Monday miscellany

An assembly of Section 44 detritus and recent federal preselection news.

Some Section 44 and recent preselection news to kick off a sorely needed new federal politics thread:

• The Australian Electoral Commission will today push the button on Senate recounts mandated by the High Court to determine replacements for Fiona Nash (New South Wales, Nationals), Larissa Waters (Greens, Queensland) and Scott Ludlam (Greens, Western Australia). It is a known known that this will result in the election of, respectively, Hollie Hughes, Andrew Bartlett and Jordon Steele-John. The first of these raises a complication in that Hughes is from the Liberals rather than Nationals, which upsets finely calibrated provisions of the coalition agreement.

• Tasmanian Liberal Senator Stephen Parry’s Section 44-related vacancy is set to be filled by Richard Colbeck, the highest placed unelected candidate on the Liberal Senate ticket last year, in keeping with the established precedent of dealing with disqualifications by recounting the votes as if the disqualified member had not been on the ballot paper. Colbeck was a Senator from 2002 until his defeat in 2016, which followed his dumping from top of the ticket in 2013 to fifth place. This was widely seen as an exercise of power by Senator Eric Abetz against the only Liberal MP in the state who had supported Malcolm Turnbull’s challenge to Tony Abbott. Many Liberal voters rebelled against this arrangement by voting for Colbeck by the line, although he failed to match Labor’s Lisa Singh achievement in defeating the party colleague listed above him.

• Parry’s departure also opens a can of worms in that a recount would not just result in Colbeck being elected in his stead. As a recount from the published raw data conducted by Grahame Bowland shows, the vagaries of below-the-line preferences are such that the final spot would be won not by Greens Senator Nick McKim, who made it to the final seat by a margin of 141 votes, but by Kate McCulloch of One Nation, who on the new count would finish 227 votes ahead of McKim. As Kevin Bonham explains, it is debatable whether the High Court would indeed declare McKim retrospectively unelected, or if it would deem his election beyond its remit on the grounds that only Parry had had his election annulled by disqualification (the latter being Antony Green’s view).

• An earlier report on the Tasmanian Liberals’ Senate preselection in The Mercury indicated Claire Chandler, a risk adviser at Deloitte Australia, had emerged as a challenger for the next election to incumbents Jonathon Duniam and David Bushby. Chandler could potentially lay a strong claim if only by promising to break the persistent male domination of the Tasmanian Liberals’ federal contingent, which stood at seven out of seven before three lost their seats in 2016.

• Voting is to open this Friday on the preselection for the Greens Senate preselection in New South Wales, in which incumbent Lee Rhiannon faces a challenge from state upper house MP Mehreen Faruqi. According to Sean Nicholls in the Sydney Morning Herald, this is being a viewed as a challenge by the party’s moderate tendency, associated with Faruqi’s Legislative Council colleague Jeremy Buckingham, against Rhiannon’s hard left faction.

The Guardian reports that “Greens internal processes” appear to encourage Senators to make way for their preselected successors before their election, by vacating their seats and having them fill the casual vacancy. On this basis, Larissa Waters, who has confirmed she will again seek preselection after losing her seat to the vagaries of Section 44, may replace her designed successor, Andrew Bartlett, following a preselection to be held over the coming months. However, Bartlett appears non-committal as to his own longer term aspirations. The report also notes that Lee Rhiannon might be expected to relinquish her seat to Mehreen Faruqi if she loses the New South Wales preselection discussed above.

Andrew Clennell of The Australian reports that Lucy Mannering, a Commonwealth Bank lawyer and ex-wife of former Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Howes, is emerging as a potential compromise candidate for Labor preselection candidate for the Sydney seat of Banks, which the party uncharacteristically lost in 2013 and 2016. The preselection has loomed as a contest between Chris Gambian, a union official favoured by the CFMEU, and Paul Garratt, who has the backing of the Maritime Union of Australia, of which he is an assistant secretary. Another potential contender is Jason Yat-Sen Li, a Chinese community leader and unsuccessful candidate for Bennelong in 2013.

