The Australian has published Newspoll’s quarterly breakdowns, which combine results of polling conducted from October through December and breaks the results down by state, with gender and age cohort breakdowns presumably to follow shortly. The timing of Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership coup in late September means comparison of the previous result with the current provides a neat measure of his impact, which appears to have been particularly big in Victoria and Western Australia. Both states record eight-point shifts on two-party preferred, giving the Coalition respective leads of 51-49 and 54-46. There have also been shifts of four points in New South Wales and five points in Queensland, respectively producing Coalition leads of 53-47 and 52-48. Only in South Australia is Labor still credited with the lead, which is down from 54-46 to 52-48. Two-party tables here, primary votes here and leaders ratings here (with thanks to Leroy Lynch).
UPDATE (29/12): And now the second tranche of the results, featuring breakdowns by gender and age cohort. The results suggest Malcolm Turnbull has had less effect on the gender gap than you might have figured, and that the change had less impact on younger respondents.
bemused
With North Korea anything between an H-Bomb and exploding a mine full of tnt is possible.
Sohar,
There is much mansplaining happening atm.
A lot of posters revealing their inner woman and total knowledge about women and their attitudes and feelings. Its not adding much to the accumulated male collective knowledge about women.
Good to see William in holiday mode for a change.
zoomster@5300
Try reading this:
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/its-empowering-when-blokes-grab-me-on-the-arse/news-story/bd5fcd95ffb3c06e15d63116b060a9e8
Nicholas@5291: As I read it, she had already been in trouble for tweeting her happiness at Turnbull replacing Abbott.
It’s actually rather extraordinary that her account wasn’t closed down then and there. A civilian public servant who tweets views of this type about political leaders, even on a private, personal account, would face immediate disciplinary action. In some more sensitive departments, this might apply even if they do this under a nom de guerre, so that they don’t in any way identify themselves as a public official. And this particular naval officer tweeted these comments on an official navy account where she was clearly identified as the author.
Clearly the Navy wanted to give her considerable leeway in the interests of improving their relations with the Muslim community. But, somebody lodged a complaint about what she was saying about them, I don’t think they had any choice but to shut down the account.
One thing’s for certain, it is not in the interests of Australians for our serving military officers to be allowed to give public expression to their partisan political views. One of the great things about the British model of national governance is that it requires the military to remain outside the political arena. As it has done in Australia apart from a brief unpleasant incident in 1808. Long may it continue.
Zoomster the simple truth is that Gayle is creepy and the woman in question shouldn’t have to put up with his behaviour particularly in front of national TV. She did nothing wrong and was just doing her job.
Just because the woman in question may be attractive is no excuse.
From my perspective the manager of the team Gayle plays for was even worse than Gayle by trying to minimise/justify the behaviour. Obviously winning cricket matches is more important than ethical behaviour and common sense.
GG
yes, I was musing about that myself.
As a five foot nothing female teacher, I was always being told by six foot six PE teachers how to discipline a class. I could never make them understand how the difference in height meant that I had to approach discipline issues in a different way to them.
It’s the same here. What seems like an obvious way of dealing with a situation to one person might be totally inappropriate for another.
meher baba@5305
I now look forward to your attack on the Libs for their efforts over the decades to politicise the military.
davidwh
Well said!
davidwh,
Gayle apologised, McLaughin accepted it.
It’s a minor incident, dealt with.
People watch the BBL for rare talents like Chris Gayle. I expect they will continue to do so.
Mind you the good thing about all the fuss over Gayle is that it has taken the heat off Briggs and Dutton 🙂
Your work email account is just that – it’s intended for work emails. Public servants are disciplined for misuse of work emails on a regular basis. Several police officers were stood down – and one suicided – because they had used work emails to exchange pornographic images.
If anything, a twitter account is more sensitive.
It really isn’t at all hard to create personal email addresses or twitter handles if you’re itching to say something which is inappropriate for your work ones.
GG we should have a Senate enquiry over the Gayle incident. 🙂
Let’s face it, Briggs was never going any further than a junior ministry position. Don’t know how he made it that far… ?
[Let’s face it, Briggs was never going any further than a junior ministry position. Don’t know how he made it that far… ?]
TAPM, say no more.
davidwh@5306
Comrade, of course she did nothing wrong and no-one has said she did. Congratulations on building and demolishing that straw-man!
But in her job she can expect to meet some rather boorish characters and she needs to develop her skills in dealing with them. As Rachel Corbett points out, she was handed an excellent opportunity to put Chris Gale in his place and she was unable to grasp it.
[I’ve met a million of these blokes in my career and when I watched Mel on the receiving end of that comment, I was disappointed. Not because of what Chris Gayle said but because she missed a golden opportunity to say something back that would mean he’d never make that same mistake again.
