The diversion of Super Saturday meant I fell out of my habit of running weekly posts on the latest BludgerTrack numbers, although I have been updating them as new polls have come through. As no national polls appear likely this week, now is a good time to resume.
There have been three national polls since the last BludgerTrack post, each of which has registered some sort of improvement for the Coalition: the Ipsos poll three weeks ago had Labor’s two-party lead closing from 53-47 to 51-49, and its respondent-allocated preferences result was 50-50 (as it was in the Ipsos poll from early April); and, more modestly, last week’s Newspoll and Essential Research results both had Coalition up a point on the primary vote and Labor steady.
We also had yesterday a Western Australia only poll from YouGov Galaxy, which gratifyingly supported what BludgerTrack was saying already. On voting intention, it had the Coalition on 42%, down from 48.7% at the 2016 election; Labor on 36%, up 3.5%; the Greens on 10%, down 2.1%; and One Nation on 5%. The published two-party result is 51-49 in favour of the Coalition, which is presumably based on previous election flows, and compares with 54.7-45.3 in 2016.
Other findings of the poll: Malcolm Turnbull led Bill Shorten 47-32 as preferred prime minister; they were tied at 40% on who was most trusted to “change the distribution of GST revenue to ensure WA receives a fairer share” (which might be thought presumptuous wording, though few in WA would be likely to think so); and 36% supported and 50% opposed company tax cuts, in response to a question that specified beneficiaries would include “those with a turnover above $50 million a year”. The poll was conducted on Thursday and Friday for the Sunday Times from a sample of 831.
Together with the existing BludgerTrack reading, this poll tends to confirm that much of the air has gone out of the boom Labor was experiencing in WA polling through much of last year and this year. The BludgerTrack probability projections now have Labor likely to pick up Hasluck, but Swan and Christian Porter’s seat of Pearce are now rated as 50-50 propositions.
At the national level, recent polls have produced a movement back to the Coalition on two-party preferred, with Labor’s lead down to 51.1-48.9, its lowest level since late 2016. However, this has not availed them much on the seat projection, which actually credits Labor with a bigger majority than it achieved in 2007, when its two-party vote was 1.6% higher.
Partly this reflects continuing weakness in the Coalition’s ratings in all-important Queensland, consistent with the Longman by-election result. Labor has also made a gain in BludgerTrack against the national trend in Victoria, netting them two projected seats, which is balanced only by a one seat loss from a slightly larger movement against them in New South Wales. BludgerTrack is now registering a small swing in the Coalition’s favour in New South Wales, but thanks to adjustments for sophomore surge effects in all seats the Coalition could conceivably gain from Labor, it’s not availing them on the seat projection.
Ipsos and Newspoll both provided new results for leadership ratings, which have made a small further contribution to the existing improving trend for Malcolm Turnbull, both on net approval and preferred prime minister. Full results through the link below.
We should apply the same metric to PB posters. Although I can already guess which ones would come out as “most repetitive”
It depends on the subject, I guess. 😉
2GB dislike Turnball intensely, the likes of Jones and Hadley are Abbott supporters, they want Abbott back as PM. And they consider Julie Bishop to be akin to “Lady Macbeth”.
By the way, I was polled by Galaxy re Victorian state voting intention Tuesday night. Still no sign of any results in the usual places, though.
TPOF @ #2348 Thursday, August 9th, 2018 – 4:51 pm
A better thought experiment for mine.
What would be the reaction here? 🙂
“There is no review or analysis as to what the specific objectives of the spending are, how those objectives could be best met and how applications from organisations on the ground with expertise in dealing with homelessness could put forward proposals for grants.”
That sounds just like Rudds NBN.
(runs away)
Except before the NBN was conceived their was a tender process, that came back basically recommending not going with any of the proposals, but instead government fund a full fibre network… which was what the NBN was basically.
@Dio
LOL.
The grant has less than the piece of paper that NBN written on it.
Exactly nicko.
