We are having one of the poll-free weeks that have occasionally bedevilled us since Essential Research moved from weekly to fortnightly, with Newspoll having one of its occasional three-week gaps so its next poll coincides with the resumption of parliament. So here’s some random bits of electoral news:
• A polling nugget I forgot to relate a fortnight ago: according to a report by Nick Butterly of The West Australian, a Labor internal poll recorded a neck-and-neck result in the Perth seat of Stirling, which Michael Keenan holds for the Liberals by a margin of 6.1%. After excluding the 10.8% undecided, the primary votes were Liberal 40.2% (49.5% in 2016), Labor 37.6% (32.2%), Greens 9.0% (11.7%) and One Nation 5.3%. The poll was conducted by Community Engagement from a large sample of 1735.
• Gareth Parker in the Sunday Times reports that Matt O’Sullivan, who ran unsuccessfully in the lower house seat of Burt at the 2016 election, has narrowly won preselection for the third position on the Liberals’ Western Australian Senate ticket, behind incumbents Linda Reynolds and Slade Brockman. O’Sullivan emerged with 56 votes to 54 for Trish Botha, co-founder with her husband of an evangelical church in Perth’s northern suburbs. The closeness of the result surprised party observers, especially given Christian conservative numbers man Nick Goiran backed O’Sullivan. As Gareth Parker noted in his weekly column, Botha appears to have attracted support from “non God-botherers” opposed to Goiran’s alliance with Mathias Cormann and Peter Collier, who may not have been aware of the messianic language employed by Botha’s church.
• Katy Gallagher has announced she will seek preselection to recover the Australian Capital Territory Senate seat from which she was disqualified last month over Section 44 complications, after speculation she might instead seek the territory’s newly created third lower house seat. However, it appears she will face opposition from the newly anointed successor to her Senate seat, David Smith, former local director of Professionals Australia.
• As for the lower house situation in the Australian Capital Territory, Andrew Leigh will remain in Fenner and Gai Brodtmann will go from Canberra to the nominally new seat of Bean, leaving a vacancy available in Canberra. Smith appears set to run if he loses the Senate preselection to Gallagher; Sally Whyte of Fairfax reports he will be opposed by Kel Watt, a lobbyist who has lately made a name for himself campaigning against the territory Labor government’s ban on greyhound racing. Other potential starters include John Falzon, chief executive of the St Vincent de Paul Society; Jacob Ingram, a staffer to Chief Minister Andrew Barr; and Jacob White, a staffer to Andrew Leigh.
• Occasional Poll Bludger contributor Adrian Beaumont has launched his own website of local and international election and polling news.
The reason that Christian countries could so easily turn communist,imho, is the Jesus was a socialist. They could also go fundy nutter, by emulating that racist, misogynist, elitist, money-grubbing fuckwit, the sainted Paul, who should still be in his own private purgatory. Bastard.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers. This is all I could dig up.
Justifiably, David Crowe launches into the Liberal Party for its “indulgent” call to sell the ABC.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/liberal-party-members-call-to-sell-abc-nothing-but-pure-self-indulgence-20180616-p4zlwq.html
Here’s Peter FitzSimons’ Sunday contribution.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/how-a-sydney-bus-driver-made-his-passengers-see-the-light-20180615-p4zlsi.html
Matt Wade has a fascinating look at what has happened to world peacefulness ratings.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/curious-link-between-world-peace-and-gender-equality-20180615-p4zlth.html
Katharine Murphy tells us that Coalition SUV lovers are grumbling about car emission standards, and Labor wonders if it has the bottle for a tax fight
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/16/theres-a-whiff-of-some-significant-political-calls-in-the-air
Over a period in which the nature and structure of work, society and family life have undergone profound transformations, the school routine has remained largely untouched for almost 70 years. And it’s pushing modern families to the edge. Dave Sharma puts forward some interesting propositions here.
