ReachTEL: 52-48 to Labor

A new poll finds voters favouring Malcolm Turnbull over Tony Abbott for the Liberal leadership by a two-to-one ratio, with Labor maintaining a moderate lead on voting intention.

A new poll conducted for ReachTEL by Sky News gives Labor a 52-48 lead on two-party preferred, which is down from 53-47 at the last such poll on May 11. At the moment, primary vote figures are limited to the first question which allowed for an undecided response, which comes in a 7.1% – I assume the undecided were then given a forced response question, to which we don’t yet have the results. If the undecided are simply excluded from the available numbers, the results are Coalition 36.5%, Labor 35.6%, Greens 10.3% and One Nation 9.8%.

An all-or-nothing question on the Liberal leadership breaks 68.3-31.7 in favour of Malcolm Turnbull over Tony Abbott, while Turnbull leads Bill Shorten 54.1-45.9 as preferred prime minister. Turnbull’s combined very good plus good rating is “just under 27%”, compared with 36.5% for poor or very poor. Same-sex marriage has 62.4% supportive and 25.9% opposed, with most believing the matter should be determined by a plebiscite, and 64.1% believe penalty rates should be higher on Sundays than Saturdays. The poll was conducted yesterday from a sample of 2389.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

610 comments on “ReachTEL: 52-48 to Labor”

Comments Page 6 of 13
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  1. Lizzie
    A very careful but incisive portrait by David Marr
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jun/29/george-pell-profile-the-popes-australian-hardman-faces-the-fight-of-his-life?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

    Lizzie, careful isn’t the half of it. I’m just in from being out, and happened to bump into David Marr, and happened to say what a good piece I thought it was, and he made the point that the lawyers were all over it, and much was culled. The lawyers are really jumpy about this one.

  3. Something for Confessions, zoomster and all Kev’s other fans.

    Why the U.S. Is Losing Influence in Asia

    The United States risks losing ground in Asia to the extent that it takes a hard line on trade policies and fails to find some natural areas of cooperation with China, notably in foreign direct investment, according to former Australian Prime Minster Kevin Rudd.

    Speaking at the Wharton Global Forum in Hong Kong in a discussion led by Wharton Dean Geoffrey Garrett, Rudd, a former Labor politician, said that instead of working towards mutually beneficial economic policies, the Trump administration has at times tended to focus more narrowly on trade conflicts — something Trump repeatedly vowed to do during the Presidential election campaign. In the views of both Rudd and Garrett, that approach, plus less U.S. engagement in regional trade and investment efforts, is not good for the U.S. — or the world — in the long run.
    —
    So what should the U.S. do about Chinese FDI into the U.S.? “Just chill,” Rudd said. When one country invests in another country that way, it’s different than trade deals. If China builds something in the U.S., it’s difficult to pull it “back to Beijing.”

    Rudd’s biggest worry in U.S.-China relations: “We are between a rock and a hard place.” He said the concern is that soon America may conclude that China cannot — or will not — delve into what is needed to get North Korea to dump its nuclear arsenal, while North Korea may be well on its way to creating a ballistic missile with a nuclear payload capable of reaching the U.S.

    http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/u-s-losing-influence-asia/

  4. I’d like to know why the RGR protagonists have such a facination with continuing the RGR wars.

    Both have left Parliament.
    The Labor party lost power Federally and did enormous damage to the Labor brand at a state level as a result of the behaviour of both Rudd, Gillard and others.
    Both made very bad decisions between 2007 & 2013.
    Both behaved in ways that the vast majority of Labor Party members wished they would not have, and both their behaviours did a lot of damage to the Labor Party brand.

    Do we really benefit from revisiting the (alleged) sins of 2007 – 2013 and continually bickering over the entrails of any particular long past (alleged) event or which ruthlessly ambitious person behaved worse in their pursuit of power?

  5. Nicholas,

    I think its a bit silly portraying a universal basic income and a jobs guarantee as mutually exclusive. I also think it misjudges people to suggest that having a UBI means people will be denied the dignity of an occupation. The reality is people naturally seek out meaningful activity (even if its not a job). There are good reasons for a government to employ more people doing economically and socially useful things. Not street sweepers and paper pushers but more nurses, more teachers, more scientists and so on. None of that stops you from also having a UBI.

