Poll positioning

Fraught preselections aplenty as the major parties get their houses in order ahead of a looming federal election.

Kicking off a federal election year with an overdue accumulation of preselection news, going back to late November:

• Liberal Party conservative Craig Kelly was last month saved from factional moderate Kent Johns’ preselection challenge in his southern Sydney seat of Hughes, which was widely reported as having decisive support in local party branches. This followed the state executive’s acquiescence to Scott Morrison’s demand that it rubber-stamp preselections for all sitting members of the House of Representatives, also confirming the positions of Jason Falinski in Mackellar, John Alexander in Bennelong and Lucy Wicks in Robertson. Kelly had threatened a week earlier to move to the cross bench if dumped, presumably with a view to contesting the seat as an independent. Malcolm Turnbull stirred the pot by calling on the executive to defy Morrison, noting there had been “such a long debate in the New South Wales Liberal Party about the importance of grass roots membership involvement”. This referred to preselection reforms that had given Johns the edge over Kelly, which had been championed by conservatives and resisted by moderates. Turnbull’s critics noted he raised no concerns when the executive of the Victorian branch guaranteed sitting members’ preselections shortly before he was dumped as Prime Minister.

• The intervention that saved Craig Kelly applied only to lower house members, and was thus of no use to another beleaguered conservative, Senator Jim Molan, who had been relegated a week earlier to the unwinnable fourth position on the Coalition’s ticket. Hollie Hughes and Andrew Bragg were chosen for the top two positions, with the third reserved to the Nationals (who have chosen Perin Davey, owner of a communications consultancy, to succeed retiring incumbent John “Wacka” Williams). Despite anger at the outcome from conservatives in the party and the media, Scott Morrison declined to intervene. Morrison told 2GB that conservatives themselves were to blame for Molan’s defeat in the preselection ballot, as there was “a whole bunch of people in the very conservative part of our party who didn’t show up”.

• Labor’s national executive has chosen Diane Beamer, a former state government minister who held the seats of Badgerys Creek and Mulgoa from 1995 to 2011, to replace Emma Husar in Lindsay. The move scotched Husar’s effort to recant her earlier decision to vacate the seat, after she became embroiled in accusations of bullying and sexual harassment in August. Husar is now suing Buzzfeed over its reporting of the allegations, and is reportedly considering running as an independent. The Liberals have preselected Melissa McIntosh, communications manager for the not-for-profit Wentworth Community Housing.

• The misadventures of Nationals MP Andrew Broad have created an opening in his seat of Mallee, which has been in National/Country Party hands since its creation in 1949, although the Liberals have been competitive when past vacancies have given them the opportunity to contest it. The present status on suggestions the seat will be contested for the Liberals by Peta Credlin, who was raised locally in Wycheproof, is that she is “being encouraged”. There appears to be a view in the Nationals that the position should go to a woman, with Rachel Baxendale of The Australian identifying three potential nominees – Anne Mansell, chief executive of Dried Fruits Australia; Caroline Welsh, chair of the Birchip Cropping Group; and Tanya Chapman, former chair of Citrus Australia – in addition to confirmed starter Anne Warner, a social worker.

• Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie yesterday scotched suggestions that she might run in Mallee. The view is that she is positioning herself to succeeding Cathy McGowan in Indi if she decides not to recontest, having recently relocated her electorate office from Bendigo to one of Indi’s main population centres, Wodonga. The Liberals last month preselected Steven Martin, a Wodonga-based engineer.

• Grant Schultz, Milton real estate agent and son of former Hume MP Alby Schultz, has been preselected as Liberal candidate for Gilmore on New South Wales’ south coast, which the party holds on a delicate margin of 0.7%. The seat is to be vacated by Ann Sudmalis, whose preselection Schultz was preparing to challenge when she announced her retirement in September. It was reported in the South Coast Register that Joanna Gash, who held the seat from 1996 to 2013 and is now the mayor of Shoalhaven (UPDATE: Turns out Gash ceased to be so as of the 2016 election, and is now merely a councillor), declared herself “pissed off” at the local party’s endorsement of Schultz, which passed by forty votes to nine.