https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/antiquated-school-day-is-failing-everyone-20180615-p4zlnu.html
Mark Gongloff tells us why trade wars really do matter.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-2-7-trillion-question-why-trade-wars-do-matter-20180616-p4zlub.html
Eryk Bagshaw explains how Australia is overexposed to a full-blown trade war between the US and China, business leaders have warned, as the Trump administration increases sanctions on Chinese products.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-vulnerable-to-full-blown-trade-war-as-us-china-tension-deepens-20180616-p4zlvr.html
It is one of the worst performing major currencies in the world already this year. And it could get worse for the Aussie dollar.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/australian-dollar-could-slump-to-mid-60s-says-vimal-gor-20180616-p4zlu0.html
For the second consecutive day Optus Sport customers have vented their fury at being unable to watch games at The World Cup due to the live streaming regularly freezing and dropping out entirely.
https://outline.com/feH6Gz
This is a really worrying development. In a multimillion-dollar windfall for pay-day lenders, automatic loan machines are popping up in suburban shopping centres, allowing some of Australia’s most disadvantaged communities to take out loans worth thousands of dollars with their bank cards.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/lenders-eye-pay-day-through-automatic-loan-machines-20180613-p4zlab.html
Amy Remeikis writes that Pauline Hanson will struggle to win her seat the next time she faces an election.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/16/party-is-doomed-common-theme-in-gripes-of-former-one-nation-members
GetUp is making a grassroots, issues-based bid to oust the home affairs minister from his safe Queensland seat
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/16/the-225000-campaign-to-dislodge-peter-dutton-from-dickson
The Age’s editorial declares that the paper’s resolve to advocate for the end of needlessly punitive, even inhuman, treatment of desperate and vulnerable people has been reinforced by fresh evidence of neglect and cruelty.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/thought-our-treatment-of-asylum-seekers-couldn-t-get-any-worse-20180616-p4zlw5.html
Liberal senator Lucy Gichuhi will pay back thousands of dollars after she billed taxpayers to fly two family members to Adelaide for her 50th birthday party.
https://outline.com/dkJwYT
Australia become the first country in World Cup history to fall victim to the video assistant referee after a great performance that failed to edge out plucky France.
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/soccer/fifa-world-cup-2018/australia-first-to-fall-to-var-in-brave-loss-to-france-20180616-p4zlx3.html
This week, after a quick stopover in Singapore, Donald Trump was keen to return to his favourite topic (beside his own greatness): his feud with the American news media.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/full-nuremburg-trump-versus-the-american-news-media,11604
The Catholic Church should be stripped of tax exemptions and made to pay council rates if it refuses to adhere to new laws to report cases of child abuse revealed in the confessional, a senior SA politician says. And a prominent criminal lawyer warns the state usually will win out in any battle between Church and state. Bring it on!
https://outline.com/ybDKSJ
Cartoon Corner – very slim pickings I’m afraid.
Paul Zanetti with another Trump movie in the offing.
\
Mark Knight takes the Socceroos to Russia.
And Sean Leahy looks on.
A few in here, too.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/best-of-fairfax-cartoons-june-17-2018-20180616-h11gyx.html
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/russia-retirement-age-life-expectancy-putin-world-cup-distraction-laws-a8402576.html
Russians are accusing their government of raising the retirement age above average life expectancy while the country is distracted by its hosting of the World Cup.
Prime minister Dmitry Medvedev announced on Thursday the Russian state pension age would be hiked from 60 to 65 for men by 2028 and 55 to 63 for women by 2034.
Expected to be officially adopted by next year, the new policy would mean the country’s retirement age for men would be a year higher than the World Health Organisation’s estimated life expectancy for a Russian man of 64.
BK
That Sharma chap will be in for a flogging from the teaching fraternity for this gem of his.
US farmers stressed and angry at Trump trade war
US farmers find themselves in the crosshairs of a trade war with China and others launched by President Donald Trump, who was elected with the support of many in rural America.
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/06/us-farmers-stressed-angry-trump-trade-war/
Judiciary Committee Senator Whitehouse says Manafort and Cohen expected to flip leading to ‘panic in Trumpland’
Senate Judiciary Committee member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has concluded there is “panic” surrounding President Donald Trump as speculation grows that former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and personal lawyer Michael Cohen are both likely to “flip” on Trump.
