The addition of this week’s Newspoll to the BludgerTrack poll aggregate has prompted a solid increase in Labor’s already commanding lead, amounting to 0.6% on two-party preferred and three on the seat projection. The latter gains amount to one apiece in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. Full results as always on the link below.
Holiday reading:
• Democracy 2025, a collaboration between the Museum of Australian Democracy, the University of Canberra and the Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis, has produced a report entitled Trust and Democracy in Australia, based on an online survey of 1000 respondents conducted by Ipsos in late July. It finds only 41% of respondents expressing satisfaction with the way democracy works in Australia, which presumably hasn’t improved any in the wake of Malcolm Turnbull’s demise. This is a remarkable 31% lower than in 2013, though not much different from when the previous result in 2016. The results were also fairly consistent across age cohorts, contrary to an expectation that it may have been driven by the young. Compared with the 2014 survey, respondents were a lot less likely to think the media had too much power, and more likely to complain that politicians didn’t deal with “the issues that really matter”. Presented with various reform options, far the most popular with campaign spending and donation caps.
• The Electoral Regulation Research Network has published a research paper on the implications of the dramatic increase of “convenience voting”, i.e. pre-poll and postal voting.
Are you on the copper NBN C@t?
@BushfireBill
This seems now like an exclusive little cohort. I admit I haven’t contributed much and don’t have any emotional attachment apart from admiration of many of the posters knowledge and the outstanding info provided by our host but I don’t understand why my political interests can’t be raised in this a public blog without being shut down as a “troll” – a term which I only seem to encounter on this blog.
ICANCU, you should go for it pal. talk about what you want and defend it. no one else is going to do it for you. I will defend you, stand behind me while these bullies vent themselves and I will shield you until you have the strength to stand for yourself. I am the shield of the little people, the defender of the meek, the Jesus of PB.
CC if we had got fiber to the home; phones blowing up would have been a thing of the past.
Late Riser @ #1249 Saturday, December 15th, 2018 – 9:55 pm
More like an extension of the Cultural Revolution.
ICanCU
I don’t think Bushfire was having a go at you.
I wasn’t.
No thanks Nath – thanks for the heroic offer. I just wanted to discuss my political thoughts and concerns in a respectful way. Bad timing I guess.
ICanCU, don’t let a bully like BB put you off. hang in there.
“BK says:
Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 7:50 pm
All goods from China are unloaded at Rotterdam then transferred to smaller vessels because UK can’t handle super cargo
____
This is a HUGE issue with Brexit!”
BK I saw this and checked with a ship-knowing type in the north of England and he says the UK can handle super cargo…..might be worth a bit more rsch in this area…….
Interested in the ALP policies up for debate and endorsement over the next 4 days at the National Conference
Here they are, all 225 pages ….
https://files.lab18.org.au/National_Platform_Final_Draft.pdf
Cud Chewer @ #1251 Saturday, December 15th, 2018 – 9:58 pm
Yeah. I’m on an acreage with not many neighbours around me and we would have to pay a motza to have FTTP.
Though I will say that the modem appears to have sputtered back to life again strangely. All different coloured lights but it’s working. 🙂
Boerwar @ #1235 Saturday, December 15th, 2018 – 6:39 pm
A sector that has torn the fabric out of British society. A sector that has been instrumental in the imposition of austerity on vast areas of England and Wales, whilst availing themselves of huge tax breaks.
It is the devastation of British society the banksters have been instrumental in that was the real reason vast areas of England and Wales voted to leave. It was the usual suspects in the right wing media that managed to convince these areas that the EU was responsible for the devastation they were experiencing.
Financial Services by its very definition builds nothing, it just acts as middle-men taking a clip as money passes through their hands from one sector to another. They are the ones who have profited handsomely form the wholesale privatisations, outsourcings and the likes that have done so much damage to society in the UK.
Ask anyone in Barnsley, Birmingham or Bradford how they would vote on a referendum to keep the banksters, and the vote against would be a lot higher than the leave vote achieved in those areas.
Have a look at this map of the UK:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Results_of_the_United_Kingdom_European_Union_membership_referendum,_2016#/media/File:United_Kingdom_EU_referendum_2016_area_results_2-tone.svg
The blue areas voted to leave, yellow to remain.
From that it’s easy to see why Corbyn is quite rightly employing “masterful inactivity”. If he comes out in favour of Remain, he loses the blue areas. If he comes out for Leave, he loses the yellow areas. He reallyis damned if he does, and damned if he doesn’t. That’s why he is best advised to let the Tories sort out the mess they created of and by themselves.
