Roughly six months out from a likely federal election, a gathering storm of preselection action. (Note also the thread below this one on the Victorian election campaign).
• Phillip Coorey of the Australian Financial Review reports Scott Morrison has sought to save Craig Kelly from a preselection defeat in Hughes, but that moderate backers of challenger Kent Johns are not to be deterred. According to a source identified as one of his conservative allies, Kelly “has been remiss in looking after his branches and would be lucky to have 25 per cent of the vote”. Quoth a moderate: “As far as the moderates are concerned, Malcolm Turnbull saved Concetta Fierravanti-Wells and Angus Taylor and Kelly last time, and look what they did to him.” Among the quandaries this raises are that Kelly may react to his defeat by moving to the cross-benches, further weakening the already shaky position of the government.
• There have been a few suggestions that Barnaby Joyce may fall foul of a new candidate-vetting process the Nationals have introduced, ostensibly to prevent further Section 44 mishaps. Figures in the party appear to have been putting it about that Joyce might face trouble due to the fear that even after the events of the past year, there remain “skeletons in the closet”. However, inquiries by Richard Ferguson of The Australian suggest that “a few members on the NSW Nationals’ 84-people-strong central council do plan to refuse to endorse Mr Joyce but they are in the minority”.
• David Johnston of the Border Mail reports nominees for a Liberal preselection vote for Indi, to be held on December 8, include Steve Martin, project manager for the Mars Petcare Wodonga plant expansion and Seeley International’s relocation from Albury to Wodonga, and Stephen Brooks, a local businessman. Another potential nominee is Greg Mirabella, husband of former member Sophie Mirabella. The seat’s independent member, Cathy McGowan, has not yet committed to seeking another term. The report also raises the possibility that Senator Bridget McKenzie, who is preparing to move her electorate office to Wodonga, might run for the Nationals.
• Christian Knight of the Nambucca Guardian reports the Nationals have preselected Patrick Conaghan, a local solicitor who was formerly a police officer and North Sydney councillor, to succeed the retiring Luke Hartsuyker in Cowper. The other candidates were Chris Genders, a newsagent; Jamie Harrison, former Port Macquarie-Hastings councillor and owner of an electrical business; and Judy Plunkett, a Port Macquarie pharmacist. Conaghan appears to have won over half the vote in the first round.
• Labor has recruited Brian Owler, neurosurgeon and former Australian Medical Association president, as its candidate for Bennelong. The party had initially preselected Lyndal Howison, communications manager at the Whitlam Institute and the party’s candidate in 2016, but she agreed to step aside for Owler.
• Gladys Liu, director of Blue Ribbon Consultancy, has been preselected as the Liberal candidate to succeed Julia Banks in Chisholm, having emerged “the clear winner in the field of eight candidates”, according to Liberal sources cited by Benjamin Preiss of The Age. Other candidates included Theo Zographos, a Monash councillor, and Litsa Pillios, an accountant. James Campbell of the Herald Sun reports Liu had backing from party president Michael Kroger and conservative powerbroker Michael Sukkar.
• David Alexander of the Pine Rivers Press reports the Liberal National Party has preselected local small businessman Terry Young as its candidate for Longman. The party recorded a portentously weak showing in the seat at the Super Saturday by-election on July 28, for which Young was an unsuccessful preselection candidate.
Talking about weird eyes, I just found out I’ve got anisometropia, which is one eye long-sighted and the other short-sighted.
I think another advantage to us of adopting the cube root, is that if a state grows slower than average, it loses seats. This seems completely wrong. They grew—so the MP-to-resident ratio got worse—and their compensation is fewer MPs—so the MP-to-resident ration gets even worse.
But with the cube root in effect, it’ll lose fewer seats over a longer timespan, since parliament will grow instead. Faster growing states are more likely to be rewarded with extra members.
The principle also applies in states. For instance, population growth in regional Victoria is happening right now, but they frequently lose seats during redivisions, since the city grew faster.
Diogenes says:
Sunday, November 18, 2018 at 12:28 am
Talking about weird eyes, I just found out I’ve got anisometropia, which is one eye long-sighted and the other short-sighted.
curious….must be a nuisance
Dio, me too.
I can see perfectly well to read, and to see distant objects, but can’t judge the position of a moving object, to take a mark or catch a pass, for example.