“And now Manafort is headed for the can, making him more likely to flip,” Whitehouse added. “Line up [Mike] Flynn, Cohen and Manafort as cooperating prosecution witnesses and you’ve got a prospect that explains the panic in Trumpland.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/06/judiciary-committee-senator-whitehouse-says-manafort-cohen-expected-flip-leading-panic-trumpland/
‘Prepared for war’: Trump team gearing up for all-out battle as Mueller investigators get closer to White House
White House political allies are ready to go to the mattresses against special counsel Robert Mueller, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich told The Post that White House allies are “prepared for war” as Mueller nears completion of his investigation into alleged obstruction of justice.
“What we’re going through now is a walk in the park compared to what’s coming when the report [on Trump’s conduct] comes out,” said Peter Wehner. “Even if the report is a devastating indictment of Trump, the political tribalism in the country is so deep and won’t suddenly go away.”
https://www.rawstory.com/2018/06/prepared-war-trump-team-gearing-battle-mueller-investigators-get-closer-white-house/
Trump Is Golfing While Children Are Ripped From Their Parents At The Border
As the Trump administration continues to implement a new policy that has torn children from their parents at the southern border of the United States, the president is enjoying a round of golf.
According to MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin, citing the press pool, Trump arrived at his National Golf Club in Virginia a short time ago.
The children that are ripped from their parents are kept in what amount to incarceration centers, where they are locked inside for 22 hours a day in a 40 square foot living space.
https://www.politicususa.com/2018/06/16/trump-golfing-while-children-separated.html
The Sunday Telegraph
Front Page
The Herald Sun Sunday
Front Page
This should be required reading for every person who supports Trumps dealing with Kim Jong Un
As Trump courts Kim, a reminder of the regime’s brutality: ANALYSIS
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-courts-kim-reminder-regimes-brutality-analysis/story?id=55901001
The Canberra Times Sunday
Front Page
The Sunday Mail
Front Page
The Sunday Territorian
Front Page
New York’s Case Against Trump May Be Prophetic
Why the complaint involving the president’s foundation is a road map for Mueller.
Follow the money.
For a more prophetic vision of the future, you should read the complaint against Trump, his children and his foundation by New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood.
Why prophetic? Because it’s likely a preface to the report or complaint that special counsel Robert Mueller will bring. The alleged crimes described by Underwood are not similar to those being investigated by Mueller. But the behavior is.
One stumbling block to public understanding of the Mueller probe, in addition to a steady stream of propaganda and lies designed to undermine it, is that it’s hard for even a cynic to accept the premises of what is being investigated.
U.S. history simply doesn’t offer a lot of reference points for a major-party political candidate who so casually subverts the law and sells out the nation’s highest values. How many Richard Nixons are there?
To believe the accusations that Trump colluded with Russia, laundered vast amounts of money and/or put American foreign policy on the auction block in return for the enrichment of his family requires an awkward leap of faith. You have to believe this leader is both profoundly corrupt — far more so than Nixon — and staggeringly sloppy — again more so than Nixon.
This is essentially the portrait that Underwood paints in the detailed accusations against the head of the Trump Foundation: that of a shady huckster who engages in “persistently illegal conduct” and is buffoonishly sloppy along the way.
It took the attorney general’s office months to investigate this narrow corner of the Trump universe – even though the evidence was lying around in plain sight. Mueller’s investigation is far broader and more consequential. His complaint may yet take a while. But it should be a doozy.
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-06-16/new-york-s-trump-lawsuit-may-be-a-map-for-mueller
I have to fully agree with that Sharma chap.
Mind you one of his ideas was normal in Victoria when my kids went to STATE school – the holiday program was at school.
Moreover it was an absolutely brilliant holiday program, giving my kids experiences they would never have had if at home. Theatre, ice skating, horse riding, theme parks, trips to historic houses and zoos. That was in addition to the regulars – swimming and roller skating. I think in the week only two afternoons were devoted to the usual crafty type activities. However it was very expensive.