It also didn’t involve handing over $500 m to a private entity with 6 employees
With a functioning 5th estate this would have near brought down the government
Confessions @ #2393 Thursday, August 9th, 2018 – 9:14 pm
The same fascinating website has an interesting analysis of gender representation in UK politics, at one point comparing the UK with other countries, including Australia. (Another spoiler: Australia has proportionally fewer women MPs than the UK; no nation is at parity; Norway is closest.)
https://pudding.cool/2018/07/women-in-parliament/
But the article does not leave it there. It also analyses what men and women MPs talk about. For example, both men and women seem to talk about the same amount on “the economy”, but women MPs talk more about “welfare” than men MPs, even when accounting for Conservative versus Labour politicians.
The article concludes with “…research overwhelmingly finds that lack of gender equality in parliament is a demand-side problem: parties are not selecting enough women, rather than not enough women standing. This is particularly true of the Conservative party, which must select significantly more women candidates in marginal constituencies.” And makes the point that “Parliament is meant to be representative. ”
I enjoyed the analysis, and some of the history.
The establishment of NBN Co is analogous to the gifting of half a billion dollars to a non govt charity?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/gallery/2018/aug/09/marching-together-worlds-indigenous-peoples-day-in-sydney-in-pictures
This is more important than anything else that happened in Sydney today.
I got the Reachtell poll tonight (in Capricornia)
It was voting intentions first, then questions on e smokes an vapour. I found it strange really but this is Queenlsand.
Late Riser:
WA was the third place in the world to grant women the right to vote but this did not come about as a result of protests like it did in NZ and SA. But because of an urban fear of voters in mining areas like Kalgoorlie having an advantage over urban areas in Perth because of the number of men in those regional areas.
Edith Cowan was our first woman MP but she was forbidden from speaking on any matter other than women’s issues and child rearing. She nonethless had an exemplar record of achievement on women’s rights, children’s rights and safe sex education in schools.
“There is no review or analysis as to what the specific objectives of the spending are, how those objectives could be best met and how applications from organisations on the ground with expertise in dealing with homelessness could put forward proposals for grants.”
That sounds just like Rudds NBN.
(runs away)
_____________________________________
In fact, there were better examples, in particular the home insulation scheme, of poor process driven by Rudd. And didn’t we hear it coming through our ears every day from the media!! There is not much comparison with the NBN because the company was set up with clear directives and did a lot of work with clear objectives in mind. It was not handed a bundle of money to spend or do what it liked – for example, just told to make internet communications better.
Confessions: Thank you. I did not know that. Bizarre motivations. “I guess we’ll have to get the women to help.”
EDIT: And what are “women’s issues” I wonder? (rhetorical)
“she was forbidden from speaking on any matter other than women’s issues and child rearing”. .probably more important than 90 percent of what the men in Parliament ramble on about.
Late Riser @ #2514 Thursday, August 9th, 2018 – 8:40 pm
Yep, otherwise cast as ‘give women the vote and we men can simply tell them how to vote, so it won’t matter anyways’.
It didn’t quite work out that way. Once we were in, we were in. 😀
Confessions @ #2418 Thursday, August 9th, 2018 – 10:52 pm
Warts and all. 🙂
Jeffemu – this might clarify from Fremantle and Perth by elections. Legalise Vaping Australia, a campaign organised by the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, has chosen Liberal Democratic Party member in the South Metropolitan Region Aaron Stonehouse MLC, as its WA Spokesperson.
The campaign is looking for 50,000 signatures in support of the legalisation of vaping, with Mr Stonehouse to present a signed petition.
And Legalise Vaping Australia has published results of ReachTEL polling from the neglected seats of Perth and Fremantle, which turn up no surprises so far as their finding that both seats will be easily retained by Labor is concerned. However, the results are notably weak for the Greens, who record 18.6% in Perth and 17.0% in Fremantle after exclusion of the undecided (8.7% and 6.1% respectively). In particular, the Greens are placed slightly behind the Liberal Democrats in Fremantle, who clearly stand to harvest votes from homeless Liberal supporters.
