The BludgerTrack poll aggregate moves half a point in favour of the Coalition this week, which is presumably to do with those long lost 50-50 results fading out of the system, because there was no real movement from either Essential Research and Roy Morgan this week. With this they chalk up another two on the seat projection – one in Queensland, and one in Western Australia – and surpass their currently parliamentary tally of 90 seats. Nothing new this week on leadership ratings.
A beefy selection of preselection news this week:
• With its preselections to be determined next weekend, Labor’s struggling Western Australian operation is undergoing an imbroglio encompassing two of its three sitting members, and its yet-to-be-determined candidate for the state’s most marginal Liberal seat. Gary Gray, who has held the seat of Brand since 2007, has been refusing to sign a pledge that binds nominating candidates to the state platform and state conference as well as their national equivalents, and commits them to “obey the directions” of the state secretary in campaigning for their prospective office. As far as I can tell, fealty to the state platform is a not unusual feature of pledges required by Labor’s state branches, but it is generally phrased it in a way that places a higher premium on caucus solidarity. However, obedience of the state secretary appears to be peculiar to the Western Australian branch. The pledge is not new, but Gray objected to signing it on this occasion because the state platform opposes uranium mining and coal seam gas development, and struck out the offending sections on submitting his form. Consequently, the state party administration ruled the applications inadmissible. Complicating the matter is that Perth MP Alannah MacTiernan likewise made amendments to the pledge on her nomination form. Gray is taking his stand in the face of a united front of Left unions who want him to make way in Brand for Adam Woodage, described by Andrew Probyn of The West Australian as “a 28-year-old fly-in, fly out electrician on the Gorgon project”. However, the party’s national executive, including its most powerful representative of the Left, Anthony Albanese, is having none of it. As well as ordering the state branch to accept the nominations, invoking legal advice that the state pledge is inconsistent with national party rules, it has made clear it will intervene on Gray’s behalf if the matter is pursued any further.
• The Left unions in Western Australia have also irritated the party’s national heavyweights in pushing for Gosnells councillor Pierre Yang to take the nomination for the newly created seat of Burt in Perth’s south-west. This would involve the defeat of Labor’s Right-backed candidate for September’s Canning by-election, Matt Keogh, and the wastage of a lot of effort the party put into promoting him to voters in Armadale, which stands to be transferred from Canning to the new seat. Andrew Probyn of The West Australian reports there are “expectations” within the party that the national executive will also intervene here if Keogh is not selected.
• Phillip Coorey of the Financial Review reports that the New South Wales draft redistribution has resulted in two Labor heavyweights eyeing off neighbouring seats. One is Anthony Albanese, who is said to be looking at moving south from Grayndler to Barton. Barton was gained for the Liberals at the 2013 election by Nick Varvaris, but the new boundaries turn a 0.3% Liberal margin into a notional Labor margin of 7.5% by detaching Liberal-voting Sans Souci and adding southern Marrickville from Grayndler. Albanese’s exit would present a golden opportunity to the Greens, who now dominate the area at state level but have never looked like overcoming Albanese’s personal vote federally. Heath Aston of Fairfax reports Jim Casey, state secretary of the Fire Brigade Employees Union, is seeking Greens preselection for the seat. Bruce Knobloch, said to be aligned with Senator Lee Rhiannon and her hard Left tendency, reportedly had designs on the Grayndler preselection but will now seek to run in Sydney, which would pit him against Tanya Plibersek.
• At the other end of town, Chris Bowen is reportedly looking at moving on from his western Sydney seat of McMahon, where the loss of the Labor stronghold of Fairfield has cut his margin from 5.4% to 2.1%. Fairfield is set to be transferred to Fowler, which is held for Labor by the rather lower-profile figure of Chris Hayes. However, Hayes is reportedly reluctant to make way for Bowen.
• The Liberals in South Australia have preselected Nicolle Flint, a former columnist for The Advertiser, to succeed Andrew Southcott as their candidate for Boothby when he retires at the next election. Sheradyn Holderhead of The Advertiser reports Flint has “worked as an adviser to state and federal Liberal leaders as well as the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry”. There were six nominees for the preselection, of whom Flint’s most fancied rival was Carolyn Habib, a youth worker and former Marion councillor who ran unsuccessfully in the marginal seat of Elder at last year’s state election.
TrueBlueAussie@2339
You mean this sort of conclusion shows your agenda ?
[ TrueBlueAussie
Posted Wednesday, June 3, 2015 at 8:24 pm | Permalink
Turnbull is a traitor.