Just like Labor in Australia can fix up the mess created by the Aussie Tories, when they’re in office, so too can Labour fix the mess their Tories created when they’re in office. In the meantime it’s best for Labor and Labour to grab some popcorn, sit back and watch the Tories self destruct in both countries.
On a side note, the right wing party in the US is also self destructing because of tying themselves to a criminal buffoon. But that’s a story for a different time.
For C@t:
Fuzzbox – Love Is The Slug:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXWqfxj-mlU
pica
Is this ship big enough to be a ‘super cargo’ ship ? 🙂
.
.
World’s LARGEST container ship that weighs 210,890 tonnes and spans FOUR football pitches makes its maiden call at UK port
The 21,413 OOCL Hong Kong made its maiden call at the Hutchinson Port of Felixstowe, in Suffolk
It marked the return of the ship to the port after a 17 year absence from British seas
The enormous mega vessel weighs 210,890 tonnes, is 400 metres long and has a width of 58.8 metres
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4628552/World-s-LARGEST-container-ship-comes-UK-port.html
rhwombat, The descriptions of the cultural revolution opened a window for me into alien (to me) attitudes of personal acceptance of official cruelty, and century long planning and perseverance. But I’m afraid I’ll have to wait until I read the novels again to think what you mean. 🙁 The novels felt like they were let down by the translation, as if a layer was missing. Maybe I’ll see more next time.
CH was very much a closed town with outsiders not welcome because the established specialists struggled to make a living as anyone who could sort treatment out of town. PMQ was much more open and expansive with more people staying in town. The CH guys claimed they did not know why this occurred
Are the ALP thinking of adopting a policy in sync with public sentiment over large businesses Nissan, Adani, etc who have sales in the hundreds of millions and profits in the millions but structure themselves to pay no income tax in Australia?
Fuzzbox guitarist Jo Dunne, 43, dies after cancer battle:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-20109648
Dan Gulberry
Sounds like ‘bullshit jobs’, in which case the UK won’t miss them.
Just returned from a trailer park Xmas Party, where I was gifted “Kevin Rudd The PM Years”. I thanked them immensely from the heart for their for very thoughtful gift. Further, I had a conversation with someone from Rochdale, Manchester, who thought Maggie was the bees knees. I thought that if he thought that, what chance was there with Brexit – not meaning to be pretentious(?).
sprocket_ @ #1261 Saturday, December 15th, 2018 – 10:23 pm
So, no actual “policy” on population or migration
Slightly better on climate change, but mostly weasel words
We’ll see what comes out of the conference … because what is going in is not that impressive 🙁
@frednk & Bushfire
Thanks for clearing that up …
Is there any chance ALP will push hard to dethrone the Morrison government? The problem is our current PM has not been a party leader and his team are too inexperienced to do the job. They didn’t have any plan – obviously and have been thrust into their roles unexpectedly. The federal environment minister is a classic case of clueless incompetence. Being environmentally oriented this is a big concern to me. We need capable people running the government asap ..
poroti:
If I may be so bold to enquire: what do the sequential full stops mean? Thus:
.
.
Please don’t get me wrong; I am a pedant.
Late Riser @ #1270 Saturday, December 15th, 2018 – 7:36 pm
Zactly.
Itza:
A shocking send up of Dame Margot, produced, directed by a woman:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=pshyco+bitches&view=detail&mid=3C919667706AD3C8A7F83C919667706AD3C8A7F8&FORM=VIRE
ICanCU, I don’t know about the parliamentary procedures you would need to turf the government before any election, ‘Dismissal Style’. And the independents appear to be mostly ‘liberal lite’ and not much interested in supporting an ALP government, and their help would be needed to force that. Even if that were not so, there is no parliament now until, I think, February some time, so there is no opportunity in any case. So all I can offer is that the wheels of our democracy for the most part grind very slowly, and the surest way of replacing the current government is at the next election. And of course in the mean time things continue as before. 🙁
Last for tonight. Be damned to those whomsoever claims Camilia isn’t ridgy didge:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9e82ODqXxU
Mavis Smith @ #1277 Saturday, December 15th, 2018 – 8:33 pm
I’ve met her. She asked me how I could bear the heat, obviously unaware that this part of the world is extremely mild temperature-wise compared to the rest of the country.
Confessions:
It’s the lot of those whom must be obeyed to indulge in small talk. Conversely I had chat tonight with a friend of some thirty years, the conversation, the piss, the gossip flowing swimmingly well.
So who paid for FFM JBish and ‘friend’ to go to the wedding?
It is interesting that this still persists!