• Hawkesbury councillor Sarah Richards has been preselected as the Liberal candidate in Macquarie, where Labor’s Susan Templeman unseated Liberal member Louise Markus in 2016.

Author: William Bowe

William Bowe is a Perth-based election analyst and occasional teacher of political science. His blog, The Poll Bludger, has existed in one form or another since 2004, and is one of the most heavily trafficked websites on Australian politics.

3,175 comments on “Poll positioning”

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  1. a r @ #2723 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 10:18 am

    don @ #2701 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 8:37 am

    Indeed. Year 11 and 12 (2F / 3 unit / extension 1) mathematics (same thing pretty much, different iterations over the years) is not for the faint hearted, nor for those who have just General Maths from high school as their only preparation.

    Is it? I did a quick look at some example worksheets here:

    http://www.jaconline.com.au/mathsquestqld/year12b/solutions.html

    …looks like it’s kind of a hodgepodge of algebra, calculus, stats, and maybe trig?

    The mix seems odd (in the U.S. system those would each be their own units and taught in their own years, or at least, semesters), though of those I’d say only the calculus requires anything special (and in the U.S. system it was also quite common for students to complete year 12 without any exposure to calculus).

    Here is the 2018 HSC Extension 1 paper. PB’ers may care to have a go at it to refresh their memories.

    https://educationstandards.nsw.edu.au/wps/wcm/connect/8e9f3072-c973-43d9-90d7-c1bea2b136ab/2018-hsc-mathematics-ext-1.pdf?MOD=AJPERES&CACHEID=ROOTWORKSPACE-8e9f3072-c973-43d9-90d7-c1bea2b136ab-mrhngT-

  2. Barney in Go Dau @ #2682 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 9:08 am

    Pegasus @ #2665 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 5:01 am

    Greens votes flow to the ALP because the majority of Green voters would be Labor voters if the Greens didn’t exist.

    If the Greens no longer existed I would continue to not give my first preference to Labor but would cast my first preference for another left-leaning minor party or independent. I doubt I would be alone in doing so.

    So you don’t know what that Party would stand for, just that it’s not Labor!

    Interesting insight into your critical thought processes.

    😆 😆 😆 😆 😆

    And uncritical hatred of Labor.

  3. Andrew Earlwood

    You may not like it but Keating was clear in saying he supports Sally McManus and her views.

    I read what Keating said differently to you because he posted that article so show why his views did not counter those of Sally McManus.

    I did not say that Keating would now advocate to nationalise assets already sold off.

  4. Onebobsworth @ #2728 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 10:26 am

    @ Don
    As a Senior Practice Supervising Teacher over many years, rarely did I have to make the call ( in consultation with the Supervising Lecturer and Principal) to decide whether or not a Pre-Service Teacher ( Student Teacher) was suitable to become a full time teacher. Usually, the first two years of PST prac saw those students who did not put in the effort, or were not able to deal with the pressure, or who were just not suited to the profession, leave the course. If a meeting was called to discuss a PSTs suitability by Year Four of the Course, his/ her academic performance was not considered a deciding factor. It came down to whether the Assessing Team felt the the PST had all the requisite skills, the ability to connect with children and the commitment, and potential, to become the full-time professional. The evidence came from the observations of the PSTs previous and current Prac supervisors. The School’s Admin team would also sit in on the PSTs class. We did not take the decision to make a call lightly, as a PST had been in the course for almost four years.
    As a long-serving teacher, of 42 years experience, I would often refer, jokingly amongst my colleagues, to the classroom as “the front- line”. Teaching was, and is, a tough, demanding and rewarding profession, with teachers dealing with the development of, and progression of, the social and academic skills students need to have to live in the community, whilst also dealing with continual changes to curriculum, administrative decisions, parental considerations, behavioural differences and individual learning styles and needs.
    Like trainee Officers in the Defence Forces, the skills needed to become a good teacher were honed in the actual environment, not in the lecture theatre. So, these essential skills, as well as a PSTs ability to respond to a students emotional and academic needs,to interact in a meaningful way, are of far greater importance than his/ her academic performance. I believe that academic skills are important to good teaching, as a teacher needs them in order to develop those skills in their students, but highly academic PSTs don’t necessarily make good teachers. I believe in having teachers with good academic results through tertiary education, but considering academic performance shouldn’t be the sole criteria for selection in a Teacher Graduate course.
    I apologize for this rather long- winded commentary, but I believe that ultimately, a PSTs ability to become a good teacher should be determined through the process I have outlined .
    The thought that the University should make the ultimate call is both professionally and practically wrong. I wil not enter into debate whether that call is influenced by funding or policy decisions of the University involved. But our children need the most skilful and capable teachers. Teaching is a ongoing learning curve in itself. State and Federal bodies need to invest in mentoring and supporting teachers, especially in the crucial first 3-5 years of joining the profession. Experienced teachers are invaluable for our children.
    Teaching is one of the most rewarding and wonderful professions. I have a lifetime of experiences that I am so grateful for, both good and bad.
    I encourage young people to consider becoming a teacher, at whatever level, P-10 or above, private or State. Our country, and its future, need them. Let’s chose them carefully.