I believe a woman’s reaction to a situation like this is more important and effective in stamping out the behaviour than all the whinging about the patriarchy combined.
When I’ve been in these situations I’ve never found them belittling or demoralising. I’ve found them empowering.
I used to delight in these moments because I knew the behaviour I was on the receiving end of gave me the perfect ammunition to put these idiots in their place.
I never once thought ‘Oh no! This person thinks I’m less than them’. I always thought ‘Oh wow! This person is so emotionally immature that tearing them apart is going to be easy … and fun.’]
http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/its-empowering-when-blokes-grab-me-on-the-arse/news-story/bd5fcd95ffb3c06e15d63116b060a9e8
So there you are Mel, learn the tricks of the trade and next time some idiot throws you a full toss, belt him for six.
davidwh,
Governments have fallen for less.
bemused
read the article.
It’s called ‘going along to get along’.
I talked about bullying the other day, and the schoolyard meme that beating the bully in a fight is the best way to deal with the issue. That’s great if you’re the same fighting weight as the bully, but in real life it isn’t a very sensible solution for most victims.
Coming back at the bully with a smartarse comment is the same. Great if you can do it, of course. Doesn’t necessarily mean that it actually stops the bullying, and it isn’t a suitable solution for all victims.
It’s like saying that, because I’ve taken a self defence course, that someone who was mugged should have king hit their mugger.
We all react to situations in different ways – often ways which surprise ourselves. Sometimes we know the perfect comeback line but are frozen by shock, or over react in the other direction and bawl out someone who didn’t realise the way their words could have been construed.
The victim is never to blame for the way they react to a situation. The person who put them there is.
As the Huff Post article demonstrates, there is no conceivable defence of Gayle.
Leaving aside any feminist considerations, his behaviour was ridiculously boorish.
If he’d simply said something like “It’s always a pleasure to talk to a lovely lady like you”, nobody would have made anything of it.
But he went way too far and ended up sounding predatory rather than charming. I suspect that Ms McLaughlin wasn’t so much feeling like a “victim” offended as she was feeling completely embarrassed about having to interview somebody who was so obviously making a complete fool of himself on national television and thereby making her look rather ludicrous as well.
He deserved the condemnation and he deserved to cop the fine. But I do think that some of the journalism on the subject has exaggerated the significance and profundity of the event. Gayle wasn’t the embodiment of sexism incarnate. He was a pig-ignorant boor making a fool of himself on TV. He won’t be the first and he won’t be the last.
Mclaughlin could have responded to Gayle by noting he was from Jamaica and telling a variation to the Wendy/Welcome to Jamaica have a nice day joke.
bemused@5308: “I now look forward to your attack on the Libs for their efforts over the decades to politicise the military.”
Well, I certainly have had significant concerns about the way Angus Campbell was used in press conferences about Operation Sovereign Borders. While I’m not a huge fan of the creation of the Border Force, at least it’s gotten the military out of the game.
And, while this is a bi-partisan issue, I’m not sure that every single funeral of a deployed member of the military requires the presence of the PM (not to mention the LOTO). But, then, if the PM and LOTO feel it necessary to miss a whole day of Parliament to attend the funeral of a Sheffield Shield cricketer, then it’s probably fair enough that they go to the funerals of soldiers.
And, of course, Abbott’s endless surrounding himself with flags and dressing up in uniforms and carrying on about death cults was a bit ridiculous, and didn’t do him one iota of good in the end.
Beyond this, I’m not quite sure what I should be criticising. I thought Howard and, before him, Fraser, adopted a pretty responsible approach towards their interactions with the military, as did Hawke and Keating and Rudd and Gillard. And, so far, Turnbull.
[Washington: The power of Barack Obama’s rhetoric on the scourge of gun violence on Tuesday was matched only by the timidity of his actual announcements – and further by the mindless reactive response it provoked among his Republican opponents.
…
But the central measure he announced in a package of 10 gun control provisions could be generously described as modest, and fairly described as almost meaningless.]
http://www.theage.com.au/world/barack-obamas-soaring-rhetoric-on-gun-violence-matched-by-timidity-of-his-measures-20160105-gm02uv.html
shellbell@5320
I don’t know that one. Can you share it?
shellbell and others: McLaughlin wasn’t in a position to make a smart comment back to Gayle, even if she had been able to think of one. Interviewers of sports stars are expected to be respectful at all times. She knew that, if she’d said something sharp back to Gayle, her job might have been in jeopardy.
I think she handled the whole situation with dignity, given the way Gayle was carrying on.
[Julian Sheezel has quit the Senate race and will return to work as Kelly O’Dwyer’s chief of staff, less than a week after it was confirmed he had taken leave from her office to run for Parliament.
Mr Sheezel will resume working in the Assistant Treasurer and Small Business Minister’s office on Monday. Sources close to the minister downplayed Mr Sheezel’s brief departure from her office, saying it had occurred over the quiet Christmas break.
