollie (didn’t catch her name, but she happens to be a friend of Bronnie) is on 702 claiming that her rule of thumb is that it is ok to use government money to go any place if the only reason you are being invited is because you are a minister!
I’m having a BBQ on the weekend, so if I invite the speaker of the house along (to give me us some tips on democracy) it is ok if she helicopters in?
FFS! These idiots just don’t seem to get why there is white-hot anger out there over this!
[William Bowe
Posted Monday, July 20, 2015 at 5:44 pm | PERMALINK
Holy fuck #newspoll.]
That sounds a little more dramatic than “wow” or “yikes”.
Actually, I was just trying to shake things up because we’d gone half an hour without a new comment.
(In Robin Fashion)
Holy Uncanny Photographic Mental Processes Regarding Irrelevant Political Commentary, William!
Without a clue as to how the next Newspoll (Galax?) will look, it would be counter intuitive, given the Bishop stuff, for it to be good news for the conservatives.
But then, nothing surprises me these days
Poor William, has to resort to trolling his own blog.
So sad.
Sometimes, William, PB is like a fast flowing stream. At others, just plain turgid.
[we’d gone half an hour without a new comment.]
More a problem with the server than the servants I feel
It’s Greece fatigue
A whole host of topics done to death, many times over with the same contributions. Mea culpa.
More than Greece fatigue but also includes the Rudd V Gillard wars, anything at all to do with global warming, boats, GST, and others which get a really good going over – several times.
Q&A should be good tonight!
We’re all gobsmacked by BB.
Listened to John Broughden bang on about GST increase on everything no exemptions.
He was interviewed on aBc news radio … No talk about equality or compensation for the low income earners. Said they were compensated by being below tax free threshold
Which means thy pay 100% of increase.
Right wing think tank crap.
Labor should go hard on the injustice / inequality aspects of GST increase
Every member ejected by Bronnie should demand to be placed on probation instead …
The Bronwyn Bishop saga has been going since early last week, long enough to have drowned at the Trade Union Witchhunt, ISIS / Terrorists under the bed and the ‘mature debate’ on whatever it is Abbott wanted to harangue us about. On that basis, I would expect any improvement in the Government’s stocks that might be underway to have been cancelled out, so we’re back to 52-53/48-47.
Here’s a snap of Bronwynm arriving at her office this morning: https://twitter.com/chef09876/status/622645896006635522/photo/1
Wonder what Brandy had in mind meeting with George Pell before his appearance at the Royal Commission?
Surely not interfering with the witness.
@snurb_dot_info: RT @jessradio: Ch 10 news: in Rome, AG Brandis had undisclosed lunch w Cardinal Pell, a witness in Royal Commission https://t.co/OhgcIQ5Hj4
sprocket_
I would put nothing beyond this mob!
The LNP have only two tax ideas on the table, they have GST increases and Corp tax decreases. They have in fact made increasing the GST a test of credibility on tax reform and then failed it themselves. The question is whether labor can change the narrative or pass the test by proposing 2.5% increase in the GST. Personally I don’t think they have any chance at all of changing the narrative, they don’t have any recent evidence to suggest they can even follow a narrative let alone change one.
Aristotle@2727
Oh dear! Using Gillard as the standard will not sit well with ‘The Cult of the Immaculate Julia’ on PB.
I salute your bravery in mentioning it and your scholarship in establishing it.
Fulvio Sammut
I agree with your option.
I couldn’t find the NT Newspoll, maybe I’m looking in the wrong place?
bemused
[ Oh dear! Using Gillard as the standard will not sit well with ‘The Cult of the Immaculate Julia’ on PB. ]
Yet again, you demonstrate how mired you are in the past. Most people have moved on, but you just continue to wallow.
sprocket_
Who would have thunk it – Pell and Brandis together.
They are so alike with superior knowledge of everything.
Like meeting like – how boring their meeting would be.
We should send Bronny over to join the conversation Pell could give her a dispensation.
The Drum. Absolute gold example of privileged rightie. David Miles insisting that if someone fails to fill in a form for Centrelink, they only need to ‘apologise or explain’ and they will be instantly forgiven, just like Bronnie. Richard Denniss nearly had a fit on air. ‘You obviously don’t know anyone who has to deal with Centrelink.’ Miles smug and won’t back down. Privilege on show.