  6. CC

    The reality is people naturally seek out meaningful activity (even if its not a job). There are good reasons for a government to employ more people doing economically and socially useful things. Not street sweepers and paper pushers but more nurses, more teachers, more scientists and so on. None of that stops you from also having a UBI.

    Well said.

  7. I’d like to know why the RGR protagonists have such a facination with continuing the RGR wars.

    It’s clearly an obsession for them and something they obviously take personally, going to the enth degree in order to get their point in. They are like Rex Douglas with their obsession.

  8. Some great questions from Mika and colleague.

    Washington Post
    5 mins ·
    MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski said President Trump’s attacks “worry me about the country,” on June 30. She and “Morning Joe” co-host Joe Scarborough pointed to Trump’s “alarming” pattern of especially vicious attacks on women as Trump tweeted out more insults.

    https://www.facebook.com/washingtonpost/videos/10155292446447293/

    Rest of MSM needs to ask similar questions.

  9. Sometimes organizations let you down, and it can be painful. It’s like barracking for the Pies or getting your heart broken by the RGR fiasco……but if you believe then pick yourself up and get on with it.

  11. Bemused, I’ve generally been rather a critic of Kevin Rudd’s, but now that you’ve pasted a slab of text and bolded the bit with his name in it, I think I might have come round.

  13. It starts –

    Bill Shorten moves onto election footing, prepares for the Turnbull government to implode

    … The federal Opposition has promised for the first time a Shorten Labor government would hit the well-off with a 2 per cent tax hike within 100 days of taking office, and reverse the cuts to penalty rates for 700,000 Australians that begin this weekend.

    http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bill-shorten-moves-onto-election-footing-prepares-for-the-turnbull-government-to-implode-20170629-gx1q9z.html

  14. Jeremy Corbyn has gained some real ‘profile’ since the disasterous (for the Conservatives) UK election.

    AJ have recorded a long interview for their ‘Talk to Al Jazeera’ program. Pre’ the program they are showing a clip of him talking about the need for a peace settlement in Yemen.

  15. France:

    The allegation against Le Pen (and other ‘National Front’ members of the European Parliament (‘MEPs’)) is that they used funds that were provided to them by the European Parliament to support their work as MEPs (staff and expenses) largely for their campaigns in French domestic elections.

    Prosecutors placed French far-right leader Marine Le Pen under formal investigation on Friday as part of a probe into the alleged misuse of European Union funds to pay parliamentary assistants.

    http://www.france24.com/en/20170630-france-national-front-leader-marine-le-pen-charged-european-union-funding-scandal

  17. Joe Scarborough And Mika Brzezinski Drop A Bombshell On Trump’s Mentally Ill Abuse Of Power

    MSNBC Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski gave the country a peek into the private behavior of a mentally ill president and his White House staff on enablers, and what they exposed was an abuse of power by a man who is not well.

    The Morning Joe hosts wrote in The Washington Post, “The president’s unhealthy obsession with our show has been in the public record for months, and we are seldom surprised by his posting nasty tweets about us. During the campaign, the Republican nominee called Mika “neurotic” and promised to attack us personally after the campaign ended. This year, top White House staff members warned that the National Enquirer was planning to publish a negative article about us unless we begged the president to have the story spiked. We ignored their desperate pleas.”

    The President Of The United States appears to have some mental health issues, and a strong culture of enablement surrounding him within the Republican Party

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/06/30/joe-scarborough-mika-brzezinski-drop-bombshell-trumps-mentally-ill-abuse-power.html

  18. Trump Just Screwed Up And Admitted A Psychotic Abuse Of Power Against MSNBC’s Morning Joe

    Trump has now issued an official statement confirming that he did try to blackmail MSNBC’s Morning Joe hosts with an article in The National Enquirer, as the president is mentally breaking down in 140 characters or less.

    Donald J. Trump
    ✔ ‎@realDonaldTrump

    Watched low rated @Morning_Joe for first time in long time. FAKE NEWS. He called me to stop a National Enquirer article. I said no! Bad show

    Trump just confirmed that he is not well, and he is abusing the power of his position to get even with people for saying things that he doesn’t like.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/06/30/trump-breaks-confirms-psychotic-abuse-presidential-power-msnbcs-morning-joe.html

  19. White House Reeling As Jared Kushner And Trump Tried To Blackmail MSNBC Morning Joe Hosts

    The Trump attack on Mika Brzezinski is turning into a major scandal as it is being reported that it was President Trump and his son in law senior White House adviser Jared Kushner who tried to blackmail Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.