However Sharma has a point. My suggestion would be for the school day to run from 8 – 6 but that all the extracurricular activities are moved into the later time slots. The school sports afternoons could run 3- 6 (in Summer anyway) instead of 1-3 as in now the case. Choirs and orchestras and bands could use this time (rather than starting at 7 as now happens. Of course much of this does happen anyway, but it is unstructured. It is great for the kids who do play music or sport, but the rest are neglected. They are left to muck about in after school programs where sport or music such as it is is taught by unskilled people (mostly).
Every kid should be required to participate in some way in school theatrical productions – the shyer ones can be back stage but still part of it. So that is probably one afternoon a week.
Here is how it might work. The school time 8 -2:30 would be compulsory as now – Perhaps a later compulsory start time for the really little ones eg 5-7 year olds.
After the non compulsory times parents could collect their children if they so choose, but for those still at school I suggest the following. At least 1 hr every afternoon would be devoted to physical activity -mostly the usual athletics activities but including gentler sports for the less physically fit. This would help address the growing obesity epidemic. Let us say this is the 2:30-3:30 period in winter and perhaps the 5-6 period in Summer.
Two afternoons would also be devoted to activity – one probably to team sports the other to other activities such as walking, gardening although the really keen sports types could have their sports training if possible in this time. Local sports clubs could possibly do their training in this period.
One afternoon would be devoted to a school play or musical. Every kid should have a function – even if only the lights. Another should be devoted to music- choirs, orchestras, bands. But every kid should have a role – even if it is only to listen. That is good too. Probably dancing would also be taught in this session. The final afternoon should be devoted to either extension or remediation. So kids needing special help would go to remediation, the others would choose clubs or societies of some kind to extend themselves – debating, science, art, horticulture, IT- whatever they liked – even pop stars or movies.
I would not suggest that current teachers do this but they could choose to be paid a bit extra for the longer hours.
How very true!
Spoken by the Leading Liar.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/16/malcolm-turnbull-mediscare-labor-election-campaign
Good Morning Bludgers 🙂
Don’t forget that Penny Wong is being interviewed on Insiders today. Even if it is by Annabel Crabb. 🙂
Bibi showing his contempt for world opinion by rolling out this truck of tripe.
http://www.newsweek.com/israel-bombs-syria-stop-refugees-fleeing-europe-netanyahu-977123
“Even the most outrageous lies will be believed by some people, unless they are corrected.
Malcolm Turnbull”
Malcolm expounding the Coalition’s re-electoral strategy. The part about not being corrected is sewn up with Newscrap and most of the media, while the ABC these days knows it will be vicously attacked if it tries.
In reply to the anecdotal evidence of the real state of the economy confirmed by some responses to my scenario, it was always said that dentists were the first indicator
People stopped going to the dentist
Any dentists on here?
I would hope that it is widely recognised that interest rates will rise – and that borrowers realise that the best time to repay debt is when interest rates are low because more of your repayment comes off principal
But the central theme is that the next election must return a balance between Capital and Labour otherwise we are in dire straits – which we are on the cusp of now and where interest rate increases, which must come, will be the tipping point
What also continues is a lack of balance between borrowers and savers – and that lack of balance does its damage including by pushing people to fraught and unsustainable investment, including encouraged by government as with franking credits where the underlying investment value is down 30% so far
One very important word has been missed in the reporting about the Federal Liberal Party of “Austrlia” conference.
It’s a little word, only 3 letters, that can often be overlooked or misheard if spoken weakly.
This is either an error by the CPG present or by those speaking the denials.
That word missing from the end of most sentences is;
🙂
Just what we need, more liberals:
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/06/16/why-the-classical-liberal-is-making-a-comeback-218667
The problem with early starts is teenagers apparently naturally wake later.
https://theconversation.com/the-biological-reason-why-its-so-hard-for-teenagers-to-wake-up-early-for-school-88802
And just to add, can Telstra and our banks maintain their dividends in a changed market place?
Grog on the challenge the Government has in convincing voters that they are better off now.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2018/jun/17/good-luck-with-telling-voters-they-are-better-off-than-a-few-years-ago
The Liberal Party -prisoner to Murdoch, The IPA and religious nutjobs.