    Sounds great. Classroom experience is by far the best way to learn to teach, as well as sitting up the back while a top teacher does the job.

    But what I am talking about is a one year teaching diploma obtained after getting your graduate degree, unrelated (specifically) to teaching, in the sense that there was no training given in teaching during the degree pattern. The diploma was an add-on.

  6. This is what allowing Cubby station to ‘harvest’ 60% of the water in the Culgo River does to the downstream Darling system. Ideal crop for Australia, eh, Borewore.

  7. zoomster @ #2729 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 10:26 am

    My son did Specialist Maths by correspondence in Year 12. The supervising teacher commented in his half year report that my son basically never contacted him — and my son said that was because he could work out any problem more quickly by himself.

    Another person I knew – my boyfriend in Year 12 – realised before the exams that his teacher had failed to cover a significant part of the curriculum. He then learnt it for himself.

    Similarly, a guy I knew who went on to do a PhD in Pure Mathematics taught himself calculus over the school holidays when he was fifteen. Prior to that, he had been regarded as a humanities student with no aptitude for maths.

    I don’t know if it is analogous, but my best scoring HSC English student and I hardly exchanged a word all through her Year 12. She didn’t need me.

    I’ve had a couple of those. You just basically keep out of their way and let them do their thing.

  8. Psyclaw:

    I suspect that when he depart the Senate in May, Anning will become a leading extreme-Right voice. But it won’t last, as typically in a movement such as the United Patriots Front there will be in-fighting, the extent of which will see him tossed – there can be only one fuhrer, and that’s Cottrell. Australia’s version of Oswald Mosley will disappear from the public stage, principally remembered for all the wrong things.

  9. Given Labor’s love for “de-regulation” and “privatisation” it’s motto is not, “don’t let the perfect get in the way of the good”.

    If it was honest, it’s motto would be “yes, we’re right wing bastards but the alternative right wing bastards are even worse than us :)”

  10. The only way in my opinion how Fraser Anning should be treated, that the White Nationalists and Neo-Nazis get the message, is to charge him with inciting hatred under section 18c of the anti-discrimination act.

    Unfortunately the members of parliament just condemning them him without undertaking that measure. Basically has makes Anning a martyr in their eyes and embolden those people. I follow these people on Gab and support for the positions Anning argues for have been increasing among the Australian members of Gab.

  13. don @ #2747 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 7:11 am

    Barney in Go Dau @ #2750 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 10:55 am

    don @ #2730 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 6:50 am

    …

    I am here to tell you that I was interviewed in year 10, and got a small allowance as a prospective teacher, which my father pocketed, during years 11 and 12. I was in a state high school.

    Oh, no you weren’t!!!!!! 😆

    Yes, I was in a state high school in a suburb of Brisbane. I don’t know what you are getting at.

    Sorry, is this the 15 minute argument or the full half hour? 🙂

  14. Pegasus says:
    Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 9:01 am
    Greens votes flow to the ALP because the majority of Green voters would be Labor voters if the Greens didn’t exist.