    In mid-April, Scarborough texted with Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner about the pending Enquirer story. Kushner told Scarborough that he would need to personally apologize to Trump in exchange for getting Enquirer owner David Pecker to stop the story. (A spokesperson for Kushner declined to comment). Scarborough says he refused, and the Enquirer published the story in print on June 5, headlined “Morning Joe Sleazy Cheating Scandal!”

    This is more than a big story. It is a pattern of abuse of power and criminal activity by the Trump crime family.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/06/30/white-house-reeling-jared-kushner-trump-blackmail-msnbc-morning-joe-hosts.html

  20. ItzaDream

    Didn’t see your comment until morning. I’m glad that my instinctive use of ‘careful’ was on the money. 😉

  21. Pennsylvania Becomes The 20th State To Tell Trump’s Voter Suppression Scheme To Get Lost

    Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has made it clear that the Keystone State will not be turning over sensitive voter data to Donald Trump’s voter fraud witch hunt to get lost. So far, 20 states have refused to turn over voter data to Trump’s voter fraud commission.

    Republicans freak out when anyone mentions universal background checks for all gun purchases, so how can any of them be fine with Trump’s effort to start a federal national voter database that would take sensitive information away from the states and federalize it for unknown purposes?

    The states just need to keep saying no. The more states that reject the request, the sooner one of the biggest threats to voting rights can be defeated.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/06/30/pennsylvania-20th-state-trumps-voter-suppression-scheme-lost.html

  22. zoomster

    I applaud your insistence on the truth. I am one of those people who gets really mad when untrue accusations are made. I also think that such expressions as ‘dragging her sorry arse’ (not a direct quote) are vulgar and obviously intended to be an insult.


  23. ItzaDream
    Friday, June 30, 2017 at 11:36 pm
    That was indiscrete and I regret the post and wish I could delete it. My apologies.

    Perhaps but it was an interesting comment.

  26. PhRD

    It’s ‘on’ with Joe Scarborough And Mika Brzezinski and Trump will take a hit out of it, I think.

    It’s exactly the type of thing that could crack him.

  27. Morning all

    unsurprising to see what happens when a country elects a Mobster, treasonous traitor, narcissist, with a denegerative brain issue, probably caused by substance abuse.

  28. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    Peter Hartcher comes out and says it. Abbott’s back in the leadership fight and we should take him seriously.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/tony-abbott-ready-for-round-two-in-the-fight-for-pm-20170630-gx292w.html
    And James Massola says that Shorten is moving onto election footing in preparation for the Turnbull government imploding.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bill-shorten-moves-onto-election-footing-prepares-for-the-turnbull-government-to-implode-20170629-gx1q9z.html
    But Peter van Onselen says that Malcolm Turnbull’s critics, and Tony Abbott’s boosters, have jumped the shark this week. Reading countless column centimetres and watching too much commentary on the government’s woes, you’d think a leadership challenge was imminent. It absolutely is not. Google.
    /news/inquirer/settle-down-there-is-no-leadership-coup-against-turnbull-in-the-offing/news-story/10a0fe78454215984cf7cf154e57782d
    Mike Seccombe with some notes from the Abbott insurgency.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2017/07/01/notes-the-abbott-insurgency/14988312004863
    Laurie Oakes has his say about the infighting in the Liberal Party and the damage it is doing. Google.
    /news/opinion/laurie-oakes/laurie-oakes-prime-minister-hurt-by-lots-of-idiocy-and-no-restraint-from-liberal-party/news-story/e37ee379b1ea1e6c6f34948818962fbf
    Paula Matthewson writes that we’re not getting the whole truth from the Liberal Party.
    http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2017/06/30/tony-abbott-peta-credlin-leadership/
    Paul Bongiorno says that Pyne and Abbott are delivering Turnbull a rough ride.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2017/07/01/pyne-and-abbott-deliver-turnbull-rough-ride/14988312004852
    The SMH editorial says that Turnbull needs more policy wins to stare down the conservatives within his party.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/malcolm-turnbull-needs-more-policy-wins-to-stare-down-the-conservatives-in-his-party-20170629-gx17a0.html
    Tom Switzer writes that nothing short of open warfare has erupted in the federal Liberal Party. This once great political party resembles nothing so much as a pub brawl.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/federal-liberal-party-infighting-threatens-to-destroy-it-20170630-gx1z08.html