His little leaking stunt the other day was the icing on the cake. ]
lizzie@2350
It was implied in earlier reports that his body was found at the bottom of a cliff.
WWP
It is a bloody disgrace and all done in our name.
TBA, 2333
I think you need to interact with a few more people whose faces work
w/r/t Sunshine State strategy
Even if they get half of those seats, it should be considered a success
I hope the ALP can knock George Christensen off, he’s positively toxic.
bemused
I have not seen news all day. The last thing I read was that “a body has been found”.
[It was implied in earlier reports that his body was found at the bottom of a cliff.]
But there’s nothing suspicious about the body of someone held in a secure detention centre being found at the bottom of a cliff…
#duttonlogic
WeWantPaul
[..was a refugee, with mental health issus]
I wonder how much of those “issues” were caused or exacerbated by conditions on the island .
[It is a bloody disgrace and all done in our name.]
Really people should be charged with murder for that it is disgraceful.
More to the point, Wills is a seat that went to greens preferences last time.
Now it is very hard to see the Greens picking up enough to win the seat, but if Kelvin has a 3% personal vote and there is a 2% shift from labor to Greens then you could be looking at Greens with 25% or more of the vote and after preferences of the minors perhaps 29.5%, Libs on 27.5% and Labor 43%. A 4% swing to greens could see Labour just 41% to a Greens 31%.
Labor cannot affort to be too antagonistic to the Greens in this seat. Labor might be very well advised to pick Ged Kearney, rather than some RW faction man.
Airlines@2355
You really have to wonder what sort of a political party could select him as a candidate.
[WeWantPaul
..was a refugee, with mental health issus
I wonder how much of those “issues” were caused or exacerbated by conditions on the island .]
There was also a comment about him having got permanent residency, presumably citizenship follows after that?
ratsak
#duttonlogic
Thanks for that I will continue to use it.
lizzie@2356
Heard it on ABC radio several times from early morning.
It just reported where he was found and left the listener to join the dots.
A dreadful business.
bemused
[You really have to wonder what sort of a political party could select him as a candidate.]
The LNP.
[A former interpreter for Coalition forces has been sent back to Iraq by the Australian Government despite fears he will be a marked man on his home soil.
The young man, who we will refer to as Khaled to protect his identity, agreed to be repatriated after spending two years in Villawood and Christmas Island detention centres with no sign he would be released back into the Australian community.
He told Lateline conditions at the Christmas Island detention centre, where a major disturbance is currently underway, were so bad he felt he had no choice but to return to Iraq.
“They said to me if I don’t sign the removal I am going to be stuck in Christmas Island for a very long time,” he said. ]
Absolutely disgraceful. I am so angry.
daretotread@2360
Seems time to spray a bit of Roundup in Wills to get rid of those Greens weeds!
Labor should select the best candidate and I would think Ged Kearney would be well and truly in the running.
Labor needs to campaign vigorously against all its enemies, including Greens.
CTar1@2365
Thank you for spreading enlightenment.
[“So am I the the person who was found dead outside the Christmas Is detention centre was a refugee, with mental health issus, who the Government wanted to send back to Syria (that land of peace and prosperity)?”]
There is no evidence he was going to be sent anywhere.
He was however a violent convicted criminal as found in a court of law in Melbourne.. let’s just gloss over that bit though.
If he wants to illegally break out of the detention centre and jump off a cliff, that’s NOT the Governments fault
Dutton enjoys bundling all asylum seekers or visa-over-stayers into the same ‘criminal’ or ‘morally deficient’ basket. He’s a bloody sadist and dumb as a bag of spanners.
I’ll have to say goodnight. TBA is unbearable with his lies and cruel distortions.
[There is no evidence he was going to be sent anywhere.
He was however a violent convicted criminal as found in a court of law in Melbourne.. let’s just gloss over that bit though.]
If he was a convicted criminal, the article i read didn’t mention that at all (very unreliable news corp), shouldn’t he be in jail? Why would he be in indefinite detention (a cruel and inhumane punishment) on Christmas Is?
[“But there’s nothing suspicious about the body of someone held in a secure detention centre being found at the bottom of a cliff…
#duttonlogic”]
The refugee advocates killed him to try and win brownie points?
Don the Tin Foils everyone, here come the conspiracy theories
lizzie
[ He’s a bloody sadist and dumb as a bag of spanners.]
Back when he joined the Qld police force it would be considered an asset.
