The BludgerTrack poll aggregate has, almost, moved half a point in Labor’s favour for the third week in a row, the exact two-party movement on this occasion being 0.4%. This was the result of two new polls this week, one from ReachTEL and the other the regular weekly Essential Research result. Newspoll was silent this week because, social media conspiracy theorising aside, it’s the practice of The Australian to have its polls coincide with the resumption of parliament, which means next week rather than this week. Whereas last week’s movement caused four seats to tip Labor’s way on the projection, this time there is but the one, that being in Victoria.
Nothing new this week on leadership ratings, but a fair bit to report on preselection:
• The future of the plum Liberal seat of Mackellar on Sydney’s northern beaches is a hot topic following Bronwyn Bishop’s resignation as Speaker. The West Australian reports that Bishop is “under internal pressure to quit parliament immediately”, but the 72-year-old Bishop says she’s set on another term. However, the crude fact that her pension will erode the longer she is on a back-bench salary makes this a doubtful proposition. It had long been thought that her successor might be her chief-of-staff, Damien Jones, who is a member of the party’s state executive, husband of state upper house MP Natasha Maclaren-Jones and, according to James Robertson of the Sydney Morning Herald, Bishop’s “local numbers man”. However, The Australian (paywalled) reports that Jones is “seen as ‘damaged goods’”, since it was he who booked Bishop’s infamous $5227 helicopter flight to Geelong – a view expressed by Tom Switzer, a former opinion page editor of The Australian and past preselection aspirant who is ruling himself out on this occasion. Others who have been speculatively named without ruling themselves out include Julian Leeser, a former Menzies Research Centre head currently working in government relations at the Australian Catholic University; Walter Villatora, chairman of the party’s Warringah federal electoral council and a campaigner for democratising preselection reforms favoured by the religious Right faction; John Ruddick, an ally of Villatora’s in the reform push; Greg Burton, a barrister; and Jim Longley, state member for Pittwater from 1986 to 1996 and a minister in John Fahey’s government from 1992 to 1995, who is now chief executive of the ageing, disability and home care division of the NSW Department of Family and Community Services. Longley challenged Bishop for preselection ahead of the last election.
• The West Australian reports that possible Liberal preselection candidates for the Canning by-election include “Mandurah mayor Marina Vergone, Murdoch University law lecturer Lorraine Finlay and party figure Nathan Gudgeon”. Another mentioned in the local press is Steve Marshall, a 57-year-old former earthworks businessman who says he will run as an independent if he doesn’t win, which doesn’t sound like a winning pitch to these ears. The West Australian also reports that Labor’s preselection candidates will include Matt Keogh, a commercial lawyer, president of the Law Society of WA, and member of the Right faction.
• Nationals veteran Bruce Scott has confirmed the long-held expectation that he will retire at the next election, making available his sprawling and safely conservative Queensland seat of Maranoa. Scott has been in the news of late due to his role as deputy Speaker – Phillip Coorey of the Financial Review reports that he hoped to replace Bishop, but the Liberals will not have the job go to a National. According to Penelope Arthur of Queensland Country Life, potential preselection contenders in Maranoa include David Littleproud, a Toowoomba bank manager; Robert Loughnan, mayor of Maranoa; and Cameron O’Neil, a Maranoa councillor. Cameron Atfield of Fairfax reports that state Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg has ruled himself out, despite being “subject of pressure from some quarters of the Liberal National Party to run for a federal seat”. Labor’s preselected candidate is Dave Kerrigan, a rural health worker.
• The ABC reports that Steve Georganas will face opposition from “long-time Labor member” Delia Brennan in his bid for Labor preselection in the Adelaide seat of Hindmarsh, which he lost to Liberal candidate Matt Williams after nine years as member in 2013. However, The Australian reports that Georganas is “widely expected to win easily”. Mark Ward, a school teacher and candidate for the state by-election for Davenport in January, has won preselection to run against Liberal incumbent and Speakership aspirant Andrew Southcott in Boothby. Labor’s preselection process for Christopher Pyne’s seat of Sturt is ongoing.
• My paywalled Crikey contributions over the past fortnight or so concern Labor’s position on boat turnbacks and the contrast presented with the Labour Party in Britain, which appears poised to choose hard left ideologue Jeremy Corbyn as its new leader; the Tasmanian Greens preselection process that will shortly see former federal party leader Christine Milne succeeded by former state party leader Nick McKim; a Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters inquiry that appears to have been established due to Coalition concerns about emergency services union activists campaigning for Labor while wearing work-related apparel; the state of play in Western Australian state politics as the parties grapple with the implications of a just-announced redistribution; and, in yesterday’s edition, the coming prime ministership of Nick Xenophon.