  29. Section 2a . . .

    Paul Kelly begins his column with “With the mood and culture of our politics shifting decisively to the left, the Liberal Party is crippled and divided — stranded between the pragmatism of Malcolm Turnbull and the convictions of Tony Abbott — pointing to the coming ascendancy of the Labor Party.” Google.
    /news/inquirer/liberals-in-a-struggle-for-control-of-partys-soul/news-story/dc12f9b862d02d367156b56175258903
    Former prime minister Tony Abbott’s Coalition colleagues are urging him to stop trying to rewrite history and be a team player after he sparked another outbreak of internal Coalition infighting.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbotts-former-ally-urges-him-to-stop-rewriting-history-20170630-gx1x25.html
    Turnbull has written an op-ed for the Herald Sun. Google.
    /news/opinion/malcolm-turnbull-stop-this-wrecking-and-start-building/news-story/94c8140779d2d7b0e25505c6f0eae81b
    Phil Coorey says that Abbott is abusing his privileges. Google.
    /news/politics/tony-abbott-is-abusing-his-privilege-as-part-of-his-campaign-of-payback-20170628-gx04zp

  30. Section 2b . . .

    Matthew Knott writes about the battle tearing the Greens apart.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tree-tories-versus-the-watermelons-the-battle-tearing-the-greens-apart-20170630-gx1rme.html
    Karen Middleton also ventures in to the Greens’ war zone.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2017/07/01/inside-the-bitter-greens-civil-war/14988312004862
    Another multiple shooting in the US. This time in a New York hospital. A barking mad nation!
    http://www.smh.com.au/world/shooting-at-new-york-citys-bronx-lebanon-hospital-police-20170630-gx2i4h.html
    Former Fairfax religious journalist Barney Zwartz comes out of retirement to write that for George Pell now the mood is numbed acceptance, the feeling that this is the inevitable last act in the drama of a man who authored his own tragedy.
    http://www.smh.com.au/victoria/cardinal-george-pell-charges-of-historical-sex-offences-will-define-vatican-officials-legacy-20170629-gx127j.html
    The Australian tells us that George Pell faces significant delays in the Victorian court system that could further imperil his ¬ambitions to return to the Vatican. Lawyers familiar with court backlogs have warned that any trial — or trials — for historical sex offences may not end until 2019, greatly diminishing the cardinal’s chances of returning as the Catholic Church’s global financial chief. Google.
    /national-affairs/in-depth/royal-commission/george-pell-court-delays-add-to-woes/news-story/94a0b8c976c3a644be5e5f256145fd79

  31. Section 3 . . .

    Now Victorian Police have issued a summons and formal charges against Cardinal George Pell, the media – including social media users – must be very careful what they say writes Martin Hirst.
    https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/pell-charges-and-the-law-of-sub-judice-beware-of-being-in-contempt,10455
    Peter FitzSimons gives blood sports another ten years before their demise.
    http://www.smh.com.au/sport/the-fitz-files/the-fitz-files-manny-pacquiao-v-jeff-horn-has-rocky-undertones-but-how-long-will-blood-sport-continue-20170630-gx2bgb.html
    The German parliament had a conscience vote and SSM got up. Easy peasy.
    http://www.smh.com.au/world/germany-legalises-samesex-marriage-20170630-gx2aha.html
    Meanwhile one of the Turnbull government MPs pushing for the introduction of same-sex marriage will launch a new Liberal Party gay pride group being led by a top adviser to minister Christopher Pyne.
    http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/liberal-pride-pyne-adviser-leads-new-liberal-party-gay-pride-group-20170629-gx18vo.html
    Peter Martin reports that we have a one in five chance of going into a recession.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/scope-businessday-economic-survey-one-in-five-chance-of-a-recession-says-expert-panel-20170630-gx215k.html
    Jess Irvine opines that despite a trillion dollar debt we are not a banana republic.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/a-trillion-dollars-in-debt-but-no-banana-republic-20170629-gx1pb1.html
    Richard Dennis writes about how the banks are running scared after the impost placed upon them by South Australia.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/banks-in-a-state-taxing-super-profits-to-pay-for-services-is-a-winner-20170628-gx097z.html
    Another example of spiv central!
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/jun/30/college-made-millions-by-tricking-indigenous-people-court-finds
    Crispin Hull analyses what’s behind the continued decrease in home ownership reported in the census.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/crispin-hull-forum-20170628-gx0966.html