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.

940 comments on “Monday miscellany”

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  1. PhoenixRed:

    There’s absolutely no chance America’s gun laws will be reformed. This kind of carnage is just going to continue.

  2. dave

    Paul Keating was almost right. I’m not so sure about ‘fearless’. That rictus grin is similar to the expression of a terrified ape (that’s a biological remark).

    I knew someone whom I thought was ‘brave’, but it turned out he simply had no imagination and therefore couldn’t anticipate trouble. Perhaps that’s Truffles.

  3. so far has been on the money….

    Counterchekist
    Counterchekist
    @counterchekist
    If you think today’s massive news dumps were big, you haven’t seen anything yet…

    Buckle up. 🙂

  4. re’ Turnbull and cats.

    The suspicions about Malcolm and the ex-girlfriends cat are not the first appearance of a cat in the Malcolm ‘life story.

    His mother had one. When she ‘decamped’ she took the cat with her.

  5. ‘Spineless sack of sh*t’ Paul Ryan lambasted for saying Texas shooting victims ‘need our prayers’

    Speaker of the House Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) got lambasted online Sunday after he posted on Twitter that Sutherland Springs — the Texas community shattered by a mass shooting at its First Baptist Church — “needs our prayers.”

    Given the Republican party’s unrelenting need to kowtow to the National Rifle Association (NRA) and its pathological aversion to any form of gun safety regulations, many people were unimpressed with Ryan’s sentiment.

    Leigh Ellis ‎@LeighEllis Replying to @SpeakerRyan

    On a day like this, remember you get bribed by the @NRA to do nothing about gun regulation

    Lauren Duca ‎@laurenduca

    There were plenty of prayers in the church where 27 people were gunned down today. What we need is gun control, you spineless sack of shit.

    https://www.rawstory.com/2017/11/spineless-sack-of-sht-paul-ryan-lambasted-for-saying-texas-shooting-victims-need-our-prayers/

  6. PhoenixRed

    It is beyond ridiculous. People were actually in church saying prayers and were gunned down. The stock standard response to offering prayers to those people who have been gunned down is an insult.
    They can stick their bloody prayers where the sun don’t shine.

  7. Nicolas Stuart says ignorance is no defence for these dual-citizen idiots. A good article.
    http://www.smh.com.au/comment/ignorance-is-no-defence-for-these-idiot-dualcitizens-20171105-gzf7dm.html

    I don’t think they will get any sympathy from most peeps, no matter how much they scream of witch hunts and unfairness.

    too many have experienced dealing with centrelink, tax, student loans support, planning, if fact any piece of government where the typical LNP response is suck it up princess grow a spine.

    But unlike the LNP members we dont get to keep monies because of a pig arsed blind wilful sense of entitlement that such laws do not apply to us, instead we get hit with late penalties and threats.

  8. Dan G

    Once William writes “New thread” he’s effectively moving on from the old one. 🙂

    Almost 1000 academics, civil society groups, lawyers and charities have condemned the Turnbull government’s rejection of a constitutionally-enshrined Indigenous “Voice to Parliament”, expressing concern about the “devastatingly negative effects” of governments continually imposing their will on Indigenous people.

    Public health expert and former Australian of the Year Fiona Stanley, among the highest-profile signatories on the open letter, pointed to the lack of structural representation for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in policy making as a “major reason” for ongoing disadvantage.

    http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/malcolm-turnbulls-indigenous-referendum-response-condemned-20171105-gzfezh.html

  9. Fess

    Yes. Apparently Kushner has handed over documents that were requested.

    Time will tell as to who made special deals. It all depends on whether Mueller has all they need without them.
    Frankly, I would not be lenient on anyone who sold out their country for personal gain. Treason and traitors need to pay dearly for this.
    All I can say is thank goodness the other branches of govt are functioning, otherwise the U.S. Republic was f@@ked and that ain’t good for the rest of us.