All this crap about whether or not pollies should be subsidised for child and family travel ….. how sanctimonious some are ……. how ignorant are others !!!
FFS as I have written here before, the coast of Australia has 100’s of marinas, housing 1000’s of big cruisers. Many are worth $1 mill + and most of them over about 6 metres have huge diesel engines, often a pair of them.
A Sunday morning cruise can use $3K+ of fuel easily.
Apparently some here and many others haven’t got a clue who owns them. Well the big end of town owns them, but in corporate and trust names, not in the names of individuals. They are highly subsidised by the ATO.
And who rides about on them. Yep. Even MTBW might be able to guess.
Families!
TPOF
[ And Bronnhilde’s escapades were simply so far off the radar that they were ludicrous. ]
Indeed. I wonder if the LNP realize that the longer they try to keep this issue alive, the worse Chopper Bronnie looks by comparison? But I guess they no longer care how bad they make her look if in doing so they can inflict some payback damage on the ALP.
Jackol
Unless there are some nasties I don’t know about, it was simple, during installation, to say no to some of the connections back to Microsoft. The only problem for me is that Norton is sulking a little.
confessions
[ I think I’ll give it a go. If others can install it without dramas then I should be able to. ]
Careful! Are you really sure you want to join the Borg?
[ Jackol
Posted Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 2:56 pm | Permalink
My (irrelevant) view on Windows 10 (which I haven’t tried yet) –
I’m torn about this
]
I like this post that someone wrote on a Windows 7 forum :
I like Windows 7
Woody Leonhard’s article from Windows Secrets Windows 10: Good, but is it good enough? is very helpful, and confirms my personal choice to stick with W7 for the time being. The article is a polite and balanced statement that Windows 10 isn’t working – yet.
There’s something really deep here that I find it hard to express but I’ll have a go by way of an analogy – after my car has been serviced I don’t expect that the brake pedal has been moved, there are no longer rear doors, the interior lights don’t work and the reverse and forward gears have been changed around. Unless, that is, I am a racing driver.
The changes to Operating Systems treat me like a racing driver – who is inevitably interested in driving itself unlike my interest which is travelling.
As a mere user of computers I want results without having to get too involved with the stuff under the hood. It is a damning indictment that I know so much about how PCs work – I had to find out to keep things working !
Back to the cars – I used to have cars like that, but nowadays ones that require me to have a toolbox and a workshop manual will stay in the showroom.
fess
I can’t even join up all the options on a TV yet, so if I can do the upgrade, anyone can.
lizzie – the various articles seem to indicate that to find all the various settings to suppress information being sent to Microsoft is quite an extensive exercise, and even then you can’t control it all.
Having said that, if it was easy to install and is doing what you want it to do then that is great.
I’ll wait until the public beta tests Windows 10 for a few months before I upgrade. Will give all the manufacturers time to update their drivers, too, so less chance on conflicts on older hardware.
lizzie:
I’m now torn having read Jackol’s comment! Aaarrgghh!
phoenix – yes, that is along the lines of my feelings about this. Any individual element is arguable – and it’s not like anyone cares about anything I do on my computer – and half of me just wants to give in and capitulate to MS because it is the easiest thing to do in my situation.
But I feel like I’m being pressured and bullied by them into just accepting that my OS is going to do what MS wants it to do, and not what I want it to do, and that is making me unhappy.
We’ll see. I haven’t made up my mind on what to do yet.
confessions – lol. Sorry, I didn’t mean to put you off. Have a read of some of the articles that various kind folk have posted here and make up your own mind.
confessions
Someone posted this article a day or so ago (Phoenix?). Worth a read:
[ http://www.infoworld.com/article/2956715/microsoft-windows/privacy-and-advertising-in-windows-10-both-sides-of-the-story.html?nsdr=true ]
Jackol:
Yes I think it may be worth my doing a bit more reading. But as a Facebook user I guess I can’t whinge about the lack of privacy. 🙂
Ta PO, will do.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has reaffirmed his commitment to not changing the Australian workplace relations system in the current term of his government.
Abbott was responding to the release of the Productivity Commission’s draft report on industrial relations.
The Prime Minister said on Tuesday he wants to make it “crystal clear” that the Coalition will not seek to change the workplace relations system in its first-term of government.
“I want to absolutely stress that this is a draft report,” the Prime Minister said, according to Fairfax.
Well the bleeding obvious rational that follows is…..I will in my next term ( If the people are stupid enough to give me the chance).
So why isn’t this pressed in subsequent interviews… journalists too stupid I guess.