The claims of Australia’s indigenous peoples will not be stilled. They will reach into every corner of Australian politics before long.
briefly, I feel a grandeur about our continent that inspires a deep humility. This place is old. It endures. It is tenacious. It is inventive. It is vibrant. Our first peoples have a lot to teach us once we open our eyes and our hearts.
briefly @ #2411 Thursday, August 9th, 2018 – 10:24 pm
briefly, you’ll likely be interested in the City of Sydney Eora Journey
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/vision/towards-2030/communities-and-culture/eora-journey
with three of the seven proposed public art installation completed, and the fourth announced today.
http://www.cityartsydney.com.au/projects/eora-journey/
On redneck radio tonight, some woman from the Hun said Victorian Labor should not have upset Murdoch by removing Sky from screens at stations. Apparently you should should not piss off Rupert before an election. To emphasise the point, she said tomorrow’s Hun will have the Sky story on page one.
Late Riser, I thoroughly agree. I find it almost overrwhelmingly beautiful at times. and Itza, thanks for the references. At a first glance the Eora project looks fascinating.
I’ve been doing a lot of sketching and drawing and some painting (in oils and acrylics) lately. I find it hard to resist. Whenever my imagination is drawn to the landscape and the life in it, my visual language gets filled up with the depictions – the motifs, symbols and palettes – created by indigenous artists. Their influences are very powerful and are both arrresting and inspirational for me.
A large part of me really aches after their knowledge and their character.
Itza, the Woolloomooloo tapestry is gorgeous…absolutely gorgeous. Thanks for letting me know.
http://www.cityartsydney.com.au/artwork/mana-ngurang/
As is this 🙂
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2007-11-20/turnbull-pumps-10m-into-rainmaking-gamble/731004
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-19/fox-sports-foi-request-30-million-sports-deal/8722656
10 to 30 t0 444… someone better put the brakes on this bloke before he bankrupts us.
TRANSPORT MINISTER TOLD FIX THE TRAINS., NOT THE NEWS.
Love this headline in the Herald Sun today as a result of a survey on public transport. I also agree with it. As a commuter on the Geelong line for the past 4 months my main priority is on getting a seat not worrying about what news coverage they use. Standing in the aisle is playing havoc with my lower back.
Taylormade says:
.
As a commuter on the Geelong line for the past 4 months my main priority is on getting a seat not worrying about what news coverage they use. Standing in the aisle is playing havoc with my lower back.
And why is that a problem? Less trains, slower trains or a hell of a lot more commuters. The increase in commuters over the last 12 months has been amazing. We now have a decent and regular service and people are using it.
As for foxtel, people are free to watch it in there own home, why should we have to tolerate it in a public space.
And as for the herald sun, you no longer see a copy in every site shed, you do see everybody with head down reading their mobile phone. The crap offered by sky news has a very small audience, why should the general public have to tolerate their crap. It’s rubbish for consenting adults, not the general public.
Taylormade @ #2429 Friday, August 10th, 2018 – 5:52 am
STOP THE PRESSES!
State Labor government wildly successful at getting people out of their cars and onto Public Transport!
😉
From the SmearStralian..
“
Malcolm Turnbull’s office has confirmed that two of the directors of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation — the recipient of a $444 million grant from his government awarded without tender — may have been hosted at the Prime Minister’s home by wife Lucy.
The Australian can reveal the head of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation’s philanthropy committee, Stephen Fitzgerald, a one-time head of Mr Turnbull’s former investment bank Goldman Sachs, was on the board of the European Business Advisory Council at the same time as Mrs Turnbull.
………..
Asked yesterday whether Mr Fitzgerald or Mr Roberts had been to the Turnbulls’ home, a spokesman for the Prime Minister said: “Prior to 2015, as deputy chair of the US Studies Centre, Mrs Turnbull occasionally hosted USSC directors and advisers at her home.”
The revelations will raise more questions about the grant to the foundation but the Prime Minister’s office insists the decision was not a result of connections.
The Australian understands Mrs Turnbull concedes she knows Mr Fitzgerald but says she has not seen him for more than three years and cannot “recall” discussing the Great Barrier Reef Foundation with him.
“Mrs Turnbull is not a director of the European Australian Business Council and has not been for more than a year,” a spokesman for the Prime Minister said.
“The PM’s parliamentary disclosures reflect this. (Mrs Turnbull) has not spoken directly with either man for several years, and does not recall discussing the funding of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation with them.”