Adelaide’s version closed down in 1988.
https://www.adelaiderememberwhen.com.au/mixed-memories-for-marineland/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-15/animal-activists-force-halt-to-sea-world-dolphin-show/10624016
Mavis:
She was very laid back and came across as genuine. It was an unseasonably hot day the day she and Charles were here and I did feel sorry for them.
Hot tip: Don’t squirt tap water up yer nose.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/rare-brain-eating-amoebas-kill-seattle-woman-leave-doctors-bracing-for-possible-repeats/
poroti @ #1267 Saturday, December 15th, 2018 – 9:28 pm
So we can assume that in the case of brexit at least one very large container ship from China can dock in the UK. That alone should produce many extra jpbs on the UK.
Sorry bout that Chief ❗
https://outline.com/n7zEax
https://www.smh.com.au/education/an-extraordinary-achievement-the-15-year-old-who-got-a-99-95-atar-20181214-p50mc3.html
‘An extraordinary achievement’: The 15-year-old who got a 99.95 ATAR
I don’t know what to say about this young man – except WOW ❗
Good morning. A poor effort, I’m afraid.
Bill Shorten will use his opening address to Labor’s national conference to unveil new subsidies to promote more affordable housing at a cost of $6.6bn over a decade.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/dec/16/labor-to-unveil-66bn-affordable-housing-plan-at-national-conference
So what is Garnaut so worried about? He’s worried about the big and rising dangers now loose in the wider world, “more complex and dangerous than in my conscious lifetime”. He’s worried about economic vulnerabilities. He’s worried about the rising denial of science and facts, most evident in Australia’s failure to produce a cohesive energy and carbon emissions policy. And he worries that “we have seen monopolies and rent expand in our economy, feeding back into the political system as vested interests’ dominance over the public interest”
https://www.theage.com.au/national/australia-has-much-to-celebrate-and-to-fear-20181214-p50ma0.html
Australian talks with Indonesia over a $16.5 billion trade deal have been stalled since the announcement because of concern at the surprise decision, made at a time when Palestinian officials were visiting Jakarta.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/critics-take-aim-at-rookie-call-after-pm-confirms-israel-policy-tilt-20181215-p50mi0.html
Both police and RSPCA prosecutors told the court the couple had used aliases and numerous different mobile phone numbers to advertise the kittens via the Gumtree website.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/alleged-kitten-breeders-in-court-amid-warnings-over-buying-pets-online-20181215-p50mhc.html
Coalmines planned in the Galilee Basin – including Adani’s Carmichael mine – understated the likely impacts on surrounding water resources, a federal government scientific report has found.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/15/galilee-mine-plans-understated-water-impact-government-report-says
The UN met on Saturday in Poland to discuss a draft agreement on climate change, which sources said was likely to pass, as exhausted delegates made compromises on some key issues but left other contentious problems to be resolved next year.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/15/un-climate-change-talks-postpone-contentious-issues-with-draft-agreement
Maximising the benefits of solar is not a matter of “set-and-forget”
https://www.theage.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/survey-finds-solar-panels-can-save-you-even-more-money-20181213-p50m51.html
Father Rod Bower thinks there are too many Christians in Australia, which is something of a surprising sentiment coming from an archdeacon in the Anglican church.
https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/when-i-look-at-jesus-message-it-is-a-political-message-father-rod-bower-20181206-h18t91.html
Trump is unlikely to face indictment when in office because of Justice Department guidelines that presidents are immune from criminal prosecution.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/the-president-committed-a-felony-fog-of-scandal-around-trump-thickens-20181215-p50mgs.html
Joe Biden is talking with friends and longtime supporters about whether, at 76, he’s too old to seek the White House
https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/joe-biden-considers-the-age-issue-as-he-ponders-2020-white-house-run-20181215-p50miv.html
Zinke, 57, played a leading part in Trump’s efforts to roll back environmental regulations and promote domestic energy development, and echoed Trump’s claims that lax forest management was to blame for the California devastation.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/interior-secretary-zinke-stepping-down-says-trump-20181216-p50mj2.html
Useful foreign expressions for Christmas?: Schnapsidee: The word for an ingenious plan hatched by drunk Germans; Struisvogelpolitiek: Translates from the Dutch as “ostrich politics”. The ever-so-polite Dutch employ this to pretend they didn’t notice something (like a fart at the dinner table).
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/good-news/2018/12/15/foreign-expressions-festive/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Sunday%20Best%2020181216
Mounting legal threats surround Trump as nearly every organization he has led is under investigation
Trump’s 2016 campaign is under scrutiny by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, whose investigation into Russian interference has already led to guilty pleas by his campaign chairman and four advisers.
