The Australian reports the third Newspoll conducted under Galaxy’s auspices gives Labor a two-party lead of 54-46, compared with 53-47 in the first two polls. Both major parties are at 39% on the primary vote, which is down one in the Coalition’s case and steady in Labor’s, while the Greens are up a point to 13%. Tony Abbott is steady at 33% approval and up one on disapproval to 61%, while Bill Shorten is respectively up two to 29% and down two to 57%. There is a 38-38 tie on preferred prime minister, after Abbott led 39-36 last time. The poll was conducted from Friday to Sunday from a sample of 1727.
UPDATE (Roy Morgan): Later in the day than usual, but Morgan has kept true to fortnightly form with its face-to-face plus SMS series, which has the Coalition at its lowest ebb since the February leadership spill with a primary vote of 36.5%, down 2.5% on last time. Labor is up 1.5% to 37% and the Greens have gained another half a point on last fortnight’s peak to reach 15.5%. On respondent-allocated preferences, this reads as a blowout from 54-46 in Labor’s favour a fortnight ago to 57-43, although the effect on previous election preferences is more modest – from 53.5-46.5 to 54.5-45.5. The poll was conducted over the past two weekends from a sample of 2930.
UPDATE 2 (Essential Research): The latest reading of the Essential Research fortnightly average has both major parties up a point on the primary vote – the Coalition to 40%, Labor to 39% – with the Greens down one to 11%, and two-party preferred steady at 53-47. The monthly personal ratings suggest both leaders have bottomed out, with Tony Abbott up a point on approval to 38% and steady on disapproval at 53%, while Bill Shorten is up two to 29% and steady on 52%. Abbott scores better on preferred prime minister than elsewhere, coming out 36-32 ahead, compared with 37-30 a month ago. Other questions find 66% support for Bronwyn Bishop’s immediate resignation from parliament with 18% believing she should remain; 29% believing that booing of Adam Goodes was racist, compared with 45% for not racist; and 54% disapproval of a cut in Sunday penalty rates, compared with 32% approval.
TPOF
Agree with you about media reporting of polls. Not helped by vested interest trumpeting their own polls.
All the media should be reporting the trends like WB does.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
New Speaker is: Tony Smith
A defeat for Abbott as he publicly favoured Broadbent
“@SamDickfos: Smith – 51
Broadbent – 22 #auspol”
Tony “Broadband” Smith will be the new Speaker.
Could it be Kate Carnell wants to cut Sunday penalty rates in order to help her son who runs a cafe?
Nah ..I’m being too cynical ..aren’t I?..
“@KieraGorden
Turns out the ’cafe owner’ that @KateCarnellCEO keeps going on & on about is HER SON! #AusPol #BUSTED by @johndory49 pic.twitter.com/0jx2hilwau “
“@CroweDM: Tony Smith: “I won’t be attending regular party room meetings.””
[119
zoomster
The line of reasoning atm seems to be “Bronwyn Bishop claimed an expense. She was wrong to do so. Other politicians claimed expenses. Therefore they must have been wrong to do so.”]
Real disposable household incomes have been stagnant or declining for four years. The tax taken from average PAYG earners has been rising because of bracket creep. The allocation of revenue to basic public services has been cut and more cuts are foreshadowed.
The reasoning is all about protest – the complaint being that it is unreasonable for politicians to procure generous advantages for themselves while those who pay for these emoluments are being squeezed.
I suspect that because the Abbott Government have been doing the squeezing they will be the objects of most of the grievance. They just cannot have it both ways. Voters will retaliate…and who can gainsay them!
BK..
“Tony “Broadband” Smith will be the new Speaker.”
..didn’t he invent the internet too? ..Oh no, that was Malcolm Turnbull.. 😀
Good signs Labor may actually get to ask real questions and make faster progress to real answers.
I am slightly optimistic
markjs 153
Wow!
Always on anecdote, never on stats.
“@CroweDM: Tony Smith: “I won’t be attending regular party room meetings.””
..always a qualifier with Liberal promises/pledges..
[ Tax rates must fall: Hockey ]
Translation : The GST must be increased
lizzie..