Senator C F-W bats for the RW Crazy Branch. She’s very publicly challenging Morrison, suggesting the RWCB are circling, stalking the leadership. Morrison is clearly a failure. Maybe he’s already finished.
In any case, F-W will not be watering and rolling the pitch for Bishop. Abbott? Surely they cannot be so foolish???
briefly, surely the the person she’s stalking for starts with D and reminds one of something which rhymes with the american pronunciation of “tomato”.
There’s something very warming about loud rock, loud, not-quite-in-tune, but anthemic, with some echo in the mix, major keys only….like a call to the distant past, across the land of the memories, and the drums are if anything even more extravagantly defiant than the voice.
Can’t sing, can’t do the blues, but comes as a comfort, like a BBQ with burnt chops and Italian snags, with beers.
Felix…we can hope. 🙂
What could possess the Liberals that they might turn to the failure they rejected only weeks ago, or to the loopy Abbott? Could they? Could Labor be so lucky?
The Liberals have been routinely misreading the electorate for the last decade. Some of them think they are at the dawn of a new Liberal Golden Age.
“The Liberals have been routinely misreading the electorate for the last decade. Some of them think they are at the dawn of a new Liberal Golden Age.”
Its interesting the RWnutjobbie web sites. There are quite a few of them there utterly convinced that all the Libs need to do to win is go further to the right and be run by the likes of Craig Kelly, Abetz and Abbott. The polling and recent bye election results are all irrelevant as far as they are concerned.
And, that they are the reps of the “silent majority”. 🙂 All in all not a bad situation for the ALP. Any influence they have is all contributing to instability for the Libs by encouraging the RWFW’s in the Libs.
Really, at the moment, my only concern is the make up of the Senate after the next election. Hopefully it will be a workable one for an ALP Govt. The worry would be that we get RWFW’s as x benchers, and/or the Greens get all purist. However, i would see a desire for stable Govt that does actual policy maybe mitigating against that.
imacca the industrial scale lying campaign, aided and abetted by Murdoch, prior to the 2013 election seemed to work fine. They read the electorate as dummies and they were correct.
😃
🐂
cc
2013 was lost by Labor. It wasn’t won by the Liberals reading the electorate
The LNP have become very Catholic, the one and only true church and you are all wrong, as sinners, so we shall rule in a manner to save you. So says CFW to the heretics not recognizing the RWNJs as the agents of all things good.
I’m surprised Latin hasn’t been made a compulsory language study! (there are some linguistic positives with Latin)
And nath, of course, reveals his sexism.
There are several other PMs receiving exactly the same benefits as Julia Gillard, most of them doing far less than she is. But he only singles out one for criticism.
Anyway, as I’ve argued before, altering the superannuation for MPs has made them more prone to influence by vested interests. If you don’t know what your future might be beyond politics and don’t have the guarantee of financial support, there is greater temptation to help out someone who might be a potential employer.
You’re also going to be a lot more reluctant to lose your seat – so instead of taking one for the team and bowing out gracefully, you’re going to dig in and hang around long after your use by date. You’re also going to be more desperate when polls are going south and make rash decisions – such as changing leaders – if you think it gives you an edge.
The job market for ex pollies – those who haven’t cosied up to big business, at least – isn’t that great, as both Costello and Kennett demonstrated.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
Michael Koziol reports on another spray delivered by Malcolm Turnbull.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/if-peter-was-the-answer-what-was-the-question-turnbull-s-spray-at-dutton-20181116-p50gm5.html
And Connie F-W also has a spray.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/17/concetta-fierravanti-wells-questions-morrisons-approach-in-pacific
Katharine Murphy writes that Morrison’s Israel embassy policy cannot be fathomed – and risks his political survival.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2018/nov/17/morrisons-israel-embassy-policy-cannot-be-fathomed-and-risks-his-political-survival
And Bob Carr says that the Coalition’s Israel embassy move trashes Australia’s reputation as a serious country.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2018/nov/17/the-coalitions-israel-embassy-move-trashes-australias-reputation-as-a-serious-country
Peter van Onselen tells us why politics appears to be so bad.