He said: “The PM has not discussed this issue with Mr Fitzgerald or Mr Roberts. The government is preserving the Great Barrier Reef for future generations. This initiative will secure jobs and improve the health of the reef. The foundation is the best-placed body to deliver on these goals.”
Asked whose idea the grant was, Mr Turnbull’s spokesman would only say: “The proposal was developed within the Department of the Environment and Energy in consultation with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department of Finance, Treasury, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.”
Asked whose idea the grant was, Mr Turnbull’s spokesman would only say: “The proposal was developed within the Department of the Environment and Energy in consultation with the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Department of Finance, Treasury, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.”
At whose direction? Those departments are not autonomous vehicles.
And a few more threads of connection between GBRF $444m, Goldman Sachs alumni and the murky US Studies Centre and the Turnbulls
James Brown
The Turnbulls’ son-in-law. A former non-resident fellow at the US Studies Centre.
Alex Turnbull
The Turnbulls’ son. Worked for Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong. The PM’s office says Alex Turnbull ‘does not recall meeting Stephen Fitzgerald’ and ‘they did not work together at Goldman Sachs’.
Stephen Roberts
Former head of Citigroup. Was charged with alleged criminal cartel conduct related to his time at Citigroup. Was chair of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation philanthropycommittee in 2016 and 2017. Resigned from Great Barrier Reef Foundation board in June after he was charged. Was on the council of advisers for the US Studies Centre at the same time as Mrs Turnbull was on the board of directors. The PM’s office confirms he may have been hosted at the Turnbulls’ home.
Stephen Fitzgerald
Former chairman of Goldman Sachs after joining in 1992. Named a managing director in 1998 and a partner in 2002. The current chair of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation Board’s philanthropy committee. On the board of the European Australian Business Council at the same time as Lucy Turnbull. On the council of advisers for the US Studies Centre at the same time Mrs Turnbull was on the board of directors. The PM’s office confirms Mr Fitzgerald may have been hosted by Mrs Turnbull at the Turnbulls’ homE
https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/finance-news/2018/08/10/australian-wages-struggle-living-costs/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Morning%20News%2020180810
Perhaps ReefGate should be renamed LucyGate?
Good morning Dawn Patrollers,
Adele Ferguson hammers the NAB after another bad day at the royal commission.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/nab-like-most-banks-lives-in-an-alternative-reality-20180809-p4zwkg.html
NAB CEO Andrew Thorburn says the bank did not act honourably but was not guilty of criminal acts in its wealth and superannuation arms, after another punishing day at the Hayne royal commission.
https://www.outline.com/SgPwxg
Anne Davies writes that corporate Australia is locked in a culture war, but it’s not about left and right. Rather it’s about governance.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/10/corporate-australia-is-locked-in-a-culture-war-but-its-not-about-left-and-right
A well written contribution from Catharine McGregor on the indigenous treaty and how it is seen by Andrew Bolt and Malcolm Turnbull.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/turnbull-must-pursue-treaty-with-indigenous-australians-20180808-p4zwc1.html
So far the industry funds are unharmed by the royal commission. This is quite a humorously written piece.
https://www.outline.com/9duk9R
This guy from PwC implores the parties to agree to the NEG. A bit of shallow diatribe IMHO.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-neg-s-not-nirvana-but-it-can-t-be-allowed-to-slip-away-20180809-p4zwir.html
But Peter Hannam remains entirely unconvinced with the $550 pa saving being touted without transparent justification.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/promised-savings-under-neg-need-closer-inspection-20180808-p4zw8y.html
Frydenberg is getting desperate and is hammering the blackouts theme now.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/frydenberg-talks-up-blackouts-as-top-advisor-concedes-no-forecast-power-shortages-20180809-p4zwhz.html
Simon Holmes a Court says the half-baked NEG needs more time in the oven. As it currently stands, is not a solution to the problems it purports to address – but there’s time to fix it
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/09/the-half-baked-neg-needs-more-time-in-the-oven
The Grattan Institute explains each state’s position on the NEG.
https://theconversation.com/whats-your-states-position-at-the-crucial-national-energy-guarantee-meeting-101314
Jenna Price begins this article with “Australian banks don’t just treat their customers like rubbish. They also treat their staff with contempt.”