Stockholm Syndrome.
BK
Think of the Libs as, after a hostile takeover, a wholly owned Joint Venture company of “Murdoch, The IPA and religious nutjobs.” .
‘But if this is the case, why not mainstream it into the school day? Why not have service providers use school facilities to offer a full range of after-school activities, from sports to dance, music to art, rather than the one-size-fits-all after-school care currently on offer? Why not have service providers rent out school facilities and create a valuable stream of income for schools?’
Well, these things all happen. Not all of them happen on school grounds, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t. Schools do rent out their facilities.
But let’s look it from a different angle. There are multiple shops which close their doors at 5 pm. I’m sure the business operators would love to make extra money rather than let their shops remain vacant for 17 hours. Why don’t they rent them out?
They don’t because there isn’t the demand.
The school oval (generally speaking) doesn’t have lights, because it doesn’t need them. So it can’t be rented out after hours during winter.
Schools do rent out these facilities – the home eco room*, the computer room, indoor sports spaces etc – it’s just that there isn’t the demand to do so full time.
‘But if they are doing the equivalent of full-time days, then at least we can give them some variety and stimulation.’
But not all of them are. Students use after school time in multiple ways, regardless of whether their parents are working or not. They’re not all stuck on school grounds.
‘So why not open the schools during this period and offer school holiday programs from there, using external service providers?’
Well, there’s nothing stopping that happening now – but it doesn’t solve the problem of the expense of holiday care.
—
Disappointing article: thought it might be looking at genuine ways forward (for example, split shifts in schooling) rather than just suggesting that school facilities be rented out after hours and then suggesting that ‘vested interests’ are stopping this.
School facilities are used after hours. The reason that they are not used to their full capacity is because there simply isn’t the demand.
The Liberal Party, full of toadies and Salacious B Crumb type jesters.
zoomster
I smelled a whiff of some corporate mob wanting to make money out of public education. Strengthened by seeing the company the guy is a director of. Described on their web page as “Kelly+Partners specialty is to counsel to Private Business Owners, individuals and families of significant wealth “.
538 has Trump’s disapproval rating at 51.8 – its lowest (his best) since April 2017.
Penny Wong is such a welcome break from the shouty, aggressive MPs in the govt.
Morning all and thanks BK. So the born to rule mob want to axe the ABC on economic grounds. Really? If they care so much about economics why not eliminate the tax cuts, subsidies to farmers and miners, and corporate tax evasion? Why not? Because those rorts all benefit their friends.
As the Liberals shrivel into an anti-intellectual conservative husk, they are more than merely thin skinned. Any critic is pilloried, unfunded, or sacked if a public servant. The public purse is fleeced to benefit friends and denied to assist any enemy. Turnbull would cancel elections if he could. Even now, opposition MPs citizenships are referred to the HC and suspect government MPs are not. Power is abused whenever necessary.
If Abbott or Dutton became PM, democracy itself
In a worrying report, African crime gangs in Melbourne have started Tardis jacking.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1007408722984034304
Sorry, iPad glitch:
“If Abbott or Dutton became PM, democracy itself… would be at risk in Australia.”
I missed PHON disintegrating. That is so funny.
I wonder whether Australia will be caught up in this?
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/16/business/tariffs-trade-war.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
Relatively sane insiders panel today
Though, do you notice how David Crowe uses the deficiencies of the Liberal Party to point up what is wrong with “Australian politics”, not the Liberal Party! That is the constant refrain when there is a problem with the libs.
Says it all about the liberal party that it has a federal president who was chairman of a cigarette company. Here is Nicky baby in 2003 justifying his position in the SMH.
Greiner, who says he has smoked three cigarettes in his life, is unrepentant his involvement with BAT. He was chairman of a subsidiary from 1996 until 1999 and then chairman of the BAT Australia board until 2004.
“British American Tobacco was arguably the best-run company I’ve ever seen. And it was probably because if you’ve got no friends, if you’re producing a product that a large part of the community is opposed to, it probably does put pressure on you to do really well.