  32. Section 4 . . .

    Adele Ferguson continues her push for more regulation of the retirement village industry.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/aveo-retirement-village-investigation-has-put-the-sector-under-a-spotlight-20170630-gx2490.html
    Centrelink is using controversial high-tech phone-breaking devices to reveal secrets hidden by suspected fraudsters in their smart phones. The agency says it uses the technology in strict accordance with the law and only when it has obtained a warrant when investigating cases of serious fraud. What next?
    http://www.smh.com.au/national/centrelink-hacking-into-fraudsters-phones-20170627-gwzgqc.html
    Gas Shortage? What shortage, asks IEEFA analyst Bruce Robertson in Part 1 of his analysis of who the big losers are in the East Coast gas debacle.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/gas-shortage-what-gas-shortage/
    Business groups have welcomed the return of chief executives to the skilled occupations list, which will give them access to a four-year temporary visa and pathway to permanent migration. Dutton creep?
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/chief-executives-returned-to-fouryear-temporary-visa-list-20170630-gx28gd.html
    Oh dear! Marine Le Pen is under investigation for misuse of EU funds.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/30/marine-le-pen-charged-in-inquiry-into-misuse-of-eu-funds
    These two US TV hosts are hitting back at Trump.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace-relations/chief-executives-returned-to-fouryear-temporary-visa-list-20170630-gx28gd.html
    Former US Senator Russ Feingold says that Trump’s next attack on democracy will be mass voter suppression.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/30/trumps-attack-democracy-mass-voter-suppression
    Will ISIS be squeezed into Asia?
    http://www.smh.com.au/world/why-islamic-states-fading-fortunes-are-bad-news-for-southeast-asia-20170630-gx2hkf.html
    Why are so many politicians tardy and negligent in responding to their constituents’ concerns, asks a very frustrated Vanessa Comiskey.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/why-dont-politicians-respond-to-emails-and-engage-with-the-public,10450

  33. Frednk

    Goodness me. I dont recall that case at all! This occurred in the inner northern suburb of Melbourne. My neck of the woods.

  34. Section 5 . . . with Cartoon Corner

    There’s no shortage of housing forecasts but none quite like this one: rather than the key markets cooling, they are about to be hit by a demographic tsunami.
    http://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/demographic-tsunami-will-keep-sydney-melbourne-property-prices-high-20170629-gx1onj.html
    Michaela Whitbourn reports that Mehajer has yet another bad day in court.
    http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/salim-mehajer-loses-court-bid-to-oust-administrators-from-companies-20170630-gx20le.html
    Australia’s drug regulator is investigating the promotion of an ebook that advocates homeopathic treatment for babies and toddlers, against all scientific evidence. Brauer, one of Australia’s largest homeopathy companies, promotes the Little Book of Natural Medicines for Children on its website. The book is available for download, and the website promotes the efficacy of homeopathic products. Brauer’s homeopathic products are sold in several pharmacies around Australia. Throw the book at them!
    https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jun/30/homeopathy-company-investigated-over-ebook-advocating-treatment-of-babies

    A nice portrait from Alan Moir.

    A cruel effort from David Rowe as he introduces TOTUS.

    Mark Knight takes to the Twittersphere with Trump.
    http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/2c375ac57a187b0da04678a6dfd4ee91?width=1024
    Jon Judelka and Battleines II.
    http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/ab8dbaaf151515d0c5a3ba47d1efea37
    Have a look at this thing from David Rowe!

  35. thanks BK for today’s reports.

    Wonderful news on the Liberal and Greens infighting. Brilliant!
    Also wonderful news re Marie Le Pen!!

  36. BK

    Centrelink is using controversial high-tech phone-breaking devices to reveal secrets hidden by suspected fraudsters in their smart phones.

    Centrelink’s definition of fraudster can be expanded ad infinitum. This is dangerous stuff.

