After an anomalous drop to 51-49 last week, the Labor two-party lead in the Essential Research rolling average is back to 52-48 this week, from primary votes of 40% for the Coalition (down one), 38% for Labor (up one), 11% for the Greens (up one) and 2% for Palmer United (up one). Further questions find the Liberal Party rated too right wing by 34%, too left wing by 7% and about right by 26%, whereas only 20% think Labor too left wing compared with 16% for too right wing, and 28% about right. The poll also features an occasional question on best party to handle various issues, which finds the Coalition improving from a low point when the question was last asked in February, with the biggest movement in education, health, environment and climate change, generally smaller ones in its economic areas of strength, and no movement on national security and asylum seekers. A question on the ABC’s Q&A program finds is to be considerably more popular than its critics in the government, with 46% rating it good and 11% poor (including 37% and 23% among Coalition voters). After given a precis of the two parties’ National Broadband Network policies, 38% favoured Labor’s and 29% the government’s. On the economy, 35% rate it as headed in the right direction against 41% for the wrong direction, essentially unchanged on May.
So around the world, we have floods, Ebola still going, and Wars…. (with Air Strikes hitting innocent people in Syria).
Selling our soul so no one can reverse it:
Dan Conifer @DanConifer 6h6 hours ago
.@TonyAbbottMHR: “What we can’t and won’t do is reopen the [China-Aus] FTA. The FTA is concluded.” @abcnews #auspol
Some interesting revelations in Hilary Clinton’s email trove
[In a surprise development, Mr Rudd is among the names featured in the email furore engulfing the US presidential frontrunner, Hillary Rodham Clinton, with a public release of her private correspondence revealing he was in contact with the then secretary of state after being dumped as prime minister.
That contact extended to making a none-too-subtle request through intermediaries, for a bit of active sympathy from the State Department head with whom he had worked on a variety of issues from climate change to Afghanistan, and the global financial crisis.
After speaking to Barack Obama, who told him he was eager to see the Australian strike out on the world stage in an international role of some type, Mr Rudd subsequently travelled to Washington DC where he spent time talking with Mrs Clinton.
Fairfax Media understands Mr Rudd secured an appointment with the Democratic Party heavyweight in the State Department in the days after his demise and while she was prepared to have a cup of tea, she eventually ended up giving over most of an otherwise busy afternoon as she counselled him to pick himself up and rebuild from his setback.
]
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/kevin-rudd-drawn-into-hillary-clinton-emails-scandal-20150901-gjck3y.html#ixzz3kTYEUHiD
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook
Nicholas
A Government bonds are a useful way of raising much needed money for large scale projects.
Basically investors gives the government money, in turn the government pays periodic payments to the investor and at the point of maturity, the government pays the investor back the original amount plus the last installment.
Whilst there is no such thing as a risk free investment, bonds such as the Aussie 10 year are as close to being risk free as one is ever going to get.
Furthermore the RBA has not undertaken a money printing program.
Printing money is not the same as issuing debt, one is monetary, the other is fiscal policy.
Bongiorno
http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2015/08/31/dicing-credibility-unions-royal-commission/
[There is no doubt the political cache of this exercise is now not what the Prime Minister really wanted. What he wanted was to smear his main political opponents with the stench of corruption and dodgy deals.
Evidence for that came in the story handed out to the News Corp tabloids on the day the Heydon self-verdict was delivered. It claimed Labor’s Bill Shorten had received an undisclosed $5000 campaign donation from The National Union of Workers.
Never mind that the Liberals in government raised the legal disclosure requirement to $13,000. And forget the fact that Labor did disclose it anyway. The finger was also pointed at the union for having had a “secret slush fund” to support political candidates.
In a democracy, donating to political parties to advance issues you believe in is not a crime.]
Lizzie
If I was advising the unions, I would suggest that they set up a trust and call it the ALP supporting fund and make it known that so much each year is going towards it, this would surely shut the Liberal up.
This isn’t an issue in voterland yet the Liberals are obsessed by it.
mb
Good idea. The use of the word “slush fund” is IMO a continuous smear attempt.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/super-government-under-fire-on-plan-to-cut-penalties-on-businesses-that-shortchange-workers-20150901-gjcu2q.html
Dee @ 86, introduce him to Abbott, I hear that he loves anal….
Perhaps he can do to Abbott what Abbott is doing to this country.
Tom
[ Printing money is not the same as issuing debt, one is monetary, the other is fiscal policy. ]
Can you imagine where our economy would be heading if the Govt actually dealt seriously with the revenue side of the budget, kept spending growth modest, AND issued bonds (which FFS are at less that 2.7% for a 10yr ) to fund infrastructure like a proper NBN??
Its almost as if Obama is talking about Tones here …
“Any leader willing to take a gamble on a future like that, any leader who refuses to take this issue seriously or treats it like a joke, is not fit to lead.”
http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/obama-use-alaska-backdrop-address-climate-change-n419071
Dee @ 86
I’m sure everyone here has seen those types of headlines & stories that seem to be plentiful around Newscorp & Daily Mail sites.
