The ten-week silence of Newspoll – and indeed Australian polling in general, so far as voting intention is concerned – has ended with a result of 53-47 to the Coalition, as reported by The Australian. To this, naturally, must be added the qualification that the pollster never once recorded the newly re-elected government with a lead in the entire three years of the previous parliamentary term. The poll has the Coalition at 44% of the primary vote (41.4% at the election), Labor at 33% (33.3%) and the Greens at 11% (10.4%). The report seems to be saying One Nation is at 3%, which compares with the 3.1% they scored at the election when contesting 59 out of 151 seats.
The leadership ratings have Scott Morrison’s approval at a new high of 51%, up five on the pre-election poll, and down nine on disapproval to 36%. Anthony Albanese’s Newspoll ratings are 39% approval and 36% disapproval, which is a) “the first net positive approval rating for an Opposition leader since 2015”, as noted in the report since Simon Benson, b) the worst Newspoll debut for an Opposition Leader since Andrew Peacock in 1989, as illustrated in this earlier post, and c) the equal lowest uncommitted rating for an Opposition Leader on debut, perhaps mitigating b) a little. Morrison leads 48-31 on preferred prime minister, compared with 47-38 in the pre-election poll, which we can now presume was flattering to Bill Shorten.
No indication at this point as to whether and how Newspoll is doing anything differently. Certainly it looks like business as usual to the extent that the poll was conducted Thursday to Sunday from a sample of 1601, with The Australian’s report trumpeting a 2.4% margin of error that is less than the size of its error at the election.
My great thanks to Boerwar for his recent fantastic summaries of the contributions of Rex and Peg – they have completely released me from the need to read the original posts of these two luminaries, and being expressed in such compact form have saved me considerable time.
More strength to your arm Boerwar!
Time for a pop quiz:
Who were the 2 Ministers who lobbied Roman Quadlaevig to make it easier for private jets with Chinese gambling Whales to clear Border security so they could get to Crown’s high roller tables quicker?
A) Peter Dutton
B) Alex Hawke
C) Julie Bishop
D) Mitch Fifield
E) Michael Sukkar
F) Greg Hunt
Bonus points for naming the ‘sitting Member of Parliament’ who also was called in by Crown to lobby Roman Quad.
Winners announced post Senate inquiry or 9/Fairfax follow up.
Interesting statement regarding the passage of the maritime boundary treaty with East Timor.
So why is a person facing serious charges for highlighting that the Howard Government stood for none of these things? 🙁
The Guardian blog
When I was a little boy, Packers ruled NSW.
Nothing has changed.
I’d argue a primary school mass shooting (or any school mass shooting for that matter) is a new low. Even after Columbine and Sandy Hook and MSD the US did nothing on gun control, so nothing is going to happen after the garlic festival shooting other than the banal and meaningless offerings of thoughts and prayers.
And here is the full Baltimore Sun editorial
https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-0728-trump-baltimore-20190727-k6ac4yvnpvcczlaexdfglifada-story.html?outputType=amp&__twitter_impression=true
You probably won’t be shot inside Disneyland. They have airport style security at the entrances. I discovered how tough they are when I accidentally left my phone in a pocket and set off the alarm. I was subjected to a series of barked commands to do this, don’t do that during a slightly terrifying frisk search.
All of the above? Except Dutton wouldn’t need to lobby, he’d simply use his ministerial powers to over-rule.
Barney in Makassar says:
Monday, July 29, 2019 at 7:30 pm
What do you think about the East Timorese spending on unused infrastructure and their plan to process LNG onshore?
Barney in Makassar says:
Monday, July 29, 2019 at 7:30 pm
“So why is a person facing serious charges for highlighting that the Howard Government stood for none of these things? ”
If you don’t understand why the illegal disclosure of classified intelligence operations is a crime then I can’t help you.
Don’t call the Police next time you think a crime has been committed against you because I am sure the alleged perpetrators will also claim their innocence and should therefore not be prosecuted.
nath:
[‘Abetz and Kitching… good grief !’]
Yes, they’ve got something in common, not a fan of Albanese. I very rarely dislike another, but in her case, I make an exception, based on her Senate speeches – express but more importantly implied. And, besides, she’s a no-good former solicitor.
Bucephalus says:
Monday, July 29, 2019 at 7:40 pm
Governments spend money both wisely and poorly. At least now they’ll be getting the money that’s rightfully theirs.
Stuart Robert, one of the biggest bludgers and rorters in the government (and one of the hardest to recover overpayments from), puts on his “Happy Face” for 7.30, and says – in response to serious questions about hassling the relatives of dead people for long forgotten alleged overpayments – “First Laura, it’s GREAT to be with you here tonight!”