  10. lizzie @ #31 Monday, November 6th, 2017 – 7:26 am

    I am stunned at the way that a supposedly ‘brilliant’ man can make such a total hash of leadership. Yes, I know that the brightest brains are not necessarily suited to politics, but Mal seems to be able to take failure to a whole new level. I am assuming that he listens to no one and won’t take advice.

    I suspect he is not particularly brilliant at all, apart from a savant-like ability to recall facts. He certainly has very little capacity to integrate knowledge from a variety of fields to come up with a logical conclusion. He also doesn’t appear to have the ability (or inclination) to go deeper than the surface level of an issue.

    Finally, he doesn’t seem to have a very developed ability to see things from others point of view. You could call that lack of empathy or “emotional intelligence”.

    I wouldn’t be surprised if his occasional outbursts of temper are caused by a realisation that he’s stuffed something up – they are probably more directed at himself than the ostensible target.

  11. Why are thoughts and prayers not working in one of the more prayerful countries of the world?
    Obviously the deities do not like what they see- unfortunately it is hard to discern just which bits of their society they object to.

  12. that article on Saturday about s.44 and how it may deter people from running for parliament and lead to continual calls over proof of citizenship made good points but overlooked tow main ones.

    labor appears to have avoided all such pitfalls by having a rigorous process in place.
    high court has a reasonableness test, so if reasonable effort done no problems.

    As to possible stateless parents becoming citizens later, all it takes is a check at the time of nominating. Document efforts to show what was done, its not hard.

    I still suspect there may be some who have not renounced their citizenship becuase of their sense of entitlement.
    Dual citizenship offers benefits and is a great status symbol to have, including dual passports.
    To demand that someone give up all possible claims to dual citizenship just to nominate, let alone sit in parliament. likely appear as impertinent and presumptuous to some.

  13. I think it’s possible to ‘close’ threads in WordPress so no more posts are possible.

    The subjects has come up before.

    William doesn’t bother.

    A link to the new thread is sufficient, I think.

  14. The suspicions about Malcolm and the ex-girlfriends cat are not the first appearance of a cat in the Malcolm ‘life story. His mother had one. When she ‘decamped’ she took the cat with her.

    Ah, so maybe mal blames the cat for his mum leaving, cat felt uncomfortable being there and said to the mum get me the fk out of here?

  15. victoria says: Monday, November 6, 2017 at 9:29 am

    PhoenixRed

    Also according to team patriot, Flynn senior has flipped to save Jnr

    ************************************************************
    As Bill Palmer says : Nothing leaks out of Robert Mueller’s tight-lipped investigation unless he wants it to. Yet a source told NBC News today that Mueller does indeed have enough evidence to indict, charge and arrest Michael Flynn . It appears the source could only have been Mueller himself, and he’s sending a clear message to Flynn: flip now or get ready for the handcuffs. This matters for a few different reasons.

    In order to get to Flynn, Mueller has to flip Flynn – or more accurately, target Michael Flynn Jr for his role in the scandal, in order to get Flynn Sr to flip. Mueller is now sending what appears to be his final warning shot to Flynn Sr, telegraphing that the arrest of him and his son is now imminent.

  16. Meh!……………Twenty plus shot while at church in Texas…………nothing to see there…just move on. The US and its fascination with all things to do with guns, and a strong belief that all of the woes in the US – and the rest of the world – can be solved by a shoot-out, has pervaded the US landscape for so long, I doubt it will ever change – sadly for them.

  17. the arrogance of libs and paper work was also shown in the state north shore candidate stuff up.

    the lib candidate only avoided charges because the statutory declaration form she signed was the wrong one, out of date.
    Even such a small important detail they stuff up, how hard is it.
    Am I using the correct form, yes/no, is it up to date yes/ no.