Do we have to post them here?
Imacca
If only we had such a government plus add a responsible strong growing across the region.
I’m back from the bike ride now. Thanks for all the birthday wishes and the interesting comments. Yes, the personal experience of a lot of us is at odds with the pollsters’ results. I look forward to a demographer’s answer – is it just that the boomers’ peak hasn’t pushed far enough along the age axis yet to swamp the even older ones who were brought up to fear foreigners and economic depression? Dr Bonham, please?
And lefty, I’d leave out “almost”. It sounds deliberately aimed at our Glorious Leader to me.
It’s more likely aimed at the Republican Party. I know we’re not doing our fair share, but Australia’s not that important on the world stage. Most of the things Obama talks about will for domestic political consumption.
Steve777@79
And didn’t that name stick!
I recall when Menzies died the following small verse appeared as a letter in a newspaper:
“Ashes to ashes,
dust to dust.
Pig Iron Bob
will turn to rust.”
😀
[Any leader willing to take a gamble on a future like that, any leader who refuses to take this issue seriously or treats it like a joke, is not fit to lead.]
And comes a day after forecasters predicted this year’s El Nino to be the worst we’ve experienced.
We certainly do need leadership on AGW, not mealy mouthed platitudes or half baked schemes that do nothing.
Bingo
[Tsarina RubyRainbow
12h12 hours ago
Tsarina RubyRainbow @ColouredView
$60mil for a Judge who can’t read emails & or find wage rip-offs at #7Eleven, but can quiz JG on who painted her porch 20 years ago? #TURC]
lefty e
That Obama comment on leaders & climate could be a swipe at Canada’s PM Stephen harper, who is in the middle of an election campaign. I don’t think there is any love lost between them.
On the subject of the election, see this for the latest…
http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/poll-tracker/2015/index.html
[Bingo]
Absolutely.
Jack A Randa@83
I can also recommend “But the Dead Are Many”. Frank did write some quite good books.
My understanding is that there were occasional strikes after Russia’s entry into the war, but nothing major and soon ended by appeals and threats by the govt.
Parliament after the six-week winter break, Treasurer Joe Hockey was telling people on both sides of politics that he had a solution to the bank deposit tax.
Coalition backbenchers who had concerns regarding the impact on small banks, credit unions and friendly societies, were told by the Treasurer they had nothing to worry about.
Read more: http://www.afr.com/news/politics/whats-behind-joe-hockeys-backflip-on-bank-tax-20150901-gjco37#ixzz3kTocol3f
Follow us: @FinancialReview on Twitter | financialreview on Facebook
Charlie Edwards@99
One reason they won’t go for Labor is an irrational loathing of unions.
sprocket_@103
Rudd was FM at the time so would have been expected to have a significant amount of contact.
[Liberal candidate Andrew Hastie yesterday answered questions on Mr Abbott’s leadership by saying electors were not interested in Canberra issues and were instead concerned about jobs, drugs and roads.
Ms Plibersek said Mr Hastie still had to defend Mr Abbott’s cuts to health, education and pensions and the doubling of the deficit.
“You’ve got in Andrew Hastie a candidate who’s saying that what’s happening in Canberra doesn’t matter to the people of Canning,” Ms Plibersek said.
“But of course the decisions that are made in Canberra matter to the people of Canning.
“When Mr Abbott decides to cut the health budget across the nation, the people of Canning suffer.”]
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-01/liberal-candidate-distancing-himself-from-party-leadership/6740614
Yes, you can elect an MP who insists drugs and roads are a problem in his electorate, but at the end of the day will sit and vote with the govt in federal parliament in support of the regressive policies that people are rejecting.
For anyone who’s confused by bemused’s quote at 123, he didn’t correct my dumb mistype of “did” for “didn’t” towards the end of the quote from me. But he did get the title of Hardy’s book right – it starts with “But”, not “And” as I had said. 7 copies currently listed on eBay, for the usual ridiculous range of prices
Doesnt surprise me at all
[Rhys Muldoon
Rhys Muldoon – Verified account @rhysam
Abbott, who privately loathes Obama (reliable sources tell me), must have turned beetroot at POTUS’ latest speech on climate change.
1:09 AM – 1 Sep 2015
14 RETWEETS23 FAVORITES]
Referring back to earlier discussion, what might be different about those born before and after about 1950?
– Mass migration started in 1949. Those who grew up in Australia from the 1950s had lots of ‘new Australians’ as classmates, neighbours, work colleagues, friends, spouses… Those born before 1940 remember the old Anglo-Irish Anglican-Protestant-Catholic Australia
– TV started in 1956 and had a major impact on family life and childhood. Those born after the early 1950s cannot remember a time before TV.
– The rapid decline in the power of the Churches and religion generally from about the mid 1960s.
– Prosperity – those born after WW2 grew up in a time of growth and prosperity, all the graphs going up. Their parents could remember more straitened times – Depression, War, and the immediate post war period
Is Abbott going to shirtfront Obama?