  38. Morning all and thanks BK. So amusing to see wall to wall coverage of Liberal infighting, yet the words “leadership challenge” are editted out by some. Hah!

    This BBC story on the Grenfell tower blaze in London is damning. BBC has copies of documents suggesting the contractors were asked to substitute the cheaper aluminium cladding for originally specified zinc panels. No wonder the Council leaders are resigning and managers in hiding. They should be hiring lawyers.
    http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-40453054

    The more that comes out, this really does have an awful economic and political class dimension. An old publically owned building housing poor people in a rich Council, is renovated on the cheap then burns down killing 80 people. This really is the sharp end of the struggle between rich and poor. Incompetence is not the problem.

  39. BK

    But Peter van Onselen says that Malcolm Turnbull’s critics, and Tony Abbott’s boosters, have jumped the shark this week.

    For once I think PvO is right.

  40. If people want to get their spirituality from the wellness spiritual industrial complex – say in a yoga class, via their meditation app, or on retreat – that’s fine. It’s not hurting anyone – and an old, primitive need is being filled. But the census result saying that Australia is secular shouldn’t be the last word on Australia’s spiritual health. Just because we’re not going to church doesn’t mean there’s not a new sort of religion to hold us in its thrall.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/29/the-census-shows-theres-a-gap-in-the-spirituality-market-is-yoga-filling-it?utm_source=eml&utm_medium=&utm_campaign=&CMP_TU=&CMP_BUNIT=&att5=

  41. lizzie

    I was a mad Rudd fan for far longer than many (and get teased for this by my family), and was always highly critical of Gillard (I know exactly what her faults were; I read about three pages of her autobiography, sighed “Oh Julia…” and put it down…).

    Both of them, as Prime Ministers, had their offices reprimand me on occasion (it is my contention that they were wrong to do this!)

    When Rudd was deposed, I was both shocked and embarrassed, having spent at least the previous month assuring everyone that he was safe as houses. I was able to interrogate people involved centrally in what happened within weeks of it happening, and I did it from the position of not understanding why they’d done it (and not believing what they told me when they did).

    The day Rudd announced he was challenging, the scales fell from my eyes and I realised that everything I’d been told was true.

    So I understand the passionate belief in Rudd but I know the weakness of its foundations.

    I’m not pro and anti either of them.

    That said, what happened in the RGR government should be able to be discussed here in the same way we weigh up other past government’s successes or failures. I would suggest that those who rail against these discussions focus their criticisms on those who, like bemused, try and shut down these discussions purely on the basis that something nice was said about Julia Gillard.

    I’m quite happy to argue that Keating’s Prime Ministership was extremely similar to hers; he replaced a serving Prime Minister, only narrowly won the next election, pursued a crash or crash through strategy which saw lots of policy legislated which was then wound back by his successor, and ensured a Labor loss which (arguably) put us out of government for the next ten years (so worse than Gillard).

    Yet the same people who condemn Gillard bend over backwards to laud Keating.

  42. …I would also argue that we don’t really benefit from discussions of the cricket, or links to music videos, or any of the thousand or so subjects only tangentially connected with politics and polling which we regularly indulge in here. But obviously some people enjoy them.

    Use the scroll wheel.

  43. zoomster

    I’ll have to whisper this: I was never a fan of Hawke and also felt the govt moved too far to the right for me to vote for him.

  45. socrates @ #288 Saturday, July 1, 2017 at 8:34 am

    Morning all and thanks BK. So amusing to see wall to wall coverage of Liberal infighting, yet the words “leadership challenge” are editted out by some. Hah!
    …

    I think that sums up the situation well, the division and sh!t fighting in the Party is obvious for all to see but with every public statement by Abbott more of his colleagues are turning their backs on him.

    They may come back to him at a later date but at the moment neither he nor anyone else is a threat to Turnbull.

  48. I think frankly anyone who lauds Keating and condemns Gillard would probably be focusing on the long period that Hawke was PM, the long public challenge and consideration, the promise by Hawke to handover, the obvious passions and skills of Keating, and his comparative success compared to Gillard. I find it difficult to imagine anyone who lived through both would find them even comparable, unless one was desperately looking for an excuse for supporting the biggest f*ckup in the last 40 years of labor.

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