[ confessions
Posted Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 3:23 pm | Permalink
Jackol:
Yes I think it may be worth my doing a bit more reading
]
I reckon the later EH Holden was better than the EJ – and the later XY Falcon was better than the XW …..you have a whole year to upgrade, hasten slowly, till the geeks and fan boys have ironed out a few bugs …..then you get the best model …..
You have to love those Conservatives…
Donald Trump has been officially banned from one of the biggest gatherings of conservative activists after implying he received hostile questioning during the first GOP presidential debate because the moderator was menstruating.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/08/donald-trump-black-balled-by-conservatives-over-menstruation-comment
I guess this means the GOP will dump him, In a fit of peak Donald will go rouge & run as an independent … result Hillary gets up….S***house Democratic system!
Somehow a dictatorship seems a better idea
1117
Trump running for president in the general election, either as the Republican nominee or as an independent, would let Bernie Sanders win, if he was the Democratic candidate.
I’m content to wait a while before installing Win10.
No really compelling reason to upgrade immediately and Win 8.1 is doing what I want of it.
I’m sure Win 10 runs faster – as most fresh installs do.
Some of the reviews suggest win10 is what win8 should have done to start with.
Phoenix:
That sounds like good advice. 🙂
Paul Hasluck’s description of Billy McMahon could equally apply to Tony Abbott, who is viewing with his big-eared predecessor for the title of “Worst Prime Minister Ever”
[I confess to a dislike of McMahon (Abbott) The longer one is associated with him the deeper the contempt for him grows and I find it hard to allow him any merit. Disloyal, devious, dishonest, untrustworthy, petty, cowardly—all these adjectives have been weighed by me and I could not in truth modify or reduce any one of them in its application to him.
]
TTF&B
It’ll never happen, ever. Bernie that is.
[ The Prime Minister said on Tuesday he wants to make it “crystal clear” that the Coalition will not seek to change the workplace relations system in its first-term of government. ]
Yeah right abbott.
The ‘issue’ is you won’t tell the truth about what you really want to do the minute you get the numbers in the senate. You wont tell the truth about most other stuff as well.
Hopefully we won’t see you get more than the current term of government.
sprocket_
That description is timeless and appropriate regarding abbott.
[No politicians should get away with the “within the rules” garbage.]
Rexy was spouting the same rubbish!
[That has got to be one of the most stupid comments i have seen here….apart from TBA’s.
If its “within the rules” its an employment entitlement that person is owed as part of their conditions of employment. No ifs, buts or maybes. Simple, proper concept that the media would like everyone to forget at the moment.]
Exactly!
And yes, Zoomster nailed it, ‘their rights at work’
1122
Jeremy Corbyn was considered very unlikely to become Labour leader. He is now favourite.
I have installed Windows 10 and my experience has been positive.
No problems as yet!
Jackol
[to find all the various settings to suppress information being sent to Microsoft is quite an extensive exercise]
I’m keeping a watching brief. My computer use isn’t complicated and I don’t exchange material with other users.
[ Dee
Posted Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 3:53 pm | Permalink
I have installed Windows 10 and my experience has been positive.
No problems as yet!
}
Hi Dee – Can you tell us noticeable adavantages over what you had previously ?????? 🙂
Much as I don’t agree with Hockey this had to be done.
http://news.domain.com.au/domain/real-estate-news/treasurer-joe-hockey-announces-forced-sale-of-six-homes-bought-by-foreign-investors-20150808-giul3s.html
Readers of the Japan Times can read this helpful character assessment of Tony Abbott, as they contemplate his promise to buy a fleet of subs off Abe.
[
CANBERRA – A successful leader most needs sound judgment. Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott singularly lacks good judgment. His judgment of people is proving appalling; his instincts for reading political tea leaves seem non-existent. For a onetime Rhodes scholar, he seems a surprisingly slow learner.
………….
Abbott describes himself as captain of Team Australia and his personnel choices as “captain’s picks.” Even Peter Reith, a Howard-era Cabinet minister, writes that Bishop’s choice as speaker “was a captain’s pick. Just about every one of his picks has been a disaster for him.” On Monday his members of Parliament cautioned Abbott against another “captain’s pick” for speaker; they want to choose the replacement. The support of the party room is crucial for the speaker’s authority in conducting parliamentary proceedings. That is, Abbott’s own MPs no longer trust his judgment.]
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2015/08/07/commentary/world-commentary/yet-tony-abbot-shows-hes-touch/#.VcWYjU19M-p.twitter
Phoenix
It is extremely fast!
I just open the laptop now and presto, off it goes and everything loads super fast.
sceptic@1117
From your link:
[ Yet, for all Trump’s controversial remarks, the billionaire and former host of Celebrity Apprentice remained at the top of polls in the Republican presidential primary. ]
Says a lot about Republicans.
Phoenix
It downloaded with no problems and my Adblock is still going strong.