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/banks-it-s-not-just-the-customers-who-are-being-hurt-20180809-p4zwe9.html
Phil Coorey, you’ve gotta be joking!
https://www.outline.com/YttVup
This academic opines that Australian media are playing a dangerous game using racism as currency.
https://theconversation.com/australian-media-are-playing-a-dangerous-game-using-racism-as-currency-101190
Jack Latimore says that there can be no reconciliation until politicians acknowledge the harmful impacts of race baiting. He has a point.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/10/australia-is-deplorably-racist-as-people-of-colour-are-reminded-when-they-speak-up
Jennifer Hewett tells us that the Chaney review into school funding may have come up with a neat policy solution for the Turnbull government. It has not provided a neat political solution – anything but.
https://www.outline.com/CfUY4q
Only one in five Australian workers say they had a pay rise in the past year that covered increases in the cost of living with almost half reporting no rise at all, according to a new ReachTel poll commissioned by the ACTU.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/aug/10/majority-of-voters-say-record-low-wages-growth-is-an-election-issue
According to Gary Younge the Democrats must do more than simply oppose Donald Trump – it needs to stand for something, as well as against the president.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/09/democrats-oppose-trump-republicans-passive
Kim Carr unloads on the $444m sling to the GBRF.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/outrageous-grant-to-reef-foundation-threatens-vital-public-research-20180809-p4zwgj.html
The Great Barrier Reef Foundation has found itself the subject of unwanted attention as further details of its $443 million funding deal with Malcolm Turnbull come to light. However, as Martin Hirst writes, the GBRF has no intention of returning the money.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/reefgate-gbrf-plans-to-hold-onto-its-443-million-lottery-win,11771
John Warhurst looks at the different types of lobbying that goes on.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/the-ins-and-outs-of-insider-and-outsider-lobbying-20180807-p4zw1r.html
Eric Abetz has defended former public service commissioner John Lloyd, and blasted an inquiry that found he breached a code of conduct governing federal officials as “farcical”. Senator Abetz, who was the minister overseeing the public service when Mr Lloyd was appointed to his role, said the inquiry process run by the office investigating allegations of misconduct by the public service commission head lacked procedural fairness.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/federal/farcical-eric-abetz-defends-john-lloyd-after-code-of-conduct-finding-20180809-p4zwf0.html
Bruce Guthrie took one for the team and forced himself to watch Sky News after dark.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/08/09/dont-watch-sky-news/
Labor would scrap a remaining additional efficiency dividend to be imposed on federal agencies, grow staffing at the department overseeing Centrelink, and cut government travel spending if it won the next election, its finance spokesman has vowed.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/federal/labor-to-scrap-additional-efficiency-dividend-cut-aps-travel-spend-20180809-p4zwjz.html
In the wake of the Emma Husar issue Alexandra Smith wonders if real people can survive the brutal world of politics.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/can-real-people-survive-the-brutal-world-of-politics-20180809-p4zwi7.html
Eryk Bagshaw says Turnbull will call for Bill Shorten to immediately hand over Labor’s internal investigation into Emma Husar to the Department of Finance, as Labor figures prepare for the damaging report to be released to the party’s administration committee. Could this could open up a counter attack?
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/turnbull-to-tell-shorten-that-husar-investigation-must-go-to-finance-20180809-p4zwh2.html
Michelle Grattan says Turnbull is trying to turn the Emma Husar story into a Bill Shorten narrative.
https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-turnbull-is-trying-to-turn-emma-husar-story-into-a-bill-shorten-narrative-101342
And Paula Matthewson writes that the coincidental timing of Barnaby Joyce’s ‘confessional’ book tour with the resignation of Emma Husar this week has not only confirmed that politicians are fallible humans like the rest of us. It’s also magnified one of the Prime Minister’s biggest flaws, his lack of political judgement.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/08/09/malcolm-turnbull-political-judgement/
New questions hover over Ben Roberts-Smith, VC, Father of the Year, and Australia’s most decorated Afghanistan warrior.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/beneath-the-bravery-the-dark-secrets-of-our-most-decorated-soldier-20180801-p4zuwp.html
Cartoon Corner
There’s plenty to see in this David Rowe effort.