From the SMH Facebook page:
[The Sydney Morning Herald – smh.com.au
15 mins · Edited ·
Peter Dutton has perceived that Fairfax Media – aided and abetted by the dreadful ABC – are akin to terrorists because we insist on publishing leaks from his cabinet colleagues.
We confess. Of course we do]
What a pathetic wimp Dutton is. He and his lot thoroughly enjoyed the constant leaking against Gillard by Rudd and his luvvies, yet the minute the same tactic is deployed by his own mob he cries foul. Terrorists? He doesn’t have a clue.
[arlie, without having the expertise of Will or Kevin, I’ve read a lot of polls and yes, they all show the over-65s as a conservative bunch on everything – voting, monarchy, same-sex marriage, everything else. As a recently-over-75 (yes you can wish me happy birthday for last Friday), this distresses me – is my generation, who demonstrated against the Vietnam War, turning conservato-senile in their old age or do the rich and complacent just live longer]
The two basic theories here are the ‘lifecycle theory’ (people get more conservative as they age) and the ‘cohort theory’ (people retain political identity through life, and those who grew up under Menzies have stayed conservative).
The truth is probably a bit of both, but as you suggest, the next ten years should give us a better fix.
Here is the result of the first womens carpark.
https://twitter.com/ConductorSam/status/636948141561020416/photo/1
Bemused at 125
For the non-rusted on ALP voters, people seem torn between the obvious need for unambiguous protection for workers (especially the least empowered) & the stain that seems ever-present in the small yet often reported thugs in the union movement.
The msm seem more intent on reporting on union embezzlement than corporate crime a real double standard.
Jack A Randa@128
Oh… I forgot about your typo. 😀
I was quite well acquainted with Frank in the last few years of his life and he sure had some interesting stories to tell.
victoria at 129
I love the way he rubs Abbott’s nose in it.
GG, do you have a wife? Daughters? Do they still speak to you?
Newspoll quarterly gives voter support for age demographics with the following for 50+
Election -> April-June 2015
COALition
51.8
44
44
47
ALP
31.1
37
39
36
Grns
6.4
7
7
7
ALP plus Greens compared to COALition
37.5 ….51.8
44 ……44
46 ……44
43 ……47
So ‘ultra conservative’ support has declined from being a strong majority in the 50+ group to the extent that it is now roughly equal.
Now obviously its not the very old, say 70+, and its a short term result but it is cause for some optimism.
Jack a Randa,
Be more precise about what you mean by speak!
Charlie Edwards@135
I have had discussions with Libs while handing out HTVs and some had attitudes much more aligned with ALP policies than Liberal. Their big gripe, and stumbling block, was some demonised version of unions that did not correspond with reality. They were unshakeable.
Martin, some of us who grew up under Menzies voted against him as soon as we turned 21, helped to elect Gough in 1972, and demonstrated against Kerr and Fraser in 1975! But yes I hear what you’re saying and Steve triple-7’s speculations have some plausibility. I’d still be interested in a breakdown of the over-65 opinions in polls into the 65-70s and the over-70s.
Another reason for the conservative leaning of the oldest age group is that both life expectancy and voting party are correlated with income. The people who vote liberal tend to be people who live longer than the people who tend to vote ALP.
OK GG, do they speaak in a friendly way or do they shout abuse? Include sisters, aunts, nieces too if you feel like full disclosure.
Charlie Edwards 99
Yes the former rusted on LNP voters I know cannot bring themselves to Vote 1 ALP but I don’t mind as they seem happy that their preferences that will flow through to the ALP 🙂
Bemused 126
I Think you are correct re loathing of unions , the comment here about Shorten is I don’t like him as he is an ex union boss,so no first preferences for ALP BUT the loathing of Abbott(and I use that word deliberately) as that is what it is, means these life long LNP supporters are happy for their preferences to flow to ALP, which makes me very content. But do want Abbott to stay as leader because of this
[The people who vote liberal tend to be people who live longer than the people who tend to vote ALP.]
I hadn’t thought of it from that perspective, but I can certainly see that in terms of household wealth.
[@SkyNewsAust: More with Treasurer @JoeHockey after the break on #RichoandJones]
Not exactly prime time. What sort of deadbeats watch this tripe?
Yes mari, I am sooo torn. I’d like to see Wacky Wabbott stay as leader, to maximise the chance of a change at the next general election – but he’s such an embarrassment to the country the patriot in me wants him to go pronto if not sooner.
[ Rhys Muldoon
Rhys Muldoon – Verified account @rhysam
Abbott, who privately loathes Obama (reliable sources tell me), must have turned beetroot at POTUS’ latest speech on climate change.
1:09 AM – 1 Sep 2015
14 RETWEETS23 FAVORITES ]
I suspect it was mainly directed Canaidias way, ….but he would have had Abbott in mind. Tony’s embarrassments at the G20 were not that long ago after all. 🙂
When I first became aware of politics Menzies had been PM forever. The first time I was old enough to vote was 1972 and I voted for Whitlam.