    If the Greens no longer existed I would continue to not give my first preference to Labor but would cast my first preference for another left-leaning minor party or independent.

    The Greens are not a left-leaning party. They are decoys. It is not possible to both work for the defeat of the political organs of working people – Labor and the unions – and be of the left. They are mutually exclusive positions.

    The Gs are neo-grouper. They are the operational successors of the DLP. P is saying if she can’t support one lot of Groupers she’ll find another.

  15. don

    I think Barney is suggesting that dtt knows more about your background than you do yourself.

    …ie that if something you say about your life contradicts dtt, you must be wrong.

  19. don @ #2672 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 11:11 am

    Barney in Go Dau @ #2750 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 10:55 am

    don @ #2730 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 6:50 am

    …

    I am here to tell you that I was interviewed in year 10, and got a small allowance as a prospective teacher, which my father pocketed, during years 11 and 12. I was in a state high school.

    Oh, no you weren’t!!!!!! 😆

    Yes, I was in a state high school in a suburb of Brisbane. I don’t know what you are getting at.

    Don I think Barney was just doing the :-

    Oh ❗ No you weren’t !!!!!!

    Oh:?: Yes I was !!!! routine. It got a laugh from me. And for that I thank Gelos (maybe also the God of lawnmowing). 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

  20. Player One says:
    Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 10:55 am
    Simon² Katich® @ #2743 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 10:48 am

    Funny how quickly the NSW Department of Environment insisted water management is not to blame. A rather Orwellian Department name.

    It clearly never occurred to them that on the driest continent on earth, in the middle of the worst drought in living memory, with water upriver being massively over-allocated to commercial interests, and with environmental flows being sacrificed so that farmers can grow non-essential water-intensive crops … that we might have a problem.

    I mean … who could possibly have predicted it? _____________________________________________________________
    Here we go again an attempt at Queensland bashing when it comes the Murray Darling Basin. I have pointed out before that 35% of the MDB is in QLD yet Queensland extracts about 6% of the water.

    The real culprits are the Dairy farmers in NSW and Vic. growing green grass to feed their moo moos so Australian’s can have milk with their Cornflakes.

  22. I taught senior physics, and had quite a few very high achievers at HSC.
    I asked one of these, a quiet boy who rarely asked me questions, how he perceived the importance of the teacher in his success.
    “Very Important” was his assessment.
    No matter how smart a student is, physics requires considerable work.
    In his opinion, the teacher had to structure the course so that it followed an orderly progression.
    It needed a diversity of examples of problems, plus questions with solutions progressiing from easy to more difficult for work unit.
    Weekly assessments to ensure misunderstandings do not remain hidden.
    And so on.
    Most students need a teacher’s assistance when they get stuck on a problem. And of course, students ask about the difficult problems. If the teacher can’t solve it, or worse, provides an incorrect solution, then they are worse than useless.
    Teachers need expertise in their chosen subject, plus all the other skills required to be a successful teacher, some of which are learnt on the job.
    Anything less and we shortchange future generations.

  24. And Sam maiden says that the Morrison government has warned it won’t be taking “ethics advice” from the Labor Party on accepting the vote of a Queensland senator who attended a protest marred by Nazi salutes and racist abuse.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/01/07/fraser-anning-government-vote/

    They don’t need to take ‘ethics advice’ from Labor. It was former Prime Minister Tony Abbott who set the precedent, when he insisted that the Gillard government should not accept the ‘tainted vote’ (as he liked to call it) of Craig Thomson. What goes around comes around Scottie.

  27. A phone call would have fixed it, but #fakenews rules.

    Adam Houda
    ‏@LawyerAdamHouda

    The unscrupulous @dailytelegraph wrongly linking me to an incident in their toilet paper rag this morning. REMOVE MY NAME IMMEDIATELY & APOLOGIZE. #auspol

    BREAKING NEWS. TOTALLY DEFAMATORY in Daily Telegraph. False story that lawyer Adam Houda is the brother of a man with same surname charged with a shooting. Not true. Not Adam Houda’s brother. He does not know the man.