What a tosser. His solution for beseiged Centrelink clients? “Pick up the phone!”
The rest is platitudes and slogans.
citizen
The garlic festival had metal detectors (imagine how bad it is if you have to do that) but the shooter cut through a fence to bypass the security.
Barney in Makassar says:
Monday, July 29, 2019 at 7:45 pm
It’s a disgraceful waste for such a poor country and there isn’t an engineering solution to process the LNG on shore.
Australia invested a huge amount of money and blood in helping the East Timorese and they are pissing it up against a wall on failed vanity projects.
Bucephalus says:
Monday, July 29, 2019 at 7:44 pm
So the intelligence services operated appropriately during the negotiations and conformed with the standards in the Government’s press release today?
Of course if he’d been a member of Cabinet there’d be no issue.
I couldn’t bring myself to watch that shonk, Robert, BB. You have a stronger constitution than I.
And, good old Aussie drug cheats are innocent until proven guilty or something, unlike those dastardly Chinese athletes.
When people buy an used car and it turns out to be a lemon, often they will not only will the refuse to believe it is a lemon, they will exaggerate its good points. This is preferable to admitting bad judgement to oneself.
If you don’t understand why whistleblowing, public interest journalism, transparency, etc are vital for democracy then I can’t help you.
Of course there is tension between genuine national security interests where secrecy is essential and a broad interest that the public should have in knowing what their government is doing.
The general rule for a functional democracy has to be that the latter must outweigh the former except in the most serious, exceptional cases.
Of late we have seen a few prominent cases where there is no pressing national security justification for the secrecy classification, or any valid case why the public should not be informed of the details in question … merely that the information was classified secret and therefore that revealing it was a crime.
That’s not good enough.
Yes, it’s the law – the law in question is bad law because it gives no public interest exemptions or whistleblower protections. That is a feature of much of our law sadly. In the past these kinds of matters have not been proceeded with because the responsible people – AGs, prosecutors – have understood the balance in play in a democracy. Not so much now.
ETA: Sorry, should have made it clear that I was seguing from the East Timor stuff to the more recent raids against journalists. They have different issues and I imagine are covered by quite different bits of law, but the basic principles of whistleblowing, journalism, the public’s right to know etc seem to me to be an obvious common theme.
Buce Phallus
No thoughts on which government ministers are so far up James Packer’s Crown that they would heavy Border Force to go easy on the entry checks?
I thought with your Liberal leanings you would be first out of the blocks
Bucephalus:
[‘If you don’t understand why the illegal disclosure of classified intelligence operations is a crime then I can’t help you.’
Please stop it! This government excels in classifying all manner of information as not to be released -eg, AUSTEO, top-secret, secret, confidential, personal-in confidence, commercial-in-confidence. And, in respect to FOI requests, much of the information is redacted. Democracy demands that the public has the right to know what their government is up to. If you don’t get this, I’m so happy for you.
Off to Canberra early tomorrow morning with a busload of tragics to see Fiona make her maiden speech, then lunch with Fiona and Albo. Should be fun!
Outside left:
Enjoy!
Are you feeling the revenge of a lover spurned ? Nath?
Confessions @ #395 Monday, July 29th, 2019 – 7:13 pm
Unfortunately the flash paper, which contained the one time pad decode sequence, ignited before the above could be translated into a usable sequence.
Goodnight all. 💤
There is a growing stench around some government ministers – but Rowe sees the tip of the iceberg
Bucephalus says:
Monday, July 29, 2019 at 7:44 pm
Don’t call the Police next time you think a crime has been committed against you because I am sure the alleged perpetrators will also claim their innocence and should therefore not be prosecuted.
There are perps and perps.
Once upon a time I was the subject of three criminal acts – stealing – in consecutive weeks. I decided to report this to the police and attended the local office.
I told the duty constable that I wanted to report stealing. I told him I knew who had stolen from me and that the evidence to prove it would be easy to obtain. He asked who the alleged culprit was. I told him it was a well-known bank, an Australian bank. The constable looked perplexed and then told me he couldn’t help; that I would have to bring proceedings myself.
The criminal law applies to banks, as was always the case and as we’ve recently seen. I got my money but the bank was never charged. It should have been, but seemed to believe it had an immunity.
The law is not applied to all without fear or favour in this country.
PM Morrison will win again in 2022 and 2025 and labor will never again in government
It is misunderstanding the nature of criminal prosecutions to believe that they are done as some kind of service to the victims of crime. They’re not – criminal prosecutions are done for the benefit of the state, when you report a crime it is you doing the criminal justice system a service, not the other way around.
Confessions @ #395 Monday, July 29th, 2019 – 7:13 pm
I feel like there’s an obvious joke in there somewhere between “Donald Trump” and “impenetrable”. But it’s dinner time, so someone else make it.