I’ve heard Kate Carnell spruiking cutting penalty rates on every media outlet she can get on for months now ..but cannot ever recall her declaring her own son runs a cafe..
markjs @ 159
That means he will attend the next leadership spill motion.
Dont know which CPG journo was speaking to Jon Faine earlier re the return to parliament. But he said wtte that Liberal MPs he spoke to were happy that the polls were not worse. They only dipped one point as a result of the Bronnie saga.
mjs and lizzie
Next up is seeing how workers at the Carnell sons cafe are treated.
[OC, so which member of the Australian cricket team is ESJ ?]
Before anyone accuses Shane Watson – I will speculate ESJ is Tubby Taylor.
I am sure now that Tony Smith is in the chair that ‘Good government starts today’
@srpeatling: Pic of the day. Look at Mrs Bishop’s face. https://t.co/Bbjl2KpMyr
[131
zoomster
Politics doesn’t seem like a very desirable career. A Liberal safe seat like Indi attracted three contenders for preselection. Most preselection contests are like that – even when Indi was seen as a guaranteed ‘job for life’ we had fewer applicants for the position than the average cleaning job would have attracted.]
The lack of contestants has very little to do with money and conditions. It is just that most people regard politics as either a pointless or an unworthy pursuit, and because the results of contests are seen as being stitched up. Who can blame them for that? Politicians describe each other in degrading terms all the time. Politicians are also publicly insulted and defamed in the media on a more or less constant basis.
This is one of the consequences of the attack-games that have come to dominate political exchange.
@samesame: .@CanberraAirport’s #marriageequality support hits @theage & @canberratimes front pages today: http://t.co/C9AYIThsa6 http://t.co/bWbI8rEfZg
@jmodoh: Ms @ljayes reports Bronwyn Bishop’s new backbench seat will be next to Andrew Laming, Russell Matheson @SkyNewsAust
guytaur
Whenever I see a pic of Tony kissing someone, I think ‘Doesn’t he know enough to turn his head sideways?’ Not a very practised kisser, I’d say.
briefly @ 168
I think it’s very much a case of the position being stitched up. If you can’t count, you should not even be thinking of standing for preselection, unless as a protest about having the votes stitched up.
Politicians are very well paid, despite the difficulties of the job. For safe or winnable seats, they fall all over themselves to position for preselection, even if the vote itself seems only lightly contested. Yes, it’s a hard job, but so are many, many other jobs – especially shift work – which are much more poorly paid and just as disruptive to health and family life.
As for those who think it’s an unworthy job, aren’t they the ones who are forever bleating about the quality of choice ‘they’ are given at the ballot box?
Hockey and Abbott will go bananas over this:
[Environment Minister Simon Corbell will call for bids on Monday in a second wind auction to power up to 106,000 Canberra homes as the city continues its drive to becoming a city powered by renewable energy.
Mr Corbell said that when the new 200 megawatts of capacity come online in 2018, about 80 per cent of Canberra’s energy would come from renewable sources – leaving just 10 per cent to go to reach the government’s target of 90 per cent renewables by 2020.]
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/simon-corbell-opens-bids-for-second-wind-auction-to-power-more-than-100000-canberra-homes-20150807-gitvby.html#ixzz3iMks2yWV
Follow us: @canberratimes on Twitter | CanberraTimes on Facebook
[ citizen
Posted Monday, August 10, 2015 at 10:07 am | Permalink
Hockey and Abbott will go bananas over this:
Environment Minister Simon Corbell will call for bids on Monday in a second wind auction to power up to 106,000 Canberra homes as the city continues its drive to becoming a city powered by renewable energy. ]
Meanwhile China goes *Big* on solar –
[ China builds huge solar power station which could power a million homes
China is set to build a giant solar power station in the Gobi desert, which could generate enough energy to supply one million homes.
The proposed power station will measure 10 square miles and generate 200 megawatts of solar energy.
The plans will fall in line with the Chinese government’s ambitious initiative to reduce the country’s fossil fuel energy by 20 per cent by 2030 in addition to cutting its green house gas emissions.
