After a period of improving poll results for the Coalition, the latest Newspoll records a tiny shift on primary votes to Labor, but not another to alter their existing lead of 53-47 from a fortnight ago. Labor is up one point on the primary vote to 39%, after a three-point drop last time, while the Coalition is steady on 37%, retaining their two-point gain in the last poll. The Greens are steady on 9%, while One Nation is down a point to 5%, the lowest it’s been in a year. Scott Morrison’s personal ratings are improved, with approval up three to 43% and disapproval down two to 45%, and his lead as prime minister out from 43-36 to 44-35. Bill Shorten is down one on approval to 36% and up one on disapproval to 51%. The poll was conducted Thursday to Sunday from a sample of 1567.
agree BB. It seems that many posters who used to add interesting observations and insider stories can’t be bothered scrolling through the drivel of the rat pack. although which posters make up the rat pack is subjective.
perhaps we could have a poll on who readers have blocked.
p.s. I don’t have PC access at the moment. Is there any blocker that works on Apple devices.
Psyclaw @ #649 Monday, February 11th, 2019 – 7:28 pm
Finally, an intelligent post.
Dovey @ #564 Monday, February 11th, 2019 – 5:50 pm
Agree. Life is short, death is long, ignore the people with nothing to say of any value. Your life will be a happier one. At least I find it so.
Interesting take on Venezuela:
https://truthout.org/articles/in-venezuela-white-supremacy-is-a-key-driver-of-the-coup/
I don’t understand how anyone can comment on the bill … at this point we do not know what Caucus has agreed to, and we also don’t know how other MPs will react.
Everyone, including DiNatale and McKimm are responding to rumour
Don’s knack of chiming in in support of the very worst of what gets posted here continues unabated.
poroti says:
Monday, February 11, 2019 at 7:27 pm
I wonder how all that ‘northern storage’ would have gone after being hit with the recent deluge , all ‘relocated’ to the coast ?
________________________
I wonder how the Snowy River cloud seeding program is going? I haven’t bothered to look in a few years.
Other ideas to generate rainfall would be to build a giant mountain at the headwaters of the Darling.
Flooding the interior with an internal sea seems out of fashion these days. Perhaps the giant Pineapple has some ideas.
Bryon @ #283 Monday, February 11th, 2019 – 7:30 pm
Not a good idea about who has blocked whom. Keep your powder dry and your temper moderate.
I believe that you are out of luck with a blocker for Apple mobile devices.
Good luck with your reading and posting. 🕊🕊
Holden Hillbilly @ #643 Monday, February 11th, 2019 – 7:25 pm
Hallelujah brothers and sisters!
About time that common sense prevailed.
But he was stupid to go to Thailand in the first place. What was he thinking?
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-11/hakeem-al-araibi-to-return-to-australia-extradition-case-dropped/10801346
Hakeem al Araibi to return to australia
Great outcome.
I seem to recall some (many) years ago there was a scheme to use nuclear explosions to create a ‘channel’ from the Gulf to the interior to (re)create an inland sea.
Cleaning up all that radiation would have been a bit of an ask.
More from Craig Foster..
Most important thing now is Hakeem’s immediate wellbeing. Sure Embassy staff will take care of him, there’ll be tears there tonight, as there are in our household right now. Going to take some moments to thank as many of the incredible people involved as possible ✊ #SaveHakeem
jenauthor @ #652 Monday, February 11th, 2019 – 7:32 pm
Whatever happens, Morrison is still going to town on Shorten for Labor passing the bill/amendments in the senate. There’s no escaping that for Bill. Labor should just stand by their senate vote.
Don – He had been told it was safe. Only a day or so before leaving did Bahrain issue an Interpol notice. Almost as if they have spies here…
Bryon @ #651 Monday, February 11th, 2019 – 7:30 pm
Of course. This blog would be almost unusable without it, although I only access it on Apple laptops and a desktop Apple, not by iPhone. I understand from KJ that Android devices can be fitted out with the latest and greatest.