OL
Make sure you get a selfie with Albo
nath:
I get the feeling that you can’t cope with ingratiation. It seems to me, you can’t handle same. We await, however, a compelling, meaningful post from you
Wayne is back!
I fear he has the gift of the shinning.
Wayne, you are truly gifted.
We are prostrate before you.
BB
“When I was a boy NSW was run by the Packers”
Packers vs Terrigals an interesting debate on good governance
Wayne @ #428 Monday, July 29th, 2019 – 8:42 pm
What about 20028.
I hope you’re not going soft on us Wayne.
El Nino wreaking havoc on the other side of the Pacific as well.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jul/29/guatemala-climate-crisis-migration-drought-famine
Where’s old GG tonight?
How long until Labor votes FOR the Ensuring Integrity Bill?
My pick for the cave-in is November when the Committee reports in the Senate.
mundo:
Oh by 2028 Parliament will be suspended and Dutton will have Morrison languishing in a gulag.
Oakeshott Country:
I’m sure you don’t mean to be boring?
And that’s why NSW Labor will be in opposition until it’s wound up in 2030
Bucephalus says:
Monday, July 29, 2019 at 7:51 pm
Ah, so Howard’s original bastardry was recouping our investment, whilst this Government’s original unwillingness to renegotiate was paternalistic benevolence¿
The dribble of the Crown/Coalition scandal information has another dump tonight, with all fingers pointing at Peter Dutton’s administration..
“By Nick McKenzie, Nick Toscano and Grace Tobin
July 29, 2019 — 7.30pm
A serving Australian Border Force official moonlighted to provide security for an international criminal fugitive who has worked with Crown Resorts to bring Chinese high rollers into Australia.
Border Force official Andrew Ure worked at least once for Tom Zhou, a Crown high-roller junket agent who is wanted by Interpol for serious crimes and is involved in Chinese government influence activities in Australia.”
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/border-force-official-worked-for-crown-high-roller-and-wanted-criminal-20190726-p52b7w.html?__twitter_impression=true
Nothing to see here..
“In a statement through his lawyer, James Packer said he “adamantly” insisted that he had “no … knowledge” of the company’s conduct in China that had led to the prosecution of 18 of the company’s employees in 2016 for illegally selling gambling products in China. He played a “passive role” at Crown, according to the lawyer’s letter.
Mr Quaedvlieg, who was sacked from Australian Border Force last year for helping his girlfriend obtain a job at the agency, revealed on 60 Minutes on Sunday that he and other senior agency figures were lobbied by federal MPs to make it easier for Crown high-rollers to pass Customs.
“I spoke to a sitting member of parliament in addition to two ministers,” he said. “It’s very clear that there was a powerful constituency behind the entreaty.”
caf:
You’re insightful. Okay, one knows instinctively when one should concede. So it’s to bed.
sprocket
So when do you reckon Labor is going to ask questions in parliament about Crown?
Perhaps Angus Taylor was one of the Dirty Two ministers who lobbied for Crown Casino gamblers to flout Australian law? A quick glance at his ministerial appointments has
Ministerial appointments
Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation from 19.7.2016 to 20.12.2017.
Minister for Law Enforcement and Cybersecurity from 20.12.2017 to 28.8.2018.
Minister for Energy from 28.8.2018 to 29.5.2019.
Cabinet Minister from 28.8.2018.
Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction from 29.5.2019.
Until Morrison comes clean an has some sort of inquiry into the Crown/Coalition scandal, speculation will continue I suspect.
Peg
It is Morrison who should be asking his ministers – which one of you are arguing Crown’s book?
Meanwhile, Angus ‘The Bull” Taylor uses a variant of the dog ate my homework excuse..
“A conversation with an unnamed Yass farmer, not the interests of his farming family, had spurred the minister for energy, Angus Taylor, to seek briefings from the environment department about a listing to protect native grasslands, he told parliament on Monday.
In a personal explanation to the House of Representatives, Taylor sought to deflect further questions and a possible Senate inquiry into meetings he had with bureaucrats on the grasslands laws in 2017.
The inquiry moved by Labor and the Greens into the conduct of Taylor and the former environment minister Josh Frydenberg was narrowly voted down after it failed to gain support from One Nation senators and Cory Bernardi.
Taylor has been grilled for the last fortnight over the clearing of native grasslands at a property near Delegate on the Monaro plains owned by a company called Jam Land.
The company is chaired by his brother Richard, and Taylor himself has an interest through his family company.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/jul/29/angus-taylor-says-unnamed-yass-farmer-not-his-family-spurred-grassland-meetings?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
shellbell @ #393 Monday, July 29th, 2019 – 7:07 pm
She has a you-know-what!?! 😯