https://outline.com/K4AtCV
Jacqui Maley critiques Frydenberg’s video for both style and content.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/negative-jeering-be-careful-what-you-sell-to-young-voters-20181116-p50ghs.html
Tracey Hind has some ideas on conditional negative gearing.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/let-s-say-yes-to-negative-gearing-on-this-one-condition-20181116-p50ghh.html
The CIA’s conclusion that the murder of Jamal Khashoggi was ordered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has been described as the most damaging blow yet to the de facto Saudi leader, officially placing him at the heart of a scandal that continues to shake the region.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/17/cia-khashoggi-findings-highly-damaging-to-saudi-prince-mohammed-bin-salman
Doctors at the embattled new Northern Beaches Hospital have threatened to withhold treatment from private patients in a desperate move to force the state government to act on their concerns about the under-resourced facility.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/doctors-threaten-to-withhold-treatment-at-northern-beaches-hospital-20181117-p50gnx.html
The health minister has told Healthscope to fix the problem but he won’t step in to act.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/health-minister-tells-northern-beaches-hospital-operator-to-get-it-fixed-but-won-t-step-in-20181117-p50gnz.html
Matt Wade says that Morrison’s Pacific pivot must not come at the expense of traditional strengths in Australia’s aid program.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/don-t-let-pacific-rivalry-change-the-way-we-help-our-neighbours-20181116-p50gj7.html
Is there a secret to understanding primary school reports these days?
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sterile-and-technical-the-problem-with-primary-school-report-cards-20181116-p50gl5.html
Sally Whyte reports that Hundreds of IT contractors were shown the door at the Department of Home Affairs in Canberra this week due to budget pressures, with industry experts fearing a flood of workers will push down incomes across the sector.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/federal/it-contractors-shown-the-door-en-masse-at-home-affairs-20181116-p50gj3.html
With only a week to go till polling day on Saturday 24 November, interest in the Victorian state election seems to be at an all-time low. Cynical voters seem unmoved by the predictable strikes against the planet in the form of yet another Coalition-led proposal for a coal-fired power station, party pledges for free tampons and tellies and have tuned out on political scandals — Greens candidates rapping on about date-rape or forgetting their knickers, aspiring Libs starring in anti-Muslim videos and Labor dodging police interviews. For academic and journalist, Dr Martin Hirst, the fog of indifference that has descended on Victoria is blinding voters to the real threat of an upset.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/victorian-election-date-rape-rapping-and-anti-muslim-rants-but-does-anyone-care/
Theresa May’s remaining cabinet ministers have put a price on their loyalty, as sources say she only has a week to meet their demands.
https://outline.com/V2YjyA
Nick Cohen accuses the right in the UK of driving the country towards destruction.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/17/compromise-brexit-right-want-to-drive-us-to-destruction-eu
Behind the scenes at Westminster and the teetering fate of the British government lies an even more profound change in British politics: the very real possibility of the break-up of the United Kingdom.
https://theconversation.com/the-brexit-mess-could-lead-to-a-break-up-of-a-no-longer-united-kingdom-107093
Former CIA chief James Clapper has come out of the shadows to attack Trump.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/former-us-intel-chief-clapper-from-the-shadows-to-the-spotlight-20181031-p50d4b.html
After several career changes it seems Mark Latham has found an appropriate home in the One Nation Party, writes Jacinta Coelho.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/mark-lathams-identity-crisis,12108
Matthew Knott writes about the battle to end gerrymandering in the US. It really is a disgrace over there.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/a-cancer-on-democracy-the-battle-to-end-gerrymandering-in-america-20181116-p50gdk.html
Greg Jericho reckons Keating’s got it wrong about superannuation.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2018/nov/18/paul-keating-still-has-a-great-turn-of-phrase-but-his-thinking-is-out-of-date
The dangerous building cladding issue is causing a lot heartache in Victoria.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/we-can-t-afford-bill-for-victoria-s-cladding-crisis-pensioners-say-20181117-p50go5.html
Queensland Liberal National party moderates have warned of a “rum rebellion” if the party’s state council meeting in Bundaberg this weekend takes action against three MPs who voted for abortion rights.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/17/lnp-moderates-warn-of-rum-rebellion-if-trio-who-backed-abortion-rights-disendorsed
Here’s Peter FitzSimons’ weekly column complete with a good joke.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/my-cuppa-with-dave-sharma-while-storm-brews-for-libs-20181116-p50gji.html
The world of professional darts has been rocked by two players accusing each other of repeatedly breaking wind during a match.