Mr Sheezel took unpaid leave just two months after joining Ms O’Dwyer as her chief of staff and five months before her first budget. But after reflecting over the holiday period, he as now decided to quit his bid for a political role.
One senior Liberal told Fairfax Media “Sheezel’s run for the Senate was about as successful as the Bay of Pigs invasion”.]
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/kelly-odwyer-staffer-julian-sheezel-quits-senate-race-less-than-one-week-after-confirming-tilt-20160106-gm08dj.html
She could have kicked him in the goolies or spiked him with her stiletoes. But her reaction is irrelevant.
meher baba@5321
When I was in the RAAF I sat through several lectures that could only be described as none too subtle political indoctrination.
Of course in my case they had the opposite effect and helped to turn me the other way.
I also recall a colleague being investigated by ‘the dreaded thought police’ (ASIO?) and the word being spread around a fairly close-knit community. His wife picked it up at the school where she taught.
There’s a couple of examples.
I agree wholeheartedly MB
Mel McLaughlin is one of several excellent sports reporters who worked or work for fox sports.
Their immediate post match interviews tend to involve the questioner being more interesting than whom is being questioned.
Also I like what Gerard Whatley is doing to the ABC cricket coverage which has been on the wane since they lost Roebuck, o’Keefe and Glen Mitchell. The round table stuff at lunch is a big improvement
Only 18% of Australians think religion is important, compared to 53% of the US, 95% of Indonesians, 21% in the UK. France, Japan and China are the only countries listed who rate religion as less important than we do.
(got it off facebook, looks reliable!)
shellbell@5328
Whatley is first class.
I have mainly watched him on Offsiders where he and Gideon Haig are the standouts in my book.
zoomster@5329
It sounds about right.
Can’t stand Whateley. Pompous know-all… never wrong.
Rex Douglas@5332
Your misfortune is that he is right.
They used to burn witches.
But ‘witch’ has been at least partly co-opted by women.
Like all co-opted terms there is a bit of feeling around them that the co-opters can use the terms benignly but that outsiders need to watch their ‘ps’ and ‘qs’.
‘Wizard’ has never needed co-opting by men.
Many years ago saying something was ‘wizard’ meant that you thought that something was excellent…
perhaps something derring do like shooting Pathans in the Khyber Pass.
Then of course there was technical ‘wizardry’ which was also excellent.
Yes!
RD does not like Whately.
Yet another good reason to appreciate Whately for what he is: a truly decent man and an insightful and entertaining commentator on several sports.
Thank goodness we don’t have Tony Abbott still in charge and responding to Nth Korea.
[They actually increased significantly more under the Howard Government than they ever did under Labor… even with the bribes.]
Bulk billing rates fell dramatically under Howard falling to 66% in 2003, it was only when this became a political issue that the new Health Minister (Tony Abbott) introduced a $5.00-$7.50 incentive payment to bulk bill and increased the Medicare rebate.
It still took until 2011 to return GP bulk billing rates to the levels they were when Howard was elected.
Keep on slugging TBA, as usual you hit yourself in the noggin’ 😛
I woke up to a nice little email from Centerlink (online letter) stating that my DSP payments cut in half due to being married (but my wife isn’t Australian yet).
And they can take their little assessments up their arses.
zoidlord@5338
Unfortunately for you, they will also withhold your money. 🙁
zoid
If you are living as a couple your marital status is irrelevant. Your partners income will be assessed when deciding how much you get paid.
@bemused/5339
Yes they have, from full rate to $555.
@ruwake/5340
We already notified that them of our income, and both unemployed currently.
zoidlord
I would be careful about that if your wife isn’t Australian may not have any bearing on the outcome.
@MTBW/5343
We had to state some details of her current visa etc.
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/spw/customer/forms/resources/modp-1511en.pdf
No way around saying that your not Australian, they would find out via passport/visa.
zoid
Your marital status means nothing, you can be married and still get the full single rate or be single and get paid the couples rate.
It all depends on how Centrelink assess your relationship.
MB @ 5321
[And, while this is a bi-partisan issue, I’m not sure that every single funeral of a deployed member of the military requires the presence of the PM (not to mention the LOTO).]
If it makes the grieving families feel better then it’s good in my view. I know it’s political for both to attend – but their presence is saying to the families that the death of the soldier mattered to the country.
zoidlord
I still suggest you tread carefully on her not being Australian may still need to have documentation.
@MTBW/5347
Yeah don’t worry, we are good on keeping documentation.
Possum Comitatus @Pollytics 10h10 hours ago
Tony Abbott calling for budget repair is like News Ltd calling for civilised national discourse. You broke it, you poseur
TPOF
Not much comfort if the government had sent them off to a bulldust war .