Construction began six years ago on the country’s first large –scale power station, according to National Geographic. ]
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/china-builds-huge-solar-power-station-which-could-power-a-million-homes-10446840.html
Lizzie
I seem to remember there was a tumblr page around the last election just of photos of Tony Abbott’s weird kisses. Can’t find it now but it was certainly a rich vein. The best one of course was when he kissed the back of that lady’s head because her baby was out of reach.
Bronnie looking thunderous/cynical?
Christine Milne has formally stepped down from her position as Senator for Tasmania. This leaves the Greens with one fewer seat in the Senate until Nick McKim is appointed (Probably early next week). Hopefully she has been provided with a pair from the other parties, but if not this may be a brief opportunity for Abbott to pass very narrowly rejected legislation.
Speaker Smith is off to a good start. He’s not wearing a blue tie.
[PhoenixGreen
Posted Monday, August 10, 2015 at 10:16 am | PERMALINK
Christine Milne has formally stepped down from her position as Senator for Tasmania. This leaves the Greens with one fewer seat in the Senate until Nick McKim is appointed (Probably early next week). Hopefully she has been provided with a pair from the other parties, but if not this may be a brief opportunity for Abbott to pass very narrowly rejected legislation.]
Surely she would have delayed her departure until her replacement was confirmed by the Tasmanian parliament. Or is the Tasmanian Liberal government playing silly buggers to help Abbott?
This is sounding good. Sounds like impartiality is being restored.
Abbott will not be happy 🙂
Tony Smith is setting himself some good gaols in his opening remarks. I wish him well. He might indeed make a good speaker – in absolute terms not comparative terms!
@Phoenix Green – he would need to be careful about that – the crossbench like their position of power and would almost certainly unite against any attempt to cut them out of the decision making process. I can see Lambie, Lazarus, Xenophon and Muir all voting against legislation in response to such a cheap trick.
It’s possible that Smith’s pitch may well have been “I’ll be NOTHING like Bronny!”
Pyne “He says Mrs Bishop was a “beacon of strength” for women in Parliament.”
From what I read, she wasn’t supportive of anything to do with “feminism”.
“@ABCNews24: #Speaker Tony Smith: The Speaker should be seen to be independent of the partisan day-to-day foray #auspol”
===================
BK
No wonder it was a winning pitch!
“gaols”!
That was not a Freudian slip.
[Smith, now settled in the chair, opens his remarks.
I want to say out the outset, I’ll give a fair go for all.
The prime minister looks like he’s just been given terrible news. He looks incredibly downbeat.]
The hits just keep a comin’ eh Tones…
Bill Shorten gave a bit of a lecture on what improvements they expected in this Parliament. Tony and his mates – mocking laughter. Especially at the idea of supplementary questions.
@citizen
The Tasmanian Liberal Government is not interfering here, that I know of. They have stated that they won’t attempt to block his appointment. I also doubt they will be calling an early sitting to wave him through, though. Tasmanian Parliament next sits on Tuesday next week, where his replacement Greens MP for Franklin will have been elected in time to participate in McKim’s promotion.
If Tony Smith carries out his promises as Speaker, I shall have to review my opinion of my MP for Casey. Will be interesting to watch.
Scott Buchholz with his announcement of the result of the ballot served to demonstrate what a magnificent orator he is. (sarcasm off)
lizzie
I am similarly persuaded.
“Bronwyn Bishop made a mockery of a façade of independence” said PvO just then.
@Scott Bales
Just the opposite, Scott, this provides the non-Greens crossbench with more opportunities to negotiate and extract concessions from Abbott, so long as they do it at break-neck pace over the coming week.
BK
[Scott Buchholz with his announcement of the result of the ballot served to demonstrate what a magnificent orator he is. (sarcasm off)]
Why wasn’t Nickholtz doing it.
The photos of Bronnie in the chamber are fun.
I wasn’t impressed by Pyne. Biased to the nth degree.
[He goes on to praise Mrs Bishop who “has been felled in most unfair circumstances”.
Her downfall was “unfair”, Mr Pyne says.]
BK@193
The resignation in disgrace was great though….what a legacy she leaves…..
Taxpayers have the last laugh.
lizzie
Pyne had the most noise while he spoke. Not a speech to win voters over
=============
Rosie Batty speaking at a presser now