Trump’s inaugural committee has been probed by Mueller for illegal foreign donations, a topic that the incoming House Intelligence Committee chairman plans to further investigate next year.
Trump’s charity is locked in an ongoing suit with New York state, which has accused the foundation of “persistently illegal conduct.”
The mounting inquiries are building into a cascade of legal challenges that threaten to dominate Trump’s third year in the White House. In a few weeks, Democrats will take over in the House and pursue their own investigations into all of the above — and more.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mounting-legal-threats-surround-trump-as-nearly-every-organization-he-has-led-is-under-investigation/2018/12/15/4cfb4482-ffbb-11e8-862a-b6a6f3ce8199_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.10b06b761251
Ryan Zinke Is Out As Interior Department Secretary
The loyal soldier for Trump’s “energy dominance” agenda had tallied up more than a dozen federal investigations.
Zinke had a tumultuous tenure as chief steward of America’s natural resources, facing nearly 20 federal investigations ― one of which his agency’s internal watchdog recently referred to the Justice Department for possible criminal violations ― and besieged by a steady drumbeat of unfavorable headlines.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/ryan-zinke-out-interior-secretary_us_5ac228dfe4b0a47437ac7aef
( Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein
Ryan Zinke will be the 402nd person to leave the Trump administration.
On average, every 1.7 days another person leaves his administration. )
lizzie
Sunday, December 16th, 2018 – 7:05 am
Comment #1287
I really like the Rod Bower story – ring a lot of bells for me.
BB,
Your statement about those that engage with trolls degrading engagement and dialogue on this blog are spot on.
Without the block function, this blog becomes a pointless series of back and forth with the usual offenders trolling with offensive, wrong and unproductive comments and replies back and forth from innocent or hapless posters.
It is so much easier to just block nath, P1, Rex etc.
Try and remember the last time engaging with these lead anywhere.
His worst nightmare: Trump’s life under a legal microscope
Weeks of devastating legal revelations have left Donald Trump’s political career clouded by criminality and his life, presidency and business empire under assault by relentless prosecutors on multiple fronts.
Days of court filings, flipped witnesses, damaging disclosures and sentencing hearings over the last month have delivered blows that appear to expose Trump and key associates to deep legal and political jeopardy.
But the head-spinning volume of material being churned out by special counsel Robert Mueller and other jurisdictions often also blurs the bigger picture of a presidency beset by a span of scandal that is staggering in its breadth.
For now, however, it’s clear: the President’s legal and political position is far more perilous than it was weeks ago and he has reason to be worried about a flurry of investigations that are digging deep into his private, personal, business and political life.
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/12/15/politics/donald-trump-robert-mueller-investigations-russia/index.html
caf @ #1284 Sunday, December 16th, 2018 – 12:22 am
Yep. I’ve been involved in a couple of cases of amoebic meningitis, and tey are likely to increase with temperature rises. They do not end well. “Neti pots” are alt-med bullshit: If you are going to mess with your upper respiratory tract microflora, do it the way the FSM intended – with your finger.
Why Tony, Whyalla’s still on the map … and powering ahead,
https://www.smh.com.au/national/why-tony-whyalla-s-still-on-the-map-and-powering-ahead-20181214-p50me7.html
https://www.outline.com/Ah2s6y
The article includes a nice photo of Mr. Abbott for you to print and add to that spare spot on your refrigerator. 😇
KayJay @ #1286 Sunday, December 16th, 2018 – 6:47 am
Death Stare Barbie (and Ken)?
KayJay
I liked Rod Bowers’ comment that there are ‘too many’ Christians, meaning, I think, that there are too many people who pretend for social or other reasons. Our current PM stands out, to me, but there are many others with power over people.
lizzie @ #1296 Sunday, December 16th, 2018 – 7:30 am
I often point out to anybody interested (not many) that Christmas is a religious (searching for word) festival, event, celebration. I guess I may as well squirt water up my nose.
Good work this morning – I am looking for a few more items to amaze, delight and enthrall us. Did I say thanks for the Dawn Patrol ❓
Thanks for the Dawn Patrol. 😎
Who is that emaciated woman on the right?
I am pleased that the ALP have promised 6 billion for affordable housing but are subsidies to developers the right way to go about it. A 20% discount on rent for ten years? Doesn’t seem the right way to me.
Fulvio
‘Barbie and Ken’ is so apt. I also noticed that Julie had ‘carelessly’ dropped a scarf over the contents of her carry bag. Such a sensible precaution when you are constantly pursued by the paparazzi trying to find out what you have been buying!
Thinks: Is JB the first minister to make herself into an international star?