KJ has all the answers, no doubt he will tell you how it works, it is the same for both Apple and PC devices, I followed KJ’s instructions and it works on my apple laptops and desktop.
William Bowe @ #656 Monday, February 11th, 2019 – 7:33 pm
Say what?
Then of course there was the Bradfield Scheme. Evaporation rates and the death of the GBR might have scuttled that plan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradfield_Scheme
nath
Barnaby and Credlin are all for it.
William, you give every impression of supporting nath, yet you kick me in the guts?
What the hell?
Someone mentioned earlier that the Independents would be very upset with Labor for proposing amendments to the medivac bill passed in the Senate.
It’s useful to remember that most of these Independents are Right leaning and therefore are not natural Labor allies. Additionally, some like Phelps will be relying on cooperation from Labor (e.g. running dead) to beat Liberal candidates at the election.
Don, earlier on, Dovey decided to let it be known that there are commenters here he or she doesn’t like, for which I ticked him or her off because I’ve decided not to put up with such childish rubbish for the time being. A few posts up, you repasted this comment and backed it up with an equally worthless observation about those same commentators. Which brought to mind the form you have in responding to C@tmomma’s most deeply pathetic temper tantrums with interjections like “onya C@t!”
Great news!
It sounds like Bahrain dropped their extradition request, so there was no reason to detain him further.
I’d certainly like to see an investigation into what part Australia played in his original detention.
zoomster says:
Monday, February 11, 2019 at 7:43 pm
nath
Barnaby and Credlin are all for it.
___________________________
Doesn’t surprise me. They both would’ve thrived and been much happier living in the 1930s
guytaur says:
Monday, February 11, 2019 at 6:32 pm
FredNK
Its Labor with the shortfall here not the Tory Independents or the Greens as it appears rich Wentworth voters can see the BS for what it is.
BS over “pull” factors.
You miss the point. Labor want to win an election. They have been wedged often enough to know what a wedge looks like. The Greens have once again been pure when it comes to Labor policy and shown again that purity leads to nothing. It’s not as if it is the first time.
BB
Haven’t you heard? Bemused was the one causing all the discord and nastiness around here. That’s why we got rid of him. Everything’s perfect now.
Darn @ #675 Monday, February 11th, 2019 – 7:51 pm
Nature abhors a vacuum!
William Bowe @ #671 Monday, February 11th, 2019 – 7:45 pm
“Aye aye, sir” is the only possible response.
Have a great day.
don @ #659 Monday, February 11th, 2019 – 7:35 pm
Hi Don,
According to SMH he did ‘check with the australian authorities before leaving
‘Araibi checking with Australian authorities before he left the country that he would face no legal risks by leaving the country that had granted him asylum.” ….. ‘Araibi was detained by Thai authorities on November 27 after Australian authorities controversially informed their Thai counterparts the refugee footballer was travelling to Thailand and was subject to an Interpol Red Notice.’
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/i-pay-taxes-i-play-football-i-love-australia-hakeem-al-araibi-speaks-20190128-p50u6l.html
Amen to that GG.
This fellow needs to be careful when he goes in for surgery – or does he only see extreme RW doctors?
Thailand clearly decided that Australia is a more important friend than Bahrain – Australia is much bigger and interacts more – and the resentment was not worthwhile.
Maybe it wasn’t Bahrain dropping the request.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/11/thailand-to-free-bahraini-footballer-hakeem-al-araibi
citizen
When I saw that headline from Nick Cater I pondered what he thought about the outsourcing of so many aspects of Asylum Seeker policy to private security companies etc (so that the Governmnet can’t be directly balmed for their excesses)
Rex I wouldn’t be too worried about Morrison wedging Shorten. Shorten has been two steps ahead of the Coalition for the past six years.
https://www.afr.com/news/policy/industrial-relations/awu-leak-michaelia-cashs-media-adviser-david-de-garis-urged-to-reveal-all-20190211-h1b3le
Presumably the ROC will seek to force the issue of compellability of the witnesses to answer questions to the Full Court.