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/nov/17/stink-hits-darts-grand-slam-as-match-features-flatulent-end
Kate McClymont reports on a trial at which todays nomination for “Arseholes of the Week” are appearing.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/can-i-keep-half-asks-lucky-gattellari-about-his-10m-extortion-demand-20181116-p50gkz.html
Another paltry Cartoon Corner.
Zanetti and Theresa May’s woes with Brexit.
More in here.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/best-of-fairfax-cartoons-november-17-2018-20181117-h180kj.html
What Gillard does when she swans around with Rihanna —
‘Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with 50 per cent of people living below the poverty line.’
‘…Rihanna and Ms Gillard spent a week in the region, teaching students math, biology and soccer, with Rihanna using her musical talent as a learning tool throughout the trip.’
‘The duo also met with key government officials and organisations to establish ways the charities can support Malawi to improve its education system and end extreme poverty by 2030.’
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/together-we-are-powerful-rihanna-and-julia-gillard-partner-to-improve-education-in-malawi
Good Morning Bludgers 🙂
Julia Gillard is the essence of what a true Christian should be.
Michael Koziol reports on another spray delivered by Malcolm Turnbull.
And Connie F-W also has a spray.
All that pissing from outside the tent in, and inside the tent out, is getting very messy for the Liberal Party! 😆
Morning all. Like others here, I think that Gillard has shown a lot more class as ex-PM than several of her peers.
Speaking of ex-PMs Malcolm Turnbull’s comments on the Liberal party are damning:
“The truth is … the Liberal Party and the Coalition is not capable of dealing with climate change,” Turnbull told the conference.”
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/nov/17/turnbull-says-climate-change-has-become-a-third-rail-for-liberal-party
If the Libs try in parliament to get public funds to subsidise coal power Labor must oppose it. It will draw a line in the sand that is both worth a lot of votes, and consistent with Labor’s policy.
I notice some problems with the new Private-Public Hospital on the North Shore.
PPP, or PFI if you prefer, was the disaster for public services in the UK, introduced by the Tories but championed by the Blair’s New Labour.
Australian politicians have destroyed so much that was good in Australia to create a more anxious and uncaring and brutal nation.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/long_reads/pfi-banks-barclays-hsbc-rbs-tony-blair-gordon-brown-carillion-capita-financial-crash-a8202661.html
Diogenes (and Fulvio)
Thanks for a new word! I discovered through experience that I have that when I moved towards long-sighted middle age and found I was using one eye to drive the car, and one to read small print. It’s not a problem, it’s actually very useful and when I have my cataracts fixed, I don’t want it changed!!
GOP Jesus, he sounds a lot like our LNP Jesus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=46&v=SZ2L-R8NgrA
swamprat
Effing Tony Blah and his PPPs. Lovely little accounting trick to keep things off budget and give fat cats in The City 30 years of bloated management fees. Meanwhile the taxpayers end up forking out several 100% of the initial cost. The dodgiest of dodgy ‘hire purchase’ deals.
Add an h to the start of this address to see a ‘gruesome’ but true Steve Bell cartoon of Tony B
ttp://www.sauer-thompson.com/archives/opinion/CartoonBell5.jpg
lizzie @ #875 Sunday, November 18th, 2018 – 7:40 am
Extremely interesting.
Best wishes to all concerned. ☮ 😍
Back to the womens cricket. The Indian batters are really good. 👍 🏏 (On record replay).
The ACT’s light rail is about to do a classic demonstration of the PPP lunacy.
And they now want to double the length…
My left eye is better for detail but has a yellow tinge because of a cataract.
My right eye is better for assessing colour, because the cataract was removed, but it is worse at detail because the cataract operation was a partial failure.
My eyes also have very different focal lengths.
When fully assessing images I have to close one eye at a time as well as change glasses/shift my position, depending on the distance of the image from where I am standing.
There is no technical word for this situation but ‘My eyes are fucked’ fits the bill adequately.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/a-10k-donation-bought-a-property-developer-a-penthouse-meeting-with-matthew-guy-20170918-gyjwd5.html
lizzie @ #877 Sunday, November 18th, 2018 – 7:02 am
Pause the cricket.