  18. Urban Wronski‏ @UrbanWronski · 1h1 hour ago
    Glencore’s Australian arm moved billions through Bermuda and Adani would do just the same. Wake up call.

  19. “Say a pray.”

    I see this as part of a general problem in Society where people refuse to take responsibility for their own situation, it’s always someone else’s fault.

    This is especially ghouling when it comes from a politician who, while recognising the horror of the situation, has the ability to change the situation in a material way through legislation.

  20. Doesn’t sound like Malcolm got much nurturing when he was young. Mum left him and Dad thought he was hopeless. He’s spent his whole life trying to prove them wrong. I strongly suspect that, deep down, he has quite fragile self-esteem. That’s why he spends all of his time telling everyone he’s brilliant and gets angry with anyone who doesn’t stroke his back or might contradict him. Truly bright and secure people just don’t behave like that. I’m definitely going to wait up for his concession speech at the next election. It won’t be pretty!

  21. There was one interesting comment from cash re ROC in that she said anyone could make a referral to ROC which ROC could investigate if there was enough information to warrant such an investigation.

    If this is correct, and it may be so in that the ROC appears to have investigated the AWU after the aus newspaper sen them info, it could open up a huge workload for them.

    You may get hundreds or more referrals to the ROC from different organisations with some sort of agenda like the aus. This could completely overwhelm the ROC.

    whilst they would not be required to investigate each referral they would be required to spend time to assess each such referral.

  22. I’m definitely going to wait up for his concession speech at the next election. It won’t be pretty!

    This assumes he’s the PM at the next election.

  23. Andrew Laird‏ @ReclaimAnglesea · 1h1 hour ago
    Scotland On Target For 100% Renewable Energy By 2020 (Australia absolutely pathetic in comparison #auspol #springst)

  24. Boris says:
    Monday, November 6, 2017 at 10:05 am

    There was one interesting comment from cash re ROC in that she said anyone could make a referral to ROC which ROC could investigate if there was enough information to warrant such an investigation.

    If this is correct, and it may be so in that the ROC appears to have investigated the AWU after the aus newspaper sen them info, it could open up a huge workload for them.

    You may get hundreds or more referrals to the ROC from different organisations with some sort of agenda like the aus. This could completely overwhelm the ROC.

    whilst they would not be required to investigate each referral they would be required to spend time to assess each such referral.

    They know what they’re there for.

    They will only investigate enough employer/business groups so they can go into Senate Estimates and say, “Look at this. See it’s not just the Unions.”

  25. If I lived in Sydney I’d be registering for this:

    We’re celebrating spring by bringing the garden to your door Fridays in November for free, via the Chiswick Veggie Van. Matt Moran and Chiswick head chef Tom Haynes will each week handpick a selection of fruit, vegetables and herbs based on optimum ripeness and condition, showcasing the best spring has to offer. The first Chiswick veggie boxes to be delivered will feature the likes of eggplants, blood oranges, radishes, kale, heirloom tomatoes and golden nugget pumpkin, alongside a guide on what to do with spring produce, and how to create the best recipes with each ingredient.

    We’ll be delivering complimentary Chiswick Veggie Boxes on 10th, 17th and 24th November. To be in with a chance to receive one, enter your details below and tell us what you’ll make with your veggies. The best answers win! You’ll receive an email the day before informing you of the delivery.

    http://www.chiswickrestaurant.com.au/veggievan.html

  26. Barney in Go Dau says: Monday, November 6, 2017 at 10:10 am

    anton,

    I can see the final courtroom scene from “A Few Good Men” being envoked by Mal.

    *************************************************

    …………… and if there were “A Few Good Men” in the US Republican party, then Trump would be out on his arse …. obviously the US and Australia have a similar group of spineless jellybacks running the show where they put their own self interest ahead of that of their country

  27. Good morning Bludgers
    I was diverted from PB this morning by a series of articles about the trade in America in body parts. It was gruesome and shocking reading, but necessary. An investigative journalism report by Reuters that describes articulately what the junction between the market, capitalism and the quest for regulations and government oversight to be wound back looks like in practice. It’s not a pretty place.