  28. Upnorth @ #2770 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 11:20 am

    Player One says:
    Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at 10:55 am
    Simon² Katich® @ #2743 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 10:48 am

    Funny how quickly the NSW Department of Environment insisted water management is not to blame. A rather Orwellian Department name.

    It clearly never occurred to them that on the driest continent on earth, in the middle of the worst drought in living memory, with water upriver being massively over-allocated to commercial interests, and with environmental flows being sacrificed so that farmers can grow non-essential water-intensive crops … that we might have a problem.

    I mean … who could possibly have predicted it? _____________________________________________________________
    Here we go again an attempt at Queensland bashing when it comes the Murray Darling Basin. I have pointed out before that 35% of the MDB is in QLD yet Queensland extracts about 6% of the water.

    The real culprits are the Dairy farmers in NSW and Vic. growing green grass to feed their moo moos so Australian’s can have milk with their Cornflakes.

    this link states that Qld is 15% of the MDB:

    https://www.mdba.gov.au/discover-basin/landscape/geography

    The Basin covers an area of more than 1 million square kilometres, which is equal to 14% of mainland Australia. The Basin includes 75% of New South Wales, more than 50% of Victoria, 15% of Queensland, 8% of South Australia, and all of the Australian Capital Territory. The Basin area is the 20th largest river catchment in the world.

    Maybe you mean flow rather than area of catchment?

  29. Tristo:

    [‘…charge him with inciting hatred under section 18c of the anti-discrimination act.’]

    That would require evidence. From what I’ve read, there is none that would satisfy a charge under 18c, him merely attending the St Kilda rally. What should happen when parliament resumes is a motion of condemnation by both Houses.

  30. don @ #2764 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 7:36 am

    …

    this link states that Qld is 15% of the MDB:

    https://www.mdba.gov.au/discover-basin/landscape/geography

    The Basin covers an area of more than 1 million square kilometres, which is equal to 14% of mainland Australia. The Basin includes 75% of New South Wales, more than 50% of Victoria, 15% of Queensland, 8% of South Australia, and all of the Australian Capital Territory. The Basin area is the 20th largest river catchment in the world.

    Maybe you mean flow rather than area of catchment?

    Isn’t that saying that 15% of Queensland is part of the MDB?

  31. I don’t understand why teaching is so undervalued. It has been that for as long as I can remember. As zoomster points out, if a teaching degree is a last resort then that is a symptom not the disease. What though is it a symptom of? Children are the most precious amongst us. Learning is the most precious act any of us can pursue. Teaching in my very limited experience is a joy, albeit it with a healthy dose of frustration. The exploration of ideas and possibilities with fresh minds is a wonderful personal reward. Teaching should be a core value of our society and suitably rewarded.

    So here are my cynical thoughts as to why it is not so.

    (1) Really good teachers are passionate and that passion dominates their personal choices. Those exceptional teachers don’t need to be looked after.
    (2) Good teachers achieve huge results, which even diluted by mediocre teaching are sufficient to maintain our society.
    (3) Teaching is a long term project, that takes years to produce “results”. It is vulnerable to short term thinking.
    (4) Teaching needs resources, which will be provided at the level to sustain our society, and no more.
    (5) A crisis might improve the situation, but only until the earlier equilibrium is restored.
    (6) A cultural shift might also do it, but from what I’ve seen I think that unlikely.

    My conclusion is that we will continue to muddle along with periods of better outcomes followed by periods of worse outcomes. The best we can do is a continual drum beat from a dedicated few. 🙁

  32. Josh Butler
    ‏Verified account @JoshButler
    18m18 minutes ago

    “Prakash would have had to register to become Fijian and to have lived in the country for at least three out of the five years before he lodged the application”

    Seems pretty categorical at this stage that he is NOT a Fijian citizen

  33. Upnorth @ #2770 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 11:20 am

    Here we go again an attempt at Queensland bashing when it comes the Murray Darling Basin.