I don’t get this. Surely the local MP or other authority figure can sort this out. It’s not as though this traditional owner of the country is going to be deported.
Toodles.
Boerwar
I have heard of “cataract op failure” before but didn’t know what it meant. I’ve had one done successfully but now I’m nervous…
Bw
P.S. Must make birdwatching difficult.
Boerwar @ #881 Sunday, November 18th, 2018 – 7:18 am
I will, from this moment, cease whinging about my huge problem of having to instill one eye drop.
Bugger, I have screwed that up already.
Best wishes.
Cricket.
lizzie
Your odds are actually pretty good.
Apparently cataract operations go pear-shaped at the rate of about one in fifty. In my case the light in the eye is much better but the inserted lens distorts detail. This can only partially be rectified with glasses. Overall the sight in the operated eye was worse after the operation than before the operation.
One in five also results in something called posterior capsule opacification. This happened to me. I started to go blind in the operated eye which was quite frightening because I was out bush at the time and well beyond reach of the eye doctor. It was rectified quickly and simply with laser treatment.
‘lizzie says:
Sunday, November 18, 2018 at 8:23 am
Bw
P.S. Must make birdwatching difficult.’
Yes. Fortunately I can recognize the majority of birds usually including details such as species and gender, and often specific behaviours, simply by their calls.
It DOES make bird photography much harder.
My mother recently had 2 cataract operations in pretty quick succession. Both were an unqualified success and she now has 20/20 vision. 🙂
C@t
That is the usual outcome.
Nath
You may be a troll but you are an articulate one.
Boerwar
Birding with Ken was very frustrating because he had long sight and could identify birds even as they flew away (besides being more experienced than most of the group). I had to take an extra split second to pull both eyes into focus!
As far as political donations go, why don’t they have a central government ‘cashier’ where all donations must go before being forwarded to the political party…all online and cashless.
No direct donations at all.
Any donation not submitted through the ‘çashier’ is immediately corrupt?
The NT government had a recent program of visiting remote communities to issue birth certificates and IDs to people without them. It was hugely successful where it operated.
Centrelink did used to have a system where they would go to banks with people with no ID and could actually open a bank account for payments with no paper work. Most offices would do this a few times a year. But there was a major fraud case of a Centrelink officer about ten years ago opening dozens of accounts for non-existence people and claim payments – this was detected because of abnormally high number of non-ID bank account openings. So the rules might have change since then.
Just watching the french news. It turns out that there are significant numbers of the population en colere which they are expressing in clouds of tear gas during attempts to stop traffic.
Exactly why they are en colere at this moment in time is unclear.
Torchbearer @ #892 Sunday, November 18th, 2018 – 8:41 am
Once more with feeling….
That is the best idea on this topic that I have seen.
It would make the whole process transparent, and able to be reported in real time.
(my previous post on this disappeared)
Boerwar
Petrol.1 dead .
.
One dead, dozens injured as France protests fuel tax
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=12162037
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/17/habitat-loss-biodiversity-wildlife-climate-change?CMP=soc_568
‘lizzie says:
Sunday, November 18, 2018 at 8:40 am
Boerwar
Birding with Ken was very frustrating because he had long sight and could identify birds even as they flew away (besides being more experienced than most of the group). I had to take an extra split second to pull both eyes into focus!’
Normally I can predict what a bird is just by context – the type of movement, the general shape, the general size, where it is in a tree, relationships with other birds… The enjoyment is then confirming/not confirming the ID. I almost never use binoculars any more.
If I am with experts I just name the birds. It is a bit of a competitive game to see who calls it correctly the firstest.
When I am with beginner groups I hold back and let them have first chop.
You know it makes sense – Australia is being carried north-west by plate tectonics, so too is our military future according to the maps in this article: Hence the meeting and announcement with Pence in PNG.
https://www.opednews.com/articles/1/Be-Afraid—Be-Very-Afra-by-John-Rachel-China-Russia-Alliance_Corporations-Military-Industrial-Complex_Education_Increasing-The-Risk-Of-Nuclear-War-181117-609.html
PS Someone left Antarctica off the US command structure – I am sure they will rectify this in the very near future.