FredNK
The wedge only works because Labor is accepting Human Rights second place to politics
Now the professional fair advice of Doctors is not good enough.
Labor is doing badly when it’s to the right of a Tory of Wentworth
Kristina Keneally
Verified account
@KKeneally
Following Following @KKeneally
More Kristina Keneally Retweeted Sky News Australia
As I pointed out on Sky at the end of this sentence – it didn’t make it into this grab Sky ran – it’s not the Phelps Bill that is going to the parliament next week. It is a Government Bill amended by the Senate. The “Phelps Bill” is something different.
atharine Murphy
Verified account
@murpharoo
57s57 seconds ago
More
Caucus has signed off on the three principles. Two speakers, Pat Conroy and Andrew Giles asked questions, but accepted the logic of the amendments @AmyRemeikis #auspol
I’ve been away having a very pleasant day visiting family on the Central Coast. Just catching up with the News.
I see that Hakeem has been released. Fantastic.
Meanwhile, “Boats!” Labor, just have a close think about it and do what you think is right. And call out Morriscum’s politicisation of the whole issue for what it is.
Is there an indication of what the three principles re Medevac Bill that Murph is saying Labor caucus has agreed to?
Thank you GG & Darn
Bushfire Bill @ 6.55pm
Your comments on personal fights being pursued here are spot on. Most of them are boring in the extreme, and largely absurd. Unless you happen to know the identity of the person who sits behind a particular nom de guerre, and he or she knows your identity, the exchanges are as silly as successive lines of graffiti, each taking umbrage at the content of the previous one. And if fighters do know each others’ identities, they should do us all a favour and take their fights offline.
Rocket Rocket
A conclusion I reached from the time they started privatising electricity. A hot button issue for voters which by privatising magically became ‘commercial in confidence” , ‘those people over there’s fault’ an issue they can grandstand on ‘fixing it”. Oh and nice kick backs and post retirement jobs etc etc etc.
I wouldn’t have thought the Greens would support Labor’s amendments.
Just turned on ABC24 to see the Hakeem al-Araibi story. Good news, and I commend Craig Foster for running so hard on this and pushing against FIFA and the IOC.
But then they started showing Morrison at the National Press Club today – it really only takes about one minute (or less) before you just have to turn the TV off because of his hectoring shouty demeanour.
Shellbell
Yes it’s kinda cute De Garis can refuse to answer in the Federal Court when I reckon you could name few government tribunals and investigative bodies where that would make him liable for jail time.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/11/michaelia-cashs-former-adviser-wont-reveal-who-tipped-him-off-on-awu-raids
Shell bell,
A question if I may ?
I do not know If this would be your area of expertise but I was wondering …
Does the ABCC have the power to force a witness to answer questions and if they refuse the witness may be charged ?
Thanks in advance.
“Bill has to manage both the medivac issue (compassionately) AND the fact that the Coalies are desperately trying to wedge him on ASs generally, and make it THE election issue.
He’s doing this astutely, step by step, day after day.”
Yup. 🙂
Good to see the footballer out of the poo. Didn’t Bill send a letter to the Thais today?? 🙂
Fess in simple terms giving the Minister extra power to overrule, extending the 24 hours review timeframe and restricting the changes to people already on Naru.
For all the justified praise which Craig Foster and others are receiving regarding their commendably proactive role in support of the dismissal of Bahrain’s extradition request to Thailand, I suspect in this case the federal government also pulled out all the diplomatic stops, and most likely that was decisive. There was clearly a major bureaucratic foul up here which caused the problem, and the government wouldn’t have wanted to have to answer questions about it in Parliament. (They probably still will have to, but it will be less of a running sore once the prisoner has been freed.)