The format is easier for me!
[Dee
Posted Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 4:02 pm | Permalink
Phoenix
It is extremely fast!
I just open the laptop now and presto, off it goes and everything loads super fast.
]
… OK – cool, I am impressed …. have you found any issues ???? …. How is the new “EDGE” browser ????
That article is scary reading. Google scanning emails? WTF?
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2956715/microsoft-windows/privacy-and-advertising-in-windows-10-both-sides-of-the-story.html?nsdr=true
[ confessions
Posted Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 4:11 pm | Permalink
That article is scary reading. Google scanning emails? WTF?
http://www.infoworld.com/article/2956715/microsoft-windows/privacy-and-advertising-in-windows-10-both-sides-of-the-story.html?nsdr=true
]
Put http://www.askwoody.com/ in your favourites to keep up with whats happening in Windows
Thanks phoenix. 🙂
#Ctar1/1052
Which is better than one sided party who believes they are above the law!
“hey propose no solutions”
Which is incorrect, we have a number of solutions, but you lot seem to claim focus on the so called ‘lack of solutions’ and use the ‘look over here tactic’ and finally, blame those who claim there is no solution.
Which means, you couldn’t be arsed to do any real change, just a fake change, and hoping the issue will go away.
Many of the features were already in W8, apparently.
Woody ends with
[If it’s any indication, I, personally, have embraced our electronic snooping overlords. I’m happily using Windows 10, Cortana, even a little bit of Edge on my main machine all day, every day. I figure Microsoft can throw all the ads at me that they want. I don’t have to click ‘em.
Your reaction may well differ.]
phoenix
[I reckon the later EH Holden was better than the EJ ]
But the next, the ‘HD’ – was a real dog. Windows 8?
[Which is incorrect, we have a number of solutions]
If you are not a supporter of any political group who constitutes ‘we’.
@Ctar/1142
So one does need to be part of the political party for a political solution, which is to be biased towards the party? and thus is required to ‘toe the party line’ to what ever the party wishes, and not the people who who pay taxes?
So the situation continues un-noticed?
[CTar1
Posted Saturday, August 8, 2015 at 4:40 pm | Permalink
phoenix
I reckon the later EH Holden was better than the EJ
But the next, the ‘HD’ – was a real dog. Windows 8?
]
The HD – with the “kidney scooper” guards – the later HR was a MUCH better car ….. makes the point, hasten slowly, if you are happy to wait, till the bugs are all ironed out ….. window 7 is supported till January 14th 2020 …. and windows 10 is a free upgrade for a year or so…. if there is no dramatic reason to upgrade wait awhile till the geeks iron all the buggy issues, then upgrade ….
[and not the people who who pay taxes]
So individuals who are members of a political party or who are not but generally support one side of politics and who you presume don’t pay taxes are not part of the ‘we who have solutions.
@Ctar/1145
I’ve noticed you cherry picked my post, and defended your argument regarding who pays taxes, this defeats your own argument however, because it just shows the people who are in the party have ignored the situation for far too long.
I know where you going with this, you are trying to move the goal post, gotcha ya moment.
[Clive Palmer @CliveFPalmer 35m35 minutes ago
I don’t want to see a political party nominate a speaker. I want to see an independent be speaker. #IndependentSpeaker #auspol]
Buckleys of that happening Clive.
Only in America:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-08-08/get-married-or-go-to-jail-judge-gives-man-choice-of-sentence/6682516
phoenix –
This is sensible advice any time you’re dealing with software.
My concerns, though, are not so much about “bugs” – bugs will be sorted out and MS have been very good in recent years at actually fixing their operating systems to be remarkably stable and functional. I trust them on that.
What concerns me about Win10 is the attitude of MS itself. They seem to have made a business decision that they are happy to exploit their user base as a source of commercial marketing information and as targets for advertising, along with removing control from their users (or at least making control difficult). These are not/cannot be “bugs” – they are about the organization itself that I need to trust to look after a core part of my computer’s operation. They won’t be “fixed” because MS clearly doesn’t see this attitude as being broken. They may walk back from some of these decisions if there is enough pushback from the user community, although I kind of doubt this will happen, but even if this occurs it’s a bit like politics – you know they want to do it, even if they’ve backed away from forcing it on you.
And with the fact that Win10 has non-optional updates, MS can change anything they like whenever they like. I need to trust that they won’t do anything to push the envelope any farther, and given what I’ve seen of these Win10 (or Win8 or whatever) changes, I have no such faith.
[it just shows the people who are in the party have ignored the situation for far too long]
[I’ve noticed you cherry picked my post, and defended your argument regarding who pays taxes]
What argument …
😆
Complain on. Nothing seems to suit you.