“I think if the public want to ban the product, that’s great, if they want to tax the product out of existence, that’s a legitimate decision for governments to make, but to decree that the boards of such companies should have people of lesser standing did not make sense.
“A lot of my friends and supporters didn’t agree with that and I got a lot of flak.”
Zoomster
Actually it is not the demand for schools that is the problem more that the price and convenience is not right.
Firstly in my area the schools have prices themselves out of the fund raising market – just a bit too pricey for an ALP policy talk/fundraiser and even your average meeting for a charity or such is a tad pricey.
The various security systems also make it next to impossible. untrained people tying to get in through alarm causes nightmares with security people turning up because some unskilled club president or secretary has set of the alarm. The economic collapse of bowling clubs is a major school competitor.
Of course one obvious way to make better use of school facilities would be to have shifts eg primary 7-1 and secondary 1-6PM- this is done in many countries. However this really only works where there is a parent at home or where they run a small business so that children after school can be supervised.
In Australia’s working culture we need essentially to provide a secure environment for children roughly between 8-6PM with SOME schools operating different hours to cater for shift workers. We know that kids are not getting enough exercise, so it makes sense to address this through the school system, so even if the ONLY change was to add an hour of physical exercise daily to the curriculum we would ease the burden on families and improve the kid’s health. Given that our maths etc are falling behind other countries we cannot really incorporate and additional 5 hours weekly into the existing quite short hours.
I would also suggest that anyone genuinely committed to equality in education would consider getting rid of homework and substitution one -two hours daily of school supervised prep. At the moment kids from caring and educated families do their homework, the others fall behind. It reinforces social inequality. Again participation in this program could be voluntary PROVIDED the child submits homework as required. (This is a sop to the mummies who still cling to Australia circa 1965) .
antonbruckner11 @ #1344 Sunday, June 17th, 2018 – 6:36 am
Shorter Greiner
It’s legal, so I want my cut!!! 🙂
Elizabeth Farrelly yesterday went bananas over the infrastructure “developments” in Sydney: demolitions, ugliness, over-crowding and favours for mates.
This is a far cry from her 2015 schtick of Turnbull as PM For Life who, with Lucy being on the Greater Sydney board, would form an unassailable power couple that would bring civilization to Sydney and the nation etc. etc. etc.
True, most of her vitriol is aimed at Gladys lately, but it’s telling that neither Lucy nor hubby get a mention all that often either, especially as saviours of Australia.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/pity-parramatta-victim-of-an-elitist-land-grab-20180615-p4zllv.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/prepared-for-war-as-mueller-moves-to-finalize-obstruction-report-trumps-allies-ready-for-political-battle/2018/06/16/ec3a4cfe-650c-11e8-a69c-b944de66d9e7_story.html?utm_term=.e66858f99811
My guess: No way will Trump sit down with Mueller. He’s spent the entire time of the investigation calling a witch hunt and fake news, dissing DoJ and FBI authorities, so being cooperating with the investigation would give it a credence he wouldn’t want it to have.
The question is what happens if Mueller subpoenas him and he refuses? What then?
dtt
What you’re pointing to is that there is a cost to schools in renting out their premises – providing someone who can solve out of hours issues, for starters.
I know our local school facilities have been used extensively by the community – the Arts space is used a couple of times a week by the local dance group, occasionally even resulting in timetabling clashes with other events; the Home Eco room is used by TAFE for Hospitality courses; the sports ground has been used for soccer training; the library for community meetings, etc.
The writer of the article seems to assume these things don’t happen.
On split shifts: I have been quite taken by the idea in the past, because it’s now quite well accepted that early morning starts don’t suit senior students, and some studies have shown that, as a result, they are constantly sleep deprived. However, there are huge logistical problems around bussing students in and out, and also staffing issues.
Good Morning
So things have got worse in politics while I have been busy.
No big surprise. The ABC sell off is an election winner for Labor.
So much so within a minute of so the government was telling its own party they have no influence. As they realised the own goal it is. Too late. That vote is going to be a highlight of Labor advertising campaigns during the election.
Save the ABC vote Labor is a great slogan.