Mark David trots out the white board again.
And he bursts into poetry to ridicule Turnbull’s lack of courage.
Peter Broelman has a couple of good ones for us.
I do like this one from John Shakespeare.
Mark Knight and some clean up work for Shorten.
Zanetti and the NEG negotiation.
Jon Kudelka’s there too.
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/e4a7a4c19e07b48fcad817c0064277c7
A cutting contribution from David Pope.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/act/david-pope-20120214-1t3j0.html
More good ones in here.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/best-of-fairfax-cartoons-august-10-2018-20180809-h13rnu.html
There is workplace bullying, and there is this kind of workplace bullying …
Bombshell!
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/beneath-the-bravery-the-dark-secrets-of-our-most-decorated-soldier-20180801-p4zuwp.html
BK, fantastic work as usual. Much appreciated!
He said: “The PM has not discussed this issue with Mr Fitzgerald or Mr Roberts.
No, Turnbull has been careful to say he discussed the issue with Chairman of the Board of the GBR Foundation, John Shubert.
…who then discussed it with the other board members, Fitzgerald and the accused crook, Roberts.
The government is preserving the Great Barrier Reef for future generations.
How can they know that for sure? If they had said that they are trying to preserve it for future generations, that would have at least sounded plausible, but making a definitive statement like that just sounds like a shonky justification for a shonky deal. As does this one:
This initiative will secure jobs and improve the health of the reef.
Always with the ‘jerbs’ justification to hide behind. I mean, going on what they have thus far indicated, those jobs could be the building of heat exchange pumps to keep the GBR on life support. Which, I guess, ‘improves the health of the reef’ by stopping it from dying as quickly as it otherwise would as the board members, with their other hats on, keep advocating for the Adani and other coal mines.
The foundation is the best-placed body to deliver on these goals.”
As outlined, yes they are.
C@tmomma
If you telling a lie fast enough and long enough the public will forgive you?
/sarcasm
Morning all. Thanks BK. People are correct to be suspicious of the NEG. the last time we were offered a very complex energy deal and promised it was efficient we got the former national energy market that led to record high prices.
What evidence do we have that the NEG will help households or emission reductions? The motives of the designers are obviously to keep coal burning even though it is no longer cheapest. So how will the NEG save us money if it locks in the dearer option?
As for the GBRF, it seems ReefGare is turning out to be MateGate as well.
And why do they call former Goldman Sachs workers “alumni”? One of the collective terms describing members of a gang would seem more appropriate. Never mind the Sudanese gangs. Be more worried about the behaviour of the Goldman Sachs gangsters.
Why strangulation should be singled out as an offence –
‘A woman whose partner tries to strangle her is eight times more likely to end up dead…’
‘“The research indicates it’s clearly an important risk assessment issue and should be an important consideration in relation to arrest, finding safe housing, health check referrals for the woman, or bail decisions where police are concerned.”’
‘“Strangulation is the last warning shot before someone is killed,” she says.’
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/this-is-the-last-warning-shot-before-a-man-kills-his-partner-20180807-p4zvxy.html
zoomster,
There are people here, that is, me, who have been strangled by their former partner and survived. You have now brought my PTSD back for the day. Thanks for nothing.
I think everyone here agrees that Domestic Violence is a terrible thing but to just lob a story like that here, like a hot potato, is distressful.
Just giving you the other side for women. The survivor’s side.
And I know you didn’t mean to, just sayin’ my bit. 🙂
Sympathy Cat. Such behaviour should not be tolerated.
Have a good day all. Especially i& you are on the GBRF board. Live it up while you can!
Great poem in Mark David’s second cartoon. Only problem is the last couplet doesn’t rhyme…
BK
Thanks as usual. BTW I disagree with you on Phil Corey’s analysis about Barnaby .
He is an sad, mischief making exposed womaniser, and a lonely discarded former national leader as well all know. But Coorey goes to the issue of Queensland for the conservatives. Barnaby is potentially a plus. The current leader is competent but with no cut through. Many think Barnaby could be still useful to their cause. Evidently he still has support in many regions in NSW and Qld in particular.
It all seems bloody ridiculous, but stranger things have happened. I even remember Bob and Blanche!