[“If he was a convicted criminal, the article i read didn’t mention that at all (very unreliable news corp), shouldn’t he be in jail? Why would he be in indefinite detention (a cruel and inhumane punishment) on Christmas Is?”]
He was charged… and convicted… of assault on a fellow detainee.
If you didn’t read it in the article you read it was because the author has an agenda which is typical of the leftwing media in their country.
And his conviction was the reason he was sent back into detention… unsavoury character and all that.
[And his conviction was the reason he was sent back into detention… unsavoury character and all that.]
Absolutely disgusting.
Hi guys,
thanks v much for the informative discussion on public v private hospitals etc. As a soon to be repatriated expat after 18yrs away, am not sure how urgent pvt health insurance is as a priority for the family. Nearby big public teaching hospital where the missus is to be posted makes me think we are ok for a while without priv health as an absolute first order necessity (which is the case from where we are coming).
am relatively uninformed on the NBN saga, all i know is that the area we are moving to has no NBN so must go hunting for ADSL providers soon. Is there any kind of one-stop-shop deal that covers line/bandwidth along with fixed/mobile telephony that anyone uses and/or could reccommend? have to learn the whole aussie scene from scratch again 🙁
[“If he was a convicted criminal, the article i read didn’t mention that at all (very unreliable news corp), shouldn’t he be in jail? Why would he be in indefinite detention (a cruel and inhumane punishment) on Christmas Is?”]
Becoming an Australian Citizen does not just involve you filling out forms.
If you show yourself to be of poor character as this man was, then the Government can cancel your Visa. You will then be put back into detention and possibly deported.
Of course in the minds of some.. personal responsibility is not important and people can behave like complete turds and then blame the Government for all their problems.
The truth is that this guy had he not got violent.. had he not attacked and assaulted another detainee would today be walking the streets of Melbourne.
If you take a poor path in life you HAVE to face the consequences.
CONNECTIONS to the National Broadband Network have hit a logjam, with many Tasmanian households and businesses having to wait months for appointments with technicians.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/customers-wait-as-nbn-connection-delays-pile-up/story-fnjj6010-1227600912518
TBA
“Look like school girls with the new hot boy in the classroom.”
I understand not being able to read human expressions is a symptom of Aspergers.
I can understand with very short term dual nationals that if you commit a serious crime you get sent home.
With minor crimes, long term residents and refugees (especially with mental illness issues) they should be allowed to stay, it is just a disgusting inhumane attitude that thinks it is ok to torture to death a person with mental illness in indefinite detention.
Anyone who supports is is just so far beneath contempt.
WWP.
According to a friend of the man who died on Xmas Is., He was a Kurd from Iran who had been accepted as a refugee due to the persecution/torture he’d experienced. Apparently, he was on the island because he’d been involved in fisticuffs with another person, possibly another asylum seeker and been charged with assault. I thought I heard the case had not yet been heard. The friend said he was becoming more and more desparate.
Later on 774, Raf Epstein interviewed another inmate who said they’d all been locked in since last night with no food or water. This was late in the day and the man said he was worried about other older people who’d not had any medicine they needed for such things as cardiac conditions.
He also said he had agreed to return to his home country some 10 months ago as he’d overstayed his visa, but instead had been sitting on the island, unable to get anyone to respond to him.
[The truth is that this guy had he not got violent.. had he not attacked and assaulted another detainee would today be walking the streets of Melbourne.
If you take a poor path in life you HAVE to face the consequences.]
So you accept effectively a death penalty for a minor assault, you are a much much less worthy human than this person, he was a much better Australian than you, you disgust me.
Farewell to coal…
http://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2015/11/coal-consumption-takes-biggest-hit-in-history/
[TrueBlueAussie
He was however a violent convicted criminal as found in a court of law in Melbourne
And his conviction was the reason he was sent back into detention… unsavoury character and all that.]
The only news report that I can find that refers to Fazel Chegani’s conviction reports that he was convicted for raising an arm in self-defence.
It also reports that he twice before attempted to commit suicide, so it would be no surprise, given how this government tortures detainees, if Chegani had killed himself.
TBA’s Orwellian character assassination of a dead man shows that he is the one with the agenda.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/30032440/detainees-riot-at-christmas-island-detention-centre-over-death-of-asylum-seeker/
[WWP.