    I didn’t single out Queenslanders. It is cotton growing that it is largely to blame, whether it is grown in Queensland or NSW …

    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/downstream-lament-cotton-its-so-absorbent/news-story/3aba6632e429e41388ba4861c4060a36

    This article seems to be mostly about the Murrumbidgee region, but I think similar figures apply to the wider MDB …

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2018-07-10/water-trading-makes-farmers-adapt/9945688

    In the Murrumbidgee region, cotton went from just 5,000 hectares before 2010, to 35,000 hectares in 2016, while rice dropped from its 2013 peak of 64,000 hectares to 18,000 in 2016, according to ABARES figures.

    ABARES figures also showed that between 2005-06 and 2015-16, water use on cotton in the Murrumbidgee increased from 26 gigalitres to 320 gigalitres.

    “The returns for rice and cotton are pretty similar, but the returns per megalitre are quite different,” Mr Draper said.

    “Water was a fairly large part of the decision, because we just wanted to have that other option for years when water availability was low.”

    In years when water is plentiful, Mr Draper will put in more rice. Cotton will be grown in drier years.

    Why on earth do we grow cotton at all, let alone preferentially in drier years?

  34. Barney in Go Dau @ #2780 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 11:44 am

    don @ #2764 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 7:36 am

    …

    this link states that Qld is 15% of the MDB:

    https://www.mdba.gov.au/discover-basin/landscape/geography

    The Basin covers an area of more than 1 million square kilometres, which is equal to 14% of mainland Australia. The Basin includes 75% of New South Wales, more than 50% of Victoria, 15% of Queensland, 8% of South Australia, and all of the Australian Capital Territory. The Basin area is the 20th largest river catchment in the world.

    Maybe you mean flow rather than area of catchment?

    Isn’t that saying that 15% of Queensland is part of the MDB?

    Ah, yes, maybe it is – so for this purpose my link is meaningless. Thank you.

  39. don @ #2743 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 9:50 am

    DaretoTread @ #2714 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 9:57 am

    don @ #2683 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 8:18 am

    zoomster @ #2677 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 8:56 am

    ..and I repeat: raising ATARs will simply result in a dearth of graduating teachers.

    Students aren’t saying, “I won’t go into teaching because the ATAR is too low”. They’re saying things like “I don’t want to teach, it sucks” or “Teaching doesn’t pay enough.”

    We have a drastic undersupply of Maths and Science teachers now. Raising entry requirements will do nothing to fix that.

    Teaching has to be made a more attractive career – then the rest will follow.

    When I went into teaching, it was the only way I could get an education, despite excellent marks. We simply did not have the money for me to go to university, so I applied for and got a teachers fellowship, starting in year 10.

    Looking back there were other avenues I could have explored – scholarships into engineering or to banks for example, but that was simply not on the radar.

    Maths/science graduates would be foolish to go into teaching if they got a half way decent degree, unless they really wanted to teach, and did not mind the fact that their lifetime income would be far below what it could be in industry or banking. A former HOD of maths in my school went into an actuarial job, for which she was well suited, and got a huge pay increase.

    Don I am a tad puzzled by this comment. You are from NSW and i suspect roughly my age.

    At that time the routes for teachers were university teachers scholarships which involved a standard UG degree, a year at teachers college and 5 years 9or was it 3) being bonded to teach anywhere in NSW as directed. This was the route for kids from poorer families as they recived a very generous stipend. Kids from wealthier families opted for the Commonwealth Scholarship (if awarded) because it opened up wider opportunities eg medicine and Engineering or law.

    I am not aware of any year 10 scholarship program UNLESS you mean the commonwealth scholarship system which was intended to keep bright kids at high school. This was not just for teaching and indeed of the 6 who won them at my school only 1 became a teacher.

    However perhaps there was some year 10 scheme in the catholic system.

    I am here to tell you that I was interviewed in year 10, and got a small allowance as a prospective teacher, which my father pocketed, during years 11 and 12. I was in a state high school.

    Ok Don

    I am not sure of the year etc.