    Sorry if the conjuring up of suggestions of gross practices has upset anyone but to me it is also all about politics and where the laws of the Neoliberals and their jihad against ‘red tape’ want to lead us. Basically, inhumanity and profit.

    I just thought about it when I heard about another massacre in the USA today. The two go gruesomely hand in hand.

  28. Texas church shooter identified by police as Devin Patrick Kelley

    Police in Sutherland Springs, TX have identified the gunman in Sunday morning’s mass shooting as Devin Patrick Kelley, according to CBS News.

    Kelley, 26, died after a police chase. He killed at least 25 people at First Baptist Church on Sunday morning and injured at least as many more.

    UPDATE: Kelley was an Air Force veteran and firearms enthusiast. He served on active duty between 2010 and 2014, but received a dishonorable discharge after facing a court martial in May of 2014, CBS said.

  29. The population of Sutherland Springs is around 400 people. You’d therefore assume all the dead people would be known to everyone in town.

  30. BoltA’s will find a lot of agreement here with this spray. Even if the reasons behind his opinion are very different to those at The Pub 🙂 Use Google trick.

    Turnbull has made this government virtually unelectable under any leader.

    To start with, he has delivered record debt, record spending and record electricity prices. Worse, the Liberals are now branded as an unprincipled rabble standing for nothing but themselves.

    That’s not just because Turnbull took over the top job by knifing Tony Abbott, without a clue of what he’d then do for the rest of us.

    Bolta also looks at possible replacements.

    Then there’s Julie Bishop, the social pages funster who in her spare time is Foreign Minister. She’s popular for now, but is a policy lightweight with no fixed ideas, distrusted by the Liberals’ conservatives. It’s hard to see her surviving intense scrutiny on policies in an election year.

    http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/andrew-bolt/broken-liberals-need-saviour-to-replace-malcolm-turnbull/news-story/77fffe757da8ff139ba685cbd4d95676

  31. Donald J. Trump‏Verified account @realDonaldTrump 3h3 hours ago
    May God be w/ the people of Sutherland Springs, Texas. The FBI & law enforcement are on the scene. I am monitoring the situation from Japan.

    Oh goody! People in Sutherland Springs can rest easy knowing President Man-Baby is monitoring the situation.

  32. Sorry Ken, but he is.

    [Assistant Health Minister Ken Wyatt, the first Aboriginal member elected to the House of Representatives, said people are frustrated with the lack of progress.

    “I am receiving phone calls from Indigenous people from all over the country who are angry,” Mr Wyatt said.
    But he does not think the Prime Minister is walking away from the issue.]

  33. phoenixRED says:
    Monday, November 6, 2017 at 10:22 am

    Barney in Go Dau says: Monday, November 6, 2017 at 10:10 am

    anton,

    I can see the final courtroom scene from “A Few Good Men” being envoked by Mal.

    *************************************************

    …………… and if there were “A Few Good Men” in the US Republican party, then Trump would be out on his arse …. obviously the US and Australia have a similar group of spineless jellybacks running the show where they put their own self interest ahead of that of their country

    While I agree with your self interest sentiments, I don’t think Col. Jessup is the solution.

    Col. Jessup is a self perpetuating figure.

    It’s only because Col. Jessups exist that we need a Col. Jessup to combat him.

    Better to create a situation with no Col. Jessup, then you don’t need a Col. Jessup.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FnO3igOkOk

  34. Yes, I’m grumpy, but…

    Why has the auto blockquote suddenly disappeared?
    Why is the comment box so miniscule? It makes posting slow and difficult. (And no, that expansion box doesn’t work).

  35. Thanks ‘fess for the heads up on the Chiswick competition. I probably won’t win because I just suggested simple and delicious food with the ingredients but you never know!

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