According to a friend of the man who died on Xmas Is., He was a Kurd from Iran who had been accepted as a refugee due to the persecution/torture he’d experienced. Apparently, he was on the island because he’d been involved in fisticuffs with another person, possibly another asylum seeker and been charged with assault. I thought I heard the case had not yet been heard. The friend said he was becoming more and more desparate.
Later on 774, Raf Epstein interviewed another inmate who said they’d all been locked in since last night with no food or water. This was late in the day and the man said he was worried about other older people who’d not had any medicine they needed for such things as cardiac conditions.
He also said he had agreed to return to his home country some 10 months ago as he’d overstayed his visa, but instead had been sitting on the island, unable to get anyone to respond to him.]
There should be a royal commission this is just below the very lowest standards of humanity. It is cruel and disgusting.
[“Apparently, he was on the island because he’d been involved in fisticuffs with another person, possibly another asylum seeker and been charged with assault. I thought I heard the case had not yet been heard.”]
WRONG.
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/which_part_of_this_story_proves_chegeni_should_have_been_let_in/
And please… don’t whinge about it being Bolt. There are lots more news sites reporting he was charged… and convicted of assault.
He was given a suspended sentence, but convicted he was.
They are irretrievably tribal. They don’t understand that political contests are about ideas not teams.
Actually he was given more than a year in Gaol according to Ian Rintoul.
Though I heard elsewhere it was a suspended sentence.
WeWantPaul@2067
No idea about her of late, but decades back early in her political career she was a big help to a bunch of us in an inner city Sydney neighbourhood facing a truly appalling development proposal across the road, the archetypal mindless grab for profit and stuff the local community. She went into bat for us pretty hard and helped to get a much more acceptable and suitable outcome.
I found her open, sensible, and constructive.
[Actually he was given more than a year in Gaol according to Ian Rintoul.
Though I heard elsewhere it was a suspended sentence.]
So you don’t have a clue.
TBA – not even Bolt referred to Chegani as violent or unsavoury. That was you alone, and that marks you out as particularly cretinous.
O.K. I know I really shouldn’t but
TBA
This man had been tortured to the extent that the friend who had had to help with some documentation relating to his case, said she was still so disturbed by what she learned she wished she didn’t know what had happened to him.
Now you may be unaware of what PTSD can do to a person, but hyperarousal and triggering events/people can be very difficult to manage. Ask a Vietnam or Iraq/Afghanistan vet with PTSD.
I don’t know why you think coming across as callous and judgmental is, in any way, likely to persuade anyone to engage with you. It’s certainly the last time I will.
Breaking good news:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2015/nov/09/myanmar-elections-aung-san-suu-kyi-hints-at-victory
Last post 7:06.
Anyone out there?
[I’ll have to say goodnight. TBA is unbearable with his lies and cruel distortions.]
Why anyone bothers to interact with this low life scum is beyond me.
It only encourages him, and contributes to making this blog unpleasantly barely worth visiting.
Coooooeeeeeeee!
Adrian – William should ban him because he does ruin this blog, sucking up huge amounts of oxygen and wasting everyone’s time. There is no free speech issue here. William can do what he likes.
“Boerwar
Busy planning his second coming.”
Two offspring, gotta be at least the third.
But given time at “The Sem*nary” who knows ….?
:devil:
Iranian Kurdish refugee, Fazel Chegeni who died on Christmas Island.
8/11/2015: http://www.refugeeaction.org.au/?p=4453
[The man, in his early 30s, escaped from the North West Point detention centre 48 hours ago – on Friday 6 November. Detainees had reported that Fazel was missing on Friday.
Detainees in the centre report that police brought the man’s body to the detention centre around 9.00am Christmas Island time, this morning, Sunday 8 November.
The circumstances of his death are not known. But there was a resident woken around 4.00am this morning at a house in the Settlement area and the man disappeared down a track known as “The Incline”. But it is not known whether this incident is related to Fazel at all.
Fazel arrived in Australia in 2010. He had been found to be a refugee when he was in Curtin detention centre, around two and half years ago. He was unfairly charged with assault following a fight between detainees at the detention centre. He was later released into the community in Melbourne for a few months but was re-detained in Melbourne even though he was given a good behaviour bond for the assault charge.
He had been in Christmas Island detention for around 10 weeks after being transferred from Wickham Point, Darwin. He had recently been invited by the Minister to make another protection visa application.
Like so many others, Fazel was suffering the effects of long-term, arbitrary detention. Fazel has attempted suicide when he was in Melbourne; again when he was in Brisbane, and then again in Wickham Point not long before he was transferred to Christmas Island.]