    What i KNOW is that there was in 1969 a two year Commonwealth scholarship scheme which provided some sort of allowance which i assume my parents pocketed. it was awarded by an examination given in year 9 which was I guess pretty much like the Qld Core skills test in format. I remember it being interesting.

    There were also various bursary schemes of which i knew nothing as they were means tested and you needed to apply.

    Now as to the university entrance i am SURE of those so if there is dispue i am happy to take you on.

    i have a rather good memory for that sort of detail (i can recall where every class member sat in year 12), so i accept the challenge. of course it may change from year to year.

    My brother was just three years older but was in the older 5 year high school system and at a time when some high school teachers did just a two year diploma.

    One of his friends – another younger boy who graduated high school at 16 and teachers college at 18 started work in a high school in the country at the grand old age of 18 yrs and 1 month. He had female students older than he was (the 6 yr high school scheme had arrived) and complained that he could NOT go out with any girl in the town, given they were all his students.

  40. @Late Riser,

    Teaching is undervalued here in Australia, and also in USA and UK.
    But not in Finland (and, I believe, elsewhere)

    Teaching gets a bad rep. from politicians who wish to cover up their lack of education planning and funding by blaming problems on the Poor Bloody Teacher.
    (But many parents will tell you how much they like a particular teacher of their own children).
    60years ago Edwards Demming stated (in part)
    “Placing blame on workforces who are responsible for only 15% of mistakes while the system designed by management is responsible for 85% of the unintended consequences”

    Sadly, I doubt I will see any change in Australia’s attitude during my lifetime.

    Edit: link to Pasi Sahlberg article abstract re Finland
    https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680930601158919

  42. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-08/kurt-fearnley-rejects-politics-to-focus-on-disability-advocacy/10696774

    He is a champion athlete, disability advocate and now NSW Australian of the Year, so it was natural political parties would come calling after Kurt Fearnley announced his retirement from wheelchair racing last year.

    But he has rejected them all.
    ::::
    However, he said given the current level of scepticism the public had towards politicians, he could not risk alienating part of the population.
    :::
    The father of two is planning to spend some downtime with his family for now before returning to teaching.

    He has already founded the Kurt Fearnley Centre in Nairobi and is considering his options at home, saying education is crucial for kids with disabilities.

  43. @SarahRubyWrties tweets

    BREAKING NEWS

    @PeterDutton_MP HAS CANCELLED #SAVERAHAF’S AUSTRALIAN VISA.

    cc @Sophiemcneill

    So now Dutton is helping Saudi Arabia in possibly killing a woman. What woman problem?

  44. poroti @ #2788 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 11:52 am

    Re MDB. Here is a handy dandy interactive map of all the catchments, their flows,areas ,%s. And yes,Quinceland water flows are % pretty low. Although that maybe because it is all being stolen before it can ‘flow’ 😉
    https://www.mdba.gov.au/discover-basin/catchments

    Thanks for that.

    As far as I can see, the contribution to river flow from QLD is roughly 12%, once you allow for some of the catchments being in both NSW and QLD.

  45. don @ #2760 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 10:11 am

    Barney in Go Dau @ #2750 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 10:55 am

    don @ #2730 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 6:50 am

    …

    I am here to tell you that I was interviewed in year 10, and got a small allowance as a prospective teacher, which my father pocketed, during years 11 and 12. I was in a state high school.

    Oh, no you weren’t!!!!!! 😆

    Yes, I was in a state high school in a suburb of Brisbane. I don’t know what you are getting at.

    OK Don

    You were in Qld. Now I was talking NSW which may explain the differences. Why the hell not just say so instead of joining in with the rather silly ineffectual abuse form Big and Zomster. It does you no credit. Thanks for the HSC paper. It is not at all easy and i will do it at my leisure.

    I know that Qld operated quite a lot of schemes to help poorer kids starting year 10. I know of one guy who after his father’s death joined the public service at 14, attending the interview in short pants with his mum. he was scucessfully put through high school and university.

    I am not aware of any such schemes in NSW but perhaps there were some that were needs driven.

  48. DaretoTread @ #2789 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 11:53 am

    don @ #2743 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 9:50 am

    DaretoTread @ #2714 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 9:57 am

    don @ #2683 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 8:18 am

    zoomster @ #2677 Tuesday, January 8th, 2019 – 8:56 am

    ..and I repeat: raising ATARs will simply result in a dearth of graduating teachers.

    Students aren’t saying, “I won’t go into teaching because the ATAR is too low”. They’re saying things like “I don’t want to teach, it sucks” or “Teaching doesn’t pay enough.”

    We have a drastic undersupply of Maths and Science teachers now. Raising entry requirements will do nothing to fix that.

    Teaching has to be made a more attractive career – then the rest will follow.

    When I went into teaching, it was the only way I could get an education, despite excellent marks. We simply did not have the money for me to go to university, so I applied for and got a teachers fellowship, starting in year 10.

    Looking back there were other avenues I could have explored – scholarships into engineering or to banks for example, but that was simply not on the radar.

    Maths/science graduates would be foolish to go into teaching if they got a half way decent degree, unless they really wanted to teach, and did not mind the fact that their lifetime income would be far below what it could be in industry or banking. A former HOD of maths in my school went into an actuarial job, for which she was well suited, and got a huge pay increase.

    Don I am a tad puzzled by this comment. You are from NSW and i suspect roughly my age.

    At that time the routes for teachers were university teachers scholarships which involved a standard UG degree, a year at teachers college and 5 years 9or was it 3) being bonded to teach anywhere in NSW as directed. This was the route for kids from poorer families as they recived a very generous stipend. Kids from wealthier families opted for the Commonwealth Scholarship (if awarded) because it opened up wider opportunities eg medicine and Engineering or law.

    I am not aware of any year 10 scholarship program UNLESS you mean the commonwealth scholarship system which was intended to keep bright kids at high school. This was not just for teaching and indeed of the 6 who won them at my school only 1 became a teacher.

    However perhaps there was some year 10 scheme in the catholic system.

    I am here to tell you that I was interviewed in year 10, and got a small allowance as a prospective teacher, which my father pocketed, during years 11 and 12. I was in a state high school.

    Ok Don

    I am not sure of the year etc.

    What i KNOW is that there was in 1969 a two year Commonwealth scholarship scheme which provided some sort of allowance which i assume my parents pocketed. it was awarded by an examination given in year 9 which was I guess pretty much like the Qld Core skills test in format. I remember it being interesting.

    There were also various bursary schemes of which i knew nothing as they were means tested and you needed to apply.

    Now as to the university entrance i am SURE of those so if there is dispue i am happy to take you on.

    i have a rather good memory for that sort of detail (i can recall where every class member sat in year 12), so i accept the challenge. of course it may change from year to year.

    My brother was just three years older but was in the older 5 year high school system and at a time when some high school teachers did just a two year diploma.

    One of his friends – another younger boy who graduated high school at 16 and teachers college at 18 started work in a high school in the country at the grand old age of 18 yrs and 1 month. He had female students older than he was (the 6 yr high school scheme had arrived) and complained that he could NOT go out with any girl in the town, given they were all his students.

    Take me on?

    For chrissake I was there! Do you seriously think I don’t know what happened?

  49. Labor should remind the LNP of why they should be avoiding any connection with Trump whatsoever.

    Of course given Amanda Vanstone and Guy Mathews maybe this is a positive for them

    A bid by Donald Trump to build Sydney’s first casino was rejected 30 years ago after police expressed concerns about his links to the mafia.

    News Corp revealed on Wednesday morning minutes of the New South Wales cabinet that show police had warned the state government against approving a 1986-87 bid by a Trump consortium to build and operate a casino in Darling Harbour.

    Trump, in partnership with the Queensland construction company Kern, was one of four groups vying for the lucrative project. The NSW government dumped it from the process on 5 May 1987, along with two other bidders.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/aug/16/trumps-bid-for-sydney-casino-30-years-ago-rejected-due-to-mafia-connections

  50. ML

    That person has beat the news media before accurately. So yet to be confirmed. However I am inclined to believe it till proven otherwise.

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